Bobby and his family are visiting Civil War battlefields on the eve of the war's centenary, while inside their car, quiet battles rage. When an accident cuts their trip short, they return home on a bus and witness an incident that threatens to deny a black family seats. What they don't know is the reason for the family's desperation to be on that bus: a few towns away, their child is missing.Lunch-Box Dream presents Jim Crow, racism, and segregation from multiple perspectives. In this story of witnessing without understanding, a naïvely prejudiced boy, in brief flashes of insight, starts to identify and question his assumptions about race.

100,000 years ago, the galaxy was populated by a great variety of beings. But one species—eons beyond all others in both technology and knowledge—achieved dominance. They ruled in peace but met opposition with quick and brutal effectiveness. They were the Forerunners—the keepers of the Mantle, the next stage of life in the Universe's Living Time.And then they vanished. This is their story. Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting is a young rebellious Forerunner. He is a Manipular, untried—yet to become part of the adult Forerunner society, where vast knowledge and duty waits. He comes from a family of Builders, the Forerunners' highest and most politically powerful rate. It is...

A deeply compelling collection of poems about God and our everyday world from a Newbery medalist. Cynthia Rylant takes teens on an invigorating spiritual journey as she explores what God's life on Earth might be like. Rylant's reflective and often humorous verse follows God as he tries out human activities such as getting a dog, writing a fan letter, and making spaghetti. God Went to Beauty School combines the awesome with the everyday in an accessible, thought–provoking, and intelligent manner.

From the Carnegie Medal-winning author of Buffalo Soldier comes this heart-stopping tale of a young man's attempt to clear his father's name. When his father is arrested and transported to the Colonies, Caleb is left alone. After a desperate journey in search of an aunt he's never met he receives a strange, cold welcome. Then a body washes up on the nearby beach and Caleb is caught up in a terrifying net of lies and intrigue. Soon he and his new family are in mortal danger. This powerful story holds the reader in suspense as it charts the growth of a frightened boy into a brave young man.

As the best man in a wedding, John Saxon first saw—and fell in love with—Mary Elizabeth Wainwright as she preceded the bride down the aisle. When he returns home, John pours his adoration for Mary Elizabeth into a letter and asks her to marry him. Mary Elizabeth is not the woman John assumes her to be. She is from great wealth and privilege beyond John's reach as a student of medicine who has to make his own way in the world. Though there is obviously attraction on both their parts it will take a miracle to bring them together on worldviews and faith.

Hugo Chesterman has been sentenced to death for murdering a policeman. What is his story and will an appeal be successful? For the young, and pretty, Daisy Bland it all started when she literally bumped into Hugo Chesterman and fell madly in love. She gives up her job to lead a topsy turvy existence, reliant financially upon Hugo's success as a "commission agent". Her trust in Hugo, and in his acquaintances, mean that she is slow to pick up clues on what is happening around her. They terminate the lease on their Maida Vale rooms and take a holiday at the seaside. After losing a nest egg set aside for the baby, Hugo's need to make amends leads him into a new venture that ends in his downfall. Distraught at their circumstances, and with a baby on the way, Daisy rallies round to take on a purposefulness and strong impetus to save Hugo.

A rescued horse, an abandoned ranch, a new beginning for a very lucky girl...and the start of an exciting new horse series! Taylor Henry loves horses, but her single mom can't afford riding lessons, much less a horse. So when she discovers an abandoned gelding and pony, Taylor is happy just to be around them. But the rescued animals have nowhere to go, and Taylor is running out of time to find them a good home. Could the empty old barn on Wildwood Lane be the answer? And could Taylor's wildest dream—of a horse to call her own—finally be coming true?

The first novel based upon the award-winning WARMACHINE(R) steam-powered fantasy wargame and the world of the Iron Kingdoms(TM) Role Playing Game is an action-packed steam-tech fantasy that combines elements of epic wartime adventure with thrilling cloak-and-dagger espionage. The Iron Kingdoms are at war-a war fought with machine guns and magic, knights of valor, and earth shaking titans of steam and steel. And now that war may hinge entirely on nothing more than a sheaf of papers. An alchemical formula, stolen by an ally they thought they could trust, could cost the brave soldiers of Cygnar everything. Their only hope: a cunning spy, a knight out of her element, and a frighteningly small unit of the best that Cygnar has to offer. Arrayed against them is not only a single, devious enemy, but the combined intelligence apparatus-and possibly the full military might-of the most brutal martial power Cygnar has ever known. "(c) 2001 - 2013 Privateer Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privateer Press, Iron Kingdoms, WARMACHINE, and their logos are registered trademarks of Privateer Press, Inc. Used under license."

Literary critic, cultural commentator, TV personality, journalist, poet, political analyst, satirist and Formula One fan: Clive James is a man (and master) of many talents, and the essays collected here are testament to that fact. Whether discussing Bing Crosby, Bruno Schulz or Shakespeare, he manages to prioritise style and substance simultaneously, his tone never less than pitch-perfect, his argument always considered. With each phrase carefully crafted and each piece offering cause for thought, the resulting volume – which takes the reader from London to Bali, theatre to library, from pre-election campaigning to sitting in front of the TV at home, watching The Sopranos and The West Wing – is remarkable not only for its range and insight, but also its intimacy and honesty.

Enjoy unforgettable characters and irreverent laughs in the Regency series that launched the career of New York Times bestselling author Katie MacAlisterYou think you've got troubles?As a spy for the Crown, Lord Harry Rosse faced clever and dangerous adversaries—but it's his five offspring who seem likely to send him to Bedlam. At his wits' end, he's advertised for a wife and found one, but perhaps he should have been a bit more forthcoming on certain points...Wait till you meet Harry and Plum...Frederica Pelham, affectionately known as Plum, spent years avoiding the scandals of her past, and is desperate for quiet security and a chance to make a family. What she finds is a titled husband and five little devils who seem bent on their own destruction, not to mention hers. And while all kinds of secrets are catching up with them, Plum knows the real trouble with Harry... is that he's stolen her heart."Memorable characters, witty dialogue...

A celebrated novelist, Lee Smith is likewise recognized as a master of the short story and has been compared with such luminaries as Katherine Ann Porter, Eudora Welty, and Flannery O'Connor. Now she collects fourteen stories—seven brand-new ones along with seven favorites from her three earlier collections. The result? A book of dazzling richness.Famous for unmistakable voices and a craft so strong and sure it seems effortless, Lee Smith's stories strike dead center at the turning points of her characters' lives. Here those characters range from an eight-year-old boy obsessed with vocabulary words to a young bride who has married "way up" to Mrs. Darcy herself, an older woman making it through widowhood her own way. As the New York Times Book Review put it, "In almost every one of [her stories] there is a moment of vision, or love, or unclothed wonder that transforms something plain into something transcendent."With this collection—her first in...

Holidays are worse than a full moon for making people crazy. In Harborsmouth, where many of the residents are undead vampires or monstrous fae, the combination may prove deadly.Ivy Granger, psychic private investigator, returns to the streets of Harborsmouth in this addition to the bestselling urban fantasy series.Holidays are Hell, a point driven home when a certain demon attorney returns with information regarding a series of bloody murders. Five Harborsmouth residents have been killed and every victim has one thing in common--they are fae. Whoever is killing faeries must be stopped, but they only leave one clue behind--a piece of mistletoe floating in a pool of the victim's blood.The holidays just got interesting. Too bad this case may drive Ivy mad before the New Year. Heck, she'll be lucky to survive Christmas.Blood and Mistletoe is an Ivy Granger series novella.BONUS: Blood and Mistletoe contains an Ivy Granger series Pronunciation Guide.Review"This is a series I think most paranormal fans are going to love."-Freda's Voice"Amazing novella!"-Autumneffect"I highly recommend anyone who enjoys an irreverent heroine with a spunky sidekick, a hunky fellow and a nice supernatural mystery, to pick up this series, you won't regret it."-Paranormal Romance Guild"A strong heroine, holiday themed murders, and a hot Kelpie king - this is exactly what was on my reading wish list for the holiday season. Snag this for your e-reader, curl up with some eggnog or hot chocolate, and lose yourself in the world of Harborsmouth."-Reading Lark"This book is a novella, but Stevens puts in a lot of action...if you like urban fantasy, especially with very realistic depictions of the fae, you really need to read E.J. Stevens' Ivy Granger series."-Now Is Gone"As always Ivy was a fantastic main character who is always able to keep me chuckling and always kicking butt everywhere she goes. I love how much of a strong character she is. I also loved how creepy everything felt due to the fact that it was holiday themed...a very nice addition to the Ivy Granger series.-Book Bite Reviews

HOTEL KEROBOKAN is the shocking inside story of the most brutal, corrupt & truly bizzare jail in the world - situated right in the heart of the holiday mecca, Bali. The jail's graying walls touch paradise. Step outside and it's sun-kissed beaches, five star restaurants & luxury hotels. Step inside - and it's hell on earth. This book, written by an Australian journalist with unprecedented access to inside, paints a graphic picture of life in the jail and is not for the faint-hearted. It flirts with dark comedy, but is thick with tragic and shocking stories of tourists and international drug traffickers checked in to Hotel K. It's a place that's been home to Gordon Ramsay’s drug addict brother, Ronnie Ramsay, Bali King Cok Pemecutan, Australian beauty school student Schapelle Corby, the Bali Nine, English ecstasy dealer Steve Turner as well as unlucky tourists and surfers from across the globe. JOURNALIST Kathryn Bonella spent a year in Bali, entering the jail every day for months to co-write Schapelle Corby's bestselling 2006 autobiography NO MORE TOMORROWS. Now after hundreds of interviews and two more years of investigation she's telling the incredible story of the jail itself. Backed up by hundreds of interviews with prisoners past and present, as well as jail guards, the truth about HOTEL K explodes off every page.

Words, music, art and performance. The stuff of a satisfying life.After exploring the idea of home, where and what it is in A First Place, what does it mean to be a writer and where writing begins in The Writing Life, David Malouf moves on to words and music and art and performance in Being There. With pieces on the Sydney Opera House - then and now - responses to art, artists and architects, and including Malouf's not previously published libretti for Voss and a translation of Hippolytus, this is an unmissable and stimulating collection of one man's connection to the world of art, ideas and culture.

Since Coco Pinchard found first husband Daniel in bed with another woman, she hasn’t just picked up the pieces: she’s now a best-selling author married to her hunky soul-mate Adam. She feels stronger and wiser and surely the second time round she’ll have learnt from her mistakes? But things aren’t going quite according to plan... Adam has lost his job, Coco’s grown-up son Rosencrantz seems to have derailed his life in spectacular fashion, and ex-mother-in-law Ethel keeps letting herself into the house thanks to an endless supply of spare keys. When literary agent Angie takes on Coco’s arch rival, the indomitable Regina Battenberg, it looks as though things can’t get any worse. And then Coco discovers she’s pregnant; at 44. Can she really go through it all again? Sleepless nights, stretch marks on top of stretch marks, and poo as a normal topic of conversation? The third and final book in Robert Bryndza’s bestselling series is a hilarious diary with Coco’s trademark wit and honesty, tracing the raging hormones and extraordinary twists that take her to motherhood for the second time.

These two novellas concern love. In 'Frenzy', Shaul is convinced that his wife is having an affair. He feverishly imagines her, in every painful detail, with her lover. Esther has never seen the human side of her aloof brother-in-law, but during a night-time journey Shaul unburdens himself, recreating an affair he has never witnessed. Is he mad? Or has he divined the truth? In 'Her Body Knows', Rotem has spent most of her life being angry with her mother, Nilli. Now Nilli is dying and Rotem, who has finally found happiness in London, must return to say goodbye. She arrives with a story about Nilli, full of accusations, empathy, love and forgiveness.

In the shadows of a graveyard, a SHOT rings out…Hannah Esh fled the Home Valley Amish community with a broken heart, throwing herself into her worldly dreams of a singing career instead. But as much as she tries to run from her past, something keeps pulling her back. On a whim, she brings four worldly friends to the Amish graveyard near her family's home for a midnight party on Halloween. But when shots are fired and one of her friends is killed, Hannah is pulled back into the world of her past.The investigation into the shooting uncovers deep-buried secrets that shock the peaceful Amish village to its core. Determined to prove her value to the community she left behind, Hannah attempts to bridge two cultures, working closely with both handsome, arrogant FBI agent Linc Armstrong and her former betrothed, Seth Lantz, now widowed with a young daughter.Caught between Seth and Linc, between old and new, Amish and worldly, Hannah must choose her future. Unless a killer, bent on secrecy, chooses it for her.

In Chase Your Shadow, journalist and author John Carlin tells the gripping story of Oscar Pistorius's tragic journey from sporting icon to accused murderer. Before Valentine's Day of 2013, Pistorius was best known as an extraordinary athlete, the 'Blade Runner' who became the first amputee in history to compete in the Olympics. Everything changed after he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead in the early hours of 14 February. Overnight, the Olympian's status as a role model was replaced by tales of erratic behaviour and a violent dark side. His seven-month trial was broadcast live around the globe, its twists and turns captivating millions. Carlin, who followed the drama inside the courtroom, provides a vivid first-hand account of Pistorius's wrenching emotional breakdowns, the merciless interrogation to which he was submitted by the prosecutor, and the highly controversial judgment. Carlin paints a portrait of a complex...

From Publishers WeeklyMontefiore (The Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin) is more interested in life at the top than at the bottom, so he includes hundreds of pages on Stalin's purges of top Communists, while devoting much less space to the forced collectivization of Soviet peasants that led to millions of deaths. In lively prose, he intersperses his mammoth account of Stalin's often-deadly political decisions with the personal lives of the Soviet dictator and those around him. As a result, the reader learns about sexual peccadilloes of the top Communists: Stalin's secret police chief Lavrenti Beria, for one, "craved athletic women, haunting the locker rooms of Soviet swimmers and basketball players." Stalin's own escapades after the death of his wife are also noted. There's also much detail about the food at parties and other meetings of Stalin's henchmen. The effect is paradoxical: Stalin and his cronies are humanized at the same time as their cruel misdeeds are recounted. Montefiore offers little help in answering some of the unsettled questions surrounding Stalin: how involved was he in the 1934 murder of rising official Sergei Kirov, for example. He also seems to leave open the question of Stalin's paranoia: he argues that the Georgian-born ruler was a charming man who used his people skills to get whatever he wanted. Montefiore mainly skirts the paranoia issue, noting that only after WWII, when Stalin launched his anti-Semitic campaigns, did he "become a vicious and obsessional anti-Semite." There are many Stalin biographies out there, but this fascinating work distinguishes itself by its extensive use of fresh archival material and its focus on Stalin's ever-changing coterie. Maps and 24 pages of photos not seen by PW. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From The New YorkerAny biography of a tyrant runs the risk of humanizing its subject to the point of appearing to mitigate his crimes. But Montefiore's intimate portrait actually throws the coldhearted murderousness with which Stalin pursued and defended power into sharper relief. The book—much of it based on fresh archival material—moves smoothly between detailed sketches of everyday life at the Kremlin and accounts of the paranoid and sanguinary scheming that determined Soviet politics. This juxtaposition captures the vertiginous quality of life in Stalin's court, where no allegiance was permanent. Just as strikingly, Montefiore shows how Stalin, a "master of friendships," used charm to win the support of members of the Party's inner circle (many of whom ended up regretting it). This haunting book gets us as close as we are likely to come to the man who believed that "the solution to every human problem was death." Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

This is the story of Chicago's ruthless and tireless mafia. The intensely real characters, the brutal overlords, their faithful lackeys and their vengeful enemies all collide in acts of loyalty, lust, greed and death. Power hungry Don, Jimmy Collucci, is out to become the kingpin of Chicago's "Honored Society." However his rise to the top can only be thwarted by one man fueled by revenge set out to destroy it, the "Black Warrior" Jessie Taylor. When ambitions collide, guns are drawn and blood is spilled. This is the original mafia story.

The incredible story of the man behind TOMS Shoes and One for One, the revolutionary business model that marries fun, profit, and social good. "A creative and open-hearted business model for our times."--The Wall Street Journal Why this book is for you: You're ready to make a difference in the world--through your own start-up business, a nonprofit organization, or a new project that you create within your current job.You want to love your work, work for what you love, and have a positive impact on the world--all at the same time.You're inspired by charity: water, method, and FEED Projects and want to learn how these organizations got their start. You're curious about how someone who never made a pair of shoes, attended fashion school, or worked in retail created one of the fastest-growing footwear companies in the world by giving shoes away.You're looking for a new model of...