Paradise - A Divine Comedy

      Glenn Myers
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So I was driving to work when this angry suicidal lawyer crashed into me. She and I were flung out of our bodies, into the sky. So far, not a good day.Captured, argued over, sold, our souls ended up in a cage called Paradise, where two evil spirits were market-testing new temptations for a sales conference.Then a snake appeared. It was OK though: he was offering counselling.'Paradise - A divine comedy' shows what happens when what's hidden inside us, comes out. Reviews:'‘Hitchhikers Guide meets Screwtape meets Pilgrims Progress meets the Discworld!’ (Phil Grasham)'...absolutely loved it. A hysterical surrealist take on what is out there after life on earth, or next to life on earth, or simultaneous with life on earth, or whatever. A story of Gods in kilts, crystal clear memories, and walls made of our pixelated fears. Delightful. (Jeannette M, Goodreads.com)Sometimes you want to hit the main character on the back of the head and tell him to stop being a wuss, but how would you react if you had to build a paradise controlled by some used-car-salesman-style gods? If you like quirky and surreal stories about the afterlife, then I would highly recommend Paradise. (Katie Webb, Goodreads.com)What a great book! Loved the characters, the creativity, the dialogue, the imaginative idea of evil spirits keeping humans as pets …. a delightfully comic but definitely insightful look into the human psyche and soul. It’s a mark of a good book (for me, at least) when I look forward to picking it up again to read and am slow to put it down. I loved every aspect of it. (Susan Sutton, author)An interview with Glenn MyersQ. So what is this book like and what books do you like the most?A. Off-beat, quirky. British humour I guess. About the afterlife or at least about near-death experiences and the soul.Q. Why this subject?A. We spend loads of time grooming our appearance, because that's what people see. But what are we like on the inside? If your soul was like a landscape, what would it look like? How would it change? What would be attacking it or wearing it down? I thought it would be a lot of fun to picture that. Q. And you get to ask big questions?A. I think the best comedy does. Life, death, love, redemption: all those, but handled lightly. I see comic fiction like a ridge walk on a mountain range -- scary drops each side, but a carefree stroll on the top. Q. With two warring characters at the heart?A. Three actually. The main protagonist Jamie is at war with Keziah the girl who crashed into him and so sent them both to the afterlife. If he's smug, laid-back and bone idle, she's spiky, focussed and driven. They just don't get on. There's no possible world, living or dead, where they could ever get on. Yet they have to work together. And hovering in the background is Jamie's ex-girlfriend Caroline, who he's completely failed to love and she's left him. So they're all struggling. They're all lost souls. And of course the stress of being dead, of your soul exposed, and of being experimented on by evil spirits, all that tends to crank up the conflict. So there's missed love and disappointment and secret goodness and slow discovery. Such wonderful fun to write!Q. There’s a lot of food mentioned in the books: Afghan (murtabak), Indian (for example, roti prata), Singaporean Chinese (Hainanese Chicken Rice) and Malay (Mee Goreng, Laksa, Nasi Lemak). Have you eaten all these foods? A. Yes. It’s important -- vital research.

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    This Is All I Ask

      Lynn Kurland
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From Lynn Kurland, the New York Times bestselling author of the Nine Kingdom series. Set near the Scottish border at a rugged castle on the edge of the sea, this is the story of a courageous lord who lost everything he held dear. Of a strong young woman willing to sacrifice everything for happiness. Two lost souls who find in each other a reason to live again, to laugh again, and to love for the first time...

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    The Silver Lining

      O. Susmita
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Cancer. A sentence passed. Can they live with it? or will they crumple to its pressure and forget how to live?When facing the most difficult challenge that life can throw at us, can we come together as a family or will we fall apart? It is an everyday battle that Savya and her family, ever since that fateful day when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. It didn't seem fair or reasonable that her mother had to suffer when everybody else just went about their lives unhindered. But, it is what it is and it is time to understand the true meaning of family.

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    Wali: The Boy With Blue Eyes And Their Mystery.

      Isabel Ann
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Story of a boy who loved rabbits.“What is your name?” It was my first question to him. I met him in a park. He was wearing blue trousers and a checked shirt of the same colour. His hairs were combed to one side. And his eyes were beautiful, blue and big. He stared me in the eyes for a few moments and after taking his time answered me “Wali”.Collateral damage is described as damage to things that are incidental to the intended target. It is story of a boy who was not on any side but his own, and story of a mother who wanted nothing but to hold her son. War takes a lot from those who are directly involved and from those who are forcefully involved. Free of age, Era, time, Zone and nations,... about relations, love and heart.Feel free to leave comments.

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    The Head of the House of Coombe

      Frances Hodgson Burnett
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This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

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    Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica

      Zora Neale Hurston
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A firsthand account of the weird mysteries and horrors of voodoo. Tell My Horse is an invaluable resource and fascinating guide. Based on Zora Neale Hurston’s personal experience in Haiti and Jamaica, where she participated as an initiate rather than just an observer of voodoo practices during her visits in the 1930s, this travelogue into a dark world paints a vividly authentic picture of ceremonies and customs and superstitions of great cultural interest.

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    Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains

      Jon Krakauer
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No one writes about mountaineering and its attendant victories and hardships more brilliantly than Jon Krakauer. In this collection of his finest essays and reporting, Krakauer writes of mountains from the memorable perspective of one who has himself struggled with solo madness to scale Alaska's notorious Devils Thumb. In Pakistan, the fearsome K2 kills thirteen of the world's most experienced mountain climbers in one horrific summer. In Valdez, Alaska, two men scale a frozen waterfall over a four-hundred-foot drop. In France, a hip international crowd of rock climbers, bungee jumpers, and paragliders figure out new ways to risk their lives on the towering peaks of Mont Blanc. Why do they do it? How do they do it? In this extraordinary book, Krakauer presents an unusual fraternity of daredevils, athletes, and misfits stretching the limits of the possible. From the paranoid confines of a snowbound tent, to the thunderous, suffocating terror of a white-out on Mount McKinley, Eiger Dreams spins tales of driven lives, sudden deaths, and incredible victories. This is a stirring, vivid book about one of the most compelling and dangerous of all human pursuits.

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    Obligation

      Aurora Rose Reynolds
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[ob-li-gey-shuh n] An obligation is a course of action that someone is required to take, whether legal or moral. At six years old, Myla was sent to a family her father and mother had chosen for her when they knew their time on earth was almost up. What they were unaware of was what they thought would be her safe haven would become her living hell. Kai has been watching Myla from afar since he took over the family business from his father and inherited the responsibility of keeping her safe. When word gets back to Kai that Myla is not only in danger, but that his assets are being compromised, he immediately jumps into action and does the only thing that can be done at the time by marrying her. Neither Myla nor Kai would have thought that something that started off as a farce would become the most important thing either of them could've ever done.

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    Saving Wishes

      G. J. Walker-Smith
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For Charli Blake, being seventeen is a tough gig. She's been branded a troublemaker, her reputation is in tatters and she's stuck in Pipers Cove, a speck of a town on the coast of Tasmania. Thankfully, it's temporary. Her lifelong dream of travelling the world is just months away from becoming reality. All she has to do is ride out the last few months of high school, which is easier said than done thanks to a trio of mean girls known as The Beautifuls. When Adam Décarie arrives in town, all the way from New York, life takes an unexpected turn. His arrival sets off a chain of events that alters her life forever, convincing her of one thing. Fate brought him to her.

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    Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems

      James Baldwin
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All of the published poetry of James Baldwin, including six significant poems previously only available in a limited edition During his lifetime (1924–1987), James Baldwin authored seven novels, as well as several plays and essay collections, which were published to wide-spread praise. These books, among them Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next Time, Giovanni’s Room, and Go Tell It on the Mountain, brought him well-deserved acclaim as a public intellectual and admiration as a writer. However, Baldwin’s earliest writing was in poetic form, and Baldwin considered himself a poet throughout his lifetime. Nonetheless, his single book of poetry, Jimmy’s Blues, never achieved the popularity of his novels and nonfiction, and is the one and only book to fall out of print. This new collection presents James Baldwin the poet, including all nineteen poems from Jimmy’s Blues, as well as all the poems from a limited-edition volume called Gypsy, of which only 325 copies were ever printed and which was in production at the time of his death. Known for his relentless honesty and startlingly prophetic insights on issues of race, gender, class, and poverty, Baldwin is just as enlightening and bold in his poetry as in his famous novels and essays. The poems range from the extended dramatic narratives of “Staggerlee wonders” and “Gypsy” to the lyrical beauty of “Some days,” which has been set to music and interpreted by such acclaimed artists as Audra McDonald. Nikky Finney’s introductory essay reveals the importance, relevance, and rich rewards of these little-known works. Baldwin’s many devotees will find much to celebrate in these pages.

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    Claim the Bear

      T. S. Joyce
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Breshia’s world comes crashing down around her when the leader of her lion shifter pride deems her ready to bear a cub. When the mate chosen for her turns out to be the man she loathes, she runs for her life to the sanctuary of Hells Canyon. If she can beg mercy and find her place among the legendary clan of bear shifters there, she just might survive the wrath of her people. Dillon McCain is dead-set on never claiming a mate, but when a submissive lion shifter stumbles into his clan, he’s forced to make a drastic decision to save her from the man she’s running from. If getting to know this shy and alluring stranger isn’t hard enough, she goes into heat, complicating everything further. And if he chooses to give into Breshia’s needs, he’ll deepen their bond and throw his people into the crosshairs of the Portland pride. Love or his clan—either way, Dillon’s choice could alter the fate of the Hells Canyon shifters forever.

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    Chain Letter

      Christopher Pike
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When Alison first read the chain letter signed "Your Caretaker," she thought it was some terrible sick joke. Someone, somewhere knew about that awful night when she and six other friends committed an unthinkable crime in the desolate California desert. And now that person was determined to make them pay for it. One by one, the chain letter was coming to each of them ... demanding dangerous, impossible deeds... threatening violence if the demands were not met. No one out of the seven wanted to believe that this nightmare was really happening to them. Until the accidents started happening -- and the dying...

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    The Glass Lake

      Maeve Binchy
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An incandescent novel of love, obsession, and the secrets that take root in the human heart, by the author of The Copper Beech and Circle Of Friends. Lough Glass is at the heart and soul of the namesake town clinging to its shore. They say that if you go out on St. Agnes' Eve and look into the lake at sunset you can see your future. But beneath its serene surface, the lake harbors secrets as dark and unfathomable as the beautiful woman who night after night walks beside its waters. Lough Glass is home to Kit McMahon, in a way it will never be to her lovely mother, Helen, who does not fit in with the ways of the people of Lough Glass, and who found an unlikely mate in the genial pharmacist Martin McMahon. Kit adores her mother, but can't escape the picture of her, alone at the kitchen table, tears streaming down her face... or walking alone by the glass lake. Then one terrible night Martin's boat is found drifting upside down in the lake. The night Helen is lost. The night Kit discovers a letter on Martin's pillow and burns it, unopened, in the grate. The night everything changes forever. From the Hardcover edition.

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    Five Ways to Fall

      K. A. Tucker
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Purple-haired, sharp-tongued Reese MacKay knows all about making the wrong choice; she’s made plenty of them in her twenty-odd-years. So when her impulsive, short-lived marriage ends in heartbreak, she decides it’s time for a change. She moves to Miami with the intention of hitting reset on her irresponsible life, and she does quite well…aside from an epically humiliating one-night stand in Cancun with a hot blond bouncer named Ben. Thank God she can get on a plane and leave that mistake behind her. Football scholarship and frat parties with hot chicks? Part of charmer Ben Morris’s plan. Blown knee that kills any hope of a professional football career? So not part of the plan. Luckily Ben has brains to go with his knockout looks and magnetism. After three long years of balancing law school with his job as a bouncer at Penny’s Palace, he’s ready to lead a more mature life—until his first day of work, when he finds himself in the office of that crazy, hot chick he met in Cancun. The one he hasn’t stopped thinking about. If Ben truly were a smart guy, he’d stay clear of Reese. She’s the boss’s stepdaughter and it’s been made very clear that office romances are grounds for dismissal. Plus, rumor has it she’s trouble. The only problem is, he likes trouble, especially when it’s so good-looking…

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    A Secret One

      Aleatha Romig
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This is a FREE preview, a prequel novella to ANOTHER ONE. Standing beside my best friend, in front of family and friends, as she proclaims her love to her future husband, my mind should be on her. As maid of honor, I should be attentive and helpful. I’m trying. The problem is the man in the second row—her soon-to-be brother-in-law. Trevor Willis is sweet and sexy with green eyes that hold my attention as well as my secrets. For example: How can his smile make my heart beat faster? Why does his laugh turn my insides to jelly? What is he thinking as his stare heats my skin? And most importantly, how did I end up waking in his hotel suite bed on the morning of my best friend’s wedding to his brother? Learn the answers in A SECRET ONE, a prequel novella to ANOTHER ONE!

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    Straw Into Gold

      Gary D. Schmidt
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What fills a hand fuller than a skein of gold? By order of the king, two boys, Tousle and Innes, must find the answer to this puzzling riddle within seven days or be killed. A former nursemaid to the queen’s child tells the boys that the banished queen may have the answer they seek. Danger presents itself at every turn, for the boys are pursued by the Great Barons, who are secretly plotting against the king. Another pursuer, the greedy King’s Grip, reveals a strange story of a little man who once spun straw into gold of incredible beauty for the queen but then disappeared with her firstborn son. Tousle realizes that the man he calls Da is the strange little man and, even more amazing, that he himself may be the lost prince. Or could it be Innes, who although cruelly blinded can hear the music of the dawn? This skillful blend of fantasy and adventure reveals what might have happened before the queen makes her third and last guess and the story of Rumpelstiltskin—as we know it—ends.

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    Little Miss Stoneybrook... And Dawn

      Ann M. Martin
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Dawn's a little jealous when there's a formal ceremony to welcome Jessi and Mallory into the Baby-sitters Club. Don't people know that Dawn's a special baby-sitter, too? Then it's Dawn's turn to shine. Mrs. Pike wants her to help prepare Margo and Claire for the Little Miss Stoneybrook contest. So what if Margo's only talent is peeling a banana with her feet? Dawn's going to help her charges win that contest any way she can. The only trouble is... Kristy, Mary Anne, and Claudia are helping Karen, Myriah, and Charlotte enter the contest, too. And nobody's sure where the competition is fiercer: at the pageant - or in the Baby-sitters Club!

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    Blood of the Earth

      Faith Hunter
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Set in the same world as the New York Times bestselling Jane Yellowrock novels, an all-new series starring Nell Ingram, who wields powers as old as the earth. When Nell Ingram met skinwalker Jane Yellowrock, she was almost alone in the world, exiled by both choice and fear from the cult she was raised in, defending herself with the magic she drew from her deep connection to the forest that surrounds her. Now, Jane has referred Nell to PsyLED, a Homeland Security agency policing paranormals, and agent Rick LaFleur has shown up at Nell’s doorstep. His appearance forces her out of her isolated life into an investigation that leads to the vampire Blood Master of Nashville. Nell has a team—and a mission. But to find the Master’s kidnapped vassal, Nell and the PsyLED team will be forced to go deep into the heart of the very cult Nell fears, infiltrating the cult and a humans-only terrorist group before time runs out…

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    Return to Night: A Novel

      Mary Renault
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Winner of an MGM prize: A doctor finds love with a talented, handsome younger man—who happens to be her patient Hilary Mansell is a talented young doctor, but she is unlucky in love and still recovering from losing out on a keenly sought appointment, one that was awarded to none other than her former lover. A new position in the scenic Cotswolds offers the balm of tranquillity. But life proves less than placid when Hilary meets Julian on her hospital rounds. He is attractive, intelligent, and recovering from a riding injury. He is also much younger than Hilary and dealing with an overbearing mother. The two lovers are captured in unforgettable richness by Mary Renault’s pen. The intimacy of their feelings, the nuances of romance, and the cadence of pitch-perfect dialogue render Return to Night a love story like no other.

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    Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague

      Marguerite Henry
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Movie men have come to Chincoteague to film the annual Pony Penning, and Paul and Maureen are thrilled—until they learn that the producers want to buy their beloved Misty. Reluctantly, they agree to sell in order to send their uncle to college. But how will they ever fill the lonely place that Misty leaves behind? Finding an orphaned colt helps Paul and Maureen deal with their loss, and they soon discover that little Sea Star needs them just as much as they need him.

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