The Dog of the South

      Charles Portis
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The narrator is Ray Midge, down-at-the-heels Southerner after his wife. "Norma had run off with Guy Dupree and I was waiting around for the credit card billings to come in so I could see where they had gone." The fussbudget is assailed by tropical storms, grifters, hippies, car trouble, and candy wrappers at high speed "wind came up through the floor hole in such a way that the Heath wrappers were suspended behind my head in a noisy brown vortex". Leech Dr Reo Symes is a font of dubious financial schemes and fluff such as a circus "fifty-pound rat from the sewers of Paris, France. Of course it didn't really weigh fifty pounds and it wasn't your true rat and it wasn't from Paris, France, either. It was some kind of animal from South America."

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    The Woman Who Walked Into Doors

      Roddy Doyle
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This is the heart-rending story of a woman struggling to reclaim her dignity after a violent, abusive marriage and a worsening drink problem. Paula Spencer recalls her contented childhood, the audacity she learned as a teenager, the exhilaration of her romance with Charlo, and the marriage to him that left her powerless. Capturing both her vulnerability and her strength, Doyle gives Paula a voice that is real and unforgettable.

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    With Your Crooked Heart

      Helen Dunmore
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In "sharp, elegant prose" (Publishers Weekly, starred review), With Your Crooked Heart introduces Louise, a tough and introspective Londoner trapped in a subtle battle between two brothers. Paul and Johnnie were born twelve years apart, in a one-bedroom flat in a dingy London suburb. Their ascent to money and power looks easy from a distance, but the seductive brothers burn those who get too close. When Paul marries Louise, Johnnie is part of the contract, and their daughter, Anna, is tangled in it from birth. Paul deals in the development of contaminated land; self-destructive Johnnie deals in crime. When Johnnie has to flee the country, Louise goes with him. Their trip sets in motion inevitabilities that have smoldered beneath the surface from the beginning, a dire and redemptive chain of events that devastates every branch of this crooked family tree. With Your Crooked Heart's sensuous, daring prose brilliantly exhibits Dunmore's "poet's ear for language and photographer's eye for images" (Newsday) and confirms The Guardian's claim that Dunmore is "an electrifying and original talent."

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    The Green Odyssey

      Philip José Farmer
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The Green Odyssey has been called "rollicking science-fiction adventure," "uproarious," "swashbuckling," and "sheer fun," and described by science-fiction critic Sam Moskowitz as "filled with engaging humor." The adventure begins when Alan Green arranges passage on a "wind roller," a sailing vessel of the plains, by dazzling the captain with a financial scheme that offers rich profits to overcome his reluctance to help a fugitive. Setting "sale" with the captain, Green thinks he's escaped from his dominating wife--but he's wrong. Throw in pirates, floating islands, and a black cat-goddess with a taste for beer, picked up after shipwreck on one of the wandering Islands of the Xurdimur, and you have the recipe for science-fantasy adventure as irresistible as Riverworld itself. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

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    Our Lady of the Flowers

      Jean Genet
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Jean Genet's seminal Our Lady Of The Flowers (1943) is generally considered to be his finest fictional work. The first draft was written while Genet was incarcerated in a French prison; when the manuscript was discovered and destroyed by officials, Genet, still a prisoner, immediately set about writing it again. It isn't difficult to understand how and why Genet was able to reproduce the novel under such circumstances, because Our Lady Of The Flowers is nothing less than a mythic recreation of Genet's past and then - present history. Combining memories with facts, fantasies, speculations, irrational dreams, tender emotion, empathy, and philosophical insights, Genet probably made his isolation bearable by retreating into a world not only of his own making, but one over which he had total control.

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    Escape From Wolfhaven Castle

      Kate Forsyth
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Tell your lord to beware; the wolves smell danger in the wind . . . Wolfhaven Castle has been attacked, and only four escape capture... Tom, trained to scrub pots, not fight; Elanor, the lord's daughter; Sebastian, a knight in training; and Quinn, the witch's apprentice. Somehow, if they are to save their people, these unlikely heroes must find four magical beasts from legend and awaken the sleeping warriors of the past. But first, they have to make it out of the castle alive.

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    Snow in Summer

      Jane Yolen
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With her black hair, red lips, and lily-white skin, Summer is as beautiful as her father's garden. And her life in the mountains of West Virginia seems like a fairy tale; her parents sing and dance with her, Cousin Nancy dotes on her, and she is about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking Summer's mama with him, Summer's fairy-tale life turns grim. Things get even worse when her father marries a woman who brings poisons and magical mirrors into Summer's world. Stepmama puts up a pretty face, but Summer suspects she's up to no good - and is afraid she's powerless to stop her. This Snow White tale filled with magic and intrigue during the early twentieth century in Appalachia will be hard to forget.

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    Dark Pleasures

      M. S. Parker
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It’s not supposed to happen to people like me. Broken, damaged people don't get to fall in love with amazing, handsome men like Rylan Archer. And men like Rylan never look twice at women like me. Except he had. Rylan loves me. I love him, too... and it scares me to death. After the incident with former co-worker Christophe Constantine, twenty-two year-old Jenna Lang knows she can’t run from her past anymore. Forced to confront the demons from her childhood, she's faced with the choice between justice for herself, or saving others like her. Don't miss book 2 in the dark and sizzling Pleasures series by USA Today best-selling author M.S. Parker.

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    Close My Eyes

      Sophie McKenzie
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When Geniver Loxley lost her daughter at birth eight years ago, her world stopped… and never fully started again. Mothers with strollers still make her flinch; her love of writing has turned into a half-hearted teaching career; and she and her husband, Art, have slipped into the kind of rut that seems inescapable. But then a stranger shows up on their doorstep, telling Gen the very thing she’s always wanted to hear: that her daughter Beth was not stillborn, but was taken away as a healthy infant and is still out there, somewhere, waiting to be found. It’s insane, unbelievable. But why would anyone make that up? A fissure suddenly opens up in Gen’s carefully reconstructed life, letting in a flood of unanswerable questions. Where is Beth now? Why is Art so reluctant to get involved? To save his wife from further hurt? Or is it something more sinister? And who can she trust to help her? Ignoring the warnings of her husband and friends, Gen begins to delve into the dark corners of her past, hopeful she’ll find a clue to her daughter’s whereabouts. But hope quickly turns into fear and paranoia, as she realizes that finding the answers might open the door to something even worse than not knowing. A truth that could steal everything she holds close – even her own life.

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    Thief of Time

      Terry Pratchett
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Time is a resource. Everyone knows it has to be managed. And on Discworld that is the job of the Monks of History, who store it and pump it from the places where it's wasted (like underwater -- how much time does a codfish need?) to places like cities, where there's never enough time. But the construction of the world's first truly accurate clock starts a race against, well, time, for Lu Tze and his apprentice Lobsang Ludd. Because it will stop time. And that will only be the start of everyone's problems. Thief of Time comes complete with a full supporting cast of heroes and villains, yetis, martial artists and Ronnie, the fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse (who left before they became famous).

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    The Riddle of the Frozen Flame

      Thomas W. Hanshew and Mary E. Hanshew
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Mr. Maverick Narkom, Superintendent of Scotland Yard, sat before the litter of papers upon his desk. His brow was puckered, his fat face red with anxiety, and there was about him the air of one who has reached the end of his tether. He faced the man opposite, and fairly ground his teeth upon his lower lip. "Dash it, Cleek!" he said for the thirty-third time, "I don't know what to make of it, I don't, indeed! The thing's at a deadlock. Hammond reports to me this morning that another bank in Hendon-a little one-horse affair-has been broken into. That makes the third this week, and as usual every piece of gold is gone. Not a bank note touched, not a bond even fingered. And the thief-or thieves-made as clean a get-away as you ever laid your eyes on! I tell you, man, it's enough to send an average person daft! The whole of Scotland Yard's been on the thing, and we haven't traced 'em yet! What do you make of it, old chap?" --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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    Bloody Little Secrets

      Karly Kirkpatrick
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17-year-old Vicky Hernandez has a big problem. She's dead. Or not quite. After discovering she's been turned into a vampire, she tries to settle into a quiet suburb of Chicago and return to a normal life. If only she could stop wanting to bite her boyfriend. Not to mention she is dying to find out who turned her, and why. She doesn't have to wait long before they come to her.***New Blood, the sequel to Bloody Little Secrets is coming in April 2014!***Fans of Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and Buffy, The Vampire Slayer will appreciate this fresh and funny take on YA vampire fiction.Some secrets don't stay buried. Neither did Vicky.17-year-old Vicky Hernandez has a big problem. She's dead. Or not quite. After discovering she's been turned into a vampire, she tries to settle into a quiet suburb of Chicago and return to a normal life. If only she could stop wanting to bite her boyfriend. Not to mention she is dying to find out who turned her, and why. She doesn't have to wait long before they come to her. Bloody Little Secrets is a full novel at 55,000 words.Karly Kirkpatrick is a teacher by day and a writer by night. Her list of titles include her YA novels, Into the Shadows, Darkness Rising, After Dawn, The Green, and a selection of short stories, including EIGHT and Negatives. You can find out more about Karly and her writing at her website.

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    The House at Pooh Corner

      A. A. Milne
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Winnie-the-Pooh, the Best Bear in All the World, has long been adored by readers young and old. In this beautiful full-color gift edition of "The House at Pooh Corner, " Ernest H. Shepard's classic illustrations have been painstakingly hand-colored. An exquisite volume and the perfect gift for any occasion, this book is as vivid and charming as the beloved characters from the Hundred Acre Wood.

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    Why the Star Stands Still (Gives Light #4)

      Rose Christo
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(This title is discontinued, but will remain free for download.)"Your dad's Indian. Your mom's black. Why are you white?"Skylar St. Clair's been getting questions like these all his life. Skylar's home is the Nettlebush Indian Reserve; his family, the hundreds of Plains Shoshone living there. Skylar can't help it if he better resembles his biological mother, a woman whose untimely death left him with more secrets than memories. Skylar's father has been in federal prison for the past fifteen years. The summer of his release coincides with familial matters of a different nature: Skylar and his husband are trying to adopt a daughter.Piecing together a fragmented family is no small task. All the patience in the world cannot contend with thirty-three years of reticence.But love can.

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    The Year of the Crocodile

      Courtney Milan
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Tina Chen and Blake Reynolds have been together for almost a year. In that time, they’ve grown closer on just about every front. The one exception? Blake’s father has never let anything stop him. Tina’s parents have never let anyone push them around. And they’ve never met. That’s about to change. But don’t worry—fireworks are traditional at Chinese New Years.

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    Rogue Light

      Brian Nyaude
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Journey into a world where oblivion awaits, and watch how one young man rises to become a destined legend.Rid is not your average thief, he was once a proud and arrogant prince of a nation called Rogue. However, Rid lost everything he held dear when his step brother framed him for a heinous crime, causing him to get banished far away into the outside cruel world. Thanks to two new friends he makes on the way, he learns to become deceitful, lying, dirty minded, and cunning as a way to survive his new environment. On a fateful day, the three ambush a merchant caravan carrying three sacred and powerful weapons, only to fall into a dangerous trap. Rid’s friends get captured by an evil tyrant woman named Katarina Fox and he must venture into oblivion to rescue them. Legions among legions of terrible monsters, evil humans, and treacherous cities await him, threatening to engulf him completely. Despite his many flaws, destiny has chosen him to be the one to shed light into his dark and madness consumed world.

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    Explain That to a Martian

      Gary Weston
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This for Nadia. It was three in the morning, and I had a Martian in my house. Just how drunk was I? But here he was, looking like something molded out of play doh. What else could I do but have another drink and make us fish finger sandwiches.Three in the morning. I was drunk. Nothing new there. I needed to pee, and found "Joe" in my lounge.Don't get me wrong. Joe's a nice guy. He just happens to come from Mars. So, we talked a while, had fish finger sandwiches, he asked a lot of stupid questions, and I'm still drunk.

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