Wanderlust: Where Faith Becomes Love

      Dave Cenker
     Wanderlust: Where Faith Becomes Love

Through encouragement provided by his loyal golden retriever, Damon travels across many states, both geographically and philosophically, to discover what it means to have faith and hope - and how those feelings transform into love on many different levels.Damon’s relocation to a small town on the coast of Maine was not his decision. It was a recurring situation in his life – allowing others to dictate his actions. With his loyal golden retriever beside him, a serendipitous combination of chance encounters and a healthy dose of faith allows Damon to appreciate what it means to live a meaningful life. His adventures cross as many state lines as it does states of mind. A story of discovery, hope, faith, and love – there is a little piece of Damon present in each and every one of us.

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    Ten In One Scopes

      Gerrard Wllson
     Ten In One Scopes

The toy from my childhood days that I loved the most was my Ten In One Scope. These instruments, these scientific instruments (printed upon each box, it stated, ‘scientific instrument, not a toy’) were everything us boys wanted, and then some. The girls in our school had no interest in them, and that suited us boys just fine. Another MAD story, an eBook from the Crazymad Writer.The toy from my childhood days that I will always remember is my Ten In One Scope. These instruments, these scientific instruments (printed upon each box, it stated, ‘scientific instrument, not a toy’) were everything us boys wanted, and then some. The girls in our school had absolutely no interest in them, and that suited us boys just fine. It left us free, at playtime, to indulge our favourite pastime – playing with our Ten in One Scopes. According to the advertising literature, our ‘scientific instruments’ could be manipulated to perform ten entirely different functions: 1. Reading Lens 2. Compound Microscope 3. Adjustable Telescope 4. Focusing Binoculars 5. Directional Compass 6. Solar Time Clock 7. Flat Mirror 8. Magnifying Mirror 9. Camp Fire Lighter 10. Code TransmitterHow we came into possession of these fantastic instruments is a story unto itself. You see, they were on offer from the cereal company that produced Weetabix. All that we had to do, to get our hands on them, was collect the special tokens from the Weetabix boxes (I cannot remember how many were needed, but it must have been quite a few because the girls in our school, feeling sorry for us boys, gave us theirs). When we each had enough tokens, we posted them and waited for our 'instruments' to arrive in the post. An eBook especially for YOU.

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    The Abominables

      Eva Ibbotson
     The Abominables

Renowned literary great Eva Ibbotson delivers a final novel in her classic, much-loved style. A previously unpublished work from this favorite author, The Abominables follows a family of yetis who are forced, by tourism, to leave their home in the Himalayas and make their way across Europe to a possible new home. Siblings Con and Ellen shepherd the yetis along their eventful journey, with the help of Perry, a good-natured truck driver. Through a mountain rescue in the Alps and a bullfight in Spain, the yetis at last find their way to an ancestral estate in England—only to come upon a club of voracious hunters who have set their sights on the most exotic prey of all: the Abominable Snowmen. Briskly funny and full of incident, The Abominables is vintage Ibbotson. With unforgettable characters and thoughtful messages about the environment and advocacy, it’s a generous last gift to her many devoted fans. Praise for The Abominables STARRED REVIEWS "A satiric farewell from a favorite author." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "A memorable finale to a treasured body of work." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "The novel is full of whimsy, charm, and sly humor. The yetis will tug at readers’ heartstrings and make them laugh. The writing is lean, witty, and subtle. Ibbotson manages to touch on ethical messages of human rights, advocacy, and environmentalism without being obvious." --*School Library Journal "*The writing is skillful, precise, and frequently funny, and it offers an effective counterbalance to some of the story’s more serious social criticism..." --Bulletin of The Center for Children’s Books "Readers will enjoy Ibbotson's final book." --Library Media Connection

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    Wanted

      Terry Compton
     Wanted

Josh Gunn detests space pirates. When he and his android partner, Cherry Kang, tangle with a bad one, they crash their shot-up spaceship in unfamiliar territory. Struggling to survive, they find a crazy alien who talks to an invisible partner, giant energy eating snakes and a new enemy. This enemy threatens to destroy a planet along with millions of people. Now Josh and Cherry are hunting them.Josh Gunn detests space pirates. He hunts them down and brings them to justice – one way or another. When he and his android partner Cherry Kang close in on one of the worst, the fireworks start. After the big explosion, they wake up in a different galaxy with their spaceship crashed on an asteroid and shot to smithereens. When they get a derelict spaceship ready to fly with parts from their ruined ship and escape, Josh finds something he hates worse than pirates. Josh Gunn and Cherry Kang intend to hunt every last one of them down and make sure they pay.

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    Hope

      John Stevenson
     Hope

Nicholas learns the secret of Basilisk, but will a machine be enough to face the Marshal and the might of the Drakken alone.The gods have played the Great Game for eons, and worlds have hung in the balance. Some worlds have survived, some have been destroyed, and some of the playing fields have existed in a draw. The last game nearly brought about the destruction of man and god alike, requiring drastic measures to reset the board. Now, the current iteration of the Great Game draws to a close, the winner nearly decided. All the gods have played their parts, save one. The God of Chaos has been unbound, the rules granting him one last move... But this particular god hates doing what is expected.

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    Tom Collivander and the Order of the Thunderbird, A Potter Parody

      Jonathan Lockwood
     Tom Collivander and the Order of the Thunderbird, A Potter Parody

Tom Collivander, nephew of the legendary wand maker Garrick Collivander, joins Hogwash in his 5th year as a transfer student from Durmprang. He's exceptionally talented but mostly unheard of. Albus Dumby takes advantage of the oppourtunity and uses Tom as a spy in his master plan to rid the world of Lord Moldywart.Tom Collivander, nephew of the legendary wand maker Garrick Collivander, joins Hogwash in his 5th year as a transfer student from Durmprang. He's exceptionally talented but mostly unheard of. Albus Dumby takes advantage of the oppourtunity and uses Tom as a spy in his master plan to rid the world of Lord Moldywart. Along the way, Tom has to deal with the idiot boy that is Harry Trotter and becomes best friends with the most unlikely creature imaginable.This book is a clear parody of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I just created it for fun. I'm not trying to make any money or devauled the original works in any way.

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    The Compound

      Darrel Bird
     The Compound

Paul Murphy has had his house blown up, his wife killed, his job gone, and he hits the road walking with the clothes on his back. He is picked up by a man and woman who is heading for a safe compound in Colorado, but is that a safe place? Please review this free storyThank youThe authorYou’re walking down the street, all alone, in the dead of night. Darkness swallows everything around you except for the one streetlight that illuminates a small patch of the sidewalk. You begin to get the feeling that something is following you, so you start moving faster. You don’t run but you quicken your pace, just to be safe. That’s when you hear a low growl that makes all of the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up. You turn around, regretting the decision immediately, to see a bear standing before you about to swallow you whole. Ha. I’m just kidding, that would be ridiculous…it’s really a werewolf. My life hasn’t changed: I hunt down horrifying monsters, that haunt you in stories and your dreams, and kill them, then I look for the next monsters terrorizing people and kill them too. It is a dazzling lifestyle. But now there are ancient creatures no one even knew existed rising from the depths of who knows where. Whatever the monsters are gathering for is going to happen soon and it is not going to be pleasant.I might be able to stop the horror that is coming to us, but I might not. I guess the only way for you to find out is to read this. Beware, however, for my stories are not for the feint of heart.This book is a collection of short stories that were originally posted on my blog. You can visit there, cjpikebooks.wordpress.com, for more hunting.

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    Island of Dragons

      Lisa McMann
     Island of Dragons

Twins Alex and Aaron Stowe are put to the ultimate test to fulfill their destinies and save both Quill and Artimé from the deadliest enemy the cities have ever faced in the thrilling conclusion of the New York Times bestselling Unwanteds series, which Kirkus Reviews called “The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter.” Head mage Alexander Stowe and his friends successfully fended off the latest threat to their magical world of Artimé with the help of a surprise ally. But old enemies have secretly been plotting against them. Now Alex must lead his people in a final epic battle, one they can’t hope to win alone. Will Artimé finally know peace or will all they’ve fought for be destroyed forever? - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/I...

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    Dragon's Green

      Scarlett Thomas
     Dragon's Green

Effie Truelove believes in magic, as does her grandfather Griffin (although he refuses to do any magic, let alone teach Effie how to use it). After a mysterious incident leaves Griffin close to death, Effie is given an unusual silver ring and told she must look after her grandfather’s library of rare and powerful books. But then the books fall into the hands of shady scholar Leonard Levar, and Effie is propelled into the most dangerous adventure of her life. Now, Effie and her friends—nerdy Maximilian, rugby-mad Wolf, helpful Lexy, and eccentric Raven—must discover their true powers if they are to get the books back. And Effie alone will have to travel to the Otherworld, where she will uncover the true meaning of the strange old book called Dragon’s Green…

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    The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

      Daniel Defoe
     The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

"My true name is so well known in the records or registers at Newgate, and in the Old Bailey, and there are some things of such consequence still depending there, relating to my particular conduct, that it is not be expected I should set my name or the account of my family to this work; perhaps, after my death, it may be better known; at present it would not be proper, nor not though a general pardon should be issued, even without exceptions and reserve of persons or crimes. It is enough to tell you, that as some of my worst comrades, who are out of the way of doing me harm (having gone out of the world by the steps and the string, as I often expected to go), knew me by the name of Moll Flanders, so you may give me leave to speak of myself under that name till I dare own who I have been, as well as who I am." This book has a beautiful glossy cover and a blank page for the dedication.

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    NovaForge

      Scott Toney
     NovaForge

On Solaris, a planet eons old, souls from the crust of a meteor give inhuman powers to their symbiotic pairs. Good battles evil to survive.Solaris. A planet like any other, rife with wars, science and love. But at the peak of its civilization, a great meteor fell, bringing long-dead souls to Solaris, souls that had been sustained by the life-force of one lone man, Ineal.At the moment of impact, these souls scattered across Solaris, giving inhuman abilities to mortals while scarring their bodies and corrupting their lives.Samuel was one such man, a man of faith who thought to use his powers to worship his God: he watched his followers, and his planet, die. Seas turned to lava and the skies darkened. And as Samuel’s heart grew weary and angry, he used his powers to manipulate the world to serve him alone.Samuel became god of a planet whose only life was the symbiotic life so like his own.Centuries later, he discovered others, threats that had not been on this planet before. A winged woman; a cyborg; a future-seer and a child. A great vengeance burned a comradery between them.They were souls that could overthrow him. Souls that he would need to destroy.An excerpt:Darkness consumed Ineal as the voices tore at his thoughts. The sole survivor of the planet Eon, he wanted to shut off his brain, to destroy his consciousness and be nothing. But the voices would not let him.The planets’ souls, he thought, encased in this meteor hurtling through space. The souls of dead planets destroyed us. I am the last. They take me for their own.He did not know when the essences of dead planets first came to Eon. Men and women bonded with them, inviting the haunting gaseous essences to their bodies and allowing the essences to become necessary symbiotes of the flesh. The symbiosis with the dead planetary souls gave his people powers and abilities beyond their dreams. But the price, the price of the flesh was great, and an ultimate death of sacrifice and pain was given in return. Ineal was the last, and the only being of Eon who had not accepted them into his flesh.But you took me, he thought as they spoke with their unintelligible voices, whispering in a constant echo through his mind. When my planet died you came to me. You took my body to keep yourselves alive. They kept him alive too, feeding him their energy as they fed off his living essence.Millennia of time passed as the meteor orbited the solar system.Ineal could take no more. Rock pressed against him, suffocating his thoughts.He closed his mind, pulling blackness from the void beyond and urging it to destroy him and the planetary souls, so that whatever planet they would go to next might be spared.His mind’s darkness came. He forgot speech. He forgot sight. He forgot love. But the essences would not release his life force and the greatness it became in their harnessing embrace. They would not allow him to forget primal sense.Then, in that rawness of life, where he was barely being at all, he sensed a planet. They had intended this new planet as their destination from the start.The essences’ telekinetic connection pulled away from him, severing the symbiosis and sending searing heat through his form.There was a moment of silence for Ineal, of freedom. Then came the violent crack of stone, as meteor met planet. A great boom consumed him. Ineal’s consciousness was lost… almost. But his essence lingered somehow in the planet’s form. The planetary essences fled their transport, consuming life and searching for prey.

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    Now You See It . . .

      Vivian Vande Velde
     Now You See It . . .

Wendy isn't as blind as a bat--there are bats that can see better than she can. Which is why, when her new glasses break, she's all too happy to wear the dorky pair of sunglasses she finds on the lawn. They seem to match her prescription, and that's all that matters if she's going to be able to make it through her school day. But the glasses correct her vision too much. She begins to see things that no one else can see: cheerful corpses, frightening crones disguised as teenyboppers, and portals to other worlds--places where people are all too aware of the magical properties of her new shades . . . and will do anything to get them.

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    Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country

      Louise Erdrich
     Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country

For more than twenty years Louise Erdrich has dazzled readers with the intricately wrought, deeply poetic novels which have won her a place among today's finest writers. Her nonfiction is equally eloquent, and this lovely memoir offers a vivid glimpse of the landscape, the people, and the long tradition of storytelling that give her work its magical, elemental force. In a small boat like those her Native American ancestors have used for countless generations, she travels to Ojibwe home ground, the islands of Lake of the Woods in southern Ontario. Her only companions are her new baby and the baby's father, an Ojibwe spiritual leader, on a pilgrimage to the sacred rock paintings their people have venerated for centuries as mystical "teaching and dream guides," and where even today Ojibwe leave offerings of tobacco in token of their power. With these paintings as backdrop, Erdrich summons to life the Ojibwe's spirits and songs, their language and sorrows, and the tales that are in their blood, echoing through her own family's very contemporary American lives and shaping her vision of the wider world. Thoughtful, moving, and wonderfully well observed, her meditation evokes ancient wisdom, modern ways, and the universal human concerns we all share. "This book is a treasure and a delight."—Minneapolis Star Tribune From the Trade Paperback edition.

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