The Parliament of Birds

      Geoffrey Chaucer
     The Parliament of Birds

In this collection of poems, among his very best, Chaucer showcases his lyrical skills to perfection. Verging from tragic to comic, the overriding theme of the poetry is love, in its many guises. Chaucer tells of his passion for reading, which allows him to eavesdrop on a "parliament of birds" on St Valentine’s Day; he tells how he, as an inveterate reader, forsakes his books on the first of May to wander into the fields; he complains of being short of money; and he complains to his scribe for copying his verses badly. All in all, in the course of the poetry he reveals a lot about himself, and does so throughout in an engaging and civilized manner.

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    The Edge

      Catherine Coulter
     The Edge

FBI agent Ford "Mac" MacDougal is recovering from injuries he received in a terrorist car bombing when his sister, Jilly, a medical researcher, drives her Porsche off an Oregon cliff - on purpose, it seems. Curiously, even though he was in a hospital bed on the other side of the country, Mac feels as if he were in the car with her as she sails towards the sea. By the time Mac arrives in Portland, Jilly has come out of the coma she's been in for four days. But after only a few hours with her brother, she vanishes without a trace. In searching for her, Mac hears a different story from everyone he encounters. When the local sheriff enlist his aid in the puzzling murder of an elderly resident, Mac doesn't suspect that the case connects to his sister's disappearance. FBI agents Lace Sherlock and Dillon Savich (last seen in The Target) join Mac to ride shotgun. Not knowing whom to trust and whom to suspect, they must escape relentless pursuers before unearthing the tentacles of evil undermining The Edge.

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    The Last Stage Coachman

      Wilkie Collins
     The Last Stage Coachman

Wilkie Collins was an English novelist and playwright. Collins was also a lifelong friend of the legendary writer Charles Dickens with whom he worked with on some plays and other fictional works. In total Collins was the author of 30 novels, 14 plays and more than 60 short stories with his best known works being The Woman in White and The Moonstone. This edition of Collins’ The Last Stage Coachman includes a Table of Contents.

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    The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

      Jean-Dominique Bauby
     The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

‘Locked-in syndrome: paralysed from head to toe, the patient, his mind intact, is imprisoned inside his own body, unable to speak or move. In my case, blinking my left eyelid is my only means of communication.’ In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French ‘Elle’ and the father of two young children, suffered a massive stroke and found himself paralysed and speechless, but entirely conscious, trapped by what doctors call ‘locked-in syndrome’. Using his only functioning muscle – his left eyelid – he began dictating this remarkable story, painstakingly spelling it out letter by letter. His book offers a haunting, harrowing look inside the cruel prison of locked-in syndrome, but it is also a triumph of the human spirit.

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    Redemolished

      Alfred Bester
     Redemolished

Before his untimely death in 1987, Alfred Bester had established himself as one of the world's greatest science fiction writers. From radio to television, short fiction to full-length novels, he created a body of work that will be continued to be enjoyed by generations of readers for all time. Now, Redemolished brings together, for the first time in one volume, the full range of his genius: The never before printed, complete 3,000 word prologue of his classic novel The Demolished Man. The extraordinary classic science-fiction tale, "Hell is Forever" Bester's shocking pre-cyberpunk stories, such as "The Four Hour Fuge" Included in this special edition are Bester's writings on such noted celebrites as Woody Allen, Rex Stout, and Isaac Asimov. Contents 7 • Introduction (Redemolished) • (2000) • essay by Richard Raucci 13 • The Probable Man • (1941) • novelette by Alfred Bester 64 • Hell Is Forever • (1942) • novella by Alfred Bester 165 • The Push of a Finger • (1942) • novella by Alfred Bester 217 • The Roller Coaster • (1953) • shortstory by Alfred Bester 227 • The Lost Child • shortfiction by Alfred Bester 231 • I Will Never Celebrate New Year's Again • (1963) • shortstory by Alfred Bester 237 • Out of This World • (1964) • shortstory by Alfred Bester 250 • The Animal Fair • (1972) • novelette by Alfred Bester 298 • Something Up There Likes Me • (1973) • shortstory by Alfred Bester 327 • The Four-Hour Fugue • (1974) • shortstory by Alfred Bester 351 • Gourmet Dining in Outer Space • (1960) • essay by Alfred Bester 362 • Place of the Month: The Moon • essay by Alfred Bester 366 • The Sun • essay by Alfred Bester 379 • Science Fiction and the Renaissance Man • (1959) • essay by Alfred Bester 400 • A Diatribe Against Science Fiction • essay by Alfred Bester 405 • The Perfect Composite Science Fiction Author • essay by Alfred Bester 412 • My Affair With Science Fiction • (1974) • essay by Alfred Bester 446 • John Huston's Unsentimental Journey • (1959) • essay by Alfred Bester 458 • Rex Stout • (1967) • interview of Rex Stout • interview by Alfred Bester 471 • Conversation with Woody Allen • (1969) • interview of Woody Allen • interview by Alfred Bester 481 • Isaac Asimov • (1973) • interview of Isaac Asimov • interview by Alfred Bester 485 • Robert Heinlein • (1973) • interview of Robert A. Heinlein • interview by Alfred Bester 492 • The Demolished Man: the Deleted Prologue • shortfiction by Alfred Bester 504 • Writing and The Demolished Man • essay by Alfred Bester 513 • In Memoriam: Alfred Bester (1913-1987) • essay by Gregory Benford and Isaac Asimov

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    The Red and the Green (Vintage Classics)

      Iris Murdoch
     The Red and the Green (Vintage Classics)

As the Easter Rebellion looms, tension mounts in the rain-soaked streets of Dublin. Tension is also ratcheting up at home. Pat Dumay is a Catholic and an Irish patriot. His relentlessly pious mother pursues her own private war with his stepfather, a man sunk in religious speculation and drink. Meanwhile Pat's Protestant soldier cousin, Andrew Chase-White, puzzles out his complex emotions about Ireland and the girl he loves. Weaving between them moves Millie Kinnard: fast, feminist, and only just respectable.

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    When It Happens

      Susane Colasanti
     When It Happens

At the start of her senior year in high school, Sara wants two things: to get into a top college and to find true love.Tobey also wants two things for his senior year: to win Battle of the Bands and to make Sara fall in love with him. However, a popular jock named Dave moves in on Sara first. But Tobey's quirky wit and big blue eyes are hard for Sara to ignore. Plus, he gets the little things that matter to her. Can a slacker rock-star wannabe win the heart of a pretty class brain like Sara? Hilariously and movingly told through Tobey and Sara's authentic voices, Susane Colasanti's debut novel sizzles in its portrayal of two young people searching for The One.

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    Handle With Care

      Jodi Picoult
     Handle With Care

When Willow is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, her parents are devastated--she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain. Every expectant parent will tell you that they don't want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they'd been given the choice. Instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of "luckier" parents, and maybe worst of all, the what-ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? But it's all worth it because Willow is, funny as it seems, perfect. She's smart as a whip, on her way to being as pretty as her mother, kind, brave, and for a five-year-old an unexpectedly deep source of wisdom. Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health. Everything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and her husband to confront the most serious what-ifs of all. What if Charlotte had known earlier of Willow's illness? What if things could have been different? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more. What constitutes a valuable life?

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    Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

      Hans Christian Andersen
     Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales are like exquisite jewels, drawing from us gasps of recognition and delight. Andersen created intriguing and unique characters -- a tin soldier with only one leg but a big heart, a beetle nestled deep in a horse's mane but harboring high aspirations. Each one of us at some time, has been touched by one of Andersen's Fairy Tales. Here you'll find his classic tales such as: "The Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, "and "The Ugly Duckling," 38 of your favorite tales in all. This deluxe Children's Classic edition is produced with high-quality, leatherlike binding with gold stamping, full-color covers, colored endpapers with a book nameplate. Some of the other titles in this series include: Anne of Green Gables, Black Beauty, Heidi, King Arthur and His Knights and The Secret Garden.

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    Girl Online Going Solo

      Zoe Sugg
     Girl Online Going Solo

As Penny starts the school year she's ready to face the world - alone. Noah has gone off the radar after ending his world tour early and no one, including Penny, knows where he is. So when she accepts Megan's invitation to visit her performing arts school it seems like an opportunity to make some new friends. Helping everyone else seems to be the right remedy - Elliot needs her friendship more than ever, and she meets Posey, who she can really help with her stage fright. But is charming Scottish boy Callum the right kind of distraction? And can Penny truly move on when Noah's shadow seems to haunt her round every corner? Book three in the number-one bestselling Girl Online series.

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    Call It Sleep

      Henry Roth
     Call It Sleep

When Henry Roth published Call It Sleep, his first novel, in 1934, it was greeted with critical acclaim. But in that dark Depression year, books were hard to sell, and the novel quickly dropped out of sight, as did its twenty-eight-year-old author. Only with its paperback publication in 1964 did the novel receive the recognition it deserves. Call It Sleep was the first paperback ever to be reviewed on the front page of The New York Times Book Review, and it proceeded to sell millions of copies both in the United States and around the world. Call It Sleep is the magnificent story of David Schearl, the “dangerously imaginative” child coming of age in the slums of New York.

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    When I Was Mortal

      Javier Marías
     When I Was Mortal

Victims of mistaken identity, sponging relatives, amateur sleuths, eavesdroppers, professional liars, assassins, and failed bodyguards populate the short stories in When I Was Mortal. Plots turn on curious exigencies—a woman about to star in her first porn film; a night doctor who adds new meaning to "specialist"; a ghost whose neglect is greatly resented. "In the space of ten or twenty pages," as the Nouvel Observateur remarked, "Marías contrives to write a novel." "The short story fits Marías like a glove," as Le Point noted, and these stories have been acclaimed as "dazzling" (The London Times Literary Supplement); "formidably intelligent" (The London Review of Books); and "startling" (The New York Times Book Review).

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    Sanctuary

      William Faulkner
     Sanctuary

A powerful novel examining the nature of evil, informed by the works of T. S. Eliot and Freud, mythology, local lore, and hardboiled detective fiction, Sanctuary is the dark, at times brutal, story of the kidnapping of Mississippi debutante Temple Drake, who introduces her own form of venality into the Memphis underworld where she is being held.

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    From a Certain Point of View

      Renee Ahdieh
     From a Certain Point of View

40 Years. 40 Stories. In honor of the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope, this unique anthology features Star Wars stories by bestselling authors, trendsetting artists, and treasured voices from Star Wars’ literary history. Over 40 authors have lent their unique vision to 40 “scenes,” each retelling a different moment from the original Star Wars film, but with a twist: every scene is told from the point of view of a seemingly minor character. Whether it’s the X-wing pilots who helped Luke destroy the Death Star or the stormtroopers who never did find the droids they were looking for, Star Wars: From A Certain Point of View places the classic movie in a whole new perspective celebrates the influence and legacy of the unparalleled cultural phenomenon, Star Wars. Contributors include: Ben Acker and Ben Blacker - Renee Ahdieh - Tom Angleberger - Meg Cabot - Rae Carson - Zoraida Cordova - Delilah S. Dawson - Paul Dini - Alexander Freed - Jason Fry - Christie Golden - Claudia Gray - E. K. Johnston and Ashley Eckstein - Paul Kemp - Mur Lafferty - Ken Liu - Griffin McElroy - John Jackson Miller - Nnedi Okorafor - Daniel Jose Older - Mallory Ortberg - Madeleine Roux - Gary D. Schmidt - Cavan Scott - Sabaa Tahir - Glen Weldon - Chuck Wendig - Gary Whitta - And more!

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    Stand-Off

      Andrew Smith
     Stand-Off

It’s his last year at Pine Mountain, and Ryan Dean should be focused on his future, but instead, he’s haunted by his past. His rugby coach expects him to fill the roles once played by his lost friend, Joey, as the rugby team’s stand-off and new captain. And somehow he’s stuck rooming with twelve-year-old freshman Sam Abernathy, a cooking whiz with extreme claustrophobia and a serious crush on Annie Altman—aka Ryan Dean’s girlfriend, for now, anyway. Equally distressing, Ryan Dean’s doodles and drawings don’t offer the relief they used to. He’s convinced N.A.T.E. (the Next Accidental Terrible Experience) is lurking around every corner—and then he runs into Joey’s younger brother Nico, who makes Ryan Dean feel paranoid that he’s avoiding him. Will Ryan Dean ever regain his sanity? From the author of the National Book Award–nominated 100 Sideways Miles, which Kirkus Reviews called “a wickedly witty and offbeat novel,” Stand-Off is filled with hand-drawn infographics and illustrations and delivers the same spot-on teen voice and relatable narrative that legions of readers connected with in Winger.

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