Seeing Voices
Oliver Sacks
Like The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, this is a fascinating voyage into a strange and wonderful land, a provocative meditation on communication, biology, adaptation, and culture. In Seeing Voices, Oliver Sacks turns his attention to the subject of deafness, and the result is a deeply felt portrait of a minority struggling for recognition and respect — a minority with its own rich, sometimes astonishing, culture and unique visual language, an extraordinary mode of communication that tells us much about the basis of language in hearing people as well. Seeing Voices is, as Studs Terkel has written, "an exquisite, as well as revelatory, work." From the Trade Paperback edition.
Train Dreams
Denis Johnson
Denis Johnson's Train Dreams is an epic in miniature, one of his most evocative and poignant fictions. It is the story of Robert Grainier, a day laborer in the American West at the start of the twentieth century---an ordinary man in extraordinary times. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainer struggles to make sense of this strange new world. As his story unfolds, we witness both his shocking personal defeats and the radical changes that transform America in his lifetime. Suffused with the history and landscapes of the American West, this novella captures the disappearance of a distinctly American way of life.
The Twelfth Imam
Joel C. Rosenberg
Tensions are rising in the Middle East. Iran’s president vows to annihilate the United States and Israel. Israel’s prime minister says someone must hit Iran’s nuclear sites “before it’s too late.” The American president warns against a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and says negotiations are the key to finding peace. And amid it all, rumors are swirling throughout the region of a mysterious religious cleric claiming to be the Islamic messiah known as the Mahdi or the Twelfth Imam. Word of his miracles, healings, signs, and wonders are spreading like wildfire. CIA operative David Shirazi was born for this moment. He is recruited and sent into Tehran with one objective: use all means necessary to disrupt Iran’s nuclear weapons program, without leaving American fingerprints and without triggering an apocalyptic new war. But time is running out.
Losing Nelson
Barry Unsworth
Barry Unsworth’s Losing Nelson is a novel of obsession, the story of a man unable to see himself separately from the hero he mistakenly idolizes Admiral Lord Nelson. Charles Cleasby is, in fact, a Nelson biographer run amok. He is convinced that Nelson—Britain's greatest admiral, who finally defeated Napoleon, and lost his own life, in the Battle of Trafalgar—is the perfect hero, but in his research he has come upon an incident of horrifying brutality in Nelson's military career that simply stumps all attempts at glorification.
Dead Man's Time
Peter James
In Dead Man's Time, the latest from international bestselling author Peter James, Roy Grace finds himself up against that most dangerous of all adversaries—a man with fury in his heart who has nothing to lose. New York, 1922. Five-year-old Gavin Daly and his seven-year-old sister, Aileen, are boarding the SS Mauretania to Dublin—and safety. Their mother has been shot and their Irish mobster father abducted. Suddenly, a messenger hands Gavin a piece of paper on which are written four names and eleven numbers, a cryptic message that will haunt him all his life, and his father's pocket watch. As the ship sails, Gavin watches Manhattan fade into the dusk and makes a promise, that one day he will return and find his father. Brighton, 2012. Detective Superintendent Roy Grace investigates a savage burglary in Brighton, in which an old lady is murdered and £10m of antiques have been taken, including a rare vintage watch. To Grace’s surprise, the antiques are unimportant to her family—it is the watch they want back. As his investigation probes deeper, he realizes he has kicked over a hornets nest of new and ancient hatreds. At its heart is one man, Gavin Daly, the dead woman’s ninety-five-year-old brother. He has a score to settle and a promise to keep—both of which lead to a murderous trail linking the antiques world of Brighton, the crime fraternity of Spain’s Marbella, and New York.Roy Grace, in a race against the clock to stop another killing, has met his most dangerous adversary yet.**
Dragon Age Book 3: Asunder
David Gaider
A mystical killer stalks the halls of the White Spire, the heart of templar power in the mighty Orlesian Empire. To prove his innocence, Rhys reluctantly embarks on a journey into the western wastelands that will not only reveal much more than he bargained for but change the fate of his fellow mages forever.
The Siren Song
Anne Ursu
Inside an ordinary middle school in an ordinary city, a small redheaded eighth grader is doing something very ordinary, indeed. Ever since Charlotte Mielswetzski and her cousin, Zee, saved the world, life has been rather ordinary. Ordinary, that is, if you call being ultramegagrounded (in Charlotte's case) or treated as if you might fall to pieces (in Zee's case) ordinary. Either way, heroes deserve better. Of course, no one knows Charlotte and Zee are heroes. It's not like they can simply announce that Greek myths are real or proclaim they have returned from the Underworld, where they rescued all of mankind from Philonecron, a deranged demigod with delusions of grandeur. Instead, they are forced to keep this terrible knowledge to themselves, and are stuck in a state of extraordinary ordinariness. But things aren't quite as ordinary as they seem. For Philonecron is the grandson of Poseidon, and you don't mess with the progeny of the second most powerful god in the universe. And Philonecron himself isn't so happy about having all of his delicious plans thwarted by mortal children. He wants revenge, and with his grandfather to help him, he is going to get what he wants. For Charlotte and Zee, their not-so-ordinary lives are about to be disrupted once again. This time it's not the world they must save -- it's themselves. In the thrilling second installment of the Cronus Chronicles trilogy, author Anne Ursu brings her trademark wit to a spectacular adventure on the high seas.
Bear Adventure
Anthony McGowan
Bear Adventure is the next authorised Willard Price book by award-winning author Anthony McGowan, for 8+ readers looking for action, adventure and animals!Amazon and her cousin Frazer are members of TRACKS. Normally they protect the world's rarest animals, but their mission just got personal. Amazon's parents have been lost in a tragic plane crash - her only hope is that they are wondering the wild forests of Canada.But they are not alone in the brutal wilderness. Two Spirit Bears, a mother and her cub, are searching for food. When a boy is attacked, these beautiful creatures become the hunted.Can Amazon and Fraser save their family and the bears?And what is the mysterious predator that waits for them?'The good old-fashioned adventure romp brought up to date without losing the fun or the thrills' IndependentAbout the...
Sword Art Online - Volume 1 - Aincrad
Reki Kawahara
Escape was impossible until it was cleared; a game over would mean an actual «death»―.Without knowing the «truth» of the mysterious next generation MMO, «Sword Art Online» (SAO), approximately ten thousand users logged in together, opening the curtains to this cruel death battle.Participating alone in SAO, protagonist Kirito had promptly accepted the «truth» of this MMO.And in the game world, a gigantic floating castle named «Aincrad», he distinguished himself as a solo player.Aiming to clear the game by reaching the highest floor, Kirito riskily continued alone.Because of a pushy invitation from a female warrior and rapier expert, Asuna, he teamed up with her.That encounter brought about an opportunity to call out to the fated Kirito―.The legendary novel made an appearance with browsing numbers exceeding 6.5 million page views recorded at the personal website.
Harpoon at a Venture
Gavin Maxwell
A shark fishery based on the tiny Hebridean island of Soay was the beginning of Gavin Maxwell's enduring love affair with the west coast of Scotland. This, his first book, tells the whole story – the challenge and drama of the shark hunt, the development of catching techniques and equipment, the men who worked with him and some of the frustrations of starting a new enterprise in post-war Scotland. Every chapter is packed with action and anecdote. In each there are also beautifully observed descriptions of sky, sea and the individual islands of the Hebrides as well as their wildlife – from gannets, puffins, Manx shearwaters and fulmars to seals, dolphins and whales.