The Imaginary Girlfriend

      John Irving
     The Imaginary Girlfriend

Dedicated to the memory of two wrestling coaches and two writer friends, *The Imaginary Girlfriend* is John Irving's candid memoir of his twin careers in writing and wrestling. The award-winning author of best-selling novels from *The World According to Garp* to *In One Person*, Irving began writing when he was fourteen, the same age at which he began to wrestle at Exeter. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, was certified as a referee at twenty-four, and coached the sport until he was forty-seven. Irving coached his sons Colin and Brendan to New England championship titles, a championship that he himself was denied. In an autobiography filled with the humor and compassion one finds in his fiction, Irving explores the interrelationship between the two disciplines of writing and wrestling, from the days when he was a beginner at both until his fourth wresting related surgery at the age of fifty-three. Writing as a father and mentor, he offers a lucid portrait of those--writers and wrestlers from Kurt Vonnegut to Ted Seabrooke--who played a mentor role in his development as a novelist, wrestler, and wrestling coach. He reveals lessons he learned about the pursuit for which he is best known, writing. "And," as the Denver Post observed, in filling "his narrative with anecdotes that are every bit as hilarious as the antics in his novels, Irving combines the lessons of both obsessions (wrestling and writing) . . . into a somber reflection on the importance of living well." Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a *New York Times* bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Read online

  • 1 363

    Christmas Kisses

      H. M. Ward
     Christmas Kisses

Genre: New Adult Holiday Romance How hard is it to NOT have sex with him? Lust has melted Holly Connelly’s brain and it’s all Ryan Darcy’s fault. He’s been ruthlessly flirting with her for the past three years. Ryan’s a sex god complete with sinful body, endless wit, and an orgasm-inducing smile. One sultry look from him will make her panties jump off her body. His endless string of one-night stands has Holly thinking she’ll be just another conquest. Since she actually has feelings for the guy, it makes it that much harder to put off his advances. When they get trapped together by a snowstorm, it’s all she can do to resist him. If Holly says yes, she’ll probably regret it. If she says no, she’ll always wonder what if. Approx. 100 pages/ 23K words.

Read online

  • 1 363

    Madam, Will You Talk?

      Mary Stewart
     Madam, Will You Talk?

Widow Charity Selbornehad been greatly looking forward to her driving holiday through France with her old friend Louise - long, leisurely days under the hot sun, enjoying the beauty of the parched Provencal landscape. But when Charity arrived at a plush resort in the picturesque French resort town of Avignon, she had no way of knowing that she was to become the principal player in the last act of a strange and brutal tragedy. Most of it had already been played. There had been love--and lust--and revenge and fear and murder. Very soon her dreams turn into a nightmare, when by befriending a terrified boy and catching the attention of his enigmatic, possibly murderous father, Charity has inadvertently placed herself center stage. She becomes enmeshed in the schemes of a gang of murderers, one of them a man with whom she is rapidly falling in love... And now the killer, with blood enough on his hands, is waiting in the wings.

Read online

  • 1 363

    The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry

      Wendell Berry
     The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry

The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry gathers one hundred poems written between 1957 and 1996. Chosen by the author, these pieces have been selected from each of nine previously published collections. The rich work in this volume reflects the development of Berry’s poetic sensibility over four decades. Focusing on themes that have occupied his work for years--land and nature, family and community, tradition as the groundwork for life and culture-- The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry celebrates the broad range of this vital and transforming poet.

Read online

  • 1 363

    Heart of Fire

      Linda Howard
     Heart of Fire

A fabulous lost Amazon city once inhabited by women warriors and containing a rare red diamond: it sounded like myth, but archeologist Jillian Sherwood believed it was real, and she was willing to put up with anything to find it -- even Ben Lewis. Ruffian, knock-about, and number one river guide in Brazil, Ben was all man -- over six feet of rock-hard muscles that rippled under his khakis, with lazy blue eyes that taunted her from his tanned face. Jillian watched him come to a fast boil when she refused to reveal their exact destination upriver in the uncharted rain forests -- and resolved to stand her ground. Neither of them could foresee what the days ahead promised: an odyssey into the fiery heart of passion and betrayal, and a danger that would force them to cast their fates together, immersed in the eternal, unsolved mysteries of love....

Read online

  • 1 363

    The Real Life of Sebastian Knight

      Vladimir Nabokov
     The Real Life of Sebastian Knight

The Real Life of Sebastian Knight is a perversely magical literary detective story -- subtle, intricate, leading to a tantalizing climax -- about the mysterious life of a famous writer. Many people knew things about Sebastian Knight as a distinguished novelist, but probably fewer than a dozen knew of the two love affairs that so profoundly influenced his career, the second one in such a disastrous way. After Knight's death, his half brother sets out to penetrate the enigma of his life, starting with a few scanty clues in the novelist's private papers. His search proves to be a story of mystery and intrigue as any of his subject's own novels, as baffling, and, in the end, as uniquely rewarding.

Read online

  • 1 362

    Penguin Classics the Restored Finnegans Wake

      James Joyce
     Penguin Classics the Restored Finnegans Wake

Finnegans Wake is the most bookish of all books. John Bishop has described it as 'the single most intentionally crafted literary artefact that our culture has produced'. In its original format, however, the book has been beset by numerous imperfections occasioned by the confusion of its seventeen-year composition. Only today, by restoring to our view the author's intentions in a physical book designed, printed and bound to the highest standards of the printers' art, can the editors reveal in true detail James Joyce's fourth, and last, masterwork. This edition is the summation of thirty years' intense engagement by textual scholars Danis Rose and John O'Hanlon verifying, codifying, collating and clarifying the 20,000 pages of notes, drafts, typescripts and proofs comprising James Joyce's 'litters from aloft, like a waast wizzard all of whirlwords' (fw2, 14.16-17). The new reading text of Finnegans Wake, typographically re-set for the first time in its publishing history, incorporates some 9000 minor yet crucial corrections and amendments, covering punctuation marks, font choice, spacing, misspellings, misplaced phrases and ruptured syntax. Although individually minor, these changes are nonetheless crucial in that they facilitate a smooth reading of the book's allusive density and essential fabric. **

Read online

  • 1 362

    An Angel for Emily

      Jude Deveraux
     An Angel for Emily

Emily Jane Todd has just found her guardian angel. Actually, the small-town librarian had just been stood up by her fiancé when she ran into the errant angel with her car. And while he appears to be unscathed, "Michael" continues to insist that his pedigree is quite legitimate. Emily just hopes his brain hasn't been scrambled in the accident; besides, she's not inclined to believe that an angel could be so dangerously sexy. Yet Michael quickly reveals the most astounding things about her, and makes her laugh in a way she never has before. What's more, he declares that he's been sent to save her. At this point, the only rescue Emily has in mind is her upcoming marriage, and she's ready to bid her most attractive angel good-bye. But when he lets slip that he also looks at souls -- and hers is a rare beauty -- Emily's ready to risk heaven in his arms. Their journey will break every angelic and earthly rule before it yields her one wish: a love divine.

Read online

  • 1 362

    Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist

      Tim LaHaye
     Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist

It has been nearly two years since the day of the mass disappearances. In one cataclysmic instant, millions all over the globe simply vanished, leaving everything but flesh and bone behind. Global war has erupted, and the Tribulation Force sets a suicidal course that places them in direct opposition to the rise of Antichrist. A repackage of the third book in the "New York Times" best-selling Left Behind series.

Read online

  • 1 362

    Rescued by the Woodsman

      M. S. Parker
     Rescued by the Woodsman

*This is a huge mistake. Not only flying in a tiny airplane over the Rockies in a storm, but also making this move to Denver in the first place. To work a job that would make my boyfriend my new boss. Definitely a mistake. But not as big a mistake as living with my pretentious parents who want to control everything about my life.* Stella Best is relocating from New York to live with her boyfriend, Aaron McMann, in Denver. En route, however, a sudden storm causes the small propeller plane to crash, stranding her in the Rocky Mountains. Surviving the crash, Stella now faces the blistering cold, as well as wild animals who see her as easy prey. But Stella is not the only person on the mountain. Rescued by Lukas, a brawny woodsman of few words, she must now share a small cabin with the scruffy, but handsome, man until the storm clears. Will Lukas get Stella safely to Denver, and if he does, will she be able to forget the rugged woodsman who saved her life? Don’t miss Rescued by the Woodsman, a new stand-alone romance from USA Today Bestselling Author, M. S. Parker.

Read online

  • 1 362

    Victoria's Challenge

      M. K. Eidem
     Victoria's Challenge

Victoria Lynn Chamberlain… at two, she was abducted by an alien race, the Regulians… at nine, her world literally explodes when the Regulians returned, destroying Earth. She and her Aunt are the only survivors thanks to another alien race, the Carinians. Now she’s eighteen, a new graduate from their top medical school, and is ready to claim her life mate. Lucas, the handsome Carinian pilot that saved her all those years… cycles… ago. Major Lucas Matthew Zafar is a decorated pilot for the Coalition who has worked hard for every promotion, earned every decoration, despite his father being High Admiral. Nine cycles ago, he crashed on an alien world and discovered his life mate, a nine-cycle girl with flaming red hair and sparkling green eyes. She captivates everyone around her with her strength and determination. She is his world, or will be once she grows up. When he’s injured in an explosion, he discovers that his wait is finally over, for Victoria is more than grown up. Together they discover what it truly means to be life mates. That’s it’s about doing what’s best for the other even if it’s not best for you. That you have to do more than just love, you have to trust and be willing to sacrifice the things you never thought you would. And if you are lucky and the ancestors are watching over you, you just might get everything you’ve ever dreamed of...

Read online

  • 1 362

    Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal

      Chris Colfer
     Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal

Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal follows the story of outcast high school senior Carson Phillips who blackmails the most popular students into contributing to his literary journal to bolster his college application; his goal in life is to get into Northwestern and eventually become the editor of The New Yorker. At once laugh-out-loud funny, deliciously dark, and remarkably smart, Struck by Lightning unearths the dirt that lies just below the surface of high school. The major motion picture Struck by Lightning features Colfer's own original screenplay and stars Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, and Colfer in leading roles.

Read online

  • 1 361

    The Lilac Bus

      Maeve Binchy
     The Lilac Bus

The Journey... Every Friday night a lilac-colored minibus leaves Dublin for the Irish country town of Rathdoon with seven weekend commuters on board. All of them, from the joking bank porter to the rich doctor's daughter, have their reasons for making the journey. The Destination...Rathdoon is the kind of Irish village where family histories are shared and scandals don't stay secret for long. And this weekend, when the bus pulls in, the riders find the unexpected waiting for them...as each of their private lives unfolds to reveal a sharp betrayal of the heart, a young man's crime, and a chance for new dreams among the eight intriguing men and women on...

Read online

  • 1 361