St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue. An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn. The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

A poignant tale about illicit love, regret ending in delight. It deals with the story of a young girl Lizzie who commits a sin and its repercussions. Gaskell brilliantly portraits the deep and true relations of a family and ends the story with a moving reunion. Touching and emotional!

Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas, Corneille, Racine, Voltaire, Balzac, George Sand. Quiseram saber tudo sobre o amor, o sujeito filosófico, a política, o socialismo, o belo, a estética, o sublime, a escrita, Deus, a Bíblia, a educação. Apaixonaram-se, mas as mulheres revoltavam-nos. Quiseram saber tudo sobre tudo - "mas não tardaram a aborrecer-se, porque os seus espíritos precisavam de um trabalho, as suas vidas de um objectivo", escreve o autor. Flaubert explicou um dia, numa carta a Adèle Perrot, que "Bouvard e Pécuchet" seria "uma enciclopédia da estupidez humana - verá que o sujeito é ilimitado". Mas o autor de "Madame Bovary" não chegou a terminar esta obra, publicada postumamente. Metódico e disciplinado, deixou um plano escrito sobre como deveria acabar o romance. São essas explicações que vêm no final do livro, três páginas de tópicos sobre os destinos dos dois amigos. Aí se verá que a obra é fascinante - não é só um retrato da superficialidade dos conhecimentos, mas uma dura denúncia das banalidades da vida intelectual francesa. Numa carta a Ivan Turgueniev, em Agosto de 1874, Flaubert escreveu: "Parece-me que vou embarcar numa viagem enorme por regiões desconhecidas e de que não voltarei mais." Era mesmo verdade. “O estilo está antes sob as palavras do que nelas.”

Ki Longfellow, author of the acclaimed The Secret Magdalene, has now written the astonishing life of Hypatia, famed throughout the Mediterranean world, a beauty and a genius, yet for 17 centuries ignored by history. As the Roman Empire fights for its life and emerging Christianity fights for our souls, Hypatia is the last great voice of reason. A woman of sublime intelligence, Hypatia ranks above not only all women, but all men. Hypatia dazzled the world with her brilliance, was courted by men of every persuasion and was considered the leading philosopher and mathematician of her age...yet her mathematics, her inventions, the very story of her life in all its epic and dramatic intensity, has gone untold. A heart-breaking love story, an heroic struggle against intolerance, a tragedy and a triumph, Hypatia walks through these pages fully realized while all around her Egypt's Alexandria, the New York City of its day, strives to remain a beacon of light in a darkening world.

SPORTS, POLITICS, AND SEX COLLIDE IN HUNTER S. THOMPSON'S WILDLY POPULAR ESPN.COM COLUMNS. Insightful, incendiary, outrageously brilliant, such was the man who galvanized American journalism with his radical ideas and gonzo tactics. For over half a century, Hunter S. Thompson devastated his readers with his acerbic wit and uncanny grasp of politics and history. His reign as "The Unabomber of contemporary letters" (Time) is more legendary than ever with Hey Rube. Fear, greed, and action abound in this hilarious, thought-provoking compilation as Thompson doles out searing indictments and uproarious rants while providing commentary on politics, sex, and sports—at times all in the same column. With an enlightening foreword by ESPN executive editor John Walsh, critics' favorites, and never-before-published columns, Hey Rube follows Thompson through the beginning of the new century, revealing his queasiness over the 2000 election ("rigged and fixed from the start"); his take on professional sports (to improve Major League Baseball "eliminate the pitcher"); and his myriad controversial opinions and brutally honest observations on issues plaguing America―including the Bush administration and the inequities within the American judicial system. Hey Rube gives us a lasting look at the gonzo journalist in his most organic form―unbridled, astute, and irreverent.

Monty Bodkin's pursuit of Gertude Butterwick is temporarily interrupted by his encounter with silver-screen siren Miss Lotus Blossom, who sees in him a means of restoring relations with her idol, the novelist Ambrose Tennyson. But Monty is not the only one with problems. Ambrose's brother Reggie has money troubles and Ikey Llewellyn is struggling with difficulties which would tax anyone's ingenuity, let alone his limited brain power. When the paths of these men collide, the ensuing plot complications produce a vintage Wodehouse farce involving London, New York, Hollywood and translatlantic liners. A delicious period piece from 1935.

All Doris Lessing's short novels and stories are now collected into two volumes, This Was The Old Chef's Country and The Sun Between Their Feet. This volume contains all the stories from the original book entitled This Was The Old Chief's Country and three of the short novels from Five, the book which won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1954. 'I believe,' writes Doris Lessing, "that the chief gift from Africa to writers, white and black, is the continent itself, its presence which for some people is like a old fever, latent always in their blood; or it like an old wounded throbbing in the bones as the air changes. That is not a place to visit unless one chooses to be an exile ever afterwards from an inexplicable majestic silence lying just over the border of memory or of thought. Africa gives you the knowledge that man is a small creature, among other creatures, in a large landscape.' In this Edition: The Old Chief Mshlanga A Sunrise on the Veld No Witchcraft for Sale The Second Hut The Nuisance The De Wets Come to Kloof Grange Little Tembi Old John's Place 'Leopard' George Winter in July A Home for the Highland Cattle Eldorado The Antheap Includes the Preface for the 1964 Collection and a new Preface for the 1973 Collection. All of these stories appeared in African Stories, 1963.

Orwell meets Vonnegut in the simultaneously hilarious and chilling masterpiece from the man who invented the word “robot” This legendary but previously hard-to-get novel is a hilarious dystopian satire about the choice between ecological catastrophe and making your quarterly financial goals. As both a commentary on capitalism and the rise of fascism, as well as an early work of science fiction, it is one of the most important books of the twentieth century. When the curmudgeonly sailor Captain von Toch discovers a breed of large, intelligent newts in far-off Polynesia, he realizes that, with a little training, they could be used as a virtual army of complacent pearl-divers in shark-infested waters. Then von Toch’s financial backers realize that the newts can be trained for all kinds of underwater civil engineering projects, or to build new islands, even to defend shorelines—wielding weapons, no less! There’s only one problem: released from their previous environment, the newts replicate like, well, aqua-bunnies. And soon they aren’t so complacent anymore. Acclaimed by many as the first dystopian novel, and others as the best book of science fiction ever written, Karel Capek’s masterpiece remains all that and more: smart, funny, and relevant.

Lena Rose Winter is a typical seventeen year old girl, or so everyone thought. She has a secret, something she hates talking about. She knew what love is, and she dreads it especially after losing someone close to her heart. Liam Christopher Black is far from your typical bad boy. He's a good guy, the one who sits at the back of the class, not making any sound. They say that time heals everything, but he's nowhere near being healed especially after the news of his family dying in a car crash traumatized him enough for him to lose his voice.  Becoming friends with someone is a risk, because you could always end up caring too much, but Lena is willing to face it. She fought for the boy and for his friendship that they ended up falling for each other. HARD. It seemed as if the world don't want them together as they face struggle after struggle to beat the odds. But will the risks be enough for their relationship to survive? And amidst the trials and bad experiences, will both of them learn to truly love again?

Three teens venture into the abandoned Monroe estate one night; hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety, unconscious and bleeding; the other is left to burn, dead in the fire. But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident? Desperate self-defense? Or murder? Chloe is the only one with the answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she struggles to piece together the story of how they got there-a story of jealousy, twisted passion, and the darkness that lurks behind even the most beautiful of faces…

Open your heart to the magic found at the water’s edge … There are many places we can go to enjoy time with friends, to have an action-packed vacation, or to enjoy a little solitude, but none of them have the same ability to soothe our souls as the beach. Perhaps it’s the magic portrayed by children building sand castles or the gentle sounds of lapping waves on the shore. Chicken Soup for the Beach Lover’s Soul is filled with recollections of special moments that will be appreciated by anyone who has been mesmerized by the spell of the ocean. Color photos of magnificent beach destinations across the United States, from the quaint, historic surroundings of Cape May, New Jersey, to the sultry scenes of Big Sur, California, capture the magic of America—from sea to shining sea. This unique compilation conjures up memories of family beach outings, the joy of finding a spectacular seashell, young love discovered on the sand, and mature love rekindled at the seashore. Join us on this journey of beaches far and near and remember the fun and excitement you found there, and be inspired to create new memories.

Catherine Ling: raised on the streets of Hong Kong, she has been a shadowy CIA operative since she was fourteen years old. There are only a few things in life she cares for. One is her son, kidnapped when he was two. Catherine has only recently been reunited with him and the vow of her heart is never to let him face danger again. The other is her mentor, Hu Chang. Mysterious, brilliant, and deadly, Hu Chang taught Catherine everything she knows and she is loyal to him. Now Hu Chang is calling Catherine to a new task: rescue an imprisoned journalist in Tibet -- a woman who has been subjected to unspeakable horrors. Her connection to Hu Chang is unknown. What's also unknown is that Catherine will be going up against a man whose crimes have stretched back into this area for forty years. Is Catherine being used as a pawn by Hu Chang? Can she save a woman she's never even met? And will either of them live to see tomorrow?

A gripping tale of capitalist exploitation and rebellion, set amid the mist-shrouded mountains of a fictional South American republic, employs flashbacks and glimpses of the future to depict the lure of silver and its effects on men. Conrad's deep moral consciousness and masterful narrative technique are at their best in this, one of his greatest works.

1912 Massachussetts. Narrator Ralph 15 battles maternal Granpa Tom Gould, who swears at "tarnal" boy, cook Millie, old "yalla colt". Ralph tames buckskin by tricks - ties ears back, fills mouth with dirt, apple bribes. Granpa busts invented "contraptions". Millie goes. Uncle Levi advises patience. Pretty Annie and Ralph hold hands. Rocks, roots dynamited. Barn raised.

"There is no one quite like Barbara Kingsolver in contemporary literature," raves the Washington Post Book World, and it is right. She has been nominated three times for the ABBY award, and her critically acclaimed writings consistently enjoy spectacular commercial success as they entertain and touch her legions of loyal fans. In High Tide in Tucson, she returnsto her familiar themes of family, community, the common good and the natural world. The title essay considers Buster, a hermit crab that accidentally stows away on Kingsolver's return trip from the Bahamas to her desert home, and turns out to have manic-depressive tendencies. Buster is running around for all he's worth -- one can only presume it's high tide in Tucson. Kingsolver brings a moral vision and refreshing sense of humor to subjects ranging from modern motherhood to the history of private property to the suspended citizenship of human beings in the Animal Kingdom. Beautifully packaged, with...