Like his National Book Award—winning United States, Gore Vidal’s scintillating ninth collection, The Last Empire, affirms his reputation as our most provocative critic and observer of the modern American scene. In the essays collected here, Vidal brings his keen intellect, experience, and razor-edged wit to bear on an astonishing range of subjects. From his celebrated profiles of Clare Boothe Luce and Charles Lindbergh and his controversial essay about the Bill of Rights–which sparked an extended correspondence with convicted Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh–to his provocative analyses of literary icons such as John Updike and Mark Twain and his trenchant observations about terrorism, civil liberties, the CIA, Al Gore, Tony Blair, and the Clintons, Vidal weaves a rich tapestry of personal anecdote, critical insight, and historical detail. Written between the first presidential campaign of Bill Clinton and the electoral crisis of 2000, The Last Empire is a sweeping coda to the last century’s conflicted vision of the American dream. From the Trade Paperback edition.

The protagonist of Tobias Wolff’s shrewdly—and at times devastatingly—observed first novel is a boy at an elite prep school in 1960. He is an outsider who has learned to mimic the negligent manner of his more privileged classmates. Like many of them, he wants more than anything on earth to become a writer. But to do that he must first learn to tell the truth about himself. The agency of revelation is the school literary contest, whose winner will be awarded an audience with the most legendary writer of his time. As the fever of competition infects the boy and his classmates, fraying alliances, exposing weaknesses, Old School explores the ensuing deceptions and betrayals with an unblinking eye and a bottomless store of empathy. The result is further evidence that Wolff is an authentic American master. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Who but Russell Hoban could weave a tale of life’s pleasures and pain around a candy pig? And who but Quentin Blake could make the most poignant of stories so lighthearted and delightful? In this episodic picture book by an inimitable author-illustrator duo, a fantastic chain of events is triggered by the unacknowledged fall of a marzipan pig behind the sofa. We meet in quick succession a heartsick mouse, a lonely grandfather clock, an owl in love with a taxi meter, a worker bee, a fading hibiscus flower, a mouse who greets the dawn dancing, and finally a boy who guesses at the true relations between things. Appealing to the unsentimental yet sensitive nature of children, The Marzipan Pig is exquisitely attuned to the bittersweet wonder of life and to the sentience of all beings.

Palestine. For most of us, the word brings to mind a series of confused images and disjointed associations-massacres, refugee camps, UN resolutions, settlements, terrorist attacks, war, occupation, checkered kouffiyehs and suicide bombers, a seemingly endless cycle of death and destruction. This novel does not shy away from such painful images, but it is first and foremost a powerful human story, following the life of a young girl from her days in the village of al-Tantoura in Palestine up to the dawn of the new century. We participate in events as they unfold, seeing them through the uneducated but sharply intelligent mind of Ruqayya, as she tries to make sense of all that has happened to her and her family. With her, we live her love of her land and of her people; we feel the repeated pain of loss, of diaspora and of cross-generational misunderstanding; and above all, we come to know her indomitable human spirit. As we read we discover that we have become part of Ruqayya's family, and her voice will remain with us long after we have closed the book.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train, and the critically acclaimed author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be, comes a novel about buried secrets and the redemptive power of forgiveness—includes a special PS section featuring insights, interviews, and more. Cassie Simon is a struggling artist living in New York City.  When she receives a call from a magistrate in Sweetwater, TN, telling her she has inherited sixty acres of land from her grandfather, whom she never knew, she takes it as a sign: it’s time for a change.  She moves into the house where her mother, Ellen, was born—and where she died tragically when Cassie was three. From the moment she arrives in Sweetwater, Cassie is overwhelmed by the indelible mark her mother’s memory had left behind.  As she delves into the thicket of mystery that surrounds her mother’s death, Cassie begins to understand the desperate measures the human heart is capable of.

In a snug New England fishing village, Charlie St. Cloud tends the lawns and monuments of an ancient cemetery where his younger brother, Sam, is buried. After surviving the car accident that claimed his brother's life, Charlie is graced with an extraordinary gift: He can see, talk to, and even play catch with Sam's spirit. Into this magical world comes Tess Carroll, a captivating woman training for a solo sailing trip around the globe. Fate steers her boat into a treacherous storm that propels her into Charlie's life. Their beautiful and uncommon connection leads to a race against time and a choice between death and life, between the past and the future, between holding on and letting go — and the discovery that miracles can happen if we simply open our hearts.

The Story of the Stone (c. 1760), also known as The Dream of the Red Chamber, is one of the greatest novels of Chinese literature. The fifth part of Cao Xueqin's magnificent saga, The Dreamer Awakes, was carefully edited and completed by Gao E some decades later. It continues the story of the changing fortunes of the Jia dynasty, focussing on Bao-yu, now married to Bao-chai, after the tragic death of his beloved Dai-yu. Against such worldly elements as death, financial ruin, marriage, decadence and corruption, his karmic journey unfolds. Like a sleepwalker through life, Bao-yu is finally awakened by a vision, which reveals to him that life itself is merely a dream, 'as moonlight mirrored in the water'.

Sometimes, getting over pain and betrayal means Getting Up, Getting Even and Getting a Better Man. Astrid has planned out her perfect wedding. That is before she found out that her fiancé, Bryan, is cheating on her with her cousing-slash-best-friend-slash-maid-of-honor, Geena. And worse, Bryan got Geena pregnant. Just when Astrid thought it couldn’t get any worse, she received a wedding invitation telling her that her wedding will happen exactly the way she planned it. Except that she is no longer going to be the bride! So when her parents urged her to attend the wedding “as family”, she planned the perfect revenge. She will put on a show for everyone to see. She’ll show them that she moved on with a better man—handsome, smart, rich and crazy about her. She’s even willing to pay a guy to be her “Knight in Shining Armani”. Then she met bartender, Ryder. Totally smoking hot and quite a charmer. Astrid thought he was perfect for the job. He pulled off the role quite well. Soon, her family thinks that Astrid was really with a smoking hot guy who wears Armani suits on a daily basis, drives a luxurious McLaren, and was totally in love with her. Astrid invented the perfect guy every girl would kill to date, and every ex-boyfriend would hate to be compared with. Or did she really just invent him? What if she really did kiss a frog, or tamed a beast? And that her quest for revenge was just the beginning of her happily ever after? ======= Originally published on Wattpad in June 2013. Now available on www.smashwords.com and will soon be available in: www.amazon.com

'Macho Caballo' is a fantasy tale about old Mexico. It has wild animals, cowboys and Indians, dashing caballeros, beautiful señoritas, magical spells, an evil sorcerer, banditos... and horses. Lots of horses. It is about a macho young lad who gets to see life from the other side, in a long ago land; but it’s all innocent fun… for the reader, that is.In this book, the first of the Adventures of Macho Caballo, we find how Ramon Caballo got his nickname 'Macho', and how he inadvertently set out to become an unknown legend in that land. Just remember his advice: "Don't smart off to the spirits in the Spirit Cave!"The Aztecs were falling, taken down by impudent outsiders, upstart subject tribes and disease. A thousand years of civilization, knowledge and magic were lost. Then a sorcerer, a rogue from Mesopotamia, devised a scheme in which he would preserve all the magic of his fellows and condense that lore into a single token, which he gave to an innocent tribal girl, who would pass the token along to her first-born child, which would always be a girl. When the disaster had passed, the sorcerer would find the girl's descendant and token so he could resume his quest for power. While his compatriot sorcerers died in the fighting, the sorcerer went into deep sleep in the bottom of a cave. Centuries passed and the disaster continued, until one year the nation overthrew its oppressors. The echoes of that revolution woke the sorcerer and his minions, and they set out to locate the girl who must have the precious treasure. What they found was something else entirely. Or was it?

Emma Ross is a hard-working, quiet girl who tries to stay off the radar. It's all going okay for her until she starts getting along with one of the 'It' boys. Having this happen, comes with drama and pain, is it all worth it? Or it is just best to stay out of it all? As Emma battles with the conflict, which will she choose? It might just be the best thing for her...

When the spring came the people - what was left of them - moved back by the old paths from the sea. But this year strange things were happening, terrifying things that had never happened before. Inexplicable sounds and smells; new, unimaginable creatures half glimpsed through the leaves. What the people didn't, and perhaps never would, know, was that the day of their people was already over.From the author of Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors is a startling recreation of the lost world of the Neanderthals, and a frightening vision of the beginnings of a new age.

The Dangerous Women anthology contains following stories: - Introduction by Gardner Dozois - “Some Desperado” by Joe Abercrombie - A Red Country story - “My Heart is Either Broken” by Megan Abbott - “Nora’s Song” by Cecelia Holland - “The Hands That Are Not There” by Melinda Snodgrass - “Bombshells” by Jim Butcher - A Harry Dresden story - “Raisa Stepanova” by Carrie Vaughn - “Wrestling Jesus” by Joe R. Lansdale - “Neighbors” by Megan Lindholm - “I Know How to Pick ’Em” by Lawrence Block - “Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell” by Brandon Sanderson - A Cosmere story - “A Queen in Exile” by Sharon Kay Penman - “The Girl in the Mirror” by Lev Grossman - A Magicians story - “Second Arabesque, Very Slowly” by Nancy Kress - “City Lazarus” by Diana Rowland - “Virgins” by Diana Gabaldon - An Outlander story - “Hell Hath No Fury” by Sherilynn Kenyon - “Pronouncing Doom” by S.M. Stirling - An Emberverse story - “Name the Beast” by Sam Sykes - “Caretakers” by Pat Cadigan - “Lies My Mother Told Me” by Caroline Spector - A Wild Cards story - “The Princess and the Queen” by George R.R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire story

Robert Graves, classicist, poet and unorthodox critic, retells the Greek legends of gods and heroes for a modern audience.He demonstrates with a dazzling display of relevant knowledge that Greek mythology is 'no more mysterious in content than are modern election cartoons'.All the scattered elements of each myth are assembled into a harmonious narrative, and many variants are recorded which may help to determine its ritual or historical meaning. Full indexes and references to the classical sources make the book as valuable to the scholar as the general reader. And a full commentary on each myth interprets the classical version in the light of contemporary archaeological and anthropological knowledge.

Making a Murderer meets Scandal in this story of police corruption, family secrets, and illicit affairs from bestselling author K.A. Tucker, celebrated for her “propulsive plot twists and searing seduction” (USA TODAY). Noah Marshall has known a privileged and comfortable life thanks to his mother, the highly decorated chief of the Austin Police Department. But all that changes the night she reveals a skeleton that's been rattling in her closet for years, and succumbs to the guilt of destroying an innocent family's life. Reeling with grief, Noah is forced to carry the burden of this shocking secret. Gracie Richards wasn't born in a trailer park, but after fourteen years of learning how to survive in The Hollow, it's all she knows anymore. At least here people don't care that her dad was a corrupt Austin cop, murdered in a drug deal gone wrong. Here, she and her mother are just another family struggling to survive...until a man who clearly doesn't belong shows up on her doorstep. Despite their differences, Noah and Gracie are searching for answers to the same questions, and together, they set out to uncover the truth about the Austin Police Department's dark and messy past. But the scandal that emerges is bigger than they bargained for, and goes far higher up than they ever imagined. Complex, gritty, sexy, and thrilling, Keep Her Safe solidifies K.A. Tucker's reputation as one of today's most talented new voices in romantic suspense.

The Travis series concludes with the fourth installment from award-wining author Lisa Kleypas. Wedding planner Avery Crosslin may be a rising star in Houston society, but she doesn't believe in love-at least not for herself. When she meets wealthy bachelor Joe Travis and mistakes him for a wedding photographer, she has no intention of letting him sweep her off her feet. But Joe is a man who goes after what he wants, and Avery can't resist the temptation of a sexy southern charmer and a hot summer evening. After a one night stand, however, Avery is determined to keep it from happening again. A man like Joe can only mean trouble for a woman like her, and she can't afford distractions. She's been hired to plan the wedding of the year-a make-or-break event. But complications start piling up fast, putting the wedding in jeopardy, especially when shocking secrets of the bride come to light. And as Joe makes it clear that he's not going to give up easily, Avery is forced to confront the insecurities and beliefs that stem from a past she would do anything to forget. The situation reaches a breaking point, and Avery faces the toughest choice of her life. Only by putting her career on the line and risking everything - including her well-guarded heart - will she find out what matters most.