Amish Country

      Bernard Fancher
     Amish Country

Jacob Mast is for the most part a content man, happy and proud of what his life's work has accomplished. And yet, his thoughts sometimes plague him with doubt. WARNING: This book contains descriptions of an unsettling nature and may not be appropriate for all readers.(This selection is also available in: The Empty House, assorted stories)Story excerpt:“Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth,” Jacob recited quietly to himself, “and vegetation to bear seed, and fruit trees to yield fruit according to kind…” He paused, considering the implications of the words to follow, before continuing, “…the seed of which is contained within, and upon the earth.”Reflecting further upon the Biblical message, Jacob Mast leaned back and felt the sharp table edge press ever more insistently against his spine as he sat with his eyes closed and considered the years, as well the fruits of his labor. He remembered the first time he’d come to explore this place, and how the first time he heard them the words “Genesee Valley” spoke to his mind of Genesis—and so seemed, given his quest and disposition, to suggest the possibility of finding and restoring a lost Eden.

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    Peeko Pacifiko

      Ken O'Steen
     Peeko Pacifiko

A quintessential novel of modern Los Angeles, Peeko Pacifiko is at once an outrageous romp, a survival story, a sardonic political history, and a keen literary walkabout. At once squalid and glamorous, literary and low-brow, philosophical and wanton, wickedly funny and empathetic, it is as honest as it is innovative, its own unique, hydra-headed genre.A quintessential novel of modern Los Angeles, Peeko Pacifiko is at once an outrageous romp, a survival story, a sardonic political history, and a keen literary walkabout. At once squalid and glamorous, literary and low-brow, philosophical and wanton, wickedly funny and empathetic, it is as honest as it is innovative, its own unique, hydra-headed genre. As the Nineties dwindle down, the waning days of one era and the dawn of a new one are seen through the eyes of Donovan. At loose ends, he and his wife forced by economic necessity to live apart, his is a unique passage through many a strata of Los Angeles life. Donovan and those around him may be down, but they are never more than superficially out. Peeko Pacifiko is an exuberant, episodic ride, an exploration of character, as well as of a city, rendered with playful and disarming erudition, straight razor wit, and well-observed descriptive power.

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    Malone Dies

      Samuel Beckett
     Malone Dies

Written and published in French in 1951, and in Samuel Beckett’s English translation in 1956, Malone Dies is the second of his immediate post-war novels, written during what Beckett later referred to as ‘the siege in the room’. ‘Malone’, writes Malone, ‘is what I am called now.’ On his deathbed, whittling away the time with stories and revisions of stories, the octogenarian Malone's account of his condition is contradictory and intermittent, shifting with the vagaries of the passing days: without mellowness, without elegiacs; wittier, jauntier, and capable of darker rages than his precursor Molloy. Malone promises silence, but as a storyteller he delivers irresistibly more.

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    Wild Man Creek

      Robyn Carr
     Wild Man Creek

Colin Riordan came to Virgin River to recuperate from a horrific helicopter crash, the scars of which he bears inside and out. His family is wonderfully supportive, but it's his art that truly soothes his troubled soul. Stung personally and professionally by an ill-advised affair, PR guru Jillian Matlock has rented an old Victorian with a promising garden in Virgin River. She's looking forward to cultivating something other than a corporate brand. Both are looking to simplify, not complicate, their lives, but when Jillian finds Colin at his easel in her yard, there's an instant connection. And in Virgin River, sometimes love is the simplest choice of all….

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    Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays

      Zadie Smith
     Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays

A sparkling collection of Zadie Smith's nonfiction over the past decade. Zadie Smith brings to her essays all of the curiosity, intellectual rigor, and sharp humor that have attracted so many readers to her fiction, and the result is a collection that is nothing short of extraordinary. Split into four sections—"Reading," "Being," "Seeing," and "Feeling"—Changing My Mind invites readers to witness the world from Zadie Smith's unique vantage. Smith casts her acute eye over material both personal and cultural, with wonderfully engaging essays-some published here for the first time-on diverse topics including literature, movies, going to the Oscars, British comedy, family, feminism, Obama, Katharine Hepburn, and Anna Magnani. In her investigations Smith also reveals much of herself. Her literary criticism shares the wealth of her experiences as a reader and exposes the tremendous influence diverse writers—E. M. Forster, Zora Neale Hurston, George Eliot, and others—have had on her writing life and her self-understanding. Smith also speaks directly to writers as a craftsman, offering precious practical lessons on process. Here and throughout, readers will learn of the wide-ranging experiences—in novels, travel, philosophy, politics, and beyond—that have nourished Smith's rich life of the mind. Her probing analysis offers tremendous food for thought, encouraging readers to attend to the slippery questions of identity, art, love, and vocation that so often go neglected. Changing My Mind announces Zadie Smith as one of our most important contemporary essayists, a writer with the rare ability to turn the world on its side with both fact and fiction. Changing My Mind is a gift to readers, writers, and all who want to look at life more expansively.

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    Anything Is Possible

      Elizabeth Strout
     Anything Is Possible

Short story collection Anything Is Possible explores the whole range of human emotion through the intimate dramas of people struggling to understand themselves and others. Here are two sisters: one trades self-respect for a wealthy husband while the other finds in the pages of a book a kindred spirit who changes her life. The janitor at the local school has his faith tested in an encounter with an isolated man he has come to help; a grown daughter longs for mother love even as she comes to accept her mother’s happiness in a foreign country; and the adult Lucy Barton (the heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton) returns to visit her siblings after seventeen years of absence.

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    Offside

      Shay Savage
     Offside

I have to be the best. I am the best. I’m quick. I’m strong. I’m smart. I’m the star keeper of my high school soccer team, and I’ve got major leagues scouting me. As their captain, my teammates will do anything I say – on or off the field. Girls practically beg to be added to my list of conquests. As long as I manage to go pro for the best team in the world, I won’t have to worry about my father’s wrath. I’m Thomas Malone, and I’ve seen to it that the world revolves around me. There’s a new girl at school, and it’s just a matter of time before she gives in to my charm. This one’s just a little more stubborn than most – she won’t even tell me her name! She’s smart, too. Maybe too smart. I can’t let her in. I can’t let anybody in. I’m not too worried, but even I have to admit she’s interfering with my focus on the goal. Dad’s not going to be happy about that. Did I mention I love Shakespeare? Yeah, I know. I’m a walking contradiction. According to the Bard, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Somehow, I got all three. Now how is anyone supposed to live up to that?

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    Hot Commodity

      Linda Kage
     Hot Commodity

SHE MARRIED THE ONE MAN SHE WAS TRYING TO AVOID Thinking to assure a business merger with the wealthy, successful Cameron Banks, Olivia Donovan’s mother drags her to Las Vegas for a business convention, demanding she meet Banks and seduce him into wanting to marry her. But Olivia’s finished being Little Miss Yes-mother-whatever-you-say-mother. So, she sneaks away, intending to rebel and marry the very antithesis of Cameron Banks. Who she finds is a drunk hottie that takes her to new heights of pleasure and shows her a side of herself she never knew existed before. But after her amazing night in her new husband’s arms, she awakens the next morning only to discover she married and slept with the very Cameron Banks she’d been trying to avoid. Is Cam the devil she feared, or will he end up being her one true hero? (2nd Edition)

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    Temple of a Thousand Faces

      John Shors
     Temple of a Thousand Faces

In his international bestseller "Beneath a Marble Sky," John Shors wrote about the ancient passion, beauty, and brilliance that inspired the building of the Taj Mahal. Now with "Temple of a Thousand Faces," he brings to life the legendary temple of Angkor Wat, an unrivaled marvel of ornately carved towers and stone statues. There, in a story set nearly a thousand years ago, an empire is lost, a royal love is tested, and heroism is reborn. When his land is taken by force, Prince Jayavar of the Khmer people narrowly escapes death at the hands of the conquering Cham king, Indravarman. Exiled from their homeland, he and his mystical wife Ajadevi set up a secret camp in the jungle with the intention of amassing an army bold enough to reclaim their kingdom and free their people. Meanwhile, Indravarman rules with an iron fist, pitting even his most trusted men against each other and quashing any hint of rebellion. Moving from a poor fisherman's family whose sons find the courage to take up arms against their oppressors, to a beautiful bride who becomes a prize of war, to an ambitious warrior whose allegiance is torn--"Temple of a Thousand Faces" is an unforgettable saga of love, betrayal, and survival at any cost. READERS GUIDE INCLUDED

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    The Serial Killer Compendium

      R. J. Parker
     The Serial Killer Compendium

This book was replaced with Serial Killer Case Files. This book is an astounding compilation of 50 of the world's most notorious and ruthless Serial Killers, including: Serial Killers who were captured, Serial Killings that were never solved, Female Serial Killers, and Doctors who killed their patients. Some of the more infamous cases are: Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Son of Sam, Karla Homolka, Christine Fallings, the Green River Killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes and the Zodiac. This book also includes: the Black Widows, Cannibals, Unsolved Serial Killings, and the various categories of Serial Killers as defined by the FBI. At any given time in the United States alone, there are thirty to fifty unidentified active serial killers at work constantly changing their targets and methods; however, some authorities think that number is even much higher.

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    Every Last One

      Anna Quindlen
     Every Last One

The latest novel from Pulitzer Prize-winner Anna Quindlen In this breathtaking and beautiful novel, the #1 New York Times" bestselling author Anna Quindlen creates an unforgettable portrait of a mother, a father, a family, and the explosive, violent consequences of what seem like inconsequential actions. Mary Beth Latham has built her life around her family, around caring for her three teenage children and preserving the rituals of their daily life. When one of her sons becomes depressed, Mary Beth focuses on him, only to be blindsided by a shocking act of violence. What happens afterwards is a testament to the power of a woman's love and determination, and to the invisible lines of hope and healing that connect one human being with another. Ultimately, as rendered in Anna Quindlen's mesmerizing prose, Every Last One" is a novel about facing every last one of the things we fear most, about finding ways to navigate a road we never intended to travel, and about living a life we never dreamed we'd have to live, but find ourselves brave enough to try.

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    Capture the Rainbow

      Iris Johansen
     Capture the Rainbow

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen comes a classic tale of excitement, risk, and romance, as two people make a connection so unexpected and so intimate, it may have consequences for a lifetime. Gorgeous Hollywood stunt double Kendra Michaels is vying for the job of her life—a high-paying, high-risk jump that will clear the debt on her brother’s medical bills. Casey Michaels was a stuntman himself until a job went tragically wrong. Now Kendra is prepared to take the same chance. There’s just one man standing in her way, a man whose irresistible magnetism seduced her in ways she’d never experienced—and never before surrendered to.... Director Joel Damon gets what he wants. And he wants Kendra. But the explosive attraction he feels at the mere sight of her is entirely new to him, and it hasn’t disappeared, not since their one unforgettable night together—and not since Joel discovered she wasn’t the experienced starlet he’d mistaken her for. Now he’s determined to extend that night into many more. But he’ll have to keep Kendra alive to do it, even if it ruins her career. For he has bigger plans in mind for her than she ever imagined. From the Paperback edition.

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