When I met Kiersten, time stood still. It was as if every cell in my body screamed HER. I couldn't look away, I couldn't walk away, I couldn't even move. My other half, my soul mate, was staring right at me. I had to have her. I had to make her mine. But I felt selfish doing that--knowing that I may not have endless amounts of time to give her...and even now that every things' over with and I've been given that time back. Nothing is ever certain in this life. Which is why I'm about to do something crazy, impulsive, daring. After all, what type of person would I be if I didn't take my own advice? I'm jumping off the cliff, I'm living fearlessly. This is the continuation of Wes and Kiersten's story.

"DELECTABLY ENTERTAINING. . . . An uproariously funny and at the same time hauntingly melancholy portrait of a college community in the Midwest." --The New York Times Nestled in the heart of the Midwest, amid cow pastures and waving fields of grain, lies Moo University, a distinguished institution devoted to the art and science of agriculture. Here, among an atmosphere rife with devious plots, mischievous intrigue, lusty liaisons, and academic one-upmanship, Chairman X of the Horticulture Department harbors a secret fantasy to kill the dean; Mrs. Walker, the provost's right hand and campus information queen, knows where all the bodies are buried; Timothy Nonahan, associate professor of English, advocates eavesdropping for his creative writing assignments; and Bob Carlson, a sophomore, feeds and maintains his only friend: a hog named Earl Butz. In this wonderfully written and masterfully plotted novel, Jane Smiley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres, offers us a wickedly funny comedy that is also a darkly poignant slice of life. "FAST, HILARIOUS, AND HEARTBREAKING . . . Not for a minute does Moo lose its perfect satiric pitch or its pacing. . . . Don't skip a page, don't skip a paragraph. It's going to be on the final." --People "SMART, IRREVERENT, AND WICKEDLY TENDER . . . Moo suggests a mix of Tom Wolfe's wit and John Updike's satiny reach . . . Engaging." --The Boston Globe "ENTERTAINING . . . Displays a wicked wit and an unerring eye for American foibles . . . Stuffed with memorable characters, sparkling with deliciously acid humor, Moo is a rare bird in today's literary menagerie: a great read that also makes you think." --Chicago Sun-Times From the Trade Paperback edition.

The sequel to the number-one bestseller Girl Online. Penny joins her rock-star boyfriend, Noah, on his European music tour. Penny's bags are packed. When Noah invites Penny on his European music tour, she can't wait to spend time with her rock-god-tastic boyfriend. But, between Noah's jam-packed schedule, less-than-welcoming bandmates and threatening messages from jealous fans, Penny wonders whether she's really cut out for life on tour. She can't help but miss her family, her best friend Elliot . . . and her blog, Girl Online. Can Penny learn to balance life and love on the road, or will she lose everything in pursuit of the perfect summer?

A collection of essays on America by the author of London Fields, Money and Yellow Dog. At the age of ten, when Martin Amis spent a year in Princeton, New Jersey, he was excited and frightened by America. As an adult he has approached that confusing country from many arresting angles, and interviewed its literati, filmmakers, thinkers, opinion makers, leaders and crackpots with characteristic discernment and wit. Included in a gallery of Great American Novelists are Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Joseph Heller, William Burroughs, Kurt Vonnegut, John Updike, Paul Theroux, Philip Roth and Saul Bellow. Amis also takes us to Dallas, where presidential candidate Ronald Reagan is attempting to liaise with born-again Christians. We glimpse the beau monde of Palm Beach, where each couple tries to out-Gatsby the other, and examine the case of Claus von Bulow. Steven Spielberg gets a visit, as does Brian de Palma, whom Amis asks why his films make no sense, and Hugh Hefner's sybaritic fortress and sanitised image are penetrated. There can be little that escapes the eye of Martin Amis when his curiosity leads him to a subject, and America has found in him a superlative chronicler.

The Martyr of the Catacombs chronicles the treatment of early Christian's by the Romans. A well written novel with a message.

Rhes is looking for a new home earth for his dying planet. Crashing here he is saved by the twins Robin and Robina. Promising to help them in return if trouble comes. It does, and he is only just able to beat the evil Rex and his gang after many adventures, with the help of all his special equipment. With a ship hijacking, near drowning, shooting, and more. his life is full of exciting adventures.Named for heaven, the kingdom of Elessia once served as a beacon to the world. Now its name has become a byword for decadence. When Lord Prince Marcus de Pilars hears the beginnings of a vast conspiracy from the lips of his dying mother, he sets out to uncover the motives lurking behind the war his father waged. With the help of Kaelyn Beauvais--a sharp-tongued courtesan nursing a long-hidden desire--and Vernon de Gauthier--a near-disturbingly prolific womanizer with a weakness for apples--Marcus slowly unearths the truth: his country lies on the brink of collapse. And soon, the vanquished nation of Kydona will rise to settle a generation-old score.In Elessia’s debauched court, the threat goes unheeded. Marcus’s romances bloom and just as quickly wither. Blood is shed, lives extinguished. It matters little. Quarrel and murder, lust and love, right and wrong—the lines that separate these are hopelessly blurred in the throes of court intrigue. And the difference between each rests on a knife edge so sharp that even a hero cannot tell them apart.Kydona is the first installment in its series. The story continues in Kydona: From Ashes.

Bestselling author Thomas Keneally brings to life the vast range of characters who have formed our national story, in the second volume of a unique history of Australia.

When Abigail Thomas's husband was hit by a car, it destroyed his short-term memory and consigned him to permanent brain trauma. Forced to adapt to a life alone, Abigail finds solace at home, discovering that friends, family and dogs can reshape a life of chaos into one that makes sense - a life full of its own richness and beauty.

How might the Olympian Gods we know from reading change if we were to allow our imaginations to see their true ages? Time changes all people — even gods — and when their day-to-day mischievous lives no longer play a role in human affairs, what then do they become? New York sculptor Minus Orth has an idea. He'll explain this all, and give our imaginations the figures to uphold."I want to read this book. I must read this book." — Amazon Breakthrough Novel AwardMinus Orth's "eccentricities ... make him the iconoclast he is intended to be."— Publishers WeeklyNoted author Mark Beyer, along with Siren & Muse Publishing, bring you a story about obsession, identity, and art. How might the Olympian Gods change if we were to allow our imaginations to see their true ages? Time changes all people — even gods — and when their day-to-day mischievous lives no longer play a role in human affairs, what then do they become? The image of shriveled skin is too apt to ignore. And, above all, what do we associate with the aging of these gods within the condition of our modern times?Minus Orth has an idea which can explain this, and give our imaginations the figures to uphold. He is sculpting the mighty figures of myth — and the not-so-mighty — in an art cycle he has titled "Mythical Gods in Their Twilight" without the least irony. And his creations have not come without a price.Noted author Mark Beyer, along with Siren & Muse Publishing, bring you a story about obsession, identity, and art.Minus Orth walks dogs for a living and sculpts for his life. He has a girlfriend, Belinda, who’s itching to get married. His friend, Peter N, has reaped artistic success that’s both inspirational and a thorn. He plays poker with a quartet of exiled aristocrats. And at Minus’s art co-op, the residents live on the fringe of society. One day Minus crosses paths with Karen Kosek, best remembered as a culture critic of the 1960s. Karen dropped out of sight years ago. Now she dresses as a bag lady — ragged clothes, a garbage smell, and bulging plastic bags she carries as if they hold the secrets to the good life. Minus orchestrates a tenuous relationship with Karen, and discovers in her a woman who has not been trampled underfoot, but is burrowed deeper in society’s crust than anyone could imagine.Thus begins an odyssey in which Minus becomes obsessed with Karen’s past and present, obsessed with creating his sculpture cycle, and with the role artists play in society’s split personality. “Do you have what it takes to make something beautiful?” is a question that comes to the minds of many characters in this story. Their answers are hilarious, confused, self-delusional, virtuous, or simply truthful, because the people who create beauty are different from those who value beauty, and far afield from the powers able to help it flourish … or destroy it.

In fifteenth-century England, when his father's murderer is revealed to be his guardian, seventeen-year-old Richard Shelton joins the fellowship of the Black Arrow in avenging the death, rescuing the woman he loves, and participating in the struggle between the Yorks and Lancasters in the War of the Roses.

With the candid quirkiness of Awkward Family Photos and the confessional intimacy of PostSecret, Ransom Riggs's Talking Pictures is a haunting collection of antique found photographs—with evocative inscriptions that bring these lost personal moments to life—from the author of the New York Times bestselling illustrated novel Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Each image in Talking Pictures reveals a singular, frozen moment in a person’s life, be it joyful, quiet, or steeped in sorrow. Yet the book’s unique depth comes from the writing accompanying each photo: as with the caption revealing how one seemingly random snapshot of a dancing couple captured the first dance of their 40-year marriage, each successive inscription shines like a flashbulb illuminating a photograph’s particular context and lighting up our connection to the past.

A prolific author who never fails to be entertaining, Durrell brings us up to date on his Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust. Ever since he was six years old, Durrell knew he wanted to have his own zoo. How he accomplished that--and became a respected naturalist in the process--will delight readers. Demonstrating a talent for presenting strong conservation issues in a humorous and captivating way, Durrell covers not only the development of his private zoo but the associated education activities as well (including a school for conservationists from foreign countries). Dedicated to the idea that zoos need not be a "sterile Victorian menagerie", he has earned the respect of colleagues worldwide in showing how zoos can be a vital force in the conservation and reintroduction of threatened species to their native environments. Readers will also enjoy such amusing incidents as a visit from Princess Anne and the chimps that came to dinner. A title to put on your reading list for a lighthearted romp through the animal kingdom.

A sly, witty, and beautifully orchestrated tale about the difficulty of being good Edward Baltram is overwhelmed with guilt. His nasty little prank has gone horribly wrong: he has fed his closest friend a sandwich laced with a hallucinogenic drug and the young man has fallen out of a window to his death. Consumed with guilt, Edward experiences a debilitating crisis of conscience. While Edward torments himself for not being good, his stepbrother, Stuart, a brilliant mathematics student, quits his promising scholastic career to live like a monk, devoting himself to the difficult task of becoming good. As Stuart seeks salvation, Edward searches for redemption through a reunion with his famous father, the reclusive painter Jesse Baltram. Funny and compelling, The Good Apprentice, first published in 1986*, is at once a supremely sophisticated entertainment and an inquiry into the spiritual crises that afflict the modern world. *First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin Inc. 1986

The Pact is a full-length, standalone "friends to lovers" contemporary adult romance It all started with a pinky swear… Linden McGregor is tall, rugged, and gunslinger handsome; a helicopter pilot with a Scottish brogue and charm to spare. He’s also one of Stephanie Robson’s best friends and has fit into that box for as long as she’s known him. Beautiful, funny and an ambitious businesswoman (with one hell of an ass), Stephanie Robson is one of Linden McGregor’s best friends and has fit into that box for as long as he’s known her. But some relationships can’t be boxed, can’t be classified, can’t be tamed. Back in their mid-twenties and tired of the competitive hit-or-miss dating scene of San Francisco, Steph and Linden made a pact to marry each other if neither one of them were in a serious relationship by the time they hit thirty. It sounded like fun and games at the time but as the years to thirty tick past and lovers come and go out of their lives, the pact becomes larger than life. Sex is inevitable. Friendships are tested. Hearts are on the line. The pact is about to change everything. Note: due to the dirty talk and sexy times, The Pact is not meant for anyone under the age of 18.

Barely a wife before she became a widow, Briallen feels like she’s lost everything – and now she has to watch a group of strangers move into the house she once called home. As hard as that it is to face, it’s made even more difficult by a man she feels drawn to, and two children she can’t help but love.Everyone deserves a second chance at love, even in the Iron Age.Everyone deserves a second chance at love...Barely even a wife before she became a widow, Briallen feels like she’s lost everything – and now she has to stand by while a group of strangers moves in to the house she once called home. As hard as that it is to face, it’s made even more difficult by a man she feels drawn to, and two children she can’t help but love.Elisud’s world is changing. Homeless and wandering, with a grieving nephew on his hands, he has no choice but to live on the farm – even when he feels the constant call of the sea. Determined to make things right for his nephew and daughter, he can’t help but notice Briallen and the bruised look in her eyes.Both battered by grief and woes, can these two wounded people ever see past their own pain and accept the love that’s kindled between them? Or will their own self-doubts hold them back?Set in the British Iron Age, this romantic novella deals with an age-old tale of loss, grief, healing and love, with a little help from family.