From Robert James Waller comes a wonderful collection of 19 essays--all of them as romantic, reflective, and timeless as readers have come to expect from the author of The Bridges of Madison County--a celebration of life and loss, of what things still can be.

Dreams are not something you only have while you are asleep but visions of a person you want to be and hope to be in life. The goals that you set help to shape your future and determine whether you are successful or unsuccessful. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. In this short essay I offer a few tips that I have found to be helpful.Thirteen-year-old Benjamin is brave; but when a Roman soldier stabs his mother during an uprising in the Jerusalem marketplace, he is unable to protect her. Struggling with guilt and sorrow, he prays that she will live. When his prayers go unanswered, he vows never again to ask God for help.Still struggling with his mother’s death, Benjamin obediently attends temple with his father and grandfather. At the service, a stranger stands next to him. As Benjamin's arm accidentally brushes the man's cloak, a wave of peace washes over him that he hasn't felt since before his mother's death. Why does the man's presence affect him so deeply? Who is this stranger? Where did he come from? In pursuit of the answers, Benjamin takes an incredible journey of discovery.

This is the story of a group of college kids out to have fun. As perhaps some readers of Brad OH Inc. can relate to, they end up imbibing heavily, and their discussion begins to steer towards some very metaphysical topics. Will the slobbering-drunk Ethan find the answers he’s looking for from his friends? Or will the conversation only lead him down a path lacking in intellectual succor entirely?In the year 2833, two friends Tyren and Reda set out to discover new worlds in the universe. They reach Planet Ziplo and get to explore the planet with the Mintrones that inhabit it. The Mintrones welcome Tyren and Reda and they have a great time together. All if well till a cataclysmic event occurs. The dark and evil Zonetrones want to get a hold of the power cube on planet Ziplo in the hope of increasing their own powers. This leads to an attack of planet Ziplo by the Zonetrones. The Mintrones fight the dark Zonetrones with the help of Tyren and Reda. To find out how this story unravels, read our book – THE DAY THE WORLDS MET. A Note from the Author This book was written to put into words the adventures of the Mintrones as my son imagined them. So it’s an effort of a mom to document her son’s thoughts. I have tried my best to bring his ideas alive here. The website www.mintrones.com offers a range of creature toys based on the characters in this book. This whole process of creating our company started when my son who is seven years old came to us and told us that he would love to create his own toys. He drew some sketches of the creatures that inhabited an alien world called Planet Ziplo. He imagined their abilities, their world and their adventures. We decided to go for it and create a range of toys based on his thoughts. In this process, he got to work with artists, prototype designers and even the manufacturer to some extent in the design of the toys. It was an awesome experience for a little guy to take what was an idea and see a tangible product come from it. We had a lot of fun in this process as well. We thought it would nice to give every child the same opportunity to be creative and enjoy being a part of an experience like this. From this was born the “Create Your Own Mintrone” Contest. Your child can enter a design of a mintrone into our contest. The entries get voted upon and the winners get to be our next great toy designers. They also get paid royalty every time a toy of their design is sold to help fund their college! We are out to impact the lives of our children in a positive way. So go ahead and be part of this journey. We hope you have a blast doing it!

Return to the pulse-pounding world of the Dragons of Eternity by New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Ivy. Being born a half-breed means a life of brutal servitude for most dragons. But not for Char. He has a unique ability to turn every situation to his advantage—including an honored position next to his master, Baine, as well as an open invitation into the beds of the most beautiful females in the harem. It isn’t until he’s asked to use his special powers to slow time and protect a beautiful female dragon that his luck finally runs out. Blayze has spent her entire life trapped by her curse. But when Char wraps her in his magic, she can finally clear her mind long enough to use her powers to travel back through time. She’s determined to discover who is responsible for destroying her life, and kill him before he can strike. She hadn’t planned to take Char with her, but once he’s there, she discovers that the gorgeous half-breed dragon is devoted to protecting her. Together they must navigate the dangerous world of dragon politics to expose her enemies, while discovering that passion and true love cannot be denied, no matter how many obstacles might stand between them.

Bit Rot, a new collection from Douglas Coupland that explores the different ways 20th-century notions of the future are being shredded, is a gem of the digital age. Reading Bit Rot feels a lot like bingeing on Netflix... you can't stop with just one. "Bit rot" is a term used in digital archiving to describe the way digital files can spontaneously and quickly decompose. As Coupland writes, "Bit rot also describes the way my brain has been feeling since 2000, as I shed older and weaker neurons and connections and enhance new and unexpected ones." Bit Rot explores the ways humanity tries to make sense of our shifting consciousness. Coupland, just like the Internet, mixes forms to achieve his ends. Short fiction is interspersed with essays on all aspects of modern life. The result is addictively satisfying for Coupland's legion of fans hungry for his observations about our world. For almost three decades, his unique pattern recognition has powered his fiction, and his phrase-making. Every page of Bit Rot is full of wit, surprise and delight.

Cristiano is thirteen. Home life is far from perfect, and when his drink-sozzled father and two reprobate friends come up with a plan to rob a bank, Cristiano sees the chance of a better life. But as a tremendous storm brews that night, the perfect crime will have shocking consequences for all involved. And Cristiano must put childhood behind him once and for all. The utterly absorbing novel has pace, plot twists and glorious characters. An epic drama of innocence and delusion, The Crossroads is Ammaniti's most engaging novel yet.

In a dark comedy of errors, Iris Murdoch portrays the mischief wrought by Julius, a cynical intellectual who decides to demonstrate through a Machiavellian experiment how easily loving couples, caring friends, and devoted siblings can betray their loyalties. As puppet master, Julius artfully plays on the human tendency to embrace drama and intrigue and to prefer the distraction of confrontations to the difficult effort of communicating openly and honestly. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The final book in the Regeneration Trilogy, and winner of the 1995 Booker Prize "The Ghost Road" is the culminating masterpiece of Pat Barker's towering World War I fiction trilogy. The time of the novel is the closing months of the most senselessly savage of modern conflicts. In France, millions of men engaged in brutal trench warfare are all "ghosts in the making." In England, psychologist William Rivers, with severe pangs of conscience, treats the mental casualties of the war to make them whole enough to fight again. One of these, Billy Prior, risen to the officer class from the working class, both courageous and sardonic, decides to return to France with his fellow officer, poet Wilfred Owen, to fight a war he no longer believes in. Meanwhile, Rivers, enfevered by influenza, returns in memory to his experience studying a South Pacific tribe whose ethos amounted to a culture of death. Across the gulf between his society and theirs, Rivers begins to form connections that cast new light on his--and our--understanding of war. Combining poetic intensity with gritty realism, blending biting humor with tragic drama, moving toward a denouement as inevitable as it is devastating, "The Ghost Road" both encapsulates history and transcends it. It is a modern masterpiece

It’s spring break and the only assignment Wally Hatford and Caroline Malloy have is to do something that they have never done before. Wally’s sure that will be a cinch once he hears the great news about the mighty Benson brothers coming to stay for vacation. It will be nonstop action all the way. For starters, the nine Benson and Hatford boys plan on scaring the three Malloy sisters silly by convincing them that their house is haunted. Of course, the boys don’t know that the girls are hard at work plotting their own special surprise welcome. The Bensons don’t know what they’re up against with the Malloy girls. But they soon will. Meanwhile, everyone in town knows there’s a hungry cougar on the prowl. When the kids decide to take a break from their tricks and join forces in catching the cougar, guess who gets stuck with the scariest job? This will surely be something no one has ever done before. From the Hardcover edition.

All Ellie Harris wanted was a life of her own. In a shortsighted decision, she follows her high school boyfriend to college, only to get cheated on and then dumped. And to add insult to injury, her overprotective family is suddenly clinging to her again, fighting to control every part of her life. Bad luck follows her hasty decision and when her roommate steals her identity and leaves town, Ellie is left to clean up a gigantic mess. Fin Hunter insists Ellie owes him seven thousand dollars from an online poker game and he won't stop until he collects it. Determined to keep her family out of her life, Ellie agrees to work for Fin in his illegal online poker operation. He's given her six weeks to pay off the debt. Soon sparks are flying between them and the only thing keeping her from falling for him is the debt she still owes and the money she doesn't have. At the end of those six weeks, Ellie will have to pay the mistaken debt or bet that her feelings for Fin will be worth more than the money. This book was previously titled Bet in the Dark.

In celebration of the forthcoming novel The Silent Sister, Diane Chamberlain introduces Riley MacPherson in the e-short story The Broken String. As seventeen-year-old Riley MacPherson rushes to the side of her brother who has been gravely injured in Iraq, she recalls their growing up years when he was her protector and best friend. Why did that relationship fall apart? She longs for a second chance to connect with her brother, not realizing that family secrets may prevent them from ever having that closeness again.

Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist. His success is even more amazing since he did not learn to speak English until he was in his 20Žs. ConradŽs narrative style places him at the beginning of the Modernist period of literature. Gaspar Ruiz was written in 1904. This story was the only piece of Conrad's fiction ever adapted by the author for cinema, as Gaspar the Strong Man (1920.). An excerpt from this adventure story reads ôThat voice, senores, proceeded from the head of Gaspar Ruiz. Of his body I could see nothing. Some of his fellow-captives had clambered upon his back. He was holding them up. His eyes blinked without looking at me. That and the moving of his lips was all he seemed able to manage in his overloaded state. And when I turned round, this head, that seemed more than human size resting on its chin under a multitude of other heads, asked me whether I really desired to quench the thirst of the captives.ö

Based on a cult thriller, also well known as a film.

A disgraced former president and her Sercet Service lover steal through the corridors of time to try to destroy the United States. A brutal rogue agent and the woman who loves him are sent in pursuit. During the fateful spring and summer of 1863 the four wage their own desperate campaign to determine the outcome of the American Civil War.America’s first woman president has resigned in disgrace. Using knowledge privy to presidents, Alice Naylor travels back one hundred fifty years to hit the reset button on history. She will attempt to redeem her legacy by securing world peace. Unfortunately she and the Secret Service lover accompanying her believe this requires the permanent division of the United States.The country’s best—and most brutal—counter-terrorist agent is sent after them. Joe Mauer teams with a colleague who has secretly loved him for years. The two know they face long odds in stopping this wily president now turned traitor.During the fateful spring and summer of 1863 the four wage their own desperate campaign to determine the outcome of the Civil War. Lincoln and Lee become pawns in a deadly game as Naylor and Mauer try to checkmate each other with the greatest general of them all.

Sequel to 'Half a Century Alone'"Fifty stories, each told in fifty words, to guide you back home"A woman is lost in a parallel world trying to find her way home. She meets a man who gives her fifty stories to help her find her way. Each story a different world, each story that is part of her own.Kaiya held a magical power in her blood to make the night creatures immune to the sun. Byron's assignment was easy, to make her fall in love with him and have her offer her blood to him and all the vampires in Connor's coven. There was just one thing he wasn't allowed to do: fall in love with her. Will he follow the rules and be faithful to his maker or will he turn his back on his own kind just to save her? With so much to lose the choice won’t be easy