Books with category 📚 Fiction
Displaying books 5761-5808 of 11780 in total

Heart's Blood

Whistling Tor is a place of secrets, a mysterious, wooded hill housing the crumbling fortress of a chieftain whose name is spoken throughout the district in tones of revulsion and bitterness. A curse lies over Anluan's family and his people; those woods hold a perilous force whose every whisper threatens doom.

For young scribe Caitrin, it is a safe haven. This place where nobody else is prepared to go seems exactly what she needs, for Caitrin is fleeing her own demons. As Caitrin comes to know Anluan and his home in more depth, she realizes that it is only through her love and determination that the curse can be broken and Anluan and his people set free.

Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set

The Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set by Brandon Sanderson is a landmark fantasy series that has been credited with breathing fresh life into the genre. This set includes three epic novels: Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages.

Set in a world dominated by the Dark Lord, it is a place of ash, pain, and subjugation. However, it is also a world where magic can be drawn from metals, offering a glimmer of hope and a new heroine to challenge the darkness. Sanderson's mastery of world building, sweeping plots, believable characters, and engrossing magic systems has made this series a word of mouth bestseller in the USA and a massive hit in the UK, introducing readers to one of the genre's great talents.

Nightlight: A Parody

About three things I was absolutely certain.

First, Edwart was most likely my soul mate, maybe.

Second, there was a vampire part of him—which I assumed was wildly out of his control—that wanted me dead.

And third, I unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogeneously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished he had kissed me.

And thus Belle Goose falls in love with the mysterious and sparkly Edwart Mullen in the Harvard Lampoon’s hilarious send-up of Twilight.

Pale and klutzy, Belle arrives in Switchblade, Oregon looking for adventure, or at least an undead classmate. She soon discovers Edwart, a super-hot computer nerd with zero interest in girls.

After witnessing a number of strange events—Edwart leaves his tater tots untouched at lunch! Edwart saves her from a flying snowball!—Belle has a dramatic revelation: Edwart is a vampire.

But how can she convince Edwart to bite her and transform her into his eternal bride, especially when he seems to find girls so repulsive?

Complete with romance, danger, insufficient parental guardianship, creepy stalker-like behavior, and a vampire prom, Nightlight is the uproarious tale of a vampire-obsessed girl, looking for love in all the wrong places.

The Crying of Lot 49

2009

by Thomas Pynchon

Thomas Pynchon's classic post-modern satire, which tells the wonderfully unusual story of Oedipa Maas, first published in 1965. When her ex-lover, wealthy real-estate tycoon Pierce Inverarity dies and designates her the co-executor of his estate, California housewife Oedipa Mass is thrust into a paranoid mystery of metaphors, symbols, and the United States Postal Service. Traveling across Southern California, she meets some extremely interesting characters, and attains a not-inconsiderable amount of self-knowledge.

The Lacuna

In her most accomplished novel, Barbara Kingsolver takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico City of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is a poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as they invent their modern identities. Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico—from a coastal island jungle to 1930s Mexico City—Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his thrilling odyssey.

Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen, errands he runs in the streets, and one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. He discovers a passion for Aztec history and meets the exotic, imperious artist Frida Kahlo, who will become his lifelong friend. When he goes to work for Lev Trotsky, an exiled political leader fighting for his life, Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution, newspaper headlines and howling gossip, and a risk of terrible violence.

Meanwhile, to the north, the United States will soon be caught up in the internationalist goodwill of World War II. There in the land of his birth, Shepherd believes he might remake himself in America's hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. He finds support from an unlikely kindred soul, his stenographer, Mrs. Brown, who will be far more valuable to her employer than he could ever know. Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach—the lacuna—between truth and public presumption.

With deeply compelling characters, a vivid sense of place, and a clear grasp of how history and public opinion can shape a life, Barbara Kingsolver has created an unforgettable portrait of the artist—and of art itself. The Lacuna is a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.

2 States: The Story of My Marriage

2009

by Chetan Bhagat

Love marriages around the world are simple: Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married. In India, there are a few more steps:


Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy. Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl. Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family. Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.


Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India, deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don't agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple have a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but it is much harder to convince. Will they make it?


From the author of blockbusters Five Point Someone, One Night @ the Call Center and The 3 Mistakes of My Life, comes another witty tale about inter-community marriages in modern India.

Memoirs of a Midget

Miss M., the narrator of these fictional memoirs, is a diminutive young woman with a passion for shells, fossils, flints, butterflies, and stuffed animals. Miss M. tells of her early life as a dreamy orphan and, in particular, of her tempestuous twentieth year.

In this year, she falls in love with a beautiful and ambitious full-sized woman and is courted by a male dwarf. Concluding that she must choose either to simply tolerate her difference or grow callous to it, Miss M. resolves to become independent by offering herself up as a spectacle in a circus.

This is a story of difference and acceptance, a vivid allegory offering an interior perspective on coping with diversity in a society wrought with expectation.

Black Dagger Brotherhood, #1-9

2009

by J.R. Ward

Black Dagger Brotherhood Collection

By J. R. Ward

This collection consists of 9 thrilling books that dive deep into the world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Each book in this series is a journey into the dark, passionate, and dangerous lives of warrior vampires.

Titles in This Set:

  • Lover Unleashed
  • Lover Mine
  • Lover Avenged
  • Lover Awakened
  • Lover Eternal
  • Dark Lover
  • Lover Revealed
  • Lover Unbound
  • Lover Enshrined

Experience the compelling saga of love, danger, and supernatural intrigue that has captivated readers worldwide.

Dead and Alive

2009

by Dean Koontz

From the celebrated imagination of Dean Koontz comes a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time. If you think you know the story, you know only half the truth. Get ready for the mystery, the myth, the terror, and the magic of… Dean Koontz's Dead and Alive.

A devastating hurricane approaches New Orleans and Victor Helios, once known as Frankenstein, has unleashed his benighted creatures onto the streets. As New Orleans descends into chaos, his engineered killers spin out of control, and the only hope rests with Victor's first and failed attempt to build the perfect human, whose damned path has led him to the ultimate confrontation with his pitiless creator. But first, Deucalion must destroy a monstrosity not even Victor's malignant mind could have imagined—an indestructible entity that steps out of humankind's collective nightmare with one purpose: to replace us.

Flaskepost fra P

I Skotlands yderste ende, helt oppe på politistationen i Wick, havde en grøn, ridset flaske stået i en vindueskarm i ganske, ganske lang tid. Den var lille. Ingen tog notits af den, og ingen bemærkede brevet indeni. Derfor undrede ingen sig over, hvad de halvt udviskede bogstaver HJÆLP mon kunne betyde.

Da politikommissær Carl Mørck ad omveje får overdraget den gamle flaskepost, tror han i første omgang, at det næsten udviskede nødskrig er resultatet af grove drengestreger. Men efterhånden som han og hans assistent Assad får afkodet mere og mere af brevet, går det op for dem, at to store drenge blev bortført engang i halvfemserne, og siden er flaskeposten det eneste livstegn, man har fået fra dem.

Men hvem er drengene? Hvorfor har deres forældre aldrig meldt dem savnet? Og hvad er der sket med dem? Carl og Assad trækkes længere og længere ind i en beregnende og følelseskold kidnappers net, og pludselig går det op for dem, at tiden er ved at løbe fra dem. Selvom der er gået mange år, så er kidnapperen stadig aktiv. Mareridtet er uden ende.

Green: The Beginning and the End

2009

by Ted Dekker

As foretold by ancient prophets, an apocalypse destroyed Earth during the twenty-first century. But two thousand years later, Elyon set upon the earth a new Adam. This time, however, He gave humanity an advantage. What was once unseen became seen. It was good and it was called... "Green."

But the evil Teeleh bided his time in a Black Forest. Then, when least expected, a twenty-four year old named Thomas Hunter fell asleep in our world and woke up in that future Black Forest. A gateway was opened for Teeleh to ravage the land.

Devastated by the ruin, Thomas Hunter and his Circle swore to fight the dark scourge until their dying breath. But now The Circle has lost hope. Samuel, Thomas Hunter's cherished son, has turned his back on his father. He gathers the dark forces to wage a final war. Thomas is crushed and desperately seeks a way back to our reality to find the one elusive hope that could save them all.

Enter an apocalyptic story like none you have read. A story with links to our own history so shocking that you will forget you are in another world at all. Welcome to "GREEN." Book Zero. Four novels. Two worlds. One story.

لا أريد لهذي القصيدة أن تنتهي

2009

by Mahmoud Darwish

الديوان الأخير للشاعر الراحل محمود درويش بعنوان لا أريد لهذي القصيدة أن تنتهي ينقسم الديوان إلى ثلاثة أقسام:

الأول بعنوان لاعب النرد وهو يبدأ بالقصيدة التي استهل بها أمسيته الأخيرة في رام الله.

القسم الثاني خصص لقصيدة واحدة لا أريد لهذي القصيدة أن تنتهي والأرجح أنها القصيدة الأخيرة التي كتبها زمنياً، والتي أراد لها الشاعر أن لا تنتهي. وهي ترمز إلى علاقة الشاعر بذاته وأرضه وموته.

أما القسم الثالث فيضم مجموعة من القصائد التي كتبها محمود درويش على مراحل منها الوطني ومنها الشخصي وبينها قصيدتان إلى نزار قباني وإميل حبيبي.

I'll Be Your Drill, Soldier

2009

by Crystal Rose

Ryan Gracin had a good life until he told his parents he was gay. Since they yanked their support for college, he had to find a way to pay for it. Little did he know that joining the Army was going to change his life forever. Especially when he was introduced to a Drill Sergeant who was nicknamed 'Big Daddy'.

Phillip Grabowski had joined the Army to follow in his father's footsteps. By the time Ryan entered, he had already made a name for himself. He was a soldier's soldier, but Ryan was making it really hard for him to remember that.

Skull Full of Kisses

2009

by Michael West

Love and evil know no bounds! Turn the page and enter a world of shadow, as Michael West brings together his most disturbing short stories—twisted tales of forbidden desires and ghoulish deeds, where nightmares manifest in the most mundane and unlikely of places...

The basement of a Japanese restaurant, where a seductive creature promises comfort to a lonely hitman, if only he will set her free...

A ruined city, where survivors of a natural disaster have become prey to something unnatural...

An Indiana farmhouse, where a frightened child attempts to fool the Angel of Death...

And the darkest regions of space, where a man fights to protect the woman he loves from invaders only he can see...

Ten reasons to lock your doors. Ten reasons to keep the lights on. Ten reasons why you may never sleep again.

Sookie Stackhouse 8 Volume Set

Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is no typical Southern belle. She can read minds. And she's got a thing for vampires. Which, in a town like Bon Temps, Louisiana, means she'll have to watch her back-and neck...

This boxed set includes:

  • Dead Until Dark
  • Living Dead in Dallas
  • Club Dead
  • Dead to the World
  • Dead as a Doornail
  • Definitely Dead
  • All Together Dead
  • From Dead to Worse

Bed of Roses

2009

by Nora Roberts

Love blooms in the second novel in Nora Roberts's celebrated Bride Quartet series. As little girls, MacKensie, Emma, Laurel, and Parker spent hours acting out their perfect make-believe "I do" moments. Years later, their fantasies become reality when they start their own wedding planning company to make every woman's dream day come true.

With perfect flowers, delicious desserts, and joyful moments captured on film, Nora Roberts's Bride Quartet shares each woman's emotionally magical journey to romance.

In Bed of Roses, florist Emma Grant is finding career success with her friends at Vows wedding planning company, and her love life appears to be thriving. Though men swarm around her, she still hasn't found Mr. Right. And the last place she's looking is right under her nose.

But that's just where Jack Cooke is. He's so close to the women of Vows that he's practically family, but the architect has begun to admit to himself that his feelings for Emma have developed into much more than friendship. When Emma returns his passion—kiss for blistering kiss—they must trust in their history...and in their hearts.

Darkness Unleashed

2009

by Alexandra Ivy

The Guardians of Eternity are vampire warriors without equal, bound by their loyalties and sworn to protect their charges from every danger, except those posed by their own hungry desires.

Jagr, a scarred recluse, makes no secret of his disdain for others' company. But now, as a member of Chicago's powerful vampire clan, he has certain obligations to fulfill. The latest: track down a missing were pureblood and return her to her sister. The problem: Regan Garrett has no intention of complying. And though Jagr agreed not to harm an inch of this stubborn female's distractingly tempting body, he'll gladly kiss her into submission, awakening an urge he hasn't felt in centuries.

Regan vowed never to be at the mercy of another man. That goes double for arrogant, steel-muscled vampires with eyes of ice. All Regan wants is revenge against those who imprisoned her. She doesn't need an ally. She certainly doesn't need a mate. But soon, Regan will have to choose—between a lust for vengeance, and a passion as dark and dangerous as the night.

Grave Secret

Lightning-struck sleuth Harper Connelly and her stepbrother Tolliver take a break from looking for the dead to visit the two little girls they both think of as sisters. But, as always happens when they travel to Texas, memories of their horrible childhood resurface.

To make matters worse, Tolliver learns from his older brother that their father is out of jail and trying to reestablish contact with other family members. Tolliver wants nothing to do with the man – but he may not have a say in the matter.

Soon, family secrets ensnare them both, as Harper finally discovers what happened to her missing sister, Cameron, so many years before. And what she finds out will change her world forever...

Invisible

2009

by Paul Auster

Paul Auster, one of America’s greatest novelists, dazzlingly reinvents the coming-of-age story in his most passionate and surprising book to date. Invisible is sinuously constructed in four interlocking parts, opening in New York City in the spring of 1967, when twenty-year-old Adam Walker, an aspiring poet and student at Columbia University, meets the enigmatic Frenchman Rudolf Born and his silent and seductive girlfriend, Margot. Before long, Walker finds himself caught in a perverse triangle that leads to a sudden, shocking act of violence that will alter the course of his life.

Three different narrators tell the story of Invisible, a novel that travels in time from 1967 to 2007 and moves from Morningside Heights, to the Left Bank of Paris, to a remote island in the Caribbean. It is a book of youthful rage, unbridled sexual hunger, and a relentless quest for justice. With uncompromising insight, Auster takes us into the shadowy borderland between truth and memory, between authorship and identity, to produce a work of unforgettable power that confirms his reputation as one of America’s most spectacularly inventive writers.

Lockdown

Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world.


Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison.


Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.

Makers

2009

by Cory Doctorow

From the New York Times bestselling author of Little Brother, comes a major novel about the booms, busts, and further booms awaiting America.

Perry and Lester are inventors of quirky creations like seashell robots that make toast and Boogie Woogie Elmo dolls that drive cars. They also devise new economic systems, such as the "New Work," a modern-day New Deal for the technological era.

As barefoot bankers traverse the nation, microinvesting in tech-savvy communal startups like Perry and Lester's, they transform the country. Andrea Fleeks, a journo-turned-blogger, captures the unfolding events.

However, the story takes a turn as the New Work bust overshadows the dot-com bomb. Perry and Lester create a network of interactive rides in abandoned Wal-Marts, celebrating the New Work's heyday. But jealousy arises from a rogue Disney executive, who manipulates the police into believing that their 3D printers are producing illegal weapons.

Goths flock to the shantytown erected by the New Workers, forming a cult. Meanwhile, lawsuits fly as venture capitalists adopt a new strategy: backing litigation against giants like Disney. The once-solid friendship between Lester and Perry crumbles when Lester undergoes the 'fatkins' treatment, turning him into a sybaritic gigolo.

And then, things get really interesting...

Maximum Ride, Vol. 2

Having recovered Angel, Max and the flock head to New York City to pursue a lead regarding their true identities. But where the flock goes, erasers are sure to follow! Even more troubling, though, is the voice that's begun whispering in Max's head.

Is it really her destiny to save the world?

Powerless

2009

by Matthew Cody

Superheroes soar in this promising debut—and they’re kids! Twelve-year-old Daniel, the new kid in town, soon learns the truth about his nice—but odd—new friends: one can fly, another can turn invisible, yet another controls electricity. Incredible. The superkids use their powers to secretly do good in the town, but they’re haunted by the fact that the moment they turn thirteen, their abilities will disappear—along with any memory that they ever had them. Is a memory-stealing supervillain sapping their powers?

The answers lie in a long-ago meteor strike, a World War II–era comic book (Fantastic Futures, starring the first superhero, Johnny Noble), the green-flamed Witch Fire, a hidden Shroud cave, and—possibly, unbelievably—“powerless” regular-kid Daniel himself.

Superhero kids meet comic book mystery in this action-filled debut about the true meaning of a hero.

Splendor

2009

by Anna Godbersen

New Beginnings. Shocking Revelations. Unexpected Endings.

As spring turns into summer, Elizabeth relishes her new role as a young wife, while her sister, Diana, searches for adventure abroad. But when a surprising clue about their father's death comes to light, the Holland girls wonder at what cost a life of splendor comes.

Carolina Broad, society's newest darling, fans a flame from her past, oblivious to how it might burn her future. Penelope Schoonmaker is finally Manhattan royalty—but when a real prince visits the city, she covets a title that comes with a crown. Her husband, Henry, bravely went to war, only to discover that his father's rule extends well beyond New York's shores and that fighting for love may prove a losing battle.

In the dramatic conclusion to the bestselling Luxe series, New York's most dazzling socialites chase dreams, cling to promises, and tempt fate. As society watches what will become of the city's oldest families and newest fortunes, one question remains: Will its stars fade away or will they shine ever brighter?

The Gathering Storm

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, looms. And mankind is not ready. The final volume of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, was partially written by Robert Jordan before his untimely passing in 2007. Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn books, was chosen by Jordan's editor—his wife, Harriet McDougal—to complete the final book. The scope and size of the volume was such that it could not be contained in a single book, and so Tor proudly presents The Gathering Storm as the first of three novels that will make up A Memory of Light. This short sequence will complete the struggle against the Shadow, bringing to a close a journey begun almost twenty years ago and marking the conclusion of the Wheel of Time, the preeminent fantasy epic of our era.

In this epic novel, Robert Jordan's international bestselling series begins its dramatic conclusion. Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, struggles to unite a fractured network of kingdoms and alliances in preparation for the Last Battle. As he attempts to halt the Seanchan encroachment northward—wishing he could form at least a temporary truce with the invaders—his allies watch in terror the shadow that seems to be growing within the heart of the Dragon Reborn himself.

Egwene al'Vere, the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, is a captive of the White Tower and subject to the whims of their tyrannical leader. As days tick toward the Seanchan attack she knows is imminent, Egwene works to hold together the disparate factions of Aes Sedai while providing leadership in the face of increasing uncertainty and despair. Her fight will prove the mettle of the Aes Sedai, and her conflict will decide the future of the White Tower—and possibly the world itself.

The Mortal Instruments Boxed Set: City of Bones; City of Ashes; City of Glass

2009

by Cassandra Clare

In City of Bones, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is introduced to the world of the Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of warriors dedicated to driving demons out of our world. And she's introduced with a vengeance, when Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque monster sent by the evil and powerful Shadowhunter, Valentine. How could a mere human survive such an attack.

In the second novel, City of Ashes, Clary just wants her life to go back to normal--but that turns out to be impossible. For one thing, her mother is still in the hospital, in a mysterious coma. For another, she and her newfound brother Jace have fallen under a cloud of suspicion now that the Shadowhunter world knows that Valentine is still alive--and that Jace and Clary are his son and daughter. Then Clary's best friend Simon is turned into a vampire and kidnapped by Valentine, who intends to sacrifice him as part of a bloody ritual that will make the Mortal Instruments Valentine's forever.

In book three, City of Glass, Clary has to use all her ingenuity and newfound magical skills to get herself to the Glass City in Idris, the secretive Shadowhunters' home country, where she is forbidden to go--for it is only there that she can find the cure to the enchanted sleeping sickness to which her mother has succumbed. When Valentine attacks the city and destroys the demon towers, Clary and her allies are all that stand between him and the total annihilation of all Shadowhunters.

Love is a mortal sin and the past tangles inextricably with the present as Clary and Jace face down their father in the final installment of the Mortal Instruments series.

Black Cross

2009

by Greg Iles

It is January 1944 — and as Allied troops prepare for D-Day, Nazi scientists develop a toxic nerve gas that will repel and wipe out any invasion force. To salvage the planned assault, two vastly different but equally determined men are sent to infiltrate the secret concentration camp where the poison gas is being perfected on human subjects.

Their only objective: destroy all traces of the gas and the men who created it — no matter how many lives may be lost...including their own.

A stunning story from Greg Iles, filled with tension-filled action scenes, horrifying depictions of savage cruelty, and heart-stopping descriptions of sacrifice and bravery.

Dragonfly

2009

by Julia Golding

Princess Taoshira of the Blue Crescent Islands is appalled when she is ordered to marry Prince Ramil of Gerfal. And he's not too pleased, either. She is used to a life of discipline, ritual, and splendor. He is used to hunting and carousing. They hate each other on sight. But both of their countries are under threat from a fearsome warlord, and the only chance of peace is to form an alliance.

When Tashi and Ram are kidnapped, they fear there's no escape—from their kidnappers or from each other. Can they put aside their differences long enough to survive ambush, unarmed combat, brainwashing, and imprisonment?

And will the people they meet on their adventure—including a circus strongman, a daring rebel leader, a sinister master of spies, and the best female fighter they have ever seen—help them or betray them to the enemy?

Last Night in Twisted River

2009

by John Irving

In 1954, in the cookhouse of a logging and sawmill settlement in northern New Hampshire, an anxious twelve-year-old boy mistakes the local constable’s girlfriend for a bear. Both the twelve-year-old and his father become fugitives, forced to run from Coos County—to Boston, to southern Vermont, to Toronto—pursued by the implacable constable. Their lone protector is a fiercely libertarian logger, once a river driver, who befriends them.

In a story spanning five decades, Last Night in Twisted River—John Irving’s twelfth novel—depicts the recent half-century in the United States as “a living replica of Coos County, where lethal hatreds were generally permitted to run their course.”

From the novel’s taut opening sentence—“The young Canadian, who could not have been more than fifteen, had hesitated too long”—to its elegiac final chapter, Last Night in Twisted River is written with the historical authenticity and emotional authority of The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany. It is also as violent and disturbing a story as John Irving’s breakthrough bestseller, The World According to Garp.

What further distinguishes Last Night in Twisted River is the author’s unmistakable voice—the inimitable voice of an accomplished storyteller. Near the end of this moving novel, John Irving writes: “We don’t always have a choice how we get to know one another. Sometimes, people fall into our lives cleanly—as if out of the sky, or as if there were a direct flight from Heaven to Earth—the same sudden way we lose people, who once seemed they would always be part of our lives.”

The Museum of Innocence

2009

by Orhan Pamuk

"It was the happiest moment of my life, though I didn’t know it." So begins the new novel, his first since winning the Nobel Prize, from the universally acclaimed author of Snow and My Name Is Red.

It is 1975, a perfect spring in Istanbul. Kemal, scion of one of the city’s wealthiest families, is about to become engaged to Sibel, daughter of another prominent family, when he encounters Füsun, a beautiful shopgirl and a distant relation. Once the long-lost cousins violate the code of virginity, a rift begins to open between Kemal and the world of the Westernized Istanbul bourgeoisie—a world, as he lovingly describes it, with opulent parties and clubs, society gossip, restaurant rituals, picnics, and mansions on the Bosphorus, infused with the melancholy of decay—until finally he breaks off his engagement to Sibel. But his resolve comes too late.

For eight years, Kemal will find excuses to visit another Istanbul, that of the impoverished backstreets where Füsun, her heart now hardened, lives with her parents. There, Kemal discovers the consolations of middle-class life at a dinner table in front of the television. His obsessive love will also take him to the demimonde of Istanbul film circles (where he promises to make Füsun a star), a scene of seedy bars, run-down cheap hotels, and small men with big dreams doomed to bitter failure.

In his feckless pursuit, Kemal becomes a compulsive collector of objects that chronicle his lovelorn progress and his afflicted heart’s reactions: anger and impatience, remorse and humiliation, deluded hopes of recovery, and daydreams that transform Istanbul into a cityscape of signs and specters of his beloved, from whom now he can extract only meaningful glances and stolen kisses in cars, movie houses, and shadowy corners of parks.

A last chance to realize his dream will come to an awful end before Kemal discovers that all he finally can possess, certainly and eternally, is the museum he has created of his collection, this map of a society’s manners and mores, and of one man’s broken heart.

A stirring exploration of the nature of romantic attachment and of the mysterious allure of collecting, The Museum of Innocence also plumbs the depths of an Istanbul half Western and half traditional—its emergent modernity, its vast cultural history. This is Orhan Pamuk’s greatest achievement.

Caim

2009

by José Saramago

Neste novo romance, o vencedor do prêmio Nobel José Saramago reconta episódios bíblicos do Velho Testamento sob o ponto de vista de Caim, que, depois de assassinar seu irmão, trava um incomum acordo com deus e parte numa jornada que o levará do jardim do Éden aos mais recônditos confins da criação.

Se, em O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo, José Saramago nos deu sua visão do Novo Testamento, neste Caim ele se volta aos primeiros livros da Bíblia, do Éden ao dilúvio, imprimindo ao Antigo Testamento a música e o humor refinado que marcam sua obra. Num itinerário heterodoxo, Saramago percorre cidades decadentes e estábulos, palácios de tiranos e campos de batalha, conforme o leitor acompanha uma guerra secular, e de certo modo involuntária, entre criador e criatura.

No trajeto, o leitor revisitará episódios bíblicos conhecidos, mas sob uma perspectiva inteiramente diferente. Para atravessar esse caminho árido, um deus às turras com a própria administração colocará Caim, assassino do irmão Abel e primogênito de Adão e Eva, num altivo jegue, e caberá à dupla encontrar o rumo entre as armadilhas do tempo que insistem em atraí-los.

A Caim, que leva a marca do senhor na testa e portanto está protegido das iniquidades do homem, resta aceitar o destino amargo e compactuar com o criador, a quem não reserva o melhor dos julgamentos. Tal como o diabo de O Evangelho, o deus que o leitor encontra aqui não é o habitual dos sermões: ao reinventar o Antigo Testamento, Saramago recria também seus principais protagonistas, dando a eles uma roupagem ao mesmo tempo complexa e irônica, cujo tom de farsa da narrativa só faz por acentuar.

Shades of Gray

2009

by Brooke McKinley

Miller Sutton, a by-the-book FBI agent, is starting to see some troubling shades of gray in his black-and-white world. He comes face-to-face with his doubts in the person of Danny Butler, a mid-level drug runner Miller hopes to use to catch a much larger fish: Roberto Hinestroza, a drug lord Miller has pursued for years.

Danny has no interest in being a witness against his boss, both out of a sense of twisted loyalty and because he knows double-crossing Hinestroza is a sure death sentence. But he reluctantly agrees to cooperate, and as he suspects, it doesn't take long for Hinestroza to figure out the betrayal.

Miller is surprised to discover Danny's not the career-criminal lowlife he expected; at the same time, Danny finds himself helplessly attracted to Miller's innate goodness. They barely begin to explore the sparking attraction between them when Hinestroza's hitman tracks them down, and then they're on the run, both for their lives and for any kind of love.

Hell's Heroes

2009

by Darren Shan

Beranabus and Dervish are gone. Bec has formed an unholy alliance with Lord Loss. Kernel is blind, held on Earth against his will. Grubbs is mad with grief and spinning out of control. The demons are crossing. The Disciples are falling. The Shadow is waiting. Welcome to the end.

The tenth and final novel in the chilling Demonata series by Darren Shan, author of the New York Times bestselling Cirque Du Freak series, will bring everything to a terrifying, cataclysmic conclusion.

The Dragonfly Pool

2009

by Eva Ibbotson

Tally Hamilton is furious to hear she is being sent from London to a horrid, stuffy boarding school in the countryside. And all because of the stupid war. But Delderton Hall is a far more unusual and interesting place than Tally ever imagined, and she soon falls in love with its eccentric staff and pupils.

Now she's even organizing an exciting school trip to the kingdom of Bergania... although Tally never expected to meet the prince. Prince Karil hates his life at the palace and he is only truly happy when he escapes to the dragonfly pool, a remote spot in the forests of Bergania. Then Karil meets a feisty English girl who brings the promise of adventure. But his country is under threat, and the prince soon looks to his new friend Tally for survival as well as friendship...

Ain't She Sweet?

Sugar Beth Carey is back in town, the small southern town she despised and never intended to return to. However, she's also on a mission, to find a painting willed to her worth millions. To gain access to the estate of her deceased father, she must 'make nice' with its current occupant, Colin Byrne. No easy task, because as her teacher 15 years earlier, she ruined his reputation by falsely accusing him of molesting her, and now he is a rich, famous author relishing his opportunity for revenge.

But, what neither of them foresee is the begrudging respect they will develop for one another's wit and intelligence as they struggle to maintain their emotional distance and prevent themselves from falling in love. Complicated not only by their pasts, but by others who were hurt in the past as well.

Ain't She Sweet? is a story of courage and redemption...of friendship and laughter...of love and the possibility of happily-ever-after.

Akira, Vol. 1

2009

by Katsuhiro Otomo

Akira, Vol. 1 is a gripping science fiction tale set in the year 2019, in the bustling metropolis of Tokyo. The city, once devastated by World War III, now stands rebuilt, but shadows of the past linger. The story follows the lives of two teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, who are caught in the whirlwind of chaos created by a mysterious and monstrous power known as Akira.

The narrative weaves through the dark alleys and neon-lit streets of Neo-Tokyo, where government agencies and rival factions vie for control over the supernatural forces that emerge. As Tetsuo and Kaneda navigate this treacherous world, they grapple with their own fears and the consuming power that threatens to engulf them.

Charmed Life

Cat doesn't mind living in the shadow of his sister, Gwendolen, the most promising young witch ever seen on Coven Street. But trouble starts brewing the moment the two orphans are summoned to live in Chrestomanci Castle. Frustrated that the witches of the castle refuse to acknowledge her talents, Gwendolen conjures up a scheme that could throw whole worlds out of whack.

Death Troopers

2009

by Joe Schreiber

When the Imperial prison barge Purge – temporary home to five hundred of the galaxy’s most ruthless killers, rebels, scoundrels, and thieves – breaks down in a distant, uninhabited part of space, its only hope appears to lie with a Star Destroyer found drifting, derelict, and seemingly abandoned.


But when a boarding party from the Purge is sent to scavenge for parts, only half of them come back – bringing with them a horrific disease so lethal that within hours nearly all aboard the Purge die in ways too hideous to imagine. And death is only the beginning.


The Purge’s half-dozen survivors – two teenage brothers, a sadistic captain of the guards, a couple of rogue smugglers, and the chief medical officer, the lone woman on board – will do whatever it takes to stay alive. But nothing can prepare them for what lies waiting aboard the Star Destroyer amid its vast creaking emptiness that isn’t really empty at all. For the dead are rising: soulless, unstoppable, and unspeakably hungry.

Dog Days

2009

by Jeff Kinney

It’s summer vacation, the weather’s great, and all the kids are having fun outside. So where’s Greg Heffley? Inside his house, playing video games with the shades drawn.

Greg, a self-confessed "indoor person," is living out his ultimate summer fantasy: no responsibilities and no rules. But Greg’s mom has a different vision for an ideal summer . . . one packed with outdoor activities and "family togetherness."

Whose vision will win out? Or will a new addition to the Heffley family change everything?

Hush, Hush

A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

Ireland

2009

by Frank Delaney

In the winter of 1951, a storyteller arrives at the home of nine-year-old Ronan O'Mara in the Irish countryside. This storyteller is the last practitioner of an honored, centuries-old tradition known as the Seanchai. For three magical evenings, he enthralls his assembled audience with narratives of foolish kings, fabled saints, and Ireland's enduring accomplishments.

However, after being banished for blasphemy, he moves on, but not before leaving a lasting impression on young Ronan. These unforgettable nights set Ronan on a path he will follow for years, as he pursues the elusive, itinerant storyteller and the magical tales that weave the glorious saga of his tenacious, troubled, and extraordinary isle.

Rock Springs

2009

by Richard Ford

In these ten stories, Richard Ford mines literary gold from the wind-scrubbed landscape of the American West—and from the guarded hopes and gnawing loneliness of the people who live there. Rock Springs is a masterpiece of taut narration, cleanly chiseled prose, and empathy so generous that it feels like a kind of grace.

Meet a refugee from justice driving across Wyoming with his daughter and girlfriend in a stolen Mercedes; a boy watching his family dissolve in a night of tragicomic violence; and two men and a woman swapping hard-luck stories in a frontier bar as they try to sweeten their luck.

In the tradition of Raymond Carver, Rock Springs achieves luminous moments, moments with potential to change how the reader sees and thinks.

Wolf Hall

2009

by Hilary Mantel

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition.

But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie

In this mesmerizing sequel to Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception, music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians. James' musical talent attracts Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die.

Composing beautiful music together unexpectedly leads to mutual admiration and love. Haunted by fiery visions of death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soul-scorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives.

A Touch of Dead

Meet Sookie Stackhouse! Sookie Stackhouse is everybody's favourite cocktail waitress: a cute bubbly blonde ... who can read minds. But Sookie's far from being the only person in Bon Temps, Louisiana with a handicap, what with the local vampire population demanding their unhuman rights and weres fighting for territory ... In fact, Bon Temps is a pretty lively place these days!

A Touch of Dead collects together all the Sookie Stackhouse short stories in one gorgeous volume, and showcases the writing talents of international bestseller Charlaine Harris. Stories include “Fairy Dust,” “One Word Answer,” “Dracula Night,” “Lucky,” and “Giftwrap.”

Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?

2009

by Louise Rennison

For Georgia, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Just when she thought she was the official one-and-only girlfriend of Masimo, he's walked off into the night with the full hump, leaving Georgia all aloney on her owney—again.

All because Dave the Laugh tried to do fisticuffs at dawn with him! Two boys "fighting" over Georgia? It's almost as romantic as Romeo and Juliet... though perhaps a touch less tragic.

It's time for Georgia to get to the bottom (oo-er) of this Dave the Laugh spontaneous puckering business once and for all. It's like they always say: If you snog a mate in the forest of red bottomosity and no one is around to see it, is he still a mate? Or is he something more?

Friday Night Bites

2009

by Chloe Neill

Vamps in Chicago! You’d think headlines like that would have provoked the fine citizens of the Windy City to take up arms against us bloodsucking fiends. Instead, ten months later, we’re enjoying a celebrity status reserved for the Hollywood elite—fending off paparazzi only slightly less dangerous than cross and stake-wielding slayers. Don’t get me wrong, Joe Public isn’t exactly thrilled to be living side-by-side with the undead, but at least they haven’t stormed the castle yet.

But all that will change once they learn about the Raves—mass feeding parties where vampires round up humans like cattle and drink themselves silly. Most civilized vampires frown on this behavior, putting mere mortals at ease with their policy of asking a person’s consent before taking a big gulp of the red stuff. However, that doesn’t make good copy for a first time reporter looking to impress his high society family.

So now my “master,” the centuries old, yet gorgeously well-preserved Ethan Sullivan, wants me to reconnect with my own upper class family and act as liaison between humans and vampires—and keep the more unsavory aspects of our existence out of the media. But someone doesn’t want people and vamps to play nicey-nice—someone with an ancient grudge.

Half Broke Horses

2009

by Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls's memoir The Glass Castle was nothing short of spectacular. Now, in Half Broke Horses, she brings us the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person voice that is authentic, irresistible, and triumphant. "Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls's no nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town -- riding five hundred miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car and fly a plane. And, with her husband Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette's memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle. Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds -- against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn't fit the mold. Rosemary Smith Walls always told Jeannette that she was like her grandmother, and in this true-life novel, Jeannette Walls channels that kindred spirit. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa or Beryl Markham's West with the Night. Destined to become a classic, it will transfix audiences everywhere.

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