Meet Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! She lives in an upside-down house with a kitchen that is always full of freshly baked cookies. She was even married to a pirate once! Best of all, she knows everything there is to know about children. When Mary turns into an Answer-Backer or Dick becomes Selfish or Allen decides to be a Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has the perfect cure. And her solutions always work, with plenty of laughs along the way. This is the book that started it all! Perfect for fans of Mary Poppins and Nanny McPhee, this classic series is all about learning and problem-solving. Young readers will love this book.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a witty and fantastical satire about aging, authored by the renowned F. Scott Fitzgerald. This strange and haunting story embodies the sharp social insight that has made Fitzgerald one of the great voices in the history of American literature.
In 1860, Benjamin Button is born an old man and mysteriously begins aging backward. At the beginning of his life, he is withered and worn, but as he continues to grow younger, he embraces life. He goes to war, runs a business, falls in love, has children, goes to college and prep school, and, as his mind begins to devolve, he attends kindergarten and eventually returns to the care of his nurse.
This imaginative tale challenges our perceptions of time and age, offering a unique perspective on the human experience.
A beautiful woman stands by the side of the road, barefoot and bleeding, a child in her arms. Someone just tried to kill her, but she wouldn't recognize him if she saw his face. She doesn't even remember her own name.
A suburban cop surveys a kitchen in disarray—a woman and child missing, a chilling note. This crime scene is unlike any he has ever seen.
The man who calls himself Gideon waits and plans. He sees himself as a destroyer of evil, one who rids the world of abominations. He has already killed five. He will kill again.
And somewhere in the wilderness, in a secret geocache near where the wild swans gather, lies the unspeakable clue that links them all together.
Michigan's rugged and beautiful Upper Peninsula is the setting for this absorbing tale of love and loss, beauty and terror, grievous sins and second chances.
A deftly woven thriller from the bestselling author of the Rock Harbor novels.
As an ancient Sumerian god, Sin was one of the most powerful among his pantheon. Until the night Artemis brutally stole his godhood and left him for dead. For millennia, this ex-god turned Dark-Hunter has dreamed only of regaining his powers and seeking revenge on Artemis. If only life were that simple.
Unfortunately, he has bigger fish--or in Sin's case--demons, to fry. The lethal gallu that were buried by his pantheon are now stirring and they are hungry for human flesh. Their goal is to destroy mankind and anyone else who gets in their way. Sin is the only one who can stop them--that is if a certain woman doesn't kill him first. Unfortunately, Sin discovers that now he must rely on her or witness an annihilation of biblical proportions.
Enemies have always made strange bedfellows, but never more so than when the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Now a man who knows only betrayal must trust the one person most likely to hand him to the demons. Artemis may have stolen his godhood, but this one has stolen his heart. The only question is will she keep it or feed it to the ones who want him dead?
Fourth Comings, the fourth installment in the beloved, New York Times bestselling series by Megan McCafferty, captures the life of Jessica Darling as she navigates her early twenties in New York City. With a degree in psychology, Jessica works for a magazine and lives with her best friend, Hope, in a shared apartment affectionately dubbed the 'Cupcake.' Their Brooklyn neighborhood, more suited to 'breeders,' is also home to their high school friend, Manda, and Manda's 'genderqueer boifriend.'
Although Jessica's freelance work barely makes a dent in her student loans, she finds unexpected joys in babysitting her niece and the vibrant city life—full of literary parties, art openings, and downtown karaoke. Yet, it's her tumultuous relationship with Marcus Flutie that leaves Jessica most unsettled. As Marcus starts his freshman year at Princeton at twenty-three, he proposes to Jessica, giving her one week to decide. This proposal sets off a week of introspection, unexpected wisdom, and surprising revelations—including insights from a talk show shrink, a drag queen named Royalle G. Biv, and her own parents.
As Jessica considers whether to embrace her current, imperfect life or to upend it for a future with Marcus in New Jersey, she ponders with her characteristic snark and sharp insight. This pivotal week becomes the most tumultuous and memorable of her life, challenging her perceptions and the very choices that define her.
Four stories of inhuman passions from four of the hottest authors in paranormal romance...
“Alpha and Omega” by Patricia Briggs
The werewolf Anna finds a new sense of self when the son of the werewolf king comes to town to quell unrest in the Chicago pack—and inspires a power in Anna she’s never felt before.
“Inhuman” by Eileen Wilks
Andie has a secret gift of sensing thoughts and desires. What she senses in her neighbor Nathan could be dangerous. Because he has a secret gift too, and it’s about to be let loose…
“Buying Trouble” by Karen Chance
A Lord of the Fey crosses paths with a fiery red-headed mage named Claire in a New York auction house. But in this strange underground society, the rarity up for sale is Claire herself.
“Mona Lisa Betwining” by Sunny
Among the children of the moon, Milady is of mixed blood—part Monère, part human, and destined to be alone. Until she meets a man who could be her salvation—or her downfall.
Harper Blaine was your average small-time PI until she died - for two minutes. Now she's a Greywalker - walking the thin line between the living world and the paranormal realm. And she's discovering that her new abilities are landing her all sorts of "strange" cases.
In the days leading up to Halloween, Harper's been hired by a university research group that is attempting to create an artificial poltergeist. The head researcher suspects someone is faking the phenomena, but Harper's investigation reveals something else entirely - they've succeeded. And when one of the group's members is killed in a brutal and inexplicable fashion, Harper must determine whether the killer is the ghost itself, or someone all too human.
Tito is in his early twenties. Born in Cuba, he speaks fluent Russian, lives in one room in a NoLita warehouse, and does delicate jobs involving information transfer.
Hollis Henry is an investigative journalist, on assignment from a magazine called Node. Node doesn't exist yet, which is fine; she's used to that. But it seems to be actively blocking the kind of buzz that magazines normally cultivate before they start up. Really actively blocking it. It's odd, even a little scary, if Hollis lets herself think about it much. Which she doesn't; she can't afford to.
Milgrim is a junkie. A high-end junkie, hooked on prescription antianxiety drugs. Milgrim figures he wouldn't survive twenty-four hours if Brown, the mystery man who saved him from a misunderstanding with his dealer, ever stopped supplying those little bubble packs. What exactly Brown is up to, Milgrim can't say, but it seems to be military in nature. At least, Milgrim's very nuanced Russian would seem to be a big part of it, as would breaking into locked rooms.
Bobby Chombo is a "producer," and an enigma. In his day job, Bobby is a troubleshooter for manufacturers of military navigation equipment. He refuses to sleep in the same place twice. He meets no one. Hollis Henry has been told to find him.
There never was a story that was happy through and through.
When writer Arthur Ransome leaves his unhappy marriage in England and moves to Russia to work as a journalist, he has little idea of the violent revolution about to erupt. Unwittingly, he finds himself at its center, tapped by the British to report back on the Bolsheviks even as he becomes dangerously, romantically entangled with Trotsky's personal secretary.
Both sides seek to use Arthur to gather and relay information for their own purposes... and both grow to suspect him of being a double agent. Arthur wants only to elope far from conflict with his beloved, but her Russian ties make leaving the country nearly impossible. And the more Arthur resists becoming a pawn, the more entrenched in the game he seems to become.
Blood Red Snow White, a Soviet-era thriller from renowned author Marcus Sedgwick, is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Strange things are happening: old friends disappearing, angels (or devils) clambering on the fire escapes of New York City. But for Pearl, Moz, and Zahler, all that matters is the band. As the city reels under a mysterious epidemic, the three combine their talents with a vampire lead singer and a drummer whose fractured mind can glimpse the coming darkness.
Will their music stave off the end? Or summon it? Set against the gritty apocalypse that began in Peeps, The Last Days is about five teenagers who find themselves creating the soundtrack for the end of the world.
It's not easy being Jinx.
Jean Honeychurch hates her boring name (not Jean Marie, or Jeanette, just . . . Jean). What's worse? Her all-too-appropriate nickname, Jinx. Misfortune seems to follow her everywhere she goes—even to New York City, where Jinx has moved to get away from the huge mess she caused in her small hometown. Her aunt and uncle welcome her to their Manhattan town house, but her beautiful cousin Tory isn't so thrilled. . . .
In fact, Tory is hiding a dangerous secret—one that could put them all in danger. Soon Jinx realizes it isn't just bad luck she's been running from . . . and that the curse she has lived under since the day she was born may be the only thing that can save her life.
Persuasion, Jane Austen's last completed novel, is a tale of love, regret, and second chances. Anne Elliot, the protagonist, is an intelligent and thoughtful woman who is persuaded by a trusted family friend to break off her engagement with Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval officer with uncertain prospects.
Eight years later, Wentworth returns, now a successful man, while Anne's family is on the brink of financial ruin. The novel explores the themes of social standing, persuasion, and the constancy of love. As the narrative unfolds, Anne and Wentworth's paths cross again, and they must navigate the complexities of their renewed acquaintance. Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars' aftermath, Persuasion offers a poignant examination of the enduring power of love and the human capacity for change.
After a brutal battle with the underworld that nearly destroyed him, Locke Lamora and his trusted sidekick, Jean, fled the island city of their birth and landed on the exotic shores of Tal Verrar to nurse their wounds. But even at this westernmost edge of civilization, they can't rest for long---and they are soon back doing what they do best: stealing from the undeserving rich and pocketing the proceeds for themselves.
This time, however, they have targeted the grandest prize of all: the Sinspire, the most exclusive and heavily guarded gambling house in the world. Its nine floors attract the wealthiest clientele - and to rise to the top, one must impress with good credit, amusing behavior...and excruciatingly impeccable play. For there is one cardinal rule, enforced by Requin, the house's cold-blooded master: it is death to cheat at any game at the Sinspire.
Brazenly undeterred, Locke and Jean have orchestrated an elaborate plan to lie, trick, and swindle their way up the nine floors...straight to Requin's teeming vault. Under the cloak of false identities, they meticulously make their climb - until they are closer to the spoils than ever.
But someone in Tal Verrar has uncovered the duo's secret. Someone from their past who has every intention of making the impudent criminals pay for their sins. Now it will take every ounce of cunning to save their mercenary souls. And even that may not be enough.
Herodotus tells us that not all of the three hundred Spartan warriors died at the hands of Xerxes, King of the Persians, in the battle of the Thermopylae: two were saved bringing a life-saving message back to the city.
This is the saga of a Spartan family, torn apart by a cruel law that forces them to abandon one of their two sons—born lame—to the elements. The elder son, Brithos, is raised in the caste of the warriors, while the other, Talos, is spared a cruel death and is raised by a Helot shepherd, among the peasants.
They live out their story in a world dominated by the clash between the Persian empire and the city-states of Greece—a ferocious, relentless conflict—until the voice of their blood and of human solidarity unites them in a thrilling, singular enterprise.
Kabale und Liebe, a masterpiece by Friedrich Schiller, is a powerful exploration of love and politics. This classic drama, set in Germany, delves deep into the complexities of social class and personal ambition.
Luise and Ferdinand, two young lovers from different social backgrounds, struggle against the intrigues and manipulations of those around them. Their love is tested by the machinations of power, leading to a tragic yet compelling narrative that has captivated audiences for centuries.
This work, rich in cultural heritage, highlights the timeless themes of love, betrayal, and the quest for justice, making it a significant piece in the canon of German literature.
When truth and justice are no longer black and white issues...
Sephy is a Cross, one of the privileged in a society where the ruling Crosses treat the pale-skinned noughts as inferiors. But her baby daughter has a nought father.
Jude is a Nought. Eaten up with bitterness, he blames Sephy for the terrible losses his family has suffered. Now Jude's life rests on a knife edge. Will Sephy be forced, once again, to take sides?
A razor-sharp and intensely moving novel, the second in the Noughts & Crosses sequence.
On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother's past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more.
Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone's throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga - Greece's former leper colony. Then she finds Fotini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip...
Harry Potter is preparing to leave the Dursleys and Privet Drive for the last time. But the future that awaits him is full of danger, not only for him, but for anyone close to him – and Harry has already lost so much. Only by destroying Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes can Harry free himself and overcome the Dark Lord's forces of evil. In a final perilous journey, Harry must find the strength and the will to face a deadly confrontation that is his alone to fight.
Three years of strife have passed since Kale and Bardon freed Paladin's knights. Now, fiery dragons scorch their beautiful countryside as an evil husband-and-wife wizard duo battle one another for supremacy. The people of Amara just want to be left alone, hoping the conflict will disappear. But Paladin is dying, and Bardon and Kale—now married—must accept fateful assignments if their land is to survive.
Will their efforts turn the tide against their adversaries?
They face a deadly threat—and a challenging choice. Kale's responsibility is to find, hatch, and train an army of dragons, and she tackles the daunting task—until she is shocked by a betrayal.
As the Amaran countrymen seek escape, she must search for her husband, family, and friends while organizing an underground movement to weaken the enemy. But when the end draws near, Kale must choose between two dismal destinies.
Prepare to experience breathtaking adventure and mind-blowing fantasy as never before in this stunning addition to Donita K. Paul's popular Dragon Keepers fantasy series.
The Carolinas, 1699: The citizens of Fount Royal believe a witch has cursed their town with inexplicable tragedies, and they demand that beautiful widow Rachel Howarth be tried and executed for witchcraft. Presiding over the trial is traveling magistrate Issac Woodward, aided by his astute young clerk, Matthew Corbett. Believing in Rachel's innocence, Matthew will soon confront the true evil at work in Fount Royal.
After hearing damning testimony, magistrate Woodward sentences the accused witch to death by burning. Desperate to exonerate the woman he has come to love, Matthew begins his own investigation among the townspeople. Piecing together the truth, he has no choice but to vanquish a force more malevolent than witchcraft in order to save his beloved Rachel and free Fount Royal from the menace claiming innocent lives.
Without realizing it, Kimihiro Watanuki has purchased a dream. According to his boss Yūko Ishikawa, the mysterious time-space witch, people usually buy good dreams–but Kimihiro's dream is a man-eating nightmare. Even worse, it has come true!
Then Kimihiro meets a wistful girl who, like him, can see the spirit world. Together they try to prevent a harmless ghost from being exorcised from its beloved resting place, an ancient cherry tree. The girl's mother wants her to have nothing to do with Kimihiro, but the spirits say otherwise. . . .
Includes chapters 52-58.
Still avoiding magic whenever possible, Corporal Kaylin Neya relished investigating a regular theft once again. Until she found out the mysterious box was taken from Elani Street, where the mages and charlatans mingled, and it was sometimes hard to tell the difference between the two.
But she was hoping this might be a mundane case—when in a back room Kaylin saw a lost-looking girl in a reflective pool...who called out Kaylin's name.
Shaken, Kaylin tried to stay focused on the case at hand. But since the stolen item was ancient, without a keyhole, and held tremendous darkness inside, Kaylin knew unknown forces were again playing with her destiny—and her life....
In 1942, eleven-year-old Milada is taken from her home in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, along with other blond, blue-eyed children, to a Lebensborn center in Poland. There, she is trained to be a "proper German" for adoption by a German family. All the while, she struggles to remember her true identity and her real name.
This poignant story reveals the harrowing experiences of young Milada as she navigates the challenges of maintaining her identity amidst the chaos of World War II. Her journey is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring power of memory and self-discovery.
One of George Bernard Shaw's best-known plays, Pygmalion was a rousing success on the London and New York stages, an entertaining motion picture and a great hit with its musical version, My Fair Lady. An updated and considerably revised version of the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion and Galatea, the 20th-century story pokes fun at the antiquated British class system.
In Shaw's clever adaptation, Professor Henry Higgins, a linguistic expert, takes on a bet that he can transform an awkward cockney flower seller into a refined young lady simply by polishing her manners and changing the way she speaks. In the process of convincing society that his creation is a mysterious royal figure, the Professor also falls in love with his elegant handiwork.
The irresistible theme of the emerging butterfly, together with Shaw's brilliant dialogue and splendid skills as a playwright, have made Pygmalion one of the most popular comedies in the English language. A staple of college drama courses, it is still widely performed.
The sheriff's deputy at the front door brings hard news to Ree Dolly. Her father has skipped bail on charges that he ran a crystal meth lab, and the Dollys will lose their house if he doesn't show up for his next court date.
Ree's father has disappeared before. The Dolly clan has worked the shadowy side of the law for generations, and arrests (and attempts to avoid them) are part of life in Rathlin Valley. But the house is all they have, and Ree's father would never forfeit it to the bond company unless something awful happened.
With two young brothers depending on her and a mother who's entered a kind of second childhood, Ree knows she has to bring her father back, dead or alive, or else see her family turned out into the unforgiving cold.
Sixteen-year-old Ree, who has grown up in the harsh poverty of the Ozarks, learns quickly that asking questions of the rough Dolly clan can be a fatal mistake. She perseveres past obstacles of every kind and finally confronts the top figures in the family's hierarchy.
Along the way to a shocking revelation, Ree discovers unexpected depths in herself and in a family network that protects its own at any cost.
Gold Pen Award-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley returns to the Houston congregation of her #1 Essence magazine bestseller, Let the Church Say Amen, in this warm and powerful sequel.
When her husband hears God's call to become a preacher, Rachel Jackson Adams is distressed. She grew up a preacher's daughter and knows how difficult life under the microscope can be for a reverend's family. But hot-headed Rachel has toned down her wild ways, and for the sake of her marriage and her two children, she is now the reluctant first lady of Zion Hill, unafraid to rock the boat with her unconventional ideas for revitalizing the church.
When her son, Jordan, begins fighting at school, Rachel turns to the boy's father, Bobby—Rachel's first love from years ago. Married now himself, there should be nothing between them except their concern for Jordan—so why does seeing Bobby again feel so distractingly tempting?
With her brothers facing dramas of their own, and her father, Reverend Simon Jackson, recovering from illness, Rachel must listen carefully to discover what God truly wants for her—and to decide if Bobby is the lover of her dreams or the devil in disguise.
Police Lieutenant Phoebe MacNamara found her calling at an early age when a violently unstable man broke into her family’s home, trapping and terrorizing them for hours. Now she’s Savannah’s top hostage negotiator, who puts her life on the line every day to diffuse powder-keg situations.
After watching her talk one of his employees off a roof ledge, Duncan Swift is committed to keeping this intriguing, take-charge woman in his life. Phoebe’s used to working solo, but she’s finding that no amount of negotiation can keep Duncan at arm’s length.
Especially when a man throws a hood over Phoebe’s head and brutally assaults her—in her own precinct house—and threatening messages begin appearing on her doorstep. Duncan backs her up every step of the way, as she establishes contact with the faceless tormentor who is determined to make her a hostage to fear—before she becomes the final showdown.
Nefertiti and her younger sister, Mutnodjmet, have been raised in a powerful family that has provided wives to the rulers of Egypt for centuries. Ambitious, charismatic, and beautiful, Nefertiti is destined to marry Amunhotep, an unstable young pharaoh. It is hoped by all that her strong personality will temper the young Amunhotep's heretical desire to forsake Egypt's ancient gods. From the moment of her arrival in Thebes, Nefertiti is beloved by the people but fails to see that powerful priests are plotting against her husband's rule. The only person brave enough to warn the queen is her younger sister, Mutnodjmet.
Observant and contemplative, Mutnodjmet has never shared her sister's desire for power. She yearns for a quiet existence away from family duty and the intrigues of court. But remaining loyal to Nefertiti will force Mutnodjmet into a dangerous political game; one that could cost her everything she holds dear. Teeming with love, betrayal, political unrest, plague, and religious conflict, Nefertiti brings ancient Egypt to life in vivid detail.
Last week I cut my hair, bought some boys' clothes and shoes, wrapped a large ACE bandage around my chest to flatten my fortunately-not-large breasts, and began looking for a new name.
Angela Katz-McNair has never felt quite right as a girl. Her whole life is leading up to the day she decides to become Grady, a guy. While coming out as transgendered feels right to Grady, he isn't prepared for the reaction he gets from everyone else. His mother is upset, his younger sister is mortified, and his best friend, Eve, won't acknowledge him in public. Why can't people just let Grady be himself?
Grady's life is miserable until he finds friends in some unexpected places -- like the school geek, Sebastian, who explains that there is precedent in the natural world (parrotfish change gender when they need to, and the newly male fish are the alpha males), and Kita, a senior who might just be Grady's first love.
From acclaimed writer Ellen Wittlinger, this is the groundbreaking story of one teen's search for self and his struggle for acceptance.
The year is 1867. Winter has just tightened its grip on Dove River, a tiny isolated settlement in the Northern Territory, when a man is brutally murdered. Laurent Jammett had been a voyageur for the Hudson Bay Company before an accident lamed him four years earlier. The same accident afforded him the little parcel of land in Dove River, land that the locals called unlucky due to the untimely death of the previous owner.
A local woman, Mrs. Ross, stumbles upon the crime scene and sees the tracks leading from the dead man's cabin north toward the forest and the tundra beyond. It is Mrs. Ross's knock on the door of the largest house in Caulfield that launches the investigation. Within hours, she will regret that knock with a mother's love — for soon she makes another discovery: her seventeen-year-old son Francis has disappeared and is now considered a prime suspect.
In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the crime and to the township — Andrew Knox, Dove River's elder statesman; Thomas Sturrock, a wily American itinerant trader; Donald Moody, the clumsy young Company representative; William Parker, a half-breed Native American and trapper who was briefly detained for Jammett's murder before becoming Mrs. Ross's guide. But the question remains: do these men want to solve the crime or exploit it?
One by one, the searchers set out from Dove River following the tracks across a desolate landscape — home to only wild animals, madmen, and fugitives — variously seeking a murderer, a son, two sisters missing for seventeen years, and a forgotten Native American culture before the snows settle and cover the tracks of the past for good.
In an astonishingly assured debut, Stef Penney deftly weaves adventure, suspense, revelation, and humor into an exhilarating thriller; a panoramic historical romance; a gripping murder mystery; and, ultimately, with the sheer scope and quality of her storytelling, an epic for the ages.
From a mind-blowing new talent, an audacious novel that imagines the world after God takes human form and dies.
When God descends to Earth as a Dinka woman from Sudan and subsequently dies in the Darfur desert, the result is a world both bizarrely new yet eerily familiar. In Ron Currie's provocative, wise, and emotionally resonant novel we meet God himself; the Dinka woman whose mortality He must suffer when He inhabits her body; people all over the world coping with the devastating news of God's demise; a group of young men who, fearing the end of the world, take fate into their own hands; mental patients who insist that a god still exists; armies taking up the eternal war between fate and free will; and parents who, in the absence of a deity and the "lack of anything to do on Sundays," worship their children.
On the surface, this is a world utterly transformed—yet certain things remain unchanged: protective parents clash with willful, idealistic teenagers; idols are exalted; small-town rumor mills run unabated; and children often don't realize how to forgive their parents until it's too late.
In God Is Dead, Currie brings together a prescient satirical gift worthy of Jonathan Swift, the raw appeal of Chuck Palahniuk's blackest comedy, and the thought-provoking ethical questions of Kurt Vonnegut, all with a light touch, empathy, and wisdom that make for an exhilarating reading experience. Offbeat yet accessible, God Is Dead is an exciting debut from a fresh new voice in contemporary fiction.
There's a new vampire in town. His name is Valentine Maxwell. Goth-girl Raven knows this latest intruder can only mean trouble--he's the younger sibling of two vampires she fought to drive out of Dullsville.
But when her brother, Billy, befriends this dangerous tween night prowler, the stakes are suddenly higher. Though torn by the excitement of every teen girl's fantasy--attending the prom with her boyfriend--Raven must do everything she can to protect Billy.
Valentine's appearance may pose even further threats. Could he somehow know Raven's innermost feelings about becoming immortal for her true love, Alexander? The far-from-ordinary romance of these two teen outsiders takes another surprise-filled spin in the fourth book of Ellen Schreiber's applauded Vampire Kisses series.
The battle ends here!
Join the thrilling conclusion of the Death Note series as Light Yagami faces his ultimate challenge. With the stakes higher than ever, alliances are tested, and the true power of the Death Note is revealed.
Who will emerge victorious? Dive into this final installment filled with suspense and unexpected twists!
Hikaru no Go, Vol. 14: Sai vs. Toya Koyo unravels the continuing journey of Hikaru Shindo, a young schoolboy, who encounters a haunted Go board. Through this board, Hikaru meets the spirit of a master player, Fujiwara-no-Sai, who occupies his consciousness.
Sai's presence ignites an untapped genius for the game within Hikaru, propelling him to pursue his newfound dream. His goal is not a simple one, as he aspires to defeat the renowned Go prodigy, Akira Toya.
As the series progresses, readers witness Hikaru's personal growth and his thrilling encounters in the world of Go, where strategic battles of wit and skill unfold.
Risa Koizumi is the tallest girl in class, and the last thing she wants is the humiliation of standing next to Atsushi Otoni, the shortest guy. Fate and the whole school have other ideas, and the two find themselves cast as the unwilling stars of a bizarre romantic comedy duo.
Rather than bow to the inevitable, Risa and Atsushi join forces to pursue their true objects of affection. But in the quest for love, will their budding friendship become something more complex?
A thousand years ago, a brutal warrior roamed the Russian steppes and struck a sinister bargain. In return for the ability to change at will into a coldhearted predator, Konstantine promised his soul—and the soul of his descendants—to the devil.
Then one day a dangerous prophecy reveals the truth: One family has been chosen to battle the darkness—or face damnation.
Ann Smith loves her dynamic boss, Jasha Wilder, but her daring plan to seduce him goes awry when she encounters a powerful wolf who, before her horrified eyes, changes into the man she adores. She soon discovers that she can't escape her destiny, for Jasha is Konstantine's descendant, and Ann is the woman fated to break the curse that binds his soul.
Toby Maytree first sees Lou Bigelow on her bicycle in postwar Provincetown, Massachusetts. Her laughter and loveliness catch his breath. Maytree is a Provincetown native, an educated poet of thirty. As he courts Lou, just out of college, her stillness draws him. Hands-off, he hides his serious wooing, and idly shows her his poems.
In spare, elegant prose, Dillard traces the Maytrees' decades of loving and longing. They live cheaply among the nonconformist artists and writers that the bare tip of Cape Cod attracts. Lou takes up painting. When their son Petie appears, their innocent Bohemian friend Deary helps care for him. But years later it is Deary who causes the town to talk.
In this moving novel, Dillard intimately depicts nature's vastness and nearness. She presents willed bonds of loyalty, friendship, and abiding love. Warm and hopeful, The Maytrees is the surprising capstone of Annie Dillard's original body of work.
Lauren Stillwell is not your average damsel in distress. When the NYPD cop discovers her husband leaving a hotel with another woman, she decides to beat him at his own game. But her revenge goes dangerously awry, and she finds her world spiraling into a hell that becomes more terrifying by the hour.
In a further twist of fate, Lauren must take on a job that threatens everything she stands for. Now, she's paralyzed by a deadly secret that could tear her life apart. With her job and marriage on the line, Lauren's desire for retribution becomes a lethal inferno as she fights to save her livelihood—and her life.
Patterson takes us on a twisting roller-coaster ride of thrills in his most gripping novel yet. This story of love, lust, and dangerous secrets will have readers' hearts pounding to the very last page.
Lady Elyssa Yamato Amaterasu Wentworth is a seven-hundred-year-old vampire in need of a new servant—now more than ever as she's suffering the signs of a mysterious ailment that threatens to consume her.
As a gift, she's been given Jacob, an extraordinary physical specimen, but all wrong when it comes to being... used. A total alpha male, he's not accustomed to submitting to any woman's wishes.
Elyssa soon learns that what really binds Jacob to her are not her sensual midnight hungers, but something far more provocative. It stirs her blood, renews her life, and awakens her soul like only true love can. And the passion between Elyssa and Jacob is about to yield something else unexpected—a shared history that reaches back through the centuries and is fated to challenge their destiny like nothing ever will again...
A great battle is on the horizon and drawing near. In preparation, Soren and his band must fly to the mysterious Northern Kingdoms to find allies and study the grim art of war.
Meanwhile, St. Aggie's has fallen to the Pure Ones. If they are not stopped, they will launch another, more deadly attack against the great tree. Without allies from the north, Ga'Hoole will surely fall.
Soren's mission must succeed. The final battle must be won. The coming conflagration will demand wisdom, bravery, and sacrifice from all the owls of the great tree, and from Soren and the band, nothing less than heroism.
New York Times bestselling author James Rollins returns with a terrifying story of an ancient menace reborn to plague the modern world... and of an impossible hope that lies hidden in the most shocking place imaginable: within the language of angels.
ju·das strain, n. A scientific term for an organism that drives an entire species to extinction.
From the depths of the Indian Ocean, a horrific plague has arisen to devastate humankind—a disease that's unknown, unstoppable... and deadly. But it is merely a harbinger of the doom that is to follow. Aboard a cruise liner transformed into a makeshift hospital, Dr. Lisa Cummings and Monk Kokkalis—operatives of SIGMA Force—search for answers to the bizarre affliction. But there are others with far less altruistic intentions.
In a savage and sudden coup, terrorists hijack the vessel, turning a mercy ship into a floating bio-weapons lab. A world away, SIGMA's Commander Gray Pierce thwarts the murderous schemes of a beautiful would-be killer who holds the first clue to the discovery of a possible cure.
Pierce joins forces with the woman who wanted him dead, and together they embark upon an astonishing quest following the trail of the most fabled explorer in history: Marco Polo. But time is an enemy as a worldwide pandemic grows rapidly out of control. As a relentless madman dogs their every step, Gray and his unlikely ally are being pulled into an astonishing mystery buried deep in antiquity and in humanity's genetic code.
And as the seconds tick closer to doomsday, Gray Pierce will realize he can truly trust no one, for any one of them could be... a Judas.
"This is a book about Heaven," says Jayber Crow, "but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell." It is 1932 and he has returned to his native Port William to become the town's barber. Orphaned at age ten, Jayber Crow's acquaintance with loneliness and want have made him a patient observer of the human animal, in both its goodness and frailty.
He began his search as a "pre-ministerial student" at Pigeonville College. There, freedom met with new burdens and a young man needed more than a mirror to find himself. But the beginning of that finding was a short conversation with "Old Grit," his profound professor of New Testament Greek. "You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out--perhaps a little at a time." "And how long is that going to take?" "I don't know. As long as you live, perhaps." "That could be a long time." "I will tell you a further mystery," he said. "It may take longer."
Wendell Berry's clear-sighted depiction of humanity's gifts--love and loss, joy and despair--is seen though his intimate knowledge of the Port William Membership.
The Russian Concubine is a sweeping novel set in the war-torn landscape of 1928 China, with a captivating star-crossed love story at its center.
In a city filled with thieves and Communists, danger and death lurk around every corner. Spirited young Lydia Ivanova has endured a hard life. Always looking over her shoulder, the sixteen-year-old must steal to feed herself and her mother, Valentina, who was once among the Russian elite until the Bolsheviks murdered most of them, including her husband. As exiles, Lydia and Valentina have learned to survive in a foreign land.
Often, Lydia steals away to meet with the handsome young freedom fighter Chang An Lo. But their love faces grave danger: Chiang Kai Shek's troops are headed toward Junchow to kill Reds like Chang, who possesses the jewels of a tsarina, meant as a gift for the despot's wife. The young pair's all-consuming love can only bring shame and peril upon them, from both sides. Those in power will do anything to quell it. But Lydia and Chang are powerless to end it.
Lucky Santangelo is back with a vengeance—still every bit as strong, sexy, and seductive as ever! But Lucky is older and wiser, and hot to reclaim her power position in Las Vegas.
However, a deadly enemy from her past has resurfaced—a person determined to take everything from her, including the family she holds so dear: two sons and an out-of-control teenage daughter who is just as outrageous as Lucky herself. Like mother, like daughter. And if that old saying holds true, it's going to be one wild ride.
From Miami to Beverly Hills, from Mexico City, Acapulco, and Las Vegas, the stakes are high and the drama is intense. As Lucky prepares for the opening of her new multi-billion dollar hotel complex, she must face off against Anthony Bonar—drug lord and vicious killer—who is out to stop her in any way he can.
Meanwhile, Max, Lucky's wild 16-year-old daughter, has run off to hook up with a man she met on the Internet. Instead of the gorgeous guy she thought she'd be meeting, he turns out to be an obsessed rich psycho with a deep-seated grudge against Lucky. And so the lethal games begin...
InterWorld is an exhilarating journey across dimensions, crafted by the masterful storytelling duo, Newbery Medal winner Neil Gaiman and Emmy Award-winning science fiction writer Michael Reaves.
Meet Joey Harker, a seemingly average teenager who stumbles upon a mind-bending discovery: his world is just one among a trillion alternate earths. Some of these worlds are governed by the mystique of magic, while others are ruled by the cold logic of science. Yet, all are entangled in an epic conflict.
Joey's adventure begins when he inadvertently walks out of his world and into another dimension, making him a target for two formidable forces vying to exploit his unique ability to traverse dimensions. Faced with the enormity of this power struggle, Joey makes a courageous decision. He joins an army of alternate versions of himself, all possessing the same extraordinary gift, to fight against the nefarious magicians Lord Dogknife and Lady Indigo and maintain the delicate balance of power across these diverse worlds.
This gripping tale of magic, science, and heroism will captivate readers of all ages, especially those who have been enchanted by series like His Dark Materials and Harry Potter.
In seventeenth-century China, three women find themselves emotionally entangled with The Peony Pavilion, a famed opera rumored to cause lovesickness and even death. Among them is Peony, the cloistered daughter of a wealthy scholar who falls under the opera's spell.
As a young girl betrothed to a suitor she has never met, Peony's longings resonate with the lyrics of the opera. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, amidst the scent of ginger, green tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe performs scenes from this epic opera—a live spectacle few females have ever seen.
Like the heroine in the drama, Peony is trapped like a good-luck cricket in a bamboo-and-lacquer cage. Raised to be obedient, she harbors dreams of her own. Her mother opposes her attendance at the production, believing "Unmarried girls should not be seen in public." However, her father ensures proprieties are maintained, allowing the women to watch from behind a screen.
Through the screen's cracks, Peony glimpses an elegant, handsome man with hair as black as a cave, and her heart is immediately stirred. Thus begins Peony's unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire and sorrow.
Lisa See's haunting novel, based on historical events, transports readers back to a time when the Manchus seized power and the Ming dynasty fell. Steeped in traditions and rituals, the story brings to life the intricate realm of the afterworld—a vividly imagined place where one's soul is divided into three, ancestors offer guidance, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the earth.
Peony in Love beautifully explores the many manifestations of love and addresses universal themes: the bonds of friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to be heard.
All is not well in the Letherii Empire. Rhulad Sengar, the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths, spirals into madness, surrounded by sycophants and agents of his Machiavellian chancellor, while the Letherii secret police conduct a campaign of terror against its own people.
The Errant, once a farseeing god, is suddenly blind to the future. Conspiracies seethe throughout the palace, as the empire—driven by the corrupt and self-interested—edges ever closer to all-out war with the neighbouring kingdoms.
The great Edur fleet—its warriors selected from countless peoples—draws ever closer. Amongst them are Karsa Orlong and Icarium Lifestealer—each destined to cross blades with the emperor himself. That yet more blood is to be spilled is inevitable...
Against this backdrop, a band of fugitives seek a way out of the empire, but one of them, Fear Sengar, must find the soul of Scabandari Bloodeye. It is his hope that it might help halt the Tiste Edur, and so save his brother, the emperor. Yet, travelling with them is Scabandari's most ancient foe: Silchas Ruin, brother of Anomander Rake. And his motives are anything but certain—for the wounds he carries on his back, made by the blades of Scabandari, are still fresh.
Fate decrees that there is to be a reckoning, for such bloodshed cannot go unanswered—and it will be a reckoning on an unimaginable scale...
A brutal, harrowing novel of war, intrigue, and dark, uncontrollable magic, this is epic fantasy at its most imaginative, storytelling at its most thrilling.