Naomi Soledad León Outlaw has had a lot to contend with in her young life, her name for one. Then there are her clothes (sewn in polyester by Gram), her difficulty speaking up, and her status at school as "nobody special." But according to Gram, most problems can be overcome with positive thinking.

With Gram and her little brother, Owen, Naomi's life at Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho in California is happy and peaceful... until their mother reappears after seven years of being gone, stirring up all sorts of questions and challenging Naomi to discover and proclaim who she really is.

When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Oaxaca, Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father. This journey is filled with adventure, self-discovery, and the courage to face life's challenges.

Sandry, Daja, Briar, and Tris, are older now and back together again, in an exciting and much-awaited, stand-alone novel by everyone's favorite mage, Tamora Pierce.

For years, the Empress of Namorn has pressed her young cousin, Lady Sandrilene fa Toren, to visit her vast lands within the Empire's borders. Sandry has avoided the invitation for as long as it was possible. Now, Sandry has agreed to pay that overdue visit. Sandry's uncle promises guards to accompany her. But they're hardly a group of warriors! They're her old friends from Winding Circle: Daja, Tris, and Briar.

Sandry hardly knows them now. They've grown up and grown apart. Sandry isn't sure they'll ever find their old connection again - or if she even wants them to. When they arrive at the palace, they face challenges that test their friendship and their magical abilities.

Teacher Man is Frank McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Nearly a decade ago, Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came 'Tis, his glorious account of his early years in New York.

Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs, and surprises he faces in public high schools around New York City.

His methods are anything but conventional. McCourt creates a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructs one class to write "An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God"), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics), and field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square!).

McCourt struggles to find his way in the classroom and spends his evenings drinking with writers and dreaming of one day putting his own story to paper. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents.

McCourt's rocky marriage, his failed attempt to get a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, and his repeated firings due to his propensity to talk back to his superiors ironically lead him to New York's most prestigious school, Stuyvesant High School, where he finally finds a place and a voice. "Doggedness," he says, is "not as glamorous as ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still the one thing that got me through the days and nights."

For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption—and literary fame—is an exhilarating adventure.

The New York Times bestselling adventure about two twins, many djinns, and one very magical quest. Meet John and Philippa Gaunt, twelve-year-old twins who one day discover themselves to be descended from a long line of djinn.

All of a sudden, they have the power to grant wishes, travel to extraordinary places, and make people and objects disappear. Luckily, the twins are introduced to their eccentric djinn-uncle Nimrod, who will teach them how to harness their newly found power.

And not a moment too soon... since John and Philippa are about to embark on a search to locate a monstrous pharaoh named Akhenaten and his eerie tomb.

Until I Find You is the story of the actor Jack Burns – his life, loves, celebrity and astonishing search for the truth about his parents. When he is four years old, Jack travels with his mother Alice, a tattoo artist, to several North Sea ports in search of his father, William Burns. From Copenhagen to Amsterdam, William, a brilliant church organist and profligate womanizer, is always a step ahead – has always just departed in a wave of scandal, with a new tattoo somewhere on his body from a local master or "scratcher."

Alice and Jack abandon their quest, and Jack is educated at schools in Canada and New England – including, tellingly, a girls’ school in Toronto. His real education consists of his relationships with older women – from Emma Oastler, who initiates him into erotic life, to the girls of St. Hilda’s, with whom he first appears on stage, to the abusive Mrs. Machado, whom he first meets when sent to learn wrestling at a local gym.

Too much happens in this expansive, eventful novel to possibly summarize it all. Emma and Jack move to Los Angeles, where Emma becomes a successful novelist and Jack a promising actor. A host of eccentric minor characters memorably come and go, including Jack’s hilariously confused teacher the Wurtz; Michelle Maher, the girlfriend he will never forget; and a precocious child Jack finds in the back of an Audi in a restaurant parking lot.

We learn about tattoo addiction and movie cross-dressing, "sleeping in the needles" and the cure for cauliflower ears. And John Irving renders his protagonist’s unusual rise through Hollywood with the same vivid detail and range of emotions he gives to the organ music Jack hears as a child in European churches.

This is an absorbing and moving book about obsession and loss, truth and storytelling, the signs we carry on us and inside us, the traces we can’t get rid of. Jack has always lived in the shadow of his absent father. But as he grows older – and when his mother dies – he starts to doubt the portrait of his father’s character she painted for him when he was a child. This is the cue for a second journey around Europe in search of his father, from Edinburgh to Switzerland, towards a conclusion of great emotional force.

A melancholy tale of deception, Until I Find You is also a swaggering comic novel, a giant tapestry of life’s hopes. It is a masterpiece to compare with John Irving’s great novels, and restates the author’s claim to be considered the most glorious, comic, moving novelist at work today.

In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men.

As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

The Magician's Nephew is the fantastical tale of Digory and Polly, who meet one cold, wet summer in London. Their ordinary lives are transformed into an extraordinary adventure when Digory's Uncle Andrew, who fancies himself a magician, sends them on a journey to another world. They arrive in Narnia, fresh from the Lion Aslan's song, and face the evil sorceress Jadis. Through their trials in Narnia, they experience the wonder and danger of a new world before finally returning home.

This enchanting story serves as the prequel to C.S. Lewis's iconic The Chronicles of Narnia series and explores themes of creation, temptation, and the consequences of one's choices. It introduces readers to a magical universe that has captivated generations with its depth, imagination, and adventure.

Rose has always been different. Since the day she was born, it was clear she had a special fate. Her superstitious mother keeps the unusual circumstances of Rose's birth a secret, hoping to prevent her adventurous daughter from leaving home... but she can't suppress Rose's true nature forever.

So when an enormous white bear shows up one cold autumn evening and asks teenage Rose to come away with it--in exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family--she readily agrees. Rose travels on the bear's broad back to a distant and empty castle, where she is nightly joined by a mysterious stranger. In discovering his identity, she loses her heart-- and finds her purpose--and realizes her journey has only just begun.

In this classic of fantasy fiction, John Myers transports readers to a world as limitless as the human imagination. A shipwrecked American finds himself in the land of Commonwealth, where all fictional characters are real. On his journey, he encounters legendary figures such as Robin Hood, Beowulf, and Huck Finn, embarking on the adventure of a lifetime.

This richly picaresque story is a glowing tapestry of real excitement and meaning. It tells the tale of Silverlock's wanderings in the Commonwealth, the land of immortal heroes, in search of his true destiny. The narrative is headlong and interwoven with clangorous verses.

How A. Clarence Shandon came to the Commonwealth, exchanging his everyday name and Chicago-bound life for that of a traveler beyond time; what great ones of old legend and modern story he encountered, and to what purpose; what loves he knew and what fights he fought; what trials befell him in the Pit, and what truth he discovered when at last he won to the Hippocrene Spring—these are matters of such crowding variety and implicit significance as the reader must discover for himself.

The literate reader will have a wonderful time, amused by the wicked wit that illuminates the vast panorama, and intrigued by the challenge it offers his own learning. Most of all, it impresses with its profound knowledge of our cultural heritage and stirs with its vital interpretations.

In the time of the Han Dynasty in ancient China, the last remaining dragon is in danger of being killed by the cruel Emperor. A nameless orphan with no past and an uncertain future becomes his unlikely ally. The young orphan soon discovers that it is her destiny to protect the aging dragon and his mysterious purple stone.

Chased by an evil dragon hunter and a powerful sorcerer, their adventure is not easy. Each must learn to help and understand the other if they are to survive. To succeed in her task, the young orphan must reach deep within herself to find courage she never knew existed.

No longer can she be the timid, shy orphan she once was. She is now the one, true Dragon Keeper.

Calwyn has never been beyond the high ice-wall that guards the sisters of Antaris from the world of Tremaris. She knows only the rounds of her life as a novice ice priestess, tending her bees, singing her ice chantments, and dreaming.

But then Calwyn befriends Darrow, a mysterious Outlander who appears inside the Wall and warns of an approaching danger. To help Darrow, to see the world, and perhaps to save it, Calwyn will leave the safety of the Wall for a journey with a man she barely knows—and an adventure as beautiful and dangerous as the music of chantment itself.

Set internationally and spanning three decades, Daniel Martin is, among other things, an exploration of what it is to be English. Daniel is a screenwriter working in Hollywood, who finds himself dissatisfied with his career and with the person he has become.

In a richly evoked narrative, Daniel travels home to reconcile with a dying friend, and also to visit his own forgotten past in an attempt to discover himself. Summoned home to England to visit an ailing friend, Daniel Martin finds himself back in the company of people who once knew him well, forced to confront his buried past, and propelled toward a journey of self-discovery through which he ultimately creates for himself a more satisfying existence.

A brilliantly imagined novel infused with a profound understanding of human nature, Daniel Martin is John Fowles at the height of his literary powers.

Few fantasy lands have captured our hearts and imaginations as has the marvelous land of Oz. For over four generations, children and adults alike have reveled in the magical adventures of its beloved folk. Now, for the first time in over seventy years, the second book about Oz is presented here in the same deluxe format as the rare first edition, complete with all 16 of the original John R. Neill color plates, its colorful pictorial binding, and the many black-and-white illustrations that bring it to joyous life.

First issued in 1904, L. Frank Baum's The Marvelous Land of Oz is the story of the wonderful adventures of the young boy named Tip as he travels throughout the many lands of Oz. Here he meets with our old friends the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, as well as some new friends like Jack Pumpkinhead, the Wooden Sawhorse, the Highly Magnified Woggle-Bug, and the amazing Gump. How they thwart the wicked plans of the evil witch Mombi and overcome the rebellion of General Jinjur and her army of young women is a tale as exciting and endearing today as it was when first published over eighty years ago.

The year is A.D. 793. Jack and his sister have been kidnapped by Vikings and taken to the court of Ivar the Boneless and his terrifying half-troll wife. But things get even worse when Jack finds himself on a dangerous quest to find the magical Mimir's Well in a far-off land, with his sister's life forfeit if he fails.

Other threats include a willful mother Dragon, a giant spider, and a troll-boar with a surprising personality — to say nothing of Ivar the Boneless and his wife, Queen Frith, a shape-shifting half-troll, and several eight-foot tall, orange-haired, full-time trolls. But in stories by award-winner Nancy Farmer, appearances do deceive.

She has never told a richer, funnier tale, nor offered more timeless encouragement to young seekers than: Just say no to pillaging.

"La faim, c’est moi," proclame Amélie Nothomb. Dans Biographie de la faim, la surdouée belge poursuit le récit de sa vie amorcé dans Stupeurs et tremblements et Métaphysique des tubes. La faim, chez Amélie Nothomb, n’est pas que physique. Elle est surtout "ce manque effroyable de l’être entier, ce vide tenaillant (…) là où il n’y a rien, j’implore qu’il y ait quelque chose." Ce quelque chose sera pour elle l’écriture.

À 37 ans, elle a déjà publié une douzaine de romans et ses tiroirs regorgent de manuscrits. Biographie de la faim raconte aussi les années d’apprentissage de l’auteure au Japon – où elle est née –, à New York, au Bangladesh, en Birmanie et au Laos, où elle a suivi ses parents diplomates. À trois ans, elle découvre "la surfaim (…) la possession du principe même de la jouissance". De façon brillante et décalée, Amélie Nothomb explique comment lui est venu cet insatiable appétit pour absolument tout : l’eau, l’alcool, l’amour, la lecture, la beauté, l’absolu. Elle raconte aussi comment le deuil de l’enfance a brouillé pour toujours son rapport avec la nourriture.

The Fixer (1966) is Bernard Malamud's best-known and most acclaimed novel—one that makes manifest his roots in Russian fiction, especially that of Isaac Babel. Set in Kiev in 1911 during a period of heightened anti-Semitism, the novel tells the story of Yakov Bok, a Jewish handyman blamed for the brutal murder of a young Russian boy. Bok leaves his village to try his luck in Kiev, and after denying his Jewish identity, finds himself working for a member of the anti-Semitic Black Hundreds Society. When the boy is found nearly drained of blood in a cave, the Black Hundreds accuse the Jews of ritual murder. Arrested and imprisoned, Bok refuses to confess to a crime that he did not commit.

What becomes of this man under pressure, for whom acquittal is made to seem as hopeless as conviction, is the subject of a terrifying masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction.

David's entire twelve-year life has been spent in a grisly prison camp in Eastern Europe. He knows nothing of the outside world. But when he is given the chance to escape, he seizes it. With his vengeful enemies hot on his heels, David struggles to cope in this strange new world, where his only resources are a compass, a few crusts of bread, his two aching feet, and some vague advice to seek refuge in Denmark.

Is that enough to survive? David's extraordinary odyssey is dramatically chronicled in Anne Holm's classic about the meaning of freedom and the power of hope.

In A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson takes on the daunting task of understanding the universe and everything within it. From the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson embarks on a journey to uncover the secrets of our existence. He connects with a plethora of advanced scientists—from archaeologists and anthropologists to mathematicians—and delves into their studies, asking questions and attempting to comprehend the complex information that has puzzled humanity for centuries.

This book is both an adventure and a revelation, filled with profound insights and laced with Bryson's trademark wit. It is a clear, entertaining, and supremely engaging exploration of human knowledge that makes science both accessible and fascinating to a broad audience. A Short History of Nearly Everything is a testament to Bryson's ability to make the seemingly incomprehensible both understandable and enjoyable.

The Magician's Nephew: When Digory and Polly try to return the wicked witch Jadis to her own world, the magic gets mixed up and they all land in Narnia where they witness Aslan blessing the animals with human speech.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter as they step through the wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia. There, they encounter the majestic lion Aslan, the evil White Witch, and embark on an unforgettable journey of bravery and discovery.

Anna, the narrator of this riveting first novel, lives in a storybook world: exotic pre-World War II Shanghai, with handsome young parents, wealth, and comfort. Her father, the son of missionaries, leads a charmed and secretive life, though his greatest joy is sharing his beloved city with his only daughter.

Yet when Anna and her mother flee Japanese-occupied Shanghai to return to California, he stays behind, believing his connections and a little bit of luck will keep him safe.

Through Anna's memories and her father's journals, we learn of his fall from charismatic millionaire to tortured prisoner, in a story of betrayal and reconciliation that spans two continents.

The Distant Land of My Father, a breathtaking and richly lyrical debut, unfolds to reveal an enduring family love through tragic circumstances.

It's still true... That's the first thing James Tillerman says to his sister Dicey every morning. It's still true that their mother has abandoned the four Tillerman children somewhere in the middle of Connecticut. It's still true they have to find their way, somehow, to Great-aunt Cilla's house in Bridgeport, which may be their only hope of staying together as a family.

But when they get to Bridgeport, they learn that Great-aunt Cilla has died, and the home they find with her daughter, Eunice, isn't the permanent haven they've been searching for. So their journey continues to its unexpected conclusion -- and some surprising discoveries about their history, and their future.

One Writer's Beginnings is a deeply personal and inspiring memoir by the acclaimed author Eudora Welty. This work offers a rare glimpse into the formative years of Welty's life, detailing the experiences and influences that shaped her as a writer.

Originally delivered as a series of lectures at Harvard University, this book invites readers to journey through Welty's childhood in Mississippi, exploring the vivid landscapes and rich cultural tapestry that fueled her imagination. Her reflections are not just a recounting of memories, but a testament to the power of storytelling and the importance of nurturing one's creative spirit.

Welty's eloquent prose and heartfelt anecdotes provide a window into the soul of a writer dedicated to her craft. Aspiring authors and literary enthusiasts alike will find inspiration in her words, as she shares the joys and challenges of her path to becoming one of America's most cherished storytellers.

At the Back of the North Wind is a timeless Victorian fairy tale that has enchanted readers for more than a hundred years. George MacDonald weaves a magical story of Diamond, the son of a poor coachman, who is swept away by the North Wind—a radiant, maternal spirit with long, flowing hair. Diamond's life is transformed by a brief glimpse of the beautiful country “at the back of the north wind.”

This novel combines a Dickensian regard for the working class of mid-19th-century England with the invention of an ethereal landscape. It is a journey of love, sacrifice, and the interplay between reality and imagination. The narrative follows young Diamond, whose adventures with the mystical North Wind reveal profound truths about human existence and the abstract concept of wonder.

Accompanied by Arthur Hughes’s handsome illustrations from the original 1871 edition, this beautifully presented edition invites readers to contemplate the nature of dreams and the essence of hope within the context of Victorian society. It stands as a testament to the enduring power of storytelling and the limitless possibilities of what lies 'at the back' of our own perceptions.

In this extraordinary novel, William Boyd presents the autobiography of John James Todd, whose uncanny and exhilarating life as one of the most unappreciated geniuses of the twentieth century is equal parts Laurence Stern, Charles Dickens, Robertson Davies, and Saul Bellow, and a hundred percent William Boyd.

From his birth in 1899, Todd was doomed. Emerging from his angst-filled childhood, he rushes into the throes of the twentieth century on the Western Front during the Great War, and quickly changes his role on the battlefield from cannon fodder to cameraman.

When he becomes a prisoner of war, he discovers Rousseau's Confessions, and dedicates his life to bringing the memoir to the silver screen. Plagued by bad luck and blind ambition, Todd becomes a celebrated London upstart, a Weimar luminary, and finally a disgruntled director of cowboy movies and the eleventh member of the Hollywood Ten.

Ambitious and entertaining, Boyd has invented a most irresistible hero.

He was known as Druss. The Deathwalker. Though the blood of merciless butchers coursed through his veins, he had found a fragile peace through his love for the beautiful, mystical Rowena. Then came the day when Druss returned to their village and found everyone dead—massacred by slavers who had stolen the women to sell for gold. Rowena was among the missing.

Armed with only his powerful double-bladed ax, Snaga, Druss went after Rowena. His journey would carry him from the highest thrones of power to the deepest dungeons of depravity. Along the way, he would battle savage monsters and descend into terrifying lands of black magic and demons. Yet one thing was certain. Druss would have victory . . . or death.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is Salman Rushdie's classic fantasy novel set in an exotic Eastern landscape populated by magicians and fantastic talking animals. This captivating work of fantasy shares the imaginative space with The Lord of the Rings, The Alchemist, and The Wizard of Oz. In this adventure, Haroun sets out to restore the poisoned source of the sea of stories. Along his journey, he encounters numerous foes, all intent on draining the sea of all its storytelling powers.

I, Hasan the son of Muhammad the weigh-master, I, Jean-Leon de Medici, circumcised at the hand of a barber and baptized at the hand of a pope, I am now called the African, but I am not from Africa, nor from Europe, nor from Arabia. I am also called the Granadan, the Fassi, the Zayyati, but I come from no country, from no city, no tribe.

I am the son of the road, my country is the caravan, my life the most unexpected of voyages.

Thus wrote Leo Africanus, in his fortieth year, in this imaginary autobiography of the famous geographer, adventurer, and scholar Hasan al-Wazzan, who was born in Granada in 1488. His family fled the Inquisition and took him to the city of Fez, in North Africa. Hasan became an itinerant merchant, and made many journeys to the East, journeys rich in adventure and observation.

He was captured by a Sicilian pirate and taken back to Rome as a gift to Pope Leo X, who baptized him Johannes Leo. While in Rome, he wrote the first trilingual dictionary (Latin, Arabic and Hebrew), as well as his celebrated Description of Africa, for which he is still remembered as Leo Africanus.

Sabine—twenty years a magician's assistant to her handsome, charming husband—is suddenly a widow. In the wake of his death, she finds he has left a final trick; a false identity and a family allegedly lost in a tragic accident but now revealed as very much alive and well. Named as heirs in his will, they enter Sabine's life and set her on an adventure of unraveling his secrets, from sunny Los Angeles to the windswept plains of Nebraska, that will work its own sort of magic on her.

From the bestselling author of The Dutch House, this enchanting book is something of a magic trick in itself. Sabine's extraordinary tale, with its big dreams, vast spaces, and disparate realities lying side by side, captures the hearts of its readers and proves to be the perfect place for miraculous transformations.

Cold Mountain is a novel about a soldier’s perilous journey back to his beloved near the Civil War's end. At once a love story and a harrowing account of one man’s long walk home, Cold Mountain introduces a new talent in American literature.

Based on local history and family stories passed down by Frazier’s great-great-grandfather, Cold Mountain is the tale of a wounded Confederate soldier, Inman, who walks away from the ravages of the war and back home to his prewar sweetheart, Ada. His odyssey through the devastated landscape of the soon-to-be-defeated South interweaves with Ada’s struggle to revive her father’s farm, with the help of an intrepid young drifter named Ruby. As their long-separated lives begin to converge at the close of the war, Inman and Ada confront the vastly transformed world they’ve been delivered.

Frazier reveals insight into human relations with the land and the dangers of solitude. He also shares with the great 19th-century novelists a keen observation of a society undergoing change. Cold Mountain recreates a world gone by that speaks to our time.

As a Driven Leaf brings the age of the Talmud to life in a breathtaking saga. This masterpiece of modern fiction tells the gripping tale of the renegade Talmudic sage, Elisha ben Abuyah, as he struggles to reconcile his faith with the allure of Hellenistic culture.

Set in Roman Palestine, As a Driven Leaf draws readers into the dramatic era of Rabbinic Judaism. Watch the great Talmudic sages at work in the Sanhedrin, eavesdrop on their arguments about theology and Torah, and agonize with them as they contemplate rebellion against an oppressive Roman rule.

Steinberg's classic novel transcends its historical setting with its depiction of a timeless, perennial feature of the Jewish experience: the inevitable conflict between the call of tradition and the glamour of the surrounding culture.

Yeniçeriler kapıyı zorlarken Uzun İhsan Efendi hâlâ malûm konuyu düşünüyor, fakat işin içinden bir türlü çıkamıyordu...

“Rendekâr doğru mu söylüyor? Düşünüyorum, öyleyse varım. Oldukça makûl. Fakat bundan tam tersi bir sonuç, varolmadığım, bir düş olduğum sonucu da çıkar: Düşünen bir adamı düşünüyorum. Düşündüğümü bildiğim için, ben varım. Düşündüğünü bildiğim için, düşlediğim bu adamın da varolduğunu biliyorum. Böylece o da benim kadar gerçek oluyor. Bundan sonrası çok daha hüzünlü bir sonuca varıyor. Düşündüğünü düşündüğüm bu adamın beni düşlediğini düşlüyorum. Öylese gerçek olan biri beni düşlüyor. O gerçek, ben ise bir düş oluyorum.”

Kapı kırıldığında Uzun İhsan Efendi kitabı kapadı. Az sonra başına geleceklere aldırmadan kafasından şunları geçirdi: “Dünya bir düştür. Evet, dünya... Ah! Evet, dünya bir masaldır.”

Once upon a time, an Indian writer named Amitav Ghosh set out to find an Indian slave, name unknown, who some seven hundred years before had traveled to the Middle East. The journey took him to a small village in Egypt, where medieval customs coexist with twentieth-century desires and discontents.

But even as Ghosh sought to re-create the life of his Indian predecessor, he found himself immersed in those of his modern Egyptian neighbors. Combining shrewd observations with painstaking historical research, Ghosh serves up skeptics and holy men, merchants and sorcerers. Some of these figures are real, some only imagined, but all emerge as vividly as the characters in a great novel.

In an Antique Land is an inspired work that transcends genres as deftly as it does eras, weaving an entrancing and intoxicating spell.

Continuing the subversive self-revelation begun in Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, Henry Miller takes readers along a mad, free-associating journey from the damp grime of his Brooklyn youth to the sun-splashed cafes and squalid flats of Paris. With incomparable glee, Miller shifts effortlessly from Virgil to venereal disease, from Rabelais to Roquefort.

In this seductive technicolor swirl of Paris and New York, he captures like no one else the blending of people and the cities they inhabit.

Kenzaburō Ōe, internationally acclaimed as one of the most important and influential post-World War II writers, is known for his powerful accounts of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and his own struggle to come to terms with a mentally handicapped son.

His most personal book, A Personal Matter, is the story of Bird, a frustrated intellectual in a failing marriage. His utopian dream is shattered when his wife gives birth to a brain-damaged child. Bird is left with a disconcerting picture of the human predicament as he navigates shame, disgrace, and self-discovery.

This novel is a profound exploration of personal crisis and the search for meaning in the chaos of life.

In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future.

Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others.

When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind.

The Stone Diaries is one ordinary woman's story of her journey through life. Born in 1905, Daisy Stone Goodwill drifts through the roles of child, wife, widow, and mother, and finally into her old age. Bewildered by her inability to understand her place in her own life, Daisy attempts to find a way to tell her story within a novel that is itself about the limitations of autobiography. Her life is vivid with incident, and yet she feels a sense of powerlessness. She listens, she observes, and through sheer force of imagination she becomes a witness of her own life: her birth, her death, and the troubling missed connections she discovers between.

Daisy's struggle to find a place for herself in her own life is a paradigm of the unsettled decades of our era. A witty and compassionate anatomist of the human heart, Carol Shields has made distinctively her own that place where the domestic collides with the elemental. With irony and humor she weaves the strands of The Stone Diaries together in this, her richest and most poignant novel to date.

Bring Me a Unicorn: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1922-1928 offers a captivating glimpse into the early years of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's life. This first volume of her diaries and letters reveals her journey from a young woman to becoming the wife of the famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh.

Anne's adventurous spirit and literary prowess shine through her detailed records, providing insights into her family life and her significant role in aviation history. Her writings capture the triumphs and tragedies she experienced, painting a vivid picture of an extraordinary woman's life.

This collection is beautifully complemented by photographs, allowing readers to visually connect with Anne's world and the era she lived in. It is an inspiring read that continues to resonate with new generations, offering a timeless look at a remarkable life journey.

Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past—including the terrible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins Winnie's story of her life on a small island outside Shanghai in the 1920s, and other places in China during World War II, and traces the happy and desperate events that led to Winnie's coming to America in 1949.

The Kitchen God's Wife is a beautiful book from the author of bestselling novels like The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement, and the memoir, Where the Past Begins.

From her home on the California coast, Dalva hears the broad silence of the Nebraska prairie where she was born and longs for the son she gave up for adoption years before. Beautiful, fearless, tormented, at forty-five she has lived a life of lovers and adventures.

Now, Dalva begins a journey that will take her back to the bosom of her family, to the half-Sioux lover of her youth, and to a pioneering great-grandfather whose journals recount the bloody annihilation of the Plains Indians. On the way, she discovers a story that stretches from East to West, from the Civil War to Wounded Knee and Vietnam—and finds the balm to heal her wild and wounded soul.

Pulitzer Prize–winning author James A. Michener brings Hawaii’s epic history vividly to life in a classic saga that has captivated readers since its initial publication in 1959. As the volcanic Hawaiian Islands sprout from the ocean floor, the land remains untouched for centuries—until, little more than a thousand years ago, Polynesian seafarers make the perilous journey across the Pacific, flourishing in this tropical paradise according to their ancient traditions. Then, in the early nineteenth century, American missionaries arrive, bringing with them a new creed and a new way of life.

Based on exhaustive research and told in Michener’s immersive prose, Hawaii is the story of disparate peoples struggling to keep their identity, live in harmony, and, ultimately, join together.

Set in the vast, windswept Central Asian steppes and the infinite reaches of galactic space, this powerful novel offers a vivid view of the culture and values of the Soviet Union's Central Asian peoples.

Selma a sept ans quand elle voit s'écrouler son empire. Condamnée à l'exil, la famille impériale s'installe au Liban. Selma, qui a perdu à la fois son pays et son père, y sera "la princesse aux bas reprisés".

C'est à Beyrouth qu'elle grandira et rencontrera son premier amour, un jeune chef druze ; amour tôt brisé. Selma acceptera alors d'épouser un raja indien qu'elle n'a jamais vu. Aux Indes, elle vivra les fastes des maharajas, les derniers jours de l'Empire britannique et la lutte pour l'indépendance.

Mais là, comme au Liban, elle reste "l'étrangère" et elle finira par s'enfuir à Paris où elle trouvera enfin le véritable amour. La guerre l'en séparera et elle mourra dans la misère, à vingt-neuf ans, après avoir donné naissance à une fille : l'auteur de ce récit.

Koleksi Sajak 1942-1949

Selama ini kita tidak bisa menemukan sajak-sajak Chairil Anwar dalam satu buku. Sebagian kita temukan dalam Deru Campur Debu dan Kerikil Tajam dan Yang Terampas dan Yang Putus, sedangkan sebagian lagi kita jumpai dalam Tiga Menguak Takdir dan Chairil Anwar Pelopor Angkatan 45. Akan tetapi, sajak-sajak yang terdapat dalam pelbagai buku itu sekarang disatukan dalam Aku Ini Binatang Jalang.

Selain keseluruhan sajak-asli, dalam koleksi ini juga dimuat untuk pertama kalinya surat-surat Chairil - yang menggambarkan "keadaan jiwa"nya - kepada karibnya, H.B. Jassin.

From world-renowned author Erich Segal comes a powerful and moving saga of five extraordinary members of the Harvard class of 1958 and the women with whom their lives are intertwined.

Five lives, five love stories:

• Danny Rossi, the musical prodigy, risks it all for Harvard, even a break with his domineering father. Yet his real problems are too much fame too soon—and too many women.
• Ted Lambros spends his four years as a commuter, an outsider. He is obsessed by his desire to climb to the top of the Harvard academic ladder, heedless of what it will cost him in personal terms.
• Jason Gilbert, the Golden Boy—handsome, charismatic, a brilliant athlete—learns at Harvard that he cannot ignore his Jewish background. Only in tragedy will he find his true identity.
• George Keller, a refugee from Communist Hungary, comes to Harvard with the barest knowledge of English. But with ruthless determination, he masters not only the language but the power structure of his new country.
• Andrew Eliot is haunted by three centuries of Harvard ancestors who cast giant shadows on his confidence. It is not until the sad and startling events of the reunion that he learns his value as a man.

Their explosive story begins in a time of innocence and spans a turbulent quarter century, culminating in their dramatic twenty-five year reunion at which they confront their classmates—and the balance sheet of their own lives.

Always at the center; amid the passion, laughter, and glory, stands Harvard—the symbol of who they are and who they will be.

They were a generation who made the rules—then broke them—whose glittering successes, heartfelt tragedies, and unbridled ambitions would stun the world.

The Beautifull Cassandra is one of Jane Austen's most charming youthful works, written when she was just twelve or thirteen years old. This deluxe illustrated edition is a celebration of Austen's early writing, showcasing her wit and her already mature stylistic mastery.

The story follows the slightly criminal adventures of the sixteen-year-old title character, Cassandra, who, after stealing a hat, embarks on a journey around London. She indulges in eating ice cream and taking coach rides without paying for them, and encounters handsome young ladies and gentlemen without speaking to them. Cassandra's day out is one of joy and mischief, culminating in her return home with a sense of satisfaction: "This is a day well spent."

This edition features elegant and edgy watercolor drawings by Leon Steinmetz and is edited by leading Austen scholar Claudia L. Johnson. In her afterword, Johnson regards The Beautifull Cassandra as "among the most brilliant and polished" of Austen's juvenile writings, hinting at the great novelist she would become. The book is a literary treasure and a delightful read for Austen fans of all ages.

قريتي العزيزة تسادا! ها أنا قد عدت إليك من ذلك العالم الضخم الذي رأى فيه والدي هذا العدد الكبير من العيوب. لقد جبته، هذا العام، ورأيت فيه الكثير من العجائب. لقد زاغت عيناي من فيض ما فيه من جمال دون أن تعرفا أين تستقران. كانتا تنتقلان من معبد رائع إلى آخر، ومن وجه إنساني رائع إلى آخر، لكني كنت أعرف أنه مهما كان الذي أراه اليوم رائعاً، فسأرى في الغد ما هو أروع منه.. فالعالم، كما تردن، لا نهاية له.

فلتغفر لي معابد الهند، وأهرامات مصر، وكاتدرائيات إيطاليا، ولتغفر لي طرقات أميركا العريضة، أرصفة باريس، وحدائق إنكلترا، وجبال سويسرا، لتغفر لي نساء بولونيا واليابان وروما. لقد نعمت بالنظر إليكن، لكن قلبي يخفق بهدوء، وإذا كان خفقه قد ازداد، فليس بالقدر الذي يجف فيه فمي ويدور رأسي.

لماذا خفق قلبي الآن في صدري، حين رأيت من جديد هذه البيوت السبعين التي تأوي إلى سفوح الجبل، فغاصت عيناي ودار رأسي كأني مريض أو سكران؟ هل هذه القرية الداغستانية الصغيرة أروع من البندقية أو القاهرة أو كالكوتا؟ وهل الفتاة الآفارية التي تسير في الطريق الجبلي الضيق وهي تحمل حزمة حطب أروع من السكندنافية المشيقة؟

أي تسادا! ها أنا أهيم في حقولك، وندى الصباح البارد يغسل قدمي المتعبتين. ثم لا أغسل وجهي بمياه السواقي الجبلية، بل بماء الينابيع. يقال: إذا أردت أن تشرب، فاشرب من العين. ويقال أيضاً: ووالدي كان يردد هذا: يمكن للرجل أن يرجع في حالتين: ليشرب من العين، وليقطف زهرة. وأنت عيني، يا تسادا.

ها أنا ذا أركع أمامك وأنهل من ينابيعك، فلا أرتوي. ما إن أرى حجراً حتى يتراءى لي فوقه طيف شفاف. هذا الطيف هو أنا. كما كنت قبل ثلاثين عاماً. أجلس عليه وأرعى أغنامي، على رأسي قلبق ذو وبر وفي يدي عصا طويلة، والغبار يغطي رجلي. ما أن أرى طريقاً جبلياً حتى يتراءى لي فيه طيف شفاف، هذا الطيف هو أنا أيضاً، كما كنت قبل ثلاثين عاماً. لماذا أنا ذاهب إلى القرية المجاورة؟ يبدو أن والدي هو الذي أرسلني.

في كل خطوة ألتقي بنفسي، بذاتي، بطفولتي، بفصول الربيع التي مرّت بي، بالأمطار والأزهار وأوراق الخريف المتساقطة. داغستان تلف البلاد المحلقة في سماء الخيال، هي أسطورة بكل ما فيها؛ بجبالها بوهادها بينابيعها وبأرضها وسمائها والأكثر برجالها الذين كثيراً ما جنح الخيال إلى تصور واحدهم بتلك السمات التي تستأثر بالنفس، بالإنسان من حيث رباطة جأشهم، وعنفوانهم.

في روايته هذه يأخذ رسول حمزاتوف القارئ إلى هدأة حلم صيفي يستقر في أفيائه ليعرض عليه مشاهده المنطلقة من بلاد اسمها داغستان. يرسم الروائي خطوط شخصياته بدقة، مستحضراً بذلك تاريخ أمة اشتهر رجالها بالقوة والاستبسال والعنفوان. يسترسل الكاتب في سردياته ليشيع في نفس القارئ ومن خلال أسلوبه الرائع ذاك الحس المرهف والاندماج إلى حد التماهي مع الشخصيات ومع الكاتب نفسه لتصبح تسادا ذاك الحلم الذي يحلق دائماً في مناخاته.

En créant le personnage de Zénon, alchimiste et médecin du XVIe siècle, Marguerite Yourcenar, l'auteure des Mémoires d'Hadrien, ne raconte pas seulement le destin tragique d'un homme extraordinaire. C'est toute une époque qui revit dans son infinie richesse, comme aussi dans son âcre et brutale réalité. Un monde contrasté où s'affrontent le Moyen Age et la Renaissance, et où pointent déjà les temps modernes.

Un monde dont Zénon est issu, mais dont peu à peu cet homme libre se dégage, et qui pour cette raison même finira par le broyer.

Herzog is the story of Moses Herzog, a great sufferer, joker, mourner, and charmer. Although his life steadily disintegrates around him—he has failed as a writer and teacher, as a father, and has lost the affection of his wife to his best friend—Herzog sees himself as a survivor, both of his private disasters and those of the age.

He writes unsent letters to friends and enemies, colleagues and famous people, revealing his wry perception of the world around him and the innermost secrets of his heart. This novel is a multifaceted portrait of a modern-day hero, a man struggling with the complexity of existence and longing for redemption.

In this postmodern fiction, Saul Bellow presents a unique achievement, blending confessional elements with exorcism. Is Moses Herzog losing his mind? With his head buzzing with ideas, he writes frantic, unsent letters, revealing the spectacular workings of his labyrinthine mind and the innermost secrets of his troubled heart.