Displaying books 5761-5808 of 10396 in total

The Other Side of the Island

2008

by Allegra Goodman

From New York Times bestselling author Allegra Goodman comes a post-apocalyptic novel about love, loss, and the power of human choice.

Honor and her parents have been reassigned to live on Island 365 in the Tranquil Sea. Life is peaceful there—the color of the sky is regulated by Earth Mother, a corporation that controls New Weather, and it almost never rains. Everyone fits into their rightful and predictable place... Except Honor.

She doesn't fit in, but then she meets Helix, a boy with a big heart and a keen sense for the world around them. Slowly, Honor and Helix begin to uncover a terrible truth about life on the Island: Sooner or later, those who are unpredictable disappear... and they don't ever come back.

Honor knows her family could be next, and when the unthinkable happens, she must make the dangerous journey to the Other Side of the Island—before Earth Mother comes for her too...

The Player of Games

2008

by Iain M. Banks

The Player of Games explores the extraordinary Culture - a utopian human-machine symbiotic society. This society has produced many expert Game Players, among whom Jernau Morat Gurgeh stands out. Master of every board, computer, and strategy, Gurgeh embodies The Player of Games.

Bored with his unending success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, a realm both cruel and incredibly wealthy. There, he engages in their infamous game - a game so complex and reflective of life that its victor ascends to the throne as emperor. Facing mockery, blackmail, and near-death experiences, Gurgeh accepts the challenge of the game, embarking on what could be the greatest challenge of his life - or his ultimate demise.

The Spook's Mistake

2008

by Joseph Delaney

As danger increases in the County, Tom is sent far north by his master to be trained by Bill Arkwright, another Spook. Arkwright lives in a haunted mill on the edge of a treacherous marsh, and his training methods prove to be harsh and sometimes cruel. But he has toughened up many previous apprentices, and now he must do the same for Tom and prepare him for the gravest dangers of his life.

But when the Fiend sends his own daughter, the ancient powerful water witch Morwena, to destroy Tom, Arkwright makes an error of judgement, and Tom finds himself facing his enemies alone. The Spook and Alice, realizing his danger, hasten to his aid, but will even their combined strengths suffice in the face of such terrible dark power?

And what is the Spook's mistake, the consequences of which might give final victory to the dark?

The Heretic's Daughter

2008

by Kathleen Kent

Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried, and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live.

Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft. This is the story of Martha's courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by the daughter who survived.

Kathleen Kent is a tenth-generation descendant of Martha Carrier. She paints a haunting portrait, not just of Puritan New England, but also of one family's deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.

Every Which Way But Dead

2008

by Kim Harrison

There's no witch in Cincinnati tougher, sexier, or more screwed up than bounty hunter Rachel Morgan, who's already put her love life and her soul in dire jeopardy through her determined efforts to bring criminal night creatures to justice. Between runs, she has her hands full fending off the attentions of her blood-drinking partner, keeping a deadly secret from her backup, and resisting a hot new vamp suitor.

Rachel must also take a stand in the war that's raging in the city's underworld, since she helped put away its former vampire kingpin - and made a deal with a powerful demon to do so that could cost her an eternity of pain, torment, and degradation. And now her dark master is coming to collect his due.

Fireproof

2008

by Eric Wilson

Inside burning buildings, Captain Caleb Holt lives by the firefighter's adage: Never leave your partner. Yet at home, in the cooling embers of his marriage, he lives by his own rules.

Growing up, his wife Catherine always dreamed of marrying a loving, brave firefighter . . . just like her father. Now, after seven years of marriage, she wonders when she stopped being good enough. Countless arguments and anger have them wanting to move on to something with more sparks.

As they prepare for divorce, Caleb's father challenges him to commit to a 40-day experiment: "The Love Dare." Wondering if it's even worth the effort, Caleb reluctantly agrees, not realizing how it will change his world forever.

Surprised by what he discovers about the meaning of love, Caleb begins to see his wife and marriage as worth fighting for. But is it too late? His job is to rescue others. Now Captain Holt must face his toughest job ever: rescuing his wife's heart.

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

Fooled by Randomness is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand.

This book is about luck–or more precisely, about how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of trading–Fooled by Randomness provides captivating insight into one of the least understood factors in all our lives.

Writing in an entertaining narrative style, the author tackles major intellectual issues related to the underestimation of the influence of happenstance on our lives. The book is populated with an array of characters, some of whom have grasped, in their own way, the significance of chance: the baseball legend Yogi Berra; the philosopher of knowledge Karl Popper; the ancient world’s wisest man, Solon; the modern financier George Soros; and the Greek voyager Odysseus.

We also meet the fictional Nero, who seems to understand the role of randomness in his professional life but falls victim to his own superstitious foolishness. However, the most recognizable character of all remains unnamed–the lucky fool who happens to be in the right place at the right time–he embodies the “survival of the least fit.” Such individuals attract devoted followers who believe in their guru’s insights and methods. But no one can replicate what is obtained by chance.

Are we capable of distinguishing the fortunate charlatan from the genuine visionary? Must we always try to uncover nonexistent messages in random events?

It may be impossible to guard ourselves against the vagaries of the goddess Fortuna, but after reading Fooled by Randomness we can be a little better prepared.

Hostage to Pleasure

2008

by Nalini Singh

Ashaya Aleine is a perfect Psy—cool, calm, emotionless... at least on the surface. Inside, she's fighting a desperate battle to save her son and escape the vicious cold of the PsyNet. Separated from her son and forced to create a neural implant that will mean the effective enslavement of her psychically gifted race, she finds herself in a dire situation.

Yet when escape comes, it leads not to safety, but to the lethal danger of a sniper's embrace. DarkRiver sniper Dorian Christensen lost his sister to a Psy killer. Though he lacks the changeling ability to shift into animal form, his leopard lives within. And that leopard's rage at the brutal loss is a clawing darkness that hungers for vengeance.

Falling for a Psy has never been on Dorian's agenda. But charged with protecting Ashaya and her son, he discovers that passion has a way of changing the rules...

The City of Dreaming Books

2008

by Walter Moers

In this whimsical fantasy adventure, a novelist’s search for an author takes him to a magical city, a villainous literary scholar, and perilous catacombs. Optimus Yarnspinner’s search for an author’s identity takes him to Bookholm―the so-called City of Dreaming Books. On entering its streets, our hero feels as if he has opened the door of a gigantic second-hand bookshop. His nostrils are assailed by clouds of book dust, the stimulating scent of ancient leather, and the tang of printer’s ink.

Soon, though, Yarnspinner falls into the clutches of the city’s evil genius, Pfistomel Smyke, who treacherously maroons him in the labyrinthine catacombs underneath the city, where reading books can be genuinely dangerous. In The City of Dreaming Books, Walter Moers transports us to a magical world where reading is a remarkable adventure. Only those intrepid souls who are prepared to join Yarnspinner on his perilous journey should read this book. We wish the rest of you a long, safe, unutterably dull, and boring life!

A Passion Redeemed

2008

by Julie Lessman

Graced with physical beauty, though shallow of heart, Charity O'Connor is a woman who knows what she wants. She sets her sights on the cantankerous Mitch Dennehy, editor at the Irish Times, who has unwittingly stolen her heart. And although the sparks are there, Mitch refuses to fan the coals of a potential relationship with his ex-fiancee's sister.

But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat and she always gets what she wants--one way or another. Is revenge so sweet after all? Or will Charity get burned?

Full of intense passion, betrayal, and forgiveness, A Passion Redeemed will delight Lessman's fans and draw new ones.

A Sense of Urgency

2008

by John P. Kotter

Most organizational change initiatives fail spectacularly (at worst) or deliver lukewarm results (at best). In his international bestseller Leading Change, John Kotter revealed why change is so hard, and provided an actionable, eight-step process for implementing successful transformations. The book became the change bible for managers worldwide.

Now, in A Sense of Urgency, Kotter shines the spotlight on the crucial first step in his framework: creating a sense of urgency by getting people to actually see and feel the need for change. Why focus on urgency? Without it, any change effort is doomed. Kotter reveals the insidious nature of complacency in all its forms and guises.

In this exciting new book, Kotter explains:

  • How to go beyond "the business case" for change to overcome the fear and anger that can suppress urgency
  • Ways to ensure that your actions and behaviors -- not just your words -- communicate the need for change
  • How to keep fanning the flames of urgency even after your transformation effort has scored some early successes

Written in Kotter's signature no-nonsense style, this concise and authoritative guide helps you set the stage for leading a successful transformation in your company.

Cut & Run

A series of murders in New York City has stymied the police and FBI alike, and they suspect the culprit is a single killer sending an indecipherable message. But when the two federal agents assigned to the investigation are taken out, the FBI takes a more personal interest in the case.

Special Agent Ty Grady is pulled out of undercover work after his case blows up in his face. He's cocky, abrasive, and indisputably the best at what he does. But when he's paired with Special Agent Zane Garrett, it's hate at first sight. Garrett is the perfect image of an agent: serious, sober, and focused, which makes their partnership a classic cliché: total opposites, good cop-bad cop, the odd couple. They both know immediately that their partnership will pose more of an obstacle than the lack of evidence left by the murderer.

Practically before their special assignment starts, the murderer strikes again—this time at them. Now on the run, trying to track down a man who has focused on killing his pursuers, Grady and Garrett will have to figure out how to work together before they become two more notches in the murderer's knife.

Dead Is the New Black

2008

by Marlene Perez

Welcome to Nightshade, California—a small town full of secrets. It’s home to the psychic Giordano sisters, who have a way of getting mixed up in mysteries. During their investigations, they run across everything from pom-pom-shaking vampires to shape-shifting boyfriends to a clue-spewing jukebox. With their psychic powers and some sisterly support, they can crack any case!

Teenage girls are being mysteriously attacked all over town, including at Nightshade High School, where Daisy Giordano is a junior. When Daisy discovers that a vampire may be the culprit, she can’t help but suspect head cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, who returned from summer break with a new “look.” Samantha appears a little... well, dead, and all the most popular kids at school are copying her style. Is looking dead just another fashion trend for Samantha, or is there something more sinister going on? To find out, Daisy joins the cheerleading squad.

Flight

2008

by Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie is one of our most gifted and accomplished storytellers and a treasured writer of huge national stature. His first novel in ten years is the hilarious and tragic portrait of an orphaned Indian boy who travels back and forth through time in a charged search for his true identity.

With powerful and swift prose, Flight follows this troubled foster teenager—a boy who is not a "legal" Indian because he was never claimed by his father—as he learns that violence is not the answer. The journey for Flight's young hero begins as he's about to commit a massive act of violence. At the moment of decision, he finds himself shot back through time to resurface in the body of an FBI agent during the civil rights era, where he sees why "Hell is Red River, Idaho, in the 1970s."

Red River is only the first stop in an eye-opening trip through moments in American history. He will continue traveling back to inhabit the body of an Indian child during the battle at Little Bighorn and then ride with an Indian tracker in the nineteenth century before materializing as an airline pilot jetting through the skies today. During these furious travels through time, his refrain grows: "Who's to judge?" and "I don't understand humans."

When finally, blessedly, our young warrior comes to rest again in his own life, he is mightily transformed by all he has seen. This is Sherman Alexie at his most brilliant—making us laugh while he's breaking our hearts.

My Bonny Light Horseman: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, in Love and War

2008

by L.A. Meyer

The infamous pirate, riverboat seductress, master of disguise, and street-urchin-turned-sailor Jacky Faber has been captured by the French and beheaded in full view of her friends and crew. Inconceivable? Yes! The truth is she’s secretly forced to pose as an American dancer behind enemy lines in Paris, where she entices a French general into revealing military secrets—all to save her dear friends.

Then, in intrepid Jacky Faber style, she dons male clothing and worms her way into a post as galloper with the French army, ultimately leading a team of men to fight alongside the great Napoleon.

In this sixth installment of the Bloody Jack Adventures series, love and war collide as the irrepressible Jacky Faber sets off on a daring adventure she vowed she’d never take.

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

2008

by H.P. Lovecraft

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a thrilling tale of incantations and black magic that unearth unspeakable horrors in Providence, Rhode Island. Evil spirits are being resurrected from beyond the grave, presenting a supernatural force so twisted that it kills without offering the mercy of death!

Set in 1928, this novel describes how Charles Dexter Ward becomes obsessed with his distant ancestor, Joseph Curwen, an alleged wizard with unsavory habits. Ward physically resembles Curwen and attempts to duplicate his ancestor's Qabalistic and alchemical feats. He eventually uses this knowledge to physically resurrect Curwen. Ward's doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, investigates Ward's activities and is horrified by what he finds.

The Declaration

2008

by Gemma Malley

In the year 2140, it is illegal to be young. Children are all but extinct. The world is a better place. Longevity drugs are a fountain of youth. Sign the Declaration, agree not to have children and you too can live forever. Refuse, and you will live as an outcast. For the children born outside the law, it only gets worse – Surplus status. Not everyone thinks Longevity is a good thing, but you better be clear what side you’re on. . . . Surplus Anna is about to find out what happens when you can’t decide if you should cheat the law or cheat death.

The Devouring

2008

by Simon Holt

The Vours: Evil, demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on Sorry Night, the darkest hours of the winter solstice. When Reggie reads about the Vours in a mysterious old journal, she assumes they are just the musings of an anonymous lunatic. But when her little brother, Henry, begins to act strangely, it's clear that these creatures exist beyond a madwoman's imagination, and Reggie finds out what happens when fears come to life.

To save the people she loves, Reggie must learn to survive in a world of nightmares. Can she devour her own fears before they devour her? The Devouring is an engrossing tale of terror that will have you wondering: what if your worst fears became your living nightmare?

The Maze of Bones

2008

by Rick Riordan

When their beloved aunt--matriarch of the world's most powerful family--dies, orphaned siblings Amy and Dan Cahill compete with less honorable Cahill descendants in a race around the world to find cryptic clues to a mysterious fortune.

Book includes game cards which the reader may use to play an online version of the treasure hunt.

The Summer Garden

2008

by Paullina Simons

The Magnificent Conclusion to the Timeless Epic Saga

Through years of war and devastation, Tatiana and Alexander suffered the worst the twentieth century had to offer. Miraculously reunited in America, they now have a beautiful son, Anthony, the gift of a love strong enough to survive the most terrible upheavals. Though they are still young, the ordeals they endured have changed them—and after living apart in a world laid waste, they must now find a way to live together in postwar America.

With the Cold War rising, dark forces at work in their adopted country threaten their lives, their family, and their hard-won peace. To regain the happiness they once knew, to wash away the lingering pain of the past, two lovers grown distant must somehow forge a new life... or watch the ghosts of their yesterdays destroy their firstborn son.

The Summer Garden... their odyssey is just beginning.

The Definitive Book of Body Language

Available for the first time in the United States, this international bestseller reveals the secrets of nonverbal communication to give you confidence and control in any face-to-face encounter—from making a great first impression and acing a job interview to finding the right partner.

It is a scientific fact that people’s gestures give away their true intentions. Yet most of us don’t know how to read body language—and don’t realize how our own physical movements speak to others. Now, the world’s foremost experts on the subject share their techniques for reading body language signals to achieve success in every area of life.

Drawing upon more than thirty years in the field, as well as cutting-edge research from evolutionary biology, psychology, and medical technologies that demonstrate what happens in the brain, the authors examine each component of body language and give you the basic vocabulary to read attitudes and emotions through behavior. Discover:

  • How palms and handshakes are used to gain control
  • The most common gestures of liars
  • How the legs reveal what the mind wants to do
  • The most common male and female courtship gestures and signals
  • The secret signals of cigarettes, glasses, and makeup
  • The magic of smiles—including smiling advice for women
  • How to use nonverbal cues and signals to communicate more effectively and get the reactions you want

Filled with fascinating insights, humorous observations, and simple strategies that you can apply to any situation, this intriguing book will enrich your communication with and understanding of others—as well as yourself.

The Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain

2008

by Cormac McCarthy

Beginning with All the Pretty Horses and continuing through The Crossing and Cities of the Plain, McCarthy chronicles the lives of two young men coming of age in the Southwest and Mexico, poised on the edge of a world about to change forever.

Hauntingly beautiful, filled with sorrow and humor, The Border Trilogy is a masterful elegy for the American frontier.

Germinal

2008

by Émile Zola

The thirteenth novel in Émile Zola’s great Les Rougon-Macquart sequence, Germinal expresses outrage at the exploitation of the many by the few, but also shows humanity’s capacity for compassion and hope. Etienne Lantier, an unemployed railway worker, is a clever but uneducated young man with a dangerous temper. Forced to take a back-breaking job at Le Voreux mine when he cannot get other work, he discovers that his fellow miners are ill, hungry, in debt, and unable to feed and clothe their families. When conditions in the mining community deteriorate even further, Lantier finds himself leading a strike that could mean starvation or salvation for all.

New translation
Includes introduction, suggestions for further reading, filmography, chronology, explanatory notes, and glossary

Dragon Actually

2008

by G.A. Aiken

It's not always easy being a female warrior with a nickname like Annwyl the Bloody. Men tend to either cower in fear—a lot—or else salute. Annwyl has a knack for decapitating legions of her ruthless brother's soldiers without pausing for breath. But just once, it would be nice to really talk to a man, the way she can talk to Fearghus the Destroyer.


Too bad that Fearghus is a dragon, of the large, scaly, and deadly type. With him, Annwyl feels safe—a far cry from the feelings aroused by the hard-bodied, arrogant knight Fearghus has arranged to help train her for battle.


With her days spent fighting a man who fills her with fierce, heady desire, and her nights spent in the company of a magical creature who could smite a village just by exhaling, Annwyl is sure life couldn't get any stranger. She's wrong...

The Diamond of Darkhold

2008

by Jeanne DuPrau

It's been several months since Lina and Doon escaped the dying city of Ember and, along with the rest of their people, joined the town of Sparks. Now, struggling through the harsh winter aboveground, they find an unusual book. Torn up and missing most of its pages, it alludes to a mysterious device from before the Disaster, which they believe is still in Ember.

Together, Lina and Doon must go back underground to retrieve what was lost and bring light to a dark world. In the fourth Book of Ember, bestselling author Jeanne DuPrau juxtaposes yet another action-packed adventure with powerful themes about hope, learning, and the search for truth.

Wild Card

2008

by Lora Leigh

It was supposed to be simple. All Navy SEAL Nathan Malone had to do was rescue three young girls from a Colombia drug cartel, then allow himself to be captured just long enough to draw out a government spy. That was before his mission went disastrously wrong...and before his wife, Bella, was told that Nathan was never coming home.

Bella’s mourned her husband’s death for three long years. But she has no idea he’s still alive. Forced to assume a new identity, the man Nathan was is now dead. If he can get back to his wife, can he keep the secret of who he really is...even as desire threatens to consume them? And as danger threatens to tear Bella from Nathan’s arms once more?

Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine

Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine is a groundbreaking analysis that delves into more than 30 of the most popular alternative healing treatments. From acupuncture to homeopathy, aromatherapy to reflexology, chiropractic to herbal medicines, each is examined for their benefits and potential dangers.


Whether you are an ardent believer in alternative medicine, a skeptic, or simply baffled by the range of services and opinions, this guide lays to rest doubts and contradictions with authority, integrity, and clarity.


Authors Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst strive to reassert the primacy of the scientific method as a means for determining public health practice and policy. They answer pressing questions such as: What works and what doesn't? What are the secrets, and what are the lies? Who can you trust, and who is ripping you off? Can science decide what is best, or do the old wives' tales really tap into ancient, superior wisdom?

All the Weyrs of Pern

2008

by Anne McCaffrey

For generations, the dragonriders had dedicated their lives to fighting Thread, the dreaded spores that periodically rained from the sky to ravage the land. On the backs of their magnificent telepathic dragons, they flew to flame the deadly stuff out of the air before it could reach the planet's surface.

But the greatest dream of the dragonriders was to find a way to eradicate Thread completely, so that never again would their beloved Pern be threatened with destruction.

Now, for the first time, it looked as if that dream could come true. For when the people of Pern, led by Masterharper Robinton and F'Lar and Lessa, Weyrleader and Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr, excavated the ancient remains of the planet's original settlement, they uncovered the colonist's voice-activated artificial intelligence system - which still functioned!

And the computer had incredible news for them: There was a chance - a good chance - that they could, at long last, annihilate Thread once and for all!

Bakuman, Vol. 1: Dreams and Reality

Moritaka is hesitant to seriously consider Akito's proposal because he knows how difficult reaching the professional level can be. Still, encouragement from persistent Akito and motivation from his crush push Moritaka to test his limits!

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

2008

by Ishmael Beah

My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life. “Why did you leave Sierra Leone?” “Because there is a war.” “You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?” “Yes, all the time.” “Cool.” I smile a little. “You should tell us about it sometime.” “Yes, sometime.” This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.

Acheron

Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron endured a lifetime of hatred. His human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Brought back against his will, he became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple…

For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he never wants revealed.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on the very woman who threatens him. Old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been deadlier… or more fun.

Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer

2008

by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer encapsulate Joseph Conrad's literary achievements and his haunting portrayal of the dark side of man. In these two masterful works, Conrad delves into the inner self with chilling, disturbing, and noteworthy pieces of fiction of the twentieth century.

Heart of Darkness is a devastating commentary on the corruptibility of humanity, based on Conrad's own 1890 trip up the Congo River. The story, told by Marlow, Conrad's alter ego, is a journey into darkness and horror—both literally, as the narrator descends into a sinister jungle landscape, and metaphorically, as he encounters the morally depraved Mr. Kurtz.

The Secret Sharer tells the tale of a young sea captain's first command as he sails into the Gulf of Siam—and into an encounter with his mysterious “double,” the shadow self of the unconscious mind. Joseph Conrad boldly experimented with the novella and novel forms, filled his writing with the exotic places he himself had traveled, and concerned himself with honor, guilt, moral alienation, and sin.

With an Introduction by Joyce Carol Oates and an Afterword by Vince Passaro, these works offer a deep exploration of the complexities of the human soul.

The Gargoyle

2008

by Andrew Davidson

An extraordinary debut novel of love that survives the fires of hell and transcends the boundaries of time.

The narrator of The Gargoyle is a very contemporary cynic, physically beautiful and sexually adept, who dwells in the moral vacuum that is modern life. As the book opens, he is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes into a ravine and suffers horrible burns over much of his body. As he recovers in a burn ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned, he awaits the day when he can leave the hospital and commit carefully planned suicide—for he is now a monster in appearance as well as in soul.

A beautiful and compelling, but clearly unhinged, sculptress of gargoyles by the name of Marianne Engel appears at the foot of his bed and insists that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly injured mercenary and she was a nun and scribe in the famed monastery of Engelthal who nursed him back to health. As she spins their tale in Scheherazade fashion and relates equally mesmerizing stories of deathless love in Japan, Iceland, Italy, and England, he finds himself drawn back to life—and, finally, in love. He is released into Marianne's care and takes up residence in her huge stone house. But all is not well. For one thing, the pull of his past sins becomes ever more powerful as the morphine he is prescribed becomes ever more addictive. For another, Marianne receives word from God that she has only twenty-seven sculptures left to complete—and her time on earth will be finished.

Already an international literary sensation, The Gargoyle is an Inferno for our time. It will have you believing in the impossible.

Breaking Dawn

2008

by Stephenie Meyer

"Don't be afraid," I murmured. "We belong together." I was abruptly overwhelmed by the truth of my own words. This moment was so perfect, so right, there was no way to doubt it. His arms wrapped around me,holding me against him....It felt like every nerve ending in my body was a live wire. "Forever," he agreed.

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life - first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse - seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.

Ghostgirl

2008

by Tonya Hurley

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
And if I should die before I awake,
I pray the popular attend my wake.

Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she's dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn't stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal.

If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is. In this satirical, yet heartfelt novel, Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at some times and the lengths we'll go to be seen.

Cry Wolf

2008

by Patricia Briggs

Anna never knew werewolves existed, until the night she survived a violent attack... and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she'd learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. Then Charles Cornick, the enforcer—and son—of the leader of the North American werewolves, came into her life.Charles insists that not only is Anna his mate, but she is also a rare and valued Omega wolf. And it is Anna's inner strength and calming presence that will prove invaluable as she and Charles go on the hunt in search of a rogue werewolf—a creature bound in magic so dark that it could threaten all of the pack.It is recommended you read the prequel "Alpha & Omega" before reading Cry Wolf.

Fractured

2008

by Karin Slaughter

With its gracious homes and tree-lined streets, Ansley Park is one of Atlanta's most desirable neighborhoods. But in one gleaming mansion, in a teenager's lavish bedroom, a girl has been savagely murdered. And in the hallway, her horrified mother stands amid shattered glass, having killed her daughter's attacker with her bare hands.

Detective Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is here only to do a political favor; the murder site belongs to the Atlanta police. But Trent soon sees something that the cops are missing, something in the trail of blood, in a matrix of forensic evidence, and in the eyes of the shell-shocked mother. Within minutes, Trent is taking over the case—and adding another one to it. He is sure that another teenage girl is missing, and that a killer is on the loose.

Armed with only fleeting clues, teamed with a female cop who has her own personal reasons for hating him, Trent has enemies all around him—and a gnawing feeling that this case, which started in the best of homes, is cutting quick and deep through the ruins of perfect lives broken wide-open: where human demons emerge with a vengeance.

Sweet Thursday

2008

by John Steinbeck

In Monterey, on the California coast, Sweet Thursday is what they call the day after Lousy Wednesday, which is one of those days that are just naturally bad.

Returning to the scene of Cannery Row—the weedy lots and junk heaps and flophouses of Monterey, John Steinbeck once more brings to life the denizens of a netherworld of laughter and tears—from Fauna, the new headmistress of the local brothel, to Hazel, a bum whose mother must have wanted a daughter.

This story captures the essence of humanity with humor and poignancy, painting a vivid picture of post-World War II life.

The 13 Clocks

2008

by James Thurber

How can anyone describe this book? It isn't a parable, a fairy story, or a poem, but rather a mixture of all three. It is beautiful and it is comic. It is philosophical and it is cheery.

What we suppose we are trying fumblingly to say is, in a word, that it is Thurber. There are only a few reasons why everybody has always wanted to read this kind of story: if you have always wanted to love a Princess; if you always wanted to be a Prince; if you always wanted the wicked Duke to be punished; or if you always wanted to live happily ever after.

Too little of this kind of thing is going on in the world today. But all of it is going on valorously in The 13 Clocks.

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

2008

by Naomi Klein

In her ground-breaking reporting from Iraq, Naomi Klein exposed how the trauma of invasion was being exploited to remake the country in the interest of foreign corporations. She called it disaster capitalism. Covering Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami, and New Orleans post-Katrina, she witnessed something remarkably similar. People still reeling from catastrophe were being hit again, this time with economic shock treatment losing their land and homes to rapid-fire corporate makeovers.

The Shock Doctrine retells the story of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman's free market economic revolution. In contrast to the popular myth of this movement's peaceful global victory, Klein shows how it has exploited moments of shock and extreme violence in order to implement its economic policies in so many parts of the world from Latin America and Eastern Europe to South Africa, Russia, and Iraq.

At the core of disaster capitalism is the use of cataclysmic events to advance radical privatization combined with the privatization of the disaster response itself. By capitalizing on crises, created by nature or war, Klein argues that the disaster capitalism complex now exists as a booming new economy, and is the violent culmination of a radical economic project that has been incubating for fifty years.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

2008

by Haruki Murakami

In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a dozen critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and—even more important—on his writing.

Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him.

Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running.

The Initiation / The Captive Part I

2008

by L.J. Smith

THE CIRCLE'S POWER HAS LURED HER HOME...

Forced to move from sunny California to gloomy New England, Cassie longs for her old life. Even so, she feels a strange kinship to a terrifying group of teens who seem to rule her school. Initiated into the coven of witches that's controlled New Salem for hundreds of years, she's drawn into the Secret Circle, a thrill that's both intoxicating and deadly. But when she falls for the mysterious and intriguing Adam, Cassie must choose whether to resist temptation or risk dark forces to get what she wants - even if it means that one wrong move could ultimately destroy her.

Lord of the Shadows

2008

by Darren Shan

Book 11 of The Saga Of Darren Shan. Darren's going home. Back to where everything started. The town's changed a lot in the years that he's been away — but then, so has Darren.

Plagued by nightmares of what the future seems to hold, Darren feels uneasy revisiting the place where he was re-born as a child of the night, as though the universe (as though destiny) is plotting to throw something very nasty at him on the streets of his old home.

Sons of Destiny

2008

by Darren Shan

The stunning finale to the New York Times bestselling series brings Darren face-to-face with his archenemy, Steve Leopard. One of them will die. The other will become the Lord of the Shadows and destroy the world. Is the future written, or can Darren trick destiny?

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X

He was born with great power. The greatest superpower of all isn't to be part spider, part man, or to cast magic spells—the greatest power is the power to create. Daniel X has that power.

And a deadly secret: Daniel's secret abilities—like being able to manipulate objects and animals with his mind or to recreate himself in any shape he chooses—have helped him survive. But Daniel doesn't have a normal life. He is the protector of the earth, the Alien Hunter, with a mission beyond anyone's imagining.

Now the fate of the world rests on Daniel X. From the day that his parents were brutally murdered before his very eyes, Daniel has used his unique gifts to hunt down their assassin. Finally, with the help of The List, bequeathed to him in his parents' dying breath, he is closing in on the killer. Now, on his own, he vows to take on his father's mission—and to take vengeance in the process.

Fe Fi FOE Comes

From the Back Cover... A warning to the reader... You may not wish for people to know you are reading this book. In some jurisdictions, such material is banned, and in some, there may be severe penalties should you be caught with it in your possession.

Even in places with free speech, some authorities, and some of your neighbors will be suspicious if they open and read portions of this book, and find you reading it. In the near future, the consequences could be much worse. You may not wish to read it at all.

A note from the author... The fact is our world is mostly made from refined technology invented long ago. Shelter, transportation, medicine, even space exploration technology dates from more than half a century ago. The most innovative technology of our times is electronic, including computation, because it is the least regulated by the government.

Regulation, taxation, and stagnation go together. To those of us that grew up with visions of a world with freedom, and technology that would save time, human effort, much human misery, open the door to space travel and all the benefits that can bring, including perhaps the ultimate survival of our species, current events and the status quo signal the death knell of such possibilities. Until when? What will change?

Rather than ending on a note of doom, I will say that indeed things do change. The truth is really out there. To those who think maybe truth is important, and maybe things should change, I invite you to read the book... in private... while you still can.

This is a work of fiction, or maybe it just hasn't happened yet.

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

2008

by Barack Obama

The Audacity of Hope is Barack Obama's call for a new kind of politics—a politics that builds upon those shared understandings that pull us together as Americans. Lucid in his vision of America's place in the world, refreshingly candid about his family life and his time in the Senate, Obama here sets out his political convictions and inspires us to trust in the dogged optimism that has long defined us and that is our best hope going forward.

In July 2004, four years before his presidency, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. One phrase in particular anchored itself in listeners’ minds, a reminder that for all the discord and struggle to be found in our history as a nation, we have always been guided by a dogged optimism in the future, or what Obama called “the audacity of hope.”

This book is a call for a different brand of politics—a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the “endless clash of armies” we see in congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of “our improbable experiment in democracy.” He explores those forces—from the fear of losing to the perpetual need to raise money to the power of the media—that can stifle even the best-intentioned politician. He also writes, with surprising intimacy and self-deprecating humor, about settling in as a senator, seeking to balance the demands of public service and family life, and his own deepening religious commitment.

At the heart of this book is Barack Obama’s vision of how we can move beyond our divisions to tackle concrete problems. He examines the growing economic insecurity of American families, the racial and religious tensions within the body politic, and the transnational threats—from terrorism to pandemic—that gather beyond our shores. And he grapples with the role that faith plays in a democracy—where it is vital and where it must never intrude. Underlying his stories is a vigorous search for connection: the foundation for a radically hopeful political consensus. Only by returning to the principles that gave birth to our Constitution, Obama says, can Americans repair a political process that is broken, and restore to working order a government that has fallen dangerously out of touch with millions of ordinary Americans. Those Americans are out there, he writes—“waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them.”

Aura

2008

by Carlos Fuentes

Felipe Montero is employed in the house of an aged widow to edit her deceased husband's memoirs. There, Felipe meets her beautiful green-eyed niece, Aura. His passion for Aura and his gradual discovery of the true relationship between the young woman and her aunt propel the story to its extraordinary conclusion.

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