Southern Mystical Moments is an anthology of Southern myths and beliefs, concluding with a captivating short story based on Voodoo, titled Magic Under the Willow Tree. Welcome to the enchanting world of Boojums, Clurichauns, and Whispering Willows.

Delve into tales of man-eating monsters, witches, and mysterious lights that defy scientific explanation. We dare you to enter this mystical realm, if you are brave enough.

This collection comprises myths, legends, and folklore from Western North Carolina. Discover the traditions and local myths of Fontana Lake's man-eating monster, the Boojum of Swain County, or the Healer of Tuckasegee.

Explore the mystery behind the Brown Mountain Lights, the Clurichaun, and the birthing of the Smoky Mountains. Grab a cup of coffee and settle in for an eye-opening experience.

Magic Under the Willow Tree is a short story by Verna Humphrey. Set around New Orleans, it explores how dreams, sometimes manipulated through magic, span across time to affect two individuals.

Gifted with a brilliant mind that has made a deep impression on the elders of his Palestinian village, Ahmed Hamid is nevertheless tormented by his inability to save his friends and family. Living under occupation, the inhabitants of the village harbor a constant fear of losing their homes, jobs, belongings – and each other.

On Ahmed’s twelfth birthday, that fear becomes a reality. With his father now imprisoned, his family’s home and possessions confiscated, and his siblings quickly succumbing to hatred in the face of conflict, Ahmed embarks on a journey to liberate his loved ones from their hardship, using his prodigious intellect. In so doing, he begins to reclaim a love for others that had been lost over the course of a childhood rife with violence, and discovers new hope for the future.

This is a story of courage and perseverance, reminiscent of The Kite Runner and One Thousand Splendid Suns. An uplifting read that conveys a message of optimism and hope.

Orphaned by her mother and brushed off by her dad, fifteen year old Silvia Cotton had lived a lonely life. That is until 1985 when her father moved the family from the Highlands of Scotland to the Midlands of Wales. It is there she was enrolled in Bennington, a private boarding school, met the charming and rebellious Dickinson twins, Oliver and Alexander, and her regrettable life was changed forever. Locked into a fierce friendship with Alexander and lost to a whirlwind romance with Oliver, Silvia found herself torn away from everything she thought she knew. Married too soon, she moved with Oliver to a rustic cabin deep in a Welsh wood and embarked upon a life she'd never planned for, surviving on hope she never knew existed and faith she never knew she had. She made her way through university and onto a career, only to surrender her ambition to raising her children and living a life that was strikingly "normal". But what is normal? Certainly not what ensued in the wood.

True love, faeries, friendship, loves lost and gained. Old magic, fate, doubt, strength and courage, Silvia's story could belong to anyone, but it is her own. Simple yet extraordinary, told in retrospect with wit and candor, Silvia recalls a life of joy and sorrow, laughter and tears. As she unravels the tangled web of her days, she reveals the secrets that exist in an ancient wood, how hearts given freely can become the stuff of magic, and how true happiness was never any further than her own back garden.

Kafka's first and funniest novel, Amerika tells the story of the young immigrant Karl Rossmann who, after an embarrassing sexual misadventure, finds himself "packed off to America" by his parents. Expected to redeem himself in this magical land of opportunity, young Karl is swept up instead in a whirlwind of dizzying reversals, strange escapades, and picaresque adventures.

Although Kafka never visited America, images of its vast landscape, dangers, and opportunities inspired this saga of the "golden land." Here is a startlingly modern, fantastic and visionary tale of America "as a place no one has yet seen, in a historical period that can't be identified," writes E. L. Doctorow in his new foreword. "Kafka made his novel from his own mind's mythic elements," Doctorow explains, "and the research data that caught his eye were bent like rays in a field of gravity."

Saga, Volume 1 is an audacious blend of fantasy and science fiction, presenting a unique drama that centers on a young family striving to carve out their existence in a vast and perilous universe. Authored by the New York Times bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by the critically acclaimed artist Fiona Staples, this graphic novel unfolds as a tale of love and conflict.

When two soldiers from opposing factions of an interminable galactic conflict fall deeply in love, they face the ultimate risk as they attempt to bring new life into a world filled with danger. This narrative is a sexy, subversive drama created for an adult audience, and it masterfully intertwines elements of fantasy and science fiction in a way that has rarely been seen before.

Saga, Volume 1 collects the first six issues of a series that has garnered widespread acclaim, described by The Onion A.V. Club as "the emotional epic Hollywood wishes it could make."

The Emperor's Soul is a captivating tale of magic and intrigue, set in the same universe as the popular novel, Elantris. The story follows Shai, a master Forger, who possesses the unique ability to flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic.

After being condemned to death for attempting to steal the emperor’s scepter, Shai is offered a single chance to save herself. Despite the disdain her captors have for her abilities, she is tasked with the impossible: to create a new soul for the emperor, who is on the brink of death.

As Shai delves deep into the life of Emperor Ashravan, she uncovers his true nature and seizes the opportunity to exploit it. Her only potential ally is councilor Gaotona, a man fiercely loyal to the emperor, who must overcome his own prejudices to see the artistry in Shai’s forgery.

Brimming with magic and political intrigue, this deftly woven fantasy explores the essence of a living spirit and the intricate dance between artistry and deception.

Crossing the Seas: A Diary of My Thoughts documents the author Yuehai Xiao's book reading experience and his reflections upon politics, higher education, society, and pop culture, as well as his mind reading experience. It is a collection of his posts on his blog and on Facebook, where he has been sharing his thoughts and interacting with top political and business leaders, celebrities, and scholars in America, Europe, and Asia, implicitly and explicitly during the past two years (Sept.2010 through Sept.2012).

It seems that his Facebook posts might have inspired lots of creative celebrities who produced stunning songs, movies, and TV shows, evidencing a broad influence on popular culture.

For fans of Matched, The Hunger Games, X-Men, and Blade Runner comes a tale of a magical city divided, a political rebellion ignited, and a love that was meant to last forever. Book One of the Mystic City Novels.

Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud - and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths.

But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place.

Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection - and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city - including herself.

After the tumultuous events of last winter, Kate, Michael, and Emma long to continue the hunt for their missing parents. But they themselves are now in great danger, and so the wizard Stanislaus Pym hides the children at the Edgar Allan Poe Home for Hopeless and Incorrigible Orphans. There, he says, they will be safe. How wrong he is.

The children are soon discovered by their enemies, and a frantic chase sends Kate a hundred years into the past, to a perilous, enchanted New York City. Searching for a way back to her brother and sister, she meets a mysterious boy whose fate is intricately—and dangerously—tied to her own.

Meanwhile, Michael and Emma have set off to find the second of the Books of Beginning. A series of clues leads them into a hidden world where they must brave harsh polar storms, track down an ancient order of warriors, and confront terrible monsters.

Will Michael and Emma find the legendary book of fire—and master its powers—before Kate is lost to them forever? Exciting, suspenseful, and brimming with humor and heart, the next installment of the bestselling Books of Beginning trilogy will lead Kate, Michael, and Emma closer to their family—and to the magic that could save, or destroy, them all.

The author of the acclaimed memoir The Suicide Index returns with a virtuosic collection of stories, each a stirring parable of the power of love and the impossibility of understanding it. Spanning centuries and continents, from eighteenth-century Vienna to contemporary America, Joan Wickersham shows, with uncanny exactitude, how we never really know what's in someone else's heart—or in our own.

Wickersham's gift is for capturing the habits of mind that lead even smart people to deceive themselves. Her book makes you slow down and listen, and then watch for people to reveal themselves. Elegantly structured, emotionally compelling... Short stories don't get much better than this.

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility.

As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time.

Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, Time Between Us is a stunning, spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.

A sometimes funny, tragically graphic, compelling tale of a woman suffering...

She has no name of her own. She is every name everyone has ever called her. She is nameless. She has a good job, a beautiful home, and a wonderful husband. She is everything she was supposed to be. She has structure and stability, but she is lost.

She is trying. Her whole life is spent trying; yet her whole life has been nothing but an apology. She is so tired of trying and failing.

In just one week, she learns her entire life is a series of brutalities. She learns intense, consuming passion for the first time with a beautiful stranger. She learns love within this passion, and she learns heartbreak while without.

Slowly her breakdown overcomes her. She tries to rise above her circumstances, but when she has nothing left to fight with; she tries to ease the pain forever.

Desperately, she fights her way through the agony of life, and she returns with a gentle hope. She wants to live, and she wants to love, for the first time in her life.

Now, she has a name. Now, she can be 'her'... Any HER that she wants to be.

Join Emily and Pegasus as the legend continues in a new epic adventure that takes us back to the very origins of mythology. A deadly plague has struck Olympus. While the Olympians fade one by one, Emily's heart breaks as she watches Pegasus slip away. Determined to save him, Emily embarks on a quest that takes her back in time to the deadly war between the Olympians and the Titans.

In the race to save Pegasus, will Olympus find its true Hero? It's time for the original battle to be fought once again...

Two secrets. One bet. Who will break first?

Taylor Caldwell can't decide if she wants to kiss her new college roommate or punch him. On the one hand, Hunter Zaccadelli is a handsome, blue-eyed bundle of charm. On the other, he's a tattooed, guitar-playing bad boy. Maybe that's why Taylor's afraid of falling in love with him, or anyone else. She doesn't want to get burned, so she needs him gone before it's too late.

Hunter himself has been burned before, but Taylor's sexy laugh and refusal to let him get away with anything make her irresistible. Determined not to be kicked out of her life without a fight, Hunter proposes a bet: if she can convince him she either truly loves or hates him, he'll leave the apartment—and leave her alone.

But when the man behind Taylor's fear of giving up her heart resurfaces, she has to decide: trust Hunter with her greatest secret, or do everything in her power to win that bet and drive him away forever.

With Hattori, their former editor, helping out again, Moritaka and Akito do everything they can to make their new series the best it can be. Moritaka works on the character designs while Akito tries to come up with the perfect names for the characters and the series itself. But when it debuts in Weekly Jump magazine, can it take the top spot?

Beast is a modern re-telling of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale, centered around the intriguing life of Lt. Christopher Jameson, also known as Beast. Born with a severe facial deformity, Beast has forged his path as a Marine, excelling in the special forces. Despite the challenges he faces, he leads a life of solitude.

Enter Ashleigh, a plus-size beauty who struggles with her own identity issues. Used to being with handsome men, even if it means keeping them interested with money and gifts, Ashleigh knows her worth despite her added pounds. However, after a betrayal by her boyfriend, who marries another woman, she decides to transform her life inside and out.

This adult romance challenges the traditional definitions of beauty, asking the poignant question: Who is the Beauty and who is the Beast?

Note: This book contains adult themes, including sex and language, and is intended for adult readers only.

The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that plague is only part of a larger cataclysm—that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven, and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict.

Is it delirium or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon. There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfill her mission to confront the evil that has devastated the earth, and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility and hope of salvation he long abandoned.

As hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.

Sherman Alexie’s stature as a writer of stories, poems, and novels has soared over the course of his twenty-book, twenty-year career. His wide-ranging, acclaimed stories from the last two decades, from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven to his most recent PEN/Faulkner award-winning War Dances, have established him as a star in modern literature.

A bold and irreverent observer of life among Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest, the daring, versatile, funny, and outrageous Alexie showcases all his talents in his newest collection, Blasphemy, where he unites fifteen beloved classics with sixteen new stories in one sweeping anthology for devoted fans and first-time readers.

Included here are some of his most esteemed tales, including "What You Pawn I Will Redeem," "This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” "The Toughest Indian in the World,” and "War Dances.” Alexie’s new stories are fresh and quintessential—about donkey basketball leagues, lethal wind turbines, the reservation, marriage, and all species of contemporary American warriors.

An indispensable collection of new and classic stories, Blasphemy reminds us, on every thrilling page, why Sherman Alexie is one of our greatest contemporary writers and a true master of the short story.

Destroy Me is a novella set in the Shatter Me universe, told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45. After Juliette's escape, Warner is faced with the task of keeping his soldiers in check and suppressing any whispers of rebellion. His obsession with Juliette remains unyielding as he prioritizes her capture and the disposal of the traitors who aided her flight.

However, the arrival of Warner's father, the Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, brings a new set of challenges. He has plans for Juliette that Warner cannot condone, forcing Warner into a position where he must act against his father's wishes. This narrative explores the complexities of Warner's character and the lengths he will go to for love and control.

Perfect for readers who enjoy action-packed young adult novels with a blend of dystopian and paranormal elements, Destroy Me is a tale of self-discovery and forbidden love.

First-century Rome: A ruthless emperor watches over all—and fixes his gaze on one young woman...

Thea is a slave girl from Judaea, purchased as a toy for the spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia. Now she has infuriated her mistress by capturing the attention of Rome's newest and most savage gladiator—and though his love brings Thea the first happiness of her life, their affair ends quickly when a jealous Lepida tears them apart.

Remaking herself as a singer for Rome's aristocrats, Thea unwittingly attracts another admirer: the charismatic Emperor of Rome. But the passions of an all-powerful man come with a heavy price, and Thea finds herself fighting for both her soul and her sanity.

Many have tried to destroy the Emperor: a vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier, a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of Domitian lies in the hands of one woman: the Emperor's mistress.

They called her Water Claire. When she washed up on their shore, no one knew that she came from a society where emotions and colors didn’t exist. That she had become a Vessel at age thirteen. That she had carried a Product at age fourteen. That it had been stolen from her body. Claire had a son. But what became of him she never knew. What was his name? Was he even alive? She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible.

Now Claire will stop at nothing to find her child, even if it means making an unimaginable sacrifice. Son thrusts readers once again into the chilling world of the Newbery Medal winning book, The Giver, as well as Gathering Blue and Messenger where a new hero emerges. In this thrilling series finale, the startling and long-awaited conclusion to Lois Lowry’s epic tale culminates in a final clash between good and evil.

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to another pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. When Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn't really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together.

To break the curse, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks—all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic, and the growing romantic tension between them.

America has enemies - ruthless people that the police, the FBI, even the military can't stop. That's when the U.S. government calls on Will Robie, a stone cold hitman who never questions orders and always nails his target. But Will Robie may have just made the first - and last - mistake of his career...

It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable. He refuses to kill. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and must escape from his own people.

Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a wayward teenage girl, a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway — her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against all of his professional habits, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her.

Even worse, the more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that may explain her parents' deaths and stretch to unimaginable levels of power.

Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life... and perhaps his own.

In the good old days, magic was indispensable—it could both save a kingdom and clear a clogged drain. But now magic is fading: drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and magic carpets are used for pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for magicians—but it’s hard to stay in business when magic is drying up. And then the visions start, predicting the death of the world’s last dragon at the hands of an unnamed Dragonslayer. If the visions are true, everything will change for Kazam—and for Jennifer. Because something is coming. Something known as . . . Big Magic.

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can't blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon figurehead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket, Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving command: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader—but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare...

Jack the Ripper is back, and he's coming for Rory next... Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London to start a new life at boarding school just as a series of brutal murders mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper killing spree of more than a century ago has broken out across the city. The police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man believed to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him - the only one who can see him. And now Rory has become his next target...unless she can tap her previously unknown abilities to turn the tables.

The Round House is an exquisitely told story of a boy on the cusp of manhood who seeks justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that upends and forever transforms his family.

One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface because Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe.

In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill-prepared. While his father, a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own.

Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.

The Round House is a page-turning masterpiece—at once a powerful coming-of-age story, a mystery, and a tender, moving novel of family, history, and culture.

The hilarious, beloved cohost of TLC’s What Not to Wear examines the universal obstacles all women—including herself—put in their way.

With her unique talent for seeing past disastrous wardrobes to the core emotional issues that caused these sartorial crises, style savant Stacy London has transformed not only the looks but also the lives of hundreds of guests who have appeared on What Not to Wear. Now for the first time in print, London turns that expert X-ray insight on herself.

Like the women she’s transformed, London has plenty of emotional baggage. At eleven, she suffered from severe psoriasis that left her with permanent physical and mental scars. During college, she became anorexic on a misguided quest for perfection. By the time she joined the staff at Vogue, London’s weight had doubled from binge eating. Although self-esteem and self-consciousness nearly sabotaged a promising career, London learned the hard way that we wear our insecurities every day. It wasn’t until she found the self-confidence to develop a strong personal style that she finally became comfortable in her skin.

In The Truth About Style, London shares her own often painful history and her philosophy of the healing power of personal style—illustrating it with a series of detailed “start-overs” with eight real women, demonstrating how personal style helps them overcome the emotional obstacles we all face. For anyone who has ever despaired of finding the right clothes, or even taking an objective assessment in a full-length mirror, The Truth About Style will be an inspiring, liberating, and often very funny guide to finding the expression of your truest self.

Elizabeth Berg, bestselling author of The Art of Mending and The Year of Pleasures, has a rare talent for revealing her characters' hearts and minds in a manner that makes us empathize completely.

It is the summer of 1964. In Tupelo, Mississippi, the town of Elvis's birth, tensions are mounting over civil-rights demonstrations occurring ever more frequently—and violently—across the state. But in Paige Dunn's small, ramshackle house, there are more immediate concerns.

Challenged by the effects of the polio she contracted during her last month of pregnancy, Paige is nonetheless determined to live as normal a life as possible and to raise her daughter, Diana, in the way she sees fit—with the support of her tough-talking black caregiver, Peacie.

Diana is trying in her own fashion to live a normal life. As a fourteen-year-old, she wants to make money for clothes and magazines, to slough off the authority of her mother and Peacie, to figure out the puzzle that is boys, and to escape the oppressiveness she sees everywhere in her small town. What she can never escape, however, is the way her life is markedly different from others'. Nor can she escape her ongoing responsibility to assist in caring for her mother.

Paige Dunn is attractive, charming, intelligent, and lively, but her needs are great—and relentless. As the summer unfolds, hate and adversity will visit this modest home. Despite the difficulties thrust upon them, each of the women will find her own path to independence, understanding, and peace. And Diana's mother, so mightily compromised, will end up giving her daughter an extraordinary gift few parents could match.

Shadow Falls Camp is back in session with the most explosive installment yet. A shocking new threat will rock Shadow Falls—changing it forever and altering Kylie's journey in ways she never imagined.

Even at a camp for supernatural teens, Kylie Galen has never been normal. Not only can she see ghosts, but she doesn't seem to belong to any one species—she exhibits traits from them all. As Kylie struggles to unlock the secrets of her identity, she begins to worry that Lucas will never be able to accept her for what she is, and what she isn't…a werewolf. With his pack standing in their way, Kylie finds herself turning more and more to Derek, the only person in her life who's willing to accept the impossible.

As if life isn't hard enough, she starts getting visits from the ghost of Holiday, her closest confidante. Trouble is, Holiday isn't dead…not yet anyway. Now Kylie must race to save one of her own from an unseen danger before it's too late—all while trying to stop her relationship with Lucas from slipping away forever. In a world of constant confusion, there's only one thing Kylie knows for sure. Change is inevitable and all things must come to an end…maybe even her time at Shadow Falls.

The breathtaking fourth installment of the New York Times bestselling Shadow Falls series from author C. C. Hunter...Whispers at Moonrise.

The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song is a rich and compelling original graphic novel that tells the story of the Carter Family—the first superstar group of country music—who made hundreds of recordings and sold millions of records. Many of their hit songs, such as “Wildwood Flower” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” have influenced countless musicians and remain timeless country standards.

The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song is not only a unique illustrated biography, but a moving account that reveals the family’s rise to success, their struggles along the way, and their impact on contemporary music. Illustrated with exacting detail and written in the Southern dialect of the time, its dynamic narrative is pure Americana. It is also a story of success and failure, of poverty and wealth, of racism and tolerance, of creativity and business, and of the power of music and love.

Master 50 simple concepts to ensure success in the kitchen.

Unlock a lifetime of successful cooking with this groundbreaking new volume from the editors of Cook's Illustrated, the magazine that put food science on the map. Organized around 50 core principles our test cooks use to develop foolproof recipes, The Science of Good Cooking is a radical new approach to teaching the fundamentals of the kitchen.

Fifty unique experiments from the test kitchen bring the science to life, and more than 400 landmark Cook's Illustrated recipes (such as Old-Fashioned Burgers, Classic Mashed Potatoes, and Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies) illustrate each of the basic principles at work. These experiments range from simple to playful to innovative - showing you why you should fold (versus stir) batter for chewy brownies, why you whip egg whites with sugar, and why the simple addition of salt can make meat juicy.

A lifetime of experience isn't the prerequisite for becoming a good cook; knowledge is. Think of this as an owner's manual for your kitchen.

Ella and Micha have been best friends since they were kids. But one tragic night shatters their friendship and their lives forever.

Ella used to be a rule-breaker with fiery attitude who wore her heart on her sleeve. But she left everything behind when she went to college and transformed into someone that follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems. But now it's summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home. Ella fears everything she worked so hard to bury might resurface, especially with Micha living right next door. If Micha tries to tempt the old her back, she knows that it will be hard to resist.

Micha is sexy, smart, confident, and can get under Ella’s skin like no one else can. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. And he’s determined to bring his best friend, and the girl he loves back, no matter what it takes.

Here, meine Damen und Herren, is Christopher Isherwood's brilliant farewell to a city which was not only buildings, streets, and people, but was also a state of mind which will never come around again.

In linked short stories, he says goodbye to Sally Bowles, to Fraulein Schroeder, to pranksters, perverts, political manipulators; to the very, very guilty and to the dwindling band of innocents.

It is goodbye to a Berlin wild, wicked, breathtaking, decadent beyond belief and already - in the years between the wars - welcoming death in through the door, though more with a wink than a whimper.

In his latest book, What Young India Wants, Chetan Bhagat asks hard questions, demands answers, and presents solutions for a better, more prosperous India.

Why do our students regularly commit suicide?
Why is there so much corruption in India?
Can't our political parties ever work together?
Does our vote make any difference at all?
We love our India, but shouldn't some things be different?

All of us have asked these questions at some time or the other. So does Chetan Bhagat, India's most loved writer, in What Young India Wants, his first book of non-fiction.

What Young India Wants is based on Chetan Bhagat's vast experience as a very successful writer and motivational speaker. In clear, simple prose, and with great insight, he analyzes some of the complex issues facing modern India, offers solutions, and invites discussion on them.

At the end, he asks this important question: Unless we are all in agreement on what it is going to take to make our country better, how will things ever change?

If you want to understand contemporary India, the problems that face it, and want to be a part of the solution, What Young India Wants is the book for you.

Widely regarded as the standard reference in the field, this handbook provides a complete overview of art therapy, from theory and research to practical applications. Leading practitioners demonstrate the nuts and bolts of arts-based intervention with children, adults, families, couples, and groups dealing with a wide range of clinical issues.

Rich with illustrative case material, the volume features 110 sample drawings and other artwork. The inclusion of diverse theoretical approaches and practice settings makes the Handbook eminently useful for all mental health professionals interested in using art in evaluation and treatment.

New to This Edition:
* Incorporates the latest clinical applications, methods, and research.
* Chapter on art materials and media (including uses of new technologies).
* Chapters on intervening with domestic violence survivors, bereaved children, and military personnel.
* Expanded coverage of neuroscience, cultural diversity, and ethics.

Skylar is my name, tragically.

Sixteen-year-old Skylar is witty, empathetic, sensitive--and mute. Skylar hasn't uttered a single word since his mother died eleven years ago, a senseless tragedy he's grateful he doesn't have to talk about.

When Skylar's father mysteriously vanishes one summer afternoon, Skylar is placed in the temporary custody of his only remaining relative, an estranged grandmother living on an Indian reservation in the middle of arid Arizona.

Adapting to a brand new culture is the least of Skylar's qualms. Because Skylar's mother did not die a peaceful death. Skylar's mother was murdered eleven years ago on the Nettlebush Reserve. And her murderer left behind a son.
And he is like nothing Skylar has ever known.

J.R.R. Tolkien's 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is a collection that brings together the essential works of Tolkien's high-fantasy universe. Included in this set are The Hobbit and the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings, which are The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.

In The Hobbit, we follow Bilbo Baggins as he is swept away from a quiet life by the wizard Gandalf and a group of dwarves. Their journey leads them to confront Smaug the Magnificent, a formidable dragon guarding a vast treasure hoard.

The Lord of the Rings chronicles the epic quest of Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship of the Ring, which includes Gandalf the wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the dwarf; Legolas the elf; Boromir of Gondor; and the enigmatic Strider. Their mission is fraught with danger and high adventure, set against the backdrop of the magical landscape of Middle-earth.

Eveline Armstrong is fiercely loved and protected by her powerful clan, but outsiders consider her “touched.” Beautiful, fey, with a level, intent gaze, she doesn’t speak. No one, not even her family, knows that she cannot hear. Content with her life of seclusion, Eveline has taught herself to read lips and allows the outside world to view her as daft.

But when an arranged marriage into a rival clan makes Graeme Montgomery her husband, Eveline accepts her duty—unprepared for the delights to come. Graeme is a rugged warrior with a voice so deep and powerful that his new bride can hear it, and hands and kisses so tender and skilled that he stirs her deepest passions.

Graeme is intrigued by the mysterious Eveline, whose silent lips are ripe with temptation and whose bright, intelligent eyes can see into his soul. As intimacy deepens, he learns her secret. But when clan rivalries and dark deeds threaten the wife he has only begun to cherish, the Scottish warrior will move heaven and earth to save the woman who has awakened his heart to the beautiful song of a rare and magical love.

No safe word can protect the heart.

Infamous erotica author and accomplished dominatrix Nora Sutherlin is doing something utterly out of character: hiding. While her longtime lover, Søren—whose fetishes, if exposed, would be his ruin—is under scrutiny pending a major promotion, Nora's lying low and away from temptation in the lap of luxury.

Her host, the wealthy and uninhibited Griffin Fiske, is thrilled to have Nora stay at his country estate, especially once he meets her traveling companion. Young, inexperienced and angelically beautiful, Michael has become Nora's protégé, and this summer with Griffin is going to be his training, where the hazing never ends.

But while her flesh is willing, Nora's mind is wandering. To thoughts of Søren, her master, under investigation by a journalist with an ax to grind. And to another man from Nora's past, whose hold on her is less bruising, but whose secrets are no less painful. It's a summer that will prove the old adage: love hurts.

Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind this fragile community.

Will West is careful to live life under the radar. At his parents' insistence, he's made sure to get mediocre grades and to stay in the middle of the pack on his cross-country team. Then Will slips up, accidentally scoring off the charts on a nationwide exam.

Now Will is being courted by an exclusive prep school . . . and is being followed by men driving black sedans. When Will suddenly loses his parents, he must flee to the school. There he begins to explore all that he's capable of—physical and mental feats that should be impossible—and learns that his abilities are connected to a struggle between titanic forces that has lasted for millennia.

Co-creator of the groundbreaking television series Twin Peaks, Mark Frost brings his unique vision to this sophisticated adventure, which combines mystery, heart-pounding action, and the supernatural.

They say "third time's the charm", and for sixteen-year-old Brooke Day, they had better be right. She’s been here before, twice in fact, and an evil demon-witch wants her dead a third time.

When Brooke is forced to leave Boston for the small town of Deadwich, she thinks her life is over. Before long, her new friends start acting strange—downright evil. But worse than that, nightmares she’s had her whole life become reality.

Enter Marcus Knight; popular, hot, and the only person Brooke can trust. Not to mention, they’ve shared the same nightmares.

With the discovery of an ancient Celtic amulet, Brooke and Marcus unravel the secrets of her past, which reveals the key to her future.

As the equinox approaches:

• Darkness and light merge for the first time in a century.
• Soul-mates reunite.
• Magic awakens.

An ordinary school day in Middlefield turns into a mystical tale filled with endless adventures of magic, fairies, flying horses, and danger. A modern-day saga of four young teens who find themselves trapped in another realm—The Otherworld—where they must abide by an evil druid's bidding or risk endangering the lives of their loved ones and the magical beings they have befriended.

À New York, au printemps 2008, alors que l’Amérique bruisse des prémices de l’élection présidentielle, Marcus Goldman, jeune écrivain à succès, est dans la tourmente : il est incapable d’écrire le nouveau roman qu’il doit remettre à son éditeur d’ici quelques mois. Le délai est près d’expirer quand soudain tout bascule pour lui : son ami et ancien professeur d’université, Harry Quebert, l’un des écrivains les plus respectés du pays, est rattrapé par son passé et se retrouve accusé d’avoir assassiné, en 1975, Nola Kellergan, une jeune fille de 15 ans, avec qui il aurait eu une liaison. Convaincu de l’innocence de Harry, Marcus abandonne tout pour se rendre dans le New Hampshire et mener son enquête. Il est rapidement dépassé par les événements : l’enquête s’enfonce et il fait l’objet de menaces. Pour innocenter Harry et sauver sa carrière d’écrivain, il doit absolument répondre à trois questions : Qui a tué Nola Kellergan? Que s’est-il passé dans le New Hampshire à l’été 1975? Et comment écrit-on un roman à succès?

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair is more than just a crime story. It has been described as a big, fat, intelligent thriller that has captivated readers and critics alike.

On August 30, 1975, the small town of Somerset, New Hampshire, was shaken by the disappearance of a young girl, marking the day it lost its innocence. That fateful summer, Harry Quebert, an author struggling with his craft, fell in love with fifteen-year-old Nola Kellergan. Decades later, Nola's body is unearthed in Quebert's garden, along with a manuscript of the novel that skyrocketed him to fame. Quebert becomes the prime suspect in a case that captures the nation's attention.

Marcus Goldman, Quebert's most talented student, seeks to exonerate his mentor while overcoming his own writer's block. As he delves into the mystery, his efforts to write a new bestseller become intertwined with the case, and the story he's writing starts to reflect real-life events in eerie ways. The country is enthralled by the enigma of 'The Girl Who Touched the Heart of America', but as with Nola's enigmatic life, in death, things are not as they seem.

This novel promises to be a thrilling journey that questions the boundaries between truth and fiction, love and memory, and ultimately, innocence and guilt.

"Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in." - Michael Corleone, The Godfather

Freed from jail, Anya hopes that things will get back to normal. But life on the outside is even more dangerous than life behind bars. Some of her gangland family want revenge for the crime for which she has done time: the shooting of her uncle. Forced to flee the country, Anya hides out in a cacao plantation in Mexico. There she learns the secrets of the chocolate trade, a trade that is illegal and deadly in her native New York.

There too she discovers that seemingly random acts of violence carried out across the world have a single target: her family. As innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire, Anya must act fast and decisively to stop it, no matter what the danger to herself.

The Slayer legion is organized and encountering mega-obstacles, while Twilight's threatening reach continues to expand. Buffy and her Slayers travel to Tokyo to face a new kind of vampire with powers they've only witnessed in Dracula. Then, Willow and Buffy head to New York to investigate the secrets behind Buffy's scythe; ever full of the unexpected, Buffy is transported to a dystopian future where her first chance meeting is with Fray, future Slayer!

Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #11–#20 and the Willow one-shot.