Recreation

New Titles Digital December 2013 (arrived in November 2013)

Downloadable audiobooks

Please don't tell, Elizabeth Adler
Assisting a car accident victim who was travelling to San Francisco to solve the murder of his fiancée, Fenny Dexter shares a night of passion with the man, whose identity comes into question in the wake of a series of brutal murders.
Maya's notebook, Isabel Allende
After the death of her beloved grandfather, nineteen-year-old Maya Vidal, turns to drugs, alcohol, and petty crimes. She becomes trapped in a war between assassins, the police, the FBI, and Interpol, until her grandmother helps her escape to the remote island of Chiloe, off coast of Chile where she tries to make sense of her life. Maya, a young American on the run records in her diary her adjustment to a new country, her drug problems, her romantic life and other developments.
The fixer upper, Mary Kay Andrews
In the crosshairs of a political bribery investigation, Dempsey Jo Killebrew suddenly finds herself unemployed and the victim of a sleazy smear campaign by her former boss. Dempsey decides to take up her father's offer of flipping a recently inherited family home in Guthrie, Ga., where she quickly slides into the renovation groove, fits in with the locals, and embarks on a romance.
Zealot: the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth, Reza Aslan
Who was the Jewish peasant who, two thousand years ago, walked across what is now Palestine to gather followers with the goal of establishing the Kingdom of God? Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction; a man of peace who exhorted his followers to arm themselves with swords; an exorcist and faith healer who urged his disciples to keep his identity a secret; and ultimately the seditious "King of the Jews" whose promise of liberation from Rome went unfulfilled in his brief lifetime. The result is a thought-provoking, elegantly written biography with the pulse of a fast-paced novel: a singularly brilliant portrait of a man, a time and the birth of a religion.
Infamous, Ace Atkins
In July 1933, the gangster known as George "Machine Gun" Kelly staged the kidnapping-for-ransom of an Oklahoma oilman. He would live to regret it. Once again Ace Atkins transforms real-life events into riveting, thrilling fiction. Infamous is a passionate blend of historical novel and crime story set in the first days of the modern FBI, featuring an unexpected hero, some of the most colourful supporting characters in recent crime fiction.
The picture book, Jo Baker
The story of a family set against a century of British history and moving from a boy who loses his life at Gallipoli to his son who survives D-Day, his son who becomes an Oxford academic and then to that man's daughter, an artist in contemporary London.
The healing, Wanda E. Brunstetter
Can a man burdened by memories of yesterday find hope in the land of tomorrow? Will peace-loving Samuel and Esther fight for their new found love? How will God manage to untangle these star-crossed lovers before any damage is done?
Who killed mom? a delinquent son's meditation on family, mortality, and very tacky candles, Steve Burgess
Benjamin Franklin's bastard, Sally Cabot
An absorbing and compelling work of literary historical fiction, set in colonial Philadelphia, that brings to life a little-known chapter of the American Revolution--the story of Benjamin Franklin and his bastard son, and the women who loved them.
School of Fear, Gitty Daneshvari
Four children with four different phobias are sent to the exclusive School of Fear by their parents. However, when their teacher, Mrs. Wellington, preys on their fears, the children band together and prepare for a scary summer.
Rendezvous, Nelson DeMille
A band of soldiers in its last month of service in Vietnam goes out on a patrol through enemy territory only to find a female Viet Cong sniper in its path. Recounting the mission in shattering and sometimes gruesome detail, DeMille creates a concise masterpiece of moody suspense. Demille served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and saw combat in Vietnam as an infantry platoon leader, earning a Bronze Star. He states that Rendezvous features a fictionalized version of himself from that experience.
What makes your brain happy and why you should do the opposite, David DiSalvo
Years of neuroscience research have led to the current understanding of the brain as a prediction machine. The problem is that our brains' evolved capacity for avoiding and defending against threats has a slew of by-products, all tightly woven into our day-to-day thinking and behaviour, that ensnare us while making our threat-anticipating brains "happy."
All the summer girls, Meg Donohue
In Philadelphia, good girl Kate is dumped by her fiancé the day she learns she is pregnant with his child. In New York City, beautiful stay-at-home mom Vanessa finds herself obsessively searching the Internet for news of an old flame. And in San Francisco, Dani, the wild child and aspiring writer who can't seem to put down a book — or a cocktail — long enough to open her laptop, has just been fired again. In an effort to regroup, Kate, Vanessa, and Dani retreat to the New Jersey beach town where they once spent their summers. Emboldened by the seductive cadences of the shore, the women begin to realize just how much their lives, and friendships, have been shaped by the choices they made one fateful night on the beach eight years earlier, and the secrets that only now threaten to surface.
Ten big ones, Janet Evanovich
Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum witnesses a gang-executed robbery and police officer shooting and finds herself targeted by a California-based killer looking to claim the price that is subsequently placed on her head.
Big girl panties, Stephanie Evanovich
When Logan Montgomery, a personal trainer to the country's most famous pro athletes, offers to help her get back in shape, young widow Holly Brennan, deciding to make at least one positive change in her life, throws herself into exercise and into Logan's arms.
White oleander, Janet Fitch
When a woman murders a former lover and is imprisoned for life, her daughter must navigate a new reality — that of a series of foster homes, each its own universe, each with its own limits and dangers.
Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier
Inman, a wounded soldier, walks away from the front during the Civil War to return to his pre-war sweetheart, Ada, who desperately works to revive a struggling farm.
Once burned, Jeaniene Frost
After an accident left her scared and able to channel electricity and see a person's darkest secrets, Leila has resigned herself to a life of solitude. Leila is kidnapped by the enemies of Vlad Tepesh, a vampire with the ability to control fire, because her powers match his. However, passion ignites when Vlad and Leila meet, and together they need to stop an enemy intent on killing them.
Godiva, Nicole Galland
In this richly imagined retelling of the classic tale, Lady Godiva and her best friend, the Abbess Egdiva, embark on an adventure filled with courtly intrigue, deceit, betrayal and romance.
Love in the time of cholera, Gabriel Garcâia Mâarquez
In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs--yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.
The condition, Jennifer Haigh
The Condition explores one turbulent year in the lives of the McKotches, a New England family in extremis. Paulette and Frank McKotch, long divorced, hide a mountain of old grievances from their three adult children who are busy with crises of their own. As Christmas 1997 approaches, Frank, a prominent medical researcher, is on the brink of a big discovery when an old rival reappears. Billy's secret life implodes, and Scott becomes obsessed with roads not taken. And Gwen, in her thirties, falls in love for the first time, a development the whole family views with alarm. The Condition looks at the power of science and its profound limitations, the determining reality of biology and the power of individual will. Mostly, though, it is a story about parents and children and siblings: the people we love but didn't choose — and in many cases wouldn't have; the complex and bewildering web of loyalties and resentments that take a lifetime to form.
Sh*t my dad says, Justin Halpern
At 28 years old I found myself living at home with my 73-year-old father. He's like Socrates, but angrier, and with worse hair, and this is the sort of sh*t my dad says.
The midwife of Hope River, Patricia Harman
As a midwife working in rural poverty during the Depression, Patience Murphy's only solace is her gift: the chance to escort mothers through the challenges of childbirth. The Midwife of Hope River beats with authenticity as Patience faces seemingly insurmountable conditions: disease, poverty, and prejudices threaten at every turn. From the dangerous mines of West Virginia to the terrifying attentions of the Ku Klux Klan, Patience must strive to bring new light, and life, into an otherwise cruel world.
Up from the blue, Susan Henderson
Tillie's husband is away on business, the boxes in her new home aren't unpacked, and the telephone isn't even connected yet. Though she's not due for another month, sudden labour pains force Tillie to reach out to her estranged father for help — a choice that means facing the painful memories she's been running from since she was a child.
Charity girl, Georgette Heyer
When Fate and a chivalrous impulse combine to saddle Viscount Desford with a friendless, homeless waif in the engaging shape of Cherry Steane, who else should he turn to in such a scrape but his childhood playmate, Henrietta Silverdale? And although they refused to oblige their parents by marrying, they have always been the best of friends. But as Desford pursues Cherry's grandfather and father around the seedier fringes of society, Hetta is forced to wonder if he might not, at last, have fallen in love. Without the timely intervention of his brother Simon, and Hetta's suitor Gary Nethercott, Desford is in danger of making a rare jumble of his affairs.
The convenient marriage, Georgette Heyer
The Earl of Rule is a great catch. When he proposes marriage to Miss Elizabeth Winwood, she should be delighted, but she isn't. She's in love with someone else. Elizabeth's younger sister Horatia has the perfect solution; she'll offer herself to Rule instead, since he really only wants a Winwood, not any specific one of them.
Venetia, Georgette Heyer
Venetia Lanyon, beautiful, intelligent and independent, lives in seclusion in rural Yorkshire with her precocious brother, Aubrey. Her future seems safe and predictable: either marriage to the respectable but dull Edward Yardley or a life of peaceful spinsterhood. When the dashing Lord Demerel intrudes upon a quiet provincial community in the North of England, news of his scandalous past soon sets tongues wagging. In spite her of sheltered upbringing, though, Venetia is singularly unfazed by the rakish Demerel, and proves to be more than a match for him.
The widow of the south, Robert Hicks
A story based on the true experiences of a Civil War heroine finds Carrie McGavock witnessing the bloodshed of the Battle of Franklin, falling in love with a wounded man, and dedicating her home as a burial site for fallen soldiers.
Beyond belief : my secret life inside scientology and my harrowing escape, Jenna Miscavige Hill with Lisa Pulitzer
Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. In Beyond Belief, she shares her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect, details her experiences as a member Sea Org — the church's highest ministry, speaks of her disconnection from family outside of the organization, and tells the story of her ultimate escape.
Churchill : the prophetic statesman, James C. Humes
Churchill: The Prophetic Statesman reveals the astonishingly accurate predictions of Britain's most famous prime minister and how his critics' perceptions of them shaped his political career. Who could have foreseen the start of World War I twenty-five years before the assassination of a Serbian archduke plunged Europe into war? Who could have predicted the rise of al-Qaeda nearly eight decades before anyone had heard of Osama bin Laden? Winston Churchill did. Now for the first time, bestselling author James C. Humes reveals these and other shocking predictions made by this legendary figure.
Gods in Alabama, Joshilyn Jackson
When Lena Fleet goes to college, she makes three promises to God: she will stop fornicating with every boy she meets; never tell another lie and never, ever go back to her hometown of Possett, Alabama. All she wants from God in return is that He makes sure the body is never found! But ten years later, it looks like God's going back on His deal.
The ghost map : a street, an epidemic and two men who battled to save Victorian London, Steven Johnson
At 40 Broad Street, Soho, Sarah Lewis was awake tending to her feverish baby girl. As she threw a used bucket of water into the cesspool at the front of her lodgings, it marked the start of a cholera epidemic that would consume 50,000 lives. This work presents the story with ideas about how cities work, ecosystems thrive and cultures connect.
Death and the girl next door, Darynda Jones
Ten years ago, Lorelei's parents disappeared without a trace — and life goes on. High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, until the school's designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, standing outside her house night after night. Then new guy (terrifying, tough, sexy new guy) Jared Kovach arrives. What does Jared know about her parents? Why does Cameron tell Jared he can't have Lorelei? And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real?
The thoughts and happenings of Wilfred Price, purveyor of superior funerals, Wendy Jones
Everyone has to make decisions about love. Wilfred Price, overcome with emotion on a sunny spring day, proposes to a girl he barely knows at a picnic. The girl, Grace, joyfully accepts and rushes to tell her family of Wilfred's intentions. But by this time Wilfred has realised his mistake. He does not love Grace. On the verge of extricating himself, Wilfred's situation suddenly becomes more serious when Grace's father steps in. Wendy Jones' charming first novel is a moving depiction of love and secrecy, set against the rural backdrop of a 1920s Welsh village, and beautifully told.
The heretic's daughter, 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 wilful, 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.
The lost kingdom, Matthew J. Kirby
In this extraordinary adventure story, Billy Bartram, his father, and a secret society of philosophers and scientists venture into the American wilderness in search of the lost people of the Welsh prince Madoc. Travelling in a flying airship, the members of the expedition and Billy face hazards greater than he can ever imagine as, together with his father, he gets caught up in the fight for the biggest prize of all: America.
The historian, Elizabeth Kostova
Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to 'My dear and unfortunate successor'. Her discovery plunges her into a world she never dreamed of — a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an evil hidden in the depths of history. Deciphering obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions, and evading terrifying adversaries, one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil.
Heart of stone, Jill Marie Landis
Laura Foster has overcome a tragic childhood to become the respected owner of a boarding house in Glory, Texas, where she is known as a wealthy widow, but she must decide whether to run or stand and face her past when a stranger threatens to reveal her secrets and possibly ruin the reputation of her beau, the Reverend Brand McCormick.
Dangerous refuge, Elizabeth Lowell
Environmental conservancy advocate Shayne and big city cop Tanner join forces to uncover the truth behind Tanner's uncle's death. When Shaye becomes a killer's target, Tanner realizes he'd give up anything to protect her including his life.
The island nurse, Mary J. MacLeod
Life on the remote island of Papavray in the 1970s was a world away from Mary J. MacLeod's urban existence in the south of England. And this peaceful environment was just what she was looking for. While indoor toilets were still something of a luxury, and 'teleeffissions' could produce terror in some of the older residents, the glory of the mountains and the sea combined with the warmth of the island people meant she had found a haven for her family. Mary's post as district nurse gave her a unique insight into island life, and her stories of the troubles, joys, drama and comedies endured by her patients make this a charming and humorous account of community life on a small island in a bygone era.
Frank Sinatra in a blender, Matthew McBride
Nick Valentine has problems. He's a drunken ex-cop who lives in his shabby office, hangs out at strip clubs, and has only one real friend — Frank Sinatra. But he's one of the best private investigators in Saint Louis. So when an inept crew robs a credit union, only Valentine can figure out who made off with the millions — because sometimes solving a crime takes a hard guy who's not afraid to work outside the law.
The wilding, Maria McCann
In the village of Spadboro Jonathan Dymond, a 26-year old cider-maker who lives with his parents, has until now enjoyed a quiet, harmonious existence. As the novel opens, a letter arrives from his uncle with a desperate request to speak with his father. When his father returns from the visit the next day, all he can say is that Jonathan's uncle has died. Then Jonathan finds a fragment of the letter in the family orchard, with talk of inheritance and vengeance. He resolves to unravel the mystery at the heart of his family — a mystery which will eventually threaten the lives and happiness of Jonathan and all those he holds dear.
The widows of Braxton County, Jess McConkey
Kate is ready to put her nomadic, city-dwelling past behind her when she marries Joe Krause and moves with him to the Iowa farm that has been in his family for more than 140 years. But life on the farm isn't quite as idyllic as she'd hoped. It's filled with chores, judgmental neighbours, and her mother-in-law who will be living with them. As Kate struggles to find her place in the small farming community, she begins to realize that her husband and his family are nor who she thought they were.
Little girl lost, Brian McGilloway
During a winter blizzard a small girl is found wandering half-naked at the edge of an ancient woodland. Her hands are covered in blood, but it is not her own. Unwilling or unable to speak, the only person she seems to trust is the young officer who rescued her, Detective Sergeant Lucy Black. As she struggles to identify the unclaimed child, Lucy begins to realise that this case and the kidnapping may be linked by events that occurred during the blackest days of the country's recent history, events that also defined her own girlhood. Little Girl Lost is a devastating page-turner about corruption, greed and vengeance, and a father's love for his daughter.
The witness wore red : the 19th wife who brought polygamous cult leaders to justice, Rebecca Musser
Rebecca Musser grew in fear, concealing her family's polygamous lifestyle from the 'dangerous' outside world. Finally sickened by the abuse she suffered and saw around her, she pulled off a daring escape and sought to build a new life and family. The church, however, had a way of pulling her back in — and by 2007, Rebecca had no choice but to take the witness stand against the new prophet of the FLDS in order to protect her little sisters and other young girls from being forced to marry at shockingly young ages. This is a gripping account of one woman's struggle to escape the perverse embrace of religious fanaticism and sexual slavery and a courageous story of hope and transformation.
Fancy Nancy and the mean girl, Jane O'Connor
Feeling bad about last year's Field Day, in which her slow running cost the relay team a victory, Nancy, who enjoys using fancy words, finds herself facing another Field Day and another relay race with a mean classmate.
Young Amelia Bedelia's audio collection, Herman Parish
Honeymoon, James Patterson and Howard Roughan
You've been asked before, "Don't tell anyone the ending." With Honeymoon, don't tell anyone the beginning either. All writers have a book that they know is their best book, ever. Welcome to James Patterson's Honeymoon. How does it feel to be desired by every man and envied by every woman? Wonderful. This is the life Nora Sinclair has dreamed about, the life she's worked hard for, the life she will never give up.
The jester, James Patterson with Andrew Gross
Returning home from the Crusades, Hugh discovers that his wife has been abducted by relic-seeking knights, prompting him to pose as a court jester in order to infiltrate the castle where his wife is imprisoned.
The outcast, Jolina Petersheim
Rachel Stoltzfus never imagined she'd be the talk of her Old Order Mennonite community until whispers stir the moment her belly swells with new life. Unmarried and refusing to repent by naming the partner in her sin, Rachel feels the wrath of the religious sect as she is shunned by those she loves most and eventually forced to leave, driven out by her twin sister's husband, the bishop. When the life of Rachel's baby is at stake, choices must be made that will bring the darkness to light, forever changing the lives of those who call Copper Creek home.
Hedy's folly, Richard Rhodes
Describes the lesser-known technological talents of actress Hedy Lamarr and the collaborative work with avant-garde composer George Antheil that eventually led to the development of spread-spectrum radio, cell phones, and GPS systems.
The countess, Lynsay Sands
Richard Fairgrave had every intention of confronting his villainous twin who had robbed him of his name and title, only to discover that he had died. Quietly assuming his identity, Richard must now deal with a maddening desire for his ravishing inherited 'wife' — certainly a gold digger and possibly a murderess. And Christiana must deal with an unwanted new 'husband' and they both must figure out what to do before the ice melts!
Taming the highland bride, Lynsay Sands
Merry Stewart has had enough! Enough of her brothers, whose behaviour would make even the most improper lady blush. Enough of their Highland home, which would surely have fallen to ruin were it not for her. She dreams of escaping into the arms of her betrothed, Alexander d'Aumesbery — even though they haven't yet met. But when they do, Merry is devastated. It seems he's no better than the men in her family.
Tolstoy and the purple chair, Nina Sankovitch
Torn apart by grief after losing her sister, the author, a 46-year-old mother of four, turned to literature for comfort, devoting herself to reading one book a day for a year, which brought much needed joy, healing and wisdom into her life.
The roots of the olive tree, Courtney Miller Santo
Meet the Keller family, five generations of firstborn women — an unbroken line of daughters — living together in the same house on a secluded olive grove in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. Though they lead ordinary lives, there is an element of the extraordinary to these women: the eldest two are defying longevity norms. Their unusual life-spans have caught the attention of a geneticist who believes they hold the key to breakthroughs that will revolutionize the aging process for everyone. But Anna believes there are some truths that must stay hidden, including certain knowledge about her origins that she has carried for more than a century.
The last time they met, Anita Shreve
At a literary festival in Toronto, Linda Fallon is reunited with famous poet Thomas Janes, with whom she had an affair at age seventeen and then again at age twenty-seven, but her life is drastically different this time around.
The promise of stardust, Priscille Sibley
When a tragic accident leaves Elle brain-dead, Matt is devastated. Though he cannot bear losing her, he knows his wife, a thoughtful and adventurous scientist, feared only one thing: a slow death. Just before Matt agrees to remove Elle from life support, the doctors discover that she is pregnant. Matt knows how much this child would have meant to Elle. Linney, Matt's mother, believes her son is blind with denial. She insists that Elle would never want to be kept alive by artificial means, no matter what the situation.
The boyfriend app, Katie Sise
Seeking to win a scholarship offered by global computing corporation Public, programming genius Audrey McCarthy writes a matchmaking app but discovers her results may be skewed by a program Public is secretly using to influence teens.
The choice, Nicholas Sparks
Set amid the austere beauty of the North Carolina coast, Nicholas Sparks's new novel tells the story of Travis Parker, a small town veterinarian who's perfectly content with the active life he leads. That is, until Gabby Holland enters his life. Gabby, Travis's new neighbour, is in love with her boyfriend of three years and wants nothing more than to start planning the wedding she's always dreamed about. But like a story within a story, the connection between Travis and Gabby is just a beginning. As their tale unfolds, their relationship becomes something different — with much higher stakes.
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
The Joy Luck Club was formed of four Chinese women recently moved to San Francisco who meet to eat dim sum, play mah-jong and to share stories. Forty years on they and their daughters tell wise and witty tales of hope, loss, family and history. Spanning pre-Revolutionary China to 1980s San Francisco, the women talk as secrets are spilled, mothers boast and despair and daughters struggle with tangled truths.
The kitchen god's wife, Amy Tan
Pearl Louie Brandt deplores her mother Winnie's captious criticism and cranky bossiness, her myriad superstitious rituals to ward off bad luck, and her fearful, negative outlook, which has created an emotional abyss between them. Dreading her mother's reaction, Pearl has kept secret the fact that she is suffering from MS. But as she learns during the course of the narrative, Winnie herself has concealed some astonishing facts about her early life in China, abetted by her friend and fellow émigrée Helen Kwong. The story Winnie unfolds to Pearl is a series of secrets, each in turn giving way to yet another surprising revelation. Tan draws a vivid picture of the male-dominated culture, the chasm between different classes of society, and the profusion of rules for maintaining respect and dignity.
A kind of vanishing, Lesley Thomson
The hummingbird's daughter, Luis Alberto Urrea
From one of America's most beloved authors, a tale of miracles and passion. Teresita is not an ordinary girl. Born of an illiterate, poor Indian mother, she knows little about her past or her future. She has no idea that her father is Don Tomas Urrea, the wild and rich owner of a vast ranch in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. She has no idea that Huila, the elderly healer who takes Teresita under her wing, knows secrets about her destiny. And she has no idea that soon all of Mexico will rise in revolution, crying out her name.
So B. It, Sarah Weeks
After spending her life with her mentally retarded mother and agoraphobic neighbour, twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is.
The memory of water, Karen White
On the night their mother drowns, sisters Marnie and Diana Maitland discover there is more than one kind of death. There is the death of innocence, of love, and of hope. Each sister harbours a secret about that night-secrets that will erode their lives as they grow into adulthood. After ten years of silence between the sisters, Marnie is called back to the South Carolina Lowcountry by Diana's ex-husband, Quinn.
Death qualified, Kate Wilhelm
Five years ago Barbara Holloway gave up practicing law, disillusioned with a profession that put politics before justice. Then she receives a phone call, with a simple message: "I need you." Nell Kendricks' husband disappeared seven years earlier, abandoning his young family. Nell hasn't seen him since, until the day Lucas Kendricks arrives at the edge of her property and is shot, instantly killed. Accused of his murder, Nell turns to lawyer Frank Holloway for help. But Frank knows he cannot win this case alone. He calls upon his daughter Barbara, who remains "death qualified," legally able to defend clients who face the death penalty if convicted.
The good children, Kate Wilhelm
It started with a promise, a pact. It became a secret that no one must tell: that their parents were dead and gone, including the one they'd buried in the backyard. Now the McNair children are growing older, discovering love, college, and careers. But their lie haunts them. Their home holds them captive. Only the horrifying truth of their mother's death can set the children free. And only the truth can destroy them all.

Downloadable e-books

Art made from books : altered, sculpted, carved, transformed, compiled by Laura Heyenga
The 27 visual artists whose portfolios comprise this exciting collection each work with printed books as their medium. They carve, paint, and repurpose pulp to striking effect, building startling secondary evocations from their material's primary narratives. Amid the rush toward e-books, this volume amounts to a wild celebration of the printed, illustrated, and bound form.
Born to lead : portraits of New Zealand commanders, edited by Glyn Harper and Joel Hayward
Is there a distinctive style of New Zealand command? Glyn Harper, Joel Hayward and a team of top military historians profile the most important commanders in New Zealand history, both Māori and Pakeha, from the nineteenth century to the recent past.
Federations : vast, epic, interstellar, edited by John Joseph Adams.
Presents a collection of short stories that focus on the idea of vast intergalactic societies,
Meetings in no man's land : Christmas 1914 and fraternization in the Great War, Marc Ferro … [et al.] ; translations by Helen McPhail.
The soldiers 'football match' and the unofficial ceasefire of Christmas 1914 has become a legend of the Great War, but fraternization between enemy troops was actually widespread. This work explores the brief moments of humanity on all fronts during the long years of conflict.
Mystery Writers of America presents Vengeance, edited by Lee Child.
Edited and with an introduction by Lee Child, a new collection of stories which reveals the shocking consequences when men and women take the law into their own hands. Vengeance features new stories by bestselling crime writers including Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, and Karin Slaughter, as well as some of today's brightest rising talents.
A quarrelsome match,
Hattie Wilkinson meets her match. In the eyes of the town Hattie Wilkinson is a respectable widow, content with her safe, if somewhat modest life. On the other hand Sir Christopher Foxton prides himself on being regarded as one of London's most notorious rakes, with a particularly mischievous streak! Upon their first meeting Kit threatens to shatter Hattie's well-ordered peace — and her reputation — if only she'll allow herself to succumb to his playful advances. This time they've both finally met their match…
The search for the great kiwi yarn, edited by Martin Crump.
A book of humourous stories with a distinctive Kiwi flavour, both true and definitely not true, compiled through Radio Pacific, a leading radio talkback station based in Auckland.
The vegetarian's complete quinoa cookbook, edited by Mairlyn Smith, from the Ontario Home Economics Association.
Quinoa is rapidly becoming one of our more popular super-foods. As a natural source of nutrients and with a high protein content, this versatile plant can be used in place of almost any grain, in any meal of the day — the perfect food for vegetarians. This is the only book you need to incorporate quinoa into a vegetarian diet.
The Importance of being wicked, Victoria Alexander
Viscount Stillwell, who is the subject of endless gossip because of three broken engagements, swears off women until he meets Lady Miranda Garret, who comes to oversee the repairs to his family's fire-damaged country house.
Bite me, Your Grace, Brooklyn Ann
London's Lord Vampire has problems — Dr. John Polidori's tale The Vampyre burst upon the Regency scene along with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein after that notorious weekend spent writing ghost stories with Lord Byron. A vampire craze broke out instantly in the haut ton . Now Ian Ashton, the Lord Vampire of London, has to attend tedious balls, linger in front of mirrors, and eat lots of garlic in an attempt to quell the gossip.
The April tree, Judith Arnold
Walking home from a tennis game on a bright spring day, April Walden's three closest friends watch in horror as she is struck by a car and killed. The senseless accident plunges all three young women — and the car's driver — into a devastating and often misguided search for comfort, purpose, and inspiration.
My husband's sweethearts, Bridget Asher
An unforgettable novel of love and loss, revenge and forgiveness. Lucy Shoreman discovers in one fell swoop that not only has her husband Artie been cheating on her, but that his heart is failing and he's dying. So in a drunken moment she takes his little black book, and dials up all his former lovers, asking them to schedule their turn caring for him on his death bed. After all, they were there for the good times, so why should she deal with the bad times on her own?
Devil's garden, Ace Atkins
San Francisco, September 1921: Silent-screen comedy star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle is throwing a wild party in his suite at the St. Francis Hotel: girls, jazz, bootleg hooch — and a dead actress named Virginia Rappe. The D.A. says it was Arbuckle who killed her — crushing her under his weight — and brings him up on manslaughter charges. William Randolph Hearst's newspapers stir up the public and demand a guilty verdict.
White shadow, Ace Atkins
Tampa, Florida, 1955: a city pulsing with Sicilian and Cuban gangsters, smoky clubs, cigar factories, light, voices, and rum. The bludgeoning death of mob boss Charlie Wall sends shock waves rippling through the communities, setting cops and reporters and associates, known and unknown, scrambling to discover the truth. The truth is that there are many more surprises to come.
Wicked city, Ace Atkins
It was a stew of organised crime and corruption, run by a machine that dealt with complaints forcefully and with dispatch. No one dared cross them-no one even tried. And then the machine killed the wrong man. When crime-fighting attorney Albert Patterson is gunned down in a Phoenix City alley in the spring of 1954, the entire town seems to pause just for a moment — and when it starts up again, there is something different about it. Over the course of the next several months, lives will change, people will die, and unexpected heroes will emerge.
Naomi's room, Jonathan Aycliffe
Charles and Laura are a young, happily married couple inhabiting the privileged world of Cambridge academia. Brimming with excitement, Charles sets off with his daughter Naomi on a Christmas Eve shopping trip to London. But, by the end of the day, all Charles and his wife have left are cups of tea and police sympathy. For Naomi, their beautiful, angelic only child, has disappeared. Days later her murdered body is discovered. But is she dead? In a howling, bumping story of past and present day hell, Jonathan Aycliffe's haunting psychological masterpiece is guaranteed to make you sink to untold depths of teeth-shaking terror.
My French connection : coming to grips with the world's most beautiful but baffling country, Sheryle Bagwell
In her twenties, and on a scholarship to France, Sheryl Bagwell discovered a life straight out of the movies. Left Bank cafes, handsome waiters, and endless discussions about love. Here, she tells of her ongoing fascination with the people and politics of one of the world's most attractive cultures.
Year of the unexpected, Erica Bauermeister
Six women gather to celebrate their friend Kate's recovery from cancer, where she strikes a bargain with them: to celebrate her new lease on life, she'll do the one thing that's always terrified her, but if she does, each of them will also do one thing that they'd find difficult.
Death of a hussy, M. C. Beaton
A tart with a heart of stone… Maggie Baird is neither kind or generous, but she is very, very rich. So when her car catches fire, with her inside it, there are five likely candidates for the role of murderer. So finding out who did it will require all of PC Hamish Macbeth's extraordinary common sense and insight into human nature; especially when the killer appears to be the wrong person entirely.
Death of a snob, M. C. Beaton
Murder in Paradise; when Jane Wetherby offers PC Hamish Macbeth a holiday at her 'Happy Wanderer' health farm on the isle of Eileencraig, he is more than happy to accept. Unfortunately the visit doesn't prove to be the pampering experience he had been hoping for. Windswept Eileencraig is inhabited by hostile islanders, many of whom would be more than happy to be rid of the 'Happy Wanderer' and its proprietor. And the company at the health farm is hardly better. The volatile party includes an ex-husband, an illicit lover, and Morag Todd, an unadulterated snob who criticizes everybody and everything. So when Morag is found lying at the foot of a cliff with a broken neck, no one seems too broken up about the event — leaving it up to Hamish to solve the death of a snob.
Have your cake & eat it too, Sally Bee
Busy mum, home cook and heart-attack survivor Sally Bee knows better than anyone how to incorporate healthy eating into a busy lifestyle with her gorgeous, flavoursome and balanced recipes. In her new book, Have Your Cake and Eat it Too, Sally turns her attention to the sweet things in life to show that you don't have to give up your favourite treats to maintain a healthy lifestyle or slimmer waistline.
The Paris architect, Charles Belfoure
Like most gentiles in Nazi-occupied Paris, architect Lucien Bernard has little empathy for the Jews. So when a wealthy industrialist offers him a large sum of money to devise secret hiding places for Jews, Lucien struggles with the choice of risking his life for a cause he doesn't really believe in. Ultimately he can't resist the challenge and begins designing expertly concealed hiding spaces — behind a painting, within a column, or inside a drainpipe — detecting possibilities invisible to the average eye. But when one of his clever hiding spaces fails horribly and the immense suffering of Jews becomes incredibly personal, he can no longer deny reality.
Mud, sweat and gears : cycling from Lands End to John o Groats (via the pub), Ellie Bennett
As Ellie's fiftieth birthday approaches and her ambitions of a steady income, a successful career and an ascent of Everest seem as far away as ever, she begins to doubt she's capable of achieving anything at all. So when her best friend Mick suggests a gruelling cycle ride from Land's End to John o'Groats, she takes up the challenge. They opt for the scenic route which takes them along cycle paths, towpaths and the back roads and byways of Britain, unable to resist sampling local beers in the pubs they pass along the way. But the pints start to stack up faster than the miles they're putting in.
Fish like a drink, Joe Bennett
Since his last collection of columns, Joe Bennett's been shaken and stickered, protected from bureaucrats by a Bulgarian in a frock and deprived of his favourite drinking hole. He's defied a council, eaten a rabbit, witnessed a marriage, saved a dog, failed to save a Venetian pigeon and much, much more. Throughout it all he has maintained the presence of mind to write columns of grace, wit and sense. Here are 45 of them.
The Wombles Go round the World, Elisabeth Beresford
The Wombles live in a warm and cozy burrow beneath Wimbledon Common. They like nothing better than a good tidy-up and luckily the Wombles' burrow is the perfect place to sort and recycle all the rubbish that careless Human Beings leave behind.
Reflections of gold : a celebration of New Zealand rowing, Peter Bidwell
From the unprecedented success of the men's eight at Munich, through to the high drama of Beijing, where the Evers-Swindell pair triumphed by the narrowest of margins and Mahe Drysdale displayed immense courage under daunting conditions, Peter Bidwell paints an evocative and authoritative picture of the events, personalities, athletes, coaches and administrators who have taken rowing on a roller coaster ride of success and failure over the past fifty years.
Chime, Franny Billingsley
In the early twentieth century in Swampsea, seventeen-year-old Briony, who can see the spirits that haunt the marshes around their town, feels responsible for her twin sister's horrible injury until a young man enters their lives and exposes secrets that even Briony does not know about.
What killed Jane Austen? and other medical mysteries, marvels and mayhem, George Biro & Jim Leavesley
The intriguing nature of Jane Austen's demise is just one of a series of sometimes famous, often bizarre and always memorable stories featured in What Killed Jane Austen? Why was Louis XVI embarrassed on his wedding night? What uncomfortable maladies plagued Napoleon during and after Waterloo? Did a stand-in take the rap for Rudolf Hess?
Facing the torturer, François Bizot
In 1999, the media reported the arrest of Duch, aka the Butcher of Tuol Sleng — the most notorious torturer and executioner of the Cambodian genocide. Duch's unexpected arrest after years in hiding presented Bizot with his first opportunity to confront the man who'd held him captive for three months in 1973, and whose strange sense of justice had resulted in Bizot's being the only westerner to survive imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge. Taking part in the trial as a witness, with Duch the sole defendant, would force Bizot to return to the heart of darkness. This is the testimony of what he discovered — about the torturer and about himself — on that harrowing journey.
Chasing the light, Jesse Blackadder
It's the early 1930s. Antarctic open-sea whaling is booming and the territorial race for the mysterious continent is in full swing. Aboard a ship setting sail from Cape Town carrying the Norwegian whaling magnate Lars Christensen are three women. None of them expect the outcome and none of them know how they will be changed by their arrival. Based on the little-known true story of the first women to ever set foot on Antarctica, Jesse Blackadder has captured the drama, danger and magnetic pull of exploring uncharted places in our world and our minds.
The raven's heart, Jesse Blackadder
Scotland, 1561. A ship carries Queen Mary home from the French court to take back control of her throne. Masquerading as a male crew member, Alison Blackadder plots to gain the Queen's favour so she can win back her family's castle and lands.
The Wonder Bread summer, Jessica Anya Blau
It's 1983 in Berkeley, California. Twenty-year-old Allie Dodgson is a straitlaced college student working part-time at a dress shop to make ends meet. But when the shop turns out to be a front for a dangerous drug-dealing business, Allie finds herself on the lam, speeding toward Los Angeles in her best friend's Prelude with a Wonder Bag full of cocaine riding shotgun and a hit man named Vice Versa on her tail.
Cat sense : the feline enigma revealed, John W. S. Bradshaw
Worshipped as gods, feared as demonic servants, seen as both wild opportunists and beloved companions, cats often seem as unfathomable, enigmatic and magical to us today as they did in ancient times. This book offers us a picture of one of humanity's closest and enigmatic companions.
How did it begin? Customs, superstitions and their romantic origins, R & L Brasch
Why the story of the stork? Why blue for boys and pink for girls? Why is a kiss written as X? Where did the Easter Bunny come from? Dr Rudy Brasch, with his wife Li by his side, made it his life's work to track down the meanings and origins of words and phrases, myths and customs. How Did It Begin? investigates courtesies and customs, the manners and rituals that are integral parts of particular careers and the seemingly odd traditions that surround our sports and festivals.
Maestro Stu saves the zoo, Denise Brennan-Nelson
Stu has always loved living near a zoo and pretending to conduct the "music" of the animals there, so when he learns that Mr. Wolfe is trying to shut the place down, Stu hatches a plan to save his animal friends' home.
Caleb's crossing, Geraldine Brooks
In 1665, a young man from Martha's Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, she has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure. The narrator of the story is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans. As often as she can, she slips away to explore the island's glistening beaches where she encounters Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a tentative secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other. Bethia's minister father tries to convert the Wampanoag, awakening the wrath of the tribe's shaman, against whose magic he must test his own beliefs. One of his projects becomes the education of Caleb, and a year later, Caleb is in Cambridge, studying Latin and Greek among the colonial elite. Like the author's beloved narrator Anna, in Year of Wonders, Bethia proves an emotionally irresistible guide to the wilds of Martha's Vineyard and the intimate spaces of the human heart.
March, Geraldine Brooks
Set during the American Civil War, March tells the story of John March, known to us as the father away from his family of girls in Little women, Louisa May Alcott's classic American novel. In Brooks' telling, March emerges as an abolitionist and idealistic chaplain on the front lines of a war that tests his faith in himself and in the Union cause when he learns that his side, too, is capable of barbarism and racism.
People of the book, Geraldine Brooks
In 1996, Hanna Heath, a young Australian book conservator is called to analyze the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a priceless six-hundred-year-old Jewish prayer book that has been salvaged from a destroyed Bosnian library. When Hanna discovers a series of artefacts in the centuries' old book, she unwittingly exposes an international cover up.
Finn McCool and the great fish, Eve Bunting
Irish giant Finn McCool is told that in order to become wise he much catch and eat the salmon that possesses knowledge, but Finn finds that he cannot bring himself to kill the miraculous fish.
Gift of the gob : morsels of English language history, Kate Burridge
Covers everything from 'slanguage' and pronunciation to the mysteries of English spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Christmas visitor : an Amish romance, Linda Byler
One moment, Ben Miller was high up in the rafters at his neighbour's barn raising. The next, his foot slipped and he plunged to his death, leaving behind a young wife and six children — the youngest born four months after his death. Ruth Miller is not alone. Her Amish neighbours help her make the difficult transition from wife to widow. But while the community has been generous, raising six growing children, each grieving their father's death, is overwhelming. As Christmas approaches, Ruth knows that she can't afford gifts for her children this year. It's hard enough to find money for groceries each week. But then banana boxes full of food, treats for the children, and even money begin to appear on her front porch. Who is leaving her these generous gifts? Is it a neighbour or a friend? Or, Ruth wonders, could it be John, who keeps unexpectedly appearing when Ruth most needs help?
Queen of babble in the big city, Meg Cabot
Lizzie Nichols is back, pounding the New York City pavement and looking for a job, a place to live, and her proper place in the universe (not necessarily in that order). When "Summer Fling" Luke uses the L word (Living Together), Lizzie is only too happy to give up her plan of being postgrad roomies with best friend, Shari, in a one-room walk-up in exchange for cohabitation with the love of her life in his mother's Fifth Avenue pied-á-terre, complete with doorman and resident Renoir. But Lizzie's notoriously big mouth begins to get her into trouble at work and at home almost at once and soon Lizzie finds herself jobless as well as homeless all over again. Can Lizzie save herself — and the hapless Jill — and find career security (not to mention a mutually satisfying committed relationship) at last?
Size 12 is not fat, Meg Cabot
Heather Wells rocks! Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two — and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings. Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.
Wild horizons : more great hunting adventures, Greig Caigou
Greig Caigou unpacks the classic and memorable elements of New Zealand hunts, blending his own inspiring stories with those of other keen hunters. These adventures span both gender and a range of ages and capture the essence of special regions and memorable hunts throughout New Zealand.
When good friends go bad, Ellie Campbell
All through school tomboy Jen, snobby Georgina, hippy Meg and gentle Rowan were inseparable. But when a childish prank turned bad their friendship was torn apart. Twelve years later Rowan organised a reunion dinner and all did not go well. Rowan never appeared; Georgina's shocking secret was revealed; Meg behaved outrageously; and Jen finally decided it was time to move on. And that's just what she did for the following ten years. Until now, when in the midst of her divorce Jen receives a desperate call from Meg.
A dream for tomorrow, Melody Carlson
Elizabeth Martin and her two children have made it through the easy part of their journey, but their wagon train still faces dangers. Will Bramford, a wealthy widower, is pursuing Elizabeth but Eli Kincade, the independent and solitary guide, has stolen Elizabeth's heart. When the group reaches the Oregon Country, Elizabeth and Will and their families have made arrangements to board a ship that will take them south along the coast. Will Eli change his plans and accompany Elizabeth to her new and permanent home? Or will his mysterious past continue to keep them from love?
A home at trail's end, Melody Carlson
Elizabeth Martin and her two children have finally reached the Oregon Country. But Eli Kincade, the wagon train scout who captured her heart, has chosen to continue life on the trail. As other pioneer families begin building new homes, Elizabeth has never felt more alone. However, when Eli unexpectedly returns, confesses his love, and proposes, Elizabeth accepts with her family's blessing. A community takes shape, but not without growing pains. Can Elizabeth and her family overcome these differences and begin a legacy of reconciliation and love?
Westward hearts, Melody Carlson
Kentucky, 1854. Elizabeth has mourned her husband's death for three years, but now she feels ready to fulfil the dream they had shared: to take their two children west. At Kansas City, they join a substantial wagon train. Elizabeth soon finds herself being drawn to the group's handsome guide, Eli Kincade.
Against the ropes, Sarah Castille
Makayla never thought she'd set foot in an elite mixed martial arts club. But if anyone needs a medic on hand, it's these guys. Then again, at her first sight of the club's owner, she's the one feeling breathless. The man they call Torment is all sleek muscle and restrained power. Whether it's in the ring or in the bedroom, he knows exactly when a soft touch is required and when to launch a full-on assault. He always knows just how far he can push. And he's about to tempt Makayla in ways she never imagined…
Earth dragon, fire hare, Ken Catran
New Zealand's forgotten war, fought in the deep green jungles in Malaya. In 1948 Britain and her allies are pitted against Communist terrorists in a struggle for freedom. On opposing sides are Peter Hayes, a young Kiwi soldier, and Ng, a dedicated guerrilla. They are enemies, but, as the bitter conflict deepens, both will ask questions. Who fights for freedom? Who is the oppressor?
Battle hymn of the tiger mother, Amy Chua
Traces the rewards and pitfalls of a Chinese mother's exercise in extreme parenting, describing the exacting standards applied to grades, music lessons, and avoidance of Western cultural practices.
Out of the dawn light, Alys Clare
It is 1087 and William Rufus has just ascended the throne; England lies under a harsh new militaristic regime. Rebellion is in the air and, in the shadows, secrets are muttered that men will kill for. Young and confident, when Lassair is asked to use her unique talents to help locate a mysterious treasure she accepts with barely a hesitation — despite the grave consequences should the mission be discovered. But after a night-time march across East Anglia, Lassair begins to understand the danger she is in.
Echoes from a distant land, Frank Coates
Wangira is caught between the traditions of his Kikuyu tribe and the disturbing new ideas of the missionaries. When, as a young warrior, he saves the life of a wealthy American photographer, he is offered the chance of a new life far away in the white man's world. Dana Northcote is a celebrated socialite, living the high life, but when Wangira uses her husband's farm in the Kenyan highlands to hide some contraband, she embarks on a dangerous, passionate affair. Spanning the first half of the twentieth century and culminating in Kenya's fight for independence from the British Empire, Echoes From A Distant Land is a vivid evocation of a nation in turmoil, and a story of a love that dared to cross the divide.
In search of Africa, Frank Coates
Kip Balmain, a young Australian boy taken to a small town in Africa, finds himself caught up in the violence of colonial Kenya. As the country struggles towards independence, Kip also struggles to understand his mother's vindictive hatred of the father he has never met — and resolves to uncover the mystery of his parentage.
The alchemist, Paulo Coelho
The magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist. The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.
Modern bee : 13 quilts to make with friends, Lindsay Conner
Features 13 projects for a virtual one-year quilting bee. Crafted with a modern aesthetic, the patterns are inspired by traditional quilt blocks as well as bits and pieces of daily life. As you quilt along with this book from month to month, you'll master sewing techniques elevating in difficulty — from easy to advanced. Each project is comprised of block instructions and a pattern to finish a full-size quilt. You'll also find a comprehensive section on quilting basics and plenty of tips on organizing your own virtual bee.
Called home, Sheila Connolly
Out of a job and living alone in a drafty Colonial house, Meg Corey is supposed to be fixing the house up to sell, but now she's got the flu and she's freezing and she feels very sorry for herself. Then Deborah Warren shows up to distract her — but is Deborah a ghost, or just the product of Meg's feverish imagination? Choosing to believe that Deborah really is a ghost, Meg sets out to discover the truth of why she's been around for 200 years and help her find home.
New Guinea moon, Kate Constable
A captivating coming of age story for younger teens, set in New Guinea around the time of independence. Julie has grown up not knowing her father. When she comes to stay with him one long summer, she learns to appreciate not only her long-lost father and his love of flying, but also New Guinea itself and the people she meets.
Trouble in store, Carol Cox
Melanie and Caleb both claim they inherited the mercantile in Arizona Territory. But when a body shows up on their doorstep, there is deeper trouble in store.
The crossing : conquering the Atlantic in the world's toughest rowing race, James Cracknell and Ben Fogle
When James Cracknell and Ben Fogle decided to compete in the Atlantic Rowing Race, they thought they knew what awaited them: nearly three thousand miles of empty ocean, stormy weather and colossal physical stress. But their epic journey would become at times, a living hell that tested the strength of every fibre of their being.
Next, Michael Crichton
Is your loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? It's 2006: do you know who all your children are? Do you know humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes? And why does an adult human being resemble a chimp foetus? Did you know one fifth of all your genes are owned by someone else? Come to think of it, could you and your family be pursued cross country just because you happen to have certain genes in your body? Welcome to our genetic world. Fast, furious, and out of control. This is not the world of the future — it's the world right now. Most of the events in this book have already happened. And the rest are just around the corner.
Pirate latitudes, Michael Crichton
The Caribbean, 1665. Pirate captain Charles Hunter, with backing from a powerful ally, assembles a crew of ruffians to take the Spanish galleon, "El Trinidad," guarded by the bloodthirsty Cazalla, a favourite commander of the Spanish king himself.
The Queen of Katwe : a story of life, chess, and one extraordinary girl's dream of becoming a grandmaster, Tim Crothers
Phiona Mutesi sleeps in a decrepit shack with her mother and three siblings and struggles to find a single meal each day. Phiona has been out of school most of her life because her mother cannot afford it, so she is only now learning to read and write. Phiona Mutesi is also one of the best chess players in the world. In September 2010, she travelled to Siberia, a rare journey out of Katwe, to compete in the Chess Olympiad, the world's most prestigious team-chess event. Phiona's dream is to one day become a Grandmaster, the most elite title in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world's most unstable countries, a place where girls are taught to be mothers, not dreamers, and the threats of AIDS, kidnapping, and starvation loom over the people.
In bloom, Matthew Crow
Francis Wootton's first memory is of Kurt Cobain's death, and there have since been other hardships much closer to home. At fifteen years old he already knows all about loss and rejection — and to top it all off he has a permanently broke big brother, a grandma with selective memory (and very selective social graces) and a mum who's at best an acquired taste. Would-be poet, possible intellectual, and definitely wasted in Tyne and Wear, Francis has grown used to figuring life out on his own.
My dearest Jonah, Matthew Crow
Introduced via a pen-pal scheme, Verity and Jonah write their lives, hopes and dreams to one another without ever having met. Verity is a fragile beauty. When a dangerous sequence of events is set in motion, she tries to explain to Jonah, what led her to unravel so spectacularly. Jonah has been released after years of imprisonment, and embarks upon the quiet life he's always wanted. But then a dark reminder shatters his world, keen to make history repeat itself. Offering the sole strand of stability in two progressively elaborate lives, they develop a deep and delicate love, a love that becomes clouded and threatened by increasingly dark forces.
The keeper of secrets, Judith Cutler
England, 1810. Young Parson Tobias Campion is excited to be starting at the small parish of Moreton Priory. But his first night in the village brings excitement of the wrong kind when he has to intervene in the attempted rape of housemaid Lizzie Woodman. Even in the normal course of events, village life is far from quiet, and soon Tobias has to deal with suspicious deaths. Matters come to a head when Lizzie disappears from her employers' home. What has become of the girl and who is responsible? As Tobias searches for answers, he finds himself delving into the dark secrets that haunt Lizzie's past.
The legend of the werestag, Tessa Dare
If a woman could die of humiliation, Cecily Hale would have perished three hours ago. Luke Trenton had finally returned to Swinford Manor, only to cruelly spurn her long-held love. But she couldn't conveniently die of shame on the spot? Instead she joined her friends on this ridiculous search for a legendary man-beast. Now she'll die here, alone in the woods, at the tusks of a snarling boar.
Once upon a winter's eve, Tessa Dare
Violet Winterbottom is a quiet girl. She speaks six languages, but seldom raises her voice. She endured bitter heartbreak in perfect silence. The gentlemen aren't beating down her door. Until the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas ball, when a mysterious stranger crashes into the ballroom and collapses at Violet's feet. His coarse attire and near-criminal good looks would put any sensible young lady on her guard. He's wet, chilled, bleeding, and speaking in an unfamiliar tongue. Only Violet understands him. And she knows he's not what he seems.
The God delusion, Richard Dawkins
While Europe is secularised, the rise of religious fundamentalism, whether in the Middle East or Middle America, divides opinion around the world. This work attacks God in various forms, from the sex-obsessed, cruel tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign, but still illogical, Celestial Watchmaker.
Afterburn, Sylvia Day
The realisation that Jax still affected me so strongly was a jagged pill to swallow. He'd only been part of my life for five short weeks two years ago. But now he was back. Walking into a deal I'd worked hard to close. And God, he was magnificent. His eyes were a brown so dark they were nearly black. Thickly lashed, they were relentless in their intensity. Had I really thought they were soft and warm? There was nothing soft about Jackson Rutledge. He was a hard and jaded man, cut from a ruthless cloth.
The Black Lyon, Jude Deveraux
Darkly handsome and rich beyond imagining, the bold English conqueror was called the Black Lyon for his lion-like fierceness. He had no match among enemies, or women…until he met Lyonene, the green-eyed beauty whose fiery spirit matched his own. Through a whirlwind romance and stormy marriage, she endured every peril to be by his side…until jealousy and vicious lies drove her across the Irish Sea and into grave danger. One man could save her, only the fierce Black Lyon had the courage to destroy the ruthless plot that had driven them apart and threatened the bond of love they had vowed could never be broken.
A lady's secret weapon, Tracey Devlyn
Ethan deBeau, Viscount Danforth, works for the Nexus organisation, trying to ferret out traitors in 1804 London. Known for seducing women for their secrets, Ethan is unprepared for his reaction to Miss Sydney Hunt, the proprietress of a well-known London employment agency. Using the pretence of employing her to search for new staff for his home, Ethan really wants to know why he has seen her leaving the Abbingale Home for Displaced and Gifted Boys.
The fairest beauty, Melanie Dickerson
Sophie is trying desperately to escape her stepmother's jealousy, when a young man named Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle announcing that she is betrothed to his older brother. As Gabe, who is also betrothed, fulfils his mission to find Sophie, emotional conflict ensues as they realise that their feelings for each other have developed into romance, though they are both promised to other partners.
The healer's apprentice, Melanie Dickerson
In this story, loosely based on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, seventeen-year-old Rose, a healer's apprentice, falls in love with the betrothed Lord Hamlin, who is seeking the sorcerer who cursed his future bride.
The merchant's daughter, Melanie Dickerson
In 1352 England, seventeen-year-old Annabel, granddaughter of a knight and a would-be nun, eludes a lecherous bailiff but falls in love with Lord Le Wyse, the ferocious and disfigured man to whom her family owes three years of indentured servitude, in this tale loosely based on Beauty and the Beast.
William Shakespeare's Star Wars : verily, a new hope, Ian Doescher; inspired by the work of George Lucas and William Shakespeare
A retelling of Star wars in the style of Shakespeare, in which a wise Jedi knight, an evil Sith lord, a beautiful captive princess, and a young hero coming of age reflect the valour and villainy of the Bard's greatest plays.
Magic under stone, Jaclyn Dolamore
Star-crossed lovers Nimira and Erris seek the sorcerer Ordoria Valdana hoping he will be able to free Erris from his clockwork form, but Valdana has vanished and as Nimira studies his spell books she realizes the terrible danger that could come from returning Erris to real life.
The tea rose, Jennifer Donnelly
Her family and dreams shattered by her father's untimely death at the hands of a ruthless tea baron, Fiona Finnegan flees East London and eventually establishes herself at the head of the tea trade in New York.
The wild rose, Jennifer Donnelly
In 1914, with World War I approaching, polar explorer Seamus Finnegan tries to forget Willa, a passionate mountain climber, as he marries a beautiful young woman back home in England.
The Winter Rose, Jennifer Donnelly
It has been twelve years since a dark, murderous figure stalked the alleys and courts of Whitechapel. And yet, in the summer of 1900, East London is still poor, still brutal, still a shadow city to its western twin. Among the reformers is an idealistic young woman named India Selwyn-Jones, recently graduated from medical school. With the help of her influential fiancé — Freddie Lytton, an up-and-coming Liberal MP — she works to shut down the area's opium dens that destroy both body and soul. Her selfless activities better her patients' lives and bring her immense gratification, but unfortunately, they also bring her into direct conflict with East London's ruling crime lord — Sid Malone. India is not good for business and at first, Malone wants her out. But against all odds, India and Sid fall in love.
Ngaio Marsh : her life in crime, Joanne Drayton
While Ngaio Marsh had a larger than life public persona, she was fiercely protective of her private life. No one knows better how to cover tracks with red herrings and remove incriminating evidence than a crime fiction writer. This fascinating biography of Ngaio Marsh pieces together both the public and private Marsh in a way that is as riveting as a crime novel. Through Marsh's writing and her theatre productions and publications, Joanne Drayton assembles the pieces to the puzzle that is Ngaio Marsh, proving that life can be as thrilling as fiction.
The search for Anne Perry, Joanne Drayton
In 1994, director Peter Jackson released the film Heavenly Creatures, based on a famous 1950s matricide committed in New Zealand by two teenage girls embroiled in an obsessive relationship. This film launched Jackson's international career. It also forever changed the life of Anne Perry, an award-winning, bestselling crime writer, who at the time of the film's release was publically outed as Juliet Hulme, one of the murderers. A new light was now cast, not only on Anne's life, but also her novels, which feature gruesome and violent deaths, and confronting, dark issues including infanticide and incest. Acclaimed literary biographer, Joanne Drayton, intersperses the story of Anne's life with an examination of her writing, drawing parallels between Anne's own experiences and her characters and storylines. The result is a compelling read which provides an understanding of the girl Anne was, the adult she became, her compulsion to write and her view of the world.
How to ruin a summer vacation, Simone Elkeles
When sixteen-year-old Amy, a spoiled American, goes to Israel for a three-month summer vacation with a father she barely knows, she is not prepared for his Jewish family and the changes they bring about in her life.
How to ruin my teenage life, Simone Elkeles
Living with her Israeli father in Chicago, seventeen-year-old Amy Nelson-Barak feels like a walking disaster, worried about her "non-boyfriend" in the Israeli army, her mother, new stepfather and the baby they are expecting, a new boy named Nathan who has moved into her apartment building and goes to her school, and whether or not she really is the selfish snob that Nathan says she is.
How to ruin your boyfriend's reputation, Simone Elkeles
During the summer between her junior and senior year of high school, spoiled Chicagoan Amy Nelson-Barak volunteers for Israeli military boot camp when she learns that her boyfriend, a commando in the Israeli Defence Force, will be at the same military base.
Return to paradise, Simone Elkeles
In alternating chapters, Caleb and Maggie relate the struggles of being reunited after nearly a year apart. When both join a group of teens affected by drunk driving they finally face their true feelings for one another.
Ruined, Simone Elkeles
There was an old woman, Hallie Ephron
A novel of psychological suspense, in which a young woman returns to the quirky Bronx riverfront neighbourhood where she grew up, only to find that her mother's house has become a hoarder's nest. As Evie digs into the events of the past few months, a bigger, more sinister story begins to unfold.
The round house, Louise Erdrich
When his mother, a tribal enrolment specialist living on a reservation in North Dakota, slips into an abyss of depression after being brutally attacked, 14-year-old Joe Coutz sets out with his three friends to find the person that destroyed his family
A good and happy child, Justin Evans
Ten-year-old George Davies, in the wake of his father's unexpected death, is experiencing ominous visions — some friendly, others outright terrifying. When a mysterious murder is ultimately revealed, the stakes are suddenly much higher for him and his family. Is it metal illness or is George possessed by a darker, more malevolent force?
Bitter water, Gordon Ferris
"This is a declaration to the people of Glasgow. The police are useless and corrupt. We are taking it into our own hands: The Glasgow Marshals." For Douglas Brodie, Glasgow's outbreak of murder and mayhem begins simply enough. A typical Saturday night brawl adds a splash of colour to the morning edition of the Gazette. But Brodie's piece receives a hot-blooded reply — the declaration of a new war upon petty crime signed by a group of vigilantes: The Glasgow Marshals.
The Hanging shed, Gordon Ferris
Glasgow 1946. The last time Brodie came home it was 1942 and he was a proud young man in a paratrooper's uniform. Now, the war is over but victory's wine has soured and Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Shug Donovan from the gallows. Working with advocate Samantha Campbell, Brodie trawls the mean streets of the Gorbals and the green hills of western Scotland in their search for the truth. What they find is an unholy alliance of troublesome priests, corrupt coppers and Glasgow's deadliest razor gang, happy to slaughter to protect their dark and dirty secrets.
Pilgrim soul, Gordon Ferris
It's 1947 and the worst winter in memory: Glasgow is buried in snow, killers stalk the streets — and Douglas Brodie's past is engulfing him. It starts small. The Jewish community in Glasgow asks Douglas Brodie, ex-policeman turned journalist, to solve a series of burglaries. The police don't care and Brodie needs the cash. Brodie solves the crime but the thief is found dead, butchered by the owner of the house he was robbing. When the householder in turn is murdered, the whole community is in uproar — and Brodie's simple case of theft disintegrates into chaos.
Truth dare kill, Gordon Ferris
1945: The war's over but there are no medals for Danny McRae. Just amnesia and blackouts; twin handicaps for a private investigator with an upper-class client on the hook for murder. Danny's blackouts mean that hours, sometimes days, are a complete blank. So when news of a brutal killer stalking London's red light district start to stir grisly memories, Danny is terrified about what he might discover if he delves deeper into his fractured mind. As the two bloody sagas collide and interweave, Danny finds himself running for his life across the bomb-ravaged city. The only escape is through that gap in his memory… Will his past catch up with him before his enemies? And which would be worse?
The unquiet heart, Gordon Ferris
Danny McRae, private detective scraping a living in ration-card London; Eve Copeland, crime reporter, looking for new angles to save her career. It's an alliance made in heaven… Until Eve disappears, a contact dies violently and an old adversary presents Danny with some unpalatable truths. Danny's desperate search for Eve draws him into a web of black marketeers, double agents and assassins, and hurls him into the shattered remains of Berlin, where terrorism and espionage foreshadow the bleakness of the Cold War.
Bully blocking: six secrets to help children deal with teasing and bullying, Evelyn M. Field
This book will enable parents and teachers to help children overcome the damaging impact of teasing and bullying. It provides them with practical skills to improve their self-esteem, communication skills and social resilience. This revised edition of Bully Blocking includes a new chapter on what schools can do about bullying, and a supplement to help teachers apply the book's practical exercises and activities in the classroom.
Surviving Maggie, John Fingleton
Seeing Geoffrey Rush play his father Harold in Swimming Upstream, written and co-produced by his brother Tony, was the catalyst for John Fingleton to uncover the story no one had told, of what made his father the man he was. Nothing could have prepared him for what he discovered. From abused child to rebellious orphan, larrikin street fighter to gifted sportsman, prisoner to alcoholic, from unlikely role model to a group of street kids to murder suspect and finally a man transformed by the love of a strong woman, determined his children would have the opportunities he never had, Harold Fingleton's heartbreaking and powerful story will stay with you long after the last page.
Nancy Wake : a biography of our greatest war heroine, 1912-2011, Peter FitzSimons
In this work, Nancy Wake — an Australian who became the most highly decorated women of World War II — reveals her story. At the age of 22, Nancy set sail for France a naive romantic. After living and working in Paris in the 1930s, World War II broke out and changed the course of her life forever.
Gone girl. Swedish, Gillian Flynn
On the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick's wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what did really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife?
The girl from Snowy River, Jackie French
January 1919 Flinty McAlpine is sixteen, and while WW1 ended almost a year ago it still resonates for Flinty and her family who lost so much. Years of war and drought have also left the district in chaos and local families are doing their best to rebuild lives and land. Inspired by the Banjo Patterson poem 'The Man from Snowy River'. Includes historical notes.
Hitler's daughter, Jackie French
It began on a rainy morning in Australia, as part of a game played by Mark and his friends. It was a storytelling game, and the four friends took turns weaving tales about fairies and mermaids and horses. But Anna's story was different this time: it was not a fairy tale or an adventure story. The story was about a young girl who lived during World War II. Her name was Heidi, and she was Hitler's daughter. As Anna's story unfolds, Mark is haunted by the image of Hitler's daughter. He wonders what he would have done in her place if he had known his father was an evil man leading the world into a war that was destroying millions of lives. And if Mark had known, would he have had the power and determination to stop him?
Soul mountain, Xingjian Gao
A man travels the length and breadth of China, collecting stories, folk songs, lovers and experience in a search for meaning.
Act of faith, Kelly Gardiner
England, 1640. Sixteen-year-old Isabella is forced to flee her home, taking refuge in Amsterdam. Desperate to find a means to survive, Isabella finds work with an elderly printer, Master de Aquila. When Master de Aquila travels to Venice, Isabella accompanies him and discovers a world of possibility — where women work alongside men as equal partners, and where books and beliefs are treasured. But in a continent torn apart by religious intolerance, constant danger lurks for those who don't watch their words. And when the agents of the Spanish Inquisition kidnap de Aquila to stop him printing his book, Isabella and Willem become reluctant allies in a daring chase across Europe to rescue him from certain death.
A cook's tour of France, Gabriel Gaté
Every year in spring, Gabriel Gaté spends two months travelling in his beloved native land, where he began as a chef more than 40 years ago. In A Cook's Tour of France, he shares recipes for dishes from all the main regions of France, such as the popular Auge Valley chicken casserole from Normandy, the colourful ratatouille from Nice with lemon chantilly and, of course, stunning desserts as only the French can do, like the luscious strawberry tart from the Loire Valley. This beautifully illustrated book gathers the best classic recipes from the many regions of France, one of the world's best destinations for food lovers.
My life as a hooker : when a middle-aged bloke discovered rugby, Steven Gauge
Steven Gauge's response to an impending midlife crisis didn't involve piercings, tattoos or leather trousers — instead, he decided to take up rugby, and made a number of important discoveries. First, that in this ultimate contact sport, class divisions melt away in the presence of rugby's own eternal divide: the Forwards and the Backs. Secondly, though biting is generally frowned upon, it does occasionally take place and can be discouraged by applying Deep Heat to the ears. And finally, turning up on time with your kit is far more important than knowing what to do with the ball if it ever reaches you.
The book of rapture, Nikki Gemmell
The must-read new novel from Nikki Gemmell — as provocative and as deeply felt as her international bestseller The Bride Stripped Bare. Three children wake up in a basement room of a large city hotel. They have been drugged and taken from their beds in the middle of the night. Now they are here. Alone. Where are their parents? Who can they trust? Searing, provocative and unputdownable, The Book of Rapture challenges our beliefs about science, about children, and about trust. As passionate as The Bride Stripped Bare, it will compel, seduce and haunt you.
The bride stripped bare, Nikki Gemmell
This novel of sex, secrecy, and escape explores the truth about love and sex. Following the sexual awakening of its female protagonist, who gradually becomes embroiled in a world of fantasy and recklesness, it questions whether it is ever entirely possible to know another person.
My first divorce, Sheryn George
Caitlin Cooper is living life full-tilt, she's a red-hot television producer, her husband is devoted and her kids are bright and beautiful. When the two people she trusts more than anyone else in the world betray her big time, Caitlin needs a total makeover professionally and personally and maybe her first divorce.
Vodka doesn't freeze, Leah Giarratano
When a middle-aged man is brutally murdered in the dunes overlooking a children's pool, it's immediately clear to Sergeant Jill Jackson that this was no ordinary victim: someone has stopped a dangerous paedophile in his tracks. Knowing first-hand the impact of such men on their prey, Jill is ambivalent about pursuing the killer, but when more men die — all known to police as child sex offenders — she is forced to face the fact that a serial killer is on the loose. As she faces predators and their victims, a psychotherapist losing her mind, and her own nightmares come to life, Jill is forced to decide whether or not she really wants to catch this killer.
What a ride, mate! The life and times of the Mad Butcher, Peter Leitch with Phil Gifford
Peter Leitch, aka the Mad Butcher, is a legend in his own lifetime — a larger than life character who left school at 15 and went on to build a nationwide chain of successful butchers shops and a reputation as a foul mouthed league supporter with a heart of gold. For the first time, he has allowed close friend Phil Gifford to write about what his friends have always known, the story of the private family man and grandfather who has embodied the Kiwi dream. In an era of corporate highfliers, business degrees and the old boys network, the working class boy from the Hutt Valley succeeded with hard work, a handshake and a belief that a man's word was his bond.
The wooden chair, Rayne E. Golay
As a child, Leini stands ready to do anything to win her mother Mira's love. Leini struggles to break free of Mira's tyranny by leaving her native Helsinki to study psychology at Geneva University.With the help of a psychiatrist, she labours through the pains of past hurts to become a nurturing and loving mother and wife, as well as a successful professional, as she grows from victim to victor over adversity. Can her efforts lead her to the one thing she needs to discover the most, the ability to forgive her mother?
Home front girls, Rosie Goodwin
Dotty, Lucy and Annabelle all turn up for work at Coventry's department store Owen Owen at the same time as war is declared. Dotty has never known a life outside of the orphanage where she grew up. Lucy is the sole carer of her little sister; she's head of the home now that her brother has gone to war. Annabelle has led a life of privilege but everyone's having to pinch the pennies at the moment. The three young women are brought together on their first day at Owen Owens. As the trials and devastating effects of war come to bear on the three women, their bond deepens.
[Maori], Patricia Grace
The only survivor of three young men who went to war from his family, Tū faces the past and tells his niece and nephew, through the pages of his war journal, what really happened to the brothers as the Māori Battalion fought the war in Italy.
All you could ask for, Mike Greenberg
Brooke has been happily married to her college sweetheart for fifteen years. Samantha's wedded bliss is steamrolled when she finds evidence of infidelity on her groom's computer. Katharine works eighteen hours a day for the man who irreparably shattered her heart fifteen years ago. Brooke, Samantha, and Katherine don't know one another, but all three are about to find their lives connected in ways they never imagined… and discover the conquering power of friendship.
No pirates allowed said Library Lou, Rhonda Gowler Greene
Big Pirate Pete's treasure map has led him to Seabreezy Library, where Library Lou must convince him that the true treasure is the books.
Sunblind, Michael Griffo
Dominy had no choice in becoming a werewolf. The day she turned sixteen, a witch's curse erased every trace of normal from her life and ignited a wild hunger that's already cost Dominy her best friend. And though she's still got her boyfriend, Caleb, and other allies who promise to help her find a cure, Dom feels completely alone. Yet she isn't alone…
The Morels, Christopher Hacker
The Morels — Arthur, Penny, and Will — are a happy family of three living in New York City. So why would Arthur choose to publish a book that brutally rips his tightly knit family unit apart at the seams? Arthur's old schoolmate Chris, who narrates the book, is fascinated with this very question as he becomes accidentally reacquainted with Arthur.
The hanging, Lotte and Soren Hammer; translation, Ebba Segerberg.
On a cold Monday morning before school begins, two children make a gruesome discovery. Hanging from the roof of the school gymnasium are the bodies of five naked and heavily disfigured men. Detective Chief Superintendent Konrad Simonsen and his team from the Murder Squad in Copenhagen are called in to investigate this horrific case the men hanging in a geometric pattern; the scene so closely resembling a public execution. A nerve-wrenching look at justice and retribution, The Hanging is a spectacular crime tale straight from the heart of Scandinavia.
Dark journey, Glyn Harper
This significant volume will see the completion of over ten years' writing and research by esteemed military historian Glyn Harper. The book includes the revision and reissuing of his two earlier detailed histories of the New Zealand Division's major Western Front battles of World War One: Massacre at Passchendaele (2000), Spring Offensive (2003) combined with an unpublished account of the third major battle of the Somme, at Bapaume, during which several VCs were awarded to New Zealand troops.
In the face of the enemy : the complete history of the Victoria Cross and New Zealand, Glyn Harper and Colin Richardson
The highest Commonwealth military decoration for gallantry is the Victoria Cross, and this book examines the history of the award, telling the stories of those New Zealanders (or those with strong New Zealand associations) who have won it. This includes awards made to British soldiers serving in New Zealand during the New Zealand Wars, the Boer War and the First and Second World Wars.
Vegan pizza, Julie Hasson
Julie Hasson offers 50 deliciously innovative recipes and simple techniques that will have you making artisan-style, thin-crust vegan pizzas right in your own kitchen.
Belonging, Robin Lee Hatcher
Leaving behind her bitter past, Felicia Kristoffersen seeks to make a brighter future for herself as a teacher in Frenchman's Bluff, Idaho. But in this tiny high desert town, she can't afford to fail. And not everyone is happy she's here to begin with.
The forgiving hour, Robin Lee Hatcher
Claire Conway had finally come to terms with her ex-husband's adultery when her son brought home his fiancée, the same woman with whom Claire's husband had had the affair.
The shepherd's voice, Robin Lee Hatcher
After years in prison, Gabe Talmadge is once again rejected by his father and then taken in by Akira Macauley, the owner of a sheep ranch south of Ransom, Idaho.
Whispers from yesterday, Robin Lee Hatcher
Society darling Karen Butler falls hard after the public discovery of her father's suicide and his empty bank accounts. With no friends, money, or faith, Karen goes to live with her grandmother Sophia, hoping to inherit her ranch. But the dilapidated ranch is not what Karen expects, and her uncanny resemblance to Sophia's dead sister, Esther, forces Sophia to confront the tragic mistakes of her own past by giving Esther's diaries to Karen.
Marrying Ameera, Rosanne Hawke
Seventeen-year-old Ameera has just finished school and her friendship with Tariq, her best friend’s older brother, is growing. But when her father hears of it he sends Ameera to stay with his family in Kashmir and attend her cousin Jamila’s wedding. Only when she gets there does she discover the devastating truth — the intended marriage is not Jamila’s but her own! Will Ameera be trapped forever, or can she find strength beyond her years to escape from Pakistan and win back her freedom?
Other people's country : a woman's journey from suburbia to remote area nursing, Maureen Helen
When comfortable housewife and mother of six adult children, Maureen Helen reached her late fifties, she decided she wanted to do something a little different. Spurred on by an adventure in Thailand, she decides to use her rusty skills to become a RAN: a remote area nurse, in an isolated Aboriginal settlement in WA's Pilbara region. Faced with the terrible health problems of the community, inadequate equipment and a growing sense that she doesn't belong, Maureen battles her own crisis of confidence as well as the harshness and hostility of her environment.
Her Highness, the traitor, Susan Higginbotham
A daughter can be a dangerous weapon in the battle for the throne of England. Frances Grey harboured no dream of her children taking the throne. Cousin of the king, she knew the pitfalls of royalty and privilege. Better to marry them off, marry them well, perhaps to a clan like the Dudleys. The story of the women behind the crowning of Jane Grey, this novel is a captivating peek at ambition gone awry, and the damage left in its wake.
The Queen of last hopes, Susan Higginbotham
It would be called the Wars of the Roses, but it all began with one woman's fury. Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England, cannot give up on her husband — even when he goes insane. And as mother to the House of Lancaster's last hope, she cannot give up on her son — even when all England turns against him. This gripping tale of a queen is at its heart a tender tale of love: passionate, for her husband, and motherly, for her only son.
The traitor's wife, Susan Higginbotham
Young Eleanor has two men in her life: her uncle King Edward II, and her husband Hugh le Despenser, a mere knight but the newfound favourite of the king. She has no desire to meddle in royal affairs — she wishes for a serene, simple life with her family. But as political unrest sweeps the land, Eleanor, sharply intelligent yet blindly naive, becomes the only woman each man can trust.
Dillinger, Jack Higgins
Early March 1934, America's most notorious criminal makes his spectacular escape from Lake County Jail, Indiana. Three months later, John Dillinger, the last American outlaw, is gunned down by FBI agents outside a movie theatre in Chicago. But what really happened during Dillinger's final months of liberty? As the fugitive makes a desperate break for the Mexican border, master thriller writer Jack Higgins takes up the story, following Dillinger into the savage hands of his new captors. Where love is as elusive as a pardon. And the price paid for freedom is blood.
The piper, Lynn S. Hightower
When Olivia James receives a phone call just after midnight, she recognizes her brother's voice. But there's a problem: her brother has been dead for the past nine weeks. Moving back to her old childhood home in Tennessee — the place where her brother has just died — her young daughter Teddy seems troubled, telling her mother that she's being visited by a menacing ghost. When another tragic death occurs and her daughter disappears, Olivia must confront the demonic force that has cursed her family.
A green granny's garden : a year of the good life in Grey Lynn, Fionna Hill
Written from her experiences over the course of a year (give or take a few weeks), Fionna Hill documents the sheer delight and pleasure of exploring urban gardening as a beginner in a communal environment. The experience has brought her immense joy and some wild and wonderful moments of unexpected humour. In a breathtakingly honest, direct and fabulously original and delightfully wacky way, she takes the reader by the hand and shares her exploits, adventures, misadventures, successes, failures and enthusiasms as she discovers what works and what doesn't.
The house with blue shutters, Lisa Hilton
Castroux, France 1939. In a bare farmhouse on a windswept plain above the village, Oriane, orphaned at thirteen, lives in desperate poverty. When the Germans invade their simple world is thrown into chaos. Casual brutality is common; rebellion is imminent; revenge will be swift and severe. Castroux, France, 2000. British expat Aisling frets about her chocolate parfait, determined to impress her brother-in-law's glamorous fiancee Claudia. But Claudia's pregnant by another man and terrified of the future. She confides only in an elderly neighbour, Oriane, and discovers that she too once carried a shameful secret from which she still bears the scars. The house with blue shutters. A place that has witnessed the horrors of wartime, the petty concerns of peacetime, and the secrets that bind past and present. A place where history echoes off every wall.
Wolves in winter, Lisa Hilton
Italy, 1492. 5-year-old Mura is a strange and bewitching child. Daughter to a Nordic mother and Spanish father, she has been tutored in both Arabic learning and the ancient myth cycles of the north. But her widower father has been arrested by the Inquisition, and Mura is sold to a Genoese slaver. In the port of Savona, Mura's androgynous looks and unusual abilities fetch a high price. She is bought as a house slave for the powerful Medici, arriving in Florence as the city prepares for war against the French. When the family are forced to flee, Mura finds herself gifted to the notorious Tigress of Forli, Countess Caterina Sforza. Beautiful, ruthless and intelligent, the Countess is fascinated by Mura's arcane knowledge. As the Tigress educates her further in the arts of alchemy, potions and poisons, she becomes much more than a lady's maid. Mura becomes a potent weapon in the Machiavellian intrigues of the Renaissance court.
The archivist's story, Travis Holland
In the recesses of the infamous Lubyanka prison, a young archivist is sent to verify the authorship of an unfinished story, confiscated from one of the many political prisoners there. The writer is Isaac Babel. This is a story of suspicion, courage and unexpected grace, and serves as a tribute to the enduring power of the written word.
The shivering sands, Victoria Holt
Caroline knows something is wrong. Her sister Roma has gone missing, and no one can tell her why. The only option is to go where Roma was last seen — an estate with a deadly history…
The crimes of Billy Fish, Sarah Hopkins
This book tells the story of Billy Fish — granted parole from prison and set adrift from the strangely comfortable restrictions of life in jail. Fish walks out into the world as a free man — or is he? Billy is tied to his dark history through a heady mixture of methadone and memories of a brutal and terrifying childhood.
The coal tattoo, Silas D. House
Two sisters, Easter and Anneth, struggle to raise themselves in their small mining town after their parents' deaths, and each deals with the tragedy and hardships in a different way.
The eternal Highlander, Hannah Howell, Lynsay Sands.
Cathal MacNachton and Connall MacAdie are cousins bound by far more than blood ties and the rugged Highland landscape their clan calls home. The ancient curse of their ancestry has fated them to live by night with an unquenchable thirst that neither can tame. The only thing that can save their souls is marriage to Outsiders — mortals whose untainted blood will weaken the curse in their children, and break the chains of fear that have made their clan a breed apart. Bridget Callan and Eva Caxton are the women who will shape the clan's destiny.
Flock, Lyn Hughes
Francis Sprigge and Lilian Powys, two strangers escaping their past, move to the Blue Mountains together, following their dreams of creativity and love. But as Francis pursues his gift for designing exquisite wallpaper, Lilian finds that the ordinary life she craves remains frustratingly beyond reach. Nearly thirty years later, Addie Sprigge returns to her childhood haunts to lead a small team of conservators in the restoration of a historic mansion. But as they peel back the layers of wallpaper and begin to uncover the secrets of the house, the past resurfaces in unexpected ways.
Martin Westley takes a walk, Andrew Humphreys
Martin Westley has lost his memory and quite possibly his mind. He has a wife who despises him, a son who ignores him and a daughter who is drifting away. He has a nice house, a not-so-nice factory and an aggressively attractive mistress. But something is deeply, terribly wrong, and he knows he needs to make it right. So Martin Westley walks. Along the way he picks up a cowboy hat, a sense of purpose, and an Indian who isn't really an Indian. And if he's lucky, he might just recover his life. A darkly comic parable about families and the wonderful opportunities errant action kites can provide to start life anew.
By possession, Madeline Hunter
Addis de Valence returns from the Crusades determined to wed and bed the "bondswoman" who raised his motherless son for eight years, but the lovely Moira is not about to submit without a fight.
Leading the way : how New Zealand women won the vote, Megan Hutching
New Zealand was the first country in the world to give women the vote, in 1893. Historian Megan Hutching tells the story of the 1893 vote including profiles of some of the women who brought about such a massive social upheaval by changing the minds and hearts of politicians. Includes short biographies of the main people involved.
Over the wide and trackless sea : the pioneer women and girls of New Zealand, Megan Hutching
New Zealand's European pioneer women made the long voyage, in the words of Eliza White, over a "wide and trackless sea", to lead lives they could have barely imagined. Their stories paint a picture of a new country, from mission stations and Dalmatian gum-diggers in the north to South Island whaling stations and the landed gentry of Canterbury.
Young Bess, Margaret Irwin
Growing up in the shadow of her mother, the infamous Ann Boleyn, young Princess Elizabeth has learnt to be continuously on the watch for the political games played out around her. It is never certain when one might rise in — or fall out of — royal favour.
The Galliard, Margaret Irwin
Queen of Scotland at six days old. Queen of France at seventeen years old. Widowed at eighteen. The young and trusting Mary, Queen of Scots, is sailing home to her kingdom after years in exile. Religious divides threaten to tear the nation apart and, across the border, Elizabeth keenly watches this new threat to her throne. In Bothwell's courage and love for her, Mary finds serenity, and though fate works against them, no force can conquer their spirit.
The residue years, Mitchell S. Jackson
Mitchell S. Jackson grew up black in a neglected neighbourhood in America's whitest city, Portland, Oregon. In the '90s, those streets and beyond had fallen under the shadow of crack cocaine and its familiar mayhem. In his commanding autobiographical novel, Mitchell writes what it was to come of age in that time and place, with a break-out voice that's nothing less than extraordinary.
A most immoral woman, Linda Jaivin
It is 1904. At the age of forty-two, the handsome and influential Australian George Ernest Morrison, Peking correspondent for The Times of London, is considered the most eligible Western bachelor in China. But Morrison has yet to meet his match — until one night he encounters Mae Perkins, the ravishing and free-spirited daughter of a California millionaire, and a turbulent affair begins. War, meanwhile, has broken out between Russia and Japan for domination over northeast China. Inspired by a true story, A Most Immoral Woman is a surprising, witty and erotic tale.
Controlling your anger before it controls you, Gregory L. Jantz with Ann McMurray.
Trusted psychologist helps women understand and manage their own anger, encouraging them to find the root of the anger and look to Jesus as an example.
By any other name, Laura Jarratt
Holly is fifteen years old, but she's only been "Holly" for a matter of months. Because of something that happened, she and her family have had to enter witness protection and have all assumed new identities. All, that is, except her sister Katie, who is autistic.
The ninth life of Louis Drax, Liz Jensen
Nine-year-old Louis Drax lies in a coma in a hospital bed, re-living the events that led to his near-fatal fall into a ravine. Despite being attracted to the boy's mother Natalie Drax, Louis' doctor, Pascal Dannachet, begins reluctantly to question her version of Louis' accident and the apparent culpability of her missing husband. As the boy struggles to communicate from within his coma, the chilling truth emerges.
A very peculiar plague, Catherine Jinks
Eleven-year-old Jem Barbary spent most of his early life picking pockets for a canny old crook named Sarah Pickles. Now she's betrayed him, and Jem wants revenge. He also wants to work for bogler Alfred Bunce, who kills the child-eating monsters that lurk in the city's cellars and sewers. When numerous children start disappearing around Newgate Prison, Alfred and Jem do join forces, waging an underground war. Together they learn that there's only one thing more terrifying than facing a whole plague of bogles — and that's facing some of the sinister people from Jem's past …
The secret fate of Mary Watson, Judy Johnson
A historical novel of mystery and intrigue inspired by a true story. Set in Queensland from 1879-1881, this is the story of a cunning and clever girl with a desire to live on her own terms. Mary Oxnam's ambition soon lands her in a deadly web of spies and smugglers. When the stakes are raised Mary finds herself married to a slug farmer on a remote Australian island with an assassin as a servant and one last job to do. The Australian landscape is as beautiful, foreboding and unforgiving as Mary's employers.
My brother Jack, George Henry Johnston
David and Jack Meredith grow up in a patriotic suburban Melbourne household during the First World War, and go on to lead lives that could not be more different. Through the story of the two brothers, George Johnston created an enduring exploration of two Australian myths: that of the man who loses his soul as he gains worldly success, and that of the tough, honest Aussie battler, whose greatest ambition is to serve his country during the war.
Little red lies, Julie Johnston
The war is over, but for thirteen-year-old Rachel, the battle has just begun. Putting childhood behind her, she knows what she wants — to prove she has acting talent worthy of the school drama club, and what she doesn't want — to romantically fall for someone completely inappropriate. The lies she tells herself hoping to reach solutions to the problems complicating her life merely function to make matters worse. Ultimately, she finds a way to come to terms with life as it reaches an end and life as it begins
Swift runs the heart, Mary Brock Jones
1860s, Otago, New Zealand. Geraldine finds the life of a wealthy runholder's daughter stiff and constraining. On the goldfields, she has the opportunity to be so much more: independent, responsible, strong. But her freedom is short-lived when she is noticed by notorious bandit Black Jack MacRae — a man who is used to getting what he wants and who never takes no for an answer. Cheerful, casual, uncommitted — that's the way Bas likes his life on the goldfields. He may be of aristocratic blood, but he thrives on the challenges of commerce and the freedom of the colonies. Rescuing a girl from the grasp of Black Jack MacRae, however, throws his whole life into turmoil.
The thoughts and happenings of Wilfred Price, purveyor of superior funerals, Wendy Jones
Everyone has to make decisions about love. Wilfred Price, overcome with emotion on a sunny spring day, proposes to a girl he barely knows at a picnic. The girl, Grace, joyfully accepts and rushes to tell her family of Wilfred's intentions. But by this time Wilfred has realised his mistake. He does not love Grace. On the verge of extricating himself, Wilfred's situation suddenly becomes more serious when Grace's father steps in.
The world is a wedding, Wendy Jones
It's 1926 and Wilfred Price, purveyor of superior funerals, is newly married to the beautiful Flora Myfanwy. He's busy with funerals — and preparing for fatherhood by reading a philosophy book and opening a paint and wallpaper business. As much as he loves Flora, he senses her distance from him — are marriage and fatherhood going to be very different from how Wilfred imagined?
Can kissing make you live longer? : body and behaviour mysteries explained, Stephen Juan
In the latest book from Dr Stephen Juan you'll find curious mysteries and strange facts about our body and behaviour. From thunder headaches and burping corpses to 'confessing Sams' and 'secret keepers', Stephen Juan's explanations will fascinate and entertain you.
The odd body I : mysteries of our weird and wonderful bodies explained, Stephen Juan
Mysteries of our weird and wonderful bodies explained. Always informative and entertaining, Dr Stephen Juan has assembled a huge collection of body facts, and some fallacies. With an eye for the intriguing and bizarre, from top to bottom, from your inside out, this book gives you the bare facts about your odd body.
Who's afraid of butterflies? : our fears and phobias named and explained, Stephen Juan
Do you know someone who freaks out at the sight of a puppet (Pupaphobia)? Can't handle being bathed in moonlight (Lunaphobia)? Or is petrified of twins (Biniphobia)? For everything that exists, there is someone, somewhere, who is deathly afraid of it. In Who's Afraid of Butterflies?, well-known popular scientist Dr Stephen Juan explores the fascinating world of our deepest fears, from A (Abandonment) right through to Z (Zombies).
Drinking arak off an ayatollah's beard, Nicholas Jubber
Documents the author's investigation of daily life in Iran and Afghanistan, from religious shrines to illegal dance parties, and his use of Ferdowsi's epic poem "Shāhnāmeh" as a key to past and present conflict in the region.
The black sheep and the princess, Donna Kauffman
Finn Dalton and two of his friends from Lake Winnimocca summer camp in the Catskills were known as the Unholy Trinity, and bad boys they were. These three outcasts were considered black sheep amongst the wealthy, elite, private-school educated boys camp; but years later they are all grown up and very successful. When they read in the newspaper that the camp is now operated by the daughter of the owner of the camp, a young woman that they recall fondly and lustfully, but who is struggling to keep the camp away from the developers, they decide to step in and give her a hand and hope to be rewarding for her heroism.
Some like it Scot, Donna Kauffman
When reluctant bride Katie lets a modern-day Prince Charming spirit her away for a month to his Scottish castle, she hopes to figure out what she really wants. Graham brought her there to satisfy a ridiculously outdated marriage pact. Now if he can only keep their all-too-sizzling attraction at arms length…
Named of the dragon, Susanna Kearsley
When one of her authors invites her to Wales for the Christmas holidays, literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw hopes to escape the nightmares that have plagued her since the death of her baby five years before. But Lyn's painful memories are brought to the surface when she meets Elen, an emotionally fragile widow with an eight-month-old child. Mysteriously afraid for her son’s safety, Elen seems to view Lyn as his protector.
The shadowy horses, Susanna Kearsley
With its dark legends and passionate history, the windswept shores of Scotland were an archaeologist's dream. Verity Grey was thrilled by the challenge of uncovering an ancient Roman campsite in a small Scottish village. But as soon as she arrived, Verity felt danger in the air.
Television, bedpans and me, Beverley Keegan
Growing up in a small mining town in New South Wales, Australia, during World War II, Beverley Keegan knew that she wanted to become a nurse. Television, Bedpans, and Me tells the true story of the many adventures she encountered as she travelled around Australia during her nursing career. This memoir shares the journey taken by one woman, including humourous tales, pathos, and ordinary family occurrences that colour all of our lives, while tracing the development of the miracles of modern medicine.
Going for it, Elle Kennedy
Sam Taylor has lusted after ex-baseball-player Riley Scott for far too long. Now, her business bought out from under her, broke, and with nothing to lose, she refuses to leave town without getting the one thing she's always wanted. Riley. In her bed.
Heat of passion, Elle Kennedy
Carson Scott is the king of one-night stands, so a naughty encounter with a sexy brunette in a nightclub supply closet is right up his alley. When his mysterious seductress disappears, he's blindsided by an unfamiliar emotion — disappointment. One thing's for sure… if he ever encounters his lady of the evening again, he won't let her slip away so easily.
Welcome to Paradise, Elle Kennedy
Singing sensation Charlotte Hill can't wait for her high school reunion. She's out to give Nate Bishop — the man who walked away with her virginity — the sexiest ride of his life. Then give him a heaping dose of the same medicine he gave her fifteen years ago - stomp all over his heart as she walks out the door. Nate has never forgotten the green-eyed redhead who set his body on fire, the one girl who saw past his bad reputation. The heat of those memories still warms his thoughts, even after all these years. After he did the right thing and let her go, rather than let his love chain her to a town she despised.
Witness seduction, Elle Kennedy
Surveillance report: DEA Agent: Caleb Ford, Subject: Marley Kincaid, aka Nurse Hottie, Purpose: Kincaid's drug-dealing ex, Patrick Grier, is on the run after killing a DEA agent. Grier won't be able to stay away from Kincaid — she's way too tempting.
The walking, Laleh Khadivi
Iran, 1979. The mullahs have come to power and they want everyone to know. Two young Kurdish brothers, Saladin and Ali, are forced to swear their loyalty to the new regime by taking part in a massacre. In the traumatic aftermath of the killing they flee. As they cross the treacherous Zagros mountains by foot to Istanbul, to the Azores by freighter and finally as smuggled cargo aboard a plane to Los Angeles, Saladin realises that his dream of a better future can only be fulfilled alone. And as he walks along the hot, shimmering beaches of the promised land, unbearably dislocated, Saladin must define who he will become — and who he's always been. Haunting and beautifully-written, The Walking is a story of exodus; of those many people torn between the lure of home and the lure of hope.
The infinite tides, Christian Kiefer
Keith comes home from a lengthy mission aboard the International Space Station to find his wife and daughter gone, and a house completely empty of furniture, as if Odysseus had returned to Ithaca to find that everyone he knew had forgotten about him and moved on. Keith is a mathematical and engineering genius, but he is ill-equipped to understand what has happened to him, and how he has arrived at the centre of such vacancy. Then, he forges an unlikely friendship with a neighbouring Ukrainian immigrant, and slowly begins to reconnect with the world around him.
A Kingsbury collection, Karen Kingsbury
Ellen Barrett is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist with an uncertain marriage, a forgotten faith, and haunting memories of her picturesque hometown and the love she left behind. The eldest of five siblings, she longs for the time, long ago, when they were a happy family. Now Ellen's beloved father is dead, and she returns to her childhood home to make peace — with the people who still live there, with the losses and changes that time has wrought, and with the future God has set before her.
Halfway to forever, Karen Kingsbury
Matt and Hannah risk losing another daughter as they invest their emotions in a risky adoption, and Tanner dreads losing Jade when brain cancer threatens her first pregnancy. Kingsbury's latest heart-wringing novel tells of two familiar, beloved couples learning to depend on God daily, regardless of trials and troubles that mark the path halfway to forever.
A moment of weakness, Karen Kingsbury
Jade and Tanner were childhood friends until scandal drove them apart. Then one golden summer they found each other again and shared dreams of forever. But in a moment of weakness they made a decision that would tear them apart for nearly a decade. Now, Jade's unfaithful husband wants to destroy her in a custody battle that is about to shock the nation. Only one man can help her in her darkest hour. And only one old woman knows the secret about that summer — and the truth that can set them all free.
On every side, Karen Kingsbury
Faith Evans is an up-and-coming newscaster, a woman of honour and integrity who must take a stand against the one man she never imagined would be her enemy. A beloved, hundred-year-old statue of Jesus stands in a small-town park--but some say it's a clear violation of separation of church and state that must come down. Jordan Riley is a powerful attorney fighting for human rights and against God, but still reckoning with bitter boyhood losses. Amid political intrigue, social injustice, and personal conflicts, will love be enough when the battle rages on every side?
Shades of blue, Karen Kingsbury
Brad Cutler, twenty-eight, is a rising star at his New York ad agency, about to marry the girl of his dreams. Anyone would agree he has it all … a great career, a beautiful and loving fiancée, and a fairy tale life ahead of him — when memories of a high school girlfriend begin to torment him and he must find his old love and make amends.
Someday, Karen Kingsbury
Pressures of the celebrity lifestyle weigh heavily on Dayne and Katy Matthews as they take on separate movie projects. Tabloid rumours talk of trouble and unfaithfulness between the two, and finally something drastic catches Dayne’s attention — but will it be too late?
Sunset, Karen Kingsbury
As John Baxter makes plans to marry Elaine, one of the Baxters enters into the most trying season of all. Memories of times gone by meet with the changes of today in a story that proves only the support of faith and family can take a person into the sunset years of life.
One glorious ambition : the compassionate crusade of Dorothea Dix: a novel, Jane Kirkpatrick
Born to an unavailable mother and an abusive father, Dorothea Dix longs simply to protect and care for her younger brothers, Charles and Joseph. But at just fourteen, she is separated from them and sent to live with relatives to be raised properly. Lonely and uncertain, Dorothea discovers that she does not possess the ability to accept the social expectations imposed on her gender and she desires to accomplish something more than finding a suitable mate.
No way back, Matthew Klein
They know everything. They control everyone. Even you. Every time Jimmy Thane has been faced with a crossroad, he's taken the wrong path. But after years of drinking and womanising, he has been given one last chance to save both his career and his marriage — he has seven weeks to transform a failing company. From the moment he enters the building there's something wrong — the place is too quiet, too empty. When the police come calling about the disappearance of the former CEO, Jimmy starts to wonder what he's got himself into.
The dead janitors club : pathetically true tales of a crime scene cleanup king : a memoir, Jeff Klima
After toiling for minimum wage for years, Jeff Klima got an unexpected offer: to head up a brand new crime scene cleanup company in Orange County. The upside? A chance to make incredible money in a field with no competition. The downside? Everything else about the job. The Dead Janitors Club is an engrossing, hilarious, and morbidly fascinating memoir of life and death, from someone whose life is death.
The King's daughter, Barbara Kyle
Upon the death of her father, Henry VIII, Queen Mary assumes the throne after a long and bitter wait. Her first order of business is to wed the devout Prince Philip of Spain, creating a powerful alliance that will transform Mary's fanatical dream of ridding England of Protestantism into terrifying reality. And so begins the reign of Bloody Mary.
The Queen's captive, Barbara Kyle
In England, 1554, in the wake of the failed Wyatt Rebellion, a vengeful Queen Mary has ordered all conspirators to be captured and executed. Among the imprisoned is her own sister, twenty-one-year-old Princess Elizabeth, who longs to gain her liberty and her sister's crown.
The Queen's gamble, Barbara Kyle
Young Queen Elizabeth I's path to the throne has been a perilous one, and already she faces a dangerous crisis. French troops have landed in Scotland to quell a rebel Protestant army, and Elizabeth fears once they are entrenched on the border, they will invade England. Isabel Thornleigh has returned to London from the New World with her Spanish husband, Carlos Valverde, and their young son. Ever the queen's loyal servant, Isabel is recruited to smuggle money to the Scottish rebels. Yet Elizabeth's trust only goes so far — Isabel's son will be the queen's pampered hostage until she completes her mission.
The Queen's lady, Barbara Kyle
London, 1527. Unwilling to perish of boredom as an obedient wife, Honor Larke leaves the home of her ward to attend Her Majesty, Queen Catherine of Aragon. Angered by the humiliation heaped upon her mistress as Henry cavorts with Anne Boleyn and presses Rome for a divorce, Honor volunteers to carry letters to the Queen's allies. Swept into a tide of intrigue and danger that stretches across Europe, the Queen's lady is about to learn everything: about pride, passion, greed — and the conscience of the King.
Geek girls don't date dukes, Gina Lamm
Avery Russell was polishing some boots when a woman fell through the bedchamber mirror into his arms. All he could make out from her breathless babbling was some nonsense about "my one true love, Your Grace." Clearly the chit was mad if she couldn't tell a valet from a duke! As much as Avery wanted to give in and give her a good tumble, he knew it wouldn't be proper. No, he'd take as long as necessary to convince Leah that sometimes a duke just won't do.
Bowdrie, Louis L'Amour
It was a name that caused the most hardened gunmen to break out in a cold sweat. Chick Bowdrie. He could have ridden the outlaw trail, but the Texas Rangers recruited him because they didn't want to have to fight against him. Pursuing the most wanted men in the Southwest, he knew all too well the dusty trails, the bitter cattle feuds, the desperate killers and the quiet, weather-beaten, wind-blasted towns that could explode into action with the wrong word. He had sworn to carry out the law, but there were times when he had to apply justice with his fists and his guns. They called in the Rangers to handle the tough ones, and there was never a Ranger tougher or smarter than Bowdrie.
Heart of glass, Jill Marie Landis
When Colin forces Kate to promise his dying sister that together they will care for his niece and nephew, she complies. Having been orphaned herself, Kate realizes she must put the children's welfare above her own — even if it means a marriage of convenience. Can her persistent love and faith transform their uncertain future?
Meals in a jar, Julie Languille
Step-by-step, detailed instructions for creating natural breakfast, lunch, and dinner options that can be kept on a shelf and enjoyed at any time. From creamy tomato soup and artisan bread to lemon chicken piccata and chocolate cake, these scrumptious recipes allow even the most inexperienced chefs to serve gourmet dishes.
Code red, H. I. Larry
Book 2 in the interlinked Zac Power Mega Mission Super Series! Zac might have aced the first phase of the mission, but strange things are going on back at headquarters. What is the hologram projector, and why doesn't Zac's boss want him to know about it?
Dark tower, H. I. Larry
The second piece of the evil IRIS is hidden deep in a dangerous forest. Zac has to battle an army of androids, but there are more surprises in store.
High stakes, H. I. Larry
In the final phase of the mission, Zac is racing against the clock to stop the enemy. And the survival of GIB depends on his success.
Lunar strike, H. I. Larry
An enemy agent is out to steal billions of dollars from the bank computer that orbits the Earth. Will Zac be able to stop the theft without being blasted to space dust?
Swamp race, H. I. Larry
Zac has to find top-secret blueprints before his enemy does! But why are the blueprints hidden in the middle of the Murky Swamp?
Water blaster, H. I. Larry
The final piece of IRIS is hidden deep in the ocean, protected by an underwater minefield. Zac is running out of time to rescue his family and take IRIS before his enemies do. The whole world is at stake, and it all comes down to Zac…
Zac blasts off, H. I. Larry
Zac climbs high, H. I. Larry
Zac cracks down, H. I. Larry
Zac is off on Spy Camp to crack codes. Can he use his code-cracking skills to save Bladesville?
Zac heats up, H. I. Larry
Zac is off to Spy Camp for survival training. Can he get across the desert in time?
Zac jets on, H. I. Larry
Zac is off to Spy Camp — this time it's secret tunnels! Will he find a way out before the maze floods?
Zac runs wild, H. I. Larry
Even super boy spies have to learn their awesome spying skills somewhere! First readers can now follow Zac Power as he trains for his missions! Zac is off to Spy Camp to train animals. Will he escape from the angry lion?
Zac strikes out, H. I. Larry
Zac is off on spy camp to work on his karate. But can he beat a crazy karate robot?
Zac wipes out, H. I. Larry
Zac is off to Spy Camp for rescue training. Can he save his buddy from red-hot lava?
Stranger here : how weight-loss surgery transformed my body and messed with my head, Jen Larsen
Calling the gods, Jack Lasenby
Banishment is the cruellest punishment, and Selene is being driven out unjustly by her own people. A story of violence, love and courage, of leadership and betrayal, a tale of a young woman's heroic persistence against impossible odds.
The haystack, Jack Lasenby
It's the 1930s Depression, and Maggie's growing up without a mother in the little Waikato dairying township of Waharoa. Maggie has to make do with her father's friends, neighbours, and an old biddy who should know better but can't help herself. Maggie torments the boy down the road, sets fire to the dunny, helps with half the district to build a haystack, and sees the tragedy of unemployment. Along the way, she makes new friends, and receives kindness and help in learning what a girl needs to know.
Old Drumble, Jack Lasenby
Set in the small Waikato town of Waharoa in the 1930's. Jack Jackman is a young boy who wants to be a stock drover and has a special relationship with an old family friend, Andy the Drover. Andy shares yarns and adventures with Jack each week when he drives a mob of sheep or cattle through the main street with the help of his dog, Old Drumble and his horse, Nosy.
Into the darklands : unveiling the predators among us, Nigel Latta
Nigel Latta is a forensic psychologist. He spends his working life with the sort of people most of us would prefer to pretend didn't exist. In this ground-breaking book, Nigel takes us inside the minds of some of the most chilling characters to walk our streets. The journey is challenging, and though Nigel has trodden the path many times, he offers no sense of familiarity or contempt. Rather, there is a palpable sense of danger as he treads carefully through the present and past psychological mines strewn through the lives of his clients. His challenge is to make these people confront and admit the damage their actions have caused, and so minimise the risk of them reoffending.
Mothers raising sons : what every mother needs to know to save her sanity!, Nigel Latta
Why are boys so noisy? Why do they break things? Why are they fascinated with things that can burn, blind and cripple them? Why do they lose the gift of speech and get so smelly at adolescence? All this and more is revealed, with some surprising conclusions about what we think we know about the differences between boys and girls, and a few tilts at sacred cows.
The politically incorrect guide to teenagers : before your teenagers drive you crazy, Nigel Latta
Does your teenager sometimes leave you feeling so far out of your depth your head hurts? Has your teenage son lost the gift of speech? Does your teenage daughter blame you for everything, including global warming? Ever found yourself being frowned at, scowled at, or just plain screamed at for no good reason? Welcome to the teenage years — you are not alone. Nigel Latta has worked extensively with teenagers, and has seen every kind of kid, family, and problem you could possibly imagine — and many you probably couldn't. In this entertaining, informative, and practical book, he shares all the secrets of surviving the teenage years alive and with sanity intact.
Politically incorrect parenting : before your kids drive you crazy, Nigel Latta
Why is it so hard to be the parent you thought you would be? Do your kids sometimes make you feel your head is going to explode? Ever yelled at them until you were hoarse? Do you have days when you feel like making a run for the airport? For harassed parents struggling to understand why they end up screaming at their kids and tearing their hair out trying to make them understand that bad behaviour has inevitable consequences, this is the perfect book to help your family make it through the crucial first decade or so and still enjoy each other's company.
Viscount Breckenridge to the rescue, Stephanie Laurens
Heather Cynster steps out of her safe world and boldly attends a racy soiree. But her promising hunt is ruined by the supremely interfering Viscount Breckenridge, who whisks her out of scandal and straight into danger when a mysterious enemy seizes her, bundles her into a coach, and whisks her out of London. Now it’s up to the notorious Breckenridge to prove himself the hero she’s been searching for all along…
The secret life of James Cook, Graeme Lay
A fictionalised account of Captain James Cook's early life, The Secret Life of James Cook depicts in imaginative form Cook's early life and ambitions, his naval career in Canada and beyond and his marriage to Elizabeth and their family life. Drawing on his deep knowledge of the South Pacific and Australasia, novelist Graeme Lay recreates the peerless navigator's life up to, and including, his first circumnavigation of the world.
Tremble : sensual fables of the mystical and sinister, Tobsha Learner
In Wales, a young woman's sensuality is awakened by an outrageous inheritance. In Oklahoma, a rainmaker offers a drought-stricken town salvation at a controversial price. In Sydney, a record producer struggles to balance wife and mistress — until one of them takes matters into her own hands.
What a mother knows, Leslie Lehr
Michelle Mason can't remember that day, that drive, that horrible crash that killed the young man in her car. All she knows is she's being held responsible, and her daughter is missing. Despite a shaky marriage, a threatening lawsuit, and troubling flashbacks pressing in on her, Michelle throws herself into searching. Her daughter in the one person who might know what really happened that day, but the deeper Michelle digs, the more she questions the innocence of those closest to her, even herself.
Servants : a downstairs view of twentieth-century Britain, Lucy Lethbridge
Servants: A Downstairs View of Twentieth-century Britain is the social history of the last century through the eyes of those who served. From the butler, the footman, the maid and the cook of 1900 to the au pairs, cleaners and childminders who took their place seventy years later, a previously unheard class offers a fresh perspective on a dramatic century. Sweeping in its scope, extensively researched and brilliantly observed, Servants is an authoritative history that will change and challenge the way we look at society.
Lady of passion, Freda Lightfoot
Beautiful and talented actress, poet and fashion icon, Mary Robinson was one of the most famous women of her time — yet she died virtually penniless, her reputation in ruins. Mary was destined always to be betrayed by the men she loved — her father, her husband and, most seriously, by the Prince of Wales, later George IV, for whom Mary gave up her career, her husband and her independence, only to be cruelly abandoned. This is her enthralling story: a tale of ambition, passion, scandal and heartbreak.
Butterfly swords, Jeannie Lin
During China's infamous Tang Dynasty, a time awash with luxury yet littered with deadly intrigues and fallen royalty, betrayed Princess Ai Li flees before her wedding. Miles from home, with only her delicate butterfly swords for defense, she enlists the reluctant protection of a blue-eyed warrior. Battle-scarred, embittered Ryam has always held his own life at cheap value. Ai Li's innocent trust in him and honourable, stubborn nature make him desperate to protect her--which means not seducing the first woman he has ever truly wanted.
A girl like you, Maureen Lindley
Thirteen-year-old Satomi Baker is used to being different. It is 1939, and in rural west-coast California being half-white and half-Japanese gets you noticed. When war is declared, Satomi's father Aaron is one of the first to sign up, and he is sent to the base at Pearl Harbour. He never returns. News of the Japanese attack transmits through the Bakers' crackling radio. Satomi's strong, stoical mother Tamura is flung into a private realm of grief while all around them the world changes irrevocably. At Manzanar Satomi learns what it takes to survive, who she can trust, and what it means to be American.
The private papers of Eastern Jewel, Maureen Lindley
Peking, 1914. Eight-year-old Eastern Jewel, daughter of Prince Su's last concubine, peers from behind a carved screen as her father makes love to a bound-footed servant girl. This is a tale of sexual manipulation and self-discovery that spans three countries and a world war.
Pirate queen, Morgan Llywelyn
Told partly through letters written to her son Tibbot, Pirate Queen charts the gradual decline of the Gaelic chieftains and traditions of Ireland as Elizabeth Tudor, the 'Virgin Queen' of England, extended her power throughout Ireland by bribery and slaughter. It is a story of immense bravery and daring, as Granuaile takes on the great Norman lords, smuggles weapons and mercenaries for the Ulster Gaelic O'Donnell and O'Neill clans and finally goes to confront Elizabeth Tudor herself.
Letters from Everest : a New Zealander's account of the epic first ascent, George Lowe
Sixty years after the first ascent of Mount Everest, this unique book of letters from New Zealander George Lowe celebrates, in a very personal way, this most majestic of mountains. In this touching book, unpublished letters from the Lowe collection are brought together for the first time to describe the day-to-day moments of the historic 1953 Everest expedition.
The wedding bees, Sarah-Kate Lynch
When Sugar Wallace arrives in Manhattan with nothing but a hive full of bees, a mysterious past and an insistence on good manners and honey, life starts to change for all her needy neighbours and, finally, with the help of a certain busy Queen, even for Sugar herself.
Custardly Wart, pirate 3rd class, Alan MacDonald
At the Dankmarsh School for poor orphans, the children sleep four to a bed and exist on watery porridge. Teachers don't last long, and so when a new one arrives they are intrigued, especially since he has an eyepatch a huge moustache and calls himself the Captain. The Captain introduces new lessons: compass use, swordcraft and biscuit identification. On a school trip to visit the Black Barnacle, a ship owned by an 'old pal', it dawns on the children that the ship has cast off, and they are the new crew! Bound, they discover, for Doom Island and a perilous quest for hidden treasure, at the mercy of the Captain and his dastardly plan…
Trolls go home!, Alan MacDonald
When the Trolls move next door to the Priddles, both families find the other strange, which causes many misunderstandings.
Ah ha!, Jeff Mack
With simple repeated text the story follows the ups and downs of a frog's day.
The naked baron, Sally MacKenzie
New to London society and rather… awkward… Lady Grace Belmont would just as soon hide behind the palm trees as dance with a man she doesn't know. But Baron Dawson is on the hunt for a wife.
The naked duke, Sally MacKenzie
Sophisticated. Scandalous. In fact, Miss Sarah Hamilton, a proper Philadelphian, finds London society altogether shocking. How can it be that she has awakened from her innocent slumber to find herself in bed next to a handsome — and exceedingly naked — man? The laughing onlookers standing in the doorway are no help whatsoever and surely this amorous lunatic cannot be a duke, as he claims. She is compromised — though she most certainly will not marry him!
Surprising Lord Jack, Sally MacKenzie
Frances Hadley has managed her family's estate for years. So why can't she request her own dowry? She'll have to go to London herself and knock some sense into the men interfering in her life. With the nonsense she's dealt with lately, though, there's no way she's going as a woman. A pair of breeches and a quick chop of her red curls, and she'll have much less to worry about.
The castle in the forest, Norman Mailer
Who was Adolf Hitler? It's a question writers have been trying to answer for more than sixty years. But after thousands of biographies, histories, novels, and films, many fundamental questions remain: How do we explain Hitler's hatred? Where did it come from? Could it happen again? Norman Mailer sets out to respond to these and other crucial aspects of Hitler's personality in his compulsively readable new novel.
The sheik and the Christmas bride, Susan Mallery
Prince As'ad was a single father in desperate need of a nanny, and teacher Kayleen James was the only woman for the job. Soon the palace was in an uproar — all because of this spirited redhead. Losing his heart wasn't part of the arrangement, until Kayleen showed the sheik what he'd been missing.
There's always plan B, Susan Mallery
What does a stay-at-home mother do when her executive husband divorces her? She goes to plan B: restore her birthplace and maybe her heart along the way.
Under her skin, Susan Mallery
Lexi Titan can just see the headlines. All of Titanville will be buzzing. But, faced with thirty days to come up with two million dollars, she has no other choice. Agree to marry Cruz Rodriguez or lose everything — the successful day spa she built herself, her tyrant of a father's respect, and the long-standing competition with her sisters for the family business. Cruz will give her a cheque, and in six months they'll go their separate ways. But neither is prepared for their long-ago passion to throw a wrench into the perfect deal.
The unexpected millionaire, Susan Mallery
Millionaire Kane Dennison's first mistake had been carrying an injured Willow Nelson inside his home, which, as a rule, was off-limits. Of course, she'd needed his help, but his one kind gesture had her believing he was a nice man. He wasn't. His second mistake had been surrendering to passion after warning Willow to run away. Because a woman like her deserved better than a one-night stand. She believed in soul mates. He trusted no one — needed no one. And not even Willow was going to change him!
Depths, Henning Mankell
October 1914: the destroyer Svea emerged from the Stockholm archipelago bearing south-southeast. On board was Lars Tobiasson-Svartman, a naval engineer charged with making depth soundings to find a navigable channel for the Swedish navy. Close to the waters where soundings are taken Tobiasson-Svartman alights on a barren skerry, presumed uninhabited, and is surprised to discover there a young woman, Sara Fredrika. Despite her almost feral appearance, something about her strikes him to the core. The mission is a success and the Svea returns to Gothenburg. Tobiasson-Svartman, however, remains haunted by this chance encounter; his equilibrium has been disturbed, and he is now compelled to find any pretence to return to the remote islet.
Italian shoes, Henning Mankell
Once a successful surgeon, Frederick Welin now lives in self-imposed exile on an island in the Swedish archipelago. Nearly twelve years have passed since he was disgraced for attempting to cover up a tragic mishap on the operating table. One morning in the depths of winter, he sees a hunched figure struggling towards him across the ice. His past is about to catch up with him.
Kennedy's brain, Henning Mankell
When archaeologist Louise Cantor's son Henrik is found dead in his flat, she refuses to believe it was suicide. Clues that only a mother could detect lead her to believe something more sinister took place. Henrik had kept many things back from her and she is shocked to learn he had contracted HIV. Louise's quest to unravel the mystery surrounding her son's death takes her to Africa; a continent rife with disease, poverty and corruption.
The return of the dancing master, Henning Mankell
This tale marks the end of the Kurt Wallander mysteries and yet leads back to Wallander's Ystad, where a new series of thrillers can begin. Stefan Lindman investigates the murder of a former police colleague and to his horror uncovers links to a global web of neo-Nazi activity.
Our lives are the rivers, Jaime Manrique
Set against the majestic geography of the Andes, this novel tells the story of Manuela Saenz, who won her place in history as the great love of the South American liberator Simon Bolivar. Manuela Saenz's life is fascinating in its own right. Abandoning her position as one of the richest women in Lima, Saenz worked with underground conspirators to overthrow the corrupt representatives of the Spanish Crown. This road eventually led to her meeting with Bolivar in 1822, when she was twenty-five. Their attraction was immediate and they remained lovers for eight years, until Bolivar's death. During this tumultuous period, Saenz fought in various battles, attaining the rank of colonel, and was eventually incarcerated, wounded, and exiled for life from Colombia and Ecuador.
Death in a white tie ; Overture to death ; Death at the bar, Ngaio Marsh
Three Inspector Alleyn mysteries.
Surfeit of Lampreys ; Death & the dancing footman ; Colour scheme, Ngaio Marsh
Three Inspector Alleyn mysteries.
The Queen's Head, Edward Marston
His name was Will Fowler, an actor in the esteemed theatrical company called Lord Westfield's Men, a vibrant young man flushed from the success of a recent performance at the Queen's Head theatre. So exuberant was he that he persuaded the resourceful manager of the company, Nicholas Bracewell, to quaff a pint or two at a nearby pub. Alas, it was to be Will's last taste of beer. A bar-room brawl left him dead — but not before he gasped for Nicholas to find his fast-fleeting, red-bearded murderer and administer a just revenge.
Nicholas and Alexandra, Robert K. Massie
Offers an account of the last of the Romanov dynasty, the love affair of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra, their family, their involvement with Rasputin, and the revolution that transformed imperial Russia.
After her, Joyce Maynard
Summer, 1979. A dry, hot Northern California school vacation stretches before Rachel and her younger sister, Patty the daughters of a larger-than-life, irresistibly handsome (and chronically unfaithful) detective father and the mother whose heart he broke. When young women start turning up dead on the mountain, the girls' father is put in charge of finding the murderer known as the "Sunset Strangler." Watching her father's life slowly unravel as months pass and more women are killed, Rachel embarks on her most dangerous game yet using herself as bait to catch the killer. But rather than cracking the case, the consequences of Rachel's actions will destroy her father's career and alter forever the lives of everyone she loves. Thirty years later, still haunted by the belief that the killer remains at large, Rachel constructs a new strategy to smoke out the Sunset Strangler and vindicate her father — a plan that unexpectedly unearths a long-buried family secret.
Irish linen, Candace. McCarthy
Meghan McBride owes her life to the elegant stranger who saved her from a brutal attacker. Death had cruelly taken away her father on this long voyage to America, leaving her alone and prey to the dangers that lay beyond her Irish homeland. Now, in need of a man's protection until they reach Delaware's shores, she agrees to pose as Lucas Ridgely's bride-to-be.
The widows of Braxton County, Jess McConkey
Kate is ready to put her nomadic, city-dwelling past behind her when she marries Joe Krause and moves with him to the Iowa farm that has been in his family for more than 140 years. As Kate struggles to find her place in the small farming community, she begins to realise that her husband and his family are nor who she thought they were. According to town gossip, the Krause family harbours a long-kept secret about a mysterious death that haunts Kate as a dangerous, unexplainable chain of events begins.
The ballad of Desmond Kale, Roger McDonald
In the early 1800s, out of the prison society of governors, redcoats, English gaolers, Irish convicts, and the few free settlers of Botany Bay, no one had ventured much farther inland than a few dozen miles from Sydney. Or so it was believed until the escape of Desmond Kale and the vengeance of his rival, the wildly eccentric parson magistrate Matthew Stanton. The alchemy of wool fascinates, threatens, and transforms when it is discovered that fine wool thrives in New South Wales as nowhere else in the world, producing veritable gold on sheep's backs. The Ballad of Desmond Kale is both a love story of unusual interest and an epic novel of greed, ambition, conceit, and redemption.
King's wrath, Fiona McIntosh
Alliances shift as decades-old secrets can no longer be hidden. The revelation that Emperor Loethar and his enemy, King Leonel, share the same paternal royal blood destroys previous loyalties. As the empire threatens to tear itself to pieces, former enemies must now work on the same side and friends become the hunted to protect the imperial line.
Royal exile, Fiona McIntosh
A terrifying army of mercenaries and renegades led by Loethar, a ruthless tyrant, plans to overthrow King Brennus of Penraven, 9th of the Valisars. Loethar is convinced that if he consumes these empowered people he will then be imbued with their skills and magic and be unstoppable.
Tyrant's blood, Fiona McIntosh
Ten years have passed since Loethar, the barbarian warlord from the Likurian steppes, devoured the Devona Set, decimating their ruling families. Believing the Valisar heirs of Penraven to be dead, he has styled himself as emperor and continues his efforts to integrate his people into the native population.
The whisperer, Fiona McIntosh
Griff is an ordinary boy, working at a circus, but he has an extraordinary ability. He can receive people's thoughts, although in an unfocussed way. When the circus master decides to exploit this talent, disaster ensues. Griff decides to escape, taking fellow circus member Tess and her magical creatures with him.
Tikanga Māori : living by Māori values, Hirini Moko Mead
Professor Hirini Moko Mead's comprehensive survey of tikanga Māori (Māori custom) is the most substantial of its kind every published. Ranging over topics from the everyday to the esoteric, it provides a breadth of perspectives and authoritative commentary on the principles and practice of tikanga Māori past and present.
Pomegranate soup, Marsha Mehran
Three Iranian sisters — Marjan, Layla, and Bahar Aminpour — flee the turmoil of the Islamic Revolution in their native country to seek refuge in Ireland, where they open the exotic Babylon Cafe.
The devil's ribbon, D. E. Meredith
Tapped by Scotland Yard to help stop a series of violent murders during a sweltering mid-19th-century London summer, forensic scientist Adolphus Hatton and his trusty assistant, Albert Roumande, find the case complicated by a religious agitator's bombing campaign, an outbreak of cholera, and a beautiful woman.
Sea Monster and the bossy fish, Kate Messner
Being kind is a big job, but nothing's too big for a sea monster. Not even taking on the new fish in school, who's great… except when he's pushing people around. This funny, charming twist on dealing with a bully will reassure and delight the smallest children and the biggest sea monsters alike.
The Boneshaker, Kate Milford
When Jake Limberleg brings his travelling medicine show to a small Missouri town in 1913, thirteen-year-old Natalie senses that something is wrong and, after investigating, learns that her love of automata and other machines make her the only one who can set things right.
Snowdrops, Andrew Miller
A. D. Miller's Snowdrops is a psychological drama that unfolds over the course of one Moscow winter, as a young Englishman's moral compass is spun by the seductive opportunities revealed to him by a new Russia: a land of hedonism and desperation, corruption and kindness, magical dachas and debauched nightclubs; a place where secrets — and corpses — come to light only when the deep snows start to thaw — Snowdrops is a chilling story of love and moral freefall: of the corruption, by a corrupt society, of a corruptible young man.
From tiny acorns : the Kenny Baker Story, Ken Mills
Kenny Baker had been successful in show business for many years before George Lucas selected him for the role of R2D2 and the book recounts his life from a baby up to present day. Having been sent to boarding school following the breakdown of his parents' marriage he literally picked himself up despite his physical adversities and went on to appear in films such as Willow, Sleeping Beauty, Labyrinth, Mona Lisa, Amadeus, Time Bandits, The Elephant Man and of course Star Wars. As part of the popular musical/comedy duo The Minitones he has travelled extensively and the book also tells of the personal tragedies he has had to endure along the way.
The restraint of beasts, Magnus Mills
Building high-tension fencing with a couple of rural Scots louts — what could be a more likely premise for a black comedy? An eerie noir fable told in a grim, deadpan voice, The Restraint of Beasts tells the story of an English fence-builder promoted to foreman over two under-motivated labourers. They've just been sent out to fix a badly done fence when events go horribly awry — and not for the last time either. For the rest of the novel, as his charges drink, loaf and pound the occasional fence-post, events go badly amiss over and over again.
The dead summer, Helen Moorhouse
Leaving behind a broken marriage and a city life she no longer wants to lead, Martha Armstrong takes her baby daughter to start again in the beautiful English countryside. Living in a tranquil cottage in the heat of a perfect summer, it seems that all her wishes have come true. Until the noises start. Plagued by mysterious footsteps, scratchings, and crying in the night, Martha is at first unnerved and then terrified. What is happening to her idyllic existence? Is it all her imagination or is someone persecuting her?
The derby girl, Tamara Morgan
Roller derby girl Gretchen "Honey Badger" Badgerton lives in the moment, no apologies. Like every woman in Pleasant Park with a pulse, she finds Dr. Jared Fine irresistible, but she's taken by surprise when her unattainable new neighbour asks her out.
Summon up the blood, Roger Morris
London, 1914. A killer is at liberty in the dark alleys of the city. The cadavers of his victims all have one thing in common: there is no blood in their bodies. As the killer's reign of terror continues, Scotland Yard's Detective Inspector Silas Quinn finds his suspicions focusing on the members of an exclusive gentleman's club. Atmospheric and macabre, Summon Up the Blood takes the reader on a disturbing yet fascinating journey through London's aristocratic watering holes, seedy brothels and shadowy underworld in the turbulent months leading up to World War I.
Parishioner, Walter Mosley
In a small town a simple church of white stone sits atop a hill on the coast. This nameless house of worship is a sanctuary for the worst kinds of sinners: the congregation and even the clergy have broken all ten Commandments and more. One day a woman arrives to seek absolution for the guilt she has carried for years over her role in a scheme to kidnap three children and sell them on the black market. As part of atoning for his past life on the wrong side of the law, Ecks is assigned to find out what happened to the abducted children. As he follows the thin trail of the twenty-three-year-old crime, he must struggle against his old, lethal instincts — and learn when to give in to them.
The returned, Jason Mott
When their son Jacob, who died tragically at his 8th birthday party in 1966, arrives on their doorstep, still 8 years old, Harold and Lucille Hargrave must navigate a strange new reality as chaos erupts around the world as people's loved ones are returned from beyond.
A royal pain, Megan Mulry
Smart, ambitious, and career driven, Bronte Talbot started following British royalty in the gossip mags only to annoy her intellectual father. When she starts dating a charming British doctoral student, she teases him unmercifully about the latest scandals of his royal countrymen, only to find out — to her horror!!? that she's been having a fling with the nineteenth Duke of Northrop, and now he wants to make her…a duchess? In spite of her frivolous passion for all things royal, Bronte isn't at all sure she wants the reality. Is becoming royalty every American woman's secret dream, or is it a nightmare of disapproving dowagers, paparazzi, stiff-upper-lip tea parties, and over-the-top hats?
Fatal storm : the 54th Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Robert Mundle
The Sydney to Hobart yacht race is one of the world's major sporting events. In 1998, it became one of the world's major sporting disasters. Six sailors tragically perished and numerous yachts sank or were badly damaged. The subsequent search and rescue operation was one of the most phenomenally accomplished peacetime efforts the world has ever seen. In this fully updated edition to mark the 10th anniversary of the tumultuous race, Rob Mundle, one of Australia's leading journalists and yachtsmen, tells this story of challenge and survival with compassion, vigour and understanding.
Put what where? : over 2000 years of bizarre sex advice, John Naish
Hilarious miscellany of sex advice throughout the ages from seven-week long Balinese foreplay and Victorian Viagra to swinging tips from the 1970s. It is one of the oldest questions in the world: How do you do sex? And it has prompted some of the most stupid answers in human history. Since the dawn of civilisation, a bizarrely eccentric host of self-appointed experts has befuddled, frightened and confused questioners by selling them bull about the birds and bees. Here, then, is the cream of thousands of years of advice on where, when and how to put it, how to receive it, what to spread on it first and how to spend your time after it's all over. It makes you wonder how humankind ever got this far.
The mother of Mohammed : an Australian woman's extraordinary journey into Jihad, Sally. Neighbour
Born and raised in Mudgee, New South Wales, Rabiah Hutchinson seems an unlikely jihadist. But this former country girl turned marijuana-smoking beach bunny and hippy backpacker is a veteran of the global holy war. Hutchinson spent four years working as a doctor in a mujahideen hospital and orphanage on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the early 1990s. She later returned to Afghanistan under the Taliban and married a leading al-Qaeda ideologue and member of Osama bin Laden's inner circle. Today Rabiah Hutchinson is one of the most watched women in the world. So who is this mysterious black-veiled woman, with the broad Australian accent and fiery Scottish temperament? This is Rabiah Hutchinson's story.
Diamonds at dinner : my life as a lady's maid in a 1930s stately home, Hilda Newman
The year was 1935: the twilight of the English aristocracy. As personal maid to Lady Coventry, Hilda had a unique insight into the leisured life of one of Britain's most noble families. In her fascinating memoir of life upstairs and down, Hilda takes us back to a gilded era which would be brutally swept away by the Second World War. Hers is a very personal story of being transplanted from a tiny house with no bath or hot water to an eighteenth-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by parkland landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.
The book of blood : from legends and leeches to vampires and veins, H. P. Newquist
HP Newquist's thrilling volume explores the dark and often fascinating tales about blood, from ancient history to modern science with an occasional side trip to explore the stranger aspects and our relationship to it. Though common among living creatures, blood is anything but ordinary. Without it. there would be no fish, nor mammals, and no humans.
The cooking caveman, Jeff Nimoy
Did you know that cavemen didn't have cancer? They didn't have heart disease either. Nor did they have diabetes. They didn't even have tooth decay! This isn't a book about archaeology or anthropology, so you'll have to look up that research on your own, you lazy bastards. This is a book on how what many people perceive to be a "fad" diet transformed me into a healthy, skinny, ripped human machine, without much exercise at all.
She wolves : the notorious Queens of Medieval England, Elizabeth Norton
Deals with the bad girls of England's medieval royal dynasties — the queens who earned themselves the reputation of being somehow notorious. This title reveals much about the role of the medieval queen and the evolution of the role that led, ultimately, to the reign of Elizabeth I and a concept of queenship.
The chisellers, Brendan O'Carroll
The Browne brood is about to be relocated to the wilds of suburban Finglas when their tenement is demolished as part of an 'Inner City Renewal Plan.' With the help of her ambitious eldest boy and her persistent French suitor, Agnes copes with the ups and downs of 'rural' life, one unscrupulous gangster, and the son who is well on his way to breaking his mother's heart.
The granny, Brendan O'Carroll
At forty-seven years of age Agnes, now thirteen years happily widowed, enters the 1980s with a fruit stall in Moore Street, a French lover and six children, five of them in their twenties. Becoming a grandmother is a terrible shock to her system, especially as Agnes suffers every one of her daughter-in-law's labour pains! And as the family expands so do the problems — one son's inevitable brush with the law, the heartbreak of emigration. But Agnes Browne is nothing if not a fighter, and she squares her shoulders, offers up a quick one to her departed pal, Marion, and sets about getting things back on an even keel — or as even as things ever get in the Brown household!
The mammy, Brendan O'Carroll
Agnes Browne is a widow of only a few hours when she goes to the Social Welfare Office. Living in James Larkin Flats, with Redser’s legacy — seven little Brownes — to support on the income from her Moore Street stall, she can't afford to miss a day's pension. Life is like that for Agnes and her best pal Marion. But they still have time for a laugh and a jar, and Agnes even has a dream — that one day she will dance with Cliff Richard.
Lydia Bennet's story, Jane Odiwe
The road to matrimony is fraught with difficulties and even when Lydia Bennet is convinced that she has met the man of her dreams, complications arise. When Lydia is reunited with the Bennets, Bingleys, and Darcys for a grand ball at Netherfield Park, the shocking truth about her husband may just cause the greatest scandal of all.
Mr. Darcy's secret, Jane Odiwe
Shortly after their marriage, Elizabeth begins to find evidence that Darcy may have something to hide — old love letters hidden in a book and a young man of questionable parentage, to start. Caroline Bingley and George Wickham begin to besmirch Darcy's good name and sow seeds of discontent, but while Darcy and Elizabeth are already at odds, revelations of past conduct emerge that threaten to destroy their happiness.
Willoughby's return, Jane Odiwe
Three years after the events of Sense and sensibility, Willoughby's return throws Marianne into a tizzy of painful memories and feelings of uncertainty. With Brandon away and Willoughby determined to win her back, will she find the strength to save her marriage — or will the temptation of a previous love be too powerful to resist?
The coldest night, Robert Olmstead
Henry Childs is just seventeen when he falls into a love affair so intense it nearly destroys him. To escape the wrath of the young girl's father, Henry joins the Marines, arriving in Korea on the eve of the brutal battle of the Chosin Reservoir — the defining moment of the Korean War. There he confronts an enemy force far beyond the scope of his imagining, but the challenges he meets upon his return home, scarred and haunted, are greater by far.
The Grace girls, Geraldine O'Neill
The Grace girls are lucky to have such a caring family around them. It's a dangerous world out there and there are plenty of pitfalls and temptations ahead of two young women in search of adventure.
The virtuoso, Sonia Orchard
This striking debut novel is inspired by the real-life Australian pianist Noel Mewton-Wood, and vividly evokes the music world of London in the 1940s and 50s. The unnamed narrator, a young music student, idolises Noel from the moment he first sees him on the concert platform during the war. When they finally meet, on the narrator's 17th birthday, they quickly become lovers. For the younger man, this is a sublime, overwhelming passion. But it soon becomes apparent that for Noel, this is just another, though very pleasant, affair. As the years pass, and the narrator deals with the demons of his past and the crippling pain that thwarts his own musical ambitions, he continues to mix in the same circles as Noel — always carrying the memory of their affair and the possibility of rekindling it. But while the narrator sees Noel's career as one of unimpeded success and brilliance, the truth is rather different, and when Noel faces a major crisis, the one who has loved him for so long is forced to confront a shattering truth.
Collision, Joanna Orwin
In 1772 a disastrous collision in the Southern Ocean saw French expedition leader, Monsieur Marc Joseph Marion du Fresne, bring the tall ships Marquis de Castries and Mascarin into the Bay of Islands, northern New Zealand, seeking fresh water and new spars. Through the eyes of Andre Tallec, a young ensign, and his counterpart, Te Kape, favoured protégé of local chief Te Kuri, the events of the next two months unfold with harrowing tension and a sense of impending doom. Blinded by the apparent goodwill of the Naturals and his belief in French superiority, Marion misunderstands their interactions with local Māori. Each day, the French unwittingly transgress further. Te Kuri and his fellow chiefs try every means at their disposal to encourage these strange tipua from the sea to leave them in peace, until only one course of honourable action remains. In a superb retelling of a collision of cultures doomed to end in tragedy, Joanna Orwin cleverly interweaves Māori and European perspectives, providing a vivid and compelling tale of loyalty, friendship, bloodshed and revenge from the age of encounter — when European and Polynesian first measured each other face to face.
Amelia Bedelia means business, Herman Parish
Young Amelia Bedelia will do almost anything for a shiny new bicycle. Her parents say they'll split the cost with her, and that means Amelia Bedelia needs to put the pedal to the metal and earn some dough! With Amelia Bedelia anything can happen, and it usually does.
Amelia Bedelia road trip!, Herman Parish
Fun and fiascos ensue when young Amelia Bedelia and her parents take a road trip through their state.
Amelia Bedelia unleashed, Herman Parish
Amelia Bedelia's request for a sibling takes her parents by surprise, but she is soon distracted by the possibility of finding the perfect puppy, instead.
Play me, I'm yours, Madison Parker
Lucas Tate suffers ridicule because of his appearance and sensitive nature. Much to his dismay, both his mum and a schoolmate are determined to find him a boyfriend, despite the fact Lucas hasn't come out to them. But Lucas is harbouring a crush on another boy, one who writes such romantic poetry to his girlfriend that hearing it melts Lucas into a puddle of goo. All three prospects seem so far out of his league Lucas is sure he doesn't stand a chance with any of them — until sharing his gift for music brings him the courage to let people into his heart.
Roses under the miombo trees : an English girl in Rhodesia, Amanda Parkyn
Amanda Parkyn's memoir focuses on her life in 1960s Southern and Northern Rhodesia. Based on the letters she wrote to her parents back in England, Roses Under the Miombo Trees covers significant events in Rhodesia's history as uniquely witnessed through the eyes of a young naive housewife.
Once I was a princess, Jacqueline Pascarl
In Melbourne, in the spring of 1980, Jacqueline Pascarl, then a trusting 17-year-old, met a young architecture student called Bahrin. They fell in love, made plans to marry and travelled to Bahrin's home, the oil-rich Islamic State of Terengganu, where they prepared for life as a royal couple — he as a Malaysian Prince, and she as his wife, Lady Yasmin. And then, things began to go horribly wrong.
A brief history of the House of Windsor, Mike Paterson
The British monarchy may be over a thousand years old, but the House of Windsor dates only from 1917, when, in the middle of the First World War that was to see the demise of the major thrones of continental Europe, it rebranded itself from the distinctly Germanic Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the homely and familiar Windsor. Since then, the fine line trodden by the House of Windsor between ancient and modern, grandeur and thrift, splendour and informality, remoteness and accessibility, and influence and neutrality has left it more secure and its appeal more universal today than ever.
Belladonna, Fiona Paul
Cass's fiancé Luca is arrested for heresy and Cass must travel to Florence to uncover the mystery of the Order of the Eternal Rose and save Luca's life.
Venom, Fiona Paul
In Renaissance Venice, orphaned Cassandra Caravello is one of the elite but feels trapped in the city of water until she stumbles upon a murdered woman and is drawn into a dangerous world of courtesans, grave robbers, and secret societies, guided by Falco, a mysterious and alluring artist.
Callander Square, Anne Perry
The Cater Street hangman, Anne Perry
While the Ellison girls were out paying calls and drinking tea like proper Victorian ladies, a maid in their household was strangled to death. The quiet and young Inspector Pitt investigates the scene and finds no one above suspicion. As his intense questioning causes many a composed facade to crumble, Pitt finds himself curiously drawn to pretty Charlotte Ellison. Yet, a romance between a society girl and so unsuitable a suitor was impossible in the midst of a murder….
Keeping faith, Jodi Picoult
Faith, a seven-year-old girl whose family is torn apart by divorce, begins talking to God and performing miracles, and her family enters a media circus of believers, critics, medical professionals, and lawyers.
The pact, Jodi Picoult
For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty. Parents and children alike are best friends — so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. They've been soul mates since they were born. When the midnight calls come in from the hospital, no one is prepared for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head as part of an apparent suicide pact. The gun holds a single unspent bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself, but a local detective has doubts. And the Hartes and Golds, in a single terrifying moment, must face every parent's worst fear: do we ever really know our children at all?
After the fire : a mystery of the Restoration playhouse, John Pilkington
In 1670, in the turbulent time following the Great Fire, a series of chilling murders shakes Restoration London. All are linked to the new Dorset Gardens Theatre where feisty young Betsy Brand is playing First Witch in Macbeth. It seems that a shadowy figure call The Salamander, who haunted London during the Fire, has returned to wreak cruel revenge on his enemies. With the authorities utterly baffled, Betsy takes on a new role as an investigator. She reasons that, perhaps, a clever, courageous actress can unravel the deepening mystery. But soon she faces a more terrible foe than ever stalked upon a stage — and finds her own life is at stake.
The wives : the women behind Russia's literary giants, Alexandra Popoff
"Behind every good man is a good woman" is a common saying, but when it comes to literature, the relationship between spouses is even that much more complex. F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, and D. H. Lawrence used their marriages for literary inspiration and material, sometime at the expense of their spouses' sanity. In Russian literary marriages, however, the wives of some of the most famous authors of all time did not resent taking a "secondary position," although to call their position secondary does not do justice to the vital role these women played in the creation of some of the greatest literary works in history. From Sophia Tolstoy to Vera Nabokov, Elena Bulgakov, Nadezdha Mandelstam, Anna Dostevsky, and Natalya Solzhenitsyn, these women ranged from stenographers and typists to editors, researchers, translators, and even publishers. Many of these women were the writers' intellectual companions and made invaluable contributions to the creative process. And their husbands knew it.
The sweet dead life, Joy Preble
After dying in a car accident, fourteen-year-old Jenna's older brother returns as an angel to help Jenna solve a mystery that not only holds the key to her survival, but also to their mother's mysterious depression and their father's disappearance.
Haxby's Circus, Katharine Susannah Prichard
Welcome to Haxby's Circus — the lightest, brightest little show on earth. From Bendigo to Narrabri, travelling the long and dusty roads between harvest fields, the Haxby family and their troupe — acrobats, contortionists, wirewalkers, clowns and wild beasts — perform under the glaring lights of the big top. But away from the spotlight and superficial glamour of the circus the real, and sometimes tragic, lives of the performers are exposed: their hopes and dreams, successes and failures, the drudgery of life on the road.
A court affair, Emily Purdy
Uncovering the love triangle between Queen Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley, and his wife Amy, and her mysterious death, A Court Affair is an unforgettable story of ambition, lust and jealousy.
Jo MacDonald hiked in the woods, Mary Quattlebaum
Old MacDonald had a … woods? Yes! Come along with Jo MacDonald and learn about the wild creatures in the woods at her grandfather's farm. Noisy ones, quiet ones, and a few surprises. This delightful variation on "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" playfully introduces youngsters to the woodland habitat while engaging little ones with rhythm and wordplay.
The unlikely lavender queen : a memoir of unexpected blossoming, Jeannie Ralston
The autobiography of a rural Tennessee woman who moved to Manhattan, became a successful magazine writer, fell in love with a National Geographic photographer, and moved with him to Texas, and ended up helping to run a lavender farm.
The Devil of Clan Sinclair, Karen Ranney
In order to save her family's estate after her husband dies, Virginia Traylor, Countess of Barrett, in desperate need of an heir, tricks the man she once loved, Scottish warrior Macrath Sinclair, into getting her pregnant, but her clever plan quickly unravels when he discovers her deception.
Squirrels on skis, J. Hamilton Ray
Squirrels on skis take over a town, wreaking havoc among the human residents, until a girl reporter comes up with a creative solution.
The silence, Sarah Rayne
Antiques dealer Nell West is valuing the contents of her late husband Brad's childhood home, Stilter House. Set on the remote Derbyshire Peaks, there was once a much older property there, in which the notorious Isobel Acton committed a vicious crime. Warned against visiting the house by an elderly aunt of Brad's, Nell hears mysterious piano music soon after her arrival. It becomes clear that the music is tangled with Isobel Acton's macabre fate more than a hundred years earlier.
The lost days, Rob Reger
Emily the Strange: 13 years old. Able to leap tall buildings, probably, if she felt like it. More likely to be napping with her four black cats; or cobbling together a particle accelerator out of lint, lentils, and safety pins; or rocking out on drums/guitar/saxophone/zither; or painting a swirling feral sewer mural; or forcing someone to say "swirling feral sewer mural" 13 times fast…and pointing and laughing.
Angus thongs and full-frontal snogging : confessions of Georgia Nicolson, Louise Rennison
Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighbourhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.
Knocked out by my nunga-nungas : further further confessions of Georgia Nicolson, Louise Rennison
A midsummer tights dream, Louise Rennison
Tallulah's triumphant Heathcliff in 'Wuthering Heights' the comedy musical was enough to secure her place at Dother Hall performing arts college for another term. She can't wait to see her pals again, Charlie and the boys from Woolf Academy and maybe even bad boy Cain! When an international visitor comes to stay could the bright lights of Broadway be calling? And for who? Find out in the next Misadventures of Tallulah Casey.
Wild girls, wild boys, wild tights : the taming of the tights, Louise Rennison
The tights run wild and free in hilarious new novel from the Queen of Comedy! Tallulah Casey is putting all thoughts of wild boy Cain behind her. He is literally an animal in trousers… oo-er. Not like nice boy Charlie (who she's totally not thinking about either). The Tree Sisters are chasing those golden slippers of applause at performing arts college but Dr Lightowler seems hell-bent on spoiling everything for Tallulah. And with all her mates loved up, can Tallulah resist the call of her wild boy?
Constable on the hill, Nicholas Rhea
During his final days at Aidensfield, Nick has much to consider. There are duties to complete as he struggles to balance his family's needs against the demands of the police service. Nick is challenged to solve a centuries-old Aidensfield murder mystery but is also expected to trace a coal thief before he burns the evidence.
The dog lived (and so will I) : a memoir, Teresa J. Rhyne
Teresa Rhyne was excited to begin her new life with her new man — and a new dog? As luck would have it, the unruly beagle Seamus found his way into her home just when they needed each other most. Having quickly become a beloved companion, the dog's cancer diagnosis came as a devastating blow to Teresa, forcing her to learn everything about treatment. She couldn't have possibly known then that she was preparing herself for life's next hurdle — a cancer diagnosis of her own. Following Seamus' lead, she took an unorthodox approach to survival. This book chronicles the unlikely pair on their poignant and often hilarious road to recovery.
The art of happiness, Matthieu Ricard
A molecular biologist turned Buddhist monk draws on both Eastern and Western teachings to offer insight into how to develop one's internal self for true happiness, in a guide that covers such topics as the fundamental pursuit of a meaningful life, developing new patterns of interaction with the outside world, and meditation.
The art of meditation, Matthieu Ricard
A number one bestseller in France, this is an elegant and inspiring short guide to the art of meditation: another instant classic from the bestselling author of Happiness. Wherever he goes, Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard is asked to explain what meditation is, how it is done and what it can achieve. In this elegant, authoritative and entirely accessible book, he sets out to answer these questions.
Candlenight, Phil Rickman
The remote mountain village of Y Groes is small, friendly and very alluring — the perfect escape from the city. But this community hides an ancient, bloody and pagan secret, and outsiders are not at all welcome…
The wine of angels, Phil Rickman
Merrily Watkins: late thirties, single mum, parish priest. Cosy? I don't think so… The new vicar had never wanted a picture-postcard parish — or a huge and haunted vicarage. Nor had she wanted to walk into a dispute over a controversial play about a seventeenth-century clergyman accused of witchcraft… a story that certain long-established families would rather remained obscure.
The insatiable moon, Michael Riddell
Arthur, who believes himself to be the second son of God, lives at a boarding house in Ponsonby with all the other ex-psych patients released into community care, only to find themselves washed up on the shores of 'cappuccino city' — unwanted and struggling to cope with life on the outside, as their home is threatened with closure. A gentle giant of a man, Arthur realizes his time has finally come, and he has two important tasks to complete before the end. He must let people know that judgment is coming, and he needs to find the Queen of Heaven, with whom he will father a miraculous child.
More than you know, Nan Parson Rossiter
Losing her father on the night she was born could have torn Beryl Graham's family apart. Instead, it knitted them together. Under their mother's steady guidance, Beryl and her older sisters, Isak and Rumer, shared a childhood filled with happiness. But now Mia Graham has passed away after battling Alzheimer's, and her three daughters return to their New Hampshire home to say goodbye. Swept up in memories and funeral preparations, the sisters catch up on each other's lives. And as Beryl, Rumer, and Isak face a future without her, they realize it's never too late to heed a mother's lessons about taking chances, keeping faith, and loving in spite of the risks.
The unknowns, Gabriel Roth
It's not easy to pursue the most alluring woman in North America when you're a misfiring circuit of over-analytical self-doubt and she has a way with a killer line and a perfectly raised eyebrow. Even, that is, when you've survived your teen years as an outcast in the school computer room to become a dot com millionaire. But as Eric Muller refines his email technique, his date patter, and his ability to shut up after sex, he finds there's more to Maya Marcom than meets the eye.
Asylum, Madeleine Roux
For sixteen-year-old outcast Dan Crawford, the summer programme at New Hampshire College Prep is a lifeline. Finally, a chance to make some friends before college. Even if that means staying in a dorm that used to be a old asylum. Soon Dan's hanging out with Abby and Jordan, and summer is looking up. As Dan, Abby and Jordan explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. And that some secrets refuse to stay buried.
Love, honour and O'Brien, Jennifer Rowe
"She stared into the speckled mirror, wondering how she had come to this. How could she, Holly Love, apple of her parents' eye, competent manipulator of invoices in Gorgon Office Supplies, have ended up alone and starving in a dead man's flat?" How indeed? Most reluctant heroines would throw in the towel at this point. But Holly Love is made of sterner stuff.
All I want, Lynsay Sands
All Lady Prudence wants for Christmas is to keep her family out of the poorhouse. Easily done if her father would stop gambling away what little is left of their fortune. But when Pru arrives at London's most notorious gaming hell to haul her father home, she marches right into its wickedly handsome and utterly infuriating proprietor, Lord Stockton, who has no intention of letting a lady into his establishment.
Devil of the Highlands, Lynsay Sands
They call him the Devil … He is the most notorious laird of Scotland: fierce, cold, deadly … and maybe even worse. Yet Evelinde has just agreed to wed him. Anything, she thinks, is better than her cruel stepmother. Though Evelinde should be wary of the rumours, she can't help but be drawn to this warrior … for the Devil of the Highlands inspires a heat within her that is unlike anything she has ever known.
An English bride in Scotland, Lynsay Sands
When Annabel's mother tells her that, instead of becoming a nun, she must marry Scottish laird Ross MacKay, who was betrothed to her runaway sister, both Annabel and Ross struggle to adjust to their unexpected new life together.
Three French hens, Lynsay Sands
Brinna, a twelfth-century servant, gets the chance to play a lady - and win the true love of an impoverished lord. Her fate changes when a new guest, Lady Joan, arrives at the castle. Desperate to escape her arranged marriage to Royce of Thurleah, Joan suggests that look-alike Brinna take her place at the Christmas festivities. Suddenly, Brinna finds herself being wooed by a true gentleman, getting perhaps the best Christmas present of all: a new life.
Black and white, bright and bold : 24 quilt projects to piece & appliqué, Kim Schaefer
Bold black-and-white designs with bright accent colours bring a graphic modern style to your table, walls, or sofa. These quilts are easy to customize by using your own favourite colours as accents. The sewing is easy, too, with Kim's simple piecing techniques and fusible appliqué.
Swimming in the moon, Pamela Schoenewaldt
Italy, 1905. Fourteen-year-old Lucia and her young mother, Teresa, are servants in a magnificent villa on the Bay of Naples, where Teresa soothes their unhappy mistress with song. But volatile tempers force them to flee to Cleveland's restless immigrant quarters. With a voice as soaring and varied as her moods, Teresa transforms herself into the Naples Nightingale on the vaudeville circuit. Clever and hardworking, Lucia blossoms in school until her mother's demons return, fracturing Lucia's dreams. Yet Lucia is not alone in her struggle for a better life.
When we were strangers, Pamela Schoenewaldt
Chronicles the tumultuous life journey of a young immigrant seamstress, as she travels from her isolated Italian mountain village through the dark corners of late nineteenth century America.
Candy Barr : the small-town Texas runaway who became a darling of the mob and the queen of Las Vegas burlesque, Ted Schwarz and Mardi Rustam
This is the story of the iconic Texan figure name Juanita Slusher, a.k.a Candy Barr. She was once a notorious burlesque dancer known for her athletic choreography and live music accompaniment, commanding as much as $2,000 a week in 1950s Vegas. But growing up as Juanita, her troubled life began when her sister sold her virginity for a dollar. She became a runaway and then was victimised by a Dallas ritual known as the capture, enslaving her in prostitution. Candy's fame included high profile lovers and friends, which ultimately complicated her life with jail time, drug charges, and a role in the investigation of President Kennedy's assassination.
Lessons from Madame Chic, Jennifer L. Scott
Have you ever wondered what everyday life is like inside a modern, aristocratic Parisian household or how the women of Paris always looks so impossibly and seemingly effortlessly chic? The French are notoriously secretive when it comes to their private lives but Lessons from Madame Chic at last reveals some insider secrets behind the style and passion for life that makes the rest of us so envious.
When love calls, Lorna Seilstad
Hannah Gregory is good at many things, but that list doesn't include following rules. So when she is forced to apply for a job as a telephone switchboard operator to support her two sisters, she knows it won't be easy. "Hello Girls" must conduct themselves according to strict — and often bewildering — rules. No talking to the other girls. No chatting with callers. No blowing your nose without first raising your hand. And absolutely no consorting with gentlemen while in training.
Umbrella, Will Self
Recently having abandoned his RD Laing-influenced experiment in running a therapeutic community — the so-called Concept House in Willesden — maverick psychiatrist Zack Busner arrives at Friern Hospital, a vast Victorian mental asylum in North London, under a professional and a marital cloud. He has every intention of avoiding controversy, but then he encounters Audrey Dearth, a working-class girl from Fulham born in 1890 who has been immured in Friern for decades. Realising that Audrey is just one of a number of post-encephalitics scattered throughout the asylum, Busner becomes involved in an attempt to bring them back to life — with wholly unforeseen consequences.
Bad blood, Mark Sennen
'We're going to find them, sort them, pay them back …' DI Charlotte Savage is back chasing a killer with a very personal grudge … Part thriller, part police procedural, a must-read for fans of Mark Billingham and Chris Carter.
The bone season, Samantha Shannon
In the mid-21st century major world cities are controlled by a formidable security force and clairvoyant underworld cell member Paige commits acts of psychic treason before being captured by an otherworldly race that would make her a part of their supernatural army.
Trophy cupcakes & parties! : deliciously fun party ideas and recipes from Seattle's prize-winning cupcake bakery, Jennifer Shea
Inside are recipes for Trophy Cupcakes and Party's most prized flavour — red velvet! — as well as their popular everyday flavours like salted caramel and triple chocolate, and unique ones such as pïna colada, and a gluten-free orange almond rose.
The unfinished child, Theresa Shea
Marie finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at 39. Meanwhile, her best friend, Elizabeth, has never been able to conceive, despite years of fertility treatments. In a genetic test routinely offered to older mothers, Marie discovers that the child she is carrying has Down syndrome. Intertwined throughout the novel is the story of Margaret, a woman who gave birth to a daughter with Down syndrome in 1947, when such infants were considered to be "unfinished" children. As the novel shifts through the decades, the lives of the three women converge, and the story speeds to an unexpected conclusion.
Six days in Leningrad : a memoir, Paullina Simons
The bronze horseman, Paullina Simons
In 1941, as the invading German army moves ever closer to Leningrad, sisters Tatiana and Dasha Metanov become embroiled in a turbulent romantic triangle when they both fall in love with the same man, a Red Army officer.
Skirt-a-day sewing : create 28 skirts for a unique look every day, Nicole Smith
Sew a month of skirts using four classic styles wrap, straight, flared, and high-waisted as your starting point. Draft custom-fit patterns for all four styles (complete instructions included), and then play with seven variations for each skirt silhouette. Before you know, it, you'll have 28 unique skirts, more than enough for every day and every occasion.
Hell on two wheels : an astonishing story of suffering, triumph, and the most extreme endurance race in the world, Amy Snyder
Profiles the Race Across America, the extreme bike race. Traces the stories of participants before, during, and after the controversial 2009 competition. Offers first-hand insight into the challenges that have resulted in numerous defeats, injuries, and deaths.
A night too dark, Dana Stabenow
When an abandoned pickup truck complete with suicide note leads a search party to find human remains that have clearly served as a snack for a bear, case closed — suicide by Alaska. But things get complicated when the dead man stumbles out of the wilderness and onto Kate's homestead weeks later. Kate and Trooper Jim Chopin must unravel the story of the man and the body, whoever he is, which is wrapped up in the politics of the Suulutaq Mine, a gold mine near Niniltna that is proving to be a breeding ground for trouble.
Restless in the grave, Dana Stabenow
Aleut private investigator Kate Shugak and Alaska State Trooper Liam Campbell the heroes of "New York Times" bestseller Stabenow's most beloved series team up for the first time ever when Liam needs Kate's help to clear his wife of the murder of a wealthy aviation entrepreneur.
Though not dead, Dana Stabenow
Kate Shugatand the rest of the Park rats are stunned by the death of Old Sam, Kate's eighty-seven-year-old uncle and foster father. In his will, he leaves almost everything to Kate, including a homestead deep in gold mining country that no one knew he had and a letter that reads simply, 'Find my father.' Easier said than done, since Sam's father is something of a mystery: an outsider who disappeared shortly after learning about Sam's existence, he took with him a priceless tribal artefact, a Russian icon.
Whisper to the blood, Dana Stabenow
Between two suspicious murders and a series of attacks on snowmobiles up the Kanuyaq River, part-time P.I. and newly elected chairman of the Niniltna Native Association Kate Shugak has her hands full.
A necklace of souls, R. L. Stedman
In a hidden kingdom a mysterious Guardian protects her people with the help of a magical necklace. But evil forces are also seeking the power of the necklace, and as the Guardian grows weaker these forces threaten to destroy the kingdom. With the help of her best friend, Will, and the enigmatic N'tombe, Dana, the rightful heir, must claim the power of the necklace and save her people.
Holiday crafting and baking with kids, Jessica Strand
Provides instructions for holiday crafts and baking projects that can be done with children.
Sophie's choice, William Styron
Stingo, a young southerner, who journeyed north in 1947 to become a writer becomes intellectually and emotionally entanglement with his neighbours in a Brooklyn rooming house. Nathan, a tortured, brilliant Jew, and his lover, Sophie, a beautiful Polish woman whose wrist bears the grim tattoo of a concentration camp … and whose past is strewn with death that she alone survived.
Ship sooner, Mary Sullivan
Possessing the ability to hear everyone and everything that goes on in her sleepy north shore Massachusetts community, lonely thirteen-year-old Ship Sooner learns a host of unsettling secrets before her best friend, Brian, goes missing.
100 ways to understand your cat, Roger K. Tabor
Everything you need to understand about your cat is here in this essential owner's handbook. Discover 100 fascinating aspects of your cat's habits and lifestyle, learn how your cat communicates with both you and their feline friends, and become confident in caring for your cat, for a happy and rewarding relationship.
Wing girl, Nic Tatano
Meet Belinda Carson, Wing Girl. She's a kick-ass, take-no-prisoners investigative reporter fighting for truth, justice and higher ratings. But while her fame draws in the hotties, it's unfortunate that you can't buy a new personality at Bloomingdales! Because up close and personal these unsuspecting suitors get fried by a snarky attitude that's sharp enough to slice a stale bagel…
Pursuing love and death, Heather Taylor Johnson
It is customary to bring gifts to a wedding. But as daughter Luna prepares to marry her dream husband, the Smith family instead have in tow their own idiosyncratic brands of emotional baggage.
Tenzing and the Sherpas of Everest, Judy & Tashi Tenzing
In 2003, the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa's historic ascent of Mount Everest, an event which became the defining moment in 20th-century adventure and delivered fame and glory to the men who took part in the expedition. All, perhaps, except Tenzing, who, after a brief honeymoon period with the world's media and political leaders, returned to his humble home in the hill station of Darjeeling, India, and never properly received the credit and plaudits he so richly deserved. Tenzing and the Sherpas of Everest is the inspiring story of this poor and illiterate man who left his small ancestral village in a remote part of the Himalayas and through grit, courage and sheer determination climbed the world's highest mountain and become a hero around the globe.
The secret to success, Eric Thomas
From homeless high school dropout to one of the most sought after motivational speakers in the country, Eric Thomas has truly found the Secret to Success. In this, his debut autobiography, Eric shares that secret with the rest of the world. By chronicling his days sleeping in abandoned buildings in the unforgiving Detroit winters, to his rise as a successful husband, father, CEO, educator and motivational speaker, Eric inspires the masses to reach greatness.
Not quite a husband, Sherry Thomas
A man as talented, handsome, and sought after by society as Leo Marsden couldn't possibly want to spend his entire life with a woman who rebelled against propriety by becoming a doctor. Why, then, three years after their annulment and half a world away, does he track her down at her clinic in the remotest corner of India?
Love and lament, John M. Thompson
Set in rural North Carolina between the Civil War and the Great War, Love and Lament chronicles the hardships and misfortunes of the Hartsoe family. Mary Bet, the youngest of nine children, was born the same year that the first railroad arrived in their county. As she matures, against the backdrop of Reconstruction and rapid industrialisation, she must learn to deal with the deaths of her mother and siblings, a deaf and damaged older brother, and her father's growing insanity and rejection of God.
A kind of vanishing, Lesley Thomson
A spellbinding mystery of obsession and guilt, this is also the poignant story of what happens to those left behind when a child vanishes without trace. It is the summer of 1968, the day Senator Robert Kennedy is shot. Two nine-year-old girls are playing hide and seek in the ruins of a deserted village. Alice has discovered a secret about Eleanor Ramsay's mother, and is taunting the other girl. When it is Eleanor's turn to hide, Alice disappears… Years later, an extraordinary turn of events opens up shocking truths for the Ramsay family and all who knew the missing girl.
Behind the candelabra : my life with Liberace, Scott Thorson with Alex Thorleifson
Scott Thorson, a poor boy from a succession of foster homes, met Liberace when he was just 16 years old. Liberace, aged 57, took Scott under his wing as 'the son he'd never had'. By the time Scott was 17, he was also Liberace's lover. By turns bizarre, shocking and touchingly intimate, Behind the Candelabra is a compulsive insight in to Liberace, the man behind the flamboyant performer whose successes provide a bright counterpoint to a darker tale of a man hungry for power, a man given to every excess.
The fall of Arthur, J. R. R. Tolkien
The first publication of a previously unknown narrative poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, which begins the extraordinary story of the final days of England's legendary hero, King Arthur, and includes text regarding the great quantity of drafting and experimentation in verse left by Tolkien.
Affection, Ian Townsend
January 1900: an outbreak of plague is suspected, and the Queensland Government sends Dr Alfred Jefferis Turner to assess the situation. Turner, armed with a microscope, a butterfly net and his lovelorn yet devoted colleague, Dr Linford Row, is met with incredulity, not least by local councillors who insist it's only typhoid!
The devil's eye, Ian Townsend
It is 1899, and one of the fiercest storms in history is brewing. To a remote part of the Queensland coast come the hundreds of sails of the northern pearling fleets, and a native policeman trying to solve a murder. Nearly two thousand men, women and children are gathering around Cape Melville, right in the path of the storm that is about to cause Australia's deadliest natural disaster.
The legacy, Kirsten Tranter
Ingrid inherits a fortune, leaves Australia and her friends and lover, to marry Gil Grey and set up home amid the New York art world. At 9 am on September 11 2001, she has an appointment downtown, and is never seen again. A year later, searching for clues about Ingrid's life, her friend Julie uncovers layers of mystery and deception…
The farmer's wife, Rachael Treasure
This inspirational and, at times, heart wrenching story revisits one of the most refreshing Australian heroines, Rebecca Saunders on her beloved property Waters Meeting. After marrying her party boy, Charlie Lewis, Rebecca finds herself lost in marriage, motherhood and a farm that fails to function. Can she heal her troubled relationship with Charlie and convince him to run the farm in a better way? Or will life take her down another track altogether?
Fifty bales of hay, Rachael Treasure
Come have a roll in the hay with one of Australia's leading rural fiction authors, Rachael Treasure, in her romping, rollicking first-ever collection of romantic stories, celebrating the sexy side of rural life. From the dairy shed to the Royal Agricultural Show pavilion, Treasure's cheeky satirical humour and wicked imagination offers up a dozen fun-filled, and sometimes poignant, tales of dust and lust. This collection will have you clamouring for a stock whip, a saddle and a jackaroo.
No shame, no fear, Ann Turnbull
1662 England is reeling from the after-effects of civil war, with its clashes of faith and culture. Seventeen-year-old Will returns home after completing his studies, to begin an apprenticeship arranged by his wealthy father. Susanna, a young Quaker girl, leaves her family to become a servant in the same town. Theirs is a story that speaks across the centuries, telling of love and the struggle to stay true to what is most important — in spite of parents, society and even the law. But is the love between Will and Susanna strong enough to survive — no matter what?
Pigeon summer, Ann Turnbull
It is 1930, the height of the Great Depression. Mary Dyer's father has left home in search of work, leaving his beloved racing pigeons in Mary's care — much to her mother's disapproval. During that long, hard summer there is barely enough money for bread, let alone pigeon feed, yet Mary clings to her dreams of racing glory, propelling her into ever deeper conflict with her mother.
Almost French : a new life in Paris, Sarah Turnbull
Twenty-something Sydney broadcast journalist Sarah Turnbull thinks that she'll take a year off, travel the world, and return home to Australia. But she doesn't count on meeting a charming Frenchman in Bucharest and then agreeing to visit him in Paris (a city that isn't even on her itinerary). Before she knows it, she's taking romantic strolls and falling in love… leading her to make France her permanent home.
The informers, Juan Gabriel Vasquez
When Gabriel Santoro publishes his first book, it never occurs to him that his father will write a devastating review in a leading newspaper. The book is about the life of a German Jewish woman who arrived in Colombia shortly before WWII. So why does his father attack him so viciously? Does his book unwittingly hide some dangerous secret?
The secret history of Costaguana, Juan Gabriel Vasquez
A tale inspired by Joseph Conrad's "Nostromo" follows the story of Colombian-born José Altamirano, who reveals his integral role in the classic's writing and who pens his own version of events against a backdrop of a flourishing twentieth-century London and lawless Panama.
The sound of things falling, Juan Gabriel Vasquez
No sooner does he get to know Ricardo Laverde than disaffected young Colombian lawyer Antonio Yammara realizes that his new friend has a secret, or rather several secrets.Shortly afterwards, Ricardo is shot dead on a street corner in Bogotá by a guy on the back of a motorbike and Antonio is caught in the hail of bullets. Lucky to survive, and more out of love with life than ever, he starts asking questions until the questions become an obsession that leads him to Laverde's daughter. His troubled investigation leads all the way back to the early 1960s, marijuana smuggling and a time before the cocaine trade trapped a whole generation of Colombians in a living nightmare of fear and random death.
Never to sleep, Rachel Vincent
Sophie Cavanaugh is not going to let her freak of a cousin's strange psychiatric condition ruin high school for them both. Not after all the work she's put into cultivating the right look, and friends, and reputation. But then, Sophie sees something so frightening she lets out a blood-curdling scream — and finds herself stuck in a bizarre parallel world where nothing is safe and deadly creatures lurk just out of sight, waiting for her to close her eyes and sleep… forever.
Liar bird, Lisa Walker
PR whizz Cassandra Daley isn't afraid of using all the dirty tricks of the trade to spin a story her way. A glamorous city-slicker, she has never given much thought to wildlife until she humiliatingly loses a PR war with a potoroo. Sacked and disgraced, she flees the city for an anonymous bolt-hole. But small-town Beechville has other plans for her.
Sex, lies and bonsai, Lisa Walker
Have you ever felt the need to start again? Dumped by text message, Edie flees Sydney for the refuge of her childhood home, taking only a wilting bonsai as a reminder of her failure. But in this small coastal town, shy, awkward Edie has always lived in the shadow of her surf champion father. How can she move on from her ex — and from her past?
The shadow of your smile, Susan May Warren
A beautiful blanket of snow may cover the quaint town of Deep Haven each winter, but it can't quite hide the wreckage of Noelle and Eli Hueston's marriage. After twenty-five years, they're contemplating divorce … just as soon as their youngest son graduates from high school. But then an accident erases part of Noelle's memory. Though her other injuries are minor, she doesn't remember Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. What's more, Noelle is shocked that her life has turned out nothing like she dreamed it would. As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heart-warming results.
Introducing mindfulness: a practical guide, Tessa Watt
Mindfulness is growing in popularity as a technique which teaches us to appreciate our life. This practical guide explores how to listen to your body to reduce stress and anxiety in all areas of your life; how to focus better at work by becoming more aware of what is happening in the present, and how to enjoy life more by bringing mindfulness into everyday actions. Free of jargon and full of straightforward advice, case studies and step-by-step instructions, this is the perfect concise start to making you happier, more focused and stress-free.
Does this mean you'll see me naked : field notes from a funeral director, Robert D. Webster
Funeral director and embalmer Robert Webster shares empathetic yet entertainingly quirky stories about the funeral business. He answers those embarrassing questions foremost in our minds and provides readers with behind-the scenes stories of what really goes on after you're dead with both empathy and humour that satisfies readers curious about the art of death.
Using natural finishes : lime- & earth-based plasters, renders & paints : a step-by-step guide, Adam Weismann & Katy Bryce
A guide to the selection, mixing and application of lime and clay based plasters, renders, paints and washes. It demonstrates how natural breathable plasters and paints can be used on a wide variety of wall surfaces, including traditional and eco-build materials like cob, strawbale and stone.
Habits of the House, Fay Weldon
Fay Weldon's new novel takes us inside the lives of an aristocratic household in the last three months of the nineteenth century. It's a time of riot and confusion, social upheaval, war abroad and shortage of money. Tea gowns are still laced with diamonds; there are still nine courses at dinner, but bankruptcy looms for the Dilbernes. Whilst the Earl, gambler and man about town, must seek a new post in government; his wife Lady Isobel's solution is to marry off their son Arthur to a wealthy heiress, and without delay. But how?
The distance between us, Kasie West
Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers knows better thant to trust a rich boy. But then she meets the richest guy of all, who proves money might not matter after all.
The boy who wanted to cook, Gloria Whelan
Ten-year-old Pierre dreams of being a chef at his parents' restaurant, La Bonne Vache, in the south of France and is told he is too young, but when an important guest comes Pierre sees a chance to prove himself. Includes notes about dining in France and a glossary.
Angel of ruin, Kim Wilkins
Sophie needs to pay the rent and a story on the occult would sell around Hallowe'en time. The Lodge of the Seven Stars is good for research but Sophie's a sceptic and doesn't believe in any of the rituals. Until she meets The Wanderer who has a story to tell her: a story of three sisters in 17th-century London, their love for each other torn apart by an angel. Not plague, nor Paradise Lost, nor the Great Fire of London can prevent the youngest from trying to save her sisters as they sink deeper and deeper into the angel's seductions. And Sophie passes the point of no return…
The resurrectionists, Kim Wilkins
The jobs of 18th century grave robbers and Maisie's curiosity about her past begin to intersect in the present. Can Maisie control the demons she is unwittingly beginning to unleash in the present? As she begins to dig into her grandmother's past, Maisie sets in motion forces which are seemingly uncontrollable. Until she comes to the horrific realisation that Dr Flood might be alive still and if he is, is there any hope at all of saving herself and her family?
Five cities that ruled the world, Douglas Wilson
Five Cities that Ruled the World examines how and why a handful of cities — Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York — emerged in their respective times of influence to dominate the world stage, directing wealth and power, influencing faith and belief, commanding fear and allegiance, provoking wars and conquests, and shaping the world we live in today
The gorgeous girls, Marie Wilson
Three strong, beautiful women dish on their romantic and sexual exploits in Toronto, New York and Paris.
The prayer box, Lisa Wingate
When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out Iola's rambling Victorian house. Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola's walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year, dating from Iola's youth to her last days.
The art of war, David Wingrove
Peace has returned, the 'War That Wasn't a War' has ended. The Dispersionists have been broken and peace has returned to Chung Kuo, but DeVore's mission to destroy it is far from over. Employing the Ping Tiao, the 'Levellers', and officers within the Security Service still loyal to him, DeVore sends autonomous copies of himself from Mars to destroy the Seven by any means necessary. Welcome to the Future.
Daylight on Iron Mountain, David Wingrove
Change is in the air: The generals of the Middle Kingdom await the decision of the emperor. The campaign to secure the border from China to Iraq has reached a strange impasse. Two blood enemies — Arabs & Jews — have united against their common cause. But with the lives of thousands at his whim, the exalted Tsao Ch'un, the Son of Heaven, cannot decide. Destroy the Middle East in one blinding flash? Or take another path? And so, with his family held hostage by the empire, General Jiang Lei finds himself appointed to a special task: the orchestration of the last great war against the West. The total dominion of America. War approaches!
An inch of ashes, David Wingrove
A restless peace: It is 2206. As Chung Kuo's population continues to swell, the Seven — the ruling T'angs — are forced make further concessions; laws must be relaxed and the House at Weinmar reopened. Change is coming, whether the Seven like it or not.
The middle kingdom, David Wingrove
The year is 2196. After more than a century of peace and stability, Chung Kuo the great Empire of Ice controlled by seven ruling kings, the T'ang has finally been shaken. Lwo Kang, Minister of the Edict, the legal instrument that prevents change has been assassinated; blown away while in the imperial solarium. But the assassination was orchestrated by those far closer to the ruling power; far closer to those in 'The Above', sparking a devastating conflict and the world-shattering War of Two Directions.
The rise of China: the prequel, David Wingrove
Son of heaven, David Wingrove
The year is 2065, two decades after the great economic collapse that destroyed Western civilisation. With its power broken and its cities ruined, life in the West continues in scattered communities. In rural Dorset, Jake Reed lives with his fourteen year old son and memories of the great collapse. For 22 years, he has lived in fear of the future, and finally it is coming — quite literally — across the plain towards him. Chinese airships are in the skies and a strange, glacial structure has begun to dominate the horizon.
Short fat chick in Paris, Kerre Woodham with Gareth Brown
When celebrity broadcaster and columnist Kerre Woodham became the Short Fat Chick who runs marathons, she changed lives. Hugely successful, her first book is now followed by a funny, inspiring and devastatingly honest continuation of her personal story. After the euphoria of the New York Marathon, Kerre set her sights on London — and failed miserably. Did that stop her? Hell no. With a group of friends and fellow runners, Kerre went to Paris …nothing will ever be the same.
Short fat chick to marathon runner, Kerre Woodham with Gareth Brown
When celebrated radio personality and columnist Kerre Woodham found herself forty, overweight and depressed she faced two choices — do nothing and probably not make it to fifty or do something and get her life back. To the laugh out loud delight and support of her readers and listeners, she battled her way to fitness and achieved her goal — then decided that she didn't want to stop. With the 2008 New York marathon in her sights, Short Fat Chick documents her life changing decision to get fit and stay fit, eat what she wants and still wear a size 12 dress.
Shopping, seduction & Mr Selfridge, Lindy Woodhead
In 1909 London's first dedicated department store built from scratch opened in a glorious burst of publicity, spearheaded by the largest advertising campaign ever mounted in the British press. In his eponymous store Selfridge created nothing less than "the theatre of retail". His personal life was just as flamboyant, one of mistresses and mansions, racehorses and yachts. In this book Lindy Woodhead tells the extraordinary story of the early 20th century revolution in shopping and the rise and fall of a retail prince.
It won't hurt a bit, Jane Yeadon
This is the story of Jane's journey from the farm she loved and the schoolwork she hated through to her nurse training and the many adventures along the way. It's a warm, funny and affectionate memoir from a simpler time as Jane and her new friends tackle the ups and downs of a gruelling three-year training, some scary matrons and a variety of challenging patients — all to the backdrop of the fabulous Swinging Sixties.
The sky so heavy, Claire Zorn
For Fin it's just like any other day — racing for the school bus, bluffing his way through class, and trying to remain cool in front of the most sophisticated girl in his universe. Only it's not like any other day because, on the other side of the world, nuclear missiles are being detonated. Nothing Fin's learned in school could have prepared him for this. With his parents missing and dwindling food and water supplies, Fin and his younger brother Max must find a way to survive all on their own.