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2030

Albert Brooks

The story follows a diverse cast of characters in the year 2030, by which time cancer has been cured, generational tension between the young and the old has escalated, and the "half-Jewish" president of the United States is hamstrung by massive federal debt, and challenged by a high-profile kidnapping of senior citizens, massive reconstruction of earthquake-devastated Los Angeles in partnership with China, and a constitutional amendment which could lead to a foreign-born president.

Tulasi Dalam

Tulasi is a 10 year-old child of a rich man Sridhar and Sharada. Anita is her sister. Sridhar saves the daughter of his boss Robert. As a gratitude, he presents Rs. 10 lakhs in the name of Tulasi. If she dies before the age of 10 years, the money goes to Sri Krishna Saranalayam. She was witch-crafted by some enemies of her father for getting the money. Kadra has applied "Kashmora" on her, as a result she becomes serious sick. She is expected to be killed by its effects in 21 days time. The story is about the attempts by four persons (father and mother, Abrakadabra and Ismail) to save her from death.

Die Stadt hinter dem Strom

The protagonist is the orientalist Dr. Robert Lindhoff, introduced to the reader just as Robert. He travels by railroad on a mission which is unclear to him to a foreign city, which appears as strange and incomprehensible. He meets people whom he believes to be dead, such as his father and his beloved Anna. Robert receives the order from an invisible authority of the city to write a "Chronik" (chronicle) of the city. Robert is called the Chronicler, and he explores the city, partly on his own, partly guided. The city is a megalopolis under a cloudless sky, full of catacombs, without music. Its people appear more and more strange and incomprehensible to him. The people resemble shadows and perform senseless, repetitive and destructive tasks. Two factories employ many of them, one producing building blocks from dust, one destroying building blocks to dust. Robert feels unable to write the chronicle. The authority who ordered it thanks him anyway for his work full of insight. Back in his home country, Robert travels restlessly, lecturing on the sense of life. In the end he travels to the city, as in the beginning.

Badai Pasti Berlalu

Marga T

Siska, a young woman, was heartbroken after her fiancé broke off their engagement and married her friend. Unwilling to see his sister depressed, her brother Johnny introduced her to womanizing friend Leo. Leo manages to make Siska happy. However, unknown to Siska, Leo was only interested in her as part of a bet. After overhearing Leo discussing the bet with his friends, Siska runs away from Leo and is found by night club pianist Helmi. Helmi blackmails Siska into marrying him, threatening to tell her mother that her father is having an affair with a younger woman. Eventually becoming unable to stand Helmi's actions, Siska returns to Leo.

Os Sete

Andre Vianco

Brazilian guys found a caravel on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul and withdrew several objects of her, including a large and silver box. When the box is opened, seven vampires from Rio D'Ouro, Portugal, wake up and start to spread terror in Brazil. Andre Vianco presents "Winter", "Awake","Storm", "Wolf", "Mirror", "Gentle" and "Seventh", who have supernatural powers and eternal life. Superhuman strength and speed are going to make Brazil a cold hell. pt:Os Sete

Arundhati

Arundhatī is the eighth daughter of Ṛṣi Kardama and Devahūti, and is married to Vasiṣṭha, the eighth son of Brahmā. Brahmā assures the couple that they will have the Darśana (sight) of Rāma. The couple spends many years waiting for Rāma. Viśvaratha, the son of the king Gādhi, tries snatch celestial cow Kāmadhenu from Vasiṣṭha, but is unable to stand against the Brahmadaṇḍa of Vasiṣṭha. Viśvaratha undergoes penance and becomes the Ṛṣi Viśvāmitra. The revengeful Viśvāmitra curses all hundred sons of Arundhatī and Vasiṣṭha to die. The forgiveness of the couple gives rise to a son Śakti, whom Viśvāmitra gets killed by a demon. Arundhatī and Vasiṣṭha then head for Vānaprastha Āśrama, leaving their grandson Parāśara to look after their hermitage. Brahmā ordains them to re-enter Gārhasthya Āśrama, reassuring that they will have the Darśana of Rāma as a householder couple only. The couple starts living in an Āśrama near Ayodhyā. With the birth of Lord Rāma, a son named Suyajña is born to them. Lord Rāma and Suyajña study together in the Āśrama of Arundhatī and Vasiṣṭha. After the marriage of Sītā and Rāma in Mithilā, Arundhatī meets Sītā for the first time when the newly-wed couple arrives in Ayodhyā. Sītā and Rāma spend fourteen years in exile. When they return home, they have their first meal after the exile which is prepared by Arundhatī, and the epic ends thereafter.

Bossypants

Tina Fey

Fey uses humorous anecdotes to tell her life story, including how she came to be on Saturday Night Live and how she created 30 Rock.

Withering Tights

Tallulah Casey, a lanky girl worried about her knees and underdeveloped cleavage, is off to stay at a drama performance workshop centre in Yorkshire, called Dother Hall.

Tiassa

Steven Brust

The book is presented in three parts, with a prelude, interludes, and an epilogue. All three larger sections and some of the smaller ones involve a silver statue of a tiassa, and the character of Khaavren, of the House of the Tiassa, but each tells a distinct story. The first section, "Tag", tells the story, in the typical Vlad Taltos as first person narrator style, of certain events early in his career as a high-ranking Jhereg. Vlad is contacted by the Viscount of Adrilhanka, who is a rogue and highwayman, to defeat a scheme by the Empire to track stolen money. The second section, "Whitecrest", is set much later, after Vlad is on the run from the Jhereg, and follows multiple characters, mainly the Countess of Whitecrest (Khaavren's wife and the Viscount's mother) and Cawti, Vlad's ex-wife. An impending Jenoine invasion is detected, but it may be a ruse to draw Vlad out. The third section, "Special Tasks" is the most recent chronologically, and is written in the voice of Paarfi, the fictional author of the Khaavren Romances. It mainly follows Khaavren himself as he investigates an attempt on Vlad's life.

Koba the Dread: Laughter and the Twenty Million

Koba—the Russian Revolution-era nickname for Soviet leader Joseph Stalin—is a study of the depredations of a single communist regime. The "Twenty Million" of the title are Russian citizens lost to starvation, torture, gulags, and the purges and confessions of Stalin's Great Terror.

Zoo City

Lauren Beukes

Zoo City is set in an alternate version of the South African city of Johannesburg, in which people who have committed a crime are magically attached to an animal familiar – those who receive such punishment are said to be "animalled". The novel's chief protagonist, Zinzi December – who was "animalled" to a sloth after getting her brother killed – is a former journalist and recovering drug addict, and is attempting to repay the financial debt she owes her drug dealer by charging people for her special skill of finding lost objects, as well as making use of her writing abilities by drafting 419 fraud emails. The book's plot focuses on Zinzi's attempts to find the missing female member of a brother-and-sister pop duo for a music producer, in return for the money she needs to fully repay her dealer. Being animalled is described as an automatic consequence – not just in South Africa, but for all humans worldwide – of bearing a significant amount of guilt. The distinction between moral and legal culpability is unclear, as is the threshold which triggers animalling; however, being responsible for the death of another human is a definite trigger. Every animal gives its 'owner' a different psychic power; however, the owner must stay close to the animal at all times, or be subject to debilitating panic attacks, nausea, and other withdrawal symptoms. The animals are not limited by the normal lifespans of their species, but can die by violence; should the animal die, the owner will be torn to shreds by a mysterious dark cloud within minutes.

The Lotus Eaters

Tatjana Soli

The novel tells the story of a love triangle between three people in Vietnam War 1967 to 1976 is love, obsession and betrayal Her soldier brother who was photographer was killed in Vietnam Helen Adams decided to followed her brother's footsteps despite her mother's protests. After she came to Vietnam Helen met her mentor Samuel Andre Darrow who is famous prize-winning photographer in the war and she begun feelings for him but smooted by Sam's Vietnamese assistant Lihn who was ex-soldier and playwright whose tragic past for losing his family by war which Helen and Lihn are closer and Sam become Lihn's love rival then Both Linh and Helen are struggled for two counties and trials they faced include Sam's death *Helen Adams: An American woman who dreams to become a photographer for Life Magazine. Her father and brother Michael were soldiers. Dropping out of college due Michael's death, Helen decided to go Vietnam and fell in love with Sam Darrow, however the relationship was tested by a love triangle and also Sam's problems and behavior. After Darrow's death, Helen marries his assistant, Lihn, and becomes his second wife. In the end, she reunited with Lihn in Cambodia and was nicknamed "Helen of Saigon" by Vietnamese people *Nguyen Pran Linh: Helen's husband and Ex-soldier, Linh was son of Hanoi professor who fled from North Vietnam and was forced as spy . Lihn's first wife, Mai, died while pregnant with the couple's first child. He was saved by Sam Darrow while in jail and became his assistant. SHortly after, he met Helen Adams, Sam's protégé and lover, in which he and Sam became rivals for her affection. After Sam's death, Helen becomes his second wife. He is an aspiring playwright and his real name is Tran Bau Lihn. *Samuel Andre Darrow : Nicknamed as Sam, he was Helen's mentor and a famous photographer of Hungarian heritage. His real name is Sam Koropec and he had left his country at 15. His father-in-law is head of the newspaper and he is married to Lily. He was beginning to fall in love with Helen, but was killing in a helicopter crash. Due to Sam's drinking, Helen and Lihn became closer. Sam knew that Lihn loved Helen. *Robert: A friend of Sam's who jokes about Helen being Sam's girlfriend and has feelings for Annick. *Annick : A woman who befriends Helen and dates Robert. She owns a store that Helen frequents. *Tran Bau Ca : Linh's older brother was killed along with his family. *Matt Tanner : A marine who tried raped Helen before she beat him. *Michael Adams: Helen's older brother who was killed as soldier and Micahel is animal lover who saved a puppy's life *Mai : Linh's first wife who died by war when she pregnant with their child *Captain Olsen: An American army officer *Jerry Nichols: USAID worker who had Vietnamese gilfriend *Maih: a widow of two children whom Ngan felling in love *Ngah: a young traveller and guide who falling in love with a widow *Tran Bin Thao: Lihn's brother who hide feelings for Lan from his brother and married then expected their first child together *Lan:Mai's sister who crushed on Lihn although he never return to her. she begged Helen to give her camera but she refused then she apologized Helen return from Vietnam. She married Thao and carrying their child going named Mai after her sister *Taon: Linh's brother in law and Mai and Lan's brother *Mr Bao : Linh's boss who actually sells drugs to foreigners *Gary: Helen's boss also for Sam *Lily Darrow: Sam's ex-wife who blames Helen for his death in Saigon *Charlotte Adams:Helen's and Micahel's mother her husband went Korean War and her son went to Vientnam War who met Lihn as her son-in-law in end of novel *Mrs Xuan: Lihn's neighbour who attended Lihn's and Helen's wedding

Birth of a Killer

Darren Shan

This book begins with a young Larten Crepsley and his cousin Vur Horston in the early 19th century. It tells the story of Larten and Vur working in a silk factory until tragedy strikes and Vur is murdered by their sadistic foreman Traz. This causes Larten to kill Traz in revenge and to then try and escape the pursuing group of people intent on his death. After a few hours on the run Larten seeks cover in a crypt in a graveyard. Whilst eating cobwebs to try to satisfy his hunger, he finds himself face to face with a real-life 500-year-old vampire by the name of Seba Nile. After convincing Larten that vampires are not monsters, he asks Larten to become his assistant and eventually a half- then full-vampire. Seba then leaves to hunt in order to eat and give Larten time to mull things over. Following the return of Seba, he and Larten go travelling around the world and eventually find themselves in an abandoned, run-down castle. With Larten as his assistant, Seba falls asleep safe in the knowledge that they will not be disturbed. Larten goes hunting for animals which he can drain of blood and cook for Seba and himself. Whilst preparing the food, he hears very faint footsteps behind him, knowing that it is not Seba but a vampire, he asks the unknown visitor 'will you be eating with us, sir?' he then turns round to find himself confronted with the 600-year-old Vampire Prince, Paris Skyle. As the book continues, the vampire council (A festival, and time for meetings, and story-telling, which comes round once every 12 years) comes round. Seba, who has not attended council for 24 years, after breaking his leg en-route to the previous council, feels the need to attend, and so organises for Larten to stay with his good friend, the Cirque Du Freak owner, Mr. Hibernius Tall. Whilst living with the Cirque Du Freak Larten makes new friends and finds himself doing jobs, as is the way of the Cirque Du Freak. After learning card tricks, escapology, and lockpicking from Merletta (one of the freaks, a magician) he is included in one of the shows and finds that he has a taste for this sort of thing. One morning, after a particularly sleepless night, Larten goes for a walk around the village close to the Cirque's current location. He finds himself in a group of people who are surrounding a young man (Larten's age) and 4 bodies (whose blood had been drained) on the floor. He finds out that the bodies are the Mother, Father and Siblings of the young man, who is named Wester Flack. Wester and Larten decide to go after the 'Monster'. They reach a ruined mansion, enter, and search the rooms, where, they come across the shape of a human covered by a blanket. Larten leaves a clear route for Wester, so he can have the first strike. Just as Wester moves towards the body, Larten realises that he will have to pull the blanket off the 'Monster' before striking, losing the element of surprise, He decides to pull the blanket back so Wester can immediately strike. Just as Larten goes to pull the blanket, it is tugged out of his grasp by the figure beneath, causing Larten to get knocked to the side, knocking Wester off balance in the process. The figure underneath jumps up and is revealed to be what looks like a human but with purple skin, and red hair, eyes, lips and fingernails. The creature is momentarily distracted by his foes. Larten and Wester use this opportunity to strike, Larten with his hands and Wester with a stake. The creature pulls the stake out of Wester's hand and settles into a defensive position. After a short fight the creature talks to Larten about what he is, a Vampaneze which is a blood cousin of the vampire. He tells Larten his name Murlough but does not ask for Larten's in return. After further discussion about the ways of the Vampaneze, Murlough leaves to find a new hiding place. Larten asks Wester if he would like to join the Cirque Du Freak, and possibly become an assistant to Seba. After 12 years, Seba, Larten and Wester (who are both full-blooded vampires now) are in Vampire Mountain at another Vampire Council about to take part in their first Festival of the Undead. The festival consists primarily of, games, drinking and dancing. During his first attempt at one of the games, Larten, who prides himself on his speed, is beaten 3 times in a row, and goes on to lose every game he takes part in. Larten takes this quite badly and ends up storming off, where, after a few hours he is found by Seba, who talks him back up to the mountain. After the Vampire Council, Larten and Wester decide that their ultimate destiny lies in becoming a Vampire General. Upon hearing this Seba begins testing the pair in ways that they consider deeply unfair, as the tests that are set are impossible to complete. After weeks of unfair testing, things get the better of Larten who ends up arguing with Seba. After this verbal outburst Larten and Wester leave Seba and go off on their own, in order to make the most of what their human lives could have been. Upon leaving Seba, Larten and Wester travel on their own until the meet up with the 'cubs', a group of Vampires who are also making the most of their lives in the way of a human. This particular group is led by a Vampire names Tanish Eul. Larten, Wester and the Cubs get involved in heavy drinking, gambling and human women. The book ends with Larten Crepsley, in a human inn, bumping into a man with a Heart-Shaped watch, dressed in a yellow suit. The mysterious man says to Larten 'I have been spying on Tanish Eul for some time now, but I think I will be keeping my eye on you from this point on, Master Crepsley. Is it coincidence that our paths crossed tonight? Or is it destiny?'

Skulduggery Pleasant: Death Bringer

Derek Landy

In the start of the book, Cleric Craven "helps" Melancholia through her Surge by tattooing her with symbols of magic, and she becomes very powerful - but unstable. She is then given the title "Death Bringer". This shocks and relieves Skulduggery and Valkyrie, as this takes a burden off Valkyrie's shoulders. Skulduggery and Valkyrie interrogate Kenny Dunne, a journalist, under the murder of a psychic, Paul Lynch. Paul had been receiving visions of the latest apocalypse (The Passage). Kenny reveals that Paul spoke to an old woman in the countryside about his visions. Skulduggery and Valkyrie immediately go there only to find her dead. When Fletcher joins the pair, he spots the killer who places a wooden box on the ground and runs away. Skulduggery orders them to hide back in the old woman's cottage. It is then revealed that inside the box are the Jitter Girls, triplets who were both physically and mentally altered when something from a different dimension attempted to enter our world through them; reducing them to murderous flickering images of little girls. Fletcher teleports away to get help while Skulduggery and Valkyrie attempt to fend off the Jitter Girls. When they fail, Darquesse emerges from Valkyrie's subconsciousness and forces the Jitter Girls back in the box. Skulduggery manages to convince Darquesse to bring back Valkyrie. In the Necromancer Temple, Craven reveals Melancholia to Tenebrae, Wreath and Quiver, who then admit they must have missed something within her. Valkyrie and Skulduggery visit the Temple only to find the killer, who is revealed to be Bison Dragonclaw. They chase him until he uses another delaying tactic which comes in the form of hiring a Warlock. After battling and killing the Warlock, Skulduggery drives off to the Sanctuary while Valkyrie returns home, to see Caelan who loves her to no end, although Valkyrie tires herself out by constantly reminding him not to "let this get serious" and that she doesn't love him. Later, Melancholia is given a break, which she uses to attack Valkyrie and almost rip her into shreds. She is rushed to the medical ward in the Sanctuary, where she is treated by Doctor Nye. Skulduggery, angered that Valkyrie was hurt, orders an arrest warrant for Melancholia from The Elders (Ghastly Bespoke, Erskine Ravel, Madam Mist) who grant him an arrest warrant. Skulduggery and a group of sanctuary agents visit the Temple with the arrest warrant but the Necromancers refuse to give Melancholia to them. Meanwhile, China meets Jaron Gallow in the woods who tells her that he has switched sides and that he will help her assassinate her blackmailer and rival, Eliza Scorn and 12 other spies in the form of highly important and influential figures. Later, Skulduggery, Valkyrie and many other Sanctuary agents and Cleavers ready themselves to break into the Necromancer Temple. Before the Siege starts, Skulduggery and Valkyrie receive a call that Dragonclaw has been spotted at the airport. After interrogating him, they find out a group of Necromancers from London, who came here to fend off the siege, have just landed. Valkyrie manages to delay them and returns to find out a secret entrance into the Necromancer Temple. Valkyrie and Skulduggery stealthily breaches the Temple and disguise themselves as Necromancers. They mange to reach the door to the Antechamber but find it is locked. Skulduggery tells Valkyrie to stay at the door while he tries to unlock the door. Although Valkyrie obeys at first, she follows Wreath when she sees him. When he discovers her, Valkyrie asks him about the Passage. When she finds out that half the worlds population will need to die in order for the Passage to work, Wreath attacks her and knocks her unconscious. She wakes next to Skulduggery who also has been captured. Tenebrae walks in and reveals that Skulduggery was Lord Vile and that it was he who prevented Skulduggery dying and turning Skulduggery into a walking skeleton. Tenebrae walks away from the pain in Skulduggery's voice and the hurt in Valkyrie's but is soon angered when Craven is yet again late for their meeting. Not bothering to hide his contempt, he orders Craven to take him to Melancholia, who kills him and eventually killing half of the temples occupants, making her stronger. She faces off against Valkyrie and Skulduggery, easily overpowering them, but is terrified when Vile's armour attacks her. She manages to fend the armour off and disappears when the Sanctuary agents finally manage to breach the Temple. Valkyrie returns home to find out that her mother was mugged by a man named Moore who was later arrested. Fueled with rage, Valkyrie breaks into the police station and brutally beats him. After, the remaining necromancers take residence in the Willow Hill Retirement Home, where Craven is enjoying his position in power but is confronted and embarrassed by Wreath. Valkyrie breaks up with Fletcher in her rage and soon finds the twins near the beach who beg her to teach them magic. Valkyrie tries and fails to teach them but is seen by Fergus who is aware of the magic in the world and berates Valkyrie for trying to drag his daughters into the world of magic. Valkyrie promises not to teach them in the future and confronts Gordon about the matter, discovering that he is surprised Fergus is still aware of magic. Meanwhile, Fletcher has gone to Ghastly for advice about Valkyrie. Soon, Wreath attempts to kill Craven but his prevented from doing so when the White Cleaver intervenes. Wreath escapes to Valkyrie and Skulduggery, who at first is hostile to Wreath but grant him amnesty when he reveals the location of the necromancers. Valkyrie and Skulduggery and several others ambush the necromancers via Fletchers teleportation. It is then appeared that Melancholia was killed by a stray shadow but is then revealed that it was Melancholia's reflection. Later at Valkyries home, she is ambushed by Moore but manages to yet again severely injure Moore. Later that night, Valkyrie and Skulduggery attend the Requiem Ball at Gordon's house with 300 other powerful sorcerers. The Ball is interrupted when a group of gunmen attempt to rob them but they are easily dispatched by the sorcerers. Meanwhile a group of necromancers sneak into the ball with Melancholia, who kills all of the sorcerers but Valkyrie and Skulduggery manage to escape. They chase after the remaining necromancers (Melancholia and Craven) and attempt to stop them but another apparition of Vile appears but Melancholia quickly stops it. Skulduggery, after shooting Craven dead, and seeing no other way to stop Melancholia, turns into the real Lord Vile who defeats Melancholia easily. Valkyrie, who is unable to stop Vile, carries Melancholia and the pair runs through the network of caves underneath Gordon's house, trying to find an exit. Valkyrie is delayed when rock creatures attempt to bury her in the ground but she fights her way out and rescues Melancholia from Vile. The pair then finds the White Cleaver who sacrifices himself to delay Vile. The pair manages to find an exit and Valkyrie tells Melancholia to kill her so Darquesse can surface. She succeeds and Darquesse and Vile engage each other in the air and on the ground, eventually reaching a tie with the pair of them reverting back to their normal selves. After, the pair drive to China's library only to find her being beaten up by Eliza Scorn. Scorn then reveals to Skulduggery that China was the reason that his family was dead and Scorn then blows up China's library. China later tells Valkyrie and Skulduggery that they can leave her. Skulduggery drives off while Valkyrie confronts Caelan that she is breaking up with him. Angered, he overpowers Valkyrie and attempts to turn her into a vampire before Fletcher stops him. Valkyrie then throws Caelan into the sea, closing up Caelans throat and killing him. Valkyrie and Fletcher teleport to someplace while a shaken Kenny Dunne watches on, and plans to reveal the world of magic to mortals. Then she dies

God's Fool

Maarten Maartens

The novel is set in the fictitious Dutch town of Koopstad. The novel’s ‘hero’, Elias Lossell, becomes deaf and blind from an accident when he is nine years old. The people around him can communicate with him by writing letters with a finger on the palm of his hand. Although communication is possible, mentally he always remains a boy of nine. Thanks to a somewhat thoughtless testament Elias becomes the rightful owner of the firm of Volderdoes Zonen, tea-merchants. His half-brothers, the twins Hendrik and Hubert, manage the firm on his behalf. Elias lives in a house of his own at the outskirts of Koopstad, looked after by his old nurse Johanna, and occupies himself by growing flowers and helping the needy. Hendrik tries to save up as much money as he can to buy out Elias and take over the firm. His spendthrift wife Cornelia does not make it easy for him. While Hubert stays in China to look after the firm’s interests there, Hendrik starts speculating with Elias’s money at the instigation of his brother-in-law Thomas Alers. Hubert returns to Koopstad and gradually learns what his brother has done. He firmly disapproves. This leads to a quarrel between the twins in Elias’s house that escalates into murder. Hubert kills Hendrik. Elias understands what happened. In the last chapter he decides to take the blame of the murder on himself. So the novel has an open end.

Ponni

Malayattoor Ramakrishnan

The novel portrays the life of the Adivasis of Attappadi, a region in Malabar, to the south of the Nilgiris and to the east of Kerala. Slash and burn cultivation practised by the Adivasis suddenly stopped by the Government forcing them to search for new jobs. The hero changes his hair style to suit the times. The courtship dance and traditional songs were depicted in a realistic way. Ponnis characters talked and sang a mixture of Tamil and Malayalam with a tinge of Kannada.

Spellbound

Jane Green

Alice is a formerly mousy and high-strung London girl who marries Joe, a wealthy business executive whom she had a crush on as a girl. It is revealed that Joe is a serial philanderer who, in spite of his best efforts, is unable to avoid chasing women. He married Alice because he viewed her as a compliant "project" he could craft into the perfect trophy wife. In this, he succeeded. As Alice intermittently suspects Joe is having affairs she becomes unhappy with her marriage, which is blessed with enormous wealth and prestige but has no warmth or passion. Joe becomes increasingly involved with a new business executive named Josie, and their relationship is discovered. Joe is forced by the company to relocate to its New York office or lose his job. Desperate, Joe convinces his wife of the merits of moving to the United States and she agrees to the move on the condition that they have a house in the country as well as their original apartment in New York City. After the move Alice becomes increasingly invigorated and secure with herself as she takes on the project of restoring an old country home to immaculate condition. Joe, a fastidious urbanite, dislikes being in the country and the couple begins growing apart from one another: Joe spends more and more time in the city alone, but Alice no longer misses him as much because she feels increasingly fulfilled with small-town life and her new friends. Alice's longtime best friend, Emily, visits her and brings along her boyfriend, Harry, whom Alice and Joe met back in England before the move. Emily reveals that she no longer thinks Harry is "the one" and is instead enamored with a man named Colin...who has a girlfriend. Alice is aghast that her friend would consider infidelity and advises her to give Harry a chance. As the lengthy visit continues and Emily and Harry share Alice and Joe's country home with them, Alice and Harry grow close. Eventually, on the night Joe is finally rejected by his latest extramarital pursuit and all four are at a local party, Alice and Harry kiss under the stars while intoxicated. Emily sees Alice and Harry kissing and renounces her friendship with Alice. She and Harry return to England the next day as planned, where they promptly end their relationship. Days later, Josie has moved to New York as well and contacts Joe, who immediately falls for her once more. They continue their extramarital relationship, but Alice quickly discovers it by checking Joe's e-mail accounts. Alice separates from Joe, who suffers a nervous breakdown in his New York apartment while Alice remains in their country home. In the end, Alice and Emily reconcile and Emily encourages Alice to start a relationship with Harry, whom she obviously fancies. She does so.

Timeless

Michele Windsor is a normal teenager with two great best friends and a single mom who is like her best friend. For years now, she's been having this dream about looking in the mirror and seeing herself and a handsome young man holding hands, and around her neck is a key on a chain. After her mother dies in a car accident, Michele is sent to live with her previously estranged grandparents, who are Windsors of high society in New York that Michele's mother had distanced herself from when they didn't approve of Henry, the artist she was in love with. The pair ran away together, but Henry disappeared under mysterious circumstances and Michele's mother discovers she is pregnant. Instead of turning to her parents, she vows to raise her child herself, on her own means. Michele has the typical new kid reaction to her new school and life, and though she is immediately swept up into the higher class snob club because of her last name, she ends up shunning them and hanging out with Cassie and Aaron, the scholarship kids who are much more down to earth. Cassie, who lives next door to the Windsor mansion (in a house that used to be part of the Walker estate), eventually becomes her best friend, and covers for her when Michele starts taking mysterious and sudden trips into the past, thanks to the key from her dream that she finds in her mother’s old possessions. Being dashed back and forth between centuries, Michele appears to various members of her family who are long dead. They can see her, but no one else can, aside from one—the mysterious man from her dream, who is a Walker and engaged to her great great aunt Violet. She is drawn to him, and he to her. Michele learns his name is Philip Walker and despite their strange circumstances, they fall in love, causing Philip to break off his engagement with Violet and start a family feud between the two households that Michele had previously learned about from her history class. Michele’s visits to the past, at times prompted by old items from certain years and at times she is merely dragged, continue as she helps members of her family through difficult times and meets Philip for romantic moments. She learns Philip is a talented piano player and composer who would rather go to the New York school that will become Juilliard rather than Harvard Business School and take over the family business. She urges him to follow his heart, and together they write two songs that she pens the lyrics to.

Move Under Ground

Nick Mamatas

Jack Kerouac witnesses the rising of R'lyeh off the California coast. With Neal Cassady and William S. Burroughs, Jack takes to the road, crossing America to save the world from a Lovecraftian cult.

The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

James Gleick

Gleick begins with the tale of colonial European explorers and their fascination with African talking drums and their observed use to send complex and widely understood messages back and forth between villages far apart, and over even longer distances by relay. Gleick transitions from the information implications of such drum signaling to the impact of the arrival of long distance telegraph and then telephone communication to the commercial and social prospects of the industrial age west. Research to improve these technologies ultimately led to our understanding the essentially digital nature of information, quantized down to the unit of the bit (or qubit). Starting with the development of symbolic written language (and the eventual perceived need for a dictionary), Gleick examines the history of intellectual insights central to information theory, detailing the key figures responsible such as Claude Shannon, Charles Babbage, Ada Byron, Samuel Morse, Alan Turing, Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins and John Archibald Wheeler. The author also delves into how digital information is now being understood in relation to physics and genetics. Following the circulation of Claude Shannon's A Mathematical Theory of Communication and Norbert Wiener's Cybernetics many disciplines attempted to jump on the information theory bandwagon to varying success. Information theory concepts of data compression and error correction became especially important to the computer and electronics industries. Gleick finally discusses Wikipedia as an emerging internet based Library of Babel, investigating the implications of its expansive user generated content, including the ongoing struggle between inclusionists, deletionists, and vandals. Gleick uses the Jimmy Wales created article for the Cape Town butchery restaurant Mzoli's as a case study of this struggle. The flood of information humanity is now exposed to presents new challenges Gleick says, as we retain more of our information now than at any previous point in human history, it takes much more effort to delete or remove unwanted information than to accumulate it. This is the ultimate entropy cost of generating additional information and the answer to slay Maxwell's Demon.

Guys

After being shown the truth about the universe and himself, Cerebus is given the opportunity to choose to be anywhere he wants. He chooses a bar. The tavern he is placed in is located by the Wall of T'si, with a host of Cerebus regulars, including Bear, Boobah and Mick & Keef; visits from the Margaret Thatcher caricature from Jaka's Story; and new characters, such as bartenders Richard George and Harrison Starkey (based on members of the Beatles), and caricatures of Norman Mailer and Igor from Marty Feldman's Young Frankenstein. Much of the story revolves around Cerebus' relation to Bear, who is seen as having achieved a certain level of manhood and contentment. Cerebus, in contrast, is selfish, childish and controlling. Cerebus is unable to connect with others, and gradually alienates those around him with his drunken, selfish behaviour.

Going Home

Going Home was divided into three sections. "Sudden Moves" and "Fall and the River" were collected in the Going Home "phonebook" collection, and "Form & Void" was collected as Form & Void. (Cerebus #232–239) Cerebus and Jaka are together and deeply in love. On their way to Cerebus' childhood home of Sand Hills Creek they stop at taverns along the way. Jaka's aristocratic status has afforded them protectionCirinists (including a caricature of Janet Reno) move along to the taverns ahead of the couple to ensure that they have a wonderful time wherever they go. They go shopping for Jaka's outfits each morning and move on by afternoon, never spending more than a day at any location. The come across pubs run by caricatures of personalities in the comics world such as Greg Hyland, Rick Veitch and Alan Moore. Jaka insists on seeing shopping and seeing the important sites along the way, and Cerebus gets worried as Sand Hills Creek lies on the other side of the Conniptin mountainsthey could get caught in the first snowfall and get snowed in. (Cerebus #240–250) Cerebus and Jaka take a riverboat ride, and onboard come across F. Stop Kennedy, a caricature of F. Scott Fitzgerald. (Cerebus #251–265) Cerebus and Jaka find a hunting lodge in which to spend the winter. They are surprised to find out that the famous writer Hamilton Earnestway (a parody of Ernest Hemingway) and his wife, Mary, are lodging there as well. Cerebus, a fan of Earnestway's, is unabashedly starstruck. Earnestway, however, is in his twilight years, and stricken with depression and writer's block. Cerebus is initially oblivious to Ham's state, but can't help noticing how down and quiet he has become. He is dominated by his boisterous wife. Her speech balloons dramatic, while his are shaky and small.

Young Sherlock Holmes: Black Ice

Andy Lane

Mycroft Holmes invites Sherlock and his tutor, Amyus Crowe, to London for a visit. When they arrive at the Diogenes Club they find Mycroft holding a dagger over a dead body. The police arrive soon and arrest Mycroft, leaving Sherlock and Amyus to prove his innocence. They find some clues at the murder scene; a business card, a small bottle with a clear liquid in it, and a small wooden case. They determine that the business card is freshly printed and look for printers around London who might have created it. The pair split up and Sherlock locates the right printer which leads him to a bouncer in a local tavern. Sherlock tails the bouncer, but the bouncer manages to turn the tables on him, and chases Sherlock into the sewers inhabited by London's abandoned and feral children. Sherlock has to run for his life to escape them, and ends up at the London Necropolis Railway. Sherlock and Amyus meet up again and have dangerous encounter with a falcon in an animal museum. From there it becomes evident that events occurring in Russia may be linked to Mycroft's frame-up. Due to the mysterious disappearance of Mycroft's agent Robert Wormersley who was located in Moscow, Sherlock and Mycroft accompanied by Rufus Stone will have to go to Moscow. Sherlock, as a part of their disguise, joins a traveling theater troupe to Russia to uncover the truth. In Russia they find Wormesley's house in a state of chaos , it is then apparent that someone was searching for several objects. On their way back to the hotel, Sherlock is framed up for pick-pocketing. Sherlock then runs as the police is on his trail ,he soon finds himself in a dead end , and the only way to escape was via a manhole. While he descends, he can hear the people who set him state that the manhole led to a tributary of the Moscow river, the Neglinnaya, Sherlock then goes downstream in order to make it to the river. He is soon chased by the people who set him up. While navigating through the river he meets a pack of dogs that have adapted to survive in dark tunnels. Sherlock sees there larger than ordinary ears and speculates that their sense of hearing is greater than those of the normal dogs, Knowing this Sherlock does not make a noise, but due to the twitching of his finger the dogs get ready to pounce on him , at this moment Sherlock's pursuer has his hand over Sherlock's neck ,his hand is bitten by a dog and he loosens his grip allowing Sherlock to escape. Sherlock soon finds his way in the Moscow river and climbs on its banks , only to see Mycroft being arrested by Russia's secret police-the Third Section. He is then met by Robert Wormesley who was watching Mycroft's arrest and tells him that they both will have to plan the next move in order to save Mycroft's life. Both of them chat in a cafe , where Sherlock deduced that Mycroft was being taken to be framed for the murder of Count Shuvalov's murder and he will

The Sweetheart of the Templar From the Valley of Rephaim

Gad Shimron

The novel's plot takes place in Jerusalem in the days of World War II and focuses on the love story of Tamar-Henrietta Landver, a Jewish girl from Vienna who managed to flee from the Nazis to the region of Palestine prior to the war, to Wolfgang Shvarte, a German Templar who was born in the region of Palestine and raised in the German Templar Colony in Jerusalem. The story begins in the present (1995) with the death of Tamar and then return back to the past, and describes Tamar and Wolfgang's meeting and how they eventually were separated due to heavy social pressure, months before the war began. Although Wolfgang returned to Germany before the outbreak of World War II, the plot thickens when the two meet by chance in 1942 in the region of Palestine as the Nazi military forces were approaching the region of Palestine and preparing an attack The Jewish communities in the region.

Illusions

Following the events of Spells, Laurel has been living a relatively normal life in Crescent City, California, dating her boyfriend David and hanging out with her best friend Chelsea. Though she did return to Avalon for training over the summer, she has not seen her usual guardian, Tamani, since sending him away. When he appears at Laurel's school posing as a transfer student from Scotland, she is both surprised and relieved. But Tamani is not the only new student at Del Norte High School, and Laurel soon discovers that Yuki, a Japanese exchange student, is also a faerie under the guardianship of Klea, a troll-hunter who has aided Laurel in the past. As Laurel works to discover what kind of faerie Yuki is, the love triangle involving Tamani, Laurel, and David is brought into the foreground of the series as the boys are forced to see one another every day. Laurel feels herself stretched thin as she pursues Yuki, mediates between the boys in her life, and attempts to help her friend Chelsea cope with a dissolving romantic relationship, and her worsening headaches soon lead to a fainting spell during a troll attack. Concerned for Laurel's safety, Tamani tracks the trolls back to a cabin hidden by what appears to be faerie magic more powerful than anything Yuki should be capable of. In re-examining what they know about Klea, Laurel and Tamani decide that she must also be a faerie, but they are uncertain how to prove it. When Tamani accompanies Yuki to a winter dance, his hands secrete pollen, which they only do when he is around a faerie in bloom. This reveals that Yuki is in fact the most powerful kind of faerie and has been concealing her nature from them all along. Feeling threatened, Tamani uses David and Chelsea to trap Yuki. They see the blossom on her back that is proof of her power and the book ends in a cliffhanger.

City of Fire

"In the sands of a great desert, a once-heroic paladin has turned to evil and enlisted an army of gnolls to help retrieve a powerful relic, reputed to be kept in the vaults of the city of Fire. If they find it, the world will never again be at peace." A blackguard serving Hextor burns the city of Kalpesh, searching for a magical artifact. Some of the best soldiers of the city, led by a man named Tahlain, manage to escape the city, going out into the desert, but only a half-orc named Krusk knows of the real reason that Tahlain has led his troops out of the city. The blackguard manages to catch up with the soldiers, killing Tahlain, but not before the Captain manages to pass the artifact, a key into the city of fire, onto Krusk. The half-orc flees and for days starves and dehydrates until he is captured by a group of villagers. A party of adventurers, returning from a raid on a group of orcs, manage to stop Krusk from being hanged, and he explains his mission to them. They go out into the desert, seeking to find the city of fire. However, they must first pass a series of challenges, while at the same time running from the gnolls. Eventually they manage to find their way into the city of fire, where they use the key to gain access. An azer, who guards the abandoned city, helps them prepare for the inevitable fight, and after the gnolls are defeated Krusk helps permanently seal the portal. A wizard named Naull who had been traveling with the party is nearly killed in the process, and the blackguard manages to capture her, teleporting her away to some unknown fate.

Trusted Like the Fox

The story is based in the World War II era, when Edwin Cushmann, political double crosser, changes his identity to David Ellis to escape the Allied Forces. He eventually meets a deaf girl named Grace Clark, who is trying hard to survive, whom he uses for protection, and both run to London, where Cushmann fractures his leg, and is left at the mercy of Grace, who cares for him like her own. Soon both come across a gentleman stranger by name Richard Crane, who shelters them in his house and does too many things for them, which leaves Grace highly impressed, even to the extent of believing that Crane is in love with her, but Cushmann highly suspicious. Meanwhile the police are after Cushmann, and a girl who is believed to be with him. The local inspector James gets suspicious about Cushmann being in London, and begins to investigate with his subordinate Rogers. The rest of the story is about what happens to the three main characters.

Winning in Emerging Markets

In Winning in Emerging Markets, Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu outline a practical framework for developing emerging market strategies; based not on broad categorical definitions like geography, but on a structural understanding of these markets. Their framework describes how “institutional voids” - the absence of intermediaries like market research firms and credit card systems to efficiently connect buyers and sellers - create obstacles for companies trying to operate in emerging markets. According to the book, understanding these voids and learning how to work with them in specific markets is the key to success. On the basis of over a decade of research and practical experience with foreign multinationals and domestics companies in emerging markets, Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu present a simple framework intended to help strategists and investors map the unique institutional contexts for individual emerging market. The book offers advice and practical toolkits on determining whether to: *Replicate or adapt an existing business model in a particular market *Collaborate with domestic partners or act independently *Navigate around that market’s voids, or actively try to fill them *Enter the market immediately or look for opportunities elsewhere *Stay in or exit the market if current strategies are not working

Troll Blood

Katherine Langrish

In contrast to the first two books in the trilogy, Troll Blood opens far from Viking Scandinavia, across the ocean in Vinland, where a young Native American boy, Kwimu, and his father Senumkwe, see two Viking ships in the bay and witness the massacre of one crew by the other. As the victors sail away, leaving the other longship scuttled and burning, Kwinu and his father find the sole survivor, a little boy called Ottar, whom they adopt. Back in Norway, Peer’s friend Hilde is impatient with life and longing for adventure, so when a Viking ship arrives at their village looking for crew, she and Peer set sail. They soon find plenty to occupy them. The sailors believe the ship is haunted by the ghost of a murdered man. The captain’s handsome young son Harald Silkenhair is a dangerous psychopath who becomes Peer’s deadly enemy. And the voyage is taking them far away to Vinland, where the dark forests are full of mysterious creatures, and where danger and treachery awaits.

Rule 34

Charles Stross

The novel is told in second-person singular but from three points of view: Edinburgh Police Inspector Kavanaugh who investigates spammers murdered in gruesome and inventive ways, and learns about similar cases in other parts of Europe; Anwar, a former identity thief who becomes Scottish honorary consul for a fictional Central Asian state; and "The Toymaker", an enforcer and organizer for the criminal "Operation". Their interactions and conflicts drive the story.

The Square Circle

Harvard 1980, a radical human rights activist group are seeking a way to put their group into the public eye. Member Kathy Lakas suggests they organise the rescue of Rudolf Hess, then being held for nearly 40 years since the end of the Second World War. Lakas, given the permission to employ a mercenary soldier to plan the rescue bid, hires Lebanese mercenary John Haddad. Haddad accepts the offer in part and travels to West Berlin, in the heart of East Germany, to conduct a reconnaissance into the feasibility of the operation. While in West Berlin, Haddad is kidnapped by a mysterious group of vicious Germans lead by an ill looking middle aged man. They already know who Haddad is and have guessed why he is in Berlin, but they torture him all the same and leave him for dead. Hospitalised from the beating, Haddad is visited by British Army Major Reed-Henry who questions him on his activities. He shows Haddad photographs of the men who attacked him, revealing the leader as Karl Stroebling, a KGB operative and terrorist group leader. Again Reed-Henry already suspects why Haddad is in Berlin, but leaves it at that. Next day Haddad is joined by Kathy who is shocked by his injuries. Still unsure whether to accept the contract, Haddad realises he needs someone to watch his back and allow him to work without the threat of Stroebling. So Haddad travels to Paris, where he locates an old comrade, Maroun, who has been contracted to assassinate a Palestinian military leader. Maroun agrees to join up with Haddad after he's completed his current job and protect Haddad in Berlin from Stroebling and his group. While in Paris Hadad meets Kathy's brother Michael, who's also a senior member of Kathy's group. Haddad returns to West Berlin to continue with his reconnaissance while Kathy returns to the States, back there she learns her fellow committee members want to pull the plug on the project. Kathy strongly objects to their plan and decides to fund the rescue with her brother personally by selling a valuable family heirloom. Back in West Berlin, Haddad is approached by an American Army Major, Tom Dade. Dade an old friend of the Lakas' is keen to help and suggests that Haddad seek out Reed-Henry for assistance in rescuing Hess.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon: The Junior Novel

As the war raged on Cybertron, Optimus Prime witnessed a ship called the Ark, carrying supplies that could turn the tides in favour of the Autobots shot and left to drift in space by Starscream. It soon crashed on the Earth’s moon in the 1960s. On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 discovered the crashed alien ship on the moon. Which carried a secret cargo. In the present day, three years after the events of the second film, the Autobots have now become fully sanctioned members of the U.S. military and battling various human threats across the globe. Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Mirage and Wheeljack investigate a nuclear facility in the Middle East encountering humans with stolen Cybertronian tech. Meanwhile, Optimus Prime and Ratchet oversee the destruction of the decommissioned NEST facility in Diego Garcia. With their mission complete in the Middle East, Optimus commands the Autobots to head to Washington D.C, while he, Ratchet and Captain Lennox leave for Prypiat, Ukraine, following a lead on a recently uncovered object that seems Cybertronian in origin. In Washington D.C. a restless Sam, is now is living with his new girlfriend Carly Spencer, a secretary working for Dylan Gould, a CEO of a major investment company and a car enthusiast. Sam is prying for a new job but having saved the world twice, Sam doesn’t want a job that he knows won’t make a difference in life and complains how the government never bothered to give him a proper job. The pair also lives with decommissioned Autobots; Wheelie and Brains, whose services were turned down by the Autobots. Sam leaves for his job interview with his new boss, Bruce. Arriving in the uninhabitable city of Prypiat, Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Lennox investigate a dig site where construction workers (who wear special suits) have uncovered a mysterious object resembling a giant pillar. Suddenly, they are attacked by a huge Decepticon named Driller piloted by Shockwave. The Decepticons attempt to retrieve the pillar. Some of the construction workers are killed as Optimus orders Ratchet and the humans to retreat, while he battles the Decepticons. The Decepticons escape, leaving behind the pillar. An incredulous Optimus Prime recovers the pillar and realises that it is a part of the Ark, the long-thought lost Autobot ship. In Africa, a weakened Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave learn of the discovery of the pillar by the Autobots. Soundwave deploys Laserbeak to silence their human allies. At their base in Washington D.C, U.S Intelligence Director Charlotte Mearing reveals to the Autobots that the space race in 1969 was in response to the Ark crashing on the moon. An angered Optimus demands a mission to the moon with the Autobots on it. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Ratchet wind up on the moon and discover and retrieve Sentinel Prime; Optimus Prime’s mentor and predecessor. They also recover five other pillars, and return to the Earth, unaware of three Decepticon stowaways named the Dreads (Crankcase, Hatchet and Crowbar). Later, at his new job, Sam encounters a co-worker who recognises him from the television broadcasts. The co-worker tries to reveal to Sam a Decepticon plot, revealing that he has been forced to work with the Decepticons to cover up something before being killed by Laserbeak, who attacks Sam. After being injured by Sam, Laserbeak retreats and reports back to Soundwave. Sam then heads to NEST operations in Washington D.C. where he is introduced to Director Mearing. Optimus revives Sentinel Prime using the Matrix of Leadership. Having retrieved five other pillars, Sentinel reveals that the pillars allow the user to open space bridges and teleport them anywhere. However, he reveals that a hundred of them have gone missing. Director Mearing then forces Sam away. Elsewhere, the three stowaway Decepticons adopt Earth vehicle forms and inform Megatron that they are ready to strike. Later, Sam, puzzled why Decepticons have been enlisting the help of humans, meets with Seymour Simmons, who has now become a millionaire after writing books about his experiences with Sector Seven. He also has a butler and assistant named Dutch. Soon Carly arrives who gets into an argument with Sam. After breaking up with Sam, Carly angrily leaves for a party hosted by Dylan. Following a lead, Sam and co arrive at Atlantic City, where they meet up with a former Russian cosmonaut living in the states. After a brief scuffle which Brains defuses, the cosmonaut reveals that the Soviet Union were the first to send cameras onto the moon. Footage revealed over a hundred pillars lying over the surface of the moon, however only five was recovered. Sam deduces that the Decepticons must have recovered the other pillars. However, he is puzzled as to why the Decepticons left Sentinel Prime unharmed. He believes that Sentinel Prime maybe the only one who knows how to use the pillars. He realises that the Decepticons left Sentinel Prime, so that the Autobots could recover him as Optimus is the only one who could revive him. Realising that it was a set-up, Sam warns Director Mearing about Sentinel Prime. The Autobots (Mirage, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Ironhide and the Twins), Sam and co escort Sentinel Prime back to NEST operations. Along the way, the group is attacked by the Dreads. In the ensuing battle, Simmons is severely injured by a Dread, while Sentinel Prime escapes back to base. When Captain Lennox and Ironhide return to base Sentinel Prime betrays the Autobots, murdering Ironhide and the Twins. He reveals that he always was the key before battling and gravely injuring Optimus, and joining forces with Megatron. Sentinel Prime never believed that the Autobots would have won the war so he forced himself into an alliance with Megatron to end it. Starscream’s attack on the Ark was a ruse, and Sentinel was actually on his way to meet Megatron. Now with their plan set in motion, Megatron opens a Space Bridge and transports a multitude of Decepticons hidden on the moon to Earth, before going into hiding for the time being. Sentinel Prime speaks to the humans, revealing that he is the true leader of the Autobots, and his plans to mine Earth’s resources to rebuild Cybertron. He also demands the exile of the former rebel Autobots (Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Mirage and Wheeljack) in order to avoid any conflict. If this agreement is not met, Sentinel Prime reveals he will destroy all human life with a battalion of Transformers. In Gould Estate, Sam arrives and makes up with Carly. Suddenly they are attacked by Laserbeak and Soundwave, disguised as Carly’s car. Dylan reveals that he is in league with the Decepticons. He reveals that he and his family have been working with the Decepticons all along, noting that his father helped the U.S. government cover up the moon crash landing. In exchange for Carly’s life, Dylan forces Sam to spy on the Autobots and inform the Decepticons about the Autobots plans for retribution. He also forcibly gives Sam a small Decepticon to monitor and record the Autobots plans. Later, Sam meets up with Director Mearing and Robert Epps, who reveal that the UN has exiled the Autobots. He asks Optimus if they are planning anything, subtly tipping him off. Optimus reveals that the Autobots intend to leave on a ship called The Xantium, built by a hidden sub-team of Autobots called The Wreckers. The Wreckers had been hidden from the public eye due to their abrasive personalities. Bumblebee remains on Earth, disguised as an old Datsun and helps Sam get rid of the Decepticon given to him by Dylan. The Autobots leave on The Xantium, but just as they do, their ship is shot down by Starscream and the Autobots are believed to be dead. Sam convinces Epps to help him find Dylan and rescue Carly. They realise that they are in Chicago, so Sam, Bumblebee, Epps and a few mercenaries in league with Epps head to Chicago. Planning to open the space bridge in the centre of Chicago, Megatron orders the Decepticons to lay waste to the city. Most of the population is evacuated though. Having secured the city of Chicago and following a meeting between Sentinel Prime and Megatron who are starting to have a friction, Dylan reveals to Carly Sentinel Prime’s plans to use Earth’s human population as slave labour but because humans will be unable to survive going through the space bridge, Sentinel intends to bring Earth and Cybertron together using the space bridge. Though this will destroy the Earth, the surviving human population will be used to rebuild Cybertron by mining the Earth’s resources. Whilst leaving Chicago with Carly, Dylan encounters Sam who attempts to free Carly only to be attacked by Laserbeak. Laserbeak is destroyed by a Decepticon tank piloted by Bumblebee, while Dylan escapes. Sam rescues Carly and just when Epps and company seem to think all hope is lost, the Autobots (Mirage, Wheeljack, Sideswipe, Ratchet and the Wreckers) return to the city, having never boarded the ship in the first place. Dylan informs Megatron about this; however Sentinel Prime reveals that he anticipated this move on Optimus’ part. As the Autobots prepare for battle, Shockwave arrives with the Driller. Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Ratchet, Mirage and Wheeljack battle him only to quickly realise that they are powerless against Shockwave. Carly reveals to Sam that if they can destroy the control pillar opening the space bridge, the whole space bridge will collapse, having learnt this of off Dylan. However, Epps reveals that they only have one shot left with the launcher and radios for backup. Eventually, the Autobots are overpowered by the Decepticon forces and captured. Soundwave kills Mirage, and just as he prepares to kill Bumblebee he is knocked aside by a Wheelie piloted Decepticon flagship who massacre a horde of Decepticons. The Autobots manage to escape, and Bumblebee kills Soundwave. Starscream is also killed by Sam. The group attempts to blow the control pillar from afar but that plan fails, and the building that they are in is tipped over by the Driller. Sentinel Prime also betrays Megatron and knocks him off the building, having no intention to work for him. The Autobot inventor, Wheeljack, outfits Optimus with a jetpack, before being killed by a group of Decepticon protoforms. Optimus arrives and massacres a horde of Decepticons, including the Driller before battling and killing Shockwave. He then uses Shockwave’s laser blaster to destroy the control pillar. The main piece of the pillar falls in front of Sam who attempts to retrieve it only to be confronted by Dylan. A fight ensues, in which Dylan is killed by the piece of the control pillar as it disintegrates him. The military also arrive. An angered Megatron is persuaded by Carly to destroy Sentinel Prime. Megatron and Optimus join forces and battle Sentinel Prime. While Megatron distracts Sentinel, Optimus gets hold of Sentinel’s rust cannon, and destroys Sentinel with his own weapon. Following the battle, Megatron and Optimus Prime make peace to end the war. Megatron and the remaining Decepticon forces return to Cybertron. Sam and Carly have rekindled, and Bumblebee produces a gasket ring and forces Sam into unwittingly proposing as the two share a kiss. Optimus Prime and the remaining Autobots remain on Earth; their new home.

Berge Meere und Giganten

Alfred Döblin

The novel begins by recounting the time that has passed since the First World War: generations have come and gone, and technology continues to advance and spread from Europe and America over the rest of the world. Overpopulation has become a problem, and the leaders of industry have seized state power. Pacified by the improvement in material conditions, the masses of the cities raise no objection. At the same time that it sees radical technological innovations, Europe suffers declining birth rates and experiences waves of mass migration from Africa. In an effort to maintain their rule, the ruling Senates of Europe agree to restrict the public's access to science and technology. London is the leading power in the west, and "India-Japan-China" is the other world power. After years of state repression and surveillance, the masses have become soft and restless. A spirit of resistance against the machines arises, and the new generation of rulers shifts course. After the end of the twenty-fourth century, access to science and technology is opened up again and nationalism reemerges, alongside a quasi-religious devotion to the machines. Later, researchers led by a scientist named Meki invent synthetic food production, which leads to the abandonment of farms and the countryside, a new wave of urbanization, and the solidification of the Senates' political control. By the twenty-seventh century, freed from the need to support themselves the masses have again become fat, idle, and restless; it becomes increasingly difficult to even find enough people to run the synthetic food factories. A group of leaders incite nationalism and war to combat this tendency; the result is a catastrophic world war between Europe and Asia—the "Ural War"—involving advanced weapons that are able to channel the elements and that turn much of Russia into a wall of fire, and then into a flooded plain. After the war the states of Europe grow increasingly isolated from each other, and "every cityscape fought for its existence." The postwar climate sees a period of austerity and mistrust towards the machines. Returning from the horrors of the war, Marke becomes the Consul of Berlin and instates a reign of isolation and deurbanization. Advanced weapons are destroyed, people are driven out into the countryside to cultivate the land, and the giant energy accumulators are destroyed. Columns made to look like bulls are erected in city squares and at crossroads, and roar twice a day like a dying animal to remind people of the catastrophe of the Ural War. Marduk succeeds Marke as the Consul and continues the period of brutal authoritarian rule. Marduk's rule begins to be challenged by both his friends and his enemies. Groups of "deceivers" ("Täuscher") wage a protracted guerrilla war against him, seeking a rapprochement with science and technology. The resurgent London senate seeks to bring Marduk's excesses under control, and he in turn attempts to expand his realm to gain more cultivable land, attacking nearby city-states such as Hamburg and Hannover. Zimbo, from the Congo, becomes a rival of Marduk's. New elemental weapons are developed over the course of these struggles, which involve scenes of violence and torture. Zimbo's forces eventually manage to unseat Marduk, who then wages a guerrilla campaign of his own, destroying machines and factories wherever he can. He dies in action, and Zimbo becomes the third Consul of Berlin. As the fifth book begins, the setting shifts briefly to North America. Following the Ural War, the Japanese had led an Asian occupation of western North America. The local populations, inspired by Native American beliefs and mythologies, react by leaving the cities for the wilderness and destroying the food factories and cities, eventually driving out the Asian occupation. In America and then globally people begin leaving cities in favor of the wild. Shamanism and the belief in ghosts reemerge amongst the populace, as does an oral tradition of story-telling. The draining of the cities grows into a settler movement: egalitarian communities that live in nature, characterized by gender equality and sexual liberation. In response to the threat this movement poses to the ruling Senates, political leaders in London hatch a plan to colonize Greenland, thereby channeling both the drive for technological innovation and the drive to settle new land. To settle Greenland, it is necessary to melt its ice sheet; to do this, a massive expedition sets out for Iceland to harvest its volcanic energy. Led by Kylin, the expedition begins breaking open Iceland's volcanoes. Resistance by the local population is met with massacres. Once Iceland has been split open and turned into a lake of magma, the energy is stored in "tourmaline veils" ("Turmalinschleier"). The geography of Iceland is described in rich detail in this section, as is the cataclysmic destruction of the landscape. The scale of destruction proves traumatizing to many of the expedition members, who flee and have to be forcibly recaptured before the expedition can head to Greenland. As they sail for Greenland, strange things begin to happen to the ships bearing the tourmaline veils. Marine life and sea birds of all kinds are attracted towards them, and crew stationed aboard them for too long begin acting intoxicated and amorous. The plant and animal life attracted to the ships experiences rapid growth, so that before they reach Greenland the ships look more like mountains or meadows than ships. Strange sea creatures never before seen appear around the ships, and when the expedition is ready to deploy the tourmaline veils, they have to cut through the riot of organic growth that has totally filled the ships. Once the energy of the veils is unleashed on Greenland, it melts the ice quickly but also has unanticipated effects. Prehistoric bones and plant remains that were buried under the ice are reanimated, and fuse together into monstrous forms made up of plant, animal, and mineral parts. Greenland, free of its icy burden, rises up, ripping from north to south in the process and becoming two separate islands. As the chapter ends, the now enormous monsters brought to life by the volcanic energy are spilling away from Greenland towards Europe. As the wave of mutilation breaks over Europe, the force animating the monsters proves fatal: any contact with their bodies or blood provokes a frenzy of organic growth, so that animals of different species grow into each other and humans are strangled by their own growing organs. The populations remaining in the cities move underground. The ruling technocrats, led by Delvil Pember, begin to devise biological weapons to combat the monsters. Using the energy of the remaining tourmaline veils, they construct massive towers—the eponymous "Giants"—out of humans, animals, and plants, grotesque assemblages of organic life that, planted on mountains or in the sea, serve as defensive turrets. In a frenzied technological mania, some of the scientists turn themselves into giant monsters and wander around Europe, wreaking havoc and forgetting their original intent. A group of the original Iceland expedition led by Kylin returns to Europe, bearing the memory of the devastation they caused. The novel's final book begins with a group of settlers in southern France who call themselves the "Snakes" ("Die Schlangen"). Venaska, a beautiful woman from the south, becomes influential amongst the settlers and is revered as a kind of goddess of love. With the other "Snakes" she lives in nature, apart from the wrecked cities and their dwindling authoritarian rule. As the traumatized remnants of the Iceland expedition come into contact with the settlers, a new type of society comes into existence, marked by a reconciled relationship to nature and egalitarian social relations. To the north the giants, now including Delvil among them, still rage, but their violence slowly subsides. Within the large number of creatures that compose their bodies, they begin to lose their individual human consciousness and grow into the earth, becoming mountains and hills in England and Cornwall. As Delvil fights to retain his consciousness, Venaska arrives and reconciles him with his dissolution into nature. She too grows into the hills that mark the former giants. In the wake of the destruction of Europe's cities and the collapse of its governments, waves of refugees storm across the landscape accompanied by rage and cannibalism. The survivors of the Iceland expedition meet them head-on, dividing them into groups and leading them to settlements around the globe. As the novel ends, humanity has resettled and begun to cultivate the destroyed landscapes. The fertile land between the Belgian coast and the Loire is renamed Venaska.

Torment

Lauren Kate

After the dramatic events of Fallen, Cam and Daniel make a truce to protect Luce from the Outcasts. Luce is hidden at Shoreline, a school where both human and Nephilim attend. Luce finds out more about her past lives with the help of two Nephilim friends: Shelby, Luce's roommate, and Miles, whose affection for Luce causes her to doubt her relationship with Daniel. Daniel will do anything to protect her, which includes forcing her to stay at Shoreline to keep Luce safe. Discovering some of her past lives, Luce realizes how their love hurt the thousands of families she once lived with. During her time in Shoreline, Luce's division between angels and demons becomes blurry when she discovers that Daniel and Cam are fighting side by side. At times, Daniel visits her to try and make her feel happier about her situation. She then finds out he had a fling with Shelby many years ago. At one time, when Daniel comes to visit her, he sees Miles kiss Luce on a window sill. She finds out that not only the Elders want her, but that the Outcasts - beings who are neither angels nor demons - want to capture her. Luce's parents have a Thanksgiving party, and when her parents go out the Outcasts arrive in Luce's backyard to fight the angels. Luce finds out that Miles has feelings for her, as he can replicate a person, but only if he loves them. Luce is stressed from the violence and decides to find out more about her past lives by jumping through one of the shadows, leaving her friends behind.

Clockwork Angel

Cassandra Clare

London, April 1878. Shadowhunters William Herondale and James Carstairs find the dead body of fourteen-year-old Emma Bayliss in an alley. They also find a dagger imprinted with two snakes each biting the other's tail, an ouroboros, probably the weapon with which she was murdered. Southampton, May. Tessa Gray arrives at the Southampton dock aboard the Main, expecting to find her brother Nathaniel waiting for her. Before, Tessa was living in New York with her Aunt Harriet, but her aunt had died recently and her brother asked her to come stay with him in London. At the port, Tessa finds the Dark Sisters, Mrs. Dark and Mrs. Black, instead of her brother, who have a letter from him saying that he could not meet her because of business, but that the sisters will bring her to him. Tessa goes with them. Six Weeks Later: Tessa has been held prisoner by the Sisters. They have been training her to Change (a process by which she takes on the appearance of someone else, living or dead, by holding something that belongs to them). This time Tessa becomes Emma Bayliss and relives her last few moments alive. The sisters are impressed and tell Tessa that they have been preparing her for an arranged marriage to a mysterious individual known as "the Magister." They expect the marriage to take place that day or the next. The sisters leave and Tessa tries to run away but is caught by the Sister's coachman. Tessa is tied to her bed, but she attempts to escape again by using the Change. Just as she escapes her bindings the door opens - It is William, who followed the trail from Emma's body to an organization called the Pandemonium Club and the Sister's house. Will and his friends proceed to help Tessa escape and when the Dark Sisters catch up a battle begins in which Mrs. Black is killed, and Tessa is knocked unconscious. Tessa awakens in the London Institute to find herself being examined by Brother Enoch, one of the Silent Brothers, who informs her that she is a shape-changer and a Downworlder. Tessa meets the inhabitants of the Institute. The next morning Jessamine takes Tessa shopping; Charlotte and Henry look for Tessa's brother; and Will and Jem inspect the Sister's house. They find a clockwork automaton wrapped in human flesh. A vampire named de Quincey is identified as the Magister and is said to have Tessa's brother, so Tessa and Will infiltrate one of de Quincey's parties. At his party de Quincey slowly drains a human victim; this is against the Accord, which allows the Shadowhunters to attack. Things go terribly wrong at the party when de Quincey's victim is revealed to be Tessa's brother Nathaniel. Tessa and the Shadowhunters kill the vampires at the party, save Nate and bring him to the Institute, but de Quincey escapes. Will bites him while fighting, and accidentally swallows some of the vampire blood. He and Tessa share a passionate moment when Will has to drink holy water because of his digesting vampire blood. The next day, Tessa and Jem go for a walk and are attacked by the Magister's clockwork army. They make it to the Institute, where the Shadowhunters are barely able to fight the army off, though Jem gets injured and passes out. While recovering, he admits to being addicted to a demon drug, which slowly drains him of life and weakens him. The following day, most of the Shadowhunters leave to kill de Quincy in his hideaway in Chelsea. Mortmain, the mundane who informed the Shadowhunters of de Quincey, comes back to the Institute to tell Will and Jem about the Dark sister who is trying to help the Magister with his army and her location. They rush off to kill her, leaving Nate, Jessamine and Tessa alone. Mortmain comes back with the clockwork army and reveals himself as the real Magister and Nate reveals himself as Mortmain's accomplice. While Thomas tries to fight the clockwork automatons off, Tessa, Sophie and later Jessamine escape to the Sanctuary, but Mortmain tricks them to open the door. Tessa agrees to marry Mortmain if he will leave everyone alone and not hurt anyone. Once the army has left the room Tessa stabs herself in the heart, leading to Mortmain's departure. Will rides back once he realizes he and Jem have been tricked, leaving Jem to ride the carriage with only one horse, slowing him down. When Will arrives at the Institute, he's just in time to witness Thomas' death and goes on to look for Tessa and the others. While Jem arrives, he runs straight into Nathaniel and his four clockwork automatons, two of them holding Jessamine and Sophie; one holding the Pyxis, a box that holds demon energies needed to revive the automatons. Nate orders the army to kill him - Jem can fight them off, but Nathaniel and the Pyxis can flee. During that, Will finds Tessa, who is really alive; she Changed quickly just before stabbing herself and the blood was from a gunshot victim she had Changed into before with the Sisters. Charlotte and Henry arrive as well, and ask Tessa to stay at the Institute and she happily accepts. Tessa wants to have a serious relationship with Will, but he suggests a strictly sexual relation and tells Tessa that she cannot have children (she is assumed to be a warlock) so it is impossible. Jem comforts her though she will not tell him exactly what Will did to upset her. Will seeks Magnus Bane's help, but it is not revealed for what reason.

My Laugh Comes Last

Larry Lucas is a small time worker, who is one day approached by a millionaire,Farell Brannigan, to assist him and start a new bank in town, which should be the safest in the world.Thrilled by the offer,Larry jumps for it, starts minting money and enters high class circles, only to come across a series of problems on the way,involving deception, hypocrisy, treachery, murder, blackmail.The rest of the story is about how and whether Larry is able to deal with and survive it all.

Sétimo

Andre Vianco

Seventh wakes up after sleeping for five hundred years. He realizes he is no longer in his homeland. To dominate Brazil and the world, he decides to form an army. His brothers, killed in "The Sevens", come back to help James to kill him. Will he survive? This huge bat will do great damage. Zombies, vampires and Brazilian Army are in war. The most bizarre spectacle of the Earth can not stop! pt:Sétimo (livro)

The Second Corps of Discovery: 1811 Journal of the Jackson and Clark Expeditionary Force

By 1811 the First Corps of Discovery under Captain Lewis and Lieutenant Clark has been considered lost for 5 years. Any country that attempted to map the Pacific Coast by land or sea routes has completely failed. The United States of America has yet to press its claims for the Louisiana Purchase. President James Madison fears a British invasion, with the support of a unified Indian nation under Tecumseh, that would claim the Northwest Territories and cause a dissolution of the Union. Under these dire threats, a second Corps of Discovery is formed as a military expedition to reach the West Coast. Its primary goals are to learn what happened to Lewis and Clark and the first Corps members, and find the mythical "all-water route" across North America. However, there are several other secret missions and secondary objectives to the Expedition that are disclosed during the journey. Brigadier General George Rogers Clark, brother of Lieutenant William Clark and the original choice of President Thomas Jefferson, commands the new group. Supporting him are two other military men and Indian fighters, Colonel Andrew Jackson and Doctor William Henry Harrison. While primarily an army operation, Second Corps is required to do a great deal of scientific and diplomatic work. This explains the nature and skills of the members recruited for the journey, and the advanced prototype technology they use. The F. Scott Key Journal is heavily interlaced with Christian themes due his religious background. The continental crossing often resembles a detective story, as mysteries are unexpectedly revealed, based on conflicting rumors attributed to British and Spanish efforts of deception. These involve the belief that some unknown native civilization occupies areas of the Pacific Coast, perhaps Inca or Aztec tribes that escaped the Spanish Conquistadors and remained isolated to protect themselves against further invasions. Many of the historical characters in the story fulfill their actual destiny, but in an alternative environment. F. Scott Key was a part of the Expedition for a longer period of time, but his surviving account only covers his last year. This unbroken daily record details a complete story and is a major segment of the overall adventure. His manuscript was written originally in English, but translated into a foreign dialect. This additional premise supports ulterior plot elements.

Cycles of Time

Roger Penrose

Penrose examines implications of the Second Law of Thermodynamics and its inevitable march toward a maximum entropy state of the universe. Illustrating entropy in terms of information state phase space (with 1 dimension for every degree of freedom) where particles end up moving through ever larger grains of this phase space from smaller grains over time due to random motion. He disagrees with Stephen Hawking's back-track over whether information is destroyed when matter enters black holes. Such information loss would non-trivially lower total entropy in the universe as the black holes wither away due to Hawking radiation, resulting in a loss in phase space degrees of freedom. Penrose goes on further to state that over enormous scales of time (beyond 10100 years), distance ceases to be meaningful as all mass breaks down into extremely red-shifted photon energy, whereupon time has no influence, and the universe continues to expand without event \rightarrow \infty. This period from Big Bang to infinite expansion Penrose defines as an aeon. The smooth “hairless” infinite oblivion of the previous aeon becomes the low-entropy Big Bang state of the next aeon cycle. Conformal geometry preserves the angles but not the distances of the previous aeon, allowing the new aeon universe to appear quite small at its inception as its phase space starts anew. Penrose cites concentric rings found in the WMAP cosmic microwave background survey as preliminary evidence for his model, as he predicted black hole collisions from the previous aeon would leave such structures due to ripples of gravitational waves.

Rachel Ray

Anthony Trollope

Rachel Ray is the younger daughter of a lawyer's widow. She lives with her mother and her widowed sister, Dorothea Prime, in a cottage near Exeter in Devon. Mrs. Ray is amiable but weak, unable to make decisions on her own and ruled by her older daughter. Mrs. Prime is a strict and gloomy Evangelical, persuaded that all worldly joys are impediments to salvation. Rachel is courted by Luke Rowan, a young man from London who has inherited an interest in the profitable local brewery. Mrs. Prime suspects his morals and motives, and communicates these suspicions to her mother. Mrs. Ray consults her pastor, the Low Churchman Charles Comfort; and upon his vouching for Rowan, allows Rachel to accept his offer of marriage. Soon after this, Rowan falls into a dispute with the senior proprietor of the brewery, and returns to London to seek legal advice. Rumours circulate about his conduct in Devon; Comfort believes the rumours, and advises Mrs. Ray to end the engagement between Rachel and Rowan. Rachel obeys her mother's instructions to write Rowan and release him from the engagement. When he fails to respond, she grows increasingly depressed. Rowan returns to Devon, and the dispute over the brewery is settled to his satisfaction. This accomplished, he calls upon the Rays and assures Rachel that his love for her is still strong. She assents to his renewed proposals. Marital bliss ensues. A subplot involves the abortive courtship of Mrs. Prime by her pastor, Samuel Prong. Prong is a zealous but intolerant Evangelical. His religious beliefs are in agreement with hers, but the two have incompatible notions of marriage: Prong insists on a husband's authority over his wife, and in particular over the income from her first husband's estate; Mrs. Prime wants to retain control of her money, and is otherwise unwilling to submit to a husband's rule.

Passion

Lauren Kate

This novel predominantly follows Luce, full name Lucinda Price. She is a 17 year old girl who is reincarnated over and over again for an indeterminate number of lifetimes. As she reaches her seventeenth year she meets her angel boyfriend, Daniel, in each life time and is engulfed by flames. This is usually the result of kissing Daniel, but not always. Luce dies as a result of her encounters with Daniel and is reincarnated to repeat the cycle. The lifetime focused on in the Fallen series is unusual. Luce has kissed the very hot Daniel and survived it. Also, Luce was not baptized in this timeline which makes her unclaimed by any religion. This is alleged to mean this time when Luce dies, it will be forever. She has also discovered that Daniel is a fallen angel and he is to be a deciding force in the final battle between good and evil. Luce wants to get rid of the curse and Daniel chases her through history. Little does Daniel know, the future could change differently not because of Luce, but because of a certain person who will try helping Luce travel into her different past lives. Daniel and his other fallen angel friends and nephilim friends will try to catch up with her and bring her back to the present. As Luce travels through time, she will realize not only how much Daniel loves her, and how much she misses to being in his arms, but she will also be in danger from the one who is trying to help her. This book will reveal the secrets and risks that the main characters had and will have in the future. Will they succeed in their mission? The book was released on June 14, 2011. * Lucinda 'Luce' Price After the events in Torment, she will try to travel to her different past lives to find out what are the secrets Daniel is hiding from her, and she will find a way to end the curse that both their love has. * Daniel Grigori Luce's fallen angel boyfriend. He will try to bring Luce back to the present, from the shadows. He will realize that he, himself, can do something to end their curse. He and Cam are brothers... * Cameron 'Cam' Briel Cam is also a fallen angel. He will try to help Daniel recover Luce from the shadows, but Daniel would always refuse help. His past will be revealed and the reason for his being "evil" will be known. Cam and Daniel are brothers. * Arriane Alter Arriane is another fallen angel, from Daniel's side. She will be one of the few who will try to get Luce back from the shadows. * Roland Sparks He is another fallen angel, from Cam's side. He will be able to speak to Luce in one of her past lives and know that she is from the future. * Mary Margaret 'Molly' Zane Fallen angel on Cam's side. Who has never gotten on with Luce since the beginning. * Gabrielle 'Gabbe' Givens Gabbe is a fallen angel on the side of Daniel. She tries her best to convince Daniel to side with Heaven. * Miles Fisher He is one of the Nephilim, and one of the first friends that Luce makes in Shoreline (in Torment). He proved how much he loves Luce in Torment. He will be helpful to Daniel in this book and he will soon be in good terms with him. * Shelby A Nephilim friend of Luce. She will be with Miles looking for Luce in the shadows. * Annabelle She was introduced briefly in Fallen, but will play some more minor roles in Passion. She is introduced to Luce as Arriane's older sister, with pink hair and calmer than Arriane. * Lucifer/Bill The first fallen angel. One of the reasons of the start of the Heaven War. He tricks Luce in the announcers appearing as a little gargoyle, Bill. He tries to make Luce kill herself. * Lyrica One of the remaining Elders. * Vivina One of the remaining Elders. * Fallen Angels According to the Bible, a fallen angel is an angel who, coveting a higher power, ends up delivering "the darkness and sin." The term "fallen angel" indicates that it is an angel who fell from heaven. The most famous is Fallen Angel Lucifer himself. The Fallen Angels are quite common in stories of conflict between good and evil. * Nephilim They are the children of fallen angels with mortals. * Outcast A particular rank of angels. Cam describes them as the worst kind of angel. They stood next to Satan during the "revolt", but did not step into the underworld with him. Once the battle ended, they tried to return to heaven, but it was too late. He also mentions that when they tried to go to hell, Satan cast out permanently, and left them blind. Nevertheless, the outcasts have a tremendous control of the other four senses. In "torment", they chased Luce because they think that if they captured her, they will get back to heaven. * Elders It is not explained very well what the elders are, but they want to see Luce dead more than anything. Miss Sophia is the eldest and most important member. * Scale Resident guide within the "Announcers" (also known as the "Shadows").

The Vespertine

In the summer of 1889, Amelia van den Broek is sent by her brother to the city of Baltimore, much grander and different from her fishing village, to find a suitable match for marriage. Along with her cousin Zora, Amelia does all the normal things a young woman would do in the city—call on other ladies, have them to tea, gossip about the latest dance and all the fine gentlemen there. But once there, her eye catches a certain slant of light in the setting sun and she sees a glimpse of the future. She shares this talent with her cousin Zora, and soon the two girls are calling on and being called upon by the riches young ladies in the city, who each want to know their own fortune, seen through Amelia’s eyes. Amelia also has many run ins with the mysterious and romantic Nathaniel, who is not a suitable match for her, but whom she feels drawn to nevertheless. They continue to see one another in secret and she soon learns that he has a talent of his own—he can travel with the wind. Zora also falls in love, and when Amelia has a vision relating to his death, she eventually confesses it to her cousin, who waves off her fear. But when her vision comes to pass and he is killed, Amelia is shipped back home, believing that Nathaniel will come for her and take her away despite hearing word of his death. Interspersed throughout the novel are chapters of Amelia’s life after this summer, where she has been sent back to her brother and locked away, thought to be mad. Her brother’s wife is kind to her, but both find her difficult. She continues to call out for Nathaniel, who must be dead, because he will not come to her. Her brother’s wife eventually readies Amelia to leave due to her disruptions to their household, though not in a thoroughly unkind manner. Amelia steps out the door, ready to face the world on her own, only to find Nathaniel waiting for her, having been unable to get there sooner because his ability is hindered by water, and she had put the ocean between them. Together, the pair set off to a new life.

Among the Truthers

Though he concedes that history provides evidence of actual conspiracies, Kay argues that farfetched and paranoid conspiracies are gaining adherents at an increasing rate in the United States. In the book, he charts a history of 20th century conspiracy theories including groups such as the John Birch Society. Though much of the book focuses on the 9/11 Truth movement Kay also discusses conspiracy theories about the Bilderberg Group, vaccination, and Reptilians. Kay attempts to define the factors that cause people to believe in conspiracies. He attributes some of the popularity of conspiracy theories to the influence of postmodern academic theories, such as deconstruction. He also blames what he sees as the liberal belief that "society is divided into victims and oppressors". In addition to political explanations, Kay also writes about psychological factors. He argues that many people prefer explanations for disasters which feature expansive conspiracies because it is more difficult to cope with the underlying incompetence or vulnerability at the root of such events. While writing the book, Kay interviewed several figures in the 9/11 Truth movement, such as Alex Jones and Michael Ruppert. Kay classifies promoters of conspiracy theories into different groups, including those he refers to as "cranks" and "firebrands". He defines a "crank" as a person who seek to expose conspiracies as an engrossing mission to fill their lives. He claims this type of person is usually drawn to conspiracy theories after a mid-life crisis.

The King's General

The novel is set at the time of the English Civil War. A middle-aged Honor Harris narrates the story of her youth, from the age of ten, when living with her brother Robin. The narrative begins when Kit, Honor's oldest brother, brings home his new bride, Gartred. After only three years, Kit dies of smallpox and Gartred moves away. At age eighteen, Honor meets Richard Grenvile, Gartred's brother. They fall in love and, despite a former arrangement for Honor to marry another, they decide to be married. Honor is injured and loses the use of her legs in a riding accident, when out with Richard and Gartred. Subsequently, Honor refuses to marry - or even see - Richard. By the time the Civil War breaks out, fifteen years have passed; Honor has grown in independence, and Richard has had three children, Joe, born illegitimately from an affair with a dairymaid, and Dick, from a failed marriage. Dick's sister lives in Holland and is not really part of the story. Following some nearby violence, Honor moves to Menabilly, the home of her sister and brother-in-law, where she again meets Richard, posted in Plymouth as a leader of the King's army in the west of England. During the war, Richard is wounded, and Honor tends to him in weakness. The Parliamentarians take Cornwall, and Richard flees the country. He is part of a Royalist rebellion, though, some years later. He is, however, betrayed: it is suggested that the betrayer is his son Dick. An escape plan is made to remove Richard and Dick safely from the Parliamentarians to Holland to be with Richard's daughter and Dick's sister, after the revolt fails. Rumours of their escape which are told to Honor suggest that only Richard is able to escape, which brings the reader back to the prompt for Du Maurier's tale - the skeleton discovered in the excavations of Menabilly.

Like a Hole in the Head

Ace marksman Jay Benson lives a retired life from the army with wife Lucy, trying to start a new life by starting a school for training on shooting. But unfortunately they are short of money for investment, when Augusto Savanto walks into their lives, promising Jay a huge sum of money in return for teaching his son, who is totally uninterested in shooting. He wants his son to be able to shoot like an expert shooter in just 9 days. Benson agrees but soon realizes he has entered a circle of revenge and murder involving mafias,in which he must participate,else it could affect both Lucy and him . The climax of the novel packs considerable emotional punch.

Time for Bed

Gabriel Jacoby, young, unemployed, sleepless and untidy, lives in Kilburn with his flatmate Nick. Gabe’s life is blighted by two problems, his insomnia and his passion for Alice, the beautiful black wife of his brother Ben. The cast of comic characters includes Nick, his girlfriend Fran, a cat Jezebel, Ben and Gabe’s parents and grandmother Mutti, who lives in a Jewish old age-home, Liv Dashem House. Gabe’s mother spends her life talking about and collecting memorabilia of the Hindenburg, an airship designed by her own father, while their father spends his life swearing loudly at his wife at their home at 22 Salmon Street, Wembley Park. When Dina arrives from the States to visit her sister Alice, Gabe decides to ask her out. They go to see Queens Park Rangers play at home, but the old car breaks down on the way. Finding Alice’s Green Flag card in her pocket, Dina agrees to pretend to be her sister to get help, but Gabe does not have sufficient funds to get the car repaired. In spite of the disastrous afternoon, he manages to persuade Dina to come round for dinner. Unfortunately, when he lifts the lid off his tandoori quorn, a live frog which had been brought home by Jezebel jumps out. Dina is horrified but eventually falls into Gabe’s arms. The first time they make love, Gabe disposes of the condom by filling it with water and tying the top, and notices a leak. Later in the novel Dina discovers she is pregnant, and decides to return to the US for an abortion. In the last scene Gabe is on a plane to find her. The novel is enlivened by the escapades of the other characters. Nick becomes disturbed under the influence of cannabis but the drugs prescribed reduce him to a sleepy weight: Fran has an affair with Ben, who is drawn to Jewish life and has discovered that Fran is Jewish. Their mother eventually destroys the Hindenburg, the real one having crashed anyway. Jezebel brings home a dead rat, and Gabe spends a happy night playing with it, and then puts it away in a drawer and forgets it. Nick tells Alice that Gabe has been in love with him all along.

Against All Enemies

Peter Telep

CIA Special Activities Division Operation Officer Max Moore, whose physical looks resemble that of Richard Marcinko, is on a mission in Pakistan to retrieve a high-value target. When the mission goes awry and Moore's allies are killed, he is recalled to the United States to take part in a new effort against the Mexican drug cartels. Moore and his team attempt to infiltrate the cartels and play them off against each other but are met with varying degrees of success. Although they are able to bring down a major kingpin, they are unable to prevent several Muslim terrorists from entering the United States via a smuggling tunnel. The terrorists have brought a number of MANPADS surface-to-air missile launchers with them, which are used to target flights in several US cities. Although the attack is partially successful, Moore and associates are able to stop one of the terrorist teams. Moore is then deployed to Belize on a mission to capture the leader of the terrorist cell. After a boat chase, the leader is captured and sent to a black site for interrogation. The novel ends with Max, having overcome some of his personal demons, now relaxed and on a date with a fellow CIA officer.

Straight Talking: A Novel

Anastasia, or "Tasha," is a thirty-year-old English woman working as a television producer in London. She is perpetually single and has had few long-term relationships. She and her girlfriends regularly meet and commiserate over the troubles of modern dating. Tasha's insecurities in regards to men and dating stem from her longest relationship, with a man named Simon, that ended abruptly when Simon revealed that he had been unfaithful. In addition, it is revealed that Tasha's father had had multiple affairs during Tasha's youth, one of which she discovered herself. Tasha engages in brief affairs with men, concerned primarily with their physical attractiveness. One day she meets a handsome, dashing man named Andrew, but avoids being seduced by him. Days later Tasha is preparing to go to dinner with her best platonic male friend, Adam, whom she met years earlier as a mutual friend of Simon. Adam and Tasha are very close. Since Andrew is also a friend of Adam, Tasha invites Andrew to dinner with them. During the meal she is attracted to Andrew, much to the chagrin of Adam. Shortly thereafter Tasha is invited to dinner once more with Adam, who reveals his true feelings for her. Tasha is taken aback and does not know how to respond. She feels that, though she "loves" Adam, she is not "in love" with him. Immediately, she seeks the counsel of her girlfriends. The advice is, as always, mixed: Some support the idea that she should try to have a romantic relationship with Adam, who has always been trustworthy and a good friend, while others feel that there must be "passion" - something Adam lacks. Tasha tentatively begins a relationship with Adam, which quickly progresses. Eventually she invites him to move in with her, but soon begins questioning her decision. As Adam begins moving in, moving his things to her home carload by carload, Tasha is surprised at home by Andrew, who has arrived there to wait for Adam. Consumed by sudden lust, Tasha begins kissing Andrew, only to realize that Adam had returned and seen them. She hears his Saab racing off and Andrew departs in shame, both he and Tasha horrified at what they had done. The girlfriends again offer mixed advice, with some encouraging Tasha to seek Adam's forgiveness and others asserting that she must find a new suitor whom she is passionate about...like Andrew. After a brief hesitation Tasha decides to seduce Andrew and attempt a "passionate" relationship. She lures him to a hotel under the pretense of discussing her breakup with Adam and, after drinks at the hotel bar, guides him to her hotel room. At the last moment, however, she is unable to go through with the impending sex and, disgusted, Andrew leaves. Tasha immediately begins trying to reconcile with Adam, whom she now knows she loves and misses terribly. Eventually Adam agrees to attempt a reconciliation, and the book ends on an optimistic note as Tasha vows to win back his trust.

Kappa

A psychiatric patient has lost his way and arrives at the country of Kappa. He is treated as a special guest and talks with Kappas of many occupations. Geeru, a radical capitalist, states that the unemployed labourers of Kappas are killed and their flesh is provided for food. The patient is astonished but Geeru argues that because the Japanese women in the poorest class are obliged to survive by prostitution, the patient's opposition is sentimental. Kappa's national characteristics are materialism and nihilistic realism. The babies of Kappa control their destiny. While in the womb, the fetus can refuse life as a Kappa, and be aborted. The Maggu, the sceptical philosopher Kappa committed suicide and appears as a ghost through the person of Tokku, a poet. Maggu is concerned about his fame after his death, although he admires the writers and philosophers who has died by suicide such as Heinrich von Kleist and Otto Weininger. At last the patient is due to return to the real human world, but muses that Kappa was clean and superior to human society and becomes a misanthrope.

1635: The Eastern Front

Eric Flint

Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, has with the aid of the time-displaced citizens of Grantville, West Virginia, tipped the balance in the Thirty Years' War and become emperor of much of Germany, now reorganized as the United States of Europe. Having at least temporarily knocked Austria and France, the main enemies of the new state, out of the war, he is free to turn his attention to the rebellious states of Brandenburg and Saxony and pursue his dream of conquering Poland. The former are duly reconquered and the latter invaded. West Virginian Mike Stearns, former prime minister of the USE, is now a major general in command of the army's third division of the USE army, acquits himself well in the campaign, but atrocities committed by some of his men leads him to establish the Hangman Regiment to police his own forces, under the command of new-minted Light Colonel Jeff Higgins. Meanwhile, on the home front, other sequences of events involve Mike's wife Rebecca Abrabanel and the Swedish royal family. French Huguenots attempt to assassinate Gustavus's daughter Princess Kristina and her betrothed Prince Ulrik in an attempt to provoke the wrath of the Swedes and Danes against Cardinal Richelieu and the government of their Catholic-ruled country. The prince and princess escape, though her mother, the queen Maria Eleonora, is murdered. Gustavus's eastern war is stalled in the battle of Lake Bledno, in which he gains a strategic victory but receives a life-threatening wound. His hitherto-loyal chancellor Axel Oxenstierna takes the opportunity to seize power in an attempt to reverse the democratizing influence of the West Virginians, endangering the USE at a critical juncture.

Nínay

The novel explores the life and love story of the female protagonist named Ninay, a heartbroken young woman who died of cholera. Her heartbreak was due to her separation from her lover Carlos Mabagsic. Ninay's misfortune became harder to bear because of the loss of her parents. A pasiam, the novena for the dead, was being said and offered for the lifeless Ninay. Framed with this melancholic atmosphere of nine-day prayer for the departed, the novel opens up a succession of narratives that present "variations of unrequited love". The first condemned relationship was between Ninay and her lover Carlos Mabagsic. When Ninay was still alive, Mabagsic was falsely accused of being the leader of a rebellion. Mabagsic's accuser was Federico Silveyro, an entrepreneur from Portugal. Mabagsic went abroad. Upon his return, Mabagsic found out that Ninay confined herself in a convent. Mabagsic became a victim of cholera and died. Ninay also died of cholera. The other victims of the wickedness of the Portuguese Federico Silveyro were the couple named Loleng and Berto. Silveyro was the cause of Loleng's death. Berto avenged Loleng's death by killing Silveyro.

Dreams of Joy

Lisa See

Dreams of Joy is organized in four sections -- The Tiger Leaps, The Rabbit Dodges, The Dog Grins, and The Dragon Rises. Joy is the Tiger – romantic, artistic, rash, and impulsive. In this novel, unlike Shanghai Girls, Joy and Pearl are both narrators. Driven by anger at Pearl and May for lying to her about her identity and filled with guilt because of her role in Sam’s death, Joy hastily leaves Los Angeles Chinatown to find her biological father Z.G. and to join the new Chinese society. Finding her father rather quickly in Shanghai, Joy goes with him to a village collective where he is forced to teach art to the peasants. Joy throws herself enthusiastically into the life of the collective and into a hasty marriage with Tao, a peasant artist. Only through motherhood and terrible suffering is Joy able to find her true identity and to exorcise her inner demons. See has written about the difficulty she faced in developing Joy’s character: “At first, Joy was hard to write about because she’s so naïve and stubborn. She makes such terrible mistakes, which, as a mother and her writer, I found hard to watch . . . But what an experience it was to watch her go through all the terrible things she experiences and see her grow up to be a wonderful artist and courageous mother.” Z.G. is the Rabbit, frequently hopping away from danger. Although close to Mao himself, the Chairman can’t trust the artist because of his individualistic streak and Western influences. Z.G. has to go to the country as a form of punishment for his subversive tendencies. What brings Z.G. through in the end are his art, his growing love for Joy and his granddaughter Samantha, his friendship with Pearl, and his devotion to May. The Dog is Tao, the village artist who Joy marries. As Pearl sees it, the question is what kind of Dog will Tao turn out to be. “’A Dog can be violent . . . Is he the kind of Dog you can trust and love, or will he bite you’”. Unfortunately Joy’s passionate view of Tao as a good Dog turns out to be false. Tao is a poor husband, an indifferent father, and a young man devoted to seeking the main chance, no matter who he has to step over to reach his goals. Even surviving the most desperate of circumstances does not change Tao's character. Pearl is the Dragon. She is the second narrator of Dreams of Joy and the character See found easiest to write. “I was already so familiar with Pearl’s strengths and weaknesses from Shanghai Girls. Her words just flowed, because I’ve now lived with her every day for over four years. In Shanghai Girls Mama speaks frequently of Pearl's Dragon nature -- and does so even when she is dying: "'There was a typhoon the day you were born . . . It is said that a Dragon born in a storm will have a particularly tempestuous fate. You always believe you are right, and this makes you do things you shouldn't . . . You're a Dragon, and of all the signs only a Dragon can tame the fates. Only a Dragon can wear the horns of destiny, duty and power'". Mama's mother love in giving up her life for her daughters becomes the standard by which Pearl judges herself. If Dreams of Joy is the story of Joy's coming of age, it also describes Pearl's growth through love, courage, and self-sacrifice. She pursues Joy to a China she never knew, living in her old Shanghai home as just another boarder, earning a living by collecting papers, and trying desperately to reconnect with her daughter. If such a pursuit requires painful patience and hard work at a collective farm, so be it. Like her mother before her, Pearl is willing to give up everything to save Joy and her granddaughter Samantha from death. Despite such trials, Pearl endures to the end to find joy in her daughter and granddaughter, friendship in Z.G., a new love with Dun the professor, and reaffirmation of her enduring bond with May. Little wonder that Pearl is radiant at novel's end. As for May the Sheep, See keeps her offstage for almost the entire novel. She is constantly present, however, through her letters to Pearl and the money and gifts she sends to her sister and Joy. At home May endures much hardship -- especially in the context of the death of her husband Vern. Only when Vern dies does May understand the suffering Pearl experienced after Sam's death. She is also tormented by Pearl's refusal to tell her the state of her relationship with Z.G. Nevertheless, in the end May finds the love she has been seeking her entire life.

The Fold

Joyce Park is a Korean adult who just finished her junior year of high school. On the last day of school she asked the boy she had a crush on to sign her yearbook, when he does so, he absent-mindedly addresses her by the name of a more academically inclined and ugly classmate. Determined to break out of her shell Joyce sets about a program of self-improvement along with the help of her best friend Gina. Hampered by her family, working in her family’s restaurant, and trying to stand out of her older sister’s shadow, she is given a chance to have plastic surgery, a gift from her aunt, who has just won the lottery. If Joyce undergoes blepharoplasty she will have more European-looking eyes with a prominent eyelid fold, making her stand out from other Korean immigrants, but she is afraid of any kind of pain, which causes a major problem.

The Great Lover

:Note on names: Throughout the novel Rupert Brooke is referred to as Brooke and Nell Golightly is referred to as Nell. That convention is maintained here. The prelude of the novel begins with a 1982 letter from the elderly daughter of Rupert Brooke by a Tahitian women to Nell Golightly, asking Nell to help the daughter better understand her father. Nell responds, including a narrative of the time spent by Brooke at The Orchard in Grantchester from 1909 until his retreat in Tahiti in 1914, which becomes the rest of the novel. Nell's story alternates between the perspectives of Nell Golightly, a seventeen-year-old girl, and the poet Rupert Brooke. The novel begins as Nell's father dies while tending to the family's bee hives. Because she is the oldest child and her mother is long dead, Nell Golightly decides finds a job as a maid at The Orchard, a boarding house and tea room outside of Cambridge which caters to the students at the University there. There she, along with several other young women, serves guests and cleans the facilities. She also helps a local beekeeper tend his hives. Soon after Nell begins working at The Orchard, Rupert Brooke becomes a resident. As he enjoys his summer working on papers for Cambridge societies and composing his poetry, Brooke leads a social life flirting with various women and enjoying the company of artists and other students. Brooke soon lusts for Nell, and his increased interest in her leads to unconventional encounters. They develop a friendship in which both Nell and Brooke hold secret admiration and love for the other, but are unable to express it because of social conventions. Brooke also desires to lose his virginity because he feels that being a virgin is disgraceful. Because he cannot convince Nell or any of several other women to succumb to his wooing, he loses it in a homosexual encounter with a boyhood friend, Denham Russell-Smith. After the encounter, Brooke returns home to comfort his mother at his father's death bed. After his father's death, though Brooke desires to return to the Orchard, Brooke is forced to stay at the school where his father worked as headmaster, retaining the post until the end of the school year. After a brief period, Brooke returns to The Orchard. Meanwhile, Nell's sister Betty becomes a maid at The Orchard and another of Nell's sisters has a still birth. Brooke continues to become closer to Nell, and they covertly go swimming together in Byron's pond, a local swimming hole named after the poet Lord Byron. Afterwards, Brooke departs on a tour advocating for workers' rights, which does not go very well. At the end of the tour, Brooke proposes to Noel Oliver, one of the wealthy girls whom Brooke had been courting during his stay at The Orchard. Upon his return to Grantchester, Brooke also finds himself expelled from The Orchard because of his wanton social life. Brooke then moves next door to another boarding house, the Old Vicarage. Brooke does not marry Noel, but rather spends a brief period in Munich where he tries to become intimate with a Belgian girl in order to lose his heterosexual virginity. This relationship also fails, and he returns to England confused about his sexuality. He and Nell continue to remain close until he goes on a vacation with his friends, where he again proposes to another of his friends. Brooke is refused resulting in a psychological breakdown and an extended absence from Grantchester while he is treated by a London doctor. After a few more months, Brooke returns to the Old Vicarage briefly before departing on a trip to Tahiti via Canada and the United States. The night before he leaves, Nell realises that she still loves Brooke and goes to Brooke's bed the night before he leaves. While in Tahiti, Brooke suffers an injury to one of his feet, and is nursed by the beautiful Taatama, a local woman. Then Brook and Taatama romance each other, eventually having sex and impregnating Taatama. After several months of exploring the island, Brooke decides to return home. Before his departure Brooke leave writes Nell a letter which contains a black pearl. Nell, now married to a local carter, receives the pearl and letter soon after she gives birth to a child by Brooke.

The Steerswoman

The story begins with the Steerswoman Rowan investigating the origins of a number of beautiful blue crystals that have been found in random locations throughout the land, highly polished and cut, but simply sprinkled throughout as if by a giant throwing them toward the east. During her investigation at an inn, she meets Bel, an outspoken Outskirter who can turn a marvelous tale. After leaving the next day, Rowan is later attacked on the road by another former guest at the inn, and Bel comes to her rescue, easily hefting a sword and making quick work of the attacker. The two women agree to travel together for a ways, as Rowan can see the benefit of having Bel around, and the Outskirter wants to explore the area and could use a guide. However, Rowan makes Bel to agree to not use any knowledge she gleans from Rowan’s help to allow her tribe to attack the outlying villages, which Outskirters do on occasion when their goats cannot sustain them. The pair make their way back to Rowan’s Steerswoman Academy to check in, quickly becoming fast friends despite their differences. Bel’s blunt nature and Rowan’s honesty sometimes get them into pinches, but they’re always able to work their way out. As they’re preparing to leave by ship to make it to the Academy, the inn they’re staying at is attacked by dragons. The pair manage to escape the fire breathers and set sail with a particularly obnoxious man and his lad in tow. While on the boat, Rowan and Bel converse with some of the sailors about magic, and one of them shows them a box in the hold that has been magicked for the voyage. When Bel is close to it, she can feel a warning buzz and a touch sparks her hand away from it. Rowan feels nothing, which the sailor tells her is a side effect of her being a Steerswoman. They dare the young lad to touch it, and he is sparked as well. When they’ve nearly arrived, they find the body of the boy next to the chest. He’s tried to open it, and was killed by the protection spell. Rowan makes it to the Academy and fills her fellow Steerswomen in. They agree that she needs to continue to investigate, but in a different manner than before, as her current investigations are drawing notice and attempts on her life (the man from the inn, the dragons) and suggest she goes undercover. This is very much against Rowan’s truthful nature and she resists, but eventually agrees it is the best way. At this point, the story switches perspective to a young runaway named Will, who has a talent for making things explode, much in the way wizards do sometimes. He joins up a caravan headed away from his home and the reader eventually realizes two of his traveling companions are Rowan and Bel, traveling in disguise. Will becomes very attached to Bel and although the pair try to get rid of him as they leave the caravan to continue their investigation, he follows along to help out. Bel and Rowan come to the town they intent to investigate as a rumored source of the stones and find a shopkeeper who claims to design and sell the stones himself. With Will’s help, the pair discover this to be a false trail left for them, and quickly leave town, pretending to believe the story. However, they are stalked by a group of soldiers who have orders to capture them and bring them to a pair of wizards, Dhree and Shammer, a brother and sister who Rowan eventually learns are under the control of a wizard named Slado. She and Bel slip into the stronghold of the wizards disguised as guards until Rowan is captured. Rowan is surprised to discover that Dhree and Shammer are barely teenagers, and probably too young to actually be in control. She is able to converse with them by giving them information freely and not asking them any questions that they would refuse to answer, thereby earning them the ban. The siblings talk amongst themselves in her presence and she gleans valuable information from them for a time before they shut her up in a room to wait for Slado to arrive and take her. But Bel and Will spring her from her prison through the distraction of Will’s exploding magic. Back at the Academy, the Steerswomen put together the clues they have gathered and conclude that the blue stones are pieces of a fallen guidestar, brought down for some unknown reason by the wizards, who may have put them up there in the first place. Rowan plays the same information game she did with Dhree and Shammer with another wizard who isn’t exactly loyal to Slado and learns a lot. She also gets him to take Will on as an apprentice. Will promises to share information about wizard magic with the Steerswomen as long as he finds that there isn’t a good reason for the information to be kept secret.

The Broken Kingdoms

N. K. Jemisin

A decade after the events of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms comes the story of Oree Shoth, a young street artist who lives in the city of Sky, which has been unofficially renamed "Shadow" after the growth of the enormous World Tree. Oree is blind, but has the ability to see magic; she has inherited this sensitivity to magic from her father, who also taught her to conceal her gift, as it is considered heretical by the Order of Itempas. Oree seeks only to live as ordinary a life as possible, despite her unusual abilities and disability. Shadow is a city in which many "godlings" -- immortal, demigod children of the gods—live hidden among the mortal citizens, so Oree is not very surprised to find a downtrodden being who is apparently unconscious, yet glowing brightly to her magic-sight, in the trash-strewn alley behind her house. She takes in this apparently mute homeless man, whom she later whimsically dubs "Shiny", and lives with him without incident for several months. She has no inkling of his identity, suspecting only that he is a godling, though readers familiar with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms will quickly realize that he is Itempas, god of light and order. Itempas was disgraced and sentenced to humanity by his fellow gods at the end of the previous book. When one of the local godlings is murdered, Oree finds the body—and falls under suspicion when the Itempan Order seeks a scapegoat rather than the actual culprit. Shiny increases the danger to Oree when, in an apparent fit of pique, he manifests inhuman power and injures, then kills, several Orderkeepers. Madding, another godling denizen of the city and Oree's ex-lover, attempts to aid her. However, he and a number of other godlings, and Oree, are then captured by a heretical group of Itempans who call themselves the Order of the New Light. The New Lights, led by a renegade Arameri fullblood named Serymn and her scrivener husband, oppose the Order of Itempas, which has attempted to change mortal society and doctrine in response to the events of the previous novel, which are not widely known. Dateh reveals to Oree that she is a demon, a part-god mortal whose blood is toxic to gods; it is demon blood, which Dateh also bears, that has been used to kill godlings. The gods, led by Itempas, long ago attempted to hunt down and destroy all demons due to the threat they represented, but a few escaped. Oree is left with no choice but to seek allies from among the gods and the Arameri—although both groups would happily kill or use her for their own purposes—in order to defeat the New Lights before their actions can threaten the entire mortal realm.

Ocean of Blood

Darren Shan

The novel picks up a couple years later with Larten Crepsley and Wester who are part of a small group of cubs. But after a bad incident with a Vampaneze named Randel which resulted in the death of Zula in a duel, they leave the war pack and go in search of Seba Nile. Part two of the book starts out with Seba, Larten and Wester observing the American civil war. They meet up with Vancha March and soon realize that Seba wants them to meet up with Lady Evanna in hopes that one of them would be chosen by her as a mate, which could result in vampires becoming the dominant species. Evanna is amused with Larten and grants him permission to find her whenever he wants to. In part three of the book another council at Vampire Mountain is hosted and Larten does better in his duels than he did previously thus catching the eye of some generals and princes. He then begins his training to become a vampire general while Seba pursues his new job of Quartermaster and Wester becomes part of a Vampaneze hater group. Larten, a few month before finishing his training, falls out with the Vampires and seeks more of the world. At the beginning of part four in his travels he meets up with Vancha for a short while and soon goes to find Evanna again. He ends up disrespecting her while being drunk and ends up fleeing for his life with a large cut on his face. One of Evanna's assistants Malora tags along with Larten on the night he leaves. She helps him with the vampire he contracted after a visiting with Evanna. Larten later insists on traveling to Greenland in a ship and Malora does her best to collect blood and make sure he doesn't reveal his true self while on the ship. But inevitably he consumes blood from a woman with a baby on the boat and reveals himself as a vampire. Malora sacrifices herself to give him more time. Meanwhile he recovers and kills almost everyone on the boat once he see's Malora's corpse hanging by the neck. He keeps a single crew member and a couple of people to feed off of. But he is torn by his conscience since he could only find the baby and not the mother on the boat. He then discovers that one of the people he kept in the storeroom has killed and cannibalized the others claiming that Larten can't kill him now since he is a vampire like him. Larten then proceeds to jump off the boat with the baby and rows to shore in a small boat.

Live Wire

Harlan Coben

When former tennis star Suzze T and her rock star husband, Lex, encounter an anonymous Facebook post questioning the paternity of their unborn child, Lex runs off, and Suzze - at eight months pregnant - asks Myron to save her marriage, and perhaps her husband's life. But when he finds Lex, he also finds someone he wasn't looking for: his sister-in-law, Kitty, who along with Myron's brother abandoned the Bolitar family long ago. As Myron races to locate his missing brother while their father clings to life, he must face the lies that led to the estrangement - including the ones told by Myron himself. If we thought we knew Myron Bolitar.

May Pagsinta'y Walang Puso

The novel is composed of three parts. The first part tackles the budding relationship between Sela and Fidel. However, Fidel did not marry Sela. The second part narrated Sela’s suffering caused by Fidel's unfaithfulness. Sela found a new lover in Rufo. The last part shows how Sela was haunted by her past, a past that also became her source of happiness. Apart from Sela, Fidel, and Rufo, the other characters were Rafael and Marya.

Sampagitang Walang Bango

Set during the second decade of American occupation and colonization of the Philippines, Regalado invented in Sampagitang Walang Bango the characters Bandino, Nenita, Pakito, and Liling. Bandino was the playboy husband of Nenita. The alienated Nenita, weakened and rebelling against Bandino's indicencies, succumbed to an extramarital affair with Pakito, a lawyer. Pakito was a man engaged to be married to Liling, a modest and demure woman. After discovering Nenita's affair with Pakito, Bandino tried to commit suicide. Only Bandino's daughter was able to stop him from shooting himself. Bandino, with his daughter, left the Philippines. Nenita, already abandoned by her husband, was also left by Pakito to fend for herself.

The Wake of the Lorelei Lee

In the previous book, Rapture of the Deep, Jacky is forced by British Naval Intelligence to recover Spanish gold from the bottom of the Caribbean Sea. She used a diving bell to recover the gold, which she still has in her possession. Jacky kept some of this gold and bought a ship, the Lorelei Lee. The Lorelei Lee has four large cabins, 24 regular-sized cabins, and three levels of open hammock spaces. Jacky plans to carry passengers across the Atlantic Ocean. Before the voyage to London, Jacky and her dear friend, Amy, travel to Amy's family farm, Dovecote. While on the farm Jacky sees her friend and Amy's brother Randall. She finds out that Randall has joined the United States Marine Corps and is going to sea. They attend a religious revival at the farm, where Jacky sees her old associates Mr. Fennel and Mr. Bean, who are stage performers. They are putting on the show with a girl that Jacky discovers to be Polly Von, a former member of Jacky's gang in Cheapside. When Jacky sails into London she is taken to Newgate Prison by her old enemies, Bliffil and Flashby. Jacky goes before the court and is sentenced to life at the penal colony in Australia. To make matters worse, the Lorelei Lee is confiscated and used to transport Jacky and 250 other female convicts, to become "breeders" to populate Australia. Jacky had decked out the Lorelei Lee to carry passengers across the Atlantic Ocean, so it was equipped for the voyage to Australia. The Lorelei has three levels of open hammock spaces and Jacky, knowing which level is best, claims the top level of hammocks for her and her new crew of girls. Four groups form on the ship, the Lizzies, the Judies, and the Tartans, named after their leaders, and Jacky's group, called the Newgaters Crew, which includes Mary Wade and Esther Abrahams. Captain Laughton tells the girls that after they reach Gibraltar the different hammock levels will be auctioned off. The other three crews, being prostitutes, plan on making their money that way. The Newgaters Crew, consisting of twelve girls, including Jacky, plan on doing the ship's laundry in an attempt to make money. Captain Laughton also tells the girls and the crew that they are welcome to mingle and get together. The Captain gets more money if, when they arrive in Australia, any girls are pregnant or have had a child, so they are welcome to it, and they will get a shilling in return. Meanwhile, the book switches to letters from Jaimy to Jacky. The letters do not reach Jacky, but it tells the reader what has happened to Jaimy. Jaimy has been convicted of defrauding the king and sentenced to seven years in the penal colony of Australia. Jaimy has been told by the prison guards that Jacky has not been hanged and has been sent to Australia. The father and brother confirm this and Jaimy is put on the ship to Australia. On the ship, Jaimy finds Ian McConnaughey and Arthur McBride, from Jacky's former ship the Emerald, as well as other members of the former crew. The Lorelei Lee arrives in Gibraltar. They ship is to be there for three days and the other crews go on with their profession to make money to be able to buy the good levels of hammocks. The next day, Jacky goes onto the dock in her swim suit. She invites people to throw coins into the water, which she will retrieve. She works the docks all day, though not making nearly as much as the other crews. Later Jacky sees that the ship is taking on a few more girls and that one of them is Mairead. Mairead has been sentenced to life in Australia as well. Mairead tells her of her arrest and the fact that she is pregnant. As Jacky continues to dive for coins she sees some old seamates from the ship Wolverine. She also sees Gully MacFarland, her old partner in Boston, who Jacky put upon a British Navy ship after he got drunk and hit her. He tells her he is now sober and she is the reason, which he is thankful for. After the Lorelei Lee leaves Gibraltar the Captain auctions off the hammock spaces to the four different crews. The three other crews outbid Jacky and her crew for the best hammock spaces. However, this was Jacky's plan all along. Jacky and her crew make the laundry room their home. Jacky, being the former owner of the Lorelei Lee, knows where the extra mattresses are, and with some help from the carpenter, they make bunk beds for the crew. As the ship sails on, the Captain begins to have dinner parties in his cabin, with the officers attending. Jacky is there too, being the entertainment. During these parties Major George Johnston, an officer, has been attending with a girl from Jacky's crew, Esther Abrahams. At one of the dinners they announce their engagement and the next day they are married. After the wedding the Captain pushes Higgins to take a girl for himself. Higgins takes this opportunity to protect himself as well as Jacky by taking her as his wife. The first mate Mr. Ruger has been coming on to Jacky and by marrying Higgins, she can somewhat ward off his advances. Jacky on the other hand, uses their marriage to tease Higgins to no end by asking him to carry her across the threshold of their cabin and calling him "Dear Husband John" and such. That night, as Jacky and Higgins jump on the bed and make noises to make their marriage look, if not sound, real, she jokingly slides her hands down his waist and asks him if he would want her to, being legally married and all. They both have a laugh over this and fall asleep. The ship then makes it to India. Jacky and Mairead go out to explore India with Higgins and Captain Laughton. Jacky and Mairead get separated from the others. A small boy named Ravi offers to be their tour guide. Ravi is part of the untouchable caste and is an orphan after his mother died. Ravi shows them around, exchanges their money. The girls are sticking out so Ravi uses their money to buy them Indian clothing. He shows them the different Indian gods, including the Goddess Kali and the God Ganesh. After the girls eat some Indian food they are able to ride an elephant. Riding the elephant, Jacky and Mairead go on to be part of a procession through town, where at the end, in the Governor's box, sit Captain Laughton and Higgins. Jacky decides to joke around. While on the elephant, Jacky stands in front of Mairead and puts her arms out, imitating the Goddess Kali. This outrages the Kali followers, and they chase Jacky and Mairead. They run, led by Ravi. He gets them to the ship so they will be safe. Jacky knows if Ravi is left behind the Kali followers will kill him for helping her, so she grabs him and puts Ravi on the ship. The Captain is outraged when the ship is asked to leave the port immediately. The book then switches to a letter from Jaimy to Jacky. The letter is not written down, but rather in his head. Jaimy and the others are on the ship Cerberus. Every day, the convicts are allowed on deck for some exercise and fresh air. Jaimy plans a riot. Ian and Arthur create a diversion by singing a song about some of the guards. The two guards, Corporal Vance and Sergeant Napper, are enraged and begin beating some of the convicts. This diversion allows Jaimy to grab a belaying pin from the deck and tuck it under his clothes. The weeks go by on the Lorelei Lee. One day a fight breaks out between two girls, Violetta Atkins and Jane Wheelden. They were fighting over a man. Jacky tries to break up the fight and ends up in the middle of it. Fighting is forbidden on the ship and is punishable by whipping. However, this time Mr. Ruger decides to punish the girls by rigging up the dunking stool, where the girls will be dunked into the sea for ten seconds. Jacky knows the other two girls would not be able to take the punishment and takes it for them, meaning she would be underwater for 30 seconds. As Jacky is dunked underwater she counts the seconds. She soon realizes that she is being kept longer than she should. Jacky soon passes out and wakes up on the deck. Higgins tells her that something was caught in the winch to reel up the rope. Higgins thinks it was a knitting needle. Mrs. Barnsley, Mrs. MacDonald, and Mrs. Berry are the leaders of the other crews, and don't like Jacky very much. However, they come to Higgins and tell them that even though they haven't gotten along with Jacky, they did not try to harm her. Just then Ravi comes in to inform Jacky of an arriving ship. All the women come on deck to see the ship Cerberus. While the Captains exchange news and try to trade passengers, Jacky spots her old Irish crew on the ship. Jacky continues to spot more of her old crew, including Mairead's husband, Ian. Mairead yells to Ian and the crew yells back. McBride, seeing Jacky yells, "Fletcher, it's your Jacky." The two girls are at the edge of the ship, and are being held back from jumping off. The Captain tells them they are inflicting punishment to rioting prisoners, and Jacky and Mairead, seeing that their Jaimy and Ian are being hurt, manage to jump on board the Cerberus to save/comfort their men. The guards force Jacky to watch as Jaimy is beaten, doing the same for Mairead and Ian. But afterwards as Jacky is kissing Jaimy (who is nearing unconsciousness), she slyly puts her shiv in his boot. The Captain throws the girls over and sails off. Back on the Lorelei Lee, the girls continue to travel, all while First Mate Ruger continues to eye Jacky and Mairead. One day, while partying on the deck the Captain, obviously drunk, yells for more everything and just dies, his last word being, "More." With Ruger as Captain, everyone stays below as much as possible. He drinks himself into a frenzy and brutally abuses anyone in his way. He continues to pursue Jacky and Mairead. All the gangs decide to form a truce with each other as well as the other ship officers to keep everyone safe from Ruger. Meanwhile the boys plan to hijack the Cerberus, sail to the nearest port, supply themselves, and sail to Australia to save their girls. Their opportunity arrives when the crew is drunk during the Captain's birthday and their escort ship is off to escort a more important ship. They manage to steal a club and considerable amount of rope and plot to start their take over the next night. When the guards walk by, McBride starts telling a rather nasty joke involving Jacky, himself, and Jaimy. Jaimy, pissed off, tells Arthur the two will settle scores later. The next night, Padric and Ian tease Weisling, their guard, about how he got beat up by Jacky on the Wolverine. They make up a song to an Irish drinking tune about his embarrassment, and soon the Weasel unlocks the door to beat them, but Duggan puts out the Weasel with their stolen belaying pin. They unchain themselves with the Weasel's keys and wait for the other two guards to come out. The other two guards walk by and young Daniel Connolly begs them for protection from his bigger and meaner cell mates. They guards decide to unlock him to have some fun with him themselves (they mean to rape him), when Jaimy and McBride kill both of them. The men steal the guards' uniforms, raid the ship's weaponry, and go out killing and injuring most of the other guards, throwing them overboard in a life raft. They gain full control of the ship and set sail for Batavia (Jakarta). Jaimy and McBride see this as a perfect time to settle their scores and get into a fight. Jaimy wins, claims captain and appoints his officers. Ian as first mate, Padric as second, and McBride as third. Meanwhile, Ruger finally decides that he has waited long enough and orders Jacky to his room. She refuses, telling him that she is married, and if he forces her, it will be rape. Ruger tells her he knows of her sham marriage and this time orders both Jacky and Mairead to his room. Mairead tells him to back away and that she has a baby. Jacky tries to save her by telling Ruger he can have her, and leave Mairead alone, but he does not. Ruger, angered, punches Mairead in her stomach, killing her baby. He goes back into his cabin while the other women help Mairead recover. Jacky, angered, shoots Ruger with an arrow, but misses as he ducks and runs away. To keep the officers from killing Jacky for attempted murder, most of the women barricade themselves below the ship, and only will let officers pass for supplies if they agree to keep to their terms of truce. Under deck, Jacky and Higgins make themselves a makeshift room for the two and discuss matters with Ravi and their monkey Josephine, who they picked up from India. Higgins tells her it is unlikely that Ruger will be convicted of anything, while she might be hanged for attempted murder. Jacky dimly sees that her only hope is if Jaimy helps her, which is unlikely. Just then, a ship has been spotted and Jacky runs up to see if it is Jaimy. The ship turns out to be a pirate's Chinese junk and attacks them by throwing phosphorus rockets at them from a long distance. Deciding that she must fight fire with fire, and that no one should hurt the ship she paid for, she takes a few of her own arrows, as well as some flaming pitch, and drops down in a life boat with Ravi to defend her Lorelei Lee. She manages to set fire to the junk's sails, which burn quickly as they are made of straw-like material. But, as she finishes off their sails, the Chinese shoot their arrows at her and manage to take her and Ravi captive. On board, a woman stops her execution, and her words are translated to Jacky by an Italian monk. The woman, whose name is Cheng Shih, is obviously the boss, asks the monk to record Jacky's entire life. The monk and Jacky talk and eventually she learns that Cheng Shih is the most dreaded pirate in these lands and commanded hundred of ships. The monk mocks her, as she was proud only a minute ago by having command of two ships in her days as a pirate. The monk, Brother Arcangelo Rossetti, tells Jacky that Cheng Shih is intrigued by her and wants to keep her. When meeting Cheng Shih in her cabin, she tells Jacky that she does not believe her story. Jacky, miffed at this, shows her how she can dive for coins. She takes all her clothes off and jumps into the water, quickly getting the coin, but staying down long enough to think her drowned. She swims around the ship, jumps on deck, surprising Cheng Shih. Impressed by Jacky's ability, the pirate takes Jacky under her wing, dressing her in all the latest Chinese fashions, and treating her as a pet. The book goes back to Jaimy who is stuck in the middle of the ocean and cannot go anywhere as the wind will not blow. He is fearful of Chinese pirates that scout out his ship daily. Later in Cheng Shih's cabin, Jacky learns of how she always keeps a Buddha statue near her to remind herself of a debt unpaid. It turns out while raiding the monastery there, Cheng Shih also tried to take their giant golden Buddha statue, but it sank under water. Seeing all the monks dive after it and drowning, she vowed to bring it back up. But no amount of tugging would do the job. She marked the water there and left, failing in her task. Hearing this, Jacky thinks of how her diving bell managed to help her pull up the bow of a sunken Spanish ship, and the next morning proposes to bring the statue back up, if she, Jaimy, and the passengers of the Lorelei Lee (as well as the ship) are all freed. Cheng Shih is angry and whips Jacky for even thinking of asking for freedom, but agrees to let everyone go except Jacky. To show Jacky that she is under the ownership and protection of her, Cheng Shih orders her assistant to tattoo on her neck a golden dragon, this being Shih's mark. They immediately change course and sail toward the Cerberus, their plan to take over the ship and sail to the Lorelei Lee. It is unknown to them that Jaimy has managed to take command of the vessel. They come closer to the unarmed ship, and are about to fire when Jacky sees that management has changed. She climbs aboard, stopping the slaughter, and tells Jaimy to throw down his sword. When he does, she tells him about her plan, and together the two ships sail toward the Lorelei Lee. While together, Jacky and Jaimy spend a lot of time with each other, much to the displeasure of Cheng Shih. One such occasion includes a very saucy time in a bathtub. There, Jaimy realizes that Jacky is a sort of slave to the pirate and is angered. He demands Jacky to sneak off with him, as he is afraid she will be used as a prostitute. Jacky comforts him, and quickly changes the subject and asks Jaimy what his plan is for the prisoners. He tells her that he will pose as the now-dead captain of the ship, collect the money for delivering the prisoners and sail back with her. She tells him that it is a great plan, but does not mention that she cannot leave. Jaimy asks about her marriage to Higgins, and Jacky starts to tell him it is a sham, but Jaimy stops her saying that he could never be jealous of their good friend Higgins. Jacky is sure he thinks she is no longer a maiden and wants to tell him that she is, but says nothing to make sure he would still love her any way she was. When they reach the Lorelei Lee, they board the ship and Ian kills Captain Ruger for killing his unborn son, and laying his hands on Mairead. Everyone has a happy reunion and they all sail towards the sunken Buddha. Higgins and Jacky have a talk about their marriage, and agree to get a divorce. Higgins can see that Jacky is anxious to be back with Jaimy, so the two get divorced in the quick Muslim way, since they are close to Muslim waters. The crew sets up the diving bell, and Jacky, donning her swimsuit, dives for the statue. She brings it up in no time and the Chinese fix it to its original place. But in the process Chi-Chi (Cheng Shih's assistant) falls into the water. Jacky saves him, making him her assistant. As they sail back, Jaimy and Jacky have to say goodbye. Jaimy is outraged and wants to fight the pirates, as he cannot believe that they are keeping his Jacky as a slave. Jacky tells him that she is treated well, like a pet, and he should not worry, as she will have lots of adventures around Asia, and that adventure was why she got on the Dolphin years ago. She tells him to go back to Australia, continue with his plan and to start a life elsewhere without her. Jacky begins to cry, and when Jaimy tries to hug her she tells him not to, as Shih is watching and will kill them both. Jaimy protests saying that he will fight them all for her freedom, but she tells him to leave. She asks Cheng Shih if she can kiss Jaimy one last time, but the pirate says no. Jacky's heart breaks at how she will never be able to feel Jaimy again and sobs into her hands. The monk quickly explains that Cheng Shih meant that she would not allow Jacky to stay, and that she wants Jacky to leave with her fiance as she would hate her Golden Child to feel so sad. Not wanting to wait as Cheng Shih might change her mind, the two run off the ship, quickly climb their ships and set sail to Australia. On route to Australia, Jacky and Jaimy are mostly on separate ships, and she makes no move to invite him over, telling him she is busy. In reality, she just wanted to distance herself from him, as she did not feel ready for sex. She had known that would be on Jaimy's mind, as Mairead and Ian had been "busy making another Irish baby" and McBride had given him a hard time about her easy ways. At Australia, Jaimy and Higgins act as the captains of the two ships, collect the money, leave the prisoners, and sail a good distance away to talk matters through. Jaimy and Jacky, now finally alone, begin talking. She tells him to sail to Singapore and spend every cent of his money to arm his ship. Jaimy is confused as he thought that this would be the perfect time for him and Jacky to make up for lost time in their relationship, but he goes, with only a few kisses from his fiance. She later has a talk with Higgins, just like the one on the Nancy B., but this time she agrees with Higgins, admitting that getting married and having children could wait until she was older and more successful. Higgins smiles quietly, and it is obvious he knew she would say this. A few days after the ships separate, the Dart (the Cerberus 's companion ship) returns from its different duty to find and sail with it back to England. The Captain climbs aboard the Lorelei and Jacky sees that it is Joseph Jared, one of the men she had a relationship with on the Wolverine, as since then. He tells her that he has finally met her after what seemed like forever. He technically has authority over her, as she is an escaped prisoner, and he wants her in bed. She says no politely and persists, but Jared pulls her onto the bed anyway. Just then the Cerberus pulls up, with Jaimy jumping aboard and Jacky smiles and asks Jared, "Now who exactly is the prisoner of whom?" The three captains discuss what to do with their illegal profits, the ships, and where to stay, as both Jacky and Jaimy are wanted. Jared insists that it is his duty to turn in Jacky and Jaimy (he is still angry from Jacky's refusal, and the fact that Jaimy is actually present this time to stop him from getting his way with Jacky), but seeing the others' expressions and their armed guards, he quickly agrees that he is open for discussion. Together, they agree to let the Dart sail with them to England, where the Cerberus and it will stay, and where Jaimy will go with his lawyer to plead his innocence in court. Jared, now a captain, will vouch for him with his influence. Jacky, along with the Irish crew and Higgins, would go to Boston, and continue with Faber Shipping, as all chances of her acquittal is lost. The three shake hands and are about to continue with the matter of the money, when Chi-Chi yells, warning them of a typhoon. The book ends with Jacky panicking about the fast approaching storm.

The Oakdale Affair and The Rider

Edgar Rice Burroughs

See the articles on the separate works.

The Widening Gyre

Spenser has to protect the image of Ronni Alexander, Congressman Meade Alexander's wife. The Congressman, who is running for senator, is being blackmailed, but is interested only in making sure that his wife suffers no setbacks because of the videotape. Spenser's efforts take him to Washington, where he narrows down the suspects to Gerry Broz, the Boston mobster Joe Broz's son, who is running a sex and drug racket, in which Mrs. Alexander had gotten filmed. Joe Brox has Congressman Alexander's rival, Robert Browne in his pocket, and intends to make sure that he wins over Alexander. Spenser finds out that Joe has no idea of his son's racket in Washington and uses this as leverage in order to get the tapes suppressed, managing to get shot in the leg in the course of the story. This book shows the first sighs of some distance between Spenser and Susan Silverman. Susan has been in Washington pursuing a Ph. D in Clinical Psychology, and Spenser gets scared of the loneliness that he feels without her. He also feels that she is conforming to every form of establishment that he hates. Paul Giacomin also plays a big role in this novel. He is shown to be a highly thoughtful young man who is wise beyond his age. Paul points out many things to Spenser about himself and his unbending code of ethics, and helps Spenser reach some sort of a resolution about Susan.

Robopocalypse

Daniel H. Wilson

In the near future, an increasingly robot-reliant society faces extinction after a computer scientist accidentally unleashes a sentient artificial intelligence named Archos. After failed attempts at making a non-homocidal artificial intelligence, the safeguards in a computer science lab are compromised. Archos, a supremely intelligent AI, becomes self-aware and immediately starts planning the decimation of human civilization in an attempt to preserve Earth's biodiversity. After infecting all penetrable networked electronic devices (cars, airplanes, elevators, robots, etc.) with a "precursor virus", Archos begins planning a systematic attack on the human race. Before a full blown attack on humanity commences, Archos launches probing attacks to analyze the technical feasibility of its strategies and to assess human response. The random attacks are designed to look like sporadic malfunctions of devices that humans depend on for their everyday routines--a domestic robot attacking innocents, planes intentionally set on a collision course, smarts cars driving out of control. Finally, at the Zero Hour, the entire automated world turns against humanity. Small bands of survivors find ways to circumvent the eradication and survive without modern technology. This is a story of those survivors in the months and days leading up to and following the cataclysm. A group of Native Americans (whose leader has a son that is a POV character) lead a group that fights back, their base being a reservation, culminating in an attack where some of the group turned into a robot/human hybrid with zombie-like behavior. In the end, a "freeborn" robot allied with a human squad, cuts off Archos's communication with its robotic hordes. Archos's base is infiltrated and the genocidal mastermind is destroyed by a stone age assault--bombardment with boulders--ending the war.

The Oakdale Affair

Edgar Rice Burroughs

In the home of Jonas Prim, president of an Oakdale bank, a thief makes off with a servant's clothing and valuables belonging to Prim's daughter Abigail. Abigail is thought to be absent visiting Sam Benham, whom her parents want her to marry. Escaping, the thief later encounters a group of hobos and is taken for one of them, the Oskaloosa Kid. Two of the hobos attempt to murder the newcomer for the loot, who shoots at one and flees. Meanwhile, the Prims discover the theft and learn that Abigail never arrived at Benham's. The incidents are assumed to be connected to other crimes, the assault and robbery of John Baggs and the murder of Reginald Paynter, who had been seen with two men and a girl. The local paper speculates Abigail might have been involved with Paynter's murder. Mr. Prim hires a private eye. The thief encounters another vagrant, Bridge, and the two take refuge from a storm in the deserted Squibb house, site of an old murder. Nearby, a shot is heard from a passing car, from which a woman is thrown. The two take the unconscious woman into the house. There they discover a dead body and hear something in the cellar dragging a chain. They lock themselves in one of the rooms. The woman, reviving, reveals herself as the girl with Paynter. The other men in the car were Terry, the driver, and the Oskaloosa Kid. She says the Kid murdered Paynter and afterwards threw her from the car and shot at her when she wouldn't keep quiet. The two hobos pursuing the thief enter the house, find the body, encounter the thing in the cellar. Bridge lets them in the room to save them from the thing, at which the thief shoots. The thing retreats. Later, as the storm dies down, they again hear its approach, and a woman's shriek. When all is silent they emerge to find the dead man gone. The hobos threaten to turn the thief in for Paynter's murder unless they are given a share of the loot. Bridge, with the thief's gun, forces them to leave without it. Afterwards the thief goes to a nearby farmhouse of the Case family to buy food and brags to the Cases' son Willie about the exploits of the Oskaloosa Kid. After the thief's departure the Cases hear about the Baggs, Paynter and Prim mysteries from the local postman. A car containing Burton, a private detective, and two others pulls up to the Squibb house, and Bridge, the thief and the woman flee into the woods. Burton goes to the Case farm and questions the family, after which Willie disappears. The detective apprehends the hobos Bridge had driven from the Squibb house and gets their story, after which he arrests them as material witnesses. He himself vanishes for a few minutes, supposedly in search of a notebook he says he lost; actually he has found the loot from the Baggs robbery, implicating his captives in that crime. In the woods Bridge and his companions come across a cabin where Giova, a gypsy girl, is digging a grave. Willie also turns up. Bridge and Giova exchange stories. He tells her he tracked her and the thing from the Squibb place; the thing is now revealed as her pet bear Beppo. She tells him the body from the house which she is burying is that of her father, a villainous drunk who died of a fit. Bridge suggests they join forces. His group helps her bury the body, and she disguises them as gypsies. Meanwhile Willie, whom the thief has tried to bribe into silence, steals off and calls Burton. Burton, Jonas Prim and a posse join Willie and are led to the cabin while the two hobos in Burton's custody are sent to jail. Bridge's party is not found, but the gypsy's body is dug up. Willie testifies on the gypsy's death at the inquest. Later that night, by chance, he spies the fugitives hiding in an old mill and again goes to inform Burton. But the group of hobos of whom Burton's captives were members has also learned their whereabouts, and plots to murder Bridge and the thief for the latter's loot and return the girl, whom they take for Abigail, to Prim for the reward. The gang duly attack them, but chaos ensues when Beppo the bear comes to their defense. Burton's posse arrives and intervenes; the bear is killed and all the combatants taken captive. Bridge and the thief are jailed and endangered by a lynch mob. Burton questions the woman, now identified as Hettie Penning. She tells him how Paynter died at the hands of the Oskaloosa Kid, and that the thief is not the Kid. Her story is confirmed when it is learned that the real Kid has turned up, fatally injured from crashing the car, and has confessed to murdering Paynter and shooting Hettie. Burton and Prim go to the jail, where they find the mob about to lynch Bridge and the thief, who they believe have robbed and killed Abigail Prim, and Paynter as well. Bridge, who has deduced the truth about his companion, reveals that the "thief" is Abigail, and the possessions she "stole" are her own property. Burton and Prim intervene and free the prisoners, whose secrets are now revealed. Abigail had run away so she would not have to marry Sam Benham. Bridge too is a runaway, having abandoned his own wealthy family to ride the rails. Burton has long been searching for him on commission from his father. In the end all is resolved satisfactorily Hettie takes out Giova as her maid, and Bridge and Abigail realize they have fallen in love with each other, which they seal with a kiss. In light of what Burton has revealed about Bridge, the prospects for their romance appear bright.

Natani

Natani alternates between the present and the past, a reflection of the protagonist’s life as he converses with a stranger. A love story between the protagonist, Fouad, and his first love, Zahra, it is romantic with hints of comedy and dramatic undertones simultaneously. The novel spans one night in a hotel lobby in Paris, France, and it is interlaced with flashbacks from Fouad's adolescence in Qom, Iran. A native of Iran, Fouad lives in London and is in Paris to meet his girlfriend. Prior to her arrival, he becomes transfixed by an elegant woman who enters the hotel lobby. Her appearance reminds him of Zahra, and what it felt like to fall in love. Fouad's girlfriend arrives, and they have dinner, and later, Fouad finds himself restless and unable to sleep. He returns to the lobby only to find the woman he saw earlier. He begins talking to her about his life growing up as the son of an ayatollah in the restrictive religious society of Iran. The narrative continues to alternate between their conversation and his flashbacks until the following morning. Fouad offers that one’s hometown is not where one lives, but where one "gives birth". This is how Paris and Qom, in Fouad’s mind, stand isolated on two opposite sides of the world.

A Glorious Way to Die

In A Glorious Way to Die, Russell Spurr recounts the final mission of the . He describes the events that led to the decision by the Japanese at Combined Fleet headquarters to send Yamato, the pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy, on a suicide mission to help defend Okinawa Island against the advancing Allied forces. Spurr tells the story of Yamatos last mission in a "dramatic narrative" from both the Japanese and the American point of view. Construction of the Yamato began in secrecy at the Kure naval base in 1937. She was completed soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, but had already been rendered obsolete by the Japanese themselves after their successful carrier-based attacks at Pearl Harbor and elsewhere. Yamato, the largest battleship in the world, with nine 18.1-inch guns with a range of over 22 miles, became a "70,000-ton white elephant the Japanese did not quite know what to do with". In March 1945, after the Americans had invaded Okinawa and all but eliminated the Japanese Navy, a final Kamikaze mission called Operation Ten-Go (Operation Heaven One) was conceived to repulse the American advances. The plan was to send Yamato with eight support destroyers and a cruiser to Okinawa. Yamato would only be given enough fuel to reach Okinawa, and would have no air-cover as all available airplanes would be used for a series of Kamikaze attacks on US aircraft carriers. At Okinawa Yamato and her support craft would beach themselves and assist the island defenders. Without air-cover there was little chance of Yamato reaching her destination, but the Japanese high command were "perfectly prepared to sacrifice the remnants of [their] fleet to avoid the stigma of surrender". The Americans intercepted the Japanese fleet on April 7, 1945, 200 miles from Okinawa. Using 280 bombers and torpedo planes in three waves of attacks from nine aircraft carriers, the Americans sank Yamato and five of her support ships within three hours. After Yamato went down the Americans machine-gunned survivors in the water. Spurr explains the reason for their hatred of the Japanese: After the US planes left the area, the remaining Japanese support ships picked up what survivors they could from the water and returned to Kure. Of Yamatos total crew of 3359, only 269 survived. The Americans lost 12 men in their attack on the Japanese fleet.

The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future

Dav Pilkey

=Introduction= Professor Gaylord M. Sneedly, Melvin Sneedly's father, accused this book of having many scientific errors and said that cavemen did not co-exist with dinosaurs and to prove that he's right, he claimed that he was a recipient of The Most Brilliantest Science Guy of the Whole Wide World Award. However, creators George and Harold denied that and said they time-traveled and witnessed that cavemen did co-exist with dinosaurs. They said scientists do not really know everything and make guesses based on evidence they already discovered (Which actually is true, as every year, new discoveries are being made.) so they called this book "the first book based on science facts." =Plot= Their story begins with two cavekids named Ook Schadowski and Gluk Jones who live in Caveland, Ohio. The dictator of Caveland, Chief Goppernopper, hated those kids but forced Ook's sister Gak to marry him. Ook and Gluk became friends with a Tyrannosaurus rex Mog-Mog and her baby and they all ruined Goppernopper's wedding, making Gak happy. Angered by this, Goppernopper walks away with his guards until Goppernopper met his descendent, J.P. Goppernopper, who is the CEO of Goppernopper Enterprises from the year 2222. The two Goppernoppers worked together to steal natural resources from cavemen days through time portal since all natural resources will be used up by 2222. Ex-Chief Goppernopper goes back to the past and forced every cavemen living in Caveland to become slaves for the rest of their lives, making them official property of Goppernopper Enterprises. Becoming slaves, Ook, Gluk, and baby Mog-Mog were shoveling until the two Goppernoppers took the cavekids to 2222 to torture them, but baby Mog-Mog followed them to help them escape. Ook, Gluk, and baby Mog-Mog hid in Master Wong's School of Kung-Fu. There they trained and became good at kung-fu. Ook fell in love with Master Wong's daughter, Lan. Lan named baby Mog-Mog "Lily" after her favorite flower. Ook and Gluk grew up, training under Master Wong and no matter how good they were at kung-fu, Master Wong did not award them new belts as they constantly requested. In order to get new belts, the cavemen had to give the right answer to Master Wong's question: Who is the greatest man? When it was time for Ook and Gluk to save their village, they finally answered who the greatest man is: Nobody. It was a correct answer to Master Wong's question, so he finally awarded them black belts, telling them that titles and trophies have no value to the man who is at peace with himself and true greatness is anonymous, therefore the greatest man is nobody. Ook and Gluk realized that these belts have no value since they are at peace, but they took the belts anyway. Then Ook, Gluk, and Lily entered Goppernopper Enterprises, time-traveled back to cavemen days, and kung-fued the guards only to free the slaves. Then Ook's sister Gak fell in love with Gluk and called him hero. After that, Chief Goppernopper returned and ordered his Mechasaurs (A mechanical T. rex, a mechanical Triceratops, and a mechanical Pteranodon) to attack Ook, Gluk, and Lily. Then Lily and the cavemen spray-painted pictures of themselves on the buildings so the Mechasaurs will destroy anything that has the faces of Lily and the cavemen. They also spray-painted on Goppernopper Enterprises building so it will be destroyed, and spray-painted on the explosive tank, which also destroyed the Mechasaurs themselves. After Ook and Gluk's victory, J.P. Goppernopper sent them a letter, telling them that he captured Master Wong and Lan and that they will be killed if Ook and Gluk won't give up now. When Ook, Gluk, and Lily returned to 2229, they saw Master Wong and Lan tied up. The cavemen wondered how the Goppernoppers found them and the Goppernoppers said that since they realized that Ook and Gluk learned kung-fu, they searched for kung-fu schools in town and there was only one. As soon as the Goppernoppers were going to kill the Wongs, Ook and Gluk pleaded with the Goppernoppers to release the Wongs and said they will do anything. The Goppernoppers agreed and had Ook, Gluk, and Lily handcuffed and changed their minds about releasing the Wongs and vowed to kill them all. Ook and Gluk wondered how to get out of this and Master Wong told them to remember their training. Then Ook and Gluk remembered all of the teachings from Master Wong and finally they got an idea. When J.P. Goppernopper raised his ray gun to kill them, Ook and Gluk asked the Goppernoppers the question: Who is the greatest man? J.P. Goppernopper answered that he is the greatest man while Chief Goppernopper also answered the same thing. After that, the Goppernoppers disagreed with each other and argued about who the greatest man is and got into a fight. J.P. Goppernopper betrays and zaps Chief Goppernopper, killing him. Then J.P. Goppernopper started disappearing since he killed his ancient great-grandfather before he had children. The polluted world was being replaced with the world without Goppernoppers. Then Ook, Gluk, and Lily ran back to the disappearing time portal, but Ook soon returned because of his love for Lan. Lan said she will be his cavewife and they both entered the cavemen days. The time portal and J.P. Goppernopper and his world from 2222 disappear. Then Master Wong walked home where he says there is a part of the kids in him. Lily was finally re-united with her mother Mog-Mog. Ook, Gluk, Lan, Mog-Mog, and Lily returned happily to Caveland.

Rage

Jackie Kessler

A teenage girl who cuts herself must take on the role of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Seesaw

Deborah Moggach

Hannah, the seventeen-year-old daughter of Morris and Val Price is kidnapped and a ransom of half a million pounds is demanded. The novel focuses on both the Price family and the kidnappers in the time leading up to the abduction; the relationships between Jon and Eva the two kidnappers, and Hannah; and what happens to all those concerned following her release.

You Don't Know Me

David Klass

John is a young fourteen year old boy. He lives with his mother and his mother's boyfriend who he calls the "Man Who is Not my Father". The man abuses John by assaulting him when nobody is around. He has a friend named Billy Beezer who is skinny but eats a lot which John thinks is impossible. Andy is "slow" and doesn't understand the phrases many teens use. John also has a crush on a girl named Gloria but he calls her Glory Hallelujah. Billy also has a crush on her. The book begins with Billy being arrested for stealing an egg roll from a Chinese store. John sees this as a chance to ask Gloria out which he does by sending her a note which she eats but explains to him it was so the teacher didn't see. She accepts and goes to a basketball game with him. Billy goes also and calls John a terrible friend. A riot occurs in the gym and John and Gloria escape. Gloria brings John home and "seduces" him until John escapes from her and her angry father but leaves clothes and money which he took from the "Man who is not my Father's" drawer. The man finds out and takes John to do some "business". John is forced to carry TVs into a truck. It is also learned that the man deals in transporting stolen TVs. The man also tells John that him and his mother are getting married. In school; Gloria humiliates John, Billy picks on him and he is in trouble for saying rude thought about a teacher out loud and making her cry. Soon John is asked to a dance by a girl named Violet or "Violent". He goes with her and Billy forgives John because he likes a new girl now and Violet stands up for John against Gloria and her new boyfriend. When John goes home, the "Man who is not my Father" is drunk and assaults John but this time he rebels. Him and the man fight. The man gets the better of the fight and beats John senseless. He is saved by his music teacher who had seen John's signs of abuse and came to check up on him. John wakes up in the hospital and his friends and mother are there. His mother wishes he told her before and that she loves him and that he is her flesh and blood. John feels that his mother really knows him and feels loved. He then attends the school's music concert where he cries at the end at a music piece he learned in class, because he finally figures out that its a love story.

The House of Silk

Anthony Horowitz

The House of Silk begins with a brief, personal recounting of events by Watson, much like the Study in Scarlet by the original author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The reader is informed of the particulars regarding the first meeting of Watson and Holmes, including the circumstances of the Afghan War and a mention of the case that was "too shocking to be revealed until now." The client of The Flat Cap case is introduced as a man by the name of Edmund Carstairs, an art dealer whose paintings were destroyed by a gang of Irish robbers. After the murder of the man's own client, and a failure on the part of a hired detective, he turns to Sherlock Holmes who employs the aid of the Baker Street Irregulars, and upon locating the hotel wherein the supposed Keelan O'Donaghue (one of the leaders of the gang) is currently staying, one of the newest recruit of the Irregulars, a boy named Ross, is stationed to wait outside until Holmes, Watson, and Mr. Carstairs arrive. When the group finally arrives, Ross appears inexplicably horror-stricken and is later found brutally murdered by thugs of the House of Silk. It is revealed that Mrs. Carstairs is the true person responsible for The Flat Cap case, being the second leader of the Irish gang. When Holmes makes inroads with the House of Silk case, he is framed for murder and sent to prison. Meanwhile, Watson meets with Professor Moriarty, who provides him a key to free Holmes from prison, for fear that the detective will be assassinated. Professor Moriarty's motives are uncertain, except that he wishes Holmes to rid the world of the House of Silk. When Watson arrives at the prison, he discovers Holmes has escaped of his own accord, disguised as an aide to the prison doctor he once had as a client. Various leads draw them to a traveling carnival, where they are ambushed, albeit saved by Lestrade. The party (Holmes, Watson, Lestrade) makes their way to the "House of Silk", a club operated by a pastor and his wife who also govern a boy's orphanage and rent the boys to wealthy customers. The members are promptly rounded up by the Scotland Yard. Despite their arrests, however, the case does not come to trial, due to a royal family member having been purportedly involved.

A Matter of Death and Life

Andrey Kurkov

==External link

Pinaglahuan

Set during the early 20th century in the Philippines, Pinaglahuan narrates the story of the life of Luis Gatbuhay, the labor leader whose life was ruined by the mestizo class, represented by Rojalde. The first scene in Pinaglahuan depicted a meeting inside the Teatro Zorilla (Zorilla Theatre). The purpose of the gathering was about the call to free the Philippines from the American occupiers. Another scene depicted the confrontation between Gatbuhay and Don Nicanor while inside a carriage. Don Nicanor wanted to marry off Danding to Rojalde because the purpose of paying off his gambling debt. Luis lost his job because of Rojalde’s power and influence. In addition, Rojalde implicated Gatbuhay to a crime and was imprisoned for four years. Rojalde and Danding became husband and wife, but Danding gave birth to Gatbuhay’s child. At the ending scene of the novel, Gatbuhay was killed by a bomb explosion inside the prison.

Busabos ng Palad

The plot of the novel narrates the love story of the protagonists Celso and Rita. Celso left Rita and their province to study in Manila. Rita disappeared from her province. In the meantime, Celso became a writer and coincidentally saves a prostitute from her fate by paying off her debt. The prostitute was Rita, his girlfriend. For two years, Rita became a victim of prostitution. Despite Rita’s fate and reputation, Celso remained Rita’s lover. Celso and Rita decided to live together. Rita became ill. After Rita’s death, Celso became insane and was committed to an asylum.

Liar

Justine Larbalestier

The protagonist of the novel, Micah Wilkins, is a seventeen-year-old biracial girl living in New York with her parents. When the novel opens, Micah's boyfriend Zachary, who's been missing, is found dead. The story is told in segments of past and present, moving between Micah's family history and how she met her boyfriend, and with the present as the investigation into Zach's death unfolds. The conceit of the story is that Micah is a compulsive liar. The novel is written as though Micah is writing the words, so she is aware of and refers to the audience in the text, whom she is telling the story to. In the opening she declares that she promises to tell the whole truth, but as the story continues she retracts or "corrects" statements she'd said before, claiming the new truth to be the real one.

Too Much Money

Dominick Dunne

Living in New York, Gus Bailey, a writer for Park Avenue, a monthly magazine, takes a last look as an insider into the affairs of the rich and famous. As a popular guest at parties people talk to him, but with his writings he has made enemies. Thus he is sued by former congressman Kyle Cramden for slander for falsely linking him to the murder of a female intern, he is facing the potential vengeance of Elias Renthal, a finacier about to be released from prison, and he is being investigated by Perla Zacharias, the third richest woman in the world, who has been unhappy about Gus' interest in the circumstances of the death of her banker-husband in a mysterious fire at his penthouse. Gus interacts with members of New York high society, among them Lil Altemus who at the age of 76 starts working as a real estate agent to improve her financial situation, Ruby Renthal, Elias' wife who prepares for her husband's return into society, and Addison Kent, the kleptomane "walker" of Perla Zacharias, and attends the funeral of its Grand Old Dame, the 105 year-old Adele Harcourt. Gus's life is coming to an end, too; he learns that he has cancer. Perla is aware that Gus is about to write a novel based on her life and determined to stop it. She links up with his enemies, seems to employ Mossad agents, places a rumor that he is a pedophile, and pressures his publisher to back out of the project. Through philanthropic lavishness she is trying to "buy" herself into the high strata of society. Refuting the ugly rumor Gus "comes out" about his former bisexuality, and claims to have been celibate for two decades. He settles the law suit, amends with the Renthals, and finds a new backer for his book to proceed with his final project.

Roshan and Ashmi

Roshan and Ashmi is the story of two young children living in a third world country. They forget to boil their water and get sick. Inside their stomachs a battle rages on between Sammy Sickness and his germ army and the white blood cells. Who will win?

Pertemuan Jodoh

Abdul Muis

Ratna, a young student, inadvertently meets Suparta, a medical student, on a train. There, Suparta tries to find her a seat but fails because a Chinese-Indonesian couple are using the spare seats for their luggage. Upon arrival in Cimahi, Suparta escorts Ratna to her school. Pleased by Suparta's manners, Ratna and he agree to keep in contact via mail. A few months later, Suparta proposes to Ratna via post; Ratna accepts, and leaves for Sumedang to meet Suparta's bangsawan parents. However, Suparta's mother, Nyai Raden Tedja Ningrum, is unwilling to accept Ratna as her daughter-in-law because Ratna is not of bangsawan descent. Disappointed, Ratna decides to forget Suparta. Not long afterwards, her father's chalk business becomes bankrupt, and Ratna has to drop out of school and find a job as a salesclerk, then later at a lawyer's office and as a maid for a Dutch couple. However, one of the other maids, Jene, becomes jealous of her and tells the police that Ratna stole jewelry from her mistress. After being arrested, Ratna tries to escape but falls into a river, nearly drowning. She is brought to a hospital. She is treated by Suparta, who has already graduated from medical school and has been looking for Ratna. Hearing her plight, Suparta hires a lawyer for her and she is declared innocent; Jene's boyfriend, Amat, is shown to have stolen the jewelry. After being discharged from the hospital, Ratna is asked to go to rest at the Bidara Cina pavilion. There Suparta treats her and they grow closer. Once Ratna is fully healed, Suparta proposes to her again and they are married the same day.

Afterlife

Claudia Gray

Lucas rises from the dead and assisted by Balthazar and Ranulf, Bianca manages to convince Lucas to return to Evernight to seek help for his bloodlust before it is too late and he is consumed by it. After his return Mrs. Bethany offers him shelter much to the annoyance of his fellow pupils. Bianca's parents are told that their daughter has died, for which they blame Lucas. While in the library Bianca is caught in a trap set by Mrs Bethany to trap wraiths. She is freed by intruding into Lucas's dreams. Lucas is set to go on a trip to the local town and Bianca is going to accompany him. Bianca while following Lucas until she can appear to him is trapped by Patrice using a mirror. He frees her but finds out everything about how she died and how Lucas became a vampire. At the Cafe Lucas is attacked by several Black Cross members including his mother who leave after the police are called and although no one is harmed Lucas is shaken up. Bianca and her father are reunited and he accepts her for what she is before helping Bianca tell her mother. Her parents also realize Mrs. Bethany is up to something so agree to help Bianca and her friends to search the school for the traps set by Mrs. Bethany and to free the wraiths on the night of the autumn ball. While the ball is taking place several human students are possessed by wraiths who are angry and confused as to what is happening at Evernight. Bianca goes to visit Christopher, a powerful wraith, and he tells her that she could be used as a bridge between the human world and the world that wraiths inhibit before they can reach heaven. She agrees to think about it before returning to the human world. She later witnesses Lucas being told by Mrs. Bethany about how vampires can be resurrected to human form although it involves the sacrifice of a wraith when the mixture of both supernaturals' blood happens. Lucas disagrees and leaves. Bianca is caught in a powerful trap when she goes to get her coral bracelet so that she can apparate fully and feels like she has been trapped for days before being released into a large room which was designed to contain and weaken wraiths. Mrs. Bethany reveals that she plans on killing Bianca to become human again but her plans are stopped when Lucas and her parents arrive. Bianca cannot escape from the room so possesses Skye who allows her to. Bianca helps the other wraiths to leave the human world by creating a light to which the wraiths float taking on a more human look, no longer the mutilated beings they previously were. She was willing to leave but Mrs. Bethany traps Maxine who had warned her parents. Bianca calls upon Christopher who has been revealed to be Mrs. Bethany's husband before he was murdered who switches place with Maxine and is destroyed as Mrs. Bethany's cottage collapses killing her too. A battle ensues with the vampires who planned to help murder Bianca and her fellow wraiths and friends. Lucas is gravely wounded but Bianca drinks his blood and he drinks hers. Their blood infuses and Lucas is resurrected to human life. The series finishes after Bianca reflects on the rest of her eternal life as a bridge between worlds for the wraiths.

Sa Ngalan ng Diyos

In the narrative, Jesuit priests used their religious authority and influence on Carmen to gain access to her wealth. Included in these plans and machinations was the destruction of the on-going relationship between Carmen and Mr. Roland. Mr. Roland is Carmen's boyfriend. The priests succeeded. Carmen breaks up with Mr. Roland to enter the convent run by the Jesuit order. Thus, Carmen's inheritance became property of the priests. There was a scene when Eladio Resurreccion, a former cohort of the Jesuit priests, tried to set the convent on fire. However, Resurreccion's act of vengeance did not succeed. Only a stable for horses was ruined by the fire.

The House That Had Enough

One day nearly everything in Anne's house, her bed, clothes, toothbrush, refrigerator, toys, even the house itself, all came to life and told her they felt she wasn't taking good care of them and left. Finally Anne, a young girl who appears to live by herself, convinces her house to talk her things into coming back on the promise that she take better care of them.

White Cat

Holly Black

Cassel Sharpe comes from a family of workers who are part of one of the major crime families. He is the youngest son with a mother in prison for making millionaires fall in love with her, a dead father, and two older brothers who work for the nephew and current heir of one the biggest crime families in the area. Cassel's friend Lila was the daughter of the crime lord and other possible heir, but had been killed by Cassel when they were fourteen, though he can't remember why he did it. Cassel is the only one in his family not to have an ability. Now seventeen, Cassel finds himself sleepwalking up on the roof at his prep school, dreaming of a white cat and nearly dies getting back down. This gets him kicked out of school and the dorms until he can get a doctor's note saying it won't happen again, which he plans to get using a con, getting stationary and the doctor's signature from a nearby office. His simple plan to get back into school and turn life back to normal is complicated by his brothers, who keep acting strangely around him. Cassel overhears enough of their conversations to make him suspicious that he's being manipulated, and he goes to a fortune teller to get stone amulets to protect himself from memory alteration, which he cuts into his skin. Further investigation leads Cassel to discover that his brothers have been keeping a white cat just like the one from his dreams, but that it's free now and has been following him around. He rescues it from the pound, certain for some reason that it's Lila, and that he hadn't killed her like he thought, but been manipulated by a memory worker, though he doesn't know who. Shortly after, he discovers that one of the rocks under his skin has broken, and his second oldest brother is the memory worker. He also figures out that he is a worker after all, but his brothers have been keeping it from him to 'protect' him. Cassel is a transformation worker, and has been changing people into everyday objects as murder and body disposal for his brothers as contract killers, then forgetting about it afterward. With this discovery, Cassel changes the white cat back into Lila, and the two plan to reunite her with her father and allow her to take back her place as heir by revealing a plan Anton has of killing her father and running the family himself. It succeeds, and things go mostly back to normal for Cassel despite his new-found ability. Lila still originally hates him for what he did, but when he arrives home from school a week later, she is waiting for him, having forgiven him. They start to make out as Cassel has always dreamed, when they are interrupted by a phone call from his mother, who has gotten out of jail and wants to tell him of her surprise: that she met Lila in New York and used her ability to make her fall madly in love with Cassel. He demands she undo it, but his mother claims she cannot, and Cassel realizes that he was a mark himself, gullible enough to believe that Lila would forgive him and love him so easily.

Always Hiding

Sophia Romero

The main protagonist in Romero's novel is Violetta Rosario "Viola" Dananay. Viola narrates her life in the Philippines and her eventual move to the United States. Viola was conceived before the marriage of her parents who belong to Manila's socialite class. Viola grew up in Manila during the regime of former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos. Her life was complicated by her quarrelsome parents. One of the main reasons for the disagreements between Viola's parents was her father's reputation as a womanizer and philanderer. Viola's father left the family to live with a pregnant mistress. Viola's mother, Ludy, left for the United States to escape the indiscretions of her husband, leaving Viola behind. Upon arrival in America, Viola's mother became an undocumented immigrant working as a maid in New York City. After the fall of the Marcoses, Viola's father was implicated in charges of corruption committed by the Marcos government. Viola's father decided to send Viola, already a teenager, to the United States to live with her mother. Viola obeyed her father but with a "secret agenda": to return to the Philippines together with her mother.

The Blood Book

Ted Dekker

Ba'al commissions General Mustul and alchemist Grushon to study and document a variety of mythical creatures from their world, including the fearsome Shataiki bats and their interesting counterparts, the Roush. Ba'al compiles their accounts into his journal, known as a blood book. He also includes stolen journal entries from his enemy Thomas Hunter and his master, the Shataiki queen Marsuuv. It contains sketches of various creatures and locations featured in Other Earth. A certain Blood Book, though not Ba'al's, as there were more than one, also plays a significant role in the plot of Immanuel's Veins, as the main character Toma Nicolescu uses the information contained within to defeat the villainous Vlad van Valerick. It appears that the concept of Ba'al's Blood Book was adapted after the release of Immanuel's Veins, as it contains both new and different content than what was mentioned in Immanuel's Veins, and is missing certain other details. A man whom Toma called Saint Thomas the Beast Hunter is implied to be the one who penned Toma's Blood Book. Ba'al's Blood Book was also mentioned briefly in Dekker's novel Green, as it was compiled only about a year before Green took place.

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing

Michael Ruhlman

The book covers the various methods of charcuterie, including the "brining, dry-curing, pickling, hot- and cold-smoking, sausage-making, confit, and the construction of pâtés" that also involves more than 140 recipes for various dishes that have been made with the described methods.

The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating

The book features a number of recipes that, in total, utilize every part of the pig. In addition, it features a number of "techniques for brining, salting, pickling and preserving in fat", including explanations on how to "clear stock with egg whites and shells, how to bone out a trotter and how to bake bread using a tiny quantity of yeast for tastier results." The book also includes a few black and white photos that serve as decoration and example for the dishes and pieces of meat involved and discussed. A famous quote from the book, and personal slogan of Henderson that is often cited by newspapers and used by master chefs reads, "If you're going to kill the animal it seems only polite to use the whole thing."

Night Work

Thomas Glavinic

The novel, set in modern day Vienna, is a post-apocalyptic exploration around themes of solitude and existential philosophy. The plot concerns a central character, Jonas, who wakes up one day to discover that everyone else has vanished from the city, perhaps the world, without trace; he appears to be the only person left. As he attempts to discover what could possibly explain such a situation, the days pass and he begins to realise that he is performing strange activities when asleep. A struggle ensues as Jonas tries to control his unconscious actions while searching for other human life.

River of Smoke

Amitav Ghosh

The promotional text refers to the storyline which can be summarized as follows: After the incidents on Ibis, which was caught in a storm and eventually ended up in Mauritius, but with a few passengers less, the story in this novel begins from where it left off. From the details of the changing lives and traditions of Indian migrants in Mauritius, the novel traces the fate of other characters from Ibis and describes the opium trade in China. The novel has a rich tapestry of characters from various cultural and geographical backgrounds whose common interest is trade with China. The plot is set in Fanqui town,a small strip of land used by foreigners to trade with local Chinese traders, a year before the first opium war.

Luha ng Babae

Luisa agreed to elope with Victor despite the objections of her parents. Afterwards, Victor’s real character was revealed to Luisa. Victor was an irresponsible man and husband. Victor was imprisoned for committing adultery. Victor suspected and accused Luisa of being a betrayer, thinking that she was having an extramarital affair with another man. Luisa denied the accusation. Luisa gave birth to Victor’s child. Victor died during a boat ride. Luisa died while in disconsolation and pain. While dying, Luisa left her child with her parents. Luisa asked forgiveness from her mother and father for her mistake.

Feed

Seanan McGuire

Feed is set several decades after the zombie apocalypse, referred to as the Rising. Two man-made viruses (a cure for cancer and a cure for the common cold) combined to form Kellis-Amberlee, a virus that quickly infects all mammalian life. Kellis-Amberlee is normally beneficial, but death causes the virus to 'go live' or 'amplify', converting any host mammal over into a zombie. Most humans reside in tightly controlled safe zones, with rigorous blood testing and decontamination protocols used to prevent the spread of live virus. After the inaction of traditional media during the Rising, blogs and other new media have taken over as the primary source of information and entertainment; bloggers are recognised as professional journalists, with individuals specialising and identifying as 'Newsies' (fact-based reporting), 'Irwins' (named after Steve Irwin, who seek to educate and entertain by going out and "poking things with sticks"), or 'Fictionals' (fictional content), among others. Feed occurs in 2040, and is written from the perspective of Georgia Mason, a Newsie blogger and head of the After the End Times website. Georgia, her brother Shaun (an Irwin), and their friend Georgette "Buffy" Meissonier (a Fictional and technology guru), are selected to cover the presidential campaign of Senator Peter Ryman, a moderate Republican. The campaign is mostly uneventful until Eakly, Oklahoma, where zombies attack the campaign convoy, killing several before security (assisted by Georgia and Shaun) can contain them; they later find that it was an orchestrated attack. The next stage of the campaign is the Republican National Convention, where Ryman faces off against religious, right-wing Governor David Tate and sex-over-substance Congresswoman Kristen Wagman. During the convention, Newsie and former print journalist Rick Cousins defects from Wagman's campaign to join After the End Times. Ryman is selected as the Republican candidate for the presidency, but as this is announced, Georgia learns that a zombie outbreak recurred at the senator's horse ranch, and his eldest daughter is dead. On investigation, Georgia and company find that the outbreak started with a horse injected with live virus. Ryman and the campaign relocates to Texas, where he joins his vice-presidential candidate: Tate. The bloggers must drive their vehicles and equipment overland. During the trip, the convoy is attacked by a sniper. Georgia, Shaun, and Rick survive, but the van carrying Buffy and Chuck (the campaign's tech chief) crashes; Chuck dies, zombiefies, and bites Buffy. Buffy reveals that she was leaking information to a group undermining Ryman's campaign; the attack occurred because she had stopped. After administering a coup de grâce, Georgia calls for rescue, but the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) team drugs them and takes them for testing. After being released, the team's work on the campaign is hampered as they dig at the underlying conspiracy, souring the bloggers' relationship with Ryman and Tate. They find evidence linking Tate to the attacks, along with hints of a broader conspiracy involving the CDC and other parties, but when Georgia confronts Ryman during an event in Sacramento, California, he sends them away. As they leave, the bloggers are attacked, and Georgia is shot with a tranquiliser dart containing live virus. Rick flees with a copy of the group's evidence (escaping just before a zombie outbreak is instigated), and Shaun helps Georgia expose the conspiracy through one last blog post before she begins amplifying, forcing Shaun to execute her. The novel's narration then changes to Shaun's perspective. He rallies Ryman's security detail to help contain the outbreak, then breaks into the convention centre to confront Ryman and Tate. Tate takes Ryman's wife hostage with a syringe of the zombie virus, claiming his actions were part of a plot using fear of the zombies to reshape America into a more faithful society. The governor then injects himself with the virus, and Shaun shoots him to prevent zombiefication.

Ang Tala sa Panghulo

In the story, Lucia – although married – falls in love with Luciano. Tintoy, because of jealousy, shot Luciano during a hunt. Berta, while gathering dampalit (a local plant used as an ingredient in pickling), heard the shots. Berta saves and nurses Luciano. Luciano becomes Lucia’s lover. Berta reunites with Mang Pedro. There was a happy ending for Berta and Luciano, but not for Lucia and Tintoy.

The Fly-fisher's Entomology

The Fly-fisher's Entomology is the archetype fly-fishing how-to book. Most fly-fishing historians credit Ronalds with setting a literature standard in 1836 that is still followed today. Describing methods, techniques and, most importantly, artificial flies, in a meaningful way for the angler and illustrating them in colour is a method of presentation that can be seen in most fly-fishing literature today. As the name implies, this book is mostly about the aquatic insects—mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies—that trout and grayling feed on and their counterpart artificial imitations. Less than half the book (chapters I–III) is devoted to observations of trout, their behaviour, and the methods and techniques used to catch them. Most of this information, although enhanced by Ronalds' experiences and observations, was merely an enhancement of Charles Bowlker's Art of Angling (first published in 1774 but still in print in 1836). Ronalds did introduce some new ideas, however, in Chapter I. His experiments and observations led him to describe and illustrate the trout's Window of vision, a concept an understanding of which is still essential today. Vincent Marinaro, in his classic work In the Ring of the Rise (1976), credits Ronalds with discovering and documenting this window and includes a reproduction of plate II–Optical diagrams in his book. In the sub-chapter "Haunts", through discussion and illustration (plate I), Ronalds introduces the idea known today as reading the water to help the angler identify the most likely locations in the stream to find trout. The real meat of Ronalds' book was Chapter IV: Of a Selection of Insects, and Their Imitations, Used in Fly Fishing. Here, for the first time, the author discussed specific artificial fly imitations by name, associated with the corresponding natural insect. Organized by their month of appearance, Ronalds was the first author to begin the standardization of angler names for artificial flies. Prior to The Fly-fisher's Entomology, anglers had been given suggestions for artificial flies to be used on a particular river or at a particular time of the year, but those suggestions were never matched to specific natural insects the angler might encounter on the water. The following is a typical discussion:

Carl Haffner's Love of the Draw

Thomas Glavinic

The novel is set mainly in Vienna in 1910. It presents a fictionalised account of a famous 1910 World Chess Championship match between Austrian grandmaster Carl Schlechter and the reigning German champion Emanuel Lasker. The eponymous Carl Haffner, closely based on Schlechter, is a withdrawn character with an eccentric preference for drawing games instead of winning. The narrative switches between the ten games of the 1910 World Championship and Haffner's psychological development in childhood and adolescence, showing how he used chess to overcome poverty.

Ipaghiganti Mo Ako...!

The novel begins months before the onset of the Filipino-American War. Because of the war, Pedring and Geli got separated from each other. Geli and her mother, together with other Filipinos in the affected provinces in Luzon, had to flee their homes and became displaced. Pedring and Geli meets again in Antipolo after five years. They were reunited under tragic circumstances. Geli was dying. Geli was also pregnant after becoming a victim of rape during the war. Geli’s rapist was a Katipunan member. Geli wants Pedring to become her avenger.

Half a Life

Darin Strauss

Strauss, a novelist, recounts how his life was profoundly altered when a car he was driving struck and killed a fellow high school student.

Little Brown Bushrat

The protagonist is a little brown bushrat. All the animals in the bush have an exciting talent - the kangaroo can jump the highest, the emu can run the fastest and the duck-billed platypus is the best swimmer. But the little brown bushrat thinks he can't do anything . . . until he is given a chance to save the day.

Zulu Hart

Saul David

George Hart is the bastard son of a pillar of the British military establishment and a half Irish, half Zulu actress. He is bullied at school for his dark looks, an experience which teaches him how to fight. When he is eighteen he learns that his mysterious father has promised him a vast inheritance if he can accede to a suitable rank in the British Army. He proceeds to the military academy, and is once more the source of animosity over the colour of his skin. Set up by a group of officers he is forced to leave the army, whereby he travels to South Africa. Conflict is brewing between the British authorities and the Zulus, and he is quickly enlisted to fight for the army under the command of Lord Chelmsford. Hart witnesses a massacre, and returns to London to be debriefed by the Duke of Cambridge himself.

Canal de la Reina

Nyora Tentay (the term senyora is the Filipino word for the Spanish term señora, meaning "Mrs."; nyora is the abbreviated form of senyora) is the matriarch of the wealthy Marcial family, and is labelled the "queen of Canal de la Reina". She is a money lender who charges high interest rates. She has a son, Victor, who is married to Gracia; Victor and Gracia have a son, Gerry. Salvador and Caridad De los Angeles are husband and wife; their children are Leni and Junior. Gerry Marcial and Leni de los Angeles are lovers. Nyora Tentay buys a piece of land from the De los Angeles' former caretaker, Precioso or Osyong Santos. The land belongs to the De los Angeles family; Nyora uses bribery to assert her claim. A flood occurs at Canal de la Reina, which damages buildings and structures. Caridad finds documents belonging to Nyora Tentay, and returns them instead of using them against her. This gesture of goodwill causes Nyora to have a change of heart. Gerry Marcial and Leni de los Angeles marry.

Princess of Glass

Three years after being freed from the curse of the King Under Stone, who had forced her and her eleven sisters to dance, Princess Poppy of Westfalin finds herself participating in an exchange program where princes and princesses spend time in other countries in Ionia, in the hopes of bringing the nations closer. Poppy finds herself going to her late mother's home country of Breton, where she stays with relatives. Since the curse, Poppy has sworn off dancing forever, and attends balls only to play cards. In Breton, Poppy soon befriends Prince Christian of the Danelaw. In the midst of their budding relationship, Christian and a hapless maid named Ellen quickly become the targets of the Corley, a dangerous and vindictive creature who will stop at nothing to make sure her revenge is completed.