Showing posts with label Friday Finds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friday Finds. Show all posts
Friday, August 12, 2011
Friday Finds are Lost!
After running "Friday Finds" for a few years, we've decided to re-charge the column with a new name/time. Look for our new column next week. New name, same great first peeks at the new books that have come in for review. Till then...
Friday, August 5, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
Wow! Busy week! Check out some of the books that came in this week for review! Stop by our review site, Feathered Quill Book Reviews soon to read the reviews.
And thinking ahead to Fall:
Beyond the Myth With beautiful imagery, inspiring quotes, and insightful words of wisdom, author Maria Holmes takes you beyond the myth and shows you how to live the life you desire using the power of the Law of Attraction. * Awaken and see the possibilities in the world around you * Understand the Law of Attraction and put it to use in your own life * Embrace and harness the principles of desire , Visualization, Gratitude, Belief,and Faith * Find the answer within you.
Diva Beautiful, talented and ambitious, flute soloist Belinda Scully wants to be a star. But fame can be dangerous. Someone is stalking her. Rejection stokes the fires of his lust. Her manager dies suddenly. NOPD Detective Frank Renzi believes he was murdered. But murder may not be the worst thing that Belinda must face.
Man School Manhood is becoming a lost art. In the days of our grandfathers and great grandfathers, a handshake was your word and your word was your bond. Integrity was valued, honesty was respected, and one's family was the most important thing in the world. If this sounds out-of-step with today's values, Michael Bronco agrees. In his opinion, our current culture of high divorce rates, overworked-parent households, television babysitters and internet addiction is the thing that's out-of-step.....with real manhood, that is. In this book, Michael explores what that means through stories from his own life and from the lives of others who have shaped his views. From his grandfather's tale of making an engagement ring out or a hollowed-out nickel to Michael's own struggle to build a cabin by hand, Man School is not just a look into what it once meant to be a man; it is about how to be a man right now, from owning your own actions to being a true husband and father to your children. Man School is and honest shot-to-the-balls book that will entertain you and get you thinking about life in a new way. Or as Michael would say, it will get you thinking about life in an old way. A real man's way. Your great-grandfather would be pleased.
Laughter Effects: Humor and Inspiration for Victims of Sociopaths Current research estimates the number of people afflicted with antisocial personality disorder as somewhere between 1 in 25 and 1 in 100. Whether it is a coworker, a friend, a family member or a spouse, an entanglement with a sociopath can turn your world upside down. Laughter Effects is designer and developed as a traveling companion for survivors on the road to recovery. We use humor to help neutralize the post traumatic stress associated with exiting a relationship with a sociopath.
Shards of War: Fleeing to and from Uzbekistan On June 24, 1941, Michael, 16, and his sister, 19, leave their home in Dubno in Ukraine, just ahead of the advancing German armies. Fleeing by foot and train, deep into Ukraine and beyond, the teens spend a brutal winter in a town near Stalingrad, where they nearly perish from hunger and cold. In July of 1942, they escape again ahead of the Germans' onslaught. The siblings' saga of loss, courage, and endurance is interlaced with accounts of critical events of the war and of the annihilation of the Jews in Ukraine, offering an important historical narrative of the challenges wartime refugees faced in the Soviet Union.
My Bonus Mom! Taking the Step out of Stepmom In rhythmic verse, My Bonus Mom!, shows children of divorced families that a positive attitude can lead to a happy outcome and springs open their hearts and minds to accept their own bonus moms. It captures the mixed emotions that surge through young children as they deal with divorce and adjust to remarriage. The children work through their feelings of dismay, fear and anger, and grow to love dad's new wife, whom they come to think of as their bonus mom. Twice the attention, twice the love, twice the fun and twice as many birthday presents! What's not to love?
Good Bite - Weeknight Meals: Delicious Made Easy One of the country's fastest growing cooking websites, Good Bite has a simple mission—to bring together the Internet's best food bloggers and give them a platform to showcase their favorite everyday recipes in short, entertaining videos. Now, Good Bite Weeknight Meals compiles 120 recipes for quick and delicious family dinners from the site's most popular contributors. With recipes from well-known bloggers like Jaden Hair of the Steamy Kitchen and Catherine McCord of Weelicious along with mouthwatering full-color photographs from Matt Armendariz of Matt Bites, Good Bite Weeknight Meals brings the blog world's very best into the home kitchen.
Ripley's Believe It or Not! Strikingly True For the legions of dedicated Ripley’s fans, and anyone else on the planet who loves unbelievable facts and jaw-dropping images, the latest annual in our bestselling series is a feast of delights. Be amazed at a portrait made from 200,000 dead ants, the man who traversed the English Channel by holding onto a bunch of balloons, and the single human hair featuring paintings of all 42 American presidents. A compendium of incredible and bizarre facts, stories, interviews and features, presented in a stunning new design, this book also drives readers to Ripley’s fully interactive website. There are intriguing interviews with some of the astounding individuals who are featured in the book that spotlight their achievements and reveal more about what motivates them.
The Life and Times of the Real Winnie-the-Pooh The real stuffed bear that became an international symbol of hope. The beloved characters of the Hundred Acre Wood were created by author A.A. Milne with the help of his wife and young son. Through the combined imagination of one family, a playtime fantasy turned into an international phenomenon. Winnie the Pooh soon outgrew his old home, leaving the Milnes far behind. This biographical reference traces the steps of the actual stuffed bear, the Milne family, and the loveable character they created. It is the recorded beginnings and development of the internationally recognized bedtime story.
Fish Facts This book is an entertaining guide for children to fish of all shapes, sizes, and habits. It provides all the basic information on classes, orders, and genera of fish as well as their breeding, feeding, and mating habits. This vibrantly illustrated book is a great addition to any classroom and gift for anyone who wants to learn about the creatures that inhabit much of our world.
The Picky Little Witch When Mama Witch concocts a special Halloween soup for her Little Witch, she adds eye of newt, spit of bug, and hair of slug. But Little Witch turns up her tiny nose at the culinary creation. She prefers such sticky sweets as butter toffee, caramel dandy, and cotton candy. Can these picky eaters come to a compromise? Complete with a recipe for Halloween soup, this fun read is a treat for children and parents alike.
The House that Witchy Built Children will creak, clap, flap, and rattle along to this story of Witchy's house and the creepy creatures that live inside. A ghost, a bat, a cat, and a skeleton are only a few of the characters haunting the house. Illustrated with exquisitely detailed cut-paper and collage, this Halloween tale invites interaction through repetition, onomatopoeia, and infectious rhyme.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
Check out the summer reading list! These books just arrived this week for review. Come back soon to read the reviews!
The Battle for Tomorrow The Battle for Tomorrow is about a sixteen-year-old girl so deeply concerned about the bleak future young people face that she leaves home to participate in a November 2010 blockade and occupation of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. As the story opens, Angela Jones is the primary caretaker of her invalid mother. A relationship with a 23-year-old political activist opens her eyes to the urgent political and environmental issues facing humanity - a bankrupt global economy, catastrophic climate change, and looming water, energy and food shortages - all with alarming consequences for her life as an adult. Ange is arrested for her participation in the non-violent blockade and occupation of the Capitol and winds up in a juvenile detention facility in Alexandria, Virginia. While there, she also finds herself fighting for the right to live independently, owing to arbitrary emancipation laws that require her to be released to a parent or guardian. She wins this battle, thanks to the ACLU and a blog she starts to gain national attention for the blatant age discrimination confronted by many teenagers. The Battle for Tomorrow: A Fable is a novel, but its truths ring true.
Just a Bunch of Crazy Ideas This book is about thoughts and ideas on a wide range of subjects. The topics include building a space elevator, new approaches to space travel, Star Trek reboot themes, ideas for energy conservation, what to do about our federal debt, modifying the game of chess and others.
Lebensborn In the summer of l941, an elite SS force under the command of the charming but cruel Major Reinhardt Hurst takes over a small French village. Antoinette Gauthier, her family, friends, members of the Resistance, and even their pets, find life difficult under the exacting SS rules. For Antoinette, it means being a servant for Major Hurst and his officers as they take up residence in her home. She succumbs to his advances to learn their secrets for the Resistance, only to have Hurst later discard her. Then, finding herself pregnant, she is sent by Hurst to a Lebensborn home, where the residents believe she is a spy and treat her shabbily. At the SS Party House next door, she works in the kitchen and later discovers a wounded British pilot hiding in the woods behind the home. The tension builds as Antoinette is commanded to join one of the Nazis' wild parties. She agrees in the hope it can help her to rescue the pilot and, together, they can escape.
Pecan Gap Detective Jake Somers has made many memorable trips from Dallas to the East Texas town of Pecan Gap. The quiet little town contains what remains of his mother Josie's old family home and is the source of many of his happiest childhood memories. However, the past few trips have given him cause for concern. Old friends have told him about the unusual disappearance of residents, vandalism, and flickering lights moving in the night--all very unsettling in a quiet farm community. These stories have triggered memories of strange things that happened to him when he visited as a child. Jake's intuitive nature, and his love for the ancestral home, will not let him rest until he solves the mystery in Pecan Gap. On the other hand, his drive to unscramble the puzzle is hampered by his need to deal with an equally troubling situation in Dallas that involves his girlfriend, the D.A.'s office, a city councilman, a drug dealer, and the FBI. Jake's personal family ties to Pecan Gap and his close relationship with the Dallas district attorney's office forces him to deal with both cases at once.
Southern Gold n 1864, the Confederate Army possessed two billion dollars in gold bullion; before surrendering, the rebel soldiers buried the gold somewhere in Atlanta, Georgia. General Joseph Johnston, a commander under General Lee, was the only living person who knew where the gold was buried. Union soldiers burned Atlanta to the ground in search of the gold, but it was never found—that is, until now. One hundred and fifty years later, the gold’s location is discovered, buried underneath the Zone Three police precinct by Major James Butler, a descendant of Johnston and an Atlanta police major, as well as a Civil War enthusiast. Butler masterminds a plan to get the gold: Blow up the precinct killing thirteen police officers. Bring in ex-cop John Sinclair, who sustained total memory loss five years ago. Team him Seville Patterson, a young beautiful female detective, and assign them to investigate a bogus terrorist attack. It’s a dangerous, deadly, and a masterful game of cat and mouse to figure out how to dig up the gold and disappear into thin air without a trace.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
There's a definite cookbook theme this week! Yummy! Stop by our review site, Feathered Quill Book Reviews, soon to read the reviews.
The Cook and The Butcher This friendly and accessible cookbook offers over 100 recipes for delicious meals using a wide range of popular beef, pork, lamb, and veal cuts and aims to help the home cook get the most out of meat for dinner. Each chapter begins with quick-cooking cuts and easy methods, like stir-frying, and progresses from there, offering recipes for grilling and pan-frying, and ending with recipes for more time-consuming cooking methods, such as roasting and braising. The recipes use a range of meat cuts that are easy to find at the butcher counter, and the flavors of the dishes, though varied and modern, are crowd-pleasing and familiar. The text is informative and comprehensive, but not too daunting or technical. Most of the recipes are accompanied by useful tips written by more than twenty butchers from across America.
Good Bites: Weeknight Meals One of the country's fastest growing cooking websites, Good Bite has a simple mission—to bring together the Internet's best food bloggers and give them a platform to showcase their favorite everyday recipes in short, entertaining videos. Now, Good Bite Weeknight Meals compiles 120 recipes for quick and delicious family dinners from the site's most popular contributors. With recipes from well-known bloggers like Jaden Hair of the Steamy Kitchen and Catherine McCord of Weelicious along with mouthwatering full-color photographs from Matt Armendariz of Matt Bites, Good Bite Weeknight Meals brings the blog world's very best into the home kitchen.
Dominance Fifteen years earlier. Jasper College is buzzing with the news that famed literature professor Richard Aldiss will be teaching a special night class called Unraveling a Literary Mystery—from a video feed in his prison cell. In 1982, Aldiss was convicted of the murders of two female grad students; the women were killed with axe blows and their bodies decorated with the novels of notoriously reclusive author Paul Fallows. Even the most obsessive Fallows scholars have never seen him. He is like a ghost. Aldiss entreats the students of his night class to solve the Fallows riddle once and for all. The author’s two published novels, The Coil and The Golden Silence, are considered maps to finding Fallows’s true identity. And the only way in is to master them through a game called the Procedure. You may not know when the game has begun, but when you receive an invitation to play, it is an invitation to join the elite ranks of Fallows scholars. Failure, in these circles, is a fate worse than death. Soon, members of the night class will be invited to play along...Present day. Harvard professor Alex Shipley made her name as a member of Aldiss’s night class. She not only exposed the truth of Paul Fallows’s identity, but in the process uncovered information that acquitted Aldiss of the heinous 1982 crimes. But when one of her fellow night class alums is murdered— the body chopped up with an axe and surrounded by Fallows novels—can she use what she knows about Fallows and the Procedure to stop a killer before each of her former classmates is picked off, one by one?
Just Grace and the Double Surprise In this seventh installment in the Just Grace series, any day now Grace’s best friend in the whole world, Mimi, is going to be getting a brand-new sister. Grace is really excited, plus nervous, plus worried, plus happy all mixed together. But both Grace and Mimi are in for a surprise when they find out that Mimi’s family is not adopting a brand-new sister—and instead she is getting a brand-new brother. (Oh, brother!) And to heighten the excitement even further, Grace is in for another big surprise!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
Shadow of a Quarter Moon 1839, North Carolina. As the daughter of a plantation owner, Jacy has been raised in privilege- until she discovers that she's the offspring of a dalliance between her father and a slave. The revelation destroys Jacy's sense of who she is and where she belongs in the world. Equally shocking, her biological mother and brother are still slaves on the property. As she gets to know them-and the handsome horse trainer, Rafe-she begins to see life in the South with fresh eyes. And soon Jacy will have to make a treacherous journey that she hopes will end in freedom for them all...
Cheery Cheery is a frog. He's a Chiricahua Leopard Frog, to be more precise. Okay, he's not a frog yet. At the beginning of the story, he's still a tadpole. Young readers will learn how a tadpole turns into a frog and why some frogs like Cheery are dramatically declining in numbers around the world. Author Dr. Elizabeth W. Davidson is a research scientist at Arizona State University where she is working to save these amazing amphibians. Cheery: How a Lonely Frog Finds Friends puts the problem in terms that young readers can grasp. The book contains valuable lesson guides for parents and teachers.
Horse Dreams Fourth-grader Ellie James has a great imagination. She spends a lot of time daydreaming of owning a black stallion show horse and winning trophies in the horse show. But when the answer to all her dreams and prayers gallops into her life, will Ellie be able to recognize it? Join Ellie and her quirky family in their exciting, horse-loving adventures.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Friday Finds on Monday
Friday Finds is hosted
Here's what happens when traveling for several days demands going to a place with no wi-fi. Friday Finds comes out on Monday. Maybe a bit late, but the books still look great. Enjoy and stop by our site soon for the reviews.
Spell Bound Savannah Levine is in terrible danger, and for once she's powerless to help herself. At the heartbreaking conclusion of Waking the Witch, Savannah swore that she would give up her powers if it would prevent further pain for a young orphan. Little did she know that someone would take her up on that promise. And now, witch-hunting assassins, necromancers, half-demons, and rogue witches all seem to be after her. The threat is not just for Savannah; every member of the Otherworld might be at risk. While most of her fellow supernaturals are circling the wagons at a gathering of the council in Miami, Savannah is caught on the road, isolated from those who can protect her and unable to use her vast spell-casting talent, the thing she counts on most. In a story that will change the shape of the Otherworld forever, Armstrong gathers Elena, Clay, Paige, Lucas, Jamie, Hope, and other beloved characters, who soon learn that the greatest threat to supernaturals just may come from within.
Ready Player One It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.
Cure Your Democracy There's an epidemic sweeping across America but no one's taking it seriously. The infected look like normal Americans, at first, but then they open their mouths and foreign words leap out known only to inhabitants of their special nation: left coaster, mama grizzly, Obamacare, drill baby drill; or neocon, glass ceiling, teabagger, I didn't inhale. Drop the word "multiculturalism" and half of them will have an immediate allergy-like reaction. Their faces will turn red with fever as they glide away from you. Drop the phrase "lamestream media" and the other half will cringe and hold their brow with a splitting headache as they back away from you. These otherwise normal Americans are obviously suffering from something. The author in this pioneering book has discovered what that is: severe, extremely contagious viral illnesses that are plaguing the entire country. He reveals here in layman's terms the infection, spread and treatment of these viruses. They make us insanely ill and susceptible to conspiracy theories, and are so easily passed between individuals by speeches, handshakes and karaoke. He discovers Viral Media is not just a figurative expression. One morning an infamous radio personality spouts off a misinformed, belligerent opinion. By that afternoon the author's research subjects are repeating it with the same fever and refudiation. The viral words of the opinion had infected them and seemed to have taken possession of their minds like some voodoo zombie incantation. No one is safe and many are contaminated. Treatments are provided so that they may become virus free and regain the ability to associate with those "other" Americans-those infected with the opposing virus. If you are tired of the partisan arguing in our great country, this book is guaranteed to lift you to higher ground and make you LOL.
Virion You think you know what evil is? You have no idea what you're dealing with...what mankind is up against! These were the words spoken to Richard Alexander by a terrifying vision. Richard Alexander is no ordinary artist. He has acquired the psychic power to identify, through the use of his artistic skills, the perpetrators of violent crimes. There's a problem, however-using his psychic ability not only makes Alexander the target of criminals, it also threatens to cost him his marriage, his career as a university professor, and the lives of everyone close to him. But it is a powerful spiritual calling and he can't stop using it. And now, he is about to get a lesson on the origin and essence of Evil and the price of being its enemy. Alexander becomes the target of a deranged scientist and pathological killer who calls himself Virion. Alexander's family and his friends find themselves in the jaws of evil as Virion seeks to eliminate him. To complicate matters, a hurricane bears down on the Texas Gulf Coast Island of Galveston and promises to aid Virion with his plot to release deadly air-borne pathogens that would eventually spread death and illness throughout the country.
Joining Up Two teenage boys, backs still raw from a whipping, make their escape from a Brooklyn Orphanage to join Brooklyn's famous Red Legged Devils of the Fourteenth Regiment.. En-route to the Civil War battlefields Bobby and Will become mule train drivers with a scalawag muleskinner who runs supply wagons for a Massachusetts Regiment. The search for the Fourteenth New York leads the runaways to the farmlands of Pennsylvania where Robert E Lee is about to launch his armies of Northern Virginia against George Meade's Union Army of the Potomac. It's the eve of the biggest battle of the Civil War when the runaways finally don Union Blue.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
Darkness My Old Friend After giving up his post at the Hollows Police Department, Jones Cooper is at loose ends. He is having trouble facing a horrible event from his past and finding a second act. He’s in therapy. Then, on a brisk October morning, he has a visitor. Eloise Montgomery, the psychic who plays a key role in Fragile, comes to him with predictions about his future, some of them dire. Michael Holt, a young man who grew up in The Hollows, has returned looking for answers about his mother, who went missing many years earlier. He has hired local PI Ray Muldune and psychic Eloise Montgomery to help him solve the mystery that has haunted him. What he finds might be his undoing. Fifteen-year-old Willow Graves is exiled to The Hollows from Manhattan when six months earlier she moved to the quiet town with her novelist mother after a bitter divorce. Willow is acting out, spending time with kids that bring out the worst in her. And when things get hard, she has a tendency to run away—a predilection that might lead her to dark places.
Hawks Mountain Rebecca Hawks has come home to remember who she was before the lure of life as a social worker in a big city nearly destroyed her-and might, still. She's moved back to her family's namesake mountain in West Virginia, where Granny Jo Hawks can help her forget the horrors she'd seen and been unable to prevent. Ex-Navy Corpsman, Nicholas Hart, has moved to Hawks Mountain in hope that its timeless Appalachian serenity will help him overcome his painful war memories. Now Rebecca and Nicholas must find each other-and their chances of a life together after putting the past to rest-on Hawks Mountain. Elizabeth Sinclair is the award-winning, bestselling author of numerous romance novels and two acclaimed instructional books for writers. Her novels have been translated into seven languages and are sold in seventeen countries. She lives in St. Augustine, Florida, with her husband and two dogs.
Her Best Catch Allison Doll's mother is rebelliously turning fifty, her two best friends have started dating and a gorgeous injured relief pitcher named Ashton Boyd has joined her Sunday school class, rocking her world into confusion, heartache and temptation, places she hasn't visited in a long time, much less all at once. But with the help of family, old friends she really hasn't lost, a new friend she really can count on, and God, she begins to find out whether she'll always be a girl waiting for life to happen or a woman who's ready to commit to her best catch. Lindi Peterson definitely believes happy endings are just the beginning. She lives out her real life romance with her husband in a small Georgia town. When she's not writing, she loves to read, bowl and spend time with her family.
The Branding Morwen Aleacim, an elfin teen in the village of Aren, has always heard rumors of evil lurking in the great forests of the kingdom, where children vanish. Her own father disappeared into those forests, and Morwen is determined to find him. So she is secretly training to be a warrior-against the strict rules of decorum for girls-with the help of Armando, an aging human swordsman. When Brynn, Morwen's own baby sister, vanishes, Morwen tracks her to the horrifying lair of Tobias, an inhuman Dark Wizard. There she strikes a deal with him-her service in return for Brynn's freedom. He accepts. She'll go free along with Brynn for now, but is bound to him as his apprentice. To her horror, Tobias brands her-not with a fiery mark, but with a spell that will slowly transform her human body into a grotesque creature and her spirit into an obedient slave. When the transformation is complete she'll have no choice but to return to him forever. Aided by Alan, a handsome elfin boy, who will soon have a dark challenge of his own, Morwen sets out to find a wizard who can lift the spell. It's a race against time as she struggles to free her mind, body, spirit and heart from a horrible fate.
How To Slay A Dragon Ruuan is a very large dragon. Twelve-year-old Greg Hart can't slay a dragon. He'd be lucky to win a fight against one of the smaller girls at school. Now the magicians of Myrth have mistaken him for a legendary warrior, so they've yanked Greg into their world of sorcery and danger. Nothing will stop the people of Myrth from believing Greg will rescue King Peter's daughter from Ruuan the dragon. After all, Greg has been named in a prophecy, and no prophecy has ever been wrong before. Until now.
Fang Me The vampires want it. The demons want it, too. And someone is willing to kill Val for it.
Val and Fang have to find the powerful Encyclopedia Magicka before either of San Antonio's warring underworld factions locate it or the consequences will be deadly for the entire city. As usual, Val's vampire enemies (they still call her The Slayer) want her dead. Even some of her fellow demons may be less than trustworthy, since they'd like to grab the legendary book of spells before she does. Val has a personal claim to the Encyclopedia--her demon father left it to her when he died--but someone stole it recently. And that can't be good. Battling vamps and dodging demons, Val struggles to unravel the mystery and find the thief. At the same time, she's fighting her attraction to sweet, sexy Shade--her favorite shadow demon. Rumor has it that Val will lose her part-demon, vampire-fighting powers if she gives herself to him. With a crowd of vamps and demons out to trick her or kill her, it's not a good time for her to risk her job as the city's best vampire hunter by falling in love. The stakes are high and aimed right at her heart. But Lola, Val's hungry little lust demon, doesn't like being denied. Will Lola finally get her way?
Bombs Away Bombs Away! covers strategic bombing in Europe during World War II, that is, all aerial bombardment of a strategic nature which took place between 1939 and 1945. In addition to American (U.S. Army Air Forces) and British (RAF Bomber Command) strategic aerial campaigns against Germany, this book covers German use of strategic bombing during the Nazi’s conquest of Europe: the Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarossa, and the V 1 and V 2, where the Luftwaffe targeted Warsaw and Rotterdam (known as the Rotterdam Blitz). In addition, the book covers the blitzes against London and the bombing of other British industrial and port cities, such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Southampton, Manchester, Bristol, Belfast, Cardiff, and Coventry bombed during the Battle of Britain.
Fury It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems...Between cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays. And this year’s even better--the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend. On the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is unraveling. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel...something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed. In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay.
The Lantern Set in the lush countryside of Provence, Deborah Lawrenson’s The Lantern is an atmospheric modern gothic tale of love, suspicion, and murder, in the tradition of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. Drawn to a wealthy older man, Eve embarks on a whirlwind romance that soon offers a new life and a new home—Les GenÉvriers, a charming hamlet amid the fragrant lavender fields of Provence. But Eve finds it impossible to ignore the mysteries that haunt both her lover and the run-down old house. The more reluctant Dom is to tell her about his past, the more she is drawn to it—and to the mysterious disappearance of his beautiful ex-wife. An evocative tale of romantic and psychological suspense, The Lantern masterfully melds past and present, secrets and lies, appearances and disappearances—along with our age-old fear of the dark.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Friday Finds is hosted
Triangles In this emotionally powerful novel, three women face the age-old midlife question: If I’m halfway to death, is this all I’ve got to show for it? Holly, filled with regret for being a stay-at-home mom, sheds sixty pounds and loses herself in the world of extramarital sex. Andrea, a single mom and avowed celibate, watches her friend Holly’s meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for—a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly’s castaway husband? Then there’s Marissa. She has more than her fair share of challenges—a gay teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, and a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts. As one woman’s marriage unravels, another one’s rekindles. As one woman’s family comes apart at the seams, another’s is reconfigured into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman’s up is another one’s down, and all three of them will learn the meaning of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness before it is through.
Before Ever After hree years after her husband Max's death, Shelley feels no more adjusted to being a widow than she did that first terrible day. That is, until the doorbell rings. Standing on her front step is a young man who looks so much like Max–same smile, same eyes, same age, same adorable bump in his nose–he could be Max's long-lost relation. He introduces himself as Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, and shows Shelley some childhood photos. Paolo tells her that the man in the photos, the bearded man who Paolo says is his grandfather though he never seems to age, is Max. Her Max. And he is alive and well.
In the Chillest Land In the Chillest Land continues the journey of characters originally seen in The Storyteller. Garet begins employment with WorldGuard Warranty Insurance Company as a member of the newly-established Legion of the Feather. This is a story with many heroes, who make friends… find love… and discover truths regarding the creatures assumed to be the monsters of the Universe.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
Quest for Anna Klein Thomas Danforth has lived a fortunate life. The son of a wealthy importer, he traveled the world in his youth, and now, in his twenties, he lives in New York City and runs the family business. It is 1939, and the world is on the brink of war, but Danforth’s life is untroubled, his future assured. Then, on a snowy evening walk along Gramercy Park, a friend poses a fateful question. As it turns out, this friend has a dangerous idea that can change the world. Danforth is to provide a place where a “brilliant woman” can receive training in firearms and explosives. This is to be the beginning of an international plot carried out by the mysterious Anna Klein—a plot that will ensnare Danforth in more ways than one. When the plan goes wrong and Klein disappears, Danforth’s quest begins: it is a journey of ever-shifting alliances and betrayals that will lead him across a war-torn world in search of answers. Now in his ninety-first year, at the dawn of a troubled new era, he sits in luxury at the Century Club and tells his tale to the young man from Washington he has summoned, for reasons of his own, to hear it.
Chalk Line Chalk Line launches a mystery series set in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and featuring Detective Ben Gallagher.
Jubilant Echoes of Silent Love Earline has masterfully crafted a string of messages to us all who want to step out on faith with a confidence of a brighter and fuller tomorrow, with a respectful memory of the past. She illuminates the beauty of all that surrounds us, and casts a ray of sunshine into our eyes that excites the smile within us to live with a deeper vigor, grace and energy--- all igniting our very soul. If you are searching for comfort related to family and relationships, care and restoration, self help, encouragement, motivational and inspirational nutrition, you have come to the right oasis. Read this magnificent master piece and relax in the peaceful tranquility that comes only by following our passion and the dare to realize our dreams. This book is an easy read, filled with the wisdom to challenge our hearts for greater harmony and self-assurance for expressing our inner awareness of everyone and everything around us.
The Complete Idiots Guide to Sewing From first threading a needle to the final completed project, The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Sewing provides readers with a "learn- as-you-go" method that helps build sewing skills both by hand and by machine. • Each chapter has a practice project for readers to apply their newly acquired skills to completing • Includes dozens of easy-to-understand visual aid line drawings and photographs • Features basic machine care and maintenance information
Friday, May 27, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
American Heiress Be careful what you wish for. Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts’, suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage.
Destined to Live Despite Me In the United States it is estimated that 91 people will commit suicide this very day. This is equivalent to one successful suicide every 16 minutes. Maybe there is someone you know who has contemplated suicide and you would like to help? Perhaps it is you that struggles with depression or the nagging thoughts to end it all? If so, please know that you are not alone. With warmth and wisdom, attempted suicide survivor and Bible study teacher Yolanda Shanks offers practical solutions and scriptural truths for the many painful questions suicide survivors face: Why me? Does God still love me? Will this pain last forever? How can I shake the embarrassment, guilt, and shame from my past? Whats needed to rebuild my life from here? Destined to Live, Despite Me is a powerful resource for those determined to live and find lasting joy, peace, hope, and freedom through meaningful, and deliberate living in Christ Jesus. Escape the shadows from your past and begin to build a new life according to Gods design today. Destined to Live, Despite Me is available now.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
Determined to track down the apple’s origin, Grace sets off in the middle of the night where she finds not only a beautiful mountain orchard in the clouds, but the mysterious man who owns it. In Stepakoff’s heartbreaking eloquence, their sudden yet undeniable attraction is threatened—leaving readers with a momentous finale that proves Jeffrey Stepakoff is a master craftsman of the heart.
Remnant "When all that's left is broken, which piece do you pick up first?" So the question stands, and seeks fulfillment- a path reaching from the shores of a doomed paradise, through an illusory reality, and ending in a devastated future. Remnant, a collection of three novellas, is both the sum of these tales and the element that binds them together. Remnant was selected as a 'Finalist' in the Science Fiction Category of the 2011 National Indie Excellence Awards.
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin In the year 1933, Mr. William F. Dodd, a Professor from Chicago, along with his family (wife, daughter and son) were sent to Berlin by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to become the American Ambassador. Mr. Dodd was the first Ambassador to Germany from the US and settled in Berlin during the year that was to become a turning point in history.
The Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer pulses with new life through the exquisite illustrations of award-winning artist Richard Jesse Watson, and simple, yet insightful commentary by bestselling author Rick Warren.
Children of God: Storybook Bible Desmond Tutu retells more than fifty of his most beloved stories, artfully highlighting God's desire for all people to love one another and to find peace and forgiveness in their hearts. Many of the finest artists from around the world have been selected to illustrate the stories. In an attempt to create the first truly global Bible for children, the artists have been invited to portray the stories with the style and richness of their own culture. Their stunning color illustrations allow readers to experience the Bible stories as if they were there---with Adam and Eve in the garden, with Noah on the ark, with Abraham in the desert, and with Jesus on the mountaintop. Every story shows how God works through history and ends with a short prayer, which personalizes the message for each reader's own life.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny Growing Up Laughing is not just the story of an iconic entertainer, but also the story of comedy. In a voice that is curious, generous and often gleeful, Thomas not only opens the doors on the funny in her own life, but also explores the comic roots of today's most celebrated comedians.
The Storyteller When her world is invaded by creatures who capture humans for use as food and pleasure, slave Maryan believes she might, at last, be free... until a new lord and master runs a claw-tipped finger through her hair, triggering revelations with respect to the uniqueness of his captured prize. Told with wit and insight, Maryan's story is an adventurous journey of self-discovery; a tale of friendship between unlikely individuals, and of betrayal in surprising circumstances; it is a tale of love, and loss, and healing-- offering characters the reader will hope to hear from again.
Valley of Shadows A raid on a Pakistan Al-Qaeda cell recovers two laptops. When the computers' booby-traps are defused and the computers decrypted and translated, they indicate that Al-Qaeda has planned a series of simultaneous attacks in five U.S. cities involving potential dirty bombs, biological weapons and maybe even a nuclear weapon-on Election Day. Derek Stillwater, troubleshooter for the Department of Homeland Security, is assigned to a multi-jurisdictional Special Terrorism Activity Response Team (START) to locate the weapon and terrorists in Los Angeles and prevent the attack. They have two days. But as they close in on their targets, Derek begins to think that the intelligence they gathered is a sideshow to distract them from the real target-one of the two candidates for President of the United States.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
Canaan's Land Joshua Lee's life is turned upside down when his father forces the family to move to West Texas in 1868. The Civil War is over, but hardships and perils remain. Joshua and his parents will have to face rattlesnakes, wild bulls, floods, and fistfights . . . and their own growing fears. With the aid of Specks, his bluetick hound, Joshua struggles to help the family survive. But will it be enough? Will Mama, Papa, and he ever reach Canaan's Land? In the tradition of Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows, award-winning short story writer and outdoor journalist John Evans spins a compelling tale of love and forbearance.
Sea Horse, Run! Every animal on the coral reef is frightened by the news: "A sea dragon is coming!" Even Shark, Eel, and Octopus flee, but Sea Horse's best friend, Coral, is attached to the reef. Coral cannot leave, but she is not afraid for herself. Brave Sea Horse stays behind to protect Coral from the monstrous beast, but when the dragon finally arrives, Sea Horse discovers that sea dragons aren't so terrible after all. Children will enjoy the panorama of an Australian reef that identifies forty animals featured in the book.
Dead Men Do Tell Tales Characterized by the author as "a murder-filled crossword puzzle without the squares," this book of 61 mini-mysteries challenges readers' knowledge of pop-culture trivia. Solutions to the witty whodunits involve literature, art, music, history, baseball, and other subjects of popular interest. Readers can play alone or in groups. Hints and solutions.
Blood of the Reich William Dietrich is the New York Times bestselling author of ten novels, including the upcoming Blood of the Reich and the Ethan Gage adventures, The Dakota Cipher, The Rosetta Key, and Napoleon's Pyramid. He is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, historian, and naturalist. A winner of the PNBA Award and Washington Governor Writer's Award, he is a professor of journalism at Western Washington University.
Lost on Treasure Island When Midwesterner Steve Friedman arrived in Manhattan, the land of the quick and the mean, raring to go and ready to conquer, he soon found pitfalls and pratfalls more numerous and perilous than he had ever imagined. Here is his utterly honest, often hilarious, self-deprecating account of those fateful years, starting with his first job at GQ and his awkward efforts to impress his boss, Art Cooper, and including real and imagined love affairs, disasters at work and play, growing self-awareness with its inevitable bouts of depression and subsequent therapies—all of which fail—and in the end, a wisdom that promises better things to come.
Death With Dignity n Death with Dignity, Robert Orfali makes a compelling case for legalized physician-assisted dying. Using the latest data from Oregon and the Netherlands, he puts a fresh new slant on perennial debate topics such as "slippery slopes," "the integrity of medicine," and "sanctity of life." His engaging writing style brings clarity to these issues. The content is thought-provoking; the arguments are well-researched, air-tight, and original.
This extraordinary book provides an in-depth look at how we die in America today. It examines the shortcomings of our end-of-life system. You'll learn about terminal torture in hospital ICUs and about the alternatives: hospice and palliative care. With laser-sharp focus, Orfali scrutinizes the good, the bad, and the ugly. He provides an insightful critique of the practice of palliative sedation. The book makes a strong case that assisted dying complements hospice. By providing both, Oregon now has the best palliative-care system in America. Reading this book, above all, may help you or someone you care about navigate this strange landscape we call "end of life." It can be your gentle and informed guide to "a good death" in the age of hospice and high-tech medical intervention.
Williams-Sonoma Good Food to Share: Recipes for Entertaining Williams Sonoma Good Food to Share is available as an application for the iPad and features Mag+, the award-winning digital publishing platform created by Bonnier for the iPad and other tablet computers. Mag+ combines everything that’s great about reading a physical book with the best elements of the web, allowing users a new way to interact with the content.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
Breaking Silence The Slabaugh family are model Amish farmers, prosperous and hardworking, with four children and a happy extended family. When the parents and an uncle are found dead in their barn, it appears to be a gruesome accident: methane gas asphyxiation caused by a poorly ventilated cesspit. But in the course of a routine autopsy, the coroner discovers that one of the victims suffered a head wound before death—clearly, foul play was involved. But who would want to make orphans of the Slabaughs’ children? And is this murder somehow related to a recent string of shocking hate crimes against the Amish?
The Elf Queen When Jelani tries on a real glass slipper left lying on the sidewalk, it splits in half and out pours dozens of two-inch high creatures who scurry away into the shadows. As if that's not bizarre enough, she is soon approached by two men claiming (of all things) to be elves who need her help to rescue their queen.
The Gods of Greenwich Jimmy Cusack is the tough kid from a blue-collar neighborhood who made good on Wall Street. Well, almost. After a sterling start to his career, things have soured. His hedge fund has collapsed. The bank is foreclosing on his upscale condominium. And his wife is two months pregnant. That's the good news. When Cusack takes a "must-have" job with Leeser Capital, a Greenwich fund impervious to the capital market woes, his real troubles begin.
Abandon New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld. Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back. But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid. Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Friday Finds
Friday Finds is hosted
Vivian's Song In the spring of 1998 the residents of a small Missouri town are alarmed to learn that a New Age cult from California has bought land nearby. The leader of this so-called cult is a former champion bull rider, Cadillac salesman, and Viet Nam vet from Texas named Duke Tanner. Duke built his group on the concept of creating wealth through the power of thought, and he proved his theories by investing in the red hot dotcoms of the San Francisco Bay Area. However, it turns out their nearest neighbor is Senator Charles Wentworth, one of the most conservative members of Congress. The local clergy, outraged by Duke's iconoclastic ideas, organize with Senator Wentworth to oust him. The animosity intensifies when Duke befriends Jimmy Hollingsworth, the grandson of one the wealthiest men in Missouri and the heir to MidWest AgPro, the largest corporate backer of Senator Wentworth. It all comes to a head during a massive protest rally in the tiny town in which supporters of both sides clash.
The Palomar Paradox Each of the characters in 'The Palomar Paradox' deals with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in their own way. As in real life, some believe; others don't want you to believe. 'The Palomar Paradox' sees Luper Beauchamps, a brilliant scientist, back in an astronomical observatory searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. He finds himself working with Leila Keiler, a young student recovering from leukaemia, and Karina Lowenhaupt, an experienced astronomer. Other characters include, Trent Foresyth, a senior Pentagon official, and his intern, Rihanna Sørensen. They are charged chiefly with quashing all reports of, and evidence for, extraterrestrial activity.
The Burning Lake Another prominent journalist is found murdered in Putin’s Russia, shot to death on the banks of the Techa River near the radioactive village of Metlino. Katarina Mironova, known around the world as Kato, could simply fade from the public eye, one more journalist killed during Putin’s war on the free press, one more statistic in a grim tally. But to Russian agent Alexei Volkovoy, Kato’s murder evokes far more emotion. It summons too many memories, haunts him in too many ways for him to allow her death go unavenged. Volk's investigation takes him from Moscow to Mayak, the site of a nuclear reprocessing plant where a massive explosion occurred in 1958, then to Las Vegas. All the while the life he has known with his long-time lover, Valya, and his patron, the General, slowly unravels as details about his secret ties to Kato begin to emerge. Meanwhile, American contract agent Grayson Stone and shadowy French assassin Jean-Louis have secrets of their own to protect. Secrets born in the Afghan desert and the streets of Fallujah. Secrets about the tragic consequences of a nuclear alliance among venal Russian, American, and French politicians. Secrets the American and the French governments will pay anything to protect. In the end, Volk becomes both the hunter and the hunted in the glittering neon jungle of Las Vegas. Equally at home in the snow-covered woods of the Ural mountains and the seamy alleyways of Industrial Boulevard, Volk tracks his prey across the world trying to learn the truth about the story Kato died trying to report.
A Dog Name Slugger The true life story of a dog who changed everything for one woman. For the first time in my life, I didn't need to pretend, I didn't need to be tough: I only needed to be honest. "I have cerebral palsy. I walk funny and my balance is bad. I fall a lot. My hands shake, too. That means I'm not so good at carrying things. And if I drop stuff, sometimes it's hard to just bend down and get it." I waited anxiously for the interviewer's response. She smiled. "It sounds like a service dog could be great for you." So began Leigh Brill's journey toward independence and confidence, all thanks to a trained companion dog named Slugger. The struggling college student and the Labrador with a "a coat like sunshine" and a tail that never stopped wagging became an instant team. Together, they transformed a challenge into a triumph. Together, they inspired and educated everyone they met. Now, Leigh honors her friend with the story of their life, together.
A Friendly Life S. Prestley ("Pres") Blake and his brother Curtis Blake started the Friendly Ice Cream Company in 1935, in the midst of the Great Depression. Their parents gave them their initial capital, their mother kept the books, and Pres and Curtis worked day and night in their tiny shop. This small family business kept expanding, and over time grew to a 500 plus restaurant chain. The brothers eventually sold their business to the Hershey Corporation. This autobiography of Pres Blake's life starts with this humble beginning. It shows how the brothers invoked straightforward business principles to guide their growth, and by dent of hard work and good advice from other business people, they were able to rapidly grown their restaurant chain. The book also shows Pres' adventures after retirement, including his fascination with cars, with exploring, and with giving back to people and educational institutions. But just as Pres was enjoying his retirement, he was roused to come back and save his "baby" from the management team that had bought the company from Hershey. The last third of the book is devoted to the amazing saga of Pres' fight to liberate his old company from mismanagement. Pres began the fight at age 86, and it took him seven years and tremendous legal fees to make the current ownership say "uncle." This is a fascinating portrait of a man who fought for principles. Age was not going to be a barrier to Pres Blake, who was motivated to make sure his creation continued to be managed properly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)