Self's Punishment

Self's Punishment

Bernhard Schlink

Literature & Fiction / Philosophy / Politics

As a young man, Gerhard Self served as a Nazi prosecutor. After the war he was barred from the judicial system and so became a private investigator. He has never, however, forgotten his complicity in evil. Hired by a childhood friend, the aging Self searches for a prankish hacker who’s invaded the computer system of a Rhineland chemical plant. But his investigation leads to murder, and from there to the charnel house of Germany’s past, where the secrets of powerful corporations lie among the bones of numberless dead. What ensues is a taut, psychologically complex, and densely atmospheric moral thriller featuring a shrewd, self-mocking protagonist.
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Tempted

Tempted

Robyn Carr

Romance / Fiction

Widowed at thirty-three with two small kids, Beverly Simpson wants someone to blame. Angry, hurt, and full of regret for what she's lost, she rails against a once trusted God and hides her loneliness behind a sassy exterior. Joe Clark, intrigued by Bev's irreverent approach to life, stubbornly pursues her. However, the pair have two very different outlooks on life. Joe is a dedicated preacher, while Bev insists she no longer even believes in God. Despite being polar opposites, they can't hide their attraction to each other, but reconciling their beliefs may be harder than they imagined. Will faith and love be enough to mend a damaged heart? Originally published in 1987, Tempted is an inspiring story of betrayal and trust that will refresh listeners.
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Storming Heaven

Storming Heaven

Denise Giardina

Denise Giardina

This is the story of the miners and the union they wanted, of the people who loved them and the people who wanted to kill their dreams.Annadel, West Virginia, was a small town rich in coal, farms, and close-knit families, all destroyed when the coal company came in. It stole everything it hadn't bothered to buy—land deeds, private homes, and ultimately, the souls of its men and women.Four people tell this powerful, deeply moving tale: Activist Mayor C. J. Marcum. Fierce, loveless union man Rondal Lloyd. Gutsy nurse Carrie Bishop, who loved Rondal. And lonely, Sicilian immigrant Rosa Angelelli, who lost four sons to the deadly mines.They all bear witness to nearly forgotten events of history, culminating in the final, tragic Battle of Blair Mountain—when the United States Army greeted ten thousand unemployed pro-union miners with airplanes, bombs, and poison gas. It was the first crucial battle of a war that has yet to be won.
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A Sending of Dragons

A Sending of Dragons

Jane Yolen

Children's / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

Teens dragon master Jakkin and beloved healer-in-training Akki hide in mountain cave network beside Heart's Blood warm hatchlings, exchanging mind-picture "sendings". But who could leave a huge pile of stripped dragon bones neatly interwoven? The monstrous secret is bloodier than they could imagine. Can they save anyone, even sacrificing themselves?
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These 13 (1931)

These 13 (1931)

William Faulkner

Fiction / Poetry / Southern Gothic

A collection of thirteen short stories by William Faulkner."I'm a failed poet. Maybe every novelist wants to write poetry first, finds he can't and then tries the short story which is the most demanding form after poetry. And failing that, only then does he take up novel writing." - William Faulkner
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To Sail Beyond the Sunset

To Sail Beyond the Sunset

Robert A. Heinlein

Science Fiction / Children's / Fiction

Maureen Johnson, the somewhat irregular mother of Lazarus Long, wakes up in bed with a man and a cat. The cat is Pixel, well-known to fans of the New York Times bestseller The Cat Who Walks through Walls. The man is a stranger to her, and besides that, he is dead . . . So begins Robert A. Heinlein's newest novel, To Sail Beyond the Sunset. Filled with the master's most beloved characters, this compelling work broadens and enriches his epic visions of time and space, life and death, love and desire. It is also an autobiographical masterpiece--and a wondrous return to the alternate universes that all Heinlein fans have come to know and love...
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Nicholas Bracewell 01 - The Queen's Head

Nicholas Bracewell 01 - The Queen's Head

Edward Marston

Edward Marston

1587, and Mary, Queen of Scots, dies by the executioner’s axe; her head, shorn of its auburn wig, rolling across the platform. Will her death end the ceaseless plotting against Mary’s red-haired cousin, Elizabeth? 1588, the year of the Spanish Armada, is a time of more terror and triumph, not just for queen and court but for the whole of England. The turmoil is reflected in its theatres and under the galleries of inns like London’s “The Queen’s Head” where Lord Westfield’s Men perform. The scene there grows even more tumultuous when one of the actors is murdered by a mysterious stranger during a brawl. Nicholas Bracewell, the company’s bookholder (a role far wider than mere producer) faces two immediate repercussions. The first is to secure a replacement acceptable to its temperamental star — and chief shareholder — Lawrence Firethorn. The second is to keep his promise to the dying Will Fowler and catch his killer. Soon further robberies, accidents, and misfortunes strike Lord Westfield’s Men even as their stage successes swell. Bracewell begins to suspect a conspiracy, not a single murderous act, but where lies the proof? Then the players are rewarded with the ultimate accolade — an appearance at court — and the canny bookholder senses the end to the drama is at hand… First published to great acclaim in 1988, The Queen’s Head anticipated the lure of bawdy, boisterous, yet elegant epics like Shakespeare in Love. Actor and playwright Marston has followed with, to date, ten more lusty, historically grounded, theatrically sound Bracewell mysteries that explore the face of England and reveal his deep love for its rich literary and dramatic heritage. The Roaring Boy was nominated for a 1996 Edgar Award for Best Novel.
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Lilith's Brood: Dawn / Adulthood Rites / Imago

Lilith's Brood: Dawn / Adulthood Rites / Imago

Octavia E. Butler

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Butler’s acclaimed Xenogenesis trilogy about humanity’s struggle for survival after nuclear apocalypse, and the alien race that could save the world—or destroy it The newest stage in human evolution begins in outer space. Survivors of a cataclysmic nuclear war awake to find themselves being studied by the Oankali, tentacle-covered galactic travelers whose benevolent appearance hides their surprising plan for the future of mankind. The Oankali arrive not just to save humanity, but to bond with it—crossbreeding to form a hybrid species that can survive in the place of its human forebears, who were so intent on self-destruction. Some people resist, forming pocket communities of purebred rebellion, but many realize they have no choice. The human species inevitably expands into something stranger, stronger, and undeniably alien. Butler’s Lilith’s Brood is both a thrilling, provocative meditation on the expansion of the human gene pool and an epic story of how it takes more than DNA to make someone human. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author’s estate.
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The Baby-Sitters Club #5: Dawn and the Impossible Three

The Baby-Sitters Club #5: Dawn and the Impossible Three

Ann M. Martin

Children's Books / Young Adult

The hit series returns to charm and inspire another generation of baby-sitters! As the newest member of the BSC, Dawn is eager to prove herself. So when a big job comes along, she jumps at the chance to show everyone what she's made of. The Barretts are even more challenging than Dawn expected. The house is a mess, Mrs. Barrett is unreliable, and the kids are out of control. Dawn knows she's a great baby-sitter, but this is impossible! She only knows one thing for sure--a member of the BSC never gives up! The best friends you'll ever have--with classic BSC covers and a letter from Ann M. Martin!
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Jade Star

Jade Star

Catherine Coulter

Suspense / Thriller / Romance

Beautiful Juliana DuPres knew she should give herself to Dr. Michael "Saint" Morris body and soul. He was everything a woman could want - handsome, kind, and now her husband as well, after rescuing her from her kidnapper, the brutal Jameson Wilkes. Even as Michael held her in his strong arm and claimed her lips in a breathless kiss, Juliana could not shed the painful memory of her abductor. Little did she suspect her fears would become reality when Wilkes once again threatened her. But her beloved Michael was there to save her... to turn her overwhelming terror to tingling desire - and a love that was now free to flower like a wild blossom ....
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The Lawbringers 5

The Lawbringers 5

Brian Garfield

Brian Garfield

Who Hired the Killer to Walk Our Streets?That was the headline of the Lodestar newspaper. The answer was Krayle MacIver.Krayle had hired the killer because he figured it was high time something was done about the trigger-happy band of toughs and bandits that were wrecking the town. The sheriff has proven helpless, so Krayle had sent for Ethan Scott.But once Scott was in town, the matter was out of anyone's hands. Scott was ruthless, efficient, and cool. Anyone who now tried to stop him would be just another target for his deadly bullets.And Krayle didn't know whether he was already marked for such a target.
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The Book and the Brotherhood

The Book and the Brotherhood

Iris Murdoch

Fiction / Philosophy

A story about love and friendship and Marxism Many years ago Gerard Hernshaw and his friends "commissioned" one of their number to write a political book. Time passes and opinions change. "Why should we go on supporting a book which we detest?" Rose Curtland asks. "The brotherhood of Western intellectuals versus the book of history," Jenkin Riderhood suggests. The theft of a wife further embroils the situation. Moral indignation must be separated from political disagreement. Tamar Hernshaw has a different trouble and a terrible secret. Can one die of shame? In another quarter a suicide pact seems the solution. Duncan Cambus thinks that since it is a tragedy, someone must die. Someone dies. Rose, who has gone on loving without hope, at least deserves a reward.
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The New Confessions

The New Confessions

William Boyd

Literature & Fiction

In this extraordinary novel, William Boyd presents the autobiography of John James Todd, whose uncanny and exhilarating life as one of the most unappreciated geniuses of the twentieth century is equal parts Laurence Stern, Charles Dickens, Robertson Davies, and Saul Bellow, and a hundred percent William Boyd.   From his birth in 1899, Todd was doomed. Emerging from his angst-filled childhood, he rushes into the throes of the twentieth century on the Western Front during the Great War, and quickly changes his role on the battlefield from cannon fodder to cameraman. When he becomes a prisoner of war, he discovers Rousseau's Confessions, and dedicates his life to bringing the memoir to the silver screen. Plagued by bad luck and blind ambition, Todd becomes a celebrated London upstart, a Weimar luminary, and finally a disgruntled director of cowboy movies and the eleventh member of the Hollywood Ten. Ambitious and entertaining, Boyd has invented a most irresistible hero. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Love in Disguise (The Love Trilogy, #1)

Love in Disguise (The Love Trilogy, #1)

Edith Layton

Edith Layton

Miss Susannah Logan felt very fortunate to have not one but two gentlemen shepherding her through the first London season. One was the cynical and brilliant Mr. Warwick Jones, whose wit and wealth gave him free entry into society and whose pretended scorn for women was matched only by the sensual intensity of his passion for them. The other was the handsome and honorable Julian...
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