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books tagged “Contemporary fiction” (contemporary fiction / Contemporary Fiction)
books tagged “Contemporary fiction”
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Ali and Ninoby Kurban SaidISBN 0091025508 (0-09-102550-8)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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All American Girlby Meg CabotISBN 0064472779 (0-06-447277-9)
Softcover, HarperCollins Canada, Limited
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Anglo-saxon Attitudesby Angus WilsonISBN 0140013113 (0-14-001311-3)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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Apprentice Lover : A Novelby Jay PariniISBN 0066210712 (0-06-621071-2)
Hardcover, HarperCollins Canada, Limited
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Are You There God? It's Me, Margaretby Judy BlumeISBN 0130458562 (0-13-045856-2)
Hardcover, Bradbury Press
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Augustby Gerard WoodwardISBN 0099286920 (0-09-928692-0)
Softcover, Trafalgar Square
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Before She Met Meby Julian BarnesISBN 0070037477 (0-07-003747-7)
Softcover, McGraw-Hill
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Big Surby Jack KerouacISBN 0070342067 (0-07-034206-7)
Softcover, McGraw-Hill
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Big Sur'Book summary:Kerouac's gritty, moving take on the destruction of his own myth, as the King of the Beats approaches middle age! Unmistakably autobiographical, Big Sur, Kerouac's ninth novel, was written as the 'King of the Beats' was approaching middle-age and reflects his struggle to come to terms with his own myth. The magnificent and moving story of Jack Duluoz, a man blessed by great talent and cursed with an urge towards self-destruction, Big Sur is at once Kerouac's toughest and his most humane work. [via]
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Box Gardenby Carol ShieldsISBN 0070825475 (0-07-082547-5)
Hardcover, McGraw-Hill Ryerson
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Bridge to Terabithiaby Katherine PatersonISBN 0064401847 (0-06-440184-7)
Softcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Bridge to Terabithia'Book summary:The story starts out simply enough: Jess Aarons wants to be the fastest boy in the fifth grade--he wants it so bad he can taste it. He's been practicing all summer, running in the fields around his farmhouse until he collapses in a sweat. Then a tomboy named Leslie Burke moves into the farmhouse next door and changes his life forever. Not only does Leslie not look or act like any girls Jess knows, but she also turns out to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. After getting over the shock and humiliation of being beaten by a girl, Jess begins to think Leslie might be okay.
Despite their superficial differences, it's clear that Jess and Leslie are soul mates. The two create a secret kingdom in the woods named Terabithia, where the only way to get into the castle is by swinging out over a gully on an enchanted rope. Here they reign as king and queen, fighting off imaginary giants and the walking dead, sharing stories and dreams, and plotting against the schoolmates who tease them. Jess and Leslie find solace in the sanctuary of Terabithia until a tragedy strikes and the two are separated forever. In a style that is both plain and powerful, Katherine Paterson's characters will stir your heart and put a lump in your throat. [via]
Bruno's Dreamby Iris MurdochISBN 0140031766 (0-14-003176-6)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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By the River Piedra I Sat down and Weptby Paulo Coelho, Alan R. ClarkeISBN 0062513982 (0-06-251398-2)
Hardcover, HarperCollins Canada, Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'By the River Piedra I Sat down and Wept'Book summary:This first United States paperback of By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept comes after huge worldwide sales of the novel of faith, romance, miracles, and the importance of following the heart's true path. The inspirational tale follows Pilar, a young woman from the Spanish countryside who, sparked by the teachings of a now-mysterious man she has known and loved since childhood, leaves her graduate studies and embarks on a spiritual pilgrimage through the Pyrenees Mountains and reevaluates her life and her future. Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho, author of the international bestseller The Alchemist, is considered to be one of the most widely-read Latin American writers in the world. [via]
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Carry On, Jeevesby P.G. WodehouseISBN 0140011749 (0-14-001174-9)
Softcover, Penguin USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Carry On, Jeeves'Book summary:paperback, vg [via]
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Chainedby Lauren HendersonISBN 0091800501 (0-09-180050-1)
Softcover, Hutchinson
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Chockyby John WyndhamISBN 0080068472 (0-08-006847-2)
Hardcover, Pergamon Press
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The Chronicles of Narnia; The Magician's Nephew/the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe/the Horse and His Boy/Prince Caspian/the Voyage of the Dawn Treaby C. S. Lewis, Pauline Baynes, Chris Van AllsburgISBN 0064405370 (0-06-440537-0)
Softcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Chronicles of Narnia; The Magician's Nephew/the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe/the Horse and His Boy/Prince Caspian/the Voyage of the Dawn Trea'Book summary:Narnia is the land of enchantment, glory, nobility--home to the magnificent Aslan, cruel Jadis (the White Queen), heroic Reepicheep, and kind Mr. Tumnus. All the magic of C.S. Lewis's Narnia, bewitching readers for almost 50 years, is captured for the first time in this splendid deluxe edition, including The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle, with fabulous illustrations hand-colored by the original Narnia artist Pauline Baynes and an insightful introduction by Narnia authority Brian Sibley.
Lewis's work has cast a spell over countless readers over the years, so that once we pick up The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we don't want to stop until we've read the whole series. The Complete Chronicles makes it even easier to keep reading! The seven beloved stories have been arranged in the chronological order in which Lewis intended them to be read. Begin at the beginning, as Digory and Polly are tricked into a strange other world, which becomes, even as they watch, the great Narnia. Return again and again with four other children--Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy--who are to play such a vital role in Narnia's history. Finally, enter the whimsical land one last time to witness the end of Time, and the beginning of something new: "world within world, Narnia within Narnia." This gorgeous volume is absolutely a must-have for current and future Narnia lovers. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter [via]
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Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina: The Troublesome Reign of Tiberius Claudius Caesar, Emperor of the Romans (Born 10 B.C., Died A.D. 54), as Described by Himself, Also His Murder at the Hands of the Notorious Agrippina (Mother of the Emperor...by Robert GravesISBN 0140004211 (0-14-000421-1)
Hardcover, Penguin
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From the Trade Paperback edition. [via]More editions of Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina: The Troublesome Reign of Tiberius Claudius Caesar, Emperor of the Romans (Born 10 B.C., Died A.D. 54), as Described by Himself, Also His Murder at the Hands of the Notorious Agrippina (Mother of the Emperor...:
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Cold Comfort Farmby Stella GibbonsISBN 0140001409 (0-14-000140-9)
Softcover, Penguin USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Cold Comfort Farm'Book summary:Flora Poste, orphaned at twenty, decides to go and live with her relatives at Cold Comfort Farm. Once there she discovers they exist in a state of chaos and feels it is up to her to bring order. From the author of LIGHT AND EASY. [via]
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The Conservationistby Nadine GordimerISBN 0070237816 (0-07-023781-6)
Hardcover, McGraw-Hill
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Coralineby Neil Gaiman, Dave McKeanISBN 0066237440 (0-06-623744-0)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Coraline'Book summary:Coraline lives with her preoccupied parents in part of a huge old house--a house so huge that other people live in it, too... round, old former actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible and their aging Highland terriers ("We trod the boards, luvvy") and the mustachioed old man under the roof ("'The reason you cannot see the mouse circus,' said the man upstairs, 'is that the mice are not yet ready and rehearsed.'") Coraline contents herself for weeks with exploring the vast garden and grounds. But with a little rain she becomes bored--so bored that she begins to count everything blue (153), the windows (21), and the doors (14). And it is the 14th door that--sometimes blocked with a wall of bricks--opens up for Coraline into an entirely alternate universe. Now, if you're thinking fondly of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, you're on the wrong track. Neil Gaiman's Coraline is far darker, far stranger, playing on our deepest fears. And, like Roald Dahl's work, it is delicious.
What's on the other side of the door? A distorted-mirror world, containing presumably everything Coraline has ever dreamed of... people who pronounce her name correctly (not "Caroline"), delicious meals (not like her father's overblown "recipes"), an unusually pink and green bedroom (not like her dull one), and plenty of horrible (very un-boring) marvels, like a man made out of live rats. The creepiest part, however, is her mirrored parents, her "other mother" and her "other father"--people who look just like her own parents, but with big, shiny, black button eyes, paper-white skin... and a keen desire to keep her on their side of the door. To make creepy creepier, Coraline has been illustrated masterfully in scritchy, terrifying ink drawings by British mixed-media artist and Sandman cover illustrator Dave McKean. This delightful, funny, haunting, scary as heck, fairy-tale novel is about as fine as they come. Highly recommended. (Ages 11 and older) --Karin Snelson [via]
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Dance of the Happy Shades and Other Storiesby Alice MunroISBN 0070440484 (0-07-044048-4)
Hardcover, McGraw-Hill
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Dangerous Angelsby Francesca Lia BlockISBN 0064406970 (0-06-440697-0)
Softcover, Trophy Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dangerous Angels'Book summary:Lanky lizards! The slinkster-cool novels in Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat series have finally been compiled into one delicious volume. All of the ethereal, mesmerizing titles are here--Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan, and Baby Be-Bop--together like the big, beautiful family described on their pages. Block's unique, poetic style immediately draws readers into an intoxicating magical-realist world populated by empathetic, original characters (as well as a few ghosts, fairies, and genies): "He kissed her. A kiss about apple pie à la mode with the vanilla creaminess melting in the pie heat. A kiss about chocolate, when you haven't eaten chocolate in a year. A kiss about palm trees speeding by, trailing pink clouds when you drive down the Strip sizzling with champagne. A kiss about spotlights fanning the sky and the swollen sea spilling like tears all over your legs."
We cheer for these young women and men as they struggle with the universal trials of growing up, finding love, and letting go--all within the vivid, glittering, urban embrace of Los Angeles. Block's stories about finding yourself, being true to your dreams, and believing in what might seem impossible will inspire teens and adults alike with the resounding messages of hope and the transformative power of love. --Brangien Davis [via]
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Darkness at Noonby Arthur KoestlerISBN 0091146100 (0-09-114610-0)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Darkness at Noon'Book summary:This splendid novel is set in the tumultuous Soviet Union of the 1930s during the treason trials. Rubashov, the protagonist and a hero of the revolution, is arrested and jailed for things he has not done, though there is much about the current Soviet state that veered from his ideals as a revolutionary. His investigators, Ivanov and Gletkin, seek a public confession and interrogate him using a number of methods. Through the ordeal, Rubashov reaches an epiphany or two while his interrogators suffer the cruel fate of the Soviet machine. Darkness at Noon succeeds as political/historical novel, but even more so as a refreshing tale of the human spirit. [via]
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The Daydreamerby Ian McEwan, Anthony BrowneISBN 0064405761 (0-06-440576-1)
Softcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books
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A Dead Man in Deptfordby Anthony BurgessISBN 0091779774 (0-09-177977-4)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Dead Man in Deptford'Book summary:Set in Elizabethan England, Burgess's first novel for four years centres on the life of Christopher Marlowe, who was killed in suspicious circumstances in a tavern brawl in Deptford 400 years ago. It portrays a theatre genius riven by sexual and political conflicts. By the author of "Any Old Iron". [via]
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The Diary of a Magusby Paulo Coelho, Alan R. ClarkeISBN 0062501755 (0-06-250175-5)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Diary of a Magus'Book summary:Tells of Coelho's initiation into a spiritual path, leading to inner development and a particular type of wisdom. He gives the reader the same exercises in self-control and self-discovery, which he was taught on his pilgrimage along the ancient road to Santiago, by various mentors and guides. [via]
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Diary of an Ordinary Woman, 1914-1995by Margaret ForsterISBN 0099449285 (0-09-944928-5)
Softcover, Vintage
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Difficulties with Girlsby Kingsley AmisISBN 009173505X (0-09-173505-X)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Difficulties with Girls'Book summary:Set in London during the mid 1960s, this novel explores the twin jungles of sexual liberation and office politics in a distinguished literary publishing house. Kingsley Amis also wrote "The Green Man", "The Riverside Villas Murder" and "That Uncertain Feeling". [via]
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A Fairly Honourable Defeatby Iris MurdochISBN 0140033327 (0-14-003332-7)
Softcover, Penguin USA
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The Fixerby Bernard MalamudISBN 0140027149 (0-14-002714-9)
Hardcover, Penguin Books
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Four Spiritsby Sena Jeter NaslundISBN 0066212383 (0-06-621238-3)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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Go Ask Aliceby AnonymousISBN 0133571114 (0-13-357111-4)
Hardcover, Prentice-Hall
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The Great Gilly Hopkinsby Katherine PatersonISBN 0064402010 (0-06-440201-0)
Softcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Great Gilly Hopkins'Book summary:Gilly Hopkins is a determined-to-be-unpleasant 11-year-old foster kid who the reader can't help but like by the end. Gilly has been in the foster system all her life, and she dreams of getting back to her (as she imagines) wonderful mother. (The mother makes these longings worse by writing the occasional letter.) Gilly is all the more determined to leave after she's placed in a new foster home with a "gross guardian and a freaky kid." But she soon learns about illusions--the hard way. This Newbery Honor Book manages to treat a somewhat grim, and definitely grown-up theme with love and humor, making it a terrific read for a young reader who's ready to learn that "happy" and "ending" don't always go together. (Ages 9 to 12) --Richard Farr [via]
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Happenstanceby Carol SheildsISBN 0070923779 (0-07-092377-9)
Hardcover, McGraw-Hill
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Honey for the Bearsby Anthony BurgessISBN 0140035516 (0-14-003551-6)
Softcover, Penguin USA
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I, Claudiusby Robert GravesISBN 0140003185 (0-14-000318-5)
Hardcover, Penguin Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'I, Claudius'Book summary:Having never seen the famous 1970s television series based on Graves' historical novel of ancient Rome and being generally uneducated about matters both ancient and Roman, I wasn't prepared for such an engaging book. But it's a ripping good read, this fictional autobiography set in the Roman Empire's days of glory and decadence. As a history lesson, it's fabulous; as a novel it's also wonderful. Best is Claudius himself, the stutterer who let everyone think he was an idiot (to avoid getting poisoned) but who reveals himself in the narrative to be a wry and likable observer. His story continues in Claudius the God. [via]
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In a Free Stateby V.S. NaipaulISBN 014003711X (0-14-003711-X)
Hardcover, Penguin
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In Americaby Susan SontagISBN 0099473216 (0-09-947321-6)
Softcover, Trafalgar Square
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Joey Pigza Swallowed the Keyby Jack GantosISBN 0064408337 (0-06-440833-7)
Softcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books
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L' Etrangerby Albert CamusISBN 0135307902 (0-13-530790-2)
Softcover, Appleton & Lange
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› Find signed collectible books: 'L' Etranger'Book summary:The Stranger, unabridged. [via]
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![Borges, Jorge Luis: Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings [translated from the Spanish]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/0140029818.01._SL160_SCLZZZZZZZ__.jpg "Borges, Jorge Luis: Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings [translated from the Spanish]")
Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings [translated from the Spanish]by Jorge Luis Borges, Donald A. Yates, James East IrbyISBN 0140029818 (0-14-002981-8)
Hardcover, Penguin
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Lady Chatterley's Loverby D. H. LawrenceISBN 0140014845 (0-14-001484-5)
Hardcover, Penguin
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'Book summary:Perhaps the most famous of Lawrence's novels, the 1928 Lady Chatterley's Lover is no longer distinguished for the once-shockingly explicit treatment of its subject matter--the adulterous affair between a sexually unfulfilled upper-class married woman and the game keeper who works for the estate owned by her wheelchaired husband. Now that we're used to reading about sex, and seeing it in the movies, it's apparent that the novel is memorable for better reasons: namely, that Lawrence was a masterful and lyrical writer, whose story takes us bodily into the world of its characters. [via]
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Le Testament / the Testamentby John GrishamISBN 0099245027 (0-09-924502-7)
Softcover, Trafalgar Square
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Le Testament / the Testament'Book summary:Troy Phelan, a 78-year-old eccentric and the 10th-richest man in America, is about to read his last will and testament, divvying up an estate worth $11 billion. Phelan's three ex-wives, their grasping spawn, a legion of lawyers, several psychiatrists, and a plethora of sound technicians wait breathlessly, all eyes glued to digital monitors as they watch the old man read his verdict. But Phelan shocks everyone with a bizarre, last-gasp attempt to redistribute the spoils, setting in motion a legal morality tale of a contested will, sin, and redemption.
Our hero, Nate O'Riley--a washed-up, alcoholic litigator with two ruined marriages in his wake and the IRS on his tail--is dispatched to the Brazilian wetlands in search of a mysterious heir named in the will. After a harrowing trip upriver to a remote settlement in the Pantanal, he encounters Rachel Lane, a pure-hearted missionary living with an indigenous tribe and carrying out "God's work." Rachel's grave dedication and kindness impress the jaded lawyer, so much that a nasty bout of dengue fever leads him to a vision that could change his life.
Back in the States, the legal proceedings drag on and Grisham has a high time with Phelan's money-hungry descendents, a regrettable bunch who squandered millions, married strippers, got druggy, and befriended the Mob. The youngest son, Ramble, is a multi-pierced, tattoo-covered malcontent with big dreams for his rock band, the Demon Monkeys. Will Nate get straight with Rachel's aid? Do the greedy heirs get theirs? What's the real legacy of a lifetime's work? The Testament is classic Grisham: a down-and-out lawyer, a lot of money, an action-packed pursuit, and the highest issues at stake. It's not just about great characters; it's about the question of what character is. --Rebekah Warren [via]
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Leaning Towards Infinityby Sue WoolfeISBN 0091832284 (0-09-183228-4)
Softcover, Vintage
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Light in Augustby William FaulknerISBN 007553648X (0-07-553648-X)
Softcover, McGraw-Hill College
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Light in August'Book summary:To declare that Light in August is William Faulkner's finest work would be to invoke debate of irreconcilable conclusion. Yet for many followers of Faulkner, this novel showcases many of his best moments and characters. As usual, he mines the rich soil of Mississippi mud to create his subjects, this time in the form of Reverend Gail Hightower, Lena Grove and Joe Christmas. The issue of black and white and rich and poor is prevalent, though to draw lines that clear would be a disservice to Faulkner's immensely layered text and the multicolored beauty of his writing. [via]
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The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heavenby Sherman AlexieISBN 007243418X (0-07-243418-X)
Hardcover, McGraw-Hill Education
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Love That Dogby Sharon CreechISBN 0064409597 (0-06-440959-7)
Softcover, Trophy Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Love That Dog'Book summary:Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech's Love That Dog, a funny, sweet, original short novel written in free verse, introduces us to an endearingly unassuming, straight-talking boy who discovers the powers and pleasures of poetry. Against his will. After all, "boys don't write poetry. Girls do." What does he say of the famous poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"? "I think Mr. Robert Frost / has a little / too / much / time / on his / hands." As his teacher, Ms. Stretchberry, introduces the canon to the class, however, he starts to see the light. Poetry is not so bad, it's not just for girls, and it's not even that hard to write. Take William Carlos Williams, for example: "If that is a poem / about the red wheelbarrow / and the white chickens / then any words / can be a poem. / You've just got to / make / short / lines." He becomes more and more discerning as the days go by, and readers' spirits will rise with Jack's as he begins to find his own voice through his own poetry and through that of others. His favorite poem of all is a short, rhythmic one by Walter Dean Myers called "Love That Boy" (included at the end of the book with all the rest of Ms. Stretchberry's assignments). The words completely captivate him, reminding him of the loving way his dad calls him in the morning and of the way he used to call his yellow dog, Sky. Jack's reverence for the poem ultimately leads to meeting the poet himself, an experience he will never forget.
This winning, accessible book is truly remarkable in that Creech lets us witness firsthand how words can open doors to the soul. And this from a boy who asks, "Why doesn't the person just / keep going if he's got / so many miles to go / before he sleeps?" (Ages 8 to 12) --Karin Snelson [via]
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The Malayan Trilogyby Anthony BurgessISBN 0140034471 (0-14-003447-1)
Hardcover, Penguin Books
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The Master Butchers Singing Clubby Louise ErdrichISBN 0066209773 (0-06-620977-3)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Master Butchers Singing Club'Book summary:Louise Erdrich's The Master Butchers Singing Club is a powerfully told story of love, death, redemption, and resurrection. After German soldier Fidelis Waldvogel returns home from World War I to marry his best friend's pregnant widow, he packs up his father's butcher knives and sets sail for America. He settles in Argus, North Dakota, where he sets up a meat shop with his wife Eva, who quickly befriends the struggling yet resourceful Delphine Watzka. Delphine, who runs a vaudeville show with her balancing partner Cyprian Lazarre, has returned home to Argus to care for her alcoholic father. While most of this emotionally rich novel focuses on the changing landscape of small-town life as seen through Delphine and Fidelis's eyes, Erdrich does a masterful job of illuminating hidden dramas through her secondary characters. Erdrich's portrayal of these various townsfolk, including members of the Master Butchers Singing Club, truly shows off her storytelling talent. Her ability to infuse each character with a distinct and multifaceted personality makes this novel an intimate and thought-provoking adventure. --Gisele Toueg [via]
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Mexico Setby Len DeightonISBN 0091586100 (0-09-158610-0)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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Moab Is My Washpotby Stephen FryISBN 0091801613 (0-09-180161-3)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Moab Is My Washpot'Book summary:Stephen Fry is not making this up! Fry started out as a dishonorable schoolboy inclined to lies, pranks, bringing decaying moles to school as a science exhibit, theft, suicide attempts, the illicit pursuit of candy and lads, a genius for mischief, and a neurotic life of crime that sent him straight to Pucklechurch Prison and Cambridge University, where he vaulted to fame along with actress Emma Thompson. He wound up starring as Oscar Wilde in the film Wilde, costarring in A Civil Action, and writing funny, distinguished novels.
This irresistible book, the best-written celebrity memoir of 1999, concentrates on Fry's first two tumultuous decades, but beware! A Fry sentence can lead anywhere, from a ringing defense of beating schoolchildren to a thoughtful comparison of male and female naughty parts. Fry's deepest regrets seem to be the elusiveness of a particular boy's love and the fact that, despite his keen ear for music, Fry's singing voice can make listeners "claw out their inner ears, electrocute their genitals, put on a Jim Reeves record, throw themselves cackling hysterically onto the path of moving buses... anything, anything to take away the pain." A chance mention of Fry's time-travel book about thwarting Hitler, Making History (a finalist for the 1998 Sidewise Award for Best Alternative History), leads to the startling real-life revelation that Fry's own Jewish uncle may have loaned a young, shivering Hitler the coat off his back.
Fry's life is full of school and jailhouse blues overcome by jaunty wit, à la Wilde. The title, from Psalm 108:9, refers to King David's triumph over the Philistines. Fry triumphs similarly, and with more style. --Tim Appelo [via]
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The Monk Downstairsby Tim FarringtonISBN 0062517864 (0-06-251786-4)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Monk Downstairs'Book summary:Tim Farrington's The Monk Downstairs follows the beguiling romance between a jaded San Francisco graphic designer and a monk who flips burgers at McDonald's. Rebecca Martin is a 38-year-old single mom who has lost her faith in men; Mike is a disillusioned monk who's lost his faith in God. The two meet just after Mike leaves his monastery of 20 years and rents the downstairs apartment of Rebecca's house. The last thing Rebecca wants is another romantic entanglement, especially since she has the emotional well-being of her 6-year-old daughter, Mary Martha, to consider. (A charming character in her own right, Mary Martha also happens to be "an infallible detector of bullshit.") And the last thing Mike wants is to agitate his already troubled soul. But after a few backyard cigarettes together at twilight and a few melted barriers, a tentative love story is underway.
Although Farrington's plot revolves around a classic story of unlikely lovers, there's no sappiness or clichés in his highly polished narrative. Indeed, his vulnerable characters and realistic dialogue will feel especially poignant for grown-up lovers. When the big night arrives and the couple must decide whether Mike will sleep over, Rebecca speaks for all single mothers.
"This is not just about us anymore," she said. "If that freaks you out, then please, please bail now. Because if you are going to stay here tonight, you're going to have to have breakfast with my daughter. You're going to have to be a decent human being. You're going to have to be a man."
In Mike we see what it means to bring spiritual strength to a relationship. When Rebecca suddenly becomes sharp and anxious, he does not retreat, nor does he paw at her for reassurance. Instead he knows how to sit with her, as if in meditation, staying present while not getting caught up in her fear. And in Rebecca we see what it means to speak honestly to a lover. This all may sound too lofty and preachy to be a juicy read, but Farrington has the quirky characters and the masterful skills to make this a highly entertaining and inspiring tale of adult love. --Gail Hudson [via]
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The Monkey Wrench Gangby Edward AbbeyISBN 0072434244 (0-07-243424-4)
Softcover, McGraw-Hill College
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Monkey Wrench Gang'Book summary:Ed Abbey called The Monkey Wrench Gang, his 1975 novel, a "comic extravaganza." Some readers have remarked that the book is more a comic book than a real novel, and it's true that reading this incendiary call to protect the American wilderness requires more than a little of the old willing suspension of disbelief. The story centers on Vietnam veteran George Washington Hayduke III, who returns to the desert to find his beloved canyons and rivers threatened by industrial development. On a rafting trip down the Colorado River, Hayduke joins forces with feminist saboteur Bonnie Abbzug, wilderness guide Seldom Seen Smith, and billboard torcher Doc Sarvis, M.D., and together they wander off to wage war on the big yellow machines, on dam builders and road builders and strip miners. As they do, his characters voice Abbey's concerns about wilderness preservation ("Hell of a place to lose a cow," Smith thinks to himself while roaming through the canyonlands of southern Utah. "Hell of a place to lose your heart. Hell of a place... to lose. Period"). Moving from one improbable situation to the next, packing more adventure into the space of a few weeks than most real people do in a lifetime, the motley gang puts fear into the hearts of their enemies, laughing all the while. It's comic, yes, and required reading for anyone who has come to love the desert. --Gregory McNamee [via]
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Mrs Dallowayby Virginia WoolfISBN 0099470454 (0-09-947045-4)
Softcover, Random House Uk Ltd
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mrs Dalloway'Book summary:As Clarissa Dalloway walks through London on a fine June morning, a sky-writing plane captures her attention. Crowds stare upwards to decipher the message while the plane turns and loops, leaving off one letter, picking up another. Like the airplane's swooping path, Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway follows Clarissa and those whose lives brush hers--from Peter Walsh, whom she spurned years ago, to her daughter Elizabeth, the girl's angry teacher, Doris Kilman, and war-shocked Septimus Warren Smith, who is sinking into madness.
As Mrs. Dalloway prepares for the party she is giving that evening, a series of events intrudes on her composure. Her husband is invited, without her, to lunch with Lady Bruton (who, Clarissa notes anxiously, gives the most amusing luncheons). Meanwhile, Peter Walsh appears, recently from India, to criticize and confide in her. His sudden arrival evokes memories of a distant past, the choices she made then, and her wistful friendship with Sally Seton.
Woolf then explores the relationships between women and men, and between women, as Clarissa muses, "It was something central which permeated; something warm which broke up surfaces and rippled the cold contact of man and woman, or of women together.... Her relation in the old days with Sally Seton. Had not that, after all, been love?" While Clarissa is transported to past afternoons with Sally, and as she sits mending her green dress, Warren Smith catapults desperately into his delusions. Although his troubles form a tangent to Clarissa's web, they undeniably touch it, and the strands connecting all these characters draw tighter as evening deepens. As she immerses us in each inner life, Virginia Woolf offers exquisite, painful images of the past bleeding into the present, of desire overwhelmed by society's demands. --Joannie Kervran Stangeland [via]
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My Family and Other Animalsby Gerald Malcolm DurrellISBN 0140013997 (0-14-001399-7)
Softcover, Puffin
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› Find signed collectible books: 'My Family and Other Animals'Book summary:As a self-described "champion of small uglies," Gerald Durrell (1925-1995) devoted his life to writing and the preservation of wildlife, from the Mauritius pink pigeon to the Rodriques fruit bat. My Family and Other Animals was intended to embrace the natural history of the Greek island of Corfu, but ended up as a delightful account of his family's experiences that were, according to him, "rather like living in one of the more flamboyant and slapstick comic operas".
As a 10-year-old boy, Gerry left England for Corfu with "all those items that I thought necessary to relieve the tedium of a long journey: four books on natural history, a butterfly net, a dog, and a jam-jar full of caterpillars all in imminent danger of turning into chrysalids". Durrell's descriptions of his family and its many eccentric hangers-on (he stresses that "all the anecdotes about the island and the islanders are absolutely true") are highly entertaining, as is the procession of toads, scorpions, geckos, ladybugs, glowworms, octopuses, the puppies Widdle and Puke, and the Magenpies. This is a lovely book. --Christine Buttery [via]
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Narnia Chronology: From the Archives of the Last Kingby C. S. Lewis, Pauline BaynesISBN 0064409392 (0-06-440939-2)
Softcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Narnia Chronology: From the Archives of the Last King'Book summary:Narnia is the land of enchantment, glory, nobility--home to the magnificent Aslan, cruel Jadis (the White Queen), heroic Reepicheep, and kind Mr. Tumnus. All the magic of C.S. Lewis's Narnia, bewitching readers for almost 50 years, is captured for the first time in this splendid deluxe edition, including The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle, with fabulous illustrations hand-colored by the original Narnia artist Pauline Baynes and an insightful introduction by Narnia authority Brian Sibley.
Lewis's work has cast a spell over countless readers over the years, so that once we pick up The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we don't want to stop until we've read the whole series. The Complete Chronicles makes it even easier to keep reading! The seven beloved stories have been arranged in the chronological order in which Lewis intended them to be read. Begin at the beginning, as Digory and Polly are tricked into a strange other world, which becomes, even as they watch, the great Narnia. Return again and again with four other children--Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy--who are to play such a vital role in Narnia's history. Finally, enter the whimsical land one last time to witness the end of Time, and the beginning of something new: "world within world, Narnia within Narnia." This gorgeous volume is absolutely a must-have for current and future Narnia lovers. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter [via]
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Narnia Chronology: From the Archives of the Last Kingby Pauline Baynes, C. S. LewisISBN 0066238501 (0-06-623850-1)
Softcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Narnia Chronology: From the Archives of the Last King'Book summary:Narnia is the land of enchantment, glory, nobility--home to the magnificent Aslan, cruel Jadis (the White Queen), heroic Reepicheep, and kind Mr. Tumnus. All the magic of C.S. Lewis's Narnia, bewitching readers for almost 50 years, is captured for the first time in this splendid deluxe edition, including The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle, with fabulous illustrations hand-colored by the original Narnia artist Pauline Baynes and an insightful introduction by Narnia authority Brian Sibley.
Lewis's work has cast a spell over countless readers over the years, so that once we pick up The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we don't want to stop until we've read the whole series. The Complete Chronicles makes it even easier to keep reading! The seven beloved stories have been arranged in the chronological order in which Lewis intended them to be read. Begin at the beginning, as Digory and Polly are tricked into a strange other world, which becomes, even as they watch, the great Narnia. Return again and again with four other children--Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy--who are to play such a vital role in Narnia's history. Finally, enter the whimsical land one last time to witness the end of Time, and the beginning of something new: "world within world, Narnia within Narnia." This gorgeous volume is absolutely a must-have for current and future Narnia lovers. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter [via]
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The Old Devilsby Kingsley AmisISBN 0091637902 (0-09-163790-2)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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One Man's Bibleby Xingjian Gao, Mabel LeeISBN 0066211328 (0-06-621132-8)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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Out of the Whirlpoolby Alan Sillitoe, Peter FarmerISBN 0091683009 (0-09-168300-9)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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The Pilgrimage: A Contemporary Quest for Ancient Wisdomby Paulo Coelho, Alan ClarkeISBN 006251279X (0-06-251279-X)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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Pompeiiby Robert HarrisISBN 0091801206 (0-09-180120-6)
Softcover, Hutchinson
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Portrait in Sepiaby Isabel Allende, Margaret Sayers PedenISBN 0066214017 (0-06-621401-7)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Portrait in Sepia'Book summary:Isabel Allende has established herself as one of the most consummate of all modern storytellers, a reputation that is confirmed in her novel Portrait in Sepia. Allende offers a compelling saga of the turbulent history, lives, and loves of late 19th-century Chile, drawing on characters from her earlier novels, The House of Spirits and Daughter of Fortune.
In typical Allende fashion, Portrait in Sepia is crammed with love, desire, tragedy, and dark family secrets, all played out against the dramatic backdrop of revolutionary Chile. Our heroine Aurora del Valle's mother is a Chilean-Chinese beauty, while her father is a dissolute scion of the wealthy and powerful del Valle family. At the heart of Aurora's slow, painful re-creation of her childhood towers one of Allende's greatest fictional creations, the heroine's grandmother, Paulina del Valle. An "astute, bewigged Amazon with a gluttonous appetite," Paulina holds both the del Valle family and Allende's novel together as she presides over Aurora's adolescence in a haze of pastries, taffeta, and overweening love.
One of the most interesting aspects of the novel is Allende's decision to turn her heroine into a photographer: "through photography and the written word I try desperately to conquer the transitory nature of my existence, to trap moments before they evanesce, to untangle the confusion of my past." There is little confusion in Allende's elegantly crafted and hugely enjoyable novel. --Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk [via]
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Power and the Gloryby Graham GreeneISBN 0140017917 (0-14-001791-7)
Softcover, Penguin USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Power and the Glory'Book summary:How does good spoil, and how can bad be redeemed? In his penetrating novel The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene explores corruption and atonement through a priest and the people he encounters. In the 1930s one Mexican state has outlawed the Church, naming it a source of greed and debauchery. The priests have been rounded up and shot by firing squad--save one, the whisky priest. On the run, and in a blur of alcohol and fear, this outlaw meets a dentist, a banana farmer, and a village woman he knew six years earlier. For a while, he is accompanied by a toothless man--whom he refers to as his Judas and does his best to ditch. Always, an adamant lieutenant is only a few hours behind, determined to liberate his country from the evils of the church.
On the verge of reaching a safer region, the whisky priest is repeatedly held back by his vocation, even though he no longer feels fit to perform his rites: "When he was gone it would be as if God in all this space between the sea and the mountains ceased to exist. Wasn't it his duty to stay, even if they despised him, even if they were murdered for his sake? even if they were corrupted by his example?"
As his sins and dangers increase, the broken priest comes to confront the nature of piety and love. Still, when he is granted a reprieve, he feels himself sliding into the old arrogance, slipping it on like the black gloves he used to wear. Greene has drawn this man--and all he encounters--vividly and viscerally. He may have said The Power and the Glory was "written to a thesis," but this brilliant theological thriller has far more mysteries--and troubling ideals--than certainties. --Joannie Kervran Stangeland [via]
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The Princeby Hushang Gulshiri, James BuchanISBN 0099468395 (0-09-946839-5)
Softcover, Random House Uk Ltd
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Pursuit of Happinessby Douglas KennedyISBN 0099439840 (0-09-943984-0)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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Rebecca's Taleby Sally BeaumanISBN 0066211085 (0-06-621108-5)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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The Red and the Greenby Iris MurdochISBN 0140027564 (0-14-002756-4)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Red and the Green'Book summary:An Irish family becomes involved in events leading up to the Easter Rebellion. [via]
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Red Sorghumby Howard Goldblatt, Yen MoISBN 0099451670 (0-09-945167-0)
Hardcover, Arrow
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Retrato En Sepiaby Isabel AllendeISBN 0066211603 (0-06-621160-3)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Retrato En Sepia'Book summary:Narrada en la voz de una joven mujer, ésta es una magnífica novela histórica situada a finales del siglo XIX en Chile, y una portentosa saga familiar en la que reencontramos algunos personajes de Hija de la fortuna y de La casa de los espiritus, novelas cumbres en la obra de Isabel Allende. El tema principal es la memoria y los secretos de familia. La protagonista, Aurora del Valle, sufre un trauma brutal que determina su carácter y borra de su mente los primeros cinco años de su vida. Criada por su ambiciosa abuela, Paulina del Valle, crece en un ambiente privilegiado, libre de muchas de las limitaciones que oprimen a las mujeres de su época, pero atormentada por horribles pesadillas. Cuando debe afrontar la traición del hombre que ama y la soledad, decide explorar el misterio de su pasado. Una obra de extraordinaria dimensión humana que eleva la narrativa de la autora a cotas de perfección literaria.
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The Sacred and Profane Love Machineby Iris MurdochISBN 0140041117 (0-14-004111-7)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Seaby Yukio MishimaISBN 0140028668 (0-14-002866-8)
Hardcover, Penguin
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea'Book summary:"The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea" tells of a band of savage thirteen-year-old boys who reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical, and sentimental, and train themselves in a brutal callousness they call 'ojectivity'. When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship's officer, he and his friends idealize the man at first; but it is not long before they conclude that he is in fact soft and romantic. They regard their disappointment in him as an act of betrayal on his part and react violently. [via]
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The Samurai's Daughterby Sujata MasseyISBN 0066212901 (0-06-621290-1)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Samurai's Daughter'Book summary:Antiques dealer Rei Shimura is in San Francisco visiting her parents and researching a personal project to trace the story of 100 years of Japanese decorative arts through her own family's history. But Rei's work is interrupted by the arrival of her long-distance boyfriend, lawyer Hugh Glendinning, who is involved in a class action lawsuit on behalf of people forced to engage in slave labor for Japanese companies during World War II.
Suddenly, when one of Hugh's clients is murdered, their two projects intertwine. Before long, Rei uncovers troubling facts about her own family's actions during the war. As she starts to unravel the truth and search for a killer, the notions of family ties and loyalty take on an entirely new meaning.
Sujata Massey, whom critics consistently praise for her ability to balance murder and mystery with captivating cultural lore, is back with another gripping and provocative tale sure to keep readers charmed from start to finish.
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Skeleton Manby Joseph Bruchac, Sally Wern Comport, Comport Sally WernISBN 0064408884 (0-06-440888-4)
Softcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books
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Small Ceremoniesby Carol ShieldsISBN 0070823405 (0-07-082340-5)
Hardcover, McGraw-Hill Ryerson
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Soul Mountainby Mabel Lee, Gao XingjianISBN 0066210828 (0-06-621082-8)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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Special Relationshipby Douglas KennedyISBN 0091793483 (0-09-179348-3)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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Stanley and the Womenby Kingsley AmisISBN 0091562406 (0-09-156240-6)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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The Strangerby Albert CamusISBN 0075432277 (0-07-543227-7)
Hardcover, McGraw-Hill
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Stuck in Neutralby Terry TruemanISBN 0064472132 (0-06-447213-2)
Softcover, Avon Tempest
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The Summer Before the Darkby Doris May LessingISBN 0140039996 (0-14-003999-6)
Hardcover, Penguin
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Sweetwater Creekby Anne Rivers SiddonsISBN 0066213355 (0-06-621335-5)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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Their Eyes Were Watching God : A Novelby Zora Neale HurstonISBN 0072434228 (0-07-243422-8)
Softcover, McGraw-Hill Education
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Their Eyes Were Watching God : A Novel'Book summary:At the height of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1930s, Zora Neale Hurston was the preeminent black woman writer in the United States. She was a sometime-collaborator with Langston Hughes and a fierce rival of Richard Wright. Her stories appeared in major magazines, she consulted on Hollywood screenplays, and she penned four novels, an autobiography, countless essays, and two books on black mythology. Yet by the late 1950s, Hurston was living in obscurity, working as a maid in a Florida hotel. She died in 1960 in a Welfare home, was buried in an unmarked grave, and quickly faded from literary consciousness until 1975 when Alice Walker almost single-handedly revived interest in her work.
Of Hurston's fiction, Their Eyes Were Watching God is arguably the best-known and perhaps the most controversial. The novel follows the fortunes of Janie Crawford, a woman living in the black town of Eaton, Florida. Hurston sets up her characters and her locale in the first chapter, which, along with the last, acts as a framing device for the story of Janie's life. Unlike Wright and Ralph Ellison, Hurston does not write explicitly about black people in the context of a white world--a fact that earned her scathing criticism from the social realists--but she doesn't ignore the impact of black-white relations either:
It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things. They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment.
One person the citizens of Eaton are inclined to judge is Janie Crawford, who has married three men and been tried for the murder of one of them. Janie feels no compulsion to justify herself to the town, but she does explain herself to her friend, Phoeby, with the implicit understanding that Phoeby can "tell 'em what Ah say if you wants to. Dat's just de same as me 'cause mah tongue is in mah friend's mouf."Hurston's use of dialect enraged other African American writers such as Wright, who accused her of pandering to white readers by giving them the black stereotypes they expected. Decades later, however, outrage has been replaced by admiration for her depictions of black life, and especially the lives of black women. In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston breathes humanity into both her men and women, and allows them to speak in their own voices. --Alix Wilber [via]
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This Island Isn't Big Enough for the Four of Us!by Gery Greer, Bob RuddickISBN 0064402037 (0-06-440203-7)
Softcover, HarperCollins Canada, Limited
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The Time of the Angelsby Iris MurdochISBN 014002848X (0-14-002848-X)
Softcover, Viking Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Time of the Angels'Book summary:Carel Fisher is a priest who is experiencing doubt and beginning to feel hate for God. The novel explores the forces of good and evil, and studies a religious man transferring his faith from one force to the other. This Collected Edition is published to honour Iris Murdoch's 70th birthday. [via]
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The True Confessions of an Albino Terroristby Breyten BreytenbachISBN 007007674X (0-07-007674-X)
Softcover, McGraw-Hill Book Co
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The Unicornby Iris MurdochISBN 014002476X (0-14-002476-X)
Softcover, Viking Pr
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An Unofficial Roseby Iris MurdochISBN 014002154X (0-14-002154-X)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'An Unofficial Rose'Book summary:The nine characters in this novel are all looking for love; and so closely is the web woven that the actions and passions of each are constantly affecting the others. The irony and pathos of this tangled situation has extended Iris Murdoch's powers to the full, but her mastery of it is complete. Impelled by affection, lust, lost scruple, illusion and disillusion, wanting to be free yet needing to be involved, these characters perform the linked figures of their destiny. [via]
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Wide Sargasso Seaby Jean RhysISBN 0140028781 (0-14-002878-1)
Hardcover, Penguin
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Wide Sargasso Sea'Book summary:In 1966 Jean Rhys reemerged after a long silence with a novel called Wide Sargasso Sea. Rhys had enjoyed minor literary success in the 1920s and '30s with a series of evocative novels featuring women protagonists adrift in Europe, verging on poverty, hoping to be saved by men. By the '40s, however, her work was out of fashion, too sad for a world at war. And Rhys herself was often too sad for the world--she was suicidal, alcoholic, troubled by a vast loneliness. She was also a great writer, despite her powerful self-destructive impulses.
Wide Sargasso Sea is the story of Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress who grew up in the West Indies on a decaying plantation. When she comes of age she is married off to an Englishman, and he takes her away from the only place she has known--a house with a garden where "the paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell. Underneath the tree ferns, tall as forest tree ferns, the light was green. Orchids flourished out of reach or for some reason not to be touched."
The novel is Rhys's answer to Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë's book had long haunted her, mostly for the story it did not tell--that of the madwoman in the attic, Rochester's terrible secret. Antoinette is Rhys's imagining of that locked-up woman, who in the end burns up the house and herself. Wide Sargasso Sea follows her voyage into the dark, both from her point of view and Rochester's. It is a voyage charged with soul-destroying lust. "I watched her die many times," observes the new husband. "In my way, not in hers. In sunlight, in shadow, by moonlight, by candlelight. In the long afternoons when the house was empty."
Rhys struggled over the book, enduring rejections and revisions, wrestling to bring this ruined woman out of the ashes. The slim volume was finally published when she was 70 years old. The critical adulation that followed, she said, "has come too late." Jean Rhys died a few years later, but with Wide Sargasso Sea she left behind a great legacy, a work of strange, scary loveliness. There has not been a book like it before or since. Believe me, I've been searching. --Emily White [via]
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Will You Please Be Quiet, Pleaseby Raymond CarverISBN 0070101930 (0-07-010193-0)
Hardcover, McGraw-Hill
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You Can't Do Bothby Kingsley AmisISBN 0091782627 (0-09-178262-7)
Hardcover, Hutchinson
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Spanish
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A Orillas Del Rio Piedra Me Sente Y Llore / By the River Piedra, I Sat Down and Weptby Paulo CoelhoISBN 0062514628 (0-06-251462-8)
Softcover, Harper San Francisco
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Orillas Del Rio Piedra Me Sente Y Llore / By the River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept'Book summary:Viaje a través delos pirineos junto a dos amantes en una busqueda espiritual sin tiempo, y descubra los prufundos secretos del amor y la vida en esta nueva novela comovedora, estilulante y mágica escrita a la manera de su aclamado libro El Alquimista,por el incomparable narrador Paulo Coelho.
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