Betjeman

Betjeman

A. N. Wilson

Fiction / Nonfiction

John Betjeman was by far the most popular poet of the twentieth century; his collected poems sold more than two million copies. As poet laureate of England, he became a national icon, but behind the public man were doubts and demons. The poet best known for writing hymns of praise to athletic middle-class girls on the tennis courts led a tempestuous emotional life. For much of his fifty-year marriage to Penelope Chetwode, the daughter of a field marshal, Betjeman had a relationship with Elizabeth Cavendish, the daughter of the Duke of Devonshire and lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret. Betjeman, a devout Anglican, was tormented by guilt about the storms this emotional triangle caused.Betjeman, published to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the poet's birth, is the first to use fully the vast archive of personal material relating to his private life, including literally hundreds of letters written by his wife about their life together and apart....
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One Night Out Stealing

One Night Out Stealing

Alan Duff

Fiction / Contemporary / Nonfiction

The second gripping, powerful novel by the author of Once Were Warriors.Boys' homes, borstal, jail, stealing, then jail again - and again. That's been life for Jube and Sonny. One Pakeha, the other Maori, only vaguely aware of life beyond pubs and their hopeless cronies . . .Reviewers found it compulsive and unforgettable, one saying: 'Brutal, foul-mouthed, violent, despairing and real . . . it can't be ignored'.In this novel Alan Duff confirms his skills as a gripping story-teller and a masterful creator of characters and situations. As one reviewer noted, it is 'original and important'.
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Natural Selection

Natural Selection

Liz Wolfe

Health / Nonfiction

Paige Blackwell needs a vacation. She's been working hard as a partner in Shelby Parker's PI agency. When she's offered a chance to be on a survival type reality television show that takes place on a tropical island, she jumps at the opportunity. It looks like the week is going to be even more enjoyable than she had thought. And then the first shots are fired. At them. There's no reality TV show. Just reality. They're being hunted. Survival takes on a whole new meaning. Back home, Shelby and new associate Zoe are racing against the clock to stop a plot by the shadowy and sinister Dominion Order to control the U.S. guided missile system. Who wants the carefully selected contestants on the island dead? What do they all have in common? And why are Shelby and Zoe now targets, too? Clearly, only the fittest will survive.
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Butcher of Belgrade

Butcher of Belgrade

Nick Carter

Nonfiction / Biography / Music

A KILLER AT THE TOP OF HIS BLOODY PROFESSION… A man unknown to any professional Intelligence Service in the world. The mastermind behind a billion-dollar private spy network called Topcon, Inc. A sadist whose brutal power reached halfway across the world… IN PARIS The Red defector scheduled to fill Nick Carter in about Topcon's deadly game was knifed before he could utter a word. IN LAUSANNE The beautiful young German agent used every trick of her well-trained mind and body to destroy Nick's chances of finding Topcon. IN MILAN The Chinese operative almost stopped Nick permanently, with a killing karate chop. The Chicom agent was also after the man who ran Topcon. IN TRIESTE The mistress of a Nazi war criminal forced Nick into an explosive game of hide-and-seek. And while she sidetracked Nick, Topcon's elusive No. 1 man escaped once more. IN BELGRADE A macabre masquerade turned into a nightmare as Nick Carter finally discovered the true identity of Topcon's master!
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The Good Daughter

The Good Daughter

Amra Pajalic

Young Adult / Nonfiction / Memoir

Shortlisted for the 2009 Melbourne Prize, Best Writing Award.Fifteen-year-old Sabiha has a lot to deal with: her mother's mental health issues, her interfering aunt, her mother's new boyfriend, her live-in grandfather and his chess buddy, not to mention her arrogant cousin Adnan. They all want to marry her off, have her become a strict Muslim and speak Bosnian.And Sabiha's friends are not always friendly. She gets bullied by girlfriends and is anxious about boyfriends, when she just wants to fit in. But two boys, Brian and Jesse, become the allies of this fierce and funny girl.The Good Daughter is a coming-of-age novel written with sensitivity and humour. It confronts head-on the problems of cultural identity in the day-to-day lives of teenagers. Amra Pajalic has a wonderful ear for idiomatic dialogue and the dramatic moment.'...a near-perfect rendering of a young woman on the cusp of adulthood who's fighting to be allowed to grow up...the clashing of the old...
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Against the Pollution of the I

Against the Pollution of the I

Jacques Lusseyran

Nonfiction / History / Biography

Despite being blinded as a child, Jacques Lusseyran went on to help form a key unit of the French Resistance — and survive the Nazis' Buchenwald concentration camp. He wrote about these experiences in his inspiring memoir And There Was Light. In this remarkable collection of essays, Lusseyran writes of how blindness enabled him to discover aspects of the world that he would not otherwise have known. In "Poetry in Buchenwald," he describes the unexpected nourishment he and his fellow prisoners found in poetry. In "What One Sees Without Eyes" he describes a divine inner light available to all. Just as Lusseyran transcended his most difficult experiences, his writings give triumphant voice to the human ability to see beyond sight and act with unexpected heroism.
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Chicken Soup for the College Soul

Chicken Soup for the College Soul

Jack Canfield

Nonfiction / Self Help / Inspirational

This latest helping of loving inspiration follows the millions of loyal readers of the Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul series to the next stage of their lives, beyond adolescence and into young adulthood. Readers will love having this invaluable collection to guide, inspire, support, and encourage them throughout their college experience. If readers are devotees of the series, they will recognize this book as an instant source of strength and comfort; if this book is their introduction to the series, they will come to treasure it quickly. College is a time of excitement, exuberance, and triumph, as well as one of anxiety, doubt, and confusion. Readers will identify with the stories that express feelings they undoubtedly share as they stand at the brink of adulthood, sometimes ready to take the world by storm, other times wondering whether they will ever be ready. This book deals with the myriad issues of college life, from homesickness to partying to GPAs and everything in between. Whether freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors, this book is a must-read for all college students—as they’ll be sure to agree. College graduates, too, will enjoy reminiscing about those unforgettable years as they read the stories in this collection. Chicken Soup for the College Soul is sure to be a hit with all readers.
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Restoration

Restoration

Guy Adams

Nonfiction / Mystery

NONE WHO ENTER THE WORLD HOUSE LEAVE IT UNCHANGED. In some rooms, forests grow; animals roam and objects come to life. Great secrets and treasures await the brave or foolhardy. And at the very top of the house, the prisoner it was all built to contain sat behind a locked door waiting for the key to turn. The day that happened, the world ended.A sequel to the stunning "The World House".Modern Fantasy [Worlds within Worlds | End of Days | A Prisoner Escapes | Dark Powers]From the Paperback edition.
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The Striker ib-6

The Striker ib-6

Clive Cussler

Literature & Fiction / Adventure / Nonfiction

Detective Isaac Bell returns in the remarkable new adventure in the #1 New York Times — bestselling series. It is 1902, and a bright, inexperienced young man named Isaac Bell, only two years out of his apprenticeship at the Van Dorn Detective Agency, has an urgent message for his boss. Hired to hunt for radical unionist saboteurs in the coal mines, he is witness to a terrible accident that makes him think that something else is going on, that provocateurs are at work and bigger stakes are in play. Little does he know just how big they are. Given exactly one week to prove his case, Bell quickly finds himself pitted against two of the most ruthless opponents he has ever known, men of staggering ambition and cold-bloodedness… who are not about to let some wet-behind-the-ears detective stand in their way.
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Polar Shift nf-6

Polar Shift nf-6

Clive Cussler

Literature & Fiction / Adventure / Nonfiction

Polar Shift: it is the name for a phenomenon that may have occurred many times in the past. At its weakest, it disorients birds and animals and damages electrical equipment. At its worst, it causes massive eruptions, earthquakes and climatic changes. At its very worst, it would mean the obliteration of all living matter! Sixty years ago, an eccentric Hungarian genius discovered how to artificially trigger such a shift, but then his work disappeared, or so it was thought. Now, the charismatic leader of an anti-globalization group plans to use it to give the world's industrialized nations a small jolt, before reversing the shift back again. The only problem is, it can't be reversed. Once it starts, there is nothing anyone can do. Austin, Zavala and the rest of the NUMA Special Assignments Team have certainly faced dire situations before, but never have they encountered anything like this. This time even they may be too late.
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Reading Madame Bovary

Reading Madame Bovary

Amanda Lohrey

Fiction / Nonfiction / Spirituality

A woman finds her everyday life engulfed by vivid fantasies, a businessman explores new ways to deal with his rage, a young woman is stuck on a boat with a bunch of delinquents, a diary is discovered, a commune goes wrong ...In this captivating collection of short fiction, award-winning novelist Amanda Lohrey explores the dilemmas of modern life. Her characters find themselves caught between body and spirit, memory and desire, ambition and mortality – and they must transform themselves or be trapped.Shot through with a serene intelligence, these tales enlighten and entertain in equal measure.
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