The Castaway

The Castaway

Benjamin Parsons

Biographies & Memoirs / Politics / History

Arabella tries to escape the entanglements of love, and flees to the countryside to find her sense of self. But she soon meets a handsome young Cornishman whose mysterious history draws her in against her will. He was a foundling baby, washed ashore in a lonely cove, and she comes to realise that his fate is strangely linked to the sea. But as she prepares to risk her heart one more time, she little realises that his heart was longsince lost beneath the jealous waves. Part of the collection The Sleight of Heart and Other Stories.
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Quirk In Progress

Quirk In Progress

R.S. Gompertz

Historical Fiction / Humor / Politics

Snap, Crackle, Pop Culture! Have a Euro sandwich with a side of Americana!A collection of humorous articles and cheaply personal musings that cover the full spectrum from an app that translates Keith Richards into English to proof that Ringo broke up the Beatles. Disney buys the Holy Land! Chicago changes its name to Boston! Twitter success in 10 easy tweets and other essential insights.Snap, Crackle, Pop Culture! Have a Euro sandwich with a side of Americana!An app that translates Keith Richards into English. Disney buys the Holy Land just after Chicago changes its name to Boston. Proof that Ringo broke up the Beatles and Twitter success in 10 easy tweets.A collection of humorous articles and cheaply personal musings that cover the full spectrum from high tech to low brow.Offered as a free e-book (wherever possible) in the hope that you’ll be entertained and intrigued enough to read "No Roads Lead to Rome" and "Aqueduct to Nowhere."
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Rain

Rain

Phil Wheeler

Humor / Nonfiction / Politics

Journal: day 317It rains every day here. Every now and then it slows to a trickle and the sun peeks through broken clouds for a few moments, but mostly it falls in great torrents of rain; constant, pounding, maddening. I listen to it, day and night, as it falls outside. The sound of it hitting the metal roof is a constant. Ting, ting, ting, it goes day after day and night after night.Journal: day 1My name is Jack Timmerson, and this is my journal. I have been assigned to Sarguss II as Technician 1st class. I am responsible for running the pumping station located on the planet, and if anything goes wrong I fix it. I am numero uno, the man in charge. Sounds impressive until you find out that I am also the only person on the station, on the planet in fact, and the pumping station is completely self-repairing. I am the proverbial third wheel, an appendix assigned more from tradition than need.Earth: Two years earlierThe human race had almost ended its sovereignty as the dominant species on earth. Centuries of pollution and wanton ecological madness had seen to that. They had tried to fix it, they really had tried; the atmosphere was actually in pretty good shape. The trouble was the water. That was beyond fixing. They’d stopped the pollution, but not the water consumption; free water was disappearing faster than it could be replaced. More and more water was being diverted from lakes and rivers to agriculture, industry, and humanity’s insatiable need and desire for it. On a world that was 75% covered with water they were dying for the lack of it. Some genius had come up with a way to desalinate the oceans. That was all well and good but the oceans, just like everything else, were a limited resource and part of a closed ecosystem. The planet was dying, terminal, irreversible. The first water riots had started over a century ago. They were growing worse as the water grew scarcer. Not a day passed without one and the world council had adapted harsher and harsher means of dealing with them. It was now a capital offense to participate in one, and thousands had died in the street from the effects of gas and bullets. It didn’t help, the people were too scared, too hopeless, and the rioting continued. Then a miracle happened.Dr. Henry Fredricson, NAS Spokesman – speaking at the opening of the Space Elevator“Certainly, nanoscience and technology isn't a secret. It's about the ability to see and to control individual atoms and molecules. Everything on Earth is made up of atoms—the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the buildings and houses we live in – our own bodies, but something as small as an atom is impossible to see with the naked eye. In fact, it’s impossible to see with most microscopes. It is only within the last century that the microscopes needed to see things at the nanoscale were invented. Making materials at the nanoscale level takes advantage of their enhanced properties; such as higher strength, lighter weight, increased control of light spectrum, and greater chemical reactivity than their larger-scale siblings. The Space Elevator was made possible by using nano-engineered carbon tubules for its creation. One end is anchored to a large station in the ocean, and the other end to an asteroid already in orbit. The cable running between these two points needed to be made of the strongest, yet lightest, material possible and nanocarbon fits the bill perfectly. With this elevator mankind will be able to receive water from Sarguss II.”Journal: day 105It’s raining again. That isn’t unusual, of course, it rains here all the time. Every day. Incessantly. Constantly. Maddeningly. It rains.
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Shine On, Luz Véliz!

Shine On, Luz Véliz!

Rebecca Balcarcel

Economics / Politics

A beautiful coming-of-age story for fans of Front Desk and Merci Suárez Changes Gears, this book celebrates identity, language, heritage, family, and the determination to follow one's own inner light.Have you ever been the best at something . . . only to lose it all?Luz Véliz is a soccer star—or rather, she was a soccer star. With her serious knee injury, it's unlikely she'll be back on the field anytime soon. But without soccer, who is she? Even her dad treats her differently now—like he doesn't know her or, worse, like he doesn't even like her. When Luz discovers she has a knack for coding, it feels like a lifeline to a better self. If she can just ace the May Showcase, she'll not only skip a level in her coding courses and impress Ms. Freeman and intriguing, brilliant Trevor—she'll have her parents cheering her on from the sidelines, just the way she likes it.But something—someone—is about to enter the...
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The Castaway: a modern folktale

The Castaway: a modern folktale

Benjamin Parsons

Biographies & Memoirs / Politics / History

A foundling baby is washed ashore in a lonely Cornish cove, and as he grows up his fate is strangely linked to the sea. When he meets a young woman who is escaping her past, he longs to pledge his heart to her... without realising that his heart was lost beneath the jealous waves, long ago.Arabella tries to escape the entanglements of love, and flees to the countryside to find her sense of self. But she soon meets a handsome young Cornishman whose mysterious history draws her in against her will. He was a foundling baby, washed ashore in a lonely cove, and she comes to realise that his fate is strangely linked to the sea. But as she prepares to risk her heart one more time, she little realises that his heart was longsince lost beneath the jealous waves.
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Three Days Before the Shooting . . .

Three Days Before the Shooting . . .

Ralph Ellison

Literature & Fiction / Politics / Nonfiction

NATIONAL BESTSELLER "[A]n extraordinary book, a work of staggering virtuosity. With its publication, a giant world of literature has just grown twice as tall."--Newsday From Ralph Ellison--author of the classic novel of African-American experience, Invisible Man--the long-awaited second novel. Here is the master of American vernacular--the rhythms of jazz and gospel and ordinary speech--at the height of his powers, telling a powerful, evocative tale of a prodigal of the twentieth century. "Tell me what happened while there's still time," demands the dying Senator Adam Sunraider to the itinerate Negro preacher whom he calls Daddy Hickman. As a young man, Sunraider was Bliss, an orphan taken in by Hickman and raised to be a preacher like himself. Bliss's history encompasses the joys of young southern boyhood; bucolic days as a filmmaker, lovemaking in a field in the Oklahoma sun. And behind it all lies a mystery: how did this chosen child become the man who would deny everything to achieve his goals? Brilliantly crafted, moving, wise, Juneteenth is the work of an American master. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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The Last Enemy - Part 2 - 2011-2023

The Last Enemy - Part 2 - 2011-2023

Luca Luchesini

Psychology / Politics / Philosophy

Part 2 of the Last Enemy, where the team that has vowed to keep secret Telomerax, the ultimate anti-aging drug, is eventually detected by the secret services of Israel and the US. Louis Picard and his friends engage with very dangerous allies to bring the drug to the public in the safest possible way, but will they succeed?“The last enemy to be destroyed shall be death”, wrote St. Paul in his letters. But what if someone has already managed to defeat it? Thirty-four years have gone by since an ingenious biochemist, named Louis Picard, invented the ultimate anti-aging drug in 1981, that is known as Telomerax. Louis was obliged to form a selected group of technology entrepreneurs, finance mavens, and secret service professionals to help strategically spread knowledge of the drug. The discovery of Telomerax carried obvious dangers with it, eventually leading to the collapse of society and the near-extinction of mankind, in the ruthless war that broke out. Survivors set out to design a new society, specially designed for the half-gods that individuals were becoming. An action-packed and thrilling apocalyptic novel, “The Last Enemy”, brings to light many issues that we face today, from the clash between the power of the state and the right of citizens, to respecting our limits and controlling the human drive to push ourselves beyond those very limits.
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Homecoming Homecoming Homecoming

Homecoming Homecoming Homecoming

Bernhard Schlink

Literature & Fiction / Philosophy / Politics

Growing up with his mother in Germany, Peter Debauer knows little about his father, an apparent victim of the Second World War. But when he stumbles upon a few pages from a long-lost novel, Peter embarks on aquest that leads him across Europe to the United States, chasing fragments of a story within a story and a master of disguises who may or may not exist. Homecoming" "is a tale of fathersand sons, men and women, war and peace. It reveals the humanity that survives the trauma of war and the ongoing possibility for redemption. "From the Trade Paperback edition."
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The Bolivian Diary

The Bolivian Diary

Ernesto Che Guevara

Politics / Science / Poetry

The last diary of revolutionary Che Guevara with entries up until two days before his murder.This new edition of Che Guevara's diary of the last year of his life describes Che's efforts to launch a guerrilla insurrection against the military government of Bolivia. It was found in his backpack when he was captured by the Bolivian Army in October 1967.This edition includes Fidel Castro's "A Necessary Introduction," exposing the lies of an earlier, pre-emptive edition prepared by the C.I.A. to discredit Che and the Bolivian expedition, as well as the Cuban Revolution itself. The Bolivian Diary reveals an older, more time-tested, and health-compromised Che than either the exuberant The Motorcycle Diaries or the mature and implacable Congo Diary. There is rich irony here as he recounts the daily challenges faced by his small guerrilla band, the pronouncements of the military government, and the actions of the large military force attacking them....
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Good Note

Good Note

Ray Wil

Politics / Culture

A short flash fiction tale of when desperation meets opportunity aboard a commuter bus.These stories run the gamut of emotions and genres, from outright horror to more subtle drama. With a recurring theme of Christmas, they present a multi-faceted viewpoint on the writer's take on the festive season.Once again, we stand before you to offer our work for your pleasure. The stories contained in this volume, as in the others, have been written for you to read. They may at turns excite you, terrify you or make you think; that is our goal as writers. In keeping with the season, we are pleased to present new author Lorraine Carey in this volume.
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The Marrow of Tradition

The Marrow of Tradition

Charles W. Chesnutt

Fiction / Short Stories / Politics

The Marrow of Tradition (1901) is a historical novel by the African American author Charles Chesnutt, set at the time and portraying a fictional account of the Wilmington Race Riot in North Carolina in 1898. Set in the fictional town of Wellington, The Marrow of Tradition features several interweaving plots that encompass the poles of the racially segregated society of the American South at the turn of the century.
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The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump

The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump

Alan Dershowitz

Politics / Nonfiction

One of America's most celebrated lawyers and a Democrat explains why impeachment proceedings would be a bad idea for America―and only intensify the larger problem with our democracy. In the 2018 New York Times bestseller The Case Against Impeaching Trump, Alan Dershowitz lamented how American political discourse has devolved into hypocrisy and the criminalization of political differences in the rush to impeach President Donald Trump. Arguments to impeach Trump failed Dershowitz's "shoe on the other foot test," or his political golden rule: Democratz must do unto Republicans what they would have Republicans do unto them, and vice versa. Since then, we've only become more divided―and the impeachment power wielded by the new Democratic majority in the House of Representative threatens to further polarize the country. The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump includes and expands upon Dershowitz's...
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The Authoritarian Moment

The Authoritarian Moment

Ben Shapiro

Politics / History / Nonfiction

How far are Americans willing to go to force each other to fall in line?According to the establishment media, the intelligentsia, and our political chattering class, the greatest threat to American freedom lies in right-wing authoritarianism. We've heard that some 75 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump represent the rise of American fascism; that conservatives have allowed authoritarianism to bloom in their midst, creating a grave danger for the republic.But what if the true authoritarian threat to America doesn't come from the political right, but from the supposedly anti-fascist left?There are certainly totalitarians on the political Right. But statistically, they represent a fringe movement with little institutional clout. The authoritarian left, meanwhile, is ascendant in nearly every area of American life. A small number of leftists—college-educated, coastal, and uncompromising—have not just taken over the...
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