Book picks similar to
Gem of the First Water : A Fable for Our Time by Ron Phillips
recommended
5-stars
adventure
book-shelf
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
Andrew Peterson - 2008
Janner Igiby, his brother Tink, their crippled sister Leeli are gifted children as all children are, loved well by a noble mother and ex-pirate grandfather. But they will need all their gifts and all that love to survive the evil pursuit of the venomous Fangs of Dang who have crossed the dark sea to rule the land with malice and pursue the Igibys who hold the secret to the lost legend and jewels of good King Wingfeather of the Shining Isle of Anniera.Andrew Peterson spins a quirky and riveting tale of the Igibys’ extraordinary journey from Glipwood’s Dragon Day Festival and a secret hidden in the Books and Crannies Bookstore, past the terrifying Black Carriage, clutches of the horned hounds and loathsome toothy cows surrounding AnkleJelly Manor, through the Glipwood Forest and mysterious treehouse of Peet the Sock Man (known for a little softshoe and wearing tattered socks on his hands and arms), to the very edge of the Ice Prairies. Full of characters rich in heart, smarts, and courage, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness presents a world of wonder and a tale children of all ages will cherish, families can read aloud, and readers’ groups are sure to discuss for its layers of meaning about life’s true treasure and tangle of the beautiful and horrible, temporal and eternal, and good and bad.
Saoirse Berger's Bookish Lens In La La Land
Nicole Schubert - 2021
She has an internship with her famous film director uncle, a hit BookTube channel with her actress cousin Sadie and is fully determined to get her world on track as a true adult person, complete with happiness and sparkly love in spades. But nothing is going to plan. She applied to all the wrong colleges, is the only one of her friends still single and is majorly crushing on 23-year-old cinema genius wunderkind Leo Landis, even though he may or may not be breaking up with his girlfriend and may or may not even notice her. But Saoirse's not giving up.She steels herself with hyper-romantic hope and sets out to be her best positive self, which works fabulously until it doesn't and things get complicated. Luckily, life turns in Saoirse's favor as her Hollywood family spins out of control and a sweet and equally quirky street artist, Hector Rojas, spots her magical sparkle and inspires her to see things from a kaleidoscope of angles, even her own beautiful self.Uniquely charming in a Bridget Jones's Diary way with a Cyrano de Bergerac twist, Saoirse Berger takes us on an 18-year-old's hilariously painful journey through love, self-doubt, rejection and the search for belonging as a new adult, ultimately discovering she's already right where she's supposed to be.
I'm With You
Allie Frost - 2016
After their father makes a startling decision, the Morrigan siblings are forced to flee the only life they've ever known and embark on a dangerous adventure across the nation of Empirya. With the help of a disinherited vagabond, a cynical violinist, a fire-juggler with a fierce temper, an aspiring mechanic, and a cheerful librarian, Ciarán and Remiel must fight to escape those who have been hired to hunt them. But will Remiel's dark secret prevent the Morrigan children from finding a place they can truly call home?
These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901
Nancy E. Turner - 1998
Scrupulously recording her steps down the path Providence has set her upon—from child to determined young adult to loving mother—she shares the turbulent events, both joyous and tragic, that molded her, and recalls the enduring love with cavalry officer Captain Jack Elliot that gave her strength and purpose.Rich in authentic everyday details and alive with truly unforgettable characters, These Is My Words brilliantly brings a vanished world to breathtaking life again.
The Last White Ruby: The Vanishing Polar Circles
Ronnie Smith - 2015
The author was an aviator for many years in the polar regions flying for the US Air Force and resupplying the US scientific research stations on a routine basis. The flying was anything but routine, and he brings those surreal landscapes and flying phenomenon to the reader through his keen sensitivity to the human condition, ever having to adapt to what the polar regions present to the polar operator.Serving the US scientific interests abroad at the poles is the sole facet of why the US Air Force, Air National Guard, US Coast Guard, and US Navy combine to churn out the successful mission year in and year out. It is fraught with danger, beauty, the unusual, and the ever-present foe of the elements. Extreme cold and wilderness combine to confront the aviator and seamen with sometimes uncompromising force. The poles are a region where nature is dominant, but it also gives scientists the earliest clues of global warming and environmental decay. The poet captures all this and more in his portrayal of the places where most of humanity will never see, nor be able to appreciate the pristine beauty (and cooling mechanism of the planet) resident at the icecaps that we are losing as a result of global warming.
Scars and Voices: And Other Stories
Adam Carpenter Welles - 2019
In this collection of his stories (each of which has a story behind it), you'll read about two retired spiritual leaders who experience a miracle in their nursing home, a gay relationship that must end between an American man and a Thai student, the astonishing adventures of an early mid-life failure, the thrilling chase one gay man undertakes for another intriguing, confusing, mysterious man, and a mind-blowing time-travel misadventure involving a man and a dog, as well as a few other surprises. This genre bending collection will captivate you. You might even enjoy the stories. Adam Carpenter Welles works in media in a major city in the Southeastern United States.
Dreams of Winter
Christian Warren Freed - 2015
But a terrible secret, known only to the most powerful, threatens to undo three millennia of progress. The gods are not dead at all. They merely sleep. And they are being hunted.Senior Inquisitor Tolde Breed is sent to the planet Crimeat to investigate the escape of one of the deadliest beings in the history of the universe: Amongeratix, one of the fabled THREE, sons of the god-king. Tolde arrives on a world where heresy breeds insurrection and war is only a matter of time. Aided by Sister Abigail of the Order of Blood Witches, and a company of Prekhauten Guards, Tolde hurries to find Amongeratix and return him to Conclave custody before he can restart his reign of terror.What he doesn't know is that the Three are already operating on Crimeat.
Hey! It's Summer!
Micci Fjord - 2015
why are GCSE's so important anyway! As if that wasn't enough the nauseating 'Three J's' (Jackie, Jeanne and Josie) who are 'too cool for school' have given Summer and her friends the label of the 'Five Mis-fits'! Things have gone too far and Anaya and Amal (who are Muslim and Hindu) are not dealing with it well. Summer tries to understand but leaves school not knowing who she is, or which friends will be with her when she moves on to her new school in September!After a longer than usual summer holiday on Mallorca (I mean... who goes to Mallorca anymore!) Summer realises that she's learnt more from the local Spanish kids than she could ever learn at school..... she's found herself, found a place she can call home, and found true love .....all in the space of four weeks! As the holiday comes to an end she finds the truth lies in How you are and Who you choose to be ..... not in What you are!Based on the old english proverb ' Just when the caterpillar thought it's world couldn't become any worse.... it became a butterfly!' 'Hey! It's Summer!' takes a look at the transience of fighting to stay a teenager whilst starting to embrace the possibilities of adulthood..... and trying to understand some of it!As Summer returns to start at her new school as a 'senior', she looks at the world through different eyes and has a new determination to become the person she would choose to be!
The Wishing Spell
Chris Colfer - 2012
Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about.But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.
All Fall Down
M.J. Alridge - 2020
Then they hang up. Surely, a prank? A mistake? A wrong number? Anything but the chilling truth... That someone is watching, waiting, working to take your life in one hour.But why?The job of finding out falls to DI Helen Grace: a woman with a track record in hunting killers. However, this is A case where the killer seems to always be one step ahead of the police and the victims.With no motive, no leads, no clues - nothing but pure fear - an hour can last a lifetime...
The Christmasaurus
Tom Fletcher - 2016
It's about how they meet one Christmas Eve and have a magical adventure. It's about friendship and families, sleigh bells and Santa, singing elves and flying reindeer, music and magic. It's about discovering your heart's true desire, and learning that the impossible might just be possible.
Gallery Pieces: An Art Mystery
Larry Witham - 2016
Formerly in Navy intelligence, he’s cast his lot in the New York art world. He’s landed a job with the venerable Medici Studios, which also contracts with the NYPD and FBI. On a winter morning, they’ve run a sting operation to track Russian art smugglers. The caper goes awry, but an odd bit of evidence remains: four art catalogs with graffiti markings.So begins Gallery Pieces, a story that will keep readers guessing until the end. Peale follows the clues where they lead. He meets a heavy at the Miami Art Fair, chases a mystery bidder at Merriweather’s auction in Manhattan, and crosses paths with a Brooklyn performance artist whose pranks are dangerously entangled in the Russian intrigues. Step by step, Peale enters an art world permeated not only by the avant-garde, but by the Russian mob, hackers, forgers, hipsters, and the history of art looting in Europe during WWII.When Peale least expects it, the catalogs lead him on another trail. He is drawn into a long-forgotten mystery surrounding his grandfather, Maxwell Peale, who had been a “monuments man,” a soldier who helped reclaim art looted by the Nazis. Peale is on his way to discovering paintings stolen in postwar Europe. Finding the culprits, however, brings him closer to home than he’d imagined.
The Art of Impossibility
Bill Wahl - 2012
His farcical attempts to renew his identity expose him to a world of relationships he can no longer avoid – a world where Mary Magellan, an unpredictable conceptual artist, becomes important in ways Michael could not have imagined. A world where Michael must rely on Larry, a disgraced professor of logic, Sam, a lonely metal head living in his basement, and Julie, a manager of the Vital Records Department who takes a VERY personal interest in Michael’s problems. Hilarious, sad, and relevant. Here is a story of psychological collapse and the possibilities that exist at the boundaries of human experience.
My Soul Belongs to You (Soul Mates Book 2)
C.L. Hunter - 2016
But this pain from her past has made Kate a use 'em and leave 'em kind of girl, bypassing love and commitment to protect herself. And this system has worked----until she meets DEACON O'MALLERY, a sweet, sexy, striving Irish businessman. Deacon is known as a jammy, a lucky bastard. As second in command at the largest intel company in Europe, he has the world by the balls, leaving the orphaned boy who grew up with nothing--and everyone else--behind. Then Katlyn Reynolds walks into his life and he's smitten. Kate is his maité Sol, his soul mate; he just knows it; even his wanker can't stop thinking about her. And, for the first time, after hearing Kate's story of brutality and loss, he wants to find his birth mother, the woman who abandoned him.Kate's feelings for Deacon are confusing. She cares enough to reveal her past, but insists he find love somewhere else.Now this stubborn bloke has two missions: to find his mother and to make the girl across the ocean stand by his side forever. Ádh mór ort, Kate! Good luck, he thinks. She's going to need it to fight him off, for he has more than good looks, charm, tenacity, and money on his side. Deacon has Thomas and Calista: spirits he unwittingly beckons into his life.In the second book in the Soul Mate series the cross-continental frolics continue with Kate and Deacon. Drama blends with desire and an off-the-charts plot, creating the heavyweight champion of page-turners in this sensual romance.