The book follows events in the life of a concierge, Ren e Michel, whose deliberately concealed intelligence is uncovered by an unstable but intellectually precocious girl named Paloma Josse. Paloma is the daughter of an upper-class family living in the upscale Parisian apartment building where Ren e works.

    In the late 1960s, in the hollow of an ancient oak tree beyond a derelict cottage in Cork, were found the bones of a three-year-old girl. It was thought that they dated back to the time of the great potato famine of the mid 1800s. The bones were discovered by an American woman, who had inherited the cottage which had lain empty and broken for forty years. Local searches reveal that the house had originally belonged to The Quinns. Eliza Quinn was their baby.This is a story that speaks of generations and of landscapes: abandoned villages, famine graves, old potato ridges sinking back into the earth, traces of a population that fell by two and a half million in less than ten years. It is also about hunger, both physical and emotional. But above all, it is the story of the Quinn family. And it is Carol Birch's tour de force.'Deeply rooted humanity and highly intelligent understanding of the simulataneous complexity and simplicity of individual lives' Alex Clark. TLS

    You’re supposed to have faith.Not a lot is going right for Taran Sharma. First, he stole his annoying brother’s necklace and ran off into the night. Then, his family got taken hostage by spindly creatures of the dead. And to top it all, he’s just been charged with a mission by Lord Ganesha himself! Now, in order to rescue his family from the hands of the preta, he has to undertake a journey more fantastical than he can begin to comprehend.As Taran embarks on an epic voyage that may lead to disastrous consequence, he realizes that having faith, especially in himself, might be harder than he was led to believe.Dive into this riveting adventure to the Veiled Lands, replete with evil Naga armies, mythical creatures and a supervillain who will stop at nothing to reach the elusive Gateway of Moksha.

    The Short Stories, introduced here with a revealing preface by the author, chronicles Hemingway's development as a writer, from his earliest attempts in the chapbook Three Stories and Ten Poems, published in Paris in 1923, to his more mature accomplishments in Winner Take Nothing. Originally published in 1938 along with The Fifth Column, this collection premiered "The Capital of the World" and "Old Man at the Bridge," which derive from Hemingway's experiences in Spain, as well as "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," which figure among the finest of Hemingway's short fictions.

    the reader is seduced by that willful voice, wavering between shock and grudging admiration at Friedmann's high-wire balancing act. And laughing all the way." -The New Orleans Times-PicayuneA tour de force whose heroine falls somewhere between the southern elegance of Walker Percy and the zany black comedy of THE CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES.Surrounded by the splendor and excess of old money in New Orleans, Eleanor Rushing is a wry and witty young woman who first locks eyes with the love of her life at a City Council meeting—or so we’re led to believe. What starts as an innocuous infatuation with Dr. Maxim Walters, a Methodist minister who just so happens to be married already, quickly turns into an outrageous and obsessive passion: she orchestrates an automobile accident outside his house, volunteers to stuff envelopes at his church, follows him to Nashville on a business venture, sets up camp in the toolshed in his backyard… Eleanor’s voice is both acutely perceptive and macabrely unhinged. She considers herself blessed with the ability to “remember everything,” except that her recollections and impressions seem to be at odds with everyone around her. As her “relationship” with Dr. Walters begins to spin frantically out of control, we can't help being her willing and faithful admirers. Magnificently showcases Friedmann's touted powers of psychological acuity and laugh-out-loud black humor. A fitting Kindle addition for fans of THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK.Excerpt:I think it is impossible to change the world unless you are truly evil and so mad for control you never sleep. And it’s ridiculous to try to change yourself at all. Scientists have studied identical twins who feel pain in the gut at the same time, as if everything were laid out from the moment they were conceived. Sometimes I figure all you can do is watch yourself, as if you’re viewing a simple, dull film; eventually you find out what was going to happen. Unless death catches you by surprise.So I go to City Council meetings. I haven’t missed one in four years, not even for a case of B-type influenza, which I probably picked up from a crowd in the City Council chambers. Sitting in those meetings is the only way I can pretend to feel any breezes of serendipity. Somewhere between the global and the personal, they play out the grandest battles of silliness, and I like to guess at them. When I was twenty-three I lived in Washington, DC and sat in regularly on the proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives. But they mumbled and shuffled a lot, and you couldn’t see their eyes unless they passed close by. It was good to learn about carcinogens in the Iowa corn after the drought and how the turnips in western Montana swelled like giant melons for years after Mount Saint Helens blew, and I believed money should be set aside to study such matters, but I couldn’t see the congressmen’s eyes.

    Her husband, Brian, a rigorous man whose dreams of glory have been blighted by two star-crossed missions. Walt Womack, the steady, unflappable leader of the training team that prepares Lucy for her first shuttle flight.Lucy has devoted years of intense and focused effort to win her place on a mission, but as her lifelong dream of flying in space comes true, her familiar world appears to be falling apart around her. Her marriage is deteriorating. Her son’s asthma is growing more serious. Her relationship with Walt Womack is becoming dangerously intimate. And when at last she is in space, 240 miles above the earth, and an accident renders the world she left behind appallingly distant—perhaps unreachable—her spirit is tested in gripping and unexpected ways.In The Gates of the Alamo, Stephen Harrigan’s narrative authority brought a vanished nineteenth-century Texas to vibrant life. In Challenger Park, he does the same with the world of space flight, bringing us up close to the lives—the risks, the friendships, the rituals, the training—of the astronauts and the people who work with them. Harrigan has written an exciting—indeed a thrilling—novel about the contrary pulls of home and adventure, reality and dreams, and the unimaginable experience, the joys and terrors and revelations, of space flight itself.

    Boxed set collecting Poetry For The Beat Generation (1959), Blues and Haikus (1959), and Readings By Jack Kerouac On The Beat Generation (1960), remastered with bonus tracks.

    This collection comprises of the first six titles in Harry Harrison's brilliantly entertaining Stainless Steel Rat series, containing:A Stainless Steel Rat Is BornThe Stainless Steel Rat gets DraftedThe Stainless Steel Rat Sings the BluesThe Stainless Steel RatThe Stainless Steel Rat's RevengeThe Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World

    Readers of Denis Johnson, David Foster Wallace, Mary Gaitskill, Susanna Moore, and other contemporary fiction writers will welcome this haunting novel about a 27-year-old woman who flees her failed marriage only to find herself involved in a perplexing spiral of murder, counterfeit, and false identity.

    With his unflinching attention to emotional detail, Redhill proves once again to be "a writer of considerable humanity and insight" (A.L. Kennedy) .

    Someone is slaughtering every woman, girl and child named Natasha Mehra . . .Which is what Natasha Mehra, the most unpopular girl on campus, discovers. Though she’s always hated her name, she would’ve never imagined that it would be the reason she would be on the run from a gruesome death. But these murders aren’t random acts of madness. Rather, they are part of a conspiracy hatched by the Kul, an all-powerful secret organisation with tentacles everywhere. And the success or failure of this 2000-year-old mission will determine the future of humankind . . .About the AuthorAnand Sivakumaran has been telling stories since he was five. After passing out of IIT Bombay, he did stints in journalism, advertising, event management and youth marketing, before landing up in the entertainment business. His credits include films like Kalyug and Nazar and TV shows like The Buddy Project, Sadda Haq, Miley Jab Hum Tum, Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, Rishtey, Adhafull, etc. He has directed two films as well—Detour and Money Devo Bhava (awaiting release).He currently runs CROCTALES, a creative shop that makes and runs web series, films and TV shows.Anand also does live, interactive storytelling which involves making up stories on the spot in front of a live audience using their words. He also has a storytelling podcast—The Croc’s Tales—again telling stories using listener’s prompts.Mumbai is his base in between exploring the world.

    Entering a world of mysterious powers and nightmarish consequences, Chris realizes the secret belief of every teenage boy- that his wang has the power to change the world. The Monkey's Penis is the third installment in the terrifying Shingles series, and once again readers with weak hearts or bladders are advised to read on at their own risk...

    The recent death of her beloved father had cast the only shadow on their tranquil domesticity. But returning to work after her bereavement, Jess found a sketch, drawn by Matt, of her father, and, in the same mysteriously grand and unknown setting, a sketch of someone totally unexpected. In the events following this discovery, Jess began to realize that her family and friends had secrets which, as they were gradually revealed, affected the foundations of all their lives. She was to experience heartbreak and loss before she could begin to reach out to a new, and different, kind of happiness. Five Farthings is another wonderful, heart-warming, and utterly involving novel from bestselling author Susan Sallis.

    Left behind is brother Don Alejo, who tries to rally the remaining troupe of eight stragglers and a pig. Together they stumble upon an abandoned town, where the demoralized performers seize the opportunity to start over and christen it Santa María del Circo. What ensues is an absurd and tragic look at the misfits' struggle to create new lives for themselves. Through these desperate characters, Toscana skillfully reveals the many defects of humanity and the individual's desire for self-realization, and, in so doing, creates a touching metaphor for the human condition.