The Ragged Urchin (Rags to Riches Book 1)


Lynette Rees - 2018
    Uncle Walter seems emotionless, exhibiting little feeling towards the young lad. If it wasn't for some of the staff at Huntington Hall, Archie's life would be a complete misery. There's a dark secret that Cook hints at as to why Archie's mother left her lavish lifestyle behind and ended up settling in the East End of London, scraping a living selling cakes and confectionery from the back of a barrow in the marketplace. Archie's never known his father and wonders who he is. Just as he's settling in at the house, someone comes along and seizes the opportunity to kidnap Archie, forcing him to work as a chimney sweep, navigating searing hot chimney breasts in an inferno of hell. As if life couldn't get much harder for boy, he cries himself to sleep at night praying for the angels to take him so he can finally see his mother once again in heaven... Will Archie finally find the love he's looking for? A heartwarming saga, perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Maggie Hope.

The Orphan’s Christmas


Molly Britton - 2019
    Soon after, Abby and her mother find themselves out on the streets in the bitter cold. But the heartache has only begun, and each Christmas brings cruel twists of fate that change Abby's life forever. The factory job Abby thought would save her sends her running for her life. When she can run no more and collapses on the street, she is taken in by Lucas, a man she wants to trust but can't. She accepts the job he offers, buying time until she can escape. But freedom costs Abby many things, and her heart cannot stop thinking of Lucas. As Abby accepts her hopeless plight in life, Christmas approaches, a time of deep sadness for Abby. But an unexpected meeting brings hope to Abby, if only briefly. Can Abby find happiness amidst all the sorrow in her life? What has become of Lucas, the only man who showed kindness to her?

A Family Affair


Judith Saxton - 1989
    But though both are from wealthy families, their social status is too far apart for their families to approve of the match. And when Arnold marries another, Adeline’s reaction is immediate and altogether unexpected, as she travels to make a new life in China. But although they are separated by thousands of miles, the consequences of their youthful passion continue to haunt them and their children – Addy’s daughter Nala and Arnold’s son, Philip. As the years pass, and the children grow, violent forces are set to bring them together, unaware of the secrets from the past that bind them.

The Secret of the Talking Bird


Adurthi Subba Rao
    He is taken aback when the bird speaks to him, asking him to release it. He lets it go. As it flies away, the parrot tells him to wait for the next bird to land in his net,a bird so lovely that even a king would be proud to own it. The parrot's gift sets Timma off on a series of adventures, each more incredible than the previous and behind it all, is the parrot's own secret. This exciting folk tale is a re-telling of Dr. Chandrashekhar Kambar's Kannada tale, Matanaduva Gili Mattu Bedara Huduga.

Midnight's Captive: Part 4


Donna Grant - 2013
    The stunning conclusion to MIDNIGHT’S CAPTIVE from New York Times bestselling author, Donna Grant!There is no escaping anymore for Laura and Charon.  They are soul mates, bonded forever.  But now, Charon must fight the deadliest foe he’s ever known if he’s to keep the love of his life.  But when Laura is captured by his nemesis, he must choose between winning the battle of good versus evil—or losing the woman he loves forever…

Ugly Feelings


Sianne Ngai - 2005
    In her examination of the cultural forms to which these affects give rise, Sianne Ngai suggests that these minor and more politically ambiguous feelings become all the more suited for diagnosing the character of late modernity.Along with her inquiry into the aesthetics of unprestigious negative affects such as irritation, envy, and disgust, Ngai examines a racialized affect called “animatedness,” and a paradoxical synthesis of shock and boredom called “stuplimity.” She explores the politically equivocal work of these affective concepts in the cultural contexts where they seem most at stake, from academic feminist debates to the Harlem Renaissance, from late-twentieth-century American poetry to Hollywood film and network television. Through readings of Herman Melville, Nella Larsen, Sigmund Freud, Alfred Hitchcock, Gertrude Stein, Ralph Ellison, John Yau, and Bruce Andrews, among others, Ngai shows how art turns to ugly feelings as a site for interrogating its own suspended agency in the affirmative culture of a market society, where art is tolerated as essentially unthreatening.Ngai mobilizes the aesthetics of ugly feelings to investigate not only ideological and representational dilemmas in literature—with a particular focus on those inflected by gender and race—but also blind spots in contemporary literary and cultural criticism. Her work maps a major intersection of literary studies, media and cultural studies, feminist studies, and aesthetic theory.

Is Heathcliff a Murderer?: Great Puzzles in Nineteenth-Century Fiction


John Sutherland - 1996
    Readers often have stumbled upon seeming mysteries in their favorite novels. Why, for example, is the plot of The Woman in White irrevocably flawed? (The timing of the crime is off.) Is the hero of George Eliot's Middlemarch illegitimate? (Probably, although he was later legitimized.) Why does the otherwise sensible Jane Eyre give in to a sudden and unexplained outburst of superstition? (Charlotte Bronte, in reality, had a similar experience.) What is the real reason we find The Picture of Dorian Gray so disturbing? (There is an overwhelming emphasis on the sense of smell.) These answers and more can all be found in John Sutherland's entertaining and maddening book. When it comes to literary criticism there's really nothing quite like the joys of close reading and good-natured inquiry. This is the spirit in which Is Heathcliff A Murderer was conceived and executed. Rather than trying to catch great authors in mistakes, Sutherland usually turns up perfectly plausible reasons for the seeming anomalies. Everyone who reads nineteenth-century novels will thoroughly enjoy John Sutherland's exploration of the seemingly unanswered, and each chapter is a direct link to one of Oxford's World's Classics.

The Wind Masters: The Lives of North American Birds of Prey


Pete Dunne - 1995
    Birds of prey have an aura that few other creatures have. In the acclaimed Hawks in Flight, Pete Dunne showed what birds of prey look like. In The Wind Masters, he shows what it is like to be a bird of prey. He takes us inside the lives and minds of all thirty-four species of diurnal raptors found in North America -- hawks, falcons, eagles, vultures, the osprey, and the harrier -- and shows us how each bird sees the world, hunts its prey, finds and courts its mate, rears its young, grows up, grows old, and dies. Vividly written, and beautifully illustrated by David Sibley, The Wind Masters is a brilliant work of narrative natural history in the tradition of Peter Matthiessen's The Wind Birds and Barry Lopez's Of Wolves and Men.

Brookland Security


Clara Kendrick - 2017
    Lots of suspense, mystery, and romance. No cliffhangers! Protecting Faun When Faun moves away from the big city to start up her very own cafe in the middle of nowhere, she thinks she's left her stalker behind her. Her sister doesn't think so and employs the local security firm to watch over things. When thinks start getting broken and Faun believes she is being watched, she becomes grateful for the steady, confident presence of Randal Brookland, owner of Brookland security. Randal becomes sure that what is hunting Faun isn't human. It's a good thing that he isn't human either. Can this cowboy werewolf protect the woman that he comes to love? Bear Dreams Growing up, Tiffany Bowman wanted for nothing. But she desperately wanted to make a name for herself outside of her father's business of selling artifacts as unique as they are rare. When her father recieves a blackmail note that shows Tiffany is in the cross hairs Orson has to take on the job of keeping her safe. Orson, werebear and former military, can't keep memories of his old unit being taken out at bay. Can he keep the woman he doesn't want to like safe? Can he admit to himself that he is falling for this princess of fashion? In the Eye of the Tiger Leon Nmir loves women, and they love him too, but when prickly detective Eloise Barlow gets under his skin he realizes that no one but her will do. Eloise has no interest in repeating a one night incident with Leon, even when it becomes clear that single night is going to give her nine months of problems, nameless becoming princess of the Nmir Tiger Clan. When a vengeful Oni targets Eloise Leon must put every skill he has as an agent of security to work to keep the woman he is falling in love with safe. Siren's Song All Serena has ever wanted to do was sing. She knows that being a hopeful star comes with risks, and even takes the weird messages she gets after achieving some social media notoriety in stride. But can she handle it when her own strange musical gifts start to awaken? Uther has spent a millennia as a dragon trapped in a human body, with his gifts limited by a witches curse. Will being half the dragon he was be enough to keep the naggingly charming Serena safe while a super fan becomes criminally obsessed? The Raven's Heart When Adelle Harper loses her job as the top CEO of Harper Industries she thinks it's the worst thing that could happen. That is, of course, until someone starts writing strange symbols and leaving dead animals in her upper New York home. Adelle has to turn to biker bad boy Bran Quinn to keep her safe when her life turns from the mundane to the magical. Who is trying to kill her? And can they stop it in time?

Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity


Raymond Tallis - 2011
    He suggests that seeing ourselves as animals may lead us to find reasons for treating others as less than human.

Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790-1860


Jane Tompkins - 1985
    The texts the author examines are viewed not as works of art embodying enduring themes, but as attempts to redefine the social order.

Imperial Eyes: Studies in Travel Writing and Transculturation


Mary Louise Pratt - 1992
    The study of travel writing has, however, tended to remain either naively celebratory, or dismissive, treating texts as symptoms of imperial ideologies.Imperial Eyes explores European travel and exploration writing, in conjunction with European economic and political expansion since 1700. It is both a study in the genre and a critique of an ideology. Pratt examines how travel books by Europeans create the domestic subject of European imperialism, and how they engage metropolitan reading publics with expansionist enterprises whose material benefits accrued mainly to the very few. These questions are addressed through readings of travel accounts connected with particular sentimental historical travel writing. It examines the links with abolitionist rhetoric; discursive reinventions of South America during the period of its independence (1800-1840); and 18th-century European writings on Southern Africa in the context of inland expansion.

The Ego States (Transactional Analysis in Bite Sized Chunks Book 1)


Catherine Holden - 2013
    "Why do I behave and think like this?"If you have asked this question of yourself, or have simply wondered where human behaviour springs from, you will find this short introduction to the Ego States an essential and empowering tool.In this short, jargon free introduction to the ego states of Transactional Analysis, the reader is invited to analyse where their behaviour springs from, and to consider how they can improve their life by deepening their self awareness.

Trio of Horror: Three Tales from the Holocaust


Cathlene Smith - 2009
    Each is a prize winner! Fictional short stories based on true life events. The book is approximately 100 pages. The stories, while containing fictional characters reflect the true, heroism of the time and era of the Holocaust.The uprising of the Lodz ghetto, a rare romance in a concentration camp and the Sobibor escape are captured in this book. Different perspectives and gripping horror from real life accounts. A must read.

Ulysses on the Liffey


Richard Ellmann - 1972
    Much of the evidence is internal, but he also makes the first use of some important indications by Joyce himself.