Book picks similar to
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Sonora and the Eye of the Titans
T.S. Hall - 2011
With the help of her bumbling warlock guardian Sasquatch and her three best friends, Allora must find the answers to a complex riddle that will reveal the location of a powerful artifact used during the time of the Titan Wars.
Snowed
Maria Alexander - 2016
Everything changes when Charity's social worker mother brings home a sweet teen runaway named Aidan to foster for the holidays. Matched in every way, Charity and Aidan quickly fall in love. But it seems he's not the only new arrival: Charity soon finds the brutally slain corpse of her worst bully and she gets hard, haunting evidence that the killer is stalking Oak County. As she and her Skeptics Club investigate this death and others, they find at every turn the mystery only grows darker and more deadly. One thing's for certain: there's a bloody battle coming this holiday season that will change their lives -- and human history -- forever. Will they be ready?
Aroon
M.B. Gibson - 2016
A desolate maid. And one cold corpse. Richard Lynche, heir of an 18th century Tipperary estate, can find no peace. His bookish ways disgust his bullying letch of a father. His heartsick mother sinks ever-deeper into a drug-induced lethargy. The teen’s only solace are the loving arms of the homesick new maid, Eveleen. Meanwhile jealousy, lust, and oppression lead to gruesome visions, causing Richard to question his own sanity. Desperate to prevail over his demons, he determines there is only one way to stop the torture—a killing. Aroon is a cauldron of old-fashioned Irish stew. Spiced heavily with Downton Abbey, sprinkled with Shakespeare’s Hamlet and a dash of The Godfather’s Michael Corleone, it explores the underbelly of life during the Protestant Ascendancy.
The Greatest Game
Greg Rajaram
The price we paid for becoming intelligent was to become painfully ignorant of the difference between good and evil.Adi, a 10-year-old boy, works together with two old philosophers as they try to unravel the prophecy of a promised King. With insatiable curiosity, Adi must work with the wise men as they rationalize with each other on why and how humans became intelligent. Together they attempt to answer some of the most profound questions related to existence. Does evolution end with human beings or is there an ‘Overman’ who can reach evolution’s pinnacle? Will this Overman be able to define values for humankind?Centuries later a young boy promises his mother that he will always uphold the love that she has taught him. It is a promise that drowns him in the nectar of the gods. Krish grows up to be an engineer and joins a team of scientists as they try to create artificial consciousness in a machine.Krish soon realizes that he has a bigger fight on his hands. A fight to preserve love in a desolate world. His quest for true love ultimately leads him down a path where he comes face to face with a fearsome snake delivering a kiss of death.Humans have come a long way by questioning the nature of objects around us and pushing the limits of our intelligence, but it’s now time that we ask the greatest question yet: when does intelligence transcend to become consciousness?
Zombie Zora
R.G. Richards - 2012
It is more of a coming of age story than a zombie story although zombies are prevalent throughout the story. The story centers on young Zora and her fellow army buddies (a survivor rescue team) who after separating from their squad are now on an adventure to reunite with them and her brother.These three, Zora, Brittany, and Matthew, face their own demons and hangups as well as scavengers and zombies. You have to be careful who you associate with, once scratched or bitten, you go through "the change" and become a flesh-eating monster. Those closest to you become your first meal--most are sound asleep and never see it coming. And who is going to raise their hand and admit they were scratched to a team of rescuers, nobody.Adventure after adventure, encounter after encounter, they face overwhelming odds and discover secrets to the zombies that will enable the army to wipe out the menace once and for all. Can they make it back with their secrets or will the zombies get them? What about the scavengers? Only time will tell.Grab your gun, let out your battle scream, and join the fight. Lookout Zombie World, here she comes and she plans on sending you all to hell, screaming.
Our Vinnie
Julie Shaw - 2014
So when one of their own was wronged in any way, the community always had its own way of dealing with it.The first title in a series of gritty family sagas, Our Vinnie accounts the dramatic true story of a brother’s determination to avenge his younger sister’s rape. Josie was just 11 when her Vinnie, then 14, was taken away to a detention centre. Distraught by his absence and left alone with indifferent parents, when she escapes from one of their rows she naively enters the house of a neighbour, Melvin, who – horrifically – leads her upstairs and overpowers her.Convinced by her friend Carol, Josie tells her sister Lyndsey about the rape but, with Vinnie out of the picture, Lyndsey uses the information for her own ends. When Vinnie returns, hardened by years inside the system, his outrage on discovering the truth is severe. And with new abuses continually coming to light, a cataclysmic series of violent events begins to spiral out of control…Dramatic and shocking, Our Vinnie is an unbelievable page-turner, documenting a community forsaken by society, and one brother’s unrelenting determination to take justice into his own hands.
Conquistador
Griff Hosker - 2021
Set in the early days of the Spanish conquest of the Americas and with a young King Henry on the throne of England, this is a novel of discovery and riches, slavery and death. It is a time of innovation when guns changed from being firing tubes to cannons that could bring death and destruction. Above all, it is the story of a youth who, against the odds, becomes a man, and more becomes a master gunner in his own right.
Bracing for Impact: True Tales of Air Disasters and the People Who Survived Them
Robin Suerig Holleran - 2015
Bracing for Impact’s compilers and contributors know. They have both lived out that fear and survived, albeit badly hurt, in their own plane crashes.In this collection of true-life survivor tales, people from all walks of life—a freelance writer, a crew member of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, a naval flight surgeon, a teenager, and a newlywed on her honeymoon, among others—recount their traumatic narrow escapes as engines stalled, fuel ran out, hazardous weather conditions descended, and landings did not go according to plan. In the face of death, as life flashed before their eyes—or not, as some wryly note—these survivors encountered the terrific split of before and after the crash. Their lives, though preserved, would change forever.Perhaps more significant than the crash itself is how each story plays out in the aftermath of the ordeal. In heart-wrenching, unrelenting honesty, these stories explore the wide spectrum of impacts on survivors—ranging from debilitating fear, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse, to a renewed sense of urgency, where survivors swear to live each day to the fullest and rededicate their lives to helping others.Including the 1977 story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash that killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and vocalist Cassie Gaines, Bracing for Impact is as much a horrific account of air disasters as it is a celebration and recognition of the people who survived them.Fans of the 2016 Clint Eastwood film Sully starring Tom Hanks will enjoy this edge-of-your-seat read!Features 45 black and white photographs of survivors and wreckages.
Across the Street
Laurie Lisa - 2013
For Sam, years of infertility, followed by an unthinkable tragedy, have left her despairing of ever having a child. Money is tight, and IVF is expensive. Sam’s only hope may be to ask her sister to be a surrogate. Alex will do anything for Sam, but when the sisters embark upon an unorthodox route to surrogacy, jealousy, guilt, and legal complications soon follow.As the limits of sisterly devotion are tested, the family’s hidden wounds and secret addictions come to light, shaking the foundation of their marriages and their lives.An emotional story of a woman’s struggle with infertility and a riveting book about the complexities of family, Across the Street makes an excellent selection for book clubs.
The Complete Swanson Court Trilogy: Drawn to You - Addicted to You - Lost in You
Serena Grey - 2018
I pretended to be someone else. Now, he's found me. And he's determined to make me pay for deceiving him. But how can I resist when the payment he demands is so, so sweet? On the night she discovers her ex's engagement, Rachel meets Landon, the sexiest man she's ever seen, and he mistakes her for a hooker. The thing is, he's so sexy...what harm can there be in losing herself in his touch just for one night?Landon prefers his women beautiful and sophisticated, with no desire for commitment, so when his brother ignores his protests and sends him a hooker on his birthday, he's surprised by how willing he is to continue paying for her services. It should be easy, except she's no hooker, and she has no intention of letting him into her life.As the billionaire owner of Swanson Court Hotels, Landon is used to getting what he wants, and Rachel is not going to be an exception.This collection includes Drawn to You, Addicted to You, and Lost in You.
33 Days: Touring In A Van. Sleeping On Floors. Chasing A Dream.
Bill See - 2011
This deeply personal, coming of age, on the road memoir follows critically acclaimed 80s indie alt rock band Divine Weeks’ first tour. Liberated from alcoholic upbringings and rigid cultural constraints, all they have is their music and each other’s friendship. The road is filled with yuppies, brothels, riots, sleeping on floors, spiked drinks, DJs with no pants, and battles with racism. They set out on the road to discovery to drink in all they could and maybe sell a few records. They grew up instead.
Chasing the Prophet
Orson B. Wolf - 2020
Paul suspects someone senior is behind this offer, perhaps even the prophet himself. The task given to Paul seems too easy: to follow a shy, introverted high school student named David who is always escorted by Max, his dog.Soon the investigator finds out the young man is hiding a dark secret of far reaching consequences.When David’s secret is discovered by evildoers, he finds himself with his back against the wall, forced to demonstrate incredible courage in order to save himself, his loved ones, and the entire human race. But… will that suffice?
The Mirage of Love
Lady Diana - 2015
She had been happily married to her lover, until four years later she and her husband becomes an estranged couple. The lady gets lost in a whirlpool of her monotonous life, a life without love and respect, a life of servile existence, a life repressed in every sense from joy and desires. She starts beating her wings to escape from the deadly clutches of expectations and social repressions to rise above the menial existence and achieve what she wanted for her life.She falls in love with another man, a man who is her teacher and mentor. but she is afraid to acknowledge her feelings for fear of social accusations. But an incident drives to her to an awareness of the temporality of life and she indulges in an ambitious and sexual relationship with her mentor. She enters a world led by her lover where ambition becomes real and where she begins to face the disorder of the human world, of women particularly.a time comes when she is asked to choose between the men, and this is where she shows her independence and strength.
Direct Hits Core Vocabulary of the SAT
Direct Hits - 2008
This book includes the following features:- Selective vocabulary found on recent SATs and PSATs used in context. No more memorizing the definitions of long lists of seemingly random words in a vacuum.- Relevant, vivid, and memorable examples from pop culture, historic events, literature, and contemporary issues.- Six easy-to-tackle chapters- A Fast Review for each chapter, with quick definitions- A Final Review with sentence completion questions just like real SATs and PSATs, including complete solution explanationsBuilding on the success of previous editions, the authors of "Direct Hits Core Vocabulary of the SAT" consulted secondary school teachers, tutors, parents, and students from around the world to ensure that these words and illustrations are on target to prepare you for success on the SAT. You will find that the process is effective, worthwhile, and even fun!
Dispirited
Luisa M. Perkins - 2012
But when another being takes over his body, Blake watches this malevolent impostor live the life that should be his. After his father remarries, Blake seeks help from his stepsister, Cathy, who possesses unusual gifts of her own.Cathy sees things invisible to everybody else. A ghostly child. An abandoned house in the woods. Her new stepbrother's bizarre behavior. But she doesn't see how they're all connected. And what she doesn't see just might kill her.