Ruth Cole is a complex, often self-contradictory character—a “difficult” woman. By no means is she conventionally “nice,” but she will never be forgotten.Ruth’s story is told in three parts, each focusing on a critical time in her life. When we first meet her—on Long Island, in the summer of 1958—Ruth is only four.The second window into Ruth’s life opens on the fall of 1990, when she is an unmarried woman whose personal life is not nearly as successful as her literary career. She distrusts her judgment in men, for good reason.A Widow for One Year closes in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth Cole is a forty-one-year-old widow and mother. She’s about to fall in love for the first time.Richly comic, as well as deeply disturbing, A Widow for One Year is a multilayered love story of astonishing emotional force. Both ribald and erotic, it is also a brilliant novel about the passage of time and the relentlessness of grief.Source: john-irving.com

    According to Wikipedia: "Jack London (12 January, 1876 – 22 November, 1916) was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild and other books. A pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first Americans to make a lucrative career exclusively from writing."

    Cooper led thirty-six high school seniors on a spring vacation jaunt from Los Angeles to the desert near Quartzsite, Arizona. No student could earn the privilege of going on the Quartzsite Trip; it was given, and P.J. Cooper gave it. No activities were planned; they happened, and P.J. Cooper made them happen. What few rules there were were also P.J.'s and he enforced them with a whim of iron. In William Hogan's utterly delightful novel, the Quartzsite Trip turns out to be an utterly memorable experience.Here, the lion lies down with the lamb, the merciful find mercy, and the meek inherit the earth. Here, the tables are turned, and as they turn we meet a riotous and endearing cast of characters -- among them Deeter Moss, secret cowboy and closet Dodgers expert, who never talked to anybody before he went on the Quartzsite Trip; Margaret Ball, whose moonlit face displayed what pimples hid; Mary Allbright, who had a very secret fear and who, on the Quartzsite Trip, came up with a very secret plan to resolve it; and P.J. Cooper himself, the best teacher anyone ever had, who gave extra credit for Winnie the Pooh and The Catcher in the Rye and who discovered, in 1962, that the Great Equalizer makes rules too.[From the book jacket]

    In this intriguing novel full of drama and plot twists, one family tries to hold on to their “perfect” life before their secrets, lies, and scandals are exposed.On the outside, the Joneses seem like the ideal family: Royce Jones, a funeral home mogul, and his wife, Lexi, are parents to Charity, Hope, and Lovie—and everybody wants to be them. But it’s true that money can’t buy happiness, and the Joneses are harboring secrets that can’t stay hidden forever… The funeral home business has been slow lately, and Royce is in serious trouble. When Lexi learns of their financial strain, she vows to hold on to her status by any means necessary—even if it means going behind her husband’s back. Lovie, seeing his beloved mother so stressed, will do whatever it takes to put a smile back on her face. And sibling rivalries tense up when Charity and Hope both fall for the same guy. On top of this, they all have secrets they’re hiding not only from people outside their family—but from each other. It’s only a matter of time before the Joneses’ perfect life goes spinning out of control and they’re revealed for who they truly are.

    Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.It has been centuries since the fall of the 10 consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Wars were fought for them, and won by them. One such war rages on the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where 10 armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.Director Rose Supan says, “Brandon Sanderson is at the top of his game with THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVES. It's an honor to direct this story. The actors as well as our production team are thrilled to be a part of the process as well. I can proudly proclaim that the listener is in for a truly immersive experience!”

    Plus, you'll find a perplexingly frank introduction by the author himself, giving a behind-the-scenes look at each book and the zany radio series that inspired them. But that's not all! You also get a ferocious giggle of a short story, starring the two-headed, three-armed, ex-president of the Universe -- Zaphod Beeblebrox. The saga begins and ends...The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--Arthur Dent, mild-mannered, out-to-lunch kind of guy, is plucked from Earth just before it is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Towel in hand, he begins his journey through space and time with his rescuer Ford Prefect, a traveling research for the Guide.The Restaurant at the End of the Universe--where the floor show is Doomsday and Arthur and Ford dine with Zaphod Beeblebrox, well-appendaged, ex-head honcho of the universe, and Trillian, his human girlfriend. The four friends begin their quest for answers to some of the most confounding questions challenging mankind. When will they finish eating? What is the question to the ultimate answer? (which happens to be 42).Life, the Universe and Everything--Everything important and then some is examined in this third book, when Arthur Dent and his companions find they must avert Armageddon and save the Universe for life as we know it (or think we know it!).So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish--Galaxy-weary space traveler Arthur Dent returns to Earth With his new voidoid gang to discover that it has been mysteriously reinstated. But more pertinent questions remain: Why did all the dolphins disappear? What is God's Final Message to His Creation? What really happened the day the Earth was demolished?And finally, in Young Zaphod Plays it Safe--the two-headed hero travels to the depths of the ocean floor to investigate the mysterious destruction of the ship that "could one hundred percent positively never crash." with the annoying assistance of the Safety and Civil Reassurance Administration, Zaphod learns some disturbing secrets...If you're just discovering Douglas Adams's galactic gangbuster of a series, don't panic--The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide is your chance to have it all! (Towel not included.)--jacket

    

    Dear, simple mother, in her terrible clothes, and the twins, got up with more thought for economy than for beauty! I shopped extravagantly with them. The youngsters wanted to see everything in New York; but mother, despite all of those hard, lonely years in our rough country and the many interesting things for her to do and see in New York-- mother wanted nothing better than to stay with the baby.

    But when he finds himself embroiled in a plot involving the Emerald Claw, the Church of the Silver Flame, and lost wonders of Xen'drik, his one hope at redemption is to return and face the horrors that once almost destroyed him.

    The Cascades are in his way, but he doesn't let that stop him. He keeps walking. And other people are moved to join him, and as they walk the group generates a sort of collective energy, and unexpected things happen. Miraculous things, you might say. Meanwhile, in Kansas, a perfectly respectable real estate professional loses his temper with a prostitute and surprises himself by killing her. He's even more surprised to discover that he enjoys it as he has never enjoyed anything before. It's even more enjoyable the second time. So he puts his work and his marriage and his whole life on hold and drives around the country, looking for more women to kill. RANDOM WALK is unlike anything else Lawrence Block has written. Originally published by Tor Books in 1988, it got spotty reviews and disappointing sales. A lot of people didn't know what to make of it. Here's the author's report of reactions over the years: "Sometimes at a book signing or other public appearance, someone'll come up to me and say, 'You know, I've enjoyed everything you've written, except there was one book that just didn't work for me at all, and I couldn't figure out what you had in mind when you wrote it.' And someone else will say, "I've read and enjoyed your books for years, but there's one book that hit me like a ton of stone tablets, and I've read it seventeen times and I get something new from it each time and I have to say it changed my life.' And I'll know right away that they're both talking about RANDOM WALK. I suppose for some people it's just another book, but for a sizable proportion of readers it's a definite outlier—they either love it like crazy or they don't get it at all." RANDOM WALK has been in and out of print in the thirty years since it first appeared, delighting some readers and confusing others. We're now very pleased to make it newly available, so that you may decide for yourself what you think of it.

    Ranging from the 19th to the 20th centuries, writers include James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, Richard Edward Connell, Henri Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Jack London, Henri Ringgold Wilmer Lardner, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant and Edgar Allan Poe.

    "Until that moment, I hadn't realized how much I'd been needing to meet someone I might be able to say everything to."They met at a party.  It was hate at first sight.  Ruth was far too beautiful, too flamboyant.  Not at all Ann's kind of person.  Until a chance encounter in the bathroom led to an alliance of souls.  Soon they were sharing hankies during the late showing of "Sophie's Choice," wolfing down sundaes sodden with whipped cream, telling truths of marriage, mortality, and love, secure in a kind of intimacy no man could ever know.  Only best friends understand devil's food cake for breakfast when nothing else will do.  After years of shared secrets, guilty pleasures, family life and divorce, they face a crisis that redefines the meaning of friendship and unconditional love.

    He’s the “most likable creation” (The New York Times) of “one of the master storytellers of this or any age” (The Tampa Tribune). And he’s got one hell of a hidden talent. If you don’t know his name by now, you’re the odd one out. Now catch up with the first seven novels of Dean Koontz’s beloved series in one convenient eBook bundle:  ODD THOMASFOREVER ODDBROTHER ODDODD HOURSODD APOCALYPSEODD INTERLUDEDEEPLY ODDAlso includes an excerpt from Dean Koontz’s riveting, soul-stirring novel, The City.  “The dead don’t talk. I don’t know why.” But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Meet Odd Thomas, a gallant young sentinel at the crossroads of life and death who has won hearts on both sides of the divide. Sometimes the silent souls who seek out Odd want justice. Occasionally their otherworldly tips help him prevent a crime.   You’re invited on an unforgettable journey through a world of terror and transcendence to wonders beyond imagining. And you can have no better guide than Odd Thomas.  Acclaim for Dean Koontz and his Odd Thomas novels  “This is Koontz working at his pinnacle, providing terrific entertainment that deals seriously with some of the deepest themes of human existence: the nature of evil, the grip of fate and the power of love.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)  “Supernatural thrills with a side of laughs.” —The Denver Post   “One would be hard-pressed to find a more satisfying read. . . . Not since Watchers has Dean Koontz created such an endearing and enduring character as Odd Thomas. . . . A superb story from one of our contemporary masters.”—San Antonio Express-News  “An inventive . . . mix of suspense, whimsy and uplift.”—The Washington Post  “Heartfelt and provocative . . . a wonderfully rich and entertaining story.” —Chicago Sun-Times

    But just lift the lid, slide the first tape from its ghostly sleeve, and you'll soon embrace the hypnotic realm of the undead.Book 1, Interview with the Vampire, opens with the seductive purr of F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) stating, "I was a 25-year-old man when I became a vampire, and the year was 1791." And so our ultimate antihero, Louis, begins the elaborate retelling of his long, tortured life as a vampire. Winding through the ages, from New Orleans to Paris, we follow Louis and his undying mentor, Lestat, as they feed on humans, whet their carnal appetites, and uncover an underworld of vampire brethren.Interview with the Vampire, read by F.Murray AbrahamRunning time: 3 hours on 2 Audio Cassettes-----------------------------------------------Book 2, The Vampire Lestat, brings us up to date, with Lestat waking from his earthen slumber to join the ranks of rock superstardom before sitting down to share the tale of his own haunting initiation into the vampire world. Michael York (Cabaret) puts his wonderfully fluid, cosmopolitan voice to good use, adding a dash of sly humor to this fast-paced, satisfying blend of sex and blood and rock and roll.The Vampire Lestat, read by Michael York Running time: 3 hours on 2 Audio Cassettes-----------------------------------------------Book 3, The Queen of the Damned, takes us back, all the way back to ancient Egypt, exposing the origins of the vampire way. Narrating in eerily serene and gracious tones, Kate Nelligan (The Prince of Tides) leads us gently down this bloody path of immortal desires. David Purdham gives the voice of Lestat a wistful quality, tinged with an evil relish that exposes the master vampire's sanguine tastes.Queen of the Damned, read by Kate Nelligan and David PurdhamRunning time: 3 hours on 2 Audio Cassettes-----------------------------------------------Anne Rice has continued her Vampire Chronicles beyond these three novels, but that shouldn't make this collection any less tempting to either the undead initiate or certified vampire junkie. --George LaneyTotal: 6 Audio Cassettes / 9 hours~