In Christmas Pudding, an array of colorful characters converge on the hunt-obsessed Lady Bobbin’s country house, including her rebellious daughter Philadelphia, the girl’s pompous suitor, a couple of children obsessed with newspaper death notices, and an aspiring writer whose serious first novel has been acclaimed -to his utter dismay- as the funniest book of the year. In Pigeon Pie, set at the outbreak of World War II, Lady Sophia Garfield dreams of becoming a beautiful spy yet manages not to notice a nest of German agents right under her nose. That is, until the murder of her maid and kidnapping of her beloved bulldog force them on her attention, and her actions prove heroic.With a lighter tone than Mitford’s later work, these novels offer a subtle/cynical criticism of the shallow and conventional way of life of British upper class in the 20s.

    She’s about to enter the Lottery of 2532, which will assess her abilities and decide her hive level, her profession, her whole future life. Amber’s dream is to be level 10 or above, her nightmare is to be a level 99 Sewage Technician. When Lottery discovers Amber is a rare and precious telepath, she must adapt to a new life protecting the people of the crowded hive city. Her job is hunting down criminals before they commit their crimes, but she doesn’t know she’s being hunted herself.

    A public interest lawyer buried under a mound of student debt, Emma’s whole life has been one turn of bad luck after another. Her streak seems to continue when she gets lost on the way to see a client in the remote Pocono Mountains. A chance encounter with a suicidal angel lands her in Spellbound, a town where supernaturals have been cursed to remain for centuries--probably not the best time for Emma to discover that she's actually a witch. Between the recent murder of the town’s public defender, a goblin accused of theft, remedial witch classes, and the attention of one smoking hot vampire, Emma struggles to navigate this unfamiliar terrain without losing her mind...or her life. Doom and Broom (Book 2) Emma Hart hasn’t had a moment’s peace since her arrival in Spellbound. Her fear of heights hits an all-time high when she’s tasked with mastering a broomstick. It doesn’t help that Lady Weatherby seems determined to make basic witch training feel more like the magical ninja warrior championships. When a werewolf is found dead and Daniel is named as the prime suspect, Emma takes the initiative to prove that the angel’s halo is firmly intact, once again stepping on the hooves of the cranky centaur, Sheriff Hugo. The heat is on as Emma struggles to get a grip on her broomstick and identify the killer before it’s too late. Spell's Bells (Book 3) When a sleeping dwarf is found entombed in a glass coffin and remedial witch Sophie is blamed, Emma Hart must defend her friend while trying to get to the bottom of the enchantment. The investigation lands Emma smack dab in the middle of Spellbound’s dating scene, where plenty of the town’s residents are eager to make her acquaintance. Emma knows it's time to kick her witchy skills up a notch if she expects to survive Thursday night speed dating and keep sweet Sophie from a life in paranormal prison. Spell's Bells is the third book in the Spellbound paranormal cozy mystery series. These are full-length, humorous cozy mystery novels. Books in the series include: Curse the Day, Book 1 Doom and Broom, Book 2 Spell's Bells, Book 3 Lucky Charm, Book 4 Better Than Hex, Book 5 Cast Away, Book 6 A Touch of Magic, Book 7 A Drop in the Potion, Book 8 Hemlocked and Loaded, Book 9 All Spell Breaks Loose, Book 10

    And writers love to attend and document these occasions. The party is a useful literary device, not only for social commentary and satire but also as an occasion where characters can meet, fall in and out of love, or even get murdered.A Curious Invitation is a humorous and informative guide to literature's most memorable parties. Some of these parties are depictions of real events, like the Duchess of Richmond's ball on the eve of battle with Napoleon in Thackeray's Vanity Fair; others draw on the authors' experience of the society they lived in, such as Lady Metroland's party in Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies; while others come straight from the writer's bizarre imagination, like Douglas Adams' flying party above an unknown planet from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.Witty, entertaining, and full of fabulous detail, A Curious Invitation offers readers the chance to crash some of the great parties in literary history.

    Edwards wrote this historical, egyptological, and cultural study in in 1877, and it became an immediate best-seller, reprinted in 1888 at home in England and abroad. She travelled throughout Egypt at a time when most women didn't leave home. One of the pioneering Egyptologists of the age, she established the Edwards Chair of Egyptology, occupied first by the great Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie.This book is in a sense a seminal work, known to have influenced the modern writings of Elizabeth Peters in her Amelia Peabody Emerson murder-mystery series. (Summary by Sibella Denton)

    The Department of Time and Space steps in to manage the situation — leaving Spider asking a lot of questions that only lead to more questions; unsettling evidence, brewing trouble, and the knowledge that Spider himself might be involved in an epic battle for control of time itself.Will his knowing the future be a curse or a blessing? and will Spider Webb really find out how things turn out before they happen? With his new found knowledge, who can Spider trust?One thing is certain: it will all happen before the End of Time!

    For the first time in history, people became civilized. This globe- and time-trotting book vividly describes how a number of major civilizations - the Mayans, the Egyptians, the Khmers, the Etruscans, and more - emerged, thrived, faded, but left a mark on our collective imagination and culture. Memories of some of these civilizations linger in the form of legends. Some left monuments whose meaning seemed inscrutable to later ages. Still others vanished under desert sands, floods, or tropical jungles. This sharply observed and meticulously researched book unearths the stories and the cultures that make us who we are today.

     Freeman’s wife, Tess, died from a brain aneurysm six months to the day after his retirement. He is still coming to terms with his enforced solitary existence. His old boss wants Gus to head up a Crime Review Team investigating cold cases. Old witness statements and fresh clues would cloud his thoughts. The hunt would be on. Freeman wonders whether his superiors need his old-style methods. Is the request out of pity; to occupy his mind with fruitless digging into cases their best young brains failed to crack? Gus can't resist the chance to enter the fray for one last hurrah. In this first case, the team tackle the brutal murder of Daphne Tolliver in June 2008. The sixty-eight-year-old widow was walking her dog, Bobby in woodland close to her home. Despite the efforts of detectives at the time they never identified a single suspect. A reconstruction of Daphne's last known moments on TV five years later yielded nothing. Gus Freeman and his new team appear to have a tough nut to crack for their first case. "It's a mystery that will keep you wondering, with the usual wide array of characters to enjoy that give Tayler's novels their stamp."

    Read a concise history of World War One in just one hour.World War One brought with it the world’s first experience of Total War, involving all of the world’s great powers, polarized between the Triple Entente, lead by Britain, France and Russia, and the Central Powers, dominated by Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary. Around 9 million men lost their lives in a conflict that introduced the horrors of trench warfare, machine guns and toxic gas attacks.WORLD WAR ONE: HISTORY IN AN HOUR gives you a clear overview of the road to war, the major turning points and battles, and the key leaders involved, as well as the lasting impact the Great War had on almost every country in the world. WORLD WAR ONE: HISTORY IN AN HOUR is essential reading for all history lovers.

    In World’s End, the gathering storm clouds of World War I burst over Europe, forcing Lanning “Lanny” Budd, the young son of an American arms dealer, to put the innocence of youth behind him; his language skills and talent for decoding messages are in high demand. At his father’s side, Lanny meets many important political and military figures, learns about the myriad causes of the conflict, and closely follows the war’s progress. When the bloody hostilities conclude, Lanny joins the Paris Peace Conference as the assistant to a geographer asked by President Woodrow Wilson to redraw the map of Europe.   From the rise of Fascism in Europe to the stock market crash on Wall Street, Between Two Worlds captures the drama, intrigue, and excitement of the Roaring Twenties. At the start of his career as an international art dealer, Lanny travels to Italy and witnesses the brutal charisma of Benito Mussolini. Meanwhile, in Germany, the failed Beer Hall Putsch led by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party strikes an ominous note, foreshadowing the devastation to come. After two star-crossed love affairs, Lanny marries a wealthy heiress and chooses the United States with its booming economy as their home. But neither he nor those he loves can predict the financial disaster that will bring a decade of prosperity to an abrupt close.   Winner of the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Dragon’s Teeth brilliantly captures the nightmarish march toward the Second World War. In Germany to visit relatives, Lanny encounters a disturbing atmosphere of hatred and jingoism stoked by the Nazi Party and meets the group’s fanatical leader, Adolf Hitler. But Lanny’s gravest fear is the threat to his Jewish friends and family—a threat that impels him to risk his wealth, his future, and even his life in a courageous attempt to rescue his loved ones from a terrible fate.   An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.

    Check. Haunting castle ruins. Check.Proper English lord for a boyfriend.Well, almost check. Be careful what you wish for…Lucy Merriweather’s supposedly perfect boyfriend attempted to murder her during a visit to Blackford Castle. Falling through time to 1300s medieval England, she lands in a tangled heap at the feet of a tarnished grumpy knight with secrets of his own and no time to spare for a crazy damsel in distress.Book 2: Knight MovesLose yourself in time…A missing sister and totally fishy story.Check.A haunting castle in England.Check.Finding out news that rocks your world.Check. And double check.Be careful when you go searching for answers…Melinda Merriweather’s sister vanished on a trip to England. When someone tries to kill Melinda Merriweather, she knows there’s more to the story of her missing sister. Determined to find out what happened, Melinda lands in England, only to get more than she bargained for.A picture she can’t explain. A wrong turn leading to Falconburgh Castle and a whopper of a storm. Falling through time to 1300s medieval England, she finds herself staring at the pointy end of a wicked-looking sword. A weary knight swoops in and rescues Melinda, only to find out she’s no swooning damsel in distress. Now Melinda’s greatest fear is falling in love and never finding out what happened to her sister.Book 3: Lonely Is the KnightTravel through time... Both sisters lost to the mists of time.Check.Attempted murder.Check.Actually traveling through time to medieval England?Triple check.Beware ghosts trying to help…Charlotte Merriweather didn’t plan to steal the gorgeous low-slung sports car. But in her defense it was just sitting there running, with the door open, beckoning her. A terrible accident sends her traveling through time to 1330 England. Surely the handsome knight of the castle will aid her in the search to find her missing sisters?Henry Thornton has sworn never to marry. Even if he is enchanted by the odd woman he finds washed up on the shore. He'll aid her and send the lady on her way.Or not. As the castle falls under siege trapping Charlotte and Henry within the stone walls, will they risk everything for a chance at a love meant to last forever? The series picks up with the Thornton Brothers in Darkest Knight with four books in that series and more to come!Book 1: A Knight to RememberBook 2: Knight MovesBook 3: Lonely Is the KnightBook 4: Darkest KnightBook 5: Forever KnightBook 6: First Knight Book 7: Last KnightBook 8: coming soon

    Al Franken, as he prefers to be called, has written the first truly indispensable book of the new millennium. Filled with wisdom, observations, and practical tips you can put to work right away, Oh, the Things I Know! is a cradle-to-grave guide to living, an easy-to-follow user's manual for human existence.What does a megasuccess like Al Franken--bestselling author, Emmy-award winning television star, sitting U.S. Senator, and honorary Ph.D.--have to say to ordinary people like you? Well, as Dr. Al himself says, There's no point in getting advice from hopeless failures.Join Mr. Franken--sorry, Dr. Franken--on a journey that will take you from your first job (Oh, Are You Going to Hate Your First Job!), through the perils and pitfalls of your twenties and thirties (Oh, the Person of Your Dreams vs. the Person You Can Actually Attract!), into the joys of marriage and parenthood (Oh, Just Looking at Your Spouse Will Make Your Skin Crawl!), all the way to the golden years of senior citizenship (Oh, the Nursing Home You'll Wind Up In!). Don't travel life's lonesome highway by yourself. Take Al Franken along, if not as an infallible guide, then at least as a friend who will make you laugh.

    And that is to be fiercely, inarguably and masterfully talented.No one knows who fathered eleven-year-old Satomi, and the women of her 1950s Japanese mountain town find her mother's restless sensuality a threat. Satomi's success in piano competitions has always won respect, saving her and her mother from complete ostracism. But when her mother's growing ambition tests this delicate social balance, Satomi's gift is not enough to protect them. Eventually, Satomi is pushed to make a drastic decision in order to begin her life anew. Years later, Satomi's choices echo in the life of her American daughter, Rumi, a gifted authenticator of Asian antiques. Rumi has always believed her mother to be dead, but when Rumi begins to see a ghost, she wonders: Is this the spirit of her mother? If so, what happened to Satomi?Picking Bones from Ash explores the struggles women face in accepting their talents, and asks what happens when mothers and daughters dare to question the debt owed each other. Fusing imagination and suspense, Marie Mutsuki Mockett builds a lavish world in which characters journey from Buddhist temples to the black market of international antiques in California, as they struggle to understand each other across cultures and generations."Marie Mockett brings postwar Japan into the 21st Century with sensitivity and grace, drawing the lives of three women to illuminate the tension between two cultures. Picking Bones from Ash is a lovely book."—KIT REED"In Marie Mockett's first novel—which ranges in confident and lovely prose from a mountain town in mid-century Japan to an antiques business in contemporary San Francisco—temples, ghosts, and oni demons aren't inert markers of exoticism: they're embedded in a lived web of human relationships and everyday tasks. Beginning in a world as solid as Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres, Picking Bones from Ash takes the reader down a rabbit-hole as matter-of-factly supernatural as that of Haruki Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. This wiry and delicate novel, as grounded as it is surreal, goes down like a tall glass of water. Except it's spiked: like Rumi, the younger of Mockett's two heroines, you will be haunted until you finish this book." —ELLIS AVERY"Remarkable and arresting, this debut has the pleasures of a fairy tale and a novel at the same time. Mockett probes the family mythology of a very peculiar line of talented Japanese women who may or may not be descended from the Princess of the Moon, and spins the tale of how they survived post-war Japan, modernity and life in America. A spellbinding new talent." —ALEXANDER CHEE "Mockett has made an impressive debut with Picking Bones from Ash. Here, she creates a fully-absorbing world with vivid characters who search for what was painfully lost to them. Mockett is a beautiful writer." —MIN JIN LEE, author of Free Food for Millionaires

    A stray cat fiercely protective of her kittens, Tiggy was soon befriended by Miss Read - although it took some time before Tiggy allowed her kittens to go anywhere near the house.Written with the charm that made Miss Read a bestseller, this delightful book tells how a small stray cat, struggling to look after her kittens, won a home, a hearth and a name from the author and her husband. Tiggy's resourcefulness, perseverance and indomitable spirit are beautifully observed, and Miss Read's affectionate admiration of the newcomer will touch the hearts of cat lovers everywhere.

    What became of so many of those veterans - Union and Confederate alike - fifty years after the end of that terrible war?GETTYSBURG, 1913: THE COMPLETE NOVEL OF THE GREAT REUNION (originally published as a 3-part serialized novel; now available in one complete volume) July 1-3, 1863: The famed Battle of Gettysburg turns the tide of the Civil War, but not before approximately 50,000 soldiers from both sides become casualties during those three terrible days of carnage.June 29-July 4, 1913: To commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Battle of Gettysburg, more than 50,000 Civil War Veterans ranging in age from 61 to more than 100 years old converge on the scene of that titanic battle half a century earlier in an occasion of healing that was known as The Great Reunion.Abraham Lincoln had incorrectly surmised in his famed Gettysburg Address that "the world will little note nor long remember what we say here" four months after the battle itself, but those very words could well be said about The Great Reunion that occurred half a century later. Though at the time the 1913 gathering was a widely anticipated, momentous commemoration with 50,000 spectators joining the 50,000 veterans, the grandest of all gatherings of Civil War veterans has been all but forgotten in the nearly 100 years since that occasion.Until now.GETTYSBURG, 1913: THE COMPLETE NOVEL OF THE GREAT REUNION_______Travel back in time to spend the Great Reunion in the company of these unforgettable characters (and others) in this meticulously researched tale:Doctor Samuel Chambers, a young unmarried Philadelphia physician thrust into great responsibility as Pennsylvania's chief planner of medical and aid facilities for more than 50,000 Civil War veterans, averaging 70 years of age...all of whom will be spending the duration of The Great Reunion encamped in outdoor tents under temperatures expected to approach or even exceed 100 degrees.Louisa May Sterling, a Gettysburg nurse and the young widow of a West Point-educated Army officer whose untimely death from typhoid left her alone with only her son Randall for companionship...but for whom The Great Reunion opens up an unexpected second chance at happiness when she meets Samuel Chambers.Angus Findlay, now just past his 85th birthday but during the Battle of Gettysburg a dashing cavalry officer serving with the Army of Northern Virginia directly under the legendary J.E.B. Stuart...and who became a leading figure in Virginia politics during Reconstruction.Chester Morrison, a classic Gilded Age Titan of Industry (and recent widower) from Philadelphia who decades earlier had been a green private facing battle for the first time at Gettysburg.Edgar and Johnny Sullivan, brothers from Illinois who had been members of the Union Cavalry Division that arrived at Gettysburg the day before the battle began. Years later, the Sullivans became allies of the Earp brothers in Tombstone and were first-hand witnesses to the evolution of Arizona from Old West to the early 20th century.Ned Tomlinson, a Confederate veteran from Norfolk, Virginia who lost his left leg during the ill-fated assault known ever since as Pickett's Charge before being taken prisoner by the Yankees.John K. Tener, the real-life Governor of Pennsylvania - born in County Tyrone, Ireland, only weeks after the Battle of Gettysburg - who was a former Major League baseball player and under whose leadership The Great Reunion was planned and held.