They offer a complex, boldly colored self-portrait; their muscular lines argue fiercely with the fact of limit; they pulse with the drama of perception and the quest to forge meaning.

    Resources are scarce. The population is dwindling in the Forkstream Territories. Pinnacle Officer Wilcox has created FERTS amidst the chaos, a facility designed to protect the female population from raiding hordes. Beth 259201, a newly-demoted Epsilon Internee, suspects that there is something more that lurks beneath the carefully constructed order of the facility. She has a gift, one that could brand her a defective. A novice fighter, she must use her intellect to survive. Her own life, and the lives of many more may be at risk. Will she succumb to the plans in store for her or will she conceal her secret long enough to discover her own path? FERTS is a post-apocalyptic dystopian thriller. Reader discretion is advised.

    Two years later it was an Academy Award– winning film. Today, it remains standard—and beloved—reading in English classes. But Lee never wanted “the book” to define who she was, which explains her aversion to any kind of publicity. Kerry Madden conducted extensive research for this Up Close biography, which reveals Lee to be a down-to-earth Southern woman who prefers to live simply, like her neighbors do, despite the fact that she is a treasured literary legend. Madden’s in-depth biography is now more relevant than ever: 2015’s historic release of Go Set a Watchman—written by Lee before To Kill a Mockingbird and lost for decades—has thrust Lee and her work back into the spotlight.A Booklist Top Ten Biography of 2009 A Kirkus Best Book of 2009

    Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free of a marriage he finds joyless--unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem's sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has sharply veered into the counterculture, while their brilliant younger brother Perry, who's been selling drugs to seventh graders, has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.Jonathan Franzen's novels are celebrated for their unforgettably vivid characters and for their keen-eyed take on contemporary America. Now, in Crossroads, Franzen ventures back into the past and explores the history of two generations. With characteristic humor and complexity, and with even greater warmth, he conjures a world that resonates powerfully with our own.A tour de force of interwoven perspectives and sustained suspense, its action largely unfolding on a single winter day, Crossroads is the story of a Midwestern family at a pivotal moment of moral crisis. Jonathan Franzen's gift for melding the small picture and the big picture has never been more dazzlingly evident.

    A woman of many languages and identities, she is looking for a place to finally call home.She's drawn into simmering personal dramas: her lover, Adriaan, is separated from his wife but still entangled in his marriage. Her friend Jana witnesses a seemingly random act of violence, a crime the interpreter becomes increasingly obsessed with as she befriends the victim's sister. And she's pulled into explosive political fires: her work interpreting for a former president accused of war crimes becomes precarious as their relationship is unbound by shifting language and meaning.This woman is the voice in the ear of many, but what command does that give her, and how vulnerable does that leave her? Her coolly impassioned views on power, love, and violence, are tested, both in her personal intimacies and in her role at the Court. She is soon pushed to the precipice, where betrayal and heartbreak threaten to overwhelm her; it is her drive towards truth, and love, that throws into stark relief what she wants from her life.

    It was a time when publishing was still a private affair - a scattered family of small houses here and in Europe - a time of gatherings in fabled apartments, parties into the night. It is a world in which to immerse himself, a world of intimate connections and surprising triumphs. But the deal that Philip cannot seem to close is love: one marriage goes bad; another fails to happen; and, finally, he meets a woman who enthralls, then betrays him, setting him on a course he could never have imagined for himself. Written with Salter's signature economy of prose, All That Is fiercely, fluidly explores a life unfolding in a world on the brink of change: a dazzling, sometimes devastating labyrinth of love and ambition, of the small shocks and grand pleasures of being alive.

     My biggest fear was that I would never find my ‘little dove’. The other half of me. The woman that would complete the secret part of me. She would be my biggest glory. The one I protect, cherish and place above all others and in return she will surrender all she is to me. I just never expected my dove to be HER. Elizabeth I have been searching for love and acceptance my whole life. My family has never cared. They just throw money at me and go about their way. In order to feel important, I became the town Bitch and I am not proud of it. Searching my soul, I discovered I needed something more and went in search of it. I want to reinvent myself. Become someone I can be proud of. I found him at a time in my life when I never thought I could be happy. I ran from him, then I ran to him. Then I begged him…… To INK my Soul You hated her in Marry Grinchmas and began to question who she really was in A Rose for Max. Now it is time to hear her story and learn why even SHE deserves love. This is Elizabeth and Chips story. It is a bit of a departure from Moosehead and Inked because not all love is conventional and sweet. Some is unorthodox and dark maybe a little messy. All that matters is that you find that someone that completes you. Hope you love it as much as I do!!!!

    Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life--her husband, who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home.Meanwhile, Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. The way in which Lurie's death-defying trek at last intersects with Nora's plight is the surprise and suspense of this brilliant novel.Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of Téa Obreht's talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely--and unforgettably--her own.

    Poet and podcaster Jarod K. Anderson (creator of The CryptoNaturalist Podcast) has built a large audience of social media followers and podcast listeners with his strange, vibrant appreciations of nature. Ranging from contemplations of mortality to appreciations of single-celled organisms, the poems in this collection highlight our connection to a living universe and affirm our place in a wilderness worthy of our love.

    Her gift: prophetic dreams of people about to die.Their mentor, the four-hundred year old Vampire, William Wakefield. Charming, ridiculously handsome, and walking a dangerous line between sinking into darkness and living in the light. In constant temptation to declare his love for the one woman that could be his undoing.The story begins with an unsolved murder. One that will change everything...Come stalk the streets of The Demon Isle... you'll go up against witches, vampires, werewolves, demons, shapeshifters, ghosts, mermaids, faeries and a host of other devious supernatural creatures waiting to wreak havoc on The Demon Isle. Where fans of the paranormal come to vacation and immerse themselves in fantasy. Where magic comes to life, mysteries abound, and you might just find yourself laughing, crying, and most definitely, falling in love.In Book One:Melinda Howard is the Demon Isle's weird girl... the one that's been holed up in the Howard Mansion for the last four years. Why? No one knows the truth except her family... a long line of witches charged with protecting the Demon Isle, along with their mentor, the four-hundred year old Vampire, William Wakefield.Another reason Melinda doesn't mind her self-inflicted imprisonment. She gets to spend her days with the charming vampire, who also happens to be her best friend. Only now, she's spending her night's with him too. He just doesn't know it...Any other girl would enjoy the nightly thrill of a sexy vampire invading her dreams. But not Melinda as her dreams have a tendency to come true. Although typically, they don't include the handsome vampire she's crushing on, but rather horrifying visions of people about to die.But she cannot stay under self-inflicted house arrest forever. And if her brothers or William get their choice in the matter, Melinda will be out of the house partying with her friends, giving her affections to a human, not a vampire, and digging into her role as a witch.A role her eldest brother Charlie lives for and a role her second brother Michael would rather live without. Nevertheless, when duty calls, usually from the local sheriff needing help with some tourist who's gotten themselves into trouble, life screeches to a stop, and duty takes over.Such is the case when the sheriff needs help with a four-year-old murder investigation; one she fears has a supernatural cause. To assist her in the case, she calls upon the skills of The Howard Witches.However, what they learn might be more than any of them can deal with, or accept. Worse yet, they fear what this discovery will do to Melinda, as it returns them all to the core of her self-imprisonment.Back to the lives, she could not save...Wicked Good Witches...Book 1: Demon Street BluesBook 2: Alpha Knows BestBook 3: Bye Bye BloodsuckerBook 4: Ghast Me GentlyBook 5: A Nightmare to RememberBook 6: A Stake With a ViewBook 7: Bite Me, Baby!

    But what fewer people know is that Momma is also a bit of an amateur detective.One bright morning, her friend Michelle Chan pays her a visit and tells her that a strange man has been poisoned by her famous pie. Of course, Momma Peach wants nothing more than to find the culprit. But it is a lot harder than it looks.As Michelle and Momma's investigation goes on, more bodies begin to drop. Momma Peach and her loved ones are threatened by a dangerous killer with an agenda. It is up to the two ladies to keep the townsfolk safe from a murderer whose roots go deeper than either of them could ever imagine.Can Momma Peach, Michelle and their friends uncover the truth about the murders? Or will their faith and determination not be enough and they find themselves faced with even more deaths? Find out in this gripping cozy mystery by Wendy Meadows - and make sure to stock up on sweet tea and cobbler!

    Toibin's portrayal of the intricacy and drama of ordinary lives brings to mind of the work of Alice Munro.      Set in Wexford, Ireland, and in breathtaking Ballyconnigar by the sea, Colm Toibin's tour de force eighth novel introduces the formidable, memorable Nora Webster. Widowed at 40, with four children and not enough money, Nora has lost the love of her life, Maurice, the man who rescued her from the stifling world she was born into. Wounded and self-centred from grief and the need to provide for her family, she struggles to be attentive to her children's needs and their own difficult loss. In masterfully detailing the intimate lives of one small family, Toibin has given us a vivid portrait of a time and an intricately woven tapestry of lives in a small town where everyone knows everyone's business, and where well-meaning gestures often have unforeseen consequences. Toibin has created one of contemporary fiction's most memorable female characters, one who has the strength and depth of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler. In Nora Webster, Colm Toibin is writing at the height of his powers.

    Virginia, the daughter of a wealthy physician, lived in an idyllic world until the Great Depression hit, and when she finds herself alongside her father giving medical aid and assistance to the community, she begins to learn the true lessons of life.

    Their destination: Apacheria, the place the Apaches once called home.Why Apaches? asks the ten-year-old son. Because they were the last of something, answers his father.In their car, they play games and sing along to music. But on the radio, there is news about an "immigration crisis": thousands of kids trying to cross the southwestern border into the United States, but getting detained--or lost in the desert along the way.As the family drives--through Virginia to Tennessee, across Oklahoma and Texas--we sense they are on the brink of a crisis of their own. A fissure is growing between the parents, one the children can almost feel beneath their feet. They are led, inexorably, to a grand, harrowing adventure--both in the desert landscape and within the chambers of their own imaginations.Told through several compelling voices, blending texts, sounds, and images, Lost Children Archive is an astonishing feat of literary virtuosity. It is a richly engaging story of how we document our experiences, and how we remember the things that matter to us the most. With urgency and empathy, it takes us deep into the lives of one remarkable family as it probes the nature of justice and equality today.

    It is 1945, and London is still reeling from the Blitz and years of war. 14-year-old Nathaniel and his sister, Rachel, are apparently abandoned by their parents, left in the care of an enigmatic figure named The Moth. They suspect he might be a criminal, and grow both more convinced and less concerned as they get to know his eccentric crew of friends: men and women with a shared history, all of whom seem determined now to protect, and educate (in rather unusual ways) Rachel and Nathaniel. But are they really what and who they claim to be? A dozen years later, Nathaniel begins to uncover all he didn’t know or understand in that time, and it is this journey – through reality, recollection, and imagination – that is told in this magnificent novel.