In their long-time talks, the former eunuch told his young friend lots of inside stories about the "last emperor" and the royal family. Sun allowed Jia to record these stories with a tape-recorder and a video-tape-recorder.Jia had already published the Chinese edition of the eunuch's biography and a Japanese-language edition.So far, Jia has written six books on the royal family. Jia said he wanted to translate his books into major foreign languages to help foreign readers better understand the history of China.(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2009)http://www.china.org.cn/books&mag...Los Angeles Times Review - "Biography of last Chinese eunuch reveals a tumultuous life"http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwor...New Phoenix Intl LlcForeign Language Teaching &Foreign Language Teaching and Research P

    The authorities have decided that only one masterpiece will be displayed each month. And each month, Daisy Milton writes to her cousin Elizabeth to tell her about the paintings, her life - and the man she loves.London, present dayA terrible tragedy has left Claire's marriage to Rob in tatters and there seems little hope of reconciliation. Then she finds Daisy's letters, written to Rob's grandmother, and gradually, picture by picture, month by month, Daisy's world in the 1940s becomes more real to Claire than her own. Slowly, too, she begins to notice intriguing parallels between both their lives.But Daisy is from another time, and unless Claire can find a way to make sense of the past, she risks losing everything that she cares about in the present.

    Upon their arrival, they disappear without a trace.A second team, including sedimentologist Dr Megan Stoker, are ordered to seek out Alpha Team and report back their findings. But Alpha team are nowhere to be found – instead, they are faced with something unexpected in the depths.Something ancient. Something huge.Something dangerous.Predator X.

    Here, New York Times bestselling author Neil Smith, with more than 20 years of experience leading large-scale performance improvements, reveals the hidden barriers that cause excellent companies to do dumb things and cause smart people within companies to act in dumb ways. Drawing on his years of experience working with CEOs and helping transform top global businesses, and insights to CEOs around the world, Smith has identified eight barriers that prevent organizations from both achieving and maintaining sustainable success. Rich with anecdotes and case studies, Smith outlines a fast and proven process in which 12 principles of business transformation can break down the barriers holding companies back.

    Then she runs into Ben, the great love of her student days and, as she only now dares admit, the emotional yardstick by which she has judged every man since.Are Laura and Ben brave enough to take this second chance at the lasting happiness fate has offered them? Or will they be defeated by the insidious need, instilled in childhood, to do the right thing?Patrick Gale’s thirteenth novel is a brief, even terse, love story, in which a man and a woman are reunited after a twenty-year interval and have a short taste of delight. It is also a novel about obligation. Both Laura and Ben have turned their lives upside-down in order to care for relatives, she for her cranky, brilliant mother, and he, for his gay younger brother who has Mosaic Down’s Syndrome.But the implication is that, while the caring is genuine, it is also ever so slightly an excuse for failures elsewhere in their lives…The novel takes its structure from a high summer day in Laura’s life in her mother’s house, from a rude awakening to a late-night nightcap in the garden after her mother has gone to bed. This progression through her day is interleaved with a parallel journey through Ben’s, as he copes with the complications of young Bobby’s late-flowering sexuality and the myriad half-truths told him by patients attending his venereology clinic. Only as the day progresses and the weather experienced by the characters sharply differs do we begin to wonder if all is what it seems.

    All she recalls are the warm arms of a stranger carrying her to safety ...She awakes in an idyllic country cottage, belonging to Vincent, a recently widowed city banker. Dashing and polite, the woman can't think of a better knight in shining armour. Vincent's 6-year-old daughter Jadie can hardly contain her excitement at their guest, chattering away excitedly. Trouble is, she's been mute for the past two years...As she struggles with flashbacks to her past, memories come back which aren't her own, bringing with them a stream of questions. What secrets does Vincent hide? Why has Jadie been silent for so long? Will she ever discover her true identity? Or is she, as Jadie believes, an angel come to save them all?

    And now it threatens to destroy us all. Scientist Evelyn Edwards and her team are researching ice caps in the Antarctic when they discover a body that must have been buried 40,000 years ago. But it looks like nothing they’ve ever seen before, it’s not a primal man but something else. While transporting the body back to America the entire team are killed but Evelyn manages to escape.On the run and alone she turns to her ex-husband Matt Adams, a former member of an elite government unit, and together they find themselves caught up in a race against time that takes them from Area 51 to the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva where they uncover the biggest conspiracy of all time. Origin is a high octane cross-genre thriller that you won’t be able to put down and will leave you guessing right up to its stunning conclusion.

    She likes to stand at her bathroom window and spy on the couple downstairs through their kitchen skylight. She knows what they eat for breakfast and who they’ve got over for dinner. She knows what mood they’re in before they even step out the door. There’s nothing wrong with looking, is there?Until one day Simone sees something through the skylight she is not expecting. Something that upsets her so much she begins to plot a terrible crime…From the author of Our House, the British Book Awards Crime & Thriller of the Year

    His longing to pursue her demands he cross the centuries to present day. But his world is shaken to its core when he learns he must protect her from men he thought to be only myths. Drawn by her lineage, these men will go to great lengths to have her. Out at a nightclub, Boston artist and history buff Elz Valli has no idea her grounded life is about to be uprooted. She encounters Devon and realizes this striking and intellectual warrior not only looks like the 12thDuke of Seton—he is. Consumed by the flames that engulf them, there is no turning back as Devon’s presence in today’s world ignites raging fires—both good and evil. Though Devon’s love is one that reaches through time, it is not without cost. Now he must decide if Elz is worth the price.

    Sweet, adorable Freddie, whom he'd always loved like a kid sister, was suddenly all woman. And his feelings for her were anything but brotherly!Considering KateKate Stanislaski Kimball had turned her back on glamour and fame, and she'd come home to begin a new life. The only thing more perfect than the beautiful—dilapidated—building she'd bought for her new dance school was Brody O'Connell, the frustrating and surprisingly fascinating contractor she'd hired for the renovation. But Brody was determined to resist Kate's effortless allure. She was Natasha Stanislaski's pampered, perfect daughter, after all. Still, every fiber of his being longed to make her his.…

    

    He is one of the UK's most recognisable and celebrated stand-ups. His energy, finely crafted one-liners, and lightning quick ad-libs are second to none, and his solo tours sell out wherever he plays. Autumn 2006 saw the successful launch of Lee's own sitcom Not Going Out on BBC 1 with the first series winning both the Break-Through Award at the RTS Awards and the Gold Rose D'or award for Best Sitcom. This hugely popular show is now on its fifth series with a 6th series scheduled for filming this autumn. It's regularly watched by over 4 million viewers. So what's the story? Lee's early life after leaving school involved time working in a bingo hall and as a stableboy. After working at the stable for three days he asked if he could try and ride a horse; the trainer, Ginger McCain, agreed and the first horse he ever rode was Red Rum. Lee went on to have various other jobs (including a Bluecoat at Pontins and a dog whisperer), and did his first open mike slot in 1994. So far so good. But as anyone who's seen Lee's stand-up will attest, Lee is a natural story teller. He is widely loved and his book will be an absolute corker. And you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be at the very top of Xmas present wishlists up and down the country this autumn.

     Yesterday Izzy was a happily single, full-fledged New York gallerista, selling hundred-thousand dollar paintings, and in line for a whopping promotion. Today? The ancient owner of the gallery dropped dead, leaving Izzy's entire professional future in the hands of the new owner, Avery Devon. And if all goes right, her personal future as well. Because if there's one thing Izzy is well-acquainted with, it's the fine art of love.

    Overhearing the nurse tell Linda--since I was nine I had called my mom by her first name--about the girlfriend who came in almost every day to visit him when we weren't there confirmed that the last moment of normal had passed us by without our realizing it. Up to then our family had unhappily coexisted with Dad flying jumbo jets to Asia while we lived in Montana. We finally came together to see Dad through his illness, but he was once again absent from a major family event--unable to join us from his comatose state. This is the moment when our normal existence tilted.Dad recovered, but the marriage ailed, as did Linda, with cancer. Our family began to move down an entirely different path with silver linings we wouldn't see for many years.In this candid and compassionate memoir Nicole Harkin describes with an Impressionist's fine eye the evolution of a family that is quirky, independent, uniquely supportive, peculiarly loving and, most of all, marvelously human.

    When she meets a handsome cowboy, she welcomes the diversion and finds herself believing in love at first sight. but their second meeting leaves her questioning her true feelings about everything.Arie has battled health issues since her childhood, and now she is determined to regain her physical and mental strength. Working with a new horse seems like the perfect solution, but when she confides her deepest secret to a handsome and kindhearted horse trainer—a secret she hasn't revealed to her family or even her two best friends—there are surprising results.Eden's boyfriend, Tony, is older and has money; he's also jealous and controlling. But she'd much rather stay with him than at home with her unreliable mother. Of course, he can't fill the role her best girlfriends do, and that makes him resentful. As Tony grows more demanding, Eden becomes scared. She must break free from this toxic relationship.When Ciana finds a new direction for her life—one she'd never dreamed possible—she is able to offer Arie and Eden reprieve from their difficult situations. Together, the three embark on the experience of a lifetime.