Initiation


Phil M. Williams - 2016
    Carter Lynch didn’t care about the slogan, the prestige, or the tradition. He was an outsider, a foreign invader from a foreign land. The army brat transfer didn’t join the football team to make friends. He didn’t care about anything but taking a starting spot and earning a scholarship. He had what it took to be a star. He was focused, talented … violent. He was ready for the game. The initiation and the aftermath … that’s a different story. Adult language and content.

Seriously Seeking Sister! Ultimate Vampire Princess Just Wants Little Sister; Plenty of Service Will Be Provided!


Hiironoame - 2019
    However, a millennium has passed, and any trace of them has vanished off the face of the planet. That is, until the youngest and most talented royal daughter of the True Bloods awakens in the modern day. Vampire Princess Ristia has only one wish—a cute little sister! Monstrously strong, skilled in magic, and incredibly beautiful, people regard her as an "angel," but she assures everyone she's just a normal girl. Can this "normal girl" find the little sister she so desires? Follow this (unusual) vampire through a fanservice-filled sibling-searching fantasy adventure.

Nemo: Ang Batang Papel (Nemo, the Boy Made of Paper)


Rene O. Villanueva - 1994
    He becomes a real boy after wishing on the farthest star. But Nemo never experiences the happiness of an ordinary child. He goes through many hardships as he tries to earn a living in a dangerous city. Together with other street children, Nemo decides that it is better to be a boy made of paper. This story illustrates a social problem that involves children. It also deals with the rights and needs of children, as well as the role of the family, the community, and the government to address these.

Now You See It...: Stories from Cokesville, PA


Bathsheba Monk - 2003
    This is coal and steel country. The sort of place where an inch of soot on the windowsill means a regular paycheck--and two inches means a fat one. And what's the best make-out spot in town? Next to the burning slag heap. In seventeen beguiling, linked stories, spanning fourty-five years, Monk brings a corner of America alive as never before. Her world bursts with indelible characters: Mrs. Szilborski, who bakes great cake, but sprays her neighbors' dogs with mace; and Mrs. Wojic, who believes her husband was reincarnated--as one of those dogs. Then there is the younger generation: Annie Kusiak, who wants to write, and Theresa Gojuk, who dreams of stardom. Cokesville is their Yoknapatawpha; they ache to escape it and the ghosts of their ancestors and the regret of their parents. What ghosts--and what regrets! When Theresa's father Bruno falls into a vat of molten steel, the mill gives the family an ingot roughly his weight to bury. As deliciously wry as Allegra Goodman in "The Family Markowitz," and with the matter-of-fact humanity of Grace Paley, Bathsheba Monk leads us into a world that is at once totally surprising and recognizable. These stories glow like molten steel.

The Restarting Point


Marci Bolden - 2021
    But while her life looks good on paper, four months out of treatment, Jade realizes she hardly knows her college-age children and she and her husband Nick are little more than housemates.Determined to start over, Jade schedules a family vacation to a lakefront cabin. When her kids bail and Nick stays home to handle a last minute work crisis, Jade heads to Chammont Point alone, determined to dust herself off and figure out what to do with the rest of her life.While she’s away, the life she thought she had unravels. Secrets, lies, and old wounds drive Jade into new adventures and new relationships. With the help of family and new found friends, Jade learns starting over sometimes means finding a brand new restarting point.

There Was No Secret Evil-Fighting Organization (srsly?!), So I Made One MYSELF! Volume 1


Hagane Kurodome - 2019
    However, unlike in works of fantasy, no beautiful girl barges into his life, no secret organization knocks on his door, and in fact, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happens at all. Eventually forced to come face to face with the reality that his life would remain unremarkable, he snaps and decides to make the extraordinary happen with his own hands! Follow along as he creates it all: a secret organization filled with espers, forces of darkness that threaten the world, protagonists, heroines, rivals, action, romance, and so much more!If *you* had almighty telekinesis, what would *you* do?

The Paris Wife


Meghan Masterson - 2021
    A plot against the crown. Those she loves in terrible danger…Livia, a humble doctor’s daughter from the Italian countryside, arrives in Paris with her new husband. At first, she feels alone and isolated among the gray, rain-drenched streets. Until Elisabetta, the Emperor’s clever, beautiful mistress, takes her under her wing, and finally Livia has a true ally.The two women are soon inseparable, strolling arm in arm down Paris’s wide boulevards and dancing the night away at masked balls. At last, Livia feels happy in her new life.But when Elisabetta is mysteriously poisoned, the tables turn and it is Livia who has the power to shape the destiny of those around her. She must draw on all her knowledge of herbs and medicine to cure her friend. And the stakes soon become higher than she ever imagined, when her husband is falsely accused of treason and conspiring against the crown.With Elisabetta close to death and the future of France in peril, Livia will need to draw on all her courage to save the lives of those she loves… as well as her own…A totally gripping, richly imagined historical novel about the power held by women in a world run by men. Fans of Lucinda Riley, Kate Morton and Marie Benedict will be absolutely hooked from the very first page until the final, breathtaking conclusion.

The Fabulous Girls' Book: Discover the Secret to Being Fabulous


Veena Bhairo-Smith - 2009
    This book is the definitive guide to fabulousness for all tween girls! It includes style tips, life advice, arts & crafts, make-at-home spa treatments, and more! From "How to Launch Your Own Fashion Label" to "How to Stand Out From a Crowd," this title is geared toward helping girls become even more fabulous than they already are! There are charming black-and-white illustrations throughout.

Fine Old High Priests


Donald S. Smurthwaite - 1999
    

The Mad Monk's Treasure (Southwest Treasure Hunters)


Kris Bock - 2011
    But when a hit and run driver nearly kills her, she realizes she’s not the only one after the treasure. And is Drew, the handsome helicopter pilot who found her bleeding in a ditch, really a hero, or one of the enemy?Erin isn’t sure she can trust Drew with her heart, but she’ll need his help to track down the treasure. She heads into the New Mexico wilderness with her brainy best friend Camie and a feisty orange cat. The wilderness holds its own dangers, from wild animals to sudden storms. Plus, the sinister men hunting Erin are determined to follow her all the way to the treasure, no matter where the twisted trail leads. Erin won’t give up an important historical find without a fight, but is she ready to risk her life—and her heart?Just how far will Erin go to find the treasure and discover what she’s really made of?

The Life You Left Behind


Debbie Howells - 2022
    She had great friends, a wonderful teaching job and a busy life - until with one missed flight, everything changes.One year later Casey knows what it means to find that once-in-a-lifetime love people dream of. But when Ben leaves, her heart is shattered.Left facing a year of firsts without him, piecing her life back together seems impossible. But then a friend offers her a home in rural France.In the solitude and emptiness, Casey needs to comes to terms with what’s happened and find a way to move forward. She has no idea where that will take her one year later...

Archie Comics Spectacular: It's a Date


Archie Comics - 2013
    It's hilarious high school dating hi-jinx in a great pocket-sized edition from Archie Comics! This graphic novel collection features hand-picked, favorite stories about the comedically dysfunctional dating scene of friends Archie, Betty and Veronica at Riverdale High.

The Catalpa Tree


Denyse Devlin - 2004
    In the seven years that follow, Jude struggles with being alone in the world and Oliver struggles with caring for a beloved child who is becoming a woman.

The Distorted Mirror: Stories, Travelogues, Sketches


R.K. Laxman - 2003
    This collection brings together some of Laxman's best short stories, travelogues, about the United States, Australia, the Andamans, Darjeeling, Mauritius and Kathmandu, and a few rare anecdotes about Laxman's cartooning career.

Poggibonsi, An Italian Misadventure


Dan Alatorre - 2017
    But romance gets derailed by head colds, constant bickering, and assaults from ankle-breaking cobblestone streets. Their daughter develops a gelato addiction. Mike’s Italian partner has a coronary. And as for amore . . . Mattie tells Mike to handle things himself—and storms back to America. Mike is trapped. Leaving Italy will blow a promotion; staying might cost him his wife and family. While reeling from Mattie's frantic departure, a replacement liaison is assigned—a top-notch, beautiful young Italian woman who is instantly smitten with Mike and determined to reveal the passions of her homeland—whether he wants to see them or not! Normally immune, Mike is tempted—but is headstrong, voluptuous Julietta worth the risk? “Funny, Sexy, Heartbreaking, Hilarious” In Poggibonsi, Dan Alatorre tells a compelling and hilarious story while giving its serious and heartfelt themes fair treatment. Protagonist Mike Torino is a hard-working family man who is struggling in his marriage, and when temptation looms on a business trip in Italy, he can't help but indulge. His winding and sometimes bumbling misadventure leads him on a journey that ends only when he discovers what is truly important to him. Funny, sexy, and at times heartbreaking, Poggibonsi is much more than a riotous romp. It's an exploration into what makes us human and drives us through life. - Allison Maruska, The Fourth Descendant and Project Renovatio trilogy “Outrageously funny” Poggibonsi is disarmingly charming; a laugh-out-loud, bumbling romp through lust and love in central Italy. Alatorre captures the breathtaking romance of the novel’s namesake perfectly, peeling back each layer of story until all that remains is genuine, raw emotion. An outrageously funny, guilty pleasure of a read. - J. A. Allen, Old Souls