Book picks similar to
Iris Murdoch: Dream Girl by Robin Brooks
bbc-radio-4
british-literature
drama
fantasy
Vali
Anant Pai
Brave enough to confront the most vicious of demons, and strong enough to destroy them every time, he unfortunately could not conquer his own pride. Foolishly, he turned his adoring brother, Sugreeva, into a mortal enemy and drove him to take the help of that supreme warrior, the mighty Lord Rama.
Views from the Cockpit: The Journey of a Son
Ross Victory - 2019
Page by page, year by year, tender father-son memories of airplane watching transform into nightmarish, turbulent family drama.Upon the discovery that his father had been the victim of severe elder abuse as his health was rapidly deteriorating, the author finds himself reevaluating the decisions his father made throughout his life. With an unshakable ending, the author's probing dissection of a man he thought he knew reckons with disloyalty, depression, religion and death, leaving no stone unturned.Through sharp, sometimes hilariously brash analysis, decorated in plane metaphors and imagery, the author expresses his commitment to truth with sincerity and transparency. He reaches for forgiveness, understanding and compromise in the face of absurdity and uncompromising rigidity.Ultimately, he contemplates a different "flight path" drawn from past lessons. He encourages readers to do the same.A must-read for sons, fathers and families. Book-club discussion guide included.
The Valley: A Hundred Years in the Life of a Family
Richard Benson - 2014
Spanning Richard Benson's great-grandmother Winnie's ninety-two years in the valley, and drawing on years of historical research, interviews and anecdotes, The Valley lets us into generations of carousing and banter as the family's attempts to build a better and fairer world for themselves meet sometimes with triumph, sometimes with bitter defeat. Against a backdrop of underground explosions, strikes and pit closures, these are unflinching, deeply personal stories of battles between the sexes in a man's world sustained by strong women; of growing up, and the power of love and imagination to transform lives.
I'd Rather Be Single
Lashonda Devaughn - 2011
Tyra went from dating deadbeats to dating athletes. But living the good life came at a price.... "The Skeletons In My Closet" By: LaShonda DeVaughn, Author of A Hood Chick's Story I & II - They say in order to receive true and real love, we must all take chances. Will Kenneth end up being the real deal? Or will Rita end up regretting her decision in courting a young thug? "Taking Chances" By: Mimi Renee, Author of Deadly Decisions and Pretty Bright - Despite years of women playing games to take her husband away from her, Jai was determined to hold on. Her best friend questions why she puts up with his infidelity. Jai reasons: It's just Something In His Backstroke. "Something In His Backstroke" By: Tysha - Author of The Boss...the story of a female hustler - Fairytales should all have happy endings. Unfortunately, in Zoe's world each ending comes with a tale of lies... "Sleeping With The Enemy" By: Kaie Golson
Darkside
Tom Stoppard - 2013
The play was an original commission by Radio 2 to mark the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd s album, and broadcast on 26 August 2013. Produced in collaboration with Sir Tom Stoppard s publishers Faber and Faber, the luxury package resembles a hard-backed book, including a CD carrying the 54-minute play, which includes the majority of The Dark Side of the Moon album, plus a 56-page bound insert of the play s script. "Darkside" is an abstract and compelling drama which follows Emily, a philosophy student, through a series of thought experiments, which are vividly brought to life. The play also ranges over a series of grand themes, which are both thought provoking and laced with Stoppard s characteristic wit and humour. The cast is impressive, with Bill Nighy as Dr Antrobus/the Witch Finder, Rufus Sewell is Mr Baggott/Ethics Man, Adrian Scarborough is Fat Man and Emily is Amaka Okafor.
Maguire Fiction Collection Four-Book Set (Wicked; Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister; Lost; Mirror, Mirror)
Gregory Maguire
Maguire Fiction Collection Four-Book Set (Wicked; Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister; Lost; Mirror, Mirror) For a limited time get four of Gregory Maguire's creative retellings of classic fairy tales in one easy-to-order package, including the hardcover version of Maguire's latest book, Mirror, Mirror.
Locked Out of Heaven
Danielle M. Orsino - 2021
Abandoned by their creator, two factions of powerful angels remain on earth after the Great War with Lucifer. They struggle to comprehend their Creator's plan while their angel wings, a symbol of their angelic lineage, slowly and painfully decay. With no hope of returning to the Shining Kingdom, two groups of angels denounce their angelic lineage and develop into separate factions - the Court of Light, led by Queen Aurora, a former Virtue Angel, and the Court of Dark, ruled by King Jarvok, a former Power Brigade Angel. The two monarchs have opposing views on how to govern their kin, but the one belief they agree on is that human worship equals power. Birth of the Fae: Locked Out of Heaven is an epic-fantasy adventure of heartbreak, rebirth, and hope that examines the bonds of family, friendship, and love. It is a fantastic tale of good versus evil in a beautiful world, where the Light Fae and their potent elemental magick are tested by the raw power of the dragon-riding Dark Fae warriors. They are their own beings and masters of their own destiny. They are the Fae.
Temple of the Winds
James Follett - 2000
Then, suddenly, a force field surrounds the town, through which no-one can pass, and the population is completely cut off from the outside world by an unknown force.
47 Roses: A Story of Family Secrets and Enduring Love
Peter Sheridan - 2001
Upon his father's sudden death in Dublin, Sheridan finds out about his father's almost fifty-year relationship with Doris, an Englishwoman who was both less and far more than a mistress. Sheridan elegantly describes his search for the truth in the face of resistance from his mother, who falls fatally ill. He eventually meets Doris and learns that she never married, living only for her brief meetings with Sheridan's father. This beautifully written portrait of a marriage forces us, like Sheridan himself, to face truths of the heart that refuse to conform to the easy verities of convention.
Bones in the Basement: Surviving the S.K. Pierce Haunted Victorian Mansion - Edwin Gonzalez & Lillian Otero's Story
Joni Mayhan - 2014
Pierce Victorian Mansion in Gardner, Massachusetts, in 2009, they scoffed at the ghostly legends surrounding the house. They didn't believe in ghosts. The house soon proved them wrong. By the fall of 2011, they were forced from their house, narrowly escaping with their lives. Includes interviews from paranormal experts: Carl Johnson, Andrew Lake, Michael Robishaw, Lucky Belcamino, Marc Arvilla, and more. Forward written by Thomas D'Agastino. Contains photos, as well as audio and video links of evidence captured at the Haunted Victorian Mansion.
Gazza in Italy
Daniel Storey - 2018
Twenty-three-year old Paul Gascoigne has been one of the breakout stars of the tournament. His athleticism, speed of thought and incredible natural gifts have given England fans renewed faith in their perennially underachieving national side.
Then in the 99th minute of a tense semi-final against Germany, Gascoigne lunges into a mistimed tackle. The ref awards him his second yellow card of the tournament, meaning that if England were to win, he would miss the final. Gascoigne turns away, tries to hold it together, but can’t. Floods of tears run down his face. We understand. We feel his pain and anguish. The legend of Gazza is born.
Two years later, after an injury-stricken season at Spurs, he arrives at Lazio for a then record transfer fee. Expectations are sky high; he is welcomed as a footballing Messiah by the Roman fans. But all is not what it seems. There are doubts over his fitness, doubts over how he will adjust to life in Italy, doubts over whether his obvious potential can finally be achieved. The three subsequent years in Italy, shot through with incredible highs and self-inflicted lows, show Gascoigne in all his complexity – an immense natural talent flawed by a too-fragile personality.In Gazza in Italy, award-winning writer Daniel Storey brilliantly shines a light on an unexamined moment in Gascoigne’s career that encapsulates everything that we have come to associate with this most mercurial of talents: childish joy, public gaffes, wondrous skill and saddening self-destruction. Funny and harrowing in equal measure, this book allows us a better, more rounded understanding of one of our greatest sporting idols, and of a tragically misunderstood human being.
Wolf Blade: A Dark Fantasy Harem
Marco Frazetta - 2018
But his people lost the war...
Now, Rothan is a prisoner. He is forced to fight as a gladiator for the entertainment of his hated Imperial enemies. Five years of this humiliating captivity, and he has almost completed his sentence. Just three more days and he is free.
However, here in this wretched Imperial City, he has come to love one thing: the desertland concubine, Bellabel. He must find a way to win her freedom, to take her with him to the North. She must be his.
And so he enters into a bargain with the Ringmaster of the City, a bargain for her freedom, a bargain which will catapult him into a far more twisted fate than he ever imagined.
This book contains harem elements.
Dreams in Black Static: Eight Stories
Ambrose Ibsen - 2020
After watching it, one of them vanishes...A heart transplant recipient gets much more than he bargained for when he digs into his donor's sinister past...Mourning the death of their son, a young couple is plunged into madness after encountering something otherworldly in the wilderness...DREAMS IN BLACK STATIC is a collection of eight terrifying stories by Ambrose Ibsen, author of The Haunting of Beacon Hill and Asylum. The tales included are:"Me and Mr. Ray" **"Decatur Road" **"Dreams in Black Static" **"Distortional Addict" **"Trim" **"Subterrane Dream" **"Orchard""The Uncanny" **** = Appearing in print for the first time
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax
Liz Jensen - 2004
He is brilliant and strange, and every year something violent seems to happen to him. On his ninth birthday, Louis goes on a picnic with his parents and falls off a cliff. The details are shrouded in mystery. Louis's mother is shell-shocked; his father has vanished. And after some confusion Louis himself, miraculously alive but deep in a coma, arrives at Dr. Pascal Dannachet's celebrated coma clinic…Full of astonishing twists and turns, this is a masterful tale of the secrets the human mind can hide.