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Quasar, Quasar, Burning Bright


Isaac Asimov - 1978
    It's a Wonderful Town! • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1976)Surprise! Surprise! • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1976)Making It! • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1976)Moving Ahead • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1976)To the Top • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1976)Quasar, Quasar, Burning Bright! • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1976)The Comet That Wasn't • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1976)The Sea-Green Planet • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1976)Discovery By Blink • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1977)Asimov's Corollary • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1977)The Magic Isle • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1977)The Dark Companion • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1977)Twinkle, Twinkle, Microwaves • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1977)The Final Collapse • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1977)Of Ice and Men • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1977)Oblique the Centric Globe • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1977)The Opposite Poles • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • (1977)

A Small Death in Lisbon


Robert Wilson - 1999
    for the best mystery of 1999, this complex literary thriller may be one of the most satisfying suspense novels to come along in some time. Robert Wilson has written several political thrillers, most of which are set in West Africa, but they are, alas, largely unavailable in the U.S.In A Small Death in Lisbon, the narrative switches back and forth between 1941 and 1999, and Wilson's wide knowledge of history and keen sense of place make the eras equally vibrant. In 1941 Germany, Klaus Felsen, an industrialist, is approached by the SS high command in a none-too-friendly manner and is "persuaded" to go to Lisbon and oversee the sale--or smuggling--of wolfram (also known as tungsten, used in the manufacture of tanks and airplanes). World War II Portugal is neutral where business is concerned, and too much of the precious metal is being sold to Britain when Germany needs it to insure that Hitler's blitzkrieg is successful.Cut to 1999 Lisbon, where the daughter of a prominent lawyer has been found dead on a beach. Ze Coelho, a liberal police inspector who is a widower with a daughter of his own, must sift through the life of Catarina Oliveira and discover why she was so brutally murdered. Her father is enigmatic, her mother suicidal; her friends were rock musicians and drug addicts.The reader is treated to a wonderful portrait of Lisbon in the aftermath of the 1974 revolution that ousted Salazar from power, and the scars from that conflict are still close to the surface for the citizens of Lisbon, including Coehlo and his colleagues. We also see World War II in a slightly different manner from that to which we are accustomed--through the eyes of the Germans and the Portuguese. The pace of the book is leisurely but compelling as the events of 1941 and those in 1999 merge in an extraordinary climax

The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster


Tim Crothers - 2012
    Phiona has been out of school most of her life because her mother cannot afford it, so she is only now learning to read and write. Phiona Mutesi is also one of the best chess players in the world.One day in 2005, while searching for food, nine-year-old Phiona followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende, who had also grown up in the Kampala slums. Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids through chess—a game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. Laying a chessboard in the dirt of the Katwe slum, Robert painstakingly taught the game each day. When he left at night, slum kids played on with bottlecaps on scraps of cardboard. At first they came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love chess, a game that—like their daily lives—means persevering against great obstacles. Of these kids, one stood out as an immense talent: Phiona.By the age of eleven Phiona was her country’s junior champion and at fifteen, the national champion. In September 2010, she traveled to Siberia, a rare journey out of Katwe, to compete in the Chess Olympiad, the world’s most prestigious team-chess event. Phiona’s dream is to one day become a Grandmaster, the most elite title in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world’s most unstable countries, a place where girls are taught to be mothers, not dreamers, and the threats of AIDS, kidnapping, and starvation loom over the people.Like Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers and Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, The Queen of Katwe is an intimate and heartrending portrait of human life on the poor fringes of the twenty-first century.

The Sunshine Boys


Neil Simon - 1973
    Now they aren't even speaking. When CBS requests them for a "History of Comedy" retrospective, a grudging reunion brings the two back together, along with a flood of memories, miseries and laughs."It's ham on wry...Simon's sure footed craftsmanship and his one liners are as exquisitely apt as ever."-New York Post"Delicious and oddly affecting."-T

Chess for Kids


Michael Basman - 2000
    Chess board graphics illustrate different scenarios and support the text explanations so readers can visualize different moves and their potential outcomes as they go.Let Chess for Kids and International Master Michael Basman turn you into a champion chess player.

Tramp in Armor


Colin Forbes - 1969
    Only the British Force stands between the enemy and the coast. Can one British tank which is coming up behind the German lines destroy a whole German tank division?

The Flash Season Zero


Andrew Kreisberg - 2015
    An all-new  series taking place the world of smash-hit  TV show The Flash! Follow the adventures of Barry Allen as he struggles to balance his job as a police crime scene investigator, his unrequited crush on Iris West (who also happens to be his boss' daughter) and his new life as Central City's guardian angel.Collects THE FLASH SEASON ZERO #1-12.

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual


Mark Dvoretsky - 2004
    The third edition, revised and enlarged - now over 400 pages - covers all the most important concepts required for endgame mastery."I am sure that those who study this work carefully will not only play the endgame better, but overall, their play will improve. One of the secrets of the Russian chess school is now before you, dear reader!” - From the Foreword to the First Edition by Grandmaster Artur Yusupov"Going through this book will certainly improve your endgame knowledge, but just as important, it will also greatly improve your ability to calculate variations, What really impresses me is the deep level of analysis in the book, All I can say is: This is a great book. I hope it will bring you as much pleasure as it has me.” - From the Preface to the First Edition by International Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard Here's what they had to say about the First Edition: "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual ... may well be the chess book of the year... [It] comes close to an ultimate one-volume manual on the endgame.” - Lubomir Kavalek in his chess column of December 1, 2003 in the Washington Post."Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual is quite simply a masterpiece of research and insight. It is a tremendous contribution to endgame literature, certainly the most important one in many years, and destined to be a classic of the literature (if it isn't already one). The famous trainer Mark Dvoretsky has put together a vast number of examples that he has not only collected, but analysed and tested with some of the world's strongest players. This is a particularly important book from the standpoint of clarifying, correcting, and extending the theory of endings. Most of all, Dvoretsky's analysis is staggering in its depth and accuracy.” - John Watson, reviewing DEM at The Week In Chess2003 Book of the Year - JeremySilman.com2003 Book of the Year - Seagaard Chess Reviews: "This is an extraordinary good chess book. To call this the best book on endgames ever written seems to be an opinion shared by almost all reviewers and commentators. And I must say that I am not to disagree." - Erik Sobjerg

Ride a Pale Horse


Helen MacInnes - 1984
    One false move could cost Karen her life -- and throw the world into violent war.

The Portable Emerson


Ralph Waldo Emerson - 1946
    The Portable Emerson comprises essays, including “History,” “Self-Reliance,” “The Over-Soul,” “Circles,” and “The Poet”; Emerson’s first book, Nature, in its entirety; twenty-two poems, including “Uriel,” “The Humble-Bee,” and “Give All to Love”; orations, including “The American Scholar,” “The Fugitive Slave Law,” and “John Brown”; English Traits, complete; and biographical essays on Plato, Napoleon, Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Carlyle, and others.

The Early Stories, 1953-1975


John Updike - 2003
    There follows tales of life away from home, student days, early marriage and young families, and finally Updike's experimental stories on 'The Single Life'. Here, then, is a rich and satisfying feast of Updike - his wit, his easy mastery of language, his genius for recalling the subtleties of ordinary life and the excitements, and perils, of the pursuit of happiness.

Think Like A Grandmaster


Alexander Kotov - 1970
    Twenty years later, it remains a bestseller in the field and one of the best practical training manuals available.

Teranesia


Greg Egan - 1999
    Then civil war erupts across Indonesia, shattering their idyllic world and their lives.Twenty years later, Prabir is still plagued by feelings of guilt and an overwhelming responsiblity for his sister, now a biologist herself. Against his advice, Madhurse is returning to Teranesia to solve the mystery of the butterflies and study strange new plant and animal species that have been emerging throughout the region-species seperated from their known cousins by dramatic mutations that seem far too efficient to have arisen by chance.Afraid for her safety, Prabir joins forces with independant scientist Martha Grant to find her. But what he will discover on Teranesia is far more dangerous and wondrous than he can ever fear--or imagine..

Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion's Life


Viswanathan Anand - 2019
    1, bagged five World Championship titles and won tournaments across all formats of the game. A peerless ambassador of chess, his is one of the most revered names in the sport.In Mind Master, Vishy looks back on a lifetime of games played, opponents tackled and circumstances overcome, and draws from its depths significant tools that will help every reader navigate life’s challenges:What role do tactics and strategy play in the preparation for achieving a goal?How can emotions be harnessed to your advantage in tricky situations?What precautions should you take before you decide to leave your comfort zone and embrace risk?What do you need to do to stay relevant in the face of rapidly changing realities?Is unlearning really the only way to learn?These are just some of the nuggets Vishy touches upon with characteristic wit, easy wisdom and disarming candour in Mind Master – a delightful and invaluable exploration into the self that will thrill, inspire and motivate readers as few books have done before.

M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link / Myth-Nomers and Impervections


Robert Lynn Asprin - 2002
    In M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link, former magician's apprentice Skeeve tumbles up the corporate ladder, but that doesn't keep him from sleuthing around some dangerous dimensions. And in Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections, Skeeve's demon cohort, Ahaz, leaves in a huff, and Skeeve finds him in the worst neighborhood in the galaxy.