Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars are fought for them, and won by them.One such war is about to swallow up a soldier, a brightlord and a young woman scholar.Widely acclaimed for his work completing Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga, Brandon Sanderson now begins a grand cycle of his own, one every bit as ambitious and immersive.

    . . only to become an eccentric, pet-loving widow who, one day, disappeared without a trace.   WAS SHE A VICTIM OF "THE GALLOPING GIGOLO?"Richard Bailey was an admitted swindler who spent years persuading rich women to invest in bum horses…even though he claims not to have harmed Helen Branch. Other suspects included a champion rider and an Olympic hopeful--each with dangerous connections to wealthy horsemen, and both with cold-blooded  schemes to achieve their mission.  ONE MAN IS DEAD-SET ON FINDING OUT.When Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Miller launched an investigation into Helen Branch's death, he went from the polo grounds of Palm Beach to the lavish horse farms of Connecticut to Kentucky's thoroughbred stables in search of answers. What he learned would cast a dark shadow on one of America's favorite pastimes. . . .

    During waking fantasies that take him back in time to the horrors of Nazi Berlin, David becomes Felix, the ruthless Gestapo black marketeer. As reality and dream become inextricably merged, David must take control of Felix before Felix takes control of him.

    Caustic, comic, and unflinchingly honest, Mammals is a cruel but beautiful tale of love, solitude, alcoholism, family, and unemployment. This fictional memoir of a glorious loser recounts the life of the Uncle, an unhappy Parisian bachelor whose only true loves were a Polish girl and a divorcee. He is a drunk; he is sarcastic; he works and fails desultorily in several fields until he winds up surrounded by neurotic women, a teacher in a secondary school. He tries out therapist after therapist and can't figure out who is the butt of the joke. He has nephews and this makes him nervous. In fact, almost everything about family life makes him nervous — especially now that he's living at home again. He coins proverbs for living with lowered expectations and attempts a bestiary of his pathological parents, the mammals of the title.Riding its handbasket merrily to hell, veering now and then toward overwhelming lyricism, Mammals pieces together the portrait of modern society's Everyman. It establishes Pierre Merot as an extraordinary and delightful voice of international stature.

    Written in the genre of The Final Quest trilogy, this is a prophetic allegory that goes deeper, further, and higher, illuminating some of the most important truths of our times.

    

    At least his wife, his students, and his community thought so. But when he dies to save the life of a stranger, Steve is sent to an afterlife reserved for the truly heroic: Valhalla.But the Norse realm of the dead isn’t anything like he expected. Valhalla is a school, the Gods are teachers, and Steve’s fellow students are his competition in the great games.Then there are the women...Ila, the beautiful but stoic warrior. Molly, the cutie with her heart on her sleeve. Idun, the blonde Goddess bombshell with a soft spot for poetry. And Twyla, the dwarven bartender who’s always brewing up a sexy good time.Now, Steve must find where he belongs. But in a place where everyone is a hero, he’ll learn that his greatest fight is with himself.Join Steve in a HaremLit adventure filled with romance, sexy goddesses, self-doubt, creative uses of a dorm’s common shower, exploding houses, copious amounts of food and beer, dresses that get wet or come off very easily, and plenty of sexy times.Afterlives Valhalla is rated R for adult themes, graphic violence, undefined relationships/harem, and explicit scenes. Reader discretion is advised.

    A one-night stand with Natasha Peters has got her pregnant. Now he has two options: give up on his dream as a comedian and get a day job or abandon his responsibility and be a total dick. Only when Tash tells the full truth does a third possibility emerge...This story recounts the all too relatable experience of a fleeting sexual encounter and the hilarious mess it can create. It details all the things you think you know about safe sex and is inspired by the true story of a comedian in crisis.'The honesty shines through this funny, poignant page-turner. Finished it in one sitting. I just had to know!' — Dave Hughes'Simon is one of the top comedy writers out there.' — Jay Leno'This book will enable you to enter the mind of a comedian, but then you may have to call someone to help you get out.' — Akmal Saleh

    Slater has come to “see the elephant,” to stake his claim to fame and become the greatest writer ever. But this city of gleaming water and infinite magic has other plans in this astounding first novel—at once a love story, a feast of literary imagination, and a dazzlingly original tale of passion, ambition, and genius in all their guises... Slater Brown lays siege to San Francisco like Achilles circling Troy—until he crashes headlong into reality. Out of money and prospects, he applies for a job at a moribund weekly newspaper called the Morning Trumpet—and, as if by fate, is given a very special parting gift from a moonlighting mystic. Suddenly Slater has an exclusive on every story in the city. With his uncanny knack for finding scoops, he’s bringing the Trumpet back to life, infuriating a corrupt mayor and falling in love with the woman destined to become his muse. But it is the astonishing inventor Milo Magnet—a man obsessed with harnessing the weather—who will force Slater to navigate the most dangerous straits. For as Milo unleashes his power on San Francisco and the ravishing Callio de Quincy entrances Slater with hers, as storm clouds gather literally overhead, Slater will become at once a pawn, a savior, and the last best hope for a city that needs him—and his knack for the truth—more than ever before.From the Hardcover edition.

    It rings the cosmic gong on so many levels, turns so many stereotypes inside out, one scarcely knows what to do but hold on and enjoy the ride. And enjoy it I did." —TOM ROBBINSAcclaimed for his surreal, satirical vision and his “consistently dazzling” (Kirkus Reviews) writing style, cult favorite Tony Vigorito stretches the boundaries of storytelling beyond all limits with his long-awaited third novel. A quest to find the treasure of all treasures launches this swashbuckling tale of romance and high adventure across three centuries and takes you on a hilarious and visionary journey that includes lovers, pirates, bank robbers, treasure maps, yoga cults, love potions, assassins, con artists, quicksand, smugglers, and rock-paper-scissors. Welcome to the “incomparable imagination” (Minneapolis Books Examiner) of a Tony Vigorito novel. And beware the meadow of marvels... "A masterful story..." —Seattle Book Review"Opening with a satire of the Adam and Eve story, this book moves seamlessly back and forth between eighteenth century Caribbean pirates with a treasure map and twenty-first century San Franciscans contending with a false New Age prophet. The author controls these seemingly disparate scenarios with humor and panache, creating such memorable characters as a guardian parrot, a bumbling true believer, and a herd of cowbell-wearing bison somehow relocated to a tropical island. This is a deeply original and satisfying book." —BookLife

    Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, so different from the hardscrabble existence he has known. And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a “proper” family estranges him from his parents; his career is stymied; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.John Williams’s luminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection. William Stoner emerges from it not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero, standing, like a figure in a painting by Edward Hopper, in stark relief against an unforgiving world.

    But before the day is out that peace is shattered due to a war being fought in a country not their own.Summer 1940: London is at war, and for the first time in the history of combat a civilian population is under attack from the air. As a consequence - also for the first time - a generation of young men is called upon to face the enemy not from within an organised force on land or on sea but in individual and lethal combat in the skies above the green, fertile and until now peaceful fields of southern England… The war was not of their making but the Jordan family will do whatever it takes to save all that they hold dear. The perfect family saga of love, war and hope for fans of Josephine Cox, Lily Graham and Natasha Lester.

    Her modest proposal catches fire with millions of citizens, chief among them "an ambitious senator seeking the presidency." With the help of Washington's greatest spin doctor, the blogger and the politician try to ride the issue of euthanasia for Boomers (called "transitioning") all the way to the White House, over the objections of the Religious Right, and of course, the Baby Boomers, who are deeply offended by demonstrations on the golf courses of their retirement resorts.

    Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.(Note: this title was not published as YA fiction)

    Suddenly, no amount of cocktails can cure the stress that simultaneously unsettles their lives. Nandi’s final wedding arrangements are nearly in place so why is she feeling on edge? Zaza, the “trophy wife”, waits for the day her affair comes to light and her husband gives her a one-way ticket back to the township. Tumi has only one wish to complete her perfect life – a child. But when her wish is granted, it’s not exactly how she pictured it. And Princess? For the first time ever, she has fallen in love – with Leo, a painter who seems to press all the right buttons. But soon she discovers – like her friends already have – that life is not a bed of roses, and happiness never comes with a manual . . .