The title story takes us on board a small gunboat with a distinguished WW II record; the shame is that it is being used as a smuggler.Other stories include "Oh To Be In England," "The Reconciliation," "The List," "The Thousand Islands Snatch," "Up the Garden Path," "The Man Who Wanted a Mark IX," "I Was There," "The Dinner Party," "Licensed to Kill" and "Postscript."

    India has been ranked among the worlds most unsafe countries for women based on yardsticks of sexual and non-sexual violence, human trafficking and gender discrimination. How did we reach here? In Why Men Rape, Tara Kaushal sets out to understand the reasons through a detailed investigation which includes interviews and meetings with nine men who have an inclination to commit acts of sexual violence. The men interviewed for the book belong to all sections of society: A doctor who rapes his twelve-year-old patient; an unemployed youth who has decided to kill his former lover; a youth who gang rapes; a serial gang rapist who doesn't believe rape exists. Alongside, the author gives insights from myriad survivors; world-famous experts; a jail inmate who observes and provides us with commentary on the principles of rape convicts inside a prison; and many more. It also talks about how hypersexualized mainstream cinema; prejudiced media coverage of rape cases; the explosion of pornography; and other historic and current factors have become collaborative agents in causing gender violence in India. At a time when sexual violence is crippling our society, Why Men Rape marks an important contribution towards making us aware of the problem and finding a way to stop it.

    Three different young women, each endowed with extraordinary abilities, pit their powers against warriors, wizards, and royal intrigue to preserve their worlds and stem the tide of evil.  Mirror of Destiny: Transformed by a powerful talisman, the orphaned apprentice Twilla defies her king—and escapes her fate as an unwilling bride—in favor of joining a crusade to rescue the vanquished of an ancient magical war and help save the destiny of a disputed land.  The Scent of Magic: An orphaned child and captive scullery maid, young Willadene’s uncanny ability to smell the magic of the natural world delivers her from servitude—to the highest circles of the Ducal court. But depravity and corruption infest the castle, and the power that has been her fortune now draws her into a maelstrom of evil.  Wind in the Stone: An infant girl, abandoned after her mother’s death and raised to young womanhood by the strange denizens of the Forest, discovers the wondrous earth magic she wields. Now, Sulerna must confront the brutal sorcerer who enslaved her homeland—and battle an enemy who is both her bane and blood: the twin brother she lost to darkness.

    A man who defined an era of music and changed the shape of popular culture. One of the most talented and influential artists of all time, and one of the most mysterious. On 21st April 2016 the world lost its Prince; the day the music died.

    Late for his annual performance review, Cupid finds himself up the River Styx without a paddle when his boss threatens to fire him. Luckily, he sweet talks his way into a second chance, but his last shot comes with an impossible deadline.He’s got six months to turn mortal enemies into lovers or he loses his immortality—and his one true love's heart—forever.No problem for the god of love, right? Well…Liz Johnson thinks love at first sight is a bunch of crap. Then she meets her new coworker, Leo Simmons, and her theory totally hits the fan... and splatters everywhere. Even worse, Leo thinks he’s God’s gift. When he turns on the charm because she won’t give him the time of day, she’ll be damned if her resolve crumbles to hell.The kicker? Neither knows Cupid is posing as their new boss. Or that he’s using every matchmaking trick in the book to stop fate from taking his wings—and their lives. Will Cupid hit his mark? Find out in this hilarious modern twist on the mythology you know and love.

    From the lively music of West Africa, to the rich culinary traditions of Muslims in Northwest China, to the thrill of a hunt in Alaska, this collection is a treasure trove of diverse places and cultures, providing the comfort, excitement, and joy of feeling elsewhere. THE BEST AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITING 2021 INCLUDES KIESE MAKEBA LAYMON • LESLIE JAMISON • BILL BUFORD •  JON LEE ANDERSON • MEGHAN DAUM LIGAYA MISHAN • PAUL THEROUX and others

    But for 25-year-old Birdie Connor the battle is only just beginning. Frank, Birdie's older brother, has been sent to prison for deserting his army post while fighting in Belgium, and the shame heaped on the Connor family by their neighbors is unrelenting. Wilfred, Birdie's widowed father, has disowned Frank and vows that he will never set eyes on his son again, but Birdie cannot believe that her brother is guilty, and sets out to clear his name.

    The residents of this little road have come together to create something extraordinary: a real-life advent calendar, where one house will open its door each day until Christmas for a festive celebration. Each day, that is, except Christmas Eve. It should be the loveliest moment of all, but no one can persuade the octogenarian Mr Winters at Number 24 to be involved.As gingerbread houses are iced, impromptu carol concerts sung on doorsteps, and mulled wine passed from front windows, the community begins to come alive - and Jess begins a tentative friendship with the frosty Mr Winters. Can the Christmas magic thaw even the hardest of hearts?And when disaster strikes on Christmas Eve, the residents of Christmas Street are going to need a miracle of their own...Feel-good, funny and irresistibly festive, this book is guaranteed to melt your heart this Christmas!

    It's a starving animal, circling the empty cupboards, blank-eyed and vacant. It's a face frozen in a rictus grin, mouthing lies. "I'm fine," it says. "Everything is under control." "I have always felt hungry," says Emma Scrivener. "Not just for food, but for everything: from money to recognition. I'm a human chasm, a vortex of insatiable longing." Rescued from a disorder that nearly killed her, Emma is now passionate about warning others about the dark and hidden world she inhabited for too long. Harrowing, heart-breaking, human, and humourous, this book will grip you from start to finish.

    In 17 months, she traversed beaches and mountains, farms and urban sprawl. She received unimaginable support – people offered beds, food, cups of tea, donated to her chosen charities. Walking Wales rooted her in the country and in herself; her account of the physical and mental challenges painting a unique portrait of the natural landscape of a country and its people.

    But if a church is on a downward trend, how can it turn around? Taking Your Church to the Next Level explains the impact of age and size on churches and outlines the improvements that must be made at each point for a church to remain fruitful and faithful to its mission. McIntosh deftly describes the cycles of fruitfulness and the importance of continual improvement to diminish destructive forces that keep a congregation from its mission. Church leaders, pastors, and all who care about the church and desire to see it experience biblical growth will benefit from the sage wisdom offered in these pages.

    Beautiful, smart and charming, she is everything a good girl should be.Her sister Eleanor, on the other hand, knows she can't compete with Kat. On the awkward side of tall, clever enough to be bullied, and full of the responsibilities only an older sibling can understand, Eleanor grows up knowing she’s not a good girl.This is the story of the Keating sisters - through a childhood fraught with dark secrets, adolescent rivalries, and on into adulthood with all its complexities and misunderstandings.  Until a terrible truth from the past brings the sisters crashing together, and finally Eleanor begins to uncover just how good Kat really was. Good Girls is a mystery, a love story, a coming-of-age story, and a tear-jerker. But most of all it’s a reminder of who to keep close and who to trust with your darkest secrets. Perfect for fans of Jane Fallon, Celeste Ng, and Julie Cohen.

    But they weren’t there to protest. They were there to watch the World Chess Championship between Norway's Magnus Carlsen and Russia's Sergey Karjakin—what by the time it was over would be front-page news and thought by many the greatest finish in chess history. The story lines were riveting. The championship hadn’t been hosted in New York City, the de facto world capital of the sport, in more than two decades. With both Carlsen and Karjakin just 25 years old, the tournament organizers were billing it as a battle of the millennials—the first time the championship had been waged among the generation that grew up playing chess primarily against computers. And perhaps most intriguing were all the geopolitical connections to the match. Originally from Crimea, Karjakin had recently repatriated to Russia under the direct assistance of Putin. Carlsen, meanwhile, had expressed admiration for Donald Trump, and his first move of the tournament he played with a smirk what's called a Trompowsky Attack. Then there was the Russian leader of the World Chess Federation being barred from attending due to US sanctions, and chess fanatic and Trump adviser Peter Thiel being called on to make the honorary first move in sudden death. That the tournament required sudden death was a shock. Oddsmakers had given Carlsen, the defending champion, an 80% chance of winning. It would take everything he had to retain his title. In doing so, he would firmly make his case to be considered the greatest player chess has ever seen. Author Brin-Jonathan Butler was granted unique access to the two-and-half-week tournament and watched every move. In The Grandmaster, he aims to do for Magnus Carlsen what Norman Mailer did for Muhammed Ali in The Fight, John McPhee did for Arthur Ashe in Levels of the Game, and David Foster Wallace did for Roger Federer in his famous New York Times Magazine profile. Butler captures one of the world’s greatest sportsmen at the height of their powers, and attempts to decipher the secret to that greatness.

    Revisiting the major turning points in Welsh history - from the fledgling Welsh state under Llywelyn the Last and the ravages of the Black Death, through to its transformation into an economic power with the Industrial Revolution and its participation in the creation of a modern British Welfare State and the economic boom of the 1940s and 50s - Jon Gower re-examines many of the myths and misconceptions about Wales and the Welsh, uncovering rich evidence of its outward-looking dynamism and its important role on the world stage.Accompanying a landmark BBC series, and with an introduction by series presenter Huw Edwards, The Story of Wales is an epic account of the history of Wales for a new generation.

    This was no ordinary streak. Along with their ridiculous mascot and uniforms, which were known as “the Creamsicles,” the Yucks were a national punch line and personnel purgatory. Owned by the miserly and bulbous-nosed Hugh Culverhouse, the team was the end of the line for Heisman Trophy winner and University of Florida hero Steve Spurrier, and a banishment for former Cowboy defensive end Pat Toomay after he wrote a tell-all book about his time on “America’s Team.” Many players on the Bucs had been out of football for years, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to have to introduce themselves in the huddle. They were coached by the ever-quotable college great John McKay. “We can’t win at home and we can’t win on the road,” he said. “What we need is a neutral site.” But the Bucs were a part of something bigger, too. They were a gambit by promoters, journalists, and civic boosters to create a shared identity for a region that didn’t exist—Tampa Bay. Before the Yucks, “the Bay” was a body of water, and even the worst team in memory transformed Florida’s Gulf communities into a single region with a common cause. The Yucks is “a funny, endearing look at how the Bucs lost their way to success, cementing a region through creamsicle unis and John McKay one-liners” (Sports Illustrated).