And certainly what Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye. As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground. Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then brings in her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, the sycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her best friend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy's insufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth's low-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedy comes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classes and economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so many social interactions. And though the novel is rife with romantic misunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and a requisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets so carried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economic realities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages for penniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy, who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she first began to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than a little truth to her sentiment, as well. Jane Austen considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers of Pride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --Alix Wilber

    DavenheimThe Adventure of the “Western Star”The Tragedy at Marsdon ManorThe Million Dollar Bond RobberyThe Adventure of the Cheap FlatThe Mystery of the Hunter’s LodgeThe Kidnapped Prime MinisterThe Adventure of the Egyptian TombThe Adventure of the Italian NoblemanThe Case of the Missing WillThe Chocolate BoxThe Veiled LadyThe Lost MineThe Affair at the Victory BallThe Adventure of the Clapham CookThe Cornish MysteryThe Adventure of Johnnie WaverlyThe Double ClueThe King of ClubsThe Lemesurier InheritanceThe Plymouth ExpressThe Submarine PlansThe Market Basing MysteryThe Adventure of the Christmas Pudding

    . .#1 bestselling author Jeffery Deaver has created the most riveting and original novel of the year-a race-against-the-clock mystery, told in reverse.THE OCTOBER LISTGabriela waits desperately for news of her abducted daughter.At last, the door opens.But it's not the negotiators. It's not the FBI.It's the kidnapper.And he has a gun.How did it come to this?Two days ago, Gabriela's life was normal. Then, out of the blue, she gets word that her six-year-old daughter has been taken. She's given an ultimatum: pay half a million dollars and find a mysterious document known as the "October List" within 30 hours, or she'll never see her child again. A mind-bending novel with twists and turns that unfold from its dramatic climax back to its surprising beginning, THE OCTOBER LIST is Jeffery Deaver at his masterful, inventive best.

    The new adventures of Superman begin here! What is The Man of Steel’s startling new status quo? How does it affect Lois Lane and the Daily Planet? There’s no time for answers now, because Superman must stop a monstrous threat to Metropolis—one that he is somehow the cause of!

    Download both ebooks for a special low price. Birdman Five bodies, all young women, all ritualistically murdered and dumped near the Millennium Dome in southeast London. A post-mortem examination tells the police they’re dealing with a sexual serial killer. Detective Inspector Jack Caffery knows he has only limited time before the sadistic killer strikes again. The Treatment In a residential neighbourhood in south London, a husband and wife are found tied up and imprisoned in their house. Their young son is missing. Detective Jack Caffery is called in to investigate. When the child’s body is found, he attempts to unravel the motive and sequence of events, especially when he discovers that a tragedy in his own past is indirectly connected to the murder.

    

    The tree is decorated, the mistletoe is in place, and the crab puffs are to die for. Nothing can spoil this celebration…except for some wayward magic and a pesky ghost who crashes the party.SPIRITS OF BOURBON STREETIt’s Halloween on Bourbon Street, and white witch Jade Calhoun is ready to party. But when a sexy spirit traps everyone in the past, she’s forced to forgo the cocktails in order to save those she loves...again.A MIRACLE ON BOURBON STREETIt’s Christmas Eve and Jade Calhoun’s ready for a quiet, magical night with her husband Kane. But when Santa demons and energy-stealing elves start wreaking havoc, it’s going to take a miracle on Bourbon Street to save Christmas.A BOURBON STREET VALENTINEIt’s Valentine’s Day and magic’s in the air. Only Kat Hart never expected her handmade jewelry to be at the center of everything. So when her night out at Cupid’s Ball turns into a competition to be a handsome stranger’s wife, it’s up to her to break the spell…or she might get more than she bargained for.SPIRITS, HURRICANES, AND THE KREWE OF GHOULIt’s Halloween and Pyper Rayne’s all vamped up, ready to play the vampire bride. And so is Ida May, her resident ghost. But when the “vampires” they're partying with start to appear to be real, there’s more at stake than just a little bite.KISSED BY TEMPTATIONThe last place sex-witch Mati Ballintine wants to be is at a holiday sorority party. But when the high angel from the council orders her to protect a new angel recruit, she has no choice but to go and grit her teeth through the frat boys’ advances.
The night turns from bad to worse when a demon appears and is hell-bent on taking the angel to Hell. Mati and her incubus boyfriend Vaughn will need to combine forces to not only save the angel, but everyone else the demon leaves in his wake.

    Iron Man's nemesis, the Mandarin, has risen again, his ten rings of power more awesome than before! But the power in his hands hasn't kept him from being a puppet in someone else's, and war with his ironclad enemy may have to take a backseat against ten awakened dragons - one for each ring!

    The Ageless classic now in Comics

    2: WELCOME TO THE PIZZA DOME, from writers SHOLLY FISCH (THE ALL-NEW BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD), MERRILL HAGAN (THE ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN), AMY WOLFRAM (TV'S TEEN TITANS GO!) and artists BEN BATES (SCRIBBLENAUTS UNMASKED: A CRISIS OF IMAGINATION), LEA HERNANDEZ (KILLER PRINCESSES) and more!

    Alone, that is. Spider-man is forced to turn to his deadliest foe for help, the being responsible for Carnage's creation--Venom! Join writer David Michelinie, penciler Mark Bagley and inker Randy Emberlin as they take you into the living nightmare of Carnage's rampage."Although Title page verso says "Originally published in magazine form as The Amazing Spider-Man #'s 344, 345, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363", it actually Includes only 2 pages from Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #344 & 345, and 1 page from both #359 & 360.The last 2 pages from Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #363 are also not included.

    After nine long years of trying to grow their family into the perfect dream come true, fated mates, Ryan and Layna, are ready to give up. Not on each other but on their dreams. When they're given the chance to help an abandoned baby temporarily, they're faced with a pain harsher than what they've already been through. The pain of hope. But this little one isn't what any of them expected, and when the fiery truth comes out, hearts are bound to melt.A visit from a shadow of Christmas past, a lost child, and the reunion P. Jameson fans have been asking for, all wrapped up with a shiny bow as we revisit the Ouachitas in Merrily Ever After.

    What if your greatest ally was secretly your greatest enemy? Beginning May 3rd, prepare for Marvel Comics' SECRET EMPIRE! Blockbuster creators Nick Spencer, Steve McNiven, Andrea Sorrentino and Leinil Yu are ready to challenge the entire Marvel Universe as they unite the Avengers, X-Men, Defenders, Champions, Inhumans, Spider-Man, and more, as an unwavering front against the SECRET EMPIRE! Check out this free preview of the entire pulse-pounding event!

    Avenger. Terrible at relationships. Kate Bishop, Hawkeye: Adventurer. Young Avenger. Great at parties.Matt Fraction, David Aja and an incredible roster of artistic talent hit the bull's eye with your new favorite book, pitting Hawkguy and Katie-Kate - not to mention the crime-solving Pizza Dog - against all the mob bosses, superstorms and mystery redheads they can throw at them.Five Eisner Award nominations and two wins, bro!Collecting: Hawkeye 1-11 & Young Avengers Presents 6

    Freeze and Catwoman. Plus, the serial killer named Holiday seems to have returned to a life of crime, but who is committing Holiday's murders this time?