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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Oz

1

L. Frank Baum

When Dorothy and her little dog Toto are caught in a tornado, they and their Kansas farmhouse are suddenly transported to Oz, where Munchkins live, monkeys fly and Wicked Witches rule. Desperate to return home, and with the Wicked Witch of the West on their trail, Dorothy and Toto - together with new friends the Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow and cowardly Lion - embark on a fanta When Dorothy and her little dog Toto are caught in a tornado, they and their Kansas farmhouse are suddenly transported to Oz, where Munchkins live, monkeys fly and Wicked Witches rule. Desperate to return home, and with the Wicked Witch of the West on their trail, Dorothy and Toto - together with new friends the Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow and cowardly Lion - embark on a fantastic quest along the Yellow Brick Road in search of the Emerald City. There they hope to meet the legendary, all-powerful Wizard of Oz, who alone may hold the power to grant their every wish.Just as captivating as it was a hundred years ago, this is a story that all ages will love. ...more

The World According to Garp

John Irving

This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields, a feminist leader ahead of her time. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes, even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with lunacy and sorrow, yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribal This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields, a feminist leader ahead of her time. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes, even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with lunacy and sorrow, yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries

The Warriors

Sol Yurick

The basis for the cult-classic film The Warriors chronicles one New York City gang's nocturnal journey through the seedy, dangerous subways and city streets of the 1960s. Every gang in the city meets on a sweltering July 4 night in a Bronx park for a peace rally. The crowd of miscreants turns violent after a prominent gang leader is killed and chaos prevails over the attem The basis for the cult-classic film The Warriors chronicles one New York City gang's nocturnal journey through the seedy, dangerous subways and city streets of the 1960s. Every gang in the city meets on a sweltering July 4 night in a Bronx park for a peace rally. The crowd of miscreants turns violent after a prominent gang leader is killed and chaos prevails over the attempt at order. The Warriors follows the Dominators making their way back to their home territory without being killed. The police are prowling the city in search of anyone involved in the mayhem. An exhilarating novel that examines New York City teenagers, left behind by society, who form identity and personal strength through their affiliation with their "family," The Warriors weaves together social commentary with ancient legends for a classic coming-of-age tale. This edition includes a new introduction by the author. ...more

Young Man with a Horn

Dorothy Baker

Rick Martin loved music and the music loved him. He could pick up a tune so quickly that it didn

About Schmidt

Schmidt

Louis Begley

Proud, traditional, and impeccably organized, Albert Schmidt is a button-down lawyer of the old school.

Absolute Power

David Baldacci

Absolute Corruption. In a heavily guarded mansion in a posh Virginia suburb, a man and a woman start to make love, trapping a burglar behind a secret wall. Then the passion turns deadly, and the witness is running into the night. Because what he has just seen is a brutal slaying involving the President of the United States.Absolute Danger. Luther Whitney is the career brea Absolute Corruption. In a heavily guarded mansion in a posh Virginia suburb, a man and a woman start to make love, trapping a burglar behind a secret wall. Then the passion turns deadly, and the witness is running into the night. Because what he has just seen is a brutal slaying involving the President of the United States.Absolute Danger. Luther Whitney is the career break-in artist who's in the wrong place at the wrong time. Alan Richmond is the charming U.S. President with the power to commit any crime. And Jack Graham is the young attorney, caught in a vortex between the absolute truth--and... Absolute Power. A tale of greed, sex, ambition, and murder, this is the novel everyone has been talking about...the shattering, relentlessly suspenseful thriller that will change the way you think about Washington--and power--forever. ...more

The Accidental Tourist

Anne Tyler

Macon Leary is a travel writer who hates both travel and anything out of the ordinary. He is grounded by loneliness and an unwillingness to compromise his creature comforts when he meets Muriel, a deliciously peculiar dog-obedience trainer who up-ends Macon

Addie Pray

Joe David Brown

The classic tale of a female Huck Finn, Peter Bogdanovich

Adolphe

Benjamin Constant

Adolphe is a privileged and refined young man, bored by the stupidity he perceives in the world around him. After a number of meaningless conquests, he at last encounters Ellenore, a beautiful and passionate older woman. Adolphe is enraptured and gradually wears down her resistance to his declarations of love. But as they embark on an intense and tortured affair, Ellenore Adolphe is a privileged and refined young man, bored by the stupidity he perceives in the world around him. After a number of meaningless conquests, he at last encounters Ellenore, a beautiful and passionate older woman. Adolphe is enraptured and gradually wears down her resistance to his declarations of love. But as they embark on an intense and tortured affair, Ellenore gives way to a flood of emotion that only serves to repel her younger lover - yet he cannot bring himself to leave her and his procrastination can only bring tragedy. Partly inspired by Constant's own stormy affair with Madame de Sta

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Tom and Huck

2

Mark Twain

A nineteenth-century boy from a Mississippi River town recounts his adventures as he travels down the river with a runaway slave, encountering a family involved in a feud, two scoundrels pretending to be royalty, and Tom Sawyer's aunt who mistakes him for Tom.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom and Huck

1

Mark Twain

Tom Sawyer is sure to find trouble wherever the river leads him

Advise and Consent

Advise and Consent

1

Allen Drury

ADVISE AND CONSENT is a study of political animals in their natural habitat and is universally recognized as THE Washington novel. It begins with Senate confirmation hearings for a liberal Secretary of State and concludes two weeks later, after debate and controversy have exploded this issue into a major crisis."I can recall no other novel in which there is so well present ADVISE AND CONSENT is a study of political animals in their natural habitat and is universally recognized as THE Washington novel. It begins with Senate confirmation hearings for a liberal Secretary of State and concludes two weeks later, after debate and controversy have exploded this issue into a major crisis."I can recall no other novel in which there is so well presented a president's dilemma when his awful responsibility for the nation's interest conflicts with a personal code of good morals." (The New York Times) ...more

The African Queen (C.S. Forester) (Literary Thoughts Edition)

C.S. Forester

Literary Thoughts edition presents The African Queen by C. S. Forester------ Writing under his pseudonym C. S. (Cecil Scott) Forester, Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (1899-1966) published his novel "The African Queen" in 1935, telling the story of Rose Sayer, a 33-year-old Englishwoman, who is the companion and housekeeper of her brother Samuel, an Anglican missionary in Germ Literary Thoughts edition presents The African Queen by C. S. Forester------ Writing under his pseudonym C. S. (Cecil Scott) Forester, Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (1899-1966) published his novel "The African Queen" in 1935, telling the story of Rose Sayer, a 33-year-old Englishwoman, who is the companion and housekeeper of her brother Samuel, an Anglican missionary in German-colonized Tanganyika (present-day Tanzania). When World War I begins, she gets to know Charlie Allnutt, the mechanic and skipper of the steamboat 'African Queen'.All books of the Literary Thoughts edition have been transscribed from original prints and edited for better reading experience. Please visit our homepage www.literarythoughts.com to see our other publications. ...more

After Dark, My Sweet

Jim Thompson

William "Kid" Collins was once a respected boxer. Now he's a drifter, on the run after escaping from a mental institution.One afternoon he meets Fay, a beautiful young widow. She is smart and decent--at least when she's sober. Soon Collins finds himself involved in a kidnapping scheme that goes drastically wrong almost before it even begins. Because the kid they've picked William "Kid" Collins was once a respected boxer. Now he's a drifter, on the run after escaping from a mental institution.One afternoon he meets Fay, a beautiful young widow. She is smart and decent--at least when she's sober. Soon Collins finds himself involved in a kidnapping scheme that goes drastically wrong almost before it even begins. Because the kid they've picked up isn't like other kids: he's diabetic and without insulin, he'll die. Not the safest situation for Collins, a man for whom stress and violence have long gone hand-in-hand.After Dark, My Sweet once again displays Jim Thompson as the undisputed master of American noir. The basis of James Foley's critically acclaimed film of the same name, with the sweep of an epic tragedy, Thompson's classic limns the dangerous territory of honest people all-too-easily sucked into wickedness, with no way out but down. ...more

Carlito's Way

Edwin Torres

In this classic New York street novel, Carlito Brigante, Puerto Rican hustler and drug dealer, recounts with intoxicating bravado and humor his journey through Spanish Harlem s no-exit world of gangs, drugs, pimping, and the Mob. ICarlito s Way/I, and its sequel After Hours, were adapted for film by Brian de Palma, with Al Pacino as Carlito. Edwin Torres is a Criminal Cour In this classic New York street novel, Carlito Brigante, Puerto Rican hustler and drug dealer, recounts with intoxicating bravado and humor his journey through Spanish Harlem s no-exit world of gangs, drugs, pimping, and the Mob. ICarlito s Way/I, and its sequel After Hours, were adapted for film by Brian de Palma, with Al Pacino as Carlito. Edwin Torres is a Criminal Court judge in New York City. ...more

After the Funeral

Hercule Poirot

31

Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot is called on to investigate the murder of a brother and sister in this classic from the Queen of Mystery.When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered, the odd remark she made the day before at her brother's funeral becomes chillingly important: "It's been hushed up very nicely, hasn't it. . . . But he was murdered, wasn't he"Desperate to learn more about both Hercule Poirot is called on to investigate the murder of a brother and sister in this classic from the Queen of Mystery.When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered, the odd remark she made the day before at her brother's funeral becomes chillingly important: "It's been hushed up very nicely, hasn't it. . . . But he was murdered, wasn't he"Desperate to learn more about both deaths, the family solicitor turns to detective extraordinaire Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery. . . . ...more

The Age of Innocence

Edith Wharton

Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton

The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo

Irving Stone

Fictional depiction of Michelangelo. Includes bibliography, glossary and a list of the artist's works.From the tumult of life, his brilliant work made a grasp for heaven unmatched in half a millennium. Now, in a special ediction celebrating the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo's David, Irving Stone's towering triumph: The Agony and the EcstasyThe Renaissance was a turbule Fictional depiction of Michelangelo. Includes bibliography, glossary and a list of the artist's works.From the tumult of life, his brilliant work made a grasp for heaven unmatched in half a millennium. Now, in a special ediction celebrating the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo's David, Irving Stone's towering triumph: The Agony and the EcstasyThe Renaissance was a turbulent time of plotting princes, warring popes, the all-powerful de' Medici family, the fanatical monk Savonarola... and the brilliant young artist Michelangelo Buonarroti.In Irving Stone's classic work, both the artist and the man are brought to life in full, in a compelling portrait of his dangerous, impassioned loves and the God-driven fury from which her wrested the greatest art the world has ever known... ...more

Heikki Hietamies

Eero Vilenius matkustaa Ruotsiin sijais

All Fall Down

James Leo Herlihy

Clinton's family has a reputation. His father, once a barnstorming radical, is a drinking man now. His brother, Berry-berry, is a wild vagabond, not above running a brothel to keep himself going. Clinton has skipped school for 57 consecutive days, filling notebooks with overheard conversations and waiting for his brother to return.Then, one evening, Berry-berry does appear Clinton's family has a reputation. His father, once a barnstorming radical, is a drinking man now. His brother, Berry-berry, is a wild vagabond, not above running a brothel to keep himself going. Clinton has skipped school for 57 consecutive days, filling notebooks with overheard conversations and waiting for his brother to return.Then, one evening, Berry-berry does appear

Along Came a Spider

Alex Cross

1

James Patterson

The classic thriller that launched the Alex Cross series, the #1 detective series of the past twenty-five years! A missing little girl named Maggie Rose . . . a family of three brutally murdered in the projects of Washington, D.C. . . . the thrill-killing of a beautiful elementary school teacher . . . a psychopathic serial kidnapper/murderer who is so terrifying that the F The classic thriller that launched the Alex Cross series, the #1 detective series of the past twenty-five years! A missing little girl named Maggie Rose . . . a family of three brutally murdered in the projects of Washington, D.C. . . . the thrill-killing of a beautiful elementary school teacher . . . a psychopathic serial kidnapper/murderer who is so terrifying that the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police cannot outsmart him - even after he's been captured.Gary Soneji wants to commit the crime of the century. Alex Cross is the brilliant homicide detective pitted against him. Jezzie Flanagan is the first female supervisor of the Secret Service who completes one of the most unusual suspense triangles in any thriller you have ever read. Alex Cross and Jezzie Flanagan are about to have a forbidden love affair--at the worst possible time for both of them. Because Gary Soneji is playing at the top of his game. The latest of the unspeakable crimes happens in Alex Cross's precinct. It happens under the noses of Jezzie Flanagan's men. Now Alex Cross must face the ultimate test: How do you outmaneuver a brilliant psychopath ...more

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned

Socrates Fortlow

1

Walter Mosley

In this cycle of 14 bittersweet stories, Walter Mosley breaks out of the genre, if not the setting, of his bestselling Easy Rawlins detective novels. Only eight years after serving out a prison sentence for murder, Socrates Fortlow lives in a tiny, two room Watts apartment, where he cooks on a hot plate, scavenges for bottles, drinks, and wrestles with his demons. Struggli In this cycle of 14 bittersweet stories, Walter Mosley breaks out of the genre, if not the setting, of his bestselling Easy Rawlins detective novels. Only eight years after serving out a prison sentence for murder, Socrates Fortlow lives in a tiny, two room Watts apartment, where he cooks on a hot plate, scavenges for bottles, drinks, and wrestles with his demons. Struggling to control a seemingly boundless rage, as well as the power of his massive "rock breaking" hands, Socrates must find a way to live an honorable life as a black man on the margins of a white world, a task which takes every ounce of self-control he has. ...more

American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar

American Splendor

Harvey Pekar

Harvey Pekar is a true American original, known by many as the blue-collar Mark Twain. For over 25 years he's been writing comic books about his life, chronicling the ordinary and everyday in stories both funny and moving.This 320 page collection was issued on the heels of the film "American Splendor," and it includes material previously published in the first two collecte Harvey Pekar is a true American original, known by many as the blue-collar Mark Twain. For over 25 years he's been writing comic books about his life, chronicling the ordinary and everyday in stories both funny and moving.This 320 page collection was issued on the heels of the film "American Splendor," and it includes material previously published in the first two collected volumes in the American Splendor series. ...more

Anatomy of a Murder

Robert Traver

Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found hereFirst published by St. Martin's in 1958, Robert Traver's Anatomy of a Murder immediately became the number-one bestseller in America, and was subsequently turned into the successful and now classic Otto Preminger film. It is not only the most popular courtroom drama in American fiction, but one of the most popul Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found hereFirst published by St. Martin's in 1958, Robert Traver's Anatomy of a Murder immediately became the number-one bestseller in America, and was subsequently turned into the successful and now classic Otto Preminger film. It is not only the most popular courtroom drama in American fiction, but one of the most popular novels of our time.A gripping tale of deceit, murder, and a sensational trial, Anatomy of a Murder is unmatched in the authenticity of its settings, events, and characters. This new edition should delight both loyal fans of the past and an entire new generation of readers. ...more

And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie

First, there were ten

Anderson Tapes

Deadly Sins

1

Lawrence Sanders

With clockwork precision, Lawrence Sanders outlines the inspiration, planning and execution of an ambitious robbery of an apartment building on New York's Upper East Side in The Anderson Tapes, the best-selling thriller that established him as one of the most popular suspense writers of his generation. The premise is clever -- the entire story is told in surveillance tape With clockwork precision, Lawrence Sanders outlines the inspiration, planning and execution of an ambitious robbery of an apartment building on New York's Upper East Side in The Anderson Tapes, the best-selling thriller that established him as one of the most popular suspense writers of his generation. The premise is clever -- the entire story is told in surveillance tape transcripts and reports from law enforcement agencies, each of which seems to be observing some aspect of the situation in which the robbery takes place.John "Duke" Anderson was recently paroled from Sing Sing, after serving time on a charge of breaking and entering. A rich woman picks him up one evening and takes him back to her apartment, in a small but elegant building on the Upper East Side. Anderson is intrigued by the situation in the building, seeing it as a possible target for a large-scale robbery. He needs backing, though, and he gets it through his contacts with the underworld. What Anderson does not know is that much of what he is already doing is being captured as evidence through electronic surveillance. The catch is that the different entities doing the surveillance are not communicating with each other. The evidence is assembled and the puzzle solved, after the robbery takes place and ends violently, by NYPD Capt. Edward X. Delaney.The Anderson Tapes marks the first appearance in a Sanders novel of Delaney, a character who will be central to the author's Deadly Sin series of thrillers. Sanders brilliantly unfolds the story in short, fact-filled chapters constructed as police reports and tape transcripts, some of which are tantalizingly garbled. The Anderson Tapes won for Sanders the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar as the Best First Mystery Novel of 1970. ...more

The Andromeda Strain

Michael Crichton

Some biologists speculate that if we ever make contact with extraterrestrials, those life forms are likely to be--like most life on earth--one-celled or smaller creatures, more comparable to bacteria than little green men. Even tho such organisms wouldn't likely be able to harm humans, the possibility exists that 1st contact might be last. That's the scientific supposition Some biologists speculate that if we ever make contact with extraterrestrials, those life forms are likely to be--like most life on earth--one-celled or smaller creatures, more comparable to bacteria than little green men. Even tho such organisms wouldn't likely be able to harm humans, the possibility exists that 1st contact might be last. That's the scientific supposition that Michael Crichton formulates & follows to its conclusion in his excellent debut novel, The Andromeda Strain.A Nobel-Prize-winning bacteriologist, Jeremy Stone, urges the president to approve a decontamination facility to sterilize returning astronauts, satellites & spacecraft that might carry unknown biologic agents. The government agrees, almost too quickly, to build the top-secret Wildfire Lab in the desert of Nevada. Shortly thereafter, unbeknownst to Stone, the Army initiates the Scoop satellite program, an attempt to actively collect space pathogens for use in biological warfare. When Scoop VII crashes a couple years later in the isolated Arizona town of Piedmont, the Army ends up getting more than it asked for.The Andromeda Strain follows Stone & rest of the scientific team mobilized to react to the Scoop crash as they scramble to understand & contain a deadly outbreak. Crichton's 1st book written under his own name may be his best. It has an earnestness that is missing from his later, more calculated thrillers.--Paul Hughes (edited) ...more

Animal Farm

George Orwell

A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned

Anna to the Infinite Power

Mildred Ames

A 12-year-old math whiz accidentally learns the startling facts about her true identity and her role in an important secret experiment.

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables

1

L.M. Montgomery

As soon as Anne Shirley arrives at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she is sure she wants to stay forever . . . but will the Cuthberts send her back to to the orphanage Anne knows she's not what they expected

The Apple Dumpling Gang

Jack M. Bickham

About a group of orphaned children during the California gold rush.

Appointment with Death

Hercule Poirot

19

Agatha Christie

Among the towering red cliffs of Petra sits the corpse of Mrs Boynton, a tiny puncture mark on her wrist the only sign of what has killed her. Hercule Poirot has only 24 hours to solve the mystery.A tyrannical old martinet, a mental sadist and the incarnation of evil. These were only three of the character descriptions levelled at Mrs. Boynton, the matriarch who kept her f Among the towering red cliffs of Petra sits the corpse of Mrs Boynton, a tiny puncture mark on her wrist the only sign of what has killed her. Hercule Poirot has only 24 hours to solve the mystery.A tyrannical old martinet, a mental sadist and the incarnation of evil. These were only three of the character descriptions levelled at Mrs. Boynton, the matriarch who kept her family totally dependent on her. But did she really deserve to die on the excursion to beautiful Petra Hercule Poirot hears about the murder and feels compelled to investigate-despite the family's request not to do so. Do they have something to hide and, if so, can they keep it hidden from this master sleuth ...more

Appointment with Venus

Jerrard Tickell

In 1940, after the fall of France, the fictitious Channel Island of Armorel is occupied by a small garrison of German troops under the benign command of Hauptmann Weiss. He finds that the hereditary ruler, the Suzerain, is away in the army, leaving the Provost in charge.Back in London, the Ministry of Agriculture realise that during the evacuation of the island, Venus, a p In 1940, after the fall of France, the fictitious Channel Island of Armorel is occupied by a small garrison of German troops under the benign command of Hauptmann Weiss. He finds that the hereditary ruler, the Suzerain, is away in the army, leaving the Provost in charge.Back in London, the Ministry of Agriculture realise that during the evacuation of the island, Venus, a prize pedigree cow, has been left behind. They petition the War Office to do something urgently, and Major Morland is assigned the task of rescuing Venus. When he realises that the Suzerain's sister, Nicola Fallaize is in Wales, serving as an army cook, she is quickly posted to the War Office and the two, with a sergeant and a naval officer, are landed on the island... ...more

Armageddon 2419 A.D.

Buck Rogers

Philip Francis Nowlan

Elsewhere I have set down, for whatever interest they have in this, the 25th Century, my personal recollections of the 20th Century. Now it occurs to me that my memoirs of the 25th Century may have an equal interest 500 years from now

Arrowsmith

Sinclair Lewis

Originally published in 1925, after three years of anticipation, the book follows the life of Martin Arrowsmith, a rather ordinary fellow who gets his first taste of medicine at 14 as an assistant to the drunken physician in his home town.It is Leora Tozer who makes Martin's life extraordinary. With vitality and love, she urges him beyond the confines of the mundane to ris Originally published in 1925, after three years of anticipation, the book follows the life of Martin Arrowsmith, a rather ordinary fellow who gets his first taste of medicine at 14 as an assistant to the drunken physician in his home town.It is Leora Tozer who makes Martin's life extraordinary. With vitality and love, she urges him beyond the confines of the mundane to risk answering his true calling as a scientist and researcher. Not even her tragic death can extinguish her spirit or her impact on Martin's life.After years of work as a small town doctor and a research scientist, Arrowsmith heads for the West Indies with a serum to halt an epidemic. A tragic turn of events forces him to come to terms with his career and his personal life.As the son and grandson of physicians, Sinclair Lewis had a store of experiences and imparted knowledge to draw upon for Arrowsmith. ...more

Ascenseur Pour l'?chafaud

No

Un crime presque parfait qui tourne au cauchemar. Un homme coince dans un ascenseur. Une femme qui l'attend. Une longue nuit dans Paris. Un suspense magistralement adapte au cinema par Louis Malle dans un film devenu un classique.

Ask the Dust

The Saga of Arthur Bandini

3

John Fante

Ask the Dust is the story of Arturo Bandini, a young writer in 1930s Los Angeles who falls hard for the elusive, mocking, unstable Camilla Lopez, a Mexican waitress. Struggling to survive, he perseveres until, at last, his first novel is published. But the bright light of success is extinguished when Camilla has a nervous breakdown and disappears . . . and Bandini forever Ask the Dust is the story of Arturo Bandini, a young writer in 1930s Los Angeles who falls hard for the elusive, mocking, unstable Camilla Lopez, a Mexican waitress. Struggling to survive, he perseveres until, at last, his first novel is published. But the bright light of success is extinguished when Camilla has a nervous breakdown and disappears . . . and Bandini forever rejects the writer's life he fought so hard to attain. ...more

The Asphalt Jungle

W.R. Burnett

So successful in evoking [the city's] aura that the reader breathes the air of menace that emanates from its implacable personality and shivers at the unmistakeable evidence that blind chance plays a considerable part in determining the course of every life within the city's confines - New York TimesThe Asphalt Jungle is a gripping tale of the planning and execution of a j So successful in evoking [the city's] aura that the reader breathes the air of menace that emanates from its implacable personality and shivers at the unmistakeable evidence that blind chance plays a considerable part in determining the course of every life within the city's confines - New York TimesThe Asphalt Jungle is a gripping tale of the planning and execution of a jewellery store heist in a dark and corrupt Midwestern metropolis. Set amid a seedy urban wasteland of crooks, killers and con-artists, the various members of the gang are steadily undone by personal obsessions, double-crossing and cruel fate.First published in 1949, W.R. Burnett's hardboiled classic was made into the definitive heist movie by John Huston in 1950, starring Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe and Marilyn Monroe. Its screenplay, co-written by Huston was nominated for an Oscar.A master and pioneer of the gangster genre, W.R. Burnett is the author of over thirty novels - including Little Caesar and High Sierra - and sixty screenplays. He was twice nominated for Academy Awards. ...more

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Ron Hansen

One of the great classic tales of The Great American West...IT IS 1881. Jesse James, at the age of 34, is at the height of his fame and powers as a singularly successful outlaw. Robert Ford is the skittish younger brother of one of the James gang: he has made himself an expert on the gang, but his particular interest - his obsession - is Jesse James himself. Both drawn to One of the great classic tales of The Great American West...IT IS 1881. Jesse James, at the age of 34, is at the height of his fame and powers as a singularly successful outlaw. Robert Ford is the skittish younger brother of one of the James gang: he has made himself an expert on the gang, but his particular interest - his obsession - is Jesse James himself. Both drawn to him and frightened of him, the nineteen-year-old is uncertain whether he wants to serve James or destroy him or, somehow, become him.Never have these two men been portrayed and their saga explored with such poetry, such grim precision and such raw-boned feeling as Ron Hansen has brought to this masterful retelling.'Wonderful. This is great storytelling, not undermined by our knowin how it turns out. The reader is driven - by story and by language and by history... the best blend of fiction and history I've read in a long while!' -- John Irving, author of The World According to Garp ...more

L'Assommoir

Les Rougon-Macquart

7

The seventh novel in the Rougon-Macquart cycle, L'Assommoir (1877) is the story of a woman's struggle for happiness in working-class Paris. At the center of the story stands Gervaise, who starts her own laundry and for a time makes a success of it. But her husband soon squanders her earnings in the Assommoir, a local drinking spot, and gradually the pair sink into poverty The seventh novel in the Rougon-Macquart cycle, L'Assommoir (1877) is the story of a woman's struggle for happiness in working-class Paris. At the center of the story stands Gervaise, who starts her own laundry and for a time makes a success of it. But her husband soon squanders her earnings in the Assommoir, a local drinking spot, and gradually the pair sink into poverty and squalor. L'Assommoir was a contemporary bestseller, outraged conservative critics, and launched a passionate debate about the legitimate scope of modern literature. This new translation captures not only the brutality but the pathos of its characters' lives. ...more

Asylum

Patrick McGrath

Patrick McGrath has created his most psychologically penetrating vision to date: a nightmare world rocked to its foundations by a passion of such force and intensity that it shatters the lives--and minds--of all who are touched by it.Stella Raphael, a woman of great beauty and formidable intelligence, is married to Max, a staid and unimaginative forensic psychiatrist. Max Patrick McGrath has created his most psychologically penetrating vision to date: a nightmare world rocked to its foundations by a passion of such force and intensity that it shatters the lives--and minds--of all who are touched by it.Stella Raphael, a woman of great beauty and formidable intelligence, is married to Max, a staid and unimaginative forensic psychiatrist. Max has taken a job in a huge top-security mental hospital in rural England, and Stella, far from London society, finds herself restless and bored. Into her lonely existence comes Edgar Stark, a brilliant sculptor confined to the hospital after killing his wife in a psychotic rage. He comes to Stella's garden to rebuild an old Victorian conservatory there, and Stella cannot ignore her overwhelming physical attraction to this desperate man. Their explosive affair pits them against Stella's husband, her child, and the entire institution. When the crisis comes to a head, Stella makes a decision--one that will destroy several lives and precipitate an appalling tragedy that could only be fueled by illicit sexual love.Asylum is a terrifying exploration of the extremes to which erotic obsession can drive us. Patrick McGrath brings his own dazzling blend of cool artistry and visceral engagement to this mesmerizing story of a fatal love and its unspeakably tragic aftermath. And in Stella Raphael, a woman who tears down the walls of her constricted existence to pursue a dangerous passion, he has created a character who will long be remembered for her willingness to take the ultimate risk, even if she must pay the ultimate price. ...more

At the Earth's Core

Pellucidar

1

Edgar Rice Burroughs

This eBook features the unabridged text of

Journey to the Center of the Earth (Extraordinary Voyages, #3)

Jules Verne

The intrepid Professor Liedenbrock embarks upon the strangest expedition of the nineteenth century: a journey down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the Earth's very core. In his quest to penetrate the planet's primordial secrets, the geologist--together with his quaking nephew Axel and their devoted guide, Hans--discovers an astonishing subterranean menagerie of prehistoric The intrepid Professor Liedenbrock embarks upon the strangest expedition of the nineteenth century: a journey down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the Earth's very core. In his quest to penetrate the planet's primordial secrets, the geologist--together with his quaking nephew Axel and their devoted guide, Hans--discovers an astonishing subterranean menagerie of prehistoric proportions. Verne's imaginative tale is at once the ultimate science fiction adventure and a reflection on the perfectibility of human understanding and the psychology of the questor. ...more

Atonement

Ian McEwan

Atonement is Ian McEwan's ninth novel and his first since the Booker Prize-winning Amsterdam in 1998. But whereas Amsterdam was a slim, sleek piece, Atonement is a more sturdy, ambitious work, allowing McEwan more room to play, think and experiment. We meet 13-year-old Briony Tallis in the summer of 1935, as she attempts to stage a production of her new drama The Trials of Atonement is Ian McEwan's ninth novel and his first since the Booker Prize-winning Amsterdam in 1998. But whereas Amsterdam was a slim, sleek piece, Atonement is a more sturdy, ambitious work, allowing McEwan more room to play, think and experiment. We meet 13-year-old Briony Tallis in the summer of 1935, as she attempts to stage a production of her new drama The Trials of Arabella to welcome home her elder, idolised brother Leon. But she soon discovers that her cousins, the glamorous Lola and the twin boys Jackson and Pierrot, aren't up to the task, and directorial ambitions are abandoned as more interesting preoccupations come onto the scene. The charlady's son Robbie Turner appears to be forcing Briony's sister Cecilia to strip in the Fountain and sends her obscene letters; Leon has brought home a dim chocolate magnate keen for a war to promote his new "Army Amo" bar; and upstairs Briony's migraine-stricken mother Emily keeps tabs on the house from her bed. Soon, secrets emerge that change the lives of everyone present... The interwar upper-middle-class setting of the book's long, masterfully sustained opening section might recall Virginia Woolf or Henry Green, but as we move forward--eventually to the turn of the 21st century--the novel's central concerns emerge, and McEwan's voice becomes clear, even personal. For at heart, Atonement is about the pleasures, pains and dangers of writing, and perhaps even more, about the challenge of controlling what readers make of your writing. McEwan shouldn't have any doubts about readers of Atonement: this is a thoughtful, provocative and at times moving book that will have readers applauding.--Alan Stewart ...more

Avalon High

Avalon High

1

Meg Cabot

To newcomer Ellie, Avalon High seems like a typical American high school, complete with jocks, nerds, cheerleaders, and even the obligatory senior class president, quarterback, and all-around good guy. But it doesn't take Ellie long to suspect that something weird is going on beneath the glossy surface of this tranquil hall of learning. As she pieces together the meaning o To newcomer Ellie, Avalon High seems like a typical American high school, complete with jocks, nerds, cheerleaders, and even the obligatory senior class president, quarterback, and all-around good guy. But it doesn't take Ellie long to suspect that something weird is going on beneath the glossy surface of this tranquil hall of learning. As she pieces together the meaning of this unfolding drama, she begins to recognize some haunting Arthurian echoes, causing her to worry that she has become just a pawn in mythic history. A powerful novel by the author of The Princess Diaries. ...more

Babylon Babies

Maurice G. Dantec

In a futuristic thriller, a veteran of Sarajevo must escort a young woman pregnant with a mutant embryo, a genetically modified messiah whose birth may signal the end of human life as we know it.A cult novel in France, this sci-fi thriller is now being made into a movie by Mathieu Kassovitz. Set in the hidden "flesh and chip" breeding grounds of the first cyborg communitie In a futuristic thriller, a veteran of Sarajevo must escort a young woman pregnant with a mutant embryo, a genetically modified messiah whose birth may signal the end of human life as we know it.A cult novel in France, this sci-fi thriller is now being made into a movie by Mathieu Kassovitz. Set in the hidden "flesh and chip" breeding grounds of the first cyborg communities and peopled by Serbian Mafiosi, Babylon Babies has as its hero a hard-boiled leatherneck veteran of Sarajevo named Thoorop who is hired by a mysterious source to escort a young woman named Marie Zorn from Russia to Canada. A garden variety job, he figures. But when Thoorop is offered an even higher fee by another organization, he realizes Marie is no ordinary girl. A schizophrenic and the possible carrier of a new artificial virus, Marie is carrying a mutant embryo created by an American cult that dreams of producing a genetically modified messiah, a dream that spells out the end of human life as we know it.Inspired by Philip K. Dick, William S. Burroughs, Gilles Deleuze, and other extrapolationists of the future, Babylon Babies unfolds at breakneck speed as Thoorop risks his life to save Marie, whose brain--linking to the neuromatrix--loses all limits and becomes the universe itself. Exploring the symbiosis between organic matter and computer power to spin new forms of consciousness, Maurice Dantec rides Nietzsche's prophecy: "Man is something to be overcome." ...more

Back When We Were Grownups

Anne Tyler

"Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered that she had turned into the wrong person." So Anne Tyler opens this irresistible new novel. The woman is Rebecca Davitch, a fifty-three-year-old grandmother. Is she an impostor in her own life she asks herself. Is it indeed her own life Or is it someone else

Background to Danger

Eric Ambler

Kenton's career as a journalist depended on his facility with languages, his knowledge of European politics, and his quick judgment. Where his judgment sometimes failed him was in his personal life. When he finds himself on a train bound for Austria with insufficient funds after a bad night of gambling, he jumps at the chance to earn a fee to help a refugee smuggle securit Kenton's career as a journalist depended on his facility with languages, his knowledge of European politics, and his quick judgment. Where his judgment sometimes failed him was in his personal life. When he finds himself on a train bound for Austria with insufficient funds after a bad night of gambling, he jumps at the chance to earn a fee to help a refugee smuggle securities across the border. He soon discovers that the documents he holds have a more than monetary value, and that European politics has more twists and turns than the most convoluted newspaper account. ...more

The Bad Seed

William March

Now reissued

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress : A Novel

Dai Sijie

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress : A Novel

The Barefoot Mailman

Theodore Pratt

When the great Florida Boom was just a dream....The time was the 1880's -when Miami was little more than a mangrove swamp, Palm Beach was still looking for a name, dangerous beachcombers threatened respectable folk, and whole communities could live off goods from storm-wrecked ships thrown up by the waves.It was in this rough and ready Florida that young Steven Pierton too When the great Florida Boom was just a dream....The time was the 1880's -when Miami was little more than a mangrove swamp, Palm Beach was still looking for a name, dangerous beachcombers threatened respectable folk, and whole communities could live off goods from storm-wrecked ships thrown up by the waves.It was in this rough and ready Florida that young Steven Pierton took the job of "barefoot mailman" -carrying letters barefoot over 100 miles of gleaming white sand between Jupiter Lighthouse and Miami, trying to cope with the elusive, enticing girl called Adie and fighting to thwart the schemes of the unscrupulous land spectator, Sylvanus Hurley. ...more

Battle Cry

Leon Uris

Battle Cry is the riveting Marine epic by the bestselling author of such classics as Trinity and Exodus.Originally published in 1953, Leon Uris's Battle Cry is the raw and exciting story of men at war from a legendary American author.This is the story of enlisted men

The Battle of the Villa Fiorita

Rumer Godden

Two English children travel to Italy to rescue their wayward mother from her lover and save their family in this New York Times

Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000

L. Ron Hubbard

Suspense, politics, war, humor and intergalactic finance. A towering masterwork of science fiction adventure and one of the best-selling science fiction novels of all time, L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth opens with breathtaking scope on an Earth dominated for 1,000 years by an alien invader and man is an endangered species. From the handful of surviving humans a courag Suspense, politics, war, humor and intergalactic finance. A towering masterwork of science fiction adventure and one of the best-selling science fiction novels of all time, L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth opens with breathtaking scope on an Earth dominated for 1,000 years by an alien invader and man is an endangered species. From the handful of surviving humans a courageous leader emerges Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, who challenges the invincible might of the alien Psychlo empire in a battle of epic scale, danger and intrigue with the fate of the Earth and of the universe in the tenuous balance. "A terrific story."

Be Cool

Chili Palmer

2

Elmore Leonard

BE COOL offers a second entertaining installment in the career of Chili Palmer - originally a Miami loan-shark but now a big-shot in Hollywood. Chili gets interested in the music business acting for a girl-singer with a lot of soul. Trouble is, everything that happens to Chili strikes him as being material for another great movie ...

Be Ready with Bells and Drums

Elizabeth Kata

An old Chinese poem gives the title to Elizabeth Kata's first novel, in which she gives an Australian accent to the story of a blind Cinderella.

The Beach

Alex Garland

The Khao San Road, Bangkok - first stop on the backpacker trail. On Richard's first night there a fellow traveller slits his wrists, leaving Richard a map to "the Beach".The Beach is a legend among young travellers in Asia: white as sands circling a lagoon hidden from the sea, coral gardens and freshwater falls surrounded by jungle. In this earthly paradise, it is rumoured The Khao San Road, Bangkok - first stop on the backpacker trail. On Richard's first night there a fellow traveller slits his wrists, leaving Richard a map to "the Beach".The Beach is a legend among young travellers in Asia: white as sands circling a lagoon hidden from the sea, coral gardens and freshwater falls surrounded by jungle. In this earthly paradise, it is rumoured, a select community lives in blissful innocence. For Richard, haunted by the glamour of Vietnam war movies, a trek into unknown Thai territory is irresistible. He was looking for adventure. Now he

Beast Master

Beast Master / Hosteen Storm

1

Andre Norton

Left homeless by the war that reduced Terra to a radioactive cinder, Hosteen Storm Navaho commando and master of beasts is drawn to the planet Arzor, to kill a man he has never met.On that dangerous frontier world, aliens and human colonists share the land in an uneasy truce. But something is upsetting the balance, and Storm is caught in the middle. He had thought the war Left homeless by the war that reduced Terra to a radioactive cinder, Hosteen Storm Navaho commando and master of beasts is drawn to the planet Arzor, to kill a man he has never met.On that dangerous frontier world, aliens and human colonists share the land in an uneasy truce. But something is upsetting the balance, and Storm is caught in the middle. He had thought the war was over but was it

Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures

1

Kami Garcia

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. ...more

Bedelia

Vera Caspary

Long before Desperate Housewives, there was Bedelia: pretty, ultra femme, and

Bee Season

Myla Goldberg

Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness.

Behind That Curtain

Charlie Chan

3

Earl Derr Biggers

The third novel in the Charlie Chan series.set almost exclusively in California (as opposed to Chan's native Hawaii), and tells the story of the former head of Scotland Yard, a detective who is pursuing the long-cold trail of a murderer. Fifteen years ago, a London solicitor was killed in circumstances in which the only clue was a pair of Chinese slippers, which he apparen The third novel in the Charlie Chan series.set almost exclusively in California (as opposed to Chan's native Hawaii), and tells the story of the former head of Scotland Yard, a detective who is pursuing the long-cold trail of a murderer. Fifteen years ago, a London solicitor was killed in circumstances in which the only clue was a pair of Chinese slippers, which he apparently donned just before his death. Sir Frederic Bruce has been following the trail of the killer ever since. He has also been interested in what appears to be a series of disappearing women around the world, which has some connection to the disappearance of a woman named Eve Durand in rural India also fifteen years ago. Just when it seems he might finally solve the murder case, at a dinner party to which a number of important and mysterious guests have been invited, Inspector Bruce is killed -- and was last seen wearing a pair of Chinese slippers, which have vanished. It is left to Chan to solve the case and tie up all loose ends. ...more

Being There

Jerzy Kosi?ski

A modern classic now available from Grove Press, Being There is one of the most popular and significant works from a writer of international stature. It is the story of Chauncey Gardiner - Chance, an enigmatic but distinguished man who emerges from nowhere to become an heir to the throne of a Wall Street tycoon, a presidential policy adviser, and a media icon. Truly "a man A modern classic now available from Grove Press, Being There is one of the most popular and significant works from a writer of international stature. It is the story of Chauncey Gardiner - Chance, an enigmatic but distinguished man who emerges from nowhere to become an heir to the throne of a Wall Street tycoon, a presidential policy adviser, and a media icon. Truly "a man without qualities," Chance's straightforward responses to popular concerns are heralded as visionary. But though everyone is quoting him, no one is sure what he's really saying. And filling in the blanks in his background proves impossible. Being There is a brilliantly satiric look at the unreality of American media culture that is, if anything, more trenchant now than ever. ...more

Bel-Ami

Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant's scandalous tale of an opportunistic young man corrupted by the allure of power, "Bel-Ami" is translated with an introduction by Douglas Parmee in "Penguin Classics". Young, attractive and very ambitious, George Duroy, known to his admirers as Bel-Ami, is offered a job as a journalist on La Vie francaise and soon makes a great success of his new career. Guy de Maupassant's scandalous tale of an opportunistic young man corrupted by the allure of power, "Bel-Ami" is translated with an introduction by Douglas Parmee in "Penguin Classics". Young, attractive and very ambitious, George Duroy, known to his admirers as Bel-Ami, is offered a job as a journalist on La Vie francaise and soon makes a great success of his new career. But he also comes face to face with the realities of the corrupt society in which he lives - the sleazy colleagues, the manipulative mistresses and wily financiers - and swiftly learns to become an arch-seducer, blackmailer and social climber in a world where love is only a means to an end. Written when Maupassant was at the height of his powers, "Bel-Ami" is a novel of great frankness and cynicism, but it is also infused with the sheer joy of life - depicting the scenes and characters of Paris in the belle epoque with wit, sensitivity, and humanity. Douglas Parmee's translation captures all the vigour and vitality of Maupassant's novel. His introduction explores the similarities between Bel-Ami and Maupassant himself and demonstrates the skill with which the author depicts his large cast of characters and the French society of the Third Republic. ...more

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Lew Wallace

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880) by Lew Wallace is one of the most popular and beloved 19th century American novels. This faithful New Testament tale combines the events of the life of Jesus with grand historical spectacle in the exciting story of Judah of the House of Hur, a man who finds extraordinary redemption for himself and his family.A classic of faith, fortitud Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880) by Lew Wallace is one of the most popular and beloved 19th century American novels. This faithful New Testament tale combines the events of the life of Jesus with grand historical spectacle in the exciting story of Judah of the House of Hur, a man who finds extraordinary redemption for himself and his family.A classic of faith, fortitude, and inspiration. ...more

La B

Les Rougon-Macquart

17

Mas Alla del Silencio

A.J. Cronin

Lara, hija de sordos, hace de int

Bhowani Junction

The Savage Family Chronicles

7

John Masters

John Masters evokes the tensions and conflicts that accompanied the birth of modern India in his classic novel Bhowani Junction. Set in the late 1940's in the wake of partition it has become one of the great novels of India, alongside E.M. Forster's A Passage to India and the work of Paul Scott and Salman Rushdie. In the last hectic days of the British Raj, as the British John Masters evokes the tensions and conflicts that accompanied the birth of modern India in his classic novel Bhowani Junction. Set in the late 1940's in the wake of partition it has become one of the great novels of India, alongside E.M. Forster's A Passage to India and the work of Paul Scott and Salman Rushdie. In the last hectic days of the British Raj, as the British prepare to withdraw from India, Victoria has to choose between marrying a British Army officer or a Sikh, Ranjit, as she struggles to find her place in the new India that is emerging. ...more

Bid Time Return

Richard Matheson

Like What Dreams May Come, which inspired the movie starring Robin Williams, Somewhere in Time is the powerful story of a love that transcends time and space, written by one of the Grand Masters of modern fantasy.Matheson's classic novel tells the moving, romantic story of a modern man whose love for a woman he has never met draws him back in time to a luxury hotel in San Like What Dreams May Come, which inspired the movie starring Robin Williams, Somewhere in Time is the powerful story of a love that transcends time and space, written by one of the Grand Masters of modern fantasy.Matheson's classic novel tells the moving, romantic story of a modern man whose love for a woman he has never met draws him back in time to a luxury hotel in San Diego in 1896, where he finds his soul mate in the form of a celebrated actress of the previous century. Somewhere in Time won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and the 1979 movie version, starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, remains a cult classic whose fans continue to hold yearly conventions to this day. ...more

The Big Bounce

Jack Ryan

1

Elmore Leonard

Jack Ryan always wanted to play pro ball. But he couldn't hit a curveball, so he turned his attention to less legal pursuits. A tough guy who likes walking the razor's edge, he's just met his match -- and more -- in Nancy. She's a rich man's plaything, seriously into thrills and risk, and together she and Jack are pure heat ready to explode. But when simple housebreaking a Jack Ryan always wanted to play pro ball. But he couldn't hit a curveball, so he turned his attention to less legal pursuits. A tough guy who likes walking the razor's edge, he's just met his match -- and more -- in Nancy. She's a rich man's plaything, seriously into thrills and risk, and together she and Jack are pure heat ready to explode. But when simple housebreaking and burglary give way to the deadly pursuit of a really big score, the stakes suddenly skyrocket. Because violence and double-cross are the name of this game -- and it's going to take every ounce of cunning Jack and Nancy possess to survive . . . each other. ...more

Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions

Daniel Wallace

In his prime, Edward Bloom was an extraordinary man. He could outrun anybody. He never missed a day of school. He saved lives and tamed giants. Animals loved him, people loved him, women loved him. He knew more jokes than any man alive. At least that

Big Red

Big Red

1

Jim Kjelgaard

From the moment Danny sees the beautiful Irish setter, he knows Red is the dog for him.

The Big Sleep

Philip Marlowe

1

Raymond Chandler

"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid....He is the hero; he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. This is the Code of the Private Eye as defined by Raymond Chandler in his 1944 essay 'The Simple Act of Murder.' Such a man was Philip Marlowe, private eye, an educated, h "Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid....He is the hero; he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. This is the Code of the Private Eye as defined by Raymond Chandler in his 1944 essay 'The Simple Act of Murder.' Such a man was Philip Marlowe, private eye, an educated, heroic, streetwise, rugged individualist and the hero of Chandler's first novel, The Big Sleep. This work established Chandler as the master of the 'hard-boiled' detective novel, and his articulate and literary style of writing won him a large audience, which ranged from the man in the street to the most sophisticated intellectual. Marlowe subsequently appeared in a series of extremely popular novels, among them The Lady in the Lake, The Long Goodbye, and Farewell, My Lovely." ~ Elizabeth Diefendorf, editor, The New York Public Library's Books of the Century, p. 112.Selected as one of Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Novels, with the following review: "'I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be.' This sentence, from the first paragraph of The Big Sleep, marks the last time you can be fully confident that you know what's going on. The first novel by Raymond Chandler at the age of 51. ...more

Billion Dollar Brain

Secret File

4

Len Deighton

The classic thriller of a lethal computer age and a maniac's private cold war

Harp of Burma

Michio Takeyama

Harp of Burma is Japan's haunting answer to Germany's famous requiem for the First World War, All Quiet on the Western Front.Winner of the prestigious Mainichi Shuppan Bunkasho prize and the subject of an acclaimed film by Ichikawa Kon, Harp of Burma portrays a company of Japanese troops who are losing a desperate campaign against British forces in the tropical jungles of Harp of Burma is Japan's haunting answer to Germany's famous requiem for the First World War, All Quiet on the Western Front.Winner of the prestigious Mainichi Shuppan Bunkasho prize and the subject of an acclaimed film by Ichikawa Kon, Harp of Burma portrays a company of Japanese troops who are losing a desperate campaign against British forces in the tropical jungles of Burma. The young soldiers discover that the trials of war involve more than just opposing the enemy. The alien climate and terrain, the strange behavior of foreigners, the constant struggle to overcome homesickness and nostalgia, and the emotions stirred by the senselessness of war

Poor Little Bitch Girl

Lucky Santangelo

7

Jackie Collins

Three twenty-something women, one hot rich guy, two mega movie stars, and a devastating murder. Poor Little Bitch Girl has it all.Denver Jones is a hotshot twenty-something attorney working in L.A. Carolyn Henderson is a personal assistant to a powerful and very married senator in Washington with whom she is having an affair. And Annabelle Maestro

Lunes de fiel

Pascal Bruckner

Roman koji se bavi problematikom izjalovljene i pora

Black Alibi

Cornell Woolrich

It begins as a publicity stunt: a singer parading a jaguar on a leash. But then the killer cat escapes into the heart of a large South American city and soon a woman is found torn to death. As the police search for the deadly jaguar, one man looks deeper--for a creature more terrible than any jungle beast...

The Black Angel

Cornell Woolrich

Woolrich devised and used instruments of psychological torture-his stories.-TIME Nothing beats a tale of fatalistic dread by the supreme master of suspense, Cornell Woolrich.-The New York Times A novel as hypnotic as it is suspenseful, its atmosphere haunting, its shadows long, this intimate thriller by past master of noir fiction Cornell Woolrich delivers its unfailing an Woolrich devised and used instruments of psychological torture-his stories.-TIME Nothing beats a tale of fatalistic dread by the supreme master of suspense, Cornell Woolrich.-The New York Times A novel as hypnotic as it is suspenseful, its atmosphere haunting, its shadows long, this intimate thriller by past master of noir fiction Cornell Woolrich delivers its unfailing angel from her waking nightmare into a chillingly impossible dream. From the 1930s until his death in 1968, Cornell Woolrich riveted the reading public with his pulp noir. Classic films like Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window earned Woolrich the epithet the twentieth century's Edgar Allan Poe. ...more

The Black Arrow

Robert Louis Stevenson

From the beloved author of Treasure Island Originally serialized in a periodical of boys' adventure fiction, The Black Arrow is a swashbuckling portrait of a young man's journey to discover the heroism within himself. Young Dick Shelton, caught in the midst of England's War of the Roses, finds his loyalties torn between the guardian who will ultimately betray him and the l From the beloved author of Treasure Island Originally serialized in a periodical of boys' adventure fiction, The Black Arrow is a swashbuckling portrait of a young man's journey to discover the heroism within himself. Young Dick Shelton, caught in the midst of England's War of the Roses, finds his loyalties torn between the guardian who will ultimately betray him and the leader of a secret fellowship, The Black Arrow. As Shelton is drawn deeper into this conspiracy, he must distinguish friend from foe and confront war, shipwreck, revenge, murder, and forbidden love, as England's crown threatens to topple around him. ...more

Black Beauty

Anna Sewell

Black Beauty spends his youth in a loving home, surrounded by friends and cared for by his owners. But when circumstances change, he learns that not all humans are so kind. Passed from hand to hand, Black Beauty witnesses love and cruelty, wealth and poverty, friendship and hardship . . . Will the handsome horse ever find a happy and lasting home Carefully retold in clear Black Beauty spends his youth in a loving home, surrounded by friends and cared for by his owners. But when circumstances change, he learns that not all humans are so kind. Passed from hand to hand, Black Beauty witnesses love and cruelty, wealth and poverty, friendship and hardship . . . Will the handsome horse ever find a happy and lasting home Carefully retold in clear contemporary language, and presented with delightful illustrations, these favorite classic stories capture the heart and imagination of young readers. By retelling the story in a shorter, simpler form, these books become highly engaging for children, and the color illustrations help with both comprehension and interest level. Black Beauty is part of a collectible series that has strong gift appeal. ...more

The Black Dahlia

L.A. Quartet

1

James Ellroy

On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia-and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history.Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsess On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia-and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history.Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia-driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead girl's twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches-into a region of total madness. ...more

Black Narcissus

Rumer Godden

In the days when it was the General's 'harem' palace, ladies with their retinues and rich clothes could be seen walking on the high windy terraces. At night, music floated out over villages and gorges far into the early hours. Now the General's son has bestowed it upon the disciplined Sisters of Mary. Beginning work in the orchards and opening a school and a dispensary for In the days when it was the General's 'harem' palace, ladies with their retinues and rich clothes could be seen walking on the high windy terraces. At night, music floated out over villages and gorges far into the early hours. Now the General's son has bestowed it upon the disciplined Sisters of Mary. Beginning work in the orchards and opening a school and a dispensary for the mountain people, the small band of Sisters are depended for help on the English agent, Mr Dean. But his charm and insolent candour are disconcerting. When he says bluntly 'This is no place for a nunnery', it is as if he already knows their destiny ... ...more

The Black Path of Fear

Cornell Woolrich

The Black Path of Fear (1944) tells of a man who runs away to Havana with an American gangster's wife, followed by the vengeful husband, who kills the woman and frames her lover, leaving him a stranger in a strange land, menaced on all sides and fighting for his life.

The Blackboard Jungle

Evan Hunter

This "nightmarish but authentic" ("Time") portrait of a high school English teacher and the defiant, uncontrollable students in his charge rings with ferocious urgency and harrowing realism. A timeless rendering of youth culture set against the backdrop of 1950s New York City, "The Blackboard Jungle" speaks powerfully to the alarming epidemic of violence and security issue This "nightmarish but authentic" ("Time") portrait of a high school English teacher and the defiant, uncontrollable students in his charge rings with ferocious urgency and harrowing realism. A timeless rendering of youth culture set against the backdrop of 1950s New York City, "The Blackboard Jungle" speaks powerfully to the alarming epidemic of violence and security issues in today's schools. ...more

Bless the Beasts and Children

Glendon Swarthout

Enriched with detailed notes and commentary, Glendon Swarthout

Blood on the Moon

Luke Short

When a Texas gunman finds out his latest job is part of one big double cross, he swaps sides to save a family in peril

The Body

Richard Ben Sapir

IN A WORLD WHERE THE WORLD'S POWERS ARE LOCKED IN STRUGGLE, THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL WEAPON IS ABOUT TO BE UNVEILED . . . Jon Folan, a priest, a Vietnam vet, and a man of unshakable faith is chosen by the Pope for a frightening, lonely mission. In Jerusalem, a beautiful young archaeologist uncovers the ancient skeleton of a man and an Aramaic inscription which reads MELEK IN A WORLD WHERE THE WORLD'S POWERS ARE LOCKED IN STRUGGLE, THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL WEAPON IS ABOUT TO BE UNVEILED . . . Jon Folan, a priest, a Vietnam vet, and a man of unshakable faith is chosen by the Pope for a frightening, lonely mission. In Jerusalem, a beautiful young archaeologist uncovers the ancient skeleton of a man and an Aramaic inscription which reads MELEK YEHUDAYAI King of the Jews. In the sun-seared land where men pray and kill, under the suspicious eyes of the Vatican, the United States, the Soviets, and the Israeli government, Folan is plunged into a world of doubt, intrigue, and temptation. He's a man fighting for his faith, for a woman, and for a dangerous truth . . . a truth that could shock the soul of millions and change the world forever. ...more

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Jack Finney

On a quiet fall evening in the small, peaceful town of Mill Valley, California, Dr. Miles Bennell discovered an insidious, horrifying plot. Silently, subtly, almost imperceptibly, alien life-forms were taking over the bodies and minds of his neighbors, his friends, his family, the woman he loved

Bonjour tristesse

Fran

La villa est magnifique, l'

Boogiepop And Others

Boogiepop

1

Kouhei Kadono

There is an urban legend that children tell one another about a shinigami that can release people from the pain they may be suffering. This "Angel of Death" has a name--Boogiepop. And the legends are true. Boogiepop is real.Told in a non-linear fashion that asks the reader to piece together the sequence of events to solve the mysteries alongside the characters, Kouhei Kado There is an urban legend that children tell one another about a shinigami that can release people from the pain they may be suffering. This "Angel of Death" has a name--Boogiepop. And the legends are true. Boogiepop is real.Told in a non-linear fashion that asks the reader to piece together the sequence of events to solve the mysteries alongside the characters, Kouhei Kadono's first Boogiepop novel took First Place in Media Works' Dengeki Game Novel Contest in 1997 and ignited the Japanese "light novel" trend. Today, there are over 2 million Boogiepop novels in print, a feature film and manga adaptation based on the first book, an original manga entitled Boogiepop Dual, and the unforgettable original anime series Boogiepop Phantom. ...more

The Bostonians

Henry James

This brilliant satire of the women

The Bourne Ultimatum

Jason Bourne

3

Robert Ludlum

The world's two deadliest spies in the ultimate showdown. At a small-town carnival two men, each mysteriously summoned by telegram, witness a bizarre killing. The telegrams are signed Jason Bourne. Only they know Bourne's true identity and understand the telegram is really a message from Bourne's mortal enemy, Carlos, known also as the Jackal, the world's deadliest and mos The world's two deadliest spies in the ultimate showdown. At a small-town carnival two men, each mysteriously summoned by telegram, witness a bizarre killing. The telegrams are signed Jason Bourne. Only they know Bourne's true identity and understand the telegram is really a message from Bourne's mortal enemy, Carlos, known also as the Jackal, the world's deadliest and most elusive terrorist. And furthermore, they know that the Jackal wants: a final confrontation with Bourne.Now David Webb, professor of Oriental studies, husband, and father, must do what he hoped he would never have to do again

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

John Boyne

The story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bru The story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. We hope you never have to cross such a fence. ...more

The Brave Little Toaster

The Brave Little Toaster

1

Thomas M. Disch

Feeling abandoned by their beloved master, a vacuum cleaner, tensor lamp, electric blanket, clock radio, and toaster undertake a long and arduous journey to find him in a faraway city.

The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars

The Brave Little Toaster

2

Thomas M. Disch

From Publishers WeeklyReaders may have believed that all that could be said about a band of loyal appliances was stated with electrifying eloquence in The Brave Little Toaster. But there is new territory to cover with old friends like the AM radio and new: a ceiling fan, an electric blanket and a microwave among them, as well as a hearing aid handmade by Albert Einstein. T From Publishers WeeklyReaders may have believed that all that could be said about a band of loyal appliances was stated with electrifying eloquence in The Brave Little Toaster. But there is new territory to cover with old friends like the AM radio and new: a ceiling fan, an electric blanket and a microwave among them, as well as a hearing aid handmade by Albert Einstein. They all head to Mars after learning that there resides a force of warring appliances with plans to invade Earth. The toaster simply and persuasively speaks of peace to the planet's inhabitants and is elected president (a reign which lasts only until he returns to Earth). What is Disch talking about Perhaps it doesn't matter, for while he seems to be amusing himself, much of what he writes will entertain readers, too. The epic elements will more than appease those awaiting this sequel, but the most exuberantly funny scenes are those in which the appliances while away the time with their distinctive brand of gossip. Ages 10-up.Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.From School Library JournalGrade 5 Up Like The Brave Little Toaster (Doubleday, 1986), this satiric sequel in which the toaster and his appliance friends journey to Mars to save the world will have more adult than child appeal. Rogue appliances on Mars are planning to invade the earth, destroy mankind, and end the horrors of planned obsolescence. Through heroic efforts and the electoral process, the rogue appliances are convinced to explore space instead. While children could easily read the brief adventure story, few will understand or appreciate Disch's parody of science fiction formulae and his manipulation of Einstein's theories. Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public LibraryCopyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. ...more

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley

Brave New World is a dystopian novel written in 1931 by English author Aldous Huxley, and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State of genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning Brave New World is a dystopian novel written in 1931 by English author Aldous Huxley, and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State of genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that are combined to make a utopian society that goes challenged only by a single outsider. ...more

Breakfast Of Champions

Kurt Vonnegut

"We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane." So reads the tombstone of downtrodden writer Kilgore Trout, but we have no doubt who's really talking: his alter ego Kurt Vonnegut. Health versus sickness, humanity versus inhumanity

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones

1

Helen Fielding

Meet Bridget Jones