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Alien Secrets | null | null | The story revolves around a human female character named Puck. After being expelled from a boarding school on earth, Puck is returned to her home planet, Aurora, where parents await her arrival. While aboard the spacecraft she unexpectedly befriends an alien named Hush. Hush is desperately searching for a sacred artifact that has been stolen from him. The relic is of great importance, not only to Hush; it is a valued item among his people. While aboard the spaceship, both Puck and Hush find themselves immersed in the mystery of lost objects and ghosts and murder. * Puck(Robin Goodfellow) - A headstrong, opinionated 13 year old human female. * Hush - A loveable, down-to-earth alien. |
The Birthday Party | null | 2,007 | Marco Timoleon is born somewhere in Anatolia in 1903 to a railway engineer father and a schoolteacher mother. When he is one year old, his parents move to İzmir, where he spends his childhood and adolescence. A mediocre pupil, he drops out of high school at 18, only months before graduation, having already proven his business acumen at the age of 15 by buying a dilapidated boat, repairing it himself and then renting it out. One day his father walks out on his family, never to be seen, or heard of, again, and in 1921, during the Greco-Turkish War, Timoleon decides to seek his fortune in Argentina. Leaving his mother behind, he travels to Buenos Aires and starts working for a telephone company. It is in South America that he lays the foundation of his wealth, operating on both sides of the law and increasingly applying as yet unheard of business practices such as closing contracts to transport oil on tankers that have not been built yet. During that time he also makes the acquaintance of Dr Aristide Patrikios, a physician and fellow Greek who will become his only lifelong friend. As far as his private life is concerned, in his younger years it never occurs to Timoleon to get married, but he has countless love affairs, also with married women. In 1939, already a rich man, and—erroneously—known to business rivals and competitors as "The Turk," he moves his company headquarters to New York City, and during the Second World War his growing fleet services both the Allies and the Axis powers, resulting in even greater profit. All the time carrying on with his turbulent love life, only after his 40th birthday does Timoleon think the time has come for him to get married and have offspring. From a bourgeois background himself, he has always been in awe of old money and aristocracy and resentful of, and at the same time attracted by, the upper crust, so he starts courting the 16 year-old daughter of shipping tycoon Daniel Negri, Miranda, who is still attending prep school. In 1948, against her father's wish, the couple get married when Miranda is 19 and Timoleon is 44 years old. The Timoleons move to London, and Miranda gives birth to two children, Sofia (in 1950) and Daniel (in 1954). While Timoleon's business prospers in the wake of the Suez Crisis, making him one of the richest men in the world, his marriage soon disintegrates, and the children are left in the care of a nanny and a governess while the two spouses increasingly go their separate ways. Miranda Timoleon, unprepared for life's harsh realities due to an over-protective Catholic upbringing, seeks solace in tranquillizers but eventually tries to combat her husband's continued womanising by having love affairs herself. In 1964, at a point where the couple consider divorce and a legal battle over custody of the children is likely to break out, Miranda Timoleon, aged 35, dies of a drug overdose on the private island her husband has recently bought. A carefully planned suicide, her death nevertheless stirs rumours, notably in the yellow press, that Marco Timoleon may have killed his wife, either intentionally or unintentionally, and the tycoon himself feels no need ever to disperse them. As his children grow up, Timoleon tries to prepare them for adult life but soon realizes that there is little he can do to mould their characters and influence their decisions. He finds out that Sofia is more and more taking after him, especially as far as her voracious sexual appetite is concerned. Moving out of the family home, which is now in Paris, France, at the age of 18, she embarks on a life described by the narrator as a "permanent holiday": Sofia was interested in business even less than her brother was. She had struggled through boarding-school, graduating only thanks to a generous donation from Marco Timoleon and refusing to continue to university despite her father's pressure and the pleas of Miss Rees, whom Marco had asked to mediate knowing the retired governess still wielded influence over his daughter. These days Sofia passed her time travelling with an ever-growing group of friends, who depended on her generosity and agreed with everything that she said before she said it. They stayed at exclusive hotels where they demanded the best rooms without having made reservations. Marco Timoleon's reputation and money meant that foreign dignitaries in curlers, half-shaved ambassadors with lather on their cheeks and honeymooners in bathrobes were asked to vacate their suites with the excuse that a mistake had been made in allocating their rooms. [...] The world in the morning was an unknown planet to her: no matter when she went to bed, at midnight or at dawn, she woke up in late afternoon, usually with company, having inherited her father's sexual energy. She had lunch in bed, naked, letting her ephemeral lover feed her, and then took a long bath, not to cleanse herself of sin, for she believed neither in sin nor retribution, but to give the stranger time to dress and leave the room. Not caring about social class, she slept with waiters, bellboys and security guards as long as they had a nice face and a good body. [...] (Chapter 4) Daniel Timoleon, on the other hand, has developed into an inconspicuous introvert whose only passion is flying planes: he shows no interest whatsoever in his father's business and ignores each of the eligible young women presented to him by his father. The family is ripped further apart when, in 1969, Timoleon, now 66, meets 33 year-old American divorcee Olivia Andersen and in the following year decides to marry her. Sofia takes an instant dislike to her stepmother, and it only takes a few years for Timoleon's second marriage to show signs of failure, too, so much so that in the end Olivia, whose permanent residence is a penthouse apartment in New York City, is not allowed to enter her husband's island without his prior consent. In early 1973 Ian Forster, an eager British journalist, approaches Timoleon with the proposal to write his authorised biography. Timoleon agrees to the project and pays all of Forster's expenses although he soon turns out to be far less co-operative than Forster would have wished. Also, he has him sign a confidentiality agreement so that the young would-be author lives in constant fear of never being able to publish his extensively researched book. While interviewing everyone still alive who has ever been close to the shipping magnate, Forster also makes the acquaintance of Sofia Timoleon, who, without her knowledge, is being spied on by her father's private investigators. Probably out of boredom, Sofia adds Forster to her long list of lovers, but their unexpected mutual attraction leads to a longer love affair conducted in what they believe is absolute secrecy. In truth, however, Timoleon is informed about each and every move the two lovers make. Despite the 1973 oil crisis, which affects his business badly, the biggest blow to Timoleon's life is his son's death in a plane crash in the summer of 1974. While entertaining a married woman half his age in his earthly paradise for the weekend, Timoleon sees one of his old Piaggio seaplanes piloted by Daniel approaching the island in bad weather and actually becomes an eye-witness to his son's fatal accident when the plane is overturned during the landing procedure. Timoleon is shattered by the loss of his child, and his robust health slowly starts to deteriorate, the most obvious sign for the ageing tycoon being the realisation of his sudden impotence. Naturally, Timoleon turns his attention to his daughter as his last hope. When he is informed in the spring of 1975 that Sofia has seen her gynaecologist and he listens to a taped telephone conversation between her and Forster in which she informs her lover that she is pregnant, he feels the urgent need to do something about this uncalled for situation before it is too late. Intending to persuade Sofia to have an abortion right during her stay on the island, he has one of the many guest rooms of his villa converted into an operating theatre, hires Dr Patrikios and a nurse to perform the operation, and, to her great surprise, sends Sofia an invitation to a lavish birthday party in honour of her 25th birthday. On the day of the party, he arranges a private talk with Ian Forster during which he threateningly explains to him that he will be allowed to publish anything about his life on condition that he can persuade Sofia to have an abortion and that he subsequently vanish from her life forever. When Forster cautiously broaches the subject to Sofia, she realises how little her love for him is reciprocated. She tells Forster that she has never been pregnant, that she only wanted to put his loyalty to the test, and that he has failed that test as far as she is concerned. Then she breaks off their relationship and retires to her room while the party is still in full swing. There, having inherited her mother's melancholy disposition, Sofia swallows an overdose of pills. She survives her suicide attempt because on the following day she is rescued by Dr Patrikios and the nurse. Marco Timoleon dies two years later, aged 74. |
Alphabet of Dreams | Susan Fletcher | 2,006 | Alphabet of Dreams is about a young boy named Babak, who has a power to dream the future. Mitra, his brave older sister, is sworn to protect him. For them to survive living on the streets, she must do what ever is necessary, including using her brother's talent for profit. When Babak is asked to dream for a powerful Magus, he receives a mysterious vision of two stars dancing in the night. Determined to solve this prophetic riddle, the Magus takes the boy and his sister on an arduous journey across the desert. What they discover will change the world in a way that no dream could ever predict... |
To Venus in Five Seconds | Fred T. Jane | null | The hero of Jane's story is a superb physical specimen of English manhood named Thomas Plummer. He is being sent to medical school by his father, a medical entrepreneur (pill manufacturer) — despite the fact that the younger Plummer is, well, not very bright. At medical school Plummer meets a young, dark-skinned woman called Miss Zumeena. The young woman invites him to tea, which takes place in her summer house (which is oddly full of machinery). A few seconds later, she informs the young Englishman that he is now on Venus. The machinery in Zumeena's gazbo operates a matter transmitter that allows almost instantaneous transport between the two planets. (This constitutes "One of the earliest uses of the matter transmitter for interplanetary travel" in science fiction. Jane does not spend much effort on explaining how a matter transmitter might actually work; the technology is merely a given, like the titular device in H. G. Wells's The Time Machine of 1895.) Closer to the Sun than Earth, Venus is hot and jungle-covered; the glare of the Sun both blinds the eyes and affects the mind. The planet is inhabited by two developed species, the human Sutenraa and the decidedly non-human Thotheen. Zumeena is a Sutenraa, a people from Central America via ancient Egypt, which are closely related in Jane's imaginary domain. (This incorporates another sub-genre of fantastic fiction of Jane's era, books on Egypt, the pyramids, and related matters.) These highly-advanced ancients developed a matter transmitter in their distant past, and used it to travel back and forth between the pyramids of Egypt and Central America; in the process they sometimes found themselves on Venus, apparently due to interference with the similar matter transmitter technology of the Thotheen. The latter are the dominant indigenous species of the planet; Jane both describes and draws Thotheen as a cross between a small elephant and a large horse-fly. Some of the Central-American/Egyptians settled on Venus to form a growing human community; they often served as physicians to the Thotheen. At the time of Plummer's arrival on Venus, the long co-existence between the two species is breaking down; Zumeena predicts that conflict will soon erupt between them, which the Thotheen will win due to their superior intelligence. Plummer also learns that he has been brought to Venus as a subject for vivisection, because of his excellent physique. Zumeena has taken a fancy to him, though; she makes romantic advances to him, which he spurns. She reluctantly consigns him to vivisection (though she allows him the option of anesthesia). Plummer meets two other English people on Venus, a young woman named Phyllis Alson and a clergyman. He and Phyllis quickly fall in love; the convenient clergyman marries them. War breaks out, first a civil war among the Thotheen and then the conflict between the Thotheen and Sutenraa anticipated by Zumeena. Plummer and Phyllis escape to Earth with Zumeena (the clergyman is by now dead) via matter transmitter; they land on the pinnacle of the Great Pyramid at Giza. There, Plummer finds one of his father's agents stenciling an advertisement in white paint. The young English couple return home, while Zumeena goes south to become a "goddess" for some primitive people. This is a reference to another popular sub-genre of Victorian fantastic fiction, the "lost world" or "lost race" stories like H. Rider Haggard's She (1886) and its many imitations. To Venus in Five Seconds has been called "The most readable and entertaining of Jane's books." Jane wrote other works of speculative fiction, notably The Incubated Girl (1896) and The Violet Flame (1899). |
Granny Was a Buffer Girl | Berlie Doherty | 1,986 | In the first chapter the narrator is Jess, an 18-year-old girl who is about to leave home to study in France. Her extended family gathers for a celebration, partly to say goodbye, partly because it is the birthday of her brother Danny, who died when she was 8. Jess is troubled by a secret she has been harbouring. As the characters talk, they promise to reveal their own stories and secrets. The second chapter is set in the 1930s and concerns Jess's maternal grandparents, Bridie and Jack. Bridie comes from a large Catholic family and Jack's parents are deeply religious Protestants. They fall in love and marry secretly, knowing their prejudiced families will oppose their marriage. The third chapter centres on Dorothy, Jess's father's mother, the "buffer girl" of the title. It introduces Jess's great aunt Louie, Dorothy's elder sister, who gets Dorothy a job at a local buffing shop. At the Cutlers' Ball, 1931, Dorothy dances with the boss's handsome son, but when the next day he fails to recognize her in her grimy work clothes, she gives up her dream of escaping the narrow streets and grudgingly accepts the matter-of-fact proposal of her boy-next-door sweetheart, Albert, a young steelworker. In the next two chapters Jess's father Mike appears in his teenage years, as a rebellious would-be teddy boy, awkward around girls and nervous about his imminent National Service. As he leaves on the train he meets Josie, Jack and Bridie's daughter, whom he will marry several years later. The sixth chapter is about Danny, Mike and Josie's first child, born disabled, and in a wheelchair from the age of six. By this time, Mike has matured from a rebellious teenager into a stable, loyal and devoted husband and father. On his eighth birthday Danny asks his parents for a baby sister, so although already concerned about the responsibility of caring for Danny, they decide to take the risk, and John and Jess are born over the next two years. At Jess's birth the book switches back to first person narrative and from then on concerns Jess's memories of her family: Danny's death at the age of 17, her other brother John and his pigeons, her great-aunt Louie's fierce husband Gilbert, and Jess's own first romantic encounter, with an older man who unknown to her is married. The book ends as Jess departs for France, confident about the challenge of changing from a child to an independent adult after hearing her family's stories. |
Wings of Wrath | Celia S. Friedman | 2,009 | The story opens with Kamala returning to Ethanus, despite the usual unwillingness of Magisters to show weakness around others of their kind. He willingly protects her while she heals, but tells her that he will turn her over to the Magisters to face justice for her violation of their Law (although he tells her this only so that she will flee to safety). Meanwhile, Salvator returns to the High Kingdom after his mother offers him the throne. A great deal of the political intrigue of the novel centers around the fact that Salvator is a monk of a monotheistic religion at odds with that of his mother, and that he will have to give up his monastic vows to take the throne, with many believing he will cling to pacifism, and others believing he will turn from his religion - if he turns either way, his political enemies can celebrate victory. Rhys returns to Kierdwyn with evidence of an attack by a souleater, including some pieces of its armored hide and a tale of how quickly the beast disintegrated after its death. Fearing that a souleater south of the Wrath means that there must be a weak point along it, the Lord Protector sends Rhys and another guardian to look for the point where the Wrath may have become so damaged. On their way, Kamala watches them from high above as a bird, and seeks to find a way to join their company. Seeing a trap laid for them, she tries to return to human form, but the power of the Wrath is too great and she nearly dies, passing out until after they have fallen into the trap. Rhys is captured and his companion apparently killed. Kamala sets aside her power and manages to rescue him via subterfuge and a lot of luck, and they finally ride north together to investigate the Wrath. When they arrive, they discover that the Spears that make up the Wrath were not cast down by gods, as myth indicated, but rather were created by witches who built their own tombs around themselves, and slowly died within. Their sufferings provided the power for the Wrath to function. This drives Rhys into a great crises of faith, as there is suddenly no evidence of divine interaction and thus he believes there are no gods (or that they are not involved in the world). He does not share these thoughts with anyone other than Kamala. Returning to Kierdwyn, they share some information about the Wrath itself, and Kamala trades a handful of brick she had taken from the Spear to Ramirus in exchange for a promise of future aid. Meanwhile, Sideria has been approached with an offer from a mysterious stranger, claiming to be able to make her immortal. Intrigued, she accepts his offer and accompanies him far from her castle to a ravine, blocked at both ends, where a female souleater has been trapped. Sideria, already seeming to bond with the creature, is furious at those who brought her, and climbs down into the pit. The souleater accepts her, and they form a bond that gives Sideria access to the souleater's power, and thus seeming immortality. They can also communicate telepathically, and sometimes their psyches seem to be merging into one (with either one alternately the stronger personality in different situations) such as the case when a guest visits Sideria's palace, only to be killed later by Sideria, who was temporarily being taken over by the souleater queen. Colivar visits her shortly thereafter and takes note of an unusual smell, but cannot remember where he has encountered it previously. Ramirus helps translate a prophecy regarding the Lyr, and those present at the meeting in Kierdwyn (including Lazaroth, Kamala, Rhys, and Gwynofar) immediately recognize the need for a massive effort to be carried out. The ultimate goal will be finding a person with Lyr blood who has all seven Lyr clans equally represented, and having that person sit on an ancient throne that resides in a tower next to the keep Rhys had been imprisoned at. To achieve this, they coordinate a fake war with Salvator, bringing both Kierdwyn and High Kingdom forces to bear in a combined attack. While doing this, Gwynofar, Rhys, Kamala, and several others sneak to that tower and climb it. While inside, they discover enemies lying in wait, and have to fight. Gwynofar barely manages to reach the chair, and activates its power. Suddenly, all Lyr in the world are connected, and they all receive a shared vision (to varying degrees) that, among other things, leads them to the same truth that Rhys had discovered regarding the formation of the Wrath and the apparent inactivity of the gods. Gwynofar and Kamala are allowed to walk out quietly, as everyone on both sides of the battle is stunned by their discovery. Rhys, however, has fallen in battle. Colivar, having remembered what the unusual smell means (created by bonding with a souleater), takes Lazaroth, Ramirus, and one other Magister, return to Sideria's castle in an attempt to find her and confront her. They discover that most of the people in the castle have been killed or at least placed into a coma by souleater attack, and Sideria has gotten away. |
Best Foot Forward | John Cecil Holm | null | High school comedy: Just for fun, young student Bud Hooper asks his idol, Hollywood actress Gale Joy, to come to Philadelphia to be his partner at a dance. His school is Winsocki Military Academy. Jack Haggerty, the actress' manager in Hollywood, sees an opportunity for special publicity and advises Gale to accept Bud's invitation. The appearance of the famous star at Winsocki is greeted with excitement, and Bud abandons his own girl Helen Schlessinger to accompany Gale to the ball. Out of jealousy, Helen damages Gale's sash while she is dancing, which causes a riot. Others begin to tear off pieces of Gale's clothes as well, but only to gain souvenirs from the famous star. As the school regards the incident as a scandal, Bud is now in danger of being expelled from school, as he has caused all this. Gale Joy and Jack Haggerty try to avoid furore and immediately go back to Hollywood. After Bud and Helen settle their arguments and any other problems are solved, everything at Winsocki goes back to normal. |
Realms of Horror | Lawrence Schick | null | Realms of Horror contains four scenarios complied from modules S1 through S4, which have been slightly revised to form a connected campaign. |
Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford | null | 2,006 | The book includes Mitford's letters between 1924 leading up to her death in 1996. It chronicles her escape from family life and elopement with Esmond Romilly. Following Romilly's premature death, the letters document her subsequent marriage to Robert Treuhaft and her activism in the Civil rights movement, the American Communist Party and her exposés of the American funeral industry. As with her previous biography, Hons and Rebels, the letters also concentrate on her relationship with her relations, including her sisters and friends in America and England. |
Day of the Iguana | null | null | Hank and his two best friends, Frankie and Ashley, perform magic tricks at Hank's 3-year-old cousin's birthday party. Performing at the party means that Frankie will have to miss The Mutant Moth that Ate Toledo, a movie he has been looking forward to, but Hank promises to record the movie for him. However, since Hank has dyslexia, he accidentally records the wrong channel, making Frankie very upset. Hank takes apart a cable box to see how it works for his school science project, but then his sister's pet iguana, Katherine, lays eggs in it. Afraid that his father will discover the cable box taken apart, Hank orders a new one. Tom, the new cable box installer, happens to be knowledgeable about iguanas. That night they witness 23 baby iguanas hatching. Tom agrees to give Hank a tape of The Mutant Moth that Ate Toledo in exchange for a baby iguana, and Hank and Frankie watch the movie together. |
The New Paul and Virginia | William Hurrell Mallock | null | The novel opens with the introduction of its titular characters. The heroine is "the superb Virginia St. John," a celebrated beauty, famous for being famous. At the age of thirty she is the newlywed wife of an English bishop. The hero (the term has to be applied satirically) is Prof. Paul Darnley, a prominent intellectual: :"He had written three volumes on the origin of life, which he had spent seven years in looking for in hay and cheese; he had written five volumes on the entozoa of the pig, and two volumes of lectures, as a corollary to these, on the sublimity of human heroism and the whole duty of man. He was renowned all over Europe and America as a complete embodiment of enlightened modern thinking. He criticised everything; he took nothing on trust, except the unspeakable sublimity of the human race and its august terrestrial destinies." Both characters are traveling abroad the steamship Australasian, sailing from Melbourne to London; Virginia is on her way to Chausible Island to meet her new husband, while Paul is journeying home to his elderly wife, whom he has been avoiding for the past eighteen months. (Mrs. Prof. Darnley has an irrational determination to convince her atheist and materialist husband of the existence of Hell.) On the voyage, Paul lectures on his value system, which is essentially Comte's "Religion of Humanity," and manages to convince many passengers and crew of the truth of his outlook (though Virginia does not listen to him). An approaching storm inspires the crew to load the ship's cutter with survival supplies, including tinned meats and cases of champagne. The storm passes, but the ship's boiler suddenly explodes; the Australasian quickly sinks with the loss of almost all on board. Yet Paul and Virginia manage to reach a nearby island in the cutter. (Shipwreck on a deserted island, as a start for a new and better society, is a staple in the utopian genre — as in the Spensonia books of Thomas Spence, among other possible examples.) Paul finds a deserted house built from wreckage; it is a comfortable and neatly-furnished cottage, and the two survivors move in. Virginia is deeply distraught over their recent tragedy — but her state of mind improves when she realizes that the largest trunk in her luggage is on the cutter. The tinned meats and champagne also come in handy. Two other survivors appear: an English clergyman who has been converted to Positivism by Paul, and an elderly woman. The latter soon dies, giving Paul and the clergyman opportunity to debate the meaning of her death from the Positivist viewpoint. Paul keeps himself busy searching for the missing link. Liberated from the trammels of traditional culture and belief, Paul confidently expects instant attainment of the sublime happiness that is the natural state of free human beings. The clergyman proves to be an inconvenient convert, however; he spends his time getting drunk and trying to kiss Virginia, and Paul's intellectual arguments have little influence on him. Physical intimidation is more effective, since the clergyman is both a "coward" and a "weakling." When the drunken clergyman falls off a cliff, Paul meditates on the utilitarian aspects of his death. Paul eventually converts Virginia; she gives up her religious faith, and replaces it with a sexual desire for Paul — which the intellectual Paul finds very uncomfortable. In her new commitment to "glorious truth," Virginia snoops through all of Paul's private papers, and discovers his secret: he himself was once a clergyman. By the final chapter of the story, Paul is reduced to baying at the moon. His howls attract the notice of another couple. The woman turns out to be Paul's wife, who has come searching for her errant husband. And the man is Virginia's husband the Bishop. It happens that the island on which Paul and Virginia landed is none other than Chausible Island, her destination, and the cottage they've been occupying was prepared by the Bishop for Virginia. At the end of the book, Paul discovers that his wife has attained her goal, and that he now believes in Hell. |
Siebenkäs | null | null | As the title suggests, the story concerns the life of Firmian Stanislaus Siebenkäs, and is told in a comedic style. Unhappily married, Siebenkäs goes to consult his friend Leibgeber, who is in reality his alter ego, or Doppelgänger (a word of Jean Paul's own invention). Leibgeber convinces Siebenkäs to fake his own death, in order to begin a new life. Siebenkäs takes the advice of his alter ego, and soon meets the beautiful Natalie. The two fall in love; hence the "wedding after death," as found in the title. |
Beatles | null | null | The main character and storyteller, Kim Karlsen (Paul), is writing the entire story in flashbacks from a sheltered and closed summer residence in the Nesodden area. He has recently escaped from the asylum of Gaustad in Oslo. He rewrites his story from the spring of 1965 to the present day (winter 1972-1973). Kim and his friends, Gunnar (John), Sebastian (George) and Ola (Ringo), played football together, collected Beatles records and stole attributes from cars. This last hobby was abandoned after an incident with an embassy car, and the entire collection was dumped in the fjord. Kim is known as a notorious liar, while Gunnar is the truth-seeker. Ola is the stuttering fat one, and Sebastian is a spiritualist. In time, Kim is the first to get a girlfriend, Nina, who is on and off over the years. The boys get involved in the Norwegian hippie movement in the late 1960s, experiment with drugs, and Sebastian gets so hooked the others have to look for him in Paris, where he lives the life of a junkie, but is saved by his friends (1968). Kim has a nervous breakdown and tells the end of his story from inside the asylum at the time of the Norwegian European Communities membership referendum, 1972. He escapes as the result is clear and retires to Nesodden for writing his story. The last we hear is from Nina, now pregnant with his child, before the book closes. The four boys mature during the political struggle of the 1960s, and end up as left-wings, inspired by people around them. The "upper class" mentality of the western Oslo society is evident, and Kim describes how his sentiments gradually go to the left. Three characters in the book seem to be propagating this view: * Gunnar's older brother, Stig. He presents them to "Masters of War" by Bob Dylan in the first chapter, making the boys conscious of the Vietnam War by telling them of the atrocities done by American soldiers (including information on napalm). Stig transcends during the book, ending as environmentalist with leaning towards anarchism. He and Seb seem to be close at some points in the book. * Henny, the young girlfriend of Kim´s uncle Hubert. She is an art student, informing Kim on Edvard Munch, and explains to him the assault on the Kjartan Slettemark Vietnam picture in the summer of 1965, to which Kim is a witness (The picture was attacked and demolished with and axe). Kim later has nightmares of the incident, dreaming the attacker uses his axe on innocent children. Henny is in Paris during the 1968 uprising, being attacked by the French police. The book tells how Kim sees her on television, being struck with batons. She even holds her hands around the head in the position of the Scream, to close the Munch metafor (Kim thinks the picture, which he "hears", is of the mother of one of the Vietnam napalm victims). The "scream" metaphor is a recurring motif in the book. * Fred Hansen, a working class boy who managed to get into the upper class school the other boys attend. He is mobbed down by the other boys, and even the teachers, who disrespect his East end dialect. Gunnar and the others protect Fred, and on visiting him and his mother, Kim and the others learn of the social differences in Oslo at the time. Fred drowns in the summer of 1966, despite being the best swimmer in class. The other keep his memory alive. Fred is apparently born outside marriage, not knowing who his father was. His mother earns her living by cleaning houses. The most notable historical inaccuracy in the original Beatles novel, is Kim Karlsen`s reaction and reflections around the picture of the Napalm Girl, mentioned as early as in the 1965 chapters, whereas the picture itself was taken in June 1972. To be charitable, the older Kim may have seen the picture that summer and blended it in with his adolescent memories, as the book closes in the spring of 1973. |
The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms | Charles Darwin | 1,881 | Darwin writes that he has been interested in worms for a long time and has written on the subject before, but that his ideas have been criticized by others. Worms are found in many places, from the forest floor to mountains, and in many locations around the world. Though they are considered terrestrial animals, they are really semi-aquatic, like other annelids; they die quickly in air but survive for months in water. Though inactive during the day, they sometimes come out of their burrows at night. They are eaten by thrushes and other birds in large numbers because they lie close to the surface. They have well developed muscular, nervous, circulatory and digestive systems, the latter being quite unique. Though eyeless, they respond to the intensity and duration of light. They also slowly respond to temperature. They have no hearing, but are sensitive to vibrations. Their sense of smell is feeble, but they are able to find their preferred foods. Omnivorous animals, they swallow much earth and extract food from it. Worms live chiefly on half decayed leaves, partially digested by a pancreatic solution before ingestion. This extra-stomachal digestion is not unlike that which Darwin had previously described as occurring in Insectivorous Plants. The structure and physiology of the calciferous glands of earthworms are described. Many hypotheses had been advanced for their function; Darwin believed them to be primarily for excretion and secondarily a digestion aid. Thin leaves are seized with the mouth, while thick ones are dragged by creating a vacuum. Leaves and stones are used to plug up the burrow. This may deter predators, keep out water and/or keep out chilled air (the latter is Darwin's preferred function). Leaves are dragged in mostly by the tips, which is the easiest way of doing it, but when the base is narrower the worms change behaviour. They drag pine needle clusters in by the base. Petioles are used to plug up burrows, and for food. Worms drag experimental triangles of paper by the apex most of the time, and do not rely on trial and error. Worms excavate burrows by consuming material or, preferably, pushing it away. They mainly consume soil for nutrients. They are found down to six or more feet, especially in extreme conditions. Burrows are lined, which serve several functions, and terminate in a chamber lined with stones or seeds. Worms are found all over the planet, some on isolated islands; how they got there is a mystery. Darwin draws on correspondence with people from around the world such as Fritz Müller in Brazil. The amount of earth brought to the surface by worms can be estimated by the rate at which objects on the surface are buried and by weighing the earth brought up in a given time. Information from farmers on marl, cinders etc. sinking into the ground allowed Darwin to make calculations. He conducted a 29 year experiment on chalk at a field near his house. Objects of all sorts "work themselves downards" as farmers say. Large stones sink because worms fill up any hollows with castings, then eject them beyond the perimeter and the ground around them starts to rise. He visited Stonehenge and found some outer stones partly buried, the turf sloping up to meet them (see figure 7). Darwin weighed castings and had friends do so in other countries. He also weighed castings per unit area per year, then worked out how thick a layer castings would make, compared with rates of sinking. Additionally, he worked out casting weight per worm per year. Worms have preserved many ancient objects under the ground. Darwin describes an ancient Roman villa in Abinger, Surrey. Worms have penetrated the concrete walls and even mortar. Similar subsidence occurred at Beaulieu Abbey, Hampshire, with worms penetrating gaps between the tiles. His sons Francis and Horace visited Chedworth Roman Villa in Gloucestershire, while William reported on Brading Roman Villa, Isle of Wight. Darwin goes into some detail on the well preserved ruins of Silchester Roman Town, Hampshire, with the help of the Rev. J. G. Joyce. Finally he discusses the case of the Viroconium Roman town ruins at Wroxeter, Shropshire, with the help of Dr. H. Johnson, who made observations including depth of vegetable mould. He concludes that both worms and other causes, such as dust deposition and washing down of soil, have buried such ruins. Denudation (removal of matter to a lower level) is caused mainly by air and water movement. Humic acids generated by worms disintegrate rock; their burrowing behaviour speeds this up. But as the soil layer thickens, this process is slowed down. Worms swallow hard objects (e.g. stones) to aid digestion, which causes attrition to such objects. This has geological significance, especially for the smaller particles which otherwise are eroded very slowly. Rain causes castings to move down an incline; Darwin worked out the weight moving a certain distance in a given time. Some also roll down, and collect in drains etc., or get blown. There is a greater effect on casting movement in the tropics, because of increased rain. The finest earth is washed away. Ledges on hillsides, formerly believed to be caused by grazing mammals, are partly due to casting accumulations. High winds, especially gales, are almost as effective as the slope/rain in moving castings. Crowns and furrows of formerly ploughed lands slowly vanish when under pasture, due to worms, but more slowly when there is no incline. Fine earth is washed down from slopes, making a shallow layer. Dissolving of chalk supplies new earth. Darwin writes in the conclusion that worms "have played a more important part in the history of the world than most persons would at first suppose." They are important for many reasons, including their role in decomposition of rocks, gradual denudation of the land, preservation of archaeological remains, and improving soil conditions for plant growth. Despite their rudimentary sense organs, they show complex, flexible behaviour. |
The Mandelbaum Gate | Muriel Spark | 1,965 | The book is set in Jerusalem in 1961 (with the backdrop of the Adolf Eichmann trial). Whilst on a pilgrimage to Holy Land, half Jewish Catholic-convert Barbara Vaughn is planning to meet her fiance Harry Clegg, an archeologist working in Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found). To do this she must pass through the Mandelbaum Gate into Jordanian held Jerusalem; due to her Jewish roots this is a dangerous operation and she enlists the help of Freddy Hamilton, a staid British diplomat and various Arab contacts who may or may not be sympathetic to her cause... |
The Moscoviad | null | null | Although the novel has one clearly defined plot of action, the narrative is sometimes interrupted by the hero's reminiscences as well as by his appeals to the fictitious Ukrainian king Olelko the Second. Other non-linear elements include alternative outcomes (endings) and multiple references to famous historical and cultural figures who do not appear directly in the novel. A condensed plot of action follows. The Ukrainian poet Otto von F. wakes up in his Moscow dormitory room. He comes down to take a shower in the basement where he makes love to an unknown Malagasy girl. Returning from the shower to his room, he discovers his three older friends (Yura Holitsyn, Arnold Horobets and Boris Roitman) who talk him into going to a bar with them. At the bar (bar-na-Fonvizina), a dirty disreputable hole teeming with alcoholics and sluts, the four friends consume a large quantity of low-quality beer. Otto pronounces a speech that calls for Ukraine's separation from Russia, to everyone's applause. Soon Otto departs because he has an appointment with his colleague Kyryl at Kyryl's apartment. But before seeing Kyryl he has to buy presents for his friends' children at the big superstore "Dytiachyi Svit". On the way to the store Otto decides to visit his girlfriend Halya, a snake tamer. At Halya's he consumes some vodka, makes love to her, and, after getting into fight with her, narrowly escapes, leaving his cloak and audio-cassette with Mike Oldfield's music behind. He stops by at a cheap and dirty restaurant and narrowly escapes unhurt as it explodes. At "Dytiachyi Svit" he visits a man's room where he walks past a middle-aged man of Southern or possibly Roma origin whom he at first takes for a homosexual and nicknames "the baron". Soon afterwards he discovers that his wallet has disappeared from his backpack and realizes that only the baron could possibly steal it. The wallet contains some money, but, most importantly, a plane ticket to Kiev which was very hard to obtain. Otto pursues the baron who has just disappeared behind one of the doors that leads to the storage rooms of "Dytiachyi Svit". The wild chase through a maze of basement corridors ends in a brief encounter between the two. The baron is victorious as Otto groans on the floor with an injured leg. The triumphant baron, however, falls through an open sewer hatch by oversight, thus leaving Otto alone in the basement. Otto realizes that the store must be closed by now and all the doors leading to the top must be locked. After some attempts he stumbles across a door that opens but when he steps inside he finds himself inside a tunnel of the Moscow subway. He is soon arrested by armed rat-catchers who promptly deliver him to the hands of KGB, still underground. Otto, himself formerly recruited by KGB, is locked in a cage but is unexpectedly presented to Halya who, as he learns, is another KGB spy. She helps him to get out, and after fooling security guards Otto enters a large hall where a banquet is taking place. This is a celebration of KGB and perhaps some other clandestine governmental organizations. He runs into his old acquaintance, the poet Yezhevikin who also seems to be a KGB agent. Some drinking ensues, and Yezhevikin procures a couple of prostitutes for himself and Otto. But the latter, under the influence of the mix of the alcoholic drinks consumed in the course of the day, is unable to contain himself and rushes to a bathroom where he throws up. In the bathroom he meets an old man who, after some admonition, assists Otto to attend a symposium of the dead. To get there, Otto must wear a mask and he chooses the mask of a clown. Once inside, he sees a number of masked figures who represent the powerful leaders from the Russian history – Ivan the Terrible, Lenin, Dzerzhinsky etc. A terrible plot is brewing. A mysterious figure in a black pantyhose pulled over its head announces a plan to amass the power of the Empire at the expense of subjugating other countries (Finland, France, Israel etc.) and turning its citizens into docile slaves. Otto faces a choice – either to sit back and let the plan go ahead, or to do something to defuse it. He borrows a gun from a KGB agent who is demoted as a consequence of Otto's escape, and shoots the Russian leaders, one by one. They tumble down as sacks stuffed with straw. Then Otto shoots himself. But later he reappears alive and boards a train to Kiev as Moscow is destroyed in a giant flood. |
La Brière | Alphonse de Châteaubriant | 1,923 | Aoustin, a rough peat-cutter and "ranger" employed to protect the traditional rights of the people of Brière, comes into conflict with his wife and daughter. Having returned home to the ile de Fédrun after a long trip, he discovers that his wife, Nathalie, has sold the family linen to fund their estranged son who lives in Nantes. The domineering Aoustin had cursed his son for marrying a Nantes girl, rather than a local Brièronne. His daughter Théotiste now also wants to marry a lad from outside the region, from a despised village of basket weavers, who are traditionally looked down upon by the independent-minded fenlanders. Aoustin utterly refuses to give her hand in marriage to the youth, Jeanin. He leaves his wife and daughter, moving into his childhood cottage, rejoicing in his independence and the traditional ways of fenland life. Meanwhile, the local mayors are attempting to resist a drainage and modernisation project that threatens the independence of the Brièrons. Aoustin is given the task of finding a lost historical document signed by Louis XVI confirming the rights of the local people. He travels throughout the fens to find whether any of the locals possess it, eventually locating it in the home of Florence, a madwoman who lives inside an ancient dolmen. Théotiste seeks Aoustin out, telling him that she is pregnant by Jeanin, but he still refuses to assent to the marriage, insisting that he will curse the couple. The superstitious Théotiste takes this threat seriously since her brother's wife died after her father's curse. Aoustin also contrives to have Jeanin arrested for poaching ducks. Jeanin seeks revenge, and when Aoustin is sent to Nantes to deposit the document Jeanin shoots him during his return journey. Théotiste, anxiously seeking Jeanin, gets lost in the marshes, suffers a miscarriage, and spends the night sheltering in Florence's dolmen. Aoustin survives the shooting, but loses his hand. He refuses to give Jeanin up to the police, but seeks revenge himself. Théotiste is accused by a spiteful neighbour of having given birth and drowned her child in the marsh. She is arrested, but released through lack of evidence. Jeanin now refuses to marry her because of her "shame", and Théotiste is shunned by most of the community. Aoustin has a false wooden hand made to replace his loss. He kidnaps Jeanin, intending to kill him and bury him under his cottage, but news arrives that Théotiste has had a mental breakdown. He locks Jeanin up, and attempts to take the deranged Théotiste through the marshes to a hospital. He cannot control his boat adequately with his wooden hand, and gets lost in the freezing cold marsh. During the night Théotiste dies. In despair, Aoustin returns to his cottage but cannot bring himself to kill Jeanin. He lets him go. |
Gone, But Not Forgotten | Phillip Margolin | 1,993 | Elizabeth "Betsy" Tannenbaum is a successful defense lawyer coming off a domestic violence case win when she is hired by reclusive and mysterious businessman Martin Darius to defend him against allegations that he murdered several women and a private investigator and dumped the bodies at a construction site. Unfortunately, Darius' past misdeeds are revealed and Betsy is in a race against time to find out who the real killer is before he — or she — strikes again. |
Emmeline | null | null | Emmeline is set in Pembroke, Wales and centers around the eponymous heroine. Her parents are both dead and she has been supported by her father’s brother, Lord Montreville, at Mowbray Castle. It is suggested at the beginning of the novel that Emmeline’s parents were not married when she was born, making her illegitimate; on these grounds, Lord Montreville has claimed Mowbray Castle for himself and his family. Emmeline has been left to be raised by servants, but through reading, she has become education accomplished and catches the eye of Lord Montreville’s son, Lord Delamere. Delamere falls in love with her and proposes but Emmeline refuses him because his father does not approve and she feels only sisterly affection for him. In order to escape Delamere’s protestations of love, Emmeline leaves Mowbray Castle and lives first with Mrs. Stafford and then Mrs. Ashwood, where Delamere continues to pursue her. Emmeline also rejects the suits of other rich men, confounding the people around her. The Croft family, lawyers who are trying to rise in society, have influence over and control Lord Montreville. The younger Croft son secretly marries the eldest Montreville daughter to secure a fortune—a most unfortunate match from Lord Montreville’s perspective. Delamere abducts Emmeline: he attempts to take her to Scotland and to force her to marry him. However, after falling ill of a fever, she convinces him to abandon his plans. When Delamere’s mother, Lady Montreville, becomes ill, he is compelled to visit his family. To help her recover, he promises not to see Emmeline for a year. If, after that period, he still loves her, his parents promise to allow him to marry her and she reluctantly agrees. Emmeline becomes friends with Augusta, Delamere’s sister. Augusta marries Lord Westhaven, who by happenstance, is the brother of Emmeline’s new acquaintance in the country—Adelina. Adelina left her dissipated husband for a lover who abandoned her with a child. She is so distraught that when she sees her brother, Lord Westhaven, she fears his chastisement so much that she briefly goes insane. Emmeline nurses her and her baby; while doing so, she meets Adelina's other brother, Godolphin. The Crofts circulate rumors of Emmeline’s infidelity to Delamere and when he visits her and sees her with Adelina’s child, he assumes the child is hers and abandons her. Emmeline then travels to France with Mrs. Stafford and Augusta, where she discovers her parents were actually married and that she deserves to inherit Mowbray Castle. Lord Montreville hands the estate over to her, after discovering he was duped by the Crofts. Delamere becomes ill upon discovering that Emmeline was never unfaithful to him. She nurses him, but refuses to marry him. His mother dies in her anxiety over his condition and he dies fighting a duel over his sister’s lover. In the end, Emmeline marries Godolphin. |
Skeletons at the feast | null | null | The plot of the story centers around a young Prussian girl, Anna Emmerich, and the broken remnants of her family as they flee westward from the advancing Russian army. Along with them they bring the Scottish POW, Callum Finella, with whom Anna has embarked on a secret love affair. As Anna, her mother, her younger brother Theo, and Callum trek across the Third Reich, other stories run parallel to theirs, including the story of Uri Singer, a Jew that leapt off the train to Auschwitz and survives by assuming identities belonging to various German soldiers; and Cecile, a French Jew taken prisoner in a concentration camp and, along with her fellow prisoners, forced to march westward to outdistance the Russian advance. Eventually all three stories come together when Anna's party, joined by Uri, crosses paths with the sad march of Cecile and the other prisoners. Throughout the novel, Anna struggles with the ideas of the atrocities the Nazis have committed and how she can possibly bear the burden of blame by the rest of the world. |
The Bandit of Hell's Bend | Edgar Rice Burroughs | 1,921 | Elias Henders is the prosperous owner of a ranch and a gold mine. Competing for his daughter Diana, ranch hand Colby sabotages recovering alcoholic foreman Bull, and takes his job. The local stage is repeatedly robbed of gold bullion from the owner's mine, and Bull is suspected. The cowardly sheriff does not take action on the robberies. Rich Easterner Wainwright tries to buy the mine and ranch for a low price, but Henders refuses the offer and discusses the property's true value with Diana. She is intrigued by Wainwright's Eastern-educated son Jefferson, who proposes marriage. However, when they are attacked by Indians during the roundup, he runs rather than defend her. Henders is mortally wounded in the battle. Henders will bequeaths his property to his brother John back East so that he can take care of Diana, but John dies too. The Wainwrights pretend that Henders had agreed to a sale, but Diana knows better. Diana's Eastern cousin Lillian brings Corson, a lawyer, to try to seize the ranch and gold mine. They insist that the ranch and mine are nearly played out, and that they should sell the property, offering her a small amount. They show their ignorance about western ways. Bull encourages Diana that the property is worth more than they say, and advises her that the Wainwrights are often at the mine. The Eastern lawyer finally announces that Diana has no property rights due to the wills. As pressure from the opposing forces builds, a mob goes to hang Bull for the stage robberies, but Diana warns him in time. Bull discovers there are papers that will prove Diana's claim to the property, and that Lillian has seduced Colby to obtain his help. Bull actually does rob the stage, simply to obtain the papers supporting Diana. Diana recognizes him at the robbery, and is devastated because she is starting to have feelings for him. She orders the Wainwrights, Lillian and Corson off the property, and fires Colby. Bull has the Mexican Gregorio deliver the important papers to Diana, showing that Lillian is not related to John and thus not entitled to the property. The villains try to take over the ranch. Bull catches Colby robbing the bullion stage, and has him watched in town, but he is released by the sheriff and his friends. Colby kidnaps Diana and heads for Mexico. He claims to be rescuing her, but she knows that she does not love him. Bull follows her doggedly, and eventually rescues her. They return to town, stop the illegal title transfers and announce their impending marriage. |
Nordy Bank | Sheena Porter | 1,964 | Six children plan a camping trip in the Easter holidays, deciding on Brown Clee Hill as it is out of the way of summer visitors. They set up camp on the top of the hill, which turns out to be the site of an Iron Age hill fort, Nordy Bank. Bronwen is particularly susceptible to the atmosphere of the place, and shows unexpected knowledge about its construction. Her personality begins to change, as from a quiet good-natured girl she becomes argumentative, then increasingly withdrawn and sullen. Bron is aware of the change and frightened by it. Her friend Margery believes she is possessed by the spirit of an Iron Age woman. Meanwhile an Alsatian dog of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps escapes while on his way to retraining by the National Canine Defence League after being retired due to partial deafness. Being muzzled, he is unable to hunt and becomes increasingly hungry. When the dog appears lurking round the camp, the dog-loving Bron reacts with fear and hostility, calling him a wolf. However, his forlorn state eventually rouses her true self and she befriends him. |
Silent Thunder: Breaking Through Cultural, Racial, and Class Barriers in Motorsports | null | 2,004 | The book covers Miller’s interest in cars, which led him into the world of motor racing, beginning during the Great Depression. As Miller’s journey takes him through the eras of segregation, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and women’s rights, he manages to start driving as a drag racer, finding sanctuary and fair competition in a pure sports environment. Miller develops a team named Black American Racers, Inc. (BAR), which fields African American second-generation driver Benny Scott. The team endures corporate sponsorship rejection, due to prejudices and disbelief that a black team could be competitive in auto racing. After securing sponsorship from Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, BAR enters Formula Super Vee and Formula 5000 races on America’s road racing circuits. The team makes it to the Long Beach Grand Prix in the mid-1970s. Nevertheless, after two years, Brown & Williamson ends its sponsorship programs around the world in auto racing, and BAR is unable to replace the sponsorship. This leads Miller to field a team independently with African American driver Tommy Thompson, who lost his life in a race in 1978. Subsequently, Miller has continued to field teams in NASCAR. Challenges similar to those he faced during the civil rights eras have continued to resurface, and Miller describes these in the book. The story's uniqueness lies in the social challenges Miller encounters that directly affects events on the actual racetrack. He also weaves in intriguing references to his contact with the CIA, his service in the United States Army, aviation, motion pictures, celebrities, and sports icons. Leonard W. Miller was inducted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame, along with driver Benny Scott, in 1976. |
Go With Me | Castle Freeman | 2,008 | This short novel of only 160 pages is set in backwoods Vermont where the local villain, Blackway, is making life hellish for Lillian, a young woman from outside the area. Her boyfriend has fled the state in fear, and local law enforcement can do nothing to protect her. She resolves to stand her ground, and to fight back. Lillian enlists the powerful brute Nate and the wily old-timer Lester to take the fight to her tormenter whilst an eccentric Greek chorus of locals ponders her likely fate. |
Betrayal | Lois Tilton | 1,994 | Ambassadors from all over the Federation have assembled on Deep Space Nine for a conference that will determine the future of the planet Bajor. Keeping dozens of alien ambassadors happy is hard enough, but when hidden terrorists start blowing up the station, Commander Benjamin Sisko must track a hidden enemy who strikes at will. Then things get even worse: a new Cardassian commander arrives, demanding the return of Deep Space Nine to the Cardassian Empire. With Deep Space Nine now a dangerous minefield, Sisko must defuse a situation that threatens the very existence of the planet Bajor. |
The Third Millennium: A History of the World AD 2000-3000 | null | null | Some of the developments mentioned include: * Implementation of fusion power. * Genetic engineering, including Life Extension and Transhumanism as some humans become engineered to live in extreme environments such as cold, zero-g, and even water-breathing humans for aquatic communities. * Geopolitical events such as war, famine, pestilence, and terrorism (as well as the "Sinking of Japan" by an earthquake). * Bioengineered foods including whimiscal items such as the Jack Spratt Grass Chop, photosynthetic suits grafted to human skin meant to provide a means of sustinance without eating. * Self-driving automobiles (the "Tiger-Dream Machine" from Ford Autocar). * L5 (Lagrange Point) space colonies such as those proposed by Scientist Gerard K. O'Neill. * Asteroid mining (such as the "Cracking of Ceres"). * Artificial Intelligence. * Extreme cosmetic Body Modification such as skin with pockets, flashing irises, fur, claws, and fingernails which function as timepieces. * Sublight starships such as the Bussard Ramjet. * Terraforming. * Interstellar colonization, and eventual extraterrestrial contact. As this book was written in the 1980s, some predictions for the near future were off - for example, the Soviet Union was predicted to exist as late as the year 2800. |
Torikaebaya Monogatari | null | null | The story tells of a Sadaijin (high-ranking courtier) who has two similar-looking children by different mothers, a boy called Wakagimi and a girl called Himegimi, but their mannerisms are those of the opposite sex. The title, "Torikaebaya", literally means "If only I could exchange them!", an exasperated cry by the father. The Sadaijin plans to have them join religious orders, but the news of the talents of the "son" spreads to the court. The children go through the coming of age ceremonies for the opposite sex, and the Sadaijin presents his daughter as a man to the court, and his son as a woman. The man disguised as a woman, now known as the rank of Naishi no Kami (head of the ceremonies committee), becomes the sheltered princess's confidante, whereas the woman disguised as a man becomes a Chūnagon (mid-ranking courtier). The siblings are worried that they will be exposed, and so Naishi no Kami is even shyer than most ladies of the court, and the Chūnagon more aloof than is seemly. Despite this, the Chūnagon has platonic affairs with the elder Yoshino princess and the Lady of the Reikeiden. Naishi no Kami is pursued by men — the Crown Prince falls in love with Naishi no Kami based on her reputation, and pursuing her relentlessly. The Chūnagon's best friend, Saishō Chūjō, attempts to seduce Naishi no Kami for a period of two nights and a day. The daughter marries a woman, Shi no Kimi (Fourth Daughter). Saishō attempts to educate the Chūnagon's wife that couples do more than hold hands and sleep next to each other all night. Naishi no Kami similarly avoids the pursuit of the Crown Prince. Saishō has an affair with Shi no Kimi, and then turns his attention to the Chūnagon, discovering in a grappling match the Chūnagon's true sex. He then begins to court the Chūnagon in the usual manner, and insists that she return to being a woman. The Chūnagon becomes pregnant and hides herself away from the court. Naishi no Kami has sex with the princess, and she becomes pregnant. Naishi no Kami dresses as a man and searches for the Chūnagon, and after the Chūnagon gives birth, the siblings swap places. The tengu who cursed the siblings in their previous lives to not be content with the sex they were born with has since become a Buddhist — Willig's translation mistakenly says that it's the siblings' father who has turned to the path. Because of the tengu's conversion to Buddhism, as the siblings resolve to swap roles and dress in the clothes of their physical sex, they become content. The former Naishi no Kami marries the sheltered princess, the elder Yoshino princess, and "remains" married to Shi no Kimi. He attains the rank of Sadaijin. The Crown Prince, now Emperor, has sex with the former Chūnagon, and is dismayed to find she is not a virgin, but marries her anyway. Saishō never learns what became of the former Chūnagon, the princess barely notices the change in her female companion, and the siblings live happily ever after and have many children with their new spouses. |
EarthWeb | Marc Stiegler | null | EarthWeb is set in a future where Earth is attacked roughly every five years by spaceships from an unknown extraterrestrial society. Named Shivas, after the Hindu Deity of the same name, the ships are very large, and become progressively more advanced. The ultimate goal of the ships seems to be the complete destruction of the Earth. A commando squad of highly trained soldiers, called Angels, work to destroy the ship, using information gathered by an extended, worldwide version of the internet. |
The Temple Beau | Henry Fielding | null | Wilding is a young law student who gives up his studies in order to seek pleasure. He is a rake who uses people and wishes to marry Bellaria simply for money. Unlike Love in Several Masques, Fielding cares more about revealing hypocrisy than with a discussion of love and lovers, but he portrays the hypocrites in a manner that emphasizes a comedic response instead of censure. Other characters want to have Bellaria, including the virtuous man Veromil and his foil Valentine who is unable to control his desires for Bellaria. Valentine eventually pairs with Clarissa, a character of little substance within the play, Veromil marries Bellaria, and Wilding does not marry. |
Winter | John Marsden | 2,000 | For twelve years Winter has been haunted. Her past, her memories, her feelings, will not leave her alone. And now, at sixteen, the time has come for her to act. Every journey begins with a single step. If Winter is going to step into the future, she must first step into the past. Winter returns to her family estate of Warriewood, neglected since the death of her parents when she was four years old; she is determined to uncover the mystery behind their deaths. |
The Trouble With Normal | Michael Warner | 1,999 | Chapter One, "The Ethics of Sexual Shame", criticizes the idea that there is some morally compelling aspect to "normality", arguing that the normal range is simply a statistical category to which there is no ethical obligation to correspond: "If normal just means within a common statistical range, there is no reason to be normal or not" (see also Hume's Guillotine). Warner uses the example of former US president Bill Clinton's impeachment after a sexual scandal to argue that public and political discourse uses shame disingenuously, to portray certain kinds of sexual behaviour as intolerable, when private morality generally recognises the compatibility of sex with dignity. The second chapter, titled "What's Wrong with Normal?", argues that as well as being a limited goal, less urgent than the elimination of violence and discrimination against queer people, same-sex marriage actively causes negative consequences both for queer and straight people, because in validating a single, prescribed type of relationship it devalues and makes more difficult other kinds of interpersonal relationship. Warner argues that the campaign for gay marriage threatens to turn the gay rights movement, previously a powerful force against the stigmatization of sex, into a tool for the normalization of queer life. In Chapter Three, "Beyond Gay Marriage", Warner proposes that by restricting its campaigning to demands for same-sex marriage, the gay rights movement has marginalized and ignored queer counterpublics that it would have served better by presenting a broad range of sexual lives as moral. In the fourth chapter, "Zoning Out Sex", Warner examines the history of zoning regulation changes in 1990s New York City. He argues that stricter regulation of the city's sex-related businesses represents a trend toward the repression of sex and the "erosion of queer publics." By removing problematic, visible, queer sex from public spaces, Warner argues, these policies relegated sexuality to a private sphere of presumed heterosexuality. The net effect was to heighten hypocrisy over the conduct of sexual relationships, supporting the impression that the best any sexuality campaigner can aspire to is admission to a limited sphere of normality that is politically sanctioned, but also deliberately placed outside the sphere of the politically debatable. In the final chapter, "The Politics of Shame and HIV Prevention", Warner challenges the assertion, made by gay authors like Larry Kramer, that sexual recklessness is to blame for continuing cases of HIV infection. Warner argues that, on the contrary, the political use of shame to stigmatize certain kinds of sexual activity actually puts more people at risk of contracting HIV and developing AIDS, by marginalizing those in at-risk communities and restricting access to condoms and safer sex advice. He also criticizes abstinence-only sex education as "an appalling insult to gay men and lesbians among others" and an inadequate response to the problems of public sexual health, asserting that "shame and stigma are often among the most intractable dimensions of risk." |
The Prophet Murders | Mehmet Murat Somer | null | The narrator sets out to investigate the mysterious death of two of the employees at the transvestite nightclub she runs, only two discover that they are part of a larger sequence of murders of transvestites named after the prophets. |
Star Wars: Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil | Drew Karpyshyn | null | Twenty years have passed since Darth Bane, reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, demolished the ancient order devoted to the dark side and reinvented it as a circle of two: one Master to wield the power and pass on the wisdom, and one apprentice to learn, challenge, and ultimately usurp the Dark Lord in a duel to the death. But Bane's acolyte, Zannah, has yet to engage her Master in mortal combat and prove herself a worthy successor. Determined that the Sith dream of galactic domination will not die with him, Bane vows to learn the secret of a forgotten Dark Lord that will assure the Sith's immortality–and his own. A perfect opportunity arises when a Jedi emissary is assassinated on the troubled mining planet Doan, giving Bane an excuse to dispatch his apprentice on a fact-finding mission–while he himself sets out in secret to capture the ancient holocron of Darth Andeddu and its precious knowledge. But Zannah is no fool. She knows that her ruthless Master has begun to doubt her, and she senses that he is hiding something crucial to her future. If she is going to claim the power she craves, she must take action now. While Bane storms the remote stronghold of a fanatical Sith cult, Zannah prepares for her Master's downfall by choosing an apprentice of her own: a rogue Jedi cunning and cold-blooded enough to embrace the Sith way and to stand beside her when she at last wrests from Bane the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith. But Zannah is not the only one with the desire and power to destroy Darth Bane. Princess Serra of the Doan royal family is haunted by memories of the monstrous Sith soldier who murdered her father and tortured her when she was a child. Bent on retribution, she hires a merciless assassin to find her tormentor—and bring him back alive to taste her wrath. Only a Sith who has taken down her own Master can become Dark Lord of the Sith. So when Bane suddenly vanishes, Zannah must find him—possibly even rescue him—before she can kill him. And so she pursues her quarry from the grim depths of a ravaged world on the brink of catastrophe to the barren reaches of a desert outpost, where the future of the dark side's most powerful disciples will be decided, once and for all, by the final, fatal stroke of a lightsaber. |
The River Why | David James Duncan | 1,983 | A coming of age story narrated by Gus Orviston, the oldest son in a fishing mad family. Frustrated with life in Portland and the constant bickering of his bait fishing mother and tweed wearing fly fishing father over the proper way to fish, Gus moves to a small cabin in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range. Once there he begins to follow an "ideal schedule" that has him doing nothing but eating, sleeping and fishing. In the course of doing nothing but what he loves to do he begins to notice the scars that humanity has inflicted on the river and woods he loves. As he wrestles with what to do he begins to relate with the people in his neighborhood, and discovers a beautiful fisherwoman that helps him discover that there is more to life than just fishing. |
The Dixon Cornbelt League and Other Baseball Stories | null | null | These nine stories from Kinsella all have the same general themes, centering around baseball, human nature, and the mystical. The title story is about an undrafted college player's attempt to go pro. He catches on with a minor league team in a small Iowa town, where the atmosphere is light and the citizens welcoming. However, something isn't right about the new team... Other stories in the collection are more surreal. For example, in "Eggs," an old pitcher is kept in his in-laws' home by some mysterious force. |
Angelology | Danielle Trussoni | 2,010 | The story follows a nun in New York who unwittingly reignites an ancient war between Angelologists, a group who study angels, and a race of descendants of angels and humans called the Nephilim. The story blends ancient biblical pericopes, the myth of Orpheus, and the fall of rebel angels. |
Julia | null | null | Julia Lofting has just purchased a large house in London as a means of escaping her overbearing husband, Magnus, and to start her life over following the death of her nine-year-old daughter, Kate. But she begins to suspect that she is not alone, and after a seance is held at her home she comes to fear that a malevolent supernatural presence is stalking her. bg:Джулия (роман) |
Someone Named Eva | null | null | Milada Kralicek, a young Czechoslovakian girl, lives in the village of Lidice where lots of other people live. A month later, the Nazi soldiers come to their house, taking away Milada, her mother, her younger sister Anechka and her grandmother. Her father and her brother Jaro are separated from the rest of the family and taken away somewhere. Milada, her mother, grandmother and Anechka are held together with the rest of the female inhabitants of Lidice in a school building. With her perfect features and blonde hair, Milada fits the [the perfect German girl] ideal. She is sent to a center outside of Pucshkau, Poland, along with one of her classmates and several Polish girls. She is renamed Eva. The camp is brutal, and she works hard to remember her name. But as hard as she works to remember she forgets a little but catches the memory at the nick of time. She spends two years around other girls including Siegrid, Ilsa, Gerde,and Leise, and Franziska. The camp and its staff seem cheerful on the outside but appear to be hiding something unpleasant. Once judged sufficiently trained, she is adopted by a German family from Fürstenberg near Berlin. The Werner family is composed of Vater, (father in German) who is a high official at the Nazi government, Mutter (mother), and Elsbeth and Peter, her adoptive sister and brother. The only strange feature she notices is a horrible smell that penetrates the house nearly all the time. One day, as she is walking back to the house after a picnic with Elsbeth, Eva hears the Czech anthem being sung. Coming closer, she discovers a concentration camp with female prisoners singing in Czech. This brings back all the memories, enabling Milada to see clearly who she really is. Elsbeth explains to her that this is the Ravensbruck concentration camp and that her Vater is the head of the camp. Eva/Milada has some strange feelings that possibly her family could have been detained in this camp, meaning that all that time she could have been so close to her family. By April 1945, the Nazis are losing on all the war fronts and Berlin is encircled by the Russian troops. Vater and Peter decide to go hiding, while Mutter, Elsbeth and Eva move to a shelter made in the basement to protect themselves. In May, Soviet Red Army troops come and ask for the papers left by Vater in his office, but Mutter tells them that she is not aware of anything. They leave without causing any harm to the family, but having ruined the house. A few days later, Hitler is declared dead and the war is over. Some time after, an American female medic called Marci who works for the Red Cross Association comes to the house and announces that Milada's mother is alive and has launched a search after her daughter. Eva recognizes that she is the person they are looking for. At that moment Eva is Milada again. She is taken back to Czechoslovakia. She meets her mother in Prague, discovering that her mother was indeed detained in Ravensbruck, a few steps away from the Werner household. Milada also learns that sadly her father and brother Jaro along with all the other men and teenage boys were shot by the German Nazis near a barn and then buried in a massive grave the same day after they were separated and that her grandma died in the Ravensbruck concentration camp. She is also told that her sister Anechka was adopted into a German family and that the Red Cross are looking for her. As their house, as well as all other houses in Lidice, were completely devastated by the Germans, Milada and her mother live at the house of their cousin in Prague. Milada has to learn the Czech language nearly from scratch. Milada and her mother get closer again as they tell each other what happened during the horrific times of their separation. Finally, Milada manages to recover her true identity and pride. |
Fragile Eternity | Melissa Marr | 2,009 | The novel begins with Aislinn and Seth arguing over their relationship, as Seth's mortality, Aislinn's immortality, and her ties to Keenan as the summer queen make a normal relationship near impossible. During the book Seth is also bothered by the reality that even the weakest fae is stronger than he is. Meanwhile Bananach visits her twin sister, the High Queen Sorcha, telling her of Aislinn and Seth's relationship as well as predictions of impending war. Curious about Seth, Sorcha orders Devlin, her brother and advisor, to follow Seth to see if he is any threat to the balance of the Faery courts. Niall offers Seth the protection of the Dark Court, which means that threats or violence against Seth would be treated as a threat or violence against the court as a whole. Niall explains that this would protect him against any potential threat from Keenan in the event that the Faery king decided to dispose of him. Due to it being the summer season, Aislinn and Keenan are growing more physically attracted to each other as the king and queen of the summer fae. After one of the summer revelries the pair discusses how to better protect and strengthen the court, with Aislinn suggesting ways to make peace with the other courts. Because of the summer season's effects on him, Keenan kisses Aislinn. During this time Donia is growing increasingly unsatisfied with the relationship between herself and Keenan, telling him that his attraction to Aislinn must stop so that she can be the only one in his life. When Keenan cannot promise her this, Donia throws him out of the house, only for Keenan to reveal the events to Aislinn. Aislinn attempts to apologize for Keenan, but Donia grows mad at Aislinn and stabs her with ice. Aislinn walks out of the Winter Queen's home and topples over, then calls Keenan to rescue her. While trying to heal her, Keenan's touch arouses Aislinn. Seth discovers this and asks Aislinn for space in their relationship. Hurt, Aislinn lets Seth leave without following him. After leaving, Seth is abducted by Bananach, who takes him to Sorcha. Sorcha offers to make Seth a powerful faery capable of using her own powers as long as he stays with her for one month each year. During his time in Faerie, Seth develops a mother/son relationship with Sorcha, gaining great influence in her court as well as a strong connection with her. Seth, however, is unaware that one day in Faerie is six days in the mortal world and his long disappearance crushes Aislinn. Aislinn attempts to find him, not knowing that Keenan, Niall, and Donia are aware of where he is. Keenan chooses not to tell Aislinn because it would cause her to have conflicts with the High Court and breaks up with Donia in an unsuccessful attempt to woo Aislinn. Niall eventually goes to visit Seth, who is perfectly happy in Faerie, except for his longing for Aislinn. He then tells Niall of his deal with Sorcha, and tells him not to worry about him. Sorcha tells Niall not to tell Seth too much about what is going on in the outside world and especially not to tell Aislinn about his being there. At this point Seth has been missing for five months and believing him gone for good, Aislinn attempts to seduce Keenan but is rebuffed. Keenan tells Aislinn that he will only sleep with her once she really loves him. Upon his return from Faerie, Aislinn and Keenan are surprised to see that Seth has returned and that he is now a powerful faery with strong ties and influence in Sorcha's court. Keenan runs to Donia to beg for her forgiveness, but is rebuffed by her. Seth discovers that Aislinn has been dating Keenan and blames her for not having faith in their relationship. The novel ends with Seth getting permission to train with Gabriel's Hounds so he can hunt down Bananach. |
Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha | null | 1,984 | The autobiography Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha by Dalit woman writer Shantabai Kamble, the protagonist of the story, Naja, bears the brunt of class, caste and gender. Naja is from the Mahar caste, one of the biggest Dalit communities in Maharashtra. Najabai Sakharam Babar (renamed Shantabai Krishnaji Kamble after her marriage), was the first dalit woman teacher in Solapur district. she began teaching at the Solapur District Board School in 1942. Ten year, in 1952, she completed two years of teacher training and served as an education extension officer in the 'Jat' taluka of Sangli district. She wrote Mazhya Jalmachi Chittarkatha ( The Kaleidoscopic Story of My Life) after she retire d from teaching in 1981. The autobiography was first serialised in Purva magazine in 1983 and was teleserialised as 'Najuka' on Mumbai Doordarshan in 1990. It has also been translated into French. The word Chittarkatha literally means a picture story but also indicates a sense of pieces of pictures being put together like a jigsaw puzzle. |
Science Fair | null | null | Grdankl the Strong, president of Krpshtskan, is plotting to take over the American government. Unfortunately, that is hard considering the fact that Kprshtskan is so poor its airplane motto is "If it is going up it is coming down in a different place." So he sends one of his sons, Prmkt, into America to try and bring it to its knees. Prmkt eventually devises a plan that requires top-secret military technology. To obtain this technology, he enters Hubble Middle School. A science fair is held each year in Hubble Middle School, with a cash prize for the winner, so Prmkt sends notes to the ME (Manor Estates) kids, saying that for a fee, he will give them blueprints to build technical items. However, the ME kids are unaware of who writes these notes or gives the blueprints. Also, considering the fact that some of them have an IQ that can be compared to that of a horsefly, they go to a certain store in the mall called the Science Nook, where the owner, Sternabite, builds their projects for a fee. These procedures are kept secret, otherwise their projects would be disqualified from the science fair. Many people, teachers and students alike, are suspicious of these things, but due to lack of evidence, and the fact that the ME kid's parents are very powerful and are rich, so the ME kids continue to win year after year. Toby Harbinger, an average, smart kid (as noted when he was put in the Gifted Class) has a problem. His problem is that he sold his dad's autographed Han Solo blaster prop to a guy named D. Arthur Vaderian who has a partner who wears polarized sunglasses. He used the $2,038 to buy a new gaming computer, to replace the old one. His father defeats Vaderian in a light-saber duel after Toby escapes from jail with his iPhone that makes him invisible unless someone is wearing polarized sunglasses. One of the funniest and most often repeated lines in the book is "Smerk?", which is used to repel wolves. |
Bradley McGogg, the very fine frog | J. Timothy Hunt | 2,009 | Bradley McGogg makes his home in the bog where there are plenty of yummy bugs for a frog to feed on. Upon finding his pantry bare one day, Bradley decides to meet his neighbors, in the hopes that they will share some of their favorite meals with him. But this “bog frog” soon finds that not all animals eat alike. |
The Faithful Spy | Alex Berenson | 2,006 | The book begins a few months after the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, with John Wells, an undercover CIA agent, in the middle of a battle in Afghanistan. Wells has been undercover with Al Qaeda for many years, fighting in Chechnya, Afghanistan and Pakistan. During the battle he and his crew of Al-Qaeda members are on a hillside where a group of United States Marines are stationed. The small Al-Qaeda band is planning to attack the Marines to help with a bigger battle that is raging below, and Wells decides to take out the terrorists himself so he can send a message to his CIA contact via the Marines: "No prior knowledge of 9/11. Say hi to Heather for me." Meanwhile, back in the United States, Jennifer Exley, his CIA handler, visits a prisoner of war being held on a Navy ship to try to get information on Wells, who has been incommunicado for two years. Al Qaeda detonates two truck bombs in LA, killing hundreds of people. John Wells is returned to the USA on a mission from Al Qaeda where he reconnects with the CIA. However due to the length of his absence he is accused of being “un-faithful” because he did not warn the US about Al Qaeda attacks. The accuser, Vinny Duto forces John to take a polygraph test. He proves himself to be innocent. Wells is put in a CIA safe house in Washington, DC but escapes in order to continue his Al Qaeda mission. He heads to Atlanta and spends several months hiding out before being given the task of killing a retired US Army general. After completing this task, and secretly killing his two fellow Al Qaeda members, he is given the task of collecting something from Canada. While in Canada, he meets with a Al-Qaeda member to collect a suitcase, really a scientist who has been working to grow the plague bacteria. Wells returns with the suitcase but has secretly been infected with the plague by the scientist. Wells then learns that Al Qaeda used the LA bombings as a distraction from an impending, much larger attack; several other Al Qaeda members have infected themselves with the plague and plan to spread it throughout the population, creating a pandemic within the United States. Wells, with the help of Exley, is able to kill the infected terrorists and take out their leader, Khadri, thwarting their plans. |
The Two Sisters | H. E. Bates | 1,926 | Jenny and her younger sister Tessie live in an isolated farmhouse with their recently widowed and tyrannical father Jacob and their two brothers Jim and Luke. Tessie seeks escape in the local dancehall. Jenny stays at home. Then an unexpected visitor Michael Winter breaks into their quiet lives; both sisters falling in love with him. |
9 Dragons | Michael Connelly | 2,009 | Bosch and his partner Ignacio Ferras are called to investigate a murder at Fortune Liquors (which Bosch had visited during the race riots at the end of Angels Flight), located in the L.A. ghetto. The owner, Mr. Li, has been murdered, leaving behind a grieving widow who did not speak English and two children: a daughter Mia, who looked after her parents, and a son Robert, who ran the second Fortune Liquors store in an upscale area. The wife had found her husband's body, and the Asian Gangs Unit has been called, which leads to Asian-American Detective David Chu, who is fluent in several Chinese dialects, joining the investigation. Although the killer took the day's security camera disk, Bosch watches two saved disks from previous dates and finds that the owner made a $216 weekly payoff to a triad every week at about the time he was murdered. Chu locates the bagman for the triad, and he and Bosch arrest him just as he is about to flee to Hong Kong. The arrest is made on a Friday, so that the man can be held without bail until Monday morning. The victim had swallowed one of the casings ejected by the shooter's gun, and Bosch requests the forensics lab to run a special, experimental test on the brass casing to reveal any latent fingerprints. However, at that point, Bosch receives a phone threat and then a video message from his daughter Maddie, who lives in Hong Kong and whom he only sees twice a year. The message simply shows her held in a hotel room, kidnapped. His ex-wife Eleanor called the Hong Kong police, who told her that Maddie was probably a runaway and to call back Monday if she hadn't returned by then. Bosch flies from L.A. to Hong Kong Friday night/Saturday, and then plans to spend Sunday looking for Maddie, while flying back Sunday night to get in the office on Monday morning (due to the time differentials). Eleanor agrees to meet him at the airport. Eleanor, who is a star attraction at a Macau casino, has a personal security guard, Sun Yee, whom Harry learns is also her boyfriend. Although Hong Kong has strict gun control, Sun Yee arranges to get Harry a gun. A video technician at the L.A.P.D. traced the image of Maddy's kidnapping to a particular section of Kowloon, and Harry, Eleanor and Sun Yee follow the trail to a high-rise multi-ethnic flophouse (a likely referral to Chungking Mansions), which Eleanor refers to as a "post-modern Casablanca, all in one building." To get access to the room in which Maddie was being held, Harry recklessly overpays, despite Sun Yee's cautioning. On the elevator up, Harry and Eleanor are separated from Sun Yee, and Harry crashes into the room without waiting for him. They find evidence that Maddie had been blood typed there, which would be done only if her kidnapping were part of China's black market in organ trading. Upon leaving the room, Harry and Eleanor are approached by two armed men, and in the subsequent shoot-out, the men and Eleanor are all killed. Sun Yee informs Harry that the killers are not triad but were robbers out to steal the money that Harry showed at the desk. Harry then thrashes the desk clerk and takes his records of room rentals, managing to escape just ahead of the police. The room rental was done by "Quick", the older brother of one of Maddie's friends. He lived in Tuen Mun in the New Territories, according to the records, but Harry and Sun Yee find only three dead bodies—Quick, his sister and their mother—in his apartment, as well as Maddie's cell phone. The cell phone had been used to make one call to a Tuen Mun number before it was damaged, and Harry calls Chu back in L.A. to trace the number. Harry and Sun Yee launch their own attempt to track down the kidnappers and succeed in luring them into a meeting, then follow their car upon leaving. Chu manages to trace the phone call number to a triad-connected business called Northstar, and the kidnappers' car is headed in the same direction. Just before arriving at the business, the car turns, but Harry and Sun Yee continue to Northstar, where they find a guarded cargo ship. Subsequently, the car also arrives there. Figuring that Maddie was on board the ship, Harry charges it under cover and kills the kidnappers. Although Maddie is not on the boat, he finds Maddie in the trunk of the car. With Eleanor deceased, Harry takes Maddie back to L.A. Upon his arrival, Harry learns that nothing has happened in the Fortune Liquors case, in part because Ferras did not work over the weekend, and Harry tells Ferras that he will request a new partner. The bagman is released on bail and flees the U.S. Hong Kong police arrive with a demand for Bosch's extradition, and they have a confession signed by Sun Yee that has a number of inaccuracies in it, which makes it obvious to Bosch that Sun Yee is not cooperating and may have been tortured. Bosch comes to the meeting with them accompanied by his lawyer (and half-brother) Mickey Haller, who threatens to turn this into a front-page story about the dangers faced by Americans in Hong Kong, especially since the Hong Kong police were called about Maddie's kidnapping but refused to help. The Hong Kong police leave without pursuing charges and also agree to release Sun Yee. At the same time, the experimental test produces a fingerprint on the casing—but the fingerprint belongs to Hollywood screenwriter Henry Lau, not the triad bagman. When Bosch and Chu visit him, they find the gun used for the murder, which he keeps in his home. He tells them that he was in a script meeting the entire day of the shooting (and in a nod to Hollywood by Connelly, when asked who could vouch for him, Lau name-drops actor Matthew McConaughey, who portrays Haller in the film adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer). While escorting Lau out of the house, Bosch notices Lau's framed college diploma on the wall, from the same university and graduation year as the one hanging in Robert Li's office. Lau reveals that he and Robert were roommates in college, along with Li's assistant manager Eugene Lam, and that the threesome plays cards at Lau's house each week. Bosch and Chu arrest Lam, whom they believe to be the killer, while leaving Ferras to follow Robert Li. Lam reveals that the entire murder was a plot concocted by Mia to relieve her of the burden of her parents; Robert had come up with the idea of disguising it as a triad killing. When Bosch and Chu inform Ferras, he decides to single-handedly arrest Robert Li as an act of defiance against Bosch—but he is killed by Mia during the arrest. Mia then commits suicide. After Ferras' funeral, Maddie confesses to Harry that the "kidnapping" was originally a fake that she planned, to get her mother to agree to let her live with Harry. However, when presented with the opportunity, Quick turned it into a real kidnapping, making the deal with the triad from which Harry saved her. Maddie blames herself for the deaths, especially her mother, that followed. Harry consoles her, promising to show her how they can make up for their mistakes. |
Other People | Martin Amis | 1,981 | Mary, an amnesiac young woman, wakes and tries to piece together her previous life while using a new identity. |
Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse | Lee Goldberg | 2,006 | A woman falls asleep while watching TV and a lit cigarette sets her house on fire. Minutes later, at a nearby firehouse, a firefighter is killed and Monk is blinded in a bizarre attack. Monk must use his other senses to find the killer. |
Dead to the World | Charlaine Harris | 2,004 | This novel opens on New Year's Eve, three weeks after the events of Club Dead. Sookie Stackhouse finds Eric running down the road close to her home, but he seems to have lost his memory. Sookie, initially reluctant to get involved in vampire matters once again, takes Eric in. Eric's second in command, Pam, is relieved at Sookie finding Eric, and explains a coven of villainous witches, some of them also werewolves, has arrived in Shreveport, set on extorting money from Eric and taking over the local power he has. Hence, Pam believes the witches to be responsible for Eric's erased memory. After Sookie's brother Jason bargains on a financial settlement, Sookie agrees to keep Eric in her house and care for him, as the witches are on the lookout for Eric and might harm him. The next day, Jason is missing. Sookie oversees the slowly progressing police investigation of her brother's disappereance, but personally fears the witch coven might've gotten hold of him. Later on, Sookie informs werewolf Alcide Herveaux of the witch coven being in town. Alcide and his pack master fear that one of their pack members might have defected to the witches' side, but Sookie and Alcide then discover this particular woman's murdered body. Back in Bon Temps, Sookie's workplace is paid a visit to by the leaders of the witch coven, Marnie "Hallow" and Mark Stonebrook. Meanwhile, Sookie and Eric give in to their sexual interest in each other, while Sookie realizes she wouldn't have done so if Eric still had his memory. Pam suggests Alcide's werewolf pack, her area vampires and some local Wiccans unite to fight off the witch coven. They do so and with Sookie's assistance, brutally attack the witches' main gathering place, wiping out everyone present but Hallow, whom Pam captures and forces to lift Eric's amnesia. Sookie returns home dismayed at the loss of her "relationship" with the memory-free Eric, and finally retrieves Jason with Sam's help in Hotshot, a local were-panther community. In Hotshot, Felton Norris, romantically interested in Jason's one-time fling Crystal, also a werepanther, had contained Jason and purposefully bit him to change him into a werepanther, so that Crystal would lose her interest in Jason. This novel marked the death of three previously introduced characters; Fangtasia's human waitress Ginger was killed by a witch curse, Fangtasia's replacement bartender Chow was staked in the climactic battle, and Alcide Herveaux's jealous, shapeshifter ex-girlfriend Debbie Pelt was shot to death by Sookie after invading Sookie's house intending to kill her. |
The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance | Margaret Mahy | 1,984 | Laura Chant has one of her "warnings", a premonition that something is about to happen, but is forced to ignore it and go to school as usual. On the way home, she and her younger brother Jacko encounter the sinister Carmody Braque, who 'playfully' stamps Jacko's hand, the stamp appearing as an image of his face. As Jacko becomes increasingly ill, Laura believes he has been possessed. She seeks the help of Sorensen "Sorry" Carlisle, recognized by her as a witch in hiding though to others he seems just a painfully well-behaved school prefect who photographs birds as a hobby. She learns that Braque is an ancient being who consumes the life force of others to keep himself alive. Sorry's grandmother Winter, one of a long line of witches, recommends that Laura should "changeover" from her normal life, becoming a witch or "woman of the moon" herself. As such she can trick the unwary Braque into putting himself in her power. Although warned that the changeover can be dangerous, Laura is determined to save her brother, now very near death. Laura experiences the changeover as a spirit journey through a dark forest, which is also at the same time Gardendale. The Carlisle witches help her through it, for their own reasons, and she emerges from the perilous passage with the power of nature and imagination awakened in her. Taking Sorensen along to mask her new power, Laura confronts Braque and succeeds in gaining power over him and breaking his hold on Jacko. At first intending to make the evil entity suffer, she rejects the dark temptation and instead ends his unnatural existence. |
The Dressmaker | Beryl Bainbridge | 1,973 | Set in Lancashire during World War II, a repressed dressmaker and her sister struggle looking after their 17-year-old niece, who is having a delusional affair with an American soldier. |
Gold | Dan Rhodes | 2,007 | Set in a coastal village in Pembrokeshire it concerns Miyuki Woodward a young Welsh-Japanese woman who spends a month every winter staying in a nearby cottage; away from her female partner Grindl (with whom she runs a decorating business) as a lesson in not taking each other for granted. Her appearance in the local pub is welcomed by all, but this year she becomes more involved in the local community than usual; the gold in the title referring to her impulsive gold spray-painting of a prominent boulder on a nearby beach, which soon attracts the attention of the local police... |
The Collector Collector | Tibor Fischer | 1,997 | The narrator of the tale (and the collector of its collectors) is an ancient Sumerian bowl which finds itself in a South London flat of its new owner Rosa. The bowl not only acts as a repository for 5,000 years of human history but is also able to communicate with those who handle it; reading memories and imparting wisdom... |
The Dead and the Gone | null | 2,008 | The Dead and the Gone follows 17-year-old Alex Morales and his sisters, Briana and Julie, in their struggle to survive after an asteroid hits the Moon and knocks it out of orbit, closer to Earth. Taking place in New York, they are plagued with volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and tidal waves, and earthquakes, along with famine caused by food shortages and disease that kill millions of people in the process. Alex is forced to take care of his sisters in the absence of his mother and father and to raid dead bodies for valuables to trade for food. He struggles with his religious faith while trying desperately to survive. |
The Tragedy of Tragedies | Henry Fielding | null | There is little difference between the general plot outline of Tom Thumb and The Tragedy of Tragedies, but Fielding does make significant changes. He completely removed a scene in which two doctors discuss Tom Thumb's death, and in doing so unified the type of satire that he was working on. He narrowed his critique to abuses of language produced only by individuals subconsciously, and not by frauds like the doctors. As for the rest of the play, Fielding expanded scenes, added characters, and turned the work into a three-act play. Merlin is added to the plot to prophesize Tom's end. In addition, Grizzle becomes Tom's rival for Huncamunca's heart, and a giantess named Glumdalca is added as a second love interest for both King Arthur and Tom. As the play progresses, Tom is not killed by Grizzle, but instead defeats him. The ghost of Tom in Tom Thumb is replaced by the ghost of Gaffar Thumb, Tom's father. |
Millions | Frank Cottrell Boyce | 2,004 | The novel is set in Widnes, England, in the near future, just as the euro is about to replace the pound sterling. Damian and Anthony Cunningham are brothers who have recently suffered the loss of their mother. Because of this tragedy, Damian becomes obsessed with saints and eventually hallucinates about them. When brothers Damian and Anthony unwittingly come into possession of the proceeds of a train robbery, they find themselves with millions of pounds to spend in the next 17 days. Damian believes the money comes from God and she like radishod, but Anthony has different ideas. Meanwhile, the robbers are looking for their money. |
Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War | William Broad | 2,001 | The book begins by recounting the 1984 salmonella poisoning in The Dalles, Oregon, caused by the followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh spraying salmonella onto salad bars. There are several revelations, including how Moscow's scientists created an untraceable germ that could instruct the body to self destroy, and U.S. military plans of germ weaponry attacking Cuba in the 1960s. Germs ends with a review of the United States's ability to deter future bio-attack. |
The Clown | Heinrich Böll | null | Hans Schnier is the "Clown" of the novel's title. He is twenty-seven years old from a very wealthy family. At the beginning of the story he arrives in Bonn, Germany. As a clown, he had to travel across the country from city to city to perform as an artist. He always sees himself an artist. His home is in Bonn; therefore, he has to stay in different hotels when he is not in Bohn. The woman he has been living with, Marie, has left him to marry another man named Zupfner. Because of this, Hans has become depressed. He also has serious financial problems and he wants to get Marie back from Zupfner. He describes himself as a clown with no church affiliation. His parents, devout Protestants, sent him to a Catholic school. He met Marie in school and fell in love with her. Although Marie was a Catholic, she agreed to live with him. They never got legally married, largely because Hans would not agree to sign a paper agreeing to raise his children as Catholics. He did not even want to get a marriage license, because he thought that they were for people who did not go to church. While living together, they never had any children. Marie always stated that even though she was living in sin, she was still a Catholic. Once in high school, Hans saw her holding hands with Zupfner, but she told him that Zupfner was only a friend. Hans brought her along on every trip and took her everywhere he went. After five years, there was a Catholic conference near their hotel in a German city. Marie wanted to breathe some Catholic air and ask Hans to go there. Hans had a performance at the same time. When they arrived late at night, he fell asleep. The next morning, he discovered Marie was gone, but had had left a note. He never saw her again. The note read: “I must take the path that I must take.” Hans has a mystical peculiarity, as he can detect smells through the telephone. As he explains, he does not only suffer from depression, headaches, laziness and that mystical ability, but also he suffers from his disposition to monogamy. There is only one woman that he can live with: Marie. His reversal of values is clearly shown in his statement: "I believe that the living are dead, and that the dead live, not the way Protestants and Catholics believe it." When he goes to his home in the Bonn, the first person he meets is his millionaire father. He remembers all of his memories from the past. He had a sister named Henrietta. The family forced her to volunteer for anti-aircraft duty seventeen years ago and she never came back. He also has a brother named Leo. He recently converted to Catholicism and is studying theology in college. Hans tells his father about his financial problems. After his father offers him to work for him for a relatively low wage, Hans rejects the offer. He tells his father that he and his brother never benefited from the wealth of their family. War has affected the family. They were never given enough food or pocket money. Many things were regarded as extravagances. Thus, he has no good memory from his past and maybe it was a factor that drove him, at age 21, to leave home to become a clown. He calls many of his relatives in Bonn, but nobody can help him. He soon discovers that Marie is now in Rome on her honeymoon. This news only depresses him more. Finally, he calls his brother, Leo, who promises to bring him money the next day. But, in the middle of the conversation, Leo says that he has talked to Zupner about something and that they became friends. Because Leo has converted to Catholicism, his father no longer supports him. Therefore, Leo is not in a good position financially. In anger, Hans tells him not to come to bring the money. At the end, Hans takes his guitar to the train station and plays as people throw coins into his hat. |
Luckypenny | Bruce Marshall | 1,937 | Luckypenny, the title character, is married with two young adult children. Like the author himself, Luckypenny has lost a leg in World War I. He works as an accountant with an English arms firm. Discovering some financial irregularities he blackmails his way to promotion. He is sent to negotiate an arms sale to fascist Italy and becomes embroiled in a scheme to smuggle cash out of the country, arranged by his boss to get rid of him. He is caught, but escapes with the aid of a young woman, who, unbeknownst to Luckypenny, is an Italian espionage agent. The agent falls in love with Luckypenny and helps him to land a large contract for his company. Additional adventures involve Luckypenny’s children. His son, Tom, and the boss's daughter fall in love, but Tom is shattered when he discovers that she is not a virgin. Luckypenny’s daughter and his boss also begin a love affair. The novel ends in Fascist Spain, where Luckypenny’s fate depends upon the intervention of his Italian lover. |
Vespers in Vienna | Bruce Marshall | 1,947 | Shortly after the end of World War II, British Colonel Michael 'Hooky' Nicobar is assigned to the Displaced Persons Division in the British Zone of Vienna, Austria. Like the author himself, Nicobar has had a limb amputated. Marshall also served in the Displaced Persons Division in Austria. Nicobar's duty is to aid the Soviet authorities to repatriate citizens of the Soviet Union, many of whom prefer not to return to their home country. Billeted in the convent run by Mother Auxilia, Nicobar, and his military aides Major John 'Twingo' McPhimister and Audrey Quail, become involved in the plight of Maria, a young ballerina, who is trying to avoid being returned to Moscow. Nicobar's sense of duty is tested as he sees first hand the plight of the people he is forcing to return to the Soviet Union; his lack of religious faith is also shaken by his contact with the Mother Superior. The novel was the basis of the 1949 film The Red Danube starring Walter Pidgeon, Ethel Barrymore, Peter Lawford, Angela Lansbury and Janet Leigh. George Sidney directed. After the movie was released the novel was re-issued as The Red Danube. |
The Fair Bride | Bruce Marshall | 1,953 | A priest finds himself on the run from the Spanish Republicans, who accuse priests of indoctrinating their followers against them. The priest slips into a cabaret to hide and meets a young girl, an entertainer in the club. His commitment to the priesthood is wavering due to the persecution he suffers and he begins to fall for her. Both of them wind up being arrested. Meanwhile, both sides are searching for a sacred relic that is believed to have miraculous powers - it is said to have helped defeat Napoleon. Each side wants it for its own reasons. The relic ends up in the priest’s possession. |
Little Friend | Bruce Marshall | 1,929 | James Garrett is the “Little Friend” of several young women. Whether or not this is a good thing for these ladies is the issue studied in this tragicomic novel. Garrett meets Effie while studying for the ministry at St. Andrews, a university in Scotland. He falls in love with Effie, the lovely daughter of a local pastor, only moments after meeting her. They are inseparable, until, just days before his graduation–ordination, and the day after their first sexual encounter, she is killed in a traffic accident. Despondent and disillusioned, he abandons his intended pastoral career and takes a job as an ad writer with Paloma, the American manufacturer of a very successful line of toothpaste. The company sends him to Paris where he meets Marjorie, a worldly, promiscuous and beautiful British expatriate. He quickly abandons her when his company assigns him to Barcelona. On the train to his new job, he meets an English family, the Nicholsons, also traveling to Barcelona. The daughter, Molly, becomes infatuated with Garrett. His feelings towards her are more ambiguous. The next player in this drama is Pepita. A fiery and lovely poor woman, Pepita works in a brothel since “I can’t keep body and soul together on what is paid by shoe stores.” Garrett meets her when he and his new coworkers end a drunken debauch by visiting her place of employment. Garrett is intrigued by both her attractiveness and the fact that, while she is willing to engage in a wide range of intimate sexual activities, she refuses to kiss him. Garrett shuffles between Molly and Pepita, keeping their existence a secret to the other. But Pepita also has another admirer, Miguelito, an up and coming young bullfighter. Pepita, however is frustrated by Miguelito’s many infidelities and eventually gives him up after he abandons and humiliates her for an assignation with Marjorie, who has come to Barcelona to attempt the consummation of her seduction of Garrett. After considerable reflection, Garrett offers to support Pepita if she will give up prostitution. She agrees and finds herself growing more committed and more in love with him. As her love for him grows, Pepita realizes that maintaining their unmarried sexual relationship is sinful and ends sexual activities with him. Garrett, however, has continued his flirtation with Molly all during his relationship with Pepita. Garrett now realizes that Molly is also hoping he will marry her. Weighing his two possibilities, Garrett decides that his chances of a happy life are higher with Molly, with whom he shares many cultural affinities, than with Pepita, whose habits and expectations are “foreign” to him. The novel ends with Pepita reentering the brothel. Garret has proven himself to be a “little” friend. His irresolute and selfish behavior has symbolically led to Effie’s death, Pepita’s return to immorality and Marjorie's continuation in a life of debauchery. The reader is left to contemplate what lies in wait for Molly. |
The Stooping Venus | Bruce Marshall | 1,926 | Lady Louise Eleanor Stromworth-Jenkins is “very much of the nineteen twenties.” The daughter of an English Baron and a French mother, Louise is young, wealthy, intelligent, well-educated and beautiful. An object of pursuit by many eligible young men in her London, England area, Louise feels herself not really capable of love. She meets Lord James Strathcrombie, a decorated war veteran and owner of Benhyter Motors, Limited, a successful automobile company. Eventually, despite her lack of deep love for James, they marry. While Strathcrombie is in Paris on a business trip, Louise travels to Roscoff, France to visit her good friend Veronica Ashley, who is staying there with her family and several friends. One of the friends is Robert Hewitt, a Scottish medical student and the author of one relatively unsuccessful novel. Although she believes in loyalty and is devoted to her husband, Louise feels an attraction to Robert which last through the visit. Soon all return to their respective endeavors. A few months later Louise travels to St. Andrews, Scotland to visit friends. There she encounters Robert again, this time just after he has published his second novel, The Silver Fleece, which has become a great success. Louse and Robert spend considerable time together and the encounters grow increasingly romantic. But again, nothing happens between them and soon they part. In London, the Strathcrombies entertain the Merrill family in their home. The family has two young daughters, Babs and Mavis. While talking with Louise the young women express their admiration for The Silver Fleece. Louise mentions that she knows the author and using their enthusiasm as an excuse, invites Robert for a visit. After meeting him, Babs also finds herself very attracted to Robert. During this visit, Louse and Robert discuss running off together. Louise still feels loyalty to James, but feels that this is her chance for love, a chance she did not believe was ever possible. Robert also expresses agreement with the idea, although he also feels an attraction to Babs. They determine to tell James, but he leaves on an emergency business trip before Louise can work up the courage to do so. They attempt to follow him to Bordeaux, France, but in route, while staying in a hotel, Robert encounters Babs. Desperate, Babs kisses Robert just as Louise, looking for him in the hotel, walks in on them. Realizing that Robert does not feel as deeply for her as she for him, she returns to James. After all this, Veronica tells Louse about a statue that she has. “A naked woman, stooping, groping for something, it seems. ‘The Stooping Venus’ I always call it. What she’s stooping for I can never quite make out. A philosophy, perhaps, or even a garment. And I’m sure that it’s something quite ordinary she wants to find: common sense if it’s a philosophy, a flannelette petticoat if it’s a garment. That’s you, Louise. Stooping to find—content, and motherhood, and lawful love.” |
Terminal World | Alastair Reynolds | null | The plot begins when an "angel", a posthuman from the Celestial levels at Spearpoint's peak, falls to Neon Heights, further down the spire. The clean-up crew that finds it delivers it to Quillon, one of the zone's pathologists. It is revealed that Quillon was part of a secret angel project to see if angels could be altered to survive in Spearpoint's lower levels. The dying angel tells Quillon that certain factions amongst the angels are searching for him to obtain further information about the results of this project. Quillon seeks advice from his old ally, Fray, who tells him that he needs to leave Spearpoint if he is to survive in the foreseeable future. He summons Meroka, one of his extraction specialists, to help Quillon out of the city. Quillon and Meroka escape the city, pursued by "Ghouls"- angels with similar, but less sophisticated, inter-zonal modifications that allow them to survive in lower state zones for short periods of time. They find out that the zones had rearranged themselves totally overnight in what is called a "zone storm". They look to Spearpoint and see that all the lights have gone out, indicating the entire city has been affected by the storm. They venture on and run into an overturned carriage with several bodies having been consumed by the vorgs, carnivorous cyborgs, that harvest brain tissue to feed on. Soon Quillon and Meroka run into a Skullboy caravan and find two prisoners who they release. The Skullboys take them all hostage, then the vorgs turn up and demand fresh meat in return for making drugs for the Skullboys. Meroka offers herself up to the vorgs but before she is harvested the vorg behind her is killed by members from Swarm. Swarm airmen kill off the remaining Skullboys and Vorg and pronounce Quillons group to be "clients of Swarm". They are taken aboard one of the hundred and fifty airships that make up the entity of Swarm. The gang get taken back to Swarm's HQ and are taken to see the leader Riccasso. Meroka finds out that Quillon is an angel and as she had a chequered past with the angels, no longer speaks to him. Ricasso tells Quillon about his research into finding a complete cure for zone sickness, which would allow people to cross zone boundaries at will. The two prisoners that Quillon and Meroka released are mother Kalis and daughter Nimcha who both bear the Tectomancer birthmark. However Kalis' birthmark upon closer inspection turns out to be a tattoo used to divert hatred and prejudice from her daughter onto herself. Quillon takes great measures to hide their identity from Swarm because they are as prejudiced as all the other outerland peoples about these "witches". Eventually Ricasso finds out and agrees to kept it from the rest of Swarm as it would cause unrest with the airmen. Quillon finds out that the serum that Ricasso had been preparing before serves as an effective anti-zonal medication. Quillon asks Ricasso and a few of his most trusted allies to head back to Spearpoint to help out the millions of needy and sick people still living there. After a tense discussion it is decided that the issue will be put to the flags to see who is for or against the idea. Surprisingly the majority say that they are behind the plans, even some of Ricasso's most staunch enemies. Preparations are made to head out to Spearpoint and the serum is prepared for dilution. When one of the scouts comes back after a successful battle with a Skullboy ship they bring back intelligence and maps that the previously dead land of the Bane has had a zone realignment and using the route could be a massive short cut. Ricasso decides that this is the best plan of action even though it is highly dangerous. In the vorg cage room where Ricasso's lab is Quillon is hard at work preparing the serum for dilution and he gets surprised by Spatha who has a gun aimed at Quillon's head. Spatha demands that Quillon release a vorg to make everyone think that bringing him aboard and letting him loose in the laboratory was a bad idea. However the vorg runs through the ship and causes mayhem, releases the other vorgs in the cages and manages to kill 4 people before Nimcha uses her powers to cause a small zone tremor so the ship is reverted to a lower state zone, killing off the highly advanced vorg. Spatha is arrested and sentenced to death by firing squad. The journey across the newly opened short cut over the Bane is uneventful at first, until they come across a metallic object in the distance. The Painted Lady, Curtana's ship on which Quillon and Meroka are living is instructed to scope out the object whilst the rest of Swarm carries on its normal course. The object turns out to be a plane, unusual because the Bane is supposedly uninhabitable by anything other than single celled organisms and dirt. Soon they come across more planes, then prop-planes then bi and tri planes until they get to gliders. Many of them are marked with a red rectangle with one large stars and four small stars. (This means nothing to them, but would be consistent with it being the flag of China in our own era.) After this they see on the horizon what appears to be a very similar object to Spearpoint, but with no signs that anyone ever lived on its surface. Ricasso and Quillon elect to take a closer look at the building in a balloon as normal airships can't reach the top of the object. They see that unlike Spearpoint this object was never colonised as thoroughly and is hollow which a hole at the top. Once they get close to Spearpoint they intercept semaphore lines that tell of zone changes on the boundary of their destination which are so low state it would inhibit powered flight. A plan is made to come in steep, nurse the engines as long as possible and finally glide into Spearpoint. The is complicated by the pockets of resistance put up by Skullboys in balloons. There is a fierce battle into which Quillon and Meroka are enlisted, many of the guns and engines fail as they cross into the lower state zones but eventually they triumph. They reach Spearpoint and land in the middle of a sea of people. They are met with Tulwar's militia force that escort Quillon and Meroka to the Red Dragon Bathhouse. They start to unload the crates of Serum-15 and a stray Skullboy rocket sets fire to the tail of the Painted Lady. Luckily most of the airmen and Curtana make it off the ship with little more than burns but some of the medicine was lost in the hurry to offload it. At the bathhouse Quillon, Meroka, Kalis, and Nimcha talk to Tulwar about the distribution of the serum and about getting Nimcha close to the Mire, inside of Spearpoint, which has been calling to her through her dreams and asking her to heal it. Tulwar agrees to let them travel to the nearest tunnel entrance and suggests that they stay the night to rest after their chaotic journey. The next day they head to the Pink Peacock and enter the tunnel system with Meroka leading them. She smells something amiss with Tulwar's plan and thinks that they are being set up so that Tulwar can remain in power of Spearpoint and prolong the chaos to reign supreme. She diverts from the planned path and they eventually get caught up by Kargas, Tulwar's head of militia, and get into a fire fight. At that point Fray and Malkin turn up with powerful guns and mow down the assailants. Tulwar had informed the party that Fray was dead but this is just another of his deceptions. After talking to Fray they get lead to meet with the Mad Machines, long thought to be an urban myth about the even more mythical tunnel systems by many living in Spearpoint. They meet with Juggernaught and plead Nimchas case and it agrees to take them to see the others. They travel along without Meroka and Malkin who leave to sort out Tulwar and meet with The Final One. She informs Nimcha that she must take a place in the chamber beside the other tectomancers so they can heal the Mire. After the party leaves Nimcha and Fray down in the chamber they decide to take revenge on Tulwar for his deceptions. They hide in crates of the serum and Meroka shoots Tulwar several times, disabling him by puncturing his steam pipes. Quillon talks to Tulwar about his deceptions then spits up blood and passes out. He has internal bleeding from a shot to his back and is on his death bed. He is informed that an angel was sent out to meet with the rest of Swarm, which had hung back before the zone boundaries, and has told them that they have allies in the celestial levels. Quillon realises that these are the same allies that warned him about his imminent execution and Curtana orders him to travel with Meroka to the Celestial Levels in hopes of saving his life and finding allies to take Spearpoint back from the Skullboys and the unallied angels. The book finishes with Curtana and Agraffe wonder what changes would befall the planet and Spearpoint after Nimcha has finished healing the mire and wonder what the Mad Machines were talking about when they mentioned Earthgate and going into the planet to reach the stars. |
Father Malachy's Miracle | Bruce Marshall | 1,938 | Next to a church in a prosperous Scottish industrial town is the "Garden of Eden", a dance hall of dubious reputation. The "Garden of Eden" is a thorn in the side of the innocent and unworldly Catholic priest Father Malachy, who is praying to God that He will close the dance hall. During an argument with a Protestant minister, Father Malachy claims that God could miraculously remove the "Garden of Eden". The skeptical Protestant scoffs and Father Malachy inadvertently predicts that God will indeed remove the "Garden of Eden" on a specific date. The date comes and the building and all the people inside vanish and reappear on Bass Rock, a small island in the Firth of Forth. This apparent miracle draws the attention of the media, politicians and scientists, all trying to find rational explanations. The Catholic Church is reluctant to officially recognize this occurrence as a miracle, fearing either a loss of control in matters of faith, or a loss of face if the disappearance of the "Garden of Eden" should turn out to be a hoax or fabrication. Meanwhile, believers from all over the world come on pilgrimage to the former location of the dance hall. Soon the site becomes a fairground, with the town’s people, entrepreneurs and journalists trying to make a profit from the miracle and the resulting sudden influx of pilgrims. This includes the sale of holy water and miniature models of the "Garden of Eden". A young woman, who was in the dance hall during the night it vanished, becomes a media star. Financial investors are buying the island where the "Garden of Eden" reappeared, and construct a casino that soon attracts crowds of people. Father Malachy is confronted with interview requests from journalists, and pilgrims beleaguer the church, hoping to meet the miracle-working priest. As he has spent most of his life in the monastery, he feels helpless in the face of the excesses of modern society. He soon regrets that he asked God for the miracle. He travels to the island and prays for a second miracle that will end the frenzy, and is heard by God, who returns the "Garden of Eden" to its original location. |
Mothstorm | Philip Reeve | 2,008 | A mysterious cloud starts moving through the Solar System. A British ship is sent to Georgium Sidum to investigate, and finds giant moths and blue lizards. Most of the group is captured, but Arthur is saved by Jack's crew. They rescue Captain Moonfield, and with him they warn the Jovian System. It is revealed the lizards, called the Snilth, are led by a Rogue Shaper called the Mothmaker. They are able to repulse the first attack, but the Mothstorm then goes to Earth. Mrs Mumby and Arthur are able to destroy the Mothmaker with a formula Shapers use to destroy themselves after creating a system. It is revealed Ssilla is descended from a Snilth Queen who rebelled against the Mothmaker long ago, but had her clan slaughtered. Ssilla then becomes the Queen of the Snilth, and their miniature Sun is towed into orbit around Hades (Neptune), which they inhabit. Meanwhile as a reward for Jack's services enough antidote is produced to turn back all the Venusian colonists. |
Flutter in the Dovecote | null | null | It's a comic tale of a Catholic Bishop who learns that a surrealist painting donated to a Mother Superior is in reality indecent. In some way Intelligence services of various countries become involved. |
A Foot in the Grave | Bruce Marshall | 1,987 | When John Smith's garrulous South American wife was found dead in Buenos Aires, he is accused by the Argentinian police not only of her murder, but also of tax evasion, links with the British Intelligence Service and of conspiring to overthrow the Argentinian dictatorship. |
Urban the Ninth | Bruce Marshall | 1,973 | Catholic thriller - In 1990, Urban the Ninth takes over the papacy after Pope Marx I (successor of Leo XIV and Pius XIII) dies in an air crash. Urban IX has to face the Third Secret of Fatima (which had not yet been revealed in 1973) and a mysterious woman: perhaps, Pope Marx's secret lover. |
Father Hilary's Holiday | Bruce Marshall | 1,965 | After thirty years in the priesthood, Father Hilary seizes the opportunity to attend a religious congress in South America. Father Hilary's well earned holiday is to be spent at a sort of ecumenical conference convened by "el Libertator" the Generalissimo of Tomasia. The result is a witty, pointed tale of humble but outspoken Franciscan friar and his wondrous escapades in the boiling maelstrom of a mythical Latin American dictatorship. |
The Divided Lady | Bruce Marshall | 1,960 | The style of this book is unusual for a Marshall work. The first half of the book alternates present time with flashbacks from the central character's earlier life. James Childers, an accountant with a large London firm is sent to Rome to investigate a business deal. The Sisters of Ramoth-Gilead have invested a considerable sum with Morobito, a famous film producer, to make a movie about St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo of Turin. The Sisters suspect they have been swindled. Childers, who served in Rome in the post-World War II era, quickly revisits old haunts. The chapters switch back and forth between events during his original tour in Rome and the current one. Post-World War II Childers worked for the British Army dealing with Displaced Persons, specifically their financial situations. In his spare time he pursued Phoebe & Sarah, beautiful, identical twins who are aides of the General Childers also works for. In the present time, while investigating the Sisters' case, Childers renews his acquaintanceship with Bice, the daughter of a wealthy Duke who was a teenager when he was last in Rome. Bice hopes to use this relationship to get a part in Morobito's film. But Childers also meets Mila, who is what the Italians call a "Divided Lady," meaning that she is separated from her husband and hoping to obtain an annulment from the Catholic Church. |
Girl in May | Bruce Marshall | 1,956 | A romance set among a motley crowd of eccentrics of all ages who constitute the population of St. Andrews. |
Thoughts of My Cats | Bruce Marshall | 1,954 | It is the story of the cats who adopted the Marshalls' villa at Cap d'Antibes when their less loving owners departed at the end of the season minus their pets. The book has engaging photographs of the author and his feline family, and is a delightful and witty treatise on how to win --- and influence --- cats. |
Children of This Earth | Bruce Marshall | 1,930 | John Glenuff is the son of a wealthy Scottish family with deep and powerful religious feelings. He studies to become a minister and is assigned to a conservative Anglican church in London. He is troubled by the sin and lack of religious belief he sees and dreams of bringing all to Christ. A wealthy and beautiful young girl pursues him and he is distraught when he almost succumbs to her. Walking home through Leicester Square afterwards he is propositioned by Dorothy, an attractive young prostitute. On the spot he decides to marry her in order to “save her soul.” And, despite his superiors’ objections, he does so. Church officials transfer him to an Anglican parish in Paris to minimize scandal, but his religious fervor and grandiose plans soon alienate the congregation. His marriage also deteriorates as he finds Dorothy extremely resistant to his preaching. As the novel ends, Glenuff believes that he has developed stigmata and thinks that these will finally enable him to convert the world, but it turns out that he is the only one who can see the signs. |
To Every Man a Penny | Bruce Marshall | 1,949 | The story of a young French priest, Gaston, who goes to war, World War I, in the trenches, is mutilated, modestly administers the sacraments, hears the confessions of dying men, aids the wounded, and becomes a good friend of a Communist, Louis Philippe Bessier. Both he and Bessier are wounded in the leg, which is amputated, and both limp through the rest of the book. When they return to Paris, no one is expecting them–neither the canons of Father Gaston’s parish nor Bessier’s employers. Gaston, who had always sustained himself with the idea that the great evil of the war could lead to good, is forced to change his mind. The world is moving away from the Church and the Church from the world. The little girl Armelle, his pupil in catechism class, of whom he is very fond and who had always written to him in the trenches, wants to become a model, and he gives her his permission, even if many of his fellow canons disapprove. Marshall masterfully recounts the Catholic Church in France between the two world wars. The more formal people are in approaching her, the more the ecclesiastical hierarchies appear closed in their moralisms, their formalisms, their solipsistic way of thinking. In the end, the Bishop sends Gaston to South America for a couple of years. When he returns, much has changed: Armelle’s mother has died and she has become a prostitute. Bessier is working for the French Communist Party. The canons of his parish barely tolerate him. During his absence, friars and priests have been forbidden to go to the barber because of some magazines there (considered risqué by the ecclesiastic authority). He doesn’t know this and goes to get his hair cut. Surprised by a fellow priest, the not very well-loved Fr Moune, he has a noisy argument with him in the street, attracting a small crowd. This time, too, he is punished by the Bishop. In the meantime, the World War II is drawing near: Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler have burst onto the European scene. Gaston receives another fierce blow, which is that his beloved Armelle dies giving birth to a baby girl, Michelle. But there is a place where our priest can take refuge: the convent of some nuns who appreciate his simplicity and faith. Michelle will grow up there, among countless economic hardships and countless little economies. During the German occupation, Gaston helps an English soldier, while the canons of the parish are hanging Marshal Philippe Pétain’s portrait on the walls. But at the moment of liberation, when everyone is on the side of the Resistance, our priest this time feels obligated to help a German soldier escape with his Jewish fiancée, whom he himself had earlier hidden from the Nazis. The three are caught on the way by men of the Communist Party who beat them and kill the two young people. Gaston is saved at the last minute by his friend Bessier, who miraculously appears and gets him out of prison. Gaston’s eyes never heal completely from this brutal beating. In the end, mysteriously, the destinies of the characters fall into place: Bessier’s son, who has in the meantime become a “heretic” within the Communist Party, marries the lovely Michelle, and finally Gaston becomes resident chaplain at the convent of the nuns. |
Charlie Brown's Super Book of Questions and Answers | null | null | The content is presented as a series of questions pertaining to the subject of the particular chapter of the books. Amid the questions, pictures and photographs, there are details from established comic strips and complete comic strips, occasionally with its dialogue adjusted to the chapter's theme. Encyclopedic facts about Animals. Encyclopedic facts about the Earth and the Solar System. Encyclopedic facts about motion and mechanics. TBA TBA |
The Judas Goat | Robert B. Parker | 1,978 | A somewhat recluse millionaire, Hugh Dixon, hires Spenser to find the members of a terrorist group that bombed a London restaurant where he and his family were dining, resulting in the deaths of his two daughters, his wife and leaving him a paraplegic. He is promised USD$2500 a head for the apprehension of each of the nine terrorists responsible, dead or alive. Spenser heads to England to start his investigation. Running an ad for information in a large London newspaper, results in at least two assassination attempts on Spenser. Spenser detects them before they are successful, resulting in the death of two gunmen and the capture of another. Spenser enlists the help of Hawk, a powerful henchman. This novel marks the first paid cooperative effort of Hawk, who goes on to become one of Spenser's greatest allies and friends in the long-running series. Spenser tracks one of the members of the terrorist group, Liberty, and uses her as a Judas goat to lead him to other members. "Katherine," as Spenser calls her, knowing that it is probably just an alias, flees to Copenhagen, where Hawk and Spenser follow her. Spenser allows himself to be captured by Katherine's allies, just to be rescued by Hawk before they plan to kill him (for the third time). The rescue leads to the deaths of three more members of the group, but the escape of Kathie and the leader of the group, Paul. The group turns out to be a white-supremacist group trying to keep control of African countries away from the native Africans and in the hands of white countries and leaders. The bombing of the restaurant Dixon and his wife were in was more or less a random act of violence against England because of the backing of an African country. Tired of running from Spenser and Hawk, Paul leaves the last two members responsible for the bombing shot dead in Spenser and Hawk's hotel room. The last member, Kathie, is tied up on a bed. A note from Paul says these are the last members of the bombing, which was executed without his involvement. He couldn't kill Kathie because he had been intimate with her for some time. He says to stop chasing them now. Hawk and Spenser untie Kathie and interrogate her, but she doesn't know where Paul has fled. Upon further reflection, she recalls he may be at the Olympics in Montreal, Canada. That night Kathie, with her pulchritude, tries to seduce Spenser, but he resists. His obligations to Dixon completed, the three of them fly to Montreal and rent a duplex near the games. Spenser flies to Boston to tell Dixon what he is planning on doing, and to tell him he doesn't expect him to pay for it. Dixon insists on paying for it anyhow, as he has great wealth but, since his family died, nothing worthwhile to spend it on. He also arranges to get Spenser tickets to the Stadium games. Spenser spends the night with his lover, Susan Silverman, and flies back to Canada the next day. With little to go on, Hawk, Spenser and Kathie attend the games at the Stadium looking for Paul and a henchman who Kathie warns may be with him, Zachary. Spenser spots him within a few days and observes him setting up a snipers nest. The next day he observes him, accompanied by Zach, assembling a sniper's rifle. Hawk and Spenser decide to make their move. All four men are armed, but Hawk quickly knocks out Paul. Zachary, a huge bodybuilder standing six foot seven, attempts to shoot Spenser, but loses his gun in a scuffle. Trying to take down Zachary, the three remaining men all lose their weapons. Zachary flees the stadium, pursued by Hawk and Spenser. He is eventually beaten into unconsciousness by them after a difficult brawl a short distance from the stadium. The police arrive and take Spenser and Hawk to a hospital. Both have numerous scrapes and cuts, but Spenser also has a broken left arm and nose. They learn Kathie shot Paul "as he attempted to flee," but both suspect she shot him first chance she got for turning her over to them at the hotel. Dixon arrives in his wheelchair at the hospital and pays Spenser twice his promised fee, $50,000. Spenser offers half to Hawk, but he declines, just billing Spenser for his original fee. Spenser lies to Dixon, saying Kathie is not part of the original nine responsible for the bombing and gets Dixon to have her released from jail, where she is being held. The book concludes with Spenser and Susan vacationing together in London. |
Times of Contempt | Andrzej Sapkowski | 1,995 | A coup in the Mages Guild ends with the Guild being weakened, and Geralt being badly wounded. Ciri is teleported to a remote desert in Nilfgaard dominion. The war between Nilfgaard and the Northern Kingdoms begins, resulting in a series of quick and stunning victories for Nilfgaard. Within weeks, Aedirn, Rivia and Lyria all fall to Nilfgaard, the Redanian king Visimir is killed, which removes Redania from the battlefield and Temeria and Kaedwen agree to an armistice with Nilfgaard. |
The Spook Who Sat by the Door | Sam Greenlee | 1,969 | The novel takes place in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Chicago. The book opens with Senator Hennington, a white liberal senator with a tight re-election campaign, looking for ways to win the Negro vote. His wife suggests the senator accuse the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of racial discrimination in its hiring because the agency has no black officers. Because of Senator Hennington's investigation and subsequent comfortable re-election, the CIA has been required for political reasons to recruit African-Americans for training. Only Dan Freeman, secretly a black nationalist, successfully completes the training process. Freeman has both the highest grades and best athletic marks of his recruitment class. Stationed in Korea during the Korean War, Freeman is an expert in hand-to-hand combat, especially judo. Freeman also played football at Michigan State University. Freeman becomes the first black man in the agency and is given a desk job—Top Secret Reproduction Center Sections Chief. Freeman understands that he is the token black person in the CIA, and that the CIA defines his function as providing proof of the agency's supposed commitment to integration and progress. Freeman is often used as a model Negro, and when asked to appear or speak at various events, he tells exactly the story the audience wishes to hear. He has a complete distaste for the "snob-ridden" world of Washington DC and especially the city's black middle-class. Therefore, after completing his training in guerrilla warfare techniques, weaponry, communications and subversion, Freeman puts in just enough time to avoid raising any suspicions about his motives before he resigns from the CIA and returns to work in the social services in Chicago. Upon his return, Freeman makes contact with the Cobras, a gang that was previously immune to contact from social agencies. Immediately Freeman begins recruiting young black men living in the inner city of Chicago to become “Freedom Fighters” teaching them all of the guerrilla warfare tactics that he learned from the CIA. The Cobras' training includes a fight with the Comanches, a rival gang; the study and appreciation of black poetry, music, and revolutionary leaders; a bank robbery on 115th and Halstead; and the robbery of a National Guard Armory on Cottage Grove Avenue. They become a guerrilla group with Freeman as the secret leader. The Freedom Fighters set out to ensure that black people truly live freely within the United States by partaking in both violent and non-violent actions throughout Chicago. The “Freedom Fighters” of Chicago begin spreading the word about their guerrilla warfare tactics across the United States; as Freeman says, “What we got now is a colony, what we want is a new nation.” As revolt and a war of liberation continues in the inner city of Chicago, the National Guard and the police desperately try to stop the Freedom Fighters. Finding the gaps in the National Guard's "sloppily trained and ill-disciplined" unit, Freeman and the Freedom Fighters escalate their actions in Chicago. First, they blow up the mayor's office in the new city hall. Second, they paint a Negro alderman's car yellow and white. Third, they take over radio stations and broadcast propaganda from, among other names, "the Freedom Fighters, the Urban Underground of Black Chicago." Fourth, they kidnap Colonel "Bull" Evans, the commander of the National Guard unit, give him LSD, then release him. After the Freedom Fighters start their sniper attacks, killing multiple National Guardsmen, Freeman is visited by three old friends. After speaking with two female friends, Freeman's final guest is his friend and Chicago police officer Dawson. Sergeant Dawson entered Freeman's apartment on a suspicion and his suspicion is verified when he finds Freedom Fighter propaganda. After an argument, Freeman attacks Dawson and kills him. He calls in his top Freedom Fighters to dispose of the body. As the book closes, Freeman orders "Condition Red" to initiate attack teams in twelve cities across America. |
All About Lulu | Jonathan Evison | 2,008 | In the wake of his mother's death, as his bodybuilding brethren pump themselves to Hulkish proportions, weak-eyed vegetarian Will Miller stops growing altogether—until the day his father remarries a relentlessly kind grief counselor, delivering Will a troubled stepsister who soon becomes his confessor, companion, and heart's only desire. But when Lulu returns from cheerleading camp the summer of her fourteenth year, she inexplicably begins to push Will away, forcing him to look elsewhere for meaning. |
The Sport of the Gods | Paul Laurence Dunbar | 1,902 | Berry Hamilton, an emancipated black man, works as a butler for a wealthy white man Maurice Oakley. Berry lives in a small cottage a short distance away from the Oakley's place of residence. Berry lives with his wife, Fannie, and two children, Joe and Kitty. During a farewell dinner for Maurice's younger brother, Francis Oakley, it becomes known that a large sum of money has disappeared from Oakley residence. Maurice is soon convinced that Berry stole the money. A court finds Berry guilty of the theft and sentences him to ten years of hard labor. Maurice and his wife expel Fannie, Joe, and Kitty from the cottage. Unable to find work, Fannie and her children decide to move to New York. Once in New York, Joe begins work and starts regularly visiting the Banner Club. He begins dating an entertainer from the club named Hattie Sterling. To Fannie's disapproval, Hattie helps Kitty to find employment as a singer and actress. Joe's situation quickly declines and he becomes an alcoholic. Hattie breaks the relationship. Completely degraded, Joe strangles Hattie. Later, he confesses to the murder and finds himself in prison. With her husband and son in prison, Fannie is distraught. Kitty convinces Fannie to marry a man named Mr. Gibson. Francis Oakley, who left for Paris to become an artist, sends a message to Maurice Oakley. When Maurice receives the letter, he postulates that it could be a message informing him of the artistic successes of Francis. To his dismay, it describes how Francis stole the money and he wishes for Berry Hamilton to be released from prison. Maurice decides that he will not announce Berry's innocence in hopes of preserving the honor of his brother and himself. Mr. Skaggs, an acquaintance of Joe at the Banner Club, overhears the story of Berry Hamilton's conviction for theft. As a writer for New York's Universe, Mr. Skaggs postulates that if he can prove Berry's innocence, he will have a popular article for the publisher. He travels to the hometown of the Hamilton's to converse with Maurice Oakley. He first meets with a man named Colonel Saunders who tells him that he believes Berry is innocent, the money was simply lost, and to protect the secret, Maurice Oakley carries the money in his "secret" pocket at all times. To gain entry into the Oakley residence, Skaggs lies about having a letter from Francis. Mr. Skaggs forcibly removes Francis's letter from Maurice's secret pocket. With Francis letter, Mr. Skaggs is able to have Berry pardoned after five years in prison. Mr. Skaggs brings Berry to New York. Soon, Berry finds out about his son, daughter, and wife's new husband. Hopeless, Berry plans to murder his wife's suitor. To Berry's fortune, he finds that Mr. Gibson has been killed in a fight at a racetrack. Broken down by the hardships of the city, Fannie and Berry decide to move back to the cottage near the Oakley residence when the apologetic Mrs. Oakley begs them to return. |
Foreign Land | Jonathan Raban | 1,985 | The novel opens with Sheila Grey, George’s daughter and her partner, Tom, discussing the imminent return of her father from Bom Porto. In a letter, he tells her of his plans to retire to his parents’ house in St Cadix, Cornwall. The action then moves to Bom Porto, the capital of Montedor – an independent Marxist Republic - where we first meet George, who is the manager of a bunkering station. He plays a game of squash with Eduordo (Teddy) Duarte, the Minister of Communications, who informs him about the President’s plans to use Cubans to subjugate the mountaineous Wolofs, a tribe who have historically been hostile towards the coastal Creole population. George later settles his affairs and is given a surprise official send-off and eventually arrives in Britain, booking himself into a Post House Hotel at Heathrow rather than choosing to stay with Sheila. The scene then shifts to St Cadix and an annual Christmas drinks party held by George’s neighbours, the Walpoles. Most of the people there, like George, are retirees and spend their time talking about their past lives. It is here that George meets Diana Pym, who gives him a lift back to his house, Thalassa, where he discovers that she was the former singer, Julie Midnight. When down by the harbour, George is approached by a St Cadix resident and informed about a boat, the Calliope, that is for sale – it belongs to a Wing Commander and his wife who are in financially strained circumstances and they need to sell it. He reflects back on a time in Bom Porto when he was given some money by the President for previously attending a Pan-African shipping convention whilst a Portuguese patrol vessel was sabotaged during the PAIM revolution against its colonial masters. George refused the money but it was automatically transferred to a Geneva bank account, and it is this money that he uses to purchase Calliope. George travels to London to visit Sheila who, as S.V. Grey, is the authoress of a popular feminist book. During his visit he is presented with an old sextant that Tom had been planning to sell. George had learnt how to use one whilst studying at Pwllheli, under Commonader Prynne, an elderly navigation instructor and he is pleased to find out he has still retained his skills. As Tom gives him a lift down to Heathrow, from which George is flying to collect his money in Geneva, George tells him of his plans to sail round England. Back at Thalassa, six tea chests arrive from Africa containing all George’s worldly goods. He decides to totally overhaul and spring clean the boat before taking some of his possessions on board. Whilst having a Sunday drink at the Royal St Cadix Yacht Club, he is informed of an item in the news about Montedor and the suppression of a rising of Muslim wolf tribesmen. George is saddened by the news and writes a letter to Vera, his ex-lover in the capital, to try to find out more news from his former homeland. He is then visited on board Calliope by Diana Pym and arranges a return visit to her house. He is surprised by the natural beauty of her wild garden and finds out more about Diana’s life and her time spent in California. Whilst on board Calliope, George reflects back on his childhood and his parents, particularly his father, Denys Ferguson Grey, a Church of England Rector. They had a difficult relationship (as Raban did with his own father) and it was only when George entered the navy that the tables started to turn and he acquired some kind of ascendancy. Living at Thalassa, however, it seems to him that he is surprised by how he is steadily turning into his father: His parents were more alive, more real to him now, than he was to himself. They had some sort of knack, a staying power, that George had failed to inherit. Thalassa bulged with them, while he still tip-toed round it like a weekend guest. Their past was still intact (how did they manage it?) while George’s felt as if it was crumbling from under him so fast that he couldn’t even count its going. Sheila, whilst trying to work on her new book in London, receives a telephone call from her father saying he is coming to visit them in his boat and she is not pleased by his growing eccentricity: She was helpless. Everything about him grated on her now – the cracked gallantry, the old naval slang. She couldn’t deal with it at all. Not that she had ever got on with George; but the man she used to meet on his summer leaves hadn’t been like this. He’d been stiff, evasive, too polished by half, yet Sheila felt that if he only once relaxed his guard, she might find someone there whom she could talk to. Well, there was no talking to the ramshackle figure on the far end of the phone. Beginning his single-handed voyage to London, George again reflects back on his past life and his first meeting his ex-wife, the beautiful Angela Haigh, at a party also attended by Cyril Connolly, whom George manages to successfully snub. A virgin, he is overwhelmed by Angela’s attention after the incident and they indulge in a hasty sex session in a small storage room. He is later warmly welcomed by her family and the two are married in his father’s church after which the Haighs host a lavish reception. After fifteen months, Angela became pregnant and George took a job in Aden, arranged for him by her father. There, Angela plays the young social hostess but George finds himself becomingly increasingly lonely when she returns to England during the long, hot summers. Their marriage slowly starts to break down to the point where Angela openly detests him and returns home one day with a young bachelor lover, Bill Nesbit. Arriving in Lyme Regis, George encounters an old colleague from his navigation school, 'Midships' Marsland, who is now running a chandler’s store. However, Marsland at first fails to recognise him and then George realizes that he has actually taken his nickname from another pupil at Pwllheli which turns George against him. After leaving Lyme Regis, George successfully navigates Callipoe past the Race around Portland Bill, and in his elation decides to finally pour his thoughts out on a series of smutty postcards bought at Weymouth to Sheila. He also writes to Diana on the same cards. All the recipients are concerned about him – Tom tells Sheila that he will try and track George down and Diana also sets off in her car to do the same but for a different reason: There was nothing ambiguous in the cards; the double-entendres on one side only helped to underline the plainness of the statement on the other. They were a declaration, and an invitation ... It had been years since Diana had done anything much on impulse. The easiest answer to temptation was always to stay at home and get on with the gardening. However, it is at Rye that George makes the decision that it to change his life. Travelling to Dover to buy some Admiralty charts, a Q-flag and two red lamps, he returns to Rye and loads up his boat with provisions, helped by three unemployed youths. As the novel ends, he is steering his boat cautiously through a fleet of Spanish tunnymen somewhere northwest of Ushant. |
Bold as Love | Gwyneth Jones | 2,001 | Ax Preston, a mixed-race guitarist from Taunton, having survived a government-organised massacre of the official Green Party (under cover of a pop-culture reception à la "Cool Britannia" in Hyde Park), emerges from the ensuing chaos as the true leader England desperately needs. He and his friends, also Indie musicians, tackle an outrageous series of disasters, including a minor war with Islamic Separatists in Yorkshire, and a hippie President who turns out to be a murdering paedophile. In the background the whole of Europe is falling apart, in the foreground there are rock festivals, street-fighting; a rampage of "Green" destruction (led and moderated by Preston) leaving a trail of burned-out hypermarkets, wrecked fast food outlets, and vast expanses of napalmed intensive farming. Ax Preston’s triumph is that he brings his country through the crisis — by guile, self-sacrifice, stubborn goodwill and of course the power of the music — more or less intact. In England, the revolution never descends into a terror. By labelling the book "a near-future fantasy" Jones puzzled and divided the critics. Perhaps "a once and future fantasy" would have been more informative, because this is an Arthur story remapped for the Twenty-First Century. Instead of the cult of glory of mediaeval romance, the preoccupation is Utopian. How to build the Good State, in the grip of a global economic crash and an eco-revolution? Determined not to take over the government, Ax institutes free education to reclaim the illiterate children of the hippie hordes; the "Volunteer Initiative" that gets people cleaning hospital floors alongside the celebrities; and an ingenious system of "trading in surpluses", to feed the newly destitute. Ax is aware that what he’s attempting would be impossible, were it not for the spectre of bloody anarchy on one hand, and on the other the glamour and the orgiastic release of the great Crisis Management concerts. But "people will do any thing, no limit, if it’s seen to be normal, and the role-models say it's okay...". If he can keep his Utopian programme going, somehow, just for a few years, something will survive. Aside from the breakneck pace and a playful, audacious style, the novel's strength (as many critics have observed) is the characterisation of the principals: Ax Preston, Sage Pender, and especially Fiorinda (real name, Frances), the teenage "rock and roll princess" with a hideous past. These three, a triad straight from genre fantasy, are marvellously brought to life, illuminating a rather formal, fiercely intelligent novel with joyous power. |
Celestina | null | null | An orphaned Celestina is adopted from a convent in the south of France when she is a young girl by Mrs. Willoughby—nothing is known of her parentage. Celestina is raised along with Mrs. Willoughby’s own children, Matilda and George. The children grow up happily. Mrs. Willoughby dies early in the novel, urging George to marry her brother’s (Lord Castlenorth) daughter, Miss Fitz-Hayman, so that the family estate can be saved from financial ruin. Matilda marries Mr. Molyneux, becoming ambitious and haughty. She begins to despise Celestina and refuses her company. Celestina becomes friends with a servant named Jessy and helps reunite her with her lover, Cathcart, who is George Willoughby’s steward. Willoughby and Celestina discover that they love each other and decide to marry, despite the monetary impediments. Vavasour, Willoughby’s friend, also becomes enamored of Celestina; he flees before the wedding. Unfortunately, on the evening before the marriage, Willoughby suddenly takes off and it is unclear whether he will ever return – Celestina is devastated. Celestina moves in with the Thorolds, the local rector and his family, after Willoughby abandons her. Their son, Montague, develops an ardent attachment for her and she decides to leave to escape his overtures. Believing that Willoughby will eventually marry Miss Fitz-Hayman, Vavasour becomes an importunate suitor of Celestina, along with Montague. She is harassed. Willoughby reveals in a letter that Lady Castlenorth suggested to him and Celestina and he are brother and sister and therefore cannot marry. He has therefore determined to go to France and discover the truth. Celestina leaves the Thorods and tours Scotland with Mrs. Elphinstone, a relative of Cathcart and Jessy. Her life has been full of struggles. Her sister, Emily, became a “kept” woman and Mrs. Elphinstone was forced to accept money from her while she was poverty-stricken. Her husband dies in a tragic storm at sea while they are in Scotland. Montague pursues her Celestina to Scotland. Celestina flees Scotland for London, establishing herself at Lady Horatia’s. Lady Horatia encourages her to marry someone other than Willoughby. Willoughby returns to London, but because of miscommunication and interference of other parties, both he and Celestina believe the other is no longer interested. Willoughby agrees to marry Miss Fitz-Hayman in order to save his family’s estate, but at the last minute he decides not to go through with it and she marries someone else. In the meantime, Montague and Vavasour duel over Celestina. When Willougby travels to France to tell his uncle that he is no longer marrying Miss Fitz-Hayman, he discovers the secret of Celestina’s birth when he stays with some peasants. The two are now free to marry. |
The Old Debauchees | Henry Fielding | null | Young Laroon plans to marry Isabel, but Father Martin manipulates Isabel's father, Jourdain, in order to seduce Isabel. However, other characters, including both of the Laroons, try to manipulate Jourdain for their own ends; they accomplish it through disguising themselves as priests and using his guilt to convince him of what they say. As Father Martin pursues Isabel, she is clever enough to realize what is happening and plans her own trap. After catching him and exposing his lust, Father Martin is set to be punished. |
The Covent Garden Tragedy | Henry Fielding | null | The play deals with a love triangle in a brothel between two prostitutes, Kissinda and Stormandra, and Lovegirlo. Although the characters are portrayed satirically, they are imbued with sympathy as their relationship is developed. The plot is complicated when Captain Bilkum pursues Stormanda. Eventually, Bilkum is killed during a duel and Stormandra supposedly commits suicide, although this is later revealed not to be the case. |
All the Colours of Darkness | Peter Robinson | 2,008 | A beautiful June day in the Yorkshire Dales, and a group of children are spending the last of their half-term freedom swimming in the river near Hindswell Woods. But the idyll is shattered by their discovery of a man's body, hanging from a tree. DI Annie Cabott soon discovers he is Mark Hardcastle, the well-liked and successful set designer for the Eastvale Theatre's current production of Othello. Everything points to suicide, and Annie is mystified. Why would such a man want to take his own life? Then Annie's investigation leads to another shattering discovery, and DCI Alan Banks is called back from the idyllic weekend he had planned with his new girlfriend. Banks soon finds himself plunged into a shadow-world where nothing is what it seems, where secrets and deceit are the norm, and where murder is seen as the solution to a problem. The deeper he digs the more he discovers that the monster he has awakened will extend its deadly reach to his friends and family. Nobody is safe. |
The World, the Flesh, and Father Smith | Bruce Marshall | 1,945 | This is the fictional life story of a parish priest, a man of God “conscious of the indwelling of the Trinity,” living the life of grace in a drab industrial town, bringing the grace of God to weak human beings seduced by the devil’s ancient lures of the world and the flesh. It covers the activities of Father Thomas Edmund Smith in his urban Scottish parish from 1908 until his death in 1942. On this framework, the author hangs the glowing tapestry of Father Smith’s spiritual life, a life of sanctity, humility, and burning love of God. He interacts with a wide range of people, children, adults and other clerics. It also tracks the lives of two particular youths from their innocent childhood affections to their respectives lives as a priest and an actress. From the dust jacket: "This is the story of Father Smith, priest in a Scottish city - of his friends, the exiled French nuns, of the Bishop, of Monsignor O'Duffy who wages simple, violent war against simple sins, of Father Bonnyboat, the liturgical scholar, of all the people who come into the gentle orbit of Father Smith - from Lady Ippecacuanha, that tweedy convert, to the slut Annie who drives her husband to murder." |
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life | Wendy Mass | 2,008 | One month before his thirteenth birthday, Jeremy Fink and his best friend Lizzy Muldoun are hanging out in his New York City apartment when the mailman delivers a package addressed to Jeremy's mom. Lizzy convinces him to open the package. Inside the package they discover a wooden box with four keyholes and the words, "THE MEANING OF LIFE: FOR JEREMY FINK TO OPEN ON HIS 13TH BIRTHDAY." Jeremy immediately recognizes the box as the work of his father, who died five years earlier in a car crash. An accompanying note explains that the friend taking care of the box lost all of the keys. Determined to open the box, Jeremy and Lizzy contact a locksmith who explains that he is unable to pick the locks or break the box open without destroying the box and possibly its contents. The two friends set a goal to find the keys by the end of the summer so Jeremy can still open the box on his thirteenth birthday. Lizzy's impulsiveness gets the duo into trouble for destroying property and they must spend the summer performing community service. Jeremy and Lizzy are assigned to work for Mr. Oswald, an antique dealer preparing to retire to Florida, who sends them to deliver some special antiques. Once the first house is reached, the children realize they are returning items to the original owners, people who pawned these items when only teenagers. Each item is being returned with the original letter stating why the owner chose to pawn the item. The people Jeremy meets help him learn important lessons about life by sharing their views. While doing community service they must find all of the keys they can, continuously worrying about the performance they must do at a fair due to losing a bet to Jeremy's grandmother. It is only in the end that Jeremy truly understands the meaning of life. |
The Eighth Scroll | Laurence B. Brown | null | Nineteen hundred years after the Essene Jews hid their most precious scrolls in the caves at Qumran, a Catholic priest working on the Dead Sea Scrolls Project discovers a text that describes the final edict of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but hides it in fear of the heresy it contains. When prominent archeologist Frank Tones unearths a reference to the hidden scroll, he wonders if this scroll could be the long-lost Gospel of James, or even of Jesus himself. But before he can act, those who know of the scroll’s existence become mysteriously silent or dead, leaving only a father and son team to find the scroll and tell its secrets to the world. |
The Magic Chalk | null | null | A boy called Jon finds a piece of chalk, dropped by a witch, and uses it to draw a stick man on a fence, not knowing it's magic. The stick man becomes alive and claims his name is Sofus. Jon draws a door and together they enter a garden full of talking animals, some of whom they help out using the magic chalk. After being bothered by a pedagogic owl and doing some absurd mathematical problems, they leave and soon descend into a cave, wherein they meet a tiger and a little old lady who serves them cookies shaped like animals, one for each letter of the alphabet. After talking to the animals - which can only say words that begin with their letter, they leave the grandmother. After walking for a while, they encounter Kumle, a friendly troll. He offers to trade three wishes per person for the chalk, so Sofus asks for a violin, a wallet that always has money, and candy that makes one grow grass instead of hair; Jon wishes for Sofus to be waterproof and for candy that works as an antidote to Sofus's, saving the third wish for later. Their wishes are granted and they agree to meet again. They enter a kingdom and Sofus decides to go to the castle. He charms the king, queen, and princess with his violin playing and claims to be rich, showing them his wallet as proof. The princess steals the wallet and the violin, and as a revenge, Sofus gives her and her parents his candy. Once the grass starts growing, the king attempts to imprison them, but they escape successfully. The public assumes that the royal family's grass is a type of hat and it becomes a fad, but as Autumn comes, the grass begins to wilt. Jon and Sofus go to the castle, and Jon gives the royal family his candy. The grass starts turning back into hair, but before it's done, Jon takes Sofus by the hand and asks for his third wish: to go back home. They immediately appear in his kitchen, where his mother is making dinner, and they tell her about everything that's happened to them. |
The Humbling | Philip Roth | 2,009 | Simon Axler is a famed sexagenarian stage actor who suddenly and inexplicably loses his gift. His weak attempts at portraying Prospero and Macbeth on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington lead to poor reviews, sending Axler into a profound depression and cause him to give up acting and contemplate suicide with a shotgun he keeps in his attic. His wife, Victoria, a former ballerina, is unable to deal with Axler's depression and moves to California, where their son lives. Axler checks himself into a psychiatric hospital on the advice of his physician and stays there for 26 days. In the hospital, Axler meets another patient, Sybil Van Buren, who tells him about catching her second husband sexually abusing her young daughter. She expresses shame at not immediately reporting her husband or removing him from the home and admits to attempting suicide. Sybil asks Axler whether he would be willing to kill her husband and he tells her he fears he would "botch the job". Months after his stint in the hospital, Axler's agent, Jerry Oppenheim, visits him at his upstate New York home to tell him about an offer to play James Tyrone in Long Day's Journey into Night. Axler refuses, fearing another failure. In the fan mail Oppenheim brings, Axler finds a letter from Sybil, thanking him for listening to her problems in the hospital. She says she did not recognize him at the time but decided to write him after catching one of his old movies on TV. Pegeen Mike Stapleford, the 40-year-old daughter of two actors he performed with around the time she was born, pays Axler a visit at his house. Pegeen has just moved nearby to work as a professor at a Vermont women's college after ending a six-year relationship with a woman who decided to undergo sex reassignment surgery to become a man. Pegeen's job was secured after she slept with the school's "smitten" dean, Louise Renner. Simon and Pegeen begin an affair despite Pegeen's having lived as a lesbian for the previous 17 years. Louise is furious that Pegeen has broken off their relationship and begins stalking her. Months later, Louise calls Pegeen's parents in Lansing, Michigan, to tell them that their daughter is now sleeping with Axler. Pegeen is distressed that her parents have learned about the relationship she wanted kept secret. Her father, Asa, tells her he disapproves because of the age difference but Simon suspects he merely envies his professional success. Asa directs community theater in Michigan. Axler reads in the local newspaper that Sybil has shot and killed her estranged husband. He contacts Sybil's sister and offers to help with her murder defense. One night, Pegeen "offers" Axler a 19-year-old college student of her acquaintance named Lara. Lara becomes a fantasy of his and a character in Pegeen's sexual role-playing. Soon after, while Axler and Pegeen are dining out, he notices Tracy, a young woman getting drunk at the restaurant bar, and they take her home for a threesome. Afterward, Axler asks her why she agreed to go home with them, and she admits she recognized him as a famous actor. After this adventure, Axler feels rejuvenated and decides he wants to perform in Long Day's Journey after all. He also decides that he wants to father a child with Pegeen and visits a fertility specialist without telling her. Two weeks later, Pegeen ends their relationship, telling Axler she "made a mistake." He accuses her of leaving him to be with Tracy and believes Pegeen's parents have turned her against him. He calls her parents, shouting at them in an angry tirade. After the call, Axler kills himself with his shotgun. |
Uncle Robin, in His Cabin in Virginia, and Tom Without One in Boston | null | null | The novel features two black slaves from Virginia - Uncle Robin (the loyal slave), and Uncle Tom (the disloyal slave, and a reference to the main character of Uncle Tom's Cabin). Whereas Tom is convinced to run away from his plantation by a group of abolitionists, Robin remains loyal to his master, and remains on the plantation. As the novel progresses, Uncle Robin is shown to have become a well-fed and prosperous slave by remaining loyal and obedient; he is looked after well by his master. Uncle Tom, abused by the abolitionists he fled with, has since died, together with several other slaves who escaped to the North and found more oppression under the abolitionists than on the plantation. |
Mr. Wong Goes West | null | null | Pursuing his passion for money, Feng Shui master CF Wong set up Harmoney Private Limited, a firm acting as middleman to potentially lucrative transactions. His first venture though ended in disaster when a supplier of highlighter failed to provide the product with a suitable ink colour. The buyer refused to complete the deal and withdrew payment, but the seller claims contractually, Harmoney was obliged to purchase the merchandise and demand full payment, with not-so-subtle hints of consequences if payment was not met. Desperate for a venture to produce quick cash, CF Wong reluctantly agreed to a special commission - to help ensure smooth promotional launch of the world's most luxurious office and business conference site on board the world's largest and most expensive aircraft, known as Skyparc. But when he learned members of the British Royal family were among the main investors of the project, his enthusiasm began to grow, overcoming his initial unwillingness to fly on the aircraft from Hong Kong to London. When they arrived in HK, his assistant, Joyce McQuinnie, was looking forward to enjoying the luxurious facilities but suddenly, a murder on the aircraft while it was undergoing finishing touches at the HK airport raised security alarms and another round of background checks on everyone who was supposed to join the promotional launch, and Joyce unexpectedly found herself blacklisted and taken out from the entourage. While CF Wong was tasked to ensure no "bad vibes" remained in the aircraft after the murder, Joyce decided to catch up with her friends based in HK, former schoolmates when she had been a student there before. To her surprise, she learned that the suspect in the murder case was none other than her former school mate with OCD, who was aloof in person but highly communicative over the internet. Events took a stranger turn when Joyce was approached by a mysterious man named Jackson, who wanted her to clear the suspect and even had high enough authority to enable Joyce to rejoin the junket. CF Wong and Joyce got busy investigating the murder during the flight to London, not realising a menace greater than a murderer on the loose threaten the aircraft. |
The Stone Giant | James Blaylock | 1,989 | In a fit of pique Escargot eats a pie that his wife had been withholding to bribe him into attending a revival meeting. Unfortunately Stover, the revivalist, is also the local judge and has designs on Escargot's wealthy wife; Escargot winds up homeless and indigent. He becomes infatuated with Leta, Stover's barmaid, and is introduced to a dwarf he believes to be her uncle. Escargot had purchased a bag of odd marbles from a bunjo man (a kind of gypsy/hobo); the dwarf first swindles them from the hapless divorcé, then humiliates and terrifies him for laughs. After obtaining a settlement from his ex-wife, Escargot leaves for the coastal town of Seaside where he hopes to find Leta at the annual Harvest Festival. A series of misadventures leads him to the submarine of a piratical elf; winding up in sole possession of the vessel Escargot travels through an undersea passage into the land of Balumnia, a sort of siamese-twin world. Escargot's fortunes do not seem to improve as he is rapidly cheated out of money and goods, but he has a surprise encounter with the dwarf and resolves to pursue him. The dwarf attempts to eliminate Escargot but through a combination of persistence and improvisation Escargot survives and learns the dwarf's evil plan: sacrifice Leta and use the marbles to revive the stone giants, ancient enemies of the elves. With the assistance of an eccentric crew of sky-faring elves, Escargot seeks an opportunity to rescue Leta and redeem his many foibles. |
The Running Man | Michael Gerard Bauer | 2,004 | Joseph Davidson is a quiet, self-conscious fourteen- year-old boy and a talented artist. His world changes, however, when he is asked to draw a portrait of his mysterious neighbour Tom Leyton, a Vietnam veteran who for thirty years has lived alone with his sister Caroline, raising his silkworms and hiding from prying eyes. Because of this he is the subject of ugly gossip and rumour, much of it led by neighbour Mrs Mossop, who views Leyton’s brief teaching career with suspicion. When Joseph finally meets his reclusive neighbour he discovers a cold, brooding man lost deep within his own cocoon of silence. He soon realises that in order to truly draw Tom Leyton, he must find the courage to unlock the man’s dark and perhaps dangerous secrets. But Joseph has his own secrets, including the pain of his damaged relationship with his absent father and his childhood fear of the Running Man – a local character whose wild appearance and strange manner of moving everywhere at a frantic pace terrified him when he was a small boy. These dreams suddenly return when Joseph is forced to face his fears and doubts regarding Tom Leyton. As Joseph moves deeper and deeper into his neighbour’s world he confronts not only Tom Leyton’s private hell, but also his own relationship with his father, and ultimately the dishevelled, lurching figure of the Running Man. |
Gracey | null | null | Gracey and her friend Angela are spending their last holidays in Cunningham. Gracey and Angela have been best friends ever since Gracey started attending Hamilton College in Brisbane on an athletics scholarship. She is a very talented runner and her family has a list of sporting achievements. For example, her brother (older), Raymond, is a star rugby player who has a contract with a club in Sydney. Dougy, Gracey's other (younger) brother, saved Gracey from losing her life in the floods that raided their town of Cunningham. Dougy and Gracey have a complicated relationship but mostly, Dougy loves his sister and Gracey is ever-thankful for Dougy when he saved her life. While playing in some trenches dug up for the building site which is building the new town hall, Dougy comes across some bones. He finds two arms and a skull. The bones appear to Dougy to be human bones. As a collector of many things, Dougy takes the bones with him in his billy cart to show his friends. He does not reveal to them where he found them as he does not want them to go looking for more. His friends are very interested and they tell Dougy not to take them to the police. Dougy was never thinking of such. When he takes the bones home and shows Gracey and Angela the next morning, they are horrified and disgusted. Gracey strongly sudgests that they take them to the police and Angela agrees with her. Dougy is hesitant of the idea and protests that they will take them away from him but Graceys tell Dougy that she and Angela will come with him to the police station. Dougy agrees to go and they take them to the police. The bones are taken away from him and after many arguments, Dougy admits that he found them at the building site. The police investigate and discover more and more bones. Cunningham instantly becomes the number one destination for the news crews, reporters and is on the front page of any media. Gracey is annoyed at Dougy's discovery and is egar to leave Cunningham and go back to Hamilton with Angela on the train Angela protests and is enjoying the whole discovery of the bones. As Gracey and Angela leave for Brisbane, Dougy is nowhere to be seen at the train station to wave them off and Gracey is very sad at the fact. She is glad to be back at Hamilton and escapes into the community of the white girls. Gracey's English teacher gives, upon request, a few books on aboriginal history and deaths. Gracey is, at first, not very interested in these books, or really, aboriginal history in general. All she wants is to fit in and be a "white girl". However, Gracey's perspective soon changes as she skips on of her special athletics trainings at QE II Stadium to go to a the Oxford Library to search for more information. She finds out that the bones were from a group of Australian Aborigines who were living in a small camp near the town of what is now Cunningham. These men had been shot by a man named Stan McNamara and his men. They shot these men as they had been "stealing" from them. They had buried the men in a pit and that was he bones that Dougy and the police had uncovered. She realised that Bert Mc Soon after Dougy finds them Gracey and Angela go back to Hamilton College in Brisbane. Gracey does some research and finds that a white man named Stan has killed the aboriginals. Gracey also finds out that Stan's son, Burt, still lives in Cunningham. Gracey also realised that Bert was the man who had been watching over the building site as it progressed, she thought that he must have know that the bodies were they and that there was a chance the builders would discover the bones. Gracey begins to be increasingly interested in the bones situation and she realises that she doesn't fit in with the other white girls and when news that Gracey's mother died, it pushes Gracey to leave Hamilton and return home to Cunningham. Raymond and Dougy are involved with the police when a violent outbreak occurs over a feud when information about Bert and his grandfather Stan murdering the Aboriginals results in both the men bought to the watch house. Raymond, confused and deeply depressed, hangs himself with a football sock, all that if left of Gracey's family is Dougy and herself. Gracey soon finds out that she is, in fact, Bert's great-granddaughter. Berts son was Dougy and Gracey's mothers' father. It turns out that Gracey and Dougy are half white, half aboriginal. The story ends with Gracey returning to Hamilton college to greet Angela and the others she left behind. |
Nemesis | Philip Roth | null | Nemesis explores the effect of a 1944 polio epidemic on a closely knit, family-oriented Newark Jewish community. The children are threatened with maiming, paralysis, lifelong disability, and death. At the center of Nemesis is a vigorous, dutiful, 23-year-old teacher and playground director Bucky Cantor, a javelin thrower and weightlifter, who is devoted to his charges. Bucky feels guilty because his weak eyes have excluded him from serving in the war alongside his close friends and contemporaries. Focusing on Cantor's dilemmas as polio begins to ravage his playground, Roth examines some of the central themes of pestilence: fear, panic, anger, guilt, bewilderment, suffering, and pain. Cantor also faces a spiritual crisis, asking himself why God would allow innocent children to die of polio. Finally, Cantor faces a romantic crisis, becoming engaged to his beloved girlfriend (a fellow teacher who is working as a counselor at a Jewish summer camp). Fearing that Cantor will get polio if he remains in Newark during the summer, she implores him to quit his job in Newark and to join her at her polio-free summer camp. He wants to be with his fiancee, but leaving the children of Newark adds to his feelings of guilt. With the inevitability of a Greek drama, polio eventually reaches the summer camp. One camper dies, several become ill, and Cantor himself is stricken. Cantor blames himself for having brought polio to the camp. The novel ends in 1971, when Cantor encounters one of the Newark playground children who contracted polio and survived. They catch up on the events in their lives since 1944. Cantor reveals that, after being crippled by polio, he insisted that his fiancee leave him and find a non-crippled husband. He never marries. The novel is written as the narrative of the playground child, based on what Cantor told him in 1971. |
Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism | Robert J. Shiller | 2,009 | The Preface recalls Keynes' use of the phrase animal spirits, which he used to describe the psychological forces that partly explain why the economy doesn't behave in the manner predicted by classical economics—a system of thought that expects economic actors to behave as unemotional rational beings. The authors assert that the Keynesian Revolution was emasculated as Keynesians progressively relegated the importance of animal spirits to accommodate the views of economists who preferred the simpler classical or neo-classical system. The preface goes on to describe how Keynes' ideas suggest the economy will function best with a moderately high level of government intervention, which they compare to a happy home where children thrive with parents that are neither too authoritarian (as in a Marxist economy) nor too permissive (as in a neoliberal economy). The authors state that recent research now supports the concept of animal spirits much more robustly than Keynes was able to, and they express the hope that fellow economists can be convinced of this, thus reducing the internecine disputes that prevent their discipline from providing the clear support that politicians need for the aggressive action required to fix the 2008–2009 economic crises. The five key animal spirits are treated here, each assigned their own chapter. Chapter 1 the authors discuss confidence, which they say is the most important animal spirit to know about if one wishes to understand the economy. Chapter 2 is about the desire for fairness, an emotional drive that can cause people to make decisions that aren’t in their economic best interests. Chapter 3 discusses corruption and bad faith, and how growing awareness of these practices can contribute to a recession, in addition to the direct harm the practices cause themselves. Chapter 4 presents evidence that, in contrast to monetarist theory, many people are at least partially under the money illusion, the tendency for people to ignore the effects of inflation. Workers for example will forgo a pay rise even when prices are rising, if they know that their firm is facing challenging conditions—but they are much less willing to accept a pay cut even when prices are falling. Chapter 5 is about the importance of stories in determining behaviour. Such as the repeatedly told story that house prices will always rise, which caused many additional people to invest in housing following the dot com bust of 2000. Here the authors discuss eight important questions about the economy, which they assert can only be satisfactorily answered by a theory that takes animal spirits into account. Each question has its own chapter. Chapter 6 is about why recessions happen. The authors assert that the business cycle can be explained by rising confidence in the upswing eventually leading investors to make rash decisions and ultimately encouraging corruption, until eventually panic appears and confidence evaporates, triggering a recession. There is a discussion about feedback loops between animal spirits and real returns available, which help explain the intensity of both the up and down swing of the cycle. Chapter 7 discusses why animal spirits make central banks a necessity, and there is a post script about how they can intervene to help with the current crises. Chapter 8 tackles the reasons for unemployment, which the authors say is partly due to animal spirits such as concerns for fairness and the money illusion. Chapter 9 is about why there is a trade off between unemployment and inflation. The authors show how effects of animal spirits refutes the monetarist theory that there is a natural rate of employment which it is not desirable to exceed. Chapter 10 is about why people don't consider the future rationally in their decisions about savings. Chapter 11 presents an explanation for why asset prices and investment flows are so volatile. Chapter 12 discusses why real estate markets go through cycles, with periods of often rapid price increase interspaced by falls. Chapter 13 suggests that animal spirits can be used to explain the persistence of poverty among ethnic minorities, describing how working class minorities have different stories about how the world works and their place in it, compared to working class white people. The authors argue that the effects of animal spirits make a strong case for affirmative action. Chapter 14 is a conclusion where the authors state that the cumulative evidence they have presented in the preceding chapters overwhelming shows that the neo classical view of the economy, which allows little or no role for animal spirits, is unreliable. They state that an effective response to the current economic crises must take into account the effects of animal spirits. |
The Cinder Path | null | null | In the English countryside of the early 20th Century the working-class main protagonist must deal with a cruel and tyrannical father and later with a romantic tangle and a problematic marriage, as well as with a dark secret which he must keep hidden at all costs. Later, he is taken into the British Army fighting on the Western Front of the First World War, where the shadows of his past pursue him and lead to a shattering climax. |
What I Call Life | null | null | Cal Lavender is perfectly happy living her anonymous life, even if she does have to play mother to her own mother a whole lot more than an eleven year old should have to do. But when Cal's mother has one of her “unfortunate episodes” in the middle of the public library, she is whisked off by the authorities, and Cal is escorted to a seat in the back of a police car. On “just a short, temporary detour from what I call life,” Cal finds herself in a group home with four other girls, watched over by a strange old woman that everyone refers to as the Knitting Lady. At first Cal can think of nothing but how to get out of this nuthouse. She knows she does not belong there. It turns out that all the girls, and even the Knitting Lady, may have a lot more in common that they could have imagined. Cal is constantly thinking that her mother is coming to get her quite soon, but, as it turns out, it takes quite a while for her mother to come and "free" Cal from the group home. The four other girls at the group home are: Amber- The quiet, and almost bald shy one who does not talk for the whole beginning of the book; Monica- The whiny, annoying one of the bunch; Fern- The one who laughs at almost anything Whitney says; and Whitney- the girl who has had so much done to her, she made a list. For example, # 14.: Got dropped on head by Santa at a group home party. Whitney is probably the most important girl living in the group home with Cal. The five of them go off to find Whitney's sister, but, in the end, Cal discovers that this "sister" doesn't exist at all, and the only other ones who know about it are Amber & Whitney herself. Whitney also has a pet pillbug named Ike Eisenhower the 5th, Whose brother Mike the 5th died already. Through the rest of the book, the Knitting Lady (whose name is revealed in the very end) tells them a story about Lillian as a young girl. Then, she finally tells them that Lillian grew up, and had Brenda; Brenda is dropped off at a group home, just like Cal. Eventually, Betty (Cal's mother) comes and takes Cal back home, And then, Cal never hears from Whitney, Amber, Monica, Fern nor the Knitting Lady again.. |
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