Title: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon Author: Stephen King File Type: Mobi Subject:Horror Description: Trisha McFarland is a plucky 9-year-old hiking with her brother and mom, who is grimly determined to give the kids a good time on their weekends together. Trishas mom is recently divorced, and her brother is feuding with her for moving from Boston to small-town Maine, where classmates razz him. Trisha steps off the trail for a pee and a respite from the bickering. And gets lost. Trishas odyssey succeeds on several levels. King renders her consciousness of increasing peril beautifully, from the first minnowy flutter of disquiet in her guts to her into-the-wild tumbles to her descent into hallucinations, the nicest being her beloved Red Sox baseball pitcher Tom Gordon, whose exploits she listens to on her Walkman. The nature writing is accurate, tense, and sometimes lyrical, from the maddening whine of the no-see-um mosquito to the profound obbligato of the Subaudible (Trishas dads term for natures intimations of God). Our identification with Trisha deepens as we learn about her loved ones: Dad, a dreamboat whose beer habit could sink him; loving but stubborn Mom; Trishas best pal, Pepsi Robichaud, vividly evoked by her colorful sayings (Dont go all GIRLY on me, McFarland!). The personal associations triggered by a full moon, the running monologue with which she stays sane--we who have been lost in woods will recognize these things.
Title: A World Lit Only by Fire_ The Medieval M
Author: William Manchester
File Type: Mobi
Subject:History
Description:Amazon.com ReviewIt speaks to the failure of medieval Europe, writes popular historian William Manchester, that in the year 1500, after a thousand years of neglect, the roads built by the Romans were still the best on the continent. European powers were so absorbed in destroying each other and in suppressing peasant revolts and religious reform that they never quite got around to realizing the possibilities of contemporary innovations in public health, civil engineering, and other peaceful pursuits. Instead, they waged war in faraway lands, created and lost fortunes, and squandered millions of lives. For all the wastefulness of medieval societies, however, Manchester notes, the era created the foundation for the extraordinary creative explosion of the Renaissance. Drawing on a cast of characters numbering in the hundreds, Manchester does a solid job of reconstructing the medieval world, although some scholars may disagree with his interpretations. From Publishers WeeklyUsing only secondary sources, Manchester plunges readers into the medieval mind-set in a captivating, marvelously vivid popular history that humanizes the tumultuous span from the Dark Ages to the dawn of the Renaissance. He delineates an age when invisible spirits infested the air, when tolerance was seen as treachery and a mafia of profane popes desecrated Christianity. Besides re-creating the arduous lives of ordinary people, the Wesleyan professor of history peoples his tapestry with such figures as Leonardo, Machiavelli, Lucrezia Borgia, Erasmus, Luther, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Manchester ( The Arms of Krupp ) devotes much attention to Magellan, whose globe-straddling voyage shattered Christendoms implicit belief in Europe as the center of the universe. His portrayal of the Middle Ages as a time when the strong and the shrewd flourished, while the imaginative, the cerebral and the unfortunate suffered, rings true. Illustrations. br 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Title: Junie B., First Grader_ Boss of Lunch
Author: Barbara Park
File Type: Mobi
Subject:Children's Books
Description:Test Data
Junie, an outspoken, sometimes exasperating, first grader is thrilled when she is told she can help out Mrs. Gutzman in the school cafeteria and imagines what it will be like to be a professional lunch lady. Reprint.
Title: Soul Music
Author: Terry Pratchett
File Type: Mobi
Subject:Fantasy:Discworld
Description:
A satirical comedy on the subject of death. It begins when Death decides to take a holiday and turns over the shop to his granddaughter, Susan, with the assistance of Death of Rats, a rat skeleton. Unfortunately, Susan does not have the stomach for such a heartless trade and this threatens the success of the establishment. By the author of The Light Fantastic. This 13th novel set in Discworld tells the story of Deaths granddaughter, who inherited the job and grew to enjoy it. Amd of Imp the Bard, who strove to make his fortune in a rock band, and who was so unlucky that all his dreams came true. When her dear old Granddad -- the Grim Reaper himself -- goes missing, Susan takes over the family business. The progeny of Deaths adopted daughter and his apprentice, she shows real talent for the trade. That is until a little string in her heart goes twang. With a head full of dreams and a pocketful of lint, Imp the Bard lands in Ankh-Morpork, yearning to become a rock star. Determined to devote his life to music, the unlucky fellow soon finds that all his dreams are coming true. Well almost. In this finger-snapping, toe-tapping tale of youth, Death, and rocks that roll, Terry Pratchett once again demonstrates the wit and genius that have propelled him to the highest echelons of parody next to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen.
Title: Odd Hours
Author: Dean Koontz
File Type: Mobi
Subject:Fiction:Suspense
Description:
Only a handful of fictional characters are recognized by first name alone. Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas is one of those rare literary heroes who have come alive in readers’ imaginations as he explores the greatest mysteries of this world and the next with his inimitable wit, heart, and quiet gallantry. Now Koontz follows Odd as he is irresistibly drawn onward to a destiny he cannot imagine and to undreamed of places where the perils he will face and the stakes for which he fights will eclipse all that he has known. The legend began in the obscure little town of Pico Mundo. A fry cook named Odd was rumored to have the extraordinary ability to communicate with the dead. Through tragedy and triumph, exhilaration and heartbreak, word of Odd Thomas’s gifts filtered far beyond Pico Mundo, attracting unforgettable new friends—and enemies of implacable evil. With great gifts comes the responsibility to meet great challenges. But no mere human being was ever meant to face the darkness that now stalks the world—not even one as oddly special as Odd Thomas. After grappling with the very essence of reality itself, after finding the veil that separates him from his soul mate, Stormy Llewellyn, tantalizingly thin yet impenetrable, Odd longed only to return to a life of quiet anonymity with his two otherworldly sidekicks—his dog Boo and a new companion, one of the few who might rival his old pal Elvis. But a true hero, however humble, must persevere. Haunted by dreams of an all-encompassing red tide, Odd is pulled inexorably to the sea, to a small California coastal town where nothing is as it seems. Now the forces arrayed against him have both official sanction and an infinitely more sinister authority…and in this dark night of the soul dawn will come only after the most shattering revelations of all.Burnishing Dean Koontz’s stature as a master of suspense and one of our most innovative and gifted storytellers, Odd Hours illuminates a legacy of mystery and hope that will shine on long after the final page.From the Hardcover edition.
Title: O Is for Outlaw
Author: Sue Grafton
File Type: Mobi
Subject:Fiction:Detective
Description:
Wise-cracking, staunchly independent, and chronically curious, Graftons gritty gumshoe Kinsey Millhone is back. This time, the alphabet series star will take on the toughest case to date: her past. What begins as a random phone call from a storage space scavenger (someone who buys the contents of defaulted storage units) leads Kinsey to a box of old papers and personal effects that her ex-husband, Mickey Magruder, left behind. Inside, she finds a 15-year-old unsent letter from a bartender that, among other things, reveals her former hubby was having an affair. The letter also contains details about the murder of a transient--a crime for which Mickey was blamed. Although never convicted, Mickey was ruined--losing his job, wife, and friends. But 15 years later, Kinsey realizes that foul play may have been involved in the murder, a deadly temptation for her. Die-hard fans will especially enjoy Kinseys self-disclosure--something shes infamous for not doing--about her childhood, the fate of her parents, and the randy details of her first marriage. A very vulnerable and interesting side to Kinseys character is also revealed when her obsessive-compulsive fact-finding bent is mixed up with matters of the heart. A fast, fun read, O Is for Outlaw is packed with Graftons clear, colorful imagery and signature metaphors: Our recollection of the past is not simply distorted by our faulty perception of events remembered, but skewed by those forgotten. The memory is like orbiting twin stars, one visible, one dark, the trajectory of whats evident forever affected by the gravity of whats concealed. --Rebekah Warren
Title: Heartbeat
Author: Danielle Steel
File Type: Mobi
Subject:Romance
Description:Nine years after his marriage crumbles, TV producer Bill Thigpen enjoys a chance meeting with Adrian Townsend, a successful woman who yearns for a family, in a local supermarket, and together the two of them build a new life together. Reprint. From the PublisherBill Thigpen, writer producer of the No.1 daytime TV drama was so busy watching his career soar that he never noticed his marriage collapse. Now, nine years later, living alone in Hollywood, even without his wife and kids, his life and success are still reasonably sweet. Top-of-the-chart ratings, good-natured casual affairs, and special vacations with his two young sons. His life is in perfect balance, he thinks. Adrian Townshed thought she had everything: a job she liked as a TV production assistant and a handsome husband who was a rising star in his own field. In as enviable life they'd worked hard for -- the American Dream. Until she got pregnant. Suddenly all she had was chaos. And Steven's ultimatum. Him or the baby. The question was: did he mean it? He did. Bill Thigpen and Adrian Townshed collided in a supermarket. And the very sight of her suddenly makes him want more in his life.... a woman he really loves, a real family again. But does he need the heartache of another man's baby, another wife? Neither does. But they couldn't help it.Danielle Steel touches the Heartbeat of two wonderful people as their friendship deepens into love, as they meet the obstacles that life presents with humor, humanity, and courage.
Title: Walking Dead
Author: C. E. Murphy
File Type: Mobi
Subject:Romance:Paranormal
Description:
For once, Joanne Walker's not out to save the world. She's come to terms with the host of shamanic powers she's been given, her job as a police detective has been relatively calm, and she's got a love life for the first time in memory. Not bad for a woman who started out the year mostly dead.But it's Halloween, and the undead have just crashed Joanne's party. Now, with her mentor Coyote still missing, she has to figure out how to break the spell that has let the ghosts, zombies and even the Wild Hunt come back. Unfortunately, there's no shamanic handbook explaining how to deal with the walking dead. And if they have anything to say about it—which they do—no one's getting out of there alive.
Title: Doctor Who_ Beltempest
Author: Jim Mortimore
File Type: Mobi
Subject:Science-Fiction:Doctor Who
Description:When the people of Bellania II witness a triple eclipse of their sun, Bel -- an impossibility, as they only have one moon -- it is the beginning of the end for an entire solar system. Their sun is shrouded in night for a month -- then returns to them a younger, brighter, hotter star. But how?100,000 years later, the Doctor and Sam arrive on Belannia IV, where 20,000 people are under threat as a catastrophe threatens -- immense gravitational and dimensional disturbances are rioting through their sector of space. Sam is swept away by desperate crowds trying to get off their world, and becomes involved in daring rescue attempts. The Doctor tries to stabilize the local gravity fields and help halt the devastation, but the TARDIS is lost to him.Meanwhile, a religious suicide-cult leader attempts to destroy himself on the deadly heated surface of Belannia II, but he does not die. He returns stronger, and with a new religion he is determined to spread through Bel's system. His word may prove more dangerous even then the terrible forces brought into being from Bel's sun. Just what has happened to the star Bel -- and will the Doctor hive time to do anything about it?