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Mother's Milk: Mother's Milk And At Last (The Patrick Melrose Novels #4)
by Edward St AubynShortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Mother's Milk is the fourth of Edward St Aubyn's semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels, adapted for TV for Sky Atlantic and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as aristocratic addict, Patrick.The once illustrious, once wealthy Melroses are in peril. Caught up in the wreckage of broken promises, child-rearing, adultery and assisted suicide, Patrick finds his wife Mary consumed by motherhood, his mother in thrall to a New Age foundation, and his young son Robert understanding far more than he should. But even as the family struggles against the pull of its ever-present past, a new generation brings a new tenderness, and the possibility of change.
Kraken
by China MiévilleWinner of the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, Kraken is a darkly comic, wildly absurd adventure by author of Perdido Street Station, China Miéville.Deep in the research wing of the Natural History Museum is a prize specimen, something that comes along much less often than once in a lifetime: a perfect, and perfectly preserved, giant squid. But what does it mean when the creature suddenly and impossibly disappears? For curator Billy Harrow it's the start of a headlong pitch into a London of warring cults, surreal magic, apostates and assassins. It might just be that the creature he's been preserving is more than a biological rarity: there are those who are sure it's a god. A god that someone is hoping will end the world.
Death Cloud: Death Cloud (Young Sherlock Holmes #1)
by Andrew LaneThe year is 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. His life is that of a perfectly ordinary army officer’s son: boarding school, good manners, a classical education – the backbone of the British Empire. But all that is about to change. With his father suddenly posted to India, and his mother mysteriously ‘unwell’, Sherlock is sent to stay with his eccentric uncle and aunt in their vast house in Hampshire. So begins a summer that leads Sherlock to uncover his first murder, a kidnap, corruption and a brilliantly sinister villain of exquisitely malign intent . . . Death Cloud is the first in a series of novels in which the iconic detective is reimagined as a brilliant, troubled and engaging teenager – creating unputdownable detective adventures that remain true to the spirit of the original books.
Poppy Day (Soundings Ser.)
by Annie MurrayAnnie Murray's uplifting saga set during the Great War, Poppy Day is a moving story of love, remembrance and ultimate healing.Jessica Hart's happy childhood as the daughter of a country blacksmith is changed forever by the sudden death of her mother. Her grief-stricken father leaves her to cope with her loss alone.It is her manipulative new stepmother who tries to force her into marrying an older man. To bright, pretty Jess the idea of a loveless marriage is unthinkable and so she escapes to Birmingham to her aunt Olive – the last remaining connection to her mother.But it soon becomes apparent that in the shadows of Olive's family there are haunting secrets of which no one will speak. And Jess's security is threatened when she falls passionately in love. For handsome Ned Green is not only already married, but also about to become a father.
Nights of Villjamur (Legends of the Red Sun #1)
by Mark Charan NewtonA dark epic, Nights of Villjamur is the first book in Mark Charan Newton's Legends of the Red Sun fantasy series.An ice age strikes a chain of islands, and thousands come to seek sanctuary at the gates of Villjamur. It’s a city of ancient spires and bridges, a place where banshees wail and cultists use forgotten technology. And beyond the now besieged walls, the dead have been seen walking across the tundra. When the Emperor commits suicide, his heir, Rika, is brought home to lead the Jamur Empire. But the corrupt Chancellor has his own designs on the throne. Meanwhile, a senior investigator in the city inquisition must solve the savage murder of a city politician, and a charming rogue manipulates his way into the imperial residence with a hidden agenda. Then one crime leads to another and a plot is uncovered that could mean genocide for thousands of citizens. It seems that, in this land under a red sun, the long winter is bringing more than just snow . . .
Jubilee
by Eliza GrahamIt's the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, and Rachel and her aunt Evie are celebrating with the crowds on the village green. The scene is tranquil, but Rachel and her aunt can never forget what happened exactly twenty-five years ago. On that day, Evie's young daughter Jessamy vanished. She hasn’t been seen since. Soon after, news comes of Evie's sudden death, and Rachel must return to the village to deal with her aunt’s estate. The extraordinary story she uncovers there will change everything. It is a story of departure and return, of atrocity and betrayal, of unrequited love and the dreadful legacy of war.
Acts of Violence
by Ryan David JahnKatrina Marino is about to become America’s most infamous murder victim. This is Katrina’s story, and the story of her killer. It is also the story of Katrina’s neighbours, those who witnessed her murder and did nothing: the terrified Vietnam draftee; the woman who thinks she’s killed a child, and her husband who will risk everything for the truth; the former soldier planning suicide and the man who saves him. And others whose lives are touched by the crime: the elderly teacher whose past is catching up with him; the amateur blackmailer who’s about to find out just what sort of people he’s been threatening; the corrupt cop who believes he is God’s ‘red right hand’. Shocking and compassionate, angry and gripping, ACTS OF VIOLENCE is a sprawling, cinematic tour-de-force, a terrifying crime novel unlike any other.
All American Girl: Ready Or Not (All-american Girl Ser. #Vol. 2)
by Meg CabotAll American Girl: Ready or Not is the sequel to the bestselling All American Girl by Meg Cabot, author of the phenomenally successful The Princess Diaries.A year ago Sam Madison saved the President of the USA from assassination. A year ago she became a teen celebrity – and started dating David, the First Son. Now, one year on, everyone thinks Sam is ready – for just about anything. Her art teacher thinks she's ready to draw naked people. The President thinks she's ready to present his Return to Family bill to the American people on live TV. And scariest of all, David seems to think he and Sam are ready to crank their relationship up to the next level. They are ready to Do It! Everyone thinks Sam is ready – except Sam herself. But will David be prepared to wait for his All American Girl?
The Crying Tree: A Richard and Judy Book Club Selection
by Naseem RakhaA Richard and Judy Book Club selection.The Crying Tree is a heartfelt family drama by Naseem Rakha.Irene Stanley thought her world had come to an end when her fifteen-year-old son, Shep, was murdered in a robbery at their Oregon home. Daniel Robbin, who had spent his teenage years in and out of trouble, gave himself up to the police and was imprisoned in the State Penitentiary.Now, eighteen years later, Robbin is placed on Death Row awaiting a date for his execution. Irene's husband, Nate, has demons from the past of his own which he needs to face, and Shep's sister, Bliss, quickly learns that she too has a part to play in the healing of her family shattered by the tragedy.Irene, having reached the brink of suicide, comes to the realization that to survive she needs to overcome her grief and her hate for Robbin, and that she must face the secrets that she suspects surround Shep's murder. She turns full circle, defying both her family and the church, and finds that she is not only capable of forgiveness for the man who murdered her son, but also she comes to terms with understanding much more about events that happened that fateful afternoon back in Carlton. And perhaps the most painful realization of all, how little they as a family understood Shep.
The Miller's Daughter
by Margaret DickinsonEmma Forrest has waited three long years to welcome home the man she loves from the horror of the trenches, but now her father's bitter feud with Jamie Metcalfe's family threatens everything she has dreamed of. Knowing that Harry Forrest will go to his grave wishing she were a boy and now, devastated by Jamie's coldness, Emma clings resolutely to the memory of her beloved grandfather, Charlie, and his hopes for the mill he built with his own hands. Somehow, in spite of all Harry's scheming and the disastrous marriage she finds herself in as a result, Emma will make sure that the mill has a future - with a Forrest at the helm . . .The Miller's Daughter is a heartfelt Lincolnshire saga, from much-loved author, Margaret Dickinson.
Birmingham Rose (Birmingham #1)
by Annie MurrayA heartfelt Birmingham saga, Birmingham Rose is Annie Murray's debut novel and was a Sunday Times bestseller. Life is bleak for Rose Lucas, a spirited, intelligent girl, born into a large family in the slums of pre-war Birmingham. But her friendship with Diana, daughter of a vicar from middle-class Moseley, gives her hope. She learns to aspire to a different kind of existence, vowing never to become a child-bearing drudge like her mother.Life, however, never follows the way of dreams. After a childhood marked by tragedy, Rose eventually finds and loses the love for which she has striven so hard. From Italy, where she has travelled during the Second World War, she is forced to return to Birmingham and an unhappy marriage, her hopes and illusions shattered. But Rose will not be defeated and she, too, is determined to rise once again above the devastation of her life . . .
Shadowland: The Immortals - A Kiss Could Mean The End (The Immortals #3)
by Alyson NoelEver and Damen have travelled through countless past lives – and fought off the world’s darkest enemies – in search of each other. But just when their destiny seems finally within reach, a powerful curse falls upon them. A single touch of their hands, a soft brush of their lips will mean death for Damen – cast into the darkness of the Shadowland. But as she seeks to break the curse, Ever meets Jude – a green-eyed, golden surfer boy who understands magick, and understands Ever better than she realises. And she begins to ask a terrifying question: even if you’re immortal, can true love really last forever?
Changeling: Demon Games (Changeling series #4)
by Steve FeaseyTeenage werewolf Trey is facing the most important and dangerous mission of his life. He must journey into the dark Netherworld and rescue Alexa, daughter of his vampire guardian Lucien, who is being held hostage by a powerful demon lord. But strength and courage alone are not enough to succeed – instead Trey must ‘win’ both their freedoms by participating in a death-match against his deadliest nemesis yet. The forces of evil are stacked against him and Trey can only be certain of one thing . . . one of them WILL die.
A Share in Death (Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James #1)
by Deborah CrombieA week's holiday in a luxurious Yorkshire time-share is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But the discovery of a body floating in the whirlpool bath ends Kincaid's vacation before it's begun. One of his new acquaintances at Followdale House is dead; another is a killer. Despite a distinct lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised dramatically when a second murder occurs, and Kincaid and James find themselves in a determined hunt for a fiendish felon who enjoys homicide a bit too much.
Family of Women
by Annie Murray1950 - Seven year old Carol Martin lies encased in an iron lung, struck down by the killer disease, polio. Distraught at her side, her mother, Violet, wonders if this is her punishment - for Carol is the love child who should not have been born . . .Family of Women is the story of three generations of women:Bessie: scarred by a childhood of poverty in the slums of Victorian Birmingham and left a young widow with four children, is a hard, bullying woman who will go to disturbing lengths to keep her family under her thumb.Violet: one of Bessie's four children, marries young to escape, into the arms of a man whose life will be broken by war.Linda: grows up on a large housing estate in the 1950s with older sister Joyce and her beloved young sister Carol. Intelligent and energetic, she craves education and something more than the life she sees around her. Torn from her longed for place at the grammar school, she gives up hoping for anything better. It takes a tragic love affair to make her question the limitations of her life and the secrets which haunt her family.Spanning more than half of the last century, Family of Women by Annie Murray is a story of one family - and of the joys, struggles and changes in women's lives.
Ransom My Heart (The\princess Diaries)
by Meg CabotWhen beautiful, spirited Finnula Crais kidnaps the dashing knight Hugh Fitzstephen, she has no idea that she's ensnared the new Earl of Stephensgate on his way home from the Crusades. Nor does she realize that Hugh is quite happy to be kidnapped by an enchanting tomboy, and will do anything it takes to avoid being rescued. With Finnula determined to hold Hugh to ransom, and Hugh equally determined to steal Finnula's heart, it isn't long before the fireworks start! And just when it looks as if there might be a happy ending, disaster strikes. When an attempt is made on the new Earl's life, there is only one suspect – and even if he loves her dearly, Hugh can't let her get away with it . . .Ransom My Heart is a risqué historical romance written by Princess Mia Thermopolis of Genovia (with a little help from Meg Cabot), as featured in The Princess Diaries series.
The Sunset Limited: A Novel in Dramatic Form (Vintage International)
by Cormac McCarthyFull of rich dialogue, Cormac McCarthy's insightful and philosophical play, The Sunset Limited, probes the deepest questions of human existence.A startling encounter on a New York subway platform leads two strangers to a run-down tenement where a life or death decision must be made. In that small apartment, 'Black' and 'White', as the two men are known, begin a conversation that leads each back through his own history - mining the origins of two diametrically opposing world views, they begin a dialectic redolent of the best of Beckett. White is a professor whose seemingly enviable existence of relative ease has left him nonetheless in despair. Black, an ex-con and ex-addict, is the more hopeful of the men - though he is just as desperate to convince White of the power of faith as White is to deny it. Their aim is no less than this: to discover the meaning of life. Deft, spare, and full of artful tension, The Sunset Limited by Cormac McCarthy is a beautifully crafted, consistently thought-provoking, and deeply intimate work by one of the most insightful writers of our time.
Among Thieves
by David HospOn the night of the St Patrick celebrations in 1990, some of the world's most famous and valuable paintings were stolen from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. They were never recovered, and there were no clues as to their whereabouts - that is until now.When Boston attorney Scott Finn takes on well-known thief, Devon Malley as a client, he gets much more than he bargained for. Not only is he asked to care for Devon's teenaged daughter, Sally, while Devon awaits bail, but his investigations into what he believed was a case of petty theft, lead him to the underworld of Boston's organized crime gangs, links with the IRA and the realization that he may be close to solving the mystery of the stolen paintings all those years ago.But an Irishman who, at nine years old, saw his entire family murdered before his eyes is determined to avenge their death. His commitment to the cause is frightening and unrelenting, and he will never give up until the job is finished . . .'A knock-out; Grisham with a passion, even a touch of the great Michael Connelly thrown in . . . Crackles from the first page and doesn't let up for a second' Daily Mail
This Perfect World: A Richard and Judy Book Club Selection
by Suzanne BuglerA Richard and Judy Book Club selection.Heddy Partridge was never my friend. I have to start with that. Heddy Partridge was never my friend because I was pretty, popular, clever and blonde and my friends were pretty, popular, clever and generally blonde, too. Heddy Partridge was none of these things.Laura Hamley is the woman who has everything: a loving and successful husband, two beautiful children, an expensive home and a set of equally fortunate friends.But Laura's perfect world is suddenly threatened when she receives an unwelcome phone call from Mrs Partridge, mother of Heddy - the girl Laura and her friends bullied mercilessly at school. Heddy has been hospitalized following a mental breakdown, and Mrs Partridge wants Laura's help to get her released.As Laura reluctantly gets drawn back into the past, she is forced to face the terrible consequences of her cruelty. But, as her secrets are revealed, so too is another even more devastating truth, and the perfect world Laura has so carefully constructed for herself begins to fall apart.This Perfect World is the debut novel from Suzanne Bulger.
Love Letters of Great Women
by Ursula Doyle (Ed.)From the private papers of Anne Boleyn and Emily Dickinson to those of Empress Josephine and Queen Victoria, Love Letters of Great Women is an anthology of some of the most romantic letters in history. As a companion to Love Letters of Great Men, this collection gives the other side of the story: the secret hopes and lives of some of the greatest women in history, from writers and artists to politicians and queens. Includes letters by: Anne Boleyn * Edith Wharton * Mary Wordsworth * Nell Gwyn (mistress of Charles II) * Queen Victoria * the Empress Josephine * Mary Wollstonecraft * Katherine Mansfield * George Sand Praise for Love Letters of Great Men: 'The most romantic book ever' Daily Mail 'Inspired by the Sex and the City movie... Famous men caught with pen in hand and heart in mouth' The Times
Help! My Parents Think I'm a Robot (Help! #3)
by Andy GriffithsHelp! My Parents Think I'm a Robot is a collection of ten insanely shocking stories from Andy Griffiths and illustrated by Terry Denton - the creators of the smash hit The 13-Storey Treehouse.Is this the right book for you? Take this quiz to find out! Do you ever flush your sister's head down the toilet? Do you ever make pretend funny home videos? Do you ever play lemonade roulette? Do you want to read a list of 101 dangerous things? Do you want to learn twelve truly shocking facts? Score one point for each 'yes' answer. 3-5 You are obviously a very shocking person. You will love this book. 1-2 You are a fairly shocking person. You will love this book. 0 You don't realize how much fun being shocking can be. You will love this book.
Dead Shot (Gunnery Sergeant Kyle Swanson series #2)
by Jack Coughlin Donald A. DavisIn Baghdad's Green Zone, an Iraqi scientist is murdered just before he is to reveal the monstrous secret weapon that Saddam Hussein took to his grave. The assassination is the work of a mysterious sniper called Juba, originally trained by the British but who now works with a twisted mastermind determined to wrest leadership of the Islamic terrorist world from Al Qaeda. Kyle Swanson, once the top sniper in the US Marine Corps, has become the key member in a secret operations team known as Task Force Trident. When Juba tests the new weapon by killing hundreds of people at a Britsh royal wedding in London, Swanson is assigned to hunt down his old special ops rival. Fast-paced and gripping, Dead Shot has all the hallmarks of a new military thriller blockbuster!!
An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales
by Oliver Sacks'An inexhaustible tourist at the farther reaches of the mind, Sacks presents, in sparse, unsentimental prose, the stories of seven of his patients. The result is as rich, vivid and compelling as any collection of short fictional stories' Independent on Sunday As with his previous bestseller, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, in An Anthropologist on Mars Oliver Sacks uses case studies to illustrate the myriad ways in which neurological conditions can affect our sense of self, our experience of the world, and how we relate to those around us. Writing with his trademark blend of scientific rigour and human compassion, he describes patients such as the colour-blind painter or the surgeon with compulsive tics that disappear in the operating theatre; patients for whom disorientation and alienation - but also adaptation - are inescapable facts of life.
Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf
by Oliver Sacks'Seeing Voices is both a history of the deaf and an account of the development of an extraordinary and expressive language' Evening Standard Imaginative and insightful, Seeing Voices offers a way into a world that is, for many people, alien and unfamiliar - for to be profoundly deaf is not just to live in a world of silence, but also to live in a world where the visual is paramount. In this remarkable book, Oliver Sacks explores the consequences of this, including the different ways in which the deaf and the hearing impaired learn to categorize their respective worlds - and how they convey and communicate those experiences to others.
Dark Flame (The Immortals #4)
by Alyson NoelOnce it seemed being immortal was a gift to Ever Bloom - now it's a curse. And she's a danger to herself. Ever has been dabbling in Magyck - seeking to explore her own powers, hoping to find a future for her relationship with Damen. But she's not in control - in fact, the magyck has bound her eternally to her immortal enemy, Roman. Whenever he's near, she feels his heartbeat, his breath, his blood racing in her veins. Ever is in deep - and the one person who might be able to help her must never find out what she's done . . .