4455 books

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence (2017)

At the Convent of Sweet Mercy, young girls are raised to be killers. In some few children the old bloods show, gifting rare talents that can be honed to deadly or mystic effect. But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don't truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls. A bloodstained child of nine falsely accused of murder, guilty of worse, Nona is stolen from the shadow of the noose. It takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist, but under Abbess Glass's care there is much more to learn than the arts of death. Among her class Nona finds a new family--and new enemies. Despite the security and isolation of the convent, Nona's secret and violent past finds her out, drawing with it the tangled politics of a crumbling empire. Her arrival sparks old feuds to life, igniting vicious struggles within the church and even drawing the eye of the emperor himself. Beneath a dying sun, Nona Grey must master her inner demons, then loose them on those who stand in her way.

An easy death by Charlaine Harris (2018)

"In this alternate history where the US has collapsed during WWII and been split into five different countries, including the southwestern territory of Texoma, Gunnie Lizbeth Rose is hired by two Russian magicians to find Alex Karkarov, and his family, as they need to bring them back to the New Russia-held west coast states for the blood of the Karkarov line is healing to the ruling family. Little do the magicians know that Lizbeth is Karkarov's daughter, and that she killed him"--

Yuvi's candy tree by Lesley Simpson (2010)

Fleeing famine in her native Ethiopia, five-year-old Yuvi is sure she will have a candy tree when she arrives in Jerusalem.

Iron house by John Hart (2011)

There was nothing but time at Iron House. Time to burn, time to kill, and time for Michael to emerge strong and unforgiving while his brother, Julian, became a tormented soul at the orphanage for boys. Two decades later Michael returns to North Carolina with a sentence on his head, the mob in hot pursuit, and his disturbed brother in trouble of a different kind. One man is destined to break the chains of his fate.

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar (2010)

From Louis Sachar, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Newbery Medal for HOLES, comes the young adult novel THE CARDTURNER, an exploration of the human condition.How are we supposed to be partners? He can't see the cards and I don't know the rules!The summer after junior year of high school looks bleak for Alton Richards. His girlfriend has dumped him to hook up with his best friend. He has no money and no job. His parents insist that he drive his great-uncle Lester to his bridge club four times a week and be his cardturner--whatever that means. Alton's uncle is old, blind, very sick, and very rich.But Alton's parents aren't the only ones trying to worm their way into Lester Trapp's good graces. They're in competition with his longtime housekeeper, his alluring young nurse, and the crazy Castaneda family, who seem to have a mysterious influence over him.Alton soon finds himself intrigued by his uncle, by the game of bridge, and especially by the pretty and shy Toni Castaneda. As the summer goes on, he struggles to figure out what it all means, and ultimately to figure out the meaning of his own life.Through Alton's wry observations, Louis Sachar explores the disparity between what you know and what you think you know. With his incomparable flair and inventiveness, he examines the elusive differences between perception and reality--and inspires readers to think and think again.From the Hardcover edition.

The child by Fiona Barton (2017)

"The author of the stunning New York Times bestseller The Widow returns with a brand-new novel of twisting psychological suspense. As an old house is demolished in a gentrifying section of London, a workman discovers a tiny skeleton, buried for years. For journalist Kate Waters, it's a story that deserves attention. She cobbles together a piece for her newspaper, but at a loss for answers, she can only pose a question: Who is the Building Site Baby? As Kate investigates, she unearths connections to a crime that rocked the city decades earlier: A newborn baby was stolen from the maternity ward in a local hospital and was never found. Her heartbroken parents were left devastated by the loss. But there is more to the story, and Kate is drawn--house by house--into the pasts of the people who once lived in this neighborhood that has given up its greatest mystery. And she soon finds herself the keeper of unexpected secrets that erupt in the lives of three women--and torn between what she can and cannot tell"--

The Temporal Void by Peter F. Hamilton (2008)

Many of Peter F. Hamilton's dazzling novels, which offer startling perspectives on tomorrow's technological and cultural trends, are epic in scope, spanning vast stretches of space and time. And yet they are grounded in characters--human, alien, and other--who, for all their strangeness, are still able to touch our hearts and fire our imaginations. Now Hamilton returns to the universe of his acclaimed Commonwealth saga with The Temporal Void, the second volume in the trilogy that began with The Dreaming Void.Long ago, a human astrophysicist, Inigo, began dreaming scenes from the life of a remarkable human being named Edeard, who lived within the Void, a self-contained microuniverse at the heart of the galaxy. There, under the beneficent gaze of mysterious godlike entities, humans possessed uncanny psychic abilities, and Edeard's were the strongest of all. Equally strong was his determination to bring justice and freedom to a world terrorized by criminal violence and corruption. Inigo's inspirational dreams, shared by hundreds of millions throughout the galaxy-spanning gaiafield, gave birth to a religion--Living Dream. But when the appearance of a Second Dreamer seemed to trigger the expansion of the Void--an expansion that is devouring everything in its path--the Intersolar Commonwealth was thrown into turmoil. With the adherents of Living Dream determined to set forth on a dangerous pilgrimage into the Void, interstellar war threatens to erupt. With time running out, the fate of humanity hinges on a handful of people. There is Araminta, only now awakening to the unwelcome fact that she is the mysterious Second Dreamer--and to the dire responsibilities that go with it; Inigo, whose private dreams hint at a darker truth behind Edeard's legendary life; Paula Myo, the ruthless field operative of the Commonwealth, whose search for Araminta and Inigo is about to yield a most unpleasant surprise; and Justine, whose desperate gamble places her within the Void, where the godlike Skylords hold the power to save the universe . . . or destroy it.From the Hardcover edition.

The Ninja Librarians by Jen Swann Downey (2014)

Dorrie and her brother Marcus accidentally open a portal to Petrarch's Library, where they discover a secret society of warrior librarians who travel in time, protecting the world's greatest thinkers from torture and death for sharing knowledge and ideas.

Heroes of the valley by Jonathan Stroud (2009)

Blood feuds, epic battles and a undersized hero come together in this brilliant new fantasy adventure from the author of the bestselling Bartimaeus trilogyListen then, and I'll tell you again of the Battle of the Rock. But none of your usual wriggling, or I'll stop before I've begun . . . Halli loves the old stories from when the valley was a wild and dangerous place - when the twelve legendary heroes stood together to defeat the ancient enemy, the bloodthirsty Trows.Halli longs for adventure but these days the most dangerous thing in the valley is boredom. He tries to liven things up by playing practical jokes. But when one of his jokes goes too far, he reawakens an old blood feud and finds himself on a hero's quest after all. Along the way he meets a ruthless thief, a murderous rival, and a girl who may just be as fearless as he is . . . Jonathan Stroud has created an epic saga with a funny, unique spin, and an unforgettable anti-hero.

The Columbus affair by Steve Berry (2012)

Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Tom Sagan has written hard-hitting articles from hot spots around the world. But when a controversial report from a war-torn region is exposed as a fraud, his professional reputation crashes and burns. Now he lives in virtual exile, haunted by bad decisions and the shocking truth he can never prove: that his downfall was a deliberate act of sabotage by an unknown enemy. But before Sagan can end his torment with the squeeze of a trigger, fate intervenes in the form of an enigmatic stranger with a request that cannot be ignored.

King Jack and the dragon by Peter Bently (2011)

Jack, Zack, and Caspar build a castle fort, then spend a day fighting dragons and beasts, but at day's end giants carry away first Sir Zack, then Caspar, and King Jack is left to face night creatures alone.

by George by Wesley Stace (2007)

In the illustrious history of the theatrical Fishers, there are two Georges. One is a peculiar but endearing 11-year-old, raised in the seedy world of '70s boarding houses and backstages, now packed off to school for the first time; the other, a garrulous ventriloquist's dummy who belonged to George's grandfather, a favorite traveling act of the British troops in World War II. The two Georges know nothing of each other--until events conspire to unite them in a search to uncover the family's deepest secrets.Weaving the boy's tale and the puppet's "memoirs," BY GEORGE unveils the fascinating Fisher family--its weak men, its dominant women, its disgruntled boys, and its shocking and dramatic secrets. At once bitingly funny and exquisitely tender, Stace's novel is the unforgettable journey of two young boys separated by years but driven by the same desires: to find a voice, and to be loved."By George is one of those rare works of fiction with an essential triple helix -- it's funny, it's clever and it's perfectly woven together with story. If writing is how we imagine not being lonely, as Wesley Stace suggests, then his conjuring trick as a writer is that he brings a large crowd along with him. This is a wonderful follow-up to his debut novel, Misfortune." -- Colum McCann, author of Zoli and Dancer

D'autres vies que la mienne by Emmanuel Carrère (2009)

A partir du récit du tsunami, que l'auteur a vécu au Sri Lanka avec sa compagne, l'amitié entre un homme et une femme, tous deux juges et rescapés d'un cancer, qui s'occupaient avec ferveur d'affaires de surendettement au tribunal d'instance de Vienne, dans l'Isère. Prix des lecteurs de l'Express 2009, prix Marie Claire du roman d'émotion 2009, Globe de cristal 2010.

School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (2022)

Frida Liu is struggling. She doesn’t have a career worthy of her Chinese immigrant parents’ sacrifices. What’s worse is she can’t persuade her husband, Gust, to give up his wellness-obsessed younger mistress. Only with their angelic daughter Harriet does Frida finally feel she’s attained the perfection expected of her. Harriet may be all she has, but she’s just enough. Until Frida has a horrible day. The state has its eyes on mothers like Frida — ones who check their phones while their kids are on the playground; who let their children walk home alone; in other words, mothers who only have one lapse of judgement. Now, a host of government officials will determine if Frida is a candidate for a Big Brother-like institution that measures the success or failure of a mother’s devotion. Faced with the possibility of losing Harriet, Frida must prove that she can live up to the standards set for mothers — that she can learn to be good. This propulsive, witty page-turner explores the perils of “perfect” upper-middle-class parenting, the violence enacted upon women by the state and each other, and the boundless love a mother has for her daughter.

The stolen by Jason Pinter (2008)

Five years ago the boy vanished without a trace. Today he came back.Five years after he disappeared, young Daniel Linwood returned to his suburban home for dinner as though he'd never left. It's a blessing for both his family and their community. And I've snagged the exclusive interview.But it turns out Daniel is just one of a string of abducted children who have mysteriously returned to their families with no memory of their lost years. Some people want me to leave it be. Some want me to simply let the healing process begin. But these wounds are deeper than anyone realizes.To get the story on these bizarre kidnappings, I need the help of the one woman who owes me nothing. I've got to find answers before another life is snatched away from sight and time and memory. But doing so means we could be the next ones to go....