Diamonds Aren't For Everyone


Book Description

Would he help a damsel in distress? Or was he like all those other snobby rich bad boys? Vickie had loving parents but sensed something was wrong. Investigating on her own, she found out her manipulative nanny was blackmailing her billionaire parents. How could she stop them? She had clues to follow and couldn't do that from home. Her runaway attempt foiled by a sassy young man, she decides to turn to him for help. Would he take her to find the mystery man Nanny’s stashed note mentioned? The second book in Triplets: Three Aren't One series by USA Today Bestselling Author Dani Haviland




Not All Diamonds and Rosé


Book Description

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! “I like to think of Not All Diamonds and Rosé as the ultimate reunion. I know readers will be surprised, entertained, and even shocked at what’s in store." —Andy Cohen Dave Quinn's Not All Diamonds and Rosé is the definitive oral history of the hit television franchise, from its unlikely start in the gated communities of Orange County to the pop culture behemoth it has become—spanning nine cities, hundreds of cast members, and millions of fans. What is it really like to be a housewife? We all want to know, but only the women we love to watch and the people who make the show have the whole story. Well, listen in close, because they’re about to tell all. Nearly all the wives, producers, and network executives, as well as Andy Cohen himself, are on the record, unfiltered and unvarnished about what it really takes to have a tagline. This is your VIP pass to the lives behind the glam squads, testimonials, and tabloid feuds. Life’s not all diamonds and rosé, but the truth is so much better, isn’t it? “This exhaustive oral history features dishy interviews with 185 cast and crew members behind the Bravo phenomenon. Fans will delight to read about how it all got started.” —New York Post Includes Color Photographs




Stuff They Don't Want You to Know


Book Description

“Interesting...Bowlin's calmly rational approach to the subject of conspiracy theories shows the importance of logic and evidence.”—Booklist "A page-turning book to give to someone who believes in pizza pedophilia or that the Illuminati rule the world."—Kirkus Reviews The co-hosts of the hit podcast Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know, Ben Bowlin, Matthew Frederick, & Noel Brown, discern conspiracy fact from fiction in this sharp, humorous, compulsively readable, and gorgeously illustrated book. In times of chaos and uncertainty, when trust is low and economic disparity is high, when political institutions are crumbling and cultural animosities are building, conspiracy theories find fertile ground. Many are wild, most are untrue, a few are hard to ignore, but all of them share one vital trait: there’s a seed of truth at their center. That seed carries the sordid, conspiracy-riddled history of our institutions and corporations woven into its DNA. Ben Bowlin, Matt Frederick, and Noel Brown host the popular iHeart Media podcast, Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know. They are experts at exploring, explaining, and interrogating today’s emergent conspiracies—from chem trails and biological testing to the secrets of lobbying and the indisputable evidence of UFOs. Written in a smart, witty, and conversational style, elevated with amazing illustrations, Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know is a vital book in understanding the nature of conspiracy and using truth as a powerful weapon against ignorance, misinformation, and lies.




The Housewives


Book Description

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Brian Moylan, the writer of Vulture’s legendary Real Housewives recaps, a table-flipping, finger-pointing, halter-topping VIP journey through reality TV’s greatest saga... In the spring of 2006, a new kind of show premiered on Bravo: The Real Housewives of Orange County. Its stars were tanned, taut, and bedazzled; their homes were echoey California villas; and their drama was gossip-fueled, wine-drenched, and absolutely exquisite. Fifteen seasons on, RHOC is an institution, along with The Real Housewives of New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, Miami, Potomac, and more. Over the years these ladies have done a lot more than lunch, launching thirty-one books, a cocktail line, two jail sentences, a couple supermodel daughters, Andy Cohen’s talk show career, thirty-six divorces, fourteen albums, a White House party crash, and approximately one million memes. Brian Moylan has been there through it all, in front of the screen and behind the scenes. The writer of Vulture’s beloved series recaps, he’s here to tell us the full story, from the inside scoop on every classic throwdown to the questions we’ve always wanted to know, like—what are the housewives really like off-camera? (The same.) How much money do they make? (Lots.) He has a lot to say about the legacy and fandom of a franchise that’s near and dear to his heart, and inextricable from pop culture today. A must-have for any fan of real drama and fake [redacted], The Housewives is the definitive companion to an American TV treasure.




Diamonds Aren't...


Book Description

It all seemed so routine, the old lady dead in her bed, the grieving nephew and his lovely wife arranging a quick and quiet burial, with the seasoned undertaker and his policeman pal lending sympathetic service to their visitors from out of town. But then Sammy Vanderhove and Chief Earl stir up the whole thing by finding the old Caddy with its trunk full of shiny gold bars in the garage behind the former movie star's house. When Nathan Corso's gorgeous wife finds out about the diamonds, the ones the old lady had secretly stashed, well, she just has to have them. After all, Nathan is the only heir, and they belong to him, and she...er, he, should have them at any cost. Problem is, others feel the same way, and they want the diamonds just as badly. When bodies start turning up it's up to Chief Earl and his counterpart in small town Iowa to begin sorting it all out. They quickly find that nothing is as it appeared, and the chase is on, a chase that will leave one of them risking everything he had thought was dear. Diamonds Aren't... is a tale of greed, lust, murder and mayhem, but most importantly, a tale of begrudged friendship with a heavy dose of wry humor. Chuckle along with Sammy, Earl and Johnny as they ogle and slog through the adventure to arrive at its bizarre and warmly satisfying conclusion.




All the Light We Cannot See


Book Description

*NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES—from producer and director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) starring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia Loberti* Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, the beloved instant New York Times bestseller and New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris, and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the Resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge. Doerr’s “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, All the Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never fail to thrill” (Los Angeles Times).




Diamonds Aren't Forever


Book Description

A nearly flawless museum robbery, a missing million-dollar necklace, a stalled police investigation. For the victim of the crime, the situation calls for desperate measures. Penelope Fitzpatrick wasn’t born to wealth. Her grandfather fed the family by selling his small stash of gemstones smuggled from tsarist Russia when the monarchy fell. Now, Pen has done well for herself as a successful novelist. But when the final jewel in her family legacy becomes the target of a cunning band of thieves, and the priceless piece is stolen, the police have many excuses why they can’t solve the crime. Not one to accept defeat, Pen does the only thing she can do—gather a group of friends to help catch the crooks and steal back the necklace. It becomes apparent the thief is a master con man who is likely working with an international theft ring. The chase takes the Ladies far from home and into elegant European enclaves as they attempt to face him down. Close calls and near misses—it’s never quite certain whether the women will be able to pull their own spectacular heist and see justice done. Fans of Janet Evanovich and Jana DeLeon will love this daring and spunky group of women friends in their first mystery caper. Praise for Connie Shelton’s previous novels: “Readers can only hope the likable characters, fast-paced plots and local color will continue …” –Albuquerque Journal “Down to earth and very readable.” –Library Journal “…a delightfully complex mystery.” –Romantic Times (4 out 5 five stars) “Connie Shelton gets better with every book she writes.” –The Midwest Book Review




Strong Towns


Book Description

A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.




The Vicious Novel


Book Description

London in a disturbingly near future is falling apart, rotting from inside, broken in too many ways to fix. In this trash-heap of a once-proud city, Inspector Marshall Harland of the Special Detection Division 5, is tasked with the hopeless fight against runaway crime. Harland has always been up to it, and in SDD5, he doesn't have to worry about those nit-picking regulations to which the regular police have to adhere. He doesn't care if he has to skirt the law himself to get the job done, nor is he afraid to benefit from the perks which are always readily available. He's even got away, when the victim merited it, with a Novel: a murder which can't be pursued because there were no witnesses or useful clues, but he's about to learn that even he cannot do whatever he wants, not if it means crossing The Skein. Suddenly he's on the outside, on the run from both The Skein and from his own Metro Police Force. He was determined to bring them all down, but he might have finally bitten-off more than he can chew without choking on it. His only ally in a world lacking any morality, is a teenage female he can't get enough of. She's someone who's as single-minded as he, who's just as deadly, and who seems to be as hot for him as he is for her. She's like no one he's ever met. She seems to want to help, but can he trust a woman, especially one he hardly knows? Can he even get along with her when he's so used to going it alone and treating women like they have no more utility or value than a disposable sex toy? One way or another, she will teach him, even if he can only learn the hard way. Warning: THIS IS A VIOLENT AND BRUTAL NOVEL FOR MATURE ADULT READERS ONLY. If it were a movie it would be rated R and maybe even X, because this evil world is an Rx for trouble.




The World Until Yesterday


Book Description

The bestselling author of Collapse and Guns, Germs and Steel surveys the history of human societies to answer the question: What can we learn from traditional societies that can make the world a better place for all of us? “As he did in his Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond continues to make us think with his mesmerizing and absorbing new book." Bookpage Most of us take for granted the features of our modern society, from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and obesity. Yet for nearly all of its six million years of existence, human society had none of these things. While the gulf that divides us from our primitive ancestors may seem unbridgeably wide, we can glimpse much of our former lifestyle in those largely traditional societies still or recently in existence. Societies like those of the New Guinea Highlanders remind us that it was only yesterday—in evolutionary time—when everything changed and that we moderns still possess bodies and social practices often better adapted to traditional than to modern conditions.The World Until Yesterday provides a mesmerizing firsthand picture of the human past as it had been for millions of years—a past that has mostly vanished—and considers what the differences between that past and our present mean for our lives today. This is Jared Diamond’s most personal book to date, as he draws extensively from his decades of field work in the Pacific islands, as well as evidence from Inuit, Amazonian Indians, Kalahari San people, and others. Diamond doesn’t romanticize traditional societies—after all, we are shocked by some of their practices—but he finds that their solutions to universal human problems such as child rearing, elder care, dispute resolution, risk, and physical fitness have much to teach us. Provocative, enlightening, and entertaining, The World Until Yesterday is an essential and fascinating read.