The Chosen Ones


Book Description

The Am Spiegelgrund clinic, in glittering Vienna, masqueraded as a well-intentioned reform school for wayward boys and girls and a home for chronically ill children. The reality, however, was very different: in the wake of Germany's annexation of Austria on the eve of World War II, its doctors, nurses, and teachers created a monstrous parody of the institution's benign-sounding brief. The Nazi regime's euthanasia program would come to determine the fate of many of the clinic's inhabitants. Through the eyes of a child inmate, Adrian Ziegler, and a nurse, Anna Katschenka, Steve Sem-Sandberg, the author of the award-winning The Emperor of Lies, explores the very meaning of survival. An absorbing, emotionally overwhelming novel, rich in incident and character, The Chosen Ones is obliquely illuminated by the author's sharp sense of the absurd. Passionately serious, meticulously researched, and deeply profound, this extraordinary and dramatic novel bears witness to oppression and injustice, and offers invaluable and necessary insight into an intolerable chapter in Austria’s past.




Gabriel - The Chosen Guardian


Book Description

It’s the beginning of the summer holidays. Alice is a law student and goes to Vale das Estrelas to emotionally recover from the torment that has been her life. She needs to find herself. She needs a quiet summer. Alone. Away from everyone she knows. But she is surprised to meet Gabriel, a charming young man with a strong presence and constantly appears beside her. Apparently very calm and discreet, he is different and since the first moment that Alice saw him, something inside her changes. Now, the real adventure begins. Alice is curious and knows he is hiding something. He is not who he appears to be and something around him truly frightens her. Determined to understand what’s going on, she doesn’t give up but now her problems will increase. Without realising what she is getting into, Alice is immersed in a totally new and surreal world. Be careful. Who are you, Gabriel? What do you want from me?




I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness


Book Description

A darkly funny, soul-rending novel of love in an epoch of collapse-one woman's furious revisiting of family, marriage, work, sex, and motherhood. Since my baby was born, I have been able to laugh and see the funny side of things. a) As much as I ever did. b) Not quite as much now. c) Not so much now. d) Not at all. Leaving behind her husband and their baby daughter, a writer gets on a flight for a speaking engagement in Reno, not carrying much besides a breast pump and a spiraling case of postpartum depression. Her temporary escape from domestic duties and an opportunity to reconnect with old friends mutates into an extended romp away from the confines of marriage and motherhood, and a seemingly bottomless descent into the past. Deep in the Mojave Desert where she grew up, she meets her ghosts at every turn: the first love whose self-destruction still haunts her; her father, a member of the most famous cult in American history; her mother, whose native spark gutters with every passing year. She can't go back in time to make any of it right, but what exactly is her way forward? Alone in the wilderness, at last she begins to make herself at home in the world. Bold, tender, and often hilarious, I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness reaffirms Watkins as one of the single writers of our time.




HELP!


Book Description

How do you solve the problem of human happiness? It’s a subject that has occupied some of the greatest philosophers of all time, from Aristotle to Paul McKenna – but how do we sort the good ideas from the terrible ones? Over the past few years, Oliver Burkeman has travelled to some of the strangest outposts of the ‘happiness industry’ in an attempt to find out. In Help!, the first collection of his popular Guardian columns, Burkeman presents his findings. It’s a witty and thought-provoking exploration that punctures many of self-help’s most common myths, while also offering clear-headed, practical and of ten counter-intuitive advice on a range of topics from stress, procrastination and insomnia to wealth, laughter, time management and creativity. It doesn’t claim to have solved the problem of human happiness. But it might just bring us one step closer.




Looking at the Stars


Book Description

What if the only thing you had left were the stories in your head? Amina’s homeland has been ravaged by war, and her family is devastated . . . The women of the family – Amina, her two sisters and their mother – have no choice but to leave their home town, along with thousands of others, and head for a refugee camp. But there are even more challenges ahead . . .




The Giver


Book Description

The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. This movie tie-in edition features cover art from the movie and exclusive Q&A with members of the cast, including Taylor Swift, Brenton Thwaites and Cameron Monaghan.




Paws and Whiskers


Book Description

The very best stories about cats and dogs from the world of children's literature, chosen by bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson! Includes a brand new story by Jacqueline herself, Leonie's Pet Cat as well as extracts from treasured classics such as The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith and Gobbolino the Witch's Cat by Ursula Moray Williams, and from modern favourite writers such as Anne Fine and Patrick Ness. The book also features personal new pieces from many authors about their own treasured pets, with contributions from Michael Morpurgo, Philip Pullman, Malorie Blackman and more. This is the purrfect book for animal lovers! For every copy sold, a significant donation will be made to Battersea Cats and Dogs Home.




Guardians of the Valley


Book Description

The dramatic and uplifting story of legendary outdoorsman and conservationist John Muir’s journey to become the man who saved Yosemite—from the author of the bestselling Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival. In June of 1889 in San Francisco, John Muir—iconic environmentalist, writer, and philosopher—meets face-to-face for the first time with his longtime editor Robert Underwood Johnson, an elegant and influential figure at The Century magazine. Before long, the pair, opposites in many ways, decide to venture to Yosemite Valley, the magnificent site where twenty years earlier, Muir experienced a personal and spiritual awakening that would set the course of the rest of his life. Upon their arrival the men are confronted with a shocking vision, as predatory mining, tourism, and logging industries have plundered and defaced “the grandest of all the special temples of Nature.” While Muir is consumed by grief, Johnson, a champion of society’s most pressing debates via the pages of the nation’s most prestigious magazine, decides that he and Muir must fight back. The pact they form marks a watershed moment, leading to the creation of Yosemite National Park, and launching an environmental battle that captivates the nation and ushers in the beginning of the American environmental movement. Beautifully rendered, deeply researched, and inspiring, Guardians of the Valley is a moving story of friendship, the written word, and the transformative power of nature. It is also a timely and powerful “origin story” as the toweringly complex environmental challenges we face today become increasingly urgent.




Designing Disorder


Book Description

Rethinking the open city Planners, privatisation, and police surveillance are laying siege to urban public spaces. The streets are becoming ever more regimented as life and character are sapped from our cities. What is to be done? Is it possible to maintain the public realm as a flexible space that adapts over time? Can disorder be designed? Fifty years ago, Richard Sennett wrote his groundbreaking work The Uses of Disorder, arguing that the ideal of a planned and ordered city was flawed, likely to produce a fragile, restrictive urban environment. The need for the Open City, the alternative, is now more urgent that ever. In this provocative essay, Pablo Sendra and Richard Sennett propose a reorganisation of how we think and plan the life of our cities. What the authors call 'infrastructures for disorder' combine architecture, politics, urban planning and activism in order to develop places that nurture rather than stifle, bring together rather than divide, remain open to change rather than rapidly stagnate. Designing Disorder is a radical and transformative manifesto for the future of twenty-first-century cities.




Monster Hunter Guardian


Book Description

NEW ENTRY IN THE BESTSELLING MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL SERIES BY DRAGON AWARD–WINNING AUTHORS LARRY CORREIA AND SARAH A. HOYT When Owen Pitt and the rest of the Monster Hunter International crew are called away to mount a month’s-long rescue mission in a monster-infested nightmare dimension, Julie Shackleford—Owen’s wife and descendant of MHI founder Bubba Shackleford—is left behind. Her task: hold down the fort and take care of her new baby son Ray. Julie’s devoted to the little guy, but the slow pace of office work and maternity leave are starting to get to her. But when a routine field call brings her face-to-face with an unspeakable evil calling itself Brother Death, she’ll get more excitement than she ever hoped for. Julie is the Guardian of a powerful ancient artifact known as the Kamaresh Yar, and Brother Death wants it. In the wrong hands, it could destroy reality as we know it. Julie would die before giving it up. Then Ray goes missing, taken by Brother Death. The price for his safe return: the Kamaresh Yar. If Julie doesn’t hand over the artifact it means death—or worse—for baby Ray. With no other choice left to her, Julie agrees to Brother Death’s demands. But when you’re dealing with an ancient evil, the devil is in the details. To reclaim her son, Julie Shackleford will have to fight her way through necromantic death cults, child-stealing monsters, and worse. And she’ll have to do it all before Brother Death can unleash the Kamaresh Yar. It’s one woman against an army of monsters. But Julie Shackleford is no ordinary woman—she’s one tough mother! The Monster Hunter series: Monster Hunter International Monster Hunter Vendetta Monster Hunter Alpha Monster Hunter Legion Monster Hunter Nemesis Monster Hunter Siege Monster Hunter Guardian The Monster Hunter Memoirs series by Larry Correia and John Ringo: Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinners Monster Hunter Memoirs: Saints At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About Larry Correia and the Monster Hunter International series: “[E]verything I like in fantasy: intense action scenes, evil in horrifying array, good struggling against the darkness, and most of all people—gorgeously flawed human beings faced with horrible moral choices that force them to question and change and grow.” —Jim Butcher “[A] no-holds-barred all-out page turner that is part science fiction, part horror, and an absolute blast to read.” —Bookreporter.com “If you love monsters and action, you’ll love this book. If you love guns, you’ll love this book. If you love fantasy, and especially horror fantasy, you’ll love this book.” —Knotclan.com “A gun person who likes science fiction—or, heck, anyone who likes science fiction—will enjoy [these books] . . . The plotting is excellent, and Correia makes you care about the characters . . . I read both books without putting them down except for work . . . so whaddaya waitin’ for? Go and buy some . . . for yourself and for stocking stuffers.” —Massad Ayoob “This lighthearted, testosterone-soaked sequel to 2009's Monster Hunter International will delight fans of action horror with elaborate weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, disgusting monsters, and an endless stream of blood and body parts.” —Publishers Weekly on Monster Hunter Vendetta About Sarah A. Hoyt: “[Three Musketeers creator] Alexandre Dumas would give [Sarah A. Hoyt] a thumbs up.” —Steve Forbes “[F]anciful and charming.” —Library Journal "First-rate space opera with a moral lesson. You won't be disappointed." —Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit.com “[A] tour de force: logical, built from assumptions with no contradictions . . . gripping.” —Jerry Pournelle “Exceptional, wonderful, and enormously entertaining.” —Booklist