Why is Q Always Followed by U?


Book Description

Long-time word-detective and bestselling author of Port Out, Starboard Home, Michael Quinion brings us the answers to nearly two hundred of the most intriguing questions he's been asked about language over the years. Sent to him by enquiring readers from all around the globe, Michael's answers about the meanings and histories behind the quirky phrases, slang and language that we all use are set to delight, amuse and enlighten even the most hardened word-obsessive. Did you know that 'Blighty' comes from an ancient Arabic word? Or that Liberace cried his way to the bank so many times people think he came up with the phrase? That 'cloud nine' started out as 'cloud seven' in the speakeasies of '30s America? And that the first person to have their thunder stolen was a dismal playwright from Drury Lane? Michael Quinion's Why is Q Always Followed By U? is full of surprising discoveries, entertaining quotations and memorable information. There are plenty of colourful stories out there, but Michael Quinion will help you discover the truth that lies behind the cock-and-bull stories and make sure you're always linguistically on the ball.




...But They Call Me Sonny


Book Description

Pamela lost her dad when she was three. Later she begins a search to find a grandfather presented by such a loss. Armed with a mission to find him, the facts start to skew. Clues twist and turn; and then entwine to such a degree she bumps into her dad's story. and learns the only way to find the man fate chose to leave behind is that first she must go through her dad. Both in the search, both on the same path, but forty years apart, do the gods lead them to the one they want so desperately to find. Fourteen and growing up in the streets, Sonny cant wait to leave; he lives for the day he can put all the shame behind him. But with the hard times that have hit the country and the fact all the kids depend on himwhere would he go. Its not as if he has a direction. All he has in this world is his brother Paul. and even though Paul has him by a few years, the big guy depends on him too. Naw, labeled bastards since as far back as they can rememberits just he and Paul against the rest of them. Forced to be the responsible one, he will bide his time and deal with the chaos and turmoil as it comes. That is until he finds out the secret kept; one that ignites a fire so strong that without thought leads him on a journey that will take him to all but two of the forty-eight states in the Union. Join him on his mission. Share his thoughts. Share his dreams. Life now his school, meet those that help shape the man he grows up to be. Travel with him through a period of time when millions of Americans are on the same path. A period of history now known as the Great Depression, they're all looking for a better lifeall that is except one. Sonny isnt looking for a better lifehe is looking for his life. but they call me Sonny is a book based on a real life. Does he have a dad? If so, where is he? Why would the man take off and leave him alone with Susie? Can he fill the void that aches in his heart? and is it true, was he robbed of the life he was born to live? Who are these strangers standing over your grave; ... not knowing your story and you not knowing theirs. We are the ones that know where you lie; ... yet we are the ones that wont let you die. Maybe this story will comfort our hearts; ... to bring us closer and not so far apart. We always wondered, we were always sad; ... and all we could do is call you Dad.




Katie, Bar the Door


Book Description

A YOUNG WOMAN'S HARROWING EMOTIONAL JOURNEY TO SAVE HERSELF AND HER DREAMS. From a childhood of parental loss, religious repression, and sexual shaming, Katie Thompson suffers deep wounds and persistent self-doubt. Her desire to find meaning through education and a career is threatened by those who push her to conform to a more traditional path. In her desperate search for love, Katie makes disastrous choices about men, leading her to the brink of self-destruction. Her journey through Katie, Bar the Door is the universal quest for healing and hope as she struggles to save herself and her dreams.




The Chronicles of the One Trilogy


Book Description

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts comes the complete Chronicles of the One trilogy in one beautiful package. Year One An epic of hope and horror, chaos and magick, and a journey that will unite a desperate group of people to fight the battle of their lives as magick (good and bad) emerges in the wake of a plague. Magick user Lena must make her way out of a wrecked New York City with a group of ragtag companions as a grand purpose awaits them. Of Blood and Bone Fallon Swift, approaching her thirteenth birthday, barely knows the world that existed before hers, where vicious gangs of Raiders and fanatics called Purity Warriors search for their next gifted victim. When her identity as The One can no longer be hidden, her training begins as she must grow into the woman she was born to be to make the world whole again. The Rise of the Magicks Trained to fight, Fallon cannot live in peace until she frees those who have been preyed upon by the government or the fanatical Purity Warriors. Strengthened by the bond she shares with her fellow warrior, Duncan, as well as those she's rescued, she must help them rediscover the light and faith within themselves to finally restore the mystical shield that once protected them all...




Year One


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER (December 2017) A stunning new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts—Year One is an epic of hope and horror, chaos and magick, and a journey that will unite a desperate group of people to fight the battle of their lives... It began on New Year’s Eve. The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed—and more than half of the world’s population was decimated. Where there had been order, there was now chaos. And as the power of science and technology receded, magick rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham, practicing in the loft apartment she shares with her lover, Max. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere, around a corner, in fetid tunnels beneath the river—or in the ones you know and love the most. As word spreads that neither the immune nor the gifted are safe from the authorities who patrol the ravaged streets, and with nothing left to count on but each other, Lana and Max make their way out of a wrecked New York City. At the same time, other travelers are heading west too, into a new frontier. Chuck, a tech genius trying to hack his way through a world gone offline. Arlys, a journalist who has lost her audience but uses pen and paper to record the truth. Fred, her young colleague, possessed of burgeoning abilities and an optimism that seems out of place in this bleak landscape. And Rachel and Jonah, a resourceful doctor and a paramedic who fend off despair with their determination to keep a young mother and three infants in their care alive. In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a savior, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain. The end has come. The beginning comes next.




America's top 30 Idioms and their Origins


Book Description

If you’re looking for a book to “knock your socks off” Let me bounce something off you. I heard it through the grapevine that there are over 25,000 idioms in the English language. That’s straight from the horse’s mouth. Now don’t get up in arms or beside yourself as I spill the beans on the top 30 ones that will make you think something is fishy about this book. Take it with a grain of salt and don’t think I’m off my rocker when I suggest that you use this book for your tank top (no, not table top).




The Doctrine of the Doors: A Bible Based Study of the Portals of Heaven and Hell


Book Description

Mankind’s technology is advancing at a breathtaking pace. Things that were regarded a hundred years ago as fanciful imaginations are now a part of our everyday lives. Modern evolutionary science would argue that man is currently at his highest potential, yet the Bible paints a very different picture and indicates that shortly after the flood of Noah, human ingenuity reached its pinnacle…and God Himself had to stop it. Through careful and thorough study of the Scriptures, this book will display to the reader the blueprints of God’s universe, the secret passageways that He built into it and how beings from the spiritual realm can enter into the physical realm…….and visa versa. Once one begins to understand “the Doctrine of the Doors”, the diabolical purpose of the massive Tower of Babel comes into full view. The greatest existential threat the human race has ever seen since the Flood (circa 2348 B.C.) did not come in the form of a bomb, or in the form of a weoponized virus; it came in the form of a tower that was being assembled in a plain of the land of Shinar over 4,000 years ago. Humanity is getting closer and closer to discovering the knowledge that they once possessed. It will not be long before it is understood that “the truth” is not “out there”, but rather “right here”, and that the SKY really is the limit.




Bonny Kate


Book Description

Bonny Kate, Pioneer Lady, is a classic romantic love story which begins in July of 1776 when Lieutenant John Sevier meets Catharine Sherrill, pulling her over the wall of Watauga Fort to escape the deadly pursuit of Cherokee warriors. The lieutenant, considered the handsomest man in the west, is also the most charming, fun-loving, and active man among the leaders of the fort. The beautiful, unmarried, Catharine quickly develops warm feelings for a man she regards as her personal hero. Even after finding out the lieutenant is already married, she feels an attraction to him that never fails to delight her in every innocent encounter. By the time the siege ends and the life of the community returns to normal, she has a new nick-name, Bonny Kate, and a new reputation as someone to watch out for. Finding true love and settling new territory is not easy in a country at war, but Bonny Kate finds a new best friend when she meets Sarah, the matchmaker. Inspired by Sarahs example, Bonny Kate overcomes all obstacles and makes the right choices, until Divine Providence intervenes, and reveals the true purpose that fulfills her destiny.




The Best American Mystery Stories 2016


Book Description

The Anthony Award–winning author presents a “highly readable” anthology featuring mysteries by Stephen King, Megan Abbott, Elmore Leonard and more (Publishers Weekly). “What you’ll find in this volume are stories that demonstrate a mastery of plotting; stories that compel you to keep turning the pages because of plot and because of setting; stories that wield suspense like a sword; stories of people getting their comeuppance; stories that utilize superb point of view; stories that plumb one particular and unfortunate attribute of a character,” promises guest editor Elizabeth George in her introduction. The Best American Mystery Stories 2016 is a feast of both literary crime and hard-boiled detection, featuring a seemingly innocent murderer, a drug dealer in love, a drunken prank gone terribly wrong, and plenty of other surprising twists and turns. The Best American Mystery Stories 2016 includes entries by Steve Almond, Megan Abbott, Matt Bell, Lydia Fitzpatrick, Tom Franklin, Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and others. “There isn’t enough Xanax in anyone’s medicine cabinet to calm the jitters these 20 skillful stories will unleash on a worried world.” —Kirkus Reviews




Fountain's Glory


Book Description

Fountain Lindsey runs a charter boat business on the Florida Gulf coast. His business is good but something craws in Fountain's stomach, something that is a gnawing need to do something better with his life. To sail may be the answer. Not just a Sunday afternoon outing, but a real sail. The weather, people he knows, and good sense tells him to stay in. The boat stored on his dock is too old; he is a fisherman, not a sailor. But the need is established and he has to go. And, if he is going, he is going to make it big. He is going to forget what is sane and proper and go around the world. And he is going all the way on the boat, Fountain's Glory.




Recent Books