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万本电子书0元读

Lost
Lost
Maguire, Gregory
¥94.10
Winifred Rudge, a bemused writer struggling to get beyond the runaway success of her mass-market astrology book, travels to London to jump-start her new novel about a woman who is being haunted by the ghost of Jack the Ripper. Upon her arrival, she finds that her stepcousin and old friend John Comestor has disappeared, and a ghostly presence seems to have taken over his home. Is the spirit Winnie's great-great-grandfather, who, family legend claims, was Charles Dickens's childhood inspiration for Ebenezer ScroogeCould it be the ghostly remains of Jack the RipperOr a phantasm derived from a more arcane and insidious originWinnie begins to investigate and finds herself the unwilling audience for a drama of specters and shades some from her family's peculiar history and some from her own unvanquished past.In the spirit of A. S. Byatt's Possession,with dark echoing overtones of A Christmas Carol,Lost presents a rich fictional world that will enrapture its readers.
Lost in the City
Lost in the City
Jones, Edward P.
¥77.49
The nation's capital that serves as the setting for the stories in Edward P. Jones's prizewinning collection, Lost in the City lies far from the city of historic monuments and national politicians. Jones takes the reader beyond that world into the lives of African American men and women who work against the constant threat of loss to maintain a sense of hope. From "The Girl Who Raised Pigeons" to the well-to-do career woman awakened in the night by a phone call that will take her on a journey back to the past, the characters in these stories forge bonds of community as they struggle against the limits of their city to stave off the loss of family, friends, memories, and, ultimately, themselves.Critically acclaimed upon publication, Lost in the City introduced Jones as an undeniable talent, a writer whose unaffected style is not only evocative and forceful but also filled with insight and poignancy.
Partner in Crime
Partner in Crime
Jance, J. A.
¥70.10
The dead woman was an artist recently arrived from Washington State, cruelly cut down in the early stages of a promising career. Now all that remains of Rochelle Baxter lies on a cold slab in the Cochise County morgue, and Sheriff Joanna Brady knows that murder has once again infected her small desert community. But there is more to this homicide than initially meets the eye -- and more to the victim, who died while supposedly under the conscientious protection of the government. A big-city legal establishment has no faith in the abilities of a small-town Sheriff, let alone a female sheriff. Instructed to swallow her indignation, Joanna awaits the arrival of the "help" Washington's attorney general is sending her: the newest member of the state's Special Homicide Investigation team -- a man named Beaumont. Bisbee, Arizona, is the last place J.P. Beaumont wants to be. The ghosts of a painful past are too numerous there, and his reluctant "partner," Sheriff Brady, resents his intrusion and cannot help but make her feelings known. But the road they are forced to travel together is taking some unexpected turns, running two dedicated servants of the law headfirst into the impenetrable stone walls of a shocking conspiracy of silence. For Brady and Beaumont's hunt is disturbing a very deadly nest of rattlers, and suddenly trust is the only option they have. On their own in the Arizona desert, they know death can be cold and quick. And nobody is watching their backs here...they'll have to watch each other's.
Mutant Message Down Under
Mutant Message Down Under
Morgan, Marlo
¥88.56
Mutant Message Down Under is the fictional account of an American woman's spiritual odyssey through outback Australia. An underground bestseller in its original self-published edition, Marlo Morgan's powerful tale of challenge and endurance has a message for us all. Summoned by a remote tribe of nomadic Aborigines to accompany them on walkabout, the woman makes a four-month-long journey and learns how they thrive in natural harmony with the plants and animals that exist in the rugged lands of Australia's bush. From the first day of her adventure, Morgan is challenged by the physical requirements of the journey she faces daily tests of her endurance, challenges that ultimately contribute to her personal transformation. By traveling with this extraordinary community, Morgan becomes a witness to their essential way of being in a world based on the ancient wisdom and philosophy of a culture that is more than 50,000 years old.
My 15 Minutes
My 15 Minutes
Alterman, Sara Faith
¥84.16
There's something going on in this Great Land of ours -- more and more people are famous for being famous. Now, one of the Avon Trade program's brightest young voices examines what happens to an ordinary young woman who ends up in some pretty wild circumstances.When a Hollywood heartthrob moves in next door, Julie finds herself thrust into the spotlight and becomes a bona fide celebrity for no good reason at all! But the man known as "The Sexiest Man in Hollywood" is living in her somewhat shoddy building so he can "learn to live like the little people" while preparing for a new role. When Julie is caught by the paparazzi leaving his apartment, clad only in a bathrobe, the publicity machine takes over. Suddenly, Julie is the "new and normal" girlfriend. So fresh! She works as a waitress... So normal! She's a whopping size 10. Amazing, Julie and, by extension, her friends, even her mom, become famous simply for being, well, famous.
The Passions of Chelsea Kane
The Passions of Chelsea Kane
Delinsky, Barbara
¥55.31
After the death of her adoptive mother, thirty-six-year-old Chelsea Kane is consumed by the need to uncover her biological heritage. Taking a break from her successful architecture career, she arrives in the New Hampshire town where she was born, determined to learn the truth, her only clue a tarnished silver key.One of her first discoveries, however, is something quite unexpected: the irresistibly attractive Judd Street. Buoyed by love and resolution, the determined Chelsea slowly begins to uncover the dark mystery of her past. But as she inches closer to the truth, she realizes that someone is trying to stop her, first by scaring her, then by trying to harm her. The danger escalates until one terrifying night when all secrets are laid bare.With memorable characters and writing that will stir the hearts and minds of all readers, The Passions of Chelsea Kane is the kind of compelling narrative that has earned Barbara Delinsky an ever-widening readership.
The Post-Birthday World
The Post-Birthday World
Shriver, Lionel
¥83.03
American children's book illustrator Irina McGovern enjoys a secure, settled life in London with her smart, loyal, disciplined partner, Lawrence until the night she finds herself inexplicably drawn to kissing another man, a passionate, extravagant, top-ranked snooker player. Two competing alternate futures hinge on this single kiss, as Irina's decision to surrender to temptation or to preserve her seemingly safe partnership with Lawrence will have momentous consequences for her career, her friendships and familial relationships, and the texture of her daily life.
Improbable Cause
Improbable Cause
Jance, J. A.
¥70.10
Perhaps it was fitting justice: a dentist who enjoyed inflicting pain was murdered in his own chair. The question is not who wanted Dr. Frederick Nielsen dead, but rather who of the many finally reached the breaking point. The sordid details of this case, with its shocking revelations of violence, cruelty, and horrific sexual abuse, would be tough for any investigator to stomach. But for Seattle Homicide Detective J.P. Beaumont, the most damning piece of the murderous puzzle will shake him to his very core -- because what will be revealed to him is nothing less than the true meaning of unrepentant evil.
Islands
Islands
Siddons, Anne Rivers
¥55.31
Anny Butler is a caretaker, a nurturer, first for her own brothers and sisters, and then as a director of an agency devoted to the welfare of children. What she has never had is a real family. That changes when she meets and marries Lewis Aiken, an exuberant surgeon fifteen years older than Anny. When they marry, she finds her family not a traditional one, but a group of Charleston childhood friends who are inseparable, who are one another's surrogate family. They are called the Scrubs, and they all, in some way, have the common cord of family.Instantly upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivan's Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has found home and family. They vow that, when the time comes, they will find a place where they can live together by the sea.Bad things begin to happen a hurricane, a fire, deaths but still the remaining Scrubs cling together. They are watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of their group, always the healer. Anny herself allows Camilla to enfold and to care for her. It is the first time she has felt this kind of love and support.
Hunger
Hunger
Turnipseed, Erica Simone
¥78.32
In Erica Simone Turnipseed's captivating follow-up to A Love Noire, heartache fans the flames of lust when freethinking Noire and Innocent, her urbane African ex, reunite.Noire and Innocent are both having a thirtysomething crisis. His former identity as a successful investment banker and eligible bachelor has disappeared. A beleaguered graduate student, she's got no money, no man, and no Ph.D., yet. A year of predoctoral research in Haiti leaves Noire drained. And a trip home to Cte d'Ivoire offers Innocent little more than intermittent sexual gratification. In the aftermath of 9/11, Innocent and Noire are back in New York City and find solace in each other's bed. But even that arrangement collapses under the weight of Innocent's revelation that he has unfinished business in Africa. For Innocent and Noire, patching together their unraveling lives becomes an exercise in hope and humility. With Hunger , Turnipseed lives up to the promise of A Love Noire and has matured into a writer who fearlessly explores the intersection of sex, love, identity, and loss in a cross-cultural context.
Just One Taste
Just One Taste
Michaels, Jess
¥53.85
Being the Duchess of Bisby is not everything it is cracked up to be for lonely Drusilla. Humiliated by her indifferent husband‘s neglect, she finds an unexpected passion when she surrenders to the attentions of his ever-watching and oh-so-very-handsome valet, Jacob Dunnett.
Krondor: Tear of the Gods
Krondor: Tear of the Gods
Feist, Raymond E.
¥55.31
Return now to a kingdom in constant peril; a land magical, scarred, and wondrous, where great heroes rise up from adversity to battle fearsome enemies who covet the riches within its borders. New York Times bestselling author Raymond E. Feist -- one of the world 's preeminent fantasists -- continues his extraordinary Riftwar Legacy with a sweeping tale of conflict, trial, and grim necessity, as the forces of good join together to staunch the golden lifeblood flowing from the pierced heart of Midkemia. The vile sorcerer Sidi plans to strike the kingdom a fatal blow, setting his creature, the murderous pirate Bear, upon the high seas in pursuit of the vessel that is transporting Midkemia's most holy object: the Tear of the Gods. It is from this miraculous stone that all magic power is believed to flow. And if the Tear becomes the mage's trinket, the future will hold naught but terror, death, and unending night. For Squire James, Lieutenant William, and the able magician Jazhara, the race is on to rescue the remarkable artifact from the bloodthirsty, unpredictable Bear and his despicable master who would use it to bring catastrophe down upon the world. But it will take greater-than-human swiftness. cunning, courage, and skill for the three to prevail. And the flight of her most peerless defenders will leave Krondor more vulnerable than ever to the terrible ambitions of the depraved. For the mysterious criminal known as the Crawler is preparing to wreak bloody havoc to fulfill his dastardly secret agenda. Once again the sewers of Krondor teem with assassins and monsters as the hour of destiny nears. The fate of an imperiled world is in flux, as all manner of dark creatures are gathered for one unspeakable purpose: to breed the chaos that will hasten the destruction of Squire James and his brave companions...and bring about the total corruption of the Tear of the Gods.
The Land of Mango Sunsets
The Land of Mango Sunsets
Frank, Dorothea Benton
¥88.56
Miriam Swanson is thoroughly provoked and she doesn't mind letting you know. Twenty years ago her husband Charles, a powerful attorney with one of the last remaining white shoe law firms in New York, dumped her for a younger woman nearly half her age. Obviously it happens all the time and it's not exactly news, but what's fascinating is to watch Miriam evolve from pathetic to spectacular. Perfectly proper Miriam's great metamorphosis results from the arrival of a little red neck school teacher, Liz, from Nowhere, Alabama. Liz is Miriam's tenant along with Kevin, a 50 something gay man who is Miriam's best friend. Liz is everything that Miriam is not: young and thin. They constantly clash. Then finally, she meets a man named Harrison who changes her into a gal named Mellie. Miriam spins out from the revolving door of her postured life as a Manhattan quasi socialite while she thirsts, no, starves for recognition. How did she become what she hates the most and what does she endure to realize itAnd where are the answersIt takes a few spins, dips and one spectacular fall until Miriam gets her head on straight. Then in a whoosh she's off to see her mother in the enchanted and mysterious land of Sullivans Island, deep in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
The Clockwork Crown
The Clockwork Crown
Cato, Beth
¥84.16
Narrowly surviving assassination and capture, Octavia Leander, a powerful magical healer, is on the run with handsome Alonzo Garrett, the Clockwork Dagger who forfeited his career with the Queens secret society of spies and killers and possibly his life to save her. Now, they are on a dangerous quest to fnd safety and answers: Why is Octavia so powerfulWhy does she seem to be undergoing a transformation unlike any witnessed for hundreds of years?The truth may rest with the source of her mysterious healing power the Lady's Tree. But the tree lies somewhere in an inhospitable territory known as the Waste. Eons ago, this land was made barren by an evil spell, until a few hardy souls dared to return over the last century. For years, the Waste has waged a bloody battle against the royal court to win its independence and they need Octavia's powers to succeed.Joined by unlikely allies, including a menagerie of gremlin companions, she must evade killers on a dangerous journey through a world on the brink of deadly civil war.
Judgment
Judgment
Baldwin, Carey
¥66.50
Carey Baldwin, author of the thrilling novel Confession, returns with a new story featuring two of her most beloved characters. Fans of Tess Gerritsen and Lisa Gardner will devour this riveting story of rivals caught in a killer's twisted web.When a coed falls prey to a sadistic murderer, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Caitlin "Caity" Cassidy and Special Agent Atticus Spenser are called in to testify—one for the defense, one for the prosecution. With warring approaches to justice, these two rivals have been butting heads for years—both inside the courtroom and out. And at first, this case appears to be no different.But when a brutal attack leaves the accused man dead and Caity in critical condition, petty differences take a backseat to saving lives. As the lone survivor, Caity knows too much, and the killer—a madman calling himself the Man in the Maze—is coming back for round two. Now Caity and Spense must join forces to uncover the killer's identity before Caity's time—and luck—runs out.
So Big
So Big
Ferber, Edna
¥90.77
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and widely considered to be Edna Ferber's greatest achievement, So Big is a classic novel of turn-of-the-century Chicago. It is the unforgettable story of Selina Peake DeJong, a gambler's daughter, and her struggles to stay afloat and maintain her dignity and her sanity in the face of marriage, widowhood, and single parenthood. A brilliant literary masterwork from one of the twentieth century's most accomplished and admired writers, the remarkable So Big still resonates with its unflinching view of poverty, sexism, and the drive for success.
Pressure Perfect
Pressure Perfect
Sass, Lorna J.
¥149.48
Under pressure to get a tasty, nutritious dinner on the table in a flashLike the idea of preparing fork-tender beef stew in thirty minutes and pot roast in under an hourAll this and more is made possible by the pressure cooker, a magical appliance that produces soul-satisfying, homemade food in one-third (or less) the standard cooking time.In Pressure Perfect, Lorna Sass, the country's leading authority on pressure cooking, distills her two decades of experience into one comprehensive volume. First learn everything you need to know about buying and using today's 100% safe cookers. Then enjoy?more than?200 recipes for preparing soups, meats, poultry, grains, beans, vegetables, and desserts in record time. How about whipping up a savory risotto in 4 minutes, chicken cacciatore in 12 minutes, or a delectable chocolate cheesecake in 25 minutes?Because the pressure cooker tenderizes tough cuts of meat quickly, you can prepare fall-off-the-bone beef short ribs or lamb shanks on weekday nights instead of waiting for a special occasion. The pressure cooker also allows you to make delectable one-pot meals in minutes. Among the many innovative recipes and techniques, you'll learn to cook meatloaf and potatoes simultaneously in 10 minutes, and meatballs, pasta, and sauce at the same time in only 5 minutes. Many recipes also suggest Cook-Along ideas for preparing vegetables and grains along with the entrée.To further?help?those cooking under pressure (and who isn't nowadays?), each chapter contains timing charts for quick reference. Tips and Pressure Points in every recipe ensure optimum results.This ultimate guide to pressure cooking is a must for all busy cooks, boaters, brides, college students, and anyone looking for a great way to make irresistible, healthy, home-made food fast.
Zen Attitude
Zen Attitude
Massey, Sujata
¥83.03
Life in modern Tokyo is a blast for Rei Shimura, a young Japanese-American woman who enjoys busy days as an antiques dealer and steamy nights with a devoted new boyfriend. But things come to a standstill when Rei overpays for a rare old chest of drawers for a wealthy client, the owner of a famous Zen temple in Kamakura. The exquisite tansu turns out to be a fake: the worst deal Rei has ever made. When the temple family turns on Rei -- and the con man who sold the tansu is murdered -- she realizes she's opened a Pandora's box of deception and murder. A young martial artist, an aspiring rock singer, and an elderly antiques mentor all become part of Rei's search for the killer through the shadows of an ancient culture. As her world begins to rapidly and inexplicably unravel, Rei realizes that it will take strength, wit, and a Zen attitude to survive.
Last Night at the Blue Angel
Last Night at the Blue Angel
Rotert, Rebecca
¥83.92
Set against the turbulence of 1960s Chicago—a city in transformation—and its legendary jazz scene, Last Night at the Blue Angel is a lush and immensely heartfelt mother-daughter tale about a talented but troubled singer’s relationship with her precocious ten-year-old daughter.It is the early 1960s, and Chicago is teeming with the tensions of the day—segregation, sexual experimentation, the Cold War and Vietnam—but it is also home to some of the country’s most influential jazz. Naomi Hill, a singer at the Blue Angel club, has been poised on the brink of stardom for nearly ten years. But when her big break, the cover of Look magazine, finally arrives, it carries with it an enormous personal cost. Sensual and magnetic, Naomi is a fiercely ambitious yet self-destructive woman whose charms tend to hurt those around her, and no one knows this better than her daughter, Sophia.As the only child of a single mother growing up in an adult world, Sophia is wise beyond her years, a casualty of her mother’s desperate struggle for fame and adoration. Unsettled by her home life, she harbors a terrible fear that her world could disappear at any moment, and compulsively maintains a list of everyday objects she might need to reinvent should nuclear catastrophe strike. Her only constant is the colorful and unconventional family that surrounds her and her mother, particularly the photographer, Jim, who is Sophia’s best friend, surrogate father, and protector—but Jim is also deeply in love with Naomi.Weaving between the perspectives of Sophia and Naomi, Last Night at the Blue Angel is a poignant and unforgettable story about what happens when our passion for the life we want is at sharp odds with the life we have. Part stylish period piece, part heartbreaking family drama, it’s a novel rife with revelations, a vivid and propulsive page-turner—and the major debut of an extraordinary new writer.
Ballroom
Ballroom
Simpson, Alice
¥83.03
A beautiful debut, Ballroom follows a group of strangers, united by a desire to escape their complicated lives (if only for a few hours each week) at a New York City dance hall that's about to close its doors for good.The Ballroom used to be a place to see and be seen, but the years have taken their toll, and by the end of the 1990s this Manhattan dance hall, just off Union Square, is a husk of its former self. A small crowd of loyal patrons still makes its way to the worn parquet floor every Sunday evening: although they each have their private reasons for returning again and again to the Ballroom, they are united by a shared desire to seek solace from reality, if only for a few hours, within its walls—and in the magic of dance.Nearly forty and still single, Sarah Dreyfus is desperate for love and sure she'll find it with debonair Gabriel Katz, who seduces the women he meets at the Ballroom to distract himself from his crumbling marriage. Lonely bachelor Joseph believes that his yearning for a wife and family will be fulfilled—if he can only get Sarah to notice him and see that he is in love with her. Obsessed with his building superintendent's beautiful daughter, Maria Rodriguez, elderly dance instructor Harry Korn is convinced that together they will find the happiness that has eluded him throughout his life. And Maria, who—thanks in part to Harry's instruction and encouragement—is one of the stars of Sunday nights at the Ballroom along with her partner, Angel Morez, has a dream of her own that her brokenhearted father refuses to accept or understand.In this deeply felt debut, Alice Simpson deftly unfolds the lives of these men and women, entwining their stories into a profoundly human narrative about our instinc-tual longing to love and to be loved. As the rhythms of the Ballroom ebb and flow through her characters' hearts, their fates weave together both on and off the dance floor in touching, unexpected ways.
Black Sun
Black Sun
Abbey, Edward
¥83.92
Black Sun is a bittersweet love story involving an iconoclastic forest ranger and a freckle-faced "American princess" half his age. Like Lady Chatterley's lover, he initiates her into the rites of sex and the stark, secret harmonies of his wilderness. She, in turn, awakens in him the pleasure of love. Then she mysteriously disappears, plunging him into desolation. Black Sun is a singular novel in Abbey's repertoire, a romantic story of a solitary man's passion for the outdoors and for a woman who is seeing the natural world's true colors for the first time. "Like most honest novels, Black Sun is partly autobiographical, mostly invention, and entirely true. The voice that speaks in this book is the passionate voice of the forest," Abbey writes, "the madness of desire, and the joy of love, and the anguish of final loss."Edward Abbey spent most of his life in the American Southwest. He was the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including the celebrated Desert Solitaire, which decried the waste of America's wilderness, and the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, the title of which is still in use today to describe groups that purposefully sabotage projects and entities that degrade the environment. Abbey was also one of the country's foremost defenders of the natural environment. He died in 1989.