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Mathilda Savitch
Mathilda Savitch
Victor Lodato
¥58.86
A fiercely funny and touching debut novel about a girl with a sharp and mischievous voice of her own – and her quest to discover the truth about her sister’s death ‘I want to be awful. I want to do awful things and why not? Dull is dull is dull is my life. Like now, it’s night, not yet time for bed but too late to be outside, and the two of them reading reading reading with their eyes moving like the lights inside a copy machine. When I was helping put the dishes in the washer tonight, I broke a plate. I said sorry Ma it slipped. But it didn’t slip, that’s how I am sometimes, and I want to be worse. Awful is easy if you make it your one and only.’ Fear doesn't come naturally to Mathilda Savitch. She prefers to look right at the things nobody else can bring themselves to mention: for example, the fact that her beloved older sister is dead, pushed in front of a train by a man who is still on the loose. Still, after a year of spying and provocations, she's no closer to the truth about her sister's death than the day it happened. When Mathilda finally cracks her email password, a secret life opens up, one that swiftly draws her into a world of clouded motives and strange emotion. Somewhere in it lies the key to waking her family up from their dream of grief. To cross into that underworld and see what her sister saw, she has to risk everything that matters to her. Mathilda Savitch is furiously funny, awkward and tender; a compelling page-turner, and the debut of an extraordinary novelistic talent.
I, Houdini (First Modern Classics)
I, Houdini (First Modern Classics)
Lynne Reid Banks
¥40.02
Houdini is no ordinary hamster. He is an escapologist with an exceptional talent for getting out of cages and urge to escape leads him to all kinds of adventures… New edition published into the First Modern Classics list, fantastic stories for young readers. He may look like a small, furry pet, but really he is a Wild Creature – a freedom-loving hamster with a life-long passion for escape and a yearning for the Great Outside, leaving chaos and destruction as he goes. He tells his hilarious adventures with great intelligence and no modesty – for the world beyond carpets and floorboards can be a terrifying place…
Boss Girl
Boss Girl
Nic Tatano
¥54.65
Sydney Hack is the single, thirtysomething VP of news for a failing network… and she also has a taste for younger men. She soon realizes a whole lot of over-thirty female viewers do as well, so she sets out to give these women what they want; a chiseled, trophy buck in his twenties sitting on the anchor desk next to a woman… Just. Like. Them. With nothing to lose she does the unthinkable; along with three female managers who happen to be her best friends she brings out the casting couch and turns it into a sleeper sofa. Doesn't matter that the men have no television experience. As long as they look good. And there’s a hint of romance in every newscast. Ratings skyrocket as a result, but Sydney and her female cohorts discover something else along the way… True love is not always age appropriate.
It Girl
It Girl
Nic Tatano
¥54.65
~ Veronica Summer is stuck in the dream job from hell. The spunky New York reporter is offered the network's morning anchor position, but she doesn't want it because she's a night person. Then the network plays a trump card, promising her the evening anchor chair in three years. So the fiery redhead takes the plunge, with the ultimate gig waiting down the road. Problem is, that road is filled with two am wake-up calls and the only social life she has is one with bats and raccoons. She quickly realizes she'll never survive the grind and decides the only way out is to get fired by being her snarky self on live television. And the ratings skyrocket. Veronica becomes the nation's It Girl, so the network makes her a celebrity contestant on its most popular nighttime dance competition show, Dance Off. While her journalistic credibility is shot to hell by the show's skimpy costumes, she's thrown into close contact with two incredibly attractive men; her dance partner and the show's sarcastic British judge. And she soon discovers that love is the ultimate gig.
The Park Bench Test: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance
The Park Bench Test: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance
Sarah Lefebve
¥51.50
~ “Can you still see yourself sitting on a park bench, holding hands with that person when they are old and wrinkly? That’s the question you have to ask yourself…” Aspiring journalist Becky loves her boyfriend Alex, but when her best friend Katie gets engaged, she’s left wondering if Alex really is her Mr Right. Their other best friend Emma doesn’t believe in ‘the One’– she’s just looking for a man who will stick around longer than her dad did. As they come together to plan Katie’s big day, navigating the chaos of wedding dress shopping, seating plans, and the dreaded singles table, the girls begin to question their own relationships; and the possibility of settling for anything less than butterflies… Debut author Sarah Lefebve asked her own friends and family how they knew they had found the elusive Mr Right and then turned their honest – and often surprising – answers into this charming, emotional and downright funny romance.
Snow in May
Snow in May
Kseniya Melnik
¥66.22
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE The stories of Kseniya Melnik’s debut collection are small-town miracles, each a miniature epic. Their focus is Magadan, a town in the Northern Far East of Russia, and the unvisited lives of its inhabitants and emigrants – schoolchildren, doctors, teachers, mothers, daughters. Some characters span several stories. Some of their stories span decades and continents. The measure of their telling, though, is invariably the measure of everyday existence. Their dramas, too, are made of quotidian stuff, each life with its own sly or suppressed tragedies, and its brief, often unexpected ecstasies. Kseniya Melnik’s sensibility is sober and humorous; her stories are moving and funny. In their patient, deliberate unfolding – at once surprising and convincing – and in the fitness of their details – vital because they are suggestive – we sense, above all, an assurance that is dazzling.
American Innovations
American Innovations
Rivka Galchen
¥66.22
A short-story collection from one of America’s brightest young talents. In one of these intensely imaginative stories a young woman’s furniture walks out on her. In another, the narrator feels compelled to deliver a takeout order that has incorrectly been phoned in to her. In a third, the petty details of a property transaction illuminate the complicated dependences and loves of a family. Following spiralling paths towards utterly logical, entirely absurd conclusions, Galchen’s creations occupy a dreamlike dimension, where time is fluid and identities are best defined by the qualities they lack. The tales in this groundbreaking collection are secretly in conversation with canonical stories, allowing the reader the pleasure of discovering familiar favourites in new guises. Here ‘The Lost Order’ covertly recapitulates James Thurber’s ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’, while ‘The Region of Unlikeness’ playfully mirrors Jorge Luis Borges’s ‘The Aleph’. By turns realistic, fantastical and lyrical, all these marvellously uneasy stories share a deeply emotional core and are written in dryly witty, pitch-perfect prose. Whether exploring the tensions in a mother-daughter relationship or the finer points of time travel, Galchen is a writer of eye-opening ingenuity.
Sidney Sheldon’s Mistress of the Game
Sidney Sheldon’s Mistress of the Game
Sidney Sheldon,Tilly Bagshawe
¥58.47
The spellbinding sequel to Sidney Sheldon’s MASTER OF THE GAME, one of the most glamorous and suspenseful tales ever told… It began with Jamie MacGregor, stealing diamonds in Africa. It continued with his daughter, the powerful Kate Blackwell, who grew her father’s company into a world wide conglomerate. Now the story passes to the next generation. Spanning the decades and picking up exactly where Sidney Sheldon’s bestselling Master of the Game finished, Mistress of the Game follows the Blackwell family as they love, lose, scheme and murder through the 80s up until the present day. Heart–stopping and glamorous, tense and provocative, Mistress of the Game is the sequel that Sheldon fans have been waiting for…
A Song for Arbonne
A Song for Arbonne
Guy Gavriel Kay
¥63.18
Based on the troubadour culture that rose in Provence during the High Middle Ages, this panoramic, absorbing novel beautifully creates an alternate version of the medieval world. The matriarchal, cultured land of Arbonne is rent by a feud between its two most powerful dukes, the noble troubador Bertran de Talair and Urte de Miraval, over long-dead Aelis, lover of one, wife of the other and once heir to the country's throne. To the north lies militaristic Gorhaut, whose inhabitants worship the militant god Corannos and are ruled by corrupt, womanizing King Ademar. His chief advisor, the high priest of Corannos, is determined to irradicate the worship of a female deity, whose followers live to the south. Into this cauldron of brewing disaster comes the mysterious Gorhaut mercenary Blaise, who takes service with Bertran and averts an attempt on his life. The revelation of Blaise's lineage and a claim for sanctuary by his sister-in-law sets the stage for a brutal clash between the two cultures. Intertwined is the tale of a young woman troubadour whose role suggests the sweep of the drama to come.
The Water Children
The Water Children
Anne Berry
¥45.62
Four lives. Four defining moments which will bring them together. Owen Abingdon is haunted by nightmares of the Merfolk. He believes they have stolen his little sister who vanished while he was meant to be minding her on the beach, but he was only a child himself. Is it fair for his mother to blame him? Catherine Hoyle's perfect Christmas with her cousin from America was blighted when they went skating on thin ice and Rosalyn nearly died. Somehow, instead of being praised for raising the alarm, Catherine gets blamed. Sean Madigan grew up on a farm in Ireland. Learning to swim in the Shannon was his way of escaping the bitter poverty of his childhood, but it also incurred his father's wrath. He flees to England, but his heart belongs to the Shannon and her pulling power is evernear… Unlike the other three, Naomi Seddon didn't fear the sea. She'd been orphaned and placed in a children's home in Sheffield and cruelly abused. The sea offered her a way out and she revelled in its cruel power. The "water children" meet in London in the searing hot summer of 1976 and Naomi uses her siren's charm to lure Owen,Catherine and Sean into her tangled web of sexual charm and dangerous passion. A holiday in the Tuscan mountains with a flooded reservoir and its legend of the beautiful Teodora who drowned there brings this emotional drama to a powerful climax. Will the power of family, love and redemption finally help the water children conquer their fears and triumph over their childhood traumas?
Told in Silence
Told in Silence
Rebecca Connell
¥88.39
New novel from exciting young author Rebecca Connell From the outside, Violet seems to lead an ordinary and uneventful existence - single, working in a shop, and living with her parents in rural Kent - but her life has already been touched by tragedy. At 21, Violet is a young widow, and the couple she lives with, Harvey and Laura Blackwood, are not her own parents but those of her late husband, Jonathan. Rocked by grief, Violet has shut herself away from the world, but she soon finds that she cannot escape reality. When Max Croft, an old friend of Jonathan's, enters her life, she is faced not only with the possibility of a new attraction, but with the knowledge that there are secrets behind her husband’s death that she has not yet uncovered, and which threaten to shake her faith in everything she knows about their past life together. Told in Silence is a spellbinding and unforgettable novel of desire, deception and the lengths that we will go to for love.
The Lions of Al-Rassan
The Lions of Al-Rassan
Guy Gavriel Kay
¥72.30
Hauntingly evocative of medieval Spain, a deeply compelling story of love, adventure, divided loyalties, and what happens when beliefs begin to remake – or destroy – a world. The ruling Asharites of Al-Rassan have come from the desert sands, but over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, their stern piety has eroded. The Asharite empire has splintered into decadent city-states led by warring petty kings. King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, aided always by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan – poet, diplomat, soldier – until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever. Meanwhile, in the north, the conquered Jaddites' most celebrated – and feared – military leader, Rodrigo Belmonte, driven into exile, leads his mercenary company south. In the dangerous lands of Al-Rassan, these two men from different worlds meet and serve – for a time – the same master. Tangled in their interwoven fate – and divided by her feelings – is Jehane, the accomplished court physician, whose skills may not be enough to heal the coming pain as Al-Rassan is swept to the brink of holy war, and beyond.
Dark Times (Emily the Strange)
Dark Times (Emily the Strange)
Rob Reger
¥57.09
Emily's uniquely strange homeschool syllabus includes . . . 1. Time Travel 101 2. Advanced Spy Photography 3. Bonnet Basics 4. Great-Aunts Through the Ages 5. Intro to Germ Theory 6. Care and Feeding of 'Squito Fish 7. Fundamentals of Black Rock 8. Spiderweb Embroidery 9. Historical & Contemporary Felines 10. Pop Quizzes 11. Foodstuffs of the 1790s 12. Thwarting Ancestral Enemies 13. Techniques in Parallel Universe Management
Vulgar Things
Vulgar Things
Lee Rourke
¥66.22
The second novel from Lee Rourke, author of the cult hit ‘The Canal’. Jon Michaels – a divorced, disaffected and fatigued editor living a nonde* life in North London – wakes one morning to a phone call informing him that his uncle has been found dead in his caravan on Canvey Island. Dismissed from his job only the day before and hung-over, Jon reluctantly agrees to sort through his uncle’s belongings and clear out the caravan. What follows is a quixotic week on Canvey as Jon, led on by desire and delusion, purposeful but increasingly disorientated, unfolds a disturbing secret, ever more enchanted by the island – its landscape and its atmosphere. Haunted and haunting, ‘Vulgar Things’ is part mystery, part romance, part odyssey: a novel in which the menial entrances and the banal compels.
With a Zero at its Heart
With a Zero at its Heart
Charles Lambert
¥56.90
24 themed chapters. Each with 10 numbered paragraphs. Each paragraph with precisely 120 words. The sum of a life. In his beautiful and haunting new book, Charles Lambert explores the fragmentary nature of memory, how the piecing together of short recollections can reveal a greater narrative. Through chapters tackling elemental themes such as Sex, Death, and Money, Lambert assembles the narrator’s moving life story. Executed with all the grace and finesse of his previous acclaimed work, this is an incredible artistic achievement, breathtaking in its simplicity yet awe-inspiring in its scope. With cover and text design by the renowned designer Vaughan Oliver, With a Zero at its Heart is as beautiful to look at as it is to read.
Chaos Descends (Darkmouth, Book 3)
Chaos Descends (Darkmouth, Book 3)
Shane Hegarty
¥51.50
The third book in the monstrously funny and action-packed Darkmouth series. It’s going to be legendary. The adventures of the most unfortunate Legend Hunter ever to don fighting armour and pick up a desiccator continue… Finn's been through so much, he'll now be allowed do what he wants with the rest of his life, right? Wrong. Whether he likes it or not, he's going to be made a proper Legend Hunter. But then suddenly people start disappearing, Legends are appearing where they shouldn't, Broonie's complaining, and an attack so big is coming that Finn has the weight of the world on his shoulders. The weight of two worlds, actually…
Worlds Explode (Darkmouth, Book 2)
Worlds Explode (Darkmouth, Book 2)
Shane Hegarty
¥51.50
The second book in the monstrously funny and action-packed new series: Darkmouth. It’s going to be legendary. The adventures of the most unfortunate Legend Hunter ever to don fighting armour and pick up a Dessicator continue… On a list of things Finn never thought he'd wish for, a gateway bursting open in Darkmouth was right up there. But that's about his only hope for finding his missing father. He's searched for a map, he's followed Steve into dead ends, but found nothing. And he's still got homework to do. But soon Finn and Emmie must face bizarre Legends, a ravenous world and a face from the past as they go where no Legend Hunter has gone before. Or, at least, where no legend Hunter has gone before and returned with their limbs in the correct order.
Darkmouth (Darkmouth, Book 1)
Darkmouth (Darkmouth, Book 1)
Shane Hegarty
¥51.50
A monstrously funny debut from the new star of middle-grade adventure. THEY’RE COMING! Legends (also known as terrifying, human-eating monsters) have invaded the town of Darkmouth and aim to conquer the world. But don’t panic! The last remaining Legend Hunter - Finn - will protect us. Finn: twelve-years-old, loves animals, not a natural fighter, but tries really, really hard, and we all know good intentions are the best weapons against a hungry Minotaur, right? On second thoughts, panic. PANIC NOW!
Love Me Tender
Love Me Tender
Anne Bennett
¥54.84
A heartrending tale of love and tragedy during The Birmingham Blitz. Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Annie Groves. For Kathy O’Malley, life has not been easy with her husband, Barry, out of work and with two children to feed. Then when war breaks out in 1939, many of the local men enlist, including Barry, leaving the women to cope as best they can. The years that follow are full of hardship: rationing, nightly air raids and endless shifts working at the local munitions factory all take their toll on Kathy who longs to feel the strong arms of her husband around her once more. When she meets Doug, a handsome American GI, she is drawn immediately drawn to him but determined to honour her marriage vows. But after she receives a telegram informing that her husband is missing, presumed dead, she makes a decision that will have consequences, not just for herself, but for the lives of all those she loves too…
Me and Mr Carrington: A Short Story
Me and Mr Carrington: A Short Story
Alexandra Brown
¥11.77
A short story from the author of Cupcakes at Carrington’s – and a prequel to Christmas at Carrington’s! Georgie Hart can’t believe her luck. It looks like Tom, the hunky boss of Carrington’s Department Store, in the picture-postcard town of Mulberry-on-Sea, is as hot for her as she is for him. After a romantic Italian get-together leaves her on Cloud Nine, Georgie is brought back down to earth with a bump when she has to get back behind the counter of the Luxury Handbags section. But when Georgie is left open-mouthed by a revelation from one of her well-heeled customers, it seems like Tom hasn’t been entirely honest with her. Has Georgie done her usual trick of adding two and two together to make five? Ever wondered what happened when Georgie first got together with Mr Carrington himself? This deliciously funny short story is perfect for anyone who loved Cupcakes at Carrington’s, and for those discovering the lovable Georgie Hart for the first time. The story also features an exclusive peek at the next book, Christmas at Carrington’s.
Emma
Emma
Alexander McCall Smith
¥66.22
Jane Austen teased readers with the idea of a 'heroine whom no one but myself will much like', but Emma is irresistible. 'Handsome, clever, and rich', Emma is also an 'imaginist', 'on fire with speculation and foresight'. She sees the signs of romance all around her, but thinks she will never be married. Her matchmaking maps out relationships that Jane Austen ironically tweaks into a clearer perspective. Judgement and imagination are matched in games the reader too can enjoy, and the end is a triumph of understanding.