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万本电子书0元读

Every House Needs a Balcony
Every House Needs a Balcony
Frank, Rina
¥90.77
Hailed as the "Israeli Kite Runner" (The Bookseller), this international bestseller and publishing phenomenon is the bittersweet story of one family, one home, and the surprising arc of one woman's life, from the poverty of her youth to the glowing love and painful losses of her adult years.Braiding together past and present, Every House Needs a Balcony tells the story of a young Jewish girl—a child of Romanian immigrants—who lives with her family in the poverty-stricken heart of 1950s Haifa, Israel. Eight-year-old Rina, her older sister, and their parents inhabit a cramped apartment with a narrow balcony that becomes an intimate shared stage on which the joys and dramas of the building's daily life are played out. It is also a vantage point from which Rina witnesses the emergence of a strange new country, born from the ashes of World War II. Later, after years of living abroad with her wealthy Spanish husband in Barcelona, Rina, longing for the simple life she has missed, returns to the Haifa of her boisterous youth, a move that soothes her soul but ultimately endangers her marriage.Beautifully told, rich with questions of identity, love, and survival, Every House Needs a Balcony is an unforgettable social and historical portrait of a neighborhood and a nation. Steeped in the colors and smells, laughter and tears, of Rina Frank's own childhood memories, it is a heartbreaking tale about the deepest meanings of home.
The Importance of Being Kennedy
The Importance of Being Kennedy
Graham, Laurie
¥90.77
From the fictitious diary of the equally fictitious Kennedy nanny comes an inside look into the early years of the dynasty—with all the juicy bits intact. Newly arrived from Ireland, Nora Brennan finds a position as nursery maid to the Kennedys of Brookline, Massachusetts—and lands at the heart of American history. In charge of nine children practically from the minute they're born—including Joe Jr., Jack, Bobby, Teddy, vivacious "Kick," and tragic Rosemary—she sees the boys coached at their father's knee to believe everything they'll ever want in life can be bought. She sees the girls trained by mother Rose to be good Catholic wives. With her sharp eye and her quiet common sense, Nora is the perfect candidate to report on an empire in the making. Then World War II changes everything.
The Ladies' Lending Library
The Ladies' Lending Library
Keefer, Janice Kulyk
¥90.77
It is August of 1963, the year of the Taylor/Burton film epic Cleopatra, showcasing a passion too grand to be contained on the movie screen. The women of the Kalyna Beach cottage community gather for gin and gossip, trading the current racy bestsellers among themselves as they seek a brief escape from the predictable rhythms of children and chores. But dramatic change is coming this summer as innocence falters and the desire for change reaches a boiling point, threatening to disrupt the warm, sweet, heady days and the lives of parents and children, family and friends, forever.
On a Raven's Wing
On a Raven's Wing
Kaminsky, Stuart
¥90.77
Twenty contemporary writers commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe with chilling stories inspired by the master himself.Nearly two centuries after they were penned, Edgar Allan Poe's macabre tales are still working their eerie magic on readers of every stripe—thrill-seekers, filmmakers, even fellow writers of suspense. Collected here to honor and celebrate Poe's genius are original stories by some of the best mystery writers at work today.A son attempts to connect with his dying father in Thomas H. Cook's "Nevermore." John Lutz's "Poe, Poe, Poe" combines elements from several of Poe's stories in a twisted tale of madness and mayhem. "Poe, Jo, and I," by Don Winslow, examines the curious bond literature can form between the most unlikely of friends. And in Jon L. Breen's "William Allan Wilson," getting even has never felt so good.With contributions by Mary Higgins Clark, Jeremiah Healy, Peter Lovesey, P. J. Parrish, Daniel Stashower, and Angela Zeman, among others, On a Raven's Wing is a fitting tribute to the one and only Edgar Allan Poe. The Mystery Writers of America, founded in 1945, is the foremost organization for mystery writers and other professionals dedicated to the field of crime writing. Don't miss In the Shadow of the Master, a new collection of Poe's stories, edited by Michael Connelly and featuring essays from Stephen King, Sue Grafton, and others.
Blood Secret
Blood Secret
Lasky, Kathryn
¥90.77
The minute she had opened the trunk, she knew there wasn't anything like hope in it. Just awful musty things, but each one with a kind of terrible dark halo around it. She picked up that piece of old lace. She saw that stain -- pale, brownish in color. She knew it was blood. Somebody's blood. There was violence in that trunk, and dark secrets, and she did not want to know them.Curious about the old homestead where she now lives, Jerry finds an ancient trunk in the basement that contains, among other things, an old piece of bloodstained lace, some letters, and a battered doll. The objects in the trunk have stories to tell -- stories about the Spanish Inquisition spanning nearly five hundred years and stories of secrets locked deep in the bloodlines of Jerry's ancestors.Kathryn Lasky's powerhouse novel is a dramatic historical saga that brings the reader face-to-face with some of the worst atrocities ever committed against humankind in the name of God. But above all, it is an unforgettable coming-of-age story about a girl who, in connecting with her own past and faith, is at last able to face her own demons and liberate not only herself but also future generations of her family from the long chain of suffering and silence.
I'll Never Be Long Gone
I'll Never Be Long Gone
Greene, Thomas Christopher
¥90.77
The lives of brothers Charlie and Owen Bender are changed forever on the night their father walks into the Vermont woods with a death wish and a shotgun. The second shock comes when his suicide note bequeaths the family's restaurant to Charlie alone, while leaving Owen with instructions to follow his own path, wherever it may take him.Years later, the restaurant is a success. The void in Charlie's life, created by his beloved brother's absence, is finally filled when a passionate affair becomes a deeply satisfying marriage. And now prodigal son Owen is returning home, to be welcomed back into the family fold. But the cruel legacy that tore a brotherhood apart created wounds not easily healed . . . and there must be reckoning.
Max Quick
Max Quick
Jeffrey, Mark
¥90.77
Max Quick is a pickpocket, a vagabond, an orphan, and a thief. Even so, nothing about him seems particularly special . . . until one day when time mysteriously stops. Suddenly, nearly everyone in the world is frozen in time—except for Max.Now Max must journey across America to find the source of the Time-stop. Along the way, he meets others who aren't suspended in time, like Casey, a girl who's never been on her own until now. Together, as they search for the cause of this disaster, Max and his companions encounter ancient mysteries, magic books, and clues to the riddle of stopped time. But relentless and mysterious villains are hot on Max's heels and will do everything in their power to prevent Max from ending the Time-stop. And the closer Max gets to the answers, the more it seems that his own true identity is not what he once believed.Racing against a clock that no longer ticks, Max must embrace his past to save his future—and the world—from being altered forever.
Almost Dead
Almost Dead
Gavron, Assaf
¥90.77
Politically incorrect, provocative, and steeped in wit and irony, a fast-paced tragicomedy about the perfectly ordinary madness in today's Middle EastA thirtysomething Tel Aviv businessman, Eitan "Croc" Einoch's life is turned upside down when he narrowly escapes a suicide bombing on the minibus he rides to work. When he lives through a second attack, and then a third, he becomes, reluctantly, a national media celebrity. Naturally, the Palestinian terrorists responsible for the attacks are less than happy. This embarrassing symbol of their failure—this "CrocAttack"—must be neutralized. Meanwhile, Fahmi Sabih lies in a coma, quarrelling with his conscience. The young Palestinian suicide bomber has learned everything he knows about bombs, targets, and revenge from his brother. So why has Einoch survivedAs Fahmi's story unfolds, it becomes clear that their paths are destined to cross again—for there is another bombing still to come—and then luck will change drastically for one or both of them. But who, if anyone, has right on his side?
The Sweet Hereafter
The Sweet Hereafter
Banks, Russell
¥90.77
In The Sweet Hereafter, Russell Banks tells a story that begins with a school bus accident. Using four different narrators, Banks creates a small-town morality play that addresses one of life's most agonizing questions: when the worst thing happens, who do you blame?
5 Minutes and 42 Seconds
5 Minutes and 42 Seconds
Williams, Timothy
¥90.77
Cameisha Douglass has it all -- a sprawling home in a posh neighborhood, a fancy car, three healthy children, and a husband, Fashad, who is devoted to her. Her biggest worry is catching her daytime soap operas before the kids come home from school and her husband returns from work, "businesses" that everyone knows are mere fronts through which he launders his drug-dealing money. But as the emotional and sexual secrets of her family come to the surface, she can no longer deny that her life is not all that it seems. While family members point fingers at one another, the real threat may come from the outside, specifically from Smokey, a mixed-race twenty-year-old high school dropout and would-be rapper whose issues with sexual and racial identity fuel his inner rage.Written by a daring young author with a compelling voice, 5 Minutes and 42 Seconds is a fast-paced and edgy thriller that explores the questions of identity and sexuality with refreshing vigor.
The Six Crowns: Fair Wind to Widdershins
The Six Crowns: Fair Wind to Widdershins
Jones, Allan
¥90.77
After finding the first of six legendary crowns, Trundle the lamplighter thought he could finally return to his quiet life in Port Shiverstones. But Esmeralda has other ideas. A princess with a talent for magic and mischief, she is determined to continue their quest to find the five other crowns, and to use them to unite the Sundered Lands once and for all.Accompanied by their new friend, Jack Nimble the bard, Trundle and Esmeralda sail to new lands in search of Esmeralda’s wise old aunt. Will the mysterious Aunt Millie give them the clues they need to find the next treasureOr are they walking straight into a trap?
The Six Crowns: The Ice Gate of Spyre
The Six Crowns: The Ice Gate of Spyre
Jones, Allan
¥90.77
The valiant hedgehog Trundle's quest for the Crown of Ice leads him and his crew to the sacred island of Spyre. According to legend, only the Oracle can find the crown, and Trundle's spirited friend Esmeralda Lightfoot is convinced she's the chosen one. Spyre is full of wonders—and danger—from its low, swampy jungles to its soaring, icy mountaintops. And as Trundle, Esmeralda, the squirrel troubadour Jack Nimble, and their new companion, a wild and crazy hare, make their way through a monastery of fighting llamas and a nest of hungry snow snakes, they discover that nothing on this extraordinary island is as it seems.
The School for the Insanely Gifted
The School for the Insanely Gifted
Elish, Dan
¥90.77
Daphna Whispers is insanely gifted.At age two and a half, she composed her first sonata.At age eight, she completed an opera.And now, at eleven and three-quarters, she is orchestrating a piano rhapsody.With a résumé like that, it's no wonder she is a student at the prestigious Blatt School for the Insanely Gifted. But as sixth grade draws to a close, Daphna's mind is far from the upcoming "Insanity Cup" competition. She's preoccupied by her mother's disappearance two months ago. When a mysterious man breaks into Daphna's small New York apartment, Daphna discovers that her mother's disappearance wasn't a random accident. Her mother knew something—and now somebody is after Daphna. What starts out as a simple fact-finding trip to the basement with her friends spirals into an international expedition. And while Daphna hopes to uncover the secret of her mother's disappearance on her global trek, the last thing she expects to uncover is an outrageous secret about the Blatt School.And one insanely shocking secret about herself.
Fear in the Sunlight
Fear in the Sunlight
Upson, Nicola
¥90.77
Summer 1936. Mystery writer Josephine Tey joins her friends in the resort village of Portmeirion, Wales, to celebrate her fortieth birthday. Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, are there to sign a deal to film Josephine's novel, A Shilling for Candles. But things get out of hand when one of Hollywood's leading actresses is brutally slashed to death in a cemetery near the village. The following day, as fear and suspicion take over in a setting where nothing—and no one—is quite what it seems, Chief Inspector Archie Penrose becomes increasingly unsatisfied with the way the investigation is ultimately resolved. Several years later, another horrif?ic murder, again linked to a Hitchcock movie, drives Penrose back to the scene of the original crime to uncover the shocking truth.
Accidentally on Purpose
Accidentally on Purpose
Pols, Mary F.
¥90.77
At thirty-nine, movie critic Mary Pols knew she wanted to have a baby. But never not in a million years on her own. To take on the physical, emotional, and financial challenges of motherhood without a perfect soul mate/husband would be absurd, kind of like not bothering to use a condom during a one-night stand with an adorable but jobless guy ten years her junior. Pols spends the ensuing weeks despairing over everything, from the financial nightmare of single motherhood to the end of her hopes for a traditional life. Not the least of her worries is finding the right way to drop the bombshell on loved ones, including her five siblings and eighty-four-year-old father, who has a German temper and an Irish Catholic attitude toward babies out of wedlock. Yet faced with the frightening, lonely truth that this might be her only chance at motherhood, she plunges ahead with the pregnancy and an Odd Couple version of a co-parenting relationship that looks like one more disaster in a long line of romantic disappointments. But even as she tries to give her son's young father a radical makeover, she realizes that his devotion and love for their child matters more than his spotty or his inability to remember to put oil in the car. With humor, insight, and compelling honesty, Pols reveals what it means to compromise in the name of love and to find joy in an accidental life, suddenly brimming with purpose.
Mind Your Body
Mind Your Body
Harper, Joel
¥90.77
A personal trainer to the stars and regular contributor to The Dr. Oz Show, Joel Harper has spent twenty years helping people achieve their weight-loss goals and optimally balancing every category of their lives. Over his career, he has witnessed firsthand thousands of health transformations and personal breakthroughs. But he's also seen time and time again how different people following the exact same regime will produce stunningly different results. Some people flourish, while others simply throw in the towel. So Harper set out to figure out why. By investigating cutting-edge research in the fields of neuroscience and neuropsychology, Harper soon discovered that people who are stuck struggling with excess weight have one thing in common—destructive self-talk and negative thinking patterns. That's right. The missing solution to successful—and long-lasting—weight loss isn't another fad diet. The secret, according to Harper, lies in tapping the power of your mind. In Mind Your Body, Harper explores the crucial—and often overlooked—connection between meals, moves, and mindset: meals to keep you nourished, moves that can be done in the comfort of your home, and the mindset to keep you motivated, inspired, and thriving. And in the process, he provides a "whole-istic" three-step weight-loss program that will help you quadruple your weight loss, maximize your workouts by 85 percent, and boost your happiness and energy levels by more than 40 percent—in just fifteen minutes a day.With Harper's proven, fun, and effective program, you'll be able to finally blast through those frustrating plateaus and achieve—once and for all—the physical, mental, and emotional health you desire. Harper teaches you the ten optimal traits that lead to successful nutritional, physical, and mental fitness. If you are tired of yo-yo dieting, fed up with hitting weight-loss plateaus, and ready to finally achieve the health and happiness that seem so elusive, Mind Your Body is the self-empowering and life-changing mind-body solution you've been waiting for.
Shadow of Empire
Shadow of Empire
Allan, Jay
¥90.77
The first installment in the Far Star series, a swashbuckling space saga that introduces the daring pirate Blackhawk and the loyal crew of the Wolf’s Claw, from the author of the bestselling Crimson Worlds saga.Smuggler and mercenary Arkarin Blackhawk and the crew of the ship Wolf’s Claw are freelance adventurers who live on the fringe of human society in the Far Stars. A veteran fighter as deadly with a blade as he is with a gun, Blackhawk is a man haunted by a dark past. Even his cynicism cannot banish the guilt and pain that threaten his sanity.Sent to rescue the kidnapped daughter of his longtime friend Marshal Augustin Lucerne, Blackhawk and his crew find themselves drawn into one deadly fight after another. When the Wolf’s Claw is damaged, they are forced to land on a remote planet subsumed by civil war. Pulled unwittingly into the conflict, they uncover disturbing information about secret imperial involvement that could upset the plans of Lucerne.For the Marshal is determined to forge a Far Stars Confederation powerful enough to eliminate all imperial influence and threats in the sector. He needs a skilled warrior like Blackhawk on his side, but the mercenary, plagued by dark memories from the past, refuses to join the cause. All too soon, though, he and his crew will have to take a stand.
Dear Thief
Dear Thief
Harvey, Samantha
¥90.77
From acclaimed Orange Prize and Guardian First Book Award finalist Samantha Harvey, a stunning novel of female friendship, betrayal, and revenge"You were going to work your way into my marriage and you were going to call its new three-way shape holy," writes the unnamed narrator of Dear Thief.The thief is Nina, or Butterfly, who disappeared eighteen years earlier and who is being summoned by this letter, this bomb, these recollections, revisions, accusations, and confessions."Sometimes I imagine, out of sheer playfulness, that I am writing this as a kind of defence for having murdered and buried you under the patio."Dear Thief is a letter to an old friend, a song, a jewel, and a continuously surprising triangular love story. Samantha Harvey writes with a dazzling blend of fury and beauty about the need for human connection and the brutal vulnerability that need exposes."While I write my spare hand might be doing anything for all you know; it might be driving a pin into your voodoo stomach."Dear Thief is a rare novel that traverses the human heart in a striking and indelible way.
Secondhand Souls
Secondhand Souls
Moore, Christopher
¥90.77
In San Francisco, the souls of the dead are mysteriously disappearing—and you know that can't be good—in this delightfully weird and funny sequel to the New York Times bestseller A Dirty JobSecondhand SoulsIt seems like only yesterday that Charlie Asher took on a very dirty job—collecting souls and keeping the Forces of Darkness at bay. The new gig came with the Big Book of the Dead and a host of other oddities: creatures under the streets, an evil trinity of ravenlike Celtic death goddesses, and one very bad Underworld dude attempting to conquer humanity. Along with a cohort of other oddballs, Charlie faced off against these denizens of darkness—and met his own end. But thanks to Audrey, his Buddhist-nun boo, his soul is still alive . . . inside a fourteen-inch-high body made from lunchmeat and spare animal parts. Waiting for Audrey to find him a suitable new body to play host, Charlie has squirreled himself away from everyone, including his adorable seven-year-old daughter, Sophie, who enjoys dressing up like a princess, playing with her glitter ponies, and—being the Luminatus—spouting off about her power over the Underworld and her dominion over Death.Just when Charlie and company thought the world was safe, some really freaky stuff hits San Francisco. People are dying, but their souls are not being collected. Someone—or something—is stealing them and no one knows where they are going, or why, but it has something to do with that big orange bridge. Then there's the Taser-wielding banshee keening about doom who's suddenly appeared while Sophie's guardian hellhounds, Alvin and Mohammed, have mysteriously vanished.Charlie is just as flummoxed as everyone else. To get to the bottom of this abomination, he and a motley crew of heroes will band together: the seven-foot-tall, two-hundred-and-seventy-five-pounds-of-lean-heartache Death Merchant Minty Fresh; the retired policeman-turned-bookseller Alphonse Rivera; the lunatic Emperor of San Francisco and his dogs, Bummer and Lazarus; Mike Sullivan, a bridge painter in love with a ghost; a gentle French-speaking janitor named Jean-Pierre Baptiste; and former Goth girl Lily Darquewillow Elventhing Severo, now a part-time suicide hotline counselor.With little Sophie babbling about the coming battle for the very soul of humankind, time is definitely not on their side. . . .Irresistibly zany, rich in humor, heart, and spirit, Secondhand Souls is vintage Christopher Moore.
The Pocket Wife
The Pocket Wife
Crawford, Susan
¥90.77
She was there. She was involved in Celia's day, although she isn't sure exactly how. She had far too much to drink. And then the incredible death—the shocking, horrible, inconceivable death, sticking like a dagger in her heart. She closes her eyes and tries to remember the last thing she said to Celia. She thinks it was "I don't ever want to see you again."Dana Catrell's life is in chaos. She's married to a lawyer who makes her feel trivial, as if stuck inside his pocket like loose change. She's also sliding toward the brink of insanity. Devastated by mania, part of her bipolar disorder, Dana finds that there are troubling holes in her memory, including what happened on the afternoon of her friend Celia's death. She's horrified to learn she's the only other person with a key to Celia's house—and the last person to see her alive.She and Celia had shared recipes and gossip. But not secrets—until that final afternoon. Closing her eyes, Dana can see images, loose pieces of a hazy puzzle. Sangria in a glass, a tiny rip in Celia's screen door, Celia lying in a pool of blood, the broken vase beside her head, the kitchen knife just so above her hand. But there are infuriating, terrifying gaps.Is murder on her mind—or is it all in her head?As evidence starts to point in her direction, Dana will use the clarity her mania brings her to fill in the blanks and clear her name before her demons win out. But her husband's odd behavior and the persistent probing of Detective Jack Moss complicate Dana's search for answers. The closer she comes to piecing together shards of her broken memory, the closer Dana comes to falling apart. Is there a killer lurking inside her . . . or is there one out there in the shadows of reality, waiting to strike again?A story of marriage, murder, and madness, The Pocket Wife is a sophisticated, gripping tale of psychological suspense that explores the world through the foggy lens of a woman on the edge.
The Abduction
The Abduction
Holt, Jonathan
¥90.77
The Abduction is an adrenaline-fuelled tale of mystery and intrigue that moves between the physical world of Venice, Italy, and its online counterpart, blurring the boundary between dark fantasy and even darker reality.Captain Kat Tapo of the Venice Carabinieri knows that the social media site Carnivia.com harbors disturbing secrets—she's already endured one encounter with this digital incarnation of Venice and its creator, the reclusive hacker Daniele Barbo. But she's shocked to discover a webcam feed that streams video of a terrified teenage girl, hooded and shackled. A strand of text repeatedly scrolls across the screen: Stressful Standing Is Not Torture.At the same time, Second Lieutenant Holly Boland is desperately trying to find the daughter of a US Army officer, missing from an American military base near the city. An intelligence analyst trained to look for clues that others miss, Holly is sure the kidnappers are after more than just money.When responsibility is claimed by a group demanding an end to US bases in Italy, it seems that the motive behind the kidnapping is clear. But the more the two women investigate, the more the case becomes as murky as the dark waters of Venice's lagoon itself.Uncooperative at the best of times, Daniele has never before allowed Carnivia.com to yield its hidden truths to the authorities. But when secrets from Italy's complicated wartime past begin to surface, revelations that could put them all in danger, he must make a difficult choice. How far will he let them inIf the shocking truth is not discovered, more than one innocent life will be sacrificed....With The Abduction, the second book in the Carnivia Trilogy, Jonathan Holt delivers a heart-pounding sequel to his acclaimed international thriller The Abomination.