万本电子书0元读

万本电子书0元读

Goddess for Hire
Goddess for Hire
Singh, Sonia
¥84.16
A hip chick from Newport Beach, California, who's just turned thirty, discovered she's the incarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali,and happens to be unemployed and still livingwith her parents. Saving the world, though,may prove to be a curry-scented breezecompared to dealing with her extendedIndian family. In their eyes she isn't just theblack sheep -- she's low-grade mutton.To make matters worse, despite frequent andtherapeutic bouts of shopping and Starbucks,and the mentoring of a Taco Bell-loving,Coca Cola-guzzling swami, Maya hastrouble just surviving, thanks to the attentionsof a Kali-hating fanatic and a matchmaking aunthell-bent on finding her a nice Indian boy. Maya hasno interest in boys. She wants a man and she may have found one.He's tall, dark, and gorgeous ... and completely uninterested in her.In the name of all that's holy and fashionable ...what on Earth is a goddess to do?
If You Eat, You Never Die
If You Eat, You Never Die
Romano, Tony
¥84.16
In a neighborhood on Chicago's outskirts, Fabio and Lucia Comingo have built a new American life—and struggle to comprehend the influences that distract and change their restless young sons. Through this masterful evocation of a time and place, Tony Romano, the acclaimed author of When the World Was Young, brings a first-generation Italian American family vividly and poignantly alive in closely related tales at once joyous, heartbreaking, and honest. Weaving two dozen stories into a stunning, cohesive family history, Romano gives readers hope for togetherness amid the painful generational cycle of loss and redemption—as children grow and learn, and decide which treasures of cultural inheritance they will cherish.
The Prophet of Zongo Street
The Prophet of Zongo Street
Ali, Mohammed Naseehu
¥84.16
A dazzling collection of stories, The Prophet of Zongo Street takes readers to a world that seamlessly blends African folklore and myths with modernity. Set primarily on Zongo Street, a fictitious community in West Africa, the stories -- which are reminiscent of the works of Ben Okri and Amos Tutuola -- introduce us to wonderfully quirky characters and the most uproarious, poignant, and rawest moments of life. There's Kumi, the enigmatic title character who teaches a young boy to finally ask questions of his traditions. And as Ali moves his characters to America we meet Felix, who struggles with America's love of the exotic in "Rachmaninov."The Prophet of Zongo Street heralds a new voice and showcases Mohammed Naseehu Ali's extraordinary ability to craft stories that are both allegorical and unforgettable.
The Secret Sisters
The Secret Sisters
Rodgers, Joni
¥84.16
Exploring the timeless themes of family, self, misfortune, and hope that have made the novels of Anna Quindlen and Sue Miller bestsellers, Joni Rodgers's moving and powerful tale tells the story of three women bound together by loss and set free by love.Pia feels the walls of her life closing in around her, until she discovers a strangely sensual world that leads her to a new existence.Lily, Pia's brash, tough-talking sister, makes a tragic mistake that leaves her incarcerated, body and soul. But when she finds the last thing she expects—love—she is at last able to face the past.Beth, married to Pia and Lily's brother, has never been able to admit her own failure as a mother. Finally forced to confront a tragedy of her own making, she discovers that the truth can set her free.
Addition
Addition
Jordan, Toni
¥84.16
Everything counts . . .Grace Lisa Vandenburg orders her world with numbers: how many bananas she buys, how many steps she takes to the café, where she chooses to sit, how many poppy seeds are in her daily piece of orange cake. Every morning she uses 100 strokes to brush her hair, 160 strokes to brush her teeth. She remembers the day she started to count, how she used numbers to organize her adolescence, her career, even the men she dated. But something went wrong. Grace used to be a teacher, but now she's surviving on disability checks. According to the parents of one of her former students, "she's mad." Most people don't understand that numbers rule, not just the world in a macro way but their world, their own world. Their lives. They don't really understand that everything and everybody are connected by a mathematical formula. Counting is what defines us . . . the only thing that gives our lives meaning is the knowledge that eventually we all will die. That's what makes each minute important. Without the ability to count our days, our hours, our loved ones . . . there's no meaning. Our lives would have no meaning. Without counting, our lives are unexamined. Not valued. Not precious. This consciousness, this ability to rejoice when we gain something and grieve when we lose something—this is what separates us from other animals. Counting, adding, measuring, timing. It's what makes us human.Grace's father is dead and her mother is a mystery to her. Her sister wants to sympathize but she really doesn't understand. Only Hilary, her favorite niece, connects with her. And Grace can only connect with Nikola Tesla, the turn-of-the-twentieth-century inventor whose portrait sits on her bedside table and who rescues her in her dreams. Then one day all the tables at her regular café are full, and as she hesitates in the doorway a stranger—Seamus Joseph O'Reilly (19 letters in his name, just like Grace's)—invites her to sit with him. Grace is not the least bit sentimental. But she understands that no matter how organized you are, how many systems you put in place, you can't plan for people. They are unpredictable and full of possibilities—like life itself, a series of maybes and what-ifs. And suddenly, Grace may be about to lose count of the number of ways she can fall in love.
Almost True Confessions
Almost True Confessions
O'Connor, Jane
¥84.16
This comic mystery set in the elite zip codes of Manhattan will leave you breathless . . . literallyWhat could be more fun for a freelance copy editor than work- ing on a juicy tell-all about one of Manhattan's most enigmatic society doyennesBut when Miranda "Rannie" Bookman arrives at Ret Sullivan's tony Upper East Side apartment, she finds more than the final draft of the reclusive author's manu* waiting for her—there's also the half-naked body of Ret herself, tied to her bed and strangled with an Hermès scarf.Was this merely a case, as the police believe, of rough sex that got a little too roughOr was Ret murdered because someone wanted to make absolutely sure she didn't meet her deadlineOnce again, Rannie must prove that her mind is just as sharp as her Col-Erase blue pencils—or risk getting rubbed out too.
Every Night Is Ladies' Night
Every Night Is Ladies' Night
Jaime-Becerra, Michael
¥84.16
In Every Night Is Ladies' Night, we are given a rare glimpse into a world created by the imagination of one of America's most promising authors. This brilliant debut collection of interrelated stories presents a portrait of a community whose members seek their own place beyond their immediate, physical world. The cast of recurring characters Jaime-Becerra has expertly created rings true: people whose hands show signs of hard work, who are optimistic enough to want to dance even if their feet are tired, and who go to bed at night and know just how long they are allowed to sleep before the obligations of their next day begin. From a teenage boy who lives in the shadow of his wild Goth sister, to a race car driver hot after the Mexican beauty queen of his dreams, to Grandpa Lopez, an on-the-road trucker who surprises his family by showing up for his granddaughter's wedding only to peel away with her dress on the day of the ceremony, readers will wholeheartedly engage themselves in Jaime-Becerra's vibrant, literary universe. Michael Jaime-Becerra shines a warm light on mechanics and musicians, on drivers of ice cream trucks and big rigs, on kids busy marking themselves with tattoos; he allows readers a unique vantage as the characters fall in love, make ends meet, and try to outlast their pasts. To help his characters negotiate the obstacles life places before them, Jaime-Becerra draws upon an attentiveness for rich, tender detail tempered by a masterful subtlety. These qualities suggest the talent of an author who is equal parts artist and craftsman. More important, they have resulted in a collection that is universal and stunning.
Hilda and Pearl
Hilda and Pearl
Mattison, Alice
¥84.16
To Frances, an only child living in McCarthy-era Brooklyn, her mother, Hilda, and her aunt Pearl seem as if they have always been friends. Frances does not question the love between the two women until her father's job as a teacher is threatened by anti-Communism, just as Frances begins to learn about her family's past. Why does Hilda refer to her "first pregnancy," as if Frances wasn't her only childWhose baby shoes are hidden in Hilda's dresser drawerWhy is there tension when Pearl and her husband come to visit?The story of a young girl in the fifties and her elders' coming-of-age in the unquiet thirties, this book resonates deeply, revealing in beautiful, clear language the complexities of friendship and loss.
A Medicine for Melancholy and Other Stories
A Medicine for Melancholy and Other Stories
Bradbury, Ray
¥84.16
Ray Bradbury is a painter who uses words rather than brushes--for he created lasting visual images that, once observed, are impossible to forget. Sinister mushrooms growing in a dank cellar. A family's first glimpse at Martians. A wonderful white vanilla ice-cream summer suit that changes everyone who wears it. A great artist drawing in the sand on the beach. A clunky contraption made out of household implements to help some kids play a game called Invasion. The most marvelous Christmas display a little boy ever saw. All those images and many more are inside this book, a new trade edition of thirty-one of Bradbury's most arresting tales--timeless short fiction that ranges from the farthest reaches of space to the innermost stirrings of the heart. Ray Bradbury is known worldwide as one of the century's great men of imagination. Here are thirty-one reasons why.Ray Bradbury is a painter who uses words rather than brushes--for he created lasting visual images that, once observed, are impossible to forget. Sinister mushrooms growing in a dank cellar. A familys first glimpse at Martians. A wonderful white vanilla ice-cream summer suit that changes everyone who wears it. A great artist drawing in the sand on the beach. A clunky contraption made out of household implements to help some kids play a game called Invasion. The most marvelous Christmas display a little boy ever saw. All those images and many more are inside this book, a new trade edition of thirty-one of Bradburys most arresting tales--timeless short fiction that ranges from the farthest reaches of space to the innermost stirrings of the heart. Ray Bradbury is known worldwide as one of the centurys great men of imagination. Here are thirty-one reasons why.
Invisible Inkling: The Whoopie Pie War
Invisible Inkling: The Whoopie Pie War
Jenkins, Emily
¥84.16
The adventures of Brooklyn boy Hank Wolowitz and his invisible—but not imaginary—friend continue with The Whoopie Pie War, the third book in the Invisible Inkling series by Emily Jenkins.?A truck selling ice-cream whoopie pies sets up right in front of the ice-cream shop belonging to Hank’s family, and it’s taking away all the shop’s business. His dad is going crazy. His mom is furious.?Hank and Inkling, his invisible bandapat, aren’t going to take it. The Whoopie Pie War is on! They’ll do whatever it takes to beat the whoopie pie truck—unicorn costumes, extreme kindness, an army of supervillains.The illustrated chapter book’s mix of silliness, fantasy, strong sense of place, and a realistic family make it a great pick for middle-grade readers.
The Beautiful Indifference
The Beautiful Indifference
Hall, Sarah
¥84.16
Winner of the Portico PrizeWinner of the Edge Hill University Short Story PrizeShort-listed for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story AwardSarah Hall has been hailed as "one of the most significant and exciting of Britain's young novelists" (The Guardian). Now, in this collection of short fiction published in England to phenomenal praise, she has created a work at once provocative and mesmerizing.
The Carrion Birds
The Carrion Birds
Waite, Urban
¥84.16
Set in a small town in the Southwest, a soulful work of literary noir rife with vengeance and contrition from a fresh voice in fiction—the author of the highly acclaimed The Terror of LivingLife hasn't worked out the way Ray Lamar planned. A widower who's made some tragic mistakes, he's got one good thing going for him: he's calm and efficient under pressure, usually with a gun in his hand. A useful skill to have when you're paid to hurt people who stand in your boss's way.But Ray isn't sure he wants to be that man anymore. He wants to go home and see the son he hopes will recognize him. He wants to make a new life far from the violence of the last ten years, and he believes that one last job will take him there. A job that should be simple, easy, clean.Ray knows there's no such thing as easy, and sure enough, the first day ends in a catastrophic mess. Now the runners who have always moved quietly through this desert town on the Mexican border want answers. And revenge. Short on time, with no one to trust but himself, Ray must come up with a plan, or else Coronado, New Mexico's lady sheriff will have a vicious bloodbath on her hands.Set in a town once rich with oil, now forgotten and struggling, The Carrion Birds is filled with refreshingly realistic and vulnerable characters. With its masterfully orchestrated suspense and unexpected bursts of lyricism, this is a remarkably unsettling and indelible work in the tradition of Cormac McCarthy, Elmore Leonard, and Dennis Lehane.
Circles of Time
Circles of Time
Rock, Phillip
¥84.16
The Acclaimed Trilogy That Has Been Called a Must-Read for Fans of Downton AbbeyA generation has been lost on the Western Front. The dead have been buried, a harsh peace forged, and the howl of shells replaced by the wail of saxophones as the Jazz Age begins. But ghosts linger—that long-ago golden summer of 1914 tugging at the memory of Martin Rilke and his British cousins, the Grevilles.From the countess to the chauffeur, the inhabitants of Abingdon Pryory seek to forget the past and adjust their lives to a new era in which old values, social codes, and sexual mores have been irretrievably swept away. Martin Rilke throws himself into reporting, discovering unsettling political currents, as Fenton Wood-Lacy faces exile in faraway army outposts. Back at Abingdon, Charles Greville shows signs of recovery from shell shock and Alexandra is caught up in an unlikely romance. Circles of Time captures the age as these strongly drawn characters experience it, unfolding against England's most gracious manor house, the steamy nightclubs of London's Soho, and the despair of Germany caught in the nightmare of anarchy and inflation. Lives are renewed, new loves found, and a future of peace and happiness is glimpsed—for the moment.
The Ultimatum
The Ultimatum
Graziano, Dan
¥84.16
Henry's got it good. He's a semi-successful, if not yet famous novelist. He's got a good job and good buds. Best of all, he's got Layla, his long-time, live-in lover, a fast-track associate at a New Jersey law firm. Henry loves Layla and she loves him. Life is a banquet, until . . . The Ultimatum!In a week, Henry and Layla are off to Maine for a friend's wedding. And if Henry hasn't proposed marriage by the time the bride tosses the bouquet, Layla swears they're finished. For good. Henry thinks if it's not broke, don't fix it. But Layla needs proof of his love and devotion. And she's not kidding.So who can he turn to for adviceJake, his despondent divorced brotherHis marriage-junkie golf friend, Big JohnHis outsized Peter Pan pal Pete, who simply won't grow upMeanwhile Layla's got her two best girlfriends, tough-talking Gloria and sensitive Susan, giving helpful, contradictory advice.Time is ticking away on the most important decision of Henry's life. But it'll take a mad, high-speed road trip and some bizarre behavior—perhaps even an impromptu kidnapping—to point him in the right, life-changing direction.
Light of Day
Light of Day
Saul, Jamie M.
¥84.16
Light of Day is a powerful and illuminating novel about love, loss, and the unforeseeable darkness that lurks around the corners of everyday life.Respected professor Jack Owens brought his son, Danny, to Gilbert, Indiana, to escape a betrayal too painful to endure anywhere but in this quiet midwestern college town. After ten years, Jack believed they were safe. But on a seemingly ordinary day, the world Jack thought he knew and the future he anticipated abruptly come apart at the seams, leaving him haunted by the questions: Whyand What nextRedemption, however, could come with the arrival of an unexpected friend whose prescient understanding slowly helps Jack cope with the unacceptable. But with healing comes clarity—and secrets best left unrevealed by the stark, glaring light of day.
Practical Demonkeeping
Practical Demonkeeping
Moore, Christopher
¥84.16
In Christopher Moore's ingenious debut novel, we meet one of the most memorably mismatched pairs in the annals of literature. The good-looking one is one-hundred-year-old ex-seminarian and "roads" scholar Travis O'Hearn. The green one is Catch, a demon with a nasty habit of eating most of the people he meets. Behind the fake Tudor fa?ade of Pine Cove, California, Catch sees a four-star buffet. Travis, on the other hand, thinks he sees a way of ridding himself of his toothy traveling companion. The winos, neo-pagans, and deadbeat Lotharios of Pine Cove, meanwhile, have other ideas. And none of them is quite prepared when all hell breaks loose.
Good-bye and Amen
Good-bye and Amen
Gutcheon, Beth
¥84.16
In a summer cottage on the coast of Maine, an unlikely love was nurtured, a marriage endured, and a family survived. Now it is time for the children of that marriage to make peace with the wounds and the treasures left to them. And to sort out which is which. The complicated marriage of the gifted Danish pianist Laurus Moss to the provincial American child of privilege Sydney Brant was a mystery to many who knew them, including their three children. Now Eleanor, Monica, and Jimmy Moss have to decide how to divide or share what Laurus and Sydney have left them without losing one another.
Home to Harmony
Home to Harmony
Gulley, Philip
¥84.16
Welcome to Harmony ...In this acclaimed inaugural volume in the Harmony series, master American storyteller Philip Gulley draws us into the charming world of minister Sam Gardner in his first year back in his hometown, capturing the essence of small-town life with humor and wisdom.
The Road to Jerusalem
The Road to Jerusalem
Guillou, Jan
¥84.16
For power. For passion. For glory. The epic story of the knights templar.Born in 1150 to a noble family in the Kingdom of Western G?taland, young Arn Magnusson is marked early on by a miraculous and fateful event. When the boy inexplicably recovers after falling from the parapet of his ancestral home, his mother finds herself beholden to a promise made in a moment of prayer. Arn, second-born son of Magnus Folkesson, will live his life in the service of God—sent from his family to do holy work and to prepare for a position in the priory.At Varnhem monastery, Arn comes of age under the tutelage of Father Henri, a Cistercian monk devoted to his aristocratic pupil's education. However, grammar, math, and logic are not the only lessons: Brother Guilbert, the monastery blacksmith and former Knight Templar, finds Arn adept at training of a very different kind. Observing the boy's extraordinary talent with horse, sword, and bow, Father Henri, trusting in God's will, sends his charge into the world to fulfill a destiny that lies beyond the cloister walls.Returning home, Arn finds his monastic habits at odds with his clan's old and tested ways. Yet his family soon discovers that Arn has learned more than poetry and farm work, and he proves himself useful at a time when he is needed most. The murder of a king has brought Western G?taland into a whirlwind of intrigue, and cunning lords from East and West are vying for power. And, when Arn meets the lovely Cecilia, he discovers this new and dangerous world holds other surprises too. Before he can claim her hand, however, the headstrong and na?ve noble makes a fateful mistake that will wrench him from his love and send him to a foreign war—to the Holy Land to battle infidels for twenty years.From the frozen landscapes of Northern Europe to the bloody battlefields of the Middle East, Arn will face brave knights, powerful queens, and treacherous kings. The first book in the international bestselling Crusades Trilogy, this thrilling epic of betrayal, faith, blood, and love sets "a Shakespearian quest for power" (Corriere della Sera, Italy) against the backdrop of the Holy Wars, witnessed through a vibrant, unorthodox lens.
Circling the Drain
Circling the Drain
Davis, Amanda
¥84.16
Enter into the worlds of fifteen young women who, despite their vastly different circumstances, seem to negotiate an eerily similar and unavoidably dangerous emotional terrain. With a visceral bite or a surreal edge, each electrically charged story in Circling the Drain presents women trying to understand the nature of loss--of leaving or being left--and discovering that in the throes of feverish conflict, things are rarely what they seem. By turns dark and lyrical, ferocious and playful, these stories are precise, startling, and undeniably original. Reading them is a cathartic, mesmerizing literary experience.
Filthy Rich
Filthy Rich
Samuels, Dorothy
¥84.16
Marcy Mallowitz has just been dumped -- big time! Marcy's orthodontist boyfriend, Neil, blew a gasket during an appearance on So You Want to Be Filthy Rich!, the stratospheric television phenomenon and top-rated quiz show of all time. When Marcy incorrectly answered his $1.75 million Lifeline question, Neil immediately broke off their preengagement, abruptly terminating their three-year relationship -- in front of twenty million people coast to coast! Suddenly Marcy isn't just Marcy anymore. The thirtysomething Barnard Phi Beta Kappa and Personal Life Coach is now the nationally renowned victim of America's "Big Brush-Off." Media hounds are clamoring for interviews. The street in front of her West Village apartment is swarming with paparazzi sharks. And everyone -- everyone -- knows her name, even if only as the punchline to late-night talk-show jokes. Marcy, who has made a career of improving other peoples's lives, could now use some serious help reclaiming her own. But where does she turnTo her lovable, meddling, marriage-oriented momTo her protective dad, who dreams of Marcy joining the family roach extermination companyTo her two decidedly oddball best girlfriendsMarcy Mallowitz's fifteen minutes of fame are lasting a lot longer than she would ever have dreamed possible. And now she'll either have to find someplace to hide from the all-seeing, unblinking media eye...or agree to expose herself to the world, à la Survivor's naked fat guy. A dazzling debut novel as winning and smart as it Is uproariously funny, Dorothy Samuels's Filthy Rich is an unprecedented delight -- a story of women, men, friends, and mothers; of fame and romance in the early twenty-first century; and of that contemporary nemesis of modern love: reality TV.