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The Time of My Life
The Time of My Life
Ahern, Cecelia
¥95.39
Dear Lucy Silchester, You have an appointment for Monday, May 30, 2011. Yours sincerely, Life. Lucy Silchester keeps receiving this appointment card and sweeping the envelope under the rug. Literally. Instead, she has busied herself with work (a job she doesn't love), helping out friends, fixing her car, feeding her cat, seeing her family, and devoting her time to their life dramas. But she stuck in a rut and deluding everyone. Only Lucy knows the real truth. Then one day life shows up at her door, in the form of a rather run-down man in an old suit, who is determined to bring about change. Life follows Lucy everywhere the office, bars meets her flabbergasted friends, and won't let Lucy off the hook. What she learns in the process is that some of the choices she made, and stories she told, aren't what they seem either. Now her stubborn half-truths are going to be revealed in all their glory . . . unless Lucy learns to tell the truth about what really matters to her.
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells
Greer, Andrew Sean
¥95.39
1985. After the death of her beloved twin brother, Felix, and the breakup with her longtime lover, Nathan, Greta Wells embarks on a radical psychiatric treatment to alleviate her suffocating depression. But the treatment has unexpected effects, and Greta finds herself transported to the lives she might have had if she'd been born in different eras. During the course of her treatment, Greta cycles between her own time and alternate lives in 1918, where she is a bohemian adulteress, and 1941, which transforms her into a devoted mother and wife. Separated by time and social mores, Greta's three lives are remarkably similar, fraught with familiar tensions and difficult choices. Each reality has its own losses, its own rewards, and each extracts a different price. And the modern Greta learns that her alternate selves are unpredictable, driven by their own desires and needs.As her final treatment looms, questions arise: What will happen once each Greta learns how to remain in one of the other worldsWho will choose to stay in which life?Magically atmospheric, achingly romantic, The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells beautifully imagines "what if" and wondrously wrestles with the impossibility of what could be.
Beautiful Ruins
Beautiful Ruins
Walter, Jess
¥95.39
The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier. What unfolds is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel, spanning fifty years and nearly as many lives. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Walter introduces us to the tangled lives of a dozen unforgettable characters: the starstruck Italian innkeeper and his long-lost love; the heroically preserved producer who once brought them together and his idealistic young assistant; the army veteran turned fledgling novelist and the rakish Richard Burton himself, whose appetites set the whole story in motion along with the husbands and wives, lovers and dreamers, superstars and losers, who populate their world in the decades that follow. Gloriously inventive, constantly surprising, Beautiful Ruins is a story of flawed yet fascinating people, navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.
Hide Me Among the Graves
Hide Me Among the Graves
Powers, Tim
¥95.39
London, winter of 1862, Adelaide McKee, a former prostitute, arrives on the doorstep of veterinarian John Crawford, a man she met once seven years earlier. Their brief meeting produced a child who, until now, had been presumed dead. McKee has learned that the girl lives—but that her life and soul are in mortal peril from a vampiric ghost. But this is no ordinary spirit; the bloodthirsty wraith is none other than John Polidori, the onetime physician to the mad, bad, and dangerous Romantic poet Lord Byron. Both McKee and Crawford have mysterious histories with creatures like Polidori, and their child is a prize the malevolent spirit covets dearly. Polidori is also the late uncle and supernatural muse to the poet Christina Rossetti and her brother, the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. When she was just fourteen years old, Christina unwittingly brought Polidori's curse upon her family. But the curse bestowed unexpected blessings as well, inspiring Christina's poetry and Gabriel's paintings. But when Polidori resurrects Dante's dead wife—turning her into a horrifying vampire—and threatens other family members, Christina and Dante agree that they must destroy their monstrous uncle and break the spell, even if it means the end of their creative powers. Determined to save their daughter, McKee and Crawford join forces with the Rossettis, and soon these wildly mismatched allies are plunged into a supernatural London underworld whose existence goes beyond their wildest imaginings. Ultimately, each of these disparate individuals—the sensitive poet, the tortured painter, the straitlaced animal doctor, the reformed prostitute, and even their Artful Dodger–like young daughter—must choose between the banality and constraints of human life and the unholy immortality that Polidori offers.Sweeping from the mansions of London's high society to its grimy slums, the elegant salons of the West End to the pre-Roman catacombs beneath St. Paul's Cathedral, Hide Me Among the Graves blends the historical and the supernatural in a dazzling, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride—a modern horror story with a Victorian twist.
A Box of Gargoyles
A Box of Gargoyles
Nesbet, Anne
¥95.39
Fans of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass will love Anne Nesbet’s middle-grade fantasy A Box of Gargoyles.?In this sequel to The Cabinet of Earths, twelve-year-old Maya is feeling more at home in Paris, a city filled with old magic. Her little brother, James, is safe, and the terrible man with purple eyes is gone. At least Maya believed he was until a person-sized column of dust and leaves with hints of purple where its eyes should be begins following her.?Maya suspects the strange, shadowy column is what’s left of the purple-eyed man, and that it—he—is behind the eerie changes in Paris, including the appearance of flying, talking stone gargoyles. She’s right. Worse, he has bound Maya to make him whole again, even if it kills her.
Bravelands #5: The Spirit-Eaters
Bravelands #5: The Spirit-Eaters
Hunter, Erin
¥95.39
Heed the call of the wild…discover the fifth book in this action-packed, New York Times bestselling animal fantasy series from the author of Warriors!★ “Deep characters, a complex plot, rich mythology, and a stunning setting. Wild and wonderful.” —Kirkus on Bravelands #1: Broken PrideSet in the African savannah and told from three different animals’ points of view, Bravelands will thrill readers who love Spirit Animals and Wings of Fire, as well as the fans who’ve made Erin Hunter a #1 nationally bestselling phenomenon.True evil has come to Bravelands... Only hope will drive it out...As the new Great Father, the young baboon, Thorn, hopes to guide Bravelands to peace after a period of great turmoil. But a pack of rogue wolves lurks among the Great Herd, committing acts so evil they threaten to shatter that peace before it’s even begun.The animals of the Great Herd must once again unite to defend their home against those who would watch it burn.
Starfell #1: Willow Moss & the Lost Day
Starfell #1: Willow Moss & the Lost Day
Valente, Dominique
¥95.39
The ordinary becomes extraordinary in this sparkling first book in the Starfell series, a modern classic perfect for fans of Nevermoor and The Land of Stories. Willow Moss’s small magic has always seemed unremarkable. But when the most feared witch in the land of Starfell appears on the Moss family’s doorstep looking for help, it’s not Willow’s talented sisters she seeks, it’s Willow. Because Willow is a finder of lost things—and Moreg Vaine says that last Tuesday has gone missing.Willow and Moreg set out on a perilous journey across the wilds of Starfell, looking for what they’ve lost. If they don’t discover what happened to the missing day, the repercussions could be devastating for the entire kingdom.Can Willow find the day, to save the day?
No Sunscreen for the Dead:A Novel
No Sunscreen for the Dead:A Novel
Dorsey, Tim
¥95.39
A USA Today Bestseller!The Sunshine State’s most lovable psychopath, Serge A. Storms, kills it in this zany adventure from the “compulsively irreverent and shockingly funny” (Boston Globe) king of mayhem, New York Times bestselling author Tim Dorsey.Serge and Coleman are back on the road, ready to hit the next stop on their list of obscure and wacky points of interest in the Sunshine State. This time, Serge’s interest is drawn to one of the largest retirement villages in the world—also known as the site of an infamous sex scandal between a retiree and her younger beau that rocked the community. What starts out as an innocent quest to observe elders in their natural habitats, sample the local cuisine, and scope out a condo to live out the rest of their golden years, soon becomes a Robin Hood-like crusade to recover the funds of swindled residents. After all, our seniors should be revered and respected—they’ve heroically fought in wars, garnered priceless wisdom, and they have the best first-hand accounts of bizarre Floridian occurrences only Serge would know about. But as the resident’s rally for Serge to seek justice on their behalves, two detectives are hot on the heels of Serge and Coleman’s murderous trail. In this epic adventure that jumps between present day and the tumultuous times of the Vietnam war, mystery fans are in for a witty and deliciously violent delight from the twisted imagination of bestselling author Tim Dorsey.
The Tragical Tale of Birdie Bloom
The Tragical Tale of Birdie Bloom
Beltz, Temre
¥95.39
A hilarious and heartwarming stand-alone middle grade debut, The Tragical Tale of Birdie Bloom is a whimsically fractured fairy tale perfect for fans of Shannon Hale and Adam Gidwitz. In the fairy-tale kingdom of Wanderly, everyone has a role.Birdie Bloom is a Tragical—an orphan doomed to an unhappy ending. Agnes Prunella Crunch is a witch. The wicked kind. In Wanderly, a meeting between a witch and a Tragical can only end one way: tragically. But with the help of some mysterious Winds, a few wayward letters, and a very unusual book, the two might just form the kingdom’s unlikeliest friendship—and together, rewrite their story into one that isn’t very Tragical at all.“I absolutely ADORED Birdie’s story from beginning to end. The most charming book, footnotes and all!”—Liesl Shurtliff, New York Times bestselling author of Rump
The Peacock Detectives
The Peacock Detectives
Nugent, Carly
¥95.39
Perfect for fans of The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street and Waiting for Normal, this charming middle grade mystery is full of heart, humor, and more than a few surprises.Eleven-turning-twelve-year-old Cassie is an expert Peacock Detective.Her sharp eye for details is why the Hudsons from across the street call her every time their pet peacocks wander away. But there are some things even the greatest Peacock Detective can’t figure out, like why her best friend is so angry lately; why her older sister is cutting her hair off; or why her parents are acting like they don’t know each other anymore. Cassie is an expert at solving things. But what’s a master detective to do when her whole world is changing, and all the answers are out of reach?
Daniel Coldstar #2: The Betrayer
Daniel Coldstar #2: The Betrayer
Pavlou, Stel
¥95.39
In this exciting sequel to The Relic War, adventure calls…but can Truth prevail?The galaxy is at war. And Daniel Coldstar and his Truth Seeker friends are traversing the galaxy, saving refugees from destroyed worlds and trying to locate the stolen Book of Planets before the evil Sinja use it to cause any more damage.Meanwhile, someone wants Daniel Coldstar to stray from his mission and sends him messages that lead him right to an abandoned ship—a ship that has mysterious ties to Daniel’s past.What does the anonymous messenger want with him? And who can Daniel really trust in a galaxy filled with the Sinja’s devious lies? Ever since his old friend Blink and an anatom named Hex betrayed him, Daniel isn’t sure. When the messages eventually lead Daniel to Ionica Lux’s home, long-held secrets are finally revealed and Daniel and Ionica will have to put their lives on their line to save their loved ones and destroy the Sinja forces once and for all.
Finding Fish
Finding Fish
Fisher, Antwone Q.
¥95.39
Baby Boy Fisher was raised in institutions from the moment of his birth in prison to a single mother. He ultimately came to live with a foster family, where he endured near-constant verbal and physical abuse. In his mid-teens he escaped and enlisted in the navy, where he became a man of the world, raised by the family he created for himself.Finding Fish shows how, out of this unlikely mix of deprivation and hope, an artist was born -- first as the child who painted the feelings his words dared not speak, then as a poet and storyteller who would eventually become one of Hollywood's most sought-after screenwriters. A tumultuous and ultimately gratifying tale of self-discovery written in Fisher's gritty yet melodic literary voice, Finding Fish is an unforgettable reading experience.
Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End
Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End
Worth, Jennifer
¥95.39
The last book in the trilogy begun by Jennifer Worth's New York Times bestseller and the basis for the PBS series Call the MidwifeWhen twenty-two-year-old Jennifer Worth, from a comfortable middle-class upbringing, went to work as a midwife in the poorest section of postwar London, she not only delivered hundreds of babies and touched many lives, she also became the neighborhood's most vivid chronicler. Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End is the last book in Worth's memoir trilogy, which the Times Literary Supplement described as "powerful stories with sweet charm and controlled outrage" in the face of dire circumstances.Here, at last, is the full story of Chummy's delightful courtship and wedding. We also meet Megan'mave, identical twins who share a browbeaten husband, and return to Sister Monica Joan, who is in top eccentric form. As in Worth's first two books, Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times and Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse, the vividly portrayed denizens of a postwar East End contend with the trials of extreme poverty unsanitary conditions, hunger, and disease and find surprising ways to thrive in their tightly knit community.A rich portrait of a bygone era of comradeship and midwifery populated by unforgettable characters, Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End will appeal to readers of Frank McCourt, Katherine Boo, and James Herriot, as well as to the fans of the acclaimed PBS show based on the trilogy.
The Hacienda
The Hacienda
Hook, Peter
¥95.39
The acclaimed and wildly outlandish inside account of England’s most notorious music club, The Hacienda, from Peter Hook, the New York Times bestselling author of Unknown Pleasures and co-founder of Joy Division and New Order—a story of music, gangsters, drugs, and violence, available for the first time in the United States. During the 1980s, The Hacienda would become one of the most famous venues in the history of clubbing—a celebrated cultural watershed alongside Studio 54, CBGBS, and The Whiskey—until its tragic demise. Founded by New Order and Factory Records, The Hacienda hosted gigs by such legendary acts as the Stone Roses, the Smiths, Bauhaus, Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC, Kurtis Blow, and Happy Mondays; gave birth to the “Madchester” scene; became the cathedral for acid house; and laid the tracks for rave culture and today’s electronic dance music. But over the course of its fifteen-year run, “Madchester” descended into “Gunchester” as gangs, drugs, greed, and a hostile police force decimated the dream. Told in Hook’s uproarious and uncompromising voice, The Hacienda is a funny, horrifying, and outlandish story of success, idealism, na?veté, and greed—of an incredible time and place that would change the face and sound of modern music. The Hacienda includes 32 photographs in 16-page four-color insert.
A Voyage For Madmen
A Voyage For Madmen
Nichols, Peter
¥95.39
In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever held: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe nonstop. It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was madness, failure, and death.In this extraordinary book, Peter Nichols chronicles a contest of the individual against the sea, waged at a time before cell phones, satellite dishes, and electronic positioning systems. A Voyage for Madmen is a tale of sailors driven by their own dreams and demons, of horrific storms in the Southern Ocean, and of those riveting moments when a split-second decision means the difference between life and death.
Against All Odds
Against All Odds
Brown, Scott
¥95.39
The extraordinary personal journey of a man who, against all odds, rose to become one of America’s most surprising and promising new political figures Scott Brown's greatest win did not occur on a cold January election night in 2010 when he came from behind to capture the U.S. Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy for nearly fifty years. It began when he survived a savage beating at the drunken, dirty-fingernail hands of a stepfather when he was barely six years old, while trying to protect his mother.In this gripping memoir of resilience and redemption, Brown tells the story of his difficult, often nomadic childhood, shunted from house to apartment, and town to town, seventeen times over his first eighteen years. He somehow thrived despite a largely absent father, who married four separate times. So did his mother, in relationships frequently stained with alcohol, anger, and even violence. For nearly two decades' growing up, Brown endured innumerable hardships and challenges, even stealing food to eat. He was periodically sent off to live with relatives, his possessions wrapped in a few old blankets. Saved by basketball, he was the boy who shoveled snow from the public courts to shoot hoops alone in the frozen cold.With clear-eyed conviction and unflinching can-dor, Brown tells the story of his own bad-boy days, of the coaches who mentored him, and of how he found a way out of familial chaos through the swish of a ball in the net, winning a starting slot on the Tufts varsity basketball team as a freshman player and becoming the tenth-highest scorer to graduate in the school's history. His rise from there was even more improbable: a first-year law student and member of the Massachusetts National Guard, he was picked as Cosmopolitan magazine's "America's Sexiest Man" and was vaulted into the glamorous world of New York modeling at the height of the 1980s. But the man who was once ushered into the backrooms of Studio 54 returned to Massachusetts to continue with his military and legal training, settle down, raise a family, and soon found an unlikely path that would lead him to national political stardom. Here, too, are the secrets from the unprecedented Senate race that captured the country's imagination and how Scott Brown won his remarkable victory.Poignant, heartfelt, humorous, and profound, this is the story of one man's dream and his determination to fight for a better future.
Twee
Twee
Spitz, Marc
¥95.39
What is the most polarizing and important youth movement since Hip-HopTweeWhat?!Artisanal chocolate. Mustaches. Locally sourced vegetables. Etsy. Birds.Flea markets. Cult films. Horn-rimmed glasses.What do all of these icons have in commonThey are signifiers that author Marc Spitz groups as falling under the umbrella of Twee, a powerful, expansive youth movement that has colored popular culture in surprising ways.In the same way that Douglas Coupland branded Generation X with his groundbreaking novel, Spitz gives name to a sensibility that prizes kindness over irony, encourages obsessive fandom and collection culture, supports a hunger for purity of craft, and, most important, strives for the preservation of the innocence of childhood. As a result, Twee is divisive, and Spitz shows that there is a tribe of people who fiercely self-identify while others simply cringe.Twee features exclusive interviews plus in-depth research on Twee touchstones past and present, including Walt Disney, James Dean, J. D. Salinger, Sylvia Plath, Dr. Seuss, Truman Capote, Maurice Sendak, Edward Gorey, Jean Seberg, the Kinks, Judy Blume, Nick Drake, Jonathan Richman, Beat Happening, the Smiths, They Might Be Giants, Nirvana, Belle and Sebastian, Wes Anderson, Pitchfork, This American Life, McSweeney's, mumblecore, Vampire Weekend, Sufjan Stevens, Miranda July, Tavi Gevinson, Lena Dunham, Portlandia, and Zooey Deschanel.Expansive, engaging, and festooned with more than enough kittens, this is the first definitive history of Twee.
Punch Your Inner Hippie
Punch Your Inner Hippie
Fleming, Frank J.
¥95.39
Finally, a book that takes on the actual root cause of all failure: the hippie inside us all. In this delightfully sarcastic self-help book, Frank J. Fleming reveals that you don't achieve true improvement through slogans or positive thinking; you achieve it only by punching your inner hippie as hard and as often as possible. Fleming helps you understand the enemy inside you and explains that hippies didn't arise just in the '60s but have been ruining civilizations since the dawn of time, as they will do to the United States if they are not stopped. He reveals the symptoms of hippie-ism laziness, dependence, whining, and protesting so you can gauge the strength of your own inner hippie. And, most important, he explains that there is but one way to deal with that annoying loser who keeps each of us from realizing our full potential: a punch right to his stupid face.Do you doubt this is possibleThat's your inner hippie talking. It's time to shut him up.
The American Future
The American Future
Schama, Simon
¥95.39
Acclaimed historian and award-winning author Simon Schama offers an essential historical perspective on the crucial 2008 presidential election and its importance for reclaiming America's original ideal. It's not business as usual. Cultural hostilities more irreconcilable than any since the Civil War have divided America in two. In November 2008, the American people elected a new president, feeling more anxious about the future of the nation than at any time since Watergate. Our omnipotent military, the cornucopia of material comforts available, the security of our borders, and the global economy can no longer be taken for granted.In The American Future, historian Simon Schama takes a long look at the multiple crises besetting the United States and asks how these problems look in the mirror of time. In four crucial debates on wars, religion, race and immigration, and the relationship between natural resources and prosperity Schama looks back to see more clearly into the future. Full of lost insights, The American Future showcases Schama's acclaimed gift for storytelling, ensuring these voices will be heard again.
Nellie Taft
Nellie Taft
Anthony, Carl Sferrazza
¥95.39
On the morning of William Howard Taft's inauguration, Nellie Taft publicly expressed that theirs would be a joint presidency by shattering precedent and demanding that she ride alongside her husband down Pennsylvania Avenue, a tradition previously held for the outgoing president. In an era before Eleanor Roosevelt, this progressive First Lady was an advocate for higher education and partial suffrage for women, and initiated legislation to improve working conditions for federal employees. She smoked, drank, and gambled without regard to societal judgment, and she freely broke racial and class boundaries.Drawing from previously unpublished diaries, a lifetime of love letters between Will and Nellie, and detailed family correspondence and recollections, critically acclaimed presidential family historian Carl Sferrazza Anthony develops a riveting portrait of Nellie Taft as one of the strongest links in the series of women -- from Abigail Adams to Hillary Rodham Clinton -- often critically declared "copresidents."
This Will End in Tears
This Will End in Tears
Houghtaling, Adam Brent
¥95.39
Sad music moves us like nothing else, and despite its gloomy nature it also has the curious power to make us happy. In This Will End in Tears: The Miserabilist Guide to Music, author Adam Brent Houghtaling explains why, while offering up a compendium of history's masters of melancholy and the greatest sad songs of all time, featuring artists across genres and through time from torch songs to country weepers to emo classics. Loaded with recommended playlists and insights into our favorite sob songs, This Will End in Tears is a fascinating immersion into the "miserabilist" genre, a musical marker with increasing resonance.