I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster. You think I'm talking fairy talesNo way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever ruined unless I can break the spell. Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by nightI'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.

Dear Reader, I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune. In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast. It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing. With all due respect, Lemony Snicket

Warning: Your day will become very dark - and possibly damp - if you read this book. Plan to spend this spring in hiding. Lemony Snicket is back with the eleventh book in his New York Times bestselling A Series of Unfortunate Events. Lemony Snicket's saga about the charming, intelligent and grossly unlucky Baudelaire orphans continues to provoke suspicion and despair in readers the world over. In the eleventh and most alarming volume yet in the bestselling phenomenon A Series of Unfortunate Events, the intrepid siblings delve further into the dark mystery surrounding the death of their parents and the baffling VFD organisation. Ages 9+

Dear Reader You have undoubtedly picked up this book by mistake so please put it down. Nobody in their right mind would read this particular book about the lives of Violet Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire on purpose because each dismal moment of their stay in the village of V.F.D. has been faithfully and dreadfully recorded in these pages.I can think of no single reason why anyone would want to open a book containing such unpleasant matters as migrating crows an angry mob a newspaper headline the arrest of innocent people the Deluxe Cell and some very strange hats.It is my solemn and sacred occupation to research each detail of the Baudelaire childrens lives and write them all down but you may prefer to do some other solemn and sacred thing such as reading another book instead.With all due respect Lemony Snicket Ages 10+

The blue jays and cardinals of Stone-Run Forest have turned against each other. According to legend, only Swordbird, son of the Great Spirit, has the power to conquer evil and restore peace to the land. But is he real or just a mythCan Swordbird arrive in time to save the forest . . . or will it be too lateTwelve-year-old author Nancy Yi Fan has woven a captivating tale about the birds of Stone-Run Forest and the heroism, courage, and resourcefulness in their quest for peace.

Get started with Amazon S3 for virtually unlimited cloud and Internet storageAbout This BookFamiliarize yourself with the concepts of Amazon S3Understand basic operations of bucket, folders, and objects using Amazon S3 SDK JavaLeverage the power of Amazon S3 to effectively store and retrieve data Who This Book Is For This book is intended for System Engineers/ Developers, Software Architects, Project managers, and users who want to explore Amazon S3 SDK Java. If you want to learn about Amazon S3 quickly, then this book is for you. Basic knowledge of Java programming is expected.What You Will LearnStart with the basic concepts of Amazon S3 to get you goingUse Copy Object and Multipart Copy Object for objects of different sizesUnderstand how to use the amazon management console for Amazon S3Learn how to use the AWS SDK of Java and consume the Amazon S3Get to grips with managing the bucket life cycleConfigure CORS to share resources to a different domainDiscover how to develop and deploy the static website on Amazon S3 using different services of Amazon In Detail Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), provides developers and IT teams with secure, durable, and highly-scalable object storage. Amazon S3 is easy to use, with a simple web services interface to store and retrieve any amount of data from anywhere on the web. S3 is automatically web scalable and responds to the requirements of your application and traffic, and therefore offers a key element to help companies deal dynamically with any spike in traffic for their application (such as a free e-book offer). This book starts with the basics of the Amazon S3 and its features, and you will quickly get an understanding how to use the Amazon Management Console for Amazon S3 which is the simplest way to manage Amazon S3. Next, we will cover basic operations on bucket, folder, objects. Once the basic operations are understood, you will know how to use Amazon S3 using Java SDK. Following that, you will learn about Copy Objects and Multipart copy objects for large objects size. You will also learn to manage the life cycle of bucket and how to share resources to the different domain by configuring CORS. The book will then guide you through the development and deployment of a static website on Amazon S3 using different services of Amazon. By the end of the book, you will be able to create a scalable application using Amazon S3.Style and approach This fast-paced book is a pragmatic guide to writing Amazon S3 applications. Each chapter is blended beautifully with lucid concepts and pertinent examples.

Quickly get up to speed with MariaDB—the leading, drop-in replacement for MySQL, through this practical tutorialAbout This BookGet to know the basic SQL queries so you can quickly start using MariaDBTake control of your data through the advanced features of MariaDBExploit the full potential of MariaDB’s exclusive features through quick, practical examples Who This Book Is For If you don't know the SQL language, but you want to quickly jump into the SQL world and learn how to use MariaDB, or if you already know how to use MySQL but you want to go further, then this book is ideal for you.What You Will LearnInstall and configure MariaDBCreate databases, tables, and indexesImport and export data from and to external filesWork with views and virtual columnsCreate, read, update, and delete records in your databaseUse dynamic columnsSet up a powerful full-text search systemAccess your external data from MariaDB through the CONNECT engine In Detail This book will take you through all the nitty-gritty parts of MariaDB, right from the creation of your database all the way to using MariaDB’s advanced features. At the very beginning, we show you the basics, that is, how to install MariaDB. Then, we walk you through the databases and tables of MariaDB, and introduce SQL in MariaDB. You will learn about all the features that have been added in MariaDB but are absent in MySQL. Moving on, you’ll learn to import and export data, views, virtual columns, and dynamic columns in MariaDB. Then, you’ll get to grips with full-text searches and queries in MariaDb. You’ll also be familiarized with the CONNECT storage engine. At the end of the book, you’ll be introduced to the community of MariaDB.Style and approach This is a complete guide that uses concrete examples to help you understand and exploit the full potential of MariaDB.

Lean, louche and loaded, Dan is boss of his own multi-million pound computer tech company at the tender age of thirty-six. A charmed life, you might say… except that someone wants him dead. He’s been shrugging off the hate mail that keeps appearing in his inbox. After all, you don’t get to the top without making a few enemies – disgruntled former employees, business rivals, the husbands and boyfriends of his many lovers… Oh, and there’s the small matter of that Sicilian deal in which he seriously upset the Mafia… The Police are getting nowhere with the case – but when he’s introduced to beautiful Financial Analyst Holly, Dan finds he’s met his match. Her incisive mind is piqued as Dan’s hate mail evolves into death threats and a passionate romance develops as it dawns on them both that Dan’s been flirting with fate in the form of a sinister and deadly cabal of Middle Eastern terrorists.

Destitute after the death of her beloved Papa, Carmela is miserable working as Nanny to the brattish children of the local vicar. So when her closest friend Felicity asks her to take her place in the home of her guardian, the dictatorial Earl of Galeston, she nervously agrees. The subterfuge is necessary to ensure Felicity can marry the love of her life – and possible firstly because none of Felicity’s feuding family have set eyes on her since she was a child... And secondly because both young women are blue-eyed, blonde and beautiful. The Earl’s ancestral home is awe-inspiring – but it is the Earl himself who makes the greatest impression on Carmela. Growing to appreciate the profound kindness behind his steely fa?ade, she falls deeply, utterly in love... But can true love live when it’s based on a lieThe Earl finds the answer in his heart when Carmela’s life – and any hope of love – is at stake...

Tasked by the Prime Minister himself with bringing to justice the smuggling gangs that are rife around the Kent and Sussex coast, esteemed Napoleonic war hero Lord Cheriton is surprised to find a beautiful young girl called Wivina living in his dead and deeply hated father’s supposedly vacant mansion. She has no idea who he is – and when he hears his reputation as a cold-hearted Lord who would turn her out without a qualm, he tells her he is just a passing friend... Nevertheless Wivina seems terrified by his presence – but whyRealising the entire village is at the mercy of a cut-throat gang and Wivina’s prey to its murderous leader, Lord Cheriton endeavours to save the young beauty who’s stolen his heart while accomplishing his mission to stop the smugglers once and for all. For the first time, he is fighting not for his country but for the love of his life – and the life of his love.

In the loveless household of General Sir Frederick and Lady Emily Osmund and their empty-headed twin daughters, begrudgingly adopted niece Azalea is little more than a wallflower. And all because her kind, heroic and beloved father died in a manner they wrongly consider scandalous – and because her mother was Russian! ‘You must pay the price of your father’s sins and what happened in India you will take to your grave with sealed lips’, her uncle says, as if to seal her fate. When the General is posted to Hong Kong, Azalea is thrilled but there, as always, she is cast aside and abused. Only the handsome, dashing but imperious Lord Sheldon shows any interest in her – until to her aunt and uncle’s disgust she’s befriended by a kind Chinese family. But her joy at learning of their culture and customs is short-lived. Kidnapped by pirates, she faces death and worse. Is there any hope now that she’ll find true love and a life of her own ?

The death of her beloved father, has left artistic and idealistic Tempera and her stunning, scatterbrained stepmother Lady Rothley bereft not only of love but also of money. So when Lady Rothley?s womanly wiles attract an invitation from none other than the Duke of Chevingham to join him in the South of France, it?s a Godsend. At last the prospect of a handsome, aristocratic suitor for Tempera?s Belle-m?re who would keep them both in the style to which they would dearly love to be re-acquainted! To arrive without a lady?s maid is inconceivable to afford one impossible. So Tempera escorts her Belle-m?re in the guise of a servant and attempts to coach her in fine art, the Duke?s consuming passion. While her stepmother flirts with C?te D?Azur society Tempera contents herself with capturing the local flora?s beauty on canvas. And when the flair she inherited from her father captivates and mystifies the magnificent Duke, something stirs in Tempera that she has never felt before. Is it loveOr is it betrayal?

Anastasia is about to be married, which should be the most exciting day of any young girl?s life. Pretty, impulsive and wise beyond her years it seems that the young Princess will make an ideal bride for one lucky man. There is only one flaw in the wedding plans she is not in love with her bridegroom. Commanded to marry by Queen Victoria, Anastasia is horror struck at the thought of an arranged marriage. Having dreamt of true love since childhood, she despairs that a marriage based on political allegiance can ever be a happy one. Especially when her bridegroom, the handsome King of Maurona, is reputed to have a preference for anything French, including the seductive wife of Maurona's French ambassador. Determined to do her duty, Anastasia prepares to meet her future husband just days before their wedding. The roar of the assembled crowd tells her that she has won the love and approval of the people, but will she ever have the love of their KingAs passions and political intrigue simmer amidst the idyllic palaces and sun-kissed olive groves of Maurona, Anastasia decides that this is a challenge she must rise to. As well as ensuring British protection for the tiny Principality from the greedy hands of neighbouring France, she determines to make her marriage a success. But can an innocent English rose compete with the dark smoldering beauty of the sensual Comtesse le GranmontTwo women, one man and only one winner but as danger grows ever closer will the King realise who his real friends are, and which woman should be at his side, in time to save his country?

Have you ever been so desperate that you would do literally anything for moneyThis is the tragic situation Giselda finds herself in, with no money for an operation her younger brother desperately needs to save his life, and no one to turn to. Ground down by poverty she plucks up her courage to offer the only thing she has of value her purity. Choking back her pride and knowing that she is about to forfeit his respect, she approaches her wealthy employer, the handsome Earl of Lyndhurst, who is recovering from his injuries sustained in the Battle of Waterloo. Appalled that this frail and innocent young girl should be faced with such a terrible decision, he vows to find a way to help her without offending her dignity. He knows she would never accept his charity, and she refuses to confide in him the reasons for her family's poverty. Intrigued by the air of mystery about a girl of obvious quality reduced to the role of maidservant, the Earl decides to discover why a beautiful young woman of strong principles has been reduced to such extreme measures. Discovering her to have gentle hands and wonderful nursing skills he employs her as his private nurse and turns his sharp mind to uncovering her secrets and learns his own lessons in love in the process.

Alvin and Adina find out that eating healthy foods can be quite fun when prepared in new and tasty ways.

Encouraging children to think about the ways they treat others, and understanding that with consideration, things often work out better for everyone.

Greeting people is difficult for Bonzo. A well-humored encounter helps him to realize that greeting others is not so hard after all.

Build robust and highly scalable web applications with Google App EngineAbout This BookGet an in-depth look at how Google App Engine works under the hoodDesign and model your application around Google's highly scalable distributed NoSQL datastore to unlock its full potentialA comprehensive guide to ensure your mastery of Google App Engine Who This Book Is For If you have been developing web applications in Python or any other dynamic language but have always wondered how to write highly scalable web applications without getting into system administration and other plumbing, then this is the book for you. No experience in writing scalable applications is required.What You Will LearnScale and develop your applications with Google App Engine's runtime environmentGet to grips with request handling mechanism and write request handlersDeep dive into Google's distributed NoSQL and highly scalable datastore and design your application around itImplement powerful search with scalable datastorePerform long-running tasks in the background using task queuesWrite compartmentalized apps using multi tenancy, memcache, and other Google App Engine runtime servicesHandle web requests using the CGI, WSGI, and multi-threaded configurationsDeploy, tweak, and manage apps in production on Google App Engine In Detail Developing web applications that serve millions of users is no easy task, as it involves a number of configurations and administrative tasks for the underlying software and hardware stack. This whole configuration requires not only expertise, but also a fair amount of time as well. Time that could have been spent on actual application functionality. Google App Engine allows you develop highly scalable web applications or backends for mobile applications without worrying about the system administration plumbing or hardware provisioning issues. Just focus writing on your business logic, the meat of the application, and let Google's powerful infrastructure scale it to thousands of requests per second and millions of users without any effort on your part. This book takes you from explaining how scalable applications work to designing and developing robust scalable web applications of your own, utilizing services available on Google App Engine. Starting with a walkthrough of scalability is and how scalable web applications work, this book introduces you to the environment under which your applications exist on Google App Engine. Next, you will learn about Google's datastore, which is a massively scalable distributed NoSQL solution built on top of BigTable. You will examine the BigTable concepts and operations in detail and reveal how it is used to build Google datastore. Armed with this knowledge, you will then advance towards how to best model your data and query that along with transactions. To augment the powerful distributed dataset, you will deep dive into search functionality offered on Google App Engine. With the search and storage sorted out, you will get a look into performing long running tasks in the background using Google App Engine task queues along with sending and receiving emails. You will also examine the memcache to boost web application performance, image processing for common image manipulation tasks. You will then explore uploading, storing, and serving large files using Blobstore and Cloud storage. Finally, you will be presented with the deployment and monitoring of your applications in production along with a detailed look at dividing applications into different working modules.Style and approach This book is an in-depth guide where you will examine the problems in the context of highly scalable web applications. This book will take you through the libraries, services, and required configuration and finally puts everything together into a small web application that showcases all the capabilities of Google App Engine.

Over 70 recipes to get you started with popular Python libraries based on the principal concepts of data visualization About This Book Learn how to set up an optimal Python environment for data visualization Understand how to import, clean and organize your data Determine different approaches to data visualization and how to choose the most appropriate for your needs Who This Book Is For If you already know about Python programming and want to understand data, data formats, data visualization, and how to use Python to visualize data then this book is for you. What You Will Learn Introduce yourself to the essential tooling to set up your working environment Explore your data using the capabilities of standard Python Data Library and Panda Library Draw your first chart and customize it Use the most popular data visualization Python libraries Make 3D visualizations mainly using mplot3d Create charts with images and maps Understand the most appropriate charts to describe your data Know the matplotlib hidden gems Use plot.ly to share your visualization online In Detail Python Data Visualization Cookbook will progress the reader from the point of installing and setting up a Python environment for data manipulation and visualization all the way to 3D animations using Python libraries. Readers will benefit from over 60 precise and reproducible recipes that will guide the reader towards a better understanding of data concepts and the building blocks for subsequent and sometimes more advanced concepts. Python Data Visualization Cookbook starts by showing how to set up matplotlib and the related libraries that are required for most parts of the book, before moving on to discuss some of the lesser-used diagrams and charts such as Gantt Charts or Sankey diagrams. Initially it uses simple plots and charts to more advanced ones, to make it easy to understand for readers. As the readers will go through the book, they will get to know about the 3D diagrams and animations. Maps are irreplaceable for displaying geo-spatial data, so this book will also show how to build them. In the last chapter, it includes explanation on how to incorporate matplotlib into different environments, such as a writing system, LaTeX, or how to create Gantt charts using Python. Style and approach A step-by-step recipe based approach to data visualization. The topics are explained sequentially as cookbook recipes consisting of a code snippet and the resulting visualization.

Over 80 hands-on recipes to unleash full potential for Xamarin in development and monetization of feature-packed, real-world Android apps About This Book Create a number of Android applications using the Xamarin Android platform Extensively integrate your Android devices with other Android devices to enhance your app creation experience A comprehensive guide packed with real-world scenarios and pro-level practices and techniques to help you build successful Android apps Who This Book Is For If you are a Xamarin developer who wants to create complete Android applications with Xamarin, then this book is ideal for you. No prior knowledge of Android development is needed, however a basic knowledge of C# and .NET would be useful. What You Will Learn Install and use Xamarin.Android with Xamarin Studio and Visual Studio Design an app’s user interface for multiple device configurations Store and protect data in databases, files, and on the cloud Utilize lists and collections to present data to the user Communicate across the network using NFC or Bluetooth Perform tasks in the background and update the user with notifications Capture and play multimedia, such as video and audio, with the camera Implement In-App Billing and Expansion Files and deploy to the store In Detail Xamarin is used by developers to write native iOS, Android, and Windows apps with native user interfaces and share code across multiple platforms not just on mobile devices, but on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Developing apps with Xamarin.Android allows you to use and re-use your code and your skills on different platforms, making you more productive in any development. Although it’s not a write-once-run-anywhere framework, Xamarin provides native platform integration and optimizations. There is no middleware; Xamarin.Android talks directly to the system, taking your C# and F# code directly to the low levels. This book will provide you with the necessary knowledge and skills to be part of the mobile development era using C#. Covering a wide range of recipes such as creating a simple application and using device features effectively, it will be your companion to the complete application development cycle. Starting with installing the necessary tools, you will be guided on everything you need to develop an application ready to be deployed. You will learn the best practices for interacting with the device hardware, such as GPS, NFC, and Bluetooth. Furthermore, you will be able to manage multimedia resources such as photos and videos captured with the device camera, and so much more! By the end of this book, you will be able to create Android apps as a result of learning and implementing pro-level practices, techniques, and solutions. This book will ascertain a seamless and successful app building experience. Style and approach This book employs a step-by-step approach to Android app creation, explained in a conversational and easy-to-follow style. A wide range of examples are listed to ensure a complete understanding of how to deploy competent apps on the Android market.

Bereft and penniless after the death of their father, the local Vicar and Private Chaplain to the Earl of Chadwood, the beautiful Olivia Lambrick, her younger brother Tony and her five-year-old sister Wendy are desperate for the new Earl to arrive at Chad Hall. Having inherited the title after his two cousins drowned in a sailing accident, it has taken the Earl a year to travel home from India. And meanwhile, with no one to pay the estate’s workers and pensioners, the entire village is almost starving. Olivia hopes that the Earl will honour the allowance her mother received as the late Earl’s cousin, but to her chagrin, he is a handsome but hard and unsympathetic man. Refusing Olivia’s pleas and those of his half-brother, Gerald, who faces the debtors’ prison because of his high living in London, the Earl has a very unpleasant solution – he will pay Gerald’s debts only if he marries Olivia! But Fate intervenes unexpectedly when the Earl is attacked by a vicious mob of youths from the village and, almost fatally injured by a knife thrust, is then carried to Olivia’s home. While Gerald uses a Power of Attorney to save the village, pay off his debts and look after the pensioners, Olivia saves the life of the man she hates and prays with all her heart that somehow love will save the day.