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万本电子书0元读

Screams from the Balcony
Screams from the Balcony
Bukowski, Charles
¥95.11
Screams from the Balcony is a collection of letters chronicling Charles Bukowski's life as he tries to get published and work at a postal office, all while drinking and gambling.
The Catsitters
The Catsitters
Wolcott, James
¥72.70
Bartender by day, actor by night, Johnny Downs cheerfully floats through life, living alone with his jukebox and his cat. Blindsided when his dazzling girlfriend dumps him, Johnny is wounded, stunned, and, most of all, clueless. You're like most men -- oblivious, says his friend Darlene. Her diagnosis: Johnny is doomed to be rejected by every woman he desires as long as he clings to his outmoded bachelor ways. Darlene puts him on a rigorous crash course to re-brand himself as husband material. But does Darlene really have his best interests at heartAnd who are all these catsitters that keep coming into his life?
Kissing the Virgin's Mouth
Kissing the Virgin's Mouth
Gershten, Donna M.
¥85.05
Guadalupe Magdalena Molina Vásquez -- wife, scoundrel, courtesan, mother -- is full of contradictions: she believes in love but is suspicious of men; she rejects religion but admires the Virgin Mary; she respects tradition while breaking all the rules. Here, in the Golden Zone of Teatán, Mexico, Magda tells her extraordinary life story -- from a poor Mexican barrio to American affluence, from wide-eyed childhood to worldly courtesan life, from full-blooded youth to oncoming blindness -- and bewitchingly imparts the hard-earned wisdom she has gained through the years.
The Lady, the Chef, and the Courtesan
The Lady, the Chef, and the Courtesan
Marisol
¥73.48
Según el dicho latinoamericano, para seducir a un hombre, una mujer tiene que ser una dama en la sala, una cocinera en la cocina y una cortesana en la cama. Pilar no es ninguna de las tres. Cuando hereda los diarios de su abuela difunta, Pilar se da cuenta que hay algo que hace falta en su vida, y descubre el secreto que su abuela decidió guardar oculto durante tantos a?os. En las páginas de los diarios, Pilar aprende los rituales sagrados de la belleza suramericana, las reglas de etiqueta social y las deliciosas recetas que le ense?arán a seducir a los hombres, y a ser la perfecta esposa, mujer y amante.Poco a poco a medida que lee la asombrosa historia que le cuenta su abuela, Pilar comienza a comprender la importancia de la tradición y encuentra maneras de integrarla a su propia vida de mujer profesional e independiente. Y tal vez, encontrará finalmente la manera de querer al hombre que aunque no parece convenirle, es el amor de su vida.
The Captain is Out to Lunch
The Captain is Out to Lunch
Bukowski, Charles
¥88.56
A book length collaboration between two underground legends, Charles Bukowski and Robert Crumb. Bukowski's last journals candidly and humorously reveal the events in the writer's life as death draws inexorably nearer, thereby illuminating our own lives and natures, and to give new meaning to what was once only familiar. Crumb has illustrated the text with 12 full-page drawings and a portrait of Bukowski.
She Was
She Was
Hallowell, Janis
¥79.38
Doreen Woods lives an ordinary life. She is a respected dentist, her son has just graduated from high school, and her husband teaches fifth grade. The one flaw is that her brother, Adam, has MS. Even that isn't all that extraordinary. . . . Then, out of nowhere, Janey Marks shows up, bringing the past with her.In 1971 Doreen was young, idealistic Lucy Johansson. Adam was back from Vietnam, damaged and bitter. Caught up in the anti-war movement Lucy committed a crime that changed everything for both of them.She Was spans America, coast to coast, over four decades, to give us the story of one young woman who, like many of her generation, tried to change the world and how, thirty-four years later, in a world that still needs changing, she must pay the consequences.
Beerspit Night and Cursing
Beerspit Night and Cursing
Bukowski, Charles
¥95.44
Unmasks the tough, street-smart persona of Charles Bukowski—America's "Ultimate Outsider" Amazing letters filled with passionate, literary, and personal observation Insights into the author of Tales of Ordinary Madness, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, and Run with the Hunted Insights into Sheri Martinelli: the protege of Anais Nin, an accomplished painter, and the mistress of Ezra Pound Charels Bukowski's persona as the Dirty Old Man of American Literature is just that: a persona, a mask beneath which there was a man better read and more cultured than most people realize. Sheri Martinelli was one of the favored few for whom Bukowski dropped the mask and engaged in serious discussion of literature and art, and for that reason the discovery and publication of his letters to her give us a more complete picture of this complicated man.
Infidelities
Infidelities
Novakovich, Josip
¥84.16
Tragicomedy of the highest order, this stellar collection is Croatian writer Novakovich's best ever. Hailed as one of the best short story writers of the 1990s, Josip Novakovich was praised by the New York Times for writing fiction that has "the crackle of authenticity, like the bite of breaking glass." In his new collection, he explores a war–torn Balkan world in which a schoolchild's innocence evaporates in a puff of cannon smoke, lust replaces love, and the joy of survival overrides all other pleasures. As Serb, Croat, and Bosnian Muslim armies clash in the cities and countryside of the former Yugoslavia, it's hard to tell the front lines from the home front. The characters in Infidelities––soldiers and civilians alike––are caught in the ridiculous, often cruelly whimsical contradictions of war and the paranoia and folly of those who conduct it. In "Ribs," a Croatian woman whose husband has already been taken by the war will go to any length to keep her son out of the army, including sleeping with the draft officer, a tryst that leads to an unexpected, and disturbing, spiritual vision. A Buddhist soldier in the Bosnian Muslim military isly accused of being an informer to the enemy Serbs after his detachment ambushes itself in "Hail." A draft dodger is in the hospital for a transplant, in "A Purple Heart," when a high–ranking Croatian general steals the heart for himself (and dies) while the dodger suddenly discovers a new thirst for life. In "Spleen," a Bosnian émigré in America learns that even in the throes of passion she cannot find release from the haunting memories of her homeland. These stories cover a broad sweep of time, reaching back to the first shots of World War I in Sarajevo and forward to the plight of Balkan immigrants in contemporary America. Throughout, acts of compassion, gallows humour, even desire arise from a landscape devastated by tragedy.
Annette Vallon
Annette Vallon
Tipton, James
¥82.80
For fans of Tracy Chevalier and Sarah Dunant comes this vibrant, alluring debut novel of a compelling, independent woman who would inspire one of the world's greatest poets and survive a nation's bloody transformation.Set amid the terror and excitement of the French Revolution, James Tipton's evocative novel is the story of a woman who has for too long been relegated to the shadows of history: Annette Vallon, William Wordsworth's mistress and muse.Born into a world of wealth and pleasure, Annette enjoys the privileges of aristocracy, but a burning curiosity and headstrong independence set her apart. Spoiled by the novels of Rousseau, she refuses to be married unless it is for passion. Yet the love she finds with a young English poet will test Annette in unexpected ways, bringing great joy and danger in a time of terror and death. Told in sparking prose, Annette Vallon captures the courage and fearlessness of a woman whose dramatic story illuminates a turbulent and fascinating era.
Whirlwind
Whirlwind
Garber, Joseph
¥51.92
From the New York Times bestselling author of the pulse-pounding Vertical Run comes a spellbinding new white-knuckle thriller to keep you up all night.Charlie McKenzie is the best at what he does, and what he does best of all is the CIA's dirty work. At least he did until his bosses double-crossed him. Jailed and disgraced to cover up a mammoth intelligence blunder, Charlie wants to get even.Opportunity knocks when Irina Kolodenkova, a young Russian spy, stumbles across a top-secret technology called Whirlwind, the most important military breakthrough since the atomic bomb. Charlie's the only one with the very special skills needed to track her down and retrieve it. The desk jockeys who betrayed Charlie have no choice: they have to put him back on the job. But Charlie already knows too much. Once he recovers Whirlwind, his enemies plan to betray him again -- this time for keeps.They put a lethal South African soldier of fortune on Charlie's trail. His orders: keep Charlie in your crosshairs until he finds Whirlwind, then take him down.However, Charlie has plans of his own, and he is not going to be an easy kill. Quite the contrary ...
The Burning Girl
The Burning Girl
Billingham, Mark
¥56.07
Some fires never go out ...X marks the spot -- and when that spot is a corpse's naked back and the X is carved in blood, Detective Inspector Tom Thorne is in no doubt that the dead man is the latest victim of a particularly vicious contract killer. It's morbid and messy -- but it's a mystery with plenty of clues. This is turf warfare between North London gangs. Organized crime boss Billy Ryan is moving into someone else's territory, and that someone is ready to stand up for what he believes is his.Thorne's got plenty on his plate when he agrees to help out ex-DCI Carol Chamberlain rake through the ashes of an old case that has come back to haunt her. Schoolgirl Jessica Clarke was lit on fire twenty years ago. Now, Gordon Rooker, the man Chamberlain put away for the crime, is up for parole, and it seems there's a copycat on the prowl.Or perhaps it's someone trying to right a serious wrong: Jessica Clarke was the victim of mistaken identity. The intended target was the daughter of a gangland boss, a woman who would grow up to marry the current leader, Billy Ryan ...Thorne quickly identifies a tenuous link between the two crimes, and past and present fuse together to form a new, horrifying riddle. One that involves more killings, violence, greed, and a murderous family with no values -- except gain at any price.When an X is carved into his front door, Tom Thorne realizes that fires, once thought to be out, continue to burn.
Knit in Comfort
Knit in Comfort
Sharpe, Isabel
¥77.49
In this wonderful new novel of friendship and knitting, a woman discovers that secrets can't be kept forever.Megan Morgan traded the constant mobility of her childhood for a quiet, stable life in Comfort, North Carolina, with a handsome husband, lively children, and a group of longtime friends who've formed a weekly knitting club, Purls Before Wine.Desperate to escape big-city anonymity and pressure from her marriage-minded boyfriend, a stranger, Elizabeth Detlaff, arrives unexpectedly, certain that fate has guided her to the Carolina mountains. She seems to think that in sleepy, unremarkable Comfort she's found paradise.Soon, Elizabeth has eagerly invaded Megan's life, living in the apartment over her garage, befriending her mother-in-law and children, fawning over her husband, and joining the Purls. It's not long before Elizabeth brings to light legends of Megan's Shetland ancestors, leading her to stumble over a painful, long-buried secret. Backed into a corner, Megan is forced to examine her choices and ultimately decide what kind of woman she wants to be.
Brilliant
Brilliant
Vail, Rachel
¥50.47
Everything is going to be fine . . . .Quinn Avery can handle change. It's just paint, rightBright, blinding white paint covering her once dazzling red bedroom walls. Quinn knows she shouldn't be angry at her mom—she's doing what she must to sell the house—but still, Quinn is beyond mad, and she doesn't know what to do about it.Until now, Quinn was doing a pretty good job at pretending to be her old self—calm and brilliant Avery daughter, responsible big sister to Allison and Phoebe, piano virtuoso, girl who makes everyone proud—but without the sanctuary of her room, a new, wild Quinn is emerging. Lying, sneaking out, partying, Quinn is practically asking to get caught. When Quinn adds kissing the wrong boys—including her sister's boyfriend and her own piano teacher—to her list of crimes, has she gone too far to save herself?Brilliant, the final book in Rachel Vail's critically acclaimed sisterhood series, which includes Lucky and Gorgeous, follows Quinn through a summer of change as she discovers that while letting go is never easy, hanging on can be even harder. Witty and poignant, Brilliant is the perfect ending to this addictive trilogy of interconnected sister stories.
The Chief
The Chief
Lipsyte, Robert
¥50.47
A fight for his people.Sonny Bear, the Tomahawk Kid, has a championship left hook. But his boxing career's going nowhere, and he's ready to hang it up.Then his manager, tough ex-cop Alfred Brooks, and his "writer," college boy Martin Malcolm Witherspoon, scheme Sonny into a glitzy Las Vegas match. Suddenly he's everybody's darling and headed for Hollywood stardom.But fame isn't all it's cracked up to be, and Sonny needs to make the fight of his life to decide where he really belongs.
The Contender
The Contender
Lipsyte, Robert
¥50.33
Before you can be a champion, you have to be a contender.Alfred Brooks is scared. He's a highschool dropout and his grocery store job is leading nowhere. His best friend is sinking further and further into drug addiction. Some street kids are after him for something he didn't even do. So Alfred begins going to Donatelli's Gym, a boxing club in Harlem that has trained champions. There he learns it's the effort, not the win, that makes the man -- that last desperate struggle to get back on your feet when you thought you were down for the count.
One Fat Summer
One Fat Summer
Lipsyte, Robert
¥49.79
For Bobby Marks, summer does not equal fun.While most people are happy to take off their heavy jackets and long pants, Bobby can't even button his jeans or reach over his belly to touch his toes. Spending the summer at Rumson Lake is sheer torture.This particular summer promises to be worse than usual. His parents can't stop fighting. His best friend, Joanie, goes home to New York City and won't tell him why. Dr. Kahn, a rich, stingy estate owner who hires him to manage an enormous lawn, is working him to death. And to top it off, a local bully won't stop torturing him.Bobby is about to find out just how terrifying and exhilarating one fat summer can be.
The Rule of Nine
The Rule of Nine
Martini, Steve
¥69.16
The Old Weatherman dreams of a plan that could be his swan song, an attack to drive a stake through the heart of the right-wing establishment and bury it for good. Now he's found the money, the ideal weapon, and the professional who knows how to use it. And he has set his sights on the perfect target at the very seat of the United States government, in the heart of downtown Washington. It will be a strike heard round the world.San Diego defense attorney Paul Madriani is still reeling from the trauma of a near nuclear explosion he helped avert at the naval base in Coronado. Threatened by federal authorities to keep quiet about the close call in California, Madriani is now faced with a new problem in the steely-eyed and alluring Joselyn Cole, a weapons control expert, who believes he has to go public with what he knows if they have any hope of stopping a similar event in the future. But Madriani has been linked to the murder of a Washington, D.C., political staffer, and authorities believe a shadowy figure called Liquida—a hired assassin known as "the Mexicutioner"—may be responsible. And this man, as the last survivor of the attack in San Diego, might be driven by a bizarre and horrifying star-crossed vendetta, and might now be looking for Madriani himself. What Madriani and Cole begin to fear is that the Old Weatherman and this madman have joined forces and intend to pull the city—and the country—into a vortex of terror before Madriani and Cole can find answers to the enigma that is "the rule of nine."
Your Inner Skinny
Your Inner Skinny
Bauer, Joy
¥101.00
It's time to start listening to Your Inner Skinny Losing weight isn't just about shedding pounds. The reality is you're battling obstacles way fatter than fat, stronger than muscle, and heavier than any other part of your body. You're up against roadblocks including low energy, little time, and the roaring, disorienting noise of countless diets telling you a thousand different things.Your inner skinny is the voice that cuts through the noise and ignores the nonsense. It's the voice that says it's not about low-carb, no-carb, low-fat gimmicks. It's the voice that tells you that dieting, while no doubt challenging, is simpler than you think. And with Your Inner Skinny, nutrition and health expert Joy Bauer helps you channel that voice into four productive, detailed steps: releasing your negative eating habits, relearning how to reprogram your appetite, reshaping your body into the one that you want, and revealing your success to the world.It's a diet plan that really works, with dozens of delicious recipes, lots of easy exercises, and a whole new you, waiting to be revealed!Your inner skinny will not be ignored! You are going to look and feel beautiful in a whole new way.This book was published in hardcover as Joy's Life Diet
Yellow Flag
Yellow Flag
Lipsyte, Robert
¥61.70
In any race, there are drivers and, at the front of the pack, there are racers. In the final laps, it's the racer who moves his car through the sweet spot, picks off the competition, and drives through a hole to win. In Kyle's family, his older brother, Kris, has always been the racer, born and bred to it, like his father and grandfather and great-grandfather before him. And that's just fine with Kyle; he's got other things to do. Now Kris is out of commission, injured, and Kyle has no choice but to drive. Does he want to drive just long enough to keep Kris's seat warm, or does he want to race—and winOn the heels of Raiders Night, Yellow Flag is a pulse-pounding look inside the elite world of NASCAR racing, from award-winning novelist and sportswriter Robert Lipsyte.
Cheat the Grave
Cheat the Grave
Pettersson, Vicki
¥56.07
Las Vegas socialite and otherwordly avenger Joanna Archer gave up everything when she embraced mortality—abandoning her powers and altering her destiny to save a child . . . and a city. Now her former allies are her enemies—and her enemies have nothing to fear.Yet still she is bound to a prophecy that condemns her to roam a nightmare landscape that ordinary humans cannot see and dare not enter. And a beast is on her trail—an insane killer blinded by bloodlust, who's determined to rip much more from Joanna than merely her now-fragile life. Survival is no longer an option in this dark realm where good and evil have blurred into confusing shades of gray—unless she can gather together an army of onetime foes and destroy everything she once believed in.
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.