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万本电子书0元读

Pleasures of the Forbidden Valley
Pleasures of the Forbidden Valley
Mercury, Diana
¥84.16
Legend tells of a lost valley high in the Himalayas—a place where fantasy, sensuality, and pleasure reign supreme. Diandra is determined to find this magical place . . . at any cost.A beautiful and sexually adventurous cultural anthropologist, Diandra is exhilarated when an intriguing exotic stranger offers to take her to his legendary hidden village a world away. Marriage is the price, he tells her, and Diandra hesitantly agrees. But after an arduous journey to the breathtaking Lost Valley, she is stunned to discover that local custom demands she be the wife to all of her new husband's virile brothers as well—and that each union must be consummated . . . before the entire village! At first shocked, Diandra soon finds her new role deliciously appealing, as the passionate attentions of three enthusiastic lovers carry her to new pinnacles of erotic satisfaction.But there is a mysterious fourth brother—proud, handsome, hot, charismatic, and resentful of an arrangement that forces him to share. When Yeshi returns to the valley, suddenly Diandra's simple life of nonstop pleasure is not so simple anymore . . . as taboos are broken and passions spin wildly, unexpectedly out of control.
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.
Love in the Asylum
Love in the Asylum
Carey, Lisa
¥84.16
From an author whose work has been called 'haunted and joyous and heartbreaking all at once' (Washington Post Book World) comes an unforgettable novel of two lost souls who find love and salvation against all odds. Can love save those who believe they are beyond redemptionIn and out of a swank north–eastern rehab centre more than a dozen times in ten years, Alba Elliot, a 25–year–old children's book writer and manic–depressive, believes she is a hopeless case. But an unlikely relationship with Oscar, a 30–year–old drug addict whose 'recreation' has cost him everything, and a century–old story hidden in the institution's library bring about changes that Alba could never have imagined. Brought together by fate, influenced by forces as beautiful and powerful as they are unforeseen, Alba and Oscar will slowly rise from the ashes of despair and self–destruction and, in the midst of righting an old wrong, begin to heal their battered spirits. A beautifully crafted, heartfelt tale of tragedy and triumph, Lisa Carey's moving third novel is a testament to the surprising resilience of the human heart.
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.
Thornfield Hall
Thornfield Hall
Tennant, Emma
¥84.16
Adele, the daughter of a celebrated Parisian actress, is a homesick, forlorn eight-year-old when first brought to Thornfield Hall by Edward Fairfax Rochester, her mother's former lover. Lonely and ill at ease in the unfamiliar English countryside, she longs to return to the glitter of Paris . . . and to the mother who has been lost to her. But a small ray of sunshine brightens her eternal gloom when a stranger arrives to care for her—a serious yet intensely loving young governess named Jane Eyre—even as young Adele's curiosity leads her deeper into the shadowy manor, toward the dark and terrible secret that is locked away in a high garret. . . . Includes fascinating in-depth background material about Charlotte Brontand the Jane Eyre legacy
Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Moore, Christopher
¥84.16
The town psychiatrist has decided to switch everybody in Pine Cove, California, from their normal antidepressants to placebos, so naturally—well, to be accurate, artificially—business is booming at the local blues bar. Trouble is, those lonely slide-guitar notes have also attracted a colossal sea beast named Steve with, shall we say, a thing for explosive oil tanker trucks. Suddenly, morose Pine Cove turns libidinous and is hit by a mysterious crime wave, and a beleaguered constable has to fight off his own gonzo appetites to find out what's wrong and what, if anything, to do about it.
The Language of Trees
The Language of Trees
Ruby, Ilie
¥84.16
Gripping, suspenseful, magical, and richly atmospheric . . . Ilie Ruby's haunting debut novel, The Language of Trees, is exhilarating fiction that announces the arrival of a truly extraordinary storyteller.Echo O'Connell knows that the summer holds its secrets. They are whispered in the rustling trees, in the lush scent of the lilacs, in the flurry of the mayflies batting against the screen door, and in the restless spirits that seem to clamor in the scant breezes on hot evenings. It is in summer that she returns home to Canandaigua, to confront these spirits, both living and not, and to share a secret with her first love, Grant Shongo—a secret that will forever change the lives of many people in the town and put to rest the mysterious disappearance of a little boy more than a decade earlier. Grant, a descendant of the Seneca Indians who call this place "The Chosen Spot," has also come back to face his past. After a broken marriage, he has moved into his childhood home, a lake house that has withstood happiness and tragedy. He knows the spirits of the past must be dealt with—that of the little boy who disappeared all those years ago; the boy's sister, who never overcame the loss; and the love Grant still has for Echo. But before the healing must come the forgiveness. . . .
The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart
The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart
Taylor, Glenn
¥84.16
Meet Trenchmouth Taggart, a man born and orphaned in 1903, a man nicknamed for his lifelong oral affliction. His boyhood is shaped by the Widow Dorsett, a strong mountain woman who teaches him to hunt and to survive the taunts of others. In the hills of southern West Virginia, a boy grows up fast. Trenchmouth sips moonshine, handles snakes, pleases women, and masters the rifle—a skill that lands him in the middle of the West Virginia coal wars. A teenaged union sniper, Trenchmouth is exiled to the back-woods of Appalachia's foothills, where he spends his years running from the past. But trouble will sniff a man down, and an outlaw will eventually run home. Here Trenchmouth Taggart's story, like the best ballads, etches its mark deep upon the memory.
Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter
Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter
Moorat, A. E.
¥84.16
There were many staff at Kensington Palace, fulfilling many roles; a man who was employed to catch rats, another whose job it was to sweep the chimneys. That there was someone expected to hunt demons did not shock the new Queen; that it was to be her was something of a surprise.London, 1838. Queen Victoria is crowned; she receives the orb, the scepter, and an arsenal of bloodstained weaponry. If Britain is about to become the greatest power of the age, there’s the small matter of the undead to take care of first. Demons stalk the crown, and political ambitions have unleashed ravening hordes of zombies even within the nobility itself.But rather than dreams of demon hunting, Queen Victoria’s thoughts are occupied by Prince Albert. Can she dedicate her life to saving her country when her heart belongs elsewhere?With lashings of glistening entrails, decapitations, zombies, and foul demons, this masterly new portrait will give a fresh understanding of a remarkable woman, a legendary monarch, and quite possibly the best demon hunter the world has ever seen.In another incarnation as a more serious (though still satirical) author, A. E. MOORAT has won critical acclaim and been shortlisted for awards. Here, however, he was chained in the dungeon, fed tea and ghost stories, and kept busy writing the adventures of Queen Victoria, Demon Hunter.
The Other Mothers' Club
The Other Mothers' Club
Baker, Samantha
¥84.16
Eve has had it—she's no "wicked stepmonster" in the making. She absolutely adores Ian, the new man in her life, and she's more than willing to open her heart to his kids. But nothing she does is right in their eyes, and she just can't take it anymore. At her wit's end, she decides it's time for stepmothers to stick together, so, with a little prodding from her best friend, Clare, she decides to join a support system for other women in the same boat. There's stay-at-home mom Mandy, high-achiever Mel, and even young and in love Chloe. And as cups of coffee give way to wine, and their get-togethers become a regular fixture, the women share their love, lives, ambitions, and true feelings about their new families.
The Barbary Pirates
The Barbary Pirates
Dietrich, William
¥84.16
As dazzling and action packed as the best novels of James Rollins, George MacDonald Fraser, and Steve Berry, The Barbary Pirates will have readers cheering for William Dietrich and his dashing hero, Ethan Gage!Swashbuckling American explorer and ladies' man Ethan Gage has seen his fair share of danger, having braved the sands of Egypt, the perils of the Atlantic Ocean, and the harsh wilderness of early America. Once more, he finds himself in a desperate race—this time with the Barbary Pirates, a powerful band of Muslim outlaws from North Africa. Also after Ethan is his nemesis—and former lover—Aurora Somerset, member of a dangerous sect called the Egyptian Rite. The prize is the Mirror of Archimedes, an ancient superweapon that, according to legend, once burned a Roman fleet with its power. In 1802, this death ray could tip the balance of power in the Mediterranean, and Ethan must stop the pirates from using it against the American, English, and French fleets.From the salons and brothels of the Palais Royal of Paris, where the quest for information about his lost love Astiza involves real-life scientists and engineers—including inventor Robert Fulton—Ethan must travel at Napoleon's behest to the canals of Venice, the caves of Santorini, the dungeons of Tripoli, and finally to treachery on the high seas in the Mediterranean.Can Ethan rescue Astiza without betraying the cause of his own United StatesCan he save the two-year-old son he only recently discovered he had without allowing the Egyptian Rite to finally dominate the worldAnd when the sun rises on the Mirror of Archimedes, will everything Ethan cares about be set afire?Delivering the fast-paced adventure, uncanny wit, and page-turning historical excitement that readers have come to expect from the masterful William Dietrich, The Barbary Pirates is Ethan Gage at his winningest, most hilarious, and most death defying.
Lexi James and the Council of Girlfriends
Lexi James and the Council of Girlfriends
Jacobs, Melissa
¥84.16
Meet the Council of Girlfriends: Grace, the relentless romantic; La Diva Lola, a celebrity chef with a secret sex life; Mamma Mia, who took the Husband & Children exit to the suburbs; the fabulous Ellie Archer, a journalist who follows her heart to Paris; and Mistress of the Universe/PR exec Lexi James, a heroine more Jo March than Bridget Jones.Lexi has a lot of women in her life, but no man. She was engaged to Mr. Almost Perfect, but called off the wedding after she had a meltdown in a suburban supermarket. Still dealing with the debris of that failed relationship, Lexi is terrified of making another committment, and another mistake. Fortunately everyone--from the members of the COG to the bubbies at the Jewish Retirement home where she volunteers--has some advice for Lexi on what she should do next.
First, You Cry
First, You Cry
Rollin, Betty
¥84.16
NBC News correspondent Betty Rollin, glamorous,successful, and happily married, had it all -- and then she learned that she had a malignant tumor in her breast.Written with wit, warmth, and soul searching honesty, First, You Cry is the inspiring, true story about how one woman transformed the most terrifying ordeal of her life into a new beginning.Now with a new introduction and epilogue, this unique memoir serves as a fascinating retrospective of the twenty-five years since Rollin's first mastectomy and, given the continuing threat of breast cancer, tells a story that will inform all women as it touches them with its honesty and even, humor.
One Sunday Morning
One Sunday Morning
Ephron, Amy
¥84.16
One Sunday morning four women at a bridge party in the elegant Gramercy Park Hotel see a beautiful young woman whom they all know leaving a nearby hotel with a man who is not her husband. The sight of twenty-year-old Lizzie Carswell with Billy Holmes is shocking and potentially ruinous. And though the ladies do not know the whole story -- and despite their mutual promise to keep what they've seen to themselves -- it is only a matter of time before one of them talks . . . with heartbreaking consequences for them all.In One Sunday Morning, author Amy Ephron brilliantly navigates the social contradictions of Jazz Age New York society and brings a remarkable time and place to glorious life with a riveting drama of gossip, indiscretion, secrets, and betrayal.
Boonville
Boonville
Anderson, Robert Mailer
¥84.16
Surrounded by misfits, rednecks, and counterculture burnouts, John Gibson—the reluctant heir of an alcoholic grandmother—and Sarah McKay—a commune-reared "hippie-by-association"—search for self and community in the hole-of-a-town Boonville. As they try to assemble from the late-twentieth-century jumble of life the facts of sexuality, love, and death, and face the possibility of an existence without God, John and Sarah learn what happens when they dare to try to make art from their lives.
Emily's Reasons Why Not
Emily's Reasons Why Not
Gerlach, Carrie
¥84.16
Though her (biological) clock is furiously ticking away, entertainment publicity pro extraordinaire Emily Sanders didn't hear the starting bell. Hitting thirty and watching her best friends settle down, she too wants to have the life that once upon a time ... wished upon a star ... she dreamed she'd have: the house, the kids, the perfect man. But in L.A., where image is everything, "where every beauty pageant winner is an eight in a sea of nines all wishing they were Julia Roberts," finding true love isn't easy. Especially when boyfriend material includes a beautiful young surfer god, an aging music executive, the boss's boss's boss, and a baseball player with two cell phones (one of which Emily doesn't have the number to).With her confidence heading due south like everything else on her body, Emily turns to a smart, sharp-eyed psychotherapist who helps her get past the "flutter, flutter," her old time-tested method for picking the wrong guy. Soon she finds herself able to spot "the reasons," the previously invisible flags of a destined-to-fail relationship, and narrow her focus to stop looking for Mr. Right and learn how to start looking out for Mr. Wrong.Emily's Reasons Why Not is for everyone who has ever wasted her time chasing down the wrong guy for the right reasons, wondering "why" and "when is it going to happen for me?" With the edge of an insider, but the heart of a dreamer, the disarming and unflappable Emily meshes her views on the entertainment industry she works in, the men she's dated, the therapy sessions she mulled over, and "the one" she knows is out there for every woman ... including herself.
The Tell
The Tell
Kaplan, Hester
¥84.16
An elegant and haunting novel of love and family, The Tell demands that we reconsider our notions of marriage—duty, compromise, betrayal, and the choice to stand by or leave the ones we love.Mira and Owen's marriage is less stable than they know when Wilton Deere, an aging, no longer famous TV star moves in to the grand house next door. With plenty of money and plenty of time to kill, Wilton is charming but ruthless as he inserts himself into the couple's life in a quest for distraction, friendship—and most urgently—a connection with Anya, the daughter he abandoned years earlier. Facing stresses at home and work, Mira begins to accompany Wilton to a casino and is drawn to the slot machines. Escapism soon turns to full-on addiction and a growing tangle of lies and shame that threatens her fraying marriage and home. Betrayed and confused, Owen turns to the mysterious Anya, who is testing her own ability to trust her father after many years apart.The Tell is a finely-wrought novel about risk: of dependence, of responsibility, of addiction, of trust, of violence. Told with equal parts suspense, sympathy, and psychological complexity, it shows us the intimate and shifting ways in which we reveal ourselves before we act, and what we assume but don’t know about those closest to us.
The Widows of Braxton County
The Widows of Braxton County
McConkey, Jess
¥84.16
Family secrets can bind and destroyKate is ready to put her nomadic, city-dwelling past behind her when she marries Joe Krause and moves with him to the Iowa farm that has been in his family for more than 140 years. But life on the farm isn't quite as idyllic as she'd hoped. It's filled with chores, judgmental neighbors, and her mother-in-law, who—unbeknownst to Kate until after the wedding—will be living with them.As Kate struggles to find her place in the small farming community, she begins to realize that her husband and his family are not who she thought they were. According to town gossip, the Krause family harbors a long-kept secret about a mysterious death that haunts Kate as a dangerous, unexplainable chain of events begins.
Safe Within
Safe Within
Page, Jean Reynolds
¥84.16
A novel of how family happens—whether you like it or notElaine and Carson Forsyth have returned to the tree house—Elaine's childhood home, a cabin nestled high in the branches of two oaks beside a North Carolina lake—where forty-nine-year-old Carson has chosen to spend the waning days of his life. As Elaine prepares for a future without her beloved husband, their solace is interrupted. Carson's mother, Greta, has set loose a neighbor's herd of alpacas and landed herself in police custody. While Carson, remarkably, sees humor in the situation, Elaine can only question what her obligations are—and will be—to a woman who hasn't spoken to her in more than twenty years.In the wake of Carson's death, Elaine and their grown son, Mick, are thrust into the maelstrom of Greta, the mother-in-law and grandmother who never accepted either of them. Just as they are trying to figure out their new roles in the family, Mick uncovers unexpected questions of his own. A long-ago teenage relationship with a local girl may have left him with more than just memories, and he must get to the bottom of Greta's surprising accusations that he's not Carson's son at all.
The Testament of Jessie Lamb
The Testament of Jessie Lamb
Rogers, Jane
¥84.16
A rogue virus that kills pregnant women has been let loose in the world, and nothing less than the survival of the human race is at stake.Some blame the scientists, others see the hand of God, and still others claim that human arrogance and destructiveness are reaping the punishment they deserve. Jessie Lamb is an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl living in extraordinary times. As her world collapses, her idealism and courage drive her toward the ultimate act of heroism. She wants her life to make a difference. But is Jessie heroicOr is she, as her scientist father fears, impressionable, innocent, and incapable of understanding where her actions will lead?Set in a world irreparably altered by an act of biological terrorism, The Testament of Jessie Lamb explores a young woman's struggle to become independent of her parents. As the certainties of her childhood are ripped apart, Jessie begins to question her parents' attitudes, their behavior, and the very world they have bequeathed her.