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万本电子书0元读

Florence and Giles
Florence and Giles
John Harding
¥45.62
A sinister Gothic tale in the tradition of The Woman in Black and The Fall of the House of Usher 1891. In a remote and crumbling New England mansion, 12-year-old orphan Florence is neglected by her guardian uncle and banned from reading. Left to her own devices she devours books in secret and talks to herself - and narrates this, her story - in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors like one of the old house's many ghosts and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles. Sometimes Florence doesn't sleepwalk at all, but simply pretends to so she can roam at will and search the house for clues to her own baffling past. After the sudden violent death of the children's first governess, a second teacher, Miss Taylor, arrives, and immediately strange phenomena begin to occur. Florence becomes convinced that the new governess is a vengeful and malevolent spirit who means to do Giles harm. Against this powerful supernatural enemy, and without any adult to whom she can turn for help, Florence must use all her intelligence and ingenuity to both protect her little brother and preserve her private world. Inspired by and in the tradition of Henry James' s The Turn of the Screw, Florence & Giles is a gripping gothic page-turner told in a startlingly different and wonderfully captivating narrative voice.
Black Mamba Boy
Black Mamba Boy
Nadifa Mohamed
¥66.22
Named as one of the Granta Best Of Young British Novelists 2013. Longlisted for the Orange Prize and winner of the Betty Trask Award. For fans of Half of a Yellow Sun, a stunning novel set in 1930s Somalia spanning a decade of war and upheaval, all seen through the eyes of a small boy alone in the world. Aden, Yemen, 1935; a city vibrant, alive, and full of hidden dangers. And home to Jama, a ten year-old boy. But then his mother dies unexpectedly and he finds himself alone in the world. Jama is forced home to his native Somalia, the land of his nomadic ancestors. War is on the horizon and the fascist Italian forces who control parts of East Africa are preparing for battle. Yet Jama cannot rest until he discovers whether his father, who has been absent from his life since he was a baby, is alive somewhere. And so begins an epic journey which will take Jama north through Djibouti, war-torn Eritrea and Sudan, to Egypt. And from there, aboard a ship transporting Jewish refugees just released from German concentration camps, across the seas to Britain and freedom. This story of one boy's long walk to freedom is also the story of how the Second World War affected Africa and its people; a story of displacement and family.
The Year of Magical Thinking
The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion
¥66.22
From one of America's iconic writers, a portrait of a marriage and a life – in good times and bad – that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child. A stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill. At first they thought it was flu, then pneumonia, then complete sceptic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later – the night before New Year’s Eve –the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of 40 years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LA airport, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Centre to relieve a massive hematoma. This powerful book is Didion’s ‘attempt to make sense of the weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness … about marriage and children and memory … about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself’. The result is an exploration of an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage, and a life, in good times and bad.
Grand Conspiracy: Second Book of The Alliance of Light
Grand Conspiracy: Second Book of The Alliance of Light
Janny Wurts
¥66.22
Where there is light, there must always be shadow… The fifth volume in Janny Wurts’s spectacular epic fantasy, now re-released with a striking new cover design along with the rest of the series. The wars began when two half-brothers, gifted of light and shadow, stood shoulder to shoulder to defeat the Mistwraith. Their foe cast a lifelong curse of enmity between them that has so far woven three bitter conflicts and uncounted deadly intrigues. It is a time of political upheavel, fanaticism and rampaging armies. Distrust of sorcery has set off a purge of the talented mageborn – none reviled more than Arithon, Master of Shadow. Through clever manipulation of events at the hands of his half-brother Lysaer, Lord of Light, Arithon’s very name has become anathema. Now the volatile hatreds that spearheaded the campaign against Shadow have overtaken all reason. Those that still stand in Arithon’s desperate defence are downtrodden, in retreat and close to annihilation. The stage is set for the ultimate betrayal.
A Darker Place (Sean Dillon Series, Book 16)
A Darker Place (Sean Dillon Series, Book 16)
Jack Higgins
¥58.86
Dillon and company are back in the ultimate blockbuster from the ‘legend’ that is Jack Higgins Disillusioned with the Putin Government, famous Russian writer and ex-paratrooper Alexander Kurbsky decides he wants to disappear into the West. However he is under no illusions about how the news will be greeted at home - he has seen too many of his countrymen die mysteriously at the hands of the thuggish Russian security services, so he makes elaborate plans with Charles Ferguson, Sean Dillon and the rest of the group known informally as the "Prime Minister's private army" for his escape and concealment. It's a real coup for the West…except for one thing. Kurbsky is still working for the Russians. The plan is to infiltrate British and American intelligence at the highest levels, and he has his own motivations for doing the most effective job possible. He does not care what he has to do or where he has to go…or whom he has to kill.
Black Powder War (The Temeraire Series, Book 3)
Black Powder War (The Temeraire Series, Book 3)
Naomi Novik
¥42.58
Naomi Novik’s stunning series of novels follow the adventures of Cpt Laurence and his dragon Temeraire as they travel from the shores of Britain to China and Africa. Before Captain Will Laurence can prepare his crew for the slow voyage home from China, new orders arrive for him and his dragon, Temeraire: they must fly home immediately, stopping only in Istanbul to collect three priceless dragon eggs, purchased by the British government from the Ottoman Empire. But the cross-continental journey is fraught with danger; not only will they have to scale mountains and traverse vast hostile deserts, but a Machiavellian herald precedes them, spreading political menace in her wake. Holding Temeraire responsible for the death of her princely companion, Lien has absconded from China consumed by vengeance. If she can, she will destroy everything and everyone Temeraire loves.
Terri’s Story (Individual stories from WISH YOU WERE HERE!, Book 7)
Terri’s Story (Individual stories from WISH YOU WERE HERE!, Book 7)
Lynn Russell,Neil Hanson
¥11.77
One of seven touching true stories from Wish You Were Here!, the tale of Butlin’s holiday camps. ‘When I got to the camp I felt as if I’d suddenly walked into Utopia – it was so colourful, so warm, so friendly. There were lights across the roads, there were banners fluttering in the breeze… There seemed to be laughter coming from every building.’ With grey post-WWII skies hanging low over Britain, factories lining the streets and smoke stacks dotting the horizon, there was one way that ordinary families could escape: the ever-cheerful holiday camps of Butlin’s. When Billy Butlin founded his holiday camps in 1936, they were bastions of community spirit and havens of luxury. Here, for one week, wives and mothers were freed from the toil and drudgery of housework, children ran free through the grounds, fathers and husbands hung up their work clothes. Ever-helpful redcoats were on hand all hours of the day, dinner halls ready with plentiful food for old and young alike, bars stocked to quench any level of thirst, ballrooms waiting to be flooded with shiny shoes, rustling dresses and peals of laughter. And, as the sun went down on another exhausting, happy day, a chorus line was ready to sing holidaymakers back to their beds. Rich in period detail and highly evocative, Wish You Were Here! follows the lives of seven of the camps’ key figures through the highs and lows of the holiday season: from redcoats searching for stardom to young families who returned year after year, to pensioners who rediscovered an inner youth. The laughter and tears, the loves and losses, and the fun and friendships that have lasted a lifetime – it's all here. Funny, moving and heartwarming, they are tales of swimming pools and sing-a-longs, Glamorous Grannies and bicycle rides, and of a community spirit that burned brightly in a much-loved British institution.
Painting Expressive Watercolours
Painting Expressive Watercolours
Mike Chaplin,Diana Vowles
¥82.31
Mike Chaplin is one of the most popular art experts on the very successful Channel 4 series Watercolour Challenge. In this book he reveals how he works and puts forward his ideas and teaching methods, offering plenty of tips and practical advice for the amateur artist. This book is intended for artists with some painting experience who wish to develop their technique, style and outlook. It is a book to make them think and to push the technical and personal boundaries of what they believe they can achieve in paint. Mike’s teaching focuses not only on techniques but also on expanding the readers’ approach to their painting as a whole. Starting with a fascinating look at the development of watercolour as an expressive art, the book then covers selective techniques, both traditional and the more unusual, and topics such as observation, drawing, colour and composition. All kinds of painting subjects are included, from the natural landscape to urban scenes, and throughout the book Mike provides plenty of practical advice and useful tips about techniques. There are also a number of special features, focusing on particular aspects of painting, as well as several full step-by-step demonstration paintings.
A Family Scandal
A Family Scandal
Kitty Neale
¥61.51
**A gritty and emotional family drama, from the Sunday Times bestseller. Perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries and Katie Flynn.** You can never leave a bad man behind… Mavis Pugh has had a hard life. Despised and abused throughout her teenage years, she turned to the first man who showed her kindness. But her new husband, Alec, quickly revealed himself to be a violent bully. When Mavis escapes from Alec, she thinks the worst is behind her. Moving to a large family house with her two children is more than she ever dreamed of, and when handsome sign-writer Tommy takes an interest in her, she can't believe her luck. But Alec is far from a distant memory and, unbeknown to Mavis, he’s watching her and her happy family closely. Just waiting for the right time to make his next – and final – move…
Project Berlin (Endgame: The Fugitive Archives, Book 1)
Project Berlin (Endgame: The Fugitive Archives, Book 1)
James Frey
¥21.97
The first story in a heart-stopping novella trilogy that follows a forbidden love that threatens Endgame in post-World War II Germany and takes place prior to the events in the New York Times bestseller, Endgame: The Calling. Humanity rests on the shoulders of twelve Players. But when the lives of a Cahokian Player and a Minoan Player intertwine over the search for an ancient weapon in post-World War II Berlin, the last thing they expect is to let their guard down, and fall in love. Now the success of their lines – and the fate of the world – is threatened. But this is Endgame. And only one can win.
Amazing Philanthropists: B1 (Collins Amazing People ELT Readers)
Amazing Philanthropists: B1 (Collins Amazing People ELT Readers)
Jane Rollason,Fiona MacKenzie
¥42.67
The inspiring stories of 6 people who changed history. Contents: Alfred Nobel, creator of the Nobel Prize Andrew Carnegie, the businessman who built libraries for poor people John D. Rockefeller who made money from oil and gave it all away Thomas Barnardo who created homes for poor children Henry Wellcome who used his money for medical research Madam C. J. Walker who gave her money to the African-American community BRITISH ENGLISH Word count: 13,950 Headword count: 1179 Each book includes a free CD with a full recording of each story. PLUS: visit www.collinselt.com/readers for videos, teacher resources and self-study materials. This book is Level 3 in the Collins ELT Readers series. Level 3 is equivalent to CEF level B1. About the Amazing People series: A unique opportunity for learners of English to read about the exceptional lives and incredible abilities of some of the most insightful people the world has seen. Each book contains six short stories, told by the characters themselves, as if in their own words. The stories explain the most significant parts of each character’s life, giving an insight into how they came to be such an important historic figure. After each story, a timeline presents the most major events in their life in a clear and succinct fashion. The timeline is ideal for checking comprehension or as a basis for project work or further research. Created in association with The Amazing People Club. About Collins ELT Readers: Collins ELT Readers are divided into four levels: Level 1 - elementary (A2) Level 2 - pre-intermediate (A2–B1) Level 3 - intermediate (B1) Level 4 - upper intermediate (B2) Each level is carefully graded to ensure that the learner both enjoys and benefits from their reading experience.
Amazing Writers: B2 (Collins Amazing People ELT Readers)
Amazing Writers: B2 (Collins Amazing People ELT Readers)
Katerina Mestheneou,Fiona MacKenzie
¥42.67
The inspiring stories of 6 people who changed history. Contents: Geoffrey Chaucer, writer of the first great works of English Literature William Shakespeare, writer of the greatest plays in history Charles Dickens who wanted to make England a better place Victor Hugo, the French writer who cared about the poor Leo Tolstoy, the man who wrote War and Peace Rudyard Kipling who wrote The Jungle Book and won a Nobel Prize BRITISH ENGLISH Word count: 12,886 Headword count: 1,039 Each book includes a free CD with a full recording of each story. PLUS: visit www.collinselt.com/readers for videos, teacher resources and self-study materials. This book is Level 3 in the Collins ELT Readers series. Level 3 is equivalent to CEF level B1. About the Amazing People series: A unique opportunity for learners of English to read about the exceptional lives and incredible abilities of some of the most insightful people the world has seen. Each book contains six short stories, told by the characters themselves, as if in their own words. The stories explain the most significant parts of each character’s life, giving an insight into how they came to be such an important historic figure. After each story, a timeline presents the most major events in their life in a clear and succinct fashion. The timeline is ideal for checking comprehension or as a basis for project work or further research. Created in association with The Amazing People Club. About Collins ELT Readers: Collins ELT Readers are divided into four levels: Level 1 – elementary (A2) Level 2 – pre-intermediate (A2–B1) Level 3 – intermediate (B1) Level 4 – upper intermediate (B2) Each level is carefully graded to ensure that the learner both enjoys and benefits from their reading experience.
I Blame The Hormones
I Blame The Hormones
Caroline Church
¥9.71
I Blame the Hormones follows the story of one woman battling long-term depression, her determination to root out the cause, and her ultimate discovery which freed her from its prison. Caroline Church suffered from a depression so chronic she experienced hallucinations, delusions and even suicidal inclinations. Yet through exploring the correlation between her depressive episodes and the basic elements of female nature, over many years she discovered that what she thought was a mental disorder was actually due to a hormonal imbalance. And the best bit? She learnt what she could do and take to control it. Shocking, vivid, and a must read for women, their partners and healthcare professionals alike, I Blame the Hormones is the uplifting memoir of Caroline’s journey to pull herself through despite all the odds.
In a Dark Wood
In a Dark Wood
Joseph Luzzi
¥66.22
A story of love and grief. ‘I became a widower and a father on the same day’ says Joseph Luzzi. His book tells how Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’ helped him to endure his grief, raise their infant daughter, and rediscover love. On a cold November morning, Joseph Luzzi, a Dante professor, found himself racing to hospital – his wife, eight-and-a-half months pregnant, had been in a horrible car accident. In one terrible instant, Luzzi became both a widower and a first-time father. Adrift and grieving, Luzzi found himself sharing Dante’s dark wood with an intimacy that years of reading had never shown him: the words became a wise companion through the Inferno of his grief, his healing, and ultimately his rediscovered love.
Detective Strongoak and the Case of the Dead Elf
Detective Strongoak and the Case of the Dead Elf
Terry Newman
¥66.22
CSI in the land of elves, but they aren’t cute and christmassy, they’re sometimes sinister, and definitely deceased… Private eye Nicely Strongoak is your average detective-for-hire, if your average detective is a dwarf with a Napoleon complex. In a city filled with drug-taking gnomes, goblins packing heat and a serious case of missing-persons, Strongoak might just be what’s needed. But things are about to turn sour. When on the trail of the vanished surfer, Perry Goodfellow, Nicely receives a sharp blow to the head, is burgled by goblins and awakes in a narcotic-induced haze on the floor of a steamwagon with an extremely deceased elf, who just happens to have Nicely’s axe wedged in his head. Nicely must enter the murky world of government politics if he is going to crack his toughest case yet. He’ll have to find Perry, uncover who the dead elf is and leave no cobblestone unturned…
Lindsey Kelk 5-Book ‘I Heart...’ Collection
Lindsey Kelk 5-Book ‘I Heart...’ Collection
Lindsey Kelk
¥275.07
Indulge in the unputdownable I HEART series. Follow Angela’s adventures from day one . . . When Angela Clark flees her best friend's wedding for New York, leaving chaos, an injured groom and a boyfriend in her wake, her adventures are only just beginning. Follow her through five hilarious and highly entertaining novels as her attempts to start a new life and new career – and a new love affair too – take her to Hollywood, Vegas, Paris and back to London. Being Angela, it's not long before she's in one scrape after another…
Sour: My Story
Sour: My Story
Tracey Miller,Lucy Bannerman
¥61.51
They call me Sour. The opposite of sweet. Shanking, stabbing, steaming, robbing, I did it all, rolling with the Man Dem. I did it because I was bad. I did it because I had heart. And the reason I reckon I got away with it for so long? Because I was a girl. SOUR is the true story of a former Brixton gang girl, drug dealer and full-time criminal. A member of the Younger 28s, a notorious gang that terrorised the postcodes around Brixton in the 90s, Sour escapes a troubled family life to immerse herself in the street life of likking and linking. She never leaves her house without a knife. At the age of fifteen, she stabs an innocent man in the street, earning her unrivalled respect and ‘Top-Dog’ status amongst her crew. She believes she is invincible. But the consequences of her actions are soon to catch up with her. Waking for the second time in two weeks in a hospital bed, to the news that she is pregnant, she realises it’s time to turn her life around. Motherhood will be a rude awakening, but it may also be her saving grace. Told with raw emotions and ferocious honesty, this is the real, on-the-record, story of one woman’s descent down the rabbit hole of gangland, and her efforts, as a daughter, mother and girlfriend, to claw herself out.
Crucible of Gold (The Temeraire Series, Book 7)
Crucible of Gold (The Temeraire Series, Book 7)
Naomi Novik
¥72.30
Naomi Novik’s stunning series of novels follow the global adventures of Captain William Laurence and his fighting dragon Temeraire as they are thrown together to fight for Britain during the turbulent time of the Napoleonic Wars. Former Aerial Corps captain Will Laurence and his faithful dragon, Temeraire, have been put out to pasture in Australia – and it seems their part in the war has ended just when they are needed most. The French have invaded Spain, forged an alliance with Africa’s powerful Tswana empire, and brought revolution to Brazil. With Britain’s last desperate hope of defeating Napoleon in peril, the government that sidelined Laurence swiftly offers to reinstate him, convinced that he’s the best man to enter the fray and negotiate peace. So the pair embark for Brazil, only to meet with a string of unmitigated disasters that forces them to make an unexpected landing in the hostile territory of the Incan empire. With the success of the mission balanced on a razor’s edge, an old enemy appears and threatens to tip the scales toward ruin. Yet even in the midst of disaster, opportunity may lurk – for one bold enough to grasp it.
The Complete Confessions of a GP (The Confessions Series)
The Complete Confessions of a GP (The Confessions Series)
Benjamin Daniels
¥34.14
Confessions of a GP and Further Confessions of a GP together in one volume. Benjamin Daniels is angry. He is frustrated, confused, baffled and, quite frequently, very funny. He is also a GP. These are his confessions.
The Iowa Baseball Confederacy
The Iowa Baseball Confederacy
W. P. Kinsella
¥62.98
From the author of Shoeless Joe, the book that inspired the movie Field of Dreams. The Iowa Baseball Confederacy tells the story of Gideon Clark, a man on a quest. He is out to prove to the world that the indomitable Chicago Cubs traveled to Iowa in the summer of 1908 for an exhibition game against an amateur league, the Iowa Baseball Confederacy. But a simple game somehow turned into a titanic battle of more than two thousand innings, and Gideon Clark struggles to set the record straight on this infamous game that no one else believes ever happened.
The Dressmaker of Dachau
The Dressmaker of Dachau
Mary Chamberlain
¥61.51
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Spanning the intense years of war, The Dressmaker of Dachau is a dramatic tale of love, conflict, betrayal and survival. It is the compelling story of one young woman’s resolve to endure and of the choices she must make at every turn – choices which will contain truths she must confront. London, spring 1939. Eighteen-year-old Ada Vaughan, a beautiful and ambitious seamstress, has just started work for a modiste in Dover Street. A career in couture is hers for the taking – she has the skill and the drive – if only she can break free from the dreariness of family life in Lambeth. A chance meeting with the enigmatic Stanislaus von Lieben catapults Ada into a world of glamour and romance. When he suggests a trip to Paris, Ada is blind to all the warnings of war on the continent: this is her chance for a new start. Anticipation turns to despair when war is declared and the two are trapped in France. After the Nazis invade, Stanislaus abandons her. Ada is taken prisoner and forced to survive the only way she knows how: by being a dressmaker. It is a decision which will haunt her during the war and its devastating aftermath.