The golden skies, the translucent twilight, the white nights, all hold the promise of youth, of love, of eternal renewal. The war has not yet touched this city of fallen grandeur, or the lives of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha Metanova, who share a single room in a cramped apartment with their brother and parents. Their world is turned upside down when Hitler's armies attack Russia and begin their unstoppable blitz to Leningrad.Yet there is light in the darkness. Tatiana meets Alexander, a brave young officer in the Red Army. Strong and self-confident, yet guarding a mysterious and troubled past, he is drawn to Tatiana and she to him. Starvation, desperation, and fear soon grip their city during the terrible winter of the merciless German siege. Tatiana and Alexander's impossible love threatens to tear the Metanova family apart and expose the dangerous secret Alexander so carefully protects a secret as devastating as the war itself as the lovers are swept up in the brutal tides that will change the world and their lives forever.

For goth-girl Raven, dating her dream boyfriend is complicated, especially because Alexander's secret means that they can see each other only at night.And now the pair must be extra wary in the dark with Alexander's archrival, Jagger, appearing around town. As if Jagger isn't enough cause for worry, Luna, his strikingly pale sister, has also surfaced and seems to have her sights set on Raven's longtime nemesis, Trevor. Together, Raven and Alexander must begin a terrifying search for Jagger and Luna's hideout to drive them away -- that is, if it's not already too late to save Dullsville from becoming Vampireville.In the latest installment of her popular Vampire Kisses books, Ellen Schreiber continues the startling story of two teen outsiders -- she from the mortal world and he from the Underworld -- who share a thrilling, extraordinary romance.

He couldn’t listen to music or talk on the phone without her jumping all over him about what they listened to up in Maine, or how they talked up in Maine, or how he better not go up to Maine and start acting ghetto. Maine. Anthony’s mother didn’t even know where it was until he’d shown it to her on a map, but that still didn’t stop her from acting like she was born there.Anthony “Ant” Jones has never been outside his rough East Cleveland neighborhood when he’s given a scholarship to Belton Academy, an elite prep school in Maine.But at Belton things are far from perfect. Everyone calls him “Tony,” assumes he’s from Brooklyn, expects him to play basketball, and yet acts shocked when he fights back.As Anthony tries to adapt to a world that will never fully accept him, he’s in for a rude awakening: Home is becoming a place where he no longer belongs.In debut author Brian F. Walker’s hard-hitting novel about staying true to yourself, Anthony might find a way to survive at Belton, but what will it cost him?

When Was The Last Time You Felt Really Healthy?Now's the time to create the healthy, balanced life you want -- and become the truly vibrant, happy person you were meant to be. Combining good humor with solid science, Marilu Henner provides essential information on every aspect of health and fitness, including:Detoxing your bodyPreventing or alleviating health conditions from obesity to cancerThe secrets of stress reductionReal food and the organic way to fuel your bodyFree yourself forever from diets and disease-causing toxins, boost your energy, lower and maintain your weight -- and change your life.

Get that great taste of wood-smoked food using the top of your kitchen stove.Contains everything you need to know about smoking foods at home, using a stovetop smoker.Chris serves up 36 master recipes for smoking everything from whole chickens to shrimp, plus 95 recipes for soups, salads, and sides that use smoked ingredients. There's Tea-Smoked Duck; Smoked Eggplant Soup; and Fettuccine with Smoky Salmon, Peas, and Leeks to name just a few. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination and your love for smoky flavor. With Chris Styler's tips, techniques, and pointers, smoking food is simple, fast, and the taste speaks for itself. Smokin' -- it's well, smokin'.

A girl thought to be a boy steals her sister's skirt, while a boy thought to be a girl refuses to wear a cornflower blue dress. One boy's love of a soldier leads to the death of a stranger. The present takes a bittersweet journey into the past when a man revisits the summer school where he had "an accidental romance." And a forgotten mother writes a poignant letter to the teenage daughter she hasn't seen for fourteen years.Poised between the past and the future are the stories of now. In nontraditional narratives, short stories, and brief graphics, tales of anticipation and regret, eagerness and confusion present distinctively modern views of love, sexuality, and gender identification. Together, they reflect the vibrant possibilities available for young people learning to love others—and themselves—in today's multifaceted and quickly changing world.

In this fast-paced, high-stakes debut novel, sixteen-year-old Sam McKenna discovers that becoming one of the first girls to attend a revered military academy means living with a target on her back. As Sam struggles to prove herself, she learns that a decades-old secret society is alive and active . . . and determined to force her out. Fans of Simone Elkeles and Trish Doller will love Rites of Passage’s perfect blend of?sizzling romance and edge-of-your-seat?suspense.

June Lyons, the FBI-agent-turned-small-town-cop introduced in the acclaimed debut Ice Shear, must solve two connected cases whose roots stretch back decades—and touch the lives of those closest to herAs a police officer in the Rust Belt town of Hopewell Falls, New York, June Lyons keeps an eye on the abandoned factories that line the Mohawk River. On patrol she spots a slick of gasoline running across the parking lot of an old apparel factory; inside, an unconscious woman lies near smoldering piles of old fabric. The fire destroys the building down to its subbasements, and the badly burned woman June rescued is in a coma. No one knows who she is or how she got there.Thirty years earlier, June's father made a name for himself when he arrested the factory's owner, Bernie Lawler, for killing his wife and child, though their bodies were never found. Sifting through the factory's ruins, June and her partner, Dave Batko, discover a woman's body sealed in a barrel. They're sure that the body will be Luisa Lawler's and her cold case file will finally be closed. But the body isn't Bernie's wife's, and the discovery opens old wounds and cuts fresh ones, triggering a new cycle of violence and revenge that threatens to destroy her family and friends.As June and her neighbors discover, beneath Hopewell Falls's small-town facade lie some unbearably ugly truths—secrets that are only beginning to surface. With the case growing more complex, June teams with FBI Special Agent Hale Bascom to find the truth—before everyone she loves, and the town itself, spins dangerously out of control.

What if the world holds more dangers—and more wonders—than we have ever knownAnd what if there is more than one worldFrom Heather Dixon, author of the acclaimed Entwined, comes a brilliantly conceived adventure that sweeps us from the inner workings of our souls to the far reaches of our imaginations. Jonathan is perfectly ordinary. But then—as every good adventure begins—the king swoops into port, and Jonathan and his father are enlisted to find the cure to a deadly plague. Jonathan discovers that he's a prodigy at working with a new chemical called fantillium, which creates shared hallucinations—or illusions. And just like that, Jonathan is knocked off his path. Through richly developed parallel worlds, vivid action, a healthy dose of humor, and gorgeous writing, Heather Dixon spins a story that calls to mind The Night Circus and Pixar movies, but is wholly its own.

Perfect for fans of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak is Stonewall Award-winning author Brian Katcher's hilarious he said/she said romance about two teens discovering themselves on an out-of-this-world accidental first date at a sci-fi convention.When Ana Watson's brother ditches a high school trip to run wild at Washingcon, type-A Ana knows that she must find him or risk her last shot at freedom from her extra-controlling parents.In her desperation, she's forced to enlist the last person she'd ever want to spend time with—slacker Zak Duquette—to help find her brother before morning comes.But over the course of the night, while being chased by hordes of costumed Vikings and zombies, Ana and Zak begin to open up to each other. Soon, what starts as the most insane nerdfighter manhunt transforms into so much more. . . .

Are you ready for the Badass Body of your dreams?Christmas Abbott is living proof that fitness is sexy, and a badass body is a birthright for one and all. A CrossFit star, professional athlete, former NASCAR pit crew member, Olympic weightlifter, and former unhealthy "skinny fat" woman herself, Christmas knows what real women need in order to get the butts and bodies of their dreams. In The Badass Body Diet, Christmas provides a quick and simple workout plan that tones everything—from booty to total body—and teaches you how to spot-reduce excess fat with targeted meal plans and recipes.Your glutes are the largest and most powerful muscle group in your body, not to mention one of the most beautiful. But they often go dormant, flat, and flabby due to poor lifestyle choices. The Badass Body Diet is the solution, packed with information on how to:Select the right proteins, fats, and carbs—otherwise known as "booty foods." Learn how to eat for your body type and fitness goals. Get targeted, powerful, total body workouts in just a few minutes a day. Improve your posture and functional mobility and enhance your overall health. Clear up cellulite with dietary advice, workout strategies, and other proven tips.Based on her work with hundreds of clients at her CrossFit gyms and nationwide fitness boot camps, Christmas offers specific, detailed plans for every goal, whether it's losing weight, taking an already fit frame to the next level, or building luscious curves on a "skinny fat" body. She'll give you the tools and motivation you need to build a healthy, vital body—with the tight, firm tush you've always wanted!

In the months leading up to March 2003, fresh from its swift and heady victory in Afghanistan, the Bush administration mobilized the United States armed forces to overthrow the government of Iraq. Eight months after the president declared an end to major combat operations, Saddam Hussein was captured in a farmhouse in Al-Dawr. And yet neither peace nor democracy has taken hold in Iraq; instead the country has plunged into terrorist insurgency and guerrilla warfare, with no end in sight.What went wrong?In The Secret History of the Iraq War, bestselling author Yossef Bodansky offers an astonishing new account of the war and its aftermath a war that was doomed from the start, he argues, by the massive and systemic failures of the American intelligence community. Drawing back the curtain of politicized debate, Bodansky a longtime expert and director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare reveals that nearly every aspect of America's conflict with Iraq has been misunderstood, in both the court of public opinion and the White House itself. Among his revelations: The most authoritative account of Saddam Hussein's support for Islamic terrorist organizations including extensive new reporting on his active cooperation with al-Qaeda in Iraq long after the fall of Baghdad Extensive new information on Iraq's major chemical and biological weapons programs including North Korea's role in building still-undetected secret storage facilities and Iraq's transfer of banned materials to Syria, Iran, and Libya The first account of Saddam's plan for Iraq, Syria, and Iran to join Yasser Arafat's Palestinian forces to attack Israel, throw the region into turmoil, and upend the American campaign The untold story of Russia's attempt to launch a coup against Saddam before the war and how the CIA thwarted it by ensuring that Iraq was forewarned Dramatic details about Saddam's final days on the run, including the untold story of a near miss with U.S. troops and the stunning revelation that Saddam was already in custody at the time of his capture and was probably betrayed by members of his own Tikriti clan The definitive account of the anti-U.S. resistance and uprising in Iraq, as the American invasion ignited an Islamic jihad and Iran-inspired intifada, threatening to plunge the region into irreversible chaos fueled by hatred and revenge Revelations about the direct involvement of Osama bin Laden in the terrorism campaigns in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the Middle East including the major role played by Iran and HizbAllah in al-Qaeda's operations Drawing upon an extraordinary wealth of previously untapped intelligence and regional sources, The Secret History of the Iraq War presents the most detailed, fascinating, and convincing account of the most controversial war of our times and offers a sobering indictment of an intelligence system that failed the White House, the American military, and the people of the Middle East.

World-Renowned Egyptologist Dr. Joann Fletcher offers an unparalleled look at one of history's most fascinating leaders Politician, Mother, and Goddess the legendary Cleopatra.The subject of myth for more than two millennia, Cleopatra was a woman of passion, magnetism, and political genius, the last and greatest Egyptian pharaoh. In this mesmerizing biography, Egyptologist Joann Fletcher draws on a wealth of newly discovered information and research to reveal this vital woman as she truly was, from her first meeting with Julius Caesar to her legendary death by snakebite.Cleopatra the Great tells the story of a turbulent time and the extraordinary woman at its center. A polymath monarch, she was also a potent combination of traditionalist and innovator, astute enough to realize what was necessary for Egypt's continued prosperity and sufficiently ruthless to allow nothing to stand in her way.Yet our understanding of Cleopatra has been obscured by Roman propaganda, Shakespearean tragedy, and Hollywood glamour. Cleopatra the Great pieces together the pharaoh's ancient world with details about her massive library and infamous banquets, her relationships with both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and her skillful use of fashion and style to further her ambitions and her mystique. Intelligent and compulsively readable, here is an unparalleled biography worthy of its subject.

Here is the American starlet: discovered, disrobed, displaced, disused, disgorged.In more than thirty haunting, visceral poetic portraits, acclaimed poet and actress Amber Tamblyn contemplates the interior lives of women who glimmered on-screen and crashed in life figures as diverse as Frances Farmer and Brittany Murphy, Jayne Mansfield and Dana Plato, Jean Harlow and Sharon Tate, Heather O'Rourke and Dominique Dunne and Marilyn Monroe. Their stories invite us behind the eyes of a century's worth of women, the adored and the disappeared.

Shy Facts Shy children are not destined to be shy adults. Shyness does not equal low self-esteem. Shyness is not a "disease," personality deficit, or character flaw. Humans aren't the only species to experience shyness. Scientists have been studying shy cattle aswell as shy cats, shy fish, and shy dogs. Some of the world's most famous, richest, smartest and bravest people are shy.

Most of us believe that we will finally feel satisfied and content with our lives when we get the good news we have been waiting for, find a healthy relationship, or achieve one of our personal goals. However, this rarely happens. Good fortune is often followed by negative emotions that overtake us and result in destructive behaviors. "I don't deserve this," "this is too good to be true," or any number of harmful thought patterns prevent us from experiencing the joy and satisfaction we have earned. Sound familiarThis is what New York Times bestselling author Gay Hendricks calls the Upper Limit Problem, a negative emotional reaction that occurs when anything positive enters our lives. The Upper Limit Problem not only prevents happiness, but it actually stops us from achieving our goals. It is the ultimate life roadblock. In The Big Leap, Hendricks reveals a simple yet comprehensive program for overcoming this barrier to happiness and fulfillment, presented in a way that engages both the mind and heart. Working closely with more than one thousand extraordinary achievers in business and the arts from rock stars to Fortune 500 executives whose stories are featured in these pages, the book describes the four hidden fears that are at the root of the Upper Limit Problem.The Big Leap delivers a proven method for first identifying which of these four fears prevents us from reaching our personal upper limit, and then breaking through that limitation to achieve what Hendricks refers to as our Zone of Genius. Hendricks provides a clear path for achieving our true potential and attaining not only financial success but also success in love and life.

In The Dog Listener Jan Fennell shares her revolutionary insight into the canine world and its instinctive language that has enabled her to bring even the most delinquent of dogs to heel. This easy-to-follow guide draws on Jan's countless case histories of problem dogs from biters and barkers to bicycle chasers to show how you can bridge the language barrier that separates you from your dog.This edition includes a new 30-Day Training Guide to further incorporate Jan's powerful method into every element of pet ownership, including: Understanding what it means to care for a dog Choosing the right dog for you Introducing your dog to its new home Overcoming separation anxiety Walking on a leash Dealing with behavioral problems Grooming And much more

A decade ago, French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin became obsessed by the centuriesold question: How was the Great Pyramid builtHow, in a nation of farmers only recently emerged from the Stone Age, could such a massive, complex, and enduring structure have been envisioned and constructedLaboring at his computer ten hours a day for five years creating exquisitely detailed 3-D models of the Pyramid's interior Houdin finally had his answer. It was a startling revelation that cast a fresh light on the minds that conceived one of the wonders of the ancient world. Written by world-renowned Egyptologist Bob Brier in collaboration with Houdin, The Secret of the Great Pyramid moves deftly between the ancient and the modern, chronicling two equally fascinating interrelated histories. It is a remarkable account of the step-by-step planning and assembling of the magnificent edifice the brainchild of an innovative genius, the Egyptian architect Hemienu, who imagined, organized, and oversaw a monumental construction project that took more than two decades to complete and that employed the services of hundreds of architects, mathematicians, boatbuilders, stonemasons, and metallurgists. Here also is the riveting story of Jean-Pierre Houdin's single-minded search for solutions to the mysteries that have bedeviled Egyptologists for centuries, such as the purpose of the enigmatic Grand Gallery and the Pyramid's crack.

A landmark exploration of the vast and expanding impact of technology, rivetingly told through the lens of a deadly collisionOne of the year's most original and masterfully reported books, A Deadly Wandering by Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Matt Richtel interweaves the cutting-edge science of attention with the tensely plotted story of a mysterious car accident and its aftermath to answer some of the defining questions of our time: What is technology doing to usCan our minds keep up with the pace of changeHow can we find balanceThrough Richtel's beautifully constructed narrative, a complex and far-reaching topic becomes intimate and urgent an important call to reexamine our own lives.On the last day of summer, an ordinary Utah college student named Reggie Shaw fatally struck two rocket scientists while texting and driving along a majestic stretch of highway bordering the Rocky Mountains. Richtel follows Reggie from the moment of the tragedy, through the police investigation, the state's groundbreaking prosecution (at the time there was little precedent to guide the court), and ultimately, Reggie's wrenching admission of responsibility. Richtel parallels Reggie's journey with leading-edge scientific findings regarding human attention and the impact of technology on our brains showing how these devices, now thoroughly embedded into all aspects of our lives, play to our deepest social instincts and prey on parts of the brain that crave stimulation, creating loops of compulsion, even addiction. Remarkably, today Reggie is a leading advocate who has helped spark a national effort targeting distracted driving, and the arc of his story provides a window through which Richtel pursues actionable solutions to help manage this crisis individually and as a society. A propulsive read filled with fascinating scientific detail, riveting narrative tension, and rare emotional depth, A Deadly Wandering is a book that can change and save lives.

New from Helen Palmer, a "leading teacher and practitioner of the Enneagram" (San Francisco Chronicle), the first Enneagram book to give practical advice, in fascinating detail, on how to have the best possible relationships in love and business.

The third volume of Thomas Merton's journals chronicles Merton's attempts to reconcile his desire for solitude and contemplation with the demands of his new-found celebrity status within the strictures of conventional monastic life.