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万本电子书0元读

As Good As It Got
As Good As It Got
Sharpe, Isabel
¥84.16
Ann Redding has taken every lousy thing life has thrown at her and handled it very well, thank you very much. All she wants is to get her life back on track...but that won't happen till she makes her worried family and friends back off by spending two weeks at Camp Kinsonu, a retreat for suddenly single women. Now she's stuck sitting around a campfire, singing "I Am Woman" with a bunch of sandal-clad, makeup-boycotting women. If she doesn't get out of there soon, they'll be sizing her for Birkenstocks.Kinsonu, an idyllic retreat on the coast of Maine, is supposed to be a place for new hope and new beginnings. But Ann doesn't belong in an estrogen Eden, she belongs in a corporate boardroom. Still, the camp has its compensations—she's grudgingly befriended some other "inmates," including Cindy, who honestly believes she's just killing time till her serial-cheating husband comes crawling back. And Martha, shy, overweight, and mysteriously silent about the man she's there to get over. Maybe it was fate that brought them together at Camp Kinsonu, maybe just bad luck. But three strangers are about to bond on an adventure they didn't ask for—and discover that lives they thought were as good as it got could suddenly get a lot better.
Pretty Little Mistakes
Pretty Little Mistakes
McElhatton, Heather
¥84.16
There are hundreds of lives sown inside Pretty Little Mistakes, Heather McElhatton's singularly spectacular, breathtakingly unique novel that has more than 150 possible endings. You may end up in an opulent mansion or homeless down by the river; happily married with your own corporation or alone and pecked to death by ducks in London; a Zen master in Japan or morbidly obese in a trailer park. Is it destiny or decision that controls our fateYou can't change your past and start over from scratch in real life—but in Pretty Little Mistakes, you can! But be warned, choose wisely.
The Cardboard Universe
The Cardboard Universe
Miller, Christopher
¥84.16
Genius or fraudHack or HemingwayThe life and work of obese, obsessive, logorrheic pulp novelist Phoebus K. Dank have long enflamed bitter controversy—and numerous drunken rants often culminating in vomiting, unconsciousness, or both. In this uproarious novel, Christopher Miller pulls back the curtain on two unforgettable critics—fawning scholar William Boswell (the world's leading Dankian) and his mortal enemy, the murderously snarky Owen Hirt. No stone is left unturned—and no gooey mess unstepped in—in this essential study of Dank's all-too-brief existence and all-too-extensive oeuvre.
Bed Rest
Bed Rest
Bilston, Sarah
¥84.16
In a charming and witty novel in the tradition of Allison Pearson and Sophie Kinsella, Sarah Bilston tells the story of a busy career woman who finds her pregnancy a breeze -- until she's ordered off her feet for complete and total bed rest.Quinn "Q" Boothroyd is a young British lawyer married to an American and living in New York City. She's checked off most of the boxes on her "Modern Woman's List of Things to Do Before Hitting 30," and her busy working life has been relatively painless. But when her doctor tells her she must spend the last three months of her pregnancy lying in bed, Q is thrown into a tailspin. Initially bored and frustrated, Q soon fills her days by trying to reconnect with her workaholic husband, provide legal advice for her sweet Greek neighbor, forge new emotional bonds with her mother and sisters, and figure out who will keep her stocked up in cookies and sandwiches.Q experiences adventures on the couch she never would have encountered in the law firm and learns a lot about herself and what she wants out of life -- above all, about the little one growing inside her.
Kockroach
Kockroach
Knox, Tyler
¥84.16
It is the mid-1950s, and Kockroach, perfectly content with his life infesting a fleabag hotel off Times Square, awakens to discover that somehow he's been transformed into, of all things, a human. A tragic turn of events, yes, but cockroaches are awesome coping machines, so Kockroach copes. Step by step, he learns the ways of man—how to walk, how to talk, and how to wear a jaunty brown fedora. Led by his primitive desires and insectile amorality, he navigates through the bizarre human realms of crime, business, politics, and sex. Will he find success or be squashed flat from aboveWill he change humanity, or will humanity change him?
Tumbling After
Tumbling After
Witcover, Paul
¥84.16
Jack and Jilly Doone are twelve-year-old twins bound by blood and forbidden secrets. Running wild through endless August afternoons, they explore the tributaries of Chesapeake Bay, spinning fantasies and sneaking cigarettes. But when a near-drowning awakens a strange power in Jack, the line between fantasy and reality blurs. . . .Kestrel is an airie, one of five mutant races born in the conflict known as the Viral Wars. With one companion from each of the other races—a delph, a merm, a mander, and a boggle—he sets out to battle human enemies sworn to exterminate mutantkind.Now the destinies of two worlds move toward a shocking convergence . . . and a climax of violent transfiguration.
Green Shadows, White Whale
Green Shadows, White Whale
Bradbury, Ray
¥84.16
In 1953, the brilliant but terrifying titan of cinema John Huston summons the young writer Ray Bradbury to Ireland. The apprehensive scribe's quest is to capture on paper the fiercest of all literary beasts -- Moby Dick -- in the form of a workable screenplay so the great director can begin filming.But from the moment he sets foot on Irish soil, the author embarks on an unexpected odyssey. Meet congenial IRA terrorists, tippling men of the cloth impish playwrights, and the boyos at Heeber Finn's pub. In a land where myth is reality, poetry is plentiful, and life's misfortunes are always cause for celebration, Green Shadows, White Whale is the grandest tour of Ireland you'll ever experience -- with the irrepressible Ray Bradbury as your enthusiastic guide.
Dust to Dust
Dust to Dust
Busch, Benjamin
¥84.16
Dust to Dust is an extraordinary memoir about ordinary things: life and death, peace and war, the adventures of childhood and the revelations of adulthood. Benjamin Busch a decorated U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer who served two combat tours in Iraq, an actor on The Wire , and the son of celebrated novelist Frederick Busch has crafted a lasting book to stand with the finest work of Tim O'Brien or Annie Dillard. In elemental-themed chapters water, metal, bone, blood Busch weaves together a vivid record of a pastoral childhood in rural New York; Marine training in North Carolina, Ukraine, and California; and deployment during the worst of the war in Iraq, as seen firsthand. But this is much more than a war memoir. Busch writes with great poignancy about the resonance of a boyhood spent exploring rivers and woods, building forts, and testing the limits of safety. Most of all, he brings enormous emotional power to his reflections on mortality: in a helicopter going down; wounded by shrapnel in Ramadi; dealing with the sudden death of friends in combat and of parents back home. Dust to Dust is an unforgettable meditation on life and loss, and how the curious children we were remain alive in us all.
The Average American Marriage
The Average American Marriage
Kultgen, Chad
¥84.16
In the beginning, there was The Average American Male . Maxim called it "pure filth." Even Penthouse called it "appalling." The New York Times called it "the literary love child of Neil LaBute, Judy Blume, and Eminem." Now, Chad Kultgen's unforgettable antihero is back this time as a married man. I can feel something hot twisting and burning in the pit of my stomach. For a fleeting moment I think back to a time when I was with Casey, my girlfriend before Alyna....I tried to initiate something by grabbing her tit and kissing her when we walked through her front door. She turned to me and said something about how our relationship didn't always have to be about sex. I remember how much I wanted to smash something when she said that, how much I wanted to scream in her face that our relationship was only about sex....Relationships between men and women are only about sex. The rest of the sh*t is incidental. Welcome back.
The Alliance
The Alliance
Stoker, Shannon
¥84.16
In this deadly endgame, the final move is hers . . .In America, the Registry weds girls to the highest bidder and raises boys for its army.Mia Morrissey escaped to make her life her own, and now that she has, she will risk everything so that everyone can be free.Going undercover as part of a diplomatic mission, Mia returns to America. But life there is more dangerous than ever as the walls grow taller, and the forgotten country faces its most ruthless leader yet, Grant Marsden . . . a shadow from Mia's past. With the help of Andrew, Carter, and other members of the subversive group Affinity, she embarks on a perilous journey to defeat Grant, bring down the government, and destroy the Registry once and for all.But when a terrible betrayal exposes the operation, Mia discovers that her enemies have used her—and so have her friends. Alone and frightened, she's uncertain of whom to trust—or whether the mission is worth the sacrifice.With the fate of her friends and the future of her country on the line, Mia knows that her next step may be the last for her . . . and America.
The Mirrored World
The Mirrored World
Dean, Debra
¥84.16
The bestselling author of The Madonnas of Leningrad returns with a breathtaking novel of love, madness, and devotion set against the extravagant royal court of eighteenth-century St. Petersburg.Born to a Russian family of lower nobility, Xenia, an eccentric dreamer who cares little for social conventions, falls in love with Andrei, a charismatic soldier and singer in the Empress's Imperial choir. Though husband and wife adore each other, their happiness is overshadowed by the absurd demands of life at the royal court and by Xenia's growing obsession with having a child—a desperate need that is at last fulfilled with the birth of her daughter. But then a tragic vision comes true, and a shattered Xenia descends into grief, undergoing a profound transformation that alters the course of her life. Turning away from family and friends, she begins giving all her money and possessions to the poor. Then, one day, she mysteriously vanishes.Years later, dressed in the tatters of her husband's military uniform and answering only to his name, Xenia is discovered tending the paupers of St. Petersburg's slums. Revered as a soothsayer and a blessed healer to the downtrodden, she is feared by the royal court and its new Empress, Catherine, who perceives her deeds as a rebuke to their lavish excesses. In this evocative and elegantly written tale, Dean reimagines the intriguing life of Xenia of St. Petersburg, a patron saint of her city and one of Russia's most mysterious and beloved holy figures. This is an exploration of the blessings of loyal friendship, the limits of reason, and the true costs of loving deeply.
My New American Life
My New American Life
Prose, Francine
¥84.16
Lula, a twenty-six-year-old Albanian woman living surreptitiously in New York City on an expiring tourist visa, hopes to make a better life for herself in America. When she lands a job as caretaker to Zeke, a rebellious high school senior in suburban New Jersey, it seems that the security, comfort, and happiness of the American dream may finally be within reach. Her new boss, Mister Stanley, an idealistic college professor turned Wall Street executive, assumes that Lula is a destitute refugee of the Balkan wars. He enlists his childhood friend Don Settebello, a hotshot lawyer who prides himself on defending political underdogs, to straighten out Lula's legal situation. In true American fashion, everyone gets what he wants and feels good about it. But things take a more sinister turn when Lula's Albanian "brothers" show up in a brand-new black Lexus SUV. Hoodie, Leather Jacket, and the Cute One remind her that all Albanians are family, but what they ask of her is no small favor. Lula's new American life suddenly becomes more complicated as she struggles to find her footing as a stranger in a strange new land. Is it possible that her new American life is not so different from her old Albanian one?Set in the aftermath of 9/11, My New American Life offers a vivid, darkly humorous, bitingly real portrait of a particular moment in history, when a nation's dreams and ideals gave way to a culture of cynicism, lies, and fear. Beneath its high comic surface, the novel is a more serious consideration of immigration, of what it was like to live through the Bush-Cheney years, and of what it means to be an American.
And Laughter Fell From the Sky
And Laughter Fell From the Sky
Sreenivasan, Jyotsna
¥84.16
Still living at home despite a good career and financial independence, beautiful and sophisticated Rasika has always been the dutiful daughter. With her twenty-sixth birthday fast approaching, she agrees to an arranged marriage, all while trying to hide from her family her occasional dalliances with other men. Abhay is everything an Indian-American son shouldn't be. Having spent his postcollege years living in a commune, he now hops from one dead-end job to another, brooding over what he really wants to do with his life.Old family friends, Rasika and Abhay seem to have nothing in common, yet when the two reconnect by chance, sparks immediately fly. Abhay loves Rasika, but he knows her family would never approve. Rasika reluctantly accepts she has feelings for Abhay, but can she turn her back on the family rules she has always tried so hard to live byThe search to find answers takes Abhay and Rasika out of their native Ohio to Oregon and India, where they find that what they have together might just be something worth fighting for.
The Sad Truth About Happiness
The Sad Truth About Happiness
Giardini, Anne
¥84.16
A beautiful and affecting novel -- bittersweet and comic -- on the elusive nature of happinessMaggie is in her early thirties, gainfully employed, between relationships, and ready for a change. But when she takes a quiz in a magazine that promises to predict the date of a person's death, she's shocked to learn she's going to die before her next birthday unless she can somehow discover contentment in life. What ensues is a quirky and satisfying journey in pursuit of true happiness, a quest that leads to unexpected joys and perceptions.
The Brink
The Brink
Bunn, Austin
¥84.16
Brimming with life and extraordinary range, Austin Bunn's dazzling collection explores what happens at "the end" and afterward.
The Heroes' Welcome
The Heroes' Welcome
Young, Louisa
¥84.16
April 1919. Six months have passed since the armistice that ended the Great War. But new battles face those who have survived.Only twenty-three, former soldier Riley Purefoy and his bride, Nadine Waveney, have their whole lives ahead of them. But Riley's injuries from the war have created awkward tensions between the couple, damage that threatens to shatter their marriage before it has truly begun. Peter and Julia Locke are facing their own trauma. Peter has become a recluse, losing himself in drink to forget the horrors of the war. Desperate to reach her husband, Julia tries to soothe his bitterness, but their future together is uncertain. Drawn together in the aftermath of the war, the two couples' lives become more tightly intertwined, haunted by loss, guilt, and dark memories, contending with uncertainty, anger, and pain. Is love strong enough to help them all move forward?The Heroes' Welcome is a powerful and intimate novel, chronicling the quiet turbulence of 1919—a year of perilous beginnings, disturbing realities, and glimmerings of hope.
Brickhouse
Brickhouse
Ewing, Rita
¥84.16
Fitness superstar Nona Simms worked hard to make Brickhouse one of the hottest gyms in the city. Now corrupt city politics is coming uptown to Harlem, and Nona's dream is slated for the wrecking ball.Nona's a fighter, though, and she's gathering her friends around her for support against the special interests. However, her handsome business partner, Allen, is weighed down by a shattering secret that could destroy both their futures. Best girlfriend Leila is suffering through the disintegration of her marriage to a New York Knicks superstar. And Nona's being pulled into a web of treachery, deceit, and scandal that stretches into the very highest circles of New York power.Things look hopeless, but help is on the horizon—coming on strong from the last place Nona Simms ever expected to find it . . . and from the last man she ever expected to love.
What You Wish For
What You Wish For
Reichs, Kerry
¥84.16
Having a baby is . . . complicated.Dimple knows. She's a successful actress who is turning forty—though her agent and her resume insist she's only thirty-six—and she figures it's now or never. Certainly it's not a good time for an intriguing director to show up at her door with a great *.Eva, fabulous agent to the stars, doesn't want kids—and never wanted kids. Why is her decision so damned hard for everyone else to acceptWhen Maryn was undergoing treatment for cancer, she and her husband both agreed to have embryos frozen. But that was way before their divorce and her remission—and now she's single and childless, and caught in the middle of a controversy she never saw coming.The traditional and nontraditional couples desperate for a baby . . . the adoptive parents . . . the single mom . . . the two who want nothing to do with parenthood. . . . This is a thoroughly modern story of the pursuit of family in all its forms—and of five very different ways of getting there.
Drinking Closer to Home
Drinking Closer to Home
Blau, Jessica Anya
¥84.16
They say you can never really go home again. Adult siblings Anna, Portia, and Emery are about to discover just how true that is.
Miss Timmins' School for Girls
Miss Timmins' School for Girls
Currimbhoy, Nayana
¥84.16
A murder at a British boarding school in the hills of western India launches a young teacher on the journey of a lifetime In 1974, three weeks before her twenty-first birthday, Charulata Apte arrives at Miss Timmins' School for Girls in Panchgani. Shy, sheltered, and running from a scandal that disgraced her Brahmin family, Charu finds herself teaching Shakespeare to rich Indian girls in a boarding school still run like an outpost of the British Empire. In this small, foreign universe, Charu is drawn to the charismatic teacher Moira Prince, who introduces her to pot-smoking hippies, rock ‘n' roll, and freedoms she never knew existed. Then one monsoon night, a body is found at the bottom of a cliff, and the ordered worlds of school and town are thrown into chaos. When Charu is implicated in the murder—a case three intrepid schoolgirls take it upon themselves to solve—Charu's real education begins. A love story and a murder mystery, Miss Timmins' School for Girls is, ultimately, a coming-of-age tale set against the turbulence of the 1970s as it played out in one small corner of India.
The Call
The Call
Murphy, Yannick
¥84.16
The daily rhythm of a veterinarian’s family in rural New England is shaken when a hunting accident leaves their eldest son in a coma. With the lives of his loved ones unhinged, the veterinarian struggles to maintain stability while searching for the man responsible. But in the midst of their great trial an unexpected visitor arrives, requesting a favor that will have profound consequences—testing a loving father’s patience, humor, and resolve and forcing husband and wife to come to terms with what “family” truly means.The Call is a gift from one of the most talented and extraordinary voices in contemporary fiction—a unique and heartfelt portrait of a family, poignant and rich in humor and imagination.