The six stories in Haruki Murakami’s mesmerizing collection are set at the time of the catastrophic 1995 Kobe earthquake, when Japan became brutally aware of the fragility of its daily existence. But the upheavals that afflict Murakami’s characters are even deeper and more mysterious, emanating from a place where the human meets the inhuman. An electronics salesman who has been abruptly deserted by his wife agrees to deliver an enigmatic package—and is rewarded with a glimpse of his true nature. A man who has been raised to view himself as the son of God pursues a stranger who may or may not be his human father. A mild-mannered collection agent receives a visit from a giant talking frog who enlists his help in saving Tokyo from destruction. As haunting as dreams, as potent as oracles, the stories in After the Quake are further proof that Murakami is one of the most visionary writers at work today.

Ross has his pride...Ross McCain is determined to bring a schoolteacher to town, even if he has to carry her all the way out West. But he's not anticipated Miss Grimes being so hard to live with--or that he'd wind up proposing to her just to keep her from leaving!Jessica has a secret...Forced to flee Sacramento, posing as a schoolteacher, Jessica Tierney is out of her depth. She knows nothing of country living, let alone children! And now rancher Ross McCain is insisting that they marry. But how can she let their marriage be based on a lie--especially when she discovers she's falling in love with him?

Will the perfect senior prank turn out to be Emlyn’s last? Emlyn is a good girl. She is the perfect studious and athletic daughter and sister. She studies hard, paints watercolors, and especially loves rowing crew. She doesn’t gossip. She is every parent and teacher’s dream. But Emlyn has a secret. She has an entire library in her head filled with terrifically terrible plots and schemes: jewel heists, corporate espionage, and other mischief. She successfully hides her desire to be bad from the world. That is, until Jack, Mavis, Lovell, and Donovan approach her with their idea for a senior class prank: to steal the famous mummy, Amaral-Re, from their local museum. Now Emlyn’s “mental library of Bad” will come in handy. But when the harmless heist turns out to be filled with real-life danger, will Emlyn’s mental bag of tricks be enough to save the mummy . . . and herself? This ebook features an illustrated biography of Caroline B. Cooney including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

Boone's Lick is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry's return to the kind of story that made him famous -- an enthralling tale of the nineteenth-century west. Like his bestsellers Lonesome Dove, Streets of Laredo, Comanche Moon, and Dead Man's Walk, Boone's Lick transports the reader to the era about which McMurtry writes better and more shrewdly than anyone else. Told with McMurtry's unique blend of historical fact and sheer storytelling genius, the novel follows the Cecil family's arduous journey by riverboat and wagon from Boone's Lick, Missouri, to Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming. Fifteen-year-old Shay narrates, describing the journey that begins when his Ma, Mary Margaret, decides to hunt down her elusive husband, Dick, to tell him she's leaving him. Without knowing precisely where he is, they set out across the plains in search of him, encountering grizzly bears, stormy weather, and hostile Indians as they go. With them are Shay's siblings, G.T., Neva, and baby Marcy; Shay's uncle, Seth; his Granpa Crackenthorpe; and Mary Margaret's beautiful half-sister, Rose. During their journey they pick up a barefooted priest named Father Villy, and a Snake Indian named Charlie Seven Days, and persuade them to join in their travels. At the heart of the novel, and the adventure, is Mary Margaret, whom we first meet shooting a sheriff's horse out from underneath him in order to feed her family. Forceful, interesting, and determined, she is written with McMurtry's trademark deftness and sympathy for women, and is in every way a match for the worst the west can muster. Boone's Lick abounds with the incidents, the excitements, and the dangers of life on the plains. Its huge cast of characters includes such historical figures as Wild Bill Hickok and the unfortunate Colonel Fetterman (whose arrogance and ineptitude led to one of the U.S. Army's worst and bloodiest defeats at the hands of the Cheyenne and Sioux) as well as the Cecil family (itself based on a real family of nineteenth-century traders and haulers). The story of their trek in pursuit of Dick, and the discovery of his second and third families, is told with brilliance, humor, and overwhelming joie de vivre in a novel that is at once high adventure, a perfect western tale, and a moving love story -- it is, in short, vintage McMurtry, combining his brilliant character portraits, his unerring sense of the west, and his unrivaled eye for the telling detail. Boone's Lick is one of McMurtry's richest works of fiction to date.

The charming town of Glenbrooke, Oregon, welcomes readers once more to delight in a contemporary love story. In this all-new offering in the heartwarming Glenbrooke series, bestselling author Robin Jones Gunn's characters get two lessons on love: it's not based on performance and its motives must be pure. When Leah Hudson, the "ugly duckling" among beautiful sisters, meets mysterious newcomer Seth Edwards, she thinks someone could love her after all. Their friendship grows, but Seth has things he must work through before he can open himself to anyone. An unexpected inheritance serves to complicate matters that strike to the core of Seth's and Leah's hearts and faith. Leah Hudson loves to give. But when others want to give back? Well, that’s another story entirely! After years of pouring herself out for others, Leah, an average twenty-seven-year-old woman, finally finds herself receiving. She has her own cottage in Glenbrooke, wonderful friends, a great job at the hospital, and the attention of Seth Edwards, the new guy in town. She even wins a cruise to Alaska when she accidentally dials the number of a radio station! So why can’t Leah relax and enjoy this new season of her life? When an inheritance of fifty acres of prime Oregon woodlands is left to her—with a certain condition attached—Glenbrooke’s town lawyer, Collin Radcliffe, prompts Leah to question Seth’s motives for his interest in her. Only by turning her affections in a new direction will Leah be able to hear the true song of this springtime of her life.

What’s a single mother do when she’s run out of options?After her father kicked her off the family farm because she was pregnant, seventeen-year-old Libby Bateson swore she’d never go back. She and her daughter, Nicole, have scraped by in the city for the past eight years, but when Libby finds out Nicole is being bullied and under-performing at school, she decides it’s time to swallow her pride.Going home isn’t easy. Libby finds the farmhouse neglected and filthy. Her father is a cantankerous hermit who won’t speak to her. Even Gibson Browning, the farmer next door whom she’d once had a crush on, is making her life complicated.Gibson’s wife died two years ago and now he’s a single parent too—raising a daughter the same age as Nicole. The hard working, good looking Gibson is a loyal friend and a loving father. Libby knows she could easily fall for him—which would be a...

For generations, the firstborn children of the rulers of the planets Rutan and Senali have been exchanged at the age of seven. This was meant to promote peace and understanding between the societies. Now it has led them to the brink of war. Leed, the heir to the Rutan throne, does not want to return to his home planet. His father will stop at nothing to get him back. Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi must prevent this rift from turning to bloodshed. It is their hardest challenge yet.

In Mexico, the governor of a rebel state had hijacked a shipment of Lee-Enfield rifles and enough ammunition to start a small war. The president of Mexico was worried, the president of the U.S. was worried—Gatling didn't give a damn. But his boss, the colonel, told him to get those rifles back or get another job. Gatling couldn't afford a drain on his gold reserves, so he agreed. On one condition ...

Three proper English sisters who, upon the death of their father and brother in a shipwreck, take over the family business -- as privateers in the employ of Charles of England. THE HANDSOME CAPTAIN WAS DUTY BOUND... At the dying man's request, Riordan Spencer had pledged to watch over John Lambert's beautiful daughters. But when he arrived in Land's End, he never expected that Ambrosia Lambert would ignite a passion in him unlike any he'd ever known! Though irresistibly drawn to the mysterious Captain Spencer, Ambrosia would not be swayed from her mission to carry on her father's legacy. Yet how could she convince her handsome protector that her need to remain a privateer to the king would not stand in the way of the powerful love that surged between them?

The International Friendship Club is sponsoring a fun weekend—but Nancy finds a melting pot of sabotage! For Nancy and her friends, Worldbeat Weekend at Emerson College is supposed to be a good time. Nancy gets to spend time with her boyfriend, Ned, and everyone plans to enjoy music and food from around the world. But the two candidates running to be the next president of IFC are from rival countries, and when they accuse each other of smearing their campaigns with dirty tricks, the chaos begins. Missing money and collapsing tents are just the start of the trouble. As tensions rise, the weekend spirals toward disaster. The local press is sniffing around. A public scandal would ruin IFC, and only Nancy can uncover the clues to track down the culprit in time!

Dream trip? Or a nightmare of trouble? When Hannah Gruen inherits a farm from a distant cousin, the Drews, with Bess and George, drive off for a scenic Oklahoma vacation. The plan is to sell the property and pack up whatever mementos Hannah wants to keep. But a terrifying encounter with a tornado is just the beginning of trouble. In a duffel bag Nancy discovers what looks like a ransom note—and a gruff intruder appears, insisting that the bag is his! Is he planning a kidnapping? Nancy contacts the local police, but they think it's a prank. When charming Derek Owens, a tornado chaser at the local university, offers to help, Nancy accepts faster than a lightning flash. But the clues she discovers lead her deeper into peril, and Nancy's soon fighting for her life—in the eye of a monster storm!

Gabriel Noone forms a bond with a young, troubled listener to his late-night radio show. As Noone's friendship with the dying boy grows, he feels he can unlock his innermost feelings. But troubling questions arise, and he is forced to confront all his relationships - familial, romantic and erotic.

The acclaimed trilogy that comprises LILITH'S BROOD is multiple Hugo and Nebula award-winner Octavia E. Butler at her best. Presented for the first time in one volume, with an introduction by Joan Slonczewski, Ph.D., LILITH'S BROOD is a profoundly evocative, sensual -- and disturbing -- epic of human transformation.Lilith Iyapo is in the Andes, mourning the death of her family, when war destroys Earth. Centuries later, she is resurrected -- by miraculously powerful unearthly beings, the Oankali. Driven by an irresistible need to heal others, the Oankali are rescuing our dying planet by merging genetically with mankind. But Lilith and all humanity must now share the world with uncanny, unimaginably alien creatures: their own children. This is their story...Review"SHOWS THE AUTHOR AT THE HEIGHT OF HER IMAGINATIVE AND WRITING POWERS". -- Essence About the AuthorOctavia E. Butler was the first black woman to come to international prominence as a science fiction writer. Incorporating powerful, spare language and rich, well-developed characters, her work tackled race, gender, religion, poverty, power, politics, and science in a way that touched readers of all backgrounds. Butler was a towering figure in life and in her art and the world noticed; highly acclaimed by reviewers, she received numerous awards, including a MacArthur "genius" grant, both the Hugo and Nebula awards, the Langston Hughes Medal, as well as a PEN Lifetime Achievement award.