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Double Crossed – A Spies and Thieves Story

Posted by Court @ 10:42 am, February 18, 2013. 1 Comment Category: Young Adult Book Author(s): Publisher(s):

Macey McHenry—Glamorous society girl or spy-in-training?
W.W. Hale V—Heir to an American dynasty or master thief?
There are two sides to every coin. Whether these two can work together is a tossup.

Born into privilege, Macey and Hale are experts at mingling with the upper class. But even if they’ve never raised an eyebrow at the glitz, neither teenager has ever felt at home with the glamour.

When Macey and Hale meet at a society gala, the party takes a dangerous turn. Suddenly they’re at the center of a hostage situation, and it’s up to them to stop the thugs from becoming hostile. Will Macey’s spy skills and Hale’s con-man ways be enough to outsmart a ruthless gang? Or will they have to seek out the ultimate inside girl to help?

The worlds of Heist Society and the Gallagher Girls collide in Ally Carter’s fast-paced, high-stakes and tantalizing new story. Get a behind the scenes glimpse as Ally delivers an irresistible thriller that is full of her signature style and savvy twists.

The Strings of the Violin

Posted by Court @ 7:49 am, January 30, 2013. No Comments Category: YA Fantasy Book Author(s): Publisher(s):

Seventeen-year-old Carrie is lying in her backyard ignoring all the looming responsibilities in her life, when a fox makes a mad dash across the grass in front of her. After she managers to keep her dog from attacking the frightened animal, the fox turns to Carrie and seems to bow in gratitude before he disappears into the bushes. All Carrie knows in that moment is that something has unexpectedly changed in her life.

Carrie has been best friends with Lindsay Smith and Rebecca Campbell for years. During a summer when they should be focused on choosing colleges and career paths, the girls suddenly find themselves swept away on the adventure of their lives. The fox reappears three days later and reveals to Carrie that he is Adom, emissary to the king of Hadariah. With his land of music and magic in peril, Adom has been sent to seek help from Carrie and her friends. In the blink of an eye, the three teenage girls go from living an average suburban life to being the champions of a world where they must contend with giants, witches, and magical beings.

On their quest to save a people from destruction, Carrie, Lindsay and Rebecca are pitted against Asmodeus, the powerful and cunning king of the dybbuks. Now, only time will tell if the three girls will prevail against Asmodeus and somehow find their way back home.

1Q84: Book 1

Posted by Court @ 7:01 am, January 23, 2013. 1 Comment Category: Speculative Fiction Book Author(s): Publisher(s):

The long-awaited magnum opus from Haruki Murakami, in which this revered and bestselling author gives us his hypnotically addictive, mind-bending ode to George Orwell’s 1984.

The year is 1984. Aomame is riding in a taxi on the expressway, in a hurry to carry out an assignment. Her work is not the kind that can be discussed in public. When they get tied up in traffic, the taxi driver suggests a bizarre ‘proposal’ to her. Having no other choice she agrees, but as a result of her actions she starts to feel as though she is gradually becoming detached from the real world. She has been on a top secret mission, and her next job leads her to encounter the superhuman founder of a religious cult. Meanwhile, Tengo is leading a nondescript life but wishes to become a writer. He inadvertently becomes involved in a strange disturbance that develops over a literary prize. While Aomame and Tengo impact on each other in various ways, at times by accident and at times intentionally, they come closer and closer to meeting. Eventually the two of them notice that they are indispensable to each other. Is it possible for them to ever meet in the real world?

The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits

Posted by Court @ 7:57 am, January 21, 2013. No Comments Category: Children's Storybooks Book Author(s): , Publisher(s):

One of the most well-known creations by world-famous master of nonsense Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark is a poem whose meaning has proved as elusive as its mysterious character. Even Carroll confessed to not knowing who the Snark is or what the poem is about. But one things about this much-scrutinized work of literature is perfectly clear: this tale of high adventure and great wit is sure to delight readers of all ages.

Oleg Lipchenko’s spectacularly illustrated interpretation of this unabridged classic takes readers on a dream-like journey through Carroll’s nonsensical imagination. A fantastic gift book and collector’s edition, The Hunting of Snark is a volume that belongs in the library of every literary adventure.

Fragile Eternity

Posted by Court @ 8:00 am, January 11, 2013. 1 Comment Category: YA Fantasy Book Author(s): Publisher(s):

Seth wants to be with Aislinn forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen.

Keenan stole Aislinn’s mortality to make her a monarch. Now she faces challenges and enticements beyond any she’d ever imagined.

In Melissa Marr’s third mesmerizing tale of Faerie, Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and to each other in a milieu of shadowy rules and shifting allegiances, where old friends become new enemies and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos.

The Hunchback Assignments: Island of Doom

Posted by Court @ 8:04 am, January 7, 2013. 1 Comment Category: Fiction and Literature, YA Steampunk Book Author(s): Publisher(s): ,

The midwife told of how she had screamed at the sight of le petit monstre as it was pulled into the world. The next day she died, drowned in the Seine.

This final adventure in the Hunchback Assignments series finds the shape-shifting, masked spy Modo on his most personal quest yet: for the truth about who he really is.

A coded letter from the bewitching French spy Colette Brunet sends our hero in search of the biological parents who abandoned him as a baby. When the Clockwork Guild gets to them first, Modo and his loyal friend Octavia Milkweed give chase across Europe and North America to the Island of Doom. An epic showdown with their magnificently evil and terrifying enemies in a Pacific island stronghold brings Modo’s story to a thrilling conclusion.

The Black Moth

Posted by Court @ 7:12 am, December 28, 2012. 1 Comment Category: Regency Book Author(s): Publisher(s):

A disgraced lord, a notorious highwayman
Jack Carstares, the disgraced Earl of Wyndam, left England seven long years ago, sacrificing his honor for that of his brother when he was accused of cheating at cards. Now Jack is back, roaming his beloved South Country in the disguise of a highwayman.

And the beauty who would steal his heart
Not long after Jack’s return, he encounters his old adversary, the libertine Duke of Andover, attempting the abduction of the beautiful Diana Beauleigh. At the point of Jack’s sword, the duke is vanquished, but foiled one, the “Black Moth” has no intention of failing again…

This is Georgette Heyer’s first novel – a favorite of readers and a stirring tale to be enjoyed again and again

Kill Shakespeare Volume 2: The Blast of War

Posted by Court @ 8:10 am, December 21, 2012. No Comments Category: Fantasy Graphic Novel Book Author(s): , , , , , , , , Publisher(s):

The first arc of the critically acclaimed mash-up of Shakespeare’s greatest heroes and villains comes to its bloody conclusion as Hamlet must make his choice to either kill – or save – the wizard/God Shakespeare.

Hamlet has decided to join Juliet, Othello, Iago, and Falstaff in their rebellion against the powerful forces of Richard III and Lady Macbeth. But the path to their “saviour” Shakespeare is long and dangerous, and not all are whom they appear to be, least of all the Bard himself. As he rosses the threshold into the Globe Woods Hamlet will find out what nightmares may come when one meets their maker.

Holidays on Ice

Posted by Court @ 8:11 am, December 12, 2012. 2 Comments Category: Humour Book Author(s): Publisher(s): , ,

David Sedaris’s beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favorites as the diaries of a Macy’s elf and the annals of two very competitive families, are Sedaris’s tales of tardy trick-or-treaters (“Us and Them”); the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the French (“Jesus Shaves”); what to do when you’ve been locked out in a snowstorm (“Let It Snow”); the puzzling Christmas traditions of other nations (“Six to Eight Black Men”); what Halloween at the medical examiner’s looks like (“The Monster Mash”); and a barnyard secret Santa scheme gone awry (“Cow and Turkey”). No matter what your favorite holiday, you won’t want to miss celebrating it with the author who has been called “one of the funniest writers alive” ( Economist ).

Nutcracker

Posted by Court @ 7:05 am, December 5, 2012. 1 Comment Category: Children's Book Author(s): , , Publisher(s): ,

The tale of Nutcracker, written by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816, has fascinated and inspired artists, composers, and audiences for almost two hundred years. It has retained its freshness because it appeals to the sense of wonder we all share.

Maurice Sendak designed brilliant sets and costumes for the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Christmas production of Nutcracker and has created even more magnificent pictures especially for this book. He has joined with the eminent translator Ralph Manheim to produce this illustrated edition of Hoffmann’s wonderful tale, destined to become a classic for all ages.

The world of Nutcracker is a world of pleasures. Maurice Sendak’s art illuminates the delights of Hoffmann’s story in this rich and tantalizing treasure.

Speechless

Posted by Court @ 7:41 am, November 28, 2012. No Comments Category: Young Adult Book Author(s): Publisher(s): ,

Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can’t keep a secret

Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast – and nearly got someone killed.

Chelsea has taken a vow of silence – to learn to keep her mouth shut and to stop hurting anyone else. There’s strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way. Including a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive her… if only she can forgive herself.

Shadowfever

Posted by Court @ 7:32 am, November 26, 2012. 2 Comments Category: Fantasy Book Author(s): Publisher(s): ,

MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever.

Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister’s murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years.

What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh—a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves.
Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?

From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.