Download or read book The Plum Rains and Other Stories written by Givens John and published by The Liffey Press. This book was released on 2012-07-01 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan. The last decade of the 17th century. Men who lived by the sword find themselves cut adrift while women begin to confront new threats and opportunities. The austere demands of the haikai poet are no match for the growing popularity of urban performers, and the medieval samurai ethos has been replaced by the culture of the merchant and the shogun’s bureaucrats. This colourful but remote world is portrayed in these stories. Basho, Japan’s greatest poet, features in several of them. We also meet Ohasu, a young woman trapped in the decadence of the pleasure quarters; Hasegawa, a rogue samurai who seeks solace in wine, in the rigours of Zen Buddhism, and in his willingness to defend an outmoded code. A mysterious woman buried in an imperial nunnery struggles with an unbearable remorse; a senior shogunate official seeks to preserve Basho’s poetic legacy; a teenage sociopath tries to carve out his own career with a gratuitous and murderous assault; and a bizarrely preternatural pariah executioner accepts his destiny. Sometimes surprising, sometimes horrifying, The Plum Rains & Other Stories brings to life a uniquely beautiful and violent world. Angry and confused, they went looking for answers. They found none. There were no books to help them with the emotional upheaval they were going through. There were no explanations from the hospital as to why they had lost their baby and the counselling on offer was largely ineffective. What followed was an awkward few months where they could not grieve together and their relationship was severely strained. It was not just their relationship with each other that was affected. Family and friends who did not know how to deal with the situation also became isolated from them. Realising that communication was the key to getting through this sorrowful time, they finally started talking and found a way to get their relationship back on track. They also found that if they spoke honestly and openly to family and friends, they could get those relationships back as well. Knowing that other couples who have lost a baby would be going through similar difficulties, they decided to write down their experience in an effort to help them. Their beautifully written and poignant story, dealing with an issue that is too rarely acknowledged and discussed openly, is one of complete and heart-rending honesty.
Download or read book The Plum Rain Scroll written by Ruth Manley and published by Univ. of Queensland Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fantastic tale of peril and heroic deeds set in Idzumo, the old Japan of legend and living folklore. Marishoten, the evil Black Iris Lord, seeks to overtrhow the Mikado and usurp the Chrysanthemum throne. First he must find the plum roll scroll, which holds the three secrets that will help him to achieve his victory.
Download or read book The Rains written by Gregg Hurwitz and published by Tor Teen. This book was released on 2016-10-18 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first young adult page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz. In one terrifying night, the peaceful community of Creek's Cause turns into a war zone. No one under the age of eighteen is safe. Chance Rain and his older brother, Patrick, have already fended off multiple attacks from infected adults by the time they arrive at the school where other young survivors are hiding. Most of the kids they know have been dragged away by once-trusted adults who are now ferocious, inhuman beings. The parasite that transformed them takes hold after people turn eighteen--and Patrick's birthday is only a few days away. Determined to save Patrick's life and the lives of the remaining kids, the brothers embark on a mission to uncover the truth about the parasites--and what they find is horrifying. Battling an enemy not of this earth, Chance and Patrick become humanity's only hope for salvation. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Download or read book Fire Will Fall written by Carol Plum-Ucci and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2010-05-03 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The four teen survivors from Streams of Babel face a new terroristic threat in a thriller that “will keep readers enthralled right up to the climax” (School Library Journal). ShadowStrike poisoned the water of Trinity Falls two months ago. Now the Trinity Four, the teens most affected by the poison, have been isolated in a remote mansion under twenty-four-hour medical care while scientists on four continents rush to discover a cure. Meanwhile, US operatives scour the world for the bioterrorists responsible for this heinous crime, as two teen virtual spies, also infected, hunt for the criminals on the Internet. The danger remains real—for ShadowStrike has every reason to pursue the Trinity Four, and their evil plan will unleash a new designer virus that’s even deadlier than the first. “Figuring out whom to trust gets harder for everyone, including the reader, and the narrative picks up speed. Sexual tension and fragile relationships are part of the story as much as the terrorist hunt is, and the two couples’ fears about their own possible impending mortality will captivate a high-school audience.” —Booklist
Download or read book On the Banks of Plum Creek written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2006-12-21 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Laura and her family move to Minnesota where they live in a dugout until a new house is built and face misfortunes caused by flood, blizzard, and grasshoppers.
Download or read book Plum written by Sean Hayes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An adorable children’s book…about the holidays, inclusion, and magic!” —Kristen Bell, award-winning actress from Frozen and The Good Place “Want to make this holiday more magical? Then get your copy!” —Allison Janney, award-winning actress from Mom and I, Tonya “Great for kids this holiday season!” —Jessie Tyler Ferguson, award-winning actor from Modern Family From Will & Grace star Sean Hayes and composer Scott Icenogle comes a modern classic inspired by The Nutcracker about how the Sugar Plum Fairy got her wings. Plum will not stay glum. For as long as she can remember, Plum has lived at the Mary Fitzgerald Orphanage, wishing and hoping for a family. When a sudden snowfall threatens a delivery of presents on Christmas Eve, Plum is determined to save Christmas—even for the kids who laugh at her. Plum’s pure heart grants her an unexpected reward. When she eats a cake left behind by a mysterious magician, she is transported into the Land of Sweets. But Christmas here is threatened, too—by a sourness that is spreading from the center of the land. Plum’s determined to help, and in doing so, she might just find the family she’s always dreamed of, thanks to a good heart—and Christmas magic!
Download or read book Plum Rains written by Andromeda Romano-Lax and published by Soho Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2029: In Japan, a historically mono-cultural nation, childbirth rates are at a critical low and the elderly are living increasingly long lives. This population crisis has precipitated a mass immigration of foreign medical workers from all over Asia - as well as the development of refined artificial intelligence to step in where humans fall short. Plum Rains elegantly broaches such important contemporary conversations as immigration, the intersection of labour and technology, the ecological fate of our planet and the future of its children.
Download or read book Plum Spooky written by Janet Evanovich and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2009-01-06 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plum Spooky, the First Full Length Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers Novel from #1 Bestselling Author Janet Evanovich. Turn on all the lights and check under your bed. Things are about to get spooky in Trenton, New Jersey. According to legend, the Jersey Devil prowls the Pine Barrens and soars above the treetops in the dark of night. As eerie as this might seem, there are things in the Barrens that are even more frightening and dangerous. And there are monkeys. Lots of monkeys. Wulf Grimoire is a world wanderer and an opportunist who can kill without remorse and disappear like smoke. He's chosen Martin Munch, boy genius, as his new business partner, and he's chosen the Barrens as his new playground. Munch received his doctorate degree in quantum physics when he was twenty-two. He's now twenty-four, and while his brain is large, his body hasn't made it out of the boys' department at Macy's. Anyone who says good things come in small packages hasn't met Munch. Wulf Grimoire is looking for world domination. Martin Munch would be happy if he could just get a woman naked and tied to a tree. Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has Munch on her most-wanted list for failure to appear in court. Plum is the all-American girl stuck in an uncomfortable job, succeeding on luck and tenacity. Usually she gets her man. This time she gets a monkey. She also gets a big guy named Diesel. Diesel pops in and out of Plum's life like birthday cake – delicious to look at and taste, not especially healthy as a steady diet, gone by the end of the week if not sooner. He's an über bounty hunter with special skills when it comes to tracking men and pleasing women. He's after Grimoire, and now he's also after Munch. And if truth were told, he wouldn't mind setting Stephanie Plum in his crosshairs. Diesel and Plum hunt down Munch and Grimoire, following them into the Barrens, surviving cranberry bogs, the Jersey Devil, a hair-raising experience, sand in their underwear, and, of course . . . monkeys.
Download or read book In the Small Small Pond written by Denise Fleming and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 1993-09-15 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Small, Small Pond is a 1994 Caldecott Honor Book.
Download or read book Behave written by Andromeda Romano-Lax and published by Soho Press. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of The Spanish Bow comes a lush, harrowing novel based on the real life story of Rosalie Rayner Watson, one of the most controversial scientists—and mothers—of the 20th century “The mother begins to destroy the child the moment it’s born,” wrote the founder of behaviorist psychology, John B. Watson, whose 1928 parenting guide was revered as the child-rearing bible. For their dangerous and “mawkish” impulses to kiss and hug their child, “most mothers should be indicted for psychological murder.” Behave is the story of Rosalie Rayner, Watson’s ambitious young wife and the mother of two of his children. In 1920, when she graduated from Vassar College, Rayner was ready to make her mark on the world. Intelligent, beautiful, and unflappable, she won a coveted research position at Johns Hopkins assisting the charismatic celebrity psychologist John B. Watson. Together, Watson and Rayner conducted controversial experiments on hundreds of babies to prove behaviorist principles. They also embarked on a scandalous affair that cost them both their jobs—and recast the sparkling young Rosalie Rayner, scientist and thinker, as Mrs. John Watson, wife and conflicted, maligned mother, just another “woman behind a great man.” With Behave, Andromeda Romano-Lax offers a provocative fictional biography of Rosalie Rayner Watson, a woman whose work influenced generations of Americans, and whose legacy has been lost in the shadow of her husband’s. In turns moving and horrifying, Behave is a richly nuanced and disturbing novel about science, progress, love, marriage, motherhood, and what all those things cost a passionate, promising young woman.
Download or read book Notorious Nineteen written by Janet Evanovich and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 bestselling author Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels are: “irresistible” (Houston Chronicle), “stunning” (Booklist), “outrageous” (Publishers Weekly), “brilliantly evocative” (The Denver Post), and “making trouble and winning hearts” (USA Today). New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is certain of three truths: People don’t just vanish into thin air. Never anger old people. And don’t do what Tiki tells you to do. After a slow summer of chasing low-level skips for her cousin Vinnie’s bail bonds agency, Stephanie Plum finally lands an assignment that could put her checkbook back in the black. Geoffrey Cubbin, facing trial for embezzling millions from Trenton’s premier assisted-living facility, has mysteriously vanished from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. Now it’s on Stephanie to track him down. Unfortunately, Cubbin has disappeared without a trace, a witness, or his money-hungry wife. Rumors are stirring that he must have had help with the daring escape . . . or that maybe he never made it out of his room alive. Since the hospital staff’s lips seem to be tighter than the security, and it’s hard for Stephanie to blend in to assisted living, Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur goes in undercover. But when a second felon goes missing from the same hospital, Stephanie is forced into working side by side with Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, in order to crack the case. The real problem is, no Cubbin also means no way to pay the rent. Desperate for money—or maybe just desperate—Stephanie accepts a secondary job guarding her secretive and mouthwatering mentor Ranger from a deadly Special Forces adversary. While Stephanie is notorious for finding trouble, she may have found a little more than she bargained for this time around. Then again—a little food poisoning, some threatening notes, and a bridesmaid’s dress with an excess of taffeta never killed anyone . . . or did they? If Stephanie Plum wants to bring in a paycheck, she’ll have to remember: No guts, no glory.
Download or read book Streams of Babel written by Carol Plum-Ucci and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2010-01-18 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A story about the threat of bioterrorism as seen through the eyes of the generation that will grow up with it as a reality . . . page-turning intensity.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Bioterrorism has come to a small town in New Jersey. Two residents die of brain aneurysms within twenty-four hours and several teens become ill with a mysterious flu, leading the government to suspect that a terrorist cell has unleashed a deadly biochemical agent. With each glass of water they drink, the people of Trinity Falls are poisoning themselves. A world away in Pakistan, a sixteen-year-old computer genius working as a spy for the U.S. sees an influx of chatter from extremists about a substance they call Red Vinegar that will lead to many deaths. Can he warn the victims before it’s too late? “The teens are the focus here, all excellent character studies drawn adeptly with few words. The swift pace grabs the reader right from the start . . . Plum-Ucci takes the incredible and makes it all too believable.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A compelling tale of bioterror . . . a tautly paced thriller that will force readers to think about the complexities of living in a post-9/11 world.”—School Library Journal “A page-turner . . . Plum-Ucci has also fleshed out a basic panic-inducing scenario into a thriller more thoughtful than most.”—Booklist
Download or read book Flowers In the Rain Other Stories written by Rosamunde Pilcher and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2013-03-23 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Flowers in the Rain & Other Stories collects sixteen of #1 New York Times bestselling author Rosamunde Pilcher’s romantic tales set across Britain from the Scottish countryside to the city of London. She makes you laugh... She makes you cry... She takes you to a world of hope and romance... And into the lives of people you'll never forget. She's Rosamunde Pilcher, America's most beloved storyteller... And this is her gift to you.
Download or read book Snake s Pillow and Other Stories written by Zhu Lin and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 1998-02-01 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jiangnan, that part of east-central China watered by the Yangzi River, is the ironically Edenic setting for these six powerful tales of devotion, betrayal, and defilement. Zhu Lin, a uniquely angry female voice on China’s literary scene, takes a particular interest in the plight of young women whose exceptional qualities condemn them to exploitation by men. No other contemporary Chinese writer renders the hostility of rural society toward women in such stark and ultimately tragic terms. Serpents tyrannize the innocent in this fictional Jiangnan garden. The title story refers to a fragrant, blood-red flower known as the snake’s pillow, which symbolizes an innocent girl betrayed and violated by a male figure of authority. Immersed in the heady and sensual imagery of the natural world, Zhu Lin’s female protagonists invite comparisons not only with Eve but also with Thomas Hardy’s Tess. Zhu Lin has said of her fiction that its purpose is to “summon the souls” of readers who have lost themselves in the turbulence of a society in the transition to modernity—and then to restore these lost souls to the bodies they have left. An evocation of both flesh and spirit, these Jiangnan stories give voice to the complex and disturbing experience of women in a changing society.
Download or read book The Spanish Bow written by Andromeda Romano-Lax and published by HMH. This book was released on 2008-09-05 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “riveting historical page-turner” about a cellist caught up in the tumult and passions of early twentieth-century Spain (Booklist). A Library Journal Best Book of the Year I was almost born Happy . . . So begins The Spanish Bow and the remarkable history of Feliu Delargo, who just misses being “Feliz” by a misunderstanding at his birth—which he barely survives. The bequest of a cello bow sets Feliu on the course of becoming a musician, an unlikely destiny given his beginnings in a dusty village in Catalonia. When he is compelled to flee to anarchist Barcelona, his education in music, life, and politics begins. But it isn’t until he arrives at the court of the embattled monarchy in Madrid that passion enters the composition, thanks to Aviva, a virtuoso violinist with a haunted past. As Feliu embarks on affairs, friendships, and rivalries, forces propelling the world toward a catastrophic crescendo sweep Feliu along in their wake—in this haunting fugue of music, politics, and passion set against a half century of Spanish history, from the tail end of the nineteenth century through the Spanish Civil War and World War II, by the acclaimed author of Behave and Plum Rains. “Expertly woven throughout the book are cameo appearances by Pablo Picasso, Adolf Hitler, Francisco Franco, Bertolt Brecht, and others, but it is the fictional Feliu, Justo, and Aviva who will keep you mesmerized to the last page.” —The Christian Science Monitor “An impressive and richly atmospheric debut.” —The New York Times Book Review
Download or read book The Selected Stories of Xu Zechen written by Zechen Xu and published by Bridge 21 Publications. This book was released on 2023-05-05 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains six works that each reflect the different styles of the author in each period of his work, paying attention to men of low status, memories of childhood, campus life, and the living conditions of Beijing’s drifters. Told in a straightforward manner, all the stories in this book are told in the first person and can be regarded together as a spiritual autobiography. Xu Zechen won the sixth Lu Xun Literature Award for short stories, and short stories have always been the focus and intention of his creation.
Download or read book Roast Chicken and Other Stories written by Simon Hopkinson and published by Hachette+ORM. This book was released on 2013-07-23 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Good cooking depends on two things: common sense and good taste." In England, no food writer's star shines brighter than Simon Hopkinson's. His breakthrough Roast Chicken and Other Stories was voted the most useful cookbook ever by a panel of chefs, food writers, and consumers. At last, American cooks can enjoy endearing stories from the highly acclaimed food writer and his simple yet elegant recipes. In this richly satisfying culinary narrative, Hopkinson shares his unique philosophy on the limitless possibilities of cooking. With its friendly tone backed by the author's impeccable expertise, this cookbook can help anyone--from the novice cook to the experienced chef--prepare delicious cuisine . . . and enjoy every minute of it! Irresistible recipes in this book include: Eggs Florentine Chocolate Tart Poached Salmon with Beurre Blanc And, of course, the book's namesake recipe, Roast Chicken Winner of both the 1994 Andre Simon and 1995 Glenfiddich awards (the gastronomic world's equivalent to an Oscar), this acclaimed book will inspire anyone who enjoys sharing the ideas of a truly creative cook and delights in getting the best out of good ingredients.
