Short Family

Jem Carstairs and Tessa Gray are finally united after waiting over a century to be together, but they become aware a dark threat is looming over a child of the Shadow Market: a lost Herondale, from a line of Herondales who have used the Market to hide from their fellow Nephilim. Now is the time for the lost Herondale to be discovered. Jem and Tessa have to find him before his enemies can.

John Updike's 21st novel, a bildungsroman, follows its hero, Owen Mackenzie, from his birth in the semi-rural Pennsylvania town of Willow to his retirement in the rather geriatric community of Haskells Crossing, Massachusetts. In between these two settlements comes Middle Falls, Connecticut, where Owen, an early computer programmer, founds with a partner, Ed Mervine, the successful firm of E-O Data, which is housed in an old gun factory on the Chunkaunkabaug River.

When Avery learns Sean's dark secret, everything changes. His confession blindsides her. Sean has a shady past, she knew that from the beginning, but this is so much worse than she thought. There's a dangerous side to Sean. It's alluring and frightening at the same time. Avery has to decide if love can overcome anything or if she should protect her heart.

Sean is the last person I expected to pull open the door to the Ferro mansion, and yet here he is. My plan turns to dust and blows away. After everything I went through, I'm back at the beginning, falling at the feet of the only man who can save me.

The son of Maya Angelou, Guy Johnson is a critically acclaimed author and poet in his own right. Echoes of a Distant Summer is the story of Jackson St. Clair Tremain, a San Francisco civil servant who thought he had left his old life far behind. In 1982, Jackson is summoned to Mexico to confer with his dying grandfather, the brutal hustler King Tremain. When King dies, Jackson inherits $50 million - and the unwanted attentions of a malevolent bayou crime lord named Pug DuMont.

A brilliant young philosophy student bent on seducing her famous philosopher-mentor finds herself outmaneuvered; diabolically clever high school girls wreak a particularly apt sort of vengeance on sexual predators in their community; a woman stalked by a would-be killer may be confiding in the wrong former lover; a young woman is morbidly obsessed by her unfamiliar new role as “mother.” In the collection’s longest story, a much-praised cutting-edge writer cruelly experiments with “drafts” of his own suicide.

My life fractures with a single gunshot. It pierces the night, shattering my heart. The unstoppable billionaire, Sean Ferro, is brought to his knees by a bullet. I can't stop it. I can't save him. A silent scream lodges in my throat as I watch in horror. The consequences of my past decisions are catching up with me. My mother's sins are now mine, and nothing that can wash the innocent blood from my hands. This is my fault. I'm forced to defeat my biggest adversary alone, and the worst part is he's my only brother.

I've gone from a future of possibilities to nothing in a single gunshot. Homeless, penniless, and without the man I love, my hopelessness overwhelms me, and I seek unexpected comfort from people long absent in my life. I can't lose Sean - not now, not ever - and I'll do anything to get him back, even if it means using myself as bait.

A man recalls his father's advice on how to save a drowning person, but struggles when the time comes to use it. A wife’s good deed leaves a couple vulnerable at the moment when they’re most in need of security—the birth of their first child. Newly in love, a man preoccupied by accounts of freak accidents is befallen by one himself. In stories about love and fear, idealisms and illusions, failures of muscle and mind and all the ways we try to care for one another, Steven Heighton’s Instructions for the Drowning is an indelible last collection by a writer working at the height of his powers.

John Updike reads six stories he has selected from the 100-odd he has published. Mr. Updike, when asked to described his method of reading aloud, said "I try to picture the things described and to speak the words distinctly, and to let the emotion come through on its own." The method works beautifully.

From terraformed outposts to magical realms, journey to worlds where deadly plants, rampant biodiversity, or failed colonies have created irresistible opportunities for those brave enough to seize them. New worlds, found family, mystical secrets, and deadly science weave together in this lesbian-centric anthology focusing on a very different kind of first time - a first encounter with a world, or being, entirely unlike our own.

Thirteen lives. One garden. Set in Cleveland, Newbery-Award-winning author Paul Fleischman's poignant book is a large lesson in connectedness and community for all. When a derelict vacant lot is gradually transformed into a community garden in inner city Cleveland, the people of this community find their differences are less apparent and their isolation dissolved. Performed by thirteen multicuturally and age-authentic voices, this audiobook is designed for listeners of all ages.

Meet the Brady family. They’re brilliant, brooding and barreling into relationships whether they like it or not. If you love messy family dynamics, unforgettable characters, and sizzling chemistry, you’ll devour these three sexy, hilarious full-length novels, all in one convenient package. Grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, silver foxes and more await you in this trio of nerdy rom-coms.

The number-one New York Times best-selling author of Big Summer masterfully combines Stephen King with Donna Tartt, plus a twist of Shirley Jackson, in this timely tale of a man, his new partner, and his old dog.

The proven roadmap to create cash flow, build wealth, and design your dream life through Airbnb and vacation rental investing. What if one investment property could change everything? In this high-impact guide, retired firefighter and real estate investor Mike Neubauer reveals how he and his wife built a 7-figure short-term rental portfolio—starting from zero—on one of the most expensive islands in the world.

All four novellas of the Summer Unplugged series in one book. Summer Unplugged: Bayleigh is addicted to her cell phone and her mom has had enough. After catching her sending a less than lady-like photo to a boy who barely knows her, Bayleigh's mom sends her away to her grandparent's house for the summer - sans cell phone, laptop and iPod. Bayleigh thinks the summer will be torture without social media - that is until she meets the boy next door.

There are choices that change a life forever. I know with complete certainty my life would have been very different if I'd chosen another path. But I didn't. I chose Sean. In the moments he's missing, the remnants of my world topple. Peter is a pillar of strength, but he's still a Ferro through and through. If I don't go after Marty alone, I risk Peter reverting to the man he once was. If I do go alone, I may never come back. My life pivots on a pinhead, forcing me again to choose between logic and love.

In this edition of the Montessori at Home Guide series, you'll find a wonderful parent or caregiver's guide to gently help your two- to six-year-old learn self-care. Written with the busy parent in mind, Rachel Peachey, a Montessori preschool teacher and parent, presents practical lessons that are easy enough for the very beginner, yet they will inspire the most seasoned of Montessori parents. This guide will help you jump-start your child's learning of proper hygiene, dressing, eating, safety, and manners.

Although best known for creating the spirited Anne Shirley, L. M. Montgomery had a thriving writing career that included several novels and more than 500 poems and stories. This collection brings together rare pieces originally published between 1900 and 1939 that haven’t been in print since their initial periodicals.

The Peterkin Papers record the antics of the most memorably and hopelessly bumbling of respectable American families. Confronted by the endless challenges of daily life, the Peterkins rise to every occasion with misguided aplomb: they sit out in the sun for hours and fail to go for a ride because they've forgotten to unhitch the horse.