World Fiction

Patricia Campbell's life has never felt smaller. Her ambitious husband is too busy to give her a goodbye kiss in the morning, her kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she's always a step behind on thank-you notes and her endless list of chores. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime and paperback fiction. At these meetings they're as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are marriage, motherhood, and neighborhood gossip.

Two gassy brothers. One mad clown with Weapons of Mass Flatulation. Can kid fart power save the world's butt? Willy and Peter just want to sit around gaming and farting. So it's really annoying when they're out shopping for their sister's birthday and end up captured by crazed clowns who want to take over the planet. From a remote bouncy castle dungeon to the White House itself, can Willy and Peter outsmart - and out-fart - the evil clowns? Can they save the human race from ex-stink-tion? And still get home in time for their sister's birthday?

Ursula K. Le Guin has enthralled fans with her imagination, clarity, and moral vision. The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and five Hugo and five Nebula Awards, this renowned writer has created a provocative, ever-evolving universe filled with diverse worlds and rich characters reminiscent of our earthly selves. Now, in The Birthday of the World, this gifted artist returns to these worlds in eight brilliant short works, including a never-before-published novella, each of which probes the essence of humanity.

This is a collection of Elizabeth Berg's most-loved Facebook posts. She was asked by many to put these short essays into book form, to create something to "take to the beach, or bed, or on an airplane". Elizabeth and her friend, Phyllis Florin, happily complied, and they hope that their offering will be as welcome as flowers in a mailbox.

En 1911, les grandes puissances vivent leurs derniers instants d'insouciance. Bientôt la guerre va déferler sur le monde... De l'Europe aux États-Unis, du fond des mines du pays de Galles aux antichambres du pouvoir soviétique, en passant par les tranchées de la Somme, cinq familles vont se croiser, s'unir, se déchirer, au rythme des bouleversements de l'Histoire. Passions contrariées, rivalités et intrigues, jeux politiques et trahisons... Cette fresque magistrale explore toute la gamme des sentiments humains à travers le destin de personnages exceptionnels, visionnaires et ambitieux.

A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public, commonly referred to as A Modest Proposal, is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729. Swift suggests in his essay that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling children as food. By doing this he mocks the authority of the British officials.

After recovering from a harrowing mission near the island of Timor, Art Turner and the crew of USS Bull Shark have healed their wounds and are ready to face Japan once more. As 1943 begins, Admiral “Uncle Charlie” Lockwood is finally ready to spring a deadly surprise on Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Hideki Tojo.

A big Irish knight, much beloved by his English men, faces his biggest challenge when an injury nearly claims his life...and his confidence as a warrior.

When a controversial celebrity rabbi drops dead over his matzoh ball soup at the famed Canter's Deli in Los Angeles, retired private eye Amos Parisman - a 60ish, no-nonsense Jewish detective who lives with his addled wife in Park La Brea - is hired by the temple's board to make sure everything is kosher. As he looks into what seems to be a simple, tragic accident, the ante is raised when more people start to die or disappear, and Amos uncovers a world of treachery and hurt that shakes a large LA Jewish community to its core.

Au cœur de l'enfer, une femme se bat pour l'espoir. "Rappelle-toi: notre seule arme, c'est de rester en vie, et pour rester en vie, nous devons aimer, nous devons donner, et, malheureusement, nous devons souffrir." Lorsqu'elle arrive à Auschwitz, sous un ciel bas et gris, Ana est persuadée qu'elle ne survivra pas à l'enfer du camp. Mais elle possède une compétence que les nazis recherchent : elle est sage-femme. Son travail sera de donner naissance aux enfants des autres prisonnières.

An official prequel novel to World of Warcraft: Midnight Arator the Redeemer was born to heroism. The son of High Exarch Turalyon and the legendary Alleria Windrunner, Arator has long borne the weight and expectations of their legacy . . . a legacy he inherited as a babe, the day his parents...

A man wakes up in a hospital bed, with no idea who he is or how he came to be there. The only information the doctor shares with his patient is his name: Innokenty Petrovich Platonov. As memories slowly resurface, Innokenty begins to build a vivid picture of his former life as a young man in Russia in the early 20th century, living through the turbulence of the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. But soon, only one question remains: How can he remember the start of the 20th century, when the pills by his bedside were made in 1999?

The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family's situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri's own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother's choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover - but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she'd imagined.

Cecil Younger, local Alaskan investigator, is neither good at his job nor great at staying sober. When an old Tlingit woman, unimpressed by the police's investigation, hires him to discover why her son, a big-game guide, was murdered, he takes the case without much conviction that he'll discover anything new.

Undoubtedly one of the most celebrated tales of all time, this is both high-octane thriller and fascinating travelogue. Phileas Fogg, intrepid Victorian gentleman about town, accepts a wager that he cannot travel around the world in 80 days. Naturally, he immediately sets off, accompanied by his French manservant, Passepartout. They are pursued by a police officer, Detective Fix, who is foolishly convinced that Fogg is a bank robber. Much hilarity ensues.

Young Erich’s quest for an invincible character build will require more than his decades as a number-crunching munchkin, though. Even with power-leveled skills, feudal life is no cakewalk—especially when you keep drawing more attention than you can handle. Can Erich adapt to his strange new world before his worst impulses take the campaign of a lifetime completely off the rails?

Gabriel “Gart” Forbes is the most powerful knight in the arsenal of David de Lohr, Baron Thornden, brother to the mighty Earl of Hereford. When Julian de Moyon, Baron Buckland, summons Thornden for critical support, Gart travels to Dunster Castle to meet with Buckland. Upon arrival, he is set upon by three young boys who try to rob him, all sons of Baron Buckland. Gart discovers that their mother, the Lady Emberley de Moyon, is the sister of his long-dead best friend.

The Lady Elizabeau Treveighan is the illegitimate daughter of Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany. Elizabeau was sent to foster at a very young age, her identity known only to herself and the earl who fostered her. When her half-brother Prince Arthur is murdered and rumors begin to fly that the opposition to King John intends to marry her to a Teutonic prince and supplant her and her new husband as the rulers of England, she suddenly becomes a very hot, and very dangerous, commodity.

Battle-hardened warrior and favored of the king, Sir Lucien de Russe is called the Iron Knight because of his indestructibility in battle. An older knight, Lucien is entering his fortieth year and has seen a good deal in his lifetime. But having sustained fairly serious wounds in the most recent rebellions against Henry IV, Lucien retires his sword and spurs, choosing to live out the rest of his life in peace. Physically, he is damaged goods and must heal. Mentally, however, he is already dead.

Kaspian is tended by a woman who offers him her breasts as way of sustaining his life. At first, he looks at the situation as a necessity, but he soon comes to crave it. He struggles to keep his feelings from the widowed woman, but it becomes increasingly difficult. For a man who has known little compassion or kindness in his life, Madelayne comes to represent everything he has been missing. She soon becomes to represent everything he wants, and he wants her.