Showing results by narrator "Nancy Wu" in All Categories

This revelatory account of the ways silver shaped Chinese history shows how an obsession with “white metal” held China back from financial modernization. First used as currency during the Song dynasty in around 900 CE, silver gradually became central to China’s economic framework and was officially monetized in the middle of the Ming dynasty during the 16th century. However, due to the early adoption of paper money in China, silver was not formed into coins but became a cumbersome “weighing currency”....

In his Locus review of Two Worlds and in Between - the first volume of The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan - Gary K. Wolfe wrote, “...it makes you wish the second volume were here now.” Well, the long wait is over. This second volume completes this ambitious undertaking, collecting the finest of Kiernan’s stories from 2004 to 2012, selected by the author herself. The book includes 25 short stories and one poem, plus the short novel Black Helicopters - more than 200,000 words of fiction, including the World Fantasy Award-winning “The Prayer of 90 Cats”.

As the second-largest economy, China is now extending its influence across the globe. Joanna Chiu has spent a decade tracking China’s propulsive rise, from the complicity of democratic nations, to a new colonialism coming from its multibillion-dollar “New Silk Road” initiative, to its growing sway on foreign countries and multilateral institutions.

Waking up in a tacky coffin and wearing off-brand shoes, Betsy Taylor can't believe the horrible turn her life has taken; then she discovers she's a vampire. Soon, Betsy becomes a participant in a power struggle between the forces of darkness. With only her friend Jessica and the hunky vampire Sinclair to help her, this new "Queen of Vampires" will have a tough time getting her afterlife straight.

A deluge has flooded the high ground near Hanging Falls - but heavy rains aren't the only menace descending on Timber Creek. While on a scouting mission to pinpoint trail damage, officer Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, stumble upon a body floating at the edge of a lake. Robo catches human scent, which leads to an enigmatic forest-dweller who quickly becomes suspect number one. With help from veterinarian Cole Walker, Mattie identifies the victim and discovers an odd religious cult whose dress and manners harken back to the 19th century.

There is no war outside of these walls. This is what the citizens of Ba Sing Se are told to believe, but Jin knows better. As a refugee whose parents were killed by the Fire Nation, she is haunted by her past. Now, she does her best to keep her head down in the Lower Ring, caring for her ailing grandfather and balancing school with survival. Her one bright spot is her best friend Susu, whose family treats Jin like one of their own, and whose bakery she helps make deliveries for.

It's hard not to notice Terra Cooper. She's tall, blond, and has an enviable body. But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably "flawed" face. Terra secretly plans to leave her stifling small town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father. When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob's path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction.

A bandit walks into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there. Guet Imm, a young votary of the Order of the Pure Moon, joins up with an eclectic group of thieves (whether they like it or not) in order to protect a sacred object, and finds herself in a far more complicated situation than she could have ever imagined.

An estimated 36 million Chinese men, women, and children starved to death during China's Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s and early '60s. One of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, the famine is poorly understood, and in China is still euphemistically referred to as "the three years of natural disaster". As a journalist with privileged access to official and unofficial sources, Yang Jisheng spent 20 years piecing together the events that led to mass nationwide starvation, including the death of his own father.

Betsy Taylor, Queen of the Undead, has snagged a dream job in a shoe store (just like a normal person!). But when vampires start getting killed off, Betsy enlists the help of the sexy vampire Sinclair. Now she’s really treading dangerous ground—but this time in brand-new high heels.

The enthralling conclusion to Judy I. Lin's Book of Tea duology—A Magic Steeped in Poison and A Venom Dark and Sweet—is sure to enchant fans of Adrienne Young and Leigh Bardugo. A great evil has come to the kingdom of Dàxi. The Banished Prince has returned to seize power, his rise to the...

It’s no surprise to Betsy that her trip to Hell with her sister, Laura, landed them in hot water. Betsy isn’t exactly sorry she killed the Devil but it’s put Laura in a damnable position: assuming the role of Satan (she may not have the training but she looks great in red) - and in charge of billions of souls as she moves up in the world. Or is that down? But Betsy herself is in an odd new position as well - that of being a responsible monarch suddenly in charge of all things more earth-bound: like her vampire husband, Sinclair, who has gone from relieved to ecstatic to downright reckless now that he can tolerate sunlight.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China over seventy years ago, five paramount leaders have shaped the fates and fortunes of the nation and the ruling Chinese Communist Party: Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping. Under their leaderships, China has undergone an extraordinary transformation from an undeveloped and insular country to a comprehensive world power. In this definitive study, renowned Sinologist David Shambaugh offers a refreshing account of China's dramatic post-revolutionary history through the prism of those who ruled it.

Five former sorority sisters, all in their 50's, undertake the adventure of a lifetime when a mysterious invite reunites them at an exclusive resort set on a private island.

New York Times best-selling author MaryJanice Davidson "continues to put her own unique spin on paranormal romance" ( Fallen Angel Reviews), and in this all-new anthology, she’s three times as outrageous as ever before.…

A book unlike any other, Women in Clothes is essentially a conversation among hundreds of women of all nationalities - famous, anonymous, religious, secular, married, single, young, old - on the subject of clothing, and how the garments we put on every day define and shape our lives. It began with a survey. The editors composed a list of more than 50 questions designed to prompt women to think more deeply about their personal style.

An Oprah.com Best Romance Novel of 2019! “Perfect for readers who love the dishy women's fiction of Candace Bushnell.” —Booklist From the author of the New York Times bestselling Stiletto and Oxford series, the first in a sizzling new series following the unlikely friendship of three Upper...

From New York Times bestselling author Lenora Worth… Danger comes to Denver for the holidays… in these thrilling Rocky Mountain K-9 Unit novellas. With veterinarian Sydney Jones being targeted, K-9 Officer Gavin Walker and his furry partner must stand between her and certain death in Lenora...

Magneto, the X-Men's oldest, deadliest foe, has taken over the entire island of Manhattan and declared it a haven for mutants. Ruled by Magneto and his Acolytes and enforced by reprogrammed Sentinels - powerful, giant robots - the haven is the first step in Magneto's ultimate goal of world domination: the Mutant Empire. Now, only the X-Men stand between Magneto and that goal. But the road to victory will not be an easy one, as half the X-Men are trapped in space - and mutants from all over the world are flocking to Manhattan and taking Magneto's side against the X-Men.

In her 11th adventure, following Undead and Undetermined, Betsy’s up to her fangs in paranormal trouble. Still heartbroken over her friend Marc’s sacrifice, Betsy is further plagued by nagging suspicions that her half-sister Laura is up to no good. It seems that Laura has received an offer to assume her mother’s duties overseeing Hell - but only if she first kills Betsy.