Hygiene and the Assassin

Hygiene and the Assassin

Amélie Nothomb

Literature & Fiction

Written nearly two decades ago, this is the first novel of the award-winning Nothomb to be translated into English (beautifully so, by Alison Anderson). The shocking, morbid tale follows Prétextat Tach, a brilliant Nobel Prize–winning author who's also an obese, embittered, reclusive, racist, and sexist old man dying of a rare form of cancer. When the world learns Tach has only months left to live, journalists scramble for an interview. Five are selected, and the first four leave their interviews humiliated by the offensive author. But then the fifth journalist arrives. Unlike the others, Nina has not only read Tach's work but also investigated his life, discovering appalling secrets the author had thought were buried forever. As Nina slowly peels Tach's life apart in front of him, his hatred for her turns to respect. Nina's arrival obliterates the book's languid pacing, bringing much more than a strong-willed persona to the proceedings. Her startling revelations lead to a dramatic and unexpected ending that illuminates why the world, if not always its English-speaking inhabitants, loves Nothomb.
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Man-Kzin Wars V

Man-Kzin Wars V

Larry Niven

Larry Niven

GIVE PEACE A CHANCEA Kzin's instinctively combative responses make for poor diplomatic relations between species. But now that their "first you scream and then you leap" approach to interstellar relations have led to three straight losses to the hairless hominidae of Sol III, there has begun to arise in Kzinti consciousness the faintest glimmering that there may be a Better Way. And in the resulting calm between wars, humans and Kzin are beginning to collaborate. Now the Universe really has something to worry about.
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Mystery in the Snow

Mystery in the Snow

Gertrude Chandler Warner

Children's Books

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny used to live alone in a boxcar. Now they have a home with their grandfather, and are spending their winter vacation at Snow Haven Lodge. The lodge is having its annual winter carnival, and the Boxcar Children sign up to compete in events like skiing, skating, sledding, and building snow and ice sculptures. But no sooner has the competition begun, than the children have a mystery to solve!
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The Goblin Mirror

The Goblin Mirror

C. J. Cherryh

Science Fiction & Fantasy

From Publishers WeeklyCherryh's third book in a scant three months (after Chanur's Legacy and Hellburner) does not meet her usual high standards. When Karoly, a wizard of Maggiar, announces plans to consult with his wizard-sister about recent ominous events, the lord Stani sends along his eldest two sons, Bogdan and Tamas, and other soldiers for protection. Much to his chagrin, the third son Yuri is left behind-but he sneaks off to follow the troupe. Along the way Karoly and his party are attacked and separated. Tamas is rescued by Ela, a sorceress's apprentice who has a shard of the Goblin Mirror, the source of the goblin queen's power. Ela eventually defeats the queen's invaders, with the help of Tamas and a group of rebels against the queen and, eventually, Yuri, Karoly, and the others of their party. While occupied with a favored Cherryh theme, the complexity of nonhuman races--goblins and trolls are more fully dimensioned here than is usual in fantasy--the novel lacks such Cherryh staples as a fully imagined setting, unexpected plot twists and engrossing characters. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalAs a vague sense of menace threatens the small country of Maggiar, three young princes, a wizard, and a huntsman become caught up in a magical battle to save their land from the Queen of the Goblins. Veteran sf/fantasy author Cherryh ( Chanur's Legacy , LJ 8/92) makes good use of Eastern European myth in this otherwise standard fantasy, which combines traditional fairy tale elements--magic mirrors, trolls, and enchanted forests--with modern fantasy conventions. Though not as strong as her Russian-based novels ( Rusalka , LJ 9/15/89, and its sequels), Cherryh's latest work should appeal to fantasy enthusiasts.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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On the Edge of Nowhere

On the Edge of Nowhere

James Huntington

James Huntington

His father is a white trapper, his mother an Athabascan Indian who walks a thousand miles in winter to reunite with her family. Jimmy Huntington learns early how to survive on the land. He is only seven when his mother dies, and must care for his younger siblings. A courageous and inspiring man, Huntington hunts, fights bears, survives close calls and he becomes a championship sled-dog racer.
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An African Elegy

An African Elegy

Ben Okri

Fiction / Cultural / Africa

Dreams are the currency of Okri's writing, particularly in this first book of poems, An African Elegy, but also in his books of short stories and prize-winning novel The Famished Road. Okri's dreams are made on the stuff of Africa's colossal economic and political problems, and reading the poems is to experience a constant succession of metaphors of resolution in both senses of the word. Virtually every poem contains an exhortation to climb out of the African miasma, and virtually every poem harvests the dream of itself with an upbeat restorative ending' - Giles Foden, Times Literary Supplement
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Sweetheart

Sweetheart

Peter McGehee

Peter McGehee

Boys Like Us Trilogy, Book 2 – In Peter McGehee's debut novel, Boys Like Us, reviewers noted his lean, mostly-in-dialogue, fast-paced comedy of manners with an arresting theme ("I lose people ..."), fascinating contemporary urban folklore, and a superbly funny airplane scene. In Sweetheart, Zero MacNoo is back in hilarious new situations, adding a dreamboat lover, a precocious child crooner, a first-cousin-first-love porn star, and some lesbian garage mechanics ... as the AIDS plague continues to descend. Two wildly divergent worlds – Zero's fiercely eccentric Southern family in Arkansas and the sophisticated urban gay community of Toronto, where he lives now – collide. His cousin Trebreh, the porn star, parks his teenaged daughter with Zero, complicating an already complex life as he tries to balance a budding romance, AIDS activism, and family responsibilities. Though Sweetheart is a novel about AIDS survival, McGehee carries...
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Gone South

Gone South

Robert McCammon

Literature & Fiction / Horror / Historical Fiction

Flooded by memories, poisoned by Agent Orange, Dan Lambert kills a man in a moment of fear and fury -- and changes his life forever. Pursued by police and bounty hunters, Dan flees south toward the Louisiana bayous. In the swamplands he meets Arden Halliday, a young woman who bears the vivid burdens of her own past, and who is searching for a legendary faith healer called the Bright Girl. Looking for simple kindness in a world that rarely shows it, bound by a loyalty stronger than love, Dan and Arden set off on a journey of relentless suspense and impassioned discovery. . . over dark, twisting waterways into the mysterious depths of the human heart.
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The Secret Circle: The Power

The Secret Circle: The Power

L. J. Smith

Young Adult / Fantasy / Romance

The Secret Circle book 3: The Power United at last with Diana, the mistress of her coven, Cassie must first sacrifice her love for Adam to save the Secret Circle and the town of New Salem from the evil powers of the witch Faye. Threatened by the possibility of her destruction in a final battle between good and evil, Cassie must hope that her supernatural gifts are strong enough to obliterate the powers of evil. If victorious, Cassie will win more than she ever dreamed. But if she and Diana fail, the Power will go to those who seek only to destroy.
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The Heiress Bride

The Heiress Bride

Catherine Coulter

Suspense / Thriller / Romance

Dear Reader: Welcome to the exciting conclusion of the English Regency Bride Trilogy, The Heiress Bride. You met Sinjun Sherbrooke in the The Sherbrooke Bride and in The Hellion Bride, a delightful, quite endearing fifteen-year-old who, I hope, charmed your socks off. Now she's nineteen, blessed with Sherbrooke blue eyes, wit to burn, and a wonderful sense of humor. She is also bored with the London Season until she spies Colin Kinross, the Scottish earl of Ashburnham, across the dance floor at a London ball. When she overhears Colin complain that he must find a wealthy bride quickly in order to survive, Sinjun promptly introduces herself as the toothsome heiress she is. Despite all odds. Sinjun manages an elopement to Scotland to begin her life in a drafty old castle that holds more revelations and surprises than Sinjun could ever imagine. You'll also meet another ghost, Pearlin' Jane, who teams up with the Virgin Bride. Do enjoy Sinjun. She's one hell of a bride. Catherine Coulter (The Author)
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The Unquiet Earth

The Unquiet Earth

Denise Giardina

Denise Giardina

Dillon Freeman returns from World War II to Blackberry Creek, West Virginia, where he confronts the coal mining industry as a union organizer and falls in love with his conventional cousin, Rachel. By the author of Storming Heaven.
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