From the author of the classic Alas, Babylon comes this riveting story of a Marine captain and his soldiers and their arduous, difficult retreat from Changjin Reservoir to Hungnam during the Korean War—a stirring portrait of courage and sacrifice, now back in print. “These are not stragglers, sir. This is Dog Company…” In Pat Frank’s classic 1951 war novel, one-hundred-twenty-six soldiers commence their long, harrowing journey at Changjin Reservoir during the height of the Korean War, but few will survive the grueling fight and eventually reach Hungnam. Vividly bringing to life the bravery, daring, and turmoil a unit of soldiers endures, Hold Back the Night reveals their gripping stories… Captain Mackenzie, commander of Dog Company, not only bears the responsibility for victory or defeat, but also feels the full weight of the emotional toll that the war inevitably takes on him and his troops. His one consolation to inspire his band of soldiers to keep on going is an unopened bottle of Scotch that holds bittersweet memories of his wife who gave it to him as a gift. Sergeant Ekland, a cocky, determined communications sergeant, is due for a battlefield promotion and longs for the day his tour is over so he can be reunited with his fiancée—that is if he makes it out of Korea alive. Private Couzens, finds himself in a precarious situation with the enemy due to circumstances out of his control—a situation that causes his loyalties to come into question with his superiors. As readers follow the lives of these men and the other unforgettable soldiers, Pat Frank’s epic novel of war, loss, and survival recounts a crucial chapter in American history

From one of the most impassioned of writers of our time, this powerful collection of essays offers a stark portrait of post-9/11 realities. John Berger occupies a unique position in the international cultural landscape: artist, filmmaker, poet, philosopher, novelist, and essayist, he is also a deeply thoughtful political activist. In Hold Everything Dear, his artistry and activism meld in an attempt to make sense of the current state of our world. Berger analyzes the nature of terrorism and the profound despair that gives rise to it. He writes about the homelessness of millions who have been forced by poverty and war to live as refugees. He discusses Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Serbia, Bosnia, China, Indonesia-anyplace where people are deprived of the most basic of freedoms. Berger powerfully acknowledges the depth of suffering around the world and suggests actions that might finally help bring it to an end

When Achilles Conroy and his brother Troy return from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, their white mother presents them with the key to their past: envelopes containing details about their respective birth parents. After Troy disappears, Achilles — always his brother’s keeper — embarks on a harrowing journey in search of Troy, an experience that will change him forever. Heartbreaking, intimate, and at times disturbing, Hold It ’Til It Hurts is a modern-day odyssey through war, adventure, disaster, and love, and explores how people who do not define themselves by race make sense of a world that does

Six years ago, Dewayne Falco's life changed. He lost someone he never expected to lose. Resigned to punish himself for something he felt he could have prevented, he goes through life without getting too close to anyone. What he didn't expect was for the girl across the street to move back home and remind him of what they both lost: Dewayne's younger brother Dustin. However, when a miniature version of Dustin opens the door to greet him, Dewayne realizes he might not have lost everything after all. Sienna Roy loved Dustin Falco most of her life. He was the boy next door, the high school basketball star and her best friend. But when his life was cut short, she realized he left a part of himself behind. Now, she's back in Sea Breeze, thankful to have a home for her and Dustin's son, but not sure if she can ever forgive the people across the street who abandoned her when she needed them the most — The Falcos. Betrayal, lies, and forbidden attraction might end Dewayne and Sienna's story before it's even begun

She’s almost ready for a second chance. What started out as a casual hookup with a rugged geologist has turned into something a whole lot more. Simone’s on the verge of handing over her heart, but fear over what Mitch will say and do when he learns who she used to be holds her back. The past could destroy their future... Just when Simone is about to take a chance on forever with Mitch, the mistakes of her past catch up with her. Suddenly it’s not just her safety on the line anymore, it’s his too. Forced into hiding, Mitch demands answers, and Simone realizes the only way to protect everything she holds dear is to delve into a past she’s spent fourteen years trying to forget. As they search for the truth, they discover secrets, lies and a rekindled passion that burns hotter than before. But they also uncover a conspiracy that threatens the very fabric of society. One that could cost them more than just their future…it could cost them their lives

Maya Taylor, an intense, gifted English professor, has a tendency to retreat when she is needed most, escaping on long morning runs or finding comfort in the well-thumbed novels in her library. But when she sends her daughter Ellie to Florida to care for a friend’s child, it’s with the best of intentions. Twenty and spiraling, Ellie is lost in a fog of drugs and men — desperately in need of a fresh start. Her life with this attractive new family in Florida begins well, but Ellie is crippled by the fear that she’ll only disappoint those around her. . again. And in the sprawling hours of one humid afternoon, she finally makes a mistake she cannot take back. The accident hangs over both mother and daughter as they try to repair their fractured relationship and find a way to transcend not only their differences but also their more startling similarities. In Maya’s and Ellie’s echoing narratives, Lynn Steger Strong creates a searing, unforgettable portrait of familial love and the tender heartache of motherhood — from the sweltering Florida heat to the bone-cold of New York in January. Churning toward one fateful day in two separate timelines, Hold Still is a story of before and after and the impossible distance in between. Heralding the arrival of a profoundly moving new talent, this novel marks a taut and propulsive debut that “builds to a perfect crescendo, an ending that is both surprising and true” (Marcy Dermansky). Hold Still explores the weight of culpability and the depths and limits of a mother’s love. “Hold Still is an unblinking examination of family, the mother-child bond, and the storms it must withstand. Lynn Strong pulls no punches in considering not just how deep, but also how misguided a mother’s love can be.”—Elisa Albert, author of After Birth

A terrifying literary thriller set on the Alaskan tundra, about the mystery of evil and mankind’s losing battle with nature. At the start of another pitiless winter, the wolves have come for the children of Keelut. Three children have been taken from this isolated Alaskan village, including the six-year-old boy of Medora and Vernon Slone. Stumbled by grief and seeking consolation, Medora contacts nature writer and wolf expert Russell Core. Sixty years old, ailing in both body and spirit, and estranged from his daughter and wife, Core arrives in Keelut to investigate the killings. Immersing himself in this settlement at the end of the world, he discovers the horrifying darkness at the heart of Medora Slone and learns of an unholy truth harbored by this village. When Vernon Slone returns from a desert war to discover his son dead and his wife missing, he begins a methodical pursuit across this frozen landscape. Aided by his boyhood companion, the taciturn and deadly Cheeon, and pursued by the stalwart detective Donald Marium, Slone is without mercy, cutting a bloody swath through the wilderness of his homeland. As Russell Core attempts to rescue Medora from her husband’s vengeance, he comes face to face with an unspeakable secret at the furthermost reaches of American soil—a secret about the unkillable bonds of family, and the untamed animal in the soul of every human being. An Alaskan Oresteia, an epic woven of both blood and myth, Hold the Dark recalls the hyperborean climate and tribalism of Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone and the primeval violence of James Dickey’s Deliverance

What’s one little spell? When you’re new to magic, one spell can be the difference between getting what you want...and ruining the lives of everyone you love. Sixteen-year-old Madison has just embraced her magical powers. The trick now is learning how to control them. She and her boyfriend -and fellow witch- can’t even enjoy a simple kiss without getting shocked when their powers collide. Instead of mastering her new skills, though, Madison is stuck watching her kid brother and doing chores. But being a witch does have its benefits. With a simple spell, Madison instantly conjures the help she needs around the house. Or so she thinks. Her idea of “help” invites trouble of its own as a pair of dangerous yet enticing beings enter her life. When a classmate disappears soon afterwards, Madison discovers she's the next victim of a threat she's powerless to resist...and there’s nothing it won’t kill to make her surrender. Caught in the crossfire between two dashing but deadly creatures, Madison must figure out which one to trust and how to rid her world of the other—before one of them destroys her and everyone she cares about

From Cixin Liu, the New York Times bestselling author of The Three-Body Problem, To Hold Up the Sky is a breathtaking collection of imaginative science fiction

Ellie is on her way to visit her comatose mother when her sister sends her to repair physics. Each universe has skunkworks that generate the universe within it, making this multiverse a set of matryoshka dolls. The skunkworks that generate this universe have become faulty, and the physical constants suddenly… aren’t. In order to fix the skunkworks, to make physics self-consistent again, and to make the world work as it’s supposed to, Ellie will have to remember everything her mother has taught her. At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied

The world of Jeffery Renard Allen’s stunning short-story collection is a place like no other. A recognizable city, certainly, but one in which a man might sprout wings or copper pennies might fall from the skies onto your head. Yet these are no fairy tales. The hostility, the hurt, is all too human. The protagonists circle each other with steely determination: a grandson taunts his grandmother, determined to expose her secret past; for years, a sister tries to keep a menacing neighbor away from her brother; and in the local police station, an officer and prisoner try to break each other’s resolve. In all the stories, Allen calibrates the mounting tension with exquisite timing, in mesmerizing prose that has won him comparisons with Joyce and Faulkner. Holding Pattern is a captivating collection by a prodigiously talented writer

Imagine making all the lucky strokes of a lifetime again — in a single golf match? Mr. Fingerhaver did

Play by Play - 6.5 A Riley wedding is in the works, a Riley Christmas means a house full of family, and baby making is on Liz Riley's mind. Chasing Gavin around and meeting in dark closets can be fun, but Liz is more than a little determined. Even with family in every corner of the house, Gavin is more than ready to do whatever Liz wants—especially when sex is involved. It's a Riley family Christmas

In the charming eighth coffeehouse mystery from the pseudonymous Coyle (the husband-wife writing team of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi), Clare Cosi, owner of the Village Blend, is preoccupied with creating flavorful and memorable drinks for the upcoming holiday season. Then one snowy December day, Clare discovers a beloved customer, Alf Glockner, shot to death in a nearby alley. Doubtful of the police conclusion that Alf, a part-time comedian who was working as a charity Santa, was the victim of a random murder, Clare sets out to find out what really happened. To her peril, she must do so on her own because her boyfriend, NYPD Det. Mike Quinn, is busy with his own homicide investigation. This light cozy will keep readers guessing until the end, while the drink and accompanying treat recipes will send anyone to the kitchen in search of a candy cane brownie and a caffe mocha latte

Amazon.com Review: In the seventh of J.D. Robb's futuristic romance thrillers, NYPD Lieutenant Eve Dallas is on the trail of a serial killer terrorizing the city during the holidays. The only link between the victims-all are patrons of an exclusive dating service, Personally Yours. Working with her aide Officer Peabody, Peabody 's nemesis Ian McNab, and her own intriguing husband, Roarke, Eve uncovers secrets that link the victims: secrets that involve both the owners and the clients of Personally Yours and which might be worth killing for. Whether she's writing as Nora Roberts or as J.D. Robb, Roberts weaves a taut and powerful story with lush sensuality and masterful characterization. This murder mystery combines elements of romance, science fiction, and police procedural genres in an entertaining mix that will keep readers turning the pages

When Eric and Jessica decide to spice up their Christmas engagement, they play out their favorite fantasy-Do Not Disturb. They'll be a little tied up for the weekend in their private hotel room…

All I want for Christmas is for my husband to spank me and more. First though I’d have to tell my best friend and lover of twenty plus years that my sexual desires have changed from vanilla to kinky. But how do you explain to the man who’s always treated you like fragile china that you’d really like him to heat your ass with the palm of his hand? Never underestimate the one you love. This holiday season, my husband is about to surprise me with the greatest gift of all-understanding and fantasy fulfillment. Merry Kinky Christmas to me

Air Force, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard Army Five sweet romantic stories delving into the world of Special Operations from authors who were in the military or whose family and friends are part of the military community. The stories – MISSION MISTLETOE, CHRISTMAS TO THE RESCUE, and THE STOCKING – will bring intrigue, merriment, and joy while TIED WITH A BOW and ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A MARINE will engage your spirit and capture your heart. ~ In HOLIDAY OP, it's a pleasurable duty charged with love. Lori Avocato, Anne Elizabeth, Tara Nina, DC DeVane, and Lia DeAngelo

When your circumstances change, so do your ambitions—sometimes drastically!

This holiday, spend quality time with family and loved ones—living and dead… There's no place like home for the horrordays—unless you'd prefer a romantic midnight walk through a ghost-infested graveyard… or a haunted house candlelight dinner with the sexy vampire of your dreams. The (black) magical season is here—and whether it's a solstice séance gone demonically wrong with the incomparable Kim Harrison, a grossly misshapen Christmas with the remarkable Lynsay Sands, a blood-chilling-and-spilling New Year's with the wonderful Marjorie M. Liu, or a super-powered Thanksgiving with the phenomenal Vicki Pettersson, one thing is for certain: in the able hands of these exceptional dark side explorers, the holidays are going to be deliciously hellish! KIM HARRISON introduces us to a younger Rachel Morgan—an undergraduate witch-in-training—who naively resurrects a spirit and sparks a terrifying showdown with a deadly undead adversary. LYNSAY SANDS serves up a scrumptious stew of Yuletide suspense when, in order to escape from a determined stalker, a beautiful, reluctant shape-shifter must assume different forms. MARGARET M. LIU keeps a petite-but-powerful government agent's hands full when she must join forces with a hunky necromancer to prevent an unholy brotherhood of terrorists and vampires from ringing in the New Year with blood. VICKI PETTERSSON brings a former superhero—an elite Zodiac warrior-back to the mortal world for a Thanksgiving reunion with her equally hated and beloved enemy to do battle for the lives of her imperiled children

You are personally invited to spend the holidays with the Walker brothers and their families. As with any other time of the year, the seven brothers know how to heat things up while stirring up trouble, and between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, they don’t hold back. See how Kaleb, Zane, Travis, Sawyer, Brendon, Ethan, and Braydon spend their days and nights through the holiday season. But just a warning… it doesn’t snow much in Coyote Ridge, Texas and they may just be the reason for that

“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” was the surprise best seller of 2011—an unprecedented mix of YA fantasy and vintage photography that enthralled readers and critics alike. Publishers Weekly called it “an enjoyable, eccentric read, distinguished by well-developed characters, a believable Welsh setting, and some very creepy monsters.” This second novel begins in 1940, immediately after the first book ended. Having escaped Miss Peregrine's island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises. Complete with dozens of newly discovered (and thoroughly mesmerizing) vintage photographs, this new adventure will delight readers of all ages

A kidnapping, a school band competition and an electric cat that eats everything in sight! Join intrepid young heroine Ravana O’Brien in a fast-paced and witty science-fiction mystery of interstellar intrigue. Having fled civil war sixteen light years away, Ravana and her father now live in the sleepy commune of the hollow moon, a forgotten colony ship drifting around Barnard’s Star. Yet what began as a minor escapade to rescue her electric cat soon leads to an incredible adventure into the shady dystopian world of politics, kidnappings and school band competitions. The evil Taranis, the dark architect of destiny, has returned from the dead and Ravana must do all she can to save the day. Cover artwork copyright (c) Victor Habbick 2013

The future is coming… for some sooner than others Ellis Rogers is an ordinary man who is about to embark on an extraordinary journey. All his life he has played it safe and done the right thing, but faced with a terminal illness he’s willing to take an insane gamble. He’s built a time machine in his garage, and if it works, he’ll face a world that challenges his understanding of what it means to be human, what it takes to love, and the cost of paradise. Ellis could find more than a cure for his illness; he might find what everyone has been searching for since time began…but only if he can survive Hollow World. Welcome to the future and a new science fiction thriller from the bestselling author of The Riyria Revelations

Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.  

Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town. “Sometimes the universe throws you a rope.” —BILL HODGES Stephen King’s Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King character Holly Gibney. Readers have witnessed Holly’s gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges’s partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider. In King’s new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries. When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down. Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless. Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King. “I could never let Holly Gibney go. She was supposed to be a walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart. Holly is all her.” —STEPHEN KING Review “A deadly folie a deux…[Holly] pursues this case to the gates of hell, figuratively—there’s no supernatural element in this powerful exploration of grief and delusion, just pure, undistilled evil.” —New York Magazine “Deliciously, darkly comical. I’m all in on Holly.” —Neil McRobert, Talking Scared “Holly Gibney steps into the spotlight [and] takes center stage at last…Holly’s complexity and relatability make her an endlessly fascinating protagonist.” —BookPage “King eschews the supernatural here but finds all the horror possible in the evil that ‘normal’ people may do…readers will find much to love.” —Library Journal “Chilling.” —AARP “In her new leading role, Holly shines. She’s tough, relentless, and compassionate while at the same time being vulnerable and prone to lapses of confidence. The story is the kind of thing King excels at, too—dark, mysterious, and deeply unsettling. This is the novel Holly deserves.” —Booklist “A tour de force. Creepy as hell but full of heart, too.” —Linwood Barclay, #1 internationally bestselling author of Take Your Breath Away and Look Both Ways

When Hollyleaf disappeared in the tunnels by the Lake, ThunderClan believed she was gone forever. But her adventure was only beginning . . . Lost and lonely, Hollyleaf soon meets a mysterious cat named Fallen Leaves, who teaches her how to live in the tunnels. Hollyleaf tries to be happy, but she can't help wondering if leaving her Clanmates was the right choice. Hollyleaf knows she's a ThunderClan cat at heart, but can she ever truly go back?

Charles Bukowski, amerykański pisarz niemieckiego pochodzenia pozostawił po sobie bogaty dorobek w postaci ponad 30 książek, tomów prozy i poezji. Otaczająca go atmosfera skandalu i prowokacji, emanująca z jego prozy postawa niepokornego buntownika, obalanie obyczajowych tabu, dosadny, często wulgarny język sprawiły, że stał się kultowym pisarzem undergroundu, idolem mas i pokolenia bitników. W powieści "Hollywood", będącej znakomitym literackim wizerunkiem słynnej "fabryki snów", Bukowski obnażył kabotyństwo filmowego świadka, drwiąc bezlitośnie z obowiązujących w nim konwencji i reguł gry, które obudziły jego odrazę

When LAPD cops Hollywood Nate and Bix Rumstead find themselves caught up with bombshell Margot Aziz, they think they're just having some fun. But in Hollywood, nothing is ever what it seems. To them, Margot is a harmless socialite, stuck in the middle of an ugly divorce from the nefarious nightclub-owner Ali Aziz. What Nate and Bix don't know is that Margot's no helpless victim: the femme fatale is setting them both up. But Ms. Aziz isn't the only one with a deadly plan. In HOLLYWOOD CROWS, Wambaugh returns once again to the beat he knows best, taking readers on a tightly plotted and darkly funny ride-along through Los Angeles with a cast of flawed cops and eccentric lowlifes they won't soon forget

There's a saying at Hollywood station that the full moon brings out the beast-rather than the best-in the precinct's citizens. One moonlit night, LAPD veteran Dana Vaughn and "Hollywood" Nate Weiss, a struggling-actor-turned cop, get a call about a young man who's been attacking women. Meanwhile, two surfer cops known as Flotsam and Jetsam keep bumping into an odd, suspicious duo-a smooth-talking player in dreads and a crazy-eyed, tattooed biker. No one suspects that all three dubious characters might be involved in something bigger, more high-tech, and much more illegal. After a dizzying series of twists, turns, and chases, the cops will find they've stumbled upon a complex web of crime where even the criminals can't be sure who's conning whom. Wambaugh once again masterfully gets inside the hearts and minds of the cops whose jobs have them constantly on the brink of danger. By turns heart-wrenching, exhilarating, and laugh-out-loud funny, Hollywood Moon is his most thrilling and deeply affecting ride yet through the singular streets of LA

Nocturnes: Short dark riffs, the blues formalized. James Ellroy, described by the Los Angeles Times: “Developing into one of the great American writers.” Ellroy’s L.A. Quartet novels — The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, White Jazz — an epic pop history of a toxic metropolis. Hollywood Nocturnes: An alternative Ellroy universe, etched less in blood and more in elegiac neon. Dick Contino: Accordion virtuoso, lounge lizard, Red Scare scapegoat. On a greased slide in ’58 L.A.: A show biz fatality begging to happen. Dick Contino’s Blues: Half nocturne, half torch song. A blast back to tailfins, disease-free promiscuity, sex killers, Commie-bashing, publicity kidnaps, and B-movie redemption — an ode to a time when love came cheap. Nocturnes: Noir set to music. James Ellroy: America’s great noir writer. Dick Contino: America’s kingpin accordion player, then and now. The accordion and noir?... Suspend your disbelief. Hollywood Nocturnes: The novella Dick Contino’s Blues, Ellroy’s entire short-story oeuvre, and a few surprises. Dig it, kats and kittens, chix and charlies: This is prime-time Ellroy

Bajo la atenta mirada del sargento de policía apodado el Oráculo, los agentes de «la comisaría Hollywood» se enfrentan con su rutina habitual. Entre días en los coches de patrulla y noches en las entrañas de una ciudad que nunca duerme, este grupo de policías ve la urbe del glamour en su cruda realidad y, a medida que pasan por tugurios de drogas y sucias esquinas, una serie de acontecimientos sin relación aparente los lleva al caso más sorprendente sucedido en «Hollywood Station» en los últimos años, y les recuerda que en Los Ángeles el horror y el extremismo no tienen límite

Путешествие израильского кинематографиста в Тянь-Шань для съемок фильма о восхождении на Хан-Тенгри

A phantasmagoric dream of a novel, exploring the mind of a housewife enamored of historical personages, twisted love stories, and strange conspiracies. Mrs. Hollingsworth sits at her kitchen table, compiling her grocery list. The subject of the list is not foodstuffs, but memories that never happened, inventions of loves, and strange conspiracies peopled by men who appear in the lonely housewife’s head — men infinitely more real to her than her own husband. Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest gallops into her story, courtesy of media giant Ted Turner and two shady criminal types named Bundy and Oswald who are engaged in a secret experiment to create “the New Southerner.” Her prying daughters believe Mrs. Hollingsworth is losing her mind. But in truth, their mother is simply looking for love via hand-to-hand combat on the surreal battlefield inside her head. Originally published as Mrs. Hollingsworth’s Men, Padgett Powell’s Hologram is a stunning literary achievement. Strikingly unique, it is a poignant, funny, and unconventional fever dream brought to lyrical life

The KJV is one oldest English translations of the Bible and continues to be the favorite of many. It is known as the Authorized Version of 1611 because King James I approved the project to create an authoritative English Bible. Although it contains many obsolete words (some of which have changed in meaning), many people appreciate its dignity and majesty. The NKJV is a similar translation, taken from the same group of ancient manuscripts, with updates the archaic language of the KJV.  Commissioned in 1975 by Thomas Nelson Publishers, 130 respected Bible scholars, church leaders, and lay Christians worked for 7 years to create a completely new, modern translation of Scripture, yet one that would retain the purity and stylistic beauty of the original King James Version. With unyielding faithfulness to the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts, the translators applied the most recent research in archaeology, linguistics, and textual studies

The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (NRSV) was published in 1989 and has received the widest acclaim and broadest support from academics and church leaders of any modern English translation. It is the only Bible translation that is as widely ecumenical: * The ecumenical NRSV Bible Translation Committee consists of thirty men and women who are among the top scholars in America today. They come from Protestant denominations, the Roman Catholic church, and the Greek Orthodox Church. The committee also includes a Jewish scholar. * The RSV was the only major translation in English that included both the standard Protestant canon and the books that are traditionally used by Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians (the so-called "Apocryphal" or "Deuterocanonical" books). Standing in this tradition, the NRSV is available in three ecumenical formats: a standard edition with or without the Apocrypha, a Roman Catholic Edition, which has the so-called "Apocryphal" or "Deuterocanonical" books in the Roman Catholic canonical order, and The Common Bible, which includes all books that belong to the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox canons. * The NRSV stands out among the many translations available today as the Bible translation that is the most widely "authorized" by the churches. It received the endorsement of thirty-three Protestant churches. It received the imprimatur of the American and Canadian Conferences of Catholic bishops. And it received the blessing of a leader of the Greek Orthodox Church. Rooted in the past, but right for today, the NRSV continues the tradition of William Tyndale, the King James Version, the American Standard Version, and the Revised Standard Version. Equally important, it sets a new standard for the 21st Century. The NRSV stands out among the many translations because it is "as literal as possible" in adhering to the ancient texts and only "as free as necessary" to make the meaning clear in graceful, understandable English. It draws on newly available sources that increase our understanding of many previously obscure biblical passages. These sources include new-found manuscripts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, other texts, inscriptions, and archaeological finds from the ancient Near East, and new understandings of Greek and Hebrew grammar

The New International Version (NIV) is a completely original translation of the Bible developed by more than one hundred scholars working from the best available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The initial vision for the project was provided by a single individual — an engineer working with General Electric in Seattle by the name of Howard Long. Long was a lifelong devotee of the King James Version, but when he shared it with his friends he was distressed to find that it just didn’t connect. Long saw the need for a translation that captured the truths he loved in the language that his contemporaries spoke. For 10 years, Long and a growing group of like-minded supporters drove this idea. The passion of one man became the passion of a church, and ultimately the passion of a whole group of denominations. And finally, in 1965, after several years of preparatory study, a trans-denominational and international group of scholars met in Palos Heights, Illinois, and agreed to begin work on the project — determining to not simply adapt an existing English version of the Bible but to start from scratch with the best available manuscripts in the original languages. Their conclusion was endorsed by a large number of church leaders who met in Chicago in 1966. A self-governing body of fifteen biblical scholars, the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) was formed and charged with responsibility for the version, and in 1968 the New York Bible Society (which subsequently became the International Bible Society and then Biblica) generously undertook the financial sponsorship of the project. The translation of each book was assigned to translation teams, each made up of two lead translators, two translation consultants, and a stylistic consultant where necessary. The initial translations produced by these teams were carefully scrutinized and revised by intermediate editorial committees of five biblical scholars to check them against the source texts and assess them for comprehensibility. Each edited text was then submitted to a general committee of eight to twelve members before being distributed to selected outside critics and to all members of the CBT in preparation for a final review. Samples of the translation were tested for clarity and ease of reading with pastors, students, scholars, and lay people across the full breadth of the intended audience. Perhaps no other translation has undergone a more thorough process of review and revision. From the very start, the NIV sought to bring modern Bible readers as close as possible to the experience of the very first Bible readers: providing the best possible blend of transparency to the original documents and comprehension of the original meaning in every verse. With this clarity of focus, however, came the realization that the work of translating the NIV would never be truly complete. As new discoveries were made about the biblical world and its languages, and as the norms of English usage developed and changed over time, the NIV would also need to change to hold true to its original vision. And so in the original NIV charter, provision was made not just to issue periodic updates to the text but also to create a mechanism for constant monitoring of changes in biblical scholarship and English usage. The CBT was charged to meet every year to review, maintain, and strengthen the NIV’s ability to accurately and faithfully render God’s unchanging Word in modern English. The 2011 update to the NIV is the latest fruit of this process. By working with input from pastors and Bible scholars, by grappling with the latest discoveries about biblical languages and the biblical world, and by using cutting-edge research on English usage, the Committee on Bible Translation has updated the text to ensure that the New International Version of the Bible remains faithful to Howard Long’s original inspiration

In a novel set in the twenty-first century, a bionic woman becomes swept into a world of simulated environments and heightened perception. Nominated for BSFA Award in 1996, for Hugo and Locus awards in 1997

Forced by circumstance to seek refuge with Fleur, her young daughter, in the remote abbey of Saint Marie-de-la-Mer, Juliette reinvents herself as Soeur Auguste under the tutelage of the kindly Abbess. But times are changing: the murder of Henri IV becomes the catalyst for massive upheaval in France. A new appointment is made, and Juliette's new life begins to unravel. For the new Abbess is Isabelle, the eleven-year-old child of a corrupt and noble family. Worse, Isabelle has brought with her a ghost from Juliette's past, masquerading as a cleric, a man she has every reason to fear

She looked at him and smiled sadly. ‘You’ve lived too long among the dead, Quirke,’ she said. He nodded. ‘Yes, I suppose I have.’ She was not the first one to have told him that, and she would not be the last. 1950s Dublin. When a body is found in the canal, pathologist Quirke and his detective friend Inspector Hackett must find the truth behind this brutal murder. But in a world where the police are not trusted and secrets often remain buried there is perhaps little hope of bringing the perpetrator to justice. As spring storms descend on Dublin, Quirke and Hackett’s investigation will lead them into the dark heart of the organisation that really runs this troubled city: the church. Meanwhile Quirke’s daughter Phoebe realises she is being followed; and when Quirke’s terrible childhood in a priest-run orphanage returns to haunt him, he will face his greatest trial yet

The Divine Bliss Mission in India is just another money hustle - till its leader begins using his disciples to penetrate the higher U.S. echelons. The Blissful Master, alias whiz-kid Dom, has a nice line in drug-induced bliss for the converted and a sideline in painful death for unbelievers that have cost CURE four Agents. Remo and Chiun hit India, Dom flees, but curvaceous follower Joleen is prepared to embrace a new master - the outraged Chiun. Leaving behind them a trail of blissful dead, the three head for home - and more trouble