Still Life With Woodpecker Still Life With Woodpecker

Still Life With Woodpecker Still Life With Woodpecker

Tom Robbins

Literature & Fiction

Still Life with Woodpecker is a sort of a love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes. It reveals the purpose of the moon, explains the difference between criminals andoutlaws, examines the conflict between social activism and romantic individualism, and paints a portrait of contemporary society that includes powerful Arabs, exiled royalty, and pregnant cheerleaders. It also deals withthe problem of redheads. "From the Trade Paperback edition."
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Mr. American

Mr. American

George MacDonald Fraser

Historical Fiction

A self-confident performance by an old hand. . . . Mr. Fraser clearly enjoys being master of such a wide and wild plot and makes sure to leave room in it for his most famous creation, the eponymous hero of his "Flashman" adventure series."-- "The New Yorker
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The Snow Queen

The Snow Queen

Joan D. Vinge

Science Fiction & Fantasy

This reissue of a modern classic of science fiction, the Hugo and Locus Award-winning and Nebula-nominated The Snow Queen, marks the first time the book has been reprinted in fifteen years. The imperious Winter colonists have ruled the planet Tiamat for 150 years, deriving wealth from the slaughter of the sea mers. But soon the galactic stargate will close, isolating Tiamat, and the 150-year reign of the Summer primitives will begin. Their only chance at surviving the change is if Arienrhod, the ageless, corrupt Snow Queen, can destroy destiny with an act of genocide. Arienrhod is not without competition as Moon, a young Summer-tribe sibyl, and the nemesis of the Snow Queen, battles to break a conspiracy that spans space. Interstellar politics, a millennia-long secret conspiracy, and a civilization whose hidden machineries might still control the fate of worlds all form the background to this spectacular hard science fiction novel from Joan D. Vinge.
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The Surgeon's Mate

The Surgeon's Mate

Patrick O'Brian

Historical Fiction / Fiction

The 7th installment in the Aubrey/Maturin Series. Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are ordered home by dispatch vessel to bring the news of their latest vitory to the government. But Maturin is a marked man for the havoc he has wrought in the Fren intelligence network in the New World, and the attentions of two privateers soon become menacing. the chase that follows is as thrilling and unexpected as anything O'Brian has written.
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Ancestral Vices

Ancestral Vices

Tom Sharpe

Literature & Fiction

'Tom Sharpe is in top form- outrageously funny- Left-wing academics, right-wing capitalists, true-blue country gentry, workers, peasants, police and lawyers - all take custard pies full in the face in this boisterous knockabout farce' The Listener 'A novelist who has broken out of the pack, established a wholly distinctive style- such a keen eye for the ridiculous and marvellous ability to puncture it' Scotsman 'An immense gift for social satire- the action is unflagging' Daily Telegraph 'There's almost no one funnier' Observer
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The Twin Dilemma

The Twin Dilemma

Carolyn Keene

Children's Books / Mystery & Thrillers / Young Adult

When a star model disappears, Aunt Eloise insists that Nancy replace the model in a fashion show. Nancy reluctantly accepts the invitation, only to discover that several of the clothes for the show have been stolen! Once on the trail of her elusive enemies, Nancy discovers clue after clue pointing to a diabolical scheme that she must stop at all costs! Book Details: Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 4/21/2005 Pages: 192 Reading Level: Age 8 and Up
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Heretic Dawn

Heretic Dawn

Robert Merle

Literature & Fiction

1572: Returning from his studies in Montpellier, Pierre de Siorac is ambushed by a jealous Périgord nobleman. A duel ensues, and Pierre must subsequently travel to Paris, to seek his pardon from the King. The capital city and the royal court are a disorienting new environment for Pierre: a world of sweet words and fierce pride, where coquettish smiles hide behind fans, and murderous intents behind elegant bows; a world of genteel tennis matches and deadly swordplay, whose elaborate social graces mask a simmering tension that will soon explode to engulf the entire city in one of history's most infamous bouts of butchery - and signal the dawn of a new and bloody era in the history of France. Here, Pierre faces the greatest challenge of his young existence - to make his way through this deceptively dangerous milieu, to win a royal pardon, and finally to escape from Paris with his life, and the lives of his beloved companions, intact. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Direct Descent

Direct Descent

Frank Herbert

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Earth has become a library planet for thousands of years, a bastion of both useful and useless knowledge-esoterica of all types, history, science, politics-gathered by teams of "pack rats" who scour the galaxy for any scrap of information. Knowledge is power, knowledge is wealth, and knowledge can be a weapon. As powerful dictators come and go over the course of history, the cadre of dedicated librarians is sworn to obey the lawful government . . . and use their wits to protect the treasure trove of knowledge they have collected over the millennia.
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The Testament

The Testament

Elie Wiesel

Memoir / Fiction

On August 12, 1952, Russia's greatest Jewish writers were secretly executed by Stalin. In this remarkable blend of history and imagination, Paltiel Kossover meets the same fate but, unlike his real-life counterparts, he is permitted to leave a written testament. From a Jewish boyhood in pre-revolutionary Russia, Paltiel traveled down a road that embraced Communism, only to return to Russia and discover a Communist Party that had become his mortal enemy. Two decades later, Paltiel's son, Grisha, reads this precious record of his father's life and finds that it illuminates the shadowed planes of his own. Passionate and fierce, this story of a father's legacy to his son revisits some of the most dramatic events of our century, and confirms yet again Elie Wiesel's stature as "a writer of the highest moral imagination" ("San Francisco Chronicle").
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Lord Valentine's Castle

Lord Valentine's Castle

Robert Silverberg

Science Fiction / Fantasy

Valentine, a wanderer who knows nothing except his name, finds himself on the fringes of a great city, and joins a troupe of jugglers and acrobats; gradually, he remembers that he is the Coronal Valentine, executive ruler of the vast world of Majipoor, and all its peoples, human and otherwise... Valentine's journey is a long one, a tour through a series of magnificent environments. Fields of predatory plants give way to impossibly wide rivers, chalk-cliffed islands and unforgiving deserts. The prose is unrelentingly dreamlike—no accident given that on Majipoor, dreams rule the minds of great and humble alike. Originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in four parts: November 1979, December 1979, January 1980 and February 1980.
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Chelynne

Chelynne

Robyn Carr

Romance / Fiction

IN A WICKEDLY WORLDLY AGE, SHE LOVED A MOST UNLIKELY LORD-- HER HUSBAND Bride to a stranger, the lovely Chelynne is swept into the intrigues of the sumptuous royal court. Quickly she comes to adore her dashing husband, the future Earl of Bryant... yet he spurns her love, so haunting are the shadows of his turbulent past. Chelynne vows to kindle his silent passion, risking her reputation, even her life. Now the Earl must tell her of the secret that has kept him from her bed--or risk the loss of his Chelynne forever!
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