A Time to Kill

A Time to Kill

John Grisham

Thriller / Nonfiction / Young Adult

Before The Firm and The Pelican Brief made him a superstar, John Grisham wrote this riveting story of retribution and justice -- at last it's available in a Doubleday hardcover edition. In this searing courtroom drama, best-selling author John Grisham probes the savage depths of racial violence. . . as he delivers a compelling tale of uncertain justice in a small southern town. . . Clanton, Mississippi. The life of a ten-year-old girl is shattered by two drunken and remorseless young men. The mostly white town reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime. Until her black father acquires an assault rifle and takes matters into his hands. For ten days, as burning crosses and the crack of sniper fire spread through the streets of Clanton, the nation sits spellbound as young defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save his client's life. . . and then his own.
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The Joy Luck Club

The Joy Luck Club

Amy Tan

Literature & Fiction

In 1949, four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. With wit and wisdom, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between these four women and their American-born daughters. As each reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined...
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Hyperion

Hyperion

Dan Simmons

Science Fiction / Fantasy

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope—and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.
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Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate

Laura Esquivel

Fiction

Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in tum-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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A Prayer for Owen Meany

A Prayer for Owen Meany

John Irving

Literature & Fiction / Biographies & Memoirs

Eleven-year-old Owen Meany, playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire, hits a foul ball and kills his best friend's mother. Owen doesn't believe in accidents; he believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul is both extraordinary and terrifying. At moments a comic, self-deluded victim, but in the end the principal, tragic actor in a divine plan, Owen Meany is the most heartbreaking hero John Irving has yet created.
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Guards! Guards!

Guards! Guards!

Terry Pratchett

Fantasy; Science Fiction / Humor and Comedy / Children's

Here there be dragons . . . and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork wish one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all . . . ).
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Number the Stars

Number the Stars

Lois Lowry

Children's Books / Literature & Fiction / Young Adult

Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.
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Gabriel's Angel

Nora Roberts

Fiction / Suspense / Fantasy

Pregnant, alone, and on the run to protect her unborn child, Laura Malone finds herself stranded with Gabriel Bradley, with whom she forms a bond after he provides her with shelter and friendship through the storm. 500,000 first printing.
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Wayside School Is Falling Down

Wayside School Is Falling Down

Louis Sachar

Children's Books / Literature & Fiction

Louis yard teacher starts off 30 tales of unusual students. Comic sketches precede every chapter. Todd brings a cute adorable plastic puppy who bites back when Joy steals it. Cafeteria Mrs Mush serves Mushroom Surprise that changes Ron. When Paul falls out the window, Leslie offers her pigtails to pull him back. On 19th floor, invisible Allison finds Miss Zarves' class.
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The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro

Fiction / Science Fiction / Fantasy

The Remains of the Day is a profoundly compelling portrait of the perfect English butler and of his fading, insular world postwar England. At the end of his three decades of service at Darlington Hall, Stevens embarks on a country drive, during which he looks back over his career to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving “a great gentleman.” But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington’s “greatness” and graver doubts about his own faith in the man he served.  A tragic, spiritual portrait of a perfect English butler and his reaction to his fading insular world in post-war England. A wonderful, wonderful book.
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Lawless

Lawless

Nora Roberts

Fiction / Suspense / Fantasy

Filled with Nora's exquisite storytelling and memorable characters, this rare Western historical romance is a unique treat for Nora's many fans. Lawless is editorially connected to Loving Jack and Best Laid Plans, which will be published in September 2003 in Love by Design.
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The Russia House

The Russia House

John le Carré

John le Carré

John le Carre's bestselling classic is a timeless spy thriller about the Iron Curtain and the tense relationship between Great Britain and Russia. John le Carré has earned worldwide acclaim with extraordinary spy novels, including The Russia House, an unequivocal classic. Navigating readers through the shadow worlds of international espionage with critical knowledge culled from his years in British Intelligence, le Carré tracks the dark and devastating trail of a document that could profoundly alter the course of world events. In Moscow, a sheaf of military secrets changes hands. If it arrives at its destination, and if its import is understood, the consequences could be cataclysmic. Along the way it has an explosive impact on the lives of three people: a Soviet physicist burdened with secrets; a beautiful young Russian woman to whom the papers are entrusted; and Barley Blair, a bewildered English publisher pressed into service by British Intelligence to ferret out the document's source. A magnificent story of love, betrayal, and courage, The Russia House catches history in the act. For as the Iron Curtain begins to rust and crumble, Blair is left to sound a battle cry that may fall on deaf ears.
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Best Laid Plans

Best Laid Plans

Nora Roberts

Fiction / Suspense / Fantasy

When Cody Johnson first caught sight of structural engineer Abra Wilson, he thought of endless possibilities. She had style and confidence--and was distracting as hell. She'd called his design an impractical piece of fancy, but then he'd always preferred frankness to subtleties. Abra had met men like Cody before. They usually thought they could smile their way out of trouble, and this overconfident East Coast architect was no exception. She'd told him to back off, but he wasn't listening. Sparks ignited in the desert building site, and then passion soon followed. But was it enough to stop someone from trying to destroy their first project together? Would they be able to find out who it is before any more damage is done?
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Pyramids

Pyramids

Terry Pratchett

Fantasy; Science Fiction / Humor and Comedy / Children's

It's bad enough being new on the job, but Teppic hasn't a clue as to what a pharaoh is supposed to do. After all, he's been trained at Ankh-Morpork's famed assassins' school, across the sea from the Kingdom of the Sun. First, there's the monumental task of building a suitable resting place for Dad -- a pyramid to end all pyramids. Then there are the myriad administrative duties, such as dealing with mad priests, sacred crocodiles, and marching mummies. And to top it all off, the adolescent pharaoh discovers deceit, betrayal - not to mention a headstrong handmaiden - at the heart of his realm.
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The Welcoming

Nora Roberts

Fiction / Suspense / Fantasy

Visitors come to Charity\'s friendly little inn to escape their ordinary lives. But FBI Agent Roman DeWinter knows something ugly is going on beneath the cozy surface. His mission is to expose the dangerous criminal gang operating out of the inn. Going undercover, Roman begins his investigation - which puts Charity\'s life on the line. A hit-and-run attack leaves her shaken and bruised, but only Roman knows how close she came to death. And with the gang under pressure and about to be exposed, they\'re both in terrible danger... 
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