With that in mind, it was hard to imagine Chad Harbach’s debut novel about a scrappy college baseball team offering much new to say about the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd or anything resembling Updike’s “lyric little bandbox” in 2011.Īnd yet, that’s what Harbach has done with “The Art of Fielding.” Centering on an imaginary northern Wisconsin private school and its baseball star-in-the-making Henry Skrimshander, Harbach sidesteps much of the familiar mythmaking that can go along with spinning the American pastime into literature and instead delivers a rich, warmly human story that resonates even if you have no idea what a 6-4-3 double play looks like. Touched on by a library’s worth of authors including John Updike, Stephen King and Don DeLillo, there’s something about the game’s deliberate pace, individual focus and enduring simplicity that seems irresistible to novelists. In terms of conjuring a shorthand for a certain American innocence, there are few delivery systems quite so direct as baseball.
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That’s his bougainvillea decorating the background. And the wrapping paper…Ī big thank you goes to my brother, Russell. The marriage could not be more poetic: each deserves the misery the other might inflict.Įxcept that Jaoven, humbled by the war that elevated his rank, appears to have reformed, and the fate of both kingdoms now hinges on the disastrous union he’s about to make. The treaty will rid Iona of the toxic Lisenn, and the potential groom is none other than her erstwhile bully, Jaoven of Deraval. However, a promise of reprieve and retribution arrives when the neighboring kingdom of Capria proposes an alliance between their new crown prince and Wessett’s heir to the throne. Her art and music provide refuge, but her cruel sister Lisenn ever lurks like a monster stalking its prey. Tormented at home and bullied during her studies abroad, second-born Iona of Wessett hides in the quiet corners of her father’s castle. This is my first-ever kingdom adventure (fantasy without a magic system), and today I’m excited to bring you the summary and cover reveal! The Heir and the Spare: A SummaryĪn evil princess, a ruthless persecutor, a wretched match. My next novel, The Heir and the Spare, will release on February 19, 2021. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand-the man she hates most-Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat. But she was also reckless- straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. When Rachelle was fifteen she was good-apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. Source: received from publisher via Edelweiss But Sky isn’t who he seems to be, and Vika may not escape this new life unscathed. As Vika and Sky delve into the truth of the attacks, they uncover a web of secrets, murder, and an underground rebellion who may hold the answers they’ve been looking for. She doesn’t like or trust Sky, but when she narrowly escapes an explosion and realizes someone is targeting the will’s heirs, Vika knows Sky is the only one who can help her discover the identity of the bomber before she becomes their next victim. The only blight on Vika’s lavish new life is the constant presence of Sky Foster, a mysterious young man from Vika’s past who works for her benefactors. Invited to live on a glittering neighboring planet, Vika steps into a world she can hardly believe is real. Until one day Vika learns that her benefactor was a billionaire magnate who recently died under suspicious circumstances, and Vika has shockingly been included in his will. Now, Vika longs for a bigger life than one as a poor barmaid on a struggling planet, but those dreams feel out of reach. Synopsis: There’s always been a mystery to Vika Hale’s life. Ever since she was a child, she’s had an unknown benefactor providing for her and her family, making sure that Vika and her sister received the best education they could. Translated by Heather Lloyd Only available as part of our 3 for £27 Little Clothbound Classics Summer Collection collection. Sagan went on to write many other novels, plays and screenplays, and died in 2004. Bonjour Tristesse, published in 1954 when she was just nineteen, became a succès de scandale and even earned its author a papal denunciation. But when her father decides to remarry, their perfect world becomes clouded by tragedy.įrançoise Sagan was born in France. The novel concerns the life of a pleasure-driven 17-year-old named Ccile and her relationship with her boyfriend and her widowed playboy father. It was an immediate international success. On holiday on the French Riviera, she is seduced by the sun, the sand and her first lover. Sagan's first novel, Bonjour Tristesse (Hello Sadness), was published in 1954, when she was 18 years old. Late into the night we talked of love and its complicationsīonjour Tristesse is the story of seventeen-year-old Cécile, and one long, hot summer that will change her life.Ĭécile leads a golden, carefree existence with her widowed playboy father and his mistresses. A very good (or better) book with spotting to the page. Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. John Atkinson Fine & Rare Books - A first edition, first printing published by John Murray in 1955. Their leader, Rudolph Beckman, is a billionaire financier who is after the secrets of the laboratory that developed the nanotronic eyes. In payment for the eyes, he is recruited into a secret government agency as an apprehensive assistant to an experienced agent and embarks on a series of adventures, including being abducted twice by an international gang of terrorists. They are inherently intelligent and can develop various functions to assist in whatever awkward situations he experiences. Then he becomes fitted with superhuman, nanotronic, eyes for free, but there is a catch. In the POINTS OF VIEW series, the hero is a young blind Londoner, named Horace Mayberry, who is a cautious lad, who occasionally enjoys vivid dreams of being a secret agent. Through the adventure, the danger, the outrageous fun, the Werewolf Club bonds into an unholy, howling, drooling pack of wolf like beasts. Talbot is cursed with werewolfdom, the Club must come to his rescue by locating Alexander the Great’s Magic Pretzel the only known cure for werewolves stuck in full time wolf mode. When they learn that their beloved teacher Mr. Though not actually a werewolf himself, Norman gains acceptance from his new friends for his ability to run on all fours and his genuine delight in liverwurst milkshakes. But when he arrives at Watson Elementary School, students tease him, ‘Fido! Drinks from the toilet! Lassie!’ In an effort to help him adjust, Principal Pantaloni enlists Norman in the Werewolf Club. ‘I had a happy puppyhood,’ Norman claims. So they raised little Norman as if he were one. Beautiful Yetta’s Hanukkah Kitten (2014)Įven a child who is pure of heart And does his homework neatly May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms And the moon is full completely Norman Gnormal’s parents actually wanted a dog and not a little boy. We have to get from them what they used to do and believed, and what they heard from their parents and grandparents. She is no doubt as to who the most valuable members of society are: they are those in their 70s and 80s, she says. Her contributions to journals and research projects have furthered knowledge and, shortly, her own book, Cambridgeshire Customs and Folklore, is due to be published. She has been awarded a medal by the folk lore society of London for her very valuable work.Īs an editor and author she has helped to create a national and international reputation both for her own work and for the museum she is in charge of. Below are some stories that made the headlines on October 31.Įnid Porter, curator of the Cambridge and County Folk Museum, has received national recognition of her researches. Each day, Mike Petty looks through the archives of the Cambridge News and recounts the stories of yesteryear. The only indication the tired farmer gets that something unusual has happened is the last-minute appearance of a dress-wearing mouse crying “eek!” as she rushes past. The animals revel in anthropomorphic pleasures such as having a picnic, riding a roller coaster, and dressing up and dancing as the sun goes down, only to make a mad dash for the pasture when the farmer returns. The storyline is simple and easy to follow, and the text (“Neigh neigh baa baa quack quack tweet/arf oink ree ree cluck cluck cheep!” cry the critters as the farmer heads off) rejoices in its own verbal musicality. Each sound correlates to a particular animal (the mama pig cries “oink” while the piglets cry “ree”) a picture “glossary” depicting each animal next to its sound appears on the book’s endpages for extra support. The title is all the verbal explanation one gets in this story of farm animals partying down, their rhyming exclamations the only text, after the farmer heads off to the fields on his tractor. A month later, Dunstan marries Daisy as planned. Enthralled by her beauty during the encounter, Dunstan later meets Una in the woods that night and makes love to her. He purchases a glass snowdrop from Una with a kiss, and gives the flower to his fiancée Daisy. The next day in the market, he meets Una, a beautiful woman imprisoned by the witch called Semele. A young man named Dunstan Thorn rents out his cottage to a stranger in exchange for his "Heart's Desire," in addition to a monetary payment. As the book begins, the market has just begun and the town is filled with visitors and vendors. On the outskirts of Wall, a small town in rural England, the Faerie Market is held every nine years on the other side of the wall dividing Faerie - a mystical realm of magic - from our world and for which the town of Wall is named. |