It reminds me very much of the end of Norwich's Venice, where a proud, independent state just can't manage much more than some hand-wringing in the face of a historical force of nature. This isn't too surprising, considering its a lighter book, and it has a long time span to cover, but is still slightly disappointing.Ī very interesting bit is the fall of Malta to Napoleon. The book stays with the 'active' part of the order, and doesn't go much into the workings of its European connections, the properties they administered there (and how that changed over the centuries), and recruitment of new members. Sadly, Rhodes does not get the same amount of attention on that subject, but there is some discussion. And while the centerpiece of the later history is what you'd expect the (the Siege of Malta in 1565), there's a very useful discussion of how they came to Malta, and problems of time and money when applied to fortifying the island. In fact, this book is very informative about their time on Rhodes. And unlike Dan Jones' The Templars, it has the bonus that you won't find all of this in any one other place about a broader subject. Okay, overall, it is by no means a bad overview of the history of the Hospitallers.
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No blowtorching public monuments!”īehind him on the dragon’s spine, Calypso gripped Festus’s scales for balance. “Whoa, buddy!” Leo Valdez pulled the dragon’s reins. He landed on the cupola of the Indiana Statehouse, flapped his metallic wings, and blew a cone of fire that incinerated the state flag right off the flagpole. Yet for some reason, Festus decided he did not like Indiana. Ohio he tolerated, even after our encounter with Potina, the Roman goddess of childhood drinks, who pursued us in the form of a giant red pitcher emblazoned with a smiley face. Pennsylvania he seemed to enjoy, despite our battle with the Cyclopes of Pittsburgh. We’d been traveling west for six weeks, and Festus had never shown such hostility toward a state. WHEN OUR DRAGON declared war on Indiana, I knew it was going to be a bad day. Who taught me that rules change in the Reaches Intrigued by the subculture, he starts participating in the online discussion groups, mainly out of frustration with his own romantic life. Strauss stumbles across the community while working on an article. The follow-up book, Rules of the Game, relies more on the how-to side of seduction and dating. Despite the reputation that The Game has gained as an exposé on the seduction community, it was primarily written as an autobiographical work. In its original published hardcover format, the book was covered in black leather and bookmarked with red satin, similar to some printings of the Bible. The book was featured on The New York Times Bestseller List for two months after its release in September 2005, reaching prominence again in 2007 during the broadcast of the VH1 television series The Pickup Artist, which was hosted by Mystery, Strauss's mentor in the book. The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists (also known as The Game: Undercover in the Secret Society of Pickup Artists) is a non-fiction book written by investigative reporter Neil Strauss as a chronicle of his journey and encounters in the seduction community. The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships But who has been protecting Suki? Della might get told off for swearing at school, but she has always known how to keep quiet where it counts. When that same boyfriend did something so awful they had to run fast, Della had Suki. When their mom's boyfriend took them in, Della had Suki. Ten-year-old Della has always had her older sister, Suki: When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. "Fighting Words is raw, it is real, it is necessary, a must-read for children and their adults-a total triumph in all ways." -Holly Goldberg Sloan, New York Times bestselling author of Counting by 7s New York Public Library Best Book of the YearĬhicago Public Library Best Book of the YearĬooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Choices Selection School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A candid and fierce middle grade novel about sisterhood and sexual abuse, by two-time Newbery Honor winner and #1 New York Times best seller Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, author of The War that Saved My Life She is the author of two psychological thrillers, Something in the Water (2018) and Mr. Currently-lives in North London, EnglandĬatherine Steadman is an English actress and author, best known for playing Mabel Lane Fox in Downton Abbey (series 5, 2014).Where-New Forest in Southern England, UK.With piercing insight and fascinating twists, Something in the Water challenges the reader to confront the hopes we desperately cling to, the ideals we’re tempted to abandon, and the perfect lies we tell ourselves. Catherine Steadman’s enthralling voice shines throughout this spellbinding debut novel. Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave? After all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt? Their decision will trigger a devastating chain of events. Suddenly the newlyweds must make a dangerous choice: to speak out or to protect their secret. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water…Ĭould the life of your dreams be the stuff of nightmares? Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. If you could make one simple choice that would change your life forever, would you?Įrin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans.
It features a grumpy farmer, a no-nonsense social media influencer, a small town of busybodies, and four very cute kittens. In The Weeds is a sweet and steamy second-chance romance about finding your happiness. It has absolutely nothing to do with the hot farmer she spent two incredible nights with. She returns to the last place she was happy, Lovelight Farms and the tiny town of Inglewild. When she disappears again, Beckett resolves to finally forget her and move on.įeeling disconnected from her work and increasingly unhappy, she’s trying to find her way back to something real. He had no idea that the sweet and sexy woman he met at a bar is actually a global phenomenon: social media influencer Evelyn St. So when she suddenly appears on his farm as part of a social media contest, he is … confused. But Evie wove some sort of magic over him during their tumble in the sheets. He’s not unfamiliar with hot and heavy flings. One incredible weekend in Maine, and he’s officially a man distracted. James isn’t the kind of woman you forget.īeckett Porter certainly hasn’t. Only a great poet could have conceived and written this story and it is perhaps not illegitimate to wonder how much of actual prophecy may have been mingled with the poesy." Whatever faults this book may possess, however inordinate its length may seem, it impresses the reader as being the ultimate saga of a perishing cosmos, the last epic of a world beleaguered by eternal night and by the unvisageable spawn of darkness. Clark Ashton Smith wrote of it that "In all literature, there are few works so sheerly remarkable, so purely creative, as The Night Land. Lovecraft's essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature" describes the novel as "one of the most potent pieces of macabre imagination ever written". The importance of The Night Land was recognised by its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books, which republished the work in two parts as the 49th and 50th volumes of its celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in July 1972. As a work of fantasy it belongs to the Dying Earth subgenre. The Night Land is a classic horror novel by William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1912. If you can just try to forget that rain falls on Arrakis at the end (without reason), the rock group Toto's score, the ridiculous and distracting attempt to allow the characters' inner monologues be heard on screen, and the truncation of many plot elements, you can stand it. In its defense, however, it contained very high production values, lavish production design, a stellar cast, and much incredible visual imagery that sticks in the mind. The depth of this novel cannot be conveyed in a two hour film, and David Lynch was badly undercut by the producers, who changed things to match their own desires. The 1984 film adaptation was an abortion. I'm not talking about the whole book series, I'm just talking about the original novel. Others would disagree, but they would have to admit that it is up there, even if it isn't their #1. I consider Frank Herbert's "Dune" to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time. Her first novels came in 2001, with the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel EarthWorld for BBC Books and the Bernice Summerfield novel The Squire's Crystal for Big Finish. (The novel featured the character of Bernice Summerfield and was part of a spin-off series from Doctor Who.) She went on to do five of the six Bernice Summerfield audio adaptations and further work for Big Finish before going to work for BBC Books on their Doctor Who lines. Her first professional writing credit came when she adapted Paul Cornell's Virgin New Adventure novel Oh No It Isn't! for the audio format, the first release by Big Finish. Jacqueline Rayner is a best selling British author, best known for her work with the licensed fiction based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. |