When four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a ... |
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"The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" takes us on a journey of many years-the story spooling outwards from the cramped neighbourhoods of Old Delhi into the burgeoning new metropolis and beyond, to the Valley of Kashmir and the forests of Central India, where war is peace and peace is war, and where, from time to time, 'normalcy' is declared. Anjum, who used to be Aftab, unrolls a threadbare carpet in a city graveyard that she calls home. A baby appears quite suddenly on a pavement, a little after midnight, in a crib of litter. The enigmatic S. Tilottama is as much of a presence as she is an absence in the ... |
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High in the Accursed Mountains, in a village ruled by the ancient laws of the Kanun, Bekja escapes an arranged marriage by becoming a sworn virgin, renouncing her womanhood to live as a man. Her decision sets off a brutal chain of events, destroying her family and separating her from the one she loves the most. Years later, as Bekija – now Matija – tells their story to a visiting journalist, long-buried truths come to light, along with the realisation of all that might have been."She Who Remains is a meditation on womanhood, love, family and honor, written almost entirely in a non-linear stream of consciousness. The ... |
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A Fable About Following Your Dream. Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and soul-stirring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried near the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself a king, and an alchemist, all of whom point ... |
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The multi-million worldwide bestseller. "You laugh, you cry, and then you come back for more."Markus Zusak, bestselling author of "The book thief". ... Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten. Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, "The Fault in Our Stars" is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and ... |
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Welcome to Tenderness! A quaint seaside town in Kitakyushu, Mojiko is full of hidden delights. And one unexpected treasure is the 24/7 convenience store, Tenderness. At first glance, it's a store like any other. Sure, it's a bit odd that the handsome manager has his own fan club. And perhaps the customers are somewhat eccentric. But there's a warmth about Tenderness that draws you in. The bright lights are always on. The employees know you by name. And the shelves are stacked with delicious treats, from strong hot coffee to sweet parfaits, egg sandos to ramen, crispy fried chicken to refreshing soba. After a ... |
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In 1991, two Bulgarian brothers, Ned and Angel, receive an unusual package from the USA; a black plastic box containing the ashes of their late father, Professor Emmanuel Banov. But are they really his ashes? How can the brothers be sure? And why would anyone want to fake their father's death? 15 years later, as the brothers forge new and very different lives (Ned a management consultant; Ango a dog walker to the rich) in their new home in New York, some answers begin to emerge... A darkly comic tale of disillusionment, The Black Box explores the nature and logic of neo liberal capitalism and how so many of us are ... |
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Welcome to the Time Hop Coffee Shop, where wishes can come true... Greta Perks was once the shining star of the iconic Maple Gold coffee commercials, the quintessential TV wife and mom. Now, fame has faded, her marriage is on the rocks, her teenage daughter has become distant, and Greta's once glittering career feels like a distant memory. So when Greta stumbles upon a mysterious coffee shop, serving a magical brew, she wishes for the perfect life in those past Maple Gold commercials. Next thing she knows, Greta wakes in the idyllic, make believe town of Mapleville, where the sun always shines and the aroma of ... |
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A single moment can change everything. Tanner has spent his whole life moving from place to place, belonging nowhere. So when his dying grandmother reveals the name and location of the father he never knew, he plans to visit Asheboro to lay the past to rest, then move on - just as he always has. Kaitlyn knows exactly where she belongs. In Asheboro, she's built a life for herself and her kids that she's proud of, especially after the turmoil of divorce. But when she meets lone wolf Tanner, she can't help but feel something has been missing until now. Jasper will never belong again. He had everything - and he ... |
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In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives. In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur's only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur' ... |
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Filled with relentless drinking in seamy bars and glamorous nightclubs, wild, drug-fuelled parties, and dispassionate sexual encounters, Less Than Zero is narrated by Clay, an eighteen-year-old student returning home to Los Angeles for Christmas. Bret Easton Ellis's debut novel is a fierce coming-of-age story, justifiably celebrated for its unflinching depiction of hedonistic youth, its brutal portrayal of the inexorable consequences of such moral depravity, and its author’s refusal to condone or chastise such behaviour. In 1985, Bret Easton Ellis, stunned and disturbed with his debut novel, Less Than Zero. ... |
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In Georgi Gospodinovs Roman trifft der Erzähler auf Gaustín, einen Flaneur, der durch die Zeit reist. In Zürich eröffnet Gaustín eine Klinik für die Vergangenheit, eine Einrichtung, die Alzheimer-Kranken eine inspirierende Behandlung anbietet: Jedes Stockwerk ist einem bestimmten Jahrzehnt nachempfunden. Patienten können dort Trost finden in ihren verblassenden Erinnerungen. Aber auf einmal interessieren sich auch immer mehr gesunde Menschen dafür, in die Klinik aufgenommen zu werden, in der Hoffnung, den Schrecken der Gegenwart zu entkommen. Und schließlich sind es sogar ... |