Books

Ted Hughes is unquestionably one of the major twentieth-century English poets. Radical and challenging, each new title produced something of a shock to British literary culture. Only now is the breadth of his literary range and cultural influence being recognised. As well as his poetry and stories, writing for children, translations and prose essays and reviews, in recent years Hughes's own letters have received great critical attention. This Companion consolidates Hughes's life, writings and reputation. International experts from a variety of literary fields here confront the key questions posed by Hughes's work. New archival evidence is provided for fresh readings of his oeuvre with close attention to language, forms and the function of myth. Featuring a chronology and guide to further reading, this book is a valuable and insightful companion for those studying and reading Hughes in the context of his role in the development of modern poetry.

The heir to Martina Cole's crown with a story of murder, the underworld, violence and treachery. It's 1983 and Stephanie Crouch's life is dull. She is desperate to escape the run-down, pokey council house she shares with her overbearing family, but at fourteen years old she has nowhere to go. When Stephanie meets East End wide-boy Barry, his cockney charm and quick tongue soon have her head over heels in love. Finally Stephanie feels like her dreary life is on the up. But too young to control their fate, Stephanie and Barry are torn apart when he is whisked away to Spain by his family. Lonely and heartbroken Stephanie turns to Barry's childhood friend Wayne for comfort, and their friendship soon blossoms into romance, leaving Barry fuming and promising revenge...Ten years later Barry returns to England. Within one month Stephanie's happy world with Wayne is turned upside down. People immediately start to point the finger of accusation at Barry, but is he the one to blame? Or, should Stephanie look elsewhere to find the schemer who has ruined her life?

Love never dies ...It took Lucinda an eternity to find her beloved angel, Daniel. But he waited for her. Now they are forced apart again, to protect Luce from the Outcasts - immortals who want her dead. During their separation, Luce learns about her mysterious past lives. But the more she discovers, the more she suspects Daniel is hiding something. What if Daniel's version of the past isn't true? Is it really their destiny to be together? Or is Luce actually meant to be with someone else? The thrilling sequel to the international bestseller, Fallen.

"A powerful and penetrating exploration of what separates great companies and great leaders from the rest." -Polly LaBarre, coauthor of Mavericks at Work

Professor Pippy P. Poopypants is a brilliant scientist, but his ridiculous name means no one takes his fantastic inventions seriously. And now he's on the rampage...He's armed with the fiendish Shrinky-Pig 2000 and he's prepared to use it! This is definitely a job for the world's only superhero with Wedgie Power.

The eighth book in Dav Pilkey's mega-bestselling Captain Underpants series. Now with super-cool foil covers! Shiny! Fun!

When we last saw George and Harold, they were about to take their pet pterodactyl Crackers back to the Cretaceous period. But things didn't work out quite as they had hoped. They've entered an absurd alternate reality where teachers are nice, kids are allowed to read banned books, and the cafeteria food doesn't smell like dirty diapers.

Even worse, they've discovered alternate versions of themselves - Evil George and Evil Harold - who plan to unleash some preposterous plans on Piqua, Ohio. Now it's up to George and Harold to defeat the evil twins and THEIR superhero, Captain Blunderpants!

In his most personal novel to date, internationally bestselling author Paulo Coelho returns with a remarkable journey of self-discovery. Like the main character in his much-beloved The Alchemist, Paulo is facing a grave crisis of faith. As he seeks a path of spiritual renewal and growth, his only real option is to begin again—to travel, to experiment, to reconnect with people and the landscapes around him.

Relive the whole story of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in this fantastic photo-filled book

“The Cutting Season is a rare murder mystery with heft, a historical novel that thrills, a page-turner that makes you think. Attica Locke is a dazzling writer with a conscience.”—Dolen Perkins-Valdez, New York Times bestselling author of Wench After her breathtaking debut novel, Black Water Rising, won acclaim from major publications and respected crime fiction masters like James Ellroy and George Pelecanos, Locke returns with The Cutting Season, a second novel easily as gripping and powerful as her first—a heart-pounding thriller that interweaves two murder mysteries, one on Belle Vie, a historic landmark in the middle of Lousiana’s Sugar Cane country, and one involving a slave gone missing more than one hundred years earlier. Black Water Rising was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, an Edgar® Award, and an NAACP Image Award, and was short-listed for the Orange Prize in the U.K.

Dick Wolf makes his literary debut with this tense, driving thriller, reminiscent of the classic The Day of the Jackal , an extraordinary tale filled with the ingenious twists and high-wire suspense we have come to expect from this master storyteller Days before the July Fourth holiday and the dedication of One World Trade Center at Ground Zero, an incident aboard a commercial jet flying over the Atlantic Ocean reminds everyone that vigilance is not a task to be taken lightly. But for iconoclastic NYPD detective Jeremy Fisk, it may also be a signal that there is much more to this case than the easy answer of this being just the work of another lone terrorist. Fisk—assigned to the department's Intelligence Division, a well-funded antiterror unit modeled on the CIA—suspects that the event might also be a warning sign that another, potentially more extraordinary scheme has been set in motion. Fluent in Arabic and the ways of his opponents, Fisk is a rule breaker who follows his gut—even if it means defying those above him in the department's food chain. So when a passenger from the same plane, a Saudi Arabian national, disappears into the crowds of Manhattan, it's up to Fisk and his partner Krina Gersten to find him before the celebrations begin. Watching each new lead fizzle, chasing shadows to dead ends, Fisk and Gersten quickly realize that their opponents are smarter and more agile than any they have ever faced. Extremely clever and seemingly invisible, they are able to exploit any security weak-ness and anticipate Fisk's every move . . . and time is running out.