Showing results by author "V.V.A.A." in All Categories

A classic of modern travel writing, An Area of Darkness is Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipaul’s profound reckoning with his ancestral homeland and an extraordinarily perceptive chronicle of his first encounter with India. Traveling from the bureaucratic morass of Bombay to the ethereal beauty of Kashmir, from a sacred ice cave in the Himalayas to an abandoned temple near Madras, Naipaul encounters a dizzying cross-section of humanity: browbeaten government workers and imperious servants, a suavely self-serving holy man, and a deluded American religious seeker.

Combining courage, faith, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Mount of Olives takes listeners for an emotional ride through the life of a boy who's search for better becomes a discovery of something extraordinary...Felix's quest teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity, and learning the golden principles strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

Lasya ‘LJ’ Raghavan is a spectacularly single, unsuccessful playwright with an estranged family, crippling debt, and a dead-end job. When the family matriarch, Chandralekha Chakrapani, dies, LJ has to face the family that considers her an epic failure.... Especially her father, who has taken a vow of silence against her; her cousin sister, Ahalya, who blames LJ for destroying her marriage; and Bridezilla Kiki whose wedding has been cancelled.

As Reeves shows, the growing separation between the upper middle class and everyone else can be seen in family structure, neighborhoods, attitudes, and lifestyle. Those at the top of the income ladder are becoming more effective at passing on their status to their children, reducing overall social mobility. The result is not just an economic divide but a fracturing of American society along class lines. Upper-middle-class children become upper-middle-class adults.

The Skaintz Imperium was eradicated from the backwater planet of Garm, but at great cost. The population of the world was decimated within weeks, and Garm will never be the same. At least humanity can breathe easily knowing that the mysterious aliens are all dead.... But are they? Using their natural form of communication, Skaintz radio signals did chirrup and click, however briefly. Transmissions in their ancient language now spread at the speed of light in a growing sphere.

It is 1915: Ben Retallick is asked by a War Office friend to provide two traction engines for a secret expedition attempting to take two gunboats overland from Cape Town to Lake Tanganyika - more than 3,000 miles - to wrest control of the lake from the Germans. He sends engines with young Ruddlemoor as the driver, who meets a Portuguese East African nurse and takes her side against a group of white racist South Africans.

In the lonely years following the death of her fiancé, Helen is unable to move on with her life. But life itself is moving on around her literally: The building of a dam is forcing her small town and her family home to relocate. But the construction project means more than the loss of a home. Helens brother, Robbie, who disappeared without a trace 15 years earlier, suddenly resurfaces. As he re-enters his sisters life, he reveals the secret of why he left in the first place: a secret that tore their family apart, and affected Helens life in more ways than she ever realized.

A desperate young woman’s bargain with a wealthy couple is not what it seems in this gothic tale of big city dreams gone wrong from the #1 New York Times bestselling author and literary phenomenon V.C. Andrews—whose books are now major Lifetime TV movies. The English countryside is beautiful...

Returning to rural Vermont for her senior year after time abroad, New Yorker Daphne Howard just wants to make it to graduation. She’s still processing the sting of her social circle moving off-campus under the thrall of Serena Vigil, a talented poet from Texas who happens to be Daphne’s nemesis. But when a gruesome story overheard at a local bar leads Daphne to consider an unusual artifact discovered on campus in a new light, friends, lovers, and others unite to confront the collision of present and past, political, and personal.

In the year 2054, reality is a really dumb place. The only time the young, freedom-loving, 1980s pop culture and sex-obsessed Bowie Jackson really feels alive is when he's huddling in a rusted metal lean-to in rural Wisconsin, jacked into the virtual, hyper-sexualized utopia known as the O-Face.

The true story of two men who turned tools into instruments of terror—and Southern California into a hunting ground. Step into the chilling world of Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, better known as the Toolbox Killers. This gripping true crime book pulls back the curtain on one of the most disturbing serial killer duos in American history. In 1979, a van, a box of everyday tools, and a sinister plan led to a series of horrific crimes that shocked the nation.

A blistering critique of the forces threatening the American intelligence community, beginning with the President of the United States himself, in a time when that community's work has never been harder or more important In the face of a President who lobs accusations without facts, evidence, or...

Kyle Riggs is in for a rough ride. In Annihilation, the seventh book of the Star Force Series, nothing goes as planned. The three fledgling human colonies in the Eden System are beginning to take hold, but the forces threatening to root them out are many. The Crustaceans are calling for help, despite the fact they are the sworn enemies of Star Force. Are they potential allies, or vicious tricksters? And why are the oceans of their world heating up?

Now stronger than ever, Salvos finally returns from the Bloodied Gulf! After learning a Grand Skill thanks to her father's unconventional training, it was time to depart for the human lands. Much has happened since she was gone. For one, demons are running wild and hunting her companions. For another, everything else has become so much...weaker.

The Treasures of Alexander are mythic-grade artifacts. They are the greatest weapons of humankind against the demon threat looming over them. The Dukes and Duchesses of the Netherworld won't remain idle. They will do whatever it takes to upheave the Conference of Alyras and steal the Treasures of Alexander. While this is happening, Salvos will have to come to grips with taking care of the newborn Wyverns...

Vibrant, believable characters help drive a fictional story. Along with a clever plot, well-drawn characters make us want to continue reading a novel or finish watching a movie. In Creating Characters, Dwight V. Swain shows how writers can invent interesting characters and improve them so that they move a story along.

Samantha Washington has dreamed of owning her own mystery bookstore for as long as she can remember. Now that she's preparing for her store's grand opening, she's also realizing another dream - penning a cozy mystery that's set in England between the wars. But as Samantha indulges her imagination, the unimaginable happens in real life. A shady realtor turns up dead in her backyard, and the police suspect her - after all, the owner of a mystery bookstore might know a thing or two about murder, right?

After centuries in stasis, a lost task force returns home. Arriving from the infinite void the surviving ships discover that the Imperium lies in ruin. The Homeworld itself is destroyed, and nothing lives in the Ancestral System except an infestation of unknown bipedal beings - creatures soft, red of blood and warm of flesh.... When you colonize a planet, make sure the owners aren't coming back.... MECH is the story of a new Earth colony built upon the ancient Homeworld of a civilization presumed (incorrectly) to be long dead.

For many of us, change is scary, and as a result, we may try to avoid it, or even actively resist it. But while burying our heads in the sand can provide some short-term relief, our fear can grow and manifest itself in life-altering ways like stress, anxiety, or depression. The good news is that you can learn to transform how you respond to unwanted change. If you're ready to stop running from change, and start living a life guided by your values, this powerful guide will be with you, every step of the way.

He needs my help, but what will he do when he finds out my secret?