Showing results by narrator "Jeff Woodman" in All Categories

A Pianist Under the Influence reflects on Biss' lifelong, intense, multilayered relationship with the composer's music and historical treatment. As Biss writes from the unique position of performer, scholar, and fan, his work is both a personal and professional love letter to the 19th-century composer. An engaging listen for anyone interested in the creative process, it also includes a guide for listeners who wish to delve further into the material.

In May of 2004 the dead return to life and begin to hunt the living. Within a few weeks nations have fallen and the few survivors are scattered and desperate. Rise follows a group of survivors on their journey through the apocalyptic Canadian Rockies, the desolate and empty lands of northern British Columbia and Alberta.

Outside, the wind is howling. Inside the empty house, Taddy is shivering beneath a ragged blanket. He has been alone ever since his aunt and uncle died suddenly from a terrible fever. As his uncle was taking his final breath, he warned of danger in nearby Alexandria. Now Taddy is hiding, afraid of the unknown. When two rough-sounding men sneak in to steal the furniture, they force Taddy into their horse-drawn cart. The next thing he knows, he’s in a tavern in Alexandria, working long hours for crumbs.

Here are four unforgettable stories by Yann Martel, the New York Times best-selling author of Life of Pi. In the exquisite title novella, a very young man dying of AIDS joins his friend in fashioning a story of the Roccamatio family of Helsinki, set against the yearly march of the 20th century.

The South Orange River (S.O.R.) Middle School is famous for its winning sports teams. That is, until the seventh grade soccer squad comes along. Led by Ed Sitrow, who has never played soccer before, this amazing team of non-jocks sets new lows in team spirit and new highs in scoring - for the other team. When they lose their first game 32-0, they’re ready to call it quits. But the teachers insist that the team keep playing through the entire soccer season.

P.C. and Mackenzie's friend, Tom the janitor, has been accused of murdering the head biologist at New York City's Museum of Natural History. But they know Tom couldnï¿¿ï¿¿ï¿¿t be the real killer, so they begin investigating. Exploring the crime scene and digging deep, they uncover a strange, precious artifact and a huge arachnid at the heart of the mystery.

Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Zindel delights even the most reluctant listeners with his thrilling P.C. Hawke Mysteries. Everyone is upset when P.C.'s junior class trip ends with classmate Timmy Warner plunging to his death over a 300-foot waterfall. So when Timmy's mom exhibits some strange behavior at the funeral, P.C. and his friend Mackenzie just have to investigate. What they don't expect is that the trail of clues will lead them to Los Angeles-and to a surfer who's a dead ringer for their dead classmate!

Caught in a riptide of haphazard underemployment, at turns violent and unpredictable, suffering under a bad economy with no family or friends to speak of, Stratton Brown longs for the chance to escape his small-town past and build a new life. He sets out for Chicago, where he meets a new and fresh hell: a nine-to-fiver in a nondescript, meaningless company, and an obsessive love affair with woman who may be a bit too attached to her abusive ex-boyfriend. Is this all America has to offer its 20-somethings?

Billboard magazine had this to say about The World's Shortest Stories Vol. 1, "What is most impressive in this collection of great stories is the sheer variety. Let's hope a second volume of these tiny gems will not be long in coming!"

As far as romance goes, Dr. Jakob Sammelsohn is fairly incurable. Twice married, once divorced, once widowed - all by the tender age of 12 - he finally flees his small village and his pious, vengeful father. A lovelorn Candide, young Dr. Sammelsohn wanders optimistically through history - pursued by the amorous ghost of his dead wife.

Work is bad enough, but what if things go really wrong? Learn how to sneak out of a meeting, survive a stockroom avalanche, extract a tie caught in the photocopier, and survive a workplace romance. Hands-on, step-by-step instructions guide you through these and other crises that can strike between 9 and 5, or on the swing shift. This is the one desk reference you can't live without.

Set on the eve of America's entry into World War Two, award-winning novelist Jay Neugeboren's first new novel in two decades is built around a fascinating historical figure, Dr. Eduard Bloch, an Austrian doctor who had been physician to Adolf Hitler and his family when Hitler was a boy and young man, and who cared for Hitler's mother during her illness and death from breast cancer.

Fabrizio, Magnus the Magician's new servant boy, must prove his master's innocence after he is accused of plotting to overthrow the king in this suspenseful new prequel to Midnight Magic from a Newbery Medalist.

When the Devil comes to take him, Wakefield, a motivational speaker and architecture buff, isn't ready. He plies the Dark One with scotch and strikes a bargain: He, Wakefield, will take a year to search for an alternative life.

In this sequel to Fugitive Days, Ayers charts his life after the Weather Underground, when he becomes the GOP’s flaunted “domestic terrorist,” a “public enemy.” Labeled a "domestic terrorist" by the McCain campaign in 2008 and used by the radical right in an attempt to castigate Obama for "pallin' around with terrorists," Bill Ayers is in fact a dedicated teacher, father, and social justice advocate with a sharp memory and even sharper wit.

Scott Wilkinson is a young advertising executive on his way to the top. Christopher Miller is an FBI legend who has been willing to do whatever it takes to see that justice is done. Two weeks before Christmas, Wilkinson goes on a business trip that will forever entangle their two lives. It starts like so many others. Wilkinson calls for a car service to take him to the airport. But the driver drives like a maniac, and Wilkinson feels fortunate to reach the airport alive. Then he makes a big mistake.

Rupert P. Brown III is a scientist. In his room he has an aquarium experiment, a turtle experiment, and a nutrition experiment (two guinea pigs). But when he starts fifth grade, things happen that he has to label “No known way to prove scientifically.” The new teacher, Miss Switch, has eyes in the back of her head. She can control spitballs and water fountains. Eventually, Rupert discovers her secret: Miss Switch is a witch.

As they begin fifth grade, Rupert and Amelia discover that their teacher, Miss Switch, is a witch. Using his scientific mind, Rupert helps her solve a spooky dilemma. In return, the witch teaches Rupert and Amelia some magic. But soon Miss Switch disappears, and another teacher takes her place. One night that winter, a dark figure delivers a strange bottle to the children. Scientific curiosity leads Rupert to take the cork out. Suddenly, the bottle releases an ugly demon, Mordo, who plans to kidnap a whole class from Pepperdine Elementary School.

Morgan Fairfield is one of the few survivors of the Titanic disaster. Now a celebrity journalist in New York, he persists in his story that Hunter Kennedy was murdered on that doomed voyage. But with the evidence miles underwater—and now a different Hunter Kennedy arriving on the scene—Morgan and his wife Margaret need to find a way to solve this conundrum fast.

Originally published in 1950, William Goyen's first novel is an elegy to childhood, memory, loss and love, celebrating boyhood in a small town in Texas.