JO LAROUCHE HAS lived her 13 years in the California desert with her Aunt Lily, ever since she was dropped on Lily's doorstep with this note: This is Jo. Please take care of her. But beware. This is a dangerous baby. At Lily's annual Christmas costume party, a variety of strange events take place that lead Jo and Lily out of California forever — and into the mysterious, strange, fantastical world of Eldritch City. There, Jo learns the scandalous truth about who she is, and she and Lily join the Order of Odd-Fish, a collection of knights who research useless information. Glamorous cockroach butlers, pointless quests, obsolete weapons, and bizarre festivals fill their days, but two villains are controlling their fate. Jo is inching closer and closer to the day when her destiny is fulfilled, and no one in Eldritch City will ever be the same.

From New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen comes a tale of danger and desire, as a woman caught up in another country's revolution finds herself falling in love with a charismatic freedom fighter. Lara Clavel knows that her mission to the war-torn Caribbean island of Saint Pierre is fraught with danger. But she is determined to rescue the imprisoned rebel leader Ricardo Lazaro — if only to prevent her twin brother from rejoining his revolutionary army. What she doesn't expect is the powerful attraction she feels for the legendary poet-warrior. And the heat is mutual. From the instant they meet inside the confines of his jail cell, Ricardo seems bound and determined to possess Lara. But is love possible with a man whose every waking moment is spent in the crosshairs of some would-be assassin's rifle? Even after Ricardo is freed, Lara will find her feelings for him put to the ultimate test, as she fights to tame a savage rebel skilled in the arts of combat and seduction.

For Elena Michaels, being the world's only female werewolf has its advantages, such as having her pick of the Otherworld's most desirable males. And she couldn't have picked a more dangerously sexy and undyingly loyal mate than Clayton Danvers. But now their bond will be put to the ultimate test. A werewolf more wolf than human and more unnatural than supernatural — a creature whose origins spring from ancient legend — is hunting human prey, and Elena and Clayton must track the predator deep into Alaska's frozen wilderness. But the personal stakes are even higher. Either Clayton or Elena has been chosen to become the new Pack leader, and every wolf knows that there can be only one Alpha. The couple have always been equals in everything. Now, when their survival depends more than ever on perfect teamwork, will instinct allow one of them to lead and the other to follow?

A #1 New York Times -bestselling author blends romance, suspense, and a touch of the paranormal as only she can in this classic love story of a woman who unexpectedly meets the man of her dreams — only to discover the shocking bond that has already linked them together.

All you need to study and prepare for the AP Economics exams is in this test-prep book — Cracking the AP Economics Macro & Micro Exams, 2010 Edition includes: -2 full-length AP Economics practice tests with detailed explanations; -Proven test-taking strategies from the experts to help you score higher on your AP; -Review of all Economics AP topics covered, such as systems of government, economic decisions, firm production, costs, revenues and aggregate demand; -AP review questions in every chapter; -Tables, charts and diagrams to help you understand and retain even more for the test; -And much more!

«Welcome to Animal House, where occupancy is strictly limited to the furry, the feathered, the hoofed, and the clawed. In this tongue-in-cheek peek at critters great and small, photographer Catherine Ledner has brought the animals indoors to create a collection of magical and clever portraits unlike any you’ve ever seen before. Discover a series of brightly-colored rooms, lined with plush carpets and bold decorative wallpapers, each inhabited by a different creature. Here is the flirty flamingo posing her posterior quite purposely, the painfully shy armadillo who cannot even face the camera, the kindly cow mugging shamelessly for laughs, the turkey caught in the midst of his macho march, and dozens more. Die cuts featuring cutouts of keyholes, windows, and skylights provide teasing glimpses of what dwells behind the next door or curtain, and gatefolds reveal surprising neighbors--such as the sly fox and the unkowing hen... Ledner’s whimsical images are perfectly paired with a selection of sophisticated light verse, witticisms, and humorous poetry from the likes of Oliver Herford and Ogden Nash: «The Cow is of the bovine ilk, One end is moo, the other milk.» What emerges is a marvelous fantasy world where the animals rule the roost and the turn of every page offers unexpected delights.»

Omerta, the Sicilian code of silence, has been the cornerstone of the Mafia's sense of honor for centuries. Born in the Sicilian hills, omerta carried the Mafia through a hundred years of change, but now at the century's end it is becoming a relic from a bygone age. Honor may be silent — but money talks. New York — a mob boss is assassinated. His nephew Astorre Viola and the head of the city's FBI both launch investigations into the murder. But this time silence spreads like a contagion: the silence of rival gangs, the silence of crooked bankers, even the silence of the courts. The world of the Mafia is riven with greed, and Viola knows that now is the time to claim his destiny...

Word geeks (1984), rejoice! Crack open these covers and immerse yourself in a mind-expanding (1963) compendium of the new words (or new meanings of words) that have sprung from American life to ignite the most vital, inventive, fruitful, and A-OK (1961) lexicographical Big Bang (1950) since the first no-brow (1922) Neanderthal grunted meaningfully. From the turn of the twentieth century to today, our language has grown from around 90,000 new words to some 500,000 — at least, that's today's best guesstimate (1936). What accounts for this quantum leap (1924)? In There's a Word for It, language expert Sol Steinmetz takes us on a super califragilistic expeditious (1949) joyride (1908) through our nation's cultural history, as seen through the neato (1951) words and terms we've invented to describe it all. From the quaintly genteel days of the 1900s (when we first heard words such as nickelodeon, escalator, and, believe it or not, Ms.) through the Roaring Twenties (the time of flappers, jalopies, and bootleg booze) to the postwar 50s (the years of rock ’n’ roll, beatniks, and blast-offs) and into the new millennium (with its blogs, Google, and Obamamania), this feast for word lovers is a boffo (1934) celebration of linguistic esoterica (1929). In chapters organized by decade, each with a lively and informative narrative of the life and language of the time, along with year-by-year lists of words that were making their first appearance, There's a Word for It reveals how the American culture contributed to the evolution and expansion of the English language and vice versa. Clearly, it's must-reading (1940). And not to disparage any of the umpteen (1918) other language books on the shelf — though they have their share of hokum (1917) and gobbledygook (1944) — but this one truly is the bee's knees and the cat's pajamas (1920s).

Precious Jones, an illiterate sixteen-year-old, has up until now been invisible to the father who rapes her and the mother who batters her and to the authorities who dismiss her as just one more of Harlem's casualties. But when Precious, pregnant with a second child by her father, meets a determined and radical teacher, we follow her on a journey of education and enlightenment as she learns not only how to write about her life, but how to make it truly her own for the first time.

Apple is the opposite of her outspoken mother and gossipy, chatty best friends; she’s always been the cool, calm, and collected one. But her life is about to spiral out of control. Apple’s super-sized, secret crush on her friend Zen leads her into major trouble. And she’s realizing it might not have been such a good idea to pose as her mother–the famous talk show host and self-help guru, Dr. Bee Berg–and send out fake advice emails to keep her (devastatingly beautiful) friend Happy away from Zen. Before she knows it, her best friend hates her, the whole school knows about her crush, and she is humiliated on national TV. How much more will it take for Apple to learn that taking advice is just as important as giving it?

SLOW: Life in a Tuscan Town is an unprecedented photographic personal journey into the heart of hidden Tuscany that celebrates the principles that define the Slow Food movement and pays tribute to the region’s kaleidoscope of vibrant characters, whose shared culture revolves around the everyday pleasure of growing, preparing, and eating food. With an anecdotal charm reminiscent of Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence, Douglas Gayeton’s interplay of pictures and words conveys a thrilling narrative that transports you halfway around the globe to the charming town of Pistoia, nestled in the outskirts of Florence. There we meet the mushroom hunters and sheep farmers, the winemakers and fishermen, the bakers, butchers and chocolate makers whose lives are profoundly bound to the rhythms of nature. It is a riveting story told in a riveting way: each image comprised of multiple photographs taken over a period of time that can range anywhere from ten minutes to several hours, and layered with Gayeton’s handwritten notes, recipes, facts, and sayings. With this process, Gayeton has managed to introduce the concept of story and time; both compressed and exploded, into his portraits. The result is a photographic approach critics have dubbed flat film; the effect is exhilarating. As Gayeton observes, “What my eyes saw was always grander than any lens could capture…How could I introduce the presence of time, of an emerging and evolving story comprised of not one, but many moments, into a single photograph?” In the accompanying text, Gayeton offers an absorbing first person account of his immersion into rural Italian culture, offering an intimacy that draws us deeper into this romantic and rustic world. A photographer, a pioneering new media creator, a wonderful writer and an award winning documentarian, Gayeton is passionately interested in food, culture, art, and people.

Sophie Rose is a crime reporter at a major Chicago newspaper and the daughter of Bobby Rose, a charming gentleman and big-time thief. When asked to write an exposé about her notorious father, Sophie quits and goes to work at a small newspaper, covering local personalities such as William Harrington, the 5K runner whose trademark is red socks. Those socks—with Sophie’s business card tucked inside—are practically all that’s found after Harrington is killed near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, seemingly in a brutal polar bear attack. Sophie heads north to investigate, but danger follows in her wake. After one attempt on her life, she’s assigned brash but sexy Jack MacAlister as a bodyguard. But Sophie and Jack will soon be fighting more than their growing passion for each other. Powerful forces will stop at nothing to prevent the exposure of the sinister conspiracy Sophie and Jack are about to uncover.

In a French courtroom, the trial of a woman is taking place. Gladys Eysenach is no longer young, but she is still beautiful, elegant, cold. She is accused of shooting dead her much-younger lover. As the witnesses take the stand and the case unfolds, Gladys relives fragments of her past: her childhood, her absent father, her marriage, her turbulent relationship with her daughter, her decline, and then the final irrevocable act. With the depth of insight and pitiless compassion we have come to expect from the author of Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky shows us the soul of a desperate woman obsessed with her lost youth.

«Welcome to the world of Kara Gillian, a cop with a gift. Not only does she have the power of «othersight» to see what most people can't even imagine, but she's become the exclusive summoner of a demon lord. Or maybe it's the other way around. The fact is, with two troublesome cases on her docket and a handsome FBI agent under her skin, Kara needs the help of sexy, insatiable Lord Rhyzkahl more than he needs her. Because these two victims, linked by suspicious coincidence, haven't just been murdered. Something has eaten their souls. It's a case with roots in the arcane, but whose evil has flowered among the rich, powerful, and corrupt in Beaulac, Louisiana. And as the killings continue, Kara soon realizes how much there's still to learn about demons, men, and things that kill in the night — and how little time she has to learn it.»

From the New York Times — bestselling author of Original Sin comes the second book in her new, fantastically thrilling paranormal suspense series, The Seven Deadly Sins.

«In 1942, a dashing young man who liked nothing so much as a heated game of poker, a good bottle of scotch, and the company of a pretty girl hopped a merchant ship to England. He was Robert Capa, the brilliant and daring photojournalist, and Collier's magazine had put him on assignment to photograph the war raging in Europe. In these pages, Capa recounts his terrifying journey through the darkest battles of World War II and shares his memories of the men and women of the Allied forces who befriended, amused, and captivated him along the way. His photographs are masterpieces — John G. Morris, Magnum Photos' first executive editor, called Capa «the century's greatest battlefield photographer» — and his writing is by turns riotously funny and deeply moving. From Sicily to London, Normandy to Algiers, Capa experienced some of the most trying conditions imaginable, yet his compassion and wit shine on every page of this book. Charming and profound, Slightly Out of Focus is a marvelous memoir told in words and pictures by an extraordinary man.»

A book whose sales have not diminished but rather increased dramatically since its publication 45 years ago, this bestselling classic is the ultimate manual of drawing taught by the late Robert Beverly Hale, who’s famed lectures and classes at New York City’s Art Student League captivated artists and art educators from around the world. Faithfully producing and methodically analyzing 100 master drawings—including works of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Rodin, Goya, and Rembrandt among others—Hale shows how these artists tackled basic problems such as line, light and planes, mass, position and thrust, and anatomy. With detailed analytical captions and diagrams, every lesson is clearly delineated and illustrated. Throughout, also, is commentary that sheds light on the creative process of drawing and offers deep insight into the unsurpassed achievements of the masters.

«David Bowie is now into his fifth decade of making music. From his first hit single/Space Oddity', to his vital 21st-century albums Heathen and Reality, he remains the most influential rock star of his generation. «Strange Fascination» chronicles Bowie's career against the colourful backdrop of post-Beatles pop culture, taking us from the glam-era gender-bending of the early 1970s, through plastic soul, the Berlin period, «Scary Monsters» and the huge international success of «Let's Dance» right the way up to his most recent collaborations and his pioneering use of the Internet. It's a story of amazing creativity, of huge, showboating theatricality and of a never-ending quest to remain relevant and at pop's cutting edge.»