![]() ![]() ![]() And her only confidantes, a war-gifted girl named Emilia and her oracle friend Mathilde, are urging her to take on a role she can’t imagine filling: a legion-cursed queen who will lead a rebel army to Katharine’s doorstep. Jules, too, is in a strange place-still on the island but in disguise. Stuck on the mainland, where their powers have weakened, the girls are being visited by a specter they think may be the fabled Blue Queen, pointing her rotting, boney finger toward Fennbirn. Mirabella and Arsinoe are alive, but they’re dealing with a nightmare of their own. There’s also the alarming issue of whether her sisters are actually dead-or if they’re waiting in the wings to usurp the throne. But now that she finally has it, the murmurs of dissent grow louder by the day. Queen Katharine has waited her entire life to wear the crown. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() Ferguson uses newer scholarship which looks into ideas such as the Viking "invasions" as a result of Christian expansion (especially Charlamange) into pagan lands being the match that lit the flame.Īs I said, a great history of the Vikings but it is a serious history book and can be dry. But, if you can ignore the dry style of the information and soak in the interesting history and lore-then you will be rewarded. It does not bother me, but some might find this a bit tedious. That being said, there is one caveat- the writing style of this book tends to lean towards the dry side. Combining Norse runic and oral history and the writings of those they attacked, this is a great encapsulation of a truly interesting age. I truly enjoyed the book as it was a wonderfully dense historical record. ![]() Starting with the Viking raids on the Carolingian Empire and on to the, generally better known, raids on England and finishing with the "Last Vikings" such as the remaining holdout in upper Uppsala, Sweden, and the Christianized Norsemen who turned the Norse lands into Kingdoms. These three chapters form a sort of background for the following chapters which serve as a historical record of the Viking Age. The third chapter is rather interesting and looks at the causes of the Viking Age. We are then introduced to the culture that was prevalent in the Norse lands. Starting with the Osberg Ship, Ferguson traces the development of the Norse longship and the Proto-Norse peoples. "The Vikings: A History" is an excellent volume covering the Viking Age. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Below is a handy list of the David Baldacci’s John Puller series in order, so you can clear your calendar and get started! (Also, while some people insist on starting with the first book, there’s no rule that says you have to read the John Puller books in order. If you’ve always wanted to read David Baldacci but didn’t know where to start, or if you’re a fan of books with heart-pounding action, murder, and intrigue, the John Puller books are the right fit for you. And, boy, does he get some tough ones! But with his big brain and big brawn, nothing stands in his way for long. He puts the needs and lives of others ahead of his own, and has a dogged determination when it comes to cracking military crime cases. A lone wolf military investigator with a hero dad and a criminal brother, Puller works hard to keep the country safe. That’s no small potatoes!Īnd when discussing thrillers by David Baldacci, John Puller should always be mentioned, because he’s one of Baldacci’s best characters. ![]() Baldacci’s books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 110 million copies in print. David Baldacci Books in Order: John Puller. When discussing thrillers, there are very few people who don’t know the name ‘ David Baldacci.’ After all, he’s a #1 worldwide bestselling author, known for his action-packed novels featuring tough characters running toward danger and taking on jobs most people pass up. John Puller Series 4 Books Collection Set By David Baldacci (The Escape, The Forgotten, Zero Day, No Mans Land). ![]() ![]() ![]() Powerful mission statements have the ability to offer meaning to employees’ work because they function “as a moral rather than a business goal,” (p. The mission at google is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” (p. ![]() Among other subjects, Block discusses the critical role of a mission, the essential steps for great hiring, and the principles to remember for performance management. Laszlo Bock, in his book “Work Rules!,” offers important insights regarding both the successes and the failures of Google. So what is it that makes this billion dollar business so intriguing to employees? Google is the only company in the world that can claim the title, “most sought after place to work.” It receives over two million applications every year, and maintains a steep standard of hiring only 0.25% of applicants as a result. A billion hours ago, modern Homo sapiens emerged.Ī billion minutes ago, Christianity began.Ī billion seconds ago, the IBM personal computer was released.Ī billion Google searches ago. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Orange World is a miracle of storytelling from a true modern master. The landscape in which these stories unfold is a feral, slippery, purgatorial space, bracketed by the void-yet within it Russell captures the exquisite beauty and tenderness of ordinary life. And in the brilliant, hilarious title story, a new mother desperate to ensure her infant's safety strikes a diabolical deal, agreeing to breastfeed the devil in exchange for his protection. Russell is already known for her short stories, Orange World being her third collection and having had work appear in everything from The New Yorker to Zoetrope to The Best American Short Stories. In "The Prospectors," two opportunistic young women fleeing the Great Depression strike out for new territory, and find themselves fighting for their lives. In "Bog Girl," a young man falls in love with a two-thousand-year-old girl that he's extracted from a mass of peat in a Northern European bog. In her surreal worlds, life is passing strange, but it is not devoid of wry comfort. ![]() I read her latest collection, Orange World, and found myself in awe of her. Russell is among the most skilled of this generation’s fabulist writers. Karen Russell's comedic genius and mesmerizing talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner lives is on full display in these eight exuberant, arrestingly vivid, unforgettable stories. Talking with author Karen Russell, author of Orange World and Other Stories, about the importance of boundaries, our fascination with frontiers, and the fine line between literature and a. Specifically, I love short stories by Karen Russell. ![]() ![]() ![]() She has had a difficult history with men with a bad breakup that ended up making headlines, and makes mistakes like getting drunk and making out with a stranger. ![]() I really liked Jasmine and she is easy to relate to. The two explore Seoul and begin to fall in love, but can their romance last once Jasmine returns home to New York? Far from judging her, however, Wen is captivated by Jasmine and is determined to win her over. To her mortification, the stranger is the nephew of her father’s friend who she is staying with. Willĭistance, ambitions and family-ties keep them apart or will they findĪfter a bad break up, Jasmine travels to Seoul where she gets drunk at a nightclub and kisses a stranger. That nothing will quell her yearning to be with the man she loves. The encounter leads to an unforgettable, passionįilled weekend, but upon returning to New York Jasmine soon realizes With her father, United States Senator John Avery Sinclair.īy the night life in Seoul, Jasmine dares to approach a mysterious and Scandal and relentlessly pursued by the press, she flees the country After she finds herself in the middle of a major ![]() ![]() Hands down this is amazing story and with the audiobook it lets you enjoy it even when you cant have a book in your hand. Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why? With vengeance in her soul, Chloe is even more determined to follow through on her vow when she discovers the true identity of her enemy and how he is connected to her.Įxperience the world of vampires, vampire hunters, and mythology with Chloe in this exciting series. Chloe agrees to join the family she has never known for one reason only: Chloe vows to kill the vampire responsible for her mother's murder. ![]() In fact, her entire family is descended from the powerful bloodlines of vampire hunters. Through her grandfather, she learns her mother was a vampire hunter. ![]() Chloe's mother kept her hidden from the family now, Chloe tries to unveil the family secrets. ![]() When Chloe wakes, she comes face-to-face with the only other living relative, besides her mother, whom she has ever met: her grandfather. Overwhelmed by the feeling of safety, Chloe passes out, and they whisk her away to their small community. Before the vampire can kidnap her, there is an unexpected rescue by a group of vampire hunters. Fourteen-year-old Chloe witnesses her mother' murder at the hands of a vampire. This special edition of The Vampire Hunter's Daughter contains parts 1-6, the complete collection. ![]() ![]() ![]() Standalone, but it’s even better to ride the entire trilogy roller coaster withĭuffy as your intimate companion. It’s not all grit: McKinty’s novels are also shot through with a smart,Ĭrackling humor that manages to be both dark and witty. Political context of The Troubles, sharply ratcheting up the tension and fearĪs depictions of conspiracy, murder, and violence rise up from the page. Installment, Adrian McKinty places riveting police procedurals in the ![]() “With his Sean Duffy Troubles Trilogy, of which In the Morning I’ll Be Gone is the third ![]() Thatcher is due to give a keynote speech. Meanwhile the clock is ticking down to the Conservative Party conference in Brighton in 1984, where Mrs. Sean knows that if he can crack the "locked-room mystery," the bigger mystery of Dermot's whereabouts might be revealed to him as a reward. In the course of his investigations Sean discovers a woman who may hold the key to Dermot's whereabouts she herself wants justice for her daughter who died in mysterious circumstances in a pub locked from the inside. Sean Duffy, a conflicted Catholic cop in the Protestant RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary), is recruited by MI5 to hunt down Dermot McCann, an IRA master bomber who has made a daring escape from the notorious Maze prison. A Catholic cop tracks an IRA master bomber amidst the sectarian violence of the conflict in Northern Ireland ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The first victim to publicly accuse Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who sexually abused hundreds of young athletes, Rachael now reveals her full story for the first time. "Who is going to tell these little girls that what was done to them matters? That they are seen and valued, that they are not alone and they are not unprotected?" Rachael Denhollander's voice was heard around the world when she spoke out to end the most shocking USA gymnastics scandal in history. Written by Rachael Denhollander, recipient of Sports Illustrated's Inspiration of the Year Award and one of Time's 100 Most Influential People (2018). ![]() ![]() ![]() The fifth story, “ Quest of the Starstone”, isn’t present in every edition of this collection, but it is an interesting one because it pairs Jirel with another Moore hero from another series: a Han-Solo-like roguish space smuggler with the impossibly awesome name of Northwest Smith. “Quest of the Starstone” (1937), with Henry Kuttner.Moore wrote six short stories starring her sword-and-sorcery queen warrior, one of which she wrote together with her husband Henry Kuttner, who was a successful science fiction writer in his own right at the time. The Jirel of Joiry collection was put together and published in 1969 but the stories inside them all stem from the 1930s when they appeared in the Weird Tales pulp magazine, alongside those of Howard and only a few years after his first Conan stories. ![]() ![]() Jirel is a queen in a medieval version of France, whose adventures frequently take her to dimensions of Hell. ![]() Lovecraft was writing, and we get the stories of Jirel of Joiry. Add to that some of the cosmic horror that H.P. Moore, who as one of the few female authors of fantasy fiction at the time, felt compelled as the Conan stories came out to write a female version. As his Conan stories began to appear in the Weird Tales pulp magazine, so many writers felt compelled to either write homages to the stories or write something in contrast to them. Howard made such a splash with his sword-and-sorcery writing. ![]() |