English books

This is autobiography taken to the highest reaches of fiction, another wonderful novel of scorching power, shot through with honesty and lyricism’ Observer The Kindness of Women continues the story of Jim, the young boy whose experiences in Japanese-occupied Shanghai were described in Empire of the Sun. It follows his return to post-war England, setting his childhood in the context of a lifetime. Jim tries, and fails, to find stability as a medical student at Cambridge, then as a trainee RAF pilot in Canada. Having finally settled into happy family life, his world is ripped apart by domestic tragedy. He plunges into the maelstrom of the 1960s, an instigator and subject of every aspect of cultural, social and sexual revolution. We follow, in all this, the progress of a bruised mind as it tries to make sense of the upheaval around it. Turning conspicuously, as in Empire of the Sun, to the events of his own life, Ballard makes of experience fiction that is frankly startling and, at its most tender, powerfully moving. This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Ali Smith, Iain Sinclair, Martin Amis and Ned Beauman) and brand-new cover designs from the artist Stanley Donwood.

Buckle Up. It's Going To Be Quite A Ride. Despite his brooding bad-boy attitude, Brody's luxury charter airline, Sky High, provides the perfect escape route whenever things get complicated. And lately, things have become very complicated, thanks to the insanely passionate, or perhaps just insane, kiss he shared with Sky High's gorgeous, wisecracking concierge, Maddie. He's tried to keep his distance, but now Maddie desperately needs help, and it's triggering alpha-male urges Brody didn't even know he had--especially after he finds out that Maddie and her twin sister Leena are in big-time trouble. To save Leena, Maddie and Brody must pose as husband and wife. Good plan, except it's hard to tell if the heat in bed is acting or something too good to be true. . . "Jill Shalvis sweeps you away." –Cherry Adair Praise for Jill Shalvis and her novels "Shalvis makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me sigh with pure pleasure." --Susan Andersen, New York Times bestselling author "Hot, sweet, fun, and romantic! Pure pleasure!" --Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author "Witty, fun and sexy--the perfect romance!" --Lori Foster

12-14% of UK businesses are majority owned by women, a statistic that shows both the great strides women have made in business in the past two decades and how many obstacles still remain in a culture where 90% of the top roles are held by men. Jo Haigh has worked for many years in corporate finance, and has experienced these obstacles, and overcome them. In Tales from the Glass Ceiling, she offers women an inspirational guide to success in the male-dominated business world - a goal, that does not mean losing your identity. Haigh offers stories of success from many different areas of business, giving advice on how to reconcile an open, emotional disposition with an executive level's occasionally brutal atmosphere; how to spot the right training and development opportunities (and get them funded); how to overcome resistance to female leadership and how to build, manage and maintain your professional network. Based on Haigh's own experience as an executive and entrepreneur, and bolstered by the experiences and stories of other top women in their fields, Tales from the Glass Ceiling is an indispensable resource for all women in business.

A story of an unforgettable first love in the heart of Texas . . . from New York Times bestselling author Joan Johnston Delia Carson was only sixteen when she fled her Texas hometown. She left behind a web of lies that destroyed her family . . . and Marsh North, the irresistible bad boy she'd fallen in love with. Now, eleven years later, a family crisis forces Delia to return home—back to the mystery, back to the shadows . . . back to Marsh. His bad-boy reputation behind him, Marsh is now a respected, prizewinning journalist. And he's never forgotten Delia or the youthful love they shared. Determined not to lose her again, Marsh sets out to prove to Delia that they belong together. But will the dark secrets from Delia's past keep them apart?

12-years-old twins Matt and Emily Calder are Animare: they can bring art to life and enter paintings at will. They must do everything in their power to prevent a breach in Hollow Earth: a supernatural place that holds all the demons, devils and creatures ever imagined. The Hollow Earth Society are getting closer to finding the key that will release the beasts: an ancient bone quill whose powers can be only be used by a powerful Animare. The quill has been lost for centuries, but important clues to its whereabouts lie somewhere on the island of Era Mina - as does the entrance to Hollow Earth itself. Matt and Em must find the quill and protect it through their drawings, through certain famous paintings and, ultimately, deep into the mists of time itself. But their lives in the relative safety of Auchinmurn Abbey are thrown into confusion with the arrival of a newcomer who threatens to ruin everything they have worked for. All too soon, the twins are forced to make a terrible choice: save their father, or save the world.

A strange novel for strange young people. Young Samuel Johnson and his dachshund Boswell are trying to show initiative by trick-or-treating a full three days before Hallowe'en. Which is how they come to witness strange goings-on at 666 Crowley Avenue. The Abernathys don't mean any harm by their flirtation with Satanism. But it just happens to coincide with a malfunction in the Large Hadron Collider that creates a gap in the universe. A gap in which there is a pair of enormous gates. The gates to Hell. And there are some pretty terrifying beings just itching to get out . . . Can Samuel persuade anyone to take this seriously? Can he harness the power of science to save the world as we know it?

New York Times bestseller -- 20th anniversary edition with a new afterword from the author -- "A wonderful novel, full of energy and art, at once funny and horrifying and heartbreaking."- The Washington Post This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields--a feminist leader ahead of her times. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes--even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with "lunacy and sorrow"; yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries-- with more than ten million copies in print--this novel provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: "In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases." Praise for The World According to Garp "John Irving, it is abundantly clear, is a true artist." - Los Angeles Times "A brilliant panoply of current attitudes toward sex, marriage and parenthood, the feminist movement and - above all - the concept of delineated sexual roles... Irving's characters will stay alive for years to come." - Chicago Tribune "A social tragi-comedy of such velocity that it reads rather like a domestic sequel to Catch-22." - The Observer (London) "A large talent announces itself on practically every page." - The Book-of-the-Month Club News

Second Lieutenant Tommy Hart, a navigator whose B-25 was shot out of the sky in 1942, is burdened with guilt as the only surviving member of his crew. Now he is just another POW at the fiercely guarded Stalag Luft 13 in Bavaria. Then routine comes to a halt with the arrival of a new prisoner: First Lieutenant Lincoln Scott, an African American Tuskegee airman who instantly becomes the target of contempt from his fellow soldiers. When a prisoner is brutally murdered, and all the blood-soaked evidence points to Scott, Hart is tapped to defend the soldier. In a trial rife with racial tension and raw conflict, where the lines between ally and enemy blur, there are those with their own secret motives, and a burning passion for a rush to judgment, no matter what the cost.