Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets this paragon. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell-ringer, dressing up as Santa's elf at a mall and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (most of whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all?and then she's finally ready to meet her match. But just like the perfect...

Need to seize a country? Have enemies you must destroy? In this handbook for despots and tyrants, the Renaissance statesman Machiavelli sets forth how to accomplish this and more, while avoiding the awkwardness of becoming generally hated and despised. "Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be...

This third collection of short fiction by Gaiman includes previously published pieces of short fiction--stories, verse, and a Doctor Who story written for the series' fiftieth anniversary (Nothing o'clock). There is also "Black Dog," a new tale that revisits the world of his novel American Gods. The collection explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Horror and ghosts stories,...

"Who cut off Medusa's head? Who was raised by a she-bear? Who tamed Pegasus? It takes a demigod to know, and Percy Jackson can fill you in on the all the daring deeds of Perseus, Atalanta, Bellerophon, and the rest of the major Greek heroes. Told in the funny, irreverent style readers have come to expect from Percy -- Provided by publisher.

A memoir of the steamboat era on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War. The first half details a brief history of the river from its discovery by Hernando de Soto in 1541 and describes Twain's career as a Mississippi steamboat pilot, the fulfillment of a childhood dream. The second half of Life on the Mississippi tells of Twain's return, many years after, to travel the river from St. Louis to New Orleans. By then the competition from...

Enjoy three heart-racing thrillers from the New York Times bestselling master of suspense.

23 1/2 LIES: Lindsay Boxer's estranged father is gunned down execution-style, and her investigation uncovers life-altering truths. (with Maxine Paetro)
FALLEN RANGER: To Rory Yates, being a Texas Ranger means absolute loyalty to the badge. But he’s put through the ultimate test when an armored car robbery...

"If you're feeling brave, turn the page. A game of hide-and-seek goes on far too long ... A look-alike doll makes itself right at home ... A school talent show act leaves the audience aghast ... And a summer at camp takes a turn for the braaaains ... This collection of all-new spooky stories is sure to keep readers up past their bedimes"--Dust jacket flap.

"More than almost any other writer, Franz Kafka has been credited with capturing the existential tragicomedy of the modern human condition. Now, for the first time in fifty years, the great short works - including "The Metamorphosis," "The Judgment," and "The Stoker"--Are given new life in an English free of anachronism." "The Metamorphosis and Other Stories reflects Kafka's virtuosity in a wide range of forms - from prose poems, sketches, stories,...

"Nicole Lord wants to be a good wife, but there's a difference between being supportive and supporting her husband. He quit his job to write a screenplay she's never seen, leaving Nicole to run the house, work full-time, and care for their young son. Can she say enough is enough without losing the man she loves? Sacrificing a personal life for her career is how Shannon Rigg became V.P. at her firm, but she wonders whether she made the right choice....

Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto, examines her deepest commitments -- to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband -- creating a resonant portrait of her life.