...Weekend by Christopher Pike ONE The road was painful. Last summer's hurricanes had dug strategically placed potholes across the narrow asphalt highway. Every time their dusty Datsun hatchback hit one — every sixty seconds — Shani Tucker's head kissed the car's ceiling. She wanted an aspirin, but they upset her stomach, and it was already worse off than her head. Long drives were not her forte. She wished that there was room in the front seat with Kerry and Angie, where at least she could have tied herself down with a seat belt. But Angie was driving, and Kerry's hand was glued to the radio, searching vainly through static bands. Though the road was doing its best to slow them down, they were, nevertheless, too far south into Mexico to catch San Diego's stations. Glancing out of the window at the brittle tumbleweed, the baked orange hills, and dry, cracked ravines, Shani felt as if she had crossed into another world, rather than merely into another country. "Can't get anything on this damn thing," Kerry Ladd said, fretting as usual. "Turn it off," Shani said. "I have a headache as it is." "I've got to have music," Kerry said, snapping in a cassette. Pat Benatar started wailing about precious time. Kerry wasn't the most considerate of friends. But Shani didn't complain. The grinding guitar was the lesser of two evils. Constant external distraction was necessary to keep strung-out Kerry from exploding. "I've got to turn off the air conditioning, again," Angie Houston warned...
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...Barron GRE word list - A abase abash abate abbreviate abdicate aberrant aberration abet abeyance abhor abide abject abjure ablution abnegation abode abolish abominable abominate aboriginal abortive abrasive abridge abrogate abscission abscond absolute absolve abstain lower; degrade; humiliate; make humble; make (oneself) lose self-respect embarrass subside or moderate shorten renounce; give up (position, right, or responsibility) abnormal or deviant deviation from the normal; mental disorder assist usually in doing something wrong; encourage suspended action detest; hate Dwell; abide by: comply with; put up with; tolerate; Ex. abide by the rules; Ex. I can't abide rude people. (of a condition) wretched; as low as possible; lacking pride; very humble; showing lack of self-respect; Ex. abject apology renounce upon oath washing renunciation; self-sacrifice; self-abnegation dwelling place; home cancel; put an end to detestable; extremely unpleasant loathe; hate being the first of its kind in a region; primitive; native; indigenous; N. aborigine unsuccessful; fruitless rubbing away; tending to grind down condense or shorten abolish cutting off; separation depart secretly and hide complete; totally unlimited; having complete power; certain; not relative; Ex. absolute honesty/ruler; CF. absolutism pardon (an offense) refrain; withhold from participation; intentionally not use one's vote; abstemious abstinence abstract abstruse abusive abut abysmal abyss academic accede accelerate...
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...Illumine by !Super Cat Book One: Rio Book Two: Paris Book Three: Miami A Vampire Chronicles trilogy. Illumine Book One: Rio by supacat Armand has gone into the sun, which means that I have a story to tell. You may blame Lestat. If you have not read the preceding Vampire Chronicles: experto credite. Armand's first words to me were, "I suppose you too are going to write a novel." My name is David Talbot. I was seventy four years old when I became a vampire, but circumstances, Lestat and a psychic accident deposited me into the body of a much younger man. As a result, I am six feet two inches tall and look approximately twenty six years of age. I am also the former Superior General of the Talamasca, though my current situation has reduced that fact to little more than trivia. I have never been able to discover the identity of the man whose body I inhabit. Oddly, however, it is not a mystery that bothers me. Occasionally I look into a mirror and wonder, but that is all. Once, at the beginning of this whole adventure, I told Lestat that I was grateful for the Dark Gift. "It took you two hundred years to learn that you wanted it," I said to him. "I knew the moment I woke out of the stupor. I knew with every breath I took and with every new colour and shape I saw." I was looking with vampire eyes, as he calls it. I was enamoured with the night, and excited by the prospect of eternal life. I am learning that these emotions are not easily sustained. Not after killing a mortal every...
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...Moshin Hamid The Reluctant Fundamentalist PENGUIN BOOKS THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST ëA fantastic piece of work, superbly considered and controlled, with a lovely stillness and wisdom at its heartí The Times ëMasterful, a multilayered and thoroughly gripping bookí Metro ëAn elegant, artful, haunting novella ñ a deceptively simple narrative that is in fact deeply ambiguousí Observer ëTerrificí New Statesman ëChangezís voice is extraordinary. Cultivated, restrained, yet also barbed and passionateÖ brilliantly written and well worth a readí Seattle Times ëDeeply provocativeÖ rich in irony and intelligenceí Sydney Morning Herald ëSome books are acts of courageÖ Extreme times call for extreme reactions, extreme writing. Hamid has done something extraordinary with this novelí Washington Post ëOne of the strongest books published in Britain this yearí Irish Times ëAn excellent achievementí The News (Pakistan) ëThe tone is spot-onÖ a thoughtful and sophisticated novel that has the courage to wear its political conviction on its sleeveí Time Out ëTaut and absolutely absorbingí Toronto Star ëA truly impressive feat. Hamid pulls it off grandly in a style reminiscent of the Russian mastersí Hindustan Times ëThereís an almost delightful allegorical symmetry to the flow of events, as well as a sensuousness and finish that might belong to some other form of art: music, perhapsÖ The result is a cool equipoise that is not possible in ìreal lifeîÖ but no less moving or true for having achieved...
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...Home Page Title Page LORD OF THE FLIES Contents Page 1 of 290 Go Back Full Screen Close Quit Home Page Title Page LORD OF THE FLIES Contents a novel by WILIAM GOLDING Page 2 of 290 Go Back G LOBAL V ILLAGE C ONTEMPORARY C LASSICS Full Screen Close Quit This e-book was set with the help of KOMAScript and LaTeX Home Page Title Page Contents Page 3 of 290 Go Back Full Screen Close Quit Home Page Title Page Contents Contents 1 The Sound of the Shell 5 2 Fire on the Mountain 42 3 Huts on the Beach 65 4 Painted Faces and Long Hair 80 5 Beast from Water Page 4 of 290 106 Go Back 6 Beast from Air 134 7 Shadows and Tall Trees 155 8 Gift for the Darkness 177 9 A View to a Death 207 Full Screen Close Quit 10 The Shell and the Glasses 221 Home Page 11 Castle Rock 242 12 Cry of the Hunters 262 Title Page Contents Page 5 of 290 Go Back Full Screen Close Quit Home Page 1 The Sound of the Shell Title Page Contents The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat. He was clambering ...
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...Home Page Title Page LORD OF THE FLIES Contents Page 1 of 290 Go Back Full Screen Close Quit Home Page Title Page LORD OF THE FLIES Contents a novel by WILIAM GOLDING Page 2 of 290 Go Back G LOBAL V ILLAGE C ONTEMPORARY C LASSICS Full Screen Close Quit This e-book was set with the help of KOMAScript and LaTeX Home Page Title Page Contents Page 3 of 290 Go Back Full Screen Close Quit Home Page Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The Sound of the Shell Fire on the Mountain Huts on the Beach Painted Faces and Long Hair Beast from Water Beast from Air Shadows and Tall Trees Gift for the Darkness A View to a Death 5 42 65 80 106 Title Page Contents Page 4 of 290 Go Back 134 155 177 207 Quit Full Screen Close 10 The Shell and the Glasses 11 Castle Rock 12 Cry of the Hunters 221 Home Page 242 262 Title Page Contents Page 5 of 290 Go Back Full Screen Close Quit Home Page 1 The Sound of the Shell The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat. He was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like...
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...REBEL ANGELS BY LIBBA BRAY CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHAPTER NINETEEN CHAPTER TWENTY CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE CHAPTER THIRTY CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE CHAPTER FORTY CHAPTER FORTY-ONE CHAPTER FORTY-TWO CHAPTER FORTY-THREE CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE CHAPTER FORTY-SIX CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT CHAPTER FORTY-NINE CHAPTER FIFTY PROLOGUE DECEMBER 7, 1895 HEREIN LIES THE FAITHFUL AND TRUE ACCOUNT OF my last sixty days, by Kartik, brother of Amar, loyal son of the Rakshana, and of the strange visitation I received that has left me wary on this cold English night. To begin at the beginning, I must go back to the middle days of October, after the misfortune that occurred. It was growing colder when I left the woods behind the Spence Academy for Young Ladies. I'd received a letter by falcon from the Rakshana. My presence was required immediately in London. I was to keep off the main roads and be certain I was not followed...
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...A ROOM OF ONES OWN [* This essay is based upon two papers read to the Arts Society at Newnharn and the Odtaa at Girton in October 1928. The papers were too long to be read in full, and have since been altered and expanded.] ONE But, you may say, we asked you to speak about women and fiction--what, has that got to do with a room of one's own? I will try to explain. When you asked me to speak about women and fiction I sat down on the banks of a river and began to wonder what the words meant. They might mean simply a few remarks about Fanny Burney; a few more about Jane Austen; a tribute to the Brontës and a sketch of Haworth Parsonage under snow; some witticisms if possible about Miss Mitford; a respectful allusion to George Eliot; a reference to Mrs Gaskell and one would have done. But at second sight the words seemed not so simple. The title women and fiction might mean, and you may have meant it to mean, women and what they are like, or it might mean women and the fiction that they write; or it might mean women and the fiction that is written about them, or it might mean that somehow all three are inextricably mixed together and you want me to consider them in that light. But when I began to consider the subject in this last way, which seemed the most interesting, I soon saw that it had one fatal drawback. I should never be able to come to a conclusion. I should never be able to fulfil what is, I understand, the first duty of a lecturer to hand you after an hour's discourse a...
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...[Transcriber's Notes] Original "misspellings" such as "fulness" are unchanged. Unfamiliar (to me) words are defined on the right side of the page in square brackets. For example: abstemious diet [abstemious = Eating and drinking in moderation.] The blandness of contemporary (2006) speech would be relieved by the injection of some of these gems: "phraseological quagmire" "Windy speech which hits all around the mark like a drunken carpenter." [End Transcriber's Notes] BY GRENVILLE KLEISER HOW TO BUILD MENTAL POWER A book of thorough training for all the faculties of the mind. Octa cloth, $3.00, net; by mail, $3.16. HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC A practical self-instructor for lawyers, clergymen, teachers, businessmen, and others. Cloth, 543 pages, $1.50. net; by mail, $1.615. HOW TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCE IN SPEECH AND MANNER A book of practical inspiration: trains men to rise above mediocrity and fearthought to their great possibilities. Commended to ambitious men. Cloth. 320 pages, $1.50. net; by mail, $1.65. HOW TO DEVELOP POWER AND PERSONALITY IN SPEAKING Practical suggestions in English, word-building, imagination, memory conversation, and extemporaneous speaking. Cloth, 422 pages, $1.50 net; by mail, $1.65. HOW TO READ AND DECLAIM A course of instruction in reading and declamation which will develop graceful carriage, correct standing, and accurate enunciation; and will furnish abundant exercise in the use of the best examples...
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...INHERITANCE BOOK ONE By Christopher Paolini ALFRED A. KNOPF New York THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF Text copyright © 2003 by Christopher Paolini Illustrations on endpapers copyright © 2002 by Christopher Paolini All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published, in different form, by Paolini International, LLC in 2002. Copyright © 2002 by Christopher Paolini. KNOPF, BORZOI BOOKS, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. www.randomhouse.com/teens LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Paolini, Christopher. Eragon / Christopher Paolini. p. cm. — (Inheritance ; bk. 1) SUMMARY: In Alagaësia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters. eISBN 0-375-89036-X [1. Fantasy. 2. Dragons—Fiction.] I. Title. PZ7.P19535Er 2003 [Fic]—dc21 2003047481 SAPHIRA’S EYE (From the original Front Cover done by the author) This book is dedicated to my mom, for showing me the magic in the world; to my dad, for revealing the man behind the curtain. And also to...
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...1 In memory of Skip and Mary Dickinson For Quintin and Griffin And for Louise Dennys, with thanks ‘Most of you, I am sure, remember the tragic circumstances of the death of Geoffrey Clifton at Gilf Kebir, followed later by the disappearance of his wife, Katharine Clifton, which took place during the 1939 desert expedition in search of Zerzura. “I cannot begin this meeting tonight without referring very sympathetically to those tragic occurrences. “The lecture this evening ...” From the minutes of the Geographical Society meeting of November 194-, London I The Villa SHE STANDS UP in the garden where she has been working and looks into the distance. She has sensed a shift in the weather. There is another gust of wind, a buckle of noise in the air, and the tall cypresses sway. She turns and moves uphill towards the house, climbing over a low wall, feeling the first drops of rain on her bare arms. She crosses the loggia and quickly enters the house. In the kitchen she doesn’t pause but goes through it and climbs the stairs which are in darkness and then continues along the long hall, at the end of which is a wedge of light from an open door. She turns into the room which is another garden—this one made up of trees and bowers painted over its walls and ceiling. The man lies on the bed, his body exposed to the breeze, and he turns his head slowly towards her as she enters. Every four days she washes his black body, beginning at the destroyed feet. She wets a washcloth...
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...1 It was Wang Lung's marriage day. At first, opening his eyes in the blackness of the curtains about his bed, he could not think why the dawn seemed different from any other. The house was still except for the faint, gasping cough of his old father, whose room was opposite to his own across the middle room. Every morning the old man's cough was the first sound to be heard. Wang Lung usually lay listening to it and moved only when he heard it approaching nearer and when he heard the door of his father's room squeak upon its wooden hinges. But this morning he did not wait. He sprang up and pushed aside the curtains of his bed. It was a dark, ruddy dawn, and through a small square hole of a window, where the tattered paper fluttered, a glimpse of bronze sky gleamed. He went to the hole and tore the paper away. "It is spring and I do not need this," he muttered. He was ashamed to say aloud that he wished the house to look neat on this day. The hole was barely large enough to admit his hand and he thrust it out to feel of the air. A small soft wind blew gently from the east, a wind mild and murmurous and full of rain. It was a good omen. The fields needed rain for fruition. There would be no rain this day, but within a few days, if this wind continued, there would be water. It was good. Yesterday he had said to his father that if this brazen, glittering sunshine continued, the wheat could not fill in the ear. Now it was as if Heaven had chosen this day to wish him well. Earth...
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...Praise for the Shiva Trilogy ‘Amish’s mythical imagination mines the past and taps into the possibilities of the future. His book series, archetypal and stirring, unfolds the deepest recesses of the soul as well as our collective consciousness.’ – Deepak Chopra, world-renowned spiritual guru and bestselling author ‘Amish is a fresh new voice in Indian writing – steeped in myth and history, with a fine eye for detail and a compelling narrative style.’ – Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State in the Indian government and celebrated author ‘Furious action jumps off every page.’ – Anil Dharker, renowned journalist and author ‘Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy is already being touted as India’s Lord of the Rings.’ – Hindustan Times ‘…Amish has mastered the art of gathering, interpreting and presenting India’s many myths, folklores and legends, and blending all of that into fast-paced thrillers that change your views about gods, cultures, histories, demons and heroes, forever.’ – Hi Blitz ‘Amish’s Shiva Trilogy has a refreshing storyline… The narration forces you to impatiently turn the page to know what secret is going to be revealed about the “Neelkanth” next.’ – The Telegraph ‘It’s a labour of love... Amish also humanizes his characters, something which most popular Indian writers fail miserably at.’ – Mint ‘Amish’s philosophy of tolerance, his understanding of mythology and his avowed admiration for Shiva are evident in his best-selling works.’ – Verve ‘Tripathi is...
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...Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases 1 Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases Project Gutenberg's Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases, by Greenville Kleiser This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases A Practical Handbook Of Pertinent Expressions, Striking Similes, Literary, Commercial, Conversational, And Oratorical Terms, For The Embellishment Of Speech And Literature, And The Improvement Of The Vocabulary Of Those Persons Who Read, Write, And Speak English Author: Greenville Kleiser Release Date: May 10, 2006 [EBook #18362] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIFTEEN THOUSAND USEFUL PHRASES *** Produced by Don Kostuch [Transcriber's Notes] Original "misspellings" such as "fulness" are unchanged. Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases Unfamiliar (to me) words are defined on the right side of the page in square brackets. For example: abstemious diet [abstemious = Eating and drinking in moderation.] The blandness of contemporary (2006) speech would be relieved by the injection of some of these gems: "phraseological quagmire" "Windy speech which hits all around the mark like a drunken carpenter." [End Transcriber's Notes] BY GRENVILLE KLEISER HOW TO BUILD MENTAL POWER...
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...To Annalena Part One "The Tributes" When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping. I prop myself up on one elbow. There’s enough light in the bedroom to see them. My little sister, Prim, curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother’s body, their cheeks pressed together. In sleep, my mother looks younger, still worn but not so beaten-down. Prim’s face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named. My mother was very beautiful once, too. Or so they tell me. Sitting at Prim’s knees, guarding her, is the world’s ugliest cat. Mashed-in nose, half of one ear missing, eyes the color of rotting squash. Prim named him Buttercup, insisting that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower. I le hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I think he still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home. Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms, crawling with fleas. The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It turned out okay. My mother got rid of the vermin and he’s a born mouser. Even catches the occasional rat. Sometimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me. Entrails...
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