Non-Fiction

The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow

$21.95

Based on the extraordinary final lecture by Carnegie Mellon University professor Pausch, given after he discovered he had pancreatic cancer, this moving book goes beyond the now-famous lecture to inspire readers to live each day with purpose and joy.

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

David Sheff

$24.00

Sheff's story is a first: a teenager's addiction from the parent's point of view--a real-time chronicle of the shocking descent into substance abuse and the gradual emergence into hope. Before meth, Sheff's son Nic was a varsity athlete, honor student, and award-winning journalist. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who stole money from his eight-year-old brother and lived on the streets. With haunting candor, Sheff traces the first subtle warning signs, the denial (by both child and parents), the three A.M. phone calls (is it Nic? the police? the hospital?), the attempts at rehab, and, at last, the way past addiction. He shows us that, whatever an addict's fate, the rest of the family must care for each other too, lest they become addicted to addiction. Meth is the fastest-growing drug in the United States, as well as the most addictive and the most dangerous--wreaking permanent brain damage faster than any other readily available drug. It has invaded every region and demographic in America. This book is the first that treats meth and its impact in depth. But it is not just about meth. Nic's addiction has wrought the same damage that any addiction will wreak. His story, and his father's, are those of any family that contains an addict--and one in three American families does.

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Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace

Kurt Vonnegut

$24.95

The first and only collection of unpublished works by Kurt Vonnegut since his death, a fitting tribute to the author, and an essential contribution to the discussion of war, peace, and humanity's tendency toward violence.
"Armageddon in Retrospect" is a collection of twelve new and unpublished writings on war and peace. Imbued with Vonnegutas trademark rueful humor, the pieces range from a visceral nonfiction recollection of the destruction of Dresden during World War IIaan essay that is as timely today as it was thenato a painfully funny short story about three Army privates and their fantasies of the perfect first meal upon returning home from war, to a darker, more poignant story about the impossibility of shielding our children from the temptations of violence. Also included are Vonnegutas last speech as well as an assortment of his artwork, and an introduction by the authoras son, Mark Vonnegut. "Armageddon in Retrospect" says as much about the times in which we live as it does about the genius of the writer.

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More Non Fiction Books

Young Adult

Before I Die

Jenny Downham

$15.99

Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It's her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of 'normal' life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa's feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before Tessa's time finally runs out.

Spanking Shakespeare

Jake Wizner

$15.99

Shakespeare Sharpiro has always hated his name. His parents bestowed it on him as some kind of sick joke when he was born, and his life has gone downhill from there, one embarrassing incident after another. Entering his senior year of high school, Shakespeare has never had a girlfriend, his younger brother is cooler than he is, and his best friend's favorite topic of conversation is his bowel movements.
But Shakespeare will have the last laugh. He is chronicling every mortifying detail in his memoir, the writing project each senior at Shakespeare's high school must complete. And he is doing it brilliantly. And, just maybe, a prize-winning memoir will bring him respect, admiration, and a girlfriend . . . or at least a prom date.

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Carpe Diem

Autumn Cornwell

$16.95

Take a traveler as reluctant as Anne Tyler's accidental tourist and add the number of misadventures found in "The Out-of-Towners, " and you have the recipe for Cornwell's hilarious, adventure-packed first novel. Valedictorian hopeful Vassar Spore has her summer all planned out when her bohemian grandmother somehow blackmails her Type A parents into letting her take Vassar backpacking through Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos. So instead of enrolling in AP courses in summer school, Vassar finds herself hiking through jungles with Grandma Gerd and an Asian cowboy chaperone, and battling food poisoning, venom-carrying critters and primitive tribes (one of which holds Vassar hostage). The more humiliations and unwanted surprises Vassar endures, the more likable she becomes, shedding pride and primness along with her obsessive reliance on routine. Her rapid succession of crises, while jaw-dropping, appears more plausible than the family secret that is revealed bit by bit during the course of their travels. Although readers will probably figure out the mystery long before the protagonist does, the exotic settings and the wacky predicaments will exercise a strong enough grip to hold readers' imaginations.

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More Young Adult's Books

Fiction

The God Of Animals

Aryn Kyle

$14.00

From an award-winning and talented young novelist comes one of the most exciting fiction debuts in years: a breathtaking and beautiful novel set on a horse ranch in small-town Colorado.

When her older sister runs away to marry a rodeo cowboy, Alice Winston is left to bear the brunt of her family's troubles -- a depressed, bedridden mother; a reticent, overworked father; and a run-down horse ranch. As the hottest summer in fifteen years unfolds and bills pile up, Alice is torn between dreams of escaping the loneliness of her duty-filled life and a longing to help her father mend their family and the ranch.

To make ends meet, the Winstons board the pampered horses of rich neighbors, and for the first time Alice confronts the power and security that class and wealth provide. As her family and their well-being become intertwined with the lives of their clients, Alice is drawn into an adult world of secrets and hard truths, and soon discovers that people -- including herself -- can be cruel, can lie and cheat, and every once in a while, can do something heartbreaking and selfless. Ultimately, Alice and her family must weather a devastating betrayal and a shocking, violent series of events that will test their love and prove the power of forgiveness.

A wise and astonishing novel about the different guises of love and the often steep tolls on the road to adulthood, "The God of Animals" is a haunting, unforgettable debut.

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The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation

Elizabeth Berg

$23.00

Exhilarating short stories of women breaking free from convention
Every now and then, right in the middle of an ordinary day, a woman rebels, kicks up her heels, and commits a small act of liberation.
What would you do, if you were going to break out and away? Go AWOL from Weight Watchers and spend an entire day eating every single thing you want-and then some? Start a dating service for people over fifty to reclaim the razzle-dazzle in your life-or your marriage? Seek comfort in the face of aging, look for love in the midst of loss, find friendship in the most surprising of places?
Imagine that the people in these wonderful stories-who do all of these things and more-are asking you: What would you do, if nobody was looking?

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The Camel Bookmobile

Masha Hamilton

$13.95

Fiona Sweeney wants to do something that matters, and she chooses to make her mark in the arid bush of northeastern Kenya. By helping to start a traveling library, she hopes to bring the words of Homer, Hemingway, and Dr. Seuss to far-flung tiny communities where people live daily with drought, hunger, and disease. Her intentions are honorable, and her rules are firm: due to the limited number of donated books, if any one of them is not returned, the bookmobile will not return.

But, encumbered by her Western values, Fi does not understand the people she seeks to help. And in the impoverished small community of Mididima, she finds herself caught in the middle of a volatile local struggle when the bookmobile's presence sparks a dangerous feud between the proponents of modernization and those who fear the loss of traditional ways.

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More Fiction Books

A Carolyn pick!

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature

Robin Brande

$15.99

Mena's year is starting off in the worst way possible. Her best friend hates her and no one will talk to her except for Casey, her supersmart lab partner. When their science class begins studying evolution, school becomes more dramatic that Mena could ever imagine.

Billie Standish Was Here

Nancy Crocker

$16.99

As relentless rain raises the nearby river, Billie thinks she and her parents are the only people staying in their town and face the threat of flood. They are--except for their elderly neighbor Miss Lydia. Billie forms a friendship with Miss Lydia born out of circumstance, but when Billie faces tragedy, Miss Lydia takes matters into her own hands.

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Love is a Many Trousered Thing

Louise Rennison

$16.99

In this eighth entry of this bestselling series, Georgia thought life was hard when her only worry was whether Masimo would choose her over Wet Lindsay. But then Dave the Laugh starts acting strange--and everything is turned upside-down when Robbie the Sex God returns.

It Had to Be You: Gossip Girl Prequel

Cecily Von Ziegesar Handler

$17.99

Taking place over their sophomore year, "It Had to Be You" unveils the secrets behind the hot and sultry summer that Blair, Serena, and Nates love triangle begins--and theres a lot more to this story than anyone realizes, in this hotly anticipated prequel to the #1 "New York Times" bestselling series and hot new televeisioon series.

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Children's

Gallop!

Rufus Butler Seder

$12.95

There's never before been a book like "Gallop!" Employing a patented new technology called Scanimation, each page is a marvel that brings animals, along with one shining star, to life with art that literally moves. It's impossible not to flip the page, and flip it again, and again, and again.
A first book of motion for kids, it shows a horse in full gallop and a turtle swimming up the page. A dog runs, a cat springs, an eagle soars, and a butterfly flutters. Created by Rufus Butler Seder, an inventor, artist, and filmmaker fascinated by antique optical toys, Scanimation is a state-of-the-art six-phase animation process that combines the "persistence of vision" principle with a striped acetate overlay to give the illusion of movement. It harkens back to the old magical days of the kinetoscope, and the effect is astonishing, like a Muybridge photo series springing into action--or, in terms kids can relate to, like a video without a screen. Complementing the art is a delightful rhyming text full of simple questions and fun, nonsense replies: "Can you gallop like a horse? giddyup-a-loo! Can you strut like a rooster? cock-a-doodle-doo!"
Every child who opens the book will be amazed--and so will every parent.

George's Secret Key to the Universe

Lucy & Stephen Hawking

$17.99

In his first book for children, the worlds preeminent theoretical physicist and author of "A Brief History of Time" teams with his daughter for a tale of a boy who befriends a computer that helps him to travel to other planets and a black hole. Includes four 8-page full-color inserts of scientific photos.

More Children's Books

The Girl's Book: How to be the Best at Everything

Juliana Foster

$9.99

How to do almost anything in one handy little book!
Want to be known for your unique style? Inside you'll learn how to design your own clothes (p. 35), do the perfect manicure (p. 82), or make your own lip gloss (p. 11).
Feel like impressing your friends? Show them how you can make a crystal (p. 16), juggle one-handed (p. 33), or deal with a bully (p. 42).
Bored and need something to do? Not anymore when you find out how to keep a secret diary (p. 88), make a scrapbook (p. 9), or put together a dance routine (p. 24).
And tons of other neat-o things you need to know how to do!

Candyfloss

Jaqueline Wilson

$14.95

Floss's parents split up when she was younger and she now divides up her week, spending five days with her mum, her mum's new boyfriend and her new baby half-brother. The other two days Floss spends with her dad, helping him to run his greasy spoon cafe. But then their simple arrangement is thrown into disarray when Floss's mum decides to move to Australia for six months. Floss has to choose whether to go with her or stay with her dad. Another gripping and emotionally involving slice of family life from the award-winning, bestselling author, Jacqueline Wilson.