A Matter of Rats
A Matter of Rats

Author: Amitava Kumar

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2014-03-10

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0822376458

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

It is not only the past that lies in ruins in Patna, it is also the present. But that is not the only truth about the city that Amitava Kumar explores in this vivid, entertaining account of his hometown. We accompany him through many Patnas, the myriad cities locked within the city—the shabby reality of the present-day capital of Bihar; Pataliputra, the storied city of emperors; the dreamlike embodiment of the city in the minds and hearts of those who have escaped contemporary Patna's confines. Full of fascinating observations and impressions, A Matter of Rats reveals a challenging and enduring city that exerts a lasting pull on all those who drift into its orbit. Kumar's ruminations on one of the world's oldest cities, the capital of India's poorest province, are also a meditation on how to write about place. His memory is partial. All he has going for him is his attentiveness. He carefully observes everything that surrounds him in Patna: rats and poets, artists and politicians, a girl's picture in a historian's study, and a sheet of paper on his mother's desk. The result is this unique book, as cutting as it is honest.

The Rat Catcher and Other Stories
The Rat Catcher and Other Stories

Author: Vic Parker

Publisher: Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP

Published: 2015-07-15

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 1482431033

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What could be more terrifying than a city crawling with rats? In “The Ratcatcher,” a story eerily similar to the legend of the Piped Piper, readers are taken to an old German town where that’s exactly the problem. However, by the end of the tale, it’s not just the rats that have disappeared—it’s all the town’s children! This and other terrible tales are accompanied by full-color images and illustrations that add some beauty to otherwise dark literary worlds. The fire of readers’ imaginations will be lit as they encounter unforgettable storytelling in "Gold-tree and Silver-tree," "The Devil and his Grandmother," and "The King Who Would See Paradise."

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

Author: Terry Pratchett

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2009-10-06

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 006197515X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“An astonishing novel. Were Terry Pratchett not demonstratively a master craftsman already, The Amazing Maurice might be considered his masterpiece.” —Neil Gaiman The Amazing Maurice runs the perfect Pied Piper scam. This streetwise alley cat knows the value of cold, hard cash and can talk his way into and out of anything. But when Maurice and his cohorts decide to con the town of Bad Blinitz, it will take more than fast talking to survive the danger that awaits. For this is a town where food is scarce and rats are hated, where cellars are lined with deadly traps, and where a terrifying evil lurks beneath the hunger-stricken streets.... Set in bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett's beloved Discworld, this masterfully crafted, gripping read is both compelling and funny. When one of the world's most acclaimed fantasy writers turns a classic fairy tale on its head, no one will ever look at the Pied Piper—or rats—the same way again! This book’s feline hero was first mentioned in the Discworld novel Reaper Man and stars in the movie version of his adventure, The Amazing Maurice, featuring David Tenant, Emma Clarke, Hamish Patel, and Hugh Laurie. Fans of Maurice will relish the adventures of Tiffany Aching, starting with The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky! Carnegie Medal Winner * ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults * New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age * VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror * Book Sense Pick

The Ratcatcher's Daughter
The Ratcatcher's Daughter

Author: Pamela Rushby

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2014-04-01

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1743099762

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A remarkable story about a little-known tragedy in Australian history. It's 1900. thirteen-year-old Issy McKelvie leaves school and starts her first job - very reluctantly - as a maid in an undertaking establishment. She thinks this is about as low as you can go. But there's worse to come. Issy becomes an unwilling rat-catcher when the plague - the Black Death - arrives in Australia. Issy loathes both rats and her father's four yappy, snappy, hyperactive rat-killing terriers. But when her father becomes ill it's up to Issy to join the battle to rid the city of the plague-carrying rats. 'A brilliant and richly evocative insight into a fascinating and little-known aspect of our past.' -- Jackie French, Australian Children's Laureate.

The Rat Catchers' Olympics
The Rat Catchers' Olympics

Author: Colin Cotterill

Publisher: Soho Press

Published: 2017-08-15

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 161695826X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow is already rife with controversy, but when a Lao athlete is accused of murder, it escalates into a full blown international incident. In the twelfth entry to the series, Dr. Siri Paiboun and his quirky team of misfits are on the case in a city and country foreign to them, yet familiar in its corruption of justice. 1980: The People’s Democratic Republic of Laos is proud to be competing in its first-ever Olympics. Of course, half the world is boycotting the Moscow Summer Olympic Games to protest the Soviet Union’s recent invasion of Afghanistan, but that has made room for athletes from countries that are usually too small or underfunded to be competitive—like Laos. Ex-national coroner of Laos Dr. Siri Paiboun may be retired, but he and his wife, Madame Daeng, would do just about anything to have a chance to visit Moscow, so Siri finagles them a trip by getting them hired as medical advisers to the Olympians. Most of the athletes are young and innocent village people who have never worn running shoes, much less imagined anything as marvelous as the Moscow Olympic Village. As the competition heats up, however, Siri begins to suspect that one of the athletes is not who he says he is. Fearing a conspiracy, Siri and his friends investigate, liaising in secret with Inspector Phosy back home in Laos to see if the man might be an assassin. Siri’s progress is derailed when a Lao Olympian is accused of murder. Now in the midst of a murky international incident, Dr. Siri must navigate not one but two paranoid government machines to make sure justice is done.

Free Rent
Free Rent

Author: B. D. Rasmussen

Publisher: ArchwayPublishing

Published: 2013-11-21

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1480803626

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In its entire history—from the Roman Legions to Hitler and Stalin—the small Eastern European country of Eden-on-Danube has never been considered desirable enough to be properly pillaged and plundered by a superpower. As the country teeters on bankruptcy, the government decides its only chance for economic salvation is to create a royalty-for-a-week program and rent out their country to tourists. Guests come from all over. Jana Stanczak, a victim of the Great Recession, has just won the Mega-Zillions Lottery in Florida and now has a chance to honor a promise made to her great-grandmother. The Thakkars, born into the lowest caste in India, have built the world’s largest steel empire; now they have an opportunity to escape a soul-crushing daily existence. Rebecca Adebayo, desperate to flee sectarian violence in Nigeria, thinks there may be no better place to hide than in a country no one else knows exists. As each guest arrives in Eden-on-Danube, the country and its citizens are grateful for the tourism income. But everything changes when a native of Eden-on-Danube returns to her homeland to visit a friend, causing the country’s citizens to question their choices. In this quirky, amusing tale, daily apathy meets dynamic change as a country welcomes visitors who may have more power than they ever realized.

Devil-Land
Devil-Land

Author: Clare Jackson

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2021-09-30

Total Pages: 542

ISBN-13: 0141984589

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

*WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2022* A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021, AS CHOSEN BY THE TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, TELEGRAPH AND TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT 'A big historical advance. Ours, it turns out, is a very un-insular "Island Story". And its 17th-century chapter will never look quite the same again' John Adamson, Sunday Times A ground-breaking portrait of the most turbulent century in English history Among foreign observers, seventeenth-century England was known as 'Devil-Land': a diabolical country of fallen angels, torn apart by seditious rebellion, religious extremism and royal collapse. Clare Jackson's dazzling, original account of English history's most turbulent and radical era tells the story of a nation in a state of near continual crisis. As an unmarried heretic with no heir, Elizabeth I was regarded with horror by Catholic Europe, while her Stuart successors, James I and Charles I, were seen as impecunious and incompetent. The traumatic civil wars, regicide and a republican Commonwealth were followed by the floundering, foreign-leaning rule of Charles II and his brother, James II, before William of Orange invaded England with a Dutch army and a new order was imposed. Devil-Land reveals England as, in many ways, a 'failed state': endemically unstable and rocked by devastating events from the Gunpowder Plot to the Great Fire of London. Catastrophe nevertheless bred creativity, and Jackson makes brilliant use of eyewitness accounts - many penned by stupefied foreigners - to dramatize her great story. Starting on the eve of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and concluding with a not-so 'Glorious Revolution' a hundred years later, Devil-Land is a spectacular reinterpretation of England's vexed and enthralling past.

The Heart Collector
The Heart Collector

Author: Melinda Salisbury

Publisher: Scholastic UK

Published: 2017-05-04

Total Pages: 99

ISBN-13: 1407181408

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

If you've ever wondered what happened to the Bringer after the end of THE SIN EATER'S DAUGHTER, then wonder no more. Dark, beautiful and as bewitching as the rest of Melinda Salisbury's world, THE HEART COLLECTOR is a stunning short story that will swiftly have you under its wickedly addictive spell.