Powerful, off-beat stories about women living in the shadow of the now-frozen, now-thawing war in Ukraine Out of the impoverished coal regions of Ukraine known as the Donbass, where Russian secret military intervention coexists with banditry and insurgency, the women of Yevgenia Belorusets’s captivating collection of stories emerge from the ruins of a war, still being waged on and off, ever since the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. Through a series of unexpected encounters, we are pulled into the ordinary lives of these anonymous women: a florist, a cosmetologist, card players, readers of horoscopes, the unemployed, and a witch who catches newborns with a mitt. One refugee tries unsuccessfully to leave her broken umbrella behind as if it were a sick relative; a private caregiver in a disputed zone saves her elderly charge from the angel of death; a woman sits down on International Women’s Day and can no longer stand up; a soldier decides to marry war. Belorusets threads these tales of ebullient survival with a mix of humor, verisimilitude, the undramatic, and a profound Gogolian irony. She also weaves in twenty-three photographs that, in lyrical and historical counterpoint, form their own remarkable visual narrative.
"Eleven is much more intrepid than only ten." On the eve of her eleventh birthday, Lucky wants to let loose and become intrepid; she's ready for life to change. But Hard Pan (population 43) drones on like it always has: Lincoln all tied up in knotty matters, Miles newly diagnosed as a genius but as needy as ever, Brigitte running her Café and trying to figure out what it means to be American. Enter Paloma, tagging along on a visit to Hard Pan with a pack of hungry geologists. She's smart and pretty and fun -- definitely best-friend material. But will Lucky be able to cope with tomato worms, Short Sammy's mysterious box, the potential for disaster when Paloma's parents visit Hard Pan, and Lincoln's fame among knot tyers of the world? Lucky's intrepidness is put to the test in this satisfying sequel to the Newbery Award-winning The Higher Power of Lucky.
Former volleyball player Kirk Kilgour is awakened from an intense dream about his earlier life by the Northridge earthquake. Kirk, a high-level quadriplegic as the result of a training accident, is trapped in his bed until help arrives to clear debris from his room and begin the difficult four hour process of getting him ready for the day. The forty-seven-year-old man had been a college All-American before becoming a professional volleyball player who was living in Italy with his wife at the time of the injury. In the first days after his life changed forever, he decided to become "the best quadriplegic in the world." Although he loses his career, his wife, and the use of most of his body, he lives a life with no regrets, one in which he chooses happiness each day. Belinda is a forty-six-year-old divorced mother of three and self-professed sports junkie. Although content with her life in Vail, Colorado, she desires what she has never known-a man worthy of her love. Belinda learns of Kirk through her friendship with his nephew, who tells her that his uncle is a professional broadcaster who might possibly be looking for a new attendant to accompany him to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Although she has no background in personal health care, Belinda becomes obsessed with the idea of working for Kirk at the Olympics, and she pursues the idea for a year. A telephone meeting is finally arranged between the two, and after some thought Kirk invites her to Los Angeles to train as his attendant. Belinda is initially excited about the trip but then begins to wonder about the wisdom of her idea. When she meets Kirk in person, she is taken aback by his appearance because all she can see is the power wheelchair. Kirk, smitten with Belinda from the start and always the competitor, decides that he will win her affection. Kirk has a way of making people quickly forget about the disability. When Belinda sees Kirk out of the wheelchair for the first time, she begins to regard him as a man, a very handsome man.
A long standing family curse. Two feuding families. Can love turn both of their lives around? Jason Corwin knows he should resist his attraction to Lauren Perkins. After all, it was one of her ancestors who came up with the curse that has plagued every Corwin male to misery and the single life. But after one night of mind-blowing sex with his supposed—and very seductive—enemy, he can't bring himself to stay away. All Lauren wants is to sell her late grandmother's old house and leave the past behind forever. But that's not an easy thing to do with gorgeous contractor Jason Corwin whispering sweet, sexy somethings in her ear. About staying. Can she be the lucky break that Jason needs? Correct Series Order: Lucky Charm Lucky Streak Lucky Break *Each book stands alone!
When Molly Mac loses her "lucky" pencil, she starts to panic. She needs her pencil to create a drawing for the school's art show. Just when her luck is running out, things get even worse. Will Molly be able to enter the art contest? She needs good luck, and fast!
In this thrilling new novella from the New York Times bestselling author of Blood Games, vampire Merit bites off more than she bargained for when a romantic trip to a secluded Colorado town turns deadly. Merit and Ethan are in desperate need of some alone time, far from the worries of Cadogan House, but trouble tends to follow wherever they go. Their attempt at a romantic getaway is quickly interrupted when one of Ethan’s vampire friends shows up at their door—covered in blood and accused of killing her shifter husband. Merit and her Master soon discover their vacation spot is far less idyllic than it appears. A centuries old quarrel between local vampires and shifters has made the town a perpetual supernatural battle zone, and this fresh blood has stirred the already volatile pot. Now, Merit and Ethan must put their passion on pause to figure out who’s really responsible for the murder before all hell breaks loose… Includes an exclusive preview of the next Chicagoland Vampires novel, Dark Debt Praise for the series “Wonderful entertainment.”--#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris “Will appeal to fans of Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse and Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake.”—Library Journal “A wonderfully compelling reluctant vampire heroine.”—USA Today bestselling author Julie Kenner Chloe Neill was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling Chicagoland Vampires series, including Dark Debt, Blood Games, and Wild Things. When not transcribing Merit’s adventures, she bakes, works, and scours the Internet for good recipes and great graphic design. Chloe also maintains her sanity by spending time with her boys—her photographer husband and their dogs, Baxter and Scout.
"Clever, quippy dialogue and enjoyable first-person voice make the sassy, inner-monologuing Lucy a pleasure of a protagonist...A sweet, sincere look at the complexities of female friendship between competitive athletes. This book tackles a lot and scores at every turn." —Booklist Seventeen-year-old Lucy "Lucky" Graves is devoted to her championship rugby team, but her dreams of a scholarship are destroyed when she breaks her ankle during an important game. If it doesn't heal properly, Lucy could be benched for the rest of the year. Goodbye pro career, goodbye college, goodbye future. Without rugby, who is she? Now her anxiety and OCD are getting worse, and a past trauma has resurfaced to haunt her. Lucy needs to stop running from her past to discover what it really means to be a team player.
Max Gunther's lost classic, now in a new Classics edition. Some people think you're either born lucky or not. But what if you could actively get lucky? As Max Gunther shows in this page-turning classic, some people really are luckier than others - and not by accident. Lucky people arrange their lives in characteristic patterns. They tend to position themselves in the path of onrushing luck; they tend to go where events are moving fastest and where they can find their lucky break Lucky people take risks but not silly ones. They stick with a cause, a job, or a partner, but not when all hope is lost. In short, they move with life, not against it. This book gives you 13 different techniques by which you can discover and take advantage of life's good breaks, while minimising the effects of its bad ones.
Leon’s twin, Lenny, had the best imagination in the world. He could do a back flip from a standing start and tell rude jokes nonstop for hours. But a year ago Lenny died, and Leon's family hasn't been the same since. When a new boy, Arnold, starts at Leon's school, he has no idea what to think: Arnold doesn’t understand jokes, sarcasm is lost on him and he can be completely blunt. Leon has never met anyone like Arnold before, and an unlikely friendship blossoms. Before long things start to get seriously bonkers, and the two boys are breaking windows, accidentally holding up a bank and getting arrested after a disagreement with a baguette. But amidst all this madness, can Awkward Arnold actually help Leon to sort his life out?