Life Fiction

A writer who's blocked - I'm a total cliche. Lucky for me, my agent has a cure that's an even bigger stereotype - a month at her villa in Tuscany, with nothing to do but find my muse. When he walks right in the front door, adorable son in tow, it feels like fate has finally done for me what it does for every other cliched girl I've seen in the movies. Except that he's completely off-limits. In this case, business and pleasure can never mix. Because Claudio is my agent's ex.

When Dumbledore arrives at Privet Drive one summer night to collect Harry Potter, his wand hand is blackened and shrivelled, but he does not reveal why. Secrets and suspicion are spreading through the wizarding world, and Hogwarts itself is not safe. Harry is convinced that Malfoy bears the Dark Mark: there is a Death Eater amongst them. Harry will need powerful magic and true friends as he explores Voldemort's darkest secrets, and Dumbledore prepares him to face his destiny...

In this superb novel - an Oprah Book Club selection - a woman re-creates her life after divorce by opening up her house to strangers and her heart to the simple miracle of possibility.

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

The Weirdie Triplets and Miss Emily are settling into Deadeye Manor when, against all logic, their parents return from the dead! Even worse, they want Barnacle, Melancholy and Garlic back, sparking a truly unusual effort to prove that Miss Emily is the best parent for them. Will the family get justice? Will the triplets succeed in their ridiculous fundraisers to pay for the lawyer? Why are there so many raccoons in the courtroom?

Bronte Mettlestone is 10 years old when her parents are killed by pirates. This does not bother her particularly: Her parents ran away to have adventures when she was a baby. She has been raised by her aunt Isabelle, with assistance from the butler, and has spent a pleasant childhood of afternoon teas and riding lessons. Now, however, her parents have left detailed instructions for Bronte in their will. (Instructions that, annoyingly, have been reinforced with faery cross-stitch, which means that if she doesn't complete them, terrible things could happen!)

The Boy lives in a cottage with his mother and father, and the Dragon lives in a cave on the Downs. The Boy is his only friend. The Dragon is not at all the sort of Dragon one might expect to meet, however: he's polite and friendly.

« J’ai chaud, j’ai la tête qui tourne et je sens la fameuse petite boule se former dans ma poitrine. Aaaah !!! Pas encore ! Je sais que c’est ridicule, que c’est juste un party et que ce n’est pas la fin du monde, mais mon anxiété s’en fout, elle, de ce que je pense. Elle m’écrase tranquillement, sournoisement, juste assez pour que je sois obligée de m’asseoir sur un banc pour reprendre mon souffle.

The Nasr family is spread across the globe - Beirut, Brooklyn, Austin, the California desert. A Syrian mother, a Lebanese father, and three American children: all have lived a life of migration. Still, they’ve always had their ancestral home in Beirut - a constant touchstone - and the complicated, messy family love that binds them. But following his father's recent death, Idris, the family's new patriarch, has decided to sell. The decision brings the family to Beirut, where everyone unites against Idris in a fight to save the house.

Sawyer Matthews has become a master at doing awful things with good intentions, terrible things for the sake of those who need her. She's long given up on being the hero, trying to find peace in no longer being the villain. When her past comes back and she finds herself caught by the International Magi Police Organization, she'll have to revisit her own personal hells and finally confront the very monster that made her what she is. The very monster that has already killed her once before.

Après avoir été en froid avec mes amis et m’être attiré les foudres de Chloé, l’ex-reine incontestée de l’école, je viens encore de me mettre royalement les pieds dans les plats ! J’ai réussi à me disputer avec ceux qui comptent le plus pour moi : ma sœur Coralie, mon «grand frère» J-P et Sophie-Rose, ma meilleure amie. Maintenant, ils m’ignorent et m’en veulent tous à mort. En essayant de ne plus être la fille qui sourit et dit oui à tout sans broncher, je ne suis parvenue qu’à blesser ceux que j’aime et me retrouver (presque) tout e seule.

For 14-year-old Wallis Ann Stamper and her family, life in the Appalachian Mountains is simple and satisfying, though not for the tenderhearted. While her older sister, Laci - a mute, musically gifted savant - is constantly watched over and protected, Wallis Ann is as practical and sturdy as her name. When the Tuckasegee River bursts its banks, forcing them to flee in the middle of the night, those qualities save her life. But though her family is eventually reunited, the tragedy opens Wallis Ann's eyes to a world beyond the creek that's borne their name for generations.

In a North Carolina mountain town filled with moonshine and rotten husbands, Sadie Blue is only the latest girl to face a dead-end future at the mercy of a dangerous drunk. She's been married to Roy Tupkin for 15 days, and she knows now that she should have listened to the folks who said he was trouble. But when a stranger sweeps in and knocks the world off-kilter for everyone in town, Sadie begins to think there might be more to life than being Roy's wife.

In their fifth exploit, Sabrina and Daphne Grimm are on their own while investigating the theft of enchanted items from the Ever Afters. And if they don't solve the case, the villain behind the crimes will unleash chaos upon the residents of Ferryport Landing.

Amour, anxiété, fous rires, larmes et jalousie : attache ta ceinture, car ce sont des montagnes russes d’émotions qui t’attendent dans ce tome-ci !

Pearl Tull is nearing the end of her life but not of her memory. It was a Sunday night in 1944 when her husband left the little row house on Baltimore's Calvert Street, abandoning Pearl to raise their three children alone: Jenny, high-spirited and determined, nurturing to strangers but distant to those she loves; the older son, Cody, a wild and incorrigible youth possessed by the lure of power and money; and sweet, clumsy Ezra, Pearl's favorite, who never stops yearning for the perfect family that could never be his own. Now Pearl and her three grown children have gathered....

A Signature Performance: Leelee Sobieski’s Emma is sultry but vulnerable, offering a sympathetic rendering of the heroine and her plight, allowing the listener to draw his own conclusions about Madame Bovary in this cautionary tale of love, passion, and desperation.

Max was murdered, but now he is mostly over it. Living on earth as a recent college graduate, he can still perfectly recall his past life on Albion, a sword and sorcery world. He'd been hailed as the "Hero of the World" after crawling his way up from poverty, eventually enjoying great fame and luxury. But on mana-starved Earth, he's just a guy.

Grier Woolworth spends her nights weaving spooky tales of lost souls and tragedies for tourists on the streets of downtown Savannah. Hoop skirt and parasol aside, it's not a bad gig. The pay is crap, but the tips keep the lights on in her personal haunted mansion and her pantry stocked with ramen. Life is about as normal as it gets for an ex-necromancer hiding among humans - until the society that excommunicated Grier offers her a second chance at being more than ordinary. Too bad no one warned her the trouble with being extraordinary is it can get you killed.

Luke Garner has spent his entire life - all 12 years - in hiding. The government has outlawed families with more than two children. As the Garners' third child, Luke's very life is in danger. When Luke meets Jen, another "shadow child," he begins to question the government's policies.