Showing results by narrator "Anna Fields" in All Categories

Ann Patchett’s award winning, New York Times best-selling Bel Canto balances themes of love and crisis as disparate characters learn that music is their only common language. As in Pratchett’s other novels, including Truth & Beauty and The Magician’s Assistant, the author’s lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance.

She’s a fashion model who has everything: a boyfriend, a career, a loyal best friend. But when a sudden freeway "accident" leaves her disfigured and incapable of speech, she goes from being the beautiful center of attention to being an invisible monster, so hideous that no one will acknowledge she exists. Enter Brandy Alexander, Queen Supreme, one operation away from becoming a real woman, who will teach her that reinventing yourself means erasing your past and making up something better. And that salvation hides in the last places you’ll ever want to look.

A child's mind is hungry for knowledge, stimulation, the excitement of learning which school should provide, yet most American schools fall far short. From kindergarten through high school, our public educational system is among the worst in the developed world.

When the first warm breeze of Doomsday came wafting over the Shenandoah Valley, the Sumners were ready. Using their enormous wealth, the family had forged an isolated post holocaust citadel. Their descendants would have everything they needed to raise food and do the scientific research necessary for survival. But the family was soon plagued by sterility, and the creation of clones offered the only answer.

The cloistered grounds of the convent have traditionally represented a place of faith and peace. Now, that peace is shattered as two nuns are found, one dead, one mortally wounded. The killings appear to be without motive, without an obvious suspect, and are further complicated by the murder and mutilation of a third woman. Together, medical examiner Maura Isles and intense, moody homicide detective Jane Rizzoli uncover an ancient horror that connects these terrible slaughters.

Each time he strikes, he takes two victims. He waits for the first victim to be discovered—a body containing all the clues investigators need to find the second victim, who counts the seconds to a slow but certain death. Now two girls have disappeared and the deadly countdown begins again. Rookie FBI agent Kimberly Quincy knows that the killer’s deadline can be met—but she’ll have to break some rules to do it. Joining forces with her father, renowned FBI profiler Pierce Quincy, and his partner, Rainie Conner, Kimberly will begin a dangerous hunt for a predator like none she’s ever seen.

When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation badly and suffer the consequences; or check out Crucial Conversations and discover how to communicate best when it matters most. Crucial Conversations gives you the tools you need to step up to life's most difficult and important conversations, say what's on your mind, and achieve the positive resolutions you want.

Elsie Dinsmore is an endearing 8-year-old girl with several bewildering problems. She has never known her mother, who died when Elsie was a baby, and she longs for a close, loving relationship with her father. He, however, has sent her off to be raised at Roselands, his brother's Southern plantation, where her teacher, Miss Day, harshly criticizes her and her cousins tease her relentlessly.

Come heck or high water, Gracie Snow is determined to drag the legendary ex-jock Bobby Tom Denton back home to Heaven, Texas, to begin shooting his first motion picture. Despite his dazzling good looks and killer charm, Bobby Tom has reservations about being a movie star - and no plans to cooperate with a prim and bossy Ohio wallflower whom he can’t get off his mind or out of his life. Instead, the hell-raising playboy decides to make her over from plain Jane to Texas wildcat.

A gripping, poignant, and masterful courtroom novel, The Best Defense is a major work from one of America's most popular writers.

The Windy City isn't quite ready for Phoebe Somerville - the outrageous, curvaceous New York knockout who has just inherited the Chicago Stars football team. And Phoebe is definitely not prepared for the Stars' head coach Dan Celebow, a sexist jock taskmaster with a one-track mind. Celebow is everything Phoebe abhors. And the sexy new boss is everything Dan despises - a meddling bimbo who doesn't know a pigskin from a pitcher's mound.

If you're like most people, you're probably thoroughly confused when it comes to choosing a weight-loss plan. You've been bombarded by new miracle diets, yet constantly alerted to the health risks associated with these fads. Are carbs bad? Is a high protein diet good? How much fat is really healthy? Should you follow the Mediterranean diet or the Asian diet? Finally, there's a way to ease your concerns and meet your goals: The Fat Flush Plan will show you how to shed unwanted pounds while actually improving your health, and building a bridge between beauty and vitality.

Rachel Stone's bad luck has taken a turn for the worse. With an empty wallet, a car that's spilling smoke, and a five-year-old son to support, she's come home to a town that hates her. But this determined young widow with a scandalous past has learned how to be a fighter. And she'll do anything to keep her child safe.

Dean Robillard is the Chicago Stars' hotshot quarterback. Not only does he have lightening reflexes on the field, he is also utterly gorgeous. First seen in the critically acclaimed Match Me If You Can, Dean is trying to recover (both mentally and physically) from a shoulder injury by taking a road trip. Along the way he meets Blue, a beautiful woman down on her luck, and as they spend more time together their attraction grows.

Annabelle is tired of being the lone failure in a family of overachievers. She's endured dead-end jobs and a broken engagement. But that's going to change now that she's taken over her late grandmother's matchmaking business. All Annabelle has to do is land the Windy City's hottest bachelor as her client, and she'll be the most sought-after matchmaker in town.

When the healer Snake was summoned, she traveled the blasted landscape with her three serpents. From the venom of two of them, she distilled her medicines. But most valued of all was the alien dreamsnake, whose bite could ease the fear and pain of death.

It was that voice, those eyes, that hair, the cars, the girls. Elvis Presley revolutionized American pop culture when, at age 21, he became a modern superstar. A Memphis Beau Brummel even before he found fame, Elvis had a personal style that, like his music, had an immediate impact on his audience that continues to influence us today.

Following in the tradition of the Tao Te Ching, that ancient Chinese classic text on human nature (as well as more popular interpretations, like the best-selling The Tao of Pooh) comes The Tao of Warren Buffett, a compendium of quotes from America's favorite businessman. Buffett's investment strategies and life philosophies are revealed in this collection of sayings, some of which have never been heard before. Warren Buffett can teach us all a few secrets of success.

Tracks is a tale of passion and deep unrest. Over the course of ten crucial years, as tribal land and trust between people erode ceaselessly, men and women are pushed to the brink of their endurance—yet their pride and humor prohibit surrender. The listener will experience shock and pleasure in encountering characters that are compelling and rich in their vigor, clarity, and indomitable vitality.

Beryl Markham, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west, describes her childhood on a farm in Kenya, her apprenticeship as a horse trainer, and her later career as a pioneer aviator who piloted passengers and supplies in a small plane to remote corners of Africa.