I grew up in a Catholic family. A daughter of a Catholic Cop. While we went to church each Sunday, we never discussed the Mass on the ride and never discussed it on the ride home. The ride to Church often included Annie hollering for us to get in the car, and many times the ride included arguing, tension, and fights. I never remember my dad going with us. Well, except for that Easter Sunday when my green outfit with yellow Knee-High Socks got ruined. Typically, just my mother, brother, and sister. We were obedient Catholic kids during Mass. Images were important to Annie. We knew when to sit, stand, and kneel. When I knelt for prayer during Mass, I would always peek out to see if others were also peeking or following form. You could say that the outcome of my childhood memories of Catholic church included a tense ride to mass, mastery of Sit, Stand, Kneel, leaving mass early to beat the exiting drivers, racing home, and never speaking of the service.

One of the strangest disasters in U.S. history is brought to vivid life in this graphic novel adaptation of Lauren Tarshis's bestselling I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919, with text adapted by Georgia Ball and art by Karen De La Vega. It's been four years since Carmen and Papa moved from Italy to Boston. Life here is exciting, but not always easy. And then there's the massive metal tank that rises up over their crowded North End neighborhood. The ugly tank, filled with sticky brown molasses, has always leaked. But nobody imagined that it could one day explode apart, sending a tsunami of molasses into the streets. Caught in the flood, Carmen must fight for her life -- the life that she and Papa built together in America. But where will she find the strength? Lauren Tarshis's New York Times bestselling I Survived series comes to vivid life in graphic novel editions. Perfect for readers who prefer the graphic novel format, or for existing fans of the I Survived chapter book series, these graphic novels combine historical facts with high-action storytelling that's sure to keep any reader turning the pages. Includes a nonfiction section at the back with facts and photos about the real-life event.

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE In The Feast of the Goat, this 'masterpiece of Latin American and world literature, and one of the finest political novels ever written' (Bookforum), Mario Vargas Llosa recounts the end of a regime and the birth of a terrible democracy, giving voice to the historical Trujillo and the victims, both innocent and complicit, drawn into his deadly orbit. Haunted all her life by feelings of terror and emptiness, forty-nine-year-old Urania Cabral returns to her native Dominican Republic - and finds herself reliving the events of l961, when the capital was still called Trujillo City and one old man terrorized a nation of three million. Rafael Trujillo, the depraved ailing dictator whom Dominicans call the Goat, controls his inner circle with a combination of violence and blackmail. In Trujillo's gaudy palace, treachery and cowardice have become a way of life. But Trujillo's grasp is slipping. There is a conspiracy against him, and a Machiavellian revolution already underway that will have bloody consequences of its own. "A fierce, edgy and enthralling book ... Mr. Vargas Llosa has pushed the boundaries of the traditional historical novel, and in doing so has written a book of harrowing power and lasting resonance."--The New York Times

Sacrifice, Captivity and Escape is an exceptional story. Peter Jackson was young and recently married when he was drafted into the army at the start of World War II. He had no wish to be there but like most of his generation he was given no choice. Peter arrived in Singapore just as the city was being evacuated and within days he was a prisoner of the Imperial Japanese Army. Peter was one of the very few to survive the hardship, illnesses and brutality that followed. Like so many he was forced to work for the Japanese, first in Singapore and then on the infamous Thai-Burma railway. While there, remarkably, he escaped with seven other soldiers and, when recaptured, he was treated harshly. His memoir brings alive the characters of his comrades and also of the Japanese who he encountered. Some of the Japanese treated their prisoners humanely and Peter was able to form a relationship with them but others were sadistic psychopaths. But throughout his memoir there is a sense of hopefulness that, as young men, they would survive and get back to their homes; this was despite the despair many of them felt at losing four years of their lives as prisoners.

Najeeb’s dearest wish is to work in the Gulf and earn enough money to send back home. He achieves his dream only to be propelled by a series of incidents, grim and absurd, into a slave-like existence herding goats in the middle of the Saudi desert. Memories of the lush, verdant landscape of his village and of his loving family haunt Najeeb whose only solace is the companionship of goats. In the end, the lonely young man contrives a hazardous scheme to escape his desert prison. Goat Days was published to acclaim in Malayalam and became a bestseller. One of the brilliant new talents of Malayalam literature, Benyamin’s wry and tender telling transforms this strange and bitter comedy of Najeeb’s life in the desert into a universal tale of loneliness and alienation.

The Scapegoat has baffled scholars for ages. Did the Yom Kippur ritual originate in the worship of demons as modern scholars say? Journey with us through the Torah and the Dead Sea Scrolls as we trace the roots of these ideas. Leaving Qumran, we find our path littered with other extra-biblical documents. We examine the internal claims of pseudepigrapha as well as the commentary of paleographers. Will the vaunted wisdom and holiness of the God of Israel stand the test? Or critical theories crumble like the walls of Jericho?

In the latest military thriller from the retired Delta Force Operator and New York Timesbestselling author, a hostage situation places America's most powerful political elite at the mercy of its worst enemies. When veteran operator Pike Logan and partner Jennifer Cahill receive a letter from Blaisdell Consulting-the umbrella cover company for their real employer, a top secret counterterrorist unit called the Taskforce-they expect orders for their next mission-impossible tasking. Instead, they learn that their latest actions have gotten them fired, despite having saved thousands of innocent lives. Pike's shock and fury is redirected when their commander, Colonel Kurt Hale, asks him and Jennifer for help with a personal matter- His niece Kylie, an exchange student in England, has gone missing. Neither Pike nor Jennifer understands how critical her disappearance will become. Meanwhile, all Taskforce teams have been redirected to a developing situation. A terrorist organization has targeted military relatives of key members of the US government, including the vice president's son. Their seizure of hostages was far-reaching and meticulously coordinated, and the full extent of the threat-and potential demands-has thrown the government into turmoil. They face a terrible choice- Cease counter-terrorist operations, or watch hostages die one by one. How much is a single life worth? Unless the Taskforce can decipher the web of lies devised by their enemies, the United States is about to find out. From the Hardcover edition.