This delightful book includes over 100 mini-essays explaining the origins and historical development of words in our language that pertain to love and sex. Do you know, for example, what a 78 is? Here's a hint: like the old 78 rpm records, the term refers to a man who is ... well, on the fast side! Diligently researched, The Lover's Tongue is written in a light-hearted style. A dictionary of a different kind, this book is the perfect gift for that special someone, or for the connoisseur of language and history in your life

CHOSEN BY THE ECONOMIST AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR An American linguist teaching in England explores the sibling rivalry between British and American English “English accents are the sexiest.” “Americans have ruined the English language.” Such claims about the English language are often repeated but rarely examined. Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language. With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?

In the south of France where hatred simmers in the heat, a man seemingly admired, and certainly feared, drops dead at a dinner party. All of the guests fall under suspicion, including Welsh-Canadian professor Cait Morgan. A criminologist who specializes in profiling victims, Cait sets out to solve the murder—and clear her name. Add to this the disappearance of an ancient Celtic gold collar said to be cursed and there you have the ingredients for a Nicoise salad of death, secrets, and lies. Will Cait find the killer before she too falls victim to a murderer driven by a surprising and disturbing motive? The Corpse with the Silver Tongue is the first in the Cait Morgan mystery series, a classic whodunit series featuring the eccentric Professor Cait Morgan.

Control Your Tongue, Transform Your Relationships Certified behavioral consultant Deborah Smith Pegues knows how easily a slip of the tongue can cause problems in personal and business relationships. In 30 Days to Taming Your Tongue, you will learn how to transform those destructive slips into intentional, constructive, and uplifting speech that is honoring to God and others. With humor and a bit of refreshing sass, Deborah devotes chapters to learning how to overcome the Retaliating Tongue Complaining Tongue Belittling Tongue Hasty Tongue Gossiping Tongue and 25 More! Short stories, soul-searching questions, and scripturally-based affirmations combine to make each chapter engaging to read and easy to apply at work, at home, and beyond. With professional insights and biblical wisdom, Deborah helps you take control of the power of your tongue—and transform your life and relationships!

"Gemma Files has one of the great dark imaginations in fiction―visionary, transgressive, and totally original." --Jeff VanderMeer In Gemma Files's "boundary-busting horror-fantasy debut," former Confederate chaplain Asher Rook has cheated death and now possesses a dark magic (Publishers Weekly). He uses his power to terrorize the Wild West, leading a gang of outlaws, thieves, and killers, with his cruel lieutenant and lover, Chess Pargeter, by his side. Pinkerton agent Ed Morrow is going undercover to infiltrate the gang, armed with a shotgun and a device that measures sorcerous energy. His job is to gain knowledge of Rook's power and unlock its secrets. But there is someone else who has Rook in her sights: the Lady of Traps and Snares, a bloodthirsty Mayan goddess who will stop at nothing to satisfy her own desires. Caught between the good, the bad, and the unholy, Morrow will have to ride out a storm of magical mayhem to survive, in this debut novel, the first book of Files's "weird Western Hexslinger trilogy . . . [which] is chock full of hellish horrors" (Mike Allen, author of Unseaming). "Ridiculously vivid . . . A magic-riddled, horror-strewn West with hexes running around wrecking reality and a spectrum of queer characters." --Tor.com "Definitely promising--tantalizing, even, because it sets up such a fertile scenario and hammers home the themes of love, sacrifice, and apotheosis." --Strange Horizons "Truly one-of-a-kind: violent, carnal and creepy." --Fangoria

One of the worlds foremost literary critics meditates upon seven books he long had in mind to write but never did. Massively erudite, the essays are also brave, unflinching, and wholly personal.

With an introduction by Meg Rosoff William Golding's final novel, left in draft at his death, tells the story of a priestess of Apollo. Arieka is one of the last to prophesy at Delphi, in the shadowy years when the Romans were securing their grip on the tribes and cities of Greece. The plain, unloved daughter of a local grandee, she is rescued from the contempt and neglect of her family by her Delphic role. Her ambiguous attitude to the god and her belief in him seem to move in parallel with the decline of the god himself - but things are more complicated than they appear. 'A remarkable work ... A compelling storyteller as well as a clear-eyed philosopher of the dangerous puzzles of being human.' The Times 'A wonderful central character. The story stretches out as clean and dry and clear as the beach in Lord of the Flies.' Independent 'Feline, deadpan and at moments hilarious.' Observer