The stories in this collection are mostly fanciful and utterly devoid of logic. They are shamelessly concocted out of a blend of fact and fiction that defies everything except the necessity of having a free-wheeling imagination. Shakespeare, in a discovered letter, is revealed as being like a love-sick moose, groveling and pleading for an unnamed lady’s love. Is his love requited? It’s all in the letter. Vanessa Crispy, the Boundless Bride, gets involved with three men in the space of her one-hour wedding ceremony — and finds a way of resolving her problem. Or does she? In “Designing and Manufacturing.” an Englishman designs a better Rack during the last part of the 16th century. Along with getting rich, he feels he is helping society by ‘getting out the truth.’ Before reading “Toni,” it might be hard for many readers to guess who Toni was. The answer will come as an astounding revelation to avid followers of history. Hang on, everyone, for there are a lot more stories included here that are only slightly askew.

A New York Times Bestseller A LibraryReads Hall of Fame Pick From the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls and “master of suspense, Megan Miranda” (Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl), a thrilling mystery about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident—only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy. Seven hours in the past. Seven days in the present. Seven survivors remaining. Who would you save? A decade ago, two vans filled with high school seniors on a school service trip crashed into a Tennessee ravine—a tragedy that claimed the lives of multiple classmates and teachers. The nine students who managed to escape the river that night were irrevocably changed. A year later, after one of the survivors dies by suicide on the anniversary of the crash, the rest of them make a pact: to come together each year to commemorate that terrible night. To keep one another safe. To hold one another accountable. Or both. Their annual meeting place, a house on the Outer Banks, has long been a refuge. But by the tenth anniversary, Cassidy Bent has worked to distance herself from the tragedy and from the other survivors. She’s changed her mobile number. She’s blocked the others’ email addresses. This year, she is determined to finally break ties once and for all. But on the day of the reunion, she receives a text with an obituary attached: another survivor is gone. Now they are seven—and Cassidy finds herself hurling back toward the group, wild with grief—and suspicion. Almost immediately, something feels off this year. Cassidy is the first to notice when Amaya, the annual organizer, slips away, overwhelmed. This wouldn’t raise alarm except for the impending storm. Suddenly, they’re facing the threat of closed roads and surging waters…again. Then Amaya stops responding to her phone. After all they’ve been through, she wouldn’t willfully make them worry. Would she? And—as they promised long ago—each survivor will do whatever he or she can do to save one another. Won’t they? A propulsive and chilling locked-box mystery filled with the dazzling hairpin twists that are the author’s signature, The Only Survivors is New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda’s best novel yet.

When nineteenth-century Londoners looked at each other, what did they see, and how did they want to be seen? Sharrona Pearl reveals the way that physiognomy, the study of facial features and their relationship to character, shaped the way that people understood one another and presented themselves. Physiognomy was initially a practice used to get information about others, but soon became a way to self-consciously give information--on stage, in print, in images, in research, and especially on the street. Moving through a wide range of media, Pearl shows how physiognomical notions rested on instinct and honed a kind of shared subjectivity. She looks at the stakes for framing physiognomy--a practice with a long history--as a science in the nineteenth century. By showing how physiognomy gave people permission to judge others, Pearl holds up a mirror both to Victorian times and our own.

A Dead Reporter Found In A Foyer. Can Ivy Solve This Mystery Before Her Wedding Day Ivy Preston has waited a long time to get married. This time she plans to do more than make it to the altar. But when Ivy tries to do a good deed and stumbles over a body, she and her former fiancé, Stanley, are accused of the crime. Ivy hopes she's not the only one who believes in their innocence. Worse than being framed for murder, when one of her beloved kittens falls ill, Ivy must face her greatest fears. How will she ever parent a child if she can't even take care of a cat. . .and for that matter, how will she be the type of wife her devoted fiancé needs? Through the love and support of her mom, fiancé, and friends, Ivy is determined to clear Stanley's good name, and her own. With nuptials looming, Ivy hopes not only to find a killer, but to make it to her own wedding.

An elderly peasant woman lives with her coffin in the kitchen. An American teacher is "adopted" by a village family. An eccentric grandfather teaches Chinese to his American student by jumping around the room and other perilous pantomimes. China is a vast and populous nation which demands our understanding. But while newspaper headlines commonly focus on politics and economics, Saving Grandmother's Face, written by Christian university teachers in China, recounts their experiences in the classroom and in the countryside, celebrating a child's birth and mourning a child's death, grading papers and discussing Chinese literature. Through these stories you will see a side of China often left out-the human side.

This book explains the essential principles, processes and methodology of cell biology, biochemistry and molecular biology. It reflects upon the significant advances in cell biology such as motor proteins, intracellular traffic and targeting of proteins, signalling pathways, receptors, apoptosis, aging and cancer. It also discusses certain current topics such as history of life (origin of life), archaebacteria, split genes, exon shuffling, gene silencing, RNA interference, miRNA, siRNA and recombinant DNA technology, etc.

A novel set here in the Emerald Triangle's most exciting outback venues, mostly along the Mina Road running between Covelo and Alderpoint, Catch/Release begins, "We still pick up hitchhikers in Mendocino County...." Yeah, lots of us do, but only because we know them and there might be social consequences if we don t stop. But if you're deep in the outback, somewhere south of Zenia, basic human solidarity will make you to stop for someone who appears to be in need, which is what Ollier's nifty little novel is pegged to, a humanitarian impulse that nearly gets the humanitarian killed. The author has clearly spent a lot of time around low-lifes because the low life he gives a lift to is perfectly portrayed right down to the creative grammar of his vocabulary of curses. The book's a page turner. I picked it up during the serial rounds of gluttony that mark the birth of Our Savior at my house and didn't put it down until I was confident the narrator would survive. Ollier manages to capture both the more comfortable Mendo vibe reflected by the flesh pots of Mendocino Village and the ominous one you can get in the Northeast sector of the county even without a demented hitchhiker. In this tale, which is definitely an essential addition to the Mendo ouevre, you not only get deftly drawn suspense but a nice set piece on fishing, funny encounters with a surly Klamath store clerk and a female Fox News zombie who picks up our hero on Highway 36 when he becomes the hitchhiker. Ollier's a guy who knows his Mendo, from the Pacific to the Yolly Bollys. If your local bookstore doesn't have it, pester them until they do. --Bruce Anderson, Anderson Valley Advertiser