Lis Wiehl

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Alaska

The Inside Story of the FBI and Robert Hanssen--America's Most Damaging Russian Spy

A legal analyst for NPR, NBC, and CNN delves into the facts surrounding what has been called the “worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history”: the case of Robert Hanssen—a Russian spy who was embedded in the FBI for two decades. As a federal prosecutor and the daughter of an FBI agent, Wiehl has an inside perspective. She brings her experience and the ingrained lessons of her upraising to bear on her remarkable exploration of the case, interviewing numerous FBI and CIA agents both past and present as well as the individuals closest to Hanssen. She speaks with his brother-in-law, his oldest and best friend, and even his psychiatrist. In all her conversations, Wiehl is trying to figure out how he did it—and at what cost. But she also pursues questions urgently relevant to our national security today. Could there be another spy in the system? Could the presence of a spy be an even greater threat now than ever before, with the greater prominence cyber security has taken in recent years? Wiehl explores the mechanisms and politics of our national security apparatus and how they make us vulnerable to precisely this kind of threat. Wiehl grew up among the same people with whom Hanssen ingratiated himself, and she has spent her career trying to find the truth within fractious legal and political conflicts. A Spy in Plain Sight reflects on the deeply sown divisions and paranoias of our present day and provides an unparalleled view into the functioning of the FBI, and will stand alongside pillars of the genre like Killers of the Flower Moon, The Spy and the Traitor, and No Place to Hide.

A Spy in Plain Sight

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Alex Landragin

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

A Novel

"A sparkling debut. Landragin’s seductive literary romp shines as a celebration of the act of storytelling." —Publishers Weekly "Romance, mystery, history, and magical invention dance across centuries in an impressive debut novel." —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) "Deft writing seduces the reader in a complex tale of pursuit, denial, and retribution moving from past to future. Highly recommended." —Library Journal (Starred Review) Alex Landragin's Crossings is an unforgettable and explosive genre-bending debut—a novel in three parts, designed to be read in two different directions, spanning a hundred and fifty years and seven lifetimes. On the brink of the Nazi occupation of Paris, a German-Jewish bookbinder stumbles across a manuscript called Crossings. It has three narratives, each as unlikely as the next. And the narratives can be read one of two ways: either straight through or according to an alternate chapter sequence. The first story in Crossings is a never-before-seen ghost story by the poet Charles Baudelaire, penned for an illiterate girl. Next is a noir romance about an exiled man, modeled on Walter Benjamin, whose recurring nightmares are cured when he falls in love with a storyteller who draws him into a dangerous intrigue of rare manuscripts, police corruption, and literary societies. Finally, there are the fantastical memoirs of a woman-turned-monarch whose singular life has spanned seven generations. With each new chapter, the stunning connections between these seemingly disparate people grow clearer and more extraordinary. Crossings is an unforgettable adventure full of love, longing and empathy.

Crossings

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Bernard Cornwell

The Siege of Seringapatam 1799

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the first exciting adventure in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam. “The greatest writer of historical adventures today.” —Washington Post Richard Sharpe. Soldier, hero, rogue—the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles, whose green jacket he proudly wears.

Sharpe's Tiger

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The Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, May 1811

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the twelth installment in the world-renowned Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty's Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

Quartered in a crumbling Portuguese fort, Richard Sharpe and his men are attacked by an elite French unit, led by an old enemy of Sharpe's, and suffer heavy losses.

The army's high command blame Sharpe for the disaster and his military career seems to be ruined. His only hope is to redeem himself on the battlefield. So with his honour at stake, against an overwhelming number of French troops, Sharpe leads his men to battle in the narrow streets of Fuentes de Oñoro.

Sharpe's Battle

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Richard Louv

Sticker on the front,  dirt smudges on back, pages are clean

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit

"I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are," reports a fourth-grader. Never before in history have children been so plugged in—and so out of touch with the natural world. In this groundbreaking new work, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation—he calls it nature deficit—to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as rises in obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and depression. Some startling facts: By the 1990s the radius around the home where children were allowed to roam on their own had shrunk to a ninth of what it had been in 1970. Today, average eight-year-olds are better able to identify cartoon characters than native species, such as beetles and oak trees, in their own community. The rate at which doctors prescribe antidepressants to children has doubled in the last five years, and recent studies show that too much computer use spells trouble for the developing mind. Nature-deficit disorder is not a medical condition; it is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. This alienation damages children and shapes adults, families, and communities. There are solutions, though, and they're right in our own backyards. Last child in the Woods is the first book to bring together cutting-edge research showing that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development—physical, emotional, and spiritual. What's more, nature is a potent therapy for depression, obesity, and ADD. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Even creativity is stimulated by childhood experiences in nature. Yet sending kids outside to play is increasingly difficult. Computers, television, and video games compete for their time, of course, but it's also our fears of traffic, strangers, even virus-carrying mosquitoes—fears the media exploit—that keep children indoors. Meanwhile, schools assign more and more homework, and there is less and less access to natural areas. Parents have the power to ensure that their daughter or son will not be the "last child in the woods," and this book is the first step toward that nature-child reunion.

Last Child in the Woods

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Eleanor H. Ayer

She was a young German Jew. He was an ardent member of the Hitler Youth. This is the story of their parallel journey through World War II. Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck were born just a few miles from each other in the German Rhineland. But their lives took radically different courses: Helen’s to the Auschwitz concentration camp; Alfons to a high rank in the Hitler Youth. While Helen was hiding in Amsterdam, Alfons was a fanatic believer in Hitler’s “master race.” While she was crammed in a cattle car bound for the death camp Auschwitz, he was a teenage commander of frontline troops, ready to fight and die for the glory of Hitler and the Fatherland. This book tells both of their stories, side-by-side, in an overwhelming account of the nightmare that was World War II. The riveting stories of these two remarkable people must stand as a powerful lesson to us all.

Parallel Journeys

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Lori Copeland

Frustrated author M. K. Diamond is suffering from another bout of writer's block when the perfect plot unfolds in real life: a burglar in Morning Shade is breaking into homes and redecorating, of all things! If only Maude can keep her feisty mother-in-law, Stella, on the case before the trail grows cold and her manuscript freezes up again.

A Case of Bad Taste

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Jill Elizabeth Nelson

For security consultant Desiree Jacobs, the assignment is simple: make off with an ancient Mayan artifact and hand it over to the good guys. Yet, in a world where no one is as they seem, Desi must decipher who the good guys are before she ends up in the hands of a ruthless enemy.

Reluctant Smuggler

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Rachel Kadish

An intellectual and emotional jigsaw puzzle of a novel for readers of A. S. Byatt's Possession and Geraldine Brooks's The People of the Book

The Weight of Ink

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The Siege of Gawilghur, December 1803

"The greatest writer of historical adventures today."

--Washington Post

Critically acclaimed, perennial New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell (Agincourt, The Fort, the Saxon Tales) makes real history come alive in his breathtaking historical fiction. Praised as "the direct heir to Patrick O'Brian" (Agincourt, The Fort), Cornwell has brilliantly captured the fury, chaos, and excitement of battle as few writers have ever done--perhaps most vividly in his phenomenally popular novels following the illustrious military career of British Army officer Richard Sharpe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In Sharpe's Fortress, Ensign Sharpe's adventures in India reach a grand finale at the Siege of Gawilghur during the Maharatta War in December 1803, as Cornwell's hero uncovers a foul treason and seeks a righteous revenge. Perhaps the San Francisco Chronicle said it best: "If only all history lessons could be as vibrant."

Sharpe's Fortress

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James Dashner

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Book One

Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, Book One)

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Wayne Thomas Batson

The Door Within 

Now includes THE LOST CHAPTERS, four previously unpublished chapters with author commentary and editor notes!

Separated from his friend by a thousand miles and unable to return to The Realm of Glimpses himself, Aidan Thomas needs a way to reach Robby with the message of King Eliam, the one true King.

Enter Antoinette Lynn Reed, a bright but headstrong young lady who believes in the Scrolls of Alleble and has a passion for full-contact Kendo. When Aidan discovers that Antoinette has been called to enter The Realm, he solicits her help to find Robby's Glimpse before it is too late.

When she arrives in Alleble, Antoinette finds the kingdom is in turmoil. Alleble's allies are inexplicably beginning to turn away, renouncing former ties with King Eliam. And there are rumors that the dark Prince of Paragory is seeking an ancient evil to crush Alleble once and for all.

Can Antoinette and a team of Alleble's finest knights learn the secret of Paragory's growing power? And will they be able to stop the Rise of the Wyrm Lord?

This new edition of The Rise of the Wyrm Lord is designed like the Director's Cut DVDs of favorite movies and includes deleted chapters, extended scenes, author and editor commentary, and even new bonus adventure stories written especially for fans.

What to expect in The Rise of the Wyrm Lord, Lost Chapters Edition:

 * Deleted Chapter: Original Chapter 1, where readers can follow Antoinette Lynn Reed as she explores the landscape of a nightmare.
 * Extended Chapter: Original Chapter 2, Aidan's first day of high school where he finds himself coming face-to-face with the Trench Coat Clan, and their leader, the mysterious Blue-eyed Microscope.
 * Extended Chapter: Original Chapter 4, where readers will meet Aidan's peculiar new teachers and discover how his faith in King Eliam changes the way Aidan lives on Earth.
 * ALL NEW MATERIAL: Remember the feast in Queen Illaria's Castle? In the published version of Wyrm Lord, readers don't get to experience much of the festivities. Now, readers will see the infamous belching contest between Mallik and Sir Rogan. And best of all, learn how Farix, the most mysterious member of The Twelve, came to Alleble--an adventure you won't want to miss.

The Rise of the Wyrm Lord

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Dorothy Sterling

Story of one of the most famous conductors in the Underground Railroad.

Freedom Train: the Story of Harriet Tubman

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Ashley Bryan

Here are five Nigerian folktales, retold in language as rhythmic as the beat of the story-drum, and illustrated with vibrant, evocative woodcuts.

Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum

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Elizabeth Yates

The boy isn't much to look at: thin, pale, and undersized for his age. Neighbors shake their heads over Jared Austin's odd ways. His father doesn't think he's good for anything much. Even his friend Jennet wonders what will become of him. But Jared isn't concerned; he has his own ideas about what is really important. One day a journeyman painter visits their quiet New Hampshire farm, and his unexpected offer sets Jared aglow with excitement. He starts off on an adventure that takes him miles from home and into experiences that bring him to manhood and deepen his faith. But before he leaves, Jared promises Jennet that someday, someday, he will come back for her. - Back cover.

The Journeyman

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Bodie Thoene

Brock Thoene

Only the River Runs Free is an action-packed story of Ireland in the 1830's and 40's. It was a time when English landlords held power over Irish tenant farmers and seeds of bitterness were sown that would last for generations. In an endeavor to eliminate all influences of Irish heritage, the English forced an intellectual and spiritual bondage on Ireland as well as a bitter physical bondage of servitude. Freedom had become so rare that the Irish coined a saying, "In Ireland only the rivers run free". Yet one poor befuddles old woman speaks of freedom, truth, and hope. Mad Molly Fahey promises the priest and villages that a miracle is on its way.

Only the River Runs Free

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Golden Keyes Parsons

Seventeenth-century France is a dangerous time and place for a Huguenot. One woman risks her life for the freedom to practice her faith. Because of their Protestant faith in a Catholic France, Huguenots Francois and Madeleine Clavell's estate is overtaken by King Louis XIV's dragoons.

In the Shadow of the Sun King

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Ginger Garrett

This richly imagined tale takes readers to a tiny German town in the time of "the burnings," when pious and heretic alike became victims of witch-hunting zealots. When a double murder stirs up festering fears, the village priest sends for help. But the charismatic Inquisitor who answers the call brings a deadly mix of spiritual fervor and self-deceptive evil. Under his influence, village fear, guilt, and suspicion of women take a deadly turn. In the midst of this nightmare, a doubting priest and an unloved wife--a secret friend of the recently martyred William Tyndale--somehow manage to hear another Voice...and discover the power of love over fear.
 
Dinfoil, Germany, 1538. In a little town on the edge of the Black Forest, a double murder stirs up festering fears. A lonely woman despairs of pleasing her husband and wonders why other women shun her. An overworked sheriff struggles to hold the town--and himself--together. A priest begins to doubt the power of the words he shares daily with his flock. And the charismatic Inquisitor who arrives to help--with a filthy witch in a cage as an object lesson--brings his own mix of lofty ideals and treacherous evil. Under his influence, ordinary village fears and resentments take a deadly turn. Terror mounts. Dark deeds come to light. And men and women alike discover not only what they are capable of, but who they are...and what it means to grapple for grace.

Wolves among Us

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Anthony Doerr

On the New York Times bestseller list for over 20 weeks * A New York Times Notable Book * A National Book Award Finalist * Named a Best Book of the Year by Fresh Air, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, and many more

"If you're looking for a superb novel, look no further." --The Washington Post

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the Light We Cannot See, comes the instant New York Times bestseller that is a "wildly inventive, a humane and uplifting book for adults that's infused with the magic of childhood reading experiences" (The New York Times Book Review).

Among the most celebrated and beloved novels of recent times, Cloud Cuckoo Land is a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril, who find resilience, hope, and a book.

In the 15th century, an orphan named Anna lives inside the formidable walls of Constantinople. She learns to read, and in this ancient city, famous for its libraries, she finds what might be the last copy of a centuries-old book, the story of Aethon, who longs to be turned into a bird so that he can fly to a utopian paradise in the sky. Outside the walls is Omeir, a village boy, conscripted with his beloved oxen into the army that will lay siege to the city. His path and Anna's will cross.

In the present day, in a library in Idaho, octogenarian Zeno rehearses children in a play adaptation of Aethon's story, preserved against all odds through centuries. Tucked among the library shelves is a bomb, planted by a troubled, idealistic teenager, Seymour. This is another siege.

And in a not-so-distant future, on the interstellar ship Argos, Konstance is alone in a vault, copying on scraps of sacking the story of Aethon, told to her by her father.

Anna, Omeir, Seymour, Zeno, and Konstance are dreamers and outsiders whose lives are gloriously intertwined. Doerr's dazzling imagination transports us to worlds so dramatic and immersive that we forget, for a time, our own.

Cloud Cuckoo Land

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Michael Pollan

A Natural History of Four Meals

"Outstanding . . . a wide-ranging invitation to think through the moral ramifications of our eating habits." —The New Yorker One of the New York Times Book Review's Ten Best Books of the Year and Winner of the James Beard Award Author of How to Change Your Mind and the #1 New York Times Bestseller In Defense of Food and Food Rules What should we have for dinner? Ten years ago, Michael Pollan confronted us with this seemingly simple question and, with The Omnivore’s Dilemma, his brilliant and eye-opening exploration of our food choices, demonstrated that how we answer it today may determine not only our health but our survival as a species. In the years since, Pollan’s revolutionary examination has changed the way Americans think about food. Bringing wide attention to the little-known but vitally important dimensions of food and agriculture in America, Pollan launched a national conversation about what we eat and the profound consequences that even the simplest everyday food choices have on both ourselves and the natural world. Ten years later, The Omnivore’s Dilemma continues to transform the way Americans think about the politics, perils, and pleasures of eating.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

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Linda Chalker-Scott

The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do

The more you know, the better you grow! Plants are capable of interesting and unexpected things. Why do container plants wilt when they’ve been regularly watered? Why did the hydrangea that thrived last year never bloom this year? Why do slugs wipe out the vegetable garden instead of eating the weeds? Plant physiology—the study of how living things function—can solve these and most other problems gardeners regularly encounter. In How Plants Work, horticulture expert and contributor to the popular blog The Garden Professors, Linda Chalker-Scott brings the stranger-than-fiction science of the plant world to vivid life. She uncovers the mysteries of how and why plants do the things they do, and arms the home gardener with fascinating knowledge that will change the way they garden.

How Plants Work

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Shari Graydon

How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know

Outlines the history and purpose of advertising, discusses target audiences, the techniques advertisers use, hidden advertisements, limits on advertising, and ways to strike back at advertisers, and suggests related activities.

Made You Look

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Roselle Lim

From the critically acclaimed author of Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune comes a new delightful novel about exploring all the magical possibilities of life in the most extraordinary city of all: Paris. Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people's fortunes--or misfortunes--in tealeaves. Ever since she can remember, Vanessa has been able to see people's fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai. After her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa sees death for the first time. She decides that she can't truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric Aunt Evelyn shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to California and bonjour to Paris. There, Vanessa learns more about herself and the root of her gifts and realizes one thing to be true: knowing one's destiny isn't a curse, but being unable to change it is.

Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop

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Davis Bunn

Janette Oke

Janette Oke has dreamed for years of retelling a story in a biblical time frame from a female protagonist's perspective, and Davis Bunn is elated to be working with her again on this sweeping saga of the dramatic events surrounding the birth of Christianity...and the very personal story of Leah, a young Jewess of mixed heritage trapped in a vortex of competing political agendas and private trauma. Caught up in the maelstrom following the death of an obscure rabbi in the Roman backwater of first-century Palestine, Leah finds herself also engulfed in her own turmoil--facing the prospect of an arranged marriage to a Roman soldier, Alban, who seems to care for nothing but his own ambitions. Head of the garrison near Galilee, he has been assigned by Palestine's governor to ferret out the truth behind rumors of a political execution gone awry. Leah's mistress, the governor's wife, secretly commissions Leah also to discover what really has become of this man whose death--and missing body--is causing such furor. This epic drama is threaded with the tale of an unlikely romance and framed with dangers and betrayals from unexpected sources. At its core, The Centurion's Wife unfolds the testing of loyalties--between two young people whose inner searchings they cannot express, between their irreconcilable heritages, and ultimately between their humanity and the Divine they yearn to encounter.

Browse by categories

Lis Wiehl

A Spy in Plain Sight

Alex Landragin

Crossings

Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe's Tiger

Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe's Battle

Richard Louv

Last Child in the Woods

Eleanor H. Ayer

Parallel Journeys

Lori Copeland

A Case of Bad Taste

Jill Elizabeth Nelson

Reluctant Smuggler

Rachel Kadish

The Weight of Ink

Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe's Fortress

James Dashner

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, Book One)

Wayne Thomas Batson

The Rise of the Wyrm Lord

Dorothy Sterling

Freedom Train: the Story of Harriet Tubman

Ashley Bryan

Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum

Elizabeth Yates

The Journeyman

Bodie Thoene; Brock Thoene

Only the River Runs Free

Golden Keyes Parsons

In the Shadow of the Sun King

Ginger Garrett

Wolves among Us

Anthony Doerr

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Michael Pollan

The Omnivore's Dilemma

Linda Chalker-Scott

How Plants Work

Shari Graydon

Made You Look

Roselle Lim

Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop

Davis Bunn; Janette Oke

The Centurion's Wife

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