Maryanne Wolf

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Maryland

The Reading Brain in a Digital World

From the author of Proust and the Squid, a lively, ambitious, and deeply informative epistolary book that considers the future of the reading brain and our capacity for critical thinking, empathy, and reflection as we become increasingly dependent on digital technologies. A decade ago, Maryanne Wolf’s Proust and the Squid revealed what we know about how the brain learns to read and how reading changes the way we think and feel. Since then, the ways we process written language have changed dramatically with many concerned about both their own changes and that of children. New research on the reading brain chronicles these changes in the brains of children and adults as they learn to read while immersed in a digitally dominated medium. Drawing deeply on this research, this book comprises a series of letters Wolf writes to us—her beloved readers—to describe her concerns and her hopes about what is happening to the reading brain as it unavoidably changes to adapt to digital mediums. Wolf raises difficult questions, including: Will children learn to incorporate the full range of "deep reading" processes that are at the core of the expert reading brain? Will the mix of a seemingly infinite set of distractions for children’s attention and their quick access to immediate, voluminous information alter their ability to think for themselves? With information at their fingertips, will the next generation learn to build their own storehouse of knowledge, which could impede the ability to make analogies and draw inferences from what they know? Will all these influences, in turn, change the formation in children and the use in adults of "slower" cognitive processes like critical thinking, personal reflection, imagination, and empathy that comprise deep reading and that influence both how we think and how we live our lives? Will the chain of digital influences ultimately influence the use of the critical analytical and empathic capacities necessary for a democratic society? How can we preserve deep reading processes in future iterations of the reading brain? Who are the "good readers" of every epoch? Concerns about attention span, critical reasoning, and over-reliance on technology are never just about children—Wolf herself has found that, though she is a reading expert, her ability to read deeply has been impacted as she has become, inevitably, increasingly dependent on screens. Wolf draws on neuroscience, literature, education, technology, and philosophy and blends historical, literary, and scientific facts with down-to-earth examples and warm anecdotes to illuminate complex ideas that culminate in a proposal for a biliterate reading brain. Provocative and intriguing, Reader, Come Home is a roadmap that provides a cautionary but hopeful perspective on the impact of technology on our brains and our most essential intellectual capacities—and what this could mean for our future.

Reader, Come Home

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Alastair Reynolds

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

A Novel

One of science fiction's most acclaimed authors delivers a spectacular original novel in the Doctor Who universe featuring the Third Doctor, as played by Jon Pertwee.

Doctor Who: Harvest of Time

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Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

And other science fiction classics

The war of the worlds

Sosuke Natsukawa

The international bestseller. A heart-warming tale about the power of books, for all who love reading them.

The Cat Who Saved Books

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Charlotte Bronte

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Jane Eyre is a memorable and chilling tale of one woman's lifelong quest for security, respectability, and love. When Jane becomes a governess at Thornfield Manor, she falls in love with Mr. Rochester, her pupil's guardian, and the future looks bright. But a series of eerie and terrifying events threatens to destroy her hopes. Featuring gripping plot twists and surprises, Jane Eyre offers rich insight into the life of a woman who, despite oppression, tragedy, and precarious circumstances, insists on making the most of the hand that life dealt her.

Jane Eyre

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Jolina Petersheim

When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it’s a foreshadowing of things to come. When the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his instruments were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won’t start. Moses offers a sobering theory, but no one can know how drastically life is about to change. With the only self-sustaining food supply in the region, the Pacifist community is forced to forge an alliance with the handful of stranded Englischers in an effort to protect not only the food but their very lives. In the weeks that follow, Leora, Moses, and the community will be tested as never before, requiring them to make decisions they never thought possible. Whom will they help and whom will they turn away? When the community receives news of a new threat, everyone must decide how far they’re willing to go to protect their beliefs and way of life.

The Alliance

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Sue Monk Kidd

A transcendent tale of a woman's self-discovery—the New York Times–bestselling second work of fiction by the author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Book of Longings Inside the church of a Benedictine monastery on Egret Island, just off the coast of South Carolina, resides a beautiful and mysterious chair ornately carved with mermaids and dedicated to a saint who, legend claims, was a mermaid before her conversion. When Jessie Sullivan is summoned home to the island to cope with her eccentric mother’s seemingly inexplicable behavior, she is living a conventional life with her husband, Hugh, a life “molded to the smallest space possible.” Jessie loves Hugh, but once on the island, she finds herself drawn to Brother Thomas, a monk about to take his final vows. Amid a rich community of unforgettable island women and the exotic beauty of marshlands, tidal creeks, and majestic egrets, Jessie grapples with the tension of desire and the struggle to deny it, with a freedom that feels overwhelmingly right, and with the immutable force of home and marriage. Is the power of the mermaid chair only a myth? Or will it alter the course of Jessie’s life? What happens will unlock the roots of her mother’s tormented past, but most of all, it will allow Jessie to discover selfhood and a place of belonging as she explores the thin line between the spiritual and the erotic.

The Mermaid Chair

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Geraldine Brooks

March

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Diana Secker Tesdell

Collects short stories for horse lovers, including such entries as John Steinbeck's "The Red Pony," William Saroyan's "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse," and Lydia Peelle's "Sweethearts of the Rodeo."

Horse Stories

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Now joining Everyman's Library--the most extensive and distinguished collectible library of the world's greatest works--is an appealing new collection in a small Pocket Classics format, perfect for gift giving and reading pleasure.
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Dog Stories rounds up a pack of vivid and colorful stories about man's best friend by a wide range of great writers, from Mark Twain and Anton Chekhov to Patricia Highsmith and Jonathan Lethem.

The richly drawn and unforgettable canines gathered here include Rudyard Kipling's heroically faithful "Garm," Bret Harte's irrepressible scoundrel of a "Yellow Dog," and the aggressively affectionate three-legged pit bull Ava, who lives in an apartment building for dogs in Jonathan Lethem's "Ava's Apartment." Here are stories that touchingly illuminate the dog's role in the emotional lives of humans, such as Tobias Wolff's "Her Dog," in which a widower shares his grief for his wife with her grieving pet. Here, too, are humorous glimpses of the canine point of view, from O. Henry's tale of a dissatisfied lapdog's escape to P. G. Wodehouse's cheerfully naïve watchdog who simply wants everybody to get along. These writers and others--Ray Bradbury, Doris Lessing, Thomas McGuane, Rick Bass, James Salter, and Penelope Lively among them--offer imaginative, lyrical, and empathetic portraits of humanity's most devoted companion.

Dog Stories

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Helen Macdonald

One of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year ON MORE THAN 25 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR LISTS: including TIME (#1 Nonfiction Book), NPR, O, The Oprah Magazine (10 Favorite Books), Vogue (Top 10), Vanity Fair, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle (Top 10), Miami Herald, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Minneapolis Star Tribune (Top 10), Library Journal (Top 10), Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Slate, Shelf Awareness, Book Riot, Amazon (Top 20) The instant New York Times bestseller and award-winning sensation, Helen Macdonald's story of adopting and raising one of nature's most vicious predators has soared into the hearts of millions of readers worldwide. Fierce and feral, her goshawk Mabel's temperament mirrors Helen's own state of grief after her father's death, and together raptor and human "discover the pain and beauty of being alive" (People). H Is for Hawk is a genre-defying debut from one of our most unique and transcendent voices.

H Is for Hawk

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Clare Mackintosh

I See You

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Jeanette Ingold

A girl, blinded by the auto accident that killed her mother, comes to terms with her disability--and her new life. “This is a sensitive and well-told story, inhabited by appealing and believable characters, and given a twist by the unexpected element of the supernatural.”--Kirkus Reviews


The Window

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Shari Lapena

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Another thrilling domestic suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door and Not a Happy Family

"The End of Her will keep you guessing right up to the end . . . once you pick it up, you will not want to put it down." --USA Today

"[Shari Lapena is] the queen of the one-sit read" --Linwood Barclay

A long-ago accident--and a visitor from out of the blue. . .

Stephanie and Patrick are adjusting to life with their colicky twin girls. The babies are a handful, but even as Stephanie struggles with the disorientation of sleep deprivation, there's one thing she's sure of: she has all she ever wanted.

Then Erica, a woman from Patrick's past, appears and makes a disturbing accusation. Patrick had always said his first wife's death was an accident, but now Erica claims it was murder.

Patrick insists he's innocent, that this is nothing but a blackmail attempt. Still, Erica knows things about Patrick--things that make Stephanie begin to question her husband. Stephanie isn't sure what, or who, to believe. As Stephanie's trust in Patrick begins to falter, Patrick stands to lose everything. Is Patrick telling the truth--is Erica the persuasive liar Patrick says she is? Or has Stephanie made a terrible mistake?

How will it end?

The End of Her

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Madeline Miller

#1 New York Times Bestseller " A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story, Circe manages to be both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right." --- Alexandra Alter, New York Times In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power--the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love. With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.

Circe

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Laurie Halse Anderson

If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl? As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom. From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.

Chains & Ashes

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J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hobbit

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Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings

In anticipation of the new film The Hobbit, opening in December 2012, comes a reissue of the first book in The Lord of the Rings series. Reissue. 200,000 first printing.

The Fellowship of the Ring

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A tale of two cities 

Johann David Wyss

Arthur Pober

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

When a Swiss couple and their four sons are shipwrecked on an isolated island, they adapt to their "New Switzerland" using many imaginative methods of farming and animal taming.

The Swiss Family Robinson

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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Chronicles of Narnia 4 Volume Boxed Set

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Thomas Paine

The pen is mightier than the sword, and this pen helped bring about the American Revolution. Thomas Paine is one of history’s most renowned thinkers and was indispensible to both the American and French revolutions. The three works included, Common Sense, The Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason, are among his most famous publications. Paine is probably best known for his hugely popular pamphlet, Common Sense, which swayed public opinion in favor of American independence from England. The Rights of Man and The Age of Reason further advocated for universal human rights, a republican instead of monarchical government, and truth and reason in politics. The works of this moral visionary, whose ideas are as relevant today as ever, are now available as part of the Word Cloud Classics series, providing a stylish and affordable addition to any library.

Common Sense and Selected Works of Thomas Paine

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Bill Bryson

A Guide for Occupants

"From the bestselling author of A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING, a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body"--

The Body

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Anne Betteridge

English

Chambers Adult Learners' Guide to Spelling is not about all those turgid 'spelling rules'. Instead, it presents a practical routine that teaches learners strategies to conquer any word they find difficult and learn it for life. This new edition comes in a handy, more accessible format. The two-colour text is clearly and spaciously laid out, and plentiful examples, activities and illustrations reinforce the skills being learned.

Chambers Adult Learner's Guide to Spelling

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Esther

Browse by categories

Maryanne Wolf

Reader, Come Home

Alastair Reynolds

Doctor Who: Harvest of Time

H.G.Wells

The war of the worlds

Sosuke Natsukawa

The Cat Who Saved Books

Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre

Jolina Petersheim

The Alliance

Sue Monk Kidd

The Mermaid Chair

Geraldine Brooks

March

Diana Secker Tesdell

Horse Stories

Diana Secker Tesdell

Dog Stories

Helen Macdonald

H Is for Hawk

Clare Mackintosh

I See You

Jeanette Ingold

The Window

Shari Lapena

The End of Her

Madeline Miller

Circe

Laurie Halse Anderson

Chains & Ashes

J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hobbit

J. R. R. Tolkien

The Fellowship of the Ring

Charles Dickens

A tale of two cities

Johann David Wyss; Arthur Pober

The Swiss Family Robinson

HarperTrophy

The Chronicles of Narnia 4 Volume Boxed Set

Thomas Paine

Common Sense and Selected Works of Thomas Paine

Bill Bryson

The Body

Anne Betteridge

Chambers Adult Learner's Guide to Spelling

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