“Savor the mysterious power of a master’s pentimento.”
—Los Angeles Times
“It takes a lot of nerve and skill to pull off something as rich as Beautiful María of My Soul, but pull it off Hijuelos does.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer
“I fell instantly in love with the glorious soul of Beautiful María of My Soul. Hijuelos has created and brought to life two beloved characters, a heart-stealing heroine and Havana during an epoch of changing fate.”
—Amy Tan, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club
In Beautiful María of My Soul, Oscar Hijuelos returns to the passionate tale he began twenty years ago in The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.
María is the great Cuban beauty who stole musician Nestor Castillo’s heart and broke it, inspiring him to write the Mambo Kings’ biggest hit, “Beautiful María of My Soul.’” Now in her sixties and living as an exile in Miami, María remains a beauty, still capable of turning heads. But while she left Cuba decades ago, she has never forgotten Nestor. As she thinks back to her days—and nights—in Havana, an entirely new perspective on the Mambo Kings story unfolds. Beautiful María of My Soul is a stunning act of reinvention, and another contemporary classic from an extraordinarily talented writer.
Brian Mullaney cofounded Smile Train after working in advertising for twenty years. For the past two decades, he has traveled to the poorest countries in the world, including Afghanistan, China, India, Vietnam, the Gaza Strip, Brazil, Bangladesh, Haiti, and Somalia, working with Smile Train’s local doctors to help children who would otherwise be left behind. In 2004, Brian was the recipient of the prestigious Soong Ching Ling Camphor Tree Honorary Award for his work in China. In 2008, he was executive producer on the Oscar-winning documentary, Smile Pinki. Brian lives with his family in New Canaan, Connecticut.
MARGARET LEROY has written five previous novels, including Postcards from Berlin, a New York Times Notable Book, and Yes, My Darling Daughter, which was chosen for the Oprah Summer Reading List. She is married with two children and lives in London.
A novel full of grand passion and intensity, The Soldier’s Wife asks “What would you do for your family?” “What should you do for a stranger?” and “What would you do for love?”
As World War II draws closer and closer to Guernsey, Vivienne de la Mare knows that there will be sacrifices to be made. Not just for herself, but for her two young daughters and for her mother-in-law, for whom she cares while her husband is away fighting. What she does not expect is that she will fall in love with one of the enigmatic German soldiers who take up residence in the house next door to her home. As their relationship intensifies, so do the pressures on Vivienne. Food and resources grow scant, and the restrictions placed upon the residents of the island grow with each passing week. Though Vivienne knows the perils of her love affair with Gunther, she believes that she can keep their relationship—and her family—safe. But when she becomes aware of the full brutality of the Occupation, she must decide if she is willing to risk her personal happiness for the life of a stranger.
“With its stunning and evocative description of the Guernsey landscape, its subtle and astute depiction of a woman’s relationship with her children, her lover, and her husband, this absorbing novel is utterly beguiling.”
—Rosamund Lupton, author of Sister
“A Modern Fairy Tale: William, Kate and Three Generations of Royal Love,” an original Hyperion/ABC eBook written by New York Times bestselling author Jane Green. This eBook tells the story of how Prince William and Kate Middleton grew up, fell in love, and got engaged. This unique storytelling experience offers details about a modern young prince and his captivating bride, including video from ABC News. The eBook also delves into the history of William’s parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and his grandparents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, their love stories and their historic weddings. Try it now to experience the Royal Wedding – and three generations of royal love.
“A Modern Fairy Tale” is available on the ABC Video Bookstore, available for download on the App Store, and everywhere enhanced eBooks are sold.
Jane Green is the New York Times bestselling author of books such as JEMIMA J, and THE BEACH HOUSE. She has been featured in People, Newsweek, USA Today, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. Originally from England, she now lives in Connecticut with her family.
MELISSA DE LA CRUZ is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling series Blue Bloods, which has three million copies in print. She spent many summers on Shelter Island, which served as the inspiration for the fictional town of North Hampton. She lives in Los Angeles and Palm Springs with her family.
I’m going to show you how to put a whole meal on the table in a matter of minutes! Not just one dish, a whole spread of beautiful things.
If, like me, you love food and have hungry mouths to feed when you get home after a long day, then allow me to let you in on a totally revolutionary new way of cooking. In this book I’m going to show you how to make a complete meal in the time you’d normally spend on one dish. What you’ll be able to achieve in 30 minutes or less will absolutely blow your mind. It’s certainly blown mine!
This is not about compromising on quality. It’s about being organized, working fast, and using shortcuts and clever tricks to put insanely delicious plates of food on the table in no time. Each of the 50 meals inside has been carefully written so there’s no messing about—just good, fast cooking. I’ve created complete menus of foods that go beautifully together and planned recipes in a really unique, easy-to-follow way. This kind of cooking is all about using every minute wisely, having fun, and reclaiming your kitchen for the job it was meant for.
You might think it can’t be done, but I promise you it can. Have a look inside to see the sort of meals you’re going to get. Once you start cooking this way, not only will you absolutely love it; you’ll never look back.
“This story, told by a master teller of such things, does more than take you inside the cages, fences, and walls of a zoo. It takes you inside the human heart, and an elephant’s, and a primate’s, and on and on. Tom French did in this book what he always does. He took real life and wrote it down for us, with eloquence and feeling and aching detail.”
—Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author
“An insightful and detailed look at the complex life of a zoo and its denizens, both animal and human.”
—Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi and Beatrice and Virgil
Welcome to the savage and surprising world of Zoo Story, an unprecedented account of the secret life of a zoo and its inhabitants. Based on six years of research, the book follows a handful of unforgettable characters at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo: an alpha chimp with a weakness for blondes, a ferocious tiger who revels in Obsession perfume, and a brilliant but tyrannical CEO known as El Diablo Blanco.
The sweeping narrative takes the reader from the African savannah to the forests of Panama and deep into the inner workings of a place some describe as a sanctuary and others condemn as a prison. Zoo Story shows us how these remarkable individuals live, how some die, and what their experiences reveal about the human desire to both exalt and control nature.
CHARLOTTE BACON graduated from Harvard University and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University. Her published books include A Private State, Lost Geography, There Is Room for You, and Split Estate. Her debut collection of stories, A Private State, won the PEN/Hemingway Award for First Fiction in 1998. Bacon lives in Maine with her husband and three children.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Brooklyn, NY Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 7-9pm
TITLE: THRILLER NIGHT
Charlotte Bacon with Elizabeth Brundage author of A Stranger Like You
PowerHouse Arena
Brooklyn, NY
Joint reading and discussion
Portland, ME Wednesday, October 12
Brown Bag lecture event — exact date tk
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EST
Portland Public Library
Portland, ME
Talk & Signing
Brown Bag lunch
