Product Description
As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.Amazon.com Review
Jacob Jankowski says: “I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other.” At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn’t always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus when he was twenty-one. It wasn’t a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn’t write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train. The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison.

Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob’s life with this circus. Sara Gruen spares no detail in chronicling the squalid, filthy, brutish circumstances in which he finds himself. The animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. Jacob, once it becomes known that he has veterinary skills, is put in charge of the “menagerie” and all its ills. Uncle Al, the circus impresario, is a self-serving, venal creep who slaps people around because he can. August, the animal trainer, is a certified paranoid schizophrenic whose occasional flights into madness and brutality often have Jacob as their object. Jacob is the only person in the book who has a handle on a moral compass and as his reward he spends most of the novel beaten, broken, concussed, bleeding, swollen and hungover. He is the self-appointed Protector of the Downtrodden, and… he falls in love with Marlena, crazy August’s wife. Not his best idea.

The most interesting aspect of the book is all the circus lore that Gruen has so carefully researched. She has all the right vocabulary: grifters, roustabouts, workers, cooch tent, rubes, First of May, what the band plays when there’s trouble, Jamaican ginger paralysis, life on a circus train, set-up and take-down, being run out of town by the “revenooers” or the cops, and losing all your hooch. There is one glorious passage about Marlena and Rosie, the bull elephant, that truly evokes the magic a circus can create. It is easy to see Marlena’s and Rosie’s pink sequins under the Big Top and to imagine their perfect choreography as they perform unbelievable stunts. The crowd loves it–and so will the reader. The ending is absolutely ludicrous and really quite lovely. –Valerie Ryan

Water for Elephants: A Novel

Product Description
What if America’s most powerful leader was also its prime target?

Vince Flynn’s shattering thriller, Term Limits, soared onto national bestseller lists and marked the emergence of a new master of political fiction in the same league as Tom Clancy. In USA Today, Larry King called Term Limits “a page-turning read,” while critics and readers nationwide praised its riveting premise of Washington under siege — a scenario made chillingly real by this superb storyteller. Now, Flynn infiltrates America’s power structure at its very core, in a new novel that places the president of the United States in the direct line of terrorist fire.

On a busy Washington morning, amid the shuffle of tourists and the brisk rush of government officials, the stately calm of the White House is shattered in a hail of gunfire. A group of terrorists has descended on the Executive Mansion, and gained access by means of a violent massacre that has left dozens of innocent bystanders murdered. Through the quick actions of the Secret Service, the president is evacuated to his underground bunker, but not before almost one hundred hostages are taken.

While the politicians and the military leaders argue over how to negotiate with the terrorists, one man is sent in to break through the barrage of panicked responses and political agendas surrounding the chaotic crisis. Mitch Rapp, the CIA’s top counterterrorism operative, makes his way into the White House and soon discovers that the president is not as safe as Washington’s power elite had thought. Moving stealthily among the corridors and secret passageways of the White House, stepping terrifyingly close to the enemy, Rapp scrambles to save the hostages before the terrorists can extract the president from the safety of his bunker. In a race against time, Rapp makes a chilling discovery that could rock Washington to its core: someone within his own government is maneuvering in hopes that his rescue attempt will fail.

With the crackling tension and explosive action that made Term Limits “a roller-coaster, edge-of-your-seat thriller” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune), Vince Flynn delivers Transfer of Power — a blockbuster novel that carries us just beyond today’s headlines.

Transfer of Power

Product Description
They are the Guardians of Eternity, strong, skilled, seductive vampires chosen to protect–and to destroy. And they will risk anything to fulfill their duty, and satisfy their desires. . .

Tane is a Charon, sworn to hunt and kill rogue vampires. His new assignment seems like a waste of his talents–until he catches up with the jinn he’s been sent to capture. Half human, half demon, Laylah has a vulnerable streak that strikes right through to Tane’s cold heart. He should be furious when she uses her powers to bind them together, preventing him from dragging her before the Commission. Instead he welcomes any reason to stay close enough to touch, to taste, to seduce. . .

Laylah doesn’t know why she was chosen to protect a child who may be the catalyst in a war between good and evil. But the mysteries of her past pale compared to the dangers approaching. Tane is devastatingly strong, breathtakingly sensual. And Laylah will have to trust in every ounce of that strength, because her enemies are drawing near, eager to destroy them both. . .

“Beyond the Darkness kept me riveted! The Guardians of Eternity series is highly addictive.” –Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author

“Oh, so hot and wonderfully dangerous.” –Gena Showalter on Darkness Unleashed “A darkly erotic adventure with a vampire hero who can

bite me anytime!” –Angela Knight on Darkness Revealed

Devoured By Darkness

Product Description
A Thomas Nelson Kindle book.

Bonhoeffer

Product Description
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Diana Gabaldon’s Voyager.

From the author of Outlander… a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland…

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland’s majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones…about a love that transcends the boundaries of time…and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his ….

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire’s spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart …in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising…and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves….

Dragonfly in Amber

Product Description

In the instant number one New York Times bestseller Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Steve Harvey gave millions of women around the globe insight into what men really think about love, intimacy, and commitment. In his new book he zeros in on what motivates men and provides tips on how women can use that knowledge to get more of what they need out of their relationships, whether it’s more help around the house, more of the right kind of attention in the bedroom, more money in the joint bank account, or more truth when it comes to the hard questions, such as: Are you committed to building a future together? Does my success intimidate you? Have you cheated on me?

In Straight Talk, No Chaser: How to Find, Keep, and Understand a Man, Steve Harvey shares information on:

How to Get the Truth Out of Your Man
Tired of answers that are deceptive? Harvey lays out a three-tier, CIA-style of questioning that will leave your man no choice but to cut to the chase and deliver the truth.

Dating Tips, Decade by Decade
Whether you’re in your twenties and just starting to date seriously, in your thirties and feeling the tick of the biological clock, or in your forties and beyond, Steve provides insight into what a man, in each decade of his life, is looking for in a mate.

How to Minimize Nagging and Maximize Harmony at Home
He said he’d cut the lawn on Saturday, and you may have been within reason to think that that meant Saturday before ten in the evening, but exploding at him is only going to ruin the mood for everyone, which means no romance. Steve shows you how to talk to your man in a way that moves him to action and keeps the peace.

And there’s much more, including Steve’s candid answers to questions you’ve always wanted to ask men.

Drawing on a lifetime of experience and the feedback women have shared with him in reaction to Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Harvey offers wisdom on a wealth of topics relevant to both sexes today. He also gets more personal, sharing anecdotes from his own family history. Always direct, often funny, and incredibly perceptive, media personality, comedian, philanthropist, and (finally) happily married husband, Steve Harvey proves once again that he is the king of relationships.

Straight Talk, No Chaser

Product Description

Sarah’s Key

Product Description
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity — principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.Amazon.com Review
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change was a groundbreaker when it was first published in 1990, and it continues to be a business bestseller with more than 15 million copies sold. Stephen Covey, an internationally respected leadership authority, realizes that true success encompasses a balance of personal and professional effectiveness, so this book is a manual for performing better in both arenas. His anecdotes are as frequently from family situations as from business challenges. Before you can adopt the seven habits, you’ll need to accomplish what Covey calls a “paradigm shift”–a change in perception and interpretation of how the world works. Covey takes you through this change, which affects how you perceive and act regarding productivity, time management, positive thinking, developing your “proactive muscles” (acting with initiative rather than reacting), and much more. This isn’t a quick-tips-start-tomorrow kind of book. The concepts are sometimes intricate, and you’ll want to study this book, not skim it. When you finish, you’ll probably have Post-it notes or hand-written annotations in every chapter, and you’ll feel like you’ve taken a powerful seminar by Covey. –Joan Price

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Product Description

Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.

Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn’t simply about going fast. Using the techniques needed on the race track, one can successfully navigate all of life’s ordeals.

On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through: the sacrifices Denny has made to succeed professionally; the unexpected loss of Eve, Denny’s wife; the three-year battle over their daughter, Zoë, whose maternal grandparents pulled every string to gain custody. In the end, despite what he sees as his own limitations, Enzo comes through heroically to preserve the Swift family, holding in his heart the dream that Denny will become a racing champion with Zoë at his side. Having learned what it takes to be a compassionate and successful person, the wise canine can barely wait until his next lifetime, when he is sure he will return as a man.

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Product Description

Two of the most beloved novels in all of English literature—now together as a Penguin Enriched eBook

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of the two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of the guillotine.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor—these form a series of events that changes the orphaned Pip’s life forever, and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman. Dickens’s haunting late novel depicts Pip’s education and development through adversity as he discovers the true nature of his “great expectations.”

This enriched edition includes: illustrations of 18th century fashion and culture in Dickens’s Victorian world, the early reception for both A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, a filmography of Dickens’s novels, further reading about the author as well as what informed the thematic elements of these classic novels.

PLEASE NOTE: Free versions of The Dickens’s classics, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations are also available for download.

A Charles Dickens Timeline

1812	Born February 7 in Portsmouth, England
1824	His father John sent to Marshalsea Debtor’s Prison for a debt of £40 and 10 shillings
	Began working 10-hour days in shoe-polish warehouse to help support family
1833	First story, “A Dinner at Poplar Walk,” appeared in the Monthly Magazine
1836	First book, Sketches by Boz, collected his early journalism and stories
	First novel, The Pickwick Papers, began its monthly serialization
	Married Catherine Hogarth
1837-39	Oliver Twist appeared in monthly installments
1838-39	Nicholas Nickleby serialized
1840-41	The Old Curiosity Shop
1841	Barnaby Rudge
1842	American Notes, based on his tour that year of the United States
1843	The Christmas Carol, the first of his “Christmas tales”
1843-44	Martin Chuzzlewit
1846-48	Dombey and Son
1849-50	David Copperfield
1852-53	Bleak House
1854	Hard Times
1855-57	Little Dorrit
1857	Met actress Ellen Ternan, his longtime companion
1858	Separated from his wife, Catherine
1859	A Tale of Two Cities
1860-61	Great Expectations
1864-65	Our Mutual Friend
1867-68	Second tour of America
1868-69	Farewell reading tour of the British Isles
1870	The Mystery of Edwin Drood (unfinished)
	Died from a stroke on June 9

A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations: Two Novels