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It's 2535. It is the first, desperate days of the Human-Covenant War, and the United Nations Space Command has enacted “the Cole Protocol” to safeguard Earth and its inner colonies from discovery by its merciless alien foe. Many are called upon to rid the galaxy of lingering navigation data that could potentially reveal the location of Earth and ensure the destruction of humanity.

From the dog who interviews potential owners to the cat who writes Yelp reviews about her human, this hilarious and heartwarming flash fiction collection celebrates the glorious mess of life with adopted pets. Whether it’s a puppy submitting a resume ("Skills: Professional Cuddler, Amateur Sock Thief") or a shelter cat staging a protest for better treats, these 100 bite-sized stories are packed with love, laughter, and heart-tugging surprises—plus one powerful truth: adopting a pet might just be the best decision you ever make (even if they chew the evidence).

A Grief Observed is C. S. Lewis's deeply personal and poignant reflection on the intense grief he experienced following the death of his wife, Joy Davidman. Written as a series of journal entries, the book offers an intimate glimpse into Lewis's raw emotional journey, where he grapples with profound sorrow, anger, doubt, and ultimately faith. In this powerful meditation on loss, Lewis confronts his own beliefs about God, suffering, and the afterlife, questioning his faith and the nature of divine love in the midst of overwhelming pain.

The task was simple. Sneak into Potomac's most heavily guarded manor. Steal back my pendant. Slip out. Problem number one? America’s most unattainable bachelor caught me. Problem number two? He decided to keep me. As the help. Zachary Sun’s winter may be the coldest I’ve ever felt, but he makes my skin burn. Reserved, calculated, and savagely cruel, he thrives on the weaknesses of others. Little does he know, he just met his match. He may be American royalty. But this peasant will rise to become queen.

Pecola es una niña pequeña que vive con sus padres y tiene una prima que se llama Claudia. Le gustan las muñecas y las caléndulas, que no le gustan a nadie excepto a ella. Pecola es negra y cree que es fea porque no se parece a Shirley Temple. Y tiene un truco para desaparecer cuando sus padres se pelean o su padre la molesta por las noches: piensa que tiene unos preciosos ojos azules, que todo el mundo admira su belleza y que las otras niñas la envidian. Pero ese sueño nunca se convertirá en realidad y Pecola seguirá atrapada en la triste vida que le ha tocado en suerte.

We didn't know what to expect when we jumped through the Leap Point. We certainly didn't anticipate finding that humans had been out here before. We thought we were the first to leave our star system, but we we're wrong. Maybe Hegemony was correct. Maybe we are just blundering our way from discovery to discovery, and it's only a matter of time before we encounter something in the vast darkness that takes a real bite out of us. It would certainly help if the government had our back.

Rudi Mackenzie has won the battle that expelled the enemy from the new High Kingdom of Montival. Now he must free the people who live in the state once known as Idaho from occupation by the legions of the Church Universal and Triumphant and pursue them to their lair over the mountains. There he will finally confront the forces behind the Church - the Powers of the Void.

Historians Cameron Thorne and Amanda Spencer-Gunn uncover a stolen painting which the Nazis believed was a secret map to the Holy Grail and the lost treasure of the Knights Templar. Hitler planned to weaponize the Holy Grail and monetize the treasure as part of his campaign of world dominance. Cam and Amanda just want to find the legendary artifacts. The Nazis failed because they were unable to decipher the secret Templar clues left in the painting. Cam and Amanda may fail—perhaps fatally—because a group of modern-day Nazis remain obsessed with finishing Hitler's work.

Mordecai The Brown was content to move on. He'd had his fun, had his vengeance, and had his next adventure all planned out. Then someone had to get it into their head to extort him for help overthrowing a planet. With a friend's life on the line, simple reprisal just won't do. With the help of his honorary niece and nephew, Jessie and Eric, Mort devises a plan of both rescue and vengeance, involving an elaborate deception to disguise a galactic-scale betrayal.

The spiral to madness begins with a single push. Abandoned by her people, Queen Talyien's quest takes a turn for the worst as she stumbles upon a plot deeper and more sinister than she could have ever imagined, one that will displace her king and see her son dead. The road home beckons, strewn with a tangled web of deceit and impossible horrors that unearth the nation's true troubles - creatures from the dark, mad dragons, and men with hearts hungry for power.

1870. A haven for the blessed and the damned, including a fallen angel, a mad scientist, a pirate queen, and a deputy who is kin to coyotes, Golgotha has come through many nightmarish trials, but now an army of thirty-two outlaws, lunatics, serial killers, and cannibals are converging on the town, drawn by a grisly relic that dates back to the Donner Party...and the dawn of humanity.

In The Ticket That Exploded, William S. Burroughs' grand "cut-up" trilogy, which starts with The Soft Machine and continues through Nova Express, reaches its climax as inspector Lee and the Nova Police engage the Nova Mob in a decisive battle for the planet. Only Burroughs could make such a nightmare vision of scientists and combat troops, of ad men and con men, whose deceitful language has spread like an incurable disease, be at once so frightening and so enthralling.

On the eve of a popular rebellion, the Chinese government starts to crack down in cities across the country. Fleeing the turmoil, Wang Yuan, the son of a famous general and grandson of the patriarch of The Good Earth, leaves for America to study agriculture. When he returns to China six years later, he encounters a nation still in the grip of violent uprisings. Unprepared for the social upheaval, Wang is torn by the tensions between old traditions and new ways and by his formidable family, whose struggles he hopes to solve.

Broken...Sold...Enslaved... Alistar trained from birth to fight for humanity, only to receive a unique class that's locked upon entering the dungeon. He has five years of fighting ahead of him with no way to level up and gain new skills. But when humanity falls, he quickly learns to only trust his familiar, Kale. The one perk of his class that he can use is rapid healing. Turns out, that's a curse in disguise when he's sold to the arena to fight to the death. Locked away...broken...defeated. His only dream is to see the sun again, but to do that, he must kill all those in his way and break ...

As a citadel guardswoman, Uma wears the scars of her past—both those born from her duty that she is proud of and those she would rather forget, including the deepest scars of heartache that haunt her. While a broken heart can hide behind the icy reserve of her duty, beneath her scarred face lies a tender heart that somehow a triad of Ragoru has worked their way into. Convicted of a crime they say they didn't intend, Uma suddenly finds herself saddled with the trio pain in the asses.

A year ago, Kelly Cannon couldn't imagine he'd end up with his formerly straight best friend. It's hard to believe he can finally kiss Blue anytime he wants...as long as they're in private. And there's the rub. Despite Kelly's promise to wait until Blue is ready to come out, he's tired of sneaking around. The cracks in their relationship are starting to show, and there might not be enough Spackle in the world to fix them.

"You need to kill at least three people, right? So that's what I'll do." When Will jokes about becoming a serial killer, his friends just laugh it off. But Adeline can't help but feel there's something more sinister lurking behind his words. Fifteen years later, Adeline returns to Blythe for a reunion of the old gang - except Will doesn't show up. Reminiscing about old times, they look up the details of his supposed murder spree. But the mood soon changes when they discover two recent deaths that match.

In his poetry, Walt Whitman set out to encompass all of America, and in so doing, heal its deepening divisions. This magisterial biography demonstrates the epic scale of his achievement, as well as the dreams and anxieties that impelled it, for it places the poet securely within the political and cultural context of his age.

I was eight when Nathan moved away. He was my best friend. My only friend. My safe space. And then he was gone. And my life turned into Hell. But I survived. I broke free and made a life for myself. And I tried to forget about the boy who grew up to be Nate Waller, the famous retired football player. I really did try to forget. But then I opened the door, while working at a client’s house, and he was there. Standing before me. My old friend. My unwitting confidant. My Nathan. Except… he doesn’t recognize me.

With Christmas approaching, Sadie is preparing for a large blended-family gathering including many new grandchildren - in their home in Fort Collins, Colorado. Even with the festive chaos, Sadie drops everything when word gets out that her friend, Mary, is the victim of a holiday robbery. Though priceless to the family, the collection has been valued at $40,000, and the Christmas tree in the care facility has never looked so good. But before the ornaments can be retrieved by Mary, 11 of the most expensive ornaments are stolen.