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Smell
When her father is killed in a riot in Nairobi, Leela’s mother chooses to send her away to her childless aunt and uncle in Paris, while she herself, along with her two sons, seeks refuge with her brother in London. Forced to make the brutal transition from the open spaces and warm security of her home in Kenya to the claustrophobia of a poky apartment in Paris, Leela settles into the cheerless routine of helping her aunt in the house and working at her uncle’s store. But even this tenuous protection is short-lived, and one night she finds herself alone on the streets of an alien city, without a passport of money. As she struggles to survive, stumbling from job to job and from relationship, Leela discovers in herself an unusual quality – her extraordinary sensitivity to smell. A seemingly innocuous and occasionally useful attribute, it gradually begins to colour her ever emotion and response, from sexual arousal to the enjoyment of food. But when the dark feral stench of her own body threatens to overpower her, Leela is frightened into the realization that perhaps she has lost al control over her life ...
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The Taming of Women
As Anandhayi gives birth to her fifth child downstairs, with only her ancient mother-in-law for help, upstairs her husband Periyannan sleeps with a woman he has summoned to spend the night with him. Women of many generations live in that house at the end of the road, with the tyrannical and charismatic Periyannan always trying to bring them under his control. Voracious in his appetites, for both power and sex, Periyannan is a domineering antagonist to the tender but tenacious Anandhayi. In her most celebrated novel, Sivakami vividly evokes a world where women and men are in constant conflict, scrambling for the little power to which they can hold on. It is her superb satiric eyecapturing in comic vignettes of exquisite detail the life of women in a village transforming into a small townthat brings relief to this bleak, blistering vision of humanity, leaving the reader simultaneously amused and devastated.
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Gamble
As one of the youngest ever winners of the Grand National, Nick 'Foxy' Foxton's career as a world class jockey is on perfect track until a near fatal accident cuts his dream brutally short. But when he returns to Aintree as a spectator years later, nothing can prepare him for what unfolds. Minutes before the biggest event on the racing calendar, Nick's affable American colleague Herb Kovak is shot at point blank range, the gunman disappearing amongst the stunned crowd. Along with the police, Nick is left baffled as to why anyone would want to kill such an apparently gentle soul. With the press speculating links to gangland crime and a crumpled note containing a threatening message found in the dead man's coat, Nick begins to doubt how well he really knew Herb. And on discovering Herb had named him as the benefactor of his will, Nick questions why he has been entrusted with the legacy. Is this a generous gift from a friend or is it, in fact, a poisoned chalice?
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The Book of Destruction
A unique novel that focuses on the act of murder! Murder is committed for its own sake in the three fictional episodes of The Book of Destruction. In The Gardener, the narrator learns from the thug Seshadri that he has been selected for assassination for no reason but the pure purpose of killing. A discotheque is bombed out of existence in The Hotelier and the Traveller. In the third episode, leading the narrator to an elaborately staged orgy and sacrifice, stitched clothes escape from a tailors shop and soar down the streets to take over bodies. The cruelty of killers and the wretchedness of victims are shifted to the margins as the novel focuses on the act of murder. In his inimitable style, Anand takes the mesmerized reader on a journey of three stages the practice of killing, the sacrifice of the victim and the sacrifice of the sacrificerbefore bringing the story of destruction to its finale. A unique novel that focuses on the act of murder! Murder is committed for its own sake in the three fictional episodes of The Book of Destruction. In The Gardener, the narrator learns from the thug Seshadri that he has been selected for assassination for no reason but the pure purpose of killing. A discotheque is bombed out of existence in The Hotelier and the Traveller. In the third episode, leading the narrator to an elaborately staged orgy and sacrifice, stitched clothes escape from a tailors shop and soar down the streets to take over bodies. The cruelty of killers and the wretchedness of victims are shifted to the margins as the novel focuses on the act of murder. In his inimitable style, Anand takes the mesmerized reader on a journey of three stages the practice of killing, the sacrifice of the victim and the sacrifice of the sacrificerbefore bringing the story of destruction to its finale.
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Let the Devil Sleep
Dave Gurney, the most decorated homicide detective in the history of the NYPD, is still trying to adjust to life in upstate New York when a young woman who is producing a documentary on serial killers asks for his input. Soon after this conversation, odd events begin occurring in Dave's life: There is a strange problem with his tractor, a razor-sharp hunting arrow lands in his yard, and he narrowly escapes serious injury in a booby-trapped basement. As things grow more bizarre, Dave finds himself re-examining the case of 'The Good Shepherd' - which, 10 years before, involved a series of roadway shootings and a 'Unabomber-like' manifesto expressing rage at society. The killings ceased, and a cult of analysis grew up around the case with a consensus opinion that no one would dream of challenging - no one, that is, except Dave Gurney. Mocked even by some who'd been his allies in previous investigative outings, Dave is only heeded when the reawakened Good Shepherd proves by his actions that his agenda is more complex than previously thought.
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The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk: Life Stories from
Extraordinary stories about ordinary peoples lives by the inimitable Sudha Murty Over the years, Sudha Murty has come across some fascinating people whose lives make for interesting stories and have astonishing lessons to reveal. Take Vishnu, who achieves every material success but never knows happiness; or Venkat, who talks so much that he has no time to listen. In other stories, a young girl goes on a train journey that changes her life forever; an impoverished village woman provides bathing water to hundreds of people in a drought-stricken area; a do-gooder ghost decides to teach a disconsolate young man Sanskrit; and in the title story, a woman in a flooded village in Odisha teaches the author a life lesson she will never forget.
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For Crying Out Loud
Suitable for those who are driven to wonder just what is the matter with people these days.
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Learning to Fly
Since she was eight years old Victoria wanted to be a star. This autobiography covers her childhood, marriage and motherhood, the Spice Girls and her current career.
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Taking On The World
The Incredible Story Of The Fastest Woman To Sail Around The Globe Solo The Vendee Globe around-the-world sailboat race is sailing's ultimate challenge and the pinnacle of extreme sports--a single handed, nonstop race including 13,000 miles through the planet's most dangerous waters: the Southern Ocean that encircles Antarctica. Small wonder that fewer than half the boats that start a Vendee Globe race can finish it. Of those who don't, the luckier drop out; the rest are claimed by the sea. At 5 feet 2 inches tall and age 24, Ellen MacArthur was the smallest and youngest competitor in the 2000-01 Vendee Globe and one of just a handful of women ever to have attempted it. In an event dominated by older men of the elite French long-distance racing fraternity, she was a long shot even to finish. Yet on February 11, 2001, she finished second, and became the youngest sailor to complete the race, the first woman to earn a top-three placing, the fastest woman ever to sail around the world, and the second fastest person ever to do so alone. Her time of 94 days 4 hours 25 minutes shaved 11 days from the previous record. On the day Ellen reached the finish line off the French resort town of Les Sables d'Olonne, an estimated 200,000 people turned out to greet her, and her race website received 4.5 million hits. Her reception, and the media coverage, eclipsed that accorded the winner--the Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux--the day before. Ellen's accomplishment transcended national boundaries.
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Dude, Where's My Country?
Well, now the world's Bushwhacked. It's time for the good ol' boy to head for the hills, and Mike's on a mission to smoke him out at the next election - and help ordinary people get their country back. What's more, he's going to use his share of the tax cut to do it.
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Black Moon
Storm-bound in hostile waters, ex-cop turned boat minder Rick Broca comes across the wreck of a crashed plane, one very grateful pilot and an ocean full of trouble. Because it soon becomes clear that the rescued man isn’t who he says he is. And when the pair are intercepted by a fishing boat carrying enough artillery to sink a battleship, Rick’s already in too deep. What follows is a terrifying battle for survival in which Rick Broca will come up against the CIA, the FBI and the full might of the US military, as his search for answers leads him through a deadly maze of international espionage and political intrigue where he can only be sure of one thing: that turning back is no longer an option.
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Impulse
The reigning "queen of romance" returns with a masterful new novel of romantic suspense. Catherine Coulter, the bestselling author of False Pretenses, scales new heights that will dazzle and delight even her most ardent fans.
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The Experiment
In an isolated laboratory, a test subject discovers a human corpse with its heart removed... In New York City, a journalist investigates a homicide victim with its face and fingerprints removed... Drawn together by medicine and murder, these two men are about to make a discovery that will change everything they think about science, nature, and themselves... They share the same face. "Thrills and Haunts."-Patricia Cornwell "One of the summer's scariest novels." -New York Daily News "As compelling as Robert B. Parker's Spenser or Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta...complex and original...absorbing."-New York Times "A Roaring...X-Files-Like Tale."-Talk "Thrilling."-John Sandford "Chilling."-People "Relentless." -Houston Chronicle "Timely."-Publishers Weekly "Harrowing."-Rocky Mountain News "Satisfying."-Entertainment Weekly "You've Got To Read It."-Library Journal (Hot Picks) A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
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The Minister's Wife
A hard-boiled, fast-paced narrative about sexual and political corruption in contemporary India Ajit Vajpayee is a drifter. A confused Marxist and a voyeur, his is a life of little action and desperate thoughts—about political ideology, violence and sex. One empty afternoon in Lucknow, a mysterious man who knows his darkest secrets and shares his disillusionment with women offers him an opportunity for adventure: he must spy on a minister’s wife, a woman, he is told, with a genius for deception. The unlikely mission takes Ajit to Bombay and Bihar, and he finds himself hopelessly caught up in a murky world of low politics, high crime and twisted carnality. An erotic thriller set against the backdrop of caste conflicts, mafia intrigue and the amorality of a modern world driven purely by ambition and wealth, The Minister’s Wife is a racy and rewarding read.
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The Soul of the Rhino
Ugly yet enchanting, terrifying yet delicate, the Indian Rhinoceros is a magnificent animal. It is also in danger of being killed off for good. The Soul of the Rhino is a spirited account of one man’s journey to protect the animal in the foothills of the Himalayas. Hemanta Mishra was fresh out of university when he embarked on his conservation work in the 1970s. Over the years, he got help from an ornery but steadfast elephant driver, the Nepalese royal family and like-minded scientists. He also did outstanding work--creating nature reserves, arm- wrestling politicians and raising awareness. But Mishra hasn’t won his battle to save the rhino. As he shows vividly, armed insurgence, political violence and poaching are driving this endangered species to complete extinction.
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Mira And The Mahatma
It is 1925 and India's struggle for independence is in disarray, impeded by factionalism among its leaders and rising incidents of communal disharmony across the country. Meanwhile, having withdrawn himself from active politics, Bapu—Mahatma Gandhi—is in the Sabarmati ashram in Gujarat, immersed in the creation of an ideal community that is dedicated to the highest standards of self-discipline, tolerance and austerity. Into this world comes Madeleine Slade, the daughter of a British admiral, who has set her heart on becoming Bapu's greatest disciple. Bapu embraces her into the fold and, as she becomes an indispensable part of the ashram and his life, renames her Mira after Mirabai, the legendary devotee of Krishna.But it is not long before Mira's all-consuming desire to serve Bapu transforms into a desperate need to be close to him at all times and clashes head-on with the exacting moral and spiritual codes he has laid down for himself and those around him. And as the self-doubting Mahatma, seeking to distance himself from Mira yet loath to let go of her love, wrestles with his inner phantoms, Mira's life begins to take another dramatic turn . . .
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Amitabh -The Making Of A Superstar
In an industry where fashions change every Friday, Amitabh Bachchan has been synonymous with cinematic entertainment for over thirty years. But beyond the labels of ‘one-man industry' and ‘star of the millennium', a number of issues pertaining to the star, his films and his era remain largely unaddressed. What is it that makes Amitabh Bachchan the star he is? Is it his undeniable genius as an actor, his ability to connect with the masses and the classes alike, or is it his writers and directors who project him in varied roles? Did his films in his heyday reflect the angst of his time, or did the y ferment the spirit of anger and rebellion in the first place? Was he really the rebel as his ‘angry young man' image suggests, or was the re, behind all the sound and fury, a conformist subtext that called for restoration of the status quo? How relevant is Amitabh Bachchan today? In Amitabh: The Making of a Superstar , Susmita Dasgupta answers the se and o the r questions that lie buried in the trail of glory the star blazed. In a warm and insightful analysis, the author traces the world-view and philosophy that have shaped the films of Amitabh Bachchan—from the angry young man of Zanjeer , the tragic antihero of Deewar and the entertainer of Amar Akbar Anthony to his more conservative turns in Mohabbatein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham . In the process, she not only chronicles the star's journey from a flop actor to a national icon but also brings to life a period in the history of Indian cinema which altered forever the economics of film-making in the country.