Once upon a time in Botswana in Africa there was a little girl who would later grow up to be a famous detective: Precious Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Having already cracked the case of the missing cakes at school, she now has a new mystery to solve. Precious Ramotswe has two new friends at school and they have the funniest and most resourceful pet you can imagine. But they are upset that their family's most valuable possession, their cow, has gone missing. Precious has a plan to find the missing animal but she needs the help of another in her search. Will she succeed and what obstacles will she face on her path? Find out as Alexander McCall Smith tells the story of Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill. Once upon a time in Botswana in Africa there was a little girl who would later grow up to be a famous detective: Precious Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Having already cracked the case of the missing cakes at school, she now has a new mystery to solve. Precious Ramotswe has two new friends at school and they have the funniest and most resourceful pet you can imagine. But they are upset that their family's most valuable possession, their cow, has gone missing. Precious has a plan to find the missing animal but she needs the help of another in her search. Will she succeed and what obstacles will she face on her path? Find out as Alexander McCall Smith tells the story of Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill.

Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can’t wait—for the first time in years, all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend, before the house is sold and everything changes. The house will be filled with jokes and games and laughs again. Making decisions about things like what college to attend and reuniting with longstanding crush Jesse Foster—all that can wait. She wants to focus on making the weekend perfect. The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster. There’s the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, house alarm that won’t stop going off, and a papergirl with a grudge. There are the relatives who aren’t speaking, the (awful) girl her favorite brother brought home unannounced, and a missing tuxedo. Not to mention the neighbor who seems to be bent on sabotage and a storm that is bent on drenching everything. The justice of the peace is missing. The band will only play covers. The guests are all crazy. And the wedding planner’s nephew is unexpectedly, distractingly…cute. Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she’ll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Master and apprentice. Chosen by fate. Destined for conflict. When Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are sent to the Galactic Games, they are meant to be keepers of the peace. Then they discover an illegal event that Anakin knows all too well: Podracing. Even though Obi-Wan forbids it, Anakin cannot resist the thrill of the race—and the chance to face off against his childhood rival, the loathsome Sebulba. As a Jedi, Anakin is supposed to let go of his past. But his past will not let go of him.

My name is Danielle. I'm eighteen. I've been stealing things for as long as I can remember. Dani has been trained as a thief by the best--her mother. Together, they move from town to town, targeting wealthy homes and making a living by stealing antique silver. They never stay in one place long enough to make real connections, real friends--a real life In the beach town of Heaven, though, everything changes. For the first time, Dani starts to feel at home. She's making friends and has even met a guy. But these people can never know the real Dani--because of who she is. When it turns out that her new friend lives in the house they've targeted for their next job and the cute guy is a cop, Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she's always known--or the one she's always wanted.

While developing a new system to maintain the town's defenses, genius student Claire Danvers discovers a way to use the vampires' powers to keep outsiders from spreading news of Morganville's "unique" situation. But when people in town start forgetting who they are-including the vampires-Claire has to figure out how to pull the plug on her experiment before she forgets how to save herself. . . and Morganville.

In my preface to the Lion of the North I expressed a hope that I might some day be able to continue the history of the Thirty Years' War. The deaths of Gustavus and his great rival Wallenstein and the crushing defeat of the Swedes and their allies at the battle of Nordlingen brought the first period of that war to a close. Hostilities, indeed, never ceased, but the Swedes no longer played the leading part on the Protestant side that they had hitherto occupied. Oxenstiern, the great chancellor of Sweden, saw that the only hope of eventual success lay in engaging France in the struggle, and he and the Duke of Weimar went to Paris and pointed out to Richelieu that unless France intervened, Austria must become the master of all Germany, and as the ally of Spain would have it in her power to completely dominate France. Richelieu perceived the opportunity, made a treaty with the Swedes and Weimar, and engaged to grant large subsidies to the former, and to send an army to cooperate with the latter. Then began the second period of this long and terrible struggle, France now taking the place that Sweden had hitherto occupied, and bearing the brunt of the conflict. She emerged triumphant with her territories largely increased, while Austria was crushed and humiliated, and Spain was dethroned from her position as the dominating power of Europe. The success of France was greatly due to the fact that her armies were led by two of the greatest military geniuses of all times, viz., Conde and Turenne, men of very different types, but equally great as commanders, and equally at the time of which we are speaking devoted to the cause of France. Both were men of extraordinary personal courage, and although one was as prudent and careful of the lives of his troops as the other was impetuous and careless at what cost he won his victories, they worked together with a harmony that could have hardly been expected among men so differently constituted. Although, in the subsequent wars of the Fronde they took different sides, their friendship, except during a short period of alienation, was never shaken, and their admiration for each other's genius never abated

Jim Taylor, Sally's oldest friend, has just been hired as a bodyguard to a princess. But Crown Princess Adelaide of Razkavia not what you'd expect. She's a London slum-child who cannot read or write; a girl Jim has been searching for ever since she vanished ten years ago. Now she's turned up in Razkavia, a tiny Central European country in political turmoil. The Crown Prince is deeply in love with her, and it's easy to see why. Adelaide's courage and determination set her apart. But there are others who hate Adelaide and what she stands for, and now her life is in mortal danger...This dramatic tale of love, loyalty and adventure is the final novel in the quartet.

An impossible diplomatic mission. Dangerously growing magic. A distrustful crew. Can Nile beat back the rising tide of war before it’s too late? Six months have passed since Princess Nile Greysik changed the course of the Tirik war and earned her place in the Felielle navy . . . or thought she did. With the war taking a violent new turn, Nile—joined by a cryptic empath named Kyra—sails out to beg support from the isolationist Diante Empire. But with a chauvinistic crew waiting for Nile to fail and even Domenic questioning her authority, one wrong step could strip Nile of her command mid-voyage. When a terrifying new evil strikes their ship, Nile begins to understand the awful truth about the enemy they’re facing—and this time, not even her wind calling may be enough to save them.

This immensely moving novel confronts divisions of race, gender, and class, fusing together the stories of people who come to recognize one another from former lives they didn't know existed -- or that they tried to forget. Diego, a deaf-mute, is barely surviving on the border in El Paso, Texas. Diego's sister, Helen, who lives with her husband in the posh suburbs of San Francisco, long ago abandoned both her brother and her El Paso roots. Helen's best friend, Lizzie, a nurse in an AIDS ward, begins to uncover her own buried past after a mystical encounter with a patient. With Carry Me Like Water, Benjamin Alire Sáenz unfolds a beautiful story about hope and forgiveness, unexpected reunions, an expanded definition of family, and, ultimately, what happens when the disparate worlds of pain and privilege collide.

I am Comet Caldwell. And I sort of, kind of, absolutely hate my name. People expect extraordinary things from a girl named Comet. That she’ll be effortlessly cool and light up a room the way a comet blazes across the sky. But from the shyness that makes her book-character friends more appealing than real people to the parents whose indifference hurts more than an open wound, Comet has never wanted to be the center of attention. She can’t wait to graduate from her high school in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the only place she ever feels truly herself is on her anonymous poetry blog. But surely that will change once she leaves to attend university somewhere far, far away. When new student Tobias King blazes in from America and shakes up the school, Comet thinks she’s got the bad boy figured out. Until they’re thrown together for a class assignment and begin to form an unlikely connection. Everything shifts in Comet’s ordinary world. Tobias has a dark past and runs with a tough crowd—and none of them are happy about his interest in Comet. Targeted by bullies and thrown into the spotlight, Comet and Tobias can go their separate ways…or take a risk on something extraordinary.

I'm watching you... A year has passed since Stacey Brown saved her best friend from a horrible death. Now she's having nightmares again, haunted by ghosts of the brutally murdered . . . and by a crazed stalker. As she desperately casts healing spells, a new student named Jacob enters her world. Beautiful and mysterious, he reveals that he is also having dreams. To stop a killer, they must join together. But can Jacob be trusted? Or will this new love cause her darkest dreams to come true?

Since the Blood Moon battle six years ago, Lucy, and her hot vampire boyfriend Nicholas Drake, have kept the peace between the vampires of Violet Hill and the Helios-Ra hunters. But breaking up fights between rogue hunter Aggie and irresistible rebel Callahan is proving a big challenge; Aggie just can’t accept that behind Cal’s burning blue eyes, he is in control of his bloodlust. As Lucy’s best friend and Nicholas’s sister, Solange, return home for the group’s Winter Solstice celebrations, Aggie struggles to admit the real reason she finds Cal a threat – and risks far more than her heart . . . An action-packed tale of dark romance from the author of the bestselling Drake Chronicles series. The perfect way for fans of Stephenie Meyer, L.J. Smith and Rachel Caine to enjoy the long winter nights.

Hush, little horsie, Asleep on the moor. Your mama is close— That’s what mamas are for. Mama horses around the world promise to watch over their little ones as the foals frolic and play and eventually fall asleep in this soothing bedtime story. Young horse lovers will drift off with Ruth Sanderson’s stunning horses in their minds and the promise of their own parents’ enduring love in their hearts. Award-winning author Jane Yolen has written the New York Times bestselling How Do Dinosaurs . . . series and Owl Moon, winner of the Caldecott Medal. In Hush, Little Horsie, she has dreamed up a lovely rhyming read-aloud for a mother and child to snuggle up with. This gorgeous picture book is perfect for horse lovers big and small—and for mothers in need of a good bedtime story.

Guardian Witch Book Four A dead body, black magic, and a vampire enforcer... Ari thought her biggest problem was deciding if she should move in with her vampire boyfriend, Andreas. That was before they found the dead body at the bottom of the Riverdale cliffs. And before she realized he'd been cursed by black magic. Just as she begins the murder investigation, the vampire rulers in Europe send an enforcer to make inquiries into the recent defeat of the Toronto vampire prince. While Andreas has taken responsibility for the brutal dictator's death, there is much about the incident that he and Ari must keep to themselves--secrets the vampire elders would stop at nothing to learn. With threats of retaliation hanging over their heads, Ari moves into Andreas's Victorian mansion--for safety's sake--while the enforcer begins a campaign of terror. Ari is caught between competing dangers and challenges: black magic, a ghost, a missing Native American artifact...not to mention a new roommate...all while trying to stay alive...

When the disease spread through the world, people had no choice but to go into hiding. The Colony is hidden deep underground, far away from the vampires—humans that were transformed by the disease. The vampires are hideous, starving, and they will kill any human they come across. Seventeen-year-old Kayla is a Bellator, a warrior that protects The Colony. In order to survive, there are three rules she must follow: Rule #1—Never go out after dark. Rule #2—Always carry a weapon. Rule #3—No matter what, never EVER get bitten. But what happens when the rules Kayla has always lived by can no longer apply? The Highers run The Colony and accept nothing less than perfection. One slip up can mean death. Kayla has always worked hard to follow the rules and strive for perfection. But during a moment of weakness, she lets her imperfections show. Her punishment is worse than death. She is chosen for The Gathering and is thrown out into a world full of starving vampires. No one has ever survived The Gathering, at least that’s what Kayla’s been told. But when she runs into a group who insist they were once part of The Gathering, Kayla discovers the Highers have been keeping secrets. Secrets that could lead to a cure.