When Among Crows is swift and striking, drawing from the deep well of Slavic folklore and asking if redemption and atonement can be found in embracing what we most fear. We bear the sword, and we bear the pain of the sword. Pain is Dymitr’s calling. His family is one in a long line of hunters who sacrifice their souls to slay monsters. Now he’s tasked with a deadly mission: find the legendary witch Baba Jaga. To reach her, Dymitr must ally with the ones he’s sworn to kill. Pain is Ala’s inheritance. A fear-eating zmora with little left to lose, Ala awaits death from the curse she carries. When Dymitr offers her a cure in exchange for her help, she has no choice but to agree. Together they must fight against time and the wrath of the Chicago underworld. But Dymitr’s secrets—and his true motives—may be the thing that actually destroys them.

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemí’s dreams with visions of blood and doom. Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness. And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.

Geralt the Witcher—revered and hated—is a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good... and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth. Librarian's Note: Alternate cover edition of ASIN B0010SIPT4

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil. After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows. And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent. As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales. The Bear and the Nightingale is a magical debut novel from a gifted and gorgeous voice. It spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent.

Tranne che per qualche sfortunata incursione nel genere umoristico, la parola incubo è applicabile a quasi tutta la narrativa di Poe. Per questo libro abbiamo scelto quattro dei suoi racconti e il giallo The Purloined Letter. A differenza dei posteriori racconti di Wells, MS Found in a Bottle non vuol sembrare veridico, ma è altrettanto concreto e possente delle allucinazioni; in The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar l'orrore fisico si aggiunge all'orrore del soprannaturale; in The Man of the Crowd i temi centrali sono la solitudine e la colpa; The Pit and the Pendulum è un'esaltazione graduale del terrore. Quasi settant'anni fa, seduto sull'ultimo gradino di una scala che non esiste più, lessi The Pit anche the Pendulum; ho dimenticato quante volte l'abbia riletto o me lo sia fatto rileggere; so che non sono arrivato all'ultima e che ritornerò nel carcere quadrangolare che si restringe e nell'abisso del fondo (dall’introduzione di Jorge Luis Borges). Contiene le traduzioni di: The Purloined Letter (La lettera rubata) Ms. Found in a Bottle (Manoscritto trovato in una bottiglia) The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (La verità sul caso di Mister Valdemar) The Man of the Crowd (L'uomo della folla) The Pit and the Pendulum (Il pozzo e il pendolo)

Par une nuit de fête au cœur de l'hiver, à Paris, Balzac croise l'histoire d'un sculpteur et d'une cantatrice. Récit tout de mystère - il sera levé à la fin - de richesse profuse, de volupté, inouïe, intouchée. La musique et la sculpture échangent leur pouvoir, s'attirent mortellement. Le sculpteur tombera, victime de trois stylets. L'histoire d'amour, comme toutes les énigmes, plonge vers la tombe, vers le cadavre. D'où naissent les statues.

Geralt è uno strigo, un individuo più forte e resistente di qualsiasi essere umano, che si guadagna da vivere uccidendo quelle creature che sgomentano anche i più audaci: demoni, orchi, elfi malvagi... Strappato alla sua famiglia quand'era soltanto un bambino, Geralt è stato sottoposto a un durissimo addestramento, durante il quale gli sono state somministrate erbe e pozioni che lo hanno mutato profondamente. Non esiste guerriero capace di batterlo e le stesse persone che lo assoldano hanno paura di lui. Lo considerano un male necessario, un mercenario da pagare per i suoi servigi e di cui sbarazzarsi il più in fretta possibile. Anche Geralt, però, ha imparato a non fidarsi degli uomini: molti di loro nascondono decisioni spietate sotto la menzogna del bene comune o diffondono ignobili superstizioni per giustificare i loro misfatti. Spesso si rivelano peggiori dei mostri ai quali lui dà la caccia. Proprio come i cavalieri che adesso sono sulle sue tracce: hanno scoperto che Geralt è gravemente ferito e non vogliono perdere l'occasione di eliminarlo una volta per tutte. Per questo lui ha chiesto asilo a Nenneke, sacerdotessa del tempio della dea Melitele e guaritrice eccezionale, nonché l'unica persona che può aiutarlo a ritrovare Yennefer, la bellissima e misteriosa maga che gli ha rubato il cuore?

From BRIAN K. VAUGHAN, #1 New York Times bestselling writer of SAGA and THE PRIVATE EYE, and CLIFF CHIANG, legendary artist of Wonder Woman, comes the first volume of an all-new ongoing adventure. In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood. Collects PAPER GIRLS #1-5.

Throughout the deepest reaches of space, a crew rebuilds beautiful and broken-down structures, painstakingly putting the past together. As new member Mia gets to know her team, the story flashes back to her pivotal year in boarding school, where she fell in love with a mysterious new student. Soon, though, Mia reveals her true purpose for joining their ship—to track down her long-lost love. An inventive world, a breathtaking love story, and stunning art come together in this new work by award-winning artist Tillie Walden.

A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help us start anew. It's a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamt of coming for years―she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she's here without him. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe―which makes it that much more surprising when the women can’t stop confiding in each other. In turns uproariously, absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach's The Wedding People is a look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined―and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.

Geralt è uno strigo, un individuo più forte e resistente di qualsiasi essere umano, che si guadagna da vivere uccidendo quelle creature che sgomentano anche i più audaci: demoni, orchi, elfi malvagi... Strappato alla sua famiglia quand'era soltanto un bambino, Geralt è stato sottoposto a un durissimo addestramento, durante il quale gli sono state somministrate erbe e pozioni che lo hanno mutato profondamente. Non esiste guerriero capace di batterlo e le stesse persone che lo assoldano hanno paura di lui. Lo considerano un male necessario, un mercenario da pagare per i suoi servigi e di cui sbarazzarsi il più in fretta possibile. Anche Geralt, però, ha imparato a non fidarsi degli uomini: molti di loro nascondono decisioni spietate sotto la menzogna del bene comune o diffondono ignobili superstizioni per giustificare i loro misfatti. Spesso si rivelano peggiori dei mostri ai quali lui dà la caccia. Proprio come i cavalieri che adesso sono sulle sue tracce: hanno scoperto che Geralt è gravemente ferito e non vogliono perdere l'occasione di eliminarlo una volta per tutte. Per questo lui ha chiesto asilo a Nenneke, sacerdotessa del tempio della dea Melitele e guaritrice eccezionale, nonché l'unica persona che può aiutarlo a ritrovare Yennefer, la bellissima e misteriosa maga che gli ha rubato il cuore?

Il regno di Cintra è caduto. Dopo quattro giorni d’assedio, le truppe di Nilfgaard irrompono nel castello e massacrano l’intera famiglia reale. La principessa Ciri è l’unica che riesce a fuggire ma, all’improvviso, un cavaliere nemico le si para davanti e avanza minaccioso, brandendo un pugnale insanguinato…Ciri non ricorda cosa sia successo. Sa solo che ora è sana e salva, protetta dalla spada di Geralt di Rivia e dalle possenti mura di Kaer Morhen, la fortezza in cui si addestrano i giovani strighi, gli assassini di mostri. Anche Ciri vorrebbe diventare una di loro, così, se tornasse il cavaliere di Nilfgaard, lei non avrebbe più paura, anzi sarebbe pronta a combattere. Una sera, però, al termine di un’estenuante giornata di allenamento, la ragazza dimostra di possedere straordinarie capacità psichiche, così dirompenti da non lasciare adito a dubbi: è lei la Fiamma di Cintra di cui parlano le profezie, la forza che salverà i popoli del mondo dalla rovina. Il suo destino è quindi segnato: deve partire subito per Ellander, dove una maga le insegnerà a controllare quell’immenso potere. Tuttavia, durante il viaggio, Ciri e Geralt dovranno stare molto attenti. Perché un sicario è già sulle loro tracce, disposto a tutto pur di eliminare la Fiamma di Cintra e scatenare il caos…

How digital social reading apps are powerfully changing—and nurturing—the way we read.Conventional wisdom would have us believe that digital technology is a threat to reading, but in Digital Social Reading, Federico Pianzola argues that reading socially through digital media can help people grow a passion for reading and, in some cases, even enhance text comprehension. Digital social reading (DSR) is a term that encompasses a wide variety of practices related to the activity of reading and using digital technologies and platforms (websites, social media, mobile apps) to share thoughts and impressions about books with others. This book is the first systematization of DSR practices, drawing on case studies from Wattpad, AO3, and Goodreads on a worldwide scale.Using a combination of qualitative and computational methods, Pianzola offers fresh insight into the reading experience on the scale of big data. He discusses the impact of digital technology on reading skills and shows that a change of methodological perspective is necessary to understand the positive potential of DSR for promoting reading more broadly. He argues that it is not just the medium that changes, but also the context and the attitudes of readers. He also believes that grassroots media and open, bottom-up communities are crucial to the success of many reading practices today, especially with young audiences.

Face your demons... or feed them. The boy king. The war hero. The prince with a demon curled inside his heart. Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. The people of Ravka don't know what he endured in their bloody civil war and he intends to keep it that way. Yet with each day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. Zoya Nazyalensky has devoted her life to honing her deadly talents and rebuilding the Grisha army. Despite their magical gifts, Zoya knows the Grisha cannot survive without Ravka as a place of sanctuary—and Ravka cannot survive a weakened king. Zoya will stop at nothing to help Nikolai secure the throne, but she also has new enemies to conquer in the battle to come. Far north, Nina Zenik wages her own kind of war against the people who would see the Grisha wiped from the earth forever. Burdened by grief and a terrifying power, Nina must face the pain of her past if she has any hope of defeating the dangers that await her on the ice. Ravka's king. Ravka's general. Ravka's spy. They will journey past the boundaries of science and superstition, of magic and faith, and risk everything to save a broken nation. But some secrets aren't meant to stay buried, and some wounds aren't meant to heal.

When you can't beat the odds, change the game. Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets - a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.