Author: Honoré de Balzac
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : France
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Author: Honoré de Balzac
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781727357745
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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The Magic Skin (La Peau de chagrin) is set in early 19th-century Paris and tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. Although the novel uses fantastic elements, its main focus is a realistic portrayal of the excesses of bourgeois materialism. Balzac's renowned attention to detail is used to describe a gambling house, an antique shop, a royal banquet, and other locales. He also includes details from his own life as a struggling writer, placing the main character in a home similar to the one he occupied at the start of his literary career. The central theme of La Peau de chagrin is the conflict between desire and longevity. The magic skin represents the owner's life-force, which is depleted through every expression of will, especially when it is employed for the acquisition of power. Ignoring a caution from the shopkeeper who offers him the skin, the protagonist greedily surrounds himself with wealth, only to find himself miserable and decrepit at the story's end. (source: Wikipedia)

Author: Honoré de Balzac
Publisher: Signet Classics
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. Bent on killing himself by throwing himself into the Seine after losing his shirt at the gaming tables, Raphael de Valentin, the romanticised, doomed young hero of Balzac's early novel, 'La Peau de chagrin' (1831), turns into an antiques shop to while away the hours till darkness (when he can be sure not to be rescued). There he finds himself in an emporium of civilisation's treasures, from all over the world and in every marvellous material, executed to the highest degree of human art. Eventually, the eerie, wizened keeper appears and shows Valentin the magic skin which gives the novel its title. It's the hide of a wild ass and, like the ring of the Nibelungen, has the power to grant its owner every wish. But in return it will take possession of Valentin, body and soul. Every time it performs, it will shrink and Valentin's life will shorten in accord.

Author: Lily Diamond
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501123416
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Born out of the popular blog Kale & Caramel, this sumptuously photographed and beautifully written cookbook presents eighty recipes for delicious vegan and vegetarian dishes featuring herbs and flowers, as well as luxurious do-it-yourself beauty products. Plant-whisperer, writer, and photographer Lily Diamond believes that herbs and flowers have the power to nourish inside and out. “Lily’s deep connection to nature is beautifully woven throughout this personal collection of recipes,” says award-winning vegetarian chef Amy Chaplin. Each chapter celebrates an aromatic herb or flower, including basil, cilantro, fennel, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, lavender, jasmine, rose, and orange blossom. Mollie Katzen, author of the beloved Moosewood Cookbook, calls the book “a gift, articulated through a poetic voice, original and bold.” The recipes tell a coming-of-age story through Lily’s kinship with plants, from a sun-drenched Maui childhood to healing from heartbreak and her mother’s death. With bright flavors, gorgeous scents, evocative stories, and more than one hundred photographs, Kale & Caramel creates a lush garden of experience open to harvest year round.

Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 1250031214
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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#1 New York Times Best Seller! "Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book."-John Green, The New York Times Book Review Bono met his wife in high school, Park says. So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers. I'm not kidding, he says. You should be, she says, we're 16. What about Romeo and Juliet? Shallow, confused, then dead. I love you, Park says. Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers. I'm not kidding, he says. You should be. Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits-smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you'll remember your own first love-and just how hard it pulled you under. A New York Times Best Seller! A 2014 Michael L. Printz Honor Book for Excellence in Young Adult Literature Eleanor & Park is the winner of the 2013 Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Best Fiction Book. A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2013 A New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of 2013 A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of 2013 An NPR Best Book of 2013

Author: Kim Liggett
Publisher: Wednesday Books
ISBN: 1250145465
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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The Instant New York Times Bestseller! Kim Liggett's The Grace Year is a speculative thriller in the vein of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power. Survive the year. No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden. In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive. Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other. With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between. “A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel and an absolute page-turner.” – Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author

Author: BB Easton
Publisher: Forever
ISBN: 1538718359
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Get swept up in all the gritty, wild details of a roller-coaster love story with the ultimate bad boy in the first spinoff novel after 44 CHAPTERS ABOUT 4 MEN, the book that inspired the hit Netflix original series SEX/LIFE. In 1997, Ronald “Knight” McKnight was the meanest, most misunderstood guy in town. . . perhaps on the entire planet. He hated everyone, except for BB Easton—the perky, quirky punk chick he couldn’t avoid. BB, on the other hand, liked everybody . . . except for Knight. She was scared to death of him, actually. All she wanted was to marry Little Mermaid’s Prince Eric-lookalike and king of the local punk scene Lance Hightower. But Knight was patient. Persistent. Unexpected. And once he got under BB’s skin, her life would never be the same. A forbidden love story overflowing with '90s nostalgia, dark humor, and heart-wrenching angst, and based on a true story. To view a comprehensive content warning, please visit the author's website.

Author: Ted A. Grossbart
Publisher: William Morrow
ISBN:
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Author: Cynthia Eden
Publisher: Hocus Pocus Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 194284042X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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She was wicked… Everyone knew that Valerie Storm was the baddest bit—um, witch on the block. She might look like Snow White, but she had the heart of a wicked queen. She turned her enemies to ash, she danced on their graves, and she had to be stopped. But who could stand up to someone so wicked? He was wild. Griffin Bastien was the most powerful shifter to ever walk the earth. His claws had sent plenty of his foes to the grave. Bloodlust burned fast and hard within him, and when his beast took over, there was no stopping him. Then Wicked met Wild. Neither of them believed in love. And neither of them ever expected the firestorm that ignited when they kissed. But some things—some people—can’t be controlled. The need that Valerie and Griffin feel for each other, the white-hot lust, will change their world. Even hell doesn’t burn this hot. Too bad that Griffin has been keeping secrets. Too bad that he is the original assassin sent to destroy Valerie. Because when she finds out the truth, there will be no greater fury than a wicked witch betrayed. Even the biggest, baddest beast might discover that he’s absolutely lost when a witch casts her spell, and he will be willing to do anything to reclaim the mate he never expected. Buckle up, it’s gonna be a wild ride. Author's Note: WICKED AND WILD is a complete, stand-alone story that is set in the world of my "Bad Things" paranormal books. Expect a sexy alpha, a very fierce heroine, and hot times ahead.

Author: A. G. Howard
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1683354079
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 584

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A princess must win back her kingdom, save a prince, and restore peace in this fantasy by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of the Splintered series. After Lyra—a princess incapable of speech or sound—is cast out of her kingdom of daylight by her wicked aunt, a witch saves her life, steals her memories, and raises her in an enchanted forest…disguised as a boy known only as Stain. Meanwhile, in Lyra’s rival kingdom, the prince of thorns and night is dying, and the only way for him to break his curse is to wed the princess of daylight—for she is his true equal. As Lyra finds her way back to her identity, an imposter princess prepares to steal her betrothed prince and her crown. To win back her kingdom, save the prince, and make peace with the land of the night, Lyra must be loud enough to be heard without a voice, and strong enough to pass a series of tests—ultimately proving she’s everything a traditional princess is not. “A decadent fantasy anchored in childhood delights with vibrantly detailed writing and brilliantly theatrical subplots.” —Kirkus Reviews “[A] reimagining of “The Princess and the Pea” . . . An emotionally complex tale of fate, inner beauty, and found family that illustrates the strength of love born from friendship.” —Publishers Weekly