Since it was first published in 1954, William Golding's classic debut novel has remained a stark allegory of civilization, survival, and human nature. As dystopian stories like Hunger Games and Battle Royale surge in popularity, this haunting tale of a group of young boys stranded on a desert island still captivates schoolchildren around the world, raising timeless and profound questions about how easily society can slip into chaos and savagery when rules and order have been abandoned.

When a plane crashes on a remote island, a small group of schoolboys are the sole survivors. From the prophetic Simon and virtuous Ralph to the lovable Piggy and brutish Jack, each of the boys attempts to establish control as the reality- and brutal savagery-of their situation sets in.

A teacher himself, Golding clearly understood how to interest children with a gripping story and strong, sympathetic characters. The novel serves as a catalyst for thought-provoking discussion and analysis of universal issues, not only concerning the capabilities of humans for good and evil and the fragility of moral inhibition, but beyond.

The boys' struggle to find a way of existing in a community with no fixed boundaries invites readers to evaluate the concepts involved in social and political constructs and moral frameworks. Symbolism is strong throughout, revealing both the boys' capacity for empathy and hope, as well as illuminating the darkest corners of the human spirit. Ideas of community, leadership, and the rule of law are called into question as the reader has to consider who has a right to power, why, and what the consequences of the acquisition of power may be.

Often compared to Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies also represents a coming-of-age story of innocence lost.

INSPIRED BY THE ORIGINAL HIT SONG
"W"hen Beth Thompson's only son, James, goes missing in action in Afghanistan, she is left with her prayers, hopes, fears . . . and letters.
Mother and son have been writing since boot camp. James writes of his struggle to become a confident soldier and of his concern for his young wife and their unborn child. Beth, like any mom, praises her son's courage even as she frets for his safety.
Even after James disappears, Beth is comforted by a daily ritual of writing him about her feelings, faith, and attempts to maintain a normal life when nothing is really normal but the waiting.
Based on platinum-selling singer Mark Schultz's hit song "Letters from War," this powerfully emotional and timely story reveals how faith sustains in even the darkest of circumstances.

The Overnight Kidnapper is the twenty-third Inspector Montalbano mystery, from the international bestselling author Andrea Camilleri.

After a hectic morning involving two rather irritating cases of mistaken identity, Inspector Montalbano finally arrives in his office ready find out what's troubling Vigàta this week. What he discovers is unnerving. A woman on her way home from work has been held up at gunpoint, chloroformed and kidnapped, but then released just hours later – unharmed and with all her possessions – into the open countryside.

Later that day, Montalbano hears from Enzo, the owner of his favourite restaurant, that his niece has recently been the victim of the exact same crime. Before long, a third instance of this baffling overnight kidnapping has been reported.

As far as Montalbano can tell, there is no link between the attacker and the victims. So what exactly is this mystery assailant gaining from these fleeting kidnappings? And what can he do to stop them? Montalbano must use all his logic and intuition if he is to answer these pressing questions before the kidnapper finds his next victim . . .

Isandro has left his Spanish Andalucian village to search for his sister in Paris. There he meets members of the International Brigade and moves to Madrid to form a protest group against Franco's tyranny. The road ahead is long and hard and fraught with danger ... not least the rage that burns within him, ready to ignite in a political climate that demands a cool head...

This is a romantic tale with a sinister twist. It centres around the life of Luke, an artist, who comes from a well to do but dysfunctional family and has endured a troubled past relationship with his unstable Mother. In adulthood, he meets and falls in love with Maggie, but his love develops into a sinister obsession, and he will stop at nothin, even murder, to conceal a dark, long buried secret from her.

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich...

Emma is also overly confident in her abilities as a matchmaker for the residents of Highbury in Jane Austen's widely beloved classic novel. Although convinced that she herself will never marry, Emma makes finding the perfect partner for her new friend, Harriet Smith, her most pressing project. It is a well-meaning endeavor that leads both women into a complex tangle of intrigues, misunderstandings, and conflicts of affection, especially after several new admirers come to the fore whose sights are maddeningly set on the wrong woman. Matters of the heart are never as simple as they seem.

Jane Austen's charming novel of love, friendship, and social grace is a timeless classic--as fresh, funny, and poignant as it was when first written.

A heart-tugging tale of shattered trust, growing faith, and love that endures . . . all in a romantic seaside setting. Samantha Owens' estranged stepfather has died, leaving her his cottage in Nantucket-a place she fled years ago, never planning to return. As a single mom, Samantha can't afford to pass up a financial windfall like ocean-front property. So she travels home to fix up the house and sell it . . . never suspecting that Landon Reed still lives two doors down. As their long-dormant romance begins to bud again, Samantha must face a past that separated her from the God of her childhood. And she must tell Landon why she fled the island in the first place-a secret that could tear them apart. Is Landon's love really as unconditional as he claims? And will Samantha finally realize that the God she found all those years ago never abandoned her? Full-length, standalone Clean romance Happily ever after Praise for Surrender Bay: "No one can write a story that grips the heart like Denise Hunter . . . If you like Karen Kingsbury or Nicholas Sparks, this is an author you'll love." -Colleen Coble, USA TODAY bestselling author

The Pyramid of Mud is the twenty-second Montalbano mystery from Italy's finest crime writer, Andrea Camilleri. It's been raining for days in Vigata, and the persistent downpours have led to violent floods overtaking the Inspector's beloved hometown, sweeping across the land and leaving only a sea of mud behind. It is on one of these endless grey days that a man - a Mr Giuglu Nicotra - is found dead. His body discovered in a large sewage tunnel, half naked and with a bullet in his back. The investigation is slow and slippery to start with, but when Montalbano realizes that every clue he uncovers and every person he interviews is leading to the same place: the world of public spending - and with it, the Mafia - the case begins to pick up pace. But there's one question that keeps playing on Montalbano's mind: in his strange and untimely death, was Giuglu Nicotra trying to tell him something?

Like George Orwell, Franz Kafka has given his name to a world of nightmare, but in Kafka's world, it is never completely clear just what the nightmare is. The Trial, where the rules are hidden from even the highest officials, and if there is any help to be had, it will come from unexpected sources, is a chilling, blackly amusing tale that maintains, to the very end, a relentless atmosphere of disorientation. Superficially about bureaucracy, it is in the last resort a description of the absurdity of 'normal' human nature. Still more enigmatic is The Castle. Is it an allegory of a quasi-feudal system giving way to a new freedom for the subject? The search by a central European Jew for acceptance into a dominant culture? A spiritual quest for grace or salvation? An individual's struggle between his sense of independence and his need for approval? Is it all of these things? And K? Is he opportunist, victim, or an outsider battling against elusive authority? Finally, in his fables, Kafka deals in dark and quirkily humorous terms with the insoluble dilemmas of a world which offers no reassurance, and no reliable guidance to resolving our existential and emotional uncertainties and anxieties.

On sleepless nights, I open the matchbox and reread the story of the girl who gathered shooting stars

After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her life.

While the 1970s transform Japan, her uncle's magnificent colonial mansion is a place out of time; its sprawling gardens are even home to a pet pygmy hippo. Equally beguiling are Tomoko’s relatives, especially her cousin Mina. Their growing friendship draws her into an intoxicating world – one full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling.

Rich with the magic and mystery of youth, Mina’s Matchbox is an evocative snapshot of a moment frozen in time, and a striking depiction of a family on the edge of collapse.

Virginia Woolf's second novel, Night and Day (1919), portrays the gradual changes in a society, the patterns and conventions of which are slowly disintegrating; where the representatives of the younger generation struggle to forge their own way, for '... life has to be faced: to be rejected; then accepted on new terms with rapture'. Woolf begins to experiment with the novel form while demonstrating her affection for the literature of the past. Jacob's Room (1922), Woolf's third novel, marks the bold affirmation of her own voice and search for a new form to express her view that 'the human soul ... orientates itself afresh every now & then. It is doing so now. No one can see it whole therefore.' Jacob's life is presented in subtle, delicate and tantalising glimpses, the novel's gaps and silences are as replete with meaning as the wicker armchair creaking in the empty room.