Aesop's Illustrated Fables features more than 400 fables, beautifully illustrated with engravings and color plates by Arthur Rackham, Walter Crane, and Ernest Griset. It includes all of the classic fables whose titles and morals have become part of our common cultural vocabulary, among them "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," "The Tortoise and the Hare," "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse," "The Dog in the Manger," and "The Fox and the Grapes." Part fairy tale, part fantasy story, part parable with a lesson to impart, each of these fables is a polished gem of storytelling craft whose luster never dulls.   Aesop's Illustrated Fables is one of Barnes & Noble's Collectible Editions classics. Each volume features authoritative texts by the world's greatest authors, in exquisitely designed bonded-leather bindings with distinctive gilt edging and an attractive ribbon bookmark. Decorative, durable, and collectible, these books offer hours of pleasure to readers young and old, and are an indispensable cornerstone for every home library.

In her brilliantly inventive debut collection, Vanessa Onwuemezi takes readers on a surreal and haunting journey through a landscape on the edge of time. At the border with another world, a line of people wait for the gates to open; on the floor of a lonely room, a Born Winner runs through his life's achievements and losses; in a suburban garden, a man witnesses a murder that pushes him out into the community. Struggling to realize the human ideals of love and freedom, the characters of Dark Neighbourhood roam instead the depths of alienation, loss and shame. With a detached eye and hallucinatory vision, they observe the worlds around them as the line between dream and reality dissolves and they themselves begin to fragment. Electrifying and heady, and written with a masterful lyrical precision, Dark Neighbourhood heralds the arrival of a strikingly original new voice in fiction.

The bestselling debut fantasy inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess. A young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm, setting her on a dangerous path where those she loves are not the only ones at risk… *THE INSTANT TOP 5 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* THERE ARE MANY LEGENDS ABOUT MY MOTHER… Raised far away on the moon, Xingyin was unaware she was being hidden from the Celestial Emperor – who exiled her mother for stealing the elixir of immortality. But when her magic flares and reveals her, Xingyin is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind. Alone, powerless, and afraid, Xingyin makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. In disguise, she trains alongside the Emperor’s son, mastering archery and magic, despite the passion which flames between them. Vowing to rescue her mother, Xingyin embarks on a quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies. But when forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, Xingyin must challenge the ruthless Emperor, leaving her torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos… Inspired by the legend of Chang’e the Moon Goddess, this captivating debut weaves Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of love and family, immortals and magic. “A breathtaking debut novel that will sweep readers away. Epic, romantic, and enthralling from start to finish. I love this book.� ¯Stephanie Garber, #1 NYT bestselling author of the Caraval series “This vivid, unputdownable debut effortlessly whisks us into the celestial realms of Chinese high fantasy. A captivating treat for lovers of Chinese fantasy dramas and newcomers alike.� ¯Shelley Parker-Chan, bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun “A lush, dreamy gem of a novel.� ¯Shannon Chakraborty, bestselling author of The City of Brass “Strikingly evocative, tense, and heartfelt, Daughter of the Moon Goddess leaves you dreaming of dragons.� ¯Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter

An auspicious match, an invitation to war. Historical Novel Society Editor's Choice 'Picking up an Elizabeth Chadwick novel you know you are in for a sumptuous ride' Daily Telegraph * England, 1238 Raised at the court of King Henry III as a chamber lady to the queen, young Joanna of Swanscombe's life changes forever when she comes into an inheritance far above all expectations, including her own. Now a wealthy heiress, Joanna's arranged marriage to the King's charming, tournament-loving half-brother William de Valence immediately stokes the flames of political unrest as more established courtiers object to the privileges bestowed on newcomers. As Joanna and William strive to build a life together, England descends into a bitter civil war. In mortal danger, William is forced to run for his life, and Joanna is left with only her wit and courage to outfox their enemies and prevent them from destroying her husband, her family, and their fortunes. 'Elizabeth Chadwick has taken the few facts known about Joanna's life and turned them into a rich, detailed portrait of a woman attempting to survive brutal court politics.' The Times * Praise for Elizabeth Chadwick 'An author who makes history come gloriously alive' The Times 'Stunning . . . Her characters are beguiling, and the story is intriguing' Barbara Erskine 'I rank Elizabeth Chadwick with such historical novelist stars as Dorothy Dunnett and Anya Seton' Sharon Kay Penman 'Enjoyable and sensuous' Daily Mail 'Meticulous research and strong storytelling' Woman & Home 'A riveting read . . . A glorious adventure not to be missed!' Candis

On her fifteenth birthday, trafficking victim Affi Smith goes for a run and never returns. With a new identity and secure home in the Scottish Highlands, she was supposed to be safe…

With personal ties to Affi’s case, DS Max Craigie joins the investigation. When he discovers other trafficking victims have disappeared in exactly the same circumstances, he knows one thing for certain – there’s a leak somewhere within law enforcement.

The clock is ticking… Max must catch Affi’s kidnappers and expose the mole before anyone else goes missing. Even if it means turning suspicions onto his own team…

A compelling and thought-provoking novel from the world’s favourite storyteller. Set around a New York talent agency, a group of accomplished women discover the high price of success. Jane Addison is smart, young and ambitious. She’s delighted to have landed a job with a prestigious talent agency, Fletcher and Benson. Hailey West, her boss, is dedicated to her authors, but her home life is chaotic and challenging as a single mother following her husband’s tragic death. Francine Rivers, the stern and bitter head of department, is also raising children on her own after an acrimonious divorce, and she has had to overcome financial hardship by paying the very highest price. Meanwhile, Allie Moore seems to have it all: she relishes success and loves working with the talented actors she represents. But then a passionate relationship with one of her star clients risks derailing her career. And Merriwether Jones, the CFO of the agency, appears to have the perfect marriage until her husband’s jealousy over her career threatens her happiness. Jane quickly realizes that there are damaging secrets behind the doors of the agency. She has the least power, but she is also the least willing to accept things as they are. And when she tries to put things right, the consequences will leave no one unscathed. In this riveting novel, five women at the top of their game navigate the challenges of career and ambition, family and personal lives in a world where it’s necessary to fight for what is right.

Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher - for their world or ours. Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself - and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it. Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world. King's storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale about another world than ours, in which good is pitted against overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy - and his dog - must lead the battle.

THE FEEL-GOOD NOVEL OF THE SUMMER A heart-warming, heart-wrenching wartime story from The Sunday Times bestselling author of Dear Mrs Bird, AJ Pearce. Emmy Lake is the much-loved agony aunt at Woman’s Friend magazine, relied upon by readers across the country as they face the challenges of life on the Home Front. With the problem page thriving and a team of fantastic women behind her, Emmy finally feels she is Doing Her Bit. But when a glamorous new owner arrives, everything changes. As the Honourable Mrs Porter tries to charm her way around the rest of the team, Emmy realizes that she plans to destroy everything readers love about the magazine. With happiness quickly turning to heartbreak and war still raging in Europe, will Emmy and her friends find the inner strength they need to keep keeping on - and save the magazine they love? 'A winning combination of warmth, humour and a compelling story of the power of friendship.' - Katie Fforde

Under the shadow of the ongoing blitz in London, the willful grandchildren of Sir Richard Marsh have descended upon Swanswater in Kent for a family gathering, and the finalising of the patriarch’s will. Frustrated with the disrespectful behaviour of his heirs, Marsh seems to resolve to cut them all out of their inheritance and descends to his outhouse to make the final arrangements. When he is discovered murdered by strychnine injection with multiple elements of the crime scene suggesting that nobody could have been near – or even to have approached the outhouse given its unspoilt gravel pathway – Brand’s series sleuth Inspector Cockrill has his work cut out for him to find anything close to a plausible solution. First published in 1947, this classic mystery boasts Brand’s knack for memorable characters and misdirection, and concludes with one of the most stunning denouements in the genre.

From New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, In the Lives of Puppets is a queer retelling of the Pinocchio tale, inviting you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts. In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees live three robots – fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe. The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled ‘HAP’, he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio – a past spent hunting humans. When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming. Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: can he accept love with strings attached? Inspired by Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful standalone fantasy adventure from the author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.

The bizarre murder of a parish priest at a New York bondage club opens Nikki Heat's most thrilling and dangerous case so far, pitting her against New York's most vicious drug lord, an arrogant CIA contractor, and a shadowy death squad out to gun her down. And that is just the tip of an iceberg that leads to a dark conspiracy reaching all the way to the highest level of the NYPD.

The brand-new escapist summer novel from Sunday Times bestseller Jenny Colgan. Fall in love with a new cast of characters and get swept away in a breath-taking romance you'll want to read again and again . . . 'A glorious, breathtaking, tender romance. I loved every moment of the ride' SOPHIE KINSELLA ___________________________________ Born into a family of successful pilots, Morag is used to flying high. But when a tragic accident above the clouds grounds her, could the future she'd always imagined be suddenly out of reach? When she receives a call telling her that her beloved grandfather has been taken ill, Morag leaves her fast-paced life in London to return home to the tranquil Scottish Highlands. With her grandfather out of action, Morag has no choice but to take over flying the local route in his rickety old plane, ferrying locals across the beautiful islands of the archipelago. But as the weather takes a dramatic turn, Morag is forced to crash-land on a remote island and suddenly finds herself far from civilisation and all alone. Then she discovers Gregor, the gruff and reclusive ornithologist taking care of the island for the season. Though the pair don't see eye to eye, Morag is forced to seek shelter at his cabin and it seems the pair are stuck together until help arrives. However long that may be . . . As she awaits rescue, might Morag discover that a remote Scottish island, cut off from real-life, is exactly the place she needs to be?

How well do you know your friends? Four friends on the holiday of a lifetime. Until a vicious murder shatters their paradise. Four friends who’d do anything for each other, until now. Only one of them killed Caleb. But all four know how to keep a secret. And they’re all guilty of something… Praise for Phoebe Morgan: ‘Combines a beautiful, exotic location with a slithering, unsettling sense of suspense. A page-turner, full of secrets and reveals’ Adele Parks, No. 1 bestselling author of One Last Secret, in Platinum ‘Tense, well-paced and with a cast of relatable flesh-and-blood women … an exhilarating, read-in-one-sitting ride’ Louise Candlish, bestselling author of The Heights ‘A deadly cocktail of lies, secrets, obsession and revenge hits boiling point under the blazing African sun in this breathlessly twisty thriller’ T.M. Logan, bestselling author of The Curfew ‘A superbly executed tale with just the right amount of tension and intrigue’ The Sun ‘A delightfully sinister romp’ Heat 'A wonderfully atmospheric thriller of secrets, lies and betrayals … a heart-stopping rollercoaster of a read with a dark sense of menace and hugely relatable characters’ B A Paris, bestselling author of The Therapist ‘This is great. Kept me gripped!’ Jane Fallon, bestselling author of Just Got Real ‘This will take you into another world. But hold your breath! Because you’re in for a ride’ Jane Corry, bestselling author of We All Have Our Secrets 'A hugely entertaining thriller that turns a dream holiday into a nightmare’ Jane Casey, bestselling author of The Killing Kind ‘Properly tense and full of surprises’ Harriet Tyce, bestselling author of Blood Orange ‘Great characters, all with secrets, and a fabulous setting’ Catherine Cooper, bestselling author of The Cruise

Mary Shelley’s timeless gothic classic accompanied by the art of legendary illustrator Bernie Wrightson live on in this gorgeous illustrated adaptation of Frankenstein—featuring an introduction by Stephen King. Few works by comic book artists have earned the universal acclaim and reverence that Bernie Wrightson’s illustrated version of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein was met with upon its original release in 1983, which vividly presented the timeless, terrifying tale of one man’s obsession to create life—and the monster that became his legacy. A generation later, this magnificent pairing of art and literature is still considered to be one of the greatest achievements made by any artist in the field. This book includes the complete text of the original groundbreaking novel and approximately fifty original full-page illustrations by Bernie Wrightson—created over a period of seven years—that continue to stun the world with their monumental beauty and uniqueness. This edition also contains introductions by #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King and author Mary Shelley, as well as supplemental material including a history of the novel, a chronology of Mary Shelley’s life and work, and the historical context of Frankenstein for readers.

A missing brooch. A face set in cement. This is not your average music festival. Lewis Sinclair, a stalwart and tender country musician, is about to take the stage with his band, the Gentlemen Cowboys, at the premier U.S. country music festival when his girl dumps him for the Cowboys' shifty manager. When that same manager ends up at FallFest's walk of fame with his handprints—and his head—in cement, Lew finds himself on the top ten most wanted list instead of the music charts. With the help of his loyal Cowboys and the close-knit festival staff, Lew must clear his name before the killer gets away—or strikes again.

The highly anticipated sequel to the SUNDAY TIMES bestselling EMPIRE OF THE VAMPIRE 'Bloody brilliant' V.E. Schwab ‘A ripping read’ Joe Abercrombie Gabriel de León has saved the Holy Grail from death, but his chance to end the endless night is lost. After turning his back on his silversaint brothers once and for all, Gabriel and the Grail set out to learn the truth of how Daysdeath might finally be undone. But the last silversaint faces peril, within and without. Pursued by children of the Forever King, drawn into wars and webs centuries in the weaving, and ravaged by his own rising bloodlust, Gabriel may not survive to see the truth of the Grail revealed. A truth that may be too awful for any to imagine.

Lara Dean began writing short stories and tales at a very young age. She has loved animals and drawing from as far back as she can remember. Despite now being a so-called adult, though not old, she remains forever young at heart and still loves watching cartoons and animated movies. The mixture of these things inspired her to write and illustrate her own stories, which she is more than happy to share with others.

'The darkness dwells, the desperation grows between the characters and the walls close in until you're caught in the trap.' Lars Kepler A breathless page-turner from an international master of suspense, this is a story about dependency, justice, and the sometimes fine line between right and wrong. Three young people. Bill, a widower and single dad, is in a financial mess with bills to pay when he rents out a room in his apartment to Karla. Karla left home to study law and to earn some money begins working as a cleaner at the palatial home of Steven and Regina Rytter. But inside their house it is clear that something is wrong with the doctor and his wife, who never leaves her bedroom. Jennica is single and careerless when she meets Steven on Tinder. But just as she thinks her luck is changing, it soon becomes clear that Steven is hiding secrets of his own . . . Two murders. By the end of the summer Steven and Regina Rytter will be found dead in their home and the questions will begin . . . One truth. Ordinary people will do things they never thought possible when faced with extraordinary circumstances, and the truth is that the woman inside may hold the key to it all . . . Praise for Nearly a Normal Family: ‘Deceptive and riveting’ Karin Slaughter, bestselling author of Girl, Forgotten ‘Taut page-turner *****’ The Sun ‘A cracking read!’ T. M. Logan, bestselling author of The Vacation ‘A compulsively readable tour de force’ Wall Street Journal ‘A canny, intensely suspenseful legal thriller’ Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent

Mathilde has always been a headstrong woman. A member of the French resistance when she was just eighteen years old, she both impressed and horrified everyone with her cool capacity for violence. Now it is 1985 and Mathilde is in her sixties. She is not as glamorous as she once was, but she continues to take great pride in all that she does. Recently, however, the sixty-three-year-old has been affected by loss of memory and erratic changes in mood that even her exasperated dog Ludo has noticed. This is a potentially dangerous situation, since Mathilde now makes her living as a contract killer...

From 'no strings' to an unexpected consequence! After a life marked by tragedy, letting someone close goes against Niccoló Macario’s every instinct. So when he receives a letter from shy housekeeper Lizzie Bailey, the woman he spent one scorching night with, with the bombshell that she’s pregnant, he's floored—because his only thought is to find her, bring her to Manhattan, and claim his child! One forbidden night with her boss… Professional nanny Rose Hill is taken by surprise when CEO Zac Adamos personally proposes a job for her in Greece: helping to look after his godson! She needs the outrageous paycheque he’s offering, but she doesn’t foresee their sizzling attraction! She can’t let herself get too close…but can this innocent really walk away without exploring the passion Zac has awakened inside her?