Bealby is a young boy who is absolutely determined not to accept his lot in life as a servant. However, despite having thrown tantrums and argued with his mother about his future he has not been able to change his fate. He reluctantly leaves his home for Shonts, a big country house, to work as a steward's boy. What he hasn't anticipated, howver, are the guests that are arriving for the weekend at the big house, or for the arrival of the eccentric but captivating Lord Chancellor. What follows is an adventure that Bealby will not soon forget. Although better known for his science fiction stories, such as The Time Machine or The War of the Worlds - both of which have been turned into successful films - H. G. Wells was also a journalist, sociologist and historian and wrote over a hundred books, about fifty of them novels. First published in 1915 Bealby was originally entitled Bealby a Holiday.

'A masterpiece of the genre' If you mess with the Glass family, don't expect to live to tell the tale... What was meant to be a straightforward jewellery heist goes horribly wrong, and the thieves are forced to take a hostage to make their escape. But when they discover their prisoner is the infamous Nina Glass - one of the bosses of the most dangerous criminal dynasty in London - they soon realise they have made a terrible mistake. Greed wins out over good sense and the gang decide to make the best of a bad situation. They send Luke Glass a ransom note, but they're messing with the wrong people. The Glass family have other problems. The crooked cop they have on their payroll - DCI Oliver Stanford - makes an unwelcome discovery. The insider they had all presumed dead, may in fact have survived, and still be feeding information to the police. Under attack from all sides, and desperate to save his sister, Luke has the reputation and survival of the Glass family in his hands - is this the end of their empire? Three people can keep a secret - if two of them are dead... Pacey, explosive and unforgettable, Hustle is perfect for fans of Martina Cole, Kimberley Chambers and Mandasue Heller. What readers say about Owen Mullen: 'Owen Mullen knows how to ramp up the action just when it's needed... he never fails to give you hard-hitting thrillers that have moments that will stay with you forever...' 'One of the very best thriller writers I have ever read.' 'Owen Mullen writes a good story, he really brings his characters to life and the endings are hard to guess and never what you expected.'

The story itself, Kafka's most famous, hardly needs describing - a travelling salesman, Gregor Samsa, wakes up one morning to find he has been transformed into an enormous bug - but Faber Finds is offering something rare, the very first English translation which has been out of print for over sixty years.

This pioneering translation by A. L. Lloyd was first published in 1937. A. L. Lloyd was multi-talented: ethnomusicologist, journalist, radio and television broadcaster, and translator. In this his centenary year (2008) Faber Finds is celebrating him in his first and last roles. His major work, Folk Song in England, is being reissued as are his Lorca and Kafka translations. As well as both being published in 1937 both were firsts; has anyone else had Spanish and German translations published in the same year?

It should also be mentioned that A. L. Lloyd was a lifelong communist. It is a delicious irony therefore that one of the first reviews of the Kafka was by Evelyn Waugh in the short-lived "Night" "and Day"; it was a good one too.

Kill some time with former hit man Taro Sakamoto! Taro Sakamoto was once a legendary hit man considered the greatest of all time. Bad guys feared him! Assassins revered him! But then one day he quit, got married, and had a baby. He's now living the quiet life as the owner of a neighborhood store, but how long can Sakamoto enjoy his days of retirement before his past catches up to him?! Team Sakamoto enters an airsoft tournament organized by the shopping arcade in the hopes of winning the million-yen prize. However, things don't go as planned and they find themselves teaming up with a not-so-sharp sniper called Heisuke. Meanwhile, some shady characters connected to the secret organization that raised Shin are on their way to Sakamoto's...

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, Luffy sets off in search of the One Piece, said to be the greatest treasure in the world...

Steph Cha, a rising star who brings a fresh perspective as series editor, takes the helm of the new The Best American Mystery and Suspense, with best-selling crime novelist Alafair Burke joining her as the first guest editor."Crime writers, forgive the pun, are killing it right now creatively," writes guest editor Alafair Burke in her introduction. "It was difficult--painful even--to narrow this year's Best American Mystery and Suspense to only twenty stories." Spanning from a mediocre spa in Florida, to New York's gritty East Village, to death row in Alabama, this collection reveals boundless suspense in small, quiet moments, offering startling twists in the least likely of places. From a powerful response to hateful bullying, to a fight for health care, to a gripping desperation to vote, these stories are equal parts shocking, devastating, and enthralling, revealing the tension pulsing through our everyday lives and affirming that mystery and suspense writing is better than ever before. The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021includes JENNY BHATT- GAR ANTHONY HAYWOOD- GABINO IGLESIAS- AYA DE LEON- LAURA LIPPMAN DELIA C. PITTS- ALEX SEGURA- FAYE SNOWDEN- LISA UNGER and others

The brand new heartwarming festive read from bestseller Sarah Bennett!Music sensation Aurora Storm finally has her career back on track, but then she's caught up in a media storm. Desperate to distract from the story, she enlists the one man she trusts to pretend to be her boyfriend. Meanwhile, in the small seaside village of Mermaids Point, Nick Morgan never expected to see Aurora again. When she calls out of the blue needing his help, he agrees at once. It feels like she's back in his life for a reason, and he's determined to make the most of it. Aurora joins Nick and the rest of his family for their festive celebrations and, as the snow falls, Aurora finds herself caught up in the romance of Christmas. But having tasted worldwide fame, can she ever be content with village life? Two weeks is all Nick has to prove to Aurora that there's a happy ending for them both in Mermaids Point. There's always a second chance for love in a Sarah Bennett story, so escape to the seaside village of Mermaids Point for a festive, feel-good treat. Perfect for all fans of Trisha Ashley, Holly Martin and Milly Johnson. Praise for Sarah Bennett: 'A gorgeous story packed with love, romance and heartfelt emotion. Will bring sunshine into your day!' Phillipa Ashley 'Cosy, heartwarming and moving, this story is as beautiful as its cover.' Samantha Tonge 'Happy Endings at Mermaids Point has passion in spades, romance to make you blush and a community that cares. I hoped this story would just keep on going.' Celia Anderson 'What a finale to a fabulous season! I absolutely loved the story and it was wonderful to see all the characters get their much deserved happily ever after! An absolutely gorgeous Christmas read!' Katie Ginger 'This is a real page turner, with a brisk plot and a really emotional core. The community we've grown to love at Mermaid's Point is alive with love, laughter and vibrancy!' Fay Keenan 'I loved Nick and Aurora's story, and want the Morgan family to adopt me. Sarah Bennett has surpassed herself.' Jules Wake 'This is the perfect escapist read and I can't wait to follow the characters in what promises to be a wonderful series. Five sparkling stars!' Rachel Griffiths'What a Mer-mazing book! I'm so glad this is a series and I'll get to meet the characters again because you won't want to leave them after the final page.' Catherine Miller 'I inhaled this book in two days. Absolutely gorgeous. Sarah Bennett is back, and better than ever!' Rachel Burton 'A perfect heartwarming read full of family, romance and intrigue, set in a stunning location - what's not to love?' Bella Osborne

Kafka wants to clean up kaiju, but not literally! Will a sudden metamorphosis stand in the way of his dream? With the highest kaiju-emergence rates in the world, Japan is no stranger to attack by deadly monsters. Enter the Japan Defense Force, a military organization tasked with the neutralization of kaiju. Kafka Hibino, a kaiju-corpse cleanup man, has always dreamed of joining the force. But when he gets another shot at achieving his childhood dream, he undergoes an unexpected transformation. How can he fight kaiju now that he's become one himself?! The Defense Force has taken Kafka into custody and has plans to dispose of him. Kafka attempts to plead his case with Director General Shinomiya, wielder of the mighty Kaiju No. 2's power and the person lauded as the strongest in Defense Force history. But when Kafka's pleas fail to move the director general, he winds up facing him in combat! What's more, he starts to lose control of his kaiju form! Can Kafka keep it together long enough to save his own skin?

J.R.R. Tolkien's writings on the Second Age of Middle-earth, collected for the first time in one volume. J.R.R. Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a 'dark age, and not very much of its history is (or need be) told'. And for many years readers would need to be content with the tantalizing glimpses of it found within the pages of The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, including the forging of the Rings of Power, the building of the Barad-dur and the rise of Sauron. It was not until Christopher Tolkien published The Silmarillion after his father's death that a fuller story could be told. Although much of the book's content concerned the First Age of Middle-earth, there were at its close two key works that revealed the tumultuous events concerning the rise and fall of the island of Numenor. Raised out of the Great Sea and gifted to the Men of Middle-earth as a reward for aiding the angelic Valar and the Elves in the defeat and capture of the Dark Lord Morgoth, the kingdom became a seat of influence and wealth; but as the Numenoreans' power increased, the seed of their downfall would inevitably be sown, culminating in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Even greater insight into the Second Age would be revealed in subsequent publications, first in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, then expanded upon in Christopher Tolkien's magisterial twelve-volume The History of Middle-earth, in which he presented and discussed a wealth of further tales written by his father, many in draft form. Now, adhering to the timeline of 'The Tale of Years' in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, editor Brian Sibley has assembled into one comprehensive volume a new chronicle of the Second Age of Middle-earth, told substantially in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien from the various published texts, with new illustrations in watercolour and pencil by the doyen of Tolkien art, Alan Lee.

Also known as MDZS, the comic/manhua version of the New York Times bestselling novels from China that also inspired an animated adaptation and the live-action series The Untamed! Experience this historical fantasy tale of two powerful men who find each other through life and death in this English version of the beautiful, full-color comic! Feared and hated for his sinister abilities, Wei Wuxian-the grandmaster of demonic cultivation-was driven to his death when the most powerful clans united to destroy him. Thirteen years later, Wei Wuxian is reborn. Summoned by a young man who sacrificed his soul in a forbidden ritual, Wei Wuxian is now bound to seek vengeance on the stranger's behalf or risk the destruction of his own soul. But when an evil entity emerges, a familiar face from Wei Wuxian's past suddenly appears amidst the chaos-a powerful cultivator who will help shine a light on the dark truths that surround them. Don't miss this full-color xianxia fantasy manhua/comic from China about two powerful men who are drawn to each other through war and across lifetimes!

The Brothers Grimm take lessons in fiction from Angela Carter to produce this uncanny and surreal work. Judy Budnitz might just be the most exciting and unusual literary figure to emerge from the US literary thicket in 2000. She marries great technical skill to quirky humour and dizzying metaphor. She has an uncanny knack for the destabilizing and indelible image, but does not abandon sense for sensibility. She is always readable, albeit strangely so. She might yet be an Americanized heir to the throne left vacant by Angela Carter. This collection of stories is strikingly surreal and hugely entertaining. It will appeal to fans of everyone from Tibor Fischer via Lorrie Moore to Nicholson Baker, or put another way, from Heathers to Edward Scissorhands via Annie Hall. Among the storylines: a young man is persuaded to donate his heart to his dying mother; a girl comes of age in strange suburbia, her only friend a man dressed in a dogsuit; a man and a woman conduct a passionate love affair on a park bench.

NOW IN PAPERBACK, this masterfully crafted story collection by the author of the internationally best-selling novel "Mister Sandman" is a haunting book that is certain to both disturb and entertain. With a particular focus on obsession and the abnormal, "We So Seldom Look On Love" explores life at its quirky extremes, pushing past limits of convention into lives that are fantastic and heartbreakingly real. Whether writing about the dilemma of a two-headed man who attempts to expunge his own pain, the shock of a woman who discovers she has married a transsexual, the erotic delusions of a woman who repeatedly exposes her body to an unknown voyeur, or the bizarre predilections of a female necrophile (a story made into the acclaimed motion picture, "Kissed"), Gowdy convinces us with incisive detail, only to disarm us with black humor. In reviewing the book in the Boston Globe, the novelist Carol Shields wrote, "Barbara Gowdy invites herself, and us, into taboo territory where love and disgust mingle freely. Nothing seems to hold back the narrative flow, not propriety, not politics, not even that ambiguity we once called good taste . . . Gowdy writes about the macabre, but she writes like an angel."

'Sparkling, sharply observing, insights delivered with a light touch that puts us in a good mood, however dark the comedy' Spectator Here are nineteen glittery new tales about the way we live now, as lovers, partners, children, parents. Or alone. Stories of passion, desire, and necessary restraint; of the near future, the recent past; of old habits, new technology; of won't-be mothers and would-be fathers; of houses, ancient and modern. Stories, in fact, to enlighten us to the true and timeless nature of the human condition in this the new age of self-knowledge.

In Wicked Women, a 1997 New York Times Notable Book of Year and her most celebrated collection of stories ever, critically acclaimed Fay Weldon brings her bracing wit to bear on men, love, therapy, marriage, parenting, and the myriad self-deceptions and half-truths that oil the wheels of "civilized behavior".

In these twenty madcap tales we enter Fay Weldon's world, peopled with therapists who blithely destroy marriages and Family ties, husbands and lovers whose greatest cruelty is their indifference, and clever women navigating the perils and pitfalls of domesticity. In lucid and finely honed prose, Fay Weldon serves up our greatest denials and most imprudent compromises. Her wicked humor and seasoned wisdom are as evident here as always -- and tempered by great compassion for the foibles of the human heart.

For readers of Melissa Bank or Jhumpa Lahiri: witty, seductive stories of expatriate women, their loves and losses. "Interesting women - are we ever going to be free of them? I meet them everywhere these days, now that there is no longer such a thing as an interesting man..." So drawls the narrator of one of Andrea Lee's jewel-like stories, herself, undeniably, an Interesting Woman. These gleaming, sensual stories bend a wit worthy of Colette's on a demimonde of expatriates, teenage 'pocket divas', girlfriends, wives, mistresses and daughters. Each focuses on a moment of seduction, of self-discovery, where the mocking detachment of the outsider is briefly pulled aside. An American, chained by her Italian husband's belief in her conventional wholesomeness, surprises him with two costly call girls for his birthday; but her pleasure in her own daring remains wistfully private. A New England beauty has a brief love affair, alternately lyrical and perverse, with a European prince more than twice her age. A woman, having earlier left her husband 'in a moment of epic distraction', has his new ex to stay, changing forever their understanding of the man they both married. 'Interesting Women' teases the reader with ironic glimpses of the charged games of sexual power between men and women, and women with each other. It is that delicious rarity: a summer read of sophisticated intelligence, whose gorgeous images will linger long.

A funny, sad, off-kilter collection of stories from a rising American star of satire. 'People like to call them ashes but it feels more like a couple of rocks, especially if you hold the whole thing in your hands, or swing it, as I do, on occasion, bolo-style from the sack cord. I'm still not sure why I do this, but it feels good, standing there in the dining room, windmilling my mother around.' From the peep palaces of Times Square to the cubicles of corporate America, 'Venus Drive' takes us away from the toothpaste-white gleam of American life, and leads us down an altogether darker, comic road on the seedy side of town. Pot-dazed revolutionaries, summer-camp sadists, and babysitters with an eye for erotic humiliation all make themselves known in this crafty, streetwise new collection from the acclaimed author of 'The Subject Steve'. At once shocking, inventive and funny, these stories confirm Sam Lipsyte's place amongst the very brightest - and darkest - talents of American fiction.

Link must defeat evil at every turn in his perilous quest to help Princess Zelda! Once upon a time, wizards tried to conquer the Sacred Realm of Hyrule. The Spirits of Light sealed the wizards' power within the Shadow Crystal and banished them to the Twilight Realm beyond the Mirror of Twilight. Now, an evil menace is trying to find Midna, Princess of the Twilight Realm, and the fragments of the Shadow Crystal to gain the power to rule over both the Twilight Realm and the World of Light. Sensing that total victory and the complete destruction of Hyrule are within his grasp, Ganondorf unleashes his armies. Link, Midna, their friends, and many others they have met on their journey now fight side by side to save the land. Even a former enemy ends up allied with Link as he presses on into the heart of Ganondorf's stronghold. When Link confronts Ganondorf, defeating him will take every ounce of skill and courage he has...