A condensed guide to life from the bestselling author of The Black Swan" Nassim Nicholas Taleb's " The Bed of Procrustes" is an invaluable collection of aphorisms navigate the modern world. Why are we so often unwilling to accept that life is unpredictable? In this brilliant book Nassim Nicholas Taleb distils his idiosyncratic wisdom to demolish our illusions contrasting the classical values of courage elegance & erudition against modern philistinism & phoniness. Only by accepting what we don't know he shows can we see the world as it really is. " Happily provocative.. .blistering.. .his observations concern superiority wealth suckerdom academia modernity technology & the all-purpose ignorant "they".. .very"able". (" The New York Times"). "A master philosopher". (" The Times"). " Taleb's crystalline nuggets of thought stand alone like esoteric poems". (" Financial Times"). " Opinionated & witty... It showcases his wit & learning & provides ways to fillet his enemies". (" Independent on Sunday"). Nassim Nicholas Taleb spends most of his time as a flaneur meditating in cafes across the planet. A former trader he is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University. He is the author of " Fooled by Randomness" & " The Black Swan" an international bestseller which has become an intellectual social & cultural touchstone." ...

January 1982. Thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor
- covert stammerer & reluctant poet
- anticipates a stultifying year in his backwater

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New York jeweller Garet James has her fair share of problems: money an elderly father a struggling business. One day she comes across an antiques shop shed never noticed before. The owner possesses an old silver box thats been sealed shut. Would she help an old man & open it perhaps? She does...and that night strange things begin to happen. Its as if her world
- our world
- has shifted slightly revealing another parallel place that co-exists without our knowledge: the world of the Fey... Garet learns that one of her ancestors was the Watchtower: an immortal chosen to stand guard over the human & the fey worlds
- a role that she has it seems inherited from her mother. But the equilibrium between these two existences is under threat. The 16th-century magician & necromancer Dr John Dee has returned the box has been opened & the demons of Despair & Discord released. In a race against time & impending apocalypse it is Garet who must find Dee...and close the box.


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With evil Gordon locked up in Strangeways for 5 years the characters from Karen Woods' debut novel ' Broken Youth' come to terms with life without him. Misty now married to Dominic gives birth to Gordon's child Charlotte. Her former best friend Francesca also gives birth to one of Gordon's children Rico while staying with Gordon's heroin addicted brother Tom. Meanwhile as the clock ticks down on his sentence Gordon broods on the injustice of his situation & plots sweet revenge on those on the outside. ...

Toby's dad & little sister have been kidnapped by pirates & Toby is left alone in the aftermath of the terrible Red Fever epidemic which has wiped out much of the world's population. Menacing tribes of super-intelligent dogs are gaining ever more ground in Scotland moving northwards. A mysterious figure called The General is leading a group of villains who are kidnapping people & imprisoning them in a place he calls New Caledonia. But where is this New Caledonia & what does The General plan to do with his captives? Toby sets out on a perilous mission to find New Caledonia & he hopes his family. He befriends a Russian girl whose family have also been taken. Together they sail to Inverness & down the Caledonian Canal & trudge through the snowy Highlands until they reach Stirling Castle for the dramatic final showdown. But in a freezing cold winter with vicious dogs wolves & pirates on the rampage will they make it in time? This is the dramatic sequel to Red Fever which won the Kelpies Prize in 2010. ...

Michael Jayston reads P. D. James's bestselling novel about a series of mysterious deaths in a Dorset care home. Commander Dalgliesh is recuperating from a life-threatening illness when he receives a call for advice from an elderly friend who works as a chaplain in a home for the disabled on the Dorset coast. Dalgliesh arrives to discover that Father Baddeley has recently & mysteriously died as has one of the patients at Toynton Grange. Evidently the home is not quite the caring community it purports to be. Dalgliesh is determined to discover the truth of his friend's death but further fatalities follow & his own life is in danger as he unmasks the evil at the heart of Toynton Grange. ...

Set at the height of the tulipomania" that gripped Holland in 17th century this is the story of Cornelius van Baerle a humble grower whose sole desire is to grow the perfect specimen of the tulip negra. When his godfather is murdered Cornelius finds himself caught up in the deadly politics of the time imprisoned & facing a death sentence. His jailors daughter Rosa holds both the key to his survival & his chance to produce the ultimate tulip." ...

An outcast king fights for his throne! A year has passed since Ben Holiday bought the Magic Kingdom & claimed the throne despite the machinations of the wizard Meeks. Three loyal friends had come to his aid: the incompetent Court Wizard Questor Thews; the court scribe Abernathy a talking dog; & the lovely willow who was sometimes a tree. Now Ben dreamt of a former partner Miles Bennett in grave trouble. But when he returned to Earth Miles was in the best of spirits. His home-coming to Landover was shattered by the disappearance of Willow & the partial destruction of Questors books of magic. Not only that no one seemed to recognise Ben himself. & Meeks had taken on Bens appearance & the role of king. Ben Holiday & his kingdom were in deep trouble. ...

From Publishers Weekly Tanaquil whose only talent is the ability to fix things lives in the isolated desert palace of her mother the sorceress Jaive. When an inquisitive peeve--one of the palace pets--unearths a cache of strange sparkling bones Tanaquil uses them to piece together a unicorns skeleton. A stray blast of Jaives magic brings the creature to life & it escapes to the desert followed by Tanaquil & the peeve. Free at last from her mothers wizardry Tanaquil embarks on a series of adventures that culminate in the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. A magical journey that mirrors a teenagers coming-of-age is hardly a new plot device but experienced SF writer Lee allows events to unfold at their own pace revealing unexpected twists along the way. The combination of self-assured storytelling & the near-tangible evocation of a quirky world will have much appeal for fantasy devotees. As in the novels of Robin Mc Kinley (The Hero & the Crown; The Blue Sword ) an understated current of feminism runs throughout. Illustrations not seen by PW. Ages 12-up. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From School Library Journal Grade 7-12-- Tanaquil may be the daughter of a sorceress but she cant do any magic--or so she thinks--and she finds life in her mothers castle very dull & lonely. Her one skill that of mending things leads her to piece together a pile of old bones found in the desert & unknowingly bring back to life a black unicorn that needs Tanaquil to help it return to its own more perfect world. In the process of doing this Tanaquil finds a sister & discovers what her own powers really are. The plot of The Black Unicorn is in no way as simple as this description. It is complex & twisting & while readers may not be sure where theyre going theyll never be bored. Lees lush & highly visual style & her down-to-earth sense of humor are a constant entertainment. Her imagination is boundless whether in recreating the life of desert nomads or describing a castle full of magical devices all gone slightly awry. The static cover illustration with rearing unicorn & silver-gowned heroine does not begin to convey the special flavor of this stylish humorous fantasy. --Ruth S. Vose San Francisco Public Library ...

As a 19-year old Black Watch conscript Tom Renouf's war began with some of the most vicious fighting of the conflict
- against
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