Glossy television images of happy industrious & increasingly prosperous workers show a bright view of life in twenty-first-century China. But behind the officially approved story is a different reality Gerard Lemos reveals in this extensively researched book. Lemos conducted hundreds of interviews with Chinese men & women in non-westernized areas distant from such cities as Beijing & Shanghai. He reports that the lives his subjects describe belie the myth of a harmonious cohesive Chinese society. Much as the government promotes such a positive image everyday people in China are beleaguered by immense social & community problems as well as personal family & financial anxieties. Lemos investigates a China beyond the tourist trail. He offers a revealing account of the thoughts & feelings of Chinese people regarding all facets of their lives from education to health care unemployment to old age politics to wealth. Taken together the stories of these men & women bring to light a broken society one whose people are frustrated angry sad & often fearful about the circumstances of their lives. The author considers the implications of these findings & analyzes how Chinas community & social problems threaten the ambitious nations hopes for a cohesive future. ...

When wealthy Sarah Erroll dies a violent death at her home in a posh part of Glasgow the local community is stunned by what appears to be a truly gratuitous act. Heavily pregnant with desperately wanted twins DS Alex Morrow is called in to investigate & soon discovers that there is more to Sarahs murder than it first seems. On the other side of town Thomas Anderson is called into the headmasters office at his boarding school to be told that his tyrannical father
- a banker responsible for the loss of many livelihoods in the recession
- has committed suicide by hanging himself from the old oak tree on the lawn of their home. Thomas returns to the family home to find his mother & sister in a state of numb shock. The head of the household is dead yet their initial reaction is not that of grief but relief. As Alex Morrow slowly unravels the connections between the two cases she faces her greatest challenge yet as her work & home lives collide with potentially disastrous consequences.

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Mary Anne Schwalbe is waiting for her chemotherapy treatments when Will casually asks her what shes reading. The conversation they have grows into tradition: soon they are reading the same books so they can have something to talk about in the hospital waiting room. Their choices range from classic (Howards End) to popular (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) from fantastic (The Hobbit) to spiritual (Jon Kabat-Zinn) with many in between. We hear their passion for reading & their love for each other in their intimate & searching discussions. A profoundly moving testament to the power of love between a child & parent & the power of reading in our lives. A wonderful book about wonderful books & mothers & sons & the enduring braid between them.
- Mitch Albom author of Tuesdays With Morrie a true meditation on what books can do.
- Edmund de Waal author of The Hare with Amber Eyes

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The Great Recession is more than four years old
- & counting. Yet as Paul Krugman points out in this powerful volley Nations rich
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The Great Recession is more than four years old
- & counting. Yet as Nobel Prize winning author Paul Krugman argues in this powerful
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The remarkable story of Endal voted ' Dog of the Millennium' & how through his remarkable skills companionship & unstinting devotion he gave Allen Parton a reason to live again. Allen Parton was seriously injured while serving in the Gulf War. He lost the use of both of his legs plus all memories of his children & much of his marriage. He was left unable to walk talk or write
- isolated in his own world. After five years of intensive therapy & rehab he was still angry bitter & unable to talk. Until a chance encounter with a Labrador puppy
- Endal
- who had failed his training as an assistance dog on health grounds. They 'adopted' each other & Endal became Allen's reason to communicate with the outside world to come to terms with his injuries & to want to live again. Not content with learning over 200 commands to help Allen complete everyday tasks like getting dressed & going out to the shops in his wheelchair Endal gave Allen the ability to start living again & to become a husband & father again in his own special way. This is the incredible story of Allen his wife Sandra & his family. & of course Endal.


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At first Ender believed that they would bring him back to Earth as soon as things quieted down. But things were quiet now had been quiet for a year & it was plain to him now that they would not bring him back at all that he was much more useful as a name & a story than he would ever be as an inconveniently flesh-&-blood person. At the close of ENDERS GAME Andrew Wiggin
- called Ender by everyone
- knows that he cannot live on Earth. He has become far more than just a boy who won a game: he is the Saviour of Earth a hero a military genius whose allegiance is sought by every nation of the newly shattered Earth Hegemony. He is offered the choice of living under the Hegemons control a pawn in his brother Peters political games. Or he can join the colony ships & go out to settle one of the new worlds won in the war. The story of those years on the colony worlds has never been told.. .until now.

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Orson Scott Card is one of the worlds bestselling SF authors & the award-winning Ender saga is one of the best-loved series in the genre. ENDERS SHADOW is the first volume in a new Ender series. Returning to the time of Enders Game ENDERS SHADOW follows the incredible story of one of Ender Wiggins fellow pupils at Battle School. Compelling compulsive reading ENDERS SHADOW is certain to thrill all fans of the original series & attract many new readers. Look out for more information on this book & others on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk ...

The human race faces annihilation. An alien threat is on the horizon ready to strike. & if humanity is to be defended the government must create the greatest military commander in history. The brilliant young Ender Wiggin is their last hope. But first he must survive the rigours of a brutal military training program
- to prove that he can be the leader of all leaders. A saviour for mankind must be produced through whatever means possible. But are they creating a hero or a monster? This is the multiple award-winning classic ENDER'S GAME
- a groundbreaking tale of war strategy & survival.

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Ender Wiggin is Battle School's latest recruit. His teachers reckon he could become a great leader. & they need one. A vast alien force is headed for Earth its mission: the annihilation of all human life. Ender could be our only hope. But first he must survive the most brutal military training program in the galaxy... ...