This book takes a ''warts and all'' sensible yet humorous look at the many stages of pregnancy. It explores the changes, physical and emotional, that any man can expect to see in his partner and in their relationship over the coming months. Becoming pregnant involved two people. The rearing of a child will involve two people; there is every reason that your partner''s pregnancy should also involve the two of you, together. For any man that has been put off reading pregnancy books because he doesn''t feel he was the intended audience or that something about the tone of these books was alien to him, yet he still has questions that need answers; then The Blokes'' Guide to: Pregnancy is the book he''s been looking for. As a father himself, Jon Smith realized, when his partner Lisa became pregnant that there was nothing out there that he could relate to. The Bloke''s Guide to Pregnancy is the result. Jon takes a comical yet informed look at the ups and downs of life as a father to be. Guaranteed to educate you while making you laugh out loud!

The Bloke''s Guide To Pregnancy

In rural Hunan province, Lily and her friend Snow Flower are a laotong pair whose relationship is more close than a husband and wife''s. Lily''s aunt describes a laotong match this way: "''A laotong relationship is made by choice for the purpose of emotional companionship and eternal fidelity. A marriage is not made by choice and has only one purpose — to have sons.''" The two girls experience the painful process of foot binding at the same time, and write letters to one another on a fan with Nü Shu, a secret phonetic form of ''women''s writing.'' In addition to the language itself, the young women learn Nü Shu songs and stories. Both friends are born under the sign of the Horse, but they are quite different. Lily is practical, her feet firmly set on the ground, while Snow Flower attempts to fly over the constrictions of women''s lives in the 19th century in order to be free. Their lives differ as well. Although Lily comes from a family of relatively low station, her feet are considered beautiful and play a role in her marriage into the most powerful family in the region. Lily is later known as Lady Lu, the region''s most influential woman and a mother to four healthy children (three sons and one daughter). Although Snow Flower comes from a formerly prosperous family, she is not so fortunate. She marries a butcher, culturally considered the lowest of professions, and has a miserable life filled with children dying and beatings at the hand of her husband. The novel depicts human suffering in many ways: the physical and psychological pain of foot binding; the suffering of women of the time, who were treated as property; the terrible trek up the mountains to escape from the horrors of the Taiping Revolution; the painful return back down the mountain trail with dead bodies everywhere. Some estimate that the number of people killed during the Revolution was approximately 20 million. The detailed treatment of the suffering which Lily and Snow Flower experience in their laotong relationship is a major aspect of the book. Lily''s need for love and her inability to forgive what she considers to be acts of betrayal cause her to inflict harm on many people, Snow Flower most of all. Believing that Snow Flower has not been true to her, Lily betrays her by sharing all her private secrets to a group of women, virtually destroying Snow Flower''s reputation. When Snow Flower is dying, Lily is called to her bedside and tends to her until the end. As the book returns to the present (1903), Lily is an 80 year old woman who has lived 40 years after her friend''s death. Her own husband and children have since died, and she quietly watches the next generation in her home.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Denise Holton, the 29-year-old heroine, is destitute and forced to live in her mother''s old house in Edenton, N.C. She''s also the single mother of a handicapped child, Kyle, a four-year-old with "auditory processing problems" that render him unable to express himself or to fully understand others. Though she doesn''t suspect it, Denise is on a literal collision course with true love. After she smashes her car into a tree and wakes up to discover Kyle missing, she finds deliverance in the form of Taylor McAden, dashing firefighter and compulsive risk taker, who rescues Kyle, too. Since Taylor enjoys an instant, unprecedented rapport with Kyle, there is little standing in the way of burgeoning romance. Trouble comes, however, when Denise learns of Taylor''s checkered romantic past. Taylor''s inability to commit, it seems, is somehow tied to his compulsive heroism, of which numerous histrionic examples are described. Denise''s quest to find the source of Taylor''s emotional distance takes up the final third of the book. * Denise Holton has no family, both of her parents have died.She is alone and a single mother of a child with severe learning disabilities by a former one-night stand. She was a school teacher for many years but now she doesn’t teach anymore; she spends all her time trying to teach her son how to speak. She has a part-time job as a waitress and makes just enough money to get by. * Kyle Holton is the 4-year-old son of Denise Holton. Kyle has severe learning disabilities. * Brett Cosgrove is Denise’s former one-night stand, leading up to Kyle’s existence. He was engaged at the time and wants nothing to do with Kyle. * Taylor McAden—is a volunteer firefighter for the Edenton Fire Department, owns his own carpenter and contractor job. He was the person who found Denise’s son the night of her car wreck. Taylor has had problems in the past with commitment, but that all will change throughout the book. * Judy McAden is the mother of Taylor McAden; she came to the hospital to spend time with Denise while her son was out looking for Kyle. * Mitch Johnson is Taylor’s best friend and a volunteer firefighter for the Edenton Fire Department also. Mitch and his wife Melissa often provide Taylor with advice about his romantic life. Mitch and Melissa are the closest thing Taylor has to siblings, and Taylor is the godfather of the Johnson''s oldest son.

The Rescue

Life of Pi is divided into three sections. In the first, the main character, Pi, an adult, reminisces about his childhood. He was named Piscine Molitor Patel after a swimming pool in France. He changes his name to "Pi" when he begins secondary school, because he is tired of being taunted with the nickname "Pissing Patel". His father owns a zoo in Pondicherry, providing Pi with a relatively affluent lifestyle and some understanding of animal psychology. Pi was born a Hindu, but as a fourteen-year-old he is introduced to Christianity and Islam, and starts to follow all three religions as he "just wants to love god." He tries to understand God through the lens of each religion and comes to recognize benefits in each one. Eventually, his family decides to sell their animals and move to Canada due to political concerns in India. In the second part of the novel, Pi''s family embark on a small Japanese boat to Canada carrying some of the animals from their zoo, but a few days out of port the ship suddenly sinks. Pi ends up in a small lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, a spotted hyena, an injured zebra, and an orangutan. The other humans and animals on the ship all drown. The hungry hyena tears off the zebra''s leg, and spends the next several days eating the zebra bit by bit. The hyena also kills the orangutan. Richard Parker then kills and eats the hyena. Pi is left as the only other survivor. Pi finds food and water supplies on the boat, but as they grow scarce, Pi begins fishing. Pi feeds Richard Parker so that the tiger will not eat him; he also wants to keep the tiger alive to avoid total solitude on the ocean. Pi ensures that the tiger considers Pi the alpha animal and will therefore refrain from attacking him. Pi recounts that after an indeterminate time at sea, the pair encountered a mysterious island, seemingly constructed of edible algae supporting a forest and a large population of meerkats. Following a period of recuperation, Pi becomes afraid of the island after discovering that the algae is carnivorous, and leaves with the tiger. In all, Pi survives 227 days in the lifeboat, often half delusional with thirst and hunger. The lifeboat reaches the coast of Mexico and Richard Parker escapes into the nearby jungle, so that rescuers find only Pi. The third part of the novel is a conversation between two officials from the Maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry of Transport. They seek to ascertain why the ship sank, so they interview Pi, but they do not believe his story. Pi then tells a similar story, but this time without animals. Instead, he recounts a story of human brutality, being adrift on a lifeboat with his mother, a sailor with a broken leg, and the ship''s cook, who killed the sailor and Pi''s mother and cut them up to use as bait and food. Parallels to Pi''s first story lead the Japanese officials to believe that the orangutan represents his mother, the zebra represents the sailor, the hyena represents the cook, and Richard Parker is Pi himself. Pi asks if this new story is acceptable, or if he should change any parts that are still too unbelievable; the officials change the subject back to the sinking of the ship. After giving all the relevant information, Pi asks which of the two stories they prefer. Since the officials cannot prove which story is true and neither is relevant to the reasons behind the shipwreck, they choose the story with the animals. Pi thanks them and says, "and so it goes with God".

Life of Pi

Wokulski begins his career as a waiter at Hopfer''s, a Warsaw restaurant. The scion of an impoverished Polish noble family dreams of a life in science. After taking part in the failed 1863 Uprising against Tsarist Russia, he is sentenced to exile in Siberia. On eventual return to Warsaw, he becomes a salesman at Mincel''s haberdashery. Marrying the late owner''s widow (who eventually dies), he comes into money and uses it to set up a partnership with a Russian merchant he had met while in exile. The two merchants go to Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, and Wokulski makes a fortune supplying the Russian Army. The enterprising Wokulski now proves a romantic at heart, falling in love with Izabela, daughter of the vacuous, bankrupt aristocrat, Tomasz Łęcki. The manager of Wokulski''s Warsaw store, Ignacy Rzecki, is a man of an earlier generation, a modest bachelor who lives on memories of his youth, which was a heroic chapter in his own life and that of Europe. Through his diary the reader learns about some of Wokulski''s adventures, seen through the eyes of an admirer. Rzecki and his friend Katz had gone to Hungary in 1848 to enlist in the revolutionary army. For Rzecki, the cause of freedom in Europe is connected with the name of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Hungarian revolution had sparked new hopes of abolishing the reactionary system that had triumphed at Napoleon''s fall. Later he had reposed his hopes in Napoleon III. Now, as he writes, he places them in Bonaparte''s scion, Napoleon III''s son, Prince Loulou. At novel''s end, when Rzecki hears that Loulou has perished in Africa, fighting in British ranks against rebel tribesmen, he will be overcome by the despondence of old age. For now, Rzecki lives in constant excitement, preoccupied by politics, which he refers to in his diary by the code-letter "P." Everywhere in the press he finds indications that a long-awaited "it" is beginning. In addition to the two generations represented by Rzecki and Wokulski, the novel provides glimpses of a third, younger one, exemplified in the scientist Julian Ochocki (modeled on Prus'' friend, Julian Ochorowicz), some students, and young salesmen at Wokulski''s store. The half-starving students inhabit the garret of an apartment house and are in constant conflict with the landlord over their arrears of rent; they are rebels, are inclined to macabre pranks, and are probably socialists. Also of socialist persuasion is a young salesman, whereas some of the latter''s colleagues believe first and last in personal gain. The Dolls plot focuses on Wokulski''s infatuation with the superficial Izabela, who sees him only as a plebeian intruder into her rarefied world, a brute with huge red hands; for her, persons below the social standing of aristocrats are hardly human. Wokulski, in his quest to win Izabela, begins frequenting theaters and aristocratic salons; and, to help her financially distressed father, founds a company and sets the aristocrats up as shareholders in the business. Wokulski''s eventual downfall highlights The Dolls overarching theme: the inertia of Polish society.

The Doll

Sten is now the commander of the Imperial Gurkhas, personal bodyguards of the Eternal Emperor. However, Sten isn''t happy with his new assignment at the Imperial Court, thinking of Court as "boring place full of boring people". When a bomb explosion in a bar kills a local mafia leader, Sten is surprised that Emperor immediately puts him on the case, apparently for no reason. It is up to Sten and a tough female detective Lisa Haines to discover what happened. Sten finds that the bomb was detonated by an amateur who killed target he was supposed to capture, but whoever hired him, was professional. Sten pursues bomberman, who got himself imprisoned on Tahn world, and extracts him. During interrogation Sten discovers alarming news - the man who hired that amateur is a former member of the Mercury Corps. He also discovers codeword "Rashid" that was supposed to identify bomberman''s target. The Emperor is visibly startled - "Rashid" is his name when he goes incognito between common people, so the explosion was meant for him. He orders Sten to continue with investigation. Sten eventually finds renegade Mercury agent responsible for whole operation, but he commits suicide to avoid capture. Sten asks his friends (including Alex Kilgore) for help with the follow-up investigation, while Eternal Emperor goes to diplomatic meeting with Tahn delegation. In Emperor''s absence, rebels decide to put the cards on the table. Their original plan was to capture Emperor incapacited by explosion and reprogram his brain, so he would follow their orders. Failing that, they put backup plan in motion - assassinate Emperor and Tahn delegation, provoking war between Empire and Tahn. Sten, Alex and Gurkgas are captured and imprisoned by Praetorian guard, whose members side with rebels. Sten is able to escape and with the help of Gurkhas overthrow Praetorian guard. With the only communication equipment sabotaged, he has no choice than travel to the meeting and try to save as much as he can. After many violent gunfights aboard Emperor''s flagship, Sten barely saves the Eternal Emperor from assassination attempt. However, he can do nothing about Tahn delegation, whose members were murdered at the beginning of a coup. Tahn take killing their delegation as a provocation and immediately begin preparation for a war.

The Court of a Thousand Suns

The story begins in Egypt where Flavia, Nubia, Jonathan and Lupus, still wanted by the Roman authorities, are hiding in Chryses''s house. They are delighted to be visited by Aristo, but he brings bad news – not only are they all accused of treason, but one of Jonathan''s twin nephews has disappeared, apparently taken by the slavers who have resumed their kidnapping of Roman children. Flavia''s father has pursued them, and still does not know that Flavia and the others are alive after the shipwreck. Aristo, their tutor, comes to find them. He is their guardian for most of the book and he helps them get to a great many places. Delighted to find the children alive, he is shown as being the happiest since his love Miriam''s death. They embark for Halicarnassus in Roman Asia, where they encounter several old acquaintances: the slave trader Magnus and his giant bodyguard, last seen in The Colossus of Rhodes, the magistrate Bato and the poet Flaccus. Jonathan is having prophetic visions he cannot make sense of, and is still plagued with guilt over the fire in Rome in The Enemies of Jupiter. Flavia is shocked to discover that Flaccus, whose proposal she had decided to accept, is already engaged to someone else. The countryside is full of prophets who are reported to heal the sick and cure the lame, giving Lupus hope that his muteness can be cured. Nubia is still love-sick over Aristo, whose own feelings are obscure. In the end it is revealed that the "eye-witness" to Philadelphius'' (Jonathan''s nephew) and his wet-nurse''s kidnapping was bribed by Lydia, the wet nurse; her child had died and she kidnapped him to compensate for her loss.

The Prophet from Ephesus

A War of Gifts begins in North Carolina where Zechariah ''Zeck'' Morgan, a boy with nearly perfect memory, lives with his family. Though Zeck’s father is the minister of his own church and has raised Zeck to be a pacifist, he beats the boy regularly. When the International Fleet shows up to take Zeck to Battle School, Zeck’s mother sees this as the perfect opportunity to get the boy away from his abusive father. At Battle School, the other students barely tolerate Zeck because of his strong religious beliefs and his refusal to fight in the Battle Room. On December fifth Zeck sees a Dutch boy put a Sinterklaas Day gift in another Dutch boy’s shoe. Because religious activities including prayer and holidays are forbidden at Battle School and Zeck has been taught by his father that Santa Claus is evil, he decides to report the two boys to Colonel Graff. After the Colonel calls the boys in and reprimands them, they decide to rebel by getting everyone to celebrate not Christmas, but Santa Claus, as he is not a religious symbol in the book, but a secular one. When Zeck complains to the authorities, they refuse to do anything. Zeck goes to the Muslim students and points out that the Christians are being allowed to celebrate their holidays. Some of the Muslim students begin daily prayers. When the administration forcibly stops the Muslims from praying, the other students stop giving each other Christmas presents. They also refuse to speak to Zeck. When he begins to have a nervous breakdown because of the isolation, Ender Wiggin decides to have a talk with him. In doing so, Ender discovers that Zeck was desperately trying to get sent back home so that he could protect his mother from his father. After he convinces Zeck that his mother doesn''t need to be protected, Ender gives him a small "Santa Claus" present. When the other students learn that Zeck accepted the gift, they stop ignoring him and go back to tolerating him.

A War of Gifts: An Ender Story

Rayford Steele, Chloe Steele, Buck Williams and Bruce Barnes find themselves left behind. This group of believers, as well as others left behind but becoming believers, are otherwise known as "Tribulation Saints", to differentiate from the pre-Rapture designation of Christian. The question of what to do in response to this radical change in situation arises. They propose to fight the perceived threat that Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia poses in the form of eradicating all religion and establishing a single world religion. The dogma consists that "there is no heaven nor hell, just [the left-behind]." In addition, Nicolae twisted the message of world-famous rabbi Tsion Ben-Judah about Messiah, in order to point to himself as thus. Buck flies to Jerusalem to meet Ben-Judah and present him to the two witnesses (described in Revelation) stationed at the United Nations-blockaded Wailing Wall. He converts to Christianity, believing that Jesus is the one and only Messiah; thus disproving Carpathia. During the prophesied eighteen months of peace following the covenant with Israel, Chloe and Buck are married, along with Rayford and new believer Amanda White. However, both Buck, who becomes publisher of Global Community Weekly, formerly Global Weekly, and Rayford, who is handpicked to pilot Carpathia’s jet, are in the distressing position of watching Carpathia, now Supreme Potentate of the U.N. - now reorganized into the Global Community- strengthen his grip on the world, witnessing how he orchestrates World War III to bring the former world powers under his heel and how he bamboozles Israeli botanist Chaim Rosenzweig into giving the GC his illustrious Eden formula for a GC-guaranteed peace treaty with Israel, thus initiating the Tribulation. As World War III breaks out, the Tribulation Force suffers its first casualty in the death of their pastor, Bruce Barnes, who was killed in a bombing in the now-decimated city of Chicago.

Tribulation Force

Mahashweta is a very famous Marathi novel written by Dr. Sumati Kshetramade and deals with the issue of leukoderma. It was also adapted into a Television soap with Aishwarya Narkar playing the protagonist. Later Mrs. Sudha Murthy also wrote a novel by the same name and theme. Mrs. Murthy says she came to know about the Marathi novel only after finishing writing her Kannada novel. In Mrs. Murthy''s novel the female protagonist Anupama ; who has met her match a handsome Dr. Anand, just like the story of Cinderella and gets a life dream come true. This all is shattered when she discovers that she has leukoderma which is still treated in India as a curse. The name Mahashweta is taken from the female protagonist Mahashweta in Banabhatta''s play Kadambari This book has affected life of many people. One of such personal experience is mentioned by Sudha Murthy at the end of book where she is invited to an unknown marriage of a girl with leukoderma which was almost broken and then the bridegroom changed his opinion after reading her book Mahashweta.This book has been translated in many languages like English, Marathi, Hindi, Gujrati, and Oriya.

Mahashweta

In a secret meeting room of criminal organization Scorpia, Julia Rothman briefs her colleagues on their latest project, codenamed "Invisible Sword." It is a plan to murder children aged 12 - 14 in Great Britain and destroy the friendly relations between the United States and the United Kingdom. " Then Alex figures out his parents are not dead Alex Rider is on a trip with his friend Tom Harris in Venice in search of Scorpia, the name that Yassen Gregorovich gave Alex before dying in the prior novel. While investigating at a party being held in the house of Julia Rothman, Alex is captured by a Scorpia assassin called Nile and is left to die in a water room, but manages to escape, barely. Alex is tutored about BASE jumping from Tom''s brother Jerry and infiltrates the pharmaceutical company Consanto. He runs into Nile again; however, this time Nile takes Alex to see Julia Rothman. Rothman offers Alex a job at Scorpia, which he accepts after Rothman tells him that Scorpia had hired his father John Rider as an assassin. She also tells Alex that John was killed by MI6 during a prisoner exchange at Albert Bridge. Alex''s first task is to kill his former MI6 superior, Mrs Jones. Scorpia sent a letter to the Government informing them of the power of Invisible Sword. To demonstrate, they tell them that they will kill the England B national football team as they arrive at London Heathrow Airport without using any weapons. Despite increased security, the team mysteriously dies. Alex sneaks back into England amid the chaos. He then sneaks into Mrs Jones''s apartment to kill her, but is unsuccessful and is arrested. Alan Blunt, the head of MI6, takes Alex to a COBRA meeting to figure out what Invisible Sword is and how to stop it. With Alex''s help, they determine that Scorpia embedded gold-encased nanoshells into the football players'' bloodstream. The nanoshells were hidden in vaccinations and contained cyanide, which were activated by satellite dishes, and when they were activated, the gold wore away and the cyanide was released into the bloodstream, killing every single one of the players instantly. Scorpia will then kill London''s schoolchildren, including Alex (Due to Rothman''s hatred for him due to his father''s later-revealed double-cross,) as they had all recently been vaccinated. Alex agrees to help MI6 out and pretends to come back to Scorpia. Rothman takes him to an abandoned church; Scorpia planned to put a satellite in a hot air balloon. At a certain height, they will then activate the nanoshells. Alex activates a retainer in his mouth and the SAS invades the church. As the balloon begins to rise, Alex jumps on the balloon and damages the satellites, causing them to plunge to the ground. Rothman is killed by the falling satellite. In the final pages of the novel, Alex learns that his father was a double agent for MI6, and the bridge scene was staged. Scorpia learned that John Rider was still alive and took revenge by blowing up the plane that he and Alex''s mother Helen were flying in. In the final scene, as Alex exits the MI6 headquarters, a Scorpia assassin shoots him in the chest. He collapses, sees his parents, and loses consciousness.

Scorpia

The novel starts in the Boxton Creek Home, an orphanage run by a strict couple, George and Marjorie Trepid. Thirteen-year-old Dallas Carter, an imaginative young teenager, and his twin sister Florida Carter, a sassy and bold girl, are long-time residents of the Home, and they have been punished many times for their breaking of the rules that the Trepids post all over the House. They''ve been adopted many times and then returned for various reasons, often by fault of the adopters. Because of this, they have been dubbed the "trouble twins." They have a plan to run away and board a train. Outside of Boxton, in a plot of land called Ruby Holler, Tiller and Sairy Morey, a very old couple whose children have grown up and left, are sitting and discussing about their plain lives, that they want a new adventure. The two decide to foster care for children, and they adopt Dallas and Florida. Although Sairy, a very kind and trusting old lady, is very excited about the idea, Tiller, a "crotchety old boot", is doubtful of the kids in Ruby Holler. Even though the twins enjoy the freedom and adventure in the holler, they''re still suspicious and think that Tiller and Sairy will mistreat them like others before, although their suspicions are soon proven false. Tiller and Sairy tell Dallas and Florida that they are planning on each going on separate trips, and they want the twins to come on each: Dallas with Sairy onto an island, and Florida with Tiller on a rafting trip. All of them are uneasy about leaving their partner, but they don''t reveal it. Tiller and Sairy use their "understone funds," underground savings that they''ve kept for years, for the trips. Elsewhere, Mr. Trepid, who has heard about the understone funds from Dallas and Florida as they ran into each other in Boxton while getting supplies for the trips, asks a shady man called Z, Tiller and Sairy''s neighbor, to map out Ruby Holler, but doesn''t say why. Z feels uneasy doing so because he likes Tiller and Sairy, but does so anyway, stalling with the assistance, as well as helping with the Ruby Holler family prepare for their trips. Dallas and Florida, however, still think that Tiller and Sairy are still trouble, so they take the supplies for the trips and run away, but don''t go far from their cabin. Sairy and Tiller think that the twins did so because they were testing the supplies, and they suggest practice trips closer to home. While on the trips, Tiller and Sairy learn about the twins'' past and realize that the Trepids were horrible people. While on their trips, Z continues to stall with production of Mr. Trepid''s map, as he probably feels more protective of the Moreys because he believes that Dallas and Florida are his biological children because the Dallas'' mother named on his birth certificate was his wife. Eventually he gives Mr Trepid a map with possible hiding places, but takes the understone funds to prevent them from being stolen from Mr. Trepid. On Tiller and Florida''s small trip while rafting down a river, their boat capsizes and Tiller suffers a heart attack. Luckily, Dallas, Sairy, and Z find them and Tiller is taken to a hospital where he recovers. Z starts bonding with the twins and they set up traps for Mr. Trepid while he looks for the understone funds and fails to find them. In the end, two of Tiller and Sairy''s biological children visit the holler to check on Tiller''s health and suggest they send the twins back to the Boxton Creek Home. Dallas and Florida hear their conversation and run away again before hearing Tiller and Sairy''s denial. In the morning, Dallas and Florida smell food from the cabin and return to Ruby Holler.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Bloke's Guide To Pregnancy

By Jon Smith

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

By Lisa See

The Rescue

No Author Listed

Life of Pi

By Yann Martel

The Doll

By Bolesław Prus

The Court of a Thousand Suns

By Allan Cole

The Prophet from Ephesus

By Caroline Lawrence

A War of Gifts: An Ender Story

By Orson Scott Card

Tribulation Force

By Tim LaHaye

Mahashweta

No Author Listed

Scorpia

By Anthony Horowitz

Ruby Holler

By Sharon Creech