David is emotionally insecure. He grows up in the hotel his parents manage, where he is influenced by artist Herbie Bratasky, who, thanks to his ingenuity in imitating sounds of farts, defecation and toilet flushing, is credited with "mastering the whole Wagner scale of fecal Storm and Stress". When he attends a college, he rooms with a lazy, often-masturbating, homosexual, draft-dodging, fellow student, who inadvertently adds to Kepesh''s insecurity. At first, he seems to accept the odd facts about his colleague, but then he''s shocked when he''s told by others that he deviated from so many social norms. David, often lusting after female co-students, never has a successful date. He often annoys girls by telling them they have gorgeous bodily features. Kepesh, with a Fulbright grant in his pocket, goes to London, where he meets two sexually interested Swedish girls, Birgitta and Elisabeth. Back in America, he moves to California, where he gets acquainted with Helen, a woman dreaming of opening a store. Helen has a history of promiscuity dating back to her early twenties, when she lived in Hong Kong and other places in Asia. Helen does not feel loved by Kepesh. She refuses to do household duties because Kepesh gives her only sexual attention; unable to speak of his emotions, Kepesh submits to that "fact" and ends up doing all the housework as well as teaching literature classes and writing papers on Anton Chekhov. Kepesh separates from Helen and goes to New York to give lectures in literature, but his emotional side not yet formed or refined, he has endless sessions with a psychoanalyst and even uses his literature class (which he later calls "Desire 341" after the course number) to contrast his own desires and experiences with those portrayed in works like Gustave Flaubert''s Madame Bovary. He even persuades the students to hear about and discuss his own love life. On a visit to Prague, birthplace of the equally sexually inexperienced Franz Kafka, he dreams of visiting the still-living prostitute of Kafka who invites him to look at her crotch; presuming he wants to see why it held Kafka''s interest for so long. it:Il professore di desiderio

The Professor of Desire

Lucas Swain is a sixteen year old whose father left five years ago under mysterious circumstances. Lucas is now living with his mother Nicky, his brother Jed, and sister Mercy. In the beginning of the novel Lucas is going to the Apollo cars cab shop to get a cab so he can get home. Then he sees an urn inside the cab shop and a mysterious name runs through his head, Violet. He then starts having an obsession with Violet because he is sure that she has something to tell him about his missing father. Lucas then starts fantasising about what it would be like to be old. How he wants to act, where he wants to be buried, and whether his father is dead. Then he thinks of his grandmother Pansy, or the family medium, who he asks to get Violet from the cab shop. Later the person known to Lucas as Tony Soprano or the cab shop owner came by to give Violet “back” to Pansy. Norman, Pansy’s husband, almost ruining the plan by shouting out the random things he does because of the small strokes that he has. Later Lucas goes home to a worried/frustrated mother and a caring family friend and more whose name is Bob. Bob later tells Lucas that he and Pete were writing a book about violet and where she used to live. Shocked, Lucas decides to investigate more into violet. Later Norman, Jed, and Lucas are walking their dog Jack, Norman has a brilliant moment and tells Lucas as much as he can about pete and violet before the next stroke kicks in. Later Nicky decides that to get rid of Pete’s memory, they should get rid of his things. That is when Lucas finds Petes pocket watch and knows something isn’t right. Lucas and Nicky get into a fight about abandoning Pete’s memory but Lucas finds the crucial piece of evidence to show somethings wrong even though Nicky doesn''t want to hear it. After more searching Lucas finally finds something that shocks him. His father is still alive, living under a completely different alias.

Finding Violet Park

On Isabella "Bella" Swan''s 18th birthday, Edward Cullen, the vampire she loves, and his family throw her a birthday party. While unwrapping a gift, she gets a paper cut, which causes Edward''s adopted brother, Jasper, to be overwhelmed by her blood''s scent and attempt to kill Bella. To protect her, Edward tells Bella that he does not love her and the Cullens move away from Forks. This leaves Bella heartbroken and depressed. In the months that follow, Bella learns that thrill-seeking activities, such as motorcycle riding, allow her to "hear" Edward''s voice in her head. She also seeks comfort in her deepening friendship with Jacob Black, a cheerful companion who eases her pain over losing Edward. Bella later discovers that Jacob and other tribe members are werewolves. Jacob and his pack protect Bella from the vampire Laurent and also Victoria, who seeks revenge for her dead mate, James, whom the Cullens killed in Twilight. Meanwhile, a series of miscommunications leads Edward to believe that Bella has killed herself. Distraught over her supposed suicide, Edward flees to Volterra, Italy to provoke the Volturi, vampire royalty who are capable of killing him. Alice and Bella rush to Italy to save Edward, arriving just in time to stop him. Before leaving Italy, the Volturi tell Edward that Bella, a human who knows that vampires exist, must either be killed or transformed into a vampire. When they return to Forks, Edward tells Bella that he has always loved her and only left Forks to protect her. She forgives him, and the Cullens vote in favor of Bella being transformed into a vampire, to Edward''s dismay. However, Jacob reminds Edward about an important piece in the treaty: if the Cullens bite a human, the treaty is over.

New Moon

The central character David Eliot is a 12-year-old seventh son of a seventh son, cruelly mistreated by his parents. His father chooses a series of repressive boarding schools for him, where David does not perform well. After being expelled from his "last-chance" school, they receive at home the unexpected call from an unknown school, Groosham Grange, of which nobody has heard of before. This school, located on Skrull Island, an island off Norfolk, earnestly invites David to enter it. His father jumps at the chance to pack him off, especially since it appears that the place is suitably severe. He must take a train from Liverpool Street to King''s Lynn. On the train he meets two other new students, Jill Green and Jeffrey Joseph. A vicar sits with them and plays hymns on his guitar, but when they mention that they are going to Groosham Grange he suffers a heart attack. A hunchback called Gregor escorts them to the school. Along with Jill (seventh daughter of a seventh daughter) and Jeffrey, David anticipates more mistreatment, and makes a pact with them that they will escape at any cost. After they arrive, they start to learn strange things, are baffled by inexplicable disappearances, very peculiar teachers (including a werewolf and a ghost), assorted frights—and an absence of punishments. They are determined to solve the mystery of the school, but then Jeffrey begins acting suspiciously, seeming to side with the other students rather than with David and Jill. David manages to get a message to the outside world via a note in a bottle, but the school inspector sent to investigate is dealt with permanently courtesy of Mrs. Windergast''s black magic. Jill helps David run away, but she gets caught. It is then that he learns that he has been recruited to a school for wizards and witches because he is a wizard himself, and that the staff hopes to help him unleash his full potential as the other students do. This must all be kept secret from normal, non-magical people. David must decide if he will remain at Groosham Grange or not. His dilemma lies in his wish to avoid evil, but the Headmaster tempts him with the promises that he can learn "how to make gold out of lead, how to destroy your enemies just by snapping your fingers... [and] to see into the future and use it for yourself."

Groosham Grange

The story, illustrated by the author, is set in England during the Middle Ages, as the bubonic plague is sweeping across the country. Young Robin wants to be a knight like his father, but his dreams are endangered when he loses the use of his legs. A doctor reassures Robin that the weakness in his legs is not caused by the plague and the doctor is supposed to come and help him but does not. His parents are away, serving the king and queen during war, and the servants abandon the house, fearing the plague. Robin is saved by Brother Luke, a friar, who finds him and takes him to a monastery and cares for him. Brother Luke teaches Robin how to swim and carve wood and make a harp, to be independent and build self confidence, but Robin also learns patience and strength from the friar. The friar tells him that before overcoming a challenge you must first find "the door in the wall". Robin''s parents had planned for him to become a knight and to stay with Sir Peter de Lindsay to be a page first. John Go-in-the-Wynd, a minstrel, gives him a letter from Robin''s father telling him and John Go-in-the-Wynd and Brother Luke to go to Lindsay. They get there after traveling for long hours, almost being robbed, and going on the wrong road for a time. When the castle of Peter de Lindsay is besieged by the Welsh and unable to send word for assistance, Robin swims the moat, hobbles through enemy lines using his crutches, disguised as a shepherd, and alerts a messenger. John Go-in-the-Wynd sends for Sir Hugh''s help, and they defeat the Welsh invaders. The king and his forces deliver the inhabitants of the castle. Robin is reunited with his parents and they assure him that they love him more for his brave spirit than for his physical prowess. He is then knighted for his service to the crown. The term "door in the wall" means if one keeps trying and never gives up, they''ll find a way to break through and to succeed. A quote from the book reads, "If thou followeth a wall far enough, there must be a door in it."

The Door in the Wall

The book opens with an objective narration about a group of five travellers traveling through Exmoor in rural England. They arrive at an inn in a small village, and soon it becomes clear that they are not who they seem to be. The "maid" Louise casually rebuffs the sexual advances of the servant, Dick Thurlow, but then goes to his master''s room and undresses before them both. Bartholomew calls his supposed uncle "Lacy" and they discuss Bartholomew''s refusal to disclose his journey''s secret purpose, as well as fate versus free will. Eventually the narration stops and is followed by letters, interview transcripts, and snatches of more third-person narration, interspersed by facsimile pages from contemporary issues of The Gentleman''s Magazine. We learn from a fictional news story that a man has been found hanged near the place where the travellers were staying. The subsequent interviews are conducted by Henry Ayscough, a lawyer employed by Bartholomew''s father, who is a Duke. The interviews reveal that Bartholomew had hired the party to travel with him but deceived them about the purpose of his journey. Variations of his story are (1) he was on his way to elope against the wishes of family; (2) he was visiting a wealthy, aged aunt to secure an inheritance from her; (3) he was seeking a cure for impotence; (4) he was pursuing some scientific or occult knowledge, possibly concerning knowledge of the future. He takes Rebecca and Dick to a cave in a remote area. Rebecca''s initial tale, retold by Jones, is that he there performed a satanic ritual, and Rebecca herself was raped by Satan and forced to view a panorama of human suffering and cruelty. Rebecca''s own testimony admits this was a deception to quiet Jones. She says that she actually saw Bartholomew meet a noble lady who took them all inside a strange floating craft (which she calls "the maggot"). In this craft she sees what she describes as a divine revelation of heaven ("June Eternal") and the Shaker Trinity (Father, Son, and female Holy Spirit or "Mother Wisdom"). She also sees a vision of human suffering and cruelty in this version of her story. Modern readers may interpret her visions as films and her overall experience as a contact with time travellers or extraterrestrials. Rebecca then loses consciousness; she wakes, finds Jones outside the cave, and they leave together. She then tells Jones the satanic version of her experience. Meanwhile, Jones has seen Dick leave the cave in terror, presumably to go hang himself. Rebecca later finds herself pregnant. She returns to her Quaker parents but then converts to Shakerism, marries a blacksmith named John Lee, and gives birth to Ann Lee, the future leader of the American Shakers. The mystery of Bartholomew''s disappearance is never solved, and Ayscough surmises that he committed suicide out of guilt from his disobedience to his father in the matter of an arranged marriage.

A Maggot

The Yeerks have finished their anti-morphing ray and want to test it. Tobias comes up with a plan and that plan is to trick the Yeerks into thinking that it doesn''t work; if they capture him, they will try to use it on his hawk form, but hawk is his true form now. Tobias acquires Ax—thus allowing him to ''demorph'' and reinforce the impression that he is a genuine Andalite—and then gets captured by the Yeerks. Rachel was supposed to be with him in fly morph to be able to rescue him and tell the rest where the lab was. However, sub-visser Taylor gave them an anesthetic so she couldn''t grip to Tobias and fell to the floor. Tobias, alone and trapped, tries to get demorphed unsuccessfully since he is already demorphed. He is then tortured by the sadistic Taylor with a machine that controls the parts of the brain that induce pain and pleasure. He almost goes insane and nearly dies after receiving heightened, alternating doses of painful and pleasant sensations and memories. He sees painful memories of childhood neglect or battle, after seeing pleasant peaceful memories. This process nearly kills him. Here, he experienced an Utzum, later explained by Ax to be a vision ancient Andalites believed happened at the moment of death to comfort those crossing over. (Ax mentions that Andalites no longer believe this.) These images are supposed to be passed through DNA. Tobias is spoken to by his father Elfangor who shares with him his own memories of hardship, battle, his moments of questioning himself and his own actions. He reminds Tobias that he is part of a great tradition of warriors in order to comfort him before his death. Tobias is rescued by Ax and the other animorphs. In the battle he persuades Rachel not to kill Taylor, so as not sink to her level. After the battle Tobias continues to question who and what he is. Andalite? Human? Hawk? However he takes comfort in his relationship with Rachel. They kiss.... *Taylor is introduced. *Tobias and Rachel share their first time kissing in the main series. *Tobias hears Elfangor to talk to him in his part as his son

The Illusion

The book is a lyrical account of the life of Mohammed Ahmed, the eighth daughter of Hajji Ahmed Suleyman. Frustrated by his failure to bring a son into the world, Ahmed is determined that his youngest daughter will be raised as a boy, with all the rights and privileges that go along with it. The first part of the book describes the father''s efforts to thwart suspicion that this is a boy, especially from his jealous brothers, who look to inherit Ahmed''s fortune. Using bribery and deceit, the masquerade succeeds. Mohammed Ahmed is circumcised (blood is drawn from his imaginary penis when Ahmed intentionally cuts his finger over the child during the ceremony), his breasts are bound, and he even marries his cousin Fatima, a sickly epileptic girl, who dies young. Only the father, the mother, and the midwife are ever aware of the hoax that is being perpetrated. The story is told by a wandering storyteller, who reveals his tale, bit by bit, to an enthusiastic, though sometimes skeptical audience. To verify his story, he claims to quote from a journal that Mohammed Ahmed kept, revealing his innermost thoughts about his confused gender identity. Mohammed Ahmed also reveals himself through correspondence with a mysterious friend, who writes him letters challenging his identity. The book changes direction after Fatima''s death and the disappearance of the storyteller, forced away by the modernization of the country. The remainder of the journal has been lost, but some of the crowd that once listened to the storyteller continues to meet and share how they see the story ending. Each of them describes Mohammed Ahmed''s transition back to womanhood, where she assumes the identity of Zahra. Their stories have different endings, some happy, others tragic, until a blind troubador, a fictionalised version of Jorge Luis Borges, continues the tale leading up to Mohammed Ahmed/Zahra''s death. ca:L''infant de sorra

The Sand Child

A decade after the events of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms comes the story of Oree Shoth, a young street artist who lives in the city of Sky, which has been unofficially renamed "Shadow" after the growth of the enormous World Tree. Oree is blind, but has the ability to see magic; she has inherited this sensitivity to magic from her father, who also taught her to conceal her gift, as it is considered heretical by the Order of Itempas. Oree seeks only to live as ordinary a life as possible, despite her unusual abilities and disability. Shadow is a city in which many "godlings" -- immortal, demigod children of the gods—live hidden among the mortal citizens, so Oree is not very surprised to find a downtrodden being who is apparently unconscious, yet glowing brightly to her magic-sight, in the trash-strewn alley behind her house. She takes in this apparently mute homeless man, whom she later whimsically dubs "Shiny", and lives with him without incident for several months. She has no inkling of his identity, suspecting only that he is a godling, though readers familiar with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms will quickly realize that he is Itempas, god of light and order. Itempas was disgraced and sentenced to humanity by his fellow gods at the end of the previous book. When one of the local godlings is murdered, Oree finds the body—and falls under suspicion when the Itempan Order seeks a scapegoat rather than the actual culprit. Shiny increases the danger to Oree when, in an apparent fit of pique, he manifests inhuman power and injures, then kills, several Orderkeepers. Madding, another godling denizen of the city and Oree''s ex-lover, attempts to aid her. However, he and a number of other godlings, and Oree, are then captured by a heretical group of Itempans who call themselves the Order of the New Light. The New Lights, led by a renegade Arameri fullblood named Serymn and her scrivener husband, oppose the Order of Itempas, which has attempted to change mortal society and doctrine in response to the events of the previous novel, which are not widely known. Dateh reveals to Oree that she is a demon, a part-god mortal whose blood is toxic to gods; it is demon blood, which Dateh also bears, that has been used to kill godlings. The gods, led by Itempas, long ago attempted to hunt down and destroy all demons due to the threat they represented, but a few escaped. Oree is left with no choice but to seek allies from among the gods and the Arameri—although both groups would happily kill or use her for their own purposes—in order to defeat the New Lights before their actions can threaten the entire mortal realm.

The Broken Kingdoms

The Clone Wars have raged across the galaxy for almost two years, when the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, Yoda, receives a message from Separatist leader Count Dooku. In the message, Dooku concedes to Yoda that things have gotten far out of hand; What began as a political play to keep the Senate honest had turned into a bloodbath, and the time for a truce has come. Dooku invites Yoda to meet him on the planet Vjun, where they would organize the cease-fire. After conferring with his fellow Jedi Masters from the Council, principally Mace Windu, Yoda judges that even if the meeting at Vjun were a feint, the chance to end the war far outweighs the perils of a trap. Yoda decides to send a decoy impersonating himself to a different planet, while he secretly slips off to Vjun. He contracts a famous actor and Yoda impersonator, Palleus Chuff, to pull off the bluff. Disguised as Yoda, Chuff leaves on a very public mission to Ithor. When Chuff''s fighter is captured by Dooku''s minion Asajj Ventress, who is unaware of the switch, the apparent loss of Yoda comes as a sad blow to the morale of the Republic. Jedi Masters Jai Maruk and Maks Leem journey towards Vjun, accompanied by their Padawans, the under-achieving Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy (or "Scout") and Whie. They make their way slowly, travelling under the false identities of a refugee family, with Yoda disguised as their faithful R2 unit. During one Spaceport layover, Ventress (accompanied by the bumbling but brave Chuff) catches the quintet, and unleashes a dangerous new type of battle droid. While the other Jedi fight the droids and Ventress, Yoda seeks to rescue Chuff. Unfortunately, both Jai Maruk and Maks Leem fall to the terrible droids and Ventress'' lightsaber. Yoda, however, diverts Ventress'' attention before she gets a chance to kill the young Padawans, and the three Jedi (with Chuff in tow) escape. Meanwhile on Vjun, Count Dooku awaits Yoda in the Château Malreaux, the manor of the long since waned aristocratic clan Malreaux. As the group of Jedi land on Vjun they are forced to separate: Yoda goes to meet with Dooku, and the Padawans follow mysterious disruptions in the Force felt by Whie. Soon, Ventress captures the Padawans. She reveals to Whie that the Château is in fact his house, and the insane house-woman was his mother, Lady "Whirry" Malreaux. Meanwhile, Yoda meets with Dooku, and discovers that Dooku''s summons is indeed a feint. The two masters engage in a tense debate about the ways of the Force, and reminiscence about Dooku''s childhood in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. In the end, Yoda encourages his former apprentice to leave the dark side and Darth Sidious forever. Dooku, hands shaking, is on the verge of answering when an assistant informs him of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi''s arrival in the mansion, dispatched there by the Jedi Council, on behalf of Palpatine. Convinced that the legendary duo are replacements for him, Dooku is overcome by jealousy and throws his assistant out the window. Yoda is forced to save Whirry from falling to her death, and then parry Dooku''s follow-up lightsaber attack. Even though Dooku wounds him, Yoda, unfazed, does not yield to the dark side. Yoda recovers, and a short lightsaber battle ensues. Before leaping from the window to escape, Dooku tells Yoda of a missile approaching from space, aimed at the house, and everyone in it. Yoda stops the missile, inevitably allowing Dooku and Ventress time to escape.

Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

Dian Fossey worked in the United States in a children''s hospital until she decided to become a field anthropologist in Africa. Mowat says this decision illustrates the strength of character that made her famous and that may also have led to her death. In 1960 she gained an interview with Louis Leakey, the famous anthropologist, who encouraged her to study the mountain gorillas of Central Africa at first hand. She accepted this advice against the wishes of her friends and family. At first, it seemed that she was following the path defined by Jane Goodall, and would become a successful scientist. However, she soon became passionately interested in the cause of preserving the mountain gorillas. An outspoken woman, she made no attempt to disguise her hatred and contempt for poachers and hunters. In December 1986 she was murdered in her African camp. Although the book does not delve into the subject in depth, Mowat speculates that a disgruntled poacher may have been hired to kill her by people opposed to her crusade to preserve the gorillas.

Woman in the Mists

High above a troubled China, where animals battle machines for control, floats an intricate web of hot air balloons – the Sky Village. When twelve-year-old Mei Long''s mother is kidnapped, her father sends Mei to live in the sky, surrounded by strangers, amid a growing threat. Half a world away, thirteen-year-old Rom Saint-Pierre struggles to survive in beast-controlled Las Vegas. When his young sister is stolen away by a pair of demonic creatures, Rom has no choice but to follow them into a shadowy underground world. He becomes enmeshed in gladiator-style arena fighting, in which battles between mechanical-beast demons entertain a chaotic community of gamblers. Mei and Rom have never met, but they share connected journals, books that mysteriously allow them to communicate. The journals also reveal that each of them carries the strange and terrifying Kaimira gene, entwining beast and mek qualities in their very DNA. In this intricately plotted novel, the first in a five-book series, Mei and Rom must overcome those forces that seek to destroy them, and find the courage to balance the powers that clash within. It is their only hope for survival, and for saving the ones they love.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Professor of Desire

By Philip Roth

Finding Violet Park

By Jenny Valentine

New Moon

By Stephenie Meyer

Groosham Grange

By Anthony Horowitz

The Door in the Wall

By Marguerite de Angeli

A Maggot

By John Fowles

The Illusion

By K. A. Applegate

The Sand Child

By Tahar Ben Jelloun

The Broken Kingdoms

By N. K. Jemisin

Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

By Sean Stewart

Woman in the Mists

By Farley Mowat

The Sky Village

No Author Listed