Breaking Dawn is divided into three separate parts. The first part details Bella''s marriage and honeymoon with Edward, which they spend on a private island owned by Carlisle who bought it for Esme, called Isle Esme, off the coast of Brazil. Two weeks into their honeymoon, Bella realizes that she is pregnant with a half-vampire, half-human child and that her condition is progressing at an unnaturally accelerated rate. After contacting Carlisle, who confirms her pregnancy, she and Edward immediately return home to Forks, Washington. The fetus continues to develop with unnatural rapidity, and Edward, concerned for Bella''s life and convinced that the fetus is going to kill her, urges her to abort the pregnancy. However, Bella feels a connection with her unborn baby and refuses. The novel''s second part is written from the perspective of shape-shifter Jacob Black, and lasts throughout Bella''s pregnancy and childbirth. Jacob''s Quileute wolf pack, not knowing what danger the unborn child may pose, plan to destroy it and kill Bella. Jacob vehemently protests this decision and leaves, forming his own pack with Seth and Leah Clearwater. The fetus in Bella''s body grows swiftly and Bella soon gives birth. The baby breaks many of her bones, including her spine, and she loses massive amounts of blood. In order to save her life, Edward changes her into a vampire by injecting his venom into her heart. Jacob, thinking that Bella is dead, and blaming Bella''s daughter Renesmee as the cause, tries to kill Renesmee. Instead, he "imprints"—an involuntary response in which a shape-shifter finds his soul mate—on her. The third section shifts back to Bella''s perspective, describing Bella''s painful transformation and finding herself changed into a vampire and enjoying her new life and abilities. However, the vampire Irina misidentifies Renesmee as an "immortal child", a child who has been turned into a vampire. Because "immortal children" are uncontrollable, creating them has been outlawed by the Volturi. After Irina presents her allegation to the Volturi, they plan to destroy Renesmee and the Cullens. In an attempt to survive, the Cullens gather other vampire clans from around the world to stand as witnesses and prove to the Volturi that Renesmee is not an immortal child. Upon confronting the gathered Cullen allies and witnesses, the Volturi discover that they have been misinformed and immediately execute Irina for her mistake. However, they remain undecided on whether Renesmee should be viewed as a threat to vampires'' secret existence. At that time, Alice and Jasper, who had left prior to the confrontation, return with a Mapuche called Nahuel, a 150-year-old vampire-human crossbreed like Renesmee. Nahuel demonstrates that the crossbreeds pose no threat, and the Volturi leave. Edward, Bella, and Renesmee return to their home in peace.

Breaking Dawn

;Volume I *Chapter 01: This is How it Starts (with a pre-introductory dedication to Pablo Neruda and Aragon) ::*A touching memoir dedicated to Jules Verne and Lester Young without offending Phileas Fogg, about Charlie Parker, Stéphane Mallarmé, Passepartout, Aouda, Man Ray, Robert Lebel, Marcel Duchamp and Antonin Artaud. ::*How to dance a shirtless girl (short story / mini poem) ::*(Encore) *Chapter 03: Julios in Action ::*Jules Laforgue, Marcel Duchamp''s drawing for the poem Encore a cet astre, Le Monde (thursday edition), Moulin a cafe, Dada exhibition in Paris (11.12.66), the first painting he saw by order of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Nu descendant un escalier) and a photograph of Julio playing the trumpet. *Chapter 05: Theme for San Jorge *Chapter 09: I fall... then emerge. *Chapter 10: The smiler with the knife under the cloak *Chapter 17: Clifford ;Volume II *Chapter 01: What Happens, Minerva? ::*Happenings, Benjamin Patterson''s Lawful Dance, Paik''s Omnibus Music No. 1, Le Monde, Dick Higgins, Thomas Shmidt, Jean-Jacques Lebel, Tetsumi Kudo. *Chapter 03: Around the Piano of Thelonious Monk *Chapter 05: On to Lezama Lima''s Arrival *Chapter 09: Mallarmé''s Tombeau *Chapter 13: The Nobel Art *Chapter 14: The Most Profound Caress es:La vuelta al día en ochenta mundos

Around the Day in Eighty Worlds

The Republic is decaying, even under the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who was elected to save the galaxy from collapsing under the forces of discontent. On the tiny but strategic planet of Ansion, a powerful faction is on the verge of joining the growing Separatist movement. The urban dwellers wish to expand into the prairies outside their cities - the ancestral territory of the fierce, independent Ansion nomads. If their demands are not met, they will secede - an act that could jump-start a chain reaction of withdrawal and rebellion by other worlds of the Republic. At the Chancellor''s request, the Jedi Council sends Kenobi and fellow Jedi Luminara Unduli to resolve the conflict and negotiate with the elusive nomads. Undaunted, Kenobi and Unduli, along with their Padawans Skywalker and Barriss Offee, set out across the wilderness. Many perils lie waiting to trap them. The Jedi will have to fulfill near-impossible tasks, befriend wary strangers, and influence two great armies to complete their quest, stalked all the while by an enemy sworn to see the negotiations collapse and the mission fail.

The Approaching Storm

Dead Gods is composed of two adventures which revolve around the theme of death and resurrection of a god: "Out of the Darkness" and "Into the Light". Each adventure can be played separately, although the two plots can be woven together by the Dungeon Master. "Out of the Darkness" consists of nine chapters. Long ago, Orcus the tanar''ri lord of the undead had grown fat and inattentive towards his realm in the Abyss. The minor demipower Kiaransalee, drow goddess of vengeance, conspired against Orcus and slew him, supplanting his realm and position and even banishing his name across the planes. Orcus’ corpse lay dead on the Astral Plane for some time, until he began to stir in the not-so-distant past. His form changed to become thin, small and shadowy, but rather than being truly restored to life he had become an undead god much less powerful than before. Orcus eventually disappeared from the Astral and chose a new name for himself: Tenebrous. He sought to gain revenge on everyone in the multiverse, and raised his former demonic servants as undead called visages to gather information to aid in his vengeance. He returned to an old base of his, a fortress on the Negative Energy Plane, and on the plane of Arborea he found a magical force called the Last Word which was potent enough to slay even a god. Kiaransalee had sent two of her drow followers to bury his powerful artifact, the Wand of Orcus, in an unreachable vault of stone on the plane of Pandemonium. In his search for his Wand, Tenebrous used the Last Word to slay Primus, the lord of the modrons, and using Primus''s form he began using the modrons to search for his Wand. When the modrons discovered the two drow who had buried the Wand, Tenebrous began making preparations to take back the Abyss. The player characters must follow the clues to discover Tenebrous''s scheme and keep the Wand away from him long enough for the power of the Last Word to consume him; if they succeed, the characters must then stop one of Orcus''s followers from reviving his corpse on the Astral Plane yet again, to conclude the adventure. "Into the Light" consists of three parts, and takes place in the city of Sigil. Many years ago, the last worshippers of a dead god brought the pieces of his body from the Astral Plane to Sigil and used the body to construct a monument of five standing stones. Some time later, when the significance of the monument had been forgotten, adherents of another religion built a temple around the standing stones; in time, this religion died out and was forgotten too. This church stood vacant for centuries until bought by a wealthy man named Cruigh Manathas, who ordered his workmen to tear it down. The workmen disappeared one day – unknown to all, they had been absorbed into the standing stones, as were those who came to investigate what happened to the workmen. Secretly, a fighter named Argesh Fiord has been in control of the situation and is using it in an attempt to foment a war between some of the city''s factions in revenge for the death of his wife. The player characters must uncover Fiord''s plot in order to resolve the matter and prevent the war.

Dead Gods

Young Portuguese Jesuit, Sebastião Rodrigues (based on the historical figure Giuseppe Chiara) is sent to Japan to succor the local Church and investigate reports that his mentor, Fr. Cristóvão Ferreira, has committed apostasy. (Ferreira is a historical figure, who apostatized after torture and later married a Japanese woman and wrote a treatise against Christianity.) Fr. Rodrigues and his companion Fr. Francisco Garrpe arrive in Japan in 1638. There they find the local Christian population driven underground. Security officials force suspected Christians to trample on fumie, which are crudely carved images of Christ. Those who refuse are imprisoned and killed by anazuri (穴吊り), being hung upside down over a pit and slowly bled. Those Christians who do step on the image to stay hidden are deeply shamed by their act of apostasy. The novel relates the trials of the Christians and increasing hardship suffered by Rodrigues, as more is learnt about the circumstances of Ferreira''s apostasy. Finally, Rodrigues is betrayed by the Judas-like Kichijiro. In the climax, as Rodrigues looks upon a fumie, Christ breaks his silence: Yet the face was different from that on which the priest had gazed so often in Portugal, in Rome, in Goa and in Macau. It was not Christ whose face was filled with majesty and glory; neither was it a face made beautiful by endurance to pain; nor was it a face with strength of a will that has repelled temptation. The face of the man who then lay at his feet [in the fumie] was sunken and utterly exhausted…The sorrow it had gazed up at him [Rodrigues] as the eyes spoke appealingly: ''Trample! Trample! It is to be trampled on by you that I am here.''

Silence

The book details the everyday life of Mildred Lathbury, a spinster in her thirties in 1950s England. Perpetually self-deprecating, but with the sharpest wit, Mildred keeps busy with near-romances (her own and those of others), church jumble sales, and of course the ubiquitous cup of tea. Mildred''s life grows more exciting with the arrival of new neighbours, anthropologist Helena Napier and her handsome, dashing husband, Rocky - with whom Mildred fancies herself in love. Through the Napiers, she meets another anthropologist, Everard Bone, and it is with him that Mildred will eventually form a relationship. A sub-plot revolves around the activities of the local vicar, Julian Malory, who becomes engaged to a glamorous widow, Allegra Gray. Allegra proceeds to ease out Julian''s sister, Winifred, a close friend of Mildred''s. Eventually matters come to a head and Allegra leaves the vicarage after a quarrel. In the meantime, Helena, who has been on the verge of leaving Rocky for Everard, accepts that Everard does not care for her and leaves the neighbourhood, along with Rocky. As with most of Pym''s books, the plot is less important than the precise drawing of the comic characters (such as Everard''s elderly mother who is obsessed with birds) and situations.

Excellent Women

The Golden Globe and Steel Beach take place in a universe similar to, but different from, Varley’s "Eight Worlds" universe; in both universes, the solar system has been colonized by human refugees fleeing aliens (known simply as "the Invaders") invading the Earth. Earth and Jupiter are off-limits to humanity, but Earth''s moon (known as Luna) and the other planets and moons of the solar system have all become heavily populated. There are also minor colonies set in the Oort cloud beyond the solar system itself. The Golden Globe story is told initially from a first person perspective, but a substantial portion of the book comes in the form of extended flashbacks. The Golden Globe in question is Luna, Earth''s moon and the most heavily inhabited world in the solar system since the Invaders obliterated human civilization on Earth. The novel begins as a first person account of Valentine''s adventures in the outer worlds of the solar system as he attempts to make his way to Luna in order to play King Lear in an upcoming production. Valentine is a consummate actor and a skilled con man. It is by exercising the latter skill that he runs afoul of the Charonese Mafia, personified by the cold-blooded and nigh-unkillable assassin Isambard Comfort. The story is punctuated by several extended flashback sequences in which we learn that Valentine''s father, a supremely egotistical and domineering stage actor, has groomed his son almost from birth to follow in his footsteps. It is Valentine Sr.''s megalomania and obsession with the stage that sets the tone for much of the flashback material. While his father is auditioning for a role and has left young Kenneth sitting in a waiting room, Valentine wanders a little and gets swept up to audition for a part in a new children''s adventure show called "Sparky and His Gang" and is cast in the lead role. As the show becomes increasingly popular, Valentine Sr. interferes more and more, and becomes more difficult for his son and the producers of the show to deal with. We learn in these flashback segments that Valentine Sr. subjects his son to monstrous and potentially fatal child abuse. This is framed quite realistically and Valentine, Sr. is apparently aware of but unable to control his nearly homicidal rage. At times, both in the main story and in flashback, Valentine meets with a mysterious character named Elwood. It is ambiguous in the narrative exactly what type of being Elwood is, however. As the novel progresses, both in the present and in flashback, the character is more fully identified as Elwood P. Dowd and said to look very much like actor James Stewart, who played a character of the same name in Harvey. Though the reader gradually comes to believe Elwood is a figment of Valentine''s imagination, the climactic confrontation between Valentine and his father blurs this distinction considerably. However, Valentine narrates his own flashbacks for the reader, and as much as states that he may be an unreliable narrator. It is revealed in both the main and flashback storylines that Valentine killed (or is believed himself to have killed) his father. In the main storyline, he is, after 70 years on the run, eventually put on trial for this murder, and his case is weighed by the Central Computer of Luna. Genetic tests reveal that Valentine is actually a clone of his father (further evidence of the maniacal self-absorption of the father). The fact that cloning was illegal at the time of his father''s murder causes the Central Computer to declare that no crime was committed, as the only legal remedy in place at the time was for one clone or the other to be destroyed. At the conclusion of the novel, Valentine says that he has reclaimed his fortune (long inaccessible to him during his life on the run) and thrown in his lot with the Heinleiners, a reclusive group of libertarian idealists who are building a starship and planning a voyage to the stars.

The Golden Globe

When Enrique is five years old, his mother, Juanita, leaves Honduras to find a job the United States. The move allows her to send money back home to Enrique so he can go to school past the third grade. Lourdes promises Enrique she will return quickly. But she struggles in America. Years pass. He begs for his mother to come back. Without her, he becomes lonely and troubled. When she calls, Lourdes tells him to be patient. Enrique despairs of ever seeing him again. After eleven years apart, he decides he will go find her. Enrique sets off alone from Tegucigalpa, with little more than a slip of paper bearing his mother’s North Carolina telephone number. Without money, he will make the dangerous and illegal trek up the length of Mexico the only way he can–clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains. With gritty determination and a deep longing to be by his mother’s side, Enrique travels through hostile, unknown worlds. Each step of the way through Mexico, he and other migrants, many of them children, are hunted like animals. Gangsters control the tops of the trains. Bandits rob and kill migrants up and down the tracks. Corrupt cops all along the route are out to fleece and deport them. To evade Mexican police and immigration authorities, they must jump onto and off the moving boxcars they call El Tren de la Muerte–The Train of Death. Enrique pushes forward using his wit, courage, and hope–and the kindness of strangers. It is an epic journey, one thousands of immigrant children make each year to find their mothers in the United States.

Enrique''s Journey

In this world, Count Dracula has killed Van Helsing- an injury sustained to Doctor John Seward''s hand during a fight with Renfield resulted in the group lacking the men to drive Dracula away from Mina Harker, resulting in Dracula killing Quincey Morris and Jonathan Harker before escaping with Mina-, and has married Queen Victoria, ushering in a period of increasing British vampire domination. Dracula is well-advanced in imposing a police state on Great Britain, where dissenters may be jailed or impaled without trial. Dieudonné has come down in the world, attending sick vampires in a clinic run by a doctor with a shady past. When a prostitute is murdered, Scotland Yard turns to them for an opinion. In the meantime Beauregard''s social marriage preparations are interrupted by a summons to the mysterious Diogenes Club, which represents the crown in matters that cannot be made public. There, he is charged with finding Jack the Ripper. At the inquest for the recently destroyed vampire prostitute, Dieudonné and Beauregard appear, with Lestrade from Scotland Yard, and Dr. Jekyll. Each sets out independently, with differing agendas. Beauregard is abducted by an old enemy, a Tong leader who calls a truce on the understanding that Beauregard will collaborate in finding the killer. This precludes the Ripper being a member of organized crime, and periodically gives Beauregard inside information. Dieudonné stops at a pub, where she encounters the elite of Carpathian riff-raff which Dracula brought to London to control the locals. She confronts one bully, and, being the elder vampire, soundly bests him. Jack Seward, the physician at Dieudonné''s clinic, recalls the early days of Dracula in London, before the signs of vampirism were recognized. As the demands of the Diogenes Club have first priority, a rift opens between Beauregard and his fiancee. Her fascination with social climbing is revealed: "Only vampires get anywhere, Charles." The intimates of Dracula discuss their continued takeover of the government, and set their own man to find Jack the Ripper: The destruction of the vampire prostitutes is drawing unwanted support for an anti-vampire Christian group. Seward becomes lustfully entangled with a "new born" vampire. Jack the Ripper strikes twice, failing to destroy one, who is brought to the clinic. The prostitute is a vampire of Dracula''s line&nbsp;— a contaminated bloodline, from Dieudonné''s perspective. It imperfectly changes shape, leaping at Seward as it dies. Trusting their associates, the implication is lost on Dieudonné and Beauregard. Seward notes the growing public hysteria, and reflects "I meant to destroy a monster, not become one." Beauregard and Dieudonné, having similar ideas, become closer, while his fiancée is increasingly annoyed at his lack of attention. Reporting to the Diogenes, Beauregard is puzzled that his meager progress is satisfactory. Leaving, he becomes entangled in an anti-vampire riot, however he is saved by one of the few vampires at the club, Sergeant Dravot. Beauregard''s impatient fiancée becomes a vampire by one of Dracula''s men. In her arrogance, the conversion does not go well, and she is barely able to reach the safety of her house. Beauregard and Dieudonné take her in care, Dieudonné observing, without being complimentary, that she may eventually become a strong vampire. Riots escalate, symbols of rebellion are being painted throughout London. An anti-vampire leader is shot, and one of Dracula''s henchmen is destroyed, both perhaps by the same mysterious vampire. The ruling vampires react decisively. A large number of prominent people are to be imprisoned and treated ruthlessly, including George Bernard Shaw, Lewis Carroll, and W. S. Gilbert. Seward becomes increasingly infatuated with his vampire lover, having trouble distinguishing her now from the murdered Lucy. In Dravot, Dracula''s henchmen Godalming believes he has found Jack the Ripper; he is pursuing him when he is destroyed by an old friend who he betrayed by becoming a vampire: Seward. Beauregard and Dieudonné finally realize that Seward is Jack the Ripper. They race to him, finding he has destroyed his vampire lover. As they leave with him in custody, they encounter Dravot, and the destroyed body of Godalming. Seward is murdered, but then Dravot produces a fabricated story about what happened: that there were two Rippers. Bemused, Beauregard realizes that he has been used as a tool of the Diogenes Club. However he and Dieudonné, by now having become lovers, are to be recognized by the queen for their work. The story concludes with a confrontation between Beauregard, Dieudonné, the queen, and Dracula, where Beauregard tosses a silver knife to Queen Victoria; knowing that he cannot kill Dracula in direct combat, Beauregard provides Victoria with a means of killing herself, thus depriving Dracula of the right to legally rule Britain and forcing him to flee the country.

Anno Dracula

Francisco Jimenez (author) tells the tale of Panchito (protagonist), a young boy who lived at the small place in Mexico called El Rancho Blanco. The family dreams about living in the place they can earn good income to support their family and live in a house that has electricity and running water, "...that someday we would take a long trip north, cross la frontera, enter California, and leave our poverty behind." So begins this honest and powerful account of a family''s journey to the fields of California - to a life of constant moving; from strawberry fields to cotton fields; from tent cities to one-room shacks; from picking grapes to topping carrots and thinning lettuce. As the story moves from one labor camp to the next, the little family of four grows into ten. Impermanence and poverty define their lives. Seen through the eyes of a boy who longs for an education and the right to call one place home, these are a series of stories of survival, faith, and hope. When Francisco and Roberto went to school; they encounter a lot of problems because they cannot understand English. They sat in the corner and looked at a book and translate it to Spanish using the pictures they found. Pancho met a friend named, Miguelito, they hung out more often at school and home. Sadly Francisco loses his friend when Miguelito has to move away from the tent city because his family needs to earn money. Francisco drew a beautiful picture of a butterfly. One cold day, his teacher Miss Scalapino, notices that Pancho doesn’t have a coat. The principal Mr. Sims gives Francisco a jacket from the lost and found. However, the jacket belongs to Curtis, the biggest and the most popular kid in school. Suddenly, Curtis wants the jacket back. Francisco doesn’t understand English and he didn’t know what Curtis was saying. The two get into a fight. Francisco was embarrassed after the fight and he stop participating in class. One of his friends told him that he is brave for standing up to Curtis. One day, Miss Scalapino announces that Francisco’s picture of the butterfly won in the exhibit. Francisco noticed that the cocoon was breaking out. Francisco opens the jar and set the butterfly free. After school, Curtis wanted to see the picture and he said that Francisco is a good artist. Francisco gives the picture to Curtis as a sign of peace offering. Soon, the immigration officer arrived at Francisco’s school (a few years later) and Mr. Denevi announces that Francisco and his family are being deported back to Mexico.

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child

The story is set in 3rd-century Roman Britain, when Carausius, the military commander, has rebelled against Rome and named himself the emperor of Britain and northern Gaul. After a series of naval victories, he is temporarily recognized by Rome''s ruler Maximian. Justin, a shy young army surgeon, is posted to Britain for the first time although his family has been connected with the isle for years. He meets his cousin Flavius there and both become fast friends. Upon overhearing a plot against Carausius by his finance minister Allectus, they try to warn the emperor but are instead reposted to the Northern Wall in disgrace. By luck, they meet Evicatos of the Spear who convinces them that the danger is real. They attempt to race back to warn Carausius but it is already too late by then. Faced with the prospect of capital punishment for desertion, the two cousins go into hiding with the help of a rebel leader. When he is betrayed, the two young men must take over the banner of rebellion and continue his work of protecting and smuggling away people who are disenchanted with Allectus or are in danger from his cruel edicts. Finally, Constantius and his aide Asclepiodotus sail to Britain to attempt to put an end to Allectus'' misrule. Flavius and Justin assemble a ragtag group of people prepared to fight on their behalf but are much derided for their shabby appearance. When they are hiding at their Grand-Aunt Honoria''s place, they discover the lost eagle standard that was buried by their ancestor, Aquila, and which entitles them to call themselves a Roman legion. Despite their looks, the new ''legion'' helps the main Roman force find their way and defends the helpless inhabitants of Calleva from the fighting. In recognition of their help, the cousins are pardoned by Constantius and praised for their efforts. The motifs of the lost eagle standard and dolphin signet ring reoccur in this book.

The Silver Branch

The Fifty Year Sword is essentially a mature-audience ghost story, in the disguised form of a children''s book. The events of the book take place at a woman''s 50th birthday party in an orphan''s foster home, told from the point of view of Chintana, a kind yet sullen seamstress who is struggling with the recent divorce from her husband over an affair, the mistress, Belinda Kite, of which is ironically the birthday girl whose party Chintana is attending. A storyteller is invited by a social worker to entertain the orphans. He brings with him a long, black box. The storyteller entertains the orphans by explaining his adventures of obtaining the contents of the box: His Fifty Year Sword, a weapon that never fails to cut but shows no wound until the victim''s 50th year of life. He recants a suspenseful, epic journey through mystical rocky trails and soundless forests, bent on finding an otherworldly swordsmith to satisfy a dark, never explained personal grudge. He then opens the box, revealing a seemingly bladeless sword, and he waves it in the air at the candles. Just then, the mistress and Birthday Girl, who has barged in toward the end of the story, gets annoyed at the storyteller and tells the children the whole thing is a bunch of hogwash, and sets out to prove it. She takes the hilt of the sword, and slashes it around at herself in any and all places in order to disprove the man''s story, much to the horror of the children and the bemusement of the shadowy storyteller. The suspense grabs the reader even more as the storyteller finishes and Chintana and the other guests go outside so the Birthday Girl can toast herself as her 50th year of life begins at the stroke of midnight. As they take the toast, and the clock hits midnight, signaling the 50th year of Belinda Kite, Belinda falls to pieces, as she has sliced herself in all discernable locations. Chintana, in a fit of empathy, runs to Belinda and holds her as the different discernable entities of her human body fall off. Chintana, at this point, likens holding her together to a series of stitches and the pressures and cuts that can tear it apart. How does one know how much it will take before it tears?

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Breaking Dawn

By Stephenie Meyer

Around the Day in Eighty Worlds

By Julio Cortázar

The Approaching Storm

By Alan Dean Foster

Dead Gods

By Monte Cook

Silence

By Shusaku Endo

Excellent Women

By Barbara Pym

The Golden Globe

By John Varley

Enrique's Journey

By Sonia Nazario

Anno Dracula

By Kim Newman

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child

By Francisco Jimenez

The Silver Branch

By Rosemary Sutcliff

The Fifty Year Sword

By Mark Z. Danielewski