A young girl struggling with accusations of Tourette''s Syndrome with Tourette''s syndrome and with selective mutes. Icy Sparks is a young girl living in Eastern Kentucky with her grandparents in the 1950s/1960s. She doesn''t get along well with her peers and suddenly starts having tics and croaks. Icy goes down into the root cellar to let out her tics, hiding the condition from her grandparents. Finally she tells her friend, Miss Emily Tanner, a local store owner who is also an outcast from society at 300 pounds. Her teacher tries putting her in a solitary classroom but even that doesn''t work. Her grandparents have Icy admitted to a mental institution for observation. Even in the institution, Icy is an outcast. She sees herself as not as mentally ill as her peers there, and is tormented by one of the hospital workers. She befriends a second worker, but really just wants to go home. When she is allowed to go home, she stays in her house or on the surrounding property, but does not venture out in public. After her return home, the atmosphere is tense even there. Icy stays in the house and does not socialize. After her grandfather dies, Icy and her grandmother turn to religion for solace. Inspired by a tent-meeting revival where she observes that people touched by the Holy Spirit behave as if they have Tourette''s syndrome, Icy discovers she has a gift for music. She proceeds to attend university, where her disorder is diagnosed officially. Later, she becomes a therapist, working with children with Tourette''s syndrome and with selective mutes.

Icy Sparks

The story begins with Dusty, the main character, receiving a mysterious phone call from an anonymous boy who claims to be dying. He soon reveals to her over the phone that he has taken an overdose with the intention of killing himself and that he rang her phone so he would have someone to talk to as he slipped away. At first he gives himself the false name Josh, which is the name of Dusty''s brother who went missing a few years previously, leading Dusty to believe that he knows something about his disappearance. Dusty leaves the house to find the dying boy and attempt to save him. She searches around the local park but cannot find him anywhere. Instead she gets chased down by three men with two dogs that eventually corner her and assault her. Dusty receives frequent phone calls from the strange boy. He constantly talks about how he is suffering and how he is unable to kill himself. People start to talk about seeing this odd boy around the town. He is described as having snow-white skin and wearing a duffel coat. Stories start to spread about the boy raping a girl in another town and keeping her prisoner and when Dusty asks the boy if this is true he replies by saying he does not know or remember. When the locals start to suspect that Dusty is harbouring the boy, angry mobs go to her house and vandalise her room. When a mob traps the boy and confronts him he takes off his clothes and reveals that he has no genitals, proving that he could not have possibly raped anyone. Eventually the boy drives into a lake and when it is searched the van he drove into the lake is found but his body is not. However, while they are searching the lake, they find the body of Dusty''s missing brother Josh. It is also revealed that Josh was the pale boy who raped the girl from another town. Dusty Is thrown into turmoil but an observation from Silas, an old miser, reveals that the boy is not in fact, dead.

Frozen Fire

In the novel, renegade biotechnologist Vergil Ulam creates simple biological computers based on his own lymphocytes. Faced with orders from his nervous employer to destroy his work, he injects them into his own body, intending to smuggle the ''noocytes'' (as he calls them) out of the company and work on them elsewhere. Inside Ulam''s body, the noocytes multiply and evolve rapidly, altering their own genetic material and quickly becoming self-aware. The nanoscale civilization they construct soon begins to transform Ulam, then others. The people who are infected start to find that genetic faults such as myopia and high blood pressure are fixed. The bumps along the spine as well as the nipples fade. Finally, white stripes and ridges start growing over their bodies. Ulam reports that the cells seem to sing. Through infection, conversion and assimilation of humans and other organisms the cells eventually aggregate most of the biosphere of North America into a region seven thousand kilometres wide. This civilization, which incorporates both the evolved noocytes and recently-assimilated conventional humans, is eventually forced to abandon the normal plane of existence in favor of one in which thought does not require a physical substrate. The reason for the noocytes'' inability to remain in this reality is somewhat related to the strong anthropic principle. The book''s structure is titled "inter-phase", "prophase", "metaphase", "anaphase", "telophase" and "interphase." This mirrors the major phases of cell cycle: interphase and mitosis.

Blood Music

In the 22nd century, no one had to die of old age any more. The pharmaceuticals division of a large corporation had devised a potion that bestowed immortality on a single application, without any need for follow up treatments. The immortality treatment did not and could not wear off. All it took, was a single dose and the human would become immortal. However, it had an unusual effect on males that drank it. It effectively neutered them, causing complete cessation of sexual desire, and the ability to perform sexually. In this kind of world, many men put off taking the immortality treatment for as long as possible. But the main character, Will Carewe, is not yet immortal, and wishes to involve his wife in questions as serious as this one. They have not yet had any children. He is a high ranking employee for a transnational corporation that one day approaches him with a confidential question relating to the discovery of an immortality potion that does the same thing that the current one does. But without the undesirable side-effect of turning off the sex drive in males. The desirability of patenting the process required the corporation to handle related matters under a cloak of secrecy. But somewhere someone has spilled the beans, and competitors will do anything for the magic recipe, especially if this can be done before the patent is filed in the US Patent Office. They will do anything, including bribery, extortion, and murder, to get the information out of the pharmaceuticals lab before the process is made public. The hero of the story, Will Carewe says he is willing to test the new chemical, even if it backfires and results in permanent sterility and complete loss of physical desire and physical ability. But it appears there is someone out there that is willing to do anything to kill him before he does.

One Million Tomorrows

The beginning of the book establishes the framework in which a 17th century gentleman, mourning the death of his beloved, Lady Mirdath, is given a vision of a far-distant future where their souls will be re-united, and sees the world of that time through the eyes of a future incarnation. The language and style used are intended to resemble that of the 17th century, though the prose has features characteristic of no period whatsoever: the almost-complete lack of dialogue and proper names, for example. Once into the book, the 17th century framing is mostly inconsequential. Instead, the story focuses on the future. The Sun has gone out and the Earth is lit only by the glow of residual vulcanism. The last few millions of the human race are gathered together in a gigantic metal pyramid, the Last Redoubt, under siege from unknown forces and Powers outside in the dark. These are held back by a Circle of energy, known as the "air clog," powered from a subterranean energy source called the "Earth Current". For millennia, vast living shapes—the Watchers—have waited in the darkness near the pyramid. It is thought they are waiting for the inevitable time when the Circle''s power finally weakens and dies. Other living things have been seen in the darkness beyond, some of unknown origins, and others that may once have been human. To leave the protection of the Circle means almost certain death, or worse an ultimate destruction of the soul. As the story commences, the narrator establishes mind contact with an inhabitant of another, forgotten Lesser Redoubt. First one expedition sets off to succour the inhabitants of the Lesser Redoubt, whose own Earth Current has been exhausted, only to meet with disaster. After that the narrator sets off alone into the darkness to find the girl he has made contact with, knowing now that she is the reincarnation of his past love. At the conclusion of the adventure, the narrative does not return to the framework story, instead ending with the happy homecoming of the couple and his inauguration into the ranks of their most honored heroes. The term "Abhuman" was used by Hodgson in The Night Land to name (apparently) several different species of intelligent beings evolved from humans who interbred with alien species or adapted to changed environmental conditions and were seen as decayed or malign by those living inside the Last Redoubt, who preserved artificially (to an unspecified extent) their human characteristics, though they were not fit for the new environmental conditions.

The Night Land

The novel takes place over Thanksgiving weekend 1973, during a dangerous ice storm and centers on two neighboring families, the Hoods and the Williamses, and the difficulties they have dealing with the tumultuous political and social climate of the day, in affluent suburban Connecticut, during the height of the sexual revolution. The novel is narrated from four different perspectives, each of them a member of the two families, who are promoting their own opinion and views of the several complications that arise throughout the novel, including their encounters and daily life. The Hood family is overridden with lies: Ben is currently in an affair with his married neighbor Janey, his wife Elena is alienated, her daughter ventures on her own sexual liaisons with both females and males of her age, including her neighbors Mikey and Sandy. The Hoods are Ben, Elena, Paul and Wendy and the Williamses are Jim, Janey, Mikey, and Sandy. The story focuses on the 24 hours when a major ice storm strikes the town of New Canaan, Connecticut, just as both families are melting down from the parents'' alcoholism, escapism and adultery, and their children''s drug use and sexual experimentation.

The Ice Storm

The prologue opens with a mystery person''s point of view on knowledge, power and killing, "People say that knowledge is power. The more knowledge, the more power. Suppose you knew the winning numbers for the lottery? You would run to the store. And you would win. Same for the stock market. You''re not talking about a trend or a percentage game or a whisper or a tip. You''re talking about knowledge. Real, hard knowledge. You would buy. Then later you''d sell, and you''d be rich. Any kind of sports at all, if you could predict the future, you''d be home and dry. Same for anything. Same for killing people." The story begins in New York City, with Reacher confronting and beating up two thugs sent to collect protection racket money from the new restaurant he was eating in, during which he deliberately implies that he is a member of a rival crime organization. Reacher is picked up by the FBI and questioned on who he is working for, but explains he is a loner and has been since he mustered out of the army. He is then questioned about two women whose cases of sexual harassment he dealt with when he was an MP and it is revealed they have both been killed in the last few months and a criminal profiling team have come to the conclusion that the person responsible was someone exactly like Reacher. Reacher''s girlfriend arrives, Jodie Garber-Jacob, and after further questioning, Reacher is let go. Jodie returns to work, and Reacher drives to his house in upstate New York that he inherited from Leon Garber. He is soon called upon by two members of the FBI team that previously questioned him. They reveal a third women has been killed, also an ex-soldier who filed for sexual harassment—albeit in a different timeframe than the first two. The FBI asks him to help out the investigation, and Reacher refuses—up until they blackmail him, saying that the thugs Reacher beat up at the start of the story may gain access to Jodie''s address if he doesn''t cooperate. Reacher and Special Agent Lamarr, the lead profiler on the team, drive from New York to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, while discussing information on the case, which reveals that Lamarr''s stepsister is a woman with the same particulars as the three already killed. Lamarr also reveals the killer''s M.O., which is killing the victims in an unknown way, with no bruises or injuries, leaving them naked in their bathtub, filled with army-issue camouflage paint. The team hold several meetings at Quantico, and Reacher meets Lisa Harper, the woman who has to accompany Reacher wherever he goes. Reacher suggests contacting Colonel John Trent, who owes Reacher a big favour, at Fort Dix to try and get a trace on the paint. Reacher and Harper head up to New Jersey, but while Harper remains outside the colonel''s office due to security clearance reasons, the colonel helps Reacher sneak out the window and arranges a four hour trip to New York. Back in NYC he targets a random pair of criminals collecting protection money in an ethnic area, beating them up and telling them he''s from Petrosian''s gang, from which he beat up two members at the beginning of the story. Reacher completes his objective in time, removing the leverage that the FBI is threatening him and Jodi with, effectively turning the two crime mobs on each other. He then returns with Harper oblivious to this. The team continue their search, and the next victim is Agent Lamarr''s stepsister. Local policemen are then put on duty of the remaining women on the list. Eventually Reacher and Harper catch the killer: Lamarr. She is in the process of killing her fifth victim when the two interrupt her and Reacher punches her, breaking her neck and killing her. Reacher and Harper come to the conclusion that Lamarr was utilising her hypnotising techniques in order to make the victims comply with her orders, before making them stick their tongue down their own throat to suffocate themselves. Her motive was to get the inheritance from her stepsister, the other victims were only a smoke screen. The FBI is unhappy that Reacher has killed one of their agents and threatens to prosecute him, but an agreement is made. Reacher then meets up with Jodie, and she reveals she is leaving for London in a month''s time. Reacher knows he will not want to go with her, and the two agree to spend one last month together.

Running Blind

When the Malay Black bear vanishes from its cage in the zoo garden of Vientiane’s Lan Xang Hotel very few people are surprised to see mauled bodies turning up in the morgue. Very few that is, apart from Dr. Siri Phaiboun the only coroner in the Lao People’s Republic. Seventy-two year old Siri and his team are convinced something just doesn’t add up. In Luang Prabang, meanwhile, plans are afoot to finally rid the country of its royal heritage. The new socialist government is about to send the royal family to a re-education camp and exorcise the spirits of the old kings. Siri is sent to the historic capital to solve two mysteries: what killed a man found on a crumpled bicycle, and what caused the deaths of two bodies charred beyond recognition and missing their feet? What is so important that a military helicopter should be provided to whisk him north at a moment’s notice? Once there, Siri calls on his spiritual connections to help solve these cases. But he reawakens the souls of the phibob, the malevolent ghosts still seeking revenge on the doctor for past misdeeds. He enlists the help of the royal shaman and finally learns the true intentions of the phibob and of his own distinguished dynasty. Before he can return to his work he has to survive the phibob attempt on his life, unmask the betrayer of the king and argue his own defense against charges of treachery. With Siri out of town, it is left to Dtui his nursing assistant to investigate the killings in Vientiane. She has her first unpleasant encounter with a Russian circus trainer, gets access to secret Party files, and soon becomes the only person in Laos arguing against the death warrant on the old Malay bear. But whilst searching for who or whatever it is murdering women and draining them of their blood, Dtui disappears. With the moon full, and three victims already on the morgue slab, Dr. Siri has four hours to find his assistant before she becomes the fourth.

Thirty-Three Teeth

Canopus, a benevolent galactic empire centred at Canopus in the constellation Argo Navis, colonise a young and promising planet they name Rohanda (the fruitful). They nurture its bourgeoning humanoids and accelerate their evolution. When the Natives are ready, Canopus impose a "Lock" on Rohanda that links it via "astral currents" to the harmony and strength of the Canopean Empire. In addition to Canopus, two other empires also establish a presence on the planet: their ally, Sirius from the star of the same name, and their mutual enemy, Puttiora. The Sirians confine their activities largely to genetic experiments on the southern continents during Rohanda''s prehistory (described in Lessing''s third book in the Canopus series, The Sirian Experiments), while the Shammat of Puttiora remain dormant, waiting for opportunities to strike. For many millennia the Natives of Rohanda prosper in a Canopean induced climate of peaceful coexistence and accelerated development. Then an unforeseen "cosmic re-alignment" puts Rohanda out of phase with Canopus which causes the Lock to break. Deprived of Canopus''s resources and a steady stream of a substance called SOWF (substance-of-we-feeling), the Natives develop a "Degenerative Disease" that puts the goals of the individual ahead of those of the community. The Shammat exploit this disturbance and begin undermining Canopus''s influence by infecting the Natives with their evil ways. As Rohanda degenerates into greed and conflict, the Canopeans reluctantly change its name to Shikasta (the stricken). Later in the book, Shikasta is identified as Earth, or an allegorical Earth. In an attempt to salvage Canopus''s plans for Shikasta and correct the Natives'' decline, Canopean emissaries are sent to the planet. Johor is one such emissary, who takes on the form of a Native and begins identifying those individuals who have not degenerated too far and are amenable to his corrective instructions. Johor then sends those he has successfully "converted" to spread the word among other Natives, and soon isolated communities begin to return to the pre-Shikastan days. But without the SOWF and Shammat''s influence over the Natives, Canopus is fighting a losing battle and the planet declines further. By the Shikastan''s 20th century, the planet has degenerated into war and self-destruction. Johor returns, but this time through Zone 6 Lessing elaborates on the Zones in the next book in the Canopus series, The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five (1980).="Stade/> Lessing elaborates on the Zones in the next book in the Canopus series, The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five (1980)." "nb"=""nb"" Zones="Zones"/> from which he is born on the planet (incarnated) as a Shikastan, George Sherban. As Sherban grows up he establishes contact with other Canopeans in disguise and then resumes his work trying to help the Shikastans. But famine and unemployment grow, and anarchy spreads. On the eve of World War III Sherban and other emissaries relocate a small number of promising Shikastans to remote locations to escape the coming nuclear holocaust. The war reduces Shikasta''s population by 99% and sweeps the planet clean of the "barbarians". The Shammat, who set the Shikastans on a course of self-destruction, self-destruct themselves and withdraw from the planet. The Canopeans help the survivors rebuild their lives and re-align themselves with Canopus. With a strengthened Lock and the SOWF flowing freely again, harmony and prosperity returns to Shikasta.

Shikasta

With some similarity to Nevil Shute''s 1951 novel, Round the Bend, Richard Bach''s mystical adventure story revolves around two barnstorming pilots who meet in a field in midwest America. The two main characters, who are doing what each one really wants to do, take on a relationship of teacher-student about the illusions that make reality. If that sounds like the point where Jonathan left off, it could be true: for Illusions may reflect what has been going on in the author''s mind since the phenomenal success that changed his life. Illusions is a companionship and enlightenment story. Donald Shimoda is one of the two main characters in Illusions. He is a messiah who leaves his job of being a messiah (and also of being a mechanic at a garage) after deciding that people value the showbiz-like performance of miracles and want to be entertained by those miracles more than to understand the message behind them. He meets Richard, a fellow barn-storming pilot and begins to pass on his knowledge to him, even teaching Richard to perform "miracles" of his own. Donald and Richard go on a talk show at one of their stops, and Donald answers most of the questions. People listening to him don''t like his speaking, and Richard gets a little worried. Of the lessons taught Richard by Don, one of the most important is that reality is based on perspective. The novel features quotes from the "Messiah''s Handbook", owned by Shimoda, which Richard later takes as his own. A most unusual aspect of this handbook is that it has no page numbers. The reason for this, as Shimoda explains to Richard, is that the book will open to the page on which the reader may find guidance or the answers to doubts and questions in his mind. It is not a magical book; Shimoda goes on to explain that one can do this with any sort of text. The messiah''s handbook was released as its own title by Hampton Roads publishing company, inc. The book itself mimics the one described in Illusions, along with more quotes based on the same philosophies displayed in Illusions, (ISBN 1-57174-421-5) (ISBN 978-1-57-174421-0).

Illusions

The book is divided into twenty-one chapters with titles, which are further subdivided into numbered sections. “The Ride” – Bunny and Dad are introduced to the reader as they drive by car through the southern California desert to a meeting with the owners of some oil property. “The Lease” – Dad meets with the owners of the residential lots to discuss an oil lease; the owners are hopelessly deadlocked about how the properties and proceeds should be divided; the character of Paul Watkins is introduced. “The Drilling” – Details of the oil drilling business and of the Ross family. “The Ranch” – Dad and Bunny go quail hunting on the Paradise goat ranch, property of the Watkins family, and find oil. “The Revelation” – At Bunny’s urging, Dad tries to prevent Old Man Watkins from beating his oldest daughter Ruth; Dad tries to convince them that he has received the “third revelation”, which prohibits parents from beating their children (among other things), but the plan backfires when Eli Watkins, Paul’s younger brother, interjects himself into the discussion and claims that HE has received the revelation. “The Wild-Cat” – Drilling begins at the Paradise oil field; Bunny begins to realize his father’s business methods are not entirely ethical; an oil worker is killed in an accident, and the oil well explodes and burns. “The Strike” – The oil workers go on strike, and Bunny is torn between loyalty to Dad and his friendship to Paul and Ruth Watkins. “The War” – Bunny begins a high-school love affair with Eunice Hoyt, daughter of a wealthy family; WWI breaks out, Paul is drafted, and the Ross and Watkins families are divided. “The Victory” – WWI is over, but Paul remains in Siberia with the Allied intervention forces opposing the Soviets; Bunny decides to go to college after high school. “The University” – Bunny enrolls in Southern Pacific University, where his ideas of social justice evolve further as he meets free-thinking professors such as Dan Irving. “The Rebel” – Bunny becomes increasingly involved with various socialist and radical students, including Rachel Menzies, against the background of the Red Scare. Also Paul comes home and tells of his travels. “The Siren” – An aging socialite attempts to seduce Bunny aboard her yacht. “The Monastery” – Bunny accompanies Dad to the Monastery, the seaside mansion of his business associate Vernon Roscoe. “The Star” – Bunny begins an affair with Viola (“Vee”) Tracy, a silent film star; she loves him deeply, but does not share his political views. “The Vacation” – Bunny goes back east with Vee and Dad, ostensibly to take care of some business matters, but in reality so that Roscoe can have a free hand to crush the oil workers’ movement. “The Killing” – Dad makes a killing by joining with the big oil companies, but loses his independence; Bertie, Bunny’s spoiled socialite sister, has an abortion. “The Exposure” – The bribery involved in the naval oil reserve transactions during the Harding administration becomes exposed by radical journalists, including Dan Irving; Bunny broaches his idea of going away and earning his own way in the world to Dad, who is confused and hurt, but not unsupportive. “The Flight” – Roscoe and Dad are forced to flee to Canada and then to Europe (accompanied by Bunny), to avoid being subpoenaed by Congress in connection with the naval oil reserve scandal. “The Penalty” – Dad meets and marries Mrs. Olivier, a widower and Spiritualist, but he soon passes away from pneumonia. “The Dedication” – Bunny decides to dedicate his life and his inheritance to social justice; Roscoe moves to get control of the bulk of Dad’s estate. “The Honeymoon” – Bunny and Bertie are swindled out of most of their inheritance by Roscoe and Dad’s widow; Bunny marries Rachel Menzies and they dedicate themselves to establishing a socialist institution of learning; Eli Watkins, by now a successful (and completely hypocritical) evangelist, adds insult to injury by falsely claiming that his communist brother Paul underwent a deathbed conversion to Christianity; the final, sad end of Paul and Ruth Watkins.

Oil!

After the death of Jenny, his wife, and failure of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Forrest and his son find a way to stumble through life and history. As in the first book, Gump stumbles through historical American events through the 1980s and early 1990s. On the first page, Forrest Gump tells readers "Don''t never let nobody make a movie of your life''s story," though "Whether they get it right or wrong, it don''t matter." However, the character is not an idiot savant, as in the first book, but more similar to Tom Hanks'' "kind hearted imp". Frequent spelling and grammar mistakes, in the text, are used as a device to indicate the character''s deficient education and cognitive difficulties. The story suggests that the real-life events surrounding the film have affected Forrest''s life. Gump runs into Tom Hanks. He even goes on The David Letterman Show and attends the Academy Awards. He plays football for the New Orleans Saints, sells encyclopedias door-to-door, works on a pig farm, and helps develop the infamous New Coke. He accidentally crashes the Exxon Valdez, helps destroy the Berlin Wall, and fights in Operation Desert Storm with his friend, an orangutan named Sue (who survived a NASA mission and cannibals, with Gump, in the first book). He meets many celebrities, including Colonel Oliver North, the Ayatollah Khomeini, John Hinckley, Jim Bakker, Ivan Boesky, Ronald Reagan, Saddam Hussein, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Tom Hanks (who plays Forrest in the movie). Throughout the book, Jenny appears to Forrest as a guardian angel, and advises him to "listen to Lieutenant Dan." Lt. Dan frequently mentions a fondness for oysters, and oystering re-vitalizes the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Icy Sparks

By Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Frozen Fire

By Tim Bowler

Blood Music

By Greg Bear

One Million Tomorrows

No Author Listed

The Night Land

By William Hope Hodgson

The Ice Storm

By Rick Moody

Running Blind

By Lee Child

Thirty-Three Teeth

By Colin Cotterill

Shikasta

By Doris Lessing

Illusions

By Richard Bach

Oil!

By Upton Sinclair, Jr.

Gump and Co.

By Winston Groom