Green is a quiet and shy 15-year-old girl, approaching her 16th birthday. She lives with her mother, father, and beautiful younger sister Aurora, in a house on the city''s green outskirts. While her sister is wild, charming and impatient, Green is timid and reserved, and has the infinite patience required to tend to the family garden. After mastering the art of tending the garden, she becomes the garden''s main caretaker. One day, her family goes to the city to sell produce, leaving Green behind. There, her family perishes as a result of a conflagration in the city, believed to be done by a secretive, malevolent group of people. Many people in the city die that day, leaving behind orphans and heartbroken survivors. Ashes from the fire make Green half-blind and singes her hair, forcing her to cut her hair off. Green, deeply sorrowed, changes her appearance and personality and renames herself Ash as she decides to destroy her past to cover the internal pain she is suffering. She tattoos almost her entire body with black roses, vines and bats, continuing to suffer but growing indifferent toward her pain. Over time as she takes care of herself, through interactions with several kinds of animals that dote on her, a silent boy she calls Diamond, and a kind old neighbor, Green starts to heal from her pain. As she grows, she finds her leaf and stem tattoos turning green and the rosebuds turning red. Finally, on her 16th birthday, she is no longer Ash, as she once used to be, but is once again Green, finding the taste of summer and apples within her. Now, after her recovery, she is strong enough to tell her family’s tragic story.

Green Angel

Hawksbill Station is a penal colony in the pre-Cambrian era created by the authoritarian United States government, using time travel as a means to exile rebels and political dissidents into the past. The colony houses only male exiles (a female settlement supposedly exists later in the Silurian era), who are sent there as a "humane" alternative to execution. The machine only works one way, so the prisoners are hopelessly marooned in the past. The distant prison is in a barren coastal area prior to the colonization of land by sophisticated life, and evokes a Tsarist Siberia or a Soviet Gulag. The personal relationship of the main character, the de facto leader of the colony, and both his government torturer/prosecutor and Dr. Hawksbill, each of whom had been members of the dissidence movement, as well as explication of the picayune ideological differences among the prisoners, and the confused circumstances leading to the establishment of the authoritarian government, further parallel Russian history. As the novel opens, the prisoners, all of them middle-aged or elderly, are surprised by the arrival via the time machine of a much younger prisoner. Their surprise increases when they question the newcomer, ostensibly an economist, about economic theory and political ideology, and his answers reveal his essential ignorance of either. His ignorance and youth cause the prisoners to wonder if he is fact a political prisoner at all or a "common" criminal who would only have been exiled for a heinous crime. When the newcomer arrives via the Hawksbill time machine a second time, it is revealed that he is a police officer of a new government which overthrew the authoritarian regime but was unrelated to the dissident movements of which the Hawksbill exiles were members; upon the overthrow, the new government discovered both the existence of Hawksbill Station and that means had been discovered to effect time travel from past to future, making it possible to retrieve prisoners from the colony. The newcomer has been sent to evaluate the prisoners and to recommend whether they are mentally stable for retrieval. With return now possible, the leader of the exiles realizes that he is a time traveler of a different sort: the struggle against the authoritarian regime, his life''s work, is over; his closest friends in the movement (and his bitterest enemies, who left the movement to join the authoritarian government) are irretrievably dead; and even those who finally did overthrow the government have little connection with or regard for his brand of dissent (as demonstrated by the newcomer''s ignorance of their ideologies). He is now somewhat inclined to visit the newcomer''s future, but staying at Hawksbill Station is now the only existence he knows.

Hawksbill Station

Over Sea, Under Stone features the Drew children Simon, Jane, and Barney on holiday with their parents and their great uncle Merriman Lyon, in the fictional fishing village of Trewissick on the southern coast of Cornwall. In the attic of the big Grey House they are renting, owned by Merriman''s friend Uncle Toms, the children find an old manuscript. They recognize a drawing of the local coastline that may be a kind of map, with almost illegible text, but Barney realises the map refers to King Arthur and his knights. The children decide to keep the discovery to themselves. The family are visited at the Grey House by a very friendly Mr. Withers and his sister Polly, who invite them to go fishing on their yacht. The boys are thrilled, but Jane feels suspicious and declines to join them. While Jane is alone in the Grey House, she finds a guidebook to Trewissick in an old trunk, written by the local vicar. She realises that the map in the guidebook is similar to the secret map, but also different somehow, so she decides to visit the vicar. The man at the vicarage is not the writer of the guidebook, but he offers to help Jane. He asks some probing questions which arouse Jane''s suspicions again, and she decides to return home. Soon the house is robbed with attention only to the bookshelves and wall hangings, and the children guess someone else knows of and seeks the manuscript. The children decide it is time to confide in Great-Uncle Merry. Up on the headland they show him the map and he tells them that it is a copy of an even older map which shows the way to a hidden treasure and that the children are now in great danger. He explains that some British artefact may have been stashed here long ago, and to confirm that they will have dangerous grown-up rivals in its pursuit. And so begins their quest for the Grail on behalf of the Light, which they have to achieve while being harried by Mr Withers and his sister, who are agents of the Dark, desperate to stop them at any cost. Mother usually paints outdoors, and father goes boating, or both travel out of town. Meanwhile the children investigate the meaning of the "map", encouraged, yet warned and sometimes "guarded" by Great Uncle Merry. They learn to read the diagram, and work out the clues on the map but they must work out of doors, where each child has a nasty encounter with the Dark, and their progress is easy to observe. While looking for the first clue Simon is chased by Mr. Hastings and Bill Hoover Jr.. After the second clue leads them to the headland at night, Simon, Jane, and Great Uncle Merry are ambushed and almost caught by Dark followers. Merriman is misdirected out of town, but the children anxiously follow their ancient guide "over sea and under stone" without him. Barney is kidnapped by Mr. Withers and his sister Polly, and must be rescued. The children eventually follow the clues to a cave off the headland and discover the grail. Unfortunately they lose an important metal case that was lodged inside the Grail, which contained a coded manuscript that is the key to deciphering the markings on the outside of the grail. The children present the grail to the British Museum and are given a check for it. The grail is an object of hot debate among the scholars there because of the unknown markings.

Over Sea, Under Stone

The story begins in 1940 during World War II, when four siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—are evacuated from London to escape the Blitz. They are sent to live with Professor Digory Kirke, who lives in a country house in the English countryside. While the four children are exploring the house, Lucy looks into a wardrobe and discovers a doorway to a magical world named Narnia. There she meets a faun named Mr Tumnus. He invites her to have tea in his home. There he confesses he planned to report her to the usurper queen of Narnia, otherwise known as the White Witch, but has thought better of it. Upon returning to our world, Lucy''s siblings do not believe her story about Narnia. Her older brother Edmund enters the wardrobe and meets the White Witch, who introduces herself as the Queen of Narnia and befriends him and offers him magical Turkish delight, which enchants him. She encourages him to bring his siblings to her in Narnia, with the promise that he shall rule over them. Lucy discovers Edmund in Narnia at the lamppost, and they return to the Professor''s house. In conversation with Lucy, Edmund realises that the woman who befriended him is in fact the White Witch; however, he does not tell anyone that he has met her, and lies to Peter and Susan, denying Lucy''s claim that he too had entered Narnia through the wardrobe. Eventually, all four of the children enter Narnia together while hiding in the wardrobe. They meet Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who invite them to dinner. The beavers recount a prophecy that the witch''s power will fall when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve fill the four thrones at Cair Paravel. The beavers tell of the true king of Narnia, a great lion named Aslan, who has been absent for many years but is now "on the move again." Edmund sneaks away to the White Witch. Her castle is filled with stone statues – enemies she has turned to stone. The beavers realize where Edmund has gone and abandon their home, leading the children to Aslan. As they travel, they notice that the snow is melting, indicating that the White Witch''s spell is breaking. A visit by Father Christmas confirms this. Father Christmas gives the three children and the beavers presents. Peter receives a sword and shield, Susan a horn and a bow, Lucy a vial of magical healing liquid and a knife or dagger, Mrs. Beaver a sewing machine, and Mr. Beaver''s dam is finally finished. The children and the Beavers meet with Aslan and his army. Peter engages in his first battle, killing a wolf that threatens Susan. The Witch approaches to speak with Aslan, insisting that, according to "deep magic from the dawn of time", she has the right to execute Edmund as a traitor. Aslan speaks with her privately and persuades her to renounce her claim on Edmund''s life. That evening, Aslan secretly leaves the camp, but is followed by Lucy and Susan. Aslan has bargained to exchange his own life for Edmund''s. The Witch ties Aslan to the Stone Table and then kills him with a knife. The following morning the Stone Table is broken and Aslan is restored to life, explaining to Lucy and Susan that it is due to "deeper magic from before the dawn of time" (which the Witch did not know about), ruling that if an innocent was killed in the place of a traitor, the Stone Table would break and the innocent would be brought back to life. Aslan allows Lucy and Susan to ride on his back as he hurries to the Witch''s castle. There he breathes upon the statues, restoring them to life. Peter and Edmund lead the Narnian army in a battle against the White Witch''s army, but are losing. Aslan arrives with the former statues as reinforcements. The Narnians rout the evil army, and Aslan kills the Witch. The Pevensie children are named kings and queens of Narnia: King Peter the Magnificent, Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just and Queen Lucy the Valiant. Several years later, now adults and mounted on horseback, the siblings go hunting for a white stag. They see the lamppost and go towards it. Just beyond the lamppost, branches become coats. The siblings are back in the wardrobe and are children again. They re-enter the Professor''s house.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

In Britain during the Bronze Age (about 900 BC) a young boy, Drem by name, dreams of becoming a warrior. He has first to overcome the fact he has a crippled arm and pass the tribe''s test of manhood. This test is killing a wolf, on his own. Should he fail, he will be doomed to farm sheep for the rest of his life. When his friend and blood brother, named Vortrix watches him nearly die on his wolf slaying attempt, he cannot help himself but intervene. He attacks the wolf, meaning that the kill is void, as Vortrix has had a hand in the killing. Although Drem is badly injured by the wolf, he survives. Apparently Drem will never be a warrior, nor wear the scarlet cloth reserved only for warriors. He contemplates suicide, rather than face the shame of telling his family that he has failed. However, he goes to the sheep, and lives for a year with his friend Doli, a farmer. However the next winter, he kills his first wolf as it attacks the sheep flock. It bites him in the same place, removing his old scars, so removing the record of the old failed slaying. As the mark of his first attempt is still visible on the wolf, it is accepted as a legitimate kill. He is allowed to become a warrior, and passed through the terrifying initiation ceremony, which apparently involves all the candidates being knocked out.

Warrior Scarlet

The main character, Mike de Wolf, is a struggling pianist in New York. His friend, Horace Hackett, is an author and popular pulp fiction writer, who writes about Mike as the villain in his book, Mike enters the bathroom of Hackett''s apartment, and hears the sound of someone typing on a typewriter. Mike learns he is regarded in this world as the villain, Spanish Admiral Miguel de Lobo, a "pirate potboiler". He knows that the villains in stories written by Hackett often do not come to a favorable end, and is therefore eager to safely leave the realm to which he was transported. The story takes place on the high seas in the Caribbean during the 17th century with a conflict among colonists. Hackett writes under pressure, as he is facing a deadline. He falls in love with a woman in the story, but grows frustrated after realizing that she is just another of Hackett''s fictional creations. Mike looks up into the sky in search of this mystical device or its controller, "Abruptly Mike de Wolfe stopped. His jaw slackened a trifle and his hand went up to his mouth to cover it. His eyes were fixed upon the fleecy clouds which scurried across the moon. Up there &ndash; God? In a dirty bathrobe?"

Typewriter in the Sky

When full-time legal secretary Dawn Annandale notices an advertisement in a magazine which states that attractive girls can earn up to £300 per night by engaging in escort work, her curiosity is piqued. At first, she thinks that the work would be in dissonance to her own life which consists of having six children between the ages of two and twelve, having a nice home in Kent and a husband, Paul. The struggle to maintain a privileged middle class existence led to Dawn''s realisation that herself and her husband ''were very probably guilty of trying to live a champagne lifestyle on an orange juice budget.'' The author''s account of her subsequent actions attempt to explain to the reader that she was motivated by her fervent desire to give to her children a happy and stable beginning in life. From the start of Dawn''s marriage, Paul leaves the running of the house and the sorting of finances to Dawn. He assures Dawn that he is happy for her to do what she thinks is best for the family. When she enrols her first child at a private primary school, she feels that this sets a precedent for her other children to be educated up to the same standards. Financial matters are further complicated by the additional costs of after-school clubs, school uniforms and music lessons. Her impecunious situation prompts her to make an appointment with Jimmy, a man in charge of the escort operation. Jimmy comments that Dawn is very different from his other girls. This adds to Dawn''s anxiety because she worries that she will not experience financial success. When Jimmy asks her the reasons as to why she is seeking to pursue this form of work, Dawn replies honestly that she is motivated by the fact that she has ''six kids to feed and educate and a mountain of debts to pay.'' When Dawn sees her first client, she introduces herself as Elizabeth. Although she is overwhelmed by trepidation, uncertaintly and anxiety during her experience, her fears soon dissipate when she visits subsequent clients. Many of the men she sees are exceptionally protective of her in that they give Dawn/ Elizabeth advice on the best means by which to conduct herself so that she can decrease the chances of finding herself in a dangerous situation. She is also struck by how many of her clients are lonely men who feel ignored by their wives. many of her clients request her on multiple occasions because of her ability to engage in intellectual conversations. When it dawns upon the author how lucrative her newfound position is, she leaves her job as a legal secretary and works as a full-time escort. She joins a new agency and becomes acquainted with Trish runs the switchboard. Elizabeth becomes more adept in her role and her confidence increases. When she rings a local radio station which asks listeners to provide an account of what they are doing late at night, Elizabeth reveals the activities in which she has been engaged. She is happy and pleased at the amount of public support she receives. Her comfort level becomes challenged when one of her male friends discovers the double life that she has been leading.

Call Me Elizabeth: Wife, Mother, Escort

The novel is narrated by 29-year-old Barnaby, whose life has gone off the rails since he was caught robbing neighborhood homes as an adolescent. To the despair of his distant father, his social climbing mother, his chilly ex-wife and his prematurely patriarchal brother, Barnaby now works for a company called Rent-a-Back, doing odd jobs for elderly clients. He also waits, without much hope, for a visitation from the Gaitlin angel, who first suggested to Barnaby''s great-grandfather the invention of the wooden dress form that made the Gaitlins rich. He finds his angel but perhaps not where he expects. He believes his angel was 36 year old Sophia Mayard. Barnaby first sees Sophia on the train, while he is going to see his 9 year old daughter in Philadelphia, and Sophia is going to visit her mother. While he is in Philadelphia, his ex-wife told him he was not allowed to see their daughter anymore. The next week, he went back. Sophia was on the train again, and he is able to tell her about his job at Rent-a-Back, and she tells him about her job at the bank. They also discuss Opal, Barnaby''s daughter, and Sophia agrees he should see her, and that Opal would want to continue to see her daddy. Later, Sophia contacts Barnaby''s employer. She claims her aunt needs help working, and she needs Barnaby to help. Although, Barnaby''s friend who is working with him, claims that Sophia hangs around while they are working, hoping Barnaby will ask her out. He finally does and she accepts. After a few months, Barnaby introduces Sophia to his family, and later Sophia introduces Barnaby to her mother. That summer, Barnaby introduces Sophia to his daughter, who has come to visit for a week. Opal says she likes Sophia, but by fall, when Opal sees Sophia''s name on her Birthday card, she realizes that they are dating. While Barnaby and Opal are going to eat lunch, and they spot Opal''s mother. Opal takes her stuffed Hedgehog from her father, and asks her mother to take her home. **More Coming Soon**

A Patchwork Planet

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

Marty Strauss, a gambling addict recently released from prison, is hired to be the personal bodyguard of Joseph Whitehead, one of the wealthiest men in the world. The job proves more complicated and dangerous than he thought, however, as Marty soon gets caught up in a series of supernatural events involving Whitehead, his daughter (who is a heroin addict), and a devilish man named Mamoulian, with whom Whitehead made a Faustian bargain many years earlier, during World War II. As time passes, Mamoulian haunts Whitehead using his supernatural powers (such as the ability to raise the dead), urging him to complete his pact with him. Eventually Whitehead decides to escape his fate after a few encounters with Mamoulian and having his wife, former bodyguard, and now his daughter Carys taken away from him. With hope still left to save Carys, Marty Strauss, although reluctant to get involved in the old man Whiteheads deserved Punishment, decides to get involved and attempt to save the innocent gifted addict from being another victim to the damnation game.

The Damnation Game

Bernice Summerfield is grieving since the death of Guy de Carnac (as seen in the previous novel, Sanctuary). The Doctor takes her to a market on a planet called Crex in the Augon system. He quickly sets off, telling her he''ll be back in an hour, and Benny finds a pub where she orders a beer and finds a group of female human drinking partners. After Benny''s had several drinks with them, the Doctor arrives and places a patch on her cheek — a pad that disperses the alcohol in her system. He tells her that they need to leave immediately, and leads her back to the TARDIS. He hands her a scroll, tells her he''ll see her in three months, and collapses. Meanwhile, the genesmith Laylock meets with his associates. They plan to follow the Doctor. In a long, dark room, a teenager named Tim awakens from a dream, having had a premonition that everyone will die. Unable to understand Benny''s grief on a human level, the Doctor has purchased a device which alters his biodata, transforming him into a human named Dr John Smith. Smith lives as a history teacher at a public school in 1914 England, and falls in love with a fellow teacher named Joan. However, when alien Aubertides, hoping to acquire Time Lord abilities, attack the school, Smith sacrifices himself and becomes the Doctor once more; as the Time Lord, he is unable to love Joan in the way the human John Smith did.

Human Nature

This is a story about a young man, Ezio Auditore, seeking revenge for the killing of his family. On his mission for vengeance he finds out truths about his father and his father''s history. Guided by assassins, his skill as an assassin is honed until finally he is one of them. Ezio becomes involved in a war between the Assassin Order and the Knights Templar, who both seek an ancient Vault in Italy which contains super-advanced technology that can alter human minds. Set entirely in 15th century Italy, the plot features non-fictional characters such as Rodrigo Borgia, who is here portrayed as the antagonist. Unlike the game Assassin''s Creed II, it does not span over a vast period of time (the game''s plot also takes place as late as 2012) and takes its own liberties for the sake of creativity. There is no mention of the modern day events of the Assassin''s Creed universe, including Desmond Miles looking back on his ancestor''s memories. Some of the book, including Ezio''s long-running relationship with Christina, were left out of the novel and were instead included as playable repressed memories in Assassin''s Creed: Brotherhood.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Green Angel

By Alice Hoffman

Hawksbill Station

By Robert Silverberg

Over Sea, Under Stone

By Susan Cooper

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

By C. S. Lewis

Warrior Scarlet

By Rosemary Sutcliff

Typewriter in the Sky

By L. Ron Hubbard

Call Me Elizabeth: Wife, Mother, Escort

No Author Listed

A Patchwork Planet

By Anne Tyler

One Million Tomorrows

No Author Listed

The Damnation Game

By Clive Barker

Human Nature

By Paul Cornell

Assassin's Creed: Renaissance

No Author Listed