Adult

The author of three beloved books about her life in Italy, including UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN and EVERY DAY IN TUSCANY, Frances Mayes revisits the turning points that defined her early years in Fitzgerald, Georgia. She explores the power of landscape, the idea of home, and the lasting force of a chaotic and loving family.

For hundreds of years leading up to England's Edwardian era, the fates of the elite Ingham family and their servants and confidantes, the Swanns, have been intertwined in ways that leave each group wondering how they would ever survive the triumphs and tragedies of life without the help and love of the other.

Veteran social worker Ellen Moore has seen the worst side of humanity --- the vilest acts one person can commit against another. She is a fiercely dedicated children's advocate and a devoted mother and wife. But one blistering summer day, a simple moment of distraction will have repercussions that Ellen could never have imagined, threatening to shatter everything she holds dear, and trapping her between the gears of the system for which she works.

Anna Pigeon, a ranger for the U.S. Park Services, sets off on an autumn canoe trip with her friends and their daughters. On their second night out, Anna goes off on her own for a solo evening float on the Fox River. When she comes back, she finds that four thugs have taken her companions captive. With limited resources and no access to the outside world, Anna has only two days to rescue them before her friends are either killed or flown out of the country.

Of her Old Order parents' five daughters, Tessie Miller is the last to marry. She has her heart set on Amishman Marcus King, but Tessie's father opposes the match. Impetuously, Tessie and Marcus elope to the English world, then return to Hickory Hollow to live as singles, trusting they'll convince the Millers to give their love a chance over time. But when the unthinkable happens, Tessie faces the almost-certain censure of the People.

When an elderly professor at Cambridge is murdered, a victim of bizarre, ancient Chinese torture, Alex Hawke teams up with his Scotland Yard colleague and friend, Inspector Ambrose Congreve, to find the killer. But the death is only the opening move in a tense and lethal game of geopolitical brinksmanship. Hawke must pull off his most daring mission yet: infiltrate China and neutralize the source of their advantage, or risk witnessing World War III.

With grace, heart and humor, Robin Roberts writes about overcoming breast cancer only to learn five years later that she will need a bone marrow transplant to combat a rare blood disorder; the grief and heartbreak she suffered when her mother passed away; her triumphant return to “Good Morning America” after her medical leave; and the tremendous support and love of her family and friends that saw her through her difficult times.

Megumi, a young Japanese woman living in New York and hiding from her past, is hired to help rescue Thomas, an enigmatic, scarred man who has isolated himself in his bedroom for three years. With the tacit acceptance of Thomas’s wife, a passionate relationship develops between Megumi and Thomas. Its emotional impact and surprising conclusion will leave all three characters forever changed and stronger.

What changed in one Hollywood year to produce a record-breaking box office after two years of decline? When Anne Thompson chose 2012 as "the year" to track, she knew that box-office and DVD sales were declining, production costs were soaring, and the digital revolution was making big waves. But she had no idea that events would converge to bring radical structural movement, record-setting box-office revenues, and what she calls "sublime moviemaking."

RISE OF AN EMPIRE tells the story of the real men and events depicted in the movie, 300: Rise of an Empire --- focusing on the Athenian general Themistocles, one of the world's greatest warriors. He became warlord of Greece, built their navy and, by uniting Greece to defeat Xerxes' fleet, enabled what we call western civilization.