The Best of Marian Keyes
Friday, September 10, 2010
Marian Keyes (born 10 September 1963) is an Irish novelist & non-fiction writer, best known for her work in women’s literature. She is regarded by her fans as a pioneer of the so-called ‘chick-lit’ genre; her stories usually revolve around a strong female character who overcomes numerous obstacles to achieve lasting happiness. Source: Wikipedia
This Charming Man RRP: RM87.50 Price: RM19.90
With This Charming Man, Marian Keyes hits her stride as a novelist with her best novel yet, telling the stories of four women who are shaped by one man. Narrated in turn by each woman; Lola, Grace, Marnie & Alicia, this story explores how their love for this one man, Paddy de Courcy Ireland’s debonair politician, the “John F. Kennedy Jr. of Dublin” has shaped their lives. But in true Marian Keyes fashion, this is more than a story of four love affairs. It’s a testament to the strength women find in themselves through work, friendship, & family, no matter what demons may be haunting their lives. Depression, self-doubt, domestic abuse—each of these women has seen tough times in life, and it’s through Keyes’s wonderful storytelling ability that these subjects are approached with the appropriate tone & candor. Her deft touch provides a gripping story &, ultimately, a redemptive ending.
Anybody Out There? RRP: RM56.90 Price: RM17.90
Anna Walsh is officially a wreck. Physically broken & emotionally shattered, she lies on her parents’ Dublin sofa with only one thing on her mind: getting back to New York. New York means her best friends, The Most Fabulous Job In The World & above all, it means her husband, Aidan. But nothing in Anna’s life is that simple anymore! Not only is her return to Manhattan complicated by her physical & emotional scars – but Aidan seems to have vanished. Is it time for Anna to move on? Is it even possible for her to move on? A motley group of misfits, an earth-shattering revelation, two births & one very weird wedding might help Anna find some answers – & will change her life forever. Hilarious, heartbreaking & life-affirming, Marian’s unforgettable new novel is as epic as it is entertaining.
Rachel’s Holiday RRP: RM53.01 Price: RM17.90
Twenty-seven & the miserable owner of size eight feet, Rachel Walsh enjoys two naughty habits: a lover who likes his leather pants tight, & a fondness for recreational drugs. But as Rachel learns, what goes up must come down. First she loses her job, then her lover, & then finds herself being marched off to the Cloisters, Dublin’s answer to the Betty Ford Clinic.—it suddenly dawns on Rachel that it’s about time she had a vacation, & where better than a place crammed with jacuzzis, gyms, & rock stars going tepid turkey? What she gets instead, however, are middle-aged men in sweaters & enough group therapy to drive her to distraction, until she meets Chris. A man with a past, will he be her salvation—or more trouble than Rachel’s ever known? Engaging and wickedly funny, Rachel’s Holiday is a powerful story of love & discovery.
Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married RRP: RM49.90 Price: RM17.90
In this comic novel about a young woman on the make, Lucy Sullivan is told by a fortuneteller that she’ll be married very soon, & she begins to evaluate every man in her life as a possible Mr. Right. But then Lucy meets gorgeous, unreliable Gus. Could he be the future Mr. Lucy Sullivan? Or could it be handsome Chuck? Or Daniel, the world’s biggest flirt? Or even cute Jed, the new guy at work? –much to the dismay of her roommates, Karen & Charlotte. Maybe her friends have something to worry about after all….
Last Chance Saloon RRP: RM55.90 Price: RM17.90
Ever since legwarmers were cool, best friends Tara, Katherine, & Fintan have survived small-town ennui, big-city heartbreak, & endless giddy nights out on the town. But now that they’ve graduated to their slightly more serious thirties, the trio leave their small Irish town for London & encounter some of the predictable difficulties & adventures of big-city life. Then Fintan gets cancer, & all characters involved find themselves sorely tested in new ways. But it’s always when you are least ready for change that fate insists on one. And when catastrophe inevitably follows crisis, the lives of three best friends are sure to change in unexpected ways … and not necessarily for the worse. Now, raise your glass to Tara, Katherine, and Fintan in Last Chance Saloon.
***HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARIAN KEYES!!!***
New Arrival: Fiction
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Adrian Mole Diaries: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ & the Growing Pains of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM17.90
Adrian Mole faces the same agonies which life sets before most adolescents: troubles with girls, school, parents, & an uncaring world. The difference, though, between young Master Mole and his peers is that this British lad keeps a diary – an earnest chronicle of longing & disaster that has convulsed more than 5 million readers. From teenage Adrian’s obsession with intellectuality after understanding “nearly every word” of a Malcolm Muggeridge broadcast to his anguished adoration of a lovely, mercurial schoolmate, from his view of his parents’ constantly creaking relationship to his heartfelt but hilarious attempts at cathartic verse, here is an outrageous triumph of deadpan & deadly accurate, satire. A. Mole, the unforgettable lad whose self-absorption only gets funnier as his life becomes more desperate.
The Science Fiction (Hall of Fame vol 2) by Ben Bova RRP: RM74.90 Price: RM17.90
Eleven essential classics in one volume. This volume is the definitive collection of the best science fiction novellas published between 1929 & 1964, containing eleven great classics. No anthology better captures the birth of science fiction as a literary field. Published in 1973 to honor stories that had appeared before the institution of the Nebula Awards, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame introduced tens of thousands of young readers to the wonders of science fiction & was a favorite of libraries across the country.
Dark Possession by Christine Feehan RRP: RM89.90 Price: RM19.90
Manolito De La Cruz knew he was dangerously close to turning into a vampire. The last thing he expected after being called back to his Carpathian homeland by Prince Mikhail was to catch the scent of his destined lifemate in MaryAnn Delaney. MaryAnn is human, but she knows all too well the overwhelmingly aggressive instincts of Carpathian males. And they’re not exactly the kind of men she’d prefer to be bound to for life. But when MaryAnn agrees to go to South America to offer guidance to a brutalized young woman, she has no idea of the trap that awaits her in the sweltering thick of the jungle. She has been lured there by Manolito himself, who has seductive plans for the unaware, irresistibly human female. Once there, she will be his. Once his, she never will be released. He is her lover, her predator, her lifemate. She is his dark possession…
Charlotte and Emily Brontë: The Complete Novel Price: RM49.90
Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette, and The Professor by Charlotte Brontë and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë are included in this new addition to the Library of Literary Classics.
Devil’s Bride by Stephanie Laurens RRP: RM34.90 Price: RM17.90
When Devil, the most infamous member of the Cynster family, is caught in a compromising position with plucky governess Honoria Wetherby, he astonishes the entire ton by offering his hand in marriage. No one had dreamed this scandalous rake would so tamely take a bride. But Honoria wasn’t about to bend to society’s demands & marry a man just because they’d been found together unchaperoned. No. She craved adventure. Solving the murder of a young Cynster cousin fit the bill for a while, but once the crime was solved, Honoria was set on seeing the world. But the scalding heat of her unsated desire for Devil soon had Honoria craving a very different sort of excitement. Could her passion for Devil cause her to embrace the enchanting peril of a lifelong adventure of the heart?
To Distraction by Stephanie Laurens RRP: RM59.90 Price: RM19.90
Deverell, Viscount Paignton, is in desperate need of a wife. Unmoved by the matchmaking ‘herd’, he seeks help from his aunt, who directs him to a lady she vows is perfect for him. Dispatched to a country house party, he discovers the lady not swanning about among the guests but with her nose buried in a book in the library. Phoebe Malleson is tempted to distraction by Deverell, but marrying him isn’t part of her plan. Unfortunately, telling Deverell to go away doesn’t work, and he quickly learns of an incident in her past and a secret cause to which she’s committed. But someone powerful has her cause targeted for destruction. Phoebe must accept Deverell’s help…though the cost to them both might be dear – and deadly.
New Arrivals: Literature Classics
Thursday, August 26, 2010Nothing compares to a good old-fashioned adventure story! These classic books encourage a love of literature in even the most reluctant readers, don’t you agree? 
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Price: RM9.90
- Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll Price: RM9.90
First published in 1865, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was an immediate success, as was its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. Carroll’s sense of the absurd & his amazing gift for games of logic & language have secured for the Alice books an enduring spot in the hearts of both adults and children.
Alice begins her adventures when she follows the frantically delayed White Rabbit down a hole into the magical world of Wonderland, where she meets a variety of wonderful creatures, including Tweedledee & Tweedledum, the Cheshire Cat, the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, the Mad Hatter, & the Queen of Hearts—who, with the help of her enchanted deck of playing cards, tricks Alice into playing a bizarre game of croquet. Alice continues her adventures in Through the Looking-Glass, which is loosely based on a game of chess and includes Carroll’s famous poem “Jabberwocky.”
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell Price: RM9.90
Black Beauty is a well-born colt living in a pleasant meadow with an elegant carriage horse. But fortune changes and he experiences both gentle and cruel masters as he travels through Victorian London.
Gulliver’s Travel by Jonathan Swift Price: RM9.90
Considered the greatest satire ever written in English, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels chronicles the fantastic voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, principally to four marvelous realms: Lilliput, where the people are six inches tall; Brobdingnag, a land inhabited by giants; Laputa, a wondrous flying island; & a country where the Houyhnhnms, a race of intelligent horses, are served by savage humanoid creatures called Yahoos. A brilliant combination of adventure, humor, & philosophy, Gulliver’s Travels is one of literature’s most durable masterpieces.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Price: RM9.90
Generations of readers young and old, male and female, have fallen in love with the March sisters of Louisa May Alcott’s most popular and enduring novel, Little Women. Here are talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Price: RM9.90
A huge sea monster has attacked and wrecked several ships from beneath the sea. Professor Arronax bravely joins a mission to hunt down the beast.He goes aboard the Nautilus, a secret submarine helmed by the mysterious Captain Nemo. At first, the mission is exciting, as Nemo takes Arronax on a voyage around the underwater world. But when things start to go wrong, Arronax finds there’s no escape from the Nautilus. He is now Captain Nemo’s captive–20,000 leagues under the sea!
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Price: RM9.90
Mary Lennox sent to Misselthwaite Manor, on the Yorkshire moors, to live with her uncle after her parents die of cholera. There she discovers her sickly cousin Colin, who is equally obnoxious & imperious. Both love no one because they have never been loved. They are the book’s spiritual secret gardens, needing only the right kind of care to bloom into lovely children. Mary then discovers a literal secret garden, hidden behind a locked gate on her uncle’s estate, neglected for the ten years since Colin’s birth and his mother’s death. Together with a local child named Dickon, Mary & Colin transform the garden into a paradise bursting with life & colour. Through their newfound mutual love of nature, they nurture each other, until they are brought back to health and happiness.
BookXcess Recommends: Fiction Reads
Monday, August 23, 2010
We all love a good fiction read, don’t we? In a bookstore filled with hundreds of titles, it’s easy to overlook a quiet harmless title. Allow us, to highlight some titles that might miss to catch your attention…
You Belong To Me by Mary Higgins Clark RRP: RM38.90 Price: RM17.90
Dr. Susan Chandler, a clinical psychologist with a popular radio show, attempting to help a friend who was abducted by a serial killer, takes live calls on the air from anyone who might have information. When a frightened woman calls up with a hysterical confession that she knows the man they are looking for, Dr. Chandler is soon roped into a mystery that threatens to unmask a brutal murderer.
Moonlight Becomes You by Mary Higgins Clark RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM17.90
Commercial photographer Maggie Holloway attends a party and is, by chance, reunited with Nuala, the stepmother she has not seen since childhood. Maggie accepts Nuala’s invitation to visit her in Rhode Island, but when Maggie arrives, Nuala is dead–apparently the victim of a random break-in. To her surprise, Maggie learns that Nuala’s house is bequeathed to her, the only stipulation being that she visit Nuala’s friend Gerda. When Maggie fulfills this request, she discovers that Gerda is a resident of a nearby nursing home–a home with an alarmingly high death rate of seemingly healthy patients.
Past Secrets by Cathy Kelly RRP: RM36.90 Price: RM17.90
They all hide secrets that won’t go away… The women of Summer Street have their fair share of secrets & soon learn that if you keep a secret too long it will creep out when you least expect it! Behind the shining windows & rose-bedecked gardens of Summer Street, there are lots of secrets. There’s the one that hard-working single mother, Faye, hides from her teenage daughter, Amber. And there’s the one that thirty-year-old Maggie hides from herself. When fiery Amber decides to throw away her future for love, & when Maggie ends up back home looking after her sick mother, their secrets begin to bubble over. The only person on Summer Street who appears to know all the answers is their friend Christie. Wise & kind, she can see into other people’s hearts to solve their problems. Except that this time, the secrets she’s hidden from her beloved husband & grown up sons suddenly reappear. When the past comes alive for Maggie, Faye and Christie, they finally have to face it.
Once in a Lifetime by Cathy Kelly RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM17.90
#1 international bestselling author Cathy Kelly weaves a captivatingtale about love, friendship & a web of secrets running through abustling Irish town. Kenny’s Department Store isn’t just a place to shop; it’s the heart of Ardagh, Ireland. TV reporter Ingrid Fitzgerald has watched her husband, David Kenny, pour his heart and soul into the family store — the “other woman” in her marriage — for years. Now, as their children fly the nest, Ingrid discovers something that will shake her world to its foundation. Charlie Fallon is a dedicated Kenny’s employee who adores her husband & son, but her selfish, dominating mother seems determined to ruin everything. Free spirit Star Bluestone, who sells her beautifully crafted tapestries at Kenny’s, has her own secrets and wisdom to share. But when unexpected tragedy shocks everyone at Kenny’s & threatens its future, the women of Ardagh find that secrets have a way of always coming out — with repercussions that lead them to rely on one another more than ever before.
The Chocolate Run by Dorothy Koomsoon RRP: RM35.50 Price: RM17.90
A scrumptiously funny & moving tale of love, lust & confectionery. Who needs love when you’ve got chocolate? Amber Salpone thinks in chocolate – talk to her for three minutes & she’ll tell you what kind of chocolate you’d be. In fact, most days, if she was asked to choose between chocolate & relationships, there’d be no contest. At least chocolate has never let her down. Unlike her family. Growing up in the Salpone household has taught Amber to avoid conflict – and love – at all costs. So, when she does the unthinkable & has a one-night stand with womaniser Greg Walterson, her uncomplicated, chocolate-flavoured life goes into meltdown. Especially when Greg announces she’s the love of his life – & Amber finds it hard enough to decide if she wants plain or Fruit & Nut … Meanwhile, her best friend, Jen, seems to be launching a bid to become Bitch Of The Year & Amber’s family are making unreasonable demands. Amber has two choices: to deal with her past & the people around her, or to go on a chocolate run & keep on running…
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM17.90
Picking up where her blockbuster bestselling Bridget Jone’s Diary left off, The Edge of Reason finds Bridget in an up & down relationship with Mark Darcy. It’s four weeks later, & already the honeymoon is over: the man of her dreams votes conservative & folds his clothes at night, making Bridget feel pressured to do so as well. But all of these problems pale in comparison to Rebecca – a beautiful, man-hunting arch-nemesis without a girlfriend code of ethics when it comes to stealing another woman’s man. As always, Bridget’s best Singleton friends Jude & Shaz are there to give her advice from the pages of Getting the Love You Want & Keeping the Love You Find with some unexpected results.
Dark, Twisting, Crime & Thrillers titles at RM9.90 only!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Geneva Deception by James Twinning RRP: RM36.90 Price: RM9.90
There is an art to murder… In Rome, the Eternal City… three shocking homicides occur in three days—each a grisly re-creation of a painting by one of the most revered artistic giants of all time. But this new “artist” works in blood, not oils. A shattering assassination rocks Kirk’s world, plunging him and unorthodox Italian detective Allegra Damico into an international web of evil that encompasses the Church, politicians, the police, and the Mafia. The road Kirk and Allegra must now follow is twisting and treacherous, winding through Vatican secrets, blood oaths, and Swiss betrayals. And death surely waits at the end.
The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM9.90
Legend says that in every generation, there are 36 righteous men on whom the fate of humanity depends. One by one, these men are being murdered, and journalist Will Monroe smells a big story. As Will’s wife is kidnapped and another innocent life is in danger, he begins to realize he must stop the killings or the future of the world may be at stake.
Fragment by Warren Fahy RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM9.90
In this powerhouse of suspense—as brilliantly imagined as Jurassic Park and The Ruins—scientists have made a startling discovery: a fragment of a lost continent, an island with an ecosystem unlike any they’ve seen before… an ecosystem that could topple ours like a house of cards. A television crew stumbles onto an unexplored island inhabited by terrifying creatures and seething with danger. There’s no question it is the reality-TV chance of a lifetime, but will it be the death of the crew–or something more precious?
The Final Reckoning by Sam Bourne RRP: RM36.90 Price: RM9.90
Tom Byrne has fallen from grace since his days as an idealistic young lawyer. So when the UN call him in to do their dirty work, he accepts without hesitation. A suspected bomber shot by UN security staff has turned out to be a harmless old man and Tom must placate the family. In London, Tom meets the dead man’s alluring daughter, and learns that her father was not as innocent as he seemed. He unravels details of a hidden brotherhood, united in a mission that has spanned the world and caused hundreds of unexplained deaths. Pursued by those ready to kill to uncover the truth, Tom has to unlock a secret that has lain buried for more than 60 years…
The Lost Labyrinth by Will Adams RRP: RM36.90 Price: RM9.90
Twenty years after vanishing without a trace, French archaeologist Roland Petitier makes a dramatic reappearance at a major Athens conference, promising an astonishing find – the legendary Golden Fleece. But before he can give his talk, he’s found dead in a hotel room; and an out-of-control policeman puts Petitier’s onetime protege Augustin Pascal into intensive care, then later accuses him of Petitier’s murder.
New Arrivals: Crime, Thriller & Mystery
Monday, August 2, 2010Look out for our new arrivals of crime, thriller & mystery titles that will sure send your spine chilling & goosebumps raised away! BookXcess promises you books that will leave your mind wandering, speculating, inspecting in suspense & beyond!
Little Girls Lost by J.A. Kerley RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM17.90
Children are disappearing in Mobile, Alabama, the latest snatched from her own bedroom. There are no clues — and, as yet, no bodies. Homicide Detective Carson Ryder is called in to investigate the abduction of little LaShelle Shearing only to find the case getting tangled up in murky departmental and civic politics. Public rage is now reaching dangerous levels, and Ryder’s bosses turn for help to ex-Detective Conner Sandhill whose uncanny ability to spot connections and details missed by others is legendary — but who left the department under a cloud. Ryder and Sandhill form an uneasy alliance in the hunt for the missing children, a hunt which becomes all the more urgent for tragic personal reasons. But at the root of these disappearances is something truly evil & its source is closer to home than either could have imagined.
Blood Brother by J.A. Kerley RRP: RM38.90 Price: RM17.90
These brothers have murder in their veins. Detective Carson Ryder’s sworn duty is to track killers down. He’s never revealed the fact that his brother, Jeremy, is one of America’s most notorious killers — now imprisoned. Secretly, Ryder has used Jeremy’s homicidal insight to solve cases. He’s made a career out of it. Now his brother’s escaped and is at large in New York. With Jeremy the chief suspect in a series of horrifying mutilation-murders, a mysterious video demands Ryder be brought into help. A dangerous cat-and-mouse game develops between Jeremy, and the NYPD with Ryder in the middle, trying to keep his brother alive and the cops in the dark. But it’s a game of life, death and deceit, a game with an unknown number of players and no clear way of winning!
Robert Ludlum’s the Cassandra Compact: A Covert-One Novel by Robert Ludlum, Philip Shelby RRP: RM34.90 Price: RM17.90
Following “The Hades Factor” and “The Prometheus Deception, ” this novel continues the best-selling Covert-One series. Covert-One operative Jon Smith and CIA undercover agent Randi Russell come into possession of a slain Russian security service officer’s classified papers. They soon unearth a terrifying global conspiracy that threatens to unleash a plague of immeasurable proportions.
Cold Granite by Stuart Macbride RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM17.90
Fans of the “tartan noir” novels of Ian Rankin should enjoy Stuart McBride’s debut, a police procedural set in Aberdeen, Scotland–the so-called “Granite City.” Freshly returned to work after recovering from stab wounds, Detective Sergeant Logan McRae must cope with a stern new boss, decidedly unfriendly treatment from the department’s chief pathologist (and McRae’s ex-girlfriend), the shocking brutality of a serial killer who targets children, and a vigilante-minded public fired up by the confidential details of the killer’s depredations, which someone has leaked to the press.
New Arrivals: Ever Growing Fiction Titles
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM17.90
Winner of the prestigious Booker Prize in 1997, The God Of Small Things was a stunning debut for Arundhati Roy. Set in Kerala, India, in 1969, seven-year-old twins Rahel & Estha, born of a wealthy family & literally joined at the soul. The God Of Small Things effectively shifts between two time periods: Rahel’s present-day trip home to see her mute, haunted twin brother, & a December day 20 years before — the tumultuous day that tears the family apart. With mesmerizing language that brings to mind, The God Of Small Things ambitiously tackles such profound issues as family, race, & class, the dictates of history, & the laws of love. Rahel & Estha learn too soon that love & life can be lost in a millisecond.
The Good Divorce Guide by Cristina Odone RRP: RM34.90 Price: RM17.90
When Rosie Martin discovers that Jonathan, her husband of 15 years, is having an affair, she feels that her world is falling apart. That is, until she realises that she’s actually fallen out of love with him, too. So Rosie & Jonathan decide to go their separate ways, determined to be civilised about their divorce, for the sake of the children — in short, to have a ‘good divorce’! Cue the rest of the world, where divorce is always a dirty word. Everyone & everything seems determined to conspire to make this divorce bitter — the lawyer, the estate agent, the botox man, the friends, not least their respective families! ‘The Good Divorce Guide’ is a touching, witty, funny story about starting afresh & learning to find your own way in life, no matter what anyone says.
A Darker Domain by Val McDermid RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM17.90
The superb new psychological thriller from bestselling author Val McDermid mixes fiction with one of the most symbolic and exceptional moments in recent history – the national miners’ strike 1984, Fife: Heiress Catriona Maclennan Grant and her baby son are kidnapped. The ransom payoff goes horribly wrong. She is killed while her son disappears without trace. 2008, Tuscany: A jogger stumbles upon dramatic new evidence that re-opens the cold case. Past and present intertwine in a dark novel of psychological suspense that explores the intersection of desire and greed.
Fairytale Of New York by Miranda Dickinson RRP: RM34.90 Price: RM17.90
Are happy-ever-afters made in Manhattan? Once upon a time an English girl went to New York to live out her very own fairytale! Florist Rosie Duncan’s life couldn’t be better, she has a flourishing business on New York’s Upper West Side and fantastic friends. Moving to Manhattan feels like the best decision she ever made. Even though at the time, it was her escape route from heartbreak … But a chance meeting brings Rosie face to face with her past, unravelling the mystery behind her arrival in New York. Rosie is forced to confront questions she has long been trying to ignore, including will she ever get her very own happy-ever-after? A sparkling, romantic comedy about an English girl who finds herself in the city where dreams can come true – or so she thinks!
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison RRP: RM39.90 Price: RM17.90
Sexy bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan prowls the dark streets of Cincinnati, keeping tabs on the vampires and other creatures of the supernatural who prey on the city’s innocent and vulnerable inhabitants.
New Arrivals: Award-Winning Adichie’s Books
Monday, July 26, 2010
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an acclaimed Nigerian writer whose first two novels won literary awards. Adichie had her first novel published in 2003. It received excellent reviews and won a literary award for first book. Her second novel won the 2007 Orange Prize for fiction.
Purple Hibiscus RRP: RM49.90 Price: RM17.90
From the outside, fifteen-year-old Kambili has the perfect life. She lives in a beautiful house, has a caring family, and attends an exclusive missionary school. She’s completely shielded from the troubles of the world. Yet, as Kambili reveals in her tender-voiced account, things are less than perfect in her wealthy Nigerian home. Although her papa is generous and well respected, he is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home. But everything changes once Kambili and Jaja visit Aunty Ifeoma outside the city. For the first time they experience freedom from their papa. Jaja learns to garden and work with his hands, and Kambili secretly falls in love with a young, charismatic priest. Purple Hibiscus is a stunning debut that captures the fragile beauty of a young woman’s awakening at a time when both country and family are on the cusp of change.
This first novel is about the promise of freedom; about the blurred lines between the old gods and the new; between childhood and adulthood; between love and hatred. An extraordinary debut, Purple Hibiscus is a compelling novel which captures both a country and an adolescence at a time of tremendous change.
Thing Around Your Neck RRP: RM35.90 Price: RM17.90
The words “Things Fall Apart” are so frequently associated with Nigerian author Chinua Achebe’s 1958 novel that it is easy forget they are not original to it but taken from Yeats’s 1920 poem “The Second Coming.” In her most intimate and seamlessly crafted work to date, award-winning author Adichie turns her penetrating eye not only on Nigeria but on America as well, in 12 dazzling stories that explore the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Africa and the U.S.
Half Of A Yellow Sun RRP: RM49.90 Price: RM17.90
With effortless grace, celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illuminates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s. We experience this tumultuous decade alongside five unforgettable characters: Ugwu, a thirteen-year-old houseboy who works for Odenigbo, a university professor full of revolutionary zeal; Olanna, the professor’s beautiful young mistress who has abandoned her life in Lagos for a dusty town and her lover’s charm; and Richard, a shy young Englishman infatuated with Olanna’s willful twin sister Kainene. Half of a Yellow Sun is a tremendously evocative novel of the promise, hope, and disappointment of the Biafran war.
New Arrival: Fiction Reads only at RM9.90!
Thursday, July 22, 2010Today we’re featuring fiction reads priced at only RM9.90! Where else can you get exciting reads at such exciting price bargain? Yours truly, BookXcess.
Fine Just The Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3 by Annie Proulx
RRP: RM36.90 Price: RM9.90
Returning to the territory of “Brokeback Mountain,” National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winner Proulx has written a stunning and visceral collection of new stories.
Her stories about multiple generations of Americans struggling through life in the West are a ferocious, dazzling panorama of American folly and fate. Proulx’s characters try to climb out of poverty and desperation but get cut down as if the land itself wanted their blood. Deeply sympathetic to the men and women fighting to survive in this harsh place, Proulx turns their lives into fiction with the power of myth — and leaves the listener in awe.
The winner of two O. Henry Prizes, Annie Proulx has been anthologized in every major collection of great American stories. Her bold, inimitable language, her exhilarating eye for detail and her dark sense of humor make this a profoundly compelling collection.
Master & Commander by Patrick O’ Brian RRP: RM49.90 Price: RM9.90
Set sail for the read of your life! Master and Commander is the first of Patrick O’Brian’s now famous Aubrey/Maturin novels, regarded by many as the greatest series of historical novels ever written. It establishes the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey RN and Stephen Maturin, who becomes his secretive ship’s surgeon and an intelligence agent. It contains all the action and excitement which could possibly be hoped for in a historical novel.
All The Things We Didn’t Say by Sara Shepard RRP: RM36.90 Price: RM9.90
Emotional, issue-led fiction perfect for all fans of The Memory Keeper’s Daughter and Jodi Picoult Tragedy came as if so often does: a teenage party, emotions running high, followed by a horrific car crash. A girl is left dead and a boy is forced to leave his home town, with a secret that he will carry with him forever! Years later, when Summer’s mother disappears one summer, she is left with her father. Obsessed with an accident from years ago, he slowly descends into mental illness. And as he becomes more disorientated, he reveals small fragments of a secret that has been hidden since his youth, a secret that changes everything. Summer supports her father as much as she can but eventually realises that she has to escape. She finds refuge with her great-aunt, Stella. Feisty, fun-loving, and dying of cancer, Stella holds parts of the family secret. Slowly, things fall into place for Summer – or at least so she thinks! This is a story of the importance of family, of the damage a lie can do, and of how nothing is ever what it seems.
Bad Things by Michael Marshall RRP:RM35.90 Price: RM9.90
From the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Intruders and The Straw Men comes a nerve-shattering story of guilt, rage, deadly secrets, and very, very . . . bad things. Three years ago, lawyer John Henderson watched his four-year-old son tumble from a jetty into the lake outside their Washington home. In a terrible instant, a life all too brief and innocent ended. But it wasn’t drowning, the fall, or even some previously undetected internal defect that killed the little boy. Scott Henderson had simply, inexplicably . . . died. Today, John is a different man—divorced, living a solitary existence in a beach house in Oregon, working as a waiter in a restaurant that caters to the summer crowd. Withdrawn from a life and past too painful to revisit, he touches no one and no one touches him. Then one night he receives a short and profoundly disturbing e-mail message from a stranger. It reads: I know what happened.
A twisting, relentlessly thrilling, and consistently surprising novel of psychological suspense, Michael Marshall’s Bad Things is a masterwork of chilling brilliance that will keep the reader guessing right to the final page.
New Arrival: The Return of Terry Pratchett
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
“Give a man a fire and he’s warm for the day. But set fire to him and he’s warm for the rest of his life.” ~Terry Pratchett, Discworld
Synopsis & Price List: Read more