A dying king. A mysterious invader. The seer's vision was clear: find the lost shard from the Spire of Peace or the realm would drown in blood. The problem: eight hundred years ago the elven hero Kathkalan took the shard with him into the lair of the most vicious dragon ever known to mankind...and he never returned. Reluctantly drafted to lead the quest is the minor noble Midas, torn between his duty to the realm and the desire to protect his sons. With an unlikely band of heroes, including two elderly rangers and a young tinker’s son, Midas must risk losing everything he loves if he is to locate the shard and save the Known Lands.

A homeopathic remedy for fake news, Strawberry Fields tells not one story but 20, reports on investigations of a globe in crisis.

DID YOU KNOW THAT. . .There are TWICE AS MANY CHICKENS in the world as humans, or that ONE IN THREE MEN PICKS HIS NOSE while driving?DO YOU WANT TO KNOW . . .The average WEIGHT of a human EYEBALL, or how many HEARTS a WORM has?AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS . . .By telling them about PURPLE ANIMALS, the HEAVIEST SUMO WRESTLER, and the LONGEST BOUT of HICCUPS!How Fast Can You Fart? marks the launch of John Blake's brand new children's imprint, Dino Books, and is the first instalment in Dr Dino's Learnatorium. Written by Noel Botham, author of the ever-popular Useless Information series, and decorated throughout with eye-catching hand illustrations, this book is packed with the wildest, weirdest, funniest, grossest, fastest, longest, brainiest and best facts about history, science, food, geography, words, and much more!

He’s barely given her a passing glance… Shandi Flanagan has lived in Paxton Springs, Texas, her whole life. When the bar and grill she’s been working at since high school comes up for sale, she vows to find the money to buy it. But when her house goes up in flames, so do her entrepreneurial dreams. The only good thing to come of it? Being rescued by the hottest cowboy around, Jace Paxton. Jace has his hands full finding a way to grow his family's vacation resort and tracking down the rustlers who stole his new herd of calves. At least being able to save Shandi, the town's favorite sweetheart, goes right. She needs a place to stay, and there's plenty of room on the Blackstone Ranch. But he needs the bar and grill as much as she does. And while he's a formidable competitor...she's not. How can he take away her dream and future? How could she love him if he did?

“Everyone has demons. If you’re lucky, they stay on the inside.” The Incarnate Watch: a collection of urban myths banding together for safety, camaraderie, a place to belong. Caden Malek is determined to build something that will last, even through multiple lifetimes. And Emery Luple, the best boyfriend the world has ever seen, will do everything he can to make sure Caden succeeds. If only murder wouldn’t keep getting in the way. This time it’s mortals who are dying, likely at the hands of an incarnate, and the deaths threaten to undermine the Watch before it even gets started. As Emery investigates, he unearths old enemies and new nightmares. And, worst of all, a former lover with secrets Emery will do anything to bury. The Watch is in jeopardy, and Caden’s dreams are on the line. Will Emery’s past demons—both literal and metaphorical—destroy everything he and Caden have worked to create?

Security for Holy Places is the first comprehensive security guide for religious associations and organizations. While focused on houses of worship (and schools and centers connected to them), the guide also provides important information on securing religious summer camps and its guidance can be used for any faith-based organization, senior center, day care, or school. The book includes chapters on: overall threat types of weapons used by intruders perimeter and inside security where to get professional help how to build a security plan what to know when hiring guards armed versus unarmed guards & volunteers gun laws mental health issues how to use volunteers effectively to strengthen security information on technology that can strengthen the protection of holy places and their immediate surroundings security for day and overnight camps guidance on how to organize security committees to strengthen security checklists for congregations and camps to use immediately

When Champ, a German Shepherd, was adopted from a local breed rescue, his family hoped and expected to spend many fun-filled years with him. However, Champ suffered physically and mentally from neglect and trauma from his first years of life. Despite numerous treatments, Champ was never able to overcome that trauma to become a "normal" dog, and his family made the painful decision to give him peace through behavior euthanasia.This work serves not only as an account of Champ's life and his family's attempts to help him, but also as a resource on behavior euthanasia, which is a compassionate choice for unmanageable aggression, reactivity, bites or severe anxiety. Investigating the potential causes of these issues, chapters examine scientific research on dog behavior and emotions.

Novelist Guanlong Cao's autobiographical account of growing up in urban Shanghai affords a rare glimpse into daily life during the forty turbulent years following the Communist Revolution. Forced to the bottom of Chinese society as "class enemies," Cao's family eked out a meager existence in a cramped attic. The details of their day-to-day existence—the endless quest for enough food, its preparation, Cao's schooling and friends, the stirrings of sexual desire, his dreams and fantasies—are brought brilliantly to life in spare yet evocative prose. The memoir illuminates a world largely unknown to Westerners, one where human pettiness, cruelty, joy, and tenderness play themselves out against a backdrop of political upheaval and material scarcity. Reminiscent of the concise style of classical Chinese memoirs, Cao's lean, elegant prose heightens the emotional intensity of his story. Perceptive and humorous, his voice is deeply original. It is a voice that demands to be heard—for the historical moment it captures as well as for the personal revelations it distills.