"Where the Hell is Max Bowman?" That's what people have been asking for almost a year. What no one knows is Max has been locked away in the Community -- a "retirement" home for former CIA spooks with secrets too scary to share with the world. But, after engineering a daring and almost deadly escape, Max is back -- or, at least, what's left of him. He's lost his love, his home, his money and most of his memories, while being haunted by a Russian Rat Pack that's out to kill him, a talking dog puppet that barks out apocalyptic warnings and a crooked lobbyist whose menace is almost as big as his stomach. And then there's the matter of Max's dad -- the man Max wants to make sure is dead. Evil is pouring down in White Rain, the final chapter -- and the final reckoning -- in the Max Bowman saga.

'Blue Mist White Rain' gives the reader a special omen: Warning: Handle with care. Contents contain pieces of a human heart. At the centre of every human being lies the heart, a delicate measure of human existence. In this deeply personal collection, Sha explores the depths, peaks, valleys and meadows of the vital organ we call the heart. She is willing to let us into her heart and her head, allowing the reader to share her joys and her pains. Through friendships, lovers, family and those she meets, if only for a moment, she expresses her thoughts. This work ponders the question, 'do we love with our hearts or with our heads?' Poetry and prose at its most honest, raw and complete. You will nod in recognition.

Are you prepared to adopt and parent transracially? Transracial adoption can be a daunting and exhilarating journey. At times you feel incredibly isolated and lost. However, with this conversational and practical guide in hand, you will be able to adopt with confidence and parent with education, empathy, and enthusiasm. Whether you are new to adoption, a seasoned adoptive parent, or you are an adoptee, birth parent, or adoption professional, COME RAIN OR COME SHINE will enhance your understanding and appreciation for transracial adoption. The book contains extensive resource lists, discussion/reflection questions for adoptive parents, and advice and research from experts in the adoption field. Recommended by MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry: "We had an amazing guest on the MHP show about a year ago who is white and raising black adopted children, Rachel Garlinghouse. I love her book Come Rain or Come Shine: A White Parent's Guide to Adopting and Parenting Black Children." (from Jezebel, Melissa Harris-Perry Answers Your Questions, 4/6/14)

From New York Times bestselling author of the Tradd Street novels comes the sequel to Falling Home, a novel set in the picaresque town of Walton, Georgia, where one woman is about to discover that the best journey is the one that brings you home.… Freelance photographer Suzanne Paris has been on her own since she was fourteen—and she has no intention of settling down, especially not in a tiny town like Walton. She’s here to hide out for a little while, not to form connections. Her survival depends on her ability to slip in and out of people’s lives, on never staying in one place for too long. But Walton is a town where everyone knows everyone else—and they all seem intent on making Suzanne feel right at home. She can’t help but feel drawn to this tight-knit community—or to the town’s mayor, Joe Warner, and his six kids. But Suzanne can’t afford to stick around, even if she’s finally found a place where she belongs. Because someone is looking for her—someone who won’t stop until her life is destroyed… CONVERSATION GUIDE INCLUDED

LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to share, print and post images for personal use.

To travel through these stories is to cross a landscape of stunning beauty and terrific cruelty, where expectations are subverted, where moral certainties are shattered, where gorgeously wrought surfaces beguile at the same time that acts of incredible brutality horrify. It is no wonder that Yu Hua’s stories caused a sensation when they first appeared in the 1980s. His work represents a sophisticated and often disturbing revolution in the Chinese literary tradition, reminiscent of the fiction of modernists like Kafka, Kawabata, Borges, and Robbe-Grillet, but drawing inspiration from several strains of traditional Chinese narrative as well. This is the first collection of short fiction by Yu Hua to appear in English. It takes us on a haunting and harrowing journey from classical China through the Cultural Revolution and into the new era of economic reform, exploding along the way our preconceived notions of what Chinese literature and culture are all about in the 1990s.

Zhuo Qingyan, a member of the current generation of special forces, nicknamed Solitary Falcon, had been blown away from her mission and landed on a cliff. When he opened his eyes again, he was like the concubine of the Shang Shu Manor of the Darkhan Empire — the Fourth Miss, a fool. An imperial edict bestowed the marriage to the current emperor's uncle, the Prince of the Ghost Face. With a shake of her body, she became the imperial aunt of the current dynasty. A useless king and a foolish concubine were born a pair. Becoming the king, the sage's assistant patted her chest and said, "If you open the borders, I'll help you expand the land; if you recruit troops, I'll help you train; if you don't have a horse, I'll help you steal one; if you don't have one ..." "My beloved concubine, This King has no children ..." "Let me help you ..." Then, wait a little longer ... His Royal Highness was in his prime, so it was not bad for him to be strong. There would definitely be someone to succeed him! However, what she did not know was that she carried a secret. The treasure map that was imprinted on her back was being fought over by various forces. She had also become a 'prey'! Prince, the wangfei has brought people to pick out the Grand Guardian of the Lin Country ... [Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter] "There are too many people who want to be the overseer, switch!" — — "My prince, the wangfei brought people to beat up the great general of the Northern Jin and hung him naked on a tree." — Well done! He wanted to see how the cold faced bronze masked prince doted on his wife. He could fight for her in this world, but loving her was his treasure.

Perennial Gardening in Texas presents its own unique challenges, especially with the state's wide variety of climate zones. This book focuses on individual plants—some 120 species—but also brings with it the expertise of a landscape architect in providing designs that will work both damp and water-scarce areas.