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June 2009
View this as a webpage |
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THIS MONTH
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Perfect for busy people, travellers, and fiction lovers with short attention spans - hooray for the short story! A short story must accomplish in a matter of pages what a novel has chapters and chapters to achieve. Suspense, intrigue, compassion, sorrow - the emotions that make us care about a character and the outcome of their story must be coaxed, elicited and teased from the reader skillfully and efficiently, without feeling rushed. The best short stories leave us feeling satisfied and exhilarated.
From the gruesome irony of Roald Dahl to the vivid character portrayals of John Cheever and many more, this month's Avid Reader examines some of the best short stories the literary world has to offer, and what makes them work so well.
» Best short stories
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| The staff sound off on Reading Copy, the AbeBooks Blog |
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FEATURED STAFF REVIEW
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World War Z
by Max Brooks
 Reviewed by Anna
If you like Zombies, chances are you'll love this book. This fictitious compilation of stories from before, during and after the zombie wars documents the global reaction to the outbreak of the walking dead.
Told from the point of view of feral children, soldiers, scientists and almost any one else you can imagine, this is a book you can really sink your teeth into!
» See more staff reviews
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The Zombie Survival Guide
by Max Brooks
The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now. Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.
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| Buy British Books and Stretch Your Dollar |
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ON THE SITE
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More than Just Sherlock
 What do medicine, cricket, politics, science fiction, fairies, and Sherlock Holmes have in common? Why, Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, of course.
» Read about Arthur Conan Doyle
Most Expensive Books Sold in April
- Imre: A Memorandum
Xavier Mayne - $12,000
- Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics
edited by Keith Brown - $8,020
- Work from the Same House: Photographs & Etchings
Lee Friedlander and Jim Dine - $7,817
- Indigenous Flowers of the Hawaiian Islands
Isabella Sinclair - $5,500
- The Dispatches of Field Marshal The Duke of Wellington...
- $5,537
» See the Whole List in the Rare Book Room
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One Red Dot's Pop-up Magic
 Branded as a pop-up book for children of all ages, One Red Dot has a complex piece of art on each of the 10 spreads. The yellow and red cover catches the eye and then the rising artwork takes over - from twisting twirls to obedient orbs, One Red Dot is a marvel in paper engineering, sure to delight any pop-up or paper art fan.
» Pop into One Red Dot
Signed Bestsellers in April
- Amy and Isabelle
Elizabeth Strout
- Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro
- Everything Ravaged Everything Burned
Wells Tower
- Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
Alexander McCall Smith
- Fool
Christopher Moore
» See The Whole List on the Homepage
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Literary Anti-Heroes
From Shakespeare's Falstaff, George MacDonald Fraser's Harry Flashman, Tyler Durden from Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club to Balram Halwai in The White Tiger, anti-heroes have been prominent throughout literature. The definition of anti-hero is a main protagonist who lacks the goals and traits of a traditional hero. They are deeply flawed but garner sympathy or admiration. A skilled author can have the reader rooting for a madman, a psychopath, a murderer, a liar or a cheat, and it's the anti-hero's dark side that fascinates so many people.
Tell us who is your favorite fictional anti-hero from literature and we may use your suggestion in an article on AbeBooks.
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BookBridge Mongolia
Four years ago, a group of scouts from Neumarkt in Germany traveled to Mongolia for the first time and started an annual youth exchange program between the two countries. Now, in the town of Arvaikher, Mongolia there is an initiative to build a local youth development center, including a central library for all local schools in town. But help is needed, in the form of book donations. This is where we - and you - come in.
» How to help BookBridge Mongolia
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