Fervent Reader

Summary (from the publisher): Award-winning author Claire Tomalin sets the standard for sophisticated and popular biography, having written lives of Jane Austen, Samuel Pepys, and Thomas Hardy, among others. Here she tackles the best recognized and loved man of nineteenth-century England, Charles Dickens; a literary leviathan whose own difficult path to greatness inspired the creation [...]

Description (from the publisher): Warning from publisher to reader: At HarperCollins, we are committed to customer satisfaction. Before proceeding with your purchase, please take the following questionnaire to determine your likelihood of enjoying this book: 1. Which of the following do you appreciate? (a) Women with somewhat horse-ish facial features. (b) Women who, while not [...]

My son’s best friend uses a Dave Murray strat, so the boys have really been interested in Iron Maiden recently. They both started playing guitar at around the same time (just a few months ago) and are still really into it. I’m not sure why an 11-year-old needs such an expensive guitar, but he’s not [...]

Summary (from the publisher): Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century—1951—in the middle of the United States—Des Moines, Iowa—in the middle of the largest generation in American history—the baby boomers. As one of the best and funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American [...]

Summary (from the publisher): Elaine Moore, a veteran teacher in Eagle River, Alaska, is a firm believer that the classroom is, first and foremost, a community—and that learning is best when shared in a circle of peers. When one of her students, ten-year-old Seamus Farrell, is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, Elaine, her students, and [...]

Summary (from the publisher): The incredible true story of the author’s remarkable transformation, at the age of 40, from out-of-shape average Joe into one of the world’s best endurance athletes On the eve of his 40th birthday, Rich Roll was in bad shape. His days were filled with work, stress, and junk food, and his [...]

Summary (from the publisher): Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time [...]

Summary (from the publisher): Take an unforgettable journey through the English countryside and into the homes of its inhabitants– four-legged and otherwise– with the world’s best-loved animal doctor. For over 25 years– since All Creatures Great and Small was first published– readers have delighted to the storytelling genius of James Herriot, the Yorkshire veterinarian whose [...]

Summary (from the publisher): A lively, laugh-out-loud journey from Oklahoma beauty queen to show biz sensation.”Life’s too short. I’m not.”You might know her as a Tony Award–winning Broadway star who originated the role of Galinda the Good Witch in the smash musical Wicked. Or you may recognize her from her starring roles on TV—The West [...]

Summary (from the publisher): When Benjamin Mee decided to uproot his family and move them to an unlikely new home—a dilapidated zoo where more than 200 exotic animals would be their new neighbors—his friends and colleagues thought he was crazy. Mee’s dream was to refurbish the zoo and run it as a family business. The [...]