Showing results by narrator "Pun Bandhu" in All Categories

Four lives are drawn together in a sweeping, panoramic new novel from Richard Powers, showcasing the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Overstory at the height of his skills. Twelve-year-old Evie Beaulieu sinks to the bottom of a swimming pool in Montreal strapped to one of the world’s first aqualungs. Ina Aroita grows up in naval bases across the Pacific with art as her only home. Two polar opposites at an elite Chicago high school bond over a three-thousand-year-old board game; Rafi Young will get lost in literature, while Todd Keane’s work will lead to a startling AI breakthrough.

Wisecracking, marine biologist Bee Guerrero has signed up for the trip of a lifetime: a series of dives deep into the pitch-black waters of Saturn’s moon, Enceladus.

In Neil deGrasse Tyson’s delightful journey through the cosmos, his fictional character Merlin responds to popular questions asked by adults and children alike. Merlin, a timeless visitor from Planet Omniscia in the Andromeda Galaxy, has observed firsthand many of the major scientific events of Earth’s history.

Massively damaged in Aliens and Alien 3, the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever. His creator, Michael Bishop, has other plans. He seeks the Xenomorph knowledge stored in the android’s mind and brings Bishop back to life—but for what reason? No longer an employee of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Michael tells his creation that he seeks to advance medical research for the benefit of humanity. Yet where does he get the resources needed to advance his work. With whom do his new allegiances lie?

Tu Lam is known not just for his remarkable accomplishments in the military, as a decorated Green Beret in more than two dozen international war zones, but for his exceptional work outside of it. His fellow soldiers know him for his successful company that he runs with his wife providing aid to military and law enforcement, as well as his tireless charity work for veterans with physical and mental disabilities. Others know him from his popular History Channel television series Forged in Fire: Knife or Death, or for his appearance in and contribution to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

From Derek Lin, Taoist master and author of The Tao of Daily Life, comes this practical, systematic approach to the ancient and time-honored spiritual learning process. The Tao of Success navigates the five rings of life, which are common patterns of traditional Tao cultivation, conceptualized by the ancient sages: your spirit, your mind, your relationships, your world, and your destiny. Success is achieved by discovering and experiencing these five concentric rings, from the inside out, and not in the future but in the here and now.

In Bullet Train, underworld operative Ladybug was tasked by his handler Maria Beetle with retrieving a suitcase from a high-speed train in Japan. The job did not go according to plan. Will the unluckiest assassin in the world will find things easier this time around? All he has to do is deliver a painting to a hotel guest, a portrait made by his daughter. Easy enough, except when Ladybug makes the delivery, he realizes that the guest is clearly not the guy in the painting. Then he attacks Ladybug, they fight, and the guest ends up dead. How can such simple jobs always go wrong?

As heir to my family's mafia throne, I've learned to threaten, torture, and kill. But the only place I really feel at home is on the ice. So when Mom has my coach murdered to end my figure skating dreams, I know it's time to run. With my hot but off-limits bodyguard by my side, I flee to a little town where she'll never find me. All I want is to lie low and perform in secret at the local rink. But a chance meeting with two passionate, damaged men seeking their own healing on the ice opens up new possibilities—both for my skating and my heart.

The Garbage Pail Kids are desperate to win the Smellville Pet Contest. But how can they compete against Good Boy, the perfect Chihuahua of the Perfect twins? Good Boy can stand on his head and do algebra problems blindfolded. But the whole thing goes out of control when our heroes meet five new kids who also call themselves the Garbage Pail Kids! Meet Windy Winston, Nat Nerd, Brett Sweat, Nasty Nancy, and Disgustin’ Justin. They all share the grand prize - a free all-day trip to Six Thrills Amusement Park. Will anyone have a good time? And will anyone survive?

Sara Parcell disappeared without a trace on a crisp April morning in Frederick, Maryland. Her tragic story was a national obsession and the centerpiece of a controversial television docuseries that followed her disappearance in real time. But is it possible that everyone missed the biggest secret of all?

The year is 2061. The Red Dragon Crime Syndicate is king, and for all those lucky enough to be members of this crime family, life is damn good. Well, not for everyone.... For two entry-level gangsters in Tharsis City, Mars, life in the Syndicate isn’t quite all guns and glamour. That’s right. Long before they were mortal enemies, Spike Spiegel and Vicious were just two friends clawing their way up the crime ladder and trying to have a little fun while doing it. But when an opportunity to pull a job for their boss arises, it’s make-or-break time.

In Eastern wisdom traditions, it is taught that practicing one small bit of wisdom each day will add up to a life of insight and joy. This volume of 365 life-transforming readings brings the sacred teachings of the Tao to our everyday lives. The Tao of Joy Every Day contains Taoist sayings, insights, and stories-all designed to clearly provide understanding of what makes our lives meaningful, especially in a world that can seem hurried and crazed.

With his reputation permanently marred by an insider trading conviction, Jamison Maddox, a young Wall Street broker, reluctantly takes a job doing research for a small company in the sleepy town of Redemption, Illinois. He’s never heard of the company, or of the town, but he’s out of money and options. Though Jamison notices right away that everyone in Redemption is in some way related to one another, the big city boy chalks it up to small-town ways.

Pristine beaches, lush greenery, and perfect weather, the island of Kisapmata would be the vacation destination…if not for the curse. The Filipino locals speak of it in hushed voices and refuse to step foot on the island. They know the lives it has claimed. They won’t be next. A Hollywood film crew won’t be dissuaded. Legend claims a Dreamer god sleeps, waiting to grant unimaginable powers in exchange for eight sacrifices. The producers are determined to document the evidence. And they convince Alon, a local teen, to be their guide.

Kabuto is a highly skilled assassin eager to escape his dangerous profession and the hold his handler, the sinister Doctor, has over him. The Doctor, a real physician who hands over Kabuto’s targets as “prescriptions� in his regular appointments with him, doesn’t want to lose Kabuto as a profitable asset, but he agrees to let him pay his way out of his employment with a few last jobs. Only the most lucrative jobs involve taking out other professional assassins, and Kabuto’s final assignment puts him and his family—who have no idea about his double life—in danger.

The Tao of Daily Life combines ancient Eastern wisdom with practical application—perfect for busy Western listeners! Derek Lin, Taoist master and expert in Eastern philosophy, brings his deep knowledge of this time-honored Chinese spiritual thought system into the twenty-first century. Using the powerful medium of stories and short dharma talks, Lin illuminates the Taoist secrets and engages the listener in their inherent wisdom.

When two brilliant misfits bond at an elite Chicago private school—one a white legacy kid named Todd Keane and the other, Rafi Young, a Black scholarship student from the South Side—their friendship seems as boundary-breaking and limitless as the 3,000-year-old board game that brings them together. For a time, not even simultaneously falling in love with Ina Aroita, who grew up in naval bases across the Pacific, shakes them. Until finally it does, with a betrayal that launches all three of them on radically different paths.

With Life Ceremony, the incomparable Sayaka Murata is back with her first collection of short stories ever to be translated into English. In Japan, Murata is particularly admired for her short stories, which are sometimes sweet, sometimes shocking, and always imbued with an otherworldly imagination and uncanniness.

Nanao, nicknamed Ladybug - the self-proclaimed “unluckiest assassin in the world� - boards a bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka with one simple task: Grab a suitcase and get off at the next stop. Unbeknownst to him, the deadly duo Tangerine and Lemon are also after the very same suitcase - and they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard. Satoshi, “the Prince�, with the looks of an innocent schoolboy and the mind of a viciously cunning psychopath, is also in the mix and has history with some of the others.

The transporting stories in this year’s The Best American Mystery and Suspense are populated by those who exist on the fringe of our society and want more than what life has dealt them: A haunted veteran turned career criminal is on the run. An injured fighter turned bouncer seeks vengeance for his lost love. An assassin on his last job finds himself questioning his life choices and breaks all the rules to understand his final victim.