Joy

Feisty Dr. Siri Paiboun is no respecter of persons or party; at his age he feels he can afford to be independent. In this, the second novel in the series, he travels to Luang Prabang, where he communes with the deposed king who is resigned to his fate: it was predicted long ago. And he attends a conference of shamans called by the Communist Party to deliver an ultimatum to the spirits: obey party orders or get out.

In keeping with the parable style, Patrick Lencioni begins by telling the fable of a woman who, as CEO of a struggling Silicon Valley firm, took control of a dysfunctional executive committee and helped its members succeed as a team. Story time over, Lencioni offers explicit instructions for overcoming the human behavioral tendencies that he says corrupt teams. Succinct yet sympathetic, this guide will be a boon for those struggling with the inherent difficulties of leading a group.

In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and - despite her prosthetic leg - helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.

David Mitchell’s 2014 best seller Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse must really have made people think - because everything’s got worse. We’ve gone from UKIP surge to Brexit shambles, from horsemeat in lasagne to Donald Trump in the White House, from Woolworths going under to all the other shops going under. It’s probably socially irresponsible even to try to cheer up.

There are three things you need to know about Elizabeth Finney: 1) She suffers from severe sarcastic syndrome, especially when she's unnerved, 2) No one unnerves her like Nico Manganiello, and 3) She knows how to knit.

Savannah Dupree is a freshman studying at Boston University on a full scholarship. But Savannah possesses something even more remarkable than a quick mind and an insatiable curiosity for learning. With a simple touch, she can see an object's past-a skill that puts her life in danger when her studies bring her into contact with a centuries-old English sword and the terrible secret hidden within the blade's history.

Cassie Franklin trips over nothing on perfectly flat surfaces every day, and she cannot seem to be able to simultaneously speak and look into her audience's eyes. Cassandra Frank is the ultimate tease; her words have aroused, intrigued and captured the heart of thousands...and somehow, they are the same person. Hiding the fact that she writes erotica isn't much of a challenge - no one would ever think that a plain, boring little accountant like Cassie could so much as read anything so scandalous...but one day, she makes a huge mistake.