Popular books

Patterson Benton Rain

The Great American Steamboat Race

2009 Running from New Orleans to St. Louis in the summer of 1870, the race between the Robert E. Lee and the Natchez remains the world's most famous steamboat race. This book tells the story of the dramatic contest, which was won by the stripped-down, cargoless Robert E. Lee after three days, 18 hours, and 14 minutes of steaming through day, night and fog. The Natchez finished the race only hours later, having been delayed by carrying her normal load and tying up overnight because of the intense fog. Providing details on not only the race narrative but also on the boats themselves, the book gives an intimate look at the majestic vessels that conquered the country's greatest waterway and defined the bravado of 19th-century America.<

Josep M Poblet

Les arrels del teatre català

Aquest llibre vol ésser una mena de film, d’allò que ha estat el teatre català, des de la seva naixença, fins arribada l’hora del definitiu arrelament, i no pas una història exhaustiva.<

Maria Carme Poblet

L’allargada ombra d’una perversió

Any 1917. Una família de l’alta burgesia catalana propietaris d’una important fàbrica de teixits; la Caterineta, una desvalguda noia sortida d’un orfenat per anar a servir a casa dels senyors Panadella, i tot gràcies a les últimes voluntats del vell senyor Panadella; una vídua Panadella, rancuniosa i sibil·lina; un jove hereu Panadella, turmentat per un terrible i inhòspit passat; una jove senyora de Panadella, colrada en l’art de l’esposa complaent; l’oncle de París i la seva part més fosca i libidinosa; l’Adela i en Pau, personatges clau en el desenvolupament vital de la Caterina, quan ja havia deixat de ser la Caterineta…<

Chet Raymo

Skeptics and True Believers

Pocatraça

Mística

Un escriptoret de mig pèl mamprèn un viatge pel més enllà a la recerca del seu fill mort. «Pocatraça» es pixa en Dant, es caga en Orfeu i actualitza el mite a l’imaginari contemporani amb una lírica suggerent i estranya que mescla realitat i ficció amb total llibertat. Uns peculiars cel, purgatori i infern en són l’escenari de la seua primera, única i última obra.<

Chris Ryan

Who Dares Wins

Claudia Roden

Arabesque: a taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon

SUMMARY: In the 1960s Claudia Roden introduced Americans to a new world of tastes in her classic A Book of Middle Eastern Food. Now, in her enchanting new book, Arabesque, she revisits the three countries with the most exciting cuisines today—Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon. Interweaving history, stories, and her own observations, she gives us 150 of the most delectable recipes: some of them new discoveries, some reworkings of classic dishes—all of them made even more accessible and delicious for today’s home cook.From Morocco, the most exquisite and refined cuisine of North Africa: couscous dishes; multilayered pies; delicately flavored tagines; ways of marrying meat, poultry, or fish with fruit to create extraordinary combinations of spicy, savory, and sweet.From Turkey, a highly sophisticated cuisine that dates back to the Ottoman Empire yet reflects many new influences today: a delicious array of kebabs, fillo pies, eggplant dishes in many guises, bulgur and chickpea salads, stuffed grape leaves and peppers, and sweet puddings.From Lebanon, a cuisine of great diversity: a wide variety of mezze (those tempting appetizers that can make a meal all on their own); dishes featuring sun-drenched Middle Eastern vegetables and dried legumes; and national specialties such as kibbeh, meatballs with pine nuts, and lamb shanks with yogurt.Claudia Roden knows this part of the world so intimately that we delight in being in such good hands as she translates the subtle play of flavors and simple cooking techniques to our own home kitchens.<

Edgar Allan Poe

La narració d’Arthur Gordon Pym

Fascinat pels relats d’aventures marineres d’un amic, el jove Arthur Gordon Pym, fill d’un comerciant de Nantucket, se sent cridat a embarcar-se com a polissó al balener Grampus, a la recerca de l’emoció del mar. No pot imaginar, però, els fets terribles que l’esperen, en aquest viatge espantós cap als mars del Sud i l’inhòspit oceà Antàrtic. Dotada d’un ritme implacable i amb factura deliberadament popular i, tanmateix, amarada del temperament fosc i opressiu de l’autor, La narració d’Arthur Gordon Pym és un clàssic de la novel·la d’aventures que, a poc a poc, com qui cau en un malson, s’endinsa en les aigües tèrboles del gènere fantàstic i de terror —tan cars a Edgar Allan Poe—, fins a brindar un dels finals més enigmàtics i misteriosos de tota la història de la literatura.<

Daniel Asa Rose

Larry's Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant--and Save His Life

SUMMARY: Larry Feldman desperately needed a kidney. After two god-awful years on dialysis, watching his life ebb away while waiting on a transplant list behind 74,000 other Americans, the gun-toting couch potato decided to risk everything and travel to China, the controversial kingdom of organ transplants. He was confident he could shake out a single, pre-loved kidney from the country's 1.3 billion people. But Larry urgently needed his cousin Daniel's help . . . even though they had been on the outs with each other for years. But wait: Larry was never one to "not" get his money's worth. Since he was already shelling out for a trip to China, he decided to make it a twofer: he arranged to pick up an (e-)mail-order bride while he was at it. After a tireless search of the Internet, he already knew the woman he wanted. An unforgettable adventure, "Larry's Kidney" is the funniest yet most heartwarming book of the year.<

Edgar Allan Poe

Narracions extraordinàries

La tebior amb què van ser rebudes les narracions de Poe als Estats Units contrasta amb l’entusiasme que van generar, ja des d’època primerenca, a Europa. Baudelaire a França, Manganelli a Itàlia, Julio Cortázar o Carles Riba van quedar fascinats pel món que Poe va saber crear, la invenció del nou gènere que presentava i l’estil de la seva escriptura. D’aquesta fascinació va néixer la necessitat de traduir-lo i presentar-lo com el que és, una de les més grans figures de la literatura. Carles Riba i Edgar Allan Poe es donen la mà en el present volum, en un rar encontre difícil de superar.<

Joana Pol

Dimonis de Formentera

Dimonis de Formentera és, abans de res, un càntic d’amor, una gran història ambientada en el Mediterrani, que ens durà a recórrer Mallorca, Menorca, Eivissa, Formentera i Cabrera en un viatge èpic desbordant de romanticisme i fantasia. Dimonis de Formentera beu de fonts tan diverses com Tolkien, I. R. Eddison, T. H. White, Isidore Ducasse, Lord Dunsany o l’autèntic pare de la literatura fantàstica: Homer. Amb uns personatges enlluernadors, un vocabulari esplèndid i una escriptura acurada, no trobareu en ell una lectura apta per a lectors novells o amants de la lectura fàcil i oblidable: Joana Pol ens presenta un llibre per a assaborir i gaudir no tan sols uns pocs moments, sinó per a sempre.<

Daniel Reingold

Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst: A True Story of Inside Information and Corruption in the Stock Market

EDITORIAL REVIEW: * Here is the true story of a top Wall Street player's transformation from a straight-arrow believer to a jaded cynic, who reveals how Wall Street's insider game is really played.* Dan Reingold was a top Wall Street analyst for fourteen years and Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jack Grubman's chief competitor in the red-hot sector of telecom. Reingold was part of the "Street" and believed in it. But in this action-packed, highly personal memoir written with accomplished *Fast Company* senior writer Jennifer Reingold the author describes how his enthusiasm gave way to disgust as he learned how deeply corrupted Wall Street and much of corporate America had become during the roaring stock market bubble of the 1990s. *Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst* provides a front-row seat at one of the most dramatic -- and ultimately tragic -- periods in financial history. Reingold recounts his introduction to the world of Wall Street leaks and secret deal-making; his experiences with corporate fraud; and Wall Street's alarming penchant for lavish spending and multimillion-dollar pay packages. Reingold spars with arch rival Grubman; fends off intense pressures from Wall Street bankers and corporate CEOs; and is wooed by Morgan Stanley's CEO, John Mack, and CSFB's über-banker Frank Quattrone. Reingold describes instances in which confidential deals are whispered days before their official announcement. He recalls the moment he learns that Bernie Ebbers's WorldCom was massively cooking its books. And he is shocked to have been an unwitting catalyst for a series of sexually explicit e-mails that would rock Wall Street; bring Jack Grubman to his knees; and contribute to the stepping aside of Grubman's boss, Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill. Some of Reingold's stories are outrageous, others hilarious, and many are simply absurd. But, together, they provide a sobering exposé of Wall Street: a jungle of greed and ego, a place brimming with conflicts and inside information, and a business absurdly out of touch with the Main Street it claims to serve. He shows how government investigators, headlines notwithstanding, never got to the heart of the ethical and legal transgressions of the era. And how they completely overlooked Wall Street's pervasive use of inside information, leaving investors -- even sophisticated professionals -- cheated. The book ends with a series of important policy recommendations to clean up the investing business. In the tradition of *Liar's Poker* and *Den of Thieves*, *Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst* is a no-holds-barred insider's account that will open the eyes of every investor. <

Joana Pol

El Laberint del Dimoni

«Això era i no era…, un Laberint construït per un déu malvat per confondre i perdre als valents, i per ocultar al món un monstre que mai no hauria d’haver nascut…». Novament ens presenta Joana Pol una història tenyida de romanticisme, però en aquesta ocasió és un romanticisme gòtic i obscur, molt becquerià, com reconeix l’autora mallorquina. El llibre conté una guia de Balearia Prodigiosa i l’univers creat per Joana Pol, comú a aquesta novel·la curta, a l’extensa novel·la de temàtica èpica i romàntica Dimonis de Formentera, i a la «saga Bellver», amb una bíblia dels principals personatges que l’habiten, i il·lustracions de la pròpia autora.<

David Remnick

The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama

EDITORIAL REVIEW: No story has been more central to America’s history this century than the rise of Barack Obama, and until now, no journalist or historian has written a book that** **fully investigates the circumstances and experiences of Obama’s life or explores the ambition behind his rise.** **Those familiar with Obama’s own best-selling memoir** **or his campaign speeches know the touchstones and details that he chooses to emphasize, but now—from a writer whose gift for illuminating the historical significance** **of unfolding events is without peer—we have a portrait, at once masterly and fresh,** **nuanced and unexpected, of a young man in search of himself,** **and of a rising politician determined to become the first African-American president.*The Bridge* offers the most complete account yet of** **Obama’s tragic father, a brilliant economist who abandoned** **his family and ended his life as a beaten man;** **of his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham,** **who had a child as a teenager and then built her career as an anthropologist living and studying in Indonesia;** **and of the succession of elite institutions that first exposed Obama** **to the social tensions and intellectual currents** **that would force him to imagine and fashion an identity for himself. Through extensive on-the-record interviews with friends and teachers, mentors and disparagers, family members and Obama himself,** **David Remnick allows us to see how a rootless, unaccomplished, and confused young man** **created himself first as a community organizer in Chicago, an** **experience that would not only shape his urge to work in politics but give him a home and a community, and that would propel him to Harvard Law School, where his sense of a greater mission emerged.Deftly setting Obama’s political career against the galvanizing intersection of race and politics in Chicago’s history, Remnick shows us how that city’s complex racial legacy would make Obama’s forays into politics a source of controversy and bare-knuckle tactics: his clashes with older black politicians in the Illinois State Senate, his disastrous decision to challenge the former Black Panther Bobby Rush for Congress in 2000, the sex scandals that would decimate his more experienced opponents in the 2004 Senate race, and the story—from both sides—of his confrontation with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.** **By looking at Obama’s political rise through the prism of our racial history, Remnick gives us the conflicting agendas of black politicians: the dilemmas of men like Jesse Jackson, John Lewis, and Joseph Lowery,** **heroes of the civil rights movement, who are forced to reassess old loyalties and understand the priorities of a new generation of African-American leaders.*The Bridge* revisits the American drama of race, from slavery to civil rights, and makes clear how Obama’s quest is not just his own but is emblematic of a nation where destiny is defined by individuals keen to imagine a future that is different from the reality of their current lives. EDITORIAL REVIEW: No story has been more central to America’s history this century than the rise of Barack Obama, and until now, no journalist or historian has written a book that** **fully investigates the circumstances and experiences of Obama’s life or explores the ambition behind his rise.** **Those familiar with Obama’s own best-selling memoir** **or his campaign speeches know the touchstones and details that he chooses to emphasize, but now—from a writer whose gift for illuminating the historical significance** **of unfolding events is without peer—we have a portrait, at once masterly and fresh,** **nuanced and unexpected, of a young man in search of himself,** **and of a rising politician determined to become the first African-American president.*The Bridge* offers the most complete account yet of** **Obama’s tragic father, a brilliant economist who abandoned** **his family and ended his life as a beaten man;** **of his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham,** **who had a child as a teenager and then built her career as an anthropologist living and studying in Indonesia;** **and of the succession of elite institutions that first exposed Obama** **to the social tensions and intellectual currents** **that would force him to imagine and fashion an identity for himself. Through extensive on-the-record interviews with friends and teachers, mentors and disparagers, family members and Obama himself,** **David Remnick allows us to see how a rootless, unaccomplished, and confused young man** **created himself first as a community organizer in Chicago, an** **experience that would not only shape his urge to work in politics but give him a home and a community, and that would propel him to Harvard Law School, where his sense of a greater mission emerged.Deftly setting Obama’s political career against the galvanizing intersection of race and politics in Chicago’s history, Remnick shows us how that city’s complex racial legacy would make Obama’s forays into politics a source of controversy and bare-knuckle tactics: his clashes with older black politicians in the Illinois State Senate, his disastrous decision to challenge the former Black Panther Bobby Rush for Congress in 2000, the sex scandals that would decimate his more experienced opponents in the 2004 Senate race, and the story—from both sides—of his confrontation with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.** **By looking at Obama’s political rise through the prism of our racial history, Remnick gives us the conflicting agendas of black politicians: the dilemmas of men like Jesse Jackson, John Lewis, and Joseph Lowery,** **heroes of the civil rights movement, who are forced to reassess old loyalties and understand the priorities of a new generation of African-American leaders.*The Bridge* revisits the American drama of race, from slavery to civil rights, and makes clear how Obama’s quest is not just his own but is emblematic of a nation where destiny is defined by individuals keen to imagine a future that is different from the reality of their current lives.<

Joana Pol

Spira, la Fada de Foc

Primer títol de les Rondalles Prodigioses de les Illes Balears, un conjunt de relats per a infants i joves il·lustrats per la pròpia autora. Entre els contes hi ha les versions infantils i juvenils dels llibres El Crim dels Déus, Bellver i Dimonis de Formentera.<

Donald Ray Pollock

El banquet celestial

Any 1917, en algun lloc oblidat de la frontera entre Geòrgia i Alabama. L’ancià Pearl Jewett mor deixant als seus tres fills homes perquè prossegueixin amb les seves miserables existències. Fins ara han portat una vida honrada, convençuts que la seva rectitud seria recompensada amb un suculent banquet en el Paradís. Però els germans Jewett s’han cansat d’esperar al Cel, i inspirats per les heroiques aventures del vilà literari Billy Bucket, ensellen els seus cavalls i atraquen el seu primer banc. El banquet celestial es mou al territori de McCarthy, Faulkner i O’Connor, i barreja la sàtira amb saludables dosis de violència cinematogràfica al més pur estil de Peckinpah, Tarantino o els Coen. Aquest western descarnat i desmesurat és també el retrat coral d’una població en vies d’adaptació al nou segle, un lloc replet de possibilitats on, dia després de dia, arriben els voluntaris per allistar-se a la Gran Guerra però també un forat que oculta perills en els racons més insospitats.<

Diane Ravitch

The death and life of the great American school system: how testing and choice are undermining education

EDITORIAL REVIEW: A passionate plea to preserve and renew public education, *The Death and Life of the Great American School System* is a radical change of heart from one of America’s best-known education experts. Diane Ravitch—former assistant secretary of education and a leader in the drive to create a national curriculum—examines her career in education reform and repudiates positions that she once staunchly advocated. Drawing on over forty years of research and experience, Ravitch critiques today’s most popular ideas for restructuring schools, including privatization, standardized testing, punitive accountability, and the feckless multiplication of charter schools. She shows conclusively why the business model is not an appropriate way to improve schools. Using examples from major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, and San Diego, Ravitch makes the case that public education today is in peril. Ravitch includes clear prescriptions for improving America’s schools: leave decisions about schools to educators, not politicians or businessmen devise a truly national curriculum that sets out what children in every grade should be *learning* expect charter schools to educate the kids who need help the most, not to compete with public schools pay teachers a fair wage for their work, not “merit pay” based on deeply flawed and unreliable test scores encourage family involvement in education from an early age *The Death and Life of the Great American School System* is more than just an analysis of the state of play of the American education system. It is a must-read for any stakeholder in the future of American schooling.<

Francesca Pons

Estrògens conjugats

Com en la fotografia, la poesia d’Estrògens conjugats conté la química necessària per fixar la reflexió al voltant dels temes clàssics en la mirada del lector-viatger. Un viatger que mira per la finestra oberta d’aquest llibre i es deixa dur per un paisatge conegut (amor, desamor, mort, vida…) però que tanmateix canvia a cada jornada de viatge, a cada poema. Estrògens conjugats fa una captura dels clàssics del desfici humà. Una fotografia feta a una velocitat lenta que desdibuixa allò anecdòtic en un estel d’objectes, personatges, espais o temps desfets, i fixa l’essència d’allò que és inamovible, quiet i, per això mateix, etern.<

Nathalie Pons

A l’ombra del gessamí

Novel·la situada en els últims quaranta anys de la colònia francesa d’Algèria. La protagonista, l’Eliane Certain, viu uns fets dramàtics de la història contemporània: la Segona Guerra Mundial, la guerra d’Indoxina i els vuit llargs i cruents anys del procés d’independència algerià, fets que l’afecten i sacsegen el seu entorn més proper. Immersa en una complicada xarxa de relacions amb el món militar, intel·lectual i àrab de l’època, s’anirà adaptant als nous escenaris sobreposant-se a les sorpreses que li presenta el destí. Aquesta no és una novel·la de grans personatges històrics; és la història d’una dona extraordinària que lluitarà per sobreviure, pels que estima i per mantenir-se fi del a ella mateixa en un món que s’esfondra i canvia. És el retrat d’una generació atrapada en guerres i postguerres, en èxodes i genocidis, que va lluitar dia a dia fins a superar tota classe de dificultats.<

Edward Rutherfurd

The Rebels of Ireland: The Dublin Saga

EDITORIAL REVIEW: *The reigning master of grand historical fiction returns with the stirring conclusion to his bestselling Dublin Saga.* *The Princes of Ireland*, the first volume of Edward Rutherfurd’s magisterial epic of Irish history, ended with the disastrous Irish revolt of 1534 and the disappearance of the sacred Staff of Saint Patrick. *The Rebels of Ireland* opens with an Ireland transformed; plantation, the final step in the centuries-long English conquest of Ireland, is the order of the day, and the subjugation of the native Irish Catholic population has begun in earnest. Edward Rutherfurd brings history to life through the tales of families whose fates rise and fall in each generation: Brothers who must choose between fidelity to their ancient faith or the security of their families; a wife whose passion for a charismatic Irish chieftain threatens her comfortable marriage to a prosperous merchant; a young scholar whose secret rebel sympathies are put to the test; men who risk their lives and their children’s fortunes in the tragic pursuit of freedom, and those determined to root them out forever. Rutherfurd spins the saga of Ireland’s 400-year path to independence in all its drama, tragedy, and glory through the stories of people from all strata of society--Protestant and Catholic, rich and poor, conniving and heroic. His richly detailed narrative brings to life watershed moments and events, from the time of plantation settlements to the “Flight of the Earls,” when the native aristocracy fled the island, to Cromwell’s suppression of the population and the imposition of the harsh anti-Catholic penal laws. He describes the hardships of ordinary people and the romantic, doomed attempt to overthrow the Protestant oppressors, which ended in defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and the departure of the “Wild Geese.” In vivid tones Rutherfurd re-creates Grattan’s Parliament, Wolfe Tone's attempted French invasion of 1798, the tragic rising of Robert Emmet, the Catholic campaign of Daniel O’Connell, the catastrophic famine, the mass migration to America, and the glorious Irish Renaissance of Yeats and Joyce. And through the eyes of his characters, he captures the rise of Charles Stewart Parnell and the great Irish nationalists and the birth of an Ireland free of all ties to England. A tale of fierce battles, hot-blooded romances, and family and political intrigues, *The Rebels of Ireland* brings the story begun in *The Princes of Ireland* to a stunning conclusion.<

Pere Antoni Pons

Si t’hi atreveixes

Mentre estudiaven a Barcelona, en Robert i en Marcus van ser companys de pis, de festes i d’inquietuds artístiques, fins que la vida els va separar. Passats uns anys, en Marcus convida en Robert a passar uns dies a casa seva, en un poble de costa on ha refet la seva vida. En Robert manté l’ímpetu creador de quan era jove i volia ser novel·lista, però se sent desgastat per les desil·lusions i per un futur cada cop més incert. En Marcus, en canvi, ha renunciat al somni de fer guions de cine, però sembla reconciliat amb la vida. El retrobament dels dos amics els farà parlar del passat comú, de les ambicions i les il·lusions perdudes. Al xoc entre l’un i l’altre, s’hi suma un fet trasbalsador: la mort d’un mestre del poble que anys enrere va ser acusat d’abusos sexuals a una menor. La implicació dels dos amics en la investigació de l’assassinat posarà sobre la taula la necessitat d’atrevir-se a fer el que calgui per acomplir les ambicions.<

Emilie Richards

Fortunate Harbor

Pere Antoni Pons

Tots els dimonis són aquí

En Ricard Rosenthal és un jove professor universitari marcat per una tragèdia personal que encara el turmenta. Per escapar del dolor, se’n va a un petit poble de Mallorca per investigar la recent desaparició d’una noia jove, alumna seva. De la mà d’un sorprenent historiador local, en Ricard s’endinsarà en un vertigen de secrets i de malentesos, d’antigues llegendes incertes i de veritats actuals i inquietants. Obsessionat a resoldre un misteri que ningú no s’explica, haurà de fer front als terrors íntims que el roseguen i, alhora, als fantasmes d’un poble pacífic i plàcid que, de sobte, ha deixat de ser-ho. Narrada a partir d’una estructura que funciona com un interrogatori o com una conversa confidencial, Tots els dimonis són aquí és una novel·la d’intriga en què els drames íntims i els dilemes morals són tan desconcertants, i també tan temibles, com els més espantosos enigmes sobrenaturals.<

Emilie Richards

Happiness Key

Ponç Pons

Entre el cel i la terra

El monestir de dalt la muntanya del Toro contempla l’illa de Menorca i l’esdevenir dels seus habitants. A través d’en Damià, el fill d’un pescador que ingressa com a novici, viurem un seguit d’aventures: la invenció d’un aparell per volar, una epidèmia de pesta, misteriosos robatoris, una terrible sequera, la tramuntana que torna boig un músic italià, l’atac d’un grup de pirates, un exorcisme diabòlic… Tot vist i narrat des d’aquest monestir que s’alça entre el cel i la terra.<

Emilie Richards

Iron Lace

Baltasar Porcel

Cada castell i totes les ombres

A la vida, al paisatge, a la societat, hi ha alterosos castells que dominen arreu. Mentre, al seu voltant hi subsisteixen gernacions d’ombres, miserables o entranyables. Novel·la alhora coral i centrada en dos poderosos protagonistes, Cada castell i totes les ombres mostra el pols de Barcelona, essències i contradiccions d’ara mateix alhora que del seu passat, la tragèdia i les il·lusions. Una història i un panorama dinàmics, tan vastos com introspectius, multitudinaris, emotius i irònics. L’acció transcorre en tres dies i recrea les peripècies vitals de Pelai Puig Alosa i Ginés Jordi Martigalà, els dos extrems de la humanitat que pugna en la gran ciutat, on pul·lulen poetes, executius, el president de la Generalitat, l’alè pudent de la guerra civil. Per, a la fi, les pressions i passions, la lluita política, la tensió econòmica i ideològica, acabar fulminats per l’ensorrament d’un suburbi. Esdevé llavors la novel·la, igualment, un quadre al·legòric de l’urbs del segle XX, agent clau de civilització.<

Gary Rivlin

Broke, USA

Baltasar Porcel

Cavalls cap a la fosca

Al seu apartament parisenc, un escriptor rememora els orígens de la seva família, la nissaga dels Vadell, i com si destapés una nova caixa de Pandora, fa sorgir en la seva memòria les històries d’uns avantpassats sotmesos a les passions més desenfrenades: venjança, assassinat, adulteri, bogeria… Ell, criat en una atmosfera cruel, corrupta i asfixiant, es farà el propòsit de trencar amb el seu passat ancestral. Els cavalls, la imatge de l’ensenya familiar, galopen cap a la fosca, sense genet, per deixar enrere la destrucció.<

Gordon Ramsay

Cooking for Friends

Baltasar Porcel

Difunts sota els ametllers en flor

Difunts sota els ametllers en flor és una novel·la de construcció informal, multitudinària i irisada, plena d’ironia i de tragèdia, de poesia i d’acció, de realisme i d’imaginació, de sensualitat, construïda amb un idioma vellutat i fresc. Els seus trenta-dos capítols són una desfilada de personatges que es llancen a jugar, amb avidesa, la seva carta dins la vida i el món, per acabar morint sota els ametllers en flor, car el llibre se centra entorn de la gent i la vall d’ametllers d’Andratx, mitificada per l’autor. Guanyadora del Premi Josep Pla 1969, Difunts sota els ametllers en flor és un dels llibres més bells i violents de la literatura catalana d’avui.<

Hank Reinhardt

Hank Reinhardt's The Book of the Sword

Baltasar Porcel

L’emperador o L’ull del vent

L’Emperador o L’ull del vent es basa en un terrible fet històric: els milers de presoners napoleònics tancats durant anys en la petita illa deserta de Cabrera. Però sobre aquesta base sorgeix un personatge singular, Gérard de Fleury, que empès pel fibló desfermat per la Revolució Francesa i les guerres de Napoleó, encarna des de Mallorca a París, des de Còrsega a Andalusia, l’heroïcitat i la rapacitat que comporten els grans esdeveniments. Gérard, convertit en torbadora i cruel ombra imperial, és vist a través d’un prisma èpic i de testimonis tan aviat imaginaris (el narrador Grapain o la romàntica mallorquina Alòdia) com reals: el pensador Alexis de Tocqueville i el mateix Bonaparte.<

J D Robb

Indulgence in Death

<div> <h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3> <div> Lt. Eve Dallas of the New York Police and Security Department returns home from a long overdue Irish vacation to a string of bizarre murders in Robb's thrilling 32nd future cop novel (after Fantasy in Death). The crossbow killing of chauffeur Jamal Houston in his limo in a La Guardia parking lot is followed by the death of high-rent prostitute Ava Crampton, found at Coney Island's House of Horrors stabbed with a bayonet. Other victims include Luc Delaflote, a celebrity chef who's harpooned, and Adrianne Jonas, "a facilitator for the rich" strangled with a handmade bullwhip. Eve, assisted by her trustworthy sidekicks, Det. Delia Peabody and husband Roarke, uncovers a wicked game that grows increasingly macabre. Robb (the pseudonym of Nora Roberts) keeps the reader squirming as Eve and company try to avoid dying in weird ways themselves. (Nov.) (c) <br>Copyright © PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </div> <h3>From </h3> <div> NYPD lieutenant Eve Dallas might have been on holiday, but as she knows all too well, murder never takes a vacation. No sooner does Eve return from Ireland with her husband, Roarke, than she is back on the job looking into the death of a limousine driver who has been shot with a crossbow. The very next day, a high-priced licensed companion is stabbed to death in an amusement park horror house. The only connection between the two killings is the choice of weapons: the second involved an antique bayonet. As Eve and her team scramble to find more clues, Eve begins to think she is on the track of a thrill killer. When it comes to finding a killer, the smart money is always on Eve Dallas. The latest addictive addition to Robb’s long-running series features spiky humor; a cleverly constructed, adrenaline-raising plot; and the requisite amount of sexy passion between Eve and her soulmate, Roarke. --John Charles </div> </div><

Baltasar Porcel

Les primaveres i les tardors

Al voltant d’una taula, vora el foc primigeni, la família s’aplega per celebrar la Nit. L’espai tancat de l’antiga casa s’eixampla a mesura que els mons diversos de cada branca i personatge hi penetren i s’entrellacen en una narració comuna. Per una sola nit, la memòria dels Taltavull els encercla com el fum de la foganya i crea una atmosfera màgica on passat i present, mite i realitat, tenen la mateixa consistència. Les primaveres i les tardors presenta un Baltasar Porcel renovat que el posa un cop més a l’avantguarda del nostre panorama literari. Després de Cavalls cap a la fosca, que va tancar un cicle creatiu de l’autor, i de les dues últimes novel·les, apassionades i aventureres, l’obra que ha obtingut el premi Sant Jordi 1986 assenyala un nou tomb, remarcable pel seu estil —menys realista, més al·lusiu i, sobretot, sàviament irònic—, en l’obra d’un dels primers narradors d’aquest temps.<

Carles Porta

El club dels perfectes

Alimenta però no engreixa, com una amanida. Així és aquest llibre. Lleuger, saborós i fàcil de digerir. Apte per una llegida ràpida d’aquelles que deixen bon gust de boca i un somriure. Escrit en primera persona, narra les peripècies —viscudes— d’un oncle i el seu nebot durant set dies en un hotel spa de la Costa Brava. Es passen tota una setmana en dejú i sotmesos a una estricta disciplina estètica: pílings, banys, hidroteràpies, massatges, gimnàstica davant del mar i córrer pel camí de ronda. Volen aprimar-se. Allà, entre altres curiosos personatges, coneixen dues germanes que no paren de barallar-se i volen deixar de fumar, un home que fa una cura antiestrès i dues veteranes que tornen a necessitar urgentment abaixar el colesterol i perdre un munt de quilos. Tots aspiren a ingressar a l’envejable «club dels perfectes».<

J K Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>In <em>Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire</em>, J.K. Rowling offers up equal parts danger and delight--and any number of dragons, house-elves, and death-defying challenges. Now 14, her orphan hero has only two more weeks with his Muggle relatives before returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yet one night a vision harrowing enough to make his lightning-bolt-shaped scar burn has Harry on edge and contacting his godfather-in-hiding, Sirius Black. Happily, the prospect of attending the season's premier sporting event, the Quidditch World Cup, is enough to make Harry momentarily forget that Lord Voldemort and his sinister familiars--the Death Eaters--are out for murder.</p><p>Readers, we will cast a giant invisibility cloak over any more plot and reveal only that You-Know-Who is very much after Harry and that this year there will be no Quidditch matches between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Instead, Hogwarts will vie with two other magicians' schools, the stylish Beauxbatons and the icy Durmstrang, in a Triwizard Tournament. Those chosen to compete will undergo three supreme tests. Could Harry be one of the lucky contenders? </p><p>But Quidditch buffs need not go into mourning: we get our share of this great game at the World Cup. Attempting to go incognito as Muggles, 100,000 witches and wizards converge on a "nice deserted moor." As ever, Rowling magicks up the details that make her world so vivid, and so comic. Several spectators' tents, for instance, are entirely unquotidian. One is a minipalace, complete with live peacocks; another has three floors and multiple turrets. And the sports paraphernalia on offer includes rosettes "squealing the names of the players" as well as "tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves." Needless to say, the two teams are decidedly different, down to their mascots. Bulgaria is supported by the beautiful veela, who instantly enchant everyone--including Ireland's supporters--over to their side. Until, that is, thousands of tiny cheerleaders engage in some pyrotechnics of their own: "The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field."</p><p>Long before her fourth installment appeared, Rowling warned that it would be darker, and it's true that every exhilaration is equaled by a moment that has us fearing for Harry's life, the book's emotions running as deep as its dangers. Along the way, though, she conjures up such new characters as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, a Dark Wizard catcher who may or may not be getting paranoid in his old age, and Rita Skeeter, who beetles around Hogwarts in search of stories. (This <em>Daily Prophet</em> scoop artist has a Quick-Quotes Quill that turns even the most innocent assertion into tabloid innuendo.) And at her bedazzling close, Rowling leaves several plot strands open, awaiting book 5. This fan is ready to wager that the author herself is part veela--her pen her wand, her commitment to her world complete. (Ages 9 and older) <em>--Kerry Fried</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Even without the unprecedented media attention and popularity her magical series has attracted, it would seem too much to hope that Rowling could sustain the brilliance and wit of her first three novels. Astonishingly, Rowling seems to have the spell-casting powers she assigns her characters: this fourth volume might be her most thrilling yet. The novel opens as a confused Muggle overhears Lord Voldemort and his henchman, Wormtail (the escapee from book three, Azkaban) discussing a murder and plotting more deaths (and invoking Harry Potter's name); clues suggest that Voldemort and Wormtail's location will prove highly significant. From here it takes a while (perhaps slightly too long a while) for Harry and his friends to get back to the Hogwarts school, where Rowling is on surest footing. Headmaster Dumbledore appalls everyone by declaring that Quidditch competition has been canceled for the year; then he makes the exciting announcement that the Triwizard Tournament is to be held after a cessation of many hundred years (it was discontinued, he explains, because the death toll mounted so high). One representative from each of the three largest wizardry schools of Europe (sinister Durmstrang, luxurious Beauxbatons and Hogwarts) are to be chosen by the Goblet of Fire; because of the mortal dangers, Dumbledore casts a spell that allows only students who are at least 17 to drop their names into the Goblet. Thus no one foresees that the Goblet will announce a fourth candidate: Harry. Who has put his name into the Goblet, and how is his participation in the tournament linked, as it surely must be, to Voldemort's newest plot? The details are as ingenious and original as ever, and somehow (for catching readers off-guard must certainly get more difficult with each successive volume) Rowling plants the red herrings, the artful clues and tricky surprises that disarm the most attentive audience. A climax even more spectacular than that of Azkaban will leave readers breathless. The muscle-building heft of this volume notwithstanding, the clamor for book five will begin as soon as readers finish installment four. All ages. (July) <br>Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p> </div><

Carles Porta

El dia que vaig marxar

El Lolo és un adolescent que viu a Lleida i porta en aparença una vida normal: va a l’institut, és atractiu, té amics. Però sota la superfície s’amaga una realitat dolorosa: abandonat pels seus pares, que el van enviar a viure amb el seu germanastre, se sent enganyat per la vida, té episodis depressius i freqüenta amistats poc recomanables, tot per sentir-se part d’un grup. Mentre busca desesperadament el seu lloc a la vida, un malentès el portarà a prendre una decisió irreversible.<

J K Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

It is Harry Potter’s sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Voldemort’s sinister forces amass and a spirit of gloom and fear sweeps the land, it becomes clear to Harry that he will soon have no choice but to confront his destiny. Can Harry succeed in the death-defying tasks ahead?<

Carles Porta

L’amic president

«Té collons, Puigdemont: president de Catalunya! ¿Ets tu? Estic assegut al sofà, mirant la tele, amb una copa de vi i una barreja estranya d’emocions. Estic content, però espantat i, sobretot, perplex. ¿Ets el mateix Puigdemont que conec des dels anys vuitanta? Sí, ets tu, et veig igual, però tot el que t’envolta et fa molt diferent. És diumenge, 10 de gener. Com tanta gent que no ho havia fet mai fins avui, m’estic empassant la sessió d’investidura que s’emet per televisió. Et veig, et sento, i veig i sento el meu amic, el Pugi. Tu em dius Xarli i jo a tu Pugi, més fàcil que Puigdi, com et diuen alguns a Girona. Veig a la tele el Pugi que conec des que les nostres nòvies d’aleshores, l’Elianne i la Roser, vivien en un pis d’estudiants de Cerdanyola i tu i jo érem els borinots que les visitàvem els caps de setmana. Tu venies de Girona, on treballaves al diari El Punt, i jo de Lleida, on treballava al Segre. Vam connectar de seguida». Un retrat íntim i viu del Carles Puigdemont més personal escrit pel seu vell amic Carles Porta, autor del best-seller Tor.<

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