Edith Wharton (1862 – 1937) tops today’s Buffet with The Age of Innocence, her classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of desire and duty in Gilded Age New York.
Wharton was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930. She combined her insider’s view of America’s privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humorous, incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight.
The Age of Innocence centers on an upper-class couple’s impending marriage, and the introduction of a woman plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. In 1992, an eponymous film adaptation was directed by Martin Scorsese and starred Michelle Pfeiffer as Countess Ellen Olenska and Daniel Day-Lewis as Newland Archer.
In its review of the book, Amazon’s staff said:
Somewhere in this book, Wharton observes that clever liars always come up with good stories to back up their fabrications, but that really clever liars don’t bother to explain anything at all. This is the kind of insight that makes The Age of Innocence so indispensable. Wharton’s story of the upper classes of Old New York, and Newland Archer’s impossible love for the disgraced Countess Olenska, is a perfectly wrought book about an era when upper-class culture in this country was still a mixture of American and European extracts, and when “society” had rules as rigid as any in history.
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The Age of Innocence (Dover Thrift Editions)
A respected lawyer and scion of one of Manhattan’s most important families, Newland Archer knows what people expect of him and is eager to comply. The first step on the path to happiness is to wed May Welland, a beautiful young woman of fine social standing. But the arrival of the worldly and exotic Countess Olenska, May’s cousin, changes everything. Ellen Olenska’s scandalous intention to divorce her husband, a Polish nobleman, is so far outside the realm of Newland’s experience that he cannot help but be fascinated by her, and by the independence she represents. As he draws closer to the irresistible countess, he risks breaking May’s heart and destroying his life of privilege forever.
Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction—marking the very first time a woman was so honored—and the basis for several film and stage adaptations, including the 1993 Academy Award–winning motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese, The Age of Innocence is one of the best-loved American novels of the twentieth century.
Little Lies
In this riveting prequel novella to her novel Little Mercies, New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf explores how even the smallest lies can have far-reaching consequences.
When the body of a woman is discovered in a local park—with her bewildered four-year-old son sitting beside her—veteran social worker Ellen Moore is called in to assist in the police investigation. Positioned beneath a statue of Leto, the goddess of motherhood, the crime is weighted with meaning and, Ellen discovers, remarkably similar to one from a decade past.
Ellen’s professional duty is to protect the child, but she’s not equipped to contend with a killer. As she races to connect the dots, she knows her time is running out. And the stakes are high: if she fails, another mother is sure to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Fighting for Dear Life: The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo and What It Means for All of Us
The story of the untimely death of Terri Schiavo, why it should not have happened, and its meaning for life in the legal and political arenas.
David Gibbs took a leap of faith in September 2003 when Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri Schiavo’s parents, asked him to become the lead attorney in their frantic fight to save their daughter’s life. Taking the case pro bono, Gibbs embarked on a compelling journey that would forever change his life. He watched Terri fade away in those last days, and was with Mary, her mom, the last time she saw Terri alive.
Now, David Gibbs gives an insider’s account of the story that tore the heart out of a nation and which marked a watershed moment in America’s judicial history. Gibbs shares as-yet undisclosed truths about the trial and error surrounding Terri’s death and why it matters so critically for us as we grapple with the value of life, and the question of who decides.
Under the Hood: An Under the Hood Novella (Entangled Bliss)
When sexy mechanic Alice Starr mistakenly believes attorney Mark Jameson needs her help, he discovers he likes being rescued for a change. Smitten by her confidence, he hides his expertise so he has an excuse to see her again.
Starting their new all-female garage, Under the Hood, is keeping Alice and her friends busy. She doesn’t have time for a man. But with one kiss, she and Mark have advanced into water so deep she’s in danger of drowning. So why hasn’t he called?
Mark wants to tell Alice the truth so they can pursue a relationship. But he’s got even bigger problems at his office when his bitter aunt threatens Alice’s livelihood. He needs a plan, fast, or else Under the Hood and his chances with Alice could both be ruined.
Binds (Binds Series Book 1)
Ophelia Brand’s life is in shambles. Married to an abusive man and forced to act like the perfect politician’s wife in public, her freedom has been completely stripped away. Alone and without purpose, Ophelia feels as if there isn’t much in this world to live for. Everything changes when an employee kidnaps her from a state dinner. Ophelia is thrust into a new world filled with people who claim to be an ancient race of Mages. They also claim that she is one of them.
While the country falls into the hands of a tyrannical dictator, Ophelia finds herself torn between the friendly Reece who wants nothing more than to protect her, and Spencer, the leader of the resistance who sees her as a tool to fight the war. Tensions run high as Reece and Spencer both try to help her master her powers and unravel the spells that restricted her from using them. As revelations of her past come to light, and the war is brought to her feet, Ophelia must quickly make a choice of who to trust.
Across the Pond
Sean Thayer, a police officer and former special operative, has lost his family. Thayer takes a forced vacation from his duties as a police officer and starts to have fun…making new friends, when a terrorist attack changes everything. Sean is asked to join an attack force to counter the world-wide terrorist assault. He must decide between protecting close friends and answering the call to duty. Meanwhile, an old friend and ally fights to survive terrorist captivity. Thayer calls upon his experience as a counter-terrorist operative to do everything in his power to stop those who threaten him, his friends, his country, and foreign allies.
Kenny Luckett was born and raised, and still lives, in Tennessee, a farmer’s son who knows hard work. After graduating from Freed-Hardeman University and from the Police Academy in Donalson, on the outskirts of music city, Nashville, he served as a police officer for thirteen years. He now writes, runs, dives, and hunts, when not travelling in the U.S. and Europe for research on his novels.
Love Bats Last (The Tavonesi Series: The Heart of the Game Book 1)
A stormy night changes their lives forever…
The baseball diamond isn’t the only field for all-star player Alex Tavonesi; he also runs his family’s prestigious vineyard. What he can’t seem to run is his love life. He’s closing in on the perfect vintage and the perfect game, but so far the perfect woman has eluded him.
Veterinarian Jackie Brandon is eluding her aristocratic past and memories of a soccer star who jilted her just before their wedding. She devotes herself to a marine mammal rescue center on the northern California coast, where hundreds of seals and sea lions are washing up dead.
A chance meeting in a midnight storm brings Alex and Jackie together to rescue a stranded whale. Watching her work, he realizes she’s the passionate, courageous woman he thought he’d never find—he just has to overcome her deep distrust of jocks.
Farmhouse Classics – Hearty Soups & Broths: 70 classic homemade soup and broth recipes
Soups and Broths offer the ultimate in versatility, are packed full of flavour, are perfectly varied in texture and colour and are practical meals for the whole family. This book is packed full of classic, hearty and flavoursome recipes usually handed down from generation to generation. Whether you are looking for that classic mushroom soup or a flavour packed broth to form the base of that perfect pot roast, you are sure to impress with these simple, wholesome recipes. Every recipe is written in a clear and concise style that takes you back to the farm having been tried and tested by generations.
Plaster City (A Jimmy Veeder Fiasco)
Jimmy Veeder and Bobby Maves are back at it, two years after the events of Dove Season—they’re not exactly the luckiest guys in the Imperial Valley, but, hey, they win more fights than they lose.
Settled on his own farmland and living like a true family man after years of irresponsible fun, Jimmy’s got a straight life cut out for him. But he’s knocking years off that life thanks to fun-yet-dangerous Bobby’s booze-addled antics—especially now that Bobby is single, volatile, profane as ever, and bored as hell.
When Bobby’s teenage daughter goes missing, he and Jimmy take off on a misadventure that starts out as merely unfortunate and escalates to downright calamitous. Bobby won’t hesitate to kick a hornets’ nest to get the girl to safety, but when the rescue mission goes riotously sideways, the duo’s grit—and loyalty to each other—is put to the test.
Once Again a Bride
Pushed into a miserable loveless marriage, Charlotte Rutherford Wylde finds her late husband has spent her entire fortune and more astonishingly, he has an entire family that he never bothered to mention.
The fashionable Wyldes are as surprised to hear of Charlotte’s existence as she is of theirs. To the charismatic Sir Alec Wylde, she is at first just another obligation in his overburdened life. But when they are thrown together to unravel the dangerous tangles the old man left behind, the two soon find that they only want to investigate each other.
Farewell: The Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century
1981. Ronald Reagan and François Mitterrand are sworn in as presidents of the Unites States and France, respectively. The tension due to Mitterrand’s French Communist support, however, is immediately defused when he gives Reagan the Farewell Dossier, a file he would later call “one of the greatest spy cases of the twentieth century.”
Vladimir Ippolitovitch Vetrov, a promising technical student, joins the KGB to work as a spy. Following a couple of murky incidents, however, Vetrov is removed from the field and placed at a desk as an analyst. Soon, burdened by a troubled marriage and frustrated at a flailing career, Vetrov turns to alcohol. Desperate and needing redemption, he offers his services to the DST. Thus Agent Farewell is born. He uses his post within the KGB to steal and photocopy files of the USSR’s plans for the West—all under Brezhnev’s nose.
Probing further into Vetrov’s psychological profile than ever before, Kostin and Raynaud provide groundbreaking insight into the man whose life helped hasten the fall of the Soviet Regime.
The Sworn Sword: The Graphic Novel (A Game of Thrones)
In this comic book/graphic novel adaptation set one hundred years before the events in George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Sworn Sword follows the adventures of Ser Duncan and his squire, Egg, as they quest for honor and glory in the Seven Kingdoms.
After the deaths, surprises, and heroics in The Hedge Knight, Dunk and Egg continue their journey in search of the fair puppeteer Tanselle. Along the way, the elderly knight Ser Eustace takes both men under his charge, alongside another knight—and this one promises trouble. Peace is ever elusive for Dunk and Egg, as they are soon embroiled in the schemes of local nobility, while a darker, greater thread threatens to unravel long-held truths of the Battle of Redgrass Field.
In classic George R.R. Martin fashion, heroes and villains are never clear-cut, and political alliances threaten to slice the deepest. Yet one path lies ahead for Dunk and Egg: onward toward destiny. Join them as they venture along a now-familiar world but in a time all-new!
Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim’s Tale
What happens when the pastor of a mega church loses his faith? Pastor Chase Falson has lost his faith in God, the Bible, evangelical Christianity, and his super-sized megachurch. When he falls apart, the church elders tell him to go away: as far away as possible. Join Chase on his life-changing journey to Italy where, with a curious group of Franciscan friars, he struggles to resolve his crisis of faith by retracing the footsteps of Francis of Assisi, a saint whose simple way of loving Jesus changed the history of the world. Read this riveting story and then begin your own life-changing journey through the pilgrim’s guide included in this powerful novel.
Hidden in the past lies the future of the church. When his elders tell him to take some time away from his church, broken pastor Chase Falson crosses the Atlantic to Italy to visit his uncle, a Franciscan priest. There he is introduced to the revolutionary teachings of Saint Francis of Assisi and finds an old, but new way of following Jesus that heals and inspires. Chase Falson’s spiritual discontent mirrors the feelings of a growing number of Christians who walk out of church asking, Is this all there is? They are weary of celebrity pastors, empty calorie teaching, and worship services where the emphasis is more on Lights, Camera, Action than on Father, Son, and Holy Spirit while the deepest questions of life remain unaddressed in a meaningful way.
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks here on page 2