![]() The possible suspects could people the cast of one of his operas: a libertine nobleman and his spurned wife, a jealous soprano, an ambitious composer, and a patrician family bent on the theater's ruin. Alarmed that the merchant-aristocrat who owns the theater is pressing the authorities to close the case, Tito races the executioner to find the real killer. Disaster strikes Tito's opera premier when the singer loses one beloved friend to poison and another to unjust accusation and arrest. Tito Amato, mutilated as a boy to preserve his enchanting soprano voice, returns to the city of his birth with his friend Felice, a castrato whose voice has failed. Opera is the popular entertainment of the day, and the castrati are its reigning stars. ![]() ![]() Venice, the dazzling city on the lagoon, is sailing toward the ruin of her maritime empire, determined to go down in a maelstrom of pleasure, music, and masquerade. ![]()
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![]() ![]() The relationship between Liam and Noah is fragile and just beginning, whereas the relationship between Zak and Killian is also fragile, but with years of history behind it. Only he doesn’t discuss it with Killian beforehand. ![]() Forced to live on the streets, Liam does everything he can to protect Noah, but when Liam is beaten up, he’s taken to the hospital and meets Zak, the attending nurse.Īs they have nowhere to go, Zak offers the young men a place to recuperate with him and Killian. Noah did not fit in well, and his traumatic past made him an outcast in school and prevented him from moving forward. ![]() Liam, already in college, was on track as a football player only because his father demanded he play. ![]() Liam and Noah became stepbrothers in high school and recently had to flee their home in California. Both Zak and Killian walk around the edges of their relationship too aware of how tenuous their bond might be. They love the home they have built in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania with their family of animals in need, but life has thrown them a few major obstacles in a row and while their love is still strong, the communication is non-existent. The men fell in lust immediately and love wasn’t far behind. Zak and Killian are living the dream-or they were living it for the past seven years. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It looks like everything is going according to plan when she gets a full scholarship to the University of California, Maple Hills and lands a place on their competitive figure skating team. ![]() ![]() So why not give them a try and find your next favorite romance?!Īnastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA. Icebreaker is a TikTok sensation that started as an indie-published book on Kindle Unlimited, but Atria picked it up, hence the sticker price shock.įor those of you looking for more figure skater-inspired romances, we've put together a list of eight titles that feature figure skating as one or more of their main characters. If you love a good romance, listening to the audiobook version of Icebreaker is a great way to keep you company on your commute! If you finished reading Icebreaker by Hannah Grace, here are eight books to read after.įorced proximity between an Olympic-bound figure skater and the captain of the hockey team leads to sparks flying and a romance that is sure to keep pages turning. If you're a Cutting Edge fan looking for a romance featuring figure skating and hockey players, Icebreaker by Hannah Grace is the perfect book for you! This post may contain links to purchase books & you can read our affiliate disclosure here. If you purchase a book, we will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Disclosure: We are part of the Amazon Affiliate program. ![]() ![]() ![]() George Eliot the author was an advocate of realism in literature. The novel is set in the year 1799 in the fictional village of Hayslope, located in the Midlands of England, and gives a depiction of the ordinary life of common folks in the countryside with a unique narrative technique. It is the story of the personal and relationship struggles of the eponymous protagonist Adam Bede who falls in love with beautiful Hetty Sorrel and joyfully looks forward to making her his bride after a hard-won betrothal only to be crushed by the news of a crime that reveals Hetty to be callous and selfish. ![]() Adam Bede by George Eliot is a historical novel that places ordinary people and commonplace things at the center of its art. ![]() ![]() ![]() Not that conditions at the eponymous farm are much above Depression-level! But there is also the absence of the Depression, which I and many readers know best through Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London set at about the time this was being written. Could I write a review of Cold Comfort Farm as Science Fiction? I thought about it but it was beyond me.īy being set in 1946 or 7, Gibbons’ failure to predict WWII leaves a hole, which of course most readers, ignoring that it’s set in the future, don’t notice. What made me go back and check though was when Flora, our protagonist, phones a friend in London from a phone box in the wilds of Sussex, he is able to observe her on his television screen, talking and fidgeting. ![]() ![]() Given the book’s publication date, the reader can assume that the year is 1931”, ignoring that one character is mentioned as having fought in a war in 1946. One set of notes for students says “The events described in the novel take place over a five-month period from February through June. It seems to me that many of the commentators on Cold Comfort Farm (1932) missed the Note at the beginning: “The action of the story takes place in the near future”. ![]() ![]() ![]() It was supplanted by “Bennie And The Jets,” which went on to have a rich life of its own as the third single from the album. Such was the strength of the 17-song album that “Candle In The Wind” wasn’t released as a single in America. I thought, What a great way of describing someone’s life.” ![]() Continued Bernie: “Clive Davis had used it to describe Janis Joplin and, for some reason, I just kept hearing this term. “Solzhenitsyn had written a book called Candle In The Wind.” That volume, described as “a semi-autobiographical drama of ideas,” was published in 1973. “I had always loved the phrase,” Taupin said of the title. ‘What a great way of describing someone’s life’ ![]() Though Bernie was then, as he wrote, “just a kid” of 12, while Elton was 15, the effect of her passing inspired the creation of “Candle In The Wind” more than a decade later. Taupin’s musings on how we claim subconscious “ownership” of our idols was focused on Marilyn Monroe, who died at the age of 36, in 1962. How strange to think, then, that when it was first released, it wasn’t a Top 10 hit on either side of the Atlantic.Įlton set the timeless melody to an incisive and prescient Bernie Taupin lyric about the price of fame and our collective fascination for those who die too soon. Of all the jewels in Elton John’s crown, perhaps “Candle In The Wind” is the one that has truly become his song for all seasons. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Among them, The Dark Tower series stands out as an epic saga spanning eight novels, weaving together elements of horror, fantasy, western, and science fiction. ![]() Master storyteller Stephen King has penned many masterpieces throughout his prolific career. The game has become a cult favorite among horror and tabletop gaming enthusiasts, and has even spawned its own line of merchandise and collectibles. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos has inspired countless adaptations and spin-offs, including the popular tabletop game “Call of Cthulhu,” which allows players to immerse themselves in Lovecraft’s terrifying universe. Lovecraft’s unique blend of science fiction and supernatural horror created a lasting legacy, influencing numerous authors and transcending the boundaries of literature to permeate other forms of media, including film, television, and tabletop games. This series of interconnected stories and novels brought to life a universe of cosmic terror, terrifying creatures, and ancient, powerful beings. ![]() Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos left an indelible mark on the genre. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu MythosĬonsidered one of the founding fathers of modern horror, H.P. Their unforgettable characters, settings, and storylines have made these series some of the most iconic in horror literature history. Horror literature has been around for centuries, but some classic horror series have stood the test of time, leaving a lasting impact on the genre and inspiring countless authors who came after them. ![]() ![]() It speaks to how invested i am in this that "something had to happen tomorrow, and it did. It is very hard to come up with my goofy little entries for each day of this project when i think each chapter is very good and i keep finding myself taking it very seriously. The OTHER thing is that, on top of everything else, this also has some of the most gorgeous and visual descriptions i've read in recent memory. ![]() Kind of cool that there was very little that could ail you in old times that couldn't be cured by a glass of whiskey at a strip club. ![]() the dichotomy between how the intellectual student and the castout are treated by the millionaire.so fascinating. The way the theme of what white people want and expect and reward in Black people here is shown and not told is brilliant. clear from chapter one that it is going to be brutal and excellent. extremely cool nonsense behavior by me.Ĭlear from the prologue this would be a solid read for me. Love to own a book for 8 years without ever picking it up and then immediately find it compulsively readable from the very first page. ![]() If saying you want to read long classics counts as reading them, i'm the smartest girl in the world. It's another PROJECT LONG CLASSIC installment. another several-week period that shall be spent reading it, one chapter at a time, daily. another paragon of literature added to my currently reading. another impeccable pun combining the title of a seminal work with the month it currently is. ![]() ![]() ![]() She is a hugely influential figure in the Parisian artistic and literary community. ![]() Stein serves as a mentor to Hemingway, advising him on writing, buying art, and other matters. He often goes to visit Gertrude Stein at her home at 27 rue de Fleurus, where she lives with her partner, Alice B. He sometimes struggles with writer’s block, but when this happens reassures himself that all he needs to do is “write one true sentence” and the rest will follow. When they return, the weather in Paris is beautiful, but still cold, and Hemingway is always hungry. Later, he goes home and makes plans to go on a trip with his wife, Hadley. ![]() He stares at the woman, and the sight of her inspires his writing. He goes to work in a café, where he sees a beautiful woman. Hemingway begins by describing the “bad weather” during the winter in Paris and the cafés filled with alcoholics. ![]() ![]() ![]() His quest for the truth will lead him backward in time, to the twentieth century’s greatest act of treason, and, finally, to a spellbinding climax along the banks of the Potomac River outside Washington that will leave readers breathless. Gabriel is lured into the hunt for the traitor after his most important asset inside Russian intelligence is brutally assassinated while trying to defect in Vienna. Now he and the Russians will engage in a final epic showdown, with the fate of the postwar global order hanging in the balance. Gabriel has battled the dark forces of the new Russia before, at great personal cost. Only one man can unravel the conspiracy: Gabriel Allon, the legendary art restorer and assassin who serves as the chief of Israel’s vaunted secret intelligence service. Long ago, the KGB inserted a mole into the heart of the West-a mole who stands on the doorstep of ultimate power. The woman is the keeper of the Kremlin’s most closely guarded secret. It is the story of a man she once loved in the Beirut of old, and a child taken from her in treason’s name. In an isolated village in the mountains of Andalusia, a mysterious Frenchwoman begins work on a dangerous memoir. ![]() |