In March 1987, a young author from Oklahoma published her first novel, Arrows of the Queen. This modest book about a magical land called Vademar was the beginning of a fantasy masterpiece that would span decades and include more than two dozen titles. Now sixteen of today's hottest fantasy authors-including Tanya Huff, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Fiona Patton, and Judith Tarr-visit the world of Valdemar, adding their own special touches.

If you could wish for one gift this Christmas, what would it be?

Everyday Lou Suffern battled with the clock. He always had two places to be at the same time. He always had two things to do at once. When asleep he dreamed. In between dreams, he ran through the events of the day while making plans for the next. When at home with his wife and family, his mind was always someplace else.

On his way into work one early winter morning, Lou meets Gabe, a homeless man sitting outside the office building. Intrigued by him and on discovering that he could also be very useful to have around, Lou gets Gabe a job in the post room.

But soon Lou begins to regret helping Gabe. His very presence unsettles Lou and how does Gabe appear to be in two places at the same time?

As Christmas draws closer, Lou starts to understand the value of time. He sees what is truly important in life yet at the same time he learns the harshest lesson of all.

This is a story about people who not unlike parcels, hide secrets. They cover themselves in layers until the right person unwraps them and discovers what's inside.S ometimes you have to be unravelled in order to find out who you really are. For Lou Suffern, that took time.

Sophie Rose is a crime reporter at a major Chicago newspaper and the daughter of Bobby Rose, a charming gentleman and big-time thief. When asked to write an exposé about her notorious father, Sophie quits and goes to work at a small newspaper, covering local personalities such as William Harrington, the 5K runner whose trademark is red socks. Those socks -- with Sophie's business card tucked inside -- are practically all that's found after Harrington is killed near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, seemingly in a brutal polar bear attack.

Sophie heads north to investigate, but danger follows in her wake. After one attempt on her life, she's assigned brash buy sexy Jack MacAlister as a bodyguard. But Sophie and Jack will soon be fighting more than their growing passion for each other Powerful forces will stop at nothing to prevent the exposure of the sinister conspiracy Sophie and Jack are about to uncover.

Having defeated Spartacus in The Death of Kings, Caesar is serving a five year term as Governor Of Spain (Hispania Ulterior) with his Tenth legion. Depressed with guilt still over the death of his wife in The Death of Kings, he has exhausted himself in conquering and expanding Spain. However when his friend Marcus Brutus' mother (Servilia Caepionis) arrives, she engages in a romance with him and re-awakens his desire for power.

Before his term ends he deserts his Governorship (a serious crime amongst Roman patricians) to challenge for the role of Consul. With the help of current Consul Crassus he manages, yet only just and by getting himself into unbelievable levels of debt (and by defeating a rebel army on the verge of attacking Rome), to obtain the rank. To allow himself unprecedented military control of a province after his first six months as Consul, Caesar forms the First Triumvirate with Crassus and Pompey, the old Consuls.

After six months fulfilling promises he made during the election campaign, Caesar takes his Tenth Legion, the Third Gallica (formed from the mercenary survivors) and two legions from northern Italy to a small outpost in Gaul.

While he is fighting in Gaul, Rome is sliding towards strife as two new senators, Clodius and Milo, attempt to wrest control of the city from each other with their gangs, by terrorizing and fighting in the city. On a final night, the Curia is destroyed and both are killed by each other and Pompeys legion. After this night, Pompey declares himself Dictator and begins his dominion of the city. Meanwhile Crassus is killed fighting with his legions in Parthia, leaving Pompey sole master.

After ten years of fighting, two expeditions to Britain, one million Gauls killed and another million sold into slavery, Caesar must make possibly the most important decision of his life. Does he return to Rome alone, as ordered by the Dictator Pompey, where his only military rival will most likely kill him, or plunge the Roman world into a civil war and see whether he survives. With a night of soul-searching on the Rubicon riverbanks, Caesar utters the words "The die is cast" (alea iacta est in Latin) and heads south to Rome with his legions.

Jo Strong is the youngest widow in the East End. Running her late husband's jewellery shop, mercilessly bullied by her evil mother-in-law, she is trying to get her life back together again. But then the 14-year-old daughter of one of the East end's most notorious gangsters is kidnapped, and Jo finds herself in a deadly race against time to rescue the girl ?before it is too late. And to get her back, she'll have to join forces with damaged but handsome bad boy Gabe Miller, a man who has a dark past of his own...

The Dragon Reborn consists of a prologue and 56 chapters. The Dragon Reborn - From the Mountains of Mist to Tear. Rand al'Thor, having declared himself the Dragon Reborn at the end of the previous book, The Great Hunt, secretly leaves the Shienaran camp in the Mountains of Mist to go to Tear to prove himself the Dragon Reborn. He is hunted by Darkhounds. Moiraine Damodred, Lan Mandragoran, and Perrin Aybara chase after Rand. Along the way, they encounter with a Hunter for the Horn, Faile Bashere; battle Darkhounds

The Shadow Rising consists of 58 chapters. It is the first book in the main sequence of The Wheel of Time not to contain a prologue.

At the beginning of this book, all major protagonists are together at the Stone of Tear, where Rand al'Thor had recently, at the end of The Dragon Reborn, shown to the world that he was the Dragon Reborn by wielding Callandor.

Selene reveals herself to be Lanfear, one of the Forsaken, and tells Rand to join her. The Stone of Tear is then stormed by Trollocs and Fades (though Lanfear did not have anything to do with this; in fact, it is believed she sent her own Shadowspawn to battle with the attackers). Rand uses Callandor to send a lightning storm to kill all of the Trollocs and Fades leaving some believing Rand has gone mad.

Rand declares his intention to go follow the People of the Dragon, the Aiel, into their home, the Aiel Waste. Egwene al'Vere and Moiraine Damodred resolve to accompany him. Mat Cauthon, unsure of what to do, finds answers within the Stone of Tear's Aelfinn ter'angreal, and is prompted to follow Rand to the Aiel Waste. Perrin Aybara, after hearing rumors of trouble in Two Rivers, chooses to return home to the Two Rivers, and Faile Bashere goes with him. Elayne Trakand, Nynaeve al'Meara, and Thom Merrilin decide to go to Tarabon to hunt the Black Ajah. Also Min Farshaw arrives in Tar Valon to report to the Amyrlin Siuan Sanche, inadvertently setting off a chain of events that will lead to a Tower split. Thus, The Shadow Rising follows four groups of characters in four main plotlines.

A Crown of Swords consists of a prologue and 41 chapters.

Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, prepares to attack the Forsaken Sammael in Illian while enjoying life with his lover, Min Farshaw, and attempting to quell the rebellion by nobles in Cairhien, during which Padan Fain severely injures him with the Shadar Logoth dagger. After recovering, Rand, accompanied by Asha'man, attacks Illian and defeats Sammael in a duel of the One Power in Shadar Logoth. Rand then takes the crown of Illian, formerly the Laurel Crown, but now called the Crown of Swords.

Egwene al'Vere and Siuan Sanche attempt to manipulate the Aes Sedai rebels in Salidar to move against Elaida's Aes Sedai in the White Tower in Tar Valon. After Egwene and Siuan investigate Siuan's suspicions about Myrelle, Egwene exploits the transfer of Lan's Warder bond from Moiraine to Myrelle in order to force Myrelle and Nisao to swear fealty to her.

In the city of Ebou Dar in Altara, Elayne Trakand, Nynaeve al'Meara, and Mat Cauthon search for a ter'angreal, the Bowl of the Winds, to break the unnatural heat brought on by the Dark One's manipulation of climate. They find it and enlist the help of the Kin and the Atha'an Miere, or Sea Folk. They also confront a Gholam. Mat is left behind after searching for Olver, and is caught in the fighting as the Seanchan invade Ebou Dar.

The Path of Daggers consists of a prologue and 31 chapters.

Elayne Trakand, Nynaeve al'Meara, Aviendha, and their coalition of channelers use the ter'angreal called the Bowl of the Winds to reverse the unnatural heat brought on by the Dark One's manipulation of the climate and then escape a Seanchan invasion by Traveling to Andor, where Elayne claims the Lion Throne.

Perrin Aybara moves into Ghealdan in an attempt to stop Masema Dagar, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the Dragon. At the end of the book, Faile Bashere is kidnapped by the Shaido Aiel.

Egwene al'Vere, Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, finally manipulates her unruly followers into giving her more control, and they prepare to Travel to Tar Valon to lay siege to the White Tower.

Rand al'Thor, with Asha'man and Illianers, attempts to repel the Seanchan invasion in Altara. Though successful in early skirmishes, things go awry later, when Rand uses Callandor on the Seanchan army. Since he was fatigued from wounds and channeling, and both halves of the One Power are behaving erratically in the area following the use of the Bowl of the Winds, Rand loses control while wielding Callandor, causing much destruction to both armies and forcing a stalemate. Returning to Cairhien, Rand is attacked by traitorous Asha'man led by Dashiva, who attempt and fail to kill him.

Mat Cauthon is absent from the book, due to injuries sustained at the end of the previous book, A Crown of Swords. Robert Jordan had earlier done the same for Perrin Aybara, who had been absent from Book 5, The Fires of Heaven.

Winter's Heart consists of a prologue and 35 chapters. Many of the events of Winter's Heart take place simultaneously with the events of the next book, Crossroads of Twilight.

Perrin Aybara and his followers pursue the Shaido Aiel who kidnapped his wife, Faile Bashere.

Elayne Trakand attempts to solidify her grip on the Lion Throne and put down rebellious nobles.

Mat Cauthon, making his return to the series after his absence in the previous book, is trapped in the city of Ebou Dar in Altara, which is under Seanchan occupation. He plans his escape, but in the end, his plans are disrupted by the interference of a Seanchan noblewoman named Tuon, who is revealed as the Daughter of the Nine Moons, heir to the Seanchan Crystal Throne. Mat, having heard a prophecy about him marrying the Daughter of the Nine Moons, kidnaps Tuon instead of tying her up and leaving her behind.

Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, is bonded as a Warder by Elayne Trakand, Aviendha, and Min Farshaw. He hunts down Asha'man traitors in Far Madding and kills most of them. Lan also kills Toram Riatin in a duel. Caught by guards, he is imprisoned for a short time but is set free by Cadsuane and the other Aes Sedai who followed him. Rand and Nynaeve al'Meara Travel to Shadar Logoth. There, defended by Cadsuane Melaidhrin's Aes Sedai and loyal Asha'man against the Forsaken, Rand and Nynaeve link and use the Choedan Kal to cleanse saidin of the Dark One's taint so that men who channel will no longer go mad. Whilst using so much of the One Power, the access key (of the female Choedan Kal) is destroyed.

Perrin Aybara continues trying to rescue his wife Faile Bashere, kidnapped by the Shaido Aiel, even resorting to torturing prisoners for information. In addition, Perrin is approached with the suggestion of alliance with the Seanchan, at least on a temporary basis, to defeat the Shaido.

Mat Cauthon continues trying to escape Seanchan-controlled territory while courting Tuon, the Daughter of the Nine Moons, the woman whom he has kidnapped and who, it has been prophesied, will become his wife. Mat discovers that Tuon, as a potential sul'dam, can be taught to channel the One Power.

Elayne Trakand continues trying to solidify her hold on the Lion Throne of Andor.

Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, rests after the ordeal of cleansing the One Power. He sends Davram Bashere, Logain Ablar, and Loial to negotiate a truce with the Seanchan. They return at the end of the book to tell him that the Seanchan have accepted the truce, but demand the presence of the Dragon Reborn.

Egwene leads the rebel Aes Sedai in maintaining the siege of Tar Valon. At the end of the book, she is kidnapped by agents of the White Tower after successfully blocking the River Port at the White Tower.

Lord of Chaos consists of a prologue, 55 chapters, and an epilogue. It is the first book of the Wheel of Time

to have an epilogue.

The deposed Queen of Andor, Morgase Trakand, goes to Amadicia to seek aid in returning to the throne. However, she is as good as taken captive by the Lord Captain Commander of the Children of the Light, Pedron Niall.

In response to the declaration of amnesty for men who can channel by Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, Mazrim Taim, a previous False Dragon who had wrought destruction in the Borderlands, swears allegiance to him. Rand has Mazrim Taim lead and train the newly-established Asha'man at the so-called Black Tower.

Rand is diplomatically courted by both the rebel Aes Sedai in Salidar, who send an envoy to Caemlyn, and the Aes Sedai of the White Tower, who send an envoy to Cairhien.

In Emond's Field, Perrin Aybara, making his return to the series after his absence in the previous book, feels the pull of ta'veren upon ta'veren and heads to Caemlyn to join Rand.

Wrongly thinking the Salidar Aes Sedai few in number and cowed, Rand sends Mat Cauthon to retrieve Elayne Trakand and win the allegiance of the rebel Aes Sedai. Mat discovers that Egwene al'Vere has been named the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, and when she sends Nynaeve al'Meara and Elayne to Ebou Dar in Altara to search for a ter'angreal with which to break the Dark One's control of the climate, Mat goes with them.

Shortly after Perrin joins up with him, Rand is secretly kidnapped by Elaida's Aes Sedai, who begin journeying back to Tar Valon. Along the way Rand is tortured severely and constantly, which has long-lasting effects on his psyche. Learning of the kidnapping, Perrin leads a mixed force of Rand's followers after the Aes Sedai, leading to the climactic Battle of Dumai's Wells. At the end of the battle, the rebel Aes Sedai are forced to swear fealty to the Dragon Reborn while the surviving White Tower Aes Sedai, who kidnapped Rand, remain captives.

The Gathering Storm consists of a prologue, 50 chapters, and an epilogue.

The series' storyline has been leading up to the "Last Battle" (Tarmon Gai'don): a fight between the forces of Light and Shadow. According to prophecy in the series the primary protagonist Rand al'Thor, as the Dragon Reborn, will "fight the [battle]", and must be present for the forces of Light to have a chance at winning and stopping the being known as the Dark One, the primary antagonist, from escaping his prison.^[2][3][4]

The Gathering Storm follows many plot threads but focuses on two characters, Rand al'Thor and Egwene al'Vere. It follows al'Thor's attempts to unite and rally the world's forces for the Last Battle, it also addresses his struggle with sanity following the events of the series. The unification of the White Tower, the headquarters of the female channelers known as Aes Sedai, is addressed from al'Vere's perspective, as well as the exposure of the Black Ajah, a secretive and opposing faction within the story.^[5] While the stories of other main characters such as Perrin Aybara and Mat Cauthon are briefly touched upon, they have little bearing on the main plot line. Some main characters such as Elayne Trakand and Lan Mandragoran do not appear at all, but are referred to.^[6]

This volume of The Wheel of Time ties up a number of loose ends exposed during the course of the series. Elayne gains the throne of Andor and also manages to root out the Black Ajah sisters in Caemlyn. Egwene, captured by the Tower Aes Sedai and reduced to novice white, begins undermining Elaida's control of the White Tower from within. Rand escapes a trap by the Forsaken Semirhage while at the same time capturing her and losing his left hand. Mat and Tuon get married after their party reaches the edge of Seanchan controlled territory. Tuon then returns to Ebou Dar where she learns about a civil war in the Seanchan empire and the deaths of all of the Imperial family except her, which will make her the new Empress of Seanchan. Perrin defeats the Shaido in Malden with the help of the Seanchan and rescues his wife Faile. Unusual Trolloc attacks, the dead walking, ripples in the fabric of the world and other events seem to indicate that the Last Battle is drawing near; several characters using different evidence confidently state that Tarmon Gai'don is close at hand.

An Interesting Adventure

National Geographic Adventure has published the best work by today’s finest writers, and this tenth anniversary anthology assembles an elite corps of authors that includes Sebastian Junger, Peter Matthiessen, Philip Caputo, and two dozen others. These reporters have voyaged to the ends of the earth to bring back the decade’s most thrilling, eccentric, and extraordinary tales. But the pieces collected here do more than paint a portrait of the world’s most extreme and fascinating environments—they also explore important questions about adventure in the 21st century.

These stories rocket readers across the roof of the world on the new high-speed railway in Tibet, describe the tension between Indian farmers and the sacred elephants besieging their villages, and introduce them to a shaman whom some believe can cure the most serious depressions. We meet the great Afghan warlord Ahmed Shah Massoud—said to have been the finest guerrilla fighter since Ho Chi Minh—encounter a yeti with legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner, and much more.

This is a wide-ranging collection for every road warrior and adventurer—armchair or otherwise—culled from the much acclaimed journal that in its first ten years has won millions of devoted readers and garnered more than a dozen prestigious prizes for excellence in journalism.

Poster Drawing Competition

Visit to Chung Ling Butterworth

Training Camp 2008

NEW BOOKS!!! FOR IMFORMATION: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Brown

This is d new book of library...

Finally!!!! A first blog of clhs library appear