Stealing Beauty

From the acclaimed writer Susan Minot, author of Monkeys, Lust & Other Stories and Folly, and the legendary filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci, director of Last Tango in Paris, The Last Emperor (winner of nine Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture), The Sheltering Sky, and Little Buddha, comes a hauntingly beautiful film about innocence, seduction, and the pain and pleasures of youth. Following the death of her mother, nineteen-year-old Lucy Harmon is sent by her father to Italy to stay with old family friends and to have her portrait done. She is eager to renew her acquaintance with Niccolò Donati, the handsome young boy from a neighboring family with whom she shared her first kiss on a visit four years earlier, and anxious to solve a riddle left in her mother's diary, the answer to which may change Lucy's life forever.

Grieving the death of her mother,19 year old Lucy Harmon is sent by her father to stay with friends at their home in Tuscany.Lucy has her own reasons for agreeing to travel to the Villa Grayson:Niccolo Donati captured her heart four years ago,her first love,a memory she has cherished even though the letters have stopped coming,she would dearly love to see him again.And she wishes to solve the riddle found in her mother's diary-Sara was a free spirit eager for all kinds of experience and shy of responsibility and her record of times past casts a shadow that hasn't faded.Lucy's nubile presence stirs up the torpid Italian summer lives of all those at the villa.Only the dying and old remember the passion and pain of youth with sensitivity equal to Lucy's.By the time she solves her own riddles,the lives of those who summer at the Villa Grayson will never be quite the same again.

A dark romance from USA Today bestselling author Julia Sykes Valentina hates me. That doesn't stop me from kidnapping her, stealing her away for myself. She was brought into my home when we were teenagers, her virgin body sold to my father to pay a debt. She became the only light in my dark criminal underworld, and I couldn't help loving her. Now, ten years have separated us, and I've established my reputation as the most notorious, sadistic drug lord on the west coast. I don't care if she's grown to hate me. I'm finally powerful enough to claim Valentina for myself, and no one can stop me. A decade hasn't dulled my obsessive need for her. I'll kill anyone who tries to take her from me. Valentina was always meant to be mine. Nothing will stop me from possessing her, body and soul. Keywords: dark romance, capture fantasy, antihero, kidnapping, romantic suspense, standalone

Paste Magazine Pick for Best New YA Books of June 2022 An Amazon Best Book of the Month “An unputdownable, clever, modern fantasy!” —#1 New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff "Alyson Noel is the queen of the supernatural romance thriller, and her latest is a can’t-miss read—it’s a Da Vinci Code meets Riverdale page-turner!" —#1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz “Addictive, dangerous, sexy, and magical, I couldn’t turn the page fast enough! Alyson Noël is a mad genius.” —Mary Pearson, New York Times bestselling author of The Remnant Chronicles “A sizzling story of opulent adventure, forbidden love, and impossible choices, Stealing Infinity is unputdownable.” —New York Times bestselling author Kristin Harmel “Stealing Infinity is a brilliantly conceived time-travel adventure full of twists and turns, with a romance that had me hooked. A must-read!” —Alexandra Monir, international bestselling author of The Final Six These days, I’ve been killing it when it comes to letting people down. Now I’ve been kicked out of high school, arrested, and accepted into a remote, off-the-grid school owned and operated by an inscrutable billionaire tech guru. Gray Wolf Academy is looking for a certain kind of student. Ones that no one will miss. Like me. Then there’s Braxton. The beautiful, oddly anachronistic guy who showed up right when the trouble started. And he’s a total enigma—which means that I definitely can’t trust him, even if there’s something about him that makes me want to. They all tell me I have a gift. A very rare gift. And Gray Wolf Academy wants me to learn it. To use it. Because if what they say is true, I have all the time in the world. And that makes me the most dangerous high school student you’ll never know... The Stealing Infinity series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Stealing Infinity Book #2 Ruling Destiny

Color illustration and map on lining papers.

In 21 separate interviews, two with director Bernado Bertolucci, this well-known movie critic sheds light on what motivates film-makers in their work. Focusing on Italian directors as well as American directors of Italian descent, unearths a variety of personalities and dreams (including Roberto Benigni and Life is Beautiful).

As heard on NPR's This American Life “Absorbing . . . Though it's non-fiction, The Feather Thief contains many of the elements of a classic thriller.” —Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air “One of the most peculiar and memorable true-crime books ever.” —Christian Science Monitor A rollicking true-crime adventure and a captivating journey into an underground world of fanatical fly-tiers and plume peddlers, for readers of The Stranger in the Woods, The Lost City of Z, and The Orchid Thief. On a cool June evening in 2009, after performing a concert at London's Royal Academy of Music, twenty-year-old American flautist Edwin Rist boarded a train for a suburban outpost of the British Museum of Natural History. Home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world, the Tring museum was full of rare bird specimens whose gorgeous feathers were worth staggering amounts of money to the men who shared Edwin's obsession: the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying. Once inside the museum, the champion fly-tier grabbed hundreds of bird skins—some collected 150 years earlier by a contemporary of Darwin's, Alfred Russel Wallace, who'd risked everything to gather them—and escaped into the darkness. Two years later, Kirk Wallace Johnson was waist high in a river in northern New Mexico when his fly-fishing guide told him about the heist. He was soon consumed by the strange case of the feather thief. What would possess a person to steal dead birds? Had Edwin paid the price for his crime? What became of the missing skins? In his search for answers, Johnson was catapulted into a years-long, worldwide investigation. The gripping story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man's relentless pursuit of justice, The Feather Thief is also a fascinating exploration of obsession, and man's destructive instinct to harvest the beauty of nature.

A stubborn beauty.... Anabelle Lehala just wants to spend time with her best friend, finish law school, and provide a good life for her and her father. Her world is knocked upside down when she meets a mysterious, captivating stranger who tempts her like no one before. Refusing to be just another notch in his belt, Belle forces herself to stay away from him at all costs. An egotistical beast.... Rich, powerful, and handsome, Aleksandr Wolfe has been accustomed to getting whatever he desires. That is, until he meets Belle. Immediately captivated by her, Aleks can't understand why she won't give in to the obvious mutual desire between them. Helpless to stay away from her, Aleks wonders if she'll be the one thing he can never have. The fight for her life.... When Anabelle finds herself in danger after refusing the advances of Gabriel Avenant, a man who believes she is his and his alone, Aleksandr vows to protect her. As their attraction grows, they each must decide if they are willing to give the ultimate sacrifice-their hearts.