The war against Voldemort is not going well; even the Muggles have been affected. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.

And yet . . . as with all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Harry receives some extraordinary help in Potions from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince. And with Dumbledore's guidance, he seeks out the full, complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort -- and thus finds what may be his only vulnerability.

It is 1757. Across north-eastern America the armies of Britain and France struggle for ascendancy. Their conflict, however, overlays older struggles between nations of native Americans for possession of the same lands and between the native peoples and white colonisers. Through these layers of conflict Cooper threads a thrilling narrative, in which Cora and Alice Munro, daughters of a British commander on the front line of the colonial war, attempt to join their father. Thwarted by Magua, the sinister 'Indian runner', they find help in the person of Hawk-eye, the white woodsman, and his companions, the Mohican Chingachgook and Uncas, his son, the last of his tribe.
Cooper's novel is full of vivid incident- pursuits through wild terrain, skirmishes, treachery and brutality- but reflects also on the interaction between the colonists and the native peoples. Through the character of Hawkeye, Cooper raises lasting questions about the practises of the American frontier and the eclipse of the indigenous cultures.

“This is a book about Heaven,” says Jayber Crow, “but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell.” It is 1932 and he has returned to his native Port William to become the town's barber.

Orphaned at age ten, Jayber Crow’s acquaintance with loneliness and want have made him a patient observer of the human animal, in both its goodness and frailty.

He began his search as a “pre–ministerial student” at Pigeonville College. There, freedom met with new burdens and a young man needed more than a mirror to find himself. But the beginning of that finding was a short conversation with “Old Grit,” his profound professor of New Testament Greek.

“You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out—perhaps a little at a time.”

“And how long is that going to take?”

“I don't know. As long as you live, perhaps.”

“That could be a long time.”

“I will tell you a further mystery,” he said. “It may take longer.”

Wendell Berry’s clear–sighted depiction of humanity’s gifts—love and loss, joy and despair—is seen though his intimate knowledge of the Port William Membership.

Hannah Coulter is Wendell Berry’s seventh novel and his first to employ the voice of a woman character in its telling. Hannah, the now–elderly narrator, recounts the love she has for the land and for her community. She remembers each of her two husbands, and all places and community connections threatened by twentieth–century technologies. At risk is the whole culture of family farming, hope redeemed when her wayward and once lost grandson, Virgil, returns to his rural home place to work the farm.

The ultimate recipe resource: an indispensable treasury of more than 2,000 foolproof recipes and 150 test kitchen discoveries from the pages of Cook's Illustrated magazine. 

There is a lot to know about cooking, more than can be learned in a lifetime, and for the last 20 years we have been eager to share our discoveries with you, our friends and readers. The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook represents the fruit of that labor. It contains 2,000 recipes, representing almost our entire repertoire.

Looking back over this work as we edited this volume, we were reminded of some of our greatest hits, from Foolproof Pie Dough (we add vodka for an easy-to-roll-out but flaky crust), innumerable recipes based on brining and salting meats (our Brined Thanksgiving Turkey in 1993 launched a nationwide trend), Slow-Roasted Beef(we salt a roast a day in advance and then use a very low oven to promote a tender, juicy result), Poached Salmon (a very shallow poaching liquid steams the fish instead of simmering it in water and robbing it of flavor), and the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies (we brown the butter for better flavor).

Our editors handpicked more than 2,000 recipes from the pages of the magazine to form this wide-ranging compendium of our greatest hits. More than just a great collection of foolproof recipes, The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook is also an authoritative cooking reference with clear hand-drawn illustrations for preparing the perfect omelet, carving a turkey, removing meat from lobsters, frosting a layer cake, shaping sandwich bread, and more. 150 test kitchen tips throughout the book solve real home-cooking problems such as how to revive tired herbs, why you shouldn't buy trimmed leeks, what you need to know about freezing and thawing chicken, when to rinse rice, and the best method for seasoning cast-iron (you can even run it through the dishwasher).  An essential collection for fans of Cook's Illustrated (and any discerning cook), The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook will keep you cooking for a lifetime - and guarantees impeccable results.

The ultimate kitchen companion, completely updated and better than ever, now for the first time featuring color photos

For twenty years, Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything has been the definitive guide to simple home cooking. This new edition has been completely revised for today’s cooks while retaining Bittman’s trademark minimalist style—easy-to-follow recipes and variations, and tons of ideas and inspiration.

Inside, you’ll find hundreds of brand-new features, recipes, and variations, like Slow-Simmered Beef Chili, My New Favorite Fried Chicken, and Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce; plus old favorites from the previous editions, in many cases reimagined with new methods or flavors. Recipes and features are designed to give you unparalleled freedom and flexibility: for example, infinitely variable basic techniques (Grilling Vegetables, Roasting Seafood); innovative uses for homemade condiments; easy-to-make one-pot pastas; and visual guides to improvising soups, stir-fries, and more. Bittman has also updated all the information on ingredients, including whole grains and produce, alternative baking staples, and sustainable seafood. And, new for this edition, recipes are showcased throughout with color photos.

By increasing the focus on usability, modernizing the recipes to become new favorites, and adding gorgeous photography, Mark Bittman has updated this classic cookbook to be more indispensable than ever.

From Amazon: A new edition of the best-selling cookbook features 1,200 kitchen-tested recipes, including six hundred new to this edition, along with menu suggestions, nutritional analyses, color-coded sections, step-by-step directions, full-color artwork, and more. 775,000 first printing.