1. EASY PREY
by John Sandford
Putnam
The homicide detective Lucas Davenport investigates the strangulation of a famous model.
2. BEFORE I SAY GOOD-BYE
by Mary Higgins Clark
Simon & Schuster
A woman with ESP searches for the truth behind the death of her husband, who was killed when his boat exploded in New York harbor.
3. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS
by J.K. Rowling
Levine/Scholastic
A British boy finds trouble when he returns to a witchcraft school.
4. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
by J.K. Rowling
Levine/Scholastic
A British boy's life at a school for witchcraft is menaced when an infamous murderer escapes from prison.
5. THE BRETHREN
by John Grisham
Doubleday
Three former judges, doing time at a federal prison in Florida, concoct a lucrative mail scam that goes awry.
6. THE BLUEST EYE
by Toni Morrison, Knopf
The story of an 11-year-old black girl -- pregnant by her father -- who prays for her eyes to turn blue.
7. STANDOFF
by Sandra Brown
Warner
A television reporter finds herself protecting the runaway teen-age daughter of a multimillionaire from Texas.
8. THE WEDDING
by Danielle Steel
Delacorte
Allegra Steinberg, an entertainment lawyer, makes plans to marry a New York writer in her parents' Bel Air home.
9. THE EMPTY CHAIR
by Jeffery Deaver
Forensic specialists pursue a disturbed teen-age boy who abducted two young women.
10. (x) HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE
by J.K. Rowling
Levine/Scholastic
A British boy, neglected by his relatives, finds his fortune attending a school of witchcraft.
11. STAR WARS: Rogue Planet
by Greg Bear
Lucas/Del Rey/Ballantine
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are swept up in a world of deadly intrigue.
12. OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
by Dr. Seuss
Random House
Finding your way through life.
13. BACK ROADS
by Tawni O'Dell, Viking
The ordeals of a 19-year-old man in western Pennsylvania who must care for his three younger sisters.
14. ANIL'S GHOST
by Michael Ondaatje
Knopf
A Sri Lankan woman who studied medicine abroad returns to examine the victims of her country's terror.
15. HE SHALL THUNDER
IN THE SKY
by Elizabeth Peters
Morrow
In Cairo in 1914, the archaeologist-sleuth Amelia Peabody must confront her archenemy.
16.(x) FIERCE INVALIDS HOME FROM HOT CLIMATES
by Tom Robbins
Bantam
A CIA operative named Switters goes on an erotic-spiritual quest.Nonfiction
1. TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE
by Mitch Albom
Doubleday
A sportswriter tells of his weekly visits to his old college mentor, who was near death.
2. FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
by James Bradley
with Ron Powers
Bantam
The story of the marines who raised the flag at Iwo Jima, by the son of one of the men.
3. NO SUCH THING AS A BAD DAY
by Hamilton Jordan
Longstreet
A memoir by Jimmy Carter's chief of staff, who has survived three bouts of cancer.
4. THE CAMINO
by Shirley MacLaine
A "journey of the spirit" takes the actress from present-day Spain through past lives to the origins of the universe.
5. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
by Nathaniel Philbrick
Viking
The story of the whale ship Essex, whose disastrous fate in the early 19th century would later serve as inspiration for Herman Melville.
6. 'TIS
by Frank McCourt
Scribner
An Irish immigrant gets used to life in America: a memoir.
7. THE MILLIONAIRE MIND
by Thomas J. Stanley
Andrews McMeel
An analysis of the people who make up America's financial elite.
8. FROM DAWN TO DECADENCE
by Jacques Barzun. HarperCollins
A survey of 500 years of Western cultural life, from 1500 to the present.
9. THE GREATEST GENERATION
by Tom Brokaw
Random House
The lives of men and women who came of age during the Depression and World War II.
10.(x) THE ART OF HAPPINESS
by the Dalai Lama
and Howard C. Cutler
Riverhead
What Buddhism and common sense tell us about everyday problems.
11.(x) PARENTHOOD BY PROXY
by Laura Schlessinger
CliffStreet/HarperCollins
The radio talk-show host offers a guide to getting families back on track.
12.(x) THE TIPPING POINT
by Malcolm Gladwell
Little, Brown
A journalist's study of social epidemics, otherwise known as fads.
13.(x) THE ROCK SAYS ...,
by the Rock with Joe Layden
ReganBooks/HarperCollins
A memoir by a professional wrestler.
14. IT'S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE
by Lance Armstrong
with Sally Jenkins
Putnam
A memoir by the Tour de France champion and cancer survivor.
15. FAIR BALL
by Bob Costas
Broadway
The sportscaster's critique of major-league baseball and his proposals for improving the game.
16.(x) ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY
by David Sedaris
Little, Brown
A collection of autobiographical comic essays by the author of Naked.
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s North District (北區), the garden features more than 700 plant species, many of which are labeled in Chinese but not in English. Since its establishment in 1999, the site’s managers have done their best to replicate a number of native ecosystems, dividing the site into eight areas. The name of the Coral Atoll Zone might
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
On Monday morning, in quick succession, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) released statements announcing “that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) have invited KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to lead a delegation on a visit to the mainland” as the KMT’s press release worded it. The KMT’s press release added “Chairwoman Cheng expressed her gratitude for the invitation and has gladly accepted it.” Beijing’s official Xinhua news release described Song Tao (宋濤), head of the Taiwan Work Office of the CCP Central Committee, as
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