FICTION
1. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS
by Sara Gruen
Algonquin
A young man - and an elephant - save a Depression-era circus.
2. TWELVE SHARP
by Janet Evanovich
St Martin's
The bounty hunter Stephanie Plum must find a killer and a rescue a kidnapped child.
3. THE SECRET DIARIES OF MISS MIRANDA CHEEVER
by Julia Quinn
Avon
A woman who, as a young girl, fell for a count now hopes to claim him as her own.
4. LISEY'S STORY
by Stephen King
A widow struggles with grief after the death of her husband, a famous novelist with terrible memories.
5. SAFE HARBOR
by Christine Feehan
Jove
A supermodel is attacked, and a sheriff who desires her vows to capture the assailant. Part Five of the Drake Sisters series.
6. THE KITE RUNNER
by Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead
An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how a childhood friend has fared.
7. COUNTRY BRIDES
by Debbie Macomber
Mira
Two novels in one book about women engaged to the wrong men.
8. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
by Robert Ludlum
Bantam
A reissue of the action-packed thriller.
9. THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER
by Kim Edwards
Penguin
A doctor's decision to secretly send his newborn daughter, who has Down syndrome, to an institution haunts everyone involved.
10. THE ROAD
by Cormac McCarthy
Vintage
A father and son travel in post-apocalypse America.
11. THE BOOK OF THE DEAD
by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Vision
The final volume of a trilogy about an FBI agent and his criminal brother.
12. SANDCASTLES
by Luanne Rice
Bantam
An artist who has been jailed returns home to find a conflicted wife and troubled daughters.
13. MIDDLESEX
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Picador
The narrator - who, at 14, discovered she was a hermaphrodite - tells a story about three generations of Greek-Americans.
NONFICTION
1. EAT, PRAY, LOVE
by Elizabeth Gilbert
Penguin Books
A writer's yearlong journey in search of self takes her to Italy, India and Indonesia.
2. THE GLASS CASTLE
by Jeannette Walls
Scribner
The author recalls a bizarre childhood during which she and her siblings were constantly moved.
3. BLINK
by Malcolm Gladwell
Back Bay
The author of The Tipping Point explores the importance of hunch and instinct.
4. THREE CUPS OF TEA
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Penguin Books
A former mountain climber builds schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
5. 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN
by Don Piper with Cecil
Murphey
Revell
A minister describes the otherworldly experience he had after a car accident.
6. NIGHT
by Elie Wiesel
Hill & Wang
A new translation of an account of the horrors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
7. THE TIPPING POINT
by Malcolm Gladwell
Back Bay/Little, Brown
A journalist's study of social epidemics, also known as fads.
8. THE YEAR OF MAGICAL
THINKING
by Joan Didion
Vintage
The author's attempt to come to terms with the death of her husband and the grave illness of their only daughter.
9. MAYFLOWER
by Nathaniel Philbrick
Penguin Books
How America began, from the author of In the Heart of the Sea.
10. THE MEASURE OF A MAN
by Sidney Poitier
HarperSanFrancisco
The movie actor's spiritual autobiography.
11. STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS
by Daniel Gilbert
Vintage
A Harvard professor explores why people can't predict what will make them happy.
12. CHOSEN BY A HORSE
by Susan Richards
Harcourt
The author recounts rescuing a broken-down horse, which in turn helped rescue her.
13. THE FREEDOM WRITERS DIARY
by the Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell
Broadway
Students considered "unteachable" write about their lives; the basis for the movie Freedom Writers.
Last Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) detected 41 sorties of Chinese aircraft and nine navy vessels around Taiwan over a 24-hour period. “Thirty out of 41 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern ADIZ (air defense identification zones),” it reported. Local media noted that the exercises coincided with the annual Han Kuang military exercises in Taiwan. During the visit of then-US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August 2022, the largest number of sorties was on Aug. 5, “involving a total of 47 fighter aircraft and two supporting reconnaissance/patrol aircraft.
Xu Pengcheng looks over his shoulder and, after confirming the coast is clear, helps his crew of urban adventurers climb through the broken window of an abandoned building. Long popular in the West, urban exploration, or “urbex” for short, sees city-dwelling thrill-seekers explore dilapidated, closed-off buildings and areas — often skirting the law in the process. And it is growing in popularity in China, where a years-long property sector crisis has left many cities dotted with empty buildings. Xu, a 29-year-old tech worker from the eastern city of Qingdao, has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers for his photos of rundown schools and
At times, it almost seems that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is out to sabotage the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). As if on cue, with the recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers in full swing, Ma thought it would be a good time to lead a delegation of students to China and attend the 17th Straits Forum (海峽論壇) and meet with Wang Huning (王滬寧), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo member entrusted by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to be his second in command on Taiwan policy and to run the United Front Work Department (UFWD) in charge of subverting enemies,
There is no politician today more colorful than Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯). The recall vote against her on July 26 will test the limits of her unique style, making it one of the most fascinating to watch. Taiwan has a long history of larger-than-life, controversial and theatrical politicians. As far back as 1988, lawmaker Chu Kao-cheng (朱高正) was the first to brawl and — legend has it — was the first to use the most foul Taiwanese Hokkien curse on the floor of the legislature. Current Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) has become famous
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