This luminous story begins in the present day, when a professor invites a colleague to his home to see a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer—but why has he hidden this important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of events that trace the ownership of the painting back to World War II and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work's inspiration. As the painting moves through each owner's hands, what was long hidden quietly surfaces, illuminating poignant moments in multiple lives. Vreeland's characters remind us, through their love of this mysterious painting, how beauty transforms and why we reach for it, what lasts and what in our lives is singular and unforgettable.

Named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, the Christian Science Monitor, and the San Francisco Chronicle
Nominated for the Book Sense Book of the Year

An International Bestselling Sensation

A murder mystery, family saga, love story, and a tale of financial intrigue wrapped into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Harriet Vanger, scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pieced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

One of the most eagerly anticipated books of the season—funny, sexy, wise fiction from the freshest new voice in women's writing.

"I don't admit to myself what I'm doing when I put my bike helmet on and ride over to the bookstore a few blocks away. I pretend that maybe I'm just getting another Edith Wharton novel. But I bypass Fiction and find Self-Help. I think, Self-Help? If I could help myself I wouldn't be here. There are stacks and stacks of How to Meet and Marry Mr.Right, and I take my copy up to the counter as furtively as if it were a girdle or vibrator..."

With a steadily growing cadre of readers who delight in her smartly comic and insightful writing, Melissa

Bank is an event waiting to happen. The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing explores the life lessons of Jane, the contemporary American Everywoman who combines the charm of Bridget Jones, the vulnerability of Ally McBeal, and the wit of Lorrie Moore. As she works her way from defiant teenager to reluctant career girl, growing older and getting smarter, Jane maneuvers her way through love, sex, relationships, and the occasional perils of the workplace. She reluctantly succumbs to the questionable advice offered in a pop-psych book entitled How to Meet and Marry Mr. Right.

Accompanied at every turn by the ear-whispering authors (who bear an uncanny resemblance to two popular, hateful high school acquaintances) Jane makes a series of dating decisions that lead her in the right direction—but for the wrong reasons. Wise, poignant, and full of the kind of laugh-out-loud insight you just have to share with your best friend, Melissa Bank is the kind of writer readers have been waiting for: an original voice telling a universal story through characters we all love and recognize.

From Warren Ellis, the creative dynamo behind such acclaimed titles as Transmetropolitan and The Authority, comes volume one in a stunning new Titan graphic novel series! Global Frequency is a latticework of 1001 scientists, soldiers and specialists in every field imaginable, woven into a net to stop every terrorist with a nuke, government weapons programme gone rogue or alien computer virus, Seeing, hearing, touching and battling all evil, it is Mankind's collective consciousness and immune system. Drawn by a dream team of amazing artists, Global Frequency is the all-knowing, all-powerful blanket to smother our darkest fears and worst nightmares!

Nan Lyons (Who's Killing the Great Chefs?) looks at history's lavish feasts, richest (and oddest) dishes, great chefs and prize eaters, with recipes and color paintings.

A re-launch of the illustrated observations of gnome habits, anatomy and lifestyle designed for all age groups.

A provocative study of the gnostic gospels and the world of early Christianity as revealed through the Nag Hammadi texts.

Southern India 1969. Here, armed only with the invincible innocence of children, Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family: their lonely, lovely mother, who loves by night the same man her children adore by day...their blind grandmother, who plays Handel on her violin...their beloved uncle, A Rhodes Scholar pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher...their enemy, an ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt...and the ghost of an imperial entomologist's moth. But when their English cousin and her mother arrive for a Christmas visit, the twins learn that things can change in an instant, thatlives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding and inevitability. Yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it.

Recounts the story of the grain protectress, an image that has persisted from the ancient Near East to the classical world and still survives in folksongs and village celebrations today.

A companion to "Wild Women in the Kitchen", this playful potluck of spellbinding stories and 201 ravishing recipes makes a most unique cookbook. 30 illustrations.

The mysteries of the immortals are revealed in this spirited guide to the irresistible playground of love.

The Goddess is an enchanting collection that brings together twenty of the most important goddesses from world myths and legends. Organized alphabetically by goddess, this beautifully illustrated volume includes Greek and Roman goddesses as well as eastern goddesses from Chinese and Indian mythology. Exquisite photographs of ancient and classical works of art accompany information about each deity's story and symbolism.