NBS recommends new literary marvels

The Gathering Storm

By Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

P1,295

MANILA, Philippines - The final volume of the “Wheel of Time” series, A Memory of Light was partially written by Robert Jordan before his untimely passing in 2007. Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn books, was chosen by Jordan’s editor — his wife, Harriet McDougal — to complete the final book. The scope and size of the volume was such that it could not be contained in a single book, and so Tor proudly presents The Gathering Storm as the first of three novels that will make up A Memory of Light. This short sequence will complete the struggle against the Shadow, bringing to a close a journey begun almost 20 years ago and marking the conclusion of the “Wheel of Time,” the preeminent fantasy epic of our era.

Ford County

By John Grisham

P899

In his first collection of short stories John Grisham takes us back to Ford County, Mississippi, the setting of his first novel, A Time to Kill. Wheelchair-bound Inez Graney and her two older sons, Leon and Butch, take a bizarre road trip through the Mississippi Delta to visit the youngest Graney brother, Raymond, who’s been locked away on death row for 11 years. It could well be their last visit.

Featuring a cast of characters you’ll never forget, these stories bring Ford County to vivid and colorful life. Often hilarious, frequently moving, and always entertaining, this collection makes it abundantly clear why John Grisham is our most popular storyteller.

Say You’re One Of Them

By Uwem Akpan

P555

Uwem Akpan’s stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they’ve ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of “An Ex-Mas Feast” needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his 12-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can’t be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord.

 In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa.

Akpan’s voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent.

Time Almanac 2010

Encyclopedia Britannica

P585

Two of the world’s greatest names in information — Time magazine and Encyclopedia Britannica — team up to create a volume that is informative, wide-ranging, and authoritative. Find instant information on the events of the year, plus a host of fascinating people — heroes and villains, rebels and icons, artists and entertainers — that marked 2009. Also includes essential information, the latest sports results, awards, plus Time’s “Person of the Times 100.”

It’s Your Time

By Joel Osteen

P725

Get your hopes up. Raise your expectations. Your best days are in front of you. In challenging times, it may be hard to see better days ahead. You may feel as though your struggles will never end, that things won’t ever turn around for you.

This is exactly the moment to put your faith into action and expect God’s blessings. It’s your time to declare your faith, to look for God’s favor, and to give control of your life to Him so that you can find fulfillment in His plans for you!