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This week's episode of A Cup of Poetry features "Lies" by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, the great Russian poet, novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, actor, editor, and director. The poem is read by Clinton Wilson.

Listen to A Cup of Poetry now and read the poem below!

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Selected Poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Book: Paperback | 5.07 x 7.79in | 96 pages | ISBN 9780140424775 | 26 Aug 2008 | Penguin Classic | 18 - AND UP

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Lies

Telling lies to the young is wrong.
Proving to them that lies are true is wrong.
Telling them that God's in his heaven
and all's well with the world is wrong.

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Read an excerpt from Outstanding!

The holidays.

A season all about Family, Faith, and Friends. For many, it's also a time of Food, Football, Festivities, Fun-and Freedom. Not just the blessing of living in a "free country," but also maybe-just maybe-a little less tied to our jobs and a little more sleeping, puttering, and simply doing nothing on some days! Sounds great, doesn't it?

But how about these words? Frenetic-a crazy, stress-filled pace. Finances-jubilant joy leads to dangerous debt. Frustration-things don't quite go the way we planned. Fear-of being alone, left out. Fatigue-we simply do too much and return in January needing the month just to recover!

The reality is this: The holidays, for lots of people, just aren't what they're cracked up to be. Though we want them to stand out-that is, to be outstanding-they often fall short of our expectations. But, with some work, some discipline, and some adherence to fundamental ideas and principles, we can each experience an exceptional season.

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One of the things that people don't often think about is that writers are also readers. And I think that what I read, and how I read, does shape what I write. Of course, I try to write books that I would like to read!

And that works in a couple of ways. Some of it, I do on purpose - other bits of it, I've realized recently that I've been doing intuitively. Let's look today at my Dragonfire series, and how my reading habits (likes and dislikes!) have helped to shape it.

 My Dragonfire books are a linked series. There are continuing characters who appear in all (or most) of the books, and the stories take place in the same world, which is hidden within the world we know. The heroes are the Pyr, dragon shape shifters charged with the mission of defending the treasure that is the earth, and with guarding the four elements. The Pyr aren't immortal, but they age very slowly until they mate - and they mate for life. Essentially, each Pyr is only fertile with his destined mate, and his encounter with that mate - who is a human woman - is indicated by what they call a firestorm. Sparks fly between the Pyr and his destined mate and when they consummate their relationship, the mate conceives the son of the Pyr. Each book features one Pyr and his firestorm - each book is a fantasy romance.

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Third annual competition introduces new young adult category and is open to previously self-published works

SEATTLE, NEW YORK - Dec. 9, 2009 - Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Penguin Group (USA) (NYSE: PSO) today announced the third annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, the international competition seeking the next popular novel. For the first time, the competition will award two grand prizes:  one for general fiction and one for best young adult novel.  The 2010 competition will also now be open to novels that have been previously self-published. Writers around the world are encouraged to begin preparing their manuscripts for entry into the competition, which is scheduled to launch on Jan. 25, 2010.

"We are looking forward to working with Penguin again to engage a whole new group of novelists for the third annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award," said Jeff Belle, Amazon.com's vice president, U.S. Books. "By offering two grand prizes and providing additional opportunities for self-published authors, we'll be able to support an even larger group of talented authors and their work."

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Audiobook Excerpt (6)

Audiobook Excerpt First Lord's Fury Jim Butcher (Penguin Audio)

Audiobook Excerpt Remarkable Creatures Tracy Chevalier (Penguin Audio)

Audiobook Excerpt Committed Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin Audio)

Audiobook Excerpt Stones Into Schools Greg Mortenson (Penguin Audio)

Audiobook Excerpt Shades of Grey Jasper Fforde (Penguin Audio)

Audiobook Excerpt The Honor of Spies W.E.B. Griffin (Penguin Audio)

Excerpt (3) 

Excerpt Doppelgangster Lauea Resnick (DAW)

Excerpt Incarceron Catherine Fisher (Dial)

Excerpt Too Big to Fail Andrew Ross Sorkin (Viking)

Video (3) 

Video Too Big to Fail Andrew Ross Sorkin (Viking)

Video Saving CeeCee Honeycutt Beth Hoffman (Viking)