Search Results for: X
Killer Christmas
Murder in season : a novel
Summary:"With work on the reconstruction of her beloved home almost complete, Jessica Fletcher is in high holiday spirits, spearheading the annual Christmas pageant, supervising the Friends of the Library’s toy drive, and preparing for her nephew Grady and his family to come to town. The only thing dampening the holiday cheer is the discovery on Jessica’s property of two sets of bones: one set ancient, the other only a few weeks old. It’s concluded they were placed there during the construction, and Jessica suspects that despite the centuries between them, the bones might be connected. Soon, tabloid reporter Franklin Joy arrives in Cabot Cove to write a story about what he calls "Murder Cove, USA." But when Franklin himself is murdered, Jessica speculates that his arrival, his death, and the discovery of the bones are all connected. As Jessica digs deeper to find the connection between the bones and the murder, everything seems to come back to a mystery that has long plagued Cabot Cove. If she wants to solve the case, she’ll need to delve into her beloved town’s dark history, or else this holiday season may be her last…"
A Christmas resolution : a novel
Summary:"When Celia Hooper discovers that her dear friend Clementine is to marry widower Seth Marlowe – a man with a sinister past – she calls upon her husband, Detective John Hooper of the Thames River Police, to help her find out what really happened to Seth’s first wife several years ago. Rumour has it that she killed herself and Seth’s daughter ran away to live on the streets but no one seems to know the truth."
The gift of the magpie : a Meg Langslow mystery
Summary:"Meg’s running Caerphilly’s Helping Hands for the Holidays project, in which neighbors help each other with things they can’t do and can’t afford to have done. Her hopes for a relatively peaceful (if busy) Christmas vanish when someone murders Harvey the Hoarder, whose house the Helping Hands were decluttering. Was there any truth to the rumor that he had something valuable hidden beneath all his junk? Was one of his friends, neighbors, or relatives greedy enough to murder him for the rumored treasure? And what about the magpie that has been bringing her family bits of tinsel and costume jewelry-does the bird’s latest gift hold a clue to solving the crime?"
Have yourself a fudgy little Christmas : a candy-coated mystery with recipes
Summary:When a mysterious note leads her to a dying woman who names her friend, Frances, as her killer, fudge shop owner Allie McMurphy knows that’s impossible and must wrap up this case before the trail runs cold.
A garland of bones
Summary:"Sarah Booth has traded in hosting this Christmas season for a road trip with her besties. Each little Delta town has a special Christmas activity, and Sarah Booth’s bff and detective partner, Tinkie, has arranged to rent a limo for the gang and drive to Columbus, MS, to stay in a B&B. But Christmas cheer soon turns to Christmas fear when, at one event after another, people keep getting hurt. And when the woman who hires Sarah Booth to find the villain behind the so-called accidents is nearly killed with an arrow during a holiday mumming, Sarah Booth knows something more sinister is at work."
Saddled with murder
Summary:"It’s Christmas season and veterinarian Kate Turner is definitely not feeling jolly. She’s overworked, unappreciated, dealing with two dissatisfied clients AND a complicated personal life. Then, both dissatisfied clients pass away within two weeks of each other. Coincidence, right? But when Kate’s ex-boyfriend, Jeremy, is mugged and robbed after they have a heated argument in the hospital parking lot, all the coincidences seem to point to something a little more sinister… The fifth entry in the delightful, animal-focused mystery series finds Kate with her hands tied while trying to juggle her love-life, work, and a murder investigation."
Mrs. Claus and the Santaland slayings
Summary:April Claus is adjusting to life in the North Pole with her new husband, Nick, when the suspicious death of an ill-tempered elf, initially ruled an accident, motivates her to investigate suspects on a potentially lethal naughty list.
Christmas card murder
Summary:Christmas card murder: "In the midst of holiday home renovations, Lucy Stone accidentally unwraps a murder mystery decades in the making when she discovers an old Christmas card with a nasty message belonging to one of her farmhouse’s previous residents. The case may be colder than a New England Christmas, but Lucy’s determined to sort it out before Santa comes to town."–Amazon.,Death of a Christmas Carol: "The Island Times Christmas soiree gets off to a scroogey start when Hayley Powell, Mona Barnes, and Rosana Moretti receive a Christmas card from the town flirt, Carol Waterman, who threatens to run off with one of their husbands! The ladies chalk it up to an imprudent prank…until they find Carol mistletoe-up under her tree…"–Amazon.,Death of a Christmas card crafter: "Slay bells ring when the body of Arborville High School’s beloved art teacher (and annual Christmas card designer), Karma Karling, is discovered on the first day of the Holiday Craft Fair. Now, Pamela Paterson and the Knit and Nibble crew must swap swatching for sleuthing in order to put a Christmas killer on ice."–Amazon.
Summary:Christmas card murder: "In the midst of holiday home renovations, Lucy Stone accidentally unwraps a murder mystery decades in the making when she discovers an old Christmas card with a nasty message belonging to one of her farmhouse’s previous residents. The case may be colder than a New England Christmas, but Lucy’s determined to sort it out before Santa comes to town."–Amazon.,Death of a Christmas Carol: "The Island Times Christmas soiree gets off to a scroogey start when Hayley Powell, Mona Barnes, and Rosana Moretti receive a Christmas card from the town flirt, Carol Waterman, who threatens to run off with one of their husbands! The ladies chalk it up to an imprudent prank…until they find Carol mistletoe-up under her tree…"–Amazon.,Death of a Christmas card crafter: "Slay bells ring when the body of Arborville High School’s beloved art teacher (and annual Christmas card designer), Karma Karling, is discovered on the first day of the Holiday Craft Fair. Now, Pamela Paterson and the Knit and Nibble crew must swap swatching for sleuthing in order to put a Christmas killer on ice."–Amazon.
Gingerdead man
Summary:When a man playing Santa is poisoned by one of her cookies at the Dickens of a holiday festival, Val Deniston’s reputation is on the line and she and her Granddad must race against time to catch a cookie-cutter killer.
Christmas cupcake murder
Summary:While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa’s waistline on Christmas Eve. Her sister Andrea wants to stave off the blues by helping out at The Cookie Jar, Michele’s love life is becoming complicated,
Scandi Style
The little book of fika : the uplifting daily ritual of the Swedish coffee break
Summary:"While the Danish concept of hygge as caught on around the globe, so has lagom–its Swedish counterpart. An essential part of the lagom lifestyle, fika is the simple art of taking a break–sometimes twice a day–to enjoy a warm beverage and sweet treat with friends. This delightful gift book offers an introduction to the tradition along with recipes to help you establish your own fika practice"–Amazon.com.
Scandinavian classic baking
Summary:From coffee breads and cakes to cookies and tarts, this gorgeous cookbook offers forty-three recipes, along with photographs, history, musings, and stories. These classic Scandinavian baking recipes are knockouts for the eye and the taste buds.
Traditional Nordic knits : over 40 hats, mittens, gloves, and socks
Summary:The classic Nordic knitting tradition is a widely-respected – and increasingly popular – source of exquisite patterns and design inspiration all over the world. Now, with Traditional Nordic Knits, get a glimpse into the rich history and heritage of this beloved cornerstone of needlecraft. 15 time-honored patterns become over 40 different projects, gracing mittens, gloves, hats, and socks through designs suitable for all levels of experience, and each project is introduced with an example of a historic knitted item and a fascinating explanation of the pattern’s background and origin.
Nordic light : lighter, everyday eating from a Scandinavian kitchen
Summary:Presents a new angle on the trends in Scandinavian recipes and techniques, shying away from the classics and instead presenting lighter, cleaner, simpler modern recipes.
Bakeland : Nordic treats inspired by nature
Summary:From the Danish concept of hygge (or zcozinessy) to the Swedish fika (or zcoffee breaky), when it comes to enjoying the good things in life, the Nordic countries tend to know best. And dessert, Bakeland reveals, is no exception. Written by Marit Hovland, the Norse graphic designer, baker, and photographer behind the popular Instagram account and blog Borrow My Eyes, this gorgeous recipe book is a remarkably innovative homage to the beauty of the world around us that will delight lovers of baking, crafting, nature, and all things Scandinavian. With fifty tempting dessert recipes and 140 stunning color photographs, Bakeland is as much a treat for the eyes as it is for the taste buds. Focusing on purity, season, and quality, Hovland offers a sweet, playful approach to the New Nordic cuisine trend made popular by chefs like Magnus Nilsson. Her belief that zinspiration can be found everywherey shines through in each of her culinary creations, which replicate the most striking aspects of the natural world.
Lagom : the Swedish art of balanced living
Summary:Explains how to live "lagom," or a balanced life, by cherishing relationships, improving work-life balance, freeing the home from clutter, and savoring good food.,Lagom (pronounced ‘lar-gom’) has no equivalent in the English language but is loosely translated as ‘not too little, not too much, just right’. It is widely believed that the word comes from the Viking term ‘laget om’, for when a mug of mead was passed around a circle and there was just enough for everyone to get a sip. But while the anecdote may hit the nail on the head, the true etymology of the word points to an old form of the word ‘lag’, which means ‘law’. Far from restrictive, lagom is a liberating concept, praising the idea that anything more that ‘just enough’ is a waste of time. Crucially it also comes with a selflessness and core belief of responsibility and common good. By living lagom you can live a happier and more balanced life, reduce your environmental impact, improve your work-life balance, free your home from clutter, enjoy good food the Swedish way, grow your own and learn to forage, and cherish the relationships with those you love.
The gentle art of Swedish death cleaning : how to free yourself and your family from a lifetime of clutter
Summary:Margareta suggests which possessions you can easily get rid of (unworn clothes, unwanted presents, more plates than you’d ever use) and which you might want to keep (photographs, love letters, a few of your children’s art projects). Digging into her late husband’s tool shed, and her own secret drawer of vices, Margareta introduces an element of fun to a potentially daunting task. Along the way readers get a glimpse into her life in Sweden, and also become more comfortable with the idea of letting go.
How to hygge : the Nordic secrets to a happy life
Summary:"The "Danish coziness" philosophy is fast becoming the new "French living" in terms of aspirational lifestyle books and blogs. There are countless viral articles comparing the happiness levels of Americans versus Danes. Their homes are more homey; their people are more cheerful. It’s an attitude that defies definition, but there is a name for this slow-moving, stress-free mindset: hygge (pronounced "hoo-ga"). Hygge values the idea of cherishing yourself: candlelight, bakeries, and dinner with friends; a celebration of experiences over possessions, as well as being kind to yourself and treasuring a sense of community."–Amazon.com.
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All is Calm : Calming Books for Teens
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Positively teen : a practical guide to a more positive, more confident you
Summary:Morgan teaches teens how to approach their adolescent years with optimism and understanding. She provides advice on how to flourish both physically and mentally, giving them the skills they need to develop long-term well-being. She emphasizes the importance of doing things you enjoy, and understanding the relation of diet, exercise and attitude to your personality and long-term well-being. — adapted from Amazon.com
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Be the one : six true stories of teens overcoming hardship with hope
Summary:“Emmy Award-winning ABC News chief national correspondent and Nightline coanchor, Byron Pitts shares the heartbreaking and inspiring stories of six young people who overcame impossible circumstances with extraordinary perseverance. Abuse. Bullying. War. Drug Addiction. Mental Illness. Violence. None of these should be realities for anyone, much less a young person. But for some it is the only reality they have ever known. In these dark circumstances, six teens needed someone to “be the one” for them–the hero to help them back into the light. For Tania, Mason, Pappy, Michaela, Ryan, and Tyton, that hero was themselves. Through stirring interviews and his award-winning storytelling, Byron Pitts brings the struggles and triumphs of these everyday heroes to teens just like them, encouraging all of us to be the source of inspiration in our own lives and to appreciate the lives of others around us.”
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Heads up : changing minds on mental health
Summary:“This nonfiction book for teen readers is a guide to understanding mental health and coping with mental illness, trauma and recovery. It features real-life stories of resilient teens and highlights innovative approaches to mental-health challenges.”
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Quiet power : the secret strengths of introverts
Summary:“The monumental bestseller Quiet has been recast in a new edition that empowers introverted kids and teens Susan Cain sparked a worldwide conversation when she published Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. With her inspiring book, she permanently changed the way we see introverts and the way introverts see themselves. The original book focused on the workplace, and Susan realized that a version for and about kids was also badly needed. This book is all about kids’ world–school, extracurriculars, family life, and friendship. You’ll read about actual kids who have tackled the challenges of not being extroverted and who have made a mark in their own quiet way.”
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Mindfulness and meditation : handling life with a calm and focused mind
Summary:“Feeling stressed out? Social media, homework, tests, and relationships can create deep anxiety. So can concerns about health and world affairs. Research shows that a regular mindfulness practice can help calm the mind, improve focus, and build happiness. Living mindfully involves paying attention to your inner and outer experiences with patience and without judgment. It also means acting and making choices with thoughtful consideration rather than impulsively. One key aspect of mindfulness is meditation. This ancient practice involves quieting the mind through breathing exercises and intentional inward focus, for a peaceful, relaxed, and natural state of awareness.” — Dust jacket.
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Project you : more than 50 ways to calm down, de-stress, and feel great
Summary:“Find your balance. Make a protein-packed smoothie to energize for a busy day. Center yourself after a stressful week by taking five minutes to write in your journal. Strengthen your body and calm your mind with simple yoga poses and breathing techniques. Craft a vision board to help you achieve your goals. Create a time budget to organize your schedule. Develop an evening routine that will help you wind down before sleep. Award-winning author Aubre Andrus shares more than 50 do-right-now projects that will help you beat stress, smile big, and discover a calmer, more blissful you.”
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The mindful teen : powerful skills to help you handle stress one moment at a time
Summary:“Outlines a program structured around mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques to help teens manage stress, navigate strong emotions, and improve communication skills.”
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Your brain needs a hug : life, love, mental health, and sandwiches
Summary:Rae Earl offers her personalized advice on the A to Zs of mental health, social media, family and friendship. “Imbued with a sense of humor, understanding, and hope, Your Brain Needs a Hug is a judgment-free guide for living well with your mind. My Mad Fat Diary author Rae Earl offers her personalized advice on the A to Zs of mental health, social media, family and friendship. When she was a teenager, Rae dealt with OCD, anxiety, and an eating disorder, but she survived, and she thrived. Your Brain Needs a Hug is filled with her friendly advice, coping strategies and laugh-out-loud moments to get you through the difficult days. Witty, honest, and enlightening, this is the perfect read for feeling happier and healthier and learning to navigate life without feeling overwhelmed or isolated.”
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2020 National Book Award : Nonfiction
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The dead are arising : the life of Malcolm X
Summary:“An epic biography of Malcolm X finally emerges, drawing on hundreds of hours of the author’s interviews, rewriting much of the known narrative. Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X-all living siblings of the Malcolm Little family, classmates, street friends, cellmates, Nation of Islam figures, FBI moles and cops, and political leaders around the world. His goal was ambitious: to transform what would become over a hundred hours of interviews into an unprecedented portrait of Malcolm X, one that would separate fact from fiction. The result is this historic biography that conjures a never-before-seen world of its protagonist, a work whose title is inspired by a phrase Malcolm X used when he saw his Hartford followers stir with purpose, as if the dead were truly arising, to overcome the obstacles of racism. Setting Malcolm’s life not only within the Nation of Islam but against the larger backdrop of American history, the book traces the life of one of the twentieth century’s most politically relevant figures ‘from street criminal to devoted moralist and revolutionary.'”
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Unworthy republic : the dispossession of Native Americans and the road to Indian territory
Summary:“A masterful and unsettling history of the forced migration of 80,000 Native Americans across the Mississippi River in the 1830s. On May 28, 1830, Congress authorized the expulsion of indigenous peoples from the East to territories west of the Mississippi River. Over the next decade, Native Americans saw their homelands and possessions stolen through fraud, intimidation, and murder. Thousands lost their lives. In this powerful, gripping book, Claudio Saunt upends the common view that “Indian Removal” was an inevitable chapter in US expansion across the continent.”
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My autobiography of Carson McCullers
Summary:“While working as an intern in the archives at the Harry Ransom Center, Jenn Shapland encounters the love letters of Carson McCullers and a woman named Annemarie-letters that are tender, intimate, and unabashed in their feelings. Shapland recognizes herself in the letters’ language-but does not see McCullers as history has portrayed her. And so, Shapland is compelled to undertake a recovery of the full narrative and language of McCullers’s life: she wades through the therapy transcripts; she stays at McCullers’s childhood home, where she lounges in her bathtub and eats delivery pizza; she relives McCullers’s days at her beloved Yaddo. As Shapland reckons with the expanding and collapsing distance between her and McCullers, she sees the way McCullers’s story has become a way to articulate something about herself.”
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The undocumented Americans
Summary:“Traveling across the country, journalist Karla Cornejo Villavicencio risked arrest at every turn to report the extraordinary stories of her fellow undocumented Americans. Her subjects have every reason to be wary around reporters, but Cornejo Villavicencio has unmatched access to their stories. Her work culminates in a stunning, essential read for our times. Born in Ecuador and brought to the United States when she was five years old, Cornejo Villavicencio has lived the American Dream. Raised on her father’s deliveryman income, she later became one of the first undocumented students admitted into Harvard. She is now a doctoral candidate at Yale University and has written for The New York Times. She weaves her own story among those of the eleven million undocumented who have been thrust into the national conversation today as never before.”
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How to make a slave and other essays
Summary:“Personal essays exploring identity, family, and community through the prism of race and black culture. Confronts the medical profession’s racial biases, shopping while black at Whole Foods, the legacy of Michael Jackson, raising black boys, haircuts that scare white people, racial profiling, and growing up in Southside Chicago.”
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Is rape a crime? : a memoir, an investigation, and a manifesto
Summary:“The crime of rape sizzles like a lightning strike. It pounces, flattens, destroys. A person stands whole, and in a moment of unexpected violence, that life, that body is gone. Award-winning writer and public health executive Michelle Bowdler’s memoir indicts how sexual violence has been addressed for decades in our society, asking whether rape is a crime given that it is the least reported major felony, least successfully prosecuted, and fewer than 3% of rapists ever spend a day in jail. Cases are closed before they are investigated and DNA evidence sits for years untested and disregarded Rape in this country is not treated as a crime of brutal violence but as a parlor game of he said / she said. It might be laughable if it didn’t work so much of the time. Given all this, it seems fair to ask whether rape is actually a crime.”
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If then : how the simulmatics corporation invented the future
Summary:“The Simulmatics Corporation, founded in 1959, mined data, targeted voters, accelerated news, manipulated consumers, destabilized politics, and disordered knowledge–decades before Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Cambridge Analytica. Silicon Valley likes to imagine it has no past but the scientists of Simulmatics are the long-dead grandfathers of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Borrowing from psychological warfare, they used computers to predict and direct human behavior, deploying their “People Machine” from New York, Cambridge, and Saigon for clients that included John Kennedy’s presidential campaign, the New York Times, Young & Rubicam, and, during the Vietnam War, the Department of Defense. Jill Lepore, distinguished Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer, unearthed from the archives the almost unbelievable story of this long-vanished corporation, and of the women hidden behind it. In the 1950s and 1960s, Lepore argues, Simulmatics invented the future by building the machine in which the world now finds itself trapped and tormented, algorithm by algorithm”
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Picture Books for Hanukkah
Simon and the bear : a Hanukkah story
Summary:Stranded on an iceberg on his way to America, Simon remembers his mother’s parting words and lights the first candle on his menorah while praying for a miracle, which soon arrives in the form of a friendly polar bear.
Oskar and the eight blessings
Summary:A young Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany arrives in New York City on the seventh night of Hanukkah and receives small acts of kindness while exploring the city.
All-of-a-kind family Hanukkah
Summary:In 1912 New York, Gertie feels left out while Mama and her four older sisters cook Hanukkah dinner, but Papa comes home and asks her help with an important task.
Little Red Ruthie : a Hanukkah tale
Summary:Heading through the forest to her Bubbe Basha’s house to make latkes (potato pancakes) on the first night of Hanukkah, Little Red Ruthie encounters a hungry wolf. Includes a recipe for latkes.
Queen of the Hanukkah dosas
Summary:A boy is worried that his little sister’s climbing will spoil the first night of Hanukkah, when his family combines his father’s Jewish traditions with his mother’s East Indian cooking.
The Hanukkah magic of Nate Gadol
Summary:Introducing Nate Gadol, a new larger-than-life holiday hero who brings Hanukkah wonder and generosity to all those in need. He is a generous spirit whose magic can make things last exactly as long an they’re needed. When the Glaser family immigrates to the United States, their first Hanukkah looks like it will be a meager one. And their neighbors are struggling too, with money scarce and Christmas around the corner. Even Santa’s spirits are running low. Luckily, Nate Gadol has enough magic to make this a miraculous holiday for all.
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2020 National Book Award : Fiction
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Interior Chinatown : a novel
Summary:“From the infinitely inventive author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe comes a deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, assimilation, and escaping the roles we are forced to play.”
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Leave the world behind : a novel
Summary:“A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong.”
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A children’s bible : a novel
Summary:“An indelible and haunting new novel that explores the loss of childhood, intergenerational conflict, and humanity’s complacency in the face of its own demise. Lydia Millet’s multilayered new novel – her first since the National Book Award Longlist Sweet Lamb of Heaven — follows a group of children and their families on summer vacation at a lakeside mansion. The teenage narrator Eve and the other children are contemptuous of their parents, who spend the days and nights in drunken stupor. This tension heightens when a great storm arrives and throws the house and its residents into chaos.”
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The secret lives of church ladies
Summary:“The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church’s double standards and their own needs and passions.”
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Shuggie Bain : a novel
Summary:“Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh “Shuggie” Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher’s war on heavy industry has put husbands and sons out of work, and the city’s notorious drugs epidemic is waiting in the wings. Shuggie’s mother Agnes walks a wayward path: she is Shuggie’s guiding light but a burden for his artistic brother and practical sister. She dreams of a house with its own front door while she flicks through the pages of the Freemans catalogue, ordering a little happiness on credit, anything to brighten up her grey life.”
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The index of self-destructive acts
Summary:“The day Sam Waxworth arrives in New York to write for The Interviewer, a street-corner preacher declares that the world is coming to an end. A sports statistician, data journalist, and newly minted media celebrity who correctly forecasted every outcome of the 2008 election, Sam’s familiar with predicting the future. But when projection meets reality, things turn complicated.”
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The vanishing half
Summary:“The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it’s not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it’s everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters’ storylines intersect? “
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If I had two wings : stories
Summary:“Ten heavenly stories that chronicle ineffable events in ordinary lives. When Randall Kenan’s first collection was published, The New York Times called it “nothing short of a wonder-book.” With comparable inventiveness but seasoned by maturity and shot through with humor, his second collection, If I Had Two Wings, riffs on the human relationship with the transcendent.”
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A burning
Summary:“After a fiery attack on a train leaves 104 people dead, the fates of three people become inextricably entangled. Jivan, a bright, striving woman from the slums looking for a way out of poverty, is wrongly accused of planning the attack because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir, a slippery gym teacher from Jivan’s former high school, has hitched his aspirations to a rising right wing party, and his own ascent becomes increasingly linked to Jivan’s fall. Lovely, a spirited, impoverished, relentlessly optimistic hjira, who harbors dreams of becoming a Bollywood star, can provide the alibi that would set Jivan free–but her appearance in court will have unexpected consequences that will change the course of all of their lives.”
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The great offshore grounds : a novel
Summary:“On the day of their estranged father’s wedding, half-sisters Cheyenne and Livy set off to claim their inheritance. It’s been years since the two have seen each other. Cheyenne is newly back in Seattle, crashing with Livy after a failed marriage and a series of dead ends. Livy works refinishing boats, her resentment against her free-loading sister growing as she tamps down dreams of fishing off the coast of Alaska. But the promise of a shot at financial security brings the two together to claim what’s theirs. Except: instead of money, their father gives them information-a name-that both reveals a stunning secret and compels them to come to grips with it.”
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Remembering Jan Morris, 1926-2020
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In my mind’s eye : a thought diary
Summary:“Ranging widely from the idyllic confines of her North Wales home, Morris offers diverse sallies on her preffered form of exercises (walking briskly), her frustration at not recognizing a certain melody humming in her head (Beethoven’s Pathétique, incidentally), and her nostalgia for the erstwhile ‘essential niceness’ of small-town America.”–Inside dust jacket.
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The world : travels 1950-2000
Summary:“The career of Jan Morris began auspiciously enough fifty years ago “with an imperial exploit” that burst like a salvo into newspapers throughout the world. Assigned by The Times of London to cover the first successful ascent of Mount Everest, “the supreme mountain of the world,” Morris was the only reporter allowed on Sir John Hunt’s expedition. Morris’s great “scoop,” published in London on June 2, 1953, the very morning of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, not only marked the beginning of a “new Elizabethan age,” but also established the twenty-six-year-old as the foremost travel essayist of the age.” “Fifty years later, we now have The World, which provides us with as complete an overview of Morris’s work as we will ever see. Dividing the volume into five decades, Morris presents history with an unparalleled dramatic flair, creating a riveting portrait of the twentieth century, from the political idealism of the postwar years to its more recent tensions and excesses.”–BOOK JACKET
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Contact! : a book of encounters
Summary:The travel writer presents tales of the people she’s encountered in the places she’s visited over the years, including a Sherpa guide who scaled Mt. Everest, a lascivious Manhattan cabbie, and a spy wearing a raincoat.
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Fifty years of Europe : an album
Summary:Is there really a new Europe? Have the extraordinary transformations of the last half century – the rise and fall of the Eastern Bloc, Germany’s reunification, ethnic warfare, even the ongoing creation of a common parliament and currency – rendered our culture not only unrecognizable but unimaginable? These are among the myriad questions posed by Jan Morris in Fifty Years of Europe. Morris, one of our era’s most engaging historians and celebrated travelers, revisits the continent she’s long known so well and tries to discover whether she now knows it at all. How she contrasts her European experiences today with those of two generations past makes for an insightful and highly personal study.
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A writer’s house in Wales
Summary:“Journalist, historian, travel writer, novelist, Jan Morris has guided countless readers through faraway places with her keen eye and eloquent turns of phrase. In this intimate and fascinating memoir, she invites us into her own home in the magical heartland of Wales.” ‘Wales is a realm unto itself, ancient, unique, and unforgettable. In this craggy country lashed by the Atlantic dwell the last of the original Britons, a people with a colorful history and a language all their own. Long before English was spoken, Welshmen – cymry, in their native language – were composing epics in their lilting Celtic.’ “Morrises have inhabited this far western corner of Britain for centuries, and Trefan Morys – Jan Morris’s house between the sea and the mountains – is the eighteenth-century stable block of her former family home nearby. Morris regards this modest building not only as a reflection of herself and her life but also as epitomizing Wales, which has for centuries defiantly preserved its own identity.”–BOOK JACKET.
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Trieste and the meaning of nowhere
Summary:One hundred years ago, Trieste was the chief seaport of the entire Austro-Hungarian empire, but today many people have no idea where it is. This fascinating Italian city on the Adriatic, bordering the former Yugoslavia, has always tantalized Jan Morris with its moodiness and melancholy. She has chosen it as the subject of this, her final work, because it was the first city she knew as an adult — initially as a young soldier at the end of World War II, and later as an elderly woman. This is not only her last book, but in many ways her most complex as well, for Trieste has come to represent her own life with all its hopes, disillusionments, loves and memories.
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Hav : comprising last letters from Hav of the Myrmidons
Summary:“… part erudite travel memoir, part speculative fiction, part cautionary political tale… transports the reader to an extraordinary place that never was, but could well be”–From publisher description.
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Battleship Yamato : of war, beauty and irony
Summary:“An extraordinary–and strikingly illustrated–reflection on the meaning of war from one of our greatest living writers. The battleship Yamato, of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was the most powerful warship of World War II and represented the climax, as it were, of the Japanese warrior traditions of the samurai–the ideals of honor, discipline, and self-sacrifice that had immemorially ennobled the Japanese national consciousness. Stoically poised for battle in the spring of 1945–when even Japan’s last desperate technique of arms, the kamikaze, was running short–Yamato arose as the last magnificent arrow in the imperial quiver of Emperor Hirohito. Here, Jan Morris not only tells the dramatic story of the magnificent ship itself–from secret wartime launch to futile sacrifice at Okinawa–but, more fundamentally, interprets the ship as an allegorical figure of war itself, in its splendor and its squalor, its heroism and its waste. Drawing on rich naval history and rhapsodic metaphors from international music and art, Battleship Yamato is a work of grand ironic elegy.”–Provided by publisher.
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Lincoln : a foreigner’s quest
Summary:“With her iconoclasm and humor and marvelous sense of place, Morris seamlessly blends travel narrative, history and biography with transatlantic insights into the origins of the American Empire to reveal the real Lincoln – maverick, artist, oddball, natural aristocrat.”–BOOK JACKET.
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Transgender Awareness Month
Apsara engine
Summary:"In trans illustrator Bishakh Som’s debut work of fiction, questions of gender, the body, and existential conformity are explored over the course of eight speculative and graphic short stories"
Fairest : a memoir
Summary:"A heartrending immigrant memoir and a uniquely intersectional coming-of-age story of a life lived in duality and the in-between, and how one navigates through race, gender, and the search for love"
Tomorrow will be different : love, loss, and the fight for trans equality
Summary:"A captivating memoir that will change the way we look at identity and equality in this country. Before she became the first transgender person to speak at a national political convention in 2016 at the age of twenty-six, Sarah McBride struggled with the decision to come out–not just to her family but to the students of American University, where she was serving as student body president. She’d known she was a girl from her earliest memories, but it wasn’t until the Facebook post announcing her truth went viral that she realized just how much impact her story could have on the country. Four years later, McBride was one of the nation’s most prominent transgender activists, walking the halls of the White House, advocating inclusive legislation, and addressing the country in the midst of a heated presidential election. She had also found her first love and future husband, Andy, a trans man and fellow activist, who complemented her in every way … until cancer tragically intervened. Informative, heartbreaking, and profoundly empowering, Tomorrow Will Be Different is McBride’s story of love and loss and a powerful entry point into the LGBTQ community’s battle for equal rights and what it means to be openly transgender. From issues like bathroom access to health care to gender in America, McBride weaves the important political and cultural milestones into a personal journey that will open hearts and change minds. As McBride urges: ‘We must never be a country that says there’s only one way to love, only one way to look, and only one way to live.’ The fight for equality and freedom has only just begun."–Dust jacket.
Beyond trans : does gender matter?
Summary:Goes beyond transgender to question the need for gender classification. Beyond Trans pushes the conversation on gender identity to its limits: questioning the need for gender categories in the first place. Whether on birth certificates or college admissions applications or on bathroom doors, why do we need to mark people and places with sex categories? Do they serve a real purpose or are these places and forms just mechanisms of exclusion? Heath Fogg Davis offers an impassioned call to rethink the usefulness of dividing the world into not just Male and Female categories but even additional categories of Transgender and gender fluid. Davis, himself a transgender man, explores the underlying gender-enforcing policies and customs in American life that have led to transgender bathroom bills, college admissions controversies, and more, arguing that it is necessary for our society to take real steps to challenge the assumption that gender matters. He examines four areas where we need to re-think our sex-classification systems: sex-marked identity documents such as birth certificates, driver’s licenses and passports; sex-segregated public restrooms; single-sex colleges; and sex-segregated sports. Speaking from his own experience and drawing upon major cases of sex discrimination in the news and in the courts, Davis presents a persuasive case for challenging how individuals are classified according to sex and offers concrete recommendations for alleviating sex identity discrimination and sex-based disadvantage.
The house of impossible beauties
Summary:"A gritty and gorgeous debut that follows a cast of gay and transgender club kids navigating the Harlem ball scene of the 80s and 90s, inspired by the real House of Xtravaganza made famous by the seminal documentary "Paris is Burning""
Gumballs
Summary:"Gumballs dispenses an array of bright, candy-colored short comics about Erin’s gender transition, anecdotal tales of growing up as a triplet, and fictional stories of a socially inept lovestruck teenager named Tobias. The wide-ranging series is filled with single-page gag cartoons, visual diaries of everyday life, funny faux personal ads, and real-life horror stories from customers at his day job. Gumballs offers a variety of flavors that will surely delight anyone with a taste for candid self-reflection and observations of humanity"–Page [2] of cover.
Confessions of the fox : a novel
Summary:"Set in the eighteenth century London underworld, this bawdy, genre-bending novel reimagines the life of thief and jailbreaker Jack Sheppard to tell a profound story about gender, love, and liberation. Recently jilted and increasingly unhinged, Dr. Voth throws himself into his work, obsessively researching the life of Jack Sheppard, a legendary eighteenth century thief. No one knows Jack’s true story–his confessions have never been found. That is, until Dr. Voth discovers a mysterious stack of papers titled Confessions of the Fox. Dated 1724, the manuscript tells the story of an orphan named P. Sold into servitude at twelve, P struggles for years with her desire to live as "Jack." When P falls dizzyingly in love with Bess, a sex worker looking for freedom of her own, P begins to imagine a different life. Bess brings P into the London underworld where scamps and rogues clash with London’s newly established police force, queer subcultures thrive, and ominous threats of an oncoming plague abound. At last, P becomes Jack Sheppard, one of the most notorious–and most wanted–thieves in history. An imaginative retelling of Brecht’s Threepenny Opera, Confessions of the Fox blends high-spirited adventure, subversive history, and provocative wit to animate forgotten histories and the extraordinary characters hidden within."/span
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Joe Biden, President-Elect
Joe Biden : the life, the run, and what matters now
Summary:A portrayal of Joe Biden’s long and eventful career in the Senate, his eight years as Obama’s vice president, his sojourn in the political wilderness after being passed over for Hillary Clinton in 2016, his decision to challenge Donald Trump for the presidency, and his choice of Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate.
The book of Joe : the life, wit, and (sometimes accidental) wisdom of Joe Biden
Summary:Structured around key moments in Biden’s life and career–and filled with Biden-isms like "That’s a bunch of malarkey" and "I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid"–this blend of biography, advice, and humor will reveal the experiences that forged Joe Biden, and the lessons we can use in our own lives. Along the way, readers will also encounter fun sidebars on his love of muscle cars, his most endearing gaffes, his bromance with President Obama, and much more. The aviators. The Amtrak. The ice cream cones. The memes. Few politicians are as iconic, or as beloved, as Joe Biden. Now, in The Book of Joe, Biden fans will finally have the definitive look at America’s favorite vice president–and what he can teach us.
Promise me Dad : a year of hope, hardship, and purpose
Summary:The former vice-president of the United States chronicles the difficult final year of his son’s battle with cancer, his efforts to balance his responsibilities to the country and his family, and the lessons he learned.
Where the light enters : building a family, discovering myself
Summary:An intimate look at the love that built the Biden family and the delicate balancing act of the woman at its center.
Joey : the story of Joe Biden
Summary:The wife of former Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden recounts his childhood in Scranton, Pennsylvania, his perseverance and leadership from his earliest years, his struggles to overcome stuttering, his relationships with his family, and his political career.
Joe Biden : a life of trial and redemption
Summary:In the first definitive biography of Vice President Joe Biden, journalist Jules Witcover examines the life of a man who, with his tenacity, outspokenness, and charming smile, has shaped Washington politics for the past forty years and who now serves as the 47th vice president of the United States. Raised in working-class towns, with lackluster grades in school and no particular goals, Biden shocked the nation in 1972 when he became one of the youngest elected senators in U.S. history. From that point forward, he carved a legacy for himself as one of the most respected legislators in the country. Yet for all of Biden’s achievements, his life has been filled with tragedy and countless challenges. Drawing on numerous exclusive interviews, Witcover has gone beyond conventional biography to track the forces that have shaped a man who, with his plainspoken style and inspiring life story, has resonated with millions of Americans.–From publisher description.
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Kamala Harris, Vice President-Elect
The truths we hold : an American journey
Summary:"By reckoning with the big challenges we face together, drawing on the hard-won wisdom and insight from her own career and the work of those who have most inspired her, Kamala Harris offers in The Truths We Hold a master class in problem solving, in crisis management, and leadership in challenging times. Through the arc of her own life, on into the great work of our day, she communicates a vision of shared struggle, shared purpose, and shared values. In a book rich in many home truths, not least is that a relatively small number of people work very hard to convince a great many of us that we have less in common than we actually do, but it falls to us to look past them and get on with the good work of living our common truth. When we do, our shared effort will continue to sustain us and this great nation, now and in the years to come."
Kamala and Maya’s big idea
Summary:"One day, Kamala and Maya had an idea. A big idea: they would turn their empty apartment courtyard into a playground! Based on a true story, this is the uplifting tale of how the author’s aunt and mother first learned to persevere in the face of disappointment and turned a dream into reality. This is a story of children’s abillity to make a difference and of a community coming together to transform their neighborhood."–Jacket.
Kamala Harris : rooted in justice
Summary:"The first-ever picture book biography on Senator Kamala Harris."
Smart on crime : a career prosecutor’s plan to make us safer
Summary:Presents the author’s proposal for an overhaul of the American criminal justice system, discussing the necessary shifts to increase public safety, reduce costs, and strengthen community, while combatting crime intelligently.
Superheroes are everywhere
Summary:"Before Kamala Harris became a district attorney and a United States senator, she was a little girl who loved superheroes. And when she looked around, she was amazed to find them everywhere! In her family, among her friends, even down the street–there were superheroes wherever she looked. And those superheroes showed her that all you need to do to be a superhero is to be the best that you can be."–Publisher’s description.
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