![]() ![]() ![]() The central metaphor in these narratives tends to be that humanity is really quite an awful, violent species that wars with itself constantly, and that our boundless curiosity and hubris - whether that involves scientific research gone awry or meddling with forces beyond our ken - ultimately lead to our own near-complete destruction. Plague, virus, and zombie apocalypse narratives tend to share a few common threads: Often, humanity brings such terrors upon itself usually, survivors or those with immunity come together in ragtag groups and attempt to find a cure and/or fight their way through to where the other healthy people are and, almost always, humanity survives - perhaps in drastically reduced numbers, sans modern technology - and must learn to rebuild itself anew. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Hollow Kingdom Author Kira Jane Buxton ![]()
0 Comments
![]() ![]() I strongly suggest this book for whoever that wishes to know not only about the history but the habits of chinese people during the dynasty period. Buck Publication date 1991 Topics Cixi, Empress dowager of China, 1835-1908 - Fiction., Empresses - Fiction., China - History - 19th century - Fiction. It s absolutely beautiful the value of family, of greater good, the having goodwill and politeness of the Confucianism. It is a great book, the writer was amazing with creative imagination of all the characters, she managed to describe not just the feelings, but the values, the moral, most importantly the habit and costumes of chinese culture in extreme details. Mothers or females occupy a very important and respected role in China and Taiwan, maybe got most of the influence from her doing during the past dynasty. I think she was a great woman who had to be strong to survive and outlive that era and she indeed changed the male chauvinism of China when only men could rule, into a more feminist society as it is today. ![]() ![]() I only knew she was a really cruel woman but this book made me think deeper and out of my previous opinion. This is a fiction romanticized biography of the last imperial woman CiXi. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Sedaris has a way of taking something very mundane and day-to-day and transforming it into a larger metaphor, and doing it in a humorous manner. ![]() This long essay is more a journal of his experiences of trying to quit smoking, although it becomes more of a retelling of his experiences while briefly living in Japan. When You Are Engulfed in Flames takes its title from the final – and longest – essay in this collection, “The Smoking Section.” The title refers to something the author reads while in Japan – a bad translation of English, or “ Engrish” as it is sometimes called. He is the kind of writer whom I aspire to be who makes you laugh but also makes you think, and while you’re thinking, you say to yourself, or maybe you say out loud, “oh, I see what you did there, Mr. He is a humorist, but a higher caliber humorist, someone who’s well-read and well-traveled and, well, … smarter than you. When you read David Sedaris, words like “wry” and “witty” and “highbrow” go through your mind. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() One of the apparent victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce's and an author of thrillers. The hurricane is devastating: Homes and condos are leveled, hotels and storefronts ruined, streets flooded, and a dozen people lose their lives. Florida's governor orders a mandatory evacuation, and most residents board up their houses and flee to the mainland, but Bruce decides to stay and ride out the storm. Just as Bruce Cable's Bay Books is preparing for the return of best-selling author Mercer Mann, Hurricane Leo veers from its predicted course and heads straight for the island. Welcome back to Camino Island, where anything can happen - even a murder in the midst of a hurricane, which might prove to be the perfect crime. With Camino Winds, America's favorite storyteller offers the perfect escape. John Grisham, number-one best-selling author and master of the legal thriller, sweeps you away to paradise for a little sun, sand, mystery, and mayhem. Since officials are preoccupied with the aftermath of the storm, the authors set out to solve the mystery themselves, in the type of wild but smart caper that Grisham's readers love." (Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing ) "In American icon John Grisham's new novel, Camino Winds, an odd assortment of mystery and crime authors, some of them felons themselves, discover one of their colleagues has been murdered during the fury of a massive hurricane - the perfect crime scene. ![]() ![]() Inspired by true events, Muted is a fearless exploration of the dark side of the music industry, the business of exploitation, how a girl's dreams can be used against her - and what it takes to fight back. As the dream turns into a nightmare, she must make a choice: lose her big break, or get broken. Even the painful sacrifices and the lies the girls have to tell are all worth it.ĭenver begins to realize that she's trapped in Merc's world, struggling to hold on to her own voice. Merc gives them everything: parties, perks, wild nights - plus hours and hours in the recording studio. So Denver is more than ready on the day she and her best friends Dali and Shak sing their way into the orbit of the biggest R&B star in the world, Sean "Mercury" Ellis. Writing, performing, and her ultimate goal: escaping her very small, very white hometown. A ripped-from-the-headlines novel of ambition, music, and innocence lost, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Jason Reynolds!įor seventeen-year-old Denver, music is everything. ![]() ![]() ![]() He's a loving father, a loyal friend, someone with whom she can always be herself, and six-plus feet of deliciously hard, tattooed muscle. Tara Osten has been crushing on Levi for as long as she can remember. But Tara's older sister is Joey's birth mother, and she's the last woman the dirty-talking biker should want to get his hands on. None of that would be possible without the help of Joey's beautiful and selfless aunt Tara, who's going to be staying with them over spring break and who he's been thinking about in ways he shouldn't. ![]() He owns a successful contracting company, he's part of the Dark Knights motorcycle club, and Joey's happiness is his top priority. There was never any question about whether he would keep his daughter, and eight years later, he doesn't have a single regret. ![]() I'm having it, and unless you want it, I'm putting it up for adoption." Those were the words that changed Levi Steele's life before he was even legally allowed to drink. All Steele novels may be enjoyed as standalone romances. They have a penchant for pranks, a passion for loyalty, and a trunk full of secrets. ![]() Fall in love on the sandy shores of Silver Island, home to coffee shops, boat races, midnight rendezvous, and the sexy, sharp-witted Steeles. If you love single-parent romances, you won't want to miss Always Her Love, an emotionally gripping, funny, and sinfully-hot story of forbidden love, with a much deserved and epic happily ever after. ![]() ![]() ![]() Standing in the young woman's way is Evan Meade, the boy's guileful and mean-spirited father, who hires a private investigator when the efforts of the embattled local sheriff, Monroe Rossi, fail to track them down. Told in prose that is both stripped-down and overpowering, Gilbert shapes the everyday conflict of child custody into a stunning search for sense of worth. When a district court awards custody of Oliver to his father, she abducts the five year old and flees to Italy where with her family's help they disappear into the fabric of her native homeland. Anna Miller wants only one thing, her son, and she will do anything to keep him. ![]() A Lovely, Indecent Departure is the riveting and emotionally-charged debut from a promising new voice in literature, and a captivating story of a mother's love and desperation set amidst the heart wrenching landscape of child custody. ![]() ![]() ![]() White's essays have appeared in Harper's magazine, and some of his other books are: One Man's Meat, The Second Tree from the Corner, Letters of E. He died on October 1, 1985, and was survived by his son and three grandchildren. He graduated from Cornell University in 1921 and, five or six years later, joined the staff of The New Yorker magazine, then in its infancy. White, the author of such beloved classics as Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan, was born in Mount Vernon, New York. Whether you curl up with your young reader to share these books or hand them off for independent reading, you are helping to create what are likely to be all-time favorite reading memories.Į. White favorites Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan as classic illustrated novels that continue to speak to today's readers. Determined to track her down, Stuart ventures away from home for the very first time in his life. ![]() Stuart's greatest adventure comes when his best friend, a beautiful little bird named Margalo, disappears from her nest. Though he's shy and thoughtful, he's also a true lover of adventure. ![]() Born to a family of humans, he lives in New York City with his parents, his older brother George, and Snowbell the cat. White, author of the Newbery Honor Book Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan, about one small mouse on a very big adventure. ![]() ![]() ![]() However, I have a theory: if everyone would read (or reread) the entire Christie oeuvre and give each novel a fair chance, irrespective of its fame and reputation, I suspect that they would discover, as I did, some unfairly neglected and underrated gems. I n 2013, when I was first asked by Agatha Christie’s family to write a new Hercule Poirot mystery (I have since written three more), I decided I needed to set myself the incredibly enjoyable homework of rereading all her books – not only the famous titles that are talked about all the time, but also the ones that don’t get mentioned so often, some of which are wonderfully enjoyable and memorable, and deserve more attention.Įveryone already knows that Christie is the unsurpassable godmother of crime fiction, whose twists have not been bettered in 100 years, and whose plotting acumen is legendary, and most of us are familiar with the Christie novels that make all the best-of lists: Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None are usually the frontrunners, with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Death on the Nile following close behind.Īll of these novels are brilliant, of course, and sales figures show that they are undeniably Christie’s most popular books. ![]() ![]() Brayden Culhane is there too, and Jenn can’t look at Brayden without remembering the tequila-flavoured kiss they shared on the shack steps years ago.Īs long-buried feelings are rekindled, and a friendship is renewed, Jenn knows it is more than lazy summer days bringing her mojo back. Jenn hopes a weekend on the coast with her young son will give her the space she needs to rebuild her confidence after Jack’s betrayal.īut she’s not the only person seeking sanctuary by the sea. ![]() Lucky for Jenn, her best friend gives her the keys to the Culhane family’s beach shack on the white-pepper shores of Western Australia’s Geographe Bay. When Jennifer Gates drives to Sea Breeze Golf Club to kick off date-night with her boyfriend, the last thing she expects is to find Golf-Pro Jack giving one of his lady students a private-and very personal-lesson in bunker-play. ![]() |