Where can you check out books, movies and TV shows, attend tech classes, enjoy book discussions and more? The Reading Room at the Senior Center is open to all.
State-of-the-art library-on-wheels makes its debut, offering greater accessibility, modern features.
On Thursday, August 13, the library’s centennial celebration continued by Celebrating a Century of Fun at the Arlington Heights Senior Center.
Your Next Great Read
McKenna's guy
"When an intruder with murderous intent breaks into Roger Smith's modest home one night, the big brute gets more than he bargained for, ending up a bloody corpse staining Roger's carpet. Washington, DC, Detective Grace Lillinthal is summoned to the crime scene and marvels at the outcome. Why would anyone want to kill gray-haired Roger Smith? He's the picture of respectability-a widower devoted to his family, an amateur painter, and a civil servant who works at the Government Publishing Office. When asked why he'd be a target, a clearly shaken Roger claims to be baffled. But instinct tells Grace there's more to Roger's story, and when she learns that Roger-after killing his home invader and before calling the police-phoned John McKenna, she knows she's onto something. John McKenna is a disreputable character of the first order. He's the gregarious, larger-than-life owner of a local bar that's a notorious den of thieves. After one hired assassin fails, another's bound to show up. The clock is ticking for Roger and McKenna to find out who wants Roger dead and why-and suspects abound. Stubborn Grace is as determined to dig up Roger's secrets as he is to keep them hidden, and soon the investigation becomes a relentless game of cat and mouse. Even if Roger doesn't consider himself a criminal, as chaos takes hold of his world, survival requires that he think like one"--Publisher website
The calamities
"Mourning Mayne knows he'll one day bear the duty of managing his family's vast empire of wealth and power. But the feckless Mourning has always struggled to accept this legacy, which is one of cruelty, domination, and exploitation... and something even darker. Because the Maynes are no ordinary family: Hidden in our world are the fiends--half-human, half-demon, and possessed of dark magic born from buying human souls--and the Maynes are one of the oldest and most influential fiendish families. But when Mourning's estranged father, the formidable and terrifying Hadrian Mayne, demands that he return to the fold, Mourning has to make a decision whether to accept his legacy and embrace his role in the family, or to forge his own destiny, and with it, change the course of the world. Because along the way home, he will meet Key, a black-market seller of human souls, and Quinn, an artist who may hold the dark truth behind the fate of the fiends. Alone, they have all struggled with the darkness of their fiendish nature... but together, they might find a path out of the shadows"--
Among the thorns
"Two sorceresses of unrivaled potential clash to claim the greater fate and the heart of prince charming in this deliciously romantic fantasy set in the same world as the USA Today bestselling romantasy Never the Roses by Jennifer K. Lambert. "Love, magic, heartbreak, and healing." -Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop, on Never the Roses Ambitious young sorceress Rose of Northbrooke is about to graduate. She's the only known dream sorcerer of her generation and she's a remarkable one. No wonder she has a prince of the realm trailing her skirts. But when rumors of dream magic gone awry reach her ear, Rose discovers she's not the only oneiromancer of her generation. And she might not be the most powerful. In a faraway cottage, Thorn has lived a simple and isolated life. She longs to be a part of the world and to be rescued by a prince who could love her with his whole heart. When she discovers there's another dream sorceress out there who owns everything Thorn has ever wanted, she hungers even more for all she's been denied. Everything Rose has. When Rose and Thorn meet, the outcome is clear: only one sorceress can live out in the open and claim the prince's loving hand... Perhaps, only one can live at all. Deliciously messy and lusciously romantic, Among the Thorns will pierce your heart. This hardcover edition includes a beautifully designed map, printed endpapers, and a stunning case stamp. Expect: - Love triangle -Tragic romance -Dark cottagecore -Morally grey characters -Animal companions -Yearning"-- Provided by publisher
Cross my heart, I hope you die
"One isolated cabin. One cheating boyfriend. One plan to get even. When Nora, Ruby, and Cham discover that they've each been dating the same man, what starts as outrage quickly spirals into a plot for revenge. Together they hatch a plan to lure their boyfriend to a romantic getaway in a secluded cabin at the top of a snow-covered mountain. Only what was meant to be harmless payback soon takes a chilling turn when their not-so-adoring boyfriend is found dead in the cabin. Stranded and snowed in, the women begin to look at each other with increasing suspicion. And as tensions rise, hidden motives come to light. To survive, each woman must confront her own demons as they fight to uncover if one of them is the killer, or if something else lurks in the freezing wilderness, waiting to pick them off one by one"-- Provided by publisher
35 years of Pickles
"35 Years of Pickles celebrates the amazing thirty-five-year career of Brian Crane and his work with Earl, Opal, Nelson, and the rest of the Pickles gang. Including full-color strips never published in a collected format, 35 Years of Pickles is sure to delight the lifetime fans continuing their journeys with this award-winning strip, as well as new fans the Pickles family is eager to welcome into their home and hearts."--Publisher description
Fire strike
"When Cabrillo is hired to extract an undercover operative in Kenya, he finds himself on the trail of a deadly international plot. A Saudi Prince seeks to unleash a deadly assault on U.S. forces, sparking a new war in the Middle East and ultimately destroying Israel. Cabrillo's crew have met their most fearsome adversaries yet: a force of bio-hacked soldiers endowed with extreme strength and stamina and an unquenchable appetite for violence. The Oregon team must journey from the Amazon rainforest to an abandoned monastery in Eritrea before a final showdown in the mountains of Yemen, using every shred of courage and cunning they can muster to disable the ship-killer missile before the Arabian Sea becomes a mass grave"--
The story keeper
In the aftermath of a tumultuous year, Fiona Winslow finds solace in the decaying grandeur of Wurimbirra, the rambling family estate on the east coast of Australia she once called home. Intent on restoring it, she discovers the keys to more than just the dilapidated mansion--beneath the crumbling plaster and dust are secrets that have been buried for a generation. When a misshelved book, The Midnight Estate, catches her attention in her late uncle's library, Fiona is plunged into a tale that mirrors her own--a story of love, loss and betrayal. But as the lines between fiction and reality blur, Fiona must ask Is the true mystery the one hidden within the walls of her ancestral home, or is it within the pages of a book that chose her as much as she chose it? Told across three timelines and set against the Gothic backdrop of Wurimbirra, The Midnight Estate weaves a tale as intricate and haunting as Kate Morton's Homecoming, inviting readers into the heart of a family's darkest secrets with an absorbing book-within-a-book mystery
Some people
"Malti Patel is absolutely fine. Concussed and bruised, maybe, but fine. Certainly fine enough to not need her daughter's soon-to-be-ex-husband, Nathan Whitlock, playing nurse in her home while she recuperates. And yet, that's exactly the quandary in which she finds herself. Her doctor insists on in-home supervision for seven days, and with her daughter, Kavya, abroad at grad school in India, Nathan proves too much of a do-gooder to let Malti rehabilitate alone. Seven days of Nathan, the man divorcing her daughter for all manner of reasons: cultural misunderstanding, emotional walls, simmering hostility...most of them having to do with Kavya's baggage from her childhood. They want nothing to do with one another. But over the course of the week, as Malti grapples with the shadows of her past and Nathan ponders the wreckage of his marriage, they learn that they are the two people who know Kavya best--and the ones who have hurt her so deeply that she's left them both. Rich with emotional depth, Some People paints a nuanced portrait of love, forgiveness, and our timeless quest for understanding and acceptance." --
You won't forget me
"Cubby Clark's life is falling apart. All she wants is to make music, but on the brink of hitting it big, Cubby's on-again-off-again boyfriend and lead of her band, Connor, abandons the group. What's worse, he rockets to overnight, solo stardom with a hit single about how bad she is in bed. With a fractured band, a publicly adored toxic ex, and a horrible case of writers block, her only comforts are her best friends and fellow bandmates, Darcy and Harry. But, when an inadvertently romantic picture of Cubby and Harry goes viral the same night Cubby and Darcy hook-up (something that obviously means nothing for these two totally heterosexual gal pals), Cubby and her band find themselves redirecting the spotlight as tabloids eat up the rumored love triangle between Cubby, Harry, and Connor. Thrust by their label into a whirlwind tour, Cubby wants nothing more than to turn to Darcy for support. But ever since the passionate hook-up they never talk about, there's nothing but tension and distance between the usually inseparable pair. Under the pressure of newfound notoriety, an extremely dirty tour bus, and long buried feelings, Cubby and Darcy have a single summer to unravel the truth of what they mean to one another, or face losing the other forever"-- Provided by publisher
Make nice
"When the Pickford siblings arrive at The Grand Hotel--a nostalgic tourist paradise of horse-drawn carriages, muddled cocktails, and white sweaters on the tennis court--they have every intention of spending the long weekend making nice. Pete, the nation's foremost expert on gastropods (mollusks), is keen to wade around the lake in search of a rare and exciting Carthusian snail. Viv, reeling from the secret revelation that her husband is gay, is determined to put on a brave face for her daughter. And Corey, a charming, handsome grifter, has lucked into five pounds of cocaine he plans to sell to the first dumb rich guy he can find. But when Pete falls for the alluring mother of a local kid, when Viv's daughter gets up to teenage trouble, and when Corey finds the wealthy guests less interested in party drugs than golf clubs and waffle cones, the long weekend of family bonding veers into disaster. Why did their father bring them to this cushy island resort in the first place? And why does Corey, the biggest screw up of them all, seem to be the only one who knows the truth? As secrets spill, old flames are fanned, and an innocent snail is crushed beneath the unrelenting heel of a hiking boot. In a story that is as sneakily wise as it is absurdly funny, Ryan Effgen's debut shows how sometimes the people who bring out your worst--your family--can also be the ones to bring you out of your shell"-- Provided by publisher
The one who walked away
"A thrilling new tale of romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose. Bounty hunter Elle Randolph takes on every case she can, in an effort to outrun herself. Three years ago, she was the only one who walked away from a car crash that killed her husband and two others. Although she was cleared of any wrongdoing, she is fueled by guilt and dedicated to solving other people's problems. But her running is over when she's identified as a person of interest in a murder investigation. Detective Ronan Clarke, a single dad for fifteen years, has been laser-focused on raising his daughter and serving the people of Mendocino County, California. He's got everything under control-until a bounty hunter enters his jurisdiction, keeping secrets and bringing murder to his quiet town. The hunter is definitely involved in his current case, but exactly how is his question. Could she be his killer? As he unravels her secrets, he becomes increasingly troubled by what he finds. While Elle is forced to reexamine every painful memory of the life she left behind, Ronan grows more and more sure of her innocence. But can he trust himself to uncover the truth amid their growing attraction?"-- Provided by publisher
Private Tokyo
A covert operative is murdered on the streets of Tokyo, hunted down by a masked assassin and silenced before he can expose what he's stolen. With his final breath, he delivers a message that crosses continents: Get Jack Morgan. Private detective Morgan arrives in Tokyo to find a city on edge. As the investigation unleashes a chain of deadly events, it's clear he's stepped into something far bigger - and far more dangerous - than a single killing. Could he be the next target?
Skin contact
"A newly open marriage brings discovery, excitement, and upheaval to a young couple, and to the friends and lovers in their orbit. Thirty years old and reeling from her mother's recent death, Frances feels as if she's lost her sense of purpose, her joy; her husband, Ben, will do anything to help her. So when she suggests that they open their marriage, he's willing -- and maybe even a little intrigued. They invite a young woman into their bedroom, create a joint dating profile, and go on dates with other exploring couples, with mixed but often exciting results. Over the next five years, they explore their sexualities, navigating through jealousy, betrayal, desire, and obsession -- and the friends and lovers in their circle find themselves asking new questions about their own lives and relationships. When Ben finds himself falling in love with another woman, just as Frances realizes she's ready to settle down and have a baby, they're forced to confront the consequences of their experiment"--Provided by publisher
The wife upstairs
"Victoria Barnett has it all. A great career. A handsome and loving husband. A beautiful home in the suburbs and a plan to fill it with children. Life is perfect -- or so it seems. Then she's in a terrible accident... and everything falls apart. Now Victoria is unable to walk. She can't feed or dress herself. She can't even speak. She is confined to the top floor of her house with twenty-four-hour care. Sylvia Robinson is hired by Victoria's husband to help care for her. But it turns out Victoria isn't as impaired as Sylvia was led to believe. There's a story Victoria desperately wants to tell... if only she can get out the words. Then Sylvia discovers Victoria's diary hidden away in a drawer. And what's inside is shocking."--
They
"Following a number of moves from one shabby rental to another, they-the mother and daughter of this elusive, strangely riveting novel set in 1980s Denmark-now reside in an apartment over the hairdresser shop in the same island town where they've always lived. It's only the two of them, and they are so enmeshed that it can be hard to tell them apart: they share the same manners, habits, and opinions to an almost comic degree. One day the mother feels a lump below her chest, and as our young heroine reflects, "nothing's the way it is." While the mother is in and out of the hospital, the daughter-barely sixteen and just starting high school-makes new friends (Tove Dunk, Hafni, Bob, and Desert Boots) and meets a few boys, but she remains essentially alone. In its splintering, multi-layered, perpetual present tense, where the borders of time seemingly expand, flatten, and dissolve, Helle finds an unexpectedly moving voice for her heroines' pain, one which rises almost wordlessly to then reach across and profoundly touch the reader. A poignant coming-of-age story and a comedy of errors, they is also a billet-doux to the fashions and fads of the island of Lolland, Helle's childhood home: she painstakingly records what people wore, how they spoke, and the kinds of things they ate ("cauliflower gratin" and "macaroni horns in the tomato soup"). Gorgeously rendered into English by the prize-winning translator Martin Aitken, they is an exquisite small-town portrait-oblique, calibrated, and oddly affecting-of the love between a mother and daughter, of all its attendant longing, and the inevitable letting go."--
Football
"A hilarious but nonetheless groundbreaking contribution to the argument about which force shapes American life the most. For two kinds of readers--those who know it's football and those who are about to find out"-- Provided by publisher
Hannibal Lecter a life
"This unique biography traces the many lives and crimes of Hanibal Lecter: his disturbing debut in Thomas Harris's 1981 novel 'Red dragon;' his rise to infamy in beloved films like Michael Mann's 'Manhunter' and Jonathan Demme's Academy Award-winning 'The silence of the lambs;' and his unexpected comeback in the cult-hit TV series 'Hannibal.' It also dives into the untold life and career of Harris, the secretive bestselling author whose passion for reporting, eye for grisly detail, and connections to the FBI helped birth not only Lecter, but also the modern true-crime genre. Along the way, 'Hannibal Lecter: a life' documents the many ways Lecter's rise reflected America's ever-growing obsession with real-life serial killers. Featuring all-new interviews with crucial figures from Lecter's past--including actor Brian Cox, director Michael Mann, and former FBI special agent John Douglas--'Hannibal Lecter: a life' is a deeply reported, wildly entertaining look at the making of one of the most beloved bad guys of all time"--Inside jacket flap
Astro herbalism holistic wellness and self-discovery through herbalism and astrology
"Explore the relationships between celestial bodies, astrological signs, and herbal remedies to embark on a journey self-discovery and holistic wellness. Astrology provides us with a roadmap of the soul, illuminating our individual strengths, challenges, and potential for growth. Herbalism invites us to commune with the plant kingdom to nourish our bodies, minds, and spirits. By combining these disciplines, we gain a deeper understanding of the role we play within the cosmic web of existence. Learn about the unique qualities of each celestial body and corresponding astrological signs -- from the radiant energy of the Sun to the transformative depths of Pluto -- and uncover the ways they shape our inner psyche and outer experiences. Discover the therapeutic properties of plants aligned with each celestial body and learn how to use them to restore balance and enhance mental and physical well-being. With illuminating insights and expert guidance, Astro Herbalism blends ancient wisdom with contemporary practices to create a practical tool for self-care." --
Love poems
"For the first time, Rupi Kaur's heartfelt love poems are together in one intimate and timeless collection! ...'love will come and when love comes love will hold you love will call your name'... Since her groundbreaking debut with the bestselling milk and honey, Rupi Kaur's poetry has become a source of comfort, empowerment, and emotional truth for millions around the world. Now, for the first time ever, her most cherished reflections on love are together in one place! Love Poems by Rupi Kaur is a curated collection of love poems from Kaur's acclaimed body of work, including poems from milk and honey, the sun and her flowers, and home body, along with an all-new introduction. These timeless pieces capture the sensuality, romance, passion, and all-consuming nature of modern love, making it the perfect gift for anyone who has loved deeply or is learning to love themselves."--Amazon.com
The encyclopedia of ugly fashion a hilarious introspective of history's best worst fashion trends
Revel in the bad decisions of others with this collection of history's most bizarre fashion trends that will leave you asking, "Who would even wear this?" Featuring historical context and illustrations pulled directly out of the past, fashion historian and influencer Karolina Zebrowska appraises each look with an equal amount of thoughtfulness and humor. From 16th-century German hats shaped like plates to the 1950s bullet bra, this unique capsule not only uncovers the intention behind these kooky, sometimes oppressive, always outrageous trends but theorizes how they all went so horribly wrong. Perfect for fashion fanatics, history buffs, and everyone in between, this book is sure to provide hours of entertainment
Designing data-intensive applications the big ideas behind reliable, scalable, and maintainable systems
"Data is at the center of many challenges in system design today. Difficult issues such as scalability, consistency, reliability, efficiency, and maintainability need to be resolved. In addition, there's an overwhelming variety of systems, including relational databases, NoSQL datastores, data warehouses, and data lakes. There are cloud services, on-premises services, and embedded databases. What are the right choices for your application? How do you make sense of all these buzzwords? In this second edition, authors Martin Kleppmann and Chris Riccomini build on the foundation laid in the acclaimed first edition, integrating new technologies and emerging trends. You'll be guided through the maze of decisions and trade-offs involved in building a modern data system, learn how to choose the right tools for your needs, and understand the fundamentals of distributed systems. Peer under the hood of the systems you already use, and learn to use them more effectively. Make informed decisions by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of different tools. Learn how major cloud services are designed for scalability, fault tolerance, and consistency. Understand the core principles upon which modern databases are built"-- Amazon.com
Fun with watercolor 45 beginner-friendly projects to create frame-worthy art
Master unique watercolor skills from sponge painting to stamping with this all-new collection of fun techniques from professional artist and teacher Anna Koliadych. The bestselling author of 15-Minute Watercolor Masterpieces is back with watercolor projects that are perfect for artists looking to build on their existing skills or newbies hoping to find their new favorite hobby. Using things easily found around the house like sponges or crayons, you can totally transform your art
Lineage genealogy and the power of connection in early America
"In eighteenth-century America, genealogy was more than a simple record of family ties--it was a powerful force that shaped society. Lineage delves into an era where individuals, families, and institutions meticulously documented their connections. Whether driven by personal passion or mandated by churches, local governments, and courts, these records appeared in diverse forms-from handwritten notes and account books to intricate silk threads and enduring stone carvings. Family connections wielded significant influence across governmental, legal, religious, cultural, and social spheres. In the American context, these ties also defined the boundaries of slavery and freedom, with a child's status often determined by their mother, despite the prevailing patriarchy. This book reveals the profound importance of genealogy that was chronicled by family records, cultural artifacts, and court documents. These materials, created by both enslaved individuals seeking freedom and founding fathers seeking status, demonstrate the culturally and historically specific nature of genealogical interest. Even as the American Revolution transformed society, the significance of genealogy endured. The legacy of lineage from the colonial period continued to shape the early United States, underscoring the enduring importance of family connections. Lineage offers a deep understanding of genealogy as a foundational element of American history, illuminating its vital role from the colonial era through the birth of the nation--
Bittersweet : the five tastes of dessert and beyond
Wild Sweetness: The Five Tastes by Thalia Ho is a visually striking cookbook presenting over 100 dessert recipes that explore the five basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami. The book emphasizes the ways these flavors interact to create balance, contrast, and complexity in desserts. Recipes range from traditional favorites to inventive and adventurous creations, accompanied by reflective commentary and photography that highlights the artistry of cooking and presentation. Suitable for both beginning and experienced home cooks, this work combines culinary instruction with a meditative approach to flavor, texture, and the sensory experience of food
Once there was a war
A selection of dispatches written by the author from England, Africa, and Italy at the height of World War II
How to live a meaningful life using design thinking to unlock purpose, joy, and flow every day
How to Live a Meaningful Life is a nonfiction self-help book by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans that explores approaches to finding meaning and purpose in everyday life. Drawing on design thinking principles developed through Stanford University's Life Design Lab, the authors examine contemporary research on well-being and personal fulfillment. The book presents practical strategies for cultivating qualities such as engagement, coherence, community, and reflection, with the goal of helping readers make intentional choices about how they live and work. Emphasizing small, actionable steps, the authors offer tools intended to support personal growth and life satisfaction
Days of love and rage a story of ordinary people forging a revolution
"From Pulitzer and National Book Award finalist Anand Gopal, a mesmerizing and powerful account of six Syrians fighting for a better world, in the tradition of classic works by Philip Gourevitch and Katherine Boo. In 2011, in a northern Syrian city, a small group of men and women began a movement that overthrew one of the world's most brutal dictatorships. For the next eighteen months, citizens of Manbij carried out one of the most remarkable experiments in democracy in modern times. Days of Love and Rage details the powerfully intimate narratives of men and women who led this struggle, and who experience the highs of camaraderie and the lows of betrayal: a pair of best friends torn apart by political polarization, a mother who stands up to male dominance, a worker who risks everything for the dream of equality. Anand Gopal immerses you in the world of a single city in the throes of revolution, and lays bare the danger that inequality poses to democracy. But this book transcends the particulars of one terrible conflict to tell the sweeping story of democracy and rising authoritarianism in our times. It is, above all, an account of the best and worst of humanity. Both tragic and inspiring, Days of Love and Rage is a story of our enduring human need for freedom, security, dignity, community, love, and hope"-- Provided by publisher
A way with words style in the age of artificial intelligence
"A Way with Words helps readers learn the essentials of writing. Rather than lecturing about when to use who or whom, this book focuses on writing clear, concise, and lively prose: eliminating wordiness, using active verbs, avoiding run-on sentences. John Marsh applies his experience grading over 5,000 essays over a quarter century as a teacher to take readers through the issues he most commonly sees. While Marsh teaches in the humanities, the advice applies to writing regardless of discipline. Using examples from papers students might actually write, the book invites readers to apply what they have learned to quizzes that mix and match issues -- vague pronouns, sentence fragments, punctuating quotations -- from previous chapters. The book includes a thoughtful discussion about balancing the competing demands of writing well and fighting linguistic discrimination. Finally, A Way with Words prompts readers to consider what artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT and Bard will mean for student writing. It offers advice about how writers can distinguish their writing from the assembly-line writing that artificial intelligence tends to generate, and how they can develop their style to stand out to their teachers, employers, and clients" --
Guide to hydroponic gardening : how to grow food in any space without soil or sunlight
"Guide to Hydroponic Gardening is your all-in-one manual for growing your own food--without dirt, and without limits. Hydroponics offers a clean, efficient, and highly adaptable way to garden indoors using water-based systems that thrive in small spaces and low-light environments. This comprehensive guide walks you through everything you need to know to get started and succeed. From choosing between a store-bought setup or DIY build to understanding essential tools, avoiding common pitfalls, and keeping your plants pest-free, Martin answers the questions every new hydroponic gardener asks--before you even think to ask them. Whether you're growing for flavor, fun, or food security, Guide to Hydroponic Gardening gives you the tools to harvest success--right from your kitchen counter." -- Provided by publisher
Until the last gun is silent a story of patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the fight to save America's soul
"As the civil rights movement blazed through America, more than 300,000 Black troops were drafted and sent to fight in the Vietnam War. These soldiers, often from disadvantaged backgrounds and subjected to the brutalities of racism back home, found themselves thrust onto the frontlines of a war many saw as unjust. On the homefront, Black antiwar activists faced another battle: Opposition to the Vietnam War, vilified by key allies in the media and government as anti-American, jeopardized the fight for civil rights. For Black Americans, the Vietnam War forced a generation to question what it truly meant to fight for justice. Award-winning civil rights historian Matthew F. Delmont weaves together the stories of two Black heroes of the Vietnam War era: Coretta Scott King, who bravely championed the antiwar cause--and eventually persuaded her husband to do the same and Dwight "Skip" Johnson, a Medal of Honor recipient whose life ended tragically after returning from battle to his native Detroit. Together, these extraordinary accounts expose the contradictions of Black activism and military service during the Vietnam War. Through rich storytelling, Delmont offers a portrait of this period unlike any other, shedding light on a fractured civil rights movement, a generation of veterans failed by the country they served, and the valor of Black servicemen and peace advocates in the midst of it all"--
You wanna be on top? a memoir of makeovers, manipulation, and not becoming America's next top model
"In this juicy tell-all, a fan favorite America's Next Top Model contestant pulls back the curtain on the iconic but deeply flawed reality competition show, revealing the manipulation and chaos behind the scenes"--
I was better last night a memoir
"A revealing, poignant, and hilarious memoir from the cultural icon, gay rights activist, and four-time Tony Award winner. Harvey Fierstein's stellar career has taken him from Broadway to Hollywood and back. He's received accolades and awards for acting-Hairspray, Fiddler, Mrs. Doubtfire, Independence Day-and writing: La Cage Aux Folle, Torch Song Trilogy (for which he also won a Tony for acting) and Kinky Boots. But while he is widely known as one of today's most peerless performers, Harvey has never shared his own story until now."--
About your father and other celebrities I have known ruminations and revelations from a desperate mom mother to her dirty son
"Peggy Rowe is at it again--this time giving a hilarious inside look at growing up Rowe, both before and after Mike's rise to fame. Since the day they said, "I do," Peggy's previous "doting" lifestyle met with her husband John's minimalist ways and became the backdrop for years of adventure and a quirky sense of humor because of their differences. From thoughts of wearing headlamps in the house to save energy, to squeezing out the last drop of toothpaste with a workbench vise, Peggy learned to pick her battles and celebrate the hilarity in each situation. Once their boys were born, woodstove mishaps and garbage dumping tales were the seed for Mike's obsession with doing dirty jobs and the comical presence he is known for today. As Mike rose to fame, Peggy was his biggest fan--who gave motherly advice and constructive criticism, of course. She baked cookies for Mike to take to Joan Rivers for a Christmas party hostess gift, and even wrote fan letters under faux names and mailed them from different cities to Mike's producer. By the time Mike hits it big, Peggy and John retire to face more adventures, with a lightning strike in their condo, an elderly friend who ate marijuana leaves, and entering into celebrity status by making Viva paper towel and Lee jeans commercials, plus so much more. Peggy's stories relive the details that intrigue and entertain old and new fans alike. So if you want a bigger, even funnier take on the Rowe family, About Your Father and Other Celebrities I Have Known delivers."--Publisher's description
The mighty queens of Freeville a mother, a daughter, and the town that raised them
In The Mighty Queens of Freeville, Amy Dickinson, syndicated advice columnist and weekly National Public Radio celeb, shares her remarkable story--a tale of Amy and her daughter and the people who helped raise them after Amy found herself a reluctant single parent
Triggered a memoir of obsessive-compulsive disorder
An American childhood
Don't stop believin'
Strange bewildering time Istanbul to Kathmandu in the last year of the Hippie Trail
"A poet and journalist looks back on a remarkable journey from Turkey to Nepal in 1978, when the region was on the brink of massive transformation. In the spring of 1978, at age twenty-two, Mark Abley put aside his studies at Oxford and set off with a friend on a three-month trek across the celebrated Hippie Trail — a sprawling route between Europe and South Asia, peppered with Western bohemians and vagabonds. It was a time when the Shah of Iran still reigned supreme, Afghanistan lay at peace, and city streets from Turkey to India teemed with unrest. Within a year, many of the places he visited would become inaccessible to foreign travellers. Drawing from the tattered notebooks he filled as a youthful wanderer, Abley brings his kaleidoscope of experiences back to life with vivid detail: dancing in a Turkish disco, clambering across a glacier in Kashmir, travelling by train among Baluchi tribesmen who smuggled kitchen appliances over international borders. He also reflects on the impact of the Hippie Trail and the illusions of those who journeyed along it. The lively immediacy of Abley’s journals combined with the measured wisdom of his mature, contemporary voice provides rich insight, bringing vibrant witness and historical perspective to this beautifully written portrait of a region during a time of irrevocable change."--
Lotus girl my life at the crossroads of Buddhism and America
"From the woman who helped introduce Buddhism to the West and founded Tricycle magazine comes a brilliant memoir of forging one's own path that Pico Iyer calls "unflinching" and "indispensable." The daughter of an artist, Helen Tworkov grew up in the heady climate of the New York School of Abstract Expressionism; yet from an early age, she questioned the value of Western cultural norms. Her life was forever changed when she saw the iconic photo of Thich Quang Duc, the Vietnamese monk who, seated in meditation, set himself on fire to protest his government's crackdown on the Buddhist clergy. Tworkov realized that radically different states of mind truly existed and were worth exploring. At the age of twenty-two, she set off for Japan, then traveled through Cambodia, India, and eventually to Tibetan refugee camps in Nepal. Set against the arresting cultural backdrop of the sixties and their legacy, this intimate self-portrait depicts Tworkov's search for a true home as she interacts with renowned artists and spiritual luminaries including the Dalai Lama, Pema Chödrön, Joseph Goldstein, Bernie Glassman, Charles Mingus, Elizabeth Murray and Richard Serra. Interweaving experience, research, and revelation, Helen Tworkov explores the relationship between Buddhist wisdom and American values, presenting a wholly unique look at the developing landscape of Buddhism in the West. Lotus Girl offers insight not only into Tworkov's own search for the truth, but into the ways each of us can better understand and transform ourselves"--
There are no grown-ups a midlife coming-of-age story
The author confronts the realities of being forty, examining how the modern forties are less associated with midlife than in the past and discussing the disconnects of social media, the French perspectives about libido, and the challenges of raising kids while caring for aging parents
The unexpected CEO my journey from gas station cashier to billion-dollar CEO
"Behzadi shares her incredible story and all the hard-won lessons she's learned in The Unexpected CEO, both an inspiring account of her journey and a guide filled with practical strategies to harness the opportunities nestled in some of life's most difficult challenges"-- Provided by publisher
The quiet ear an investigation of missing sound a memoir
"At the hospital where Raymond Antrobus was born, a midwife snapped her fingers by his ears and gauged his response. It was his first hearing test, and he passed. For years, Antrobus lived as a deaf person in the hearing world, before he was diagnosed at the age of six. This "in-betweenness" was a space he would occupy in other areas of his life too. The son of a Jamaican father and white British mother, growing up in East London, it was easy for him to fall through the cracks. Growing up, he was told that he wasn't smart enough, wasn't black enough, wasn't deaf enough. It was only when he was fitted with hearing aids at the age of seven, that he began to discover his missing sounds: the high pitches of whistles, birds, alarms, the "sh, ch, ba, th" sounds in speech-all of it missing. The Quiet Ear is an attempt to fill in those missing sounds in Antrobus' own life, and how they formed his hybrid deaf identity. It's a story of a journey of finding your path when there are no signs to show the way, and a testament to the people-his parents and teachers, artists, writers, and musicians -- who helped form his language: spoken, written, and signed. It's also about becoming a father to a hearing son, and trying to know the ways in which they might understand and misunderstand one another. "-- Provided by publisher
Real estate a living autobiography
"Virginia Woolf wrote that in order to be a writer, a woman needs a room of one's own. Now, in [this book], acclaimed author Deborah Levy concludes her ground-breaking trilogy of living autobiographies with an exhilarating, boldly intimate meditation on home and the specters that haunt it. In this vibrant memoir, Levy employs her characteristic indelible writing, sharp wit, and acute insights to craft a searing examination of womanhood and ownership. Her inventory of possessions, real and imagined, pushes readers to question our cultural understanding of belonging and belongings and to consider the value of a woman's intellectual and personal life. Blending personal history, gender politics, philosophy, and literary theory, [this book] is a brilliant, compulsively readable narrative" --
All the women in my brain : and other concerns
"Like Jenny Lawson and Caitlin Moran, Emmy-nominated actress and writer Betty Gilpin delivers a lightning-strike dispatch of hilarious, intimate, and luminous essays on how to navigate this weird and wondrous life. Betty Gilpin has a brain full of women. There's Blanche VonFuckery, Ingrid St. Rash, and a host of others-some cowering in sweatpants, some howling plans for revolution, and some, oh God, and some...slowly vomiting up a crow without breaking eye contact? Jesus. These women take turns at the wheel. That's why Betty feels like a million selves. With a raised eyebrow and a soul-scalpel, she tells us how she got this way. Betty has depression, Betty has a dream, Betty has tits the size of printers. She has debilitating shame and then, impossibly, a tiny voice saying what if. She takes us from wild dissections of modern womanhood to boarding school to the glossy cringe of Hollywood. We laugh through the failures (monologue to beagle! Ancient mentors proposing fellatio!) and quietly hope with her for the dream. Whether that dream is love or liberation or enough iMDb credits to tase the demon snapping at her ankles, we won't know until the shit-fanning end. There's Hamlet, there's self-sabotage, there's PTSD from turkey. Stunning, candid, and laugh-out-loud funny, All the Women in My Brain is perfect for any reader who's ever felt like they were more, or at least weirder, than the world expected"--
True Gretch what I've learned about life, leadership, and everything in between
"When Gretchen Whitmer was growing up, her beloved grandmother Nino taught her that you can always find something good in other people. "Even the meanest person might have pretty eyes," she would say. Nino's words persuaded Whitmer to look for the good in any person or situation--just one of many colorful personal experiences that have shaped her political vision. (And, as Whitmer writes, one that resonated more than another piece of advice her grandmother offered, to "never part your hair in the middle.") In this candid and inspiring book, Whitmer reveals the principles and instincts that have shaped her extraordinary career, from her early days as a lawyer and legislator and her 2018 election as governor of Michigan, to her bold and innovative actions as she led the state through a series of unprecedented crises. Her motto in politics, she writes, is to "get shit done." Whitmer shares the lessons in resilience that steered her through some of the most challenging events in Michigan's history, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, a five-hundred-year flood, the rise of domestic terrorism, and the fierce fight to protect reproductive rights. Along the way, she tells stories about the outsize characters in her family, her lifelong clumsy streak, the wild comments she's heard on the campaign trail, her self-deprecating social media campaigns (including her star turn as a talking potato with lipstick), and the slyly funny tactics she deploys to neutralize her opponents. Written with Whitmer's trademark sense of humor and straight-shooting style, True Gretch is not only a compelling account of her remarkable journey, but also a blueprint for anyone who wants to make a difference in their community, their country, or the world. It is a testament to the power of humor, perseverance, and compassion in the face of darkness."-- Provided by publisher
The art of pausing meditations for the overworked and overwhelmed
The Oxford book of American poetry
Why I wake early new poems
The country commonplace book
"Commonplace books have been kept for centuries, and have historically been used to record favourite passages from books, poetry, anecdotes, extracts from letters, proverbs, lists, shared recipes, quotes, prayers and lyrics. 'Commonplacing' has seen a recent revival and can now been seen more as a highly personal anthology - a joyful place where the keeper can develop a deeper sense of self by selecting fragments of language that feel meaningful and reflect their tastes, beliefs and values. In this book, delve into blogger, Instagrammer and YouTuber Miranda Mills' ultimate commonplace book, a carefully curated guide to the seasons. Including poetry by Robert Browning, Emily Bronte, Sara Teasdale, Lemn Sissay, and with extracts from Edith Wharton, George Eliot, Alison Uttley, Louisa May Alcott, Adrian Bell and many, many more. Connect more deeply with yourself and your creative impulses as you explore everything each season has to offer, and even be inspired to create your own personalised commonplace book"--Publisher's description
Startlement new and selected poems
"Drawing from six previously published books--including widely acclaimed collections The Hurting Kind, The Carrying, and Bright Dead Things--as well as vibrant new work, Startlement exalts the mysterious. With a tender curiosity, Ada Limón wades into potent unknowns--the strangeness of our brief human lives, the ever-changing nature of the universe--and emerges each time with new revelations about our place in the world... From the chaos of youthful desire, to the waxing of love and loss, to the precarity of our environment, to the stars and beyond, Limón's poetry bears witness to the arc of all we know with patient lyricism and humble wonder."--Amazon.com
Nostalgia doesn't flow away like riverwater = Xilase qui rié di' sicasi rié nisa guiigu' = La nostalgia no se marcha como el agua de los ríos
"A story of separation and displacement in two fictionalized voices: a person who has migrated, without papers, to the United States for work, and their partner who waits at home. Nostalgia Doesn't Flow Away Like Riverwater / Xilase qui rié di' sicasi rié nisa guiigu' / La Nostalgia no se marcha como el agua de los ríos is a trilingual collection by one of the most prominent Indigenous poets in Latin America: Irma Pineda. The book consists of 36 persona poems that tell a story of separation and displacement in two fictionalized voices: a person who has migrated, without papers, to the United States for work, and that person's partner who waits at home, in the poet's hometown of Juchitán, Oaxaca. According to Periódico de Poesía, a journal based at UNAM (Mexico's national university), when it was published in 2007, this book established Pineda as "one of the strongest poets working in Zapotec, the [Mexican] Native language with the largest literary production.""--
Visitations poems
"In these poems, Alvarez traces her life gently, a fingertip following lines on a page, through memories of her childhood in the Dominican Republic, a dictatorship dramatically survived, family and sofrito, tías and the sisters who forged her, her move to America and overcoming English, the search for mental health and beauty, redemption and success. We meet her grandchild and her mother, her lovers and the homes where she grew up and into the formidable writer read in thousands of classrooms across America today. In these poems, her wisdom is as clear and beautiful as the light that shines through crystal and yet grounded through form and the substance of self-knowing."-- Provided by publisher
Eating salad drunk haikus for the burnout age by comedy greats
"Jokes and haikus have a common goal: to pack the greatest punch in the most succinct way possible. In Eating Salad Drunk, today's biggest names in comedy come together to do just that, with hilarious, poignant, and (sometimes) dirty haikus about living and coping in our modern "burnout age." *All author proceeds go towards Comedy Gives Back, a nonprofit that provides mental health, medical, and crisis support resources for comedians"--
Poet X una novela
Novel-in-verse by an award-winning slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo, about Afro-Latina Xiomara Batista who turns to journalling poetry
Invisible strings 113 poets respond to the songs of Taylor Swift
"An anthology of brand-new poems inspired by Taylor Swift songs, from a powerhouse group of contemporary poets, including Kate Baer, Maggie Smith, and Joy Harjo"--
Women holding things
"Women Holding Things includes the bright, bold images featured in the booklet as well as an additional sixty-seven new paintings highlighted by thoughtful and intimate anecdotes, recollections, and ruminations. Most are portraits of women, both ordinary and famous, including Virginia Woolf, Sally Hemings, Hortense Cezanne, Gertrude Stein, as well as Kalman's family members and other real-life people. These women hold a range of objects, from the mundane--balloons, a cup, a whisk, a chicken, a hat--to the abstract--dreams and disappointments, sorrow and regret, joy and love. Women Holding Things explores the significance of the objects we carry--in our hands, hearts, and minds--and speaks to, and for, all of us. Maira Kalman's unique work is a celebration of life, of the act and the art of living, offering an original way of examining and understanding all that is important in our world--and ultimately within ourselves." --
Loves of our lives poems for hopeful hearts
"From TikTok star and author of I Hope You Remember--which John Stamos called a "gift to the world"--Josie Balka comes this evocative collection of over eighty poems about the different types of love. From the coziness of lifelong friendship to the aching intensity of lost love, Loves of Our Lives is a poetic journey through the heartfelt relationships that make us human. In her highly anticipated second collection, social media sensation Josie Balka masterfully puts words to the indescribable, weaving her signature blend of raw emotion and vivid imagery into poems that speak straight to the soul. Featuring eighty poems, some already beloved by her followers and others exclusive to this collection, Loves of Our Lives explores six types of love--familial, toxic, romantic, friendship, self-love, and lost love--and invites reflection, offering solace and celebration in equal measure in this love letter to love itself"--
Baudelaire in English
Zadyvli︠a︡i︠u︡sʹ u tvoï zinyt︠s︡i : vybrani virshi
The Pushcart prize best of the small presses
A yearly anthology of fiction, essays and poetry from the small presses chosen by writers
The Calamity Club
"Oxford, Mississippi, 1933. Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Now one of the unadoptable 'big girls' at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she's left behind. But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister's seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies. Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose. When their fates--and Meg's--converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan to claim what's rightfully theirs. But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women's freedom is fragile, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences"--Inside jacket flap
Theo of golden
"Questions linger about Theo, a pleasant but mysterious stranger, after his arrival in the southern city of Golden. Who is he, and why is he here? He arrives early one spring and by chance -- or is it? -- he visits a coffee shop where 92 framed pencil portraits are on display. Inspired, Theo sets out on a mission of purchasing all the portraits one at a time and quietly bestowing them on their 'rightful owners.' Stories are told; friendships are born; and lives are changed. Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted story about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the far-reaching possibilities of anonymous kindness."--
Dungeon Crawler Carl the graphic novel. Volume one
"You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Getting stuck on a sadistic alien game show with her cat"--Page 4 of cover
Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone
Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry
My friends
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, who "captures the messy essence of being human" (The Washington Post), returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a stranger's life twenty-five years later. Most people don't even notice them-three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it's just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier. There's Joar, who never backs down from a fight; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his father; Ali, the daughter of a man who never stays in one place for long; and finally, there's the artist, a boy who hoards sleeping pills and shuns attention, but who possesses an extraordinary gift that might be his ticket to a better life. These four lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream. Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisa's care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the painting's birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings don't always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art"--
Lady Tremaine
"Twice-widowed, Lady Etheldreda Verity Isolde Tremaine Bramley is solely responsible for her two children, a priggish stepdaughter, a razor-taloned peregrine falcon, and a crumbling manor. Fierce and determined, Ethel clings to the respectability her deceased husband's title affords her, hoping it will secure her daughters' future through marriage. When a royal ball offers the chance to change everything, Ethel risks her pride in pursuit of an invitation for all three of her daughters--only to see her hopes fulfilled by the wrong one. As an engagement to the future king unfolds, Ethel discovers a sordid secret hidden in the depths of the royal family, forcing her to choose between the security she craves and the wellbeing of the stepdaughter who has rebuffed her at every turn. As if Bridgerton met Circe, and exhilarating to its core, Lady Tremaine reimagines the myth of the evil stepmother at the heart of the world's most famous fairy tale. It is a battle cry for a mother's love for her daughters, and a celebration of women everywhere who make their own fortunes"-- Provided by publisher
Yesteryear
"A social media celebrity, a wife and mother who sells her fantasy pioneer lifestyle of sourdough and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of followers, suddenly wakes up cold, dirty, and hungry in the year 1805 and must uncover the nature - hoax, reality show, test from God - of her terrifying new existence in this sensational debut novel. "My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive." Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie's followers - all 8 million of them - don't know won't hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an anti-feminist iconoclast? They're sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn't simply living the good life, she's living the ideal - and just so happens to be building an empire from it. Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn't hers. Her home, her husband, her children - they're all familiar, but something's off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she's expected to haul firewood andhand washh clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible. A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood"-- Provided by publisher
The two towers being the second part of The lord of the rings
Frodo and his Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord
Dolly all the time
"If they start by pretending, can they end with something real? Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn't solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home. So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield: annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family: with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it's in her nature to help. But Stewart's proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and kisses that hit her bloodstream like a ghost pepper, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She's never relied on anyone besides herself, can she really start now?"--Provided by publisher
Dolly all the time
"If they start by pretending, can they end with something real? Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn't solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home. So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield: annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family: with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it's in her nature to help. But Stewart's proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and kisses that hit her bloodstream like a ghost pepper, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She's never relied on anyone besides herself, can she really start now?"--Provided by publisher
Remarkably bright creatures
"For fans of A Man Called Ove, a luminous debut novel about a widow's unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium-and the truths she finally uncovers about her son's disappearance 30 years ago"--
Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets
When the Chamber of Secrets is opened again at the Hogswart School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, second-year student Harry Potter finds himself in danger from a dark power that has once more been released on the school
Kingdom of ash
With Aelin locked in an iron coffin by Queen of the Fae Maeve, Aedion and Lysandra struggle to defend Terrasen, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian face their own fates, and Rowan seeks his captured wife and queen. The series concludes in a final epic battle
The possession of Alba Díaz
"When a demonic presence awakens deep in a Mexican silver mine, the young woman it seizes must turn to the one man she shouldn't trust... from bestselling author Isabel Cañas. In 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancé, Carlos, to his family's isolated mine for refuge. But safety proves fleeting as other dangers soon bare their teeth: Alba begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Something angry. Something wrong. Elías, haunted by a troubled past, came to the New World to make his fortune and escape his family's legacy of greed. Alba, as his cousin's betrothed, is none of his business. Which is of course why he can't help but notice her every time she enters a room or the growing tension between them... and why he notices her deteriorate when the demon's thirst for blood grows stronger. In the fight for her life, Alba and Elías become entangled with the occult, the Church, long-kept secrets, and one another... not knowing that one of these things will spell their doom"--
My name is Emilia del Valle
"In San Francisco in 1866, an Irish nun, abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gives birth to a daughter named Emilia del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman. To pursue her passion for writing, she is willing to defy societal norms. At the age of seventeen, she begins to publish pulp fiction using a man's pen name. When these fictional worlds can no longer satisfy her sense of adventure, she turns to journalism, convincing an editor at The Daily Examiner to hire her. There she is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan. As she proves herself, her restlessness returns, until an opportunity arises to cover a brewing civil war in Chile. She seizes it, as does Eric, and while there, she meets her estranged father and delves into the violent confrontation in the country where her roots lie. As she and Eric discover love, the war escalates and Emilia finds herself in extreme danger, fearing for her life and questioning her identity and her destiny." --
The Grand Paloma Resort
"The Grand Paloma Resort is a lush paradise in the Dominican Republic where the guests enjoy incredible luxury, and the staff is always eager to please-that is, until they are pushed to the brink"-- Provided by publisher
Hombrecito
"A novel by a brilliant new voice, Hombrecito is a queer coming-of-age story about a young immigrant's complex relationships with his mother and his motherland."--
Catalina
"Catalina is trying to work out her own life as she leaves her undocumented family behind to enter Harvard. Suffering from bouts of PTSD, she struggles to connect to her new world just as she struggled to make sense of her old one. She infiltrates the subcultures of elite undergrads-internships and college newspapers, parties and secret societies-and observes them like an anthropologist, but then falls in love, or something like love, with a fellow student, an actual anthropology scholar who wants to teach her about the Andean world she was born in but never knew. They are drawn to each other by the strange attraction of exocticized fascination-she, a real live Latin American, becomes a subject of academic interest; he, in turns, draws her fascination as a white legacy admit born into the strange world she now navigates. Catalina is uncertain: should she let herself become what he wants her to be and take up residence in his secure and privileged world? Or should she return to the life she's known, with all its thorny precarity? Who is she anyway?"--
The dance and the fire
"After years apart, three high school friends return to Cuernavaca, Mexico, where an intense love triangle once left an indelible mark on their adolescence. The city, surrounded by a ring of claustrophobic wildfires, brings out the past and confronts them with their present: they must once again face the entanglement of friendship and desire, the seemingly distant discovery of sexuality, complex parental relationships, and the daunting task of artistic fulfillment. In the background, two forces of chaos and destruction are a constant presence. As fires ravage the physical landscape, one of the friends begins choreographing an ecstatic dance inspired by the German expressionist Mary Wigman and medieval Danse Macabre. What starts as a coping mechanism for the anxieties of youth and climate catastrophe becomes an overpowering, all-consuming hysteria. Mysterious powers are awakened, the boundary between reality and myth begins to blur, and the friends find themselves immersed in an increasingly turbulent and uncertain universe"--
Loca
"It's 1999, and best friends Sal and Charo are striving to hold on to their dreams in a New York determined to grind them down. Sal is a book-loving science nerd trying to grow beyond his dead-end job in a new city, but he's held back by tragic memories from his past in Santo Domingo. Free-spirited Charo is surprised to find herself a mother at twenty-five, partnered with a controlling man, working at the same supermarket for years, her world shrunk to the very domesticity she thought she'd escaped in her old country. When Sal finds love at a gay club one night, both his and Charo's worlds unexpectedly open up to a vibrant social circle that pushes them to reckon with what they owe to their own selves, pasts, futures, and, always, each other." --
Speak to me of home
"What does it mean to call a place home? From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jeanine Cummins comes a deeply felt multigenerational family story On her wedding day in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1968, Rafaela Acuña y Daubón has mild misgivings, but she marries Peter Brennan Jr. anyway in a blaze of romantic optimism. She has no way of knowing how dramatically her life will change when she uproots her young family to start over in the American Midwest, unleashing a fleet of disappointments. In the 1980s, against the backdrop of her mother's isolation in St. Louis, Missouri, Rafaela's daughter, Ruth Brennan, wants only to belong. Eager to fit in, Ruth lets go of her language, habits, and childhood memories of Puerto Rico. It's not until decades later when Ruth's own daughter, Daisy, returns to San Juan that her mother and grandmother begin to truly reflect on the choices that have come to define their lives. When a hurricane ravages the island in 2023, leaving Daisy critically injured, Rafaela and Ruth return to the city where it all began. As they gather at Daisy's bedside, we follow them back into the pasts that brought them to this point: we watch as they come of age, fall in love, take risks, and contend with all the heartbreaks, triumphs, and reversals of fortune--both good and bad--that make up a meaningful life. As old memories come to light, so do buried secrets, leaving everyone in the family wondering exactly where it is that they belong. A striking, resonant examination of marriage, family, and identity, Speak to Me of Home is ultimately a story of mothers and daughters that asks: How can three women who share geography and genetics have such wildly different ideas of where they come from? And, more importantly, can they discover a common language to find their way back home?"--
The intrigue
"Handsome con artist Ulises has long charmed lonely women via letters to steal their money, but money is hard to come by in 1940s Mexico. Ulises knows his looks won't last forever, and he's desperate to get his hands on a real fortune. He thinks he's found it when he captivates his newest correspondent, Perla, the owner of a small-town boardinghouse in picturesque Veracruz. But when he meets her, he finds something he didn't expect. The woman has a niece, Inés, who is as observant as she is desperate to escape her aunt's household. When Inés discovers Ulises' true intentions, she wants in on the scheme. They'll convince her aunt that Ulises is a great catch, Perla will marry him, and her money will vanish. Easy, fast and clean. But Perla is not the desperate, silly spinster Ulises imagines. She harbors secrets. And although Ulises does not believe in true romance, Inés is more alluring than he bargained on. Suddenly, a simple plan may become perilously complicated. Venture into the streets of a small town where the patina of convention and good manners conceals a cauldron of avarice and lust"--
Last night in Brooklyn
"New York Times bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a captivating story about a young woman whose life becomes ensnared in her glamorous neighbor's secret past, laying bare the mounting tensions at play in a rapidly gentrifying, early 2000's Fort Greene, Brooklyn. SPRING, 2007 At twenty-six, Alicia Canales Forten feels smothered by her future. She's in a long-distance relationship, living at home with her mother's beliefs, saving up for her wedding to a future doctor. But after Alicia ventures out one night in the neighborhood of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, she finds herself lured by the siren song of youth and possibility that the striving crowd of creatives holds, and moves in. No one embodies this more than La Garza, a larger-than-life, up-and-coming fashion designer whose epic house parties fuel neighborhood lore. La Garza's life, observed by Alicia from her apartment across the street, seems to hold the allure and fearlessness Alicia has never dared to imagine for herself. But when Alicia's wealthy banker cousin moves to the neighborhood, she finds herself increasingly drawn into both his and La Garza's precarious lives. Against the backdrop of a potentially life-changing presidential election and a looming once-in-a-generation fiscal crisis, Last Night in Brooklyn explores the dark compromise of the American Dream for people of color living, unknowingly, in the twilight of a cultural moment. It is a story about everything money can buy--and the destruction of what it can't"--
I give you my silence
"In his final novel, the Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa returns to his native Peru"-- Provided by publisher
Autobiography of cotton
"In 1934, a young Jose Revueltas traveled to Tamaulipas to support the cotton workers' strike in Estacion Camaron, which became the basis of his landmark novel Human Mourning. In her own groundbreaking novel, Autobiography of Cotton, Cristina Rivera Garza recounts her grandparents' journey from mining towns to those same cotton fields as it intersects with Revueltas's life in a vivid and evocative history of cotton cultivation along the Mexico-US border. Through archival research and personal narrative, Rivera Garza chronicles the way cotton transformed the borderlands by reconstructing the cotton workers' strike and reveals how cycles of deprivation and ecocide persist across generations. Deeply personal and politically acute, Rivera Garza crafts a new kind of border novel that tells how a brittle land radically altered her grandparents' lives and the territories they helped develop. An intimate fictionalization, Autobiography of Cotton reveals a rich social history of agricultural colonization, labor activism, environmental degradation, and cross-border migration"-- Provided by publisher
Frida's cook
"This colorful, emotive historical debut whisks us to the home of Frida Kahlo, where food, art, and love weave together an unforgettable story of friendship and loyalty, with a bright Coyoacán as a vivid background. A hidden painting. A buried past. A legacy waiting to be uncovered. Mexico City, 1939: Young and determined Nayeli Cruz flees from her Oaxaca home to arrive in Mexico City with neither friends nor prospects. Alone and armed only with her sharp wit and extraordinary talent in the kitchen, she finds herself in front of La Caza Azul, the home of Frida Kahlo. As she begins work as the artist's cook, Nayeli is pulled into Frida's world of pain, passion, and defiance. But it isn't long before amid the vibrant tapestry of flavors, scents, and colors, the two women form a deep bond--one that will shape the course of Nayeli's life and leave behind a secret buried in art. Buenos Aires, Present Day: Paloma, Nayeli's granddaughter, stumbles upon a mysterious painting depicting her grandmother as a young woman. The artist's identity is unknown, but the artwork's existence threatens to unravel long-held family secrets. As Paloma delves into her grandmother's past, she uncovers a tale of passion, betrayal, and resilience that challenges everything she thought she knew about the one woman who raised her"--
My name is Emilia del Valle
"In San Francisco in 1866, an Irish nun, abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gives birth to a daughter named Emilia del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman. To pursue her passion for writing, she is willing to defy societal norms. At the age of seventeen, she begins to publish pulp fiction using a man's pen name. When these fictional worlds can no longer satisfy her sense of adventure, she turns to journalism, convincing an editor at The Daily Examiner to hire her. There she is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan. As she proves herself, her restlessness returns, until an opportunity arises to cover a brewing civil war in Chile. She seizes it, as does Eric, and while there, she meets her estranged father and delves into the violent confrontation in the country where her roots lie. As she and Eric discover love, the war escalates and Emilia finds herself in extreme danger, fearing for her life and questioning her identity and her destiny." --
Deeper than the ocean
"One hundred years after the shipwreck of the Valbanera, known to history as the 'poor man's Titanic', Mara Denis gets an assignment to report on the Canary Islands, where her ancestors lived before they moved to Cuba. Unexpectedly, she discovers that the grandmother her mother cherished was listed among the dead of the Valbanera, years before Mara's mother was even born. This fateful twist changes everything Mara thought she knew about her family and herself, and sends her on a quest to find the truth. If her great grandmother is a ghost, who is she and where did she come from?"--
Malinalli
An imaginative retelling of the triumphs and sorrows of one of the most controversial and misunderstood women in Mexico's history and mythology
Last night in Brooklyn
"New York Times bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a captivating story about a young woman whose life becomes ensnared in her glamorous neighbor's secret past, laying bare the mounting tensions at play in a rapidly gentrifying, early 2000's Fort Greene, Brooklyn. SPRING, 2007 At twenty-six, Alicia Canales Forten feels smothered by her future. She's in a long-distance relationship, living at home with her mother's beliefs, saving up for her wedding to a future doctor. But after Alicia ventures out one night in the neighborhood of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, she finds herself lured by the siren song of youth and possibility that the striving crowd of creatives holds, and moves in. No one embodies this more than La Garza, a larger-than-life, up-and-coming fashion designer whose epic house parties fuel neighborhood lore. La Garza's life, observed by Alicia from her apartment across the street, seems to hold the allure and fearlessness Alicia has never dared to imagine for herself. But when Alicia's wealthy banker cousin moves to the neighborhood, she finds herself increasingly drawn into both his and La Garza's precarious lives. Against the backdrop of a potentially life-changing presidential election and a looming once-in-a-generation fiscal crisis, Last Night in Brooklyn explores the dark compromise of the American Dream for people of color living, unknowingly, in the twilight of a cultural moment. It is a story about everything money can buy--and the destruction of what it can't"--
Upcoming Programs
Sep
12
Sat
Sep
12
Sat
10–10:30 a.m.
Sep
12
Sat
10–11 a.m.
Sep
12
Sat
1–4 p.m.
Sep
12
Sat
1–3 p.m.
Sep
13
Sun
noon–3 p.m.
Sep
13
Sun
noon–2 p.m.
Sep
13
Sun
noon–1:30 p.m.