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The Burning
by Laura BatesA rumor is like fire.Once a whore, always a whore. Roses are red. Violets are blue. Anna's a slut. We all know it's true.And a fire that spreads online... is impossible to extinguish. New school. Check. New town. Check. New last name. Check. Social media profiles? Deleted.Anna and her mother have moved hundreds of miles to put the past behind them. Anna hopes to make a fresh start and escape the harassment she's been subjected to. But then rumors and whispers start, and Anna tries to ignore what is happening by immersing herself in learning about Maggie, a local woman accused of witchcraft in the seventeenth century. A woman who was shamed. Silenced. And whose story has unsettling parallels to Anna's own. From Laura Bates, internationally renowned feminist and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, comes a debut novel for the #metoo era. It's a powerful call to action, reminding all readers of the implications of sexism and the role we can each play in ending it.
The Burning House
by Paul Lisicky"The Burning House is an achingly lovely novel about the things that bind us together in this life and the things that pull us apart. Paul Lisicky has an extraordinary gift for exploring emotional nuance and the rhythms of desire. With this book he yet again asserts himself as one of the select writers who continues to teach me about the complexities of the human heart."-Robert Olen ButlerThe new house ate up every square foot of its lot. Copper roofing, copper flashing, copper downspouts: every last detail crying out, notice me, notice me, keep up with me. Exactly the kind of house Joan would have despised, with good reason.In this captivating family saga, narrator Isidore Mirsky finds his close-knit family and community suddenly coming apart. Facing the illness of family members and the loss of homes in a recession-plagued urban town, he also contends with an overwhelming new desire-his feelings for his wife's sister. The Burning House finds its narrator at his most vulnerable, and explores what it means to be a good man amidst chaos.Paul Lisicky is the author of Lawnboy and Famous Builder. Lisicky maintains a highly active schedule with readings and book signings, and connects with his readership through Facebook and his blog. He lives in New York City and on the east end of Long Island, and teaches at New York University. A collection of short prose pieces, Unbuilt Projects, is forthcoming in 2012.
The Burrow
by Melanie Cheng“How rare, this delicacy—this calm, sweet, desolated wisdom.”—Helen Garner "Lovely, lucid prose . . . glitters throughout with cut stones of wisdom.”—Lauren Acampora A wise and moving story about a family navigating grief, hope, and healing through a bond with a new pet rabbit. Big-hearted and moving, Melanie Cheng’s The Burrow brings together a family trying to find their way forward in the wake of a devastating loss. Parents Jin and Amy Lee adopt a rabbit for their daughter Lucie in the hopes of restoring a bit of joy to their home in the Australian suburbs, and at first, each family member benefits from the distraction of a new creature in need of care. Things are upended when the arrival of Amy’s estranged mother breaks their fragile sense of peace, and the family is forced to confront the terrible circumstances surrounding their tragedy and to ask themselves whether opening their hearts to the rabbit will help them to heal, or only invite further sorrow. With compassion and a keen eye for detail, Cheng tenderly reveals the lives of others—even a small rabbit—in an unforgettable novel about grief, hope, and forgiveness.
The Bushwackers
by Christy LenziDuring the Civil War, rural families had to watch out for guerrilla fighters called bushwackers. Josey McBride and her Missourian family in this story find their farmhouse abruptly invaded by these troublesome thieves. If the McBride family is lucky, the women and children can outsmart the notorious Bill Wilson and his gang.
The Business of Baby
by Jennifer MargulisWhy, despite our state-of-the-art medical technology, does the United States have among the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the industrialized world? Why do pregnant women who are planning to breastfeed receive "free" samples of infant formula from American obstetricians? Why are American newborns given a vaccine at birth against hepatitis B, a sexually transmitted disease? The Business of Baby, an eye-opening work of investigative journalism, exposes how our current cultural practices during pregnancy, childbirth, and the first year of a baby's life are not based on the best evidence or the most modern science, revealing how American moms and their babies are being undermined by corporate interests. An illuminating combination of meticulous research and in-depth interviews with parents, doctors, midwives, nurses, health care administrators, and scientists, Margulis's impassioned and eloquent critique is shocking, groundbreaking, and revelatory. The Business of Baby arms parents with the information they need to make informed decisions about their own health and the health of their infants.
The Business of Baby
by Jennifer MargulisWhy, despite our state-of-the-art medical technology, does the United States have among the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the industrialized world? Why do pregnant women who are planning to breastfeed receive "free" samples of infant formula from American obstetricians? Why are American newborns given a vaccine at birth against hepatitis B, a sexually transmitted disease? The Business of Baby, an eye-opening work of investigative journalism, exposes how our current cultural practices during pregnancy, childbirth, and the first year of a baby's life are not based on the best evidence or the most modern science, revealing how American moms and their babies are being undermined by corporate interests. An illuminating combination of meticulous research and in-depth interviews with parents, doctors, midwives, nurses, health care administrators, and scientists, Margulis's impassioned and eloquent critique is shocking, groundbreaking, and revelatory. The Business of Baby arms parents with the information they need to make informed decisions about their own health and the health of their infants.
The Business of Being Made: The temporalities of reproductive technologies, in psychoanalysis and culture (Genders & Sexualities in Minds & Cultures)
by Katie GentileThe Business of Being Made is the first book to critically analyze assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) from a transdisciplinary perspective integrating psychoanalytic and cultural theories. It is a ground-breaking collection exploring ARTs through diverse methods including interview research, clinical case studies, psychoanalytic based ethnography, and memoir. Gathering clinicians and researchers who specialize in this area, this book engages current research in psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and debates in feminist, queer and cultural theory about affect, temporality, and bodies. With psychoanalysis as its fulcrum, The Business of Being Made explores the social constructions and personal experiences of ARTs. Katie Gentile frames the cultural context, exploring the ways ARTs have become a complex form of playing with time, attempting to manufacture a hopeful future in the midst of growing global uncertainty. The contributors then present a range of varied experiences related to ARTs, including: Interviews with women and men undergoing ARTs; A psychoanalytic memoir of male infertility; Clinical research and work with transgender, gay and lesbian patients creating new Oedipal constellations, the experiences of LBGTQ people within the medical system and the variety of families that emerge; Research on the experiences of egg donors (now central to the business of ARTs) and a corresponding clinical case study of successful egg donation; The experiences of ongoing failure which is the often unacknowledged for ART procedures; How and when people choose to stop using ARTs; A psychoanalytic ethnography of a neonatal intensive care unit populated in part with the babies created through these technologies and their parents, haggard and in shock after years of failed attempts. Full of original material, The Business of Being Made conveys the ambivalence of these technologies without simplifying their complicated consequences for the bodies of individuals, the family, cultures, and our planet. This book will be relevant to clinicians, medical and psychological personnel working in assisted reproductive technologies and infertility, as well as academics working in the fields of sociology, literature, queer and feminist theories and at the intersections of cultural, critical and psychoanalytic theories.
The Business of Naming Things
by Michael Coffey"Riveting . . . vibrant and unsparing." -Publishers Weekly (starred and boxed review)"Superb. . . . Startlingly original." -Library Journal (starred review)"Once I started reading these stories, I couldn't stop. They absorbed me thoroughly, with their taut narratives and evocative language-the language of a poet." -JAY PARINI, author of Jesus: The Human Face of God and The Last Station"Sherwood Anderson would recognize this world of lonely, longing characters, whose surface lives Coffey tenderly plumbs. These beautiful stories-spare, rich, wise and compelling-go to the heart." -FREDERIC TUTEN, author of Self Portraits: Fictions and Tintin in the New World"Whether [Coffey is] writing about a sinning priest or a man who's made a career out of branding or about himself, we can smell Coffey's protagonists and feel their breath on our cheek. Like Chekhov, he must be a notebook writer; how else to explain the strange quirks and the perfect but unaccountable details that animate these intimate portraits?" -EDMUND WHITE, author of Inside a Pearl and A Boy's Own StoryAmong these eight stories, a fan of writer (and fellow adoptee) Harold Brodkey gains an audience with him at his life's end, two pals take a Joycean sojourn, a man whose business is naming things meets a woman who may not be what she seems, and a father discovers his son is a suspect in an assassination attempt on the president. In each tale, Michael Coffey's exquisite attention to character underlies the brutally honest perspectives of his disenchanted fathers, damaged sons, and orphans left feeling perpetually disconnected.Michael Coffey is the author of three books of poems and 27 Men Out, a book about baseball's perfect games. He also co-edited The Irish in America, a book about Irish immigration to America, which was a companion volume to a PBS documentary series. He divides his time between Manhattan and Bolton Landing, New York. The Business of Naming Things is his first work of fiction.
The Business: A compelling suspense thriller of danger and destruction
by Martina ColeImelda Dooley is scared. Really scared. She's played hard and fast and now she's been caught. She's pregnant and now she's on her own. Her father, not a man to mess with, will see that somebody pays for this. And it's not going to be her. So Imelda Dooley tells a lie. A lie that literally causes murders. When Mary Dooley's husband is killed in the night's events, she knows she must graft to keep the family afloat. And graft she does, becoming a name in her own right. But she still has to watch her daughter's life spiral into a vicious, hate-fuelled cycle of drugs and prostitution. Caught up in the carnage that is Imelda's existence are Mary's adored grandchildren, Jordanna and Kenny. Pretty little Jordanna isn't yet three and she already knows far too much. All she can do is look after her baby brother, Kenny, and try not to draw unwanted attention to herself.(P)2012 Headline Digital
The Busy Book Bundle
by Trish KuffnerThe Busy Book Bundle is packed with over 1400 fun, engaging activities, crafts, and games to keep toddlers and preschoolers busy and learning! A must-read for anyone raising or teaching young children. Includes four books: The Toddler's Busy Book, The Preschooler's Busy Book, The Arts & Crafts Busy Book, and The Wiggle & Giggle Busy Book.The Toddler's and Preschooler's Busy Books show parents and day-care providers how to prevent boredom during the longest stretches of indoor weather with ideas for indoor play, kitchen activities, and arts and crafts projects; stimulate a child's natural curiosity with entertaining reading, math, language, science, and motor-skills activities; encourage a child's physical, mental, and emotional growth with ideas for music, dance, drama, and outdoor play; and keep children occupied during long car trips or while running errands. The Arts & Crafts Busy Book encourages children ages two to six to use their imagination and self-expression in fun creative projects. It shows parents and daycare providers how to: focus a child's energy constructively using paint, glue, play dough, paper, and markers; encourage the development of a child's concentration and coordination, as well as organizational skills; save money by making many of the supplies with items found around the home; and celebrate holidays and special occasions with projects and activities. The Wiggle & Giggle Busy Book contains 365 creative, lively games and activities to keep toddlers and preschoolers busy and active. It provides great alternatives to watching television, playing video games, or doing other sedentary activities. This book will get your young child up and moving for hours! The Wiggle & Giggle Busy Book shows parents and daycare providers how to: instill a love of physical exercise through games and activities that encourage a child to move; focus a child's energy constructively; encourage a child to strengthen large and small motor skills; and connect music and rhyme with physical expression to develop a child's creativity.
The Busy Couple's Guide to Sharing the Work and the Joy
by Kathy PeelAre you married to your housekeeping opposite? Feeling overworked and underappreciated? Struggling to agree on how a house "should" be run? America's Family Manager and award-winning author Kathy Peel can help! In The Busy Couple's Guide to Sharing the Work and the Joy,Kathy offers a much-needed look at a common area of division between couples: running a household. You'll find tools to fairly divvy up parenting and household duties; teambuilding techniques for surviving and thriving amidst financial downturns; and steps to growing stronger in your faith as a family. Plus special "advice to guys" in each chapter from Bill Peel! This book is packed full of empowering steps you can take today to restore joy to your marriage, order to your home, and peace to daily life.
The Busy Mom's Guide to Bible Study
by Lisa WhelchelA Bible Study Plan for the Busiest Mom! The Busy Mom's Guide to Bible Study is an amazing Bible study tool specifically aimed at moms. What makes it so remarkable is the way author Lisa Whelchel has packed twenty solid Bible study tools into a five-day-a-week, fifteen-minute-a-day, anybody-can-do-it plan. Not only is this plan doable, it's satisfying. As a busy mom, you give of yourself all day long - often with no way to refresh and replenish the cravings of your own soul. But this simple three-month, come-along-beside-you guide will take you deep into the Word, nourishing your heart and soul. And in just three months, you will be a changed woman - changed by the power of God's word in you.
The Busy Mum's Guide to Getting Away With It: The best laugh out loud story of motherhood, school days and getting your own back you'll read in 2020!
by Lynn Fraser'Absolutely loved this book' 5* NetGalley ReviewerIs there anything you wouldn't do for your children? Obviously be a parent governor and chair the PTA. But how far are you really willing to go? You think your school run is tough? After her unoriginal husband leaves her for his secretary, Beverley finds her meticulously planned life crumbling around her. Now a single mum forced to send her children to the failing local primary school, her children's carefully crafted futures are disappearing. Desperate to turn things around Beverley sets out to make Harper Hill the best school it can be, but even the best laid plans can go awry. Thankfully Beverley isn't afraid to take matters into her own hands - but how far is she really willing to go to fight for her children's future? If you want something done right, do it yourself.
The Busy Mum's Guide to Murder: The most laugh-out-loud and relatable new novel you need to read this year!
by Lynn Fraser'Absolutely loved this book' 5* NetGalley ReviewerIs there anything you wouldn't do for your children? Obviously be a parent governor and chair the PTA. But what about slander and manipulation? Dabble in a bit of hit and run? And, if necessary, how about murder? You think your school run is tough? After her unoriginal husband leaves her for his secretary, Beverley finds herself facing a life she hadn't planned for. Now a single mum forced to send her children to the failing local primary school, her children's carefully crafted futures now lie in the hands of incompetent teachers and bullying playground mums. Desperate to save her children from this situation Beverley sets out to make Harper Hill the best school it can be, but even the best laid plans go awry. Thankfully Beverley isn't afraid to take matters into her own hands - but how far is she really willing to go to fight for her children's future? If you want something done right, do it yourself.
The Busy Parent's Guide to Managing Anger in Children and Teens: A Quick Read for Powerful Solutions (Busy Parent Guides: Quick Reads for Powerful Solutions #1)
by Laurie HollmanDo you have an angry child? “Do you wonder why your child or teen seems on edge, unduly angry, and restless at times—or maybe all the time? Are you uncertain if and when you should be worried? Are you so busy that sometimes you dismiss these thoughts but later reconsider them? You may be noticing you have a frequently angry child or teen.” (excerpt from Introduction) In this book, healthy expressions of anger are discussed, as well as, when kids repeatedly say “No,” experience temper tantrums, and have angry reactions in interpersonal situations. The book illustrates how parents help children and teens master these feelings the Parental Intelligence Way. The five steps to Parental Intelligence are explained with multiple examples of how busy parents use them to help angry kids solve problems. Parenting tips are elaborated in this quick read that offers powerful solutions for both ordinary and complex angry interactions. The audio is read by actor, Rich Hollman, son of the author, who was raised The Parental Intelligence Way.
The Busy Parent's Guide to Managing Exhaustion in Children and Teens: The Parental Intelligence Way
by Laurie HollmanDo you wonder why your child or teen seems drained, overtired, moody, anxious, and depressed? Are you uncertain if and when you should be worried about the amount of sleep they get?Exhaustion is a symptom of varied problems with a wide range of meanings. In this quick read for busy parents, you will meet many exhausted children and teens, from a two-year-old taking excessive naps to avoid feelings of loss to a sixteen-year-old super athlete with ambitious career goals.Psychoanalyst Laurie Hollman, PhD, provides insight and guidance to help your exhausted child. This mini book includes:Recommendations for adequate sleep.An exploration of special problems, such as kids of parents with marital problems or dual working parents; an emphasis on being the smartest kids globally; burn out, depression, and anxiety; insufficient free play time; and the effects of screen time.Research about the effects of exhaustion on memory, school performance, mood regulation, pain sensitivity, and the immune function, and more!Using the 5 steps of TheParental Intelligence Way, you can learn how to identify and alleviate the various reasons your kids are exhausted and what you can do about it!
The Busy Parent's Guide to Managing Technology with Children and Teens: The Parental Intelligence Way
by Laurie HollmanHow does technology impact kids&’ mental health and physical well-being? How do screens affect babies? How can I protect my children from cyberbullying? What are the positive effects of technology? How can we bridge the technology generation gap?With aggregate case studies and the latest research, psychoanalyst Laurie Hollman, PhD, answers these questions and many more in this contemporary, up-to-date mini book for parents learning to manage technology with their children and teens.Parents who follow the 5 steps of The Parental Intelligence Way become meaning-makers deeply interested in what goes on in their children&’s minds and how their brains work as they use technology. In this helpful guide, parents will come to understand new research findings that are both exciting and overwhelming. As these findings become more complete in the decades to come, utilizing Parental Intelligence will help parents continue to discover their children&’s capabilities as they learn the meaning behind their kids&’ technological behaviors and conflicts.
The Busy Parent’s Guide to Managing Anxiety in Children and Teens: (Busy Parent Guides: Quick Reads for Powerful Solutions) (Busy Parent Guides: Quick Reads for Powerful Solutions #2)
by Laurie HollmanAre you the busy parent of an anxious child or teen? “Do you wonder why your child or teen seems on edge, unduly nervous, or restless at times—maybe all the time? Are you uncertain if and when you should be worried? Are you so busy that sometimes you dismiss these thoughts but later reconsider them? You may be noticing that you have an anxious child or teen.” (excerpt from Introduction).Do you know the signs of generalized anxiety, panic attacks, obsessional compulsive behavior or separation anxiety? In this book, vignettes of this wide range of anxiety states in children and teens are discussed along with how to help these kids master their anxiety the Parental Intelligence Way. Parenting tips are elaborated in this quick read that offers powerful solutions. The audio is read by actor, Rich Hollman, son of the author, who was raised The Parental Intelligence Way.
The Busybody Buddha
by Margie RutledgeIn the sequel to The Great Laundry Adventure, the three Lawrence children, Abigail, Jacob and Ernest (from oldest to youngest) are again embarked on a mysterious adventure, but this time, the adventure is initiated, it appears, by a small blue stone buddha which Ernest has discovered in a mysterious shop. The little buddha has a way of showing Ernest the unhappiness of others, and his brother and sister have expressly forbidden him to bring the buddha along on their summer holiday. With their parents, they arrive by motorboat on the wonderfully primitive island where they always spend their holidays, ready for a carefree summer. At first they are delighted to rediscover their favorite haunts and activities, but soon five-year-old Ernest is oppressed by a sense of foreboding. He is afraid to tell Abigail and Jacob that he has brought the buddha to the island, but they soon discover its presence and take measures to try to prevent the buddhas powerful and unhappy messages from spoiling their holiday. Then the children discover a battered replica of the tourist boat, the Segwun, which has plied these shores for decades, and which then leads them to a small mist shrouded island, called Serene Island. They also discover a mysterious cave with ancient drawings and a tunnel through which pours the sound of sobbing. They follow the tunnel and it leads them back to the same small island. This time they find someone who is indeed unhappy and needs their help. And so their adventure with Charlotte, a young girl from another time, begins. A junior novel with a classic feel, illustrated with black and white illustrations, which will delight children eight and up. Rutledge has mined the mysterious elements of an untamed island to produce a story which is both whimsical and enchanting.
The Butcher's Daughter: A Tense Psychological Thriller
by Jane E. JamesIn a Welsh seaside town known as Suicide Bay, a young woman just released from an asylum is unsure if she can trust anyone—including herself . . . When Natalie Powers returns home for the first time in thirteen years, she must convince everyone she has fully recovered from the mental illness that&’s seen her institutionalized for most of her young life. But instead of being welcomed back, Natalie enters a baffling world of deception. She must fight her way through the lies in order to discover the truth about her mother&’s sudden disappearance sixteen years earlier. To do this, Natalie must also try to make sense of the hazy memories from the past that continue to haunt her. In the village of Little Downey, where a series of cliff-top suicides have caused a decline in tourism, everybody appears to harbor a secret—including her father, the village butcher, who refuses to discuss the subject. But who can Natalie trust if not her own father? Especially when it becomes clear her protector and confidant, Dr. Moses, is not all he appears? Natalie only hopes she can uncover the truth before her own frailty and self-doubt catapults her back into the institution—in this atmospheric psychological thriller from the author of The Crying Boy and The Long Weekend.
The Butler: A Novel
by Danielle SteelTwo different worlds and two very different lives collide in Paris in this captivating novel by Danielle Steel. <p><p> Joachim von Hartmann was born and raised in Buenos Aires by his loving German mother, inseparable from his identical twin. When Joachim moves to Paris with his mother in his late teens, his twin stays behind and enters a dark world. Meanwhile, Joachim begins training to be a butler, fascinated by the precision and intense demands, and goes on to work in some of the grandest homes in England. His brother never reappears. <p><p> Olivia White has given ten years of her life to her magazine, which failed, taking all her dreams with it. A bequest from her mother allows her a year in Paris to reinvent herself. She needs help setting up a home in a charming Parisian apartment. It is then that her path and Joachim’s cross. Joachim takes a job working for Olivia as a lark and enjoys the whimsy of a different life for a few weeks, which turn to months as the unlikely employer and employee learn they enjoy working side by side. At the same time, Joachim discovers the family history he never knew: a criminal grandfather who died in prison, the wealthy father who abandoned him, and the dangerous criminal his twin has become. <p><p> While Olivia struggles to put her life back together, Joachim's comes apart. Stripped of their old roles, they strive to discover the truth about each other and themselves, first as employer and employee, then as friends. Their paths no longer sure, they are a man and woman who reach a place where the past doesn’t matter and only what they are living now is true.
The Butterfly Assassin
by Finn LongmanWINNER OF AN ABA AWARD. Innocent by day, killer by night: a dark, twisting thriller about a teen assassin&’s attempt to live a normal life. Don't miss the second book in the trilogy, The Hummingbird Killer, out now. 'An electrifying debut!&’ Chelsea Pitcher, author of This Lie Will Kill You Trained and traumatised by a secret assassin programme for minors, Isabel Ryans wants nothing more than to be a normal civilian. After running away from home, she has a new name, a new life and a new friend, Emma, and for the first time, things are looking up. But old habits die hard, and it&’s not long until she blows her cover, drawing the attention of the guilds – the two rival organisations who control the city of Espera. An unaffiliated killer like Isabel is either a potential asset . . . or a threat to be eliminated. Will the blood on her hands cost her everything?From award-winning author Finn Longman, an exhilarating voice in YA fiction, comes an addictive trilogy for fans of global phenomena The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Killing Eve and The Hunger Games. PRAISE FOR THE BUTTERFLY ASSASSIN: 'This dark, enthralling thriller is a compulsive debut' The Guardian 'An immersive, fast-paced thriller' The Irish Times &‘A heart-in-your-mouth thriller that grips you from the first page until the very last.&’ Benjamin Dean, author of The King is Dead 'A bold, jagged and uncompromising thriller that will keep you guessing all the way to the end.&’ Tom Pollock, author of White Rabbit, Red Wolf &‘Sharp and layered, with a bright beating heart. The Butterfly Assassin will lure you deep into a fascinating and dangerous new world.&’ Rory Power, author of Wilder Girls &‘An utterly addictive story. I told myself "just one more chapter" well into the night.&’ Emily Suvada, author of This Mortal Coil &‘Fierce, thrilling, and impossible to put down. Packed full of amazing friendships, plot twists and a desperate fight to survive&’ C. G. Drews, author of The Boy Who Steals Houses
The Butterfly Effect: A Novel
by Rachel McKenny"A warm, winning debut from a talented new Midwestern voice." --J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great MidwestA Man Called Ove meets The Rosie Project in this "delightfully off-kilter" (Rachel Yoder, Nightbitch) tale of a grumpy introvert, her astonishing lack of social skills and empirical data-driven approach to people and relationships.Is there such a thing as an anti-social butterfly? If there were, Greta Oto would know about it--and totally relate. An entomologist, Greta far prefers the company of bugs to humans, and that's okay, because people don't seem to like her all that much anyway, with the exception of her twin brother, Danny, though they've recently had a falling out. So when she lands a research gig in the rainforest, she leaves it all behind.But when Greta learns that Danny has suffered an aneurysm and is now hospitalized, she abandons her research and hurries home to the middle of nowhere America to be there for her brother. But there's only so much she can do, and unfortunately just like insects, humans don't stay cooped up in their hives either--they buzz about and... socialize. Coming home means confronting all that she left behind, including her lousy soon-to-be sister-in-law, her estranged mother, and her ex-boyfriend Brandon who has conveniently found a new non-lab-exclusive partner with shiny hair, perfect teeth, and can actually remember the names of the people she meets right away. Being that Brandon runs the only butterfly conservatory in town, and her dissertation is now in jeopardy, taking that job, being back home, it's all creating chaos of Greta's perfectly catalogued and compartmentalized world. But real life is messy, and Greta will have to ask herself if she has the courage to open up for the people she loves, and for those who want to love her.The Butterfly Effect is an unconventional tale of self-discovery, navigating relationships, and how sometimes it takes stepping outside of our comfort zone to find what we need the most.
The Butterfly House
by Eve BuntingWhen the little girl saves a tiny caterpillar from a hungry jay, her grandfather helps her make a butterfly house to keep it safe. They decorate it with colorful flowers and leaves, and the girl watches over the larva as it transforms from caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly. All too soon, it is time to set it free. But even as the years pass, and the young girl grows old, something amazing happens each spring. Butterflies come to her garden -- filling the air like autumn leaves! Could they be coming back to return the kindness that the little girl had shown so long ago?
The Butterfly Lampshade: A Novel
by Aimee BenderThe first novel in ten years from the author of the beloved New York Times bestseller The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake, a luminous, poignant tale of a mother, a daughter, mental illness, and the fluctuating barrier between the mind and the worldOn the night her single mother is taken to a mental hospital after a psychotic episode, eight year-old Francie is staying with her babysitter, waiting to take the train to Los Angeles to go live with her aunt and uncle. There is a lovely lamp next to the couch on which she's sleeping, the shade adorned with butterflies. When she wakes, Francie spies a dead butterfly, exactly matching the ones on the lamp, floating in a glass of water. She drinks it before the babysitter can see.Twenty years later, Francie is compelled to make sense of that moment, and two other incidents -- her discovery of a desiccated beetle from a school paper, and a bouquet of dried roses from some curtains. Her recall is exact -- she is sure these things happened. But despite her certainty, she wrestles with the hold these memories maintain over her, and what they say about her own place in the world. As Francie conjures her past and reduces her engagement with the world to a bare minimum, she begins to question her relationship to reality. The scenes set in Francie's past glow with the intensity of childhood perception, how physical objects can take on an otherworldly power. The question for Francie is, What do these events signify? And does this power survive childhood?Told in the lush, lilting prose that led the San Francisco Chronicle to say Aimee Bender is "a writer who makes you grateful for the very existence of language," The Butterfly Lampshade is a heartfelt and heartbreaking examination of the sometimes overwhelming power of the material world, and a broken love between mother and child.