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Black Boys Burning: The 1959 Fire at the Arkansas Negro Boys Industrial School
by Grif StockleyOn the morning of March 5, 1959, Luvenia Long was listening to gospel music when a news bulletin interrupted her radio program. Fire had engulfed the Arkansas Negro Boys Industrial School in Wrightsville, thirteen miles outside of Little Rock. Her son Lindsey had been confined there since January 14, after a judge for juveniles found him guilty of stealing from a neighborhood store owner. To her horror, Lindsey was not among the forty-eight boys who had clawed their way through the windows of the dormitory to safety. Instead, he was among the twenty-one boys between the ages of thirteen and seventeen who burned to death. Black Boys Burning presents a focused explanation of how systemic poverty perpetuated by white supremacy sealed the fate of those students. A careful telling of the history of the school and fire, the book provides readers a fresh understanding of the broad implications of white supremacy. Grif Stockley’s research adds to an evolving understanding of the Jim Crow South, Arkansas’s history, the lawyers who capitalized on this tragedy, and the African American victims. In hindsight, the disaster at Wrightsville could have been predicted. Immediately after the fire, an unsigned editorial in the Arkansas Democrat noted long-term deterioration, including the wiring, of the buildings. After the Central High School desegregation crisis in 1957, the boys’ deaths eighteen months later were once again an embarrassment to Arkansas. The fire and its circumstances should have provoked southerners to investigate the realities of their “separate but equal institutions.” However, white supremacy ruled the investigations, and the grand jury declared the event to be an anomaly.
Black Intellectual Thought in Modern America: A Historical Perspective (Margaret Walker Alexander Series in African American Studies)
by Brian D. Behnken, Gregory D. Smithers and Simon WendtContributions by Tunde Adeleke, Brian D. Behnken, Minkah Makalani, Benita Roth, Gregory D. Smithers, Simon Wendt, and Danielle L. WigginsBlack intellectualism has been misunderstood by the American public and by scholars for generations. Historically maligned by their peers and by the lay public as inauthentic or illegitimate, black intellectuals have found their work misused, ignored, or discarded. Black intellectuals have also been reductively placed into one or two main categories: they are usually deemed liberal or, less frequently, as conservative. The contributors to this volume explore several prominent intellectuals, from left-leaning leaders such as W. E. B. Du Bois to conservative intellectuals like Thomas Sowell, from well-known black feminists such as Patricia Hill Collins to Marxists like Claudia Jones, to underscore the variety of black intellectual thought in the United States.Contributors also situate the development of the lines of black intellectual thought within the broader history from which these trends emerged. The result gathers essays that offer entry into a host of rich intellectual traditions.
Blacklist (Beautiful Idols #2)
by Alyson NoelFans of Pretty Little Liars will crave the mystery and suspense in the second book of #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël’s Beautiful Idols series, where celebrity worship is a dangerous game.Wannabe reporter LAYLA, aspiring actress ASTER, and fledgling musician TOMMY joined the Unrivaled nightclub competition for the same reason—they knew winning it would change their lives. They just never imagined that somewhere along the way they’d become entangled in the disappearance of mega starlet MADISON BROOKS. Now each of them is smack in the center of a media frenzy that threatens to take all of them down.Banding together to clear their names, the fierce adversaries become temporary allies and vow to dig up the truth. But when Layla, Aster, and Tommy team up with an unsuspecting insider, they will find that some secrets are best kept in the grave.
Blasian Invasion: Racial Mixing in the Celebrity Industrial Complex (Race, Rhetoric, and Media Series)
by Myra S. WashingtonMyra S. Washington probes the social construction of race through the mixed-race identity of Blasians, people of Black and Asian ancestry. She looks at the construction of the identifier Blasian and how this term went from being undefined to forming a significant role in popular media. Today Blasian has emerged as not just an identity Black/Asian mixed-race people can claim, but also a popular brand within the industry and a signifier in the culture at large. Washington tracks the transformation of Blasian from being an unmentioned category to a recognized status applied to other Blasian figures in media.Blasians have been neglected as a meaningful category of people in research, despite an extensive history of Black and Asian interactions within the United States and abroad. Washington explains that even though Americans have mixed in every way possible, racial mixing is framed in certain ways, which almost always seem to involve Whiteness. Unsurprisingly, media discourses about Blasians mostly conform to usual scripts already created, reproduced, and familiar to audiences about monoracial Blacks and Asians.In the first book on this subject, Washington regards Blasians as belonging to more than one community, given their multiple histories and experiences. Moving beyond dominant rhetoric, she does not harp on defining or categorizing mixed race, but instead recognizes the multiplicities of Blasians and the process by which they obtain meaning. Washington uses celebrities, including Kimora Lee, Dwayne Johnson, Hines Ward, and Tiger Woods, to highlight how they challenge and destabilize current racial debate, create spaces for themselves, and change the narratives that frame multiracial people. Finally, Washington asserts Blasians as evidence not only for the fluidity of identities, but also for the limitations of reductive racial binaries.
Blood for Wine (Cal Claxton Mysteries #5)
by Warren C EasleyNero Wolfe Award Finalist for 2018"Oenophiles and aspiring vintners will enjoy the wine lore in this well-wrought tale of love and betrayal." —Publishers WeeklyCal Claxton's old farmhouse sits high in Oregon's Red Hills, home of scores of wineries and some of the most coveted acreage for growing the pinot noir grape in the world. Former Los Angeles prosecutor Cal settled in this haven to reboot his life as a widower, growing a small practice that includes some pro bono work in nearby Portland. Life is good, filled with food, wine, and friends. But this beautiful area is not the idyllic haven it appears to be.When Cal's neighbor, Jim Kavanaugh, the owner and gifted vintner of an up-and-coming winery, is accused of murdering his wife, his freedom—and the grape harvest—is suddenly in jeopardy along with his reputation, and his business begins to slide. No gentleman farmer, this puts the rugged winemaker's property, his only financial asset, in play. When a blackmail plot is hatched against the owner of adjacent land, it begins to look like a brutal game of real-life Monopoly is underway.Cal agrees to defend Jim, a good friend, which pulls him reluctantly into the blackmail plot. Emotions are running high over Lori Kavanaugh's bloody death. There is no shortage of suspects. There may be more than the one game in play. And defending Jim might well make Cal the next target of a vicious, cunning killer.
Blue Planet II
by James Honeyborne Mark BrownlowA lavish and definitive view of the oceanic world - accompanying the landmark 7-part BBC series narrated by Sir David Attenborough. With over 200 breath-taking photographs and stills from the BBC Natural History Unit's spectacular footage, this awe-inspiring study of life below the surface will amaze and enthral.'Jaw-dropping' - Variety'Substantial and awe-inspiring' - Publishers Weekly'Breath-taking' -- ***** Reader review'An incredible book and a must buy' -- ***** Reader review'Outstanding' -- ***** Reader review*************************************************************************Take a deep breath and dive into the mysteries of the ocean...Our understanding of ocean life has changed dramatically in the last decade, with new species, new behaviours, and new habitats being discovered at a rapid rate. Blue Planet II, which accompanies the epic BBC 7-part series, is a ground-breaking new look at the richness and variety of underwater life across our planet.From ambush hunters such as the carnivorous bobbit worm to cuttlefish mesmerising their prey with a pulsating light display, Blue Planet II reveals the never-before-seen secrets of the ocean.With over 200 breath-taking photographs and stills from the BBC Natural History Unit's spectacular footage, each chapter of Blue Planet II brings to life a different habitat of the oceanic world.As well as shining a light on ocean life, coral reef and arctic ice communities and shoreline existence, Blue Planet II examines unflinchingly what the future holds for our ocean dwellers. It's a book that will amaze, educate, captivate and astound.
A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back
by David HallbergDavid Hallberg, the first American to join the famed Bolshoi Ballet as a principal dancer and the dazzling artist The New Yorker described as &“the most exciting male dancer in the western world,&” presents a look at his artistic life—up to the moment he returns to the stage after a devastating injury that almost cost him his career.Beginning with his real-life Billy Elliot childhood—an all-American story marred by intense bullying—and culminating in his hard-won comeback, Hallberg&’s &“moving and intelligent&” (Daniel Mendelsohn) memoir dives deep into life as an artist as he wrestles with ego, pushes the limits of his body, and searches for ecstatic perfection and fulfillment as one of the world&’s most acclaimed ballet dancers.Rich in detail ballet fans will adore, Hallberg presents an &“unsparing…inside look&” (The New York Times) and also reflects on universal and relatable themes like inspiration, self-doubt, and perfectionism as he takes you into daily classes, rigorous rehearsals, and triumphant performances, searching for new interpretations of ballet&’s greatest roles. He reveals the loneliness he felt as a teenager leaving America to join the Paris Opera Ballet School, the ambition he had to tame as a new member of American Ballet Theatre, and the reasons behind his headline-grabbing decision to be the first American to join the top rank of Bolshoi Ballet, tendered by the Artistic Director who would later be the victim of a vicious acid attack. Then, as Hallberg performed throughout the world at the peak of his abilities, he suffered a crippling ankle injury and botched surgery leading to an agonizing retreat from ballet and an honest reexamination of his entire life.Combining his powers of observation and memory with emotional honesty and artistic insight, Hallberg has written a great ballet memoir and an intimate portrait of an artist in all his vulnerability, passion, and wisdom. &“Candid and engrossing&” (The Washington Post), A Body of Work is a memoir &“for everyone with a heart&” (DC Metro Theater Arts).
The Bone Field: (The Bone Field: Book 1): a heart-pounding, white-knuckle-action ride of a thriller from bestselling author Simon Kernick (The Bone Field Series #1)
by Simon KernickFrom Sunday Times bestselling author Simon Kernick - the UK's answer to Harlan Coben - The Bone Field is a blood pressure raising thriller: fast-paced, full of thrills, spills and unrelenting action. Perfect for fans of David Baldacci, Stuart MacBride and Peter James, this is high energy, action-packed reading that'll keep your heart-rate high and your attention glued to the pages ...'Hang on tight!' - HARLAN COBEN'Breathless' - Sunday Times'An addictive thriller full of gritty details and fast frenetic action.' - Sunday Mirror'Oh My Days....What. A. Story' -- ***** Reader review'Hit the ground running, action from word one to the very end' -- ***** Reader review'Wow - what a fab, action-packed thriller' -- ***** Reader review'Storytelling at its best' -- ***** Reader review'Gripping story line where you say to yourself just one more page and I'll go to sleep and before you realise it a couple of hours have passed' -- ***** Reader review*************************************************************************SOME CRIMES CAN TAKE A LIFETIME TO AVENGE...1990A young woman goes missing while backpacking in Thailand. She is never seen again.2016Her bones are discovered 6000 miles away in an English field and, within hours, the boyfriend who reported her disappearance all those years ago is dead.So begins a hunt to solve her murder that will take DI Ray Mason and PI Tina Boyd into a dark and terrifying world of corruption and deadly secrets, where murder is commonplace, and nothing and nobody is safe...
The Bones of the Earth: A Bound Gods Novel (The Bound Gods Novels #2)
by Rachel DunneA mismatched band of mortals and their violent, secretive leader must stand against a pair of resentful gods to save their world in this second volume in Rachel Dunne's breathtaking dark epic fantasy trilogy, The Bound Gods, which began with In the Shadow of the Gods.To win the coming battle for control of the world and the mortals who dwell in it, the cunning priest Joros secretly assembled a team of powerful fighters—Scal, a lost and damaged swordsman from the North; Vatri, a scarred priestess who claims to see the future in her fires; Anddyr, a drug-addled mage wandering between sanity and madness; and Rora and Aro, a pair of twins who have secretly survived beyond the reach of the law. But the war is only beginning for these disparate warriors and victory is far from certain when the enemy is a pair of vengeful gods. As the bound Twins strengthen in force against their parents—the Divine Mother and Almighty Father—who exiled them, a shadow begins to spread across the land, threatening to engulf all in its wake.As deadly magic takes hold, the tenuous bonds tying these uneasy allies begins to unravel. If they cannot find a way to keep their band together, each of their lives—and the entire world—will be lost to the darkness, leaving nothing but the bones of the earth. . . .
Boom's Blues: Music, Journalism, and Friendship in Wartime (American Made Music Series)
by Wim VerbeiBoom's Blues stands as both a remarkable biography of J. Frank G. Boom (1920–1953) and a recovery of his incredible contribution to blues scholarship originally titled The Blues: Satirical Songs of the North American Negro. Wim Verbei tells how and when the Netherlands was introduced to African American blues music and describes the equally dramatic and peculiar friendship that existed between Boom and jazz critic and musicologist Will Gilbert, who worked for the Kultuurkamer during World War II and had been charged with the task of formulating the Nazi's Jazzverbod, the decree prohibiting the public performance of jazz. Boom's Blues ends with the annotated and complete text of Boom's The Blues, providing the international world at last with an English version of the first book-length study of the blues. At the end of the 1960s, a series of thirteen blues paperbacks edited by Paul Oliver for the London publisher November Books began appearing. One manuscript landed on his desk that had been written in 1943 by a then twenty-three-year-old Amsterdammer, Frank (Frans) Boom. Its publication, to which Oliver gave the title Laughing to Keep from Crying, was announced on the back jacket of the last three Blues Paperbacks in 1971 and 1972. Yet it never was published and the manuscript once more disappeared. In October 1996, Dutch blues expert and publicist Verbei went in search of the presumably lost manuscript and the story behind its author. It only took him a couple of months to track down the manuscript, but it took another ten years to glean the full story behind the extraordinary Frans Boom, who passed away in 1953 in Indonesia.
Boundary Retracement: Processes and Procedures
by Donald A. WilsonThe survey and the transference are the distinctive and operative acts in the transmission of real property and, where they differ from each other, one must of necessity control the other. This book addresses the aforementioned concepts by external explanations in order to understand the discrepancies between them. It also helps to avoid expensive and wasteful litigation over boundaries that were previously not in conflict. The text offers an extensive review of the law for boundary retracement and cites numerous case examples.
The Breakout: A Novel
by Ryan David JahnJames Murphy is a Marine Corps sniper. He’s done two tours in Afghanistan. He’s considered an American Hero. And James is out for revenge.Alejandro Rocha, a massively powerful drug kingpin who operates out of La Paz, Mexico, is responsible for James’s sister, Layla’s death, and he intends to make Rocha pay for it. James goes AWOL from his unit and travels to Mexico, ready to enact bloody vengeance, but before he can go through with his plan, he is arrested by the crooked police of La Paz. He’s quickly thrown into a dangerous prison on trumped-up charges. He knows he is marked for death while in this prison and there’s nothing he can do about it. However, there is a group of people who can do something about it.Discovering that James is wasting away in a Mexican prison, the marines in his unit decide to risk court-martial themselves and go AWOL as well, ready to go to war in order to break their brother out. And that’s just the beginning of the mayhem and violence.
Brief Dynamic Therapy
by Hanna LevensonThe author provides an overview of brief dynamic therapy, a time-efficient treatment in which the therapist maintains a focus on specific client goals within a psychodynamic conceptual framework. Common characteristics of these approaches include time management, defined focus, circumscribed goals, active therapist participation, rapid assessment, prompt intervention, an awareness of unconscious processes, and techniques that quickly foster a strong alliance with the client. This concise volume focuses largely on one popular model in particular: time-limited dynamic psychotherapy (TLDP). TLDP is an integrative approach that uses techniques from attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, affective-experiential learning, and systems orientations to help clients with long-standing, dysfunctional ways of relating to others. The author explores this integrative, culturally sensitive approach, its theory, history, the therapy process, primary change mechanisms, empirical basis, and future developments. This revised edition includes updated case examples, as well as a wealth of new research findings -- including process-outcome studies -- that affirm treatment effectiveness, explain how alliance ruptures are repaired, and new research on the "reconsolidation process" that demonstrates how sudden, dramatic change happens in brief dynamic therapy.
Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations
by Simon JenkinsDiscover the architectural gems that are Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations in this Sunday Times top 10 bestseller'This is a cracker . . . a beautiful book' Chris EvansIt is the scene for our hopeful beginnings and our intended ends, and the timeless experiences of coming and going, meeting, greeting and parting. It is an institution with its own rituals and priests, and a long-neglected aspect of Britain's architecture. And yet so little do we look at the railway station.Simon Jenkins has travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain, from Waterloo to Wemyss Bay, Betws-y-Coed to Beverley, to select his hundred best railway stations. Blending his usual insight and authority with his personal reflections and experiences - including his founding the Railway Heritage Trust - the foremost expert on our national heritage deftly reveals the history, geography, design and significance of each of these glories. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of our social history shows the station's role in the national imagination; champions the engineers, architects and rival companies that made them possible; and tells the story behind the triumphs and follies of these very British creations. These are the marvellous, often undersung places that link our nation, celebrated like never before.'However spectacular the book's photographs, it's the author's prowess as a phrase-maker that keeps you turning the pages' The Times'An uplifting exploration of our social history' Guardian
The British Superhero
by Chris MurrayChris Murray reveals the largely unknown and rather surprising history of the British superhero. It is often thought that Britain did not have its own superheroes, yet Murray demonstrates that there were a great many in Britain and that they were often used as a way to comment on the relationship between Britain and America. Sometimes they emulated the style of American comics, but they also frequently became sites of resistance to perceived American political and cultural hegemony, drawing upon satire and parody as a means of critique. Murray illustrates that the superhero genre is a blend of several influences, and that in British comics these influences were quite different from those in America, resulting in some contrasting approaches to the figure of the superhero. He identifies the origins of the superhero and supervillain in nineteenth-century popular culture such as the penny dreadfuls and boys' weeklies and in science fiction writing of the 1920s and 1930s. He traces the emergence of British superheroes in the 1940s, the advent of "fake" American comics, and the reformatting of reprinted material. Murray then chronicles the British Invasion of the 1980s and the pivotal roles in American superhero comics and film production held by British artists today. This book will challenge views about British superheroes and the comics creators who fashioned them. Murray brings to light a gallery of such comics heroes as the Amazing Mr X, Powerman, Streamline, Captain Zenith, Electroman, Mr Apollo, Masterman, Captain Universe, Marvelman, Kelly's Eye, Steel Claw, the Purple Hood, Captain Britain, Supercats, Bananaman, Paradax, Jack Staff, and SuperBob. He reminds us of the significance of many such creators and artists as Len Fullerton, Jock McCail, Jack Glass, Denis Gifford, Bob Monkhouse, Dennis M. Reader, Mick Anglo, Brendan McCarthy, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Dave Gibbons, and Mark Millar.
Broken Glass (The Mirror Sisters Series #2)
by V.C. AndrewsThis second gothic novel in the dark Mirror Sisters trilogy continues the tale of sisterly love at its absolute worst—from the legendary New York Times bestselling author of Flowers in the Attic and My Sweet Audrina (now Lifetime movies). For fans of Ruth Ware (In a Dark, Dark Wood) and Liane Moriarty (The Husband&’s Secret).Under their mother&’s watchful eye, identical twins Haylee and Kaylee Fitzgerald have lived their entire lives in sync. Never alone, never apart, everything about them must be exactly the same: clothes, friends, punishments. One night, in the darkness of a movie theater, Haylee reveals that she&’s leaving to meet up with someone she knows from online. But suddenly feeling ill, and not wanting to disappoint this older man, she convinces Kaylee to go in her stead. He&’ll never know, and this way he won&’t think she stood him up. Kaylee reluctantly agrees to go, but when the credits roll and she&’s nowhere to be found, Haylee confesses everything to her mom. With the manhunt on, Haylee knows everything must be done to find her sister. Still, for the first time in her life, she&’s free from her twin, which, really, isn&’t so bad...is it?
Brooklyn Wars: An Erica Donato Mystery (Erica Donato Mysteries #4)
by Triss Stein"Stein's sure hand weaves history and mystery together for a colorful tale of love, loss, greed, and murder." —Publishers WeeklyFrom the earliest days of the Republic until the administration of LBJ, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was, proudly, both an arsenal of democracy, in FDR's words, and the creator of 70,000 local jobs. In time it became best known as the scary place New Yorkers had to locate to rescue their impounded cars. And then it came back to life, but not without a war.A public meeting becomes a battleground over plans to redevelop the once-proud Brooklyn Navy Yard. Local residents clamor for their own agenda in redeveloping 300 acres overlooking a sparkling downtown Manhattan, while business and real estate experts argue and city officials cower. Erica Donato, still writing her PhD dissertation about changes in city neighborhoods, witnesses the shocking murder of a power-broker that night on the Yard's condemned Admirals' Row.Erica uncovers the dead man's complicated history with the Yard, with his road to wealth and a high-flyer lifestyle, and with his wives and mistresses. When her daughter, Chris, visits her father's relatives for a family history project, Erica goes along, and learns that the Donato clan was involved in the Navy Yard's glory days and its slow, politics-ridden death. The story of Aunt Philomena, tall and blond, one of the proud Brooklyn girls who built ships in the Yard during World War II, captivates her. After the U.S. victory these women were told to give their jobs back to the men coming home. Philomena, so strong, so happy, mysteriously faded away and died young.Under pressure to drop her chapter on the Naval Yard and finish her PhD dissertation on a final deadline, as well as from the police to step aside for safety, Erica once again discovers "what's past is prologue" to murder...and to her life.
Bug Girl (Bug Girl Ser. #1)
by Benjamin Harper Sarah Hines StephensSarah Hines Stephens and Benjamin Harper's Bug Girl is a funny and action-packed middle-grade superhero adventure with a beautifully designed two color interior and sidebars featuring real bug facts!Amanda Price adores all things bug-related—from spiders to mantises—like, seriously loves them. Unfortunately most of her fellow sixth-graders do not share her invertebrate obsession. They’re grossed out by it. Especially Amanda’s ex-best friend, Emily, who thinks Amanda is creepy weird.But when mysterious invaders menace the town of Oyster Cove and take both Amanda and Emily’s mothers captive, Amanda unexpectedly develops amazing insectile powers! Newly equipped with antennae and a glistening exoskeleton she uncovers a secret that changes everything.Now Amanda has to act fast or her town and her mom are doomed! There’s just one complication…she needs Emily’s help.Suddenly Amanda’s worst enemy becomes her best ally, but working together may be even harder than saving their town from being squashed like a…well… BUG GIRL. She’s got the buzz.Sarah Hines Stephens and Benjamin Harper's Bug Girl is a funny and action-packed superhero adventure filled with green illustrations and sidebars featuring real bug facts!An Imprint Book“Bearing all the campy hallmarks and high drama of a classic superhero romp, this entertaining ... tale also features interesting entomological tidbits throughout.” — Kirkus Reviews“The villain is dastardly, the heroes are staunch, and the costumes are impressive, making this high-quality standard superhero fare with the added bonus of some poignant details of how even the closest friendships may fade amid the social pressures of middle school.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books“Tucks both middle-school fashion advice and insect facts into a tale that scuttles along to a wildly destructive climactic battle.” — Booklist
Bugged: The Insects Who Rule the World and the People Obsessed with Them
by David MacNeal"Creepy, beautiful, icky and amazing." —Penny Le Couteur, author of Napoleon's ButtonInsects have been shaping our ecological world and plant life for over 400 million years. In fact, our world is essentially run by bugs—there are 1.4 billion for every human on the planet. In Bugged, journalist David MacNeal takes us on an off-beat scientific journey that weaves together history, travel, and culture in order to define our relationship with these mini-monsters. MacNeal introduces a cast of bug-lovers—from a woman facilitating tarantula sex and an exterminator nursing bedbugs (on his own blood), to a kingpin of the black market insect trade and a “maggotologist”—who obsess over the crucial role insects play in our everyday lives. Just like bugs, this book is global in its scope, diversity, and intrigue. Hands-on with pet beetles in Japan, releasing lab-raised mosquitoes in Brazil, beekeeping on a Greek island, or using urine and antlers as means of ancient pest control, MacNeal’s quest appeals to the squeamish and brave alike. Demonstrating insects’ amazingly complex mechanics, he strings together varied interactions we humans have with them, like extermination, epidemics, and biomimicry. And, when the journey comes to an end, MacNeal examines their commercial role in our world in an effort to help us ultimately cherish (and maybe even eat) bugs.
Built for Speed
by John McGuinnessGo on the ride of your life with the racing legend himself**with a thrilling NEW CHAPTER on John’s dramatic 2017 crash**‘Then I was there myself, just another face in the crowd, watching the bikes fly by. The smells, the noise and the speed were all there for me to experience. It was like a massive injection in my head and it just blew my mind. I knew within seconds that I was going to be a TT racer. I didn’t know how or what I was going to have to do to achieve this, and my dad wasn’t going to be keen. Everyone around me was aware of the dangers, but from that moment I knew I had to do it.’John McGuinness is one of the all-time giants of road racing, with a huge host of victories to his name. But his easy humour and down-to-earth attitude off the bike have always kept people guessing: what’s the truth about the man inside the helmet, that has kept him at the top of such a sport for over 20 years?His autobiography tells the whole story, from his humble beginnings in Morecambe and getting his first bike at the age of 3, to working as a bricklayer and cockle fisherman before deciding to follow his dream, and finally to his many victories in the most dangerous sporting event on the planet. He tells of what it takes to be a champion in such an exacting sport, and to keep winning even though all logic tells you to stop – and when so many of your fellow racers are paying the ultimate price for doing it. This thrilling autobiography gets into the head of the man who stares death in the face, and doesn’t even flinch.
Bull: A Novel
by David ElliottMuch like Lin-Manuel Miranda did in Hamilton, the New York Times best-selling author David Elliott turns a classic on its head in form and approach, updating the timeless story of Theseus and the Minotaur. A rough, rowdy, and darkly comedic young adult retelling in verse, which NPR called &“beautifully clever,&” Bull will have readers reevaluating one of mythology's most infamous monsters. SEE THE STORY OF THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR IN A WHOLE NEW LIGHT Minos thought he could Pull a fast one On me, Poseidon! God of the Sea! But I&’m the last one On whom you Should try such a thing. The nerve of that guy. The balls. The audacity. I AM THE OCEAN! I got capacity! Depths! Darkness! Delphic power! So his sweet little plan Went big-time sour And his wife had a son Born with horns and a muzzle Who ended up In an underground puzzle. What is it with you mortals? You just can&’t seem to learn: If you play with fire, babies, You&’re gonna get burned.
Burgundy: Twisted Roots (Vengeance in the Vineyard Mysteries #3)
by Janet Hubbard"Burgundy: Twisted Roots is an intriguing and multi-layered novel about love, wine and intrigue, steeped in a deep knowledge of the seductive French lifestyle, from wild boar hunts to wine harves feasts, with side servings of skullduggery and inheritance laws." —MARTIN WALKER, bestselling author of the Bruno, Chief of Police seriesMax Maguire of the NYPD, daughter of a legendary NY cop and a French mother disowned by her aristocratic family when she married, met examining magistrate Olivier Chaumont over murder at the wedding of an old friend in the Champagne wine region. They remained on-again-off-again partners and lovers over more murder again, this time in Bordeaux. And now, six months later, Max is on her way to Burgundy where it's time to give up her promising career and commit—or split.Murder occurs. There's a mystery girl, American. Fractured families. Motives aplenty. But the story's real fascination lies in two things French: the wine culture and French inheritance laws which are convoluted and guaranteed to spark family wars, even unto death. And the French justice system functions differently which frustrates Max, an action-oriented, straightforward investigator, and causes some friction with Olivier. Janet Hubbard wraps up her Vengeance in the Vineyard trilogy with a surprise and solutions that will please readers.
Burials: A Faye Longchamp Mystery (Faye Longchamp Archaeological Mysteries #10)
by Mary Anna EvansTop 12 Mystery Novels of 2017 by Strand Magazine2018 - Willa Literary Award Finalist, Contemporary Fiction"Evans' signature archaeological lore adds even more interest to this tale of love, hate, and greed." —Kirkus ReviewsA woman waits under five feet of dirt—a woman who is by now nothing but bones stained the deep red of Oklahoma clay. A delicate silver necklace, a handful of ancient pearls, and a priceless figurine rest with her. Twenty-nine years is a long time to wait for a proper burial.Faye Longchamp-Mantooth, who runs a small and shakily financed archaeological consulting firm with her husband, Joe, has come to Sylacauga so she and Joe can join his father, Sly Mantooth, in dispersing his mother's ashes. Fifteen years is a long time to wait for a proper ceremony.Faye has partially financed the trip by hiring on to consult on the reopening of a site closed down 29 years ago when archaeologist Dr. Sophia Townsend disappeared—for good. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation intends to create a park if nothing sacred lies in the soil. What no one expects is the lonely red bones that emerge as the backhoe completes its work. Inevitably they prove to be those of Sophia Townsend. And examination shows Sophia was first killed by a blow to the head.Chief Roy Cloud of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation's Lighthorse Tribal Police hires Faye, who clearly can't be a suspect, to consult. Which is fine with Faye, who won't rest easy until Sophia's murder is solved. But the investigation comes uncomfortably close to home when she learns that her father-in-law knows more about the dead woman than he is willing to admit. So, it appears, does everyone in tiny Sylacauga.Dr. Sophia Townsend had possessed a sexual magnetism as forceful as an Oklahoma tornado, and she had never hesitated to use it to manipulate everyone around her, people whose hearts she broke and whose marriages she destroyed. Was she killed by one of her lovers, or by one of their wives? Or by the woman who became enthralled with her? Or maybe Sly Mantooth? Or was something else elemental—greed, buried treasure, fame—at work?Faye's obsession with this case tests her professional ethics and it tests her marriage. Such was the power of Sophia Townsend that, twenty-nine years after her murder, she wreaks havoc (along with the weather) once again.2018 - Oklahoma Book Award Finalist, Fiction2018 - Will Rogers Bronze Medallion Award Winner, Western Fiction
Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder
by Asako YuzukiA highly fresh and original novel following a journalist in contemporary Japan as she investigates a serial killer convicted of luring wealthy men in with her cooking classes only to seduce, murder, and rob them, and a gripping exploration of misogyny, obsession, and the pleasures and pressures of foodJournalist Rika Machida is facing an unusual assignment: she is tapped to investigate serial killer Manako Kajii, notorious for drawing rich men in with her pricey cooking classes, only to murder them and move on to the next. Kajii refuses to cooperate with the press until Rika writes her a letter asking for her beef stew recipe, a correspondence and ongoing series of conversations between the two women that sees Rika transforming as she becomes closer to Kajii, taking on some of her confidence and strength but also some of her deadly intention. Game on. Set in 2011, when dairy product shortages across Japan made butter a hot commodity, Butter depicts a vivid, panoramic view of contemporary Japan as seen through a diverse cast of Japanese women. An endlessly entertaining and sharply insightful look at the relationships between women and how they engage and challenge one another, revealing the many contradictions and complexities in the process, Asako Yuzuki’s novel is filled with intoxicating descriptions of food and the body that also looks deeply at its connection to the sinister, criminal, and taboo, its enduring power and delight.
Calvin: A Novel
by Martine LeavittSeventeen-year-old Calvin has always known his fate is linked to the comic book character from Calvin & Hobbes. He was born on the day the last strip was published; his grandpa left a stuffed tiger named Hobbes in his crib; and he even has a best friend named Susie. As a child Calvin played with the toy Hobbes, controlling his every word and action, until Hobbes was washed to death. But now Calvin is a teenager who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, Hobbes is back—as a delusion—and Calvin can't control him. Calvin decides that if he can convince Bill Watterson to draw one final comic strip, showing a normal teenaged Calvin, he will be cured. Calvin and Susie (and Hobbes) set out on a dangerous trek across frozen Lake Erie to track him down.