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One Man's Garden
by Henry MitchellIn the sequel to The Essential Earthman, the Washington Post columnist offers a harvest of sharp observations and humorous adventures gathered during a year in his garden, along with much down-to-earth advice on horticulture.
If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things: A Novel
by Jon McGregorRisky in conception, hip and yet soulful, this is a prose poem of a novel—intense, lyrical, and highly evocative—with a mystery at its center, which keeps the reader in suspense until the final page. In a tour de force that could be described as Altmanesque, we are invited into the private lives of the residents of a quiet urban street in England over the course of a single day. In delicate, intricately observed closeup, we witness the hopes, fears, and unspoken despairs of a diverse community: the man with painfully scarred hands who tried in vain to save his wife from a burning house and who must now care for his young daughter alone; a group of young clubgoers just home from an all-night rave, sweetly high and mulling over vague dreams; the nervous young man at number 18 who collects weird urban junk and is haunted by the specter of unrequited love. The tranquillity of the street is shattered at day's end when a terrible accident occurs. This tragedy and an utterly surprising twist provide the momentum for the book. But it is the author's exquisite rendering of the ordinary, the everyday, that gives this novel its freshness, its sense of beauty, wonder, and hope. Rarely does a writer appear with so much music and poetry—so much vision—that he can make the world seem new.
A Line Made By Walking: A Novel
by Sara BaumeShortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize &“Baume is a writer of outstanding grace and style. She writes beyond the time we live in.&”—Colum McCann &“Baume leaves nothing unturned in this dark and sometimes funny excavation of the human heart.&” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune &“Fascinating, because of the cumulative power of the precise, pleasingly rhythmic sentences, and the unpredictable intelligence of the narrator&’s mind.&” —Guardian Struggling to cope with urban life—and life in general—Frankie, a twenty-something artist, retreats to her family&’s rural house on &“turbine hill,&” vacant since her grandmother&’s death three years earlier. It is in this space, surrounded by countryside and wild creatures, that she can finally grapple with the chain of events that led her here—her shaky mental health, her difficult time in art school—and maybe, just maybe, regain her footing in art and life. As Frankie picks up photography once more, closely examining the natural world around her, she reconsiders seminal works of art and their relevance. With &“prose that makes sure we look and listen,&”* Sara Baume has written an elegant novel that is as much an exploration of wildness, the art world, mental illness, and community as it is a profoundly beautiful and powerful meditation on life. *Atlantic &“Baume&’s writing is near-faultless.&” —Financial Times &“A novel of uniqueness, wonder, recognition, poignancy, truth-speaking, quiet power, strange beauty, and luminous bedazzlement.&” — Joseph O&’Connor
Tiger Trap: America's Secret Spy War with China
by David WiseFor decades, while America obsessed over Soviet spies, China quietly penetrated the highest levels of government. Now, for the first time, based on numerous interviews with key insiders at the FBI and CIA as well as with Chinese agents and people close to them, David Wise tells the full story of China’s many victories and defeats in its American spy wars.Two key cases interweave throughout: Katrina Leung, code-named Parlor Maid, worked for the FBI for years, even after she became a secret double agent for China, aided by love affairs with both of her FBI handlers. Here, too, is the inside story of the case, code-named Tiger Trap, of a key Chinese-American scientist suspected of stealing nuclear weapons secrets. These two cases led to many others, involving famous names from Wen Ho Lee to Richard Nixon, stunning national security leaks, and sophisticated cyberspying. The story takes us up to the present, with a West Coast spy ring whose members were sentenced in 2010—but it surely will continue for years to come, as China faces off against America. David Wise’s history of China’s spy wars in America is packed with eye-popping revelations.
Ecstasy: A Novel
by Mary SharrattComing of age in the midst of a creative and cultural whirlwind in Vienna, young, beautiful Alma Schindler yearns to make her mark as a composer. A new era of possibility for women is dawning, and she is determined to make the most of it. But Alma loses her heart to the great composer Gustav Mahler, nearly twenty years her senior. He demands that she give up her music as a condition of their marriage. Torn by her love and in awe of his genius, how will she remain true to herself and her artistic passion? Part cautionary tale, part triumph of the feminist spirit, Ecstasy reveals the true Alma Mahler: composer, author, daughter, sister, mother, wife, lover, and muse. Mary Sharratt has finally given center stage to one of the most controversial and complex women of her time.
Material Girls: A Novel
by Elaine DimopoulosIn Marla Klein and Ivy Wilde&’s world, teens are the gatekeepers of culture. A top fashion label employs sixteen-year-old Marla to dictate hot new clothing trends, while Ivy, a teen pop star, popularizes the garments that Marla approves. Both girls are pawns in a calculated but seductive system of corporate control, and both begin to question their world&’s aggressive levels of consumption. Will their new &“eco-chic&” trend subversively resist and overturn the industry that controls every part of their lives? Smart, provocative, and entertaining, this thrilling page-turner for teens questions the cult like mentality of fame and fashion. Are you in or are you out?
Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day
by Stephan Talty&“The book presses ever forward down a path of historical marvels and astonishing facts. The effect is like a master class that&’s accessible to anyone, and Agent Garbo often reads as though it were written in a single, perfect draft.&”—The AtlanticBefore he remade himself as the master spy known as Garbo, Juan Pujol was nothing more than a Barcelona poultry farmer. But as Garbo, he turned in a masterpiece of deception that changed the course of World War II. Posing as the Nazis&’ only reliable spy inside England, he created an imaginary million-man army, invented armadas out of thin air, and brought a vast network of fictional subagents to life. The scheme culminated on June 6, 1944, when Garbo convinced the Germans that the Allied forces approaching Normandy were just a feint—the real invasion would come at Calais. Because of his brilliant trickery, the Allies were able to land with much less opposition and eventually push on to Berlin.As incredible as it sounds, everything in Agent Garbo is true, based on years of archival research and interviews with Pujol&’s family. This pulse-pounding thriller set in the shadow world of espionage and deception reveals the shocking reality of spycraft that occurs just below the surface of history.&“Stephan Talty&’s unsurpassed research brings forth one of the war&’s greatest agents in a must-read book for those who think they know all the great World War II stories.&” —Gregory Freeman, author of The Forgotten 500
Just Grace Three Books In One!: Just Grace, Still Just Grace, Just Grace Walks the Dog (The Just Grace Series)
by Charise Mericle HarperMeet third-grader Grace Stewart, who gets stuck with the name &“Just Grace&” when she tries to distinguish herself from the three other Graces in her class. Grace is plenty different, though. She has a &“teeny-tiny superpower,&” for instance—she can tell if someone is unhappy and often tries to fix it. But sometimes her good intentions backfire... Join Just Grace as she deals with a missing cat, a new neighbor, and more in this delightfully funny three-book collection including Just Grace, Still Just Grace, Just Grace Walks the Dog.
Inventing The Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir
by Annie Dillard Alfred Kazin William ZinsserFor anyone who enjoys reading memoirs??—??or is thinking about writing one??—??this collection offers a master class from nine distinguished authors, including Annie Dillard, Frank McCourt, and others. The events, memories, and emotions of the past often resist the orderly structure of a book. Inventing the Truth offers wisdom from nine notable memoirists about their process (Ian Frazier searched through generations of family papers to understand his parents' lives), the hurdles they faced (Annie Dillard tackles the central dilemma of memoir: what to put in and what to leave out), and the unexpected joys of bringing their pasts to the page. Featured authors include Russell Baker on Growing Up; Jill Ker Conway on The Road from Coorain; Annie Dillard on An American Childhood; Ian Frazier on Family; Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Colored People; Alfred Kazin on A Walker in the City; Frank McCourt on Angela's Ashes; Toni Morrison on Beloved; and Eileen Simpson on Poets in Their Youth.
Are We Rome?: The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America
by Cullen MurphyWhat went wrong in imperial Rome, and how we can avoid it: “If you want to understand where America stands in the world today, read this."??—??Thomas E. RicksThe rise and fall of ancient Rome has been on American minds since the beginning of our republic. Depending on who’s doing the talking, the history of Rome serves as either a triumphal call to action??—??or a dire warning of imminent collapse.In this “provocative and lively” book, Cullen Murphy points out that today we focus less on the Roman Republic than on the empire that took its place, and reveals a wide array of similarities between the two societies (The New York Times). Looking at the blinkered, insular culture of our capitals; the debilitating effect of bribery in public life; the paradoxical issue of borders; and the weakening of the body politic through various forms of privatization, Murphy persuasively argues that we most resemble Rome in the burgeoning corruption of our government and in our arrogant ignorance of the world outside??—??two things that must be changed if we are to avoid Rome’s fate.“Are We Rome? is just about a perfect book. . . . I wish every politician would spend an evening with this book.”??—??James Fallows
The Homing Instinct: Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration
by Bernd HeinrichA captivating exploration of the homing instinct in animals, and what it means for human happiness and survival, from the celebrated naturalist and author of Mind of the Raven, Why We Run, and Life Everlasting.Acclaimed scientist and author Bernd Heinrich has returned every year since boyhood to a beloved patch of western Maine woods. What is the biology in humans of this deep-in-the-bones pull toward a particular place, and how is it related to animal homing?Heinrich explores the fascinating science chipping away at the mysteries of animal migration: how geese imprint true visual landscape memory; how scent trails are used by many creatures, from fish to insects to amphibians, to pinpoint their home if they are displaced from it; and how the tiniest of songbirds are equipped for solar and magnetic orienteering over vast distances. Most movingly, Heinrich chronicles the spring return of a pair of sandhill cranes to their home pond in the Alaska tundra. With his trademark “marvelous, mind-altering” prose (Los Angeles Times), he portrays the unmistakable signs of deep psychological emotion in the newly arrived birds??—??and reminds us that to discount our own emotions toward home is to ignore biology itself.
Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots: A Novel
by Jessica Soffer“Sassy, brash, acrobatic and colorful . . . I want to read it again and again.” —Time“Impressive . . . Soffer’s style is natural and assured.” —Meg Wolitzer, All Things Considered, NPRLorca spends her life poring over cookbooks to earn the love of her distracted mother, a chef, who is now packing her off to boarding school. Desperate to prove herself, Lorca resolves to track down the recipe for her mother’s ideal meal. She signs up for cooking lessons from Victoria, an Iraqi-Jewish immigrant profoundly shaken by her husband’s death. Soon these two women develop a deeper bond while their concoctions—cardamom pistachio cookies, baklava, and masgouf—bake in Victoria’s kitchen. But their individual endeavors force a reckoning with the past, the future, and the truth—whatever it might be. In Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots we see how food sustains not just our bodies, but our hopes as well. Bukra fil mish mish, the Arabic saying goes. Tomorrow, apricots may bloom.“A profound and necessary new voice. Soffer’s prose is as controlled as it is fresh, as incisive as it is musical. Soffer has arrived early, with an orchestra of talent at her disposal.” —Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin “Moving [and] extraordinary.” —Atlantic“A work of beauty in words . . . Soffer is a master artist painting the hidden hues of the human soul.” —New York Journal of Books
The Marches: A Borderland Journey Between England and Scotland
by Rory StewartFrom a member of Parliament and best-selling author of The Places in Between, an exploration of the Marches—the borderland between England and Scotland—and the political turmoil and vivid lives that created it.In The Places in Between, Rory Stewart walked some of the most dangerous borderlands in the world. Now he travels with his eighty-nine-year-old father—a comical, wily, courageous, and infuriating former British intelligence officer—along the border they call home.On Stewart’s four-hundred-mile walk across a magnificent natural landscape, he sleeps on mountain ridges and in housing projects, in hostels and farmhouses. With every fresh encounter—from an Afghanistan veteran based on Hadrian’s Wall to a shepherd who still counts his flock in sixth-century words—Stewart uncovers more about the forgotten peoples and languages of a vanished country, now crushed between England and Scotland.Stewart and his father are drawn into unsettling reflections on landscape, their parallel careers in the bygone British Empire and Iraq, and the past, present, and uncertain future of the United Kingdom. This is a profound reflection on family, landscape, and history by a powerful and original writer.“An unforgettable tale.” — National Geographic“The miracle of The Marches is not so much the treks Stewart describes, pulling in all possible relevant history, as the monument that emerges to his beloved father.” — New York Times Book Review
Darwin's Athletes: How Sport Has Damaged Black America and Preserved the Myth of Race
by John HobermanDARWIN'S ATHLETES focuses on society's fixation with black athletic achievement. Hoberman argues that this obsession has come to play a troubling role in African American life and our country's race relations. Rich, flamboyant superstars lend credence to age-old prejudices, recycled "scientific" theories denigrating black intelligence, and stereotypes of black violence. This portrayal of black identity encourages a disdain for academic achievement already too widespread among black males. Darwin's Athletes is a powerful indictment of modern sport's racial spectacle.
Tango Lessons: A Memoir
by Meghan FlahertyFrom a dazzling new literary voice, a debut memoir about a young woman learning to dance tango, becoming comfortable in her own skin and in the arms of others Tango was an unlikely choice for Meghan Flaherty. A young woman living with the scars of past trauma, she was terrified of being touched and shied away from real passion. But by her late twenties, she knew something had to change. She dug up an old dream and tried on her dancing shoes. In tango, there&’s a leader and a follower, and, traditionally, the woman follows. As Meghan moved from beginner classes to the late-night dance halls of New York&’s vibrant tango underground, she discovered that more than any footwork, the hardest and most essential lesson of the dance was to follow with strength and agency; to find her balance, regardless of the lead. And as she broke her own rule—never mix romance and tango—she started to apply those lessons in every corner of her life. Written in wry, lyrical prose, and beautifully enriched by the vivid history and culture of the dance, Tango Lessons is a transformative story of conquering your fears, living your dreams, and enjoying the dizzying freedom found in the closest embrace.
The Low-Carb Comfort Food Cookbook: More Than 300 Recipes That Satisfy Your Comfort Food Cravings While Keeping You Thin
by Mary Dan Eades Ursula Solom Michael R EadesThe revolutionary cookbook that satisfies all your comfort food cravings-from the New York Times bestselling authors of Protein PowerWhen you think about low-carb diets, do you picture complicated meal plans and bland foods that leave you with cravings? Do the words comfort food make you long for scrumptious delights like pancakes, ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, or fettucine alfredo-foods you thought you could never have on a low-carb diet?If your answers to the above were yes and yes, you're in for a huge surprise! You can have these foods and many more, thanks to The Low-Carb Comfort Food Cookbook. Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades and chef Ursula Solom give you unique, easy cooking tips and more than 300 yummy low-carb recipes for foods that help you keep your weight down and fulfill your cravings. In no time at all, you'll be on an easy-to-follow low-carb plan that will allow you to stay thin and healthy-and feel great!Southern fried chicken with pan gravy * Elegant biscuits Melt-in-your-mouth pancakes * Deluxe low-carb macaroni and cheese * Beef and mushroom crepes * Spicy corn chips Soft crust pizza * Low-carb beef stroganoff * Raisin rolls Breaded sole * Fettucine alfredo * Low-carb lasagna * Super banana bread * Low-carb tacos * Bean and cheese burritos * Best garlic bread * Eggplant parmigiana * Rich low-carb pound cake * Scrumptious low-carb cheesecake * Apple brown betty * Cheddar cheese waffles * Chocolate ice cream * Key lime pie * Sublime truffles
My $50,000 Year At The Races
by Andrew BeyerIn 1977, before he was known as the creator of "The Beyer Speed Figure," Andrew Beyer set out on a gambling odyssey, determined to prove himself as a horseplayer. He would marshal all his handicapping skills for assaults on four racetracks: Gulfstream Park, Pimlico, Saratoga, and the Barrington Fair. The then thirty-three-year-old Harvard dropout had the credentials for this undertaking: two years earlier, his book Picking Winners had won a claim from bettors and critics alike. But the theory of handicapping and the practice of it are two very different things, and Beyer did all he could to prepare himself for this new challenge. He consulted with other professional horseplayers. He undertook detailed analyses of trainers and their methods. He refined his speed-handicapping techniques. He developed a revolutionary method for evaluating horses shipped from one track to another. He formulated a bold betting strategy. During the year, he experienced the dizzying thrill of winning more than $10,000 in an afternoon, and agonizing frustration that drove him to bash a hole in the wall of the Gulfstream Park press box. When it was over, Beyer had amassed a profit of $50,664. His account of the year offers a rare, unromanticized look at the world of professional gambling. For horseplayers who have dreamed of beating the races, he proves that the dream is, sometimes, attainable. And he explains, in specific detail, how it can be done. There are no gimmicks in My $50,000 Year At The Races. Instead, there is a proven method of beating the races- and Andrew Beyer's marvelously entertaining story of how he put it in practice.
Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum
by Ralph Frammolino Jason FelchIn recent years, several of America’s leading art museums have voluntarily given up their finest pieces of classical art to the governments of Italy and Greece. The monetary value is estimated at over half a billion dollars. Why would they be moved to such unheard-of generosity? The answer lies at the Getty, one of the world’s richest and most troubled museums, and scandalous revelations that it had been buying looted antiquities for decades. Drawing on a trove of confidential museum records and frank interviews, Felch and Frammolino give us a fly-on-the-wall account of the inner workings of a world-class museum and tell the story of the Getty’s dealings in the illegal antiquities trade. The outlandish characters and bad behavior could come straight from the pages of a thriller—the wealthy recluse founder, the cagey Italian art investigator, the playboy curator, the narcissist CEO—but their chilling effects on the rest of the art world have been all too real, as the authors show in novelistic detail. Fast-paced and compelling, Chasing Aphrodite exposes the layer of dirt beneath the polished façade of the museum business.
My Enemy's Cradle (Thorndike Reviewers' Choice Ser.)
by Sara YoungCyrla's neighbors have begun to whisper. Her cousin, Anneke, is pregnant and has passed the rigorous exams for admission to the Lebensborn, a maternity home for girls carrying German babies. But Anneke's soldier has disappeared, and Lebensborn babies are only ever released to their father's custody-- or taken away.A note is left under the mat. Someone knows that Cyrla, sent from Poland years before for safekeeping with her Dutch relatives, is Jewish. The Nazis are imposing more and more restrictions; she won't be safe there for long. And then in the space of an afternoon, life falls apart. Cyrla must choose between certain discovery in her cousin's home and taking Anneke's place in the Lebensborn--Cyrla and Anneke are nearly identical. If she takes refuge in the enemy's lair, can Cyrla fool the doctors, nurses, guards, and other mothers-to-be? Can she escape before they discover she is not who she claims? Mining a lost piece of history, Sara Young takes us deep into the lives of women living in the worst of times. Part love story and part elegy for the terrible choices we must often make to survive, MY ENEMY'S CRADLE keens for what we lose in war and sings for the hope we sometimes find.
It Figures!: Fun Figures of Speech
by Marvin TerbanAn introduction to six common figures of speech -- metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, personification, alliteration, and hyperbole -- with guidelines for their use and numerous illustrative examples.
Through A Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe
by Jane GoodallThe renowned British primatologist continues the “engrossing account” of her time among the chimpanzees of Gombe, Tanzania (Publishers Weekly).In her classic, In the Shadow of Man, Jane Goodall wrote of her first ten years at Gombe. In Through a Window she continues the story, painting a more complete and vivid portrait of our closest relatives. On the shores of Lake Tanganyika, Gombe is a community where the principal residents are chimpanzees. Through Goodall’s eyes we watch young Figan’s relentless rise to power and old Mike’s crushing defeat. We learn how one mother rears her children to succeed and another dooms hers to failure. We witness horrifying murders, touching moments of affection, joyous births, and wrenching deaths. As Goodall compellingly tells the story of this intimately intertwined community, we are shown human emotions stripped to their essence. In the mirror of chimpanzee life, we see ourselves reflected.“A humbling and exalting book . . . Ranks with the great scientific achievements of the twentieth century.”??—??Washington Post “[An] absolutely smashing account . . . Thrilling, affectionate, intelligent??—??a classic.”??—??Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Coming Up For Air
by George OrwellFrom George Orwell, the author of 1984 and Animal Farm, Coming Up for Air is the classic, comic novel about the everyday struggles of the common man and a satiric look at the trappings of middle-class suburbia.George "Tubby" Bowling is a middle-aged insurance salesman, a job at which he grimly excels, dutifully paying the mortgage on an average English suburban row house, and supporting an ungrateful family. As the years roll by, he comes to feel like a hostage to his wife and children, regarding them as wardens and himself as a prisoner.One day, after winning some money from a bet at the races, George steals away from his family to visit the village where he grew up, to fish for carp in a pool he remembers from thirty years before. The pool, alas, is gone, the village has changed beyond recognition, and the principal event of his holiday is an accidental bombing by the RAF??—??the perfect ending to his failed escape."A work of rare vigor and imagination."??—??New York Herald-Tribune Book Review
Bollywood Kitchen: Home-Cooked Indian Meals Paired with Unforgettable Bollywood Films
by Sri RaoYou&’re invited to a party where the food and entertainment are both in Technicolor. It&’s &“dinner and a movie&” in this vibrant, beautifully photographed tour of Indian food and films. Indian cuisine and Indian cinema (known as Bollywood) share much in common – bold colors and flavors with plenty of drama. But to the uninitiated, they can seem dizzying. Let Sri Rao be your guide. As one of the only Americans working in Bollywood, Sri is an expert on Indian musical films, and as an avid cook, he&’s taken his mom&’s authentic, home-cooked recipes and adapted them for the modern, American kitchen. The popularity of Indian food has grown immensely in recent years – and for good reason. It's perfectly suited for people who love bold flavors, as well as those looking for vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free meals that don&’t skimp on taste. But as Sri points out in Bollywood Kitchen – you&’ve probably never tasted real Indian food. Home-cooked Indian-American food is surprisingly simple to make, using ingredients readily available in your local grocery store. In this book you&’ll find dinner menus and brunch menus, menus for kids and menus for cocktail parties. Along with each healthy and easy-to-prepare meal, Sri has paired one of his favorite Bollywood movies. Every one of these films is a musical, packed with dazzling song-and-dance numbers that are the hallmark of Bollywood, beloved by millions of fans all over the world. Sri will introduce each film to you, explaining why you&’ll love it, and letting you in on some juicy morsels from behind the scenes. Bollywood Kitchen is as much a beautiful coffee table book as it is a cookbook, filled with gorgeous film photographs and colorful tablescapes. It&’s a unique treasure for Indian food lovers, as well as fans of world cinema.
Two Souls Indivisible
by James S. HirschHow two Vietnam POWs, one white and one black, formed an unexpected friendship that saved them both: “A moving story.”??—??John McCainFred Cherry was one of the few black pilots taken prisoner by the Vietnamese, tortured and intimidated by captors who tried and failed to get him to sign antiwar statements. Porter Halyburton was a white southern navy flier who the Vietnamese threw into a cell with Cherry at the famous Hanoi Hilton, hoping that close quarters would inspire racial tensions to boil over. Instead, they fostered an intense connection that would help both men survive the war??—??and continue for the rest of their lives. An unforgettable story of courage and friendship, Two Souls Indivisible is a compelling reminder of what can be achieved, in the face of incredible odds, when we put our differences aside. “A riveting tale . . . Two Souls Indivisible joins the small list of essential tomes on the war, race, and to an even larger degree, books that describe the true meaning of heroism.”??—??Seattle Times “A moving story of two men whose courage, sense of duty, and love proved greater than the depravity of their captors.”??—??Sen. John McCain
House (Random House Reader's Circle Ser.)
by Tracy KidderIn the New York Times bestseller House, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Tracy Kidder takes readers to the heart of the American Dream: the building of a family's first house with all its day-to-day frustrations, crises, tensions, challenges, and triumphs.In Kidder's "remarkable piece of craftsmanship in itself" (Chicago Tribune), constructing a staircase or applying a coat of paint becomes a riveting tale of conflicting wills, the strength and strain of relationships, and pride in skills. With drama, sensitivity, and insight, he takes us from blueprints to moving day, shedding light on objects usually taken for granted and creating a vivid cast of memorable characters in the process."The making of a house is a strange blend of dreams and mundane work, of heaven and earth, and Mr. Kidder has explained it."??—??New York Times Book Review