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Risk
by Elana DykewomonRisk is a beautifully told story that spans the years from the mid-eighties to the post-9/11 world. Carol is an idealistic, Berkeley-educated, Jewish lesbian living in Oakland, California. Downwardly mobile, the Berkeley grad makes her living by tutoring high school students. Through Carol's life, Dykewomon explores the changing times and values in America.
Stepping Stone
by Karin KallmakerMotion picture producer Selena Ryan has the impossible: Fame and fortune and her integrity. Her reputation for playing fair in an industry rife with games has earned her respect from other producers, writers, and actors. She's learned the lesson that plenty of people would like to use her to get what they want--a starring role or some other way into the movies. Most of them feel no obligation to return any favors she might give. Burned badly by actress Jennifer Lamont, who used her and left her with a devastating aftermath, she's wary of everyone related to the industry. Surrounded by gatekeepers to keep the hopeful at bay, aspiring starlets have tried every trick in the book to make Selena's acquaintance. When Gail Welles literally lands in Selena's lap, she suspects another ploy. Jennifer's sudden announcement that Selena is still her one-and-only is equally ill-timed and suspect. Selena wants everyone to leave her alone, even if that means living without love. Lights, camera and action are the backdrop for this novel of taking chances by Golden Crown and Lambda Literary award-winning author Karin Kallmaker.
Still Brave: The Evolution Of Black Women's Studies
by Beverly Guy-Sheftall Frances Smith Stanlie M. JamesCheryl Clarke, Angela Davis, bell hooks, June Jordan, Audre Lorde and Alice Walker - from the pioneers of black women's studies comes Still Brave, the definitive collection of race and gender writings today. Including Alice Walker's groundbreaking elucidation of the term 'womanist,' discussions of women's rights as human rights and a piece on the Obama factor, the collection speaks to the ways that feminism has evolved and how black women have confronted racism within it.
The Good Soldiers
by David FinkelIt was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it the surge. Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. "Well, here are the differences," he told a skeptical nation. Among those listening were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them. Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home forever changed. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Finkel was with them in Bagdad, and almost every grueling step of the way. What was the true story of the surge? And was it really a success? Those are the questions he grapples with in his remarkable report from the front lines. Combining the action of Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down with the literary brio of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, The Good Soldiers is an unforgettable work of reportage. And in telling the story of these good soldiers, the heroes and the ruined, David Finkel has also produced an eternal tale-- not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.
The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage During The Great War
by John W. Dean James David RobenaltWarren Harding fell in love with his beautiful neighbor, Carrie Phillips, in the summer of 1905, almost a decade before he was elected a United States Senator and fifteen years before he became the 29th President of the United States. When the two lovers started their long-term and torrid affair, neither of them could have foreseen that their relationship would play out against one of the greatest wars in world history - the First World War. Harding would become a Senator with the power to vote for war; Mrs. Phillips and her daughter would become German agents, spying on a U. S. training camp on Long Island in the hopes of gauging for the Germans the pace of mobilization of the U. S. Army for entry into the battlefields in France. Based on over 800 pages of correspondence discovered in the 1960s but under seal ever since in the Library of Congress, The Harding Affair will tell the unknown stories of Harding as a powerful Senator and his personal and political life, including his complicated romance with Mrs. Phillips. The book will also explore the reasons for the entry of the United States into the European conflict and explain why so many Americans at the time supported Germany, even after the U. S. became involved in the spring of 1917. James David Robenalt's comprehensive study of the letters is set in a narrative that weaves in a real-life spy story with the story of Harding's not accidental rise to the presidency.
The Mirror and the Mask (Jane Lawless #17)
by Ellen HartMinneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless is at crossroads. The rough economy has put her plans for a third restaurant on hold, and her long distance romance is on the rocks and quite possibly unsalvageable. Unsure of what to do next, she takes her good friend A. J. Nolan up on his standing offer to take her on as a private investigator. While still in training, her first job seems simple enough. All she had to do is find Annie Archer's stepfather. Jane tracks down a likely match--a man who has made a small fortune in real estate. While she's happy to close her first case, she finds it hard to reconcile the difference between PI work, "finding what people pay you to find" and uncovering the truth, the whole truth, especially when clues in this seemingly simple case point to more threatening family secrets than where Annie's father has been hiding out. Ellen Hart's The Mirror and the Mask is another engrossing mystery filled with the deceit and psychological intrigue that fans have come to expect from this Lambda and Minnesota Book Award-winning author.
The Pure Lover: A Memoir of Grief
by David PlanteA powerful and tragic memoir about the lifelong love between two men, from a well-loved and critically acclaimed author.
Thief of Always (Elite Operatives #2)
by Kim Baldwin Xenia AlexiouMishael Taylor, an Elite Operative top agent, is used to getting her way. When she's assigned to steal the priceless Blue Star Diamond from Dutch countess Kristine Marie van der Jagt, Mishael is caught off guard when the countess manages to steal her heart.
Tumbleweed Fever
by L. J. MaasIn the Oklahoma Territory of the Old West, Devlin Brown is trying to redeem herself for her past as an outlaw, now working as a rider on a cattle ranch. Sarah Tolliver is a widow with two children and a successful ranch but no way to protect it from the ruthless men who would rather see her fail. When the two come together, sparks fly as a former outlaw loses her heart to a beautiful yet headstrong young woman.
Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America
by Nathaniel FrankWith unfailing logic, Frank dissects the patterns of bigotry and fear that have fought to preserve a gay ban in the military and shows that the time to do away with it has come--not just as a moral issue, but also as a practical matter of survival for the military itself.
1960--LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies
by David PietruszaIt was the election that would ultimately give America "Camelot" and its tragic aftermath, a momentous contest when three giants who each would have a chance to shape the nation battled to win the presidency. Award-winning author David Pietrusza does here for the 1960 presidential race what he did in his previous book, 1920: the Year of the Six Presidents--which Kirkus Reviews selected as one of their Best Books of 2007. Until now, the most authoritative study of the 1960 election was Theodore White's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the President, 1960. But White, as a trusted insider, didn't tell all. Here's the rest of the story, what White could never have known, nor revealed. Finally, it's all out--including JFK's poignant comment on why LBJ's nomination as vice president would be inconsequential: "I'm 43 years old. I'm not going to die in office. " Combining an engaging narrative with exhaustive research, Pietrusza chronicles the pivotal election of 1960, in which issues of civil rights and religion (Kennedy was only the second major-party Roman Catholic candidate ever) converged. The volatile primary clash between Senate Majority leader LBJ and the young JFK culminated in an improbable fusion ticket. The historic, legendary Kennedy-Nixon debates followed in its wake. The first presidential televised debates, they forever altered American politics when an exhausted Nixon was unkempt and tentative in their first showdown. With 80 million viewers passing judgment, Nixon's poll numbers dropped as the charismatic Kennedy's star rose. Nixon learned his lesson--resting before subsequent debates, reluctantly wearing makeup, and challenging JFK with a more aggressive stance--but the damage was done. There's no one better to convey the drama of that tumultuous year than Pietrusza. He has 1,000 secrets to spill; a fascinating cast of characters to introduce (including a rogue's gallery of hangers-on and manipulators); and towering historical events to chronicle. And all of it is built on painstaking research and solid historical scholarship. Pietrusza tracks down every lead to create a winning, engaging, and very readable account. With the 2008 elections approaching, politics will be on everyone's mind, and 1960: LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon will transform the way readers see modern American history. A sampling of what Theodore White couldn't chronicle--and David Pietrusza does: · Richard Nixon's tempestuous Iowa backseat blowup, and his bizarre Election Day road trip · The full story of a sympathetic call from JFK to Coretta Scott King · John Ehrlichman's spy missions on the Nelson Rockefeller and Democratic camps · The warnings before Election Day that Chicago's mayor Daley would try to fix the race's outcome · JFK's amphetamine-fueled debate performance
Lethal Affairs (Elite Operatives #1)
by Kim Baldwin Xenia AlexiouElite operative Domino is no stranger to peril and impossible situations. But her latest assignment to investigate journalist Hayley Ward will test more than her skills because this time she must decide between loyalty and love.
Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits
by Samara O'SheaKeeping a journal is easy. Keeping a life-altering, soul-enlightening journal, however, is not. At its best, journaling can be among the most transformative of experiences, but you can only get there by learning how to express yourself fully and openly. Enter Samara O'Shea. O'Shea charmed readers with her elegant and witty For the Love of Letters. Now, in Note to Self, she's back to guide us through the fun, effective, and revelatory process of journaling. Along the way, selections from O'Shea's own journals demonstrate what a journal should be: a tool to access inner strengths, uncover unknown passions, face uncertain realities, and get to the center of self. To help create an effective journal, O'Shea provides multiple suggestions and exercises, including: Write in a stream of consciousness: Forget everything you ever learned about writing and just write. Let it all out: the good, bad, mad, angry, boring, and ugly. Ask yourself questions: What do I want to change about myself? What would I never change about myself? Copy quotes: Other people's words can help you figure out where you are in life, or where you'd like to be. It takes time: Don't lose faith if you don't immediately feel better after writing in your journal. Think of each entry as part of a collection that will eventually reveal its meaning to you. O'Shea's own journal entries reveal alternately moving, edgy, and hilarious stories from throughout her life, as she hits the party scene in New York, poses naked as an aspiring model, stands by as her boyfriend discovers an infidelity by (you guessed it) reading her journal, and more. There are also fascinating journal entries of notorious diarists, such as John Wilkes Booth, Anaïs Nin, and Sylvia Plath. A tribute to the healing and reflective power of the written word, Note to Self demonstrates that sometimes being completely honest with yourself is the most dangerous and rewarding pursuit of all.
Remembrances of the Angels: A 50th Anniversary Retrospective on the Fire No One Can Forget
by John KuensterOn a terrible day in December 1958, one of the deadliest fires in American history took the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago. The tragedy shocked the nation, tore apart a community with grief and anger, left many families physically and psychologically scarred for life, and prompted a mystery unresolved to this day. It also led to a complete overhaul of fire safety standards for American schools. The story of that fire was eloquently told ten years ago by John Kuenster and David Cowan in their best-selling book To Sleep with the Angels. Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of the fire, John Kuenster returns to talk with children, parents, firemen, reporters, clergy, nurses, policemen, school officials, and others who were in some way connected with the disaster. Together their thoughts and feelings about their experience, still vivid and tender after a half-century, make Remembrances of the Angels a moving and often tearful book.
Schooled in Murder (Tom & Scott Mysteries #12)
by Mark Richard ZubroTom Mason, Chicago area high school teacher, has been teaching at Grover Cleveland High School for a while--long enough to loathe the faculty meetings and long enough to know that as bad as they are, they aren't fatal. Usually. Having had all he can take of the endless bickering, picking and factional disputes, he sneaks out of the meeting for a short break only to find the meeting over when he returns, the usual suspects having departed to the four winds. Having decided that this was a sign of his good fortune, he decides to see if the stockroom actually has the supplies he needs. What he finds there however is a trysting couple in the dark (one married, the other not) and, once the light is turned on, a dead body in the corner. The body is that of one of his colleagues who stormed out of the faculty meeting earlier, a blackboard eraser stuffed into her lifeless mouth. Having disappeared from the meeting at roughly the same time, Tom finds himself in the unwelcome position of prime suspect and with the help of his husband, former baseball player Scott Carpenter, he'll have to figure out who really killed the other teacher before the crime is pinned on him.
Sweet Poison (Jane Lawless #16)
by Ellen HartJane Lawless is at her wit's end keeping her Minneapolis restaurants running while volunteering on her father's campaign for governor. With an eleven-point lead, the race is Ray Lawless's to lose, but all that changes when his rival posts a list of violent criminals that are back on the streets early, thanks to Ray's work during his career as a defense lawyer. Corey Hodge is one of the convicts that took Ray's advice to plead guilty for a crime that he swears he didn't commit. Bitter from time served, revenge lurks in the back of his mind. Then one of Ray's young campaign volunteers is killed, and with the murder mirroring the crime Corey was convicted of, Jane has to bring the killer to justice to save her father's political career and to keep Corey from going to prison again. The high stakes and political intrigue that fuelSweet Poison, the latest in Lambda and Minnesota Book Award--winning author Ellen Hart's absorbing Jane Lawless series, make for an intense mystery of ambition and obsession.
The Bears' House
by Marilyn SachsFirst published in 1971. Everyone in Miss Thompsons fourth grade class loves The Bears’ House—Fran Ellen Smith most of all. When Fran Ellen goes into The Bears’ House, she can forget about how awful things are at home. At the end of the term Miss Thompson is giving the house away to someone in the class. Fran Ellen knows it won’t be her. How is she going to get along without a place to hide?
The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir
by Kao Kalia YangIn search of a place to call home, thousands of Hmong families made the journey from the war-torn jungles of Laos to the overcrowded refugee camps of Thailand and onward to America. But lacking a written language of their own, the Hmong experience has been primarily recorded by others. Driven to tell her family's story after her grandmother's death, The Latehomecomer is Kao Kalia Yang's tribute to the remarkable woman whose spirit held them all together. It is also an eloquent, firsthand account of a people who have worked hard to make their voices heard. Beginning in the 1970s, as the Hmong were being massacred for their collaboration with the United States during the Vietnam War, Yang recounts the harrowing story of her family's captivity, the daring rescue undertaken by her father and uncles, and their narrow escape into Thailand where Yang was born in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp. When she was six years old, Yang's family immigrated to America, and she evocatively captures the challenges of adapting to a new place and a new language. Through her words, the dreams, wisdom, and traditions passed down from her grandmother and shared by an entire community have finally found a voice. Together with her sister, Kao Kalia Yang is the founder of a company dedicated to helping immigrants with writing, translating, and business services. A graduate of Carleton College and Columbia University, Yang has recently screened The Place Where We Were Born, a film documenting the experiences of Hmong American refugees. Visit her website at www. kaokaliayang. com.
Veronica Ganz
by Marilyn SachsFirst published in 1968. One of the most famous bullies in children's books, Veronica Ganz has never met her match. She has systematically beaten up everybody in all of the classes, and has never been challenged until ... until little Peter Wedemeyer moves into the neighborhood. Taunting, teasing and always one step ahead of her mighty fists, Veronica must find a way to teach him who is boss.
What You Should Know about Politics... But Don't: A Nonpartisan Guide to the Issues
by Jessamyn ConradThe author presents a voter's guide to the major national issues and debates being contested within mainstream two-party politics in the United States. She offers chapters on elections, the economy, foreign policy, the military, health care, energy, the environment, civil liberties, culture wars, socioeconomic policy, homeland security, education, and trade. Each chapter provides brief background before attending to current debates. Breadth of coverage is emphasized over depth and, with the exception of some footnotes, no guides to further reading are provided. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload
by Mark HurstMore than a quick fix or another "how-to" guide, the book offers an entirely new way of attaining productivity that users at any level of expertise can put into action right away. This is "bit literacy," a method for working more productively in the digital age, with less stress.
Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole
by Benjamin R. BarberHow advertising and marketing seek to keep adults thinking like children and seek to advertise to children as if they are able to make choices as independent consumers.
For The Love Of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to the Art of Letter-Writing
by Samara O'SheaThis book covers everything from love letters to apology, thank you and the standard business letters, including recommendation and resignation letters. An interesting and entertaining read.
Hook, Line, and Homicide (Paul Turner Mysteries #9)
by Mark Richard ZubroSince when are vacations ever relaxing? All Chicago police Detective Paul Turner is hoping for on his annual retreat from the city and his job is a little peace and quiet. This time he's headed to the Canadian Great North Woods for a couple of weeks with family and friends -- his two teenaged sons, his lover Ben, neighborhood pals, and his long-term police partner, Detective Buck Fenwick, along with his wife. But hopes of tranquility are soon crushed when Turner intervenes in a scuffle between a group of First Nations teens and a local bully and his cohorts. In the days following the incident, Turner and company find themselves the object of a series of attacks, break-ins, and sabotage of their equipment. Unable to get the attention of the local police, the events continue to escalate, culminating in the local bully's dead body being found floating in the water near the dock of their houseboat. Making this not only one of the least relaxing vacations ever, but one of the deadliest.
Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark (33 1/3 Ser. #40)
by Sean NelsonIt’s a sucker bet to try and argue that Blue, or For 2 the Roses, or The Hissing of Summer Lawns are better or worse albums than Court and Spark, or than one another. In a certain way, they all feel like one sustained burst of musical endeavor from an artist who had only just begun to understand what she was capable of—and before she had decided to leave that strength behind in search of new powers. Still, Court and Spark is such a clear turning point, not just in terms of its popularity, but in terms of its approach. It represents a perfect example of an artist reaching out to a wide audience without pandering to it, in what feels, more than three decades on, like an honest attempt to say as much as possible to as many people as possible.