- Table View
- List View
Washington's Monument: And the Fascinating History of the Obelisk
by John Steele GordonThe colorful story behind one of America's greatest monuments and of the ancient obelisks of Egypt, now scattered around the world. Conceived soon after the American Revolution ended, the great monument to George Washington was not finally completed until almost a century later; the great obelisk was finished in 1884, and remains the tallest stone structure in the world at 555 feet. The story behind its construction is a largely untold and intriguing piece of American history, which acclaimed historian John Steele Gordon relates with verve, connecting it to the colorful saga of the ancient obelisks of Egypt. Nobody knows how many obelisks were crafted in ancient Egypt, or even exactly how they were created and erected since they are made out of hard granite and few known tools of the time were strong enough to work granite. Generally placed in pairs at the entrances to temples, they have in modern times been ingeniously transported around the world to Istanbul, Paris, London, New York, and many other locations. Their stories illuminate that of the Washington Monument, once again open to the public following earthquake damage, and offer a new appreciation for perhaps the most iconic memorial in the country.
Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde
by Alexis De VeauxWinner of the 2005 Lambda Literary Award, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award: the first and "essential" (Choice) biography of the author, poet, and American icon of womanhood, black arts, and survival. During her lifetime, Audre Lorde (1934-1992), author of the landmark Cancer Journals, created a mythic identity for herself that retains its vitality to this day. Drawing from the private archives of the poet's estate and numerous interviews, Alexis De Veaux demystifies Lorde's iconic status, charting her conservative childhood in Harlem; her early marriage to a white, gay man with whom she had two children; her emergence as an outspoken black feminist lesbian; and her canonization as a seminal poet of American literature.
War Reporting for Cowards
by Chris AyresFrom the book: "Captain," I called out. -How dangerous is this going to be?" "Don't worry," he said with a straight face. "People think artillery is boring. But we kill more people than anyone else." Chris Ayres never wanted to be a war correspondent. A small-town boy, a hypochondriac, and a neat freak with an anxiety disorder, he saw journalism as a ticket to lounging by swimming pools in Beverly Hills and sipping martinis at Hollywood celebrity parties. Instead, he keeps finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, whether it's a few blocks from the World Trade Center on September 11 or one cubicle over from an anthrax attack at The New York Post. Then, a misunderstanding with his boss sees him transferred from Hollywood to the Middle East, where he is embedded with the Marine Corps on the front line of the Iraq War, headed straight to Baghdad with a super-absorbent camping towel, an electric toothbrush, and only one change of underwear. What follows is the worst (not to mention the first) camping trip of his life. War Reporting for Cowards is the Iraq War through the eyes of a "war virgin." After a crash course on "surviving dangerous countries" where he nearly passes out when learning how to apply a tourniquet, and a gas mask training exercise where he is repeatedly told he is "one very dead media representative," Ayres joins the Long Distance Death Dealers, a battalion of gung-ho Marines who kill more people on the battlefield than anyone else. Donning a bright blue flak jacket and helmet, he quickly makes himself the easiest target in the entire Iraqi desert. Ayres spends the invasion digging "coffin-sized" foxholes, dodging incoming mortars, fumbling for his gas mask, and, at one point, accidentally running into the path of a dozen Republican Guard tanks amid a blinding mud storm. By "bogged down" by the growing insurgency, Ayres realizes not only what the sheer terror of combat feels like, but also the visceral thrill of having won a fight for survival. In the tradition of M*A*S*H and Catch-22, War Reporting for Cowards is by turns extraordinarily honest, heartfelt, and bitterly hilarious. It is destined to become a classic of war reportage.
Virginia Woolf: A Writer's Life
by Lyndall GordonThis "original, intuitive, and even exciting" (The New Yorker) portrait highlights the experiences that shaped Virginia Woolf's life and art-her childhood, her relationships with her father and sister, her marriage, and her descents into madness.
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.
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.
Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush
by Graeme ThompsonThe first ever in-depth study of Kate Bush's life and career, Under The Ivy features over 70 unique and revealing new interviews with those who have viewed from up close both the public artist and the private woman: old school friends, early band members, long-term studio collaborators, former managers, producers, musicians, video directors, dance instructors and record company executives.
Turnout: Making Minnesota the State that Votes
by Joan Anderson GroweHigh voter turnout in Minnesota is no accident. It arose from the traditions of this state's early Yankee and northern European immigrants, and it has been sustained by wisely chosen election policies. Many of these policies were designed and implemented during the twenty-four-year tenure of Minnesota Secretary of State Joan Anderson Growe. In inspiring and often funny prose, Growe recounts the events that framed her life and changed the state's voting practices. She grew up in a household that never missed an election. After an astounding grassroots feminist campaign, she was elected to the state legislature in 1972; two years later, she was elected secretary of state, the state';s chief elections administrator. As one of the nation's leading advocates for reliable elections and convenient voting, Growe worked with county officials to secure Election Day registration (used for the first time in 1974) as a Minnesota norm. She brought new technology into elections administration and promoted "motor voter" registration. And as an ardent feminist, she has encouraged and inspired scores of other women to run for office. Part political history and part memoir, this book is a reminder to Minnesotans to cherish and protect their tradition of clean, open elections.
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.
Transgender Journeys
by Virginia Ramey Mollenkott Vanessa SheridanTransgendered people and religious life.
Torchlight to Valhalla
by Gale WilhelmFirst published in 1938, this is one of the classics of lesbian themed literature. Morgen is pursued by a young man but finds love with a woman instead.
Toothpick House
by Lee LynchIrrepressible Annie Heaphy, a cab driver from the bars, meets Victoria Locke, a feminist Yale student, and the love story of the era--and for the ages--ensues.
To Sleep with the Angels: The Story of a Fire
by David Cowan John KuensterOn a grey winter day in December 1958, one of the deadliest fires in American history took the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns at a Catholic elementary school on Chicago’s West Side. The blaze at Our Lady of the Angels School shocked the nation, tore apart a community, left a mystery unsolved to this day, sowed popular suspicion of the church and city fathers, and prompted nationwide fire safety reform in American schools. In To Sleep with the Angels, two veteran journalists tell the moving story of the fire and its consequences. It is a tale of ordinary people caught up in a mind-numbing disaster.
Tired But Wired: How to Overcome Sleep Problems
by Nerina RamlakhanExploring the underlying causes of common sleep problems, this guide offers solutions for how they can be easily overcome, revealing the potential for reclaiming a healthy balance in life. Acknowledging the breakneck speed of daily existence and how most people retire for the evening so exhausted they are unable to fall asleep, this handbook discusses the author's "Sleep Toolkit," a set of tried-and-true methods that has been developed with thousands of former patients, from burnt-out executives to mothers struggling with the demands of children and a full-time job. Overturning the myth that the average person requires eight hours of sleep every night, this examination argues that fewer hours of quality, restorative sleep are more valuable, presenting practical and accessible steps towards gaining an inner equilibrium that is physically and emotionally revitalizing. Unveiling the key to discovering natural rhythms, this reference is guaranteed to fit any lifestyle or personality, providing all the essential habits and routines necessary for optimal sleep.
Time and Mr. Bass (Mushroom Planet #5)
by Eleanor CameronTyco Bass has been Chuck Masterson's and David Topman's closest friend ever since they built their space ship for a journey to the Mushroom Planet. Now Mr. Bass needs their help in a battle against time and the forces of evil that threaten the Mycetians, Mr. Bass himself and, finally, David. Upon their arrival in the mountains of Wales for the Mycetian League meeting, Mr. Bass and the boys discover that the Necklace of Ta has been stolen. Also missing is the ancient Thirteenth Scroll, believed to relate the history of the Mycetians. These must be found, for without the necklace, whose strange stones are carved in an unknown language, Mr. Bass cannot continue his efforts to translate the Scroll. And without the secret of the Scroll, the evil power that has hounded the Mycetians for centuries cannot be defeated. Chuck and David use their wits as never before in a search which takes them from a joyous celebration to a terrifying test of endurance, all the while deepening their friendship with Mr. Bass.
Three Knocks on the Wall
by Evelyn Sibley LampmanMarty had just finished burying a dead robin in her pet cemetery near the tall wooden wall that surrounded the Hutchinson yard and house next door. Suddenly she heard it--knock, knock, knock --three knocks coming from the other side of the wall. For a moment Marty was too petrified to move. Knocking on a wall was something a crazy person might do and some people said old Mrs. Hutchinson was crazy, living alone with an unmarried daughter and seeing no one. Then the knocks came again. Marty soon learned the identity of the person on the other side of the ten-foot wall, and why she stayed there. What was harder to discover was a way to help her new invisible friend. For a long time, all Marty could do was to communicate through the wall and be patient. It was not until a deadly flu epidemic gripped the town and Marty could not come to the wall that her friend finally dared to step outside it. Evoking small town life in Oregon during World War I with vividness and a clear sense of time and character, Evelyn Sibley Lampman has created a very human and dramatic story that will carry its readers along to a most satisfying conclusion.
This Is What Lesbian Looks Like: Dyke Activists Take On The 21st Century
by Kris KleindienstEssays.
This Is Not Florida: How Al Franken Won the Minnesota Senate Recount
by Jay WeinerOn July 7, 2009, Al Franken was sworn in as Minnesota's junior U.S. senator, eight months after Election Night. In the chill of November 2008, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman led by a slim 215 votes, a margin that triggered an automatic statewide recount of more than 2.9 million ballots. Minnesota's ensuing recount, and the contentious legal and public relations battle that would play out between the Franken and Coleman lawyers and staff, simultaneously fascinated and frustrated Minnesotans and the nation-all while a filibuster-proof Senate hung in the balance. This Is Not Florida is the behind-the-scenes saga of the largest, longest, and most expensive election recount in American history. Reporter Jay Weiner covered the entire recount process-for which he was honored with Minnesota's most prestigious journalism award-following every bizarre twist and turn and its many colorful personalities. Based on daily reporting as well as interviews with more than forty campaign staffers and other participants in the recount, This Is Not Florida dives into the motivations of key players in the drama, including the exploits of Franken's lead attorney Marc Elias, some of the mistakes made by Coleman advisers, and how the Franken team's devotion to data collection helped Franken win the recount by a mere 312 votes. In a fascinating, blow-by-blow account of the historic recount that captivated people nationwide, Jay Weiner gets inside campaign war rooms and judges' chambers and takes the reader from the uncertainties of Election Night 2008, through the controversial State Canvassing Board and a grueling eight-week trial, to an appeal to Minnesota's Supreme Court, and finally to Al Franken's long-awaited and emotional swearing-in. This Is Not Florida presents an important and unforgettable moment in political history that proved that it's never really over until it's actually over.