![]() ![]() We ended up taking eight full weeks to read “The Witching Hour” to give those who chose to trek on ample time to finish it. Would people actually read it? And, better yet, would I actually get through it all so I could moderate a discussion? I was hopeful – Anne Rice is a classic contemporary author for a reason, right? – but all spring I was also holding my breath a bit, hoping this pick wouldn’t alienate all my book club members.Īnd some did decide to bow out of our spring book pick, which I totally get. ![]() When it came time to choose which Anne Rice book to put up for a vote, I decided “ The Witching Hour” sounded the most exciting.Īnd then I realized it was well over 1,000 pages – the longest book pick to date in the club and much, much longer than what I normally pick up. Our spring theme was a novel set in New Orleans, so Anne Rice seemed like a natural fit. See the end of this post and/or my disclaimer for more. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Don't waste your time on this one, I felt like ripping my hair out on several occasions. Absolutely no surprises along the way either, it is blatantly obvious who Lucy will end up with from the moment he's introduced, and every other plot point is predictable and cloying. ![]() I really have trouble believing this is written by the same author as Last Chance Saloon and Sushi for Beginners, as this book is just riddled with horrible characters, tedious dialogue and a plot that is shallow at best. The protagonist, Lucy, is whiny, obnoxious and very faux-modest, and the dialogue is often either stilted or irritating ( take for example the constant need to address a person by name at the beginning or end of EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE.) The narrator definitely didn't help, as she had none of the charm usually possessed by Marian Keyes' narrators, and managed to make everyone sound even more entitled and awful. However, this book didn't contain a single likeable person. I usually love Marian Keyes, I find her tone of writing very funny and down to earth, and her characters are always relatable and human. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It’s a program for Indigenous liberation, life, and land-an affirmation that colonialism and capitalism must be overturned for this planet to be habitable for human and other-than-human relatives to live dignified lives. The Red Deal is a call for action beyond the scope of the US colonial state. Politicians may or may not follow-it is up to them-but we will design, build, and lead this movement with or without them. ![]() Only mass movements can do what the moment demands. It is time to reclaim the life and destiny that has been stolen from us and rise up together to confront this challenge and build a world where all life can thrive. We have barely a decade to turn back the tide of climate disaster. We-Indigenous, Black and people of color, women and trans folks, migrants, and working people-did not create this disaster, but we have inherited it. One-part visionary platform, one-part practical toolkit, the Red Deal is a platform that encompasses everyone, including non-Indigenous comrades and relatives who live on Indigenous land. Now, in response to popular demand, the Red Nation expands their original statement filling in the histories and ideas that formed it and forwarding an even more powerful case for the actions it demands. When the Red Nation released their call for a Red Deal, it generated coverage in places from Teen Vogue to Jacobin to the New Republic, was endorsed by the DSA, and has galvanized organizing and action. ![]() ![]() ![]() Period photographs, artwork, diagrams, and maps appear throughout to illustrate points and help clarify events. Readers with even a passing knowledge of the Titanic will find themselves drawn into the drama and heartbroken at the inevitable end. ![]() Children, stewards, officers, and passengers from all three class designations are included, and their stories combine to recount the events of that fateful April night. The story itself hasn't changed, but through Hopkinson's work, young people get to know and care deeply about the people involved. This one weaves together the memories and writing of the survivors, and what makes it stand out is the intimacy readers feel for the crew and passengers. Starred Review */ As the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic approaches, there is a whole new output of books reexamining and updating the information about the tragedy. ![]() ![]() It’s got enough crafting, fighting and loot to make all the gamers want more, and the stats read out aren’t as heavy as some other litrpg books. Once the story really does start to move forwards, you get the experience of Luke’s gaming and background as the world of Ascend Online develops, bits of history and information are peppered in just the right places so not to feel like too much of an info dump and you are as excited as the players for the challenges they’re about to face. I enjoyed all that each character brought to the story, and more from the NPC’s. ![]() The interaction with his friends at the start and then into the game is. Where the world that Marcus actually lives in, isn’t very well defined or spoken about much. ![]() But it was well worth it.įor me, the start of anything takes a while, and I do admit this was a little slower for me than usual, but it’s more than worth it. ![]() It’s a long listen, so it did take me a while. So, when the audio was put up for pre-order with Luke Daniels as the narrator I nabbed it quick. I picked this up as Luke’s highly recommended in the litrpg Facebook groups. ![]() ![]() ![]() Nature is where men are without women: men fish men hunt men find redemption in nature. ![]() The American West is given a symbolic nod with the naming of the "Hotel Montana" in The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls.According to Stoltzfus and Fiedler, Hemingway's nature is a place for rebirth, for therapy, and the hunter or fisherman has a moment of transcendence when the prey is killed. Critic Leslie Fiedler sees the theme he defines as "The Sacred Land"-the American West-extended in Hemingway's work to include mountains in Spain, Switzerland and Africa, and to the streams of Michigan. These are recurring themes of American literature, which are clearly evident in Hemingway's work. The popularity of Hemingway's work to a great extent is based on the themes, which according to scholar Frederic Svoboda are love, war, wilderness and loss, all of which are strongly evident in the body of work. ![]() ![]() But, until now, it has remained relatively unknown to English readers. Italo Calvino called the novel “a classic that has never ceased shaping reality in Italy” while Umberto Eco praised its author as a “most subtle critic and analyst of languages.” The Betrothed has been celebrated by Primo Levi and Natalia Ginzburg, and is one of Pope Francis’s favorite books. Giuseppe Verdi composed his majestic Requiem Mass in honor of Manzoni. Published in its final form in 1842, The Betrothed has inspired generations of Italian readers and writers. ![]() ![]() The Betrothed is a cornerstone of Italian culture, language, and literature. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker ![]() “An exemplary historical novel” ( The New Yorker) from the father of modern Italian literature, The Betrothed receives its first new English-language translation in fifty years, hailed as “a landmark literary occasion” by Jhumpa Lahiri. ![]() “The first English translation in more than fifty years of Alessandro Manzoni’s masterpiece, a work of foundational Italian literature on par with the Divine Comedy and the Decameron.”- The Wall Street Journal ![]() ![]() ![]() 'This book is exquisite, and exactly what YA needs. 'I felt like I was living this book' - Zoella But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realizes, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own. As Suzanne's past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. ![]() Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie – confident, funny and interesting. Now with a bold cover look.īest friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Beautiful Broken Things is a moving story of friendship from debut author Sara Barnard, shortlisted for the YA Book Prize and selected as part of Zoella's Book Club. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() “The Yellow Wallpaper” is Gilman’s attempt to show the ill effects of cultural restrictions and forced inactivity on women’s lives during the late Victorian age. ![]() Two generations later Gilman proved equally outspoken. Her great-aunts Catherine Beecher and the novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe both championed social causes of their era. Gilman, however, was born into a family of outspoken women. Living during the restrictive Victorian Age and the “golden age of hysteria,” Gilman experienced firsthand the frustrating limitations placed on women in her era, many of whom were victimized by society’s complete misunderstanding of postpartum depression and other psychological maladies. A short story set in New England in the 1880s published in 1892.Ī woman suffering from depression is subjected to a “Rest Cure.” Relegated to an isolated country house and forbidden to work or exercise, she goes insane.Įvents in History at the Time of the Short StoryĪn autobiographical tale, “The Yellow Wallpaper” details Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s personal battle with depression and the disastrous “Rest Cure” treatment she received. ![]() ![]() ![]() Surprising, passionate, gossipy, revelatory, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark reveals a great deal that even experienced auction purchasers do not know. ![]() Drawing on interviews with past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. ![]() This book is the first to look at the economics and the marketing strategies that enable the modern art market to generate such astronomical prices. Why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? Don Thompson explores the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored. Intriguing and entertaining, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark is a "Freakonomics" approach to the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world. The 12 Million Stuffed Shark explores money, lust, and the self-aggrandizement of possession in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work of art valuable while others are ignored. ' Why would a smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock's drip painting "No. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, ISBN 9780230620599, colour photo pages in center, paperback The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art ![]() |