The first women archaeologists were Victorian era adventurers who felt most at home when farthest from it. Canvas tents were their domains, hot Middle Eastern deserts their gardens of inquiry and labor. Thanks to them, prevailing ideas about feminine nature — soft, nurturing, submissive — were upended. Ladies of the Field tells the story of seven remarkable women, each a pioneering archaeologist, each headstrong, smart, and courageous, who burst into what was then a very young science. Amanda Adams takes us with them as they hack away at underbrush under a blazing sun, battle swarms of biting bugs, travel on camelback for weeks on end, and feel the excitement of unearthing history at an archaeological site. Adams also reveals the dreams of these extraordinary women, their love of the field, their passion for holding the past in their hands, their fascination with human origins, and their utter disregard for convention.From Publishers WeeklyAgatha Christie is perhaps the most well-known of the captivating women in this collection; her novels gained an exoticism from her postdivorce Middle Eastern archeological work. Adams (A Mermaid's Tale: A Personal Search for Love and Lore) traipses through archeology's early days to find seven significant pioneers who balanced their passions for potsherds, early culture, and humanity's origins with the more conventional Victorian and early 20th-century expectations of upper-class American and European women. Jane Dieulafoy, by contrast, who had dressed as a man to fight alongside her husband in the Franco-Prussian War, continued her cross-dressing for comfort's sake as the couple traveled in Persia. Family-financed, these adventurous women advanced archeology in sites as diverse as Mexico, Iraq, and Egypt, and Adams recounts their exploits in a cheerfully casual tone (Adams's descriptively good-humored prose ensures that each biographical chapter can be easily digested alone or taken as a whole in its chronological presentation). Full of well-researched facts, these tales of seven determined explorers will interest anyone looking for a good adventure. 60 b&w photos. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistAdams pays long-overdue tribute to a truly remarkable group of women who defied societal norms and expectations in order to pursue their passion for archaeology. These Victorian- and Edwardian-era pioneers paved the way for future generations of women to fulfill their burning ambitions and gain acceptance in a male-dominated scientific arena. The seven women profiled include, among others, Amelia Edwards, the elder stateswoman affectionately known as “the godmother of Egyptology”; Gertrude Bell, the always fashionable “Queen of the Desert”; Jane Dieulafoy, a cross-dressing genius who enjoyed a astonishingly equal partnership with her archaeologist husband, Marcel Dieulafoy; and, surprisingly enough, Dame Agatha Christie, the mystery novelist whose digs provided plenty of background for her popular novels. The individual story of each of these women is fascinating enough to merit a full-length book; together, they represent a collective overview of an intelligent and courageous band of women who broke gender barriers and left a priceless archaeological legacy. --Margaret Flanagan Views: 63
A former undercover cop now in witness protection finds himself pulled into the search for a missing woman; film rights sold to Warner Bros with Bradley Cooper attached to star and produce.After a botched undercover operation, ex-NYPD officer Marshall Grade is living in witness protection in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Marshall's instructions are to keep a low profile: the mob wants him dead, and a contract killer known as the Dallas Man has been hired to track him down. Racked with guilt over wrongs committed during his undercover work, and seeking atonement, Marshall investigates the disappearance of a local woman named Alyce Ray.Members of a drug ring seem to hold clues to Ray's whereabouts, but hunting traffickers is no quiet task. Word of Marshall's efforts spreads, and soon the worst elements of his former life, including the Dallas Man, are coming for him.Written by a rising New Zealand star who has been described as "first rate,"... Views: 63
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize For the four fraught, mysterious days of her doomed maiden voyage in 1912, the Titanic sails towards New York, glittering with luxury, freighted with millionaires and hopefuls. In her labyrinthine passageways are played out the last, secret hours of a small group of passengers, their fate sealed in prose of startling, sublime beauty, as Beryl Bainbridge's haunting masterpiece moves inexorably to its known and terrible end. Views: 63
SUMMARY: Dragons: Fearsome fire-breathing foes, scaled adversaries, legendary lizards, ancient hoarders of priceless treasures, serpentine sages with the ages' wisdom, and winged weapons of war... Wings of Fire brings you all these dragons, and more, seen clearly through the eyes of many of today's most popular authors, including Peter Beagle, Holly Black, Orson Scott Card, Charles De Lint, Diana Wynne Jones, Mercedes Lackey, Ursula K Le Guin, Dean R Koontz, George R. R. Martin, Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon, Garth Nix, and many others. Views: 63
A mugging leaves insurance investigator Jeff Resnick with a fractured skull, and graphic nightmares of murder. But when a local banker is found dead, Jeff believes the attack left him with a sixth sense, and finds himself probing into dangerous secrets that touch his own traumatic past. Originally published by Five Star/Cengage. A tightly paced story with a good kick at the end.--RT Magazine Views: 63
Many years have passed and Evalle lost contact with her family members after the powerless took over. It was surprising, but with their big machines, the sorcerers had two choices but had to pick one. Either to give in to the powerless or to run forever. When Evalle finds out about the cruel fate that dealt with her family, she sought to destroy the master minds of evil and rule again. Views: 63
"Fascinating... One of the best books ever written on the rise and fall of a great college football coach."—Allen Barra, San Francisco ChronicleThe Lion in Autumn takes readers inside Penn State's storied football program as legendary coach Joe Paterno fights to turn his struggling team into a winner once again. In more than a half century at Penn State, Paterno has won more bowl games (21) than any other coach and more games (354) than all but one, en route to two national championships and five perfect seasons. But in the new millennium hard times arrived in Happy Valley. His Nittany Lions had losing seasons in four of five years, dropping sixteen of twenty-three games in 2003 and 2004. There were boos at Beaver Stadium and increasing calls for the aging Paterno to step down.Award-winning sportswriter Frank Fitzpatrick followed JoePa through the 2004 season as the beloved coach struggled to save himself and his storied program. Fitzpatrick trailed Paterno from... Views: 63
It's not easy being a nine-year-old kid in the middle of a busy, gifted family. Especially when the list of things you're good at includes only two items—Crying" and Stopping crying"—and the list of things you're not good at seems to be getting longer every day.When Sophie's mom suggests that she's good at being kind and just needs a little more practice, Sophie feels hopeful. But being kind to a grouchy old lady or her big sister, Nora, or the weird new girl at school isn't as easy as it sounds. If only Sophie were a queen, she could practice being kind to commoners instead. It would be much more dignified and elegant. And she would finally get to wear her very own diamond tiara. . . .From the author of the popular Owen Foote books, here is a funny, observant novel about an irrepressible girl, as quirky and original in her own way as Owen is in his, in search of her own special talent. Views: 63
