From Publishers WeeklyIn Bryant's debut, middle-aged Junior Leaguer Roxanne Reeves throws herself into directing Clarksville, Miss.'s 2002 Pilgrimage Tour of Antebellum Homes and develops, with more trepidation (and community resistance), an African-American Historical Tour. Guiltily admitting to her ignorance of local black history, she asks 89-year-old Grace Clark, a retired African-American school teacher, to consult. Grace takes Roxanne to a part of town known as Catfish Alley; once the lively home of a hotel where Louis Armstrong played, the area is now dotted with warehouses like the one owned by Del Tanner, son of a notorious racist. Unbeknownst to Tanner, his warehouse once housed the first school for black children (and he's not happy when he learns about it). In particular, Grace remembers 1919, when she went to that school for the first time with her brother "Zero," and 1931, when Tanner's father lynched Zero and raped his girlfriend, Adelle, who became the first black nurse at Clarksville Hospital. Though Bryant's approach to narrative is perfunctory, her tale will appeal to readers who enjoyed The Help. The author accesses her own tumultuous Southern history to lend her enchanting tale much local color. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Review"Beautifully written and extremely poetic... full of tales of courage and endurance that may bring you to tears with their intensity, this is not a novel you'll soon forget." -RT Book Reviews, 4 and1/2 stars--TOP PICK "A tender, wise, unique story of life, love, and southern women, crafted by a skilled writer who understands the struggle to find happiness and the healing power of friendship." -Lisa Wingate, author of Beyond Summer and Larkspur Cove "In the tradition of The Help, Lynne Bryant's Catfish Alley tackles the racial divide of both 1920s and current-day Mississippi in a page- turning narrative that has, at its heart, the search for personal connections as the path to both survival and understanding." -Lalita Tademy, author of Cane River "Catfish Alley is a bittersweet love song to the union of women, and a heartfelt meditation on the old and new wounds of a South that still must tiptoe, still doesn't always know how to move forward, but is determined to try. Lynne Bryant writes honorably and earnestly about women facing each other and themselves." -Barbara O'Neal, How to Bake a Perfect Life "Catfish Alley is Lynne Bryant's first novel -- and in reading it, I feel as if I've stumbled on a rare gem! ...an extremely captivating story that unfolds and will keep you hooked until the very last page." -*Dreamworld Book Reviews"Catfish Alley brims with humor and pathos in equal parts, with realistic, three-dimensional characters sure to delight and intrigue from the start. Of all the novels set in the South, Lynne Bryant’s debut novel deserves an honored place on any bookshelf." -Rhett DeVane, Southern Literary Review* Views: 59
"I had no idea how to find my way around this medieval city. It was getting dark. I was tired. I didn't speak Arabic. I was a little frightened. But hadn't I battled scorpions in the wilds of Costa Rica and prevailed? Hadn't I survived fainting in a San José brothel? Hadn't I once arrived in Ireland with only $10 in my pocket and made it last two weeks? Surely I could handle a walk through an unfamiliar town. So I took a breath, tightened the black scarf around my hair, and headed out to take my first solitary steps through Sana'a."-- from The Woman Who Fell From The SkyIn a world fraught with suspicion between the Middle East and the West, it's hard to believe that one of the most influential newspapers in Yemen--the desperately poor, ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, which has made has made international headlines for being a terrorist breeding ground--would be handed over to an agnostic, Campari-drinking, single woman from... Views: 59
Brett Macklin faces his greatest adversary yet—a ruthless, professional hit woman, seductress and master of disguise who launches a campaign of terror and bloodshed against him, pushing the vigilante to the emotional and physical breaking point, unleashing a bloody killstorm on the L.A. streets. Views: 59
From AE Publications comes 4 tales of smut, featuring hardcore graphic sex, anal, alpha males, femdom, lesbians, threesomes, romance, bdsm, rough sex and more. Adults only. 18+ Views: 59
A book perfectly timed for the re-setting of the Maya calendar in 2012.... Part history, popular science, armchair travel, and real-life treasure hunt, this is the story of pre-Columbian jade—the precious stone revered by ancient Aztecs, Incans, and Maya—and the scientists, collectors, explorers and entrepreneurs who have been searching for the mythical jade mines for more than a century. "A compelling tale.... This well-focused and well-told account brings America's most mythologized gemstone into sharp relief." —Wall Street Journal "[T]he story of the search for the long-vanished mines of the Mayas . . . [with] engaging digressions into plate tectonics, the technology of jade carving and the brutal history of the regimes of a succession of Guatemalan generals. . . . [Prospectors] Ridinger and Johnson endured earthquakes, coups, kidnapping, even civil war. But eventually they stumbled upon huge blocks of the... Views: 59
From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Wilkinson and Pickett make an eloquent case that the income gap between a nation's richest and poorest is the most powerful indicator of a functioning and healthy society. Amid the statistics that support their argument (increasing income disparity sees corresponding spikes in homicide, obesity, drug use, mental illness, anxiety, teenage pregnancies, high school dropouts—even incidents of playground bullying), the authors take an empathetic view of our ability to see beyond self-interest. While there are shades of Darwinism in the human hunt for status, there is evidence that the human brain—with its distinctively large neocortex—evolved the way it has because we were designed to be attentive to, depend on, and be depended on by others. Wilkinson and Pickett do not advocate one way or the other to close the equality gap. Government redistribution of wealth and market forces that create wealth can be equally effective, and the authors provide examples of both. How societies achieve equality, they argue, is less important than achieving it in the first place. Felicitous prose and fascinating findings make this essential reading. (Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review“Wilkinson and Pickett make an eloquent case that the income gap between a nation's richest and poorest is the most powerful indicator of a functioning and healthy society…Felicitous prose and fascinating findings make this essential reading.”—Publishers Weekly (starred)“In this fascinating sociological study, the authors do an excellent job of presenting the research, analyzing nuances, and offering policy suggestions for creating more equal and sustainable societies. For all readers, specialized or not, with an interest in understanding the dynamics today between economic and social conditions.”—_Library Journal_“_The Spirit Level_ will change the way you think about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, especially if you live in the United States. You will reexamine what it means to be successful, how you will seek and achieve personal satisfaction, and what you owe your fellow citizen.”—Jo Perry, BookBrowse.com“It has taken two experts from the field of public health to deliver a major study of the effects of inequality on society. Though Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett are British, their research explores the United States in depth, and their work is an important contribution to the debate our country needs.”—Robert B. Reich, from the_ _foreword“Might be the most important book of the year.”—Guardian“Fascinating and deeply provoking…_The Spirit Level _does contain a powerful political message. It is impossible to read it and not to be impressed by how often greater equality appears to be the answer, whatever happens to be the question. It provides a connection between what otherwise look like disparate social problems.”—David Runciman, London Review of Books
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Handing over the reins is hard. Handing over his heart…damn near impossible. Devils on Horseback, Book 5 Gideon Blackwood is on the run-from Tanger's meddling matchmakers. With no intention of following the rest of the Devils down the aisle, he heads for the hills to reassess a life spent leading and caring for others…and runs smack into the business end of a shotgun. At the trigger: a curmudgeonly woman with a broken axle and a load of responsibility. In Chloe Ruskin's experience, men take what they want and leave a mess of trouble behind. The safety of two orphans and her granny is at stake, and the last thing she needs is Gideon's "help". This time, though, she has no choice but to allow the big cowboy to fix her wagon. As they work into the night, grudging admiration grows into attraction-and desire. Gideon finds he can't dig his boot heels in hard enough to avoid falling for the opinionated little female. When Chloe's family disappears, her suspicion threatens to destroy any spark of love before it catches fire. Gideon finds himself making promises his pride won't let him break-even if it costs him the love of the woman who owns the missing half of his soul. Warning: Beware of a strong hero with a stubborn streak a mile wide and a heroine with enough gumption to fill the entire state of Texas. Discover love, hot sex and an amazing, dangerous adventure. Views: 59
"Fascinating characters with action off-the-charts. Masterful. . .an entertaining romp." —Steve BerryWhen Terrorism Goes Viral, One Man Goes Ballistic.They can strike anytime, anywhere. A public landmark. A suburban shopping mall. And now, the human body itself. Three Middle Eastern terrorists have been injected with a biological weapon, human time bombs unleashed on American soil. They are prepared to die. To spread their disease. To annihilate millions. If America hopes to fight this enemy from within, we need a new kind of weapon. Meet Special Agent Jericho Quinn. Air Force veteran. Champion boxer. Trained assassin. Hand-picked for a new global task force that, officially, does not exist, Quinn answers only to the Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. President himself.His methods are as simple, and as brutal, as his codename.The Hammer."One of the hottest new authors in the thriller genre. . .terrifying. . .in one word: Awesome."... Views: 59
Detective Nick Belsey is broke. Now it looks like he's out of a job - something happened last night, something with the boss' wife...At dawn, on what should be the last day of Belsey's career, Hampstead CID is ghostly quiet. Belsey checks the overnight files. There's a missing-person report. But this one's different. It's on the Bishops Avenue, London's richest street. Belsey sees a scam, an escape route. But he hasn't got there first. Furiously paced and thrillingly plotted, "The Hollow Man" is a black love letter to London's shadow world. It marks the beginning of a seductive contemporary detective series, and the arrival of a future master of the genre.About the AuthorOliver Harris was born in north London in 1978. He has a first-class degree in English Literature and an MA in Shakespeare studies from UCL, and an MA in creative writing from UEA. He has worked in clothing warehouses, PR companies and as a TV and film extra. More recently he assisted with research in the Imperial War Museum archives, and continues to act as a reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement. He is pursuing a PhD in psychoanalysis and Greek myth at Birkbeck's London Consortium. Views: 59
Here's a lively, hilarious, not-so-reverent crash course through the great philosophical traditions, schools, concepts, and thinkers. It's Philosophy 101 for everyone who knows not to take all this heavy stuff too seriously. Some of the Big Ideas are Existentialism (what do Hegel and Bette Midler have in common?), Philosophy of Language (how to express what it's like being stranded on a desert island with Halle Berry), Feminist Philosophy (why, in the end, a man is always a man), and much more. Finallyùit all makes sense! Views: 59
