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The Shame of Survival: Working Through a Nazi Childhood
by Ursula MahlendorfWhile we now have a great number of testimonials to the horrors of the Holocaust from survivors of that dark episode of twentieth-century history, rare are the accounts of what growing up in Nazi Germany was like for people who were reared to think of Adolf Hitler as the savior of his country, and rarer still are accounts written from a female perspective. Ursula Mahlendorf, born to a middle-class family in 1929, at the start of the Great Depression, was the daughter of a man who was a member of the SS at the time of his early death in 1935. For a long while during her childhood she was a true believer in Nazism—and a leader in the Hitler Youth herself. This is her vivid and unflinchingly honest account of her indoctrination into Nazism and of her gradual awakening to all the damage that Nazism had done to her country. It reveals why Nazism initially appealed to people from her station in life and how Nazi ideology was inculcated into young people. The book recounts the increasing hardships of life under Nazism as the war progressed and the chaos and turmoil that followed Germany’s defeat.In the first part of this absorbing narrative, we see the young Ursula as she becomes an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth and then goes on to a Nazi teacher-training school at fifteen. In the second part, which traces her growing disillusionment with and anger at the Nazi leadership, we follow her story as she flees from the Russian army’s advance in the spring of 1945, works for a time in a hospital caring for the wounded, returns to Silesia when it is under Polish administration, and finally is evacuated to the West, where she begins a new life and pursues her dream of becoming a teacher.In a moving Epilogue, Mahlendorf discloses how she learned to accept and cope emotionally with the shame that haunted her from her childhood allegiance to Nazism and the self-doubts it generated.
The Shame of Survival: Working Through a Nazi Childhood
by Ursula MahlendorfWhile we now have a great number of testimonials to the horrors of the Holocaust from survivors of that dark episode of twentieth-century history, rare are the accounts of what growing up in Nazi Germany was like for people who were reared to think of Adolf Hitler as the savior of his country, and rarer still are accounts written from a female perspective. Ursula Mahlendorf, born to a middle-class family in 1929, at the start of the Great Depression, was the daughter of a man who was a member of the SS at the time of his early death in 1935. For a long while during her childhood she was a true believer in Nazism—and a leader in the Hitler Youth herself. This is her vivid and unflinchingly honest account of her indoctrination into Nazism and of her gradual awakening to all the damage that Nazism had done to her country. It reveals why Nazism initially appealed to people from her station in life and how Nazi ideology was inculcated into young people. The book recounts the increasing hardships of life under Nazism as the war progressed and the chaos and turmoil that followed Germany’s defeat.In the first part of this absorbing narrative, we see the young Ursula as she becomes an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth and then goes on to a Nazi teacher-training school at fifteen. In the second part, which traces her growing disillusionment with and anger at the Nazi leadership, we follow her story as she flees from the Russian army’s advance in the spring of 1945, works for a time in a hospital caring for the wounded, returns to Silesia when it is under Polish administration, and finally is evacuated to the West, where she begins a new life and pursues her dream of becoming a teacher.In a moving Epilogue, Mahlendorf discloses how she learned to accept and cope emotionally with the shame that haunted her from her childhood allegiance to Nazism and the self-doubts it generated.
The Shame: A Novel
by Makenna GoodmanA “startlingly original” novel of “recursive loops through the mind of a woman who is breaking down from not making the art she absolutely must make” (Alexander Chee, Paris Review).Alma and her family live close to the land, raising chickens and sheep. While her husband works at a nearby college, she stays home with their young children, cleans, searches for secondhand goods online, and reads books by the women writers she adores. Then, one night, she abruptly leaves it all behind—speeding through the darkness, away from their Vermont homestead, bound for New York.In a series of flashbacks, Alma reveals the circumstances and choices that led to this moment: the joys and claustrophobia of their remote life; her fears and uncertainties about motherhood; the painfully awkward faculty dinners; her feelings of loneliness and failure; and her growing fascination with Celeste, a mysterious ceramicist and self-loving doppelgänger who becomes an obsession for Alma.A fable both blistering and surreal, The Shame is a propulsive, funny, and thought-provoking debut about a woman in isolation, whose mind—fueled by capitalism, motherhood, and the search for meaningful art—attempts to betray her.A Harvard Review Favorite Book of 2020, Selected by Miciah Bay Gault
The Shanghai Incident (Master Diplexito and Mr. Scant #2)
by Bryan MethodsThe pursuit of an international crime syndicate sends British vigilante butler Mr. Scant and his protégé Oliver Diplexito on a globe-hopping trip. After defeating a sinister secret society in Oliver's home country of England, the unlikely pair has arrived in Paris, searching for Mr. Scant's missing niece. What they discover are hints of a conspiracy that leads them all the way to Shanghai, China. Each clue they find only leads to more questions. That is, until Mr. Scant, Oliver, and their allies realize they're the only hope of stopping a plot against China's child emperor.
The Shaolin Way: 10 Modern Secrets of Survival from a Shaolin Kung Fu Grandmaster
by Steve DemascoDeMasco joins monks at the Shaolin Temple and learns their fighting techniques. In the process, he uncovers an ancient philosophy that helps him to learn, grow, and over come his past. In this book, he shares his philosophy and gives ten secrets for survival that will help others to live a more fulfilled life.
The Shape Game
by Anthony BrowneThe author describes how his mother's wish to spend her birthday visiting an art museum with her family changed the course of his life forever.
The Shape of Further Things
by Brian W. AldissThe sci-fi author behind Steven Spielberg&’s A.I. shares his thoughts on the present, the future, and his own work and life. &“We are infinitely rich, yet we mess about with penny-in-the-slot machines,&” writes Brian W. Aldiss in this autobiographical work written over the course of one month. From his Oxfordshire home, he ruminates on dreams, education, the role of technology in our lives, the rise and function of science fiction, and a variety of other topics. The Shape of Further Things is a window into the life and mind of a Science Fiction Grand Master. Winner of two Hugo Awards, one Nebula Award, and named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Brian W. Aldiss challenged readers&’ minds for over fifty years with literate, thought-provoking, and inventive science fiction. &“This short book flows with large ideas, a time capsule now from the grandest of writers.&” —SF Site
The Shape of My Eyes: A Memoir of Race, Faith, and Finding Myself
by Dave GibbonsA "riveting" and touching memoir about the understanding one's cultural identity from pastor, business leader, and innovator Dave Gibbons (Makoto Fujimura). A surprising diagnosis of PTSD led Dave Gibbons to look to his past for clues to explain the unexpected result. Born to an American soldier and a Korean mother in the wake of the Korean War, Dave has spent his life struggling to blend his Korean roots and his American upbringing. The family joins a conservative church that embraces a strict, rule-based faith, and they try to navigate life as one of the few mixed-raced families in their community. But when tragedy strikes, tearing the family apart, Dave is forced to face long- buried secrets that he can no longer ignore. As he explores his family&’s difficult past, he confronts his own pain and the persistent feelings of not quite fitting in either in America or his mother&’s home country. And when a DNA test ultimately reveals a truth that shatters everything he understood about his history, he is forced to confront the traumas he unknowingly carried.The Shape of My Eyes beautifully weaves historic reference points of the oppression and discrimination against Asian Americans with Dave&’s own personal story. Dave&’s wrestling with belonging in his family, in America, and in the church creates a raw, thought-provoking memoir about race, religion and finding home.
The Shape of a Hundred Hips
by Patricia CumbieOffering an insider's perspective into the world of belly dancing, this text goes beyond the glitz factor of the artform to challenge assumptions people may have about it as suggestive or exotic. The Shape of a Hundred Hips is a memoir that juxtaposes dance and sexual assault recovery that takes the reader into the living room, bedroom, and dance class. It promotes the idea that people can gain insight and take greater control of their lives through intentional movement and artistic connection.
The Shape of a Life: One Mathematician's Search for the Universe's Hidden Geometry
by Shing-Tung Yau Steve NadisA Fields medalist recounts his lifelong effort to uncover the geometric shape—the Calabi-Yau manifold—that may store the hidden dimensions of our universe.Harvard geometer Shing-Tung Yau has provided a mathematical foundation for string theory, offered new insights into black holes, and mathematically demonstrated the stability of our universe. In this autobiography, Yau reflects on his improbable journey to becoming one of the world’s most distinguished mathematicians. Beginning with an impoverished childhood in China and Hong Kong, Yau takes readers through his doctoral studies at Berkeley during the height of the Vietnam War protests, his Fields Medal–winning proof of the Calabi conjecture, his return to China, and his pioneering work in geometric analysis. This new branch of geometry, which Yau built up with his friends and colleagues, has paved the way for solutions to several important and previously intransigent problems.With complicated ideas explained for a broad audience, this book offers not only insights into the life of an eminent mathematician, but also an accessible way to understand advanced and highly abstract concepts in mathematics and theoretical physics.“The remarkable story of one of the world’s most accomplished mathematicians . . . Yau’s personal journey—from escaping China as a youngster, leading a gang outside Hong Kong, becoming captivated by mathematics, to making breakthroughs that thrust him on the world stage—inspires us all with humankind’s irrepressible spirit of discovery.” —Brian Greene, New York Times–bestselling author of The Elegant Universe“An unexpectedly intimate look into a highly accomplished man, his colleagues and friends, the development of a new field of geometric analysis, and a glimpse into a truly uncommon mind.” —The Boston Globe“Engaging, eminently readable. . . . For those with a taste for elegant and largely jargon-free explanations of mathematics, The Shape of a Life promises hours of rewarding reading.” —American Scientist
The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping
by Samantha Harvey&“Sleeplessness gets the Susan Sontag illness-as-metaphor treatment in this pensive, compact, lyrical inquiry into the author&’s nighttime demons.&” —Kirkus Reviews In 2016, Samantha Harvey began to lose sleep. She tried everything to appease her wakefulness: from medication to therapy, changes in her diet to changes in her living arrangements. Nothing seemed to help.The Shapeless Unease is Harvey&’s darkly funny and deeply intelligent anatomy of her insomnia, an immersive interior monologue of a year without one of the most basic human needs. Original and profound, and narrated with a lucid breathlessness, this is a startlingly insightful exploration of memory, writing and influence, death and the will to survive, from &“this generation&’s Virginia Woolf&” (Telegraph).&“Captures the essence of fractious emotions—anxiety, fear, grief, rage—in prose so elegant, so luminous, it practically shines from the page. Harvey is a hugely talented writer, and this is a book to relish.&” —Sarah Waters, New York Times–bestselling author&“Harvey writes with hypnotic power and poetic precision about—well, about everything: grief, pain, memory, family, the night sky, a lake at sunset, what it means to dream and what it means to suffer and survive . . . The big surprise is that this book about &‘shapeless unease&’ is, in the end, a glittering, playful and, yes, joyful celebration of that glorious gift of glorious life.&” —Daily Mail&“What a spectacularly good book. It is so controlled and yet so wild . . . easily one of the truest and best books I&’ve read about what it&’s like to be alive now, in this country.&” —Max Porter, award-winning author of Lanny
The Shard: The Vision of Irvine Sellar
by Howard Watson'We were told we would never get planning consent and we did. We were told we would never be able to fund it and we did. Then we were told we would never be able to build it and we did.' Irvine SellarIn 2000, Irvine Sellar, a former market trader famous for helping to create the look of the Swinging Sixties on Carnaby Street, stood on a rooftop in Southwark, London, and decided to build the tallest building in western Europe. He had virtually no experience, and he wanted to build at the wrong height, in the wrong place, on the wrong side of the river and at the wrong time.Twelve years later, the Shard, a 'vertical city' designed by one of the world's leading architects, Renzo Piano, changed the skyline of London. It immediately became one of the most instantly recognizable and admired contemporary buildings in the world.This is the story of one man's vision for London and his determination to redefine an ancient but maligned part of the city despite seemingly insurmountable challenges including mass opposition, a huge planning inquiry, the financial crash, and major construction issues that required radical improvisation at every turn. At every twist in the tale, Sellar refused to give up.The Shard is a tale of extreme ambition, innovation and a relentless desire to recast the skyscraper as a force for good.
The Shard: The Vision of Irvine Sellar
by Howard Watson'We were told we would never get planning consent and we did. We were told we would never be able to fund it and we did. Then we were told we would never be able to build it and we did.' Irvine SellarIn 2000, Irvine Sellar, a former market trader famous for helping to create the look of the Swinging Sixties on Carnaby Street, stood on a rooftop in Southwark, London, and decided to build the tallest building in western Europe. He had virtually no experience, and he wanted to build at the wrong height, in the wrong place, on the wrong side of the river and at the wrong time.Twelve years later, the Shard, a 'vertical city' designed by one of the world's leading architects, Renzo Piano, changed the skyline of London. It immediately became one of the most instantly recognizable and admired contemporary buildings in the world.This is the story of one man's vision for London and his determination to redefine an ancient but maligned part of the city despite seemingly insurmountable challenges including mass opposition, a huge planning inquiry, the financial crash, and major construction issues that required radical improvisation at every turn. At every twist in the tale, Sellar refused to give up.The Shard is a tale of extreme ambition, innovation and a relentless desire to recast the skyscraper as a force for good.
The Shark God: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in the South Pacific
by Charles MontgomeryWhen Charles Montgomery was ten years old, he stumbled upon the memoirs of his great-grandfather, a seafaring missionary in the South Pacific. Poring over the faint text and faded pictures, he was entranced by the world of black magic and savagery the bishop described, and couldn't help but wonder what drove the Victorian to risk his life among people who had shot, drowned, or clubbed to death so many of his predecessors.Twenty years later and a century after that journey, Montgomery sets out for the reefs and atolls of Melanesia in search of the very spirits and myths the missionaries had sought to destroy. He retraces his ancestor's path through the far-flung islands, exploring the bond between faith and magic, the eerie persistence of the spirit world, and the heavy footprints of Empire. What he discovers is a world of sorcery and shark worship, where the lines between Christian and pagan rituals are as blurred as the frontiers of fact, fantasy, and faith. After confrontations with a bizarre cast of cult leaders, militants, and mystics, the author, in his quest for ancient magic, is led to an island in crisis -- and to a new myth with the power to destroy or to save its people forever.Alternately terrifying, moving, and hilarious, with overtones of Melville and Conrad, The Shark God is Montgomery's extraordinary and piercingly intelligent account of both Melanesia's transformation and his own. This defiantly original blend of history and memoir, anthropology and travel writing, marks the debut of a singular new talent.
The Sharp Hook of Love
by Sherry JonesThe first retelling of the passionate, twelfth-century love story since the discovery of 113 lost love letters between Heloise d'Argenteuil and Pierre Abelard--the original Romeo and Juliet."While I sleep you never leave me, and after I wake I see you, as soon as I open my eyes, even before the light of day itself." --Abelard to HeloiseAmong the young women of twelfth-century Paris, Heloise d'Argenteuil stands apart. Extraordinarily educated and quick-witted, she is being groomed by her uncle to become an abbess in the service of God.But with one encounter, her destiny changes forever. Pierre Abelard, headmaster at the Notre-Dame Cloister School, is acclaimed as one of the greatest philosophers in France. His controversial reputation only adds to his allure, yet despite the legions of women swooning over his poetry and dashing looks, he is captivated by the brilliant Heloise alone. As their relationship blossoms from a meeting of the minds to a forbidden love affair, both Heloise and Abelard must choose between love, duty, and ambition.Sherry Jones weaves the lovers' own words into an evocative account of desire and sacrifice. As intimate as it is erotic, as devastating as it is beautiful, The Sharp Hook of Love is a poignant, tender tribute to one of history's greatest romances, and to love's power to transform and endure.
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry
by Kathleen FlinnA true story of food, Paris, and the fulfilment of a lifelong dreamIn 2003, Kathleen Flinn, a thirty-six-year-old American living in London, returned from holiday to find that her corporate job had been terminated. Ignoring her mother's concern that she get another job immediately or never get hired anywhere ever again, Flinn cleared out her savings and moved to Paris to pursue a dream - a diploma from the famed Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry is the touching and remarkably funny account of Flinn's transformation as she moves through the school's intense programme and falls deeply in love along the way. More than two dozen recipes are interwoven within this unique look inside Le Cordon Bleu amid battles with demanding chefs, competitive classmates and her 'wretchedly inadequate' French. Flinn offers a vibrant portrait of Paris, one in which the sights and sounds of the city's street markets and purveyors come alive in rich detail. The ultimate wish fulfilment book, her story is a true testament to pursuing a dream.
The Shattered Lens: A War Photographer's True Story of Captivity and Survival in Syria
by Jonathan Alpeyrie Stash LuczkiwDiscover a gripping and harrowing tale of war and torture from the man who lived it in this powerful memoir by the celebrated war journalist who not only documented over a dozen conflict zones worldwide but was also captured and held hostage by Syrian rebels in 2013.Capturing history was Jonathan Alpeyrie’s job but he never expected to become a news story himself. For a decade, the French‑American photojournalist had weaved in and out of over a dozen conflict zones. He photographed civilians being chased out of their homes, military trucks roving over bullet‑torn battlefields, and too many bodies to count. But on April 29, 2013, during his third assignment to Syria, Alpeyrie was betrayed by his fixer and handed over to a band of Syrian rebels. For eighty‑one days he was bound, blindfolded, and beaten. Not too far away, President Bashar al‑Assad’s forces and those in opposition continued their bitter and bloody civil war. Over the course of his captivity, Alpeyrie kept his spirits up and strived to see, without his camera lenses, the humanity in his captors. He took part in their activities, taught them how to swim, prayed with them, and tried learning their language and culture. He also discovered a dormant faith within himself, one that strengthened him throughout the ordeal. The Shattered Lens is the firsthand account of a photojournalist who has always answered the next adrenaline‑pumping assignment. Yet, during his headline‑making kidnapping, he was left to consider the value and risks of his career, ponder the violent conflicts he had seen, and put the historical events over which we have no control into perspective.
The Shawcross Letters: My Journey Into the Mind of Evil
by Brian Whitney John Paul FayOne man details his unusual friendship with the Genesee River Killer and examines what separates everyday people from serial killers.What happens when one of the evilest men in the history of America meets a man he trusts to share his darkest secrets with? How does it affect someone already on the edge of society when he is taken under the wing of a serial killer? Partly told through the letters of Arthur Shawcross, The Shawcross Letters is the tale of one of America’s most notorious serial killers and his relationship with his would-be biographer, John Paul Fay.John Paul Fay was a murderabilia dealer with a troubled past. Arthur Shawcross, also known as the Genesee River Killer, was in prison after being convicted of murdering numerous women, he officially has killed 14 people in all. The two created a business relationship, with Fay shopping the drawings of Shawcross and working with him on a book of his life. They also created a bizarre friendship in which Shawcross would let out his darkest secrets and Fay would finally meet someone that he himself felt oddly at home with. But as we all know, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.The Shawcross Letters is a unique book, it is not only literary, but it lets the reader into the mind of a serial killer in a way that few books have ever done before. The reader will be drawn into the mind of Shawcross through his letters, and will find themselves wondering, what actually separates a serial killer from someone that walks among us every day?*Warning: Contains extremely graphic material including descriptions of rape, murder and cannibalism.*Praise for The Shawcross Letters“The Shawcross Letters is a graphic and dramatic page turner that delves into the twisted mind of a serial killer. A true crime book that will horrify, enlighten, and keep you up at night.” —Joseph Souza, author of The Perfect Daughter“As frighteningly real as it gets. Not for the faint of heart.” —Patrick Quinlan, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of Smoked and The Hit “A unique and fascinating look at the Genesee River Killer, both despite and partially because the Killer himself is only secondary. Instead, it examines what the line between the average person and a psychopath entails and the psychology of the fascination with serial killers.” —Ben Arzate, Cultured Vultures
The Shaykh of Shaykhs: Mithqal al-Fayiz and Tribal Leadership in Modern Jordan
by Yoav AlonShaykh Mithqal al-Fayiz's life spanned a period of dramatic transformation in the Middle East. Born in the 1880s during a time of rapid modernization across the Ottoman Empire, Mithqal led his tribe through World War I, the development and decline of colonial rule and founding of Jordan, the establishment of the state of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict that ensued, and the rise of pan-Arabism. As Mithqal navigated regional politics over the decades, he redefined the modern role of the shaykh. In following Mithqal's remarkable life, this book explores tribal leadership in the modern Middle East more generally. The support of Mithqal's tribe to the Jordanian Hashemite regime extends back to the creation of Jordan in 1921 and has characterized its political system ever since. The long-standing alliances between tribal elites and the royal family explain, to a large extent, the extraordinary resilience of Hashemite rule in Jordan and the country's relative stability. Mithqal al-Fayiz's life and work as a shaykh offer a notable individual story, as well as a unique window into the history, society, and politics of Jordan.
The Shaytan Bride: A Bangladeshi Canadian Memoir of Desire and Faith
by Sumaiya MatinThe true story of how one Muslim woman shaped her own fate and escaped her forced wedding.Sumaiya Matin was never sure if the story of the Shaytan Bride was truth or myth. When she moved at age six from Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Thunder Bay, Ontario, recollections of this devilish bride followed her. At first, the Shaytan Bride seemed to be the monster of fairy tales, a woman possessed or seduced by a jinni. But everything changes during a family trip to Bangladesh, and in the weeks leading to Sumaiya’s own forced wedding, she discovers that the story — and the bride herself — are much closer than they seem.The Shaytan Bride is the true coming-of-age story of a girl navigating desire and faith. Through her journey into adulthood, she battles herself and her circumstances to differentiate between destiny and free will. Sumaiya Matin’s life in love and violence is a testament to one woman’s strength as she faces the complicated fallout of her decisions.A RARE MACHINES BOOK
The Sheep Stell: Memoirs of a Shepherd
by Janet White'One woman's gloriously lyrical account of life and love as a shepherdess' Mail on Sunday'Janet White's unfailingly enjoyable book . . . taps into a widespread feeling that we have become cut off from the natural world' TLS'An immensely enjoyable and heartfelt book: it makes you want to run for the hills' The LadyWith an introduction by Colin ThubronAs a child in wartime England, Janet White decided that she wanted to live somewhere wild and supremely beautiful, to inhabit and work the landscape. She imagined searching the whole world for a place, high and remote as a sheep stell, quiet as a monastery, challenging and virginal, untouched and unknown. Turning her back on convention, Janet's desire to carve out her own pastoral Eden has taken her from the Cheviot Hills to Sussex and Somerset, via the savage beauty of rural New Zealand. The Sheep Stell tells the tale of a woman before her time; a woman with incredible courage and determination, truly devoted to the land and its creatures. Evocative, unaffected and profound, it is a lost classic.'A book to share or even fight over if necessary' Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of Cows'An extraordinary memoir . . . The Sheep Stell is pure joy, one of the most moving books I've read in a long time' Philip Marsden, author of Rising Ground 'This is a strange and lovely book, and quiet as it is, it makes you gasp at the profoundly lived quality of the life it so modestly describes' Jenny Diski'A hymn to country solitude, lyrical, unpretentious and deeply felt' Colin Thubron
The Shelf Life of Ashes: A Memoir
by Hollis GiammatteoWhen Hollis Giammatteo sought a job working with the elderly, she did so with the intention of finding models of healthy aging. And she failed. In The Shelf Life of Ashes, Giammatteo chronicles her experiences with her wards, as well as the trip she embarks upon when her mother, who is convinced she is dying, entreats her to come &“home.&” Trips back, traumas triggered, identity in crisis, equanimity gained—this quasi-comic, concentrated journey engages the reader in the process of naming and facing the tasks involved in growing old, while asking a simple but weighted question: Can aging be done well?
The Shelf: From LEQ to LES: Adventures in Extreme Reading
by Phyllis Rose“Exhilarating, adventurous, original . . . The Shelf is a reminder of what reading and writing are all about.” —Azar Nafisi,#1 New York Times–bestselling author of Reading Lolita in TehranAfter a career of reading from syllabuses and writing about canonical books, Phyllis Rose decided to read like an explorer. Casting herself into the untracked wilderness of the New York Society Library's stacks, she chose a shelf of fiction almost at random and read her way through it.What results is a spirited experiment in “Off-Road or Extreme Reading.” Rose's shelf of roughly thirty books has everything she could wish for—a remarkable variety of authors and a range of literary ambitions and styles. The early-nineteenth-century Russian classic A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov is spine by spine with The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Stories of French Canadian farmers sit beside tales about aristocratic Austrians. California detective novels and a novel from an Afrikaans writer who fascinates Rose to the extent that she ends up watching a YouTube video of his funeral.A joyous testament to the thrill of engagement with books high and low, The Shelf leaves us with the feeling that there are treasures to be found on every library or bookstore shelf.“Simple but radical.” —Chicago Tribune“Rose is consistently generous, knowledgeable, and chatty, with a knack for connecting specific incidents to large social trends.” —The New Yorker“Immensely appealing . . . . teaches us much about how to approach life as it does about how to read books.” — Boston Globe“Readers of The Shelf will feel befriended.” —The New York Times“Rose rallies readers to affirm our love of literature and libraries.” —Booklist (starred review)
The Shell and the Octopus: A Memoir
by Rebecca StirlingThis is the story of Rebecca Stirling&’s childhood: a young girl raised by the sea, by men, and by literature. Circumnavigating the world on a thirty-foot sailboat, the Stirlings spend weeks at a time on the open ocean, surviving storms and visiting uncharted islands and villages. Ushered through her young life by a father who loves adventure, women, and extremes, Rebecca befriends &“working girls&” in the ports they visit (as they are often the only other females present in the bars that they end up in) and, on the boat, falls in love with her crewmate and learns to live like the men around her. But her driven nature and the role models in the books she reads make her determined to be a lady, continue her education, begin a career, live in a real home, and begin a family of her own. Once she finally gets away from the boat and her dad and sets to work upon making her own dream a reality, however, Rebecca begins to realize life is not what she thought it would be—and when her father dies in a tragic accident, she must return to her old life to sift through the mess and magic he has left behind.
The Shepherd's Life
by James RebanksA major new talent redefines the literature of rural life. Old world met new when a shepherd in the English Lake District impulsively started a Twitter account. A routine cell phone upgrade left author James Rebanks with a pretty decent camera and a pre-loaded Twitter app--the tools to share his way of life with the world. And what began as a tentative experiment became an international phenomenon.James has worked the land for years, as did his father, and his father before him. His family has lived and farmed in the Lake District of Northern England as long as there have been written records (since 1420) and possibly much longer. And while the land itself has inspired great poets and authors we have rarely heard from the people who tend it. One Twitter account has changed all that, and now James Rebanks has broken free of the 140-character limit and produced "the book I have wanted to write my whole life." The Shepherd's Life is a memoir about growing up amidst a magical, storied landscape, of coming of age in the 1980s and 1990s among hills that seem timeless, and yet suffused with history. Broken into the four seasons, the book chronicles the author's daily experiences at work with his flock and brings alive his family and their ancient way of life, which at times can seem irreconcilable with the modern world. An astonishing original work, The Shepherd's Life is an intimate look from inside a seemingly ordinary life, one that celebrates the meaning of place, the ties of family to the land around them, and the beauty of the past. It is the untold story of the Lake District, of a people who exist and endure out of sight in the midst of the most iconic literary landscape in the world.From the Hardcover edition.