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Book Mine: Ramayana For Young Readers
by Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury Dutta DuttaWHEN ANYONE WISHES TO SPEAK OF A GREAT RULER, THEY SAY, `A KING LIKE RAMA? All is well in the prosperous and orderly kingdom of Ayodhya until the greedy Queen Kaikeyi tricks King Dashratha into sending his beloved eldest son and heir apparent, Rama, into exile for fourteen years. The noble prince, accompanied by his brother Lakshmana and wife Sita, leaves for the forests. When Sita is abducted by Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka, it triggers off a series of events starting with the search for her and culminating in the cataclysmic battle between Rama and Ravana. What unfolds in between is a remarkable tale of divine reincarnations, fierce demons, powerful kings, magical weapons and amazing creatures ? all woven into the extraordinary and keystone Indian epic of good and evil, love and enmity, boons and curses, hardship and destiny. These retelling of the Ramayana, written especially for young readers by the inimitable Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, and checked and proofed originally by none other than Rabindranath Tagore, has been translated for the first time into English by leading children?s writer and translator, Swapna Dutta.
Book Nooks: Inspired Ideas for Cozy Reading Corners and Stylish Book Displays
by Vanessa Dina Claire GilhulyHome is where the books are. This inspiring home decor book is brimming with photos of cozy places to read and creative ways to display books at home.For stylish bookworms and bookish stylists, this covetable home décor book merges the literary appeal of Jane Mount’s bestselling Bibliophile with the aspirational allure of Emily Henderson’s bestselling Styled. Discover beautiful bookshelves adorned with lovely objets d’art, handsome home libraries with snug armchairs, reading areas for kids that ignite the imagination, and cookbook corners in quaint kitchens—and learn to replicate these in your own space.From bedside tables to bar carts, leather-bound collections to color-coded shelves, here are book nooks and styling techniques for every room and aesthetic. Reading lists from Gillian Flynn, Jasmine Guillory, Alex Elle, Joanna Goddard, Nik Sharma, and more offer plenty of recommendations for stocking your shelves (and your TBR list).In a stunning package with a tasteful hint of gold foil on the case, this sumptuous book is perfect for browsing, displaying on a coffee table, or gifting to the reader, book lover, designer, or creative in your life. Filled with clever design ideas and dreamy spaces, Book Nooks is an irresistible invitation to curl up with a book, whether this one or another.BOOK NOOKS FOR EVERYONE: Organized by type of book nook—from cookbook nooks to kid nooks, gardener nooks to neutral nooks—and featuring a range of home aesthetics, including colorful, contemporary, cozy, and whimsical, there is plenty of inspiration here for all readers.BEAUTIFUL TO GIFT AND DISPLAY: Book Nooks makes a lovely gift for design enthusiasts and book lovers. Not only is it filled with original ideas for styling your book collection, but it acts as an eye-catching décor object itself. Display it on a coffee table alongside a candle, decorative tray, or book-themed vase.INSPIRING AND EASY-TO-ACHIEVE: The styling ideas included in these pages are original yet easy to recreate at home: Fill a nonworking fireplace with paperbacks; stack oversized books to create a stool or end table; turn your book pages out for a neutral shelf; frame vintage cookbook pages for one-of-a-kind artwork. Discover tons of ideas that can be incorporated into your home, no matter the aesthetic or budget.READING LISTS FROM LUMINOUS VOICES: In addition to beautiful interior shots, you’ll find book lists, including Gillian Flynn’s favorite mysteries, Alex Elle’s most trusted books on healing and self love, Jasmine Guillory’s must-have romance novels, Nik Sharma’s most used cookbooks, PEN America’s recommended banned books, and more. Fill your shelves with their book recs and discover a new favorite!Perfect for:Reading enthusiasts, book lovers, and book club membersDesign aficionados, stylists, people interested in home decorFollowers of BookTok and people who post "shelfies"Fans of Bibliophile, Bibliostyle, Styled, or Art of the Bar CartShoppers looking for a birthday, housewarming, or anytime gift for a bookish friendReaders of Cup of Jo, Book Riot, Downtime on Substack, Design*Sponge, or Dwell
Book Of Fire (Dragon Quartet #3)
by Marjorie B. KelloggThe dragons Earth, Water, Fire and Air were raised from the elemental energies at time's beginning to create the World. When they finished their task, they were supposed to sleep until World's End. But long before that time the dragons began to wake....Now Earth and Water and their human guides, Erde and N'Doch, have been drawn through time to a devastated future America where the dragon guide Paia has been transformed into his high priestess. Yet it is not Fire who has summoned his brother and sister. The call has come from another, and the reason is all too clear. Fire has chosen to become a god instead of a guardian. And the dragon Air is nowhere to be found. Can Earth and Water, Erde and N'Doch force Fire and Paia back to the path they are fate to follow? Can they find and rescue Air? Or will Fire's rebellion doom both the dragons and the world they guard?
Book Of The Dead (Kay Scarpetta #15)
by Patricia CornwellThe fifteenth book in the Kay Scarpetta series, from No. 1 bestselling author Patricia Cornwell. 'America's most chilling writer of crime fiction' The TimesThe 'book of the dead' is the morgue log, the ledger in which all cases are entered by hand. For Kay Scarpetta, however, it is about to have a new meaning. Fresh from her bruising battle with a psychopath in Florida, Scarpetta decides it's time for a change of pace. Moving to the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, she opens a unique private forensic pathology practice, one in which she and her colleagues offer expert crime scene investigation and autopsies to communities lacking local access to competent death investigation and modern technology. It seems like an ideal situation, until the murders and other violent deaths begin. A woman is ritualistically murdered in her multi-million-dollar beach home. The body of an abused young boy is found dumped in a desolate marsh. A sixteen-year-old tennis star is found nude and mutilated near Piazza Navona in Rome.Scarpetta has dealt with many brutal and unusual crimes before, but never a string of them as baffling, or as terrifying, as the ones before her now. Before she is through, that book of the dead will contain many names - and the pen may be poised to write her own.Praise for the groundbreaking series: 'One of the best crime writers writing today' Guardian 'Devilishly clever' Sunday Times 'The top gun in this field' Daily Telegraph 'Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns' Mirror 'The Agatha Christie of the DNA age' Express
Book Of The Dead (Kay Scarpetta)
by Patricia CornwellThe fifteenth book in the Kay Scarpetta series, from No. 1 bestselling author Patricia Cornwell. 'America's most chilling writer of crime fiction' The TimesThe 'book of the dead' is the morgue log, the ledger in which all cases are entered by hand. For Kay Scarpetta, however, it is about to have a new meaning. Fresh from her bruising battle with a psychopath in Florida, Scarpetta decides it's time for a change of pace. Moving to the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, she opens a unique private forensic pathology practice, one in which she and her colleagues offer expert crime scene investigation and autopsies to communities lacking local access to competent death investigation and modern technology. It seems like an ideal situation, until the murders and other violent deaths begin. A woman is ritualistically murdered in her multi-million-dollar beach home. The body of an abused young boy is found dumped in a desolate marsh. A sixteen-year-old tennis star is found nude and mutilated near Piazza Navona in Rome.Scarpetta has dealt with many brutal and unusual crimes before, but never a string of them as baffling, or as terrifying, as the ones before her now. Before she is through, that book of the dead will contain many names - and the pen may be poised to write her own.Praise for the groundbreaking series: 'One of the best crime writers writing today' Guardian 'Devilishly clever' Sunday Times 'The top gun in this field' Daily Telegraph 'Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns' Mirror 'The Agatha Christie of the DNA age' Express
Book One of the Travelers
by Carla Jablonski D. J. MacHaleBefore Bobby Pendragon. Before Saint Dane. Before the war . . . Every territory of Halla has a Traveler. They lived for years-some even for decades-before learning of their true destiny. What was life like for Bobby Pendragon's fellow Travelers before they joined him in the fight to save every time and place that has ever existed? What led up to their becoming the guardians of Halla? The answers are here! In this first of three thrilling Pendragon prequels, read about Vo Spader's death-defying adventures in the underwater world of Cloral, Gunny Van Dyke's race to find a murderer in 1930's Manhattan on First Earth, and the tough challenges Kasha faced on Eelong well before Bobby Pendragon arrived . . .
Book One: Moon (The Dragon Prince #1)
by Aaron Ehasz Melanie McGanney EhaszWAR IS COMING . . . Four full moons past, humans crossed into the magical lands of Xadia and committed an unspeakable crime: They destroyed the only egg of the Dragon King and Queen. Now a young Moonshadow elf assassin has been sent on her first mission; she will make the humans pay for their heinous act. But before she can complete her task, she and two human princes make an astonishing discovery . . . a discovery that could change everything. And so the three reluctant allies set off in a desperate attempt to stop the coming war. Their journey won't be easy, but the trio soon learns that the most serious threat to their quest can't be fought with magic or physical strength. Can these young heroes overcome the longstanding hatred between humans and elves, and restore peace to their world? <P><P>Written by Aaron Ehasz (co-creator of The Dragon Prince and head writer of Avatar: The Last Airbender) and Melanie McGanney Ehasz, this first canon novel based on the Netflix original series finally gives fans the full story.
Book One: The Legend of Ilia
by Nicole Ashley SegdaWho am I? That is the question always on the minds of the seven orphans who were raised together in the Sylvan cottage. War had separated them from their parents and as it once again threatens to consume all of Ilia they must choose the path they will walk. They all must fight in order to survive but only one road leads to a heroic destiny filled with grace, hope, truth and love. The other ways are one in the same for they are replete with empty promises and enticing lies that will only lead to desolation and despair. Only when they embrace the truth can they find the answer to the question of who they really are. Only when they embrace the truth can they find redemption. This is the story of where that journey begins.
Book People: A sweet and spicy, enemies-to-lovers bookshop rom-com!
by Jackie Ashenden💘You have to break some rules to write your own story . . .💘📚Rival bookshop owners📚Enemies-to-lovers📚Small-town setting📚Grumpy-sunshine📚Forced proximityDon't miss this utterly charming, spicy, enemies-to-lovers rom-com from Jackie Ashenden!_______________________________________When Kate, a fledgling bookseller, decides to open a bookshop that celebrates the kinds of genre fiction she loves to read (popular and fun!), she's surprised to find that not everyone in the town is as excited as she is. Least excited of all? Sebastian, owner of the highbrow bookshop across the road, who has rules for everything: the kind of books he sells, the clothes he wears, and the people he dates (no-one local). When the pair find themselves working together on the town's literary festival, their growing attraction becomes harder and harder to ignore. Professional rivalry aside, just one steamy kiss can't mean anything, can it?________________________________________'Book People is a love letter to people who love books' HAZEL BECK'Full of wit, humour, banter, and scorching tension' DANICA NAVA'Filled with witty banter, loveable characters and bookish fun' RACHAEL JOHNS'A wonderfully cosy and deliciously spicy love story' JENNIFER HENNESSY'Filled with wit, humour and a hero who is hot enough to set the pages on fire' MAISEY YATESEarly readers can't get enough of Book People!'With its perfect blend of humor, romance, and a touch of spice, BookPeople is an utterly charming read for fans of enemies-to-lovers romances and bookish rom-coms . . . Ashenden has crafted a delightful romance that reminds readers of the magic of books and the unpredictability of love, making it a must-read for romantics and book lovers alike''This was sweet and kind and a real homage to people's love of literature and bookshops in general''Book People is for the book readers who want to escape from reality. A love letter from Jackie Ashenden [and] one of my top reads of this month'
Book People: A sweet and spicy, enemies-to-lovers bookshop rom-com!
by Jackie Ashenden💘You have to break some rules to write your own story . . .💘📚Rival bookshop owners📚Enemies-to-lovers📚Small-town setting📚Grumpy-sunshine📚Forced proximityDon't miss this utterly charming, spicy, enemies-to-lovers rom-com from Jackie Ashenden!_______________________________________When Kate, a fledgling bookseller, decides to open a bookshop that celebrates the kinds of genre fiction she loves to read (popular and fun!), she's surprised to find that not everyone in the town is as excited as she is. Least excited of all? Sebastian, owner of the highbrow bookshop across the road, who has rules for everything: the kind of books he sells, the clothes he wears, and the people he dates (no-one local). When the pair find themselves working together on the town's literary festival, their growing attraction becomes harder and harder to ignore. Professional rivalry aside, just one steamy kiss can't mean anything, can it?________________________________________'Book People is a love letter to people who love books' HAZEL BECK'Full of wit, humour, banter, and scorching tension' DANICA NAVA'Filled with witty banter, loveable characters and bookish fun' RACHAEL JOHNS'A wonderfully cosy and deliciously spicy love story' JENNIFER HENNESSY'Filled with wit, humour and a hero who is hot enough to set the pages on fire' MAISEY YATESEarly readers can't get enough of Book People!'With its perfect blend of humor, romance, and a touch of spice, BookPeople is an utterly charming read for fans of enemies-to-lovers romances and bookish rom-coms . . . Ashenden has crafted a delightful romance that reminds readers of the magic of books and the unpredictability of love, making it a must-read for romantics and book lovers alike''This was sweet and kind and a real homage to people's love of literature and bookshops in general''Book People is for the book readers who want to escape from reality. A love letter from Jackie Ashenden [and] one of my top reads of this month'
Book Reports: A Music Critic on His First Love, Which Was Reading
by Robert ChristgauIn this generous collection of book reviews and literary essays, legendary Village Voice rock critic Robert Christgau showcases the passion that made him a critic—his love for the written word. Many selections address music, from blackface minstrelsy to punk and hip-hop, artists from Lead Belly to Patti Smith, and fellow critics from Ellen Willis and Lester Bangs to Nelson George and Jessica Hopper. But Book Reports also teases out the popular in the Bible and 1984 as well as pornography and science fiction, and analyzes at length the cultural theory of Raymond Williams, the detective novels of Walter Mosley, the history of bohemia, and the 2008 financial crisis. It establishes Christgau as not just the Dean of American Rock Critics, but one of America's most insightful cultural critics as well.
Book Scavenger
by Jennifer Chambliss BertmanFor twelve-year-old Emily, the best thing about moving to San Francisco is that it's the home city of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger (a game where books are hidden in cities all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles). Upon her arrival, however, Emily learns that Griswold has been attacked and is now in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch. Then Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold himself, and might contain the only copy of his mysterious new game. Racing against time, Emily and James rush from clue to clue, desperate to figure out the secret at the heart of Griswold's new game--before those who attacked Griswold come after them too.
Book Seventeen: Poems
by Greg DelantyPurporting to be a "lost" seventeenth book of the 16-volume Anthologia Graeca, Book Seventeen uses the themes and images of ancient mythology to conjure a new way of looking at our modern world. Gods of all types line the pages of this collection, from those deities that only operate in our personal spaces-the poet's companion, the demigod Solitude, as well as the elusive god of Complicity-to more familiar divinities in unfamiliar roles, such as Helios shopping in an outdoor market in Paris, or an aging Aphrodite in a short skirt chatting with visitors to an unfamiliar city. Pithy and humorous, reverential and impudent, Greg Delanty's poems showcase the author's keen eye for the mythologies on which we depend to make sense of our messy, bewildering lives.
Book Three of the Travelers
by D. J. MacHale Walter SorrellsBefore Bobby Pendragon. Before Saint Dane. Before the war . . . Every territory of Halla has a Traveler. They lived for years-some even for decades-before learning of their true destiny. What was life like for Bobby Pendragon's fellow Travelers before they joined him in the fight to save every time and place that has ever existed? What led up to their becoming the guardians of Halla? The answers are here! In this first of three thrilling Pendragon prequels, read about Vo Spader's death-defying adventures in the underwater world of Cloral, Gunny Van Dyke's race to find a murderer in 1930's Manhattan on First Earth, and the tough challenges Kasha faced on Eelong well before Bobby Pendragon arrived . . .
Book Traces: Nineteenth-Century Readers and the Future of the Library (Material Texts)
by Andrew M. StaufferIn most college and university libraries, materials published before 1800 have been moved into special collections, while the post-1923 books remain in general circulation. But books published between these dates are vulnerable to deaccessioning, as libraries increasingly reconfigure access to public-domain texts via digital repositories such as Google Books. Even libraries with strong commitments to their print collections are clearing out the duplicates, assuming that circulating copies of any given nineteenth-century edition are essentially identical to one another. When you look closely, however, you see that they are not.Many nineteenth-century books were donated by alumni or their families decades ago, and many of them bear traces left behind by the people who first owned and used them. In Book Traces, Andrew M. Stauffer adopts what he calls "guided serendipity" as a tactic in pursuit of two goals: first, to read nineteenth-century poetry through the clues and objects earlier readers left in their books and, second, to defend the value of keeping the physical volumes on the shelves. Finding in such books of poetry the inscriptions, annotations, and insertions made by their original owners, and using them as exemplary case studies, Stauffer shows how the physical, historical book enables a modern reader to encounter poetry through the eyes of someone for whom it was personal.
Book Two of the Travelers (Pendragon Before the War)
by D. J. MacHaleBefore Bobby Pendragon. Before Saint Dane. Before the war . . . Every territory of Halla has a Traveler. They lived for years some even for decades before learning of their true destiny. What was life like for Bobby Pendragon's fellow Travelers before they joined him in the fight to save every time and place that has ever existed? What led up to their becoming the guardians of Halla? The answers are here! In this first of three thrilling Pendragon prequels, read about Vo Spader's death-defying adventures in the underwater world of Cloral, Gunny Van Dyke's race to find a murderer in 1930's Manhattan on First Earth, and the tough challenges Kasha faced on Eelong well before Bobby Pendragon arrived . . .
Book Two of the Travelers (Pendragon: Before the War #2)
by Walter SorrellsBefore Bobby Pendragon. Before Saint Dane. Before the war . . . Every territory of Halla has a Traveler. They lived for years-some even for decades-before learning of their true destiny. What was life like for Bobby Pendragon's fellow Travelers before they joined him in the fight to save every time and place that has ever existed? What led up to their becoming the guardians of Halla? The answers are here! In this first of three thrilling Pendragon prequels, read about Vo Spader's death-defying adventures in the underwater world of Cloral, Gunny Van Dyke's race to find a murderer in 1930's Manhattan on First Earth, and the tough challenges Kasha faced on Eelong well before Bobby Pendragon arrived . . .
Book Two: Sky (The Dragon Prince #2)
by Aaron Ehasz Melanie McGanney EhaszThis second canon novel expands on the events of Season 2 of the epic, Emmy ® Award-winning Netflix fantasy TV show, The Dragon Prince.XADIA IS CALLING... The Dragon Prince has hatched! Now the princes of Katolis, Callum and Ezran, along with Moonshadow elf Rayla, have one goal: deliver the defenseless dragon to his mother in the magical land of Xadia. Things get complicated when the High Mage’s children, Claudia and Soren, track down the questing princes. Should Callum and Ezran trust two humans they’ve known forever, or the elf they’ve just met?In Katolis, High Mage Lord Viren schemes to gain the support of the other human kingdoms, and that of a much more mysterious ally...The tensions of war between Xadia and the Human Kingdoms are ready to explode. As fiery battles erupt and hidden truths come to light, friendships will be tested, plans will be set into motion, and everyone will face their most difficult choices yet.Written by Aaron Ehasz (co-creator of The Dragon Prince and head writer of Avatar: The Last Airbender) and Melanie McGanney Ehasz, this second canon novel based on the Netflix original series finally gives fans the full story.
Book Uncle And Me
by Uma Krishnaswami Julianna SwaneyEvery day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from Book Uncle, a retired teacher who has set up a free lending library next to her apartment building. But when the mayor tries to shut down the rickety bookstand, Yasmin has to take her nose out of her book and do something. <p><p> But what can she do? The local elections are coming up but she's just a kid. She can't even vote! <p> Still, Yasmin has friends -- her best friend, Reeni, and Anil, who even has a black belt in karate. And she has grownup family and neighbors who, no matter how preoccupied they are, care about what goes on in their community. <p> Then Yasmin remembers a story that Book Uncle selected for her. It's an old folktale about a flock of doves trapped in a hunter's net. The birds realize that if they all flap their wings at the same time, they can lift the net and fly to safety, where they seek the help of a friendly mole who chews a hole in the net and sets them free. <p> And so the children get to work, launching a campaign to make sure the voices of the community are heard. <p> An energetic, funny and quirky story that explores the themes of community activism, friendship, and the love of books.
Book Uncle and Me
by Uma KrishnaswamiWinner of the International Literacy Association Social Justice Literature AwardAn award-winning middle-grade novel about the power of grassroots activism and how kids can make a difference.Every day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from Book Uncle, a retired teacher who has set up a free lending library on the street corner. But when the mayor tries to shut down the rickety bookstand, Yasmin has to take her nose out of her book and do something.What can she do? The local elections are coming up, but she’s just a kid. She can’t even vote!Still, Yasmin has friends — her best friend, Reeni, and Anil, who even has a blue belt in karate. And she has family and neighbors. What’s more, she has an idea that came right out of the last book she borrowed from Book Uncle.So Yasmin and her friends get to work. Ideas grow like cracks in the sidewalk, and soon the whole effort is breezing along nicely... Or is it spinning right out of control?An energetic, funny and quirky story about community activism, friendship, and the love of books.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
Book Was There: Reading in Electronic Times
by Andrew PiperAndrew Piper grew up liking books and loving computers. While occasionally burying his nose in books, he was going to computer camp, programming his Radio Shack TRS-80, and playing Pong. His eventual love of reading made him a historian of the book and a connoisseur of print, but as a card-carrying member of the first digital generation--and the father of two digital natives--he understands that we live in electronic times. Book Was There is Piper's surprising and always entertaining essay on reading in an e-reader world. Much ink has been spilled lamenting or championing the decline of printed books, but Piper shows that the rich history of reading itself offers unexpected clues to what lies in store for books, print or digital. From medieval manuscript books to today's playable media and interactive urban fictions, Piper explores the manifold ways that physical media have shaped how we read, while also observing his own children as they face the struggles and triumphs of learning to read. In doing so, he uncovers the intimate connections we develop with our reading materials--how we hold them, look at them, share them, play with them, and even where we read them--and shows how reading is interwoven with our experiences in life. Piper reveals that reading's many identities, past and present, on page and on screen, are the key to helping us understand the kind of reading we care about and how new technologies will--and will not--change old habits. Contending that our experience of reading belies naive generalizations about the future of books, Book Was There is an elegantly argued and thoroughly up-to-date tribute to the endurance of books in our ever-evolving digital world.
Book and Text in France, 1400–1600: Poetry on the Page
by Malcolm QuaintonIn recent years, literary scholars have come increasingly to acknowledge that an adequate understanding of texts requires the study of books, the material objects through which the meanings of texts are constructed. Focusing on French poetry in the period 1400-1600, contributors to this volume analyze layout, illustration, graphology, paratext, typography, anthologization, and other such elements in works by a variety of writers, among them Charles d'Orléans, Jean Bouchet, Pierre de Ronsard and Louise Labé. They demonstrate how those elements play a crucial role in shaping the relationships between authors, texts, contexts, and readers, and how these relationships change as the nature of the book evolves. An introduction to the volume outlines the methodological implications of studying the materiality of literature in this period; situates the various papers in relation to each other and to the field as a whole; and indicates possible future directions of research in the field. By engaging with issues of major current methodological concern, this volume appeals to all scholars interested in the materiality of the literary text, including the burgeoning field of text-image studies, not only in French but also in other national literatures. In addition, it enables fruitful connections to be made between late-medieval and Renaissance literature, areas still often studied in isolation from each other.
Book by Book: Notes on Reading and Life
by Michael Dirda“As warm and stimulating as a library to which one returns again and again,” the Pulitzer Prize–winning critic discusses the rewards of reading books (Chicago Tribune, Editor's Choice).Once out of school, most of us read for pleasure. Yet there is another equally important, though often overlooked, reason that we read: to learn how to live. Though books have always been understood as life-teachers, the exact way in which they instruct, cajole, and convince remains a subject of some mystery. Drawing on sources as diverse as Dr. Seuss and Simone Weil, P. G. Wodehouse and Isaiah Berlin, Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Michael Dirda shows how the wit, wisdom, and enchantment of the written word can inform and enrich nearly every aspect of life, from education and work to love and death.Organized by significant life events and abounding with quotations from great writers and thinkers, Book by Book showcases Dirda's considerable knowledge, which he wears lightly. Favoring showing rather than telling, Dirda draws the reader deeper into the classics, as well as lesser-known works of literature, history, and philosophy, always with an eye to what is relevant to how we might better understand our lives.“Highly cultured yet never pretentious, Dirda's survey convincingly demonstrates what a wealth of life lessons—moral, emotional and aesthetic—a good library can contain.” —Publishers Weekly
Book of African-American Quotations (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Joslyn Pine"In America, black is a country," declared Amiri Baraka, who insisted that the lives and destinies of the nation's white and black citizens are inseparably intertwined. His statement, like many others in this compilation of quotations, reflects the black experience in America and touches upon the role of racial identity. Other citations voice a broader perspective, including Maya Angelou's remark, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."This original collection of quotations cites approximately 100 well-known African-Americans from all walks of life. Twentieth-century notables include Louis Armstrong, Muhammad Ali, Julian Bond, and Ralph Ellison, in addition to earlier figures such as George Washington Carver and Frederick Douglass. Sources include poetry and works of fiction as well as song lyrics. Arranged alphabetically by author, the quotations cover a wide variety of subjects. Brief captions identify the quoted individuals and the achievements for which they are best known.
Book of Blues
by Jack KerouacBest known for his "Legend of Duluoz" novels, including On the Road and The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac is also an important poet. In these eight extended poems, Kerouac writes from the heart of experience in the music of language, employing the same instrumental blues form that he used to fullest effect in Mexico City Blues, his largely unheralded classic of postmodern literature. Edited by Kerouac himself, Book of Blues is an exuberant foray into language and consciousness, rich with imagery, propelled by rythm, and based in a reverent attentiveness to the moment. "In my system, the form of blues choruses is limited by the small page of the breastpocket notebook in which they are written, like the form of a set number of bars in a jazz blues chorus, and so sometimes the word-meaning can carry from one chorus into another, or not, just like the phrase-meaning can carry harmonically from one chorus to the other, or not, in jazz, so that, in these blues as in jazz, the form is determined by time, and by the musicians spontaneous phrasing & harmonizing with the beat of time as it waves & waves on by in measured choruses. " -Jack Kerouac .