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Houston Noir (Akashic Noir #0)
by Tom Abrahams Robert Boswell Sarah Cortez Anton DiSclafani Stephanie Jaye Evans Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton Wanjikũ Wa Ngũgĩ Adrienne Perry Pia Pico Reyes Ramirez Icess Fernandez Rojas Sehba Sarwar Leslie Contreras Schwartz Larry Watts"Brooklyn Noir came first in 2004, and now, 15 years later, Houston Noir--14 stories of intrigue, betrayal and death set from Tanglewood to Third Ward penned by current or former Houston authors--goes on sale."--Houston Chronicle"Akashic Books's long-running Noir Series tasks writers with imagining the dark sides of their communities, spinning gritty, shocking tales atop the local landscape. Recently the publisher tapped writer and former Houston poet laureate Gwendolyn Zepeda to serve as editor on a collection of stories about her native Bayou City. The end result is Houston Noir, out this month, whose 14 entries explore the murder, betrayal, and brujería lurking everywhere from River Oaks to the Ship Channel to a trailer park off FM 1960."--Houstonia Magazine"Houston is a city on the rise when it comes to crime fiction--something about all those lonely highways, gravity-defying overpasses, and drastic urban sprawl (and of course, the crime rate) make Houston a perfect setting for noir. This port city of close to five million residents is ready for a new reputation as a world capital of literature, and we're here to support Akashic's new collection of noir tales from Texas's most complex city."--CrimeReads, included in The Best New Crime Fiction of May 2019"With sprawl and serial killers, Houston Noir packs a mean punch...Houston Noir is a welcome addition to the city's slowly filling bookcase."--Texas Observer"Editor Gwendolyn Zepeda has cannily divided the collection into four separate areas of the city, which only serves to multiply a reader's certainty: Like the sodden sheet covering a much-lacerated corpse, all of Houston is pretty much dripping with crime. Best to experience it, we suggest, only between the covers of this new paperback."--Austin ChronicleAkashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city.Brand-new stories by: Tom Abrahams, Robert Boswell, Sarah Cortez, Anton DiSclafani, Stephanie Jaye Evans, Wanjiku Wa Ngugi, Adrienne Perry, Pia Pico, Reyes Ramirez, Icess Fernandez Rojas, Sehba Sarwar, Leslie Contreras Schwartz, Larry Watts, and Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton.From the introduction by Gwendolyn Zepeda:In a 2004 essay, Hunter S. Thompson described Houston as a "cruel, crazy town on a filthy river in East Texas with no zoning laws and a culture of sex, money and violence. It's a shabby, sprawling metropolis ruled by brazen women, crooked cops and super-rich pansexual cowboys who live by the code of the West--which can mean just about anything you need it to mean, in a pinch." For what it's worth, that quote is now posted on a banner somewhere downtown and regularly, gleefully repeated by our local feature writers.Houston is a port city on top of a swamp and, yes, it has no zoning laws. And that means it's culturally diverse, internally incongruous, and ever-changing. At any intersection here, I might look out my car window and see a horse idly munching St. Augustine grass. And, within spitting distance of that horse, I might see a "spa" that's an obvious brothel, a house turned drug den, or a swiftly rising bayou that might overtake a car if the rain doesn't let up...Overall, this collection represents the very worst our city has to offer, for residents and visitors alike. But it also presents some of our best voices, veteran and emerging, to any reader lucky enough to pick up this book.
Houston's Best Dive Bars
by John Nova LomaxHouston, that sun-drenched, humidity-steamed subtropical megapolis, might not be the first place you think of when you rattle off great American drinking towns. When most outsiders think of the city at all, images of cowboys, astronauts and oilmen come to mind. And truth be told, many natives wrestle with the concept of a dive bar, thinking that any gin mill that lacks a velvet rope, bottle service and a valet parking service is a dive.In Houston's Best Dive Bars, award-winning journalist (and third-generation Houstonian) John Nova Lomax sets the record straight on what exactly a dive is (and isn't) in the Bayou City. From Korean houses of ill repute on Telephone Road to bluesy Third Ward juke joints, from Galveston County bayside gang haunts to Spring Branch redneck redoubts, from famous old Inner Loop standbys like the Lone Star Saloon and the West Alabama Ice House to obscure gems like the D&W Inn and the Sundown Saloon, Lomax drank, and with this book as evidence, lived to tell the dive-y tales. The result is the first of its kind and the only guidebook to drinking and diving in Houston you will ever need.
Houston's Courtlandt Place
by Sallie Gordon Penny JonesIn 1906, Houston was poised to become a great city. The construction of its first skyscraper began (only eight stories); dredging commenced for the Houston Ship Channel; and Carrie Nation paid a visit and inflicted $750 damage on a saloon named after her, leaving no doubt that she wanted the name changed. Rambunctious growth, the proliferation of streetcar lines, and the emergence of the automobile pushed Houston's boundaries outward. When unrestricted commercialism encroached on the mansions of the city's elite, they abandoned downtown and formed private residential enclaves beyond the chaos. One of the earliest, fashioned after the "private places" of St. Louis, was Courtlandt Place. Developed for Houston's first big businessmen and power brokers, its story has been linked with the city's history for more than 100 years. The exceptional Courtlandt Place is on the National Register of Historic Places and remains a triumph of historic preservation.
Houston's River Oaks (Images of Modern America)
by Ann Dunphy Becker Charles Dain Becker Joan Blaffer JohnsonRiver Oaks is a name that has rung out in Houston, Texas, since its founding in 1923. The neighborhood's uncertain geographical boundaries may be a point of controversy, but the impact River Oaks has had on the city is indisputable. River Oaks has been home to astronauts who have contributed to American space exploration; lawyers who are involved in the interworking of the United States' legal system; oil tycoons who have helped Houston grow; and doctors who are responsible for inventing lifesaving medical procedures. The neighborhood is also home to one of the country's most exclusive country clubs, and River Oaks has been served by some of the same schools, churches, stores, and restaurants since its founding. This book explores how River Oaks not only celebrates, grieves, and lives life day-to-day, but also how it changes the world.
Houstorian Dictionary, The: An Insider's Index to Houston
by James GlassmanHouston is an innovative city informed by a diverse and eclectic past that is ever-present in its customs, expressions and dreams, even though most Houstonians don't realize it. Represented by landmarks, dishes and events, the culture of America's fourth-largest city is celebrated in the literature, movies, songs and memorable quotations credited to its vibrant citizenry. The Houstorian Dictionary is a guide for natives and newcomers alike. Each entry leads into the next to create a tapestry of the Bayou City's past and present. Discover that story and visit the places where it all happened. Meet the innovators, heroes, hucksters and misfit tinkerers who share the unique Houston DNA. The Houstorian, James Glassman, reveals valuable insights that make this a handy reference as well as an entertaining read.
How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning
by Rosalyn SchanzerBen Franklin was the most famous American in the entire world during colonial times. No wonder! After all, the man could do just about anything. Why, he was an author and an athlete and a patriot and a scientist and an inventor to boot. He even found a way to steal the lightning right out of the sky.<P><P> Is such a thing possible? Is it. Take a look inside and find Ben busy at work on every spread. Then find out how he used his discovery about lightning to make people's lives safer.<P> In an inventive way, Rosalyn Schanzer brings us a brilliant and ever-curious American original.
How Cities Become Brands: Developing City Brands Purposefully and Thoughtfully
by Eric Häusler Jürgen HäuslerThis book explores how the fragile and lengthy process of developing a city brand can be carefully managed. Necessary background information is explained, numerous experiences are reported, and targeted city branding is inspired in a variety of ways.The dream of every brand maker: to develop a city into a strong city brand - perhaps even a myth. The creation of myths remains a curiosity. Is it targeted, are there relevant recipes for success, and can those responsible be identified? Above all: Can the process be replicated? How do brand makers deal with the complexity of the phenomena of cities and city brands? How do they give the arduous process of creating a city brand a reasonable chance of success? How do brand makers deal with the often biting criticism from outside and the nagging self-doubt?Successful cityscapes arise from the trials and tribulations of complex and sometimes random processes. In the course of global city competition, this evolutionaryprocess is enriched with the achievements of the craft of branding. This is not a guarantee of success. Success depends on numerous prerequisites, which are discussed in detail. Finally, craft rules for good and at the same time sensitive city branding are mentioned.The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules foreffective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emergefrom complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussedconditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.City images emerge from
How Consumers Pick a Hotel: Strategic Segmentation and Target Marketing
by William Winston Dennis J CahillVenture through the pages of How Consumers Pick a Hotel to learn the steps of selecting a target and using consumer behavior applications to segment the market to reach your target. Much as a consumer goes through the process of selecting a satisfying hotel, you can choose to use the information provided to make your hospitality career relaxing and satisfying. When you finish this fantastic reading journey, you’ll be prepared to offer services that meet the public’s demands, and you’ll possess the prerequisite knowledge and skills for developing your own strategic approach to a target market. As the many methods of segmentation are discussed in detail, you will also learn effective strategies for communicating with multiple segments. Ideal as a supplementary text for marketing and hospitality marketing courses, How Consumers Pick a Hotel provides a concise overview of consumer behavior and intertwines marketing theory with sound ways in which to implement the theory. This will both orient you and give you a solid base for understanding the principles in question. You will quickly grasp the various methods of segmentation, and the book’s “real-life” segmentation schemes will teach you how to apply them in day-to-day business.As the many methods of segmentation are discussed in detail, you will learn effective strategies for communicating with multiple segments. In the end, you will have acquired the prerequisite knowledge and skills for developing your own strategic approach to a target market. How Consumers Pick a Hotel is suitable both as a reference guide for practicing marketing managers and hospitality professionals who specialize in marketing and as a companion text for graduates and undergraduates who need to know the ABCs of target marketing. You’ll turn to it again and again for guidance and practical, easy suggestions!
How Far Do You Love Me?
by Lulu DelacreThis unique bedtime book by award-winning author-illustrator Lulu Delacre features a game that highlights the universal love between caregivers and children while taking readers on a journey across the seven continents of Earth.How far do you love me?I love you to the top of the peakslit by the morning sun ...To the crests of the desert where the wind sweeps sand from the dunes ... Based on a bedtime game that author-illustrator Lulu Delacre played with her young daughters, How Far Do You Love Me? is an "I love you" book with a twist. With every expression of love, readers visit a different location around the world, each a beautifully illustrated scene of caregivers and children in a place of natural beauty. The intimate size of the book is just right for sharing and snuggling up close with a child. As bedtime--or any quiet time--approaches, gather close with a special person in your life and get ready to let your imagination soar to place after place as you embark on a game of "How far do you love me?" The possibilities are endless!
How Hard Can It Be?: The World According to Clarkson Volume 4 (The World According to Clarkson)
by Jeremy ClarksonHow Hard Can it Be? is the fourth hilarious volume in Jeremy Clarkson's The World According to Clarkson series.How hard can it be...To build a power station without upsetting the eco-mentalists? To seek world domination if you've been hit the ugly stick? For the Met Office to get yesterday's weather right?In volume four of The World According to Clarkson, Jeremy Clarkson pours scorn on the nonsensical, the dumb, the idiotic and the plain foolish in his continuing quest to discover where exactly we've all gone wrong.Along the way he ponders:• Whether conquering France might solve the immigration problem• What happened when you ignore proper warning labels • What would happen if we turned the internet offOften controversial, frequently scathing but always funnier than James May, Jeremy Clarkson shows us how we could so easily make the world a better place. Praise for Jeremy Clarkson:'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time OutNumber-one bestseller Jeremy Clarkson writes on cars, current affairs and anything else that annoys him in his sharp and funny collections. Born To Be Riled, Clarkson On Cars, Don't Stop Me Now, Driven To Distraction, Round the Bend, Motorworld, and I Know You Got Soul are also available as Penguin paperbacks; the Penguin App iClarkson: The Book of Cars can be downloaded on the App Store.Jeremy Clarkson because his writing career on the Rotherham Advertiser. Since then he has written for the Sun and the Sunday Times. Today he is the tallest person working in British television, and is the presenter of the hugely popular Top Gear.
How High Can We Climb? The Story of Women Explorers
by Jeannine AtkinsProfiles twelve women explorers of the land and sea: Jeanne Baret, Florence Baker, Annie Smith Peck, Josephine Peary, Arnarulunguaq, Elisabeth Casteret, Nicole Maxwell, Sylvia Earle, Junko Tabei, Kay Cottee, Sue Hendrickson, and Ann Bancroft.
How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island
by Egill BjarnasonThe untold story of how one tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic has shaped the world for centuries.The history of Iceland began 1,200 years ago, when a frustrated Viking captain and his useless navigator ran aground in the middle of the North Atlantic. Suddenly, the island was no longer just a layover for the Arctic tern. Instead, it became a nation whose diplomats and musicians, sailors and soldiers, volcanoes and flowers, quietly altered the globe forever. How Iceland Changed the World takes readers on a tour of history, showing them how Iceland played a pivotal role in events as diverse as the French Revolution, the Moon Landing, and the foundation of Israel. Again and again, one humble nation has found itself at the frontline of historic events, shaping the world as we know it, How Iceland Changed the World paints a lively picture of just how it all happened.
How It Goes in Mexico: Essays from an Expatriate
by Carol MerchasinCarol Merchasin first visited San Miguel de Allende in 2005, fell in love with its language, people, and culture, and moved there full-time with her husband shortly thereafter. A lawyer by training, Merchasin is curious about how everything around her in Mexico works—the health care system, religious rituals, loaning money, small change at the market, narcotrafficantes, telenovelas, and the subtleties between the verbs ser and estar. An intrepid researcher, she informally consults her neighbors, history books, and experts until she&’s satisfied. In How It Goes in Mexico, her essays are by turns funny and poignant, and her portrayal of Mexico is neither romantic nor wary, but respectful and compassionate.
How Not to Travel the World: Adventures of a Disaster-Prone Backpacker
by Lauren JuliffWhen Lauren left to go travelling, she thought she would instantly become a glamorous backpacker. But after being mugged, scammed, caught up in a tsunami and experiencing a very unhappy ending during a massage, she realised that learning how NOT to travel the world was the most enlightening experience she could have hoped for.
How Peary Reached the Pole: The Personal Story of His Assistant
by Donald MacMillanIn 1934 Donald B. MacMillan, an accomplished explorer, wrote about his early career as a member of Robert E. Peary's 1908-09 North Pole Expedition. Now available for the first time since its original publication, this expanded edition of How Peary Reached the Pole features a biography of MacMillan and thirty-six images from his hand-tinted lantern slides. MacMillan used the journal he kept during the expedition to provide an intimate view of day-to-day activities and relationships with other members of the party, detailing how he learned to drive dog teams, camp in sub-zero temperatures, and travel safely across the ice-covered Polar Sea. MacMillan's experiences and deep admiration for Peary's methods, leadership, and many accomplishments make for fascinating reading. How Peary Reached the Pole allows us to see Arctic landscapes and Inughuit culture as MacMillan experienced them, providing a perspective from which to consider the northern environmental and cultural issues that continue to concern individuals and nations today, one hundred years after Peary's historic expedition.
How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else
by Michael Gates GillThe riches-to-rags story of a middle-aged man who lost his good job and how he manages to get back humility and confidence by working at Starbucks.
How Sweet the Bitter Soup: A Memoir
by Lori QianHer mom was working as a maid. Her dad’s Alzheimer’s was in high gear. And the rent on her parents’ small Chicago apartment had just gone up. Again. But Lori was holding it all together: helping care for her dad and pay her family’s bills, figuring out how to navigate graduate school and four jobs on top of her family responsibilities, and, somehow, continuing to believe that there was more to life than this. And there was. An exciting job teaching at a prestigious school in China. Although the previous month, she had turned down a job offer in Iowa—thinking it was too far away from her family—she felt completely at ease accepting the job in China. Grasping on to the fierce determination she’d had since childhood, Lori found herself in Guangzhou, China, where she fell in love with the culture and with a man from a tiny town in Hubei province. What followed was a transformative adventure—one that will inspire readers to use the bitter to make life even sweeter.
How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books
by Joan BodgerOver forty years ago, Joan Bodger, her husband, and two children went to Britain on a very special family quest. They were seeking the world that they knew and loved through children's books. In Winnie-the-Pooh Country, Mrs. Milne showed them the way to "that enchanted place on the top of the Forest [where] a little boy and his Bear will always be playing." In Edinburgh they stood outside Robert Louis Stevenson's childhood home, tilting their heads to talk to a lamplighter who was doing his job. In the Lake District they visited Jemima Puddle-Duck's farm, and Joan sought out crusty Arthur Ransome to talk to him about Swallows and Amazons. They spent several days "messing about in boats" on the River Thames, looking for Toad Hall and other places described by Kenneth Grahame in The Wind in the Willows. Mud and flood kept them from attaining the slopes of Pook's Hill (on Rudyard Kipling's farm), but they scaled the heights of Tintagel. As in all good fairy tales, there were unanswered questions. Did they really find Camelot? Robin Hood, as always, remains elusive.One thing is certain. Joan Bodger brings alive again the magic of the stories we love to remember. She persuades us that, like Emily Dickinson, even if we "have never seen a moor," we can imagine "how the heather looks."First published in 1965 by Viking in New York, How the Heather Looks has become a prized favorite among knowledgeable lovers of children's literature. Precious, well-thumbed copies have been lent out with caution and reluctance, while new admirers have gone searching in vain for copies to buy second-hand. This handsome reprint, with a new Afterword by Joan Bodger, makes a unique and delightful classic available once more.
How the Hula Girl Sings: A Novel
by Joe Meno"A wonderful accomplishment. . . . The power is in the writing. Mr. Meno is a superb craftsman."-Hubert Selby Jr."The author moves the story along at a surprisingly fast and easy pace. The evil eyes of small-town America seem to peer from every page of Meno's claustrophobic noir, where the good and the bad are forced down the same violent paths."-Kirkus Reviews"Joe Meno writes with the energy, honesty, and emotional impact of the best punk rock."-Jim DeRogatis, pop music critic, Chicago Sun-Times"A likable winner that should bolster Meno's reputation." -Publishers Weekly"Joe Meno writes with the energy, honesty, and emotional impact of the best punk rock." -Jim DeRogatis, Chicago Sun-Times"Fans of hard-boiled pulp fiction will particularly enjoy this novel." -BooklistA young ex-con in a small Illinois town. A lonely giant with a haunted past. A beautiful girl with a troubled heart. Strange and darkly magical, How the Hula Girl Sings begins exactly where most pulp fiction usually ends, with the vivid episode of the terrible crime itself. Three years later, Luce Lemay, out on parole for the awful tragedy, does his best to finds hope: in a new job at the local Gas-N-Go; in his companion and fellow ex-con, Junior Breen, who spells out puzzling messages to the unquiet ghosts of his past; and finally, in the arms of the lovely but reckless Charlene. How the Hula Girl Sings is a suspenseful exploration of a country bright with the far-off stars of forgiveness and dark with the still-looming shadow of the death penalty.
How the World Makes Love: . . . And What It Taught a Jilted Groom
by Franz WisnerThe bestselling author of Honeymoon with My Brother hits the road again to learn about love and finally finds it closer to homeWhen you've been jilted at the altar and forced to take your pre-paid honeymoon with your brother, it's fair to say you could learn a thing or two about love. And that's what Franz Wisner sets out to do—traveling the globe with a mission: to discover the planet's most important love lessons and see if they can rescue him from the ruins of his own love life. Even after months on the road, he's still not sure he's found the secret. But a disastrous date with a Los Angeles actress and single mom keeps popping into Franz's head. While researching ideal love, could he have missed a bigger truth: that something unplanned and implausible could actually make him happy? Uproarious, tender, and studded with eye-opening insights on love, How the World Makes Love is the story of one average man's search for happiness—a search that turns into an improbable love story in the author's own backyard.
How to Barter for Paradise: My Journey through 14 Countries, Trading Up from an Apple to a House in Hawaii
by Michael WiggeMost people like to travel in comfort: they stay in fancy hotels, never leave tourist spots, and stay away from the locals. Michael Wigge isn't like most people, though. After travelling the world without money for 150 days while writing How to Travel the World for Free, his next challenge: turn an apple into a house in Hawaii. Wigge goes around fourteen countries and six continents exchanging goods for more valuable ones, and he meets an array of good-humored people who take his deals. Taking on his Barterman persona, he trades the apple for sixteen cigarettes in Germany; a couple of trades later in India, he fixes up a motorized rickshaw and trades it for silk; in Australia, a millionaire amuses himself by offering him an art piece for the silk if Wigge feeds a wild crocodile. Finally, he arrives in Hawaii armed with two bicycles, a surfboard, Portuguese porcelain, three solid-gold coins, a Porsche wristwatch, a record by musician Coati Mundi and accompanying contract for 25 percent of the proceeds from his next single, a voucher for a two-night stay in a mansion in L.A., and a piece of original artwork by painter Alex Stenzel--now he just has to find someone to give him a house in exchange. On the 200-day journey around the world, Wigge makes forty-two trades and meets strange, kind, funny, friendly, eccentric, and good-natured people who help him in his quest. It's a journey you won't want to miss!
How to Be a Carioca: The Alternative Guide for the Tourist in Rio
by Priscilla GoslinAn international bestseller since 1992, this is a humorous look at what makes up one of the world's most colorful characters: the Carioca--those charming inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro, written by a U.S. native who has made Rio her home for more than thirty-eight years. If you dream of blending in with the locals while visiting Rio, help is at hand. Natives of Rio have a unique way of maintaining an up-beat samba-like swing while dealing with the woes of the day-to-day in paradise. How to Be a Carioca will help any traveler understand the endearing Carioca attitude about life and gives an insider's view into the unique daily rituals of the charming natives who populate this marvelous city.
How to Be a Digital Nomad: Build a Successful Career While Travelling the World
by Kayla IhrigYou don't need to sacrifice your career to travel the world. Join the 35 million digital nomads who are living, working and exploring to the fullest. With this book, discover the incredible opportunities of digital nomadism and learn how you can travel the world while also sustaining a successful work-life. How to Be a Digital Nomad gives you everything you need to build a successful career on your terms.This book is both a practical guide and an insightful exploration of this unique lifestyle. It includes interviews with a diverse range of remote workers, telling stories that span five decades of digital nomadism, and highlights the unique opportunities this lifestyle offers you and your career. Whether you're looking for a few months away, a working gap year or an entirely new lifestyle, this book will show you how you can take control of your career while travelling the world.
How to Be a Family: The Year I Dragged My Kids Around the World to Find a New Way to Be Together
by Dan KoisIn this "refreshingly relatable" (Outside) memoir, Slate editor Dan Kois sets out with his family on a journey around the world to change their lives together. <p><p> What happens when one frustrated dad turns his kids' lives upside down in search of a new way to be a family?Dan Kois and his wife always did their best for their kids. Busy professionals living in the D.C. suburbs, they scheduled their children's time wisely, and when they weren't arguing over screen time, the Kois family-Dan, his wife Alia, and their two pre-teen daughters-could each be found searching for their own happiness. But aren't families supposed to achieve happiness together? <p> In this eye-opening, heartwarming, and very funny family memoir, the fractious, loving Kois' go in search of other places on the map that might offer them the chance to live away from home-but closer together. Over a year the family lands in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and small-town Kansas. The goal? To get out of their rut of busyness and distractedness and to see how other families live outside the East Coast parenting bubble. <p><p> HOW TO BE A FAMILY brings readers along as the Kois girls-witty, solitary, extremely online Lyra and goofy, sensitive, social butterfly Harper-like through the Kiwi bush, ride bikes to a Dutch school in the pouring rain, battle iguanas in their Costa Rican kitchen, and learn to love a town where everyone knows your name. Meanwhile, Dan interviews neighbors, public officials, and scholars to learn why each of these places work the way they do. Will this trip change the Kois family's lives? Or do families take their problems and conflicts with them wherever we go? <p> A journalistic memoir filled with heart, empathy, and lots of whining, HOW TO BE A FAMILY will make readers dream about the amazing adventures their own families might take.
How to Be a Texan: The Manual
by Andrea ValdezFrom two-stepping to tamaladas, &“a must-read manual for anyone looking to learn more about the wild and wonderful state&” (Texas Monthly) There are certain things every Texan should know how to do and say, whether your Lone Star roots reach all the way back to the 1836 Republic or you were just transplanted yesterday. Some of these may be second nature to you, but others…well, maybe it wouldn&’t hurt to have a few handy hints if, say, branding the herd or hosting a tamalada aren&’t your usual pastimes. That&’s where How to Be a Texan can help. In a lighthearted style, Andrea Valdez offers illustrated, easy-to-follow steps for dozens of authentic Texas activities and sayings. In no time, you&’ll be talking like a Texan and dressing the part; hunting, fishing, and ranching; cooking your favorite Texas dishes; and dancing cumbia and two-step. You&’ll learn how to take a proper bluebonnet photo and build a Día de los Muertos altar, and you&’ll have a bucket list of all the places Texans should visit in their lifetime. Not only will you know how to do all these things, you&’ll finish the book with a whole new appreciation for what it means to be a Texan.