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To Be a Man Is Not a One-Day Job: Masculinity, Money, and Intimacy in Nigeria
by Daniel Jordan SmithRefrains about financial hardship are ubiquitous in contemporary Nigeria, frequently expressed through the idiom “to be a man is not a one-day job.” But while men talk constantly about money, underlying their economic worries are broader concerns about the shifting meanings of masculinity, amid changing expectations and practices of intimacy. Drawing on twenty-five years of experience in southeastern Nigeria, Daniel Jordan Smith takes readers through the principal phases and arenas of men’s lives: the transition to adulthood; searching for work and making a living; courtship, marriage, and fatherhood; fraternal and political relationships; and finally, the attainment of elder status and death. He relates men’s struggles both to fulfill their own aspirations and to meet society’s expectations. He also considers men who behave badly, mistreat their wives and children, or resort to crime and violence. All of these men face similar challenges as they navigate the complex geometry of money and intimacy. Unraveling these connections, Smith argues, provides us with a deeper understanding of both masculinity and society in Nigeria.
Angel in the Parlor: Five Stories and Eight Essays
by Nancy WillardThis delightful collection brings together five short stories and eight essays on writing by Newbery Medal–winning author Nancy WillardNancy Willard&’s gift for bringing out the whimsical in all of us illuminates this memorable anthology.&“ &‘Who Invented Water?&’ &” celebrates the craft and magic of creating children&’s books. In &“Becoming a Writer,&” Willard admits she dislikes giving and receiving advice. She prefers telling a story, with real-life characters ranging from members of her own family to Jane Austen, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Charles Dickens on stilts. &“The Well-tempered Falsehood&” explores the fabulist art of storytelling; &“The Rutabaga Lamp&” is a dreamy, delightful riff on how to read and write fairy tales. In an autobiographical piece, &“Her Father&’s House,&” Erica, Theo, and their three-year-old son travel home for the funeral of Erica&’s father. As the whole family gathers, the heroine is hit with an onslaught of memories, Willard style. &“The Tailor Who Told the Truth&” is Morgon Axel, who tells nothing but lies . . . until the day a wild boar comes into his shop. This ebook includes an introduction by Robert Pack, former director of the Bread Loaf Writers&’ Conference.
An Old-Fashioned Mystery
by Runa Fairleigh"A timeless delight. The more murder mysteries you have read, the likelier you will relish this one." -- Toronto Globe and Mail"This book might well have been titled THE LAST MYSTERY, since it is most definitely the mystery to end all mysteries."--from the Introduction by L.A. Morse, Edgar award-winning author of THE OLD DICKTen guests have gathered at an isolated summer estate amid the Thousand Islands. The occasion is a surprise party to celebrate Rosa Sill's 25th birthday, the day she inherits the family fortune. But one surprise awaits them: the party quickly turns to a case of murder.Violet Cornichon, the Society-Girl Detective, is on-hand, and it is up to her to gather all the clues and point them toward the suspects…or is that the potential victims. Because the killer is hardly finished with his deadly night, with bodies turning up, murdered in terrible and brutal ways. Which begs the old-fashioned question: whodunit?
Vegans Save the World: Plant-based Recipes and Inspired Ideas for Every Week of the Year
by Alicia AlvrezMake the transition to healthy, clean-eating, planet-friendly vegan with this unique cookbook and guide full of “tips for ditching animal-based products”(Billee Sharp, author of Lemons and Lavender).In this combination cookbook and lifestyle guide, Alice Mary Alvrez shares her journey from not-so-healthy carnivore to urban homesteader who turned her health around and contributes to a healthier planet as well. This utterly unique vegan cookbook offers over one hundred easy-to-make vegan recipes, and Alvrez also shares her green-living methods, cooking techniques, and sage advice about food and nutrition. (Eating your veggies is essential to good health, especially for families and children—and growing the organic veggies you eat is even better!)As instructive as it is inspiring, this book is brimming with excellent information about avoiding unhealthy food additives and the importance of eating clean and getting educated about your diet. It is also packed with tips and tricks for living vegan and making sure your home and clothing are cruelty-free. Going green and vegan is easier than you think—and this book offers a year’s worth of ideas, yummy recipes and ways you can create a sustainable life.
Down in Bristol Bay: High Tides, Hangovers, and Harrowing Experiences on Alaska's Last Frontier
by Bob DurrDr. Robert Allen Durr - literary scholar, award-winning author, former confidant to legendary writer H. L. Mencken, and one-time rising star in the East Coast academic world - decided one day to give it all up and move to a remote region of Alaska in search of paradise. Convinced that truth, beauty, and goodness could still be found in the wild, Durr bought a boat and journeyed to Bristol Bay in hopes of becoming a commercial salmon fisherman and earning a living. Catapulting the reader into this last frontier and onto a sea of storms and dangers, madcap bars and drinking parties, amid the camaraderie of some rugged Alaskans, mostly native fishermen known as D Inn Crowd, Down in Bristol Bay chronicles a hard life, but not without songs and ballads, misadventures and follies, occasionally of burlesque proportions, on land as well as at sea.Combining elements of Krakaur's Into the Wild, Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard, Junger's The Perfect Storm, McPhee's Coming Into the Country, and even Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Down in Bristol Bay is a powerful and raucous memoir of a man who abandoned the safe world of academia for the Alaskan wilderness to find his own kind of primal sanity.
Zen Bender: A Decade-Long Enthusiastic Quest to Fix Everything (That Was Never Broken)
by Stephanie Krikorian&“The book is filled with humor and soul-baring honesty, as Krikorian describes her adventures down just about every self-help road there is.&” —The Independent When the recession turned her life upside down, Stephanie Krikorian had to reinvent her life—and fast. She started ghostwriting self-help books for women. Between writing and researching she realized that everywhere she looked there was AFOG. Another freaking opportunity for growth. Soon she wasn&’t just writing each book; she was living them. This was the start of a ten-year zen bender of dieting, dating, journaling, meditating, and Marie-Kondo-ing on a quest for that ultimate self-help high. Stephanie Krikorian spent her forties trying all of the dating hacks to find love and respect, all of the diets to build self-esteem in a new body, and all of the spiritual guidance to become centered through self-care. On the brink of turning fifty she realized that being better wasn&’t what she craved; it was something else altogether. Zen Bender is the story of one woman&’s journey to radical acceptance, with some questionable advice along the way. A witty, moving, insightful story, the woman behind bestselling celebrity self-help books shares her story of being hooked on the self-help fix for a decade before learning that all the self-help in the world won&’t help you trust gut. &“A wise, witty and thought-provoking book that tends in just the place you&’d hope it would. A great read whether you have a Reiki healer on speed dial, or, well, not.&” —Marianne Power, author of Help Me!: One Woman&’s Quest to Find Out if Self-Help Really Can Change Her Life
Faces and Masks: Genesis, Faces And Masks, And Century Of The Wind (Memory of Fire #2)
by Eduardo Galeano&“A book as fascinating as the history it relates . . . Galeano is a satirist, realist, and historian.&” —Los Angeles TimesFor centuries, Europe&’s imperial powers brutally exploited the peoples and resources of the New World. While soldiers of fortune marched across continents in search of El Dorado, white settlers established plantations and trading posts along the coasts, altering the land and bringing disease and slavery with them. In the midst of a bloody collision of civilizations, the West has birthed new societies out of the old.In the second book of his Memory of Fire trilogy, Eduardo Galeano forges a new understanding of the Americas, history retold from a diverse collection of viewpoints. Spanning the end of empire and the age of revolutions, Faces and Masks brilliantly collects the strands of the past into an iridescent work of literature.
The Search for an Abortionist: The Classic Study of How American Women Coped with Unwanted Pregnancy before Roe v. Wade (Forbidden Bookshelf #4)
by Nancy Howell LeeThis eye-opening look at the abortion process prior to the Supreme Court&’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 is now more relevant than ever, with a new introduction by the author revisiting history that is still salient half a century laterIn the years before Roe v. Wade, women seeking to end their unwanted pregnancies had limited options—many of them dangerous, even potentially fatal, and nearly all of them illegal. This groundbreaking work by sociologist Nancy Howell Lee, first published in 1969, takes an intimate look at the entire abortion process—from the initial decision to terminate a pregnancy through the procedure itself and the aftermath—providing an incomparable view of what is still one of the most controversial and divisive issues in America. Based on interviews with one hundred fourteen women who had illegal abortions, Howell Lee&’s book reveals how the abortions were procured and paid for, and looks at the lasting effects the experience had on the participants. The interviewees were open and honest about what influenced their decisions, how they conducted their search for someone to perform the procedure, and the physical and emotional aftereffects. With many state governments across America currently passing new legislation that restricts and, in many cases, effectively bans abortion, an eventual return to the pre-Roe days threatens the well-being of millions of women, making Nancy Howell Lee&’s pioneering study more relevant than ever. It is a must-read for all those interested in reproductive rights issues.
Mystery Herd
by Paul LedererA soldier returns home to find his family at war with itselfWhen Russell Bates gets his father&’s message that the family ranch is in trouble, he does not hesitate to ask his commander for leave. When his request is denied, the cavalryman takes matters into his own hands and goes AWOL during a patrol. There is nothing more important to Russell than his father, but he does not arrive in time to save him. Old man Bates is dead, and his ranch is ready to perish along with him. The foreman has been lynched, the cowhands are in revolt, and Russell&’s sisters have ceded control of the ranch to the sinister Vincent Battles. With the help of Trinity, an honest drifter whom Russell met on the road, the Bates family must fight to keep hold of their land. But when Russell&’s oldest brother returns from Texas, their civil war threatens to spread from the ranch to the family itself.
No Hurry to Get Home: A Memoir (Adventura Bks.)
by Emily HahnA fascinating memoir by a free-spirited New Yorker writer, whose wanderlust led her from the Belgian Congo to Shanghai and beyond. Originally published in 1970, under the title Times and Places, this book is a collection of twenty-three of her articles from the New Yorker, published between 1937 and 1970. Well reviewed upon first publication, the book was re-published under the current title in 2000 with a foreword by Sheila McGrath, a longtime colleague of hers at the New Yorker, and an introduction by Ken Cuthbertson, author of Nobody Said Not to Go: The Life, Loves and Adventures of Emily Hahn. One of the pieces in the book starts with the line, &“Though I had always wanted to be an opium addict, I can&’t claim that as a reason why I went to China.&” Hahn was seized by a wanderlust that led her to explore nearly every corner of the world. She traveled solo to the Belgian Congo at the age of twenty-five. She was the concubine of a Chinese poet in Shanghai in the 1930s—where she did indeed become an opium addict for two years. For many years, she spent part of every year in New York City and part of her time living with her husband, Charles Boxer, in England. Through the course of these twenty-three distinct pieces, Emily Hahn gives us a glimpse of the tremendous range of her interests, the many places in the world she visited, and her extraordinary perception of the things, large and small, that are important in a life.
Realty Check
by Piers AnthonyA vacation rental includes a portal to a secret realm in this &“intergenerational . . . intergalactic charmer&” from the New York Times–bestselling author (Publishers Weekly). Penn and Chandelle, an older couple, rent a house in the city at a bargain price and discover that its back door opens onto an endless forest. Now they know why others were scared off. That&’s only the beginning of the oddities about this particular piece of realty. They decide to call in experts: their grandchildren, Lloyd and Llynn, who pitch in with a will, to try to discover what and why. But it may be more of a challenge than they can handle.
Gravity Wells: Speculative Fiction Stories
by James Alan GardnerJames Alan Gardner has been called &“one of the most engaging reads in SF.&” His debut novel, Expendable, was acclaimed by some of science fiction&’s most esteemed authors. Now, in Gravity Wells, he brings together some of the stories that have helped solidify his reputation as one of the greats in speculative fiction. This collection consists of stories making their debut, previously published stories that have won the Aurora Award, the grand prize in the prestigious Writers of the Future contest, and tales that have been nominated for Hugo and Nebula Awards.
Happy Cruelty Day!: Daily Celebrations of Quiet Desperation
by Bob PowersFor everyone looking to find a little extra magic in a life with little to celebrate, Happy Cruelty Day! is here. Beginning on January 1, this book features 365 new holidays, each accompanied by a strange, dark and humorous short story explaining the day you woke up in and how to celebrate it. These 365 daily doses of delight, perversion, and nonsense include "Hire Someone Attractive To Pretend To Love You Day," "Hang on to Your Wide-Eyed Innocence Day," "Sit in Abject Terror Day," and, of course, "Cruelty Day." Far more than just a humor book, Happy Cruelty Day! is like a daily instructional manual written by a psychopath. On one page, the book has you joining a community crime watch group in an effort to make friends (it won't work). Flip the page, and you'll find the details of your attempt to rescue your husband from a POW camp (you'll fail). Flip it again, and Happy Cruelty Day! will have important insight into how best to befriend a runaway teen (offer her some soup).These holidays celebrate everything from that pivotal point in your life when everything changes, to the day you're not going to do anything but sit on the edge of your bed and get very drunk. When people realize they've fallen in love, or when they realize their love was just a lie. And of course, when love of whatever incarnation brings an index finger to clench tight around the trigger of a gun.Raw, ridiculous, and laugh-out-loud funny, this is a sharp-edged satire on the subtleties, shallowness, and stupidity of daily life.
When the World Was Young: A Novel
by Tony RomanoIt's the summer of 1957. In the heart of Chicago, first-generation Italian immigrants Angela Rosa and Agostino Peccatori are caught between worlds. Far from home and with five children born in the United States, the Peccatori family is left clinging to old country ways in an era of upending change. While Agostino spends his days running the neighborhood trattoria, Mio Fratello, Angela Rosa must face the building tension at home as her children struggle to define themselves within a family rooted in tradition. When Agostino's wandering eye can no longer be ignored, and lingering questions of fidelity and responsibility invade the Peccatoris' intimate world, the pressure to keep the family together mounts.Just as it seems the Peccatoris' stoic foundation and resilient spirit are enough to withstand the family friction, the events of a single tragic evening bring all their lives to a sudden and irreversible standstill. Haunted by overwhelming loss, and drowning in years of secrets and deception, the family begins to unravel under the burden of guilt. As the Peccatori children move into adulthood, alienated from one another by grief and the complexity of their adolescence, their ties of kinship are put to the ultimate test. Bound together by blood yet indelibly marked by loss, the Peccatori family becomes a testament to the power of sacrifice, loyalty, and unconditional love. Told through alternating voices and beautifully crafted prose, When the World Was Young is a stunning, poignant tale of one family's will to survive.
The Cleveland Anthology (Belt City Anthologies)
by Richey Piiparinen Anne TrubekA literary snapshot written by the city&’s citizens that serves as an intimate reminder &“that strength of character abounds in the Cleveland community&” (Freshwater Cleveland). The past few years have been full of stories about Cleveland&’s ongoing revitalization and renewal, mostly from people from outside the city. This collection of essays, photographs, and poems offers an insiders&’ view, telling the story of the city as it actually exists on the ground. Citizens of Cleveland will connect to the experiences and locales detailed here. Readers from outside the area will gain invaluable insight into what it means to live in here, why the city is loved or hated, and why some people obsess over it. The collection looks at popular Cleveland attractions like Harvey Pekar and the Cuyahoga River, but also looks at life on the Number 9 bus and the delis of Slavic Village. Through photographs, essays, and poetry, the collection questions the notion of &“Rust Belt Chic&” and the truth behind that statement. It includes contributions by: David C. Barnett, Sean Decatur, Mansfield Frazier, David Giffels, Alissa Nutting, Jim Roakakis, Connie Schultz, and many more. A wide-ranging portrait of a city of contradictions, written by those who have lived the story. &“Touching always on the idea of a post-industrial landscape as a form of innate and historical beauty and integrity, this book creates a genuine and intimate look at Cleveland. Those who hail from &“rust belt&” cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Milwaukee will find a special place in their hearts for this book.&” —Riffle NonFiction
This Is Not a Novel: A Novel
by Jennifer JohnstonGrappling with the loss of her brother three decades prior, a woman digs into her family&’s past and uncovers generations of betrayal, half-truths, and secrecyImogen&’s brother, Johnny, disappeared thirty years ago, ostensibly the victim of a drowning accident—a story to which everyone but Imogen subscribes. Johnny was too good of a swimmer, she reasons, and his body was never found. Imogen alone believes that he is still alive. To get to the truth, she dives into her memory and her family&’s history, all the way back to World War I–era Ireland and the long-buried events that forever changed them. Lyrical, gripping, and compact, This Is Not a Novel is Imogen&’s first-person account of her search. Portrayed through fragments of memory, letters, and poetry, the book is not only a retelling—it is an appeal to Johnny, wherever he is, to come back home.
The Good Neighbor: A Novel
by Jay QuinnIn The Good Neighbor, Rory Fallon is walking his dog along the streets of the exclusive Venetian Vistas neighborhood when he notices activity at the house next door. New neighbors have arrived in the form of Austin and Meg Harden, along with their two children. Before long, the Hardens and Rory and his partner, Bruno, have formed a strange, sometimes symbiotic relationship, bringing up questions of love and marriage, trust and temptation. Reflecting our changing social fabric, the unfolding drama reveals that fences exist for a reason, and that when you cross them the consequences can often have confounding results. Jay Quinn&’s Lambda-nominated novels transcend traditional gay fiction, exploring universal issues of marriage, aging parents, addiction, and attraction, all while presenting unique characters and page-turning drama. Don&’t miss any of Quinn&’s novels: Metes and Bounds, Back Where He Started, The Good Neighbor, The Beloved Son, and The Boomerang Kid.
Help! I Can't Pay My Bills: Surviving a Financial Crisis
by Sally HerigstadIn this age of skyrocketing personal debt, more and more Americans find themselves facing a financial crisis. CPA Sally Herigstad provides the strategies you need to take charge of your financial problems and get back on your feet. This clear, step-by-step guide will get you started on your way to financial security. You'll learn to:*Create a realistic plan for reaching your financial goals*Find cash you didn't know you had*Talk to creditors when they call*Build – and stick to – a budget*Get help with catastrophic medical billsNo matter how you got into a financial crisis, it's never too late to take steps to turn things around. This book will help you take charge of your finances – and your life.Sally Herigstad is a certified public accountant living in Kent, Washington. She has written numerous articles for Microsoft's MSN Money Web site.
Our Endless and Proper Work: Starting (and Sticking To) Your Writing Practice
by Ron Hogan&“The most thoughtful, engaging, encouraging book I&’ve ever read about how hard it is to be a writer and why you should do it anyway.&” ―New York Times bestselling author Sarah Knight of the No Fucks Given guides Writer and editorial consultant Ron Hogan helps readers develop an ongoing writing practice as an end in and of itself, not a means to publication. Many people pick up the guitar without eyeing a career as a professional musician, or start painting without caring if they get a gallery. But with writing the assumption seems to be that the goal must be to get published. Why? Why is it acceptable to attain technical proficiency at &“Stairway to Heaven&” or plein air watercolors as a hobby, while writing is expected to earn its keep? In Our Endless and Proper Work, Ron Hogan argues writing should be an end in itself. The founder of the literary site Beatrice, and creator of the popular newsletter &“Destroy Your Safe and Happy Lives,&” Hogan offers concrete steps to help writers develop ongoing creative practice in chapters such as &“Reclaiming Your Time for Writing&” and &“Finding Your Groove.&” Sprinkled throughout are adorable illustrations by &“Positive Doodles&” creator Emm Roy. This concise, inspirational book encourages all people to take up writing because it can help you become a happier, more whole and engaged person. &“An accessible book that packs an impressive amount of wisdom and pragmatic advice into each chapter.&” ―Mason Currey, author of Daily Rituals: How Artists Work &“Ron Hogan offers practical tips . . . alongside what is ultimately a philosophy of how to make a mindful and joyful adventure of one's life.&” ―Raechel Anne Jolie, author of Rust Belt Femme
What Women Need to Know: From Headaches to Heart Disease and Everything in Between
by Marianne J. Legato Carol ColmanAfter traveling the country and listening to women&’s most common health problems, Dr. Marianne Legato, one of the nation&’s leading advocates for women&’s health, answers these common questions and more in What Women Need to Know. This revolutionary book teaches women how to ask their doctors the right questions and leave the office satisfied. Dr. Legato is also the author of The Female Heart, a book that dispels myths that heart disease is only a male problem. Her coauthor on both books is Carol Colman Gerber, one of the country&’s leading medical writers.
Paradox Alley (Skyway #3)
by John DeChancieThe conclusion to the classic Skyway series by the award-winning author of Castle Perilous. Jake McGraw, independent space trucker, has been shanghaied. He and his crew, fresh off their adventures in Starrigger and Red Limit Freeway, are plucked off the Skyway by a creature of unknown power. Now on an alien planet where most of the rules of the regular universe do not seem to apply, Jake confronts the builders of the Skyway once and for all. Will he and his crew make it out alive?
Guardsman of Gor (Gorean Saga #16)
by John NormanAn Earth man and former slave rises through the ranks of the Gorean army. Thrust into a life full of woeful twists and turns, Jason Marshall has contended with the prehistoric customs and immeasurable power of the Goreans. His struggles on Gor, a planet resembling Earth, included escaping imprisonment, enslavement, and redeeming lost land. Jason has fought to regain control of his life. Having ascended to a position of power in the Gorean army, Jason must prevail in a battle that seems destined to destroy Gor. Jason has a lot riding on his success as a war leader: prestige, wealth, and an Earth girl of goddess-like beauty. Will Jason be able to win the war and avoid a fate worse than death? Rediscover this brilliantly imagined world where men are masters and women live to serve their every desire. Guardsman of Gor is the 16th book in the Gorean Saga, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
Parachute to Berlin
by Lowell BennettThe vivid account of a war correspondent shot down over Germany and taken prisoner.Bennett was one of several journalists to fly a night raid over Berlin in November 1943. This is the vivid testimony of an American journalist shot down over Berlin. After he was captured in Berlin, he was taken on a tour of Germany and shown what the civilian population was being subjected to. Bennett spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft I, where he started the newspaper POW WOW, secretly read by 9,000 prisoners. Bennett's experiences led him to condemn the Allied policy of systematically bombing civilian population centers.
Mars Prime (Rex Corvan #2)
by William C. DietzA ship filled with colonists—and one murderous crew member—is headed for the Red Planet in this suspenseful tale by the bestselling author of the Pik Lando series. Aboard the Outward Bound, there are thousands of colonists headed towards Mars. But, one person on the ship is different. Inside that crew member&’s head, there are a half-dozen voices, a half-dozen personalities normally bickering and disagreeing. Today, though, just as the ship is about to leave Earth&’s orbit, they all agree on one thing—they have to kill to keep their secret safe. That&’s dangerous for Rex Corvan, because secrets are the thing he was born to seek out. Rex is Earth&’s greatest reporter. He&’s equipped with a probing intelligence and a video camera for a right eye. Rex and his wife Kim are traveling on the Outward Bound to document its trip outward to the frontier of Mars. The story of colonization quickly takes a backseat to this unknown, zero-gravity serial killer. As Rex and Kim find clues to the murderer&’s identity in the ship&’s A.I., they become targets themselves. Will the ship reach Mars before the many killers in one body reach them?
Bad Grrlz' Guide to Reality: Wild Angel and Adventures in Time and Space with Max Merriwell: The Complete Novels
by Pat MurphyTwo novels of adventure: One set in the hills of the Old West, the other across the Bermuda TriangleIn Wild Angel, Sarah sits by the river with her mother, watching her father pan for gold. The calm of the California hills is broken by a rifle shot, the start of an ambush that leaves Sarah&’s parents murdered and scalped and forces the three-year-old to flee into the woods. Hungry, cold, and terribly lost, she is rescued by a she-wolf named Wauna, who feeds Sarah as if she were one of her own pups. As Sarah grows up among the wolves, she will tame the wilderness, and her adventures—chronicled by a writer named Max Merriwell—will make her a legend of the frontier.Unlike the hero of Wild Angel, the women of Adventures in Time and Space with Max Merriwell do not expect danger when they set off on their journey. But when Pat and Susan&’s cruise ship sails into the Bermuda Triangle, reality begins to twist. As supernatural creatures menace the ship, these two would-be vacationers will have no choice but to hang on for the ride.