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The Political Writings of Dr Johnson: A Selection (Routledge Revivals)
by J. P. HardyHenry Fielding (1933) examines Fielding’s prodigious activity as dramatist, journalist, novelist and magistrate. Though Fielding lived mainly by his pen, the profession he had chosen for himself, and the one in which he ardently desired to succeed, was that of the law, and this book takes the man as a whole in looking at his writings and his success at law.
Creative Confidence and Music Production: Overcome Your Insecurities
by null Liina TurtonenCreative Confidence and Music Production: Overcome Your Insecurities is a practical guide for music producers to tackle self-doubt and navigate the relationship between confidence and creativity, by offering tools to overcome the most common creative blocks.The book begins by discussing the interrelationships between confidence, creativity, and working with technology. This is followed by chapters featuring expert tips and practical exercises to help readers overcome challenges such as struggling with confidence in their production process, and navigating the music industry as an artist. Also included are sections that focus on creative music production workflows, providing practical tips on how to find creative direction and how to work through creative blocks, before finishing with real stories from a range of diverse music professionals about their own workflows, what inspires them, and how they overcome doubt, uncertainty, and lack of inspiration.Although mainly aimed at music producers, Creative Confidence and Music Production has plenty of insights for anyone in the music industry, and can help beginners, music production students, and seasoned professionals alike, to face their fears and foster confidence in their practice.
Saudi Arabia, the West and the Security of the Gulf (Routledge Revivals)
by null Mazher A. HameedSaudi Arabia, the West and the Security of the Gulf (1986) considers the geopolitical environment of the Arab Gulf and the nature and threats to Western interests in the region. It also examines the political, economic and other Gulf resources that can be marshalled to protect those interests.
Turkish Nationalism and Western Civilization: Selected Essays of Ziya Gökalp (Routledge Revivals)
by null Ziya GökalpTurkish Nationalism and Western Civilization (1959) presents Ziya Gökalp’s synthesis of nationalism, Islam and Western civilization in a developmental and systematic way. More than as a sociologist, poet, man of public affairs, or ideological slogan-maker, Ziya Gökalp (1876–1924) deserves the attention of social practitioners and scientists for his insight into the problems of accommodating non-Western cultures and Western civilization progressively and creatively.
Mysteries of the Social Brain: Understanding Human Behavior Through Science
by null Bruce L. Miller null Virginia SturmMysteries of the Social Brain describes the scientific underpinnings of human behavior and values. Through the retelling of fascinating clinical stories of people with neurological conditions, this book explores the parts of the brain that allow humans to thrive as social and creative beings. The authors reveal the relevance of our brain circuits to our well‑being—and the well‑being of our societies—and show what happens when changes in our brain circuitry drive changes in empathy, altruism, moral beliefs, and creativity.By integrating perspectives from neurology, psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience, the stories in this book offer novel insights into the inner workings of the social brain and reveal groundbreaking findings from work in frontotemporal dementia, emotion, and the science of human values. This book showcases the novel discovery that creativity can emerge when there is decline in the brain’s language systems, a finding that highlights the robust, yet underappreciated connections between science and art. Readers will learn about the biological basis of social behavior as well as simple steps that they can take to improve the functioning of their own social brains.Miller and Sturm take us on an engaging dive into the field of behavioral neurology and neuroscience, exploring what we can learn from people with neurological conditions, and revealing the ways that neuroscience can change societies for the better. It will captivate general readers as well as clinicians and scientists who are interested in human social behavior, cognition, and emotion.
Psychology and Everyday Life (Psychology Revivals)
by null James BreeseOriginally published in 1971, Psychology and Everyday Life was intended to bridge the gap between the expert and lay use of the word ‘psychology’ at the time. The organisation and presentation of subject matter in this introductory book was prompted by a series of discussion lessons with sixth formers and lectures to students in colleges of further education – thus the topics presented here in the main represent problems raised by the students in open-ended lessons and discussions. Today it can be read in its historical context.
The Museum Detective
by null Maha Khan PhillipsInspired by a real-life antiquities scandal in Pakistan, this gripping series debut introduces archaeologist Dr. Gul Delani, whose investigation into the discovery of a mummy gets complicated—and personal—when it collides with her years-long search for a missing family member. Perfect for fans of Sue Grafton and Elsa Hart.When Dr. Gul Delani receives a call in the middle of the night from the Sindh police, she thinks they may have finally found her niece, Mahnaz—a precocious, politically conscious teenage girl who went missing three years prior. Gul has been racked with grief since Mahnaz&’s disappearance and distracts herself through work: a talented curator at the Museum of Heritage and History in Karachi, she is one of the country&’s leading experts in archaeology and ancient civilizations, a hard-won position for a woman.But there is no news of Mahnaz. Instead, Gul is summoned to a narcotics investigation in a remote desert region in western Pakistan. In her wildest dreams, Gul couldn&’t have imagined what she&’d find there: amid a drug bust gone wrong, there is a mummy—life-size, seemingly authentic, its sarcophagus decorated with symbols from Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. The discovery confounds everyone. It is both too good to be true, and for Gul, too precious to leave in careless or corrupt hands.Aided by her team of unlikely misfits, Gul will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of it, even as her quest for the truth puts her in the throes of a dangerous conspiracy and threatens to collide with her ongoing search for Mahnaz. A portrait of a city fueled by corruption and a woman relentlessly in pursuit of justice, The Museum Detective is an exciting, gritty new crime thriller that announces a whip-smart and brilliant sleuth and builds to a stunning, emotional conclusion that readers won&’t soon forget.
The Harmattan Winds
by null Sylvain Trudel&“A fresh little novel, teeming with life, of uncommon strength.&” – Gilles Marcotte, L&’actualitéAn audacious and playful debut novel of adventure, brotherhood, and the search for a homeland — a contemporary classic of Quebecois literatureWritten with uncommon wit, The Harmattan Winds is a feast of wordplay, rife with puns and wonder – perfect for devotees of Ali Smith, classic adventure novels like The Adventures of Huckleberry, and John Knowles&’s A Separate Peace.Hidden in the reeds floating on a pond next to the highway, a woman finds a baby bobbing in a shopping basket. Adopted by the Francoeurs, Hugues remains an outsider in his semi-family. At the same time, Habéké is adopted by a Canadian family and brought to Quebec after his own family dies of famine in Ethiopia. On the margins of their small town, the boys become sworn brothers, searching for their roots, desperate to return to exile, to a paradise called Ityopia.Narrated by the bold and imaginative voice of Hugues, Sylvain Trudel&’s prize-winning debut novel is at times serious and at times fantastical. In their child&’s world, where Hugues and Habéké haven&’t yet learned the prejudices of adults, they embark on adventures, digging holes to China and building fantastical contraptions to take them to far off places, like their hero, explorer Roald Amundsen.
The Railway Conspiracy (A Dee and Lao Mystery)
by null SJ Rozan null John Shen NeeJudge Dee and Lao She must use all their powers of deduction—and kung fu skills—to take down a sinister conspiracy between Imperial Russia, Japan, and China in a rollicking new mystery set in 1920s London.The follow-up to The Murder of Mr. Ma, this historical adventure-mystery is perfect for fans of Laurie R. King and the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes films.London, 1924. Following several months abroad, Judge Dee Ren Jie has returned to the city to foil a transaction between a Russian diplomat and a Japanese mercenary. Aided by Lao She—the Watson to his Holmes—along with several other colorful characters, Dee stops the illicit sale of an extremely valuable &“dragon-taming&” mace.The mace&’s owner is a Chinese businesswoman who thanks Dee for its retrieval by throwing a lavish dinner party. In attendance is British banking official A. G. Stephen, who argues with the group about the tenuous state of Chinese nationalism—and is poisoned two days later. Dee knows this cannot be a coincidence, and suspects Stephen won&’t be the only victim. Sure enough, a young Chinese communist of Lao&’s acquaintance is killed not long after—and a note with a strange symbol is found by his body.What could connect these murders? Could it be related to rumors of a conspiracy regarding the Chinese Eastern Railway? It is once again all on the unlikely crime-solving duo of Dee and Lao to solve the case before anyone else ends up tied to the rails.
Unanxious: 50 Simple Truths to Help Overthinkers Feel Less Stress and More Calm
by null Humble the PoetA book for overthinkers by an overthinker. Learn to start living a life you create—no longer burdened by the need to numb yourself from feelings of anxiety and burnout—through insightful stories, journal prompts, and down-to-earth advice from artist and international best-selling author of Unlearn, Humble The Poet."3 PAGES IN, YOU'LL FEEL 1,000 LBS LIGHTER."— Jay Shetty, #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author&“Life doesn&’t begin after the obstacles, life is the obstacles, and we have to unlearn the idea that we need, or would even want, a life free of chaos, stress, and anxiety. We grow from facing challenges and exploring our limits.&”This book is for the overthinkers struggling with overwhelm, burnout, and anxiety. If that&’s you—sipping from a half-empty glass and staring at your phone on the sidelines of your own life—then this book will remind you that you are not alone and share tools to change your life (and your mind).Unanxious encourages readers to face their own stressors and triggers head-on with research-backed techniques and journal prompts. Stories from the author&’s recent lessons in facing fears by pushing his own boundaries—from ice baths, hot yoga, and ayahuasca journeys to moving to a new city and forging meaningful connections with family and friends—inspire and empower you to stop numbing and avoiding, and start embracing the discomfort and doing what you want to do.With a beginner&’s mindset approach and a vulnerable sensibility, Humble walks alongside you as you journey inward, learning from his mistakes and delivering words of wisdom less like a sage on a mountaintop and more like your most introspective friend.
Death at the Playhouses: Lowe and Le Breton Mysteries (Lowe and Le Breton Mysteries)
by null Stuart DouglasA second witty, fun, 1970s-set whodunnit in the Lowe and Le Breton mysteries series, featuring two ageing actors attempting to solve a murder after their famous co-star is found dead in a doorway outside the theatre in which they&’re performing. Nostalgic cosy crime that&’s perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club and Death & Croissants.It&’s 1971 and, in between filming seasons of Floggit and Leggit, ageing actors Edward Lowe and John Le Breton sign up for a short run of Shakespearean tragedies at the Bolton Playhouse. But, once in Lancashire, they discover they have been invited to join the theatre&’s repertory company for two reasons – because the company manager is keen to take advantage of the publicity surrounding their successful BBC comedy series, and because Sir Nathaniel Thompson, the much-lauded star of the show and knight of the realm, has been sacked for drunkenness.John fears an awkward scene, should Thompson – who he knew during the war – return to reclaim his job, but when the great actor&’s body is found, bludgeoned to death in a nearby alleyway, the unlikely crime-solving duo find themselves investigating another fiendish mystery that takes them from the northwest of England to the Netherlands, and which, rather inconveniently, seems to have John&’s ex-wife Sally at its heart.Death at the Playhouses is the second in The Lowe and Le Breton Mysteries series.
Let's Bake: Over 100 Dessert Recipes for Gifting & Giving
by null Gail SweeneyOver 100 recipes of cookies, cakes, pies, and other delicious treats to gift, share, and enjoy!Let's Bake! is a celebration of generosity, kindness and love. This vibrant collection showcases a gorgeous assortment of cakes, cookies, pastries, and pies—each recipe a gift to share, whether for friends, fundraisers or special occasions.From exquisitely textured shortbread layered with chocolate to a tasty raspberry-topped lemon tart, these delectables will delight.With over 100 recipes easy to prepare and share for any occasion, whether for a birthday or a bake sale, Let's Bake! includes favorites like:• Date Night Chocolate Praline Tart• Light as Air Angel Food Cake• Espresso Brown Butter Blondies• Burnt Basque Cheesecake• Butterscotch Crunch Cookies• Vintage Baked Alaska• Pear Tarte Tatin• Tipsy TiramisuFeaturing beautiful photography and tips and tricks to help you save time in the kitchen, Let's Bake! is your guide to a world of sweet gift giving. Let every treat you bake be a testament to the power of sharing a moment with those who matter most.
Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives
by null Gretchen RubinThe #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before distills her key insights into simple truths for living with greater satisfaction, clarity, and happiness.The right idea, invoked at the right time, can change our lives. Drawing from her long studies of happiness, and also from the challenges she&’s faced herself, writer Gretchen Rubin has discovered the &“Secrets of Adulthood&” that can help us manage the complexities of life. To convey her conclusions, she turned to the aphorism—the ancient literary discipline that demands that a writer convey a large truth in a few words.Perhaps you&’re paralyzed by indecision, struggling to navigate a big change, fighting a temptation, or puzzled by the behavior of someone you love; whatever you face, the right aphorism can help. From procrastination to the pursuit of happiness, Secrets of Adulthood is filled with witty and thought-provoking reflections such as: &“Recognize that, like sleeping with a big dog in a small bed, things that are uncomfortable can also be comforting&”&“Accept yourself, and expect more from yourself&”&“Easy children raise good parents&” &“What can be done at any time is often done at no time&”For anyone undergoing a major life transition, such as graduation, career switch, marriage, or moving, or for those just encountering everyday dilemmas, these disarming aphorisms will inspire you by articulating truths that you may never have noticed but instantly recognize.
Lovers of Franz K.: A Novel
by null Burhan SönmezAn inventive literary obituary for Kafka, this thriller of love and revenge brings the Cold War to life, from Paris and Istanbul to West Berlin and Tel Aviv.Amid the student protests in 1960s Europe, Kafka&’s best friend, Max Brod, becomes a target of their ire: Against the dying writer&’s wishes, he had published texts that never should have been part of his legacy. After Brod is injured in an attempted assassination, assailant Ferdy Kaplan is captured and questioned by Commissioner Müller of the West Berlin police.As his interrogation progresses, through dialogues in the police station, the courtroom, and the prison, Kaplan&’s background is revealed piece by piece, from the love story between him and his childhood friend Amalya, to their shared passion for Kafka, which leads them to join a radical group. But when a shocking discovery is made about the person who ultimately set Brod&’s attempted murder in motion, Kaplan and Müller agree to work together to expose the truth.In this gripping, thought-provoking tribute to Kafka, Burhan Sönmez vividly recreates a key period of history when the Berlin Wall divided Europe, and women were fighting for freedom and against tradition, adopting Jean Seberg&’s iconic short haircut from Breathless. More than a typical mystery, Lovers of Franz K. is a brilliant exploration of the value of books, and the issues of anti-Semitism, immigration, and violence that recur in Kafka&’s life and writings.
The Snares: A Novel
by null Rav Grewal-KökA Punjabi American lawyer at a mysterious federal intelligence agency fights to keep his career, marriage, and morality intact in this gripping post-9/11 drama from a thrilling new voice. &“Here is, at long last, our immigrant John le Carré. . . . Rav Grewal-Kök is a fearless and visionary writer.&”—Xuan Juliana Wang, author of Home Remedies&“Are you happy where you are? Toiling in the trenches of the Justice Department?&”In the waning months of George W. Bush&’s presidency, Neel Chima, a former naval officer and federal prosecutor, is recruited to join a new federal intelligence agency—one with greater than usual powers and fewer than usual restrictions. Neel soon finds himself intimately involved in the surveillance of domestic terrorism suspects and the selection of foreigners for drone assassination—men who often look just like his Sikh family members. As both his ambitions and his moral qualms mount, he is drawn farther and farther away from his wife and two young daughters. When he makes a critical mistake at work, he is left vulnerable to shadowy figures in the intelligence world who seek to use him in their own, still more radical counterterrorism missions. If he agrees, the world of power will open up even wider to him. If he doesn&’t . . .Is Neel an insider or an outsider? The hunter or the hunted? An idealist or a mercenary? What truths, and whose lives, is he willing to sacrifice? The novel plunges readers into the human turmoil behind the faceless operations—the torture, secret assassinations, and drone strikes—of the American security state, creating an eye-opening meditation on morality, violence, and the price of a human soul.
Escuela de dibujo manga (Manga Drawing School)
by null Mei Yu¡Aprende a dibujar manga con más de 50 clases de dibujo, desde caras fáciles y poses sorprendentes hasta escenas llenas de acción!Escuela de dibujo manga te trae todos los consejos, trucos y conocimientos imprescindibles para desarrollar tus habilidades como dibujante de acuerdo con las nuevas tendencias en el arte manga.En el interior de este libro de manga para todas las edades, encontrarás:Instrucciones paso a paso sobre cómo dibujar manga de la mano de la estrella de YouTube y maestra del manga, Mei Yu.Explicaciones claras y técnicas populares para dibujar expresiones faciales, peinados, partes del cuerpo, poses y mucho más.Toda la información sobre diferentes géneros y estilos del manga: Chibi, MOE, Shojo, Shounen, Josei, etc.Diversidad de personajes con rasgos físicos variados.¡Encuentra las proporciones, expresiones y emociones perfectas para dar vida a tus personajes, diseña su ropa y transmite movimiento y personalidad en tu arte! No importa cuáles sean tus habilidades para dibujar, ya seas un dibujante de manga experto o un principiante con ganas de aprender, este es tu libro.---------------------------------------Learn to create contemporary manga artwork with YouTube sensation Mei Yu (over 1.7 million followers).Experienced teacher and artist Mei Yu takes you through every step, from simple faces to striking poses and action–packed scenes, with over 50 lessons so you can elevate your skills. Mei Yu includes the most popular techniques from her globally popular YouTube channel so readers can understand how to achieve these incredible characters for themselves.Whatever level you are - beginner or advanced, and whatever your age, this book is packed with tips, tricks, and all the practical know-how you need to develop your manga drawing skills in line with new trends in manga art. Mei Yu shows you how to draw facial expressions, body shapes, and more.Starting with the basics of drawing human characters, you will go on to learn about proportion, expressions, emotions, and hairstyles, design your own costumes, and learn how to convey movement in your art.
Dessert Course: Lessons in the Whys and Hows of Baking
by null Benjamin DelwicheBecoming the baker of your dreams is easy—all it takes is a healthy appetite for learning and pinch of persistence!You don&’t need a pantry full of specialty ingredients and equipment to become a great baker. You&’ll quickly learn in Dessert Course that mastering a few foundational skills and understanding the whys and hows of baking science is all you need.Benjamin Delwiche, AKA Benjamin the Baker, is a math teacher by day and renegade social media baking scientist by night. His approach to baking is inspired by his approach to teaching—he&’s committed to breaking down the mystery of baking success so his audience, like his students, can become stronger and more knowledgeable.First, you&’ll learn how to break down a recipe, the essential mixing methods, and even how to re-formulate any recipe to make it work to your advantage. Let&’s say you want to make chocolate chip cookies but you only have a few tablespoons of flour left—using Ben&’s Baker&’s Percentages technique, you&’ll be able to figure out how many cookies you can make. The second half of the book showcases over 30 core recipes with variations—each one includes a flow chart so you can bake your own adventure. You&’ll be able to visually understand what makes a chewy chocolate chip cookie vs a crispy one and what it will take to get to your desired destination. Above all else, this book is a celebration of the art and science of baking: the ingredients, the recipes, and the concepts that make a baked good both technically successful and undeniably delicious.
How to Photograph Absolutely Everything (DK Tom Ang Photography Guides)
by null Tom AngThis practical guide from photography expert, Tom Ang, will help you achieve the best shot possible in every scenario – from creating a silhouette to impromptu still lifes. In our online world, taking a good photograph has become an essential life skill.Full of essential advice, hints, and tips, How to Photograph Absolutely Everything gives you straightforward step-by-step guidance on what equipment you will need, the best approach for each subject, how to think about composition and find the right light, and how to frame each shot effectively. Checklists allow you to focus on what is important, while “tricks of the trade” show you how to turn a good picture into an amazing one.From cityscapes to landscapes, and tackling children’s parties to capturing the magic of seasonal celebrations, How to Photograph Absolutely Everything is the essential guide to improving your digital photography skills and getting the most out of your digital camera (or smartphone).
Reverse the Search: How to Turn Job Seeking into Job Shopping
by null Madeline MannFrom the creator of top career YouTube channel Self Made Millennial, the only job search guide you&’ll need to get employers competing for youAre you tired of sending out dozens of job applications every day and never hearing back? Or, when you do land interviews, not getting an offer, and never knowing why? As a former recruiter and head of HR at multiple companies, Madeline Mann has seen every kind of job application under the sun, and she&’s here to tell you that the antiquated job search advice you&’ve been told before is all wrong.After years of working in HR, Mann began to share her behind-the-scenes insight into the world of hiring, creating viral career tip videos and posts online—and soon amassing nearly 1 million followers across YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok. In Reverse the Search, Mann distills her juiciest advice into a concise guide on how to turn the job search around, going from job seeking to job shopping—from desperately sending out applications to having your pick of jobs. By following the simple but proven steps—beginning with determining your ideal job through negotiating your final offer—that have landed hundreds of Mann&’s career coaching clients positions at dream companies, you will transform into a lifelong Job Shopper, getting recruited and attracting opportunities at every stage.Because Job Shoppers know they deserve to land more than any old job. They deserve a job that brings meaningful work, happiness, flexibility, and financial stability. And with Reverse the Search&’s help, you&’ll get noticed and approached, even when you&’re not actively looking for a job. You will have the leverage, and you will never have to perform a soul-sucking job search again.
The Fearless Birth Journal: Growing Your Mind-Body Connection Throughout Pregnancy
by null Emma ArmstrongBirth doula and hypnobirthing coach Emma Armstrong, wants you to take time to connect to your brain, body and baby throughout your unique pregnancy journey. Pregnancy is not just a life-making journey but a life-changing one too – but it can be all too easy to drift through its various stages. Instead, Emma encourages you to slow down and create chances to reflect on where you really are – in your brain, in your body and in your connection to your baby – at every stage along the way. The Fearless Birth Journal is here to help you do just that. Combining clear teaching with journal prompts and interactive elements throughout, this joyfully illustrated book is the perfect gift for you or a loved one during pregnancy. Journeying through four key movements – Brain, Body, Birth and Baby & Beyond – through every trimester, this book will empower and equip you for the birth you want but also ensure you don’t miss (and later forget) a moment of this incredible time of life.
Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (A Vera Wong Novel)
by null Jesse Q. SutantoVera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.…Ever since a man was found dead in Vera's teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She&’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly's girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn't be ungrateful, even if one is slightly...bored.Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena's, Vera finds a treasure trove: Selena's briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for. Online, Xander had it all: a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents.Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, and there is nothing she wouldn't do for her future daughter-in-law.
Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words
by null John McWhorterWith his trademark humor and flair, bestselling linguist John McWhorter busts the myths and shares the history of the most controversial language topic of our times: pronounsThe nature of language is to shift and evolve—but every so often, a new usage creates a whole lot of consternation. These days, pronouns are throwing curveballs, and it matters, because pronoun habits die hard. If you need a refresher from eighth-grade English: Pronouns are short, used endlessly, and serve to point and direct, to orient us as to what is meant about who. Him, not her. Me, not you. Pronouns get a heavy workout, and as such, they become part of our hardwiring. To mess with our pronouns is to mess with us. But many of today&’s hot-button controversies are nonsense. The singular they has been with us since the 1400s and appears in Shakespeare&’s works. In fact, many of the supposedly iron-clad rules of grammar are up for debate (Billy and me went to the store is perfectly logical!), and with tasty trivia, unexpected twists, and the weird quirks of early and contemporary English, John McWhorter guides readers on a journey of how our whole collection of these little words emerged and has changed over time.
When We Were Real: A Novel
by Daryl GregoryFrom multiple award-winning author Daryl Gregory comes a madcap adventure following two friends on a cross-country bus tour through the mind-boggling glitches in their simulated world as they grapple with love, family, secrets, and the very nature of reality in a simulation.JP and Dulin have been the best of friends for decades. When JP finds out his cancer has aggressively returned, Dulin decides it&’s the perfect time for one last adventure: a week-long bus tour of North America&’s Impossibles, the physics-defying glitches and geographic miracles that started cropping up seven years earlier—right after the Announcement that revealed our world to be merely a digital simulacrum. The outing, courtesy of Canterbury Trails Tours, promises the trip of a (not completely real) lifetime in a (not completely deluxe) coach. Their fellow passengers are 21st-century pilgrims, each of them on the tour for their own reasons. There&’s a nun hunting for an absent God, a pregnant influencer determined to make her child too famous to be deleted, a crew of horny octogenarians living each day like it&’s their last, and a professor on the run from leather-clad sociopaths who take The Matrix as scripture. Each stop on this trip is stranger than the last—a Tunnel outside of time, a zero gravity Geyser, the compound of motivational-speaking avatar—with everyone barreling toward the tour&’s iconic final stop Ghost City, where unbeknownst to our travelers the answer to who is running the simulation may await. When We Were Real is a tour-de-force and exploration of what really matters, even in an artificial world.
Saving Ellen: A Memoir of Hope and Recovery
by Maura CaseyA coming-of-age memoir that follows a large, working-class Irish family as it plunges into chaos in the wake of a terminal diagnosis—and the author's own hidden struggle to endure when her sister's disease becomes the dark star around which they all revolve. Financial privation and her father&’s drunken scenes formed the backdrop to Maura Casey's childhood, but her sister Ellen&’s years-long struggle with kidney disease consumed her whole family. Determined to see Ellen live to adulthood, her mother fought medical advice to donate a kidney at a time when organ transplants were medical miracles. She concealed the true impact of that decision, which would affect the family for years to come. Set in Buffalo amidst the tumult of the 1960s and 70s, Saving Ellen traces the author's recovery from alcoholism and sexual assault and tells of her irrepressible older sister Ellen, who fought to claim her dream of becoming an athlete; her smart, feminist mother, whose World War II Army service prepared her to manage her own platoon of six children; and her adulterous, alcoholic father who, at the end, was haunted by his shortcomings and regrets. Despite the hard truths of her childhood, Saving Ellen is ultimately a story of humor at unexpected moments as well as the grace of reconciliation and gratitude.Saving Ellen will appeal to those who have endured the stress of caring for a chronically ill family member, with all the fraught choices that entails. Readers who have experienced the unique insanity of living in a large alcoholic family will recognize the mix of madness and humor that forms the foundation of daily life. Casey's story has parallels to Monica Wood&’s When We Were the Kennedys, which details the struggle her family began when her father died of a heart attack, and Jeannette Walls&’ The Glass Castle, with its tale of family dysfunction and siblings trying to help one another cope in a dilapidated house with an unstable father.
Theatrical Genre & Style: A Guide for Designers, Directors, and Performers
by Karen Brewster Melissa ShaferA one-of-a-kind guide about style and genre for theatre artisans.Theatrical Genre & Style will appeal to all theatre makers—those in performance as well as design—students, amateurs, and professionals. Traditionally, theatre practitioners receive information about style and genre from sources composed primarily for studio artisans and not theatre artisans. These books are helpful but ultimately fall short because they do not specifically apply the use of style to theatre art and practice. Theatrical Genre & Style gives theatre artists a guidebook to style and genre that is specific and tailored to their needs. Theatrical Genre & Style defines genre and style (and the differences between them), gives relatable examples with helpful exercises, clearly explains the distinctions between artistic style, period style, and literary style, and helps readers understand how to identify, research, and utilize appropriate artistic styles for theatrical productions. Theatrical genres are listed, thoroughly explained, and examples and exercises given that are designed to elucidate. The ways theatrical scenery, costumes, lighting, sound, multi-media, acting, directing, and movement can work together to successfully utilize style is addressed in this text.Theatrical Genre & Style serves as a companion to authors Karen Brewster and Melissa Shafer's Fundamentals of Theatrical Design: A Guide to the Basics of Scenic, Costume, and Lighting Design. The two books complement one another in content, size, scope, purpose, and target audience.