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Female Serial Killers in Social Context: Criminological Institutionalism and the Case of Mary Ann Cotton
by David Wilson Elizabeth YardleyTo date, approaches to understanding serial murder have focused on individual cases rather than the social context in which they occurred. Written by leading criminologists and world experts on serial murder, this book marks a departure by situating nineteenth century serial killer Mary Ann Cotton within the broader social structure. Using archival records of her court appearances, local histories and newspaper articles, it uniquely explores how institutions such as the family, economy and religion shaped the environment she inhabited and her social integration through the roles of wife, mother, worker and criminal. Acknowledging that it takes a particular type of individual to commit serial murder, the book shows that it also takes a particular type of society to enable that murderer to go unseen. As the first work to analyse serial murder through the theoretical framework of institutional criminology and institutional anomie theory, it will equip criminologists with a methodological toolkit for performing institutional analysis.
Post-Multiculturalism, Religion and Recognition
by Thomas SealyThis book examines the evolving relationship between multiculturalism, religion and diversity in Western Europe, proposing a shift towards a post-multicultural approach to address religious and secular pluralism. The author responds to criticisms of multiculturalism's approach to public religion, including perceived group reification and limited focus on intra-group domination, gender and sexuality equalities. Through a critical dialogue between multicultural theory and political theology, the book offers an original framework for post-multicultural recognition. Enriching multiculturalism by integrating religious reason and institutional pluralism, this book contributes crucial new insights to debates on religion, equality and diversity in public life.
Borders, Citizenship, and Pregnancy: Migrant Women’s Experiences of Pregnancy and Maternity Care in the UK (Global Migration and Social Change)
by Gwyneth LonerganAvailable open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Using the analytical framework of reproductive justice, this book examines migrant women’s experiences of pregnancy and maternity care within the broader context of gendered and racialised discourses and policies around health, reproduction and citizenship, austerity and an expanding border regime. Based on interviews and focus groups with migrant mothers, third sector workers and NHS staff, it explores how immigration policies impact reproductive practices and unevenly distribute access to essential resources and support. The book provides valuable insights into the underlying social causes behind migrant women’s relatively poor maternal outcomes and contributes significantly to scholarship on the intersections of citizenship, reproduction and expanding border controls.
On Wings of Blood: A Novel (Bloodwing Academy)
by Briar BoleynWelcome to Bloodwing Academy.Expect magic. Expect competition. Expect blood.I didn't sign up for this. A half-fae in a school of highblood vampires? That's a recipe for suffering.I'm Medra Pendragon, last of the dragon riders—or so they tell me. Funny thing is, there are no dragons left. Not a single one. But somehow, that hasn't stopped the vampires from deciding I'm worth capturing. Now I'm stuck at Bloodwing Academy, where the highbloods run everything, and blightborn like me? We're just blood in their veins, pawns in their games.But that's not even the worst part. Enter Blake Drakharrow: cold, arrogant, and way too gorgeous for his own good. He's been tormenting me since the moment we met, and now, thanks to some ancient ritual, we're betrothed. He acts like he owns me, but I'm not going down without a fight.Bloodwing isn't just a school—it's a battlefield. Highbloods fight for power, and if you're weak, you're dead.Between deadly competitions, lies that could get me executed, and a dragon-shaped secret looming over my head, all I have to do is survive. Easy, right? Except I'm starting to think the real danger isn't the academy—it's what I'm becoming in this twisted game of power.And Blake? He might just be the one who pushes me over the edge.They think they can control me. They think they can use me. But they have no idea what they've awakened.
Holly Jolly July
by Lindsay Maple"We want to wrap this book up with a bow and leave it under everyone's tree this year. Lindsay Maple delivers a confection of holiday charm, small town quirk, tenderly sketched characters, and scorching heat." —Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, USA TODAY bestselling authors of A Merry Little Meet CuteIt's the hottest Christmas on record...Like naughty and nice, Mariah and Ellie are complete opposites. Small-time actress Ellie is thrilled to be back on set of a cozy holiday film, while makeup artist Mariah only views the low-budget project as a stepping stone on her way to more serious movies. The pair definitely don't hit it off when they're introduced, but if they want to survive the summer heat—and Mariah's stifling Canadian hometown—they've got to keep it professional. Luckily, holiday cheer is Ellie's specialty, and she's determined to win stubborn Mariah over.Mariah finds one bright spot in her forced second Christmas: hot hookups with an edgy local bartender. The romance even has her opening up to Ellie—who admits to crushing on her wholesome cottage-rental host. But when Ellie and Mariah realize the guys are cheating on them, they band together to get revenge. It's fun planning their own Home Alone–inspired pranks…until Ellie and Mariah realize they're actually falling for each other.But the film shoot is too short to get serious, so they&’ll have to decide: Was their romance simply a holiday fling or a real Christmas-in-July miracle?&“Full of hilarious hijinks and tenderness in equal measure, this holiday romance had me flipping the pages late into the cozy night. Come for the revenge, stay for the true love." —Ashley Herring Blake, USA TODAY Bestselling Author of Delilah Green Doesn't CareWhat you can expect in HOLLY JOLLY JULY: Grumpy x Sunshine Forced Proximity Bisexual / Sapphic Romance Friends to Lovers Workplace Romance Open Door Spice Revenge Pranks Festive Feels
Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds: A Novel
by Allison Brennan"The literary escape I didn't know I needed—a luxurious private resort, a steamy romance, and a captivating cast of sleuths and suspects . . . Allison Brennan has crafted the perfect summer read." —Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of the Finlay Donovan mysteriesFeatured on Katie Couric Media's "10 Books to Read Once You&’ve Finished Watching 'The White Lotus'"!In this sun-dappled mystery from New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan, a risk-averse bibliophile gets in over her head when strange notes in a book draw her into a real-life investigation.Mia Crawford is responsible to a fault. She has to be. Between her high-demand job and taking care of her grandmother and her cats, she has little time for anything else. What time she does have, she pours into reading. Mysteries, romances, thrillers…books filled with women who are far more impulsive than she would ever dream of being. Now, forced into taking a long-overdue vacation, she finds herself on a luxurious private island where she just might have a chance to reinvent herself—for a little while, anyway. She can explore the island. Flirt shamelessly with a cute bartender. Have a vacation fling. Live like a heroine in one of her favorite novels.Or she can curl up with a good book on the beach. Turns out reinventing yourself is easier planned than done. But when gossipy notes written in the margins of an old book turn out to be clues to the disappearance of another guest, Mia finds herself diving headfirst into a dangerous adventure. With everyone at the resort hiding secrets of their own, she&’ll have to solve this real-life mystery before she becomes the next target.
Hazel Says No: A Novel
by Jessica Berger Gross*A Today Best Upcoming Book*"Hazel Blum, please report to the principal's office. Hazel Blum."When Hazel Blum&’s father gets a tenured job at a prestigious college, she and her family relocate from the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn to a middle-of-nowhere college town in Maine. With her mother, Claire, a clothing designer, and her father, Gus, an American Studies professor, Hazel and her eleven-year-old brother, Wolf, spend the summer at the town pool, where they acclimate to their new lives and connect with the town&’s close-knit community. That is, until a dramatic fallout on the very first day of her senior year tips the fickle balance of idyllic Riverburg and impacts everyone in her family.Tracking through the perspectives of each member of the Blum family, this relatable fish-out-of-water story handles big issues with great empathy and humor, capturing the love that unites one unforgettable family and the essence of life in small-town Maine. Emotionally deft, authentic, and compulsively readable, Hazel Says No is a debut novel not to be missed.
Seven Year Itch (Mountain Men Matchmaker)
by Amy Daws"Deliciously funny and spicy." -Elsie Silver, New York Times bestselling authorAlone and Looking to Bone! Loudmouthed Mountain Man Seeks Fiery Woman to Grow Old With.I might look like a tall, tattooed, bearded neanderthal...but like an onion, I have layers. Swipe right if you like a proud cat daddy who catches feelings after direct eye contact.All I wanted was a casual plus-one to my brother's destination wedding, but those idiots on my family tree hacked my dating profile and sabotaged my quest for the perfect weekend fling. Now I'm stuck on a tropical vacation with only my hand to keep me company.Until I&’m forced to share a room with the bane of my existence: my sister-in-law&’s best friend.Dakota has hated me for the past seven years. I wasn&’t losing much sleep over her screaming rants because she was some other guy&’s problem. Or she was, until she got divorced.Being stuck in paradise with a woman who loathes your very existence doesn't sound hot, but after an unexpected moment in our shared palapa, she starts screaming at me in a different way.What happens in paradise stays in paradise. That is, until Dakota shows up on my mountain with a proposition: be her wingman to help her regain her pre-divorce confidence.Suddenly, Dakota&’s not just the person I love to fight with. She&’s the woman I want everything with. Perfect for fans of: Enemies to Lovers Small Town Romance / Vacation Romances Quirky Animals Meddling family Meghan Quinn and Tessa Bailey
The Teacher of Auschwitz: A Novel
by Wendy HoldenFrom the bestselling author of Born Survivors, a novel inspired by the powerful true story of a man who risked everything to protect children in Auschwitz.Fredy built a wall against suffering in their hearts . . .Amid the brutality of the Holocaust, one bright spot shone inside the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. In the shadows of the smokestacks was a wooden hut where children sang, staged plays, wrote poetry, and learned about the world. Within those four walls, brightly adorned with hand-painted cartoons, the youngest prisoners were kept vermin-free, received better food, and were even taught to imagine having full stomachs and a day without fear. Their guiding light was a twenty-seven-year-old gay, Jewish athlete: Fredy Hirsch.Being a teacher in a brutal concentration camp was no mean feat. Forced to beg senior SS officers for better provisions, Fredy risked his life every day to protect his beloved children from mortal danger.But time was running out for Fredy and the hundreds in his care. Could this kind, compassionate, and brave man find a way to teach them the one lesson they really needed to know: how to survive?The Teacher of Auschwitz shines a light on a truly remarkable individual and tells the inspiring story of how he fought to protect innocence and hope amid depravity and despair.
A Novel Murder: A Novel
by E.C. NevinWelcome to the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival, the place for stars of the genre to meet their adoring fans . . . But be careful: this year the murders aren’t just on the pageAuthor Jane Hepburn is determined to make her time at the Killer Lines festival worthwhile. This is her chance to change her fortunes and make her fictional Detective Baker a household name. And if she has to resort to sneaking into the book tent after hours to rearrange some books so hers are front and centre, so be it. But when Jane encounters the dead body of renowned (and reviled) literary agent Carrie Marks, the festival takes on a decidedly different tone. Joined by Carrie’s newest client, debut novelist Natasha Martez, and the agency’s hapless intern, Daniel Thurston, Jane decides to put her fictional sleuthing skills to use in the real world—by solving the murder. But the list of suspects is long: seemingly everyone at the festival had a motive to kill Carrie, and the more Jane and her new friends investigate, the closer they come to a dangerous truth—one that’s stranger than fiction.
I Did Warn Her: A Novel
by Sian Gilbert"I DID WARN HER is Below Deck with a body count, and I loved every minute of it. Intricately plotted and devilishly dramatic, with a claustrophobic setting and a final twist to kill for, I DID WARN HER is everything I want in a thriller. I can't wait to see what Sian Gilbert does next!" — Sara Ochs, author of The ResortA luxurious yacht, a gorgeous crew with secrets and rivalries...and murder! I Did Warn Her is a cunning locked room mystery set on a billionaire’s yacht, by the author of last year’s sensation She Started It.The Ophelia is your typical billionaire yacht: ridiculously luxurious, owned by a ruthless money man, and staffed by a crew whose only job is to indulge the guests’ every wish.Model-gorgeous Sasha is a last-minute hire for a weeklong Atlantic crossing. She joins fellow stewardesses Jade, Imogen, Euphemia, and Lola. The Ophelia’s stewardesses are almost identical—blonde and model-gorgeous—and all were lured to the Ophelia by high wages and a chance to leave their problems behind when they set sail. But despite its sleek opulence, the Ophelia isn’t as heavenly as it seems. A stewardess on the previous charter died under mysterious circumstances, the guests’ expensive jewelry keeps disappearing, and the crew grows steadily more and more suspicious of one another.Then the yacht’s owner brings aboard his best friend and two more women, also beautiful. Also hiding something.When a crew member turns up dead after a night of partying, everyone on the yacht is a suspect. Who is the jewel thief? Who is the murderer? What will happen when the lights go out, and the crew and the guests are finally on equal footing?Endlessly twisty and delightfully voyeuristic, I Did Warn Her is a whodunnit on the high seas, where the dark secrets of the ultra-wealthy have nowhere to hide.
School of Shards: A Novel (Vita Nostra #3)
by Marina & DyachenkoThe haunting final chapter of the modern classic Vita Nostra trilogy. The Dyachenkos’ magical dark academia novel brings the story of Sasha to a revelatory climax as she learns to take control of her powers and reshape the world...or destroy it forever. Beautifully translated from Russian by Julia Meitov Hersey.The Institute of Special Technologies teaches students just one thing: the magic that allows them to become parts of speech, and in doing so, transforming into a specific piece of grammar (a verb, or an adjective, or an article) so they will be able to shape the world around them. As the new provost, though, Sasha is facing an enormous problem: the students in the world she just created, her “world without fear,” are unable to master the curriculum. Whether it’s the magic or the natural order of things, what they need to learn and become—Speech—is the basis of the material world.And if she can’t teach it, Sasha knows that matter will soon cease to exist.To protect the world, Sasha must collect fragments of her former reality. Only three people carry these fragments within themselves: her younger brother, Valya, and the Grigoriev twins, Arthur and Pashka, the sons of her former lover, Yaroslav Grigoriev. Sasha must lure these three to the Institute and make them learn—and understand—at any cost.But she knows how difficult the path is, even more so from the other side of the teacher’s desk. Forced to act ever more ruthlessly, Sasha also notices the faster the world around the Institute changes. It is a vicious circle.And one she must break.To do so, she will have to shape reality again, one in which communication doesn’t break down and Speech once again needs to evolve and grow and flourish.Sasha has already given up so much in pursuit of this dream—often her nightmare—and she might be asked to make one more sacrifice so that the world and Speech might live on.
The Poppy Fields: A Novel
by Nikki ErlickFrom the New York Times bestselling author of the smash-hit The Measure—a runaway bestseller and a Read with Jenna TODAY Show pick—comes a stunning speculative story of healing, self-discovery, forgiveness, and found friendship."A masterful, tender exploration of love, loss, and the poignant echoes of memory... A profoundly moving read." —Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of The Many Daughters of Afong MoyWelcome to the Poppy Fields, where there’s hope for even the most battered hearts to heal.Here, in a remote stretch of the California desert, lies an experimental and controversial treatment center that allows those suffering from the heartache of loss to sleep through their pain...and keep on sleeping. After patients awaken from this prolonged state of slumber, they will finally be healed. But only if they’re willing to accept the potential shadowy side effects.On a journey to this mystical destination are four very different strangers and one little dog: Ava, a book illustrator; Ray, a fireman; Sasha, an occupational therapist; Sky, a free spirit; and a friendly pup named PJ. As they attempt to make their way from the Midwest all the way west to the Poppy Fields—where they hope to find Ellis, its brilliant, enigmatic founder—each of their past secrets and mysterious motivations threaten to derail their voyage.A high-concept speculative novel about heartache, hope, and human resilience, The Poppy Fields explores the path of grief and healing, a journey at once profoundly universal and unique to every person, posing the questions: How do we heal in the wake of great loss? And how far are we willing to go in order to be healed?
The Second Chance Convenience Store: A Novel
by Kim Ho-YeonIn this million-copy international bestseller from Korea, the owner of a corner store takes in an unhoused man who does a good deed, a kind soul whose presence will transform the whole neighborhood—a heartwarming tale of community and redemption reminiscent of the bestselling novels of Matt Haig and Gabrielle Zevin.Dok-go lives in Seoul Station. He can’t remember his past, and the only thing he knows for certain is that he could really use a drink. When he finds a lost wallet filled with documents, his life is drastically changed.Mrs. Yeom, a retired history teacher and current owner of her neighborhood’s corner store, is distraught over the loss of her purse, until she receives a mysterious call from the person who found it. To thank this down-on-his-luck stranger, she offers him a free meal from the convenience store. Seeing the joy the food brings him, Mrs. Yeom impulsively invites him to stop by for lunch every day.In a twist of fate, Dok-go saves the store from a robber—a brave act that propels Mrs. Yeom to offers the bear-like man a job working the night shift, despite the objections of her wary employees. The store’s new employee quickly wins over the quirky denizens of the neighborhood, becoming a welcoming ear and source of advice for his coworkers and neighbors’ problems, and helping his new boss save the store from financial ruin. But just when things are looking up for Dok-go, Mrs. Yeom's good-for-nothing son, eager to sell the store, hires a detective to dig into the mysterious man’s past and what he seems to be trying so hard to forget.The Second Chance Convenience Store is a moving and joyful story of a woman fighting for her community and a man who has lost everything except the will to try again.
My Weirdtastic School #8: Mr. Plummer Is Dumber! (My Weirdtastic School #8)
by Dan GutmanWith more than 36 million books sold, the My Weird School series really gets kids reading! In this eighth book of the My Weirdtastic School arc, Mr. Plummer—the world’s weirdest plumber!—plays detective and tries to figure out if A.J. is responsible for flooding the boys’ bathroom.A.J. and his friends are listening to parents talk about their jobs during Career Day at Ella Mentry School, when suddenly the fire alarm goes off. But there’s no fire—there’s a flood in the boys’ bathroom!It’s way too big of a job for Miss Lazar, the custodian, so the principal calls for some help. Enter Mr. Plummer, plumber extraordinaire. But will Mr. Plummer be able to fix the bathroom and figure out who caused the flood in the first place?Perfect for reluctant readers and all kids hungry for funny school stories, Dan Gutman’s hugely popular My Weird School chapter book series has something for everyone. Don’t miss the hilarious adventures of A.J. and his friends!
A Spy in the Family: A True Story of Espionage and Betrayal
by David Gardner Paul HendersonA can’t-believe-it’s-true wartime page-turner that tells the incredible story of a mother, the son she was forced to give up for adoption, and the spy who, decades later, infiltrated her life with a devastating lie. Johanna van Haarlem never wanted to abandon her son, Erwin. But the Nazis had occupied Europe and the teenager felt she had little choice. Her father had kicked her out, telling her she could return, without the child—or not at all. Johanna realized that together, she and her newborn wouldn’t survive; separated, at least Erwin had a fighting chance. So she surrendered the baby to an orphanage and tearfully went back home, vowing to return for Erwin one day.Johanna lives to see the Nazis defeated, and to deeply regret abandoning her child. When, decades later, at the height of the Cold War, she receives a letter from Erwin, it feels like a miraculous second chance. But at their joyful reunion in London, Johanna makes a disturbing discovery: Erwin’s eyes are the wrong colour. In a decision that will come to haunt her, she quickly buries the seed of her doubt and welcomes the young man into her life.It will take more than a decade for the imposter’s deceit to come to light, even longer to untangle the lies shielding his real identity—and his motives. Unfolding in a series of astonishing twists and turns, A Spy in the Family reveals the true story of a notorious Soviet Bloc agent who took advantage of a mother’s heartbreak to hide in plain sight.
Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet
by Kate MarvelA captivating exploration of climate change that uses nine different emotions to better understand the science, history, and future of our evolving planetScientist Kate Marvel has seen the world end before, sometimes several times a day. In the computer models she uses to study climate change, it’s easy to simulate rising temperatures, catastrophic outcomes, and bleak futures. But climate change isn’t just happening in those models. It’s happening here, to the only good planet in the universe. It’s happening to us. And she has feelings about that. Human Nature is a deeply felt inquiry into our rapidly changing Earth. In each chapter, Marvel uses a different emotion to explore the science and stories behind climate change. As expected, there is anger, fear, and grief—but also wonder, hope, and love. With her singular voice, Marvel takes us on a soaring journey, one filled with mythology, physics, witchcraft, bad movies, volcanoes, Roman emperors, sequoia groves, and the many small miracles of nature we usually take for granted.Hopeful, heartbreaking, and surprisingly funny, Human Nature is a vital, wondrous exploration of how it feels to live in a changing world.Human Nature is a biography of the Earth in nine emotions:WonderAngerGuiltFearGriefSurprisePrideHopeLove
Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship
by Dana A. WilliamsNPR SPRING PICKAn insightful exploration that unveils the lesser-known dimensions of this legendary writer and her legacy, revealing the cultural icon’s profound impact as a visionary editor who helped define an important period in American publishing and literature.A multifaceted genius, Toni Morrison transcended her role as an author, helping to shape an important period in American publishing and literature as an editor at one of the nation’s most prestigious publishing houses. While Toni Morrison's literary achievements are widely celebrated, her editorial work is little known. Drawing on extensive research and firsthand accounts, this comprehensive study discusses Morrison's remarkable journey from her early days at Random House to her emergence as one of its most important editors. During her tenure in editorial, Morrison refashioned the literary landscape, working with important authors, including Toni Cade Bambara, Leon Forrest, and Lucille Clifton, and empowering cultural icons such as Angela Davis and Muhammad Ali to tell their stories on their own terms.Toni Morrison herself had great enthusiasm about Dana Williams's work on this story, generously sharing memories and thoughts with the author over the years, even giving her the book's title. From the manuscripts she molded, the authors she nurtured, and the readers she inspired, Toni at Random demonstrates how Toni Morrison has influenced American culture beyond the individual titles or authors she published. Morrison’s contribution as an editor transformed the broader literary landscape and deepened the cultural conversation. With unparalleled insight and sensitivity, Toni at Random charts this editorial odyssey.
In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon: Happiness, History, and Environment in a Changing Bhutan (ASIANetwork Books)
by Betsy BoltonLandlocked, mountainous, and surrounded by global giants India and China, Bhutan has provided remarkable leadership on both climate action and human happiness, despite its pre-2023 status as a least-developed nation. Bhutan was the first country to be internationally recognized as carbon neutral; it is also the birthplace of “Gross National Happiness” (GNH), a pointed alternative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a means of measuring the success of national policies in promoting citizens’ wellbeing. Yet Bhutan has also been a site of ethnic conflict, with roughly tens of thousands people displaced into refugee camps in the 1990s and eventually resettled abroad. International views on Bhutan tend to be sharply split between admiration for its democratizing development strategies and opposition to its human rights abuses—a division partly maintained by Bhutan’s tight limits on immigration and foreign travel within the country. In the first book-length study of its kind, In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon explores the tensions and contradictions of Bhutan’s rapid political and economic transformation from the perspective of a Fulbright scholar helping start a new master’s program in the remote east of the country. Mingling personal narrative with historical context to engage undergraduate students and general readers, In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon explores Bhutan’s Vajrayana Buddhist heritage and ongoing embrace of tradition alongside development, the country’s newly minted democracy amidst a complicated history of citizenship and belonging, and the challenges the nation faces in a period of increasing globalization. Betsy Bolton further explores Bhutan’s recent events surrounding the 1990s expulsion of the Lhotshampa people and the development of GNH in the early 2000s. From here, Bolton illuminates how these historical narratives and issues have impacted Bhutanese citizens and students through stories gathered at educational and artistic institutions, festivals and community events. In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon is a fresh, accessible approach to Bhutanese history and will interest general readers as well as scholars of Asia, history, economics, sociology, and environmental studies.
Born
by Heather BirrellWhat happens when an English teacher goes into labour during a Toronto high school lockdown?High school English teacher Elise loves teaching Shakespeare. She is also very pregnant. She’s trapped in a classroom with her Grade 12 students during a lockdown. Anthony, the cause of the lockdown, is roaming the halls with a knife in search of some solace, consumed by thoughts of his best friend Samantha, who is in peril. Maria, the school's counselor, is second-guessing her decision to turn him in.As the lockdown drags on, Elise can no longer deny that she’s going into labour. And she’ll have to rely on the students to get her through: Shai-Anna and Faduma end up acting as midwives, and the others do what they can. In the same way the self shatters and sharpens when one is doing the hard work of giving birth, so does the narrative of the novel, with various people in the school picking up the threads of the story.With infinite empathy for all involved, Born explores the myriad pitfalls and utopian possibilities of the school system, motherhood, and caregiving, and the sometimes fraught, sometimes transcendent nature of the student-teacher relationship.
I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness: A Novel
by Irene SolàDawn is breaking over the Guilleries, a rugged mountain range in Catalonia frequented by wolf hunters, brigands, deserters, race-car drivers, ghosts, and demons. In a remote farmhouse called Mas Clavell, an impossibly old woman lies on her deathbed. Family and caretakers drift in and out. Meanwhile, all the women who have lived and died in that house are waiting for her to join them. They are preparing to throw her a party. As day turns to night, four hundred years’ worth of stories unspool, and the house reverberates with raucous laughter, pungent feasts, and piercing cries of pleasure and pain. It all begins with Joana, Mas Clavell’s matriarch, who once longed for a husband—“a full man,” perhaps even “an heir with a patch of land and a roof over his head.” She summoned the devil to fulfill her wish and struck a deal: a man in exchange for her soul. But when, on her wedding day, Joana discovered that her husband was missing a toe (eaten by wolves), she exploited a loophole in her agreement, heedless of what consequences might follow. I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness is an audacious and entrancing novel in which the lines between the dead and the living, past and present, story and history are blurred. In it, Irene Solà draws on oral tradition as well as art, literature, and fairy tales to tell a completely new kind of story.
Bad Creek
by Peyton June“June's debut is atmospheric and haunting, capturing the heart-pounding exhilaration of exchanging ghost stories around a campfire. The perfect spine-tingling read for summer!”—Tori Bovalino, author of My Throat an Open Grave Three lifelong friends confront restless ghosts and malevolent family secrets in this fierce, propulsive debut young adult horror novel. Iris, Gum, and Aidan are vacationing in Bad Creek, just like every summer. Except Iris’s older sister, Glory, drowned in the lake last year, and Iris can’t seem to move on; Gum is hiding his sexuality from his family while being viciously haunted by Glory’s rotting ghost; and Aidan is distraught over a drunken argument with Glory that he fears may have led to her death. When Iris sleepwalks to the dilapidated house that Glory obsessively sketched in her final days, she and the boys begin to uncover a sinister history in the very bones of the town. The trio must reckon with the events of last summer and uncover what lurks within Bad Creek before it takes Iris’s life next. Gripping and vengeful, Bad Creek confronts the intersection of religion, sexuality, and feminism, and forces readers to reckon with monsters in all their forms—human included.
Summers in Squid Tickle: A Newfoundland Odyssey
by Robert FinchAn acclaimed nature writer’s moving recollection of his two decades as a summer resident of a Newfoundland fishing village, originally known as Squid Tickle. Robert Finch arrived in Newfoundland in the summer of 1995 heartsick, directionless, his old life on Cape Cod in tatters. Burnside, located in Newfoundland’s rugged northeast, seemed like a good place to heal. The coastal village was home to just fifty year-round residents, and accessible only by a hundred-mile ferry crossing. Finch was drawn in by the landscape of low ridges and archipelagos of rocky islands, but he returned to Burnside for its strong sense of community, and the possibility that it might provide a new pattern for his ow life. Eventually Finch became a summer resident, buying a house, playing organ for the church, and fishing the area’s waters. Offering a portrait of the Newfoundland character and culture, Summers in Squid Tickle explores how three generations of the village have grappled with the changes of the past century—from the rise and collapse of commercial cod fishing, and the migration of young people away from the outport, to the distant hope for tourism and new industries to sustain a disappearing way of life. With characteristically elegant prose and deep sensitivity, Finch introduces us to Squid Tickle’s inhabitants—a collection of hardy fishermen, vigorous retirees, and close neighbors, as well as the woman who would become his wife. Even as the fish in Squid Tickle’s waters vanish, Finch sketches the enduring relationship of a village with the sea—for food, work, leisure, and a rich community life—in the midst of an unforgiving but stunning landscape. Summers in Squid Tickle speaks to the desire we all have in our era to seek quiet, and to reevaluate our connection to each other and the natural world.
The Omnivore’s Deception: What We Get Wrong about Meat, Animals, and Ourselves
by John SanbonmatsuOffers the most powerful case yet for ending our exploitation of animals for foodMillions of Americans see themselves as "conflicted omnivores," worrying about the ethical and environmental implications of their choice to eat animals. Yet their attempts to justify their choices only obscure the truth of the matter: in John Sanbonmatsu’s view, killing and eating animals is unethical, regardless of whether they are "free range" or factory farmed. Shattering the conventional wisdom around the meat economy, he reframes the question of animal agriculture from one of "sustainability" to one of existential and moral purpose, presenting a powerful case for the total abolition of the animal economy. In a rejoinder to Michael Pollan and other critics who have told us that we can have our meat and our consciences, too, he shows why "humane meat" is always a contradiction in terms.The Omnivore’s Deception provides a deeply observed philosophical meditation on the nature of our relationship with animals. Peeling back the myriad layers of myth, falsehoods, and bad faith that keep us eating meat, the book offers a novel perspective on our troubled relations with animals in the food economy. The problem with raising and killing animals for food isn't just that it's "bad for the environment,” but the wrong way to live a human life. A tour de force of moral philosophy and cultural critique, The Omnivore's Deception will change the way we think about meat, animals, and human purpose.
Birth Behind Bars: The Carceral Control of Pregnant Women in Prison
by Rebecca M. CareyPregnant women's experiences in prisonFour percent of incarcerated women—more than three thousand—are pregnant in US prisons each year, yet little information is known about their pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and motherhood experiences. In Birth Behind Bars, Rebecca M. Rodriguez Carey draws on in-depth interviews with women who were once pregnant in prisons in the heart of the Midwest to provide a rare, intimate portrait into the intersection of motherhood and incarceration.Using a reproductive-justice framework and narrative accounts, Rodriguez Carey shows how the prison system works alongside other carceral systems, such as the medical system and the child welfare system, to regulate and control women. She reveals how their incarceration goes beyond the function of criminal punishment, threatening both maternal and fetal health and the well-being of families. Birth Behind Bars offers an evocative account of how these powerful carceral systems collectively disrupt entire families and communities during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period, including long after women are released from prison.