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Elsewhere: A brand new tense and haunting psychological suspense
by Sarah TierneyA psychologically gripping novel of estranged sisters, deep secrets, and tense twists from &“an elegant and thrilling new voice&” (Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals). At the height of summer, two sisters reunite at a remote cottage. They&’ve long been distant from each other, literally as well as emotionally: Anna is a free-spirited wanderer and Catherine is career-focused and settled in one place. So, some tension is not surprising, but it rapidly escalates when odd things start happening during the all-night twilight on the wild peninsula. Who&’s the watchful girl with a baby and what does she want from the sisters? Who bangs on their windows in the early hours then disappears into the woods? What does the sad-eyed Scottish man Anna is falling for know about it all? And how does it link back to an event twenty years ago that the sisters never talk about—the incident that created all this confusion, dislocation, and longing in the first place? This suspenseful, knowing novel explores how psychosis creeps in on the back of isolation and suspicion; the shadow that motherhood casts over women&’s lives, even when there is no child; and how buried trauma always winds its way up to the surface—sometimes in the strangest and most frightening ways.Praise for Sarah Tierney&’s Making Space &“A strong debut.&” —The Manchester Review &“Simply riveting . . . unfailingly entertaining.&” —Midwest Book Review
Storm Child: Discover the smart, gripping and emotional thriller from the No.1 bestseller (Cyrus Haven)
by Michael RobothamSOME MEMORIES ARE BURIED FOR A REASON. . . The compulsively readable new thriller by the #1 bestselling and award-winning master of crimeThe most painful of Evie Cormac's memories have been locked away, ever since she was held prisoner as a child - a child whose rescue captured hearts and headlines.Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven's mission is to guide her to something near normality. But today, on a British beach, seventeen bodies wash up in front of them. There is only one survivor, with two women still missing. And Evie's nightmares come roaring back . . .Whatever happened all those years ago lies at the core of this new tragedy. Because these deaths are no accident. The same dark forces are reaching out, dragging her back into the storm.Evie must now call upon Cyrus's unique skills, and her own, in their search for the missing pieces of this complex and haunting puzzle. But will that be enough to save them? And who will pay for the past?
Storm Child: Discover the smart, gripping and emotional thriller from the No.1 bestseller (Cyrus Haven)
by Michael RobothamA MASTERFUL THRILLER ABOUT FORGETTING, REMEMBERING, AND THE DANGERS OF BOTH... FROM THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF THE SUSPECT, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS AND LYING BESIDE YOU'A razor-sharp and emotionally charged thriller that explores both the darkness of men's hearts and the resiliency of human spirit' LISA GARDNER'Tension and tenderness - Michael Robotham is that rare thing, a writer who does both brilliantly. An utterly thrilling emotional ride' WILLIAM SHAWThe storm is coming... The most painful of Evie Cormac's memories have been locked away, ever since she was held prisoner as a child - a child whose rescue captured hearts and headlines. Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven's mission is to guide her to something near normality. But today, on a Lincolnshire beach, seventeen bodies wash up in front of them. There is only one survivor, with two women still missing. And Evie's nightmares come roaring back... Whatever happened all those years ago lies at the core of this new tragedy. Because these deaths are no accident. The same dark forces are reaching out, dragging her back into the storm. Evie must now call upon Cyrus's unique skills, and her own, in their search for the missing pieces of this complex and haunting puzzle. But will that be enough to save them? And who will pay for the past?'A modern masterpiece . . . As deep, dark and stormy as the North Sea, this is truly compelling crime writing' ***** Reader Review'Robotham's storytelling is engrossing, capturing the shades of dark and light in his characters, with a fast pace and many twists and turns' ***** Reader Review'Moving and emotional, breaking your heart and warning it at the same time. Another tremendous and well-written read which is action-packed, full of tense and suspenseful moments' ***** Reader Review*WHEN YOU ARE MINE was a No.1 fiction bestseller in Australia in June 2021
Emerging and Re-emerging Infections in Travellers
by Nick Beeching Eskild Petersen Hakan LeblebiciogluThis book provides essential information on the epidemiology, diagnosis and management of common and some rare infections in travellers. It will equip readers with key knowledge on clinically important emerging and re-emerging infections caused by wide variety of bacteria, viruses and parasites. The coverage ranges from influenza, hepatitis, malaria and tuberculosis to Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever, Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever, dengue, Zika virus infection and many other important diseases. The emergence and spread of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms is discussed, and practical advice is included regarding disease prevention in travellers and humanitarian aid workers. Other generic chapters address the clinical approach to fever in the returning traveller, and preparedness and response to emerging infectious diseases. This comprehensive, up-to-date book will be an excellent source of information and guidance for all clinicians and researchers with an interest in infectious diseases, microbiology, epidemiology, and travel medicine.
HYPERID - A Hybrid Methodology for Project Management and Product Development
by Arash ParsaniaThis book describes a new methodology for planning and delivering projects and products. HYPERID (Hyper Inter-Methodological Delivery) is suitable for any type of project - from developing AI-powered software to building a skyscraper - regardless of whether those projects have typically been delivered using agile or sequential methods to date. HYPERID is particularly suitable for "fixed time/fixed price" projects and can address the core project delivery needs of today's enterprises that primarily revolve around predictability and successful delivery in terms of cost, time, and added value while remaining agile.HYPERID, as a hybrid methodology, makes use of some existing approaches and complements them with additional processes, structures, best practices, and behaviors. The methodology was developed because previous process models - classic (such as the waterfall method) and agile (including Scrum) cannot meet some of today’s key requirements. HYPERID can be used to address the following core needs: reliable predictability and rapid planning, iterative and value-added results, and on-time and on-budget execution. The book is structured in such a way that the reader can learn all the necessary skills for planning and implementation according to the HYPERID methodology. The explanation of the individual steps is supplemented by background information, examples, and both best and bad practices. HYPERID is aimed at project managers and product managers, as well as executives who want to improve the implementation of their projects or products. On the HYPERID website you will find further information, updates, and tools for practical implementation.
Origin and Evolution of Caribbean Mangroves: A Time-Continuum Ecological Approach (Ecological Studies #252)
by Valentí RullThis book provides a comprehensive, detailed, and coherent spatio-temporal account of Caribbean mangrove evolution from its evolutionary origins to the present that is not available for any mangrove region in the world. Mangroves are intertidal wetland forests that play a crucial role in the maintenance of terrestrial and marine biodiversity, and in the functioning of global biogeochemical cycles (especially the carbon cycle). These ecosystems dominate the tropical/subtropical coasts of all continents and are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. This book combines all temporal scales, from the geological to the ecological, to provide an integrated picture of mangrove history and the natural and anthropogenic drivers of ecological and evolutionary change. This may be useful not only for understanding the current ecological status of these emblematic ecosystems, but also for informing their conservation in the face of ongoing global change.
The Geology of North Africa (Regional Geology Reviews)
by Ezzoura Errami Zakaria Hamimi Abdel-Rahman Fowler Moulley Charaf Chabou Nuri Fello Amara Masrouhi Rémi LeprêtreThis richly illustrated book reviews the geology, tectonics, sedimentary basins and strategic resources of North Africa in 21 chapters. Chapter 1 is a regional synthesis. Chapter 2 examines the deep crustal and upper mantle structure. Chapter 3 compares the West African Craton. Chapters 4,5,6,7 deal with Pan-African-, Variscan (Hercynian)- and Alpine-Belts. Precambrian Geology of Hoggar Shield, north Central Africa will be addressed in Chapter 8. The North African Neoproterozoic and Phanerozoic sedimentary basins are the topic of Chapter 9. Phanerozoic magmatism and geodynamic framework of North Africa are addressed in Chapter 10. Chapters 11,12 deal with petroleum geology and water resources. Important non-metallic- and metallic- ore deposits are presented in Chapter 13,14,15,16. Chapters 17,18 explore geothermal energy and other strategic resources. Chapters 19,20 discuss seismicity, seismotectonics and Neotectonics, and Advances of exploration geophysics in North Africa. The lasttwo chapters (20, 21) focus on meteoric impact craters, geoheritage, geoparks and geotourism in North Africa.
Ecologies of Care in Times of Climate Change: Water Security in the Global Context
by Michael BuserThis book investigates and analyses places in Europe, North America and Asia that are facing the immense challenges associated with climate change adaptation. Presenting real-world cases in the contexts of coastal change, drinking water and the cryosphere, Michael Buser shows how the concept of care can be applied to water security and climate adaptation. Exploring the everyday and often hidden ways in which water security is accomplished, the book demonstrates the pervasiveness and power of care to contribute to flourishing lives and communities in times of climate change.
The Economic Lives of Platforms: Rethinking the Political Economy of Digital Markets
by Anne Mette Thorhauge, Andreas Lindegaard Gregersen, Eva Iris Otto, Jacob Ørmen and Morten Axel PedersenThis interdisciplinary collection rethinks the political economy of the digital market by asking what came before platforms and suggesting what might come after them. By unpacking the concept of ‘platform economies’ into locally embedded variations of digital markets, the book identifies what is new about contemporary platforms and what is characteristic of wider historical, social and economic currents. The diverse team of authors employ various analytical approaches, including in-depth ethnographic studies, and theoretical and analytical reconceptualizations of platforms and the industries they encompass.Tapping into current themes including the decolonisation of the internet, this book offers a timely assessment of the implications of emerging reconfigurations between technology, information, society and markets.
What Do Corporations Want?: Communicative Capitalism, Corporate Purpose, and a New Theory of the Firm
by Timothy Kuhn'Corporate purpose' has become a battleground for stakeholders’ competing desires. Some argue that corporations must simply generate profit; others suggest that we must make them create social change.Leading organization studies scholar Timothy Kuhn argues that this 'either/or' thinking dramatically oversimplifies matters: today’s corporations must be many things, all at once.Kuhn offers a bold new Communicative Theory of the Firm to highlight the authority that creates corporations’ identities and activities. The theory provides a roadmap for navigating that battleground of competing desires to produce more responsive corporations.Drawing on communicative and new materialist theorizing, along with three insightful case studies, this book thoroughly redefines our understandings of what corporations are 'for'.
Providing Public Space in a Contemporary Metropolis: Dilemmas and Lessons from London and Hong Kong (Urban Policy, Planning and the Built Environment)
by Louie Sieh Claudio De MagalhãesIncreasingly, public space provision and management are being transferred from the public sector to real estate developers, private sector organisations, voluntary groups and community bodies. Contrasting the more historical, horizontal character of London with the intense street life of high-rise Hong Kong, this book tells the story of the two cities’ relationships with non-traditional forms of public space governance. The authors consider the implications for the ‘publicness’ of these complex spaces and the challenges and impacts that different forms of provision have on those with a stake in them, and on the cities as a whole.
In Eve's Attire: Modesty, Judaism and the Female Body
by Delphine HorvilleurDoes modernity trample on tradition, or can it in fact be a vehicle for the sacred?How can one determine whether an interpretation is legitimate, anachronistic or corrupted?Does sexual obsession have a textual origin, and is it woman's destiny to be veiled?In Eve's Attire confronts these questions and more to suggest another interpretation of religious traditions surrounding the female body and the erotic.As current fundamentalist religious discourse expresses a growing fixation on modesty, women are increasingly reduced to those parts of their bodies that arouse desire, effectively "genitalised" until the totality of their bodies becomes taboo. In resistance to such interpretations of religious text, which see even a woman's voice as an erotic organ to be silenced, Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur looks not only at religious texts themselves, but also at their interpreters, as she unpicks readings that make the woman a temptress, and modesty the instrument of her oppression. She shows us how nakedness, as expressed by Adam, Eve or Noah, refers to a culture of desire and not a wish to suppress it and explores how the veil was originally intended: not to reject, but to approach the other.Through her analysis of the meaning of modesty and nudity in Judaism, Delphine Horvilleur explores the societal and religious obsession with the female body and its representation and asks questions about how we can engage more critically with interpretations of sacred texts.Translated from the French by Ruth Diver
The Midwife's Secret: A gripping, heartbreaking story about a missing girl and a family secret for lovers of historical fiction
by Emily GunnisA little girl goes missing from Yew Tree Manor - the same house from which a girl vanished decades before. Does the key to the present lie buried even deeper in the past, in the forgotten history of an innocent midwife accused by a family of shocking betrayal? A gripping, heartwrenching story of love, loyalty and family secrets.From the internationally bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE LETTER.__________It all began with a midwife's secret, long buried but if uncovered could save two families from the bitter tragedy that binds them. And prove the key that will free them all...1969 On New Year's Eve, while the Hiltons of Yew Tree Manor prepare to host the party of the season, their little girl disappears. Suspicion falls on Bobby James, a young farmhand and the last person to see Alice before she vanished. Bobby protests his innocence, but he is sent away. Alice is never found.Present day Architect Willow James is working on a development at Yew Tree when she discovers the land holds a secret. As she begins to dig deep into the past, she uncovers a web of injustice. And when another child goes missing, Willow knows the only way to stop history repeating itself is to right a terrible wrong...** EMILY GUNNIS'S NEW NOVEL THE GIRLS LEFT BEHIND IS AVAILABLE NOW **ARE YOU READY TO DISCOVER THE MIDWIFE'S SECRET? READERS ARE SPELLBOUND:'I can highly recommend this beautiful tale which is heartbreaking, emotional, gripping, suspenseful and will keep you on the edge of your seat' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review'The Midwife's Secret is an unputdownable book that grips you from the beginning. Be prepared for plenty of tears throughout, right to the end' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review'Wow! What a powerful book. This had me hooked from the start. The story spans generations and tells of lies, grief and secrets. It was extremely well written and had you guessing right to the end. Loved the characters and couldn't put this book down' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review'This story grabbed a hold of me and sucked me in. It was highly captivating, dramatic and emotional . . . I literally could not turn the pages fast enough' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review'A real heart-pounder! It had intrigue, suspense and lots of twists and turns!! Definitely some jaw-dropping moments! I highly recommend reading this book!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review'The story was stunning and heartbreaking. I went to bed at 2am! Can't wait for the next book' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review'Spellbindingly good! Heartbreak, intrigue, mystery' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review
Catholic Spectacle and Rome's Jews: Early Modern Conversion and Resistance
by Dr Emily MichelsonA new investigation that shows how conversionary preaching to Jews was essential to the early modern Catholic Church and the Roman religious landscapeStarting in the sixteenth century, Jews in Rome were forced, every Saturday, to attend a hostile sermon aimed at their conversion. Harshly policed, they were made to march en masse toward the sermon and sit through it, all the while scrutinized by local Christians, foreign visitors, and potential converts. In Catholic Spectacle and Rome’s Jews, Emily Michelson demonstrates how this display was vital to the development of early modern Catholicism.Drawing from a trove of overlooked manuscripts, Michelson reconstructs the dynamics of weekly forced preaching in Rome. As the Catholic Church began to embark on worldwide missions, sermons to Jews offered a unique opportunity to define and defend its new triumphalist, global outlook. They became a point of prestige in Rome. The city’s most important organizations invested in maintaining these spectacles, and foreign tourists eagerly attended them. The title of “Preacher to the Jews” could make a man’s career. The presence of Christian spectators, Roman and foreign, was integral to these sermons, and preachers played to the gallery. Conversionary sermons also provided an intellectual veneer to mask ongoing anti-Jewish aggressions. In response, Jews mounted a campaign of resistance, using any means available.Examining the history and content of sermons to Jews over two and a half centuries, Catholic Spectacle and Rome’s Jews argues that conversionary preaching to Jews played a fundamental role in forming early modern Catholic identity.
Thinking Clearly with Data: A Guide to Quantitative Reasoning and Analysis
by Ethan Bueno de Mesquita Anthony FowlerAn engaging introduction to data science that emphasizes critical thinking over statistical techniquesAn introduction to data science or statistics shouldn’t involve proving complex theorems or memorizing obscure terms and formulas, but that is exactly what most introductory quantitative textbooks emphasize. In contrast, Thinking Clearly with Data focuses, first and foremost, on critical thinking and conceptual understanding in order to teach students how to be better consumers and analysts of the kinds of quantitative information and arguments that they will encounter throughout their lives.Among much else, the book teaches how to assess whether an observed relationship in data reflects a genuine relationship in the world and, if so, whether it is causal; how to make the most informative comparisons for answering questions; what questions to ask others who are making arguments using quantitative evidence; which statistics are particularly informative or misleading; how quantitative evidence should and shouldn’t influence decision-making; and how to make better decisions by using moral values as well as data. Filled with real-world examples, the book shows how its thinking tools apply to problems in a wide variety of subjects, including elections, civil conflict, crime, terrorism, financial crises, health care, sports, music, and space travel.Above all else, Thinking Clearly with Data demonstrates why, despite the many benefits of our data-driven age, data can never be a substitute for thinking.An ideal textbook for introductory quantitative methods courses in data science, statistics, political science, economics, psychology, sociology, public policy, and other fieldsIntroduces the basic toolkit of data analysis—including sampling, hypothesis testing, Bayesian inference, regression, experiments, instrumental variables, differences in differences, and regression discontinuityUses real-world examples and data from a wide variety of subjectsIncludes practice questions and data exercises
The Illusionist Brain: The Neuroscience of Magic
by Jordi Camí Luis M. MartínezHow magicians exploit the natural functioning of our brains to astonish and amaze usHow do magicians make us see the impossible? The Illusionist Brain takes you on an unforgettable journey through the inner workings of the human mind, revealing how magicians achieve their spectacular and seemingly impossible effects by interfering with your cognitive processes. Along the way, this lively and informative book provides a guided tour of modern neuroscience, using magic as a lens for understanding the unconscious and automatic functioning of our brains.We construct reality from the information stored in our memories and received through our senses, and our brains are remarkably adept at tricking us into believing that our experience is continuous. In fact, our minds create our perception of reality by elaborating meanings and continuities from incomplete information, and while this strategy carries clear benefits for survival, it comes with blind spots that magicians know how to exploit. Jordi Camí and Luis Martínez explore the many different ways illusionists manipulate our attention—making us look but not see—and take advantage of our individual predispositions and fragile memories.The Illusionist Brain draws on the latest findings in neuroscience to explain how magic deceives us, surprises us, and amazes us, and demonstrates how illusionists skillfully “hack” our brains to alter how we perceive things and influence what we imagine.
Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood
by Rose GeorgeAn eye-opening exploration of blood, the lifegiving substance with the power of taboo, the value of diamonds and the promise of breakthrough scienceBlood carries life, yet the sight of it makes people faint. It is a waste product and a commodity pricier than oil. It can save lives and transmit deadly infections. Each one of us has roughly nine pints of it, yet many don’t even know their own blood type. And for all its ubiquitousness, the few tablespoons of blood discharged by 800 million women are still regarded as taboo: menstruation is perhaps the single most demonized biological event.Rose George, author of The Big Necessity, is renowned for her intrepid work on topics that are invisible but vitally important. In Nine Pints, she takes us from ancient practices of bloodletting to the breakthough of the "liquid biopsy," which promises to diagnose cancer and other diseases with a simple blood test. She introduces Janet Vaughan, who set up the world’s first system of mass blood donation during the Blitz, and Arunachalam Muruganantham, known as “Menstrual Man” for his work on sanitary pads for developing countries. She probes the lucrative business of plasma transfusions, in which the US is known as the “OPEC of plasma.” And she looks to the future, as researchers seek to bring synthetic blood to a hospital near you.Spanning science and politics, stories and global epidemics, Nine Pints reveals our life's blood in an entirely new light.Nine Pints was named one of Bill Gates recommended summer reading titles for 2019.
Sex in the Sea: Our Intimate Connection with Kinky Crustaceans, Sex-Changing Fish, Romantic Lobsters, and Other Salty Erotica of the Deep
by Marah J. HardtAn Oprah.com "Best Book for National Reading Month"Forget the Kama Sutra. When it comes to inventive sex acts, just look to the sea. There we find the elaborate mating rituals of armored lobsters; giant right whales engaging in a lively threesome whilst holding their breath; full moon sex parties of groupers and daily mating blitzes by blueheaded wrasse. Deep-sea squid perform inverted 69s, while hermaphrodite sea slugs link up in giant sex loops. From doubly endowed sharks to the maze-like vaginas of some whales, Sex in the Sea is a journey unlike any other to explore the staggering ways life begets life beneath the waves.Beyond a deliciously voyeuristic excursion, Sex in the Sea uniquely connects the timeless topic of sex with the timely issue of sustainable oceans. Through overfishing, climate change, and ocean pollution we are disrupting the creative procreation that drives the wild abundance of life in the ocean. With wit and scientific rigor, Hardt introduces us to the researchers and innovators who study the wet and wild sex lives of ocean life and offer solutions that promote rather than prevent, successful sex in the sea. Part science, part erotica, Sex in the Sea discusses how we can shift from a prophylactic to a more propagative force for life in the ocean.
Indigo: A Novel
by Christopher Golden Charlaine Harris Kelley Armstrong Jonathan MaberryIn a brilliant collaboration by New York Times and critically acclaimed coauthors Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Kelley Armstrong, Jonathan Maberry, Kat Richardson, Seanan McGuire, Tim Lebbon, Cherie Priest, James A. Moore, and Mark Morris join forces to bring you a crime-solving novel like you’ve never read before. Investigative reporter Nora Hesper spends her nights cloaked in shadows. As Indigo, she’s become an urban myth, a brutal vigilante who can forge darkness into weapons and travel across the city by slipping from one patch of shadow to another. Her primary focus both as Nora and as Indigo has become a murderous criminal cult called the Children of Phonos. Children are being murdered in New York, and Nora is determined to make it stop, even if that means Indigo must eliminate every member. But in the aftermath of a bloody battle, a dying cultist makes claims that cause Indigo to question her own origin and memories. Nora’s parents were killed when she was nineteen years old. She took the life insurance money and went off to explore the world, leading to her becoming a student of meditation and strange magic in a mountaintop monastery in Nepal…a history that many would realize sounds suspiciously like the origins of several comic book characters. As Nora starts to pick apart her memory, it begins to unravel. Her parents are dead, but the rest is a series of lies. Where did she get the power inside her?
Bug Music: How Insects Gave Us Rhythm and Noise
by David RothenbergIn the spring of 2013 the cicadas in the Northeastern United States will yet again emerge from their seventeen-year cycle—the longest gestation period of any animal. Those who experience this great sonic invasion compare their sense of wonder to the arrival of a comet or a solar eclipse. This unending rhythmic cycle is just one unique example of how the pulse and noise of insects has taught humans the meaning of rhythm, from the whirr of a cricket's wings to this unfathomable and exact seventeen-year beat. In listening to cicadas, as well as other humming, clicking, and thrumming insects, Bug Music is the first book to consider the radical notion that we humans got our idea of rhythm, synchronization, and dance from the world of insect sounds that surrounded our species over the millions of years over which we evolved. Completing the trilogy he began with Why Birds Sing and Thousand Mile Song, David Rothenberg explores a unique part of our relationship with nature and sound—the music of insects that has provided a soundtrack for humanity throughout the history of our species. Bug Music continues Rothenberg's in-depth research and spirited writing on the relationship between human and animal music, and it follows him as he explores insect influences in classical and modern music, plays his saxophone with crickets and other insects, and confers with researchers and scientists nationwide. This engaging and thought-provoking book challenges our understanding of our place in nature and our relationship to the creatures surrounding us, and makes a passionate case for the interconnectedness of species.
Bulls Before Breakfast: Running with the Bulls and Celebrating Fiesta de San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain
by Peter N. MilliganEver since Ernest Hemingway popularized the fiesta de San Fermín with the publication of The Sun Also Rises in 1926, the world has been enthralled with the concept of running with the bulls. For millions, running with the bulls remains on their bucket list, and for Hemingway fans it is a lifelong dream. For Peter N. Milligan, it is a way of life. Part memoir and part travel guide, Bulls Before Breakfast recounts Milligan's many adventures in Pamplona, Spain. In his dozen years of visiting the fiesta de San Fermín, Milligan has run with the bulls over 70 times and accumulated stories both thrilling and terrifying. Bulls Before Breakfast is the definitive guide to Pamplona, its famed fiesta, and the surrounding Kingdom of Navarra. It is also a memoir of two brothers running with the bulls and exploring every corner of the city, the countryside, the mountains, the beaches, and the famed restaurants of the Basque hinterland. The book focuses on local knowledge, and the hidden mysteries of this closed, private culture and community. Milligan has slowly pried open this trove of secrets over the past twelve years, all while refining the art of getting between the horns of a massive, perfect Spanish killing machine, el toro bravo, and running for his life.
Disgruntled: A Novel
by Asali SolomonAn elegant, vibrant, startling coming-of-age novel, for anyone who's ever felt the shame of being aliveKenya Curtis is only eight years old, but she knows that she's different, even if she can't put her finger on how or why. It's not because she's black—most of the other students in the fourth-grade class at her West Philadelphia elementary school are too. Maybe it's because she celebrates Kwanzaa, or because she's forbidden from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Maybe it's because she calls her father—a housepainter-slash-philosopher—"Baba" instead of "Daddy," or because her parents' friends gather to pour out libations "from the Creator, for the Martyrs" and discuss "the community." Kenya does know that it's connected to what her Baba calls "the shame of being alive"—a shame that only grows deeper and more complex over the course of Asali Solomon's long-awaited debut novel. Disgruntled, effortlessly funny and achingly poignant, follows Kenya from West Philadelphia to the suburbs, from public school to private, from childhood through adolescence, as she grows increasingly disgruntled by her inability to find any place or thing or person that feels like home. A coming-of-age tale, a portrait of Philadelphia in the late eighties and early nineties, an examination of the impossible double-binds of race, Disgruntled is a novel about the desire to rise above the limitations of the narratives we're given and the painful struggle to craft fresh ones we can call our own.
Can't and Won't: Stories
by Lydia DavisA new collection of short stories from the woman Rick Moody has called "the best prose stylist in America"Her stories may be literal one-liners: the entirety of "Bloomington" reads, "Now that I have been here for a little while, I can say with confidence that I have never been here before." Or they may be lengthier investigations of the havoc wreaked by the most mundane disruptions to routine: in "A Small Story About a Small Box of Chocolates," a professor receives a gift of thirty-two small chocolates and is paralyzed by the multitude of options she imagines for their consumption. The stories may appear in the form of letters of complaint; they may be extracted from Flaubert's correspondence; or they may be inspired by the author's own dreams, or the dreams of friends. What does not vary throughout Can't and Won't, Lydia Davis's fifth collection of stories, is the power of her finely honed prose. Davis is sharply observant; she is wry or witty or poignant. Above all, she is refreshing. Davis writes with bracing candor and sly humor about the quotidian, revealing the mysterious, the foreign, the alienating, and the pleasurable within the predictable patterns of daily life.
Mz N: A Poem-in-episodes
by Maureen N. McLaneThe acclaimed poet, memoirist, and essayist Maureen N. McLane here charts a new path into vital genre-bending territories. Not a novel, not a memoir, not a lyric, Mz N: the serial: A Poem-in-Episodes offers something else—“life . . . a continual allegory” (to invoke Keats): a life intense, episodic, female, sexual, philosophical, romantic, analytic. Tracking the growth of one poet’s mind, switchbacking its way through American English, Mz N toggles between story and song. This is a poetry both “furious / & alive.”Alive to the lash of love, the longueurs of adolescence, the limits of identity, Mz N: the serial: A Poem-in-Episodes is a bravura experiment in life-writing—an assaying, a testing, a transforming, an honoring of the tentative and the torqued. What is it to be contemporary, to be “one / among other ones” in a “cracking world”? How does a body vibrate into being? How is a mind made out of other minds? Seizing the queer realities of any life, Mz N explores how one is surprised, seduced, and struck into speech, thought, song, silence. “Then, what is life?” cried Shelley. So too Mz N.
The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students through Digital Learning
by James Paul GeeOne of the first champions of the positive effects of gaming reveals the dark side of today's digital and social media Today's schools are eager to use the latest technology in the classroom, but rather than improving learning, the new e-media can just as easily narrow students' horizons. Education innovator James Paul Gee first documented the educational benefits of gaming a decade ago in his classic What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. Now, with digital and social media at the center of modern life, he issues an important warning that groundbreaking new technologies, far from revolutionizing schooling, can stymie the next generation's ability to resolve deep global challenges. The solution-and perhaps our children's future-lies in what Gee calls synchronized intelligence, a way of organizing people and their digital tools to solve problems, produce knowledge, and allow people to count and contribute. Gee explores important strategies and tools for today's parents, educators, and policy makers, including virtual worlds, artificial tutors, and ways to create collective intelligence where everyday people can solve hard problems. By harnessing the power of human creativity with interactional and technological sophistication we can finally overcome the limitations of today's failing educational system and solve problems in our high-risk global world. The Anti-Education Era is a powerful and important call to reshape digital learning, engage children in a meaningful educational experience, and bridge inequality.