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River east, river west : a novel / by Rey Lescure, Aube,author.;
"Shanghai, 2007: Fourteen-year-old Alva has always longed for more. Raised by her American expat mother, she's never known her Chinese father, and is certain a better life awaits them in America. But when her mother announces her engagement to their wealthy Chinese landlord, Lu Fang, Alva's hopes are dashed, and so she plots for the next best thing: the American School in Shanghai. Upon admission, though, Alva is surprised to discover an institution run by an exclusive community of expats and the ever-wilder thrills of a city where foreigners can ostensibly act as they please. 1985: In the seaside city of Qingdao, Lu Fang is a young, married man and a lowly clerk in a shipping yard. Though he once dreamed of a bright future, he is one of many casualties in his country's harsh political reforms. So when China opens its doors to the first wave of foreigners in decades, Lu Fang's world is split wide open after he meets an American woman who makes him confront difficult questions about his current status in life, and how much will ever be enough. In a stunning reversal of the east-to-west immigrant narrative and set against China's political history and economic rise, River East, River West is an intimate family drama and a sharp social novel. Alternating between Alva and Lu Fang's points of view, this is a profoundly moving exploration of race and class, cultural identity and belonging, and the often-false promise of the American Dream."--
Subjects: Bildungsromans.; Domestic fiction.; Novels.; Americans; Racially mixed teenagers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Must love flowers [text (large print)] : a novel / by Macomber, Debbie,author.;
"Joan Sample is not living the life she expected. Now a widow and an empty-nester, she has become by her own admission something of a recluse. But after another birthday spent alone, she is finally inclined to listen to her sister, who has been begging Joan to reengage with the world. With her support, Joan gathers the courage to take some long-awaited steps: hiring someone to tame her overgrown garden, joining a grief support group, and even renting out a room to a local college student. Before long Joan is starting to feel a little like herself again. Across town, Maggie Herbert works mornings as a barista, tending to impatient customers before rushing to afternoon nursing classes. She's been living with her alcoholic father, ducking his temperamental outbursts and struggling to pay the household bills. But her circumstances brighten when she finds a room for rent in Joan's home. In the unexpected warmth of her new situation, Maggie finds a glimmer of hope for a better life. But will Maggie's budding attraction to one of her favorite customers ruin the harmony she's only recently found with Joan? Meanwhile, what is Joan to make of the mysterious landscaper who's been revitalizing her garden-a man who seems to harbor a past loss of his own? As Maggie and Joan confront unfamiliar life choices, they find themselves leaning on each other in surprising ways--discovering in the process that "family" is often just another word for love in all its forms"--
Subjects: Romance fiction.; Large print books.; Novels.; Female friendship; Man-woman relationships; Self-realization in women; Widows; Women college students;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Must love flowers [sound recording] : a novel / by Macomber, Debbie,author.; Random House Audio Publishing,publisher.;
Read by Thérèse Plummer."Joan Sample is not living the life she expected. Now a widow and an empty-nester, she has become by her own admission something of a recluse. But after another birthday spent alone, she is finally inclined to listen to her sister, who has been begging Joan to reengage with the world. With her support, Joan gathers the courage to take some long-awaited steps: hiring someone to tame her overgrown garden, joining a grief support group, and even renting out a room to a local college student. Before long Joan is starting to feel a little like herself again. Across town, Maggie Herbert works mornings as a barista, tending to impatient customers before rushing to afternoon nursing classes. She's been living with her alcoholic father, ducking his temperamental outbursts and struggling to pay the household bills. But her circumstances brighten when she finds a room for rent in Joan's home. In the unexpected warmth of her new situation, Maggie finds a glimmer of hope for a better life. But will Maggie's budding attraction to one of her favorite customers ruin the harmony she's only recently found with Joan? Meanwhile, what is Joan to make of the mysterious landscaper who's been revitalizing her garden-a man who seems to harbor a past loss of his own? As Maggie and Joan confront unfamiliar life choices, they find themselves leaning on each other in surprising ways--discovering in the process that "family" is often just another word for love in all its forms"--
Subjects: Romance fiction.; Audiobooks.; Novels.; Female friendship; Man-woman relationships; Self-realization in women; Widows; Women college students;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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My fight for Canadian healthcare : a thirty-year battle to put patients first / by Day, Brian,1947-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."On July 15, 2022, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled that patients in BC were suffering, and many risked dying, as a result of delayed access to care. The ruling included a conclusion that the delays were caused by planned and deliberate government strategies to limit resources and capacity. Despite that, they upheld laws that cause patients to die. Their rationale was that allowing non-government options, which is something every other country on the planet allows, might negatively impact our existing, grossly underperforming, health system. Canada is currently ranked 10th out of 10 universal health systems in highly developed countries. The Appeal Court made its decision despite an admission that the trial data "represents real people, with real pain, a real setbacks, and real risk of dying prematurely" and that "waiting inherently carries the risk of death." This book traces a personal journey through a Canadian health system that has reached the point of imposing serious harm on patients. Governments have stubbornly adhered to principles developed over 60 years ago. Medicare was supposed to act as a safety net. Instead, it has become a trap in which patients are forced to suffer. Wole Soyinka, the 1986 Nobel Prize winner for literature, once stated: "Books and all forms of writing have always been objects of terror to those who seek to suppress the truth." While this book may not strike terror in those who have opposed me over the years, I hope it will at least promote guilt in the hearts of those who fought us in the courtroom, many of whom have benefitted from their own extensive use of private clinics, including ours"--
Subjects: Clinics; Health care reform; Medical care; Medical care; Right to health;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Better now : six big ideas to improve the health care for all Canadians / by Martin, Danielle,1975-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."An important check-up on our health-care system--and what urgently needs fixing--from a respected doctor and passionate Medicare advocate. Dr. Danielle Martin sees the cracks and challenges in our health-care system every day. Much like Atul Gawande, she uses real patient stories to illustrate what works in our health-care system and what doesn't. Most importantly, she proposes bold fixes that are both achievable and affordable. Ahmad is a diabetic taxi driver who can't afford to renew his prescriptions; Jill, a 75-year old patient who went to Emergency for severe flu symptoms, ended up with a broken hip from falling down in her hospital room and then was discharged without her blood pressure meds. Sam was an active, healthy retiree who suffered a stroke from an unnecessary heart test. All of these people suffered from fixable and preventable issues that illustrate how Canadians' health needs to be better managed. And it can be done without increasing spending. One of the most urgent reforms she advocates for is a national pharmacare program, instead of the piecemeal provincial pattern of buying drugs. Canada could save billions if drugs were bought in bulk by a single body, which in turn could fund a national prescription program. Patients also need a regular GP instead of overusing hospital Emergency Clinics. Hospitals need to take into account a patient's overall medical history, at every stage from admission to discharge. And since poverty is the greatest predictor of ill health, Dr. Martin argues that a guaranteed income could prevent and alleviate many health problems, reducing pressure on the system and our wallets. Passionate, accessible, and authoritative, Dr. Martin is a fervent supporter of the best of Medicare and a persuasive critic of what needs fixing."--
Subjects: Medical care; Patients; Health care reform;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Hurricane lizards and plastic squid : the fraught and fascinating biology of climate change / by Hanson, Thor,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In his three previous books-Feathers, The Triumph of Seeds, and Buzz-Thor Hanson has taken his readers on unforgettable journeys into nature, rendered with great storytelling, the soul of a poet, and the insight of a biologist. In this new book, he is doing it again, but exploring one of the most vital scientific and cultural issues of our time: climate change. As a young biologist, Hanson by his own admission watched with some detachment as our warming planet presented plants and animals with an ultimatum: change or face extinction. But his detachment turned to both concern and awe, as he observed the remarkable narratives of change playing out in each plant and animal he studied. In Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid, Hanson tells the story of how nature-both plants and animals, from beech trees to beetles-are meeting the challenges of rapid climate change head-on, adjusting, adapting, and sometimes noticeably evolving. Brown pelicans are fleeing uphill, seeking out new lives in the mountains. Gorillas in Uganda are turning to new food sources, such as eucalyptus trees (which humans only imported to Africa in the past several decades), as their old sources wain. Auklets, a little sea bird, aren't so lucky: changes in the lifecycles of their primary food source means they return at specific times of year to oceanic feeding grounds expecting plankton blooms that are no longer there. As global warming transforms and restructures the ecosystems in which these animals and others live, Hanson argues, we are forced to conclude that climate change will not have just one effect: Some transformations are beneficial. Others, and perhaps most, are devastating, wiping out entire species. One thing is constant: with each change an organism undergoes, the delicate balance of interdependent ecosystems is tipped, forcing the evolution of thousands more species, including us. To understand how, collectively, these changes are shaping the natural world and the future of life, Hanson looks back through deep time, examining fossil records, pollen, and even the tooth enamel of giant wombats and mummified owl pellets. Together, these records of our past tell the story of ancient climate change, shedding light on the challenges faced by today's species, the ways they will respond, and how these strategies will determine the fate of ecosystems around the globe. Ultimately, the story of nature's response to climate change is both fraught and fascinating, a story of both disaster and resilience, and, sometimes, hope. Lyrical and thought-provoking, Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid is poised to transform the conversation around climate change, shifting the focus from humans to the lattice of life, of which humans are just a single point"--
Subjects: Adaptation (Biology); Bioclimatology.; Biotic communities.; Climatic changes.; Global environmental change.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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