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Soot : a novel / by Vyleta, Dan,author.; sequel to:Vyleta, Dan.Smoke.;
The year is 1909. It has been ten years since Thomas Argyle, Charlie Cooper and Livia Naylor set off a revolution by releasing Smoke upon the world. They were raised to think Smoke was a sign of sin manifested, but learned its suppression was really a means of controlling society. Smoke allowed people to mingle their emotions, to truly connect, and the trio thought that freeing the Smoke would bring down the oppressive power structure and create a fair and open society. But the consequences were far greater than they had imagined, and the world has fractured. Erasmus Renfrew, the avowed enemy of Smoke, is now Lord Protector of what remains of the English state. Charlie and Livia live in Minetowns, an egalitarian workers' community in the north of England which lives by Smoke. Thomas Argyle is in India on a clandestine mission to find out the origins of Smoke, and why the still-powerful Company is mounting an expedition in the Himalayas. Mowgli, the native whose body was used to trigger the tempest that unleashed the Smoke, now calls himself Nils and is a chameleon-like thief living in New York. And Eleanor Renfrew, Erasmus' niece who was the subject of his cruel experiments in suppressing Smoke, is in hiding from her uncle in provincial Canada. What she endured has given her a strange power over Smoke, which she fears as much as her uncle. Believing her uncle's agents have found her, she flees to New York with a theater troupe led by Balthazar Black, an impresario with secrets of his own. There they encounter Nils and a Machiavellian Company man named Smith. All these people seek to discover the true nature of Smoke, and thereby control its power. As their destinies entwine, a cataclysmic confrontation looms, and the Smoke will either bind them together or forever rend the world.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Alternative histories (Fiction); Dystopian fiction.; Good and evil; Social conflict; Life change events; Imaginary societies; Aristocracy (Social class);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Blood : the science, medicine, and mythology of menstruation / by Gunter, Jen,author.;
Most of us know about as much about how the uterus and ovaries function as we do about how the liver works. Add in societal shame around the menstrual cycle, and it's not surprising that misinformation is widespread. But, as women's health advocate and trusted OB-GYN Dr. Jen Gunter writes, "you don't have to think about your liver 5 days a month for 30 years, so I'd argue people should know more about the uterus." Enter Blood, the galvanizing new book dispels the shame, mythology, and misinformation around menstruation with scientific facts, medical expertise, and a fierce feminist perspective. Surprising, funny, and fact-filled, Blood is an essential and empowering resource from the doctor who, in the words of Dr. Lori Brotto, Canada Research Chair in Women's Sexual Health, "takes the mystery out of women's health and replaces it with evidence-informed concrete recommendations."
Subjects: Gynecology.; Menstrual cycle.; Menstruation.; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Progress : how one idea built civilization and now threatens to destroy it / by McDonald, Samuel Miller,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Progress is power. Narratives of progress, the stories we tell about whether a society is moving in the right or the wrong direction, are immensely potent. Progress has built cities, flattened mountains, charted the globe, delved the oceans and space, created wealth, opportunity, and remarkable innovation, and ushered in a new epoch unique in our planet's 4.5-billion-year history. But the modern story of progress is also a very dangerous fiction. It shapes our sense of what progress means, and justifies what we will do to achieve it -- no matter the cost. We continue to subscribe to a set of myths, about dominion, growth, extraction, and expansion, that have fueled our success, but now threaten our -- and all species' -- existence on a planet in crisis. In Progress, geographer Samuel Miller McDonald offers a radical new perspective on the myths upon which the modern world is built, illuminating its destructive lineage and suggesting an urgent alternative. Drawing on interdisciplinary research across anthropology, history, philosophy and geography, McDonald argues that if humanity is to thrive, then we must dismantle, reimagine, and create anew what progress means"--
Subjects: Progress; Progress; Progress;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Archive of unknown universes : a novel / by Reyes, Ruben,Jr.,author.;
"Cambridge, 2018. Ana and Luis's relationship is on the rocks, despite their many similarities, including their mothers who both fled El Salvador during the war. In her search for answers, and against her best judgement, Ana uses The Defractor, an experimental device that allows users to peek into alternate versions of their lives. What she sees leads her and Luis on a quest through Havana and San Salvador to uncover the family histories they are desperate to know, eager to learn if what might have been could fix what is. Havana, 1978. The Salvadoran war is brewing, and Neto, a young revolutionary with a knack for forging government papers, meets Rafael at a meeting for the People's Revolutionary Army. The two form an intense and forbidden love, shedding their fake names and revealing themselves to each other inside the covert world of their activism. When their work separates them, they begin to exchange weekly letters, but soon, as the devastating war rages on, forces beyond their control threaten to pull them apart forever."--
Subjects: Alternative histories (Fiction); Novels.; Central Americans; Families; Man-woman relationships;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Kensington Market [videorecording] : heart of the city / by Clarfield, Stuart,screenwriter,film director.; Mission Media Enterprises,film distributor.;
A feature documentary that tells the story of the many generations of immigrants who have made Kensington home for over 150 years, explores the personalities in the market today, and observes the forces that are threatening the market's survival. Today, Kensington Market is a delightfully human and colorful alternative to the skyscraper draped Toronto metropolis that is shooting up around it. Through numerous incarnations, the market has managed to hold onto its unique, eclectic charm and its free-spirited nature.E.Closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.DVD.
Subjects: Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Documentary films.; Ethnic neighborhoods; Emigration and immigration; City and town life; Eccentrics and eccentricities;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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To paradise / by Yanagihara, Hanya,author.;
"From the author of the classic A Little Life--a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia. In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist's damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him--and solve the mystery of her husband's disappearances. These three sections are joined in an enthralling and ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village; illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost; wealth and squalor; the weak and the strong; race; the definition of family, and of nationhood; the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries; the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can't exist. What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness. To Paradise is a fin de siecle novel of marvelous literary effect, but above all it is a work of emotional genius. The great power of this remarkable novel is driven by Yanagihara's understanding of the aching desire to protect those we love--partners, lovers, children, friends, family and even our fellow citizens--and the pain that ensues when we cannot.
Subjects: Alternative histories (Fiction); Dystopian fiction.; Historical fiction.; Gay men;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The names / by Knapp, Florence,author.;
"A dazzling debut that asks: Can a name shape the course of a life? In the wake of an enormous, history-making storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son's birth. Her husband Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to follow his family tradition going back generations, and name the child Gordon. But on the journey there, Cora wonders if it's right to impose the burden of this name and its legacy onto her tiny newborn son. She herself has Julian in mind, and Maia offers up her own suggestion: Bear. What follows are three alternate and alternating versions of both Cora's life and her young son's life shaped by her brave, last-minute choice of name. Spanning thirty-five years, the novel draws us in from the first page, as we follow three unforgettable journeys of one young man, but also his mother, grandmother, and sister. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing."--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Speculative fiction.; Novels.; Abused wives; Autonomy; Choice (Psychology); Conflict of generations; Families; Family violence; Mothers and sons; Names, Personal; Space and time;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Slow productivity : the lost art of accomplishment without burnout / by Newport, Cal,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work offers a philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload. History's most creative and impactful philosophers, scientists, artists, and writers mastered the art of producing valuable work with staying power. In this book, Cal Newport harnesses the wisdom of these traditional knowledge workers to transform modern jobs. Drawing from research on the habits and mindsets of a varied cast of thinkers from Galileo and Isaac Newton to Jane Austen and Georgia O'Keefe, Newport lays out the key principles of "slow productivity" and provides step-by-step advice for workers to replace the standard notion of productivity with a slower, more humane alternative"--
Subjects: Humanism.; Labor productivity.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The good eater : a vegan's search for the future of food / by Guilbeault, Nina,author.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-227) and index.An enlightening and delicious look at how vegans - and their critics - are re-defining the way the world eats in the 21st century. Throughout, Harvard-trained sociologist (and vegan) Nina Guilbeault explores the movement's history and its present-day tensions. What emerges is a portrait of how social change happens, with profound implications for our plates and our planet.
Subjects: Agriculture and state; Alternative agriculture.; Food crops.; Veganism.; Vegans.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Barbieland : the unauthorized history / by Hitt, Tarpley,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.The secret history of Barbie and what Mattel has done to keep her on top. For nearly seven decades, Mattel billed Barbie as the first adult doll -- a revolutionary alternative to the baby dolls before her, which had treated little girls as future mothers rather than future women. But Barbie was no original. She was a knockoff: a nearly identical copy of a German doll now erased from the narrative in favour of Mattel's preferred version of history. It was Barbie's first secret but far from her last. In Barbieland, journalist and The Drift editor Tarpley Hitt exposes the long-hidden backstory of the world's most famous doll. After snuffing out her predecessor, Barbie climbed to the throne of global girlhood and stayed there, fending off rivals with a mix of strategic marketing, government influence, ruthless litigation, and covert tactics worthy of a classic spy novel. This lively, authoritative ride through the underbelly of American business pulls back the curtain on the corporate titans, cultural influencers, and toyland rivals who shaped this icon's world -- from flawed founder Ruth Handler to convicted Wall Street fraudster (and improbable Barbie saviour) Michael Milken to the Bratz doll empire, which once put the brand on life support. Along the way, Hitt delves into the stories of the eccentrics and autocrats who brought Barbie to life through sheer force of will: a pair of ex-Nazi toymakers, a toy mogul friend of J. Edgar Hoover's, a swinging missile designer turned Barbie executive married to Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Mattel's mid-century Freudian marketeer, who saw the doll as a psychosexual skeleton key to controlling the American mind. Through investigative reporting, global archival research, and interviews with key players from across the Barbie extended universe, Barbieland lays bare the unseen -- and so often absurd -- work that made Mattel a multibillion-dollar business and turned Barbie into an institution: a symbol as synonymous with American soft power as Coca-Cola and McDonald's french fries.
Subjects: Barbie (Fictitious character); Mattel, Inc.; Barbie dolls; Barbie dolls; Feminism.; Popular culture.; Toy industry.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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