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The book of eels : our enduring fascination with the most mysterious creature in the natural world / by Svensson, Patrik,1972-author.; Broomé, Agnes,translator.; translation of:Svensson, Patrik,1972-Ålevangeliet.English.;
Includes bibliographical references."Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is both a meditation on the world's most elusive fish--the eel--and a reflection on the human condition. Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the "eel question": Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don't understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery. Drawing on a breadth of research about eels in literature, history, and modern marine biology, as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father, Patrik Svensson crafts a mesmerizing portrait of an unusual, utterly misunderstood, and completely captivating animal. In The Book of Eels, we meet renowned historical thinkers, from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud to Rachel Carson, for whom the eel was a singular obsession. And we meet the scientists who spearheaded the search for the eel's point of origin, including Danish marine biologist Johannes Schmidt, who led research efforts in the early twentieth century, catching thousands upon thousands of eels, in the hopes of proving their birthing grounds in the Sargasso Sea. Blending memoir and nature writing at its best, Svensson's journey to understand the eel becomes an exploration of the human condition that delves into overarching issues about our roots and destiny, both as humans and as animals, and, ultimately, how to handle the biggest question of all: death. The result is a gripping and slippery narrative that will surprise and enchant."--
Subjects: Eels.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A reasonable doubt / by Margolin, Phillip,author.;
"A magician linked to three murders and suspicious deaths years ago disappears in the middle of his new act in New York Times bestseller Phillip Margolin's latest thriller featuring Robin Lockwood Robin Lockwood is a young criminal defense attorney and partner in a prominent law firm in Portland, Oregon. A former MMA fighter and Yale Law graduate, she joined the firm of legal legend Regina Barrister not long before Regina was forced into retirement by early onset Alzheimer's. One of Regina's former clients, Robert Chesterfield, shows up in the law office with an odd request-he's seeking help from his old attorney in acquiring patent protection for an illusion. Chesterfield is a professional magician of some reknown and he has a major new trick he's about to debut. This is out of the scope of the law firm's expertise, but when Robin Lockwood looks into his previous relationship with the firm, she learns that twenty years ago he was arrested for two murders, one attempted murder, and was involved in the potentially suspicious death of his very rich wife. At the time, Regina Barrister defended him with ease, after which he resumed his career as a magician in Las Vegas. Now, decades later, he debuts his new trick-only to disappear at the end. He's a man with more than one dark past and many enemies-is his disappearance tied to one of the many people who have good reason to hate him? Was he killed and his body disposed of, or did he use his considerable skills to engineer his own disappearance? Robin Lockwood must unravel the tangled skein of murder and bloody mischief to learn how it all ties together"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Legal fiction (Literature); Criminal defense lawyers; Women lawyers; Magicians; Magicians; Murder;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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The keeper of hidden books : a novel / by Martin, Madeline,author.;
All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler's forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving. With the death count rising, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto. As Warsaw creeps closer toward liberation, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left: literature.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Books and reading; Female friendship; Nazis; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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A hitch in time : reflections ready for reconsideration / by Hitchens, Christopher,author.; Wolcott, James,1952-writer of introduction.;
"Christopher Hitchens was invariably a star writer everywhere he wrote, and the same was true of the London Review of Books, to which he contributed sixty pieces over two decades. Anthologised here for the first time, this selection of his finest LRB reviews, diaries and essays (along with a smattering of ferocious letters) finds Hitchens at his very best. Familiar betes noires-Kennedy, Nixon, Kissinger, Clinton-rub shoulders with lesser-known preoccupations: P.G. Wodehouse, Princess Margaret and, magisterially, Isaiah Berlin. Here is Hitchens on the (first) Gulf War and the 'Salman Rushdie Acid Test', on being spanked by Mrs Thatcher in the House of Lords and taking his son to the Oscars, on America's homegrown Nazis and 'Acts of Violence in Grosvenor Square' in 1968. Edited by the London Review of Books, with an introduction by James Wolcott, this collection recaptures, ten years after his death, 'a Hitch in time': barnstorming, cauterising, but ultimately uncontainable"--Publisher's description.
Subjects: Biographies.; Essays.; Personal narratives.; Hitchens, Christopher.; Hitchens, Christopher; Hitchens, Christopher; Books; Journalism.; Literature;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Death of an honest man [sound recording] / by Beaton, M. C.,author.; Malcolm, Graeme,narrator.; Hachette Audio (Firm),publisher.;
Read by Graeme Malcolm."Sergeant Hamish Macbeth--Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman--returns in M.C. Beaton's new mystery in her New York Times bestselling series. Nobody loves an honest man, or that was what police sergeant Hamish Macbeth tried to tell newcomer Paul English. Paul had moved to a house in Cnothan, a sour village on Hamish's beat. He attended church in Lochdubh. He told the minister, Mr. Wellington, that his sermons were boring. He told tweedy Mrs. Wellington that she was too fat and in these days of increasing obesity it was her duty to show a good example. Angela Brody was told her detective stories were pap for the masses and it was time she wrote literature instead. He accused Hamish of having dyed his fiery red hair. He told Jessie Currie--who repeated all the last words of her twin sister--that she needed psychiatric help. "I speak as I find," he bragged. Voices saying, "I could kill that man," could be heard from Lochdubh to Cnothan. And someone did. Now Hamish is faced with a bewildering array of suspects. And he's lost the services of his clumsy policeman, Charlie, who has resigned from the force after Chief Inspector Blair berated Charlie one too many times, and the policeman threw Blair into the loch. Can Hamish find the killer on his own?"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Audiobooks.; Macbeth, Hamish (Fictitious character); Murder; Police;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Tell me pleasant things about immortality : stories / by Wong, Lindsay,author.;
"From the bestselling, Canada Reads-shortlisted author of The Woo-Woo comes a wild, darkly hilarious, and poignant collection of immigrant horror stories. They'll haunt and consume you--in strange and unsettling ways. Living forever isn't everything it's cracked up to be. Hearts can still break, looks can still fade, and money still matters, even in eternity. The ghosts, zombies, and demons in this collection are all shockingly human, and they're ready to spill their guts. Vanity, love, and tragedy are all candidly explored as the unfulfilled desires of the dead are echoed in the lives of modern-day immigrants. Story-by-story, the line between ghost and human, life and death, becomes increasingly blurred. There's a courtesan from 17th century China who, try as she might, just can't manage to die. Grandmama Wu, who returns from the dead to protect her grandchildren from bullies. Not to mention an Internet-order bride who inadvertently brings the apocalypse to Nebraska City. From Shanghai to Vancouver, the women in this collection haunt and are haunted--by first loves, troublesome family members, and traumatic memories. Intertwining horror, the supernatural, and mythology, Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality riotously critiques contemporary life and fearlessly illuminates the ways in which the past can devour us. A collection about transformation and what makes us human, it solidifies Lindsay Wong as one of the most vital and electrifying voices in Canadian literature today."--
Subjects: Horror fiction.; Paranormal fiction.; Short stories.; Supernatural;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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My Father's House : A Novel. by Kvensler, Ulf.;
In 'My Father's House', Isak receives an unexpected inheritance from his father on one condition: that he meet and make peace with the man at his remote island retreat. Once there, Isak finds himself thrown into a twisty psychological game of life and death. From the author of 'The Couples Trip'.Library Bound Incorporated
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); FICTION / Crime; FICTION / Mystery & Detective / International Crime & Mystery; FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense; FICTION / World Literature / Sweden;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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The monarch effect : surviving poison, predators, and people / by Church, Dana L.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Rivers of Butterflies -- Baby Monarchs and barfing Blue Jays -- Where do they go? -- More to the story -- Squabbling scientists -- Secrets of the forest -- Tracking migration -- Tracking more than migration -- Monarch "smarts" -- Monarchs around the world-- Monarch emergencies -- Living near the Monarchy -- Conclusion: more than a butterfly."With their stunning black-and-orange wings, monarch butterflies are one of the most recognizable insects on the planet. But despite their delicate beauty, these creatures are warriors. The moment they hatch, they're fighting for their lives. Everything is the enemy: from the very leaf they live on to the humans and animals around them to nature itself. How does such a tiny egg survive to become a butterfly? And even after emerging from the cocoon, unimaginable danger awaits: migration. Every year, monarchs take flight, making one of the greatest migrations in the world. However, for a long time, their destination was unknown within the scientific community. Through the research of scientists in Canada and the United States and the support and efforts ofordinary people as well as Indigenous knowledge in Mexico, that mystery was finally solved. But to do so would involve years of searching across three countries and encounters with feuding scientists, the consequences of colonialism, and life-and-death stakes"--
Subjects: Monarch butterfly; Monarch butterfly; Monarch butterfly;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Wintering : the power of rest and retreat in difficult times / by May, Katherine,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."An intimate, revelatory book exploring the ways we can care for and repair ourselves when life knocks us down. Sometimes you slip through the cracks: unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one, a break up, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered. A moving personal narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world, May's story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing Arctic seas. Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season"--
Subjects: Nature, Healing power of.; Rest.; Self-acceptance.;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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The fatal folio / by Penney, Elizabeth,author.;
"After moving to Cambridge, England, Molly Kimball has found a lot to love, including--of course--her family's ancestral bookshop, Thomas Marlowe--Manuscripts and Folios. And though she's not quite ready to use the "L" word when it comes to her boyfriend Kieran, she's definitely fallen for his intimidating family's library. His family is paying her handsomely for an updated catalog when Molly discovers the original manuscript of a Gothic novel, A Fatal Folio by the pseudonymous Selwyn Scott. Kieran's cousin Oliver, a professor specializing in Gothic literature, is eager to publish a paper on the mystery--especially because a troublesome student, Thad, is threatening to file a complaint against him and prevent his long-awaited promotion. On Guy Fawkes Night, Molly, Kieran, and her friends set out to enjoy the costumes, fireworks, and fun--at least until a stray firework starts a panic, and the group stumbles upon a prone body, their face covered by a mask. It's Thad, and he's been stabbed to death. It soon becomes clear Oliver isn't the only one with a motive, and Molly must once again put on a few masks of her own to sleuth out Thad's killer, prove Oliver's innocence, and discover what Selwyn's novel might have to do with this most atmospheric mystery ... "--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Cozy mysteries.; Novels.; Bookstore owners; Manuscripts; Murder;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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