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Reprieve : a novel / by Mattson, James Han,author.;
"On April 27, 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, a full-contact haunted escape room in Lincoln, Nebraska, made famous for its monstrosities, booby-traps, and ghoulishly costumed actors. If the group can endure these horrors without shouting the safe word, "reprieve," they'll win a substantial cash prize--a startling feat accomplished only by one other group in the house's long history. But before they can complete the challenge, a man breaks into the cell and kills one of the contestants. Those who were present on that fateful night lend their points of view: Kendra Brown, a teenager who's been uprooted from her childhood home after the sudden loss of her father; Leonard Grandton, a desperate and impressionable hotel manager caught in a series of toxic entanglements; and Jaidee Charoensuk, a gay international student who came to the United States in a besotted search for his former English teacher. As each character's journey unfurls and overlaps, deceits and misunderstandings fueled by obsession and prejudice are revealed--forcing all to reckon with the ways in which their beliefs and actions contributed to a horrifying catastrophe. A startlingly soulful exploration of complicity and masquerade, Reprieve combines the psychological tension of classic horror with searing social criticism, and seamlessly threads together trial transcripts, evidence descriptions, and deeply layered individual narratives to present a chilling portrait of this tangled American life"--
Subjects: Horror fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Escape room games; Haunted houses (Amusements); Murder; Prejudices;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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A history of my brief body : a memoir / by Belcourt, Billy-Ray,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."A profound meditation on queerness and indigeneity from the youngest ever winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize. Billy-Ray Belcourt begins A History of My Brief Body with a letter to his nohkom, his grandmother. "In the world-to-come," he writes, "everyone is loved by an NDN woman like you whose soft voice reminds us that we can stop running now." What follows is a charting of the distance between the world he was born into and the world he wants--a book as beautiful as it is devastating. Reflecting on his personal history, Belcourt maps his "un-Canadian and otherworldly" desire to love at all costs. We're taken to his birthplace in Joussard, in northern Alberta, where he and his twin brother come to exemplify opposites: hard and soft, masculine and feminine. To his high school graduation, where a hug from his father teaches him how to hold and be held. To a hotel room in Edmonton, where destroying the photographic evidence of his adolescence is an act of self-abolition and of making himself anew. Blending memoir and essay, and with a poet's delight in language, A History of My Brief Body is both a grappling with a legacy of trauma and a record of the joy that flourishes in spite of it."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Essays.; Belcourt, Billy-Ray.; Belcourt, Billy-Ray; Gay men; Sexual minorities; Indigenous peoples; Poets, Canadian (English);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Yet here I am : lessons from a Black man's search for home / by Capehart, Jonathan,author.;
"MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart is one of the most recognizable faces in cable news. But long before that success, Capehart spent his boyhood growing up without his father, shuttling back and forth between New Jersey and rural Severn, North Carolina, contemplating the complexities of race and identity as they shifted around him. It was never easy bridging two worlds; whether being told he was too smart or not smart enough, too black or not black enough, Capehart struggled to find his place. Then, an internship at The Today Show altered the course of his life, bringing him one step closer to his dream. From there, Capehart embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Yet Here I Am takes us along that journey, from his years at Carleton College, where he learns to embrace his identity as a gay, black man surrounded by a likeminded community; to his decision to come out to his family, risking rejection; and finally to his move to New York City, where time and again he stumbles and picks himself up as he blazes a path to become the familiar face in news we know today. Honest and endearing, Yet Here I Am is an inspirational memoir of identity, opportunity, and of finding one's voice and purpose along the way"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Capehart, Jonathan.; African American journalists; Gay journalists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Burke's law : a life in hockey / by Burke, Brian,1955-author.; Brunt, Stephen,author.;
The gruffest man in hockey opens up about the challenges, the feuds, and the tragedies he's fought through. Brian Burke is one of the biggest hockey personalities--no, personalities full-stop--in the hockey media landscape. His brashness makes him a magnet for attention, and he does nothing to shy away from it. Most famous for advocating "pugnacity, truculence, testosterone, and belligerence" during his tenure at the helm of the Maple Leafs, Burke has lived and breathed hockey his whole life. He has been a player, an agent, a league executive, a Stanley Cup-winning GM, an Olympic GM, and a media analyst. He has worked with Pat Quinn, Gary Bettman, and an array of future Hall of Fame players. No one knows the game better, and no one commands more attention when they open up about it. But there is more to Brian Burke than hockey. He is a graduate of Harvard Law, and an accomplished businessman with hard-earned lessons that come from highly-scrutinized decisions made at the helm of multi-million-dollar companies. Not only does he know the game, but he has expertise to share in the business and management principles arenas as well. And despite his gruff persona, he is also a father with a story to tell. He lost his youngest son in a car accident, and has grappled with that grief. Many Canadians knew Burke's name already, because he became one of the country's most outspoken gay-rights advocates when his son Brendan came out in 2009. Brian Burke has learned many truths the hard way, and is courageous and insightful enough to share them with readers for the first time.
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Burke, Brian, 1955-; National Hockey League.; Sports executives;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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Open, Heaven [electronic resource] : by Hewitt, Seán.aut; CloudLibrary;
Named a Most Anticipated Release of 2025 by Vulture, Literary Hub, the BBC and RTÉ A stunning debut novel from the acclaimed young Irish poet Seán Hewitt, reminiscent of Garth Greenwell and Douglas Stuart in the intensity of its evocation of sexual awakening. Set in a remote village in the North of England, Open, Heaven unfolds over the course of one year in which two sixteen year old boys meet and transform each other’s lives. James—a sheltered, shy sixteen-year-old—is alone in his newly discovered sexuality, full of an unruly desire but entirely inexperienced. As he is beginning to understand himself and his longings, he also realizes how his feelings threaten to separate him from his family and the rural community in which he has grown up. He dreams of another life, fantasizing about what lies beyond the village’s leaf-ribboned boundaries, beyond his reach: autonomy, tenderness, sex. Then, in the autumn of 2002, he meets Luke, a slightly older boy, handsome, unkempt, who comes with a reputation for danger. Abandoned by his parents—his father imprisoned, and his mother having moved to France for another man—Luke has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle at their farm just outside the village. James is immediately drawn to him, "like the pull a fire makes on the air, dragging things into it and blazing them into its hot, white centre," drawn to this boy who is beautiful and impulsive, charismatic and troubled. Underneath Luke’s bravado is a deep wound—a longing for the love of his father and for the stability of family life. Open, Heaven is a novel about desire, yearning, and the terror of first love. With the striking economy and lyricism that animate his work as a poet, Hewitt has written a mesmerizing hymn to boyhood, sensuality, and love in all its forms. A truly exceptional debut.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Literary; Coming of Age; Gay;
© 2025., Knopf Canada,
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They're going to love you : a novel / by Howrey, Meg,author.;
"A magnetic tale of betrayal, art, and ambition, set in the world of professional ballet, New York City during the AIDS crisis, and present-day Los Angeles. Carlisle Martin dreams of becoming a professional ballet dancer just like her mother, Isabel, a former Balanchine ballerina. Since they live in Ohio, she only gets to see her father Robert for a few precious weeks a year when she visits Greenwich Village, where he lives in an enchanting apartment on Bank Street with his partner, James. Brilliant but troubled, James gives Carlisle an education in all that he holds dear in life-literature, music, and most of all, dance. Seduced by the heady pull of mentorship and the sophistication of their lives, Carlisle's aspiration to become a dancer herself blooms, born of her desire to be asked to stay at Bank Street, to be included in Robert and James' world even as AIDS brings devastation to their community. Instead, a passionate love affair creates a rift between them, with devastating consequences that reverberate for decades to come. Nineteen years later, Carlisle receives a phone call which unravels the fateful events of her life, causing her to see with new eyes how her younger self has informed the woman she's become."--
Subjects: Bildungsromans.; Novels.; AIDS (Disease); Ballerinas; Gay men;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Mother, nature : a 5,000-mile journey to discover if a mother and son can survive their differences / by Jenkins, Jedidiah,author.;
"In this poignant memoir from the New York Times bestselling author of To Shake the Sleeping Self, a forty-year-old gay man and his eccentric conservative mother travel the country together and find surprising answers to our generational and cultural rifts. When his mother, Barbara, turned seventy, Jedidiah Jenkins was reminded of a palpable, sobering truth: Our parents won't live forever. For years, he and Barbara had talked about taking a trip together, just the two of them. They landed on an idea: retrace the thousands of miles Barbara trekked with Jedidiah's father, travel writer Peter Jenkins, as part of the "Walk Across America" book trilogy that became a sensation in the 1970s. They began in New Orleans and set off for the Oregon coast, listening to podcasts about outlaws and cult leaders--the only media they could agree on--while reliving the journey that changed Barbara's life. Jenkins discovers who she was as a thirty-year-old writer walking across America; who she became later, as a wife scorned by infidelity; and now, who she is as a parent who loves her son while holding on to a version of faith that sees his sexuality as a sin. Along the way, he peels back the layers of questions millions are asking today: How do we stay in relationship when it hurts? When do boundaries turn into separation? When do we stand up for ourselves, and when do we let it go? Tender, smart, and profound, Mother, Nature is a story of a remarkable mother-son bond and a moving meditation on the complexities of love"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Jenkins, Jedidiah; Jenkins, Barbara; Gay men; Mothers and sons; Travel writers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Manifesto : on never giving up / by Evaristo, Bernardine,1959-author.;
"Bernardine Evaristo's 2019 Booker Prize win was an historic and revolutionary occasion, with Evaristo being the first Black woman and first Black British person ever to win the prize in its fifty-year history. Girl, Woman, Other was named a favorite book of the year by President Obama and Roxane Gay, was translated into thirty-five languages, and has now reached more than a million readers. Evaristo's astonishing nonfiction debut, Manifesto, is a vibrant and inspirational account of Evaristo's life and career as she rebelled against the mainstream and fought over several decades to bring her creative work into the world. With her characteristic humor, Evaristo describes her childhood as one of eight siblings, with a Nigerian father and white Catholic mother, tells the story of how she helped set up Britain's first Black women's theatre company, remembers the queer relationships of her twenties, and recounts her determination to write books that were absent in the literary world around her. She provides a hugely powerful perspective to contemporary conversations around race, class, feminism, sexuality, and aging. She reminds us of how far we have come, and how far we still have to go. In Manifesto, Evaristo charts her theory of unstoppability, showing creative people how they too can visualize and find success in their work, ignoring the naysayers. Both unconventional memoir and inspirational text, Manifesto is a unique reminder to us all to persist in doing work we believe in, even when we might feel overlooked or discounted. Evaristo shows us how we too can follow in her footsteps, from first vision, to insistent perseverance, to eventual triumph"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Evaristo, Bernardine, 1959-; Women authors, English; Women, Black;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The house of hidden meanings : a memoir / by RuPaul,1960-author.;
"Central to RuPaul's success has been his chameleonic adaptability. From drag icon to powerhouse producer of one of the world's largest television franchises, RuPaul's ever-shifting nature has always been part of his brand as both supermodel and supermogul. Yet that adaptability has made him enigmatic to the public. In this memoir, his most intimate and detailed book yet, RuPaul makes himself truly known. In The House of Hidden Meanings, RuPaul strips away all artifice and recounts the story of his life with breathtaking clarity and tenderness, bringing his signature wisdom and wit to his own biography. From his early years growing up as a queer Black kid in San Diego navigating complex relationships with his absent father and temperamental mother, to forging an identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York, to finding enduring love with his husband Georges LeBar and self-acceptance in sobriety, RuPaul excavates his own biography life-story, uncovering new truths and insights in his personal history. Here in RuPaul's singular and extraordinary story is a manual for living-a personal philosophy that testifies to the value of chosen family, the importance of harnessing what makes you different, and the transformational power of facing yourself fearlessly. A[n] ... introspection of his life, relationships, and identity, The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the legendary icon on the road to global fame and changing the way the world thinks about drag."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; RuPaul, 1960-; African American businesspeople; African American television personalities; Cross-dressers; Drag queens; Gay men; Sexual minorities;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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What I Know About You [electronic resource] : by Chacour, Éric.aut; Strauss, Pablo.; cloudLibrary;
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 ATWOOD GIBSON WRITERS' TRUST PRIZE  SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 GILLER PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 DAYNE OGILVIE PRIZE FOR LGBTQ2S+ EMERGING WRITERS STARRED REVIEWS IN KIRKUS, BOOKLIST AND QUILL & QUIRE A heartbreaking tale of a family and an impossible love, torn apart by secrets and traditions in late-twentieth-century Cairo. As a boy in 1960s Cairo, Tarek knows that his entire life is written in advance. He’ll be a doctor like his father, marry, and have children. Under the watchful eyes of his mother and his sister, he starts to do just that – until Ali enters his life and turns it upside down. The two men, from very different worlds, embark on an unsayable relationship that threatens to tear apart Tarek’s family. Years later, as Tarek is living a solitary life in Montreal, someone starts writing about him and to him, piecing together a past he wants only to forget. But who is the writer of this tale? And will he figure it out in time? A bestseller in its original Quebec edition, and the recipient of several awards, including the Prix Femina des Lycéens, What I Know About You is poised to be an international sensation. "This novel is a searing love story that moves between Egypt and Montréal, that shifts between hearts, highlighting the sacrifices the characters feel they have to make for the ones they love. Romantic, surprising, mesmerizing, and so devastating, What I Know About You examines the terrible costs of family secrets and toxic shame." – Suzette Mayr, author of The Sleeping Car Porter
Subjects: Electronic books.; Cultural Heritage; Gay;
© 2024., Coach House Books,
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