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Monsieur mediocre : one American learns the high art of being everyday French / by Sothen, John von,author.;
"Americans love to love Paris. We buy books about how the French parent, why French women don't get fat, and how to be Parisian wherever you are. While our work hours increase every year, we think longingly of the six weeks of vacation the French enjoy, imagining them at the seaside in stripes with plates of fruits de mer. John von Sothen fell in love with Paris through the stories his mother told of her year spent there as a student. After falling for and marrying the French waitress he meets in New York, von Sothen follows his mother's dream and moves to Paris. But fifteen years in, he's finally ready to admit his mother's Paris is mostly a fantasy. In this hilarious and delightful collection of essays, von Sothen walks us through real life in Paris--myth-busting our Parisian daydreams but also revealing the inimitable and too often invisible pleasures of family life abroad. Through these essays, you'll learn about what to do when you unwittingly commit yourself to two weeks of vacation with friends who ration snacks down to the gram and who mock you mercilessly for sleeping in; how to react when French men turn to you, the American, for fashion tips such as where to find a Maine trapper vest; and how to tell if you're being invited to a super-exclusive secret society of intellectuals or, alternately, a weird sex club. Relentlessly funny and full of incisive observations, Monsieur Mediocre is ultimately a love letter to France--to its absurdities, its history, its ideals--but it's a very French love letter: frank, smoky, unsentimental. It is a clear-eyed ode to a beautiful, complex, contradictory country from someone who both eagerly and grudgingly calls it home"--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Sothen, John von.; Americans; Authors, American;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Nosy Parker / by Crewe, Lesley,1955-author.;
"It's 1967 in Montreal, the Expo is in full swing, and Audrey Parker has just moved with her dad to Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, a whole new neighbourhood full of different kinds of people to spy on. Audrey is a lot of things: articulate, disarming, forthright. And, as her father reminds her often, indecently nosy. Audrey scribbles every observation down in her notebooks -- from which foods her new teacher eats for lunch, to how blue the water is in Greece, to what time the one-legged man across the street gets home. She is certain she will soon root out a murderer or uncover a mystery. But there's only one mystery that really matters to her: her mother. Who was she? How did she die? Why won't her father ever talk about her? Over a year of Audrey's life, we bike with her through the streets of NDG, encountering stray animals, free-range kids, and adults both viciously cruel and wonderful. And we walk with Audrey across the threshold from childhood to adolescence, where she will discover the truth about her mother. Balancing humour and sadness as expertly as ever, author Lesley Crewe -- who has so often captured Cape Breton perfectly on the page -- turns her incisive observations for the first time to the NDG of the 1960s, where she grew up."--Publisher.
Subjects: Bildungsromans.; Historical fiction.; Humorous fiction.; Novels.; Coming of age; Family secrets; Fathers and daughters; Mothers and daughters; Nineteen sixties; Preteen girls;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Famous last words : a novel / by McAllister, Gillian,author.;
"From the author of Reese's Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time! An addictive thriller about a new mother's world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime-and then disappears. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie? It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla's life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But after she arrives at the office, police officers storm the foyer: in the city, just near her work, a man has taken three hostages and is now in a tense standoff with law enforcement. And Luke, the person she's loved for more than a decade, the father of her child, is involved. But he is not a hostage. He is the kidnapper. All she has is a half-written cryptic note that Luke left for her. Seven years after the crime that shocked the nation, and her husband's subsequent disappearance, Camilla has slowly accepted that she will never have answers about what really happened that day. But just as she prepares to let Luke go for good, an anonymous location, sent to her by text message, reignites her suspicions about the kidnapping and sends her on a dangerous search for the truth. What follows is a propulsive, twisty story of motherhood, marriage, and the secrets at the heart of our closest relationships. Famous Last Words cements Gillian McAllister's reputation as "the best at putting her characters in impossible situations and making her readers not only contemplate but feel what it would be like to find themselves in those situations" (Emily Henry)"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Novels.; Hostages; Husbands; Infants; Kidnapping; Literary agents; Missing persons; Secrecy; Spouses; Truthfulness and falsehood;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 3
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D-Day Girls The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II [electronic resource] : by Rose, Sarah.aut; cloudLibrary;
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The dramatic, untold history of the heroic women recruited by Britain’s elite spy agency to help pave the way for Allied victory in World War II “Gripping. Spies, romance, Gestapo thugs, blown-up trains, courage, and treachery (lots of treachery)—and all of it true.”—Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake In 1942, the Allies were losing, Germany seemed unstoppable, and every able man in England was on the front lines. To “set Europe ablaze,” in the words of Winston Churchill, the Special Operations Executive  (SOE), whose spies were trained in everything from demolition to sharpshooting, was forced to do something unprecedented: recruit women. Thirty-nine answered the call, leaving their lives and families to become saboteurs in France. In D-Day Girls, Sarah Rose draws on recently de­classified files, diaries, and oral histories to tell the thrilling story of three of these remarkable women. There’s Andrée Borrel, a scrappy and streetwise Parisian who blew up power lines with the Gestapo hot on her heels; Odette Sansom, an unhappily married suburban mother who saw the SOE as her ticket out of domestic life and into a meaningful adventure; and Lise de Baissac, a fiercely independent member of French colonial high society and the SOE’s unflap­pable “queen.” Together, they destroyed train lines, ambushed Nazis, plotted prison breaks, and gathered crucial intelligence—laying the groundwork for the D-Day invasion that proved to be the turning point in the war. Rigorously researched and written with razor-sharp wit, D-Day Girls is an inspiring story for our own moment of resistance: a reminder of what courage—and the energy of politically animated women—can accomplish when the stakes seem incalculably high. Praise for D-Day Girls “Rigorously researched . . . [a] thriller in the form of a non-fiction book.”—Refinery29 “Equal parts espionage-romance thriller and historical narrative, D-Day Girls traces the lives and secret activities of the 39 women who answered the call to infiltrate France. . . . While chronicling the James Bond-worthy missions and love affairs of these women, Rose vividly captures the broken landscape of war.”—The Washington Post “Gripping history . . . thoroughly researched and written as smoothly as a good thriller, this is a mesmerizing story of creativity, perseverance, and astonishing heroism.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Subjects: Electronic books.; Women; World War II; Intelligence & Espionage;
© 2019., Crown,
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The way from here : a novel / by Cockram, Jane,author.;
"Growing up, the Anderson sisters could not have been more different. Susie, the wild one, had an adventurous life while Camilla and Mills followed a safer path. When Susie suddenly dies, Mills falls apart. Until she receives a bundle of mysterious letters from her estranged sister to be read in the case of her death. Each letter instructs her to visit a place special to Susie, both to spread her ashes but also to uncover some truths Susie has long kept hidden from her family. Their mother Margaret has secrets of her own. When living in Swinging Sixties London, she too made a decision about her life that not only haunts her, but will reverberate through the generations. One family, three very different women. What choices and secrets connect them? In this novel of truth and lies, concealment and regret, Jane Cockram flips the looking glass to expose our true face, revealing the deep lines of deception that can run through families and how the people we love the most often have the most to hide."--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Family secrets; Sisters;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Almost surely dead [sound recording] / by Akhtar, Amina,author.; Jaffer, Kelsey,narrator.; Brilliance Audio (Firm),publisher.;
Read by Kelsey Jaffer."Dunia Ahmed lives an ordinary life-or she definitely used to. Now she's the subject of a true crime podcast. She's been missing for over a year, and no one knows if she's dead or alive. But her story has listeners obsessed, and people everywhere are sporting merch that demands "Find Dunia!" In the days before her disappearance, Dunia is a successful pharmacist living in New York. The daughter of Pakistani immigrants, she's coping with a broken engagement and the death of her mother. But then something happens that really shakes up her world: someone tries to murder her. When her would-be killer winds up dead, Dunia figures the worst is over. But then there's another attempt on her life ... and another. And police suspect someone close to her may be the culprit. Dunia struggles to make sense of what's happening. And as childhood superstitions seep into her reality, she becomes convinced that someone-or something-is truly after her"--
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Novels.; Psychological fiction.; Thrillers (Fiction); Assassins; Attempted murder; Missing persons; Murder; Pakistani American women; Pakistani Americans; Parents; Serial murderers; Suicide; Women pharmacists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Cry for me, Argentina : my life as a failed child star / by Yajia, Tamara,author.;
"A hilarious, moving memoir by Argentine American comedian Tamara Yajia about growing up between two worlds. From the day she was born, Tamara Yajia entered the world on a wave of absurdity. She was the newest member of a family no one would call normal, from her grandfather the salami-obsessed poppers salesman, to her mother, the OnlyFans model. Not only will her family try anything once, like moving to the United States and opening a food stand named Sexy Chicken; they'll try anything multiple times, like moving back to Argentina, then back to the United States, all while Tamara manages to achieve some success as a preteen child actress after a jaw-dropping performance where she strips down to a garter belt in front of a crowd of rabbis. The road doesn't get easier for a twelve-year-old Argentinian Jew trying to make it big in Orange County. The disappointment of giving up her childhood career as a performer makes for a rather tumultuous coming of age. But through grit, hustle, and a series of creative endeavors like joining a girl band, and performing her own one-woman show, Cumming of Age, Tam has made it through, and she's ready to spill some shit -- figuratively and literally. Featuring an unlikely combination of comedy and tragedy, generational struggle, and filthy sex jokes, Tamara Yajia's debut memoir is the blazing, heartfelt story of a family's courage to chase a better tomorrow, and a young woman trying to survive while holding on to her confidence, ambition, and sense of humor"--Dust jacket flap.
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Yajia, Tamara.; Actors; Women comedians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The river is waiting : a novel / by Lamb, Wally,author.;
Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that's before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them and by his mother's enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?
Subjects: Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Families; Grief; Married people; Prisoners; Prisons; Reconciliation;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 3
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Bones of a giant : a novel / by Isaac, Brian Thomas,author.;
"Summer, 1968. For the first time since his big brother, Eddie, disappeared two years earlier -- either a runaway or dead by his own hand -- sixteen-year-old Lewis Toma has shaken off some of his grief. His mother, Grace, and her friend Isabel have gone south to the United States to pack fruit to earn the cash Grace needs to put a bathroom and running water into the three-room shack they share on the reserve, leaving Lewis to spend the summer with his cousins, his Uncle Ned and his Aunt Jean in the new house they've built on their farm along the Salmon River. Their warm family life is almost enough to counter the pressures he feels as a boy trying to become a man in a place where responsible adult men like his uncle are largely absent, broken by residential school and racism. Everywhere he looks, women are left to carry the load, sometimes with kindness, but often with the bitterness, anger and ferocity of his own mother, who kicked Lewis's lowlife father, Jimmy, to the curb long ago. Lewis has vowed never to be like his father -- but an encounter with a predatory older woman tests him and he suffers the consequences. Worse, his dad is back in town and scheming on how to use the Indian Act to steal the land Lewis and his mom have been living on. And then, at summer's end, more shocking revelations shake the family, unleashing a deadly force of anger and frustration. With so many traps laid around him, how will Lewis find a path to a different future?"--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Bildungsromans.; Novels.; Families; Grief; Indigenous children; Indigenous peoples;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 2
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I was told to come alone : my journey behind the lines of jihad / by Mekhennet, Souad,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The journalist who broke the "Jihadi John" story draws on her personal experience to bridge the gap between the Muslim world and the West and explain the rise of Islamic radicalism Souad Mekhennet has lived her entire life between worlds. The daughter of a Turkish mother and a Moroccan father, she was born and educated in Germany and has worked for several American newspapers. Since the 9/11 attacks she has reported stories among the most dangerous members of her religion; when she is told to come alone to an interview, she never knows what awaits at her destination. In this compelling and evocative book, Mekhennet seeks to answer the question, "What is in the minds of these young jihadists, and how can we understand and defuse it?" She has unique and exclusive access into the world of jihad and sometimes her reporting has put her life in danger. We accompany her from Germany to the heart of the Muslim world -- from the Middle East to North Africa, from Sunni Pakistan to Shia Iran, and the Turkish/Syrian border region where ISIS is a daily presence. She then returns to Europe, first in London, where she uncovers the identity of the notorious ISIS executioner "Jihadi John," and then in Paris and Brussels, where terror has come to the heart of Western civilization. Too often we find ourselves unable to see the human stories behind the headlines, and so Mekhennet - with a foot in many different camps - is the ideal guide to take us where no Western reporter can go. Her story is a journey that changes her life and will have a deep impact on us as well"--
Subjects: Mekhennet, Souad.; Emwazi, Mohammed, -2015.; IS (Organization); Jihad.; Terrorism;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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