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The rain watcher [sound recording] / by Rosnay, Tatiana de,1961-author.; Vance, Simon,narrator.; Macmillan Audio (Firm),publisher.;
Read by Simon Vance."The first new novel in four years from the beloved superstar author of Sarah's Key, a heartbreaking and uplifting story of family secrets and devastating disaster, in the tradition of THE NEST. The Rain Watcher is a powerful family drama set in Paris as the Malegarde family gathers to celebrate the father's 70th birthday. Their hidden fears and secrets are slowly unraveled as the City of Light undergoes a stunning natural disaster. Seen through the eyes of charismatic photographer Linden Malegarde, the youngest son, all members of the family will have to fight to keep their unity against tragic circumstances. In this profound and intense novel of love and redemption, De Rosnay demonstrates all of her writer's skills both as an incredible storyteller but also as a soul seeker"--
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Domestic fiction.; Families; Family secrets; Photographers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Lapvona / by Moshfegh, Ottessa,author.;
"In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself the unlikely pivot of a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test, in a spellbinding novel that represents Ottessa Moshfegh's most exciting leap yet Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life's few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him when he was a baby, as she did so many of the village's children. Ina's gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina's home in the woods outside of the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place. Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people's desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord's family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year's end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world, will prove to be very thin indeed"--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Fiefs; Middle Ages; Midwives; Shepherds;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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High passion / by Arend, Vivian.;
LIFELINE: an elite search-and-rescue squad based out of Banff, Alberta. Specializing in high-risk rescue missions, this team goes wherever the job takes them. Alisha Bailey left a life of privilege for the dangerous but thrilling world of search and rescue. Denying the lure of attraction to her teammate is another sacrifice she's made to prove to everyone--including her family--that she's more than a pretty face or a business commodity. Since their training days, Devon Leblanc has used the competitive fire between them to hide his fascination with the petite beauty. When a natural disaster forces their rivalry aside, heated passion finally flares between them. Sexual pleasure slowly gives way to a new appreciation for each other's skills--on the field and in the bedroom. But when unexplained accidents begin happening to the Lifeline team, their newfound unity may be their only hope for survival.
Subjects: Love stories.; Search and rescue operations;
© 2013., Berkley Books,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Like crazy : life with my mother and her invisible friends / by Mathews, Dan,author.;
"Dan Mathews knew that his eccentric mother, Perry Lawrence, was outspoken, foul-mouthed, and, at seventy-nine years old, unable to maintain her fiercely independent lifestyle--so he flew her across the country (with a gay man as her escort) to live with him in a dilapidated Victorian townhouse in Portsmouth, Virginia. What he didn't know was that she was schizophrenic. Over the next five years, Dan and Perry built a rollicking life together fueled by costume parties, experiments in drug use, and an unshakeable sense of humor as they faced down illness, natural disasters, and Perry's steady decline. With the help of an ever-expanding circle of friends--boyfriends new and old, strippers, DJs, gun nuts, Evangelical Christians, and everyone in between--they flipped the parent-child relationship on its head, with the globe-trotting animal rights activist finally learning to slow down and care for the woman who raised him. But it wasn't until after a kicking-and-screaming trip to the emergency room that Dan discovered that his mother's lifelong tendency to go it alone wasn't just a manifestation of her free spirit but was actually the inescapable element of a serious and undiagnosed disorder. Witty, emotionally powerful, and deeply moving, Like Crazy is a warm and engrossing memoir about mental illness, reinvention, and the remarkable power of community. Lovingly told, Mathews's memoir is also a profound meditation on the joys and pitfalls of caring for an aging family member and of the remarkable growth that takes place as a child steps into the role of the parent"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Mathews, Dan.; Mathews, Perry Lawrence; Mothers and sons; Schizophrenics; Schizophrenics;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The reproach of hunger : food, justice, and money in the twenty-first century / by Rieff, David,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The 1990s held up the idea that hunger and poverty were the results of war, mismanagement, and undemocratic societies. The international community, and humanitarian focus, acted to address these threats above all others--instilling democracy and free markets would generate greater wealth for more people. The assumption was that natural disasters were unlikely to constitute a challenge on anywhere near the same level as human rights emergencies, which had created tens of millions of refugees and internally displaced people. The plan didn't work. This is a book about the global crisis we did not expect. Even as the world races to grab and hold energy resources the next great challenge is building in complexity: famine--world hunger. In 2009, unlike in 1999, the most important UN relief agency was not the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) but the World Food Program (WFP), and the most pressing crisis is not resettling refugees, but making sure tens of millions of people--many in countries where there is no war at all--do not starve to death. What the food crisis illustrates for us is one dark side of globalism--not the system that will eventually make everyone prosperous, but rather a zero sum game in which full bellies in one country and empty bellies in another are inextricably linked. An increasing push towards "One world, ready or not," has paradoxically raised the living standards of hundreds of millions of people to previously unachieved levels, but at the same time the prosperity of one is fraught with the potential tragedy for another. The Reproach of Hunger describes the tragedy of the world hunger pandemic, and explains how we continue to struggle to feed the "new hungry" of the world. It is an issue not of availability, but rather of affordability."--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Food supply.; Hunger.; Money.; Social justice.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Desperation Reef A Novel [electronic resource] : by Parker, T. Jefferson.aut; Curda, Major.nrt; Németh-Parker, Stephanie.nrt; cloudLibrary;
In this high-stakes thriller by three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker, ("A marvel...hits the high-water mark for crime fiction every time out." —Gregg Hurwitz), a big wave surfer and her sons compete in the same contest that killed her husband many years before. Jen Stonebreaker hasn't entered into a big-wave surfing competition since witnessing her husband's tragic death twenty-five years ago at the Monsters of the Mavericks. Now, Jen is ready to tackle those same Monsters with her twin sons Casey and Brock, who have become competitive surfers in a perilous sport. When he’s not riding waves, modeling for surfing magazines, or posting viral content for his many fans, Casey Stonebreaker spends his days helping with the family restaurant — catching fish in the morning and bartending at night. Casey’s love for the ocean and his willingness to expose illegal poachers on his platforms puts him on a collision course with a crime syndicate eager to destroy anyone threatening their business. Outspoken Brock Stonebreaker couldn’t be more different from his twin. The founder of Breath of Life, a church and rescue mission that assists with natural disasters that no one else will touch, Brock has lived an adventurous and sometimes violent life. Not everyone appreciates the work that Brock's Breath of Life mission accomplishes, and threats to destroy his mission—and his family—swirl around him. As the big-wave contest draws closer, a huge, late fall swell is headed toward the Pacific coastline. Jen's fears gnaw at her—fear for herself, for her sons, for what this competition will mean for the rest of her life. A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Forge.
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Suspense; Crime;
© 2024., Macmillan Audio,
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The story she left behind : a novel / by Callahan, Patti Henry,author.;
"Inspired by a true literary mystery, New York Times bestselling author of the mesmerizing The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter's search for them both. In 1927, eight-year-old Clara Harrington's magical childhood shatters when her mother, renowned author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, disappears off the coast of South Carolina. Bronwyn stunned the world with a book written in an invented language that became a national sensation when she was just twelve years old. Her departure leaves behind not only a devoted husband and heartbroken daughter, but also the hope of ever translating the sequel to her landmark work. As the headlines focus on the missing author, Clara yearns for something far deeper and more insatiable: her beautiful mother. By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her own daughter, Wynnie. When a stranger named Charlie Jameson contacts her from London claiming to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother's lost language. Clara is skeptical. Compelled by the tragedy of her mother's vanishing, she crosses the Atlantic with Wynnie only to arrive during one of London's most deadly natural disasters-the Great Smog. With asthmatic Wynnie in peril, they escape the city with Charlie and find refuge in the Jameson's family retreat nestled in the Lake District. It is there that Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind. Told in Patti Callahan Henry's lyrical, enchanting prose, The Story She Left Behind is a captivating novel of mystery and family legacy that captures the profound longing for a mother and the evergreen allure of secrets"--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Ciphers; Cryptography; Missing persons; Mothers and daughters; Women authors;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 2
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Wild life : a novel / by Leduc, Amanda,author.;
In 19th-century Scotland, young Josiah is banished by his father for seeing the divine in the animals around him and sent to Siberia with a small Christian mission to purge such nonsense from his soul. Miserably scrubbing the chapel floor one night, Josiah is visited by what he thinks is God in animal form. When his saviours, a hyena and her mate, rescue him from a natural disaster that kills the other missionaries and then bring him safely home, he founds a religion based on his belief that God granted speech to the hyenas as part of a divine plan to heal and exalt the human race. The hyena pair, Barbara and Kendrith, aren't so sure that Josiah has it right. But with their beautiful strangeness, they utterly transform the people they encounter over succeeding generations. As Josiah's church gathers adherents, more and more animals start to speak to humans--from signing baby gorillas to seductive alligators. At first one or two rebellious pets make a break for freedom, but then comes a mass exodus of all animals held captive, forcing people to contend with a wildness in themselves they have spent millennia denying. The end of this remarkable fairytale is both joyful and devastating, completely dissolving the boundary between what's "human" and what's "animal."
Subjects: Magic realist fiction.; Novels.; Animals; Human-animal relationships; Hyenas; Magic; Religions; Survival;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Option B : facing adversity, building resilience, and finding joy / by Sandberg, Sheryl,author.; Grant, Adam(Psychologist),author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From Facebook's COO and Wharton's top-rated professor, the #1 New York Timesbest-selling authors of Lean In and Originals: a powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after life's inevitable setbacks. After the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt certain that she and her children would never feel pure joy again. "I was in 'the void,'" she writes, "a vast emptiness that fills your heart and lungs and restricts your ability to think or even breathe." Her friend Adam Grant, a psychologist at Wharton, told her there are concrete steps people can take to recover and rebound from life-shattering experiences. We are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. It is a muscle that everyone can build. Option B combines Sheryl's personal insights with Adam's eye-opening research on finding strength in the face of adversity. Beginning with the gut-wrenching moment when she finds her husband, Dave Goldberg, collapsed on a gym floor, Sheryl opens up her heart--and her journal--to describe the acute grief and isolation she felt in the wake of his death. But Option B goes beyond Sheryl's loss to explore how a broad range of people have overcome hardships including illness, job loss, sexual assault, natural disasters, and the violence of war. Their stories reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere. and to rediscover joy. Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead. Two weeks after losing her husband, Sheryl was preparing for a father-child activity. "I want Dave," she cried. Her friend replied, "Option A is not available," and then promised to help her make the most of Option B. We all live some form of Option B. This book will help us all make the most of it"--
Subjects: Sandberg, Sheryl.; Bereavement.; Grief.; Loss (Psychology); Resilience (Personality trait);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Wicked Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West [electronic resource] : by Maguire, Gregory.aut; cloudLibrary;
The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination.  Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens. But Elphaba’s Oz is no utopia. The Wizard’s secret police are everywhere. Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas.  Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name—one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel’s distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire’s Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch. 
Subjects: Electronic books.; Romantic; Literary; Contemporary; Media Tie-In; Epic; Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology; Horror;
© 2009., HarperCollins,
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