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May it have a happy ending : a memoir of finding my voice as my mother lost hers / by Mahtani, Minelle,1971-author.;
"For readers of Crying in H Mart and In the Dream House, a searing, intimate memoir about mothers and daughters, grief and healing, and finding your voice when you thought it lost. Keep quiet when you experience racism -- to protect yourself, and the people you love. This was the very first lesson Minelle Mahtani learned about staying silent. She was six years old. Other lessons would come in time: Take up less space. Ask fewer questions. Try harder to fit in. And from her Hindu, Indian father and Muslim, Iranian mother: Be excellent. Strive for greatness. In her forties, Minelle's left hand began to shake. Then, her left leg went numb. Her body was trying to tell her something -- screaming what she could not say. And then, in the midst of this crisis, a lifeline in the form of a job offer: the chance to speak, to develop her voice, as a radio host. If she only had the courage to try. But as Minelle took tentative steps toward finding herself, she received devastating news: her beloved mother had tongue cancer. Just as Minelle was finding her voice, her mother was losing hers. This is a story about what it means to mourn and heal. It is about the tender yet fragile relationships between mothers and daughters -- relationships weighed down by histories more complex than we can ever know. It is about the myriad ways our voices take flight as people of colour, and about how our ancestors speak to us through the intimate moments in our lives. In exquisite, lyrical prose, May It Have a Happy Ending meditates on the ways grief, race, love and self-expression intersect, and introduces an important new literary voice."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Mahtani, Minelle, 1971-; Mahtani, Minelle, 1971-; Mahtani, Minelle, 1971-; Mothers and daughters;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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In praise of retreat : finding sanctuary in the modern world / by MacLeod, Kirsteen,author.;
"For readers of Walden, Wild, Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek, A Book of Silence, A Gift from the Sea and other celebrations of the inner adventure. An utterly engaging dive into our modern ways of retreat -- where we go, why we're drawn, and how it's urgent. From pilgrim paths to forest cabins, and from rented hermitages to arts temples and quiet havens for yoga and meditation, In Praise of Retreat explores the pleasures and powers of this ancient practice for modern people. Kirsteen MacLeod draws on the history of retreat and personal experiences to reveal the many ways readers can step back from society to reconnect with their deepest selves -- and to their loftiest aspirations in life. In the 21st century, disengaging, even briefly, is seen by many as self-indulgent, unproductive, and antisocial. Yet to retreat is as basic a human need as being social, and everyone can benefit, whether it's for a weekend, a month, or a lifetime. Retreat is an uncertain adventure with as many peaks and valleys as any mountain expedition, except we head inward, to recharge and find fresh energy and brave new ideas to bring back into our everyday lives."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Solitude; Solitude.; Spiritual retreats.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Trippy : the peril and promise of medicinal psychedelics / by Londoño, Ernesto,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."When he signed up for a psychedelic retreat run by a mysterious Argentine woman deep in Brazil's rainforest in early 2018, Ernesto Londoño, a veteran New York Times journalist, was so depressed he had come close to jumping off his terrace weeks earlier. His nine-day visit to Spirit Vine Ayahuasca Retreat Center included four nighttime ceremonies during which participants imbibed a vomit-inducing plant-based brew that contained DMT, a powerful mind-altering compound. The ayahuasca trips provided Londoño an instant reprieve from his depression and became the genesis of his personal transformation that anchors this sweeping journalistic exploration of the booming field of medicinal psychedelics. Londoño introduces readers to a dazzling array of psychedelic enthusiasts who are upending our understanding of trauma and healing. They include Indigenous elders who regard psychedelics as portals to the spirit world; religious leaders who use mind-bending substances as sacraments; war veterans suffering from PTSD who credit psychedelics with changing their lives; and clinicians trying to resurrect a promising field of medicine hastily abandoned in the 1970s as the United States declared a War on Drugs. Londoño's riveting personal narrative pulls the reader through a deeply researched and brilliantly reported account of a game-changing industry on the rise. Trippy is the definitive book of psychedelics and mental health today and Londoño's in-depth and nuanced look at this shifting landscape will be pivotal in guiding policymakers and readers as they make sense of the perils, limitations and promise of turning to psychedelics in the pursuit of healing"--
Subjects: Ayahuasca; Hallucinogenic drugs and religious experience.; Hallucinogenic drugs.; Hallucinogenic plants;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Chorus : a novel / by Kauffman, Rebecca,author.;
"The seven Shaw siblings have long been haunted by two early and profoundly consequential events. Told in turn back and forth over time, from the early twentieth century through the 1950s, each sibling relays their own version of the memories that surround both their mother's mysterious death and the circumstances leading up to and beyond one sister's scandalous teenage pregnancy. As they move into adulthood, the siblings assume various new roles: caretaker to their aging father, addict, enabler, academic, decorated veteran, widow, and mothers and fathers to the next generation. A family knot of entanglement, each sibling encounters divorce, drama, and death, while haunted by a mother who was never truly there. Through this lens, they all seek to not only understand how her death shaped their family, but also to illuminate the insoluble nature of the many familial experiences we all encounter-the concept of home, the tenacity that is a family's love, and the unexpected ways through which healing can occur. Chorus is a hopeful story of family, of loss and recovery, of complicated relationships forged between brothers and sisters as they move through life together, and the unlikely forces that first drive them away and then ultimately back home"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Historical fiction.; Brothers and sisters; Families; Mothers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Noah Frye gets crushed / by Horne, Maggie.;
"Noah Frye just had the best summer ever. Not only did she have an epic time at science camp, but her new camp friend Jessa is going to Noah's school in the fall. Noah can't wait to introduce Jessa to her best friends Zoey and Luna when classes start. But when the friend group is reunited after their summer apart, something seems to have changed: Zoey and Luna have discovered boys, and now it's all they want to obsess over. Suddenly, it feels like Noah is the odd one out in their friend group, especially since Noah hasn't ever even considered boys in that way. When Noah finds herself caught in a lie about having a boy crush of her own, she decides she'll do anything to fit in with her friends again--even if that means using the scientific method. Noah's crush experiment is simple: find a boy, fake a crush until it turns real, and get her friends back. But that might be easier said than done, especially when Noah can't stop thinking about Jessa"--Ages 8-12.
Subjects: Romance fiction.; Queer fiction.; Middle schools; Lesbians; Best friends; Friendship; Crushes;
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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Acts of Violet / by Montimore, Margarita,author.;
"From Margarita Montimore, the author of GMA Book Club pick and national bestseller Oona Out of Order, Acts of Violet is a dazzling and twisty new novel about a famous magician who disappears, leaving her sister to figure out what really happened. Nearly a decade ago, iconic magician Violet Volk performed her greatest trick yet: vanishing mid-act. Though she hasn't been seen since, her hold on the public imagination is stronger than ever. While Violet sought out the spotlight, her sister Sasha always had to be the responsible one, taking over their mother's hair salon and building a quiet life for her beloved daughter, Quinn. But Sasha can never seem to escape her sister's orbit or her memories of their unresolved, tumultuous relationship. Then there's Cameron Frank, tapped to host a podcast devoted to all things Violet, who is determined to finally get his big break--even if he promised to land an exclusive interview with Sasha, the one person who definitely doesn't want to talk to him. As the ten-year anniversary approaches, the podcast picks up steam, and Cameron's pursuit of Sasha becomes increasingly intrusive. He isn't the only one wondering what secrets she might be keeping: Quinn, loyal to the aunt she always idolized, is doing her own investigating. Meanwhile, Sasha begins to experience an unsettling series of sleepwalking episodes and coincidences, which all seem to lead back to Violet. Pushed to her emotional limits, Sasha must finally confront the most painful truths about her sister, and herself, even at the risk of losing everything"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Novels.; Family secrets; Magicians; Missing persons; Podcasters; Sisters;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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In My Time of Dying How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife [electronic resource] : by Junger, Sebastian.aut; cloudLibrary;
A near-fatal health emergency leads to this powerful reflection on death—and what might follow—by the bestselling author of Tribe and The Perfect Storm. For years as an award-winning war reporter, Sebastian Junger traveled to many front lines and frequently put his life at risk. And yet the closest he ever came to death was the summer of 2020 while spending a quiet afternoon at the New England home he shared with his wife and two young children. Crippled by abdominal pain, Junger was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Once there, he began slipping away. As blackness encroached, he was visited by his dead father, inviting Junger to join him. “It’s okay,” his father said. “There’s nothing to be scared of. I’ll take care of you.” That was the last thing Junger remembered until he came to the next day when he was told he had suffered a ruptured aneurysm that he should not have survived. This experience spurred Junger—a confirmed atheist raised by his physicist father to respect the empirical—to undertake a scientific, philosophical, and deeply personal examination of mortality and what happens after we die. How do we begin to process the brutal fact that any of us might perish unexpectedly on what begins as an ordinary day? How do we grapple with phenomena that science may be unable to explain? And what happens to a person, emotionally and spiritually, when forced to reckon with such existential questions? In My Time of Dying is part medical drama, part searing autobiography, and part rational inquiry into the ultimate unknowable mystery.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Death & Dying; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD);
© 2024., HarperCollins Canada,
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Build your house around my body : a novel / by Kupersmith, Violet,author.;
"In 1986, the teenage daughter of a wealthy family gets lost in an abandoned rubber plantation while fleeing her angry father and is forever changed by the experience. In 2009, pressed into a dangerous scheme by a former lover, a woman captures a rare two-headed cobra. And in 2011, a young, unhappy American living in Saigon with her sort-of boyfriend, disappears without a trace. Over the course of the novel, the fates of these three women will lock together in an exhilarating series of nested narratives. Along the way, we meet a young boy sent to a boarding school in the mountains for the métis children of French expatriates just before Vietnam declares its independence from colonial rule in 1945; two Frenchmen trying to start a business with the Vietnam War on the horizon; and the employees of the Saigon Spirit Eradication Co., called to investigate strange occurrences in a farmhouse on the edge of a forest. Each new character and timeline brings us one step closer to understanding what binds the three women together, and what happened to Winnie. Written with wit, ambition, and playfulness, this book takes us from sweaty nightclubs to ramshackle zoos, colonial mansions to ex-pat flats, sizzling back-alley street carts to the noisy seats of motorbikes. Spanning over fifty years and barreling toward an unforgettable conclusion, this is a fever dream about possessed bodies and possessed lands, a time-traveling, heart-pounding, border-crossing marvel of a novel"--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Magic realist fiction.; Missing persons; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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I am fifteen and I do not want to die : the true story of a young woman's wartime survival / by Arnothy, Christine,1930-author.; White, Antonia,1899-1980,translator.; Castledine, Catherine,translator.; Arnothy, Christine,1930-It is not so easy to live.; Arnothy, Christine,1930-J'ai quinze ans et je ne veux pas mourir.English.;
Told with a calm compulsive force, and with an intimacy and maturity that defies her years, Christine Arnothy's story is a poignant coming-of-age memoir, and a remarkable tale of ordinary lives destroyed by war. Christine tells of ther terrible experiences in Budapest in early 1945, as the siege which was to kill some 40,000 civilians raged around her and her family. By the end of the siege over eighty per cent of the buildings in the city were destroyed or damaged including all five bridges over the Danube. Hiding in cellars, venturing out only when the noise of battle momentarily receded in a desperate search for food and water, they wondered if the Germans or the Russians would be victorious and under which they would fare best. Praying she would survive, and mourning the loss of some of her fellow refugees, Christine found solace in her imagination and dreamt of becoming a writer at the end of the war. Her subsequent adventures include a dramatic escape over the frontier into Vienna and freedom (or so she had imagined), and a search for a new life in Paris, leaving her parents in an Allied refugee camp.
Subjects: Arnothy, Christine, 1930-; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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