Search:

Results 601 to 610 of 708 | « previous |

Still, I cannot save you : a memoir of sisterhood, love, and letting go / by Thompson, Kelly S.,author.;
"With honesty, love, and humour, in this moving memoir, Kelly S. Thompson explores her relationship with her older sister, Meghan. Tested by addiction, abuse, and illness, the sisters' relationship crumbles, only to be rebuilt into an everlasting bond. Kelly Thompson, and her older sister, Meghan, are proof that sisterhood doesn't always equate to friendship. While they were mostly temperamental opposites, growing up in a military family forged their connection--Kelly, an anxious child, looked to her big sister for protection, and Meghan, who was being treated for kidney cancer, adored her younger sister. But when, as a teenager, Meghan becomes addicted to cocaine and opioids, putting the family under new strain, Kelly is forced to reevaluate her family role as her relationship with Meghan is torn apart. As time passes, the distance between the sisters only increases as Meghan slips deeper into addiction and chooses a series of abusive partners. Meanwhile, Kelly sets her own course, enrolling in the military at eighteen, moving across the country and marrying the love of her life, while pursuing her dream of becoming a writer. It's only when Meghan becomes a mother that she and Kelly tentatively begin to face past hurts and reexamine what sisterhood really means. Just as they reunite, Meghan is diagnosed with terminal cancer the day after the birth of her second child. Now, as the family reels at the prospect of the biggest loss, Kelly and Meghan will draw on their mutual dark sense of humour and deep understanding of each other, to share all they can in the time that they have. At once funny, inspiring, and heartbreaking, Still, I Cannot Save You is a story about addiction, abuse, tragedy, and illness, but above all, it is a powerful portrait of an enduring love between two sisters."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Thompson, Kelly S.; Thompson, Meghan, -2018.; Cancer; Drug addicts; Mothers; Sisters;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

How the word is passed : a reckoning with the history of slavery across America / by Smith, Clint,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Clint Smith's revealing, contemporary portrait of America as a slave owning nation. Beginning in his own hometown of New Orleans, Smith leads the reader through an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks - those that are honest about the past and those that are not - that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nations collective history, and ourselves. It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving more than four hundred people. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the story of Angola, a former plantation-turned-maximum-security prison in Louisiana that is filled with Black men who work across the 18,000-acre land for virtually no pay. And it is the story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers. A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, this book illustrates how some of our country's most essential stories are hidden in plain view-whether in places we might drive by on our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods like downtown Manhattan, where the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women, and children has been deeply imprinted. Informed by scholarship and brought to life by the story of people living today, here is a landmark of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of our country and how it has come to be.
Subjects: African Americans.; History.; Discrimination.; Ethnology; Minorities; African Americans;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The plague year : America in the time of Covid / by Wright, Lawrence,1947-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, whose best-selling thriller The End of the October all but predicted our current pandemic, comes another momentous account, this time of COVID-19: its origins, its myriad repercussions, and the ongoing fight to contain it. Beginning with the absolutely critical first moments of the outbreak in China, and ending with an epilogue on the vaccine rollout and the unprecedented events between the election of Joseph Biden and his inauguration, Lawrence Wright's The Plague Year surges forward with essential information--and fascinating historical parallels--examining the medical, economic, political, and social ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wright takes us inside the CDC, where the first round of faulty test kits cost America precious time; inside the halls of the White House, where Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger's early alarm about the virus was met with great skepticism; into a COVID ward in a Charlottesville hospital, with an idealistic young woman doctor from Little Africa, South Carolina; into the precincts of prediction specialists at Goldman Sachs; and even inside the human body, diving deep into the science of just how the virus and vaccines function, with an eye-opening detour into the history of vaccination and of the modern anti-vaxxer movement. In turns steely eyed, sympathetic, infuriated, comical, and always precise, Wright is a formidable guide, slicing through the dense fog of misinformation to give us a 360-degree portrait of the catastrophe we thought we knew. His full accounting does honor to the medical professionals around the country who've risked their lives to fight the virus, revealing America in all its vulnerability, courage, and potential"--
Subjects: COVID-19 (Disease); COVID-19 (Disease); COVID-19 (Disease); COVID-19 (Disease);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Beyond this harbor : adventurous tales of the heart / by Styron, Rose,author.;
"An intimate portrait of a celebrated magic life and the famous and infamous who dropped in, summered, traveled with, played with, and the decades of friendship with everyone from Truman Capote and Robert Penn Warren to the Kennedys, the Bernsteins, Alexander Calder, John Hersey, and Lillian Hellman. Here as well are the years of dedication and risk, traveling the world, from Pinochet's Chile to El Salvador, Belfast, and Sarajevo, as Rose Styron, in search of those hiding from dictators and autocrats, bore witness to atrocities and human rights violations ... Styron writes of her childhood, born into a German Jewish, assimilated Baltimore family; a rebel from the start, studying poetry at Wellesley, Harvard, Johns Hopkins; traveling to Rome and her (second) meeting with Bill (the first time, "I can't remember even shaking hands. I wasn't thinking about him at all."); their eventual marriage, and their more than fifty years together--in bucolic Roxbury, Connecticut, and on Martha's Vineyard. She writes of Bill's writing and of retyping his manuscripts, discussing his writing progress, having babies, with visits from neighbors Arthur Miller; Mike Nichols and various wives; Dustin Hoffman buying the house over the hill; James Baldwin moving in to Styron's writing studio and writing The Fire Next Time, with Baldwin encouraging Styron to write Nat Turner in first person; Frank Sinatra, sailing into Vineyard Haven Harbor and soon dropping by for dinners chez Styrons; the Kennedys having rowdy sleepovers ... And she writes in detail about Bill Styron's full-on breakdowns, his recovery from the first depression; writing Darkness Visible. And fifteen years later, the second much worse crash; Bill Styron's death; her year of grief, teaching at Harvard; living full time on the Vineyard and making a new full life there ... "--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Styron, Rose.; Styron, William, 1925-2006; Human rights workers; Poets, American;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Oil people : a novel / by Huebert, David,author.;
"Weaving together family saga, gothic myth, and eco-fiction, Oil People is an audacious debut novel about history and family, land and power, and oil as both contaminant and an object of wonder. It's 1987, and thirteen-year-old Jade Armbruster lives with her parents and older sister on their family petroleum museum--an old and decaying property that their father is desperately trying to sell. While she tries to live out a normal teenage existence, avoiding her best-friend-turned-nemesis and vying for the attention of a cute farmer boy, the oil swirling beneath her family's home has left a mark on all of them. For Jade, it appears as a haunting yet familiar presence that she can't quite place. It's 1862, and Clyde Armbruster catches his big break, striking Lambton County's first gusher and helping to form a community that will be known as Oil Springs. The discovery brings wealth and opportunity to him and his wife, but his daily proximity to oil leaves him infertile and may be the cause of his periodic hallucinatory visions of a red-haired girl in strange clothing. At the same time, Clyde and his wife develop a tense friendship with their eccentric and wealthy neighbours, a relationship that promises even more success until a fateful moment intertwines the two families forever, locking them into a bitter rivalry that lasts generations. As the two narratives twist and tangle together, family secrets and deceits are slowly unveiled, and the slick and lucid spectre of oil seeps off the page, revealing a portrait of a world and a land physically bleeding from the actions of the greedy and powerful. Intense and visceral, agile and lyrical, Oil People signals the arrival of a profound and vital voice."--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Gothic fiction.; Sagas.; Novels.; Families; Family secrets; Petroleum industry and trade; Secrecy;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Seed to dust : life, nature, and a country garden / by Hamer, Marc,author.;
"For readers of Late Migrations and Vesper Flights From the acclaimed author of How to Catch a Mole, this meditative memoir explores the wisdom of plants, the joys of manual labor, and the natural cycle of growth and decay that runs through both the garden's life and our own. Marc Hamer has nurtured the same 12-acre garden in the Welsh countryside for over two decades. The garden is vast and intricate. It's rarely visited, and only Hamer knows of its secrets. But it's not his garden. It belongs to his wealthy and elegant employer, Miss Cashmere. But the garden does not really belong to her, either. As Hamer writes, 'Like a book, a garden belongs to everyone who sees it.' In Seed to Dust, Marc Hamer paints a beautiful portrait of the garden that 'belongs to everyone.' He describes a year in his life as a country gardener, with each chapter named for the month he's in. As he works, he muses on the unusual folklores of his beloved plants. He observes the creatures who scurry and hide from his blade or rake. And he reflects on his own life: living homeless as a young man, his loving relationship with his wife and children, and--now--feeling the effects of old age on body and mind. As the seasons change, Hamer also reflects on the changes he has observed in Miss Cashmere's life from afar: the death of her husband and the departure of her children from the stately home where she now lives alone. At the book's end, Hamer's connection to Miss Cashmere changes shape, and new insights into relationships and the beauty and brutality of nature emerge. Just like all good books and gardens, Seed to Dust is filled with equal parts life and death, beauty and decay, and every reader will find something different to admire."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Hamer, Marc.; Gardening; Gardens; Natural history;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Orphan bachelors : a memoir : on being a confession baby, Chinatown daughter, baa-bai sister, caretaker of exotics, literary balloon peddler, and grand historian of a doomed American family / by Ng, Fae Myenne,1956-author.;
"From the bestselling, award-winning author of novels Bone and Steer Toward Rock, Fae Myenne Ng's Orphan Bachelors is a singular memoir of her beloved San Francisco's Chinatown and of a family building a life in a country bent on their exclusion. Beloved by readers for her "incantatory" (New York Times) novels and their luminous depictions of Chinatown, Fae Myenne Ng's new memoir is a personal, timely portrait of the same storied place. In pre-Communist China, Ng's father memorized a book of lies and gained entry to the United States as a stranger's son, evading the Exclusion Act, an immigration law which he believed was meant to extinguish the Chinese American family. During the McCarthy era, he entered the Confession Program only to have his citizenship revoked. Ng was her parents' precocious firstborn. A child raised by a seafaring father and a seamstress mother, by Chinatown and its legendary Orphan Bachelors--men without wives or children, exclusion's living legacy. Exclusion's shadow followed Ng from the back alleys of Chinatown in the sixties, to Manhattan in the eighties, to the high desert of California in the nineties, until her return home in the 2000s when the deaths of her youngest brother and her father devastated the family. As a child, Ng believed her father's lies; as an adult, she returned to her childhood home to write his truth. Orphan Bachelors weaves together the history of one doomed family; an elegy for brothers estranged and for elders lost; and insights into writing between languages and teaching between generations. In this powerful remembrance, Ng gives voice to her ancestors, her Orphan Bachelors, and her own inner self, howling in Cantonese, impossible to translate but determined to be heard"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Ng, Fae Myenne, 1956-; Chinese American authors; Chinese American families;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The stone world : a novel / by Agee, Joel,author.;
"The son of acclaimed writer James Agee delivers a beautiful and haunting recreation of his childhood, when his mother fled America for Mexico, and raised him amid a circle including expat European communists, local labor activists, and even Frida Kahlo ... Joel Agee's hallucinatory first novel begins in a house with a large garden in an unnamed Mexican town in the late 1940s, where six-and-a-half-year-old Peter reads, dreams, and plays with his friends. He is a nascent explorer, artist, philosopher, mystic, and scientist. His world is still new, not yet papered over with received knowledge. And the actual world around him is a unique one in history: a community of leftist emigrés who have found refuge in Mexico from the Nazi and fascist regimes of Europe, rubbing shoulders with Mexican labor activists and leftists such as Frida Kahlo. But the emigrés long for home - including Peter's step-father, who wants to return to his native Germany. Going back to Europe may not be safe for any of them yet, however, which gives rise to anguished arguments among Peter's parents and their tight group of friends. And slowly, Peter begins to comprehend that his world may be turned upside down - that he might be forced to take leave of everyone he knows: his best friend, Arón; his father's friend Sándor, who talks about revolution and performs magic tricks; and Zita, the family's live-in-maid, who has taught him the consoling mysteries of prayer. Steeped in the magic and myths of childhood - yet haunted by a harsh adult world bedeviled by instability and political turmoil - Joel Agee's The Stone World is an unforgettable portrait of a family that will inevitably invite comparison with another classic family story, that of his father James Agee's A Death in the Family"--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Domestic fiction.; Historical fiction.; Families; Refugees; Refugees;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Confronting the presidents : no spin assessments from Washington to Biden / by O'Reilly, Bill,author.; Dugard, Martin,author.;
"Every American president, from Washington to Biden: Their lives, policies, foibles, and legacies, assessed with clear-eyed authority and wit. Authors of the acclaimed Killing books, the #1 bestselling narrative history series in the world, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard begin a new direction with Confronting the Presidents. From Washington to Jefferson, Lincoln to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Kennedy to Nixon, Reagan to Obama and Biden, the 45 United States presidents have left lasting impacts on our nation. Some of their legacies continue today, some are justly forgotten, and some have changed as America has changed. Whether famous, infamous, or obscure, all the presidents shaped our nation in unexpected ways. The authors' extensive research has uncovered never before seen historical facts based on private correspondence and newly discovered documentation, such as George Washington's troubled relationship with his mother. In Confronting the Presidents, O'Reilly and Dugard present 45 wonderfully entertaining and insightful portraits of each president, with no-spin commentary on their achievements-or lack thereof. Who best served America, and who undermined the founding ideals? Who were the first ladies, and what were their surprising roles in making history? Which presidents were the best, which the worst, and which didn't have much impact? How do decisions made in one era, under the pressure of particular circumstances, still resonate today? And what do presidents like to eat, drink, and do when they aren't working-or even sometimes when they are? These and many more questions are answered in each fascinating chapter of Confronting the Presidents. Written with O'Reilly and Dugard's signature style, authority, and eye for telling detail, Confronting the Presidents will delight all readers of history, politics, and current affairs, especially during the 2024 election season"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Executive power; Political leadership; Presidents; Presidents;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Drive : the lasting legacy of Tiger Woods / by Harig, Bob,author.;
"Bob Harig's latest deep-dive into Tiger Woods' thrilling career, as seen through his iconic 2019 Masters comeback and win. In April of 1997, the world of golf was forever changed. At the age of 21, a young Tiger Woods won the most prestigious golf tournament in the world, the Masters, by a record of 12 strokes. Woods became the youngest golfer ever to win the Masters and the first African or Asian-American player to win a major. History had been made--and would continue to be made over the next 15 years. Woods transformed the game, turning golf geeks into keen observers, casual golf fans into ardent followers and even indifferent sports fans into curiosity mavens. He will undoubtedly be known for the raw numbers: 82 PGA Tour titles, 15 major championships, and according to Forbes, a billionaire who amassed more than $110-million in official PGA Tour earnings. Woods has proven to be a complicated figure through his decades in the spotlight. Plagued by marital scandal, a DUI arrest, and severe back injuries that resulted in what even he believed would be a career-ending spinal fusion surgery in 2017, Woods' career finally seemed to be coming to an end. That all changed through 2018 and into 2019 as Woods returned slowly from the surgery. In 2019, on the same course where he won for the first time in 1997, Tiger Woods made history once again, winning the Masters one final time. The 2019 Masters brought together all the qualities that ultimately make up someone who has been an enduring figure for 30 years. In this captivating and emotional portrait of one of the most famous figures in sports, Bob Harig brings readers the true story of the grit and perseverance of Tiger Woods in the final years of his career. Drive will show that Woods' true legacy is one of resolve and redemption"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Woods, Tiger.; Golfers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Results 601 to 610 of 708 | « previous |