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The lamplighters / by Stonex, Emma,1983-author.;
"Inspired by a haunting true story, a gorgeous and atmospheric novel about the mysterious disappearance of three lighthouse keepers from a remote tower miles from the Cornish coast--and about the wives who were left behind. What strange fate befell these doomed men? The heavy sea whispers their names. Black rocks roll beneath the surface, drowning ghosts. And out of the swell like a finger of light, the salt-scratched tower stands lonely and magnificent. It's New Year's Eve, 1972, when a boat pulls up to the Maiden Rock lighthouse with relief for the keepers. But no one greets them. When the entrance door, locked from the inside, is battered down, rescuers find an empty tower. A table is laid for a meal not eaten. The Principal Keeper's weather log describes a storm raging round the tower, but the skies have been clear all week. And the clocks have all stopped at 8:45. Two decades later, the wives who were left behind are visited by a writer who is determined to find the truth about the men's disappearance. Moving between the women's stories and the men's last weeks together in the lighthouse, long-held secrets surface and truths twist into lies as we piece together what happened, why, and who to believe. In her riveting and suspenseful novel, Emma Stonex writes a story of isolation and obsession, of reality and illusion, and of what it takes to keep the light burning when all else is swallowed by dark"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Psychological fiction.; Lighthouse keepers; Missing persons;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Weightless : making space for my resilient body and soul / by Dionne, Evette,author.;
"In this insightful, funny, and whip-smart book, acclaimed writer Evette Dionne explores the minefields fat Black women are forced to navigate in the course of everyday life. From her early experiences of harassment to adolescent self-discovery in internet chatrooms to a diagnosis of heart failure at age twenty-nine, Dionne tracks her relationship with friends, sex, motherhood, agoraphobia, health, pop culture, and self-image. Along the way, she lifts the curtain to reveal the subtle, insidious forms of surveillance and control levied at fat women: At the doctor's office, where any health ailment is treated with a directive to lose weight. On dating sites, where larger bodies are either rejected or fetishized. On TV, where fat characters are asexual comedic relief. But Dionne's unflinching account of our deeply held prejudices is matched by her fierce belief in the power of self-love. An unmissable portrait of a woman on a journey toward understanding our society and herself, Weightless holds up a mirror to the world we live in and asks us to imagine the future we deserve."--Jacket flap.
Subjects: Biographies.; Essays.; Personal narratives.; Dionne, Evette.; African American women authors; African American women; Discrimination against overweight women; Overweight women; Racism; Self-esteem in women.; Self-realization in women.; Sexism; Women, Black;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The flight portfolio / by Orringer, Julie,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."The long-awaited new work from the best-selling author of The Invisible Bridge takes us back to occupied Europe in this gripping historical novel based on the true story of Varian Fry's extraordinary attempt to save the work, and the lives, of Jewish artists fleeing the Holocaust. In 1940, Varian Fry--a Harvard educated American journalist--traveled to Marseille carrying three thousand dollars and a list of imperiled artists and writers he hoped to rescue within a few weeks. Instead, he ended up staying in France for thirteen months, working under the veil of a legitimate relief organization to procure false documents, amass emergency funds, and set up an underground railroad that led over the Pyrenees, into Spain, and finally to Lisbon, where the refugees embarked for safer ports. Among his many clients were Hannah Arendt, Franz Werfel, Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, and Marc Chagall. The Flight Portfolio opens at the Chagalls' ancient stone house in Gordes, France, as the novel's hero desperately tries to persuade them of the barbarism and tragedy descending on Europe. Masterfully crafted, exquisitely written, impossible to put down, this is historical fiction of the very first order, and resounding confirmation of Orringer's gifts as a novelist"--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Fry, Varian, 1907-1967; Jewish refugees; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Everyone in this room will someday be dead : a novel / by Austin, Emily,author.;
This hilarious and profound debut for fans of Mostly Dead Things and Goodbye, Vitamin, follows a morbidly anxious young woman--"the kindhearted heroine we all need right now" (Courtney Maum, New York Times bestselling author)--who stumbles into a job as a receptionist at a Catholic church and becomes obsessed with her predecessor's mysterious death. Gilda, a twenty-something, atheist, animal-loving lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Desperate for relief from her panicky mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church, and finds herself being greeted by Father Jeff, who assumes she's there for a job interview. Too embarrassed to correct him, Gilda is abruptly hired to replace the recently deceased receptionist Grace. In between trying to memorize the lines to Catholic mass, hiding the fact that she has a new girlfriend, and erecting a dirty dish tower in her crumbling apartment, Gilda strikes up an email correspondence with Grace's old friend. She can't bear to ignore the kindly old woman, who has been trying to reach her friend through the church inbox, but she also can't bring herself to break the bad news. Desperate, she begins impersonating Grace via email. But when the police discover suspicious circumstances surrounding Grace's death, Gilda may have to finally reveal the truth of her mortifying existence. A delightful blend of warmth, deadpan humor, and pitch-perfect observations about the human condition, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is a crackling exploration of what it takes to stay afloat in a world where your expiration-and the expiration of those you love-is the only certainty.
Subjects: Humorous fiction.; Black humor.; Lesbians; Receptionists; Death;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Lady secrets : real, raw & ridiculous confessions of womanhood / by Knight, Keltie,1982-author.; Tobin, Becca,1986-author.; Vanek, Jac,author.;
Every lady has a secret. A secret so humiliating, embarrassing, scandalous, or disgraceful that you haven't told a soul-not your closest friends, family, lovers, or doctors. There is so much shame surrounding hiding secrets, and, frankly, enough is enough. The truth is, there is power and freedom in releasing those dirty little secrets out into the big, bad universe. It gives you that same sweet relief as taking off an underwire bra at the end of a long, crappy day. That's why Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin, and Jac Vanek-hosts of the LadyGang podcast-set their secrets free: the good, the bad, and the diarrhea. The LadyGang wanted to offer their large and loyal community a chance to join them in exposing the messy truths of their lives, and so, Lady Secrets was born: confessional essays from the trio themselves and an incredible crowdsourced collection of secrets from other ladies around the world. Secrets ranging from silly little white lies to cringey misadventures to soul-baring truths. And as it turns out, exposing your deepest and darkest helps you realize that we are all way more alike than we could have ever imagined. Everyone seems to have a bizarre body malfunction, a hookup gone terribly wrong, and a soul-crushing experience that haunts them forever. And maybe that elaborate revenge plot you carried out against your cheating ex was actually kind of badass (in spite of being slightly illegal). It's time we stop feeling ashamed of our (un)ladylike habits and own the real, raw, and ridiculous things that make you authentically you.
Subjects: Handbooks and manuals.; Humor.; Illustrated works.; Informational works.; Self-help publications.; Self-help techniques.; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Half life / by Foss, Krista,author.;
"Elin Henriksen is a middle-aged single parent under pressure. Her formidable mother's health is declining, her fearless teenage daughter wants to leave but won't say where, and the new high school principal has problems with her unorthodox teaching of physics. And then there is the upcoming ceremony at the Art Museum. In ten days, a gallery will be named after her late father, Tig Henriksen, a modernist furniture designer whose sought-after cult pieces hide a troubled narrative. With a mixture of anticipation and dread, Elin prepares to reunite with her once-estranged siblings--Mette, a free-spirited singer-songwriter, and the serious, emotionally distant architect Casper--hoping they'll finally grapple with hard truths they've so far refused to accept. In the countdown to the event, as her daughter's risk-taking mounts, her mother's fragility intensifies and strange packages land on her doorstep (including a yellow-eyed dog), Elin's only relief is confiding to a dead physicist. Struggling with the paradoxes of truth and clarity, love and witness, genius and ambition, and her own ambivalent connection to her confessor, she inches toward confronting not just the explosive potential of memory but the costly fallout of silence. Told with dazzling insight, intelligence, and compassion, Half Life is a beautifully rendered story about family truths and the profound human need to be believed."--Amazon.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Single mothers; Middle-aged women; Physics teachers; Families;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Forgetting : the benefits of not remembering / by Small, Scott A.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A renowned neurologist explains why our routine forgetting-of names, dates, even house keys-is not a brain failure but actually, when combined with memory, one of the mind's most beneficial functions. Who wouldn't want a better memory? Dr. Scott Small has dedicated his career to understanding why memory forsakes us. As director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Columbia University, he focuses largely on patients who experience pathological forgetting, and it is in contrast to their suffering that normal forgetting, which we experience every day, appears in sharp relief. Until recently, most everyone-memory scientists included-believed that forgetting served no purpose. But new research in psychology, neurobiology, medicine, and computer science tells a different story. Forgetting is not a failure of our minds. It's not even a benign glitch. It is, in fact, good for us-and, alongside memory, it is a required function for our minds to work best. Forgetting benefits our cognitive and creative abilities, emotional well-being, and even our personal and societal health. As frustrating as a typical lapse can be, it's precisely what opens up our minds to making better decisions, experiencing joy and relationships, and flourishing artistically. From studies of bonobos in the wild to visits with the iconic painter Jasper Johns and the renowned decision-making expert Daniel Kahneman, Small looks across disciplines to put new scientific findings into illuminating context while also revealing groundbreaking developments about Alzheimer's disease. The next time you forget where you left your keys, remember that a little forgetting does a lot of good"--
Subjects: Cognition.; Memory disorders.; Memory.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Sea prayer / by Hosseini, Khaled,author.; Williams, Dan,illustrator.;
"The #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And the Mountains Echoed responds to the heartbreak of the current refugee crisis with this deeply moving, beautifully illustrated short work of fiction for people of all ages, all over the world. A short, powerful, illustrated book written by beloved novelist Khaled Hosseini in response to the current refugee crisis, Sea Prayer is composed in the form of a letter, from a father to his son, on the eve of their journey. Watching over his sleeping son, the father reflects on the dangerous sea-crossing that lies before them. It is also a vivid portrait of their life in Homs, Syria, before the war, and of that city's swift transformation from a home into a deadly war zone. Impelled to write this story by the haunting image of young Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed up on the beach in Turkey in September 2015, Hosseini hopes to pay tribute to the millions of families, like Kurdi's, who have been splintered and forced from home by war and persecution, and he will donate author proceeds from this book to the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) and The Khaled Hosseini Foundation to help fund lifesaving relief efforts to help refugees around the globe."--
Subjects: Epistolary fiction.; Fathers and sons;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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Talking about death won't kill you : the essential guide to end-of-life conversations / by Kortes-Miller, Kathy,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."This practical handbook will equip readers with the tools to have meaningful conversations about death and dying. Death is a part of life. We used to understand this, and in the past, loved ones generally died at home with family around them. But in just a few generations, death has become a medical event, and we have lost the ability to make this last part of life more personal and meaningful. Today people want to regain control over health-care decisions for themselves and their loved ones. Talking About Death Won't Kill You is the essential handbook to help Canadians navigate personal and medical decisions for the best quality of life for the end of our lives. Noted palliative-care educator and researcher Kathy Kortes-Miller shows readers how to identify and reframe limiting beliefs about dying with humor and compassion. With robust resource lists, Kortes-Miller addresses: advance care plans for ourselves and our loved ones; how to have conversations about end-of-life wishes with loved ones ; how to talk to children about death; how to build a compassionate workplace; practical strategies to support our colleagues; how to talk to health-care practitioners; how to manage challenging family dynamics as someone is dying; what is involved in medical assistance in dying (MAID). Far from morbid, these conversations are full of meaning and life--and the relief that comes from knowing what your loved ones want, and what you want for yourself."--
Subjects: Death;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Whatever ... love is love : questioning the labels we give ourselves / by Bello, Maria,1967-;
Includes bibliographical references.The acclaimed actress and dedicated activist shares her personal journey of discovery, and destroys outdated ideas about partnership, love and family that will resonate with anyone in an unconventional life situation. Actress and activist Maria Bello made waves with her essay, Coming Out as a Modern Family, in the New York Times popular Modern Love column, in which she recalled telling her son that she had fallen in love with her best friend, a woman--and her relief at his easy and immediate acceptance with the phrase Whatever Mom, love is love. She made a compelling argument about the fluidity of partnerships, and how families today come in a myriad of designs. In her first book, Bello broadens her insights as she examines the idea of partnership in every woman's life, and her own. She examines the myths that so many of us believe about partnership--that the partnership begins when the sex begins, that partnerships are static, that you have to love yourself before you can be loved, and turns them on their heads. Bello explores how many different relationships--romantic, platonic, spiritual, familial, educational--helped define her life. She encourages women to realize that the only labels we have are the ones we put on ourselves, and the best, happiest partnerships are the ones that make your life better, even if they don't fit the mold of typical. Throughout this powerful and engaging read, Bello shares intimate stories and lessons on how she has come to discover her happiest self, accept who she is, and live honestly and freely, and tells the stories of those who came to her after her Times' columns, grateful that someone gave voice to their life choices. Love is Love is not a memoir about an actress. It is a frank, raw, and honest book about the way every woman questions the roles she plays in love, work, and life, filled with wisdom, questions, and insights relevant to us all.
Subjects: Bello, Maria, 1967-; Actresses; Families; Lesbians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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