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Parasol Against the Axe A Novel [electronic resource] : by Oyeyemi, Helen.aut; cloudLibrary;
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR BY ELLE, THE SEATTLE TIMES, LITERARY HUB, THE MILLIONS AND MORE! A tale of competitive friendship, elastic storytelling, and the meddling influence of a city called Prague. In Helen Oyeyemi’s joyous new novel, the Czech capital is a living thing—one that can let you in or spit you out. For reasons of her own, Hero Tojosoa accepts an invitation she was half expected to decline, and finds herself in Prague on a bachelorette weekend hosted by her estranged friend, Sofie Cibulkova. Little does she know she’s arrived in a city with a penchant for playing tricks on the unsuspecting. A book Hero has brought with her seems to be warping her mind: the text changes depending on when it’s being read and who’s doing the reading, revealing startling new sto­ries of fictional Praguers past and present. Un­invited companions appear at bachelorette activities and at city landmarks, offering opin­ions, humor, and even a taste of treachery. When a third woman from Hero and Sofie’s past ap­pears unexpectedly, the tensions between the friends’ different accounts of the past reach a new level. An adventurous, kaleidoscopic novel, Parasol Against the Axe considers the lines between il­lusion and delusion, fact and interpretation, and weighs the risks of attaching too firmly to the stories of a place, or a person, or a shared his­tory. How much is a tale influenced by its reader, or vice versa? And finally, in a battle between friends, is it better to be the parasol or the axe?
Subjects: Electronic books.; Literary; Magical Realism; Fantasy;
© 2024., Penguin Canada,
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Nightwork [sound recording] / by Roberts, Nora,author.; Damron, Will,narrator.; Macmillan Audio (Firm),publisher.;
Read by Will Damron."#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts introduces an unforgettable thief in a new novel of suspense, greed, love, and survival ... Harry Booth started stealing at nine to keep a roof over his ailing mother's head, slipping into luxurious, empty homes at night to find items he could trade for precious cash. When his mother finally succumbed to cancer, he left Chicago--but kept up his nightwork. Wandering from the Outer Banks to Savannah to New Orleans, he dons new identities and stays careful, observant, distant. He can't afford to attract attention--or get attached. Still, he can't help letting his guard down when he meets Miranda Emerson. But the powerful bond between them cannot last--because not all thieves follow Harry's code of honor. Some pay others to take risks so they can hoard more treasures. Some are driven by a desire to own people the way they own paintings and jewels. And after Harry takes a lucrative job commissioned by Carter LaPorte, LaPorte sees a tool he can use, and decides he wants to own Harry. The man is a predator more frightening than the alligators that haunt the bayou--and when he strongarms Harry into robbing a Baltimore museum, Harry abandons Miranda--cruelly, with no explanation--and disappears. But no matter what name he uses or where he goes, LaPorte casts a shadow over Harry's life. To truly free himself, he must face down his enemy once and for all. Only then can he hope to possess something more valuable than anything he has ever stolen ..."--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Audiobooks.; Novels.; Extortion; Honor; Man-woman relationships; Social isolation; Theft; Thieves;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Against all odds : a true story of ultimate courage and survival in World War II / by Kershaw, Alex,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The national bestselling author of The First Wave tells the untold story of four of the most decorated soldiers of World War II-all Medal of Honor recipients-from the beaches of French Morocco to Hitler's own mountaintop fortress. As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice "Footsie" Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy. In the campaign to liberate Europe, each would gain the ultimate accolade, the Congressional Medal of Honor. Tapping into personal interviews and a wealth of primary source material, Alex Kershaw has delivered his most gripping account yet of American courage, spanning more than six hundred days of increasingly merciless combat, from the deserts of North Africa to the dark heart of Nazi Germany. Once the guns fell silent, these four exceptional warriors would discover just how heavy the Medal of Honor could be-and how great the expectations associated with it. Having survived against all odds, who among them would finally find peace?"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 30th (1901-1957); Medal of Honor; Soldiers; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Knowing what we know [text (large print)] : the transmission of knowledge, from ancient wisdom to modern magic / by Winchester, Simon,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."With the advent of the internet, any topic we want to know about is instantly available with the touch of a smartphone button. With so much knowledge at our fingertips, what is there left for our brains to do? At a time when we seem to be stripping all value from the idea of knowing things--no need for math, no need for map-reading, no need for memorization--are we risking our ability to think? As we empty our minds, will we one day be incapable of thoughtfulness? Addressing these questions, Simon Winchester explores how humans have attained, stored, and disseminated knowledge. Examining such disciplines as education, journalism, encyclopedia creation, museum curation, photography, and broadcasting, he looks at a whole range of knowledge diffusion--from the cuneiform writings of Babylon to the machine-made genius of artificial intelligence, by way of Gutenberg, Google, and Wikipedia to the huge Victorian assemblage of the Mundanaeum, the collection of everything ever known, currently stored in a damp basement in northern Belgium. Studded with strange and fascinating details, Knowing What We Know is a deep dive into learning and the human mind. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom? Does Rene Descartes's Cogito, ergo sum--'I think therefore I am,' the foundation for human knowledge widely accepted since the Enlightenment--still hold? And what will the world be like if no one in it is wise?"--
Subjects: Large print books.; Information behavior.; Knowledge, Sociology of.; Thought and thinking.; Information technology; Technology;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Courage is calling : fortune favors the brave / by Holiday, Ryan,author.;
"From Ryan Holiday, the New York Times bestselling author of Stillness Is the Key, The Obstacle Is the Way, and Ego Is the Enemy, comes the first book in a four-book series about Stoic virtues: courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom As Ryan Holiday wrote in his previous books, Stoicism is a philosophy for the people. Stoicism isn't fraught with complexities, contradictions, or circular arguments about the meaning of life. Rather, Stoicism offers practical, rich guidance about how to achieve imperturbability, strength, perspective, and goodness. At the heart of Stoicism are four simple virtues: courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. The whole philosophy can be condensed into those four bullet points. Everything else, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, and countless other Stoics believed, flows from these virtues. In Courage Is Calling, Ryan Holiday breaks down the most foundational virtue of all - courage. Through engaging stories about historic and contemporary leaders, including Winston Churchill, Barack Obama, and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as some lesser known but equally as remarkable people, Holiday shows you how to practice courage in your daily life. Now more than ever, we need the courage of whistleblowers. We need the courage of activists. We need the courage of writers who speak the truth. As scholar Nassim Taleb explains, courage is the virtue from which all other virtues descend. There is no justice without courage because the right thing is rarely easy. Only the courageous pursue wisdom because wisdom is not easy to find and it is rarely comfortable or comforting. The great commanders and entrepreneurs of our time took risks. They entered the arena. They had the guts to roll the dice. They were brave. Courage Is Calling will show you how you, too, can be courageous in all aspects of your life, and thus, find goodness and strength within yourself"--
Subjects: Courage.; Stoics.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A grain of rice / by Tran-Davies, Nhung N.;
Thirteen-year-old Yen and her family have survived a war, famine and persecution. When a powerful flood ruins their village in rural Vietnam, matters only get worse. With the help of neighbors and family, they decide to take the ultimate risk on a chance for a better life.LSC
Subjects: Villages; Families;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Shoe dog : a memoir by the creator of Nike / by Knight, Philip H.,1938-author.;
"In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company's early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands. In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his lime green Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed $8,000 his first year. Today, Nike's annual sales top $30 billion. In an age of startups, Nike is the ne plus ultra of all startups, and the swoosh has become a revolutionary, globe-spanning icon, one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable symbols in the world today. But Knight, the man behind the swoosh, has always remained a mystery. Now, for the first time, in a memoir that is candid, humble, gutsy, and wry, he tells his story, beginning with his crossroads moment. At 24, after backpacking around the world, he decided to take the unconventional path, to start his own business -- a business that would be dynamic, different. Knight details the many risks and daunting setbacks that stood between him and his dream -- along with his early triumphs. Above all, he recalls the formative relationships with his first partners and employees, a ragtag group of misfits and seekers who became a tight-knit band of brothers. Together, harnessing the transcendent power of a shared mission, and a deep belief in the spirit of sport, they built a brand that changed everything"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Knight, Philip H., 1938-; Nike (Firm); Businesspeople; Sporting goods industry;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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What can I do? : my path from climate despair to action / by Fonda, Jane,1937-author.;
"In the fall of 2019, frustrated with the obvious inaction of politicians and inspired by Greta Thunberg, Naomi Klein, and student climate strikers, Jane Fonda moved to Washington, DC to lead weekly climate change demonstrations on Capitol Hill. On October 11, she launched Fire Drill Fridays (FDF), and has since led thousands of people in non-violent civil disobedience, risking arrest to protest for action. In her new book, Fonda weaves her deeply personal journey as an activist alongside interviews with leading climate scientists, and discussions of specific issues, such as water, migration, and human rights, to emphasize what is at stake. Most significantly, Fonda provides concrete solutions, and things the average person can do to combat the climate crisis in their community. No stranger to protest, Fonda's life has been famously shaped by activism. And now, on the eve of the next presidential election, she is once again galvanizing the public to take to the streets. Too many of us understand that our climate is in a crisis, and realize that a moral responsibility rests on our shoulders. 2019 saw atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases hit the highest level ever recorded in human history, and our window of opportunity to avoid disaster is quickly closing. We are facing a climate crisis, but we're also facing an empathy crisis, an inequality crisis. It isn't only earth's life-support systems that are unraveling. So too is our social fabric. This is going to take an all-out war on drilling and fracking and deregulation and racism and misogyny and colonialism and despair all at the same time"--
Subjects: Climatic changes; Greenhouse effect, Atmospheric; Public health;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Coming home / by Gray, Shelley Shepard.;
Forced to reconnect through the senior center, former high school sweethearts, firefighter Anderson Kelly and Chelsea Davis, steer clear of each other to avoid reopening old wounds until an accident on Ute Pass makes Anderson realize that he's ready to risk everything for one more chance with her.
Subjects: Romance fiction.; Single mothers; Veterans; Fire fighters; First loves;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Flee north : a forgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery's borderland / by Shane, Scott,1954-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A riveting account of the extraordinary abolitionist, liberator, and writer Thomas Smallwood, who bought his own freedom, led hundreds out of slavery, and popularized the term "underground railroad," from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist, Scott Shane. Flee North tells the story for the first time of an American hero all but lost to history. Born into slavery, Thomas Smallwood was free, self-educated, and working as a shoemaker a short walk from the U.S. Capitol by the 1840s. He recruited a young white activist, Charles Torrey, and together they began to organize mass escapes from Washington, Baltimore, and surrounding counties to freedom in the north. They were racing against an implacable enemy: men like Hope Slatter, the region's leading slave trader, part of a lucrative industry that would tear one million enslaved people from their families and sell them to the brutal cotton and sugar plantations of the deep south. Men, women, and children in imminent danger of being sold south turned to Smallwood, who risked his own freedom to battle what he called "the most inhuman system that ever blackened the pages of history." And he documented the escapes in satirical newspaper columns, mocking the slaveholders, the slave traders and the police who worked for them. At a time when Americans are rediscovering a tragic and cruel history and struggling anew with the legacy of white supremacy, this book--the first to tell the extraordinary story of Smallwood--will offer complicated heroes, genuine villains, and a powerful narrative set in cities still plagued by shocking racial inequity today"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Smallwood, Thomas, 1801-1883.; Slatter, Hope H. (Hope Hull), 1790-1853.; Torrey, Charles T. (Charles Turner), 1813-1846.; Abolitionists; African American abolitionists; Fugitive slaves; Slave trade; Underground Railroad.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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