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Daughter of the Moon Goddess : a novel / by Tan, Sue Lynn,author.;
A captivating debut fantasy inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang'e , in which a young woman's quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm and sets her on a dangerous path--where choices come with deadly consequences, and she risks losing more than her heart. Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the powerful Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin's magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind. Alone, untrained, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the Crown Prince, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the emperor's son. To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. When treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, however, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream--striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos. Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting, romantic duology which weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic, of loss and sacrifice--where love vies with honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Adventure and adventurers; Imaginary wars and battles; Kings and rulers; Magic; Mothers and daughters;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Recipe for a good life / by Crewe, Lesley,1955-author.;
"On paper, Kitty's life is perfect. She lives in Montreal, so vibrant in the 1950s; she married her childhood sweetheart, who happens to also be a handsome movie star; and her detective novels, written under a plausibly male nom de plume, are bestsellers. But Kitty is suffocating under the truth of her life: Montreal feels chaotic and lonely without her mother, and with her father all but estranged. Her husband is a glib Lothario. And she never, ever wants to write another detective novel. When she says as much to her publishers, they panic. She's their golden goose. And so they convince her to go on a writing retreat to a beautiful remote island, Cape Breton, where with solitude and a luxurious change of scenery, she'll be able to whip up her next book. At least, that was the plan. Kitty arrives in Cape Breton to a leaky, drafty shack and a cast of characters unlike anyone she's ever met. There's Ethel, who listens in on everyone's party line calls and never keeps good gossip to herself; generous Bertha and her enormous family ... and Bertha's son, Wallace--Walrus, to all his nieces and nephews. A gentle giant who always has half a dozen children hanging off him. Soon Kitty's writing retreat turns her life upside down, and she has to face which parts of her life are non-negotiable and which she must cut loose. Can she preserve what she loves in Montreal now that Cape Breton is calling? If she frees herself from the weight of her past, will she float away altogether?"--
Subjects: Bildungsromans.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; City and town life; Self-realization in women; Women authors;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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House of the beast : a novel / by Wong, Michelle(Comic book artist),author.;
Born out of wedlock and shunned by society, Alma learned to make her peace with solitude, so long as she had her mother by her side. When her mother becomes gravely ill, Alma discovers a clue about her estranged father and writes a message begging for help. Little does she know that she is a bastard of House Avera, one of the four noble families that serve the gods and are imbued with their powers--and her father is a vessel of the Dread Beast, the most frightening god of all, a harbinger of death. In a desperate exchange for her mother's medicine, Alma agrees to sacrifice her left arm to the Beast in a ceremony that will bind her forever to the House and its deity. Regardless, her mother soon passes, leaving Alma trapped inside the Avera's grand estate, despised by her relatives and nothing but a pawn in her father's schemes. Now vengeance is the only thing that keeps Alma going. That, and the strange connection she has with her god--a monster who is constantly by her side, an eldritch being taking the form of a beautiful prince with starlit hair that only she can see. He tells Alma that she has been chosen to bring change upon their world, and with his help, Alma plots a perilous journey to destroy the House that stole everything from her. A gripping coming-of-age fantasy novel marked by divine rituals, intense combat, and twisted relationships, House of the Beast is a tale of revenge, resilience, and the power of love to see us through the darkness.
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Novels.; Families; Gods; Imaginary places; Mothers; Magic; Monsters; Man-woman relationships; Revenge; Young women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The horse : a novel / by Vlautin, Willy,author.;
Al Ward lives on an isolated mining claim in the high desert of central Nevada fifty miles from the nearest town. A grizzled man in his sixties, he survives on canned soup, instant coffee, and memories of his ex-wife, friends and family he's lost, and his life as a touring musician. Hampered by insomnia, bouts of anxiety, and a chronic lethargy that keeps him from moving back to town, Al finds himself teetering on the edge of madness and running out of reasons to go on--until a horse arrives on his doorstep: nameless, blind, and utterly helpless. Al hopes the horse will vanish as mysteriously as he appeared. Yet the animal remains, leaving him in a conundrum. Is the animal real, or a phantom conjured from imagination? As Al contemplates the horse's existence--and what, if anything, he can do--his thoughts are interspersed with memories, from the moment his mother's part-time boyfriend gifts him a 1959 butterscotch blonde Telecaster, to the day his travels begin. He joins various bands--all who perform his songs once they discover his talent-playing casinos, truck stops, clubs, and bars. He falls in love, and finds pockets of companionship and minor success along the way. Never close to stardom or financial success, he continues as a journeyman for decades until alcoholism and a heartbreaking tragedy lead him to the solitude of the barren Nevada desert. A poignant meditation on addiction, heartbreak, and the reality of life on the road in small-time bands, The Horse is a beautiful, haunting tale from an author working at the height of his powers.
Subjects: Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Alcoholism; Composers; Memory; Musicians; Recluses;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Last woman : stories / by Baker, Carleigh,author.;
"From one of the country's most celebrated new writers, a blistering collection of short fiction that is bracingly relevant, playfully irreverent, and absolutely unforgettable. There's a hole in the ozone layer. Are teenage girls to blame? Floods and wildfires, toxic culture, billionaires in outer space, or a purse-related disaster while on mushrooms--in today's hellscape world, there's no shortage of things to worry about. Last Woman, the new collection of short fiction by award-winning author Carleigh Baker, wants you to know that you're not alone. In these 13 brilliant new stories, Baker and her perfectly-drawn characters are here for you--in fact, they're just as worried and weirded-out as everyone else. A woman's dream of poetic solitude turns out to be a recipe for loneliness. A retiree is convinced that his silence is the only thing that will prevent a deadly sinkhole. An emerging academic wakes up and chooses institutional violence. A young woman finds sisterhood in a strange fertility ritual, and an enigmatic empath is on a cleanse. Baker's characters are both wildly misguided and a product of the misguided times in which we live. Through them we see our world askew and skewered--and, perhaps, we can begin to see it anew. Carleigh Baker's signature style is irreverent, but her heart is true--these stories delve into fear for the future, intergenerational misunderstandings, and the complexities of belonging with sharp wit and boundless empathy. With equal parts compassion and critique, she brings her clear-eyed attention to bear on our world, and the results are hilarious, heartbreaking, and startling in their freshness."--
Subjects: Short stories.; Short stories, Canadian;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Fox and I : an uncommon friendship / by Raven, Catherine,1959-author.;
"An unforgettable memoir about the friendship between a solitary woman and a wild fox. When Catherine Raven finished her PhD in biology, she built herself a tiny cottage on an isolated plot of land in Montana. She was as emotionally isolated as she was physically, but she viewed the house as a way station, a temporary rest stop where she could gather her nerves and fill out applications for what she hoped would be a real job that would help her fit into society. In the meantime, she taught remotely and led field classes in nearby Yellowstone National Park. Then one day she realized that a mangy-looking fox was showing up on her property every afternoon at 4:15 p.m. She had never had a regular visitor before. How do you even talk to a fox? She brought out her camping chair, sat as close to him as she dared, and began reading to him from The Little Prince. Her scientific training had taught her not to anthropomorphize animals, yet as she grew to know him, his personality revealed itself and they became friends. From the fox, she learned the single most important thing about loneliness: we are never alone when we are connected to the natural world. Friends, however, cannot save each other from the uncontained forces of nature. Fox and I is a poignant and remarkable tale of friendship, growth, and coping with inevitable loss-- and of how that loss can be transformed into meaning. It is both a timely tale of solitude and belonging as well as a timeless story of one woman whose immersion in the natural world will change the way we view our surroundings-- each tree, weed, flower, stone, or fox." --
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Raven, Catherine, 1959-; Biologists; Foxes;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Returning light : thirty years of life on Skellig Michael / by Harris, Robert L.,author.;
""On Skellig Michael, thousands of birds appear and disappear, erecting towers, coming together in wings of movement which build and unravel over the empty sea. Often, no one else is there to stand beside me on the island. The mind wanders; links with the past are easily made; ancient ways of viewing things come alive." In 1987, Robert Harris happened upon an unusual job posting in the local paper--a new warden service was being set up on the island of Skellig Michael, and the deadline was imminent. Just weeks later he was on his way to set up camp in one of Ireland's most remote locations, unaware that he would be making that same journey every May for the next 30 years. Here he transports us to the otherworldly island, a place that is teeming with natural life, including curious puffins that like to visit his hut. From the precipice he has observed a coastline that is relatively unchanged for the last thousand years--a beacon of equilibrium in an ever-changing world. But the island can be fierce too. It's inhabitable for only five months of the year, and solitude can quickly become isolation as bad weather rolls in to create a veil between Skellig Michael and the rest of the world, when the dizzying terrain can become a very real threat to life. A beautiful and evocative work of nature writing, Returning Light is an extraordinary memoir about the profound effect a place can have on us, and how a remote location can bring with it a great sense of belonging."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Harris, Robert L.; Game wardens;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Tranquility Falls / by Bunn, T. Davis,1952-author.;
When the darkness seems too hard to bear, there's only one thing left to do. Six years ago, Daniel was a Los Angeles financial analyst who was too handsome for his own good. Too smart for his anchor job on the nightly news. And too enamored with the heady addictions of the high life. That man died in a tragic accident with his fiancée. With grief and guilt battling for control, Daniel moved to the quiet California seaside town of Miramar Bay with his best friend--a rescue Labradoodle who still sees him through rough times. Daniel's a different man now. Clean, sober, and taking things one day at a time with no commitments to anyone except himself. And just as his solitude begins to chafe, two souls in need of fresh starts unexpectedly enter Daniel's life. Daniel's self-centered sister has dissolved several longtime relationships. Theirs included. The latest? Her restless teenage daughter, Nicole, whom she's dropped off in Miramar Bay without a backward glance. For Nicole, who's never felt at home in the world, it only confirms the disconnect she's always had with her mother. Now, left with an uncle she barely knows, Nicole is more adrift than ever. Yet to Daniel's surprise, playing surrogate father is forging a bond that he needs, too. More difficult for Daniel is the possibility of romance with lovely and fragile Stella Dalley. Struggling with a trauma of her own, the single mother is as cautious about love as Daniel is--no matter how healing it could be. But for Daniel, Stella, and Nicole there's still hope for a tomorrow they can call their own. All they have do is to learn to trust in each other, and in themselves.
Subjects: Religious fiction.; Domestic fiction.; Dysfunctional families; Brothers and sisters; Man-woman relationships;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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One night on the island : a novel / by Silver, Josie,author.;
"From the New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December ... When a double-booking at a remote one-room cabin accidentally throws two solace-seekers together, it feels like a cruel twist of fate. But what if it's fate of a different kind? Spending her thirtieth birthday alone is the last thing that dating columnist Cleo wanted, but she is going on a solo retreat--at the insistence of her boss--in the name of re-energizing herself and adding a new perspective to her column. The remote Irish island she's booked is a far cry from London, but at least it's a chance to hunker down in a luxury cabin and indulge in some quiet, solitary self-care while she figures out her next steps in her love life and her career. Mac is also looking forward to some time to himself. With his life in Boston deteriorating in ways he can't bring himself to acknowledge, his soul searching has brought him to the same Irish island in search of his roots and some clarity. Unfortunately, a mix-up with the bookings means both solitude seekers have reserved the same one-bedroom hideaway on exactly the same dates. Instantly at odds with each other, Cleo and Mac don't know how they're going to manage until the next weekly ferry arrives. But as the days go by, they no longer seem to mind each other's company quite as much as they thought they would ... Written with Josie Silver's signature warmth, charm, and insights into the human heart, One Night on the Island explores the meaning of home, the joys of escape, and how the things we think we want are never the things we really need"--
Subjects: Romance fiction.; Islands; Man-woman relationships; Photographers; Women journalists;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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The dry season : a memoir of pleasure in a year without sex / by Febos, Melissa,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."The award-winning author of Girlhood returns with a revelatory chronicle of her year of celibacy and its transformative impact on her relationships -- to others, and to herself. In the wake of a catastrophic two-year relationship, Melissa Febos decided to take a break -- for three months she would abstain from dating and casual sex. Ever since her teens, she'd been in one entanglement after another. As she puts it, she could trace a "daisy chain of romances" from her adolescence to her mid-thirties. And no matter where her partners identified on the gender spectrum, she always instinctively moulded herself to appeal to them. Over those first few months, she gleaned insights into her past and awoke to the joys of being single. She decided to extend her celibacy not knowing it would become the most sensual and satisfying year of her life. Unburdened by preoccupations that had consumed her for decades, she learned to relish the delights of solitude and the thrill of living on her own terms. A reckoning with lifelong patterns and dominant systems of power, The Dry Season puts Febos's experience into conversation with those of women throughout history -- from Sappho to mystic nuns to Virginia Woolf -- situating it within a lineage of queer and feminist role models in unapologetic pursuit of their ambitions and ideals. Blending intimate personal narrative and incisive cultural criticism, Febos tells a story that's as much about celibacy as it is about its inverse: pleasure, desire, fulfillment. Infused with her fearless honesty and keen intellect, it's the memoir of a woman learning to live at the centre of her story, and a much-needed catalyst for a more radical conversation around sex and love"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Febos, Melissa; Authors, American; Celibacy.; Single women; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Results 61 to 70 of 78 | « previous |