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The roll of the drums / by Drexler, Jan,author.;
Ruby Weaver's curly red hair isn't the only thing that sets her apart from her Amish community in 1863. Twenty-eight and single, Ruby doesn't believe a woman needs to be married in order to be happy. Her ailing friend Lovinia Fischer, however, has other ideas and wants Ruby to promise to marry her husband after she dies. Never imagining she'd have to fulfill that vow, Ruby agrees. And she's not the only one. Lovinia has extracted a similar promise from her husband, Gideon. With both Ruby and Gideon reluctant to keep their promises, a compromise must be reached. Ruby will spend her days with Gideon's family-- helping to raise the children and keep the house-- but her nights will be spent at her sister's neighboring house. But this arrangement raises eyebrows in their conservative Amish community, and it soon becomes clear that Ruby must make a decision-- marry Gideon or turn her back on her friend, the children she's grown to love ... and their father.
Subjects: Religious fiction.; Historical fiction.; Amish; Single women; Single fathers; Widowers; Man-woman relationships;

The homemade god : a novel / by Joyce, Rachel,author.;
"There is a heatwave across Europe, and four siblings have gathered at their family's lake house to seek answers about their father, a famous artist, who recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his long-awaited masterpiece. Now he is dead. And there is no sign of his final painting. As the siblings try to piece together what happened, they spend the summer in a state of lawlessness: living under the same roof for the first time in decades, forced to confront the buried wounds they incurred as his children, and waiting for answers. Though they have always been close, the things they learn that summer-about themselves, and their father-will drive them apart before they can truly understand his legacy. Meanwhile, their stepmother's enigmatic presence looms over the house. Is she the force that will finally destroy the family for good?"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Novels.; Artists; Dwellings; Families; Father and child; Fathers; May-December romances; Painters; Siblings; Stepmothers;

A sorceress comes to call / by Kingfisher, T.,author.;
"Cordelia knows her mother is ... unusual. Their house doesn't have any doors between rooms-there are no secrets in this house-and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don't force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren't evil sorcerers. When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family."--
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Novels.; Families; Good and evil; Magic; Mothers and daughters; Wizards; Women;

Toronto architecture : a city guide / by McHugh, Patricia.; Bozikovic, Alex.; Pahwa, Vik.;
Includes bibliographical references and indexes."Toronto has been hailed as "the city that works," "the livable city," and a "world-class city." But just what does Toronto look like? And what can the changing image of the city tell us about Toronto's past--and its future? Twenty-two self-contained walking tours--each with an easy-to-follow map--range over 175 years of Toronto buildings. More than 900 buildings are catalogued: fanciful Victorian houses, graceful spired churches, lush Edwardian factories and warehouses, Art Deco apartments, and new landmarks. Illustrated with over 300 photographs, the guide examines well-known and important buildings as well as the more modest structures in between that form Toronto's cityscape. The original edition of Toronto Architecture: A City Guide by Patricia McHugh is fully revised and expanded by architecture critic Alex Bozikovic. Complete with an illustrated description of Toronto styles, a glossary of architectural terms, and a biographical index of architects, this is the definitive reference to Toronto's buildings--old and new"--Provided by publisher.LSC
Subjects: Architecture; Historic buildings; Buildings;

Sunbelt blues : the failure of American housing / by Ross, Andrew,1956-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Today, a minimum-wage earner can afford a one-bedroom apartment in only 28 out of 3,140 counties in America. The single worst place in the United States to look for affordable housing is Osceola County, Florida. Once the main approach to Disney World, where vacationers found lodging on their way to the Magic Kingdom, the fifteen-mile Route 192 corridor in Osceola has become a site of shocking contrasts. At one end, absentee investors snatch up foreclosed properties to turn into extravagant vacation homes for affluent visitors, destroying affordable housing in the process. At the other, underpaid theme park workers, displaced families, and disabled and elderly people subsisting on government checks are technically homeless, living crammed into dilapidated, roach-infested motels or even in tent camps in the woods. Through visceral, frontline reporting from the motels and encampments dotting central Florida, renowned sociologist Andrew Ross exposes the overlooked housing crisis sweeping America's suburbs and rural areas, where residents suffer ongoing trauma, poverty, and nihilism. As millions of renters face down evictions and foreclosures in the midst of the COVID-19 recession, Andrew Ross reveals how ineffective government planning, property market speculation, and poverty wages have combined to create this catastrophe. Immersive and compassionate, Sunbelt Blues finds in Osceola County a bellwether for the future of homelessness in America"--
Subjects: Housing policy; Housing; Low-income housing; Real estate investment; Working poor;

Building : a carpenter's notes on life & the art of good work / by Ellison, Mark,author.;
"Over the past forty years Mark Ellison has designed and constructed some of the most stunning marvels of architecture that you've never seen. He built a staircase that the famed architect Santiago Calatrava called a masterpiece. He worked on the iconic Sky House, which Interior Design named the best apartment of the decade. He's even worked on the homes of David Bowie, Robin Williams, and others whose names he cannot reveal. He is regarded by many as the best carpenter in New York. In Building, Ellison writes of the mastery that comes from doing something well for a long time, by taking you on a tour through the lofts, penthouses, and townhomes of New York's elite that he has transformed over the years--before they're camera-ready--and in a singular voice offers a window onto what he's learned about living meaningfully along the way. From staircases that would be deadly if built as designed, to algae eating snails boiled to escargot in a penthouse pond, and the deceptive complextiy of "minimalist" interior design, Building exposes the messy wiring behind the pristine walls, features, and furnishings that grace the glossy pages of Architectural Digest, revealing the overrun budgets, scrapped blueprints, and last-minute demands that characterize life in the high-stakes world of luxury construction"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Ellison, Mark.; Carpenters; Workmanship.;

Uncommon type [sound recording] : some stories / by Hanks, Tom,author,narrator.; Random House Audio Publishing,publisher.;
Read by the author."Uncommon Type contains seventeen stories, each in some way involving a different typewriter (Hanks is an avid collector of vintage typewriters and owns over one hundred of them). The stories feature an immigrant arriving in New York City after his family and life have been torn apart by his country's civil war; a man who bowls a perfect game (and then another, and another), becoming ESPN's newest celebrity; an eccentric billionaire and his faithful executive assistant on the hunt for something larger in America; and the junket life of an actor."--
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Short stories.;

Day : a novel / by Cunningham, Michael,1952-author.;
"April 5th, 2019: In a cozy brownstone in Brooklyn, the veneer of domestic bliss is beginning to crack. Dan and Isabel, troubled husband and wife, are both a little bit in love with Isabel's younger brother, Robbie. Robbie, wayward soul of the family, who still lives in the attic loft; Robbie, who, trying to get over his most recent boyfriend, has created a glamorous avatar online; Robbie, who now has to move out of the house - and whose departure threatens to break the family apart. And then there is Nathan, age ten, taking his first uncertain steps toward independence, while Violet, five, does her best not to notice the growing rift between her parents. April 5th, 2020: As the world goes into lockdown, the brownstone is feeling more like a prison. Violet is terrified of leaving the windows open, obsessed with keeping her family safe. Isabel and Dan communicate mostly in veiled jabs and frustrated sighs. And beloved Robbie is stranded in Iceland, alone in a mountain cabin with nothing but his thoughts - and his secret Instagram life -- for company. April 5th, 2021: Emerging from the worst of the crisis, the family reckons with a new, very different reality - with what they've learned, what they've lost, and how they might go on"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Novels.; COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-; Families; Interpersonal relations; Married people;

The Morningside [sound recording] : a novel / by Obreht, Téa,author.; Brentan, Carlotta,narrator.; Random House Audio Publishing,publisher.;
Read by Carlotta Brentan."When Silvia and her mother finally land in a place called Island City, after being expelled from their ancestral home in a not-too-distant future, they end up living and working at The Morningside, a crumbling luxury tower where Silvia's aunt, Ena, has been serving as the superintendent. Silvia feels unmoored in her life because her mother has been so diligently secretive about the family's past. But in Ena there is an opening: a person willing to give a young girl glimpses into the folktales of her demolished homeland in the Old World, a place of natural beauty and communal spirit that is lacking in Silvia's new home. As Silvia begins seeing the world with magical possibilities, she becomes obsessed with the mysterious woman who lives in the penthouse of the Morningside, with three massive Rottweilers who may or may not be more than they appear. Silvia's mission to unravel the truth about this woman's life, and her own haunted past, will transform her own life in the most unexpected of ways"--
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Dystopian fiction.; Magic realist fiction.; Novels.; Aunts; Belonging (Social psychology); Family secrets; High-rise apartment buildings; Magic; Mothers and daughters;

Chaos king / by Callender, Kacen,author.;
"When the world burns, ash will rise. Ever since he rose up against his father and saved New Anglia from destruction, Ash has been struggling to adapt to his new life. He has nightmares every night, haunted by strange black orbs and his screaming dead mother. Ash is sure she's trying to warn him that the world is still in danger, and becomes determined to find a way to speak to her again -- but communicating with the dead isn't easy, even for an alchemist as powerful as Ash. It doesn't help that violent anti-alchemist sentiment is spreading across New Anglia. When Ash is captured by a radical group, inspired by his father's legacy, he must decide if alchemist rights can be trusted in the hands of the Houses, along with his partners Callum and Ramsay -- or if Ash must follow the path his father laid for him, and become the leader of an alchemist revolution. Can Ash keep his relationships together and stop the world from falling apart?"--
Subjects: Queer fiction.; Fantasy fiction.; Young adult fiction.; Novels.; Adventure and adventurers; Alchemy; Magic; Quests (Expeditions); Sexual minorities; Adventure and adventurers; Alchemy; Magic; Quests (Expeditions); LGBTQ+ people;