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Thinking inside the box : adventures with crosswords and the puzzling people who can't live without them / by Raphel, Adrienne,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The crossword is a feature of the modern world, inspiring daily devotion and obsession from not just everyday citizens looking to pass the time but icons of American life, such as Bill Clinton, Yo-Yo Ma, and Martha Stewart. It was invented in 1913, almost by accident, when a newspaper editor at the New York World was casting around for something to fill some empty column space for that year's Christmas edition. Practically overnight, it became a roaring commercial success, and ever since then has been an essential ingredient of any newspaper worth its salt. Indeed, paradoxically, its popularity has never been greater, even as the world of media and newspapers, its natural habitat, has undergone a perilous digital transformation. But why, exactly, are its satisfactions so sweet that over the decades has it become a fixture of breakfast tables, nightstands, and commutes, and even given rise to competitive crossword tournaments? Blending first-person reporting from the world of crosswords with a delightful telling of its rich literary history, Adrienne Raphel dives into the secrets of this classic pastime. At the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, she rubs shoulders with elite solvers of the world, doing her level best to hold her own; aboard a crossword themed cruise, she picks the brains of the enthusiasts whose idea of a good time is a week on the high seas with nothing but crosswords to do; and, visiting the home and office of Will Shortz, New York Times crossword puzzle editor and NPR's official 'Puzzlemaster,' she goes behind the scenes to see for herself how the world's gold standard of puzzles is made"--
Subjects: Crossword puzzles;

Defying limits : lessons from the edge of the universe / by Williams, Dafydd,1954-author.;
"Dr. Dave has led the sort of life that most people only dream of. He has set records for spacewalking. He has lived undersea for weeks at a time. He has saved lives as an emergency doctor, launched into the stratosphere twice, and performed surgery in zero gravity. But if you ask him how he became so accomplished, he'll say: "I'm just a curious kid from Saskatchewan." Curious indeed. Dr. Dave never lost his desire to explore nor his fascination with the world. Whether he was exploring the woods behind his childhood home or floating in space at the end of the Canadarm, Dave tried to see every moment of his life as filled with beauty and meaning. He learned to scuba dive at only twelve years old, became a doctor despite academic struggles as an undergraduate, and overcame stiff odds and fierce competition to join the ranks of the astronauts he had idolized as a child. There were setbacks and challenges along the way--the loss of friends in the Columbia disaster, a cancer diagnosis that nearly prevented him from returning to space--but through it all, Dave never lost sight of his goal. And when he finally had the chance to fly among the stars, he came to realize that although the destination can be spectacular, it's the journey that truly matters. In Defying Limits, Dave shares the events that have defined his life, showing us that whether we're gravity-defying astronauts or earth-bound terrestrials, we can all live an infinite, fulfilled life by relishing the value and importance of each moment. The greatest fear that we all face is not the fear of dying, but the fear of never having lived. Each of us is greater than we believe. And, together, we can exceed our limits to soar farther and higher than we ever imagined."--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Williams, Dafydd, 1954-; Astronauts; Physicians;

In This Faulty Machine A Memoir of Loss and Transformation [electronic resource] : by Page, Kathy.aut; CloudLibrary;
An exquisite memoir of the author’s life since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease—informative, funny, and moving all at once. Acclaimed novelist Kathy Page had just completed a promotional tour for her award-winning book Dear Evelyn when a fall during a hike injured her hand. That relatively minor accident seemed to set in motion a cascade of other seemingly unrelated physical issues. Many months of appointments, and of waiting for appointments (including during the COVID lockdown) ensued, until the day that pulled everything together in a single, frightening diagnosis: Parkinson's disease. In This Faulty Machine is an eye-opening, often lyrical and very funny report from that "other kingdom" of illness, from an observant, wise, and honest involuntary resident. The author's acute yet welcoming voice draws us into the erratic, intimate, and troubling effects of the disease and its impact on her relationships alongside the pleasures of family, friends, reading, writing, and the natural world.    This one-of-a-kind memoir offers a thoughtful exploration of the complex and evolving science of this debilitating disease, a gripping account of the various ways that it impacts both PWP (People with Parkinson's) and their families. The book is also a unique look into the creative process of a life-long novelist who finds that she can no longer create in the way she has for decades. Wise and warm, the book makes an important contribution to the understanding of Parkinson's disease but is also a rich and heartfelt memoir of creativity and a life being well-lived, even as the challenges mount. It is a story of vital interest to us all as we face our own fragility, and indeed, mortality.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Personal Memoirs; Neurology; Medical;
© 2025., Penguin Canada,

The dying citizen : how progressive elites, tribalism, and globalization are destroying the idea of America / by Hanson, Victor Davis,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Most of human history is full of the stories of peasants, subjects, or tribes. The concept of the "citizen," an idea we take for granted, is historically quite rare-and was, until recently, amongst America's most profoundly cherished ideals. But without shock treatment, warns historian and conservative political commentator Victor Davis Hanson, American citizenship as we have known it for well over two centuries may soon vanish. In The Dying Citizen, Hanson outlines the forces that have brought us to the twilight of American citizenship, and led to the deeply fractured politics of the present era. Over the last half-century, numerous forces from both above and below have conspired to undermine the value we place in the idea of citizenship-and our vigilance in protecting it. To be self-governing, citizens must be economically autonomous, but the evisceration of the middle class and the rise of inequality have made many Americans dependent on the federal government. Citizenship exists within delineated borders-but open borders and the elite concept of "global citizenship" have rendered meaningless the idea of allegiance to a particular place. Citizenship relies on the renunciation of tribal identity in favor of the state, but identity politics have eradicated the idea of a collective civic sense of self. A vastly expanded unelected bureaucracy has overwhelmed the power of elected officials, thereby destroying the sovereign power of the citizen. Progressive academics and activists lay siege to the institutions and traditions of constitutional citizenship. As in the revolutionary years of 1848, 1917, and 1968, 2020 has ripped away our complacency about the future of our most cherished ideals. Americans are forced to confront the fragility of citizenship-indeed, the fragility of our nation. But this calamitous year may also teach Americans to rebuild and recover what we have lost. The choice is ours"--
Subjects: Citizenship; Citizenship; Elite (Social sciences); World citizenship.;

The Child Finder [electronic resource] : by Denfeld, Rene.aut; CloudLibrary;
“It’s ‘Deliverance’ encased in ice… Denfeld’s novel is indeed loaded with suspense, its resonance comes from its surprising tilt towards storytelling restraint, a rarity in this typical crackling genre. Elegiac, informative and disquieting. . . . The novel gallops to a suitably heart-racing finish.” — New York Times Book Review A haunting, richly atmospheric, and deeply suspenseful novel from the acclaimed author of The Enchanted about an investigator who must use her unique insights to find a missing little girl. Three years ago, Madison Culver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. She would be eight-years-old now—if she has survived. Desperate to find their beloved daughter, certain someone took her, the Culvers turn to Naomi, a private investigator with an uncanny talent for locating the lost and missing. Known to the police and a select group of parents as "the Child Finder," Naomi is their last hope. Naomi’s methodical search takes her deep into the icy, mysterious forest in the Pacific Northwest, and into her own fragmented past. She understands children like Madison because once upon a time, she was a lost girl, too. As Naomi relentlessly pursues and slowly uncovers the truth behind Madison’s disappearance, shards of a dark dream pierce the defenses that have protected her, reminding her of a terrible loss she feels but cannot remember. If she finds Madison, will Naomi ultimately unlock the secrets of her own life? Told in the alternating voices of Naomi and a deeply imaginative child, The Child Finder is a breathtaking, exquisitely rendered literary page-turner about redemption, the line between reality and memories and dreams, and the human capacity to survive.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Legal; Military; Political; Private Investigators; Psychological; Suspense; Technological; Literary; Contemporary Women; Historical;
© 2017., HarperCollins,

The Mountains We Call Home : The Book Woman's Legacy. by Richardson, Kim Michele.;
"Brilliant storytelling. Cussy is one of the most dynamic characters in American fiction. Without Kim Michele Richardson's heartfelt, uplifting storytelling, the world would be a sadder place, indeed. I loved The Mountains We Call Home, which is woven so seamlessly of important themes that it has the potential for changing lives." - William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author In this standalone and companion novel to the The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series, our heroine for the ages, legendary book woman, Cussy Lovett, returns home. A powerful testament of strength, survival, and the magic of the printed word, The Mountains We Call Home is wrapped into a vivid portrait of Kentucky life: examining incarceration and criminalization, exploring the effects on the poor and powerless, and tracing the societal consequences of fractured family bonds, along with nostalgic glimpses of a bustling, multifaceted Louisville, and heartwarming portraits of reading efforts in every facet of life. Meticulously researched and richly detailed with a new cast of absorbing and complex characters, this beautifully rendered, authentic Kentucky tale is gritty and heartbreaking and infused with hope, spirit, and courage known only to those with no way out. "Kim Michele Richardson brings the story of trailblazing packhorse librarian, Cussy Mary Carter, full circle in this mesmerizing tale of love, resilience, and hardscrabble determination. In the fight to survive prejudice, cruelty, and injustice, Cussy must draw upon her inner strength, the kindness of others, and the sanctuary that can be found within books. An ode to friendship, truth, and the power of the written word, this is a story readers will treasure long after the last page is turned. - Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author "In The Mountains We Call Home, Kim Michele Richardson once again displays her seamless blend of research and imagination that we expect in the best of historical fiction, yet as I read deeper ILibrary Bound Incorporated
Subjects: FICTION / Historical; FICTION / Historical / General; FICTION / Small Town & Rural; FICTION / Small Town & Rural *; FICTION / Women;

Unbreakable : go strong, live long, a woman's guide to aging with power / by Wright, Vonda,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Stronger muscles and bones, increased mobility, lifelong independence, and a new mentality for aging with power -- this cutting-edge guide to nutrition, training, and lifestyle will optimize a woman's body for longevity, through menopause and beyond. Strong skeletal muscle drives healthy longevity yet too often women in particular neglect this important measure of fitness. Indeed, more than 70% of women experience musculoskeletal symptoms like joint pain, muscle loss, and reduced bone density as they enter perimenopause and menopause. These symptoms -- what Dr. Vonda Wright refers to as the "musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause" -- can often set us up for osteoporosis, osteopenia, broken bones, increasingly limited mobility, and reduced independence later in life. That trend stops now. Unbreakable outlines a new and direct path to protecting ourselves against this too-common fate. Drawing on her decades of experience as a pioneering orthopedic surgeon helping women at all fitness levels to repair their bones and regain strength, Dr. Wright gives clear action steps to shield us from the timebombs of aging in four critical categories: Exercise: Pinpointing the right combination of cardio and resistance training for you to aid in tissue regeneration and improve metabolic function; Nutrition: What to eat to extinguish inflammation, repopulate your gut biome, and support strong bones and muscle growth; Lifestyle: How to manage chronic stress, get more restorative sleep, and turn down systemic inflammation in your daily life; Supplements: What to take to target the elimination of "zombie cells" and improve your cell function. Including a six-week, master exercise protocol to jumpstart skeletal and muscular strength, critical information about baseline blood and mobility tests that will help you understand your current health state, and twenty easy, anti-inflammatory recipes, Unbreakable is an invaluable guide to adding more vibrantly healthy life to your years"--
Subjects: Recipes.; Exercise; Menopause; Middle-aged women; Middle-aged women; Physical fitness; Self-actualization (Psychology) in women.; Self-care, Health; Women; Women; Women;

Doom : the politics of catastrophe / by Ferguson, Niall,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Setting the great crisis of 2020 in broad historical perspective, Niall Ferguson challenges the conventional wisdom that our failure to cope better with disaster was solely a crisis of political leadership, as opposed to a more profound systemic problem. Disasters are by their very nature hard to predict. Pandemics, like earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises and wars, are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate the next catastrophe. But when disaster strikes, we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted, or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck. We have science on our side, after all. Yet the responses of a number of developed countries, including the United States, to a new pathogen from China were badly bungled. Why? The facile answer is to blame poor leadership. While populist leaders have certainly performed poorly in the face of the pandemic, more profound problems have been exposed by COVID-19. Only when we understand the central challenge posed by disaster in history can we see that this was also a failure of an administrative state and economic elites that had grown myopic over much longer than just a few years. Why were so many Cassandras for so long ignored? Why did only some countries learn the right lessons from SARS and MERS? Why do appeals to "the science" often turn out to be magical thinking? Drawing from multiple disciplines, including history, economics, public health, and network science, Doom is a global postmortem for a plague year. In books going back nearly twenty years, including Colossus, The Great Degeneration, and The Square and the Tower, Niall Ferguson has studied the pathologies that afflict modern America, from imperial hubris to bureaucratic sclerosis and online schism. Doom is the lesson of history that this country--indeed the West as a whole--urgently needs to learn--if we want to avoid the doom of irreversible decline"--
Subjects: COVID-19 (Disease); COVID-19 (Disease); Epidemics; Political leadership.;

Arctic patrol : Canada's fight for Arctic sovereignty / by Jamieson, Eric,1949-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In the 1920s, Canada's claim on the Arctic archipelago was tenuous at best. In 1880, the United Kingdom had handed over control of the area to the expanding dominion, though much of the area was still unoccupied and unexplored. The North-West Mounted Police, later to become the RCMP in 1920, were assigned the territory by the Canadian Government. For years, little was done to assert this control; over time, remote detachments were established throughout the archipelago and annual ship patrols were conducted to resupply these posts as well as to demonstrate to the world that Canada was indeed administering to its Arctic. But the need to reinforce sovereignty--and quickly--was driven by increasing threats on the horizon. The Americans, Danish and Norwegians were particularly active in the Arctic, posing sovereign challenges from both individuals and their nations; Dr. Donald MacMillan, American, went north with an American Naval Aviation Unit in 1925 with a stated objective to search for new land. He had somehow, concerningly, avoided applying for permits to enter the Canadian Arctic. The Danish Anthropologist and polar explorer Knud Rasmussen was rumoured to be populating Ellesmere Island with Greenland Inuit (Inughuit) to the obvious threat of both the Muskox population there as well as Canadian Arctic sovereignty. Meanwhile, the Canadian Government was wrestling with the Norwegian Government, as well as Norwegian explorer Otto Sverdrup, over ownership of the Sverdrup group of islands. Something drastic had to be done. Legendary RCMP Inspector, Alfred Herbert Joy, joined by young but robust recruit Reginald Andrew Taggart of Ireland, as well as the renowned Inughuit guide, Nuqaqpainguaq, embark on an 1,800-mile dogsled patrol to the outer fringes of the archipelago. As tensions rise and negotiations with Norway threaten to escalate, the three men face treacherous conditions and unexpected obstacles on a journey that takes on mythic proportions. In Arctic Patrol, Lieutenant Governor's Medal winner Eric Jamieson uncovers the fascinating history of Canada's fight to secure its Arctic territories in this thrilling tale of international politics, polar exploration, and human endurance"--
Subjects: Self-determination, National;

Murder by Memory [electronic resource] : by Waite, Olivia.aut; Baker, Blair.nrt; CloudLibrary;
Becky Chambers meets Miss Marple in this sci-fi ode to the cozy mystery, helmed by a formidable no-nonsense auntie of a detective A mind is a terrible thing to erase... Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty's most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger. Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers—just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot. Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor—and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting—knows more than she’s letting on. Whatever it is, Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work—and if so, they’ve had three hundred years to perfect their schemes... Told through Dorothy’s delightfully shrewd POV, this novella is an ode to the cozy mystery taken to the stars with a fresh new sci-fi take. Perfect for fans of the plot-twisty narratives of Dorothy Sayers and Ann Leckie, this well-paced story will leave readers captivated and hungry for the series’s next installment. A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com.
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Lesbian;
© 2025., Macmillan Audio,

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