Search:

Happy land / by Perkins-Valdez, Dolen,author.;
"A woman learns the astonishing truth of her family's ties to a real-life American kingdom in this transporting and riveting new novel from the New York Times bestselling, NAACP Award-winning author of Take My Hand. In the hills of Appalachia, there once existed a land ruled by a king and a queen. Inspired by distant memories of African kingdoms, a community of formerly enslaved men and women grasped freedom and started lives on mountain land that they owned. They worked hard, lived well, and loved there. For a time the kingdom thrived ... and then it disappeared. Present Day. Nikki hasn't seen her grandmother in years, due to a mysterious estrangement inherited from her mother. So when the elder calls out of the blue with an urgent request for Nikki to visit her in the hills of western North Carolina, Nikki hesitates only for a moment. After years of silence in her family, she's determined to get answers while she still can. But instead of answers about the recent past, Mother Rita tells Nikki a shocking story about her great-great-great-grandmother Queen Luella and the very land they are standing on. Land that Mother Rita says must be protected. The more Nikki learns about the Kingdom of the Happy Land and the lives of those who dwelled in the ruins she finds in the woods-who are buried beneath stone grave markers-the more she understands that sometimes, atonement for the previous generations' mistakes falls squarely on the shoulders of the descendants. And it's up to her to make things right"--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; African Americans; Families; Freed persons; Grandmothers;

The Knowing [electronic resource] : by Talaga, Tanya.aut; cloudLibrary;
From Tanya Talaga, the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of Seven Fallen Feathers, comes a riveting exploration of her family’s story and a retelling of the history of the country we now call Canada For generations, Indigenous People have known that their family members disappeared, many of them after being sent to residential schools, “Indian hospitals” and asylums through a coordinated system designed to destroy who the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are. This is one of Canada’s greatest open secrets, an unhealed wound that until recently lay hidden by shame and abandonment. The Knowing is the unfolding of Canadian history unlike anything we have ever read before. Award-winning and bestselling Anishinaabe author Tanya Talaga retells the history of this country as only she can—through an Indigenous lens, beginning with the life of her great-great grandmother Annie Carpenter and her family as they experienced decades of government- and Church-sanctioned enfranchisement and genocide. Deeply personal and meticulously researched, The Knowing is a seminal unravelling of the centuries-long oppression of Indigenous People that continues to reverberate in these communities today. 
Subjects: Electronic books.; Canada; Native American; Indigenous Studies;
© 2024., HarperCollins Canada,

An alphabet for Joanna : a portrait of my mother in 26 fragments / by Rogers, Damian,author.;
"Throughout her life, acclaimed poet Damian Rogers was never given a satisfactory account of the circumstances around her birth. The "truth" behind the stories she was told by her mother--the free-spirited, beautiful and often troubled Joanna--constantly shifted, and Damian could collect only fragments: a trip to California, a mysterious trauma, a miscarriage followed by a psychotic break, and a dramatic return to Detroit, pregnant. Now, in the present day, as 40-year-old Damian copes with Joanna's debilitating frontal-lobe dementia, she realizes she may never truly uncover the full story. At once a riveting portrait of a time and place (Detroit and Southern California from the mid-1960s to the late-1980s), an unconventional mother-daughter saga, and an exploration of how memory constantly shapes and reshapes our intimate relationships, at its heart An Alphabet for Joanna is a meditation on the relationship between mental illness and creative life. Damian Rogers writes effortlessly across genres, including lyrical memoir, investigative reporting, and powerful philosophical reflection, as she pieces together the ways we build lives out of stories. And by tracing her mother's deterioration into the present day, she poignantly shows how, even when memory fails, we remain connected through art, empathy, and imagination."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Rogers, Damian.; Rogers, Damian; Children of mentally ill mothers; Mentally ill mothers; Mothers and daughters.; Poets, Canadian (English);

Elevator pitch : a novel / by Barclay, Linwood,author.;
"The New York Times bestselling author of A Noise Downstairs and No Time for Goodbye returns with an edge-of-your-seat thriller that does for elevators what Psycho did for showers and Jaws did for the beach--a heart-pounding tale in which a series of disasters paralyzes New York City with fear. Pulsating with tension, Elevator Pitch is a riveting tale of psychological suspense that is all too plausible. and will chill readers to the bone"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Psychological fiction.;

Ordinary monsters / by Miro, J. M.,author.;
"England, 1882. In Victorian London, two children with mysterious powers are hunted by a figure of darkness--a man made of smoke. Sixteen-year-old Charlie Ovid, despite a brutal childhood in Mississippi, doesn't have a scar on him. His body heals itself,whether he wants it to or not. Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight car, shines with a strange bluish light. He can melt or mend flesh. When a jaded female detective is recruited to escort them to safety, all three begin a journey into the nature of difference, and belonging, and the shadowy edges of the monstrous. What follows is a story of wonder and betrayal, from the gaslit streets of London, and the wooden theatres of Meiji-era Tokyo, to an eerie estate outside Edinburgh where other children with gifts - the Talents - have been gathered. There, the world of the dead and the world of the living threaten to collide. And as secrets within the Institute unfurl, Marlowe, Charlie and the rest of the Talents will discover the truth about their abilities, and the nature of what is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts. Riveting in its scope, exquisitely written, Ordinary Monsters presents a catastrophic vision of the Victorian world--and of the gifted, broken children who must save it"--
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Ability; Children; Good and evil; Magic; Monsters; Threat (Psychology);

Velvet was the night / by Moreno-Garcia, Silvia,author.;
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a riveting noir about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome thug, and the mystery of the missing woman that brings them together. 1970s Mexico City. Maite is a secretary who lives for one thing: the latest issue of Secret Romance. While student protests and political unrest consume the city, Maite escapes into stories of passion and danger. Her next-door neighbor, Leonora, a beautiful art student, seems to live a life of intrigue and romance that Maite envies. When Leonora disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman--and journeying deeper into Leonora's secret life of student radicals and dissidents. Meanwhile, someone else is also looking for Leonora at the behest of his boss, a shadowy figure who commands goon squads dedicated to squashing political activists. Elvis is an eccentric thug who longs to escape his own life: He loathes violence and loves old movies and rock 'n' roll. But as Elvis searches for the missing woman, he comes to observe Maite from a distance--and grows more and more obsessed with this woman who shares his love of music, and the unspoken loneliness of his heart. Now as Maite and Elvis come closer to discovering the secrets behind Leonora's disappearance, they can no longer escape the danger that threatens to consume their lives, with hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies aiming to protect Leonora's secrets--at gunpoint"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Noir fiction.; Missing persons; Man-woman relationships;

We Are Watching A Novel [electronic resource] : by Gaylin, Alison.aut; cloudLibrary;
“Alison Gaylin proves once again that she is a master at mining the zeitgeist to create smart thrillers that are at once emotionally resonant and truly terrifying… utterly captivating.” — Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of The Note From USA Today bestselling and Edgar and Shamus Award–winning author Alison Gaylin comes a slick, riveting, and all-too-plausible tale of psychological suspense where a mother is desperate to protect her family as they become targets of a group of violent conspiracy theorists. Sometimes the world is out to get you. Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the eighteen-year-old music prodigy’s future. Then a car swerved up beside them, the young men inside it behaving bizarrely—and Meg lost control of her own vehicle. The family road trip turned into a tragedy. Justin didn’t survive the accident. Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief and guilt, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after she returns to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and Lily in increasingly terrifying ways. They are obsessed with a young adult novel titled The Prophesy, which was published thirty years earlier. An online group of believers are convinced that it heralds the apocalypse, and social media posts link the book—and Meg’s reclusive musician father—to Satanism. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on The Prophesy’s author...Meg. As the threats turn violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin’s death may not have been an accident. To find answers and save her daughter, her father, and herself, Meg must get to the root of these dangerous lies—and find a way to face the believers head-on … before it’s too late.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Amateur Sleuth; Suspense; Crime; Psychological;
© 2025., HarperCollins,

All we ever wanted : a novel / by Giffin, Emily,author.;
"The new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of First comes love raises the daunting question: In the midst of a scandal that threatens a perfect life, how far are you willing to go to protect the ones you love? Nina Browning married a third-generation Nashvillian, enjoys a newly lavish lifestyle thanks to the sudden success of her husband's tech business, and has a son, Finch, who just got accepted to Princeton. Thomas Talone is a single dad, works multiple jobs and has a daughter, Lyla, who was recently accepted to Nashville's most prestigious private high school on a scholarship. They couldn't be prouder. Then scandal strikes, and the worlds of these very different families collide. Lyla passes out at a party, drunk and half-naked. Finch snaps a picture, types out a caption and click--sends it out to a few friends. The photo spreads quickly, and soon heated reactions bubble throughout the already-divided community. Before long, the families find themselves in the midst of an ethical war as their community takes sides, throws blame and implodes. The gray area between right and wrong grows thick, and Nina and Tom are forced to question every assumption they've held about love and family loyalty. Emily Giffin tells a riveting story of characters who face impossible choices--but emerge to live a life truer to themselves than they ever had before."--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Married women; Single fathers; Teenagers; Families; Rich people; Scandals;

The story of chocolate / by Polin, C. J.(Caryn J.); Davidson, Rose,1989-;
"Shows children where their favorite sweet treat comes from! It is a motivating introduction to using essential nonfiction reading skills, proving ideal for children ready to enter the riveting world of reading"--
Subjects: Readers (Publications); Chocolate; Chocolate processing;

Whatever it takes / by McNab, Andy,1959-author.;
They say before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. For James Mercer, the financial ruin of his family by the institutions they trusted can never be undone. It shattered everyone, leaving him with a burning need to right the wrongs they suffered. He will stop at nothing to recoup what they are owed. It's not theft, it's payback. Until his solo crusade falls foul of the very people he seeks to rob - the one per centers, the people who own the bulk of the world's wealth. Soon he is putting together a crew to carry out one last robbery, to undertake one last job. Success will restore his family's honour, but failure will destroy them forever. Packed with relentless action and the sort of riveting authenticity only Andy McNab can provide, Whatever it takes tells the story of one man's extraordinary pursuit of justice against devastating odds, a story as hard and real and controversial as any of today's headlines, which will show the world as it really is.
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Bankruptcy; Banks and banking; Business failures; Retribution; Revenge; Rich people; Theft;