Best of
Recreation
2020
Tip of the Spear: The Incredible Story of an Injured Green Beret's Return to Battle
Ryan Hendrickson - 2020
As the “tip of the spear,” his role is to ensure the route taken by U.S. and Afghan troops are free of IEDs — improvised explosive devices. Many soldiers do not survive their last step; those who do often lose at least one limb.While rescuing an Afghan soldier outside a mud-hut compound in 2010 — knowing that he was in “uncleared” territory — Ryan stepped on an IED with his right foot. The device exploded, leaving his foot dangling at the end of his leg.American soldiers losing a limb is an all-too-common occurrence. But what makes Ryan’s story different is that after undergoing two dozen surgeries and a tortuous rehabilitation, he was medically retired but fought to return to active duty. Multiple skin grafts to his leg and right foot successfully reattached his lower leg, and he was aided in his recovery by wearing a new prosthetic device known as an IDEO (Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis). Once he passed a series of crucial physical tests, Ryan was able to rejoin the Green Berets within a year and physically perform his duties, redeploying to Afghanistan in March 2012.In 2016, he volunteered to return to Afghanistan with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group. During a firefight with the Taliban, he risked his life under heavy enemy fire to rescue three Afghan soldiers cut off from friendly forces and return the bodies of two dead Afghan soldiers under the ethos that “no one gets left behind.” For his heroic efforts on the battlefield, SFC Ryan Hendrickson was awarded a Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor.An engaging and harrowing account, Tip of the Spear tells the amazing story of one Green Beret’s indomitable spirit.
The Prince of Mournful Thoughts and Other Stories
Caroline Kim - 2020
Bingham Prize Longlisted, 2020 Story Prize Exploring what it means to be human through the Korean diaspora, Caroline Kim’s stories feature many voices. From a teenage girl in 1980’s America, to a boy growing up in the middle of the Korean War, to an immigrant father struggling to be closer to his adult daughter, or to a suburban housewife whose equilibrium depends upon a therapy robot, each character must face their less-than-ideal circumstances and find a way to overcome them without losing themselves. Language often acts as a barrier as characters try, fail, and momentarily succeed in connecting with each other. With humor, insight, and curiosity, Kim’s wide-ranging stories explore themes of culture, communication, travel, and family. Ultimately, what unites these characters across time and distance is their longing for human connection and a search for the place—or people—that will feel like home.
This Is Not My Memoir
André Gregory - 2020
For the first time, Gregory shares memories from a life lived for art, including stories from the making of My Dinner with André. Taking on the dizzying, wondrous nature of a fever dream, This is Not My Memoir includes fantastic and fantastical stories that take the reader from wartime Paris to golden-age Hollywood, from avant-garde theaters to monasteries in India. Along the way we meet Jerzy Grotowski, Helene Weigel, Gregory Peck, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, Wallace Shawn, and many other larger-than-life personalities.This is Not My Memoir is a collaboration between Gregory and Todd London who together create a portrait of an artist confronting his later years. Here, too, are the reflections of a man who only recently learned how to love. What does it mean to create art in a world that often places little value on the process of creating it? And what does it mean to confront the process of aging when your greatest work of art may well be your own life?
The Little Book of Living Small
Laura Fenton - 2020
It features twelve case study homes in which style-savvy, small-space dwellers (from singles to families of four) open their doors and share their design secrets. Stylistically these homes range from urban to rural, minimalist to bohemian, with the unifying thread that they are all real homes of 1,200 square feet or less and offer clever solutions for you to use in your own home.Highly engaging with lists, tips, and actionable advice, The Little Book of Living Small shows readers how to make the most of limited square footage—with grace and style—and serves as the cheerleader readers need to help themselves feel satisfied and proud of their choice to live with less.Laura Fenton is the author of The Little Book of Living Small and the former lifestyle director at Parents magazine, where she oversaw all the home content for the publication. A writer with more than fifteen years of experience, her work has appeared in major publications including Better Homes & Gardens, Country Living, Good Housekeeping, and on leading home websites including Remodelista, HGTV.com, ElleDecor.com, Curbed, and Refinery29. Through her writing she has explored the topic of living small for more than a decade. She lives small with her husband, a photographer, and their son in Jackson Heights, Queens, in New York.
Ogadinma Or, Everything Will Be All Right
Ukamaka Olisakwe - 2020
After a rape and unwanted pregnancy leave her exiled from her family in Kano, thwarting her plans to go to university, she is sent to her aunt's in Lagos and pressured into a marriage with an older man. When their whirlwind romance descends into abuse and indignity, Ogadinma is forced to channel her independence and resourcefulness to escape a fate that appears all but inevitable. Ogadinma, the UK debut by Ukamaka Olisakwe, introduces a heroine for whom it is impossible not to root, and announces the author as a gifted chronicler of the patriarchal experience.‘An intimate and dazzling exploration of the life and times of a young Nigerian woman whose move to the capital city of Lagos leads to a series of encounters, which are by turns disorienting, revelatory and tragic.’ Christopher Merrill, author of Self-Portrait with Dogwood‘Written in vivid, engaging prose, this is the story of one woman’s journey to independence.’ Chinelo Okparanta, author of Under the Udala Trees and Happiness, Like Water: Stories
What Adults Don’t Know About Art: Inspiring young minds to love and enjoy art (What Adults Don't Know About...)
The School of Life - 2020
Still: The Slow Home
Natalie Walton - 2020
Living Sustainably; Local; Organic; and Whole. It talks not just to the question of the physical structures we choose, but also the surrounding environment, and what effect that can have on general happiness and wellbeing. Still includes about a dozen case studies featuring escape homes and owners who live according to these aforementioned principles, enlightening readers as to why they chose this path and how it has benefitted their lives. It is the follow-up to Natalie Walton's successful first title This is Home, and once again features location photography by Chris Warnes.
prettycitydublin: Discovering Dublin's Beautiful Places
Siobhan Ferguson - 2020
From secluded mews to artisan outlets, vintage markets and tree-lined streets, prettycitydublin champions the quiet, gentle moments that allow you to escape in a bustling capital city like Dublin. Curated by Siobhan Ferguson, founder and editor of Instagram’s @theprettycities and the author of the acclaimed prettycitylondon, this stunning guide also includes tips on how to photograph and plan your own prettycitydublin experience, whether on foot or from afar.
S Is for Style: The Schumacher Book of Decoration
Dara Caponigro - 2020
Customers will be shipped any of these three different covers at random***With a focus on Schumacher's greatest contemporary patterns--everything from classic stripes and exuberant florals to edgy animal prints--this accessible and highly useful style guide is organized thematically by chapters such as Sensual & Spare; Preppy; Ladylike; Exuberant; and Opulent, with each featuring a stunning selection of patterns along with inspiring interiors designed in the same spirit. To help readers better understand their style preferences, every chapter begins with a questionnaire, for example: Are You an Acolyte of High Style? Do You Prefer a Midnight Supper to a Power Lunch?; Consider Jewel Tones Neutral?; Think Champagne Is Not Just for Special Occasions?Page after page after page of lavish imagery and pattern details are juxtaposed alongside beautiful interiors designed by such luminaries as Miles Redd, Tom Scheerer, Amanda Lindroth, Celerie Kemble, Veere Grenney, and Mark D. Sikes, to name a few, illustrating how Schumacher's iconic patterns can be integrated into a wide range of chic and stylish room designs. The texts provide insights and tips on how patterns can be used in your decor, along with guidance for deciding what style is best for you and your home.Full of inspiring design ideas, as well as an unparalleled resource of prints and patterns, S Is for Style is a visual feast of interior design for all styles and tastes.
Sean Scherer's Kabinett & Kammer: Creating Authentic Interiors
Sean Scherer - 2020
Scherer’s interiors feature vintage display cabinets housing discarded collections of whittled songbirds, stunning 19th-century maps and school teaching aids, ferns in cast-iron planters, and photomurals. The effect is a supercharged nod to American Gothic heightened by Scherer’s sophisticated palette and sense of proportion. Each photograph by William Abranowicz is a lesson on color and texture, focal points, and room size. With a foreword by Anderson Cooper, whose house Scherer helped design, Kabinett & Kammer demonstrates that though styles fluctuate and tastes are unique, the principles of design are immutable, and good design is good design.