Book picks similar to
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Lost Edens: A True Story


Jamie Patterson - 2011
    The delicate negotiation that follows is a carefully constructed reality between what Jamie is willing to acknowledge and what she is not.Jamie Patterson is a writer, teacher, runner, and dog lover. A former spokesperson for the American Red Cross and the Girl Scouts, Jamie is now an academic editor.

The Malevolent Volume


Justin Phillip Reed - 2020
    In these poems, Reed finds agency in the other-than-human identities assigned to those assaulted by savageries of the state. In doing so, he summons a retaliatory, counterviolent Black spirit to revolt and to inhabit the revolting.

The Pieces that Built Me (The Pieces Collection, #1)


Amber Lacie - 2018
    Each piece should connect perfectly to the pieces around it. After a while a picture starts to come into focus, and then we, the puzzle creator, can finally make sense of the beauty displayed in front of us. It was different for me. Some of my pieces were bent or twisted, but I made them fit. It wasn’t until I finally let him in that I realized, I was missing one important piece… Love. I knew how to give it. What I didn’t know was how to accept it, until he showed me how…

Fireflies at 3 am


Danni Thomas - 2020
    It’s a book with the flow of poetry but the ebb of short stories – rightfully called “Shoetry”. This creation takes you to the roots of humanity - stripping back the veneers of life, society and interaction to see people and their ways in an entirely new light.

Wessex Poems


Thomas Hardy - 1898
    Wessex was the "partly-real, partly-dream" county that formed the backdrop for most of Hardy's writings—named after an Anglo-Saxon kingdom and modeled on the real counties of Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, and Wiltshire. The poems deal with classic Hardy themes of disappointment in love and life, and the struggle to live a meaningful life in an indifferent world. Although Hardy's poetry was not as well received as his fiction, he continued to publish collections until his death, and thanks in part to the influence of Philip Larkin, he is increasingly realized as a poet of great stature.

Amazinger Face


Zoë Foster Blake - 2016
    And there's no reason she shouldn't know which foundation or mascara is best for her, either.All the answers are here, in this top-to-toe beauty extravaganza. Former Cosmopolitan and Harper's BAZAAR beauty director, and the founder of Go-To skin care, Zoë Foster (Blake) suggests makeup colours and brands for every occasion, useful, practical skin care routines and products for every age, and step-by-step instructions for winged eyeliner, arresting red lips, foolproof tanning, simple up-dos, sexy second-day hair, and much, much more . . .

The Agonist


Shastra Deo - 2017
    With its wildness and originality, The Agonist is an exhilarating collection. Exploring the languages of anatomy, etymology and incantation, these poems spark conversations about fracture and repair, energy, love and danger.

overheard at waitrose: poetry of the public


Idiocratea - 2018
    104 pages of gossiping, loving and pestering of the British upper class, accompanied by illustrations, will definitely not disappoint.

The Buttonmaker’s Daughter


Merryn Allingham - 2017
    Nestled in Sussex, the Summerhayes mansion seems the perfect country idyll. But with a long-running feud in the Summers family and tensions in Europe deepening, Summerhayes’ peaceful days are numbered.For Elizabeth Summer, the lazy quiet of her home has become stifling. A chance meeting with Aiden Kellaway, an architect’s assistant, offers the secret promise of escape. But to secure her family’s future, Elizabeth must marry well. A man of trade falls far from her father’s uncompromising standards.As the sweltering heat of 1914 builds to a storm, Elizabeth faces a choice between family loyalty and an uncertain future with the man she loves.One thing is definite: this summer will change everything.

Pandemonium


Armando Iannucci - 2021
    It tells the story of how Orbis Rex, Young Matt and his Circle of Friends, Queen Dido and the blind Dom'nic did battle with 'a wet and withered bat' from Wuhan.

The Scarlet Ibis: Poems


Susan Hahn - 2007
    The resonance of this image grows through each section of the book as Hahn skillfully employs theme and variation, counterpoint and mirroring techniques. The ibis first appears as part of an illusion, the disappearing object in a magician’s trick, which then evokes the greatest disappearing act of all—death—where there are no tricks to bring about a reappearance. The rich complexity multiplies as the second section focuses on a disappearing lady and a dramatic final section brings together the bird and the lady in their common plight—both caged by their mortality, their assigned time and role.  All of the illusions fall away during this brilliant denouement as the two voices share a dialogue on the power of metaphor as the very essence of poetry. bird trick iv It’s all about disappearance. About a bird in a cagewith a mirror, a simple twiston the handle at the sidethat makes it come and go at the magician’s insistence. It’s all about innocence.It’s all about acceptance.It’s all about compliance.It’s all about deference.It’s all about silence. It’s all about disappearance.

Look I Bought Plants: And Other Poems About Life and Stuff


Taylor Garron - 2021
    From career struggles to astronomical student debt to climate change angst, there's a lot to worry about. Look I Bought Plants: And Other Poems about Life and Stuff was dreamt up by two twenty-somethings—Taylor Garron and Eva Victor—who love jokes and sex, in that order. From silly slices of life to R-rated encounters, their witty, irreverent, and satirical poetry reflects on everyday challenges, relationships, and everything else there is to be anxious about.For the millennial trying to put together their IKEA furniture, your cool niece with the septum piercing, or anyone who has ever dated someone in their head, Look I Bought Plants is a funny, charming reminder that you aren't alone and we can all commiserate.• TIMELY AND RELATABLE CONTENT: Millennials may be exhausted, but their own amusing attitudes towards their exhaustion never tire! This book takes a cynical yet laughable approach—the millennial experience perfectly encapsulated in verse. Each poem is highly relatable and you may find yourself saying, "Okay, this is me."• RISING STAR AUTHORS: Eva Victor's writing is published in The New Yorker and she has appeared on various media outlets including Forbes. Taylor Garron's work has been featured in The New Yorker, The Onion, and Vulture.• GREAT PRESENT OR SELF-PURCHASE: With a vivid design, a low price point, and relatable content, Look I Bought Plants begs to be shared with all of your friends and gifted to you by your family. It's trendy and affordable—just the way millennials like it!

The Cinema at Starlight Creek


Alli Sinclair - 2019
    How far would you go to follow your dream?Queensland, 1994 When location manager Claire Montgomery arrives in rural Queensland to work on a TV mini-series, she's captivated by the beauty of Starlight Creek and the surrounding sugarcane fields. Working in a male-dominated industry is challenging, but Claire has never let that stop her pursuing her dreams-until now. She must gain permission to film at Australia's most historically significant art deco cinema, located at Starlight Creek. But there is trouble ahead. The community is fractured and the cinema's reclusive owner, Hattie Fitzpatrick, and her enigmatic great nephew, Luke Jackson, stand in her way, putting Claire's career-launching project-and her heart-at risk.Hollywood, 1950 Lena Lee has struggled to find the break that will catapult her into a star with influence. She longs for roles about strong, independent women but with Hollywood engulfed in politics and a censorship battle, Lena's timing is wrong. Forced to keep her love affair with actor Reeves Garrity a secret, Lena puts her career on the line to fight for equality for women in an industry ruled by men. Her generous and caring nature steers her onto a treacherous path, leaving Lena questioning what she is willing to endure to get what she desires.Can two women-decades apart-uncover lies and secrets to live the life they've dared to dream?

Cassandra's Secret: Sometimes the only way to move forward is to go back...


Frances Garrood - 2008
    Perfect for fans of Marian Keyes, Rachel Joyce and Jojo Moyes. Secrets can’t stay buried forever… 1960s England Cassandra Fitzpatrick’s family isn’t quite like everybody else’s: her house is always full to bursting with the various misfits her mother houses as lodgers. The creative and chaotic household is all she has ever known and loved, until something awful happens that changes everything. Cass loves her mother deeply, but, as she gets older, she becomes more and more aware of her flaws. Will Cass have to distance herself from her family to find happiness? Or is she destined to follow in her mother’s footsteps? As Cass reflects on her memories, she must lay the ghosts of the past to rest and make peace with the secrets that have haunted her adult life… CASSANDRA’S SECRET is both a coming-of-age story and poignant return to the past, an intricate family drama of the close bond between mother and daughter, and the strength of love needed to overcome abuse and grief. "Garrood's thoughtful prose tells the story of an extraordinary girl's passage to womanhood." The Big Issue in the North and The Big Issue Cymru "This is a delightful book, combining some emotional issues with humorous comments and moments." BCF Reviews "Frances Garrood is a magnificent writer" thebookbag.co.uk *** PLEASE NOTE THIS WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS THE BIRDS, THE BEES AND OTHER SECRETS ***

Human Hours: Poems


Catherine Barnett - 2018
    Barnett speaks from the middle of hope and confusion, carrying philosophy into the everyday. Watching a son become a young man, a father become a restless beloved shell, and a country betray its democratic ideals, the speakers try to make sense of such departures. Four lyric essays investigate the essential urge and appeal of questions that are “accursed,” that are limited—and unanswered—by answers. What are we to do with the endangered human hours that remain to us? Across the leaps and swerves of this collection, the fevered mind tries to slow—or at least measure—time with quiet bravura: by counting a lover’s breaths; by remembering a father’s space-age watch; by envisioning the apocalyptic future while bedding down on a hard, cold floor, head resting on a dictionary. Human Hours pulses with the absurd, with humor that accompanies the precariousness of the human condition.