At the Back of the North Wind


Paul McCusker - 2005
    Along the way, she visits a poor stable boy named Diamond and takes him with her on her journeys. "At the Back of the North Wind" explores the place of death in our lives, social injustice, and our deep need for love and forgiveness. C. S. Lewis, author of the classic Chronicles of Narnia series, said of MacDonald, "What he does best is fantasy--fantasy that hovers between the allegorical and the mythopoeic. And this, in my opinion, he does better than any man. MacDonald is the greatest genius of this kind whom I know."

The Vanishing Half


Brit Bennett - 2020
    But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.

Translations from the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke


Rainer Maria Rilke - 1962
    Herter Norton offer Rilke's work to the English-speaking world in an accurate, sensitive, modern version.

Toni Morrison: The Bluest Eye


GRIN Publishing - 1994
    Toni Morrison uses modernist techniques of stream-of-consciousness, multiple perspectives, and deliberate fragmentation. Two different narrators tell the story. The first is Claudia MacTeer, who narrates in a mixture of a child’s and an adult’s perspectives, and the second is an omniscient narrator. Claudia’s and Pecola’s points of view are dominant, but the reader also sees things from other character’s points of view.The subtext of the first part of the novel ('Autumn' and 'Winter') suggests various topics. In my presentation, I mainly focus on the “Dick and Jane narrative” by means of which the novel opens. Furthermore, I will explore the themes “whiteness as the standard of beauty” and “seeing versus being seen” which are sometimes closely connected.'The Bluest Eye' provides an extended depiction of the ways in which internalized white beauty standards deform the lives of black girls and women. Implicit messages that whiteness is superior are everywhere, including the white baby doll given to Claudia, the idealization of Shirley Temple, the consensus that light-skinned Maureen is cuter than the other black girls, and the idealization of white beauty in the movies. Pecola eventually desires blue eyes in order to conform with these white beauty standards imposed on her.However, by wishing for blue eyes, Pecola indicates that she wishes to see things differently as much as she wishes to be seen differently.

Diablo III: Morbed


Micky Neilson - 2014
    Joining together with a wizard, a druid, a necromancer, and a crusader, Morbed has arrived at a remote island to track down an elusive vagabond andreclaim valuable items pilfered from the city of Westmarch.But there is something loose on the island, something that has killed and is very close to killing again. In order to leave the island alive, Morbed will be forced to confront not only the terrifying creature that stalks the forests, but the darkest corners of his own spirit as well.

Essential Blake


William Blake - 1987
    It could be argued that he dared, in fact, to be the first modern poet. . . .Above all, Blake teaches us that the imagination is a portion of the divine principle, that "Energy is Eternal Delight," and that "everything that lives is Holy." Human liberty and imagination have never been better served.

Electric Arches


Eve L. Ewing - 2017
    Ewing's narrative takes us from the streets of 1990s Chicago to an unspecified future, deftly navigating the boundaries of space, time, and reality. Ewing imagines familiar figures in magical circumstances, and identifies everyday objects - hair moisturizer, a spiral notebook - as precious icons.Her visual art is spare, playful, and poignant: a cereal box decoder ring that allows the wearer to understand what Black girls are saying; a teacher's angry, subversive message scrawled on the chalkboard. Electric Arches invites fresh conversations about race, gender, the city, identity, and the joy and pain of growing up.

In Love & Trouble: Stories of Black Women


Alice Walker - 1973
    Taken as a whole, their stories form an enlightening, disturbing view of life in the South.

Somewhat Saved


Pat G'Orge-Walker - 2008
    Pat G'Orge-Walker yet again sends up church life, with a cast of parishioners who battle their worst vices, the funny and serious sides of aging, and each other! She is also the author of 'Mother Eternal Ann Everlastin's Dead' and 'Cruisin' on Desperation'.

Silver Sparrow


Tayari Jones - 2011
    When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered. As Jones explores the backstories of her rich and flawed characters, she also reveals the joy, and the destruction, they brought to each other’s lives.At the heart of it all are the two girls whose lives are at stake, and like the best writers, Jones portrays the fragility of her characers with raw authenticity as they seek love, demand attention, and try to imagine themselves as women.

Dean Spanley: The Novel


Lord Dunsany - 2008
    Complete with the screenplay and photos from the new film starring Peter O'Toole and Sam Neill.

Donna Tartt's The Secret History: A Reader's Guide


Tracy Hargreaves - 2001
    A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question. The books in the series will all follow the same structure:a biography of the novelist, including other works, influences, and, in some cases, an interview; a full-length study of the novel, drawing out the most important themes and ideas; a summary of how the novel was received upon publication; a summary of how the novel has performed since publication, including film or TV adaptations, literary prizes, etc.; a wide range of suggestions for further reading, including websites and discussion forums; and a list of questions for reading groups to discuss.

Works of W. Somerset Maugham


W. Somerset Maugham - 1977
    It is indexed alphabetically, chronologically and by category, making it easier to access individual books, stories and poems. This collection offers lower price, the convenience of a one-time download, and it reduces the clutter in your digital library. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents and footnotes. The collection is complimented by an author biography. Table of Contents The ExplorerThe HeroThe Land of PromiseThe Land of the Blessed VirginLiza of LambethThe MagicianMoon and SixpenceOf Human BondageThe Trembling of a LeafAppendix:W. Somerset Maugham BiographyAbout and Navigation

George Orwell's 1984: A Guide to Understanding the Classics


Ralph A. Ranald - 1920
    

The Art of Dancing in the Rain


Jack Lehman - 2013
    Or read this book and find out how you have all the tools you need, but must make the one change to become the writer you have always wanted to be.