Book picks similar to
A. S. Byatt: Art, Authorship, Creativity by Christien Franken
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Happy for No Reason
Mandira Bedi - 2020
But behind the six-pack is also a snotty, complaining, can't-get-out-of-bed-today girl who, in her own way, is still searching for true happiness. Not conditional, materialistic, transactional happiness, but just happiness. So has she cracked it yet? Mandira says 'No'. But she genuinely believes that she's headed in the right direction. In her own chaotic way, she seems to have discovered some kind of non-scientific, non-spiritual and as-yet-non-existent formula for finding peace in everything. Just being happy-for no reason. This book is about that.
The Virgin Collection (1Night Stand; The Virgins, #1-3)
Kate Richards - 2013
Book #1 [1NS-002]: ~ The Virgin and the Playboy ~Julie, accidental virgin, has waited longer than she ever planned to lose her virginity and join everyone else she knows in dating reality. Embarrassed at her plight, she has made arrangements with 1NightStand.com to meet with a handsome stranger for one night of no commitment required sexuality, without having to admit she'd never made love before. Mark is the one single guy left in his group of friends. As such, he is known for the bevy of lovelies he dates, and his stories of wild exploits between the sheets. His participation in 1NightStand.com is on a dare, and he has no idea that his date is...less experienced than he is used to. And so much more... When they enter the penthouse suite in Las Vegas, they enter a chamber designed for luxury and booked for a 1NightStand . . .*-*Book #2 [1NS-142]: ~ The Virgin and the Best Man ~Mark and Julia from The Virgin and the Playboy have set the date! They are to be married at The Castillo Las Vegas, where they met on their 1Night Stand. All their family and friends are invited and they have planned a special surprise for their maid of honor and best man.Karin, Julia’s cousin, a small town librarian, chose family obligations over her dreams of the stars. She loves them all, but wonders when it will be her turn to live as she wishes…if it isn’t too late.Ray, commercial pilot, is every bit as much a playboy as his brother Mark used to be. He isn’t opposed to finding The One, but fears his brother has collected the only perfect jewel.What more appropriate gift for these two than a 1Night Stand with a date personally selected for them by Madame Evangeline . . .*-*Book #3 [1NS-154]: ~ Virgin Under Ground ~Doctorate in hand, Jane Ann Summers is ready to return to the South Seas paradise of her youth, when the director of the institute—her mother—drops a bomb. She cannot return until she experiences more of life...a social life.Determined to waste no time, Jane searches for a shortcut and discovers the 1Night Stand dating service. A single night with geologist Dr. Lukas Gerard, and she can go home and get on with her fascinating study of world weather trends. The only question is whether to have sex with him…after all, it would be her first, and maybe only, time. Lukas’s own field of study has shown him some alarming trends. He believes a killer earthquake may rattle the western half of the United States in the near future. In preparation, he converts an abandoned gold mine to a secret bunker, loaded with supplies and all the comforts of home. Only thing he needs now is company in his hideaway. Unsure how to find the right companion, he turns to 1Night Stand, but neither he nor Jane are prepared for the sudden impact of one of Madame Eve’s connections. One night teaches them there is more to life than science…for both of them . . .
Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny
Kate Manne - 2017
What is misogyny, exactly? Who deserves to be called a misogynist? How does misogyny contrast with sexism, and why is it prone to persist--or increase--even when sexist gender roles are waning? This book is an exploration of misogyny in public life and politics, by the moral philosopher and writer Kate Manne. It argues that misogyny should not be understood primarily in terms of the hatred or hostility some men feel toward women generally. Rather, it's primarily about controlling, policing, punishing, and exiling the "bad" women who challenge male dominance. And it's compatible with rewarding "the good ones," and singling out other women to serve as warnings to those who are out of order. It's also common for women to serve as scapegoats, be burned as witches, and treated as pariahs.Manne examines recent and current events such as the Isla Vista killings by Elliot Rodger, the case of the convicted serial rapist Daniel Holtzclaw, who preyed on African-American women as a police officer in Oklahoma City, Rush Limbaugh's diatribe against Sandra Fluke, and the "misogyny speech" of Julia Gillard, then Prime Minister of Australia, which went viral on YouTube. The book shows how these events, among others, set the stage for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Not only was the misogyny leveled against Hillary Clinton predictable in both quantity and quality, Manne argues it was predictable that many people would be prepared to forgive and forget Donald Trump's history of sexual assault and harassment. For this, Manne argues, is misogyny's oft-overlooked and equally pernicious underbelly: exonerating or showing "himpathy" for the comparatively privileged men who dominate, threaten, and silence women.
13 Ways of Looking at the Novel
Jane Smiley - 2005
She invites us behind the scenes of novel-writing, sharing her own habits and spilling the secrets of her craft. And she offers priceless advice to aspiring authors. As she works her way through one hundred novels–from classics such as the thousand-year-old Tale of Genji to recent fiction by Zadie Smith and Alice Munro–she infects us anew with the passion for reading that is the governing spirit of this gift to book lovers everywhere.
Regarding the Pain of Others
Susan Sontag - 2003
How does the spectacle of the sufferings of others (via television or newspapers) affect us? Are viewers inured--or incited--to violence by the depiction of cruelty? In Regarding the Pain of Others, Sontag takes a fresh look at the representation of atrocity--from Goya's The Disasters of War to photographs of the American Civil War, lynchings of blacks in the South, and the Nazi death camps, to contemporary horrific images of Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Israel and Palestine, and New York City on September 11, 2001. In Regarding the Pain of Others Susan Sontag once again changes the way we think about the uses and meanings of images in our world, and offers an important reflection about how war itself is waged (and understood) in our time.Features an analysis of our numbed response to images of horror. This title alters our thinking about the uses and meanings of images, and about the nature of war, the limits of sympathy, and the obligations of conscience.
L'America
Martha McPhee - 2006
Cesare is a privileged Italian boy, raised in a prosperous town where his family has lived for five hundred years; Beth, an ambitious American dreamer born to hippies and raised on a commune. The events of September 11 serve as a catalyst for the unfolding of their story, in which passion struggles against the inexorable force of patria.The novel of the American in Europe has a long and lustrous pedigree. L’America adds to this lineage, an evocative portrait of the intersection between Europe and America, the old and the new, and the dizzying, life-changing power of first love.
Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series
Tyler Knott Gregson - 2014
The miracle in the mundane.One day, while browsing an antique store in Helena, Montana, photographer Tyler Knott Gregson stumbled upon a vintage Remington typewriter for sale. Standing up and using a page from a broken book he was buying for $2, he typed a poem without thinking, without planning, and without the ability to revise anything.He fell in love.Three years and almost one thousand poems later, Tyler is now known as the creator of the Typewriter Series: a striking collection of poems typed onto found scraps of paper or created via blackout method. Chasers of the Light features some of his most insightful and beautifully worded pieces of work—poems that illuminate grand gestures and small glimpses, poems that celebrate the beauty of a life spent chasing the light.
Females
Andrea Long Chu - 2019
What one does with this desire is what we call gender." So begins Andrea Long Chu's investigation into gender and desire, females and bodies, radical dreams and philosophical pessimism, and feminism as a form of political suicide. Feminism, Chu argues, is an untenable claim, and "when you make an untenable claim, your desire is showing, like a shy tattoo peeking out from a sleeve." Written in a series of linked theses, this is a provocative and searching text from our most exciting new public intellectual, a self described "sad trans girl in Brooklyn." Chu wears her heart on her sleeve with wit, style, and a manic searching grace.
Violence: Six Sideways Reflections
Slavoj Žižek - 2007
Drawing from his unique cultural vision, Žižek brings new light to the Paris riots of 2005; he questions the permissiveness of violence in philanthropy; in daring terms, he reflects on the powerful image and determination of contemporary terrorists.Violence, Žižek states, takes three forms--subjective (crime, terror), objective (racism, hate-speech, discrimination), and systemic (the catastrophic effects of economic and political systems)--and often one form of violence blunts our ability to see the others, raising complicated questions.Does the advent of capitalism and, indeed, civilization cause more violence than it prevents? Is there violence in the simple idea of "the neighbour"? And could the appropriate form of action against violence today simply be to contemplate, to think?Beginning with these and other equally contemplative questions, Žižek discusses the inherent violence of globalization, capitalism, fundamentalism, and language, in a work that will confirm his standing as one of our most erudite and incendiary modern thinkers.
Life to the Fullest: A Story About Finding Your Purpose and Following Your Heart (Sports for the Soul Book 4)
Darrin Donnelly - 2017
But how, exactly, do you find your purpose? And, once you find it, how can you be sure that it’s “safe” to follow that path in life? This book answers those two life-changing questions. Written as an inspirational fable in the style of previous Sports for the Soul books, Life to the Fullest reveals a powerful five-step process for finding your purpose while also dealing with the questions we all have about whether it’s “safe” to follow the dreams in our hearts. In a story that pays homage to the holiday classics, It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, John Callahan is a man who has spent his life listening to his heart and following his passion as a high school football coach just like his legendary father. But his dream life is suddenly being crushed. Just days before the state championship game, John receives news that his beloved school is declaring bankruptcy and will be shutting down at the end of the year. Everything John has worked his whole life for—his team, his community, his pension—is being taken away from him. John now finds himself angry at his long-deceased father for advising him to follow his heart and he’s angry at himself for not taking “better” opportunities when they came along. When all hope seems lost, John receives a miraculous visit from his father on the eve of his team’s final game. John is given the opportunity to revisit past moments in his life and to see how things would’ve turned out differently if he had chosen more “practical” opportunities. This is a story about fathers and sons. It’s a story about faith, family, and community. Most of all, it’s a story about having the courage to follow your heart and live your true purpose. As this story plays out, you will find the answers to two of life’s most important questions: How do I find my life’s purpose and is it safe to follow that purpose once I find it?
The Monk: The Life and Crimes of Ireland's Most Enigmatic Gang Boss
Paul Williams - 2020
What Is Love? A Simple Guide to Romantic Happiness
Taro Gold - 2003
Presents practical, Buddhist-based guidelines to achieving happiness in romantic relationships through a series of inspirational quotes complemented by thematic watercolors and divided into three sections that explore the concepts of illusion, reality, and life.
Tied Together: Tied Series Collection
Emma Rider - 2013
Plus special BONUS material at the end. What are the characters up to? Save money by buying the bundle instead of individually! Tied Together Includes: Tied to the Boss Set to be Tied Wickedly Tied Tied in Knots Tied Down Special Bonus Material Tied to the Boss Want to taste the forbidden? Victoria Carson does. She's had a crush on her boss since he hired her five years ago. Her promotion to be his personal secretary fuels her fantasies. But she's not familiar with his sexual appetite. Her boss introduces her to a whole new world of sexual desires, enticingly different from her vanilla lifestyle. She's unsure at first, but Dominic Nox takes the reins. A true dom, Dominic can't take it anymore; he wants his sweet little secretary. With the help of his smoldering hot colleague, Raphael Silver, he leads Victoria in the right direction. His direction. And he'll do everything to ensure she's tied to the boss. Set to be Tied Set up for pleasure. Jessica Coleman, numb and distraught from her job, is forced to take a vacation to recoup. So she gets in her car with an unknown destination. She meets hot-as-hell entrepreneur Raymond Silver who is looking for someone to fill his needs. When he spies her. But when Jess refuses his blunt offer, Ray does whatever it takes to show her how ignitable their passion can really be. Little does Jessica know that she is set to be tied. Wickedly Tied She’s tied. Timid librarian Michelle has one night with gorgeous Raphael Silver. A hero in her eyes, he saved her friend Vicki from getting date raped. He’s wicked. Dominant Raphael can’t resist showing his shy little mouse a taste of his world. With just giving her a taste, he forces himself to let her go. He changes his mind in taking her fully into his world because he can’t taint something so pure. When her best friend’s wedding day arrives, can they avoid each other without going up in flames? Michelle appears as if she has moved on, but has Raphael? Or are they both wickedly tied? Tied in Knots Victoria Carson has lived under gorgeous CEO Dominic Nox’s dominant reign for a full year. They have a true dominant/submissive relationship. All of her friends have tied the knot, but Dom hasn’t even said the three words she longs to hear. Tired of his incomprehensible attitude, Vicki takes the reins into her own hands, but is Dom too dominant to relinquish control? Will he realize the full extent of his feelings or will Vicki have to let go? She’s simply tied in knots. Tied Down She's a free spirit. After having a one night stand with a powerful man, Katrina Day flees. Both parties agreed to have no-strings sex, but Kat feels the need to sneak out anyways while his back is turned. She never wants to tie herself to a man like her friends. She's too independent to give up control. He's in his prime. Cristoff Rivera, owner of Rivera Inc. finds he's intrigued by young Kat. She's not like the women he's dated. After their night, he is furious that she's escaped and will do anything to tie her down, if only temporally so he can get her out of his system. Both players. Neither wants to settle, but they both find themselves tied down.
Death by Cyanide: The Murder of Dr. Autumn Klein
Paula Reed Ward - 2016
Autumn Klein, a neurologist specializing in seizure disorders in pregnant women, had already been named chief of women’s neurology at Pittsburgh’s largest health system. More than just successful in her field, Dr. Klein was beloved—by her patients, colleagues, family, and friends. She collapsed suddenly on April 17, 2013, writhing in agony on her kitchen floor, and died three days later. The police said her husband, Dr. Robert Ferrante, twenty-three years Klein’s senior, killed her through cyanide poisoning. Though Ferrante left a clear trail of circumstantial evidence, Klein’s death from cyanide might have been overlooked if not for the investigators who were able to use Ferrante’s computer, statements from the staff at his lab, and his own seemingly odd actions at the hospital during his wife’s treatment to piece together what appeared to be a long-term plan to end his wife’s life. In Death by Cyanide, Paula Reed Ward, reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, describes the murder investigation and the trial in this sensational case, taking us from the poisoning and the medical staff’s heroic measures to save Klein’s life to the investigation of Ferrante and the emotion and drama inside the courtroom.
The Persistence of Memory
Tony Eprile - 2004
The Baltimore Sun declared Eprile's "horrifying yet heartrendingly beautiful" prose to be "comparable to his fellow authors of Apartheid Andre Brink and Nadine Gordimer." As the novel builds to a harrowing conclusion, the protagonist, a veteran of the secret war in Angola and Namibia, is forced to appear before the Truth and Reconciliation Committee with astonishing results. Nobel Prize-winning author J. M. Coetzee calls The Persistence of Memory "a story of coming to maturity in South Africa in the bad old days. Always warm-hearted, sometimes comic, ultimately damning."