Book picks similar to
Women Writers of Early Modern Spain: Sophia's Daughters by Bárbara Mujica
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The Snow Gypsy
Lindsay Jayne Ashford - 2019
Eight years ago, her brother disappeared while fighting alongside Gypsy partisans in Spain. From his letters, Rose has just two clues to his whereabouts—his descriptions of the spectacular south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and his love for a woman who was carrying his child.In Spain, it has been eight years since Lola Aragon’s family was massacred. Eight years since she rescued a newborn girl from the arms of her dying mother and ran for her life. She has always believed that nothing could make her return…until a plea for help comes from a desperate stranger.Now, Rose, Lola, and the child set out on a journey from the wild marshes of the Camargue to the dazzling peaks of Spain’s ancient mountain communities. As they come face-to-face with war’s darkest truths, their lives will be changed forever by memories, secrets, and friendships.
Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy
Ira Sukrungruang - 2010
In this lively, entertaining, and often hilarious memoir, he relates the early life of a first-generation Thai-American and his constant, often bumbling attempts to reconcile cultural and familial expectations with the trials of growing up in 1980s America. Young Ira may have lived in Oak Lawn, Illinois, but inside the family’s bi-level home was “Thailand with American conveniences.” They ate Thai food, spoke the Thai language, and observed Thai customs. His bedtime stories were tales of Buddha and monkey-faced demons. On the first day of school his mother reminded him that he had a Siamese warrior’s eyes—despite his thick glasses—as Aunty Sue packed his Muppets lunch box with fried rice. But when his schoolmates played tag he was always It, and as he grew, he face the constant challenge of reconciling American life with a cardinal family rule: “Remember, you are Thai.” Inside the Thai Buddhist temple of Chicago, another “simulated Thailand,” are more rules, rules different from those of the Southside streets, and we see mainstream Western religion—“god people”—through the Sukrungruang family’s eyes. Within the family circle, we meet a mother who started packing for her return to Thailand the moment she arrived; her best friend, Aunty Sue, Ira’s second mother, who lives with and cooks for the family; and a wayward father whose dreams never quite pan out. Talk Thai is a richly told account that takes us into an immigrant’s world. Here is a story imbued with Thai spices and the sensibilities of an American upbringing, a story in which Ira practices English by reciting lines from TV sitcoms and struggles with the feeling of not belonging in either of his two worlds. For readers who delight in the writings of Amy Tan, Gish Jen, and other Asian-Americans, Talk Thai provides generous portions of a still-mysterious culture while telling the story of an American boyhood with humor, playfulness, and uncompromising honesty.
The Nubian Prince
Juan Bonilla - 2003
After a start as a conventional bleeding heart with an idealistic aid group, he quickly wises up to the harsh reality of a world in which human life is just another product in a competitive marketplace. Now he travels the globe on the trail of illegal immigrants, refugees, and other ordinary souls brought low by war, natural disaster, or economic collapse. Scouting the slums and gutters of the world, Moises's task is to unearth nature's most beautiful men, women, and children and save them--for Club Olympus, a top-price international sex club.Then Moises receives his toughest assignment yet: to find a "Nubian prince," an African illegal caught fleetingly in the pages of a glossy magazine. The man is so painfully desirable that Club Olympus will sacrifice anything to have him--even Moises himself. Our narrator begins the chase, dazed, prevaricating, self-obsessed, funny, a little cruel, a little sentimental.The Nubian Prince takes place in a pitiless world where the have-nots will do anything to become haves, while the privileged don't know what to live for. Hilarious, moving, sexually explosive, and deeply disturbing, this bestselling Spanish novel introduces a new European star.
Aliens: No Exit
B.K. Evenson - 2008
The alien threat has been subdued. Company interests dominate universal trade. Terraforming is big money now, with powerful men willing to do anything to assure dominance over other worlds. Full description
The Orange Grove
Rosanna Ley - 2021
Now she has a chance to leave her stressful city job and pursue her dream - of returning to the Dorset landscape of her childhood to open Bitter Orange, a shop celebrating the fruit that first inspired her.Holly's mother Ella has always loved Seville. So why is she reluctant to go back there with Holly to source products for the shop? What is she frightened of - and does it have anything to do with the old Spanish recipe for Seville orange and almond cake that Ella keeps hidden from her family? In Seville, where she was once forced to make the hardest decision of her life, Ella must finally face up to the past, while Holly meets someone who poses a threat to all her plans. Seville is a city full of sunshine and oranges. But it can also be bittersweet. Will love survive the secrets of the orange grove?Praise for Rosanna Ley:'Beautifully written and gently captivating' Heat'Sun-soaked escapism' Best'The ultimate feel-good read' Candis'Holiday romance at its most evocative and escapist' The Lady'Unabashedly romantic . . slips down like easy-drinking vino infused with Mediterranean sunshine' Saga'A gorgeous, mouth-watering dream of a holiday read!' Red Magazine'Beautiful, evocative writing' Sun
Don Quixote Volume One
Rob Davis - 2011
Seeing no impediments, such as logic, propriety or sanity, to fulfilling his dreams, this would-be hero reinvents himself as the Knight-Errat, Don Quixote. He sets out across the arid open country in search of adventures accompanied only by his faithful steed, Rocinante, and his dim-witted squire and sidekick, Sancho Panza. Don Quixote Volume 1 perfectly captures the spirit of this classic novel in graphic novel format.
This New Noise: The Extraordinary Birth and Troubled Life of the BBC
Charlotte Higgins - 2015
Based on her hugely popular essay series, this personal journey answers the questions that rage around this vulnerable, maddening and uniquely British institution. Questions such as, what does the BBC mean to us now? What are the threats to its continued existence? Is it worth fighting for? Higgins traces its origins, celebrating the early pioneering spirit and unearthing forgotten characters whose imprint can still be seen on the BBC today. She explores how it forged ideas of Britishness both at home and abroad. She shows how controversy is in its DNA and brings us right up to date through interviews with grandees and loyalists, embattled press officers and high profile dissenters, and she sheds new light on recent feuds and scandals. This is a deeply researched, lyrically written, intriguing portrait of an institution at the heart of Britain.
Pierre
José Robledo - 2009
His story opens with a boxing match which has a nasty ending for the up-and-coming boxer, despite his victory. It's not long before we discover that Rock is not only striving to make it in the boxing world, but is also something of a mathematical genius, which is how he met his best friend, TJ. For the first time in all their years of friendship, TJ introduces Rock to a girlfriend, the lovely Anne. Anne and Rock soon establish a bond of trust when Rock discovers that Anne too is living a double life, even though Anne's secret is not exactly what she leads Rock to believe. This is just the beginning of the tangled web of lies and deception that gets ever more convoluted as the series goes on...
Holy Rosary
Josemaría Escrivá - 2002
Josemaría in this pocket book of meditations on the mysteries of the Rosary, is a continuous act of faith, hope and love, of adoration and reparation. He reveals the secret of overcoming monotony and routine when praying the Rosary, and portrays each Mystery with illuminating eyes of faith helping you become absorbed in contemplation when you pray to Our Lady. This handsome book is small enough to carry with you everywhere and use whenever you have a moment to spend with Our Lady. The new Mysteries of Light are included in this edition.
Cruel Crossing: Escaping Hitler Across the Pyrenees
Edward Stourton - 2013
Bringing history alive, Ed undertakes the walk to experience some of the hardship of the wartime refugees, finding himself with fellow pilgrims each with their own personal reasons for commemorating an extraordinary and desperately moving aspect of WW2. The walk, interviews with the few remaining survivors, and previously unseen primary source material, combine into a hugely accessible, poignant dramatic and inspiring history.
The Price of Paradise
Susana López Rubio - 2017
Young Patricio flees impoverished Spain and steps into the sultry island paradise of Havana with only the clothes on his back and half-baked dreams of a better life. Blessed with good looks and natural charm, he lands a job as a runner at El Encanto—one of the most luxurious department stores in the world.Famous for its exquisite offerings from French haute couture to Arabian silks, El Encanto indulges the senses in opulent extravagance. It caters to visiting Hollywood stars, rising politicos, and prerevolutionary Cuba’s wealthiest power players, including the notorious mobster César Valdés.Falling in love with the mobster’s young wife, Gloria, is suicide. But Patricio is irresistibly drawn to the beautiful girl with sad eyes, a razor-sharp intellect, and a penchant for both Christian Dior’s clothes and Einstein’s theories. Within the walls of El Encanto, anything seems possible, even a love that promises to heal them and a desire that thrums with the mambo beat of the city itself.In a reckless love affair that spans half a century, Patricio’s and Gloria’s lives entwine time and again, challenged by every twist of fate—for in a world of murder, betrayal, and revolution, those who dare to reach for paradise seldom survive unscathed.
The Blue Period
Luke Jerod Kummer - 2019
The two artists’ passion for Germaine will lead to a devastating turn. Amid soul-searching and despair, however, Picasso discovers a color palette in which to render his demons and paint himself into lasting history.Bringing the exuberance of the era vividly to life, this richly imagined portrait of Picasso’s coming of age intertwines the love, death, lust, and friendships that inspired the immortal works of a defiant master.
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
Ed Graczyk - 1982
Now middle-aged women, they were teenagers when Dean filmed Giant two decades ago in nearby Marfa. One of them, an extra in the film, has a child whom she says was conceived with Dean during the shoot. The ladies' congenial reminiscences mingle with flash backs to their youth; then the arrival of a stunning but familiar stranger se
The Man with No Borders
Richard C. Morais - 2019
Nearing the end of a long and tumultuous life, he’s overcome by hallucinatory memories of the past. Among his most cherished memories are those of his boyhood in 1950s Franco-era Spain and the bucolic afternoons he spent salmon fishing on the Sella River with his father, uncle, and much-loved younger brother. But these fond reveries are soon eclipsed by something greater. José’s regrets and dark family secrets are flooding back, as is the devastating tragedy that drove José into exile and makes him bear the burden of a soul-deep guilt.Now, as his three estranged sons return to their father’s side, José hopes to outpace death long enough to finally put his house in order and exorcise its demons. Only in his quest for redemption can José begin to understand the meaning of his life—and what his legacy has meant to others.
Thirty-One Bones
Morgan Cry - 2020
But Daniella has been estranged from her mother for over twenty years, and Effie’s life in Spain harbours many secrets . Daniella is soon confronted by a hostile group of ex-pat misfits who frequent the bar and who, along with Effie, are involved in a multi-million-pound property scam. But the money has vanished, and the ex-pats are threatening to implicate Daniella to save themselves.Meanwhile, a Spanish detective is investigating Effie’s death. He’s convinced Daniella knows more than she is telling. And now a terrifying enforcer has heard about the missing cash. With no idea where the money is and threats coming from all sides, Daniella is up against a seemingly impossible deadline to find the cash. She’s a stranger in a strange town – and she’s seriously out of her depth.