A California Hood Romance


Shvonne Latrice - 2016
    Only sticking around to please her judgmental mother, Nina finds herself to be a caged bird longing to be released; even if only for one night. Yazir Willis is a hardworking, assiduous, and very ambitious young man, who has worked hard for everything he's obtained; especially his title as the king of Los Angeles, and owner of Blue Dream Rolling Papers. Yazir possesses a trait that many people desire, and that's his unwavering faith in his abilities to get anything and anyone. When Yazir meets Nina, he becomes tireless in his efforts to win the outgoing but confined beauty over. Nina finally allows Yazir, at his request, to take her out just once, in which he promises to leave her be once it's over. However, road flares fly when the two spend that one night together, leaving both parties longing to be with the other. There is only one problem though; Nina's overbearing fiancé, and her censorious mother Samantha. Will Nina go against her mother and infuriate Seth, all for the love of the boastful, rich, and wild, Yazir? Or will she surrender to the criticisms of her mother, and the tight grip of her fiancé? And will Yazir be able to put his lothario lifestyle behind him for Nina? Or will his womanizing cause his pursuit of her to be in vain?

Concise Townscape


Gordon Cullen - 1961
    'Townscape' is the art of giving visual coherence and organization to the jumble of buildings, streets and space that make up the urban environment. It has been a major influence on architects, planners and others concerned with what cities should look like.

Malibu Hills Murder


Deborah Brown - 2018
    Yet here he is in SoCal, launching a private investigations firm with two ex-SEAL buddies, settling into a long-term relationship with L.A. county’s hottest assistant district attorney, Avalon Rossi. Figures he’d be the one to flush ZSI’s make-or-break job down the toilet. Now his rich, powerful client’s allegedly unfaithful wife is dead. And the evidence isn’t the only thing with gaping holes in it. Avalon has never seen Zach blow his cool, until the lid blows off this latest can of worms. Her gift for thinking on her feet keeps him out of trouble—for now—though lately she’s wondering if his knee-melting kisses haven’t melted all her good sense. When it turns out one of ZSI’s own is a suspect, it’ll take more than fast talking to keep him from taking the fall. And another victim from landing in the morgue.

Sprung: Turned Out By Love


Shameka Jones - 2016
    And with the great support of family, those dreams are possible to achieve. Quincy had always dreamt about playing in the NBA, but growing up in the ‘hood, dreams seemed far away. With hard work, and a good support system, he was able beat the odds and make it out. Just graduating from Georgetown, he was now entered into the draft.Being a star basketball player in college had its perks, but it also caused drama with his girlfriend Sydnee. Her drama causes him to second guess their relationship, when he sees his sister's best friend, Kayla. He had always had a crush on her but she had a man. She was actually engaged to get married, but he caught her looking at him a time or two. One gaze too many makes him believe that he has a chance with her.Now with his eyes on Kayla, he is determined to make her his. But her love for her fiancé` is making that a hard thing to accomplish. Quincy is aware of the challenge ahead of him, and he is willing to take his time. Will he be able to convince her to leave her fiancé` to be with him, or will she lead him on? How long is he really willing to wait on her? Will her indecisiveness cause him to lose interest, and push him into the arms of another women? The answers to those questions and more will be revealed in this series.

She Took My Heart and Went Crazy


A'zayler - 2018
    In its place, he could add paid, successful, well-dressed…maybe even a good man, but definitely nothing that would accentuate his good looks. That was the one thing he just didn’t have. Well, not personally anyway. Thanks to his thriving career as a fitness trainer, he’s surrounded by women every day. They just don’t belong to him, and honestly, he’s okay with that. After continuously being turned down, looked over, and frowned upon, Killian has chosen to block off the avenue to his heart until the right woman can find him. He is done looking for love, so if a female wants to pursue anything serious, they would have to approach him first. Had he known the beautiful young, vibrant, East, would be that person, he would have run for the hills. Just as crazy, just as mean, and just as guarded as Killian, East quickly becomes the challenge he’s been avoiding. However, unlike Killian, East is ready for love. One bad relationship after the next, her heart should be too damaged to mend, but not for Killian. A self-made broken-hearted guru, Killian is the man for the job. A small skill he’s acquired after stitching the pieces of his own heart back together too many times before. Though East is ready for happiness and open to loving Killian, she’s no easy target. With a horrible attitude and a terribly rude mouth, Killian isn’t the easiest person to get along with, unless you’re a self-assured spitfire named East. Take a chance and fall in love with another one of A’zayler’s page turning romances. Killian and East are a love story for the ages.

Her Heart, His Karma: A Thug's True Love


Vaneecia - 2016
    Or so she thought. She has her own money, her own crib, and she has overcome things that most people couldn’t. Even with all of that she can’t seem to get her boyfriend, Derek, to act right. Her final straw is him cheating on her for the umpteenth time and she’s done and lets him out of her life. It’s time for a change and her and her best friend, Ryanne, are going to make it happen. Cato is THAT nigga. The nigga that every woman wants and every nigga envies. He is used to getting what he wants and he doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon. Not even after serving time in jail. He comes into contact with Karma once and just has to have her. The only thing is...she’s not like most women. She challenges him to make her feel special and be his one and only. The two are being tugged at by their crazy exes and the people in their friends' lives. Will the two wind up together? Or will their past keep them from happiness?

A Dopegirl Needs Love Too: A Hood Love Story


Shan - 2017
    Mulani's uncle taught everyone under his roof to get it how you live and by any means necessary. Mulani and her cousins took that to heart pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into the streets. Along with her cousins, and best friend Asim Patrick, the game wasn't ready for what they had to offer. Especially not the beautiful, tomboyish, and deadly Mulani. A force to be reckoned with while carrying a no nonsense type attitude, ran off every man that even tried to get close to Mulani, but it didn't matter, because all she ever wanted was Asim. Asim is everything a boss should be. His street status is undeniable and at the young age of 21, he's well on his way to having everything a man his age could ever want. The Respect, the riches...but there was only one thing missing...Mulani. When tragedy brings them together, giving Mulani what she's always wanted, she feels like the streets now has their king and queen and Asim couldn't help but feel the same. But one mistake is all it took for Asim to walk away from Mulani and into the arms of another woman and even down the path of matrimony. After the hurt that Asim has caused, Mulani goes harder than ever unwilling to love again. When a problem arises, Mulani's motivation and undeniable dedication to get it handled is what leads her to meet the sexy Maddox aka Dox from the Bronx. Dox is a boss in his own right and wants to give Mulani all the love that she deserves. The time and attention Dox puts in is enough to break down Mulani's walls. She's ready to give in and ready to move on finally, but someone isn’t going to allow that to happen…Asim. There can only be one king in the streets and in Mulani’s heart, but who will it be? The fight to the crown will be nothing nice. Who will be the one Mulani choose to show her that love A Dopegirl Needs Love Too.

No Better Love 2: Hennessey and Santana


Diamond D. Johnson - 2017
    Hennessy now knows about his child that’s been here for four years now. How does a man who just spent five years in prison take news like that? How can his baby mother be the same woman that sent him away to prison in the first place? Hazel is now a part of Hennessy’s life and he doesn’t know the first thing to do with a child. What about Santana? It’s not a good feeling to see the love of your life have an offspring with a woman that you’ve despised for years. Hennessy and Santana have that kind of love that everybody craves for because their level of history makes their union so special. We thought that the perfect relationship was when you started off as friends but that might not always be true because it’s looking like Santana and Hennessy just can’t seem to get it right.

How to Live in the City


Hugo Macdonald - 2016
    How to Live in the City is a book for navigating and nurturing this important relationship.Hugo Macdonald believes you need to feel a city to understand it. He won't tell you how wide the perfect pavement should be but he will show you how to walk down a pavement with eyes wide open. This is a book to help you feel human in an inhuman environment.

The One I Gave My Heart To


Mercedes G. - 2015
    Mia, is a 23-year-old independent phlebotomy tech who is living her life worry and drama free. It isn’t much. but she isn’t complaining and it’s enough to take care of herself and maintain the lifestyle that she is accustomed to. After being persuaded by her friends, Kelsi & Terri to go out on a Thursday night, she ends up at the same nightclub as the streets supplier, the main attraction, a guy she’s been lusting over since she was a teenager; Dola The Don. She’s much older now and she’s taken aback when he finally approaches her after all these years and gives her a dose of the glamorous but street lifestyle that he lives. The questions follows, will it be too much for her to handle or will she be able to secure her heart in the process? The only difference between Dola and the average man is the fact that he’s fine, black, ruthless, and rich. He ends up falling for Mia, but will he fall hard enough to let the streets go, and focus on what they are trying to build by keeping her loved, happy, and secured?

Collage City


Colin Rowe - 1978
    The authors, rejecting the grand utopian visions of total planning and total design, propose instead a collage city which can accommodate a whole range of utopias in miniature.

Urban Code: 100 Lessons for Understanding the City


Anne Mikoleit - 2011
    Considering the urban landscape not from the abstract perspective of an urban planner but from the viewpoint of an attentive observer, Urban Code offers 100 "lessons"--maxims, observations, and bite-size truths, followed by short essays--that teach us how to read the city. This is a user's guide to the city, a primer of urban literacy, at the pedestrian level. The reader (like the observant city stroller) can move from "People walk in the sunshine" (lesson 1) to "Street vendors are positioned according to the path of the sun" (lesson 2); consider possible connections between the fact that "Locals and tourists use the streets at different times" (lesson 41) and "Tourists stand still when they're looking at something" (lesson 68); and weigh the apparent contradiction of lesson 73, "Nightlife hotspots increase pedestrian traffic" and lesson 74, "People are afraid of the dark."A lesson may seem self-evident ("Grocery stores are important local destinations"--of course they are!) but considered in the context of other lessons, it becomes part of a natural logic. With Urban Code, we learn what to notice if we want to understand the city. We learn to detect patterns in the relationships between people and the urban environment. Each lesson is accompanied by an icon-like image; in addition to these 100 drawings, thirty photographs of street scenes illustrate the text. The photographs are stills from films shot in the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo; the lessons are inspired by the authors' observations of SoHo, but hold true for any cityscape.

Tell Yo Bitch 2


Niyah Moore - 2013
    Mai’s betrayal lands her in a life threatening situation at the hands of Cipher, whom seems to think Rocko is responsible for his cousin’s death. While Heather and Troi are forced to work out their differences for their own safety, Brandon isn’t really who he says he is. Heather has to decide if her relationship with Brandon will be able to outlast what he’s been hiding. Rocko comes back in contact with an old fling, Dominique. Will he be able to deal with her surprise?

Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia


Anthony M. Townsend - 2013
    A century ago, the telegraph and the mechanical tabulator were used to tame cities of millions. Today, cellular networks and cloud computing tie together the complex choreography of mega-regions of tens of millions of people.In response, cities worldwide are deploying technology to address both the timeless challenges of government and the mounting problems posed by human settlements of previously unimaginable size and complexity. In Chicago, GPS sensors on snow plows feed a real-time "plow tracker" map that everyone can access. In Zaragoza, Spain, a "citizen card" can get you on the free city-wide Wi-Fi network, unlock a bike share, check a book out of the library, and pay for your bus ride home. In New York, a guerrilla group of citizen-scientists installed sensors in local sewers to alert you when stormwater runoff overwhelms the system, dumping waste into local waterways.As technology barons, entrepreneurs, mayors, and an emerging vanguard of civic hackers are trying to shape this new frontier, Smart Cities considers the motivations, aspirations, and shortcomings of them all while offering a new civics to guide our efforts as we build the future together, one click at a time.

Places of the Heart: The Psychogeography of Everyday Life


Colin Ellard - 2010
    Here he offers an entirely new way to understand our cities—and ourselves.” —CHARLES MONTGOMERY, author of Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban DesignOur surroundings can powerfully affect our thoughts, emotions, and physical responses, whether we’re awed by the Grand Canyon or Hagia Sophia, panicked in a crowded room, soothed by a walk in the park, or tempted in casinos and shopping malls. In Places of the Heart, Colin Ellard explores how our homes, workplaces, cities, and nature—places we escape to and can’t escape from—have influenced us throughout history, and how our brains and bodies respond to different types of real and virtual space. As he describes the insight he and other scientists have gained from new technologies, he assesses the influence these technologies will have on our evolving environment and asks what kind of world we are, and should be, creating.Colin Ellard is the author of You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon, but Get Lost in the Mall. A cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Waterloo and director of its Urban Realities Laboratory, he lives in Kitchener, Ontario.