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General Recommendations
Book Club Selections: Ebooks
West Vancouver Memorial Library
Staff-created list
Enjoy this year's Book Club Selections available as ebooks.
West Vancouver Memorial Library
eBook - 2019
Girl, Woman, Other is a celebration of the diversity of Black British experience. Moving, hopeful, and inventive, this extraordinary novel is a vivid port...Show more
Girl, Woman, Other is a celebration of the diversity of Black British experience. Moving, hopeful, and inventive, this extraordinary novel is a vivid portrait of the state of contemporary Britain and the legacy of Britain's colonial history in Africa and the Caribbean. The twelve central characters of this multi-voiced novel lead vastly different lives: Amma is a newly acclaimed playwright whose work often explores her black lesbian identity; her old friend Shirley is a teacher, jaded after decades of work in London's funding-deprived schools; Carole, one of Shirley's former students, works hard to earn a degree from Oxford and becomes an investment banker; Carole's mother Bummi works as a cleaner and worries about her daughter's lack of rootedness despite her obvious achievements. From a nonbinary social media influencer to a 93-year-old woman living on a farm in Northern England, these unforgettable characters also intersect in shared aspects of their identities, from age to race to sexuality to class.
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Girl, Woman, Other is a celebration of the diversity of Black British experience. Moving, hopeful, and inventive, this extraordinary novel is a vivid port...Show more
Girl, Woman, Other is a celebration of the diversity of Black British experience. Moving, hopeful, and inventive, this extraordinary novel is a vivid portrait of the state of contemporary Britain and the legacy of Britain's colonial history in Africa and the Caribbean. The twelve central characters of this multi-voiced novel lead vastly different lives: Amma is a newly acclaimed playwright whose work often explores her black lesbian identity; her old friend Shirley is a teacher, jaded after decades of work in London's funding-deprived schools; Carole, one of Shirley's former students, works hard to earn a degree from Oxford and becomes an investment banker; Carole's mother Bummi works as a cleaner and worries about her daughter's lack of rootedness despite her obvious achievements. From a nonbinary social media influencer to a 93-year-old woman living on a farm in Northern England, these unforgettable characters also intersect in shared aspects of their identities, from age to race to sexuality to class.
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Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency
by Klein, Seth
eBook - 2020
Canada needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to prevent a catastrophic 1.5 degree increase in the earth's average temperature -- assumed by ...Show more
Canada needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to prevent a catastrophic 1.5 degree increase in the earth's average temperature -- assumed by many scientists to be a critical "danger line" for the planet and human life as we know it. It's 2020, and Canada is not on track to meet our targets. To do so, we'll need radical systemic change to how we live and work--and fast. How can we ever achieve this? Top policy analyst and author Seth Klein reveals we can do it now because we've done it before. During the Second World War, Canadian citizens and government remade the economy by retooling factories, transforming their workforce, and making the war effort a common cause for all Canadians to contribute to. Klein demonstrates how wartime thinking and community efforts can be repurposed today for Canada's own Green New Deal. He shares how we can create jobs and reduce inequality while tackling our climate obligations for a climate neutral--or even climate zero--future. From enlisting broad public support for new economic models, to job creation through investment in green infrastructure, Klein shows us a bold, practical policy plan for Canada's sustainable future. More than this: A Good War offers a remarkably hopeful message for how we can meet the defining challenge of our lives
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Canada needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to prevent a catastrophic 1.5 degree increase in the earth's average temperature -- assumed by ...Show more
Canada needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to prevent a catastrophic 1.5 degree increase in the earth's average temperature -- assumed by many scientists to be a critical "danger line" for the planet and human life as we know it. It's 2020, and Canada is not on track to meet our targets. To do so, we'll need radical systemic change to how we live and work--and fast. How can we ever achieve this? Top policy analyst and author Seth Klein reveals we can do it now because we've done it before. During the Second World War, Canadian citizens and government remade the economy by retooling factories, transforming their workforce, and making the war effort a common cause for all Canadians to contribute to. Klein demonstrates how wartime thinking and community efforts can be repurposed today for Canada's own Green New Deal. He shares how we can create jobs and reduce inequality while tackling our climate obligations for a climate neutral--or even climate zero--future. From enlisting broad public support for new economic models, to job creation through investment in green infrastructure, Klein shows us a bold, practical policy plan for Canada's sustainable future. More than this: A Good War offers a remarkably hopeful message for how we can meet the defining challenge of our lives
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A Novel
eBook - 2021
A young woman juggles pursuing her dream job in radio while helping her family compete with the new halal restaurant across the street, in this sparkling ...Show more
A young woman juggles pursuing her dream job in radio while helping her family compete with the new halal restaurant across the street, in this sparkling new rom-com by the author of Ayesha at Last. Sales are slow at Three Sisters Biryani Poutine, the only halal restaurant in the close-knit Golden Crescent neighborhood of Toronto. Hana waitresses there part time, but what she really wants is to tell stories on the radio. If she can just outshine her fellow intern at the city radio station, she may have a chance at landing a job. In the meantime, Hana pours her thoughts and dreams into a podcast, where she forms a lively relationship with one of her listeners. But soon she'll need all the support she can get: a new competing restaurant, a more upscale halal place, is about to open in the Golden Crescent, threatening her mother's restaurant. When her mysterious aunt and her teenage cousin arrive from India for a surprise visit, they draw Hana into a long-buried family secret. A hate-motivated attack on their neighborhood complicates the situation further, as does Hana's growing attraction for Aydin, the young owner of the rival restaurant-who might not be a complete stranger after all. As life on the Golden Crescent unravels, Hana must learn to use her voice, draw on the strength of her community and decide what her future should be.
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A young woman juggles pursuing her dream job in radio while helping her family compete with the new halal restaurant across the street, in this sparkling ...Show more
A young woman juggles pursuing her dream job in radio while helping her family compete with the new halal restaurant across the street, in this sparkling new rom-com by the author of Ayesha at Last. Sales are slow at Three Sisters Biryani Poutine, the only halal restaurant in the close-knit Golden Crescent neighborhood of Toronto. Hana waitresses there part time, but what she really wants is to tell stories on the radio. If she can just outshine her fellow intern at the city radio station, she may have a chance at landing a job. In the meantime, Hana pours her thoughts and dreams into a podcast, where she forms a lively relationship with one of her listeners. But soon she'll need all the support she can get: a new competing restaurant, a more upscale halal place, is about to open in the Golden Crescent, threatening her mother's restaurant. When her mysterious aunt and her teenage cousin arrive from India for a surprise visit, they draw Hana into a long-buried family secret. A hate-motivated attack on their neighborhood complicates the situation further, as does Hana's growing attraction for Aydin, the young owner of the rival restaurant-who might not be a complete stranger after all. As life on the Golden Crescent unravels, Hana must learn to use her voice, draw on the strength of her community and decide what her future should be.
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eBook - 2021
From her place in the store that sells artificial friends, Klara--an artificial friend with outstanding observational qualities--watches carefully the beh...Show more
From her place in the store that sells artificial friends, Klara--an artificial friend with outstanding observational qualities--watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara she is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans. In this luminous tale, Klara and the Sun, Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?
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From her place in the store that sells artificial friends, Klara--an artificial friend with outstanding observational qualities--watches carefully the beh...Show more
From her place in the store that sells artificial friends, Klara--an artificial friend with outstanding observational qualities--watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara she is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans. In this luminous tale, Klara and the Sun, Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?
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by Haig, Matt
eBook - 2020
Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her ...Show more
Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?
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Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her ...Show more
Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?
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A Novel
by Quinn, Kate
eBook - 2021
In this anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his iden...Show more
In this anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency--a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
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In this anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his iden...Show more
In this anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency--a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
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eBook - 2018
In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of t...Show more
In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America, she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private. A deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations.
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In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of t...Show more
In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America, she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private. A deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations.
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A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
eBook - 2019
"A hilarious, thought-provoking, and surprising new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist's world--where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she)"
"A hilarious, thought-provoking, and surprising new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist's world--where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she)"
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"A hilarious, thought-provoking, and surprising new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist's world--where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she)"
"A hilarious, thought-provoking, and surprising new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist's world--where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she)"
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eBook - 2019
At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his famil...Show more
At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. Cyril's son Danny and his older sister Maeve are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another.It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures
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At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his famil...Show more
At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. Cyril's son Danny and his older sister Maeve are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another.It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures
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eBook - 2019
They come for the trees. It is 2038. As the rest of humanity struggles through the environmental collapse known as the Great Withering, scientist Jake Gre...Show more
They come for the trees. It is 2038. As the rest of humanity struggles through the environmental collapse known as the Great Withering, scientist Jake Greenwood is working as an overqualified tour guide on Greenwood Island, a remote oasis of thousand-year-old trees. Jake had thought the island's connection to her family name just a coincidence, until someone from her past reappears with a book that might give her the family history she's long craved. From here, we gradually move backwards in time to the years before the First World War, encountering along the way the men and women who came before Jake: an injured carpenter facing the possibility of his own death, an eco-warrior trying to atone for the sins of her father's rapacious timber empire, a blind tycoon with a secret he will pay a terrible price to protect, and a Depression-era drifter who saves an abandoned infant from certain death, only to find himself the subject of a country-wide manhunt. At the very centre of the book is a tragedy that will bind the fates of two boys together, setting in motion events whose reverberations we see unfold over generations, as the novel moves forward into the future once more.
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They come for the trees. It is 2038. As the rest of humanity struggles through the environmental collapse known as the Great Withering, scientist Jake Gre...Show more
They come for the trees. It is 2038. As the rest of humanity struggles through the environmental collapse known as the Great Withering, scientist Jake Greenwood is working as an overqualified tour guide on Greenwood Island, a remote oasis of thousand-year-old trees. Jake had thought the island's connection to her family name just a coincidence, until someone from her past reappears with a book that might give her the family history she's long craved. From here, we gradually move backwards in time to the years before the First World War, encountering along the way the men and women who came before Jake: an injured carpenter facing the possibility of his own death, an eco-warrior trying to atone for the sins of her father's rapacious timber empire, a blind tycoon with a secret he will pay a terrible price to protect, and a Depression-era drifter who saves an abandoned infant from certain death, only to find himself the subject of a country-wide manhunt. At the very centre of the book is a tragedy that will bind the fates of two boys together, setting in motion events whose reverberations we see unfold over generations, as the novel moves forward into the future once more.
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eBook - 2019
Daisy Jones is a beautiful, broken girl growing up in L.A. with rich parents who barely know she exists... But when she sings in a crowded, smoky club, yo...Show more
Daisy Jones is a beautiful, broken girl growing up in L.A. with rich parents who barely know she exists... But when she sings in a crowded, smoky club, you can hear a pin drop. All she wants is to write her own songs, but the record studio has its own ideas. It's the early 1970s and free love and drugs are everywhere, and Daisy wants to experience it all. Billy Dunne and his brother have a band called The Six that won't be playing weddings for long. They are ambitious, hard-rocking, hard-partying. When they land a record deal, Billy's girlfriend follows them to the west coast and life begins. But she finds out she's pregnant on the eve of their first tour, and the pressure of fatherhood and incipient fame make Billy go a little crazy on the road. Daisy and Billy's paths cross when a manager realizes that the key to skyrocketing success is to put them together. But oil and water don't even begin to describe how they mix... And what happens next will become the stuff of legend.
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Daisy Jones is a beautiful, broken girl growing up in L.A. with rich parents who barely know she exists... But when she sings in a crowded, smoky club, yo...Show more
Daisy Jones is a beautiful, broken girl growing up in L.A. with rich parents who barely know she exists... But when she sings in a crowded, smoky club, you can hear a pin drop. All she wants is to write her own songs, but the record studio has its own ideas. It's the early 1970s and free love and drugs are everywhere, and Daisy wants to experience it all. Billy Dunne and his brother have a band called The Six that won't be playing weddings for long. They are ambitious, hard-rocking, hard-partying. When they land a record deal, Billy's girlfriend follows them to the west coast and life begins. But she finds out she's pregnant on the eve of their first tour, and the pressure of fatherhood and incipient fame make Billy go a little crazy on the road. Daisy and Billy's paths cross when a manager realizes that the key to skyrocketing success is to put them together. But oil and water don't even begin to describe how they mix... And what happens next will become the stuff of legend.
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eBook - 2019
As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther...Show more
As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is "as good as anyone"... Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South in the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called The Nickel Academy... [It] is a grotesque chamber of horrors, where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back." Stunned to find himself in such a vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold on to Dr. King's ringing assertion "Throw us in jail and we will still love you." His friend Turner thinks Elwood is worse than naive, that the world is crooked and the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. The tension between Elwood's ideals and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision with repercussions that will echo down the decades.
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As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther...Show more
As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is "as good as anyone"... Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South in the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called The Nickel Academy... [It] is a grotesque chamber of horrors, where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back." Stunned to find himself in such a vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold on to Dr. King's ringing assertion "Throw us in jail and we will still love you." His friend Turner thinks Elwood is worse than naive, that the world is crooked and the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. The tension between Elwood's ideals and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision with repercussions that will echo down the decades.
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by Owens, Delia
eBook - 2018
For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She's barefoot and wild; unfit for po...Show more
For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She's barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark. But Kya is not what they say. Abandoned at age ten, she has survived on her own in the marsh that she calls home. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life lessons from the land, learning from the false signals of fireflies the real way of this world. But while she could have lived in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world--until the unthinkable happens. In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a heartbreaking coming of age story and a surprising murder investigation
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For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She's barefoot and wild; unfit for po...Show more
For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She's barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark. But Kya is not what they say. Abandoned at age ten, she has survived on her own in the marsh that she calls home. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life lessons from the land, learning from the false signals of fireflies the real way of this world. But while she could have lived in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world--until the unthinkable happens. In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a heartbreaking coming of age story and a surprising murder investigation
Show less
eBook - 2019
A woman strikes up a conversation with the man sitting next to her on a plane after some turbulence. He returns home to tragic news that has also impacted...Show more
A woman strikes up a conversation with the man sitting next to her on a plane after some turbulence. He returns home to tragic news that has also impacted another stranger, a shaken pilot on his way to another continent who seeks comfort from a journalist he meets that night. Her life shifts subtly as well, before she heads to the airport on an assignment that will shift more lives in turn. In this wondrous, profoundly moving novel, Szalay's diverse protagonists circumnavigate the planet in twelve flights, from London to Madrid, from Dakar to Sao Paulo, to Toronto, to Delhi, to Doha, en route to see lovers or estranged siblings, aging parents, baby grandchildren, or nobody at all. Along the way, they experience the full range of human emotions from loneliness to love and, knowingly or otherwise, change each other in one brief, electrifying interaction after the next.
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A woman strikes up a conversation with the man sitting next to her on a plane after some turbulence. He returns home to tragic news that has also impacted...Show more
A woman strikes up a conversation with the man sitting next to her on a plane after some turbulence. He returns home to tragic news that has also impacted another stranger, a shaken pilot on his way to another continent who seeks comfort from a journalist he meets that night. Her life shifts subtly as well, before she heads to the airport on an assignment that will shift more lives in turn. In this wondrous, profoundly moving novel, Szalay's diverse protagonists circumnavigate the planet in twelve flights, from London to Madrid, from Dakar to Sao Paulo, to Toronto, to Delhi, to Doha, en route to see lovers or estranged siblings, aging parents, baby grandchildren, or nobody at all. Along the way, they experience the full range of human emotions from loneliness to love and, knowingly or otherwise, change each other in one brief, electrifying interaction after the next.
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The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have
eBook - 2019
By examining the unseen and unconscious environmental impacts in four areas-the Internet and technology, food, fashion, and fuel - Schlossberg helps reade...Show more
By examining the unseen and unconscious environmental impacts in four areas-the Internet and technology, food, fashion, and fuel - Schlossberg helps readers better understand why climate change is such a complicated issue, and how it connects all of us: How streaming a movie on Netflix in New York burns coal in Virginia; how eating a hamburger in California might contribute to pollution in the Gulf of Mexico; how buying an inexpensive cashmere sweater in Chicago expands the Mongolian desert; how destroying forests from North Carolina is necessary to generate electricity in England
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By examining the unseen and unconscious environmental impacts in four areas-the Internet and technology, food, fashion, and fuel - Schlossberg helps reade...Show more
By examining the unseen and unconscious environmental impacts in four areas-the Internet and technology, food, fashion, and fuel - Schlossberg helps readers better understand why climate change is such a complicated issue, and how it connects all of us: How streaming a movie on Netflix in New York burns coal in Virginia; how eating a hamburger in California might contribute to pollution in the Gulf of Mexico; how buying an inexpensive cashmere sweater in Chicago expands the Mongolian desert; how destroying forests from North Carolina is necessary to generate electricity in England
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A Letter to My Daughter
eBook - 2018
When a moment of quietly ignored bigotry prompted his three-year-old daughter to ask "what happened?" David Chariandy began wondering how to dis...Show more
When a moment of quietly ignored bigotry prompted his three-year-old daughter to ask "what happened?" David Chariandy began wondering how to discuss with his children the politics of race. A decade later, in a newly heated era of both struggle and divisions, he writes a letter to his now thirteen-year-old daughter. David is the son of Black and South Asian migrants from Trinidad, and he draws upon his personal and ancestral past, including the legacies of slavery, indenture, and immigration, as well as the experiences of growing up a visible minority within the land of one's birth. In sharing with his daughter his own story, he hopes to help cultivate within her a sense of identity and responsibility that balances the painful truths of the past and present with hopeful possibilities for the future.
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When a moment of quietly ignored bigotry prompted his three-year-old daughter to ask "what happened?" David Chariandy began wondering how to dis...Show more
When a moment of quietly ignored bigotry prompted his three-year-old daughter to ask "what happened?" David Chariandy began wondering how to discuss with his children the politics of race. A decade later, in a newly heated era of both struggle and divisions, he writes a letter to his now thirteen-year-old daughter. David is the son of Black and South Asian migrants from Trinidad, and he draws upon his personal and ancestral past, including the legacies of slavery, indenture, and immigration, as well as the experiences of growing up a visible minority within the land of one's birth. In sharing with his daughter his own story, he hopes to help cultivate within her a sense of identity and responsibility that balances the painful truths of the past and present with hopeful possibilities for the future.
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The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
by Moore, Kate
eBook - 2017
In 1917, as a war raged across the world, young American women flocked to work, painting watches, clocks, and military dials with a special luminous subst...Show more
In 1917, as a war raged across the world, young American women flocked to work, painting watches, clocks, and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous. The girls themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in the dust from the paint. As the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. The very thing that had made them feel alive, their work, was in fact slowly killing them: they had been poisoned by the radium paint. Yet their employers denied all responsibility. And so, in the face of unimaginable suffering, in the face of death, these courageous women refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead became determined to fight for justice
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In 1917, as a war raged across the world, young American women flocked to work, painting watches, clocks, and military dials with a special luminous subst...Show more
In 1917, as a war raged across the world, young American women flocked to work, painting watches, clocks, and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous. The girls themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in the dust from the paint. As the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. The very thing that had made them feel alive, their work, was in fact slowly killing them: they had been poisoned by the radium paint. Yet their employers denied all responsibility. And so, in the face of unimaginable suffering, in the face of death, these courageous women refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead became determined to fight for justice
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eBook - 2018
Circe tells the story of the famous – or infamous – witch Circe from Homer’s Odyssey, from her own perspective. Circe is not powerful like her father Heli...Show more
Circe tells the story of the famous – or infamous – witch Circe from Homer’s Odyssey, from her own perspective. Circe is not powerful like her father Helios, nor viciously alluring like her mother Perse. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she possesses the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft and crosses paths with many figures in mythology. When Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both humans and gods, she ultimately finds herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians.
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Circe tells the story of the famous – or infamous – witch Circe from Homer’s Odyssey, from her own perspective. Circe is not powerful like her father Heli...Show more
Circe tells the story of the famous – or infamous – witch Circe from Homer’s Odyssey, from her own perspective. Circe is not powerful like her father Helios, nor viciously alluring like her mother Perse. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she possesses the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft and crosses paths with many figures in mythology. When Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both humans and gods, she ultimately finds herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians.
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A Novel
by Gabel, Aja
eBook - 2018
Aja Gabel's debut novel centres on the talented members of the Van Ness String Quartet: Jana, Henry, Daniel and Brit. Over two decades, they are bound tog...Show more
Aja Gabel's debut novel centres on the talented members of the Van Ness String Quartet: Jana, Henry, Daniel and Brit. Over two decades, they are bound together by their shared love of making music, despite professional temptations, dueling rivalries, injuries and bad judgment. Along the way, they also become husbands, wives and parents. Jana, Henry, Daniel and Brit are individually memorable, but as a quartet they are unforgettable.
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Aja Gabel's debut novel centres on the talented members of the Van Ness String Quartet: Jana, Henry, Daniel and Brit. Over two decades, they are bound tog...Show more
Aja Gabel's debut novel centres on the talented members of the Van Ness String Quartet: Jana, Henry, Daniel and Brit. Over two decades, they are bound together by their shared love of making music, despite professional temptations, dueling rivalries, injuries and bad judgment. Along the way, they also become husbands, wives and parents. Jana, Henry, Daniel and Brit are individually memorable, but as a quartet they are unforgettable.
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A Reese's Book Club Pick
eBook - 2017
Nikki is a law school drop-out living in West London. She's distanced herself from her traditional Sikh family, preferring a western lifestyle. When her f...Show more
Nikki is a law school drop-out living in West London. She's distanced herself from her traditional Sikh family, preferring a western lifestyle. When her father's death leaves the family in financial jeopardy, Nikki takes a second job teaching a creative writing course at a Punjabi community centre. Because of a miscommunication, the Sikh widows who show up are expecting to learn English literacy, not the art of story writing. When one student shares a book of sexy stories with the class, Nikki realizes that her students have a wealth of fantasies and memories beneath their white dupattas. Nikki teaches her students how to express their untold stories and unleash their creativity. When the widows' gossip offers shocking insights into the recent death of a young wife and some of the class erotica is shared among friends, it sparks a scandal that threatens them all.
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Nikki is a law school drop-out living in West London. She's distanced herself from her traditional Sikh family, preferring a western lifestyle. When her f...Show more
Nikki is a law school drop-out living in West London. She's distanced herself from her traditional Sikh family, preferring a western lifestyle. When her father's death leaves the family in financial jeopardy, Nikki takes a second job teaching a creative writing course at a Punjabi community centre. Because of a miscommunication, the Sikh widows who show up are expecting to learn English literacy, not the art of story writing. When one student shares a book of sexy stories with the class, Nikki realizes that her students have a wealth of fantasies and memories beneath their white dupattas. Nikki teaches her students how to express their untold stories and unleash their creativity. When the widows' gossip offers shocking insights into the recent death of a young wife and some of the class erotica is shared among friends, it sparks a scandal that threatens them all.
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eBook - 2018
There There focuses on 12 Native Americans who have various personal reasons to attend the Big Oakland Powwow, where Indigenous culture and traditions, in...Show more
There There focuses on 12 Native Americans who have various personal reasons to attend the Big Oakland Powwow, where Indigenous culture and traditions, including drumming and dancing, are celebrated. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death and has come to work at the powwow to honour his uncle’s memory. Through Jacqui and Dene and the other 10 characters, Orange grapples with a complex and painful history
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There There focuses on 12 Native Americans who have various personal reasons to attend the Big Oakland Powwow, where Indigenous culture and traditions, in...Show more
There There focuses on 12 Native Americans who have various personal reasons to attend the Big Oakland Powwow, where Indigenous culture and traditions, including drumming and dancing, are celebrated. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death and has come to work at the powwow to honour his uncle’s memory. Through Jacqui and Dene and the other 10 characters, Orange grapples with a complex and painful history
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A Novel
by Edugyan, Esi
eBook - 2018
Washington Black, or “Wash”, an 11-year-old field slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados, is selected to be the personal assistant to Christopher “Titch”...Show more
Washington Black, or “Wash”, an 11-year-old field slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados, is selected to be the personal assistant to Christopher “Titch” Wilde. Titch is an explorer, inventor, naturalist and abolitionist. He teaches Wash to read, and encourages his powers of observation and talent for illustration. A death on the plantation forces Titch and Wash to flee, thus beginning Wash’s journey from slave to free man. An epic story stretching from the Caribbean to the Arctic to England and to Africa that deftly explores what it means to be human, and asks the question “what is freedom?
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Washington Black, or “Wash”, an 11-year-old field slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados, is selected to be the personal assistant to Christopher “Titch”...Show more
Washington Black, or “Wash”, an 11-year-old field slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados, is selected to be the personal assistant to Christopher “Titch” Wilde. Titch is an explorer, inventor, naturalist and abolitionist. He teaches Wash to read, and encourages his powers of observation and talent for illustration. A death on the plantation forces Titch and Wash to flee, thus beginning Wash’s journey from slave to free man. An epic story stretching from the Caribbean to the Arctic to England and to Africa that deftly explores what it means to be human, and asks the question “what is freedom?
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The Legion Cafe and Other Stories From Canada's Chinese Restaurants
by Hui, Ann
eBook - 2019
Ann Hui drives across Canada to explore the small town Chinese restaurants that exist across the nation. In the process, she also documents her own family...Show more
Ann Hui drives across Canada to explore the small town Chinese restaurants that exist across the nation. In the process, she also documents her own family’s journey from their native China to Vancouver, where they too opened a Chinese restaurant. Along the way, she samples “Canadian-Chinese” food such as “Newfoundland Chow Mein” and “Chinese Pierogis.
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Ann Hui drives across Canada to explore the small town Chinese restaurants that exist across the nation. In the process, she also documents her own family...Show more
Ann Hui drives across Canada to explore the small town Chinese restaurants that exist across the nation. In the process, she also documents her own family’s journey from their native China to Vancouver, where they too opened a Chinese restaurant. Along the way, she samples “Canadian-Chinese” food such as “Newfoundland Chow Mein” and “Chinese Pierogis.
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The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
by Grann, David
eBook - 2016
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Os...Show more
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, they began to be killed off. This string of unsolved murders spurred the creation of the FBI who were brought in to investigate the cases, in a tale of sinister secrets.
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In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Os...Show more
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, they began to be killed off. This string of unsolved murders spurred the creation of the FBI who were brought in to investigate the cases, in a tale of sinister secrets.
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Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in A Northern City
eBook - 2017
Journalist Tanya Talaga examines the history of Thunder Bay, where seven Indigenous high school students died between 2000 and 2011. This small northern town has come to manifest Canada’s struggle with the human rights of Indigenous communities.
Journalist Tanya Talaga examines the history of Thunder Bay, where seven Indigenous high school students died between 2000 and 2011. This small northern town has come to manifest Canada’s struggle with the human rights of Indigenous communities.
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Journalist Tanya Talaga examines the history of Thunder Bay, where seven Indigenous high school students died between 2000 and 2011. This small northern town has come to manifest Canada’s struggle with the human rights of Indigenous communities.
Journalist Tanya Talaga examines the history of Thunder Bay, where seven Indigenous high school students died between 2000 and 2011. This small northern town has come to manifest Canada’s struggle with the human rights of Indigenous communities.
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