![]() ![]() Told in a haunting dialogue between past and present, Marlena is the captivating story of an intoxicating, indelible friendship that does not flinch from the resonant effects of its loss. Now, decades later, Cat must try again to move on, even as the memory of Marlena calls her back. Within a year, Marlena is dead, drowned in six inches of icy water in the woods nearby. ![]() Cat is quickly drawn into Marlena's orbit and as she catalogues a litany of firsts-first drink, first cigarette, first kiss, first pill-Marlena's habits harden and calcify. Named an Indie Next Pick and a Barnes and Noble Discover Pick Everything about fifteen-year-old Cat's new town in rural Michigan is lonely and off-kilter until she meets her neighbor, the manic, beautiful, pill-popping Marlena. ![]() Named a Best Book of the Year by Vogue, BuzzFeed, The Washington Post, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, NPR, NYLON, Huffington Post, Kirkus Reviews, Barnes & NobleĬhosen for the Book of the Month Club, Nylon Book Club, and Belletrist Book Club Marlena is a riveting, intelligent and brilliant novel from debut author Julie Buntin. Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize A National Book Critics Circle Leonard Prize Finalist Now, decades later, when a ghost from that pivotal year surfaces unexpectedly, Cat must try to forgive herself and move on, even as the memory of Marlena keeps her tangled in the past. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Arkad shared all the lessons learned over the years and asked those in the lecture hall to pass those lessons on to others. The king of Babylon once ordered the establishment of a lecture hall that could hold 100 people, so that the richest man in Babylon, Arkad, could teach people the secrets of getting rich. The success was the result of the hard work based on the wisdom of the Babylonians through generations.Īs Babylonians, their priority was to learn how to become wealthy. Many wealthy Babylonians were not born rich, and Babylon's success was not a gift from heaven. There was nothing of value, and it was not along any of the main trade route. The natural environment was extremely harsh. On the contrary, Babylon was situated in a barren, arid valley near the Euphrates. You may think the wealth was due to its natural advantages, just as the wealth of the United Arab Emirates is related to its oil abundance today. It had gold and jewels in abundance, and rich people could be found everywhere. In the annals of history, Babylon was no doubt a shining star. The book we are unlocking today is The Richest Man in Babylon. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() One: gardens are spaces of rejuvenation and regeneration, and peace. There are two reasons I think that gardens are important for people who have a vested interest in the way we treat other people and this planet. So the definition of what a “political person” is, is very big. Tess Taylor: In this book, one of the first things that you say that just knocked my socks off was “whether in a plot in a yard or pots in a window, every politically engaged person should have a garden.” Can you say more about what you mean by that?Ĭamilly Dungy: What I mean by “politically engaged person” is any person with a vested interest in the way that we treat others and this planet. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. ![]() We talked together about the implications of gardening as a political and social act. In “Soil,” Dungy recounts taking a grass and rockscape lawn in a suburban neighborhood and transforming it into an ecosystem for birds, bugs, rabbits and native plants. Dungy, whose honors include an Academy of American Poets Fellowship and a Guggenheim, is the author of four books of poetry and another book of essays. This spring I was also companioned by “ Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden” - Camille Dungy’s provocative, thoughtful and lush book about native plants, diversity and the roots we put down to make a home. ![]() ![]() ![]() And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate. ![]() Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. ![]() When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Fate is never far from the heels of Achilles. As they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel and deathly pale sea goddess with a hatred of mortals. ![]() Yet one day, Achilles takes the shamed prince under his wing and soon their tentative companionship gives way to a steadfast friendship. Achilles, 'best of all the Greeks', is everything Patroclus is not - strong, beautiful, the child of a goddess - and by all rights their paths should never cross. Here he is nobody, just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. ![]() ![]() ![]() In Workshop Theatre’s production, Arnold is played lovingly and endearingly by Julian Deleon. Look how far we’ve come…(hold that thought) He addresses issues such as gay marriage and adoption, which were unheard of 40 years ago. In this environment Harvey Fierstein spins the (largely autobiographical) story of one Arnold Beckoff. I digress.) We’re just over a decade past Stonewall. AIDS has just started to ravage the gay community, aided and abetted by the nonchalance of the straight community. ![]() (IYKYK) It’s the late 70’s and early 80’s. This, kiddoes, had never been done before. ![]() In his acceptance speech, Producer John Glines openly acknowledged his lover and the show’s co-producer, Lawrence Lane. Harvey Fierstein’s groundbreaking piece took home the Tony for Best Play in 1983. The three were combined into T orch Song Trilogy which made its Broadway debut in 1982. It was followed by Fugue in a Nursery the next year and finished with Widows and Children First. Torch Song began its evolution as three one-act plays, the first of which, International Stud, opened off-off-Broadway way back in 1978. ![]() ![]() ![]() He said a lot of people in the west also think that people in Africa live in grass huts. The King Fahad Mosque, the largest in the Gambia (Photograph supplied) ![]() Islam in the region dates back to the 11th century. A lot of the big mosques were built with gifts of Arab money.” King Fahad was a Saudi Arabian leader and he supplied most of the money to build it. “The biggest mosque is on the outskirts of the capital of Banjul and is called the King Fahad Mosque. Gambia, for example, is 94 per cent Islamic. When he arrived, he was surprised by the prevalence of Islam. ![]() I thought I don’t think I need to be here.”īefore travelling to the African continent, he had a lot of misconceptions about religion there. The only place I had to back off of was an area of Cayenne, the capital city of French Guiana. “Most times I come back, walk around and I am perfectly all right. “I assess if I should come back in the evening,” he said. He also tests the waters a little, sometimes going to a potentially tricky area mid morning. And he always talks to the locals about what areas are safe for visitors. Mr Lister skips countries that are at war or are known to be very dangerous. “I do get a bit annoyed when reviewers pick up on minor corruption and write it up as if the whole place is corrupt.” “I wanted to give a fair and balanced view,” he said. He decided to focus on Africa because he saw an information gap when it came to travel there. ![]() Terry Lister at a waterfall near Labe, Guinea Conakry (Photograph supplied) ![]() ![]() ![]() Driven by anger at Jack and her own nameless fears, Rapunzel descends to the ground for the first time, and finds a world filled with more peril than Witch promised.and more beauty, wonder, and adventure than she could have dreamed. He's the first person Rapunzel's ever met who isn't completely charmed by her (well, the first person she's met at all, really), and he is infuriating-especially when he hints that Witch isn't telling her the whole truth. Then a thief named Jack climbs into her room to steal one of her enchanted roses. And she knows this because Witch tells her so-her beloved Witch, who protects her from evil princes, the dangerous ground under the tower, even unhappy thoughts. She lives in a magic tower that obeys her every wish she reads wonderful books starring herself as the heroine her hair is the longest, most glorious thing in the world. In all of Tyme, from the Redlands to the Grey, no one is as lucky as Rapunzel. She hasn’t outwitted a Stalking beast, or made a friend, or adopted a very opinionated frog. ![]() Rapunzel has never visited a fairy court, or won a jacks tournament, or slept under the stars. ![]() The fairy-tale charm and emotional depth of Ella Enchanted meets the fully developed fantasy world of Harry Potter in this wonderful older middle-grade retelling of Rapunzel. Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel is written by Megan Morrison. ![]() ![]() ![]() In addition, this collection was so popular that two of the short stories, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and The Princess of Nebraska, were made into films.Īll of the short stories in A Thousand Years of Good Prayers are set in China and the United States, and the protagonists are all Chinese Americans. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers won the 2005 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award as well as the 2006 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, the Guardian First Book Award, and the California Book Award. This work is Li’s first, and it was well received in the literary community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.Ī Thousand Years of Good Prayers is a short story collection by Yiyun Li. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. ![]() ![]() The boy on the left is then most definitely Derek Anderson, Ralph’s late son. But upon further inspection, the boy on the right is clearly Ollie Peterson, Frankie Peterson’s older brother who was killed by Ralph after he murdered Terry Maitland. Upon first viewing, I chalked up these ghoulish apparitions in the cave to be victims of the cave collapse all those years ago. The appearance of two ghosts in the cave and Jack Hoskins’ re-appearance in the mid-credits scene are somewhat quantifiable. It’s no surprise then that both characters are at the center of last night’s most glaring WTF moments. Ralph Anderson (the perpetually great Ben Mendelsohn) is slower to loosen his grip on a logical universe. ![]() How do we continue onward when our innate system of beliefs, the basic understanding that governs our very being, is shattered beyond repair? Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo in a carefully calculated performance) is a believer in the otherworldly, as anyone who has read King’s Bill Hodges trilogy knows all too well. Our heroes have been studiously tracking a supernatural evil, but not before wrestling with the implications of its very existence. SEE ALSO: Exclusive: George Clooney Set to Direct ‘The Boys in the Boat’ ![]() Not only in regards to what has transpired over these 10 tense, introspective, but occasionally glacially paced episodes, but of what may come creeping out of its aftermath. “Must/Can’t,” the often engrossing though undeniably uneven finale to HBO’s Stephen King-inspired limited series The Outsider, leaves both its characters and its viewers in doubt. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() While I’ve heard his type is a Roberts staple, I still felt there was something unique and likable about him, although this may be my inexperience with her work coming into play here. I love that he’s more on the geeky side, and a bit awkward. The book club friend who not only recommended this to me several times, but gifted me a copy among other Nora titles, noted that he’s exactly the type of hero I’d like, and she wasn’t wrong. I mostly picked this one up because of what I heard about the hero, Carter. Whether it is her best book ever is debatable, given how I haven’t read much from her due to a few negative experiences, but she is at the top of her game here, creating a story that not only has engaging leads with a compelling romance, but also the friendships that she also does incredibly well. Vision in White is arguably one of the best books I’ve read by Nora Roberts so far. ![]() |