Monday, February 4, 2013

Monday in my mailbox

What fun things did you get in the mail?
Eating Smoke: One Man's Descent Into Drug Psychosis in Hong Kong's Triad HeartlandChris Thrall left the Royal Marines to find his fortune in Hong Kong, but instead found himself homeless and addicted to crystal meth. Soon he began working for the 14K, Hong Kong's largest crime family, in the Wanchai red-light district. Dealing with the 'foreign triad' - a secretive expat clique connected to the Chinese mafia - he had to survive in the world's most unforgiving city, addicted to the world's most dangerous drug.
The Man Who Turned Both Cheeks: A NovelPICTURESQUE AND IMPOVERISHED Largo Bay is the background for this explosive novel about love and fear, the second in Gillian Royes’s mystery series featuring Shad, a Jamaican bartender-detective. With the arrival of Joseph, estranged son of Eric, the bar’s owner, hopes for the village’s future come alive but are soon to be threatened. Janna, who has returned to the island, falls for Joseph’s good looks and charm, but she isn’t the only one with an eye for this mysterious man. As questions about Joseph’s sexuality arise, Shad struggles with protecting the survival of his beloved birthplace amid the deeply ingrained culture of intolerance that surrounds him. What it means to be a man and a father raises questions within the bartender’s own home, as his longtime love, Beth, pressures him to make a commitment.

In a land where religion is strong, but life is cheap and violence is often the answer, what will it take for Shad to protect Eric and his family? In this truth-telling sequel to The Goat Woman of Largo Bay, the village must confront its own darkness or lose a bright future.
All Standing: The True Story of Hunger, Rebellion, and SurvivalThe dramatic true tale of a boy born at sea during the Irish Potato famine and the “coffin ship” that saved him and thousands of others from one of the world’s greatest humanitarian crises.The nineteenth century Irish Potato Famine claimed the lives of more than 1,000,000 people. Many of these were Irish citizens who died on board ships carrying them away from Ireland. Promised jobs and a better life in North America, they emigrated, crowding onto aptly named “coffin ships,” whose gruesome conditions rivaled those of slave transports. But on one ship, decency prevailed, and each of the thousands of passengers who went aboard survived. Among these thousands was a baby boy born on the ship’s maiden voyage. That boy, Nicholas—Nicholas Richard James Thomas William John Gabriel Carls Michael John Alexander Trabaret Archibald Cornelius Hugh Arthur Edward Johnston Reilly, so named for the captain, doctor, and crew of the Jeanie Johnston—would go on to make his own remarkable voyage into the heart of America.

     All Standing chronicles the life of Nicholas, his fellow passengers, and the heroic crew members who conveyed them to safety. Using personal interviews, newspaper accounts, rare archival documents, and her own sailing experience, Miles takes readers back to another time and place that, for all its extremity, seems strangely familiar—a dire moment in history shaped by home foreclosures and company bailouts, seemingly untreatable pandemics, and the threat of immigrant labor. Against the backdrop of one of history’s greatest atrocities, Miles weaves a thrilling, intimate narrative, chronicling the sea-passage and birth of one Irish-American family.
Dancing to the Flute: A NovelMasterfully evoking the breathtaking beauty of India, Manisha Jolie Amin’s lyrical debut novel follows a young boy whose life takes an unexpected turn when he is sent to live with a reclusive but renowned musician.Abandoned as a young child, Kalu, a cheeky street-kid, has against all odds carved out a life for himself in rural India. In the quiet village of Hastinapore, Kalu has also found friends: Bal, the solitary boy who tends to the local buffalos, and Malti, a gentle servant girl, who, with her mistress, Ganga Ba, has watched out for Kalu from the first day he wandered into the small town.



One day, perched high in the branches of a banyan tree, Kalu chooses a leaf, rolls it tightly and, as he’s done for as long as he can remember, blows through it. His pure, simple notes dance through the air and attract a traveling healer whose interest will change Kalu’s life forever, setting him on a path he would never have dreamt possible, testing his belief in himself and his sense of identity.



Richly textured and atmospheric, Dancing to the Flute is a magical, heart-warming story of a community’s joys and sorrows, the transformative powers of music, the many faces of friendship, and a boy’s journey, against all odds, to become a man.
Flimsy Little Plastic MiraclesA bold, arresting new work of fiction from the acclaimed author of Everything Matters!

In this tour de force of imagination, Ron Currie asks why literal veracity means more to us than deeper truths, creating yet again a genre-bending novel that will at once dazzle, move, and provoke.

The protagonist of Ron Currie, Jr.’s new novel has a problem­—or rather, several of them. He’s a writer whose latest book was destroyed in a fire. He’s mourning the death of his father, and has been in love with the same woman since grade school, a woman whose beauty and allure is matched only by her talent for eluding him. Worst of all, he’s not even his own man, but rather an amalgam of fact and fiction from Ron Currie’s own life. When Currie the character exiles himself to a small Caribbean island to write a new book about the woman he loves, he eventually decides to fake his death, which turns out to be the best career move he’s ever made. But fame and fortune come with a price, and Currie learns that in a time of twenty-four-hour news cycles, reality TV, and celebrity Twitter feeds, the one thing the world will not forgive is having been told a deeply satisfying lie.

What kind of distinction could, or should, be drawn between Currie the author and Currie the character?  Or between the book you hold in your hands and the novel embedded in it? Whatever the answers, Currie, an inventive writer always eager to test the boundaries of storytelling in provocative ways, has essential things to impart along the way about heartbreak, reality, grief, deceit, human frailty, and blinding love.
Penguin's Hidden TalentAll of Penguin s friends are excited about the upcoming talent show, but Penguin can t seem to figure out what his talent is. He tries juggling appliances with Bear, doing magic tricks with Rabbit, and burping the alphabet with Fox, but he doesn t seem to be good at any of it. Stuck behind the scenes organizing, Penguin leaves the contest saddened, the only one who hasn t received a medal. His friends decide to throw him a party to make him feel better, but their festivities fizzle. That s when Penguin discovers he might have some special skills after all as he sets to work planning them all the best party ever. 
Author and Illustrator Alex Latimer s quirky charm lights up the pages of this humorous picture book about finding your true talent.

1 comment:

  1. I did not realize there was a second book out in the series by Gillian Royes. Will be looking out for it. The children's book does look cute!

    ReplyDelete

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