This novel follows the path of a young woman, Amina, as she makes her way through a city, a life, and a sense of self that have been ravaged by an earthquake. Inspired by an earthquake in northern Algeria in 2003, the author interweaves descriptions of the earthquake with descriptions of Amina's family, culture, and country and her place within them. She leaves the reader to wonder whether Amina is fleeing the earthquake or something more complex.
Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all???popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend. Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her???even if the old Sam treated him like trash. But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory???someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?
Moving to America turns H&à's life inside out. For all the 10 years of her life, H&à has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. H&à and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, H&à discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape, and the strength of her very own family. This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.
A New York Times Bestseller An audacious, irreverent investigation of human behavior—and a first look at a revolution in the making Our personal data has been used to spy on us, hire and fire us, and sell us stuff we don’t need. In Dataclysm, Christian Rudder uses it to show us who we truly are. For centuries, we’ve relied on polling or small-scale lab experiments to study human behavior. Today, a new approach is possible. As we live more of our lives online, researchers can finally observe us directly, in vast numbers, and without filters. Data scientists have become the new demographers. In this daring and original book, Rudder explains how Facebook "likes" can predict, with surprising accuracy, a person’s sexual orientation and even intelligence; how attractive women receive exponentially more interview requests; and why you must have haters to be hot. He charts the rise and fall of America’s most reviled word through Google Search and examines the new dynamics of collaborative rage on Twitter. He shows how people express themselves, both privately and publicly. What is the least Asian thing you can say? Do people bathe more in Vermont or New Jersey? What do black women think about Simon & Garfunkel? (Hint: they don’t think about Simon & Garfunkel.) Rudder also traces human migration over time, showing how groups of people move from certain small towns to the same big cities across the globe. And he grapples with the challenge of maintaining privacy in a world where these explorations are possible. Visually arresting and full of wit and insight, Dataclysm is a new way of seeing ourselves—a brilliant alchemy, in which math is made human and numbers become the narrative of our time.
Acclaimed both in Pakistan and in Britain, Aamer Husseinýs first collection of stories, Mirror to the Sun, was chosen by Shena Mackay as one of her Books of the Year 1993. In his long awaited second collectionýwhich includes the experimental sequence ýSkiesýýhe continues and deepens his oblique, subversive portrayal of the preoccupations of our time: betrayal, bereaving, exile, belonging and the writerýs role. In ýThe Blue Directioný a teenaged boyýs life uncannily begins to resemble the role he plays in a school operetta; in ýThe Lost Cantos of the Silken Tigerý a poet revenges herself on her faithless lover by turning their romance into a biblical legend; and in ýThis Other Saltý a writer torn between two loves, looks for his lost worlds in the gap between memory, mourning and desire. Combining satire, legend, poetry, history and memoir, the linked stories of The Blue Direction reveal an author of uncommon talent at the height of his craft.
This book presents the career and works of D.A. Pennebaker, one of the pioneers of direct cinema, a documentary form that emphasizes observation and a straightforward portrayal of events. The author examines the ways in which Pennebaker's presentation of unscripted everyday performances is informed by connections between documentary filmmaking and other experimental movements such as the New American Cinema. He also includes a recent interview with the director and a full filmography.
I died and was resurrected, and I don’t know why. My name is Casi Clarity. I was 26 years old when I died in 1969. Then I woke up in the 21st century—whole, sane, and unblemished. And at the same age I was when I died. What's more, when I came back, I brought a friend with me. His name is Coheed. He's a corporeal spirit, and he is also my protector. Against what, you ask? Well, it seems that ever since my return, I've been chased by ghosts. Demons. Ancient evil. Monsters. You name it. Why are they after me? Because they want to know my secret. They want to wreak havoc on mankind and bring about our ultimate destruction, and the only way they can accomplish that is by being fleshy beings again. To inhabit as many bodies as they can to cause untold horror. They are determined to discover how I returned from the dead, even if it means trapping me, torturing me, and ultimately killing me again to see if I'm resurrected a second time. My name is Casi. The undead call me Mouse. Coheed calls me Miracle.
Anna Leath is a young widow, an American living in France. Behind her lies an arid marriage and a life deeply influenced by the rigid code of Old New York. Ahead lies new hope: a chance encounter in London with George Darrow, her first love, has left her awakened, disturbed. Anna returns to her beautiful country chateau, Givré, to await her future. Between two short distances can anything happen to disrupt such promose ...?
