Reader's Block
Reader's Block

Author: David Markson

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13:

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"Hypnotic . . . a profoundly rewarding read." Kurt Vonnegut

Darwin's Blade
Darwin's Blade

Author: Dan Simmons

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2007-08-28

Total Pages: 656

ISBN-13: 0061841757

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A series of high-speed fatal car wrecks -- accidents that seem. as if they may have been staged -- is leading Darwin Minor down a dangerous road. A reluctantexpert on violent ways to die, he sifts clues from wreckage the way a brilliant coroner extracts damning information from a victim's corpse. But the deeper hedigs, the more enemies he seems to make, and the wider the conspiracy seems to grow. Before long, he'll find himself relying on deadly resources of his own inorder to save his life -- and those of untold others.

Otherwise Known as the Human Condition
Otherwise Known as the Human Condition

Author: Geoff Dyer

Publisher: Graywolf Press

Published: 2011-03-29

Total Pages: 513

ISBN-13: 1555970265

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*Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism* *A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice* *A New York Times Top 10 Nonfiction Book of the Year, as selected by Dwight Garner* Geoff Dyer has earned the devotion of passionate fans on both sides of the Atlantic through his wildly inventive, romantic novels as well as several brilliant, uncategorizable works of nonfiction. All the while he has been writing some of the wittiest, most incisive criticism we have on an astonishing array of subjects—music, literature, photography, and travel journalism—that, in Dyer's expert hands, becomes a kind of irresistible self-reportage. Otherwise Known as the Human Condition collects twenty-five years of essays, reviews, and misadventures. Here he is pursuing the shadow of Camus in Algeria and remembering life on the dole in Brixton in the 1980s; reflecting on Richard Avedon and Ruth Orkin, on the status of jazz and the wonderous Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, on the sculptor ZadKine and the saxophonist David Murray (in the same essay), on his heroes Rebecca West and Ryszard Kapus ́cin ́ski, on haute couture and sex in hotels. Whatever he writes about, his responses never fail to surprise. For Dyer there is no division between the reflective work of the critic and the novelist's commitment to lived experience: they are mutually illuminating ways to sharpen our perceptions. His is the rare body of work that manages to both frame our world and enlarge it.

Road Block
Road Block

Author: Yolanda Ridge

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers

Published: 2012-04

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 145980046X

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In this sequel to Trouble in the Trees, it's the end of grade six and Bree plans to spend the summer hanging around her townhouse complex in Vancouver, climbing trees with her friends. But her parents have other plans for her; she is going to Ontario to stay with her grandma who lives on a farm "in the middle of nowhere." A farm that is about to be destroyed by a superhighway unless Bree can stop it. Convinced that saving the land will end her grandma's unhappiness, Bree tries to rally cousins and neighbors, but instead of finding help, Bree uncovers some shocking things about her relatives. The more Bree gets to know about her extended family and their farm, the more complicated everything becomes. If she isn't able to save the farm, can she at least manage to save her family?

Take Back the Block
Take Back the Block

Author: Chrystal D. Giles

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Published: 2021-01-26

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0593175174

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"This book made me want to step aside, hand over the mic, and listen to Wes. A must-read." --Mariama J. Lockington, author of For Black Girls Like Me Brand-new kicks, ripped denim shorts, Supreme tee-- Wes Henderson has the best style in sixth grade. That--and hanging out with his crew (his best friends since little-kid days) and playing video games--is what he wants to be thinking about at the start of the school year, not the protests his parents are always dragging him to. But when a real estate developer makes an offer to buy Kensington Oaks, the neighborhood Wes has lived his whole life, everything changes. The grownups are supposed to have all the answers, but all they're doing is arguing. Even Wes's best friends are fighting. And some of them may be moving. Wes isn't about to give up the only home he's ever known. Wes has always been good at puzzles, and he knows there has to be a missing piece that will solve this puzzle and save the Oaks. But can he find it . . . before it's too late? Exploring community, gentrification, justice, and friendship, Take Back the Block introduces an irresistible 6th grader and asks what it means to belong--to a place and a movement--and to fight for what you believe in. * "Outstanding."—School Library Journal, Starred Review * “Transformative.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review "Filled with hope, friendship, and grit." --Stacy McAnulty, best-selling author of The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl "Timely and penetrating." --Kelly Starling Lyons, author of Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice and Sing Inspired Generations "Chrystal Giles's sparkling debut will have you standing up and cheering." --Lisa Yee, award winning author of Millicent Min, Girl Genius "Chrystal Giles really nailed it. I loved this book." --Linda Williams Jackson, award winning author of Midnight Without a Moon "Necessary and inspiring. An empowering read." --Ashley Herring Blake, author of the Stonewall Honor Book Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World "Wes will welcome middle grade readers into his delightful circle of friends, his strong and loving family, and his powerful community." --Barbara Dee, author of the ALA Notable Children's Book Maybe He Just Likes You

Reader's Block
Reader's Block

Author: Matthew Rubery

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2022-10-04

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 150363342X

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What does the term "reading" mean? Matthew Rubery's exploration of the influence neurodivergence has on the ways individuals read asks us to consider that there may be no one definition. This alternative history of reading tells the stories of "atypical" readers and the impact had on their lives by neurological conditions affecting their ability to make sense of the printed word: from dyslexia, hyperlexia, and alexia to synesthesia, hallucinations, and dementia. Rubery's focus on neurodiversity aims to transform our understanding of the very concept of reading. Drawing on personal testimonies gathered from literature, film, life writing, social media, medical case studies, and other sources to express how cognitive differences have shaped people's experiences both on and off the page, Rubery contends that there is no single activity known as reading. Instead, there are multiple ways of reading (and, for that matter, not reading) despite the ease with which we use the term. Pushing us to rethink what it means to read, Reader's Block moves toward an understanding of reading as a spectrum that is capacious enough to accommodate the full range of activities documented in this fascinating and highly original book. Read it from cover to cover, out of sequence, or piecemeal. Read it upside down, sideways, or in a mirror. For just as there is no right way to read, there is no right way to read this book. What matters is that you are doing something with it—something that Rubery proposes should be called "reading."

What Color Is Night?
What Color Is Night?

Author: Grant Snider

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 49

ISBN-13: 1452183570

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Look closer. Grant Snider's beautiful debut picture book explores the wonders—and colors—of nighttime. For night is not just black and white. Ending in colors yet unseen, and a night of sweet dreams, this lilting lullaby is sure to comfort those drifting off to sleep. With luminous art as spare and glowing as the moon, and lyrical text that reads like a friend leading the way through the wilderness, What Color Is Night? is a rich and timeless look at a topic of endless fascination, and a perfect bedtime read-aloud.

How to Read a Novel
How to Read a Novel

Author: John Sutherland

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2013-12-10

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 1466859997

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"Do we still know how to read a novel?" John Sutherland, Chairman of the 2005 Booker Prize Committee, asks. His disheartened answer is an unequivocal, "No." But Sutherland has not given up hope. With acerbic wit and intellect, he traces the history of what it used to mean to be well-read and tells readers what it still means today. Using this delightful book as a means to an end, he reminds readers how the delicate charms of fiction can be at once wonderful and inspired and infuriating. On one level this is a book about novels: how they work, what they're about, what makes them good or bad, and how to talk about them. At a deeper level, this is a book in which one of the most intimate tête-à-têtes is described—one in which a reader meets a novel. Will a great love affair begin? Will the rendezvous end in disappointment? Who can say? In order for the relationship to take its appropriate course all the details must be clearly acknowledged and understood for their complexities: plot, point of view, character, style, pace, first and last sentences, and even beauty. Still, Sutherland knows a true understanding of fiction is more than a flirtation with text and style—it is a business. Taking his readers on a trip to the bookshop, he helps them judge a book by its cover based on design and color, wondering aloud what genre might be best, even going so far as to analyze one of the latest American bestsellers to further help the buying reader choose the novel that is right for him or her. In a book that is as wry and humorous as it is learned and opinionated, John Sutherland tells you everything you always wanted to know about how to read fiction better than you do now (but, were afraid to ask).