IMPULSATIONS BETWEEN THE TEA GALLERY AND THE SWEET DREAMS CAFÉ incorporates three types of writing styles and converges them into one complete package like a well blended latte. From the front cover to the last page, Impulsations begin to merge, urging and inviting the reader to be a willing participant. Inside of Tea Gallery, thoughts are polite, unquestioning, poetically phrased, with subjects quick to change. Once inside of The Sweet Dreams Cafe, conversations and events are intensified as secrets are revealed. Little by little, the unraveling of what´s beneath the cordial smiles become more evident as impulsations twist, tangle, and turn leaving readers craving for more. If reading were an addiction, IMPULSATIONS BETWEEN THE TEA GALLERY AND THE SWEET DREAMS CAFE would be the drug. This page turner is sure to tantalize the need for a daily read, and just like a coffee break sprinkled with conversations between friends, it’s a refreshing and satisfying treat. Enjoy
Light streams through the windows as the espresso machine roars; a gorgeous, rich scent fills the air; and witty conversation unspools over the porcelain cups. That's the café dream. Mark and Nina are about to experience the reality. Determined to re-create the perfect Viennese coffeehouse, they descend on New York's gritty but hip Lower East Side to educate the locals on authentic café culture. Soon Mark and Nina are in a downward spiral that will strip them of money, friends, sex life, status, shelter, and, finally, sanity—and offer salvation through something they have never experienced: disaster. Inspired by the author's own coffeehouse hell, Ground Up is a sharp and funny portrait of a New York constantly reinventing itself, and a surprisingly tender story of falling out of love and back in it again.
From the former editor-in-chief of Nylon comes a provocative and intimate collection of personal and cultural essays featuring eye-opening explorations of hot button topics for modern women, including internet feminism, impossible beauty standards in social media, shifting ideals about sexuality, and much more. Gabrielle Korn starts her professional life with all the right credentials. Prestigious college degree? Check. A loving, accepting family? Check. Instagram-worthy offices and a tight-knit group of friends? Check, check. Gabrielle’s life seems to reach the crescendo of perfect when she gets named the youngest editor-in-chief in the history of one of fashion’s most influential publication. Suddenly she’s invited to the world’s most epic parties, comped beautiful clothes and shoes from trendy designers, and asked to weigh in on everything from gay rights to lip gloss on one of the most influential digital platforms. But behind the scenes, things are far from perfect. In fact, just a few months before landing her dream job, Gabrielle’s health and wellbeing are on the line, and her promotion to editor-in-chief becomes the ultimate test of strength. In this collection of inspirational and searing essays, Gabrielle reveals exactly what it’s truly like in the fashion world, trying to find love as a young lesbian in New York City, battling with anorexia, and trying not to lose herself in a mirage of women’s empowerment and Instagram perfection. Through deeply personal essays, Gabrielle recounts her struggles to reconcile her long-held insecurities about her body while coming out in the era of The L Word, where swoon-worthy lesbians are portrayed as skinny, fashion-perfect, and power-hungry. She takes us with her everywhere from New York Fashion Week to the doctor’s office, revealing that the forces that try to keep women small are more pervasive than anyone wants to admit, especially in a world that’s been newly branded as woke. From #MeToo to commercialized body positivity, Korn’s biting, darkly funny analysis turns feminist commentary on its head. Both an in-your-face take on impossible beauty standards and entrenched media ideals and an inspiring call for personal authenticity, this powerful collection is ideal for fans of Roxane Gay and Rebecca Solnit.
The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays. "The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and inviting: with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike." —Publisher's Weekly “Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books (author of The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.
The long-awaited sequel to THE UNEXPECTED JOY OF BEING SOBER 'Exquisite' - Fearne Cotton, Happy Place 'A paean to the longer-term pleasures of staying booze-free' - The Guardian 'The kind of book that changes lives, and very possibly saves them' - The Lancet Psychiatry 'A reflective, raw and riveting read. A beautiful book on what it takes to root for yourself' - Emma Gannon, Ctrl Alt Delete 'No other author writes about sober living with as much warmth or emotional range as Catherine Gray. Her deep insight into the subtle psychologies of drinking, and of life, means that everything she writes is both utterly relatable and stretches our minds. Hers is a rare wisdom.' - Dr Richard Piper, CEO, Alcohol Change UK What's it like to give up drinking forever? We know now that being teetotal for one, three, even twelve months brings surprising joys and a recharged body... but nothing has been written about going years deep into being alcohol-free. As Catherine Gray, author of runaway success The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, streaks towards a decade sober, she explores this uncharted territory in her trademark funny, disruptive and warm way. This is a must-read for anyone sober-curious, whether they've put down the bottle yet or not. Praise for The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober: 'Fascinating' - Bryony Gordon 'Truthful, modern and real' - Stylist 'Brave, witty and brilliantly written' - Marie Claire 'Gray's tale of going sober is uplifting and inspiring' - Evening Standard 'Not remotely preachy' - Sunday Times 'Jaunty, shrewd and convincing' - Sunday Telegraph 'Admirably honest, light, bubbly and remarkably rarely annoying' - Guardian 'An empathetic, warm and hilarious tale from a hugely likeable human' - The Lancet Psychiatry
A healthy vegetarian cookbook featuring inventive takes on beloved Indian dishes, indulgent desserts, and more, all made with whole foods and anti-inflammatory ingredients—from the Today show’s resident foodie “When I’m looking for something quick that doesn’t use refined sugars and refined flour, Samah is the person I turn to. I can’t get enough!”—Giada De Laurentiis, New York Times bestselling author of Eat Better, Feel Better NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY FOOD52 AND LIBRARY JOURNAL Samah Dada doesn’t buy into the all-or-nothing mentality of healthy eating. By using real, unprocessed ingredients in surprising ways, she shows you how to have your cake and eat it too—because it’s actually made out of chickpeas. Samah knows that eating well doesn’t mean eating boring food. She uses only the most nutritious ingredients, not because she’s cutting out food groups to follow the latest fad, but to create drool-worthy meatless dishes that are mostly vegan (with options for dairy and eggs), mostly gluten-free (with easy substitutions to go entirely gluten-free), and all helpful in reducing inflammation. She reinvents Indian cookbook staples—and other classics—with recipes such as: • Sweet Potato Aloo Tikki • Creamy Black Lentils • Spicy Eggplant Masala • Chocolate Chip Tahini Cake with Chocolate Frosting • Cauliflower Cacio e Pepe • Masala Mac and Cheese • And more! With Dada Eats Love to Cook It, you’ll discover how to use healthy ingredients for maximum flavor and joy. Grain-Optional. Gluten-Flexible. Mostly Plant-Based. Totally Inclusive.
Hunter of Dreams is the story of the so-called Underground Railroad, the escape route to Canada of American slaves in the 1850s and early '60s. The driving force behind Canadian involvement was Dr. Alexander Milton Ross of Belleville, Ontario, an extraordinary character, but one relatively unknown except to historians specializing in his era. Alexander Ross travelled in the Deep South, using his background in ornithology as a pretense at doing research. In reality, he was alerting slaves to the existence of the Underground Railroad and in the process, faced a number of dangerous situations. As well, he was involved on the fringes of John Brown's famous raid on Harpers Ferry. His work brought him to the attention of Abraham Lincoln, who commissioned him as a special agent to monitor the Confederate activities in Canada during the Civil War. Ross's work, declared Lincoln, shortened the Civil War by the better part of a year. Hunter of Dreamsreveals the story of the relatively unknown Alexander Ross, based on his own memoirs and contemporary magazine and newspaper articles; it is cast as a novel, told through James Ramsay, an imaginary friend of Dr. Ross's.
BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.
A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.
From the Helen Kay Chapbook Award-Winning poet Cassondra Windwalker, an unsuspecting librarian falls head-over-heels for a married man, but when she finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance, she discovers her new husband's past wives have all met early deaths—and some aren't ready to let go yet. Obsession never dies. When librarian Sigrun falls head-over-heels for the sophisticated and very married Edgar Leyward, she never expects to find herself in his bed—or his heart. Nevertheless, when his enigmatic wife Octavia dies from a sudden illness, Sigrun finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance worthy of the most lurid novels on her bookshelves. Sigrun soon discovers Octavia wasn't Edgar's first lost love, or even his second. Three women Edgar has loved met early deaths. As she delves into her beloved's past through a trove of discovered letters, the edges of Sigrun identity begin to disappear, fading into the women of the past. Sigrun tells herself it's impossible for any dark magic to be at play—that the dead can't possibly inhabit the bodies of the living—but something shadowy stalks the halls of the Leyward house and the lines between the love of the present and the obsessions of the past become increasingly blurred—and bloody. Mixing lyrical prose with simmering terror, Hold My Place is a modern gothic horror worthy of Shirley Jackson's nightmares and Daphne DuMaurier's dangerous lovers. "Hold My Place is a dark, sensuous tale about obliterating love, and Windwalker's superb prose fairly drips with beauty. You simply must read this haunting book." —Mercedes M. Yardley, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Little Dead Red "Sinister undertones steadily build into a genuine sense of doom...as thought-provoking as it is harrowing." —Publishers Weekly "With ethereal prose [Hold My Place]'s departure from genre tropes will make it a favorite with gothic-horror and dark-romance readers." —Booklist "A satisfying blend of romance and ghost story.... Hold My Place is anything but ordinary or predictable, despite its firm roots in the horror world." —Midwest Book Review "Brimming with muted eroticism, Hold My Place is a dark romance novel punctuated by longing, lingering spirits and love without end." —Foreword Reviews
