5/29/2023 0 Comments Boy Parts by Eliza Clark![]() She might be abrasive but we often find ourselves revelling in her no-nonsense approach. From her perspective at least, she is surrounded by annoying or performative people, especially in the privileged and pretentious art world. But though she has the kind of empathy problems that see her practising expressions in front of a mirror, she is also strangely sympathetic. Boy Parts is the incendiary debut novel from Eliza Clark, a pitch-black comedy both shocking and hilarious. It is as if Irina has sat herself down in a pub next to us, made us buy her a drink, and proceeded to tell us her whole story. ![]() The strength of Irina’s voice is what makes the book so enjoyable. Irina is au fait with current gender politics and other social issues, using them to justify her work, but she can also be transgressive of them, telling Flo to shut up when she objects to her using cocaine on moral grounds or judging her friend’s weight gain. Clark, who is in her twenties, has perfectly pinned down the way conversations between progressive young people can end up being a scramble for the moral high ground. ![]() Boy Parts is fiercely current, peppered with pop culture references. ![]()
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5/29/2023 0 Comments Neapolitan quartet![]() Large parts of this book could have been written by Bourdieu. But, I think rather than one being all good and the other all evil, this is a story of a tragic divide in good and bad luck. A major theme throughout here is that the narrator is only ever truly successful when she develops the ideas of her double. The two girls are, at least in the mind of the narrator, incomplete without the other. I couldn’t help thinking of this story the entire time I was reading these novels. Both the Italian and Turkish sides of the war get hold of the respective halves of his body and, through the wonders of medicine (and fairy-tales) both halves are brought back to life: one side all good, the other side all bad. ![]() It is about a Knight who goes off to fight in Turkey, I think – although, part of me thinks that might be wrong – anyway, he gets hit by an enemy cannon ball that literally splits him in two. ![]() ![]() I have only read it once and that was a very long time ago. There is a Calvino novella called The Cloven Knight. ![]() ![]() ![]() Despite all of this I still rated 'The 47 Ronin Story', by John Allyn, 2 out of 5 stars. The popularity of the tale grew during the Meiji era, during which Japan underwent rapid modernization, and the legend became entrenched within discourses of national heritage and identity" (Wikipedia). The lengths that the 47 Ronin, of Lord Asano, went in order to achieve honor for themselves and for their master defiantly earned themselves a special place in Japanese history. This true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that people should display in their daily lives. ![]() They were then obliged to commit seppuku for the crime of murder. After waiting and planning for a year, the r nin avenged their master's honor by killing Kira. 47 Ronin Story is the classic Japanese story of Lord Asano of Ako and one of the. The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless after their daimy (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to perform seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a powerful court official named Kira Yoshinaka. SKU: pf-book-9229 Categories: Japanese Tradition, John Allyn. is a historical eighteenth-century event in Japan in which a band of r nin (leaderless samurai) avenged the death of their master. ![]() ![]() ![]() An architect reaches longingly for the pastĮugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was a teenager when Hugo’s novel was published. ![]() One architect, attracted to the picturesque history on view in Hugo’s novel, would ultimately heed his call. Hugo hoped that his novel might spur the building’s rebirth, allowing it to renew France’s ethical core during the Industrial Revolution. ![]() ![]() He believed that back then, the cathedral was able to inspire the masses and guide them toward a life of devotion and morality. Like other Romanticist writers and artists, Hugo imagined the Middle Ages as a simpler time, an era when society was governed by pure faith. He continues, “The book will destroy the edifice.” “Alas! This will kill that,” he laments, directing his finger to the cathedral looming magisterially outside his window. In one of the book’s most famous moments, the archdeacon Frollo points sadly to a printed book on his table. In the novel, Hugo lamented that the printing press had supplanted architecture as the primary communicator of civilization’s cherished values. Set in the 15th century, the novel alluringly evoked a different period in French history. Only the great bells avoided being melted down, and the church interior was used as a warehouse for the storage of food. During the French Revolution, many of the treasures of the cathedral were either destroyed or plundered. ![]() ![]() ![]() In each chapter, Rashford uses examples of his own experiences to demonstrate how he’s approached challenges and failures (usually about football, but not always) and provides practical advice with universal application for those of us who don’t play (or even like - sorry!) football. ![]() His point - if he can achieve his dreams, anyone can and here’s how! He also discusses his entrée into working to end child food poverty, which he himself experienced firsthand as a child. ![]() In his first book (He’s got another coming out soon) Rashford honestly shares his journey from childhood as simply a lad who loved kicking a football around Wythenshawe to playing professionally for Manchester United and the England national team. The chapter titles in Marcus Rashford’s new book, You Are A Champion, may at first glance seem a bit vague, cliche or perhaps just common sense, but this quick and easy read is a power punch of an encourager, meant to help inspire and equip young people to become the best they can be by learning how to champion themselves, champion others and champion a cause. ![]() 5/29/2023 0 Comments Troofriend book![]() ![]() I loved Kirsty Applebaum’s debut novel, The Middler, which is now one of my all-time favourite books. There are rumours that some of the recent androids have started to develop human-like “feelings”. ![]() But just as Sarah and Ivy start to become true friends, all TrooFriend 560 Mark IVs are recalled to the factory. It takes Sarah a while but she finally decides there might be benefits to her new TrooFriend, whom she names Ivy (after the Roman numeral IV on her arm). They are supposed to be the perfect friend. ![]() They are marketed as the better choice for children – unlike human playmates, a TrooFriend does not bully, harm or lie. Every ‘Jenson & Jenson TrooFriend 560 Mark IV’ is unique. She’s, therefore, less than impressed when her mum buys her a robot instead. A masterpiece of middle grade fiction, this book has the perfect pairing – an impressive and totally unique voice coupled with an original and electrifying plot. ![]() 5/29/2023 0 Comments Hell's Half-Acre by Susan Jonusas![]() ![]() The idea that a family of seemingly respectable homesteaders-one among the thousands relocating farther west in search of land and opportunity after the Civil War-were capable of operating "a human slaughter pen" appalled and fascinated the nation. The discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for decades, sparking an epic manhunt for the Benders. The Benders, the family of four who once resided on the property were nowhere to be found. Below the cabin itself was a cellar stained with blood. Buried by a trailside cabin beneath an orchard of young apple trees were the remains of countless bodies. In 1873 the people of Labette County, Kansas made a grisly discovery. A suspense filled tale of murder on the American frontier-shedding new light on a family of serial killers in Kansas, whose horrifying crimes gripped the attention of a nation still reeling from war. ![]() ![]() In the background to all this are the actions of the real-life Prince Charles, whose decisions were as life-changing for his followers as Richard’s were for Beth. His subsequent decision sets in train the events that occupy the Chronicles. The Jacobite Chronicles start in 1742, with Richard Cunningham returning home after his father’s death to discover that the inheritance he was expecting is only a dream, whilst his sister has been left a huge dowry, inaccessible to either of them unless she marries. Julia has written the Jacobite Chronicles, which is a captivating 6-book series about the last Jacobite uprising in Scotland, which ended with the defeat of the Highlanders and Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. Julia Brannan is one of my favourite authors, along with Diana Gabaldon and Susanna Kearsley. ![]() 5/28/2023 0 Comments The Skin We're In by Desmond Cole![]() Cole used his newfound profile to draw insistent, unyielding attention to the injustices faced by Black Canadians on a daily basis.īoth Cole’s activism and journalism find vibrant expression in his first book, The Skin We’re In. The story quickly came to national prominence, shaking the country to its core and catapulting its author into the public sphere. In his 2015 cover story for Toronto Life magazine, Desmond Cole exposed the racist actions of the Toronto police force, detailing the dozens of times he had been stopped and interrogated under the controversial practice of carding. The Skin We're In will spark a national conversation, influence policy, and inspire activists. ![]() A bracing, provocative, and perspective-shifting book from one of Canada's most celebrated and uncompromising writers, Desmond Cole. ![]() 5/28/2023 0 Comments The trials of apollo book one![]() Lester (Apollo) must meet some new friends and train at Camp Half-Blood, save and return 5 undiscovered oracles that have gone dark, and get back to his true form. The series follows the trials of the god Apollo, who has been turned into a mortal named Lester Papadopoulos as punishment from his father and king of the gods Zeus. The fifth book in the series, The Tower of Nero, was released on October 6, 2020. ![]() The fourth book in the series, The Tyrant's Tomb, was released on September 24, 2019. The third book in the series, The Burning Maze, was released on May 1, 2018. The second book in the series, The Dark Prophecy, was released on May 2, 2017. The first book in the series, The Hidden Oracle, was released on May 3, 2016. A supplementary book, Camp Jupiter Classified, has also been released in addition to the main series. ![]() ![]() It is set in the same world as Riordan's Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series and the references to characters and happenings from earlier stories prove this. The Trials of Apollo is a pentalogy of fantasy adventure and mythological fiction novels written by American author Rick Riordan that collectively form a sequel to the Heroes of Olympus series. Print ( hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book ![]() |
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