The art mystery and the crisp intelligence of the prose immediately recall E.L. These mysteries deepen exponentially when someone steals a Vermeer masterpiece and holds it hostage, demanding scholarly redress for misattributions within Vermeer's small oeuvre. For reasons unknown to her students, the teacher asks her class to ponder the importance of letters (the epistolary sort) and to mull over Picasso's ideas about art as "a lie that tells the truth." Readers have the edge on the characters, being privy to an enigmatic letter sent to three unidentified persons outlining a centuries-old "crime" against a painter's artistic legacy. Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay become friends in sixth grade at a school operated by the University of Chicago (Balliett taught at the University's Lab Schools), both of them independent thinkers excited by their maverick teacher, Ms. Puzzles nest within puzzles in this ingeniously plotted and lightly delivered first novel that, revolving around the heist of a Vermeer painting, also touches on the nature of coincidence, truth, art and similarly meaty topics.
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When Europe was divided between east and west, ‘Central Europe fell from use as a term’. Rady’s masterful overview seeks to change this by looking at 2,000 years of history, from ancient Roman times to the present. One problem lies in defining what and where Central Europe is, since it is often characterised by what it is not. Conflicts arising in the region have changed the world, from the Thirty Years’ War, which ‘engulfed almost the entire continent, with sideshows in Africa, the Caribbean and even distant Taiwan’, to the two world wars (both of which started in Central Europe), to say nothing of the present invasion of Ukraine, which is already the ‘most destructive war waged in Europe for more than 70 years’. Take a step back, and Central Europe takes centre stage. For others, it is an exotic world of ‘small nations’ east of Germany, where one has to wait for the end of the sentence to learn the operative verb: a place of ‘baffling’ languages ‘written with an abundance of consonants, odd diacritical marks and, in places, even a different alphabet’. For some modern writers the region is best typified by similarities, or differences, over postboxes, popular preferences for spirits over wine or ‘the heavy smell of boiled cabbage, state beer and a soapy whiff of overripe watermelons’. It is easy to overlook the importance of Central Europe, writes Martyn Rady at the start of this fascinating book. “Duncan is one of the smartest, funniest and most terrifying writers around-a writer that a generation of girls LOVED to tatters, while learning to never read her books without another friend to scream with handy.” Jenny Han, author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series “ Lois Duncan is the patron saint of all things awesome.” Wendy Mass, author of A Mango-Shaped Space, Leap Day and Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall “Lois Duncan’s books kept me up many a late night reading under the covers with a flashlight!” Sara Shepard, author of the Pretty Little Liars series She’s a master of suspense, so prepare to be dazzled and spooked!” I gobbled up her novels, reading them again and again and scaring myself over and over. “Lois Duncan has always been one of my biggest inspirations. Judy Blume, author of Forever and Tiger Eyes “I couldn’t be more pleased that Lois Duncan’s books will now reach a new generation of readers.” Stine, author of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series Does anyone write scarier books than Lois Duncan? I don’t think so.” She knows how to find that secret evil in her characters’ hearts, evil that she turns into throat-clutching suspense in book after book. Walter Dean Myers, Printz award–winning author of Monster and Dope Sick Lois Duncan is smart, writes darn good books and is one of the most entertaining authors in America.” “There are a lot of smart authors, and a lot of authors who write reasonably well. The meaning of the name "ice cream" varies from one country to another. It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases. The result is a smooth, semi-solid foam that is solid at very low temperatures (below 2 ☌ or 35 ☏). The mixture is cooled below the freezing point of water and stirred to incorporate air spaces and to prevent detectable ice crystals from forming. Food coloring is sometimes added, in addition to stabilizers. It can also be made by whisking a flavored cream base and liquid nitrogen together. Ice cream is a frozen dessert, typically made from milk or cream and flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as strawberries or peaches. Oleg Shardin is also executive producing. 13 Films is handling worldwide sales, with Greg Schenz and Tannaz Anisi executive producing. After a series of terrifying events, the woman becomes convinced she is the killer’s next victim while her husband, played by Mulroney, and her best friend, played by Grace, worry about her sanity.Įlizabeth Fowler ( Official Secrets, Devil’s Knot), Warren Ostergard ( The Hill, Agent Game) and Lucinda Thakrar ( Confession, A Little Bit of Light) are producing. Jeff Celentano ( The Hill, Glass Jaw) directs the psychological thriller with supernatural elements that tells the story of a woman, played by Kelly, who drives by a stranded motorist later revealed to have been murdered. The film marks the first adaptation of one of Paris’ books and has now started shooting in the UK Minka Kelly ( Euphoria, Titans), Maggie Grace ( Fear The Walking Dead, taken) and Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Family Stone, Shooting Stars) are set to star in the psychological thriller Blackwater Lanebased on the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling book The Breakdown by British author BA Paris. Even organizations meant to assist low-wage workers only complicate things even more: food banks are often only open 9-5, when most people are at work, and the food they offer is similarly made up of unhealthy, empty calories. Without a full kitchen, she cannot cook and freeze large quantities of food, and so ends up having to eat both more expensively and very unhealthily at fast-food restaurants and convenience stores. Without savings, Barbara cannot afford the deposit for an apartment, and so ends up having to pay far more for a motel room-a situation that, she learns, is far from uncommon. One major economic lesson from this experiment is how wildly inefficient living and working in poverty can become. Barbara reveals the complications that arise from trying to survive on a minimum-age job-complications often hidden to those who aren’t working as low-wage workers-to make the case that such labor is ultimately unsustainable. As Barbara came to learn, and explains throughout her book, such a goal is far from simple. When Barbara Ehrenreich set out to write the book that would become Nickel and Dimed, her stated goal was pretty straightforward: to see if she could pay for rent, food, and other bills as a low-wage worker. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie. Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. Her search for answers ensnares those closest to her, and no one is safe from suspicion - not the Crown Prince Dorian not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard not even her best friend, Nehemia, a princess with a rebel heart. Though she goes to great lengths to hide her secret, her deadly charade becomes more difficult when she realises she is not the only one seeking justice. Maas.Ĭelaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become the King's Champion. 'One of the best fantasy book series of the past decade' TIMEĬelaena's story continues in this second book in the #1 bestselling Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. By not compromising his higher vision, Jonathan learns the meaning of love and kindness and gets the ultimate payoff - transcendence. This bestselling modern classic is a fable about seeking a higher purpose in life, even if your flock, tribe or neighbourhood finds your ambition threatening (at one point our beloved gull is even banished from his flock). For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight.' Flight is indeed the metaphor that makes this story soar. 'For most gulls it is not flying that matters, but eating. 'Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight - how to get from shore to food and back again,' writes author Richard Bach in this allegory about a unique bird named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The complete edition of a timeless classic, includes the recently rediscovered Part Four and 'Last Words' by Richard Bach.Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the most celebrated inspirational fable of our time, tells the story of a bird determined to be more than ordinary. Vibrant, humorous, and fraught with entanglements, Rasheed Newson’s My Government Means to Kill Me is an exhilarating, fast-paced coming-of-age story that lends itself to a larger discussion about what it means for a young gay Black man in the mid-1980s to come to terms with his role in the midst of a political and social reckoning. Along the way Trey attempts to navigate past traumas and searches for ways to maintain familial relationships-all while seeking the meaning of life amid so much death. He volunteers at a renegade home hospice for AIDS patients, and after being put to the test by gay rights activists, becomes a member of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). In the city, Trey meets up with a cast of characters that changes his life forever. A fierce and riveting queer coming-of-age story following the personal and political awakening of a young gay Black man in 1980s New York City, from the television drama writer and producer of The Chi, Narcos, and Bel-Air.īorn into a wealthy Black Indianapolis family, Earl “Trey” Singleton III leaves his overbearing parents and their expectations behind by running away to New York City with only a few dollars in his pocket. In West African culture, a storyteller is revered to as the Griot, a professional source of oral tradition, an advisor, a societal leader. Overtime, the methods of telling a story have changed, however the art form still greatly impacts the way we look at life.įrom call and response, to Sunday morning sermons, even to Slick Rick (circa 1999), Black culture and traditions have been rooted in the oratory practice of Storytelling. Conceded down from generation to generation, storytelling served as means to show purpose or relay a message. Long before we formally chronicled history, we had stories. What do you call a series of stories that affords us insight into our past in hopes of steering us in the right direction for our future? One word…History. |