The Memory Thief


Book Description

This thrilling YA fantasy debut follows seventeen-year-old Etta Lark as she navigates the underworld of Craewick to pull off the heist of a lifetime. A YALSA (The Young Adult Library Services Association) Teens' Top Ten Book for 2020, Mansy crafts a grim reality where memories are worth their weight in gold. In the city of Craewick, memories reign. The power-obsessed ruler of the city, Madame, has cultivated a society in which memories are currency, citizens are divided by ability, and Gifted individuals can take memories from others through touch as they please. Seventeen-year-old Etta Lark is desperate to live outside of the corrupt culture, but she grapples with the guilt of an accident that has left her mother bedridden in the city's asylum. When Madame threatens to put her mother up for auction, a Craewick practice in which a "criminal's" memories are sold to the highest bidder before being killed, Etta will do whatever it takes to save her. Even if it means rejoining the Shadows, the rebel group she swore off in the wake of the accident years earlier. To rescue her mother, Etta must prove her allegiance to the Shadows by stealing a memorized map of the Maze, a formidable prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of a neighboring Realm. Etta faces startling attacks, unexpected romance, and, above all, her own past as she uncovers a conspiracy that challenges everything she knew about herself and the world around her. In a place where nothing is what it seems, can Etta ever become more than a memory thief? Perfect for fans of high-stakemagical heists such as: Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows) Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen) Roshani Chokshi (The Gilded Wolves) "Mansy's debut will delight fantasy readers who revel in fully developed settings and unusual powers."- Booklist "A welcome addition to the YA fantasy canon, The Memory Thief is a suspenseful page-turner, delightfully chock full of unexpected twists and turns."- Shelf Awareness




Awful Archives


Book Description

An exploration of exaggerated cases of conspiracy theories which helps to reveal why traditional modes of argument fail against unwarranted, unsound, or untrue evidence.




The Memory Police


Book Description

Finalist for the International Booker Prize and the National Book Award A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance, from the acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor. On an unnamed island, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses. . . . Most of the inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few able to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten. When a young writer discovers that her editor is in danger, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her f loorboards, and together they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past. Powerful and provocative, The Memory Police is a stunning novel about the trauma of loss. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * TIME * CHICAGO TRIBUNE * THE GUARDIAN * ESQUIRE * THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS * FINANCIAL TIMES * LIBRARY JOURNAL * THE A.V. CLUB * KIRKUS REVIEWS * LITERARY HUB American Book Award winner




Conspiracies and Secret Societies


Book Description

The invisible world of influence and power revealed. Hidden agendas uncovered. Examines 250 current and historical conspiracies, secret cabals, and powerful groups. Startling allegations. Suppressed evidence. Missing witnesses. Assassinations. Cover-ups and threats. Documented connections to an even deeper intrigue. Allusions to the New World Order. Coincidences? Too many to be mere coincidence? American history is replete with warnings of hidden plots by the Illuminati, the Freemasons, the Zionists, the Roman Catholics, the Communists, World Bankers, the Secret Government, and Extra-Terrestrial Invaders, to name a few. Separating fact from fiction, this compelling work provides gripping details and presents the information without bias, including hundreds of individuals, organizations, and events where official claims and standard explanations of actions and events remain shrouded in mystery. Conspiracies and Secret Societies: The Complete Dossier examines the most common subjects among conspiracy theorists, probing and thoroughly examining cases of conspiracies and dark doings of secret societies. Bring yourself up-to-date with the latest research and findings into historical topics plus current issues, including: Historical riddles—the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, Noah’s Ark, the Sphinx, alchemy, the true relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and the churches dedicated to the Black Madonna. Classified background on U.S. Presidents—Lincoln, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Obama, Reagan, their advisers, and more. Powerful secret societies and groups—the Knights Templar, Freemasons, Illuminati, the Triads, the Rosicrucians, the Skull and Bones Society, Scientology, the Falun Gong, the New World Order, and Lightning from the East. Government cover-ups—electronic spying, MKUltra, the John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations, Area 51, extraterrestrial invaders, black helicopters, satellite snooping, FEMA, the Global Bank, and the Trilateral Commission. Terrible secrets—the BP oil spill, Unit 731 and germ experiments, the 2011 tsunami in Japan, and Hurricane Katrina. Science mysteries—biochip implants, genetic manipulation, weather control, mad cow disease, AIDS/HIV, West Nile virus, and the bizarre Morgellons disease. The only way to crush these secret plots is to bring the facts to light. Don't let history repeat itself! Knowledge is our best weapon against these people, groups, and their nefarious schemes.




The Believing Brain


Book Description

“A wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief.” —Sam Harris, New York Times–bestselling author of The Moral Landscape and The End of Faith In this work synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist, historian of science, and the world’s best-known skeptic Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation. Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths. Interlaced with his theory of belief, Shermer provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal. Ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not a belief matches reality. “A must read for everyone who wonders why religious and political beliefs are so rigid and polarized—or why the other side is always wrong, but somehow doesn’t see it.” —Dr. Leonard Mlodinow, physicist and author of The Drunkard’s Walk and The Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking)




The Resonance of Unseen Things


Book Description

An interdisciplinary study of how conspiracy theories and stories persist and resonate among different Americans




The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories


Book Description

Who believes in conspiracy theories, and why are some people more susceptible to them than others? What are the consequences of such beliefs? Has a conspiracy theory ever turned out to be true? The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories debunks the myth that conspiracy theories are a modern phenomenon, exploring their broad social contexts, from politics to the workplace. The book explains why some people are more susceptible to these beliefs than others and how they are produced by recognizable and predictable psychological processes. Featuring examples such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks and climate change, The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories shows us that while such beliefs are not always irrational and are not a pathological trait, they can be harmful to individuals and society.




Memories of Lincoln and the Splintering of American Political Thought


Book Description

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Republicans and Democrats who advocated conflicting visions of American citizenship could agree on one thing: the rhetorical power of Abraham Lincoln’s life. This volume examines the debates over his legacy and their impact on America’s future. In the thirty-five years following Lincoln’s assassination, acquaintances of Lincoln published their memories of him in newspapers, biographies, and edited collections in order to gain fame, promote partisan aims, champion his hardscrabble past and exalted rise, and define his legacy. Shawn Parry-Giles and David Kaufer explore how style, class, and character affected these reminiscences. They also analyze the ways people used these writings to reinforce their beliefs about citizenship and presidential leadership in the United States, with specific attention to the fissure between republicanism and democracy that still exists today. Their study employs rhetorical and corpus research methods to assess more than five hundred reminiscences. A novel look at how memories of Lincoln became an important form of political rhetoric, this book sheds light on how divergent schools of U.S. political thought came to recruit Lincoln as their standard-bearer.




The Psychology of Conspiracy


Book Description

Why did the third World Trade Center building (WTC7) collapse on September 11th , even though it was not struck by any aircraft? Why did Princess Diana’s "drunk" driver look sober as he climbed into the car minutes before their deadly accident? Could a slender birch tree really have caused the plane crash which killed the President of Poland in 2010? ‘Conspiracy thinking’ – the search for explanations of significant global events in clandestine plots, suppressed knowledge and the secret actions of elite groups – provides simple and logical answers to the social doubts and uncertainties that occur at times of major national and international crises. Contemporary social psychology seeks to explain the human motivation to create, share and receive conspiracy theories, and to shed light on the consequences of these theories for people’s social and political functioning. This important collection, written by leading researchers in the field, is the first to apply quantitative empirical findings to the subject of conspiracy theorizing. The first section of the book explores conspiracy theories in the context of group perception and intergroup relations, paying particular attention to anti-Semitic conspiracy stereotypes. It then goes on to examine the relationship between an individual’s political ideology and the degree to which they engage in ‘conspiracy thinking’. The concluding part of the book considers the explanatory power of conspiracy, focusing on the link between social paranoia and digital media, and highlighting the social, political, and environmental consequences of conspiracy theories. The Psychology of Conspiracy will be of great interest to academics and researchers in social and political psychology, and a valuable resource to those in the fields of social policy, anthropology, political science, and cultural studies.




A Christmas Memory


Book Description

A reminiscence of a Christmas shared by a seven-year-old boy and a sixtyish childlike woman, with enormous love and friendship between them.