Marlena


Book Description

A National Book Critics Circle Leonard Prize Finalist Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Named a Best Book of the Year by Vogue, BuzzFeed, The Washington Post, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, NPR, NYLON, Huffington Post, Kirkus Reviews, Barnes & Noble Chosen for the Book of the Month Club, Nylon Book Club, and Belletrist Book Club Named an Indie Next Pick and a Barnes and Noble Discover Pick The story of two girls and the wild year that will cost one her life, and define the other’s for decades Everything about fifteen-year-old Cat’s new town in rural Michigan is lonely and off-kilter until she meets her neighbor, the manic, beautiful, pill-popping Marlena. Cat is quickly drawn into Marlena’s orbit and as she catalogues a litany of firsts—first drink, first cigarette, first kiss, first pill—Marlena’s habits harden and calcify. Within the year, Marlena is dead, drowned in six inches of icy water in the woods nearby. Now, decades later, when a ghost from that pivotal year surfaces unexpectedly, Cat must try again to move on, even as the memory of Marlena calls her back. Told in a haunting dialogue between past and present, Marlena is an unforgettable story of the friendships that shape us beyond reason and the ways it might be possible to pull oneself back from the brink.




Marlena's Garden. Life is a Story - story.one


Book Description

Discover the Garden Within. In this reflective journey, Kalina invites you to explore the intricate landscape of your soul. Drawing from her unique blend of psychology, architecture, and astrology, she guides you through the art of self-discovery and personal transformation. Through a blend of introspective exercises, thought-provoking questions, and spiritual insights, you'll learn to identify the beliefs and emotions that shape your life. Whether you're looking to overcome personal obstacles, ignite your creativity, or find inner peace, this book provides the tools to help you cultivate a life of purpose and fulfillment. So, take my hand, and let's step into your soul's garden together.




Thanku


Book Description

This poetry anthology, edited by Miranda Paul, explores a wide range of ways to be grateful (from gratitude for a puppy to gratitude for family to gratitude for the sky) with poems by a diverse group of contributors, including Joseph Bruchac, Margarita Engle, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Naomi Shihab Nye, Charles Waters, and Jane Yolen.




A Beautiful Disaster


Book Description

Interweaving biblical insights and personal narratives, this eloquently written book shows how God often uses suffering and desert experiences to form us into Christ's image. Marlena Graves shares her experiences of growing up poor in a house plagued by mental illness as a means to explore the forces God uses to shape us into beautiful people in the midst of brokenness. This book offers a window into suffering through the motif of desert spirituality, revealing how God can use our painful experiences to show himself faithful. While no one welcomes suffering, God often uses desert experiences--those we initially despise and wouldn't wish on anyone--to transform us into beautiful souls who better resemble Jesus. Graves shows how God can bring life out of circumstances reeking of death and destruction, whether those circumstances are crises or daily doses of quiet desperation. Readers who have experienced suffering and question God's purpose for it will benefit from this book, as will counselors, pastors, professors, and mentors. It includes a foreword by John Ortberg and Laura Ortberg Turner.




A Thousand Days in Tuscany


Book Description

They had met and married on perilously short acquaintance, she an American chef and food writer, he a Venetian banker. Now they were taking another audacious leap, unstitching their ties with exquisite Venice to live in a roughly renovated stable in Tuscany. Once again, it was love at first sight. Love for the timeless countryside and the ancient village of San Casciano dei Bagni, for the local vintage and the magnificent cooking, for the Tuscan sky and the friendly church bells. Love especially for old Barlozzo, the village mago, who escorts the newcomers to Tuscany’s seasonal festivals; gives them roasted country bread drizzled with just-pressed olive oil; invites them to gather chestnuts, harvest grapes, hunt truffles; and teaches them to caress the simple pleasures of each precious day. It’s Barlozzo who guides them across the minefields of village history and into the warm and fiercely beating heart of love itself. A Thousand Days in Tuscany is set in one of the most beautiful places on earth–and tucked into its fragrant corners are luscious recipes (including one for the only true bruschetta) directly from the author’s private collection.




The Lady in the Palazzo


Book Description

A transplanted American chef and food writer continues the story of her life in Italy, describing her and her husband's move to Orvieto as they search for and find the perfect home, which turns out to be the former ballroom of a fifteenth-century palazzo.




A Love Renewed


Book Description

A Love Renewed is a collection of stories and wonderfully crafted letters that transports you seamlessly across three continents, as you experience the heat of passion, the depths of despair, the pain of loss, and the maturing of the hearts and minds of two lovers-Harry and Camille. Harry is a writer whose love for Camille seems to be overshadowed by his desire for literary success. Four stories written by Harry weave a picture of what's in his heart and mind. He takes you to Europe and the rich, blue southwest beaches of Spain, as he acquaints you with a culture rich in tradition and national identity. He then takes you to Texas, as two people, both searching for someone to touch their hearts, shed the truths of their pasts and find each other. Yet another tale of two families joined together takes you through the jungles of Venezuela in a race to stop a bio-terrorist from spreading his venom in the United States. Harry's strategy for recovering Camille's love is an intricate plan that is played out in colorful, romantic scenes that will carry you away and warm your heart.




Williams-Sonoma Collection: Vegetable


Book Description

A medley of spring mushrooms roasted with garlic and pine nuts. Grilled summer corn on the cob with chile-lime butter. Sautéed shallots in a velvety red wine sauce. What compares to the flavor of seasonal vegetables picked and cooked at their peak of ripeness? Williams-Sonoma Collection Vegetable offers more than 40 recipes, organized by season to assist you in selecting the perfect vegetable dishes to serve year-round. Whether you are in search of a delicious way to make fava beans in the springtime or need a savory preparation for carrots when cold weather arrives, in these pages you'll find a recipe that brings out the best in vegetables for any occasion. A chapter of hearty main dishes will inspire you to make vegetables the star of your dinner table, while a selection of classics -- including a delightfully rich potato gratin -- completes the collection. Full-color photographs of each recipe make it easy to choose which to prepare, and each dish is accompanied by a photographic side note that highlights a cooking technique or ingredient, making Vegetable more than a simple collection of recipes. A comprehensive basics section and glossary fill in all you need to know to create an enticing combination of flavors, textures, and colors the next time you prepare vegetables. Fresh, crisp, and bursting with color and flavor, vegetables embody the changing of the seasons more than any other food. From tender spring peas to rich, creamy-textured winter squash, we look forward to their arrival in the market year after year. Williams-Sonoma Collection Vegetable offers more than 40 delicious recipes, including both the classics and fresh new ideas. In these pages, you'll find versatile vegetable dishes for every season and every occasion -- from a late summer lunch to a midwinter dinner party. This vibrantly photographed, full-color recipe collection promises to become an essential addition to your kitchen bookshelf.







Antonia and Her Daughters


Book Description

The next volume of memoir from the author of the international bestseller A Thousand Days in Venice introduces the extraordinary Antonia, imperious matriach of four generations of strong-willed Tuscan women The renovations to 34 via del Duomo now complete, Marlena de Blasi, the bestselling international author and "the woman with the fairy-tale life" needs to find time and space to finish a book. Lured by the offer of a simple stone cottage in the remote, mountainous region of western Tuscany, distant from the distractions of her everyday life with Fernando in Orvieto, she sets off for some much-needed solitude. But her plans to live simply, in peace and quiet, are overturned when she meets the imperious, tempestuous Antonia, the still-stunning, elderly matriarch of a large, complicated family of four generations of beautiful blue-eyed Italian women, all with stories and ideas of their own. Antonia dislikes tourists and outsiders, and so Marlena at first spars and clashes with her before they reach an understanding. Over feasts and family dinners, walking in the dark before sunrise to harvest wild lettuces, preparing meals and exchanging recipes, the two women joust, joke, exchange confidences, and grow closer and closer until finally Antonia reveals the terrible secrets behind the vivid beauty of Il Castelleto. Evocative, powerful, and haunting, this is a compelling insight into Italy's recent past and a revealing glimpse into one extraordinary woman's story and her kitchen.