Sunshine Nails


Book Description

This “insightful, moving story with striking depth” (Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author) follows a Vietnamese Canadian family in Toronto who will do anything to protect their no-frills nail salon after a new high-end salon opens up—even if it tears the family apart. Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran have built a comfortable life for themselves in Toronto with their family nail salon. But when an ultra-glam chain salon opens across the street, their world is rocked. Complicating matters further, their landlord has jacked up the rent and it seems only a matter of time before they lose their business. They enlist the help of their daughter, Jessica, who has just returned home after a messy breakup and a messier firing. Together with their son, Dustin, and niece, Thuy, they devise some good old-fashioned sabotage. Relationships are put to the test as the line between right and wrong gets blurred. Debbie and Phil must choose: do they keep their family intact or fight for their salon? “Sharp, witty, and warmhearted, [Mai] Nguyen’s debut tackles gentrification, small business ownership, prejudice in the workplace, and—most importantly—the depth of familial ties, and the power of a good manicure” (Shelf Awareness).




Quicklet on Glee Season 2 (CliffsNotes-like Summary, Analysis, and Commentary)


Book Description

Quicklets: Your Reading Sidekick! ABOUT THE BOOK Glee is part musical, part teenage drama, and part dark (but not too dark) comedy. The show is set in Lima, Ohio at fictional McKinley High School. Glee tells the story of the New Directions, McKinleys show-choir team that is composed of ambitious misfits. They are determined to win the national competition, but it is an uphill battle against their show-choir competitors, social pressures to be popular, and their own interpersonal dynamics. If thats not enough, Sue Sylvester, the cheerleading coach at McKinley, is hell-bent on destroying the glee club. She constantly torments the students for her own entertainment and inexplicably hates their coach, Will Schuester. Beneath her tough exterior, though, shes a bully with a big heart. Drawing off the popularity of American Idol, Glee provides prime-time audiences a rich context to experience the power of music. As the on-screen characters wrestle with theirs stereotypical identities, music gives them opportunities to express themselves fully and feel that they are part of something special. Its not all campy show tunes and sappy love songs. Often satirical, and at times absurd, Glee allows viewers to connect with their inner you-fill-in-the-blank: inner diva, inner jock, inner geek, inner over-achiever. . . you get the picture. The ensemble cast brilliantly portrays the anxieties and crises teenagers face. In watching them, were reminded that our insecurities dont all disappear the day we graduate high school. MEET THE AUTHOR Paula Braun is a recovering bureaucrat. On a whim, she took a one-year assignment in Iraq and followed it with another one-year assignment in Afghanistan. After that, she needed a break, so she semi-retired and joined a bridge club. To support her bridge habit, she entered the glamorous world of freelance writing. You can follow Paula on twitter @paula_braun EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Finn feels personally responsible for Sams injury and confesses to Emma that all three prayers he made to Grilled Cheesus have been answered. Emma provides practical explanations for what occurred, and tells Finn, Everyone struggles with the big questions. Finn is shaken by the news and sings R.E.M.s Loosing My Religion. Kurt is excited about the fashion at Mercedes church, and he show up with her wearing a fabulous hat. Mercedes asks the congregation to pray for Kurts father and leads the choir in an ensemble performance of Bridge Over Troubled Water by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. After church, Kurt visits his father in the hospital and tells him, I dont believe in God, Dad, but I believe in you, and I believe in us. You and me. Thats what sacred to me. Burt lightly squeezes Kurts hand, and Kurt calls for a nurse. The episode ends with the New Directions singing Joan Osbornes One of Us. Will expects Sue to turn him in to Principal Figgins, but she agrees not to use the song against Will. She had a change of heart after visiting her sister Jane who told her God never makes mistakes. Finn finally eats the remaining half of his Grillled Cheesus sandwich... Buy a copy to keep reading! CHAPTER OUTLINE Quicklet on Glee Season 2 (TV Show) + About Glee + About the Director and Producer + Overall Summary + Episode by Episode Commentary and Summary + ...and much more




Just Flirt


Book Description

A secret blog brings lies, lawsuits, and love to a self-proclaimed "Superflirt," a judgmental outcast, and a boyfriend-stealing bully at a struggling Maryland campground.




Tearing Us Apart


Book Description

Julian Pham is surviving high school. Openly gay, flamboyantly goth, and Vietnamese-American, he’s just about as different as his Oklahoma City high school can tolerate. He has good friends and a supportive family, which helps, but lately his family is changing and his friends have troubles of their own. Julian is afraid he’s being left behind. Then he meets Duncan. The star of the school basketball team, Duncan has never crossed Julian’s social path. A fateful encounter one cold night brings the two young men together, igniting a romance that neither of them expected, and that both can scarcely believe. But Julian and Duncan are in different places. Julian is happily out, unconcerned with others’ opinions. And Duncan, while he knows who he is, isn’t ready to face the challenges of living out loud. Even as the two grow closer together, Julian begins to question whether he can live with Duncan’s desire for secrecy. And even if he can, does that mean he should? When the crisis of their romance leads to a shocking betrayal, Julian must decide if he will fix this love or tear it apart.




Interesting Facts about Space


Book Description

"Meet Enid: a lesbian who's a serial dater and deaf in one ear. She works at The Space Agency as an information architect, and when she's not obsessing over true crime podcasts, she's managing her crippling phobia of bald people. While she tries not think about her teenage years, she can't seem to stop obsessively watching her childhood YouTube channel. But as Enid fumbles her way through her first serious relationship and navigates a new family life with her estranged half-sisters, she starts to worry that someone is following her. As her paranoia starts to take over her life, and the personal growth she's worked to achieve, she gradually discovers the one thing she can't outrun-herself. Brimming with Emily Austin's signature style, charming characters, and irresistible humor, Interesting Facts about Space will remind you to treasure the relationships you hold most dear, and will offer hope to those who seek to connect in ways they never thought to be possible"--




This Summer Will Be Different


Book Description

INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER A glorious and tantalizing new escape from #1 New York Times bestselling author Carley Fortune. This summer they’ll keep their promise. This summer they won't give into temptation. This summer will be different. Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again. It’s easier said than done. Each year, Lucy escapes to PEI for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again. If Lucy can’t help being drawn to Felix, at least she’s always kept her heart out of it. When Bridget suddenly flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to follow her to the island. Her mission is to help Bridget through her crisis and resist the one man she’s never been able to. But Felix’s sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy’s beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.




LIFE


Book Description

LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to share, print and post images for personal use.







We'll Meet Again


Book Description

Gosport, 1941. The Bluebird Girls - Rainey Bird, Bea Herron and Ivy Sparrow - are on their way to stardom. From working mens' clubs to the glamour of the Savoy Hotel, fame and fortune beckon as the south coast's favourite singing trio work to charm their way into the hearts of the nation. But the war rages on, and reaching the top of their game will not be easy. Blonde bombshell Bea is still dealing with the fallout of a traumatic encounter last winter. Rainey is determined to live up to her mother's belief in her, but finds herself struggling with the whirlwind of life in showbusiness. And Ivy, usually so self-possessed, is hopelessly in love... As bombs rain down and rationing bites harder, it will take all their grit, good humour and the support of friends and family to see them through. Can the girls keep their dream alive through Britain's darkest hour? 'Rich in period detail and, as always, passion, drama, friendship and family take star billing. [A] warm and appealing story' Lancashire Evening Post on The Bluebird Girls




Nothing But the Bones


Book Description

With lyrical prose and hard-hitting depictions of the hardscrabble life in the rural south, Brian Panowich, author of Bull Mountain, Like Lions, and Hard Cash Valley, delivers a gripping new chapter in his tales of McFalls County in Nothing But the Bones. In McFalls County, local crime boss Gareth Burroughs runs everything on the mountain. And Nelson “Nails” McKenna has been his enforcer since he was a teenager, though his heart's not really in the dirty work. Then one night in a local roadhouse, Nails goes too far, defending a woman, and even Burroughs’s reach can’t get him out of this one. With a dead body and countless witnesses, Nails and the woman become fugitives on the run, and unlikely partners. But on the road to Jacksonville, where a possible escape awaits, there’s more than one interested party on the pair’s trail, and the glimpse they had of getting away scot free suddenly seems elusive. In the end, Nails must make one final stand for his freedom—or pay with both of their lives.