Poetics of Light


Book Description

Focusing on over two hundred plants, this guide assists the gardener in creating gardens of self-sustaining beauty.







In the Time of the Butterflies


Book Description

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024, internationally bestselling author and literary icon Julia Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies is "beautiful, heartbreaking and alive ... a lyrical work of historical fiction based on the story of the Mirabal sisters, revolutionary heroes who had opposed and fought against Trujillo." (Concepción de León, New York Times) Alvarez’s new novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, is coming April 2, 2024. Pre-order now! It is November 25, 1960, and three beautiful sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The official state newspaper reports their deaths as accidental. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. It doesn’t have to. Everybody knows of Las Mariposas—the Butterflies. In this extraordinary novel, the voices of all four sisters--Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and the survivor, Dedé--speak across the decades to tell their own stories, from secret crushes to gunrunning, and to describe the everyday horrors of life under Trujillo’s rule. Through the art and magic of Julia Alvarez’s imagination, the martyred Butterflies live again in this novel of courage and love, and the human costs of political oppression. "Alvarez helped blaze the trail for Latina authors to break into the literary mainstream, with novels like In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents winning praise from critics and gracing best-seller lists across the Americas."—Francisco Cantú, The New York Times Book Review "This Julia Alvarez classic is a must-read for anyone of Latinx descent." —Popsugar.com "A gorgeous and sensitive novel . . . A compelling story of courage, patriotism and familial devotion." —People "Shimmering . . . Valuable and necessary." —Los Angeles Times "A magnificent treasure for all cultures and all time.” —St. Petersburg Times "Alvarez does a remarkable job illustrating the ruinous effect the 30-year dictatorship had on the Dominican Republic and the very real human cost it entailed."—Cosmopolitan.com




Lark Ascending


Book Description

Winner of the Southern Book Prize ​for Fiction * Winner of a Nautilus Award (Gold)​ A timely, powerful story of survival set in the not-too-distant future that Margaret Renkl (Late Migrations) calls “a beautiful book...shot through with such tenderness and humanity, such love and courage and beauty and hope, that it feels almost like a prayer.” With fires devastating much of America, Lark and his family first leave their home in Maryland for Maine. But as the country increasingly falls under the grip of religious nationalism, it becomes clear that nowhere is safe, not just from physical disasters but also persecution. The family secures a place on a crowded boat headed to Ireland, the last place on earth rumored to be accepting American refugees. Upon arrival, it turns out that the safe harbor of Ireland no longer exists either—and Lark, the sole survivor of the trans-Atlantic voyage, must disappear into the countryside. As he runs for his life, Lark finds two equally lost and desperate souls: one of the last remaining dogs, who becomes his closest companion, and a fierce, mysterious woman in search of her lost son. Together they form a makeshift family and attempt to reach Glendalough, a place they believe will offer protection. But can any community provide the safety that they seek? Lark Ascending is a moving and unforgettable story of friendship and bravery, and even more, a story of the ongoing fight to protect our per­sonal freedoms and find our shared humanity, from a writer at the peak of his powers.




We Came to Santa Fe


Book Description

Literary Nonfiction. Memoir. WE CAME TO SANTA FE is an anthology of 73 different authors who come together to share their unique and individual story as to how it is that they were drawn to the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico. This collection of memoirs and stories describing the background, reason, trials, troubles and excitements that brought this group of outstanding individuals to make their homes in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and its surroundings, serves to explain the charm, attraction and way of life to be found in what has become known as "The City Different." Artist, doctors, poets, authors, sculptors, and activists all share their trips over the past fifty years to define a way of seeing the world in an unusual and exciting manner.




Reckonings


Book Description

Unlike most anthologies that present a single story from many writers, this volume offers an in-depth sampling of two or three stories by a select number of both famous and emergent Native women writers. Here you will find much-loved stories (many made easily accessible for the first time) and vibrant new stories by such well-known contemporary Native American writers as Paula Gunn Allen, Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, and Leslie Marmon Silko as well as the fresh voices of emergent writers such as Reid Gomez and Beth Piatote. These stories celebrate Native American life and provide readers with essential insight into this vibrant culture.




Collector's Guide


Book Description

The Collector’s Guide strives to be a trusted partner in the business of art by being the most knowledgeable, helpful and friendly resource to New Mexico’s artists, art galleries, museums and art service providers. Through a printed guidebook, the World Wide Web and weekly radio programs, we serve art collectors and others seeking information about the art and culture of New Mexico.




My Name is Arnaktauyok


Book Description

This book includes the story of artist Germaine Arnaktauyok's traditional Inuk life in her own words, commentary on her works, and over one hundred full-colour reproductions of her pieces.




Never a Dull Moment


Book Description

Extraordinary people lead extraordinary lives and, from the beginning, even before he had any control over his life, John Meigs’ life was extraordinary: kidnapped by his father, never to see his mother again. Once on his own, he tried his hand as a reporter in Los Angeles in 1936, and then in Honolulu, where he got drawn into the art world, becoming one of the original designers of the Hawaiian aloha shirts. Those pursuits were interrupted with the onset of World War II and John’s enlistment in the Navy. After a serendipitous escape of death and military duty in Florida, John returned to Hawaii, where he met New Mexico artist Peter Hurd. That encounter led John to New Mexico and to interactions with a wide variety of notable people, including painters Andrew Wyeth and Georgia O’Keeffe, poet Witter Bynner, oilman and cattleman Robert O. Anderson, and actor Vincent Price. With the notable artist Rolf Armstrong, of “pin-up girl” calendar fame, John traveled to Paris in 1952 where his off-beat nature led him to Alice B. Toklas. After returning to New Mexico, numerous opportunities knocked on John’s door, beckoning him in different directions all at the same time. In 1979, his travels led to a particularly significant development in John’s life when he picked up a hitchhiker, who became a complicated fixture in his life as both a sidekick and a love object. Meig’s fascinating life continued to unfold, garnering attention and impacting those close to him. As can happen, though, even with the most accomplished and creative, eventually, a sad, slow mental decline set in.




Sam Myers


Book Description

Sam Myers: The Blues Is My Story recounts the life of bluesman Sam Myers (1936-2006), as told in his own words to author Jeff Horton. Myers grew up visually handicapped in the Jim Crow South and left home to attend the state school for the blind at Piney Woods. Myers's intense desire to become a musician and a scholarship from the American Conservatory School of Music called him to Chicago. There in 1952 he joined Elmore James's band as a drummer and was featured on some of James's best-known recordings. Following the elder bluesman's death in 1963, Myers fronted bands of his own and recorded many well-received singles and albums. In 1986, Myers became the W. C. Handy Award-winning front man, vocalist, and harmonica player for Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets. Throughout the book, Myers provides a historical context to a bygone era of the blues and reveals his own thoughts and feelings about the musicians with whom he played. And they are a list of who's who in the blues-Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Hound Dog Taylor, and Robert Lockwood Junior in addition to Elmore James. In one chapter, Myers describes a personalized deeper meaning to the blues. And in another he relates a series of anecdotes about the lighter side of life on the road. Contributions from Myers's father and stories from a boyhood friend round out the narrative. Dallas musician Brian “Hash Brown” Calway dissects the more technical aspects of Myers's harmonica style. Long-time friend and bandmate, Anson Funderburgh, weighs in with a chapter about their songwriting methods and offers some of his own recollections on their twenty years together.