Before We Were Strangers


Book Description

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection” post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City. To the Green-eyed Lovebird: We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House. You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more. We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other. Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding… I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello. After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half? M




We Were the Lucky Ones


Book Description

The New York Times bestseller with more than 1 million copies sold worldwide | Soon to be a Hulu limited series starring Joey King and Logan Lerman Inspired by the incredible true story of one Jewish family separated at the start of World War II, determined to survive—and to reunite—We Were the Lucky Ones is a tribute to the triumph of hope and love against all odds. “Love in the face of global adversity? It couldn't be more timely.” —Glamour It is the spring of 1939 and three generations of the Kurc family are doing their best to live normal lives, even as the shadow of war grows closer. The talk around the family Seder table is of new babies and budding romance, not of the increasing hardships threatening Jews in their hometown of Radom, Poland. But soon the horrors overtaking Europe will become inescapable and the Kurcs will be flung to the far corners of the world, each desperately trying to navigate his or her own path to safety. As one sibling is forced into exile, another attempts to flee the continent, while others struggle to escape certain death, either by working grueling hours on empty stomachs in the factories of the ghetto or by hiding as gentiles in plain sight. Driven by an unwavering will to survive and by the fear that they may never see one another again, the Kurcs must rely on hope, ingenuity, and inner strength to persevere. An extraordinary, propulsive novel, We Were the Lucky Ones demonstrates how in the face of the twentieth century’s darkest moment, the human spirit can endure and even thrive.




Magdaragat


Book Description

Since first arriving in Canada, the Filipino community has contributed invaluably — and too often invisibly — to the fabric of Canadian society. In this anthology of Filipino-Canadian writing, Magdaragat explores the diverse intricacies of this growing yet underrepresented people, continuing the vital work of recognizing and celebrating their cultural contributions. Writers in this anthology, hailing from across Turtle Island, each provide their singular yet universally resonating insights through stories of new homes and old homelands, of untangling internalized racism and championing solidarity, of the chasms within intergenerational households and the work of repairing them, and more. Poems, essays, short fiction, plays, and speeches — their works collected here showcase a wide breadth of Filipino-Canadian experience. Through stories of sacrifice, violence, and discrimination interspersed with stories of success, recovery, and solidarity, Magdaragat delves into Filipino-Canadian history, the joys and struggles of its present, and the hopes and aspirations for the future.




Inside Chinatown


Book Description

Victoria’s Chinatown is Canada’s oldest Chinese neighbourhood and has a lineage unbroken since 1858. With large-format colour photos and photocollages, Robert Amos and Kileasa Wong take you behind the doors of the 29 private clubs that make up the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, where you’ll see the gilded altars, antique art and ornate furniture that grace the meeting halls. Through stunning pictures and text in both Chinese and English, you will meet the club members and take an inside look at the culture of this complex community. Inside Chinatown is sure to become a landmark publication chronicling the vibrant heritage of Chinese Canadians. Inside Chinatown was voted Monday Magazine's Non-Fiction Book of the Year, and authors Robert Amos and Kileasa Wong were presented with a 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award from BC Heritage for their work on Inside Chinatown.




The Marriage of Rose Camilleri


Book Description

An illuminating portrait of an unconventional marriage by bestselling and critically acclaimed author Robert Hough. When Rose Camilleri and Scotty Larkin meet, neither expects to spend a lifetime together, navigating a sometimes turbulent marriage and scraping through the process of raising a family. When he first enters the bakery where she works, she is a new arrival from the tiny island nation of Malta, fond of rabbit stew and Hollywood cinema. He is a thoughtful printer’s assistant recently released from juvenile detention after stealing and swiftly totalling a stranger’s car. Even after years of marriage and two children together, Rose struggles to shake the idea that perhaps she should have held out for someone as voluble and optimistic as herself. But while some marriages are weakened by trauma, Rose and Scotty's union is strengthened by the act of survival, and they find their own kind of happiness along the way. In The Marriage of Rose Camilleri, Robert Hough writes his larger-than-life characters with warmth, insight and humour, displaying the masterful approach to storytelling that gained his previous novels acclaim and several prestigious award nominations. Hough transports the reader into the epicentre of an unconventional love story, where he draws out captivating details from the fabric of an ordinary shared lifetime to create a story that lives in the moment and takes seriously the small but vital details of everyday life.




Enrique's Journey


Book Description

The true story of a boy who sets out with absolutely nothing to find his mother who went to the US from Honduras to look for work.




Rebirth: Wife's Penitence


Book Description

Both of her rebirths occurred in the seventies, when technology was still underdeveloped. Lu Xinfei felt that she was born to be unlucky. However, on the second time, Lu Xinfei, who was used to living the life of an unlucky person, came back from the dead end. Although she was reborn into someone else's body, the difference was that this time, she was reborn into a child. Wait a minute, who was that familiar person? Let Lu Xinfei think...




Crossing the Blvd


Book Description

A collection of first-person narratives and anecdotes, close-up portrait photographs, and the author's personal and historical reflections capture the rich ethnic diversity of the people and landscapes of the borough of Queens in New York City, in a volume that comes complete with an audio rendition of the oral histories and music by composer Scott Johnson. Original.




The Stranger on the Train


Book Description

A mother’s worst nightmare: the subway doors close with her baby son still on the train. In this suspenseful debut novel, a woman goes to unimaginable lengths to get her child back. A struggling, single mother, Emma sometimes wishes that her thirteen-month-old son Ritchie would just disappear. Then, one quiet Sunday evening, after a sinister encounter on the London Underground—Ritchie does just that. Emma immediately reports his abduction to the police but there she faces a much worse situation than she ever imagined. Why do the police seem so reluctant to help her? And why do they think she would want hurt her own child? If Emma wants Ritchie back, she’ll have to find him herself. With the help of a stranger named Rafe, the one person who seems to believe her, Emma sets off in search of her son. She is determined to find Ritchie no matter what it takes…but who exactly is the real enemy here? "A heart-stopper” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) with dark twists and intertwining narratives, The Stranger on the Train is an unforgettable, “first-rate debut thriller” (Washington Post) that you will keep you guessing until the shattering finale.




The Murderous Haircut of the Mayor of Bel Air


Book Description

As a hairstylist with psychic powers, Danica Luman uses her power to give great haircuts. But things get hairy when one day she looks into the mind of a customer and sees a dead body.




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