|
|
|
 |
The heartless stone : a journey through the world of diamonds, deceit, and desire
Tom Zoellner.
Check Availability
340 p. : map, port. ; 21 cm.
An American Library Association Notable Book When he proposed to his girlfriend, Tom Zoellner gave what is expected of every American man--a diamond engagement ring. But when the relationship broke apart, he was left with a used diamond that began to haunt him. His obsession carried him around the globe; from the "blood diamond" rings of Africa; to the sweltering polishing factories of India; to mines above the Arctic Circle; to illegal diggings in Brazil; to the London headquarters of De Beers, the secretive global colossus that has dominated the industry for more than a century and permanently carved the phrase "A diamond is forever" on the psyche. An adventure story in the tradition of Susan Orlean's "The Orchid Thief," "The Heartless Stone" is a voyage into the cold heart of the world's most unyielding gem.
More Information |
|
 |
Here I stand
Paul Robeson ; with a preface by Lloyd L. Brown and a new introduction by Sterling Stuckey.
Check Availability
xxxvi, 121 p. : port. ; 21 cm.
Introduction by Sterling Stuckey Renowned actor and singer Paul Robeson spent his life battling for the civil rights of all Americans. Robeson was blacklisted during the McCarthy era and wrote his famous memoir, Here I Stand, as a bold answer to his accusers. "This amazing man, this great intellect, this magnificent genius with his overwhelming love of humanity is a devastating challenge to a society built on hypocrisy, greed and profit-seeking at the expense of common humanity." — The New York Times
More Information |
|
 |
The swallows of Kabul
Yasmina Khadra ; translated from the French by John Cullen.
Check Availability
195 p. ; 20 cm.
"Set in Kabul under the rule of the Taliban, this novel takes readers into the lives of two couples. Mohsen comes from a family of wealthy shopkeepers whom the Taliban have destroyed; and Zunaira, his beautiful wife, once a brilliant teacher, is now no longer allowed to leave her home without escort or covering her face. Intersecting their world is Atiq, a prison keeper, a man who has sincerely adopted the Taliban ideology and struggles to keep his faith, and his wife, Musarrat, who once rescued Atiq and is now dying of sickness and despair." "Desperate, exhausted Mohsen wanders through Kabul when he is surrounded by a crowd about to stone an adulterous woman. Numbed by the hysterical atmosphere and drawn into their rage, he too throws stones at the face of the condemned woman buried up to her waist. With this gesture the lives of all four protagonists move toward their destinies."--BOOK JACKET.
More Information |
|
 |
His Excellency : George Washington
Joseph J. Ellis.
Check Availability
xiv, 320 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Founding Brothers" delivers a landmark biography that brings to life in all his complexity the most important and perhaps least understood figure in American history--George Washington. photos. High school & older.
More Information |
|
 |
The history of love
Nicole Krauss.
Check Availability
252 p. ; 25 cm.
More Information |
|
 |
A history of the world in 6 glasses
Tom Standage.
Check Availability
viii, 311 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
More Information |
|
 |
The house of the spirits
Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Magda Bogin.
Check Availability
368 p. ; 24 cm.
More Information |
|
 |
Housekeeping
Marilynne Robinson.
Check Availability
219 p. ; 21 cm.
Their lives spun off the tilting world like thread off a spindle," says Ruthie, the novel's narrator. The same may be said of Becket Royce's subtle, low-keyed reading. The interwoven themes of loss and love, longing and loneliness—"the wanting never subsided"—require a cool, almost impersonal touch. Royce narrates natural and manmade catastrophe and ruin as the author offers them: with a sort of watery vagueness engulfing extraordinary events. Occasionally this leads Royce to sound sleepy or to glide over humor. But she expresses Ruthie's story without any irksome effort to sound childlike, and she avoids the pitfall of dramatizing other characters, such as the awkward sheriff, the whispery insubstantiality of Aunt Sylvie or the ladies bearing casseroles to lure Ruthie away from Aunt Sylvie and into their concept of normality. Originally published in 1980 and filmed in 1987, Housekeeping is finally on audio because of Robinson's new Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gilead.
More Information |
|
 |
How we die : reflections on life's final chapter
Sherwin B. Nuland.
Check Availability
xviii, 278 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
More Information |
|
 |
A human being died that night : a South African woman confronts the legacy of apartheid
Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela.
Check Availability
193 p. ; 21 cm.
A Human Being Died That Night recounts an extraordinary dialogue. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, a psychologist who grew up in a black South African township, reflects on her interviews with Eugene de Kock, the commanding officer of state-sanctioned death squads under apartheid. Gobodo-Madikizela met with de Kock in Pretoria's maximum-security prison, where he is serving a 212-year sentence for crimes against humanity. In profoundly arresting scenes, Gobodo-Madikizela conveys her struggle with contradictory internal impulses to hold him accountable and to forgive. Ultimately, as she allows us to witness de Kock's extraordinary awakening of conscience, she illuminates the ways in which the encounter compelled her to redefine the value of remorse and the limits of forgiveness. Book jacket.
More Information |
|
 |
I am Madame X : a novel
Gioia Diliberto.
Check Availability
261 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Drawing on the sketchy facts of her life to recreate her tempestuous personality, Diliberto imagines the story behind the subject of a controversial nineteenth century painting.
More Information |
|
 |
The Icarus girl
Helen Oyeyemi.
Check Availability
335 p. ; 21 cm.
Drawing on Nigerian mythology to present a strikingly original variation on a classic literary theme--the existence of "doubles," both real and spiritual, who play havoc with one's perceptions and life--this debut novel is the story of twins and ghosts, and a little girl growing up between cultures and colors.
More Information |
|
|
|
|
