![]() ![]() Riding through spectacular scenery, often in extreme temperatures, they face their hardest challenges yet. They have a close encounter with a family of gorillas in Rwanda and are nearly trampled by a herd of elephants in Botswana. ![]() Along the way, from the pyramids in Egypt to Luke Skywalker’s house in Tunisia, they meet people who have triumphed over terrifying experiences-former child soldiers in Uganda and children living amidst the minefields of Ethiopia. ![]() In Long Way Down, they share their 15,000-mile journey, from the northernmost tip of Scotland to the southernmost tip of South Africa, to ride some of the toughest terrain in the world. Inspired by their UNICEF visits to Africa, they knew they had to go back and experience this extraordinary continent in more depth. Now in paperback, this second remarkable travel book from famed actor Ewan McGregor and his good friend Charley Boorman chronicles their epic adventure ride on motorbikes from Scotland to South Africa.Īfter their fantastic trip around the world in 2004, recounted to acclaim in Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman couldn’t shake the travel bug. ![]()
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![]() There is a solidity to the world of the story that really anchors the faerie elements and makes the evil within the book more real. I really love speculative fiction set in a contemporary world, and McAlister captures teenage life – school, suburbia, family and friendships – beautifully. The things I enjoyed: there is a freshness and vibrancy to the writing that kept me turning the pages. ![]() In some ways she is my least favourite thing about the book. ![]() I get that, but that didn’t stop Pearl grating on me at times. McAlister had planned Valentine as the first in a 3 book series from the start and wanted to give the character room to grow. Having listened to McAlister speak about her book, I know that Pearl’s immaturity is intentional. To be honest, I found the main character, Pearl, quite annoying. I enjoyed Valentine, but I didn’t fall in love with it. She gave some great insights into her goals for the novel and some of the things she hoped to achieve with it. ![]() I bought a copy of Valentine when it was featured at a local bookstore’s inaugural Science and speculative fiction book club, and was lucky enough to be able to hear the author, Jodi McAlister, speak about the book. ![]() ![]() Likotsi’s shoes may be pointed to the future, but maybe the only way out of heartbreak is to learn why it had happened in the first place. The woman who Likotsi’d shared a whirlwind romance with, only to have it all fall apart without warning. The same Fabiola who’d swiped right nine months prior. That’s the plan, anyway, but when Likotsi’s subway train is stalled, someone starts trying to Airdropping photos to her iPhone and that someone is none other than the lovely Fabiola. Likotsi’s put on a new pair of shoes and she’s pointing them to the future. And because she’s having that day off in New York City, part of that means finally kicking the heartbreak she experienced the last time she was here. Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole is a lovely rich girl/poor girl, second chance romance.Īs the person who runs the Prince of Thesolo’s life, it’s rare for Likotsi Adelele to have a day off, so she’s determined to make the most of it. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all. ![]() Adaira, heiress of the east and Jack's childhood enemy, knows the spirits only answer to a bard's music, and she hopes Jack can draw them forth by song, enticing them to return the missing girls.Īs Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. The capricious spirits that rule the isle by fire, water, earth, and wind find mirth in the lives of the humans who call the land home. Enchantments run deep on Cadence: gossip is carried by the wind, plaid shawls can be as strong as armor, and the smallest cut of a knife can instill fathomless fear. But when young girls start disappearing from the isle, Jack is summoned home to help find them. Jack Tamerlaine hasn't stepped foot on Cadence in ten long years, content to study music at the mainland university. House of Earth and Blood meets The Witch's Heart in Rebecca Ross's brilliant first adult fantasy, set on the magical isle of Cadence where two childhood enemies must team up to discover why girls are going missing from their clan. ![]() ![]() ![]() Don't miss Marissa Meyer's other books and series': The Lunar Chronicles: Cinder Scarlet Cress Winter Stars Above Fairest The Lunar Chronicles Coloring Book Wires and Nerve: Vol. With high-stakes action and a smart, resourceful heroine, Cinder is a Cinderella retelling that is at once classic and strikingly original. ![]() Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future. ![]() ![]() But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. " - Entertainment Weekly "Prince Charming among the cyborgs." - The Wall Street Journal Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. a cross between Cinderella, Terminator, and Star Wars. "An interesting mash up of fairy tales and science fiction. The first book in the #1 New York Times - and USA Today -Bestselling Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer like you've never seen it before, now with new cover art! See where the futuristic YA fairytale saga all began, with the tale of a teenage cyborg who must fight for Earth's survival against villains from outer space. ![]() ![]() ![]() The story is set in an unnamed country, but the similarities with Norway are striking: the climate, the turncoat Prime Minister (Quisling) and the pitiful military response to the invasion. Judging by its success, it must have played a role in mobilising resistance and keeping up morale. The book would become one of the most read underground novels of the war, with thousands of copies printed clandestinely in France, Denmark, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1941, Steinbeck wrote The Moon is Down, which is largely based on conversations with people who’d fled their occupied countries. He’d noticed the Fascists’ clever use of propaganda and urged the precursor to the CIA, for whom he worked, to create their own. Steinbeck, a world famous author by the start of the war, was deeply concerned about the rise of Fascism in Europe. ![]() The story behind The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck World War II novel is as fascinating as the book itself. ![]() ![]() ![]() In all of his eccentricities, his teachings get to the heart of the matter: we are not what we take ourselves to be, we are the very universe itself. He only spoke in Marathi, and would employ translators for Westerners. He liked to argue with his disciples, and would kick them out if he felt they have overstayed their welcome after receiving the essence of his teachings. Nisargadatta Maharaj gave satsang, or spiritual teachings, based out his Bombay (Mumbai) apartment until his death in 1981. He wasn’t a typical yoga practitioner. He made a living making and selling cigarettes on the street and chain smoked them as he gave his teachings. The book is in the the typical question and answer format one reads in most of the non-dualist genre. It took me so long because the concepts in the book, when thought about and considered, are among the deepest one may experience. The book contains 101 chapters which are two to four pages long. It certainly wasn’t long drawn out chapters. Any high school student could understand it if they have the patience to decipher some the Sanskrit terminology that can be found in the book’s appendix. Why did it take me so long? It certainly wasn’t that he used complicated words. ![]() I started reading it in late May and just finished now in mid-September. ![]() I just finished all 531 pages of I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj, translated by Maurice Frydman. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Goodnight Moon, and indeed most of Brown's exceptional and quirky bibliography, are that perfect marriage of mesmerizing for children and tantalizing for adults. One became so battered that it fell apart at the old lady whispering hush - split into two parts, invocation ("In the great green room") and benediction ("Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere"). In my own nursery no less than four copies have passed through. Of the more than 100 published and unpublished books written by the intrepid and prolific Margaret Wise Brown, there is probably none more well-worn than Goodnight Moon. Weekend Edition books editor Barrie Hardymon talks with Lulu Garcia-Navarro about the thread of adventure that runs through Brown's life and work. And, it's been 75 years since The Runaway Bunny first left home. A new biography by Amy Gary, called The Great Green Room, has just been released, along with a previously unpublished picture book called North, South, East, West. She died suddenly at age 42, leaving behind a body of unpublished work.Ĭhildren's book doyenne Margaret Wise Brown is having a big week. Margaret Wise Brown is the author of beloved children's books such as Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Profound, moving, and as Charlotte would say radiant, this book will stay with anyone lucky enough to find it. George's joy during stolen moments when she can be herself will resonate with anyone who has felt different, while providing a necessary window into the specific challenges of a child recognizing that they are transgender. From the award-winning author of Melissa, the story of a boy named Rick who needs to explore his own identity apart from his jerk of a best friend. The taunts of a school bully, George's self-doubts, and her mother's inability to truly hear what George is telling her carry real weight as debut author Gino's simple, direct writing illuminates George's struggles and quiet strength. ![]() George's teacher doesn't allow to George to audition for the part, but her supportive best friend Kelly, who is cast as Charlotte, comes up with a plan that may give George the chance she needs. When George's fourth-grade class has tryouts for a school production of Charlotte's Web, George desperately wants to play Charlotte, a character she adores. Though others see her as male, 10-year-old George has long known that she is a girl, and she longs for people to see that truth, even while the idea terrifies her. George, a book written by Alex Gino, was the most-challenged book in 2020 for the following reason, according to the SAL 2021 report: Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting ‘the values of our community.’ That didn’t tell me much about what its plot was. ![]() ![]() ![]() There have to be camps for differently-abled kids like her, and she’s going to sleuth one out. And now with her Medi-talker, she feels nothing’s out of her reach, not even summer camp. Melody, the huge-hearted heroine of Out of My Mind, is a year older, and a year braver. “ Melody faces her fears to follow her passion in this stunning sequel to the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling middle grade novel Out of My Mind. Out of My Heart just came out yesterday and is the official continuation of Melody’s story. Case in point, Out of My Mind is as popular as ever and now, in 2021, we’re finally seeing a sequel. Given the right audience, they just keep perpetuating new readers. ![]() ![]() Still, that’s the funny thing about middle grade novels. The original readers of that novel grew up. What was it, 2010? More than a decade ago, that’s for sure. I remember when Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper was first released. ![]() |