![]() ![]() She does not so much mine them for insight as treat them as portals to hidden worlds. ![]() Jemisin’s writing process often begins with dreams: imagery vivid enough to hang on into wakefulness. I needed to build a world that would explain her.” That’s a person who has been through so much shit that she has been pushed into becoming a leader. “She was angry in a slow burn, with the kind of anger that is righteous, enough to change a planet. “I need to know how that person became who she is-a woman so angry that she was willing to move mountains,” she told me. Jemisin awoke in a sweat and jotted down what she had seen. Jemisin did not know how she had triggered the woman’s fury, but she believed that, if she did not ameliorate it quickly, the woman would hurl the smoldering massif at her. She was glaring down at Jemisin and radiating anger. Standing before the formation was a black woman in her mid-forties, with dreadlocks, who appeared to be holding the volcano aloft with her mind. “It was a chunk of rock shaped like a volcanic cone-a cone-shaped smoking mountain,” she recalled. ![]() In her sleep, she found herself standing in a surreal tableau with a massif floating in the distance. ![]() Jemisin, the fantasy and science-fiction author, had a dream that shook her. ![]()
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![]() ![]() There I briefly made the case that Jesus offered an alternative between those Jews, like the tax collector, Matthew, who colluded with Rome, and others like Simon the Zealot, who sought to violently eject the Romans from the land. Was Jesus a “Zealot”, a Jewish political revolutionary? According to a new popular book by Reza Aslan, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, the answer would be “yes”.Īslan’s conclusion is in marked contrast with what I wrote on Veracity just last week and before. But does Aslan’s creative thesis really deliver? Reza Aslan’s, Zealot, has profited greatly from an embarrassing television interview gone viral. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Discussion questions for each section of Euripides Medea Award-winning poet Robin Robertson has captured both the vitality of Euripides' drama and the beauty of his phrasing, reinvigorating this masterpiece for the twenty-first century. Strong-willed and fiercely intelligent, she turns her formidable energies to working out the greatest, and most horrifying, revenge possible.Įuripides' devastating tragedy is shockingly modern in the sharp psychological exploration of the characters and the gripping interactions between them. But Medea is not a woman to accept such disrespect passively. He has forgotten all the promises he made and is even prepared to abandon their two sons. Her husband, Jason, has left her for a younger woman. History is made by women, just as much as men. We'd sing of men's failings, and their blame. Never passed on the flame of poetry to us. No more hymns to our faithlessness and deceit. ![]() ![]() ![]() Plus learning about the rest of Leah’s life and the people in it was really interesting. The fact that they will even help you get a loan to pay your “Donation”? I really cannot believe how much MONEY and TIME you have to put in to be involved in Scientology. She reveals this and more because she said Scientology will pay a lot of money to dig up all of this to prove that their religious beliefs are being attacked…so they will definitely try to disparage her reputation. ![]() She says her mom was promiscuous in her younger days, dad sold cocaine and was set to Rikers… Apparently her husband sold drugs and cheated. For example the fact that she fell in love with a married man, lied, cheated, physically threatened people (parking meter maids and people who hit their kids in public). Making her TV acting debut in 1986, Leah Remini would see her star rise 12 years later with a leading role on the long-running hit show King of Queens. I love the fact that right at the beginning of the book she mentions all of the things that she and her family have done. ![]() Using her personal knowledge to portray her experiences with Scientology and the repercussions she endured as a result of living it and eventually leaving it. This was also only my second audio-book ever! I have nothing against audio books I just hadn’t had the opportunity to listen to one until recently.Ĭonsidering how much I really liked Leah and that I’d been wanting to learn more about Scientology for a while, I figured this would be a good one. I LOVE Leah Remini, and after she left Scientology in 2013 my curiosity about both her and Scientology increased. ![]() I was so excited when I heard that this book was coming out. ![]() ![]() ![]() Though it’s meant to contribute to the “mystery” of the story, the timeline is not linear. The plotting in Four Dead Queens is a bit of a mess. Why even include the queens POVs? One POV doesn’t even show up until the last 100 pages, and I found it impossible to take an interest in them. That just feels counterintuitive to building character to me. Maybe the idea was to alert readers to the fact that deaths were coming to draw them in. So much of the buzz for that series comes from character deaths. Maybe this is influenced by A Game of Thrones. It’s not even a spoiler to say they died, it’s in the title! I wound up rushing through these chapters just to see their death scenes which felt…gross. I didn’t want to invest in them as characters because I assumed they were going to die. ![]() ![]() Knowing that the queens were (supposedly?) dead made the queens POV chapters feel moot. All told, this book uses 6 different POVs. Opposite Keralie’s chapters, you have POV chapters from all of the queens. As you learn in the synopsis, she quickly gets entangled in a murder mystery surrounding the 4 dead queens of Quadara. ![]() ![]() ![]() Squire Allworthy lives with his sister, Bridget Allworthy. He consoles himself that he will join his wife in the next world. Allworthy is a widower whose children had died in infancy. Squire Allworthy is introduced as favored by Nature and Fortune. The narrator purports to follow the best cooks of the age in serving the plainest fare first, then spicing up his offering to equal the elaborate and exaggerated presentations of Europe. However, he argues that what matters are not the elements he represents but rather the way he uses and presents them, similar to the way a chef manipulates ingredients in order to fashion a dish that can appeal to many palates. The narrator explains that this is a wide subject which could be seen as general and crude. ![]() The main provision on offer by Fielding is human nature. The novel begins with the narrator's assertion that authors should consider themselves as publicans, and that their purpose should be to outline what they have to offer to the reader in the way a menu is presented to a customer. ![]() ![]() ![]() In this little library that has become the heart of this small town, Kit, Sunny, and Rusty are drawn to each other, and to a cast of other offbeat regulars. They're joined by Rusty, a Wall Street high-flyer suddenly crashed to earth. Bright, curious, and eager to connect with someone other than her off-the-grid hippie parents, Sunny coaxes Kit out of her self-imposed isolation. The judge throws the book at Sunny-literally-assigning her to do community service at the library for the summer. ![]() She can simply submerge herself in her beloved books and try to forget her problems.īut that changes when fifteen-year-old, home-schooled Sunny gets arrested for shoplifting a dictionary. Here, no one expects Kit to talk about the calamitous events that catapulted her out of what she thought was a settled, suburban life. For head librarian Kit, the public library in Riverton, New Hampshire, offers what she craves most: peace. Most come for the books themselves, of course some come to borrow companionship. People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Halpern's novel is an unforgettable tale of family.the kind you come from and the kind you create. From journalist and author Sue Halpern comes a wry, observant look at contemporary life and its refugees. ![]() ![]() ![]() Or the creepy demon monkey that Jason Blood comes to town for. And I'm sure it was even more awesome if you were reading it as it came out in single-issue form in the 80s.Īnd let's not forget the Floronic Man. The big takeaway is that Swamp Thing finds out that he isn't Alec Holland covered in moss, but that he's a sentient plant creature who was created when he absorbed the memories of Alec Holland at his death. There's really no backstory for the reader regarding any of that. You're sort of dropped into the middle of the story with Swamp Thing (Alec Holland) remembering past things, Abby running around weeping over her seemingly dead friend, and her husband just acting like a creep. Abby and her husband whatshisname were digging around in the swamp looking for Alec and talking about it cryptically.Īnd that might be the "worse" thing about this. He was all half-dead when this opened and there were some vague references to some kind of a big battle(ish) thing that had taken place. I'm not a Swamp Thing expert (obviously) and I certainly didn't know anything about what had been going on with this character prior to Moore's incarnation.Īpparently, he'd been shot up by someone or something like that. ![]() Until the next time when I ignore your good advice b/c I'm an asshole. You guys were right and I will forever bow to the knowledge of my betters. Yes, I realize I should have listened to all of you who for years have been telling me to get off my duff and read this. I really wasn't sure what to expect but DAMN! ![]() ![]() ![]() He’s definitely snagged my attention, but when he nearly winds up dead, I know he’s getting closer to the truth-and if I don’t do something soon, he might be next. Hiro is determined and charming, and no matter what I do, I can’t stop letting him get involved. The words of the dead could lead us to the serial killer and even tell us who is next, but ghosts? There’s no such thing as ghosts. ![]() To add to my frustration, I keep running into Hiro at crime scenes only to hear him claim that he can talk to ghosts. When another man dies, I know we have a serial killer on our hands-the same murderer who has remained elusive for a year and a half. Still, the more I’m around Maddox, the more I realize that beneath that surly exterior is a kind and caring man who will do anything to help. It doesn’t help that I keep finding myself looking ridiculous in front of the detective, thanks to interfering ghosts who enjoy laughing at my expense. Now, I’m determined to figure out who is responsible for his death… the problem is that Detective Maddox Booker, the one working the case, is a grumpy and stubborn man who wants nothing to do with me and definitely doesn’t believe in ghosts. ![]() Though I was born with the ability to see the dead, I struggled with it until my brother was killed and his ghost was left behind. ![]() ![]() ![]() One is noticeable in the timeline at the back of the book. I'd say this book does a good job of explaining the history of the Beatles to children in just over 100 pages. It can't be too complicated or too long, but you don't want to skimp out on or downplay the important facts. Enjoyable read for anyone and even rabid Beatles fans. I found this to be well written and presented the major facts about each of the members of the Fab Four and what they accomplished as a band as well as through the breakup of the Beatles and the launches of their individual careers great as an overview or refresher for other books that have been written about the Beatles and the stories behind each of the individual members. I thought I knew a lot about the Beatles since I was there to witness their rise and enjoy their music when it was new. The author explores and shares what the musical influences and personal backgrounds of each of them were as well as former band members who left earlier. ![]() The Beatles, aka The Fab Four, were probably my favorite band when they came upon the scene and are definitely at the top of my charts even today. The author shares details about the lives of the members of the Beatles and how they got together to form and name the band. Who Were the Beatles? by Geoff Edgers is a short but fact-filled book in the award-winning "Who Was." series targeted specifically for the youth market. ![]() |