He enjoys every magical moment, relishing the contrast to life in a children’s ward, with its frightened patients, unsavory medicines and desperate parents. Each encounter is more astonishing than the last, from cooking classes with elves to mice that talk to the endless wonders of Santa’s workshops. When they arrive at the North Pole, Jimmy meets an assortment of extraordinary characters, all of whom are eager to introduce him to the many marvels of their home. Of course Jimmy accepts and within moments finds himself sitting wide-eyed in Santa’s sleigh, soaring through snowy skies behind eight flying reindeer. Saint Nick invites Jimmy on an adventure, one which will grant him a brief respite from the illness that plagues him. One wakeful night in the ward, he receives an unexpected visit from none other than Santa Claus. But Jimmy knows better: endless medications, constant pains and wracking coughs are the unfortunate realities of his days. Joseph’s Hospital at the height of World War II, Jimmy suspects that his illness is far worse than anyone will admit, especially to him.
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Interspersed with these stories are expositional chapters in which background information of each of the three friends is revealed: how they all came to Palm Springs, and how they came to be friends with each other. As they eat their grilled chicken in a run-down suburb of Palm Springs (where they all live), they indulge in their habit of telling each other stories, what they all know are fictionalizations of uncomfortable truths about their individual lives. The first part of the novel (narrated in first person by protagonist Andy) focuses on the conversations that take place over a picnic lunch between life-confused Andy and his equally confused friends Dag and Claire. As the narrative explores the ways the three friends struggle to define themselves and their relationships, it also explores themes related to the function and nature of storytelling, the tension between materialism and self-expression, and the power/value of friendship. This novel, perceived as revolutionary at the time it was published in the early 1990s, uses the individual stories as three good friends as metaphoric representation of the story of an entire generation - Generation X, young people born in the late 1950s and early 1960s. For the young Duque she is forced to marry, she discovers, is a cruel caricature of a man, a person twisted in mind and body. Within the castle's heavy walls the rebellious Juana finds an atmosphere of secrecy, almost of conspiracy, and a number of cunning, sinister figures, chief among whom is the sardonic Felipe Tristán, the Duque's protector and mercenary, behind whose scarred face lie memories of horror Juana can only guess at.īut the greatest horror is reserved for Juana, and for Juana alone. Taken against her will from her home and from Jaime de Nueva, the man she loves, she is brought to the massive, magnificent Castillo Benaventes, the home of Bartolomé, Duque de Valenzuela - the man to whom she must be wed. Spanish court of King Philip IV, this is the story of lovely, spirited young Juana de Arrelanos. Set against the dazzling opulence and dangerous intrigue of the 17th c. The rest was history.Īs battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society’s biggest events: the Schuylers’ grand ball. There were a LOT of historical liberties taken with the plot, it was rather slow and the main characters felt like cardboard cutouts, not fully dimensional flawed people. I was really looking forward to this one, since obviously I love Hamilton the musical, but I found it a little disappointing. This month on the blog is Hamilmonth, in honour of me going to see Hamilton for the first (and I’m sure not last) time in London with my friends next week (yes, I’m ridiculously excited about it and will not stop talking about it), so I decided to read the two Hamilton related books that I had on my bookshelf in the weeks leading up to going to see the show, and to kill two birds with one stone, this is also my #RockMyTBR book for February. Bechdel Test: Fail-All the conversations Eliza has with other women in this book revolves somehow around Hamilton. ".even textured, with just the right amount of spice, it is the literary equivalent of hot cakes" - Sunday Telegraph "It is a series of ingeniously linked short novels, with a great deal of history painlessly delivered. "What's impressive about Russka is Edward Rutherfurd's audacity-and his erudition" - Washington Post The novel manages to capture and convey the vastness of Mother Russia, her story and her potential" - Boston Sunday Herald From Russia's dawn and the cruel Tatar invasion to Ivan the Terrible and the wild Cossacks, from Peter, Catherine and the days of War and Peace to the drama of the Revolution and the extraordinary events of today-here is Russia's story in a spellbinding novel history recreated with breathtaking detail and passion. Through the life of a little town east of Moscow in the Russian heartland, Edward Rutherfurd creates a sweeping culture and her peoples-bleak yet exotic, brutal but romantic, land of ritual yet riddled with superstitious fears. In this vast and gorgeous tapestry of a novel, serf and master, Cossack and tsar, priest and Jew are brought together in a family saga which unrolls through centuries of history to reveal the most impenetrable and mysterious of lands-Russia. His memoir, which is an Editor’s Pick on Amazon, has been called “essential” ( Entertainment Weekly) and “hilarious” ( AV Club). Odenkirk is the author of A Load of Hooey, which resembles nothing so much as a hilarious sketch comedy show for your mind, and the New York Times bestseller Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama: A Memoir. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Vice Magazine, and Filter Magazine, among other publications. Show with Bob and David, and many other seminal TV shows. From his cult status as a comedy writer, to his reinvention as an award-winning actor in drama and an action-film star, Odenkirk shares his journey in engaging and hilarious events.Ī legend in the comedy-writing world, Odenkirk has won Emmys and acclaim for his world on Saturday Night Live, Mr. As an actor, Odenkirk has also appeared in The Larry Sanders Show, Oscar-nominated film Nebraska, the Sundance hit The Spectacular Now, and Netflix original Girlfriend’s Day, which he also co-wrote. He has been nominated for numerous awards for his work, including Emmys, Golden Globes, and has won the Critic’s Choice Award twice. Award-winning writer, actor, and New York Times bestselling author Bob Odenkirk is known for playing slippery lawyer “Saul Goodman,” a character he originated on AMC’s Breaking Bad and went on to play in the hit spinoff Better Call Saul. I need to know who this will be bout? Will we go back to Elena & Raphael's world or will we get to finally see Illium or even Venom or Jason or heck just everyone! Can Singh Please just release all the books in one hit so I don't have to wait!!! Some might call that inconsistency but I call it grist for the writer's mill. So far, I've worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher and not necessarily in that order. If you’d like to see some of my travel snapshots, have a look at the Travel Diary page (updated every month). I’m back in New Zealand now, but I’m always plotting new trips. I also spent three years living and working in Japan, during which time I took the chance to travel around Asia. I was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. I hope to continue living the dream until I keel over of old age on my keyboard. In September 2002, when I got the call that Silhouette Desire wanted to buy my first book, Desert Warrior, it was a dream come true. There's no other job I would rather be doing. I love creating unique characters, love giving them happy endings and I even love the voices in my head. I've been writing as long as I can remember and all of my stories always held a thread of romance (even when I was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). And that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined by their maddest edges. Ronson not only solves the mystery of the hoax but also discovers, disturbingly, that sometimes the personalities at the helm of the madness industry are, with their drives and obsessions, as mad in their own way as those they study. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud in Coxsackie, New York a legendary CEO whose psychopathy has been speculated about in the press and a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane who insists he's sane and certainly not a psychopath. And so Ronson, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, enters the corridors of power. An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and nonverbal clues. Jon Ronson's exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world's top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and everyone else who studies them. Her story begins as her friendship with Kaushik fades away. The subject of Part Two of the collection, along with Kaushik. The boyfriend chooses the mistress over Sang. Sang is a beautiful woman and the protagonist of "Nobody's Business." Her boyfriend is cheating on her, and she finds out that her roommate Paul already knew, but eventually, they work through that conflict. "Only Goodness" is the story of the decay of their relationship as Rahul loses control of his alcoholism and mental health issues. Sudha is a successful person, but her little brother Rahul is kind of a failure and definitely an alcoholic. This occurs in the story, "A Choice of Accommodation." Sudha and Rahul His story is told in "Hell-Heaven." AmitĪmit's wife Megan is catching onto the fact that Amit's friend, Pam, might have been more than a friend, but ultimately, they work through it, somewhat, and end up having sex. Pranab ChakrabortyĪn MIT grad student whose homesickness is alleviated by his participation with a local family of the same heritage, or at least a similar heritage. Ruma's decision to stay at home to care for the house and her son, Akash, is the subject matter of "Unaccustomed Earth," the first story in the collection. Written by people who wish to remain anonymous We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. The Lorax arrives at the Once-ler's door with various animals in tow, forcing him to see the effects of his factory's destruction of environment and pollution on the wildlife. He employs all his relatives, and chops down more and more Truffula trees. He objects to the chopping down of the Truffula trees, but the Once-ler pays him no mind, and immediately begins expansion of his Thneed business. Immediately after this first chop, we are introduced to the Lorax, a small creature who appears to advocate for the trees that the Once-ler has begun chopping down. The Once-ler is captivated by the soft and beautiful tufts of the Truffula trees, and decides to chop down a tree and build a garment called a Thneed out of its tuft. This valley was pure and clean with life teeming throughout it. It begins with the Once-ler's arrival at a flourishing forest of Truffula trees and many interesting animals. He arrives at the tall, winding house of the Once-ler, and pays him in exchange for his story. The Lorax opens as a young boy walks down away from a town on the Street of the Lifted Lorax on a polluted, empty hill. |