The setting is Russia. The time is 1914. The place is a count’s estate. From the time she was young, Lara has spent most of her time in the kennels with the famed borzoi dogs. For centuries these dogs were bred by aristocrats for hunting. To Lara, they are her life and her future. She has a special bond with the dogs that goes beyond the normal relationship between animals and their humans.
What seems so obvious to Lara, that she belongs in the kennel with the Borzoi, is not as clear-cut to her father. And in 1914, the decision is her father’s to make.
This is a favorite title in our family. My daughters love getting a glimpse of life in Japan. This story offers side by side comparison between America and Japan of a familiar and fun topic: baseball. The main character is a little boy who visits a baseball game in America with his Pop Pop, and again in Japan with his Ji Ji.
The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911. Morton has taken the facts and created a very entertaining story to fit the circumstances. We do know that a man named Peruggia who had worked at the Louvre, stole the painting and Morton adds a rich cast of characters and an interesting plot to the theft. Paris at the turn of the century is a character itself! In Morton’s story, Valfierno is the chief architect of the theft and its elaborate con.
John Green writes novels for young adults, but you don't have to be young to enjoy them. I'm forty-three, and he's one of my favorite contemporary authors.
In the Palm of Your Hand isn’t just a handy poetry guide for poets, it also contains a hefty chunk of poems from both known and lesser-known poets. Steve Kowit masterfully demonstrates that a combination of both writing and reading is essential for a strong and extensive writing path.
The book is organized quite well with simple but thorough explanations of various aspects and forms of poetry followed by thoughtful exercises. Poems are peppered throughout the book, offering direction, insight and inspiration.
In the days before Hurricane Katrina is to hit Bois Savage, Mississippi, families are preparing their homes for the event as they’ve always done. Young Esch and her brothers have been left to their own devices since their mother’s death as their father is usually too drunk to care for them. One brother struggles to win a coveted scholarship to basketball camp, one dotes on his Pit Bull who has just birthed a liter of valuable puppies, Esch reaches a startling and unwelcome epiphany, and the youngest just gets in everyone’s way.
Poor Doug Parker. At 29, he’s living a life he never anticipated. And it's great. Surprisingly great. Great, until his wife Haley goes off and dies, leaving him alone to deal with his 16-year-old stepson, Haley's beefed-up ex-husband, and a crushing sadness that prevents him from really living.
One part jazz, one part hip-hop, one part space jam, one part funk of the earth, Cinematic Orchestra’s Every Day is (at the very serious and dangerous risk of hyperbole and cliché) truly an album that defies convention and classification. For musicians, there are moments sublime and surreal harkening back to the funk/jazz cocktails of Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter featuring the superb vocals of Fontella Bass (particularly on the opening track, “All That You Give”).
British television is fashionable nowadays. Downton Abbey, Sherlock, and Doctor Who exemplify the latest trend in Trans-Atlantic entertainment. But before BBC America went gangbusters, there were several British comedies from the late 90s and early 00s that have since either created American spin-offs (The Office) or spawned solid film careers for British actors and writers. The latter is true for Simon Pegg, one of the creators and actors of the show Spaced.
