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![]() Her stories and essays have been published in Shenandoah, West Branch, TriQuarterly, Pleiades, New Ohio Review, The Arkansas International, The Florida Review, Bennington Review, Passages North, Black Warrior Review, Fourteen Hills, The North American Review, Ninth Letter, New Orleans Review, Indiana Review, and other journals, as well as having won the Disquiet Prize (for nonfiction), the Walker Percy Prize (for fiction), and the Best of the Net (for nonfiction). She is the author of two books-the essay collection And It Begins Like This (Black Lawrence Press, 2017) and the novel When the Reckoning Comes (Harper Perennial, 2021), a Goodreads Choice nominee and Bram Stoker Award finalist. ![]() ![]() ![]() LaTanya McQueen is the recipient of grants from the National Endowment of the Arts (2022 Fellowship in Prose) and the Elizabeth George Foundation (2019 grant recipient). ![]()
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The series of unfortunate events book 15/12/2023 ![]() ![]() Most stuff, when you’re a kid, makes you feel like anything you could do would be nothing more than a Viciously Futile Diversion. Lemony Snicket taught me the power of books, and of words. (Or maybe the last one is, depending on how many questions it answers.) None of these sneaky, behind the scenes things are a Visibly Forceful Development in the first book, so it’s not as fun.īut I loved this series so much in my childhood. This phenomenon becomes more and more clear as the series progresses, which is why the first book is the worst one. Lemony Snicket creates this almost-reality wherein even the smallest, most mundane occurrence is Veritably Fixed & Deliberate. So the things about these books.the setting is amazing. I can’t put it better than Lemony Snicket himself, so I’ll just shoehorn in his words: Within these pages, “the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.” Second, we follow the Baudelaires - Violet, Klaus, and Sunny - through what can only be Very Foreseeably Described as a series of unfortunate events. What are you doing? There is nothing so important in your life that you can’t put it off in order to read this series. So, for the three misguided people who haven’t read this series - first off, get ON THAT. YES!!! The least fascinatingly detailed book in my favorite series! It just keeps getting better and better, folks. ![]()
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Letting Go In Bergamo by Daniel Hansen5/11/2023 ![]() In 2010 my oldest son passed away unexpectedly. When we have a deep emotional attachment to an event or circumstance in our life and we’re being asked to let it go, it can often feel like we’re being asked to move on and forget about the past, person, or event that we’re deeply connected to. The practice of letting go is used to support our acceptance of the way things are, and I believe it’s a cornerstone of creating a happy, full life.īut what happens when you’re being asked to let go of something that is deeply emotionally charged or something that directly relates to how you identify yourself? If you are lucky enough to spend time in mindful communities you will hear the phrase “letting go” used frequently. ![]() Stop giving time to things which no longer exist, when there is so much joy to be found here and now.” ~Karen Salmansohn ![]() “Don’t let the darkness from your past block the light of joy in your present. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Setting off on their trail, with Sue the dingo riding shotgun, they find themselves in a stark, strange world in which the animal apocalypse has only further isolated people from other species. When he takes off with Kimberly, heading south, Jean feels the pull to follow her kin. As the flu progresses, the unstoppable voices become overwhelming, and many people begin to lose their minds, including Jean’s infected son, Lee. And although Jean talks to all her charges, she has a particular soft spot for a young dingo called Sue.Īs disturbing news arrives of a pandemic sweeping the country, Jean realises this is no ordinary flu: its chief symptom is that its victims begin to understand the language of animals – first mammals, then birds and insects, too. Instead, she surrounds herself with animals, working as a guide in an outback wildlife park. She’s never been good at getting on with other humans, apart from her beloved granddaughter, Kimberly. Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, and allergic to bullshit, Jean is not your usual grandma. ![]() Out on the road, no one speaks, everything talks. ![]()
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Hell Cop by Astrid Amara5/11/2023 ![]() But when James uncovers evidence of police corruption he realizes that Moran may be in as much danger as he is. So does Argent want to clear him or expose him? Touching Sparks by Ginn Hale: When photojournalist James Sparks discovers an underworld of sorcery, blood sports, and demonic drug traffic, he turns to Detective Ben Moran, a hard-bodied Hell Cop whose touch sends James's pulse racing. ![]() Instead, he gets Argent, a man with intimate knowledge of Michael and whom Michael can't penetrate with his psychic powers. As a half-demon he expects trouble from the city's Hell Cops. His apartment's been ransacked, his dad's missing, and he's been framed for murder. Jay, Argent, and Ben are three of them, and they've just met the men of their hottest dreams. Red Sands by Nicole Kimberling: Anthropologist Michael Gold's got problems. Hell Cop Astrid Amara, Nicole Kimberling, Ginn Hale 3.90 1,139 ratings132 reviews Welcome to Parmas City, where demons and sorcerers live among ordinary people and a few tough Hell Cops protect them all. ![]() But Jay's burgeoning hope is threatened when a malevolent sorcerer unleashes a host of demonic assassins against Brian. Isolated, he is tortured by desire, until he meets Brian, a sensual young man who touches him with impunity. Next of Kin by Astrid Amara: Jay Yervant is a Hell Cop so powerful that his bare skin incinerates anyone he contacts. ![]()
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Bear by Ben Queen5/11/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() Worried that his abilities define their friendship, Bear embarks on an epic quest to find a magical forest spirit who may be able to help him regain his sight. The two make a great team, but when Bear’s vision suddenly vanishes one day, making him blind as well, he decides that the only way to stay by Patrick’s side is to find a way to get his sight back. Plus, talking animals! I guarantee you will not see the world the same way after you’ve seen it through the eyes of Bear.”īear follows the eponymous guide dog whose love for his owner, Patrick, knows no bounds. “ Bear is a wonder-filled adventure about the deep bond of friendship. ![]() Joe Todd-Stanton’s illustrations take that unique lens and add a whole new level of imagination and joy,” Queen said in a statement. “With Bear I really wanted to create something that shows a world that we are familiar with, but in a completely new and original way. The Beat can exclusively announce that BOOM! Studios imprint Archaia will publish Bear, a kids’ graphic novel about a guide dog and his owner, in August 2020. Pixar’s Ben Queen ( Cars 2, Cars 3, NBC’s A to Z) and children’s book author and illustrator Joe Todd-Stanton ( Arthur and the Golden Rope) will take readers on an all new adventure next summer. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Additional chapters provide insights into the influences on her work, its popular and scholarly reception, and interpretations of key themes and issues. While focused on her films, contributors also consider Coppola's shorter works for television, commercials and music videos, as well as explorations of the distinct elements of her signature style: cinematography, production/costume design, music, and editing. It includes individual chapters on her films, including The Virgin Suicides (1999), Lost in Translation (2003), Marie Antoinette (2006), Somewhere (2010), The Bling Ring (2013), The Beguiled (2017), and On the Rocks (2020). The Bloomsbury Handbook to Sofia Coppola offers the first comprehensive overview of the director's impressive oeuvre. ![]()
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![]() Eyes to Africa, in the context of Al-Idrisi’s creation, face toward a bright economic future, away from Europe’s persistent darkness. By placing Africa at the top of the frame - quite literally above the rest of the world - the map recognizes the region’s importance. ![]() ![]() ![]() The Tabula Rogeriana visualizes a world where prosperity lives in the South, sprouting from Africa’s lucrative trade routes, fruitful alliances and abundant resources. “The way you arrange a map tells you something about what’s important to you.”Īnd the map at the beginning of “Salt and Stars,” based on Moroccan cartographer Muhammed al-Idrisi’s Tabula Rogeriana (the most accurate world map in existence at the time of its completion in 1154), is no exception. “People have such a visceral reaction to ,” Joukhadar told our class (Reading the Body Politic: Literature as Moral Thermometer with Professor Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi). There’s a map in the front of Syrian-American novelist Zeyn Joukhadar’s debut novel “The Map of Salt and Stars.” It depicts the Sahara Desert at the top of the frame (due South) and the European continent at the bottom (due North) as they sandwich a centrally located Mediterranean Sea. ![]()
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Infinite jest barnes and noble5/10/2023 ![]() ![]() Finnegan’s more personal first person account of seeking out the world’s greatest wave is not that dissimilar from my search for the great taco. If The Dodgers make the play-offs, I will return to Knight’s Shakespearian tragedy to see if it plays out differently in Act II. I see both as questing-in-the Joseph-Campbell-way, but, fortunately, Finnegan and Knight write in non-syrupy, restrained sentimental overtures that attest to their disciplined, journalistic backgrounds. Barbarian Days: a Surfing Life by William Finnegan and The Best Team Money Can Buy by Molly Knight are specifically SoCal entreaties that transcend their limited scope as evidenced by glowing reviews from East Coast writers and the fact that I, a non-surfer and Minnesota Twins fan, am engaged. Two new buzzed-about-town books have kept my gaze sporadically throughout summer. Sometimes one book tempts me while I’m reading another I’ll see it sitting there on the pinball machine from across the room and smell the mint tea wafting my way. I don’t I start many, and each day continue with the one that beckons me like a siren, a chanteuse, a song from the neighbor’s attic or a gesturing come-hither hand disembodied. At least you pick up a book and read it straight through. Like you, I have an attention-span problem. Here’s a picture of the books I am currently reading. That’s because it’s summer and summer is for reading. You’ve noticed: I’ve not been writing everyday. ![]()
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Joker comic azzarello5/10/2023 ![]() And naturally, wherever Batman arises, Joke is never far behind. ![]() Written and drawn by Frank Miller, The Dark Knight Returns features an aging Bruce Wayne coming out of retirement and waging war on the criminals of a decaying Gotham City. ![]() And that influence carries over into the Joker movie, which features a scene directly inspired by the comic. ![]() It's certainly had a heavy influence on recent Batman movies like The Dark Knight Rises and Batman v Superman. The Dark Knight Returns The Dark Knight Returns may well be the most popular Batman graphic novel in existence. We see a struggling comedian and family man driven insane by the worst day imaginable, which isn't so different from how the movie handles Arthur Fleck's character arc. But even as the two eternal enemies battle it out in the present, a series of flashbacks show who Joker was before his descent into madness. The Killing Joke chronicles a formative showdown between the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime, one that infamously resulted in Barbara Gordon being shot and paralyzed. The Killing Joke is also the most significant example of a comic attempting to explore the Joker's murky origin story. That's hardly a surprise, as Bolland illustrated Batman: The Killing Joke, one of the most famous Joker stories ever published. 8 Images Batman: The Killing Joke The end credits for Joker list artist Brian Bolland as inspiration. ![]() |