![]() Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. ![]() The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. ![]() On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. Carl Sagan, speech at Cornell University, October 13, 1994 ![]()
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![]() ![]() Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates. The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape-until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.Ī flying demon feeding on human energies.Ī secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.Īnd a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts-and fails-to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw. ![]() ![]() Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of City of Bones with a modern-day twist on a classic legend and a lot of Southern Black Girl Magic.Īfter her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. ![]() ![]() ![]() Oliver walks towards London but grows weak. Noah ruthlessly taunts Oliver over his mother’s death. Sowerberry, but runs away after suffering further neglect and the unkindness of a boy named Noah Claypole. He is sent to apprentice with an undertaker named Mr. When Oliver loses, he must beg for “more” after his first serving of gruel and is banished as a result. One day, the boys draw straws to choose who will ask for more food. He is first taken to a terrible orphanage, but when he is nine, he is sent back to the workhouse, where all the boys suffer harsh treatment and near starvation. Oliver is born in a workhouse to an unknown mother who dies in childbirth. The novel critiques the unjust consequences of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, which took away the rights of citizenship from paupers and assigned them to workhouses. A young-orphan boy is raised in a workhouse outside of London and is eventually taken in by thieves. Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens, is a novel set in 19th-century Victorian England. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() In this new life, Rhenn discovers that all too many of the ‘truths’ he knew were nothing of the sort and that every day brings a new threat to his life. Now he must leave his family and join the Collegium of Imagisle, where because of their powers (including the ability to do accidental magic even while asleep) and because they are both feared and vulnerable, imagers live separately from the rest of society. In a single moment, Rhenn’s entire life is transformed when his master patron is killed in a flash fire and Rhenn discovers he is an imager – one of the few in the entire world of Terahnar who possess the power to visualize things and make them real. ![]() He is skilled and diligent enough to be considered for the status of master artisan – in another two years. After all, anything written by this experienced and prolific author is always worth checking out – and this one is certainly worth the effort.Īlthough Rhennthyl is the son of a leading wool merchant in L’Excelsis, the capital of Solidar and the most powerful nation on Terahnar, he has spent years becoming a journeyman artist. When I came across this relatively new fantasy series by Modesitt, I decided to hunt down the first book. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Reed Hastings, founder of Netflix, teams up with business author Erin Meyer to give us a fascinating look into the exceptionally successful but unconventional business model of Netflix in No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention. Netflix owes its success to unprecedented flexibility and radical management principles that were put in place from the very beginning. But to do this, the company had to reinvent itself countless times over the years. Netflix created a revolution in the entertainment industry like never before. ![]() The company now even produces its own award-winning movies and television shows and is nothing short of a touchstone of modern culture. When Netflix started 20 years ago as a DVD-by-mail service, no one could have imagined it would become a streaming service with millions of worldwide subscribers. Listen to the audio of this summary with a free reading.fm account*: ![]() ![]() ![]() But if the precedent of 1964 were repeated, two years later the country would begin electing dozens of men and women just like him. He would be relegated to the ash heap of history. ![]() Think of a senator winning the Democratic nomination in the year 2000 whose positions included halving the military budget, socializing the medical system, reregulating the communications and electrical industries, establishing a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans, and equalizing funding for all schools regardless of property valuations-and who promised to fire Alan Greenspan, counseled withdrawal from the World Trade Organization, and, for good measure, spoke warmly of adolescent sexual experimentation. It is hard, now, to grasp just how profoundly the tectonic plates of American politics have shifted between 1964 and today. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Soon, a multigenerational family narrative turns into a whirlwind exploration of storytelling, lies, and life. Struggling to find a voice above the boom of her brothers and to understand her place on this side of the border and that, Lala is a shrewd observer of family life. But when she starts telling the Awful Grandmother's life story, seeking clues to how she got to be so awful, grandmother accuses Lala of exaggerating. Every year, Ceyala “Lala” Reyes' family-aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, and Lala's six older brothers-packs up three cars and, in a wild ride, drive from Chicago to the Little Grandfather and Awful Grandmother's house in Mexico City for the summer. From the celebrated bestselling author of The House on Mango Street and winner of the 2019 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. ![]() ![]() ![]() It is also a slow read with unconventional pacing. Imajica is filled with brilliant imagery, lavish descriptions, complex characters, and an intense, epic plot. It is also about the various people who move in and out of their lives, and how they may be affected by an event known as the Reconciliation ~~ the time for which is quickly approaching. This is the story of John Furie Gentle Zacharias ~~ a con man with mysterious powers, and his friend, guide, and eventual lover Pie'oh'Pah. It's also huge ~~ but Clive Barker manages to fill each page with something compelling. ![]() I bought a copy and quickly forgot about it while I instead read the Pistis Sophia: A Gnostic Gospel ~~ if you read my A Little Boy in Search of God: Mysticism in a Personal Light review, you'll know I was a weird kid.Ģ0 odd years later, I finally dug out my copy of Imajica after my friend, Spenky, choose it as my March Big Book Read. ![]() Surprisingly, our biggest seller for nearly six months was Clive Barker’s Imajica ~~ in hardcover no less. Selected by Spenky for March 2022 Big Book Readīack in my youth, I worked at a New Age bookstore. Afraid of letting go of what we are, in case we are nothing, and holding on so tight, we lose everything else. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.īut Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. No matter-she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. ![]() ![]() ![]() While they are a series, the Paul Dodge novels can be read and enjoyed in any order. ![]() When accusations fly and tensions rise, time is running out for Dodge to find justice for the victims and stop a psychopath before the body count rises again.ĭon't Miss the other books in the Paul Dodge series: With the killer growing in confidence and an old flame back in town, Dodge's personal and professional lives get tested and tangled. The sooner the case is closed the sooner he can get back to his parole work rather than poking his nose into the life of a serial killer. Now working a case outside of his normal expertise with a new team and a boss he isn't sure he can trust, Dodge tries to make the best of the bad situation. When a local street woman is found dead, he's assigned to work the case despite his personal objections. ![]() Paul Dodge is ready to return to his normal job as a Parole Agent in Virginia after a much-needed-and not very restful-personal hiatus. "Sure to engross fans of Connelly, Patterson, and Coben.” – Dave Edlund, USA Today best-selling author of the Peter Savage novels. ![]() |