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The feminine spirit of the West comes alive in early twentieth century Montana.
Copper Sky
by Milana Marsenich
(Fiction)
Set in the Copper Camp of Butte, Montana in 1917, Copper Sky tells the story of two women with opposite lives. Kaly Shane, mired in prostitution, struggles to
find a safe home for her unborn child. Marika Lailich, a Slavic immigrant, dodges a pre-arranged marriage to become a doctor. As their paths cross, and they become unlikely friends, neither woman knows the family secret that ties them together.
"Copper Sky is a riveting story of darkness and redemption, rising from the ashes of two fiery tragedies in Butte, Montana. Marsenich creates two heroines whose great losses lead them ever closer to truth. And as their stories unfold, the Butte of one hundred years ago startles to full and undeniable life." --Phil Condon, author of Clay Center, Montana Surround, and Nine Ten Again
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Wings of a Flying Tiger
by Iris Yang
World War Two. Japanese occupied China. One cousin's courage, and another's determination to help a wounded American pilot.
In the summer of 1942, Danny Hardy bails out of his fighter plane into a remote region of western China. With multiple injuries, malaria, and Japanese troops searching for him,
the American pilot's odds of survival are slim.
Jasmine Bai, an art student who had been saved by Americans during the notorious Nanking Massacre, seems an unlikely heroine to rescue the wounded Flying Tiger. Daisy Bai, Jasmine's younger cousin, also falls in love with the courageous American.
With the help of Daisy's brother, an entire village opens its arms to heal a Flying Tiger with injured wings, but as a result of their charity the serenity of their community is forever shattered.
Love, sacrifice, kindness, and bravery all play a part in this heroic tale that takes place during one of the darkest hours of Chinese history.
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late husband who died in the Vietnam War. Was his mother uttering some dementia-inspired fantasy, or was her true character shining through in her last moments to leave the brothers a clue to their real heritage? After her death, Philip decides to take a DNA test.
The brothers set off on a genetic treasure hunt in search of who they really are -- and what that might mean. Are they purely products of their genetics; or were they formed more completely by their social interactions and upbringing? Are they merely victims of randomness; or are they some combination of those factors? And who, exactly, is Mr. Wizard?
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The Drift That Follows Will Be Gradual
by Alan Rifkin
Richard Leviton is an aging romantic, twice divorced, with visions of literary grandeur. Beginning in the 1980s, a golden age of magazine journalism and a period of unmatched freedom in Los Angeles, and continuing through the convulsions of the 2010s, Leviton grows through a harrowing crucible of circumstances -- romantic chaos,
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Trigger Warning
by Robert Klose
Within these halls of learning, one must proceed with caution.
Happily ensconced as a tenured Professor of Biology at the small Skowhegan College in the wilds of Maine, Tymoteusz Tarnaszewski--who goes by the moniker "T"--suddenly finds himself in unknown
territory when an incident in a colleague's classroom motivates the college administration to issue a blanket policy requiring the installation of "trigger warnings" in all syllabi.
T, believing that this would constrain his teaching, refuses to comply, even after one of his own students lodges a complaint about something T said during the course of a genetics lecture. The administration's judgment is swift: T will be terminated at semester's end for insubordination.
What recourse, if any, does T have to save his position? And what will he do when he learns the higher-ups knew, early on, that the student who lodged the complaint against him is actually a threat to the school?
Political campaigns are rich terrain for satire, with their blend of media manipulation, public relations antics, and often exaggerated personas. Here are some of the best satires that delve into the absurdities of political campaigning.
Nevergreen
by Andrew Pessin
A smart, fast, funny, and incisive portrait of today's liberal arts college scene, cancel culture and more!
A chance encounter -- if it is by chance -- gives J. the opportunity he's
been hoping for but never expected would present itself. A physician in a midlife funk, obsessed with paintings of corpses and dissections, he is asked to speak about his subject of interest at the beautiful and secluded island campus of Nevergreen College. "Welcome to the asylum!" announces the woman who arranged the invitation and greets him at the dock, and his restless stomach seems an eerie harbinger of what is to come -- an initially curious and ultimately terrifying overview of academentia. No one actually shows up for his lecture, but that doesn't stop it from becoming the center of a firestorm of controversy -- with potentially fatal consequences.
Bright College Years
Andrew Pessin
Coming of age doesn't only happen to the young.
When a former close friend and rival is murdered, world-weary but still aspiring optimist Jeffrey goes back to the beginning, to those fraught college years at Yale University during the 1980s and to her, to make
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Numerous novels have been inspired by William Shakespeare's works, themes, characters, and life. These novels take inspiration from Shakespeare's plays and characters, as well as the famous playwright himself, offering new and creative interpretations of his timeless stories and lasting impact on the world of literature. Here are 10 novels that draw inspiration from Shakespeare:
Quantum Voices
by Stephen Spotte
Anax Grayson, a neuroscientist and physicist, enlists in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and is assigned to an undermanned reconnaissance team. One member, Skeeter Hatfield, came of age in a southern West Virginia coal camp and suffered since childhood from a rare malady known as heautoscopic
Rolling in the Deep
by Arthur Kevin Rein
How far will Sam and his friends go to discover what secrets lay at the bottom of the lake?
Seventeen-year-old Sam Robel knows about loss. After the death of his older brother, his family bought
Heautoscopic hallucinations, also known as autoscopy or out-of-body experiences, are intriguing phenomena that have been explored in various literary works. While novels explicitly focused solely on heautoscopic hallucinations might be rare, there are several novels that incorporate these experiences as part of broader themes related to consciousness, identity, or the supernatural. Here are a few novels that feature heautoscopic hallucinations or related themes.
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hallucinations during which he sees ghostly, extra-corporeal projections of his dead twin brother. In a journal Grayson records life as a field Marine, his observations of Hatfield's neurological condition, and speculates about matter and time. Hatfield survives a mortar attack and returns home with debilitating wounds. He marries a childhood acquaintance and with her help tries to overcome the terrifying hallucinations of his antagonistic Other. Spotte's narrative mosaic juxtaposes the dysfunctional, barely literate Hatfield family against Grayson's sympathetic erudition, weaving a mesmerizing disquisition on friendship, love, notions of time and space, neuroscience, quantum physics, consciousness, and the myths of agency and selfhood.
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sense of what happened -- only to discover that what needs most making sense of is himself.
By turns smart, funny, and heart-wrenching, Bright College Years tracks Jeff and an ensemble cast as they navigate the shortest
Children of Saturn
John Neeleman
Children of Saturn is a literary novel of the French Revolution. Continuing the literary tradition advanced by Hilary Mantel, Children of Saturn is a revisionist historical novel rooted in deep research, which dramatizes the past in order to speak to the present -- the ambition, idealism, corruption, and social unrest of the French Revolution highlighting contradictions that still haunt us today, Children of Saturn dramatizes historical figures who were ahead of their time, hewing close to the bones of history while vividly imagining the inner lives of its cast.
Children of Saturn is told through the fates of three contrasting real-life historical figures -- the English/American political activist Thomas Paine; the French Revolution's leading radical journalist Camille Desmoulins; and the Machiavellian politician Joseph Fouche. In stark contrast to his triumph during the American Revolution, Paine's dreams for global democracy are tested to the limit by the dark realities of revolutionary Paris. Meanwhile, Camille finds himself hunted by the very political hysteria he helps to incite with his incendiary newspaper. And Fouche discovers a talent for ruthlessness and treachery both in the halls of government and on the field of battle. Finally, vexing and beguiling them all is the charismatic Marguerite Brazier, a lover to both Paine and Camille, a fierce advocate for the rights of women, and a character who is never quite who she seems.
Surviving The Warming: Strategies for Americans
Lorin R. Robinson
THE ONE BOOK TO READ ABOUT
PREPARING FOR THE CLIMATE CRISIS
Surviving the coming world of the warming will pose significant challenges for the world's eight billion people. And, despite America’s status as the world's richest, most technologically advanced country, Americans will fare no better than others.
Elevated temperatures, rising ocean levels, and more numerous damaging storms will, within 
several decades, render large portions of the United States inhospitable to human habitation and bring with it economic and social chaos.
several decades, render large portions of the United States inhospitable to human habitation and bring with it economic and social chaos.The author maintains that the heat of the warming will crack, blister and peel away what has always been the thin veneer of civilization -- leading over time to the demise of civil society and the collapse of major institutions.
While continued efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are laudable, they are too little, too late. As he demonstrates, we are already long past the tipping point after which the worst of the warming cannot be avoided. It has become baked in—irreversible. Instead, we need to increase our focus on how to adapt and survive the developing long-term climate calamity.
The book explores coming changes in housing, the economy, family finances, food, water, employment, energy, healthcare, safety and security and suggests ways in which families can prepare for them -- starting now!
Such Stuff as Dreams
by Thomas Garlinghouse
A struggling Hollywood Golden Age screenwriter collaborates with the world's greatest playwright
It's 1936 and Hollywood screen- writer Joe Holliday has a secret. He can see and communicate with ghosts. But because of a difficult childhood, he has long suppressed his ability.
When the mercurial head of Apex Studios tasks him with writing a modern version of a Shakespeare play, Joe gradually regains his ability. Reopening himself to the spirit world brings him into contact with an old acquaintance--someone from his very distant past. This persistent, and very illustrious, spirit has a different writing task for him--some unfinished business the two had embarked upon over 400 years ago.
When these two tasks ultimately come into conflict, Joe is forced to make a decision that will have far-reaching, life-changing consequences.
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Igor Ostapenko
Igor Ostapenko is an engineer by education, specializing in corporate training and development within the oil and gas industry. Since 2006, he has been actively involved in teaching, managing instructional teams, and organizing engineering classes. Igor also takes a leadership role in coordinating English language and soft skills training, while designing comprehensive training programs. With his extensive expertise and unwavering commitment, Igor has made substantial contributions that greatly impacted the growth and success of multiple organizations in the industry. His passion for education and continuous improvement remains the driving force behind his impactful work in corporate training and development.
Middle East 101: Navigating Culture, Traditions, Psychology, and Business Practices upcoming in Fall 2024.
Middle East 101: Navigating Culture, Traditions, Psychology and Business Practices
by Igor Ostapenko
For a large number of people, the Middle East has become more than just a place for shopping and ascending the Burj Khalifa. Expats are coming to live and work here. Yet all these people encounter a new culture and sometimes find themselves at a loss.
Cultural competence allows us to understand other people on the level of motives, values, and conventions. Most importantly, it helps us expand our own horizons. If we all had a slightly better understanding of other nations and cultures, the world would see fewer wars.
Middle East 101 provides a comprehensive guide to successfully navigate culture, traditions, psychology, and business practices within this diverse region. Because the more you know about Islam and the Middle East, the less likely you will fall into the traps of conspiratorial thinking, become a victim of cognitive biases, and explain what is happening around you using cliches. Success in the region can only be achieved with emotional intelligence and cultural competence. Gaining trust in the Middle East is possible only if you communicate with complete sincerity, showing respect for the local religion, culture, and interlocutor.
Unleashed
A Comic Relief
by David L. Gersh
What has the world come to? Can people trust a dog more than they trust a politician?
San Buenasara is ripe for the plucking and the Mexican Cartel wants to pluck it. Walter Carsone, the former Chief of Police is running for mayor, a position left vacant by an unfortunate accident involving a steamroller. There's a lot of outside money behind Carsone. And no one trusts him.
Karen and Jimmy are desperate to save their little town. Everyone is scared. Except Bruno, their brave, long-haired Dachshund. He doesn't have a hat, but he's tossed it in the ring.
It all started as a big joke until it turned deadly serious. Through threats and intimidation, through twists and turns... and a 60 Minutes segment, Bruno is running strong.
Will his luck run out? Or can Bruno unleash the future?
Mr. Wizard
by Jeff Wallach
Two brothers. One mother. One big question.
Two days before her death, Jenny Elliot suggests to her fifty-year-old son Phillip that, being half-Irish, he should be more careful about his drinking. Phillip, along with his brother Spencer, has grown up believing they were the fully Jewish-American offspring of Jenny and her
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Witness No More
by Arthur Kevin Rein
Ten months have passed since Max Cherhasky, his father J. Roman, and step-mother Nadine disappeared from their lakeside mansion in Walnut Creek, Wisconsin. Roman's testimony against the Chicago Mob has placed the family in mortal danger. The Witness Protection Program has changed their names, uprooted their lives, and dragged them to a small town in South Dakota.
Max meets Leah, a beautiful artist who possesses a vision for color beyond his understanding, and falls in love. Beyond her, there is no happiness in his new home. As Max's high school graduation nears, he makes plans to escape his family, the town, and the WPP. But the Cherhaskys are hiding from more than the Mob. Back in Wisconsin, a warrant is issued for the murder of Max's mother, Madeline, dead twelve years.
What happens when a murder suspect is under federal protection? Witness No More, the final volume in the Red Wolf Chronicles trilogy, follows Max as he goes off the grid with a partner he has always disdained. But can he forget Leah so easily? And what about the truth he can never leave behind?
Beneath the Same Heaven
A story of love and terrorism...
Beneath the Same Heaven is a love story of an American woman and a Pakistani-born Muslim man, who seem to have bridged the divide between Western and Islamic world views. But when the husband's father is killed by a US drone attack near the Afghan border, their cross-cultural family descends into conflicting ideas of loyalty, justice, identity, revenge, and terrorism. With candor, beauty, and unusual insight, their story reveals both how decent people can justify horrific acts, and the emotional power required to heal.
"Heaven and Other Zip Codes deals with marital relationships and their complexities faithfulness, divorce, gender roles, etc.), but the narrative is about so much more. Readers will fall in love with this page-turning, brilliant novel. Cailler is destined for an award with this newest post-modern masterpiece." —Niles Reddick, Midwest Book Review
Noquebay Resort in Northern Wisconsin to escape their grief.
Sam's friends Max and Diane also know about loss. Max's mother died long ago and his father's mysterious wealth and trophy wife are the talk of Walnut Creek; and six years ago, Diane's sister Jean disappeared without a trace.
One day while fishing with Max, Sam's line snags something from the bottom of Red Wolf Lake, and the discovery sets off a series of events that not only involves the three teenagers but also their friends and families, the sheriff's department, the other citizens of Walnut Creek, and, last but not least, a ruthlessly powerful small-town family, the Manticores, who seem intent on taking Noquebay Resort from Sam's family, no matter what the cost.
How far will Sam and his friends go to discover what secrets lay at the bottom of the lake?
alcoholism, home loss, professional obscurity, and cultural transition -- all while attempting to anchor his son Philip's precarious security.
With eloquent, almost intoxicating prose, the nine linked episodes comprise one bittersweet, sometimes funny, deliciously messy journey through the ache of generational drift, the cultural rapids of the 21st century, and the timelessness of young dreams.
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Chechnya: The Inside Story
From Independence to War
In Chechnya: The Inside Story historian and former advisor to the president of Chechnya, Mairbek Vatchagaev chronicles the dramatic events that took place in Chechnya during the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Engaged on one side of the Russian-Chechen conflict, he presents what he witnessed, how he became involved, how the struggle with Russia and the internal Chechen rivalries evolved, and how it impacted his family, his friends, his acquaintances, and the Chechen people.
