5/22/2023 0 Comments Anne rice castrati![]() Anne] Rice seems like nothing less than a magician: It is a pure and uncanny talent that can give a voice to monsters and angels both." - The New York Times Book Review "To read Anne Rice is to become giddy as if spinnning through the mind of time." - San Francisco Chronicle "If you surrender and go with her. ![]() Praise for Anne Rice and Cry to Heaven "Daring and imaginative. These men are revered as idols-and, at the same time, scorned for all they are not. This is the story of the castrati, the exquisite and otherworldly sopranos whose graceful bodies and glorious voices win the adulation of royal courts and grand opera houses throughout Europe. In a sweeping saga of music and vengeance, the acclaimed author of The Vampire Chronicles draws readers into eighteenth-century Italy, bringing to life the decadence beneath the shimmering surface of Venice, the wild frivolity of Naples, and the magnetic terror of its shadow, Vesuvius. ![]()
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5/21/2023 0 Comments Jessica cluess house of dragons![]() I’m just as obsessed with brilliant Vespir as I am with cocky Ajax. I’ve read other books with alternative POV chapters and have found myself slogging through one character’s chapters to get to another’s. Each of the main characters is complex and interesting, and it never feels like you’re spending more time with one of them. She easily handles an impossible task – in 448 pages, she deftly alternates between five point-of-view characters while also explaining an entire empire’s history and customs. You didn’t know you needed a book that’s The Hunger Games meets Game of Thrones? Well, you did, and Cluess has far exceeded that simple tagline. These five misfits tackle four challenges to see who will be the next emperor. A royal family’s dragon trainer, Vespir, is called to the challenge, and when her younger sibling is called instead of her, Hyperia does what she must to ensure she can compete. Younger siblings Emilia, Lucian, and Ajax find themselves thrown into the competition, one of them more prepared than the others. When the emperor dies, the eldest children of the five royal houses are typically called to compete for the title. House of Dragons, by Jessica Cluess, is a story told from five points of view. ![]() ![]() If the novel’s journey to publication is not indication enough that this is the book of Hieber’s heart, the opening chapter alone provides convincing testimony. Hieber often finds herself cheekily referring to the novel as “Victorian Ghostbusters” with action, adventure, mythology and an adorable love story-but that doesn’t quite do justice to the lyrical quality of Hieber’s stunning prose. The result is a hauntingly beautiful romantic suspense for young adults that is peppered with well-placed horror and riveting gothic history. That effort paid off as STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL eventually sold in a three-book deal to Tor that not only restored Hieber’s faith in the industry-and herself-but also allowed her to go back to the story’s original vision. Like many authors, her road to success has been fraught with highs and lows: the struggle to find a publisher, the excitement in landing a deal, the despair when that deal went sour, and then the sheer determination to find another place for her work. ![]() ![]() Leanna Renee Hieber would never willingly tell you how hard the publishing industry is-though she’d have good reason. ![]() 5/21/2023 0 Comments Ancillary justice goodreads![]() ![]() (Shout out to some of my faves that made the top 50 cut: Dark Matter, The Handmaid’s Tale, Kindred.)īut there is also clearly a large gap in my sci-fi/fantasy consumption! I was surprised to find how much more sci-fi I read than fantasy in the top 50 lists. ![]() I’ve loved it ever since I picked up my first Stephen King novel (Salem’s Lot) at the tender, and probably inappropriate, age of 10.Īs part of their sci-fi/fantasy week, Goodreads listed the top 50 books in both genres. Having perused the list, I’ve read quite a few. □ Sequel will be coming as soon as I stop obsessively editing!), I obviously have a thing for sci-fi and fantasy. Given I’m a fantasy YA author (shameless plug: The Travelers, check it out if you like. ![]() This week is Goodread’s Sci-fi & Fantasy week, where you can find top 50 lists, recommendations from experts and basically geek out on everything that lies within a fantastical realm. ![]() I’m just mentioning how other people use Goodreads. Look up author quotes to post on Twitter so you seem smart.Take a quiz to test your Sansa Stark knowledge.Get stuck for hours down the rabbit hole of a completely random discussion thread (perhaps something like ‘Is there no character/ person that exists that is like Jem Carstairs?’).Second, you should jump right over there (after you finish reading this blog, of course) because it’s a great place to If you’re not familiar with Goodreads, first, what’s wrong with you? (Just kidding.) It’s undervaluing itself with the whole ‘good’ moniker. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() When he is sent back to the front, Emily volunteers as a “land girl,” tending to the neglected grounds of a large Devonshire estate. She is convinced by a cheeky and handsome Australian pilot that she can do more, and it is not long before she falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage. Inspired by the events and people of World War II, writer Rhys Bowen crafts a sweeping and riveting saga of class, family, love, and betrayal.īuy it: | Amazon | BN.com | Book Passage | Audible AudiobookĪs the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong twenty-one-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. Can he, with Pamela’s help, stop them before England falls? But Pamela has her own secret: she has taken a job at Bletchley Park, the British code-breaking facility.Īs Ben follows a trail of spies and traitors, which may include another member of Pamela’s family, he discovers that some within the realm have an appalling, history-altering agenda. The assignment also offers Ben the chance to be near Lord Westerham’s middle daughter, Pamela, whom he furtively loves. After his uniform and possessions raise suspicions, MI5 operative and family friend Ben Cresswell is covertly tasked with determining if the man is a German spy. World War II comes to Farleigh Place, the ancestral home of Lord Westerham and his five daughters, when a soldier with a failed parachute falls to his death on the estate. ![]() 5/21/2023 0 Comments Junji ito smashed![]() ![]() ![]() Ito's influences include classic horror manga artists Kazuo Umezz and Hideshi Hino, as well as authors Yasutaka Tsutsui and H.P. aka 'Smashed' or 'The Will Smith Tree' by Junji ItoMusic in order:Aftermath - by Kevin MacLeodAwkward Meeting - by Kevin MacLeodApprehension - by Kevin MacLe. His titles include Tomie and Uzumaki, which have been adapted into live-action films Gyo, which was adapted into an animated film and his short story collections Fragments of Horror, Shiver and Frankenstein, all of which are available from VIZ Media. About the Author: Junji Ito made his professional manga debut in 1987 and since then has gone on to be recognized as one of the greatest contemporary artists working in the horror genre. Welcome to Junji Ito's world, a world with no escape from endless nightmares. ![]() What horrific events happened to create the earthbound-people tied to a certain place for the rest of their short lives? Then, a strange haunted house comes to town, but no one expects it to lead to a real hell. Try not to be noticed when you eat the secret nectar, otherwise you'll get smashed. Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection Hardcover Illustrated, April 16 2019. Thirteen chilling nightmares, presented by the master of horror. ![]() 5/21/2023 0 Comments The red platoon![]() ![]() The unwritten rule is a new guy's life isn't worth as much 'cause he hasn't put his time in yet - and they say, if you're gonna get killed in the Nam, it's better to get it in the first few weeks, the logic being you don't suffer that much. It's scary, 'cause nobody tells me how to do anything 'cause I'm new and nobody cares about the new guys. We get up at 5 am, hump all day, camp around four or five, dig a foxhole, eat, then put out an all-night ambush or a three-man listening post in the jungle. A gook could be standing three feet in front of me and I wouldn't know it, I'm so tired. The hardest thing I think I've ever done is go on point three times this week - I don't even know what I'm doing. I hate it already and it's only been a week. Somebody once wrote: ' Hell is the impossibility of reason.' That's what this place feels like. ![]() 5/20/2023 0 Comments Rosa parks funeral![]() ![]() ![]() When her parents separated, she moved with her mother to Pine Level, Alabama, outside Montgomery, where she grew up on a farm. Born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, she was the daughter of James and Leona McCauley, a carpenter and a school teacher. Because of this action, she was called the "Mother of the Modern Civil Rights Movement." She was also the first woman to ever lie in state in the United States Capitol, and the United States Flag was flown at half-staff in her honor over all public buildings on the day of her funeral. Martin Luther King, Jr to lead the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, one of his first Civil Rights actions. An African-American working woman, she became most famous for her refusal in 1955 to give up a bus seat to a white man who was getting on the bus, an incident that led to her arrest and inspired Dr. Civil Rights Pioneer and Social Activist. ![]() 5/20/2023 0 Comments Those who wait lib e haley cass![]() Home Page (Combination + H): Accessibility key for redirecting to homepage. Shortcut Keys Combination Activation Combination keys used for each browser.Ĭhrome for Linux press (Alt+Shift+shortcut_key)Ĭhrome for Windows press (Alt+shortcut_key)įor Firefox press (Alt+Shift+shortcut_key)įor Internet Explorer press (Alt+Shift+shortcut_key) then press (enter)Īccessibility Statement (Combination + 0): Statement page that will show the available accessibility keys. A guide to understanding and implementing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 is available at: Compliance to these criteria is measured in three levels: A, AA, or AAA. ![]() There are testable success criteria for each guideline. WCAG 2.0 contains 12 guidelines organized under 4 principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR for short). This certifies it as a stable and referenceable technical standard. WCAG 2.0 is also an international standard, ISO 40500. This website adopts the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) as the accessibility standard for all its related web development and services. ![]() 5/20/2023 0 Comments The little death michael nava![]() (Open Road Media reissued them as e-books in 2013.) They chronicle a period in which Los Angeles-“a brutal place,” “a flimflam town,” “a collection of hostile villages”-was transformed by gentrification, mass incarceration, riots, gang violence, and the emergence of both the Latino and the L.G.B.T. Over the next fifteen years, Nava published six more books in the series. In a genre that had used queer people primarily as figures of ridicule and contempt, the Rios books offer a vista on gay lives extending from the closet-lined corridors of power to cruising parks and leather bars. Gay and Latino, from an immigrant family in California’s Central Valley, Henry Rios is a defense attorney whose hardboiled bona fides-world-weariness, wit, a penchant for erotic entanglement-are accompanied by a hyper-attentiveness to class and a commitment to the poor. In 1986, Michael Nava published “The Little Death,” a mystery novel featuring a detective unlike any previous protagonist in American noir. ![]() ![]() Michael Nava’s novels evoke a period in which Los Angeles-“a brutal place,” “a flimflam town,” “a collection of hostile villages”-was transformed by the emergence of both the Latino and the L.G.B.T. ![]() |