![]() ![]() Juxtaposing the two timelines creates an interesting dichotomy that examines the nuances of the female aging process from a unique angle. ![]() The story jumps back and forth between the late 1970s and early '80s, when the women were first recruited, to the present day, when the female assassins have all lived long, full lives and worry about menopause and lost spouses more than whom they might kill next. They're forced to flee while simultaneously solving the mystery of why their employers have put targets on their backs. It turns out that she and her colleagues have uncovered a plot to end their own lives. ![]() Several hours into the trip, though, Billie discovers another of the Museum's assassins onboard the ship. Now they're in their mid-60s, and the Museum-as its denizens call the elite group-has sent them on an all-expenses-paid cruise to celebrate their retirement. Since they were recruited in their 20s, Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have been working as secret assassins for a clandestine international organization originally created to hunt Nazis. ![]() Four female assassins on the brink of retirement are brought back into the game by a surprising assassination attempt-on them. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() The Book Bratz: What gave you the idea for EVERY STOLEN BREATH? The more my writing fees like a book, the more time I’m willing to pour into it. I have all the patience in the world for revising, tweaking, and polishing over and over again as many times as it takes to get it right. My favorite part of the process is revising. ![]() It’s also really difficult for me to move forward without going back to fix and restructure everything until it’s perfect (or even passable). While I enjoy creating and I get really excited about sketching out my ideas, I don’t have any patience writing drafting them. Kimberly: The hardest part for me is drafting. The Book Bratz: In your opinion, what is the best part of the writing process? What is the hardest? But at the end of the day, I’m so grateful for the journey and the opportunity. ![]() I’d be lying if I didn’t admit there’s been plenty of moments of stress, anxiety, self-doubt, and worry wondering if I’m doing enough or doing it right. Kimberly: Thank you so much! This year has held moments of pure elation and celebration, especially when I think of my 10 year-old self declaring that one day I wanted to be an author and publish a book with HarperCollins. The Book Bratz: First of all, congratulations! How does it feel to be a debut author? ![]() ![]() ![]() To his confusion, the shopkeeper invites Radji inside his shop and writes Alfred a stern message: “We are all God’s children”. Shocked and horrified by the injustice of this treatment of a fellow human being, Alfred finally realizes the futility of insisting Radji be granted the right to enter a store and leaves Radji outside an electrician’s shop. ![]() Unable to accompany Alfred into stores and restaurants, Radji waits outside, sometimes even forced to move on by angry shopkeepers. Radji is an Untouchable, a member of the Dalit caste in India, the lowest of the low. Once safely on land, Alfred connects with 10-year-old Radji a rare character in children’s literature, let alone one portrayed so prominently. Deafened by three charges intended to force his surrender, and without electricity in the submarine, Alfred has no choice but to return to the harbour to seek medical treatment and to repair his vessel. It begins in the harbour of Kochi, India, on the southern tip of India’s west coast - and what a beginning! An innocent daytime exploration of the harbour leaves Alfred, a 16-year-old world traveler, sending his submarine into dive mode to avoid the depth charges fired from an Indian navy frigate. This adventurous story, set in India, is the fifth novel in Philip Roy’s Submarine Outlaw series. ![]() ![]() ![]() Two weeks later, Mark, in a homemade costume, stops a supervillain with rock-hard skin from stealing jewels. Mark mentions how he's gotten superpowers. He mentions how the Guardians of the Globe, the world's premiere superhero team, should cover for him sometimes. At work, while attempting to toss a trash bag into the dumpster, Mark accidentally sends it flying through the sky, indicating that he now has Superhuman Strength.īack at his house that night, Mark's dad Nolan arrives late to dinner due to a flood in Egypt he had to deal with. ![]() Later that day, Mark has to reject his friend William's invitation to hang out, as he has work. Mark casually comments how Omni-Man is his dad. His mom turns on the TV, where they see the superhero known as Omni-Man fighting a dragon in Taiwan. Mark finishes reading his Science Dog comic book in there and walks into the kitchen to get breakfast. In the present, Deborah Grayson is trying to convince her son Mark to get out of the bathroom so he won't be late for school.
![]() ![]() If anything, the thing that I learned the most is that regardless of our age, we should go and check out any and all books, whether written for kids or adults. When I had my son, I was reintroduced to the world of children’s literature and there are some really beautiful, interesting, and amazing children’s books. I had spent all these years only reading novels. ![]() I don’t think I’ve gone to the library and checked out a picture book since I was a child myself. Has reading with your son been enlightening for your literary taste? The book deals with themes of good versus evil, censorship, and control. It’s a book about an evil witch, and as the story progresses, it turns the traditional fairy tale story on its head. Right now, we are reading The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. I have a nine-year-old son, so a lot of my reading right now is guided by books that we pick together and that interest us both. Professor Christina Esposito is chair of the Linguistics Department. ![]() ![]() Still need to grab a copy? Here’s the Penguin classics edition and here’s the anniversary edition via our page. It’s about family: fathers and sons, brothers, lovers. It captures a version of America long since forgotten, a place and time of great beauty and brutality, that can help us understand our country’s soul in a more profound way. It’s full of Biblical and mythical allusions throughout, but not in that stuffy, academic, pedantic sort of way. Steinbeck’s prose is bewitching and un-yielding at the same time. It features one of the best villains ever created. East of Eden was considered by Steinbeck to be his magnum opus, and its epic scope and memorable characters, exploring universal themes of love and identity, ensure it. ![]() ![]() ![]() Need some convincing? Here are a few reasons this book is worth reading: Clothbound Classics 3 for £33 Penguin English Library 5 for £25 Penguin Tote Bags Penguin Prints From £20 Isokon Penguin Donkey Childrens Gifts Toggle submenu. It’s an essential part of our country’s literary canon and we can’t wait to dig in. ![]() Our next subscriber-exclusive book here at Close Reads HQ is going to be Steinbeck’s East of Eden, one of the great novels in American lit by one of America’s most renowned writers. ![]() ![]() Roots fostered a remarkable dialogue about not just the past, but the then present day 1970s and how America had fared since the days portrayed in Roots. But none of the controversy affects the basic issue. There is also the fact that Haley was sued for plagiarism when it was discovered that several dozen paragraphs in Roots were taken directly from a novel, The African, by Harold Courlander, who ultimately received a substantial financial settlement at the end of the case. Some of the criticism results from whether Roots is fact or fiction and whether Alex Haley confused these two issues, a subject he addresses directly in the book. Over the years, both Roots and Alex Haley have attracted controversy, which comes with the territory for trailblazing, iconic books, particularly on the topic of race. Roots opened up the minds of Americans of all colors and faiths to one of the darkest and most painful parts of America s past. ![]() It also won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. The book sold over one million copies in the first year, and the miniseries was watched by an astonishing 130 million people. ![]() One of the most important books and television series ever to appear, Roots, galvanized the nation, and created an extraordinary political, racial, social and cultural dialogue that hadn t been seen since the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. ![]() ![]() ![]() Politically active, Anne Lister door-stepped her tenants at the 1835 Election to vote Tory. Jill Liddington's classic edition of the diaries tells the story of how Anne Lister wooed and seduced neighbouring heiress Ann Walker, who moved in to live with Anne and her family in 1834. The diaries were included on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2011. Her extraordinary diaries, running to 4-5 million words, were partly written in her own secret code and recorded her love affairs with startling candour. She was an impressive scholar, fearless traveller and successful businesswoman, even developing her own coalmines. Lesbian landowner Anne Lister inherited Shibden Hall in 1826. 'A unique and thrilling insight into the brilliant mind of Anne Lister' Sally Wainwright, creator of Gentleman Jack Female Fortune is the book which inspired Sally Wainwright to write Gentleman Jack, now a major drama series for the BBC and HBO. ![]() ![]() Aurora is also the kind of character that is easy to forgive, but not quick to forget. She’s kind to a fault and has a heart of gold. Aurora is the epitome of the sunshine personality type. The character interactions in Mariana Zapata’s books are what keep me glued to the pages. “Sometimes I think I know exactly what you’re going to say…and then the exact opposite comes out of your mouth…” Aurora just so happens to rent out an apartment from Tobias Rhodes, a local game warden. In the hopes of connecting to her mother’s memory, Aurora decided to return to her hometown-the last place she lived while her mother was alive. Aurora De La Torre is a heroine whom we meet upon the completion of what seems to be a year and a half of vagabond living. ![]() All Rhodes Lead Here combines all the classic elements fans of Mariana Zapata (MZ for short) have come to love. If you’re not familiar with Mariana Zapata, then you should know that she is known for her slow burn and the highly addictive grumpy sunshine romance between her main characters. ![]() Mariana Zapata writes what I would consider literary hugs. ![]() I always know what to expect in a Mariana Zapata story- a romance which is told solely from the heroine’s point of view and ends happily. “The truth was, I liked him even more for saying those words. For thinking that deeply, I liked him so much in so many ways.”Īll Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata is another stellar story from an author who keeps hitting home runs every time she releases one of her books into the world. ![]() ![]() But then, is any woman ever ready to meet the love of her life? There's just one problem: Zac Fallon is not the love of Robyn's life. Star Spangled sequined thong, anyone? So Robyn is definitely not ready for the ridiculously gorgeous guy at her front door, except that they have each other's clothes. ![]() The kind of day you drag yourself to the cleaners to pick up your laundry, only to discover you've got the wrong bag. ![]() Mostly because you haven't really slept since your best friend abandoned you for her fiancé and her exponentially better life. You know, when you're already late for work. But is there more to these professional hotties than meets the eye? The day Robyn Flores meets Zac Fallon is one of those days. Skilled, sculpted, and sexy, the men of adult entertainment are the kind of guys a woman reserves for her fantasies, not her reality. ![]() |