![]() ![]() When he died, the world mourned, and he was buried - against his wishes - in Westminster Abbey. From these unpromising beginnings, he rose to scale all the social and literary heights, entirely through his own efforts. At the age of twelve he was sent to work in a blacking factory by his affectionate but feckless parents. Charles Dickens was a phenomenon: a demonically hardworking journalist, the father of ten children, a tireless walker and traveller, a supporter of liberal social causes, but most of all a great novelist - the creator of characters who live immortally in the English imagination: the Artful Dodger, Mr Pickwick, Pip, David Copperfield, Little Nell, Lady Dedlock, and many more. The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Charles Dickens: A Life, the major new biography from the highly acclaimed Claire Tomalin, published for the 200th anniversary of his birth. ![]()
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![]() (And maybe earlier - it’s hard to know if the owls we first saw in 2020/2021 and in 2021/2022 were the same owls. Just feeling very grateful for the time we’ve had with them - we’ve been watching their parents since Thanksgiving of 2022. ![]() I will miss them, but so far I have avoided Tony Soprano levels of sad. He’s also the author of Newspaper Blackout, a collection of poems made by. (I haven’t been able to spot them yet, but they’re around here somewhere.) Here’s a longer, more official-sounding version, suitable for copying and pasting: Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of a trilogy of illustrated books about creativity in the digital age: Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work, and Keep Going. first time in hardcover bigger trim size fancy ribbon bookmark & endpapers new afterword Get it now:. ![]() They’re out in the night now, learning to hunt for themselves!? /nwwRCuv2sAĪs you can see, neither of them made the most graceful exit, but both left in tact and made it up into the trees behind our house. The 10th anniversary gift edition of STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST. (To “fledge” is to leave the nest after you get your feathers.)īoth owlets fledged today! (Neither particularly gracefully ?) Parents withheld grub for the past day or so to encourage them. Here’s the last photo I got of the owlets the day before they fledged. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() However, even towards her own children, Niang is occasionally psychotic and abusive: when Little Sister is reunited with Niang as a toddler, Niang beats her furiously for not wanting to be held by Niang and for accidentally breaking her necklace. She despises the five children of her husband’s first marriage, favoring her own two biological children to an extreme degree by giving her children good food, fashionable modern clothing, and every luxury they desire, while denying the stepchildren any provision aside from the barest minimum. Niang is a half-French, half-Chinese, and her European heritage contributes to her extreme vanity. Niang is Father’s second wife and Adeline’s abusive stepmother. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Threading together places and voices from across Britain, The Flow is a profound, immersive exploration of our personal and ecological place in nature. From West Country torrents to Levels and Fens, rocky Welsh canyons, the salmon highways of Scotland and the chalk rivers of the Yorkshire Wolds, Amy-Jane follows springs, streams and rivers to explore tributary themes of wildness and wonder, loss and healing, mythology and history, cyclicity and transformation. The Flow is a book about water, and, like water, it meanders, cascades and percolates through many lives, landscapes and stories. Returning to visit the Rawthey years later, Amy realises how much she misses the connection to the natural world she always felt when on or close to rivers, and so begins a new phase of exploration. Kate never came home, and her death left her devoted family and friends bereft and unmoored. ![]() On New Year's Day 2012, Amy-Jane Beer's beloved friend Kate set out with a group of others to kayak the River Rawthey in Cumbria. A visit to the rapid where she lost a cherished friend unexpectedly reignites Amy-Jane Beer's love of rivers setting her on a journey of natural, cultural and emotional discovery. Introducing The Flow Podcast with Jasmine Lee Rivera. ![]() ![]() ![]() He was a devoted brother to Francesco, a work companion to his dad, and the best snuggle pug his mom could ever ask for. Despite being diagnosed with Myelopathy and subsequently losing the ability to bear any of his own weight on his legs, he loved going for walks in a harness and a stroller multiple times a day, and would bask in the cheers of people who lived and walked on his favorite routes. In addition to his unique strut, Milo made everyone swoon with his toothy (toothless, really) grin and a tail so amazing it earned him second place in the Curliest Tail contest at the 2019 GMPR Pug Social. He loved a constant cycle of walks, food, lap time, and nap time, and besides being attached at the hip (and ankle, and any other body part,) of his mom, he wouldn’t hesitate to sing you the song of his people whenever attention was required. He arrived with his own bed, a penguin blanket, a sassy gait, and many mysteries regarding his life prior to arriving in Vermont. Milo was adopted in July of 2019 after spending a few great months as a GMPR foster. Please send any entries to Amy Frye, GMPR Website Manager at September 14, 2020, Milo DaBica, GMPR alumni, Velcro pug, and friend of the world, crossed the rainbow bridge on his own terms and in the arms of his adoring family. May loving hands and lots of treats and toys await every one of you as you enter. This tribute page is to all of you, may you find peace at Rainbow Bridge. ![]() ![]() ![]() All were impressed by her wit, passion, intelligence, and determined spirit. She was a remarkable individual with a charismatic personality who earned the admiration and affection of many of those who knew her. ![]() While this is doubtlessly true, it is only part of the complex jigsaw of Jane’s story. The human and emotional aspects of her story have often been ignored, although she is remembered as one of the Tudor Era’s most tragic victims. Jane is known to history as "the Nine Days Queen," but her reign lasted, in fact, for thirteen days. ![]() ![]() Her death for high treason sent shockwaves through the Tudor world, and served as a gruesome reminder to all who aspired to a crown that the axe could fall at any time. Minutes later her head was struck from her body with a single stroke of a heavy axe. "Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same.” These were the heartbreaking words of a seventeen-year-old girl, Lady Jane Grey, as she stood on the scaffold awaiting death on a cold February morning in 1554. A significant retelling of the often-misunderstood tale of Lady Jane Grey's journey through her trial and execution―recalling the dangerous plots and web of deadly intrigue in which she became involuntarily tangled, and which ultimately led to a catastrophic conclusion. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() *All About Shirley Chisholm/ I am Daring * Craft ![]() Break the mold and speak up for what you believe in.Dare to be different and do what’s never been done before.The book also features her famous slogan, “Fighting Shirley Chisholm-Unbought and Unbossed!” As a young adult, Shirley becomes an advocate for civil rights, eventually running for state assembly and then for Congress, where she becomes a trailblazer as the first black woman to run for Congress. The book follows Shirley from her childhood on her grandparents’ farm in Barbados, to her school years in Brooklyn, where she breaks the mold by excelling in school, breaking her mother’s curfew and playing jazz piano. ![]() Williams, and illustrated by a Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award-winner, April Harrison, tells the story of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to be elected to Congress and to run for president. This picture book biography, written by Newbery Honor-winning author, Alicia D. * ~Click here to purchase your own copy of “Shirley Chisholm Dared” ~* ![]() ![]() ![]() Short sections between chapters show her existing in this mysterious, liminal place which opens out onto two very different worlds: ![]() And speaking of those gods, among them is Yemaya Saramagua, an Orisha, who lives in the somewherehouse. ![]() It is her defining recollection of life in the land of her parents and their Yoruba gods. ![]() She only dimly remembers her life in Cuba – there is really only one memory: sitting under the table at their farewell party, hearing a woman singing. Maya lives in London, having moved there with her family when she was five. I really love Boy, Snow, Bird and often recommend it to people – others of her books I have liked a lot, but some have tipped over the edge of experimentalism into confusion, for me. My relationship with Oyeyemi’s writing is definitely a bit up and down. Better late than never? And what prompted me to finally read it? It was one of the 20 books I listed for the inaugural BookTube Spin, and its number came up. I’ve read four of her other books, and have finally read this one too. I got sent Helen Oyeyemi’s second novel, The Opposite House, by the publisher in… 2008, the year after it was published. ![]() ![]() It moves from the family farm, to the Warsaw uprising. Readers will adore intrepid Gretl and strong Jakób in this story of war, redemption, and love. Based on actual accounts, The Girl from the Train by Irma Joubert is the story of Gretl and Jakob. Jakób finds her years later, their bond still strong despite years of separation. Grietjie begins to learn Afrikaans and English and studies scripture at Sunday school, all the while dreaming of one day leaving for college and reconnecting with Jakób. After being adopted, she becomes Grietjie Neethling, the beloved daughter of Oom Bernard and Tannie Kate Neethling. Gretl ends up under Jakób’s care in his family home, but with German and Russian troops patrolling Poland, Jakób sends Gretl to South Africa for adoption. But a train carrying Jews to a death camp crosses the tracks first, and all aboard are killed except for Gretl and Elza Schmidt, sisters who escape the train just before the explosion. ![]() Jakób Kowalski is a member of the Polish Home Army, tasked with blowing up a Nazi troop train. South African native Joubert brings her country to life in this tale that begins in Poland at the twilight of World War II and ends deep in the South African bushveld. ![]() ![]() ![]() The other protagonist (or just love interest considering how little agency she has) is portrayed as being a "bitch" and/or having made a mistake for having decided that she could get over a traumatic sexual assault best by exercising some choice and being consulted not by passively/submissively letting her more dominant partner handle the situation. She seems to have no vulnerabilities, her cocky demeanour seems to hide an even cockier heart. ![]() ![]() She is controlling to the point of emotional abuse of her partner (even though she meets her every need (apart for the need for choice/agency) and acts tenderly. But coming back to the "butch" character with the odd name that is almost a given of these books, I found her one of the most unlikeable protagonists I have ever met. I feel like going on a side rant about the depictions of lesbian relationships as butch/femme binaries and the invisibility of lesbians like me in most of these books in general. A clear case for the argument that queer is not always good. ![]() |