Author Chats & Book Recommendations
Authors in blue available for phone chats
Additional recommendations in black
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Trapped Maria Hernandez Angelina Rivera was at the prime of her life. Surrounded by white sandy beaches, a good job and a condominium she called home. She relished in the peace Miami, Florida had to offer. But her life took a horrible turn when her mother fell ill; forcing her to leave her idyllic life and return to Taft... |
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Karl Marx As the 19th century unfolded, its inhabitants had to come to terms with an unparalleled range of economic, political, religious and intellectual challenges. Distances shrank, new towns sprang up, and inventions transformed the industrial landscape. In the aftermath of Waterloo, a European... |
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The Shopkeeper's Journal Troy W. Rasmussen Thursday- Few things can rouse people like a good story. Even better is the wonder and intrigue of a legend, the inevitable stares of those hearing the tale as their imaginations race through the possibilities and what-ifs. He's never named, yet his wisdom, instincts, and gifts are... |
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The Fire Next Time At once an evocation of Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of racial injustice, this book is an intensely personal and provocative document. It consists of two "letters," written on the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, exhorting Americans to attack the legacy of racism... |
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Adventures of a World-Traveling Scientist Stanley Randolf From the South Pacific and African Savannas to the Amazon and mystical temples in India-from tigers in Sumatra, walkabouts "Down-under"— medinas in Morocco to cobblestones in old Prague, you will discover real-life adventure from true events. In the comfort... |
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The Shock of the Anthropocene The Earth has entered a new epoch: the Anthropocene. What we are facing is not only an environmental crisis, but a geological revolution of human origin. In two centuries, our planet has tipped into a state unknown for millions of years. How did we get to this point? Refuting... |
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A Moment of Fireflies John McCluskey An unimaginable event from years past in Ireland is kept locked up in the heart of an alcohol abusing dad who truly only wants the best for his children and wife. But can he survive without dulling away hard memories with drink? Can love from his family bring him back from the brink? |
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This Changes Everything The most important book yet from the author of the international bestseller The Shock Doctrine, a brilliant explanation of why the climate crisis challenges us to abandon the core "free market" ideology of our time, restructure the global economy, and remake our political... |
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I've Decided to Live 120 Years Ilchi Lee New York Times bestselling author and one of the most renowned meditation teachers in our time, Ilchi Lee challenges you to radically rethink your ideas on aging, health, personal fulfillment, and what's possible in your lifetime. This highly anticipated book has... |
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Capital in the Twenty-First Century What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But... |
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Solomon the Accountant Edward M. Krauss Solomon the Accountant is a tender love story set in Toledo, Ohio, in the 1950s. Solomon is a rather nebbishy fellow who falls in love with the beautiful, newly widowed Molly. He is painfully aware of her recent loss, yet she becomes the focal point of his life. He hopes that someday... |
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A Fighting Chance As a child in small-town Oklahoma, Elizabeth Warren yearned to go to college and then become an elementary school teacher—an ambitious goal, given her family’s modest means. Early marriage and motherhood seemed to put even that dream out of reach, but fifteen years later she was a... |
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Sky's Amazing Dream Mark Stevens Sky’s Amazing Dream is the story of a fun loving Golden Retriever and his phantasmagorical dream. Sky is a playful dog who thinks that he’s a boy. He is strong and athletic and sometimes just plain silly. He loves to make people happy. He loves to bring joy wherever he goes. He believes in magic and... |
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The Idea of Socialism The idea of socialism has given normative grounding and orientation to the outrage over capitalism for more than 150 years, and yet today it seems to have lost much of its appeal. Despite growing discontent, many would hesitate to invoke socialism when it comes to envisioning life... |
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Welcome to Saint Angel William Luvaas After his wife dies in a plane crash, iconoclastic inventor Al Sharpe moves to Saint Angel Valley in SoCal's high desert to rebuild his life on beloved "Second Chance Acres," building his young daughter a tree house in a giant oak tree and inventing the Sharpe Smoke... |
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Between the World and Me In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis... |
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Behind Closed Doors Daniella DeChristopher The subtitle for Daniella DeChristopher’s new memoir, Behind Closed Doors, is A Daughter’s Story. Nothing could be more apt. As Daniella looks back on her life, she specifically examines her role as a daughter and how her mother’s actions shaped her entire life. Daniella’s mother had her at an... |
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The Loudest Voice in the Room A deeply reported journey inside the secretive world of Fox News and the life of its combative, visionary founder. When Rupert Murdoch enlisted Roger Ailes to launch a cable news network in 1996, American politics and media changed forever. Now, with a... |
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Here on Moon Edward M. Krauss Here on Moon, which takes place near Boston, Massachusetts in 1990, is the story of Carole, a wife and mother with a successful career who, in her mid-30s, is devastated by her husband Ken's infidelity and humiliated by his refusal to be forgiven. She has no choice but divorce, and we follow... |
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Alienation The Hegelian-Marxist idea of alienation fell out of favor after the postmetaphysical rejection of humanism and essentialist views of human nature. Jaeggi draws on the Hegelian philosophical tradition, phenomenological analyses grounded in modern conceptions of agency, and recent... |
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Alex and the Druids’ Eclipse Carolyn Griffin After witnessing a total solar eclipse high on the Cornish cliffs with his father, Jory, ten-year-old Alex Pitts tumbles from the familiar, safe world he knows into one filled with uncertainty and danger. Summoned by the ancient druids to the time of Merlin and King Arthur, Alex is sent to... |
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The Sixth Extinction Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact... |
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For Sale Murder L.C. Blackwell Peter Dumas, a bon vivant clairvoyant with uncanny insights and revelations, lights up the Chicago and L.A. teams investigating a series of Realtor (R) murders. With an ex-NFL linebacker and an attorney, now police detectives, the group uncovers eight brutal killings in real life... |
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America's War for the Greater Middle East From the end of World War II until 1980, virtually no American soldiers were killed in action while serving in the Greater Middle East. Since 1990, virtually no American soldiers have been killed in action anywhere else. What caused this shift? Bacevich, one of the... |
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Evidence of Love Mark Stevens On the surface, Carly Irons—gorgeous daughter of famed Hollywood power docs Marlene and Damon Irons—appears to have it all. A Manhattan career girl with a coveted job at publisher Conde Nast, stunning apartment and a wealthy boyfriend Kirk Sarns, she sees nowhere to... |
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The New Jim Crow Once in a great while a book comes along that changes the way we see the world and helps to fuel a nationwide social movement. The New Jim Crow is such a book. Praised by Harvard Law professor Lani Guinier as "brave and bold," this book directly challenges the notion that the election of Barack... |
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A Story of Bad Edward M. Krauss The relationship between the police and the media has always been a strange one, but it turning romantic certainly raises some questions. "A Story of Bad" is the tale of a cop and reporter entering into a controversial romance, where they both try to stay loyal to each other and their... |
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Some Rain Must Fall The fifth book of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s powerful My Struggle series is written with tremendous force and sincerity. As a nineteen-year-old, Karl Ove moves to Bergen and invests all of himself in his writing. But his efforts get the opposite effect — he wants it so much that he gets... |
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Woman Without an Identity Martine Kalaw Are you Martine Mwanj Kalaw? If so, your father is looking for you. Martine Kalaw is forced to make a choice in an immigration courtroom; save herself or her mother’s legacy. Her decision catapults her into a tumultuous and longstanding battle with immigration and a... |
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The Nordic Theory of Everything A Finnish journalist, now a naturalized American citizen, asks Americans to draw on elements of the Nordic way of life to nurture a fairer, happier, more secure, and less stressful society for themselves and their children. Moving to America in 2008, Anu Partanen quickly went... |
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I Closed Too Many Eyes Paul S. Arneson Bayer Nonen Ross, the son of Swedish immigrants who settled in Southern Minnesota, spent his military service in World War II doing his best to keep soldiers alive. His story was documented in letters he sent home and in conversations with his family. Bayer Nonen... |
