Search results for ""Shelter""

Homelessness touches every corner of our country, even the most prosperous ones. In No Vacancy: Homeless Women in Paradise, Michael E. Reid tells the story of more than five hundred women living without shelter in the affluent sea-side communities of Monterrey, Pebble Beach, and Carmel, California. Even in these glittering cities, one by one, homeless women were dying, their bodies appearing in plain sight. When Reid, an Episcopal priest, became aware of these tragedies, he had to act, and he co-founded the Fund for Homeless Women. This new venture took him deep into the complex realities homeless women face. He found that the well-meaning policies and programs in place in fact often had the unintentional effect of widening the gap between the indigent and mainstream society. No Vacancy captures the realities of homelessness in affluent northern California and exposes pitfalls encountered by those who wish to combat it. Reid presents an unvarnished look at the culture of long-term homelessness, and his experience provides helpful guidance for fighting this crisis. He also explores the root causes that can result in homelessness, including marginalization and the gender-based bias—and its disproportionate effect on women of color. This timely book provides needed guidance from the frontlines of the fight against homelessness, especially as activists and homeless people face weakened political and financial support from the government and their communities.

Read more less

New York Times bestselling author Dan Heath asks what happens when we take our thinking upstream and try to prevent problems before they happen.When we shift our energies upstream, we stop dealing with the symptoms of problems and we start fixing problems.If we can stop crimes from being committed, we do not need to work to 'solve' crimes.If we can prevent chronic diseases from developing, we do not need to treat these diseases. If we can provide affordable housing, we do not need to provide shelter for the homeless.Looking to business, politics, and society, Dan Heath shows us that we have the capacity to solve some of our thorniest personal, organisational and societal issues. We just need to start to think about the system rather than the symptoms. Drawing on insights from his extensive research, as well as hundreds of new interviews with unconventional problem solvers, Dan delivers practical solutions for preventing problems rather than simply reacting to them.'Packed with vivid stories and practical examples, Upstream is the rare book that can both revitalize your business and make our world a better place.' Daniel H. Pink, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of When, Drive and To Sell Is Human'Informs, engages and, above all, entertains.' Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Smarter, Faster, Better

Read more less

Despite the vast wealth generated in the last half century, in today's world inequality is worsening and poverty is becoming increasingly chronic. Hundreds of millions of people continue to live on less than $2 per day and lack basic human necessities such as nutritious food, shelter, clean water, primary health care, and education. Innovating for the Global South offers fresh solutions for reducing poverty in the developing world. Highlighting the multidisciplinary expertise of the University of Toronto's Global Innovation Group, leading experts from the fields of engineering, medicine, management, and global public policy examine the causes and consequences of endemic poverty and the challenges of mitigating its effects from the perspective of the world's poorest of the poor. Can we imagine ways to generate solar energy to run essential medical equipment in the countryside? Can we adapt information and communication technologies to provide up-to-the-minute agricultural market prices for remote farming villages? How do we create more inclusive innovation processes to hear the voices of those living in urban slums? Is it possible to reinvent a low-cost toilet that operates beyond the water and electricity grids? Motivated by the imperatives of developing, delivering, and harnessing innovation in the developing world, Innovating for the Global South is essential reading for managers, practitioners, and scholars of development, business, and policy.

Read more less

Despite the vast wealth generated in the last half century, in today's world inequality is worsening and poverty is becoming increasingly chronic. Hundreds of millions of people continue to live on less than $2 per day and lack basic human necessities such as nutritious food, shelter, clean water, primary health care, and education. Innovating for the Global South offers fresh solutions for reducing poverty in the developing world. Highlighting the multidisciplinary expertise of the University of Toronto's Global Innovation Group, leading experts from the fields of engineering, medicine, management, and global public policy examine the causes and consequences of endemic poverty and the challenges of mitigating its effects from the perspective of the world's poorest of the poor. Can we imagine ways to generate solar energy to run essential medical equipment in the countryside? Can we adapt information and communication technologies to provide up-to-the-minute agricultural market prices for remote farming villages? How do we create more inclusive innovation processes to hear the voices of those living in urban slums? Is it possible to reinvent a low-cost toilet that operates beyond the water and electricity grids? Motivated by the imperatives of developing, delivering, and harnessing innovation in the developing world, Innovating for the Global South is essential reading for managers, practitioners, and scholars of development, business, and policy.

Read more less

In the 1930s, physics was in a crisis. There appeared to be no way to reconcile the new theory of quantum mechanics with Einstein's theory of relativity. Several approaches had been tried and had failed. In the post-World War II period, four eminent physicists rose to the challenge and developed a calculable version of quantum electrodynamics (QED), probably the most successful theory in physics. This formulation of QED was pioneered by Freeman Dyson, Richard Feynman, Julian Schwinger, and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, three of whom won the Nobel Prize for their work. In this book, physicist and historian Silvan Schweber tells the story of these four physicists, blending discussions of their scientific work with fascinating biographical sketches. Setting the achievements of these four men in context, Schweber begins with an account of the early work done by physicists such as Dirac and Jordan, and describes the gathering of eminent theorists at Shelter Island in 1947, the meeting that heralded the new era of QED. The rest of his narrative comprises individual biographies of the four physicists, discussions of their major contributions, and the story of the scientific community in which they worked. Throughout, Schweber draws on his technical expertise to offer a lively and lucid explanation of how this theory was finally established as the appropriate way to describe the atomic and subatomic realms.

Read more less

Between Romania's entry into World War II in 1941 and the ouster of dictator Ion Antonescu three years later, over 105,000 Jews were forced to work in internment and labor camps, labor battalions, government institutions, and private industry. Particularly for those in the labor battalions, this period was characterized by extraordinary physical and psychological suffering, hunger, inadequate shelter, and dangerous or even deadly working conditions. And yet the situation that arose from the combination of Antonescu's paranoias and the peculiarities of the Romanian system of forced-labor organization meant that most Jewish laborers survived. Jewish Forced Labor in Romania explores the ideological and legal background of this system of forced labor, its purpose, and its evolution. Author Dallas Michelbacher examines the relationship between the system of forced labor and the Romanian government's plans for the "solution to the Jewish question." In doing so, Michelbacher highlights the key differences between the Romanian system of forced labor and the well-documented use of forced labor in Nazi Germany and neighboring Hungary. Jewish Forced Labor in Romania explores the internal logic of the Antonescu regime and how it balanced its ideological imperative for antisemitic persecution with the economic needs of a state engaged in total war whose economy was still heavily dependent on the skills of its Jewish population.

Read more less

This book contains essential facts about the habitats, feeding preferences and behaviour of each type of garden wildlife, including their life cycles and how you can supplement their natural diet. It explains how to select the best plants for the creatures that live in your area, with practical advice on cultivation, propagation, the types of wildlife they attract, and how they are used as food and shelter. It includes ideas for closely related plant species, including alternative common types that help wildlife and those that are not beneficial, allowing you to decide which plants to choose. This book, written by award-winning authors Christine and Michael Lavelle, is aimed at gardeners who want to encourage wildlife to take up residence in their backyards. The first part focuses on the more common types of wildlife found in a variety of habitats and the plants and supplementary food that will attract them. The next stage is how to choose the right plants to attract backyard wildlife. A directory of over 200 species makes the process clear and simple and every plant is accompanied by a full-colour identification photograph. Each entry explains how to grow the plant and which types of wildlife will benefit. This book's wealth of information and beautiful photographs will appeal to gardeners and wildlife enthusiasts alike.

Read more less

Warm, vibrant illustrations combine with the steady reassurance “I’ll take care of you” to introduce children to the cycles of nature and the gift of nurturing.A tiny seed finds itself lost in the world, but with care from the Sky, Earth, and Sun it grows up to be a beautiful apple tree. When the tree meets a bird in need of help, it offers its branches as shelter and shows little readers the magic of being cared for and taking care.This comforting tale celebrates the harmonious relationship between birds and trees, reveals the quiet wonder of our ecosystems, and helps little readers appreciate the care they receive from their family and friends every day. In return, children will learn that they can care for others too and cultivate empathy and kindness.With warm, colorful illustrations and a timely message of care and community, I’ll Take Care of You offers a soothing story before bedtime, or anytime on tough days.Blue Dot Kids Press books are printed with vegetable inks on responsibly-sourced paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council™. From the sale of every book, we donate to environmental causes through our membership with 1% for the Planet. Through our annual Earth Day Initiative with our partner One Tree Planted, readers have the opportunity to plant trees—over 1,000 trees planted to date!

Read more less

Finding community is as critical as obtaining food and shelter, since the need to belong is what makes us human. The isolation and loneliness of modern life have led many people to search for deeper connection, which has resulted in a renewed interest in intentional communities. These intentional communities or ecovillages are an appealing choice for like-minded people who seek to create a family-oriented and ecologically sustainable lifestyle-a lifestyle they are unlikely to find anywhere else. However, the notion of an intentional community can still be a tremendous leap for some-deterred perhaps by a misguided vision of eking out a hardscrabble existence with little reward. In fact, successful ecovillages thrive because of the combined skills and resources of their members. Finding Community presents a thorough overview of ecovillages and intentional communities and offers solid advice on how to research thoroughly, visit thoughtfully, evaluate intelligently, and join gracefully. Useful considerations include: * Important questions to ask (of members and of yourself) * Signs of a healthy (and not-so-healthy) community * Cost of joining (and staying) * Common blunders to avoid Finding Community provides intriguing possibilities to readers who are seeking a more cooperative, sustainable, and meaningful life. Diana Leafe Christian is the author of Creating a Life Together and editor of Communities magazine. She lives at Earthhaven Ecovillage in North Carolina.

Read more less

New York Times Bestseller * Indiebound Bestseller * An Amazon Best Book of 2019 * B&N's YA Book Club Pick"A brilliant debut, full of everything I love: a sparkling and fully realized heroine, an intricate and deadly system of magic, and a searing romance that kept me reading long into the night. Serpent & Dove is an absolute gem of a book." —Sarah J. Maas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Court of Thorns and Roses seriesBound as one, to love, honor, or burn. Book one of a stunning fantasy trilogy, this tale of witchcraft and forbidden love is perfect for fans of Kendare Blake and Sara Holland.Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.Don't miss Gods & Monsters, the spellbinding conclusion of this epic trilogy!

Read more less

Between Romania's entry into World War II in 1941 and the ouster of dictator Ion Antonescu three years later, over 105,000 Jews were forced to work in internment and labor camps, labor battalions, government institutions, and private industry. Particularly for those in the labor battalions, this period was characterized by extraordinary physical and psychological suffering, hunger, inadequate shelter, and dangerous or even deadly working conditions. And yet the situation that arose from the combination of Antonescu's paranoias and the peculiarities of the Romanian system of forced-labor organization meant that most Jewish laborers survived. Jewish Forced Labor in Romania explores the ideological and legal background of this system of forced labor, its purpose, and its evolution. Author Dallas Michelbacher examines the relationship between the system of forced labor and the Romanian government's plans for the "solution to the Jewish question." In doing so, Michelbacher highlights the key differences between the Romanian system of forced labor and the well-documented use of forced labor in Nazi Germany and neighboring Hungary. Jewish Forced Labor in Romania explores the internal logic of the Antonescu regime and how it balanced its ideological imperative for antisemitic persecution with the economic needs of a state engaged in total war whose economy was still heavily dependent on the skills of its Jewish population.

Read more less

'Nozedar is a font of botanical insight'GuardianWITH A FOREWORD BY SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR, TOM COXCelebrate the 10th anniversary of the definitive guide to hedgerow foraging with this special edition of the bestselling The Hedgerow Handbook, by esteemed author Adele Nozedar, featuring a foreword from Tom Cox.The hedgerow is one of the most iconic and distinctive features of the British countryside, so familiar that we often take it for granted. Take a closer look, though, and you'll see that the diversity and variety of plant species that form hedgerows, and the animals and insects that they shelter, are a complete world of delight.Angelica to ash, bird cherry to borage, pineapple weed to plantain and wild garlic to wimberries, The Hedgerow Handbook is a directory of our best known and most useful hedgerow plants, each entry botanically illustrated in colour to help you identify the plant or flower, along with its history and folklore, and its culinary and medicinal uses, from the traditional to the unusual.The ultimate guide for nature-lovers and foragers alike, discover how you can transform wild and natural hedgerow ingredients into fresh and delicious recipes. From Elderflower Champagne and Blackberry Sorbet to Wild Raspberry and Meadowsweet Jam, the hedgerow has more possibilities than you could ever imagine.

Read more less

“A group of deeply complex and beautifully written women . . . Aubray marries history, suspense and womanhood in a story perfect for devouring.”—NewsweekFor readers of Naomi Krupitsky's The Family! An irresistible, suspenseful novel about four women who marry into an elegant, prosperous Italian family, and then must take charge of the family’s business when their husbands are forced to leave them during the war.Meet the Godmothers: Filomena is a clever and resourceful war refugee with a childhood secret. Amie, a beautiful and dreamy French girl from upstate New York, escapes an abusive husband for a new life. Lucy, a tough-as-nails Irish lass, runs away from a strict girls’ home to become a nurse. And the glamorous Petrina, the family’s only daughter, graduates with honors from Barnard College despite a past trauma that nearly caused a family scandal.All four women become godmothers to one another’s children, finding hope and shelter in this prosperous family and their sumptuous Greenwich Village home.But the women’s secret pasts lead to unforeseen consequences and betrayals that threaten to unravel all their carefully laid plans. And when they must unexpectedly contend with notorious gangsters like Frank Costello and Lucky Luciano, the four Godmothers learn to put aside their differences so that they can work together to protect their loved ones and find their own unique paths to the futures they’ve always dreamed of.

Read more less

“About Shelters and Encounters. An Array of Theological Voices”: that is the title of the thirtieth volume of the Journal of the ESWTR. As implied, the volume offers a wide range of texts, ranging from an elaboration of the shelter as a fitting metaphor for the location and the mode of developing queer theology to a round table discussion between African and Dutch female theologians about insider/outsider positions when doing theology as African female theologians in Europe. Bracketed by these two articles, four other texts add to the variety of voices the volume presents. The first of these invites the reader to share in a multi-layered account of the encounter of two women theologians from different disciplines, reading and interpreting the encounter of Mary and Elisabeth as it has been described and portrayed in pictures and text. Following suit, the reader will find a programmatic depiction of what a program for gender-conscious religious education could look like. Next in the array is a description of how interreligious ethics can contribute to elucidating moral dilemmas of Christian and Muslim women. And, closing this inner section, the volume offers a report of a(n empirical) pilot study conducted amongst participants of the Seventh Synod-Weekend of the Dutch Ecumenical Women’s Synod into how women attribute religious authority and why. Last but not least, three reviews of four recently published books accompany this issue, making it truly a volume with an array of theological voices.

Read more less

The Elkhorn River originates in north-central Nebraska and empties into the Platte River just west of Omaha. One of the first written records of the Elkhorn describes a flood. A flood hindered travel up the river by the valley's first non-Indian settlers. Decade after decade, floods have swept away mill dams, destroyed crops, drowned stock, soaked inventories, filled basements, undercut roads, washed out railroads and bridges, turned unfortunate riverside homes–even a dance hall–into unwieldy watercraft, and killed people. Everyone in the Elkhorn Valley agreed the Flood of 1944 was the worst in history. Until the deadly Flood of 2010 took the title. From a perspective unusual on the Great Plains–the problem of too much water– Flood on the Tracks offers an intimate portrait of life in the Elkhorn River Basin of northeast Nebraska. In a region often defined by aridity, rivers and their basins have provided sustenance, shelter, fertile soil, and overland highways. In many ways Plains rivers organize human lives. When they overflow, which they can be counted on to do, they disorganize them. Using Plains Indian winter counts, postcards, photographs, newspaper accounts, government records, and more, Flood on the Tracks chronicles the river's natural and human history from the Plains Indians into the twenty-first century. The Elkhorn's floods show us how the nature of disaster has changed and how Plainsfolk live–and die–with a river.

Read more less

Can two quiet con men who lost their childhoods find their places as a part of a family—and with each other?Ever since he watched his father die, Etienne Couvier has kept to himself. Under the tutelage of his adoptive family, the Salingers, Tienne grows into a gifted forger and artist. But no matter how hard they try to draw him into their midst—and despite the singular pull their friend Stirling Christopher has on his emotions—he resists. When computer tech Stirling lost his foster parents, he found shelter and love with the Salingers. Stirling knows firsthand what Tienne has been through, so when an attacker shatters Tienne’s self-imposed isolation, Stirling urges him into the Salinger crew. Maybe they can finally explore the quiet attraction between them. Then the Salingers announce their next project: an inquest into the mysterious deaths of Stirling’s adoptive parents. They descend on the Caribbean for answers, with Stirling and Tienne the quiet centers of the human justice-seeking hurricane. As they stretch out of their comfort zones, they learn that being family means someone always has your back. Hand in hand, they’ll solve the mystery. They might even be able to live with the consequences—as long as they do it together.Amy Lane’s Long Con series follows a crew of civic-minded thieves on their quests for justice, adventure, and love. Fans of Leverage, heist movies, and romantic suspense will love The Tech.

Read more less

In Singlewide, Sonya Salamon and Katherine MacTavish explore the role of the trailer park as a source of affordable housing. America’s trailer parks, most in rural places, shelter an estimated 12 million people, and the authors show how these parks serve as a private solution to a pressing public need. Singlewide considers the circumstances of families with school-age children in trailer parks serving whites in Illinois, Hispanics in New Mexico, and African Americans in North Carolina. By looking carefully at the daily lives of families who live side by side in rows of manufactured homes, Salamon and MacTavish draw conclusions about the importance of housing, community, and location in the families’ dreams of opportunities and success as signified by eventually owning land and a conventional home. Working-poor rural families who engage with what Salamon and MacTavish call the "mobile home industrial complex" may become caught in an expensive trap starting with their purchase of a mobile home. A family that must site its trailer in a land-lease trailer park struggles to realize any of the anticipated benefits of homeownership. Seeking to break down stereotypes, Salamon and MacTavish reveal the important place that trailer parks hold within the United States national experience. In so doing, they attempt to integrate and normalize a way of life that many see as outside the mainstream, suggesting that families who live in trailer parks, rather than being "trailer trash," culturally resemble the parks’ neighbors who live in conventional homes.

Read more less

Ninja master and survival expert Hakim Isler presents modern day survival strategies based on the techniques of Japan's ancient ninja.If you find yourself in an unexpected extreme situation—while wilderness camping, hiking or adventuring off the beaten path—a fundamental understanding of your surroundings can make the difference between life and death. By harnessing the powers of nature, the ninja built a legendary reputation as survivalists with an ability to thrive in even the most inhospitable situations. By studying their ancient philosophy and techniques, alongside modern science, you can prepare yourself to survive in any outdoor environment.Gain real survival skills for the modern day based in the Buddhist philosophy of the five elements: Earth - protection from the harsh elements using trees, leaves, dirt, grass, and vines to build shelter Water - effectively cool off when overheated and avoid dehydration Fire - properly use fire to warm the body and to purify water by boiling it Wind - harness the power of wind to ventilate shelters, smoke meat and help build fires Void - apply knowledge and creativity while developing a survival plan Isler has over 20 years of experience as a martial artist, Special Forces soldier and security expert. With over 135 full-color photos and 60 illustrations detailing these time-tested methods, this book offers insights that are extremely practical.The foreword by Ninjutsu master Stephen K. Hayes masterfully connects the past to the present by providing unique and valuable insights for surviving mentally in the outdoors.

Read more less

Twenty-first-century culture is obsessed with books. In a time when many voices have joined to predict the death of print, books continue to resurface in new and unexpected ways. From the proliferation of “shelfies” to Jane Austen–themed leggings and from decorative pillows printed with beloved book covers to bookwork sculptures exhibited in prestigious collections, books are everywhere and are not just for reading. Writers have caught up with this trend: many contemporary novels depict books as central characters or fetishize paper and print thematically and formally.In Bookishness, Jessica Pressman examines the new status of the book as object and symbol. She explores the rise of “bookishness” as an identity and an aesthetic strategy that proliferates from store-window décor to experimental writing. Ranging from literature to kitsch objects, stop-motion animation films to book design, Pressman considers the multivalent meanings of books in contemporary culture. Books can represent shelter from—or a weapon against—the dangers of the digital; they can act as memorials and express a sense of loss. Examining the works of writers such as Jonathan Safran Foer, Jennifer Egan, Mark Z. Danielewski, and Leanne Shapton, Pressman illuminates the status of the book as a fetish object and its significance for understanding contemporary fakery. Bringing together media studies, book history, and literary criticism, Bookishness explains how books still give meaning to our lives in a digital age.

Read more less

Architecture Beyond Experience is an interdisciplinary work in the service of one goal: the bringing about of a more relational, 'posthuman' and yet humanist strain in architecture. It argues against the values that currently guide much architectural production (and the larger economy's too), which is the making, marketing, and staging of ever more arresting experiences. The result, in architecture, is experientialism: the belief that what gives a building value, aside from fulfilling its shelter functions, is how its views and spaces make us personally feel as we move around it. This thought provoking essay argues it's time to find a deeper basis for making and judging architecture, a basis which is not personal-experience-multiplied, but which is dialogical and relational from the start. In this context, the word relationaldescribes an architecture that guides people in search of encounter with (or avoidance of) each other and that manifests and demonstrates those same desires in its own forms, components, and materials. Buildings are beings. When studying architecture, they teach as well as protect; they tell us who we were and who we want to be; they exemplify, they deserve respect, invite investment, and reward affection. These are social-relational values, values that both underlie and go beyond experiential ones (sometimes called 'phenomenological'). Such relational values have been suppressed, in part because architects have joined the Experience Economy, hardly noticing they have done so. Architecture Beyond Experience provides the argument and the concepts to ultimately re-centre a profession.

Read more less

“A hospital ... is like a roosting box: a communal space that provides ideal but temporary shelter for [the] vulnerable.” In the aftermath of the First World War, a cash register factory in the west end of Toronto was renovated to treat wounded soldiers returning from war. From 1919 to the 1940s, thousands of soldiers passed through its doors. Some spent the remainder of their lives there. The Roosting Box is an exquisitely written history of the early years of the Christie Street Hospital and how war reshaped Canadian society. What sets it apart from other volumes is the detail about the ordinary people at the heart of the book: veterans learning to live with their injuries and a world irrevocably changed; nurses caring for patients while coming to terms with their own wartime trauma; and doctors pioneering research in prosthetics and plastic surgery or, in the case of Frederick Banting, in a treatment for diabetes. Naming chapters after parts of the body, den Hartog chronicles injuries and treatments, and through the voices of men and women, the struggles and accomplishments of the patients and staff. The cast of characters is diverse — Black, female, Indigenous, and people with all sorts of physical and mental challenges — and their experiences, gleaned from diaries, letters, service records, genealogical research, and interviews with descendants, are surprising and illuminating. An unusual mix of history and story, The Roosting Box offers deeply personal perspectives on healing in the aftermath of war.

Read more less

___________________ BASED ON THE ACADEMY AWARD WINNING FEATURE DOCUMENTARY ___________________ 'Wonderfully moving ... a noble story, beautifully told' - Daily Mail With a preface by Lord Richard Attenborough, this is a moving collection of accounts from some of the 10,000 children rescued from the Nazi Regime and brought to the UK by the Kindertransport scheme - and an important contribution to our national conversation about how we treat refugees. In November 1938, international public opinion was shocked by the news of Kristallnacht - the anti-Jewish pogrom that led to the burning of synagogues and the first mass arrests of Jewish men. Twelve days later, the British government implemented the Kindertransport plan, which allowed many children to leave the horrors of the Nazi regime and find temporary refuge within British families and hostels. By the time war was declared in September 1939, this brave undertaking had saved 10,000 lives. This book, based on the Academy Award-winning feature documentary of the same name, reveals what it was like to grow up in the shadow of the Nazi threat, to escape danger and fear, but also to leave family and friends, perhaps for ever. It is poignantly told in the words of those directly involved. It is both an astonishing insight into a remarkable moment of history and a timely reminder of how welcoming our country has been in the past to those who need welcome, shelter and hope.

Read more less

Everyday Kindness is a charity anthology of short, fictional stories of kindness, edited by L J Ross and published through her imprint, Dark Skies Publishing. These uplifting tales of hope and of small, everyday kindnesses are intended to be read daily, through the course of a year, to support wider, positive mental health goals and foster wellbeing through the act of reading tales of goodwill inspired by others. Featuring authors across the spectrum of literature, some international bestsellers and award-winning writers amongst them, this is a unique collection of words to inspire hope, in direct response to the Covid-19 crisis. All proceeds from the book will be donated to Shelter, a charity that helps millions of people a year struggling with bad housing or homelessness. Authors include: LJ Ross, Adam Hamdy, Alex Smith, Alexander Gordon Smith, Alison Stockham, Anne O’Leary, Barbara Copperthwaite, JD Kirk, CL Taylor, Caroline Mitchell, Chris McDonald, CK McDonnell, Claire Sheehy, Clare Flynn, Darren O’Sullivan, David Leadbeater, Debbie Young, Deborah Carr, Emma Robinson, Graham Brack, HM Lynn, Heather Martin, Holly Martin, Ian Sainsbury, Imogen Clark, James Gilbert, Jane Corry, Jean Gill, JJ Marsh, Judith O’Reilly, Kelly Clayton, Kim Nash, Liz Fenwick, Louise Beech, Lousie Jensen, Louise Mumford, Malcolm Hollingdrake, Marcia Woolf, Mark Stay, Marcie Steele, Natasha Bache, Nick Jackson, Nick Quantrill, Nicky Black, Patricia Gibney, Rachel Sargeant, Rob Parker, Rob Scragg, SE Lynes, Shelley Day, Casey Kelleher, Sophie Hannah, Leah Mercer, Victoria Connelly, Victoria Cooke, Will Dean.

Read more less

It would always be summer on the island . . .THE EMOTIONALLY GRIPPING AND ADDICTIVE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'I cannot put into words the love I have for Anna and T.J. I felt as though I was right there with them' 5***** Reader Review'I'd give this more than 5 stars if I could! Will stay with me for a very long time' 5***** Reader Review_________When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a summer job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's holiday home in the Maldives, she immediately accepts.T.J. wishes he weren't going. Almost seventeen and finally cancer free, he'd much rather spend the summer with his friends.But as Anna and T.J. jet off to join his family, the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Marooned on an uninhabited island, Anna and T.J. work together to obtain water, food, fire and shelter.As the days turn to weeks then months and finally years, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man . . .As romantic as One Day and The Time Traveller's Wife, On the Island is the utterly compelling, scorching summer read that will whisk you away._________'The perfect book for a little escapism' 5***** Reader Review'A story that stays with you long after you've finished it' 5***** Reader Review

Read more less

WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021'Her strongest yet... a powerful, beautiful novel that shows us our land as it really is: a place of shelter and cruelty, innocence and experience' THE TIMES__________________________________________________________________________When you live on the edge of society, it only takes one step to fall between the cracks Twins Jeanie and Julius have always been different from other people. At 51 years old, they still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation and poverty. Inside the walls of their old cottage they make music, and in the garden they grow (and sometimes kill) everything they need for sustenance. But when Dot dies suddenly, threats to their livelihood start raining down. Jeanie and Julius would do anything to preserve their small sanctuary against the perils of the outside world, even as their mother's secrets begin to unravel, putting everything they thought they knew about their lives at stake. Unsettled Ground is a powerful novel of betrayal and resilience, love and survival. It is a portrait of life on the fringes of society that explores with dazzling emotional power how we can build our lives on broken foundations, and spin light from darkness. ____________________________________________________________________'The way she writes (with empathy but never sentimentality) moves my heart' ELIZABETH DAY, author of Magpie'A relevant and powerful exploration of isolation and life on the fringes of society' CLARE MACKINTOSH, author of Hostage'An atmospheric thriller that's both heartbreaking and heartwarming' RED

Read more less

This “genre-shredding” (Tor.com) feminist dystopian eco-horror, perfect for fans of The Last of Us, traces a girl’s coming-of-age on a post-apocalyptic trek through the Southwest.In a bleak, desiccated future, eleven-year-old Magdala and her father are forced to flee through the desolate landscape of the American Southwest, searching for shelter and peace. Pursued by horrors both unnatural and all-too-human, they join a pilgrimage to the holy city of Las Vegas, where it is said that vigilante saints reside, bright with neon power. Magdala, born with a clubfoot, is determined to be healed there. But one by one, the pilgrims and her father fall victim to an eerie, all-consuming sickness—leaving Magdala to fend for herself in the wilderness.After surviving for years on her own, Magdala grows tired of waiting for her miracle. She turns her gaze to Las Vegas once more, taking an exiled Vegas priest hostage to guide her as she navigates the unsettling expanse of the desert and the hungry, dark ambitions of men. Even as she nears the holy land, Magdala must choose: survival or salvation?In this moving debut novel, acclaimed short fiction writer Kay Chronister twines the strange, terrible beauty of the desert into a haunting exploration of faith and hope. Bold and disquieting, Desert Creatures is a surreal examination of humanity and the myths we tell ourselves to survive.

Read more less

For roughly a century, the log cabin occupied a central and indispensable role in the rapidly growing United States. Although it largely disappeared as a living space, it lived on as a symbol of the settling of the nation. In her thought-provoking and generously illustrated new book, Alison Hoagland looks at this once-common dwelling as a practical shelter solution-easy to construct, built on the frontier's abundance of trees, and not necessarily meant to be permanent-and its evolving place in the public memory.Hoagland shows how the log cabin was a uniquely adaptable symbol, responsive to the needs of the cultural moment. It served as the noble birthplace of presidents, but it was also seen as the basest form of housing, accommodating the lowly poor. It functioned as a paragon of domesticity, but it was also a basic element in the life of striving and wandering. Held up as a triumph of westward expansion, it was also perceived as a building type to be discarded in favor of more civilized forms.In the twentieth century, the log cabin became ingrained in popular culture, serving as second homes and motels, as well as restaurants and shops striking a rustic note. The romantic view of the past, combined with the log cabin's simplicity, solidity, and compatibility with nature, has made it an enduring architectural and cultural icon.Preparation of this volume has been supported by Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund

Read more less

“Smart girls, friendship, and fun: a winning combination.” —Kirkus“A wonderful book.” —School Library JournalCece loves science and adventure!In this STEM-themed Girls in Science picture book, Cece and her Adventure Girls troop use science, technology, engineering, and math to solve problems and earn their camping pin. Illustrated by New York Times–bestseller Vashti Harrison, Cece Loves Science and Adventure is perfect for fans of Ada Twist, Scientist and anyone who enjoys asking questions and figuring out how things work. Cece loves being an Adventure Girl almost as much as she loves science, which is why she can’t wait for her troop’s camping trip. Nature is full of science for Cece to explore!Along with her friends, her mom, and her dog, Einstein, Cece learns how to pitch a tent, set up a campsite, and document landmarks on the trail. Then thunder booms in the distance! Working together, the girls use meteorology and math to determine the location of the storm; engineering to build a shelter; and technology and math to calculate the length of the trek back to the campsite. After all that teamwork, Cece’s mom gives them an Adventure Girl surprise!Illustrated by Vashti Harrison, author and illustrator of the New York Times–bestselling Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, Cece Loves Science and Adventure is just right for curious kids and anyone who loves to explore the great outdoors. Includes a glossary.

Read more less

This innovative and much needed handbook will enable mental health administrators and practitioners to design and implement effective services for disaster victims. Drawing upon their own experiences dealing with disaster victims and upon a wealth of research, the authors present a tightly packed compendium of practical information on three general topics: understanding disaster behavior; developing a crisis counseling program; and treatment techniques for helping victims in the hours, days and months following a catastrophe. Disasters are not uncommon, but they are generally unexpected. Most communities are unprepared for the devastation and disorganization following an earthquake, flood, tornado, or nuclear plant meltdown; they they are unable to respond quickly or effectively. Mental health professionals are often as unprepared as others. Traditionally, the highest priorities in relief efforts have been the provision of food, shelter, and medical care. Now it is becoming increasingly recognized that psychological assistance to victims in distress is also an important priority. This handbook gives the mental health administrator and practitioner essential information about: * The types and phases of a disaster * The concepts surrounding disaster-related behavior * Specific physical and emotional problems suffered by victims * Appropriate helping techniques to treat those problemsCase studies of victims of floods, hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, and blizzards give human immediacy to the information. In addition to administrators in state and local government, social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, students, and community organizers will find this a ready guide.

Read more less

Twenty-first-century culture is obsessed with books. In a time when many voices have joined to predict the death of print, books continue to resurface in new and unexpected ways. From the proliferation of “shelfies” to Jane Austen–themed leggings and from decorative pillows printed with beloved book covers to bookwork sculptures exhibited in prestigious collections, books are everywhere and are not just for reading. Writers have caught up with this trend: many contemporary novels depict books as central characters or fetishize paper and print thematically and formally.In Bookishness, Jessica Pressman examines the new status of the book as object and symbol. She explores the rise of “bookishness” as an identity and an aesthetic strategy that proliferates from store-window décor to experimental writing. Ranging from literature to kitsch objects, stop-motion animation films to book design, Pressman considers the multivalent meanings of books in contemporary culture. Books can represent shelter from—or a weapon against—the dangers of the digital; they can act as memorials and express a sense of loss. Examining the works of writers such as Jonathan Safran Foer, Jennifer Egan, Mark Z. Danielewski, and Leanne Shapton, Pressman illuminates the status of the book as a fetish object and its significance for understanding contemporary fakery. Bringing together media studies, book history, and literary criticism, Bookishness explains how books still give meaning to our lives in a digital age.

Read more less

In this collection of idiosyncratic lessons, architect and teacher Pier Paolo Tamburelli engages with the very foundations of arch-itecture, proposing a series of new and open-ended perspectives on how we build the world. Developed for the 'Grundkurs', or 'basic course', at Vienna Technical University, Tamburelli's lessons are presented through the annotated sketches that form the basis of his lectures - variously rough and precise, sarcastic and sincere, and always uniquely expressive. This volume is a rich visual sourcebook of architectural ideas that form an accessible and discursive introduction to the discipline - one which pauses on the road to grand theories to learn from the intuitive processes of notetaking, drawing, and association. Tamburelli's lessons are based around a series of dialectic couples, including Roof/Wall, Shelter/Memory, and Language/Action. The pairs are experimental and often provocative, offering a framework to be used to climb in the direction of architecture. Tamburelli trusts in the capacity of images to suspend the restraints of more rigorous theoretical approaches, embraces the flexible wisdom of the note, and relishes the intrigue of the cryptic messages we leave for ourselves. Reproduced here in their entirety, these eight lessons offer countless routes towards, through, and around architecture, providing newcomers and experts alike with an intimate and refreshing encounter with a millennia-old discipline. With an introduction by the author and a text by Mark Lee, Chair of the Department of Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design

Read more less

Dazzlingly original, Kobo Abe's The Woman in the Dunes is one of the premier Japanese novels in the twentieth century, and this Penguin Classics edition contains a new introduction by David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas.Niki Jumpei, an amateur entomologist, searches the scorching desert for beetles. As night falls he is forced to seek shelter in an eerie village, half-buried by huge sand dunes. He awakes to the terrifying realisation that the villagers have imprisoned him with a young woman at the bottom of a vast sand pit. Tricked into slavery and threatened with starvation if he does not work, Jumpei's only chance is to shovel the ever-encroaching sand - or face an agonising death. Among the greatest Japanese novels of the twentieth century, The Woman in the Dunes combines the essence of myth, suspense, and the existential novel.Kobo Abe (1924-93) was born in Tokyo, grew up in Manchuria, and returned to Japan in his early twenties. During his life Abe was considered his country's foremost living novelist. His novels have earned many literary awards and prizes, and have all been bestsellers in Japan. They include The Woman in the Dunes, The Ark Sakura, The Face of Another, The Box Man, and The Ruined Map.If you liked The Woman in the Dunes, you might enjoy Albert Camus' The Plague, also available in Penguin Classics.'A haunting Kafkaesque nightmare'Time

Read more less

50 savvy skills for outdoor adventurers. This trusty guide teaches you all the essential skills you need to survive in the wild, from building a shelter to making a fire. Forest school practitioner Richard Skrein shares his expertise and enthusiasm for the outdoors through easy-to-understand instructions, illustrated with captivating drawings by Maria Nilsson. The book is divided into four main chapters reflecting the elemental skill sets: Earth – this chapter focuses on toolcraft, foraging and natural resources. Learn how to make a bow, arrows and a mallet; identify essential plants and trees and their medicinal properties.Air – this chapter focuses on shelters, knots, navigation and the sky. Learn the secrets of selecting the perfect wilderness camp; master knots and lashings; and discover how to read nature’s ‘GPS’.Water – this chapter focuses on finding, drinking and using water, fishing and rafts. Learn how to purify water for drinking; suss out the skills needed to fashion a fishing rod; and make a sail for your handmade raft.Fire – this chapter focuses on making and using fire and cooking food. Master the art of building a fire, set your own signal fire and build a Swedish fire log. The book also explains the items you need to ensure your rucksack is kitted out with the best equipment for exploring. With extra tips and a rundown of useful tools, you’ll find everything you need to get out there, have an adventure and survive the great outdoors.

Read more less

Human-induced climate change is one of the imminent threats to humankind in recent times. Climate change, exacerbated by the greenhouse gas (GHG) in the atmosphere has consequential effects on the social and environmental outcome of human health, clean air, sufficient food, safe drinking water and secure shelter. In extreme circumstances it has resulted in the loss of human life, damage to property and displacement. As record numbers of hurricanes, wildfires and floods have occurred and millions of people have been forcibly displaced by weather-related events and extreme temperatures since 2008, this volume addresses vital issues pertinent to environmental accounting and management. Green House Gas Emissions Reporting and Management in Global Top Emitting Countries and Companies increases our understanding of GHG emissions and documents evidence for policy formulation aimed at reducing the accumulation of such emissions. The contributors consider a range of issues from across the globe: the nature and quantum of GHG emissions research published in top journals; the extent of GHG disclosures in China; impact of corporate governance mechanisms on GHG disclosures in US; board interlocks effect on GHG performance in India; the Paris Climate Agreement affect on climate disclosures in South Africa; and social factors influence in determining GHG emissions in the top 100 emitting countries. The Advances in Environmental Accounting & Management series aims to advance knowledge of the governance and management of corporate environmental impacts and the accounting involved.

Read more less

One Good Thing is the heartwarming, hilarious alternative love story, from the internationally bestselling author of Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up, Alexandra Potter'A joyful, wholly unpredictable love story' - Woman's OwnIn life, nothing is certain. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something can happen to change the course of everything . . .Liv Brooks is still in shock. Newly-divorced and facing an uncertain future, she impulsively swaps her London Life for the sweeping hills of the Yorkshire Dales, determined to make a fresh start. But fresh starts are harder than they look and feeling lost and lonely she decides to adopt Harry, an old dog from the local shelter, to keep her company.But Liv soon discovers she isn’t the only one in need of a new beginning. On their daily walks around the village, they meet Valentine, an old man who suffers from loneliness who sits by the window and Stanley, a little boy who is scared of everyone, hides behind the garden gate and Maya, a teenager who is angry at everyone and everything. But slowly things start to change . . .Utterly relatable, hilarious and heart-breakingly honest, this is a novel about friendship, finding happiness and living the life unexpected. And how when everything falls apart, all you need is one good thing to turn your life around and make it worth living again.

Read more less

The USA Today bestselling Give & Take series continues with TAKEN BY STORM, the highly anticipated page turning, seductive and heartstoppingly powerful love story of MJ and Maddie.DECEPTION: Maddie Simcoe knows the devastation that comes from keeping secrets. Now, she's desperate to move on from the heartbreak that almost destroyed her - trading wild passion that once made her knees weak for a life of comfortable stability. But before Maddie can start over, she must return home to put the past behind her once and for all...PASSION: When Maddie blows back into MJ Rocha's life, nothing will stop him from proving to her that walking away from him was the biggest mistake of her life - not even the engagement ring she wears. Her every look, every touch tells MJ that the fire that once raged between them still burns hot, and MJ won't give up until Maddie gives in to the inferno.REDEMPTION: Trapped by a hurricane roaring through Turtle Tear Island, MJ and Maddie find shelter in each others' arms. While the lightning flashes, MJ and Maddie are helpless to fight bonds of desire that tie them together. But just as they're about to surrender to the torturous longing that consumes them both, the storm unleashes violent secrets from MJ's past...secrets that could wash away all MJ and Maddie's hopes of forever...Don't miss the rest of the exhilarating Give & Take series: Taken, No Takebacks, Take Me Back, Given and Take This Man.

Read more less

"Scripting Addiction" takes readers into the highly ritualized world of mainstream American addiction treatment. It is a world where clinical practitioners evaluate how drug users speak about themselves and their problems, and where the ideal of 'healthy' talk is explicitly promoted, carefully monitored, and identified as the primary sign of therapeutic progress. The book explores the puzzling question: why do addiction counselors dedicate themselves to reconciling drug users' relationship to language in order to reconfigure their relationship to drugs? To answer this question, anthropologist Summerson Carr traces the charged interactions between counselors, clients, and case managers at 'Fresh Beginnings', an addiction treatment program for homeless women in the midwestern United States. She shows that shelter, food, and even the custody of children hang in the balance of everyday therapeutic exchanges, such as clinical assessments, individual therapy sessions, and self-help meetings. Acutely aware of the high stakes of self-representation, experienced clients analyze and learn to effectively perform prescribed ways of speaking, a mimetic practice they call 'flipping the script'. As a clinical ethnography, Scripting Addiction examines how decades of clinical theorizing about addiction, language, self-knowledge, and sobriety is manifested in interactions between counselors and clients. As an ethnography of the contemporary United States, the book demonstrates the complex cultural roots of the powerful clinical ideas that shape therapeutic transactions - and by extension administrative routines and institutional dynamics - at sites such as 'Fresh Beginnings'.

Read more less

REDISCOVER THE FORGOTTEN ART OF ASKING IN THIS NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING BOOK 'Amanda Palmer joyfully shows a generation how to change their lives' Caitlin Moran'To read Amanda Palmer's remarkable memoir about asking and giving is to tumble headlong into her world' Elizabeth Gilbert'The Art of Asking is a book about cultivating trust and getting as close as possible to love, vulnerability, and connection. Uncomfortably close. Dangerously close. Beautifully close' Brene BrownImagine standing on a box in the middle of a busy city, dressed as a white-faced bride, and silently using your eyes to ask people for money. Or touring Europe in a punk cabaret band, and finding a place to sleep each night by reaching out to strangers on Twitter. For Amanda Palmer, actions like these have gone beyond satisfying her basic needs for food and shelter - they've taught her how to turn strangers into friends, build communities, and discover her own giving impulses. And because she had learned how to ask, she was able to go to the world to ask for the money to make a new album and tour with it, and to raise over a million dollars in a month.In the New York TImes bestseller The Art of Asking, Palmer expands upon her popular TED talk to reveal how ordinary people, those of us without thousands of Twitter followers and adoring fans, can use these same principles in our own lives.

Read more less

When our ancestors came down from the trees, they brought the trees with them and remade the world. ‘A stunning book on the incalculable debt humanity owes wood…’ John Carey, The Sunday Times How did the descendants of small arboreal primates manage to stand on our own two feet, become top predators and take over the world? In The Wood Age, Roland Ennos shows that the key to humanity’s success has been our relationship with wood. He takes us on a sweeping ten-million-year journey from great apes who built their nests among the trees to early humans who depended on wood for fire, shelter, tools and weapons; from the structural design of wheels and woodwinds, to the invention of paper and the printing press. Drawing together recent research and reinterpreting existing evidence from fields as far-ranging as primatology, anthropology, archaeology, history, architecture, engineering and carpentry, Ennos charts for the first time how our ability to exploit wood’s unique properties has shaped our bodies and minds, societies and lives. He also charts the dislocating effects of industrialism and explains how rediscovering traditional ways of growing, using and understanding trees can help combat climate change and bring our lives into better balance with nature. In the bestselling tradition of Harari’s Sapiens, this unique history of humanity tells the story of our evolution, our civilisations and our future through the lens of the material that made us. We are products of the Wood Age.

Read more less

What wouldn’t animal-loving humans do to create the perfect modern habitat for their cherished animals? Not surprisingly, pet owners are forever seeking ways to provide the best environment to make life for their pets as enjoyable and engaging as possible. Designing the perfect architecture and interiors for pets and animals of all shapes, sizes, species, and breeds is all about creating a seamless coexistence. Showcased here are heaps of fun and unique projects created by an inventive global design community. The charming, imaginative, and inspired interiors and architectural systems presented in this book offer a beautiful combination of aesthetics and creature comfort, be they for cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, chickens, turtles, horses, and many others. This carefully curated selection includes not only ingenious yet elegant built-in cat ladders, scratchers, and walkways, and private dog nooks — even a noise-cancelling kennel for the most pampered of pooches — but also amazing modular mazes for the busiest cat, rabbit, guinea pig, or hamster, as well as beautiful, sculptural birdhouses and charming log-cabin-style chicken coops. It also features funky cat cafés and special shelter ideas to keep both human and animal creatures calm. This delightful book presents a lovable assortment of safe and sustainable pet-friendly projects, ideal for design- and animal-conscious folk who want to turn their interiors or workspaces into the most comfortable living/playpen environments for their beloved fur-babies (and other pets) to roam and rest.

Read more less

2016 National Book Critics Circle Award finalist for poetry 2017 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award finalist 2017 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award finalist Named a top poetry book of spring 2016 by Library Journal Part fact, part fiction, Tyehimba Jess's much anticipated second book weaves sonnet, song, and narrative to examine the lives of mostly unrecorded African American performers directly before and after the Civil War up to World War I. Olio is an effort to understand how they met, resisted, complicated, co-opted, and sometimes defeated attempts to minstrelize them. So, while I lead this choir, I still find that I'm being led...I'm a missionary mending my faith in the midst of this flock...I toil in their fields of praise. When folks see these freedmen stand and sing, they hear their God speak in tongues. These nine dark mouths sing shelter; they echo a hymn's haven from slavery's weather. Detroit native Tyehimba Jess' first book of poetry, leadbelly, was a winner of the 2004 National Poetry Series. Jess, a Cave Canem and NYU Alumni, has received fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Arts Council, and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. Jess is also a veteran of the 2000 and 2001 Green Mill Poetry Slam Team. He exhibited his poetry at the 2011 TEDxNashville Conference. Jess is an Associate Professor of English at College of Staten Island.

Read more less

The first edition of The Small-Scale Poultry Flock helped thousands of small-scale farmers and smallholders adopt a practical model for working with chickens and other domestic fowl based on natural systems. In this expanded and thoroughly revised edition, readers will find plenty of all-new material. Author Harvey Ussery introduces readers to his new favorite breed of chicken, Icelandics; describes how he manages his breeding flock using a clan mating system; presents detailed information on the use of trapnests and record-keeping spreadsheets for evaluating breeding hen performance; and provides step-by-step instructions for construction of an ingeniously designed mobile poultry shelter. Readers will also find fully updated information and tips on all aspects of flock management, including: growing (and sourcing) feed on a small scale cultivating earthworms and grubs as high-protein poultry feed brooding (and breeding) at home implementing manure management using electric net fencing for ranging flocks using poultry as insect and weed managers in the garden and orchard enlisting your chickens as garden tillers and compost-makers protecting the flock from predators keeping the flock healthy working with mother hens In The Small-Scale Poultry Flock, Revised Edition Ussery presents a sustainable and ecologically friendly model that can be adapted to a variety of scales. His advice and examples throughout the book will prove invaluable for beginner farmers, growers looking to incorporate poultry into their programme and experienced farmers looking to create a truly sustainable system.

Read more less

NOW A NETFLIX SERIES STARRING MARGARET QUALLEY & ANDY MACDOWELL.BARACK OBAMA'S SUMMER READING PICK, 2019.BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK.Educated meets Nickel and Dimed in Stephanie Land's memoir about working as a maid. A beautiful and gritty exploration of poverty in the western world. Includes a foreword by international bestelling author Barbara Ehrenreich. 'My daughter learned to walk in a homeless shelter.'As a struggling single mum, determined to keep a roof over her daughter's head, Stephanie Land worked for years as a maid, working long hours in order to provide for her small family. In Maid, she reveals the dark truth of what it takes to survive and thrive in today's inequitable society. As she worked hard to climb her way out of poverty as a single parent, scrubbing the toilets of the wealthy, navigating domestic labour jobs as a cleaner whilst also juggling higher education, assisted housing, and a tangled web of government assistance, Stephanie wrote. She wrote the true stories that weren't being told. The stories of the overworked and underpaid. Written in honest, heart-rending prose and with great insight, Maid explores the underbelly of the upper-middle classes and the reality of what it's like to be in service to them. 'I'd become a nameless ghost,' Stephanie writes. With this book, she gives voice to the 'servant' worker, those who fight daily to scramble and scrape by for their own lives and the lives of their children.

Read more less

"I am in awe of her talent."— Julia QuinnIn USA Today bestselling author Julie Anne Long’s thrilling new romance in the Palace of Rogues series, an infamous privateer’s limits are put to the test when he’s trapped during a raging tempest with a prickly female at the Grand Palace on the Thames.He clawed his way up from the gutters of St. Giles to the top of a shadowy empire. Feared and fearsome, battered and brilliant, nothing shocks Lorcan St. Leger—not even the discovery of an aristocratic woman escaping out a window near the London docks on the eve of the storm of the decade. They find shelter at a boarding house called the Grand Palace on the Thames—only to find greater dangers await inside.Desperate, destitute, and jilted, Lady Daphne Worth knows the clock is ticking on her last chance to save herself and her family: an offer of a loveless marriage. But while the storm rages and roads flood, she and the rogue who rescued her must pose as husband and wife in order to share the only available suite.Crackling enmity gives way to incendiary desire—and certain heartbreak: Lorcan is everything she never dreamed she’d wanted, but he can never be what she needs. But risk is child’s play to St. Leger. And if the stakes are a lifetime of loving and being loved by Daphne, he’ll move any mountain, confront any old nemesis, to turn “never” into forever.

Read more less

'A thoroughly recommended read if you want your garden to have that designer touch - and to look good all year round' - Alan Titchmarsh 'This book is reassuringly methodical. From the initial survey to the planting palette and how to design for privacy, shelter or noise control. It's a helpful primer for any design project.' - Daily Mail'Inventively presented with a lot of info packed in without seeming deterrently difficult.' - Evening Standard'Great design tips, ideas and planting schemes for year-round interest.' - House BeautifulConfused by the bewildering range of plants on offer at your local garden centre? How do you choose, use and create beautiful planting schemes like the professionals? The book takes you on a structured journey through the design process, from the initial assessment of your existing space, through choosing a theme or style, to putting it all together. Learn what various plant groups can provide and how to problem-solve by selecting the right species. Understand the role that form, colour, scent and texture play in the garden, and how to use focal points and accent plants for added interest. Tiny courtyard gardeners and suburban gardeners alike will learn how to mix plants in pleasing combinations that will provide interest through the seasons and last for years. RHS How to Plant a Garden proves that a good planting scheme can transform your garden from the ordinary to the truly inspirational.

Read more less

For Michael B. Katz, the term "welfare state" describes the intricate web of government programs, employer-provided benefits, and semiprivate organizations intended to promote economic security and to guarantee the basic necessities of life for all citizens: food, shelter, medical care, protection in childhood, and support in old age. In this updated edition of his seminal work The Price of Citizenship, Katz traces the evolution of the welfare state from colonial relief programs through the war on poverty and into our own age, marked by the "end of welfare as we know it." Katz argues that in the last decades, three great forces—a ferocious war on dependence, which has singled out the most vulnerable; the devolution of authority within both government and the private sector; and the application of market models to social policy—have permeated all aspects of the social contract. The Price of Citizenship shows how these changes have propelled America toward a future of increased inequality and decreased security as individuals compete for success in an open market with ever fewer protections against misfortune, power, and greed. A new chapter, written for this edition, explains how these trends continue in the post-9/11 era and how the response to Hurricane Katrina exposed the weaknesses of America's social safety net. Offering grounds for modest optimism, the new chapter also points to countervailing trends that may modify and even partially reverse the effects of recent welfare history.

Read more less

A glorious celebration of the beauty, diversity, importance and sheer wonder of plants, with exquisite illustrations from the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Plants feed us, clothe us, shelter us, help transport us, and can both intoxicate and cure us. From food staples to exotic and enchanting flowers, plants are essential for the wellbeing of our selves and our planet. Helen and William Bynum are expert guides to the intriguing histories and uses of over 80 key plants. Rich in cultural, historical, botanical and symbolic associations, the plants, from every corner of the globe – both familiar and bizarre – have fascinating stories to tell. Starting with foods that laid the foundations for the development of civilizations, such as wheat, rice and maize, and those that enliven our diet, such as saffron and spices, sections look at plants that have helped to create our material world, including bamboo and the oak, and crops that have made people rich, such as tea, coffee and sugar cane. Many plants have been used medicinally and others, for instance eucalyptus or giant redwoods, have come to epitomize entire landscapes. Some are the objects of obsession, including the tulip, the rose and the lotus, and some are distinctly strange, such as the world’s largest flower, rafflesia, which smells of rotting flesh! For anyone interested in the extraordinary beauty and diversity of flora around us, this stunning book, illustrated with botanical drawings, paintings and artworks will be an inspiration and a delight.

Read more less

Building a home is a complicated, precise, and labour-intensive process. From drawing a design to selecting the site to laying the foundation, building the frame, installing the plumbing, wiring, HVAC, and everything in between, there are countless opportunities for something to go wrong. So how does a homeowner, builder, or remodeler make sure that their project stays on track every step of the way? Having a copy of The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling, th Edition on hand is a great place to start. . This new edition has the mist up to date information on solar power and best-practice insulating-as well as the latest code information and updated sections on framing, sheathing, air sealing, and heating and cooling, enabling the reader to visualise exactly how to tackle any building project or problem. . With 25 chapters, 688 pages, and a whopping 1,700 full-colour illustrations and 300 quick-reference charts covering all aspects of home design and construction, this tome is the quintessential resource for home builders. As an added bonus, you can use it to hammer a nail if you leave your toolbelt at home AUTHOR: Charlie Wing, an authority on home building and remodeling, specialises in translating technical information into layman's terms. He founded the nation's first owner-builder school, called the Shelter Institute. He's also written and hosted a national PBS TV series about remodeling and is the author of 14 home-related books, including How Your House Works.

Read more less