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Author Lee Johnson describes Mixing Memory and Desire: How History Shaped the Foods of the Caribbean as ‘a food book with a large side dish of history.’ It is not a cookbook – there are no recipes – or a forbidding history text filled with events and dates, but a primer for all listeners of how the Caribbean’s turbulent history led to its distinctive cuisine. It is told in an entertaining and listenable style, infused with appropriate poetic and song lyric extracts, and garnished with exquisite line drawings executed by the author.

Stories navigating the commplicated terrain of race in America, from acclaimed writers like Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, Sandra Cisneros, Sherman Alexie, and Amy Tan The editors who brought us Unsettling America and Identity Lessons have compiled a short-story anthology that focuses on themes...

Too tired to think? No time to read books? Zibby Owens gets it. Award-winning podcaster of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books and mother of four (ages six to 14) compiled 53 essays by 49 authors to help the rest of us feel understood, inspired, and less alone.

Kuki refuses to believe in the curse of the Abiku. Her destiny is not to die young! Her biggest problem right now is moving house and fitting in at her new school. One evening while exploring, Kuki spies a driveway lined with giant palm trees. It leads to an abandoned beach house of shadows and scattered sea shells. And in the fading light, she meets a girl called Enilo. They become friends—the best of friends. Until Kuki makes a terrifying discovery.

When 60-something musician pals Roy and George attend the funeral of an old bandmate, they realise that since they stopped performing, they've got stuck in a rut. Retirement's all well and good, but they seem to spend most of their time in front of the TV, or propping up the bar at the Hen & Pewter. Believing that jazz players should keep swinging while they've still got rhythm, the duo decide it's time to recreate the good old days, and start a new band. 

Many people are looking to online dating as a way to get back into real life after the death of a spouse, divorce, or a failed relationship. We paint ourselves as the “perfect partner” with a profile that reflects our life’s story, or does it? In The Woman Behind the Smile, Debby shows how during much of her life she hid behind the mask of being the perfect wife, mother, Air Force officer, banker, legal assistant, and friend - until life was completely changed by “The Call”.

When a man marries a woman because she becomes pregnant with his child, family matters to him. Dave and Phyllis dated in high school. When she got pregnant, he knew the honorable thing to do was to marry her. As the years went on, he stayed because of their daughter, getting along with his shrew of a wife as best he could. Then Dave left for a business trip, and came home to horrifying news; his teenage daughter got pregnant, and was forced into an abortion....by her mother. Now that Phyllis has crossed too far over the line what will he do? How does one live with the woman he stayed with because of obligation to family destroying his family?

Jilly thinks she's figured out how life works. But when her sister Emma is born deaf, she realizes how much she still has to learn. A big fantasy reader, Jilly connects with another fan, Derek, who is African American and a deaf ASL user. She goes to Derek for advice but doesn't always know the best way to ask for it and makes some mistakes along the way. Jilly has to step back to learn to be an ally, a sister, and a friend, understanding that life works in different ways for different people, and that being open to change can make you change in the best possible ways.

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