Selma's Purple Hair

Selma's Purple Hair
Author: Rawan Dashti
Publisher: Balboa Press
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2016-06-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504357078

Selma is in for a surprise when she starts her first day at school. She learns that in order to fit in, she may need to give up unique parts of herself. Follow Selma through her journey of self discovery, and learn how she embraces her own special qualities.

My Name Is Selma

My Name Is Selma
Author: Selma van de Perre
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2021-05-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1982164697

An international bestseller, this powerful memoir by a ninety-eight-year-old Jewish Resistance fighter and Holocaust survivor “shows us how to find hope in hopelessness and light in the darkness” (Edith Eger, author of The Choice and The Gift). Selma van de Perre was seventeen when World War II began. Until then, being Jewish in the Netherlands had not been an issue. But by 1941 it had become a matter of life or death. On several occasions, Selma barely avoided being rounded up by the Nazis. While her father was summoned to a work camp and eventually hospitalized in a Dutch transition camp, her mother and sister went into hiding—until they were betrayed in June 1943 and sent to Auschwitz. In an act of defiance and with nowhere else to turn, Selma took on an assumed identity, dyed her hair blond, and joined the Resistance movement, using the pseudonym Margareta van der Kuit. For two years “Marga” risked it all. Using a fake ID, and passing as Aryan, she traveled around the country and even to Nazi headquarters in Paris, sharing information and delivering papers—doing, as she later explained, what “had to be done.” In July 1944 her luck ran out. She was transported to Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp as a political prisoner. Unlike her parents and sister who she later found out died in other camps—Selma survived by using her alias, pretending to be someone else. It was only after the war ended that she could reclaim her identity and dared to say once again: My name is Selma. “We were ordinary people plunged into extraordinary circumstances,” she writes in this “astonishing, inspirational, and important” memoir (Ariana Neumann, author of When Time Stopped). Full of hope and courage, this is Selma’s story in her own words.

Mean Baby

Mean Baby
Author: Selma Blair
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2023-05-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 059308277X

Selma Blair has played many roles: Ingenue in Cruel Intentions. Preppy ice queen in Legally Blonde. Muse to Karl Lagerfeld. Advocate for the multiple sclerosis community. But before all of that, Selma was known best as … a mean baby. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Blair tells the captivating story of growing up and finding her truth. "Blair is a rebel, an artist, and it turns out: a writer."—Glennon Doyle, Author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Untamed and Founder of Together Rising The first story Selma Blair Beitner ever heard about herself is that she was a mean, mean baby. With her mouth pulled in a perpetual snarl and a head so furry it had to be rubbed to make way for her forehead, Selma spent years living up to her terrible reputation: biting her sisters, lying spontaneously, getting drunk from Passover wine at the age of seven, and behaving dramatically so that she would be the center of attention. Although Selma went on to become a celebrated Hollywood actress and model, she could never quite shake the periods of darkness that overtook her, the certainty that there was a great mystery at the heart of her life. She often felt like her arms might be on fire, a sensation not unlike electric shocks, and she secretly drank to escape. Over the course of this beautiful and, at times, devasting memoir, Selma lays bare her addiction to alcohol, her devotion to her brilliant and complicated mother, and the moments she flirted with death. There is brutal violence, passionate love, true friendship, the gift of motherhood, and, finally, the surprising salvation of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis. In a voice that is powerfully original, fiercely intelligent, and full of hard-won wisdom, Selma Blair’s Mean Baby is a deeply human memoir and a true literary achievement.

The Gray Ghost

The Gray Ghost
Author: Clive Cussler
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2019-05-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0735218986

The search for a legendary automobile threatens the careers and lives of husband-and-wife team Sam and Remi Fargo in this thrilling adventure in Clive Cussler's bestselling series. In 1906, a groundbreaking Rolls-Royce prototype known as the Gray Ghost vanishes from the streets of Manchester, England, and it is only the lucky intervention of an American detective named Isaac Bell that prevents it from being lost forever. Not even he can save the good name of Jonathan Payton, however, the man wrongly blamed for the theft, and more than a hundred years later, it is his grandson who turns to Sam and Remi Fargo to help prove his grandfather's innocence. But there is even more at stake than any of them know. For the car has vanished again, and in it is an object so rare that it has the capacity to change lives. Men with everything to gain and a great deal to lose have a desperate plan to find it—and if anybody gets in their way? They have a plan for that, too.

Dada Eats Love to Cook It

Dada Eats Love to Cook It
Author: Samah Dada
Publisher: Rodale Books
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2021-06-08
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 0593138244

A healthy vegetarian cookbook featuring inventive takes on beloved Indian dishes, indulgent desserts, and more, all made with whole foods and anti-inflammatory ingredients—from the Today show’s resident foodie “When I’m looking for something quick that doesn’t use refined sugars and refined flour, Samah is the person I turn to. I can’t get enough!”—Giada De Laurentiis, New York Times bestselling author of Eat Better, Feel Better NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY FOOD52 AND LIBRARY JOURNAL Samah Dada doesn’t buy into the all-or-nothing mentality of healthy eating. By using real, unprocessed ingredients in surprising ways, she shows you how to have your cake and eat it too—because it’s actually made out of chickpeas. Samah knows that eating well doesn’t mean eating boring food. She uses only the most nutritious ingredients, not because she’s cutting out food groups to follow the latest fad, but to create drool-worthy meatless dishes that are mostly vegan (with options for dairy and eggs), mostly gluten-free (with easy substitutions to go entirely gluten-free), and all helpful in reducing inflammation. She reinvents Indian cookbook staples—and other classics—with recipes such as: • Sweet Potato Aloo Tikki • Creamy Black Lentils • Spicy Eggplant Masala • Chocolate Chip Tahini Cake with Chocolate Frosting • Cauliflower Cacio e Pepe • Masala Mac and Cheese • And more! With Dada Eats Love to Cook It, you’ll discover how to use healthy ingredients for maximum flavor and joy. Grain-Optional. Gluten-Flexible. Mostly Plant-Based. Totally Inclusive.

Templars and Pagans

Templars and Pagans
Author: Dennis M. Barrer Jr.
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 825
Release: 2010-03-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1450049923

Templar and Pagans is a fictional story based on true historical events that took place on Friday, October 13, 1307, when the greedy sovereign of France Phillip IV decided to expel the mastic Templar knighthood from his lands; and with the viscid support of the Catholic Church’s edict, the Anjou Emperor struck without provocation. But before the French ruler could carry out his malign plan, he had the Templar grandmaster Jacques de Molay arrested in Paris and when the machinate suzerain found out through sessions of torture that a small caravan of Templar paladins were secretively transporting a culminated relic from the ecru dessert sands of Acre in the Holy Land to the Templar Commandery at Templecoombe. So, the clever Frankish monarch descended from a line of ancient Merovingian Kings hastily dispatched two ruthless knight-errant companies of men under the command of a malevolent Cathar chevalier known as Viktor of Gaul to intercept and kill the misguided zealot Knights before they safely reached the rocky shores of England via passage by ship from the seaport of Brunges under the renowned leadership of Derek of Holstein, an exemplary cavalier who is emotionally torn between the sworn duties of his Zionist sect and his love for his beautiful ex-sister-en-law Countess Nicolette, who bitterly blames him for the death of her late husband Bruno of Holstein who perished during the siege of Acre which claimed his life. Now with every Templar knight being systematically apprehended on sight throughout the poverty-stricken kingdom at the hands of starving peasants and by vengeful knight-errant mercenaries hoping to cash in on the frantic craze their apparently seems to be no escape for them. And, with everything escalating out of control there are other secret knighthoods eagerly awaiting the inevitable outcome of Clements’s papal decree which could also spell doom for their fraternal organizations if successful. . . Thanks, Dennis...

Dignity

Dignity
Author: Chris Arnade
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2019-06-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0525534733

NATIONAL BESTSELLER "A profound book.... It will break your heart but also leave you with hope." —J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy "[A] deeply empathetic book." —The Economist With stark photo essays and unforgettable true stories, Chris Arnade cuts through "expert" pontification on inequality, addiction, and poverty to allow those who have been left behind to define themselves on their own terms. After abandoning his Wall Street career, Chris Arnade decided to document poverty and addiction in the Bronx. He began interviewing, photographing, and becoming close friends with homeless addicts, and spent hours in drug dens and McDonald's. Then he started driving across America to see how the rest of the country compared. He found the same types of stories everywhere, across lines of race, ethnicity, religion, and geography. The people he got to know, from Alabama and California to Maine and Nevada, gave Arnade a new respect for the dignity and resilience of what he calls America's Back Row--those who lack the credentials and advantages of the so-called meritocratic upper class. The strivers in the Front Row, with their advanced degrees and upward mobility, see the Back Row's values as worthless. They scorn anyone who stays in a dying town or city as foolish, and mock anyone who clings to religion or tradition as naïve. As Takeesha, a woman in the Bronx, told Arnade, she wants to be seen she sees herself: "a prostitute, a mother of six, and a child of God." This book is his attempt to help the rest of us truly see, hear, and respect millions of people who've been left behind.

Run

Run
Author: John Lewis
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 168335382X

RUN, the Eisner Award-Winner for Best Graphic Memoir, is one of the most heralded books of the year including being named a: New York Times Top 5 YA Books of the Year · Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens (Young Adult Library Services Association) · Washington Post Best Books of the Year · Variety Best Books of the Year · School Library Journal Best Books of the Year · Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year · Amazon Best History Book of 2021 • Top Ten Title of the Year (In the Margins Book Award) · In the Margins Book Award for Nonfiction winner · Top Ten Graphic Novels for Adults (American Library Association) · Best Books for Young Readers (U of Penn Graduate School of Education) · Books All Young Georgians Should Read (Georgia Center for the Book) First you march, then you run. From the #1 bestselling, award–winning team behind March comes the first book in their new, groundbreaking graphic novel series, Run: Book One. “Run recounts the lost history of what too often follows dramatic change—the pushback of those who refuse it and the resistance of those who believe change has not gone far enough. John Lewis’s story has always been a complicated narrative of bravery, loss, and redemption, and Run gives vivid, energetic voice to a chapter of transformation in his young, already extraordinary life.” –Stacey Abrams “In sharing my story, it is my hope that a new generation will be inspired by Run to actively participate in the democratic process and help build a more perfect Union here in America.” –Congressman John Lewis The sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series March—the continuation of the life story of John Lewis and the struggles seen across the United States after the Selma voting rights campaign. To John Lewis, the civil rights movement came to an end with the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. But that was after more than five years as one of the preeminent figures of the movement, leading sit–in protests and fighting segregation on interstate busways as an original Freedom Rider. It was after becoming chairman of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and being the youngest speaker at the March on Washington. It was after helping organize the Mississippi Freedom Summer and the ensuing delegate challenge at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. And after coleading the march from Selma to Montgomery on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” All too often, the depiction of history ends with a great victory. But John Lewis knew that victories are just the beginning. In Run: Book One, John Lewis and longtime collaborator Andrew Aydin reteam with Nate Powell—the award–winning illustrator of the March trilogy—and are joined by L. Fury—making an astonishing graphic novel debut—to tell this often overlooked chapter of civil rights history.

Flashpoint

Flashpoint
Author: Lynn Hightower
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2015-10-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504022327

A New York Times Notable Book: Cincinnati homicide detective Sonora Blair hunts a serial killer who’s playing with fire in Shamus Award–winning author Lynn Hightower’s chilling thriller A single mother of two children and a police specialist with the Cincinnati Homicide Division, Sonora Blair is still awake in the middle of the night when the call comes in. Mark Daniels has been found in Mount Airy Forest handcuffed to the steering wheel of his car, doused with accelerant, and set on fire. As the hideously burned college student lies dying in the ER, he describes his killer: blond, female, and a total stranger. But Mark may not have been the intended victim. Evidence points to a sexual fixation on his older brother, Keaton, a teacher currently separated from his wife. Then the murderer—who has been dubbed “Flash” by the media—calls Sonora one night, taunting and mocking her. As the investigation heats up, the harassment continues. The female psychopath knows intimate details about Sonora’s family and her past. As the criminal’s monstrous plan becomes chillingly apparent, Sonora must risk everything to corner a cunning killer. Flashpoint is the 1st book in the Sonora Blair Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Sisterhood of Swans

Sisterhood of Swans
Author: Selma Carvalho
Publisher: HarperCollins India
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-10-10
Genre: East Indians
ISBN: 9789354471629

Anna-Marie Souza lives in Horton, a suburb on the hem of London, a far cry from the city of Bombay from which her parents had arrived one cold December day in 1989, two Goans in search of a new life. Born in this land of their dreams, raised in a broken home, Anna-Marie has grown up into a state of constant and indefinable yearning. She belongs to the sisterhood of swans seeking to pair for life, curving their necks to entwine with the perfect mate. Only, she has realized, her species is fated to disappointment. Her disastrous choice in men is fuelled not just by a chaotic childhood but by a loss of sexual agency as she embarks on a series of doomed relationships. Set against a cast of intriguing female characters Anna-Marie s Indian-hating Indian mother; her best mate, Sujata, haunted by thoughts of suicide; and Jassie, the sharp-tongued beautician at Bollywood Style Salon is an ensemble of men who are serial philanderers or, worse still, token brown Conservative party members. In this shaky world, Anna-Marie navigates through the pain of a troubled coming of age, while trying to find her place as a second-generation Indian immigrant.