Download or read book These Precious Days written by Ann Patchett and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-11-23 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays. "The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and inviting: with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike." —Publisher's Weekly “Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books (author of The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.

Download or read book These Precious Hours written by Michael Corrigan and published by Virtualbookworm.com Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of related and interconnected stories concerning loss and recovery.*

Download or read book These Few Precious Days written by Christopher Andersen and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An account of Jack and Jackie Kennedy's final year together reveals details of their complex marriage, including rumored infidelities, the president's hidden medical problems, and the tragic death of their infant son.

Download or read book Precious Were The Hours written by John Larrabee and published by . This book was released on 2020-08-20 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If poetry is not your "thing," this book will change your mind. C. S. Lewis wrote, "We ought not write about our actions but about our thoughts. We busy ourselves talking about the weather and the little trivial happenings of each day, while the thoughts of our hearts, the really great experiences of ourselves, are seldom mentioned."Approaching the end of a long and fulfilling life, an aging Baby Boomer publishes his first book - a collection of poems originally written for his grandchildren and never intended to be made public.* Writing in verse, the author reminisces about the joys of family, friends, nature, and living a simple but rewarding life. Opening with a nostalgic reverence for our ancestral beginnings and hope for future generations, "A Grandparent's Message" sets the stage for a wide-ranging series of poems that will take you for a ride along life's emotional roller coaster. * Thirteen years ago the author's niece suffered a severe spinal cord injury at the age of 27, and has been confined to a wheelchair since then. Prior to the injury, she was an avid outdoor adventurer, enjoying mountain climbing, hiking, biking and camping.Following two unsuccessful years of complete bed rest to heal lower body pressure wounds, she spent four months at Maine Medical Center in 2020 for reconstructive surgery.All proceeds from the sale of Precious Were The Hours, will go toward the purchase of a standing wheelchair for Rebecca to help reduce the risks of future pressure wounds.

Download or read book The Hours Mrs Dalloway written by Michael Cunningham and published by Picador. This book was released on 2022-05-03 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Cunningham brings together his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel with the masterpiece that inspired it, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. In The Hours, the acclaimed author Michael Cunningham draws inventively on the life and work of Virginia Woolf and the story of her novel, Mrs. Dalloway, to tell the story of a group of contemporary characters struggling with the conflicting claims of love and inheritance, hope and despair. In this edition, Cunningham brings his own Pulitzer Prize–winning novel together with Woolf’s masterpiece, which has long been hailed as a groundbreaking work of literary fiction and one of the finest novels written in English. The two novels, published side by side with a new introduction by Cunningham, display the extent of their affinity, and each illuminates new facets of the other in this joint volume. In his introduction, Cunningham re-creates the wonderment of his first encounter with Mrs. Dalloway at fifteen—as he writes, “I was lost. I was gone. I never recovered.” With this edition, Cunningham allows us to disappear into the world of Woolf and into his own brilliant mind.

Download or read book The Last Heroes written by Gary Bridson-Daley and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2017-11-01 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Second World War is famed for being the conflict that changed the face of warfare, and it is the last that changed the face of the world. In addition to remembering those who passed away in those dark days of war, a sincere debt of gratitude is owed to all those now in their twilight years who gave all that they had for King and Country. In this new and revised third edition, with additional material to celebrate the lives of D-Day and Arnhem veterans, Gary Bridson-Daley presents 46 of over 150 interviews he conducted with veterans over recent years, adding to the history books the words and the original poetry of those who fought and supported the war effort to ensure freedom, peace and prosperity for generations to come. From each corner of the British Isles and every armed service, from Dam Buster George 'Johnny' Johnson through to riveter Susan Jones: heroes, all.

Download or read book The Velvet Hours written by Alyson Richman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the international bestselling author of The Lost Wife and The Garden of Letters, comes a story—inspired by true events—of two women pursuing freedom and independence in Paris during WWII. As Paris teeters on the edge of the German occupation, a young French woman closes the door to her late grandmother’s treasure-filled apartment, unsure if she’ll ever return. An elusive courtesan, Marthe de Florian cultivated a life of art and beauty, casting out all recollections of her impoverished childhood in the dark alleys of Montmartre. With Europe on the brink of war, she shares her story with her granddaughter Solange Beaugiron, using her prized possessions to reveal her innermost secrets. Most striking of all are a beautiful string of pearls and a magnificent portrait of Marthe painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Boldini. As Marthe’s tale unfolds, like velvet itself, stitched with its own shadow and light, it helps to guide Solange on her own path. Inspired by the true account of an abandoned Parisian apartment, Alyson Richman brings to life Solange, the young woman forced to leave her fabled grandmother’s legacy behind to save all that she loved.

Download or read book How Should a Person Be written by Sheila Heti and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2012-06-19 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chosen as one of fifteen remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write in the 21st century by the book critics of The New York Times "Funny...odd, original, and nearly unclassifiable...unlike any novel I can think of."—David Haglund, The New York Times Book Review "Brutally honest and stylistically inventive, cerebral, and sexy."—San Francisco Chronicle Named a Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Flavorpill, The New Republic, The New York Observer, The Huffington Post A raw, startling, genre-defying novel of friendship, sex, and love in the new millennium—a compulsive read that's like "spending a day with your new best friend" (Bookforum) Reeling from a failed marriage, Sheila, a twentysomething playwright, finds herself unsure of how to live and create. When Margaux, a talented painter and free spirit, and Israel, a sexy and depraved artist, enter her life, Sheila hopes that through close—sometimes too close—observation of her new friend, her new lover, and herself, she might regain her footing in art and life. Using transcribed conversations, real emails, plus heavy doses of fiction, the brilliant and always innovative Sheila Heti crafts a work that is part literary novel, part self-help manual, and part bawdy confessional. It's a totally shameless and dynamic exploration into the way we live now, which breathes fresh wisdom into the eternal questions: What is the sincerest way to love? What kind of person should you be?

Download or read book The Dutch House written by Ann Patchett and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-09-24 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pulitzer Prize Finalist | New York Times Bestseller | A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick | A New York Times Book Review Notable Book | TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of the Year Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, The Washington Post; O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Refinery29, and Buzzfeed From Ann Patchett, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth, comes a powerful, richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are. At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures. Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.

Download or read book Bring Your Baggage and Don t Pack Light written by Helen Ellis and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2021-07-13 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bestselling author of American Housewife and Southern Lady Code returns with an “inspiring, hilarious, straight-to-the-point” (Entertainment Weekly) collection of essays on friendship among grown-ass women. "Ellis' prose is filled with so many laugh lines, you might want to go ahead and book the Botox.” —NPR When Helen Ellis and her lifelong friends arrive for a reunion on the Redneck Riviera, they unpack more than their suitcases: stories of husbands and kids, lost parents and lost jobs, powdered onion dip and photographs you have to hold by the edges, dirty jokes and sunscreen with SPF higher than they hair-sprayed their bangs senior year, and a bad mammogram. It's a diagnosis that scares them, but could never break their bond. Because women pushing fifty won't be pushed around. In these twelve gloriously comic and moving essays, Helen Ellis dishes on married middle-age sex, sobs with a theater full of women as a psychic exorcises their sorrows, gets twenty shots of stomach bile to the neck to get rid of her double chin, and gathers up the courage to ask, "Are you there, Menopause? It's Me, Helen." A book that reads like the best cocktail party of your life, Bring Your Baggage and Don't Pack Light is alive with the sensational humor and ferocious love for her friends that won Helen Ellis legions of fans. This book has a raw vulnerability and an emotional generosity that takes this acclaimed author to a whole new level of accomplishment.

Download or read book Let s Take the Long Way Home written by Gail Caldwell and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2011-08-09 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER They met over their dogs. Gail Caldwell and Caroline Knapp (author of Drinking: A Love Story) became best friends, talking about everything from their love of books and their shared history of a struggle with alcohol to their relationships with men. Walking the woods of New England and rowing on the Charles River, these two private, self-reliant women created an attachment more profound than either of them could ever have foreseen. Then, several years into this remarkable connection, Knapp was diagnosed with cancer. With her signature exquisite prose, Caldwell mines the deepest levels of devotion, and courage in this gorgeous memoir about treasuring a best friend, and coming of age in midlife. Let’s Take the Long Way Home is a celebration of the profound transformations that come from intimate connection—and it affirms, once again, why Gail Caldwell is recognized as one of our bravest and most honest literary voices.

Download or read book The League of Gentlewomen Witches written by India Holton and published by . This book was released on 2024-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Miss Charlotte Pettifer belongs to a secret league of women skilled in the subtle arts. That is to say -- although it must never be said -- witchcraft. The League of Gentlewomen Witches strives to improve the world in small ways. Using magic, they tidy, correct, and manipulate according to their notions of what is proper, entirely unlike those reprobates in the Wisteria Society....

Download or read book The Unconsoled written by Kazuo Ishiguro and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2012-09-05 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the universally acclaimed author of The Remains of the Day comes a mesmerizing novel of completely unexpected mood and matter--a seamless, fictional universe, both wholly unrecognizable and familiar. When the public, day-to-day reality of a renowned pianist takes on a life of its own, he finds himself traversing landscapes that are by turns eerie, comical, and strangely malleable.

Download or read book This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage written by Ann Patchett and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-11-07 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'So compellingly personal you feel you're looking over her shoulder as she sits down to write' New York Times 'Electrically entertaining ... Funny, generous, spirited and kind' The Times This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is an irresistible blend of literature and memoir revealing the big experiences and little moments that shaped Ann Patchett as a daughter, wife, friend and writer. Here, Ann Patchett shares entertaining and moving stories about her tumultuous childhood, her painful early divorce, the excitement of selling her first book, driving a Winnebago from Montana to Yellowstone Park, her joyous discovery of opera, scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, the gradual loss of her beloved grandmother, starting her own bookshop in Nashville, her love for her very special dog and, of course, her eventual happy marriage. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a memoir both wide ranging and deeply personal, overflowing with close observation and emotional wisdom, told with wit, honesty and irresistible warmth.

Download or read book The Last Hours written by Minette Walters and published by MIRA. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 571 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a plague descends on Medieval England, a courageous Lady must protect her land and people at all costs in this historical novel: “Enthralling” (Julian Fellowes, creator of The Gilded Age). England, 1348. When the Black Death arrives in Dorset, no one knows what manner of sickness it is or how it spreads and kills so quickly. The Church proclaims it a punishment from God, insisting that daily confession is their only hope for survival. But Lady Anne of Devilish has different ideas. With her trusted steward Thaddeus at her side—and her brutal husband absent—she gathers her serfs within the moated walls of Devilish and refuse entry to outsiders, including her husband. Bu in such a confined space, conflicts soon arise. Ignorant of the world outside, Lady Anne’s people wrestle with the terrible uncertainty of their futures. And as food stocks run low, they begin to wonder how long they can survive within. The moment will come when they must cross the moat . . . and encounter a world transformed in ways they can’t imagine.

Download or read book Precious Little Sleep written by Alexis Dubief and published by Lomhara Press. This book was released on 2020-10-19 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aren’t babies precious? So is sleep. Your baby is capable of sleeping through the night and this book will show you how. A whip smart and entertaining guide that focuses on WHY babies sleep the way they do, this book arms you with evidence-based and flexible tools that work for every unique situation so that you can teach your baby how to sleep well. This book will help you tackle the thorniest sleep snags, including: > Navigating the tricky newborn phase like a pro > Getting your child to truly sleep through the night > Weaning off the all-night buffet > Mastering the precarious tango that is healthy napping > Solving toddler and preschooler sleep struggles Sleep expert Alexis Dubief, of the wildly popular website, podcast, and group Precious Little Sleep, imparts effective, accessible, and flexible strategies based on years of research that will dramatically improve your child’s sleep. You’ll love the practical solutions and the way she presents them. And it works! Buy it now.

Download or read book Precious Lies written by Autumn Winchester and published by . This book was released on 2019-05-30 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hell. That was my life. Every waking moment, I feared what sort of abuse would be thrown my way. I was Scarlett Adams, invisible to the world. That is, until I learned the truth. *This book is not for the faint of heart. It is dark and emotional. If you are sensitive to dark material, please be warned.