6/29/2023 0 Comments The spy and the traitor author![]() ![]() Macintyre’s dramatic retelling of their stories comes not only from Western sources (including Gordievsky himself, who is now 82 and living under witness protection in the UK) but also from the Russian perspective. ![]() The book focuses on Oleg Gordievsky, the double agent who helped prevent nuclear war, and Aldrich Ames, the American turncoat who likely betrayed him. I learned about this episode from British journalist Ben Macintyre’s newest book, The Spy and the Traitor. Without disclosing the source of the intelligence, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was able to convince Reagan to soften his tone and halt further escalation. And now we know why: A double agent embedded high in the KGB’s outpost in London got word to his British handlers that the Soviets had mistaken NATO’s war games as war preparation. The Soviets, convinced that NATO was getting ready for a surprise nuclear attack, prepared for nuclear war.īut then, without explanation, the West pulled back from the brink. ![]() And then in November, NATO conducted a massive military simulation involving 40,000 troops. ![]() In the first half of that year, President Ronald Reagan dramatically ratcheted up rhetoric, military spending, and psychological operations against the Soviets. This year has been brutal on so many levels. ![]()
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6/29/2023 0 Comments The Book of Fours by Nancy Holder![]() ![]() I haven't done much other then working around the house so I can update once I take them to the gym or some other environment. I wore these for several hours when I got them prior to doing any charge or anything and was extremely satisfied with sound quality and comfort. I haven't used earbuds a really long time because they just never worked out for me. I don't believe I have ever had that before. I was able to find one that didn't ever seem to make my ear sore. Promising review: "I like that these came with several different options for sizing in the ear. ![]() The earbuds are also sweatproof and waterproof so you can use them during workouts or runs, (even in the shower!), and have a built-in mic so you can chat on the phone. These come with a wireless charging case that provides up to 14 hours of charge (with the earbuds able to play for 4+ hours with each full charge). ![]() 6/29/2023 0 Comments The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James![]() ![]() Through ‘telling the story of the actual writing of The Black Jacobins’ (5), Rachel Douglas offers one of the more thoughtful approaches to that relationship in recent years. ![]() ![]() There are many ways to look at the relationship between Marxist theory and historical analysis. Positioning The Black Jacobins as a ‘palimpsestually multilayered text-network’ formed through processes of rewriting and revision, this book is a welcome addition to scholarship on James and offers a thoughtful approach to the relationship between Marxist theory and historical analysis, writes Scott Timcke. James and the Drama of History, Rachel Douglas examines the formation of James’s groundbreaking work on the Haitian Revolution, exploring its genesis, transformations and afterlives through its different texts, stagings and editions. ![]() 6/29/2023 0 Comments Beatlebone by kevin barry![]() What is Lennon after? Its hard to tell, tied up in who he is. Cornelius keeps Lennon one step ahead of the red-top press, but the island remains just over the horizon. ![]() Ray Lynam sings country on the eight-track and hard-bitten Fleet Street journos comb the country for Lennon. Epic drinking sessions convene at midnight. The psychic wayposts are dank hotels in Newport and Mulrany, the Highwood bar and the Amethyst hotel. Lennon’s driver, the profane and wily Cornelius O’Grady, appoints himself to the role. A spirit guide is needed for the ghosts and shapeshifters, the whirl of terrain and myth. In Robinson Jeffers’s words, beauty is not always lovely. But the strange airs of the west coast need to be negotiated. He wants to spend three days on his island getting under his own skin. He’s on a mission not entirely rational, not entirely sane. ![]() In Kevin Barry’s superb novel it is 1978 and Lennon is back in Clew Bay. The planning permission lapsed and the retreating tide of psychedelia left the self-sufficiency pioneer Sid Rawle, the King of the Hippies, just about in control of the island until fire and storm drive him ashore. His next steps were a typical Lennon mix of practicality and whimsy, on the one hand floating a painted gypsy wagon out to the island, on the other applying to Mayo County Council for permission to build a house. In 1967 John Lennon bought Dorinish island, in Clew Bay, for the knockdown price of £1,550. ![]() 6/29/2023 0 Comments Jeffvandermeer![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() VanderMeer is a prolific author-writing short stories and non-fiction as well as novels. He first became a best-selling author with his trilogy, The Southern Reach, which consists of the books Annihilation, which was adapted into a Hollywood film starring Natalie Portman, Authority, and Acceptance. Eco-fiction? Definitely-the New Yorker has named him the “King of Weird fiction.” But however you classify it, VanderMeer’s work is utterly his own and absolutely fascinating. Fantasy? Well, he won the World Fantasy Award three times. Jeff VanderMeer is a prizewinning author and former NEA literary fellow whose work eludes genre classification. And this is Art Works, the weekly podcast produced at the National Endowment for the Arts. Jo Reed: That's author Jeff VanderMeer describing the plot of his novel Borne, which is one of the newest Big Read titles. Music Credit: “NY” composed and performed by Kosta T, from the cd, Soul Sand. ![]() 6/29/2023 0 Comments Interstellar cinderella book![]() "A futuristic version of the Cinderella story starring a determined and independent-minded protagonist. ![]() ![]() "Does Cinderella really need another re-telling? Heck yes!" -Design Mom " Underwood gives this Cinderella welcome agency and independence.a notable debut for Hunt." "A brilliant twist to the classic fairy tale that enables young readers to meet a brave heroine who can creatively solve problems, work with tools, and be herself." -Geek Dad Interstellar Cinderella was followed by Reading Beauty and Jo Bright and the Seven Bots- making a sci-fi STEM trilogy! Throughout it all Cinderella zips throughout the story with a can-do spirit, a DIY attitude, and loads of charm. In this outer space adaptation of the fairy tale in rhyme, Cinderella dreams of becoming a spaceship mechanic. Cinderella dreams of one day being a ship’s mechanic. There’s a fairy god-bot, cute aliens, a dashing prince, and stars and galaxies swirling around. Visit us for new picture books reviews daily Hey there, everyone Today’s book is an awesome girl-power twist on a classic children’s story: Interstellar Cinderella, written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Meg Hunt, a sci-fi spin on the Cinderella tale. Inspired by classic sci-fi and couture fashion, the world of Interstellar Cinderella is filled with rich details. Interstellar Cinderella is a galactic riff on the classic fairy tale in which our heroine dreams of being a space mechanic who fixes robots all day. ![]() 6/29/2023 0 Comments The words to the song hallelujah![]() ![]() Note: When you embed the widget in your site, it will match your site's styles (CSS). Get the embed code Cohen Leonard - Various Positions Album Lyrics1.Coming Back To You2.Dance Me To The End Of With No Companion5.Hunter's Lullaby6.If It Be Your Will7.The Captain8.The Law9.The Night Comes OnCohen Leonard Lyrics provided by ![]() I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew youīut if I did, well, really, what's it to you? There's a blaze of light in every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah I did my best, it wasn't much I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you And even though it all went wrong I'll stand before the lord of song With nothing. ![]() She broke your throne, and she cut your hairĪnd from your lips she drew the Hallelujah Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you Your faith was strong but you needed proof That David played, and it pleased the Lordīut you don't really care for music, do you? ![]() ![]() ![]() There are other signs and sounds of the Vietnamese culture in America, too-temples built to honor ancestors, martial arts competitions, and people dressed in ao dai, the traditional Vietnamese costume. During TET, Hoang Anh visits an elder who practices the art of calligraphy and gives him a handwritten Vietnamese greeting for Prosperity, Wealth, and Longevity. Hoang Anh feels closest to his Vietnamese heritage, however, when he attends the TET festival, a three-day celebration of the New Year. ![]() He eats traditional food at mealtimes and speaks Vietnamese around the house. In eye-catching photographs and spirited prose, this book offers a look into the celebration of cherished traditions with added contemporary touches. But he also participates in the customs and rituals that his family have brought from Vietnam. They began by reading Celebrating Chinese New Year by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith (1999) and Chinese New Year by David Marx (2002). Ten-year-old Ryan Leong and his family are busy getting ready to host a huge New Years Day dinner for their extended family in San Franciscos Chinatown. Like other kids his age, Hoang Anh rides a bike, plays football, listens to popular music, eats pizza, and enjoys video games. Describing his new life in America, Hoang Anh tells about his home and school. Hoang Anh arrived in the United States as a baby after his family escaped from Vietnam in a fishing boat. ![]() 6/29/2023 0 Comments Hyperbole allie brosh![]() I really enjoyed being able to work on everything at once. ![]() Did you start out thinking of your work as a webcomic or as illustrated prose?īrosh: The process was essentially the same, but there were some differences. WIRED: Hyperbole and a Half uses a hybrid storytelling format that falls somewhere between prose and comic. ![]() Brosh talked with WIRED about all the things - or at least alot of them. The book includes fan-favorite tales like " The God of Cake," as well as all-new comics written for the book, like the story of why she has spent her entire life lying about hot sauce. This week, Simon and Schuster publishes Brosh's first print collection of her work, Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened. ![]() Brosh is a seemingly inexhaustible resource of fantastic stories, which manage to find hilarity in the mundane, the absurd, and the tragic. Perhaps you know Allie Brosh from the most famous panel of her webcomic Hyperbole and Half, where a manic cartoon character holds a broom in the air and shouts "CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!" Or perhaps you've read her comics about going to a children's birthday party while heavily sedated and attempting to move with her two insane dogs on a cross-country road trip. ![]() ![]() ![]() The story-and even more importantly, Sid herself-will stay with readers long after the final page is turned. * "Equal parts endearing spunk and heartbreaking vulnerability, Sid Murphy is a character who feels more like family by story's end. Witty and poignant, Colleen Clayton's debut is a stunning story of moving on after the unthinkable happens ![]() Now, if only she could shake the nightmares, everything would be perfect. But as she gets to know Corey-slacker, baker, total dreamboat-Sid finds someone who truly makes her happy. Caught in a downward spiral, Sid drops her college prep classes and takes up residence in the A/V room with only Corey "The Living Stoner" Livingston for company. After the ski trip, Sid is an insomniac and an obsessive late-night runner, unable to relate to her old friends. He takes everything from Sid-including a lock of her perfect red curls-and she can't remember any of it. ![]() "Come to a party with me," he tells her, but Dax isn't what he seems. When Sid finds herself on a ski lift with hunky local college guy, Dax Windsor, she's thrilled. How can you talk about something that you can't remember? Before the ski trip, Cassidy "Sid" Murphy was a cheerleader (on the bottom of the pyramid, but still.) and a straight-A student, with two of the best friends a girl could ask for. ![]() |