Tim Mohr tells the story of punk rockers in East Germany that reminds us that art matters, the people (especially the youth) really can make a difference, and we can't "die in the waiting room of the future". This book is about young punks in East Germany in the 80's, their ethos, their music, and their radical and democratic efforts to change their world. Prescient and important, this history of punk rock in an authoritarian state is inspiring to everyone who wants to change their world for the better.
Before Watsky hit the Billboard 200 chart with his album X Infinity, he was just a scrawny kid from San Francisco with big dreams and a smart mouth. This collection of essays, both sentimental and comic, gives snapshots of the poet, actor, musician, and rapper’s life, through his awkward middle school existence, Alaskan fishing trips, rickety old tour busses, and even his ramshackle Boston apartment (and the other people who lived there). Equal parts hilarious and heartfelt, Watsky proves that he’s not just a clever musician, but a talented writer and thoughtful artist.
When journalist Emily Guendelsberger's paper folds, she feels unmoored and decides to channel her employment search into a larger investigative project. She works in an Amazon fulfillment warehouse just before Christmas; she works in a North Carolina call center; and lastly, she works in a San Fransisco McDonald's. Not only does the reader get insight into various industries they may not see or hear about every day, or may only hear exaggerated reports of, but the author includes pieces of history, statistics, and information from a variety of experts. The author takes great care to include interviews and insights from her colleagues, some of whom despise their work, others whom love it. Human and full of compassion, this book will definitely change the way you think about low-wage work and "unskilled labor" in America.
Mona Awad tells a harrowing story of a writer trying to overcome her writer’s block while simultaneously refusing to look deeper into herself or acknowledge her own needs or desires. This lack of self-knowledge leads her to a friendship with a group of young MFA students who are always ‘workshopping’...with disastrous consequences. The writing feels cinematic at times, moody and illustrative. Home, identity, love (both romantic and platonic), inner (and outer) demons, and academic elitism all play a part in this spectacle of creation and destruction. Awad creates a kind of magic that changes with the wind, a contemporary Prometheus tale.
It's only when Big Jim's eye falls out of his head that his foul-mouthed and clever pet crow S.T. realizes something is terribly wrong. Unsure of what's wrong with his "MoFo" (S.T. and Big Jim's affectionate term for humans), he realizes that it's up to him to find out. Together with Dennis, a dull-witted, wrinkly, and endlessly loyal canine companion, S.T. sets off into the greater Seattle area to fix the awful thing happening to his human friend. This book makes the end of humanity laugh-out-loud funny and, through S.T., Dennis, the murder of college campus crows, and their makeshift family, gives a deeper appreciation to the wonders of human achievement, the beauty of the natural world, and what it means to be a real MoFo.
As a child, Mia Corvere vowed to avenge her family, wrongfully taken from her, and set her heart on becoming a Blade of the Red Church, an assassin devoted to the Darkness. Now grown, Mia is on a mission to end three of the most powerful men in her country and in the process, find out who--or what--she really is. Kristoff’s story has something for everyone--love, vengeance, murder, rivalry, comedy, swordfighting, ancient magic--and be sure, gentlefriends, Nevernight does not disappoint.
