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Matterhornby Karl MarlantesIntense, powerful, and compelling, Matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead and James Jones's The Thin Red Line. It is the timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood. Standing in their way are not merely the North Vietnamese but also monsoon rain and mud, leeches and tigers, disease and malnutrition. Almost as daunting, it turns out, are the obstacles they discover between each other: racial tension, competing ambitions, and duplicitous superior officers. But when the company finds itself surrounded and outnumbered by a massive enemy regiment, the Marines are thrust into the raw and all-consuming terror of combat. The experience will change them forever. Written by a highly decorated Marine veteran over the course of thirty years, Matterhorn is a spellbinding and unforgettable novel.
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Bone Rattlerby Eliot PattisonIn a novel rich in historical detail, acclaimed author Eliot Pattison reconsiders the founding of America and explores how disenfranchised people of any age and place struggle to find justice, how conflicting cultures can be reconciled through compassion and tolerance, and ultimately how the natural world has its own morality. Aboard a British convict ship bound for the New World, protagonist Duncan McCallum witnesses a series of murders and apparent suicides among his fellow Scottish prisoners. A strange trail of clues leads Duncan into the New World and eventually thrusts him into the bloody maw of the French and Indian War. Duncan is indentured to the British Lord Ramsey, whose estate in the uncharted New York woodlands is a Heart of Darkness where multiple warring factions are engaged in physical, psychological, and spiritual battle. Exploring a frontier world shrouded in danger and defying death in a wilderness populated by European settlers, Indian shamans, and mysterious scalping parties, Duncan, the exiled chief of his near-extinct Scottish clan, finds that sometimes justice cannot be reached unless the cultures and spirits of those involved are appeased.
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The Hamilton Affairby Elizabeth CobbsSet against the dramatic backdrop of the American Revolution, and featuring a cast of legendary characters, The Hamilton Affair tells the sweeping, tumultuous, true story of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, from passionate and tender beginnings of their romance to his fateful duel on the banks of the Hudson River. Hamilton was a bastard and orphan, raised in the Caribbean and desperate for legitimacy, who became one of the American Revolution's most dashing – and improbable – heroes. Admired by George Washington, scorned by Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton was a lightning rod: the most controversial leader of the new nation. Elizabeth was the wealthy, beautiful, adventurous daughter of the respectable Schuyler clan--and a pioneering advocate for women. Together, the unlikely couple braved the dangers of war, the perils of seduction, the anguish of infidelity, and the scourge of partisanship that menaced their family and the country itself. With flawless writing, brilliantly drawn characters, and epic scope, The Hamilton Affair tells a story of love forged in revolution and tested by the bitter strife of young America.
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All the Ways We Kill and Dieby Brian CastnerThe search for a friend's killer is a riveting lesson in the way war has changed. The EOD-explosive ordnance disposal-community is tight-knit, and when one of their own is hurt, an alarm goes out. When Brian Castner, an Iraq War vet, learns that his friend and EOD brother Matt has been killed by an IED in Afghanistan, he goes to console Matt's widow, but he also begins a personal investigation. Is the bomb maker who killed Matt the same man American forces have been hunting since Iraq, known as the Engineer? In this nonfiction thriller Castner takes us inside the manhunt for this elusive figure, meeting maimed survivors, interviewing the forensics teams who gather post-blast evidence, the wonks who collect intelligence, the drone pilots and contractors tasked to kill. His investigation reveals how warfare has changed since Iraq, becoming individualized even as it has become hi-tech, with our drones, bomb disposal robots, and CSI-like techniques. As we use technology to identify, locate, and take out the planners and bomb makers, the chilling lesson is that the hunters are also being hunted, and the other side – from Al-Qaeda to ISIS – has been selecting its own high-value targets.
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hoopla: What to Read, Audiobook Edition
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People of the Whaleby Linda HoganRaised in a small Native American village by the sea, Thomas Witka Just has just married his childhood sweetheart when an ill-fated decision to fight in Vietnam changes his life forever. Cut off from his community and traumatized by war, he finds refuge in another tribal village there and fathers a child with another woman. When he returns home many years later, he finds his tribe in conflict over a decision to hunt a whale, a spiritual symbol for his people. Torn by guilt, yet desperate to return to a life of authenticity, Thomas realizes he must reconcile his two existences if he is to help heal his equally fractured community. With a keen sense of the sacredness of nature and the trauma of war, People of the Whale is a compassionate novel about the painful moral choices humans make and how the lost soul of a man or a people is restored.
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Stardustby Joseph KanonHollywood, 1945. Ben Collier has just arrived from war-torn Europe to find that his brother, Daniel, has died in mysterious circumstances. Why would a man with a beautiful wife, a successful career in the movies, and a heroic past choose to kill himself? Determined to uncover the truth, Ben enters the maze of the studio system and the uneasy world beneath the glossy shine of the movie business. For this is the moment when politics and the dream factories are beginning to collide as Communist witch hunts render the biggest stars and star makers vulnerable. Even here, where the devastation of Europe seems no more real than a painted movie set, the war casts long and dangerous shadows. When Ben learns troubling facts about his own family's past, he is caught in the middle of a web of deception that shakes his moral foundation to its core. Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Stardust flawlessly blends fact and fiction into a haunting thriller evoking both the glory days of the movies and the emergence of a dark strain of American political life.
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Tomorrow is Foreverby Gwen BristowFor two decades, Elizabeth Herlong has been a devoted Hollywood wife, supporting her husband as he built an empire in the budding motion picture industry. But far from the bright glamour of her current life, World War II rages in Europe, forcing Elizabeth to remember her past, awakening feelings and longings she thought she would never experience again. Most of all, she fears for her eldest son, who turns eighteen in less than a year and will have to enlist in the army. Then one night, Elizabeth's husband introduces her to a German screenwriter he's been working with. Erich Kessler is a disabled veteran of World War I attempting to make a new life for himself. Something in his face stirs Elizabeth's heart-setting her on a journey of discovery about the meaning of true love and the things that war cannot destroy.
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No Easy Dayby Mark OwenFor the first time anywhere, the first-person account of the planning and execution of the Bin Laden raid from a Navy Seal who confronted the terrorist mastermind and witnessed his final moments From the streets of Iraq to the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean, and from the mountaintops of Afghanistan to the third floor of Osama Bin Laden's compound, operator Mark Owen of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group – commonly known as SEAL Team Six – has been a part of some of the most memorable special operations in history, as well as countless missions that never made headlines. No Easy Day puts readers alongside Owen and the other handpicked members of the twenty-four-man team as they train for the biggest mission of their lives. The blow-by-blow narrative of the assault, beginning with the helicopter crash that could have ended Owen's life straight through to the radio call confirming Bin Laden's death, is an essential piece of modern history. In No Easy Day, Owen also takes readers onto the field of battle in America's ongoing War on Terror and details the selection and training process for one of the most elite units in the military. Owen's story draws on his youth in Alaska and describes the SEALs' quest to challenge themselves at the highest levels of physical and mental endurance. With boots-on-the-ground detail, Owen describes numerous previously unreported missions that illustrate the life and work of a SEAL and the evolution of the team after the events of September 11.
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Chalk on the Wild Side: More Than 25 Chalk Art Projects, Recipes, and Creative Activities for Adults and Children to Exploreby Lorie King KaehlerPlaying with chalk has never been so fun – or so messy! The first half of the book details a bevy of chalk recipes, from glow-in-the-dark chalk, fizzing chalk, and scented chalk to chalk foam, chalk goo paint, and ice chalk. Readers will then discover a variety of activities and ways to use their favorite chalk recipes. From classic games to 3D chalk projects such as chalk volcanoes, chalk powder bombs, chalk rockets, chalk hair dye, and more, parents and children alike will be delighted by the multitude of exciting ideas. Chalk on the Wild Side offers parents an opportunity to allow their children the freedom to express themselves in colorful, new ways – with a medium that easily washes away clean.
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Soldier for Equalityby Duncan TonatiuhJosé de la Luz Sáenz (1888–1953) – or Luz-believed in fighting for what was right. Although he was born in the United States, he and his family experienced prejudice because of their Mexican heritage. When World War I broke out, Luz volunteered to join the fight. Because of his ability to quickly learn languages, he became part of the Intelligence Office in Europe. However, despite his hard work and intellect, Luz often didn't receive credit for his contributions. Upon his return to the US, he joined other Mexican-Americans whom he had met in the army to fight for equality. His contribution, along with others, ultimately led to the creation of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), which is the oldest Latino civil-rights organization. Soldier for Equality is based in part on Luz's diary during the war.
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Pass the Time in a Pandemic
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The Smoke Shop's Backyard BBQ: Eat, Drink, and Party like a Pitmasterby Andy Husbands and William SalazarEvery meal is better with BBQ! Impress your friends, family, and co-workers with recipes from Boston's popular Smoke Shop restaurant. Join Andy Husbands and Will Salazar as they share their secrets in The Smoke Shop's Backyard BBQ. Start off with a classic Backyard Barbecue featuring pulled pork, Twice-Smoked Pulled Chicken, deliciously simple brisket, and New Memphis Ribs. With a selection of the Smoke Shop's favorite sides, drinks, and desserts, it might seem like all you ever needed.
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Handpicked: Simple, Sustainable, and Seasonal Flower Arrangementsby Ingrid CarozziBrooklyn-based florist Ingrid Carozzi reveals her secrets for creating flower arrangements that are modern, original, and organic in style. Organized by season, the book presents simple step-by-step instruction (how to measure, cut, and place each bloom) for making more than 35 arrangements. Whether you want to learn how to work with chicken wire and tape to create a simple framework or try your hand at arranging delicate and oversize blooms, Carozzi offers a detailed tutorial on her tricks of the trade. Readers are encouraged to source, make, or upcycle unexpected containers, such as rough-hewn wooden crates or vintage pots, jars, and vases. Full of natural floral compositions that marry the modern with the rustic, Handpicked is a lushly photographed, practical guide to creating your own exceptional flower arrangements at home.
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The Vietnam War: A Series by Ken Burns and Lynn NovickAn immersive documentary film series directed by acclaimed filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, The Vietnam War tells the epic story of one of the most divisive, consequential and misunderstood events in American history, as it has never before been told on film.
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