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I Deliver Parcels in Beijing
by Hu Anyan
An Economist Best Book of 2025 A Financial Times Best Book of 2025 A Sunday Times Best Book of 2025 Hu Anyan's I Deliver Parcels in Beijing, translated by Jack Hargreaves, offers an unvarnished dispatch from the front lines of the gig economy...The Cinderella bit of it is that now he can add a new title: internationally best-selling author. --Leah Greenblatt, The New York Times Book ReviewA runaway bestseller in China, sold in 20+ countries, this delightfully honest and humorous account gives a face and voice to the future of work--as if Nomadland met Nickel and Dimed. In 2023, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing became the literary sensation of the year in China. Hu Anyan's story, about short-term jobs in various anonymous megacities, hit a nerve with a generation of young people who feel at odds with an ever-growing pressure to perform and succeed. Hu started posting essays about his experiences online during COVID lockdowns. His recollection of night shifts in a huge logistics center in the south of China went viral: his nights were so hot that he could drink three liters of water without taking a toilet break; his days were spent searching for affordable rooms with proper air-conditioning; and his few moments of leisure were consumed by calculations of the amount of alcohol needed to sleep but not feel drowsy a few hours later. Hu Anyan tells us about brutal work, where there is no real future in sight. But Hu is armed with deadpan humor and a strong idea of self. He moves on when he feels stuck--from logistics in the south, to parcel delivery in Beijing, to other impossible jobs. Along the way, he turns to reading and writing for strength and companionship. I Deliver Parcels in Beijing is an honest and startling first-person portrait of Hu Anyan's struggle against the dehumanizing nature of our contemporary global work system--and his discovery of the power of sharing a story.
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Swaddled: Sage Stories to Wrap Mothers in Love
by Elizabeth Sarah Cassidy
An Embrace Woven from Truth, Compassion, and Love Step into the world of motherhood with Swaddled, a heartfelt collection of twelve poignant real-life stories that illuminate the journey of becoming and being a mother. From the weight of perfectionism and sting of comparison to the heartbreak of infertility, the joy of adoption, and the trials of balancing work, family, and self - this book invites you to explore the challenges and triumphs that shape motherhood. Through moments of strength, solace, and self-discovery, these stories offer a compassionate reflection on the realities mothers face, inspiring confidence and connection along the way. Whether you're a hopeful mother dreaming of what's to come, a new mother navigating uncharted waters, or a seasoned mother looking back, Swaddled will remind you: You are not alone, you are the perfect mother to your baby, and your life will come back to you. Find yourself in the stories. Feel the embrace. Celebrate the sacredness of motherhood.
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The Idea of China: A Contested History
by Guoqi Xu
Xu Guoqi navigates the fraught terrain of Chinese identity, arguing that the idea of China has always been constructed and reconstructed in concert with the broader world. China is fundamentally constituted by a shared history, and in this way is like all nations: not a stable object but rather a never-ending process of transnational mythmaking.
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You with the Sad Eyes: A Memoir
by Christina Applegate
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Funny, furious, and profane. --The New York Times Not your typical celebrity memoir. --Jimmy Kimmel Unflinchingly honest and darkly funny, You with the Sad Eyes unveils a side of Christina Applegate we've never seen, forever cementing her formidable and iconoclastic legacy. Christina Applegate came of age on sets and stages, expected to be on time, with lines learned, ready for lights-camera-action. What started as a financial necessity soon became an emotional escape from a tumultuous home life in the infamous Laurel Canyon scene of the 70s and 80s. She rocketed to stardom on the sitcom Married...with Children and went on to captivate audiences in classics like Don't Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead..., Anchorman, and Dead to Me in her five-decade long career. Then it all stopped. A Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis in 2021 confined her to a king-sized bed and the company of memories she'd rather forget: memories of the self-doubt and body dysmorphia that stalked her meteoric rise, of her mother's fight against addiction and abuse after her father left, and of the tax life had taken on her body and mind that was suddenly coming due. Now, at her most intimate and vulnerable, she unveils a story not even those closest to her fully know. She returns to the diaries she kept her whole life, finding the pain matched by joy, the losses mitigated by the extraordinary, and the weight of life lifted by her unrelenting belief that something greater lay ahead. No longer willing to lock herself away and with the perspective only our own mortality can bring, she knew it was imperative to tell it all. You with the Sad Eyes presents a remarkable woman and her legacy. In her own words, I truly believe that books can make people feel less alone. That's why I'm doing this. You with the Sad Eyes won't be some big violin scratching for my life. But it will be real. It will be filled with the ups and downs, the humor and grief of life. So here I am. Real me. Lots to say.
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We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America
by Norah O'Donnell
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A vivid portrait of the unsung American women from 1776 to today who changed the course of history in their fight for freedom and helped shape a more perfect unionThis terrific book reveals the central, though often hidden role that women have played at every stage of our country's history.--Doris Kearns Goodwin Over a decades-long, distinguished career, award-winning journalist Norah O'Donnell has made it her mission to shed light on untold women's stories. Now, in honor of America's 250th birthday, O'Donnell focuses that passion on the American heroines who helped change the course of history. We the Women presents a fresh look at American history through the eyes of women, introducing us to inspiring patriots who demanded that the country live up to the promises made 250 years ago in the Declaration of Independence: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Since the signing of that document, the pressing question from women has been: Why don't those unalienable rights apply to us? Through extensive research and interviews, as well as historical documents and old photos, O'Donnell curates a compelling portrait of these fierce fighters for freedom. From Mary Katherine Goddard, who printed the first signed Declaration of Independence, to the Forten family women, who were active in the abolition and suffrage movements and were considered the Black Founders of Philadelphia, to the first women who served in the armed forces even before they had the right to vote, O'Donnell brings these extraordinary women together for the first time, and in doing so writes the American story anew.
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