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  Gertrude Bell - Queen of the...

  Georgina Howell

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  A marvelous tale of an adventurous life of great historical importShe has been called the female Lawrence of Arabia, which, while not inaccurate, fails to give Gertrude Bell her due. She was at one time the most powerful woman in the British Empire: a nation builder, the driving force behind the creation of modern-day Iraq. Born in 1868 into a world of privilege, Bell turned her back on Victorian society, choosing to read history at Oxford and going on to become an archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, author (of Persian Pictures, The Desert and the Sown, and many other collections), poet, photographer, and legendary mountaineer (she took off her skirt and climbed the Alps in her underclothes).She traveled the globe several times, but her passion was the desert, where she traveled with only her guns and her servants. Her vast knowledge of the region made her indispensable to the Cairo Intelligence Office of the British government during World War I. She advised the Viceroy of India; then, as an army major, she traveled to the front lines in Mesopotamia. There, she supported the creation of an autonomous Arab nation for Iraq, promoting and manipulating the election of King Faisal to the throne and helping to draw the borders of the fledgling state. Gertrude Bell, vividly told and impeccably researched by Georgina Howell, is a richly compelling portrait of a woman who transcended the restrictions of her class and times, and in so doing, created a remarkable and enduring legacy." …  there’s never a dull moment in the peerless life of this trailblazing character." - Kirkus Reviews

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  Barack

  Jonah Winter

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  Acclaimed poet and award-winning children's author Jonah Winter-inspired by a political rally he attended during the historic 2008 presidential campaign-tells the moving story of Barack Obama. Beginning in Africa and Kansas, this enlightening biography describes Obama's life as an ongoing journey, from his birth in Hawaii to his election as president. Obama emerges as someone who, even from an early age, wondered where he belonged and who he might become.

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  Which Path 55 Life Lessons

  Kevin Avy

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  Which Path 55 Life Lessons was conceived on a hospital bed, and thankfully, the lessons in this book and I did not succumb to my injury, which could have quickly happened. Spending three weeks in a hospital caused me to reflect on my accomplishments and, more importantly, the mistakes and failures I made due to being uninformed. I promised myself, if I made it out of the hospital, I would do everything I could to educate people about life and the trickery that patiently looms. The lessons in this book come from real-life experiences. These teachings encompass "financial awareness that is required before signing a payment note, recognizing irrational relationship behaviors, and how to answer crafty questions without trapping yourself." There are a total of 55 lessons (and a few bonus lessons) that the reader is sure to walk away with a newfound awareness and preparedness after reading this book.

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  Marcus Crassus: The Life and...

  Editors Charles River

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  The reasons for Spartacus’s enduring appeal are obvious, but his uprising has overshadowed the fact that his was actually the third such uprising against the Roman Republic in a short span. Preceding this, the First and Second Servile Wars had already demonstrated that revolts against Rome and the whole institution of slavery could gain momentum, and these earlier uprisings provided a blueprint for the larger attempt by Spartacus to win freedom.  
  	At the same time, it’s often overlooked how the revolt affected Rome, and how the leader who put it down propelled his career and played an outsized role in Roman politics ahead of the civil war between Pompey and Caesar. Marcus Licinius Crassus is most remembered today for being the richest Roman in history, and arguably the richest man in world history, but that came about in part because he played a key role in the revolutionary events that took place in Rome throughout the 1st century BCE, including the dictatorship of Sulla, the Third Servile War, the First Triumvirate, and the Parthian Wars. Crassus was the son of Publius Licinius Crassus, who was consul in 97 BCE, and while very little is known of Crassus’ early life, his career as a military figure began in earnest when he escaped from Rome in 87 BCE to Spain to avoid Lucius Cornelius Cinna, who, along with Gaius Marius, led the opposition against Sulla.  
  	Thanks to his rise in the military and politics, Crassus’s renown and riches heavily influenced his contemporaries. In the wake of the Third Servile War, Crassus’ patronage helped position Julius Caesar to be appointed governor of Hispania Ulterior. In order to maintain political office, which made him immune from prosecution for his debts, he left for modern day Spain before his praetorship expired.

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  Amateur Hour - Motherhood in...

  Kimberly Harrington

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  An emotionally honest, arresting, and funny collection of essays about motherhood and adulthood... 
  “Being a mother is a gift.” 
  Where’s my receipt?  
  Welcome to essayist Kimberly Harrington’s poetic and funny world of motherhood, womanhood, and humanhood, not necessarily in that order. It’s a place of loud parenting, fierce loving, too much social media, and occasional inner monologues where timeless debates are resolved such as Pro/Con: Caving to PTO Bake Sale Pressure (“PRO: Skim the crappiest brownies for myself. CON: They’re really crappy.”) With accessibility and wit, she captures the emotions around parenthood in artful and earnest ways, highlighting this time in the middle—midlife, the middle years of childhood, how women are stuck in the middle of so much. It’s a place of elation, exhaustion, and time whipping past at warp speed. Finally, it’s a quiet space to consider the girl you were, the mother you are, and the woman you are always becoming.

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  The Boxer's Heart - A Woman...

  Kate Sekules

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  “Brave and ballsy . . . the internal chaos that prompts Sekules’ rage and desire to retaliate is a more original, fascinating place to visit than any gym.” —Salon.com  The Boxer’s Heart is a brilliantly candid memoir of the world of women’s boxing, now updated and with a new afterword. Written in raw and vivid style, it tells the story of how a young everywoman moves to New York City to write and, through struggles and disappointments in her personal life, rises through the ranks at the famed Gleason’s Gym to box professionally. Sekules’s account unfolds with the pace and depth of a great novel, crammed with larger-than-life characters and piercing observations. Any woman who has grappled with anger and trust in her relationships, been nagged by insecurity at the gym, or wondered what it feels like to throw a punch will identify with this witty and honest account of “ the sweet science of bruising.”   “It’s a knockout, folks . . . The Boxer’s Heart is a winner, on all cards.” —Newsweek   “What is most captivating about Sekules’ love letter to boxing is how she reconciles the feminine proclivity for tenderness and nurturing with their simultaneous ability to knock one another out, to unleash fury in a controlled and respectful way.” —Oprah.com   “Sekules . . . is appealingly self-aware . . . [and] gives us a sense of women’s boxing as a thriving movement.” —The New York Times Book Review   “This is a story of self-discovery, about finding out what you love, and then doing it—with passion, with a boxer’s heart.” —Kirkus Reviews

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