A stew or a story

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Moira Hodgson

Hodgson has earned a reputation as a discerning critic and entertaining writer. It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time reflects Hodgson's talent for connecting her love of food with the people and places in her life--from Vietnam to Chiapas, Mexico, from Berlin to Lapland there was always a new dish to taste, a new people to share her travels with. Like Ruth Reichl's bestselling memoirs, it is a glorious celebration of good food and good company.

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Robert K. Tanenbaum and Peter S. Greenberg

In October, 1966, Charles Yukl, a mild-mannered piano teacher, brutally strangled and sexually abused a young secretary who was his student. In August, 1974, he killed again after being released 9 years early, despite pleas from himself and the victim's family. (Google Books)

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Jes Baker

"In Landwhale, Jes Baker delves into her coming-of-age--including her 6 ways to hate your body (#2: Worship teen periodicals), her top tactics for reframing the malicious animal comparisons hurled repeatedly at fat women (see "Elephant: Everyone knows elephants are basically the coolest animals ever. Try again."), and as a bonus, Jes answers the Internet's most pressing question of all time: "So, have you ever thought about dieting?" With biting wit and arresting vulnerability, Baker also covers living with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and feeling like a hobbit, fat sex, Harry Potter roller coasters, the problematic effects of online heroism, and the complicated conversation around weight-loss surgery. For anyone who grew up as a fat kid (or didn't, for that matter), who has traveled while fat, or who has simply lived in a fat body, Landwhale is a truthful and powerful account of the unforgiving ways our culture treats fatness--and how to live happily and freely anyway."--Page [4] of cover.

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Henri Murger

"Set in the Latin Quarter of 1840s Paris, Henri Murger's La Boheme creates a stark and colorful record of the boisterous, lean, and sensual world of eternal Bohemia. The author, like his character Rudolph, was a dispossessed poet living from hand to mouth while serving his literary apprenticeship in the hustle-and-bustle streets of the artists' quarter. In order to make a little money, Murger created fictional episodes based on his experiences in the heart of Bohemia and sold the first of them in 1847 - for fifteen francs each - to a small literary magazine titled Le Corsaire. From this humble beginning, La Boheme has become an undying tribute to true Bohemians or, as Murger describes them, "those called by art." The episodes first published in Le Corsaire were gathered into a book that sold 70,000 copies. Then in 1849 Theodore Barriere made the story into a play, which became a popular sensation in Paris. And finally Giacomo Puccini transformed Murger's tale into the famous opera, a work that continues to be applauded by audiences throughout the world. La Boheme, is a one-of-a-kind journey to a raw yet romantic place, to a sphere where people hunger for both artistic ideals and morsels of food."--Back cover.