Cultural & Regional

This beautifully honest account of survival and restoration carries the potency to revitalize each of us. This book holds inspiration for worldwide compassionate action and celebrates what Loving Bravely truly means.

Desde que mi madre murió, lloro en H Mart. H Mart es una cadena de supermercados especializada en comida asiática. La H es por han ah reum, una frase en coreano que podría traducirse como ‘un brazo lleno de comestibles’. Mi madre expresaba su amor por medio de la comida. Por muy crítica o cruel que pudiera parecer no dejaba de presionarme para que colmara sus utópicas expectativas, yo siempre sentía que su afecto irradiaba de los platos que me preparaba exactamente como a mí me gustaban.

Con la economía derrumbándose a su alrededor y su medio de vida desapareciendo, la familia decide huir del país. De repente, el niño al que le encantaba montar a caballo y soñar con ser el Zorro de su serie favorita de televisión en blanco y negro, tuvo que crecer rápidamente y viajó, siendo un adolescente, desde un pequeño pueblo de Venezuela a la gran ciudad de Los Ángeles.

Charles M. Blow’s mother was a fiercely driven woman with five sons, brass knuckles in her glove box, and a job plucking poultry at a factory near their segregated Louisiana town, where slavery's legacy felt close. When her philandering husband finally pushed her over the edge, she fired a pistol at his fleeing back, missing every shot, thanks to “love that blurred her vision and bent the barrel.” Charles was the baby of the family, fiercely attached to his “do-right” mother. Until one day that divided his life into Before and After—the day an older cousin took advantage of the young boy.

Are you in the mood for something quirky, out of the ordinary, and extremely entertaining? Look no further than The Life and Adventures of Pineapple Sam Volume I. Part memoir, part collection of tall tales, and completely entertaining, it has something for everyone.

The book is cordoned by fantastical and scientific stories comparing her family’s world and personality traits with those of wrens. It also contains a creative history of Worcester, a former factory town plagued by poverty, addiction, and violence—a cycle that Mal, unlike her brother and father, was able to escape.

Ani Gjika was born in Albania and came of age just after the fall of Communism, a time when everyone had a secret to keep and young women were afraid to walk down the street alone. When her family immigrates to America, Gjika finds herself far from the grandmother who helped raise her, grappling with a new language, and isolated from aging parents who are trying in their own ways to survive. When she meets a young man whose mind leans toward writing, as hers does, Ani falls in love-at least, she thinks it's love.

Life has not always been kind to Wendy Wilson. Childhood traumas, an abusive marriage, and the complexities of being a woman in a high-stakes corporate atmosphere all proved to be adversities that could make or break her very spirit. And yet, at every challenge, she persevered by learning what it truly takes to forge a way forward and ultimately reach success in both her personal and professional lives. She went on to become a CFO and leader of global procurement, and found true happiness in a healthy and loving second marriage.

Dogs of all shapes and sizes visit Ruth Shaw's three wee bookshops in Manapōuri in the far south of Aotearoa New Zealand. Local dogs, holiday house dogs, travelling dogs – many have great stories, be they funny, sad, strange, bemusing, quirky or sweet. Woven throughout are tales of the very special Hunza, the dog who worked with troubled teens alongside Shaw when she was a youth worker.

Michelle Zauner vit à Philadelphie et jongle entre trois jobs alimentaires et un groupe de rock dont la carrière ne décolle pas quand elle apprend que sa mère est malade. Elle rentre alors dans l'Oregon pour l'accompagner dans son combat contre le cancer, et pour essayer de rattraper le temps perdu. Car Michelle a été une adolescente rebelle, ne se sentant jamais à la bonne place, et fuyant cette figure maternelle qui incarne l'exigence mais aussi la culture coréenne, si proche et si lointaine.

Like a compelling painting rich with color, Christine Sabado's intimate memoir illustrates her love for all things Molokai; her life, the culture, and her soon-to-be husband and his family. Written in descriptions as lush as the island itself, the author takes a highly personal voyage as she is seduced by the ways of her adopted Filipino lifestyle on a pineapple plantation.

Andrea Kott thought of herself as “the welfare Jew.” The daughter of a single mother whose depression and drinking pitched them into poverty, her stormy life looked nothing like that of the Jewish kids she knew: It defied every stereotype she associated with being Jewish—having an intact family and material wealth, and becoming a bat mitzvah. Alienated and ashamed, Kott felt ineligible to be Jewish, yet hungered for connection to the tradition and to God. It took a near-fatal accident, her mother’s death, marriage and motherhood, and losing a beloved brother for her to find her Jewish home.

I grew up in Raleigh county, in a little town called Beaver, in the state of West Virginia. I lived on a 100-acre farm in a family of ordinary means. When I look back to my childhood I realize how fortunate I was to have clean air, clean water, vegetables from a thoroughly organic garden, fresh cow's milk, butter, and buttermilk—fresh every day. We gave the hogs what was left from each day so we raised great pork. Recycling was a part of life, not something you had to work into your habit.

Told through the eyes of a witty, outgoing, and curious little girl, Francie beautifully weaves together personal narratives and historical information about the ever-present American tragedy known as Appalachia. She peels back layers of her early life while walking us through the patches where coal miners and their families once lived, the impact of surviving in a contaminated environment, and the everyday threat of pollution, addiction, toothlessness, chronic depression, and abuse. An area where drugs and alcohol numb the pain of reality.

பொன்னியின் புதல்வர் கல்கி கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தியின் வாழ்வையும் பணிகளையும் சுவையாகவும் எளிமையாகவும் அறிமுகப்படுத்தும் முக்கியமான நூல். ஓர் ஆளுமை குறித்த சித்திரமாக மட்டுமின்றி அவர் இயங்கிய காலத்தைப் படம்பிடித்துக் காட்டும் ஓர் ஆவணமாகவும் இந்நூல் திகழ்வது அதன் சிறப்பு.