Central Kansas Library System

More Amusing Ways and Woes of Morgan McFinn - the World's Most Committed Leisure Activist.A year after the publication of his 'paradise journal' Out of the Loop, slacker extraordinaire Morgan McFinn finally relinquishes his hammock on the glorious shores of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Siam. In an attempt to widen his orbit of earthly experiences, McFinn sets off to other exotic locales around Southeast Asia and even further afield. Taking up residence...

As WWI ends, trauma and tragedy give way to a chance for new life and rekindled love in the third novel of the acclaimed Parade's End tetralogy. Armistice Day, 1918. As fireworks proclaim the end of the Great War, Valentine Wannop learns that the man she loves, Christopher Tietjens, is back in London. He has survived the frontlines, but it has affected him profoundly. He is willing to give up everything to be with Valentine, but they are not yet free...

In New Atlantis, Francis Bacon portrayed a vision of the future of human discovery and knowledge, expressing his aspirations and ideals for humankind. The novel depicts the creation of a utopian land where "generosity and enlightenment, dignity and splendour, piety and public spirit" are the commonly held qualities of the inhabitants of the mythical Bensalem. The plan and organisation of his ideal college, Salomon's House (or Solomon's House), envisioned...

First published in 1925, Anzia Yezierska's "Bread Givers" is the tale of a young Jewish-American immigrant woman and her struggle to control her own destiny in Manhattan's Lower East Side at the turn of the century. The novel is based in large part on Yezierska's own life experiences immigrating from Poland as a child and growing up in New York City in an Orthodox Jewish family. "Bread Givers" centers on the story of its main character, Sara Smolinsky,...

From the incomparable New York Times and New Yorker illustrator Tamara Shopsin, a debut novel about a NYC printer repair technician who comes of age alongside the Apple computer-featuring original artistic designs by the author. LaserWriter II is a coming-of-age tale set in the legendary 90s indie NYC Mac repair shop TekServe-a voyage back in time to when the internet was new, when New York City was gritty, and when Apple made quirky computers for...

The BRAND NEW gritty gangland thriller from Gillian Godden! Friend or Foe? Patsy Diamond thought she had her life and her business dealings under control…she was wrong. Because just as Patsy is hoping for calm, chaos erupts, and Patsy is forced to make decisions that could cost her everything. The only people Patsy can rely on are her inner circle – her family and her close friends. But with danger and threats seemingly lurking around every...

London, 2014. A fox makes its way across Waterloo Bridge. The distraction causes two pedestrians to collide-Jean, an American studying the habits of urban foxes, and Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist. Attila has arrived in London with two tasks: to deliver a keynote speech on trauma, and to contact a friend's daughter Ama, his "niece" who hasn't called home in a while. Ama has been swept up in an immigration crackdown, and now her young son Tano is...

When her old friend Hannah doesn't show up at her house in the south of France, everyone assumes that Claudia, who has known Hannah since their shared years at boarding school, will know where she is and what has happened. But as Claudia travels from the United States to France to help her friend's husband and children conduct their search, she is forced to deal with her old jealousy of Hannah, as well as her own relationship in the present with her...

A suspenseful family saga, love story, and gangster tale, wrapped into one great book club read . . . Just before WWI, Golda comes to America yearning for independence, but she tosses aside her dreams of freedom and marries her widowed brother-in-law after her sister dies giving birth to their son, Morty. In the crowded streets of Brooklyn where Jewish and Italian gangs demand protection money from local storekeepers and entice youngsters with the...

'Rich, haunted, gripping, painful and beautifully entwined' Ruth Padel'A powerful novel. Its characters will haunt you long after their stories have been told.' Naomi Gryn"That was the day that Mama made the rules: If they come, run. Be quiet and run. But not together. Never together. If one is found, at least the other survives...." During a cold, British winter, three women reach crisis point. Emily, an immigrant survivor of the Rwandan genocide...