Category Archives: Stories

Travel Preview: Outside Magazine – Sep/Oct 2022

September October Outside magazine issue cover

The 12 Best National Forests to See Fall Foliage

National forests are the perfect place to leaf peep—often away from the crowds. These are our top viewing spots and adventures in forests across the country.

Sequoia National Park Has Never Felt So Precious

Now is the time to wander among the world’s largest trees. Wildfires in central California for the past few years have decimated their numbers, so seeing these thousand-year-old natural wonders up close is, today more than ever, a privilege.

8 National Parks You Can See without a Car

Avoid traffic jams and see America’s best idea by foot, bus, or bike

Opinion: Why Monarchy In Britain Matters, Putin War Failures, China Land Crisis

A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, why the British monarchy matters, Vladimir Putin’s war is failing (10:31), and China’s property crisis hasn’t gone away (17:59). 

Photography: National Geographic – Oct 2022

A dark grey Canadian sphynx cat looks directly at the camera with green eyes and his ears turned to point forward. The image is surrounded by a yellow border and overlaid with the headline, "Minds of their own: Some animals have complex emotions— much like us"

Minds Of Their Own – Ed, a Canadian sphynx cat,

is curious, outgoing, affectionate, and highly responsive to human emotion. He’s also talkative: Say his name, he purrs. In this portrait, his forward-tilted ears show he’s alert and his narrowed pupils that he’s relaxed.

PHOTOGRAPH BY VINCENT LAGRANGE

Preview: The New Yorker Magazine – Sept 26, 2022

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Victoria Tentler-Krylov’s “#fallstyle”

The artist discusses Charlotte Gainsbourg, Uggs, and finding inspiration on Instagram.

Was Rudy Giuliani Always So Awful?

A lively new biography explores how the man once celebrated as “America’s mayor” fell into disgrace.

By Louis Menand

From Boy to Bono

I was born with melodies in my head, and I was looking for a way to hear them in the world.

By Bono

Stories: Chile’s Rejected Constitution, Ukraine’s HARM Missiles, Fertility

Two years in the making, the Chile’s new foundational document was summarily swatted down in a referendum. We ask how it went so wrong, and what comes next.

Data show a long-held view on fertility and prosperity is not as straightforward as thought; we examine the policy implications. And learning about HARM—the missiles causing so much harm to Russian forces.

Books: Literary Review Of Canada – October 2022

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The Bear and the Beaver – Eight games, one goal – Robert Lewis

Sentence Structure – Views from the inside – Amy Reiswig

Me, My Shelf, and I – An account of empty boxes – Mark Kingwell

An Uncertain Royal Path – Three Windsor women and the future of the monarchy – Patricia Treble

The last Queen of Canada? – What comes next for Canada and the Crown – John Fraser

Reviews: ‘The Book Report’ Best Reading For Fall 2022

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RIVERHEAD

When Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize in literature last year, most Americans had never read anything by this fascinating author.

Born in 1948 in Tanzania, Gurnah fled to England after the 1964 uprising in Zanzibar. Over the years, he’s written 10 critically-acclaimed novels.

The latest, “Afterlives” (Riverhead), offers an intimate look at village life in East Africa during the period of German colonialism at the start of the 20th century. This is a book that reclaims forgotten history and honors lost people in a way that’s heartbreaking and revelatory.

Read an excerpt

“Afterlives” by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Riverhead), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via AmazonBarnes & Noble and Indiebound


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KNOPF

Maggie O’Farrell’s novel “Hamnet,” about the death of William Shakespeare’s only son, was one of the best books of 2020.

Now O’Farrell is back with “The Marriage Portrait” (Knopf), a terrific historical thriller that drops us into the panicked mind of a teenage girl who knows her husband is plotting to kill her.

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The girl is Lucrezia de’ Medici, immortalized by Robert Browning’s poem, “My Last Duchess.” History tells us she died in 1561 before she could celebrate her first anniversary, but O’Farrell will have you guessing ’til the very last page.

Read an excerpt

“The Marriage Portrait” by Maggie O’Farrell (Knopf), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available September 27 via AmazonBarnes & Noble and Indiebound

maggieofarrell.com


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LITTLE, BROWN & CO.

What if Americans elected a narcissistic psychopath to the White House?

Some people might say we’ve already seen what that would be like. But James Patterson’s breathless new thriller, “Blowback” (Little, Brown), takes that scenario to the brink of World War III.

Written with Brendan DuBois, “Blowback” imagines a president determined to defeat America’s enemies once and for all.

A pair of secret agents are honored to help the president’s plan – until they realize he’s about to destroy the country.

Read an excerpt

“Blowback” by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois (Little, Brown and Company), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via AmazonBarnes & Noble and Indiebound

jamespatterson.com

brendandubois.com


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FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX

Mary Rodgers, who died in 2014, lived her life in the melodies of American musical theater. She was Richard Rodgers’ daughter, composer Adam Guettel’s mother, and Stephen Sondheim’s friend – and she was an accomplished composer and author herself.

Now, all these wonderful stories take center stage in “Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers” (‎Farrar, Straus and Giroux), written with New York Times theater critic Jesse Green.

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Through painful relationships and happy ones, disappointments and successes, Rodgers is never anything but candid, forgiving and witty. So, take a seat and let the curtain rise.

Read an excerpt

“Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers” by Mary Rodgers and Jesse Green (‎Farrar, Straus and Giroux), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via AmazonBarnes & Noble and Indiebound

Follow @JesseKGreen on Twitter

Views: The Sunday Times Magazine – Sept 18, 2022

Scoff at ritual if you like, but nations cannot survive on rationality alone

By Matthew Syed


Brothers’ frosty truce as ‘ER’ stripped from Harry’s vigil uniform