In her calm, carefully reasoned perspective on place, Andrea Jones focuses on the familiar details of country life balanced by the larger responsibilities that come with living outside an urban boundary. Neither an environmental manifesto nor a prodevelopment defense, Between Urban and Wild operates partly on a practical level, partly on a naturalist’s level. Jones reflects on life in two homes in the Colorado Rockies, first in Fourmile Canyon in the foothills west of Boulder, then near Cap Rock Ridge in central Colorado. Whether negotiating territory with a mountain lion, balancing her observations of the predatory nature of pygmy owls against her desire to protect a nest of nuthatches, working to reduce her property’s vulnerability to wildfire while staying alert to its inherent risks during fire season, or decoding the distinct personalities of her horses, she advances the tradition of nature writing by acknowledging the effects of sprawl on a beloved landscape. Although not intended as a manual for landowners, Between Urban and Wild nonetheless offers useful and engaging perspectives on the realities of settling and living in a partially wild environment. Throughout her ongoing journey of being home, Jones’s close observations of the land and its native inhabitants are paired with the suggestion that even small landholders can act to protect the health of their properties. Her brief meditations capture and honor the subtleties of the natural world while illuminating the importance of working to safeguard it. Probing the contradictions of a lifestyle that burdens the health of the land that she loves, Jones’s writing is permeated by her gentle, earnest conviction that living at the urban-wild interface requires us to set aside self-interest, consider compromise, and adjust our expectations and habits—to accommodate our surroundings rather than force them to accommodate us.

New York City's West Village has long been a haven for intellectuals, writers, artists, and activists who found freedom there. Ninety interviews paint a lively portrait of this Oz-like neighborhood.

In a lucid, brilliant work of nonfiction, Larry McMurtry has written a family portrait that also serves as a larger portrait of Texas itself, as it was and as it has become. Using an essay by the German literary critic Walter Benjamin that he first read in Archer City's Dairy Queen, McMurtry examines the small town way of life that big oil and big ranching have nearly destroyed. He praises the virtues of everything from a lime Dr. Pepper to the lost art of oral storytelling, and describes the brutal effect of the sheer vastness and emptiness of the Texas landscape on Texans, the decline of the cowboy, and the reality and the myth of the frontier.​ McMurtry writes frankly and with deep feeling about his own experiences as a writer, a parent, and a heart patient, and he deftly lays bare the raw material that helped shape his life's work: the creation of a vast, ambitious, fictional panorama of Texas in the past and the present. Throughout, McMurtry leaves his readers with constant reminders of his all-encompassing, boundless love of literature and books.

'Stories of a Western Town' is a collection of short stories by Octave Thanet. The tales in this book all share one central theme, being set during the Wild West. Here are the following titles to be found inside this book: 'The Besetment of Kurt Lieders', 'The Face of Failure', 'Tommy and Thomas', 'Mother Emeritus', 'An Assisted Providence', and 'Harry Lossing'.

Sothern, a death penalty lawyer who with his wife, photographer Nikki Page, arrived in New Orleans four years ahead of Katrina, delivers a haunting, personal, and quintessentially American story.

Richard Malone and Caroline Sue Miller are born on the same day to parents who live on opposite sides of the societal fences in a small coal-mining town of western Pennsylvania. Despite the economic differences between their families, the two children become best friends, and their unexpected friendship eventually blossoms into forbidden love. In order to be together and escape their bleak, small town opportunities, they leave the security of their homes and settle in New Jersey where their future is a blank slate. As Richard and Caroline make their way through life, their choices often veer their love off course, but the bond they share has deep roots that continually pull them together again. This tale of family, friendship, and love incorporates the historical events and cultural changes of the tumultuous 1900s while following the course of one couple whose connection is stronger than class or circumstance. Whether youre sailing through youthful days or enjoying your golden years, Reflection of Memories will capture your heart and remind you of what is truly important in life.

Can a woman ever really know herself if she doesn't know her mother? From the author of the smash-hit bestseller Firefly Lane and True Colors comes Kristin Hannah's powerful, heartbreaking novel that illuminates the intricate mother-daughter bond and explores the enduring links between the present and the past. Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family apple orchard; the other followed a dream and traveled the world to become a famous photojournalist. But when their beloved father falls ill, Meredith and Nina find themselves together again, standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the women in his life: the fairy tale will be told one last time—and all the way to the end. Thus begins an unexpected journey into the truth of Anya's life in war-torn Leningrad, more than five decades ago. Alternating between the past and present, Meredith and Nina will finally hear the singular, harrowing story of their mother's life, and what they learn is a secret so terrible and terrifying that it will shake the very foundation of their family and change who they believe they are.

In this memoir, the author, born and raised in a typical midwestern town, reflects on his life experiences from pre-school through college, military service, work, and retirement, the impact of family, friends, and events which have shaped his life. This autobiography also gives a glimpse of this African-American family's survival during the Depression years through the persevering efforts of strong and loving parents who dedicated their life to the educational pursuits and success of their children. The author, L. Shelbert Smith, is Professor Emeritus of Central State University, and has devoted over four decades of his life as an organic chemist in both industry and academe. This book is a journey from a dream of being a scientist, which he had harbored since his high school days, to his days of retirement.