A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life. Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income. In I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants. Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

Brooklynite Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer, who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning literary author who, to everyone's surprise, shows up in New York. When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas, but the eyebrows of New York's Black literati. What no one knows is that twenty years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can't deny their chemistry - or the fact that they've been secretly writing to each other in their books ever since. Over the next seven days in the middle of a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect, but Eva's not sure how she can trust the man who broke her heart, and she needs to get him out of New York so that her life can return to normal. But before Shane disappears again, there are a few questions she needs answered... With its keen observations of Black life and the condition of modern motherhood, as well as the consequences of motherless-ness, Seven Days in June is by turns humorous, warm and deeply sensual. Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781538719107.

Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus. After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late. Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

When Rin aced the Keju — the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies — it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard — the most elite military school in Nikan — was even more surprising. But surprises aren’t always good. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power — an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive — and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school. For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away. Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity ... and that it may already be too late.

A masterpiece of rebellion and imprisonment where war is peace freedom is slavery and Big Brother is watching Thought Police Big Brother Orwellian These words have entered our vocabulary because of George Orwell s classic dystopian novel 1984 The story of one man s nightmare odyssey as he pursues a forbidden love affair through a world ruled by warring states and a power structure that controls not only information but also individual thought and memory 1984 is a prophetic haunting tale More relevant than ever before 1984 exposes the worst crimes imaginable the destruction of truth freedom and individuality With a foreword by Thomas Pynchon With a foreword by Thomas Pynchon A masterpiece of rebellion and imprisonment where war is peace freedom is slavery and Big Brother is watching View our feature on George Orwell s 1984 Thought Police Big Brother Orwellian These words have entered our vocabulary because of George Orwell s classic dystopian novel 1984 The story of one man s nightmare odyssey as he pursues a forbidden love affair through a world ruled by warring states and a power structure that controls not only information but also individual thought and memory 1984 is a prophetic haunting tale More relevant than ever before 1984 exposes the worst crimes imaginable the destruction of truth freedom and individuality This beautiful paperback edition features deckled edges and french flaps a perfect gift for any occasion Alternate cover edition can be found here.

The English-language debut of one of Japan's most talented contemporary writers, selling over 650,000 copies there, Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction―many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual―and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action… A brilliant depiction of a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures we all feel to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.

Talita Luna Kesejatian hidup ada pada batu kerikil yang tertendang ketika kau melangkah menyusuri jalan. Kesejatian hidup ada pada selembar daun kering yang gugur tertiup angin. Kesejatian hidup ada air susu ibu yang yang merelakan puting payudaranya diisap oleh bayi manapun. Di Vihara Pit Yong Kiong, Pasuruan, di pelabuhan Belawan, di Penang, di Bangkok, di Laos, di Golden Triangle, di Cambodia, di Bandung, di manapun kau hidup. Tapi, dia mungkin tak terlihat pada arus politik yang menyudutkanmu pada pilihan kedigdayaan. Dia menyembunyikan diri dari teriakan- teriakan yang menggemakan perubahan. Kesejatian hidup tak memerlukan perubahan, namun juga tak menampiknya. Dia rebah pada semua kesederhanaan yang ada di sekelilingmu. Maka, carilah, dan kamu akan mendapatinya. Ketuklah, maka pintu akan dibukakan bagimu. Mintalah, maka kau akan diberi. Demikianlah Dewi Lestari mewakilkan sebuah upaya pencarian kesejatian hidup pada seorang tokoh bernama Bodhi. Seorang bayi yang di suatu pagi tergeletak di pintu Vihara. Dipungut, diasuh, dan dididik oleh seorang Pandita, Guru Liong. Merasa bahwa karma pada hidup masa lalunya sangat berat. 18 tahun dididik dengan ketat, termasuk penguasaan terhadap sebuah ilmu bela diri, Bodhi mengalami penyempurnaan bathin. Pemurnian spirit. Termasuk sejumlah pengalaman uniknya yang "merasa" menjadi ulat, tikus got, kucing, dan sapi. 18 tahun adalah waktu yang cukup, dan Bodhi mohon pamit. Bersama serombongan pendeta Buddha, Bodhi menyeberang ke Sumatera dan memutuskan menetap di daerah Belawan. Tanpa KTP, tak juga faham mengenai asal usul dan tanggal kelahirannya. Bekerja tiga bulan, mendapat upah, dan dibantu oleh Ompu Berlin untuk mendapatkan sejumlah dokumen identitas termasuk paspor, Bodhi menyeberang ke Penang. Disana dia bertemu dengan sejumlah backpackers yang kemudian "memberi" arah perjalanan berikutnya: Bangkok. Bangkok surga bagi para backpackers. Ratusan pengelana dari mancanegara tumpah di sana. Bodhi tinggal di semua rumah penginapan Srinthip bersama sejumlah backpakers multi etnis. Penghuninya datang dan pergi. Masuklah Kell, seorang lelaki tampan, peranakan Irlandia dan Mesir. Lelaki tertampan yang mungkin pernah ada di bumi ini yang mempunyai tugas kehidupan untuk membubuhkan 617 tatto pada 617 orang untuk membuat dirinya menyongsong kemerdekaan paripurna setelah orang ke-617 membubuhkan tato yang ke-618 ke tubuhnya. Lelaki yang kerap menyenandungkan Eye in The Sky-nya Alan Parson Project. Kell kemudian mengajarinya tattoo. Lalu, jadilah Bodhi seorang tattooist dan menjadikan itu sebagai cara untuk mendapatkan uang bagi biaya hidup sehari-hari. Seorang backpacker perempuan bernama Star, berasal dari Hollywood, peranakan Eropa Timur dan Timur Tengah masuk dan menginap di Srinthip. Perempuan cantik dan tercantik yang pernah dilihat Bodhi. Perawakan tubuhnya sempurna. Perempuan inilah yang memperkenalkan dirinya dengan sebuah perasaan lain yang belum pernah dia rasakan sepanjang hidup. Star minta Bodhi mentattoonya tepat di payudara.Dan bergetarlah kulit semesta. Bergerolalah gelombang samudera. Erangan kesakitan Star sewaktu ditattoo adalah hasrat dedaunan yang mendambakan sapuan sinar matahari. Waktu berlalu dan mereka berpisah. Entah kenapa. Bodhi meneruskan pencarian kesejatiannya. Star seolah menggenap kesempurnaan tattoonya dan pergi menyongsong kelana berikut. Keterserakan yang tak menyenangkan. Tapi hidup adalah keping-keping misteri yang baru terbuka setelah rebah sepenuhnya. Bodhi membiarkan semesta menuntun perjalanan selanjutnya. Bertemu dengan lelaki tua pengasuh Bob Marley, yang mengumandangkan reggae seolah cuma itu yang ada di bumi dan kahyangan. Bertemu kembali dengan Tristan, backpacker yang ditemuinya pertama kali di Penang. Mereka berdua bekerja di ladang ganja di Golden Triangle dengan upah USD 700 per minggu. Sekian bulan di sana Bodhi memiliki cukup uang untuk melanjutkan kembara berikutnya. Pulang ke Srinthip didapatinya Kell sudah tak ada. Ah, lelaki yang telah memberinya keceriaan dan sebuah warna baru. Rasa kangennya memuncak. Diputuskannya untuk pergi mencari Kell. Tak ada petunjuk. Tak ada berita. Dan dia pergi. Suara semesta dan kerinduannya adalah dua buah kompas sejati yang dia percaya akan mengantarkannya tepat waktu - tepat arah kepada Kell. Bodhi terdampar di sebuah pertarungan antar manusia ala Golden Triangle ditonton oleh ribuan petaruh. Diadu secara barbar di atas ring melawan gladiator raksasa. Pertarungan dahsyat dengan menggunakan sejumlah jurus wushu yang mendebarkan pun digelar. Perjalanan itu begitu panjang dan melelahkan. Menembus belukar di antara desingan peluru. Menyusuri daratan ranjau. Disana dia betemu Epona, gadis penakluk ranjau. Disana pula ia bertemu kembali dengan Kell. Lalu, pada sebuah kunjungan ke lokasi ranjau, tattoo ke 618, angka kebebasan paripurna Kell, dirajahkan. Dalam dialog cerdas, konyol, menggelikan, dan bertabu...