Showing results by narrator "Lee Osorio" in All Categories

Award-winning environmentalist, author, and journalist Bill McKibben selects twenty science and nature essays that represent the best examples of the form published in the previous year. ” The selections in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2024 reveal a trying year for our planet—from the Lahaina wildfire tragedy to the lush Amazon jungle slowly turning to savanna—while also celebrating the earth’s beautiful and mysterious ways—from the largest beaver dam on earth to the heroic innovation to prevent birds from crashing into Chicago’s expanse of glass buildings.

We all have a passion that drives us, whether it’s to perform God’s will or to fulfill our life’s purpose, but often, we are stunted by fears of inadequacy. Is it because we’re lacking something fundamental to succeed? Why is it so hard to find—and project—our voices? Now, insightful Mexican speaker and bestselling author Daniel Habif offers a new paradigm to help us find our voice and roar. With actionable advice based on Habif’s own experiences, research, and spirituality, you’ll be able to not only find inspiration but successfully follow through on your most passionate dreams.

When The Stone Reader—a landmark collection of 133 essays from the New York Times’ award-winning philosophy column—first published, in 2015, the world urgently needed insight and wisdom, and for many, the book served as a bulwark of reason against the rising tide of post-fact rhetoric. Now, as disinformation continues to run rampant and our rights are increasingly called into question, editors Peter Catapano and Simon Critchley contend that philosophy in the public sphere is more crucial than ever.

In slightly fantastical settings, Gonzales illustrates very real guilt over small and large marital missteps, the intense desire for the reinvention of self, and the powerful urges we feel to defend and provide for the people we love. With wit and insight, these stories subvert our expectations and challenge us to look at our surroundings with fresh eyes. Brilliantly conceived, strikingly original, and told with the narrative instinct of a born storyteller, The Miniature Wife is an unforgettable debut.

Ernesto Vega has lived many lives, from pig farmer to construction worker to famed luchador El Rey Coyote, yet he has always worn a mask. He was discovered by a local lucha libre trainer at a time when luchadores—Mexican wrestlers donning flamboyant masks and capes—were treated as daredevils or rock stars. Ernesto found fame, rapidly gaining name rec­ognition across Mexico, but at great expense, nearly costing him his marriage to his wife Elena.

It begins quietly on a balmy Southern night in Savannah as some locals gather at Bo Peep's, one of the town's favourite watering holes. Within an hour, a man will be murdered and his companion will have 'disappeared'. An unlikely detective, Morgana Musgrove, doyenne of Savannah society, is called upon to unravel the mystery of these crimes. Morgana is an imperious, demanding, and conniving woman, whose four grown children are weary of her schemes. But one by one she inveigles them into helping with her investigation, and soon the family uncovers some terrifying truths.

Hawkins, Indiana-for most, it's simply another idyllic, manicured all-American town. But for Eddie Munson it's like living in a perpetual Tomb of Horrors. Luckily, he only has a few more months to survive at Hawkins High. And what is senior year, really, but just killing time between Dungeons & Dragons sessions with the Hellfire Club and gigs with his band? It's at the worst dive bar in town that Eddie meets Paige, someone who has pulled off a freaking miracle.

In 1873, the people of Labette County, Kansas, made a grisly discovery. Buried by a trailside cabin beneath an orchard of young apple trees were the remains of countless bodies. Below the cabin itself was a cellar stained with blood. The Benders, the family of four who once resided on the property, were nowhere to be found. The discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for decades, sparking an epic manhunt for the Benders.

Hunter never expected to be a boy band star, but, well, here he is. He and his band Kiss & Tell are on their first major tour of North America, playing arenas all over the United States and Canada (and getting covered by the gossipy press all over North America as well). Hunter is the only gay member of the band, and he just had a very painful breakup with his first boyfriend—leaked sexts, public heartbreak, and all—and now everyone expects him to play the perfect queer role model for teens.

Edward Dinnissen leads a charmed life. He’s the Crown Prince of Canada, gets the royal treatment at his exclusive private school, and resides in a ritzy mansion. He thrives off being the perfect prince as he prepares for the Investiture Ceremony on his eighteenth birthday, the final step in his role as heir—and Canada’s future king. But this closeted crown prince has just one tiny problem: he’s unsure how to tell his parents, his beloved country, and his adoring fans that he’s gay.

Natalie Fanning already loves her newborn son, Oliver, with everything she has. From the moment he was born she knew that she was meant to be his mother, even though she didn’t want that to be all she was. When Oliver refuses to sleep, and her husband Tyler returns to work, Nat is left mostly alone in a new house, in a new neighbourhood, the task of keeping her small son healthy and happy on her shoulders alone. No one else can breastfeed Oliver; no one else will protect him like she can; no one can help her.

Ezra Hayes has always felt like a background character compared to BFFs Lucas and Finley. He would do anything to be seen as a romantic lead, even if it means keeping his boyfriend, Presley, a secret. But when he discovers that Presley is a lying cheater, and his best friends are having boy problems of their own, they want revenge. Their plans to get even involve sabotaging the largest party of the year, entering a drag competition, and even having Ezra run against his ex for Winter Formal King.

In the early 2000s, Adrian Hong was a soft-spoken Yale undergraduate looking for his place in the world. After reading a harrowing account of life inside North Korea, he realized he had found a cause so pressing that he was ready to devote his life to it. What began as a trip down the safe and well-worn path of organizing soon morphed into something more dangerous. Hong journeyed to China, outwitting Chinese security services as he helped ferry asylum-seeking North Korean escapees to safety.

From the Man Booker-shortlisted author of Fever Dream comes a hotly anticipated new collection of eerie short stories. Playful and unsettling, teeming with the energy of barely contained violence, Seven Empty Houses dismantles the neat appearance of domesticity to expose the darkness and discomfort that lies beneath.

Riv—poet, philosopher, private eye—arrives in Cali, Colombia, hoping to find reprieve. Running away from an unspeakable event surrounding his ex Jane, Riv accidentally connects with his cousin Mauro and family friend Carlotta, who asks him to find her daughter Angelica Alfa-Ochoa. No sooner is Riv on the trail when it becomes clear that not only are the cops not looking for Angelica, but they are actively preventing him from finding her.

Zach Glasser has put up with a lot for the sport he loves. Endless days on the road, playing half-decent baseball in front of half-full stadiums and endless nights alone, pretending this is the life he's always wanted. The thing is, it could have been everything he ever wanted—if only he'd had the guts to tell his family, tell the club, that he was in love with his teammate Eugenio Morales. Well, ex-teammate now. When Zach wouldn't—couldn't—come out, Eugenio made the devastating choice to move on, demanding a trade away from Oakland. Away from Zach.

Ryo was a chef, an extremely good one at that. Now he's back in time in an alternate dimension and the retainer of a Feudal Japanese Lord, in charge of his defense from an upcoming Mongol invasion. What is a Space Force Food Service Specialist supposed to do? Accompanied by an extremely advanced Artificial Intelligence, a medieval noble, and his samurai retainers, Ryo sets out to change the known world. At least this dimension's version of it!

The Youngbloods are a mafia-like demon family, sent as a sinister advance team to prepare Earth for an infernal invasion. But when something goes wrong, the demon invasion never comes and the Youngbloods are stuck on crappy Earth with the worst creatures in the world—each other. Petra Youngblood is the family’s hunter. Her job: to track and kill the annual human sacrifice that keeps the Youngbloods immortal. Otherwise, they will crumble to dust. But as Petra is hunting down this year’s sacrifice, a man named Killian Irons, she breaks the first demonic rule.

Natalie Fanning already loves her newborn son, Oliver, with everything she has. From the moment he was born she knew that she was meant to be his mother, even though she didn’t want that to be all she was. When Oliver refuses to sleep, and her husband Tyler returns to work, Nat is left mostly alone in a new house, in a new neighbourhood, the task of keeping her small son healthy and happy on her shoulders alone. No one else can breastfeed Oliver; no one else will protect him like she can; no one can help her.

When it comes to modern relationships, our thumbs do the talking. Where once we pored over love letters, now we obsess over response times or wonder why the three-dot ellipsis came...and went. Nobody knows this better than Dr Mimi Winsberg. A Harvard and Stanford-trained psychiatrist, she co-founded a behavioral health start-up while serving as resident psychiatrist at Facebook. Like all of us, Winsberg has been handed a smart phone accompanied by the urgent plea: 'what does this mean?' Unlike all of us, she knows the answer. She is a text whisperer.