Winner of the 2002 Scotiabank Giller Prize and of the 2003 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize: Best Book (Canada and the Caribbean) When an elderly Bimshire village woman calls the police to confess to a murder, the result is a shattering all-night vigil that brings together elements of the African diaspora in one epic sweep. Set on the post-colonial West Indian island of Bimshire in 1952, The Polished Hoe unravels over the course of 24 hours but spans the lifetime of one woman and the collective experience of a society informed by slavery. As the novel opens, Mary Mathilda is giving confession to Sargeant, a police officer she has known all her life. The man she claims to have murdered is Mr. Belfeels, the village plantation owner for whom she has worked for more than thirty years. Mary has also been Mr. Belfeels’ mistress for most of that time and is the mother of his only son, Wilberforce, a successful doctor. What transpires through Mary’s words and recollections is a deep meditation about the power of memory and the indomitable strength of the human spirit. Infused with Joycean overtones, this is a literary masterpiece that evokes the sensuality of the tropics and the tragic richness of Island culture.

"It seemed like they had everything, but they didn't have Jack." Without question Spencer Hartley burns hot for his girlfriend, Rory, but his other desires are hidden down deep. He might blow things up for a living and climb mountains for kicks, but the scariest thing in his life is the truth about his sexuality. Jack Rothman works hard and plays dirty. After long, demanding days in his family's engineering firm, he indulges in the pleasures of silk restraints and fine wine. Lots of hot meaningless sex helps him forget that he's suffocating, with no one to give him a reason to breathe. When a catastrophic accident traps Spencer in a flooded subway tunnel with Jack, they need each other to survive. But something strong stirs down there in the darkness, and it's more than their desperation to live. There's a spark between them that's impossible to ignore. Rory Campbell would love to give Spencer the one thing he doesn't have, the freedom to explore his secret desires. But how does that fit into her picture-perfect relationship? When Jack invites the couple to his sprawling Hamptons beach house, Rory realizes that she has secret desires of her own--the kind only Jack's Dominant hand across her bare bottom can satisfy...

"Proper, Poised & Polished: The Power of You" is an A to Z guide for becoming your unique, personal best. With its curated selection of quotes from accomplished, inspiring, and iconic people, along with its actionable, empowering tips, it is a step-by-step guide to transforming the person you are today to the person you aspire to be tomorrow. It includes everything a girl or woman needs to consider and cultivate in order to become her unique, personal best so that she can live her life to the fullest. From appearance, confidence, kind, and interesting to optimism, polish, style, and versatile, "Proper, Poised & Polished: The Power of You" is your personal owner's manual to take with you on your exciting journey to success.

"Published in conjunction with the exhibition Polished to Perfection: Japanese Cloisonne from the Collection of Donald K. Gerber and Sueann E. Sherry at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California (May 28, 2017-February 4, 2018). This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art"--

Elevate your Ruby skills to an advanced level by deepening your understanding of the design principles, best practices, and trade-offs involved in implementation approaches to future-proof your Ruby applications Key FeaturesLearn Ruby web application design principles and strategies for databases, security, and testing from a Ruby committer Understand the design principles behind polished Ruby code and trade-offs between implementation approachesUse metaprogramming and DSLs to reduce the amount of code needed without decreasing maintainabilityBook Description Anyone striving to become an expert Ruby programmer needs to be able to write maintainable applications. Polished Ruby Programming will help you get better at designing scalable and robust Ruby programs, so that no matter how big the codebase grows, maintaining it will be a breeze. This book takes you on a journey through implementation approaches for many common programming situations, the trade-offs inherent in each approach, and why you may choose to use different approaches in different situations. You'll start by refreshing Ruby fundamentals, such as correctly using core classes, class and method design, variable usage, error handling, and code formatting. Then you'll move on to higher-level programming principles, such as library design, use of metaprogramming and domain-specific languages, and refactoring. Finally, you'll learn principles specific to web application development, such as how to choose a database and web framework, and how to use advanced security features. By the end of this Ruby programming book, you'll be a well rounded web developer with a deep understanding of Ruby. While most code examples and principles discussed in the book apply to all Ruby versions, some examples and principles are specific to Ruby 3.0, the latest release at the time of publication. What you will learnUse Ruby's core classes and design custom classes effectivelyExplore the principles behind variable usage and method argument choiceImplement advanced error handling approaches such as exponential backoffDesign extensible libraries and plugin systems in RubyUse metaprogramming and DSLs to avoid code redundancyImplement different approaches to testing and understand their trade-offsDiscover design patterns, refactoring, and optimization with RubyExplore database design principles and advanced web app securityWho this book is for This book is for Ruby programmers who are comfortable in coding with Ruby but want to advance their skills by mastering the deeper principles and best practices behind writing maintainable, scalable, optimized, and well-structured Ruby code. This book won't teach you the basics of Ruby – you'll need intermediate knowledge and practical experience before you can dive in.

- Executive Summary - Introduction - Background - Studies of aggregate performance in-service - Discussion - implications of desk studies - Laboratory studies of polishing mechanism - Developing a revised standard - Proposed revision to HD28 - Further research - Conclusions - Acknowledgements - References - Appendix A: Laboratory studies of polishing mechanism - Appendix B: Comparison of PSV requirements in HD28/94 with proposed replacement - Abstract - Related publications

College student West Millbrook is in financial dire straits since his overbearing parents refuse to support him when he moves away to study. His solution is working for the Polished P & P company which will also give him the freedom to be himself. All he has to do is be an escort who sells his company, not his body. Easy, right? It is until he meets Russian god Adrik Hail. Wealthy businessman Adrik is lonely. His solution is to pay for no-strings-attached company. He doesn't have time to waste impressing someone, nor does he want anyone to think they can weasel their way into his life. He's a busy man who likes organization, and hiring someone from Polished means he's the one in control. Then adorable West walks through the door, changing everything. Now Adrik's mind and body want more from the man, who is as sweet as he is kind. Adrik just needs to find a way of working out West. Content warning: Please be aware this book contains torture, it may be a trigger for some readers. Proceed with caution.