Slim Pickins is a naughty, young seagull who arrives at the beach every day and is an expert at helping himself to food out of beach bags. The families attempt to teach Slim proper "beach manners" but Slim outwits them every time! One day Slim arrives with a beautiful, well-mannered gull Daisy, and everything changes

Featured as an Essence magazine "56 New Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2022." Awarded a third place by the Association of Catholic Publishers for spirituality and an honorable mention by the Catholic Media Association for inclusion in the Church. What does musical icon Luther Vandross—and his physical appearance—have to do with appreciating the people and cultures that make up the Catholic Church? Marcia Lane-McGee and Shannon Wimp Schmidt, hosts of the Plaid Skirts and Basic Black podcast, explain that Christmas celebrations of Black Catholic families are not complete without the annual argument about which version of Luther—fat or skinny—created better music. The light-hearted debate is also about remembering the past and providing hope for the future. In Fat Luther, Slim Pickin’s, the duo share their faith and reflections on the liturgical year to honor the Black Catholic experience and to help other Catholics understand Black culture. With the humor, vulnerability, honesty, and pop culture references that their podcast is known for, Lane-McGee and Schmidt explore the Church as an important model for how to welcome diversity while maintaining and celebrating culturally distinct traditions and practices. As our nation continues to confront racism, including within its churches, this ground-breaking book examines the intersection of faith, race, culture, and identity with hopefulness, humor, and joy. Lane-McGee and Schmidt share their experiences as Black women in the Church and invite Catholic women from all walks of life to look with new eyes at the feasts and seasons of the liturgical year through the lens of Black Catholic culture. The Church is a communion of many cultures, languages, and ethnicities, yet it has been unified for more than two-thousand years. Black Catholics bring unique gifts of culture and history to the Church and the United States that provide an essential perspective on the work for racial justice, a strong framework for addressing the sin of racism, confident guidance for embracing diversity, and a beautiful demonstration of faith infusing even the darkest moments with hope. In Fat Luther, Slim Pickin’s, you will learn that: You can embrace liturgical celebrations even if they’re a little janky—that is, haphazard and messy—by making do with what you have and focusing on actually doing something and being human rather than doing it perfectly. Soul food epitomizes the genius of Black Americans who can make sustenance even from “slim pickin’s”—the scraps. Ordinary Time offers us a chance to cultivate our “Catholic Shine”—finding beauty in the everyday stuff of life, revealing the mystery of God. As we remember afresh Christ’s suffering on the Cross each Lent we see the parallel to how racism in America can be both history and an ongoing suffering. The laity, especially women, have an important role as the “neck of the Church”—turning the head toward the most urgent needs of our time and working as Christ in the world. Fat Luther, Slim Pickin’s offers examples of holy people—including Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman, Venerable Fr. Augustus Tolton, St. John XIII, St. Martin De Porres, and St. Joan of Arc—as companions for the liturgical journey. You will also learn more about Black history and experience, and your own faith, through primers on “one drop” laws, appreciation vs. appropriation, Black hair, the legacy of slavery, code switching, and the three-fifths compromise. Reflection questions are included in each chapter, making this book perfect for individual or group study.

A shy wallflower meets her dream man--or does she?--in the next book in New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James' Wildes of Lindow series. Miss Viola Astley is so painfully shy that she’s horrified by the mere idea of dancing with a stranger; her upcoming London debut feels like a nightmare. So she’s overjoyed to meet handsome, quiet vicar with no interest in polite society — but just when she catches his attention, her reputation is compromised by a duke. Devin Lucas Augustus Elstan, Duke of Wynter, will stop at nothing to marry Viola, including marrying a woman whom he believes to be in love with another man. A vicar, no less. Devin knows he’s no saint, but he’s used to conquest, and he’s determined to win Viola’s heart. Viola has already said Yes to his proposal, but now he wants her unruly heart…and he won’t accept No for an answer.

A history of the development of London as a European epicenter of queer life. In Queer City, the acclaimed Peter Ackroyd looks at London in a whole new way–through the complete history and experiences of its gay and lesbian population. In Roman Londinium, the city was dotted with lupanaria (“wolf dens” or public pleasure houses), fornices (brothels), and thermiae (hot baths). Then came the Emperor Constantine, with his bishops, monks, and missionaries. And so began an endless loop of alternating permissiveness and censure. Ackroyd takes us right into the hidden history of the city; from the notorious Normans to the frenzy of executions for sodomy in the early nineteenth century. He journeys through the coffee bars of sixties Soho to Gay Liberation, disco music, and the horror of AIDS. Ackroyd reveals the hidden story of London, with its diversity, thrills, and energy, as well as its terrors, dangers, and risks, and in doing so, explains the origins of all English-speaking gay culture. Praise for Queer City “Spanning centuries, the book is a fantastically researched project that is obviously close to the author’s heart.... An exciting look at London’s queer history and a tribute to the “various human worlds maintained in [the city’s] diversity despite persecution, condemnation, and affliction.””—Kirkus Reviews “[Ackroyd’s] work is highly anecdotal and near encyclopedic . . . the book is fascinating in its careful exposition of the singularities—and commonalities—of gay life, both male and female. Ultimately it is, as he concludes, a celebration as well as a history,” —Booklist “A witty history-cum-tribute to gay London, from the Roman “wolf dens” through Oscar Wilde and Gay Pride marches to the present day,” —ShelfAwareness

"Compelling and edgy, dark and evocative, Stray is a must read! I loved it from beginning to end." —New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter STRAY is New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent first book in her acclaimed Shifter series. I look like an allAmerican grad student. But I am a werecat, a shapeshifter, and I live in two worlds. Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked. I'd been warned about Strays—werecats without a Pride—constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared. This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back…for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I'm no meek kitty. I'll take on whatever—and whoever—I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays—'cause I got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them… More Praise: "Well written, fresh, charming, great voice —Buffy meets Cat People. I loved it, and look forward to much more in the future from this talented author." —New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham "Rachel Vincent is a new author that I'm going to be watching." —New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison "A highoctane plot with characters you can really care about. Vincent is a welcome addition to the genre!" —Kelley Armstrong, author of the Women of the Otherworld series Previously Published.

In wartime Ireland, an Englishman and a German each need the other to betray his country. And if the nationalist firebrands get their way, they may have to fight to the death. But hang on!―Just a few months ago, Flight Lieutenant Oliver Carmichael and Baron Julius von Stulpnagel were living together in Berlin, trying to sell forged paintings. So what are they doing in rundown Ballingore, and how will ex-convent-girl Mary Collins and her devoted red-headed sidekick Niamh Slattery play into their hands? In this hilarious Irish farce, K. J. Kelly brilliantly recreates the slapstick flavour of an Ealing Studios comedy.

Fair? Balanced? To some, Bill O'Reilly is a semi-demented cable TV talk show host who can be an obnoxious, insufferable, opinionated, rude loudmouth whose views, the kinder ones say, are typical right-wing drivel. But there is much more to O'Reilly than what meets eye. O'Reilly is the paradigm of idiosyncrasy in television journalism. On the rough road to the top, O'Reilly learned how to give the public what it wants and thinks it needs. From his early education at the hands of nuns to an advanced degree in public policy from Harvard, from working at local television stations and rising through the ranks to network news, O'Reilly spent nearly twenty-five years learning his craft before he became an overnight star at Fox News. In this very intimate look at the man and what matters to him, veteran media critic Marvin Kitman explores all the experiences that led to the making of Bill O'Reilly—a nonconformist in a business that demands conformity as the price of success, and a man who has risen to the top by not playing by the rules of broadcast news. Kitman shows that O'Reilly is not a knee-jerk conservative, but an "independent" freethinker with a mind of his own, and he believes what journalism needs is more Bill O'Reillys. Not screamers, the blowhards like the current O'Reilly clones rushed on the air since his success, but trained journalists, reporting the news and telling us why, in their opinion, the world is a crazy place. Supported by twenty-nine interviews with O'Reilly, Marvin Kitman chronicles a descent from reporter of news to spewer of views.