Books With Flair

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award National Book Award Finalist A new American classic from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gilead and Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson, one of the greatest novelists of our time, returns to the town of Gilead in an unforgettable story of a girlhood lived on the fringes of society in fear, awe, and wonder. Lila, homeless and alone after years of roaming the countryside, steps inside a small-town Iowa church-the only available shelter from the rain-and ignites a romance and a debate that will reshape her life. She becomes the wife of a minister, John Ames, and begins a new existence while trying to make sense of the life that preceded her newfound security. Neglected as a toddler, Lila was rescued by Doll, a canny young drifter, and brought up by her in a hardscrabble childhood. Together they crafted a life on the run, living hand to mouth with nothing but their sisterly bond and a ragged blade to protect them. Despite bouts of petty violence and moments of desperation, their shared life was laced with moments of joy and love. When Lila arrives in Gilead, she struggles to reconcile the life of her makeshift family and their days of hardship with the gentle Christian worldview of her husband which paradoxically judges those she loves. Revisiting the beloved characters and setting of Robinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead and Home, a National Book Award finalist, Lila is a moving expression of the mysteries of existence that is destined to become an American classic.

Lila's House: Male Prostitution in Latin America presents insight into male prostitution in a truly global array of Latin American countries. This study focuses on a very specific sexual culture within the realm of male prostitution: the young men of a lower/middle-class brothel catering to a broad range of clients. You will explore the culture of juvenile prostitution and learn from the immediate intervention program that was implemented. Twenty-five young men between the ages of 13 and 27 were interviewed for this study. They share with you their views on: sexual initiation sexual definition sexual orientation love drug use prostitution family relationships relationships with men and women The young men interviewed for this study are in serious danger of being exposed to the AIDS virus and of becoming addicted, if they are not already, to cocaine, crack, or alcohol. Those conducting the study initiated a campaign to supply condoms and raise the young men's awareness about AIDS and drugs and began an immediate support program. The project resulted in the establishment, in June 1997, of an alternative home for juvenile prostitutes, which offers various opportunities for education and work.

In this bestselling new book, his first in seventeen years, Robert M. Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, takes us on a poignant and passionate journey as mysterious and compelling as his first life-changing work. Instead of a motorcycle, a sailboat carries his philosopher-narrator Phaedrus down the Hudson River as winter closes in. Along the way he picks up a most unlikely traveling companion: a woman named Lila who in her desperate sexuality, hostility, and oncoming madness threatens to disrupt his life. In Lila Robert M. Pirsig has crafted a unique work of adventure and ideas that examines the essential issues of the nineties as his previous classic did the seventies.

Lila is the biography of the author's mother. Born in a small town in Iowa and raised in early 20th century South Dakota, Lila lived a Cinderella childhood with a cruel stepmother. After attending Dakota Wesleyan University, she worked in a bank and then taught school until she met and married Royce Engberg. They had one child, a daughter, before Royce died. Lila then became a missionary and taught in India for nine years. During that period, the school of which she had become the principal, was destroyed in an earthquake. She saw to its reconstruction before returning to the United States and building a new career for herself by working toward higher degrees which led to a career in higher education. In time, she was married again to a professor at Syracuse University. She became a leader in Syracuse, heading up various community organizations. At the end of her life, she developed Alzheimer's Disease.

Describes a voyage down the Hudson River undertaken by Phaedrus and a troubled companion, who provokes a philosophical crisis as the philosopher-narrator wrestles with essential questions of morality

“No deception ever lasts, does it, Rabbi?” Lila bowed her head in shame. After fleeing a disastrous marriage, she arrived in the small town of St. George where her hamsa became the key that opened a gate to her Garden of Eden. There she found ideals she could believe in, and the love that she yearned for. But the time would come when her past would overwhelm her present, and then the good luck charm’s magic could no longer protect her.

Preservationist Lila Gentry returns to her small Texas hometown to restore the famous Chisholm Trail whorehouse where her great-great-grandmother was a madam in the 1880s. On her agenda is winning back Jake, the one that got away. But how do you rope a man who doesn't want to be wrangled? Jake lives by one creed: Keep it simple. His ex showing up in town complicates his life and makes him think about things he'd rather forget. When Lila's restoration project is threatened before it even begins, she turns to Jake for help. Working together stirs up old feelings, but while Lila and Jake always sizzle between the sheets—or wherever the moment takes them—it will involve some sweet-talking and finesse to bring these two together.

Lila wants a new pet. She goes with her dad to a pet shop to look for a new pet. She is so excited she can't stop thinking about all the animals she will see at the pet shop. Which animal does Lila decide to bring home?

Caribbean professor Lila Bonnard arrives in Vermont for a short-term teaching position and is forced to confront the terrible legacy of American (in)justice “In Now Lila Knows, Elizabeth Nunez has crafted an indelible saga, one that is both of the times and timeless; both personal and universal. This beautifully, masterfully written novel is at once a compelling love story, a crucial exploration of the contemporary immigrant experience, and a trenchant critique of American racism.” —Mitchell S. Jackson, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of The Residue Years “Timely and essential, Now Lila Knows is a luminous story of discovery and the consequences of being Black in America.” —Bernice L. McFadden, author of The Book of Harlan “Now Lila Knows is a tale of empathy that comes at the necessary cost, however delayed, of losing one’s innocence, of trading it for a harsher, more urgent reality. By encircling the reader in what they might think they know—about America, about the Caribbean, and the spaces in between—Elizabeth Nunez challenges us to answer for ourselves not only what we know, but also what we are prepared to do. The magic of this novel is that it opens a window to Black life in America through the eyes of an immigrant. A must read.” —Kevin Adonis Browne, OCM Bocas Prize winner, author of High Mas Lila Bonnard has left her island home in the Caribbean to join the faculty as a visiting professor at Mayfield College in a small Vermont town. On her way from the airport to Mayfield, Lila witnesses the fatal shooting of a Black man by the police. It turns out that the victim was a professor at Mayfield, and was giving CPR to a white woman who was on the verge of an opioid overdose. The two Black faculty and a Black administrator in the otherwise all-white college expect Lila to be a witness in the case against the police. Unfortunately, Lila fears that in the current hostile political climate against immigrants of color she may jeopardize her position at the college by speaking out, and her fiancé advises her to remain neutral. Now Lila Knows is a gripping story that explores our obligation to act when confronted with the unfair treatment of fellow human beings. A page-turner with universal resonance, this novel will leave readers rethinking the meaning of love and empathy.