Singing The Sadness

Saving a woman’s life puts British PI Joe Sixsmith’s own life in danger in this mystery by “a master of form and style . . . grace and wit” (The New York Times). Best known for his gritty Dalziel and Pascoe novels, which were adapted into a hit BBC series, Reginald Hill “could not have created a protagonist more different” than Joe Sixsmith, the laid-back British PI and church chorister of West Indian descent, who makes for an engaging addition to crime fiction in this winning mystery, available for the first time as an ebook (Publishers Weekly). It looks to be a melodious weekend for Joe Sixsmith and his chapel choir. They’re headed for the first annual choral festival in Llanffugiol, a village said to be the heart of musical life in rural Wales. But the locals are far from welcoming in this off-the-map hamlet where dread lingers as heavy as the mist. Never more so than when Joe comes to the rescue of a naked amnesiac screaming for her life in a burning cottage. No one claims to know her, or what she was doing on a stranger’s property, much less why anyone would want to set her ablaze. Secretly recruited by the owner of the cottage to investigate and, oddly enough, just as surreptitiously by the man’s wife, Joe soon discovers that arson is the least of the burning secrets in Llanffugiol.

British Fantasy Award-winning author, and Shirley Jackson Award finalist, Laura Mauro delivers a remarkable debut collection of startling stories. Dark tales of beauty, strangeness, and transformation told in prose as precise and sparing as a surgeon's knife. A major talent! Featuring "Looking for Laika," winner of the British Fantasy Award.

Singing has been a characteristic behaviour of humanity across several millennia. Chorus America (2009) estimated that 42.6 million adults and children regularly sing in one of 270,000 choruses in the US, representing more than 1:5 households. Similarly, recent European-based data suggest that more than 37 million adults take part in group singing. The Oxford Handbook of Singing is a landmark text on this topic. It is a comprehensive resource for anyone who wishes to know more about the pluralistic nature of singing. In part, the narrative adopts a lifespan approach, pre-cradle to senescence, to illustrate that singing is a commonplace behaviour which is an essential characteristic of our humanity. In the overall design of the Handbook, the chapter contents have been clustered into eight main sections, embracing fifty-three chapters by seventy-two authors, drawn from across the world, with each chapter illustrating and illuminating a particular aspect of singing. Offering a multi-disciplinary perspective embracing the arts and humanities, physical, social and clinical sciences, the book will be valuable for a broad audience within those fields.

Sad Birds Still Sing is the highly anticipated book of poetry from anonymous author Faraway. In less than a year, he became one of the most recognizable figures on the platform he writes: Instagram (@farawaypoetry). In this book of selected poems and writings, Faraway takes the reader on a journey of discovery, with a message of hope running as the main artery through the pages. It fearlessly dives into the depths of the human condition, tackling topics such as new and old love, heartbreak, loss, anxiety, self-love, dreaming, and much more.

Few American entertainers have had the explosive impact, wide-ranging appeal, and continuing popularity of country music star Hank Williams. Such Williams standards as "Your Cheatin' Heart," "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," "Jambalaya," and "I Saw the Light" have all entered the pantheon of great American song. Roger Williams recounts the story of Hank's rise from impoverished Southern roots, his coming of age during and after World War II, his meteoric climb to national acclaim and star status on the Grand Ole Opry, his chronic bouts with alcoholism and the alienation it created in those he loved and sang for, and finally his tragic death at twenty-nine and subsequent emergence as a folk hero. The book also features a thorough discography compiled by Bob Pinson of the Country Music Foundation.

Winner of the Young Quills Historical Novel Award. Longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal. My name is Hanna Michelson. I am 15. I am Latvian. I live with my mother and grandmother. My father is missing – taken by the Russians. I have a boyfriend. When he holds my hand, everything feels perfect. I’m training to be a dancer. But none of that matters now. Because the Nazis have arrived, and I am a Jew. And as far as they are concerned, that is all that matters. This is my story.

The girl had lost her guitar-playing boyfriend, but he had left her the most deadly legacy of all -- fear. And now it was up to me to protect her from the gun-carrying thugs who were relentlessly tracking her down. Hoodlums, hootenannies, and homicide! #10 in the Mac detective series! "Mac is one of our best private eyes." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Thomas B. Dewey is one of detective fiction's severely underrated writers!" -- Bill Pronzini "Mac has been called one of the most believable and humane PI's in crime fiction. He is reluctant to use either his gun or his fists, but will do so when the situation demands it, or in self-defense; he doesn't merely solve his clients' cases, but provides moral support and sympathy as well; and perhaps most notable of all, Mac feels, and is not afraid to show itópain, loss, sorrow, loneliness." --thrillingdetective.com

This exciting novel about a young Air Force pilot on secret duty in Laos after the February 1973 cease-fire is based on actual historical events in that landlocked Kingdom. After the shoot down and capture of his best friend by the communist Pathet Lao, Brian Marshall, a raven FAC, devises and executes an unauthorized rescue attempt. However, it is more than just a war story. It is also the story of one man's attempt to overcome his own weaknesses and the political and bureaucratic obstacles in his way. Details of Laos history at the time the story takes place build the perception that the story might not really be fiction. The story covers 10 days in August 1973 and takes place in Washington, D. C., Bangkok, Thailand, Vientiane, Laos, and the jungles near the Plain of Jars, and is based on the author's personal experiences.