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Thursday, April 30, 2009

House Beautiful 500 Makeovers: Great Ideas & Quick Changeovers

Published by the editors of House Beautiful magazine, this volume of decorating ideas contains 500 designs to guide the reader in redecorating the home, be it in one room or several. Over 400 pages of full-color photographs illustrate, chapter by chapter, the basic components of design, including those of balance, simplicity, impact, function, details and color. Whether you accomplish a little or a lot, you’ll be inspired to begin creating your dream home.

Drown by Juno Diaz

Drown is a collection of 10 short stories dealing with the immigrant condition. The stories cover a whole range of life experiences, from childhood through adulthood. “Ysrael,” “Aguantando,” and “No Face” are set in the barrios of the Dominican Republic and examine the childhood experience among poverty and in the absence of a father. “Fiesta, 1980,” “Edison, New Jersey” and “Negocios” reflect the Dominican migrant experience and family structure within the United States. “Aurora;” “Drown,” “Boyfriend” and “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie” examine the harshness of inner city life, relationships, sexuality and drug abuse.
Diaz’s stories are honest, unapologetic accounts of life, sometimes under the harshest of conditions. Themes addressed in these stories include loss of fathers, the separation of families through immigration and the pursuit of the “American Dream,” the identity crisis of the immigrant, and inner city life.

Audience

The stories in Drown contain harsh language and depictions sexuality and drug abuse. This book is for your literary reader who is not offended by such things. The stories in this collection would be great for a book discussion.

About the Author

Junot Díaz was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and immigrated to the Unites State with his family when he was six. He published Drown when he was 27 years old and 11 years later he won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao (2008). His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, African Voices, Best American Short Stories (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000), in Pushcart Prize XXII and in The O'Henry Prize Stories 2009.

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How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

Let It Rain Coffee: A Novel by Angie Cruz