Other books that might interest you

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  Clever Girl - Jurassic Park

  Hannah McGregor

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  A smart and incisive exploration of everyone’s favorite dinosaur movie and the female dinosaurs who embody what it means to be angry, monstrous, and free
  		 
  The Jurassic Park series is one of the most famous and profitable cinematic experiences of all time, with an entire generation of people who have never known life without these CGI dinosaurs. But while the movie spectacle broke film and merchandising records, pioneered special effects, and made Jeff Goldblum into an unlikely sex symbol, it has also been re-envisioned as a classic of queer feminist storytelling.
  		 
  In Clever Girl, Hannah McGregor argues that the female-only dinosaurs of Jurassic Park are stand-ins for monstrous women, engineered by men to be intelligent, violent, and adaptive, and whose chaos resists the systems designed to control them. As they run wild through their prison, a profit-driven theme park, they destroy the men and structures who mistakenly believed in their own colonialist and capitalist power, showing the audience what it means to be angry, monstrous, and free. The velociraptors were not just jump scares for children, but also revelatory and predatory symbols of feminist rage. Clever girls, indeed.
  		 
  About the Pop Classics Series
  		 
  Short books that pack a big punch, Pop Classics offer intelligent, fun, and accessible arguments about why a particular pop phenomenon matters.

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  Pop Scars - A memoir on fame...

  Anthony Kavanagh

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  The shocking, tell-all memoir from '90s popstar and heart-throb formerly known as KavanaBorn in Manchester in 1977, Anthony Kavanagh's rise to fame was stratospheric, scoring a record deal at the age of just eighteen and winning the much-coveted Smash Hits Male Artist of the Year Award in 1997, all the while achieving top ten hits, appearing on countless magazine covers, performing on Top of the Pops and gigging alongside the Spice Girls. The stuff that dreams are made of.  But Anthony - or Kavana as he came to be known - was also trying to keep his sexuality a secret while navigating his way through an industry where image was everything; where his success depended on him having to be exactly who he wasn't.What followed was a dark and dangerous spiral into addiction, an illness that would insidiously follow and baffle him for years to come. Pop Scars is a story told with fearless honesty that's at times as funny as it is heartbreaking, chronicling the highs, the lows, the self-destruction and the chaos of hitting rock bottom and then finding out that rock bottom has a basement.Thirty years on, Anthony is ready to tell his jaw-dropping story. Pop Scars is a book about teenage stardom, fame, addiction, grief and - ultimately - survival and sobriety.

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  Jin Dynasty - Northern Warriors...

  Rolf Hedger

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  The Jurchens, the ancestors of the Manchu people, emerged as a formidable force in northeastern Asia long before they established the Jin Dynasty. Originating from the forests and plains of Manchuria, they were a collection of semi-nomadic and agricultural tribes with a distinct culture, language, and way of life. Their society was organized into clans led by chieftains, and they engaged in hunting, fishing, and farming while maintaining a warrior tradition that would later define their military prowess. Although they lived independently, they often found themselves under the influence of stronger neighboring powers, including the Korean kingdoms and the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty. 
  The Liao Dynasty, which dominated much of northern China and Manchuria, exerted control over the Jurchens for centuries. The Khitan rulers forced them into a tributary system, requiring them to provide labor, furs, and horses in exchange for nominal autonomy. While this arrangement allowed the Jurchens to retain aspects of their culture, it also placed them in a subordinate position. However, resentment grew among the Jurchen clans, who viewed the Khitan overlords as oppressive rulers. This growing dissatisfaction set the stage for their eventual rebellion. 
  Despite their subjugation, the Jurchens developed a strong warrior tradition and mastered cavalry warfare, which would later give them an advantage over their adversaries. They organized themselves into tribal confederations and honed their skills in archery and horseback combat, making them formidable in battle. Their ability to adapt to different terrains, combined with their knowledge of the harsh northern climate, allowed them to maintain resilience and independence, even under Liao control. Over time, they also adopted elements of Chinese and Khitan governance, learning valuable administrative techniques that would later aid them in state-building.

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  Love Queenie - Merle Oberon...

  Mayukh Sen

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  Merle Oberon made history when she was announced as a nominee for the Best Actress Oscar in 1936. Her nomination marked the first time the Academy recognized a performer of color. Oberon, born to a South Asian mother and white father, broke through a racial barrier—but no one knew it. Oberon was "passing" for white. 
   
   
   
  In the first biography of Oberon in more than forty years, Mayukh Sen draws on family interviews and untapped archival material to capture the life of an oft-forgotten talent. Born into poverty, Queenie Thompson dreamt of big-screen stardom. By sheer force of will, she immigrated to London in her teens and met film mogul Alexander Korda, who christened her "Merle Oberon." Her new identity was her ticket into Hollywood. When she was in her twenties, Oberon dazzled as Cathy in Wuthering Heights opposite Laurence Olivier. Against the backdrop of Hollywood's racially exclusionary Golden Age and the United States's hostile immigration policy towards South Asians in the twentieth century, Oberon rose to the highest echelons of the film-world elite. 
   
   
   
  Tracing Oberon's story from her Indian roots to her final days surrounded by wealth and glamor, Sen questions the demands placed on stars in life and death. His compassionate, compelling chronicle illuminates troubling truths on race, gender, and power that still resonate today.

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  The Songwriting Guitarist -...

  Mike Meiers

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  "The Songwriting Guitarist", author Mike Meiers shares his extensive knowledge and experience as a songwriter and guitar instructor spanning over a decade. This book presents a system that propelled Mike into commercial songwriting success and continues to secure major sync licensing placements and coveted songwriting guitarist gigs.Beyond mere guitar techniques, this guide delves into the art of songwriting, cultivating the right mindset, and undergoing a transformative journey. Whether you're a singer-songwriter seeking to enhance your live performances, a guitarist yearning to collaborate with renowned songwriters, or a beginner aiming for a more profound connection with your practice routine, this book is an essential read.Mike unveils his well-kept secrets, offering invaluable insights that can save you years of aimless practice. Through three key elements, mindset transformations, and practice tricks, he empowers you to unleash your creativity and craft better songs and guitar lines.Many guitarists fall short due to their mindset, failing to understand why their songs don't measure up to the desired opportunities. This book addresses this crucial aspect, providing strategies to reverse the situation. Ultimately, the quantity of practice alone is insufficient if you lack a proven songwriting process.Discover the profound nuances of professional songwriting with your guitar, a realm that may differ greatly from your expectations. If you're intrigued by the qualities that define an exceptional songwriting guitarist, "The Songwriting Guitarist" serves as the ideal starting point for your artistic journey.

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  Hallelujah Karolina - Karolina

  Mike Blake

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  Hallelujah KarolinaThis is the 5th and final Poem written about the wonderful Karolina and her Violin playing in California on the streetsof Santa Monica. Includes some verse on her family.

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