Entertainment Science

When the Hart-Celler Act passed in 1965, opening up US immigration to non-Europeans, it ushered in a whole new era. But even to the first generation of Asian Americans born in the US after that milestone, it would have been impossible to imagine that sushi and boba would one day be beloved by all, that a Korean boy band named BTS would be the biggest musical act in the world, that one of the most acclaimed and popular movies of 2018 would be Crazy Rich Asians, or that we would have an Asian American Vice President.

The Dark River opens in New York City with a stunning piece of news. Gabriel's father, who has been missing for nearly 20 years, may still be alive and trapped somewhere in Europe. Gabriel and his Harlequin protector, Maya, immediately mobilize to escape New York and find the long-lost Traveler.

Many people say that drugs killed Whitney Houston. Yes, drugs were a part of her downfall, but they were only symptoms, the obvious evidence of what was actually an emotional addiction to where she came from. At a very deep level, an unconscious level, she was more powerfully attached to beliefs, images, and attitudes that kept her dependently loyal to and dragged down by the insecurity of her earliest childhood. This unconscious loyalty is what ultimately killed her.

God Save the Queens pays tribute to the women of hip-hop - from the early work of Roxanne Shante, to hitmakers like Queen Latifah and Missy Elliot, to the superstars of today. Exploring issues of gender, money, sexuality, violence, body image, feuds, objectification and more, God Save the Queens is an important and monumental work of music journalism that at last gives these influential female artists the respect they have long deserved.

For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom. When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

Media and law enforcement work at cross-purposes. Law enforcement want to solve a case as fast as possible and put the guilty behind bars. The media want a case to drag on as long as humanly possible and do all they can to extricate every last bit of drama, drop by bloody drop, in order to hold the attention of the millions of viewers who have gotten hooked. Law enforcement must abide by rules. The media make their own rules, and even then break them or find ways to work loopholes into them.

On September 11, 2020, Ginny and Katie Smith celebrate their 19th birthday at a country fair near Seattle. Ignoring the warnings of a fortune-teller, they enter a house of mirrors and exit in May 1964. Armed with the knowledge they need to return to their time, they try to make the most of what they believe will be a four-month vacation. But their 60s adventure becomes complicated when they meet a revered great-grandmother and fall in love with local boys.

17-year-old Scarlet has just died. Only, dying isn't unusual for a girl under a centuries old curse that left her semi-immortal. This time, though, she comes back to her current life instead of awaking in a new one, and she realizes her curse is changing. With the help of the immortal Archer brothers, Scarlet tries to piece together her life and break the curse before her impending death comes again.

Twelve-year-old Elliott Harkness wants nothing more than to join his family as part of the Freedom Force, the world's greatest superhero team. There's only one problem, he's a "Zero;" that's super-speak for powerless. Frequently abandoned by his crime-fighting family, teased by his older super-sister, and picked on at school, Elliott is miserably ordinary in his heroically extraordinary family. All of that changes when a mysterious new girl comes to town. She believes Elliott is far from ordinary.

In America, in London, in Amsterdam, in Paris, revolutionary ideas fomenting since the late 1950s reached boiling point, culminating in a year in which the transient pop moment burst forth. Exploring the canonical figures, from The Beatles and Boty to Warhol and Reagan, 1966 delves deep into the social and cultural heart of the decade through masterfully compiled archival primary sources.

Sawyer’s family runs a catfish farm in rural Mississippi. When his widowed mom gets sick after a pond “cat” swallows her wedding ring, Sawyer is sure the missing ring is to blame. Strange clues and a local myth convince him that the pond cat has become a meal for a far more challenging catch. He sets out with two friends and his stowaway little sister to solve the secret of the ring.

In 1926, the American version of the film classic Metropolis was cut in half, now for the first time in seventy years you can experience the whole story. A very important book in the development of the audiobook industry. The music and sound effects are piped through differant speakers so the listener gets the surround sound or 3-D effect. The futuristic music alone (and the listener's imagination) tells part of the story without any words describing the action.

A Place Called Ananda is a deeply meaningful story. If what you seek in life is greater inspiration and understanding, you will find here a fulfillment. The story is different, yes. In some ways it is highly unusual. Its underlying message, however, is universal.

Ryan and Regan Resnick are the two youngest members of the Prometheus Project, a top secret team exploring a vast, abandoned alien city. But when they journey through a portal to a primitive alien planet, what begins as an ordinary day will quickly become a nonstop fight for their lives. Soon they are stranded on the distant planet, surrounded by vicious predators, and in the path of a raging river of lava. But surviving on the deadly planet might be the easy part.

Raymond Sarlot bought the Chateau Marmont in 1975, but what was originally a business purchase became a love affair as he delved into the hotel's incredible history. From its perch overlooking the Sunset Strip, the glamorous Marmont reigned for decades as the spot for artists, writers, musicians, and actors of every stripe and remains a home-away-from-home for A-listers like Scarlett Johansson and Johnny Depp. Here, Sarlot and coauthor Fred E. Basten share a wealth of scandalous and intriguing tales about them all.

Seventeen year old Kris Young is on the run from a throng of superhuman golden-eyed freaks hell-bent on seeing her dead, and she doesn't know why. Good thing she has her guardian angel to protect her...sort of. Kris is aided by Nathan, the mysterious man that ends up being anything but angelic when he rescues her for the fourth time in fourteen years. Even if the handsome hero illusion is shattered by his harsh treatment of her, he knows how to fight this strange enemy and is determined to keep her safe at all costs.

Evangeline has spent her teenage years in obscurity. Her foster parents have the emotional aptitude of robots, and her classmates barely acknowledge her existence. About to turn 18 and feeling like a social pariah, she is desperate to connect with someone. Anyone. When Evangeline meets Sophie after literally stumbling upon her café, she believes she's found that connection. Willing to do anything to keep it, she accepts a job as Sofie's assistant and drops everything to fly to Manhattan.

For generations, a shrine has stood in the mountain village of Kadono, and for each generation the shrine has had an Itsukihime--its shrine maiden--and the maiden has had her guardian. During the Edo period, a young man named Jinta protects the town and the Itsukihime. When he confronts a strange demon in the nearby forest, it tells him that in the distant future a Demon God will threaten all people, everywhere, and it claims that the Demon God's rise to power springs from this very time and place, in the village of Kadono.

Marlene Wagman-Geller, author of Once Again to Zelda and Behind Every Great Man, presents a fascinating collection of biographical vignettes of dozens of women of a certain age who have excelled, inspired, and achieved. Learn how these women changed their respective fields of art, politics, science, mathematics, media, literature, activism, education, and more. From actresses, yoga teachers, folk artists to business women, prime ministers, monarchs, and authors, this group of exceptional women will illustrate that women can achieve anything, no matter their age.

All They Will Call You is the harrowing account of "the worst airplane disaster in California's history", which claimed the lives of 32 passengers, including 28 Mexican citizens - farmworkers who were being deported by the US government. Outraged that media reports omitted only the names of the Mexican passengers, American folk icon Woody Guthrie penned a poem that went on to become one of the most important protest songs of the 20th century.