Urban City

My life changed dramatically ever since I found out that I’m a long-lost lion shifter, complete with awesome magic and special abilities. Being the only male lion shifter in Thornveil City comes with a few perks of its own, and my new celebrity status means that everyone wants to know what I’ll do next.

After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks, and tower dwelling improvements on the car dependence of sprawl?

In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes listeners on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii in Italy, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today.

DEEP. RAW. EMOTIONAL. POWERFUL. He was down on his luck when an angel appeared.. She was like a sip of water in the middle of a desert, and he was shook. It was instant. He vowed to earn her. To have her. But then life threw them a curve ball, and he fell far, fast. Can she save him again. She did once... Will she want to after she discovers his secrets. His pain. Pain that includes her. Find out in this deep and emotionally compelling read. Get hooked from page one! **Trigger Warning!

By early 1977, New York City was in the grip of hysteria caused by a murderer dubbed "Son of Sam". And on a sweltering night in July, a citywide power outage touched off an orgy of looting and arson that led to the largest mass arrest in the city's history. As the turbulent year wore on, the city became absorbed in two epic battles: the fight between Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo for the city's mayoralty.

No metropolis has been more loved or more hated. To its official boosters, "Los Angeles brings it all together". To detractors, LA is a sunlit mortuary where "you can rot without feeling it". To Mike Davis, the author of this fiercely elegant and wide-ranging work of social history, Los Angeles is both utopia and dystopia, a place where the last Joshua trees are being plowed under to make room for model communities in the desert, where the rich have hired their own police to fend off street gangs, as well as armed Beirut militias.

Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.

America is an urban nation. More than two thirds of us live on the three percent of land that contains our cities. Yet cities get a bad rap: they're dirty, poor, unhealthy, crime ridden, expensive, environmentally unfriendly. Or are they? As Edward Glaeser proves in this myth-shattering book, cities are actually the healthiest, greenest, and richest (in cultural and economic terms) places to live.

After being left for dead by her mother, dissed by her peers, held responsible for her siblings, and forgotten by society, Murdonna Carter finds herself in one hell of a predicament. With no money, food, or electricity, she learns quickly how to survive. In the ghetto, you either kill or be killed and grind or you starve! Tired of going to bed hungry, she realizes it's do or die. For the love of family, she puts her own life on the line and does the unthinkable. Will her gamble pay off, or will it open up a can of worms she won't be able to close?

Optimus Yarnspinner inherits from his godfather an unpublished manuscript by an unknown writer and sets off to track down the mysterious author, who disappeared into Bookholm - the so-called City of Dreaming Books. Yarnspinner falls under the spell of this book-obsessed metropolis, where an avid reader and budding author can find any number of charming attractions: priceless signed first editions, salivating literary agents, and for-hire critics.

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night - until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths. Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose - to assassinate his boss' enemies, no questions asked.

Akia (Kia) Masters has been backed into a corner by the love of her life’s father, Anton Morales. She will do anything to protect her family, even if that means giving up what she wants the most, a life with Santano“Tan” Morales. Tan knows that something is going on between Kia and his father but is not sure what. Tan has a lot on his plate with trying to keep his ex-wife’s advances at bay and finding out the secrets his wife and father are keeping from him. Will Kia trust Tan enough to confide in him? Sable Mills thought she had escaped her troubled past life in Nashville. Her ...

The term gentrification has become a buzzword to describe the changes in urban neighborhoods across the country, but we don’t realize just how threatening it is. It means more than the arrival of trendy shops, much-maligned hipsters, and expensive lattes. The very future of American cities as vibrant, equitable spaces hangs in the balance. A vigorous exposé revealing who holds power in our cities, How to Kill a City uncovers the massive systemic forces behind gentrification in New Orleans, Detroit, San Francisco, and New York.

The last in a proud line of witches, he’s come to test his small magic in the big city. Stealing enchanted artifacts pays the rent, but the competition is fierce. And handsome. And great at magic too.

Growing up in the hood, Micha knew there were certain unwritten rules that were sacrosanct - practically biblical commandments: Do what you have to to get over. Never snitch; do your time like a man. And - above all else - never drop any hint that you might be gay. (Hell, if anybody even joked about it, you were honor-bound to break their jaw!) Initially, Micha has no problem with any of these, but an unexpected encounter suddenly awakens something in him that he never knew existed. Feelings. Longings. Desires. Physical needs that women prove incapable of satisfying. As Micha grapples with ...

Jeff Speck has dedicated his career to determining what makes cities thrive. And he has boiled it down to one key factor: walkability. The very idea of a modern metropolis evokes visions of bustling sidewalks, vital mass transit, and a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban core. But in the typical American city, the car is still king, and downtown is a place that’s easy to drive to but often not worth arriving at. Making walkability happen is relatively easy and cheap; seeing exactly what needs to be done is the trick.

After a chaotic breakup with Franko, the father of her five- year old, Mimi’s world is shattered, leaving her with only the love of her daughter, to sustain her. Although she makes peace with the situation, she still feels hurt and alone until fate takes an unexpected turn. This is when Mimi crosses paths with Dustin, a thoughtful and caring man who appears to be the missing piece in her life. Unlike Franko, Dustin values and respects Mimi. As the two of them navigate the delicate dance of new love, secrets from Dustin's past threaten to unravel the budding romance. Mimi must decide ...

In this inaugural season of the series, you'll delve into Urban Fiction at its finest. Each character is a protagonist in their own right. Big Tee returns home after serving a 15-year sentence in an Arkansas State Prison. His nephew Nice, known for his savvy street smarts, is a character you're bound to love. Nikki, equally streetwise, tragically becomes the reason for Big Tee's demise. Due to the fans' adoration of Big Tee, I introduced his son into the narrative. With 32 books in the series, it's guaranteed to keep you turning pages. For avid readers, I offer book volumes, typically ...

Bang! Bang! Bang! Shots rang out and echoed in the night... The assailant walked away and looked back once. She walked away cool and calm, vanishing into the night! She had stopped running! In her mind, he deserved it! All she could think of in that moment, was the fact that he would never get the chance to kill another woman’s spirit. Killing her spirit was the same as her dying… And Ursula felt dead! The trauma and injury inflicted upon her by the men proved too much, and her resilient and tough exterior crumbled under the strain. And when tragedy strikes, it ups the ante! Things go ...

In this book, Jane Jacobs, building on the work of her debut, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, investigates the delicate way cities balance the interplay between the domestic production of goods and the ever-changing tide of imports. Using case studies of developing cities in the ancient, pre-agricultural world, and contemporary cities on the decline, like the financially irresponsible New York City of the mid-sixties, Jacobs identifies the main drivers of urban prosperity and growth, often via counterintuitive and revelatory lessons.