Urban City

In Black on the Block, Mary Pattillo - a Newsweek Woman of the 21st Century - uses the historic rise, alarming fall, and equally dramatic renewal of Chicago’s North Kenwood-Oakland neighborhood to explore the politics of race and class in contemporary urban America.

The sometimes fragmentary tales of these people, their lives and deaths, are not included in official histories of a place. How, Ensign asks, has a large, socially progressive city like Seattle responded to the health needs of people marginalized by poverty, mental illness, addiction, racial/ethnic/sexual identities, and homelessness? Drawing on interviews and extensive research, Ensign shares a diversity of voices within contemporary health care and public policy debates.

London. A city apart. Inimitable. Or so it once seemed. Spiralling from the outer limits of the Overground to the pinnacle of the Shard, Iain Sinclair encounters a metropolis stretched beyond recognition. The vestiges of secret tunnels, the ghosts of saints and lost poets lie buried by developments, the cycling revolution and Brexit. An electrifying final odyssey, The Last London is an unforgettable vision of the Big Smoke before it disappears into the air of memory.

When Michael Matthews first visited Detroit, he was grimly fascinated by the place. Over dozens of visits, he got to know the people - cops, reporters, and gang members as well as ordinary Detroiters trying to live their lives in peace, and formed deep bonds with them, which led him into places and situations, no writer has ever seen before. American Ruin is the story of Michael’s journey into the soul of this broken city - a shocking, violent, and heartbreaking portrayal of a modern tragedy.

Ben Judah is an acclaimed foreign correspondent, but here he turns his reporter's gaze on home, immersing himself in the hidden world of London's immigrants to reveal the city in the eyes of its beggars, bankers, coppers, gangsters, carers and witch-doctors. From the backrooms of its mosques, Tube tunnels and nightclubs to the frontlines of its streets, Judah has supped with oligarchs and spent nights sleeping rough, worked on building sites and talked business with prostitutes; he's heard stories of heartbreaking failure, but also witnessed extraordinary acts of compassion.

The kingpins of Oklahoma City, one from the north side and one from the south side, push pounds of weed, gallons of PCP, and kilos of cocaine through the corridors of the OKC, using very different methods to keep their people in line. King is the leader of the north side crew. Along with his protégé, Tippi, he runs his crew with deadly force. Each member knows there is no room for error when it comes to getting money on the north side. Flamboyant, the leader of the south side crew, is the opposite.

Billy Sothern's Down in New Orleans illustrates, in very human and heartbreaking ways, how the horrors that emerged during and following Hurricane Katrina existed long before the storm. These beautifully composed stories not only reveal the dignity—and amazing grit and grace—of the hurricane's survivors; they also illuminate larger truths about the urgent issues of our day.

Joe Dylan ventures into the Bangkok City bars. The detective follows a trail leading to Demon Dreams, a Bangkok S&M joint run by a beautiful transsexual and her mentally deranged brother. Joe discovers a world of bizarre nocturnal acts and black magic rituals. It's a seedy Bangkok underworld that picks-up fallen women from the streets and throws them into an evil world of torture and murder.

Segregation by Design draws on more than 100 years of quantitative and qualitative data from thousands of American cities to explore how local governments generate race and class segregation. Starting in the early 20th century, cities have used their power of land use control to determine the location and availability of housing, amenities (such as parks), and negative land uses (such as garbage dumps). The result has been segregation - first within cities and more recently between them.

The Cherry Spot dives into the lives of dancers Apache, Tropics, and Tamara, along with madam Ja'kiera and her stable Erika, Paisley, and Serena. We witness firsthand the battles they won as well as those they lost. Throw in a demented serial killer and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. Who lives and who dies all depends on how hard they fight to survive. Listen to the minutes of this full-length novel to find out the outcome of their tribulation and trials.

In this uproarious memoir/tongue-in-cheek guide to leaving the cool city in which you "found" yourself and moving somewhere far more ordinary, author Erin Clune regales listeners with priceless stories of her own experiences leaving New York for her hometown in Wisconsin and provides a jocular but useful guide - for anyone leaving, or thinking about leaving, their own personal mecca - to finding contentment while staying true to yourself in a place far, far away from The City.

With wit and sharp insight, former Traffic Commissioner of New York City, Sam Schwartz a.k.a. "Gridlock Sam", one of the most respected transportation engineers in the world and consummate insider in NYC political circles, uncovers how American cities became so beholden to cars and why the current shift away from that trend will forever alter America's urban landscapes, marking nothing short of a revolution in how we get from place to place.

Hidden truths have surfaced, and I'm forced to question some of the people closest to me. Instead of turning into the shadow form of a demon, I'm a wolf shifter with the same dark fur as my enemies. My fated mate, a sexy silver wolf, should be standing by my side as we face a frightening new enemy, but he was kidnapped along with four other shifters. Saving them could cost my life, but it’ll bring me closer to finding out who...or rather what I am and why I'm being hunted. Everything is falling apart, but I'll do anything to protect my mate and my newfound family.

America’s suburbs are not the homogenous places we sometimes take them for. Today’s suburbs are racially, ethnically, and economically diverse, with as many Democratic as Republican voters, a growing population of renters, and rising poverty. The cliche of white picket fences is well past its expiration date. The history of suburbia is equally surprising: American suburbs were once fertile ground for utopian planning, communal living, socially conscious design, and integrated housing. We have forgotten that we built suburbs like these....

Rare gemstones in a casino is catnip to criminals. Ruby Achera will need Idryll the tiger-woman and Morrigan the archer to suit up and protect the exhibit at Spirits Casino. But who is the mysterious figure leading the criminal enterprise? Can Ruby get back to Oriceran in time to fulfill a prophecy? Being in two places at once will take a team. Diana Sheen, Rath the troll, and the Federal Agents of Magic are back for tech support.

Reed is about to snap - and this time, nothing is going to stand in his way when it comes to getting answers for Elise, not even a supposedly long-vanished Sumerian God. Or so Reed thinks. But summer in the city isn't going to be like the others. The city itself isn't quite the same either, and even if you're lucky (or cursed) enough to count the children of Gods among your friends, nothing is ever simple...

Historic quarters in cities and towns across the middle of Europe were devastated during the Second World War—some, like those of Warsaw and Frankfurt, had to be rebuilt almost completely. They are now centers of peace and civility that attract millions of tourists, but the stories they tell about places, peoples, and nations are selective. They are never the whole story. Exploring seven old towns, from Frankfurt and Prague to Vilnius in Lithuania, Marek Kohn examines how they have been used since the Second World War to conceal political tensions and reinforce certain versions of history.

Seventeen-year-old Tyler lives in one of Edinburgh’s most deprived areas. Coerced into robbing rich people’s homes by his bullying older siblings, he’s also trying to care for his little sister and his drug-addict mum. On a job, his brother Barry stabs a homeowner and leaves her for dead, but that’s just the beginning of their nightmare, because the woman is the wife of Edinburgh’s biggest crime lord, Deke Holt.

It's time for Ruby Achera to complete the quest and become the Mist Elves' new Mirra—or die trying. Will the venture into the unknown bring new threats? Well, of course. It's Magic City. Meanwhile, the anti-human sentiment is coming out into the open. Julianna Sloane is plotting to bring not just one casino, but all of them, under her control. Overshadowing it all is the Paranormal Defense Agency.

Finally, a book that simplifies the beginning skills of urban homesteading and provides easy lessons for those ready to be more self-sufficient. We are all different and live in different situations. This book will get you started in ways you might not have thought of, no matter where you are.