From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Return comes a profoundly moving contemplation of the relationship between art and life. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND EVENING STANDARD After finishing his powerful memoir The Return, Hisham Matar, seeking solace and pleasure, traveled to Siena, Italy. Always finding comfort and clarity in great art, Matar immersed himself in eight significant works from the Sienese School of painting, which flourished from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. Artists he had admired throughout his life, including Duccio and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, evoke earlier engagements he’d had with works by Caravaggio and Poussin, and the personal experiences that surrounded those moments. Including beautiful full-color reproductions of the artworks, A Month in Siena is about what occurred between Matar, those paintings, and the city. That month would be an extraordinary period in the writer’s life: an exploration of how art can console and disturb in equal measure, as well as an intimate encounter with a city and its inhabitants. This is a gorgeous meditation on how centuries-old art can illuminate our own inner landscape—current relationships, long-lasting love, grief, intimacy, and solitude—and shed further light on the present world around us. Praise for A Month in Siena “As exquisitely structured as The Return, driven by desire, yearning, loss, illuminated by the kindness of strangers. A Month in Siena is a triumph.”—Peter Carey

For over ten years, Ros, Adele, Judy and Simone have been in an online book club, but they have never met face to face. Until now ... Determined to enjoy her imminent retirement, Adele invites her fellow bibliophiles to help her house-sit in the Blue Mountains. It's a tantalising opportunity to spend a month walking in the fresh air, napping by the fire and, of course, reading and talking about books. But these aren't just any books: each member has been asked to choose a book which will teach the others more about her. And with each woman facing a crossroads in her life, it turns out there's a lot for them to learn, not just about their fellow book-clubbers, but also about themselves.

The ultimate guide for parents who dream of having a little less chaos and a lot more time for the good things in life Written by mother of five, Nicole Avery, this book shows harried parents how, with just a bit of planning, family life can become easier to manage, less stressful, and decidedly more fun. "Dream on," you say? "I might as well try to herd cats as to get my kids to follow a lot of arbitrary rules!" And Nicole would agree, which is why Planning with Kids isn't like any other parenting guide out there. It was inspired by Nicole's blog of the same name, which, over the past three years, has garnered a huge audience of likeminded parents who have achieved nothing short of miraculous results following her advice. While other prescriptive guides offer mums and dads cook-cutter solutions to the challenges of raising kids, this handbook focuses on one simple, straightforward idea: by implementing a few simple strategies for how you do things, you'll make more time for you to be you and your kids to be kids. You'll find strategies for streamlining and enhancing everything from the routines of daily life, to family relationships, to budgeting and finances, playtime and much more! Contains a full section on menus and cooking, including recipes, supported online by a planning-with-family meal planner Divided into sections so that readers can dip-in and dip-out for information as they need it as their family expands and grows up!

This cheerful little road novel, published in 1919, is about Claire Boltwood, who, in the early days of the 20th century, travels by automobile from New York City to the Pacific Northwest, where she falls in love with a nice, down-to-earth young man and gives up her snobbish Estate.From a critical perspective, Free Air is consistent with Sinclair Lewis's lean towards egalitarian politics, which he displays in his other works (most notably in It Can't Happen Here). Examples of his politics in Free Air are found in Lewis's emphasis on the heroic role played by the book's protagonist, Milt Dagget, a working class everyman type. Conversely, Lewis presents nearly every upper-class character in Claire Boltwood's world (including her railroad-mogul father) as being snobby elitists. The story also champions the democratic nature of the automobile, versus the more aristocratic railroad travel.

Summary Learn Linux in a Month of Lunches shows you how to install and use Linux for all the things you do with your OS, like connecting to a network, installing software, and securing your system. Whether you're just curious about Linux or have to get up and running for your job, you'll appreciate how this book concentrates on the tasks you need to know how to do in 23 easy lessons. About the Technology If you've only used Windows or Mac OS X, you may be daunted by the Linux operating system. And yet learning Linux doesn't have to be hard, and the payoff is great. Linux is secure, flexible, and free. It's less susceptible to malicious attacks, and when it is attacked, patches are available quickly. If you don't like the way it looks or behaves, you can change it. And best of all, Linux allows users access to different desktop interfaces and loads of software, almost all of it completely free. About the Book Learn Linux in a Month of Lunches shows you how to install and use Linux for all the things you do with your OS, like connecting to a network, installing software, and securing your system. Whether you're just curious about Linux or need it for your job, you'll appreciate how this book focuses on just the tasks you need to learn. In easy-to-follow lessons designed to take an hour or less, you'll learn how to use the command line, along with practical topics like installing software, customizing your desktop, printing, and even basic networking. You'll find a road map to the commands and processes you need to be instantly productive. What's Inside Master the command line Learn about file systems Understand desktop environments Go from Linux novice to expert in just one month About the Reader This book is for anyone looking to learn how to use Linux. No previous Linux experience required. About the Author Steven Ovadia is a professor and librarian at LaGuardia Community College, CUNY. He curates The Linux Setup, a large collection of interviews with desktop Linux users, and writes for assorted library science journals. Table of Contents PART 1 - GETTING LINUX UP AND RUNNING Before you begin Getting to know Linux Installing Linux Getting to know your system Desktop environments Navigating your desktop PART 2 - A HOME OFFICE IN LINUX Installing software An introduction to Linux home/office software Text files and editors Working with files and folders on the command line Working with common command-line applications, part 1 Working with common command-line applications, part 2 Using the command line productively Explaining the Linux filesystem hierarchy Windows programs in Linux Establishing a workflow PART 3 - HOME SYSTEM ADMIN ON LINUX An in-depth look at package management and maintenance Updating the operating system Linux security Connecting to other computers Printing Version control for non-programmers Never the end

If you work with SQL Server, dbatools is a lifesaver. This book will show you how to use this free and open source PowerShell module to automate just about every SQL server task you can imagine—all in just one month! In Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches you will learn how to: Perform instance-to-instance and customized migrations Automate security audits, tempdb configuration, alerting, and reporting Schedule and monitor PowerShell tasks in SQL Server Agent Bulk-import any type of data into SQL Server Install dbatools in secure environments Written by a group of expert authors including dbatools creator Chrissy LeMaire, Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches teaches you techniques that will make you more effective—and efficient—than you ever thought possible. In twenty-eight lunchbreak lessons, you’ll learn the most important use cases of dbatools and the favorite functions of its core developers. Stabilize and standardize your SQL server environment, and simplify your tasks by building automation, alerting, and reporting with this powerful tool. About the technology For SQL Server DBAs, automation is the key to efficiency. Using the open-source dbatools PowerShell module, you can easily execute tasks on thousands of database servers at once—all from the command line. dbatools gives you over 500 pre-built commands, with countless new options for managing SQL Server at scale. There’s nothing else like it. About the book Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches teaches you how to automate SQL Server using the dbatools PowerShell module. Each 30-minute lesson introduces a new automation that will make your daily duties easier. Following the expert advice of dbatools creator Chrissy LeMaire and other top community contributors, you’ll learn to script everything from backups to disaster recovery. What's inside Performing instance-to-instance and customized migrations Automating security audits, best practices, and standardized configurations Administering SQL Server Agent including running PowerShell scripts effectively Bulk-importing many types of data into SQL Server Executing advanced tasks and increasing efficiency for everyday administration About the reader For DBAs, accidental DBAs, and systems engineers who manage SQL Server. About the author Chrissy LeMaire is a GitHub Star and the creator of dbatools. Rob Sewell is a data engineer and a passionate automator. Jess Pomfret and Cláudio Silva are data platform architects. All are Microsoft MVPs. Table of Contents 1 Before you begin 2 Installing dbatools 3 The dbatools lab 4 A gentle introduction to dbatools commands 5 Writing to SQL Server 6 Finding SQL Server instances on your network 7 Inventorying your SQL estate 8 Registered Servers 9 Logins and users 10 Backups 11 Restore 12 Snapshots 13 Install and update SQL Server 14 Preparing for disaster 15 Performing your first advanced SQL Server instance migration, part 1 16 Performing your first advanced SQL Server instance migration, part 2 17 High availability and disaster recovery 18 PowerShell and SQL Server Agent 19 SQL Server Agent administration 20 Creating and working with SQL Server Agent objects 21 Data masking 22 DevOps automation 23 Tracing SQL Server activity 24 Security and encryption 25 Data compression 26 Validating your estate with dbachecks 27 Working in the cloud 28 dbatools configurations and logging 29 Never the end

How would you spend five million dollars in 30 days? A billionaire's wallet, a bizarre challenge, and an unlikely friendship send two kids on a wild adventure. From the author of The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl. Felix Rannells and Benji Porter were never supposed to be field-trip partners. Felix is a rule follower. Benji is a rule bender. They're not friends. And they don't have anything to talk about. Until . . . They find a wallet. A wallet that belongs to tech billionaire Laura Friendly. They're totally going to return it-but not before Benji "borrows" twenty dollars to buy hot dogs. Because twenty dollars is like a penny to a billionaire, right? But a penny has value. A penny doubled every day for thirty days is $5,368,709.12! So that's exactly how much money Laura Friendly challenges Felix and Benji to spend. They have thirty days. They can't tell anyone. And there are LOTS of other rules. But if they succeed, they each get ten million dollars to spend however they want. Challenge accepted! They rent cool cars, go to Disney World, buy pizza for the whole school-and that's just the beginning! But money can't buy everything or fix every problem. And spending it isn't always as easy and fun as they thought it would be. . . . As smart as it is entertaining, Millionaires for the Month is a thought-provoking story about friendship, privilege, and the value of a penny.