text:
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-   MLP: FiM
-   Romance
-   Slice of Life
-   Alt. Universe
-   Twilight
-   Celestia
-   Prince Blueblood
-   Nightmare Moon

[]

All of Equestria is united in celebration for the return of their beloved Princess Nightmare Moon. But when Celestia and everypony else recieve her she's skeletally starved, filthy, and very nearly dead. Meanwhile, while everypony's eye is turned, a lusty Blueblood pursues Twilight Sparkle, intent on adding her bloodline to his own so his family might step closer to godhood. (Alternate Universe, there never was a Princess Luna)

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__ Chapters (23)

-   -   -   18 chapters hidden. Show

-   -   -   -   Aching · 3rd Nov 2012 · 4,559 words

-   Eating · 4th Nov 2012 · 3,739 words

-   -   Boon · 13th Nov 2012 · 5,121 words

-   Mane · 17th Nov 2012 · 3,714 words

-   -   -   Bandaid · 27th Nov 2012 · 3,846 words

-   -   Visitor · 30th Nov 2012 · 3,236 words

-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -

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question: What's the story about?

answer: The return of Princess Nightmare Moon, who has arrived back, she is horribly malnourished. Meanwhile, Prince Blueblood is pursuing Twighlight Sparkle in order to add her bloodline o his own.

question: How many chapters are there?

answer: 23.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A short description of a fanfiction story based in the My Little Pony universe.


split: train

text:
The was a denomination of Japanese yen. These coins were minted in gold, and during their lifespan were the highest denomination of coin that circulated in the country. The first coins were minted in 1870 following the introduction of a decimal currency system. Twenty Yen coins spanned three different Imperial eras before mintage was halted in 1932. Many of these coins were then melted or destroyed as a result of the wars between 1931 and 1945. These coins are now collected by numismatists for academic study, and by those with a hobby.

History

In November 1869 the new units of yen were established in the form of a metric system. It was decided that silver would become the standard unit of value leaving gold coinage as a subsidiary.[1] The Japanese government considered adopting the gold standard as early as December 1870 after hearing about its implementation in the United States.[2] This system was officially put into place on May 10, 1871 setting standards for the 20 yen coin.[3] While the coins continued to be minted, other changes were being made to the system with new coinage regulations established in 1876 and 1878. For one reason or another these new practices that were put into place were not sufficient to maintain a healthy growth of gold monometallism. Part of the reason was the issuance of large amounts of inconvertible paper currency which drove gold coins out of the country.[4] Coinage of the 20 yen piece had all but stopped by 1877, and those struck in 1880 were only done so as part of presentation sets for visiting dignitaries and heads of state.[5]

New coinage reform was adopted on March 26, 1897 which re-established the gold 20 yen coin. These new standards lowered both the size and weight of the coin, the new diameter was set at 28.78mm (previously 35.06mm) while the weight was lowered from 33.3g down to 16.6g.[6][7] Over 1.5 million coins were struck during this year before production ceased until 1904. Coinage of 20 yen pieces were then continued past the reign of Emperor Meiji, into the reign of Emperor Taishō where coinage stopped in 1920. The decision to stop coinage of 20 yen pieces came as Japan's gold reserves were quickly depleting from excess imports.[8] The gold reserves were eventually stabilized which allowed coinage to resume in 1930, though gold coins were described as “not in general use”.[9] This resumed coinage was brief under Emperor Shōwa as Japan abandoned the gold standard in December 1931.[10] The reasons behind this move were that Japan's gold reserves were again being depleted, and allowing the yen to depreciate would help the economy which was struggling at the time.[11] Gold coins of the 20 yen denomination were last minted in 1932, it is unknown how many Shōwa era coins were later melted. Some of these coins were kept away in bank vaults for decades before being released as part of a hoard in the mid 2000s.[12][13]

Circulation figures

Meiji

The following are mintage figures for the coins that were minted between the 3rd and 45th (last) year of Meiji's reign. Inscriptions on coins for this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 明治 (Meiji). While coins were struck in 1892, none were released for circulation.

Japanese coins from this period are read clockwise from right to left

    “Year” ← “Number representing year of reign” ← “Emperors name” (Ex: 年 ← 七十三 ← 治明)

[20 yen coin from 1870 (year 3)
Design 1 - (1870 - 1892)] [20 yen coin from 1897 (year 30)
Design 2 - (1897 - 1912)]

  Year of reign   Japanese date   Gregorian date   Mintage[14]
  --------------- --------------- ---------------- --------------------
  3rd             三              1870             [15]
  5th             五              1872             [16]
  6th             六              1873             [17]
  9th             九              1876             [18]
  10th            十              1877             [19]
  13th            三十            1880             [20]
  25th            五十二          1892             Not circulated[21]
  30th            十三            1897             [22]
  37th            七十三          1904
  38th            八十三          1905
  39th            九十三          1906
  40th            十四            1907
  41st            一十四          1908
  42nd            二十四          1909
  43rd            三十四          1910
  44th            四十四          1911
  45th            五十四          1912

Taishō

The following are mintage figures for the coins that were minted from the 1st to the 9th year of Taishō's reign. Inscriptions on coins for this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 大正 (Taishō).

Japanese coins from this period are read clockwise from right to left:

    “Year” ← “Number representing year of reign” ← “Emperors name” (Ex: 年 ← 六 ← 正大)

  Year of reign   Japanese date   Gregorian date   Mintage[23][24]
  --------------- --------------- ---------------- -----------------
  1st             元              1912
  2nd             二              1913
  3rd             三              1914
  4th             四              1915
  5th             五              1916
  6th             六              1917
  7th             七              1918
  8th             八              1919
  9th             九              1920

Shōwa

The following are mintage figures for coins minted between the 5th and the 7th year of Emperor Shōwa's reign. Inscriptions on coins of this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 昭和 (Shōwa).

Japanese coins from this period are read clockwise from right to left:

    “Year” ← “Number representing year of reign” ← “Emperors name” (Ex: 年 ← 五 ← 和昭)

  Year of reign   Japanese date   Gregorian date   Mintage[25]
  --------------- --------------- ---------------- -------------
  5th             五              1930
  6th             六              1931
  7th             七              1932             Unknown

Collectability

All 20 yen coins are scarce as the amount remaining today are dependent on how many were saved or kept away. The most common coins found date between 1904 and 1920 (Meiji Y.37 to Taishō Y.9), with examples selling in the thousands of dollars both online and at auction.[26] These more common coins include one of the highest mintages of the series that occurred in 1917 (year 6) during Taishō's reign. Early Meiji era coins are harder to find than coins dated after 1896, and except for the rarest issues are all priced in five digit amounts.[27] The rarest of these early issue coins include those made between 1876 and 1880 (year 9 to 13) as mintage totals dropped off during this period. Coins dated 1880 (year 13) were only released as part of presentation sets that were widely destroyed or melted down between 1931 and 1945.[28] Less than 10 coins dated 1880 (year 13) of the original mintage of 103 are thought to exist today, one of these pieces sold for $230,000 (USD) in 2011.[29] The lowest known mintage of the series occurred in 1877 (year 10) with 29 coins struck, only 1 mint state example is recorded by PCGS.[30]

Millions of minted coins were recorded during the Shōwa era, but it is unclear how many of these coins survived. Examples from Shōwa's 7th year of reign (1932) were once considered to be virtually unknown until a hoard was discovered in the mid 2000s. Between 2005 and 2007 the Ministry of Finance released over 30,000 gold coins of 5, 10 and 20 Yen denominations that had been kept in vaults.[31][32] It is recommended by those in the numismatic field that all 20 yen coins be authenticated first by an expert, as counterfeits exist.[33]

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[2]

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title: 20 yen coin

question: What material was the 20 yen coin made of?

answer: Gold

question: Why were many of the coins destroyed?

answer: Many were melted for their metal during WWII

question: Why did Japan abandon the gold standard?

answer: Their gold reserves were being depleted and they felt that allowing their currency to depreciate would boost their economy

question: For what purpose were the coins from 1880 struck?

answer: They were only made as part of presentation sets for visiting dignitaries and heads of state

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The 20 yen coin was a denomination of Japanese yen minted between 1870 and 1932. Their production ceased when Japan abandoned the gold standard, and many of the coins were later melted down or destroyed for their metal during WWII. Today, they are highly sought by collectors.


text:
Panicked, Elizabeth sprints away from her pursuers, panic bubbling in her chest. She doesn’t even have time to process what just happened, all she can do is run and pray she won’t get caught. She runs through the marketplace, dodging startled shoppers and angry glares. She almost knocks over a fruit stand, but the owner and a few bystanders manage to catch it before anything falls. As if through a tunnel she can hear him screaming at her to be careful. She doesn’t stop though; all she can do is run.

She can’t breathe, but she can’t stop. She needs to find a place to hide, but where? Suddenly an idea strikes her; she quickly veers left down a muddy alleyway and splashes her way down to a small grate. She usually hides here after her father- no! Now is not the time to think of that! She needs to escape! She needs a plan! She quickly pries the grate open, slides in, and shuts it behind her. She curls up in her all too familiar corner and finally lets everything sink in.

Shivering with cold and fear she runs over the events leading up to this point. She just murdered her father; she stabbed him with a knife. She felt his blood on her hands and saw the life flicker out of his eyes. Her mother had started screaming and cradling his body, a guard heard and came running. She remembered dropping the knife when she realized what she had just done. The guard asked what happened and her mother just hysterically screeched at Elizabeth. As the guard turned, she took one final fearful look at her mother and bolted. Come to think of it, she didn’t even know if the guard had followed her or not. More than likely he did, but she was just too light and fast for him, even in a dress.

Elizabeth tried to calm herself. She had done what she had to do; no-one could fault her for that… right? The hopeful part of her mind prayed that everyone would understand and all would be forgiven, but the rational part of her knew just how wrong that was. She had to escape. Maybe she could find another town somewhere and build a new life… no. That wouldn’t work… Realizing what a hopeless situation she’s in, a small sob escapes her lips, but she quickly stifles it- she can’t let a guard hear her now. She’ll just stay the night here. Maybe in the morning she’ll be able to think of something to do…
__________________________________________________________

Elizabeth wakes up in a very familiar place, curled up like a dog in a ripped dress covered in blood, mud, and straw. Sun is streaming through the grate, but it didn’t quite reach where she’s hiding. She whimpers and buries her face in the straw, not caring how bad it pricks and itches.

She has to go home. Untangling her bruised and cut limbs she crawls out of her hidey-hole. Standing up, she gathers her tattered and torn dress and starts limping through the marketplace. She receives many disapproving glares from the other townsfolk, but she doesn’t care. She makes this walk of shame almost every morning.

She passes a guard on the outskirts of the town who just grunts at her to pass then stumbles up the winding trail to her house. As she walks in her father looks up from the newspaper, grins like a Cheshire cat, and says, “Morning Pumpkin, how’s my baby this morning?” Elizabeth just flinches and hangs her head. God, how she wants to kill this man.

title: Elizabeth (an original story by me)

question: Summarize Elizabeth's movements throughout the story.

answer: Elizabeth sprints through the marketplace. She travels down a muddy alleyway and down a small grate. In the morning, she heads home.

question: Summarize the twist ending.

answer: We are led to believe that Elizabeth has killed her father, but when she arrives home he looks up from his newspaper and grins, perfectly fine.

question: What does the story say about why Elizabeth murdered her father?

question: Summarize the primary source of tension in the story.

answer: Elizabeth is fleeing her home after having supposedly murdered her father. She is trying to find a place to hide. At the end of the story, it is revealed that her father is still alive, and she wants to kill him.


text:
[DdvvsxxV0AAiQsf2.jpg]

CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. (WPMI) —
According to the Tampa Bay Times, a Florida man climbed on top a piece of equipment at a Clearwater Beach playground Sunday and yelled at a bunch of children in the area.

He was apparently screaming at the children about where babies come from.

Police took 30-year-old Otis Dawayne Ryan into custody on a charge of disorderly conduct. The incident occurred about 3 p.m. Sunday.

Officers said Ryan at first was approaching tourists and making inappropriate comments to women in an effort to get their male partners to confront him. An officer in the area was observing this behavior.

Court records show that Ryan was found guilty, fined $118, and ordered to stay away from the park before he was released.

question: Where does the incident take place?

answer: At a playground in Clearwater Beach, Florida.

question: When does the incident take place?

answer: About 3 PM on a Sunday.

question: Who did the police take into custody?

answer: Otis Dawayne Ryan, 30 years old.

question: What did Otis do?

answer: He was screaming at children about where babies come from, making inappropriate comments to women to agitate their male partners, and approaching tourists.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: At around 3 PM on Sunday, police arrest 30-year-old Otis Dawayne Ryan at a playground in Clearwater Beach, Florida, for screaming at nearby children about where babies come from. He was also nabbed for making inappropriate comments to women to agitate their male partners, and approaching tourists. The court found Ryan guilty, fined him $118, and ordered him to stay away from the park upon his release.


text:
ROYSTON CHARLES LUNN[1] (June 26, 1925 – August 5, 2017) was an engineer in the automotive industry. He had forty-one years in the design development and production of vehicles and most notably served as the head of engineering at American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1971 to 1987. Lunn is credited as being the “father of the modern SUV” and “the godfather of the Ford GT40.”[2][3]

Early life

Roy Lunn was educated in England with degrees in mechanical and aeronautical engineering. Lunn was in the Royal Air Force for two years as a pilot. Trained as a jig and a toolmaker and designer, he entered the auto industry in 1946 when AC Cars hired Lunn as a designer. After one year, he moved to Aston Martin as the assistant chief designer and was responsible for the DB2 program. He joined Jowett in 1949 as chief designer and was involved in a variety of projects, including the first plastic-bodied car. Lunn also participated in automobile races. He was the co-driver with Marcel Becquart, winning the 1952 RAC International Rally.

Ford Motor Company

In 1953, Lunn joined Ford Motor Company in England and was assigned the task of starting a new Research Center in Birmingham. This center made the first prototype of what became the 105-E Anglia. Lunn transferred to Ford plant in Dagenham as the car's product planning manager to follow the 105-E into mass production.

He emigrated to the United States in 1958 and became manager of the Ford Advanced Vehicle center. He participated in the development of a gross vehicle weight rating highway truck, as well as the Cardinal, Ford's first front-wheel drive automobile that became the 15-M Taunus.

In 1962, Lunn became a U.S. citizen. In 1962, Lunn and his team of engineers developed a two-seat Ford Mustang I prototype in just 100 days.[4] He was also put on a special assignment to design and develop a GT racing car along with Ray Geddes and Donald N. Frey.[5] Ford's CEO, Henry Ford II, conceived this racing program after his attempt to purchase Ferrari collapsed. In 1963, under the direction of Lunn, work began on an all-new racecar, loosely based on the Lola GT.[6] In April 1964, the Ford GT40 was presented to the press for the first time.

As the pony car wars continued, “Bunkie” Knudsen ordered Ford's large Cobra Jet V8 into the 1969 Ford Mustang's engine bay. Lunn was charged to build the “ultimate Mustang” and worked with Kar Kraft, the Brighton, Michigan, specialty shop that built many of Ford's racing cars at the time, to produce the Boss 429.[7]

American Motors

Lunn joined American Motors in 1971 as the director of engineering for Jeep, which had recently been purchased by AMC from Kaiser. Lunn quickly advanced at AMC to the position of Vice President of Engineering. His notable accomplishments include the AMC Eagle, the compact Jeep Cherokee (XJ), which was the first of the modern range of SUV vehicles, as well as the development of the AMC Straight-4 engine[8] and the Jeep 4.0-liter engine that were based on the “modern era” AMC Straight-6 engine.

As Jeep's chief engineer, Lunn orchestrated 4WD's next leap ahead when he joined the AMC Concord body with a reconstituted Jeep driveline. According to former AMC chairman, Gerald C. Meyers, “our initial reaction to Lunn's concoction was, 'What the hell is it?' The body was raised an extra four inches for transfer-case clearance and the wheel wells were wide open.”[9] This became the AMC Eagle, an integration and application of AMC and Jeep engineering technologies, which was America's first four-wheel drive car.[10]

Lunn was also active in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) becoming their technical committee chairman in 1983. He was elected a Fellow of the Society in 1985.

He completed his career at American Motors by forming and becoming President of Renault Jeep Sport to centralize all AMC and Renault racing activities in the U.S.

Lunn also designed and put into production a low-cost racing car for the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), of which more than 864 SPORTS RENAULT purpose-built race cars (later: Spec Racer Ford) have been built.

Lunn developed a groundbreaking design for a compact-sized SUV. It featured a steel ladder frame welded to a unitized body and included a four-door version. Because AMC lacked the resources to conduct the lengthy durability tests before the late 1983 introduction of the Cherokee XJ, Lunn headed the first American entry to drive the Paris-Dakar rally.[11] The objective of his team was “not to compete but simply to run the brutal desert course” with two new Cherokees and monitor how they would survive the punishing 6,200-mile race course.[12] Lunn's design “became the template for the modern SUV and continues to be copied by virtually all major global automakers.”[13]

He retired in 1985 and was immediately called back to become vice president of engineering for the AM General division of AMC. The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle military Jeep (Hummer) was going into production and Lunn was charged with overseeing the corrective actions to achieve acceptance by the U.S. Army.

Retirement

Lunn retired to his home in Florida in 1987 where he continued to work various projects. He relocated to Santa Barbara, California, in 2015 and served as a mentor to students in the mechanical engineering program at the University of California, Santa Barbara.[14] Lunn suffered a stroke in late July and died of its complications on August 5, 2017.[15]

Notes

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/automobiles/roy-lunn-innovative-engineer-of-celebrated-cars-dies-at-92.html

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

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title: Roy Lunn

question: Describe some interesting facts about Royston Charles Lunn.

answer: Royston Charles Lunn is credited as being the father of the modern SUV and the godfather of the Ford GT40. He also participated in automobile races. In 1958, Lunn emigrated to the United States and became the manager of the Ford Advanced Vehicle Center. Lunn had a long career in the automobile industry.

question: What would have happened if Lunn's groundbreaking design for a compact-sized SUV was stolen?


text:
Jianzhou Jurchens (tribal principalities) |p2 = Ming dynasty |p3 = Northern Yuan dynasty{{!}}Northern Yuan |flag_p1 = |s1 = Qing dynasty |flag_s1 = |image_flag = |flag = |flag_type = |image_coat = |symbol = |symbol_type = |image_map = 明末清兴.jpg |image_map_caption = Later Jin (后金) c. 1626 shown in light green |image_map2 = |image_map2_caption = |national_anthem = |capital = |common_languages = Jurchen (renamed Manchu after 1635), Mongolian, Chinese[1] |government_type = Absolute monarchy |leader1 = Nurhaci |year_leader1 = 1616–1626 |leader2 = Hong Taiji |title_leader = Khan |year_leader2 = 1626–1636 |currency = Chinese coin,
Chinese cash |today = China
Mongolia
Russia
North Korea }} The LATER JIN (1616–1636) was a dynastic khanate in Manchuria ruled by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro leaders Nurhaci and Hong Taiji. Established in 1616 by the Jianzhou Jurchen chieftain Nurhaci upon his reunification of the Jurchen tribes, its name was derived from the former Jurchen-led Jin dynasty which had ruled northern China in the 12th and 13th centuries before falling to the Mongol Empire (China's Yuan dynasty). In 1635, the lingering Northern Yuan under Ejei Khan formally submitted to the Later Jin. The following year, Hong Taiji officially renamed the realm to “Great Qing”, thus marking the start of the Qing dynasty. The Qing subsequently overran Li Zicheng's Shun dynasty and various Southern Ming claimants and loyalists, going on to rule an empire comprising China proper, Tibet, Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Taiwan until the 1911 Xinhai Revolution established the Republic of China.

Name

Historians debate whether the official Chinese name of the state was “Jin” (, _Jīn_), “Later Jin” _Hòu Jīn_), or both. Either describes it as a continuation or successor to the Jurchen Jin state established by the Wanyan clan in 1115. The Manchu form of the name was ᠠᡳᠰᡳᠨ ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ (_Aisin Gurun_),[2] meaning simply “Golden State”.

History

Rise of Jianzhou Jurchens

The Jurchen people had traditionally lived in Manchuria and were then divided into three tribes, the most powerful of which during the Ming dynasty was called Jianzhou Jurchens, living around the Changbai Mountains. In order to attack and suppress the Northern Yuan dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor sent military commissions to gain control of the Jurchen tribes in Manchuria. The Ming government divided the Jianzhou Jurchens into three _wei_ (a military subdivision during the Ming dynasty), collectively known as the “Three Wei of Jianzhou”. The leaders of the Jurchen tribes were usually chosen as commanders of the _wei_.

The northern tribe Wild Jurchens were strong at that time, and attacked the Jianzhou Jurchens. Mengtemu, commander of the _Jianzhou Wei_, was killed. The Jianzhou Jurchens were forced to move southwards, and finally settled at Hetu Ala.

Establishment of the Khanate

Nurhaci, a Jurchen khan, promoted the unification of the Jurchens living in Manchuria at the beginning of the 17th century. He organized “Banners”, military-social units that included Jurchen, Han Chinese, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci formed the Jurchen clans into a unified entity (which was renamed “Manchu” in 1635 by Hong Taiji), completing the establishment of the new state in 1616. This marks the start of the Later Jin dynasty.

Expansion

Nurhaci, originally a Ming vassal, took a hostile attitude towards the Ming for favoritism and meddling in the affairs of the Jurchen tribes. In 1618, he proclaimed his Seven Grievances (_nadan amba koro_; 七大恨) which effectively declared war on the Ming dynasty. He occupied Fushun, Qinghe (清河) and other cities before retreating. The death of the Ming Vice-General Zhang Chengyin (張承蔭) during the Battle of Fushun stunned the Ming court. In 1619, he attacked the Yehe (葉赫) in an attempt to provoke the Ming. The Ming responded by dispatching expeditionary forces led by Military Commissioner Yang Hao along four routes to besiege Hetu Ala. In a series of winter battles known collectively as the Battle of Sarhū Nurhaci broke three of the four Chinese Ming armies, forcing the survivors and the fourth to retreat in disorder. This caused the power sphere of the Later Jin to extend over the entire eastern part of Liaoyang.

Relocating his court from Jianzhou to Liaodong provided Nurhaci access to more resources; it also brought him in close contact with the Khorchin Mongol domains on the plains of Mongolia. Although by this time the once-united Mongol nation had long since fragmented into individual and hostile tribes, these tribes still presented a serious security threat to the Ming borders. Nurhaci's policy towards the Khorchins was to seek their friendship and cooperation against the Ming, securing his western border from a powerful potential enemy.[3]

The unbroken series of military successes by Nurhaci came to an end in January 1626 when he was defeated by Yuan Chonghuan while laying siege to Ningyuan. He died a few months later and was succeeded by his eighth son, Hong Taiji, who emerged after a short political struggle amongst other potential contenders as the new khan.

Although Hong Taiji was an experienced leader and the commander of two Banners at the time of his succession, his reign did not start well on the military front. The Jurchens suffered yet another defeat in 1627 at the hands of Yuan Chonghuan. As before, this defeat was, in part, due to the Ming's newly acquired Portuguese cannons.

To redress his technological and numerical disparity, Hong Taiji in 1634 created his own artillery corps, the _ujen cooha_ (Chinese: 重軍) from among his existing Han troops who cast their own cannons in the European design with the help of defector Chinese metallurgists. One of the defining events of Hong Taiji's reign was the official adoption of the name “Manchu” for the united Jurchen people in November 1635. In 1635, the Manchus' Mongol allies were fully incorporated into a separate Banner hierarchy under direct Manchu command. Hong Taiji conquered the territory north of Shanhai Pass by Ming Dynasty and Ligdan Khan in Inner Mongolia. In April 1636, Mongol nobility of Inner Mongolia, Manchu nobility and the Han mandarin held the Kurultai in Shenyang, recommended the khan of Later Jin to be the emperor of the Great Qing empire. One of the Yuan dynasty's jade seals was also dedicated to the emperor (Bogd Sécén Khaan) by nobility. When he was said to be presented with the imperial seal of the Yuan dynasty by Ejei Khan, Hong Taiji renamed his state from “Jin” to “Great Qing” and elevated his position from Khan to Emperor, suggesting imperial ambitions beyond unifying the Manchu tribes, and marking the formal end of the Later Jin period.

Aftermath

This was followed by the creation of the first two Han Banners in 1637 (increasing to eight in 1642). Together these military reforms enabled Hong Taiji to resoundingly defeat Ming forces in a series of battles from 1640 to 1642 for the territories of Songshan and Jinzhou. This final victory resulted in the surrender of many of the Ming dynasty's most battle-hardened troops, the death of Yuan Chonghuan at the hands of the Chongzhen Emperor (who thought Yuan had betrayed him), and the complete and permanent withdrawal of the remaining Ming forces north of the Great Wall.

Hong Taiji died suddenly in September 1643 without a designated heir. His five-year-old son, Fulin, was installed as the Shunzhi Emperor, with Hong Taiji's half brother Dorgon as regent and de facto leader of the Qing dynasty.

In 1644, Shun forces led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital, Beijing. Rather than serve them, Ming general Wu Sangui made an alliance with the Manchus and opened the Shanhai Pass to the Banner armies led by Dorgon, who defeated the rebels and seized the capital. Remnants of the Ming imperial house remained in control of southern China as the Southern Ming dynasty.

Gallery

File:Minggunbattle.jpg%7CLater Jin cavalry charging Ming infantry in the Battle of Sarhū. File:清 佚名 《清太祖天命皇帝朝服像》.jpg|Official portrait of Nurhaci, the founder of the Later Jin dynasty. File:清 佚名 《清太宗崇德皇帝朝服像》.jpg|Official portrait of Hong Taiji, the second khan of the Later Jin dynasty and subsequently the founder of the Qing dynasty. File:Dorgon, the Prince Rui (17th century).jpg|Dorgon, the Prince Rui.

[1]

[2] _Manju i Yargiyan Kooli_ (滿洲實錄). Zhonghua Book Company, p. 283.

[3] Bernard Hung-Kay Luk, Amir Harrak-Contacts between cultures, Volume 4, p.25

title: Later Jin (1616–1636)

question: What is Later Jin?

answer: The Later Jin was a dynastic khanate in Manchuria ruled by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro leaders Nurhaci and Hong Taiji.

question: When did the Later Jin start?

answer: 1616

question: When did the Later Jin end?

answer: 1636

question: What is a khanate?

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The Later Jin was a dynastic khanate in Manchuria ruled by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro leaders Nurhaci and Hong Taiji. Later Jin was established in 1616 by the Jianzhou Jurchen chieftain Nurhaci upon his reunification of the Jurchen tribes.


text:
BURBANK CITY HALL is the site of the municipal government of Burbank, California, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]

Designed by architects William Allen and W. George Lutzi in the Moderne or Art Deco style, ground was broken in February 1941 and construction was completed in 1943.[2] The structure was partially funded by the Federal Works Agency, Works Progress Administration (WPA). It was completed at a total cost of $409,000.

Burbank City Councilman Ted McConkey told the Los Angeles _Daily News_ in 1996: “Anyone walking into City Hall would recognize that it's something unique. It's special because of the period in which it was built, because of the way it's been maintained and because of all the murals at City Hall. We get an inordinate number of requests to use City Hall from film companies.”[3] When it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996, it became the second listed building in Burbank — the first being Burbank's main post office.

The structure's 77-foot tower serves as the main lobby and features art deco detailing and more than 20 types of marble, which can be found in the city seal on the floor, the trim, walls and in the treads and risers of the grand stairway.[4] Its artistic features include several works: cast medallions, one bas-relief sculpture by Bartolo Mako titled 'A Tribute to Craftsmen" along Third Street, two bas-relief sculpture panels on the front facade of an unknown artist and a framed painting titled "Justice, also by Mako, for hanging in the City Attorney's office.

Burbank City Hall's most notable artistic features are the large murals painted by muralist Hugo Ballin. Ballin also painted the murals at the Griffith Observatory and Wilshire Boulevard Temple. There are two major Ballin murals at the Burbank City Hall: “The Four Freedoms” in the Council Chamber and “Burbank Industry” in the rotunda. In 2001, the building underwent a renovation project that included restoration of the Ballin murals.

The Council Chamber located on the second floor is noted for its teakwood-panelled walls and Ballin's “Four Freedoms” mural. The mural was inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 “Four Freedoms” speech and is considered one of Ballin's finest works. The chamber has built-in rails and tables. In 1978, the original carved wooden pews were replaced by padded theater-style seating, and the checkered floor was carpeted. During the 2001 renovation, the ceiling was returned to its original height revealing the top of the Four Freedoms mural that had been obscured for decades.

The “Burbank Industry” in the rotunda features Burbank-built airplanes, the motion picture industry, agriculture, and a power plant. In 1964, the bottom portion of the Burbank Industry mural was removed to make room for a bridge to an adjacent municipal building. After being stored for 37 years rolled in a plastic sheet at various times under a street bridge at the city's yards, in a bedroom on Amherst Drive, and at the Burbank Historical Society's Gordon Howard Museum, the 1964 building (and the bridge to it) were demolished and the lower section returned to its place and reattached by art conservators. The unveiling ceremony for all the restored art took place on September 10, 2001.

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[2]

[3]

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title: Burbank City Hall

question: What kinds of improvements that can be done to the Burbank City Hall?

answer: Since the building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the city hall's murals, façade, and general architectural design must be kept intact. The furnishings do not seem to be bound by these rules, as carpeting and similar features have been changed and upgraded over the years. Not mentioned in the article are features that are expected of government offices; which are the infrastructure for work (networks, storage, office spaces), living (electrical, kitchen, plumbing, etc), and security (locks, gates, surveillance, etc). These unmentioned features are likely to be changed and upgraded while trying to preserve as much of the structure's historical features.


text:
The 1992–93 AUBURN TIGERS MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM represented Auburn University in the 1992–93 college basketball season. The team's head coach was Tommy Joe Eagles, who was in his fourth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at Joel H. Eaves Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 15–12, 8–8 in SEC play. They lost to Tennessee in the first round of the SEC Tournament. They received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament, where they lost to Clemson in the first round.[1]

[1]

title: 1992–93 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

question: Who was the team's head coach?

answer: Tommy Joe Eagles.

question: Which university did they represent?

answer: Auburn University.

question: To whom did they lose in the first round of the SEC tournament?

answer: Tennessee.

question: Which season did this take place?

answer: 1992-1993

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The 1992–93 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University in the 1992–93 college basketball season. The team's head coach was Tommy Joe Eagles. They lost to Tennessee in the first round of the SEC Tournament. They received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament, where they lost to Clemson in the first round.


text:
       It wasn’t the way he moved his wrists. No, that was always elegantly
trashy and it turned me on. It also wasn’t the way he would never take off
his long, black socks; he was afraid that his feet smelled. I found all of his
irritating habits to be endearing after I have my coffee. It couldn’t have
 been the way he danced in his dog-bitten-hole-in-front-of-his-dick-pouch
underwear in the morning to Bowie, singing into my blue toothbrush.

	    Maybe it was the way he would make love to me. Pushing
himself against me and pounding away like a jackhammer, rolling
over and falling asleep. I would run my aching hands between his
soft chest hair and wonder what stars taste like in my mouth. I loved all of it.

	    I remember the hours lost underneath the sheets, sunlight
dancing between our pirouetted fingers. The texture of his redone
tattoos against my exploring hands. Our tiny nightstand we stole
 from a dumpster at 3am. He sanded it down with utmost precision
and detail and I wildly sprayed it black and the drawer red (now the
red will have flecked off). Or the smell of coffee I had every morning
to wake up to. So strong.

	I know what it is. The moment that shattered us. That scattered
our lengthy dreams and quiet hopes. I came home and shook off the
 rain from my black umbrella. I shucked off my shoes and ran to get
out of my dripping clothes. I noticed it. No, it wasn’t his cock in someone
else’s body. It wasn’t even another lover. It was just his green, matted,
wet towel lying on top of our bed.

title: It was.

question: What is the problem the narrator is describing?

answer: They are describing their relationship with a man, and what shattered that relationship.

question: What is the "moment that shattered" them?

answer: Him leaving a matted, wet towel on their bed.

question: What is the narrator's relationship with the other person?

answer: They are lovers.

question: What does the narrator like about the other person?

answer: They like all of his quirks: the way he moved his wrists, that he never removed his sock, and the way he danced while singing into her toothbrush.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator describes what caused her relationship with a man to shatter. The narrator likes all of his quirks: the way he moved his wrists, that he never removed his sock, and the way he danced while singing into her toothbrush. It appears they have a satisfying sex life, and they have fun together. The thing that shattered them was one day when the narrator went home and noticed his green, matted, wet towel lying on top of the bed.


text:
RICARDO MAGNUS OSÓRIO GALVÃO (born 21 December 1947) is a prominent Brazilian physicist and engineer, formerly the Director-General of the National Institute for Space Research.[1][2][3] He is a full Professor of the Institute of Physics of the University of São Paulo, member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences,[4] fellow of the Institute of Physics and councilman of the European Physical Society.[5] Galvão has occupied major positions within the Brazilian Physics community such as the presidency of the Brazilian Physical Society (2013–2016) and the directorship of the Brazilian Center for Research in Physics (2004–2011).[6][7]

Galvão's research is primarily devoted to plasma physics and thermonuclear magnetic fusion. He served as a board member for Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion (1995–2005) and headed the Plasma Physics Laboratory of the University of São Paulo (2000–2016), where he oversaw the operation of the TCABR tokamak.[8]

In August 2019, he was removed from his position as Director-General of the National Institute for Space Research, after a public disagreement with President Jair Bolsonaro over scientific data that showed a significant increase in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest since the latter took office.[9]

Biography

Ricardo Galvão has received the titles of telecommunications engineer (Fluminense Federal University, 1969), master of sciences (University of Campinas, 1972) and PhD (MIT, 1976). He has been an assistant professor at University of Campinas from 1971 to 1982, adjoint professor at the University of São Paulo from 1983 to 1991, and a full professor from 1991 on at the University of São Paulo. Also, he has been a researcher at Centro Técnico Aeroespacial from 1982 to 1986.[10][11]

Professor Galvão has received the following prizes:

-   1984: International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, for his theoretical contributions in MHD equilibrium and stability, resistive modes and laser-matter interaction[12]
-   2008: Commander of the National Order of Scientific Merit
-   2015: Carneiro Felipe Medal

Friction with Jair Bolsonaro

On Friday, 19 July 2019, the president Jair Bolsonaro publicly Criticized Ricardo Galvão during a news conference with the international press, accusing him of giving lying data about Amazon deforestation and being in the service of some NGO: “The issue of Inpe, I have the conviction that the data are liers. I even sent to see who is the guy who is in front of Inpe. He will have to come explain here in Brasília this data there that passed to the press worldwide , which our feeling does not match the truth. It even seems that he is at the service of some NGO, which is very common.”[13][14][15]

On Saturday, Galvão countered the criticism made by the president:[16][17][18][19]

On the same day, the board of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science defended Galvão in a manifesto that classified Bolsonaro's attacks as offensive, ideological and without foundation.[20][21][22] On Sunday, the Brazilian Physics Society issued a note also supporting Galvão and deploring the attacks made by the president.[23] Still on the 21st, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences[24] and its president, Luiz Davidovich,[25] also expressed support for Galvão, as did former Minister of Science and Technology José Israel Vargas.[26] On 22 July, Galvão received expressions of support from the 56 scientists who make up the Science and Society Coalition,[27][28][29] of Science and Technology Forum Entities[30] and physicist Luiz Pinguelli Rosa.[31] Galvão reaffirmed his previous statements and although he would not respond to the note of minister Marcos Pontes for not knowing its content and would meet with the minister before replying. He further stated that he had already contacted the minister.[32] On 7 August 2019, Ricardo Galvão's dismissal was published.[33]

Douglas Morton, director of the Biosphere Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Space Flight Center, said INPE's results were “unquestionable,” explained that INPE had always worked in a technical and judicious manner and classified Galvão's dismissal as significantly alarming and reflected as "current government treats science.[34][35]

The official deforestation data issued by the Real-Time Deforestation Detection System (DETER) confirmed INPE's accuracy.[36]

Selected papers

-   Galvão, R.M.O.; Cenacchi, G. e Taroni, A. Numerical Computation of Axysymmetric MHD Equilibria without Conducting Shell. _Nuclar Fusion_, vol. 16, p. 457 – 457, 1976.
-   Coppi, B. ; Galvao, R.M.O.; Pellat, R.; Rosenbluth, M. N.; RUTHERFORD, P. H.. Resistive Internal Kink Modes. _Sovietic Journal of Plasma Physics_, v. 2, p. 533, 1976
-   Galvao, R.M.O. ; Sakanaka, P. H.; Shigueoka, H.. Influence of Toroidal Effects on the Stability of the Internal Kink Mode. _Physical Review Letters_, v. 41, p. 870–873, 1978.
-   Elfimov, A. G.; Galvao, R.M.O.; Amarante-Segundo, G.; Nascimento I. C.. Ion Larmour Radius Effect on rf Ponderomotive Forces and Induced Poloidal Flow in Tokamak Plasmas. _Physical Review Letters_, v. 84, n.6, p. 1200–1203, 2000.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9] Brazil deforestation row: Space research head Galvão out, BBC News, 2 August 2019

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

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[19]

[20]

[21]

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[23]

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[27]

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[29]

[30]

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[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

title: Ricardo Galvão

question: When was Ricardo Magnus Osorio Galvao born?

answer: 21 December 1947.

question: What does Galvao do?

answer: He is a physicist and engineer.

question: What nationality is Galvao?

answer: Brazilian.

question: What institute was Galvao formerly the director of?

answer: The National Institute of Space Research.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Ricardo Galvão, a famous Brazilian physicist and engineer.


text:
The couple at the table next to us told us how they liked to experience local life when they travelled. The man pointed to a bottle of wine which lounged casually in an ice bucket and said _“like trying the local wine.”_

It was a bottle of Ribera del Duero. Spanish but definitely not local. There’s a massive difference.

A while back someone on Tripadvisor asked for wine recommendations on Tenerife. In six pages of replies not one person suggested a Tenerife wine.

Millions of people might visit the island each year but for many, what is actually ‘local’ can remain a bit hazy.

For anyone who wants to really go local on Tenerife when it comes to alcohol, here are six suggestions which are, relatively, easy to find.

RON MIEL

[Flavoured rum, Tenerife]
Let’s start with the one most people are likely to have tried if they’ve ever eaten in a Canarian restaurant, _ron miel_ (honey rum). Best served as chilled as ice, this is often plonked in front of you with the bill. It’s sweet and easy to drink, unlike the often throat-stripping grappa you get in some other European destinations. It’s a nice touch at the end of a meal and its pleasantly refreshing taste prompts some people to buy a bottle to take home… to store unopened in a cupboard until it’s long past its ‘drink by’ date. To me it’s quite nice as a one-off but I’d never drink it at home.

RUM CHUPITO

[Ron Guajira, Tenerife]
A _chupito_ (shot) of local rum (gold, not white) is often our preferred way to end an evening out; a friend in La Gomera got us into the habit of a _chupito_ for the road. Canary Island rums are pretty decent and there are rum factories on Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Palma. At carnival time, huge displays of bottles of Canarian rum spring up in the island’s main supermarkets. Guajira is the Tenerife brand; however our preferred _ron dorado_ is La Palma’s Aldea rum.

MOJITO

[Mojito, Tenerife]
Thanks to the Canary Islands’ links with South America and Cuba especially, mojito is the island’s favourite cocktail. The zingy mix of rum, soda water, lime juice sugar and mint is perfect for a sultry subtropical climate. This is the cocktail you’re most likely to see scrawled on blackboards outside of bars. In some of the liveliest local bars there’s a factory like production line of bar staff making mojito after mojito for thirsty customers.

TENERIFE WINES

[Balcon Canario, Tenerife wine]
Forget Ribera de Duero and Rioja, if you’re a wine drinker get that nose right into a glass of the local vino. It took us a few years to learn to really appreciate it but now we’d choose Canarian over mainland Spanish wines every time. We’re mostly red drinkers so can’t really comment on the whites, but there’s often a far more interesting mix of flavours in good Canarian reds compared to those from the mainland. We’re clearly not alone in thinking this as Canarian wines regularly win top awards in international wine competitions. Generally speaking, for white wines pick one from a bodega in the south of the island and one from the north for reds, but that’s not always a given. Personal preferences change every so often, but there are usually bottles from Candido Hernandez Pio, Monje, El Lomo and Viña Norte bodegas in our rack.

CRAFT BEER

[Craft beer, Tenerife]
The best known local cerveza is Dorada, a light lager which slips down the throat very easily on a hot, sunny day. In truth it’s a fizzy lightweight in the world of beer. For a Tenerife beer with a stronger personality seek out one of the island’s artisan beers. In the last few years some craft micro-breweries have sprung up on the island. However, you still have to seek out a bottle from any of them. Look for labels like Tierra de Perros, Chutney’s Willie Sutton or Tacoa’s El Teide which has a slight hint of tajinaste honey.

BARRAQUITO

[Barraquito, Tenerife]
And finally a coffee with a kick, the _barraquito_ – a Tenerife drink whose stunning looks has people at the next table saying to the waiter _“I’ll have one of those”_ and whose flavour backs up its striking appearance. Said to originate in a bar in Santa Cruz, a _barraquito_ is a layered mix of milk, condensed milk, coffee, cinnamon, lemon peel and licor 43. Ordering a _barraquito_ isn’t always a straightforward affair. In some places the mix is called a _‘zaperoco’_. I’ve had instances where I’ve ordered a _barraquito_ to be told I mean a _zaperoco_. And at other times when I’ve ordered a _zaperoco_ the waiter’s replied _“you mean a barraquito.”_ To be sure you get that essential shot of licor 43 (it makes all the difference) it’s worth ordering a _‘barraquito completo’_ or _‘barraquito con todo’._

Although these are six popular local drinks there are a few more, some of which are quite obscure. But most visitors won’t come into contact with them so there’s not much point in listing them. Plus, for one reason or another, we like to hold a few things back.

  Jack is co-editor, writer and photographer for BuzzTrips and the Real Tenerife series of travel websites as well as a contributor to online travel sites and travel magazines. Follow Jack on Google+

question: What does the narrator enjoy, as stated in the text?

answer: The narrator enjoys wine. The narrator seems to have a lot of knowledge about wine and local alcohol in Tenerife. The narrator offers up their education about Ron Miel, Rum Chupito, Mojito, Tenerife Wines, Craft Beer, and Barraquito.

question: Would the local alcohol suggestions be useful to someone who was on vacation?


text:
We were far off the path of our walk home when we reached the construction site. The two Sophomores led the way, finally stopping at a chain linked fence.
	“Alright,” the taller one said. “Its just through here.” He pointed to a gap in the fence were the wire was torn away. It was a pretty sizable hole to fit through, which reinforced the idea that I shouldn’t be doing this.
	“Before we go, can you first tell us what you want to show us” stated my friend, who was beginning to sound agitated.
	“I already told you guys that we literally cannot tell you. We can’t. Why don’t you have a little patience?”
	“Well, being completely honest, this sounds extremely suspicious and we really don’t know you guys that well.”
	The second sophomore sighed. “It’s broad day light and were in the middle of the fucking city, what are we gonna do?” He did have a point.
	There was silence for a moment, then my friend said “Fine, but this better be worth it” and climbed through. I followed, going head first and scratching my leg on one of the loose wires. I stood up and was now in the middle of an empty construction site. I looked back to find the two sophomores climbing through the whole. They proceeded to stand up, dust off their pants, and start jogging towards a pile of bricks and dirt nearby. They reached it in seconds, looked down behind it, then called back to us. “Its still here, come on”. We walked over to finally see this ‘thing’ we had walked all this way for, and well...
	Now, I can’t really describe it, except for the fact that it was...well not really glowing but more of emitting light. Oh, and it was pretty small two. It was just...kinda there in the middle of the dirt behind the pile of rubble. I stared at it for a while, but my brain was coming up short. The image wasn’t really going through, but I wasn’t getting a head ache or anything. It felt like free fall in my thoughts, or more of just empty space in my mind. Finally, I turned to the Sophomore and asked the most basic question.
	“Well, what is it”.
	“Can you tell me what it is?”
	“Not really”
	“And I can’t tell you”
	So we sat there and stared at it. I was mesmerized by it, and my brain had given up trying to make any sense of what it was seeing. After a couple minutes of staring, I asked if anyone else knew about this. “Yeah” he said. “Why do you think no one else is here. They shut it down when they found out about it.”
	“And no ones doing anything about it?”
	“I bet their sending someone out soon to check it out.”
	We left five minutes later, and to this day and still don’t know exactly what I was looking at, but I found it easiest to just except the fact that I didn’t understand it, and honestly I probably never will.

title: I don't have a name for this

question: Who are the main characters of the story?

answer: The narrator, his friend, and the two sophomores.

question: Where does the story take place?

answer: At an abandoned construction site.

question: What are they doing?

answer: The sophomores tell them about a mysterious object emitting light and they are checking it out.

question: What is the object?

answer: They don't know what they're looking at and no one knows what the object is.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator and his friend follow two sophomores to an abandoned construction site. The sophomores want to show them something, but the narrator is reluctant because no one can tell him what it is. They sneak into the site through a hole in the fence anyway, and the sophomores jog to a nearby pile of rocks and dirt. The narrator and his friend follow and see the object below them in the middle of a pile of rubble. The object isn't that big and seems to be emitting light. The narrator can't find a name for it and his brain has given up trying to make sense of what he's seeing.


text:
Rastus, the stand-up comic, grabbed the mike and began his routine:

“Yowie, Yowie, Yowie—fun night—Friday night. How are we—fun people?” He stretched the word “night” out and put a mad, contorted look on his face.

A few women laughed. What most of the audience didn't know was that Rastus was not funny at all; he was, like all the comics or professional funny people I’d met to date, a very serious and rote minded character.

He routinely stole jokes and one liners at every opportunity. For instance he would sit or stand around BBQ’s asking people if they knew any good jokes. If one came up, he would never laugh, never.

But he would say,”Hey, that is funny!”

In the same way another person might admire a piece of art.

Most people when they hear a funny or humorous line take their joy in the act of laughing or being amused, not a comedian, they only analyze it and put it in their bag of tricks, a collector of what makes people laugh without real enjoyment in the simple act of laughter and humor itself.

Rastus’s real name was Vinnie Vincenszo, now that is a perfect name for a funny guy—Vinnie Vincenszo, not Rastus, which is a contrived silly name of someone, quite obviously trying to be funny.

We had this conversation many times, I would say,

“Vinnie drop the Rastus, thing man, it’s not funny”

“I am Rastus, he is funny, you ask anyone, Rastus is the Funster, Vinnie is not funny—I don’t want to have this conversation again— O.K.!”

Vinnie had just finished half his gig and I had called around to see him perform. I don’t know why really, he was the most boring, repetitive comic. It did annoy me that other people would be amused by his antics.

A tipsy woman came passed us and noticed Vinnie, she said. ” My God, Rastus, you are the funniest guy ever, hilarious!”

Vinnie smiled and said. ” Yowie, Yowie, Yowie—thank you!”
She walked away giggling.

“You see that, you see that—that’s what Rastus does! Learn from the master if you ever want to get a laugh.” Vinnie bragged.

“Are You kidding, that woman would not know funny, you think that Yowie, Yowie crap, is funny, that is not funny, man, get rid of it, show some class, funny; that’s not funny Vinnie!” I said getting quite annoyed.

“You know what, it’s you who doesn't know funny, you know that. These people love me, they know funny— funny is Rastus!” Vinnie was raising his voice now.

He continued, “why do you come here every night, it’s always the same, you come to criticize me, I’m going to ban you, if you keep it up. You know your problem, you’re a comedian wannabe, that’s it, isn't it. You can’t stand the fact that people get a real lift out of my stuff—because you my friend would like to be funny like me, but can’t because you got no sense of humor, you’re an unfunny guy, that’s your problem.”

Vinnie actually had a grin on his face, he was enjoying himself now, he felt the flow, the roll of it. I on the other hand was really annoyed; perhaps there was some truth in what he said, maybe there was a component of the comic wannabe that kept me coming back.

He let out one final jab, “I’m going to ban you—unfunny guy.” He was laughing now and headed back to the floor.

Grabbing the mike he made a sort of “stewwwww,” sound, followed by a longer “naaaagggooa,” almost spitting into the mike. People actually sniggered in their beer over this puerile sound-blast.

“You know what peeps, I have a friend, I call him the unfunny guy. He’s the opposite of funny. I betcha when he was born he came out with a sour look on his face. Thing is he wants to be funny; he’s the sort of guy that does a course in How to be the *Funny Guy at Parties.* Anyway I’m going to ban him from my show. You hear that—Mr. Unfunny guy.”

The audience picked up on Vinnie’s enthusiasm, they were with him, he was carrying their expectancy and his delivery had a confident punch to it.

He was looking straight at me; it was time for me to leave. People laughed at my departure, it was a good joke at my expense. My point had been proven, Vinnie could only be funny with my help, I’d be back, he needed me.

title: Funny Guy (feed back, improvements?)

question: What is Rastus' real name?

answer: Rastus' real name is Vinnie Vincenszo.

question: Who does Rastus make jokes about?

answer: Rastus makes jokes about the narrator.

question: Does the narrator think Rastus is funny?

answer: No, the narrator does not think Rastus is funny.

question: Who gets banned?

answer: The narrator gets banned.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator is arguing with Rastus, a comedian. The narrator claims Rastus is not funny, and Rastus makes jokes at his expense.


text:
*Click click*

You hold your head up with your arm, eyes slowly closing.  You shake yourself awake.  10:16 AM.  The pen in your hand twirls around your fingers.  You glance out the window for the fourth time.  The tree was still there, its branches swaying lightly in the wind.  Leaves danced and twirled as a small draft of wind passed through.

*Click click*

The wind blew hard, for once, and the trees moved with it.  The grass becoming an ocean of green waves.  You listened closely and heard the wind blowing against the force of nature.

*Shhhhhhhhhhhhh*

You look through another set of windows a little further down.  Everything was the way it was before.  The grass was still a calming green, the sky a cloudless sea of blue.

*Click click*

A man walked up to a set of bushes with a hose; at last, something new.  He took aim and began to water the bushes.  You listened closely and heard the water spraying out of the hose.

***Shhhhhhhhhhhhh***

You look back out the first window.  Nothing had changed.

*Click click*

The trees were still swaying gently and the birds were still singing their songs.

**SLAM**

You jump from the sound.  A hand had been slammed onto your desk.

**"Be quiet and do your readings!"**

The teacher takes your pen away and walks back to their desk.  10:21 AM.

It’s going to be a long day…

title: Tick, tock

question: What is this story about?

answer: A student looking out the window during class.

question: What does "*click click*" signify in the story?

answer: The narrator clicking their pen.

question: What does "***Shhhhhhhhhhh***" signify in the story?

answer: The teacher shushing the narrator?

question: What happens at the end of the story?

answer: The teacher reprimands the narrator for clicking the pen and removes it from their hand.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This story is about a student looking out a window at a beautiful landscape, clicking their pen, until their teacher confiscates it from them and demands they pay attention.


text:
The ARMÉE DES ÉMIGRÉS (English: _Army of the Émigrés_) were counter-revolutionary armies raised outside France by and out of royalist émigrés, with the aim of overthrowing the French Revolution, reconquering France and restoring the monarchy. These were aided by royalist armies within France itself, such as the Chouans, and by allied countries such as Great Britain. They fought, for example, at the sieges of Lyon and Toulon.

They were formed from:

-   noblemen volunteers, either descendants of the ancient royal family or not, who had fled France
-   troops raised by these nobles through subsidies from other European monarchies, or through their own means
-   units of the French army which had also emigrated, such as the 4th Hussar Regiment

Even Napoleon I said of them “True, they are paid by our enemies, but they were or should have been bound to the cause of their King. France gave death to their action, and tears to their courage. All devotion is heroic”.

Main units

[Cavalier Noble] [The capture of François de Charette, 1796]

Armée de Condé

-   Régiment de Mortemart

Armée des Princes

Raised in Germany in 1792, at Trier, and commanded by marshals de Broglie and de Castries, under the aegis of Louis XVI's brothers, the comte de Provence and duc d'Artois. 10,000 strong, it returned to France beside the army of Brunswick and was dismissed on 24 November 1792, two months after the French victory at Valmy.

Armée de Bourbon

Other units

Légion des Pyrénées

-   Creation: 1794
-   Also known as: LÉGION ROYALE DES PYRÉNÉES in May
-   Founder: Marquis de Saint-Simon
-   Commander: Marquis de Saint-Simon
-   Size: 600 infantrymen and a squadron of hussars
-   Theatre of operations: Pyrénées-Atlantiques
-   Engagements: Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry (26 April 1794), heavy losses (17 prisoners guillotined); montagnes d’Arquinzun (10 July), heavy losses (30 to 50% of its effective strength); Port-Bidassoa (24 July), heavy losses covering the Spanish retreat (50 captured); Siege of Pampelune (November).
-   Operated within the Spanish army of Navarre
-   Sent to the front in 1795, then integrated into the le régiment de Bourbon

Légion de Panetier

-   Creation: 1793
-   Also known as: LÉGION DE LA REINE (_d'Espagne_) in June 1794
-   Founder: Comte de Panetier (died January 1794)
-   Commander: Comte de Panetier, then général de Santa-Clara
-   Size: 400; brought up to strength in June 1794 by the companies du Royal-Provence escaping from the Siege of Toulon and the companies du Royal Roussillon
-   Theatre of operations: Pyrénées-Orientales
-   Engagements: Defence of Port-Vendres (May 1794), evacuated by sea (to avoid being captured and guillotined); Zamora 5 January 1796
-   Operating within the Spanish army
-   Amalgamated into the le régiment de Bourbon

Légion du Vallespir

-   Creation: 1793
-   Also known as: BATAILLON DE LA FRONTIÈRE circa May 1793
-   Founder: Spanish general Ricardos, Spanish soldiers under Émigré officers
-   Commander:
-   Size:
-   Theatre of operations: Defence of Vallespir, then defending Roussillon
-   Engagements:
-   Operating within the Spanish army
-   Several desertions to the légion de Panetier - Amalgamated into the le régiment de Bourbon

Royal Roussillon

-   Creation: January 1794 at Barcelona from émigrés, prisoners and deserters
-   Also known as:
-   Founder: Général Ricardos
-   Commander:
-   Size: 200 in June 94 (of which 129 were massacred by a mob since they were amusing themselves in their barracks on a procession day)
-   Theatre of operations:
-   Engagements: None
-   Subsumed into the légion de Panetier (becoming the légion de la Reine at that moment)

Régiment de Bourbon

-   Creation: 1796 from the légion de la Reine (ex-légion de Panetier), the Bataillon de la frontière, and the légion royale des Pyrénées
-   Also known as: Integrated into the Spanish army as number 47, then 37
-   Founder: Marquis de Saint-Simon
-   Commander : Marquis de Saint-Simon
-   Size: 1600 (1808)
-   Theatre of operations: garrisoning Ciudad Rodrigo (1797) then Majorque
-   Engagements: Siege of Gérone (fell 9 December 1808, 300 captured); Rozas (1808)
-   Operating within the Spanish army
-   Still in existence 1814; formed of foreign soldiers and gardes Wallonnes, under number 41, then in 1860 became Spain's “53rd infantry regiment”, known as _El Emigrado_.

title: Armée des émigrés

question: What does the text say about the time period?

answer: The text covers events of the eighteenth century. The nineteenth century is mentioned as well. The main units of the Armée des Émigrés were formed in 1792 and the last to disband continued into the nineteenth century.

question: What does the text say about Marquis de Saint-Simon?

answer: Marquis de Saint-Simon founded and commanded the Légion des Pyrénées from 1794-1795. After serving in the front, the unit was then integrated into the Régiment de Bourbon. Saint-Simon founded this regiment by combining his own and two other units, and served as commander.

question: What does the text say about Napoleon III?

question: Summarize the climax of the story.


text:
Dr. LO' LO' BINTI MOHD GHAZALI (2 August 1957 – 17 July 2011) was a Malaysian politician. She served as the Member of Parliament for the Titiwangsa constituency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 2008 until her death in 2011. Lo' Lo' was a career physician who was elected to the central committee of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) in 2001.[1]

Education

She was born on 2 August 1957 in Kuala Kangsar, Perak. She attended the Connolly National School, Ipoh, Perak, then Sekolah Raja Taayah, Ipoh, Perak and then Kolej Islam Kelang, Selangor. She continued her studies at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia majoring in medicine. She was a member of the UKM Student Leadership Council.

She then studied at Adelaide for Alternative Medicine & Surgery - Acupunturist.

She has been involved in KHIM, Malaysian Charity Foundation, Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association, PAPISMA, Allergy & Aesthetic Association, Hypertension Association, AFMY, ABIM, Al Khadeem, JIM, FPUKM Alumni Association, ALKIS Alumni and SISTA Alumni.

Family

Her father was Dato Hj Mohd Ghazali Abdullah who was the first Imam of the National Mosque as well as the former Mufti of Perak and her mother Datin Hjh Zainab. Her husband is Professor Dr Aminuddin Abd Hamid Karim who is a medical lecturer.

She has four children: Mawaddah, Muhd Fawwaz, Sakinah and Muhd Farhan, one son-in-law; Mohd Azizy (Mawaddah's husband) and a daughter-in-law; Nur Hafizzah (Fawwaz's wife) as well as a grandson; 'Izz Nu'man (son of Mawaddah).

Career

She served in the General Hospital of Alor Star, Kedah as a medical officer from 1983 to 1985. She served in the Great Health Center of Pokok Sena, Kedah from 1985 until 1987, Kuala Lumpur General Hospital (1987-1988), Kuala Lumpur Islamic Center of Medicine (1988 -1994) and became the medical officer and executive director of KOHILAL Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur from 1994 until the end of her life.

She has also been a PAS Board of Director of Harakah.

Politics

In the 2008 general elections, she defeated the Barisan Nasional - UMNO candidate Datuk Aziz Jamaludin Mhd. Tahir for the Titiwangsa seat with a majority of 1,972 votes. She earned 17,857 votes compared to her opponent with only 15,885 votes. She is among the 3 PAS Muslimat candidates who have won the General Election. Her victory was the first victory for PAS in the Federal Territories after more than 30 years of PAS trying to land in Kuala Lumpur.

She previously contested for the Bukit Gantang seat in the 2004 general elections, losing to the Barisan Nasional candidate, Tan Lian Hoe.

Death

She died on 17 July 2011 of cancer.[2]

Election results

  |Year   |Constituency               Opposition   |Votes                          |Pct     Government   |Votes   |Pct        |Ballots cast   |Majority   |Turnout
  ------- --------------------------- ------------ ------------------------------- -------- ------------ -------- ----------- --------------- ----------- ---------- ------- --------
  2004    P059 BUKIT GANTANG, PERAK   |            Lo' Lo' Mohamad Ghazali (PAS)   10,144   38.21%       |        (GERAKAN)   16,846          61.79%      38,642
  2008    P119 TITIWANGSA, KL         |            LO' LO' MOHAMAD GHAZALI (PAS)   17,857   52.92%       |        (UMNO)      15,885          47.08%      33,933

  : PARLIAMENT OF MALAYSIA[3][4]

[1]

[2]

[3]  Percentage figures based on total turnout.

[4]  Results only available from the 2004 election.

title: Lo' Lo' Mohd Ghazali

question: Summarize what happened in the 2000's and 2010's.

answer: Lo' Lo' Mohd Ghazali was elected to the central committee of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party in 2001 and she served as a Member of Parliament for the Titiwangsa constituency from 2008 until her death in 2011. She lost the 2004 general elections to the Barisan Nasional candidate, Tan Lain Hoe, for the Bukang Gantang seat. She died of cancer in 2011.

question: What does the text say about the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party's manifesto?

question: What does the text say about health care in Malaysia?

answer: It is possible to be both a career physician as well as a politician. One place to study medicine is at the Universiti Kebangsaan in Malaysia, Ghazali completed a course in Acupuncture in Australia. Some of the health centers in Malaysia are the General Hospital of Alor Star in Kedah, the Great Health Center of Pokok Sena in Kedah, the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Center of Medicine and KOHILAL Medical Center in Kuala Lumpur.

question: Summarize the involvement of women in the government of Malaysia?

answer: Lo' Lo' Mohd Ghazali is a woman who was educated in Malaysia, worked in Malaysia as a physician and was elected to be part of the central committee Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) in 2001 and served as member of Parliament for 3 years until her death. She is even more singular because she one of three PAS Muslimat candidates who have won the General Election.


text:
There’s been a lot of talk around Book Riot and the bookish world in general about 2016 not being a great year for books. Although there were, for sure, some excellent books this year (see the Best Books of 2016 list), most people felt that the year was kinda “meh.” I am not one of those people. Personally, I read a ton of really great books that just did not get the attention/publicity/bookstore table space they deserved.

Surely, I couldn’t be the only one feeling like there were great but under-appreciated books this year? I asked the Book Riot contributors what books they loved but that didn’t quite hit it big in 2016. The list we came up with is varied– work in translation, novels, essay collections, poetry, and more. It’ll be a good shopping list if you’re picking out a last-minute gift for an avid reader. There’s a good chance they haven’t read one of these yet.

_[SHELTER IN PLACE BY ALEXANDER MAKSIK]SHELTER IN PLACE_ BY ALEXANDER MAKSIK (SEPTEMBER 13)

 In a year defined by violence, politics, and feminism, I’m shocked that Maksick’s book didn’t get more attention. In the first sentence, the narrator tells the reader that, “In the summer of 1991 my mother beat a man to death with a twenty-two ounce Estwing framing hammer and I fell in love with Tess Wolff.” What follows is a moving, complex novel about mothers and lovers that grapples with mental illness, how culture shapes our responses to violence, family ties, and gender. I’ll admit that I was skeptical heading into this book. Could Maksik, a man, write women’s anger in a believable way? Yes. The book also does an excellent job chronicling the ways that men respond (or fail to respond) to women’s rage. I finished this book in early October and I am desperate for more people to read it so we can talk about it!
–Ashley Bowen-Murphy

_[WOMEN IN SCIENCE]WOMEN IN SCIENCE_ BY RACHEL IGNOTOFSKY (JULY 26)
_Women in Science _is a slim volume of short biographies of fifty female innovators in the STEM fields. Each biography is illustrated in the signature style of Rachel Ignotofsky (who has an Etsy shop, by the way, so you can have Women in Science pillows). The illustrations are what make this book so amazing, but the biographies are great too. They are written in an accessible style, perfect for children and adults.
–Kate Scott

_[COVER-OF-EVEN-THIS-PAGE-IS-WHITE-BY-VIVEK-SHRAYA]EVEN THIS PAGE IS WHITE_ BY VIVEK SHRAYA (SEPTEMBER 13)

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 This debut book of poetry was published by a small Canadian press (Arsenal Pulp Press), so it’s not surprising it’s not getting a ton of press, but this is really too bad because it’s such an accessible, moving collection of poems. It’s powerful and beautiful, both in its craft playing with poetic structure and different poem types and in its gut-punching content about racism. _Even This Page is White _is a book to read again and again.
–Casey Stepaniuk

_[DESCRIBING THE PAST]DESCRIBING THE PAST_ BY GHASSAN ZAQTAN, TRANSLATED BY SAMUEL WILDER (JULY 15)
In 2013, Zaqtan won Canada’s prestigious Griffin poetry prize, along with translator Fady Joudah. Zaqtan was also a finalist for the Neustadt in 2014 and 2016, and has been mentioned in betting for the Nobel. But when his short prose work _Describing the Past_, a gorgeous mapping of memory-logic, came out this summer from Seagull Books, it didn’t seem to get a whisper. Samuel Wilder’s translation matches Zaqtan move for move, and there is not a sentence that doesn’t sit right on the tongue. I was thrilled to see some excellent, under-appreciated Arabic literature get a mention in this year’s PEN Translates longlist (Hilal Chouman’s _Limbo Beirut, _trans. Anna Ziajka Stanton and Rabee Jaber’s _Confessions, _trans. Kareem James Abu-Zeid, whoop!), but the PEN judges missed Wilder’s feat of translation. Fortunately, you needn’t.
– M. Lynx Qualey

_[THIS MUST BE THE PLACE BY MAGGIE O’FARRELL]THIS MUST BE THE PLACE_ BY MAGGIE O’FARRELL  (JULY 19)

 Daniel Sullivan is happily married to an eccentric former movie star and current recluse, but he starts to have doubts about his life when he learns that a woman he loved decades ago is dead. When and how did she die? And is it Daniel’s fault? Through flashbacks and stories of those who know Daniel, O’Farrell slowly reveals the secrets of Daniel’s past and raises questions about his future. This novel’s complex structure gives the many characters room to breathe and feel like fully fledged individuals with lives of their own. And the book ends with a tentative hopefulness that I appreciated.
–Teresa Preston

[NINEFOX-GAMBIT]NINEFOX GAMBIT BY YOON HA LEE (JUNE 14, 2016)

When I finished reading this novel, I experienced that euphoric, giddy pulse of feeling that comes of reading something so fresh, so brilliant, and so delicately well done, that it had my head spinning. Yoon Ha Lee is well known for his mind-bending, emotionally charged science fiction, and _Ninefox Gambit_ is no exception. The tale of a young soldier, unmatched in her mathematical precision and tactics, lieutenant Kel Cheris is ordered to retake the Fortress of Scattered Needles for the Hexarchate, the six-faceted hierarchy of empire in the known galaxy. But in order to oust the rebels and their blasphemous calendar, Kel Cheris must download the literal mind of the Hexarchate’s greatest hero, and greatest villain: Shuos Jedao, brilliant, cutting, and insane after ordering the massacre of an entire space station so he might not lose. What follows is a tense, compassionate, but terrifying look into the balance between these two soldiers, and how they begin to change one another over the course of their ordeals. But the secrets Jedao is harboring may do more than drive Kel Cheris insane: they may bring down the Hexarchate entirely. Smart as hell, emotionally dense and nuanced, and jam-packed with enough blow-your-mind science fiction concepts, Ninefox Gambit deserves every ounce of love it gets, and I certainly hope more people discover it in the years to come.

– Marty Cahill

_[PIT BULL THE BATTLE OVER AN AMERICAN ICON]PIT BULL: THE BATTLE OVER AN AMERICAN ICON_ BY BRONWEN DICKEY (MAY 10)
I’m obsessed with animal nonfiction, but _Pit Bull_ tackles so much more than that and I’m surprised I didn’t see more of my animal-loving friends talk about it. Pit bull breeds once lived in the White House, starred in movies, fought with soldiers on the front lines – but as time passed, they turned from America’s Dog to America’s Nightmare. Why? Browen Dickey tracks their reputation from beloved to brutal, questioning everything assumed about pit bulls in a beautiful blend of cultural observation and scientific examination. _Pit Bull_ is eloquent and eye-opening, revealing far more about the nature of humans than the nature of dogs.
–Nicole Brinkley

_[SARONG-PARTY-GIRLS]SARONG PARTY GIRLS_ BY CHERYL LU-LIEN TAN (JULY 12)
I blame this summer’s killer lineup of novels. Inevitably something incredible was going to get overlooked amidst all the hubbub. I was particularly sad to see that it was this sparkling gem of a novel. _Sarong Party Girls_ is not fluff, even if it seems that way at first. It often reminded me of _Clueless_, and there’s a similar story here, though it’s not as simple as a movie. Jazzy, our protagonist, certainly seems like she belongs in a chick lit romp, she and her best girlfriends shop and drink and party and look for rich white men to marry. But Jazzy’s plans start going off the rails, things begin to fall apart, and the party girl has to start figuring out who she is and what she wants. If you like novels with a strong first-person narration, this is a can’t miss. Jazzy’s voice is a huge part of the joy here, written in Singlish (Singaporean English full of new slang words) it’s also a real find for lovers of words and language.
–Jessica Woodbury

_[CHRISTADORA]CHRISTODORA_ BY TIM MURPHY (AUGUST 2)
The minute I finished (hell, the minute I started) this book, I expected to spend the rest of the year haunted by its spectre all over social media. So you can imagine how surprised I was when the publication date came and went with little to no fanfare. Tim Murphy’s insight into the East Village in the ’80s and the revolution of AIDS/HIV patients and family members was a revelation. The narrative is absorbing and the characters are at once powerful and vulnerable. Watching the gentrification of Greenwich Village alongside the medical advances in the fight against the AIDS epidemic had me alternating between hope and despair. Murphy’s writing is gritty, raw, and beautiful and I’m still surprised more people aren’t singing its praises.
–Elizabeth Allen

_[LONER COVER]LONER_ BY TEDDY WAYNE (SEPTEMBER 13, 2016)
_Loner_ was a completely chilling read, and yet, so, so addictive. You need a strong stomach to enter the mind of sociopath David Federman, Harvard freshman and social vulture. As David takes on a mission to climb the ranks of the rich and popular and bring himself closer to the woman he is infatuated with, Veronica, he will stop at nothing to manipulate and use everyone to his advantage if it will help him get what he wants. What I loved about this novel was how skillfully Teddy Wayne immerses the reader in David’s first-person narration until ultimately your own mind is being played on as David subtly shifts into truly losing his mind. But by that point, you don’t even notice how his crack up seems almost normal—until it’s too late. With the twists of a riveting thriller and the emotional depth of a twisted bildungsroman, _Loner_ is as much a mind fuck as it is brutally raw, shocking, and, ultimately, outstanding.
–Sarah S. Davis

_[SUITE FOR BARBARA LODEN COVER]SUITE FOR BARBARA LODEN_ BY NATHALIE LEGER, TRANSLATED BY NATASHA LEHER & CECILE MENON (OCTOBER 2016)
In her incredibly haunting novella _Suite For Barbara Loden_, Nathalie Léger uses the 1970 cult classic film Wanda (which Barbara Loden wrote, directed and starred in) as a vehicle for the type of flowing, hyper-intellectualized meditations that French writers do so well. At the beginning she tells us she’s been paid to write a short entry on Loden for an encyclopedia. She then unpacks the film scene-by-scene (bringing to mind Perec’s obsessive cataloging), dissecting the story of a Pennsylvania coal miner’s wife who walks away from her husband and children. Wanda has no direction, ambition or even desires – her defining emotion is apathy. You get the sense she would have stayed in her marriage, completely indifferent to her situation, had her husband not forced her to leave. Eventually Wanda takes up with an equally damaged and pitiable character, a man named Norman, who convinces her to help him rob a bank. Their story doesn’t end well. Léger pauses throughout to  insert biographical details about Loden’s life. She describes a television interview Loden once gave (the other guests were John and Yoko Ono). Léger appears to be trying to find/verbalize a feminist meaning behind the film – searching for parallels between Wanda and Loden. I’m not sure she succeeds, but her struggle has produced a mesmerizing work of unexpected beauty.
–Tara Cheesman

[STUDY-IN-SCARLET-WOMEN]A STUDY IN SCARLET WOMEN BY SHERRY THOMAS (OCTOBER 18)

Sherry Thomas’ story (the first in a planned series) reenvisions Sherlock Holmes as Charlotte Holmes, a brilliant, eccentric young woman in 1880s London. In addition to being an entertaining, well-written mystery, A Study in Scarlet Women also offers a study in feminism. Being a genius with keen observational skills – particularly an unmarried genius with keen observational skills – leads Charlotte down a different path than it does Sherlock. Watching her find ways to navigate the strictures of society is as enjoyable as watching her unravel the mysteries. Like many well-written mysteries, there are twists, turns, and lots of characters, so plan to read this one in one cozy sitting.
-Trisha Brown

_[MISCHLING]MISCHLING_ BY AFFINITY KONAR
(SEPTEMBER 6TH)
This book is a conundrum. I’m surprised it hasn’t swept more ‘Best of 2016’ lists. I’m still in awe of how Konar managed to pull off such a searingly beautiful story of hope and survival in the wake the greatest horrors ever committed by other human beings. The book is told from the dual perspectives of twins Stasha and Pearl, who have just arrived at Auschwitz. Seen as “special,” the twins are taken in by Josef Mengele, who notoriously performed horrible experiments on children during the Holocaust. Stasha quickly becomes one of Mengele’s pets after he injects her with what she believes to be immortality. With this new power, Stasha must protect her twin sister Pearl and her friends until the end of the war. But when Pearl disappears, Stasha is no longer interested in being one of The Zoo’s favorite patients. She wants revenge. Through the eyes of children, the daily horrors of the twins’ world becomes a cautionary fairytale. I imagine people might shy away from this book because of the subject matter, but I was surprised at how much hope I found in this story. It is thrilling, magnetic, and inspiring, and I have to say, the novel’s conclusion took me completely by surprise.
–Jan Rosenberg

_T[THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU]HEONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU_ BY LILY ANDERSON (MAY 17TH, 2016)
This is one of the funniest YA books I’ve ever read, and it’s definitely the nerdiest. Anderson retells _Much Ado About Nothing_ with a competitive high school for academically gifted teens as the setting. The central characters are Trixie and Ben, engaged in a “merry war” of the wits where the prize is class ranking. They’re competing for 3rd place, but when someone begins manipulating the rankings, all bets are off. The banter is hilarious and on-point, and the relationships between the many characters are realistically complicated and wonderfully nuanced. The numerous pop culture nerd references aren’t just decoration–they’re a filter through which these characters see and interpret their world. As a result, this novel is genuine nerdy fun with characters that feel like real teens, with strong opinions and obsessions. It’s an obvious follow-up for fans of _Fangirl_, but the story has its own distinct personality.
–Tirzah Price

[language of secrets]THE LANGUAGE OF SECRETS (RACHEL GETTY & ESA KHATTAK #2) BY AUSMA ZEHANAT KHAN (FEBRUARY 2)

I’m really surprised this wasn’t a big mystery seller—it certainly made it onto my Best Of 2016 list. It sucked me in right from the beginning with a murder and held me tight throughout, as Detective Ghetty goes undercover at a Mosque, and had me gripping my book tightly in a super tense ending. If you’re a fan of mystery books this should be on your TBR list—or currently in your hands for immediate reading.

–Jamie Canaves

_[VIOLATION: COLLECTED ESSAYS._SX304_BO1,204,203,200_]VIOLATION_ BY SALLIE TISDALE (APRIL 12)
I love me a good essay collection, and _Violation_ is now one of my favorites. Tisdale can find meaning anywhere and in anything: one of the best essays in this collection is on flies, and it is fabulous. You really do want to read an essay on flies! And also one on elephants! She has many essays on the natural world, and also on writing, on her family, on culture (Disneyland, dieting, abortion), and so much more. Her sentences are astounding, somehow elegant and earthy both. An essay is a place to spend time in somebody else’s head listening to their thoughts, and Tisdale’s mind is a fascinating place to be.
–Rebecca Hussey

[COVER OF GUAPA BY SALEEM HADDAD]GUAPA BY SALEEM HADDAD (MARCH 8)

It’s not like no one talked about this book. But given how utterly fascinating and completely beautiful it is, I wanted to see this book in every reader’s hands, hear it on every critic’s lips. Because damn. This day-in-the-life of a gay man in crisis in an unnamed Middle Eastern country that is itself in crisis is incredibly good. So I expect to see you reading it forthwith. Forthwith, I say!

-Derek Attig

_[FATHER'S DAY COVER]FATHER’S DAY_ BY SIMON VAN BOOY (APRIL 26)
It would not be wrong to say that my tastes veer toward the dark and strange. So when I read a sweet, tender story and it makes my heart grow three sizes instead of roll my eyes, I sit up and listen, because that means the author has done a great job of skipping the saccharine nonsense and written a credible, moving piece of work. Such is _Father’s Day_. The story of an orphaned girl, her troubled uncle, and the case worker who brings them together, this is less a feel good novel and more a lovely tale of fragile, damaged people learning to love and trust one another. I absolutely adored it.
–Liberty Hardy

[cover of we love you charlie freeman by kaitlyn greenidge]WE LOVE YOU, CHARLIE FREEMAN BY KAITLYN GREENIDGE (MARCH 8, 2016)

Charlotte Freeman’s family sticks out: because they speak in sign language; because they’ve been tapped to teach a chimpanzee sign language, too. And in the rural town where the Toneybee Institute sits, because they’re black. Greenidge’s gorgeous novel shifts between time periods with skill, covering Charlotte’s contemporary struggles and the Institute’s dark history, which is marked by racial exploitation and the denial of innate human equality. Charlotte learns that, despite Toneybee’s efforts to remake itself, too little has changed between then and now. The novel dances with the limitations and possibilities of communication in an elegant and heartbreaking way. It got great reviews, including from the New York Times, but this small press book that moved the critics hasn’t received nearly enough attention from readers in general. It’s a literary gift that no readers should deny themselves.

-Michelle Anne Schingler

What book did you love this year that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves? Shout it out in the comments.

question: What kind of content is depicted and what is it about?

answer: The content is a forum thread or a similar discussion about overlooked books in 2016.

question: Which books are listed by the people participating in the thread?

answer: Shelter in Place by Alexander Maksik, Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky, Even This Page is White by Vivek Shraya, Describing the Past by Ghassan Zaqtan, This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell, Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, Pit Bull: The Battle Over An American Icon by Bronwen Dickey, Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, Christadora by Tim Murphy, Loner by Teddy Wayne, Suite For Barbara Loden by Nathalie Leger, A Study In Scarlet Women by Sherry Tomas, Mischling by Affinity Konar, The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson, The Language Of Secrets by Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak, Violation: Collected Essays by Sallie Tisdale, Guapa by Saleem Haddad, Father's Day by Simon van Booy, We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge.

question: Why did this discussion start?

answer: The original poster mentions that many people thought 2016 wasn't an exciting year for books but disagrees with that notion. He or she invites fellow readers to share overlooked books.

question: What use is suggested for the list of books?

answer: The author says the list would be a useful one for picking gifts for readers.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Someone starts a discussion about a lot of people thinking that 2016 wasn't a great year for books. The author disagrees and invites fellow readers to share great books they think are overlooked. The list contains 19 books, and the author suggests it would be a good list for picking gifts from for readers.