'I loved this book' BONNIE GARMUS'A generous, compassionate book about the power of love and community' LOUISE KENNEDY'I can't recommend this one highly enough ' HARLAN COBEN'THIS is his best book' ANN PATCHETTTHE MAJOR INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERBARACK OBAMA'S BOOK OF THE YEAR PICKAMAZON.COM #1 BOOK OF THE YEARBOOK OF THE YEAR IN: THE GUARDIAN, NEW YORKER, NEW YORK TIMES, TIME MAGAZINE, HARPER'S BAZAAR, OPRAH DAILY AND WASHINGTON POSTWINNER OF THE 2023 KIRKUS FICTION PRIZEIn 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighbourhood where Jewish immigrants and African Americans lived side by side through the 1920s and '30s.In this novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them, James McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community - heaven and earth - that sustain us.
James McBride Book order
James McBride crafts narratives rich with the complexities of the human experience, often focusing on the American cultural landscape with a distinctive voice. His writing is characterized by its vibrant prose and a profound understanding of the characters he brings to life. McBride masterfully weaves together humor, social commentary, and emotional depth, creating works that are both engaging and thought-provoking. His unique literary approach offers readers a perceptive exploration of identity and community.







- 2024
- 2023
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe's theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe. As these characters' stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town's white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community-heaven and earth-that sustain us.[Bokinfo].
- 2022
Pioneer Biography
- 290 pages
- 11 hours of reading
This book provides biographies of important pioneers in American history. From Daniel Boone to Davy Crockett, readers gain a deeper understanding of the people who shaped our country. A must-read for history buffs and anyone interested in the American frontier.
- 2021
Pioneer Biography
Sketches Of The Lives Of Some Of The Early Settlers Of Butler County, Ohio (Volume Ii)
- 294 pages
- 11 hours of reading
Focusing on the lives of early settlers in Butler County, Ohio, this biography offers valuable insights into the region's pioneer history. It serves as an important resource for scholars and future generations, capturing the experiences and contributions of those who shaped the area. Presented in its original print format, the book retains historical marks and annotations, preserving its authenticity and significance in literature.
- 2021
James McBride's Scrapbook of Articles on the Hollow Earth Theory Lectures of John Symmes
- 292 pages
- 11 hours of reading
- 2020
In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .45 from his pocket, and, in front of everybody, shoots the project's drug dealer at point-blank range. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride's funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird. In Deacon King Kong, McBride brings to vivid life the people affected by the shooting: the victim, the African American and Latinx residents who witnessed it, the white neighbors, the local cops assigned to investigate, the members of the Five Ends Baptist Church where Sportcoat was deacon, the neighborhood's Italian mobsters, and Sportcoat himself. As the story deepens, it becomes clear that the lives of the characters--caught in the tumultuous swirl of 1960s New York--overlap in unexpected ways. When the truth does emerge, McBride shows us that not all secrets are meant to be hidden, that the best way to grow is to face change without fear, and that the seeds of love lie in hope and compassion. Bringing to these pages both his masterly storytelling skills and his abiding faith in humanity, James McBride has written a novel every bit as involving as The Good Lord Bird and as emotionally honest as The Color of Water. Told with insight and wit, Deacon King Kong demonstrates that love and faith live in all of us.
- 2020
The Good Lord Bird (tv Tie-in)
- 480 pages
- 17 hours of reading
Now a Showtime limited series starring Ethan Hawke and Daveed Diggs Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction From the bestselling author of Deacon King Kong (an Oprah Book Club pick) and The Color of Water comes the story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown’s antislavery crusade—and who must pass as a girl to survive. Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1856--a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forces--when legendary abolitionist John Brown arrives. When an argument between Brown and Henry's master turns violent, Henry is forced to leave town--along with Brown, who believes Henry to be a girl and his good luck charm. Over the ensuing months, Henry, whom Brown nicknames Little Onion, conceals his true identity to stay alive. Eventually Brown sweeps him into the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859--one of the great catalysts for the Civil War. An absorbing mixture of history and imagination, and told with McBride's meticulous eye for detail and character, The Good Lord Bird is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.
- 2019
Pioneer biography: - Sketches of the lives of some of the early settlers of Butler County, Ohio is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1869. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.
- 2018
Five-Carat Soul
- 336 pages
- 12 hours of reading
These brilliant miniatures display all of the rambunctious fearlessness of [McBride's] deeply empathetic imagination... Five-Carat Soul [is] a delight. -New York Times Book Review Brash, daring and defiantly original... [these] stories are bound to stay with readers for a very long time. -NPR A furious joy drives these glimpses of brave lives in perilous places. -San Francisco Chronicle A vivid, often funny story collection that examines serious topics like race, war, history, and self-identity-all with a deft hand and a fluid, musical voice. -Entertainment Weekly The stories are diverse enough in style, theme and milieu to keep one's head thoroughly engaged... Serious fun. -Newsday The author of the National Book Award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird possesses a biting wit, but disarms it with his calm, plainspoken style... A consummate entertainer, McBride has the comic energy and antic spirit of Richard Pryor. -Chicago Tribune If there's a mode in which McBride can't write brilliantly, he has yet to prove it. -Vulture The characters are disparate, but McBride is such an agile writer that each voice feels authentic and somehow familiar. Taken together the stories speak, if not directly to one another, to a greater humanity and wisdom we all desire... These are stories of and from the soul. -Minneapolis Star-Tribune [A] jazzy, generous spirit animates [Five-Carat Soul]... McBride succeeds by tempering absurdity with insight, and camp with poignancy. -Financial Times Five-Carat Soul by James McBride covers a lot of ground, all of it unpredictable, exhilarating, and, often, hilarious. The short stories bounce from one unlikely protagonist to the next ... I loved these stories individually; all together they make for a wild and utterly delightful ride. -BuzzFeed The short stories in this collection from National Book Award winner James McBride (The Good Lord Bird) range widely, from the Civil War to the Vietnam War and from the animal world to a toy train set, but all are poignant, imaginative, and 'literary' in the best sense of the word. -Christian Science Monitor McBride proves once again that he is a master conjurer of African Americana with his new book of charmed, imaginative short stories... [He] lets his sense of whimsy run wild in this collection... the results once again are funny, strange and touching. -Seattle Times McBride is one of this country's best writers, and that has never been more apparent than here, in his first short story collection... McBride's writing practically shimmers with energy and charm, making reading him a singular pleasure. -Nylon Hilarious, charming, and unlike anything else you'll read this year, these stories show more about the human psyche than one could possibly imagine. -PopSugar This collection of inventive and exuberant stories comes packed with singular voices, outlandish exploits and rare insight. -Minneapolis Star-Tribune McBride gives us [a] mix of hilarity and poignant truth in his collection of short stories, Five-Carat Soul... The ones that clarify injustice by making it hit us just as we are laughing the hardest-those stories are evidence of McBride's genius. -The Christian Century McBride delivers pure gold... Five-Carat Soul shakes with laughter, grips with passion and oozes wisdom. Readers should put aside any prejudices they might harbor about short fiction because together these stories are a masterpiece that will enrich everyone it touches. -Shelf Awareness (starred review) Humming with invention and energy, the stories collected in McBride's first fiction book since his National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird again affirm his storytelling gifts... McBride adopts a variety of dictions without losing his own distinctly supple, musical voice; as identities shift, 'truths' are challenged, and justice is done or, more often, subverted. -Publishers Weekly (starred review) Each t