Robert Walsh Libros

She's meant to be catching flights, not catching feelings...Molly and Andrew are just trying to get home to Ireland for the holidays, when a freak snowstorm grounds their flight. Nothing romantic has ever happened between them: they're friends and that's all. But once a year, for the last ten years, Molly has spent seven hours and fifteen minutes sitting next to Andrew on the last flight before Christmas from Chicago to Dublin, drinking terrible airplane wine and catching up on each other's lives. In spite of all the ways the two friends are different, it's the holiday tradition neither of them has ever wanted to give up. Molly isn't that bothered by Christmas, but--in yet another way they're total opposites--Andrew is a full-on fanatic for the festive season and she knows how much getting back to Ireland means to him. So, instead of doing the sane thing and just celebrating the holidays together in America, she does the stupid thing. The irrational thing. She vows to get him home. And in time for his mam's famous Christmas dinner. The clock is ticking. But Molly always has a plan. And--as long as the highly-specific combination of taxis, planes, boats, and trains all run on time--it can't possibly go wrong. What she doesn't know is that, as the snow falls over the city and over the heads of two friends who are sure they're not meant to be together, the universe might just have a plan of its own... -- Amazon.com description

Northern California has a fascinating criminal history. Some of America's most infamous criminals and outlaws lived and died in the area, including John Paul Chase, partner of Public Enemy Number One, Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis. Others have come from far afield to exploit the opportunities of Californian crime. Englishman Charles Boles, AKA "Black Bart the Poet," was only one of many. With crime, naturally, comes punishment. In 1937, the Folsom Five tried to escape, murdering Warden Clarence Larkin in the process. Instead of escaping Folsom, they entered California's history as the first men to die in its new gas chamber the next year. The legendary Battle of Alcatraz ended in bloodshed and recriminations from prison staff and convicts alike, with accusations that staff needlessly endangered convicts' lives and arranged the wrongful execution of convict Sam Shockley. Northern California may not be as well-known for its crime as Southern California, but it's a fascinating part of the Golden State's history all the same.

Southern California can be called a sunny place for shady people. Its criminal history is as rich and varied as anywhere. Old West outlaws, serial killers, gangsters and thieves have all robbed, raided, killed and died south of Sacramento. Home to the movie business, Los Angeles has long been a place of bright lights and dark deeds. Major Raymond Lisenba, California's last man to hang, committed murder-by-rattlesnake. Fueled by a half-pint of illegal whiskey, Dallas Egan danced his way to the gallows. Yacht Bandit Lloyd Sampsell cruised California's coast like a latter-day buccaneer, only visiting dry land for another robbery. Joaquin Murieta terrorized the goldfields and Southern California, entering Californian history and folklore in the process. Billy Cook entered popular culture (and San Quentin's gas chamber), inspiring The Doors' Riders on the Storm and classic film The Hitcher. James Rabbit Kendrick's execution inspired friend and fellow-convict Merle Haggard to go straight. Haggard immortalized Kendrick with country classic Sing Me Back Home. Some are well-remembered, others long forgotten, but all have their own place in California's chronicles of crime.

Catherine E. Walsh examines social struggles for survival in societies deeply marked by the systemic violence of coloniality to identify practices that may cultivate the possibility of living otherwise.