LIFESTYLE

New York Times Best Selling author Karen Robards’ latest novel, The Black Swan of Paris, is full of intrigue and heart-pulsing suspense, while taking place in Nazi Germany. It’s both heartbreaking and touching, and will stay with you long after you finish.

If you are a writer, odds are you have plenty of stories started and not finished. Any successful author will tell you about a vault of stories they plan to come back to one day and complete. Unfortunately many of these stories are abandoned and forgotten about over time. Little Women author Louisa May Alcott was no exception, and now one of her uncompleted stories has been published for the first time, and Strand magazine is looking for someone to finish it.

If one things is for certain during these turbulent times, it’s that nothing is for certain. With businesses starting to reopen, people are starting to wonder when entertainment facilities, such as arenas, movie theatres, and even stage productions will start reopening as well. At this point however nothing is certain, but in some cases plans for next year are starting to pop-up.

Like most airlines, British Airways is struggling at the moment and has been forced to make changes in the way they do business in order to survive, including laying off thousands of staff. In order to raise some funds however, the airline is planning on auctioning off some of its renowned art collection.

Tuesday marked the eighth consecutive day of protests over the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a black man, was handcuffed and in police custody before his death, and was held down by a white police officer who kept his knee pressed on the side of Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd continually stated that he couldn’t breath.  The incident happened on Memorial Day in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and since then protests have erupted across not only the United States, but around the world as well.  

It seems like almost everyone is coming together these days in order to help those who need it, and Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is the latest. He’s created 10,000 masks that he is selling on eBay, with all proceeds going to humanitarian groups led by Human Rights Watch, Refugees International and Médecins Sans Frontières. 

British street artist Banksy’s latest work of art was made in response to the Covid-19 crisis, and in it he pays tribute to the superhero nurses that have made such a huge difference in the war against it. Not only that, but he has donated the piece to the University Hospital Southampton.

At the start of May, Toronto was supposed to begin hosting a unique Vincent Van Gogh exhibit at the Toronto Star warehouse. The initiative was said to be an immersive, digital art experience, complete with a selection of images from Van Gogh’s 2000+ lifetime catalogue of masterpieces, including Mangeurs de pommes de terre, the Nuit étoilée, Les Tournesols, and La Chambre à coucher. Due to the Covid virus however, that has been put on an indefinite hold. That hasn’t stopped organizers from coming up with something new though, and they recently announced the world’s first drive-in immersive art exhibit.

Daughter of the Reich is author Louise Fein’s first novel, but if you hadn’t been told that beforehand you wouldn’t be able to tell. Her novel is like a beautifully painted masterpiece that explores how people blindly followed their leaders without asking questions, and how even during those tumultuous times love could still be found. 

Netflix announced today that a surprise documentary on Michelle Obama will be released on May 6th. It follows the former first lady on her 34-city book tour she took last year to promote her memoir Becoming. The documentary, also called Becoming, will offer a rare and up-close look at Obama’s life. 

If you are used to going out to live theatre, the current pandemic is probably making you miss it more than ever. Acast.com is trying to change that though, by bringing weekly podcasts of new short audio plays written by top playwrights.

Even when the world isn’t shut down due to a pandemic, you probably won’t be able to get out and go to every museum exhibit you really want to see. There might be many reasons for this, with the first and foremost being travelling to different cities or countries isn’t always possible. Thankfully these days museums have started curating their exhibits online, giving you a chance to see what you might not normally be able to see. Here are some of our favourite online exhibitions you won’t want to miss.

Award-winning novelist Sheena Kamal’s latest continues the story of her protagonist Nora Watts, and like her previous work it’s hard-hitting, action-packed and a genuine entry into the world of noir fiction.

Audible is well known for the being the world’s largest library of audiobooks, but they’ve started moving onto other forms of spoken word as well such as radio and TV programs. They’ve also started supplying audio only series, and now they’ve nabbed Paul Rudd to star in their latest.

If you are living in a big city, odds are pretty good that you live in a condo and don’t have a backyard to plant a garden in. There is still a chance though for some outside air when you need it, by opening a the door and stepping out onto the balcony. At first glance it can be hard to imagine your balcony having enough space to grow anything, but you’d be surprised what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it. Here is how you can turn your balcony into a garden.