NCW Libraries

"Today, society embraces sharing like never before. Fueled by our dependence on mobile devices and social media, we have created an ecosystem of obsessive connection. Many of us now lead lives of strangely crowded isolation: we are always linked, but only shallowly so. The capacity to be alone, properly alone, is one of life's subtlest skills. Real solitude is a powerful resource we can call upon?a crucial ingredient for a rich interior life. It inspires...

"Fans of Barbara Kingsolver will love this stunning debut novel from a New York Times bestselling nature writer, about an unforgettable young woman determined to make her way in the wilds of North Carolina, and the two men that will break her isolation open. For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She's barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase...

It's early 2000 on New York City's Upper East Side, and the alienation of Moshfegh's unnamed young protagonist from others is nearly complete when she initiates her yearlong siesta, during which time she experiences limited personal interactions. Her parents have died; her relationships with her bulimic best friend Reva, an ex-boyfriend, and her drug-pushing psychiatrist are unwholesome. As her pill-popping intensifies, so does her isolation and determination...

Addresses the chronic loneliness affecting a high percentage of people today, discussing the vulnerabilities of high-pressure, tech-driven environments and how to view solitude through a spiritual lens.

Set in the mid-twentieth century and told with beauty and tenderness, Robert Seethaler's A Whole Life is a story of man's relationship with an ancient landscape, of the value of solitude, of the arrival of the modern world, and above all, of the moments, great and small, that make us who we are.

When Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor turned sixty, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth. This literary collage documents his multifacted explorations. spending time in remote places, appreciating and making art, practicing meditation and participating...

En Barkley Cove, un tranquilo pueblo de pescadores, circulan extraños rumores sobre la "chica de la marisma". Desde los seis años, Kya deambula completamente sola entre canales y cañaverales, apenas cubierta y descalza. Aunque solo asiste un día a la escuela, la marisma y sus criaturas no tienen secretos para ella: la alimentan, la acunan, la protegen, son sus maestros y compañeras de juego. Kya aprende a descifrar los signos de la naturaleza...

"In this debut essay collection, Laura Marris reframes environmental degradation by setting aside the conventional, catastrophic framework of the Anthropocene in favor of that of the Eremocene, the age of loneliness, marked by the dramatic thinning of wildlife populations and by isolation between and among species. She asks: how do we add to archives of ecological memory? How can we notice and document what's missing in the landscapes closest to us?...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Includes Dean Koontz’s short story “Wilderness”!
This ebook edition contains a special preview of Dean Koontz’s The Silent Corner.
In Innocence, Dean Koontz blends mystery, suspense, and acute insight into the human soul in a masterfully told tale that will resonate with readers forever.
He lives in solitude beneath the city, an exile...

Since a deadly virus and the violence that followed wiped out his parents and most of his community, Finn has lived alone on the rugged coast with only his loyal dog Rowdy for company. He has stayed alive for two winters-hunting and fishing and trading food, and keeping out of sight of the Wilders, an armed and dangerous gang that controls the north, led by a ruthless man named Ramage. But Finn's isolation is shattered when a girl runs onto the beach....