My lungs stopped working, my soul began to lift away...And then I was saved by a beautiful man with a kind heart and sparkles sprinkled around his head in a golden halo. A cunning, dazzling smile etched his angled features and his hair lay perfectly on his head like...black, sinful layers of pure cynical distrusting evil. The evil that was just waiting to onset an innocent girl like me and allow her a short amount of time of happiness, and then finish her off when she became older. I'll give you a hint. The beginning of that description was slightly exaggerated.The Angel of Death. One of the only creatures known that was capable of settling the boundaries of heaven on earth. The only creature capable of making one of the Devil's darkest deals to my loving mother; a second chance for her daughter.This comes with consequences of course.Everything you know about Death is wrong. Death is not natural, Death is not normal, Death is not doleful, and Death is far from mercenary.Death blends into the shadows like coal against the most atramentous sky.Death walks the earth with his cursed, monstrous, and exotic features, his enticing voice, and betraying alluring eyes.Death deceives, scratches, and plays with your mind until you slowly and painfully lose your grip on reality. He'll make you believe he's a different person, that there's a sliver of hope for him. Hope for you.Death is close.Forever and always,Faith Williams

    Taken to a hospital ward, will she be able to save her mind—and her life? My Soul to Take She's always felt different, but now Kaylee discovers why. The screams that cannot be denied mean that someone near her will die—and she can never save them. Because saving one life means taking another…. My Soul to Save Going on dates with her boyfriend is still new to Kaylee. But when the singer of the band they're seeing dies onstage and Kaylee doesn't scream, she knows something crazy is going on. Soon she discovers souls can indeed be sold….

    In the last moments of his life, a man cherishes all the moments he's had with the woman he loves.

    Chase s rise to the top hasn t been easy and memories of his mother s murder, as she died in his arms when he was only twelve years old, still haunt him. These memories birth Smoke, his monstrous alter ego, who is psychotic and very dangerous.Chase and his younger brother Corey are close so close that his older brother, Cyrus, uses emotional blackmail to make Chase carry out his deceitful and murderous deeds. While attempting to bury Smoke and break free from his brother s spell, Chase meets the beautiful Bliss Riley. They fall madly in love but there is only one problem...Bliss isn t aware of Chase s murderous appetite and the demon that lives inside of the man she loves. Will Chase be able to bury his demons for good and live happily ever after with the woman of his dreams or will Smoke take Chase and Bliss on a journey that will leave dead bodies throughout the city of New York? Only time will tell!Show More Show Less

    For centuries, religious establishments constructed decorated ossuaries and charnel houses that stand as masterpieces of art created from human bone. These unique structures have been pushed into the footnotes of history; they were part of a dialogue with death that is now silent.The sites in this specially photographed and brilliantly original study range from the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Palermo, where the living would visit mummified or skeletal remains and lovingly dress them; to the Paris catacombs; to fantastic bone-encrusted creations in Austria, Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and elsewhere.Paul Koudounaris photographed more than seventy sites for this book. He analyzes the role of these remarkable memorials within the cultures that created them, as well as the mythology and folklore that developed around them, and skillfully traces a remarkable human endeavor.

    She shares her secret with her classmate Callum, and the two become friends as they work to save the Osprey they’ve named Isis. They’re able to get the bird tagged by a preservationist, but after Isis flies to Africa for the winter, her signal becomes stagnant, then lost. Spurred by a promise to Iona, who has fallen ill, Callum is determined to track and save Isis, and a leap of faith and the magic of e-mail connects him with a girl in Gambia who can help him make good—in more ways than one. Set against the dramatic landscapes of Scotland and West Africa, this is a timeless tale of hope and friendship—a heartwarming novel infused with the beauty of nature.

    . . . . . there. I made it to the next moment. And that’s how you get through a bad moment of grief. You do it one moment at a time. —from Worth Fighting For LISA NIEMI and PATRICK SWAYZE were married for thirty-four years. They first met as teenagers at his mother’s dance studio—he was older and just a bit cocky; she was the beautiful waif who refused to worship the ground he walked on. Through the years their marriage strained under the pressures that many do, but it was always a uniquely passionate and creative partnership. When they first exchanged vows, Lisa promised to be with her husband “till death do us part.” But how many couples stop and think about what that truly means? Worth Fighting For is a remarkably candid look at what losing a partner really entails—how to care for him or her, how to make it through each day without falling into despair, and how to move forward in the second half of your life when the person you spent the first half with is gone. For the first time, Lisa Niemi Swayze shares the details of Patrick’s twenty-one-month battle with Stage IV pancreatic cancer, and she describes his last days, when she simply tried to keep him comfortable. She writes with heartbreaking honesty about her grief in the aftermath of Patrick’s death, and she openly discusses the challenges that the years without him have posed. While this is an emotionally honest and un-flinching depiction of illness and loss, it is also a hopeful and life-affirming exploration of the power of the human spirit. Lisa shows that no matter how dark the prospect of another day may seem, there are always reserves of strength to call upon. She writes, “I tell you, I am a different person now. One who has been thrown into the fire and forged.” Like The Year of Magical Thinking and A Widow’s Story, this book is both a tribute to a marriage and a celebration of the healing power that each day holds, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

    A constant reminder of her mother’s indiscretions, Brianna is unwilling to continue to be the target of her step father’s anger. She leaves her suburban life style for the streets of Charlotte NC. In true Charlotte faith Brianna is linked up with Treshawn Nash, a local hustler. Tre has lived the alternate life; raised by his grandmother who showered him with love in the midst of violence, drugs, and poverty. The two are made for each other. Brianna provides the genuineness and innocence Tre has longed for. While he gives Bri the unconditional love she desperately needs. However, when tragedy strikes their world is turned up side down.

    When it seems nothing else could possibly go wrong, her car skids off an icy road and plunges into a frozen lake. There, in the cold, dark depths of the water, Sophie experiences something profound and extraordinary--something that unlocks the secrets from her past, and teaches her what it means to truly live"--Publisher description.

    Was it murder or suicide? The investigation leads her to a community on the brink of tragedy.The Preacher: Twenty years ago, two young women disappeared in Fjällbacka – now their remains are found, along with a new victim. As Patrik Hedström works to solve these murders, do the dark secrets of a local family hold the key?The Stonecutter: When a little girl is found in a fisherman’s net, the police realize it was no accidental drowning. Patrik Hedström investigates the death of a child both he and Erica knew well.

    In fact, getting sick and dying can be a big, ugly mess-especially before the modern medical care that we all enjoy today. How They Croaked relays all the gory details of how nineteen world figures gave up the ghost. For example:It is believed that Henry VIII's remains exploded within his coffin while lying in state. Doctors "treated" George Washington by draining almost 80 ounces of blood before he finally kicked the bucket. Right before Beethoven wrote his last notes, doctors drilled a hole in his stomach without any pain medication.Readers will be interested well past the final curtain, and feel lucky to live in a world with painkillers, X-rays, soap, and 911.

    Alyxandra Harvey 4 Books Set includes:The Drake Chronicles, Books #1-3My Love Lies Bleeding (Drake Chronicles, #1)Blood Feud (Drake Chronicles, #2)Out for Blood (Drake Chronicles, #3)Haunting Violet, Book #1Haunting Violet

    Thinking of quitting the ministry, Navajo doesn't know where toturn until he begins meeting with a seasoned man of the cloth--his "oldpastor"--who, through successive Monday visits, offers a legacy of wisdomin the form of 15 unique principles.In lyrical prose, Navajoshares the personal anecdotes, fables, and deep spiritual insights offered bythe old pastor and his wife. By turns funny, heartbreaking, and thoughtprovoking, Mondays with My Old Pastor is a comfort to anyone whostruggles in his or her walk with God. As readers follow Navajo's journeyfrom desperation to rejuvenation, they will find themselves similarlytransformed and inspired. This moving, beautifully written account is sure toreignite every soul's longing for renewal.

    As painful as the role reversal between parent and child may be for you, assume it is worse for your mother or father, so take care not to demean or humiliate them.Avoid hospitals and emergency rooms, as well as multiple relocations from home to assisted living facility to nursing home, since all can cause dramatic declines in physical and cognitive well-being among the aged.Do not accept the canard that no decent child sends a parent to a nursing home. Good nursing home care, which supports the entire family, can be vastly superior to the pretty trappings but thin staffing of assisted living or the solitude of being at home, even with round-the-clock help.Important Facts:Every state has its own laws, eligibility standards, and licensing requirements for financial, legal, residential, and other matters that affect the elderly, including qualification for Medicare. Assume anything you understand in the state where your parents once lived no longer applies if they move.Many doctors will not accept new Medicare patients, nor are they legally required to do so, especially significant if a parent is moving a long distance to be near family in old age.An adult child with power of attorney can use a parent’s money for legitimate expenses and thus hasten the spend-down to Medicaid eligibility. In other words, you are doing your parent no favor—assuming he or she is likely to exhaust personal financial resources—by paying rent, stocking the refrigerator, buying clothes, or taking him or her to the hairdresser or barber.

    In this amazingly insightful book by medium/clairvoyant Lisa Williams, evidence of the afterlife is explored. Through various channels such as meditation, psychic readings, communication with her Spirit Guide, and a personal near-death experience, Lisa delves into the journey of the soul, discusses the different stages of the afterlife, and reveals what life is really like on the other side. This book addresses the myriad questions many of us have surrounding this subject, especially if we’ve gone through the painful experience of having lost loved ones. Lisa provides a reassuring glimpse into this fascinating topic by exploring the pathway to the afterlife and then to reincarnation; with the realization that death is not final, but rather a transition into the world beyond; a place that should be honored, not feared.

    IT, a story about family, friendship, and...pie!When Alice's Aunt Polly, the Pie Queen of Ipswitch, passes away, she takes with her the secret to her world-famous pie-crust recipe. Or does she? In her will, Polly leaves the recipe to her extraordinarily fat, remarkably disagreeable cat, Lardo . . . and then leaves Lardo in the care of Alice.Suddenly, the whole town is wondering how you leave a recipe to a cat. Everyone wants to be the next big pie-contest winner, and it's making them pie-crazy. It's up to Alice and her friend Charlie to put the pieces together and discover the not-so-secret recipe for happiness: Friendship. Family. And the pleasure of doing something for the right reason.With Pie, acclaimed author Sarah Weeks has baked up a sweet and satisfying delight, as inviting as warm pie on a cold day. You'll enjoy every last bite.

    Pearl, thinking that Bessie will recover from her illness and live for many more years, agrees, but less than a week later, Bessie passes away.Pearl will now have to take over Nora’s care and plans to take her to Winchester. However, when Bessie’s will is read, she has left the shop and premises to Pearl, yet with a proviso. Pearl not only has to take over Nora’s care, she must do it in Battersea, moving into the shop and premises and living there for the rest of Nora’s natural life. Then, and only then, can she sell up.While Pearl is persuaded to move back to Battersea, Kevin is granted parole but desperate for money, approaches his parents. Once he gets what he wants Kevin intends to see his son, and nothing is going to stand in his way.

    The talented multiple-medalist Jane Yolen takes on this difficult subject with her usual grace and poetic sensitivity, focusing not on the "death" as much as the "life" in the last day of an older cat named Tiger Rose. Tiger Rose's kitten days are long gone and she's grown too tired to stay, so she says her goodbyes to all the creatures and the joys of her natural world--from the scolding blue jay, to the dog and children she shares her home with, to a chipmunk, startled by her gentleness, to her favorite shady patch under a piney bush. In a final vision, Tiger Rose takes one last leap into the blue sky and becomes one with all--the earth, the air, the sun. . . . This is perhaps the most reassuring book on death available for children.

    It’s also home to Ian “Ice” Bailey a man as dangerous as he is sexy. Our story begins on the East side, where we meet Ice and our supporting cast. Kaitlyn “KiKi” Ross and Jaleesa “Tweety” Mitchell; two ladies who can hold their own in the game, making moves and plays as well as any of their male counterparts. Things are fine until Tweety crosses the line, unwittingly dragging KiKi along, and invade Ice’s territory. That’s when everything becomes complicated.Throw in a romantic triangle or three and the fun really starts. Ice has a thing for KiKi, but she has a thing for Tariq. Tariq Taylor is the short order cook she sells smack to and thinks he’s a junkie. Tariq is into KiKi, but Landon, the guy who works for the arena league that KiKi meets at the club, is determined she’s going to be with him. Confused yet? No? Well there’s Tweety’s man Evan, Landon’s friend, who isn’t what he presents himself to be and who also happens to have hidden lust for KiKi.Ice is not a man accustomed to hearing no, or being outwitted in his business. His reaction to both is force, sometimes deadly. Begin the ride with us and meet all the players in our serial drama, starting with the beginning, BEWARE: Thin Ice.

    A poignant gem of a tale about independence, grief, and finding your place.Pearl likes to write poems, but despite the insistence of her teacher, Ms. Bruff, Pearl's poems don't rhyme, and neither does she. She wishes she could grow gills so she could stay underwater in swim class without drowning. And she hasn't a clue why perfect Prudence bumps her desk and sends her pencils flying. Pearl thinks there's no nicer sound than the bell at the end of the day, even though back at home, Granny, always a crucial part of their family of three, sometimes doesn't recognize Pearl, and Mom is tired from providing constant care. In a lyrical novel told with clear-eyed sympathy, humor, and heart, Sally Murphy follows a girl who holds fast to her individuality even as she learns to let go-- and in daring to share her voice, discovers that maybe she's not a group of one after all.

    He knows he should have—Jasmine cried, Mum cried, Dad still cries. Roger didn't, but then he is just a cat and didn't know Rose that well, really.Everyone kept saying it would get better with time, but that's just one of those lies that grown-ups tell in awkward situations. Five years on, it's worse than ever: Dad drinks, Mum's gone and Jamie's left with questions that he must answer for himself.This is his story, an unflinchingly real yet heart-warming account of a young boy's struggle to make sense of the loss that tore his family apart.

    This helpful book walks a pastor through the logistics of memorial services, burials, and working with funeral homes---using the four P's: Plan, Prepare, Preach, and Perform. It shows how to magnify Christ and the gospel in the midst of all the details, demands, and sorrow that surrounds the death of a loved one.The Practical Shepherding series of books provides pastors and ministry leaders with advice and practical help to do the work of pastoral ministry in a local church. In Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals, experienced pastors Brian Croft and Phil A. Newton offer readers a concise guide to conducting funerals that glorify God and offer a timely message of hope.

    citizens over the age of 85 are suffering from some kind of dementia and require care. Loving Someone Who Has Dementia is a new kind of caregiving book. It's not about the usual techniques, but about how to manage on-going stress and grief. The book is for caregivers, family members, friends, neighbors as well as educators and professionals--anyone touched by the epidemic of dementia. Dr. Boss helps caregivers find hope in ambiguous loss--having a loved one both here and not here, physically present but psychologically absent.Outlines seven guidelines to stay resilient while caring for someone who has dementia Discusses the meaning of relationships with individuals who are cognitively impaired and no longer as they used to be Offers approaches to understand and cope with the emotional strain of care-giving Boss's book builds on research and clinical experience, yet the material is presented as a conversation. She shows you a way to embrace rather than resist the ambiguity in your relationship with someone who has dementia.

    Intended to help people to face life’s difficulties, they include essentials of Buddhist philosophy, contemplations on the ephemeral nature of both joy and suffering, meditations for resting the mind, and guidance for maintaining equanimity in real-life circumstances. Khenchen Thrangu, a modern meditation master, describes in this book his studies with a teacher of great renown who remained in Tibet after the Chinese invasion. The deceased elder master, known as Khenpo Gangshar, is still renowned as a dynamic, unconventional teacher, widely respected for his spiritual achievement. He foresaw the difficulties coming in Tibet and realized that he had to give people some straightforward instructions that would be easy to remember and to use, because the country would soon be engulfed in turmoil and be in need of spiritual help.

    I. Packer, and John Piper.

    Living with his increasingly senile Nan, his dog Mutt is the only thing keeping him sane. His only other friend is Frank, a former friend of his father. Frank's own life is falling apart and he has recruited Goose to help him carry out petty theft around the city. A year to the day since the accident that changed his life, Goose meets Anthony, a strange man who has forgotten who he is, but seems to know more about others than they know about themselves. When Mutt goes missing, Goose has no choice but to rely on Anthony to help find him. In an adventure that draws in Frank, who's lost his family, an old lady who's lost a precious bangle, an elderly doctor who's lost his wife and mother who's lost her daughter, Goose follows Anthony across Manchester. But at the centre of the mystery is Anthony himself: who is he, how does he know so much and can he help Goose and the others find what they're searching for? A delight to read from start to finish, David Logan takes the reader on a terrific journey through love, loss and the quest for home.

    In She, which Windham was putting the finishing touches on when she died in June 2011, the author describes how she woke up one day to find that she had an unwanted houseguest, an old woman who had suddenly moved into her home and was taking over her life. Windham referred to this interloper simply as She, and here the reader has been invited into the lively colloquy between the author--whose spirit has not changed--and her alter ego, who moves haltingly toward her earthly end. She will leave you laughing and crying, but also grateful and hopeful.

    Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a paper kite, for letting go.As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?

    The true story of Alban Snape, aged just 18 he was taken prisoner whilst on a scouting mission soon after the Normandy Landings in June 1944. This 'Churchill gangster' was transported to Poland to work for the Germans in a sugar factory. The story tells of Alban's attempted escape, the sabotage of the sugar factory and the long march west that followed. For five months they were marched and starved with the harsh central European winter as the backdrop to this epic tale. This book gives a dramatic insight to the tyranny and horror that was Nazi Germany, where a single Red Cross parcel was worth killing for and where men fought a continual struggle to stave of death from a plethora of causes.

    Emily wasn't born perfect - so one might think. She was born with Down Syndrome and many would jump to the conclusion that she would have very little hope for a life with any significance. Two years later came the diagnosis of leukemia. What little hope remaining turned to no hope whatsoever - or so one might think. The life of this little girl, with all its perceived imperfections, had great meaning. Her loving nature and courage touched the hearts of everyone she met. She also taught them how to value their own lives - even with their many "imperfections."

    This work is light, deft, dangerous. There are perfect poems here, such as “The End”, which enacts a simple, startling twist on the hoary injunction to “Walk towards the light.” See, everything you know is wrong. You really have to read this book. -Rae AmrantroutI've always found Kendal Frey's poems fascinating to the point of transfix—they make compelling reading: I've never started one I didn't finish, something I can say of very few other poets' work. Her first full-length collection surely places her among the most brilliant of today's young poets. The Grief Performance commands and rewards the mind's richest attendance.--Bill KnottEmily Kendal Frey’s The Grief Performance is a book that condenses a journey of finding and re-finding loss into beautiful packages. The packages are the poems and they sit shiny and new on every page of this fabulous and generous book. I want to go into the world that these poems create, just so that I can be given these terrifying presents again and again. I know you will, too. See you there.--Dorothea LaskyEmily Kendal Frey's poems are made of words that can fake out death, trick abandonment into a bed, turn love into hands. They are rich with sound, brave with secrets, funny (tragic), and open ( ). She will twist up your heart into your next heart. Settle in. There are three dead people in her.--Zachary Schomburg

    If it is a story of grief, it is also a story of hope and of the unexpected places where healing can be found. Simon's journey takes him from Edinburgh in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, to Downing Street in London, to Thailand and the island where his brother died, to the scene of an ancient tsunami on the north-west coast of the United States, and to the town where he and his brother's favourite childhood film was made. Along the way there is heartbreak, dengue fever, Greek mythology, and hard physical labour in the tropical heat, but there is also memory, redemption and humour as well.

    He believes most risks are worth taking, the promises he makes can be kept, and love doesn't factor in his relationships any longer. They're both wrong.Jordan Holloway has never fully recovered from the unexpected deaths of her famous Hollywood parents. At 27, she is still slow to trust and remains uncertain about the true duration of love and happiness. Yet, it's been four years since she fell in love with Ethan when he rocked her world even as he marched off to war leaving her alone with their young son Max. Now, Ethan tells her this will be his last tour in Afghanistan and that soon the three of them will be together. Still anxious at his leaving again, Jordan extracts a promise for Ethan's safe return from Brock Wainwright, her husband's sniper partner and best friend. But, can she put all her trust in Brock and can he keep such a promise?At 29, Brock Wainwright fully embraces the dangerous life of a Navy Seal. He enjoys his freedom and not being committed to anyone; and, there's been a long line of women who can attest to that. Everything changes for Brock after he meets Jordan. When the two men return to Afghanistan, Brock's intent on keeping his promise to Jordan about keeping Ethan safe for a variety of reasons, including the most disturbing one of all, he is more than just attracted to his best friend's wife. This revelation plagues Brock on the battlefield and in a violent moment changes everything. If you enjoy Nicholas Sparks' The Lucky One or Dear John and the twists and turns of storylines like those of Jodi Picoult, you've got to read When I See You.

    Harper and her step-brother, Tolliver Lang, have just completed a job in Sarne, Arkansas, but that doesn't mean their work is done. More people are turning up dead, and Harper might just be falling for the town's deputy, a handsome, rugged man whose wife died under mysterious circumstances... Grave Sight Part 2 features 44-pages of story and art, with the balance consisting of bonus and behind-the-scenes material.

    As for hell, it's far out of proportion to any sin we might have committed and makes a travesty of God. But what if the afterlife was something very different? The key to such knowledge is mediumship. Three decades of research have taught the author, a world expert in the field of death and afterlife studies, who the most reliable voices are. These accounts are far better developed and more plausible than anything found in the world's scriptures or theologies. We hunger for a reliable revelation telling us that life here and now is meaningful and good, that each of us has an important part to play in its proper unfolding, that we are accountable for all we do, and that the godless materialism all around us is a pathological mistake. The world ahead, unlike ours, is fascinating and fair. Authentic mediums may be the closest thing to the voice of God that our planet has.

    When illness cuts Sammy's life short, the girl's family keeps his spirit alive by celebrating his love of chasing wind-blown bubbles, keeping loyal guard at night, and offering his velvety fur for endless pats and tummy scratches. Painter Jamie Wyeth's illustrations-- infused with his realist style and lifelong fondness for dogs-- radiate the joy and sadness of every tongue-licking, tail-wagging moment in this heartening and lovingly rendered story written by Pulitzer Prize-- winning journalist Barbara Walsh.

    Michelle Latiolais has given us the rarest item, a splendidly articulated masterpiece.” —William Kittredge“In this luminous collection of stories, the gifted Michelle Latiolais writes of loss in all its surprising manifestations. Widow is a devastation and a wonder.” —Christine Schutt“There is something mysterious about this book, as there always is in the writing that matters most. It eludes explanation. It illumines terrifying realities. Only because these pages seem nakedly willing to take the imprint of every emotion, no matter how ugly, do they possess this great beauty.” —Elizabeth TallentThe stories of Widow conjure the nuances of inner sensations as if hitting the notes of a song, deftly played across human memory. These meditations bravely explore the physiology of grief through a masterful interweaving of tender insight and unflinching detail—reminding us that the inner life is best understood through the medium of storytelling. Among these stories of loss are interwoven other tales, creating a bridge to the ineffable pleasures and follies of life before the catastrophe. Throughout this collection, Latiolais captures the longing, humor, and strange grace that accompany life’s most transformative chapters.Michelle Latiolais is the author of Widow: Stories, a New York Times Editor's Choice selection, and two previous novels, including A Proper Knowledge, also published by Bellevue Literary Press. She is the recipient of the Gold Medal for Fiction from the Commonwealth Club of California and an English professor and co-director of the Programs in Writing at the University of California at Irvine.

    What exactly happens to those who die as Christians? What do they immediately experience? What is their existence like right now? What will happen to them when Christ returns to earth? These questions can be especially acute for grieving loved ones who remain. What comfort and assurance does Scripture offer you? What can you truly know and be confident of? These are the questions and concerns that faced Pastor Albert N. Martin following the death of his wife of nearly 50 years. He knew that, if he were to grieve in a way that glorified God, he needed to know the answers to those questions, as clearly as possible, directly from Scripture. This book is the product of his grief, his tears, his travails, his prayers, and his concentrated study of God's Word. A beloved pastor and widely respected preacher for half a century, Albert Martin handles Scripture with the greatest of skill, care, wisdom, and respect. In this book, you will learn what God tells us with regard to the burning questions that so often accompany the death of a loved one in Christ. There is comfort for the grief. There are answers to the questions. The Bible does offer hope, solace, healing, and confidence. Pastor Albert Martin has been there. Let him share with you the deep comfort, encouragement, and joy that he found, through Scripture, in the midst of his grieving.

    He first came to international prominence in 1979, when he was recruited from the cult metal band Quiet Riot to play with Ozzy Osbourne, who had been fired from Black Sabbath for his drink and drug addictions and was in urgent need of a co-writer to kickstart a solo career. How and why Ozzy and Randy went on to find enormous success is one of the key themes of Crazy Train, named after the first and most famous Osbourne/Rhoads co-composition. It was Randy's pioneering combination of neo-classical soloing, catchy riffage and unforgettable songwriting which propelled Ozzy. The two albums that Randy recorded with Quiet Riot and the two with Ozzy showcase the young guitarist's immense ability, although the full extent of his talent may never have been revealed. In 1982 he died in an air crash. The parallels between Crazy Train and the author's best-selling To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton (Jawbone 2009) are intentional and obvious. Both books deal with a musical prodigy who died tragically in his mid-20s; both men have a vast following and a profile which has risen in the years since their deaths; and both men have a large coterie of friends, family and associates prepared to tell their stories for the very first time.

    View 68 cemeteries in 170 beautiful photographs that breathe life into existence of those who have passed before us, and who are now enshrined for eternity in landscaped paradises. Within each placid scene and through heartfelt words displayed upon markers, join photographer John Thomas Grant in his one-of-a-kind study of an American tradition.

    Archaic words are explained, textual problems are lucidly discussed, and stylistic features of the original texts are highlighted.Judicious and economical, the introductions and annotations to the Old Testament give readers without Hebrew an entry into complexities of biblical literature, reconstructing its original contexts, tracing its evolution, and pointing out productive strategies of reading. Incorporating the insights of modern biblical scholarship as well as centuries of precritical interpretation, they offer essential guidance to a labyrinthine world, while respecting the text 's integrity.The historical and critical appendix comprises three distinct collections. A section on ancient Near Eastern backgrounds presents the myths, hymns, prayers, and legal codes that informed the creation of the Hebrew Bible. A historical anthology of biblical interpretation gathers for the first time in one volume generous selections from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, along with classics of secular commentary. It includes reflections on the Bible by philosophers from Hobbes to Ricoeur; a compendium of modern biblical scholarship, focusing on topics such as the oral and the written, the composition of the Pentateuch, and the historical movement from covenant to canon; and a provocative sampling of comparative and literary approaches. The crucial presence of the Old Testament within English literature is represented by paraphrases and parables in verse and prose, and a recapitulatory conclusion brings the diverse perspectives of this millennial survey to bear on two of the Bible 's most famous passages: the expulsion from the garden of Eden and the binding of Isaac. A final section devoted to the question of translation includes significant English versions from Wycliffe to the present.Time lines, chronologies, diagrams, and maps are included.

    In the epic and powerful "Under-Heaven" he has done it again...times three.Traumatized by the violent murders of his parents and himself, nine-year-old Nate wakes in a version of Purgatory. With the help of dead relatives from above and below, he struggles to find a way to move on. Meanwhile back on Earth, Nate's sole surviving sister seems to have been imprinted with darkness because time and again she finds herself involved with violent men and dangerous situations. When mobsters follow her and her latest boyfriend down a dead end dirt road, it doesn't seem likely that anyone will escape. The final player in this emotional opus is five-year-old Jesse who places his hope and faith in his drug-addicted father. It isn't until his kidnapping from his Boston school that the pain really begins. Tim Greaton's "Under Heaven" will pull you out of your world and leave you gasping for breath in his, and the surprising culmination of this entwining story will stay with you for a lifetime. One reviewer says, "Like walking the edge of a cliff that provides a breathtaking view, this book is both scary and beautiful." While another reviewer declares, "Tim Greaton's fans will follow him to Hell in gasoline raincoats...."You're invited to find out why. From the Author:Dear Reader,By now, many of you are aware that I had a pretty horrible childhood. For me,there aren't a lot of cheerful memories, and dredging up what few I have is likerevisiting a graveyard. I was a somber kid and my childhood was something Isurvived not something I enjoyed. I don't blame my parents. They loved all oftheir children, but they themselves came from dysfunctional homes and were nomore qualified to raise six children than I am to perform brain surgery. Myparents did their best but their best was a disaster. No child should everexperience what I or, worse, what the two boys in this novel endured.Unfortunately, such tragedies occur every day. In my case, if it weren'tfor a local library and the books that allowed me brief periods of escape duringthose dark years, I'm not sure where I would be today. It is certain, however,that I owe a great debt to the librarians and those many authors who toiled forme. If my novels can help even one similarly troubled soul find a few moments ofescape, then I will have succeeded. Thank you for considering"Under-Heaven." I'm humbled by the time you've already invested and am hopefulthat Nate and Jesse's emotional journeys will lead you to a brighter place inthe real world. Your friend,Tim Greaton

    They cast spells, heal, and foretell the future. What you might not know is that Witches can also commune with the spirits of the dead.In The Witches' Book of the Dead, modernday Salem Warlock Christian Day shows how the spirits of our beloved dead can be summoned to perform such tasks as helping you to discover hidden opportunities, influence the minds of others, seduce the object of your affection, and even reach into the dreams of the unwary. According to legend, the Spirits of the dead can confer magical talents, fame, love, and wealth on those brave enough to summon them.The Witches' Book of the Dead explores the enduring relationship between witches and the dead and teaches rituals and incantations to help readers open doorways to the spirit world.Topics include: Legendary Witches who have raised the dead, including The Witch of Endor, Circe, and ErichthoCreating ancestral altars and building relationships with spiritsThe tools of Necromancy: the bronze dagger, yew wand, iron keys, graveyard dust, the offering cauldron, spirit powders, the human skull, and moreMethods of spirit contact, including automatic writing, scrying mirrors, spirit boards, pendulums, and spirit mediumshipThe ancient arts of necromancy as a method of conjuring the dead to assist in magicRidding yourself of unwanted spirits using rituals of cleansing, banishing and exorcismGhost hunting techniques that combine psychic wisdom with modern technologyCommuning with the dead in dreamsSacred holidays and powerful celebrations of the deadResources on where to ethically obtain the tools of the tradeAn overview of the feared deities of the UnderworldRituals, recipes, exercises, and more!Dare to walk between the worlds with Christian Day as he guides you across the River Styx into the shadowy realms where the dead long to connect with us once more!

    Hall—deliver searing stories about women who make hard sacrifices to stay on top of their hustle and seize the power, money, and fame they can’t live without. Enterprising and fearless, these players are more than equipped to handle whatever the street throws at them. That’s because they are hellbent on survival—by any means necessary. Once again, Nikki Turner shares ultra-realistic page-turners that will keep fans coming back for more.

    Iris, a vegetarian and animal lover, immediately clashes with Aunt Sue, who mistreats the livestock, spends Iris’s small inheritance, and thinks nothing of striking Iris for the smallest offense. Things come to a head when Iris sets two young goats free to save them from slaughter, and an enraged Aunt Sue orders her brutish son, Book, to beat Iris senseless - a horrific act that lands Book and his mother in jail. Sent to live with an offbeat foster family and their "dooking" ferrets, Iris must find a way to take care of the animals back at the farm, even if it means confronting Aunt Sue. Powerful and deeply moving, this compelling novel affirms the redemptive power of animals and the resilience of the human spirit.

    In response, the authors have created a unique and comprehensive guide urging EVERYONE to prepare in advance, to assure their own peace and to prevent the suffering of their loved ones. In "It's OK to Die" you will find a wealth of clear and simplified information including: insights into the process of dying, guidance for obtaining emotional and spiritual closure, clear explanations of end-of-life medical treatment options, new tools for making challenging medical decisions, and numerous other action steps to take so that when "your time" comes (and it will), it will be OK to die.Finally, the book contains a call to the nation: to openly discuss death and dying in the public arena, to reconsider "how we die" in our culture, and for politicians to lay aside differences and pass legislation that will:Reduce suffering among those approaching the end of lifeReduce depression and guilt among surviving family and friendsReduce the federal and state budgets

    A tattooed man who quests to reclaim his art. An ice cream man who is more than just a vendor of sweet treats. What do these characters have in common? Their stories, which first appeared on the FiendMaster's website, have been compiled here to create Fiends, Volume I. Canvas - What is more important? The art, or the medium used to create the art? Where does inspiration come from? Canvas discusses a dark inspiration for the creation of works the artist considers "holy." Tattoo - Scars. They remind us who we are, what we are and where we have been. But when a scar takes away your identity, what would you do to get it back? Jackson, a journalist in Houston, discovers links between several murders that have taken place in his city. His investigation draws him into the world of body art where he discovers an obsession worth killing for. Closet Treats - Reality is a slippery slope for Trey Leger. He's managed to carve out a somewhat normal existence in spite of his mental illness. But when an ice cream truck starts making the rounds of his neighborhood, Trey can no longer tell reality from his delusions.

    Morgan’s relatively normal life is turned on its ear when she learns not only that she is adopted, but her birth parents are dead and she now holds half-interest in a business with their ward, Dorian Drake. Dorian is running The Shoppe of Spells and despite his riveting good looks, he can barely conceal his hostility toward his new partner. Morgan discovers that she is more than she seems and together she and Dorian have the ability to control a portal to another dimension. Unable to control their growing attraction, Morgan and Dorian dance around their desires and her burgeoning abilities, until danger forces them to face their destiny.

    Six months before that, I used a Voor’s Head Device for the first time." This line opens the 150-page book that accompanies Giles Corey, an intensely personal, intimate portrait of depression that took me almost 4 years to make. We've called this "acoustic music from the industrial revolution," and that's as good as anything. Dominated by the acoustic guitar, the music is a gloomy mixture of Americana influences, snippets of EVP recordings, ghostly choirs and deep, heavy organ. It ranges from very dark to triumphant, hushed quiet to crashingly loud. The album follows a story arc of emotions that are detailed in the accompanying book, as much a part of this record as the music. The text switches between personal tales of struggles with depression, suicide, and a feeling of being lost, and the story of cult-leader and afterlife theorist Robert Voor. Voor's writings on death and the afterlife feature prominently across HAVE A NICE LIFE's "Deathconsciousness," Nahvalr's self-titled debut, and Giles Corey, making him the unifying factor behind most of the music I've written in the last 10 years. This record is as personal and raw as anything I've ever done. Thank you for your interest.

    Archaic words are explained, textual problems are lucidly discussed, and stylistic features of the original texts are highlighted.For the New Testament and the Apocrypha, the introductions and annotations by Austin Busch and Gerald Hammond provide necessary historical and cultural background, while illuminating the complexity of the original texts. Supporting materials are divided into five sections. Historical Contexts excerpts Greek, Roman, and Jewish sources, such as Josephus, Philo, Tacitus, Pliny, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Selections from Papias, Marcion, and Valentinus, among others, provide insight into the diversity of early Christianity. Exegesis explores classic New Testament commentary from Origen and Augustine to Strauss, Nietzsche, Wrede, and Schweitzer, who focus on the Gospels vexing relationship to history. Essays by contemporary scholars and critics complete the section by exemplifying a range of interdisciplinary approaches to New Testament literature.The New Testament s powerful language and images have inspired some of the finest poems in the English language. This volume collects a wide selection of lyric poems, hymns and spirituals, and epics, from the Dream of the Rood to works by Countee Cullen, Elizabeth Bishop, and Anthony Hecht. Case studies designed to stimulate classroom discussion trace the development of Pontius Pilate as a character in post-biblical literature, follow the centuries-long exegetical debate about Romans 7, and survey competing hermeneutical approaches to Revelation. A final section samples fifteen translations of 1 Corinthians 13, from Wycliffe to contemporary versions.

    

    When Lupita learns Mami has cancer, she is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit family. Suddenly, being a high school student, starring in a play, and dealing with friends who don't always understand, become less important than doing whatever she can to save Mami's life. While her father cares for Mami at an out-of-town clinic, Lupita takes charge of her seven younger siblings. As Lupita struggles to keep the family afloat, she takes refuge in the shade of a mesquite tree, where she escapes the chaos at home to write. Forced to face her limitations in the midst of overwhelming changes and losses, Lupita rediscovers her voice and finds healing in the power of words. Told with honest emotion in evocative free verse, Lupita's journey toward hope is captured in moments that are alternately warm and poignant. Under the Mesquite is an empowering story about testing family bonds and the strength of a young woman navigating pain and hardship with surprising resilience.

    Stories about the gods and humans who inhabited it. Of the river Pampa who yearned to marry Shiva. Of Vali, the insecure king of Kishkindha, and of Rama who was unable to give his faithful lieutenant, Hanuman, the one thing he desired. More mysterious is the storyteller, an ascetic, who insists that the brothers are destined to become rulers of a mighty empire.

    Translating that principle into methods of guiding care at the end of life, however, can be a complicated and daunting task. Dignity therapy, a psychological intervention developed by Dr. Harvey MaxChochinov and his internationally lauded research group, has been designed specifically to address many of the psychological, existential, and spiritual challenges that patients and their families face as they grapple with the reality of life drawing to a close. Tested with patients with advancedillnesses in Canada, the United States, Australia, China, Scotland, England, and Denmark, dignity therapy has been shown to not only benefit patients, but their families as well.In the first book to lay out the blueprint for this unique and meaningful intervention, Chochinov addresses one of the most important dimensions of being human. Being alive means being vulnerable and mortal; he argues that dignity therapy offers a way to preserve meaning and hope for patientsapproaching death.Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days is a beautiful introduction to this pioneering and innovative work. With history and foundations of dignity in care, and step by step guidance for readers interested in implementing the program, this volume illuminates how dignity therapy can changeend-of-life experience for those about to die - and for those who will grieve their passing.

    It’s where Jesus lives and waits for those he loves to come to him. It’s a place of joy and love and hope—a place where all of God’s children, young and old, will stay and be happy forever.Engaging questions and scripture references in the back of this book will help parents reinforce the message that Heaven is a place of love that we can all look forward to seeing one day. There’s even a special keepsake invitation for children to RSVP to Jesus!

    The quiet, lapidary elegies of “Obituary of Light” are set against the furious mischief of “Random Acts of Poetry,” where the lines move with the inventive energy of a natural storyteller, while “Heroines” wrests a harsh and haunting poetry from the language of the street.  Her alertness to the absurdity in even the most heartbreaking personal crises leavens the sorrow that speaks through so many of the poems. Sadness and levity interweave. The wilderness and the penitentiary reflect one another. There’s an underlying tenderness, though, whether she is writing about family, the dispossessed, her life on Haida Gwaii, or the vagaries of love. This is Susan Musgrave in full control of her powers, writing poetry that cuts right to the bone.

    "The heart of the gospel speaks into the most numbing and terrifying moments of our lives with words of hope and joy amid fear and bewilderment," writes Wells. This book provides an intellectually rigorous but scripturally rooted and theologically accessible engagement with questions of faith.

    She helps people transition to what comes next, though she has never seen it for herself. She believes that she is being kept out of the afterlife because of the secret she keeps inside her. It’s not until she runs into a man at the theater that everything changes. He can see her and that knowledge thrusts her into a part of this world, full of people just like herself. Here, she may finally be able to atone for what she has done.

    That is, until the sneezing starts. They soon discover there is far more to Emily than they ever imagined. But everything changes when Alice realizes they may have made a terrible mistake.The entire family will enjoy this story and its timeless message of the love of Jesus and the unique purpose for which each of us is made.The Sneezing Christmas Tree is a story you'll return to and cherish year after year.

    She knows how to run a ranch and how to keep her guests happy; she knows when to stay out of Martha’s kitchen and not to leave Jonah’s tools lying around; she knows how to soothe a frightened colt, and that T.J. worries too much for a little boy, but she doesn’t know how to stop an anonymous investor from buying out her leases. Maggie will not lose everything her parents built. Saving the M-Bar is the only way to keep her parents’ memory alive. When the pressure of holding everything together weighs too heavily, Maggie breaks a long-standing rule: she rides off alone across the M-Bar pastures without telling anyone where she’s going.Witt McCreigh has been Maggie’s best friend her whole life. When Maggie never returns to the ranch, Witt saddles Maggie’s best mare, abandons the formal search party, and follows his heart. Witt rides with one hope—to find Maggie alive, and one regret—that he has never told her how much he loves her.

    And all humanity.This Auschwitz Chapter is taken from Lee Vidor's novel, Under Total Eclipse We Will Tremble Like Birds Without Song, which is an historically accurate fictional account of Europe under Nazi Occupation. Even though The Auschwitz Chapter is only a concise single chapter in the novel, more than 2 years were spent researching every existing published eyewitness account of imprisonment at Auschwitz, in order to ensure complete accuracy. Lee Vidor states: ‘I believe I missed no eyewitness testimonies and that the account here given is absolutely accurate in every detail. It is the most specific and accurate description of events and processes at Auschwitz which exists. Every single detail in The Auschwitz Chapter has been confirmed from more than one eyewitness source, from photographic evidence and court documents.I believe it is the single most reliable and harrowing piece of literary writing ever done on the subject of the events which took place in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II.’Although fictional, the piece contains many precise facts which are extremely difficult to uncover and which are coherently gathered together nowhere else with such accuracy and completeness. Herein lies its enduring value.This work is not suitable for reading by anyone under 18 years of age.Please Note: This book is subject to attacks by holocaust deniers. A careful reading of any peculiar review for hidden motive is recommended. About The Auschwitz Chapter:If Holocaust deniers have somehow begun to lead you to question that what took place in Auschwitz concentration camp may be in any possible way a part myth, then this is the book for you. This is the concise and authentic story of what happened in Auschwitz, and in other Nazi concentration camps during World War II. The Auschwitz Chapter will inform you precisely of what was done, how it was done, where it was done, and precisely by whom. And it will give your their reasons for doing it. It will also tell you what it means to the world. You will read the absolute and specific truth. Every detail of the process. You won't have to doubt or wonder about it any longer. It will be the most valuable time you have ever spent on the subject because you will have learned not only about Auschwitz and about human nature, but also about the true nature of Holocaust deniers and revisionists. About Lee Vidor:Lee Vidor is the original source of the astonishing Shakespeare-X Message.She is the author of the novel cycle, 20th Century Bohemians and Angels, which is an expansive cycle of literary novels which follows and dramatizes the development of Modernism among the great writers, artists and bohemians of the 20th Century. It is a story of artistic obsession and bohemian madness.It is Lee Vidor’s original theory that the 20th Century has been a Modernist Renaissance for mankind, which is greater and more essential for our development than the Italian Renaissance of c1500.The Shakespeare-X Message is a definitive statement of authorship sent to the world by the authentic William Shakespeare. A mathematically verifiable statement.Lee Vidor has that message. The only person in 400 years to receive it.

    When you turn around expecting to see something familiar, and instead see something else altogether, it takes a little while for your brain to catch up with your eyes. I call it the 'Holy Crap Factor.'Forced to flee his home and family, twelve-year-old Will Ritter falls in with the Undertakers - a rag-tag army of teenage resistance fighters who've banded together to battle the Corpses.

    Seeking to counter the medicalization of death that is so prevalent today, Verhey revisits the fifteenth-century Ars Moriendi, an illustrated spiritual self-help manual on "the art of dying." Finding much wisdom in that little book but rejecting its Stoic and Platonic worldview, Verhey uncovers in the biblical accounts of Jesus' death a truly helpful paradigm for dying well and faithfully.

    By 41, I had developed Generalized Anxiety Disorder. At 44, I was hospitalized for seven weeks following a catastrophic suicide attempt. This non-fiction book begins on the Saturday morning I received the call that ever after divided time for me: the news of my mother's accidental death. It describes the additional hardships - infertility, layoffs, a cross-country move, divorce - that led to the day I took a razor blade to my throat. It follows my journey from Atlanta to Athens, Georgia; central Oregon; and finally back to my roots in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, as well as my emotional journey from happily married stay-at-home mom to divorced secretary and single parent. Most importantly, it chronicles my battle with an insidious mental illness, my experiences in two psychiatric wards, and how I fought my way back to health. During this six-year journey, I learned a great deal about the nature of mental disorders and the availability of effective treatment. I became certified as an "In Our Own Voice" presenter for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, so I can do my part to raise public understanding of why we must stop drawing a distinction between "mental" and "physical" health. The body functions as a whole. The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that one in five Americans suffers from a mental illness in any given year -- everyone knows someone. I know the despair of hitting bottom, and I know the absolute necessity of hope. This book is about both. View the trailer at: http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeFDkkOEyk0

    Considered the worst public school disaster in U.S. history, controversial theories surrounding this tragedy are still debated to this day. The event sparked changes that soon reverberated around the world and continue to affect each of us in our homes, schools, businesses and places of worship. "An American Holocaust" is a story that begins with the giving of a child's Christmas gift in 1936. The explosion took place at the London School in New London, Texas. This story relays more than simple facts. It is a personal account of unprepared loss and shattered dreams, followed by unfathomable grief. It describes the feelings of those who died in their innocence and of those who witnessed horror and lived through the aftermath. An unresolved silence persisted for forty years among the entire community of scarred survivors. For those who spoke out, their stories have been told and re-told for over three quarters of a century, but most people have never heard them. Although the innocent still suffer from the ignorance and indifference of a few, especially those we should be able to trust with the lives and safety of our children, this is also a story of hope. Countless lives have been saved by bold actions that were taken in the wake of this unanticipated sacrifice of so many children who were literally consumed by fire on the day a generation died in Texas. The following is an editorial review by John E. Roper, The US Review of Books: "I remember being thrown up in the air like a toy... I keep turning and spinning. Then darkness." The attack on the World Trade Center in New York claimed almost 3,000 lives and changed America forever. A little-remembered explosion of a school in the 1930s resulted in just over 300 deaths, yet it, too, had a tremendous impact on society. Barger revives the story of one of the nation's most poignant tragedies in his highly-moving tale. The school in New London was considered one of the most modern facilities in the state for the time period, and the residents of the small East Texas town were extremely proud of it. Like in many of the small towns near the oil fields, school officials had decided to tap into the natural gas lines to cut heating costs at the facility. What they never realized was just how dangerous that practice could be. On March 18, 1937, a spark in the wood shop ignited the cloud of invisible and odorless gas that had slowly permeated the school. The resulting explosion killed children and teachers alike, littering the area with body parts and completely devastating a community. The catastrophe led Texas to mandate the inclusion of an additive to natural gas that would enable people to smell it. The nation and then much of the world soon followed suit. Barger's book follows the lives of several families affected by the tragedy, including his own. By giving the reader glimpses into the hopes and dreams of individuals like his cousin, Lataine, he builds a literary memorial to those who lost so much to make others safe in the future... it stands as a much-needed reminder of an event that should never be forgotten. (The U.S. Review) (Notice to literary agents, publishers and producers: all applicable rights are open for bid. Contact information is available at the end of the book or via the author's website at https://sites.google.com/site/KerryLB... )

    This is a story about friendship, grief, identity, and learning to live with a loss that’s unimaginable. Two years ago ten-year-old Emma’s twin sister, Laura, died at their birthday party, and since then Emma’s life has not been the same. Without her louder and stronger sister, Emma starts to feel lonely and invisible. Then someone totally different steps into her world. Lexi is an unpredictable force of nature. She has wild red hair and wears an eye patch. What happened to her? Where is she from? Lexi is a mystery to Emma, a mystery which slowly unravels as they become friends. With Lexi’s help, Emma finds the courage to ask questions about Laura’s death—but will she be able to cope with the answers she uncovers?

    What does that look like? Who in America knows what that looks like? Because I know what that looks like, and I feel responsible for the fact that no one else does..." Logan's query raised some important yet ignored questions: How did the remains of American service men and women get from the dusty roads of Fallujah to the flag-covered coffins at Dover Air Force Base? And what does the gathering of those remains tell us about the nature of modern warfare and about ourselves? These questions are the focus of Jess Goodell's story, Shade it Black: Death and After in Iraq.Goodell enlisted in the Marines immediately after graduating from high school in 2001, and in 2004 she volunteered to serve in the Marine Corps' first officially declared Mortuary Affairs unit in Iraq. Her platoon was tasked with recovering and processing the remains of fallen soldiers. With sensitivity and insight, Goodell describes her job retrieving and examining the remains of fellow soldiers lost in combat in Iraq, and the psychological intricacy of coping with their fates, as well as her own. Death assumed many forms during the war, and the challenge of maintaining one's own humanity could be difficult. Responsible for diagramming the outlines of the fallen, if a part was missing she was instructed to "shade it black." This insightful memoir also describes the difficulties faced by these Marines when they transition from a life characterized by self-sacrifice to a civilian existence marked very often by self-absorption. In sharing with us the story of her own journey, Goodell also helps us to better understand how PTSD affects female veterans. With the assistance of John Hearn, she has written one of the most unique accounts of America's current wars overseas yet seen.

    Her boyfriend just dumped her the week before Christmas, so why is she only depressed he made off with the mince pies? When the charming science teacher next door overhears the dreaded call and suggests she accompany him on his Scottish holiday retreat, she accepts, eager to spend a quiet week rediscovering herself.Noel Coward‘s wife died on Christmas Eve three years ago. To bury the memories of that day, he spends the holidays getting drunk and watching action movies—which makes him perfect company for a fellow teacher in need of solitude. Except, instead of wallowing in his grief, Noel finds himself comforted by Holly’s presence, fascinated by her mind, and after one innocent kiss, on fire for her touch. As the snow piles up outside, the temperature inside soars, while together, they discover the human heart’s amazing capacity to heal…and love.

    In Wild Dog Dreaming, Deborah Bird Rose explores what constitutes an ethical relationship with nonhuman others in this era of loss. She asks, Who are we, as a species? How do we fit into the Earth's systems? Amidst so much change, how do we find our way into new stories to guide us? Rose explores these questions in the form of a dialogue between science and the humanities. Drawing on her conversations with Aboriginal people, for whom questions of extinction are up-close and very personal, Rose develops a mode of exposition that is dialogical, philosophical, and open-ended.An inspiration for Rose--and a touchstone throughout her book--is the endangered dingo of Australia. The dingo is not the first animal to face extinction, but its story is particularly disturbing because the threat to its future is being actively engineered by humans. The brazenness with which the dingo is being wiped out sheds valuable, and chilling, light on the likely fate of countless other animal and plant species."People save what they love," observed Michael Soule, the great conservation biologist. We must ask whether we, as humans, are capable of loving--and therefore capable of caring for--the animals and plants that are disappearing in a cascade of extinctions. Wild Dog Dreaming engages this question, and the result is a bold account of the entangled ethics of love, contingency, and desire.

    A companion to Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Madness, this second installment of illustrated Poe includes the perennial favorite The Tell-Tale Heart as well as The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether, The Oblong Box, and The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar . Brought to life with an abundance of full-color art, these slightly trimmed stories have never looked better—or more frightening! Tighten your straitjackets….

    But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one — so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going — California.Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down — again.

    She ends the book on a hopeful note, acknowledging that although she will always miss her brother, she will also always hold him close to her, in her heart."-- Rheta Van Winkle, BookLoons Reviews, 2013This book is meant for anyone who has lost a brother or sister to suicide - and those who want to support them. Any loss is difficult, but a loss to suicide is heightened because of the helplessness and confusion surrounding it. A sibling loss to suicide is even more unique because the sibling(s) left behind are often forgotten - mourning the loss of their brother or sister alone in the shadows of their parents' grief.This book discusses some of the distinct challenges sibling survivors of suicide face, such as:� What can I expect during the grieving process as a sibling survivor of suicide?� How can I take care of myself?� How do I answer questions about my now-departed sibling?� What can I do to get through the holidays and anniversaries?� How do I keep my brother or sister alive in my life, without him or her physically present?Magdaline answers these questions and more directly from her experience following the loss of her 18 year-old brother, John, to suicide in November 2001. Hopefully, her story will give readers a small piece of strength, faith, and peace in navigating the long road to healing ahead.

    Bishop, a philosopher, ethicist, and physician, argues that something has gone sadly amiss in the care of the dying by contemporary medicine and in our social and political views of death, as shaped by our scientific successes and ongoing debates about euthanasia and the "right to die"--or to live.  The Anticipatory Corpse: Medicine, Power, and the Care of the Dying , informed by Foucault's genealogy of medicine and power as well as by a thorough grasp of current medical practices and medical ethics, argues that a view of people as machines in motion--people as, in effect, temporarily animated corpses with interchangeable parts--has become epistemologically normative for medicine. The dead body is subtly anticipated in our practices of exercising control over the suffering person, whether through technological mastery in the intensive care unit or through the impersonal, quasi-scientific assessments of psychological and spiritual "medicine."The result is a kind of nihilistic attitude toward the dying, and troubling contradictions and absurdities in our practices. Wide-ranging in its examples, from organ donation rules in the United States, to ICU medicine, to "spiritual surveys," to presidential bioethics commissions attempting to define death, and to high-profile cases such as Terri Schiavo's, The Anticipatory Corpse explores the historical, political, and philosophical underpinnings of our care of the dying and, finally, the possibilities of change. A ground-breaking work in bioethics, this book will provoke thought and argument for all those engaged in medicine, philosophy, theology, and health policy."With extraordinary philosophical sophistication as well as knowledge of modern medicine, Bishop argues that the body that shapes the work of modern medicine is a dead body. He defends this claim decisively with with urgency. I know of no book that is at once more challenging and informative as The Anticipatory Corpse. To say this book is the most important one written in the philosophy of medicine in the last twenty-five years would not do it justice. This book is destined to change the way we think and, hopefully, practice medicine." --Stanley Hauerwas, Duke Divinity School "Jeffrey Bishop carefully builds a detailed, scholarly case that medicine is shaped by its attitudes toward death. Clinicians, ethicists, medical educators, policy makers, and administrators need to understand the fraught relationship between clinical practices and death, and The Anticipatory Corpse is an essential text. Bishop's use of the writings of Michel Foucault is especially provocative and significant. This book is the closest we have to a genealogy of death." --Arthur W. Frank, University of Calgary "Jeffrey Bishop has produced a masterful study of how the living body has been placed within medicine's metaphysics of efficient causality and within its commitment to a totalizing control of life and death, which control has only been strengthened by medicine's taking on the mantle of a bio-psycho-socio-spiritual model. This volume's treatment of medicine's care of the dying will surely be recognized as a cardinal text in the philosophy of medicine." --H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine

    A little girl is drowned in the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. A Canadian man is run over by a bus. A Vietnamese diplomat is tortured and shot. A Chinese woman dies having a back-street abortion, a drunken Brazilian playboy drives his car over a cliff. Twenty-five such stories are told by souls from all over the globe. Their tales are translated by world famous clear channel, Toni Ann Winninger. Not everything is quite so grim. An old French woman dies peacefully in her bed, a Greek innkeeper has a heart attack while asleep.The souls tell us first what happened at the moment of death and then what took place afterwards, when they found they were still alive, aware, and free from their body. They danced through fields of flowers, met long lost relatives; two little Italian girls were too frightened to believe they had died and spent time as ghosts; a serial killer suffered the torment of a self-induced hell. Some have found work to do at Home, others have started to plan their next life on planet Earth. We have a slice of the many different things that happened to them, and find ourselves asking the question, "Is this what will happen to me?" Editor Peter Watson Jenkins wisely let this incredible look at the reality of death speak for itself. It is a life-changing book, grim in parts yet amazingly uplifting. "

    Now, in this moving and thoughtful book, Katz addresses the difficult but necessary topic of saying goodbye to a devoted companion, and offers comfort, wisdom, and a way forward from sorrow to acceptance.When Jon Katz first brought Orson home, he couldn’t predict how this boisterous border collie would change his life, most notably by inspiring him to buy Bedlam Farm. Yet for all of Katz’s years as a dog owner, Orson’s death shook him in a deeply profound way. “I was embarrassed by my grief,” he remembers. “What right did I have to fall to pieces over a border collie?”Drawing on personal experiences, stories from fellow pet owners, and philosophical reflections, Katz provides guidance and support for those in mourning. By allowing ourselves to grieve honestly and openly, he posits, we can in time celebrate the dogs, cats, and other creatures that have so enriched us. With great compassion, Katz compels us to consider if we gave our pets good lives, if we were their advocates in times of need, and if we used our best judgments in the end. In dealing with these issues, we can alleviate guilt, let go, and help others who are undergoing similar passages. Full of empathy, insight, and sage advice, Going Home is an invaluable guide and touchstone for anyone who has lost a pet. Jon Katz honors the animals that have graced our lives and reveals their truly timeless gifts: unwavering companionship and undying love.

    Ranging from the execution scaffolds of Germany and Scandinavia, through the courts and laboratories of Italy, France and Britain, to the battlefields of Holland and Ireland, and on to the tribal man-eating of the Americas, Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires argues that the real cannibals were in fact the Europeans. Medicinal cannibalism utilised the formidable weight of European science, publishing, trade networks and educated theory. For many, it was also an emphatically Christian phenomenon. And, whilst corpse medicine has sometimes been presented as a medieval therapy, it was at its height during the social and scientific revolutions of early-modern Britain. It survived well into the eighteenth century, and amongst the poor it lingered stubbornly on into the time of Queen Victoria. This innovative book brings to life a little known and often disturbing part of human history.

    Provides a description of pre-20th century burial practices by Orthodox Christian communities, in many countries, including preparation of the body for burial, how a vigil is held, as well as common prayers and readings in the funeral rites.

    Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Poetry by Edgar Allan Poe.More info: This article lists all known poems by American author and critic Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849), regardless of importance. They are listed alphabetically with the date of their authorship in parentheses.

    Families are manipulated into buying expensive goods and services they don't need or want. Prepaid funeral money vanishes into thin air. Body parts are sold on the black market. Eight states force families to pay a funeral director even if they conduct a home funeral with no need for help. But a consumer movement is no awakening, and Americans are asserting their rights over a key part of life, just as they did in the past with the natural childbirth and hospice movements. The two most prominent leaders of that movement are the authors of this book: Joshua Slocum, executive director of Funeral Consumers Alliance, and Lisa Carlson, executive director of Funeral Ethics Organization. Here they join forces to expose wrongdoing, inform consumers of their rights, and propose legal reforms. The book includes state-by-state summaries of laws, regulations, services, and consumer concerns.

    And that’s okay. Kristina is the sporty one, Tess is the smart one, and they each have their place. Until Kristina is diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly Tess is the center of the popular crowd, everyone eager for updates. There are senior boys flirting with her. Yet the smiles of her picture-perfect family are cracking and her sister could be dying. Now Tess has to fill a new role: the strong one. Because if she doesn’t hold it together, who will?

    But the thing about zombies is . . they don't exactly make the best siblings.Thirteen-year-old Wil Lowenstein copes with his brother's death by focusing on Zombie Tag, a mafia/capture the flag hybrid game where he and his friends fight off brain-eating zombies with their mothers' spatulas. What Wil doesn't tell anybody is that if he could bring his dead brother back as a zombie, he would in a heartbeat. But when Wil finds a way to summon all the dead within five miles, he's surprised to discover that his back-from-the-dead brother is emotionless and distant.In her first novel for younger readers, Moskowitz offers a funny and heartfelt look at how one boy deals with change, loss, and the complicated relationship between brothers.

    When she moves to Paterson, Virginia, though, she quickly discovers that, though the signs might be gone, some of the attitudes remain...Accepting her first job as a college professor in a different state is supposed to be the start of a new life as Ella heals from the death of her mother. Trying to balance preparations for the new semester with incessant phone calls from her abrasive sister Lisa is difficult enough before complications appear. Someone already hates her enough to vandalize her house, and there's a constant supply of unannounced visitors, like her enigmatic landlord, her eccentric older neighbor, a handsome police officer, and a ghost.Of the three, the ghost is the real problem. It appears in her dreams, it appears in person. It makes a mess.Ella needs to know how this young Black woman became a ghost if she ever wants to have a peaceful night in her new home. Working to find out who is threatening her and why, she can't help wondering about the irony of seeing other people's ghosts - but not her own mother, whom she desperately misses. As the history of the town of Paterson and the house she lives in is uncovered, Ella wonders if the past is truly the past and questions what will happen once she finds the truth about the events of 1960.

    An unusual and fun introduction to the philosophy, ethics and meaning behind different kinds of belief. It explores tricky, strange and often unanswered questions such as Do miracles really happen? What do gods look like? Do all religions have a rule book? and How do things become sacred? Expand your spiritual knowledge!

    These stories mine the agility of the human spirit, and will not easily be forgotten.”—Danielle Ofri, author of Medicine in Translation and Singular IntimaciesTwelve Breaths a Minute—the latest collaboration between SMU Press and the Creative Nonfiction Foundation, with the support of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation—features twenty-three original, compelling personal narratives that examine the way we as a society care for the dying. Here a poet, a former hospice worker, reflects on death’s mysteries; a son wanders the halls of his mother’s nursing home, lost in the small absurdities of the place; a grief counselor struggles with losing his own grandfather; a medical intern traces the origins of time and the quality of our final days; a mother anguishes over her decision to turn off her daughter’s life support and allow her organs to be harvested; and an emergency dispatcher tries to quantify what a stranger’s death should mean. “This remarkable anthology collects the reflections of family members, nurses, physicians, and hospice workers as they care for the dying. Looking back on their experiences, they ponder what they did well and what they might have done differently or not done at all. They despair over flailing efforts to do something when that can only prolong misery. Biomedical technology is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse, and never sufficient in itself.  Readers, who will at some time be in one or more of these caregiving roles, can learn important and valuable information from these reflections.”—Carol Donley, former co-director of the Center for the Literature, Medicine, and the Health Care Professions and co-author of Literature and Aging: An Anthology

    Until their troubled son showed up with a need for cash--and a thirst for murder. . . Two Bodies David Legg was an obsessive control freak and an army deserter. After fathering an illegitimate child, he wooed and wed a trusting young woman--only to destroy his marriage with lies and infidelities. But his deceptions were far from over. . . A Savage Son In June of 1996, Jeannie and Brian were found shot to death, their bodies sitting next to each other on their living room loveseat. Jeannie's expensive ring and the couple's credit cards were missing. Meanwhile, David, the prime suspect, was living it up in Hawaii with his fifteen-year-old girlfriend, draining his dead parents' savings through ATMs. After a long and costly chase this remorseless killer faced a jury of his peers in 2000, and was locked behind bars for life. "True crime afficionados will savor this riveting read." --Publishers Weekly on Honeymoon with a Killer

    John the Evangelist, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, by studying the symbolism, cosmology, and meaning of the Book of Revelation, as well as the prayers and meditations of the Rosary, including the Apostles' Creed and the Our Father. These reflections lead us step by step to the foot of the Cross, and to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, where all things are made new. "A lucid and thoughtful exposition of what is, by any standards, an extraordinarily dense and difficult book. Caldecott explains that the Apocalypse 'has to be received into the soul'; indeed, it is intensely relevant to our own times. His book is both rich in knowledge and rewarding to read." - Francis Phillips, Catholic Herald"The time may be right for just such a book as this, which takes seriously both the book of Revelation and the richness of the 'Here comes everybody' that is Catholic culture, which has a lively message to address to our bruised and battered world today." - Nicholas King, The Tablet"All Things Made New is a serious book about the most serious of things, the mysteries of faith, which all of us should encounter frequently and grasp ever more deeply. A book that will leave the reader wiser, holier, and both ready to practice the faith and eager to share it." - Fr. C. John McCloskey, National Catholic Register

    Are we playing God, or are we fulfilling a beautiful and compassionate act of Love?As a pet lover, one of the toughest decisions you may face will be putting your companion to sleep. Regardless of the "when" or "how," it is a heartbreaking decision. Geoffrey Bain has compiled priceless information with stories and guidelines for you to have comfort in knowing "when it's time" to say good-bye. How and why does one make this type of decision? Are there options to taking your beloved one to the clinic? Will your veterinarian come to your home?In this compassionately informative book, you will learn to see the signs your dog is telling you about its health. The book is a compilation of warm and loving remembrances dealing with the loss of our canine friends. Sprinkled with counseling from professionals in the field of veterinary science, psychology and education, Just One More Day is a welcome guide to assist those in need of comfort during a most difficult time and it will help ease their pain, their guilt, and their suffering.Because truly, all we really want is Just One More Day with our best friend-our dog.

    Here, for the first time in English, is a book that charts the history of seppuku from ancient times to the twentieth century through a collection of swashbuckling tales from history and literature. Author Andrew Rankin takes us from the first recorded incident of seppuku, by the goddess Aomi in the eighth century, through the "golden age" of seppuku in the sixteenth century that includes the suicides of Shibata Katsuie, Sen no Riky? and Toyotomi Hidetsugu, up to the seppuku of General Nogi Maresuke in 1912.Drawing on never-before-translated medieval war tales, samurai clan documents, and execution handbooks, Rankin also provides a fascinating look at the seppuku ritual itself, explaining the correct protocol and etiquette for seppuku, different stomach-cutting procedures, types of swords, attire, location, even what kinds of refreshment should be served at the seppuku ceremony. The book ends with a collection of quotations from authors and commentators down through the centuries, summing up both the Japanese attitude toward seppuku and foreigners' reactions:"As for when to die, make sure you are one step ahead of everyone else. Never pull back from the brink. But be aware that there are times when you should die, and times when you should not. Die at the right moment, and you will be a hero. Die at the wrong moment, and you will die like a dog." -- Izawa Nagahide, The Warrior's Code, 1725"We all thought, 'These guys are some kind of nutcakes.'" -- Jim Verdolini, USS Randolph, describing "Kamikaze" attack of March 11, 1945

    We all have ancestors to connect to, and their blessings and protection are key to remembering where we came from and who we are. They help us understand the complexity of human relationships. Recovering the links to our ancestors is a way to wholeness, and the gift of Laura Patsouris in this book.

    Each experience becomes an isolated memory that you can conveniently file away in the attic of your mind. Until one day, something happens and you begin to see that it is like a jigsaw puzzle, and the pieces present a life-changing picture. This is the true story of my personal journey, where I can now say that I believe in life after death. It began with unusual experiences I had in houses I have lived in or visited, some with over 200 years of history. Then the loss of beloved family members triggered new and unexpected psychic connections. It would also make me take a fresh look at what I had so conveniently filed away as unexplained or imagined, and the jigsaw began to take shape.

    1 A grimoire to some, an anarchist's cookbook of Blood Sorcery and Necromancy to others, the Blood Sorcery Bible is the first book of its kind to openly discuss the intricacies of Blood Sorcery from the science of self-vivisection to the combination of sexual fluids and magnetics. If you are looking for a fairy tale about wizardry or if you are seeking a deity from which to seek permission, this is...

    For the most part, early death photographs were commissioned or taken by relatives of the deceased and preserved in the home as part of the family collection. Once thought inappropriate and macabre, today these photographs are considered to have a beneficial role in bereavement therapy. Photography and Death reveals the beauty and significance of such images, formerly dismissed as disturbing or grotesque, and places them within the context of changing cultural attitudes towards death and loss. Excluding images of death through war, violence, or natural disasters, Audrey Linkman concentrates on photographs of natural deaths within the family. She identifies the range of death-related photographs that have been produced in both Europe and North America since the 1840s and charts changes in their treatment through the decades.Photography and Death will interest photo, art, and social historians and practitioners in the field of bereavement therapy, as well as those who wish to better understand the images of long-lost ancestors who gaze back from the pages of family albums.

    Their reeking existence mocks and defies the Master of the Underworld and scoffs at his very existence. Even the cold grasp of the grave can't deny the undead of their taste for flesh and hatred of the living. In This collection, You will find tales that are dark, gory and satirical. They examine flesh-eating zombies from a fresh perspective while never losing their horrific instinctual, undead nature....their need to feed! Includes stories from: Gord Rollo, Joseph Mulak, Joe McKinney, Gregory Hall, Lucy Snyder, Rick Hautala, Steven Shrewsbury, Scott Christian Carr, David Dunwoody, Sheldon Higdon, Skip Novak, Dave Brockie, Jonathan Maberry.

    Linda Campanella provides an intimate look inside her family and her heart as she relives the joy-filled year and long goodbye leading to her terminally ill mother's death. In the process, she comes to terms with the permanence of her loss and finds comfort in profound gratitude for many unexpected gifts.At once heart-wrenching and heartwarming, When All That's Left of Me Is Love is about living fully and purposefully after learning someone very dear to us will be gone too soon. Readers can expect to be touched deeply by one woman's example of grace and courage and one family's determination to embrace life while awaiting death.

    You'll enjoy such stories as: God brings vengeance with acidic doughnuts! The beginners guide to being a bitch hermit! Evil, vile dreams! Discover the mysteries of The Vampire Bat-Kitten! Live through dental horror! Try to do school work while your room mate is having butt sex! Satanic college students!Vampire truths revealed! Poetry! Exploding boobs! Soul searching! Scones! Gothic laments! Intergalactic space pornos!Spitballs in the afterlife!Returning from the dead!How to deal with friends who make porn!Also: The Joyful Suicides of Reese Wtherly and various 4y-Records comic strips! Newly updated to included the never before released print version of Writer's Block, and The Neurotically Yours Relics Pages showcasing old world oddities from years gone by. It's fun for your brain!There is no debate. This cult comic collection must be owned! MATURE READERS(For folks who bought the original graphic novel, this has essentially the same material, just a few pages were added. and the book has a wider format so the reader doesn't have to worry about images, text falling into the cracks)

    Walking the ledge outside his Manhattan apartment has become its own sort of drug, as he stands night after night with his arms outstretched, ready to fly away. Sarah can see him from her window, and begins journaling about a boy on a ledge. Paige and Nate, a young couple in another building, can see both teens from their fire escape. None of them know the others are watching, but a strong desire for freedom resides in each of them, and as their lives begin to intertwine, that desire will be tested. Anyone can jump, but not everyone can fly... Sharp, humorous, and deeply layered, this chronicle of a suicidal teen’s survival explores the reality of addiction and other tough issues, but does so easily, through the use of multiple perspectives, intelligent dialogue and authentic characters. Equal parts romance, contemporary drama, and coming of age, this highly engaging and intensely beautiful novel challenges our cultural perceptions in the battle for balance.

    Here, corpses are prepared for funerals or autopsied to find out the cause of death. According to some people, morgues are also places where ghosts reside long after the bodies of the dead have been removed from the building. What is legend and what is fact? Kids will have to read Monstrous Morgues and then decide for themselves. Among the 11 morgues in this book, readers will discover former funeral homes where the dead refuse to leave; a morgue in 19th-century Paris where over one million visitors came each year to view the dead; and a former disaster site in Chicago that is still haunted by a sobbing ghost called The Gray Lady. The chilling nonfiction text describing the dark histories surrounding these morgues will keep thrill-seeking readers eagerly turning the pages for more.

    The stories of the god Garaaga, its half-human progeny, and its worshipers, blend history with supernatural fantasy and ancient mythology. From the cradle of civilization to the modern world, Garaaga's Children transports readers through time and the rise of a new religion.