Selection includes the following: RALPH WALDO EMERSON: Art, Character, Circles, Compensation, Divinity School Address, Experience, Friendship, Gifts, Heroism, History, Intellect, Literary Ethics, Love, Man the Reformer, Nature, New England Reformers, Nominalist and Realist, Politics, Prudence, Representative Men, Self-Reliance, The American Scholar, The Conservative, The Method of Nature, The Over-Soul, The Poet, The Transcendentalist, The Young American, HENRY DAVID THOREAU: An Excursion to Canada, A Plea for Captain John Brown, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Autumnal Tints, Civil Disobedience, Life Without Principle, Night and Moonlight, Slavery in Massachusetts, The Landlord, Walden, Walking

    In fresh and irreverent prose, Romm captures the mo-ments before and after loss, mining the depths of grief with wit and grace.The stories in "The Mother Garden" are at once vividly realistic and infused with the bizarre -- a man uses a chicken egg to test whether he is ready for fatherhood; a daughter plants a garden of mothers to replace her own; a family's ghosts literally fall through the ceiling, disrupting daily life; a woman finds her father sleeping in the desert after twenty-six years of living without him. People stumble in relationships, start families, struggle with illness, learn to mourn -- and as in life, these acts are consuming, magical, and disorienting.Sharply funny and deeply moving, this extraordinary collection introduces a young writer of fierce originality and prodigious talent.

    

    

    The anthology combines classic essays of great instructional value together with the most frequently anthologized essays of recent note by today's most highly regarded writers. The selections exhibit a broad range of diversity in subject matter and authorship. All essays have been selected for their utility as both models for writing and for their usefulness as springboards for independent writing. An introductory section informs readers about the qualities of the essay form and offers instruction on how to read essays critically and use the writing process to develop their own essays. For those interested in learning about reading, writing and critical thinking by studying examples of great writing.

    Young Vincent Malloy's vivid imagination takes him on a macabre journey into a fantastical and weird world in which his home is filled with spiders and bats, his aunt becomes an exhibit in his wax museum, and his beautiful wife is buried in his mother's flower bed.

    Herter Norton offer Rilke's work to the English-speaking world in an accurate, sensitive, modern version.

    

    Beginning with "Riot Act," a monologue about the Los Angeles uprising in April 1992, Ai explored racial and sexual politics through the voices of diverse characters.

    The pervasiveness of images of torture, horror, and war has all but demolished the twentieth-century hope that such imagery might shock us into a less alienated state, or aid in the creation of a just social order. What to do now? When to look, when to turn away?Genre-busting author Maggie Nelson brilliantly navigates this contemporary predicament, with an eye to the question of whether or not focusing on representations of cruelty makes us cruel. In a journey through high and low culture (Kafka to reality TV), the visual to the verbal (Paul McCarthy to Brian Evenson), and the apolitical to the political (Francis Bacon to Kara Walker), Nelson offers a model of how one might balance strong ethical convictions with an equally strong appreciation for work that tests the limits of taste, taboo, and permissibility.

    5 books and NO cliffies! Book 1: Pipe Down
 There’s nothing like meeting a really terrific woman on board a luxurious yacht travelling through the Aleutian Islands. Brooke is beautiful, talented, and fun to be around. She’s everything a guy like me could want. At least that would be true if I wasn’t lying to her because I’m currently on an undercover mission for the US Coast Guard. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I’m supposed to just stand by and let those modern day pirates try to raid the yacht. That’s why I’m here. This chartered cruise ship is a potential target, and the passengers are just bait. Too bad I can’t see Brooke as just another passenger. Not anymore.

 Book 2:  Over a Barrel
 There is nothing about the phrase being captured by pirates that sounds normal in this day and age. Unfortunately for me, that’s exactly what’s going on here. Add in a fierce storm, a sinking cruise ship, and we pretty much have the makings of a dramatic made for TV film. It’s true. We even have a drop dead gorgeous lady pirate named Jade who is the sexiest antihero I’ve ever seen. I know she’s not like the rest. She’s already saved my skin too many times for that. But Jade isn’t just an unusual pirate, she’s an unusual woman. And no matter how this whole adventure turns out, hers is the story I want to follow. 

Book 3: Toe the Line 
I thought I had everything under control when I went aboard the Inuit Cruiser to take charge after the storm put the ship on the rocks. But about the time I start handing out the orders and trying to put things to rights, out walks Grace Morgan and all of a sudden I am a bumbling eighteen year old once again. The woman is even more beautiful now than she was on the day we divorced. The sexual tension is so thick it’s practically suffocating, and even my men are starting to notice. But Grace has changed. And the more we try to unravel this whole pirate plot to hold her and her son for ransom, the more I realize I’m going do to anything I can to keep her safe.

 Book 4: Loose Cannon
 I’ve always done my duty for the Coast Guard. That’s why I’m a Chief Petty Officer. But right now I feel like our whole unit is off course and headed nowhere fast. My task? I’m supposed to watch the former head of security for the cruise ship because my commanding officer has put her in jail. The thing is, I just don’t think this is where Liane belongs. And it has nothing to do with how gorgeous she is. Well mostly nothing. People don’t see Liane the way they should. She’s tough as nails and she’s hiding some things that I think will shock us all. But without trust I’ll never learn those secrets until it’s too late.

 Book 5: Hand Over Fist
 Miranda Cray has never done anything to deserve the bad reputation that seems to follow her like lint. The girl lost her father while at sea during a storm. I think everyone is entitled to a little bit of crazy after that happens. But the thing with Miranda is, she’s not the kind of woman to get knocked down without getting right back up again. That’s what I respect about her. When these pirate jerks find some new way to bend the law, Miranda is the first person to come up with a way to get in their faces and make the charges stick. She’s brave. She’s pretty as hell. And I’m almost certain that I’m in love with her. The problem is, I’m not the kind of guy that does long term relationships that that’s what Miranda deserves.

    Ella Bridges has recently purchased her new home-The Yellow Cottage-from a curious old lady, but with it comes a unique gift. Her new-found ability changes the course of her life in ways she could never have imagined.The Yellow Cottage Vintage Mysteries: Books 1 – 3 includes the first three stories in the popular series readers describe as ‘Miss Marple meets The Ghost Whisperer.’ The unique slant on the traditional whodunit and the humour peppered throughout are what makes these books firm favourites with readers all over the world.AN ACCIDENTAL MURDERWhen a strange child follows her home on the train from London, Ella Bridges feels bound to help her. However, she soon discovers the child is not what she seems.THE CURSE OF ARUNDEL HALLOne ghost, one murder, one hundred years apart. But are they connected?An invitation to dinner at Arundel Hall takes a turn for the worse when one of the party is murdered.A CLERICAL ERRORWhen the crime scene is pure coincidence and there’s no evidence, how do you prove it was murder?Ella Bridges faces her most challenging investigation so far when the vicar dies suddenly at the May Day Fete.? THE CURSE OF ARUNDEL HALL (Book 2)One ghost, one murder, one hundred years apart. But are they connected?Ella has discovered a secret room in The Yellow Cottage, but with it comes a ghost. Who was she? And how did she die? Ella needs to find the answers before either of them can find peace. But suddenly things take a nasty turn for the worse.Ella Bridges has been living on Linhay Island for several months but still hasn’t discovered the identity of her ghostly guest. Deciding to research the history of her cottage for clues she finds it is connected to Arundel Hall, the large Manor House on the bluff, and when an invitation to dinner arrives realises it is the perfect opportunity to discover more.However the evening takes a shocking turn when one of their party is murdered. Is The Curse of Arundel Hall once again rearing its ugly head, or is there a simpler explanation? Ella suddenly finds herself involved in two mysteries at once, and again joins forces with Scotland Yard’s Police Commissioner to try and catch a killer. But will they succeed?A CLERICAL ERROR (Book 3)When the crime scene is pure coincidence and there's no evidence, how do you prove it was murder?Ella Bridges faces her most challenging investigation so far when the vicar dies suddenly at the May Day Fete. But with evidence scarce and her personal life unravelling in ways she could never have imagined, she misses vital clues in the investigation.Working alongside Sergeant Baxter of Scotland Yard, will Ella manage to unearth the clues needed to catch the killer before another life is lost? Or will personal shock cloud her mind and result in another tragedy?

    Both need to relax after a car accident and brutal work schedules, but a madman has other ideas. A man who calls himself The Boss has set out to hold all 3,000 passengers and crew hostage to his demands. No one is safe, and it is up to ex-homicide detective Redmond James and FBI Special Agent Daisy Chain to determine who the Boss really is and what he truly wants. The fate of every man, woman, and child on board are in their hands. Will they discover the truth in time? Or will Redmond and Daisy just be two more victims? Find out for free - go ahead and click on the button, right now, and start reading. You'll be glad you did.

    A hang on to your seat thriller, as two unlikey Secret Service agents search for kidnapped children and solve a decade-old series of murders.

    Her only escape is the perfect couple she watches through the train window every day, happy and in love. Or so it appears. When Rachel learns that the woman she's been secretly watching has suddenly disappeared, she finds herself as a witness and even a suspect in a thrilling mystery in which she will face bigger revelations than she could ever have anticipated.Adapted from Paula Hawkins' novel - an international phenomenon selling over twenty million copies worldwide - this gripping new play will keep you guessing until the final moment.