Amrapali


Adurthi Subba Rao
    Amrapali craved peace; Upagupta’s bearing exuded contentment. Amrapali depended on the adulation of her audience; Upagupta spurned the attentions of the rich and famous. Their stories were different, but the Buddha’s wise teachings linked their lives – and the lessons to be learned from them.

Final Exams: True Crime Cases from Cyril Wecht


Cyril H. Wecht - 2013
    Wecht, M.D., J.D., one of America’s most respected forensic pathologists. Coauthored by crime writer Dawna Kaufmann, Final Exams explores both the technical and the human side of murder. From the heartbreaking case of abducted child, Jessica Lunsford, held captive within shouting distance of her loved ones, to the peculiar story of a murder for hire with a most unlikely victim, Final Exams takes the reader behind the scenes. Secrets about the private lives of both predators and victims are revealed as the authors detail the events that turned rage to tragedy. Fans of CSI will appreciate how Wecht and Kaufmann share the real life process of solving crimes with clues left with the victim.

Squaddie: A Soldier's Story


Steven McLaughlin - 2006
    It exposes the grim reality of everyday soldiering for the 'grunts on the ground'. After the tragic death of his brother, and in the dark days following 9/11, McLaughlin felt compelled to fulfil his lifelong ambition to serve in the army. He followed his late brother into the elite Royal Green Jackets and passed the arduous Combat Infantryman's Course at the age of 31. Thereafter, McLaughlin found himself submerged in a world of casual violence. Squaddie is a snapshot of infantry soldiering in the twenty-first century. It takes us into the heart of an ancient institution that is struggling to retain its tough traditions in a rapidly changing world. All of the fears and anxieties that the modern soldier carries as his burden are laid bare, as well as the occasional joys and triumphs that can make him feel like he is doing the best job in the world. This is an account of army life by someone who has been there and done it.

High Art Lite: The Rise and Fall of Young British Art


Julian Stallabrass - 2000
    High Art Lite provides a sustained analysis of the phenomenal success of YBA, young British artists obsessed with commerce, mass media and the cult of personality Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Marcus Harvey, Sarah Lucas, among others. In this fully revised and expanded edition, Julian Stallabrass explores how YBA lost its critical immunity in the new millennium, and looks at the ways in which figures such as Hirst, Emin, Wearing and Landy have altered their work in recent years.

Spare Change


Dustin Stevens - 2017
     It was supposed to have been a celebration. A night out among friends. A chance to celebrate the culmination of ten long years. For the last decade, Kyle Clady has served as a Navy SEAL. He has endured sleepless nights, hellish environments, personal injury, strained relations. He has fought enemies foreign and domestic, and multiple continents. At long last, it is over. He is free to return home to San Diego, to the wife that has endured by his side, to the plans they have made for the future. Little does he know that waiting there for him is an eventuality far worse than anything he ever encountered in the military...

Van Gogh: 500 Masterpieces in Color (Illustrated) (Affordable Portable Art)


Vincent van Gogh - 2011
    It was to be an age of post-Impressionistic color, form and wonderment that the art world discovered only after the master's death. Bouts of anxiety, mental illness and epilepsy may have tormented him and brought about his suicide at the age of 37. But they may also have been catalysts for emotionality and vibrance in his art that reveal a turbulent search for grace.The compilation of Vincent Van Gogh's 500 finest color paintings in this online volume comes to you in a digitally restored state: the eye-popping brilliance and vitality are just as on the day Van Gogh finished them. Unless noted otherwise, all of them were originally oil paintings on canvas or wood (the few exceptions are watercolors). The arrangement is by genre (see the list below) and is chronological within each genre section. There are a few duplicates, that is, some paintings from one genre are also shown within the scope of another genre in order to emphasize their "dual nature." This is especially true for the images in "Skyscapes," many of which are reprised from "Landscapes" or other relevant genres to afford you, the viewer, with a fresh perspective on a different aspect of the composition.Technical Note: All 500 images are in color -- they render beautifully in optimized gray-scale tones for black-and-white e-book readers, but exhibit even more stunningly in full color with color readers and inside Kindle apps for color-enabled computers and portable or hand-held devices.The masterpieces are organized into the following genres (with the tally of images in each):PORTRAITS (24)SELF-PORTRAITS (18)CHARACTER AND ACTION STUDIES (31)LABORERS (37)TOWNSCAPES: FROM A DISTANCE (17)TOWNSCAPES: FROM INSIDE THE TOWN (30)BUILDINGS: FROM AN EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVE (35)BUILDINGS: INTERIOR DESIGN (17)BIRDS (2)ANIMALS (7)FLOWERS AND GARDENS: LIVING AND GROWING (20)FLOWERS: FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS (29)STILL LIFE (45)TREES (50)LANDSCAPES (50)WATERSCAPES: THE SEA (6)WATERSCAPES: RIVERS, CANALS AND BRIDGES (23)SKYSCAPES (38)NIGHTSCAPES: AT SUNSET (14)NIGHTSCAPES: BY MOONLIGHT (3)NIGHTSCAPES: STARRY NIGHTS (5)NIGHTSCAPES: AT SUNRISE (1)

NZ Frenzy: New Zealand South Island


Scott Cook - 2010
    This guidebook is not meant to replace a Lonely Planet/Frommers/Rough Guide, but rather to compliment them. In NZ Frenzy you'll find info about all the South's must-see spots, plus detailed info about the lesser-known and unheralded off-the-beaten-path wonder spots. This guidebook goes WAY beyond the vague outdoor info in the mainstream travel guidebooks. NZ Frenzy is about giving you the details you'll need to find the "real" NZ, the one without lines of tour buses, the one without brochures of pay-to-see commercialized natural "attractions". NZ Frenzy, unlike any of the other mainstream guidebooks, will deliver you to the New Zealand that you've been planning for and fantasizing about. I guarantee it. Please read the reviews of NZ Frenzy North Island to see what travelers think of my info. Are you going to NZ to be a tourist at touristy crowded places or do you want to find the "Real" New Zealand that you'll tell stories about?? When you have an NZ Frenzy in hand, you'll leave the other guidebooks in the glove box and you'll leave the tourists behind!! The South Island has natural wonders beyond compare, but the mainstream media only promotes the commercialized stuff. Don't waste your precious time while in NZ waiting in line at the tourist visitor centers...get NZ Frenzy and go experience the Real New Zealand, the Fabled New Zealand. You can have the trip of a lifetime, you will have the trip of a lifetime!!

Wild life in the Far West; Personal Adventures of a Border Mountain Man (1872)


James Hobbs - 1976
    He became a Texas Ranger, and fought as an American in the Mexican-American War, and roamed the Southwest with other mountain men such as Kit Carson. He belongs to that class of pioneers and trappers, now extinct, of which the famed Kit Carson, who was for many years the companion of the author, has been considered the most perfect type. In addition to his experiences as a hunter and trapper, we have an account of his life as a prisoner among the powerful and warlike Comanches, his adventures as a trader in Mexico, his services as interpreter and guide, under Doniphan, in our war with Mexico, and with the Liberals in the Franco-Mexican war as Captain of artillery, as well as his experience in mining in the days of the “ forty-niners” in California, and elsewhere. Probably no man then living passed through so varied and exciting a life as this one. Hobbs writes: "I was nearly full grown when I found an excellent chance to join a fur company that had just started out from St. Louis, under the lead of Charles Bent, and were going out to a fort and trading-post called Bent’s Fort, some three hundred miles south of Pike’s Peak on Big Arkansas river. The party consisted of about sixty men. The more prominent hunters were Charles Bent, Guesso Chauteau, William Savery, and two noted Indian trappers named Shawnee Spiebuck, and Shawnee Jake." On this expedition, he was captured by the Camanches, with whom he spent four years, marrying the daughter of "Old Wolf". Four years later, was ransomed by Charles Bent, who paid Old Wolf when the Indians had come to trade at Bent's Fort. It was during this time at Bent's Fort that Hobbs went out trapping with Kit Carson, and he became his lifelong friend. Hobbs became one the most famous mountain men, trappers, and fighter, partly due to his years of training in the ways of the wilderness with the Comanche. Hobbs writes: "IN the foregoing pages I have endeavored to give an account of a portion of my adventures in a life of more than usual peril and excitement. I was induced to publish this account by the earnest recommendation of many friends. It has been written out, as I have had time, entirely from memory, as I never kept a diary of events, never thinking that I should publish my experiences. For this reason, I have been unable to give exact dates in all cases; but as the object I had in view, was not to publish a history of the country where I have been, but to relate personal adventures, this will not prove, I hope, any drawback to the interest of the reader. As far as the narrative relates to my transactions, I have confined myself to the literal facts. "In looking back over my life, I find that although I have not, perhaps, always obeyed the Golden Rule, yet it is a great satisfaction to me to think of the numbers of my fellow beings I have been instrumental in saving from death and misery at the hands of savages, and from the horrors of starvation. "And now, that my labors in this direction are completed, I shall probably retire to my California home, and devote myself to stock raising. Hoping that this narrative may prove of interest to the reader, I will say -—GOOD-BYE." Originally published in 1872; reformatted for the Kindle; may contain an occasional imperfection; original spellings have been kept in place.

Saptarshi - The Seven Supreme Sages (Amar Chitra Katha)


Anant Pai
    In each manavantara Brahma creates seven exceptional sages from his mind, who represent supreme knowledge and righteousness. It is their duty to see that law and order is maintained in the Universe. We live in the Vaivasvata Manavantara. Amar Chitra Katha has captured stories from the inspiring and remarkable lives of the seven sages chosen to represent the current manavantara. Atri was known for his honesty and for his devotion. He was married to Anasuya who was a very pious woman and capable of great deeds. Atri's life spanned many yugas. He played a role in the events of the Ramayana as well as the Mahabharata. Vasishtha was the voice of wisdom and honesty. He was the kulguru to the Solar Dynasty and tutored Rama and his brothers. Kashyapa is considered the father of all living beings. Brahma gave him the task of creating life for swargaloka, bhooloka and patal-loka.The origin of all creatures can be traced back to Kashyapa and his wives. The proud King Kaushika had a troubled relationship with Sage Vasishtha. He wanted to become a Brahmarshi just like him. The story tells of his transformation into the accomplished sage, Vishwamitra. Gautama and his wife, Ahalya, overcame the mistrust and insults of the people of Brahmagiri and brought Ganga to the parched land. Jamadagni, who was a proficient student of the Vedas, was chosen by Vishnu to be his father during his avatar as Parashurama. Bharadwaja's thirst for knowledge was so great that he prayed to Indra for a long life so he had enough time to learn. With Indra's blessing he spread the knowledge he had learnt, around the world. The seven sages are said to reside in the heavens as stars of the Saptarshi Mandal.

50 WITTY TALES OF AKBAR AND BIRBAL: STORIES HELPS TO INCREASE YOUR KIDS LOGICAL THINKING


Maharshi - 2014
    Children’s thinking capabilities would be increased because of the smart answers of the Minister Birbal.Each of the 50 stories contains a moral , a logic to think. Exchanges by Akbar and Birbal have become part of Indian folk tradition. These tales are also an integral part of Indian culture. Akbar and Birbal are extremely popular even in the modern age. This book is a compiled version of 50 good stories,illustrated with images as well. 50 Chapters are - A. AKBAR AND BIRBAL INTRODUCTION B. HOW AKBAR MET BIRBAL C. HOW MAHESH DAS BECAME BIRBAL 01. ANSWER FOR QUESTION IS A QUESTION 02. WHO IS A DONKEY? 03. WHY IS THE CAMEL’S NECK CROOKED? 04. BIRBAL’S VISIT TO HEAVEN 05. BIRBAL CAUGHT THE THIEF 06.I AM YOUR SERVANT, MY LORD 07. HOW MANY CROWS IN THE KINGDOM? 08. BIRBAL SOLVES THE PROBLEM 09. FLOWERS FOR AKBAR 10. BIRBAL’S SWEET REPLY 11. BIRBAL IDENTIFIES THE GUEST 12. TIT-BITS (BETWEEN AKBAR AND BIRBAL) 13. A LITTLE LESSER AND LITTLE MORE 14. BIRBAL’S BEAUTIFUL EXPLANATION 15.THE NOBLEST BEGGAR 16.FAST HORSE 17.THE LOYAL GARDENER 18. BIRBAL BETRAYS HIMSELF 19.RED HOT TEST 20.FOUR FOOLS 21.MILK OF AN OX 22.JUST ONE QUESTION 23.THE PARROT NEITHER EATS, NOR DRINKS 24.NEITHER HERE, NOR THERE 25. BIRBAL’S HELP TO ASTROLOGER 26.HEAVY BURDEN 27. BIRBAL PASSES THE TEST 28.THE MAGICAL DONKEY 29.PICKLED CLUE 30.HUNTING AND THE DOWRY 31. BIRBAL AND AKBAR’S RING 32.AKBAR’S DREAM 33. BIRBAL HELPS A PUNDIT 34. BIRBAL’S KHICHADEE 35.THE POET RAAYADAAS 36.THE THREE QUESTIONS 37.FEAR IS THE KEY 38.PROTECTION OF THE FOOT-MARK OF AN ELEPHANT 39. BIRBAL, THE PROBLEM SOLVER 40.WHO IS THE REAL KING? 41.WHO IS FOOLED? 42. BIRBAL, THE CHILD 43. BIRBAL’S LIST OF BLINDS 44.THE BLIND SAINT. REALLY, IS HE? 45.THE SHARP SHIELD & SWORD 46.THE LOST RING 47.WHO IS THE REAL MOTHER? 48.A MERCHANT AND THE STOLEN TREASURE 49. BIRBAL STRIKES AGAIN 50. THE LINGUIST’S CHALLENGE CHAPTER - 05 BIRBAL CAUGHT THE THIEF It so happened once that once a rich merchant's house was robbed. The merchant suspected that the thief was one of his servants. He tried to find out the thief was on his own, but failed. So he went to Birbal and explained the whole incident in detail. Birbal went to his house and assembled all of his servants in the front hall and asked that who stole the merchant's things. Everybody denied. Birbal thought for a moment, then gave a stick of equal length to all the servants of the merchant and said to them that “The stick of the real thief will be long by two inches tomorrow”. All the servants should be present here again tomorrow with their sticks. All the servants went to their homes and gathered again at the same place the next day. Birbal asked them to show him their sticks. One of the servants had his stick shorter by two inches. Birbal said, "This is your thief, merchant.

Citadel


Jordan Wylie - 2017
     Jordan Wylie, a young man from a tough area of Blackpool where kids like him often went off the rails, chose a life in the army. He saw service in Iraq and learned to cope with the horrors he'd witnessed, then suffered an injury that blocked any chance of climbing up the military ladder. But an old army colleague suggested he join a security team on a tanker in Yemen. Ex-servicemen were offered dazzling salaries and `James Bond' lifestyles between jobs protecting the super-tankers carrying consumer goods to Europe and the US. However, for the men tempted to go, the price they paid was the claustrophobia and isolation of life on board and the ever-present possibility of death skimming towards them across the vast, lonely blue sea. Jordan was one of these men. In Citadel, he writes the first account of these dangerous years from someone 'at the front'. A young soldier from the backstreets of Blackpool, he was determined to make the most of his life, but unsure of the way forward. To his surprise, he found his answers in the perilous waters of 'Pirate Alley'.

The Comanche Captivity of Sarah Ann Horn


James A. Crutchfield - 2015
    After spending several months in New York City, the family signed up for a journey to the Republic of Texas where they could homestead and eventually acquire 137 free acres for their efforts. Soon growing discontented with, not only the land, but also the management of the colony in which they had settled, the Horns decided to return to England. But, it was not to be. Attacked and captured by a party of Comanche Indians, Sarah Ann was faced with challenges and realities the like of which she never could have dreamed. Over a period of fifteen months of Comanche captivity, she and her captors rode endlessly across the Texas plains until finally she was purchased out of bondage and befriended by traders in New Mexico. This is the true story of a remarkable woman who endured an unimaginable amount of suffering and pain in her short lifetime.

That is how I became A SANYASI


Khemlata Negi - 2020
    We all are connected. Are you a dreamer? Do you dream to be a successful person? Do you know sometimes the pursuit of monetary success could take you away from you? Have you felt the pain of separation from your loved ones? Have you felt lost some point in your life? This is a story about two people who lose the real treasures of their life in the pursuit of materialistic success and gratification. Gautam changes his life by following his dreams. But along the way, his life transforms into a living nightmare that he resolves to finish. Diksha is a young, brilliant, and headstrong person. Her dedication to be a perfect and sincere daughter, student, and employee turns her into an automaton. When both of them lose their last hope, something inexplicable happens in their life, which eventually sets them on the path of Sanyas. Can you give up your vain success to build an ever-lasting peace and tranquility within you? Can you stand tall and fight back your fears? Can you be a Sanyasi? Gear up to experience a mystical adventure! It’s a story about dreams, relationships, betrayal, courage, separation, and repentance. About the Author: Khemlata Negi is a novelist, poet, and educationist based in Chandigarh, India. Her first novel Hope: the journey to life was published in the year 2016. She has also written a collection of poetry Seasons of life and a book on yoga asana Stay Healthy. She loves reading, travelling, photography, yoga, and spending time in nature. She believes storytelling is one of the most effective methods to inspire and move the masses.

Moving for Moksha


Alok Mishra - 2020
    In this collection, you will find images and poems that relate to life, love, loss, gain, realisation and the final thing called Moksha. The poems may sound philosophical, intellectual and emotional from time to time. You will also find a surprise at the end of this wonderful poetry collection if you read everything carefully. And, like the previous poetry collection by Alok Mishra, this book will also not take more than 15 minutes from your daily routine. However, you may want to read the book at least twice or maybe thrice to understand what do the poems mean. Alok has devised a style of his own to communicate his thoughts to the readers of Indian English poetry. A 4-3-6 style has perfectly settled with this collection having 14 wonderful poems. Here are some reviews for Moving for Moksha:The collection of poems takes us on a journey to ponder the truth and fallacies of life that come our way. The poems are mostly mystic in nature, having more than what it seems to be... you will certainly love it if you have a taste for English poetry.by: Amit Mishra (founder of The Indian Authors & Indian Book Lovers)...beauty, truth, eternity.... a very close observation of life, these poems sneak into nothing but the philosophy of life that people confront during life-span.by: Ravi Kumar, Research Scholar with expertise in Indian English Literature, a writer for many online literary platformsThe poems reflect disillusion, rejection, realisation and answer to the final call – Moksha, as called in Indian philosophy. The innovative form with a 4-3-6 pattern looks very apt for the emotional and intellectual and also cryptic nature of the poems in this collection.The Last Critic

Escape from Dubai


Herve Jaubert - 2009
    From a life of luxury in the opulent city of Dubai to promised ruination, Jaubert tells a tale of espionage and escape that rivals any best selling novel on the market. Immersed in a luxury submarine business, Jaubert was hired as CEO by Dubai World to develop and design miniature subs for the wealthy. Once problems developed within the business, Herve Jaubert became the scapegoat of government officials and found himself ensnared in a web of police threats, extortion, human rights abuses and coercion. With no chance to make it through their biased legal system, Jaubert planned the escape of his life.