He has lived through the political oppression and intolerance of religion that defined Communist Czechoslovakia, and he draws from this experience to remind readers that not only does crisis lead to deeper understanding but also that any living religion is a changing religion. The central messages of Christianity have always seemed impossible, from peace and forgiveness in the face of a harsh world to love and self-sacrifice despite human selfishness to the victory of resurrection through the defeat of the cross. Acceptance of paradox therefore is the way forward, Halík explains. It is a difficult way that offers an unclear immediate future, but it is ultimately the only honest way.

    It is an intriguing system of principles and practice designed to give each individual the experience of eternity in a split second, the knowledge of divinity in every living thing. To create a book about Zen, however, is risky. It is one thing to describe the factual history of this exotic strain of Buddhism. It’s quite another to successfully convey the crazy wisdom of the Zen masters, their zany sense of their uncanny ability to pass on the experience of enlightenment to their students. The authors of Zen For Beginners have clearly overcome these considerable risks. The books uses an engaging mix of clear, informative writing and delightful illustrations to document the story of Zen from its impact on Chinese and Japanese culture to its influence on American writers such as Japanese culture to its influence on American writers such as Ginsberg and Kerouac.

    

    She tackles the reality of what we do and don't know about virginity and provides a sweeping tour of virgins in history--from virgin martyrs to Queen Elizabeth to billboards in downtown Baltimore telling young women it's not a "dirty word." Virgin proves, as well, how utterly contemporary the topic is--the butt of innumerable jokes, center of spiritual mysteries, locus of teenage angst, popular genre for pornography and nucleus around which the world's most powerful government has created an unprecedented abstinence policy. In this fascinating work, Hanne Blank shows for the first time why this is, and why everything we think we know about virginity is wrong.

    This clean, wholesome romance will take you back to bygone days when holiday traditions were deeply rooted institutions, and when love could heal all wounds. Returning to her family’s Montana ranch after a ten-year absence, Jordyn Dunaway pitches in to help her Mother create the special holiday magic for which the family ranch is renowned. But when she discovers that her best friend growing up—the man she has never forgotten—is employed as a ranch hand, the holiday season turns into something she never imagined.Chad Devlin was falling into a deep abyss after leaving the military as a result of a traumatic brain injury. When his old employer invited him back as a ranch hand he found himself recovering both physically and mentally...that is until he was blindsided by the return of the ranch owner’s daughter after a ten-year absence.The rocky relationship of the former best friends takes a back seat as the future of the family-owned ranch becomes threatened. If Jordyn and Chad don’t put their painful pasts behind them, they might lose the ranch they both call home. Can misunderstandings, mistrust, and lost years be forgotten when the magic of Christmas is in the air?Find out with the help of beautiful vistas, Western hospitality, and the magical meaning of a special sleigh bell that ties both Jordyn and Chad to the past—and the future.If you love Debbie Macomber, Shanna Hatfield, RaeAnne Thayne, Susan Mallery, or Sheila Roberts, you’ll love Sleigh Bells Ring by award-winning Jessica James.

    Today's music owes much to her innovation and inspiration. This complete collection of her poetry and song lyrics reads like a poem cycle that finds unexpected meaning and beauty on the page. Mitchell expands her already remarkable talent as she continues to produce miraculous work, in words, in music, and on canvas. The importance of Joni Mitchell's entire oeuvre is unequivocal when seen as a lifetime of accomplished writing. The Complete Poems and Lyrics gives us the first opportunity to reconsider Mitchell's written work and her place among the great poets and lyricists of our time.

    

    I enjoyed it a lot. —Nick CaveSet in Camden Town, London, during the late 1980s, Junkie Love is a study of addiction and loss, a nihilistic love story for the blank generation. Focusing on the psycho-pathology of addiction, it takes a look at what happens when hope disappears and hedonism turns to despair and self-loathing. The characters in this tale are rootless and adrift, dislocated from their pasts with no belief in the aims and aspirations of a materialistic society. Instead of turning to politics or religion, they embark on a course of self-destructive sex and manically obsessive drug abuse, a journey to the end of the night from which many do not return. Largely autobiographical and leavened with irony and perverse humor, Junkie Love follows the protagonist into the heart of this morass to the point where corruption and dissipation coalesce into something approaching transcendence.

    How do we define violence? How do we discuss and experience sex? Who gets to tell stories of sexual assault, and who gets to be heard? How impoverished is our language for describing the intersection of power, desire, and violence? What is the relationship between individual struggles and collective protest? What do we do with the abusers? In short, this moment has recalled a much older question: how do we get free?In this collection of new and previously published writings, leading activists, feminists, scholars, and writers describe the shape of the problem, chart the forms refusal has taken, and outline possible solutions. Importantly, they also describe the longer histories of organizing against sexual violence that the #MeToo moment obscures—among working women, women of color, undocumented women, imprisoned women, poor women, among those who don’t conform to traditional gender roles—and discern from these practices a freedom that is more than notional, but embodied and uncompromising.Contributors include Tarana Burke and Elizabeth Adetiba, Lauren Berlant, Tithi Bhattacharya, Stephanie Coontz and Hope Reese, Estelle Freedman, Melissa Gira Grant, Linda Gordon, Jessie Kindig, Laura Kipnis, Victoria Law, Maricruz Ladino and Gabriel Thompson, Magally A. Miranda Alcázar, Liz Mason-Deese, Danielle McGuire, Larissa Pham, Alex N. Press, Jane Ward, and Terrion L. Williamson.

    In this novel, he tells of Obuechina, the only brother of six older sisters, prize pupil in the village school, apple of his doting mother's eye, eight years old and hopelessly spoilt. In a vain attempt to salvage his character, his father decides he must be sent away as a servant to a schoolmaster with a dragon of a wife. Obu goes - and comes back very different.

    Nothing was unusual that day. Until in the evening when the boy does not return. and a friend tells her mom that the boy never went to play that day. A frantic search begins with the neighbours and the boy’s friends pulling in all their resources. Does the boy return? Where did he go? Where was he taken? What happens at the end? Some Reviews: One of the most amazing short stories I have read in recent times – Rahul Bhatt A joy ride of read. A great beginning and an eventful ending, just loved the short story – Priyanka Sharma What a lovely story this is, it reminded me of my childhood – Sourav Mohanty

    How does she go from being part of a power couple, envied and admired by their friends and colleagues, to the subject of gossip after she’s callously dumped without warning. She finds herself lost and alone, unanchored until Aiden Scott enters her life and reminds her that she’s a desirable woman any man would be lucky to claim as his own. But just as Chance makes the decision to leave the past behind and embrace her new future a horrible tragedy strikes, threatening to destroy her second chance at love with the only man she's ever loved.

    Sadly, most of these "professional" players will wind up broke. While many people play, few win consistently. In Getting Started in Hold 'em, noted poker authority Ed Miller guides you onto the winning path. As someone who made the leap from beginner to professional in less than a year and a half, Ed is uniquely qualified to show new players the quickest route to hold 'em success. This book presents the critical principles that expert players use: preflop hand valuation, domination, betting for value, protecting your hand, semi-bluffing, pot equity, pot odds, implied odds, free card plays, the importance of stack size, why chips change value in tournaments, and much more. Whether you want to play limit, no limit, or tournament hold 'em, this book provides you a solid foundation. It's perfect, not just for the would-be pro, but for anyone who wants a serious edge on the competition. Getting Started in Hold 'em teaches you more than just how to play; it teaches you to win.

    Recommended for espionage aficionados and for readers who enjoy international settings."-- Library Journal "A fascinating glimpse of contemporary Iran through the familiar story of childhood friends whose paths are beginning to diverge irreversibly."-- Shelf Awareness "A penetrating look into contemporary Tehran."-- Kirkus Reviews "Salar Abdoh is an acute observer of the patterns, flaws, and simple beauties of everyday life...[Tehran at Twilight is] an unpretentious, cross-cultural political thriller that rings true in the way only a skillfully crafted novel can."-- San Francisco Book Review "Abdoh's restraint with the brutality in present-day Iran in no way tamps down the adrenalin that keeps his characters in action...Goodness and mercy eventually carry the day, within limits, and this relatively new author may already have potential readers looking forward to his next novel."-- The Buffalo News "New history and a fresh take on the same old dirty tricks result in a clever and compelling tale."-- The National (UAE)"Abdoh is superb...Tehran at Twilight is an impressive work of fiction...Abdoh's talent is obvious from the first scene in the story until the bittersweet end."-- CounterPunch Magazine "Abdoh's Iran is a place where the question isn't if one has been complicit, but rather the extent of one's complicity."--What If KnitsIncluded in Library Journal's "Books That Buzzed at BEA" Roundup, the first word on titles and trends from Barbara Hoffert, Editor"Abdoh deftly captures the uneasy atmosphere of 2008 Tehran, swirling with betrayal and corruption."-- Library Journal , Books for the Masses/Editors' Picks BEA 2014The year is 2008. Reza Malek's life is modest but manageable--he lives in a small apartment in Harlem, teaches "creative reportage" at a local university, and is relieved to be far from the blood and turmoil of Iraq and Afghanistan where he worked as a reporter, interpreter, and sometime lover for a superstar journalist who has long since moved on to more remarkable men.After a terse phone call from his best friend in Iran, Sina Vafa, Reza reluctantly returns to Tehran. Once there, he finds far more than he bargained for: the city is on the edge of revolution; his friend Sina is embroiled with Shia militants; his missing mother, who was alleged to have run off with a lover before the revolution, is alive and well--while his own life is in danger.Against a backdrop of corrupt clerics, shady fixers, political repression, and the ever-present threat of violence, Abdoh offers a telling glimpse into contemporary Tehran, and spins a compelling morality tale of identity and exile, the bonds of friendship, and the limits of loyalty.

    However, the closer to anthropoids, the farther from humans. More militant each year, she antagonized friends and earned enemies. In the end they killed her."Only the author's disciplined research, compassionate heart and inspired prose could have made us understand how one woman saved the animals that she loved so much." --Diane McMeekin, African Wildlife Foundation