The Ant and the Ferrari


Kerry Spackman - 2012
    this is one of those rare books that will change your beliefs - and in doing so will change your life. tHE ANt AND tHE FERRARI offers readers a clear, navigable path through the big questions that confront us all today. What is the meaning of life? Can we be ethical beings in today's world? Can we know if there is life after death? Is there such a thing as Absolute truth? What caused the Big Bang and why should you care?

Emergency Brake


Ruth Madievsky - 2016
    This is a new voice made of sunlight, knives, emergencies, heat, honesty, bottles of vodka, and a tanker full of talent. Madievsky has created something we should not go without."- Matthew Dickman"Go ahead, try all you want pulling on Ruth Madievsky’s Emergency Brake—but just remember it won’t do you any good. This will be the most exciting and inventive first book you have read in years, and this poet’s take-no-prisoners attitude makes for an ecstatic joyride. These deeply moving poems reflect the raw darkness paring at the edges of our lives, and they reveal how that dark can sometimes move to the very centers of our being. Sexy, irreverent, sorrowful, thrilling—the poems of Emergency Brake become a young woman’s survival manual for the Twenty-First Century: ignore it at your own peril."- David St. John"...a metaphor-maker par excellence"- ZYZZYVA"The social importance of Emergency Brake doesn’t come at the cost of artful finesse; a cleverly engineered speaker who invites distrust through sly direction guides us through the collection’s gallery of sex and Los Angeles sprawl..."- Columbia Journal"Emergency Brake is filled with boxcar after boxcar of metaphors you’ll wish you wrote, but Madievsky got to them first. You’ll want to hate her if it wasn’t for that sugary child jumping up and down behind your ribs, yelling, 'Do it again! Do it again!'”- Harpur Palate

The Essence of Buddha: The Path to Enlightenment


Ryuho Okawa - 2002
    It offers a contemporary interpretation of the way to enlightenment, written by highly revered spiritual leader. The fundamental tenets of the Buddhist understanding of life, such as The Eightfold Path, The Six Paramitas and the Laws of Causality, are clearly explained in modern and accessible terms, along with the need for self-reflection, the nature of karma and reincarnation, and other teachings of the Buddha. Enlightenment is a potential achievement for every sentient being. The path towards it is an expansion of consciousness, moving from material concerns to an increaed awareness of the unseen spiritual reality. This, and the practice of a love that gives, rather than just expecting to be loved, is the only path to happiness, and a better world.

8 Hours (Numbers)


Upendra Namburi - 2017
    The multi-billion dollar hotels to steel conglomerate, founded by her mercurial father, liquor baron Madhusudhan Reddy, has many suitors, all of them plotting a hostile takeover. Aratrika’s estranged husband, Siddhartha is one of them. His inside knowledge is the real ace up his sleeve. The Rathores, the Reddys’ arch-rivals are looking to buy ARYA too and thereby settle old scores. Aratrika has to weave her way through a litany of lawyers, politicians, bankers, bureaucrats, investors, power brokers and her dreaded family. Behind the scenes, Jagannath Rao, her wily uncle, is playing a dangerous double game of manipulation. Her father Madhusudan is furiously pulling the strings from behind the scenes. To add to the confusion, overseeing the whole sale process is her old flame, Peter. Over the course of a single night, 8 Hours to be precise, Aratrika must fight the demons at the gates of her company and those within. It’s a fight to the bitter end. A fight that Aratrika does not want to lose…

The Secret Teachings of Aikido


Morihei Ueshiba - 2008
    In this book, the author explains how Aikido is both the spirit of love and the study of that spirit. In unique and incisive language, Ueshiba discusses the arcane aspects of Aikido's aims and techniques, as well as the central importance of breathing, ki (chi), and Aikido's relationship to the spirit and body - these form the very essence of Aikido.He goes on to consider the virtues of this revered martial art, urging the reader to link to the universe through Aikido, and ultimately to unify the divine and human. He also explains the essence of Takemusu aiki (valorous force of procreation and harmony), and Misogi (the ritual of purifying oneself).The book includes many rare photos of the author - on both his techniques and his everyday life. Also included are his twenty-five doka (spiritual Japanese-style poems) in Japanese, English, and Romanization. The introduction was written by his grandson, Moriteru Ueshiba, the present Aikido Doshu.

Soldier's Heart


Michele McKnight Baker - 2015
    Young as they are, both must become the men of their families when their fathers are called to battle. When the war comes to their hometown of Carlisle and nearby Gettysburg, will they survive? An historically authentic, fast-paced, multicultural family saga, Soldier's Heart takes place over a fifteen-year period, culminating on April 9, 1865: Junior Thompson's twelfth birthday, and also the day General Lee will surrender, formally ending the Civil War. Though the victory of the war may be at hand, this unforgettable story reveals how the private battles of the heart rage on. Soldier's Heart is inspired by the untold true story of the Thompsons, a black family, and the Hendersons, a white family, who lived as neighbors in Carlisle, PA. The author is their direct descendant.

The Stag Lord


Darby Kaye - 2014
    When Cor is injured, Bannerman is forced to accept her help. He quickly realizes that the golden-haired healer is shield-maiden tough and can hold her own on the field of battle with the big boys. And Shay soon discovers that there is more to Bann than meets the eye.Now, with the shape-shifter Cernunnos teaming up with the local pack of Fir Bolgs (Bronze Age creatures with a nasty taste for children), Bannerman, Shay, her wolf-dog, Max, and the rest of the Doyle clan must figure out how to battle one insane god.

The Disembodied


Anthony Hains - 2016
    He plays basketball at the Y and he’s just learning to talk to girls. But Griffin doesn’t feel normal. He’s been diagnosed with Depersonalization Disorder—he feels disconnected from his body, and at times, he doesn’t know if he’s dead or alive. And it seems to be getting worse.Following the brutal death of his abusive father, Griffin is haunted by a red-haired kid only he can see and who wants him to do things he doesn’t understand. Griffin's only sources of support are his grandfather, Soren - a regional author of Outer Banks ghost stories - and his same-aged cousin, Tanner, a boy coping with his own troubled life.When a rare blizzard strikes the Outer Banks, Griffin recognizes the red-haired boy as a vengeful specter from Soren's tales. To make matters worse, his well-meaning aunt has convinced his mother he’s under some sort of spiritual attack. Unsure if the mysterious boy is a symptom of his disorder or an entity with evil intent, Griffin finds himself in a struggle to save his life, his sanity and maybe his very soul.

Lay Down Your Weary Tune


W.B. Belcher - 2016
    His past is so shrouded in gossip and half-truths that no one knows who he is behind the act. Jack Wyeth, a budding writer, joins Eli in Galesville, a small town on the border of New York and Vermont, only to learn that the musician’s mind is failing. As he scrambles to uncover the truth, Jack is forced to confront his own past, his own hang-ups, and his own fears. At the same time, he falls for a local artist who has secrets of her own, he becomes linked to a town controversy, and he struggles to let go of his childhood idols and bridge the divide between myth and reality.Set against a folk Americana aesthetic, Lay Down Your Weary Tune is an emotionally charged exploration of myth-making, desire, and regret, and the inescapable bond between the past and present.

Popular (Popular, #1)


Gareth Russell - 2011
    But beneath the surface, Meredith’s complicated web of manipulative lies and self-serving intrigue are slowly beginning to threaten her social position and she finds herself being challenged by handsome Mark Kingston, the only guy in the school who’s always hated her.In a world where nothing stays secret for very long, Meredith and her friends will need all their skills to guess who’s in, out, coming out, going up, going down, dating, cheating, lying and trying to cope....Let the games begin!

If Everyone Knew Every Plant And Tree


Julia C. Johnston - 2013
    No one notices. Oliver Campbell, fourteen, fanciful and funny in equal measure, struggles to unravel the knots of emotion when his little sister, Lily, falls gravely ill with a mysterious disease. Irritating and puzzling to his two older half-brothers, neglected by his self-absorbed mum and dad, and unfalleninlovewith by Poppy Teasdale, he longs to be something more than invisible. Quirky Kamal doesn't think it's weird that Ollie, his best friend, is fascinated by words and plants; he knows what it's like to be different and to be bullied; he coaches him on love, and how to clinch his dream-girl; he tickles him with his highfalutin language and aspirations; he impresses him with his fortitude despite a tragic past; he is there when his life takes a terrible turn; he is loyal to the end. Ollie's two special people throw him life jackets, but will they be enough to save him...? Readers who savoured Jenny Valentine's "Broken Soup," Frank Cottrell Boyce's "Framed," and Joe Dunthorne's "Submarine" might also approve of my novel for the 12+ age group, which I hope will appeal to boys, girls and adults alike.

Ikumen After


Kazuma Kodaka - 2010
    This is a really cute, sweet story about two single dads Asakura and Kentarou, whose young sons happen to go to the same daycare.

The Invasive


Michael Hodges - 2016
    Things no man has seen before haunt the woods. Strange animal species creep behind pine trees, some of them with flashing red tags that blink faster and faster. Giant birds mimic the sound of humans and lord over the sky. Leaf-shaped creatures attack anything that moves and flash vivid colors across their glistening backs. As Bishop and his companions scramble across the Montana wilderness, they find human remains and animal carcasses littering the woods. The small town of Elmore is empty, the windows broken and streaked with blood. Trout Bridge-their only way out-is blocked by abandoned cars, none that were inbound. With the strange animals species closing in, Bishop realizes his group must take a stand. He's got a plan, and maybe they've got one last shot before the invasive species spread to the rest of the U.S.

Carnival


Rawi Hage - 2012
    Fly is a reader, too, and when he’s not in his taxi he is at home in the equally dizzying labyrinth of books that fills his tiny apartment. His best friend is Otto, a political activist who’s in and out of jails and asylums, mourning his dead wife and lost foster son. On one otherwise tawdry night Fly meets Mary, a book-loving passenger with a domineering husband. So begins a romance that is, for Fly, a brief glimmer of light amid the shadows and grit of the Carnival city.Along with Otto and Mary, Fly introduces us to madmen and revolutionaries, magicians and prostitutes as he picks them up and drops them off, traveling through a nightmarish town that is—we can’t help but notice—a parable for our own debauched, unjust world.Wildly imaginative and darkly ironic, Carnival is a magnificent achievement.

The Munich Girl


Phyllis Edgerly Ring - 2015
    Fifty years after the war, she discovers what he never did—that her mother and Hitler’s mistress were friends. The secret surfaces with a mysterious monogrammed handkerchief, and a man, Hannes Ritter, whose Third Reich family history is entwined with Anna’s. Plunged into the world of the “ordinary” Munich girl who was her mother’s confidante—and a tyrant’s lover—Anna finds her every belief about right and wrong challenged. With Hannes’s help, she retraces the path of two women who met as teenagers, shared a friendship that spanned the years that Eva Braun was Hitler’s mistress, yet never knew that the men they loved had opposing ambitions. Eva’s story reveals that she never joined the Nazi party, had Jewish friends, and was credited at the Nuremberg Trials with saving 35,000 Allied lives. As Anna's journey leads back through the treacherous years in wartime Germany, it uncovers long-buried secrets and unknown reaches of her heart to reveal the enduring power of love in the legacies that always outlast war.