The First Phone Call From Heaven: by Mitch Albom -- Review


Expert Book Reviews - 2013
    The First Phone Call from Heaven is a compelling, emotional read with a mystery that will keep readers intrigued and eager to see the story to its finish. Albom wraps the story up in a surprising way, giving readers a satisfactory yet thought-provoking conclusion. The novel is more sentimental than it is intellectually stimulating, but it does lead readers to question what makes a miracle, and question the importance of faith. Although it deals primarily with Christianity, people of all faiths will find that the story resonates with them. The First Phone Call from Heaven features relatable characters, each coping with the loss of a loved one. As you will learn in this review, Albom's writing style is simple and to the point, making it an easy read that will appeal to anyone looking for an inspirational novel. This review also gives you commentary from literary experts to help you understand where this novel succeeds, as well as where it falls short.

Killing Korea: The Fight for Control of Korea


Victor Maere - 2018
     You surely have heard something about the Korean War. Or the Forgotten War as some call it. But do you really know all that happened? Have you heard the personal stories from the people who actually saw or did the fighting? If you haven't, you are in for a treat. While the war was among the shortest in history, it left an invisible mark - a divided Korea. And there's a lot that led to that. It wasn't just about the UN and South Korea fighting against North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union. You will: * Learn what UN soldiers did with Chinese corpses when it got cold. * Understand Japan's role in facilitating the war. * Know the real reason China got into the war despite being very scared of America. * Know why America got stung by underequipped and underskilled Chinese fighters * Learn why Truman was saved from impeachment for firing MacAurthor. * Know why America backed an undemocratic South Korean president There is a lot more you will learn in this book. Just click the download button to start reading.

Work Wife Balance


Jo Edwards - 2012
    It's also a joy to read about a strong woman with a big job and fiery opinions, a nice antidote to the sugary sweet sort of chick lit.' DAILY MAILKate King is furiously flailing to keep afloat. As her team bicker, finger-point and cheat their way through rumours of sackings and site closures, her ill-tempered husband is becoming increasingly embittered and secretive. Kate knows she must address his petulant question: "Surely there's more to life than this?" but all her energies are required to dodge the corporate bullets constantly fired in her direction.Under pressure from an attractive, younger colleague, Kate is also concerned by her sudden invisibility to the opposite sex and the alarming appearance of back fat. Disturbingly, beige knitwear has started to call to her from the shelves of M&S.Growing more and more suspicious of her husband's activities, pressure builds on Kate both at work and at home until her turbulent year reaches its climactic end. Can she continue to balance precariously between work and marriage, or is one end of the scales going to hit the ground with a resounding thud?

Take a Cowboy Home for Christmas


Liz Isaacson - 2019
    Get five feel-good, satisfying, and uplifting cowboy romances in this Christian holiday collection. You'll get lost in ranch life, with sexy and sweet cowboys, swoon-worthy, faith-filled romance, and the perfect love story to curl up with as you sip a cup of hot cocoa in front of the fireplace! Her Cowboy Billionaire Best Friend: A cowboy returning to his hometown—and the best friend he left a dozen years before. This Christmas, can they build a family and find their happily-ever-after? #1 bestseller in Clean & Wholesome Romance, #1 bestseller in Christian Romance, #1 bestseller in Christian Westerns Cheering the Cowboy: A cowboy with anger management issues, the woman whose ranch he "stole," and their chance to get everything they want for Christmas...including each other. Her Last Cowboy Christmas: She's tired of having her heart broken by cowboys. He waited too long to ask her out. Can Lance fix things quickly, or will Amber leave Last Chance Ranch before he can tell her how he feels? The Sleigh on Seventeenth Street: A cowboy with skills as an electrician tries a relationship with a down-on-her luck plumber. Can Dylan and Camila make water and electricity play nicely together this Christmas season? Falling for His Next-Door Neighbor: Two next-door neighbors vying for the same job this Christmas...who will win? And who will lose their heart?

Jerusalem in The Qur'an


Imran N. Hosein - 2001
    It is a world in which the cause of Islam appears to be a lost cause. But having read this book the reader would now know, if he or she had not already known it, that the reality is quite different. When they know for certain that it is the destiny of Jerusalem to give a spectacular validation of Islam's claim to Truth, Muslim should be able to summon the strength to resist the present war on Islam in which the godless world is makng the greatest possible effort to destroy their faith in Allah Most High.

The Trump Prophecies: The Astonishing True Story of the Man Who Saw Tomorrow... and What He Says Is Coming Next


Mark Taylor - 2017
    Nearly every household in America was tuned in to the election feeds, and every update pointed to a loss for the Republican Party. But when the map of the states flipped red in the final hour, there were a select few who weren't surprised. They had always known Trump was going to win. He was chosen for such a time as this. The prophecy had said so. This prophet, this reserved man of God, was retired firefighter Mark Taylor. The word given by the Holy Spirit was delivered on April 28, 2011 in the middle of the most debilitating sickness a man could ever experience. When the prophecy later fell into the hands of New York Times bestsellers Don and Mary Colbert, God used this new team of passionate individuals to lead the nation into a fervent prayer chain that would accomplish one of the most incredible miracles our country has ever seen. But Trump s victory was only the beginning... What is coming next for the most powerful nation on earth today? Mark Taylor has more to say. In THE TRUMP PROPHECIES readers will discover: *How the Lord can and will use anyone regardless of education, background, or health to communicate His message to the Church of Christ *What led to the miracle of the 2016 election, the role of we the people for the will of God in the future, and what the Body of Christ needs to do to keep His blessing on our nation *How the enemy has utilized techniques of distraction to keep the Body's focus off of God and onto internal, demoralizing disputes and how this can be overcome *Astounding, world-altering changes in our US government Mark sees on the horizon *The positive message of hope and encouragement that points to fresh methods of spreading the Gospel to the lost.

The Crown of Thorns


Ian C.P. Irvine - 2011
    

Conflicts of Fitness: Islam, America, and Evolutionary Psychology


A.S. Amin - 2015
    Amin examines various aspects of Islamic tradition through a Darwinian framework. Islam's allowance of polygamy and the underlying reasons for the subordination of women in many Muslim societies are among the important issues this book addresses. Amin also offers original insight into many aspects of American society and history. Through the filter of biologically based theories, he explores the reasons behind the monumental changes in sexual mores that have occurred in the United States over the past century, the underpinnings of feminism, and the differences between liberals and conservatives. An astute and entertaining work that compares and contrasts American culture with that of the Muslim world from a perspective inspired by evolutionary psychology, Conflicts of Fitness presents many thought-provoking tools to those in search of greater understanding of these two dynamic cultures and worlds.

The Paradoxical Prime Minister


Shashi Tharoor - 2018
    He says one thing and does another. He gives voice to a number of liberal ideas (such as the constitution being his holy book, and sab ka saath, sab ka vikas), while at the same time pandering to some of the most illiberal elements in Indian society, on whom he depends for political support. Another paradox is how a Prime Minister who prides himself on effective governance has, through his silence, appeared to condone the worst aspects of misgovernance—communal riots, lynchings, the violence of gau-rakshaks and so on. A third paradox is his talk of soaring ambitions for the country when his government’s performance is underwhelming.So who is the real Narendra Modi? A noble, selfless leader who acts effectively in the interests of all his countrymen or an autocratic, right-wing bigot who is interested only in power and converting plural India into a Hindu Rashtra? Or something in between?This brilliant study of Modi and the effect he has had on our country answers these and other questions about a leader who is reviled and worshipped in equal measure. The book is divided into five sections comprising fifty chapters. The first section takes a close look at Modi’s life and times. The other four sections look at key aspects of the way in which Modi’s government functions and the lasting and often deleterious impact it has had on Indian society, major institutions, the economy, foreign policy and our fundamental values.Using years of close observation, personal encounters with Modi, considerable scholarship, a deep understanding of Indian politics, and an insider’s view of the way in which government functions, Shashi Tharoor has stitched together a compelling portrait of this paradoxical figure. Never before has there been such a superbly written and devastatingly accurate account of the most controversial prime minister India has ever had.

The Mirage


Matt Ruff - 2012
    They fly two into the Tigris & Euphrates World Trade Towers in Baghdad, and a third into the Arab Defense Ministry in Riyadh. The fourth plane, believed to be bound for Mecca, is brought down by its passengers.The United Arab States declares a War on Terror. Arabian and Persian troops invade the Eastern Seaboard and establish a Green Zone in Washington, D.C. . . .Summer, 2009: Arab Homeland Security agent Mustafa al Baghdadi interrogates a captured suicide bomber. The prisoner claims that the world they are living in is a mirage--in the real world, America is a superpower, and the Arab states are just a collection of "backward third-world countries." A search of the bomber's apartment turns up a copy of "The New York Times," dated September 12, 2001, that appears to support his claim. Other captured terrorists have been telling the same story. The president wants answers, but Mustafa soon discovers he's not the only interested party.The gangster Saddam Hussein is conducting his own investigation. And the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee--a war hero named Osama bin Laden--will stop at nothing to hide the truth. As Mustafa and his colleagues venture deeper into the unsettling world of terrorism, politics, and espionage, they are confronted with questions without any rational answers, and the terrifying possibility that their world is not what it seems.Acclaimed novelist Matt Ruff has created a shadow world that is eerily recognizable but, at the same time, almost unimaginable. Gripping, subversive, and unexpectedly moving, "The Mirage" probes our deepest convictions and most arresting fears.

The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X


Les Payne - 2020
    His goal was ambitious: to transform what would become over a hundred hours of interviews into an unprecedented portrait of Malcolm X, one that would separate fact from fiction.The result is this historic biography that conjures a never-before-seen world of its protagonist, a work whose title is inspired by a phrase Malcolm X used when he saw his Hartford followers stir with purpose, as if the dead were truly arising, to overcome the obstacles of racism. Setting Malcolm’s life not only within the Nation of Islam but against the larger backdrop of American history, the book traces the life of one of the twentieth century’s most politically relevant figures “from street criminal to devoted moralist and revolutionary.”In tracing Malcolm X’s life from his Nebraska birth in 1925 to his Harlem assassination in 1965, Payne provides searing vignettes culled from Malcolm’s Depression-era youth, describing the influence of his Garveyite parents: his father, Earl, a circuit-riding preacher who was run over by a street car in Lansing, Michigan, in 1929, and his mother, Louise, who continued to instill black pride in her children after Earl’s death. Filling each chapter with resonant drama, Payne follows Malcolm’s exploits as a petty criminal in Boston and Harlem in the 1930s and early 1940s to his religious awakening and conversion to the Nation of Islam in a Massachusetts penitentiary.With a biographer’s unwavering determination, Payne corrects the historical record and delivers extraordinary revelations—from the unmasking of the mysterious NOI founder “Fard Muhammad,” who preceded Elijah Muhammad; to a hair-rising scene, conveyed in cinematic detail, of Malcolm and Minister Jeremiah X Shabazz’s 1961 clandestine meeting with the KKK; to a minute-by-minute account of Malcolm X’s murder at the Audubon Ballroom.Introduced by Payne’s daughter and primary researcher, Tamara Payne, who, following her father’s death, heroically completed the biography, The Dead Are Arising is a penetrating and riveting work that affirms the centrality of Malcolm X to the African American freedom struggle.

Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition


Mohamedou Ould Slahi - 2015
    Since 2002, Mohamedou Slahi has been imprisoned at the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In all these years, the United States has never charged him with a crime. Although he was ordered released by a federal judge, the U.S. government fought that decision, and there is no sign that the United States plans to let him go. Three years into his captivity Slahi began a diary, recounting his life before he disappeared into U.S. custody and daily life as a detainee. His diary is not merely a vivid record of a miscarriage of justice, but a deeply personal memoir -- terrifying, darkly humorous, and surprisingly gracious. Published now for the first time, Guantanamo Diary is a document of immense historical importance.

The Taliban Cricket Club


Timeri N. Murari - 2012
    She takes care of her ill, widowed mother and her younger brother, Jahan. With the arrival of a summons for Rukhsana to appear before the infamous Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the family’s world is shattered. The Minister, zorak Wahidi, has two goals in mind: to threaten the anti-Taliban news reporters and to announce the Taliban’s intention to hold a cricket tournament, the winner of which will represent Afghanistan in international cricket and give the brutal regime a cloak of respectability in the world.Rukhsana knows this is a ludicrous idea—the Taliban could never embrace a game rooted in civility, fair play and equality. And no one in Afghanistan even plays cricket—no one, that is, except Rukhsana.This could be, however, a way to get her male cousins and her brother out of Afghanistan for good. But Wahidi has a third goal in mind—to marry Rukhsana. The union would be her death sentence, wrenching her away from her family and placing her under Wahidi’s complete control. Forced into hiding and desperate to escape the country, Rukhsana realizes that Wahidi may have given her a way out, too. When her loyal, beloved cousins ask for her help, she sets about teaching them how to win their own freedom—with a bat and a ball.

The Undefended Self: Living the Pathwork of Spiritual Wholeness


Susan Thesenga - 1994
    In a schema not unlike the id, ego, and superego, Pathworkn incluidas.

The Quest for Love & Mercy: Regulations for Wedding & Marriage in Islam


Muhammad Mustafa al-Jibaly - 2000
    It is not surprising, therefore, that the scholars of Islam have discussed it extensively through the ages. Under the contemporary influence of non-Islamic cultures, however, misconceptions have crept into various areas of Islam - spilling into marriage, divorce, and other family-related matters.Viewing the needs of the Muslims who live in non-Islamic environments, and realizing that most Islamic writings on marriage are restricted in scope, we find quite a large gap that needs to be filled for the benefit of the English-speaking Muslims - which is what we attempt to accomplish over the span of this 4-book- set that covers various aspects of marriage according to the authentic Sunnah:This book covers the importance and advantages of marriage, selecting a spouse, the courting process, the marriage contract, celebrating the wedding, the waleemah, forbidden marriages, etc. Provides a practical procedure for performing a marriage contract, and includes a sample marriage certificate.