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Ruby Tanya
by Robert SwindellsThis is a contemporary tale about two friends - one of whom, Asra, is an asylum seeker from an unnamed Eastern European country. The other, Ruby Tanya, is the daughter of a local man who is campaigning against the presence of asylum seekers in his community. During a dramatic explosion at the girls' school, a young teacher is killed. The asylum seekers at the local camp are blamed, and local people begin to argue that they should be deported. A branch of the National Front gets involved and demos are planned. Asra and her parents are due to be deported, but Asra runs away at the last minute so her parents have to return without her. She hides in a nearby derelict building and is helped by Ruby Tanya.
Rumi's Daughter
by Muriel MaufroyRumi is now acknowledged as one of the great mystical poets of the Western world, with huge sales of the many collections of his poetry. Not much is known about his life except that he lived in thirteenth-century Anatolia (now Turkey), had a great spiritual friendship with a wild man called Shams, brought an adopted daughter into his family, and was distraught when Shams finally disappeared. Rumi's Daughter is the delightful novel about Kimya, the girl who was sent from her rural village to live in Rumi's home. She already had mystical tendencies, and learned a great deal under Rumi's tutelage. Eventually she married Shams, an unusual husband, almost totally absorbed by his longings for God. Their marriage was fiery and different and, in the end, dissolved by Kimya's death - after which Shams vanished. Rumi's Daughter tells Kimya's story with great charm and tenderness. Well written and thought-provoking, it is sure to draw comparison with Paolho Coelho's The Alchemist, and also to add something fresh and new to what is so far known about Rumi.
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
by Peter G. PetersonWhen Bush came to office in 2001, the 10-year budget balance was officially projected to be at a surplus of $5.6 trillion. But after three big tax cuts, the bursting of the stock-market bubble, and the devastating effects of 9/11on the economy, the surplus has evaporated, and the deficit is expected to grow to $ 5-trillion over the next decade. The domestic deficit is only the half of it. Given our $500 billion trade deficit and our anemic savings rate, we depend on an unprecedented $2 billion of foreign capital every working day. If foreign confidence were to wane, this could lead to the dreaded hard landing.Peter G. Peterson--a lifelong Republican, chairman of the Blackstone Group, and former secretary of commerce under Nixon--shatters the myths with hard facts and a harrowing view of the twin deficit's real impact. Republicans and Democrats alike have mortgaged America's future through reckless tax cuts, out-of-control spending and Enron-style accounting in Congress. And the situation will only get worse as the Baby Boom generation begins to retire, making unprecedented demands on entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. Despite what Bush says, we are on a path that could end in economic meltdown, and we simply cannot grow out of the deficit.In Running On Empty, Peterson sounds the warning bell and prescribes a set of detailed solutions which, if implemented early, will prevent the need for draconian measures later. He takes us behind the politicians' smoke-and-mirror games, and forcefully explains what we must do to rescue the future of our country.
Ruth
by Elizabeth GaskellRuth Hilton is an orphaned young seamstress who catches the eye of a gentleman, Henry Bellingham, who is captivated by her simplicity and beauty. When she loses her job and home, he offers her comfort and shelter, only to cruelly desert her soon after. Nearly dead with grief and shame, Ruth is offered the chance of a new life among people who give her love and respect, even though they are at first unaware of her secret - an illegitimate child. When Henry enters her life again, however, Ruth must make the impossible choice between social acceptance and personal pride. In writing Ruth, Elizabeth Gaskell daringly confronted prevailing views about sin and illegitimacy with her compassionate and honest portrait of a 'fallen woman'.
The Sabre's Edge: (The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 5):A gripping, action-packed military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson (Matthew Hervey #5)
by Allan MallinsonThe Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, brings us another enthralling Matthew Hervey adventure. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you will love this!"What a hero! What an author! What a book! A joy for the lover of adventure and military buff alike" -- LYN MACDONALD, THE TIMES"Splendid...the tale is as historically stimulating as it is stirringly exciting" -- ANDREW ROBERTS, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH"Impeccably researched and rooted in both time and place" -- ***** Reader review"A thrilling tale" -- ***** Reader review"Allan Malinson tells an absorbing tale and gives a wonderful insight into life at that time." -- ***** Reader review********************************************************************India, 1824: Matthew Hervey and the 6th Light Dragoons are stationed in India, where conflagration looks set to flair.The usurper prince, Durjan Sal, has taken refuge in the infamous fortress of Bhurtpore. A deep ditch, which can be flooded at a moment's notice, runs round it - and as its notorious Tower of Victory - built with the skulls of defeated men - bears witness, it has withstood all attacks made on it.Until now. Hot and dangerous work lies ahead for Matthew Hervey and his courageous troop who know their fortunes will be decided by the sabre's edge.A Sabre's Edge is the fifth book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in Rumours of War. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters, A Regimental Affair and A Call to Arms?
Sanctuary
by Matthew SweeneyIn this, Matthew Sweeney's eighth full-length collection, the disarming fabulist and mythmaker steps out on his own into fresh territory. These are poems from a mapless journey through the backwaters of Europe and the New World - imbued, as always, with the strange, unerring logic of dream, but carrying now a new, fugitive, lyrical note. The sanctuary of the title is fragile and hard-won, and the complexities of the emotional life are written into the architecture of the physical, making for a poetry that is both vulnerable and disturbing. Celebrated for his ability to blend the simple terror of folklore with the more sophisticated anxieties of Kafka and the contemporary, Sweeney moves through this book like a revenant - past monkeys dressed as doormen, through ice-hotels and showers of human hair, towards a scaffold or a lover. Obliquely sinister and wryly engaging, full of fright and grim hilarity, these are rootless poems - unsettled and unsettling, and very far from home.A Poetry Book Society Recommendation.
The School Of Dying Graces: Lessons On Living From Two Extraordinary ...
by Richard Felix Rob WilkinsThe School of Dying Graces is the deeply honest and beautifully written account of two very different spiritual journeys--the journey of Dr. Richard Felix, then president of Azusa Pacific University, and that of his beloved wife, Vivian, a terminal cancer patient. From observing his wife prepare herself spiritually for dying, Dr. Felix discovers that special gifts--living graces--come to those who persevere through suffering. In this thought-provoking and inspiring story forged through his wife's victorious dying, Dr. Felix offers profound truths for those who want to live victoriously.
Scuse Me While I Whip This Out: Reflections on Country Singers, Presidents, and Other Troublemakers
by Kinky FriedmanKinky Friedman is back, and with 'Scuse Me While I Whip This Out he gets it on with all manner of egos. In this collection of twisted takes on life, the Kinkster gives us funny, irreverent, and insightful looks at outsized personalities from people he's known, like Bill Clinton, George W., Willie Nelson, and Bob Dylan -- not to mention Joseph Heller and Don Imus -- to people he's known in spirit, such as Moses, Jesus, Jack Ruby, and Hank Williams. With his meditations on subjects ranging from sleeping at the White House, marriage, his pets, fishing in Borneo, country music, and cigars to the tribulations of possessing talent, Kinky doesn't deny us the "flashes of brilliance and laugh-out-loud observations" (Rocky Mountain News) that are present in all his other work. Hilarious, irreverent, and passionately twisted, 'Scuse Me While I Whip This Out reads as if it were written by a slightly ill modern-day Mark Twain.
Sea Horses (Sea Horses Ser. #2)
by Louise CooperTamzin Weston unwittingly releases the evil spirit of the Grey Horse, who has been trapped inside a small statue for hundreds of years. Her mistake threatens to bring perpetual storms and danger. Only Tamzin can put things right and bring balance back to nature. To do this she must find and enlist the spirit of the Blue Horse, a force for good, who has battled and overcome the Grey Horse once before.
Sea Horses: Gathering Storm (Sea Horses #3)
by Louise CooperWhen Tamzin goes to stay with her grandmother in Cornwall, she is drawn towards a small grey statue of a grey horse, kept in a cabinet for safe-keeping. One day she accidentally drops the statue and unwittingly releases the evil spirit of the Grey Horse that has been trapped inside. Her mistake threatens to bring storms and danger, and it is only Tamzin who can put things right. To do this she needs the help of the benevolent spirit of the Blue Horse who, according to the ancient legend, defeated the Grey Horse once before. In this third adventure, a newcomer arrives and with his help Tamzin is nearer to solving the mystery behind the ancient legend. But the Grey Horse's power is growing even stronger, putting not only her life in danger but that of the whole village. Hoewever Tamzin is almost sure that the spirit of the Blue Horse is nearby when her favourite pony Moonlight comes to her rescue once again.
Sea Horses: The Talisman (Sea Horses #2)
by Louise CooperContinuing the story in which Tamzin Weston and her guardian pony Moonlight confront the evil spirit of the Grey Horse. Tamzin and her new friend Marga are preparing for the pony Fun Day. But there's something suspicious about Marga and her pony Lossie. First Marga takes Tamzin's protective blue talisman. Then Marga schemes so that Tamzin has to ride Lossie in the parade. Lossie bolts and heads for the cliffs with Tamzin clinging on. She almost falls over the edge but Moonlight rescues her just in time. Marga and Lossie suddenly disappear into thin air. They are agents of the Grey Horse and, according to legend, Tamzin knows he'll be back for her...
The Secret Symbols of the Dollar Bill: A Closer Look at the Hidden Magic and Meaning of the Money You Use Every Day
by David OvasonDo you know the true meaning of a dollar?Few people do. Now an expert on arcane symbolism uncovers the fascinating secret meanings behind the design of the money we use every day.In The Secret Symbols of the Dollar Bill, David Ovason explores the visual complexity and magic behind the world's most influential currency. Lively and readable, this extraordinary book invites you to take a dollar bill in hand and set off on a visual adventure. You will discover dazzling explanations of its secret contents -- from the symbols derived from the Great Seal to the extraordinary strands of numerology interwoven into its structure, to sur-prising hidden alignments.Once you discover the magic and mystery revealed in The Secret Symbols of the Dollar Bill, you will find that the dollar in your wallet is worth so much more than what you can buy with it.
Secrets from a Country Kitchen: Over 100 Contemporary Recipes for Ovens and Agas
by Lucy YoungIn her Foreword to this book, Mary Berry describes Lucy as her 'right arm' as well as an 'exceptional' cook. Over the years Lucy has worked with Mary she has picked up hundreds of tips, shortcuts and ideas. Further, as someone who has taught at Mary's very popular workshops, Lucy knows only too well the sort of help, inspiration and guidance people really need. Now she reveals what she has learnt in this delightful collection of mouthwatering recipes, tried, tested and written with the busy young professional in mind. Using the best and simplest of ingredients, country cooking with a contemporary note is the theme. From grilled Colcannon fishcakes, with creamy potato and stir-fried cabbage, to perfectly cooked asparagus with parmesan shavings, Parma ham and black pepper, rack of English lamb with mint and sun-blushed tomato sauce, and plum and almond puffs, all the recipes can be cooked conventionally or in an Aga. With country roots, but an eye firmly on cost and time, Lucy Young will inspire a new generation of cooks.
Secrets Of The People Whisperer: Using the art of communication to enhance your own life, and the lives of others
by Perry WoodIn 1990 Perry Wood shelved his music career to breed, break in and train horses. 'All my work with horses,' he says, 'has been about exploring deeper communication, learning to understand and influence another being for the mutual benefit of both parties. As time went on I realised that more communication was happening below the surface than people normally noticed. I started to apply these observations to the people who came to me to learn, at which point it was suggested that what I was doing with the horses and people would be transformational if it was brought into corporations.' He was right, it is! 'What I bring to this work is not only my learning from years of horse whispering and people-training but also the non-judgemental spiritual essence of unconditional love that is present in everything.'In Secrets of the People Whisperer, Perry Wood shows with unique simplicity how to listen to yourself, how to listen to others and - once you've mastered these skills - how to set goals and turn your life into a stunning success story.
Selected Poems
by Robert BrowningRobert Browning was one of the greatest of English poets, whose intense and original imagination enabled him to transform any subject he chose - whether everyday or sublime - into startling memorable verse. In his work he brought to life the personalities of a diverse range of characters, and introduced a new immediacy, colloquial energy and psychological complexity to the poetry of his day. This selection brings together verse ranging from early dramatic monologues such as the chilling 'My Last Duchess' and the ribald 'Fra Lippo Lippi', which show his gift for inhabiting the mind of another, to the popular children's poem 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' and many lesser known works. All display his innovative techniques of diction, rhythm and symbol, which transformed Victorian poetry and influenced major poets of the twentieth century such as Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot and Robert Frost.
Selected Poems
by William WordsworthOne of the major poets of Romanticism, Wordsworth epitomized the spirit of his age with his celebration of the natural world and the spontanous expression of feeling. This volume contains a rich selection from the most creative phase of his life, including extracts from his masterpiece, The Prelude, and the best-loved of his shorter poems such as 'Composed Upon Westminster Bridge', 'Tintern Abbey', 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud', 'Lucy Gray', and 'Michael'. Together these poems demonstrate not only Wordsworth's astonishing range and power, but the sustained and coherent vision that informed his work.
Selected Poems and Letters
by Arthur RimbaudA phenomenonally precicious schoolboy, Rimbaud was still a teenager when he became notorious as Europe's most shocking and exhilarating poet. During his brief 5-year reign as the enfant terrible of French literature he produced an extraordinary body of poems that range from the exquisite to the obsene, while simultaneously living a life of dissolute excess with his lover and fellow poet, Verlaine. At the age of 21, he abandonned poetry and travelled across Europe before settling in Africa as an arms trader. This edition sets the two sides of Rimbaud side by side with a sparkling translation of his most exhilarating poetry and a generous selection of the letters from the harsh and colourful period of his life as a colonial trader.
Selected Works
by Earl of RochesterThe brightest star at the court of King Charles II, John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647-80), lived a life of reckless debauchery and sexual adventuring that led to his death at the age of thirty-three - described by Samuel Johnson as having 'blazed out his youth and health in lavish voluptuousness'. Rochester was also one of the wittiest and most complex poets of the seventeenth century, writing comic verse, scurrilous satires and highly explicit erotica - from the bawdy self-portrait in 'The Maimed Debauchee' and the tender passion of 'Absent from thee I languish still' to the comic world-weariness of 'Upon Nothing' and 'A Satyr against Mankind', which mocks human follies. With endless literary disguises, rhymes and alliteration, humour and humanity, Rochester's poems hold up a mirror to the extravagances and absurdities of his age.
The Senses Bejewelled
by Cleo CordellAn intense exploration of exoticism and the boundaries of erotic desire.Willing captive Marietta is settling into an opulent life of privileged captivity as favoured concubine in the handsome Kasim's harem. But when she is kidnapped by Kasim's enemy, Hamed, her new-found way of life is thrown into chaos. Reunited with her beautiful slave lover, Gabriel, she suffers the torments of a tainted desire. Kasim, too, has to face the toughest challenge of his life, For the only way he can win back Marietta from the clutches of Hamed and the arms of Gabriel is to agree to spend time as Hamed's plaything. Will his honour - and, indeed, his flesh, stand the test?
Sex And Other Changes
by David NobbsEvery time someone changes sex, there's one less freak in the worldMeet the Divots. They seem a happily married couple, in their cosy suburban home in a cosy suburban town. Then, one day, everything begins to change. Nick drops his bombshell. He wants to become Nicola. Alison is extremely upset, naturally. But she has more reason than most to be upset, because she has a secret too. She wants to become Alan. Nick has pulled the rug from under her. However, she's always been the supportive type and she'll wait her turn.Will Nick become Nicola? Can Alison become Alan? Can both partners in a marriage change sex and save their marriage? What effect will this have on their children, the sexy Emma and the hi-tech loner Graham? There are dramatic changes in store for them too - and for Alison's father, Bernie. In the spirit of David Nobbs' acclaimed novel Going Gently, Sex and Other Changes is a funny, touching and compassionate study of what being a man and a woman really means.
Sexual Heeling
by Wendy SwanscombeWhether squishing and stomping, or tickled and twitching, feet are dominant and submissive.But do foot-fetish fans really fantasise about feet for their own sake, or are they just symbols of power-play? In these storires, the ever-bizarre Wendy Swanscombe (Disciplined Skin, Vamp) takes a look at every aspect of this freakishly arousing phenomenon.
Shadows: Inside Northern Ireland's Special Branch
by Alan BarkerIn the early hours of 30 April 2003, twelve armed and uniformed officers accompanied by four plain-clothes detectives burst into Alan Barker's house. They stayed for hours, turning over rooms, seizing documents, impounding computers, files and anything else that interested them. The family were treated as terrorist suspects, the operation resembling so many others in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. But Alan Barker was and is no terrorist. In fact, he has spent his adult life fighting terrorism on the streets of his native province. Barker belonged to the Special Branch, the RUC's elite unit dedicated to fighting the IRA, the INLA and loyalist terrorists. He gives a gripping insider's account of life on the frontline and demonstrates how the RUC used sophisticated listening devices and informants, including the notorious supergrass Raymond Gilmour, in their fight to gain the upper hand. After nearly 30 years of loyal service, Barker retired angry and disillusioned about what he views as the government's capitulation to the terrorists. This is the book that Downing Street and the Northern Ireland Office don't want you to read. It is a story of courage under fire, guile, Le Carré-esque plots and treachery.
She
by H. Rider HaggardOn his twenty-fifth birthday, Leo Vincey opens the silver casket that his father has left to him. It contains a letter recounting the legend of a white sorceress who rules an African tribe and of his father’s quest to find this remote race. To find out for himself if the story is true, Leo and his companions set sail for Zanzibar. There, he is brought face to face with Ayesha, She-who-must-be-obeyed: dictator, femme fatale, tyrant and beauty. She has been waiting for centuries for the true descendant of Kallikrates, her murdered lover, to arrive, and arrive he does – in an unexpected form. Blending breathtaking adventure with a brooding sense of mystery and menace, She is a story of romance, exploration discovery and heroism that has lost none of its power to enthrall.
The Shooting Party
by Anton ChekhovWhen a young woman dies during a shooting party at the country estate of a dissolute count, a magistrate is called upon to investigate. The mystery deepens and suspicion falls more widely as it emerges that the dead woman was at the centre of a tangled web of relationships: with her elderly husband, with the lecherous count, and with the magistrate himself...
The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition of Edification and Awakening by Anti-Climacus
by Soren KierkegaardOne of the most remarkable philosophical works of the nineteenth century, The Sickness Unto Death is also famed for the depth and acuity of its modern psychological insights. Writing under the pseudonym Anti-Climacus, Kierkegaard explores the concept of 'despair', alerting readers to the diversity of ways in which they may be described as living in this state of bleak abandonment - including some that may seem just the opposite - and offering a much-discussed formula for the eradication of despair. With its penetrating account of the self, this late work by Kierkegaard was hugely influential upon twentieth-century philosophers including Karl Jaspers, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. The Sickness unto Death can be regarded as one of the key works of theistic existentialist thought - a brilliant and revelatory answer to one man's struggle to fill the spiritual void.