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Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers: A Retirement and Aging Roadmap for Single and Childless Adults
by Sara Zeff GeberA practical yet humorous guide to aging solo gracefully and achieving a happy retirement. In Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers, certified retirement coach Sara Zeff Geber coins the term &“Solo Ager&” to refer to the segment of society that either does not have adult children or is single and believes they will be on their own as they grow older. This book explores the path ahead for this group. That includes choices in housing, relationships, legal arrangements, finances, and more. Geber reviews the role of adult children in an aging parent&’s world and suggests ways in which Solo Agers can mitigate the absence of adult children by relationship building and rigorous planning for their future. Geber shares her expertise on what constitutes a fulfilling older life and how Solo Agers can maximize their opportunities for financial security, physical health, meaning and purpose in the second half of life, and, finally, planning for the end game. Through real-life stories and anecdotes, the author explores housing choices, relationships, and building a support system. You will learn about:· different levels of care and independence in various types of living arrangements· how to initiate discussions among friends and relatives about end-of-life treatment· &“what if&” scenarios· who to talk to about legal and financial decisions And it&’s not just the Solo Ager that can learn from this book. Financial advisors, elder law and estate attorneys, senior care managers, and others whose clientele is on the far side of sixty will benefit as well.
The Intelligent Gardener: Growing Nutrient-Dense Food (Mother Earth News Books for Wiser Living)
by Steve Solomon Erica Reinheimer&“It is bold, it is courageous, and it challenges many of our preconceptions about food, about soils, about farming, and about health.&” —Michael Ableman, farmer, author of Farm the City To grow produce of the highest nutritional quality, the essential minerals lacking in our soil from intensive agriculture must be replaced. The Intelligent Gardener is the practical, step-by-step guide for any serious gardener who wants to: · Demystify this process · Debunk much of the false and misleading information perpetuated by both the conventional and organic agricultural movements · Re-mineralize our soil. Accompanied with customizable web-based spreadsheets, this toolkit calls for far more attention to detail than the simple addition of composted manure or NPK fertilizers. It conclusively establishes the link between healthy soil, healthy food, and healthy people. Vegetables, fruits, and grains are a major source of vital nutrients, but centuries of intensive agriculture have depleted our soils to historic lows. As a result, the broccoli you consume today may have less than half the vitamins and minerals that the equivalent serving would have contained a hundred years ago. This is a matter of serious concern, since poor nutrition has been linked to myriad health problems including cancer, heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. For optimum health we must increase the nutrient density of our foods to the levels enjoyed by previous generations. The Intelligent Gardener goes beyond organic—it offers the essential tools for those who care about the quality of the produce they grow. &“It&’s hard to imagine this book not having a significant and lasting impact on the way organic farmers and gardeners grow their crops.&” —Mark McDonald, West Coast Seeds
On the Word of a Jew: Religion, Reliability, and the Dynamics of Trust
by Edited by Nina Caputo and Mitchell B. HartFourteen essays examining the dynamics of trust and mistrust in Jewish history from biblical times to today. What, if anything, does religion have to do with how reliable we perceive one another to be? When and how did religious difference matter in the past when it came to trusting the word of another? In today&’s world, we take for granted that being Jewish should not matter when it comes to acting or engaging in the public realm, but this was not always the case. The essays in this volume look at how and when Jews were recognized as reliable and trustworthy in the areas of jurisprudence, medicine, politics, academia, culture, business, and finance. As they explore issues of trust and mistrust, the authors reveal how caricatures of Jews move through religious, political, and legal systems. While the volume is framed as an exploration of Jewish and Christian relations, it grapples with perceptions of Jews and Jewishness from the biblical period to today, from the Middle East to North America, and in Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions. Taken together these essays reflect on the mechanics of trust, and sometimes mistrust, in everyday interactions involving Jews.&“Highly readable and compelling, this volume marks a broadly significant contribution to Jewish studies through the underexplored dynamic of trust.&” —Rebekah Klein-Pejšová, author of Mapping Jewish Loyalties in Interwar Slovakia&“An exemplary compendium on how to engage with a major concept—trust—while providing load of gripping new information, new theorization of otherwise well-covered material, and meticulous attention to textual and sociological sources.&” —Gil Anidjar, author of Blood: A Critique of Christianity
Repeat Offender: 'Sin City's' Most Prolific Criminal and the Cop Who Caught Him
by Bradley Nickell Warren JamisonA Suspense Magazine Best True Crime Book. &“Mayhem, madness, and suspense . . . with shocking twists and turns that will keep you riveted!&” —Aphrodite Jones, New York Times–bestselling author and host of True Crime with Aphrodite Jones Las Vegas Police Det. Bradley Nickell brings you the inside scoop on the investigation of the most prolific repeat offender Las Vegas has ever known. Daimon Monroe looked like an average guy raising a family with his diffident schoolteacher girlfriend. But just below the surface, you&’ll learn he was an accomplished thief with an uncontrollable lust for excess. His criminal mind had no bounds—he was capable of anything given the proper circumstances. You will be revolted by Monroe&’s wealth amassed through thievery, his plot to kill Det. Nickell, a judge, and a prosecutor, and the physical and sexual abuse to which Monroe subjected his daughters. &“An action-packed, fast-paced true crime thriller from a real-life &‘Sin City&’ cop depicting his battle with a notorious, and dangerous, Las Vegas criminal.&” —Steve Jackson, New York Times–bestselling author of Bogeyman and A Clockwork Murder &“A gripping, true story of a prolific recidivist serial criminal, and the relentless police detective who took him down, despite threats against himself and his family. Heart-pounding at times. An absolute must have book for all crime readers.&” —RJ Parker, bestselling author of Revenge Killings The author is donating 10 percent of the proceeds for the sale of the book to the Rape Crisis Center of Las Vegas
The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitude
by Andrew Nikiforuk&“A robustly researched and smoothly written overview of the many challenges confronting our devotion to fossil fuels&” from the author of Tar Sands (Quill & Quire). Ancient civilizations relied on shackled human muscle. It took the energy of slaves to plant crops, clothe emperors, and build cities. Nineteenth-century slaveholders viewed critics as hostilely as oil companies and governments now regard environmentalists. Yet the abolition movement had an invisible ally: coal and oil. As the world&’s most versatile workers, fossil fuels replenished slavery&’s ranks with combustion engines and other labor-saving tools. Since then, cheap oil has transformed politics, economics, science, agriculture, and even our concept of happiness. Many North Americans today live as extravagantly as Caribbean plantation owners. We feel entitled to surplus energy and rationalize inequality, even barbarity, to get it. But endless growth is an illusion. In this provocative book, Andrew Nikiforuk, winner of the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award, argues that what we need is a radical emancipation movement that ends our master-and-slave approach to energy. We must learn to use energy on a moral, just, and truly human scale. Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute &“In his cautionary tale about the evils of oil . . . Nikiforuk makes his case for impending doom if we don&’t mend our energy-spending ways.&” —The Star &“In this cogently argued book, Andrew Nikiforuk deploys a powerful metaphor. Oil dependency, he writes, is a modern form of slavery—and it&’s time for a global abolition movement.&” —Taras Grescoe, author of Shanghai Grand &“A startling critique that should rouse us from our pipe dream of endless plenty.&” —Ronald Wright, author of On Fiji Islands
Wide Open: On Living with Passion and Purpose
by Dawna MarkovaThe author of I Will Not Die an Unlived Life shares inspiring thoughts to help you awaken to blessing of your life in this gorgeously photographed volume.A Ph.D. educator, Dawna Markova travels the world working with individuals, schools, and Fortune 500 companies. While coaching people on systems thinking and how to revolutionize the way children are taught, she also teaches people the most important lesson anyone can learn: how to live with heart and mind wide open to all of life’s possibilities.Twenty years ago, Dawna Markova discovered these eternal truths when she faced a life-threatening illness and began a journey of rediscovery. This book follows her path to finding deeper meaning in life. In thirty luminous lessons and passages, Markova encourages us to learn from our wounds, find our gifts, celebrate our values, and live our dreams — to live on purpose and with passion.
The Writing of Fiction: The Classic Guide to the Art of the Short Story and the Novel (The\collected Works Of Edith Wharton)
by Edith WhartonEssays on the craft of fiction writing from the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, for her novel The Age of Innocence.In The Writing of Fiction,Edith Wharton, a prolific writer and one of the twentieth century&’s greatest authors, shares her thoughts on fiction writing, devoting individual chapters to short stories and novels. She stresses the importance of writers putting thought into how they build their story, from selecting subject matter and fashioning characters to crafting situations and settings. She explores the history of modern fiction and the contributions of Honoré de Balzac and Stendhal. She even examines the difference between literary and commercial fiction, as well as the work of Marcel Proust.Although Wharton passed away in 1937, her advice here endures and is bound to inspire writers for ages to come. &“In The Writing of Fiction Edith Wharton gives us not only a period-appropriate glimpse into the mind of an exceptionally creative writer but also an appreciation for the thoughtfulness and discipline she brought to her craft. We are fortunate she was willing to share her observations.&” —Ralph White, author of Litchfield
Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Delegitimization (Studies in Antisemitism)
by Edited by Alvin H. RosenfeldSeventeen essays by scholars examining the links between anti-Semitism and attitudes toward Israel in the current political climate.How and why have anti-Zionism and antisemitism become so radical and widespread? This timely and important volume argues convincingly that today’s inflamed rhetoric exceeds the boundaries of legitimate criticism of the policies and actions of the state of Israel and conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism. The contributors give the dynamics of this process full theoretical, political, legal, and educational treatment and demonstrate how these forces operate in formal and informal political spheres as well as domestic and transnational spaces. They offer significant historical and global perspectives of the problem, including how Holocaust memory and meaning have been reconfigured and how a singular and distinct project of delegitimization of the Jewish state and its people has solidified. This intensive but extraordinarily rich contribution to the study of antisemitism stands out for its comprehensive overview of an issue that is both historical and strikingly timely.
The End of the Euro: The Uneasy Future of the European Union
by Johan Van OvertveldtFrom the acclaimed author of Bernanke&’s Test, &“an essential title for any reader with investments or interest in financial instruments&” (Library Journal). The End of the Euro begins with an overview of the birth of the euro itself. Understanding this history is essential to understand the anomalies built into the project from the beginning. These anomalies form the subject of chapter two, along with how they led to the situation that turned Greece, Portugal, and Spain into euro-destroying economic disaster areas. Chapter three shows how this was not an unforeseeable situation, as Europe&’s history is filled with earlier failed attempts to build monetary unions. Chapter four is focused on Germany, by far the most important country within EMU, and why the chances of Germany leaving the union are much higher than is generally assumed. The book concludes with an analysis of what lies in wait for the remains of the monetary union—and for a deeply divided and troubled continent in general. Either the EMU transforms itself fundamentally or it disintegrates. &“Johan Van Overtveldt is a consistently insightful and incisive writer and I await each of his books with real anticipation.&” —Tyler Cowen, The Marginal Revolution blog &“A whole generation of Europeans has found comfort in the idea that economic cooperation has overruled the pull of power politics and even some basic laws of economics. This book forcefully squashes that illusion. A must-read!&” —Jonathan Holslag, research fellow at the Brussels Free University
Farewell, My Only One: A Novel of Abelard and Heloise
by Antoine AudouardA novel that brings to life one of the great romances of all time. “Evokes in gritty and poetic detail the streets of twelfth-century Paris.” —The New York Times Book ReviewIn the early twelfth century, William reaches Paris full of hope and without a penny. There, on the same day, he meets the two people who will dominate his life: young Heloise, with whom he immediately falls in love, and Abelard, the world-renowned philosopher. Through the eyes of William, we follow every turn in the greatest love story of the Middle Ages. We witness, in harrowing and lush descriptions, the scandal of the famous theologian falling for his educated and charming student; their flight and secret marriage; the barbaric revenge of the girl’s uncle; their years of separation; the writing of the famous letters; and finally the demise of a broken Abelard, whose books have been burned, a man who finds his ultimate solace in the thought of the woman who has never ceased to love him.Antoine Audouard brings literary grace to a story that is palpably infused with sensuality, conflict, and intellectual ferment. Farewell, My Only One is intelligent and bawdy, philosophical and romantic—a universal story of star-crossed lovers.“This is an elegantly written novel, refreshing in its bawdy portrayal of religious figures and intellectually stimulating in its rigorous treatment of the theological discourse of the time.” —Publishers Weekly
Rosemary Verey: The Life & Lessons of a Legendary Gardener
by Barbara Paul RobinsonThe biography of the inspiring woman who found late-in-life success as &“a powerhouse of British garden design&” (Booklist). Rosemary Verey was a great English gardening legend. Although she embraced gardening late in life, she quickly achieved international renown. She was the acknowledged apostle of the &“English style,&” on display at her home at Barnsley House, the &“must have&” adviser to the rich and famous—including Prince Charles and Elton John—and a wildly popular lecturer in America. Born between the two World Wars, she could have easily lived a predictable and comfortable life, but a devastating accident changed everything. Then, with her architect-husband, she went on to create the gardens at their home that became a mandatory stop on every garden tour in the 1980s and 1990s. At sixty-two, she wrote her first book, followed by seventeen more in twenty years. By force of character, hard work, and determination, she tirelessly promoted herself and her garden lessons, traveling worldwide to lecture, sell books, and spread her message. She was a natural teacher, encouraging her American fans to believe that they were fully capable of creating beautiful gardens while validating their quest for a native vernacular. She also re-introduced the English to their own gardening traditions. Drawing from garden history and its literature, she developed a language of classical formal design, embellished with her exuberant planting style. Rosemary Verey, in her life as in her work, was the very personification of the English garden style. This book is for anyone who believes a garden makes one small part of this earth a little more beautiful.
Like a Tree: How Trees, Women, and Tree People Can Save the Planet
by Jean Shinoda BolenThe internationally known author and speaker provides an insightful look into the fusion of ecological issues and global gender politics.This book on the importance of trees grew out of Bolen’s experience mourning the loss of a Monterey pine that was cut down in her neighborhood. That, combined with her practice of walking among tall trees, led to her deep connection with trees and an understanding of their many complexities. She expertly explores the dynamics of ecological activism, spiritual activism, and sacred feminism. And, she invites us to join the movement to save trees.While there is still much work to be done to address environmental problems, there are many stories of individuals and organizations rising up to make a change and help save our planet. The words and stories that Bolen weaves throughout this book are both inspirational and down-to-earth, calling us to realize what is happening to not only our trees, but our people.In Like a Tree learn more about: The dynamic nature of trees — from their anatomy to their role as an archetypal symbol Pressing social issues such as deforestation, global warming, and overpopulation What it means to be a “tree person”“You will never again see [a tree] without knowing it has a novel inside, it’s supporting your life, and it’s more spiritual than any church, temple or mosque. Like a Tree is the rare book that not only informs, but offers a larger consciousness of life itself.” —Gloria Steinem
The Keeper of the Bees (Midland Bks. #No.691)
by Gene Stratton-PorterA wounded veteran discovers the healing power of nature in this classic American novel by the author of A Girl of the Limberlost.Wounded in World War I, Jamie McFarlane is looking for a peaceful place to spend his final days. After escaping the grim confines of a California military hospital, he finds himself at the seaside home of the Bee Master. There, with the help of an impish eleven-year-old called Little Scout, Jamie tends to the hives and flowers while the Bee Master is away. As Jamie learns his new responsibilities, he discovers a source of hope and healing in the natural beauty that surrounds him. He also crosses paths with a mysterious young woman who faces a dilemma as dire as his own. This beloved tale of hardship, nature, and renewal is rich in wisdom and the joy of being alive.
Why We Dream: The Transformative Power of Our Nightly Journey
by Alice RobbA science journalist explores the latest research on dreams—how they work, what they&’re for, and how we can reap the benefits. While on a research trip in Peru, science journalist Alice Robb became hooked on lucid dreaming—the uncanny phenomenon in which a sleeping person can realize that they&’re dreaming and even control the dreamed experience. Finding these forays both puzzling and exhilarating, Robb dug deeper into the science of dreams at an extremely opportune moment: just as researchers began to understand why dreams exist. They aren&’t just random events; they have clear purposes. They help us learn and even overcome psychic trauma. Robb draws on fresh and forgotten research, as well as her experience and that of other dream experts, to show why dreams are vital to our emotional and physical health. She explains how we can remember our dreams better—and why we should. She traces the intricate links between dreaming and creativity, and even offers advice on how we can relish the intense adventure of lucid dreaming for ourselves.Why We Dream is both a cutting-edge examination of the meaning and purpose of our nightly visions and a guide to changing our dream lives in order to make our waking lives richer, healthier, and happier.&“Robb offers a welcome antidote to the medicine administered by most sleep gurus.&” —New Yorker
Green Homekeeping: Save Money and the Planet
by Alice Alvrez Alice AlvarezFifty ways to make your home a sustainable and eco-friendly environment.Every decision you make, large and small, has an impact on the environment. This concise guide shows how you can make your daily impact planet-positive. With sections progressing from simple tips to deeper commitments, you can start with baby steps and move on to advanced eco-warrior!Discover dozens of inspired ideas that show how to:*Reduce your waste*Eat organic*Keep toxins out of your home*Compost leftover food*Shop wisely, and much more
The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 (The Best American Series)
by John Sandford, Otto PenzlerThe New York Times–bestselling author presents a thrilling anthology of devious crimes with stories by C. J. Box, Peter Straub, Joyce Carol Oates and more. &“Some people might tell you that crime short stories, unlike the more precious kind, are a kind of fictional ghetto, full of cardboard characters and clichéd situations. Not true. These stories are remarkably free of bullshit—although there&’s always a little, just to grease the wheels,&” writes guest editor John Sandford in his introduction to this action-packed volume of mystery fiction. From an isolated Wyoming ranch to the Detroit boxing underworld, and from kidnapping and adultery in the Hollywood Hills to a serial killer loose in a nursing home, The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 hosts an entertaining abundance of crime, psychological suspense, and bad intentions. The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 includes entries by C.J. Box, Gerri Brightwell, Jeffery Deaver, Brendan DuBois, Trina Corey, Craig Johnson, Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Straub, and others.
Extreme Crochet with Chunky Yarn: 8 Quick Crochet Projects for Home & Accessories
by Sarah ShrimptonThe crochet designer and author of Modern Crochet Bible introduces extreme crochet techniques with eight projects using t-shirt and other chunky yarns. Extreme crochet is not for the faint of heart. It calls for the biggest hooks, the chunkiest yarns, and some stuff that&’s not even yarn at all. But for the intrepid crocheters who are up for the challenge, it&’s fun, thought-provoking, endlessly versatile, and immensely satisfying. In Extreme Crochet with Chunky Yarn, Sarah Shrimpton initiates you into the world of extreme crochet. With illustrated step-by-step instructions, she shows you how to use a range of big hooks as well as a variety of traditional and contemporary materials. You can choose chunky, high-loft woolen yarns, or fabric and T-shirt yarns, string, rope, washing line or even make your own. If it&’s long and cord-like, then you can probably crochet with it. Plus you can test your skills with eight original extreme crochet projects, including beautiful home wares and fashion accessories. Remember: this is a double knit-free zone!
The Farther Shore
by Matthew Eck“Short, sharp, devastating, The Farther Shore is a literary machine gun . . . a winning debut that happens to be a war novel.” —Kansas City StarA small unit of soldiers from the US Army is separated from their command and left for dead. Their only option is to keep moving, in hope that they’ll escape the marauding gangs and clansmen who appear to rule the city. Josh, a young soldier, and his “battle buddies” are left to wander in this hostile territory. A series of nightmarish, often violent encounters leaves only a few of them alive. The Farther Shore is a short, stark war novel in which the characters are both haunting and inhuman, natives and invaders alike. The emerging story reflects a new kind of military engagement, with all the attendant horrors and difficulties of fighting in a strange new postmodern battlefield. In his unforgettable debut novel, Matthew Eck puts readers inside the mind of a confused young soldier caught in the fog of unexpected warfare.“Bold, profane, hallucinatory.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer“Haunting . . . goes beyond the on-the-ground chaos of battle to capture the physical and psychological disorientation of modern war.” —Publishers Weekly“Every word in Eck’s first novel is as solid as a stone. Every moment of crisis feels authentic in its terror and tragedy; indeed, Eck served as a soldier in Somalia at age eighteen. Heir to Hemingway, and damn near as powerful as Cormac McCarthy in The Road, Eck has created a contemporary version of The Red Badge of Courage in this tale of one young man’s trial by fire in the pandemonium of war in an age of high-tech weaponry and low-grade morality.” —Booklist (starred review)“The first great war novel of our generation.” —Salon
Jelly Roll Quilts in a Weekend: 15 Quick and Easy Quilt Patterns
by Nicky Lintott Pam LintottFrom the bestselling authors of New Ways with Jelly Rolls, fifteen contemporary quilts, which are easy enough to piece in a weekend. Do you long to make beautiful quilts but have such a busy life you can never find the time? Imagine creating a quilt top, maybe even your first, in just a weekend! Jelly rolls are a fantastic shortcut to patchwork and quilting: you can avoid the hours of cutting and preparation required for making a quilt and go straight to the fun bit, the sewing! Pam and Nicky are jelly roll experts, having written numerous books and hundreds of patterns, and they have developed a brand new collection of fifteen quilt patterns for jelly roll lovers and quilters looking for a stunning quilt pattern that comes together in super-fast time.
Pretty to Think So: Eros and Prostrate Cancer
by Enrique FernándezThe renowned Cuban-American journalist reflects on a life of desire and the waning of sexuality after cancer treatment in this poignant memoir.“Two days ago, the effects of the androgen-deprivation shot a doctor’s assistant had injected under my skin a month earlier kicked in. And now I don’t want.” When a cancer diagnosis, and then various treatments, eliminate libido, the echoes of love and desire in the form of memories remain. What happens to a life when sexual expression is lost? Enrique Fernández’s Pretty to Think So weaves questions of sex, mortality, and identity with a lyricism that readers will not soon forget.
Jelly Roll Inspirations: A Step-by-Step Guide to Making 12 Winning Jelly Roll Quilts
by Nicky Lintott Pam LintottGrab a jelly roll bundle and prepare to make a beautiful quilt with one of the twelve designs in this collection compiled by the authors of Jelly Roll Quilts. The Jelly Roll Challenge was an international competition to find the best and most creative use of one Jelly Roll. Gathered here are the twelve fabulous winning entries with step-by-step instructions on how to make them. · A dozen Jelly Roll quilt designs · Get inspired by these designers and their unique take on the Jelly Roll · Each quilt has a variation made by bestselling authors Pam and Nicky Lintott
Son of Havana: A Baseball Journey from Cuba to the Big Leagues and Back
by Luis Tiant Saul WisniaA memoir by the mustachioed baseball pitcher who went playing rocky, trash-ridden fields in Castro&’s Cuba to becoming a Boston Red Sox legend. Luis Tiant is one of the most charismatic and accomplished players in Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball history. With a barrel-chested physique and a Fu Manchu mustache, Tiant may not have looked like the lean, sculpted aces he usually played against, but nobody was a tougher competitor on the diamond, and few were as successful. There may be no more qualified twentieth-century pitcher not yet enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. His big-league dreams came at a price: racism in the Deep South and the Boston suburbs, and nearly fifteen years separated from a family held captive in Castro&’s Cuba. But baseball also delivered World Series stardom and a heroic return to his island home after close to a half-century of forced exile. The man whose name—&“El Tiante&” —became a Fenway Park battle cry has never fully shared his tale in his own words, until now. In Son of Havana, Tiant puts his heart on his sleeve and describes his road from torn-up fields in Havana to the pristine lawns of major league ballparks. Readers will share Tiant&’s pride when appeals by a pair of US senators to baseball-fanatic Castro secure freedom for Luis&’s parents to fly to Boston and witness the 1975 World Series glory of their child. And readers will join the big-league ballplayers for their spring 2016 exhibition game in Havana, when Tiant—a living link to the earliest, scariest days of the Castro regime—threw out the first pitch.
Tuco and the Scattershot World: A Life with Birds
by Brian BrettThe acclaimed author&’s memoir of life with an African grey parrot offers &“a thoughtful and generous celebration of minds and bodies different from our own&” (Times Literary Supplement, UK). For thirty years, Brian Brett shared his office and his life with Tuco, a remarkable parrot given to asking questions such as &“Whaddya know?&” and announcing &“Party time!&” when guests showed up at Brett&’s farm. Although Brett bought Tuco on a whim, he gradually realized the enormous obligation he has to his pet, learning that the parrot is far more complex than he thought. In Tuco and the Scattershot World, Brett not only chronicles his fascinating relationship with Tuco, but uses it to explore the human tendency to &“other&” the world, abusing birds, landscapes, and each other. Brett sees in Tuco&’s otherness a mirror of his own experience contending with Kallman syndrome, a rare genetic condition that made him the target of bullies—and nurtured his affinity for winged creatures. Brett&’s meditative digressions touch on topics ranging from the history of birds and dinosaurs to our concepts of knowledge, language, and intelligence—and include commentary from Tuco himself. By turns provocative and deeply moving, Tuco and the Scattershot World &“is not a straight memoir—it&’s something much more wondrously weird . . . a view of the human predicament that is hilarious, sobering and profound&” (Globe & Mail, UK).
Metropolis
by Thea von HarbouThe classic twentieth-century science fiction novel by the screenwriter of the Fritz Lang film, the famed director&’s wife and collaborator. A divided twenty-first-century city sets the stage for this novel of a future dystopia. While the wealthy live in a decadent playground of sex and drugs, workers toil underground operating the machines that keep the city running. When Freder, the son of the leader of Metropolis, sees the horrific conditions the workers are exposed to, he becomes disillusioned with his father&’s vision and captivated by a woman named Maria who is fighting for unity among the classes. Desperate to maintain the status quo, Freder&’s father unleashes a robot that looks like Maria to wreak suspicion and doubt and crush the rebellion, a move that puts Freder and the real Maria&’s love—and lives—at risk. &“The language of the novel is sometimes as thesauric as Shiel, as kaleidoscopic as Merritt, as bone-spare as Ray Bradbury, as poetic as Poe, as macabre as Machen. . . . You will have an experience in reading that will last you all the rest of your life.&” —Forrest J. Ackerman, editor of Spacemen magazine &“The movie&’s status as one of the great dystopian science fiction tales is secure. Thea von Harbou&’s novel deserves to be recognized as an important work of science fiction in its own right. It&’s also a relatively rare and therefore interesting example of German science fiction.&” —Vintage Pop Fictions &“The latent power of the story seems clearer in prose. You can see more clearly the contrast of past and present, of magic and technology, of gods and gadgetry.&” —Black Gate
Everyday You: Create Your Day with Joy and Mindfulness (Creativity And Journaling Ser.)
by Eric MaiselThe author of The Power of Daily Practice “identifies silence, breath awareness, focused attention, a meditative attitude . . . as pathways to mindfulness” (Spirituality & Practice).Eric Maisel has written more than thirty books to help people live more creative lives despite the difficulties our society throws in our path. In Everyday You, Maisel takes a fresh and innovative approach to inspire all who would live a mindful, joyful life, grounded and connected to their work, their families, their own spirit. Everyday You is an inspirational gift book with a twist—it is aimed at putting an idea into action for a richer life. For example, in “Grow connected by valuing connection,” we are invited to write a list of reasons to strengthen connections with people in our lives. The very act of writing this list can help strengthen our connections. “Take the time to make a list that impresses you and convinces you of the value of connection in your life,” Maisel encourages. Ninety entries in all make this a book to savor through a season and beyond. Deep and rich enough to dip into over and over again, this beautiful and inspiring bedside or coffee-table book is an ideal gift for any occasion.