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Swami Vivekananda

'You don't simply read a man like Vivekananda. In reading him, you meet him. And if you don't meet him and feel him contemporaneously, you can understand little of the meaning of what he is saying.' In the course of a short life of thirty-nine years, Swami Vivekananda came to be regarded as the patriot–saint of modern India. Despite all that has been written about his life and his epoch-making address at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, 1893, Swami Vivekananda remains a paradox: much is known about him, but very little is understood about the man and his relevance to our own troubled times. In Swami Vivekananda: The Living Vedanta, Chaturvedi Badrinath looks behind the iconic façade, seeking to liberate Vivekananda from the confines of the worship room. He examines the various facets of a man who was as much at ease with philosophical discourse as he was with cooking; whose childlike love for ice cream went hand in hand with his stature as a prophet. The author...
Views: 548

Oblivion

Lindsay Morgan and Jace Turner had their whole lives ahead of them until one horrific act changed everything. Lindsay has to learn to live without Jace and come to terms with his murder. Jace finds himself in another place, off the beaten track from Heaven. A place called Oblivion. Determined to get back to his girl and make his murderer pay, Jace realizes the meaning of life and love.Lindsay Morgan and Jace Turner had their whole lives ahead of them until one horrific act changed everything. Lindsay has to learn to live without Jace and come to terms with his murder. Jace finds himself in another place, off the beaten track from Heaven. A place called Oblivion. Determined to get back to his girl and make his murderer pay, Jace realizes the meaning of life and love. With help from his mentor named Merrick he learns the secrets of Oblivion. Between dodging demons and creatures called deadheads, he learns the ropes to get back to his girlfriend in time to save her from the one who killed him.Lindsay agrees to go after Jace's murderer, determined to get justice, never realizing every step brings her closer to death's door. She soon finds out the painful truth that you can't know everything about someone in a shocking twist after his death. Jace has come back to make things right, for his girl, his family, and the one thing he can't take back. With the help of the town's other ghosts he sets out to avenge his murder. Reaching out to Lindsay for one last goodbye, he shows her love really does last forever.
Views: 548

The Lake And The River

Short Story: In The Lake And The River, Daniel and his son Charlie go upstate to the lake where both of them have spent much of their past. They reminisce on the shores of the lake, among memories and regrets, tears and laughter. Charlie comes to realize the stay holds more in store for him than he planned as his father seems in the mood to spill a few family secrets.I rolled back my neck in a feeble attempt to take it all in, but the shimmering metallic tower was too tall to perceive. “What are you?” This -- this was like nothing I ever seen before, and I was more than familiar with these trails. These hikes were like a Xanax for me. After every single panic attack, since high school, I have explored this forest, which has added up to more non-work/school time in the forest than everywhere else. Panic attacks were the way I related to world. And yet, despite all this woodsy exposure, up until that day, my most majestic woodland spotting was a mother helping a newborn deer take its first steps, which was pretty significant for me. But this -- this was something else. Something that kept me tongue tied and stupid. Standing next to it, I was nothing more than a speck of dust. I was just a girl, my singularity emphasized by nineteen years of timid experiences. I had nothing in my life to prepare myself for something unworldly. Or at least it seemed unworldly with it’s one, majestic aesthetic. Two, sudden appearance. And three, my fantastical impressionability. I mean, I walked down these woods just the other day and there was nothing here but forest. My black hair wrapped around my neck like a noose. I kept scratching the back of my scalp, nervous tic, as I followed the sun’s beaming rays, pointing towards a metallic door. I was small, frail even, scared and stupid, stupid, stupid. For no rational reason at all I needed to know what was inside. Pushing the metal door open with my bare hands, I yelped and jerked my hand away. “Fuck!”The radiating burn centered around my palm and went up my arm. I groaned once and then groaned again. The burn was painful but what hurt even more was the pressing reality. I really hoped that I was dreaming, but that hurt too much to be a dream. I choked on my breath as I looked up, into the sunny sky. I wanted to run back to my parent's house; I wanted to snuggle in my space where everything was calm and quiet. But, as I remembered what the next day will bring, I felt a contradictory pull towards the tower. For my family, the following day, was a day of mourning. First, my Aunt died a sudden death, defiling my home. Then, this out-of-place tower tripped up my woodsy sanctuary. Without the safety of what I knew, I went with what I wanted to know. I figured that walking right into my panic was a new self-destruction, and that gave me a little joy. El -- myself -- has been such a nuisance lately. The panic attack that brought on this hike was brought on by my first year of college. Like clockwork, it ended without me making one friend. El’s timidity is the thorn of my existence. I figured I could give her some payback and actually learn something. For that brief moment I thought I could handle knowledge. I said a little prayer, covered my palms with my sleeves, and opened the door.
Views: 548

Christmas Spirit

Deck the haunted halls for a romantic holiday starring one shy writer and a cynical journalist...and oh yes, a ghost. . ..Snow on the roofs and wreaths on the doors and chains on the tires. . .isn't Christmas in New England wonderful? But Charlotte Prescott is too busy taking in super-sexy reporter Sam Landry to notice the nip in the air. Make that the nip in the air alternating with the scorching heat that rises whenever she and Sam are alone together. Charlotte would be happy to forget the supernatural third wheel who seems to be staying for the season in the quaint old house she inherited. It is real. Someone's slurping down all the good eggnog. And something is drawing Charlie and Sam together under the mistletoe--not to mention everywhere else. Happy holidays!
Directions for mixing Fabulous Christmas Cocktails included!
"Fast-paced, cleverly humorous romance." --Romantic Times on Hot Date, four...
Views: 548

Woodsmen

In this woodland tale by the author of The Mighty Roman and Trips `n’ Trials of a Down, Beat Dad, an estranged father and his fifteen–year–old son take to the woods.In this woodland tale by the author of The Mighty Roman and Trips `n’ Trials of a Down, Beat Dad, first published in the magazine riverbabble, an estranged father and his fifteen–year–old son take to the woods. Key reference is made to Wordsworth’s Ode: Intimations Of Immortality From Recollections Of Early Childhood.
Views: 548

The Seventh Cloud

Crystal is a young adult who has suffered much, died and is in Heaven. She soon becomes the wisest around. Then, one day, she discovers a mysterious new visitor that could change the Heavens forever... or destroy it.The first thing Mixer knew with certainty was that he was hungry. The feeling grew more intense each day until it became unbearable and Mixer began to lash out. Quietly, steadily he ate away at his enemy and, in a few weeks, where there had been two, now there was only one.History had been erased. The land had been eroded and the global population had crashed. Into this new world came an evolutionary change, a genetic mutation that could make humans perform in ways they'd never done before. Those who survived learned to fear the abilities of those who carried the gene and banished any who displayed the slightest difference. As time went on, the gene appeared to die out. But it wasn't entirely gone. In a world still largely ignorant and illiterate, nine children struggle to survive, sometimes even against their own.
Views: 548

A Possible Life

From the author of Birdsong and A Week in December comes a dazzling new Sunday Times bestseller. Terrified, a young prisoner in the Second World War closes his eyes and pictures himself going out to bat on a sunlit cricket ground in Hampshire. Across the courtyard in a Victorian workhouse, a father too ashamed to acknowledge his son. A skinny girl steps out of a Chevy with a guitar; her voice sends shivers through the skull. Soldiers and lovers, parents and children, scientists and musicians risk their bodies and hearts in search of connection - some key to understanding what makes us the people we become. Provocative and profound, Sebastian Faulks's dazzling novel journeys across continents and time to explore the chaos created by love, separation and missed opportunities. From the pain and drama of these highly particular lives emerges a mysterious consolation: the chance to feel your heart beat in someone else's life.
Views: 548

Pirates of the Decian Sea

David Tanner arranges for the crew of the Waverunner to transport gold for the royal bank, the failure of which to deliver will land the crew in indentured servitude. However, the notorious pirate, Black Jack Mulligan, has caught word of the half million in gold that the they are carrying. Can David and the Waverunner's crew defeat Mulligan when outnumbered almost four to one?After a few false leads over the last month, Harley finally knows what's going on with her mum - and she's not happy about it. Nobody is. (Well, except for maybe two and a half people.) Never mind; there's lots to take her mind off the situation at home.Her medium-best friends have stars in their eyes over the school talent show ... if only they knew what kind of act they were doing! Meanwhile, there have been developments on the pet front, and the Hartley house already feels fit to burst.There's also a NEW new girl about town, who's literally into EVERYTHING. It's about enough to make a girl iron her head...Sequel to "Oops! Did I Forget I Don't Know You?"
Views: 548

Thunderbirds & Warlocks - Draca Deity Series - Edition 1

13-year-old Lachlan Wulf was struck by lightening, and in disbelief, he met Ferus Altra, a Thunderbird Dragon. Then he was caught between a battle of the creature and a Warlock. Betrayed by dark secrets in his father’s past, Lachy discovered, he must either witness the extinction of the Majestic Dragon, or risk the destruction of his whole world, daring to defy his father, to set things right.Since the night a bolt from the blue struck 13-year-old Lachlan Wulf, strange things happened. His body was changing, the mark on his arm began to glow, and when faced with bullies he suddenly became unbeatable. Then he heard a voice inside his head, it warned him.. ‘He draws near.” Lachy didn’t believe in the Thunderbird, but soon discovered differently when he was caught in the midst of a battle between Thunderbirds and Warlocks. It was terrifying, and yet, he admired their awesome power.Lachy’s father, Horace Wulf had a secret, he was a sworn enemy of Thunderbirds, and hunted them, for more than just sport. Lachy’s love of his father, and loyalty that was growing toward the Thunderbird was frightening and confusing. Lachy must either see the extinction of the majestic Thunderbird Dragons, or risk the consequences of choosing the side opposing to his father, forever changing his life, his home, and everything he ever knew.
Views: 548

Hyde

Hanna is a victim. Of what she doesn't know. Waking in the trunk of a moving car in tattered clothes, she can only assume the worst. Taken to her father's Tudor Mansion she learns of his treachery and of the monster he holds captive inside of himself. Discovering who her parents really were means finding answers about herself, answers she never imagined possible. Hiding in the shadows of her father's past, she meets the man who can save her body but the cost is her soul and lives are lost. In a dark and seedy blood bar known for blood drugging humans, Aleksander finds a weak and dying Giselle, who has word of Alise. Even his bruised and battered heart is taken by Giselle's sweet and simple nature, as he fights to save her. Will he give up his life to save them all? The Roses again find themselves in a battle against their own kind.
Views: 547

The Girl in the Mask

Set in Georgian England, fifteen-year-old Sophia is trapped by the limitations of living in a man's world. Forced by her father to give up everything she loves, Sophia is ordered to make a new life in Bath. By day, she is trapped in the social whirl of balls and masquerades. By night, she secretly swaps her ball gowns for breeches, and turns to highway robbery to get her revenge . . . When one man begins to take a keen interest in her, Sophia must keep her distance, or risk unmasking her secret life.
Views: 547