Renowned media scholar Sherry Turkle investigates how a flight from conversation undermines our relationships, creativity, and productivity—and why reclaiming face-to-face conversation can help us regain lost ground.We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection. Preeminent author and researcher Sherry Turkle has been studying digital culture for over thirty years. Long an enthusiast for its possibilities, here she investigates a troubling consequence: at work, at home, in politics, and in love, we find ways around conversation, tempted by the possibilities of a text or an email in which we don't have to look, listen, or reveal ourselves. We develop a taste for what mere connection offers. The dinner table falls silent as children compete with phones for their parents' attention. Friends learn strategies to keep conversations going... Views: 28
Finally, all 12 NSC Industries books, incorporating the Heart of Stone series, in one book. Follow the Heart of Stone favourites throughout their lives, starting with Nate and Liv in Angel, continuing with Mason and Ava in the complete Heart of Stone series and finishing right at the end with Nativity. This book contains graphic extreme violence, explicit sex including M/F, M/F/M, M/M and M/F/F/M. It also contains strong language. Views: 28
Lulu Bell is about to make a new friend! It's Harmony Day at Shelley Beach School, and Lulu's class are going to be the stars of the school play. What will be the special theme this year? Lulu is sure that the new girl in her class will have good ideas. How can she make Amira feel welcome? The answer is a happy surprise for everyone! Views: 28
It is the First World War and Julius Lauterbach is a German prisoner of war in the old Tanglin barracks of Singapore. He is also a braggart, a womaniser and a heavy drinker and through his bored fantasies he unwittingly triggers a mutiny by Muslim troops of the British garrison and so throws the whole course of the war in doubt. The British lose control of the city, its European inhabitants flee to the ships in the harbour and it is only with the help of Japanese marines that the Empire is saved. Rogue Raider is the adventure story of how one ship, the Emden, tied up the navies of four nations and how one man eluded their agents in a desperate yet hilarious attempt to regain his native land. It is fictionalised history but a true history that was deliberately suppressed by the authorities of the time as too embarrassing and dangerous to be known. Revealed here, it brings vividly to life the Southeast Asia of the period, its sights, its sounds and its rich mix of peoples. And... Views: 28
A year and a half has passed since the dark road that took Chriani across the Clearwater Way and back, at the side of the princess he once loved. Despite the anger and ambivalence to duty that once held him back, rank and commission have taken him to the frontier of the Greatwood and riding with the rangers, Kathlan at his side to help him focus on the challenges of a soldier’s life.
But when Chriani finds himself targeted by Ilvani hunters tied to an ancient prophecy that might upset the balance of power in the Ilmar, it forces him back to the unresolved pact that binds him to the Prince High Chanist — and down a new road whose secrets might destroy the life Chriani and Kathlan hope to build.
• • •
From behind him came a low hiss. A sharp exhalation, a sound of fury and frustration that carried even over the thud of hoofbeats and the horses’ rasping breath.
“Laóith irnash!”
The hissing turned to words that rang out behind him. One of the Ilvani, his voice twisted by rage as he screamed an oath. We hunt the vile, we hunt the hateful. We hunt the Ilmari. The Valnirata’s hatred of the Ilmari and their homelands ran deep, and gave their epithet laóith a dozen subtle meanings. Chriani didn’t understand the warrior as he shouted again, though.
“Lóech arnala irch niir! Lóech niir!”
He risked a look behind him. The Ilvani warriors always fought in silence. No battle cries, no orders ever heard.
He saw the rider three lengths back, snaking through the thinning screen of trees. His hair was long streaks of grey and gold, tied tight and flowing fast behind him, his eyes flashing molten gold in the half-light. His leather was cut away at the shoulder for ease of shooting, his bow up and a black arrow at the string, set dead on Chriani. On the wrist of the Ilvani’s bow arm, a blood-red light was flaring.
“Chriani irnash! Lóech arnala irch niir!”
It happened slowly, as it always did.
Chriani heard his name hang across the gulf of shadow and the screen of leaves that wrapped them both. His name, shouted by an Ilvani warrior he’d never seen before. He felt his reflexes slow, felt a chill twist through him as the black arrow snapped from the bow…
**About the Author
Scott Fitzgerald Gray is a writer, fiction editor, story editor, RPG editor and designer, and man about town. He shares his life in the Canadian hinterland with a schoolteacher, two itinerant daughters, and a large number of animal companions.
More info on Scott and his work (some of it even occasionally truthful) can be found by reading between the lines at insaneangel.com. Views: 28
A long-awaited new collection of Marina Warner’s short stories. Like her award-winning novels, Marina Warner's stories conjure up mysteries and wonders in a physical world, treading a delicate, magical line between the natural and the supernatural, between openness and fear. Views: 28
The day Flint DeLuca moved to Whispering Bluff, TN she thought her life was over...until she met the dark, brooding, and seriously hot Cain. And then things were epic. Until they weren't. Prom night, her school is bombed by a pack of monsters known as hive, Flint's nearly killed in the explosion and her best friend Abel is kidnapped—all of it orchestrated by Cain's crazy mother, Layla aka The Hive Queen. The race is on to find Abel before Layla can turn him into one of her twisted creatures. But when a sword keeps appearing and disappearing in Flint's room, one that bears strange markings on it and hints at a secret buried deep in her past, Flint's already chaotic life is turned upside down. Now not only must she find a way to save Abel, but everything she thought she knew of her world and her life is about to change forever...
** Views: 28
How far would you go with a hitchhiker who'd left behind an unimaginable trail of horror and destruction? How would you feel if your father's new bride was something dredged up from the bowels of hell? What would you do if you discovered an old letter suggesting one of America's Founding Fathers had been a serial killer? How long would you last in a mysterious border town that promised to let you in on one of its most gruesome secrets? This is The Collection — thirty-two stories of hot blood and frigid terror that could have come only from the mind of Bentley Little. And that's a scary place to be.
He's been hailed by Dean Koontz for his "rock-'em, jolt-'em, shock-'em contemporary terror fiction." Now Little presents a 32-story collection that could only have come from an author with "a deft touch for the terrifying" ( Publishers Weekly ). From Publishers Weekly Little (The Association) displays his darker side in the 32 mostly memorable stories that comprise this collection of unpublished and previously published stories. Drawing from a bizarre cauldron of influences (cited in brief introductions to each piece), Little tackles some disturbing topics, including pedophilia, family crucifixions, incest and bestiality. Indeed, even fans accustomed to the gore found in Little's novels may be taken aback by the manner in which characters carry out their fetishes and crimes. The main character in "Blood," for example, kills both little boys and grown men without remorse, believing that his macaroni and cheese craves human blood. The supernatural and the unexplained are common themes, but some plot lines are underdeveloped. In "Monteith," readers are left to ponder what would have happened had the main character confronted his wife about a one-word note - written in her hand - that turned his life upside down. Among Little's best offerings are "Bob," a chilling tale of mistaken identity, and "Pillow Talk," a witty yet sad story about bed linens that come to life and ultimately display more human traits than many of the characters in this collection. A fascinating glimpse into how Little's creativity has evolved over the years, this volume is a must-have for the author's fans despite its uneven nature.
From Booklist Of the 32 spine tinglers in Little's gathering, some inevitably stand out. In "The Phonebook Man," the guy delivering the directory, once invited into a woman's house, changes his appearance drastically and refuses to leave. "Life with Father," one of the darkest stories in the collection, concerns a recycling obsession that leads to incest and murder. In "Roommates," Ray searches for one, only to get a strange batch of applicants, including a woman who believes her monkey is her daughter, a three-foot-tall albino, and a dirt-obsessed nurse. In "Bob," a group of women cleverly "sell" a young man on the idea of killing the abusive husband of a woman they know. And in "Pillow Talk," a man is shocked to find himself pursued sexually--by pillows. Little introduces each story by briefly explaining his inspiration for writing it. Little's often macabre, always sharp tales are snippets of everyday life given a creepy twist. Kristine Huntley Views: 28
