From the moment of his birth, Siddhartha Gautama never doubted his specialness. He arrived with magnificently webbed digits and could lick his own earlobes. His karma had been that good. Thus, the question was never whether he would become a king, but rather, what type of king he would become. Siddhartha's journey took a sudden spiritual turn when he came to the first of his many realizations: things die, and before they die, they suffer, a lot, for real. This harrowing insight formed the first of his eleven Four Noble Truths (not including the five other parts) and informed his ascetic-minded mission: to free the world of pain, even if he was very glad to no longer care about anything or anyone in it. Having already experienced an incalculable number of past lives, Siddhartha wondered, how could he himself escape this endless cycle of suffering? With this question came an enlightened answer that promised a possible way out: only those who live can die. As his body begins to fail... Views: 212
How would you stay if you found a moai at the doorway when you got home? You'd be pretty surprised, right? You would think that you are hallucinating or, failing that, that someone is playing a joke on you. Something like this is what happened to me that day after being fired by the company where I worked. And it was only the beginning of a turbulent week that I have tried to collect in these pages so that, if you ever see yourself in a similar situation, you at least know what to expect. This is my story, but it could also be yours, or that of any other because, after all, who has not ever needed the occurrence of an extraordinary event, the crossing of an unexpected and grandiloquent event, to take a step forward in your life? Who hasn't required a little outside help to jump into an unattainable-looking dream? Don't wait any longer and join me in this original adventure set in the Malasaña neighborhood! Not every day there is a moai waiting for you! Views: 212
Over 13 months in 1976-1977, four children were abducted in the Detroit suburbs, each of them held for days before their still-warm bodies were dumped in the snow near public roadsides. The Oakland County Child Murders spawned panic across southeast Michigan, triggering the most extensive manhunt in U.S. history. Yet after less than two years, the task force created to find the killer was shut down without naming a suspect. The case "went cold" for more than 30 years, until a chance discovery by one victim's family pointed to the son of a wealthy General Motors executive: Christopher Brian Busch, a convicted pedophile, was freed weeks before the fourth child disappeared. Veteran Detroit News reporter Marney Rich Keenan takes the reader inside the investigation of the still-unsolved murders—seen through the eyes of the lead detective in the case and the family who cracked it open—revealing evidence of a decades-long coverup of malfeasance and obstruction that denied justice... Views: 212
The Clay Urn is a book that carefully and authentically navigates the intricate spaces and places where love thrives during and post wartime. Between carnage and devastation there is humanity, always. This novella reminds us of all the ways we can love despite all the ways that our circumstances try to extinguish us. At the core of it, The Clay Urn is a love story – a multilayered, multi character romance even, between two people; between a woman and her passion; between a people and their land. Rabinowitz, through his deeply lyrical prose, reminds us that not all things are destroyed during war time and that some can never be, like love between two people, like the desire to create something beyond our imagination, something more beautiful than our history, than our present. One of the most intriguing aspects of the book is how deeply steeped the characters' memory and love are in the tradition of war, which their country is born of. The Clay Urn... Views: 212
Inspired by the history of the British "brideships," this captivating historical debut tells the story of one woman's coming of age and search of independence—for readers of Suzanne Desrochers's Bride of New France and Armando Lucas Correa's The German Girl. Tomorrow we would dock in Victoria on the northwest coast of North America, about as far away from my home as I could imagine. Like pebbles tossed upon the beach, we would scatter, trying to make our way as best as we could. Most of us would marry; some would not. England, 1862. Charlotte is somewhat of a wallflower. Shy and bookish, she knows her duty is to marry, but with no dowry, she has little choice in the matter. She can't continue to live off the generosity of her sister Harriet and her wealthy brother-in-law, Charles, whose political aspirations dictate that she make an advantageous match. When Harriet hosts a grand party, Charlotte is charged with winning the... Views: 212
Four kingdoms are locked in a horrible war - a war that, if lost, will surrender innocent lives to the power and control of King Kayne, the barbaric and bloodthirsty king of the South. The kings and queen of the North, East, and West have no choice but to join forces against the South if they're going to hold onto everything they hold dear.But the northern Queen's brother has a different ambition in mind, and sees the South as a route to power. While Kayne spends his time traveling across the Great Sea, seeking out herbs and potions to enhance his abilities, Kristofer rises amongst the ranks to become his right hand and leads the people in the king's absence.Bewildered and devastated by Kristofer's betrayal, Queen Elora of the North and lifelong ally King Rian of the West join their armies to fight against him. As they seek to save their kingdoms, Elora and Rian face an excruciating struggle between the love they once had for Kristofer and their duty to deal the... Views: 212
When Emma leaves the security of her Amish community for a job in North Carolina, she finds herself navigating choices, circumstances, and a relationship that she never could have imagined. Follow as she struggles to reconcile her faith and her complicated feelings in this romance by bestselling Amish writer Linda Byler. Emma had had plenty of offers for marriage. Several young men had noticed her smooth auburn hair, her quick intellect. But at twenty-six years of age, she was still single, much to the bewilderment of her Amish community. "She's just too picky," they said, and she supposed they were right. When she becomes a nanny for an English (non-Amish) family along the coast of North Carolina, her world opens up in exciting—and confusing—ways. Not only is she getting used to life outside the safety of her Amish culture in Lancaster, but she finds herself spending a great deal of her free time with Ben, the handsome older Amish man who is working as... Views: 212
"It's what would happen if the women from The Nanny Diaries met the women from Sex and the City in the social-media age. I devoured it in less than 48 hours."—Jill Santopolo, author of The Light We LostA dark, witty page-turner about a struggling young musician who takes a job singing for a playgroup of overprivileged babies and their effortlessly cool moms, only to find herself pulled into their glamorous lives and dangerous secrets.... After her former band shot to superstardom without her, Claire reluctantly agrees to a gig as a playgroup musician for wealthy infants on New York's Park Avenue. Claire is surprised to discover that she is smitten with her new employers, a welcoming clique of wellness addicts with impossibly shiny hair, who whirl from juice cleanse to overpriced miracle vitamins to spin class with limitless energy. There is perfect hostess Whitney who is on the brink of social-media stardom and just... Views: 212
