The Life of Elves

A moving and deeply felt homage to the power of nature and art by one of the world’s most beloved authors. Do two young girls have the power to change the world? Maria, raised by powerful older women, lives in a remote village in Burgundy, where she discovers her gift of clairvoyance, of healing and of communicating with nature. Hundreds of miles away in Italy, Clara discovers her musical genius and is sent from the countryside to Rome to nurture her extraordinary abilities. Who are the mysterious elves? Will they succeed in training the girls for their higher purpose in the face of an impending war? Barbery’s The Life of Elves is the story of two children whose amazing talents will bring them into contact with magical worlds and malevolent forces. If, against all odds, they can be brought together, their meeting may shape the course of history. Seven years after the publication of her international bestseller, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery returns with an inspiring novel about finding the divine in the domestic, about the quest for enchantment. With its cast of unforgettable characters, each fighting to preserve the idea of an enhanced life, The Life of Elves is a luminous novel about art, nature, dreams, the power of love, and how imagination can help us build a bridge to a better future.
Views: 922

Muhammad: A Story of the Last Prophet

“Compassionate and clear…a courageous undertaking.” —Greg Mortenson, New York Times bestselling author of Three Cups of Tea and *Stones into Schools *“As a scholar and storyteller extraordinaire, Deepak Chopra portrays a morally courageous yet highly human messenger of God.” —Irshad Manji, Director, Moral Courage Project, New York University From the New York Times bestselling author of Buddha and Jesus comes the page-turning and soul-stirring story of Muhammad. Deepak Chopra—easily one of the most influential spiritual leaders in the world today—delivers this stunning, sincere, and highly accessible portrait of the Prophet of Islam. Chopra’s Muhammad is an outstanding resource for everyone who thinks they should know more about the man who inspired the world's fastest-growing religion.
Views: 921

Jackson's Dilemma

On the eve of their wedding, Edward Lannion and Marian Berran are led away onto dark and strange paths, while their friends and lovers are forced to make new and surprising choices. Watching over all of them is Jackson, a mysterious and charismatic manservant who, in guiding all the young lovers into the light, has to make his own agonizing decisions.
Views: 916

The Life of the Mind

The author’s final work, presented in a one-volume edition, is a rich, challenging analysis of man’s mental activity, considered in terms of thinking, willing, and judging.
Views: 915

Bangkok Z

Toey and three friends arrive in Bangkok, a city engulfed by the choking miasma of a zombie plague. As their Airbus lands they witness another of the mass turnings. The Bangkok airport is an arena of death playing host to lifers, infected, the dead and the newly-undead. As new convulsions wrack the city they realize they're in the opening skirmishes of an undead global war. The struggle begins.From zombie plague ... to an undead world.In a bleary-eyed state of shock Toey Cholwasa and three friends arrive back in Bangkok, a city engulfed by a zombie plague, a choking miasma of flesh rotting in the tropical heat. As their Airbus lands Toey witnesses another in a rolling series of mass turnings. A freshly-risen horde throws itself at the still-moving plane, and gets plowed under … leaving a blood-trail of body parts in the plane’s wake. It would have been a mercy if the plague had merely killed its victims. Zombie death would be the least of its effects. As a researcher in consciousness and trance states Toey is one of the few equipped to piece together what the zombie rules of engagement will have to be. Failing this, the fallout from such a fight won’t bear thinking of. The new airport they pass through is a morning-after war zone, an arena of death playing host to lifers (survivors), infected, the dead, and the newly-undead. Later, the silent city they pass through echoes with the screams of the infected who died there only hours earlier. Most of those have not yet turned. But as new convulsions wrack the city they realize they’re in the opening skirmishes of an undead global war. The struggle begins.
Views: 915

Resurrection

Resurrection (1899) is the last of Tolstoy's major novels. It tells the story of a nobleman's attempt to redeem the suffering his youthful philandering inflicted on a peasant girl who ends up a prisoner in Siberia. Tolstoy's vision of redemption, achieved through loving forgiveness and his condemnation of violence, dominate the novel. An intimate, psychological tale of guilt, anger, and forgiveness, Resurrection is at the same time a panoramic description of social life in Russia at the end of the nineteenth century, reflecting its author's outrage at the social injustices of the world in which he lived. This edition, which updates a classic translation, has explanatory notes, and a substantial introduction based on the most recent scholarship in the field.
Views: 914

The Sight

A powerful story from the author of Fire Bringer.
Views: 904

Family Happiness

Family Happiness (Russian: Семейное счастье [Semeynoye Schast'ye]) is an 1859 novella written by Leo Tolstoy, first published in The Russian Messenger.
Views: 895

Wind, Sand and Stars

Recipient of the Grand Prix of the Académie Française, Wind, Sand and Stars captures the grandeur, danger, and isolation of flight. Its exciting account of air adventure, combined with lyrical prose and the spirit of a philosopher, makes it one of the most popular works ever written about flying. Translated by Lewis Galantière.
Views: 895

Ian's Gang - The Wedding

Matthew Parker is somewhat surprised when his supposedly dead childhood sweetheart turns up alive and well. Needless to say, all is not as it seems - and the sound of wedding bells will be accompanied by the sound of gunfire.What is the price of a soul?For Annalise it's simply a matter of getting what she wants and having the means to go about it. What she wants is revenge for the death of her father. The means to go about it... well that's where things get a little more complicated.He's ancient, all powerful, and his motivations are as murky as his morals. Still, he was her father's weapon of choice and Annalise knew her father to be a man of honesty and integrity.The price is worth it.
Views: 883

Ham

ham (noun) [hæm] 1 the hind leg of a hog, salted, smoked, and cured 2 second son of Noah 3 somebody who performs in an exaggerated showy style -always hamming it up Just when you thought you knew everything about ham, you discover that ham is also: 4 a reason to laugh about everyday life, and 5 an irresistible collection of humorous essays from a man who was born to entertain us. In sixteen brilliantly observed true stories, Sam Harris emerges as a natural humorist in league with David Sedaris, Chelsea Handler, Carrie Fisher, and Steve Martin, but with a voice uniquely his own. Praised by the Chicago Sun-Times for his "manic, witty commentary," and with a storytelling talent the New York Times calls "New Yorker– worthy," he puts a comedic spin on full-disclosure episodes from his own colorful life. What better place to find painfully funny material than in growing up gay, gifted, and ambitious in...
Views: 883

Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

Originally appearing as a series of articles in The New Yorker, Hannah Arendt’s authoritative and stunning report on the trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann sparked a flurry of debate upon its publication. This revised edition includes material that came to light after the trial, as well as Arendt’s postscript directly addressing the controversy that arose over her account. A major journalistic triumph by an intellectual of singular influence, Eichmann in Jerusalem is as shocking as it is informative—an unflinching look at one of the most unsettling and unsettled issues of the twentieth century that remains hotly debated to this day.
Views: 875

Another Mosque Among the Stars

In an article published at Internova, Ahmed A. Khan had tried to define a new sub-genre of speculative fiction: Islamic SF. This book showcases that essay and five of Ahmed's stories that illustrate the criteria of Islamic SF. These stories, in their earlier incarnations, have earned modest success and have been reprinted and translated several times.Samurai Shark has a license plate stuck in his teeth and it's pissing him off. The pain makes him go on an epic rant that will make even the toughest dizen of the deep cower in fear. Watch out world, Samurai Shark is comin' to bite you in the butt!
Views: 860