Bittersweet, funny and touching, Larry McMurtry's The Desert Rose is the story of Harmony, a Las Vegas showgirl. At night she's a lead dancer in a gambling casino; during the day she raises peacocks. She's one of a dying breed of dancers, faced with fewer and fewer jobs and an even bleaker future. Yet she maintains a calm cheerfulness in that arid neon landscape of supermarkets, drive-in wedding chapels, and all-night casinos. While Harmony's star is fading, her beautiful, cynical daughter Pepper's is on the rise. But Harmony remains wistful and optimistic through it all. She is the unexpected blossom in the wasteland, the tough and tender desert rose.
A detailed account of Coretta Scott King's upbringing in a family of proud, land-owning African Americans with a devotion to the ideals of social equality and the values of education, as well as her later role as her husband's most trusted confidant and advisor.
Jesus Saves - even on the job In October of 1981, the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, Ca. was opened as a training facility for US Army units. The work force was civilian, government contract employees. This work force was involved in, among other evil and detestable practices, drug use, alcohol use and sex while on the job. It was a playground for Satan and his followers. This is the last place anyone would expect to hear anything about God. But, God soon began a work that would touch the hearts and lives of the extremely Godless people in this place. God turned the Track and Wheel Shops at Ft. Irwin into a mission field. Starting with one man (not the author), God began a revival in the work place that saw many get saved and go on to various ministries and the mission field. This movement eventually grew into a weekly organized Bible Study that is still thriving and seeing lives changed. This book tells the true story of how Jesus came into this place of work and saved people from their despicable, evil lifestyles of sin. Although this story is told from the experience of one person, it could be told multiple times by a number of people with different experiences and testimonies. The accounts of the work which God did there over the years would fill volumes and would contain endless testimonies of how the Lord worked in the lives of all those involved or those whose lives were touched by this work. When I arrived at Ft. Irwin in July, 1982, I was a drunk who neglected my family and only cared for my own evil desires. By the end of 1984 I was saved and living free from alcohol and was not only walking with Jesus but on my way to active ministry work at the job site and in the Church. There are no exaggerations in this book, only the truth of what Jesus did in the lives of me and those around me and beyond. It is a testimony to what the Lord can do if we are open to His work in our lives. Do you take Jesus to work with you? All too often, Christians leave Jesus at home when they go to work. An undercover Christian is unable to reach anyone for Jesus. We need to be ambassadors for Jesus and take the gospel message to the work site and watch as the Lord saves souls. That is what happened at Ft. Irwin, in the Track and Wheel Shops. We were all truly amazed at the work He was able to do simply because we were obedient to His calling. This work of God, which exists among the evil lifestyles of this workforce, truly stands out like a rose in the desert. Take Jesus to work, you will be amazed at His good work habits.
Jack Halliday struck it rich in the 1860 silver boom in Virginia City! As Annalee and her mother travel to join him in Nevada, their joy turns to ashes. They're unprepared for the savage mountain winter that traps them in a desperate struggle for survival. At this critical moment, lawman Brett Wilder arrives in town. He's looking for the gunslinger who crippled his father—and he suspects Jack. When Annalee and Brett meet as they each search for Jack, they must face what they believe about the sovereignty of God, justice, and mercy. They also must discover whether their growing love for one another will melt like snow into an icy mountain stream or bloom like a rose in the desert.
When gritty pig farmer Desert Rose finds a gold nugget just a-lyin' there in the mud, she decides to buy herself the biggest, fattest hog she can find. But getting that highfalutin hog home in time for the Laredo state fair proves to be more than Rose bargained for. When a cold-hearted coyote, a persnickety snake, a lethargic Texas longhorn, and a whole host of other southern varmints prove to be unhelpful, Rose must pair up with a shrewd armadillo to get every animal over the river and off to Laredo in time.
A weathered letter, a woman's quest, a warrior's sword--from the deserts of Petra and Wadi Rum to the hallowed halls of Cambridge, enter the battlefield where truly the pen becomes mightier than the sword. Share the drama of those living and dying in the crucible of war. Join the dangerous journey of "a rose in the desert."
Isabella Lilias Trotter (1853-1928) was an artist and a missionary for over 38 years to the Muslims of Algeria. John Ruskin, the famous art critic, didn't believe that ladies could paint before he met Lilias. He changed his mind after he met her and believed that if she would give her life to painting she could become the greatest painter of the nineteenth century. Ruskin believed that if she would devote herself to art "she would be the greatest living painter and do things that would be immortal. " He was unhappy that she was spending so much time on the streets of London, helping with the YWCA, when he thought she ought to be painting. Lilias, however, decided to give up her career in art in order to serve God. She always remained a good friend of Ruskin's though, and they wrote many letters when she was in Algeria. She also wrote several books - beautifully illustrated by herself, including: Parables of the Cross (1894), Parables of the Christ-Life (1899), and a book for Sufi Muslims, The Way of the Sevenfold Secret.
When Will, a young gay gender-fluid artist is abandoned by the one person he cares most about in the world, he's left desperate and broken, with nowhere to turn. All he has is the phone number of a man who once purchased a few of his paintings and had propositioned him with the opportunity of a lifetime. A year later, Will feels confident, sexy, and desperately in love with Dorian, the owner of New Orleans' underground gay brothel; Desert Rose. The money is good, the sex is better, and every day is a party, until Will realizes things are not what they seem. Every day then becomes a battle between obligation, love, true happiness, and the devastating guilt that Will's newest client, Nikolai, makes him smile more than Dorian ever has.
Fleeing the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Corporal Meyer returns home to Pysznica to rejoin his family. Miriam, a young woman traveling with her family, stops in Pysznica to take care of her ill father. Meyer and Miriam meet, and their love for each other blossoms despite the hardships of war. Working together, they try to keep their two Jewish families alive-no small feat during the Nazi occupation. They struggle to survive as they are forced into slave labor, and endure some of the worst treatment and anti-Semitism the world has ever seen. They are compelled to go into hiding. Meyer and Miriam must watch as their large family is threatened, not knowing what will become of everyone. Eventually, Miriam and Meyer are separated. Miriam is forced to adopt a new identity while Meyer is subjected to the abuse of three concentration camps. If only they can survive this war and the fuhrer's plot to destroy their people, they can finally be together. Miriam and Meyer's story of survival, love, and enduring commitment through suffering is a testament to the power of love and the ferocity of war.
In her midtwenties, Shirley was diagnosed with manic depression-now called bipolar disorder-and lithium was prescribed as the treatment. Her doctor delivered a prognosis that read like a death sentence. She did not believe it. Shirley refused to accept both the diagnosis and treatment, and for three and a half years lived symptom free. Then came the second episode. The reality of the original assessment struck her a forceful blow as she realized she had no explanation for the woman she became in these episodes. So who was she? Shirley became determined to know and understand how she developed this illness and what needed to change in order for her to enjoy soundness of mind all the time. A Rose in the Desert is based on the true-life story of a woman who believed there had to be a way to be well and when she found it would share it with others.
