This is the story of a 26-year-old girl who left her old life with a steady job and boyfriend behind in order to travel through Southeast Asia completely on her own. Over the course of the next year and thousands of miles, hundreds of new beginnings and new friendships, she found that more than traveling the world outside, she traveled the world within. This book is a collection of excerpts from her diary and blog during that time in which she found that traveling alone made all the difference in the world.
Star-crossed lovers, meddling immortals, feigned identities, battles of wits, and dire warnings: these are the stuff of fairy tale, myth, and folklore that have drawn us in for centuries. Fifteen bestselling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate. Compiled by We Need Diverse Books’s Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman, the authors included in this exquisite collection are: Renée Ahdieh, Sona Charaipotra, Preeti Chhibber, Roshani Chokshi, Aliette de Bodard, Melissa de la Cruz, Julie Kagawa, Rahul Kanakia, Lori M. Lee, E. C. Myers, Cindy Pon, Aisha Saeed, Shveta Thakrar, and Alyssa Wong. A mountain loses her heart. Two sisters transform into birds to escape captivity. A young man learns the true meaning of sacrifice. A young woman takes up her mother’s mantle and leads the dead to their final resting place. From fantasy to science fiction to contemporary, from romance to tales of revenge, these stories will beguile readers from start to finish. For fans of Neil Gaiman’s Unnatural Creatures and Ameriie’s New York Times–bestselling Because You Love to Hate Me.
Do you dream of far off places, new sights, smells, tastes, and adventures? Have you been planning the trip of a lifetime but, after asking your partner, sister, best friend, cousin, and/or old high school classmate you barely speak with anymore, found that nobody can take off on a trip with you? Do you worry about how you'll afford it, that you'll be lonely, and most of all, how you'll make sure that you're safe? I found myself in the same position in 2012, searching for answers but coming up confused and empty-handed. I just wanted someone to make it all easy for me. I wanted to know that I was going to be okay. I started out as a normal girl without a trust fund and full of fears, but through traveling I learned that I'm brave, powerful, capable, and strong. You can find the same girl within you. This book was written to help you do just that.This is THE time and sanity-saving resource I wish existed before I started traveling. Inside is absolutely everything I know about solo travel, plus insight from all of the solo female travelers who had helped me along the way with their solid advice and tips.
As if being new to the United States wasn't hard enough, Isabella's first day of school is canceled due to snow! Isabella has recently arrived from Colombia with her mother and abuela. She misses Papa, who is still in South America. It's her first day of school, her make-new-friends day, but when classes are canceled because of too much snow, Isabella misses warm, green, Colombia more than ever. Then Isabella meets Katie and finds out that making friends in the cold is easier than she thought!
The year is 3000 AD. In 2720, man's failed social system had destroyed civilization, forcing the remaining humans to begin again. A new social system was adopted that embarked man on the unforeseen path to the Apocalypse. (Excerpt from 5th page of Chapter 18) "The Horsemen approached Jared and Destiny with unimaginable speed. Scant yards away, their horses stopped and reared with anger flashing across their eyes as Gabriel stepped forward forbidding their passage. Gabriel stood in front of them defiantly, a shining white star standing against thunderous clouds of fire. Gabriel seemed so small and fragile, yet Destiny could feel the power surging from him in waves that could be released to instantly subdue the Horsemen if the need arose. The horses stamped and snorted impatiently as the Horsemen looked at Gabriel, at the humans, and then looked up to the heavens. The Horsemen paused and raised their swords to the sky as blood red fire erupted from the edges of their blades."
As the divinely inspired Word of God, the primary purpose of the Bible is to probe the depths of the human heart more skillfully and purposefully than any surgeon could possibly imagine. With this in mind, my intent in New Beginnings is to follow the riveting narratives of Genesis and Acts with a primary emphasis on the devotional and inspirational elements. From a Christian perspective, I cannot imagine four beginnings with more historical significance than those emphasized in these two informative books: (1) the creation of the world with all its living things, (2) the foundation of IsraelGods chosen nation, (3) the establishment of the Churchthe Body of Christ, and the most incredible beginning of all, (4) people from every walk of life being born again by the power of the gospel. My personal perceptions and convictions have evolved from a background of thirty-three years using the scientific method in chemical research, and even longer exploring the eternal truths of the Bible as a Christian and minister. I might add that the practical experiences I gained as a husband, father of two girls, and bivocational pastor prevent my viewpoints from being too esoteric or theoretical in nature. Whether a casual reader or serious student of the Bible, I hope you find New Beginnings informative if not illuminating, interesting if not stirring, and encouraging if not inspiring. Finally, if your Christian fervor needs rekindling, my prayer is that these pages nourish and revitalize youlike a steaming bowl of my mothers chicken soup on a cold, rainy day.
The first comprehensive history of the Lakota Indians and their profound role in shaping America's history Named One of the New York Times Critics' Top Books of 2019 - Named One of the 10 Best History Books of 2019 by Smithsonian Magazine - Winner of the MPIBA Reading the West Book Award for narrative nonfiction "Turned many of the stories I thought I knew about our nation inside out."--Cornelia Channing, Paris Review, Favorite Books of 2019 "My favorite non-fiction book of this year."--Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg Opinion "A briliant, bold, gripping history."--Simon Sebag Montefiore, London Evening Standard, Best Books of 2019 "All nations deserve to have their stories told with this degree of attentiveness"--Parul Sehgal, New York Times This first complete account of the Lakota Indians traces their rich and often surprising history from the early sixteenth to the early twenty-first century. Pekka Hämäläinen explores the Lakotas' roots as marginal hunter-gatherers and reveals how they reinvented themselves twice: first as a river people who dominated the Missouri Valley, America's great commercial artery, and then--in what was America's first sweeping westward expansion--as a horse people who ruled supreme on the vast high plains. The Lakotas are imprinted in American historical memory. Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull are iconic figures in the American imagination, but in this groundbreaking book they emerge as something different: the architects of Lakota America, an expansive and enduring Indigenous regime that commanded human fates in the North American interior for generations. Hämäläinen's deeply researched and engagingly written history places the Lakotas at the center of American history, and the results are revelatory.
A hilarious, deftly written debut novel about a woman whose wanderlust is about to show her that sometimes you don’t have to travel very far to become the person you want to be… There are many reasons women shouldn’t travel alone. But as foul-mouthed, sweet-toothed Kika Shores knows, there are many more reasons why they should. After all, most women want a lot more out of life than just having fun. Kika, for one, wants to experience the world. But ever since she returned from her yearlong backpacking tour, she’s been steeped in misery, battling rush hour with all the other suits. Getting back on the road is all she wants. So when she’s offered a nanny job in London – the land of Cadbury Cream Eggs – she’s happy at the prospect of going back overseas and getting paid for it. But as she’s about to discover, the most exhilarating adventures can happen when you stay in one place… Wise, witty, and hilarious, Girls Who Travel is an unforgettable novel about the highs and lows of getting what you want—and how it’s the things you least expect that can change your life.
“I love The First Christmas. What a charming way Stephen Mitchell has found to tell my favorite story of all, the Nativity, character by character (I love the donkey and the ox), with wise and thrilling interludes about God, reality, truth.” –Anne Lamott In The First Christmas, Stephen Mitchell brings the Nativity story to vivid life as never before. A narrative that is only sketched out in two Gospels becomes fully realized here with nuanced characters and a setting that reflects the culture of the time. Mitchell has suffused the birth of Jesus with a sense of beauty that will delight and astonish readers. In this version, we see the world through the eyes of a Whitmanesque ox and a visionary donkey, starry-eyed shepherds and Zen-like wise men, each of them providing a unique perspective on a scene that is, in Western culture, the central symbol for good tidings of great joy. Rather than superimposing later Christian concepts onto the Annunciation and Nativity scenes, he imagines Mary and Joseph experiencing the angelic message as a young Jewish woman and man living in the year 4 bce might have experienced it, with terror, dismay, and ultimate acceptance. In this context, their yes becomes an act of great moral courage. Readers of every background will be enchanted by this startlingly beautiful reimagining of the Christmas tale.
