Iron and Silk

Iron and Silk

Author: Mark Salzman

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 1987-10-12

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 0394755111

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Salzman captures post-cultural revolution China through his adventures as a young American English teacher in China and his shifu-tudi (master-student) relationship with China's foremost martial arts teacher.


Lying Awake

Lying Awake

Author: Mark Salzman

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2003-12-16

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1400077753

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Mark Salzman's Lying Awake is a finely wrought gem that plumbs the depths of one woman's soul, and in so doing raises salient questions about the power-and price-of faith. Sister John's cloistered life of peace and prayer has been electrified by ever more frequent visions of God's radiance, leading her toward a deep religious ecstasy. Her life and writings have become examples of devotion. Yet her visions are accompanied by shattering headaches that compel Sister John to seek medical help. When her doctor tells her an illness may be responsible for her gift, Sister John faces a wrenching choice: to risk her intimate glimpses of the divine in favor of a cure, or to continue her visions with the knowledge that they might be false-and might even cost her her life.


Riding the Iron Rooster

Riding the Iron Rooster

Author: Paul Theroux

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2006-12-08

Total Pages: 533

ISBN-13: 0547526997

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The acclaimed travel writer chronicles a year of train travel across China in a revealing travelogue that “gives the reader much to relish and think about” (Publishers Weekly). The author of the train travel classics The Great Railway Bazaar and The Old Patagonian Express, takes to the rails once again in this account of his epic journey through China. The always irascible, infectiously curious author “is in top form as he describes the barren deserts of Mongolia and Xinjiang, the ice forests of Manchuria and the dry hills of Tibet. He captures their otherworldly, haunting appearances perfectly. He is also right on target when he talks about the ugliness of China's poorly planned, hastily built cities” (Mark Salzman, The New York Times). Theroux hops aboard a train as part of a tour group in London and sets out for China's border. He then spends a year traversing the country, where he pieces together a fascinating snapshot of a unique moment in history. From sweeping and desolate natural landscapes to the dense metropolises of Shanghai, Beijing, and Canton, Theroux offers an unforgettable portrait of a magnificent land and an extraordinary people.


The Man in the Empty Boat

The Man in the Empty Boat

Author: Mark Salzman

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2012-02-14

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 1453221107

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DIVFrom the author of Iron & Silk comes a moving memoir of love and family, loss and spiritual yearning DIVAnxiety has always been part of Mark Salzman’s life: He was born into a family as nervous as rabbits, people with extra angst coded into their genes. As a young man he found solace through martial arts, meditation, tai chi, and rigorous writing schedules, but as he approaches midlife, he confronts a year of catastrophe. First, Salzman suffers a crippling case of writer’s block; then a sudden family tragedy throws his life into chaos. Overwhelmed by terrifying panic attacks, the author begins a search for equanimity that ultimately leads to an epiphany from a most unexpected source./divDIV /divDIVThe Man in the Empty Boat is a witty and touching account of a skeptic’s spiritual quest, a story of one man’s journey to find peace as a father, a writer, and an individual./divDIV/div/div


The Girl Who Wrote in Silk

The Girl Who Wrote in Silk

Author: Kelli Estes

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Published: 2015-07-07

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 1492608343

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A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "A powerful debut that proves the threads that interweave our lives can withstand time and any tide, and bind our hearts forever."—Susanna Kearsley, New York Times bestselling author of Belleweather and The Vanished Days A historical novel inspired by true events, Kelli Estes's brilliant and atmospheric debut is a poignant tale of two women determined to do the right thing, highlighting the power of our own stories. The smallest items can hold centuries of secrets... While exploring her aunt's island estate, Inara Erickson is captivated by an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. The truth behind the silk sleeve dated back to 1886, when Mei Lien, the lone survivor of a cruel purge of the Chinese in Seattle found refuge on Orcas Island and shared her tragic experience by embroidering it. As Inara peels back layer upon layer of the centuries of secrets the sleeve holds, her life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lein. Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth that will shake her family to its core—and force her to make an impossible choice. Should she bring shame to her family and risk everything by telling the truth, or tell no one and dishonor Mei Lien's memory? A touching and tender book for fans of Marie Benedict, Susanna Kearsley, and Duncan Jepson, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk is a dual-time period novel that explores how a delicate piece of silk interweaves the past and the present, reminding us that today's actions have far reaching implications. Praise for The Girl Who Wrote in Silk: "A beautiful, elegiac novel, as finely and delicately woven as the title suggests. Kelli Estes spins a spellbinding tale that illuminates the past in all its brutality and beauty, and the humanity that binds us all together." —Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author of The Beekeeper's Ball "A touching and tender story about discovering the past to bring peace to the present." —Duncan Jepson, author of All the Flowers in Shanghai "Vibrant and tragic, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk explores a horrific, little-known era in our nation's history. Estes sensitively alternates between Mei Lien, a young Chinese-American girl who lived in the late 1800s, and Inara, a modern recent college grad who sets Mei Lien's story free." —Margaret Dilloway, author of How to Be an American Housewife and Sisters of Heart and Snow


Night Train to Turkistan

Night Train to Turkistan

Author: Stuart Stevens

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 9780871131904

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The first account of travel in Chinese Turkistan, closed to foreigners since 1949, shows a world where bureaucratic hazards often loom larger than geographical ones. First serial to Esquire.


The Laughing Sutra

The Laughing Sutra

Author: Mark Salzman

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2012-02-08

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0307814246

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Iron & Silk, Mark Salzman's bestselling account of his adventures as an English teacher and martial arts student in China, introduced a writer of enormous charm and keen insight into the cultural chasm between East and West. Now Salzman returns to China in his first novel, which follows the adventures of Hsun-ching, a naive but courageous orphan, and the formidable and mysterious Colonel Sun, who together travel from mainland China to San Francisco, risking everything to track down an elusive Buddhist scripture called The Laughing Sutra. Part Tom Sawyer, part Tom Jones, The Laughing Sutra draws us into an irresistible narrative of danger and comedy that speaks volumes about the nature of freedom and the meaning of loyalty.


Iron & Fire

Iron & Fire

Author: Ariana Nash

Publisher:

Published: 2020-09-10

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9781838185114

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Alliances are forged and broken, friendships shattered, and despite the odds stacked against them, two hearts collide in this explosive sequel to Silk & Steel. From his mother's cage to a human one, but Lysander's captors are the least of his concerns. Rumors of a monstrous bronze dragon ripple through human camps, a dragon tearing great holes in the world as though searching for something... or someone. It's just a matter of time before the bronze chief, Dokul, finds Lysander and makes good on his promises. And should he find him, Lysander knows Dokul will not be merciful. Amidst the greatest of elven victories, Eroan failed. Failed his people, failed himself, and failed the dragon who saved him. But he will not falter. The dragonkin are in disarray, there will never be a greater opportunity to strike. Eroan Ilanea will not fail his people again. But when rumors of the dragon prince's survival reach him, he must choose: Fight for his people or fight for the prince who nobody thought to save?


Warriors of the Sacred Garden

Warriors of the Sacred Garden

Author: E I Landa

Publisher:

Published: 2020-09-05

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13:

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Deep in the heart of Amazonas, in the Cloud Forest, a baby girl is born: Mila Tzofia Ferro, whose name means "warrior, wisdom, and iron." Many years before, in the same place, an exceptional gift was entrusted to a group of warriors called the Cloud People. While Mila's life will lead her away from Amazonas, she will inevitably be drawn back to the cloud forest and its secret. But first, Mila must confront her own.While still a baby, Mila's father becomes trapped in the web of the Norfolks-a family of powerful pharmaceutical tycoons-and pays for his entanglement with his life. As Mila grows up, she faces more challenges, including the discovery of her unsettling abilities. Yet Mila is also blessed with a strong, loving family: her caring mother wants to show her the beauty of our world. Mother and daughter move from Peru to Italy to Switzerland to Israel - gaining knowledge in each place that will come to serve Mila later. Shortly after they return to Peru, Mila meets Eli, a young, kind American scholar with his own strange abilities.Just as Mila and Eli begin to fall in love, the Norfolks attempt to procure an archaeological artifact found in French Polynesia. But they are not the only ones interested in the black-market artifact. As this remnant from Amazonas resurfaces, a chain reaction is set off and Mila understands she must come to terms with her roots, the reason for her unusual upbringing, and her unique abilities in order to fight alongside the people she loves.


Iron & Velvet

Iron & Velvet

Author: Alexis Hall

Publisher:

Published: 2013-12

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9781626490499

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"First rule in this line of business: don't sleep with the client." My name's Kate Kane, and when an eight-hundred-year-old vampire prince came to me with a case, I should have told her no. But I've always been a sucker for a femme fatale. It always goes the same way. You move too fast, you get in too deep, and before you know it, someone winds up dead. Last time it was my partner. This time it could be me. Yesterday a werewolf was murdered outside the Velvet, the night-time playground of one of the most powerful vampires in England. Now half the monsters in London are at each other's throats, and the other half are trying to get in my pants. The Witch Queen will protect her own, the wolves are out for vengeance, and the vampires are out for, y'know, blood. I've got a killer on the loose, a war on the horizon, and a scotch on the rocks. It's going to be an interesting day.