The death of bestselling author Aaron Jackson turned Maggie Weston'sworld inside out. The manager of Jackson's Writers Retreat, Maggieknew a murderer hid among her colleagues and friends. Was it actress Lily Dunne, target of a stalker's obsession? Lily's writer husband,struggling to make a name for himself? Money-loving Korie, Aaron'swife? Or someone else? Maggie herself stood to inherit from Aaron's estate. As formerNew York City cop Fletcher MacAllister piled up evidence againstMaggie, only faith kept her strong. And Fletcher needed to rekindle hisown faith in time to prevent the killer from claiming another victim.
In a very real sense, each of us is a mandala. Some of us have intricate patterns and colors reflecting the complex experiences of our lives. Some of us are simple arcs of existence with minimalist designs and subtle colors and every possible combination in between. Each of us is as unique as our individual DNA, which strangely, in cross-section on electron microscopy, looks like a mandala! But unlike our DNA, our mandalas are constantly shifting shapes and colors as we make our choices as to the best way to live our lives. All designs of the mandala have a borderthe interface we have with one another and the material world. And each mandala has a center, the singularity, where the trinity of mind, body, and spirit integrates and unites with the divine self.
It’s five teenage girls, three pooka, and a sheepdog against an invading army. This isn’t looking so good. Anybody got a plan yet? Now that the war’s begun, it’s all worse, and the good guys are losing. It’s androids verses intruders, and the androids are dumb as rocks. Whose idea was all this? The Prime Caretaker? Somebody’s got to have a word with her. So, it’s off to Toka City for the last stand of humanity. This would be way easier if they had a giant mech, but who has one of those just sitting around?
Two generations of the Nonezawa family – Asafumi and his wife Shizuka, and Asafumi's grandfather Rentaro and his Malayan lover Saya – are connected across the years by the mysterious Mandala Road, which simultaneously casts Asafumi and Rentaro from their respective ages into a haunting post-apocalyptic world. As becomes apparent, Asafumi, Rentaro, Saya, and Shizuka are all, in their own way, on a private journey to discover and reconcile themselves with their memories of violence, both seen and experienced, as they struggle to understand themselves, unearth the emotions they have repressed, and learn to live with a past that seems always to be too close behind them.
Five sisters share one business like no other. Warded by fae magic, this shop’s inventory shifts to meet the needs of its customers, summoning the sister whose expertise is required. With Lily behind the counter, it’s a candle boutique. Aster manages the bookstore. Crystals are Iris’s specialty. Fern sells flowers and herbs. And Daisy tends to the apothecary and oils. It’s a seamless system until a particularly perplexing customer crosses the threshold and causes the store’s magic to go haywire. As it wildly shifts between facades, one thing becomes obvious: it’s up to the “flower girls” to save this handsome stranger from the ominous threat closing in, if they hope to regain control of their magical shop again. “Thanks for shopping, and remember… Practice safe hex!”
The story and history of the Beats couldn't be found in the traditional libraries or archives of academic research. For preeminent historian of Beat culture John Tytell, it had to be found in the bars, towns, roads, and hangouts of these writers and figures. And as Writing Beat demonstrates, the same techniques apply to new and future writers. Approaching the history of post-war twentieth century American literature, and in particular the Beat literary movement of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, and others, Tytell finds himself uniquely positioned as an eyewitness to many of these stories. In this book, he shares his insight with the reader. As he interviewed, drank, traveled, and survived countless moments with some of these literary legends, Tytell discovered much about the craft of nonfiction, biography, and the nature of history. Writing Beat demonstrates, through Tytell's growth as a professor and historian of the Beats, lessons learned and hazards encountered for those aspiring to become writers themselves. As we approach the sixtieth anniversary of Allen Ginsberg's Howl, Writing Beat reminds us writers do not spring to life fully formed, and the struggle to get to literature can be a blast.
This intimate exploration of race and inequality in America tells the story of a journalist’s long-time relationship with his mentee, Jorell Cleveland, through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and investigates Jorell's tragic fatal shooting. In 2005, soon after Ben Westhoff moved to St. Louis, he joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and was paired with Jorell Cleveland. Ben was twenty-eight, a white college grad from an affluent family. Jorell was eight, one of nine children from a poor, African American family living in nearby Ferguson. But the two instantly connected. Ben and Jorell formed a bond stronger than nearly any other in their lives. When Ben met the woman who'd become his wife, she observed that Ben and Jorell were "a package deal." They were brothers. In the summer of 2016, Jorell was shot at point blank range in broad daylight in the middle of the street, yet no one was charged in his death. Ben grappled with mourning Jorell, but also with a feeling of responsibility. As Jorell’s mentor, what could he have done differently? As a journalist, he had reported on gang life, interviewed crime kingpins, and even infiltrated drug labs in China. But now, he was investigating the life and death of someone he knew personally and examining what he did and did not know about his friend. Learning the truth about Jorell and the man who killed him required Ben to uncover a heartbreaking cycle of poverty, poor education, drug trafficking, and violence. Little Brother brilliantly combines a deeply personal history with a true-crime narrative that exposes the realities of life in communities like Ferguson all around the country.
The eleven countries of Southeast Asia are diverse in every way, from the ethnicities and religions of their residents to their political systems and levels of prosperity. These nations--Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, and East Timor--are each undeniably unique, yet the vestiges of their shared traditions mean that each country is also characteristically Southeast Asian. In Southeast Asia: A Very Short Introduction, James R. Rush traces the history of the region, beginning with its earliest settled communities (ca. 3000 BCE) through its long classical period of "mandala" kingdoms. Rush then delves into the four centuries of colonial penetration, from the Portuguese invasion of Melaka in 1511 to the Japanese conquest of the colonies in World War II. This is followed by discussion of the subsequent independence movements and the Vietnam War. Rush also traces the history of the region's relations with India and China--he tells the story of the foundation and evolution of the region-defining Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), explaining how all these events helped shape the countries of Southeast Asia into the stable nations we know today: democracies, dictatorships, and constitutional monarchies alike. Rush covers the recent ethno-religious violence in Myanmar, military rule and democratization in Indonesia, the environmental consequences of agribusiness and unchecked urbanization, and big-power alignments and tensions involving the United States, China, and Japan. A synthesis of the research and insights of leading scholars, Southeast Asia: A Very Short Introduction provides an easy-to-grasp analysis of contemporary Southeast Asia that accommodates its bewildering ethnic, religious, and political complexities while exposing the underlying patterns that make it a recognizable world region. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Despite its extraordinary diversity of ethnicities, religions, and political systems, Southeast Asia plays a key role in global economies and geopolitics, especially in light of its strategic position bordering China and India.
