From the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author: a magnificent novel that recalls Iceland's medieval epics and classics, set in the early twentieth century starring an ordinary sheep farmer and his heroic determination to achieve independence. • "A strange story, vibrant and alive…. There is a rare beauty in its telling." —Atlantic Monthly If Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book's protagonist, is an ordinary sheep farmer, his flinty determination to free himself is genuinely heroic and, at the same time, terrifying and bleakly comic. Having spent eighteen years in humiliating servitude, Bjartur wants nothing more than to raise his flocks unbeholden to any man. But Bjartur's spirited daughter wants to live unbeholden to him. What ensues is a battle of wills that is by turns harsh and touching, elemental in its emotional intensity and intimate in its homely detail. Vast in scope and deeply rewarding, Independent People is a masterpiece.
“A charming, comic, and ultimately poignant story about the creation of the most famous Christmas tale ever written. It’s as foggy and haunted and redemptive as the original; it’s all heart, and I read it in a couple of ebullient, Christmassy gulps.” —Anthony Doerr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of All The Light We Cannot See Laced with humor, rich historical detail from Charles Dickens’ life, and clever winks to his work, Samantha Silva's Mr. Dickens and His Carol is an irresistible new take on a cherished classic. Charles Dickens is not feeling the Christmas spirit. His newest book is an utter flop, the critics have turned against him, relatives near and far hound him for money. While his wife plans a lavish holiday party for their ever-expanding family and circle of friends, Dickens has visions of the poor house. But when his publishers try to blackmail him into writing a Christmas book to save them all from financial ruin, he refuses. And a serious bout of writer’s block sets in. Frazzled and filled with self-doubt, Dickens seeks solace in his great palace of thinking, the city of London itself. On one of his long night walks, in a once-beloved square, he meets the mysterious Eleanor Lovejoy, who might be just the muse he needs. As Dickens’ deadlines close in, Eleanor propels him on a Scrooge-like journey that tests everything he believes about generosity, friendship, ambition, and love. The story he writes will change Christmas forever.
Detective John Dark's daughter has been missing for two years. In his frantic and unfruitful search for her two years ago, J Dark overreached and was reprimanded and demoted. Now suddenly back into the homicide department, Dark is put on a chilling case - a man who killed his wife in their locked house and then dressed the body up to resemble a deer, but claims to remember none of it. A few days later an impossibly similar case crops up connecting the suspects to a prep school and a thirty year old missing persons' case. Just as Dark is getting back into his old groove, a new lead in his daughter's disappearance pops up and threatens to derail his career again. Time is running out and John Dark needs to solve the case before more people are killed, and while there is still hope to find his daughter. In the style of True Detective and Silence of the Lambs, WHITESANDS is a thrilling supernatural crime novel.
Cora is constantly worrying about everything. Because of this, the Whatifs love her. They sneak up to her and give her all kinds of doubts: big or small, silly or frightening, likely or impossible. What if my dog runs away? What if I forget my homework? What if the sun stops shining? What if my crayon breaks? As Cora prepares for an upcoming piano recital, the Whatifs cling on tighter and drag her down, making her anxious about messing up during the concert. Will she be able to change her worry-filled thoughts into hopeful ones? Find out in this timely picture book about overcoming anxiety.
Using essential oils to influence your energetic make-up and karmic patterns • Details how to identify which tattvas--the Five Great Elements--are dominant in your energetic make-up • Explores the energetic signatures of the essential oils associated with each tattva and chakra, including their archetypes, sacred geometry, sacred sounds, and colors • Explains how to identify your personal vibrational signature, purify your energy body, impart vibrational properties to jewelry, and work with yantras and mantras The tattvas, the Five Great Elements--earth, water, fire, air/wind, and ether/space--create and sustain not only the universe but also all of its inhabitants. Each of us has a unique combination of these elemental energies behind our personal characteristics--everything from the color of our eyes to our behaviors and emotional temperament. What tattvas are dominant in your make-up can also be influenced by your surroundings and by karma. Essential oils, in addition to working biologically and chemically, also work at the energetic level, making them ideal for working with the tattvas. Teaching you how to use essential oils to affect the very fabric of your being, Candice Covington details how the Tattvas Method of essential oils allow you to access the deepest, most hidden aspects of Self, those beyond the reach of the mind, the very energetic causation patterns that set all behaviors and thoughts into motion. She reveals how the tattvas are the energy that animate each chakra and how we can use their archetypal energy to shape our inner life and align with our greater soul purpose. The author provides energetic profiles of each tattva, chakra, and essential oil, explains their relationships to one another, and details how to identify what tattva or chakra is dominant at any given time. Exploring the energetic signatures of the tattvic essential oils, she details their elemental make-up, animal and deity archetypes, sacred geometry symbols, sacred syllables, and colors. She reveals how to discover the energy patterns responsible for directing unhealthy life patterns and explains how to identify your personal vibrational signature, purify your energy body, and craft your own unique ritual practice with essential oils. Showing how essential oils are powerful vibrational tools for effecting change, the author reveals how they allow each of us to deliberately steer our own destiny, fulfill our personal dharma, and be all that our souls intended us to be.
"Welcome to Quinn, Montana, population: 956. A town where nearly all of the volunteer firemen are named Jim, where The Dirty Shame--the only bar in town--refuses to serve mixed drinks (too much work), where the locals hate the newcomers (then again, they hate the locals, too), and where the town softball team has never even come close to having a winning season. Until now. Rachel Flood has snuck back into town after leaving behind a trail of chaos nine years prior. She's here to make amends, but nobody wants to hear it, especially her mother Laverna. But with the help of a local boy named Jake and a little soul-searching, she just might make things right."--Amazon.com.
Start your own holiday tradition inspired by this bestselling Yuletide story. Based on a real Icelandic tradition where people gift books to their family and friends on Christmas Eve, The Christmas Book Flood brings all the sparkle and anticipation of the winter season―and of the joys of reading―to the page. As northern lights dance and snow blankets the ground, a young girl searches for the perfect book to give her loved ones for their annual book exchange on Christmas Eve. When December 24th finally arrives, they gather together to share magical stories, curl up by the fire, and read all night long—so the Book Flood begins! With gorgeous artwork, a lyrical text, and a diverse cast of characters, Emily Kilgore and Kitty Moss’s heartwarming picture book is a surefire holiday classic best enjoyed with a mug of hot cocoa. Includes an author’s note explaining the book’s inspiration and the historical origins of the Icelandic tradition.
Looks at the origins of modern Christmas traditions, which evolved over a twenty-five year period, beginning in 1823 with the publication of Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas," to 1848.
