The Glass Looker follows an ordinary American farm boy named Joseph Smith who discovers he possesses the magical ability for seeing in stones. Learn the origin story of the American boy-prophet through illustrated accounts collected from Joseph, his family, neighbors and enemies.
In this taut and thrilling debut, an unraveling woman, unhappily childless and recently separated, becomes fixated on her neighbor--the beautiful, famous actress. The unnamed narrator can't help noticing with wry irony that, though she and the actress live just a few doors apart, they are separated by a chasm of professional success and personal fulfillment. When an interaction with the actress at the annual block party takes a disastrous turn, what began as an innocent preoccupation spirals quickly, and lethally, into a frightening and irretrievable madness.
A troubled childhood. A difficult adolescence. How might these have affected the adult character of church founder Joseph Smith? Psychiatrist Robert D. Anderson explores the impact on young Joseph of his family's ten moves in sixteen years, their dire poverty, especially after his father's Chinese export venture failed, and his father's drinking. It is equally significant, writes Anderson, that Joseph's mother suffered bouts of depression. For instance, "for months" she "did not feel as though life was worth seeking" after two sisters died of tuberculosis and later when she buried two sons, Ephraim and Alvin. A typhoid epidemic nearly claimed her daughter Sophronia, and the same affliction left Joseph with a crippled leg, after which he was sent to live on the coast with an uncle. Such factors and others produced emotional wounds that emerged later in the prophet's life and writings, in particular, according to Anderson, in the Book of Mormon.
Theme: Mormonism The validity of Mormonism stands or falls on the testimony of Joseph Smith. Here is his story, revealing the man for what he really was. Calling himself the second Mohammad, Smith was an occultic opportunist, fond of the ladies (lots of them!), who blended Masonic rituals into his temple rituals. The story is a fascinating one, filled with incredible quotes from Smith himself. After people read this illustrated book, they will not be vulnerable to the Mormon recruiters! Read the incredible story of how Joseph Smith founded Mormonism. It's a story of intrigue, murder, lust and greed. Learn how just a few months after marrying the first of his 27 wives, Joseph Smith began to build his religion on a set of golden plates that he claimed had been given to him by a mysterious spirit.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde from Coterie Classics All Coterie Classics have been formatted for ereaders and devices and include a bonus link to the free audio book. “Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray A man sells his soul for eternal youth and scandalizes the city in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.
A New York Times Editor’s Choice Pick “A novel of huge heart and fierce intelligence. It has restored my faith in pretty much everything.” —Ann Patchett, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth “[An] electric debut novel…Reader, beware: Spending time with Lucy is unapologetic fun, and heartbreak, and awe as well.” —Chloe Malle, The New York Times Book Review In this “frank, bittersweet coming-of-age story that crackles with raw adolescent energy, fresh-cut prose, and a kinetic sense of place” (Entertainment Weekly), a teenaged tomboy explores love, growing up, and New York City in the early 1990s. New York, 1993. Street-smart seventeen-year-old Lucy Adler is often the only girl on the public basketball courts. Lucy’s inner life is a contradiction. She’s by turns quixotic and cynical, insecure and self-possessed, and, despite herself, is in unrequited love with her best friend and pickup teammate, Percy, the rebellious son of a prominent New York family. As Lucy begins to question accepted notions of success, bristling against her own hunger for male approval, she is drawn into the world of a pair of provocative feminist artists living in what remains of New York’s bohemia. Told with wit and pathos, The Falconer is at once a novel of ideas, a portrait of a time and place, and an ode to the obsessions of youth. In her critically acclaimed debut, Dana Czapnik captures the voice of an unforgettable modern literary heroine, a young woman in the first flush of freedom.
In this articulate and insightful book, D. Michael Quinn reconstructs the world view of an earlier age in America, finding ample evidence for treasure seeking and folk magic in Joseph Smith's formative years. Folk magic was not unusual for the times and is important in understanding how Mormons may have interpreted developments. Quinn's impressive research provides a much-needed background for the environment that produced Mormonism's founding prophet.
An Oprah's Book Club Pick A #1 New York Times Bestseller A National Bestseller Beautifully written and elegantly paced, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a coming-of-age novel about the power of the land and the past to shape our lives. It is a riveting tale of retribution, inhabited by empathic animals, prophetic dreams, second sight, and vengeful ghosts. Born mute, Edgar Sawtelle feels separate from the people around him but is able to establish profound bonds with the animals who share his home and his name: his family raises a fictional breed of exceptionally perceptive and affable dogs. Soon after his father's sudden death, Edgar is stunned to learn that his mother has already moved on as his uncle Claude quickly becomes part of their lives. Reeling from the sudden changes to his quiet existence, Edgar flees into the forests surrounding his Wisconsin home accompanied by three dogs. Soon he is caught in a struggle for survival—the only thing that will prepare him for his return home.
Simplify life and amplify living with influencer Rachel Aust's visual guide to mastering the minimalist lifestyle. Declutter and reorganize! Living with less contributes to a greater sense of fulfillment, contentment, and a more meaningful life. The minimalist lifestyle--focusing on scaling back your possessions and simplifying your life to just the essentials--helps you to achieve peace and purpose. Indulgences and excess often lead to discontentment and depression, but adopt minimal living, and you'll find that less is more: More time because you don't waste it caring for and organizing stuff More space because you don't fill it with objects of marginal value More money because you don't spend it on unnecessary things More clarity because your mind isn't bogged down by the clutter around you More joy because your energy is spent on experiences and connections Using decision trees, flow charts, icons, and other graphics, Less shows how minimalism can be applied to any area of life--including home, wardrobe, decor, cooking, cleaning, finances, and time. Rachel Aust shows you that minimalism can be adapted to suit your own goals to help you achieve the joy of less!
Miranda Corbie's back. Noir will never be the same. And Kelli Stanley will once again mesmerize readers with the most thrilling novel yet in her award-winning series. June, 1940. For the United States, war is on the horizon. For Miranda Corbie, private investigator and erstwhile escort, there are debts to be paid and memories—long-suppressed and willfully forgotten—to be resurrected. Enter the U.S. State Department and the man who helped Miranda get her PI license. A man she owes. A man who asks her to track a chemistry professor here in San Francisco whom he suspects is a spy for the Nazis. Playing along may get Miranda a ticket to Blitz-bombed England and answers about her past...if she survives. Through sordid back alleys and art gallery halls, from drag dress nightclubs to a Nazi costume ball, Miranda's journey into fear takes her on the famed City of San Francisco streamliner and to Reno, Nevada, the Biggest Little City in the World...where she finds herself framed for a murder she never anticipated. Forced to go underground, Miranda soldiers on alone, determined to find the truth about a murder, a Nazi spy, and her own troubling past. But Miranda will have to learn the difference between reality and illusion, from despair to deceit and factual to fake, as she tries to get her life back...and navigates a City of Ghosts.