What would you do if you found out that not everything in your life was as it seemed? At 30 Bethany thought her life was settled, if not what she expected, but then she finds out she isn't who or what she believed she was. As she starts to discover this hidden world, where witches, vampires, shapeshifters, and magic are real, she also has to cope with changes to her own life and make some Impossible Choices.
“Any book hereafter isn’t going to be the same.” If the past caught up with you and there was nowhere left to run Would you trust yourself to turn and face it? Time is running out for the men who hide at the edge of the city. The once peaceful existence of their tribe is threatened by an unstable government, one that grows ever more extreme in its desperation to be the richest metropolis in the world. For Jacob, the tribe’s mentor, the sight of a construction crane on the horizon can only mean one thing… There’s nowhere left to run. Unnerved by this development, the tribe looks to Jacob for what to do next. But with few options left, he is forced into an impossible choice. If they stay, they will be at the mercy of the government’s radical and often deadly eviction process. But if they leave the city altogether, they can’t be sure what fate awaits them over the border or whether they will all survive past the arctic winter months. Amid this threat to their future, the members of the tribe turn one by one to their pasts. Defying the doctrine, they connect on a level they never have before, sharing stories of the lives they’ve come from, the people they once were. But for Jacob the time is drawing close when he must put their safety above all else and tell them of the third option. One that would see them go their separate ways. And bring about the end of the tribe for good. Unmasked is a gripping tale of division and impossible choices, and the final book in the Hidden Sanctuary series
" How Taiwan can overcome internal stresses and the threat from China Taiwan was a poster child for the “third wave” of global democratization in the 1980s. It was the first Chinese society to make the transition todemocracy, and it did so gradually and peacefully. But Taiwan today faces a host of internal issues, starting with the aging of society and the resulting intergenerational conflicts over spending priorities. China's long-term threat to incorporate the island on terms similar to those used for Hong Kong exacerbates the island's home-grown problems. Taiwan remains heavily dependent on the United States for its security, but it must use its own resources to cope with Beijing's constant intimidation and pressure. How Taiwan responds to the internal and external challenges it faces—and what the United States and other outside powers do to help—will determine whether it is able to stand its ground against China's ambitions. The book explores the broad range of issues and policy choices Taiwan confronts and offers suggestions both for what Taiwan can do to help itself and what the United States should do to improve Taiwan's chances of success. "
Born the year of Lebanons independence in 1943, in Khiyam, a village of South Lebanon, Dr. Kamel Mohanna studied, at the time of illiteracy, defying poverty to become a doctor. He forged himself a Lebanese role by joining the student movement which, in the sixties heaved France. Then in the seventies, following the path traced by Che Guevara, he joined the revolutionaries in the mountains of Dhofar. It is there that he participated in the march of barefoot doctors on the footsteps of Mao Zedong. He resisted the mermaids of Paris, Canada and the chic neighborhoods of Beirut. Upon his return to Lebanon, he preferred to them the misery of the Palestinian refugee camps, where he lived with the poor and sick of whom he made his cause. In the middle of the civil war, in the seventies and eighties, he travelled the length and breadth of Lebanon; not hesitating to go against all commonly accepted political precepts. In 1979, he founded the AMEL association, pacifist in time of war, open to all in time of partition, preaching the life in the shadow of the collective suicide. Until today and through this non-denominational organization, he endeavors to develop the humanity of human beings, without taking into account its religious, political and geographical affiliations, to attain a more just and dignified world. Descriptor(s): PHYSICIANS | LEBANESE CIVIL WAR 1975-1991 | POLITICAL CONDITIONS | LEBANON | DIARIES | BIOGRAPHIES
Conflict: How Soldiers Make Impossible Decisions is about making hard choices--where all outcomes are potentially negative. The authors draw on interviews conducted with soldiers about the situations they faced and the decisions they made at war. These are vivid and sometimes distressing stories. They form the data from which the authors explore the cognitive processes associated with choice, commitment to action and (sometimes) error, as well as goal directed thinking, innovation and courage. By referring to real cases, Conflict invites readers to consider their own responses under extreme circumstances and ask themselves how they would choose between difficult options. In doing so this book will go some way to helping readers understand what it feels like when choosing between least-worst decisions.
With over thirty thousand occupations currently in existence, workers today face a bewildering array of careers from which to choose, and upon which to center their lives. But there is more at stake than just a paycheck. For too long, work has driven a wedge between families, dividing husband from wife, father from son, mother from daughter, and family from home. Building something that will last requires a radically different approach than is common or encouraged today. In Durable Trades, Groves uncovers family-centered professions that have endured the worst upheavals in history--including the Industrial Revolution--and continue to thrive today. Through careful research and thoughtful commentary, Groves offers another way forward to those looking for a more durable future. Winner, 2020 Silver Nautilus Award Finalist, 2020 Midwest Book Award
Faced with the BRCA mutation—the so-called “breast cancer gene”—one woman must answer the question: When genetics can predict how we may die, how then do we decide to live? Eleven months after her mother succumbs to cancer, Jessica Queller has herself tested for the BRCA gene mutation. The results come back positive, putting her at a terrifyingly elevated risk of developing breast cancer before the age of fifty and ovarian cancer in her lifetime. Thirty-four, unattached, and yearning for marriage and a family of her own, Queller faces an agonizing choice: a lifetime of vigilant screenings and a commitment to fight the disease when caught, or its radical alternative—a prophylactic double mastectomy that would effectively restore life to her, even as it would challenge her most closely held beliefs about body image, identity, and sexuality. Superbly informed and armed with surprising wit and style, Queller takes us on an odyssey from the frontiers of science to the private interiors of a woman’s life. Pretty Is What Changes is an absorbing account of how she reaches her courageous decision and its physical, emotional, and philosophical consequences. It is also an incredibly moving story of what we inherit from our parents and how we fashion it into the stuff of our own lives, of mothers and daughters and sisters, and of the sisterhood that forms when women are united in battle against a common enemy. Without flinching, Jessica Queller answers a question we may one day face for ourselves: If genes can map our fates and their dark knowledge is offered to us, will we willingly trade innocence for the information that could save our lives? Praise for Pretty Is What Changes “By turns inspiring, sorrowful and profoundly moving. Queller’s sense of humor and grace transform the most harrowing of situations into a riveting and heartfelt memoir.”—Kirkus Reviews “Seamless and gripping. Readers will be rooting for Queller and her heroic decision to confront her genetic destiny.”—Publishers Weekly “Jessica Queller gives us a warm, chilling, unflinching look at her personal journey of survival with style. The ending will surprise you. Her prescience is astounding. Her courage is inspirational. Brava Jessica!”—Marisa Acocella Marchetto, author of Cancer Vixen
A New York Times Bestseller “I’ll be forever changed by Dr. Eger’s story…The Choice is a reminder of what courage looks like in the worst of times and that we all have the ability to pay attention to what we’ve lost, or to pay attention to what we still have.”—Oprah “Dr. Eger’s life reveals our capacity to transcend even the greatest of horrors and to use that suffering for the benefit of others. She has found true freedom and forgiveness and shows us how we can as well.” —Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate “Dr. Edith Eva Eger is my kind of hero. She survived unspeakable horrors and brutality; but rather than let her painful past destroy her, she chose to transform it into a powerful gift—one she uses to help others heal.” —Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle Winner of the National Jewish Book Award and Christopher Award At the age of sixteen, Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. Hours after her parents were killed, Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele, forced Edie to dance for his amusement and her survival. Edie was pulled from a pile of corpses when the American troops liberated the camps in 1945. Edie spent decades struggling with flashbacks and survivor’s guilt, determined to stay silent and hide from the past. Thirty-five years after the war ended, she returned to Auschwitz and was finally able to fully heal and forgive the one person she’d been unable to forgive—herself. Edie weaves her remarkable personal journey with the moving stories of those she has helped heal. She explores how we can be imprisoned in our own minds and shows us how to find the key to freedom. The Choice is a life-changing book that will provide hope and comfort to generations of readers.
