From the foreword by Brian May: "Professor Lawrence, in this timely book, tackles an issue which is about to become highly contentious around the world... This book will hopefully spark enough discussion to put the brakes on this destruction of our dark skies.".
"This collection of thirty-one essays by contemporary teachers of Tibetan Buddhism, both Western teachers and Tibetan lamas, provides readers a multifaceted glimpse of the Buddhist practice within the Dzogchen tradition, from its biggest authorities. Sogyal Rinpoche, the author of the bestselling Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, is the primary contributor, contributing seven of the teachings included here, but the collection also includes teachings from the Dalai Lama, Ringu Tulku, Francesca Fremantle, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, Dzogchen Pönlop Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, and many others. From basic advice on turning the mind toward spiritual concerns through expressions of the highest insights on mind and reality, readers will discover how to integrate Buddhist ideas and practices with the activities and experiences that make up our day-to-day lives. "
In this contemporary graphic novel, twelve-year-old Lucy discovers her father's collection of Beatles records and is inspired to form an all-girl rock band. It’s the first day of seventh grade, and everything is going downhill for Lucy Sutcliffe. At school, she has the feeling her friends are all leaving her behind. At home, her single father is in a rut, and her perpetually traveling photojournalist mother is more absent than ever. Worst of all, Lucy’s grandmother is undergoing chemotherapy and is no longer the warm, vibrant presence that her family has come to depend on. But everything changes the day Lucy discovers a box of her father’s Beatles records. Inspired by their music, she gets a drum set and forms an all-girl rock band with her friends. But can she keep the band together when petty rivalries, unrequited crushes, and outside pressures threaten to tear it apart?
Kay Kenyon, noted for her science fiction world-building, has in this new series created her most vivid and compelling society, the Universe Entire. In a land-locked galaxy that tunnels through our own, the Entire is a bizarre and seductive mix of long-lived quasi-human and alien beings gathered under a sky of fire, called the bright. A land of wonders, the Entire is sustained by monumental storm walls and an exotic, never-ending river. Over all, the elegant and cruel Tarig rule supreme. Into this rich milieu is thrust Titus Quinn, former star pilot, bereft of his beloved wife and daughter who are assumed dead by everyone on earth except Quinn. Believing them trapped in a parallel universe—one where he himself may have been imprisoned—he returns to the Entire without resources, language, or his memories of that former life. He is assisted by Anzi, a woman of the Chalin people, a Chinese culture copied from our own universe and transformed by the kingdom of the bright. Learning of his daughter’s dreadful slavery, Quinn swears to free her. To do so, he must cross the unimaginable distances of the Entire in disguise, for the Tarig are lying in wait for him. As Quinn’s memories return, he discovers why. Quinn’s goal is to penetrate the exotic culture of the Entire—to the heart of Tarig power, the fabulous city of the Ascendancy, to steal the key to his family’s redemption. But will his daughter and wife welcome rescue? Ten years of brutality have forced compromises on everyone. What Quinn will learn to his dismay is what his own choices were, long ago, in the Universe Entire. He will also discover why a fearful multiverse destiny is converging on him and what he must sacrifice to oppose the coming storm. This is high-concept SF written on the scale of Philip Jose Farmer’s Riverworld, Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles, and Dan Simmons’s Hyperion.
This haunting dystopian novel thrillingly and realistically looks at a nuclear winter from an Australian perspective.For Fin it's just like any other day—racing for the school bus, bluffing his way through class, and trying to remain cool in front of the most sophisticated girl in his universe. Only it's not like any other day because, on the other side of the world, nuclear missiles are being detonated. When Fin wakes up the next morning, it's dark, bitterly cold, and snow is falling. There's no internet, no phone, no TV, no power, and no parents. Nothing Fin's learned in school could have prepared him for this. With his parents missing and dwindling food and water supplies, Fin and his younger brother Max must find a way to survive all on their own. When things are at their most desperate, where can you go for help?
The threat to the sky from satellite mega-constellations, why it matters, and what we can do about it From the foreword by Brian May: "Professor Lawrence, in this timely book, tackles an issue which is about to become highly contentious around the world... This book will hopefully spark enough discussion to put the brakes on this destruction of our dark skies." From Dava Sobel, author "Longitude" and "The Glass Universe": "At the beginning of this essential book, Andy Lawrence shares dark sky memories in which even a car breakdown on a deserted road turns magical and formative when the stars appear. Let there be dark." From Dave Eicher, editor-in-chief of Astronomy Magazine: “Professor Lawrence’s book ought to be required reading for every astronomer and astronomy enthusiast who values the starry sky and what might happen to it in future times.” From Mark McCaughrean, Senior Science Adviser, European Space Agency: "As commercial developers flood low Earth orbit with satellites to exploit the demand for more movie streaming, videoconferencing, low-latency gaming, and high-speed trading, what's the real cost? ." From Pippa Goldschmidt, author of The Falling Sky and The Need for Better Regulation of Outer Space: “An important book about an important subject. Professor Andy Lawrence explains how obliteration of our view of the heavens by the next generation of communications satellites is akin to destruction of the Earth’s natural habitats.” From John A. Murray, author or editor of 45 nature books, including Wild Africa, A Republic of Rivers, and The Islands and The Sea: "Simply put, this remarkable book should be in all libraries, public or private, that aspire to be complete on the subjects of science and technology. Working together, people around the planet, inspired by this eloquent and passionate book, can put an end to the madness and folly of "artificial constellations" "
Sammy, the best hound dog in the whole wide world, loves his girl and she loves him. When illness cuts Sammy's life short, the girl's family keeps his spirit alive by celebrating his love of chasing wind-blown bubbles, keeping loyal guard at night, and offering his velvety fur for endless pats and tummy scratches. Painter Jamie Wyeth's illustrations - infused with his realist style and lifelong fondness for dogs - radiate the joy and sadness of every tongue-licking, tail-wagging moment in this heartening and lovingly rendered story written by Barbara Walsh.
A Washington Post KidsPost Summer Book Club Read Twelve-year-old Ruby Moon Hayes does not want her new classmates to ask about her father. She does not want them to know her mother has been arrested. And she definitely does not want to make any friends. Ruby just wants to stay as silent and invisible as a new moon in the frozen sky. She and her mother won’t be staying long in Vermont anyway, and then things can go back to the way they were before everything went wrong. But keeping to herself isn’t easy when Ahmad Saleem, a Syrian refugee, decides he’s her new best friend. Or when she meets “the Bird Lady,” a recluse named Abigail who lives in a ramshackle shed near Ruby’s house. Before long Ahmad and Abigail have become Ruby’s friends—and she realizes there is more to their stories than everyone knows. As ugly rumors begin to swirl around the people Ruby loves, she must make a choice: break her silence, or risk losing everything that’s come to mean so much to her. Ruby in the Sky is a story of the walls we hide behind, and the magic that can happen when we’re brave enough to break free.
Many have speculated about the meaning of John Lennon's Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Psychologist Tim Kasser applies innovative methods to the song's lyrics and music, weaving his findings together with the musician's past to provide an integrative perspective on the place of Lucy in Lennon's life.