Angels and Other Strangers


Book Description

Four stories about Christmas, from the author's 1979 collection, Angels and other strangers.




Strangers Like Angels


Book Description

Strangers Like Angels chronicles the journeys of Alec and Jan Forman to far and distant lands as they embrace their pioneering spirit. Following adventures in Canada, Antarctica and the Sultanate of Oman they set off on the original gap year in the seventies. Travelling in their Land Rover, they use only a map and compass to navigate through the Sahara Desert and tropical rainforests in Africa, back to Europe and out to Asia via the Hindu Kush, and on to the Himalayas. They grapple with the realities of poverty and yet experience surprising hospitality and welcome from unlikely sources. In the confined space of their vehicle, Alec and Jan learn what it takes to support and sustain themselves and their relationship on an exciting and often harrowing journey. Exchange of news through airmail letters to and from England keeps them in touch with family matters. Beautiful photographs and illustrations with maps complement the text, taking the reader along on the journey with Alec and Jan. A light, entertaining read of a true story of adventures, travel and divine encounter, blended with winsome tales to delight the heart, Strangers Like Angels will appeal to fans of memoirs and travel books.




The Power of Strangers


Book Description

A “meticulously researched and buoyantly written” (Esquire) look at what happens when we talk to strangers, and why it affects everything from our own health and well-being to the rise and fall of nations in the tradition of Susan Cain’s Quiet and Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens “This lively, searching work makes the case that welcoming ‘others’ isn’t just the bedrock of civilization, it’s the surest path to the best of what life has to offer.”—Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Homeland Elegies In our cities, we stand in silence at the pharmacy and in check-out lines at the grocery store, distracted by our phones, barely acknowledging one another, even as rates of loneliness skyrocket. Online, we retreat into ideological silos reinforced by algorithms designed to serve us only familiar ideas and like-minded users. In our politics, we are increasingly consumed by a fear of people we’ve never met. But what if strangers—so often blamed for our most pressing political, social, and personal problems—are actually the solution? In The Power of Strangers, Joe Keohane sets out on a journey to discover what happens when we bridge the distance between us and people we don’t know. He learns that while we’re wired to sometimes fear, distrust, and even hate strangers, people and societies that have learned to connect with strangers benefit immensely. Digging into a growing body of cutting-edge research on the surprising social and psychological benefits that come from talking to strangers, Keohane finds that even passing interactions can enhance empathy, happiness, and cognitive development, ease loneliness and isolation, and root us in the world, deepening our sense of belonging. And all the while, Keohane gathers practical tips from experts on how to talk to strangers, and tries them out himself in the wild, to awkward, entertaining, and frequently poignant effect. Warm, witty, erudite, and profound, equal parts sweeping history and self-help journey, this deeply researched book will inspire readers to see everything—from major geopolitical shifts to trips to the corner store—in an entirely new light, showing them that talking to strangers isn’t just a way to live; it’s a way to survive.




The Big Book of Angels


Book Description

Can angels truly exist in the twenty-first century - a time when faith is challenged regularly? From Beliefnet, a multifaith website, comes this guide to angels tha gives answers to specific questions: what angels can and cannot do; why they appear when they do; what their purpose and nature is; whether we have guardian angels; whether it is possible to call angels in prayer or in times of need. This includes stories of modern angelic encounters and offers a guide to getting in touch with your own guardian angel and using that positive enrgy in daily life.




Angel Tales


Book Description

Learn how to travel through life on active "angel watch"—-always open to the many ways in which angels contact us—-with this thought-provoking collection of true life miracles. By weaving a tapestry of inspiring stories from readers and personal experiences, Catherine Lanigan takes readers on a spiritual journey. Angel Tales will inspire you to pursue your own divine path and leave you with a sense of peace and new hope.




Angels on Earth


Book Description

"From the #1 New York Times and international bestselling authors of An Invisible Thread comes a heartwarming and inspiring book about the incredible impact that acts of kindness from strangers can have on the world around us. One day in 1986, Laura Schroff, a busy ad sales executive, passed an eleven-year-old boy panhandling on the street. She stopped and offered to take him to McDonald's for lunch. Twenty years later, at Laura's fiftieth birthday party, Maurice Mazyck gave a toast, thanking Laura for her act of kindness, which ended up changing the course of his life. In that toast, Maurice said that when Laura stopped on that busy street corner all those years ago, God had sent him an angel. Laura's invisible thread journey has deepened her belief that angels--divine and otherwise--are all around us. After An Invisible Thread was published in 2011, readers from around the country and world began sharing with Laura their own stories about how chance encounters with strangers have changed their lives.From a woman who saved a life simply by buying someone a book, to a financier who gave a stranger the greatest gift of all, to a teacher who chose a hug over discipline and changed a lost boy's future--Angels on Earth will introduce a series of remarkable people whose invisible thread stories will move, surprise, and inspire readers. Angels on Earth sheds light on how each of us can live happier, more purposeful lives through sharing acts of kindness"--




Angels, Angels All Around


Book Description

Storyteller Bob Hartman takes a very unusual approach to ten tales from the Bible. His stories are full of memorable language that delights children. Hartman's starting point is that every angel has its own characteristics: some shy, some brave, some practical, some playful. And each angel is perfectly matched to the task God gives it. Through this device, his retellings get right to the heart of the Bible stories, drawing out their significance in a way that stays in the imagination. The book includes the stories of: Hagar; Balaam; Elijah; Daniel; The Burning Fiery Furnace; Gabriel and Mary; The Christmas Shepherds; the Resurrection; Peter in Prison; and Paul's shipwreck.




Daughter of Smoke & Bone


Book Description

The first book in the New York Times bestselling epic fantasy trilogy by award-winning author Laini Taylor Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war. Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?




Masquerading as Angels


Book Description

What would happen if two families were to go on a vacation for two weeks, doing nothing but service for others all along the way? Discover with them that the real miracle of service is not simply what it does for others, but the change of heart in those serving.




Carried by Angels


Book Description

This inspiring story is about angels coming and going when least expected. It is about triumph over a terrible tragedy and living a new life with purpose and passion as an amputee and dis-abled man. It is about being transformed and sharing that hope and encouragement. The message of this book is simple. Regardless of your past you can start today, right now, and create an incredible future.