Blood Diamond in My Mother's House


Book Description

She hates diamonds. Then why’s she hunting the world’s most valuable one? Aria Raith, The Maldives. Oceanographer Aria Raith is the underworld’s best treasure hunter, a woman who finds rare gems in the oceans’ museum of pirate hordes. It’s one way to forget a sister who went missing thirteen years ago. Contracted to find the most extraordinary treasure in history, she’s finally found the gems she’s been looking for, and it’s time to cash in. Jave Lincoln, Washington DC. He’s the government’s best-kept secret and biggest problem. Harbouring a past that haunts him, he leaves home to serve his country. In India, no one will ask any questions. When a call from Aria’s father, British High Commissioner to India, requires Aria’s expertise to recover the much-contested Koh-i-Noor diamond that disappears during a special exhibition in Paris, Aria quickly learns that the diamond hides secrets more profound than her own and is a stone the wrong kind of people will kill for. Finding an unsuspecting ally in Jave, Aria must race against the clock to unravel clues a century-old diary hides. Clues and perhaps answers pointing to what happened to her sister. A breathless sprint across continents, The Koh-i-Noor Conspiracy is a gripping tale of intrigue and romps around the world at a thrilling pace.




THE DAMBY TRADITION OF THE KONO OF SIERRA LEONE-WEST AFRICA


Book Description

DAMBY TRADITION According to the Kono tribes of Sierra Leone, West Africa, a Damby System is a family group, propagated expanded from a single patrilineal lineage, empowered by strict dietary laws, totemic in nature, these laws bind the group to each other. Being a Damby member means being in a covenant relationship, where animal plants, or other food prohibitions must be strictly observed. Our Damby laws parallels the Biblical laws of Moses or Moses’ dietary laws. Some of these dietary laws has been interpreted to mean Jewish Kosher laws. Some of these laws will be discussed in detail, as the book progress. Our ancient Fathers considered not only the earth, but also all the sidereal (relating to stars: especially measures with reference to the apparent motion of the stars) bodies as individual creatures possessing individual intelligence. Some of the twelve signs of the Zodiac are represented by animals as well as humans.




Rediscovering the Hidden World


Book Description

When one has a purpose in life, he shall find the means to achieve it and will not lose time to dream. It requires determination. God is the only who knows the destiny of each individual, and we are very grateful to Him for creating me with a black skin, and having filled me with His Spirit of truth and judgement to avoid doubt and fear, which are the basis of all the troubles. This Spirit has lived throughout our research and training in general. That life has no draft. Our research was painful because it is comparable to the pilgrimage of Jews on their way to the Promised Land. The rains that fell on me are similar to the deluge. Without realising it, the distance I travelled across countries in search of knowledge before writing this book can be compared to a world tour on foot. Writing a book is always the work of many hands and minds besides that of the authors. This book is dedicated to the Lord God, the Almighty source of all life. Special thanks to my lovely wife and children for their amazing contributions to make part of the hidden worlds visible to everyone. Thanks to the brothers and sisters in the Lord for their prayers, to friends, and to the extended family, near and far, for their valuable contributions to make the hidden worlds possible. Special thanks to Hannah Cordle, Ray Russell, Miles Cole, Sam Pochen, Wanza Maya, and Dr Milwood PhD., who have given me valuable suggestions throughout my book. In particular, thanks to the Kongolese diaspora interviewed and authors for their copyrights. To my uncles, it is time for me to say a big thank you. To my parents, with regret, Marie Pady and Simon Ngangoma, who sowed joy but are not alive to reap the harvest. May their souls rest in eternal peace! Vibrant tribute to all Kongolese heroes who died and continue to die for the nation: in memory of so many years we shared together in Kongo, we love and miss them deeply and will carry their spirit with us until the time we meet again.




The Faith Diamond


Book Description

Tarik was born into a conservative Islamic family. He has a job and is obligatory to his faith. When he meets another man, Tarik starts to realize what he has known since he was a child. Feelings for this other man has awakened his carnal urges. Tarik understands now that he is gay. Being gay in the religion of Islam will bring him ill fortune, especially with his family, and friends. The struggles to maintain his newly found sexuality start to heighten, as he is faced with oppression, prejudices, and sacrifices of things he once held sacred. To be with his new lover, he'll do anything. Even if that means being ostracized from the mosque, and creating a rift between him, and his family. Tarik must balance love, and religion tactfully, since he does not want to lose either one.




My Mother Chose Him


Book Description

My Mother Chose Him By: ShaRae Simpson My Mother Chose Him is the story of a family, a story of love and loyalty, how family secrets can either bring you together or tear you apart, how family is more than being born of the same parents or coming from the same bloodline. This tale attempts to show a bond that was made with adopted children and how children born in bad circumstances can still turn out successful with the proper guidance.




Conflict Diamonds


Book Description




Friendship


Book Description

Young Francis Mandewah dreamed of a better future, but saw no way out of his impoverished situation, until one day when he met a man who changed his life.An African boy from an area made famous by the film "Blood Diamond" is befriended by an American pilot. That friendship brings great opportunities and blessings that affirm the boy's faith in God and test his courage, strength and endurance.




The Digitizing Family


Book Description

At once a digital ethnography of smartphones and a classically conceived village-based ethnography, this book relocates the study of digital technologies to rural Melanesia, with a focus on the Lau of Malaita, Soloman Islands. In this ‘technography’, Geoffrey Hobbis studies the materiality and functional attributes of smartphones and their object biographies—modes of acquisition, maintenance, uses, limitations and the problems specific to this region in adopting and adapting smartphones in everyday life. As he examines the various uses of smartphones, as both telephone and multimedia device, Hobbis also explores the social and cultural transformations, the hopes and uncertainties, with which they are associated. Ultimately, in bringing together a study of digital technologies with classical anthropological theory, The Digitizing Family develops a theory of smartphones as kinship technologies and supercompositional objects.




Bangles and Broken Hearts 3: Return of the Bangles


Book Description

In this final tale of sticky situations, karma finds Lyric's address and truly delivers. After returning from a refreshing honeymoon, Lyric learns that there is no such thing as happily ever after. With Latria's help, she discovers Trent's closet full of skeletons and her world is turned upside down. While Lyric decides how she's going to handle the situation, she continues to play mommy to Tia and does her best to hide her ill feelings towards Trent. While things continue to go downhill at home, Lyric has little hope for her marriage and steps out. When she does her own thing, it ends up backfiring and leaves her with a permanent reminder of her promiscuity. Meanwhile, Mont tries to be relevant in Lyric's life again, but she ignores his advances and focuses on a new hunk with gorgeous eyes. Will Lyric fall for her new lover, give Mont another chance, or accept Trent for who he really is? If you want to know, you've got to start reading.




Home Girl


Book Description

After twenty years as a foreign correspondent in tumultuous locales including Rwanda, Chechnya, and Sudan, Judith Matloff is ready to put down roots and start a family. She leaves Moscow and returns to her native New York City to house-hunt for the perfect spot while her Dutch husband, John, stays behind in Russia with their dog to pack up their belongings. Intoxicated by West Harlem’s cultural diversity and, more important, its affordability, Judith impulsively buys a stately fixer-upper brownstone in the neighborhood. Little does she know what’s in store. Judith and John discover that their dream house was once a crack den and that “fixer upper” is an understatement. The building is a total wreck: The beams have been chewed to dust by termites, the staircase is separating from the wall, and the windows are smashed thanks to a recent break-in. Plus, the house–crowded with throngs of brazen drug dealers–forms the bustling epicenter of the cocaine trade in the Northeast, and heavily armed police regularly appear outside their door in pursuit of the thugs and crackheads who loiter there. Thus begins Judith and John’s odyssey to win over the neighbors, including Salami, the menacing addict who threatens to take over their house; MacKenzie, the literary homeless man who quotes Latin over morning coffee; Mrs. LaDuke, the salty octogenarian and neighborhood watchdog; and Miguel, the smooth lieutenant of the local drug crew, with whom the couple must negotiate safe passage. It’s a far cry from utopia, but it’s a start, and they do all they can to carve out a comfortable life. And by the time they experience the birth of a son, Judith and John have even come to appreciate the neighborhood’s rough charms. Blending her finely honed reporter’s instincts with superb storytelling, Judith Matloff has crafted a wry, reflective, and hugely entertaining memoir about community, home, and real estate. Home Girl is for anyone who has ever longed to go home, however complicated the journey. Advance Praise for Home Girl “Although I always suspected that renovating a house in New York City would be a slightly more harrowing undertaking than dodging bullets as a foreign correspondent, it took this charming story to convince me it could also be more entertaining. Except for the plumbing. That’s one adventure I couldn't survive.” –Michelle Slatalla, author of The Town on Beaver Creek “After years of covering wars overseas, Judith Matloff takes her boundless courage and inimitable style to the front lines of America’s biggest city. From her vantage point in a former crack house in West Harlem, she brings life to a proud community held hostage by drug dealers and forgotten by policy makers. Matloff’s sense of humor, clear reportage, and zest for adventure never fail. Home Girl is part gritty confessional, part love story, and totally delightful.” –Bob Drogin, author of Curveball “Here the American dream of home ownership takes on the epic dimensions of the modern pioneer in a drug-riddled land. Matloff’s story, which had me crying and laughing, is a portrait of a household and a community, extending far beyond the specifics of West Harlem to the universal–as all well-told stories do.” –Martha McPhee, author of L’America