River Teeth


Book Description

In his passionate, luminous novels, David James Duncan has won the devotion of countless critics and readers, earning comparisons to Harper Lee, Tom Robbins, and J.D. Salinger, to name just a few. Now Duncan distills his remarkable powers of observation into this unique collection of short stories and essays. At the heart of Duncan's tales are characters undergoing the complex and violent process of transformation, with results both painful and wondrous. Equally affecting are his nonfiction reminiscences, the "river teeth" of the title. He likens his memories to the remains of old-growth trees that fall into Northwestern rivers and are sculpted by time and water. These experiences—shaped by his own river of time—are related with the art and grace of a master storyteller. In River Teeth, a uniquely gifted American writer blends two forms, taking us into the rivers of truth and make-believe, and all that lies in between.




Trusting God


Book Description

You don’t have to understand God to trust him. “Just trust me.” Those are the words we often hear in movies just before something bad happens. And yet, we are told to trust God. In a culture where we tend to take control of our own lives, trusting God has become a religious platitude rather than a life-changing attitude. We say it, but do we really mean it? And what does trusting God really look like? Sharon, Mary, and Gwen—the Girlfriends in God ministry team—have been there. They’ve traveled the tough roads of life to discover the peace and power that comes from grabbing the hand of God and trusting his plan. The life stories they share bring laughter and sometimes tears, but always spiritual growth. Each of the 12-week sections concludes with a Bible study guide and journal page, inviting you to lock arms with Sharon, Mary, and Gwen and share with other women in a small group setting or to use individually in your own quiet time.




Psychology


Book Description

Weiten's PSYCHOLOGY: THEMES AND VARIATIONS, 8E International Edition maintains this book's strengths while addressing market changes with new learning objectives, a complete updating, and a fresh new design. The text continues to provide a unique survey of psychology that meets three goals: to demonstrate the unity and diversity of psychology's subject matter, to illuminate the research process and its link to application, and to make the text challenging and thought-provoking yet easy from which to learn. Weiten accomplishes the successful balance of scientific rigor and a student-friendly approach through the integration of seven unifying themes, an unparalleled didactic art program, real-life examples, and a streamlined set of learning aids that help students see beyond research to big-picture concepts. Major topics typically covered in today's courses are included, such as evolutionary psychology, neuropsychology, biological psychology, positive psychology, applied psychology, careers, and multiculturalism and diversity.




Oceanic


Book Description

"Nezhukumatathil’s poems contain elegant twists of a very sharp knife. She writes about the natural world and how we live in it, filling each poem, each page with a true sense of wonder." —Roxane Gay “Cultural strands are woven into the DNA of her strange, lush... poems. Aphorisms...from another dimension.” —The New York Times “With unparalleled ease, she’s able to weave each intriguing detail into a nuanced, thought-provoking poem that also reads like a startling modern-day fable.” —The Poetry Foundation “How wonderful to watch a writer who was already among the best young poets get even better!” —Terrance Hayes With inquisitive flair, Aimee Nezhukumatathil creates a thorough registry of the earth’s wonderful and terrible magic. In her fourth collection of poetry, she studies forms of love as diverse and abundant as the ocean itself. She brings to life a father penguin, a C-section scar, and the Niagara Falls with a powerful force of reverence for life and living things. With an encyclopedic range of subjects and unmatched sincerity, Oceanic speaks to each reader as a cooperative part of the earth, an extraordinary neighborhood to which we all belong. From “Starfish and Coffee”: And that’s how you feel after tumbling like sea stars on the ocean floor over each other. A night where it doesn’t matter which are arms or which are legs or what radiates and how— only your centers stuck together. Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of four collections of poetry. Recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and the prestigious Eric Hoffer Grand Prize, Nezhukumatathil teaches creative writing and environmental literature in the MFA program at the University of Mississippi.




Mystery of the Magi


Book Description

"The perfect Christmas gift for anyone interested in the historical background behind the birth of Jesus of Nazareth." — Robert J. Hutchinson, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible, The Dawn of Christianity, and Searching for Jesus. "Utterly refreshing and encouraging." — Eric Metaxas, New York Times bestselling author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and Martin Luther "The best book I know about the Magi." — Sir Colin John Humphreys, Ph.D., author of The Mystery of the Last Supper Modern biblical scholars tend to dismiss the Christmas story of the “wise men from the East” as pious legend. Matthew’s gospel offers few details, but imaginative Christians filled out the story early on, giving us the three kings guided by a magical star who join the adoring shepherds in every Christmas crèche. For many scholars, then, there is no reason to take the gospel story seriously. But are they right? Are the wise men no more than a poetic fancy? In an astonishing feat of detective work, Dwight Longenecker makes a powerful case that the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem really happened. Piecing together the evidence from biblical studies, history, archeology, and astronomy, he goes further, uncovering where they came from, why they came, and what might have happened to them after eluding the murderous King Herod. In the process, he provides a new and fascinating view of the time and place in which Jesus Christ chose to enter the world. The evidence is clear and compelling. The mysterious Magi from the East were in all likelihood astrologers and counselors from the court of the Nabatean king at Petra, where the Hebrew messianic prophecies were well known. The “star” that inspired their journey was a particular planetary alignment—confirmed by computer models—that in the astrological lore of the time portended the birth of a Jewish king. The visitors whose arrival troubled Herod “and all Jerusalem with him” may not have been the turbaned oriental kings of the Christmas carol, but they were real, and by demonstrating that the wise men were no fairy tale, Mystery of the Magi demands a new level of respect for the historical claims of the gospel.




The Dancing Floor


Book Description

From the New York Times-bestselling author, a novel of a daring woman, a seductive English garden, and rumors of witchcraft . . . For years, Heather Tradescant had dreamed of the journey she and her father would take to England—a pilgrimage to the great gardens of history. Now that her father is dead, Heather is determined to fulfill his dreams. Unfortunately, her request to see the fabled seventeenth-century garden of Troytan House is denied by the wealthy new owner. Though unwelcome, she braves the walls of briars and reaches the Victorian manor house beyond. She senses a strange frisson of evil lurking, tainting the manor’s peaceful beauty. Only then does Heather begin to wonder if it is simply stories of long-vanished witchcraft that haunt Troytan House or if there is some more modern horror, nearer at hand, and far, far more dangerous . . . In The Dancing Floor, the author of such acclaimed novels of suspense as Vanish with the Rose and House of Stone provides a chilling tale to keep you reading until the last page. “An enigmatic cat, a missing child, a clay figure pierced with thorns, and the continuing role of the Pendle Witches are but a few of the puzzles that trouble Heather in this well-crafted mystery.” —Booklist “The intrigue just won’t quit.” —Kirkus Reviews “Everything a romance reader can ask for.” —Publishers Weekly




December Caravan


Book Description

December Caravan is a collection of personal short stories, encouragement, and inspiration on the concept of hope and an ever-present God despite difficult circumstances.Throughout the book, Rebecca shares stories from her life, specifically over a five-year period that started in 2008, when her world crumbled after her fianc� walked out on their relationship and their wedding, which was to take place a few months later.Within the next months and years, Rebecca experienced extremely difficult circumstances of loss, including finding out that her health was deteriorating due to advanced late-stage Lyme disease and cancer.December Caravan tells the stories of trials and hope despite many difficult situations. Rebecca shares her foundation of hope for those who are hurting and the beautiful knowledge of learning the Lord's constant love despite heartbreak and loss.December Caravan will encourage you to run back to the heart of God and to find hope and joy in His word




Limbo


Book Description

In Limbo, award-winning journalist Alfred Lubrano identifies and describes an overlooked cultural phenomenon: the internal conflict within individuals raised in blue-collar homes, now living white-collar lives. These people often find that the values of the working class are not sufficient guidance to navigate the white-collar world, where unspoken rules reflect primarily upper-class values. Torn between the world they were raised in and the life they aspire too, they hover between worlds, not quite accepted in either. Himself the son of a Brooklyn bricklayer, Lubrano informs his account with personal experience and interviews with other professionals living in limbo. For millions of Americans, these stories will serve as familiar reminders of the struggles of achieving the American Dream.




Picturing Death 1200–1600


Book Description

Picturing Death: 1200–1600 brings together essays considering four key centuries of imagery related to human mortality, from tomb sculpture to painted altarpieces, from manuscripts to printed books, and from minute carved objects to large-scale architecture.




Precognitive Dreamwork and the Long Self


Book Description

• Outlines a set of clear principles to help guide dreamworkers, illustrated through real precognitive dream experiences • Shows how to detect precognitive dreams through their characteristic features, explaining how dreams relate to memory and why dreams about future experiences are often symbolic or distorted • Explores the mind-blowing implications of precognition for our lives, including how our present thoughts actually shape--or shaped--our past Once only the stuff of science fiction, evidence has grown that precognition--glimpses of your future in dreams and visions and being influenced subtly in waking life by what is to come--is real. Your future thoughts and feelings shape who you are now. And your present thoughts and feelings shape--or shaped--your past. In this accessible exploration of precognition, precognitive dreamwork, and a radically new biographical sensibility, the Long Self, that precognition awakens us to, Eric Wargo shows how dreamworkers can play the role of citizen scientists, adding to our understanding of this fascinating, almost unexplored dimension of human life. Wargo outlines a set of clear principles to guide dreamworkers, each illustrated through real dreamers’ experiences. Drawing on psychoanalysis and contemporary sleep science, he explores how precognition relates to memory, explaining why dreams of future experiences are often distorted and what those distortions probably mean. He discusses never-before-described dream features, including “time gimmicks” (symbols hinting at time distortion) and “calendrical resonance” (the tendency of dreams to foretell experiences exactly a year or years later). He describes why an understanding of precognition augments Jung’s theory of synchronicity by highlighting our own role in producing meaningful coincidences in our waking lives. He also shows how precognition manifests in other states of consciousness like lucid dreams, out-of-body experiences, trance states, sleep paralysis, meditation, and hypnagogia. We are at a major turning point in science’s understanding of time, causality, and the self. We are more than who we think we are from moment to moment--we are our past, present, and future simultaneously. When we understand this, a dream journal becomes a personal time machine, with mind-blowing discoveries in store for the traveler.