The Thorn Birds


Book Description

One of the most beloved novels of all time, Colleen McCullough's magnificent saga of dreams, struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian outback has enthralled readers the world over. The Thorn Birds is a chronicle of three generations of Clearys—an indomitable clan of ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys' only daughter, Meggie, and the haunted priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart—and the intense joining of two hearts and souls over a lifetime, a relationship that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma.




The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog


Book Description

When Patricia Monaghan traveled to Ireland seeking her roots, what she found was much more than her physical ancestors. This is the story of her journey and the legends, landmarks, and mystical lore she encountered. Her poetic stories elucidate the ways that myth reveals the truth of human experience as well as the contradictions that are embodied in women's lives. This book is an extensive exploration of goddess mythology in Ireland, from Brigit, the Celtic goddess of water, fire, and transformation, to the historical figure of Granueille, a pirate queen.




All But One Thorn


Book Description

Dr. Issiac Reese was raised in a household of eight siblings: five brothers and three sisters, along with his father and mother. What appeared to be the ideal family makeup turned into a lifetime of abuse, torture, near death experiences and desperate pleads for the love and acceptance from both his parents. After finding no love and acceptance within his turbulent home in which he was raised; Issiac made life time of vows to himself that is he'd "Never to be anything like his father" but it seem the more he tried to avoid being like his father; the thing he feared the most happened; "He had become a younger version of his father." deciding he would no longer march to the beat of the ugly violence of his abusers; by turning away from the traits of his family's dysfunctions. He thought he'd start by correcting all of the wrongs in his life by taking on; all who doubted his fortitude and his ability of ever being successful in life. After suffering through many valleys, heartaches, disappointments and finding God's loving hand along the way; Issiac discovered; that every abusive act and shameful word deliberately intended to shatter him fell short of who he really was and that; it was only because of his abusers were completely blinded by his very bright future. Dr. Issiac Reese, has since gone on to achieving academic excellence on many levels, he holds both a bachelor and master degree in psychology; a bachelor, master and doctorate degree in Theology. Dr. Issiac Reese is the founder and pastor of Issachar International Ministries Inc., an International Chaplain, a conference speaker and teacher, a counselor as well as an Inspirational preacher and life coach. Dr. Issiac Reese is a husband and father who is demonstrating a walk of Love, Acceptance and Encouragement to his family and to all who are crossing his paths. Dr. Issiac Reese believes "The beauty of a person, place or thing; can never be rightfully appraised outside of its creator; when you find your beauty; you find your VALUE."










The Empire of Dreams


Book Description

“Action, adventure, betrayal, and poison add up to a winner." —Booklist New York Times–bestselling author Rae Carson makes a triumphant return to the world of her award-winning Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy in this extraordinary stand-alone novel. Fans of Leigh Bardugo, Kendare Blake, and Tomi Adeyemi won’t want to put this book down. Red Sparkle Stone is a foundling orphan with an odd name, a veiled past, and a mark of magic in her hair. But finally—after years and years of running, of fighting—she is about to be adopted into the royal family by Empress Elisa herself. She’ll have a home, a family. Sixteen-year-old Red can hardly believe her luck. Then, in a stunning political masterstroke, the empress’s greatest rival blocks the adoption, and everything Red has worked for crumbles before her eyes. But Red is not about to let herself or the empress become a target again. Determined to prove her worth and protect her chosen family, she joins the Royal Guard, the world’s most elite fighting force. It’s no coincidence that someone wanted her to fail as a princess, though. Someone whose shadowy agenda puts everything—and everyone—she loves at risk. As danger closes in, it will be up to Red to save the empire. If she can survive recruitment year—something no woman has ever done before. New York Times–bestselling author Rae Carson returns to the world of The Girl of Fire and Thorns in this action-packed fantasy-adventure starring an iconic heroine who fights for her family and her friends, and for a place where she will belong.







Boggarts, Trolls and Tylwyth Teg


Book Description

The Grimms called them The Quiet Folk, in Māori they are Patupaiarehe, in Wales Y Tylwyth Teg : hidden people who live unseen, speak their own languages and move around like migrants, shrouded from our eyes – like those who lived in the utopian world of Plant Rhys Ddwfn off the west Welsh coast, where this book begins. In mythology, lost lands are coral castles beneath the sea, ancient forests where spirits live, and mountain swamps where trolls lurk. Strip away the mythology, and they become valleys and villages flooded to provide drinking water to neighbouring kingdoms, campsites where travellers are told they can't travel, and reservations where the rights of first nations people are ignored. The folk tales in this book tell of these lost lands and hidden people, remembered through migrations, dreams and memories.




When the Tree Sings


Book Description

"Extraordinary . . . A modern classic."—Los Angeles Times "Remarkable . . . A highly original and eloquent story."—Boston Globe "The effect is haunting . . . bitter and beautiful."—New York Times Set in an impoverished Greece at the cruel time of the German occupation during WWII, When the Tree Sings is a boy’s eye view of war’s terrible ways. The young narrator’s parents are dead, his paternal home destroyed; he lives with his aged grandmother. With barely enough to survive on, they struggle to avoid death—and we, the readers, are given the life of the village, filled with its vivid characters: Flisvos, the narrator’s one-eyed playmate; Lekas the Informer; Uncle Iasson, who is in love with Lekas’s red-haired mistress; Dando, who dies of fright; a mysterious figure known as the puppeteer. Mundane horrors mix with terrible cruelty and occasional, hysterical, levity. Our starving narrator is offered a chestnut from the soldiers’ fire—if he can hold it hot from the coals in his bare hand; a motorcycle engine runs to disguise the sounds of prisoners being tortured; an explosion kills all the fish in the bay and they wash up soaked in kerosene and inedible; the boys spend an afternoon plotting how to hang Grandmother’s only drawers from the enemy flagpole; a kitten named November is trained to fly in a basket tied to a paper kite. The wonder of this novel is how engaging the world is to the boy and, so, to readers who accompany him through the pages of this “modern classic.” (Los Angeles Times).




The Flash: 80 Years of the Fastest Man Alive


Book Description

Celebrate 80 Years of the Flash with DC, as we revisit classic comics stories from the 1940s and onward, featuring some of the Flash’s greatest allies and villains, and work from some of the greatest creators ever to grace the graphic-literature medium! This book collects such seminal moments as the first appearances of Jay Garrick (FLASH COMICS #1), Barry Allen (SHOWCASE #4) and Wally West (THE FLASH #110), the classic “Flash of Two Worlds” (THE FLASH #123) and the death of Iris West (THE FLASH #275) as well as many previously uncollected gems, including stories from THE FLASH #300 (1981), FLASH #54 (1991), FLASH COMICS #89 (1947) and many more. It also features new essays and commentary from comics stars Mark Waid, Roy Thomas, Francis Manapul and more, plus a new cover by Jim Lee!