The Wet Engine


Book Description

An essayist muses on the scientific, emotional, literary, philosophical, and spiritual understandings of the heart--from cardiology to courage, from love letters and pop songs to the teachings of Jesus--with his own infant son's heart surgery as the thread weaving his reflections together.




Blood Engines


Book Description

Meet Marla Mason—smart, saucy, slightly wicked witch of the East Coast. . . . Sorcerer Marla Mason, small-time guardian of the city of Felport, has a big problem. A rival is preparing a powerful spell that could end Marla’s life—and, even worse, wreck her city. Marla’s only chance of survival is to boost her powers with the Cornerstone, a magical artifact hidden somewhere in San Francisco. But when she arrives there, Marla finds that the quest isn’t going to be quite as cut-and-dried as she expected . . . and that some of the people she needs to talk to are dead. It seems that San Francisco’s top sorcerers are having troubles of their own—a mysterious assailant has the city’s magical community in a panic, and the local talent is being (gruesomely) picked off one by one. With her partner-in-crime, Rondeau, Marla is soon racing against time through San Francisco’s alien streets, dodging poisonous frogs, murderous hummingbirds, cannibals, and a nasty vibe from the local witchery, who suspect that Marla herself may be behind the recent murders. And if Marla doesn’t figure out who is killing the city’s finest in time, she’ll be in danger of becoming a magical statistic herself. . . .




The Sublime Engine


Book Description

The heart has consistently captured the human imagination. It has been singled out as a cultural icon, the repository of our deepest religious and artistic impulses, the organ whose steady functioning is understood, both literally and symbolically, as the very life force itself. The Sublime Engine will explore the profound sense of awe every person feels when they ponder the miracle encased within their ribs. In this lyrical history of our most essential organ, a critically-acclaimed novelist and a leading cardiologist--who happen to be brothers--draw upon history, science, religion, popular culture, and literature to illuminate all of the heart's physical and figurative chambers. Each of the four sections-- The Ancient Heart, The Renaissance Heart, The Modern Heart, and The Future Heart--will focus on a major epoch in our understanding of the heart and the hidden history of cardiology. Erudite, witty, and enthralling, The Sublime Engine makes the heart come alive for readers.




Spirited Men


Book Description

In this remarkable collection of essays, acclaimed writer Brian Doyle offers “resurrections, restorations, reconsiderations, appreciations, enthusiasms, headlong solos, laughing prayers, imaginary meetings with most unusual and most interesting men.” Geographically and chronologically diverse—Plutarch of Greece; William Blake of England; Robert Louis Stevenson of Scotland; James Joyce and Van Morrison of Ireland; and others—Doyle sees them as men of “immense spiritual substance, prayerful fury, enormous grace,” men concerned with “the moral grapple” and “the sinuous crucial puzzle of love.” In telling the stories of these talented, troubled, and extraordinary men, Doyle discerns clues about how to be a good man, headlong in the pursuit of love and capable of greatness.




Epiphanies & Elegies


Book Description

Epiphanies & Elegies is a collection of delightful, accessible poems shot through with wonder, humor, faith, and Irish Catholic heritage. Brian Doyle illuminates seemingly ordinary, everyday events in poems that will immediately touch with the reader with their truth. These warm and insightful pieces are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant takes on the small wonders and inevitable tragedies of life.




Leaping


Book Description

In this spirited collection of essays, Brian Doyle employs his wit, wisdom, and gusto for life as he shares with readers his thoughts on Jesus, the Mass, Birds, Bees, and so much more. What would be a good alternative name for Jesus? What does a honeybee at Mass have to tell us about Christ? What is, after all, the real point of saying prayers when someone is suffering? Through the good and the bad, the serious and the hilarious, Doyle finds just the right story and just the right words to help us better understand life and love—and to help us see our faith in a whole new light.




Eternal on the Water


Book Description

From the day Cobb and Mary meet kayaking on Maine's Allagash River and fall deeply in love, the two approach life with the same sense of adventure they use to conquer the river's treacherous rapids. But rivers do not let go so easily...and neither does their love. So when Mary's life takes the cruelest turn, she vows to face those rough waters on her own terms and asks Cobb to promise, when the time comes, to help her return to their beloved river for one final journey. Set against the rugged wilderness of Maine, the exotic islands of Indonesia, the sweeping panoramas of Yellowstone National Park, and the tranquil villages of rural New England, Eternal on the Wateris at once heartbreaking and uplifting -- a timeless, beautifully rendered story of true love's power.




Grace Notes


Book Description

Throughout her life, Alexandra Stoddard has sought inspiration from writers, poets, and people she has met. In Grace Notes, she shares this wisdom and her own learnings, beautifully captured in brief, motivating observations, in 365 daily meditations of warmth, affirmation, encouragement, and optimism. Season by season, day by day, you'll explore different themes: joy, love, loss, risk, courage, wholeness, growth, play, and success. In addition to offering inspirational quotes from many cultures and two "grace notes," each page provides space to write down your own sacred inspirations. With courage and confidence, Grace Notes takes you on a spiritual journey every day of your life—and whenever you feel the need to be transported to serenity and grace.




Mink River


Book Description

Looks at the lives, loves, and losses of the residents of the village of Neawanaka, Oregon.




This Place Is Wet


Book Description

Invites readers to the rain forest of Brazil, where houses are built on stilts to guard against the river's rising and plants grow on the sides of trees, gathering moisture from the air.




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