When The Blindfold Falls


Book Description

The face of freedom is not always pretty flags of red, white and blue dancing in the wind, but rather dark faces hanging from the branches of a tree, or a display of breathless bodies frozen along a trail of tears. If we are to address the broken political system we have now, then we must address the social injustice taking place. Not poke the bear with a stick and watch the anger fester to the point the bear attacks back.




Blindfold


Book Description

An award-winning journalist’s extraordinary account of being kidnapped and tortured in Syria by al Qaeda for two years—a revelatory memoir about war, human nature, and endurance that’s “the best of the genre, profound, poetic, and sorrowful” (The Atlantic). In 2012, American journalist Theo Padnos, fluent in Arabic, Russian, German, and French, traveled to a Turkish border town to write and report on the Syrian civil war. One afternoon in October, while walking through an olive grove, he met three young Syrians—who turned out to be al Qaeda operatives—and they captured him and kept him prisoner for nearly two years. On his first day, in the first of many prisons, Padnos was given a blindfold—a grime-stained scrap of fabric—that was his only possession throughout his horrific ordeal. Now, Padnos recounts his time in captivity in Syria, where he was frequently tortured at the hands of the al Qaeda affiliate, Jebhat al Nusra. We learn not only about Padnos’s harrowing experience, but we also get a firsthand account of life in a Syrian village, the nature of Islamic prisons, how captors interrogate someone suspected of being CIA, the ways that Islamic fighters shift identities and drift back and forth through the veil of Western civilization, and much more. No other journalist has lived among terrorists for as long as Theo has—and survived. As a resident of thirteen separate prisons in every part of rebel-occupied Syria, Theo witnessed a society adrift amid a steady stream of bombings, executions, torture, prayer, fasting, and exhibitions, all staged by the terrorists. Living within this tide of violence changed not only his personal identity but also profoundly altered his understanding of how to live. Offering fascinating, unprecedented insight into the state of Syria today, Blindfold is “a triumph of the human spirit” (The New York Times Book Review)—combining the emotional power of a captive’s memoir with a journalist’s account of a culture and a nation in conflict that is as urgent and important as ever.




Cherished Belonging


Book Description

At a time when society is more fractured than ever before, beloved Jesuit priest Gregory Boyle invites us to see the world through a new lens of connection and build the loving community that we long to live in—a perfect message for readers of Anne Lamott, Mary Oliver, and Richard Rohr. Over the past thirty years, Gregory Boyle has transformed thousands of lives through his work as the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention program in the world. The program runs on two unwavering principles: (1) Everyone is unshakably good (no exceptions) and (2) we belong to each other (no exceptions). Boyle believes that these two ideas allow all of us to cultivate a new way of seeing. Every community wants to be a safe place, where people are seen, and then are cherished. By remembering that we belong to each other, we find our way out of chaos and its dispiriting tribalism. Pooka, a former gang member who now oversees the program’s housing division, puts it plainly: “Here, love is our lens. It’s how we see things.” In Cherished Belonging, Boyle calls back to Christianity’s origins as a subversive spiritual movement of equality, emancipation, and peace. Early Christianity was a way of life—not a set of beliefs. Boyle’s vision of community isn’t just a space for an individual to heal, but for people to join together and heal each other in a new collective living, a world dedicated to kindness as a constant and radical act of defiance. “The answer to every question is, indeed, compassion,” Boyle exhorts. He calls us to cherish and nurture the connections that are all around us and live with radical kindness.




Until We Fall


Book Description

The darkness never forgets… Caleb Gregory has spent ten years hiding in the dark, refusing to speak about the night his young life was destroyed. In his anger and his rage, he drank and fought until he drove everyone away until he had no one left. The light casts a long shadow… Nalini King has devoted her post army life to her passion: using yoga to heal her fellow soldiers. In doing so, she’s worked to forget the night her life burned down around her. An unexpected storm… When a storm forces them into the darkness together, these two wounded souls must face the demons of their past. Because it is only in the darkest night that we can truly see the light. ★★★★Praise for AFTER I FALL★★★★ "Jessica Scott weaves raw, real emotion into every scene and sentence. AFTER I FALL was irresistible and unforgettable!" ~ Roxanne St. Claire, New York Times Bestselling Author "Another masterful romance I won't soon forget." - Claudia Connor, New York Times Bestselling Author Praise for BEFORE I FALL. ★★★★One of the most read books in Library Journal's Self-e program!★★★★ "Scott (HomeFront) starts off her Falling contemporary series with a story that focuses on the troubles of returning veterans and their families...The strength of the story is the attention it pays to returning veterans' need for physical and mental support, especially for their careers and families." ~ Publisher's Weekly "A compelling story of love and life that will break your heart, then piece it back together." ~ New York Times Bestselling author Gina Maxwell "A deeply moving story with characters who capture your heart." ~ Carly Phillips, New York Times Bestselling Author "Romantic and real and sexy, Before I Fall is an emotional ride that grabs hold and doesn't let go." ~ Kristen Callihan, New York Times Bestselling author of The Hookup "Sensual. Emotional. Engrossing. Jessica Scott has delivered a romance you cannot put down." ~ Robin Covington, Bestselling author of the Nashville Nights series "Before I Fall gives readers a glimpse of what life after a war can be....I highly recommend not only for the love story, but for a story that will keep you thankful and grounded" ~ Under the Covers ★★★★Praise for BREAK MY FALL★★★★ "Intense, emotional, and edgy--Break My Fall is Jessica Scott's best yet!" J Kenner, New York Times Bestselling author "A dark, compelling story filled with hope" - Carly Phillips, New York Times Bestselling author "Break My Fall is pure emotion wrapped in Jessica Scott's signature wit. Josh and Abby are the kind of characters who will stay with you long after you close the book." - Farrah Rochon, USA Today bestselling author "Jessica Scott has a gift for writing characters that I feel in my heart. Break My Fall was no exception. I was all in from the first page to the last." Claudia Connor, New York Times bestselling author of Worth The Fall "The writing was engaging, emotional, and honest. Jessica Scott has once again touched my heart." Smut Book Junkies ★★★★Each book in the Falling series can be read as a stand alone or as part of the series.★★★★ Book 1: Before I Fall Book 2: Break My Fall Book 3: After I Fall Book 4: Catch My Fall Book 5: Until We Fall




In the Agora


Book Description

A spirited and engaging read, In the Agora effectively illustrates how Canadian philosophers have contributed to public discourse and enriched our world. It is a collection that is sure to prompt both interest and debate.




The Alpha’s Omega Mate


Book Description

Eclipse is the omega of the star pack. Her pack treats her like a maid. When Eclipse was younger she always wanted the fairytale ending, but as she got older she realized that would never happen. What happens when Eclipse's so called soul-mate rejects her. Join Eclipse while secrets unfold and she finds out who she is.




Mission of a Lifetime


Book Description

A missing airplane . . . Hostile tribes . . . Mysterious kidnappings . . . p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} Responsibility falls upon twenty-one-year-old William Rodriguez when his missionary parents disappear in the hostile jungles of Columbia. Willie knows that he has to go find them, but what will it cost him? When his dreams and his very life are on the line, Willie doesn’t know whom to trust. Will he be able to overcome his past mistakes and the present failure that seems set on destroying his mission? When Willie finds himself in the midst of a drug smuggling ring, difficult decisions are thrust upon him. Can he escape his captors before his family is killed? Can he find forgiveness in his heart for the very people who ruined his life or will it only bring back more painful memories? Will he be able to survive the mission of a lifetime?




Existential Art Therapy


Book Description

A classic in art therapy literature since its introduction nearly two decades ago, this book is an expression of the author's desire to link the practice of art psychotherapy to the core issues of life as presented in existentialism. The inclusion of existential in this book's title denotes an interest in human struggle with issues of life in the face of death. The Canvas Mirror is the story of connections: the author's connections with his patients, their connections with each other, and, ultimately, the author's connections with the reader. We are provided in this book with a philosophy of how to be rather than a manual of what to do. The author shows us that it is possible to speak in plain language about the difficulties of therapists' patients if art therapists also speak to themselves in that same language. Unique features include: existential values and artistic traditions; metaphor, ritual, and journey; structuring chaos; existential emptiness and art; tenets of existential art therapy; the frame of The Canvas Mirror; listening to images and relating to artworks; dimensions of creative action; artists of the cutting edge; the changing face of illness; existential leadership and basic tasks; and dialoguing with dreams. Replete with numerous illustrations, this text will serve as a valuable resource to medical and mental health professionals, occupational therapists, artists, students and theorists of art, and rehabilitation professionals. The current state of mental health care, with short stays and a problem-focused approach, makes this book even more relevant today than when it was first published in 1990.




The Fall of Stara Ves


Book Description




The Blindfold


Book Description

Iris Vegan, a young, impoverished graduate student from the Midwest, finds herself entangled with four powerful but threatening characters as she tries to adjust to life in New York City. Mr. Morning, an inscrutable urban recluse, employs Iris to tape-record verbal descriptions of objects that belonged to a murder victim. George, a photographer, takes an eerie portrait of Iris, which then acquires a strange life of its own, appearing and disappearing without warning around the city. After a series of blinding migraines, Iris ends up in a hospital room with Mrs. O., a woman who has lost her mind and memory to a stroke, but who nevertheless retains both the strength and energy to torment her fellow patient. And finally, there is Professor Rose, Iris's teacher and eventually her lover. While working with him on the translation of a German novella called The Brutal Boy, she discovers in its protagonist, Klaus, a vehicle for her own transformation and ventures out into the city again--this time dressed as a man. Siri Hustvedt's The Blindfold is "...a work of dizzying intensity. . .eloquent and vivid." - Don DeLillo.




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