Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.
~ William Hazlitt
Tag Archive for: books
M D Eben Alexander
Proof of Heaven
This story sounds like the wild and wonderful imaginings of a skilled fantasy writer. But it is not fantasy. Before Alexander underwent his journey, he could not reconcile his knowledge of neuroscience with any belief in heaven, God, or the soul. That difficulty with belief created an empty space that no professional triumph could erase. Today he is a doctor who believes that true health can be achieved only when we realize that God and the soul are real and that death is not the end of personal existence but only a transition.
This story would be remarkable no matter who it happened to. That it happened to Dr. Alexander makes it revolutionary. No scientist or person of faith will be able to ignore it. Reading it will change your life. => http://bit.ly/ZBbzeP
Our free book this week is a retro science fiction – published in 1958
Starman's Quest
by Robert Silverberg
The Lexman Spacedrive gave man the stars--but at a fantastic price. Interstellar exploration, colonization, and trade became things of reality. The benefits to Earth were enormous. But because of the Fitzgerald Contraction, a man who shipped out to space could never live a normal life on Earth again. Read it here
http://bit.ly/YobkFv
There are books so alive that you're always afraid that while you weren't reading, the book has gone and changed, has shifted like a river; while you went on living, it went on living too, and like a river moved on and moved away. No one has stepped twice into the same river. But did anyone ever step twice into the same book?
~Marina Tsvetaeva
Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln
James C. Humes
Turn Any Presentation into a Landmark Occasion
Ever wish you could captivate your boardroom with the opening line of your presentation, like Winston Churchill in his most memorable speeches? Or want to command attention by looming larger than life before your audience, much like Abraham Lincoln when, standing erect and wearing a top hat, he towered over seven feet? Now, you can master presentation skills, wow your audience, and shoot up the corporate ladder by unlocking the secrets of history's greatest speakers. => http://bit.ly/X5H56N
Lesley Pearce
When Eva Patterson returns home from work one day, a devastating scene awaits. Her mother, Flora, lies dead in the bath. Beside her is a note saying: 'Forgive Me'.
Lesley Pearse, No.1 UK bestselling author of "The Promise and Belle", is back with "Forgive Me", a compelling story of a daughter uncovering her mother's secret past.
Until then, Eva always believed her family's life would be comfortable and secure - but Flora's suicide changes everything. And when Eva discovers that in her will Flora left her an artist's studio in London, she realises how little she knows about her mother's past. => http://bit.ly/YmD0J9
Journalist and language expert Erard believes we can learn a lot from our mistakes. He argues that the secrets of human speech are present in our own proliferating verbal detritus. Erard plots a comprehensive outline of verbal blunder studies throughout history, from Freud's fascination with the slip to Allen Funt's Candid Camera. Smoothly summarizing complex linguistic theories, Erard shows how slip studies undermine some well-established ideas on language acquisition and speech. Included throughout are hilarious highlight reels of bloopers, boners, Spoonerisms, malapropisms and eggcorns. The author also introduces interesting people along the way, from notebook-toting, slip-collecting professors to the devoted members of Toastmasters, a public speaking club with a self-help focus.
According to Erard, the aesthetic of umlessness is a relatively new development in society originating alongside advents in mechanical reproduction, but it may be on its way out already. http://bit.ly/XZdPfe
A man ought to read just as his inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.
--Samuel Johnson
Case Histories
Kate Atkinson
Called the best mystery of the decade by Stephen King, this novel from award-winner Atkinson is a breathtaking story of families divided, love lost and found, and the mysteries of fate.
Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night.
Case two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack.
Case three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.
Thirty years after the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge . . . of the World.
Kate Atkinson lives in Edinburgh. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, was named Whitbread Book of the Year in the U.K. in 1995, and was followed by Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird, Not the End of the World, Case Histories and One Good Turn.
Book Club Discussion questions
1.
The three cases that open Case Histories are at first quite separate, and leave you wondering how Atkinson is going to pull it all together into one story. You might discuss whether she is successful at doing that—and how.
2.
Case Histories has three unsolved crimes and has a private eye as hero. Kate Atkinson is known as a 'literary writer' and won the Whitbread Prize for her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum. How is Case Histories different from a traditional detective novel—or is it?
3.
Jackson believes "that his job was to help people be good rather than punish them for being bad." Another discussion point would be whether you think he is a moral character, and how you feel the revelation of the tragedy in his own past illuminates his actions in the novel.
4.
To Jackson, it seems as if everyone he encounters has lost someone or something. One of Kate Atkinson's recurrent themes is that of lost children. In spite of her wicked sense of humour, she creates an overwhelming sense of tension in this novel. Is it that this theme speaks directly to the lost child deep inside every one of us?
5.
"Novels gave you a completely false idea about life, they told lies and the implied there were endings when in reality there were no endings, everything just went on and on and on." Is Kate Atkinson being mischievous here, or is this statement true of this novel?
These questions are provided by
Transworld Publisher.
by David Booth
Don't Just Present. Persuade, Inspire, and Perform!
Powerhouse presentations that engage and move your audience
Own the Room is written by a unique set of authors with the expertise perfect for creating vivid narratives. Own the Room shares how to excite your audience's emotions and intellect. And Own the Room will give you a communication toolkit to make any presentation lively, compelling, and memorable. => http://bit.ly/OIMYh4
A 10-Year-Old’s Marching Orders for the Upcoming School Year
" ... kids function best when they're real clear about exactly what's expected of them ..."