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Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling
By Wendy Doniger, Vinay Dharwadker, Carole Satyamurti. 2014
"Astonishing. . . . [Satyamurti's Mahabharata] brings [the] past alive . . . as though it were a novel in…
finely crafted verse."--Vinay Dharwadker Originally composed approximately two thousand years ago, the Mahabharata tells the story of a royal dynasty, descended from gods, whose feud over their kingdom results in a devastating war. But it contains much more than conflict. An epic masterpiece of huge sweep and magisterial power, "a hundred times more interesting" than the Iliad and the Odyssey, writes Wendy Doniger in the introduction, the Mahabharata is a timeless work that evokes a world of myth, passion, and warfare while exploring eternal questions of duty, love, and spiritual freedom. A seminal Hindu text, which includes the Bhagavad Gita, it is also one of the most important and influential works in the history of world civilization. Innovatively composed in blank verse rather than prose, Carole Satyamurti's English retelling covers all eighteen books of the Mahabharata. This new version masterfully captures the beauty, excitement, and profundity of the original Sanskrit poem as well as its magnificent architecture and extraordinary scope.The Alchemist
By Paulo Coelho, Alan R. Clarke. 1993
"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked…
up at the moonless sky." Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams." Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over a million and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's charming fable, now available in English for the first time, will enchant and inspire an even wider audience of readers for generations to come. The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist. The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.The Prophet (A Penguin Classics Hardcover)
By Rupi Kaur, Kahlil Gibran. 2017
A stunning new hardcover edition--with a full linen case, copper stamping, gilded edges, and colored endpapers--of one of the world's…
most beloved and popular spiritual classics, featuring a new foreword by Rupi Kaur, the multimillion-copy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Milk and Honey and The Sun and Her Flowers"This book cracked my heart wide open. And I think it's going to do the same to yours." --Rupi Kaur, from the ForewordThe most famous work of spiritual fiction of the twentieth century, The Prophet is rooted in Kahlil Gibran's own experience as an immigrant and provides inspiration to anyone feeling adrift in a world in flux. As a prophet named Almustafa is about to board a ship to travel back to his homeland after twelve years in exile, he is stopped by a group of people who ask him to share his wisdom before he leaves. In twenty-eight poetic essays, he does so, offering profound and timeless insights on many aspects of life, including love, pain, friendship, family, beauty, religion, joy, sorrow, and death. An immediate success when first published in 1923, The Prophet is a modern classic, having been translated into more than forty languages and sold more than ten million copies in the United States alone. The message it imparts, of finding divinity through love, made it the bible of 1960s culture and continues to touch hearts and minds across generations and national borders. This edition is illustrated with twelve of Gibran's famous visionary paintings and features a foreword by Rupi Kaur.In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.Nina X
By Ewan Morrison. 2019
Winner of the Saltire Literary Award Fiction Book of the Year'Literary gold . . . Morrison has published his masterpiece'…
Sunday Times'Sensational. Like nothing I've ever read. A tour de force' Ian RankinNina X has never been outside. She has never met another child.Nina X has no books, no toys and no privacy.Nina X has no idea what the outside world is like.Nina X has a lot to learn.Nina X has no mother and no father; she has Comrade Chen, and Comrades Uma, Jeni and Ruth. Her closest emotional connection is with the birds she sees when she removes the plasterboard that covers her bedroom window. Comrade Chen has named her The Project; she is being raised entirely separated from the false gods of capitalism and the cult of the self. He has her record everything in her journal, to track her thoughts. To keep her ideology pure, her words are erased, over and over again. But that was before. Now Nina is in Freedom, and all the rules have changed. She has to remember that everything is opposite to what she was told, and yet Freedom seems to be a very confusing and dangerous place'This moving tale of growing up in a Maoist cult, and the traumatic aftermath, explores ideas of freedom, control and identity with warmth and humour' Alex Preston, Observer'Amazing . . . There are few writers left in Britain who have his ambition, vision and empathy. Nina is marvellous creation and this is an important novel' Irvine Welsh'Compelling. Chilling' Lionel ShriverDiary Of A Body
By Daniel Pennac. 2012
From a particularly humiliating accident at scout camp, to the final stages of terminal illness, Daniel Pennac's warm, witty and…
heart-breaking novel shows the rise and fall of an ordinary man, told through his observations of his own body.It is with damp eyes (not to mention underpants) that our narrator begins his diary, seeking through it to come to terms with the demoralising quirks of his fleshy confines. Through the joys and horrors of puberty to the triumphs of adolescence, we grow to love him through every growth, leak and wound, as he finds himself developing muscles, falling in love, and then leaving school to join the French Resistance.Yet, as ever, this is only half the story. As years pass and hairs grey, everything he took for granted begins to turn against him. Tackling taboo topics with honesty and charm, Pennac's wit remains sharp even as everything else begins to sag. This is a hugely original story of the most relatable of unlikely love stories: a human, and the body that defines him.Translated from the French by Alyson WatersThe Weekend: The international bestseller, shortlisted for the Stella Prize 2020
By Charlotte Wood. 2020
A #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER One of The Times books of the year: 'Ripples with wit, insight and vitality' 'The Weekend…
is so great I am struggling to find the words to do it justice... Wood is an agonisingly gifted writer: I am now going to read all her other books!'Marian Keyes'It was refreshing to encounter a novel that so profoundly sympathises with women on the forbidding cusp of being classified as "elderly". Wood ably conveys that older women didn't used to be old, and that the experience of ageing is universally bewildering'Lionel Shriver (Observer, Books of the year) 'Riveting' Elizabeth Day 'A perfect, funny, insightful, novel about women, friendship, and ageing. I loved it'Nina Stibbe 'Authentic, funny, brutally well-observed... As with the novels of Elizabeth Strout or Anne Tyler, these are characters not written to please, but to feel true'The Sunday Times 'Glorious... Charlotte Wood joins the ranks of writers such as Nora Ephron, Penelope Lively and Elizabeth Strout' Guardian'The Weekend triumphantly brings to life the honest, inner lives of women' Independent'A lovely, lively, intelligent, funny book' Tessa Hadley 'One sharp, funny, heartbreaking and gorgeously-written package. I loved it' Paula Hawkins'One of those deceptively compact novels that continues to open doors in your mind long after the last page' Patrick GaleSylvie, Jude, Wendy and Adele have a lifelong friendship of the best kind: loving, practical, frank and steadfast. But when Sylvie dies, the ground shifts dangerously for the remaining three.These women couldn't be more different: Jude, a once-famous restaurateur with a spotless life and a long-standing affair with a married man; Wendy, an acclaimed feminist intellectual; Adele, a former star of the stage, now practically homeless. Struggling to recall exactly why they've remained close all these years, the grieving women gather for one last weekend at Sylvie's old beach house. But fraying tempers, an elderly dog, unwelcome guests and too much wine collide in a storm that brings long-buried hurts to the surface - a storm that will either remind them of the bond they share, or sweep away their friendship for good.SOON TO BE A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES 'An absolute scorcher' Evening Standard'Fidelity thrilled me, made me think and moved me…
deeply. As deep as any literature and as irresistible as any gossip' Jonathan Safran Foer'Intimate and ultimately moving... completely absorbing'Daily Mail'Cuts right through to the darkness of our inner lives'Roberto Saviano'A gripping novel exploring the tensions in an apparently idyllic marriage' Financial Times 'A must-read'Sydney Morning HeraldCarlo, a part-time professor of creative writing, and Margherita, an architect-turned-real estate-agent: a happily married couple in their mid-thirties, perfectly attuned to each other's restlessness. They are in love, but they also harbour desires that stray beyond the confines of their bedroom: Carlo longs for the quiet beauty of one of his students, Sofia; Margherita fantasises about the strong hands of her physiotherapist, Andrea.But it is love, with its unassuming power, which ultimately pulls them from the brink, aided by Margherita's mother Anna, the couple's anchor and lighthouse - a wise, proud seamstress hiding her own disappointments.But after eight years of repressed desires and the birth of a son, when the past resurfaces in the form of books sent anonymously, will love be enough to save them? A no. 1 international bestsellerSoon to be a Netflix show directed by Andrea Molaioli, director of the Netflix hit series SuburraWinner of the Premio Strega GiovaniShortlisted for the Premio Strega'Powerful, delicate, exquisite' Claudio Magris 'Masterful... The ending is just as good as that of Joyce's The Dead' Corriere della Sera'You'll feel like taking refuge in this book and never leaving its confines' La Stampa'With all-encompassing writing, Marco Missiroli opens the rooms of his characters and the streets of Milan, the thoughts and the concealed desires, makes dialogue and silences reverberate with the spontaneity of great narrators' Il FoglioAn Ordinary Wonder
By Buki Papillon. 2020
An Ordinary Wonder is a story of the courage needed to be yourself.Oto leaves for boarding school with one plan:…
excel and escape his cruel home. Falling in love with his roommate was certainly not on the agenda, but fear and shame force him to hide his love and true self.Back home, weighed down by the expectations of their wealthy and powerful family, the love of Oto's twin sister wavers and, as their world begins to crumble around them, Oto must make drastic choices that will alter the family's lives for ever.Richly imagined with art, proverbs and folk tales, this moving and modern novel follows Oto through life at home and at boarding school in Nigeria, through the heartbreak of living as a boy despite their profound belief they are a girl, and through a hunger for freedom that only a new life in the United States can offer. An Ordinary Wonder is a powerful coming-of-age story that explores complex desires as well as challenges of family, identity, gender and culture, and what it means to feel whole.An Ordinary Wonder is a story of the courage needed to be yourself.Oto leaves for boarding school with one plan:…
excel and escape his cruel home. Falling in love with his roommate was certainly not on the agenda, but fear and shame force him to hide his love and true self.Back home, weighed down by the expectations of their wealthy and powerful family, the love of Oto's twin sister wavers and, as their world begins to crumble around them, Oto must make drastic choices that will alter the family's lives for ever.Richly imagined with art, proverbs and folk tales, this moving and modern novel follows Oto through life at home and at boarding school in Nigeria, through the heartbreak of living as a boy despite their profound belief they are a girl, and through a hunger for freedom that only a new life in the United States can offer. An Ordinary Wonder is a powerful coming-of-age story that explores complex desires as well as challenges of family, identity, gender and culture, and what it means to feel whole.Rebirth: A Fable of Love, Forgiveness, and Following Your Heart
By Kamal Ravikant. 2017
From the author of the bestsellers Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It and Live Your Truth comes Rebirth,…
an inspiring novel about the magic that happens when you learn to follow your heart. After the death of his estranged father, Amit takes his parent's ashes to the Ganges to fulfill a deathbed promise. Instead of returning home, he wanders, his pain and grief leaving him confused about his future. Almost broke, unsure about his direction in life, and running from memories, he is led by fate to the Camino de Santiago, an ancient 550-mile pilgrimage route across northern Spain. Amit meets a variety of travelers on his journey. Some are lost and searching for answers. Others are doing their best to leave the past behind. And there are a few who walk to celebrate life. All have stories and lessons to share. Once a reluctant pilgrim, Amit realizes he cannot stop until he completes the journey. As a traveler tells him, "Once you start walking the Camino, the Camino becomes a part of you." With each step Amit is challenged to confront his fear of following in the footsteps of his father, the loss of a woman he may love after all, and the reality of an uncertain future. His month-long pilgrimage forces Amit to face life's big questions, and causes him to grow and embrace a new sense of purpose and being. Based on the author's experience of walking the legendary Camino de Santiago, and told in the tradition of Paulo Coelho and Mitch Albom, Rebirth is a beautiful fable about forgiveness, synchronicity, and the unexpected adventures that reveal who we are.Damascus Gate
By Robert Stone. 1998
With soaring vision and profound intelligence, Robert Stone has written a harrowing, breathtaking novel about our desperate search, at any…
price, for the consolation of redemption - and about the people who are all too willing to provide it. A violent confrontation in the Gaza Strip, a mind-altering pilgrimage, a race through riot-filled Jerusalem streets, a cat-and-mouse game in an underground maze, a desperate attempt to prevent a bomb from detonating beneath the Temple Mount -- Damascus Gate is an exhilarating journey through the moral and religious ambiguities that haunt the holiest of cities and its seekers, cynics, hustlers, and madmen. Set in Jerusalem, where violence, ecstasy, heresy, and salvation are all to be found, Damascus Gate is simultaneously the story of a man's search for truth -- or some version of it -- and the story of a city where sanity is casually traded for faith.Sleeping on Jupiter: A Novel
By Anuradha Roy. 2016
LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2015A stark and unflinching novel by a spellbinding storyteller, about religion, love and violence…
in the modern world.A train stops at a railway station. A young woman jumps off. She has wild hair, sloppy clothes, a distracted air. She looks Indian, yet she is somehow not. The sudden violence of what happens next leaves the other passengers gasping.The train terminates at Jarmuli, a temple town by the sea. Here, among pilgrims, priests and ashrams, three old women disembark only to encounter the girl once again. What is someone like her doing in this remote corner, which attracts only worshippers?Over the next five days, the old women live out their long-planned dream of a holiday together; their temple guide finds ecstasy in forbidden love; and the girl is joined by a photographer battling his own demons.The full force of the evil and violence beneath the serene surface of the town becomes evident when their lives overlap and collide. Unexpected connections are revealed between devotion and violence, friendship and fear, as Jarmuli is revealed as a place with a long, dark past that transforms all who encounter it.A Teacher's Guide to The Alchemist
By Paulo Coelho, Amy Jurskis. 1993
For teachersWe know that the Common Core State Standards are encouraging you to reevaluate the books that you assign to…
your students. To help you decide which books are right for your classroom, each free ebook in this series contains a Common Core-aligned teaching guide and a sample chapter.This free teaching guide for The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is designed to help you put the new Common Core State Standards into practice.Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over a million and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's charming fable will enchant and inspire students for generations to come.The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with The Alchemist.The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.Veronika Decides to Die: A Novel of Redemption (P. S. Ser.)
By Paulo Coelho. 1947
Twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything -- youth and beauty, boyfriends and a loving family, a fulfilling job. But something…
is missing in her life. So, one cold November morning, she takes a handful of sleeping pills expecting never to wake up. But she does -- at a mental hospital where she is told that she has only days to live. Inspired by events in Coelho's own life, Veronika Decides to Die questions the meaning of madness and celebrates individuals who do not fit into patterns society considers to be normal. Bold and illuminating, it is a dazzling portrait of a young woman at the crossroads of despair and liberation, and a poetic, exuberant appreciation of each day as a renewed opportunity.Lessons from My Grandmother: Every Life is a Guided Journey
By Martha Mutomba. 2018
After completing her graduate studies in England, Yeukai returns home to rural Zimbabwe to a jubilant celebration rich in the…
cultural traditions of the Shona-speaking people. There, she receives life lessons from her beloved grandmother—a wise elder holding sacred knowledge passed down through generations. Though impressed by her grandmother's lessons, Yeukai sets them aside to pursue a corporate career in the biotech industry in California. For years, Yeukai embraces a consumer lifestyle, pretending to live the American dream. However, the busy activities of her life--focused on chasing material delusions--hide the emotional turmoil within, until things come to a head. In search for meaning in her life, Yeukai returns home to Zimbabwe only to be heartbroken by the devastation inflicted by AIDS, rampant corruption, and a near-collapsed economy. In despair, Yeukai turns within in search for answers in her life. And the answers start to be revealed—in the deep meaning of her grandmother's teachings and the rediscovering of her own true nature. And she begins to redefine her relationship with the world. Poems interspersed throughout the novel poignantly capture Yeukai's triumphant journey to the realization that a life of purpose is truly possible if we allow ourselves to be guided by mystic powers. Praise for Lessons From My Grandmother Brilliantly compelling and deeply moving story telling by Martha Mutomba. This book took me to my inextricable attachment to my own grandmother which evoked poignant emotions. The author's ability to draw the reader to the characters throughout the book was powerful and emotional for me as I was able to directly connect with Yeukai's journey and identify with her struggles and victories. This is truly a beautifully written book and I give Martha credit for having hypnotic power to keep a reader glued, making it hard to put the book down. This is a book of rich cultural diversity that triumphantly integrates one's imagination. Lessons From My Grandmother is one of those rare novels that lingers on long after you have put it down, utterly compelling from the very first page. —PAM SAMASUWO-NYAWIRI, Cultural Journalist / Author of Rainbow SoulThe Alchemist: Paulo Coelho (Plus Ser.)
By Paulo Coelho. 1988
Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a…
book. With over a million and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's charming fable, now available in English for the first time, will enchant and inspire an even wider audience of readers for generations to come. The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist. The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams. A New York Times BestsellerFidelity: The Number One International Bestseller
By Marco Missiroli. 2021
SOON TO BE A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES 'Fidelity thrilled me, made me think and moved me deeply. It manages to…
be as deep as any literature and as irresistible as any gossip. A brilliant work by a brilliant writer' Jonathan Safran Foer'A gripping novel exploring the tensions in an apparently idyllic marriage, where a couple in their thirties is tested by their attraction to others, and by their own accumulation of desires and disappointments' Financial Times'A writer of pure excellence' Emmanuel Carrère'Cuts right through to the darkness of our inner lives' Roberto SavianoCarlo, a part-time professor of creative writing, and Margherita, an architect-turned-real estate-agent: a happily married couple in their mid-thirties, perfectly attuned to each other's restlessness. They are in love, but they also harbour desires that stray beyond the confines of their bedroom: Carlo longs for the quiet beauty of one of his students, Sofia; Margherita fantasises about the strong hands of her physiotherapist, Andrea.But it is love, with its unassuming power, which ultimately pulls them from the brink, aided by Margherita's mother Anna, the couple's anchor and lighthouse - a wise, proud seamstress hiding her own disappointments.But after eight years of repressed desires and the birth of a son, when the past resurfaces in the form of books sent anonymously, will love be enough to save them? A #1 International BestsellerWinner of the Premio Strega GiovaniShortlisted for the Premio Strega'Powerful, delicate, exquisite' Claudio Magris'Masterful... The ending is just as good as that of Joyce's The Dead' Corriere della Sera'You'll feel like taking refuge in this book and never leaving its confines' La Stampa'With all-encompassing writing, Marco Missiroli opens the rooms of his characters and the streets of Milan, the thoughts and the concealed desires, makes dialogue and silences reverberate with the spontaneity of great narrators' Il FoglioSleeping on Jupiter
By Anuradha Roy. 2015
LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2015A stark and unflinching novel by a spellbinding storyteller, about religion, love and violence…
in the modern world.A train stops at a railway station. A young woman jumps off. She has wild hair, sloppy clothes, a distracted air. She looks Indian, yet she is somehow not. The sudden violence of what happens next leaves the other passengers gasping.The train terminates at Jarmuli, a temple town by the sea. Here, among pilgrims, priests and ashrams, three old women disembark only to encounter the girl once again. What is someone like her doing in this remote corner, which attracts only worshippers?Over the next five days, the old women live out their long-planned dream of a holiday together; their temple guide finds ecstasy in forbidden love; and the girl is joined by a photographer battling his own demons.The full force of the evil and violence beneath the serene surface of the town becomes evident when their lives overlap and collide. Unexpected connections are revealed between devotion and violence, friendship and fear, as Jarmuli is revealed as a place with a long, dark past that transforms all who encounter it.Devotion: Soon a Netflix limited series
By Marco Missiroli. 2021
NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES, COMING VALENTINE'S DAY 2022 'An absolute scorcher' Evening Standard'The book about infidelity that has shaken…
up Italy'The Times'Intimate and ultimately moving... completely absorbing'Daily Mail'A gripping novel exploring the tensions in an apparently idyllic marriage' Financial Times 'A must-read'Sydney Morning Herald'Devotion thrilled me, made me think and moved me deeply... Irresistible'Jonathan Safran FoerCarlo, a part-time professor of creative writing, and Margherita, an architect-turned-real estate-agent: a happily married couple in their mid-thirties, perfectly attuned to each other's restlessness. They are in love, but they also harbour desires that stray beyond the confines of their bedroom: Carlo longs for the quiet beauty of one of his students, Sofia; Margherita fantasises about the strong hands of her physiotherapist, Andrea.But it is love, with its unassuming power, which ultimately pulls them from the brink, aided by Margherita's mother Anna, the couple's anchor and lighthouse - a wise, proud seamstress hiding her own disappointments.But after eight years of repressed desires and the birth of a son, when the past resurfaces in the form of books sent anonymously, will love be enough to save them? A no. 1 international bestsellerWinner of the Premio Strega GiovaniShortlisted for the Premio Strega'Powerful, delicate, exquisite' Claudio Magris 'Masterful... The ending is just as good as that of Joyce's The Dead' Corriere della Sera'You'll feel like taking refuge in this book and never leaving its confines' La Stampa'With all-encompassing writing, Marco Missiroli opens the rooms of his characters and the streets of Milan, the thoughts and the concealed desires, makes dialogue and silences reverberate with the spontaneity of great narrators' Il FoglioThe Journeys of Socrates
By Dan Millman. 2005
The Way Begins . . . Sergei was three when the soldiers took him. At fifteen he fled into the…
wilderness, with nothing to cling to but the memories of a grandfather who called him Socrates and the promise of a gift buried near St. Petersburg. Thus begins The Journeys of Socrates -- an odyssey that forged the character of Sergei Ivanov, whose story would one day change the lives of millions of readers worldwide. This saga of courage and faith, of love and loss, reveals the arts of war and the path to peace. Ultimately, it speaks to the quest we all share for a meaningful life in a challenging world.