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Things Shouldn't Be So Hard
by Beth GarrabrantA collection of photos examining all the profundity and sameness of youth by the acclaimed photographer best known for her work with Taylor Swift.Through her work with Taylor Swift—shooting the covers and promotional photos for her last several albums—photographer Beth Garrabrant has created imagery beloved by millions. Apart from her work with Swift, Garrabrant has spent the past two decades devoted to an ambitious project: documenting young people around the country. At their schools and churches, in their kitchens and bedrooms, at their proms and sporting events and part-time jobs, at amusement parks and in the backseats of cars where they spend so much of their idle time. In Things Shouldn&’t Be So Hard, the first collection of her work, Garrabrant movingly captures what it&’s like to be not yet an adult in America: specifically the contradictory and often simultaneous states of camaraderie and isolation, confidence and insecurity, love and heartbreak, hope and despair. Featuring an introduction by lauded filmmaker Kelly Reichardt—who likens Garrabrant to modern masters such as William Eggleston and Robert Adams—this gorgeously designed four-color book showcases one of the most talented and soulful visual artists working today.
The I Love Trader Joe's® Cocktail Book: 52 Drink Recipes for Every Occasion Using Ingredients from the World's Greatest Grocery Store (Unofficial Trader Joe's Cookbooks)
by Greg McBoatDiscover cocktail-making techniques, learn to balance sweet, sour, bitter, and savory flavors, and master the art of mixology with these 52 step-by-step seasonal cocktail recipes featuring unique Trader Joe&’s® products.Trader Joe's is all about bringing flavors from across the world into your kitchen with ease and fun. And what better way to up your mixology game than by using some of the most amazing Trader Joe's products to make unique and creative cocktails? Welcome to The I Love Trader Joe&’s® Cocktail Book. This book features 52 classic cocktails and mocktails with unique seasonal trends. Spring cocktails focus on floral, herbal, and citrus flavors for light drinks. Summer cocktails highlight ripe fruit and icy ways to beat the heat. Fall cocktails are all about the harvest and warm spices infused in intense drinks. And finally, winter cocktails feature cozy flavors that keep you warm inside. Get ready to enjoy every season with drinks like: The Dirtiest Martini My Paloma Cookie Butter Old-Fashioned Warming Wassail Punch with Cloven Oranges And more! The I Love Trader Joe&’s® Cocktail Book is for budding mixologists who want to learn the fundamentals of craft cocktail making as well as experts who want to dive into the delicious flavors of Trader Joe&’s!
All My Bests
by Britnee MeiserIn the tradition of Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between, this smart and emotional romance told through playlists and memories follows two young teens struggling to hold onto each other as their friendship changes.Starting high school brings big changes for Immie and Jack, who&’ve been everything to each other ever since Jack crashed his skateboard into Immie&’s yard when they were seven years old. All of a sudden, a game-winning goal catapults Jack into star status with the soccer team, and Immie is meeting new girl friends whose questions are making her wonder about the identity of her father for the first time in her life. And amidst all of this, they&’re both realizing their feelings for each other might run deeper than they thought. Can their friendship—and the promise of something more—weather the storm that is growing up?
A Guide for Murdered Children
by Bruce Wagner"In her astonishing thriller, Sarah Sparrow has joined the ranks of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King. A warning: there is no safe place to read this book." –David Cronenberg Originally Published under the name Sarah Sparrow, Bruce Wagner's A Guide for Murdered Children is terrifying, thoroughly original, and hauntingly written. Ex-NYPD detective Willow Wylde is fresh out of rehab and finally able to find a job running a Cold Case squad in suburban Detroit. When the two rookie cops assigned to him take an obsessive interest in a decades-old disappearance of a brother and sister, Willow begins to suspect something out of the ordinary is afoot. He uncovers a series of church basement AA-type meetings made up of the slain innocents and a new way of looking at life, death, murder—and missed opportunities—is revealed to him. A Guide for Murdered Children is a genre-busting, mind-bending twist on the fine line between the ordinary . . . and the unfathomable.
Devil Take It
by Daniel Debs NossiterDevil Take It is a sharp, darkly comic satire set against the backdrop of Trump-era Washington, D.C. In this clever and timely moral fable, Satan arrives on the scene disguised as Dr. Grippin Fall, a psychiatrist with a peculiar diagnosis for Eustace Bogges, the editor of the Washington Oracle&’s letters page: mortality. As the Devil guides Bogges through a series of bizarre therapy sessions, he entices him with a doctrine of laughter and mirth inspired by the 16th-century writer François Rabelais. Meanwhile, Bogges, under a pseudonym, pens a letter to his own page suggesting that society would be better off if everyone simply minded their own business. To his surprise, the slogan seizes the imagination of all of Washington&’s inhabitants, with even Trump jumping on board—for his own selfish ends. The result is an absurd spiral of civil unrest that momentarily brings history to a halt. With biting wit and resonant themes, Devil Take It skewers the political and social landscape in a way that is reminiscent of the great masters of satire from Mark Twain to Mihkail Bulgakov and John Kennedy Toole.
I'll Let You Go
by Bruce WagnerTwelve-year-old Toulouse &“Tull&” Trotter lives with his grandfather on a vast Bel-Air parkland estate and spends most of his time with young cousins Lucy, &“the girl detective,&” and Edward, a prodigy who was born disfigured by the effects of Apert Syndrome. One day, an impulsive revelation by Lucy sets in motion a chain of events that changes Tull—and the Trotter family—forever.I&’ll Let You Go, the third novel of Bruce Wagner, is a Angelino Bleak House that follows a young boy as he searches for his lost father, his beautiful, drug-addicted mother, Katrina, who is still coming down from the disappearance of her husband, and their family&’s connection to a street orphan and a homeless schizophrenic. A masterful, modern-day family saga about the valleys between wealth and poverty and reality and fantasy.
The Siren
by Katherine St. JohnA Good Morning America featured thriller, 2021 People magazine "Best Books of Summer" winner and a Good Housekeeping "Best Beach Read to Add to Your Summer Reading List"From Katherine St. John, author of The Lion's Den, comes a "reading experience that&’s as layered and decadent as a slice of tiramisu" about a Hollywood heartthrob, his co-star ex-wife, and a film set on an isolated island that will unearth long-buried secrets—and unravel years of lies (Emily Henry, NYT bestselling author of People We Meet on Vacation, New York Times Book Review).In the midst of a sizzling hot summer, some of Hollywood's most notorious faces are assembled on the idyllic Caribbean island of St. Genesius to film The Siren, starring dangerously handsome megastar Cole Power playing opposite his ex-wife, Stella Rivers. The surefire blockbuster promises to entice audiences with its sultry storyline and intimately connected cast.Three very different women arrive on set, each with her own motive. Stella, an infamously unstable actress, is struggling to reclaim the career she lost in the wake of multiple, very public breakdowns. Taylor, a fledgling producer, is anxious to work on a film she hopes will turn her career around after her last job ended in scandal. And Felicity, Stella's mysterious new assistant, harbors designs of her own that threaten to upend everyone's plans.With a hurricane brewing offshore, each woman finds herself trapped on the island, united against a common enemy. But as deceptions come to light, misplaced trust may prove more perilous than the storm itself.Includes a Reading Group Guide.
The Food Forward Garden: A Complete Guide to Designing and Growing Edible Landscapes
by Christian DouglasDiscover a high-style approach to vegetable gardening from award-winning landscape designer Christian Douglas. What if, instead of relegating our vegetable patch to a remote corner of the backyard, we brought it forward? What if we integrated edibles into our decorative landscapes, letting vegetables, herbs, fruits, and berries share prime real estate alongside our patios, pools, even our front walkways? Equal parts inspiration and instruction, and filled with an abundance of ideas and information, The Food Forward Garden is a lushly illustrated guide to how we can make better use of our outdoor spaces without sacrificing style. In this comprehensive manual, award-winning landscape designer Christian Douglas shows us how the intrinsic beauty and seasonal rhythms of edibles bring a new level of purpose, meaning, and stunning visual pleasure to the home garden.
Games Untold (The Inheritance Games)
by Jennifer Lynn BarnesOVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THE #1 BESTSELLING SERIES!Romance, luxury, and secrets abound in this thrilling new collection that takes readers deeper into the world of the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games series There is nothing frivolous about the way a Hawthorne man loves. An amnesiac playboy and the woman with every reason to hate him. A daredevil, his favorite heiress, and three nights in Prague. An unlikely pairing between a cowboy and a goth. Four brothers with an inescapable bond, strengthened by the family they chose, in a house of wonders that promises to always deliver one more secret. Discover their stories of love and loss, power, puzzles, and life-and-death secrets in this mind-blowingly romantic collection that proves that when you love the way Hawthornes love, there is no going back. This collection includes: That Night in Prague (novella) The Same Backward as Forward (novella) The Cowboy and the Goth Five Times Xander Tackled Someone (and One Time He Didn&’t) $3CR3T $@NT@ One Hawthorne Night* What Happens in the Treehouse* Pain at the Right Gun *previously published in limited release
I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying: A Memoir
by Youngmi MayerSan Francisco Chronicle's Best New Books of Fall 2024 From standup comedian Youngmi Mayer, an unforgettable memoir written with &“raw, enviable freedom that simply floors you,&” interrogating whiteness, gender, and sexuality in America, navigating a tumultuous childhood in Korea and Saipan, and coming to terms with her parents&’ shortcomings (Michelle Zauner).&“Do you know what happens if you laugh while crying? Hair grows out of your butthole.&” It was a constant truism Youngmi Mayer&’s mother would say threateningly after she would make her daughter laugh while crying. Her mother used it to cheer her up in moments when she could tell Youngmi was overtaken with grief. The humorous saying would never fail to lighten the mood, causing both daughter and mother to laugh and cry at the same time. Her mother had learned this trick from her mother, and her mother had learned this from her mother before her: it had also helped an endless string of her family laugh through suffering. In I&’m Laughing Because I&’m Crying, Youngmi jokes through the retelling of her childhood as an offbeat biracial kid in Saipan, a place next to a place that Americans might know. She jokes through her difficult adolescence where she must parent her own parents: a mother who married her husband because he looked like white Jesus (and the singer of The Bee Gees). And with humor and irreverence and full-throated openness, she jokes even while sharing the story of what her family went through during the last century of colonialism and war in Korea, while reflecting how years later, their wounds affect her in New York City as a single mom, all the while interrogating whiteness, gender, and sexuality. Youngmi jokes through these stories in hopes of passing onto the reader what her family passed down to her: The gift of laughing while crying. The gift of a hairy butthole. Because throughout it all, the one thing she learned was one cannot exist without the other. And like a yin and yang, this duality is reflected in this whip-smart, heart-wrenching, and disarmingly funny memoir told by a bright new voice with so much heart and wisdom.
Like Cats & Dogs (Pine Hollow)
by Lizzie ShaneA small-town baker faces off against her longtime nemesis on a reality TV competition in this delightful romantic comedy. Magda Miller&’s feud with rival baker Mackenzie Newton is so old, folks in tiny Pine Hollow, Vermont forgot how it started. But Magda remembers: Ten years ago, she offered Mac her heart—instead, he ran off with her grandmother's maple cake recipe. Now, Mac traipses all over Magda&’s baking territory, just like his oversized tabby keeps sneaking into her house to claim her dog&’s favorite bed. So, when Magda gets the call to compete on The Great American Cake-Off, she&’s thrilled to finally shine in a Mac-free zone. But when she arrives on set, her devilishly handsome nemesis is already there . . . It turns out, Mac and Magda&’s story has inspired the first ever Arch Rivals edition of Cake-Off, and of course Mac has to raise the stakes with a wager. The winner takes all—the Cake-Off title, the contested recipe, and control of the narrative. Magda is more than ready to kick Mac&’s Bundt. But as they spar, on-screen and off, Mac and Magda reveal the best in each other...and the sizzling attraction fueling their rivalry. Only one of them can win, so why does it suddenly feel like they both stand to lose?
The Lotus Empire (The Burning Kingdoms #3)
by Tasha SuriThis sweeping epic fantasy brings the acclaimed Burning Kingdoms trilogy to a heart–stopping close, as an ancient magic returns to Ahiranya and threatens its very foundations, Empress Malini and priestess Priya will stop at nothing to save their kingdoms—even if it means they must destroy each other. Malini has claimed her rightful throne as the empress of Parijatdvipa, just as the nameless gods prophesied. Now, in order to gain the support of the priesthood who remain loyal to the fallen emperor, she must consider a terrible bargain: Claim her throne and burn in order to seal her legacy—or find another willing to take her place on the pyre. Priya has survived the deathless waters and now their magic runs in her veins. But a mysterious yaksa with flowering eyes and a mouth of thorns lies beneath the waters. The yaksa promises protection for Ahiranya. But in exchange, she needs a sacrifice. And she's chosen Priya as the one to offer it. Two women once entwined by fate now stand against each other. But when an ancient enemy rises to threaten their world, Priya and Malini will find themselves fighting together once more – to prevent their kingdoms, and their futures, from burning to ash.★ "Suri brings her Burning Kingdoms trilogy to a breathtaking crescendo in this epic grand finale. This sends the series out on a high note." –Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) ★ "[The] delectable conclusion to a landmark epic-fantasy series that touches on faith, leadership, politics, friendship and found family, grief and recovery, sacrifice, the roles of women, colonialism, and love.&” –Booklist (Starred Review)
Philosophical Perspectives on Esotericism: From the 19th Century to the Present (Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Religion)
by Pitkänen, Edited by OlliThis volume offers the first systematic philosophical study of esotericism and late modern philosophy. It addresses fundamental philosophical questions related to esotericism and reveals that esoteric ideas have had decisive impact on countless important philosophers, even if this fact has been neglected in contemporary philosophy.The first part of the book is dedicated to substantial and methodological questions. What is philosophy, what is esotericism, and how should we think about their relationship? The second section is more historically oriented, and it is divided in two parts. Part I is concerned with German romanticism and idealism, with a specific focus on the influence of esotericism on Hegel and Schelling, as well as the connection between romanticism and Kabbalah in the work of Gershom Scholem. Part II explores esotericism in phenomenology, pragmatism, and post-idealism, specifically in the work of William James, Martin Heidegger, Henri Bergson, and Roy Bhaskar.Philosophical Perspectives on Esotericism will appeal to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of religion, history of philosophy, and religious studies.
Curriculum Innovation in East Asian Schools: Contexts, Innovations and Impacts (Routledge Series on Schools and Schooling in Asia)
by Huixuan XuFollowing closely behind the global pandemic’s recent forced challenges to schools and teachers, Xu gives an overview of how educational researchers and schools in Asia respond to challenges in times of change.Her research focuses on how they adjust or change curriculum policy and practice to find a balance between developing innovation in response to fast-changing societal needs and maintaining the existing education systems that traditionally predict success for students. In this book, curriculum innovation is documented in three themes: 21st-century skills and competency-based curriculum, technology-supported curriculum and equity in curriculum. Xu includes three types of chapters: (1) case studies that provide detailed analyses of curriculum innovation at the school or country level, (2) conceptual analyses that deepen our understanding of curriculum issues using a new lens and (3) literature reviews that provide an overview of research in particular topics.The volume will be of great interest to researchers and educators interested in the role of curriculum innovation in times of change. In particular, it focuses on the ways innovative curriculum provides opportunities for individual students to maximize their potential while also acknowledging the constraints of local education systems.
World Yearbook of Education 2025: The Teaching Profession in a Globalizing World: Governance, Career, Learning (World Yearbook of Education)
by Xavier Dumay Tore Bernt Sorensen Lynn PaineThe World Yearbook of Education 2025 analyzes teacher policies and the governance of the teaching profession in the contemporary context of major societal changes and globalizing processes.The first volume dedicated to an overview of globalized teacher policies and their implications for the status of the teaching profession across the world, this book reflects the ambition to advance the debate on the challenges and opportunities associated with the teaching profession. It recognizes that teacher policy is situated at the crossroads of three logics that have changed and become more complex due to globalization processes since the 1970s: the logic of teacher policy regulation has shifted from state-centric government toward pluriscalar global governance; the logic of employment relations has shifted to a flexibility paradigm; the logic of teacher education has shifted from the transmission of knowledge in teacher education to teachers’ lifelong learning. In line with the objective to analyze the governance of the teaching profession in the contemporary context of major societal changes and globalizing processes, this book is organized into three parts, focusing on: teacher policies as global governance and public policy; teacher labor markets, employment relations, and careers and the institutional transformations in the world of work and employment; and the reconfiguration of teachers’ work and the learning of teachers Its contributors use different methodological approaches to draw on a range of case studies and analyses of national, regional, and global patterns. A timely and important contribution to discussions of the future of the teaching profession across the world, the World Yearbook of Education 2025 is ideal reading for policymakers, the professional teaching community, researchers, graduate students, and anyone interested in education policy-related areas such as public policy, comparative education, and sociology of education.
Empowering Digital Education with ChatGPT: From Theoretical to Practical Applications
by Mohamed LahbyRecently, there has been a significant increase in the development and interest in applying generative AI across various domains, including education. The emergence of large language models (LLMs), such as the ChatGPT tool, fueled by advancements in generative AI, is profoundly reshaping education. The use of the ChatGPT tool offers personalized support, improves accessibility, and introduces innovative methods for students and educators to engage with information and learning materials. Furthermore, ChatGPT facilitates a wide range of language learning services, including language instruction, speech recognition, pronunciation feedback, and immersive virtual simulations for hands-on learning experiences.This book explores the transformative potential of the ChatGPT tool within education, shedding light on the opportunities that arise through the integration of the ChatGPT tool into various aspects of the learning process. It serves as a platform for the community to share cutting-edge research ideas concerning the use of the ChatGPT tool in digital education. Readers will discover how the ChatGPT tool can enhance student engagement, foster personalized learning experiences, facilitate intelligent tutoring systems, support virtual classroom interactions, and revolutionize assessment and feedback mechanisms.
The Fragility of Merit: Presidential Power and the Civil Service Under Trump
by J. Edward KelloughWhile the operation and structure of the public workforce is not a matter that is on the minds of most, the consequences for the nature and effectiveness of government are substantial. The Fragility of Merit provides a detailed examination of the importance of a professionally competent and politically neutral public service.Illustrating the fundamental fragility of the federal civil service in the United States and the underlying concept of merit in public employment, J. Edward Kellough demonstrates how a particular view of presidential power grounded in unitary executive theory was used during Donald J. Trump’s term in office. Specifically, he reviews various efforts to subordinate the public workforce to presidential authority and explains how those actions threatened to undermine bureaucratic expertise that is desperately needed in government.The Fragility of Merit makes a persuasive case for protecting the civil service and for rebuilding a national consensus in favor of merit in public employment. It will benefit researchers, academics, students, and others with an interest in public administration, public personnel management, government, and bureaucracy.
A Queen's Game
by Katharine McGeeThe New York Times bestselling author of the American Royals series invites you to visit 19th-century Europe amid the glamour and intrigue of the Victorian era. In this historical romance inspired by true events, three princesses struggle to find love—and end up vying for the hearts of two future kings.In the last glittering decade of European empires, courts, and kings, three young women are on a collision course with history—and with each other. Alix of Hesse is Queen Victoria&’s favorite granddaughter, so she can expect to end up with a prince . . . except that the prince she&’s falling for is not the one she&’s supposed to marry.Hélène d&’Orléans, daughter of the exiled King of France, doesn&’t mind being a former princess; it gives her more opportunity to break the rules. Like running around with the handsome, charming, and very much off-limits heir to the British throne, Prince Eddy.Then there&’s May of Teck. After spending her entire life on the fringes of the royal world, May is determined to marry a prince—and not just any prince, but the future king.In a story that sweeps from the glittering ballrooms of Saint Petersburg to the wilds of Scotland, A Queen&’s Game recounts a pivotal moment in real history as only Katharine McGee can tell it: through the eyes of the young women whose lives, and loves, changed it forever.
Carl Sandburg: Selected Poems
by Carl SandburgA fresh look at the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet laureate of the American MidwestWith the publication of Chicago Poems in 1916, Carl Sandburg became one of the most famous poets in America: the voice of a Midwestern literary revolt, fusing free-verse poetics with hard-edged journalistic observation and energetic, sometimes raucous protest. By the time his first book appeared, Sandburg had been many things—a farm hand, a soldier in the Spanish-American War, an active Socialist, a newspaper reporter and movie reviewer—and he was determined to write poetry that would explode the genteel conventions of contemporary verse. His poems are populated by factory workers, washerwomen, crooked politicians, hobos, vaudeville dancers, and battle-scarred radicals. Writing from the bottom up, bringing to his poetry the immediacy of America&’s streets and prairies, factories and jails, Sandburg forged a distinctive style at once lyrical and vernacular, by turns angry, gritty, funny, and tender.
Time Will Tell: A Novel
by Rita Mae BrownAn eye-wateringly expensive watch is found discarded on the land days prior to a dead body turning up. &“Sister&” Jane Arnold sets out to find the connection between the two, with a little help from her friend—both two legged and four—in this transportive mystery from New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown.&“Cunning foxes, sensible hounds, and sweet-tempered horses are among the sparkling conversationalists in this charming series.&”—The New York Times Book ReviewBetween organizing a joint session with her friends at Bull Run Hunt, leading her own Jefferson Hunt Club&’s fox hunting season, and looking after her beloved hounds and horses, &“Sister&” Jane Arnold is as busy as can be. She and her friend Tootie Harris are helping to lure home hunt club member Cindy Chandler&’s two escaped cows, Clytemnestra and Orestes, when they discover an expensive watch carelessly abandoned on an overgrown path. The last thing Sister needs is another mystery to solve, but when one falls into her lap, she can&’t help but get involved.Days later, a young man is murdered, one with seemingly no connection to the pricey jewelry or a life of crime. His mother is distraught, and Sister vows to find the murderer. But when hounds on the hunt discover a truck covered in blood – with no body in sight – she quickly realizes she&’s in over her head with a cunning and clever adversary. Can she find the link and stop the murderer before they strike again? Only time will tell.
Dinosaurs! (Third Edition)
by Gail GibbonsA new & updated primer on everything dinosaurs, from #1 science writer for kids Gail Gibbons.A giant meteor blasts an enormous crater into Earth's surface, causing the end of what scientists call the Age of Dinosaurs. Gail Gibbons presents the most recent and up-to-date theories about the history of dinosaurs and dinosaur discoveries. She discusses the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods and the dinosaurs that lived during each time.In this new and updated edition, each dinosaur is explored in just the right amount of detail for young paleontologists, as this book brings these magnificent creatures to life again. Gail Gibbons's books have won many honors, including the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award and the NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book awards.Don&’t miss Gail Gibbon&’s follow-up packed with even more dinosaur facts, Dinosaur Discoveries.
Revolution by Fire: New York's Afro-Irish Uprising of 1741, a Graphic Novel
by David Lester Marcus RedikerBased on the little known real life "Slave Insurrection" of 1741, this book imagines outlaw fugitive John Gwin and an eclectic crew of renegades as they attempt to disrupt and overthrow the colonial social orderRebel fugitive John Gwin was previously introduced in Under the Banner of King Death and this graphic novel continues his adventures. Revolution by Fire is a hypothetical look at the inner workings of the so called &“New York Conspiracy&” or "Slave Rebellion" of 1741, following the figures who were considered the real-life masterminds of the plot.Featuring an eclectic crew of African-American, Irish, and mixed race Hispanic sailors, soldiers, and renegades, Gwin and his band are determined to capture New York City in their own names and fight the higher class &“wigs and ruffles&” wearing white people. Unfortunately for the conspirators, suspicions about an uprising were already in the minds of the Governor and his fellow elites, and the events that followed change the course of everyone&’s lives forever.Based on the chapter titled &“Outcasts of the Nations of the Earth&” in Rediker&’s and Peter Linebaugh&’s The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic, the book provides a fly-on-the-wall view of a historical event reimagined, highlighting cooperation among races and classes that transcends the social order of its time—and inspire us today.
The Five Ranks of Zen: Tozan's Path of Being, Nonbeing, and Compassion
by Gerry Shishin WickA comprehensive and accessible guide to the Five Ranks, the pinnacle teaching of Zen Buddhism pointing to the path to true freedom.The great Japanese Zen master Hakuin exclaimed, &“How priceless is the merit gained through the step-by-step practice of the Five Ranks of Master Tozan!&” Hakuin here refers to a teaching created by the Chinese Buddhist master Dongshan, known in Japanese as Zen Master Tozan, which is honored and studied in both Soto and Rinzai schools of Zen and is a gem of the classical Zen tradition. The ranks—pithy, provocative titles followed by Tozan&’s brief poetic commentaries—serve as guides to a radical exploration of the experience of relative and absolute reality, the interpenetrating &“Two Truths&” of Mahayana Buddhism.In The Five Ranks of Zen, American Zen teacher Shishin Wick offers an accessible entry point to each of the ranks, which Tozan created in two formulations: the first and better-known is the Five Ranks of the Relative and the Absolute; while the second set, called the Sequence of Merit, is an abbreviated form of the Ten Oxherding Pictures, a traditional formulation of the Zen spiritual journey. Wick presents multiple translations and offers commentary on the ranks&’ titles and on Tozan&’s renowned verses, as well as offering guidance on these teachings&’ application in contemporary life and Zen practice. He emphasizes that, to truly plumb the depths of Tozan&’s teachings, you must treat these teachings as Zen koans and make a thorough investigation using your entire body.
I'll Be Home for Mischief (A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery #5)
by Jacqueline FrostInnkeeper Holly White is decking the halls this Christmas season, but someone is on the naughty list when a body is discovered in the fifth installment in the Christmas Tree Farm mystery series from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost. It&’s Christmastime in Mistletoe, Maine, and the Historical Society has launched a widespread campaign to celebrate the town&’s 150th anniversary. Descendants of the founding family, the Snows, have returned for the first time, and Holly is determined to make the family&’s visit magical. In an attempt to put Mistletoe on the map, Holly&’s mother, a respected local baker, attempts to break a record by baking the world&’s largest gingerbread man, but her plans are whisked away when Mr. Snow&’s body ends up in the batter. When Mr. Moore, the local mistletoe farmer, is accused of the crime, Holly reprises her role as amateur sleuth to protect the sweet older man. Between hosting the inconsolable Mrs. Snow and other guests at the inn, receiving threatening messages telling her to stop her investigation, and preparing for her first wedding anniversary with Sheriff Evan Gray, she might need a Christmas miracle to survive.When someone breaks into Holly&’s office and scratches a warning into her desk, she knows she has little time left. Can Holly uncover the killer before someone else gets burned, or is her involvement a recipe for trouble?
Burn this Night: A Mystery
by Alex KennaTold in alternating timelines, this gripping mystery about a PI and her quest for answers is full of twists and turns, perfect for fans of Allison Brennan and Gytha Lodge. Struggling private investigator Kate Myles is shattered to learn her late father isn&’t her biological dad. She&’s still reeling when she discovers that an unknown distant relative is the prime suspect in a decades-old murder investigation. Trying to convince her to take on the case for free, an old colleague recommends her as an investigator for a recent arson murder in the same small town.After giving up on a failed acting career, Abby Coburn is starting over as a promising social work student. With her life on the right track, she&’s determined to help her brother, Jacob, whose meth addiction triggered a psychotic break and descent into crime. But when Abby dies in a fire that kills two other people and destroys part of the town, the police immediately suspect Jacob. As the Coburn family grapples with the tragedy, Kate begins unraveling the cold case but finds herself caught in the middle of an emotional minefield. Pretty soon, she discovers that this town is full of dark secrets, and as she comes closer and closer to figuring out the truth, Kate must solve both murders before she becomes the next victim.