Through this original and insightful anthology of mystical poems we gain glimpses of the spiritual path from poets both famous and forgotten.  

The range of themes is wide and varied. Some poems seek to understand the origin and nature of the universe; others hunger for a closer relationship to God, or express the rapture of experiencing such a relationship; some glimpse a higher order of reality behind daily existence; some yearn for spiritual transformation; still others are filled with wonder, at the discovery of a luminous presence, within the most humble of worldly objects.  Whatever path your journey may take, Poetry for the Spirit will open your mind and touch your heart. 

Spanning 4,000 years of world literature, this expansive anthology gathers 600 poems by more than 250 poets. In addition to hundreds of masterworks in English, there are verses translated from Sanskrit, Egyptian, Hindi, Persian, Hebrew, Chinese, and Homeric Greek, including selections from the great epics and meditations, such as the Rig Veda , Bhagavad Gita , Upanishads , and Tao Te Ching . The writers represented here range from ancient and medieval greats (Homer, Lu Yun, Dante, Rumi, Judah Halevi) to the metaphysical poets, including Donne; from the mystics and religious poets (Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, Hopkins) to more secular visionaries (Blake, Shelley, Whitman, Dickinson, Yeats, Rilke, Stevens, and Ginsberg). The range of themes is equally wide, so whatever path your journey may take, Poetry for the Spirit will open your mind and touch your heart.

New, unread hardcover book listed in like new condition due to staining on the top outer pages (see last picture) that do not affect inside pages. No moisture smell/basement smell!

Oversized Hardcover (4 to 6 lbs)

Maryland

An Original Anthology of Insightful Poems

Poetry for the Spirit

#fiction #hardcover #familyfiction #instagramfave #tragedy #culture #Gowda    From the international bestselling author of Secret Daughter and The Golden Son comes a poignant, unforgettable novel about a family's growing apart and coming back together in the wake of tragedy.

“The Shape of Family is a novel about race and culture, parents and siblings, marriage and love, but most of all, it's about finding hope after darkness. Shilpi Somaya Gowda is a compassionate and wise storyteller who keeps us riveted from beginning to end.” -- Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Translation

The Olander family embodies the modern American Dream in a globalized world. Jaya, the cultured daughter of an Indian diplomat and Keith, an ambitious banker from middle-class Philadelphia, meet in a London pub in 1988 and make a life together in suburban California. Their strong marriage is built on shared beliefs and love for their two children: headstrong teenager Karina and young son Prem, the light of their home.

But love and prosperity cannot protect them from sudden, unspeakable tragedy, and the family’s foundation cracks as each member struggles to seek a way forward. Jaya finds solace in spirituality. Keith wagers on his high-powered career. Karina focuses relentlessly on her future and independence. And Prem watches helplessly as his once close-knit family drifts apart.

When Karina heads off to college for a fresh start, her search for identity and belonging leads her down a dark path, forcing her and her family to reckon with the past, the secrets they’ve held and the weight of their choices.

The Shape of Family is an intimate portrayal of four individuals as they grapple with what it means to be a family and how to move from a painful past into a hopeful future. It is a profoundly moving exploration of the ways we all seek belonging—in our families, our communities and ultimately, within ourselves.

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

New Jersey

a novel

The shape of family 

1342f1c5-33ea-444b-9fc3-e6d7144ae845-1

Bill O'Reilly

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Pennsylvania

Examines the cultural war in America between those who embrace traditional values and those who want to transform America into a "secular-progressive" nation, discussing such topics as the media, the War on Terror, religion, and self-interest.

Culture Warrior

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#Europe #vacation #travel #travelguide #history #art #culture

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

History and Art for the Traveler

Travel guru Rick Steves' unique guide to European culture is aimed at travellers who want to understand the history and art of Europe whilst enjoying the places they visit and engaging with the cultures they encounter on the way.

Rick Steves' Europe 101

1720d076-02a4-4675-8138-3daf3b52acab-1

Tennessee

Amanda Skenandore

Missouri

In this provocative and profoundly moving debut, set in the tragic intersection between white and Native American culture, a young girl learns about friendship, betrayal, and the sacrifices made in the name of belonging. On a quiet Philadelphia morning in 1906, a newspaper headline catapults Alma Mitchell back to her past. Told in compelling narratives that alternate between Alma's childhood and her present life, this novel is a haunting and complex story of love and loss, as a quest for justice becomes a journey toward understanding and, ultimately, atonement.

Between Earth and Sky

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Barbara Diamond Goldin

New York

A Jewish Girl's Coming of Age

A history and description of the bat mitzvah, the ceremony in which a Jewish girl marks her transition to adulthood.

Bat Mitzvah

673d4869-3942-4099-b52e-ae0f7a0c9aae-1

How Deviant Organisms Came to Define Us

We Are All Monsters 

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Jessica Grose

Michigan

The Unsustainability of American Motherhood

"In this timely and necessary book, New York Times opinion writer Jessica Grose dismantles two hundred years of unrealistic parenting expectations and empowers today's mothers to make choices that actually serve themselves, their children, and their communities"--

Screaming on the Inside

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Nick McDonell

On American Privilege

A bold and moving exploration of the American elite that exposes how the ruling class—even when well-intentioned—perpetuates cycles of wealth, power, and injustice Growing up on New York City’s Upper East Side, Nick McDonell was surrounded by luxury—sailing lessons in the Hamptons, school galas at the Met, and holidays on private jets. It was this rarified life that he explored in his early novels, but then left behind as a war correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Quiet Street, McDonell returns to the sidewalks of his youth, exhuming his own upbringing, and those of his wealthy peers, with bracing honesty. Through summer safaris and winter ski trips, ill-omened handshakes and schoolyard microaggressions, fox-hunting rituals and sexually precocious tweens, McDonell examines the ruling class in painstaking detail, documenting how wealth and power are hoarded, encoded, and passed down from one generation to the next. Crucially, he also demonstrates how outsiders—the poor, the non-white, the suburban—are kept in the dark. Searing and precise yet always deeply human, Quiet Street examines the problem of America’s one-percenters, whose vision of a more just world never materializes. Who are these people, how do they hold on to power, and what would it take for them to share it? Quiet Street pursues these questions through the highly personal, but universal, experience of growing up and coming to terms with the culture that made you.

Quiet Street

b8f2f0e9-e943-40be-9902-df5820feb673-1

Alabama

A Novel

The setting is China's Forbidden City in the last days of its imperial glory, a vast complex of palaces and gardens run by thousands of eunuchs and encircled by a wall in the center of Peking. In this highly ordered place -- tradition-bound, ruled by strict etiquette, rife with political and erotic tension -- the Emperor, "the Son of Heaven," performs two duties: he must rule the court and conceive an heir. To achieve the latter, tradition provides a stupendous hierarchy of hundreds of wives and concubines. It is as a minor concubine that the beautiful Tzu Hsi, known as Orchid as a girl, enters the Forbidden City at the age of seventeen.

It is not a good time to enter the city. The Ch'ing Dynasty in 1852 has lost its vitality, and the court has become an insular, xenophobic place. A few short decades earlier, China lost the Opium Wars, and it has done little since to strengthen its defenses or improve diplomatic ties. Instead, the inner circle has turned further inward, naively confident that its troubles are past and the glory of China will keep the "barbarians" -- the outsiders -- at bay.

Within the walls of the Forbidden City the consequences of a misstep are deadly. As one of hundreds of women vying for the attention of the Emperor, Orchid soon discovers that she must take matters into her own hands. After training herself in the art of pleasing a man, she bribes her way into the royal bedchamber and seduces the monarch. A grand love affair ensues; the Emperor is a troubled man, but their love is passionate and genuine. Orchid has the great good fortune to bear him a son. Elevated to the rank of Empress, she still must struggle to maintain her position and the right to raise her own child. With the death of the Emperor comes a palace coup that ultimately thrusts Orchid into power, although only as regent until her son's maturity. Now she must rule China as its walls tumble around her, and she alone seems capable of holding the country together.

This is an epic story firmly in the mold of Anchee Min's Becoming Madame Mao. Like that best-selling historical novel, the heroine of Empress Orchid comes down to us with a diabolical reputation -- a woman who seized power through sexual seduction, murder, and endless intrigue. But reality tells a different story. Based on copious research, this is a vivid portrait of a flawed yet utterly compelling woman who survived in a male world, a woman whose main struggle was not to hold on topower but to her own humanity. Richly detailed and completely gripping, Empress Orchid is a novel of high drama and lyricism and the first volume of a trilogy about the life of one of the most important women in history.

Empress Orchid

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These 250 superb Southern Italian recipes, some old, some rediscovered, are all liberally spiced with reflections on the author's own Italian background and with wonderful food memories of immigrants from Naples to Sicily who settled in the Northeast. 100 photographs and illustrations 

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

An American Heritage of Southern Italian Cooking 

We Called It Macaroni

3eb737bd-7274-4be5-8de5-7a0499d2dbd0-0

Jack Guinness

South Carolina

Essays

An O, The Oprah Magazine LGBTQ Book Changing the Literary Landscape A gorgeously illustrated collection of essays written by today's queer heroes--featuring contributions from Elton John, Tan France, Gus Kenworthy, Paris Lees, Russell Tovey, Munroe Bergdorf, and many others. The Queer Bible is a celebration of LGBTQ+ history and culture, edited by model, performer, and GQ contributing editor Jack Guinness. Our queer heroes write about theirs. In 2016, model and queer activist Jack Guinness decided that the LGBTQ+ community desperately needed to be reminded of its long and glorious history of stardom--and he was spurred to action. The following year, QueerBible.com was born, an online community devoted to celebrating queer heroes, both past and present. "So much queer history is hidden or erased," says Guinness. "The Queer Bible is a home for all those personal stories and histories." In this book, contemporary queer heroes pay homage to those who helped pave their paths. Contributors include Vogue columnist Paris Lees (writing on Edward Enninful), singer and songwriter Elton John (writing on Divine), comedian Mae Martin (writing on Tim Curry), author Joseph Cassara (writing on Pedro Almodóvar), and many others, honoring timeless queer icons such as Susan Sontag, David Bowie, Sylvester, RuPaul, and George Michael through illuminating essays paired with stunning illustrations. The Queer Bible is a powerful and intimate essay collection of gratitude, and an essential, enduring love letter to the queer community. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Now we praise their names.

The Queer Bible

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Russell Kick

100 Things You're Not Supposed to Know

592a731a-7f34-4af8-acaa-d01c9243c805-1

David Jeremiah

Louisiana

How Tomorrow's Prophecies Foreshadow Today's Problems

Today's headlines shout of modern plagues, social tensions, economic crises, and rampant depression. Many are asking, what day is it on God's prophetic calendar? Trusted Bible teacher and Pastor, Dr. David Jeremiah opens up the Word of God to reveal what it has to say about the days we are living in. Sharing how prophecies and wisdom from centuries ago still speak the truth today and point the way forward for tomorrow. Whether one is new to biblical prophecy or a longtime student of the Bible, this timely message will encourage and recalibrate us to the mission of God in our daily lives. Journey with Dr. Jeremiah back to the Bible to find out, Where Do We Go from Here?

Where Do We Go from Here?

e8f63d19-435b-4985-a1d0-50cf2e30158d-1

North Carolina

Colorado

A Geographic Interpretation

Discovering the African past takes one on a journey back to the origins of humanity over four million years ago, which is where James L. Newman begins his account of the continent's peoples. He ends it at the onset of the colonial era in the late nineteenth century, noting that "Africa and Africans deserve to be known on their own terms, and to achieve this goal we need to improve our understanding of what took place before colonialism rewrote many of life's rules."

African identities constitute one of Newman's main themes, and thus he discusses the roles played by genetic background, language, occupation, and religion. Population distribution is the other main theme running through the book. As a geographer, the author uses regions, spaces, and places as his filters for viewing how Africans have responded through time to differing natural and human environmental circumstances. Drawing on the fields of biology, archaeology, linguistics, history, anthropology, and demography, as well as geography, Newman describes the richness and diversity of Africa's inhabitants, the technological changes that transformed their lives, how they formed polities from small groups of kin to states and empires, and how they were influenced by external forces, particularly the slave trade. Maps are an important part of the book, conveying information and helping readers interrelate local, regional, continental, and global contexts.


The Peopling of Africa

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Never read advance reading copy. Shows light signs of shelf wear on cover. #paperback #fiction #greece #affair #culture #drama #family 

“This rollicking book has it all: sex, lies, and scenery. Grant Ginder weaves a wonderful, engrossing multi-generational family story, with the Greek isles as a backdrop so beautiful that the reader will want to dive in.” — Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of The Vacationers and Modern Lovers An irresistible, deftly observed novel about family, regret, and vacation by the author of The People We Hate at the Wedding The Wright family is in ruins. Sue Ellen Wright has what she thinks is a close-to-perfect life. A terrific career as a Classics professor, a loving husband, and a son who is just about to safely leave the nest. But then disaster strikes. She learns that her husband is cheating, and that her son has made a complete mess of his life. So, when the opportunity to take her family to a Greek island for a month presents itself, she jumps at the chance. This sunlit Aegean paradise, with its mountains and beaches is, after all, where she first fell in love with both a man and with an ancient culture. Perhaps Sue Ellen’s past will provide the key to her and her family’s salvation. With his signature style of biting wit, hilarious characters, and deep emotion, Grant Ginder’s Honestly, We Meant Well is a funny, brilliant novel proving that with family, drama always comes with comedy.

Honestly, We Meant Well

2d24b0b8-e383-4b33-a997-23f68efef59b-1

The Mercurial Life of a Legendary Writer and Editor 

In Search of Willie Morris

Suzanne Chazin

The Fragile Edge

cd89e22c-b42b-4996-bd2b-97a8801629bf-0

#hardcover #culture #indonesian #politics #anthropology #ethnography
Like new

Illinois

Music, Myth, and Cultural Politics at an Indonesian Festival

The spectacular Lingsar festival is held annually at a village templecomplex built above the most abundant water springs on the island ofLombok, near Bali. Participants come to the festival not only for theefficacy of its rites but also for its spiritual, social, and musicalexperience. A nexus of religious, political, artistic, and agrarianinterests, the festival also serves to harmonize relations betweenindigenous Sasak Muslims and migrant Balinese Hindus.

Bridges to the Ancestors

7c5c3804-31aa-4d68-bc77-eedef152cbf9-1

Zeba Blay

A Celebration of Black Women in Popular Culture

One of Kirkus Review's Best Books About Being Black in America

"Powerful... Calling for Black women (in and out of the public eye) to be treated with empathy, Blay's pivotal work will engage all readers, especially fans of Mikki Kendall's Hood Feminism." --Kirkus (Starred)

An empowering and celebratory portrait of Black women--from Josephine Baker to Aunt Viv to Cardi B.

In 2013, film and culture critic Zeba Blay was one of the first people to coin the viral term #carefreeblackgirls on Twitter. As she says, it was "a way to carve out a space of celebration and freedom for Black women online."

In this collection of essays, Carefree Black Girls, Blay expands on this initial idea by delving into the work and lasting achievements of influential Black women in American culture--writers, artists, actresses, dancers, hip-hop stars--whose contributions often come in the face of bigotry, misogyny, and stereotypes. Blay celebrates the strength and fortitude of these Black women, while also examining the many stereotypes and rigid identities that have clung to them. In writing that is both luminous and sharp, expansive and intimate, Blay seeks a path forward to a culture and society in which Black women and their art are appreciated and celebrated.

Carefree Black Girls

cc2f84da-3fb9-4e81-a2ca-d628456c84a6-1

clean no highlighting Four generations of Japanese-American women living in San Francisco 

Four generations of Japanese American women makenbsp;nbsp;their home in a large house in San Francisco,nbsp;nbsp;united by the obligations of family and tradition and,nbsp;nbsp;perhaps, by love. In alternating chapters, thenbsp;nbsp;four women--Reiko, Rio, Tomoe, and Nomi Hito--speaknbsp;nbsp;with unflinching honesty about their lives, thenbsp;nbsp;secrets that have separated mother and daughter, andnbsp;nbsp;the fierce ties of intimacy that form annbsp;nbsp;inextricable bridge between them.With the touch and powernbsp;nbsp;of a master storyteller, Julie Shigekuni gracefullynbsp;nbsp;interweaves four distinctive voices to shape anbsp;nbsp;moving story of love and the courage it requires. Innbsp;nbsp;baring the heart of one family, she illuminatesnbsp;nbsp;the truths about families, real and imagined, we allnbsp;nbsp;create.

A Bridge Between Us

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Florida

Hopscotch Around the World

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Edited by Alan Jacobs

Poetry for the Spirit

Shilpi Somaya Gowda

The shape of family

Bill O'Reilly

Culture Warrior

Rick Steves; Gene Openshaw

Rick Steves' Europe 101

Bill O'Reilly

Culture Warrior

Amanda Skenandore

Between Earth and Sky

Barbara Diamond Goldin

Bat Mitzvah

Andrew Mangham

We Are All Monsters

Jessica Grose

Screaming on the Inside

Nick McDonell

Quiet Street

Anchee Min

Empress Orchid

Nancy Verde Barr

We Called It Macaroni

Jack Guinness

The Queer Bible

Russell Kick

100 Things You're Not Supposed to Know

David Jeremiah

Where Do We Go from Here?

David Jeremiah

Where Do We Go from Here?

James L. Newman

The Peopling of Africa

Grant Ginder

Honestly, We Meant Well

Larry L. King

In Search of Willie Morris

Suzanne Chazin

The Fragile Edge

David D. Harnish

Bridges to the Ancestors

Zeba Blay

Carefree Black Girls

Julie Shigekuni

A Bridge Between Us

Mary Lankford

Hopscotch Around the World