Martin is not married and has no children…or so he thought. However, Martins life changes forever – and continues to change in all manner of inexplicable ways. As the weeks go by, Martin comes to realise that he can no longer be sure of anything, anybody, or even his past life. Is he really losing his mind and going mad? Or are others now controlling his life and possibly manipulating his destiny?This is a story told through the eyes of Martin a recently retired banker. Within weeks of returning to his home village he meets up with Alistair – an old school friend. Unsure how he will make use of his free time, Martin agrees to take up the intriguing offer from Alistair and get involved in his secret project.Martin has never married, nor has he had any children. These are all facts and part of his life memories. At least, that’s what he thinks he remembers. However, since his involvement with Alistair’s project, Martins life changes forever – and continues to change in all manner of inexplicable ways. As the weeks go by, Martin comes to realise that he can no longer be sure of anything, anybody, or even his past life. Is he really losing his mind and going mad? Or are others now controlling his life and possibly manipulating his destiny?

An insider account of activists, politicians, educators, and everyday citizens working to change minds, bridge divisions, and fight for democracy—from disinformation fighters to a leader of Black Lives Matter to Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and more—by the best-selling author of Winners Take All and award-winning former New York Times columnist“Anand Giridharadas shows the way we get real progressive change in America—by refusing to write others off, building more welcoming movements, and rededicating ourselves to the work of changing minds.” —Robert B. Reich, best-selling author of The SystemThe lifeblood of any free society is persuasion: changing other people’s minds in order to change things. But America is suffering a crisis of faith in persuasion that is putting its democracy and the planet itself at risk. Americans increasingly write one another off instead of seeking to...

When Merry's father tells her that she is to be married to a man she has never met, she is angry. However, upon meeting her betrothed, and after discovering his dark secret, anger gives way to fear. So she disguises herself as a boy and hides on a ship that sails under the orders of a malevolent benefactor, thinking herself safe. But unfortunately for her, Lord Fitch is not done with her yet.Merry is a young girl whose father decides that it is time for her to grow up and get married- to the richest man in the kingdom. Why such a man as Lord Gregory Fitch would agree to marry someone of her stature is beyond her, but she thinks little of it until she arrives at his manor just before the wedding is to take place. Upon coming across a horrible scene in her future husband's home, she decides to run away. Cutting her hair and donning the clothes of a boy, Merry passes herself off as a boy on a ship where all the occupants are searching for the Fountain of Youth at the direction of a malevolent benefactor. Can she keep her identity hidden from the man who searches for her? Or even more difficult, the men she lives with? And what will happen if they do find the Fountain of Youth?

Evan Chambers struggles to answer one question: does life have any meaning? Will he find his life's purpose as he navigates the maze of his religious family, the return of a high school love interest and the death of his grandfather? Or is he stuck in an endless cycle of disappointment?Some questions, once asked, can’t be shaken. When Evan Chambers dares to ask if life has any purpose, he finds the answer is elusive. After a random memory from his youth obscures the answer even more, Evan counts the steps from his bed to his balcony, and wonders if the only solution lies over the ledge.As Evan contemplates this, he receives a call from his brother Jordan. Evan’s grandfather is dying. This revelation draws him to his hometown in rural, upstate New York. While there, Evan navigates his grandfather’s last days, his disintegrating bonds with his religious mother and brother, and a surprising connection to the girl he admired in high school, Samantha. Initially hesitant to allow Evan to pursue her, Samantha begins to open up to him. Evan wonders if he is on the cusp of resolving the question that has disturbed him for so long. However, Samantha harbors her own secrets which threaten to derail their newly found relationship.Set against the backdrop of Easter week, Evan navigates through a maze of family, faith, love and death, searching for the meaning of life. Will he find the sense of purpose he desires? Or is he merely trapped in an endless cycle of disappointment?

Incisive commentary on the financial meltdown and its aftermath, from the author of the bestselling global phenomenon Capital in the Twenty-First Century Thomas Piketty's work has proved that without meaningful regulation, capitalist economies will concentrate wealth in an ever smaller number of hands. Unfettered markets lead to increasing inequality. Armed with this knowledge, how can democratic societies fend off a new aristocracy? For years, Piketty has wrestled with this issue in the pages of Libération, one of France's leading news magazines. His monthly column pierces the surface of current events to reveal the economic forces underneath. Why Save the Bankers? brings together selections from eight years of these columns, now translated and annotated, beginning with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, and the title essay's provocative challenge. Along the way, Piketty weighs successes and failures of the Obama...

“The most important economics book of the year―and maybe of the decade.” —Paul Krugman, New York Times, on Capital in the Twenty-First Century A bestselling economist’s history of inequality and guide to a more just, sustainable world, distilled into an engaging and accessible pocket-sized text.In this unique work, Thomas Piketty presents a synthesis of his historical and comparative research on inequality. He challenges the idea that there could be natural inequalities and shows that the march toward equality has always depended on political and social struggles, addressing diverse topics such as: education, inheritance, the climate crisis, the taxation of wealth, and gender disparities. Adapted from Piketty’s 2022 lecture at the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Nature, Culture, and Inequality makes his important argument...

Three tales for children and some adults.The Magician - A fable style tale about a young man looking for protection that he could have done without.DreamDancer - a young girl wants to dance and gets her chance with remarkable results.Marshall - A number-loving cat, with the help of a mathematician causes trouble in the neighborhood.Three tales for children and some adults.The Magician, The Lion, And The Mouse - is a fable style tale about a young man looking for a little protection that he could have done without.DreamDancer - a young girl wants to dance and gets her chance with results greater than she expected.Marshall And the Mathematician - Marshall, a number-loving cat, with the innocent help of a mathematician friend, stirs up some trouble in the neighborhood.

A young couple is forced to abandon their simple lives to uncover the true purpose behind the alien "Prohibitions" imposed upon the surviving human refugees after abandoning their doomed starship and accepting safe harbor in the vast gorge on Syton.If the atmosphere on Conboet’s inner moon hadn’t been poisonous, the human crew of the doomed generation ship, Tanis, might never have taken a second look at the frozen snowball that was Syton, might never have discovered that life could be sustained deep within its vast gorge, midway between the frigid surface, and the geothermal hell thirteen kilometers below. It was there, over thirty years ago, that Second Officer, Avram Elstrada struggled to break through the language barrier to negotiate a settlement agreement with the resident natives—safe harbor as long as humans agreed to follow certain Prohibitions. Foremost among them was the prohibition against the use of superior technology. They would have to give up thousands of years of science and engineering and live in the same agrarian manner as the natives, if they were to live in the Syton gorge. It was their last, best chance of surviving their dying, seven hundred year old starship. And they took it.The Second Moon, is a science fiction adventure that chronicles a young couple forced to abandon their simple lives and overcome treachery, kidnapping, and murder to save their fragile human colony. Struggling with their own fears and shortcomings, they not only discover the true mysterious purpose behind The Prohibitions, but that heroic and noble traits dwell within all races and possibly, even themselves.

Christian devotional poems without (I hope) any taint of religion....Starfire lives in a wold where dragons and dragonriders are everywhere. She ran away from home when she was little, due to bad living situations and she lost her dragon when she was nine. She was then cursed for eternity. And then a boy shows up, and he appears to be her dragonrider. She doesn't even know if that's possible, because of the fact that she used to be human. Ride along over the clouds with Starfire as she tries to reverse the curse, running through labyrinths to get to the cure.. . .

Don Thompson was a fan who worked most of his life as a professional journalist. He was also active in comic book fandom. He was married to Margaret (Maggie) Curtis Thompson, whose mother was SF author Betsy Curtis. Don and Maggie met in June, 1957, at a SF picnic at the home of SF author Basil Wells; they were married in June, 1962. He is often confused with Don C. Thompson, one of the several other Don Thompsons in fandom, who co-chaired Denvention Two with Suzanne Carnival. He and Dick Lupoff co-edited two collections of articles on comic books: All in Color for a Dime (1970) and The Comic-Book Book (1973). Don contributed chapters to both books. He published Rainy Days with Maggie Thompson.

In this first book of the Goodly Woods series, twin boys with very different personalities learn why they have to be more than just a pretty face! Goodly has been accused of a dastardly deed, and his family must sort out the truth before he can make amends. Will the Widow Gotta Gossip triumph? Whose reputation will be tarnished? Wholesome fun for the whole family!In this first book of the Goodly Woods series, you will meet the townsfolk and discover why twin boys that have very different personalities have to be more than just a pretty face! Goodly has been accused of a dastardly deed, and his family must sort out the truth before he can make amends. Will the Widow Gotta Gossip triumph? Whose reputation will be tarnished? These questions and more will be answered as you begin the adventures of Goodly Woods. Goodly Woods is a refreshing new Christian western series that is packed full of adventure, drama, comedy, and sprinkled generously with good morals and virtue. Each book has many colorful pictures and is designed to entertain the whole family. Recommended for ages 6-99

These poems twirl their skirts as they explore bi-cultural identity, growing up, a young mother's struggles, and the limits of language. Half Guatemalan and half Anglo, the speaker worries about "black-topped boys with butterscotch skin" who whistle at her, but loves how flowers "explode into curls of crepe." She doesn't understand Spanish or why tragedy jabs into our lives, but still she sings.Along with pieces called "breathtaking" by Naomi Shihab Nye, these poems twirl their skirts as they explore bi-cultural identity, growing up, a young mother's struggles, and the limits of language. Half Guatemalan and half Anglo, the speaker worries about "black-topped boys with butterscotch skin" who whistle at her, but loves how flowers "explode into curls of crepe." She doesn't understand Spanish or why tragedy jabs into our lives, but still she sings.

If it took reduction or torch hair, the Cirissins wanted a bump. Hokum, thistle, gluck.

Love is an emotion of a strong affection and personal attachment. Love may be understood as part of the survival instinct, a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.There are many different theories that attempt to explain what love is, and what function it serves. It would be very difficult to explain love to a hypothetical person who had not himself or herself experienced love or being loved. In fact, to such a person love would appear to be quite strange if not outright irrational behavior.