Download or read book Sand Smoke Current written by Robert Vander Lugt and published by . This book was released on 2013-09-25 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ***OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE: JANUARY 1, 2014*** Sand, Smoke, Current is a collection of short stories written by award-winning author Robert Vander Lugt, whose work is steeped in down-to-earth profundity, are driven by conflicts that beg characters to strip away pretense in favor of a freedom obtained by unflinching acceptance of weakness and grace. Vander Lugt's prose is melancholic without being depressing, humorous without getting tangled in sarcastic irony, and his pen probes the bigger questions at every turn. "Like letters of encouragement penned by a divine hand, the best of these stories read like parables of a parallel universe . . . Wise, unearthly, and other-worldly stories by an author with feet planted squarely on the ground and an eye cocked toward heaven." - Mark Richard, author of The Ice at the Bottom of the World and a bestselling novel Fishboy. Robert Vander Lugt's characters share a certain uncertainty in a fashion that not only makes them shadowy, somehow less (or more) than real, but also lends the stories a fable-like feel, both compelling and mysterious. Don't get me wrong. Time and place is very real in these stories-we're with him on the lake front, often in the company of boys becoming men. But the outlines are indistinct enough for all of us to find a place beside them on the beach, in the home, with the family. Vander Lugt's people are never anti-heroes, unusual in this era; but neither are they fanciful. It wasn't hard to find myself in this compelling collection of tales. Once there amid the shadows, I didn't want to leave. -James Calvin Schaap, author of Romey's Place and Touches the Sky "The storm woke, massed, and then slipped over the frozen lake. Clouds, hunched and rolled like a fighter's shoulders, leaned and sparred across the star-pricked sky. At the beach they stalled, swept over low dunes. Hissing, they infiltrated the steep wooded hills guarding the shore. It spilled east, gathering speed, racing through the stubbled, sleeping cornfields with maniac delight, a thousand hollow stalks quaking like toneless wind chimes. Winter-stiff trees lined the fields, blacker-than-night sentries latticing the sky. It slammed against their skeletal frames and they rose up, groaning and twisting, frozen fibers cracking like old man bones. Their defense held no weight. The storm grabbed fistfuls of dead leaves, tossing them about like a rampaging child. Then, grasping the trees themselves, it twisted hard maple fingers in a torturer's grip. Up and down the ribbon of woods, branches popped and cracked and shrieked. Limbs gave way, the trees saved by their rending. Then it began to snow." -Excerpt from Robert Vander Lugt's story "Onslaught"

Download or read book The Book of Sand written by Jorge Luis Borges and published by Dutton Books. This book was released on 1977 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirteen new stories by the celebrated writer, including two which he considers his greatest achievements to date, artfully blend elements from many literary geares.

Download or read book House of Sand and Fog written by Andre Dubus and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 1999 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oprah Book Club selection for November 2000.

Download or read book The City of Sand written by Tianxia Bachang and published by Delacorte Press. This book was released on 2017-11-21 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A multimillion-copy bestseller in China—now available in English! In this heart-pounding adventure, a group of individuals who have come together for an expedition, each with a specific interest, soon find themselves motivated by one common goal: the sheer will to survive. THE QUEST: To find the lost city of Jingjue, a once-glorious kingdom, along with the burial chamber of its mysterious queen. Both lie buried under the golden dunes of the desert, where fierce sandstorms and blazing heat show no mercy. THE TEAM: Teenagers Tianyi, who has the ability read the earth and sky through feng shui, and Kai, Tianyi’s best friend and confidant; Julie, a wealthy American whose father vanished on the same trek a year ago; Professor Chen, who wants to fulfill a lifelong dream; and Asat Amat, a local guide gifted in desert survival. THE OBSTACLES: Lethal creatures of the desert and an evil force that wants to entomb the explorers under the unforgiving sands of China’s Taklimakan Desert forever. Translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang, whose recent work includes NEVER GROW UP, the translation from Chinese of the autobiography from action movie superstar Jackie Chan.

Download or read book Land of Sand and Song written by Joyce Chua and published by Penguin Books. This book was released on 2021-08-17 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Legend has it that a magical spring lies dormant in the heart of the Khuzar desert. Said to be a gift from the gods, the spring holds the cure to all mortal woes. As mercenaries from everywhere try in vain to find the mystical spring, 17-yearold Desert Rose is on the run after her chieftain father is overthrown and captured by rebel clans. Now out for revenge, she sets out alone to the Oasis Capital to assassinate the person instigating the rebellion: the corrupt Emperor Zhao, who will stop at nothing to possess the elixir of life from the spring. To infiltrate the Imperial Guard, Desert Rose must pass a series of trials to test her wit, mettle, and her loyalty. But the real test lies in navigating the cut throat court politics with no ally but a rogue prince and a latent magic stirring in her - magic that can bring a kingdom to its knees or destroy her from within.

Download or read book The Scent of Salt Sand written by Kristin Cast and published by Diversion Books. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The co-authors of the bestselling House of Night series reunite with a haunting, romantic, suspense-filled, original novella in The Escaped series. Eons ago, Sirens were exiled from the Mortal Realm, held captive in a cove at the edge of Tartarus. They are beautiful beyond imagination, but deadly beyond compare. And they have set their sights on breaking free. They risk everything to sneak out of Tartarus and ascend to the forbidden Mortal Realm with one mission—mate with human men to dilute their cursed bloodline and form a new race of Sirens, free from their prison in the Underworld. But for a Siren to become pregnant, she must revert to her True Form, a horrifying sight that drives men to madness, and makes killing them a mercy. In modern San Francisco, the Sirens blend in; each woman has a singular goal, and each man she meets is her prey... Melody Seirina has always been different. She doesn’t believe that she’ll be able to bring herself to take a human life, even when the fate of her people rests on her willingness to do so. She’s even more convinced when she meets Dean, a charming cop who sees a loving future with her. Their romance threatens two worlds, the one the Sirens fled from, and the one that will destroy them if they can’t complete their mission as soon as possible. Melody will have to make a decision—risk the future of her people or follow her heart. Praise for Amber Smoke, Book One of The Escaped Series "With a unique twist on Greek mythology and heart-stopping action, Amber Smokekeeps you riveted to the very last page." —Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author "In Amber Smoke, Cast's wit, creativity and talent shine! I turned the pages at lightning speed, ready for more! What a tasty treat!" —Gena Showalter, New York Times and USA TodayBestselling Author

Download or read book Bridge of Sand written by Janet Burroway and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2009 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dana, the widow of a senator, sells her home in Pennsylvania and retraces her roots in the South, where she reconnects with Cassius Huston, but after being threatened by Cassius's African-American family, Dana flees to the Gulf Coast where she finally finds herself in a place and culture she never could have anticipated.

Download or read book From Sand and Ash written by Amy Harmon and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Italy, 1943--Germany occupies much of the country, placing the Jewish population in grave danger during World War II. As children, Eva Rosselli and Angelo Bianco were raised like family but divided by circumstance and religion. As the years go by, the two find themselves falling in love. But the church calls to Angelo and, despite his deep feelings for Eva, he chooses the priesthood. Now, more than a decade later, Angelo is a Catholic priest and Eva is a woman with nowhere to turn. With the Gestapo closing in, Angelo hides Eva within the walls of a convent, where Eva discovers she is just one of many Jews being sheltered by the Catholic Church. But Eva can't quietly hide, waiting for deliverance, while Angelo risks everything to keep her safe. With the world at war and so many in need, Angelo and Eva face trial after trial, choice after agonizing choice, until fate and fortune finally collide, leaving them with the most difficult decision of all.

Download or read book Sand Talk written by Tyson Yunkaporta and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-05-12 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A paradigm-shifting book in the vein of Sapiens that brings a crucial Indigenous perspective to historical and cultural issues of history, education, money, power, and sustainability—and offers a new template for living. As an indigenous person, Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from a unique perspective, one tied to the natural and spiritual world. In considering how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation, he raises important questions. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently? In this thoughtful, culturally rich, mind-expanding book, he provides answers. Yunkaporta’s writing process begins with images. Honoring indigenous traditions, he makes carvings of what he wants to say, channeling his thoughts through symbols and diagrams rather than words. He yarns with people, looking for ways to connect images and stories with place and relationship to create a coherent world view, and he uses sand talk, the Aboriginal custom of drawing images on the ground to convey knowledge. In Sand Talk, he provides a new model for our everyday lives. Rich in ideas and inspiration, it explains how lines and symbols and shapes can help us make sense of the world. It’s about how we learn and how we remember. It’s about talking to everyone and listening carefully. It’s about finding different ways to look at things. Most of all it’s about a very special way of thinking, of learning to see from a native perspective, one that is spiritually and physically tied to the earth around us, and how it can save our world. Sand Talk include 22 black-and-white illustrations that add depth to the text.

Download or read book The Hotel Under the Sand written by Kage Baker and published by Tachyon Publications. This book was released on 2009-07-15 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nine-year-old Emma is lost at sea in a terrible storm. She awakens on a desolate island, frightened and lonely. Yet brave, quick-witted Emma will not be alone for long, as the ghost of a bellboy appears with the tragic tale of the Grand Wenlocke. More than a century ago, a brilliant inventor built a splendid Victorian resort, the Grand Wenlocke. The hotel was powered by a Difference Engine, a miraculous device that could slow down time (making your vacation just as long as you’d like). But just before it was scheduled to open, the Grand Wenlocke mysteriously sank under the sand. Now the storm that brought Emma to the island has awakened the hotel, perfectly preserved and as incredible as ever. While exploring the magical hotel, Emma encounters a kind-hearted cook and her faithful little dog, a seemingly fearsome pirate captain, and the imperious young heir to the Wenlocke fortune (should it ever be recovered). Adventure, friendship, peril, and perhaps even treasure—all these and more await Emma at the hotel under the sand.

Download or read book The Book of Sand written by Jorge Luis Borges and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes the stories The Congress, Undr, The Mirror and the Mask, August 25, 1983, Blue Tigers, The Rose of Paracelsus and Shakespeare's Memory.

Download or read book Sand in the Wind written by Kathleen O'Neal Gear and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 1990-12-15 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A romantic novel set in Montana. Colleen Merrill, drawn by dreams of an Indian warrior, travels to Montana with her brutal husband to establish a homestead. She meets and falls in love with Lieutenant Matthew Douglas, a U.S. Cavalry officer. Wounded Bear, a young Cheyenne warrior and medicine man, has been told in a vision that a golden haired woman has the power to save his people from invasion by the white man. He seeks out this woman and finds Colleen. The two become lovers.

Download or read book Tree of Smoke written by Denis Johnson and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2007-09-04 with total page 638 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once upon a time there was a war . . . and a young American who thought of himself as the Quiet American and the Ugly American, and who wished to be neither, who wanted instead to be the Wise American, or the Good American, but who eventually came to witness himself as the Real American and finally as simply the Fucking American. That’s me. This is the story of Skip Sands—spy-in-training, engaged in Psychological Operations against the Vietcong—and the disasters that befall him thanks to his famous uncle, a war hero known in intelligence circles simply as the Colonel. This is also the story of the Houston brothers, Bill and James, young men who drift out of the Arizona desert into a war in which the line between disinformation and delusion has blurred away. In its vision of human folly, and its gritty, sympathetic portraits of men and women desperate for an end to their loneliness, whether in sex or death or by the grace of God, this is a story like nothing in our literature. Tree of Smoke is Denis Johnson’s first full-length novel in nine years, and his most gripping, beautiful, and powerful work to date. Tree of Smoke is the 2007 National Book Award Winner for Fiction.

Download or read book Sand Opera written by Philip Metres and published by Alice James Books. This book was released on 2015-01-05 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using techniques of erasure, Metres seeks rhythm or language within the spare, bleak testimonies of those tortured at Abu Ghraib.

Download or read book Whispers in the Sand written by Barbara Erskine and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-07-01 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A gripping time-slip suspense story." —The Bookseller Recently divorced, Anna Fox decides to cheer herself up by retracing a Nile cruise her great-great-grandmother, Louisa, made in the mid-nineteenth century. Anna carries with her two of Louisa's possessions—an ancient Egyptian scent bottle and an illustrated diary of the original cruise, a diary that hasn't been read in a hundred years. As she follows in Louisa's footsteps, Anna discovers in the diary a wonderful love story from the Victorian past—and the chilling, more distant secret of the little glass bottle. Meanwhile, two men on the cruise are developing an unfriendly rivalry for Anna's attention—and a disturbing interest in Louisa's things. Most frightening of all, Anna finds herself the victim of a threat that grows in strength and darkness as the dramatic stories from three different eras intertwine along the mysterious waters of the Nile. What Readers are Saying "The images she creates are fantastically interwoven in a mysterious romance. I couldn't stop reading." "Great! Chilling and full of betrayal, revenge, and heat." "All Barbara Erskine's books have the excitement, detail, slight historical slant, and twists which make the reader look over their shoulder." "I found myself gripped by the story of Anna and her ancestor, Louisa. The two stories are skillfully threaded together with a magical blend of the stunning descriptions of Egypt and the love stories that enfold the two women." "It is a mystery that is unfolding before your very eyes. A real page-turner."

Download or read book Faces in the Smoke written by Gersi Douchan and published by Hansebooks. This book was released on 2021-11-12 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Faces in the smoke: - An eyewitness experience of voodoo, shamanism, psychic healing, and other amazing human powers is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1191. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Download or read book Etched in Sand written by Regina Calcaterra and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2013-08-06 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regina’s Calcaterra memoir, Etched in Sand, is an inspiring and triumphant coming-of-age story of tenacity and hope. Regina Calcaterra is a successful lawyer, New York State official, and activist. Her painful early life, however, was quite different. Regina and her four siblings survived an abusive and painful childhood only to find themselves faced with the challenges of the foster-care system and intermittent homelessness in the shadows of Manhattan and the Hamptons. A true-life rags-to-riches story, Etched in Sand chronicles Regina’s rising above her past, while fighting to keep her brother and three sisters together through it all. Beautifully written, with heartbreaking honesty, Etched in Sand is an unforgettable reminder that regardless of social status, the American Dream is still within reach for those who have the desire and the determination to succeed.