The Celestial Book

In ninety-two days, the feathered appendages that link me to the people I loathe finally come off. Dear, winglets, you will not be missed. Celeste has spent the last four years building a life outside of angelic guilds-parties, check-pursuing human ambitions instead of celestial ones-college, check-and shedding feathers across Parisian cobblestones and more recently New York sidewalks-speaking her mind, always check. She swore off angels, but the death of the woman who took her in the night Leigh died brings them soaring back into her life . . . and not just any angel but the most detestable one, the one complicit in Leigh's death-Seraph Asher. Although Celeste tells the archangel to feather off, the unreasonably pretty and obstinate man doesn't leave her alone. He returns and insists she complete her wings. When she asks him for one good reason to do so, he gives her an unbeatable one: what he did with Leigh's soul. Asher never meant to share his damning secret, but he knows it's the only way to save Celeste-the rebellious Fletching he can't get out of his head . . . or heart.

Boubacar, a 15-year-old boy from Africa, moves to a rural Mississippi Delta town and soon visits The Celestial Grocery, the city center presided over by a cranky second-generation Chinese proprietor and his equally cranky jukebox. The tie that binds these lives is American popular music.

When Prince Rodolfo's monsters attack her, Petra Kronos is spirited away to London. As she struggles to escape, Neel and Tomik sail the high seas, in search of her. Though separated by many miles, the three friends draw closer together in this sequel to The Cabinet of Wonders, called "astonishingly accomplished" by Publishers Weekly. Readers will not be disappointed in this adventure-filled novel that includes man-made monsters, the unraveling of a murder mystery, and the hunt for the Celestial Globe, which the prince of Bohemia will do anything to own.

This winner of the 2019 Man Booker International Prize and national bestseller is “an innovative reimagining of the family saga . . . Celestial Bodies is itself a treasure house: an intricately calibrated chaos of familial orbits and conjunctions, of the gravitational pull of secrets" (The New York Times Book Review). In the village of al-Awafi in Oman, we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries after a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a sense of duty; and Khawla, who chooses to refuse all offers and await a reunion with the man she loves, who has emigrated to Canada. These three women and their families, their losses and loves, unspool beautifully against a backdrop of a rapidly changing Oman, a country evolving from a traditional, slave-owning society into its complex present. Through the sisters, we glimpse a society in all its degrees, from the very poorest of the local slave families to those making money through the advent of new wealth. The first novel originally written in Arabic to ever win the Man Booker International Prize, and the first book by a female Omani author to be translated into English, Celestial Bodies marks the arrival in the United States of a major international writer.

Named one of the best 25 space opera books by BookRiot! The first book in a scifi retelling of the Mahabrahata. When Esmae wins a contest of skill, she sets off events that trigger an inevitable and unwinnable war that pits her against the family she would give anything to return to. In a universe of capricious gods, dark moons, and kingdoms built on the backs of spaceships, a cursed queen sends her infant daughter away, a jealous uncle steals the throne of Kali from his nephew, and an exiled prince vows to take his crown back. Raised alone and far away from her home on Kali, Esmae longs to return to her family. When the King of Wychstar offers to gift the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania to a warrior that can win his competition, she sees her way home: she’ll enter the competition, reveal her true identity to the world, and help her famous brother win back the crown of Kali. It’s a great plan. Until it falls apart. Inspired by the Mahabharata and other ancient Indian stories, A Spark of White Fire is a lush, sweeping space opera about family, curses, and the endless battle between jealousy and love.

For a general audience interested in solving mysteries in art, history, and literature using the methods of science, 'forensic astronomy' is a thrilling new field of exploration. Astronomical calculations are the basis of the studies, which have the advantage of bringing to readers both evocative images and a better understanding of the skies. Weather facts, volcano studies, topography, tides, historical letters and diaries, famous paintings, military records, and the friendly assistance of experts in related fields add variety, depth, and interest to the work. The chosen topics are selected for their wide public recognition and intrigue, involving artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Edvard Munch, and Ansel Adams; historical events such as the Battle of Marathon, the death of Julius Caesar, the American Revolution, and World War II; and literary authors such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Joyce, and Mary Shelley. This book sets out to answer these mysteries indicated with the means and expertise of astronomy, opening the door to a richer experience of human culture and its relationship with nature. Each subject is carefully analyzed. As an example using the study of sky paintings by Vincent van Gogh, the analytical method would include: - computer calculations of historical skies above France in the 19th century - finding and quoting the clues found in translations of original letters by Van Gogh - making site visits to France to determine the precise locations when Van Gogh set up his easel and what celestial objects are depicted. For each historical event influenced by astronomy, there would be a different kind of mystery to be solved. As an example: - How can the phase of the Moon and time of moonrise help to explain a turning point of the American Civil War - the fatal wounding of Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville in 1863? For each literary reference to astronomy, it was determined which celestial objects were being described and making an argument that the author is describing an actual event. For example, what was the date of the moonlit scene when Mary Shelley first had the idea for her novel “Frankenstein?” These and more fun riddles will enchant and delight the fan of art and astronomy.

WELCOME TO THE LAND OF ANGELS. FEATHER - book 1 With only a month left to earn her missing feathers, 20-year-old Leigh embarks on a trip to Paris to meet her newest project, 25-year-old Jarod Adler, leader of the Parisian Mafia and the worst kind of sinner . . . a Triple. CELESTIAL - book 2 Celeste swore off angels, but the death of the woman who took her in the night her best friend died brings them soaring back into her life. And not just any angel but the most detestable one-Seraph Asher. STARLIGHT - book 3 When Naya thrusts herself in Adam's life to request a place on his clandestine team of guardians, he turns her away. The last thing his unsanctioned squad needs is an archangel's attention, and the last thing he needs is a bubbly, blonde distraction with a sinful voice and soulful eyes. Fans of steamy supernatural romance will want to scroll up and one-click to start reading this completed trilogy today.

An important figure in mid-Twentieth Century medicine and cardiology, brilliant, dynamic George Burch was outstanding on every front — pioneering researcher in multiple aspects of the body’s workings, an inspiring educator, editor and prolific writer, and electrifying lecturer. His patients loved him for his gentleness, common sense approach and tireless advocacy on their behalf. Immersed in medicine from childhood as he assisted his father, a physician in rural Louisiana, he was influential worldwide by a surprisingly young age. Possessed of a healthy sense of humor, he was nevertheless deeply serious of purpose. He was an independent thinker, outspoken and unfazed by mainstream opinion. Increasingly controversial, he became a hero to some, but to others an outdated fossil. The life story of this remarkable man resonates vividly in today’s environment of confusion and inordinate expense in medical care.

Faith, I tell them, is a mystery, elusive to many, and never easy to explain. Sweeping and lyrical, spellbinding and unforgettable, David Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife combines epic historical fiction with a modern murder mystery to create a brilliant novel of literary suspense. It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife. Soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death. And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’ s search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love and faith. Praise for The 19th Wife “This exquisite tour de force explores the dark roots of polygamy and its modern-day fruit in a renegade cult . . . Ebershoff brilliantly blends a haunting fictional narrative by Ann Eliza Young, the real-life 19th “rebel” wife of Mormon leader Brigham Young, with the equally compelling contemporary narrative of fictional Jordan Scott, a 20-year-old gay man. . . . With the topic of plural marriage and its shattering impact on women and powerless children in today's headlines, this novel is essential reading for anyone seeking understanding of the subject.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

In his most powerful and provocative novel to date, master storyteller Irving Wallace turns his incomparable talents to the world of sex therapy. Erotically charged, compassionate, and suspenseful, The Celestial Bed explores the way people make love in postsexual-revolution America. Dr. Arnold Freeberg is a courageous, pioneering sex therapist whose dedication to his patients and the principles of his profession prompt him to step outside the law and utilize the most effective tool of all in combating sexual dysfunctions--sex surrogates. Although sex surrogates are highly trained and supervised professionals who guide, demonstrate, and teach people with low sexual self-esteem how to enjoy intimacy, according to the law in many states they are prostitutes. Driven out of Arizona, Dr. Freeberg establishes a new clinic in southern California with the help of his most experienced surrogate, beautiful young Gayle Miller, and a new male surrogate, movie-star-handsome Paul Brandon. But where Dr. Freeberg expected to be able to practice in peace, he encounters powerful adversaries--an ambitious district attorney, a power-hungry evangelist, a duplicitous newspaper reporter, and the violently jealous psychotic boyfriend of one of his most needy patients--who would tear down his life's work, humiliate his patients, and put him and his staff on trial for pandering and prostitution. In the riveting, swiftly-paced narrative style that made him one of America's most widely read authors, Irving Wallace takes the reader behind closed doors into the private treatment rooms where sex surrogates lead their patients through the therapeutic exercises designed to bring them to sexual fulfillment. Readers will find themselves drawn into a circle of extraordinary people dedicated to repairing the sexually wounded, and come to understand the sex therapist's essential piece of wisdom--good lovemaking is first loving yourself and then learning to share that love with another.