The Spirit House

A foreign exchange student comes to live with Julie’s family for a year—setting off a frightening chain of events Julie isn’t thrilled about her parents’ decision to sponsor a foreign exchange student from Thailand. Not only is the stranger going to live with them for a year, but Julie is convinced he’ll be a nerd and will embarrass her at school. But when a tall, handsome, super-cool guy named Bia arrives, Julie is suddenly the envy of all her girlfriends. Dominic, Julie’s 11-year-old brother, is also thrilled to have Bia around the house. So to make the guest feel at home in America, Dominic builds a traditional Thai spirit house in the backyard. Overnight, Bia seems to undergo a major personality change. He’s mean and spiteful and lies about everything. He also seems terrified of something . . . or someone. Has Dominic’s construction somehow invoked a vengeful spirit? Is Bia the bearer of luck so bad it could harm Julie and her family?

"With sharp focus and startling language, the poems in Maw Shein Win's second full-length book, Storage Unit for the Spirit House use physical objects to glimpse the ephemeral, the material, and the immaterial. Vinyl records, felt wolverines, a belt used to punish children, pain pills, and "show dogs with bejeweled collars" crowd into Win's real and imagined storage units. Nats, Buddhist animist deities from her family's homeland of Burma, haunt the book's six sections, as forgotten children sleep under Mylar blankets and daughters try to see through the haze of a father's cigarette smoke. The artful assemblages of both earthly and noncorporeal possessions throughout the collection become resonant and alive, and Win must summon "a circle of drums and copper bells" to appease the nats who have moved into a long-ago family house. This carefully curated collection of unlikely objects and images creates an act of ritual that uses language to interrogate how pain can transform into a nat or a siren. The minimal line length belies maximal imagination in this remarkable new book"--

" ... Authentic Thai and Asian recipes from the world-renowned Spirit House restaurant and cooking school ... "Spirit House, the cookbook" showcases the very best of Thai and S.E. Asian cuisines. Inside you will meet the more exotic ingredients, be guided step by step through some basic Asian cooking techniques, and read about the foreign influences which shaped much of Asian food and history ..."--Back cover.

The murder of a foreigner in Thailand kicks off this crime thriller, the first in the Shamus Award–winning series by “a terrific writer” (T. Jefferson Parker). A farang is dead, and the Bangkok police have a confession the next morning from a young paint-thinner addict. He claims he killed Ben Hoadly, an expat Brit—but American PI Vincent Calvino has his doubts when he sees heavy bruises on the kid’s face. In no time Calvino is working both sides, out to find the killer for Hoadly’s wealthy father, and eager to clear the addict’s name for a beautiful friend who runs a charity in the slums. With the help of his best friend, Pratt, a Shakespeare-quoting Thai police colonel, and his loyal assistant, Ratana, Calvino plunges into the dangerous world of addicts, dealers, fortune tellers, inexpensive hit men, oversexed foreigners, and professional bar girls . . . “Intelligent and articulate, Moore offers a rich, passionate, and original take on the private eye game” in this international bestseller (January Magazine).

Spirit of the Home is a wonderful guide to creating your own sacred space and sanctuary and discovering peace and tranquillity.

In contemporary India, 12-year-old Asha will journey across the dangerous Himalayas to find her missing father and save her family's home -- guided by a mythical bird and a green-eyed tiger who she believes to be the spirits of her ancestors. This is an incredibly unique debut about loss, family, buried treasure, and hope. Asha lives on a family farm with her mother in rural India in the foothills of the Himalayas. Life would be perfect if her father were with them instead of working at the factory in the faraway city. But she knows they wouldn't be able to afford their home without the money he sends home.When four months go by without a single letter, a ruthless debt collector arrives with a warning, and soon the entire world that Asha has known is threatened. Determined to save her home, Asha and her best friend must swallow their fears and set out on a dangerous journey across the Himalayas to find her father.As desperation turns to peril, Asha will face law enforcement, natural disaster, and the wild dangers of the Himalayas. But with a majestic bird and a green-eyed tiger as her guides, who she believes to be the spirits of her ancestors, she's determined to keep faith in order to save her family.

When Bia comes to visit Julie's family from Thailand, he's nothing like they expected. William Sleator is the author of The Duplicate and Strange Attractions.

Rule the world and take control of your emotional and mental health from where you sit, stand, and sleep. The Holistic Home is based on an original lifestyle concept focused on creating a dynamic, healthy, and thoughtful space within yourself and your home by combining three planes of action—mind, body, and spirit—that result in profound change. The condition of the mind affects the psychology of how you dwell: subconscious influences, decorating with intention, and allowing your emotional issues and challenges to manifest in your space. The physical aspects of your design space, such as furniture positioning, design elements, sustainability, wellness, and organization, are representative of your relationship with your body. And finally, the spirit refers to all the invisible energies within you and your home—feng shui, atmosphere, and the soul of your home. Years ago, author and holistic feng shui expert Laura Benko was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Around that time, a book serendipitously fell on her head. She took this as a much-needed sign to devote the next decade of her life to research and hundreds of transformative holistic design consultations. Her clients’ real-life, inspiring stories, along with specific actions and tips, have become the foundation for The Holistic Home. Chapter by chapter, you’ll learn how to holistically tackle it all—relationships, clutter, health, communities, inner balance, and more—by looking within your immediate environment to make direct connections in your life.

"Reveals how our houses and apartments can become havens of inspiration and renewal ... Offers practical suggestions for arranging or building soulful homes ... Explains how to use wood, tile, brick, and stone to express qualities of the spirit and how to use furniture and personal objects as allies in creating meaning."--Jacket.