Touching The Rock

With a foreword by Oliver Sacks Shortly after John Hull went blind, after years of struggling with failing vision, he had a dream in which he was trapped on a sinking ship, submerging into another, unimaginable world. The power of this calmly eloquent, intensely perceptive memoir lies in its thorough navigation of the world of blindness—a world in which stairs are safe and snow is frightening, where food and sex lose much of their allure and playing with one's child may be agonizingly difficult. As he describes the ways in which blindness shapes his experience of his wife and children, of strangers helpful and hostile, and, above all, of his God, Hull becomes a witness in the highest, true sense. Touching the Rock is a book that will instruct, move, and profoundly transform anyone who reads it.

This calmly eloquent, deeply perceptive memoir of a writer and theologian who lost his vision in his mid-forties conveys the unimaginable and ushers its readers into the world of blindness--a world in which the faces of loved ones recede into memory or speculation while the presence of God becomes supremely important.

An intensely personal exploration of blindness reveals a world of sound and echo, of people without faces, of the strange relationship between waking and dreaming, and of new perceptions of nature, personality, and human experience

Look up! From the Caldecott Medal–winning creator of the hat trilogy comes a new deadpan gem. There is a spot. It is a good spot. It is the perfect spot to stand. There is no reason to ever leave. But somewhere above there is also a rock. A rock from the sky. Here comes The Rock from the Sky, a hilarious meditation on the workings of friendship, fate, shared futuristic visions, and that funny feeling you get that there’s something off somewhere, but you just can’t put your finger on it. Merging broad visual suspense with wry wit, celebrated picture book creator Jon Klassen gives us a wholly original comedy for the ages.

Discover the joy of rock hunting.

Tells the story of the Grand Island Chippewa Indians and also presents a morality play about the phlight of populations destroyed by the violence of other cultures.

A day-by-day account of Aron Ralston's unforgettable survival story. On Saturday, 26 April 2003, Aron Ralston, a 27-year-old outdoorsman and adventurer, set off for a day's hike in the Utah canyons. Eight miles from his truck, he found himself in the middle of a deep and remote canyon. Then the unthinkable happened: a boulder shifted and snared his right arm against the canyon wall. He was trapped, facing dehydration, starvation, hallucinations and hypothermia as night-time temperatures plummeted. Five and a half days later, Aron Ralston finally came to the agonising conclusion that his only hope was to amputate his own arm and get himself to safety. Miraculously, he survived. 127 Hours is more than just an adventure story. It is a brave, honest and above all inspiring account of one man's valiant effort to survive, and is destined to take its place among adventure classics such as Touching the Void.

Everybody needs a rock -- at least that's the way this particular rock hound feels about it in presenting her own highly individualistic rules for finding just the right rock for you.

This homage to rock collecting, assembled by “rock artist” Linda Kranz, celebrates rocks in all their variety, shapes, and colors. Some even resemble pieces of modern art. Others offer a glimpse into the natural beauty that surrounds us. There are rocks that are rough to the touch, and others that are as smooth as glass. There are rocks inside rocks. You can even find rocks that are shaped like a heart. There are even rocks that cling to a magnet! This book will explain how to start a rock collection, and what you might do with them, such as identifying what kind of rocks they are or even painting on them or creating scenes with their shapes. The book also advises you where NOT to collect rocks, such as certain parks and natural areas. Regardless, this book will inspire the rock hound in all of us.

A father and his estranged daughter reconnect to try to understand a decades-old trauma in this haunting novel, part ghost story, part lyrical exploration of family, aging, and how we remember the past. At age 11, Helen disappeared in the wilderness of Mount Rainier National Park while camping with her father, Benjamin. She was gone for almost a week before being discovered and returned to her family. It is now 25 years later, and after more than two decades of estrangement, Helen and Benjamin reconnect at his home in Portland, Oregon, to try to understand what happened during the days she was gone. Meanwhile, Benjamin meets an odd pair, a woman and boy who seem driven to help him learn more about Helen’s disappearance and send him on a journey that will lead to a murder house, uncanny possession, and a bone-filled body of water known as Sad Clown Lake, a lake “that could only be found by getting lost, that was never in the same place twice.” Passersthrough is a haunted, starkly lyrical novel set on the border between life and death.