A simpler life. In a shadow cast by the jarring beginning of the new millennium, simplicity has an undeniable appeal. Global conflicts, domestic security concerns, and a stalling economy can make keeping up with the Joneses feel like, at best, a misguided luxury. Now is not a time for excess; it is a time, it would seem, to focus on "what really matters." Thus the appeal of voluntary simplicity, a notion that combines the freedom of modernity with certain comforts and virtues of the past.

John Henry Cole, working as a deputy U.S. marshal out of Judge Isaac Parker's court in Arkansas, was on assignment in the Indian Nations, in pursuit of a group of white renegades who were in hiding there - above all a particularly vicious renegade named Caddo Pierce. He had a wagon of captive renegades when he was shot and seriously injured. He managed to come out of the Nations with his prisoners, but decided that he had enough of that job and so resigned. Now fifteen years later, employe...

Hi, my name is Valentine.Well, it's Valentine Maria Sofie Brooke… the First. Now, my life isn't exactly what you would call normal. I live in a palace out in the middle of nowhere. It's a great place to be in. But, it gets lonely at times. I come from a long line of royalty. My dad's a king and he is also the deadliest creature on the face of the Earth. Overall, he's a pretty nice guy, though. Some people say that I am a pretty girl. I don't really think that's true. I think they j...

This "rich and rewarding work" explores the connections between ancient Buddhist doctrine and contemporary philosophy ( Publishers Weekly).Tiantai Buddhism emerged in sixth century China from an idiosyncratic and innovative interpretation of the Lotus Sutra. It went on to become one of the most complete, systematic, and influential schools of philosophical thought developed in East Asia. In Emptiness and Omnipresence, Brook A. Ziporyn puts...

9.0/10 — The BookLife Prize“The prose balances emotion with a grittier edge, while natural character exchanges give the relationships credibility. Brooks varies the pacing effectively, with certain chapters unfolding with the immediacy of film scenes.”— The BookLife PrizePhotographer Austin Roberts and his friend Helen Ramirez set out on a road trip, leaving their small East Texas town for New York City. In Brooklyn, they open a photography...

An accessible introduction to cybersecurity concepts and practicesCybersecurity Essentials provides a comprehensive introduction to the field, with expert coverage of essential topics required for entry-level cybersecurity certifications. An effective defense consists of four distinct challenges: securing the infrastructure, securing devices, securing local networks, and securing the perimeter. Overcoming these challenges requires a detailed understanding ...

After an emotionally charged camping trip that left their friendship on shaky ground, Ethan and Mia go their separate ways—Ethan back to his family’s struggling inn, and Mia to face a career crisis in the city. Both are haunted by the unspoken feelings and missed chances that linger in their hearts.As Ethan tries to help his parents save the inn, he can’t escape the memories of what almost happened with Mia. Meanwhile, Mia struggles to balance work pressures with the ache of wonderi...

When Tessa Martin's beloved grandmother passes away, her grief is compounded by an unexpected condition in the will—she must live under the roof of her new legal guardian for one year to receive her inheritance. That guardian? Colin Graves, her late uncle’s reserved business partner, a man as emotionally closed-off as the mansion he keeps spotless and silent.Tessa arrives ready to endure. What she doesn't expect is the quiet kindness hiding beneath Colin’s strict routines. As they n...

In this book, Robert A. Brooks and Jeffrey W. Cohen provide a concise, targeted overview of the major criminological theories to explain the phenomenon of school bullying, bringing to life what is often dense and confusing material with concrete case examples. Criminology Explains School Bullying is a valuable resource in criminology or juvenile delinquency classes, as well as special-topics classes on school violence, bullying, or the school-to-prison pipeline. Charts, critical t...

Ambition is not the problem. Our failure to understand it is.It is the most fundamental human force there is. The desire to make tomorrow better than today. The energy that builds things, changes things, and creates the future.The problem is that most of us never examine it. We let it run, driving us forward toward destinations we chose without thinking, at a speed that leaves no room for questions.Life Force, the first part of Ambition, be...

After losing her parents at a young age, Lily Adams was taken in by her father’s best friend, Ethan—a man of few words and unshakable loyalty. In the quiet shelter of his home, she found a sense of safety she never questioned. Years later, now grown and chasing dreams that no longer feel like hers, Lily returns to the place she once called home. But Ethan isn’t the same. Time has weathered his smile, and something unspoken hangs in the air between them.What begins as a gentle reunio...

The Border is a racy drama set against the backdrop of southern Africa’s border wars in the 1980’s. This is a tale of intertwined lives; hatred, trauma and the horror of war forcing each to strangle some sense, some purity out of the world they now find themselves in while teetering on the border of their own sanity. An ordinary soldier fights for survival. A family torn apart by the brutality of war. Two women’s struggle to overcome the horrors they have experienced at the hands of the te...