Of all operas in the standard repertory, none has had a more complicated genesis and textual history than Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann. Based on a highly successful 1851 play inspired by the short stories by the German Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann, the work occupied the last decade of Offenbach’s life. When he died in October 1880, the work was being rehearsed at the Opéra-Comique. At once cut and rearranged, the work was performed from the start in versions that ignored the composer’s...

From the longtime host of the New York Yankees’ television broadcasts, ESPN Radio’s The Michael Kay Show, and YES Network’s Emmy Award–winning CenterStage comes an “entertaining…greatest-hits collection” (Kirkus Reviews) of his most memorable interviews with the most intriguing personalities in sports and entertainment—from Jay-Z to Mike Tyson to Serena Williams to Adam Sandler to Bon Jovi to Larry David.Emmy Award–winning television anno...

In the summer of 1975, in the neighborhood–friendly town of Newmans River—three young children are senselessly murdered. The Feral Girls chronicles the haunting tale of an American tragedy. The story relentlessly unfolds with exacting details and stunning surprises. While the horrifying impact on all those involved cannot be measured or forgotten, ultimately the disturbing events lead to an unexpected conclusion.

Those of you who consider yourselves freethinkers of whatever type or combination of typesatheist, agnostic, ignostic, humanist, Unitarian, nonreligious, antireligious, secularist, ethical culturist, bright, realist, skeptic, and so forthmay enjoy seeing whether you have or had similar thoughts, ideas, or experiences as me throughout your lives. Or perhaps, as freethinkers often do, you have had totally unique, individual, or different thoughts from those of this particular self-proclaimed...

Annie Lee Cavallaro, adopted as a baby from China, is pursuing her life-long dream of becoming a scientist. While attending a conference at Harvard, Annie meets someone who will change not only her life, but the lives of millions of others. In this sweeping novel that encompasses three continents, ‘A Bottle of Rain’ chronicles Annie’s amazing rise to the forefront of the scientific community with the discovery of a lifetime.

When esteemed novelist, Vanessa Parker, spends a month in Maine finishing the last book of a trilogy, she vaguely recognizes an elderly couple who are staying at the same hotel. Over the course of the next few weeks Vanessa's remembrances take her back over fifty years, as she begins to recall the couple's affect on her and her friends' lives.

Now young adults, composers Maisie Greene and Winstone Garner are looking forward to new opportunities and challenges, surrounded as always by loving parents and meaningful friendships. But not all is smooth sailing as the pair encounters their fair share of trials and tribulations as they seek to continue their promising musical journey together. ‘Sometimes Sadness, Sometimes Smiles’ is the second book in the trilogy ‘Unexpected Friends’.

As the recipient of the prestigious Murray Film Institute Award for documentary film making, Ingrid Strauss decides to chronicle the lives of residents of a nearby nursing home. While preparing the documentary Ingrid discovers, by accident, an amazing fact concerning one of the residents. As she peels away the layers of an extraordinary life, Ingrid finds herself increasingly enthralled and awed by a story compellingly moving and poignant. The Hands of Memory unveils a powerful narrative, ...

Michael Kay and Lorin Cary illuminate new aspects of slavery in colonial America by focusing on North Carolina, which has largely been ignored by scholars in favor of the more mature slave systems in the Chesapeake and South Carolina. Kay and Cary demonstrate that North Carolina’s fast-growing slave population, increasingly bound on large plantations, included many slaves born in Africa who continued to stress their African pasts to make sense of their new world. The authors illustrate thi...

Feeling rich is the difference between just existing and being gloriously, deeply, passionately alive, living the very best life you were born to lead.What does feeling rich have to do with actually being rich? Plenty, it turns out. Your beliefs and feelings about money drive how you see yourself and how you define “rich.”The Feel Rich Project starts by analyzing your specific history with and feelings about money, then uses that information to help you redirect yo...

What if changing how you read the Bible could make it go from 2D to 3D?Many people want to read and study the Bible but don't know where to start, or when they do read it, they don't connect how the events, people, and places fit together and quickly lose interest. And some don't wholeheartedly believe what the Bible says.Yet International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA Director Susan Michael says the Bible is the most exciting book on the planet-and understanding the st...

Yazmeen Franklin is as green as they come. Her only real friend is her older sister, who raised her after their mother died. Because of their father’s poor example, Yazmeen has little trust in men, so dating is foreign to her. During her sophomore year of college, she lets her guard down and finally gets close to a man. However, he is a known womanizer, and she keeps him in the friend zone to protect her heart.For Bronx Ravens, being a college basketball star has many advantages, a...