The Beer Renaissance is in full swing, and home brewing has never been more popular. According to the American Homebrewers Association, there are currently 1.2 million home brewers in the country, and their numbers keep rising. Tired of the stale ale, bland beer and lackadaisical lagers mass-produced by the commercial labels, Americans are discovering the many advantages of brewing their own batch of that beloved beverage: superior aroma, color, body and flavor.For both amateur alc...

'A cyberpunk coming-of-age tale' Japan TimesTwo babies are left in a Tokyo station coin locker and survive against the odds, but their lives are forever tainted by this inauspicious start.Raised amidst the outcasts and misfits of Toxitown, they carve out vastly different paths: one as a bisexual rock star on a desperate search for his mother, the other as an athlete consumed by revenge against the woman who left him behind.When their twiste...

On an unnamed island, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses. . .Most of the inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those who remember live in fear of the Memory Police.To the people on the island, a disappeared thing no longer has any meaning. It can be burned in the garden, thrown in the river, or handed over to the Memory Police. Soon enough, the island forgets it ever existed.When a young nov...

In this unsettling and original novel by one of Japan’s greatest writers, a young archivist finds himself caught up in sinister events at the Museum of Silence.A young curator takes a new job in a remote town working at the Museum of Silence. The museum’s owner has amassed a large collection of unusual artefacts over the course of her long life: each one was stolen from a local person just after their death and each one tells the story of their true nature....

Fully awaken to your potential Buddhahood through the innovative guidance, exercises, and personal reflections of one of contemporary Buddhism's most experienced teachers.When we deeply experience the Absolute, we are transformed by a profound, life-changing Awakening. But what happens after this realization? How do we embody and sustain it? Buddhist tradition has little to support our ongoing assimilation of these intense experiences—until now.Stephen Muge...

"This exceptional book combines penetrating psychological analysis with profound spiritual wisdom"—Rick Hanson, PhD, author of Buddha's Brain and NeurodharmaGuided by one of contemporary Buddhism's most experienced teachers, rigorously explore and deconstruct your concept of self to reach the path of freedom—living your true nature as one with the Absolute.In Li...

Green living begins at home, and New Green Home Solutions tells you how. Most of the energy-derived pollution we produce comes as a direct result of our homes - how we heat them, how we cool them, how we keep them well-lit and full of things that make our lives so comfortable. The good news is that we have tremendous power to create change. Renewable energy design, better insulation and more efficient appliances could reduce energy demands by 60 to 80 percent. By embracing conservation and...

On sleepless nights, I open the matchbox and reread the story of the girl who gathered shooting stars.'Beguiling' New YorkerAfter the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her life.While the 1970s transform Japan, her uncle's magnificent colonial mansion is a place out of time; its sprawling gardens are eve...

A practical guide for a more relaxed and enjoyable legal career—authored by a retired lawyer and senior meditation teacher"This is the best book written about the value of mindfulness and meditation for lawyers, as well as others in high-stakes occupations." —Rick Hanson, Ph.D., author of Resilient and Buddha's BrainClient, firm, and court demands can feel unending. Truly relaxing seems impossible. Is there any hope? Yes! With help, you can practice law with ease.Yo...

"It's not just Murakami but also the shadow of Borges that hovers over this mesmerizing book... [and] one may detect a slight bow to the American macabre of E.A. Poe. Ogawa stands on the shoulders of giants, as another saying goes. But this collection may linger in your mind -- it does in mine -- as a delicious, perplexing, absorbing and somehow singular experience." -- Alan Cheuse, NPRSinister forces collide---and unite a host of desperat...

Can sex survive monogamy?Yes, once you understand how sexual emotions really work.This acclaimed, paradigm-shifting guide turns traditional sex therapy inside-out to reveal the hidden rules for great sex.Gentle, compassionate, and filled with compelling stories from Dr. Stephen Snyder’s thirty years as a sex therapist working with over 1,500 individuals and couples, Love Worth Making is essential reading for anyone hoping to keep sexual inspiration ...

In a crumbling, seaside hotel on the coast of Japan, quiet, seventeen-year-old Mari works the front desk as her mother fusses over the off-season customers. When, one night, they are forced to eject a prostitute and a middle-aged man from his room, Mari finds herself drawn to the man's voice, in what will become the first gesture of a long seduction.Mari begins to visit the mysterious man at his island home, and he initiates her into a dark realm of both pain and pleasure. As Mari'...