Imagine you get home one day… and waiting for you on your doorstep is a gift. It is wrapped beautifully, and inside is a notebook, its pages empty. There is no message. But its sender has a story to tell. About a secret. About the little girl you once were. About everything you know about your family. The gifts keep arriving. But when tragedy strikes – leaving your beloved only daughter fighting for her life – the person who has been sending the gifts will have no choice but to come forward. And to finally tell the truth… A heartbreakingly beautiful novel about motherhood, loss and family secrets, for fans of Kerry Fisher, Susan Lewis and Jodi Picoult. Readers are loving What Became of Us: ‘Heartfelt, beautifully written and left me sobbing. A truly remarkable read that I could not put down, I was hooked from the very first page.’ NetGalley Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Anna Mansell is truly one of my favourite writers… She writes with such emotion and flair that it’s impossible not to fall head over heels for her books. With raw characters and secrets being slowly unravelled, I struggled to put this book down. A true page turner.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘OMG… Wowzers, I couldn't get enough of it… A stunning read… One to remember.’ Nicki’s Book Blog ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘What an absolute heart-wrenching and emotional read. I truly didn’t see where the author was going with the plot, and it truly snuck up on me… A great storyline, and totally unexpected. This book will capture every emotion that you have, and it captivated me from page one. This book is unforgettable.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Anna Mansell is fast becoming one of my favourite authors and this book was the icing on the cake. I absolutely loved it. This was an excellent and at times heart wrenching story that pulled me right into it from the first page.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I can't say how much I loved this story!! Such a feel-good book. Had me hooked from the very beginning.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I absolutely LOVE this wonderfully enthralling story about family, motherhood and friendship… An absolutely unmissable read for me… I am in awe of the talent this author has for writing such absorbing and captivating stories and I confess to being tearful on more than one occasion… I recommend this novel as truly excellent, a 5* read in every possible way.’ NetGalley Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A really lovely read… Heartbreakingly emotive.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Another great read by Anna Mansell. She is fast becoming a favourite of mine… A heartfelt emotional page-turner.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This book really packs a punch. Lots of twists and turns.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I loved this story! The details are incredible and it flows smoothly from each character in this puzzle needed to be solved!… Truly had me reading until I learned the truth! Excellent!’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Fabulous. This book captures your heart… I got so engrossed in this story… Enjoy the ride: it’s a good one.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘My first book by Anna Mansell and will definitely not be my last. Beautifully written, emotional, moving and heart-wrenching. It totally captivated me.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A beautiful and emotion-filled book… The author never disappoints and always has me glued to my chair as well as to my box of tissues.’ B for Bookreview ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This book captures your heart and makes you feel all kinds of feelings. I finished this in just a few hours since I couldn't put it down. I just had to find out what happened.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Everything looked perfect. Sand - unique Baltic sand, the best in the world - and the calm sea. But wait. Something was amiss. Something was wrong" It starts with a day at the beach. A single white sock that somehow spoils everything. It's enough to send writer and ornithologist Stanislaw Lubienski on a quest to understand what we throw away, where it goes and whether it will be our legacy. By analysing items he unearths on his trips into nature - a plastic bottle, a tube of Russian penis-enlargement cream, a cigarette butt, an empty aerosol can - tracing their origins and explaining the harm they can do, he shows how consumer society has developed out of control, to the point of environmental catastrophe. He also looks with a birdwatcher's eye at how various animals have come to adapt to and even rely on our rubbish, and interrogates the cultural significance of waste and the origins of our throw-away lifestyles. Finally, he adds a personal touch by examining his own "environmental neurosis" and by going out with refuse crews to watch them work. While Lubienski never hectors his readers, nor shames them, his clear-eyed, persuasive and humble polemic reminds us what we, as individuals, can and cannot do to address an apocalyptic issue while there's still something worth saving. Translated from the Polish by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones
Thirty-seven-year-old John Morgan's personal life is already in disarray when he receives a phone call that his brother and niece are dead. His relationship with his father is nearly nonexistent, he barely speaks to his sister, and he has no real friends to lean on. As the tragic news slowly begins to sink in, John realizes he is floating aimlessly in the middle of an unpredictable sea of emotions with no one to rescue him. Lost in his childhood memories, regrets, and grief, John begins to reevaluate his life, his relationships, and why he has trouble connecting with and even loving others. As he attempts to regain the happiness that was stolen from him when his father rejected him over his writing, John begins a painstaking journey to climb out of the depths of despair. But it is only a matter of time before his past catches up with him and forces him to face all of the realities in his life. In this compelling tale that movingly illustrates the devastating effects of a dysfunctional family, John must learn to change what he can, accept what he cannot, and make the difficult decision to leave some things behind.
What We Leave Behind is a piercing, impassioned guide to living a truly responsible life on earth. Human waste, once considered a gift to the soil, has become toxic material that has broken the essential cycle of decay and regeneration. Here, award-winning author Derrick Jensen and activist Aric McBay weave historical analysis and devastatingly beautiful prose to remind us that life—human and nonhuman—will not go on unless we do everything we can to facilitate the most basic process on earth, the root of sustainability: one being's waste must always become another being’s food.
This open access book focuses on a particular but significant topic in the social sciences: the concepts of “footprint” and “trace”. It associates these concepts with hotly debated topics such as surveillance capitalism and knowledge society. The editors and authors discuss the concept footprints and traces as unintended by-products of other (differently focused and oriented) actions that remain empirically imprinted in virtual and real spaces. The volume therefore opens new scenarios for social theory and applied social research in asking what the stakes, risks and potential of this approach are. It systematically raises and addresses these questions within a consistent framework, bringing together a heterogeneous group of international social scientists. Given the multifaceted objectives involved in exploring footprints and traces, the volume discusses heuristic aspects and ethical dimensions, scientific analyses and political considerations, empirical perspectives and theoretical foundations. At the same time, it brings together perspectives from cultural analysis and social theory, communication and Internet studies, big-data informed research and computational social science. This innovative volume is of interest to a broad interdisciplinary readership: sociologists, communication researchers, Internet scholars, anthropologists, cognitive and behavioral scientists, historians, and epistemologists, among others.
It is now clear that human activity has influenced how the biosphere supports life on Earth, and given rise to a set of connected environmental and social problems. In response to the challenge that these problems present, a series of international conferences and summits led to discussions of sustainable development and the core dilemma of our time: How can we all live well, now and in the future, without compromising the ability of the planet to enable us all to live well? This book identifies the main issues and challenges we now face; it explains the ideas that underpin them and their interconnection, and discusses a range of strategies through which they might be addressed and possibly resolved. These cover things that governments might do, what businesses and large organisations can contribute, and the scope for individuals, families and communities to get involved. This book is for everyone who cares about such challenges, and wants to know more about them.
The Stories We Leave Behind is a legacy-based approach to dealing with our stuff and preserving our stories. Rather than asking which items we can live without, The Stories We Leave Behind asks: 1. How do I want to be remembered? 2. What stories tell that legacy? 3. What stuff highlights those stories? In the process you'll highlight items that tell a legacy story, identify valuable stuff that may be overlooked, minimize challenging decisions for loved ones, and reclaim space, time, and energy for you. What stories will you leave behind?
Diane picked up her mother's phone. "How do you feel about your mother being let out of prison today after sixty-five years?" the reporter asked. Diane stared at her mother. "My grandmother is alive?" That one phone call hurled shock waves throughout the entire family.1955 - Anna Bergman Craine's life changes in an instant when she commits a crime of passion and is sentenced to life in prison. Leaving behind two young children, she is left alone in the world, never to hear from family or friends again. Decades later, she is set free and finds she has a family that has chosen to forget her. What caused this beautiful, intelligent, young woman to commit such a drastic deed that would pull her away from everyone she loved?2020 - Diane Martin is shocked to learn that not only is her maternal grandmother alive, but she's just been released after decades in prison. Against her aging mother's wishes, she visits the older woman and soon hears a tale of the events that led up to that tragic day in 1955. Diane realizes that her own life has mirrored that of her grandmother's and, had circumstances gone differently that fateful day, she might have experienced the same fate.A heart-wrenching story of a family torn apart because of a moment in time and trying to put the pieces back together after being separated for decades.
An anthology of stories, poems, essays, biblical passages, hymns, and songs celebrates the life of Jesus Christ, in a collection that features contributions from Shakespeare, Gandhi, Dickens, Desmond Tutu, and others.
Did you know God has a secret place? He does, and he wants you to learn the way into the secret place of the Most High. In "Are We There Yet?" Sarah Ramsey uncovers an ancient path in the Tabernacle of Moses that reveals the pattern into God's presence. Though the journey is simple, many people do not know how to get there. Let's make the journey together! It is simply not possible to take this journey incrementally and progressively and not 'get there'; our arrival being understood as a renewed sense and awareness of God's own manifested presence...After having read Sarah's book, the sense of the manifest presence of the Lord has increased in a way that I have long desired. Sarah really does take you there. Bob and Judith Mumford, International Bible teacher and author In a time when mankind has apparently lost his mooring to anything steadfast and absolute, "Are We There Yet?" comes along. Every Christian worker serious about their service for the gospel should add this foundational work to their library. Joe McGee, President Joe McGee Ministries Faith For Families Our hope and trust is that this in-depth examination of the pathway into the presence of God will inspire many to begin and complete this valuable journeya "and then to abide in His presence. Dick Leggatt, President Derek Prince Ministries Sarah has a contagious love for Christ and His presence and walks intimately with Him. Her personal prayer life is honored and emulated by others. Pastor Eddie Turner, First Assembly of God, Cookeville, Tennessee"
Ecclesiastes is a persuasive speech with a rhetoric so unique that it can be easily misunderstood. It speaks powerfully to believers as well as nonbelievers because it addresses the question of the meaning of life in the most satisfying way. The heart of this book is an expositional commentary that interprets Ecclesiastes as authoritative Scripture. It seeks to recover the rhetoric of the speech in terms of its comprehensive message on the meaning of life as well as its compelling force to get the message across. Preceding the expositional commentary is an introduction to Ecclesiastes that presents a new approach to outlining and reading Ecclesiastes as a coherent speech. It also presents an overview of the “forest”—the overall rhetorical flow of the speech from beginning to end. This is to prevent one from getting lost when immersed in the “trees” of the expositional commentary. Following the expositional commentary are two topical studies to give Ecclesiastes the breadth and depth of coverage it deserves. The first is an interdisciplinary exposition on the meaning of life. The second is an interpretive essay to defend exegetically the interpretation of Ecclesiastes as a coherent speech.
Mit einem Vorwort von Oprah Winfrey Mit dem Gedicht »The Hill We Climb – Den Hügel hinauf«, das Amanda Gorman am 20. Januar 2021 bei der Inauguration des 46. Präsidenten der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, Joe Biden, vortrug, schenkte eine junge Lyrikerin den Menschen auf der ganzen Welt eine einzigartige Botschaft der Hoffnung und Zuversicht. Am 20. Januar 2021 wurde die erst zweiundzwanzigjährige Amanda Gorman zur sechsten und jüngsten Dichterin, die bei der Vereidigung eines US-amerikanischen Präsidenten ein Gedicht vortrug. »The Hill We Climb – Den Hügel hinauf« ist jetzt in der autorisierten zweisprachigen Fassung als kommentierte Sonderausgabe erhältlich.
