An Essay on "A Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi

      John R. Mortimer
     An Essay on

Using the combined Philosophy of Zen, Shinto and Confucianism, this book can be applied not just to Martial Arts but all areas of life. The book demonstrates you have to be committed completely to all the areas of life that you participate in.Nowadays life is not so simple that we can pursue just one way at a time. We are taught at school so many different ways that we cannot live in just one singular vision and give all our body and mind to just one aim. Today we have to work and pursue social lives out of work time and still try to fulfil aims and be satisfied within. We all can’t get to the top, but be assured the top can’t survive without other levels. They are no better and no worse. We don’t all have natural abilities and many have to work harder and in different ways to achieve their aims and obtain as high a level as is possible and therefore be satisfied they have achieved what they can.

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    The End of Imagination

      Arundhati Roy
     The End of Imagination

The End of Imagination brings together five of Arundhati Roy's acclaimed books of essays into one comprehensive volume for the first time and features a new introduction by the author. This new collection begins with her pathbreaking book The Cost of Livingpublished soon after she won the Booker Prize for her novel The God of Small Thingsin which she forcefully condemned India s nuclear tests and its construction of enormous dam projects that continue to displace countless people from their homes and communities. The End of Imagination also includes her nonfiction works Power Politics, War Talk, Public Power in the Age of Empire, and An Ordinary Person s Guide to Empire, which include her widely circulated and inspiring writings on the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the need to confront corporate power, and the hollowing out of democratic institutions globally."

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    Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town

      Jon Krakauer
     Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town

From bestselling author Jon Krakauer, a stark, powerful, meticulously reported narrative about a series of sexual assaults at the University of Montana ­— stories that illuminate the human drama behind the national plague of campus rape Missoula, Montana, is a typical college town, with a highly regarded state university, bucolic surroundings, a lively social scene, and an excellent football team — the Grizzlies — with a rabid fan base. The Department of Justice investigated 350 sexual assaults reported to the Missoula police between January 2008 and May 2012. Few of these assaults were properly handled by either the university or local authorities. In this, Missoula is also typical. A DOJ report released in December of 2014 estimates 110,000 women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four are raped each year. Krakauer’s devastating narrative of what happened in Missoula makes clear why rape is so prevalent on American campuses, and why rape victims are so reluctant to report assault. Acquaintance rape is a crime like no other. Unlike burglary or embezzlement or any other felony, the victim often comes under more suspicion than the alleged perpetrator. This is especially true if the victim is sexually active; if she had been drinking prior to the assault — and if the man she accuses plays on a popular sports team. The vanishingly small but highly publicized incidents of false accusations are often used to dismiss her claims in the press. If the case goes to trial, the woman’s entire personal life becomes fair game for defense attorneys. This brutal reality goes a long way towards explaining why acquaintance rape is the most underreported crime in America. In addition to physical trauma, its victims often suffer devastating psychological damage that leads to feelings of shame, emotional paralysis and stigmatization. PTSD rates for rape victims are estimated to be 50%, higher than soldiers returning from war. In Missoula, Krakauer chronicles the searing experiences of several women in Missoula — the nights when they were raped; their fear and self-doubt in the aftermath; the way they were treated by the police, prosecutors, defense attorneys; the public vilification and private anguish; their bravery in pushing forward and what it cost them. Some of them went to the police. Some declined to go to the police, or to press charges, but sought redress from the university, which has its own, non-criminal judicial process when a student is accused of rape. In two cases the police agreed to press charges and the district attorney agreed to prosecute. One case led to a conviction; one to an acquittal. Those women courageous enough to press charges or to speak publicly about their experiences were attacked in the media, on Grizzly football fan sites, and/or to their faces. The university expelled three of the accused rapists, but one was reinstated by state officials in a secret proceeding. One district attorney testified for an alleged rapist at his university hearing. She later left the prosecutor’s office and successfully defended the Grizzlies’ star quarterback in his rape trial. The horror of being raped, in each woman’s case, was magnified by the mechanics of the justice system and the reaction of the community. Krakauer’s dispassionate, carefully documented account of what these women endured cuts through the abstract ideological debate about campus rape. College-age women are not raped because they are promiscuous, or drunk, or send mixed signals, or feel guilty about casual sex, or seek attention. They are the victims of a terrible crime and deserving of compassion from society and fairness from a justice system that is clearly broken. 

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    Slammerkin

      Emma Donoghue
     Slammerkin

Mary Saunders, a lower-class London schoolgirl, was born into rough cloth but hungered for lace and the trappings of a higher station than her family would ever know. In 18th-century England, Mary's shrewd instincts will get her only so far, and she despairs of the plans made for her to carve out a trade as a seamstress or a maid. Unwilling to bend to such a destiny, Mary strikes out on a painful, fateful journey all her own. Inspired by the obscure historical figure Mary Saunders, Slammerkin is a provocative, graphic tale and a rich feast of an historical novel. Author Emma Donoghue probes the gap between a young girl's quest for freedom and a better life and the shackles that society imposes on her. "Never give up your liberty."

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    Abnormal Occurrences: Short Stories

      Thomas Berger
     Abnormal Occurrences: Short Stories

A dozen remarkable short stories from the author of Little Big Man, offering an absurdist journey through the mind of one of America’s great storytellers Thomas Berger’s first short story collection in almost thirty years showcases the author’s acclaimed wit, intellect, and emotional sureness. His pages teem with larger-than-life characters: Dr. Poon, a Hollywood snake handler in way over his head during a film shoot in Southeast Asia; Charlie, an apartment superintendent who finds a peculiarly powerful plastic pistol; and Vernon, the confused owner of a talking puppy. No matter where Berger takes his readers, his world is full of oddities. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Thomas Berger including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. 

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    Never Let You Go

      Chevy Stevens
     Never Let You Go

Eleven years ago, Lindsey Nash escaped into the night with her young daughter and left an abusive relationship. Her ex-husband, Andrew, was sent to jail and Lindsey started over with a new life. Now, Lindsey is older and wiser, with her own business and a teenage daughter who needs her more than ever. When Andrew is finally released from prison, Lindsey believes she has cut all ties and left the past behind her. But she gets the sense that someone is watching her, tracking her every move. Her new boyfriend is threatened. Her home is invaded, and her daughter is shadowed. Lindsey is convinced it's her ex-husband, even though he claims he's a different person. But has he really changed? Is the one who wants her dead closer to home than she thought?

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    Disappeared

      Francisco X. Stork
     Disappeared

Four months ago: Sara Zapata’s best friend disappeared, kidnapped by the web of criminals who terrorize Juàrez. Four weeks ago: Her brother, Emiliano, fell in love with Perla Rubi, a girl whose family is as rich as her name. Four hours ago: Sara received a death threat…and her first clue her friend’s location. Four minutes ago: Emiliano was offered a way into Perla Rubi’s world—if he betrays his own. In the next four days, Sara and Emiliano will each face impossible choices, between life and justice, friends and family, truth and love. But when the criminals come after Sara, only one path remains for both the siblings: the way across the desert to the United States.

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    Ballet Shoes for Anna (Essential Modern Classics)

      Noel Streatfeild
     Ballet Shoes for Anna (Essential Modern Classics)

Having lost their parents in an earthquake, Anna and her siblings live with their prim uncle and feeble aunt. Anna lives only to dance – but her uncle forbids her to have anything to do with ballet. How will she survive? For Anna, everything takes second place to her burning desire to dance. Even the earthquake that destroyed her Turkish home has not made her think differently, only now she's stuck in a prim suburban household with an uncle who "doesn't approve" of dancing. What can Anna do? Not only is there no one to give her lessons, but there's no money for them either, and, anyway, dancing's forbidden. Will she ever become the ballerina she longs to be?

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    Uninvited Strangers

      Jae Loren
     Uninvited Strangers

Book I. Uninvited Strangers;When a game of catch-ball suddenly goes wrong, Oliver wakes up in a place unlike any other.Soon his mind recalls the young blonde girl who would tell stories in the classroom. Alice said it was always tea time with the Hatter, but looking at the man on the opposite side of the table, Oliver was sincerely beginning to believe he had come down the wrong rabbit hole."Oh, that's just the dog lady. Ignore her, she's harmless." This is said often about Annabelle Carson, the "Dog Lady". And most of the time it's true. Annabelle prefers the company of dogs to people, and simply wants to live out her days in peace.Even when her house is broken into by a pair of mistaken criminals, she is brutally beaten, and most of her possessions destroyed, Annabelle simply wants to be left alone.But when the intruders harm her beloved pet dog, Annabelle grows angry. And the Dog Lady has a lot of friends.(This is my first attempt at a horror story, please be gentle Hahaha, if it's deemed acceptable, I may attempt another)

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    Neither Good Nor Bad: How Prometheus Stole Fire for Humankind

      Lowell Uda
     Neither Good Nor Bad: How Prometheus Stole Fire for Humankind

In this retelling of a Greek myth, the author explores and comments on the human character and condition through the story of how the Titan Prometheus so loved the creatures he had created that he stole fire from the gods and gave it to them to further their intellectual and technological development and the development of civilization. But was there a price to pay, for Prometheus and us?After exploring the human character and condition through the retelling a number of Polynesian myths and legends in Under the Hala Tree: Twice Told Polynesian Myths and Legends, the author found himself returning to the Greek myths, legends and fables that inspired his childhood and so much of Western literature. In this retelling of a Greek myth, he explores and comments on the human character and condition through the story of how the Titan Prometheus so loved the creatures he had created that he stole fire from the gods and gave it to them to further their intellectual and technological development and the development of civilization. But was there a price to pay, for Prometheus and us?

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    Alice (a short story)

      David Elvar
     Alice (a short story)

Alice lives with her husband, who sometimes subjects her to the occasional bout of violence. After the latest attack, something is unlocked inside her...A Short Story of approx 2,400 words.Time travel has always been a subject left to fiction writers and movie makers. The concept is arbitrary at best and to many it is incomprehensible. Froth with paradox, the subject of time travel simply put is mind boggling.World population exceeded seven billion On March 12, 2012. Assuming a moderate population growth of 1% annually, world population numbers a mere five hundred years later will exceed one trillion people. If you think the government isn't aware of this you should perhaps remove your head from the sand.In the very near future, wars will be fought, not for the purpose of gaining political control, not to seize control of natural resources, but for the sole purpose of reducing the population of our planet. Citizens of this world are unaware that governments are even now considering annihilation of the masses by using nuclear weapons on their own population.Time travel has always been a subject left to fiction writers and movie makers but maybe the origins of life and the sustaining of life in our universe have more in common with time travel than you think.

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