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Dance your way to the magical world of Enchantia in the delightful fourth series of Magic Ballerina by Darcey Bussell!

'Sure I'm serious,' says Ian Crittenden, a poet certain that the satirist's task is to both annoy and entertain. 'But I'm not that serious. With Australia a land of unending targets including its poets and myself, well wouldn't you?'Alan WearneIf memory is cognition, then the memory of these poems will be cognate with greatness: Popean, Swiftian, a mighty map of moral misprision.Harold BloomSoil of Myself is the second greatest work of verse satire this country has ever produced.Trey PanningIan Crittenden was born in London in 1963 and emigrated with his family to Australia in 1969, initially settling in Western Australia's Avon Valley. He currently divides his time between Quorrobolong and Quirindi in the Hunter Valley of NSW where he works as a soil scientist on mine remediation projects. Three of his poems have been shortlisted for the Newcastle Poetry Prize. This is his first collection.

"Dazzling. . . . In glittering prose, Momaday recalls stories passed down through generations, illuminating the earth as a sacrosanct place of wonder and abundance. At once a celebration and a warning, Earth Keeper is an impassioned defense of all that our endangered planet stands to lose." ? EsquireA magnificent testament to the earth, from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet N. Scott Momaday.One of the most distinguished voices in American letters, N. Scott Momaday has devoted much of his life to celebrating and preserving Native American culture, especially its oral tradition. A member of the Kiowa tribe, Momaday was born in Lawton, Oklahoma and grew up on Navajo, Apache, and Peublo reservations throughout the Southwest. It is a part of the earth he knows well and loves deeply.In Earth Keeper, he reflects on his native ground and its influence on his people. ?When I think about my life and the lives of my ancestors," he writes, "I am inevitably led to the conviction that I, and they, belong to the American land. This is a declaration of belonging. And it is an offering to the earth.? In this wise and wonderous work, Momaday shares stories and memories throughout his life, stories that have been passed down through generations, stories that reveal a profound spiritual connection to the American landscape and reverence for the natural world. He offers an homage and a warning. He shows us that the earth is a sacred place of wonder and beauty, a source of strength and healing that must be honored and protected before it's too late. As he so eloquently and simply reminds us, we must all be keepers of the earth.

Demons are real . . . and they are everywhereWe may not be able to see them, but they are all around us. Smoke and shadows, ghoulish features or lifelike forms, they are the demons, or what Rachel Stavis calls “entities,” that surround us, or even attach themselves to our bodies, feeding off our fears and our negative energy. As an exorcist without religious affiliation, Rachel has found herself at the crux of the spiritual crossroads of thousands of clients—all of whom she’s been able to save by ridding them of their emotional and physical pain, and getting at the root causes of why they are so vulnerable to attack.Sister of Darkness is Rachel’s story—how she discovered her gift for communicating with the spirit world and how she learned to accept it and use it to help those in need, from small children to powerful people from all walks of life. Rachel takes us on a journey into an unseen world, describes the diverse range of entities that surround us, the Spirit Guides and Ancient Ancestors that come to her aid to reveal the root causes of pain, and what you can do to protect yourself from creating a hospitable environment.A unique look at demonology removed from religious dogma, Sister of Darkness creates a world that is at times frightening, eye-opening, and utterly enthralling.

An indelible epistolary portrait of Harper Lee, one of the most beloved authors in the canon of American literature.The violent racism of the American South drove Wayne Flynt away from his home state of Alabama, but the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee's classic novel about courage, community, and equality, inspired him to return in the early 1960s and craft a career documenting and teaching Alabama history. His writing resonated with many Alabamians, in particular three sisters: Louise, Alice, and Nelle Harper Lee. The two families first met in 1983, and a mutual respect and affection for the state's history and literature matured into a deep friendship among them. Wayne Flynt and Nelle Harper Lee began writing to each other while she was living in New York?heartfelt, insightful, and humorous letters in which they swapped stories, information, and opinions on topics, including their families, books, social values, health concerns, and even their fears and accomplishments. Though their earliest missives began formally??Dear Dr. Flynt??as the years passed, their exchanges became more intimate and emotional, opening with ?Dear Friend? and closing with ?I love you, Nelle.? This is a remarkable compendium of a correspondence that lasted for a quarter century?until Harper Lee's death in February 2016?and it offers an incisive and compelling look into the mind, heart, and work of one of the most admired authors in modern literary history.

Francis I was inconstant, amorous, hotheaded, and flawed. Yet he was also arguably the most significant king ever to rule France. This is his story.Leonie Frieda, the author of the bestselling Catherine de Medici, tells the extraordinary tale of King Francis of France, Catherine's father-in-law and the man who turned France into a great nation. Francis saw himself as the first Renaissance king. A man who was the exemplar of courtly and civilized behavior throughout France and Europe, he was also a courageous and heroic warrior, a keen aesthete, an accomplished diplomat, and an energetic ruler who transformed his country to be a force to be reckoned with.But he was also capricious, vain, and arrogant, taking hugely unnecessary risks, at least one of which nearly resulted in the end of his kingdom. His great feud with his nemesis Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, defined European diplomacy and sovereignty, but his notorious alliance with the great Ottoman ruler Suleiman threatened to destroy everything. With access to never-before-seen private archives, Leonie Frieda delivers a comprehensive and sympathetic account that explores the life of the man who was the most human of all the Renaissance monarchs?and the most enigmatic.

Instead of helping in the aftermath of loss, many of the books and strategies meant to guide us through grief only add to the sadness. No one understands the need for a new approach more than Michelle Steinke-Baumgard, who lost her husband in a tragic plane accident and became a widow overnight. In the darkest moment of her life, the mother of two young children found solace and hope in the unlikeliest of places: exercise. She recorded her journey in her blog, One Fit Widow, and soon had a huge community of devoted followers. Now, Michelle offers her revolutionary solution to grief to everyone struggling with their own loss.Healthy Healing addresses the physical, mental, and emotional effects of grief in a way that no other book in the category has ever done, offering a 12-week plan that empowers you to work through loss by using the power of exercise and endorphins, and rediscovering happiness by strengthening body, mind and spirit through fitness. And the benefits don't end there: Exercise helps with poor sleep?a common side effect of trauma?and proper nutrition boosts immunity and fuels you through a busy, stressful time. Michelle dispels common myths about grief and replaces them with relatable advice and actionable inspiration, including:• Starting with baby steps such as taking a walk or being in nature• Learning to be comfortable with alone time and rediscovering your strength• Pairing your exact circumstances with the right form of exercise, whether it's gentle yoga to release trapped sadness or intense kickboxing to work through anger• Embracing community and surrounding yourself with support This book is an exercise plan, nutrition guide, and, most importantly, a compassionate companion during the most difficult time in your life. With Healthy Healing, you'll learn how to channel your pain into something productive?and use tragedy as a catalyst for inspired change.

“This is something I know: no matter how far you have run, no matter how long you have been lost, it is never too late to be found.”Three years ago, Madison Culver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. She would be eight years old now—if she has survived. Desperate to find their beloved daughter, the Culvers turn to Naomi, a private investigator with an uncanny talent for locating the lost and missing. Known to the police and a select group of parents as “the child finder,” Naomi is the Culvers’ last hope.Naomi’s methodical search takes her deep into the icy, mysterious forest in the Pacific Northwest, and into her own fragmented past. She understands children like Madison because once upon a time, she, too, was a lost girl.As Naomi relentlessly pursues and slowly uncovers the truth behind Madison’s disappearance, shards of a dark dream pierce the defenses that have protected her, reminding her of a terrible loss she feels but cannot remember. If she finds Madison, will Naomi ultimately unlock the secrets of her own life?Told in the alternating voices of Naomi and a deeply imaginative child, The Child Finder is a breathtaking, deeply atmospheric, and exquisitely rendered literary page-turner.

Jim Crace's imaginative first book?seven linked stories?now available in deluxe paperback as part of Ecco's The Art of the Story seriesJim Crace's internationally acclaimed Continent explores the tribes and communities, conflicts and superstitions, flora and fauna of a wholly spellbinding place: an imaginary seventh continent. In these seven tales Crace travels through strange and wonderful landscapes: ?Talking Skull? takes the reader to a tiny agrarian village renowned for the sexually charged, mystical milk of its calves; ?Electricity? introduces a remote region where a monumental ceiling fan changes an entire town's attitude toward modernization. From acacia scrubland to a city bazaar jammed with vegetable stalls, tourists, and beggars, Crace's invented world is as fabulous as it is eerily familiar.

Feminism is broken, argues Laura Kipnis. Anyone who thinks the sexual hysteria overtaking American campuses is a sign of gender progress is deranged. A committed feminist, Kipnis was surprised to find herself the object of a protest march by student activists at her university for writing an essay about sexual paranoia on campus. Next she was brought up on Title IX complaints for creating a ?hostile environment.? Defying confidentiality strictures, she wrote a whistle-blowing essay about the ensuing seventy-two-day investigation, which propelled her to the center of national debates over free speech, ?safe spaces,? and the vast federal overreach of Title IX.In the process, she uncovered an astonishing netherworld of accused professors and students, campus witch hunts, rigged investigations, and Title IX officers run amok. Then a trove of revealing documents fell into her lap, plunging her behind the scenes in an especially controversial case. Drawing on investigative reporting, cultural analysis, and her own experiences, Kipnis demonstrates the chilling effect of this new sexual McCarthyism on intellectual freedom. Without minimizing the seriousness of campus assault, she argues for more honesty about the sexual realities and ambivalences hidden behind the notion of ?rape culture.? Instead, regulation is replacing education, and women's right to be treated as consenting adults is being repealed by well-meaning bureaucrats.Unwanted Advances is a risk-taking, often darkly funny interrogation of feminist paternalism, the covert sexual conservatism of hookup culture, and the institutionalized backlash of holding men alone responsible for mutually drunken sex. It's not just compulsively readable; it will change the national conversation.

What shelter dogs need is obvious?a home. But how do we find all those homes? That question sends bestselling writer and lifelong dog lover Amy Sutherland on a quest to find the answers in her own volunteer work and beyond. The result is an unforgettable and inspiring trip through the world of homeless dogs and the people who work so hard to save them.Rescuing Penny Jane introduces readers to dogs like Alfred, a loony, gorilla-sized Goldendoodle, intent on jumping on absolutely everyone at the shelter; Rugby, the crippled pit bull?mix puppy who was found abandoned on a roadside; and Brody, an overly exuberant and misunderstood German shepherd mix. Then there are the author's own adopted dogs: Penny Jane, the terribly skittish stray from a Maine farm who repeatedly pushes Amy's patience to its limits; and Walter Joe, who acts like a rabid dog in the shelter only to become a marshmallow in his new home. She also delves into the history of rescue dogs, like Sido, the sheltie mix who inspired the no-kill movement; Sadie, the Civil War dog who braved Gettysburg; and Bummer and Lazarus, San Francisco's famous nineteenth-century stray dogs.Through conversations with leading shelter directors, researchers, trainers, adoption counselors, and caretakers across the country, Sutherland offers a nuanced, fully informed picture of the rescue world, along with its challenges, champions, and triumphs. Rich, moving, and at times laugh-out-loud funny, Rescuing Penny Jane ultimately explores what it is to be a Canis lupus familiaris and what it is to be a Homo sapien.

Ted Hughes, Poet Laureate, was one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. He was one of Britains most important poets, his work infused with myth; a love of nature, conservation, and ecology; of fishing and beasts in brooding landscapes.With an equal gift for poetry and prose, and with a soul as capacious as any poet in history, he was also a prolific childrens writer and has been hailed as the greatest English letter-writer since John Keats. His magnetic personality and insatiable appetite for friendship, love, and life also attracted more scandal than any poet since Lord Byron. His lifelong quest to come to terms with the suicide of his first wife, Sylvia Plath, is the saddest and most infamous moment in the public history of modern poetry.Hughes left behind a more complete archive of notes and journals than any other major poet, including thousands of pages of drafts, unpublished poems, and memorandum books that make up an almost complete record of Hughess inner life, which he preserved for posterity. Renowned scholar Jonathan Bate has spent five years in the Hughes archives, unearthing a wealth of new material. His book offers, for the first time, the full story of Hughess life as it was lived, remembered, and reshaped in his art. It is a book that honors, though not uncritically, Hughess poetry and the art of life-writing, approached by his biographer with an honesty answerable to Hughess own.

?A startlingly frank look at the life of one of our generation's most prominent operatic stars.??Associated PressIn Call Me Debbie, internationally renowned opera singer Deborah Voigt describes her journey to become one of the world's most celebrated artists and also discusses her private battles with addictions to food and alcohol, and a myriad of other self-destructive tendencies that nearly destroyed her.Voigt reveals here the troubling sequence of addictive behavior that led to her being fired from a London opera production for being too large to fit into the ?little black dress? demanded by the role, and her subsequent gastric bypass surgery and its dramatic aftermath. She speaks openly of the ?cross-addiction? that led to severe alcoholism, frightening all-night blackouts, and suicide attempts. Here, too, is the story of how she achieved complete sobriety, thanks to a twelve-step program and a recommitment to her Christian faith.Highlighting hilarious anecdotes and juicy gossip about what really goes on backstage, Voigt talks candidly about the impresarios, singers, and conductors with whom she's worked and offers fascinating insight into the roles she has played and the characters she loves.Complete with eight pages of color photographs, Call Me Debbie is an inspirational story that offers a unique look into the life of an incredible artist.

Grounded in place, spanning the Civil War to the present day, the stories in I Was a Revolutionary capture the roil of history through the eyes of an unforgettable cast of characters: the visionaries and dreamers, the radical farmers and socialist journalists, the quack doctors and protesters who haunt the past and present landscape of the American heartland.In these stories, each set in the author's home state of Kansas, Andrew Malan Milward traces how we live amid the inconvenient ghosts of history. "The Burning of Lawrence" vibrates with the raw terror of a town pillaged by pro-Confederate raiders. "O Death" recalls the harrowing, desperate journey of the exodusters?African-American migrants who came to Kansas to escape oppression in the South. And, in the collection's haunting title piece, a professor of Kansas history surveys his decades-long slide from radicalism to complacency, a shift that parallels the landscape around him.Using his own home state as a prism through which to view both a nation's history and our own universal battles as individuals, Milward has created a fresh and complex new palimpsest of the American experience.