As one of the finest holdings of Indian art in the West, the Kronos Collections are particularly distinguished for paintings made between the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries for the Indian royal courts in Rajasthan and the Punjab Hills. These outstanding works, many of which are published and illustrated here for the first time, are characterized by their brilliant colors and vivid, powerful depictions of scenes from Hindu epics, mystical legends, and courtly life. They also present a new way of seeking the divine through a form of personal devotion—known as bhakti—that had permeated India’s Hindu community. While explaining the gods, demons, lovers, fantastical creatures, and mystical symbols that are central to literature and worship, this publication celebrates the diverse styles and traditions of Indian painting. Divine Pleasures features an informative entry for each work and two essays by scholar Terence McInerney that together outline the history of Indian painting and the Rajput courts, providing fresh insights and interpretations. Also included are a personal essay by expert and collector Steven M. Kossak and an examination of Hindu epic and myth in Mughal painting, which lays important foundations for Rajput painting, by curator Navina Najat Haidar. Through their research and observations, the authors deepen our understanding and underscore the significance of Indian painting. Divine Pleasures presents a nuanced view of a way of life intimately tied to the seasons, the arts, and the divine.

The author of Desiring God reveals the biblical evidence to help us see and savor what the pleasures of God show us about Him. Includes a study guide for individual and small-group use. Isn’t it true—we really don’t know someone until we understand what makes that person happy? And so it is with God! What does bring delight to the happiest Being in the universe? John Piper writes, that it’s only when we know what makes God glad that we’ll know the greatness of His glory. Therefore, we must comprehend “the pleasures of God.” Unlike so much of what is written today, this is not a book about us. It is about the One we were made for—God Himself. In this theological masterpiece—chosen by World Magazine as one of the 20th Century’s top 100 books, John Piper reveals the biblical evidence to help us see and savor what the pleasures of God show us about Him. Then we will be able to drink deeply—and satisfyingly—from the only well that offers living water. What followers of Jesus need now, more than anything else, is to know and love—behold and embrace—the great, glorious, sovereign, happy God of the Bible. “This is a unique and precious book that everybody should read more than once.” —J.I. PACKER, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia

Forced into a marriage of convenience with a dissolute older lord, beautiful, innocent Lady Genelle Tisne has little knowledge of true passion. When she finds herself the prime suspect in the murder of her husband, she hires enigmatic private investigator Rulan Roak and is swept into a secret world of forbidden temptations and sensual abandon where every seduction has its pleasures and its price.

Find the Source of True Satisfaction This study companion to the DVD version of The Pleasures of God--the landmark book by John Piper--will help individuals and groups answer the question, “What brings delight to the happiest Being in the universe?” Because it’s by knowing what makes God glad that we can drink deeply—and satisfyingly—from the only well that offers living water. The DVD and this guide create an ideal package for adult and youth Sunday school classes, small groups, retreats, classrooms, families, as well as for individual study. Topics for this 12-session (or alternative 6-session intensive track), guided study include: The Worth and Excellency of God’s Soul, Our Pleasure in God’s Well-Placed Pleasures, God’s Pleasure in His Eternal Son, God’s Pleasure in the Display of His Glory, God’s Pleasure in All That He Does, God’s Pleasure in All of Creation, God’s Pleasure in Election, God’s Pleasure in Bruising His Son, and more. Complete with Scripture, key quotations for reflection, penetrating questions, and five daily assignments per week, this study guide will help reveal that what followers of Jesus need now, more than anything else, is to know and love—behold and embrace—the great, glorious, sovereign, happy God of the Bible. Leader’s Guide Included

From the bestselling, award-winning author of The Buddha in the Attic and The Swimmers, this commanding debut novel paints a portrait of the Japanese American incarceration camps that is both a haunting evocation of a family in wartime and a resonant lesson for our times. On a sunny day in Berkeley, California, in 1942, a woman sees a sign in a post office window, returns to her home, and matter-of-factly begins to pack her family's possessions. Like thousands of other Japanese Americans they have been reclassified, virtually overnight, as enemy aliens and are about to be uprooted from their home and sent to a dusty incarceration camp in the Utah desert. In this lean and devastatingly evocative first novel, Julie Otsuka tells their story from five flawlessly realized points of view and conveys the exact emotional texture of their experience: the thin-walled barracks and barbed-wire fences, the omnipresent fear and loneliness, the unheralded feats of heroism. When the Emperor Was Divine is a work of enormous power that makes a shameful episode of our history as immediate as today's headlines.

You know how to enjoy friends and family, good food, and good times, but do you enjoy being a Christian? Author Sam Storms presents a fresh and liberating perspective on why a relationship with God is not only possible but also irresistibly pleasurable. Once you discover that God delights in your company, your desire for Him will only be satisfied by drawing closer to His unquenchable love through a life of passionate service.

How did ancient philosophers understand the relationship between human capacities for thinking and our experiences of pleasure and pain?

DIVHere’s an ultimate portrait of a loving Father, one to whom we can come for a fresh supply of truth and beauty, day by day. 6623/div