What happens when a liberal, free-spirited, modern American girl goes on a spiritual quest into structured, disciplined, traditional Japanese Zen life? Gesshin Claire Greenwood was a liberal, free-spirited American girl who found meaning and freedom in disciplined, traditional Japanese Zen life. However, she came to question not only contemporary American values but also traditional monastic ones. This book is about becoming an adult—about sexuality, religion, work, ethics, and individuality—but it is also about being a human being trying to be happy. Questioning is a theme that runs throughout the book: how can I be happy? What is true? What is authentic? The reader is invited along a journey that is difficult, inspiring, sad, funny, and sincere.

Pet portrait artist Kiki Long is driving to her first day of work at her new job as the Pride Falls forensic photographer when she spots a smoking car that's skidded off the road. After confirming nobody is inside, her natural inclination to document what she's witnessing takes over and she starts taking pictures, which means she's standing too close when the vehicle explodes. Now she's dealing with a head injury and an irate detective who accuses her messing up his crime scene. That's nobody's definition of a good first day. But she did do a good job with the photos. They prove that the owner of the car didn't die in the explosion, and they give the ornery detective a place to start his investigation. It's the goat that Kiki saw before she started snapping photos that makes her curious. Despite the detective's dismissal of her idea, she starts her own amateur sleuthing along with her two best friends, Her curiosity just might just get them all killed.

"There are two kinds of people in this world: the ones who don't cook out of and have NEVER cooked out of I Hate to Cook Book, and the other kind...the I Hate to Cook people consist mainly of those who find other things more interesting and less fattening, and so they do it as seldom as possible. Today there is an Annual Culinary Olympics, with hundreds of cooks from many countries ardently competing. But we who hate to cook have had our own Olympics for years, seeing who can get out of the kitchen the fastest and stay out the longest." Peg Bracken Philosopher's Chowder. Skinny Meatloaf. Fat Man's Shrimp. Immediate Fudge Cake. These are just a few of the beloved recipes from Peg Bracken's classic I Hate to Cook Book. Written in a time when women were expected to have full, delicious meals on the table for their families every night, Peg Bracken offered women who didn't revel in this obligation an alternative: quick, simple meals that took minimal effort but would still satisfy. 50 years later, times have certainly changed - but the appeal of The I Hate to Cook Book hasn't. This book is for everyone, men and women alike, who wants to get from cooking hour to cocktail hour in as little time as possible.

Filled with plenty of goofy trivia, this affordably priced collection features the information fans want to know about their favorite Rugrats. Illustrations throughout.

Fresh out of college, Gesshin Claire Greenwood found her way to a Buddhist monastery in Japan and was ordained as a Buddhist nun. Zen appealed to Greenwood because of its all-encompassing approach to life and how to live it, its willingness to face life's big questions, and its radically simple yet profound emphasis on presence, reality, the now. At the monastery, she also discovered an affinity for working in the kitchen, especially the practice of creating delicious, satisfying meals using whatever was at hand — even when what was at hand was bamboo. Based on the philosophy of oryoki, or "just enough," this book combines stories with recipes. From perfect rice, potatoes, and broths to hearty stews, colorful stir-fries, hot and cold noodles, and delicate sorbet, Greenwood shows food to be a direct, daily way to understand Zen practice. With eloquent prose, she takes readers into monasteries and markets, messy kitchens and predawn meditation rooms, and offers food for thought that nourishes and delights body, mind, and spirit.

When a mysterious young girl arrives in the small New England town of Edgeport, it's up to criminal psychologist Audrey Harte to figure out where exactly she came from . . . but sometimes the past should stay in the past. Thanksgiving is approaching, and Audrey Harte has a lot to be thankful for -- her mother has recovered from surgery, her relationship with Jake is solid, her father is relatively sober, and her career is evolving in an exciting direction. So when an 18-year-old girl turns up on her mother's doorstep, claiming to be the daughter Maggie Jones gave up for adoption, Audrey is amazed. As Audrey helps the girl discover where she came from, people in the little town of Edgeport think she should leave the past alone, and they let her know through threatening messages and phone calls. Soon, Audrey realizes that it doesn't matter how well you think you know someone -- you don't know what they're capable of until their secrets are threatened. . .

Nothing ever happens at O’Malley’s Supernatural Scrapyard amongst the piles of rusting and broken magical machines. Jesse, a washed-out Witch, and Larry, her Rottie-Pitt mix canine Familiar, aren’t expected to do more than keep an eye on things at their new assignment ... until a magical mobster shows up demanding entry. Jesse and Larry race against the clock to unearth a long-hidden magical tool that can bend time and space. The mobster mage plans to activate it ... and expand his criminal syndicate to the stars. After all, crime pays, and there’s an entire universe to exploit. What the mobster doesn't know WILL kill him -- and everyone else. If Jesse and Larry don’t discover and protect the magical relic before it falls into the wrong hands, it won’t be just the scrapyard that is destroyed ... but the universe. * This book is the prequel to The Crossroads Keeper series. Greek gods of myth and legend mingle with the supernatural creatures of urban fantasy in this modern tale filled with danger, humor, and even a canine super-hero. It contains mature themes and includes swearing and violence. *

"At the ages of 25 and 21, Lucy and Susan Letcher set out to thru-hike the entire 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail--barefoot. Quickly earning themselves the moniker of the Barefoot Sisters, the two begin their journey at Mount Katahdin and spend eight months making their way to Springer Mountain in Georgia. As they hike, they write about their adventures through the 100-mile Wilderness, the rocky terrain of Pennsylvania, and snowfall in the great Smoky Mountains. It's as close as one can get to hiking the Appalachian Trail without strapping on a pack"--Back cover.

Lex Trent managed to win the last Games through skill, quick-wittedness and no small amount of outright cheating. And that's exactly how he intends to win them this time round too. Particularly as he can select his own companion for these Games and won't be lumbered with tiresome and decrepit lawyer Mr Schmidt. Given that he knows one of the rounds will be taking place in the Wild West he's determined to pass himself off as a cowboy so that he can scam his way into Dry Gulch house and get his hands on the legendary sword of life!

Back Cover Nitra was starting over she decided to move to Arizona from Illinois to make a change she was not happy with the way things had been going, She graduated out of high school five years ago and was dating a man name Gary for almost a year and just found out he was married, how could she have been so blind, he never showed up on his off days like he said he would, he only came by to see her after work, they never had a real date he always had an excuse that just didn’t add up something always came up at least that was his reason for not showing up for the date he made plans for in the first place. Nitra soon found herself in a relationship with a man she would have never thought she would have if she had not worked late and missed her bus that miracle of a chance might not have happened, Terrance was more than she bargained for she was not even considering dating for a long time, he was the type of man women in high society date not women like her, and not only that she had never thought of dating outside of her race, now she has what most women dream of, married to a man with a good career, graduated from college with a master’s degree, a beautiful daughter and her own business. Miracles do happen every day.