If only the criminals in the colony would just lift their game? After a fitful night spent tossing and turning Slikker provided his mate Eddie with an ear-bashing over breakfast. "Consider the Sketland Mob. Now there was a fair-dinkum reign of terror. Evil bastards, through and through and violent. Mongrels, granted, but sly an' difficult mongrels. Or the Gang o' Five. That was a substantive campaign. Murder, corruption, intimidation, and theft. Even sly grogging. They had the whole of Charters Towers under their thumb. An' again, while they was a bunch of utter bastards, at least they was interestin' bastards, running a farsighted criminal enterprise. What we need is an outbreak of criminal cunning. An epidemic of sly reasoning. A sudden plague of moral turpitude. What North Queensland needs, mate, is some decent bloody crims!" Apparently Slikker had entirely forgotten about the old adage that 'you need to be careful about what you wish for'. Sometimes wishes come true.

The tale is of a bee named Hermia who, while dreaming of adventure, makes an error in the hive. The drones are outraged, and to pacify them, the Queen sends Hermia off on a quest to find the pollen of the mysterious Golden Orchid! On her journey to find this rare flower, Hermia has many strange and interesting adventures. Will she succeed? Finally, when she is close to finding the flower, she uncovers a plot against a hive that has befriended her. Hermia and her friends first have to find a way to defend the hive from destruction!

When the universe first opened, the heavens and earth became chaotic, and the grandmist was born. According to the legends, there were 3,000 great Daos, 800 side doors, and a total of 3800 grandmist purple clouds. The Creation Jade Plate that Hong Jun obtained from the Zhou Mountain contained 49 strands of purple qi, and when Pan Gu established the heavens, it encountered divine retribution and fell apart. As for Hong Jun, he obtained 7 pieces of the great Dao, and the rest, he did not know that some of the grandmist energy had disappeared into the universe, while others had landed in some famous mountains and rivers. There were also some who stayed in their spirit veins to absorb the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, becoming more and more spiritual! Obtain the good fortune of the world, know the Yin and Yang, change at dawn, and train to become a great Dao. Association Teardrop QQ: 297253427 Favorite friends can add oh, writing books is tiring, when there's nothing to do it's still possible to bullsh * t. Close]

Amid the hustle and bustle of teeming contemporary Guangzhou (also known as Canton), capital of Guangdong province, an ordinary blue-collar Chinese family of three copes with a life-threatening crisis. As an only child--the product of China's harsh one-child policy--the daughter of the family must care for her mother who is in the late stage of colon cancer. This is the story of that struggle. That child takes the reader back in time to see the marriage of her parents through the eyes of an only child. Growing up alone without the love and support of a sibling, how does the only child bear the filial responsibility so deeply influenced by traditional Chinese culture? How does she deal with the dilemma of keeping secret from her mother the terminal nature of her cancer? How does her mother's deathbed account of her life change the daughter's understanding of her parents' generation? The true life story is unique both in its depiction of ordinary life in today's China and in its universal picture of an ordinary family dealing with its past and facing its grim future. This young woman, typical of China's one-child generation, tells a tale that ranges from grim to comic, revealing human frailty as well as faith and extraordinary courage.

It is 1948 and the British in Malaya are struggling to put down a Communist uprising and deal with rising nationalism in the colony. Chinese girl Suyin falls in love with a British police officer and is able to see both sides of the war but she sympathizes more with the Communist guerrillas and is critical of the British colonials. A much-loved classic and an important work in the canon of Singapore literature.

Get a queer perspective on communication theory! Queer Theory and Communication: From Disciplining Queers to Queering the Discipline(s) is a conversation starter, sparking smart talk about sexuality in the communication discipline and beyond. Edited by members of The San Francisco Radical Trio, the book integrates current queer theory, research, and interventions to create a critical lens with which to view the damaging effects of heteronormativity on personal, social, and cultural levels, and to see the possibilities for change through social and cultural transformation. Queer Theory and Communication represents a commitment to positive social change by imagining different social realities and sharing ideas, passions, and lived experiences. As the communication discipline begins to recognize queer theory as a vital and viable intellectual movement equal to that of Gay and Lesbian studies, the opportunity is here to take current queer scholarship beyond conference papers and presentations. Queer Theory and Communication has five objectives: 1) to integrate and disseminate current queer scholarship to a larger audience-academic and nonacademic; 2) to examine the potential implications of queer theory in human communication theory and research in a variety of contexts; 3) to stimulate dialogue among queer scholars; 4) to set a preliminary research agenda; and 5) to explore the implications of the scholarship in cultural politics and personal empowerment and transformation. Queer Theory and Communication boasts an esteemed panel of academics, artists, activists, editors, and essayists. Contributors include: John Nguyet Erni, editor of Asian Media Studies and Research & Analysis Program Board member for GLAAD Joshua Gamson, author of Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk Shows and Sexual Nonconformity Sally Miller Gerahart, author, activist, and actress Judith Halberstam, author of Female Masculinity David M. Halperin, author of How to Do the History of Homosexuality E. Patrick Johnson, editor of Black Queer Studies Kevin Kumashiro, author of Troubling Education: Queer Activism and Antioppressive Pedagogy Thomas Nakayama, co-editor of Whiteness: The Communication of Social Identity A. Susan Owen, author of Bad Girls: Cultural Politics and Media Representations of Transgressive Women William F. Pinar, author of Autobiography, Politics, and Sexuality, and editor of Queer Theory in Education Ralph Smith, co-author of Progay/antigay: The Rhetorical War over Sexuality Queer Theory and Communication: From Disciplining Queers to Queering the Discipline(s) is an essential addition to the critical consciousness of anyone involved in communication, media studies, cultural studies, gender studies, and the study of human sexuality, whether in the classroom, the boardroom, or the bedroom.

Set among a remote cluster of cave dwellings in Shanxi province, There's Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night is a genre-defying exposé of rural communism. In a series of vivid, interlocking vignettes, several narrators speak of adultery, bestiality, incest, and vice, revealing the consequences of desire in a world of necessity. The Wen Clan Caves are based on an isolated village where the author, Cao Naiqian, lived during the Cultural Revolution. The land is hard and unforgiving and the people suffer in poverty and ignorance. Through the individual perspectives of the Wen Clan denizens, a complete portrait of village life takes shape. Dark yet lyrical, Cao's snapshots range from pastoral stories of childhood innocence to shocking accounts of brutality and terror. His work echoes William Faulkner's Go Down, Moses and Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, yet the author's depictions of elemental passions and regional mores make the book entirely his own. Celebrated for its economy of expression, flashes of humor, and an emphasis on understatement rarely found in Chinese fiction, There's Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night is an excellent introduction to the power and craft of Cao Naiqian. His vivid personalities and unflinching realism herald the haunting work of an original literary force.

Read “happily ever after” with this magical eBook collection that includes three enchanting, retold fairy tales. Journey to faraway fairy tale lands with atmospheric retellings of three beloved tales. Before Midnight revisits Cinderella’s story in France, Golden puts a new spin on Rapunzel’s romance, and Wild Orchid reimagines the Chinese tale of Mulan. With so much real-life drama in today’s busy world, Once allows readers to escape into whimsical realms where every story has a happily ever after.

“Clear, informative text. It is a superb production, reminding us of the astonishing diversity of these plants.” —Times Literary Supplement One in every seven flowering plants on earth is an orchid. Yet orchids retain an air of exotic mystery—and they remain remarkably misunderstood and underappreciated. The orchid family contains an astonishing array of colors, forms, and smells that captivate growers from all walks of life across the globe. Though undeniably elegant, the popular moth orchid—a grocery store standard—is a bland stand-in when compared with its thousands of more complex and fascinating brethren, such as the Demon Queller, which grows in dark forests where its lovely blooms are believed to chase evil forces away. Or the Fetid Sun-God, an orchid that lures female flies to lay their eggs on its flowers by emitting a scent of rancid cheese. The Book of Orchids revels in the diversity and oddity of these beguiling plants. Six hundred of the world’s most intriguing orchids are displayed, along with life-size photographs that capture botanical detail, as well as information about distribution, peak flowering period, and each species’ unique attributes, both natural and cultural. With over 28,000 known species, the orchid family is the largest and most geographically widespread of the flowering plant families. Including the most up-to-date science and accessibly written by botanists Mark Chase, Maarten Christenhusz, and Tom Mirenda, each entry in The Book of Orchids will entice researchers and orchid enthusiasts alike. “A luscious coffee-table tome.” —Nature

A rich heritage that needs to be documented Beginning in 1869, when the study of homosexuality can be said to have begun with the establishment of sexology, this encyclopedia offers accounts of the most important international developments in an area that now occupies a critical place in many fields of academic endeavors. It covers a long history and a dynamic and ever changing present, while opening up the academic profession to new scholarship and new ways of thinking. A groundbreaking new approach While gays and lesbians have shared many aspects of life, their histories and cultures developed in profoundly different ways. To reflect this crucial fact, the encyclopedia has been prepared in two separate volumes assuring that both histories receive full, unbiased attention and that a broad range of human experience is covered. Written for and by a wide range of people Intended as a reference for students and scholars in all fields, as well as for the general public, the encyclopedia is written in user-friendly language. At the same time it maintains a high level of scholarship that incorporates both passion and objectivity. It is written by some of the most famous names in the field, as well as new scholars, whose research continues to advance gender studies into the future.