Offering a fresh approach to homiletics, David J. Schlafer provides an invitation to preaching by way of metaphor. Starting with the fire of Scripture, and engaging in the work of preaching as play, Schlafer offers new ways of approaching the preaching moment. Taking into account the preacher's call, the stages of preparation, the role of the congregation, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the midst of it all, we discover that playing with fire is a sacred act indeed. Two metaphors dance together across the pages of this book: fire and play. Two metaphors, plus a hunch: that texts of the Scriptures, the grounding voices of inspiration for Christian preaching, offer more than just truths to be interpreted and transmitted. What we call the Scriptures are the work of a great company of preachers. The Bible is a treasure lode of imaginative insights regarding how the mystery of preaching might be entertained. --from the Introduction

Discovering an old and strikingly unusual musical composition that causes her to black out and has a violently transformative effect on her daughter, Julia Ansdell travels to Venice to find the man behind the music and uncovers a dark secret dating back to the Holocaust.

The first full biography of the fearless and brilliant Maria Yudina, a legendary pianist who was central to Russian intellectual life Maria Yudina was no ordinary musician. An incredibly popular pianist, she lived on the fringes of Soviet society and had close friendships with such towering figures as Boris Pasternak, Pavel Florensky, and Mikhail Bakhtin. Legend has it that she was Stalin’s favorite pianist. Yudina was at the height of her fame during WWII, broadcasting almost daily on the radio, playing concerts for the wounded and troops in hospitals and on submarines, and performing for the inhabitants of besieged Leningrad. By the last years of her life, she had been dismissed for ideological reasons from the three institutions where she taught. And yet according to Shostakovich, Yudina remained “a special case. . . . The ocean was only knee-deep for her.” In this engaging biography, Elizabeth Wilson sets Yudina’s extraordinary life within the context of her times, where her musical career is measured against the intense intellectual and religious ferment of the post-revolutionary period and the ensuing years of Soviet repression.

If your vision led you straight into the fire, would you follow it anyway? Samantha’s brother, Zach, is finally home after a ninety-day rehab for his meth addiction, and life seems to be getting back to normal. That is, until Sam starts having dreams about dangerous situations involving drugs. But her visions are so vague that she doesn’t know who needs help. Of course she’s worried about Zach staying clean, especially since he’s hanging with the wrong crowd. But the whole school seems to be buzzing about drugs, and Sam doesn’t know who’s using and who’s not. What is wrong with these people anyway? Then Sam has a vision of a burning cabin, and this time someone has been shot. Convinced that Zach is involved somehow, Sam chooses to leave Detective Ebony Hamilton out of the loop. If Zach really is involved, this will land him in jail for sure! But her own investigation is getting too hot to handle, and Sam must decide whether to risk getting Zach in trouble with the law– or ultimately risk his life.

Used to be my greatest achievement was holding a job more than three days. Now suddenly I can shoot fireballs, chill your drink or blow-dry your hair at fifty paces with a blink of my eye! It all started when this crazy scientist dropped something in my Grande Mocha Latte. Of course I got wicked sick. Next morning I'm waking up with this total hottie bending over me. He tells me 1) his name's Rome Masters, 2) he's a government agent and 3) I can control the four elements with a thought. He seems even less pleased by my (apparently irreversible) transformation than I am…. Because now he'll have to kill me.

Reign Grazi is no stranger to dangerous men. Her whole life, they've been there. Grandfathers, uncles, cousins...she knows the difference between people who made the rules and those who broke them. But she has no idea why someone might want her dead. Nick Fattelli is handsome, sophisticated, and...an assassin. He doesn't know who hired him to take out Reign, but after they meet and sparks fly, he vows to protect her. Unless it's really him they are after... Thus begins PLAYING WITH FIRE, a sexy thriller by Renee Graziano, star of VH1's hit show Mob Wives. The author knows this lifestyle firsthand: She is the daughter of one of the most famous mobsters of our day, with an ex-husband now in witness protection, and a trail of "connected" boyfriends a mile long.

Nasser Hussain was acclaimed as England's best cricket captain since Mike Brearley. Under his leadership, a side more famous for its batting collapses and ability to seize defeat from the jaws of victory discovered its backbone. With coach Duncan Fletcher he put some steel into the side; they became a difficult team to beat. Hussain wore his heart on his sleeve: railing against complacency, defying critics of his place in the batting line-up and making a principled stand at the last World Cup when the ECB seemed incapable of it. Expect passion, integrity, insight and candour in his eagerly awaited autobiography.

Warning: This novel contains excessive humor, a fire-breathing unicorn on a mission of destruction, magic, romance, and bodies. Proceed with caution. Catering to the magical is a tough gig on a good day, but Bailey has few other options. Spiking drinks with pixie dust keeps the locals happy and beats cleaning up the world’s nastiest magical substances. She could live without serving Police Chief Samuel Quinn most days of the week, especially after destroying his marriage. But when she’s targeted with a cell phone bomb containing gorgon dust capable of transforming her beloved home into a stone tomb, she’s tossed head first into a mess with her sexiest enemy. Add in his ex-wife angling for revenge, and Bailey must use every trick up her sleeve to survive. The last thing she needs is to fall in love with Manhattan’s Most Wanted Bachelor. Saving Manhattan will be tough enough.