The Forty Rules of Love

The Forty Rules of Love
Author :
Publisher : Penguin
Total Pages : 417
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781101189948
ISBN-13 : 1101189940
Rating : 4/5 (48 Downloads)

Synopsis The Forty Rules of Love by : Elif Shafak

In this lyrical, exuberant tale, acclaimed Turkish author Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing Trees (a Reese's Book Club Pick), incarnates Rumi's timeless message of love The Forty Rules of Love unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives—one contemporary and the other set in the thirteenth century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabriz—that together explore the enduring power of Rumi's work. Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. Her first assignment is to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy, a novel written by a man named Aziz Zahara. Ella is mesmerized by his tale of Shams's search for Rumi and the dervish's role in transforming the successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic, passionate poet, and advocate of love. She is also taken with Shams's lessons, or rules, that offer insight into an ancient philosophy based on the unity of all people and religions, and the presence of love in each and every one of us. As she reads on, she realizes that Rumi's story mir­rors her own and that Zahara—like Shams—has come to set her free.

When the English Fall

When the English Fall
Author :
Publisher : Algonquin Books
Total Pages : 273
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781616208097
ISBN-13 : 1616208090
Rating : 4/5 (97 Downloads)

Synopsis When the English Fall by : David Williams

A riveting and unexpected novel that questions whether a peaceful and non- violent community can survive when civilization falls apart. Again, all are asleep, but I am not. I need sleep, but though I read and I pray, I feel too awake. My mind paces the floor. There are shots now and again, bursts here and there, far away, and I cannot sleep. I think of this man in his hunger, shot like a rabbit raiding a garden. For what, Lord? For stealing corn intended for pigs and cattle, like the hungry prodigal helpless in a strange land. I can hear his voice. When a catastrophic solar storm brings about the collapse of modern civilization, an Amish community is caught up in the devastating aftermath. With their stocked larders and stores of supplies, the Amish are unaffected at first. But as the English (the Amish name for all non-Amish people) in the cities become increasingly desperate, they begin to invade nearby farms, taking whatever they want and unleashing unthinkable violence on the gentle communities. Written as the diary of an Amish farmer named Jacob who tries to protect his family and his way of life, When the English Fall examines the idea of peace in the face of deadly chaos. Should members of a nonviolent society defy their beliefs and take up arms to defend themselves? And if they do, can they survive? David Williams’s debut novel is a thoroughly engrossing look into the closed world of the Amish, as well as a thought-provoking examination of how we live today and what remains if the center cannot hold.

All the Words I Should Have Said

All the Words I Should Have Said
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages :
Release :
ISBN-10 : 194579612X
ISBN-13 : 9781945796128
Rating : 4/5 (2X Downloads)

Synopsis All the Words I Should Have Said by : Naim

The 48 Laws of Power

The 48 Laws of Power
Author :
Publisher : Penguin
Total Pages : 481
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780670881468
ISBN-13 : 0670881465
Rating : 4/5 (68 Downloads)

Synopsis The 48 Laws of Power by : Robert Greene

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control – from the author of The Laws of Human Nature. In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum. Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness”), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”). Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.

The Architect's Apprentice

The Architect's Apprentice
Author :
Publisher : Penguin
Total Pages : 434
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780143108306
ISBN-13 : 0143108301
Rating : 4/5 (06 Downloads)

Synopsis The Architect's Apprentice by : Elif Shafak

A colorful, magical tale set during the height of the Ottoman Empire, from the acclaimed author of The Island of Missing Trees (a Reese's Book Club Pick) Chosen for Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall’s “Reading Room” Book Club In this novel, Turkey’s preeminent female writer spins an epic tale spanning nearly a century in the life of the Ottoman Empire. In 1540, twelve-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan’s menagerie, he looks after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the sultan’s beautiful daughter, Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire’s chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota’s help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history. Yet even as they build Sinan’s triumphant masterpieces—the incredible Suleymaniye and Selimiye mosques—dangerous undercurrents begin to emerge, with jealousy erupting among Sinan’s four apprentices. A memorable story of artistic freedom, creativity, and the clash between science and fundamentalism, Shafak’s intricate novel brims with vibrant characters, intriguing adventure, and the lavish backdrop of the Ottoman court, where love and loyalty are no match for raw power.

The Bastard of Istanbul

The Bastard of Istanbul
Author :
Publisher : Penguin
Total Pages : 370
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781440635847
ISBN-13 : 1440635846
Rating : 4/5 (47 Downloads)

Synopsis The Bastard of Istanbul by : Elif Shafak

A “vivid and entertaining” (Chicago Tribune) tale about the tangled history of two families, from the author of The Island of Missing Trees (a Reese's Book Club Pick) "Zesty, imaginative . . . a Turkish version of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club." —USA Today As an Armenian American living in San Francisco, Armanoush feels like part of her identity is missing and that she must make a journey back to the past, to Turkey, in order to start living her life. Asya is a nineteen-year-old woman living in an extended all-female household in Istanbul who loves Jonny Cash and the French existentialists. The Bastard of Istanbul tells the story of their two families--and a secret connection linking them to a violent event in the history of their homeland. Filed with humor and understanding, this exuberant, dramatic novel is about memory and forgetting, about the need to examine the past and the desire to erase it, and about Turkey itself.

The Gaze

The Gaze
Author :
Publisher : Penguin UK
Total Pages : 262
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780141961385
ISBN-13 : 0141961384
Rating : 4/5 (85 Downloads)

Synopsis The Gaze by : Elif Shafak

A beautiful and compelling novel, Elif Shafak's The Gaze considers the damage which can be inflicted by our simple desire to look at others "I didn't say anything. I didn't return his smiles. I looked at him in the wide mirror in front of where I was sitting. He grew uncomfortable and avoided my eyes. I hate those who think fat people are stupid.' An obese woman and her lover, a dwarf, are sick of being stared at wherever they go, and so decide to reverse roles. The man goes out wearing make up and the woman draws a moustache on her face. But while the woman wants to hide away from the world, the man meets the stares from passers-by head on, compiling his 'Dictionary of Gazes' to explore the boundaries between appearance and reality. Intertwined with the story of a bizarre freak-show organised in Istanbul in the 1880s, The Gaze considers the damage which can be inflicted by our simple desire to look at others. "Beautifully evoked" - The Times "Original and Compelling" - TLS "Plays with ideas of beauty and ugliness like they're Rubik's cubes" - Helen Oyeyemi "Entertaining and affecting" - Publishers' Weekly Elif Shafak is the acclaimed author of The Bastard of Istanbul and The Forty Rules of Love and is the most widely read female novelist in Turkey. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She is a contributor for The Telegraph, Guardian and the New York Times and her TED talk on the politics of fiction has received 500 000 viewers since July 2010. She is married with two children and divides her time between Istanbul and London.

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages : 339
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781635574487
ISBN-13 : 163557448X
Rating : 4/5 (87 Downloads)

Synopsis 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by : Elif Shafak

Shortlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize Named a Best Book of the Year by Bookpage, NPR, Washington Post, and The Economist A moving novel on the power of friendship in our darkest times, from internationally renowned writer and speaker Elif Shafak. In the pulsating moments after she has been murdered and left in a dumpster outside Istanbul, Tequila Leila enters a state of heightened awareness. Her heart has stopped beating but her brain is still active-for 10 minutes 38 seconds. While the Turkish sun rises and her friends sleep soundly nearby, she remembers her life-and the lives of others, outcasts like her. Tequila Leila's memories bring us back to her childhood in the provinces, a highly oppressive milieu with religion and traditions, shaped by a polygamous family with two mothers and an increasingly authoritarian father. Escaping to Istanbul, Leila makes her way into the sordid industry of sex trafficking, finding a home in the city's historic Street of Brothels. This is a dark, violent world, but Leila is tough and open to beauty, light, and the essential bonds of friendship. In Tequila Leila's death, the secrets and wonders of modern Istanbul come to life, painted vividly by the captivating tales of how Leila came to know and be loved by her friends. As her epic journey to the afterlife comes to an end, it is her chosen family who brings her story to a buoyant and breathtaking conclusion.

The Other Half of Happiness

The Other Half of Happiness
Author :
Publisher : Bonnier Publishing Fiction Ltd.
Total Pages : 363
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781785760723
ISBN-13 : 1785760726
Rating : 4/5 (23 Downloads)

Synopsis The Other Half of Happiness by : Ayisha Malik

Sofia Khan is just married. But no-one told her life was going to be this way . . . Her living situation is in dire straits, her husband Conall is distant, and his annoyingly attractive colleague is ringing all sorts of alarm bells. When her mother forces them into a belated wedding ceremony (elopement: you can run, but you can't hide), Sofia wonders if it might be a chance to bring them together. But when it forces Conall to confess his darkest secret, it might just tear them apart. A book to make you smile, laugh and cry, this is the story of a mixed-race marriage and a mixed-up family, for anyone who's ever struggled to balance their pride with their principles, or stuck around to try to mend a broken heart. PRAISE FOR AYISHA MALIK 'Snort-diet-Coke-out-of-your-nostrils funny . . . will resonate with any woman who's looking for love' Red 'Funny and sparky . . . huge fun.' Jenny Colgan 'The feminist romantic comedy you've been waiting for' Elle 'Fun, fresh and funny' Mhairi McFarlane 'The perfect blend of comedy and romance' Independent

Rules for a Knight

Rules for a Knight
Author :
Publisher : Knopf
Total Pages : 195
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780307962331
ISBN-13 : 0307962334
Rating : 4/5 (31 Downloads)

Synopsis Rules for a Knight by : Ethan Hawke

An unforgettable fable about a father's journey and a timeless guide to life's many questions—from Ethan Hawke, four-time Academy Award nominee, twice for writing and twice for acting. A knight, fearing he may not return from battle, writes a letter to his children in an attempt to leave a record of all he knows. In a series of ruminations on solitude, humility, forgiveness, honesty, courage, grace, pride, and patience, he draws on the ancient teachings of Eastern and Western philosophy, and on the great spiritual and political writings of our time. His intent: to give his children a compass for a journey they will have to make alone, a short guide to what gives life meaning and beauty.