The Great Canon has been described as one of the jewels of Orthodoxy's ascetic spirituality. In the first week of Lent, during Great Compline, it is sung and declaimed in portions; on Thursday of the fifth week, during Matins, in its entirety. Throughout, accompanied by bows or prostrations, the refrain is: Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me. This short, yet full, essay by Olivier Clément serves as an enriching commentary and guide for reading The Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete. The author begins the journey with a study of the meaning of "awakening" and "the fear of God" the stepping stones toward true repentance. He then follows the Canon's path of identifying our fallen nature, the passions, Christ's liberation from sin and death, humility, and asceticism, and ends with a comparison between the shedding of tears and the holy chrism of baptism. Clément ultimately encourages us to see repentance as the key to being fully alive-and The Great Canon as our roadmap toward becoming alive in Christ. A translation of the Great Canon accompanies the text.

River of Tears is the first ethnography of Brazilian country music, one of the most popular genres in Brazil yet least-known outside it. Beginning in the mid-1980s, commercial musical duos practicing música sertaneja reached beyond their home in Brazil’s central-southern region to become national bestsellers. Rodeo events revolving around country music came to rival soccer matches in attendance. A revival of folkloric rural music called música caipira, heralded as música sertaneja’s ancestor, also took shape. And all the while, large numbers of Brazilians in the central-south were moving to cities, using music to support the claim that their Brazil was first and foremost a rural nation. Since 1998, Alexander Sebastian Dent has analyzed rural music in the state of São Paulo, interviewing and spending time with listeners, musicians, songwriters, journalists, record-company owners, and radio hosts. Dent not only describes the production and reception of this music, he also explains why the genre experienced such tremendous growth as Brazil transitioned from an era of dictatorship to a period of intense neoliberal reform. Dent argues that rural genres reflect a widespread anxiety that change has been too radical and has come too fast. In defining their music as rural, Brazil’s country musicians—whose work circulates largely in cities—are criticizing an increasingly inescapable urban life characterized by suppressed emotions and an inattentiveness to the past. Their performances evoke a river of tears flowing through a landscape of loss—of love, of life in the countryside, and of man’s connections to the natural world.

This Will End in Tears is the first ever and definitive guide to melancholy music. Author Adam Brent Houghtaling leads music fans across genres, beyond the enclaves of emo and mope-rock, and through time to celebrate the albums and artists that make up the miserabilist landscape. In essence a book about the saddest songs ever sung, This Will End in Tears is an encyclopedic guide to the masters of melancholy—from Robert Johnson to Radiohead, from Edith Piaf to Joy Division, from Patsy Cline to The Cure—an insightful, exceedingly engaging exploration into why sad songs make us so happy.

Enka, a sentimental ballad genre, epitomizes for many the nihonjin no kokoro (heart/soul of Japanese). To older members of the Japanese public, who constitute enka’s primary audience, this music—of parted lovers, long unseen rural hometowns, and self-sacrificing mothers—evokes a direct connection to the traditional roots of “Japaneseness.” Overlooked in this emotional invocation of the past, however, are the powerful commercial forces that, since the 1970s, have shaped the consumption of enka and its version of national identity. Informed by theories of nostalgia, collective memory, cultural nationalism, and gender, this book draws on the author’s extensive fieldwork in probing the practice of identity-making and the processes at work when Japan becomes “Japan.”

A PEN/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD FINALIST ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post • San Francisco Chronicle • NPR • GQ • Time • The Economist • Slate • HuffPost • Book Riot Ghost story, murder mystery, love letter to American music--White Tears is all of this and more, a thrilling investigation of race and appropriation in society today. Seth is a shy, awkward twentysomething. Carter is more glamorous, the heir to a great American fortune. But they share an obsession with music--especially the blues. One day, Seth discovers that he's accidentally recorded an unknown blues singer in a park. Carter puts the file online, claiming it's a 1920s recording by a made-up musician named Charlie Shaw. But when a music collector tells them that their recording is genuine--that there really was a singer named Charlie Shaw--the two white boys, along with Carter's sister, find themselves in over their heads, delving deeper and deeper into America's dark, vengeful heart. White Tears is a literary thriller and a meditation on art--who owns it, who can consume it, and who profits from it.

Two sisters become trapped in the underworld—and in the machinations of deities, shapeshifters, and ghouls—in this lush and dangerous Phoenician mythology-inspired fantasy. A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year Teenage sisters Samira and Rima aren't exactly living the dream. Instead, they live with their maddeningly unreliable mother in a rundown trailer in Michigan. Dad's dead, money's tight, and Mom disappears to gamble for days at a time. So when Sam's grandfather wills her the family valuables—a cache of Lebanese antiquities—she's desperate enough to try pawning them before Mom can. But she shouldn't. Because one is cursed, forbidden, the burial coin of a forgotten god. Disturbing it condemns her and Rima to the Phoenician underworld, a place of wicked cities, burning forests, poisoned feasts of milk and lemons, and an endless, windless ocean. Nothing is what it seems. No one is who they say. And down here, the night never ends. To get home—and to keep her sister safe—Sam will have to outwit beautiful shapeshifters, pose as a royal bride, sail the darkest sea... and maybe kill the god of death himself. A lush and intensely imaginative novel in which fierce women protect each other from rapacious gods and hungering demons, and in which two tenacious sisters come into their power, Vial of Tears introduces readers to the rich and brilliant mythology of ancient Lebanon. A Den of Geek Top New YA A Shelf Awareness Galley Love of the Week Selection

Set against the tragic events of the Cherokees' removal from their traditional lands in North Carolina to Indian Territory between 1835-1838, Mountain Windsong is a love story that brings to life the suffering and endurance of the Cherokee people. It is the moving tale of Waguli (Whippoorwill") and Oconeechee, a young Cherokee man and woman separated by the Trail of Tears. Just as they are about to be married, Waguli is captured be federal soldiers and, along with thousands of other Cherokees, taken west, on foot and then by steamboat, to what is now eastern Oklahoma. Though many die along the way, Waguli survives, drowning his shame and sorrow in alcohol. Oconeechee, among the few Cherokees who remain behind, hidden in the mountains, embarks on a courageous search for Waguli. Robert J. Conley makes use of song, legend, and historical documents to weave the rich texture of the story, which is told through several, sometimes contradictory, voices. The traditional narrative of the Trail of Tears is told to a young contemporary Cherokee boy by his grandfather, presented in bits and pieces as they go about their everyday chores in rural North Carolina. The telling is neiter bitter nor hostile; it is sympathetic by unsentimental. An ironic third point of view, detached and often adversarial, is provided by the historical documents interspersed through the novel, from the text of the removal treaty to Ralph Waldo Emerson's letter to the president of the United States in protest of the removal. In this layering of contradictory elements, Conley implies questions about the relationships between history and legend, storytelling and myth-making. Inspired by the lyrics of Don Grooms's song "Whippoorwill," which open many chapters in the text, Conley has written a novel both meticulously accurate and deeply moving.

“The Beatles for the 21st Century” – BBC BTS have exploded onto the global music scene with their distinctive brand of music, impressive choreography, and socially conscious lyrics. With multiple chart-topping albums and record-breaking music videos under their belts, these seven-men—RM, Suga, J-Hope, Jin, V, Jimin, and Jungkook—are an unstoppable force and an international phenomenon. In Blood, Sweat & Tears, K-pop columnist Tamar Herman explores the group’s origins, meteoric rise, wide-ranging activism, and close-knit relationship with their fans. With full color photos, spotlights on each member, and a play-by-play of their discography, this book is a celebration of all things BTS and a must-have for fans worldwide! -- VIZ Media

After ten years of servitude, Nish is still held in the blackest dungeon of the maimed God-Emperor, his corrupt father. With the sorcerous quicksilver tears, Gatherer and Reaper, the God-Emperor controls all magic and is remaking the world in his depraved image. Now he wants Nish to be his lieutenant, to become as foul as he is. But the malevolent God-Emperor executed the only woman Nish has ever loved and, even faced with another decade in prison, he cannot serve his father. Santhenar’s only hope of freedom now rests on shy, bookish Maelys, who has been given a shameful duty by her overbearing aunts. Maelys’ gift will allow her to reach Nish’s dungeon unseen, but how can she get him out past the all-seeing gaze of Gatherer and Reaper? And even if she does, how can a friendless renegade with no magic take on the most powerful tyrant the world has ever seen? You won’t want to miss this ‘unflaggingly inventive’ fantasy series by million-selling author Ian Irvine. What reviewers say about the Three Worlds books “A compelling adventure in a landscape full of wonders.” – Locus “A page-turner of the highest order … Formidable!” – SFX on Geomancer “It is the most engrossing book I’ve read in years.” – Van Ikin, Sydney Morning Herald “Readers of Eddings, Goodkind and Jordan will lap this one up.” – Starlog “Utterly absorbing.” Stephen Davenport, Independent Weekly “For sheer excitement, there’s just no one like Irvine.” SFX on The Destiny of the Dead “As good as anything I have read in the fantasy genre.” – Adelaide Advertiser Reviews of The Song of the Tearstrilogy “Hang on with both hands, because this story waits for no one.” Sandy Auden, SFX on The Fate of the Fallen. “The final payoff is fantastic. The most unflaggingly inventive storyteller we’ve seen in years.” Sydney Morning Herald on The Destiny of the Dead “This precise and beautifully crafted novel blooms from its ascetic opening to a resonant and rewarding climax. Makes what’s currently available on fantasy shelves seem hackneyed and formulaic. Utterly absorbing.” Stephen Davenport, Independent Weekly “Unbelievably, Irvine has managed to increase the pace of his story in this third and final volume – for sheer excitement, there’s just no one like Irvine around at the moment.” SFX on The Destiny of the Dead. “Whether you like interesting characters, good description or a well thought out world, this book is bound to impress you.” – Nicole Juliette, Dreamhosters.com "Another blockbuster fantasy series." Colin Steele, Canberra Times.

After ten years of servitude, Nish is about to be released from the blackest prison of his corrupt father, the maimed God-Emperor, Jal-Nish Hlar. Using the sorcerous Profane Tears, Gatherer and Reaper, Jal-Nish has crushed all opposition and is remaking Santhenar in his depraved image. The oppressed peoples of the world see Nish as a messianic figure, the Deliverer, who promised long ago to return and cast down his father. Unfortunately, Nish has no choice but to repudiate that solemn oath, for he's a broken man, powerless and alone. Even worse, his father is trying to seduce Nish into becoming his lieutenant and, faced with the unbearable alternative of another ten years in prison, Nish isn't sure he can resist the temptation. The one person who can help him is little Maelys, a shy, bookish dreamer forced by duty to use Nish for an ignoble purpose. But Maelys is the last woman he wants, and she carries a secret that is more likely to destroy Nish than save him.