Featuring 25 years’ worth of columns from one of New York’s most popular sportswriters, this collection is guaranteed to delight Knickerbockers fans of all ages. These unforgettable opinions, stories, and observations from New York Times columnist Ira Berkow capture the spirit of the Knicks, from memories of Red Holzman and Earl Monroe to reflections on Carmelo Anthony and Jeremy Lin. As the 2013 team celebrates the 40th anniversary of their 1973 NBA championship, this book enlightens fans on the entire colorful history of the franchise.

These 145 spectacular color photographs celebrate nature's cycles in a splendid and diverse southern garden. Each month for more than six years, Carol and Hugh Nourse have explored the paths and collections of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, capturing the kaleidoscope of its seasons. In this large-format, beautifully produced volume, we move by season and scale from detailed close-ups to atmospheric vistas. From the subdued blues of a snow-covered garden to the dazzling golden light on scarlet leaves in autumn, the Nourses' keen and affectionate eyes have captured not only the living forms, but the essence of a garden in all its changing moods. A general introduction traces the history and development of this public garden, and brief sectional essays describe the special features of the Garden in each season. The sequence begins aptly with the glorious explosion of spring and meanders joyfully through the waxing and waning of the seasons to the stark forms of winter. An "Under Glass" section showcases tropical and sub-tropical jewels in the three-story conservatory. In the foreword, Garden director Jeff Lewis points out that the Nourses' photographs enable us to "notice details we might otherwise miss--symmetry, texture, form, color." Dedicated volunteers with the Garden's Plant Conservation Program, the Nourses champion conservation in a uniquely powerful way by simply letting the beauty of nature speak for itself. As they turn our eyes to the intricate, fragile beauty of tiny wildflowers and lacy ruffles of peeling bark, we begin to see this and all gardens with new wonder.

The Singing Crane Garden in northwest Beijing has a history dense with classical artistic vision, educational experimentation, political struggle, and tragic suffering. Built by the Manchu prince Mianyu in the mid-nineteenth century, the garden was intended to serve as a refuge from the clutter of daily life near the Forbidden City. In 1860, during the Anglo-French war in China, the garden was destroyed. One hundred years later, in the 1960s, the garden served as the "ox pens," where dissident university professors were imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution. Peaceful Western involvement began in 1986, when ground was broken for the Arthur Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology. Completed in 1993, the museum and the Jillian Sackler Sculpture Garden stand on the same grounds today. In Place and Memory in the Singing Crane Garden, Vera Schwarcz gives voice to this richly layered corner of China's cultural landscape. Drawing upon a range of sources from poetry to painting, Schwarcz retells the garden's complex history in her own poetic and personal voice. In her exploration of cultural survival, trauma, memory, and place, she reveals how the garden becomes a vehicle for reflection about history and language. Encyclopedic in conception and artistic in execution, Place and Memory in the Singing Crane Garden is a powerful work that shows how memory and ruins can revive the spirit of individuals and cultures alike.

Springs and Autumns is a compelling novel that chronicles, through the voices of several family members, the intriguing history of an extended Majorcan family. The novel is set in Orlandis (a fictional version of Porcel's hometown) on the island of Majorca. Even though the novel rises from this specific, exotic island setting, Springs and Autumns ultimately appeals to universal human emotions. Although the entire novel takes place as the family gathers at Taltavull Hall for a Christmas Eve dinner, the reader is conveyed to places as far away as South America and Asia, learning along the way about murder, love, rape, incest, travel, discovery, regret, and forgiveness.

Garden of Happiness: Self-Help for Garden Lovers is your ultimate companion for blending the joys of gardening with the art of living well. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting to explore your green thumb, this book offers a fresh perspective on how to incorporate your love for plants into every aspect of your life, turning your passion into a source of daily happiness and fulfillment. In this book, you'll discover how the simple act of tending to your garden can transform not only your outdoor space but also your mindset, health, and relationships. From designing peaceful garden retreats that soothe the soul to bringing the beauty and freshness of the garden into your home, each chapter is filled with practical tips and inspirational ideas that help you live a more mindful, balanced, and joyful life. What You Will Find in This Book: Techniques for creating a garden that reflects your inner peace and personal growth. Creative ways to integrate your garden into daily routines, from cooking to decorating. Insights on how gardening can enhance your physical and mental well-being. Strategies for using your garden as a space for reflection, meditation, and healing. Tips for building stronger connections with family, friends, and your community through shared gardening experiences. Ideas for sustainable gardening practices that leave a positive impact on the environment. Guidance on how to leave a lasting legacy through your garden, inspiring future generations. Garden of Happiness is more than just a gardening book—it's a lifestyle guide for anyone who wants to cultivate not just plants but also a life filled with peace, purpose, and joy. Immerse yourself in the beauty of the natural world and discover how your garden can be a source of endless inspiration, creativity, and personal growth. Whether you have a sprawling backyard or a single potted plant, this book will help you find happiness in every leaf, flower, and moment spent in the garden.

'ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY INVENTIVE WRITERS OF THIS, OR ANY, COUNTRY' INDEPENDENT Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial and Commonwealth Writers' Prizes 'Thrillingly suspenseful' SUNDAY TIMES 'Stunning' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'Brilliant' THE TIMES 'Entirely original' OBSERVER 'A classic' WASHINGTON POST The Sunday Times Number One bestseller from the author of Cloud Atlas and Utopia Avenue In your hands is a place like no other: a tiny, man-made island in the bay of Nagasaki, for two hundred years the sole gateway between Japan and the West. Here, in the dying days of the eighteenth century, a young Dutch clerk arrives to make his fortune. Instead he loses his heart. Step onto the streets of Dejima and mingle with scheming traders, spies, interpreters, servants and concubines as two cultures converge. In a tale of integrity and corruption, passion and power, the key is control - of riches and minds, and over death itself. PRAISE FOR DAVID MITCHELL 'A thrilling and gifted writer' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good' DAILY MAIL 'Mitchell is, clearly, a genius' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 'An author of extraordinary ambition and skill' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'A superb storyteller' THE NEW YORKER

"Gardeners step into the world of imagination as soon as they begin to garden. They cannot plant a dry seed without awareness of the flame of life inside it, or prune a bare branch without sensing clustered blossoms and leaves." In the literature of gardening there are many how-to books and nearly an equal number of philosophical essays. Here is a book that is both. Carol Williams elucidates with elegant simplicity the basic processes of gardening and the handling of plants. She also eloquently demonstrates how in bringing a garden to life, the gardener, too, comes to life. Not just the finished garden, but gardening itself, is revealed as a source of delight and a profound awakening to nature. With its engaging mixture of step-by-step instruction, essay, story, and poetry, Bringing a Garden to Life addresses both the compelling mysteries and the down-to-earth practicalities of everyday gardening: discovering a place and envisioning your garden the alchemy of making fertile soil the wonders and challenges of starting with seeds weeding--or not the flowering year fresh greens for dinner gardening with and around trees tools--hoes, books, and philosophy and much more From mapping a garden and planting a lettuce seed, to feeding old perennial borders and pruning fruit trees, this book tells not just how but why, and vividly evokes the interest and pleasure of doing the job. Gardening beginners will be encouraged to take their first steps, while expert gardeners will find new sources of joy in their gardens. The author shares the practical wisdom of her own rich gardening experience and invokes the golden tradition of poets and philosophersthroughout history who have turned to their gardens to read the book of nature. With special sections on annuals, perennials, bulbs, vegetable and herb gardening, pruning, composting, transplanting, and much more, Bringing a Garden to Life is an illuminating vision, not just of growing things, but of being in the world; not just of planting, but of being renewed.

In Forty Autumns, Nina Willner recounts the history of three generations of her family - mothers, sisters, daughters and cousins - separated by forty years of Soviet rule, and reunited after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Shortly after the end of the Second World War, as the Soviets took control of the eastern part of Germany, Hanna, a schoolteacher's daughter, escaped with nothing more than a small suitcase and the clothes on her back. As Hanna built a new life in the West, her relatives (her mother, father and eight siblings) remained in the East. The construction of the Berlin Wall severed all hope of any future reunion. Hanna fell in love and moved to America. She made many attempts to establish contact with her family, but most were unsuccessful. Her father was under close observation; her mother, younger sister Heidi and the others struggled to adjust to life under a bizarre and brutal regime that kept its citizens cut off from the outside world. A few years later, Hanna had a daughter - Nina - who grew up to become the first female US Army intelligence officer to lead sensitive intelligence collection operations in East Berlin at the height of the Cold War. At the same time, Heidi's daughter, Cordula, was training to become a member of the East German Olympic cycling team. Though separated by only a few miles, Nina and her relatives led entirely different lives. Once the Berlin Wall came down, and the families were reunited, Nina Willner discovered an extraordinary story. In Forty Autumns she vividly brings to life many accounts of courage and survival, set against the backdrop of four decades that divided a nation and the world.

As emperors, generals, and kings vie for dominance, martial sects mount bloody clashes to determine who will influence the nations' leaders. Fallen and humbled, former sect leader Shen Qiao searches for direction in a tumultuous world. He finds an unlikely companion in the nefarious Yan Wushi. The roguish and powerful demonic practitioner has helped Shen Qiao begin to rebuild his lost martial abilities. As the two travel and work together, the gentle Daoist master dares to imagine that the famed Demon Lord is warming to him. But all is not as it seems, and old treacheries draw fresh blood. As Shen Qiao confronts dangerous new enemies, the struggle for control of the Central Plains ignites!