Set against the glamorous 1960s Jet Set—a failed debutante's new job as assistant to society photographer Slim Aarons takes her into Palm Beach’s inner circle, and into a beguiling friendship with the star at its center, fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer “This glittering novel shines as brightly as its heroine. A true delight.” —Nicola Harrison, author of Hotel Laguna Washington Post Best Book of April * PureWow Best Book of Summer It’s 1961, and for Margo Hightower, everything is about to change. True, her engagement is off, her family has fallen in scandal, and she's completely broke. But she’s just been hired as assistant to photographer Slim Aarons—famous for his vibrant pictures of high society, royalty, and Hollywood stars—and she knows this opportunity is her ticket to something better. From the bright beaches of Acapulco to glitzy parties in New York, Margo is thrown headfirst into the glamorous jet-set world she so covets, observing its ways from behind the camera as Slim’s sidekick. There’s Jackie Kennedy, Truman Capote's Swans, a host of Vanderbilts. Beautiful people in beautiful places. But when they land in Palm Beach, a scene with few rules and many riches, the lines between work and play begin to blur. As Margo becomes swept up in the city’s social circle—and into a friendship with heiress and rising fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer—the golden life seems increasingly in reach. Until she finds herself entangled in a complicated web of loyalties and secrets that could bring it all crashing down…

It is the purpose of your life to know and discover who you are and what your life is really about. You already have the answers within yourself; you just need to know how to find them. The Beautiful People of the World aims to help you rediscover what you have never lost, reconnect with that inner wisdom, and have a profound relationship with it. Filled with ideas about the next great leap in the advancement of consciousness and evolution of mankind, The Beautiful People of the World can help you realize and understand the true purpose of your life. You can * rediscover and nurture your inner treasures so you can become everything you were meant to be; * validate your intuitive knowledge of certain things you knew in a distant era, have forgotten, and are longing to rediscover; * reconnect to that precious place; * live from your authentic self; and * use Sapir yoga as a powerful, natural method to get a glimpse of the true consciousness. Inspired by messages author Pierre de la Pierraz received from animal-like forms in old wood that he would shape into what became trolls, The Beautiful People of the World communicates how you can transform your life and become a channel for that creative energy, love, and peace.

In a tale of connections and loss, sixteen magical beings try to find their way through life, as hard and complicated as it may be. A modern fantasy novel, with an all LGBTQ+ cast, The Beautiful People is quite the ride.

A wickedly funny memoir with echoes of David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs, Beautiful People (originally published in hardcover as Nasty) is now a BBC comedy hit series from the producer of Ab Fab and The Office. Proclaimed "the most brilliant, brash thing in type" by Liz Smith, Simon Doonan's saucy prose has established him as an emerging star among literary humorists. In this break-through memoir, reminiscent of both Sedaris and Burroughs, he revisits the landscape of his youth, and displays the irresistible charm that earned him his dedicated audience. Long before he became a celebrity in his own right--as the author of best-selling books, as the style arbiter of VH1 and America's Top Model, and the marketing genius behind Barney's New York--Simon Doonan was a "scabby knee'd troll" in Reading, England. In Beautiful People, Doonan returns to the working-class neighborhood of his youth, and chronicles the misadventures of the Doonan clan in all their wacky glory. Readers meet his mother Betty, whose gravity-defying, peroxide hairdo signified her natural glamour; his father Terry, an amateur vintner who turned parsnips into the legendary Chateau Doonan; his grandfather D.C., a hard-drinking betting man who plotted to win his fortune by turning Simon into a jockey; and his demented grandma Narg and schizophrenic Uncle Ken, both of whom lived upstairs. Fearing he would fall victim to the insanity that runs in his family, or, worse, the banality of suburban life, Doonan decamps with his flamboyant best-friend Biddie to London, where they hope to find the Beautiful People, that elusive clan who luxuriate on floor pillows and amuse each other with bon mots. Throughout the memoir--in essays about family holidays, the tart who lived next door, his first job--Doonan continues his bumbling pursuit of the fabulous life, only to learn, in the end, that perhaps the Beautiful People were the ones he left behind.

“Africa’s real beauty—her greatest treasure—is her people.” — Twila Stories are powerful. Stories tear down walls that keep us from each other. Stories set us free from the prisons we live in by suffering in silence. *** These Beautiful People is a collection of life stories and lessons from the author’s travels through East and Southern Africa. Raw and poignant, these inspiring stories explore the lives of individuals who overcame overwhelming challenges to find hope and purpose. From a prisoner of war turned foster mother to a cancer survivor raising support for medical equipment, each deeply personal story connects us to our shared humanity and to universal themes of redemption and identity. These Beautiful People takes an unflinching look at the cultural, social, and spiritual landscape of Africa through a lens of hope and the saving power of Jesus.

Chased by the Dawn is a collection of poems spanning a lifetime of observation and experience. Humorous, touching, strident, ironic, tender, angry, insightful, encouraging, this American poet paints vivid images emerging along an eventful journey from a Missouri Ozarks boyhood to his present high desert Arizona home. Raised in a home where both the arts and humanity were highly valued, Kenneth Kennon learned to observe life experience and relate to both people and nature from his parents rich perspective of poet and painter. Poems in this eclectic collection explore a wide range of themes offering observations and encounters with visions of childhood, musing on growing older, life touched with discouragements and encouragements, wise lessons of nature, experiencing moments of routine, elation and grief, interactive with family and a wide community of friends and neighbors met, lost and kept, all revealing a souls search and discovery of beauty, justice, peace, and a sustaining faith.

In a world where beauty equates with wealth and power, Mary, a disadvantaged but intelligent, young student attending an elite college filled with beautiful, rich peers, must accept the reality that she will never be equal to her classmates because of her family’s economic station. Unable to enhance her beauty with the expensive gene therapy her fellow students have received, Mary is faced with a constant barrage of ridicule from her wealthy counterparts and instructors. Mary’s life is about to change. About to give up on her academic future, Mary is presented with a very expensive, early Christmas gift from her parents-one that would change her life forever. Sacrificing their life’s savings, Daniel and Bridget, hope to buy their daughter happiness with a gene therapy package. Now, Mary is confronted with accepting a new way of life filled with the possibility of money and power, but first she must make some difficult decisions.

Enter PlusOne, a world where backs are stabbed, morals mean nothing but hope springs eternal.

Fifty years of preaching excellence in one volume. The Living Pulpit collects sermons from representative preachers in the Stone-Campbell Movement--pastors affiliated with the Churches of Christ, the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)--over the past 50 years. The fourth volume in a series that began in 1868, this collection of sermons from 40 ministers, reviewed by a diverse team of scholars, captures the theological themes and changing approaches to preaching across the Movement’s three streams. Emerging from an era of mutual suspicion, the three streams have developed a better understanding, shared mutuality and respect for each stream’s unique qualities, and cooperated in many venues, qualities reflected in this collection. The Living Pulpit 2018 helps preachers and scholars recognize where preaching has been--and why it has been there--in each stream, and where preaching appears to be going in a new mission field for Christianity and the Unity Movement. General Editor: Mary Alice Mulligan Contributing Editors: Ronald Allen, Dave Bland, David Fleer, Joseph Grana II, Tim Sensing, Bruce Shields, Casey Sigmon, Richard Voelz Contributors: Jimmy Allen, Lynn Anderson, Gene Appel, Dean Barham, Batsell Barrett Baxter, Russell Blowers, Laura Buffington, Delores Carpenter, Janet Casey-Allen, Mike Cope, Fred Craddock, Lisa Davison, Glenn Elliott, Mark Frost, Joseph Grana II, Andrew Hairston, Cynthia Hale, Allen Harris, Jodi Hickerson, Cal Jernigan, Sandhya Jha, David Kagiwada, Michael Kinnamon, Roy Lawson, Marshall Leggett, Jim McGuiggan, Bob Mink, José Morales, Ronald Osborn, Derek Penwell, Norman Reed, Mary Louise Rowand, Rob Russell, Landon B. Saunders, Mark Scott, Tim Sensing, Bob Shannon, Rubel Shelly, Bruce Shields, Casey Sigmon, Myron Taylor, Samuel Twumasi-Ankrah, Richard Voelz, Paul Watson, J.S. Winston

The hidden meanings of the Beatles’ most esoteric lyrics and sounds are revealed by a rare insider who spent two decades with the man who made “meditation,” “mantra,” and “yoga” household words: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. “I absolutely love this book. Between the stories and the pictures, many I’ve not seen before, this is truly a spiritual journey.” —Chris O’Dell, author of Miss O’Dell, My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, and the Women They Loved The spiritual journey of the Beatles is the story of an entire generation of visionaries in the sixties who transformed the world. The Beatles turned Western culture upside down and brought Indian philosophy to the West more effectively than any guru. The Inner Light illumines hidden meanings of the Beatles’ India-influenced lyrics and sounds, decoded by Susan Shumsky—a rare insider who spent two decades in the ashrams and six years on the personal staff of the Beatles’ mentor, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. “With clarity, depth, and impeccable research, an exceptionally comprehensive book filled with engaging tales and fresh insights that even diehard Beatles fans will find illuminating.” —Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda: From Emerson and The Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West This eye-opening book draws back the curtain on the Beatles’ experiments with psychedelics, meditation, chanting, and Indian music. Among many shocking revelations never before revealed, we discover who invented "raga rock" (not the Beatles), the real identity of rare Indian instruements and musicians on their tracks, which Beatle was the best meditator (not George), why the Beatles left India in a huff, John and George’s attempts to return, Maharishi’s accurate prediction, and who Sexy Sadie, Jojo, Bungalow Bill, Dear Prudence, Blackbird, My Sweet Lord, Hare Krishna, and the Fool on the Hill really were. “This book reminds us in illuminating fashion why Susan is the premier thinker about India’s key influence upon the direction of the Beatles’ art. In vivid and stirring detail, she traces the Fabs’ spiritual awakening from Bangor to Rishikesh and beyond.” —Kenneth Womack, author of John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life Half a century later, the Beatles have sold more records than any other recording artist. A new generation wants to relive the magic of the flower-power era and is now discovering the message of this iconic band and its four superstars. For people of all nations and ages, the Beatles’ mystique lives on. The Inner Light is Susan Shumsky’s gift to their legacy.