Across the democratic West, politics has become deeply polarised and profoundly personal. Challenge someone's political views and increasingly you challenge their very being. And yet, do our political tribes even make sense? Look carefully, and on the most important ethical issues of the age – assisted dying, social welfare, sexual liberation, abortion, gun control, the environment, technology, justice – the instinctive positions of both the Left and the Right are riven with contradictions. In this refreshing and eye-opening book, James Mumford, a public thinker and independent commentator, questions the basic assumptions of our political groups. His challenge is simple: 'Why should believing strongly about one topic mean the automatic adoption of so many others?' Vexed is an essential and provocative account that will appeal to anyone of independent thought, and a welcome call for new reflection on the moral issues most relevant to our modern way of life.

When asked how to pray, Jesus advises his listeners to be brief, unlike those who "think that they will be heard because of their many words" (Matt 7:8). This statement, like many others in scriptures, raises questions. How many words are too many, and how else besides words to ponder Holy Writ? In these poems, Elizabeth Poreba seeks to keep Jesus' advice in mind while examining her life as a convert from a Puritan-infused Congregationalism to Roman Catholicism.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1881.

They say you learn something new every day. . .

I learned that reality tv isn’t real.

To undo the curse that was placed on my family centuries ago, I must compete in the human game show called Modern Day Witch Hunt.

The prize: Mother Shipton’s grimoire.

The irony: only a spell from its pages can reverse the hex.

The stakes: my family will lose all their magical ability without that spell.

All I need is a new hairstyle, a new name, and a complete personality change—easy, right?

Throw in a fake-ass broom and a black cat with a little magic, and I have this competition in the bag.

Nothing is going to stop me from winning back my family’s long-lost grimoire.

Nothing. . .

Except maybe the asshole whose family hexed mine.

WARNING: This is a reverse harem comedy starring a witch-bitch turned hippie, a sexy 'on-screen' coach, one arch rival with a wand up his ass, a few surprises, and plenty of spells waiting to go wrong.

“An abundance of sharp wit and…romantic chemistry.” —Booklist on Last Duke Standing Daring. Darling. Determined. Next to the Season’s newest diamond, Harriet (Hattie) Woodchurch feels like a plain Jane. But that’s of no consequence, since Hattie’s plan for her future is to earn enough to live far, far away from her embarrassing family. That is until Mateo Vincente, Duke of Santiava and newly minted Viscount Abbott, arrives in London. While the shy European’s spoken English is impeccable, his writing is less fluent. The ton is eager to meet the handsome bachelor, and so many invitations flood in that Mateo needs a correspondence secretary. With her perfect penmanship and way with words, Hattie is recommended, and the two bond over books and the ton’s eligible ladies. But when Hattie’s friend Flora becomes smitten with the viscount, things get complicated. Flora is tongue-tied in his presence. To help, Hattie feeds her information about Mateo’s interests. Soon things turn around and Flora appears on track to become his duchess. Yet for Mateo, something’s not quite right. Conversation with Flora isn’t as scintillating as it is with Hattie… A Royal Match Book 1: Last Duke Standing Book 2: The Duke Not Taken Book 3: The Viscount Who Vexed Me Book 4: An Inconvenient Earl

A ground-breaking collection exploring the rich array of emotions in biblical literature An international team of Hebrew Bible and New Testament scholars offers incisive case studies of passions displayed by divine and human figures in the biblical texts ranging from joy, happiness, and trust to grief, hate, and disgust. Essays address how biblical characters' feelings affect their relationship with God, one another, and the world and how these feelings mix together, for good or ill, for flourishing or vexation. Deeply engaged with both ancient and modern contexts, including the burgeoning interdisciplinary study of emotion in the humanities and sciences, these essays break down the artificial divide between reason and passion, cognition and emotion, thought and feeling in biblical study. Features Case studies drawn from multiple genres across the Bible: narrative, prophets, poetry, wisdom, Gospels, and letters Helpful select bibliographies of interdisciplinary resources at the end of each essay Critical balance between theory and practice and between method and close textual analysis Distinctive ancient Hebrew and Greek uses of emotional terms and concepts compared with each other and with evolving understandings in Western culture

A bundle of books #4 (VEXED ON A VISIT) and #5 (KILLED WITH A KISS) in Fiona Grace’s Lacey Doyle cozy mystery series. This bundle offers books four and five in one convenient file, with over 150,000 words of reading. In VEXED ON A VISIT (Book #4), summer has arrived, and Lacey is delighted when her chef boyfriend surprises her with an offer for a long weekend trip, a romantic getaway into the neighboring seaside towns of the British countryside, with her beloved dog, and a chance to go antiquing. But Lacey is even more surprised when her family shows up from New York on a surprise visit—and when they want to come along! Even worse, Lacey, in a neighboring town, finds herself in the midst of a murder scene. And once again, with her reputation on the line, she may be the only one who can solve it. In KILLED WITH A KISS (Book #5), on a romantic daytrip in the English countryside, Lacey lucks out in an antique market and stumbles upon an incredible find. She has high hopes as she makes it the centerpiece of her next auction. But as summer is coming to a close, two high-rollers come into town and duke it out over the antique, their egos as big as their wallets. When one of them wins but loses the auction on a technicality, chaos ensues. The only thing that makes it worse is when one ends up dead. Lacey finds herself in the fight of her life to save her business and her reputation—and, with the help of her beloved dog, to solve the mysterious death. Books #6-#9 are also available!

A bundle of books #4 (VEXED ON A VISIT), #5 (KILLED WITH A KISS), and #6 (PERISHED BY A PAINTING) in Fiona Grace’s Lacey Doyle cozy mystery series. This bundle offers books four, five, and six in one convenient file, with over 150,000 words of reading. In VEXED ON A VISIT (Book #4), summer has arrived, and Lacey is delighted when her chef boyfriend surprises her with an offer for a long weekend trip, a romantic getaway into the neighboring seaside towns of the British countryside, with her beloved dog, and a chance to go antiquing. But Lacey is even more surprised when her family shows up from New York on a surprise visit—and when they want to come along! Even worse, Lacey, in a neighboring town, finds herself in the midst of a murder scene. And once again, with her reputation on the line, she may be the only one who can solve it. In KILLED WITH A KISS (Book #5), on a romantic daytrip in the English countryside, Lacey lucks out in an antique market and stumbles upon an incredible find. She has high hopes as she makes it the centerpiece of her next auction. But as summer is coming to a close, two high-rollers come into town and duke it out over the antique, their egos as big as their wallets. When one of them wins but loses the auction on a technicality, chaos ensues. The only thing that makes it worse is when one ends up dead. Lacey finds herself in the fight of her life to save her business and her reputation—and, with the help of her beloved dog, to solve the mysterious death. In PERISHED BY A PAINTING (Book #6), Fall has arrived in Wilfordshire, bringing with it Fall festivals of food, charming holidays and refreshing return to simple normalcy. To celebrate their new proposal, Lacey and Tom finally get a romantic countryside trip together, and Lacey is thrilled to stumble upon a rare painting in the most unexpected place—a shack on the side of the road. But Lacey has no idea how rare and valuable his painting actually is. When she finds out the shocking news, she grapples with whether she should return it—when a shocking twist and a dead body put her right in the middle of a crime that she must, with her beloved dog at her side, solve—or else lose all that she has worked for. Books #7-#9 are also available!

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2021 A provocative interpretation of why classical music in America "stayed white"—how it got to be that way and what can be done about it. In 1893 the composer Antonín Dvorák prophesied a “great and noble school” of American classical music based on the “negro melodies” he had excitedly discovered since arriving in the United States a year before. But while Black music would foster popular genres known the world over, it never gained a foothold in the concert hall. Black composers found few opportunities to have their works performed, and white composers mainly rejected Dvorák’s lead. Joseph Horowitz ranges throughout American cultural history, from Frederick Douglass and Huckleberry Finn to George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and the work of Ralph Ellison, searching for explanations. Challenging the standard narrative for American classical music fashioned by Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, he looks back to literary figures—Emerson, Melville, and Twain—to ponder how American music can connect with a “usable past.” The result is a new paradigm that makes room for Black composers, including Harry Burleigh, Nathaniel Dett, William Levi Dawson, and Florence Price, while giving increased prominence to Charles Ives and George Gershwin. Dvorák’s Prophecy arrives in the midst of an important conversation about race in America—a conversation that is taking place in music schools and concert halls as well as capitols and boardrooms. As George Shirley writes in his foreword to the book, “We have been left unprepared for the current cultural moment. [Joseph Horowitz] explains how we got there [and] proposes a bigger world of American classical music than what we have known before. It is more diverse and more equitable. And it is more truthful.”

Blood isn't always thicker than water, especially in matters concerning love, lust, and passion. Family ties no longer bind the once close King siblings, Zach and Jay. Their desire for the same woman transforms them from loving brother and sister to bitter arch rivals. Jamaican beauty Jillian Bessette is Jay's lover, but Zach's uncontrollable yearning to have her overpowers him, causing him to commit the ultimate act of betrayal against his flesh and blood. For his sin, Jay orders a hit on her brother, but her plan for revenge backfires, and she is exposed. Her only way to avoid justice is to flee. In exile, Jay's hatred and resentment for Zach and Jill consumes her every waking moment. Their new life together includes a baby boy, the product of their forbidden affair, and adds more fuel to the growing fire of hatred growing inside Jay. While she longs for the day of vengeance against them, they bask in the beauty of love and happiness, but precious moments are cut short, overshadowed by the sins of their past. Zach is forced to send Jill and their son away to the one place he believes they'll be safe from Jay and her threats to settle the score. To the contrary, he unknowingly delivers Jill right into Jay's hands. The two former lovers come face to face, and Jill's nightmare begins. Helpless, Zach must place his faith in the heroics of others in a race against time to rescue Jill from the torturous clutches of a woman who is bitter and vexed!