What does it mean to be Muslim in Britain today? If the media is anything to go by, it has something to do with mosques, community leaders, whether you wear a veil, and what your views on religious extremists are. But as all our lives become increasingly entwined with our online presence, British Muslims are taking to social media to carve their own narratives and tell their own stories, challenging stereotypes along the way. Follow Me, Akhi explores how young Muslims in Britain are using the internet to determine their own religious identity, both within their communities and as part of the country they live in. Entering a world of Muslim dating apps, social media influencers, online preachers, and LGBTQ and ex-Muslim groups, journalist Hussein Kesvani explores how British Islam has evolved into a multi-dimensional cultural identity that goes well beyond the confines of the mosque. He shows how a new generation of Muslims who have grown up in the internet age use blogs, vlogging, and tweets to define their religion on their terms -- something that could change the course of 'British Islam' forever.

Enthusiastic & candidly written, A NUTT it Takes a Stone to Crack. explores generations of the absentee father and the burden it places not only on the children, but woman, family, and what happens when our superheroes abandoned their cape. Contrary to what we believe or think we believe; Black boys need their fathers. Mothers are extremely important, loved and admired. But at the same time, we must never forget the vital and unforgettable role a father plays in his son’s life (absent or present). For many black boys, their fathers are their first authentic SUPERHERO.

YouTube is one of the most well-known and widely discussed sites of participatory media in the contemporary online environment, and it is the first genuinely mass-popular platform for user-created video. In this timely and comprehensive introduction to how YouTube is being used and why it matters, Burgess and Green discuss the ways that it relates to wider transformations in culture, society and the economy. The book critically examines the public debates surrounding the site, demonstrating how it is central to struggles for authority and control in the new media environment. Drawing on a range of theoretical sources and empirical research, the authors discuss how YouTube is being used by the media industries, by audiences and amateur producers, and by particular communities of interest, and the ways in which these uses challenge existing ideas about cultural ‘production’ and ‘consumption’. Rich with both concrete examples and featuring specially commissioned chapters by Henry Jenkins and John Hartley, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in the contemporary and future implications of online media. It will be particularly valuable for students and scholars in media, communication and cultural studies.

The former First Lady discusses her life, the Reagan administration, her shaky relationship with her children and key White House personnel, her husband’s involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, and her bout with cancer. “During our White House years I said almost nothing about how I really felt regarding the controversies that swirled around me. . . . But now those years are over, and it’s my turn to describe what happened. . . .” About Ronald Reagan: “Although Ronnie loves people, he often seems remote, and he doesn’t let anybody get too close. There’s a wall around him. He lets me come closer than anyone else, but there are times when even I feel that barrier.” About being a mother: “What I wanted most in all the world was to be a good wife and mother. As things turned out, I guess I’ve been more successful at the first than at the second.” About her influence: “I make no apologies for telling Ronnie what I thought. Just because you’re married doesn’t mean you have no right to express your opinions. For eight years I was sleeping with the president, and if that doesn’t give you special access, I don’t know what does.” About astrology: “What it boils down to is that each person has his or her own ways of coping with trauma and grief, with the pain of life, and astrology was one of mine. Don’t criticize me, I wanted to say, until you have stood in my place. This helped me. Nobody was hurt by it—except, possibly, me.” About Don Regan: “His very first day on the job, Don said that he saw himself as the ‘chief operating officer’ of the country. But he was hired to be chief of staff. . . . Although I believed for a long time that Donald Regan was in the wrong job, my ‘power’ in getting him to leave has been greatly exaggerated. Believe me, if I really were the dragon lady that he described in his book, he would have been out the door many months earlier.”

“Sandman Slim is my kind of hero.” —Kim Harrison “Richard Kadrey is a genius.” —Holly Black Sandman Slim is back from Hell. After wreaking unholy havoc in author Richard Kadrey’s resoundingly acclaimed Sandman Slim, the demon-slaying anti-hero and half-angel fugitive from the underworld returns in a brutally funny, eye-poppingly inventive, and totally addicting follow-up, Kill the Dead. If you’re a fan of Buffy and Jim Butcher, Christopher Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Warren Ellis, or you dig the dark urban fantasy vibe of Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, and Simon Green, you’ll cheer Lucifer’s onetime personal assassin as he signs on as his ex-boss’ Hollywood bodyguard…and takes on the zombie apocalypse almost single-handedly.

Most fisherman don't really fish just to catch fish. While we might appear to only fill our boats with fish, the reality is fishing fills our hearts with purpose. Many of us don't conform to land well, or even at all. We often find ourselves more lost on dirt and grass than a parakeet in the middle of the ocean. The rogue nature of men who often live in vast waters without roads and traffic signs makes for a bad fit in a society filled with rules and regulations. Our relationship with the opposite sex is perhaps the most difficult aspect of being a fisherman. We often fight a winless battle between our primordial desire to be accepted and loved versus the unrelenting beckoning of the ocean. A fisherman has two lives: the one where he stares at sea from land and the life where he stares at land from sea. For the fisherman, the question is not whether joy or pain are on the horizon for they've come to learn that both live hand in hand. The sea teaches men they cannot appreciate joy without knowing pain, and pain is not fully recognized without first experiencing joy. Loads of fish and welcoming arms are the Ying to the Yang in the darkest nights, both at sea and ashore. Despite being shackled to both like an anchor to a chain, fisherman will forever be hopelessly torn apart so long as the sea has fish, and the land has women. Vicious Cycle is a collection of the author's personal tales from the sea and personal battles on land, likely resonating with every man who calls the sea home. Geer loved the ocean before he even truly knew the definition of love. He spent his lifetime trying to be nothing more than accepted as a fisherman. Now, he shares those stories and those challenges with you. This book is for those that understand that beauty can be found in something that seemingly possess no traits of the traditional definition of beautiful.