Maybe she doesn't wear eye shadow like a 'decent woman, ' but Hank thinks that the mysterious hippy selling trinkets at the 1974 Bay Area drag race might offer a clue to help him win ported cylinder heads for his beloved hot rod 'Cuda. Hank can't stand his supermarket cashier job, or life with his lonely, drunken mother; his 'Cuda is all he has. Instead, the hippy furnishes a lead on a vastly bigger prize: the legendary Cuauhtemoc cup, missing since a Civil War era seance with a great Sioux warrior, and said to be charged with fearsome supernatural power.

From the beginning of human birth, after millions of years of development, mankind finally strutted into the universe. In order to steal resources and continue civilization, he had no choice but to compete with the other races and delve into the mysteries of the universe! Furthermore, an unprecedented honorary system was established to stimulate everyone's greatest dedication to society. The honorary point was the only standard to judge a citizen's status! The protagonist's rise to fame in the city, due to the unexpected change in the fate of life, in the gap between the rise, gradually towards the peak of honor. What kind of changes would his appearance bring to this universe where fish and dragons were mixed together? In the vast universe, what kind of powerful race existed, and what kind of shocking secret did it contain? All the wonderful things are in this book.

In this approachable and fascinating biography of the galaxy, an astrophysicist and folklorist details everything humans have discovered—from the Milky Way's formation to its eventual death, and what else there is to learn about the universe we call home. After a few billion years of bearing witness to life on Earth, of watching one hundred billion humans go about their day-to-day lives, of feeling unbelievably lonely, and of hearing its own story told by others, The Milky Way would like a chance to speak for itself. All one hundred billion stars and fifty undecillion tons of gas of it. It all began some thirteen billion years ago, when clouds of gas scattered through the universe's primordial plasma just could not keep their metaphorical hands off each other. They succumbed to their gravitational attraction, and the galaxy we know as the Milky Way was born. Since then, the galaxy has watched as dark energy pushed away its first friends, as humans mythologized its name and purpose, and as galactic archaeologists have worked to determine its true age (rude). The Milky Way has absorbed supermassive (an actual technical term) black holes, made enemies of a few galactic neighbors, and mourned the deaths of countless stars. Our home galaxy has even fallen in love. After all this time, the Milky Way finally feels that it's amassed enough experience for the juicy tell-all we've all been waiting for. Its fascinating autobiography recounts the history and future of the universe in accessible but scientific detail, presenting a summary of human astronomical knowledge thus far that is unquestionably out of this world. NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2022 BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AND SCIENCENET NAMED A BEST AUDIOBOOK OF 2022 BY BOOKPAGE

Shines a light on beloved nighttime traditions under the starry skies of North America.

Nothing ever happens in Dawson, Colorado. Until high school senior Cassidy Roekiem’s mom checks into a “wellness center,” but nothing is wrong with her. Then people start seeing lights in the sky and missing chunks of time, but the town insists nothing is going on. And now Hayden, the new boy at school who keeps to himself and is more than a little mysterious, starts to notice her like it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Suddenly, “nothing” is starting to feel a whole lot like something. And everything leads back to Hayden. The boy she’s starting to fall for. The boy with too many dark secrets for his kind heart. The boy she’s pretty sure isn’t human...

Warning: this is not a religious book! Brothers, the first book in the Brothers Series, opens in Hell. A modern fantasy/romance, the book describes the efforts of Lucifer to win, wed and impregnate a human female in the hopes of siring the Antagonist and bringing about the Rule of Chaos. This would allow Lucifer free reign over the Earth and its inhabitants. Lucifers Father, The Old Man (aka T.O.M.), cannot allow this but, at the same time because of free-will, cannot openly prevent it. His solution is to send Michael the Archangel to woo the targeted female away from his satanic brother. Michael, whose talent lies not in charm but in military matters, balks but must finally submit to his Fathers will. Much of the action takes place in Scajaquada, New York, a small town on Long Island. Perhaps the fact that its a liberal community and has long accepted outsiders makes it an easy target for such outr doings. In any case, Catherine OConnor is not aware of the identity of the doctor who is paying her court because Lucius Farrell is in reality Lucifer. Since Lucifers main talent is charm, its hard to Cathie to resist him....until she meets a clumsy young man named Michael Angeli who also has a secret identity. Adding spice to the above mixture is the presence of Lucifers Lieutenant, Beelzebub, who is acting as his masters butler under the name Beezly. Michaels fragile ego takes many hits and he sustains many shocks before the final outcome. Included in these shocks is the arrival of his nephew, Ashmadai, Lucifers exiled son along with a fellow-demon named Otis. The human members of the town are not just window-dressing but take an active part in proceedings even though they havent the slightest idea of the importance of the ongoing battle between the Brothers. Cathies parents and brother, her best friend, Sarah, and her husband, a nurse named Nell who loves a demon and Nells friend, Caroline, who has just rescued a demon herself. This is not a religious book nor meant to convey any message. It is, instead.....I hope, a rollicking good read.

Stories which reflect the life of ancient China, selected by the author from her childhood favorites.