J. Allan Hobson presents a critical overview of conceptions of consciousness, relating it to specific areas of the brain and their chemical and physical states. He charts the various states of waking, dreaming and non-consciousness using the theories and data of neuroscience, psychiatry and neurophysiology, whilst conveying the mysterious and seductive nature of his subject.

With his single mother in jail, Sequoyah, a 15-year-old Cherokee boy, is placed in foster care with the Troutt family. Literally and figuratively scarred by his unstable upbringing, Sequoyah has spent years mostly keeping to himself, living with his emotions pressed deep below the surface - that is, until he meets 17-year-old Rosemary, another youth staying with the Troutts. Sequoyah and Rosemary bond over their shared Native American background and tumultuous paths through the foster care system, but as Sequoyah's feelings towards Rosemary deepen, the precariousness of their lives and the scars of their pasts threaten to undo them both.

Publisher Description

For more than a century, the city of Atlanta has been associated with black achievement in education, business, politics, media, and music, earning it the nickname "the black Mecca." Atlanta's long tradition of black education dates back to Reconstruction, and produced an elite that flourished in spite of Jim Crow, rose to leadership during the civil rights movement, and then took power in the 1970s by building a coalition between white progressives, business interests, and black Atlantans. But as Maurice J. Hobson demonstrates, Atlanta's political leadership--from the election of Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's first black mayor, through the city's hosting of the 1996 Olympic Games--has consistently mishandled the black poor. Drawn from vivid primary sources and unnerving oral histories of working-class city-dwellers and hip-hop artists from Atlanta's underbelly, Hobson argues that Atlanta's political leadership has governed by bargaining with white business interests to the detriment of ordinary black Atlantans. In telling this history through the prism of the black New South and Atlanta politics, policy, and pop culture, Hobson portrays a striking schism between the black political elite and poor city-dwellers, complicating the long-held view of Atlanta as a mecca for black people.

Practicing mindfulness in daily life reaps endless benefits and here we learn many different ways to incorporate the practice into our everyday routine. It is easy to become reactive to stress and assume that this is just a fact of life, but we can improve our experience by using meditation and mindful awareness to counteract the tension. With explanations of what our tech-heavy world is doing to us and suggestions for ways to support ourselves when facing pressure, this is a timely book that will become invaluable to those struggling with modern ills. Beautifully illustrated and full-colour throughout.

A novel “about a [Cherokee] family’s reckoning with loss and injustice...spirited, droll, and as quietly devastating as rain lifting from earth to sky” (Tommy Orange, New York Times–bestselling author of There, There). Steeped in Cherokee myths and history, a novel about a family fractured by loss—from National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson In the fifteen years since their teenage son, Ray-Ray, was killed in a police shooting, the Echota family has been suspended in private grief. The mother, Maria, increasingly struggles to manage the onset of Alzheimer’s in her husband, Ernest. Their adult daughter, Sonja, leads a life of solitude, punctuated only by spells of dizzying romantic obsession. And their son, Edgar, fled home long ago, turning to drugs to mute his feelings of alienation. With the family’s annual bonfire approaching—an occasion marking both the Cherokee National Holiday and Ray-Ray’s death—Maria attempts to call the family together once more. But as the reunion draws near, each of them feels a strange blurring of the boundary between normal life and the spirit world. “Rich in Cherokee folklore” (San Francisco Chronicle) The Removed is “a moving meditation on family, home, and ancestral trauma” (Harper’s Bazaar). “A marvel. With a few sly gestures, a humble array of piercingly real characters...Brandon Hobson delivers an act of regeneration and solace. You won’t forget it.” —Jonathan Lethem, bestselling author of The Feral Detective “Multilayered, emotionally radiant...Highly recommended.” —Library Journal, starred review “Mesmerizing.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review “Hobson is a master storyteller. . . . This will stay long in readers’ minds.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review