From the author of FIRST PRIZE, a thriller about an indomitable American businessman whose integrity is pitted against the machinations of three governments. Merritt Fury, an American entrepreneur, savors his return to glamorous Hong Kong to meet with his itinerant business partners, until the irrational behavior of some of them sours his interest in the firm. Harry Briscoe, a senior partner whose business acumen Fury admires, offers his colleagues an ultimatum: agree to pay for the expansion of the firm's tungsten mine, or dissolve the partnership. Fury argues against the scheme, but Briscoe & others seem impervious to reason. And Fury soon realizes that he is the least welcome of all among Briscoe's partners. When Fury decides to stay in the partnership, he learns just how unwelcome he is. He is attacked in his hotel room, almost assassinated by a British secret agent, & courted by Amber Lee, a beautiful government economist who packs an automatic pistol. And when he is kidnapped, he grasps that he is the pivotal factor in a double conspiracy, & that the deadly conflict between his own integrity & the pragmatism of his colleagues could change the future of Hong Kong.

An illuminating look at the many forms of poetry's essential excellence by James Longenbach, a writer with "an ear as subtle and assured as any American poet now writing" (John Koethe) "This book proposes some of the virtues to which the next poem might aspire: boldness, change, compression, dilation, doubt, excess, inevitability, intimacy, otherness, particularity, restraint, shyness, surprise, and worldliness. The word ‘virtue' came to English from Latin, via Old French, and while it has acquired a moral valence, the word in its earliest uses gestured toward a magical or transcendental power, a power that might be embodied by any particular substance or act. With vices I am not concerned. Unlike the short-term history of taste, which is fueled by reprimand or correction, the history of art moves from achievement to achievement. Contemporary embodiments of poetry's virtues abound, and only our devotion to a long history of excellence allows us to recognize them." –from James Longenbach's preface The Virtues of Poetry is a resplendent and ultimately moving work of twelve interconnected essays, each of which describes the way in which a particular excellence is enacted in poetry. Longenbach closely reads poems by Shakespeare, Donne, Blake, Keats, Dickinson, Yeats, Pound, Bishop, and Ashbery (among others), sometimes exploring the ways in which these writers transmuted the material of their lives into art, and always emphasizing that the notions of excellence we derive from art are fluid, never fixed. Provocative, funny, and astute, The Virtues of Poetry is indispensable for readers, teachers, and writers. Longenbach reminds us that poetry delivers meaning in exacting ways, and that it is through its precision that we experience this art's lasting virtues.

Sugar and spice and everything nice—that's what little girls are made of...and so much more! In her first children's book, bestselling author Elizabeth George draws from the wisdom of the book of Proverbs to encourage young girls to apply the positive traits and qualities illustrated in each verse. Judy Luenebrink's charming illustrations complement the text, which emphasizes that there is more to being a girl than simply being sweet and nice. God desires for them to be helpful, confident, thoughtful, eager, prayerful, creative, cheerful, and kind—one of His little girls! A wonderful read-aloud book and perfect gift for parents or grandparents to give to their favorite little girl!

What it means to be a man or a woman is questioned today like never before. While traditional gender roles have been eroding for decades, now the very categories of male and female are being discarded with reckless abandon. How does one act like a gentleman in such confusing times? The Catholic Gentleman is a solid and practical guide to virtuous manhood. It turns to the timeless wisdom of the Catholic Church to answer the important questions men are currently asking. In short, easy- to-read chapters, the author offers pithy insights on a variety of topics, including • How to know you are an authentic man • Why our bodies matter • The value of tradition • The purpose of courtesy • What real holiness is and how to achieve it • How to deal with failure in the spiritual life

The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.

As a college student who has written Verses by Virtue, one of the most common questions people ask me is, “What made you write this book?” I believe the answer is also relevant to why someone else might find this book useful. I often read the Bible as a kid, so I was generally aware of what it was about, what Jesus taught and some specific verses. Then a situation would arise at school or somewhere else in which I needed a particular Bible verse at that moment. I could usually remember a few words of a verse that I had read the night before, or perhaps what that page in my Bible looked like, but I couldn’t remember the verse itself. I would then flip through my Bible for a long time trying to find that verse. I wished that I had not only that particular Bible verse that I was looking for, but also a list of other related Bible verses that dealt with that particular topic. I always wanted a book like Verses by Virtue, but I never knew that I’d be the one to write such a book. Before I wrote Verses by Virtue, I searched the Internet for a book like it, one that organizes Bible verses by their categories. I found some thick reference books that listed every Bible verse that had a particular word in it. For instance, under the word “dove,” you would find a list of all the verses that had the word “dove” in it. While I found these books helpful for in-depth Bible study, I still wanted a more practical book that organized verses more by their meaning than by a word. A year after I began college, I embarked on a journey to organize Bible verses by their meaning as a reference that I could use throughout my life. It didn’t take me long to realize that other people would find a reference of organized Bible verses as useful as I did. After years of reading the Bible, organizing verses, choosing Bible versions and compiling the results into a book, Verses by Virtue is here with 12,000 Bible verses organized into over 100 categories from 18 different English Bible translations. Verses by Virtue consists of over 100 categories that are organized alphabetically. The categories cover more than the book’s title might suggest, that is, more than just virtues. Verses by Virtue also includes categories such as Prayer, Temptation, All Things Are Possible, and other relevant areas in a Christian walk of life. The verses within a category are arranged chronologically according to the order of the books in the Bible. Throughout a category, you will find footnote indicators that reference other verses within Verses by Virtue as well as indicators that reference a verse that you can look up in your Bible. The corresponding footnotes can be found at the end of a category under the “See also” section. You will also find numerous charts that display the verses in which a short phrase or sentence can be found. These phrases are often the same or very similar across all the verses in a chart. The Table of Contents and Index also make finding verses easier and faster. As I previously mentioned, the book that I wanted as a kid was one that included relevant verses in the category that I wanted to find. The problem that I found was that most books organized verses by a word that appears in the verse rather than by its meaning. This means that you could find the verse, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:10) under the category “love,” whereas in Verses by Virtue it is found under “Greed.” While it’s difficult to see how this verse relates to love, it is quite easy to see greed in it. I have hand-selected every verse in Verses by Virtue to ensure that they are organized by their meaning in whichever category or categories to which they pertain. For instance, you will find John 14:6, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” under “Eternal Life” and “Truth,” both of which are relevant categories to this verse. Verses by Virtue has fulfilled the initial use for which I wrote it: to find the verse I was searching for and then some more like it, though its applications span much greater than this. Use Verses by Virtue to find a Bible verse for special occasions such as birthday, Christmas and anniversary cards, weddings, graduations, family gatherings, special church events, Bible studies, prayer groups and any other occasion that would benefit from including passages from God’s Word. Use Verses by Virtue as a Bible study tool or supplement an existing program with it. Prayer groups will also be able to derive great discussions when including Verses by Virtue within the study. Use Verses by Virtue as an evangelistic tool to spread the Gospel of Christ to every person in every place. In the beginning of this Introduction, I shared with you the most commonly asked question about Verses by Virtue. Now I’d like to share with you the most common statement regarding Verses by Virtue: “I’ve been looking for a book like this my whole life!” I hear this statement all the time and I am grateful for it. Verses by Virtue is a source of inspiration at your fingertips, providing you with courage when you feel afraid, hope when you feel in doubt, and confidence that Jesus is always with you no matter who you are, where you are, or what you’re facing today.

In "Worth More Than Rubies," author and Bible teacher Christina Patterson takes a deeper look into the life of the Proverbs 31 woman to discover the 7 virtues of a woman after God's own heart. Christina reminds you that your relationship with God is less about what you do and more about who you are. This is where your true value comes from and is what makes you "worth more than rubies."