New essays on theological, political, and contemporary themes, by the Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America like Emerson and Tocqueville inform our political consciousness or discussing the way that beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson’s peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display. What Are We Doing Here? is a call for Americans to continue the tradition of those great thinkers and to remake American political and cultural life as “deeply impressed by obligation [and as] a great theater of heroic generosity, which, despite all, is sometimes palpable still.”

* Laina Dawes is not always the only black woman at metal shows and she's not always the only headbanger among her black female friends. In this book, she questions herself, her hardcore heroes and dozens of black punk, metal and hard-rock fans to answer a knee-jerk question she's heard a hundred times 'What are you doing here?'.

In this text, Bruce Chatwin writes of his father, of his friend Howard Hodgkin, and of his talks with Andre Malraux and Nadezhda Mandelstram. He also follows unholy grails on his travels, such as the rumour of a "wolf-boy" in India, or the idea of looking for a Yeti.

Baroness Floella Benjamin is an inspiration, an actress and much-loved children’s television presenter who is a member of the House of Lords. But how did the girl from Trinidad end up lunching with the Queen? In What Are You Doing Here? Floella describes arriving in London as a child, part of the Windrush generation, and the pain caused by the racism she encountered every day. It was offset by the love of her parents, who gave her the pride in her heritage, self-belief and confidence that have carried her through life. From winning a role in groundbreaking musical Hair (while clearly stating she would not take her clothes off) to breaking down barriers on Play School, from refusing to be typecast in roles to speaking out for diversity at the BBC and BAFTA, she has remained true to herself. She also reveals how she met husband Keith, became a mother of two, was befriended by Kenneth Williams, hugged President Obama, and found a purpose that would underpin everything she did – campaigning for the needs of children. Sharing the lessons she has learned, imbued with her joy and positivity, this autobiography is the moving testimony of a remarkable woman.

Instead of always looking for answers in the Bible, Trevor Hudson suggests that we start thinking more carefully about the questions that God asks. God desires a conversational relationship with us, and He shows this desire by asking questions. God also gives greater dignity to us by allowing us to wrestle with the questions rather than if we are simply given answers. Questions God Asks Us presents ten questions – five from the Old and five from the New Testament – which God had asked and is still asking us as well. They include: Where Are You? Where Is Your Brother? What Are You Doing Here? Who Do You Say I Am? Do You Want to Get Well? Why Are You Crying? There is a much greater power to transform us in a question than there is in a straightforward answer – each chapter includes a section with practical suggestions to answer God’s question and discover this for yourself. It also includes discussion questions for study groups.Questions God Asks Us is bound in a handy gift format with beautiful full-colour images printed on gloss art paper.

After my tenure as national president of the Navy League and after I think, perhaps, I have nothing to prove, I was wrong. I am asked to speak at the annual Thursday night dinner of the Submarine Veterans of WWII in November 2008. I came in at the last minute and sat down at the designated table full of submarine veterans and their wives. I was the last one to sit down. The submarine veteran next to me listens while we visit at the table for a few minutes and then turns to me and says, "What are you doing here? You don't know anything about us. You aren't a submariner. Why should you be speaking to us?" And I thought, Here we go again.

The inspiring words of Emmanuel, brought to us through channel Pat Rodegast, have opened the way to wisdom for thousands of people. In our troubled world, his loving message, so beautifully expressed, has been balm for the hurting soul as well as clear guidance for living—both with others on this earth and within the Self. Now Emmanual focuses on a special topic, the question of Angels. Do they exist? What do they do? Where are they? Are there fallen angels? What do they mean for our lives? His answers tell us not about the mystical creatures “out there.” But about the marvelous, powerful being “in here,” the eternal, omnipresent Angel who is always with us and waiting to be found. In moments of need, despair, pain, and terror, when we cry out for help and for truth, Emmanuel shows us where the doorway lies that leads away from fear and toward the way Home.