The subtitle of Maggie Ross's new book captures its essence, for it is about silence and our need to behold God. Beholding is a notion that we are in danger of losing. It is often lost in translation, even by the NRSV and the Jerusalem Bible. Beholding needs to be recovered both in theology and practice. Ross is very aware of "poor talkative Christianity." There is a twofold plea to enter into silence--for lack of silence erodes our humanity--and to behold the radiance of God. This is a book full of deep questioning and the testing of our assumptions. Throughout there is a great love for the world and for our humanity, accompanied by sadness that we are so easily distracted . . . . We are invited into a silence that is not necessarily an absence of noise, but is a limitless interior space. Ancient texts are used in new and exciting ways, and many of our worship practices are challenged. She is in no doubt that "the glory of the human being is the beholding of God." --adapted from a review in The Church Times (London) by Canon David Adam.

Anaïs Nin, the diarist, novelist, and provocateur, occupied a singular space in twentieth-century culture, not only as a literary figure and voice of female sexual liberation but as a celebrity and symbol of shifting social mores in postwar America. Before Madonna and her many imitators, there was Nin; yet, until now, there has been no major study of Nin as a celebrity figure. In Writing an Icon, Anita Jarczok reveals how Nin carefully crafted her literary and public personae, which she rewrote and restyled to suit her needs and desires. When the first volume of her diary was published in 1966, Nin became a celebrity, notorious beyond the artistic and literary circles in which she previously had operated. Jarczok examines the ways in which the American media appropriated and deconstructed Nin and analyzes the influence of Nin’s guiding hand in their construction of her public persona. The key to understanding Nin’s celebrity in its shifting forms, Jarczok contends, is the Diary itself, the principal vehicle through which her image has been mediated. Combining the perspectives of narrative and cultural studies, Jarczok traces the trajectory of Nin’s celebrity, the reception of her writings. The result is an innovative investigation of the dynamic relationships of Nin’s writing, identity, public image, and consumer culture.

A controversial masterpiece resurfaces in Budapest. A ballerina's headless corpse is found beneath the boardwalk at Brighton Beach. And New York's Russian mob is about to collide with the equally ruthless art world... Maddy Blume, an ambitious young art buyer for a Manhattan hedge fund, is desperate to track down a priceless painting by Marcel Duchamp, the most influential artist of the twentieth century. The discovery of a woman’s decapitated body thrusts criminal investigator Alan Powell into a search for the same painting, with its enigmatic image of a headless nude. And a Russian thief and assassin known as the Scythian must steal the painting to save his reputation – and his life. The murderous race is on. And in the lead is an insidious secret society intent on reclaiming the painting for reasons of its own – and by any means necessary….

History tells us a story of ourselves--without it, we lack a language with which to articulate not only where we come from, but in fact who we are.

Content has a clear role in the marketing process. It must aid the customer journey by moving readers from one stage of awareness to the next until they become leads. In other words, content develops leads. If your content is going to fulfill its duty—to turn readers into leads—people need to actually read it. So how can you write content that people will read? From Reads To Leads teaches 11 principles that define how a content writer writes every draft. Applying these principles to your writing will help you grab the right person’s attention, get your message across, and move your reader down the marketing funnel. The book comes with 40 writing exercises to each chapter to help you learn and practice several writing rules that will help you focus on writing content that makes readers act instead of writing content that sits on a server and gathers dust. You'll discover: How to understand what your readers need and how to write content that appeals to them How to get the desired response from your readers and move them down the marketing funnel How to figure out and communicate your key message and how to use it to take readers to the next stage of their journey How to creatively turn your content into a story with a three-act structure How to write an outline that focuses your writing and kills your procrastination What makes writing clear and simple How to express your brand’s personality and make your writing recognizable What makes content readable, and how to get your readers to stay with you till the end The writer’s role in the content writing process, and how you should approach content collaborations How you should react when your work is ripped to shreds From Reads to Leads is a true roadmap to succeeding with content for copywriters, content writers, marketing managers, and entrepreneurs curious why they're not making as many leads with their content as they know they should. Website: https://www.readstoleads.com/

"In India, there are 650 million people under the age of 35. These are men and women who grew up with the Internet, and the advent of smartphones and social media. But when it comes to love and marriage, they're expected to adhere to thousands of years of tradition. It's that tension between obeying tradition and accepting modernity that drives journalist Mansi Choksi's [book]"--