From Dracula to Buffy the Vampire Slayer; from Castlevania to Tru Blood, the romance between popular culture and vampires hearkens back to humanity's darkest, deepest fears, flowing through our very blood, fears of death, and life, and insatiable hunger. And yet, there is an attraction, undeniable, to the vampire archetype, whether the pale European count, impeccably dressed and coldly masculine, yet strangely ambiguous, ready to sink his sharp teeth deep into his victims' necks, draining or converting them, or the vamp, the count's feminine counterpart, villain and victim in one, using her wiles and icy sexuality to corrupt man and woman alike... Edited by John Joseph Adams (Wastelands, The Living Dead), By Blood We Live gathers together the best vampire literature of the last three decades from many of today's most renowned authors of fantasy, speculative fiction, and horror, including Stephen King, Joe Hill, Garth Nix, Neil Gaiman, Kelley Armstrong, Ken Macleod, Harry Turtledove, Carrie Vaughn, and Tad Williams.

The final battle between werewolves and vampires has an unexpected twist: love. With twenty thousand years under his belt, Remshi is the oldest vampire in existence. He is searching for the werewolf named Talulla, who haunts his dreams as a memory from his ancient past. But he is not the only one seeking Talulla: She is being hunted by the Militi Christi, a fanatical Christian cult hell-bent on wiping out werewolves and vampires alike. Inexplicably pulled toward one another, and with no other choice, Remshi and Talulla must join forces to protect their families, fulfill an ancient prophecy and - through a love that should be impossible - ensure the survival of their species.

Having won the National Book Award for How We Die, his best-selling inquiry into the causes and modes of death, Sherwin Nuland now turns his attention to the miraculous resiliency of human life. For this lucid, wonderful, and wonder-filled new book explores the body's mysterious capacity to marshal disparate organs and processes in the interests of survival. Like its predecessor, How We Live is filled with gripping medical case histories: a woman is pulled back from the brink of death from inexplicable internal bleeding; another patient triumphs over breast cancer; the "routine" removal of a polyp triggers a nearly lethal medical crisis. For Nuland, each of these cases serves to illustrate the extraordinary responsiveness and adaptability of the human organism. We learn how the aorta's baroreceptors monitor blood pressure and respond to its minutest fluctuations. We follow the intricate chain of electrochemical command that makes us leap out of the path of a speeding car. We discover why the stomach—which is capable of breaking down everything from porridge to pizza—refrains from digesting itself. Informed by sympathy for human suffering and an erudition that includes poetry and the Talmud as well as the medical canon, How We Live is science writing of the rarest kind—lucid, poetic, and genuinely uplifting.

The House We Live In is a book for children explaining the importance of taking care of one's body and avoiding drugs and alcohol. This manual mainly consists of a dialogue between a mother and her child to teach about the body in the context of the Bible. Farnsworth provides detailed illustrations and clear, comprehensive diagrams of body systems and organs. Contents: Houses and Temples, The Outside of the Body, Substances in the Body, Our Frame, cont.

They are monsters: Mariah, the reluctant rebel who has become a god to others of her kind, and Gabriel, the vampire, who loves her at his own peril. They have returned to the Bloodlands, where their story began-to face the horrors of Mariah's past and the uncertainties of Gabriel's future- and to make a final stand, for their lives-and their love.

It may seem that so many sermons have been preached on biblical texts that there is nothing new to say. Careful reading and imaginative thought, however, can result in new insights, especially if the biblical text becomes a lens through which we freshly view issues of human life. Larger literary units should be considered, rather than isolated Bible verses, and there is often a development in the text that is suggestive for development of the sermon. Clear thinking is necessary about real issues for people today. Discernment of the link between the ancient text and the challenges we face requires both thought and imagination. The result should be new suggestions for ways of expressing the gospel message, appropriate for our time. These sermons are presented as good examples of biblical preaching. They illustrate the qualities noted above. They can also be used in daily or weekly devotions. They are more challenging than much devotional material, but that may add to their value in nourishing a thoughtful life of faith.