More than a decade after Jack Gilbert’s The Great Fires, this highly anticipated new collection shows the continued development of a poet who has remained fierce in his avoidance of the beaten path. In Refusing Heaven, Gilbert writes compellingly about the commingled passion, loneliness, and sometimes surprising happiness of a life spent in luminous understanding of his own blessings and shortcomings: “The days and nights wasted . . . Long hot afternoons / watching ants while the cicadas railed / in the Chinese elm about the brevity of life.” Time slows down in these poems, as Gilbert creates an aura of curiosity and wonder at the fact of existence itself. Despite powerful intermittent griefs–over the women he has parted from or the one lost to cancer (an experience he captures with intimate precision)–Gilbert’s choice in this volume is to “refuse heaven.” He prefers this life, with its struggle and alienation and delight, to any paradise. His work is both a rebellious assertion of the call to clarity and a profound affirmation of the world in all its aspects. It braces the reader in its humanity and heart.

The founder of the Society of Spiritual Regression provides a guide for hypnotherapists and the general public to access the spiritual world.

WITH A BRAND NEW LOOK! ON FEBRUARY 22, 1980, KHORSHED AND RUMI BHAVNAGRI’S WORLD WAS SHATTERED. ONE MONTH LATER, A NEW ONE OPENED. Khorshed and Rumi Bhavnagri lost their sons, Vispi and Ratoo, in a tragic car crash. With both their sons gone, the couple felt they would not survive for long. They had lost all faith in God until a miraculous message from the Spirit World gave them hope and sent them on an incredible journey.

Growing up the son of agnostics, John Koessler saw a Catholic church on one end of the street and a Baptist on the other. In the no-man’s land between the two, this curious outside wondered about the God they worshipped—and began a lifelong search to comprehend the grace and mystery of God. A Stranger in the House of God addresses fundamental questions and struggles faced by spiritual seekers and mature believers. Like a contemporary Pilgrim’s Progress, it traces the author’s journey and explores his experiences with both charismatic and evangelical Christianity. It also describes his transformation from religious outsider to ordained pastor. John Koessler provides a poignant and often humorous window into the interior of the soul as he describes his journey from doubt and struggle with the church to personal faith

Combining southern warmth with unabashed emotion and side-splitting hilarity, Fannie Flagg takes readers back to Elmwood Springs, Missouri, where the most unlikely and surprising experiences of a high-spirited octogenarian inspire a town to ponder the age-old question: Why are we here? Life is the strangest thing. One minute, Mrs. Elner Shimfissle is up in her tree, picking figs, and the next thing she knows, she is off on an adventure she never dreamed of, running into people she never in a million years expected to meet. Meanwhile, back home, Elner’s nervous, high-strung niece Norma faints and winds up in bed with a cold rag on her head; Elner’s neighbor Verbena rushes immediately to the Bible; her truck driver friend, Luther Griggs, runs his eighteen-wheeler into a ditch–and the entire town is thrown for a loop and left wondering, “What is life all about, anyway?” Except for Tot Whooten, who owns Tot’s Tell It Like It Is Beauty Shop. Her main concern is that the end of the world might come before she can collect her social security. In this comedy-mystery, those near and dear to Elner discover something wonderful: Heaven is actually right here, right now, with people you love, neighbors you help, friendships you keep. Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven is proof once more that Fannie Flagg “was put on this earth to write” (Southern Living), spinning tales as sweet and refreshing as iced tea on a summer day, with a little extra kick thrown in.

Joyce Ackley is an 83-year-old living in Washington State with her little dog Annie (an orphan.) After her husband retired from the Navy the two went to college and became school teachers. They became grandparents before they graduated. Joyce became a widow 29 years ago and has constantly sought to be useful and happy in her life. As she ages, she still looks for ways to find life fulfilling. She does not want to retire to Heaven's Waiting Room. Can't do the things you used to do? Ready to give up on life? This book is full of ideas to get you out of Heaven's Waiting Room and back to enjoying the wonderful life God has given you. The book is a series of essays and ideas for you to try. You will find out why to cough in a plastic bag or find out how you get pregnant. Other laughable notes as well as a touching story of a grandfather crying in church on Christmas Eve. It's a book that will start you thinking, make you laugh and make you begin to live again. Young at Hearts are the main focus of the book although anyone needing ideas to spice up their life will find it helpful.

Since publishing his inspirational bestseller in 2004, the author has traveled the world spreading his message of faith certain faith in the promise of Heaven. In Heaven is Real, he shared how life's trials can be turned into spiritual lessons, when we are open to the certainty of God's grace and love. Now, in his first new book in four years, the author of 90 Minutes in Heaven, draws on his own firsthand experiences with the joys of Heaven, as well as the lessons found in the Gospel, to offer a set of "departing instructions," helping readers face the inevitable battles ahead, prepare for eternal life, and, starting today, live a happy, fulfilling, purposeful life on Earth while preparing for the glories of Heaven.