The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon is a fascinating, detailed account of Japanese court life in the eleventh century. Written by a lady of the court at the height of Heian culture, this book enthralls with its lively gossip, witty observations, and subtle impressions. Lady Shonagon was an erstwhile rival of Lady Murasaki, whose novel, The Tale of Genji, fictionalized the elite world Lady Shonagon so eloquently relates. Featuring reflections on royal...

"Change is coming to Faha, a small Irish parish that hasn't changed in a thousand years. For one thing, the rain is stopping. Nobody remembers when it started; rain on the western seaboard is a condition of living. But now - just as Father Coffey proclaims the coming of the electricity - the rain clouds are lifting. Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe is idling in the unexpected sunshine when Christy makes his first entrance into Faha, bringing secrets...

Take an aerial pilgrimage to Israel, the world's only Jewish state and Holy Land to three major religions. Stunning footage showcases Israel in all its diverse glory. Witness the magnificence of the country's many holy sites, including the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, alongside exotic seaside resorts and the austere beauty of the Judean desert.

Compelling Alaska stories from Seth Kantner, bestselling author of Ordinary Wolves. When Seth Kantner's novel, Ordinary Wolves, was published 10 years ago, it was a literary revelation of sorts. In a raw, stylized voice it told the story of a white boy growing up with homesteading parents in Arctic Alaska and trying to reconcile his largely subsistence and Native-style upbringing with the expectations and realities tied to his race. It hit numerous...

With the same wit and sensitivity that have come to characterize her highly praised and beloved novels, Barbara Kingsolver gives us a rich and emotionally resonant collection of twelve stories. Spreading her memorable characters over landscapes ranging from Northern California to the hills of eastern Kentucky and the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, Kingsolver tells stories of hope, momentary joy, and powerful endurance. In every setting, Kingsolver's...

In this climactic volume of A Dance to the Music of Time, Nick Jenkins describes a world of ambition, intrigue, and dissolution. England has won the war, but now the losses, physical and moral, must be counted. Pamela Widmerpool sets a snare for the young writer Trapnel, while her husband suffers private agony and public humiliation. Set against a background of politics, business, high society, and the counterculture in England and Europe, this magnificent...

Beginning at dawn with the cock's rousing crow and proceeding into either Catholic abstinence or Protestant-approved marital relations at nightfall, this charming work celebrates the ordinary lives of those who labored through the dramatic Tudor era. Goodman draws on her own hands-on experience living on a replicated Tudor farm to bring all the sights, smells, and appetites of this era to visceral, vibrant life. The Tudor period began in 1485 with...

Provence has always been a very special place for Georgeanne Brennan. She discovered it as a student in Aix and returned several years later with her husband and young daughter to buy a small farmhouse deep in the backcountry. Now, more than thirty years later, Brennan tells the vivid and fulfilling story of her life en Provence.