About this product: Meet Dexter Morgan. He's a highly respected lab technician specializing in blood spatter for the Miami Dade Police Department. He's a handsome, though reluctant, ladies' man. He's polite, says all the right things, and rarely calls attention to himself. He's also a sociopathic serial killer whose "Dark Passenger" drives him to commit the occasional dismemberment.
Mind you, Dexter's the good guy in this story.
Adopted at the age of four after an unnamed tragedy left him orphaned, Dexter's learned, with help from his pragmatic policeman father, to channel his "gift," killing only those who deal in death themselves. But when a new serial killer starts working in Miami, staging elaborately grisly scenes that are, to Dexter, an obvious attempt at communication from one monster to another, the eponymous protagonist finds himself at a loss. Should he help his policewoman sister Deborah earn a promotion to the Homicide desk by finding the fiend? Or should he locate this new killer himself, so he can express his admiration for the other's "art?" Or is it possible that psycho Dexter himself, admittedly not the most balanced of fellows, is finally going completely insane and committing these messy crimes himself?
Despite his penchant for vivisection, it's hard not to like Dexter as his coldly logical personality struggles to emulate emotions he doesn't feel and to keep up his appearance as a caring, unremarkable human being. Breakout author Jeff Lindsay's plot is tense and absorbing, but it's the voice of Dexter and his reactions to the other characters that will keep readers glued to Darkly Dreaming Dexter, as well as making it one of the most original and highly recommended serial killer stories in a long time. --Benjamin Reese
About this product: "[A] solid how-to book...For amateur dream researchers, this is a must." WHOLE EARTH REVIEW This book goes far beyond the confines of pop dream psychology, establishing a scientifically researched framework for using lucid dreaming--that is, consciously influencing the outcome of your dreams. Based on Dr. Stephen LaBerge's extensive laboratory work at Stanford University mapping mind/body relationships during the dream state, as well as the teachings of Tibetan dream yogis and the work of other scientists, including German psycholgist Paul Tholey, this practical workbook will show you how to use your dreams to: Solve problems; Gain greater confidence; improve creativity, and more.
About this product: "Remarkable...An intricate weaving of dramatic events with the supernatural and the cosmic...Evocative and lush...A rich and haunting narrative, an excellent new voice in contemporary fiction." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Now available in a Spanish language edition from Ballantine Books. Here is the dreamy and bittersweet story of a family divided by politics and geography by the Cuban revolution. It is the family story of Celia del Pino, and her husband, daughter and grandchildren, from the mid-1930s to 1980. Celia's story mirrors the magical realism of Cuba itself, a country of beauty and poverty, idealism and corruption. DREAMING IN CUBAN presents a unique vision and a haunting lamentation for a past that might have been.
About this product: She stood at peril's threshold -- then love beckoned her in…
A prim, well-bred gentlewoman, Sara Fielding is a writer who puts pen to paper to create dreams. But now curiosity is luring her from the shelter of her country cottage into the dangerous world of Derek Craven -- handsome, tough, and tenacious -- and the most exciting man Sara has ever met.
Derek rose from poverty to become the wealthy lord of London's most exclusive gambling house. And now duty demands that he allow Sara Fielding to enter his perilous realm of ever-shifting fortunes -- with her impeccable manners and her infuriating innocence. But there is a hidden strength and sensuality to the lady that captivates him beyond his better judgment. And in this world, where danger lurks behind every shadow, even a proper “mouse” can be transformed into a breathtaking enchantress -- and a cynical gambler can be shaken to his core by the power of passion and the promise of love.
About this product: Dreaming with God is about releasing the people of God to their eternal purposes as co-laborers with Christ. He is interested in our desires, and would like for us to partner with Him in the unfolding of world events. The fullness of the Spirit obtained in intimacy is what qualifies us for such a role of influence. The Old Testament fullness of the Spirit is seen in wisdom, and the New Testament in power. Wisdom is covert ministry, and power is overt ministry. When the Church walks in supernatural wisdom (providing solutions to the needs of the world) and walks in power (confronting the infirmities and torments of darkness) we will know what He meant when He said, "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising!"
About this product: In the 80s, Tracy Kidder's The Soul of a New Machine attempted to define the story of the development of a minicomputer: from the new science to the business and nascent culture of electronic hardware and software that was characteristic of that time. Scott Rosenberg's Dreaming in Code draws on Kidder's model as it attempts to document the state of software, the Internet, and everything circa 2006 through the lens of Chandler, an as-yet-unfinished software application for the management of personal information.
The Chandler project--driven by Mitch Kapor, the founder of Lotus Development and main author of its 1-2-3 spreadsheet, and later co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation--isn't the primary point of Dreaming in Code, though reading about software people and their social behavior is at least as interesting as reading about that of meerkats or monkeys. Rather, Chandler is a rhetorical device with which Rosenberg takes on the big questions: How do software development teams work (or not)? Why does the reuse of software modules rarely work altogether correctly? Does open-source development by volunteers on the Internet lead to innovation or just insanely bifurcated chaos? Chandler helps his readers think more clearly about all of these issues; however, "answers" to these questions are, of course, not to be had, which is one of his points.
The problem with books about technical subjects that aspire to appeal to a general audience, particularly computers and software, is that such subjects are so far outside the realm of familiarity of most people that the prose bogs down in analogy and metaphor. Rosenberg manages to avoid too much of that and deliver a readable account of software development and culture. --David Wall
About this product: Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self is the account of an extraordinarily talented lucid dreamer who goes beyond the boundaries of both psychology and religion. In the process, he stumbles upon the Inner Self.
While lucid (consciously aware) in the dream state and able to act and interact with dream figures, objects, and settings, dream expert Robert Waggoner experienced something transformative and unexpected. He was able to interact consciously with the dream observer-the apparent Inner Self-within the dream. At first this seemed shocking, even impossible, since psychology normally alludes to such theoretical inner aspects as the Subliminal Self, the Center, the Internal Self-Helper in vague and theoretical ways. Waggoner came to realize, however, that aware interaction with the Inner Self was not only possible, but actual and highly inspiring. He concluded that while aware in the dream state, one has both a psychological tool and a platform from which to understand dreaming and the larger picture of man's psyche as well. Waggoner proposes 5 stages of lucid dreaming and guides readers through them, offering advice for those who have never experienced the lucid dream state and suggestions for how experienced lucid dreamers can advance to a new level.
Lucid Dreaming offers exciting insights and vivid illustrations that will intrigue not only avid dreamworkers but anyone who is interested in consciousness, identity, and the definition of reality.
About this product: What if right now, reading these words, you suddenly realized that you were actually dreaming--and that in this domain you could do anything imaginable? That is what it's like to dream lucidly, teaches Stephen LaBerge. With Lucid Dreaming, the author of Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming (more than 120,000 copies in print; Ballantine, 1991) teaches his simple, tested methods for becoming fully conscious in the dream state. With techniques perfected during LaBerge's 20 years of pioneering research at Stanford University, now anyone can learn to consciously explore and use their dreams for self-discovery, creativity, fantasy fulfillment, emotional healing, and profound spiritual insight. Available for the first time in paperback, this complete mini-course shows you:
* The fastest and most effective program to awaken in the dream state * How to "re-dream" your nightmares to resolve hidden fears * Ways to use dreamwork for emotional healing * How to use the lucid dream state to more fully awaken in your daytime hours.
Features a CD complete with dream induction sessions, exercises, and more.
About this product: Reviewers exhaust superlatives when it comes to the science fiction of Peter F. Hamilton. His complex and engaging novels, which span thousands of years–and light-years–are as intellectually stimulating as they are emotionally fulfilling. Now, with The Dreaming Void, the eagerly awaited first volume in a new trilogy set in the same far-future as his acclaimed Commonwealth saga, Hamilton has created his most ambitious and gripping space epic yet.
The year is 3589, fifteen hundred years after Commonwealth forces barely staved off human extinction in a war against the alien Prime. Now an even greater danger has surfaced: a threat to the existence of the universe itself. At the very heart of the galaxy is the Void, a self-contained microuniverse that cannot be breached, cannot be destroyed, and cannot be stopped as it steadily expands in all directions, consuming everything in its path: planets, stars, civilizations. The Void has existed for untold millions of years. Even the oldest and most technologically advanced of the galaxy’s sentient races, the Raiel, do not know its origin, its makers, or its purpose.
But then Inigo, an astrophysicist studying the Void, begins dreaming of human beings who live within it. Inigo’s dreams reveal a world in which thoughts become actions and dreams become reality. Inside the Void, Inigo sees paradise. Thanks to the gaiafield, a neural entanglement wired into most humans, Inigo’s dreams are shared by hundreds of millions–and a religion, the Living Dream, is born, with Inigo as its prophet. But then he vanishes.
Suddenly there is a new wave of dreams. Dreams broadcast by an unknown Second Dreamer serve as the inspiration for a massive Pilgrimage into the Void. But there is a chance that by attempting to enter the Void, the pilgrims will trigger a catastrophic expansion, an accelerated devourment phase that will swallow up thousands of worlds.
And thus begins a desperate race to find Inigo and the mysterious Second Dreamer. Some seek to prevent the Pilgrimage; others to speed its progress–while within the Void, a supreme entity has turned its gaze, for the first time, outward. . . .
About this product: For anyone with eco-friendly ideals as well as a penchant for high style, Dreaming Green showcases seventeen inspiring homes that are at once luxurious, beautiful, and fashioned inside and out with green materials, design, and details.
While renovating their Manhattan brownstone, Lisa Sharkey and LEED-accredited architect Paul Gleicher’s top priority was to create a home that was light on the earth and completely free of the harmful products that are often found in building and decorative supplies. A sophisticated couple who entertain frequently, Sharkey and Gleicher also demanded a home that was beautiful from the basement to the top floor’s sunroom. They sourced stylish and elegant materials, designed small and large spaces for flawless efficiency, and finished the project with responsible yet stunning finds.
Dreaming Green features the Sharkey-Gleicher brownstone as well as sixteen other environmentally responsible, impeccably designed residences that will stir readers to reimagine their homes as places that marry responsibility and beauty. From cities and suburbs to the countryside, Dreaming Green showcases places of myriad sizes, shapes, and styles. Each space, with its floors, gorgeous fabrics, nontoxic paints and finishes, wall coverings, furniture, fixtures, use of recycled materials, and other details, is a treasure for the eye and a gift to the earth. What’s more, Sharkey and Gleicher highlight unseen design elements that conserve resources, such as passive heating and cooling methods and ideas for low-impact building and renovation, among other innovations. The spaces on display here prove that saving the earth never needs to compromise comfort and elegance.
Make yourself at home and lose yourself in: • An English Tudor–style home in Austin, Texas, that was built from cast earth clay and utilizes a wind-powered energy system. The home is decorated throughout with gorgeous antiquities and salvaged materials. • An upstate New York eco-farmhouse perfectly situated on a hilltop and designed to catch the breezes from the surrounding Berkshire hills. The owner-architect used local craftspeople—none based more than a mile away—to further the “buy local” ideal. • An Ann Arbor, Michigan, “sunhome” built to capture the sun’s rays for maximum heating and lighting. The modern marvel is U-shaped to accommodate an eighty-year-old magnolia growing on the property. • A glamorous southern showplace in Atlanta, Georgia, which the owners christened “Ecomanor.” It hearkens back to the stateliness of an earlier time but is also a model of contemporary energy efficiency and sustainability.
Lavishly photographed, Dreaming Green also boasts an invaluable resource section—a boon to anyone embarking on making a green home, renovating a current residence into one, or just dreaming about doing so. Dreaming Green is both a practical guide and a rich source of inspiration.
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