The "heart-breaking" (New York Times Book Review), rollicking, award-winning novel that has been described as "Oliver Twist in 1970s Africa" (Les Inrockuptibles)"One of the most compelling books you'll read in any language this year." —Rolling StoneWinner of the Hurston-Wright Legacy AwardLonglisted for the Man Booker International PrizeShortlisted for the ...

Many Christians are frustrated because their respective realities do not seem to be consistent with the promises of the Word of God. In Living in Victory, we go to where Christians currently stand, and show them the way to victorious living.One consistent truth about God reflected throughout the Bible is that wherever God is present, He changes the situation for the better. We see evidence of this in the beginning, when God stepped into the void, darkness, and formlessness to create the kn...

A bossy cat. An eccentric aunt. An unsolved murder.Out of work reporter Clarissa Spencer is being stalked by a stray cat. She can't cook to save her life, her garden is an overgrown mess and her chocolate chip cookie addiction is out of control. Then to top it all off, she gets struck by lightning.Clarissa thinks she has it bad - until she learns the town mayor has been murdered. Okay, so it could be worse...Clarissa makes it her mission to expose t...

An argument that operational urban planning can be improved by the application of the tools of urban economics to the design of regulations and infrastructure.Urban planning is a craft learned through practice. Planners make rapid decisions that have an immediate impact on the ground—the width of streets, the minimum size of land parcels, the heights of buildings. The language they use to describe their objectives is qualitative—“sustainable,” “livable,” “resilient...

From the author of How Proust Can Change Your Life, a delightful, truly consoling work that proves that philosophy can be a supreme source of help for our most painful everyday problems.Perhaps only Alain de Botton could uncover practical wisdom in the writings of some of the greatest thinkers of all time. But uncover he does, and the result is an unexpected book of both solace and humor. Dividing his work into six sections -- each highlighting a different psychic ...

In Edinburgh, a couple, Rabih and Kirsten, fall in love. They get married, they have children -- but no relationship is as simple as "happily ever after." The Course of Love is a novel that explores what happens after the birth of love, what it takes to maintain love, and what happens to our original ideals under the pressures of an average existence. With philosophical insight and psychological acumen, Alain de Botton shows that our Romantic dreams may do us a grave disservice --...

According to Wikipedia: "Le Grand Meaulnes is the only novel by French author Alain-Fournier. Fifteen-year-old François Seurel narrates the story of his relationship with seventeen-year-old Augustin Meaulnes as Meaulnes searches for his lost love. Impulsive, reckless and heroic, Meaulnes embodies the romantic ideal, the search for the unobtainable, and the mysterious world between childhood and adulthood. It is considered one of the great works of French literature. Summary: François the n...

Sun, fun, family...and a bingo hall murder?Clarissa Spencer’s love life is heating up. And that means it’s time to introduce her boyfriend to her parents. Will they approve of him? Will their special brand of crazy scare him away? Poor Clarissa is a bundle of nerves.A suspicious death provides the perfect distraction. Who killed Bobby the bingo caller? The list of suspects is long but if anyone can narrow it down, it’s Clarissa.

Going traveling is one of the few things we undertake in a direct attempt to make ourselves happy—and frequently, in fascinating ways, we fail. We get bored, cross, anxious, or lonely. It isn’t surprising: our societies act as if going traveling were simple, just a case of handing over the right sum of money. But a satisfying journey isn’t something we can simply buy, and sadly something that should fill us with excitement can often end up being a source of angst and stress. This is the gu...

A thought-provoking book that helps us adapt the best parts of religion to fit our modern day lives.Whether or not we believe in religion, many of us feel drawn toward a spiritual life. Maybe we love cathedral architecture, Mozart's Requiem, or Buddhist literature.The School of Life is a secular organization fascinated by the gaps left in modern society by the gradual disappearance of religion. They're interested in how hard it is to find a sense of communi...

Alain de Botton's redemptive volume charts a course from collapse to recovery with kindness, compassion and wisdom.“Alain de Botton, one of our era’s most uncommonly perceptive, lyrical, and lucid existential contemplatives.” — The MarginalianA Therapeutic Journey follows the arc from mental crisis and collapse, to convalescence and recovery. Written with kindness, knowledge and sympathy, it is both a practical guide and a source o...

A thought-provoking guide to one of the greatest questions we will ever face - what is the meaning of life?It may seem useless, silly, or overwhelming to ponder the meaning of life. In truth, it is essential to ask ourselves this question in order to define and work towards a more meaningful existence.This book presents a range of areas in which we can seek the meaning of life, including love, family, friendship, work, self-knowledge and nature. We discover...