The classic easy-reference field guide with more than 1500 photographs: "An almost foolproof practical reference book." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)This useful book for botanists, horticulturists, and nature lovers is made up of two parts: Pictorial Keys and Master Pages. The Keys are designed for easy visual comparison of details that look alike, narrowing the identification of a tree to one of a small group—the family or genus. Then, in the Master P...

**“The hottest fantasy writer since J.R.R. Tolkien!”—**The Washington PostThomas Covenant, accompanied by Linden Avery, begins his search for the One Tree aboard the giantship Starfare's Gem. Armed with the knowledge given to him in Andelain by his trusted friend, the Forestal Hile Troy, Covenant was determined to succeed. He was the last hope for the salvation of the Land. Only he had the power to forge a new Staff of Law and return to the Land to stop th...

An examination of Khaldun's Islamic history of the premodern world, its philosophical underpinnings, and the author himself.In his masterwork Muqaddimah, the Arab Muslim Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406), a Tunisian descendant of Andalusian scholars and officials in Seville, developed a method of evaluating historical evidence that allowed him to identify the underlying causes of events. His methodology was derived from Aristotelian notions of nature and causation, a...

From the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Battle for Christmas, here is the story of America's first reported Christmas tree: a tale of antislavery and radical German philosophy, a popular British travel writer and Boston Brahmin elites, the education of nineteenth-century children and candles blowing in the wind.Now-forgotten chronicler Harriet Martineau immortalized what became known as the first American Christmas tree, set up in the house of her friend Charles Follen. But s...

We get involved in so many things trying to make our life seem relevant. We adhere to things that others have adhered to because we see no benefit from not doing so.Why challenge that which is accepted? We don't want anyone to breach our comfort zone, suggesting something is wrong. We have carefully structured our life and our ideas to make life not a burden.We may have good days and bad days, but generally we don't expect major obstacles that we can't navigate around. But ...

All families have stories and all families have secrets. Some stories can be hidden forever. Others come out over time, or suddenly through revelation. With the advent of easy to obtain and cheap DNA kits, more and more people are stumbling across biological secrets they never suspected, sometimes with happy outcomes, but sometimes with shocking results.In this book, the author provides a real-life example of the shocking revelations and aftermath of DNA investigation. Growing up a...

All families have stories and all families have secrets. Some stories can be hidden forever. Others come out over time, or suddenly through revelation. With the advent of easy to obtain and cheap DNA kits, more and more people are stumbling across biological secrets they never suspected, sometimes with happy outcomes, but sometimes with shocking results.In this book, the author provides a real-life example of the shocking revelations and aftermath of DNA investigation. Growing up a...

“…I’m going to leave the Land—try to find the One Tree. So I can replace the Staff of Law. I don’t know what else to do,” Covenant said. “I don’t know how long I’m going to be gone, and every day they kill more people. Somebody has to stop them.”Thus Thomas Covenant, accompanied by Linden Avery, begins his search for the One Tree aboard the giantship Starfare’s Gem. Armed with the knowledge given to him in Andelain by his trusted friend, the Forestal Hile Troy, Covenant wa...

A Black man wrongly convicted of murder attempts to rebuild his life and bring the real killer to justice, in this historical novel based on a true story.In the summer of 1932, Ben Jordan was wrongfully accused of killing a white pastor in Georgia. After a hasty trial, he was sentenced to a life of grueling labor on a chain gang and abuse at the hands of brutal wardens. But now, with his forty-year prison sentence completed, Ben is finally returning home.As...

The solar system is full of mystery. Can one curious feathered friend build a way to explore space?Simon loves gazing up at the night sky. As he stares at the brightly shining moon, the little bird wonders what kind of friends he might make up there… and if they have ice cream. So he comes up with the brilliant idea to construct a mighty homemade spaceship and blast off into the atmosphere.Sharing his grand plan with his barnyard buddies, Simon is thrilled ...

In book 2 Jasper Night finds himself dealing with another creature that he would not call 'supernatural'. It is a creature that cohabits with people but likes to keep a low profile. The problem is, it likes to eat people. Jasper heads to Port Headland to investigate, he is one of a few who can. Along the way he 'befriends' a journalist who assists him, to a degree, but who proves vital at the end. Together they track down what the locals call the Gan-Ngarrang and try to deal with the situa...

A desperate bargain. A cursed king. A labyrinth of shifting shadows.Hazel of Oakhaven lived a quiet, invisible life until her younger sister vanished into the forbidden Deep Woods. Armed with nothing but an iron hunting knife and fierce mortal stubbornness, Hazel crosses the ancient boundary stones to bring her home. Instead of finding a lost girl, she finds herself trapped in a dying, decaying Unseelie manor, placed at the mercy of a terrifying creature made of pe...