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万本电子书0元读

Four Beastly Kendra Chronicles Collection
Four Beastly Kendra Chronicles Collection
Flinn, Alex
¥327.12
A hapless witch, a bad boy turned beast, a beautiful girl and her wicked stepmother…what more could you want in these four modernized fairy tales, in one collection for the first time, by #1 New York Times bestselling author Alex Flinn.Beastly: Kyle was the cutest guy at school—and the most heartless. Kendra's spell turned him into a beast, but can Lindy's love turn him back into a boyAfter winning a VOYA Editor's Choice award and spending over 22 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, Beastly, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, became a major feature film starring Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer, Mary Kate Olsen, and Neil Patrick Harris.Beastly: Lindy's Diary: This novella lets readers peek into the journal Lindy kept while she was getting to know—and love—her beast.Bewitching: Kendra shares her other schemes that have gone wrong . . . no matter how hard she tries! These tweaked fairy tales take readers all through history and all over the world.Mirrored: In this retelling of Snow White, beautiful Celine must take refuge with her friend Goose and his family since her wicked stepmother, Violet, is on a mission to be the fairest of all and won't let anything—including Celine—get in her way.
The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 2
The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 2
Gordon-Levitt, Joseph
¥94.10
The universe is not made of atoms; it made of tiny stories. Featuring 62 contributors from the 14,946 contributions to the Tiny Stories collaboration on HITRECORD.ORG
Marcus Aurelius: The Dialogues
Marcus Aurelius: The Dialogues
Alan Stedall
¥24.44
‘In this delightful and well written book, Alan Stedall … has done an enormous service in making some of Marcus Aurelius’s reflections very accessible to the modern reader’ Faith & Freedom ‘The Dialogues are eminently readable and immediate …in places it is irresistible’ The Philosopher ‘I was drawn deeper and deeper into the simple solid reasoning …Stedall’s imagined dialogue had me fully in the present’ Midwest Book Review ‘I knew within a few lines this was going to be a treasure... Stedall is a word master... Bravo!’ The Smoking Poet Marcus Aurelius, one of the greatest Roman emperors, is remembered less for his military exploits than for his private reflections. His Meditations, as they became known, have been a major influence on Western thought and behaviour down the centuries the pen is mightier than the sword. Seeking an alternative to faith based religion, Alan Stedall came across the book and found rational answers to questions about the meaning and purpose of life that had been troubling him. Here too were answers to his concern that, in the absence of moral beliefs based on religion, we risk creating a world where relativism, the rejection of any sense of absolute right or wrong, prevails. In such a society any moral position is considered subjective and amoral behaviour is unchallengeable. Because the Meditations were jotted down in spare moments during a busy life ruling and defending a huge empire, they lack order and sequence. Inspired by the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, Stedall has sought to present the contents in a more contemporary and digestible way. To achieve this, he employed the Greek philosophical technique of dialogue to create a fictional conversation between five historical figures who actually met at Aquileia on the Adriatic coast in AD 168. Apart from Marcus, they were his brother and coemperor, Lucius, the famous Hellenic surgeon of antiquity, Galen, an Egyptian high priest of Isis, Harnouphis, and Bassaeus Rufus, Prefect of the Praetorian Guard. The Dialogues afford Marcus and his guests the opportunity to express their views on such topics as the brevity of life and the need to seek meaning; the pursuit of purpose; the supreme good and the pursuit of a virtuous life – issues as relevant today as they were in antiquity. By a gentle process of question and answer, Marcus shows up the weakness of his guests’ arguments and reveals how a virtuous life may be lived without the threat of eternal damnation or promise of salvation to enforce compliance. Virtue is its own reward.
Shakespeare and Platonic Beauty
Shakespeare and Platonic Beauty
John Vyvyan
¥24.44
John Vyvyan’s third Shakespearean study was originally published by Chatto & Windus in 1961, but has long been out of print. Looking at some of the comedies, he reveals how the Platonic ideas of beauty and love, as developed by Plotinus, Ficino, Castiglione and Spenser, add an extra dimension to the plays. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and All’s Well That Ends Well, the heroines bring to life the idea of love as the force that is awakened in the world by beauty which then leads the soul to perfection. Vyvyan believes that for Shake-speare love was pre-eminent over human ideas of justice, that self-discovery was a supreme human experience and that breaking faith with the ideal ‘ as Agamemnon, Cressida and Hector all do in Troilus and Cressida ‘ sowed the seeds of tragedy. The author’s recognition of Shakespeare’s use of allegory enables him to make sense of certain developments in these plays which seem weak or absurd from the psychological standpoint ‘ the ‘tidy’ marriage of Celia and Oliver in As You Like It, the ignoble behaviour of Bertram in All’s Well That Ends Well, or the constancy of Julia’s love for the fickle Proteus in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. John Vyvyan’s work is extraordinarily perceptive, compelling us to think again about the underlying philosophy in Shakespeare’s plays, and to see their action from a fresh point of view. It is not often that one finds combined in one critical book so much learning, insight and modesty. ‘If a clearly conceived philosophy is implicit [in Shakespeare's work]‘, Vyvyan writes, ‘then it is by parable and allegory that it is expressed; and the recognition of this ‘I think’ immensely enhances our enjoyment of the plays: it gives them a new dimension and a richness that has yet to be explored; it is a stimulating challenge to acting and production; and to the audience it reveals a drama beyond the theatre, written, as Coleridge so finely said, for the stage of the universal mind.’
Hyam The Cat Who Talked Too Much
Hyam The Cat Who Talked Too Much
Pamela Douglas
¥24.44
This is a tale of a cat called Hyam a very special cat. In fact he is a theatrical cat, a fastidious cat, a funny cat, but most of all an adored cat.Most famous for talking himself out of a part at an audition for a West End production for he is an actor. Here he tells his own story in a series of delightfully readable poems a pleasure for all age groups. Follow his adventures as he takes us on his travels through the ups and downs of theatre life and his many escapades as a sophisticated actor, a country puss and a muchloved family pet. Irresistibly combining both a sense of humour and an abounding love of its Feline Subject, with the Author’s delightful illustrations throughout ‘ Hyam The Cat who Talked To Much‘ will capture your imagination and steal your heart.The perfect gift book for all the family ages 9 – 90. Comes with a special offer to buy the Hyam the Cat gift.
If Only Politicians Had Brains
If Only Politicians Had Brains
Terence O'halloran
¥24.44
Hopefully you are old enough to remember‘Yes Minister.’Does government really work like thatIf it does, you really need a sense of humour to examine not only its workings but also its nonworkings. That is exactly what’ If Only Politicians Had Brains’ does , examine government workings with a sense of humour. Ten years ago BSE was going to destroy mankind (if mankind ate beef ). So far less than 150 people have died – over a twelve year period. ‘If Only Politicians Had Brains ’takes an, often times , humorous look– with serious intents– at the politically manufactured creations designed to divert public attention away from the real issues. Why do so many people“ fall for “the smoke and mirrors trap that makes“ Hustle ” the successful programme that it isTerenceO?Halloran has a thirty (plus) year experience of dealing with government through British Chambers of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses at local and central government level . This is a chance to share his insight into the real “ smoke and mirror ” minds of a group of people that will do anything to prove that they, and only they ,know how they should run your life..
The Way of the Fight
The Way of the Fight
St. Pierre, Georges
¥88.56
There more to winning battles than fists and feet For world-renowned professional fighter Georges St-Pierre, the greatest asset is not physical strength or athleticism it a sense of purpose. From his beginnings as a small, mercilessly bullied child first discovering karate to his years as a struggling garbage collector who spent all his free time in the gym, his hard-fought rise in the sport of mixed martial arts, and his long, painful recovery from a career-threatening injury, Georges never lost sight of his ambition to become the greatest martial artist of all time. In The Way of the Fight , Georges for the first time reveals what propelled him not only to become a champion but to embrace obstacles as opportunities to build character. Georges story is interwoven with fascinating insights from those who know him best: his mother, who tells of his drive to master new skills, even as a child. His mentor Kristof Midoux, who describes a young fighter with an extraordinary sense of discipline. His Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teacher John Danaher, who witnessed the development of an indomitable work ethic. His coach Firas Zahabi, who worked alongside the champion through a potentially career-ending injury. And his longtime friend, training partner and manager, Rodolphe Beaulieu, who may understand this intensely focused athlete more than anyone. The Way of the Fight is an inspirational look into the mindset of a master. To Georges, all life is competition, and there no more perfect metaphor for competition than the life of a fighter. He explains the value of discipline, risk and even fear, with the wisdom of one who knows that nothing is assured his next fight could always be his last. Drawing inspiration from fighting legends, Eastern philosophy and a trusted inner circle, The Way of the Fight is a powerful, life-changing guide to living with purpose and finding the way to accomplish your loftiest goals.
Revealing Heaven
Revealing Heaven
Price, John W.
¥83.03
Can Christians Trust Talesfrom HeavenYes! Millions have read the testimonies of those who have been to heaven and returned. But what do these stories mean for ChristiansHow do they fit with what the Bible teachesWhat do they say about who goes to heavenDebate has raged throughout the church about whether we should trust these testimonies, since they don't always align with what we think the Bible teaches. Reverend John Price, a pastor who has been a pioneer in integrating near-death accounts into ministry, surveys the Bible and Christian doctrines to discover that these firsthand accounts of encounters with God are fully compatible with Christian spirituality. Price began his ministry not believing in heaven. In Revealing Heaven , after hearing over two hundred accounts of near-death experiences, Price narrates the stories of those who helped change his mind and now makes a case not only for why Christians can trust near-death accounts but for why we should treat these amazing stories as precious gifts from God.
As Nature Made Him
As Nature Made Him
Colapinto, John
¥88.56
In 1967, after a twin baby boy suffered a botched circumcision, his family agreed to a radical treatment that would alter his gender. The case would become one of the most famous in modern medicine and a total failure. As Nature Made Him tells the extraordinary story of David Reimer, who, when finally informed of his medical history, made the decision to live as a male. A macabre tale of medical arrogance, it is first and foremost a human drama of one man and one family amazing survival in the face of terrible odds.
Who I Am
Who I Am
Townshend, Pete
¥95.39
From the voice of a generation: The most highly anticipated autobiography of the year, and the story of a man who... is a Londoner and a Mod.... wanted The Who to be called The Hair.... loved The Everly Brothers, but not that drawling dope Elvis.... wanted to be a sculptor, a journalist, a dancer and a graphic designer.... became a musician, composer, librettist, fiction writer, literary editor, sailor.... smashed his first guitar onstage, in 1964, by accident.... heard the voice of God on a vibrating bed in rural Illinois.... invented the Marshall stack, feedback and the concept album.... once speared Abbie Hoffman in the neck with the head of his guitar.... inspired Jimi Hendrix pyrotechnical stagecraft.... is partially deaf in his left ear.... stole his windmill guitar playing from Keith Richards.... followed Keith Moon off a hotel balcony into a pool and nearly died.... did too much cocaine and nearly died.... drank too much and nearly died.... detached from his body in an airplane, on LSD, and nearly died.... helped rescue Eric Clapton from heroin.... is banned for life from Holiday Inns.... was embroiled in a tabloid scandal that has dogged him ever since.... has some explaining to do.... is the most literary and literate musician of the last 50 years.... planned to write his memoir when he was 21.... published this book at 67.
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover
Moore, Robert
¥99.65
The bestselling, widely heralded, jungian introduction to the psychological foundation of a mature, authentic, and revitalized masculinity.
Amy, My Daughter
Amy, My Daughter
Winehouse, Mitch
¥94.10
Candid, compelling, and heartbreaking a father's story of a talent taken too soon and a legacy that will live on for generations On July 23, 2011, Amy Winehouse's family, friends, and fans around the world mourned the tragedy that this remarkable, talented, and extraordinarily generous young woman was now gone. A legion of dedicated fans had lost their idol; a devastated family had lost their Amy. With this difficult news came an outpouring of love and grief from her fans, along with troubling questions about Amy's very public struggles with drugs and alcohol, as people tried to understand how such a soulful singer had been silenced so young. Now, in this intimate and tender account, her father and confidant, Mitch, offers an inside view of Amy's life as she lived it, putting to rest once and for all the controversies that have long surrounded her. Sifting fact from fiction, he pre-sents a portrait of Amy unlike any other, detailing the events and the people that shaped her youth from her mischievous childhood to her grandmother's Jazz Age stories, to her father singing Frank Sinatra around the house. Shedding light on Amy's musical coming-of-age, Mitch explores how she honed her distinctive sound, created her unforgettable look, and channeled her own life into hits such as "You Know I'm No Good," "Rehab," and "Back to Black" some of the most memorable and personal pop music in years. While her beehive hair, larger-than-life voice, and outrageous personality made her famous, her life offstage made her infamous. Here Mitch holds nothing back about Amy's addiction to drugs and alcohol, mixing the painful with the poignant as he describes the realities of her dependencies and the toll they took on the family and friends who refused to give up on her. Revealing the truth about Amy's substance abuse and dispelling many of the tabloid-fueled rumors about her tumultuous marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil, Mitch exposes the years of behind-the-scenes drama that consumed his life and explains how, for those who knew Amy in her last months, the greatest tragedy of all was that she finally appeared to be conquering her demons. Filled with insights into Amy Winehouse's music, photographs from her life, and stories of the real woman behind the headlines, Amy, My Daughter is an emotional journey into music, addiction, and the unbreakable bond between a daughter and her father.
Genome
Genome
Ridley, Matt
¥94.10
The genome been mapped. But what does it meanArguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome raises almost as many questions as it answers. Questions that will profoundly impact the way we think about disease, about longevity, and about free will. Questions that will affect the rest of your life. Genome offers extraordinary insight into the ramifications of this incredible breakthrough. By picking one newly discovered gene from each pair of chromosomes and telling its story, Matt Ridley recounts the history of our species and its ancestors from the dawn of life to the brink of future medicine. From Huntington disease to cancer, from the applications of gene therapy to the horrors of eugenics, Matt Ridley probes the scientific, philosophical, and moral issues arising as a result of the mapping of the genome. It will help you understand what this scientific milestone means for you, for your children, and for humankind.
Shattered Love
Shattered Love
Chamberlain, Richard
¥94.10
In Shattered Love , Richard Chamberlain poignantly recounts his lifelong struggle to find happiness. Tracing a fascinating path over his meteoric rise to success, he chronicles his struggle to come to terms with his own imperfections, his growing desire to be honest about his sexual orientation, and his yearning to live with an open heart. And along the way he imparts the lessons he has learned about overcoming our own self imposed obstacles to happiness.
Women and Weasels
Women and Weasels
Bettini, Maurizio
¥535.63
If you told a woman her sex had a shared, long-lived history with weasels, she might deck you. But those familiar with mythology know better: that the connection between women and weasels is an ancient and favorable one, based in the Greek myth of a midwife who tricked the gods to ease Heracles's birth-and was turned into a weasel by Hera as punishment. Following this story as it is retold over centuries in literature and art,?Women and Weasels?takes us on a journey through mythology and ancient belief, revising our understanding of myth, heroism, and the status of women and animals in Western culture. ?Maurizio Bettini recounts and analyzes a variety of key literary and visual moments that highlight the weasel's many attributes. We learn of its legendary sexual and childbearing habits and symbolic association with witchcraft and midwifery, its role as a domestic pet favored by women, and its ability to slip in and out of tight spaces. The weasel, Bettini reveals, is present at many unexpected moments in human history, assisting women in labor and thwarting enemies who might plot their ruin. With a parade of symbolic associations between weasels and women-witches, prostitutes, midwives, sisters-in-law, brides, mothers, and heroes-Bettini brings to life one of the most venerable and enduring myths of Western culture.
Gusto for Things
Gusto for Things
Ago, Renata
¥488.54
We live in a material world-our homes are filled with things, from electronics to curios and hand-me-downs, that disclose as much about us and our aspirations as they do about current trends. But we are not the first: the early modern period was a time of expanding consumption, when objects began to play an important role in defining gender as well as social status. Gusto for Things reconstructs the material lives of seventeenth-century Romans, exploring new ways of thinking about the meaning of things as a historical phenomenon.?Through creative use of account books, inventories, wills, and other records, Renata Ago examines early modern attitudes toward possessions, asking what people did with their things, why they wrote about them, and how they passed objects on to their heirs. While some inhabitants of Rome were connoisseurs of the paintings, books, and curiosities that made the city famous, Ago shows that men and women of lesser means also filled their homes with a more modest array of goods. She also discovers the genealogies of certain categories of things-for instance, books went from being classed as luxury goods to a category all their own-and considers what that reveals about the early modern era. An animated investigation into the relationship between people and the things they buy, Gusto for Things paints an illuminating portrait of the meaning of objects in preindustrial Europe.
Wicked Intelligence
Wicked Intelligence
Hunter, Matthew C.
¥453.22
In late seventeenth-century London, the most provocative images were produced not by artists, but by scientists. Magnified fly-eyes drawn with the aid of microscopes, apparitions cast on laboratory walls by projection machines, cut-paper figures revealing the "e;exact proportions"e; of sea monsters-all were created by members of the Royal Society of London, the leading institutional platform of the early Scientific Revolution. Wicked Intelligence reveals that these natural philosophers shaped Restoration London's emergent artistic cultures by forging collaborations with court painters, penning art theory, and designing triumphs of baroque architecture such as St Paul's Cathedral. ?Matthew C. Hunter brings to life this archive of experimental-philosophical visualization and the deft cunning that was required to manage such difficult research. Offering an innovative approach to the scientific image-making of the time, he demonstrates how the Restoration project of synthesizing experimental images into scientific knowledge, as practiced by Royal Society leaders Robert Hooke and Christopher Wren, might be called "e;wicked intelligence."e; Hunter uses episodes involving specific visual practices-for instance, concocting a lethal amalgam of wax, steel, and sulfuric acid to produce an active model of a comet-to explore how Hooke, Wren, and their colleagues devised representational modes that aided their experiments. Ultimately, Hunter argues, the craft and craftiness of experimental visual practice both promoted and menaced the artistic traditions on which they drew, turning the Royal Society projects into objects of suspicion in Enlightenment England.?The first book to use the physical evidence of Royal Society experiments to produce forensic evaluations of how scientific knowledge was generated, Wicked Intelligence rethinks the parameters of visual art, experimental philosophy, and architecture at the cusp of Britain's imperial power and artistic efflorescence.
Between History and Myth
Between History and Myth
Lincoln, Bruce
¥453.22
All groups tell stories about their beginnings. Such tales are oft-repeated, finely wrought, and usually much beloved. Among those institutions most in need of an impressive creation account is the state: it's one of the primary ways states attempt to legitimate themselves. But such founding narratives invite revisionist retellings that modify details of the story in ways that undercut, ironize, and even ridicule the state's ideal self-representation. Medieval accounts of how Norway was unified by its first king provide a lively, revealing, and wonderfully entertaining example of this process.?Taking the story of how Harald Fairhair unified Norway in the ninth century as its central example, Bruce Lincoln illuminates the way a state's foundation story blurs the distinction between history and myth and how variant tellings of origin stories provide opportunities for dissidence and subversion as subtle-or not so subtle-modifications are introduced through details of character, incident, and plot structure. Lincoln reveals a pattern whereby texts written in Iceland were more critical and infinitely more subtle than those produced in Norway, reflecting the fact that the former had a dual audience: not just the Norwegian court, but also Icelanders of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, whose ancestors had fled from Harald and founded the only non-monarchic, indeed anti-monarchic, state in medieval Europe.?Between History and Myth will appeal not only to specialists in Scandinavian literature and history but also to anyone interested in memory and narrative.
Reading Clocks, Alla Turca
Reading Clocks, Alla Turca
Wishnitzer, Avner
¥453.22
Up until the end of the eighteenth century, the way Ottomans used their clocks conformed to the inner logic of their own temporal culture. However, this began to change rather dramatically during the nineteenth century, as the Ottoman Empire was increasingly assimilated into the European-dominated global economy and the project of modern state building began to gather momentum.In Reading Clocks, Alla Turca, Avner Wishnitzer unravels the complexity of Ottoman temporal culture and for the first time tells the story of its transformation. He explains that in their attempt to attain better surveillance capabilities and higher levels of regularity and efficiency, various organs of the reforming Ottoman state developed elaborate temporal constructs in which clocks played an increasingly important role. As the reform movement spread beyond the government apparatus, emerging groups of officers, bureaucrats, and urban professionals incorporated novel time-related ideas, values, and behaviors into their self-consciously "e;modern"e; outlook and lifestyle. Acculturated in the highly regimented environment of schools and barracks, they came to identify efficiency and temporal regularity with progress and the former temporal patterns with the old political order.Drawing on a wealth of archival and literary sources, Wishnitzer's original and highly important work presents the shifting culture of time as an arena in which Ottoman social groups competed for legitimacy and a medium through which the very concept of modernity was defined. Reading Clocks, Alla Turca breaks new ground in the study of the Middle East and presents us with a new understanding of the relationship between time and modernity.
Golden Rules
Golden Rules
Kanazawa, Mark
¥453.22
Fresh water has become scarce and will become even more so in the coming years, as continued population growth places ever greater demands on the supply of fresh water. At the same time, options for increasing that supply look to be ever more limited. No longer can we rely on technological solutions to meet growing demand. What we need is better management of the available water supply to ensure it goes further toward meeting basic human needs. But better management requires that we both understand the history underlying our current water regulation regime and think seriously about what changes to the law could be beneficial.For Golden Rules, Mark Kanazawa draws on previously untapped historical sources to trace the emergence of the current framework for resolving water-rights issues to California in the 1850s, when Gold Rush miners flooded the newly formed state. The need to circumscribe water use on private property in support of broader societal objectives brought to light a number of fundamental issues about how water rights ought to be defined and enforced through a system of laws. Many of these issues reverberate in today's contentious debates about the relative merits of government and market regulation. By understanding how these laws developed across California's mining camps and common-law courts, we can also gain a better sense of the challenges associated with adopting new property-rights regimes in the twenty-first century.
Geographies of Philological Knowledge
Geographies of Philological Knowledge
Altschul, Nadia R.
¥447.34
Geographies of Philological Knowledge examines the relationship between medievalism and colonialism in the nineteenth-century Hispanic American context through the striking case of the Creole Andres Bello (1781-1865), a Venezuelan grammarian, editor, legal scholar, and politician, and his lifelong philological work on the medieval heroic narrative that would later become Spain's national epic, the Poem of the Cid. Nadia R. Altschul combs Bello's study of the poem and finds throughout it evidence of a "e;coloniality of knowledge."e;?Altschul ?reveals how, during the nineteenth century, the framework for philological scholarship established in and for core European nations-France, England, and especially Germany-was exported to Spain and Hispanic America as the proper way of doing medieval studies. She argues that the global designs of European philological scholarship are conspicuous in the domain of disciplinary historiography, especially when examining the local history of a Creole Hispanic American like Bello, who is neither fully European nor fully alien to European culture. Altschul likewise highlights Hispanic America's intellectual internalization of coloniality and its understanding of itself as an extension of Europe. A timely example of interdisciplinary history, interconnected history, and transnational study, Geographies of Philological Knowledge breaks with previous nationalist and colonialist histories and thus forges a new path for the future of medieval studies.