Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  A Quest for the Hidden Lands -...

  Norman Levine

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  My budding career as a literary scholar was suddenly hijacked by a singular seemingly random event. It was 1976 when I tiptoed into a tiny Buddhist shrine room in a farmhouse nestled into the Black Mountains of Wales and there beheld a Tibetan master, the 16th Karmapa, sitting on a throne performing a ceremony known as The Black Hat. My mind came to an immediate stop, suspended. It felt familiar, like the secret garden of childhood.I can still remember every detail like it was yesterday:Karmapa occupies the throne completely. He has a spiritual dignity that makes it his rightful seat, just as the lion proclaims his natural dominion. The force of his presence alone brings a hushed silence to the room. It feels like it has expanded into a cathedral. Two monks blow long Tibetan horns in a haunting wail so loud and long it startles thought patterns, blowing them away like clouds. The Karmapa slowly opens the Black Hat-box, takes the black silk crown in his hand, and puts it on his head holding it down with one hand. With the other hand he fingers a crystal rosary moving it deftly, twirling the beads around three times. The horns continue while he gazes with eyes that seem to dissolve the fiction of time and the boundaries of space. Time is standing still.That glimpse into enlightened mind became embedded like a seed and grew into a quest over the next decades to find the key places on our planet called the Hidden Lands.The legend came alive while I was living in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas. I met Tibetans who had been to the supreme Hidden Land of Pemako while escaping from the Chinese invasion of Tibet. They made it sound like the ‘promised land’ with streams flowing with milky water. There were certain plants that could induce enlightenment.Why did it take decades to get there? What made the right ingredients emerge to penetrate this sacred sanctuary?  And the big question: Who hid it and why?

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  The Corfu Trilogy - My Family...

  Gerald Durrell

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  National Bestseller: The complete trilogy that inspired Masterpiece production The Durrells in Corfu in one volume. The tales of a naturalist and his family, who left England for the Greek island of Corfu—where they interacted with fascinating locals of both human and animal varieties—these memoirs have become beloved bestsellers and inspired the delightful series that aired on PBS television.   Included in this three-book collection are:  My Family and Other Animals: Ten-year-old Gerald Durrell arrives on sun-drenched Corfu with this family and pursues his interest in natural history, making friends with the island’s fauna—from toads and tortoises to scorpions and geckos—while reveling in the joyous chaos of growing up in an unconventional household.  Birds, Beasts and Relatives: Written after a boyhood spent studying zoology, this memoir is part nature guide, part coming-of-age tale, and all charmingly funny memoir.  The Garden of the Gods: In the conclusion of the trilogy, Durrell shares more tales of wild animals and his even wilder family, including his mother, Louisa, and his siblings Lawrence, Leslie, and Margo, in the years before World War II.   “[Durrell’s] books have an unfailing charm. . . . It is a tribute to his skill that one never tires of his accounts” (Chicago Tribune).  This ebook features an illustrated biography of Gerald Durrell including rare photos from the author’s estate.  

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  The Old Kingdom of Egypt - The...

  Omar Khalil

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  The Old Kingdom of Egypt, often referred to as the “Age of the Pyramids,” marks one of the most prosperous and significant periods in the history of ancient Egypt. This era, which lasted from around 2686 to 2181 BCE, witnessed the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under a single ruler and the establishment of the pharaoh as the central figure of both politics and religion. It was a time when the foundations of the Egyptian state were solidified, and the monumental pyramids, including the Great Pyramid of Giza, were built. 
  The rise of the Old Kingdom began with the third dynasty, following the unification of Egypt by King Narmer (also known as Menes). Narmer’s victory over the rival kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt not only led to the establishment of the first dynasty but also laid the groundwork for the idea of divine kingship. The pharaoh, believed to be the living god Horus, became the supreme ruler, a position that was both political and religious. This divine status provided the pharaoh with unquestionable authority, ensuring stability and order across the kingdom. 
  Throughout the Old Kingdom, the notion of kingship was reinforced through monumental construction projects, such as the construction of step pyramids and later the smooth-sided pyramids that are so emblematic of ancient Egypt. The earliest monumental stone structure, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, built during the third dynasty, symbolized the pharaoh’s ability to control nature and destiny. These impressive structures were not just tombs for the pharaohs but also symbols of their eternal power and the journey to the afterlife.

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  Jalan-Jalan - A Journey of...

  Margo Weinstein

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  Can you combine wanderlust and motherhood? 
  Margo Weinstein did. 
  For decades, Margo Weinstein escaped her demanding legal practice by kayaking, whitewater rafting, trekking, and climbing in remote regions. Then she had a son and found herself in the kiddie pool on a Disney cruise. Searching for a new path, a jalan-jalan, that could accommodate motherhood and satisfy her wanderlust, she dragged her young son to the other side of the world, moving first to Shanghai and then to Bali. 
  Adventure seekers and armchair travelers will relish listening to Weinstein’s exploits as she battles baboons in Zimbabwe and surfaces under a capsized raft in Pakistan. Parents will appreciate her efforts to explore the world with a kid in tow and her expat life in a villa where a python on the stairs, a scorpion in the outdoor shower, and Hindu offerings ceremonially placed next to the infinity pool and Wi-Fi router are daily realities.  
  Told with intelligence, humor, spirit, and Weinstein’s version of practicality, Jalan-Jalan will inspire you to find your path and take the trip of a lifetime. 
   

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  Wine Bach and Cuckoo Clocks -...

  Lorna Stuber

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  If a friendship lasts longer than fifteen years, you're no longer friends. You're family. 
  Since childhood, Lorna has been curious about Germany and her ancestral roots there. She was fourteen when her great-grandfather died, a man who was born in what is now part of Ukraine but who was a self-proclaimed, proud German. 
  Having grown up during the Cold War, Lorna had always viewed the former East and West Germany as being starkly different until 1999, when she met Christine, a woman from the former East Germany who became one of Lorna's closest lifetime friends. 
  Over twenty-five years, Lorna made several trips to Germany in search of the world's largest cuckoo clock, a hotel in Berlin where guests can sleep in a coffin or prison cell, another hotel along the Rhein River that is owned by a family who may or may not be Lorna's distant relatives, sausage that meets the Nuremberg Sausage Protection Association's standards, and the best view of Neuschwanstein Castle. 
  In her most recent memoir, travel and humour writer Lorna Stuber tells of her adventures in Germany while she reconnects with and learns more about her familial ties to Europe.

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  Fluent in Spanish The Best Tips...

  Maria Fernandez

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  How do you learn Spanish fast? My students often ask me that question. That’s why I wrote this short step-by-step guide. 
  Here I show you how to go from beginner to fluent amazingly fast. What I show you does not involve expensive courses, moving to Spain, spending hours a day studying, or doing tedious memorising. 
  Instead, I walk you step by step through how to develop your listening skills fast, how to start speaking today, how to remember words forever, and how to master the pronunciation easily. 
  In just a few pages, I show you how to make the most of your limited time, and the time-wasting things to avoid. I also show you how to love your Spanish lessons, boost your motivation, and create an enjoyable daily learning habit. 
  The tips in this short guide helped me become fluent in English, the language I now use in my career and daily life. 
  Would you like to become fluent in Spanish fast? Get this guide now! 
  About the author: I’m Maria Fernandez. I’ve been teaching Spanish, my mother tongue, for over twenty years. I’ve also taught myself several languages, including English. I wrote this short guide because I believe you can become fluent in Spanish fast, regardless of your age and background. My students have proved that to me over and over.

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