Other books that might interest you

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  Any Person is the Only Self -...

  Elisa Gabbert

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  Contagiously curious essays on reading, art, and the life of the mind, from the acclaimed author of The Unreality of Memory. 
   
  Who are we when we read? When we journal? Are we more ourselves alone or with friends? Right now or in memory? How does time transform us and the art we love? 
   
  In sixteen dazzling, expansive essays, the acclaimed essayist and poet Elisa Gabbert explores a life lived alongside books of all kinds: dog-eared and destroyed, cherished and discarded, classic and clichėd, familiar and profoundly new. She turns her witty, searching mind to the writers she admires, from Plath to Proust, and the themes that bind them―chance, freedom, envy, ambition, nostalgia, and happiness. She takes us to the strange edges of art and culture, from hair metal to surf movies to party fiction. Any Person Is the Only Self is a love letter to literature and to life, inviting us to think alongside one of our most thrilling and versatile critics.

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  Vagabond Princess - The Great...

  Ruby Lal

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  Situated in the early decades of the magnificent Mughal Empire, this first ever biography of Princess Gulbadan offers an enthralling portrait of a charismatic adventurer and unique pictures of the multicultural society in which she lived. Following a migratory childhood that spanned Kabul and north India, Gulbadan spent her middle years in a walled harem established by her nephew Akbar to showcase his authority as the Great Emperor. Gulbadan longed for the exuberant itinerant lifestyle she'd known. With Akbar's blessing, she led an unprecedented sailing and overland voyage and guided harem women on an extended pilgrimage in Arabia. Amid increasing political tensions, the women's "un-Islamic" behavior forced their return, lengthened by a dramatic shipwreck in the Red Sea. 
   
   
   
  Gulbadan wrote a book upon her return, the only extant work of prose by a woman of the age. A portion of it is missing, either lost to history or redacted by officials who did not want the princess to have her say. 
   
   
   
  Vagabond Princess contemplates the story of the missing pages and breathes new life into a daring historical figure. It offers a portal to a richly complex world, rife with movement and migration, where women's conviviality, adventure, and autonomies shine through.

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  Understanding the Buddha

  Sébastien Barbara

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  “Neither a god, nor a guru, nor a savior” - who is Buddha? This essay sets out to understand this unclassifiable figure by taking stock of the fundamental principles of Buddhist doctrine and unravelling its most famous shortcuts. By following Gotama's “Spiritual Awakening” step by step, this stimulating look at the man whose emancipatory quest “heals the whole world” is far removed from any reductive pessimism. From the Enlightened One's contemporary Greeks to current scientific research, from Schopenhauer to Einstein, from Nietzsche to Lévi-Strauss, this portrait of Buddha is also an illuminating account of the “elective affinities between Buddhism and the West” and of the constant influence the sage has exerted on our thinking.

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  Write Your Own Story - How I...

  Patti Ann Browne

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  This upbeat memoir is full of the edgy humor Patti Ann Browne's fans love. She takes an honest look at the highs and lows of her life, both on and off the air. She provides insights into the turbulent world of television news and weaves in advice for aspiring journalists, parents of preemies, working moms, and anyone trying to stay grounded in a world that increasingly values superficiality. 
   
   
   
  In this entertaining and intimate memoir, the woman known by fans as "The Notorious P. A. B." reveals why she walked away from her TV news career after three decades. Patti Ann Browne also shares funny and poignant stories of her life off camera—from how she met her husband four years after turning down a blind date with him, to her son's near death shortly after his premature birth and how it changed her perspective on life. She chronicles life as an "Irish triplet," and tells the dramatic story of her twin sister secretly placing a baby for adoption and being reunited with him decades later. 
   
   
   
  Patti Ann's uplifting story is one of following your heart, owning your mistakes, living with integrity, and leaving the rest to God. Rooted in faith and optimism, it's a redemptive tale of humility and serendipity. Patti Ann demonstrates that with hard work and a willingness to change course, we can all write a life story with a happy ending.

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  Blue Pastures

  Mary Oliver

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  ""A gathering of gorgeous short pieces"" (Library Journal), Blue Pastures collects fifteen of Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning poet Mary Oliver's prose works about nature, writing, and herself. 
  ""This transcendent collection is Oliver's joyful sharing of her love of her craft.""—Library Journal 
  With consummate craftsmanship, Mary Oliver has fashioned fifteen luminous prose pieces: on nature, writing, and herself and those around her. She praises Whitman, denounces cuteness, notes where to find the extraordinary, and extols solitude. Nature speaks to her and she speaks to nature. 
  ""This book is biased, opinionated; also it is also joyful, and probably there is despair here too...But the reader will find the pleasures more certain, and more constant, than the rills of despond. Thus it has turned out in my life thus far, influenced by the sustaining passions: love of the wild world, love of literature, love for and from another person."" –Mary Oliver

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  The Soul of a Lion - Reflections...

  Willie Labuschagne

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  The Soul of a Lion, an engaging memoir by Willie Labuschagne, is an exhilarating journey which begins with the young conservationist's unique experiences with wild animals. From his groundbreaking research on the desert cheetah's behaviour and ecology to becoming an internationally respected consultant on environmental and wildlife-related issues, he holds the reader's attention with all the skill of the master storyteller.
  The numerous occasions when Willie faced potentially life-threatening situations with wild animals are vividly recounted, many of them wryly humorous while others evoke deep emotion.
  But not all animal encounters took place in the wild. A significant and poignant encounter that further inspired Willie's approach to conservation occurred when, during his time as director of the Johannesburg Zoo, he and his family hand-raised a newborn lion cub that had been rejected by its mother.
  He recalls the countless obstacles put in his way by the bureaucratic nature of his own species during his tenure at the zoo. But despite numerous challenges he persisted in his goal of transforming and improving zoological institutions. A driving force behind the changing nature of professionally managed zoological gardens, Willie's book reminds us that, while many of the world's zoos should be unconditionally closed, progressive modern zoos are becoming increasingly aligned to wildlife conservation: they are vital for ensuring the survival of threatened species.
  Willie shares his entertaining and often moving life experiences with warmth and understanding, whether it is sleeping under the stars with the bushmen of the Kgalagadi desert or observing the traditions of the Zulu Royal House. His travels in the African landscape in particular are an exciting panorama of many distinctive habitats, from the relentless desert of the Skeleton Coast in Namibia to the pristine beauty of the Tsitsikamma Forest and the breathtaking vastness of the African bushveld.
  Importantly, he is forthright in his view of the critical position of the world we live in and the future it holds for mankind and believes that we are all part of a custodianship which should do everything in its power to protect our fragile environment.
  Willie Labuschagne, a man with the soul of a lion, is a dedicated and internationally celebrated wildlife conservationist who holds a master's degree in wildlife management. For more than five decades he has been actively involved in the conservation of threatened species for which he has received national and international recognition, culminating in numerous awards.

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