Hunger Games, the Movie!!!












The Hunger Games Trilogy

Hardcover and paperback editions of The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins are hear; one young man who saw the movie said it was "OK--but that the book was much better!".

We have copies of books 2 & 3 of The Hunger Games Trilogy, Catching Fires and Mockingjay, on the shelf now. These are only out in hardcover right now.  Come take a look!

Wonderstruck written and illustrated by Brian Selznick

ISBN: 9780545027892; Scholastic Press; $ 29.99; Hardcover; September 13, 2011

Annotation: Set 50 years apart, two independent stories weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. Playing with the form he created in his trailblazing debut novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Caldecott Medalist Selznick once again sails into uncharted territory and takes readers on an awe-inspiring journey. Illustrations.

Lone Wolf  by Jodi Picoult

ISBN: 9781439102749; Atria Books; $ 28.00; Hardcover; February 28, 2012

Annotation: Twenty-four-year-old Edward Warren, has been living in Thailand for five years, a prodigal son who left his family after an irreparable fight with his father, Luke. But he gets a frantic phone call: his dad lies comatose, gravely injured in the same accident that has also injured his younger sister Cara. With her father's chances for recovery dwindling, Cara wants to wait for a miracle. But Edward wants to terminate life support and donate his father's organs. Is he motivated by altruism or revenge?

Gary's Review: This latest novel from bestselling author Picoult (House Rules, Sing You Home, Handle With Care, Change of Heart, and My Sister's Keeper) delves deep into family and personal dynamics, hope and loss, all in the context of Luke's life living, literally, with wolf packs, in captivity and then in the wild--a most fascinating story. Can a deep, lived understanding of the life of a wolf pack translate into that of a human family? A highly recommended read!

A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer Dubois

ISBN: 9781400069774; Dial Press; $ 26.00; Hardcover; March 20, 2012

Publisher Marketing: In St. Petersburg, Russia, world chess champion Aleksandr Bezetov begins a quixotic quest. With his renowned Cold War-era tournaments behind him, Aleksandr has turned to politics, launching a dissident presidential campaign against Vladimir Putin. He knows he will not win--and that he is risking his life in the process--but a deeper conviction propels him forward. And in the same way that he cannot abandon his aims, he cannot erase the memory of a mysterious woman he loved in his youth.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, thirty-year-old English lecturer Irina Ellison is on an improbable quest of her own. Certain she has inherited Huntington's disease--the same cruel illness that ended her father's life--she struggles with a sense of purpose. When Irina finds an old, photocopied letter her father had written to the young Aleksandr Bezetov, she makes a fateful decision. Her father had asked the Soviet chess prodigy a profound question--"How does one proceed against a lost cause?"--but never received an adequate reply. Leaving everything behind, Irina travels to Russia to find Bezetov and get an answer for her father, and for herself.

Spanning two continents and the dramatic sweep of history, "A Partial History of Lost Causes" reveals the stubbornness and splendor of the human will even in the most trying times. With uncommon perception and wit, Jennifer duBois explores the power of memory, the depths of human courage, and the endurance of love.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

ISBN: 9780307352149; Crown Publishing Group (NY): $ 26.00; Hardcover; January 24, 2012\

Annotation: Like You Just Don't Understand or Stumbling on Happiness, Quiet is a paradigm-shifting book that shows how dramatically our culture has come to misunderstand and undervalue introverts, and gives introverts the tools to better understand themselves and take full advantage of their strengths.

Soul of Yosemite: Portraits of Light and Stone by Ed Cooper

ISBN: 9780762769957; Falcon Press Publishing; $ 19.95; Paperback; February 22, 2011

Annotation: This is a guide to the sights of Yosemite National Park, an exploration of rock in its many forms as found in the park. The third book in the "Soul of the Heights" series (Soul of the Heights - 50 Years Going to the Mountains [2007], and Soul of the Rockies - Portraits of America's Largest Mountain Range [2008]), this beautiful full-color edition will appeal to the 3.7 million visitors each year to Yosemite National Park. The text provides interesting bits of the history of Yosemite, while the photographs document some of that same history.

Gary's Review: A fine collection of black & white and color photos of Yosemite National Park by well know mountain photographer Ed Cooper. Many pictures from unusual vantage points.

Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work by Curt Meine

ISBN: 9780299249045; University of Wisconsin Press; $ 29.95; Paperback; October 19, 2010

Annotation: This biography of Aldo Leopold follows him from his childhood as a precocious naturalist to his profoundly influential role in the development of conservation and modern environmentalism in the United States. This edition includes a new preface by author Curt Meine and an appreciation by acclaimed Kentucky writer and farmer Wendell Berry.

Fairy Tale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss by Rosemarie Terenzio

ISBN: 9781439187678; Gallery Books; $ 25.00 US; Hardcover; January 24, 2012

Annotation: The Kennedys have captured the American imagination for 50 years. Now, former personal assistant and dear friend of John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Terenzio has waited for more than a decade to share her unique, intimate, and extraordinary perspective of life behind the Kennedy curtain.

There Are Things I Want You to Know about Stieg Larsson and Me by Eva Gabrielsson.

ISBN: 9781609804107; Seven Stories Press; $ 14.95; Paperback; January 24, 2012.

Publisher Marketing: Eva Gabrielsson and Stieg Larsson. In ""There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me," Gabrielsson accepts the daunting challenge of telling their story, steeped in love and sharpened in the struggle for justice and human rights. She chooses to tell it in short, spare, lyrical chapters, like snapshots, regaling Larsson's readers with how he wrote, why he wrote, who the sources are were for Lisbeth and his other characters--graciously answering Stieg Larsson's readers' most pressing questions--and at the same time telling us the things we didn't know we wanted to know--about love and loss, death, betrayal, and the mistreatment of women.

Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean

ISBN: 9781439190135; Simon & Schuster; $ 26.99; Hardcover; September 27, 2011

Annotation: At its heart, "Rin Tin Tin" is a poignant exploration of the enduring bond between humans and animals. But it is also a richly textured history of 21st-century entertainment and entrepreneurship and the changing role of dogs in the American family and society.

Artichoke to Za'atar: Modern Middle Eastern Food by  Greg & Lucy Malouf

ISBN: 9780520254138; University of California Press; $ 31.95; Hardcover; February 01, 2008

Annotation: Written by award-winning chef Greg Malouf and his writing partner, this richly illustrated book offers a comprehensive collection of 170 recipes, organized alphabetically according to ingredients widely used in Middle Eastern cooking.

My Bombay Kitchen: Traditional and Modern Parsi Home Cooking by Niloufer Ichaporia King

ISBN: 9780520249608; University of California Press; $ 32.95; Hardcover; June 18, 2007

Annotation: The first book published in the United States on Parsi food written by a Parsi, this beautiful volume includes 165 recipes and makes one of India's most remarkable regional cuisines accessible to Westerners. In an intimate narrative rich with personal experience, the author leads readers into a world of new ideas, tastes, ingredients, and techniques.

Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 Recipes by Lilia Zaouali

ISBN: 9780520247833; University of California Press; $ 40.00; Hardcover; October 01, 2007

Publisher Marketing: Vinegar and sugar, dried fruit, rose water, spices from India and China, sweet wine made from raisins and dates--these are the flavors of the golden age of Arab cuisine. This book, a delightful culinary adventure that is part history and part cookbook, surveys the gastronomical art that developed at the Caliph's sumptuous palaces in ninth-and tenth-century Baghdad, drew inspiration from Persian, Greco-Roman, and Turkish cooking, and rapidly spread across the Mediterranean. In a charming narrative, Lilia Zaouali brings to life Islam's vibrant culinary heritage.
The second half of the book gathers an extensive selection of original recipes drawn from medieval culinary sources along with thirty-one contemporary recipes that evoke the flavors of the Middle Ages. Featuring dishes such as Chicken with Walnuts and Pomegranate, Beef with Pistachios, Bazergan Couscous, Lamb Stew with Fresh Apricots, Tuna and Eggplant Puree with Vinegar and Caraway, and Stuffed Dates, the book also discusses topics such as cookware, utensils, aromatic substances, and condiments, making it both an entertaining read and an informative resource for anyone who enjoys the fine art of cooking.

Breaking Bread: Recipes and Stories from Immigrant Kitchens by Lynne Christy Anderson

ISBN: 9780520271432; University of California Press; $ 18.95; Paperback; September 01, 2011

Publisher Marketing: Through stories of hand-rolled pasta and homemade chutney, local markets and backyard gardens, and wild mushrooms and foraged grape leaves--this book recounts in loving detail the memories, recipes, and culinary traditions of people who have come to the United States from around the world. Chef and teacher Lynne Anderson has gone into immigrant kitchens and discovered the power of food to recall a lost world for those who have left much behind. The enticing, easy-to-prepare recipes feature specialties like Greek dolmades, Filipino adobo, Brazilian peixada, and Sudanese mulukhiyah. Together with Robin Radin's beautiful photographs, these stories and recipes will inspire cooks of all levels to explore new traditions while perhaps rediscovering their own culinary roots.

The Georgian Feast: The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia by Darra Goldstein

ISBN: 9780520219298; University of California Press; $ 24.95; Paperback; July 14, 1999

Publisher Marketing: According to Georgian legend, God took a supper break while creating the world. He became so involved with his meal that he inadvertently tripped over the high peaks of the Caucasus, spilling his food onto the land below. The land blessed by Heaven's table scraps was Georgia.

Nestled in the Caucasus mountain range between the Black and Caspian seas, the Republic of Georgia is as beautiful as it is bountiful. The unique geography of the land, which includes both alpine and subtropical zones, has created an enviable culinary tradition. In "The Georgian Feast," Darra Goldstein explores the rich and robust culture of Georgia and offers a variety of tempting recipes.

The book opens with a fifty-page description of the culture and food of Georgia. Next are over one hundred recipes, often accompanied by notes on the history of the dish. Holiday menus, a glossary of Georgian culinary terms, and an annotated bibliography round out the volume.

Of Sugar and Snow: A History of Ice Cream Making by Jeri Quinzio

ISBN: 9780520265912; University of California Press; $ 19.95; Paperback; March 01, 2010

Publisher Marketing: Was ice cream invented in Philadelphia? How about by the Emperor Nero, when he poured honey over snow? Did Marco Polo first taste it in China and bring recipes back? In this first book to tell ice cream's full story, Jeri Quinzio traces the beloved confection from its earliest appearances in sixteenth-century Europe to the small towns of America and debunks some colorful myths along the way. She explains how ice cream is made, describes its social role, and connects historical events to its business and consumption. A diverting yet serious work of history, "Of Sugar and Snow "provides a fascinating array of recipes, from a seventeenth-century Italian lemon sorbet to a twentieth-century American strawberry mallobet, and traces how this once elite status symbol became today's universally available and wildly popular treat.

Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman

ISBN: 9781594203336; Penguin Press; $ 25.95; Hardcover; February 07, 2012

Publisher Marketing: When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in Paris, she doesn't aspire to become a "French parent." French parenting isn't a known thing, like French fashion or French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they aren't doing anything special.

Yet, the French children Druckerman knows sleep through the night at two or three months old while those of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. And while her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids, her French friends sip coffee while the kids play.

Motherhood itself is a whole different experience in France. There's no role model, as there is in America, for the harried new mom with no life of her own. French mothers assume that even good parents aren't at the constant service of their children and that there's no need to feel guilty about this. They have an easy, calm authority with their kids that Druckerman can only envy.

Of course, French parenting wouldn't be worth talking about if it produced robotic, joyless children. In fact, French kids are just as boisterous, curious, and creative as Americans. They're just far better behaved and more in command of themselves. While some American toddlers are getting Mandarin tutors and preliteracy training, French kids are- by design-toddling around and discovering the world at their own pace.

With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman-a former reporter for "The Wall Street Journal"-sets out to learn the secrets to raising a society of good little sleepers, gourmet eaters, and reasonably relaxed parents. She discovers that French parents are extremely strict about some things and strikingly permissive about others. And she realizes that to be a different kind of parent, you don't just need a different parenting philosophy. You need a very different view of what a child actually is.While finding her own firm "non," Druckerman discovers that children-including her own-are capable of feats she'd never imagined.

Warrior Girls: Protecting Our Daughters Against the Injury Epidemic in Women's Sports by Michael Sokolove

ISBN: 9780743297561; Simon & Schuster; $ 21.95; Paperback; September 21, 2009

Publisher Marketing: Now available in paperback, the urgent argument for "saving the futures of female athletes" (USA TODAY). Controversial and compelling: The Warrior Girls excerpts in The New York Times Magazine and The Washington Post received an overwhelming response. Warrior Girls has spurred a relevant debate that continues on websites devoted to sports, parenting, and women's health.

The ignored injury epidemic: Well over one million girls play high school soccer, basketball, lacrosse, and volleyball. But women's collegiate soccer players suffer concussions at the same rate as college football players. Most alarming are the high rates of knee injuries involving the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, which girls tear eight times more often than boys.

A crucial look at a culture in denial: Advocates of women's sports worry that acknowledging the injury epidemic will threaten our daughters' hard-won opportunities on the field. Warrior Girls examines these shocking truths and offers hopeful solutions for encouraging female athletes to play well--and safely.

Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America by Robert Whitaker

ISBN: 9780307452429; Broadway Books; $ 15.00; Paperback; August 02, 2011

Publisher Marketing: In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States "tripled" over the past two decades? Every day, 1,100 adults and children are added to the government disability rolls because they have become newly disabled by mental illness,  with this epidemic spreading most rapidly among our nation's children. What is going on?

"Anatomy of an Epidemic" challenges readers to think through that question themselves. First, Whitaker investigates what is known today about the biological causes of mental disorders. Do psychiatric medications fix "chemical imbalances" in the brain, or do they, in fact, "create "them? Researchers spent decades studying that question, and by the late 1980s, they had their answer. Readers will be startled--and dismayed--to discover what was reported in the scientific journals.

Then comes the scientific query at the heart of this book: During the past fifty years, when investigators looked at how psychiatric drugs affected "long"-"term "outcomes, what did they find? Did they discover that the drugs help people stay well? Function better? Enjoy good physical health? Or did they find that these medications, for some paradoxical reason, "increase "the likelihood that people will become chronically ill, less able to function well, more prone to physical illness?

This is the first book to look at the merits of psychiatric medications through the prism of long-term results. Are long-term recovery rates higher for medicated or unmedicated schizophrenia patients? Does taking an antidepressant decrease or increase the risk that a depressed person will become disabled by the disorder? Do bipolar patients fare better today than they did forty years ago, or much worse? When the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) studied the long-term outcomes of children with ADHD, did they determine that stimulants provide any benefit?
By the end of this review of the outcomes literature, readers are certain to have a haunting question of their own: Why have the results from these long-term studies--all of which point to the same startling conclusion--been kept from the public?

In this compelling history, Whitaker also tells the personal stories of children and adults swept up in this epidemic. Finally, he reports on innovative programs of psychiatric care in Europe and the United States that are producing good long-term outcomes. Our nation has been hit by an epidemic of disabling mental illness, and yet, as "Anatomy of an Epidemic "reveals, the medical blueprints for curbing that epidemic have already been drawn up. "From the Hardcover edition."

The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time by David L Ulin

ISBN: 9781570616709; Sasquatch Books; $ 12.95; Hardcover; October 12, 2010

Annotation: Blending commentary with memoir, Ulin addresses the importance of the simple act of reading in an increasingly digital culture. Reading a book, flipping through hard pages, or shuffling them on screen--it doesn't matter. The key is the act of reading, the seriousness and depth.

A Good American by  Alex George

ISBN: 9780399157592; Amy Einhorn Books;  $ 25.95
Hardcover; February 07, 2012

Publisher Marketing: An uplifting novel about the families we create and the places we call home.

It is 1904. When Frederick and Jette must flee her disapproving mother, where better to go than America, the land of the new? Originally set to board a boat to New York, at the last minute, they take one destined for New Orleans instead (""What's the difference? They're both new""), and later find themselves, more by chance than by design, in the small town of Beatrice, Missouri. Not speaking a word of English, they embark on their new life together.

Beatrice is populated with unforgettable characters: a jazz trumpeter from the Big Easy who cooks a mean gumbo, a teenage boy trapped in the body of a giant, a pretty schoolteacher who helps the young men in town learn about a lot more than just music, a minister who believes he has witnessed the Second Coming of Christ, and a malevolent, bicycle-riding dwarf.

"A Good American" is narrated by Frederick and Jette's grandson, James, who, in telling his ancestors' story, comes to realize he doesn't know his own story at all. From bare-knuckle prizefighting and Prohibition to sweet barbershop harmonies, the Kennedy assassination, and beyond, James's family is caught up in the sweep of history. Each new generation discovers afresh what it means to be an American. And, in the process, Frederick and Jette's progeny sometimes discover more about themselves than they had bargained for.

Poignant, funny, and heartbreaking, "A Good American" is a novel about being an outsider-in your country, in your hometown, and sometimes even in your own family. It is a universal story about our search for home.

Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron

ISBN: 9781616200428; Algonquin Books; US SRP: $ 24.95; Hardcover; January 03, 2012

Publisher Marketing: "Running the Rift" follows Jean Patrick Nkuba, a gifted Rwandan boy, from the day he knows that running will be his life to the moment he must run to save his life, a ten-year span in which his country is undone by the Hutu-Tutsi tensions. Born a Tutsi, he is thrust into a world where it 's impossible to stay apolitical where the man who used to sell you gifts for your family now spews hatred, where the girl who flirted with you in the lunchroom refuses to look at you, where your Hutu coach is secretly training the very soldiers who will hunt down your family. Yet in an environment increasingly restrictive for the Tutsi, he holds fast to his dream of becoming Rwanda 's first Olympic medal contender in track, a feat he believes might deliver him and his people from this violence. When the killing begins, Jean Patrick is forced to flee, leaving behind the woman, the family, and the country he loves. Finding them again is the race of his life.

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

ISBN: 9780812992793; Random House; $ 26.00; Hardcover; January 10, 2012

Annotation: An epic novel and a thrilling literary discovery, "The Orphan Master's Son" follows a young man's journey through the icy waters, dark tunnels, and eerie spy chambers of the world's most mysterious dictatorship, North Korea.

Girl Reading by Katie Ward

ISBN: 9781451655902; Scribner Book Company; $ 26.00; Hardcover; February 07, 2012

Annotation: Seven portraits. Seven artists. Seven girls and women reading. Each chapter of Ward's kaleidoscopic novel takes readers into a perfectly imagined tale of how each portrait came to be, and as the connections accumulate, the narrative leads readers into the present and beyond.

Children of Manzanar by Heather C Lindquist            

ISBN: 9781597141604; Heyday; $ 17.95 US; Paperback; April 01, 2012

Annotation: An authentic portrait of the youngest internees at Manzanar. Few names evoke images of the Internment more than Manzanar but we have never seen the everyday lives of the children depicted so clearly.

Everyday Dogs: A Perpetual Calendar for Birthdays and Other Notable Dates by Mary Scott, Mary and Susan Snyder           

ISBN: 9781597141598; Heyday Books; $ 14.9; Hardcover; September 01, 2011

Annotation: A charming keepsake for dog-lovers that reminds you of dates you need every year with75 historical photos, many of famous people and their dogs.

Rez Life: An Indian's Journey Through Reservation Life by David Treuer           

ISBN: 9780802119711; Atlantic Monthly Press; $ 26.00; Hardcover; February 07, 2012.

Annotation: Novelist David Treuer examines Native American reservation life-- past and present-- illuminating misunderstood contemporary issues of sovereignty, treaty rights, and natural-resource conservation while also exploring crime and poverty, casinos and wealth, and the preservation of native language and culture.

God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World by Cullen Murphy

ISBN: 9780618091560; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; $ 27.00; Hardcover; January 17, 2012.

Publisher Marketing: God's Jury" encompasses the diverse stories of the Knights Templar, Torquemada, Galileo, and Graham Greene. Established by the Catholic Church in 1231, the Inquisition continued in one form or another for almost seven hundred years. Though associated with the persecution of heretics and Jews -- and with burning at the stake -- its targets were more numerous and its techniques more ambitious. The Inquisition pioneered surveillance and censorship and "scientific" interrogation. As time went on, its methods and mindset spread far beyond the Church to become tools of secular persecution. Traveling from freshly opened Vatican archives to the detention camps of Guantanamo to the filing cabinets of the Third Reich, Murphy traces the Inquisition and its legacy.

With the combination of vivid immediacy and learned analysis that characterized his acclaimed "Are We Rome?," Murphy puts a human face on a familiar but little-known piece of our past, and argues that only by understanding the Inquisition can we hope to explain the making of the present.

Corporations Are Not People: Why They Have More Rights Than You Do and What You Can Do about It by Jeffrey D Clements      

ISBN: 9781609941055; Berrett-Koehler Publishers; $ 17.95; Paperback; January 09, 2012.

Annotation: This is the first practical guide for every citizen on the problem of corporate personhood and the tools we have to overturn it. Jeff Clements explains why the Citizen's United case is the final win in a campaign for corporate domination of the state that began in the 1970s under Richard Nixon. More than this, Clements shows how unfettered corporate rights will impact public health, energy policy, the environment, and the justice system. Where Thom Hartmann's Unequal Protection provides a much-needed detailed legal history of corporate personhood, Corporations Are Not People answers the reader's question: "What does Citizens United mean to me?" And, even more important, it provides a solution: a Constitutional amendment, included in the book, which would reverse Citizens United. The book's ultimate goal is to give every citizen the tools and talking points to overturn corporate personhood state by state, community by community with petitions, house party kits, draft letters, shareholder resolutions, and much more.

Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became "People" -- And How You Can Fight Back(Revised, Expanded, 2ND ed.) by Thom Hartmann.

ISBN: 9781605095592; Berrett-Koehler Publishers; $ 19.95; Paperback; June 14, 2010

Publisher Marketing: Was the Boston Tea Party the first WTO-style protest against transnational corporations? Did Supreme Court sell out America's citizens in the nineteenth century, with consequences lasting to this day? Is there a way for American citizens to recover democracy of, by, and for the people?

Thom Hartmann takes on these most difficult questions and tells a startling story that will forever change your understanding of American history. Amongst a deep historical context, Hartmann describes the history of the Fourteenth Amendment--created at the end of the Civil War to grant basic rights to freed slaves--and how it has been used by lawyers representing corporate interests to extend additional rights to businesses far more frequently than to freed slaves. Prior to 1886, corporations were referred to in U.S. law as "artificial persons." But in 1886, after a series of cases brought by lawyers representing the expanding railroad interests, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were "persons" and entitled to the same rights granted to people under the Bill of Rights. Since this ruling, America has lost the legal structures that allowed for people to control corporate behavior.

Worm: The First Digital World War by Mark Bowden

ISBN: 9780802119834; Atlantic Monthly Press; $ 25.00; Hardcover; September 27, 2011

Annotation: Bowden, a bestselling author, has delivered a dramatic cyber-crime story that explores the Conficker Computer Worm, a potentially devastating computer virus that has baffled experts and infected as many as 12 million computers to date. Bowden has gained unprecedented access to the key players in the story and produced what could be his most important story to date

Bringing Home the Dharma: Awakening Right Where You Are by Jack Kornfield

ISBN: 9781590309131;  Shambhala Publications;  $ 24.95; Hardcover; December 06, 2011

Annotation: "If we want to find inner peace and wisdom, we needn't move to an ashram or monastery. Our Buddha nature--our natural warmth and insight--can be discovered right where we are, in the context of our relationships, our family lives, and in our efforts help and serve others. Popular spiritual teacher Jack Kornfield shares this and other key lessons gleaned from more than forty years of commited study and practice. A student of some of the most revered meditation masters of the twentieth century, Kornfield offers keen observations about the rise of mindfulness practice in the West and shares his insights on finding freedom right where we are. Topics include: How to cultivate loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Conscious parenting. Overcoming the common obstacles to awakening. Spirituality and sexuality; Commiting ourselves to easing the suffering in the world; The way of forgiveness, and much more"