![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The ensuing years see both Renshu and Taiwan grow impressively. They settle into a working-class existence in Taiwan, with Renshu remaining the center of Meilin’s life he is all that is left of her extended family, which was separated while fleeing the mainland. Through it all, Meilin shepherds Renshu physically and emotionally, making use of a family heirloom scroll with key scenes from Chinese folk tales to reassure Renshu and help him make sense of their experiences. Although it’s not quite a page-turner, there are several dramatic escapes, miscommunications, and separations. The first half of Peach Blossom Spring is an alternately harrowing and heartwarming depiction of refugee life. She and Renshu end up in Taiwan, where Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Nationalists have migrated with the hope of returning to mainland China after the Communists are defeated. Her life torn apart by war, she attempts to rebuild it in the next city but is forced to leave again. Her husband is missing in action and presumed dead. When Japan invades China in 1938, Meilin and her four-year-old son, Dao Renshu, flee their home in central China, along with her brother-in-law’s family. Peach Blossom Spring, Melissa Fu’s confident and accomplished debut, is the story of four generations of one family over 60 years. ![]()
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![]() ![]() “Notes of sandalwood, spice, vanilla, and incense expanded the nineteenth-century European perfumer’s palette, as did the aroma chemicals in their laboratories. Perfume as little museums of the colonies, a fragrant addition to the social and scientific discourse, yet another generalization, an immutable law about the Oriental nature, temperament, mentality, custom, or type.” Perfumers summoned these faraway lands into temporal sensory experiences. Knowing their subjects made it easier to categorize, divide, and conquer them. ![]() ![]() ![]() As Orientalist scholars embarked on their translations of ancient texts, languages, civilizations, they helped colonial rulers make sense of Empire. “Orientalism,” a revolutionary text, became a revelation to me as a young feminist, mind-blowing as a perfumer. “How could the word Oriental-derogatory to East Asians in modern parlance-ever be expansive enough to contain the vast histories of Africa, Asia, the Middle East? Another perfumer in the discussion sent the Master Perfumer a copy of Edward Said’s “Orientalism,” to re-Orient why discontinuing his use of the word Oriental mattered. ![]() ![]() ![]() Because of that, I felt that there was definitely potential for greatness somewhere in those stories which went largely untapped and frustrated me to no end but also made me want to give The Scorpio Races a chance (also: killer seahorses).Īnd I am delighted that I did. However, I have always been able to appreciate this author’s beautiful prose (despite a certain tendency for that kind of exaggerated tone, on the brink of purple territory). I was irritated by the characters, by their lack of logical development and above all by the no-holds barred, insta-love/obsessive – type of romance story that drove those stories. I read Lament and tried to read Shiver but didn’t like either book. Seriously.Īll cards on the table: I have always been on the fence when it comes to Maggie Stiefvater’s books. Why did I read this book: Killer seahorses. How did I get this book: I got a review copy at BEA Stand alone or series: Stand alone (HOORAY) She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen. ![]() So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. ![]() She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. Others die.Īt age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Plotting is heavily contrived prose is plodding. ![]() As Rachel and Logan tell the tale in alternating, nearly identical, present-tense narrations, each returns over and over to their respective journeys through grief to festering revenge. All of this is punctuated by much violence (multiple dismemberments, a protracted flogging and more exploding bodies than any book ought to contain, among other examples) and extravagant navel-gazing by the protagonists. If Logan can adapt his device, he can use it to bring the Commander down if Rachel can disable Rowansmark’s, she can render the city vulnerable to Logan and his forces. At the center of their travails is the “tech” that controls the subterranean, dragonlike creatures that destroyed America just a few decades before. ![]() Meanwhile, the captive Rachel plots against Logan’s long-lost brother as he takes her across the Wasteland to Rowansmark. In the sanctuary of Lankenshire, Logan plots to trick the Commander into helping him raise an army to lay siege to Rowansmark and save Rachel. The post-apocalyptic romance that began with Defiance (2012) reaches its conclusion as Rachel and Logan separately work to bring down the men who have robbed them of their families and community. ![]() ![]() ![]() Otto bases his epistemology upon the rationalistic approach,using Kant's critical method. On the whole, it is fair to state that Otto's epistemology must be understood against the background of his Philosophy of Religion,but that his mature epistemological formulation is found in The Idea of the Holy. Many concepts are carried over from the earlier work to the later, but many innovations are introduced in The Idea of the Holy which do not appear in the Philosophy of Religion. His later work, The Idea of the Holy, was intended to build upon the philosophical foundation already laid, and to treat the non-rational, or non-conceptual, element in religious knowledge. His early work, Philosophy of Religion, was intended to lay a philosophical foundation for his whole system, and to treat the rational element in religious knowledge. Within Otto's own system, there are indications of development of ideas over a period of years. Some are the outgrowth of Otto's Rationalistic use of the critical method, and some are upon religious antonomy. These changes are not of uniform quality, however. ![]() Otto made important changes in the epistemological theories of Kant, and the religious theories of Schleiermacher. ![]() As a philosopher of religion, he followed Luther and Schleiermacher principally. As a philosopher, he was part of the Neo-Friesian school of Kantian critical philosophy. Rudolf Otto's principal aim was the elucidation of religious knowledge on its own terms. ![]() ![]() ![]() Although a quick read I felt the author gave us a complete story that I really enjoyed. I really liked this read although my mistake was I read this out in the garden and it had me imagining all sorts lol Unfortunately she has a fear of cockroaches which affects her life quite a bit. Jeremy wants his girlfriend to go on a camping trip to meet his family. See You and n the Flip Side- Carissa Ann Lynch. ![]() An anthology is also a great way to find new authors :)Īs these are short reads it's hard to write a review without spoiling but here goes on a few I've read already. ![]() I rarely read an anthology all the way as I like to dip in and out. I also like to buy anthologies so I can dip in if I'm looking for a quick genre change. I love anthologies as they are great if your looking for a quick read. This is an anthology of horror and dark fiction. ![]() ![]() ![]() While the rude, elusive Dante isn’t her idea of a dream partner, she agrees to their arranged marriage out of duty.Ĭraving his touch was never part of the plan. ![]() Marrying a blue-blooded Russo means opening doors that would otherwise remain closed to her new-money family. Vivian Lau is the perfect daughter and her family’s ticket into the highest echelons of high society. There’s only one problem: now that he has her…he can’t bring himself to let her go. He’ll do everything in his power to destroy the evidence and their betrothal. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or charming she is. Vivian Lau, jewelry heiress and daughter of his newest enemy. Until the threat of blackmail forces him into an engagement with a woman he barely knows. The billionaire CEO never planned to marry. Dante Russo thrives on control, both personally and professionally. ![]() ![]() ![]() Jaydon is from a gargoyle shifter group known as the Gigun. Yet, when she becomes the apprentice of a gargoyle shifter Alchemist who insists on keeping his pet bird with him, she has her doubts that he was the right choice for her final class. She never believed her acceptance into the coveted position was in doubt. BaileyĪsira is a member of a high-ranking family of Alchemists who exert control over the libraries that store magical texts. WORLDS OF FIRE: METAMORPHOSIS by Deborah A. THE CYBORG WITH NO NAME by Honey Phillips ![]() Stories in this limited-edition anthology include: ![]() This award-winning, USA TODAY Bestselling anthology is packed full of your favorite Pets in Space®.įeaturing 11 original, never-before-released stories from some of today’s bestselling Science Fiction Romance and Fantasy authors, Pets in Space 6 continues their vital support of, the non-profit charity that raises, trains, and places support dogs with U.S. Join the incredible authors in this year’s Pets in Space 6 for another out-of-this-world adventure. Don’t miss these 11 SciFi Romance stories starring your favorite aliens & their pets! ![]() ![]() ![]() The other species in the Genus Zalophus are Z. Genus refers to the large sagittal crest on the skull of an adult male (Reeves et. (Sub Family Arctocephalinae includes the Fur Seals) (Reynolds et al., 1999 Rice, 1998). Pinnipeds are characterized by large body size presence of fur, blubber or both fusiform bodies ability to move around on land or ice delayed implantation and superior diving abilities (Reynolds et al., 1999).Ĭharacterized by ability to rotate the pelvis to bring the hind flippers under the body to permit walking or running on land, small external pinnae, and large pectoral flippers for propulsion in the water and sexual dimorphism and polygynous breeding (Reynolds et al., 1999). Means “feather” or “fin footed.” (in reference to the shape of their flippers) ![]() ![]() Who are the three children? Guiseppe is an orphan who arrived in America from Italy. ![]() The Clockwork Three is a fantastic novel that works like a well-oiled machine, bringing the trio of children together like meshing cogs, integrating their three fascinating stories into a book that has the markings of becoming a classic of children’s literature. Guiseppe, Frederick, and Hannah are each remarkable in their own individual ways, but they face lives of hardship and problems that seem to be impossible to overcome on their own. ![]() Kirby, the lives of these three children soon interlock, like the turning gears of a clock, and they discover that they hold the key to each others’ problems. What do an orphaned street musician, an apprentice clockmaker, and a maid in a grand hotel have in common? Not much, on the surface but in the magnificent, page-turning novel The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. ![]() |