Veering between carnival & apocalypse, Mexico has in the last ten years become the epicentre of the international drug trade. The so-called ”war on drugs” has been a brutal & chaotic failure (more than 160, 000 lives have been lost). The drug cartels & the forces of law & order are often in collusion, corruption is everywhere. Life is cheap & inconvenient people
- the poor, the unlucky, the honest or the inquisitive
- can be ”disappeared” leaving not a trace behind (in September 2015, more than 26, 798 were officially registered as ”not located”). Yet people in all walks of life have refused to give up. Diego Enrique Osorno & Juan Villoro tell stories of teenage prostitution & Mexico`s street children. Anabel Hernandez & Emiliano Ruiz Parra give chilling accounts of the ”disappearance” of forty-three students & the murder of a self-educated land lawyer. Sergio Gonzalez Rodriguez & Marcela Turati dissect the impact of the violence on the victims & those left behind, while Lydia Cacho contributes a journal of what it is like to live every day of your life under threat of death. Reading these accounts we begin to understand the true nature of the meltdown of democracy, obscured by lurid headlines, & the sheer physical & intellectual courage needed to oppose it. This is reportage at its bravest & most necessary
- writing that has the power to change the world`s view of Mexico & by the force of its truth to start to heal the country`s many sorrows.


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With contributions from seven of Mexico`s finest journalists, this is reportage at its bravest & most necessary
- it has the power
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Work can be a route to creativity, excitement & purpose. Nevertheless, many of us end up confused, discouraged & beaten by our working lives. The temptation is often just to blame ourselves, & to feel privately ashamed & guilty. However, as this book lucidly explains, there is a range of well-embedded & intriguing reasons why work proves demoralising, including the evolution of modern work, the role of technology & the mechanics of the economy. This surprisingly cheering book offers us an invigorating perspective over our working lives
- & what we might do at times when our work challenges us almost unbearably.
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` Masterfully opens up a little explored realm: how the quest for religion & spirituality drives hundreds of millions of Chinese` Pankaj Mishra`A fascinating odyssey.. . a nuanced group portrait of Chinese citizens striving for non-material answers in an era of frenetic materialism` Julia Lovell, Guardian` The reappearance & flourishing of religion is perhaps the most surprising aspect of the dramatic changes in China in recent decades...this is a beautiful, moving & insightful book` Michael Szonyi In no society on Earth was there such a ferocious attempt to eradicate all trace of religion as in modern China. But now, following a century of violent antireligious campaigns, China is awash with new temples, churches, & mosques
- as well as cults, sects, & politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Driving this explosion of faith is uncertainty
- over what it means to be Chinese, & how to live an ethical life in a country that discarded traditional morality & is still searching for new guideposts. The Souls of China is the result of some fifteen years of studying & travelling around China. The message of Ian Johnson`s extraordinary book is that China is now experiencing a ` Great Awakening` on a vast scale. Everywhere long-suppressed religions are rebuilding, often in new forms, & reshaping the values & behaviours of entire communities. Ian Johnson is as happy explaining the wonders of the lunar calendar as talking to the yinyang man who ensures proper burials. He visits meditation masters & the charismatic head of a Chengdu church. The result is a rich & funny work that challenges conventional wisdom about China. Xi Jinping, China`s current leader, has put a return to morality & Chinese tradition at the heart of his ideas for his country
- but, Johnson asks, at what point will the rapid spread of belief form an unmanageable challenge to the Party`s monopoly on power?


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In no society on Earth was there such a ferocious attempt to eradicate all trace of religion as in modern China. But now, following a century of violent antireligious campaigns, China is awash with new temples, churches, & mosques
- as well as cults, sects, & politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Driving this explosion of faith is uncertainty
- over what it means to be Chinese, & how to live an ethical life in a country that discarded traditional morality & is still searching for new guideposts. The Souls of China is the result of some fifteen years of studying & travelling around China. The message of Ian Johnson`s extraordinary book is that China is now experiencing a ` Great Awakening` on a vast scale. Everywhere long-suppressed religions are rebuilding, often in new forms, & reshaping the values & behaviours of entire communities. Ian Johnson is as happy explaining the wonders of the lunar calendar as talking to the yinyang man who ensures proper burials. He visits meditation masters & the charismatic head of a Chengdu church. The result is a rich & funny work that challenges conventional wisdom about China. Xi Jinping, China`s current leader, has put a return to morality & Chinese tradition at the heart of his ideas for his country
- but, Johnson asks, at what point will the rapid spread of belief form an unmanageable challenge to the Party`s monopoly on power?


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4:30 in the morning, trekking in the open wilderness of the Alps, 2, 900 meters above sea level, storm clouds disappearing behind the nearest mountain, the sun rising- these are the moments when Guerel Sahin captures his best outdoor photographs. It is perhaps precisely because they are often shot in extreme situations that Sahin`s breathtaking mountain panoramas, photographs of mountain lakes, & rugged landscapes are such a social media hit. Thousands follow him on Instagram et al., while a wide audience also knows him as the face of Jack Wolfskin. Now, for the first time, he gathers his most awe-inspiring photographs in one volume, sharing insights into his life & work. Where does this longing for untouched, authentic nature come from? How does it feel to reach a mountain summit by sunrise? What if, contrary to expectations, an entire vista is obscured by clouds & photography becomes impossible? In images & words, the acclaimed star photographer shares his own emotional world in a paradigm of ” Generation Instagram.” Sahin`s book is for those whom the next mountain peak & open nature cannot be close enough- for all hikers, climbers, & outdoor junkies. ...

FROM THE WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2014. In the winter of 1954, in a construction camp in the remote Tasmanian highlands, when Sonja Buloh was three years old & her father was drinking too much, her mother disappeared into a blizzard never to return. Thirty-five years later, Sonja returns to the place of her childhood to visit her drunkard father. The shadows of the past begin to intrude ever more forcefully into the present, changing forever his living death & her ordered life. ...

Ogata Shingo is growing old, & his memory is failing him. At night he hears only the sound of death in the distant rumble from the mountain. The relationships which have previously defined his life
- with his son, his wife, & his attractive daughter-in-law
- are dissolving, & Shingo is caught between love & destruction. Lyrical & precise, ” The Sound of the Mountain” explores in immaculately crafted prose the changing roles of love & the truth we face in ageing.

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No sooner does he get to know Ricardo Laverde in a seedy billiard hall in Bogota than Antonio Yammara realises that the ex-pilot has a secret. Antonio`s fascination with his new friend`s life grows until the day Ricardo receives a mysterious, unmarked cassette. Shortly afterwards, he is shot dead on a street corner. Yammara`s investigation into what happened leads back to the early 1960s, marijuana smuggling & a time before the cocaine trade trapped Colombia in a living nightmare. ...

Only once in his life had Sean met a man whose strength matched his own
- & now, again, they were pitted against each other..
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