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Veterans Day

November 11th, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!

October 31st, 2019

 

By Cyn F. (Cyn-Sama)

 

While my soul loves everything ooky and spooky about Halloween, I also have a fascination with death culture – how we mourn, and how we care for our dead. My introduction to this was through Jessica Mitford, and the American Way of Death, a scathing expose into the heart of the funeral industry. While it’s an older book, most of the practices still are being used.

 

Then I discovered Caitlin Doughty, and Dr. Paul Koudounaris. Caitlin, is also known for her YouTube series, Ask a Mortician, started off with writing Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: and Other Lessons from the Crematory, about her experiences working in a crematorium. She also spreads light on the growing green burial movement, which her funeral home specializes in.
Her next book, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, shows different cultures views on death, and how they memorialize their loved ones. I’m slightly partial to the chapter on Mexico, and the Day of the Dead celebrations.

 

 
Her most current book Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death, is a series of death related questions, from children. And, no. Your cat will most likely not eat your eyeballs. They’ll go for things like your nose and lips first.
 

Dr. Paul Koudounaris is a well known photographer and art historian. I was introduced to him through Caitlin Doughty, and was drawn to his knowledge, and by how beautiful his photography is. His most recent work is Memento Mori: The Dead Among Us is about the memorials and traditions from around the world.
His previous works are: Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs, a look into the curious practice of churches taking the bodies of supposed Christian martyrs, and covering them
with jewels and fine clothing.

 

Then there is The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses. Do you know what an ossuary is? It’s the name for a space that is designed to serve as the final resting place for skeletal remains. You may have heard some of the “bone churches” in Eastern Europe. This book covers all of that.
I hope you will find something on this list interesting. I personally find it fascinating, and I want to share how awesome it all is with everyone I know.

 

Have a happy Halloween, and remember to stay spooky.
 

Free Book Friday Winner!

October 20th, 2019

 

The Winner of the brand-new copy of

Ten Thousand Saints

by Eleanor Henderson

is:

Cindy S. (mamacindy)

 

Congratulations! Your Book will be on the way to you soon!

Thank you to everyone who entered!

 

And, if you would like to purchase a copy of this book, or any of thousands of other titles, you can find great books for great prices in the PBS Market.  Here is the link: PBS Market.

 

 

 

Free Book Friday!

October 18th, 2019


Ten Thousand Saints

by Eleanor Henderson

 

A sweeping, multigenerational drama, set against the backdrop of the raw, roaring New York City during the late 1980s, Ten Thousand Saints triumphantly heralds the arrival a remarkable new writer. Eleanor Henderson makes a truly stunning debut with a novel that is part coming of age, part coming to terms, immediately joining the ranks of The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud and Jonathan Lethem’s The Fortress of Solitude. Adoption, teen pregnancy, drugs, hardcore punk rock, the unbridled optimism and reckless stupidity of the young and old are all major elements in this heart-aching tale of the son of diehard hippies and his strange odyssey through the extremes of late 20th century youth culture. 

ISBN 9780062021212, Paperback

There are currently 42 Members Wishing for this book.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this Blog post. You must be a PaperBackSwap member in good standing to win.

We will choose 1 winner at random from comments we receive here on the Blog from PBS members.

You have until Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 12 noon ET, to leave a comment.

Good Luck to everyone!

 

Note: All the books given away on Free Book Friday are available in the PBS Market. We have thousands of new and new overstock titles available right now, with more added hourly. Some of the prices are amazing – and you can use a PBS credit to make the deal even better!

 

Free Book Friday Winner!

October 13th, 2019

The Winner of the Brand-New Copy of

Whispers Beyond the Veil

by Jessica Estevao

is:

Nicole G. (nyteacher)

Congratulations! Your Book will be on the way to you soon!

Thank you to everyone who entered!

 

And, if you would like to purchase a copy of this book, or any of thousands of other titles, you can find great books for great prices in the PBS Market.  Here is the link: PBS Market.

 

Free Book Friday – Whispers Beyond the Veil

October 11th, 2019


Whispers Beyond the Veil

by Jessica Estevao

First in a dazzling new historical mystery series featuring Ruby Proulx, a psychic with a questionable past who suddenly finds her future most uncertain…Canada, 1898. The only life Ruby Proulx has ever known is that of a nomad, traveling across the country with her snake-oil salesman father. She dreams of taking root somewhere, someday, but, until she can, she makes her way by reading tarot cards. Yet she never imagined her own life would take such a turn…

After one of her father’s medical “miracles” goes deadly wrong, Ruby evades authorities by hiding in the seaside resort town of Old Orchard, Maine, where her estranged Aunt Honoria owns the Hotel Belden, a unique residence that caters to Spiritualists — a place where Ruby should be safe as long as she can keep her dark secret hidden.

But Ruby’s plan begins to crumble after a psychic investigator checks into the hotel and senses Ruby is hiding more than she’s letting on. Now Ruby must do what she can to escape both his attention and Aunt Honoria’s insistence that she has a true gift, before she loses her precious new home and family forever… 

ISBN 9780425281604, Paperback

There are currently 17 Members Wishing for this book.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this Blog post. You must be a PaperBackSwap member in good standing to win.

We will choose 1 winner at random from comments we receive here on the Blog from PBS members.

You have until Sunday, October 13, 2019 at 12 noon ET, to leave a comment.

Good Luck to everyone!

 

Note: All the books given away on Free Book Friday are available in the PBS Market. We have thousands of new and new overstock titles available right now, with more added hourly. Some of the prices are amazing – and you can use a PBS credit to make the deal even better!

 

 

 

Free Book Friday Winner!

October 7th, 2019

 

The Winner of the Brand-New Copy of

The Late Show

by Michael Connelly

is:

Amy C.

Congratulations! Your Book will be on the way to you soon!

 

Thank you to everyone who entered!

 

And, if you would like to purchase a copy of this book, or any of thousands of other titles, you can find great books for great prices in the PBS Market.  Here is the link: PBS Market.