Books

The sci-fi genre is filled with stories that look beyond our home on earth to other planets and galaxies which may, or may not, exist.  As a race, we’ve developed an obsession with the idea that there are other living species out there, who want to take over our planet; why we haven’t decided they might be friendly is perhaps a reflection on us. Anyway, extra-terrestrial terror is a theme in hundreds of books, old and new.  

The Penguin Podcast: Extra-Terrestrial Reads Books feat. Alex Scarrow, Rick Yancey & Samuel Anderson

Listen to an excerpt of John Clarkson's Among Thieves audiobook, read by Peter Berkrot.

Olivia Sanchez—smart, driven, and beautiful—started at the bottom and worked her way up the ranks of a brokerage firm only to be unjustly, brutally fired, then blackballed. 

With no place else to go, she turns to her cousin, Manny Guzman, ex-con and ex-gang leader, for help. Manny’s first instinct is to hit back. Hard. But his partner, James Beck knows that out in the real world, things aren’t done that way. Beck, with a tight group of three other ex-cons, works out of a discreet base of operations in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook. To help Manny, he and his partners, along with a network of close "associates," offer to look into what happened to Olivia, and fix it.

But nothing is as simple as it first appears, and Beck and his men end up going to war against a formidable list of enemies: the politically connected CEO of a Manhattan brokerage firm; a Russian arms dealer; a small army of Bosnian war criminals; a ruthless gang of Russian mobsters; and, last but not least, the NYPD. 

With too many foes coming at them from too many angles, Beck and his men are going to have to survive against impossible odds, avoid being sent back to prison, and in the process, steal $116 million dollars.


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Among Thieves by John Clarkson audiobook excerpt

Author, journalist and letterpress printer Alix Christie discusses her debut novel, Gutenberg's Apprentice (on-sale: September 23, 2014), with @HarperAudio_US producer Erin Wicks. This episode also includes an excerpt from the audio edition read by Robert Petkoff.

ABOUT GUTENBERG'S APPRENTICE 

An enthralling literary debut that evokes one of the most momentous events in history, the birth of printing in medieval Germany—a story of invention, intrigue, and betrayal.

Youthful, ambitious Peter Schoeffer is on the verge of professional success as a scribe in Paris when his foster father, the wealthy merchant and bookseller Johann Fust, summons him home to corruption- riddled, feud-plagued Mainz to meet "a most amazing man."

Johann Gutenberg, a driven and caustic inventor, has devised a revolutionary—and, to some, blasphemous—method of bookmaking: a machine he calls a printing press. Fust is financing Gutenberg's workshop, and he orders Peter to become Gutenberg's apprentice. Resentful at having to abandon a prestigious career as a scribe, Peter begins his education in the "darkest art."

As his skill grows, so too does his admiration for Gutenberg and his dedication to their daring venture: printing copies of the Holy Bible. But when outside forces align against them, Peter finds himself torn between two father figures—the generous Fust and the brilliant, mercurial Gutenberg, who inspires Peter to achieve his own mastery.

Caught between the genius and the merchant, the old ways and the new, Peter and the men he admires must work together to prevail against overwhelming obstacles in a battle that will change history . . . and irrevocably transform them all.

Gutenberg's Apprentice by Alix Christie

Dreamer's Pool by Juliet Marillier on Audible:
http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B00OZ4WYL0&source_code=AUDOR95IVWS042413

Get this audiobook for free when you try Audible:
www.audible.com/offers/30free?asin=B00OZ4WYL0&source_code=AUDOR95IVWS042413

Summary:

Award-winning author Juliet Marillier "weaves magic, mythology, and folklore into every sentence on the page" (The Book Smugglers). Now she begins an all-new and enchanting series that will transport readers to a magical vision of ancient Ireland...

In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment, embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear. Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she travels north to Dalriada. There she'll live on the fringe of a mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks for her help. Oran, crown prince of Dalriada, has waited anxiously for the arrival of his future bride, Lady Flidais. He knows her only from a portrait and sweetly poetic correspondence that have convinced him Flidais is his destined true love. But Oran discovers letters can lie. For although his intended exactly resembles her portrait, her brutality upon arrival proves she is nothing like the sensitive woman of the letters.

With the strategic marriage imminent, Oran sees no way out of his dilemma. Word has spread that Blackthorn possesses a remarkable gift for solving knotty problems, so the prince asks her for help. To save Oran from his treacherous nuptials, Blackthorn and Grim will need all their resources: courage, ingenuity, leaps of deduction, and more than a little magic.

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Dreamer's Pool by Juliet Marillier, Narrated by  Scott Aiello, Natalie Gold and Nick Sullivan

The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Soho on Audible:
http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B00NLMG4UY&source_code=AUDORWS0922149AWY

Get this audiobook for free when you try Audible:
http://www.audible.com/offers/30free?asin=B00NLMG4UY&source_code=AUDORWS0922149AWY

Summary:

This classic samurai-era text fused Japanese swordsmanship with Zen and influenced the direction that the art has taken ever since. Written by the 17th-century Zen master Takuan Soho (1573-1645), The Unfettered Mind is a book of advice on swordsmanship and the cultivation of right mind and intention. It was written as a guide for the samurai Yagyu Munenori, who was a great swordsman and rival to the legendary Miyamoto Musashi. Takuan was a giant in the history of Zen; he was also a gardener, calligrapher, poet, author, adviser to samurai and shoguns, and a pivotal figure in Zen painting. He was known for his brilliance and acerbic wit. In these succinct and pointed essays, Takuan is concerned primarily with understanding and refining the mind - both generally and when faced with conflict. The Unfettered Mind was a major influence on the classic manifestos on swordsmanship that came after it, including Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings and Yagyu Munenori's Life-Giving Sword. 

The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Soho, Narrated by Roger Clark

What Makes You Not a Buddhist by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse on Audible:
http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B00OL7SJR4&source_code=AUDORTS1114149BLE

Get this audiobook for free when you try Audible:
http://www.audible.com/offers/30free?asin=B00OL7SJR4&source_code=AUDORTS1114149BLE

Summary:

So you think you're a Buddhist? Think again. Tibetan Buddhist master Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, one of the most creative and innovative lamas teaching today, throws down the gauntlet to the Buddhist world, challenging common misconceptions, stereotypes, and fantasies. With wit and irony, Khysentse urges listeners to move beyond the superficial trappings of Buddhism - beyond the romance with beads, incense, or exotic robes - straight to the heart of what the Buddha taught. 

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