Spirituality

[close] As a faithful Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he’ll be reunited with his loved ones in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God he has never heard of into a Hell whose dimensions he can barely grasp: a vast library he can only escape from by finding the book that contains the story of his life.

In this haunting existential novella, author, philosopher, and ecologist Steven L. Peck explores a subversive vision of eternity, taking the reader on a journey through the afterlife of a world where everything everyone believed in turns out to be wrong.

“An irresistible invention. Peck has somehow squeezed all of human experience, not to mention near-infinite expanses of space and time, into one miraculously slim novella. You won’t be able to stop thinking about this book.” -- Ken Jennings, author of Brainiac and Maphead

“The central conceit is brilliant ... Peck has a flair for capturing the yearnings of the human spirit, hell-bound or no.” - By Common Consent [close]

[close] mIn The Inner River, Kyriacos Markides--scholar, researcher, author, and pilgrim--takes us on a thrilling quest into the heart of Christian spirituality and mankind's desire for a transcendent experience of God. From Maine's rugged shores to a Cypriot monastery to Greece's remote Mt. Athos and, ultimately, to an Egyptian desert, Markides' encounters a diverse cast of characters that allow him to explore the worlds of the natural and the supernatural, of religion and spirit, and of the seen and the unseen.

The Inner River will appeal to a wide range of people, from Christians seeking insights into their religion and its various expressions to scholars interested in learning more about the mystical way of life and wisdom that have been preserved in the heart of orthodox spirituality. Perhaps most important, however, is the bridge it offers contemporary readers to a Christian life that is balanced between the worldly and the spiritual. [close]

[close] In the summer of 1956 two teenagers rescue a drowning woman from the Susquehanna’s turbulent waters, and their predictable lives suddenly veer towards a deadly detour. Shadowy men in black cars start tracking their every movement. A tall foreboding man clutching a snake-headed staff and chain-smoking through a hole in his throat seeks their names.

Fourteen year-old catcher Peter 'Chumbucket' Miller and his best friend pitcher Mike DeSorcier begin the summer on a mission to capture the World Series championship of their youth baseball league. Spying on a league meeting from a sweltering attic perch they uncover a group of extra-dimensional beings infiltrating the league. During their breathless escape, the boys discover two things: they are in mountains of trouble and they need help. Assistance (and more trouble) arrives in the form of two daring and mystifying girls – the unusual Karen Croft and the beautiful Jo Munro. Together, the teens must solve the mystery of the Noqumiut before a fateful August lunar eclipse.

Bizarre and comical events trail the foursome’s investigation: Santa and his merry elf magically appear in June running for their lives from a town hall fire; a teen girl flies her Cessna from the scene of a refinery explosion; and a dead body is left as a present on a leather couch – carefully wrapped in a mink coat and holding a red gift bow.

Unlikely sources aid their efforts. These include an Eskimo shaman, a magic stone carving of a lively seal, a ferociously loyal dog, and an opponent from Roswell, New Mexico whose talents (and origins) may literally be out of this world.

The Summer Set is a humorous, intense, action-packed story about friends, enemies and the pursuit of winning it all. The novel is for all story lovers ages twelve and up. [close]