The Closed Book

An isolated house deep in the Cotswolds. A writer's den, as dusty and gloomy as the cell of a medieval monk. Two people sit opposite each other, one of them talking, the other typing. But why, in such already sombre surroundings, does one of them wear thick dark glasses? And what, above all, has caused an unearthy shadow to fall across these two interwoven destinies? Apart from the several startling twists of its own brilliant plot, A Closed Book springs a few extra surprises on those readers who have already seen the film version. 'A page-turner par excellence.' Evening Standard 'Gilbert Adair's spookily gripping novel blends an Agatha Christie-like twist with a Hitchcockian plot.' Marie Claire 'This short, intellectually resourceful thriller...sparklingly clever, adroit and entertaining.' The Spectator 'Gilbert Adair's novel has an almost cinematic, even radio-play, sense of suspense, but plays tricks only possible on the page...The finale is deliciously apt and unsettling. ' Independent 'Very readable indeed...a darkly entertaining soufflé... A Closed Book positively invites an informed second reading.' Independent on Sunday

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Captured in just one book is a complete overview of God's plan and purpose for the church, Israel, and other nations in the end times. "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end" (Daniel 12:4). "Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, 'My Lord, what shall be the end of these things?' And he said, 'Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end'" (Daniel 12:8-9). God raised up another prophet, the apostle John, to open the book that the prophet Daniel had closed and sealed. "And he said to me [John], 'Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand'" (Rev. 22:10). The "time of the end" has come! It is time to open the book that Daniel was ordered to seal. God chose the church for a great mission: to spread the gospel and to bring understanding of His purpose and will to all people. The church needs a full understanding of all future events, in order to teach and proclaim them in a clear way. This book includes historical issues, detailed exposition of one of the last prophecies to be fulfilled before the judgment of God commences--Russia's attack on Israel.

"This is a wonderful collection of authors from America and around the world. Centuries are covered, making this a great resource for English teachers and any lover of literature." — Life Community Church This treasury of one hundred tales offers students and other readers of short fiction a splendid selection of stories by masters of the form. Contributors from around the world include Edgar Allan Poe, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Dickens, Anton Chekhov, Mark Twain, Saki, Luigi Pirandello, Kate Chopin, and Ring Lardner. The stories, which are arranged chronologically, begin with tales by Daniel Defoe ("The Apparition of Mrs. Veal," 1705), Benjamin Franklin ("Alice Addertongue," 1732), and Washington Irving ("The Devil and Tom Walker," 1824). Highlights from the nineteenth century include Ivan Turgenev's "The District Doctor" (1852), Sarah Orne Jewett's "A White Heron" (1886), Thomas Hardy's "Squire Petrick's Lady" (1891), and Rudyard Kipling's "Wee Willie Winkie" (1899). From the twentieth century come James Joyce's "Araby" (1914), Franz Kafka's "The Judgment" (1916), Virginia Woolf's "The Mark on the Wall" (1921), "The Broken Boot" (1923) by John Galsworthy, and many others. "A fabulous collections of stories sure to please any reader! The chronological layout is perfect for those looking to explore the development of stories over time and their relation to society." — Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library

Pick-your-own-path and puzzle-packed mystery collide in the first book in Lauren Magaziner’s hilarious and high-stakes four-book middle grade series in which the reader must help Carlos and his friends put together the clues to save his mom’s detective agency. In this wildly entertaining and interactive adventure, YOU pick which suspects to interview, which questions to ask, and which clues to follow. You pick the path—you crack the case! Carlos Serrano has never solved a mystery in his life. But when Carlos’s mom gets sick with a flu on the morning of an investigation that could save her failing detective agency, Carlos takes on the case. With the help of his best friend, Eliza, and her wild little brother, Frank, Carlos must uncover a mystery involving an eccentric local millionaire, anonymous death threats, and a buried treasure. But with tricky riddles, cagey suspects, hidden secrets, and dozens of impossible choices, they need your help! Can you help Carlos and his friends find the culprit and save Las Pistas Detective Agency? Or will it be case closed? Middle grade readers will enjoy all four books in this favorite series: Mystery in the Mansion (#1), Stolen from the Studio (#2), Haunting at the Hotel (#3), and Danger on the Dig (#4)!

Pulitzer Prize Finalist: “By far the most lucid and compelling account . . . of what probably did happen in Dallas—and what almost certainly did not.” —The New York Times Book Review The Kennedy assassination has reverberated for five decades, with tales of secret plots, multiple killers, and government cabals often overshadowing the event itself. As Gerald Posner writes, “Fifty years after the assassination, the biggest casualty has been the truth.” In this first-ever digital edition of his classic work, updated with a special comment for the fiftieth anniversary, Posner lays to rest all of the convoluted conspiracy theories—concerning the mafia, a second shooter, and the CIA—that have obscured over the decades what really happened in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. Drawing from official sources and dozens of interviews, and filled with powerful historical detail, Case Closed is a vivid and straightforward account that stands as one of the most authoritative books on the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Lauren Magaziner’s hilarious and high-stakes middle grade series gets a touch of Hollywood glamor! Pick-your-own-path and puzzle-packed mystery collide in this star-studded sequel in which the reader must help Carlos and his friends solve the disappearance of a famous teen actress. In this wildly entertaining and interactive adventure, YOU pick which suspects to interview, which questions to ask, and which clues to follow. You pick the path—you crack the case! Carlos Serrano needs your help—again! His mother has received an urgent assignment to find the missing star of a wildly popular TV show, but she won’t let Carlos investigate! With his genius friend, Eliza, and her little brother, Frank, along for the case, Carlos is excited to examine the studio for clues and interrogate suspects on the set of Teen Witch, but he has to keep his detective work hidden from his mother's laser-sharp gaze. And just like before, he can’t do it without you! Can you help Carlos and his friends solve the puzzles and stay out of trouble long enough to save Layla Jay? Or will it be case closed?

"Judaism is often described as the religion of the book par excellence - a religious movement built around the study of and commentary on the Hebrew Bible and steeped in a culture of bookishness that evolved from an unrelenting focus on a canonical text. Standard works of modern scholarship reinforce this view -- that the Jewish tradition has always embraced the Bible as a blueprint for the religious life. In this monograph, Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg argues that this depiction of the tradition does not hold for much if its existence -- and more specifically, not for the first thousand years after the Bible was first canonized. Prior to the modern era, late antique and early medieval rabbinic authorities were deeply ambivalent about the Hebrew Bible (aka Old Testament, aka Torah). The Bible can be a really unsettling book because of its repeated depictions of impiety, taboo behavior of all sorts, and unapologetic expressions of doubt and skepticism. It's no accident, then, that Jews -- including their rabbis -- seldom opened a Bible during this long period. But how can you avoid Bible reading while being part of a community in which that same Bible is supposed to be a central pillar of communal identity? The rabbis met this challenge by instituting two workarounds. On the one hand, they incorporated ritualized readings of biblical passages into liturgical gatherings, so that the text was "read" (or chanted) in a rote, formulaic way -- a way that did not lend itself to deep musing about meaning. In such gatherings, the Torah scroll was treated as an entity that manifests sacred powers in its own right (hence the development of rituals governing the handling of the scrolls, including the practices of binding, unrolling, and rolling them). On the other hand, the rabbis constructed a vast edifice of interpretation of Scripture that came to be known in the tradition as the "Oral Torah", including rabbinic stories, commentary, and laws (and associated with terms such as midrash and Talmud). Both of these workarounds, argues Wollenberg, served to marginalize the written text of the Hebrew Bible as a source of cultural transmission and knowledge"--