The Turning Year

The Turning Year This ones for the records. 2009 has been a complex novel, from the prosaic Chapter One, all the way to Chapter Twelve, where I, the protagonist, is left wondering why it all went down the way it did. In the opening pages of January, how could I have ever known that in two months time Id meet the girl of my dreams, and feel her, touch her in ways I never thought possible? How could I have known that this connection would happen, fulfilling my urges, yet at the same time signing the order of execution on the heart of someone who had only committed the crime of trusting me? But soon I lost them both, left them hating me and wanting to be rid of me.

An assemblage of delicate Chinese verse which delicately explore the worlds of love, nature, and meditation.

An assemblage of delicate Chinese verse which delicately explore the worlds of love, nature, and meditation. Love and the Turning Year includes a selection from the Yueh Fu—folk songs from the Six Dynasties Period (fourth-fifth centuries A.D.). Most of the songs are simple, erotic lyrics. Some are attributed to legendary courtesans, while others may have been sung at harvest festivals or marriage celebrations. In addition to the folk songs, Rexroth offers a wide sampling of Chinese verse: works by 60 different poets, from the third century to our own time. Rexroth always translated Chinese poetry—as he said—“solely to please myself.” And he created, with remarkable success, English versions which stand as poems in their own right.

A stunning celebration of every month of the year.

From the author of the hugely successful book Legendary Ireland, The Turning of the Year explores the Celtic division of the year, from Samhain to Imbolc, to Bealtaine, to Lunasa, back to Samhain. It examines the significance of particular times of the year and features re-tellings of various legends associated with them. The book will look at the close connection of the Irish with the land and with nature, bringing us on an exhilarating journey through the Irish seasons and the customs that welcomed each one in turn. Along the way we encounter saints, scholars, kings and goddesses, whose stories, preserved in myth and folktale, counterpoint the book's exploration both of lost traditions such as keening and how other customs and rituals have been preserved in today's celebrations and communal events. It brings to the reader a new awareness of how such ritual can still have relevance in our lives, and a deeper appreciation of the power of the natural world.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Discover the game-changing theory of the cycles of history and what past generations can teach us about living through times of upheaval—with deep insights into the roles that Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials have to play. First comes a High, a period of confident expansion. Next comes an Awakening, a time of spiritual exploration and rebellion. Then comes an Unraveling, in which individualism triumphs over crumbling institutions. Last comes a Crisis—the Fourth Turning—when society passes through a great and perilous gate in history. William Strauss and Neil Howe will change the way you see the world—and your place in it. With blazing originality, The Fourth Turning illuminates the past, explains the present, and reimagines the future. Most remarkably, it offers an utterly persuasive prophecy about how America’s past will predict what comes next. Strauss and Howe base this vision on a provocative theory of American history. The authors look back five hundred years and uncover a distinct pattern: Modern history moves in cycles, each one lasting about the length of a long human life, each composed of four twenty-year eras—or “turnings”—that comprise history’s seasonal rhythm of growth, maturation, entropy, and rebirth. Illustrating this cycle through a brilliant analysis of the post–World War II period, The Fourth Turning offers bold predictions about how all of us can prepare, individually and collectively, for this rendezvous with destiny.

The cycle of the seasons brings changes to the work in the countryside and the garden, together with change in the natural world. The Turning Of The Year looks at these changes, along with the associated holidays, feast days and customs, to reconnect the modern world with the seasonal cycle. Included are recipes relevant to each season and to specific festivities.

Perhaps a greater tragedy than a broken dream is a life forever defined by it." - Sheridan Voysey Your dream might be over, but your life isn't. Embrace your broken dream as a chance for a new beginning and see how a "Resurrection Year" can restore your soul. Voysey chronicles their return to life. From the streets of Rome to the Basilicas of Paris, from the Alps of Switzerland to their new home in Oxford, they begin the healing process while wrestling with their doubts about God's goodness. One part spiritual memoir and one part love story, Resurrection Year is an honest, heart-felt book about recovering from broken dreams and reconciling with a God who is sometimes silent but never absent. A hope-filled story about starting again after a dream has died'an emotive, poetic, and at times humorous discovery of the healing qualities of beauty, play, friendship, and love. "Some dreams come true, but others die a painful death. We can learn from both. In Resurrection Year, Sheridan Voysey writes from experience-there is life after the death of a dream. Your dream may be different, but the road to resurrection will be similar. I highly recommend it." - Gary Chapman, author of The Five Love Languages