Trip The Light Fantastic

Abigail Gray is a dance instructor whose life tragically ends at the age of thirty-four. She is welcomed to the other side--in a room of pure white--by her guardian angel, a brown book with gold accents, a movie screen, and a remote control. With no recollection of her death, the reel commences as Abbey and her guardian angel, Michael, focus on her last year on Earth. In this year, we follow a journey of newfound love with a man named Jason, as well as a magical friendship with the spiritual intuitive who owns the town's apothecary shop. Acting as a mentor, this prestidigitator helps Abbey decipher the dreams that have been haunting her sleep since the day she bought the 'must have' picture of a dancing couple, an item she found at the local antique shop. He also teaches her the importance of living her life's truth. As the reel of Abbey's life plays out, she and Michael embark on this visual journey together, while Michael carves a wooden sculpture and offers her heavenly wisdom about life's fragility, opportunity, and purpose. "Inspirational ... a perfect blend of spiritual and earthly wisdom woven through a poignant love story." Christine Duminiak, certified grief recovery specialist, author of Heaven Talks to Children "As we follow Abbey's journey, we cannot help but pause for thought about our own personal beliefs and question the purpose of our own lives. The words of the author display a deep understanding of spiritual philosophy." Alison Baughman, numerologist, author of Get His Number! "In a story playfully sprinkled with fascinating trivia and spiritual wonder, Tracy Glassey explores the power of all the connections and influences we don't even realize are there, and in the process conveys a great deal of wisdom and practical life lessons." Ralph Marston, Greatday.com

In Charles M. Gross's Tripping The Light Fantasic, he tells the story of a Jewish counterfieter and a 'Jewban' woman brought together by their Rabbi. They travel and dance through adventurous crime and the recovery of Nazi loot.

'Darkness isn't the opposite of light, it is simply its absence . . . what was radiating from the book was the light that lies on the far side of darkness, the light fantastic.' The Discworld is in danger, heading towards a seemingly inevitable collision with a malevolent red star, its magic fading. It needs a hero, and fast. What it doesn't need is Rincewind, an inept and cowardly wizard who is still recovering from the trauma of falling off the edge of the world. Or Twoflower, the well-meaning tourist whose luggage has a mind (and legs) of its own. Which is a shame, because that's all there is . . . 'His spectacular inventiveness makes the Discworld series one of the perennial joys of modern fiction' Mail on Sunday 'Incredibly funny, compulsively readable' The Times The Light Fantastic is the second book in the Wizards series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.

Nothing heals a broken heart like an enticing new dance partner. Eighteen-year-old freshman Chelsea DesRosiers is ready to reinvent herself. After an abysmal breakup with her cheating ex, Chelsea vows to step out of her comfort zone. The answer? Swing dance classes. Maybe not the best idea for someone with two left feet, but the overwhelmed Chelsea soon finds herself in the arms of swoon-worthy campus dance president, Lux Colford. The attraction rises as the two spend their extra evenings practicing their moves until an old flame of Lux's shows up. Can Chelsea risk her heart again? Will Lux prove worthy of her trust, or will finding her inner strength mean walking away?

Returning to the story begun in the novel Immortal Coil and continuing in the bestselling Cold Equations trilogy, this is the next fascinating chapter in the artificial life of one of Star Trek’s most enduring characters. He was perhaps the ultimate human achievement: a sentient artificial life-form—self-aware, self-determining, possessing a mind and body far surpassing that of his makers, and imbued with the potential to evolve beyond the scope of his programming. And then Data was destroyed. Four years later, Data’s creator, Noonien Soong, sacrificed his life and resurrected his android son, who in turn revived the positronic brain of his own artificial daughter, Lal. Having resigned his commission, the former Starfleet officer now works to make his way on an alien world, while also coming to grips with the very human notion of wanting versus having a child. But complicating Data’s new life is an unexpected nemesis from years ago on the U.S.S. Enterprise—the holographic master criminal Professor James Moriarty. Long believed to be imprisoned in a memory solid, Moriarty has created a siphon into the "real" world as a being of light and thought. Moriarity wants the solid form that he was once told he could never have, and seeks to manipulate Data into finding another android body for him to permanently inhabit...even if it means evicting the current owner, and even if that is Data himself. ™, ®, & © 2013 CBS Studios, Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The true story of Elton John’s meteoric rise from obscurity to worldwide celebrity in the weird, wild 1970s, based on rare one-on-one interviews with the Rocket Man himself—now the subject of a major motion picture. In August 1970, Elton John achieved overnight fame with a rousing performance at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Over the next five years, the artist formerly known as Reginald Dwight went from unheard of to unstoppable, scoring seven consecutive #1 albums and sixteen Top Ten singles in America. By the middle of the decade, he was solely responsible for 2 percent of global record sales. One in fifty albums sold in the world bore his name. Elton John’s live shows became raucous theatrical extravaganzas, attended by all the glitterati of the era. But beneath the spangled bodysuits and oversized eyeglasses, Elton was a desperately shy man, conflicted about his success, his sexuality, and his narcotic indulgences. In 1975, at the height of his fame, he attempted suicide. After coming out as bisexual in a controversial Rolling Stone interview that nearly wrecked his career, and announcing his retirement from live performance in 1977 at the age of thirty, he gradually found his way back to the thing he cared about most: the music. Captain Fantastic gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the rise, fall, and return to glory of one of the world’s most mercurial performers. Rock journalist Tom Doyle’s insider account of the Rocket Man’s turbulent ascent is based on a series of one-on-one interviews in which Elton laid bare many previously unrevealed details of his early career. Here is an intimate exploration of Elton’s working relationship with songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, whose lyrics often chronicled the ups and downs of their life together in the spotlight. Through these pages pass a parade of legends whose paths crossed with Elton’s during the decade—including John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Groucho Marx, Katharine Hepburn, Princess Margaret, Elvis Presley, and an acid-damaged Brian Wilson. A fascinating portrait of the artist at the apex of his celebrity, Captain Fantastic takes us on a rollicking fame-and-drug-fueled ride aboard Elton John’s rocket ship to superstardom. Praise for Captain Fantastic “Veteran rock journalist [Tom] Doyle continues his foray into the 1970s music scene with a compelling profile of an unlikely rock star. . . . In chronicling Elton John’s stratospheric rise to fame, replete with platinum records, increasingly outlandish stage shows, and mountains of cash, the author deftly manages to keep his subject in sharp focus. Based on hours of one-on-one interviews with Captain Fantastic himself, this breezy yet comprehensive biography demonstrates what it was like for the talented musician to churn out an impossible string of hit records. . . . A great way to better understand the man behind the garish glasses and platform boots.”—Kirkus Reviews “In this adoring and candid set of fan’s notes, music journalist Doyle (Man on the Run) draws on interviews with John and his colleagues, especially his writing partner, Bernie Taupin, to capture the meteoric rise and fall of the man who released at least one album every year of the 1970s. . . . This energetic book . . . makes a convincing case that John reached his peak and made his best music in the ’70s.”—Publishers Weekly “A breezy and surprisingly poignant romp through a decade, and a career, that effectively invented modern celebrity culture.”—Peter Doggett, author of You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup

The fantastic reality that is modern physics is open for your exploration, guided by one of its primary architects and interpreters, Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek. Some jokes, some poems, and extracts from wife Betsy Devine's sparkling chronicle of what it's like to live through a Nobel Prize provide easy entertainment. There's also some history, some philosophy, some exposition of frontier science, and some frontier science, for your lasting edification. 49 pieces, including many from Wilczek's award-winning Reference Frame columns in Physics Today, and some never before published, are gathered by style and subject into a dozen chapters, each with a revealing, witty introduction. Profound ideas, presented with style: What could be better? Enjoy.

"From the author of Strapless and Guest of Honor, a book about a little-known road trip Andy Warhol took from New York to LA in 1963, and how that journey - and the numerous artists and celebrities he encountered - profoundly affected his life and art"--