“Outrageous Fortune: Gloomy Reflections on Luck and Life” by William Ian Miller

"In this book, William Ian Miller offers his reflections on the perverse consequences, indeed often the opposite of intended effects, of so-called 'good things'. Noted for his remarkable erudition, wit, and playful pessimism, Miller here ranges over topics from personal disasters to literary and national ones. Drawing on a truly immense store of knowledge encompassing literature, philosophy, theology, and history, he excavates the evidence of human anxieties around scarcity in all its forms (from scarcity of food to luck to where we stand in the eyes of others caught in a game of musical chairs we often do not even know we are playing). With wit and sensitivity, along with a large measure of...>>

“Garbed In Green: Gay Witchcraft & The Male Mysteries” by Casey Giovinco

"Garbed In Green is a thought-provoking guide that helps Gay men reclaim their rightful place as magical workers. This brief but comprehensive work draws on research from various fields (including anthropology, history, and psychology) to help reclaim the Male Mysteries for the modern Gay witch. It reveals the core spiritual truth that Gay men were prized as magical workers, shamanic figures, and priests for our ancestors, and it argues that most of the pain and “damage” experienced by the modern Gay Community can be healed if Gay men re-embrace their natural spiritual gifts. While this book is written with the Gay male witch in mind, its wisdom is not limited to Gay men. Whether you...>>

“Wisdom of the Ancients: Life Lessons from Our Distant Past” by Neil Oliver

"For all we have gained in the modern world, simple peace of mind is hard to find. In a time that is increasingly fraught with complexity and conflict, we are told that our wellbeing relies on remaining as present as possible. But what if the key to being present lies in the past? In Wisdom of the Ancients, Neil Oliver takes us back in time, to grab hold of the ideas buried in forgotten cultures and early civilizations. From Laetoli footprints in Tanzania to Keralan rituals, stone circles and cave paintings, Oliver takes us on a global journey through antiquity. A master storyteller, drawing on immense knowledge of our ancient past, he distils this wisdom...>>

“Dreamed Up Reality: Diving into the Mind to Uncover the Astonishing Hidden Tale of Nature” by Bernardo Kastrup

"A strong and growing intuition in society today is the idea that our thoughts create our own reality. Yet it seems obvious that, try as we might, our lives are not quite what we fantasize. Is the intuition thus wrong? Through a rational, methodic interpretation of meditative insights, the validity of which is substantiated with a compelling scientific literature review, the author constructs hypotheses that reconcile facts with intuition. Mesmerizing narratives of his expeditions into the unconscious suggest an amazing possibility: just as dreams are seemingly autonomous manifestations of our psyche, reality may be an externalized combination of the subconscious dreams of us all, mixed as they are projected onto the fabric of space-time....>>

“Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge Under Attack” by Richard Ovenden

"Opening with the notorious bonfires of 'un-German' and Jewish literature in 1933 that offered such a clear signal of Nazi intentions, Burning the Books takes us on a 3000-year journey through the destruction of knowledge and the fight against all the odds to preserve it. Richard Ovenden, director of the world-famous Bodleian Library, explains how attacks on libraries and archives have been a feature of history since ancient times but have increased in frequency and intensity during the modern era. Libraries are far more than stores of literature, through preserving the legal documents such as Magna Carta and records of citizenship, they also support the rule of law and the rights of citizens. Today, the...>>