the darkness was comfortable for me Audiobooks

Change The World By Changing Yourself Find answers: Today, it’s easy to get outraged by world events, frustrated by our own personal battles, and disenfranchised from government and leadership. Born of moral indignation, informed by decades of study, and seasoned by a life of devoted self-cultivation, Monk Yun Rou’s Mad Monk Manifesto has the answers we’re looking for, organically cohering personal prescriptions and calls to social and political action in one powerful document. Discover venerated wisdom: Based on ancient Chinese wisdom such as Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching , Mad Monk Manifesto is part tour guide to consciousness, part recipe for personal development, part prescription for environmental salvation, and part handbook for social change. In approximately 70,000 words, the book’s six chapters (framed by an introduction and afterward) follow the traditional Taoist prescription for changing the larger world by changing ourselves first. Improve yourself―and the world: In the same way ripples move away from a stone dropped into a pond, Mad Monk Manifesto begins with our personal lives, discussing topics such as diet, exercise, meditation, and mind/body practice, and spreads to our public environment, describing ideas such as what we can do to improve the community, the government, and the world. Full of everything from advice for a healthy, conscious lifestyle to suggested actions we can take to enhance the lives of friends, family, coworkers, and community members, Mad Monk Manifesto highlights spirituality and service, the goals of an awakened life. Learn something new: Each chapter of Mad Monk Manifesto is creative and fresh, offering proactive solutions in single-paragraph exhortations and prescriptions against a backdrop of lessons from Chinese history, the wisdom of ancient sages like Lao Tzu, and stories born of author Monk Yun Rou's journey from privileged Manhattanite to practicing Taoist monk. Inspirational and informative, exhortative and prescriptive, this modern Alan Watts creates a complete and immersive experience for everyone who picks up his Mad Monk Manifesto ―a portrayal of everything from the mundane to the sublime through the lens of the philosophy best known from George Lucas’ Star Wars saga, the Green Movement, and surf and hippie cultures. Emerge with a new way of seeing life, a series of concrete steps to take for personal transformation, and an action plan for working in the community to provoke change. Mad Monk Manifesto is precisely what the world needs at a time of unprecedented environmental disasters, international instability, and divisive and unreliable leadership. After reading this book, you will learn: How to relax, rectify, and rebalance life How to bolster the community and deepen culture How to effect positive change in commerce, government, power, and the environment For readers of Alan Watts, Ursula Le Guin, and Change Your Thoughts―Change Your Life by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Available for the first time as an audiobook, New York Times bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey’s thrilling short story Harlem “People called me Harlem. I dubbed myself after that dangerous neighborhood that I’d never seen. I read life is rough in Harlem, and a black man isn’t expected to live to see twenty-five. I was twenty-three. The clock was ticking.” When Harlem gets off on a murder charge due to insanity, the asylum he’s sent to feels worse than death, with one exception: the beautiful nurse Daphane. As their relationship grows, so do the stakes: she has the ability to help him escape, and he has the ability to set her free from her abusive relationship. Yet Harlem has one big secret: he was perfectly sane when he committed his crime. But in the end, Daphane’s own secret may be the deadliest of all. . . .

She signed a contract with him to become the lady at his beck and call. He claimed, “This is for our mutual benefit. Once the contract expires, we will be nothing but strangers.” However, he broke his promise and refused to let her go. “Liam Ackman, when will you ever let me go?” His thin lips curled up into a smirk as he picked her up bridal style. “Anna Hamilton, you are mine for the rest of your life! Don’t even think about leaving!” Turned out, it had always been a trap, and she fell for it. There was no escaping his grasp! 

“Papa explains the war like this: ‘When the elephants dance, the chickens must be careful.’ The great beasts, as they circle one another, shaking the trees and trumpeting loudly, are the Amerikanos and the Japanese as they fight. And our Philippine Islands? We are the small chickens.” Once in a great while comes a storyteller who can illuminate worlds large and small, magical and true to life. When the Elephants Dance introduces us to the incandescent voice of Tess Uriza Holthe, who sets her remarkable first novel in the waning days of World War II, as the Japanese and the Americans engage in a fierce battle for possession of the Philippine Islands. The Karangalan family and their neighbors huddle for survival in the cellar of a house a few miles from Manila. Outside the safety of their little refuge the war rages on—fiery bombs torch the beautiful Filipino countryside, Japanese soldiers round up and interrogate innocent people, and from the hills guerillas wage a desperate campaign against the enemy. Inside the cellar, these men, women, and children put their hopes and dreams on hold as they wait out the war, only emerging to look for food, water, and medicine. Through the eyes of three narrators, thirteen-year-old Alejandro Karangalan, his spirited older sister Isabelle, and Domingo, a passionate guerilla commander, we see how ordinary people must learn to live in the midst of extraordinary uncertainty, how they must find hope for survival where none seems to exist. They find this hope in the dramatic history of the Philippine Islands and the passion and bravery of its people. Crowded together in the cellar, the Karangalans and their friends and neighbors tell magical stories to one another based on Filipino myth and legend to fuel their courage, pass the time, and teach important lessons.

She’s a runner, but the campus star quaterback runs faster than she does! Rocky has had a chaotic life from which she concluded three fundamental things: life is a succession of problems to be solved, men are assholes to be avoided and promises are only binding on fools who want to believe in them. So, unlike the other girls on campus, boys are not a priority for her. Worse, she sees them as an obstacle to her success! But during a student party, she meets Jude. Freshly transferred from Harvard to play on Brown’s soccer team, Jude is the new star on campus. Handsome and inaccessible, he is the type not to get attached: the perfect candidate for a one-night stand. But the chemistry is too strong. And though Rocky is determined to run away from him, he is determined to conquer her heart.

There’s one thing in life I’ve always, always wanted. And I’m tired of waiting for my prince charming to sweep me off my feet to help make that happen. On my 26th birthday I make a life altering decision. But before the deed is done, Army officer Nash Nichols walks into the children’s section of the library where I work, changing my trajectory forever. Falling in love sounds sweet and all, but my eyes have always been on another prize: being a mother. Maybe I will get my own version of a happily ever after … or maybe my heart will be broken in ways I didn’t see coming. His Curvy Librarian is a new filthy-sweet series brought to you by Frankie Love and Kaylin Evans. It’s full of heat, heart, and literary innuendo. What’s sexier than a man who loves to read? How about a naked man who loves to read?

Adina Daugherty became pregnant after being framed and gave birth to quadruplets. Her younger sister stole two of those children to tie herself to the Winters family, while Adina faced death to escape with the other two children. Five years later, Adina returned triumphantly. Since her sister loved pretending to be pure despite her rotten heart, she would torment her. As for her other two children? She would snatch them back! Duke Winters pinned her against the bed and said, “Why don’t you steal me as well?”Adina sneered. “Dream on!”But right after saying it, she puked. “So… how many children this time?” Duke asked.

They say librarians are old-fashioned. I’m anything but. As a 23-year-old woman I have my whole life ahead of me, and I’m in no rush to settle down. But my favorite patron of the Golden Creek Library has a different opinion … and at 72, Charles McArthur is hard to argue with. He wants to set me up with his grandson and I don’t have the heart to say no. When my date comes to my door, I am oh-so-glad I said yes. Chuck McArthur is a tall, dark, and handsome man who happens to love books as much as I do. He calls me Cookie, just like his gramps, and I’m more than eager for him to have a taste. Luckily for me, he likes a woman with some curves, and lucky for him, his dirty talk is quickly becoming my favorite sound. Best part? Chuck and I want the exact same thing: a no strings attached relationship But when tragedy strikes, everything changes. I may like it when he talks wordy to me … but maybe I need more than talk. Maybe I need forever.

Real life can be ugly sometimes… But not as ugly as reality TV. SubLime Sweets owner and amateur sleuth, Marilyn Hayes is in quite a pickle when a reality show producer asks to visit her store, with cast and cameras in tow. She’s hesitant, but when her daughter, Tiara convinces her that the publicity would boost their business, she agrees. Marilyn gets more than she bargained for when Tiara has a showdown with one of the reality celebrities, and things really heat up when a body is found. The stressed-out baker has her hands full, and grows even more agitated when her creepy new neighbor keeps dropping in on her. Suspects abound, and unfortunately, Tiara is among them. Will Marilyn be able to get to the bottom of the case before her daughter is dragged off to jail? Find out in this delightful Cozy Culinary Mystery!

The shamed Betas daughter left as an orphan in a pack that didn't want her. Forced to live as a servant ranked the lowest of Omegas is mated to the Alpha Heir but doesn't know until she comes of age.Alpha Axel realizes she is his mate, wants her, loves her, but is forced to reject her by his Father. His regret for hurting her, for her running away, forces him to abandon his pack to find her once again when his father tries to make him take a Luna. To Axel, there is no Luna without her. Will he find her?Will she forgive him?Can her first mate be her second chance?