The Secret Sayings of Ye Su: A Silk Road Gospel provides a translation of, introduction to, and commentary upon an extraordinary, previously unknown manuscript. This Christian gospel, though written in koine Greek, was obviously influenced by both Buddhist and Daoist ideas and probably derives from Tang dynasty China (8^th or 9^th century).

The account of how the manuscript emerged in 1994 and how it came to be translated by Dr. Jay G. Williams is, in itself, quite fascinating. The author also describes the nature of the text and why he thinks it should be placed in the Tang dynasty period. He provides a concise introduction not only to the history of Buddhism and the indigenous religions of China during this period but also to the "Religion of Light," a form of Christianity that entered China in 638 A. D. The work ends with a line-by-line commentary on each of the seventy-two verses of this gospel.

Although undoubtedly ancient, the work seems amazingly contemporary in its ideas, offering a unique and quite radical vision of Ye Su (Jesus) and his teachings. Neither orthodox nor gnostic, The Secret Sayings comments about such topics as the place of women and gays within the community, the nature of the kingdom, and the source of Christian hope in the "Source." Although faith is emphasized, doctrines and dogmas are not. A place is found for both the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother but alone neither is regarded as "ultimate." The fellowship of believers is emphasized, but value of the Church as an institution is seriously questioned.

It is a disconcerting fact that decisions for Orthodox Christians living in North America are currently dictated by interests of foreign governments and patriarchates, all which contribute to spiritual indifference among the faithful. This collection of essays explores the loss of autonomy and unification within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and offers ways to create an all-encompassing church that respects cultures and philosophies.

George Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity in West Palm Beach, Florida and an active member of his local parish, diocese, and archdiocese, chronologically presents personal essays that respond to regression in the life of the church during a seven-year period. He encourages constructive change through effective communication and a partnership between the church and the laity, ultimately resulting in a church that is able to meet the spiritual needs of all its members. Matsoukas provides insight on such topics as:

• Transitions within administrative structures
• Relationships with mother churches
• Parish life including the role of women in the church

Matsoukas is passionate about creating a unified transformation and makes a well-informed case for a increasing the laity's role in the Orthodox Church in America and for the simultaneous liberation of this church from its historical oversight in various mother countries.

In this extraordinary true story, parapsychology expert Nancy Lee Canfield reveals how her early years shaped and prepared her for a lifetime of studying the paranormal. A Rose for My Mother chronicles Nancy's turbulent childhood in and out of five foster homes and an orphanage before the age of thirteen. She gives raw, intimate details of her troubled teen years of trying to understand the emotions that come with the first kiss. Following an early marriage at seventeen and increased paranormal expoeriences, Nancy begins a lifelong study of parapsychology. What would happen in the days fllowing includes world renowned psychic investigator, Allen Spraggett inviting Nancy to participate in the 50th anniversary seance at the Harry Houdini Museum in Niagara Falls, Canada, and Mike Randall of WKBW-TV dubbing Nancy a "Ghost Buster" after she successfully resolved the problems in a house that was claimed to be haunted. Following her perplexing marriage and divorce, Nancy had a whirlwind romance with a millionaire playboy and had to make a choice - should she accept the marriage proposal or continue with her research into the world of the unknown? Nancy shares insight on how to harness the powers of our own minds and imaginations in order to overcome the fears, troubles and complexities in our lives. We are reminded of the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of meditation. Her message is that "All the power is within you!" “Learning only occurs in response to challenges, and Nancy has written an absorbing account of how, in her case, overcoming incredible challenges has led to the emergence of a higher intelligence. It is not only a tale of triumph over adversity, but of the certainty of rescue from hopelessness.” Edward Green,PhD, Emeritus, Guerry Professor of Psychology “Against the backdrop of her family’s heartbreaking difficulties during the Great Depression, this story begins with a little girl who tries valiantly to understand the meaning of grown-ups’ rather confusing words and silences. Her intuitive successes told the adults that she managed well and was self-confident, but they left her feeling isolated and unloved. Does everyone have higher sensory perception? Nancy shows us that with focused work and discipline, we can nurture that infant part of us so that it can help us enjoy life to the fullest.” Dr. Joan Ashkin,EdD, LCSW, RN

In the novel Penguin Luck, Doreen Lowe is a young, sophisticated junior associate in a small Manhattan law firm that primarily serves the lower echelons of society. Regularly visited by three ghosts, Doreen is forced to listen to their pleas that she “carry on for them”- after the Holocaust- all while balancing the demands of her career and personal life.

After Doreen marries a banker with an entrepreneurial spirit, he achieves his dream of establishing a telecommunications company. Within a few years, Doreen is serving as the company’s legal counsel while simultaneously raising a son, but is still being tormented by her spirits. As the young couple rides out the tech boom of the late 1990s, Doreen must reconcile her unorthodox personal choices with her widowed father, her friends, and her large conscience.

Penguin Luck is a compelling tale about one woman’s emotional journey as she learns to cope with a burdensome family history, a trio of determined ghosts, and the power of luck.

In the compelling memoir Avoid Mosquitoes—and Other Impossibilities, Nancy Sellin narrates the details of her journey across the world to Liberia, West Africa, where she and her husband intended to save the world as new members of the Peace Corps.

Nancy shares her charming and intimate personal story that begins in 1965 with her journey from bitterly cold Anchorage, Alaska, to her eventual arrival in the humid, tropical climate of West Africa. As Nancy and her husband, Dale, tackle their intense Peace Corps training, the Vietnam War rages as incompatibility issues in her own marriage begin to surface. Nancy must deal with her homesickness, tribal languages, and the daily challenges of living in a different culture, all while attempting to help the Liberian natives learn valuable life skills. As she and Dale slowly become acclimated to African village life, Nancy’s unforgettable adventure is just beginning as she samples new foods, encounters a deadly snake, and learns an elaborate Liberian handshake.

Nancy soon recognizes she may not be able to save the world during her short stint with the Peace Corps, but returns home with visceral experiences and altered perceptions that influence the direction of her entire life.

With a novelist's eye and the historian's devotion to research, Mokin recreates these early years of the Civil War, immersing the reader in this time and place. We share the motivations and emotions of the country's leaders, the soldiers and sailors, and the families at home-feeling their fears and experiencing their frustrations. Ironclad is immensely readable-popular history at its best.

"Arthur Mokin's vivid account...presents absorbing portraits of the personalities involved, as well as lucid account of the naval tactics and strategy on both sides."

—Lloyd's List

Cancer is one of the most devastating diseases in the world today, but early prevention remains the key to controlling it. Charles H. Chen shows that through a strict regime of diet, exercise, and other healthy lifestyle changes, you can increase your chances of keeping cancer from your doorstep.

Diagnosed with colon cancer in 1998, Chen decided to tackle the disease head on and was determined to learn the causes of cancer, the treatments, and prevention methods. Chen brings a unique perspective to this subject as both a medical doctor and a cancer survivor, breaking down the various aspects of this worldwide epidemic. Practical and concise, An Intimate Relationship covers topics such as:

• Screenings for men and women
• Benefits of early diagnosis
• Treatment options
• Prevention and healthy lifestyle choices

As a gynecologist, Chen also focuses on women's cancer issues, including breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy. He also provides tips to help you achieve good health through the consumption of organic foods, antioxidants, and nutritional supplements.

Don't become a statistic-increase your chances of avoiding cancer and improve your overall health with An Intimate Relationship.

On the Fourth of July, terrorists attack a floating casino on the Mississippi River in New Orleans. Clarence Reed, a former Navy SEAL, is recruited to clean out a drainage pipe near the bayou. But before he can get home after finishing the job, the FBI hunts him down and arrests him for the bombing.

Malcolm Stinson, a New York lawyer, is on vacation in Hawaii when he gets the news that his sister is one of the bombing victims. When he arrives back in his hometown of New Orleans for her funeral, Malcolm's father, Reverend Josiah Stinson, a prominent pastor in the community, convinces him to represent Reed.

With the help of a former New York City cop, Malcolm investigates the case, but all the people with information about the bombing are mysteriously killed before Malcolm can reach them. A key defense witness in Malcolm's case is kidnapped, but when she escapes her captors, the race is on to find her. The terrorists, the FBI, and the local Mafia join the search for her while targeting Malcolm and his family in an effort to scare him off the case.

But who is behind the deadly terrorist act?

Successful entrepreneur Brian T. Cunningham admits he made 98 percent of the mistakes a new entrepreneur does. But in Never Give Up! Cunningham shows how he persisted, learned, survived, and thrived, and he can lead you, too, toward a rewarding business career.

In 1965, he cofounded Electronic Sales Associates (ESA), an organization that specialized in high-speed computer printers, tape drives, minicomputers, and digital data acquisition systems. Four years later, Cunningham became CEO of Computer Entry Systems (CES), an outgrowth of ESA. Marketing products to improve the data entry process, CES grew over twenty years from a few founders to a profitable company located on four continents and competitive with the likes of IBM, NCR, and Burroughs.

Never Give Up! discusses a variety of business topics an entrepreneur must consider, including:

• Formulating a business plan
• Establishing a board of directors
• Securing funding
• Becoming and running a public company
• Handling mergers

Gleaned from personal experiences, the life lessons in this book detail the reality of creating and growing a business and illustrate how success is achieved through hard work and determination. Inspirational in nature, Never Give Up! provides pointers and advice to stimulate successful entrepreneurs on their journey.

If you're relying on luck to maximize your real estate value, then you're making a serious mistake. With True Net Cash Flow, you can eliminate the guesswork and consistently make educated, highly profitable real estate investment choices.

Investment gurus Dan Ahmad and Jim Files offer the ultimate resource for real estate investors and the professionals who help them. With more than fifty-five years of combined experience in the tax, financial, and business industries, Ahmad and Files guide you step by step through the real estate investment process and help you establish specific goals, manage your expectations, and outline your responsibilities as investors. You'll learn how to:

• Increase net income
• Preserve current equity
• Reduce taxes paid on sale
• Minimize management responsibilities
• Find a better way to name a replacement property in forty-five days
• Improve the quality of owned property

With this expert guide, you can simplify your life and make owning real estate less complicated and potentially more rewarding. Take your next step toward enhancing the financial strength of your real estate holdings and achieve long-term financial success with True Net Cash Flow!

Bobby Hessberg, a 13-year old Philadelphian on holiday in Atlantic City, literally walks into a beach full of trouble when he makes a shocking discovery that radically changes his young life. Faced with decisions that are difficult for the most mature of adults to make, Hessberg finds himself in the middle of a dangerous escapade which he himself unwittingly creates. In a city where local law enforcement is far from an exact science, Hessberg's actions set off a chain of events with both disastrous and beneficial crime fighting results. Organized crime and federal law enforcement eventually collide as a direct result of Bobby's adolescent decision making skills before the young boy's harrowing adventure draws to a close.

Author Jan Engels-Smith sees people as brilliant, magnificent, radiant beings. Becoming Yourself is finding the divine self, the work of art that the universe embedded in your soul. Becoming Yourself is the process of chipping away that which is not yourself and discovering the self that has always existed. Becoming you - the true you – is a path to healing and enlightenment.

Engels-Smith draws on her extensive experience with the ancient wisdom of Native American culture, shamanism, mysticism and psychology to close the gap between traditional psychological sciences and a new era of spiritual awakening.

Engels-Smith weaves spiritual lessons through personal accounts and offers proven healing methods and exercises based on decades of experience. Her supportive and welcoming manner creates a powerful, practical and comprehensive guide that enlightens and motivates readers in their spiritual quest for self.

Author Phil Freedman offers a humorous collection of "wit and wisdom" from his local newspaper column, WHATEVER. Freedman published WHATEVER in a local paper in Aspen, Colorado, until his editor fired him for anti-semantic (please read the preceding word carefully) reasons. He subsequently published WHATEVER for three years on a weekly Web site. Izzy, Do We Have Any Trojans? is a compendium of the best of those columns.

Freedman is no James Thurber, but neither is Dave Barry. In fact, his readers have favorably compared Freedman with Barry, but his style is more thought provoking and reflects his academic background.

He uses sarcasm, irony (both steam and dry), wit (and without), cynicism, mysticism, insane-icism, mixed metaphor, oxymorons, regular morons, pun, parody, parable, alliteration, and even misquotes. When the situation invites, he enjoys playing with phonynyms. Phonynym, as you may have guessed, is a term for made-up words that don't exist. But don't look it up. Phonynym is a phonynym. His readers have referred to him as a "word crafter." Others, as a "word crap-per."

"I am the last of a dying breed. I have the capacity to dramatically alter your life; I also have the ability to take your life at my leisure. At the minimum, I have the power to do so."

Sebastian Alzmek has it all influence, power, beauty, and AIDS.

When he emotionally died a decade ago, he buried an insecure, unattractive individual and erased his past. Now he lives a second life based on society's perception, using his silence to mark his victims and make them part of his secret society of the undead.

Sebastian is on a one-man campaign to remind the world that AIDS is still alive. No one can stop him from his hunt-not the law, the CDC or even the victims themselves. His charisma not only intoxicates them, but also fools them into believing he is "normal."

His past soon catches up with him, and he is reminded that life itself is beautiful, even though it is too late. At the end of the journey, Sebastian asks the ultimate question: was it worth the fight, or will history repeat itself?

Most people will, at some point or another, either find themselves dressed in a tiny hospital gown or staring at someone else dressed in a tiny hospital gown. Whether from the perspective of a patient, a family member, or a medical professional, we all have a significant stake in the process of medical education. While numerous memoirs recount physicians’ grueling experiences during residency, few focus on the even more formative portion of medical training: the third year of medical school—the clinical year. Short White Coat: Lessons from Patients on Becoming a Doctor is the disarmingly honest, yet endearing and sometimes funny account of a medical student’s humbling initiation into the world of patient care.

Written during his third year of medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, James Feinstein's Short White Coat uses a series of engaging narrative essays to illustrate the universal life lessons that his very first patients teach him. He gracefully examines some of the most common issues and feelings that medical students encounter while learning how to meet, talk with, touch, and care for their patients. Along the way, he learns from his own mistakes before discovering the answer to the question that plagues every medical student: "Do I have what it takes to become a doctor?"

For more information, please visit the author's website at http://www.shortwhitecoat.com

Short White Coat has made the "short list" of finalists for the Hoffer Award: http://www.hofferaward.com/HAbookshortlist.html