Earth Art

Hello! I’m Brian Limond, aka Limmy. You might know me from Limmy’s Show. Or you might not know me at all. Don’t worry if you don’t. They asked me to write a book about mental health, because I sometimes talk about my mental health in tweets and interviews, like suicidal thoughts and anxiety, and what I’ve done to try to deal with it. I said to them, oh, I don’t know if I could fill a whole book with just that. But how’s about I write a general autobiography type of thing, and all the mental health stuff will naturally appear along the way?

The original authorised biography, and the only one written by an author who actually met J. R. R. Tolkien. In the 25 years since Tolkien’s death in September 1973, millions have read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion and become fascinated about the very private man behind the books. Born in Bloemfontein in January 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was orphaned in childhood, brought up in near poverty and almost thwarted in adolescent romance....

Since the publication of her prize-winning memoir, Craft for a Dry Lake, writer and artist Kim Mahood has been returning to the Tanami desert country in far north-western Australia where, as a child, she lived with her family on a remote cattle station. The land is timeless, but much has changed: the station has been handed back to its traditional owners, the mining companies have arrived and Aboriginal art has flourished.

Following the unprecedented and universal acclaim for The Lord of the Rings, the respected academic and world-renowned Tolkien scholar Professor Tom Shippey presents us with a fascinating and informed companion to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, in particular focusing on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Written in a clear and accessible style, J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century reveals why all of these books will be timeless.

The world J.R.R. Tolkien created is one of the most beloved in all of literature, and continues to capture hearts and imaginations around the world. From Oxford to ComiCon, the Middle Earth is analyzed and interpreted through a multitude of perspectives. But one essential facet of Tolkien and his Middle Earth has been overlooked: science.

Tolkien and the Great War tells for the first time the full story of how he embarked on the creation of Middle-earth in his youth as the world around him was plunged into catastrophe. This biography reveals the horror and heroism that he experienced as a signals officer in the Battle of the Somme and introduces the circle of friends who spurred his mythology to life.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy has delighted millions of fans worldwide in book and movie form. With the theatrical release of the two-part film The Hobbit slated for 2012 and 2013, attention will once again turn to J. R. R. Tolkien's classic works. In a culture where truth is relative and morality is viewed as old-fashioned, we welcome the chance to view the world through hobbit eyes: we have free will, our choices matter, and living a morally heroic life is possible....

A Rift in the Earth tells the remarkable story of the ferocious "art war" that raged between 1979 and 1984 over what kind of memorial should be built to honor the men and women who died in the Vietnam War. The story intertwines art, politics, historical memory, patriotism, racism, and a fascinating set of characters, from those who fought in the conflict and those who resisted it to politicians at the highest level.

One hundred and sixty-five million years ago saw the birth of rhythm. Sixty-six million years ago was the first melody. Forty thousand years ago Homo sapiens created the first musical instrument. Today music fills our lives. How we have created, performed and listened to this music throughout history has defined what our species is and how we understand who we are. Yet music is an overlooked part of our origin story.

In this accessible and engaging book, Ralph Wood shows us that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece is a deeply Christian work because it does not blink back the horrors of our terrible times but confronts them with startling honesty.

Avengers assemble! Tackling intriguing dilemmas and issues that no single great philosopher can withstand, this powerful book enlists the brainpower of an A-list team of history's most prominent thinkers to explore the themes behind the action of Marvel Comics' all-star superhero team.

How is it that we can walk unfamiliar streets while maintaining a sense of direction? How can we come up with shortcuts on the fly, in places we've never traveled? The answer is the complex mental map in our brains. This feature of our cognition is easily taken for granted, but it's also critical to our species' evolutionary success. In From Here to There, Michael Bond tells stories of the lost and found - Polynesian sailors, orienteering champions, early aviators - and surveys the science of human navigation.

The Art and Practice of Geomancy teaches readers how to divine the answers to life's everyday questions about health, luck, new jobs, and love, as well as finding buried treasure, predicting the weather, and identifying secret enemies. Greer delivers to readers an ancient system of divination in an easy-to-use form requiring little more than a pen and a piece of paper.

In this laugh-and-cry-out-loud, memoir-esque exploration of selfhood, Zach Zimmerman dives into the pros and cons of retiring a Bible-Belt-dwelling, meat-eating, God-fearing identity in exchange for a new lease on life—one of vegetarianism, atheism, queerness, and humor. Whether learning to absolve instilled religious guilt or reminiscing over Tinder dates gone wrong, this book is a candid and hysterical look at one person's journey toward making peace with the past and seeking hope in the future.

Welcome aboard the space vessel Vancouver. Its mission: to guard a vast shipment of grain from Earth to the planet Safenesthome. Its Captain is called Ace. She seems a little unsure of herself. In fact, some might almost think she was new to the job...Its medical officer is called simply 'The Doctor', and he's perhaps not all he seems either. When mysterious ships target the Vancouver, Ace and the Doctor are pushed to the limit. Meanwhile, there's something nasty in the grain containers. And it's not very happy....

A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler offers a blueprint for a creative life from the perspective of award-winning science-fiction writer and “MacArthur Genius” Octavia E. Butler. It is a collection of ideas about how to look, listen, breathe - how to be in the world.

My name is Count Binface. I am an intergalactic space warrior, leader of the Recyclons and three-time British election veteran. I'm 5695 Sigmoid years old, which is a good age for a Recyclon because we age like a fine wine, not like an Apple product. My hobbies include invading planets, dominating inferior species and an insatiable desire to binge-watch the Lovejoy box set. And as part of my overarching mission to control the entire omniverse, I have come to conquer Britain. It's not that I want to do this—you need me to, if your future is to be saved.

In the old, abandoned Greyford house on the outskirts of the Mayfield School for Girls, Delany would be completely and purposefully alone...or so she thought. Yet there was more to this house than first met the eye: There were secret passages and hidden treasures, lost and forgotten with the passing of time, and a room...a fantastic and otherworldly sort of room, which she had decided to call "the Window Room". This is a story about the dangerous and mysterious adventures she found there.

A rollicking treatise on human achievement and potential that offers the keys to perfecting our purpose: Establishing freedom for all. In All’s Well: Where Thou Art Earth and Why, John Lefebvre blends philosophy, metaphysics, and ethics into an original, lyrical meditation on our place in the Universe, both the distance we have come, and the much longer way before us. Lefebvre suggests that - at our core - we are the Universe’s vessels of consciousness. That means that we are also it’s vessels of astonishment and of love.

Hawthorne presents several ideas which form the very core of the conservative critique: that man's sinfulness is an immutable part of his character; that rationalists, reformers, and progressives delude themselves with their utopian notions of the perfectibility of man; that in their delusion they do incalculable damage to the culture, while leaving human nature untouched; and that, no matter the "progress" they make, evil lurks, waiting to rear its ugly head and shatter their dreams.