Showing results by narrator "Julia Farhat" in All Categories

Filled with colorful characters and history, Double Entry takes us from the ancient origins of accounting in Mesopotamia to the frontiers of modern finance. At the heart of the story is double-entry bookkeeping: the first system that allowed merchants to actually measure the worth of their businesses. Luca Pacioli - monk, mathematician, alchemist, and friend of Leonardo da Vinci - incorporated Arabic mathematics to formulate a system that could work across all trades and nations.

By the director of the hit documentary Behind the Burly Q, comes the first-ever oral history of American burlesque - as told by the performers who lived it, often speaking out here for the first time. By telling the intimate and surprising stories from its golden age through the women (and men!) who lived it, Behind the Burly Q reveals the true story of burlesque, even as it experiences a new renaissance.

In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection—featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar—queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and brutal revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously crafted worlds can destroy listeners, yet leave them wanting more.

It was the final test. A chance to win not only the love of Allah, but the love of her father - something she had never been able to earn. Esther took a deep breath and raised her hand in the air. At the age of 18, she had just volunteered to become a suicide bomber. Defying Jihad is the true story of a girl growing up under radical Islamic rule, trained to believe her ultimate purpose was to serve Allah by dying as a jihadist. But two nights before she was to leave forever, she had a dream...one that would change the course of her destiny.

An Amish girl, Esther feels like "one black bird against the sky" in her plain clothes. So when she's forced to attend public school she's terrified. She fears the new world she must enter, fears the way she sticks out next to other kids, and--most of all--fears she may do what her brother did: Run away and join the sinful but great wide world she's only just discovering.

Farrah "Digit" Higgins may be going to MIT in the fall, but this L.A. high school genius has left her geek self behind in another school district so she can blend in with the popular crowd at Santa Monica High and actually enjoy her senior year. But when Farrah, the daughter of a UCLA math professor, unknowingly cracks a terrorist group's number sequence, her laid-back senior year gets a lot more interesting. Soon she is personally investigating the case, on the run from terrorists, and faking her own kidnapping - all while trying to convince a young, hot FBI agent to take her seriously.

Life is an uncertain morphing of the beautiful and devastating, the reckless and ordained, the inconsequential and cataclysmal. Brianna Wiest writes about her own experiences and truths of life as they pertain to the greater universe in this first compilation of her work. The selected pieces are ones to turn to when you are in need of answers, comfort and a little tough love now and again. Brianna provides a place of solace and understanding while still perpetuating her beliefs as they pertain to the reality of our individual journeys.

Twenty-year-old Amanda Derrington is on an extended cruise with her uncle when she decides to make a short trip to the sun-washed island of Cyprus. But even before the ship arrives in the port, there is a suspicious death. Once the passengers reach the island, it soon becomes clear that the death was in fact an act of murder. What Amanda had meant to be a pleasant excursion quickly takes a turn for the worse in this classic novel of suspense and romance by one of our most celebrated writers.

To say eighteen-year-old Farrah Higgins—or Digit—is good at math is a laughable understatement. She’s been cracking codes since childhood, and is finally at home with “her people” at MIT in Cambridge. Her talents are so off the charts that her laptop is under surveillance by both the CIA and an ecoterrorist named Jonas Furnis. So when she thoughtlessly hacks into the Department of Defense’s database, she lands in serious hot water inside and outside the law.

People from across the country and around the globe are coming to the mountain retreat of Hester Thorne, the enthralling leader of the Universal Enlightened Alliance. They are coming to hear the comforting wisdom and messages of peace offered by Orrin, the centuries-old entity that Hester channels. They are coming to donate their money and time to Hester, the Alliance and Orrin. And some are chosen to make a more significant contribution...a greater sacrifice.

Lhind has been on the run all her life. Stealing what she needs, using magic for disguise, she never stays anywhere long. Lhind even has secrets from herself, for she has few memories, and those are troubling. But life is good until she gets caught by Rajanas the warrior-prince, Thianra the bard, and Hlanan the scribe. And that’s when adventure begins, because someone very powerful wants them all dead. As they evade pursuit and work to uncover their enemies, Lhind struggles with the invisible bonds of friendship and trust, while Hlanan begins uncovering her secrets one by one.

From southern Greece to northern Russia, people have long believed in female spirits, bringers of fertility, who spend their nights and days dancing in the fields and forests. So appealing were these spirit-maidens that they also took up residence in 19th-century Romantic literature. Archaeologist and linguist by profession, folk dancer by avocation, Elizabeth Wayland Barber has sleuthed through ethnographic lore and archaeological reports of east and southeast Europe, translating enchanting folktales about these "dancing goddesses" as well as eyewitness accounts of traditional rituals - texts that offer new perspectives on dance in agrarian society.

A book unlike any other, Women in Clothes is essentially a conversation among hundreds of women of all nationalities - famous, anonymous, religious, secular, married, single, young, old - on the subject of clothing, and how the garments we put on every day define and shape our lives. It began with a survey. The editors composed a list of more than 50 questions designed to prompt women to think more deeply about their personal style.

It's not unusual for Jess McCann to receive a frantic late-night call from one of her clients, asking for advice while out on a date. And every single girl knows the frustration of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and wishing she could take it back and say something better. Well, now you can get it right the first time around with McCann's indispensable dating survival guide.

In spring 2008, inspired by the Vietnam-era Winter Soldier hearings, Iraq Veterans Against the War gathered veterans to expose war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Here are the powerful words, images, and documents of this historic gathering, which show the reality of life in Afghanistan and Iraq.

If there is one thing the young golfer Lee Ofsted doesn't have on her mind, it is her chances of being selected for the Stewart Cup Tournament ( the competition that pits the greatest American golfers, male and female, against their British and European counterparts. Lee is on no one's list of the !'greatest American golfers," so it comes as a surprise when the great Roger Finley, captain of the American team, invites her to play.

With her black hair, red lips, and lily-white skin, Summer is as beautiful as her father's garden. And her life in the mountains of West Virginia seems like a fairy tale; her parents sing and dance with her, Cousin Nancy dotes on her, and she is about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking Summer's mama with him, Summer's fairy-tale life turns grim. Things get even worse when her father marries a woman who brings poisons and magical mirrors into Summer's world. Stepmama puts up a pretty face, but Summer suspects she's up to no good....

Vison the mink has fought for everything—food, shelter, survival—almost from birth. The largest of his litter, he bullied his smaller sisters and was the first to venture out of the den. Returning home after hunting one day, Vison and his mother are cornered by Urocyon the gray fox. With no way out, Vison’s mother attacks the fox with full force, allowing Vison to escape. Back in the den, the mink kits wait for their mother, but she does not return. Bored with his weak sisters, Vison abandons them and leaves the den for good.

Pink Angels and best friends Holly, Raina, and Kathleen have been through a lot over the past year. The summer before their senior year promises to be busy but fun, as Holly and Raina return to their full-time volunteer jobs at the hospital and Kathleen, who needs the money, works at the hospital gift shop. Of course, Raina and Kathleen will be spending as much time as possible with their boyfriends, Hunter and Carson. Holly is happy for her friends, but she can’t help feeling a little left out when hanging out with the two couples.

The discovery of a brutally murdered young woman in an abandoned factory unit draws Detective Alec Ramsay and his Major Investigation team into a complex web of crime in Liverpool's underworld in this gripping thriller from acclaimed suspense writer Conrad Jones.