Books with author Catherine Casey

A New York Times Notable Book | A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Named a Book of the Year by the Telegraph, the Spectator, the Observer, and BBC History Magazine In Harran, the locals refused to convert. They were dismembered, their limbs hung along the town’s main street. In Alexandria, zealots pulled the elderly philosopher-mathematician Hypatia from her chariot and flayed her to death with shards of broken pottery. Not long before, their fellow Christians had invaded the city’s greatest temple, smashing its world-famous statues and destroying all that was left of Alexandria’s Great Library. Today we refer to Christianity’s conquest of the West as a “triumph.” But this victory entailed an orgy of destruction in which Jesus’s followers attacked and suppressed classical culture, helping to pitch Western civilization into a thousand-year-long decline. In The Darkening Age, Catherine Nixey brilliantly resurrects this lost history, offering a wrenching account of the rise of Christianity and its terrible cost. “A feast of tales of murder, vandalism [and] willful destruction . . . Nixey has a great story to tell, and she tells it exceptionally well.” — Guardian “[A] bold, dazzling and provocative book.” — Peter Frankopan, best-selling author of The Silk Roads

Practical everyday magic spells for the young fans of Harry Potter, Descendants, Sofia the First, and other books and films of the magic fantasy genre. These spells use only safe everyday objects and substances you have at home or outside (like milk, sugar, salt, mirror, a ring, a ribbon, tree leaves, rocks, etc.); absolutely no use of fire, or anything gross, or any ingredients or items you may not have in your kitchen at the moment (like rosewater, or sage, or a crystal ball).These spells are not based on any witchcraft, New Age, or esoteric religion, lore or rituals. This is fantasy-fiction-style educational activity material for kids ages 7-12, that helps them develop imagination, and engage in fantasy play which is vital for their intellectual and emotional development;Introduces to them a few facts of math, sciences, and history;Helps develop their interest in reading, and grow their reading fluency with an easy, 1st-2nd grade core vocabulary.If a kid in your life runs around waving a magic wand, talks about "dark chronicles," "immortal secrets, " dragons and hidden chambers filled with ancient manuscripts... If your kid recites Harry Potter spells in pseudo-Latin, and mixes magic potions in your kitchen sink...Your kid is ready for magic training. Buy this spell book for that child without delay! Your young magician will stop wasting your dish detergent, and start using actual classical Latin to punctuate his/her powerful spells.By the way, is this kid resistant to reading? Well, resistance is futile when you are dealing with a real ancient hands-on practical spell book, where you read a couple sentences, then do what you’ve just read about, then read again, and do again, read-do, read-do.... In addition to its easy vocabulary, the book is beautifully illustrated to increase your kid’s reading enthusiasm.Just like the ancients who made most of the great discoveries in math, the sciences, and arts in pursuit of magic, your child will play with the ideas of intelligence in nature, and the great unknown beyond, and develop curiosity about the world.Upon working with this 30-page book, your student of magic arts will know a fact or two about sciences and history, will be able to recite the Pythagorean Theorem and the Fibonacci Sequence (no kidding), and will answer many questions you’ve always had, like:How to find the North star?Why does your breath fog up the mirror?Who introduced Arabic numerals to replace Roman Numerals in Medieval Europe?What kind of writing system did Ancient Egyptians have?What are fractals?Who spoke Latin (besides Harry Potter at Hogwarts)?What is divination?How numerologists predict the future?Who was Pythagoras?When were the Middle Ages?What is an Ankh?What are the phases of the Moon?What are the directions of the wind in your area?Why do oil and water never mix?...And more!Currently residing in New York City, I've spent my life doing magic and taming dragons at home and at work. With an M.A, in Linguistics and years spent perusing Gothic manuscripts in underground library cells at universities on both sides of the Atlantic, I have a decent command of classical Latin and Greek, with a few European languages thrown in.But the most important thing about me is that I am the mother of a magic-obssessed 6-year old. My son hates reading, but he will read if the book contains the secret magical lore not available on Disney Channel, or in his Catholic school curriculum. I started writing this book for him during summer vacation, to help him get fluent in reading, so that one day he may understand that the only magic in the world that opens all doors is...knowledge.

If your kid is mixing magic potions in the kitchen sink and they make all the dish soap mysteriously disappear, maybe he/she is ready for a real textbook on the art of potions and elixirs from a longtime professor at one of the best magic schools in Middle Earth. I wrote this book for my course at the North Landing Academy of Magic Arts, and it's been recommended for kids ages 7-12 at-home magic training.These potions and spells are not based on any witchcraft, New Age, or esoteric religion lore or rituals. This book is fantasy-fiction-style educational activity material for the young fans of Harry Potter, Descendants, and other books and films of the magic fantasy genre. It helps kids • engage in fantasy play where they are the main character;• develop their independent reading habit and grow reading fluency with an easy, 1st-2nd grade core vocabulary (about reading level 4)• learn to organize and plan their own activities in advance by collecting and preparing potion ingredients (such as drying flowers, or orange peel, or collecting rocks).The potion recipes and magic spells in this book use only safe everyday objects and substances you have at home or outside (like twigs, rocks, milk, sugar, salt, leaves, etc.), or common fruits and vegetables, like cucumber, apple, or orange. Absolutely no use of fire, household chemicals, or any items you can't purchase at a local grocery.In this course we create potions which are not drinks: You sprinkle them around the house or outside. The only exceptions are a couple recipes from the Kitchen Magic genre (for example, fresh cucumber and basil enchanted water).Along with magic, we'll learn a few facts of history and science, such as:What is the oldest tree in the world?Who invented glass windows, and what were windows like before glass?What is the Archimedes Principle? Why don't big heavy ships sink?What do salad and salary have in common?What is the meaning of Mon in Monday, Tues in Tuesday, Wednes in Wednesday, and so on?Who invented paper, and what did people write on before paper?What is the origin of the words 'paper,' 'book' and 'library'?What is the alchemical symbol for salt?Where do cinnamon and cloves come from?What is the Ogham alphabet?Who caught the Midgard Serpent?...And more!I will also address the two questions my Magic Academy students ask me most often:'Are love potions real?' and 'Are fairies real?'I'd like to warn you, that at the risk of disappointing your child, I have to be honest answering these questions, since this is a school textbook, not a fantasy fiction novel like Harry Potter.

A New York Times Notable Book of 2018 “Searingly passionate…Nixey writes up a storm. Each sentence is rich, textured, evocative, felt…[A] ballista-bolt of a book.” —New York Times Book Review In Harran, the locals refused to convert. They were dismembered, their limbs hung along the town’s main street. In Alexandria, zealots pulled the elderly philosopher-mathematician Hypatia from her chariot and flayed her to death with shards of broken pottery. Not long before, their fellow Christians had invaded the city’s greatest temple and razed it—smashing its world-famous statues and destroying all that was left of Alexandria’s Great Library. Today, we refer to Christianity’s conquest of the West as a “triumph.” But this victory entailed an orgy of destruction in which Jesus’s followers attacked and suppressed classical culture, helping to pitch Western civilization into a thousand-year-long decline. Just one percent of Latin literature would survive the purge; countless antiquities, artworks, and ancient traditions were lost forever. As Catherine Nixey reveals, evidence of early Christians’ campaign of terror has been hiding in plain sight: in the palimpsests and shattered statues proudly displayed in churches and museums the world over. In The Darkening Age, Nixey resurrects this lost history, offering a wrenching account of the rise of Christianity and its terrible cost.

From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Secret Rooms, the extraordinary true story of the downfall of one of England’s wealthiest familiesFans of Downton Abbey now have a go-to resource for fascinating, real-life stories of the spectacular lives led by England’s aristocrats. With the novelistic flair and knack for historical detail Catherine Bailey displayed in her New York Times bestseller The Secret Rooms, Black Diamonds provides a page-turning chronicle of the Fitzwilliam coal-mining dynasty and their breathtaking Wentworth estate, the largest private home in England.When the sixth Earl Fitzwilliam died in 1902, he left behind the second largest estate in twentieth-century England, valued at more than £3 billion of today’s money—a lifeline to the tens of thousands of people who worked either in the family’s coal mines or on their expansive estate. The earl also left behind four sons, and the family line seemed assured. But was it? As Bailey retraces the Fitzwilliam family history, she uncovers a legacy riddled with bitter feuds, scandals (including Peter Fitzwilliam’s ill-fated affair with American heiress Kick Kennedy), and civil unrest as the conflict between the coal industry and its miners came to a head. Once again, Bailey has written an irresistible and brilliant narrative history.

From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Secret Rooms, the extraordinary true story of the downfall of one of England’s wealthiest familiesFans of Downton Abbey now have a go-to resource for fascinating, real-life stories of the spectacular lives led by England’s aristocrats. With the novelistic flair and knack for historical detail Catherine Bailey displayed in her New York Times bestseller The Secret Rooms, Black Diamonds provides a page-turning chronicle of the Fitzwilliam coal-mining dynasty and their breathtaking Wentworth estate, the largest private home in England.When the sixth Earl Fitzwilliam died in 1902, he left behind the second largest estate in twentieth-century England, valued at more than £3 billion of today’s money—a lifeline to the tens of thousands of people who worked either in the family’s coal mines or on their expansive estate. The earl also left behind four sons, and the family line seemed assured. But was it? As Bailey retraces the Fitzwilliam family history, she uncovers a legacy riddled with bitter feuds, scandals (including Peter Fitzwilliam’s ill-fated affair with American heiress Kick Kennedy), and civil unrest as the conflict between the coal industry and its miners came to a head. Once again, Bailey has written an irresistible and brilliant narrative history.

If your kid is mixing magic potions in the kitchen sink and they make all the dish soap mysteriously disappear, maybe he/she is ready for a real textbook on the art of potions and elixirs from a longtime professor at one of the best magic schools in Middle Earth. I wrote this book for my course at the North Landing Academy of Magic Arts, and it's been recommended for kids ages 7-12 at-home magic training.These potions and spells are not based on any witchcraft, New Age, or esoteric religion lore or rituals. This book is fantasy-fiction-style educational activity material for the young fans of Harry Potter, Descendants, and other books and films of the magic fantasy genre. It helps kids • engage in fantasy play where they are the main character;• develop their independent reading habit and grow reading fluency with an easy, 1st-2nd grade core vocabulary (about reading level 4)• learn to organize and plan their own activities in advance by collecting and preparing potion ingredients (such as drying flowers, or orange peel, or collecting rocks).The potion recipes and magic spells in this book use only safe everyday objects and substances you have at home or outside (like twigs, rocks, milk, sugar, salt, leaves, etc.), or common fruits and vegetables, like cucumber, apple, or orange. Absolutely no use of fire, household chemicals, or any items you can't purchase at a local grocery.In this course we create potions which are not drinks: You sprinkle them around the house or outside. The only exceptions are a couple recipes from the Kitchen Magic genre (for example, fresh cucumber and basil enchanted water).Along with magic, we'll learn a few facts of history and science, such as:What is the oldest tree in the world?Who invented glass windows, and what were windows like before glass?What is the Archimedes Principle? Why don't big heavy ships sink?What do salad and salary have in common?What is the meaning of Mon in Monday, Tues in Tuesday, Wednes in Wednesday, and so on?Who invented paper, and what did people write on before paper?What is the origin of the words 'paper,' 'book' and 'library'?What is the alchemical symbol for salt?Where do cinnamon and cloves come from?What is the Ogham alphabet?Who caught the Midgard Serpent?...And more!I will also address the two questions my Magic Academy students ask me most often:'Are love potions real?' and 'Are fairies real?'I'd like to warn you, that at the risk of disappointing your child, I have to be honest answering these questions, since this is a school textbook, not a fantasy fiction novel like Harry Potter.

Without telling her family, Elyria takes a one-way flight to New Zealand, abruptly leaving her stable but unfulfilling life in Manhattan. As her husband scrambles to figure out what happened to her, Elyria hurtles into the unknown, testing fate by hitchhiking, tacitly being swept into the lives of strangers, and sleeping in fields, forests, and public parks. Her risky and often surreal encounters with the people and wildlife of New Zealand propel Elyria deeper into her deteriorating mind. Haunted by her sister's death and consumed by an inner violence, her growing rage remains so expertly concealed that those who meet her sense nothing unwell. This discord between her inner and outer reality leads her to another obsession: If her truest self is invisible and unknowable to others, is she even alive? The risks Elyria takes on her journey are paralleled by the risks Catherine Lacey takes on the page. In urgent, spiraling prose she whittles away at the rage within Elyria and exposes the very real, very knowable anxiety of the human condition. And yet somehow Lacey manages to poke fun at her unrelenting self-consciousness, her high-stakes search for the dark heart of the self. In the spirit of Haruki Murakami and Amelia Gray, Nobody Is Ever Missing is full of mordant humor and uncanny insights, as Elyria waffles between obsession and numbness in the face of love, loss, danger, and self-knowledge.

This book is fantasy-fiction-style educational activity material for the young fans of Harry Potter, Descendants, Sofia the First, and other books and films of the magic fantasy genre.Does your kid want to go to a "real" magic school, like Harry Potter and other characters of fantasy fiction? Well tell him/her: You can take a course of real magic at home, with this real magic school textbook! And luckily for you and me, I am the author of a number of textbooks written for my courses at one of the best magic schools of Middle Earth, the North Landing Academy of Magic Arts.Even though I graduated from North Landing, I'll never send my son there. The place is infested with dragons, something large is crawling in the underground vaults every time the castle floods during the full moon, and the food is not as great as fantasy fiction authors want you to think. No. My baby stays here, and I'll homeschool him in magic. So should you. If your kid is new to magic training, advise him/her to start with my Invincible Magic Book of Spells. In Star Magic we build on the ideas first introduced in Invincible Magic.The spells in this book use only safe everyday objects and substances you have at home (like milk, sugar, paper, tree leaves, rocks, etc.); absolutely no use of fire, or any ingredients or items you may not have in your kitchen at the moment (like rosewater, or sage, or a crystal ball).These spells are not based on any witchcraft, New Age, or religious lore. Any esoteric concepts mentioned in this book are introduced in the context of the history of ideas (like ancient Egyptian mythology), or popular culture (like Zodiac signs, or palm-reading). This book will help kidsdevelop imagination and engage in fantasy play, which is vital for their intellectual and emotional development;learn a few scientific facts (What causes tides?), some history (Stonehenge), brush up some geometry (horizontal-vertical, parallel-perpendicular, 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional) and more.develop their interest in reading, and grow their reading fluency with an easy, 1st-2nd grade core vocabulary (reading levels 3-4).Have you ever wondered if ABRACADABRA is a real magic word? Well, once your child reads this book, they'll have a definitive answer to this question, as well as to many other questions, like:What is Ouroboros?What is the meaning of the word Zodiac?How do solstices and equinoxes happen?How to make your own sundial?Which runes did Vikings use for magic?What are the names of the stars in Orion's Belt?When was the hourglass invented?How do fortune-tellers read your palm?Which constellation is Aldebaran in?How do you make a Möbius strip?How do you say "Forever Grateful," or "Let there be light" in Latin?How to find North, South, East, and West by the sun?What is the difference between Astronomy and Astrology, Chemistry and Alchemy?Which stars were considered the most powerful in the ancient world?What's so strange about the Uffington white horse?What is the infinity sign?...And more!

Without telling her family, Elyria takes a one-way flight to New Zealand, abruptly leaving her stable but unfulfilling life in Manhattan. As her husband scrambles to figure out what happened to her, Elyria hurtles into the unknown, testing fate by hitchhiking, tacitly being swept into the lives of strangers, and sleeping in fields, forests, and public parks. Her risky and often surreal encounters with the people and wildlife of New Zealand propel Elyria deeper into her deteriorating mind. Haunted by her sister's death and consumed by an inner violence, her growing rage remains so expertly concealed that those who meet her sense nothing unwell. This discord between her inner and outer reality leads her to another obsession: If her truest self is invisible and unknowable to others, is she even alive? The risks Elyria takes on her journey are paralleled by the risks Catherine Lacey takes on the page. In urgent, spiraling prose she whittles away at the rage within Elyria and exposes the very real, very knowable anxiety of the human condition. And yet somehow Lacey manages to poke fun at her unrelenting self-consciousness, her high-stakes search for the dark heart of the self. In the spirit of Haruki Murakami and Amelia Gray, Nobody Is Ever Missing is full of mordant humor and uncanny insights, as Elyria waffles between obsession and numbness in the face of love, loss, danger, and self-knowledge.