Books with title Reflections 2020

Jack and Jude are an extraordinary couple who have worked side by side since exchanging vows more than fifty years ago. These sixteen short-stories explore the lives of these two explorers bonded by their love of adventure and knowledge, beginning with their African Honeymoon in 1969. Five months overland from England to South Africa in a derelict VW van, braving the beautiful and desolate Sahara, and escaping to a war-ravaged Nigeria followed by Simba Rebels in the Congo, nursing their worn-out vehicle until it collapses into a swayback pile of junk in East Africa! Oh My! Run the clock forward several decades and there are many more adventures from a couple who know how to stay together giving excellent advice to all wanting to achieve magnificent feats. Failed Again, a story highlighting our indomitable spirit of never giving up in a cute reminisce from childhood days. Running Scared is the frame by frame danger in our lives when undertaking expeditions to mid-ocean sand patches, which financed our lifestyle. Cannons boomed and frightened men dived for shelter in the South China Sea, a hotspot. Years later, on a black night approaching Madagascar, with our teenage sons on board, an error of judgement puts death within a heartbeat. The Dead Don’t Cry. Read the full book for a treat that can be spread lusciously over a few weeks, even if ravenous.

Jack and Jude are an extraordinary couple who have worked side by side since exchanging vows over fifty years ago. These sixteen short-stories explore the lives of two explorers deeply in love searching for adventure and knowledge, beginning with their African Honeymoon in 1969. Five months overland from England to South Africa in a derelict VW van, braving the beautiful and desolate Sahara, war-ravaged Nigeria and Congo, nursing their worn-out vehicle until it collapses into a swayback pile of junk. Having shared a tightly bound life for so many years, this couple knows how to stay together and they give excellent advice to all wanting to achieve magnificent feats. Failed Again highlights their indomitable spirit of never giving up in a cute reminisce from childhood days. Running Scared illustrates the danger in their lives when undertaking expeditions to mid-ocean sand patches that financed their lifestyle. Cannons boomed and frightened men dived for shelter in the South China Sea, a hotspot. On a black night in Madagascar, with their teenage sons on board, an error of judgement puts death within seconds, requiring rapid action in their most frightening experience. Retold with heart rendering anguish in The Dead Don’t Cry. Adding further dimensions to lives well lived is hard to believe stories from their mature years in the same vessel they home built in their youth. The Call of the Coral Sea, Sea Gypsies Once Again.Readers’ comments ~I love that it is raw, real, and the reflections are from all four of you. I love all the history of the places you have visited… some I have never heard of. I have learnt so much history from this book.I love the descriptions of the geography; they make me feel like I’m there in person. I love the passion for ‘mother earth’ that you have and the protective fear that we are losing this treasure with overpopulation and pollution. And I just love that you call Jude, my lady. That makes my heart melt.The way you combine personal anecdote with history and local politics creates vivid word portraits that stay in the mind. It adds depth to the experiences you describe and your interactions with the local populace. At Easter Island, you painted a vivid portrait of that mysterious, powerful, lost culture and then in a masterful stroke, aligned that well-known story of a lost civilization to the perils we face today. It brought the current situation into stark focus. One of my favourite paragraphs in this book. “The one truth is the wonder, majesty, and power of Earth and creation of life. Humans are unique for a reason, and it’s not to dominate but to find harmony and balance within the creation so we can become one with its secrets. Perhaps then we’ll attain the higher knowledge needed to understand the why? To reach universal nirvana, we need to tolerate each individual’s religious explanations and together worship Earth as tangible evidence of a force far more significant than our mortal souls. When we do that, we’ll understand the how and why.”

What if Mulan had to travel to the Underworld?When Captain Shang is mortally wounded by Shan Yu in battle, Mulan must travel to the Underworld, Diyu, in order to save him from certain death. But King Yama, the ruler of Diyu, is not willing to give Shang up easily. With the help of Shangs great lion guardian ShiShi, Mulan must traverse Diyu to find Shangs spirit, face harrowing obstacles, and leave by sunrise—or become King Yamas prisoner forever. Moreover, Mulan is still disguised as the soldier called Ping, wrestling with the decision to reveal her true identity to her closest friend. Will Mulan be able to save Shang before its too late? Will he ever be able to trust her again? Or will she lose him—and be lost in the Underworld—forever?

The past is more than the past, because the past combines with the present and the future to make up the total of our lives. In other words, we are merely the sum total of all of the parts of our lives that make up the whole; and while this may sound confusing, it is more than likely the reason your mother tells you that what you do, both good and bad, are a reflection on her. You see, she has taught you things that make up who you are . . . and so has your father and all of the other adults in your life whom you happen to love and trust!Written and illustrated by award winning author, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan, this fun, ‘learn to read’ book is filled with word repetition, word recognition and rhyme you can use to practice your reading skills and to think about this very important subject as you build your reading word vocabulary and are guided through its pages by some fun and familiar Penelope Dyan characters!When you are all finished, you can go to the Bellissimavideo YouTube channel; and you can watch the free music video that goes with this book for even more learning fun! After all, everyone knows learning should always be fun!

Forgiveness – it can be one of the hardest decisions to make but one of the most important actions to take to bring peace and contentment back into one’s life. So, how would one go about forgiving others, or oneself, for the wrongs that were done? In Reflections, the first book by Christian author John Thomas, the concept of forgiveness is explored in an Irish fantasy tale through generational narration. Seamus, grandfather to grandsons Killian and Finn, tells the Irish legend of Riley O’Toole, a hermit of a man who lives in despair over the drowning deaths of his wife and children. Adding to Riley’s suffering is his isolation from the people of his town of A’idan Gareth, encouraged by outlandish gossip from his bitter sister-in-law. Riley soon sees his world change when he forms an unique friendship with a good-natured, talking flower named Rose, a flower who also knows about gossip and ridicule. Through their friendship, both begin to accept their true selves and embrace the power and peace that comes from forgiving those in their pasts. This transformation will aid both as they prepare for Riley’s unforeseen trial for the deaths of his family and final clash with his resentful sister-in-law.The same lessons also apply to Seamus and his squabbling grandsons, who all learn their own lessons of forgiveness as the story progresses. The tale of Riley O’Toole in Reflections is one that will encourage readers of all ages to identify areas in their own lives where forgiveness is needed while embracing who they have been created to be in God’s plan. “The question we all need to ask ourselves is will we rise above the hurts and live in victory, or fall beneath the crushing weight of these hurts and live in bondage?”-John Thomas

When Juliette has a domestic servant beaten for pursuing a young man above her station, she finds herself cursed by a witch to live in a world behind her own mirror. She is unable to leave except on the first night of a full moon. Juliette is forced to seek what food and shelter the new world provides with the help of a unicorn, a man who is half bear, and a centaur. Together they struggle to survive against lions, wolves, and the challenges of watching their friends live and die through the back of the mirror, as their own world moves on without them. Reflections begins in Regency-era London, and ends in Clover Springs, California, an all but abandoned Gold Rush town.

The poems in this collection have been written over a span of several years, and reflect the poets responses to experiences and observations of a deep and personal nature; experiences which are sometimes real, sometimes imaginary.They not only explore the intensity of human emotions triggered by spontaneous moments of realization, they also trace the poets journey through different realms of exploration of the Self as her growth continues in different continents. The thoughts evoked give voice to the emotions of many who can relate to similar stirrings of the heart. Several of these poems were aired, in the early years, over the Voice of Kenya. Kitheka Mutui, producer of a program Books and Bookmen, talked about the echoing void expressed in much of the poetry, which demands of us a concerted re-discovery of ourselves and our purpose in life.