March 2013
2 posts
Pray for Me
On Wednesday 13 March 2013, the billows of smoke from the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City turned white and the world waited with bated breath to find out who had been elected to one of the most important and prominent roles in Christianity. At a time when the Catholic Church has been beset by scandal, Pope Francis is welcomed as a blast of fresh air by the faithful. He says that he chose his papal...
4 tags
The Wetnose Awards
Margrit Coates, author of Communicating with Animals and Angel Pets, was a guest at the glittering annual Wetnose Animal Aid Awards in Knightsbridge, London on Monday 11 March. Wetnose Animal Aid is a charity dedicated to supporting animal welfare organisations and sanctuaries, and to rescuing vulnerable animals. As usual, the green-carpet event was brimming with celebrities!
Virginia...
December 2012
1 post
It's written in the stars...
It’s not every day that you meet an astrologer in the British Library. However, the venue feels appropriate with its ancient tomes and atmosphere of quiet learning. I’m here to meet Sue Merlyn Farebrother, whose book Astrology Decoded is published by Rider in January 2013. Sue is one of Britain’s leading astrologers and she’s going to unlock the secrets of my birth chart for me. We find a corner...
October 2012
1 post
Is God An Illusion?
The 4th of October sees Deepak Chopra and Leonard Mlodinow enter the territory of Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins, with a remarkable, highly topical, discussion on two opposing worldviews.
In Is God an Illusion?, Chopra argues that there is design in our universe and a deep intelligence behind life. Without defending organised religion, he debunks randomness as an explanation for how nature...
August 2012
2 posts
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Deepak Chopra - UK Workshop
“There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle.” - Deepak Chopra
Rider author Deepka Chopra, will be hosting a one day workshop that offers guidance, encouragement and solutions for taking your own life into your own capable hands.
Details of the course can be found at...
The Tibetan Blog of Living and Dying
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the publication of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, a group of Sogyal Rinpoche’s students have set up a website and blog called The Tibetan Blog of Living and Dying www.living-and-dying.org.
Over the last two decades this book has made an extraordinary impact, striking a chord in the hearts and minds of so many people around the world, from all walks...
June 2012
2 posts
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The Dalai Lama talks at the University of...
This morning, the Dalai Lama gave a fascinating talk at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Westminster. It was on the subject of ‘Values of Democracy and Tibet’, and ably chaired by Dr Dibyesh Anand, an Associate Professor in the department, and a live wire in his own right.
A video of the morning’s lecture will be uploaded here...
Facing The Torturer author wins hearts at The Hay...
We’re pleased to announce that Rider author, Francois Bizot, has topped the Adult Best Sellers list at The Hay Festival yesterday, with his book Facing The Torturer.
Francois Bizot, who in 1971 was kept prisoner for three months in the Cambodian jungle, spoke to Phillippe Sands about his captor, Comrade Duch, who had him freed but then later became one of Pol Pot’s most infamous henchmen and...
May 2012
1 post
The Dalai Lama receives the Templeton Prize for...
Rider publishes a great many of His Holiness’ books, both here in Britain and throughout the Commonwealth. Nevertheless, it was a great honour to be able to attend the ceremony earlier this week when he was awarded the 2012 Templeton Prize. St Paul’s Cathedral was full right to the back of the nave with a huge variety of men and women, many of whom were Tibetans dressed in splendid national...
March 2012
4 posts
Ben Okri answers your questions
To celebrate the launch of his new poetry collection Wild - the first in thirteen years - Ben Okri will be answering your questions on Twitter from publication day, Thursday 22nd. So if you have something you have always wanted to ask the Booker Prize winner, tweet it using #benokriwild and he will answer as many as he can.
And you can follow Ben on @benokri
February 2012
5 posts
Watkins 2012 Most Spiritually Influential list -...
Watkins Review have released their annual Top 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People list today and we’re delighted that 3 of the top 5 – and the number 1 entry, His Holiness the Dalai Lama - are Rider authors.
1. Dalai Lama 2. Eckhart Tolle 3. Thich Nhat Hanh 4. Deepak Chopra 5. Paulo Coelho
You can see the full list here, but let us know if you agree with the selections. Who...
Paranormal – the autobiography of the man who...
‘I felt that the question of the afterlife was the black hole of the personal universe: something for which substantial proof of existence had been offered but which had not yet been explored in the proper way by scientists and philosophers…’ from Paranormal by Raymond Moody
Raymond Moody published Life After Life early in his career, in 1975. In it, he examined the case studies of people who had...
Thich Nhat Hanh in the UK
One of the best known and most respected Zen masters in the world today and author of the classic Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh will be coming to the UK this spring for a series of events.
Starting on Thursday 29th March, 7pm he will be speaking at the Royal Festival Hall, London in an event entitled True Peace and Happiness in the Here and Now.
On 31st March he will be holding a...
Pankaj Mishra quote for The Lady and the Peacock
It is a sign it will be a good week when Monday morning starts with a wonderful email offering a quote from Pankaj Mishra for Peter Popham’s The Lady and the Peacock:
‘The definitive and superbly written account of one of the most intriguing and admirable political and moral figures of our times.’
Pankaj Mishra, author of From the Ruins of Empire
Ben Okri at Jaipur
Ben Okri appeared at Jaipur Festival last week to talk about The Famished Road as well as to give the audience a sneak preview of some of the poems in his new collection, Wild (released at the end of March).
You can see the video of the whole session by clicking on his event on the Jaipur Festival webpage
http://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/program-2011/21-jan-2012-program/
Unsurprisingly Ben...
January 2012
5 posts
Is silence the best form of communication?
In advance of the Catholic church’s World Communications Day, yesterday Pope Benedict gave an interesting address reflecting on the role of the internet and social networks in our world. He argued that there were considerable benefits and potential to social networks, but also warned of their limitations.
In today’s already busy world, he worried that the internet can produce relentless...
Tamsin Outhwaite picks Women Who Run With The...
In today’s My Six Best Books slot in the Daily Express, actress Tamsin Outhwaite has picked Rider title Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes as one of her favourite titles:
“A nourishing book all about wisdom, insight, love and living for the moment. It tells you not to shy away form being the most powerful woman you can. I was a tomboy as a child. This made me...
Mark Tully on the Indian economy
India and its economy have been back in the headlines today with the news that its industrial production increased in December 2011, suggesting that, along with China, it is riding out the recession hitting the West.
But Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz has urged caution as he believes that India doesn’t have a clear plan for economic development: “There is no clear roadmap...
Moon Time
Moon Time by Johanna Paungger and Thomas Poppe
Monday 9 January brings with it the first full moon of 2012. Have you ever wondered how the moon influences our lives? Authors Johanna Paungger and Thomas Poppe explain how to tune into the cycles of nature in their internationally acclaimed books Moon Time and The Art of Timing.
To find out more, visit their blog at www.wisdom-keeper.com and watch...
Mindfulness on Radio 4 Today Programme
This morning The Today Programme on Radio 4 ran an interesting segment on mindfulness and whether it can be scientifically proven to be good for your health. Culture correspondent David Sillitoe visited the London School of Economics and King’s College to analyse the effect of mindfulness on pain relief and discover if the root to a happier new year is, for a few minutes each day, silence. ...
December 2011
7 posts
Angel Awakenings
“It was a bitterly cold night when Barbara drove to her sister’s house to deliver Christmas gifts. Barbara would be away from home for the Christmas period, which she had mixed feelings about as she would miss her family. Maybe Barbara lost concentration at that moment … whatever the cause, she found her car sliding on the icy road and hitting a wall with force.
As she lay seriously ill in...
Angels to Watch Over Us
Today’s extracts are some more angelic offerings from Glennyce Eckersley:
“Ever since she could remember, stars had fascinated Sarah. She would implore her mother to leave her bedroom curtains open, so that she could fall asleep with the stars twinkling down at her. Living in the country, with no major cities for miles, made the night sky spectacular.
One night, just before...
Desmond Tutu's Christmas Eve message
Taken from God Is Not a Christian this extract describes a sermon given by Archbishop Desmond Tutu during a Christmas visit to Jerusalem in 1989:
On Christmas Eve, Tutu preached at a carol service at Shepherds’ Field, outside the village of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem, where residents were conducting a tax strike against the Israeli authorities as part of the first intifada, the Palestinian...
Mark Tully's Indian Christmas
The first of today’s extracts is by ex-BBC Bureau chief in Delhi, Sir Mark Tully, who describes his first Christmas in the city in 1965:
“A few weeks later, it was Christmas and I went to midnight mass in the Anglican Cathedral. After Independence in 1947 the Anglicans in South India united with the Methodists and some other Protestant Churches to form the Church of South...
Margrit Coates' angelic Christmas
Our second Christmas extract is taken from Margrit Coates’ Angel Pets and describes a magical encounter with some roe deer:
“It was the first Christmas at home after my mother died, and my sister and I were not looking forward to it. Christmas focusses you on members of your family and when they are not there the loss is especially difficult to bear. Over the years we had fallen into...
A Christmas Angel - Glennyce Eckersley
To celebrate the season, we thought we’d share some of our favourite Christmas stories from our Rider Books. The first is A Christmas Angel from Glennyce Eckerlsey’s An Angel to Guide Me:
The Christmas Angel
It was one of those days in early December when it was never going to get really light. Heavy, metal-grey skies hung low over the village and a mist swirled around the trees,...
Peter Popham - book publication: an author's view
Ever wondered what it is like to have your first book published? Peter Popham, author of our recently published biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, The Lady and the Peacock has written a fascinating account of his experiences in The Independent this week
http://www.independent.co.uk/hei-fi/views/peter-popham-today-i-discovered-how-the-other-half-lives-6269003.html?origin=internalSearch
If you...
November 2011
1 post
Aung San Suu Kyi awarded Chatham House award
It is wonderful news to hear that tomorrow evening (1st December) Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State (1997-2001), will accept the Chatham House Prize 2011 on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi. http://www.chathamhouse.org/media/news/view/178329
This annual award is presented to the statesperson deemed by members of the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House to have made the most...
October 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Peter Popham's The Lady and the Peacock
Peter Popham’s masterful biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, The Lady and the Peacock, is published this week and we’ll be posting pictures later of its launch at the Houses of Parliament on Thursday.
However, the book has already received such wonderful critical acclaim in the press, the Rider Books team wanted to share this:
“Popham’s biography goes a long way to...
6 tags
Science vs. Spirituality
Deepak Chopra and Leonard Mlodinow’s War of the Worldviews is out now
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Happy Birthday Desmond Tutu!
Today is one of our favourite Rider authors Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s 80th birthday.
The first black Archbishop of Cape Town, Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his leadership of the South African anti-apartheid struggle. For decades he has, as Barack Obama described him, been ‘a voice of principle, an unrelenting champion of justice, and a dedicated peacemaker’. He was Chair of the...
September 2011
2 posts
6 tags
Is There Any Definition of Spirituality That...
Deepak Chopra talks about his new book War of the Worldviews
"superb" - Mark Tully's India: The Road Ahead
“Drawing on his extensive travels he writes with a loving but critical eye on the country in which he continues to reside…In Tully’s company a tour round India is an unpredictable and enlightening ride”
Metro
Mark Tully’s India: The Road Ahead has just been released and is attracting critical acclaim across the press. A selection of reviews are below and if you want to hear him talk about...
August 2011
3 posts
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“Drawing on his extensive travels he writes with a loving but critical eye on the country in which he continues to reside…In Tully’s company a tour round India is an unpredictable and enlightening ride” Metro
Mark Tully arrived in the UK this weekend to begin promotion for India: The Road Ahead. He began with a sell-out event at Edinburgh International Book Festival on Bank Holiday Monday,...
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Rider's Edinburgh Festival
Rider’s Edinburgh Festival kicked off on Wednesday with a fascinating event with Rabbi Julia Neuberger discussing her new book, Is That All There Is? with Richard Holloway. In a packed out RBS main stage the two, and the audience, debated issues as wide ranging as ethical wills, the London riots, the changing meaning of friendship and Facebook and Twitter.
There is a great write up of the event...
5 tags
From Anger to Calm
The violence and chaos that burned through British streets this week have left us all reeling. At times like these, we can find comfort and guidance in the words of those such as spiritual leader and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, who has made it part of his life’s work to combat acts of aggression by peaceful means. Here is an extract from his book Anger – Buddhist Wisdom for Cooling the...
July 2011
2 posts
4 tags
Thoughts on Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning by...
‘No one will be able to make us believe that man is a sublimated animal once we can show that within him there is a repressed angel.’
Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning
How could a Holocaust survivor – a witness to manmade hell – emerge from the concentration camps with such an unshakeable belief in humanity and the existence of a benevolent Creator?
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997)...
Rider authors at Edinburgh Festival
Tickets for Edinburgh International Book Festival have just gone on sale and are already selling quickly.
Rider Books will be well represented with Julia Neuberger, Ben Okri and Sir Mark Tully all speaking at the festival.
Julia Neuberger is first and will be discussing Is That All There Is? with Richard Holloway in an event titled, In Search of a New Sense of Purpose, on Wednesday 17th August...
June 2011
1 post
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Watch Aung San Suu Kyi's 1st Reith Lecture
May 2011
2 posts
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God is Not a Christian
Some of my friends are skeptical when they hear me say this, but I am by nature a person who dislikes confrontation. I have consciously sought during my life to emulate my mother, whom our family knew as a gentle “comforter of the afflicted.” However, when I see innocent people suffering, pushed around by the rich and the powerful, then, as the prophet Jeremiah says, if I try to...
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April 2011
3 posts
1 tag
Fantastic review for Discover the Gift in Spirit...
“This is an inspirational new documentary by award-winning Hollywood film-maker Demian Lichtenstein (who has also directed music videos for Sting and Gloria Estefan, among others) and his sister Shajen Joy Aziz. It debuted to great acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year.
“Discover the Gift follows the siblings’ journeys towards fulfillment, joy and unconditional love, as...
Sir Mark Tully, Deepak Chopra and Mimlu Sen at...
The team at Rider Books is looking forward to the forthcoming Tagore Festival in Dartington as three of our authors will be in attendance.
On 4th May, 8.30 - 10pm Mimlu Sen and Paban Das Baul will be performing and talking about The Honey Gatherers. Then on Friday 6th May Deepak Chopra will be giving two talks - the first at 2.30pm and another at 4pm. Rider’s trio of authors is completed...
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James Van Praagh comes to the UK!
James Van Praagh, author of Ghosts Among Us, Watching Over Us and Growing Up in Heaven, is coming to England! He will be touring the country in June with Tony Stockwell, one of the UK’s best-known psychics.
“My greatest satisfaction in doing this work is witnessing an instantaneous change in people,” says Van Praagh about his work. “When someone is alone and overwhelmed by...
March 2011
5 posts
2 tags
WatchRaymond Moody talks about his new book, Glimpses of Eternity
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A Time for New Dreams: press and events
Promotion for Ben Okri’s new collection of essays, A Time For New Dreams, began last night with an interview on BBC Four’s World News at 7pm.
He is then recording Radio 3’s The Verb today, which will air on 1st April.
Lauren Laverne chose A Time For New Dreams as the book she couldn’t stop reading in this week’s Grazia.
Ben will be interviewed for pieces in Granta, Time Out and New...
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Author post: Margrit Coates at the Wetnose Awards...
Through my work as an animal healer and communicator I often find myself in amazing situations, such as at the Wetnose Awards Ceremony, London on Friday 4 March.
Actress Lorraine Chase walked up the steps to the venue in front of me and we struck up a conversation about our love of animals – and a few minutes later I got chatting to Ingrid Tarrant, who I know from an interview I did with her...
