Susan Brassfield Cogan: 10 books

This ancient book of Buddhist wisdom is older than the Bible. Rewritten in clear, clean modern language, the words of the Buddha will connect with the modern reader. The Dhammapada has been called the distilled essence of Buddhism. In 423 brief verses, said to be actual sayings from the Buddha himself, you will find inspiration and guidance.

The Three Jewels of Buddhism arethe Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.Almost everyone has heard of the Buddha but the other two words, Dharma and Sangha, are usually strange to western ears. In Buddhism, taken together, they are known as “The Three Jewels.” The first part of this book will...

So I told myself the Dhammapada is one of the oldest books of Buddhist thought. I should read it. What I wanted was a nice simple readable version that I could dip into. The Dhammapada isn’t something you read straight through like a novel. It’s basically a collection of aphorisms, little short...

Excerpt from "The Stone of Immortality" Inside, the cottage smelled of spices and woodsmoke. He felt folded into a pervasive sense of hominess laced with a faint, sharp tang that could only be the taste of magic. The sweet young girl stood by the hearth, stirring porridge. Near her...

Excerpt: "You don't even know for sure if it was an Atharian," said Cabe glumly. They'd already had a couple of versions of this conversation. "It was an Atharian. I heard him talking to the MPs. He gave them a fistful of chips to let him go. If he'd told them about the...

If you get THAT tattoo and if you get it THERE, it will be your LAST tattoo! Includes an excerpt of BLACK JADE DRAGON!

excerpt: An old woman called Becuma sold rare and unusual things. Her shop was tucked away in a dark corner off the main market street. Many went there out of curiosity, many left with something strange they did not know they needed or wanted until they entered Becuma’s narrow and crowded...

Angie Tanaka, a professional thief, has an uneasy friendship with Daiyu, a dragon who has been around since China was a collection of mud huts. This is the first of a series of interviews with an ancient dragon who struggles to live down her past. And she has such a lot of it to live down. Excerpt: Daiyu...

Go to Hell. It’s such a delicious phrase. Angie Tanaka never thought she’d want to go there herself. Usually people spend their entire lives avoiding a trip to Hell. Not Angie. Long-ju is down there and it was all her fault. He is the Silver Dragon, magnificent, legendary, a work...

Max Archer is a private detective who doesn’t like Gregory Button (“he’d raise the hair on the neck of a stone idol”) but, at least at first, he can’t quite figure out why. Max has good instincts. Gregory is a contract killer with a popular specialty. He kills people with kindness....