{"title":"Philosophy","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"the-course-of-love","title":"The Course of Love","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat does it mean to live happily ever after?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Edinburgh, a couple, Rabih and Kirsten, fall in love. They get married, they have children -- but no relationship is as simple as \"happily ever after.\" The Course of Love is a novel that explores what happens after the birth of love, what it takes to maintain love, and what happens to our original ideals under the pressures of an average existence. With philosophical insight and psychological acumen, Alain de Botton shows that our Romantic dreams may do us a grave disservice -- and explores what the alternatives might be. The conclusion, as the characters gradually discover, is that love is not \"an enthusiasm,\" but rather a \"skill\" that must be slowly and often painfully learnt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a Romantic novel in the true sense, one interested in exploring how love can survive and thrive in the long term.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Signal","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43318629761224,"sku":"BKPB1010120","price":10.25,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0643\/2034\/0168\/files\/9780771027635.jpg?v=1710371400"},{"product_id":"the-celestine-prophecy-an-adventure","title":"The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure","description":"\u003cp\u003eYou have never read a book like this before -- a book that comes along once in a lifetime to change lives forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the rain forests of Peru, an ancient manuscript has been discovered. Within its pages are 9 key insights into life itself -- insights each human being is predicted to grasp sequentially; one insight, then another, as we move toward a completely spiritual culture on Earth. Drawing on ancient wisdom, it tells you how to make connections among the events happening in your life right now and lets you see what is going to happen to you in the years to come. The story it tells is a gripping one of adventure and discovery, but it is also a guidebook that has the power to crystallise your perceptions of why you are where you are in life and to direct your steps with a new energy and optimism as you head into tomorrow.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Warner Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44113448075464,"sku":"BKHC10101093","price":8.5,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0643\/2034\/0168\/files\/The_Celestine_Prophecy.jpg?v=1726621300"},{"product_id":"last-and-first-men-dover-literature-science-fiction-fantasy","title":"Last and First Men","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"No book before or since has ever had such an impact upon my imagination,\" declared Arthur C. Clarke of Last and First Men. This masterpiece of science fiction by British philosopher and writer Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950) is an imaginative, ambitious history of humanity's future that spans billions of years. Together with its follow-up, Star Maker, it is regarded as the standard by which all earlier and later future histories are measured.\u003cbr\u003eThe protagonist of this compelling novel is humanity itself, stripped down to sheer intelligence. It evolves through the ages: rising to pinnacles of civilization, teetering on the brink of extinction, surviving onslaughts from other planets and a decline in solar energy, and constantly developing new forms, new senses, and new intellectual abilities. From the present to five billion years into the future, this romance of humanity abounds in profound and imaginative thought.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dover Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44293396496584,"sku":"BKPB10102060","price":7.5,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0643\/2034\/0168\/files\/Last_and_First_Men.jpg?v=1734481696"},{"product_id":"the-witch-of-portobello-a-novel-p-s","title":"The Witch of Portobello","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew York Times Bestseller\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“An incredibly beautiful read.” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHow do we find the courage to always be true to ourselves—even if we are unsure of who we are?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is the central question of international bestselling author Paulo Coelho’s profound work The Witch of Portobello. It is the story of a mysterious woman named Athena, told by the many who knew her well—or hardly at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Witch of Portobello is the kind of story that will transform the way readers think about love, passion, joy, and sacrifice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNew York Times Bestseller\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“An incredibly beautiful read.” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperOne","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44405546582216,"sku":"BKPB10202706","price":5.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0643\/2034\/0168\/files\/The_Witch_of_Portobello_A_Novel_P.S..jpg?v=1738159910"},{"product_id":"the-alchemist","title":"The Alchemist","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCombining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Alchemist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePaulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognising opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, following our dreams.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins,Australia","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44417106837704,"sku":"BKPB10102675","price":3.5,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0643\/2034\/0168\/files\/The_Alchemist_by_Paulo_Coelho.jpg?v=1748362285"},{"product_id":"everything-nothing","title":"Everything \u0026 Nothing","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Some of the most witty, uncannily original short fiction in Western Literature.\"―The New Yorker\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCelebrating the centennial of his birth, Everything and Nothing compiles the most anthologized and widely read fictions by Jorge Luis Borges, \"a giant of world literature\" (John Updike, The New Yorker). Some of the narrative pieces herein contained are: \"Pierre Menard\" in which a modern writer reconstructs passages from Don Quixote that are verbally identical but read differently; \"The Garden of Forking Paths,\" an intellectual variation on the detective-story genre; and \"Nightmares,\" a lecture which, as Alastair Reid puts it, \"shifts from personal memories to writers, to an examination of other peoples' metaphors, to language itself.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEverything and Nothing serves as a perfect introduction to Borges's genius.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New Directions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44901810110664,"sku":"BKPB201103830","price":9.5,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0643\/2034\/0168\/files\/Everything_and_Nothing.jpg?v=1769477594"},{"product_id":"the-zahir-from-the-bestselling-author-of-the-alchemist","title":"The Zahir","description":"\u003cp\u003e“Superabundant talent, stunning originality, an elegant way with words… The Zahir is something more.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- Los Angeles Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe narrator of The Zahir is a bestselling novelist who lives in Paris and enjoys all the privileges money and celebrity bring. His wife of ten years, Esther, is a war correspondent who has disappeared along with a friend, Mikhail, who may or may not be her lover.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWas Esther kidnapped, murdered, or did she simply escape a marriage that left her unfulfilled? The narrator doesn’t have any answers, but he has plenty of questions of his own. Then one day Mikhail finds the narrator and promises to reunite him with his wife. In his attempt to recapture a lost love, the narrator discovers something unexpected about himself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA haunting and redemptive story about obsession, The Zahir explores its potential to fulfill our dreams, and to destroy them.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperOne","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44996151869640,"sku":"BKPB101104201","price":8.75,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0643\/2034\/0168\/files\/The_Zahir.jpg?v=1772737029"}],"url":"https:\/\/theblossomingbookshop.com\/collections\/philosophy.oembed","provider":"The Blossoming Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}