In this book Renata explored the food culture and lifestyles of early humans, and of the Khoi-Khoin. She combined many decades of knowledge as a nutritionist and food culture expert with multidisciplinary research of over 15 years ? bringing together aspects of archaeology, palaeontology, botany, genetics, history, languages, culture and much more, in a unique way. While scientifically sound, it is beautifully illustrated and a true collector?s piece. In 2015 Renata self-published the book through Penstock Publishing. The first print-run of 500 copies was soon sold out ? mostly to friends, family and fans. We have now reprinted the book to make Coetzee?s unique work available to a wider audience. Academics, researchers and food experts can build further on her research. Communities will benefit from further work to build understanding among various cultures and on the history of our ?First Peoples?. Indigenous plants with culinary and agricultural potential can be further developed for food production. Renata?s research included interviews with many elderly Khoi-Khoin women and men in various regions, about the details of their food sources and uses. A special feature in the book is that wherever possible, the Khoi and Afrikaans names of plants and animals are given, with English and scientific names. About 250 fine photographs and over 80 illustrations of edible indigenous plants ? as well as maps and Khoi traditions ? make the book a journey of discovery, bringing to life the linkages between evolution and culinary history over millennia. The book also offers valuable lessons in terms of the nutritional value of many indigenous foods, food security and sustainability. The DST/NRF Centre of Excellence: Food Security, hosted by UWC and the University of Pretoria, has supported the reprint of the book. They, together with the Agricultural Research Council, intend doing further research on indigenous food products identified in Coetzee?s extensive work on the various food cultures in South Africa.

If you have ever wondered why women always bite your head off or why one guy gets all the girls, if you have ever pondered why some men bring you balloons while others leave you their genitals, then Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation is the book for you. It explains all this and much more. It discloses the best time to have a sex change, how to have a virgin birth, when to seduce your sisters or eat your lover. Quirky and brilliant, it takes as its starting point all creatures great and small worried about their bizarre sex lives, and the letters they write to the wise Dr Tatiana, the only agony aunt in all creation with a prodigious knowledge of both natural history and evolutionary biology.

The next novel in Louise Penny's #1 New York Times bestselling series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache.

A full translation of an important Mahāyāna Buddhist treatise with a commentary by the famous Tibetan luminary Jamgön Mipham. A monumental work and Indian Buddhist classic, the Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra) is a precious resource for students wishing to study in-depth the philosophy and path of Mahāyāna Buddhism. This full translation and commentary outlines the importance of Mahāyāna, the centrality of bodhicitta or the mind of awakening, the path of becoming a bodhisattva, and how one can save beings from suffering through skillful means. This definitive composition of Mahāyāna teachings was imparted in the fourth century by Maitreya to the famous adept Asaṅga, one of the most prolific writers of Buddhist treatises in history. Asaṅga’s work, which is among the famous Five Treatises of Maitreya, has been studied, commented upon, and taught by Buddhists throughout Asia ever since it was composed. In the early twentieth century, one of Tibet’s greatest scholars and saints, Jamgön Mipham, wrote A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle, which is a detailed explanation of every verse. This commentary has since been used as the primary blueprint for Tibetan Buddhists to illuminate the depth and brilliance of Maitreya’s pith teachings. The Padmakara Translation Group has provided yet another accessible and eloquent translation, ensuring that English-speaking students of Mahāyāna will be able to study this foundational Buddhist text for generations to come.

"A dazzling display of humanistic erudition, wit, and practical culinary advice. Ballerini's living herbarium reinitiates modern readers living in the concrete manswarm into the joys of foraging, gathering, and savoring herbs, flowers, and berries. Its wide-ranging historical context, a veritable documentary of poets and chroniclers of past and present, is a learned celebration of nature's bounty. Practical and flavorful recipes for each plant transport the 'weeds' from the field to the palate and enhance a narrative enriched by splendid complementary footnotes."—Albert Sonnenfeld, Series Director, Arts of the Table "Weeds indeed. A guide as witty as he is erudite, Luigi Ballerini has given us a remarkable compendium of the wild greens, along with their flowers and fruits, that people have foraged and eaten for millennia. Once the food of the poor, such ingredients are now in high demand. Gathering greens both familiar—such as mint or borage—and obscure—milk thistle and wallrocket—Ballerini draws upon a diverse cast of authors to attest or dispute their real or alleged medicinal powers. Just as important, he never neglects to suggest how they taste or to present fine recipes so that we can savor them for ourselves."—Carol Field, author of The Italian Baker "The scholar and poet Luigi Ballerini has given us a mouthwatering treasure of inventive Italian recipes for foraged wild plants adapted for the American locavore kitchen (including ten for borage alone, as well as nettle and purslane frittatas, and prickly pear risotto). This elegantly illustrated volume is peppered with humor and tastefully seasoned with a wealth of cultural, historical, and scientific sources and information. A Feast of Weeds is food for both the palate and the mind."—Jean-Claude Carron, University of California, Los Angeles