There are very few book-length sequences of poems and it excites me to encounter this form in the work of a well-known South African poet. To sustain a cycle of poem is to begin to dismantle the barriers between a novel or short story and poetry. In book of songs Shabbir Banoobhai takes a position that requires daring combined with humility - there is no rhetoric, no propaganda, but also no slinking away, no hiding in the suburbs of language, no shrinking from an encounter with mytery. A meditative cycle like this one reminds us opf out common thrist for love and meaning - John Metelerkamp. Written over a month of fasting and inspired by the poetry of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, these poems are all, ultimately, songs of love. When John Cleare, described as the outstanding British mountain photographer of the post-war era ("Penguin Encyclopaedia of Mountaineering"), generously agreed to contribute his photographs, these songs of love met their matching images of light and the book of songs finally became complete. It includes 40 captivating black and white photos by John Cleare.

The ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism is more popular today than ever. This accessible and enlightening collection offers stories and quotations from the most celebrated Taoist masters including Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzu and Lao Tzu, as well as new writing inspired by the traditional tales. Set against a stunning photographic backdrop of the mountains, waterfalls and gorges of China, these stories introduce important Taoist ideas about our most basic human experiences, including birth, death, loss, gain, simple dignity in the face of challenge, how to judge character, when to move forward, when to retreat and how to surrender to the most fundamental experience of the Tao itself. As a longtime student of Taoism, Solala Towler understands that the simple yet profound truths of spiritual practice and awakening are often best learned from these entertaining, illuminating, puzzling, often downright funny tales, rather than through ponderous exposition. These engrossing narratives are as relevant and useful today as they were in the great dynasties of ancient China.