Bombing in Cosimo's Chelsea Neighborhood

Chelsea neigborhood in Manhattan

Last Saturday no one  from Cosimo's staff was in Chelsea, the New York neighborhood where our office is located. Luckily no one of us had been wandering around either on 23rd Street, while a self-made bomb exploded on that same street at 8:30pm, a bomb that injured 29 people.

Almost before anything was officially announced, Presidential hopeful Donald Trump already called it a "bombing". He was initially admonished by Hillary Clinton for mentioning the "b" word, but later on she too used it. Later that evening New York Mayor Bill de Blasio referred to it as "an intentional act" and Governor Andrew Cuomo said it was "obviously an act of terrorism." Bottom line was that a senseless bomb exploded in a nice quiet area in Manhattan, known for its restaurants and cafes, its small businesses, its galleries and its gay community. The damage was obviously bad for the injured and, fortunately, not that terrible for the neigborhood. Still, the shock was great.

View of 23rd Street towards 6th Ave.

Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio reviewing the damage

That same evening another bomb was found on 27th Street. Whoever was behind it seemed to have a grudge against the neighborhood or what?  Due to some good police work and not a very smart "terrorist", the latter was arrested two days later in New Jersey: Ahmad Rahami, American citizen and born in Afghanistan.

Thanks to all who expressed their concern and interest in us. Fortunately, we all are fine.

Damage at Orangetheory Fitness
close to our office

Damage at La Maison du Macaron
next to our office 

    

Cosimo Presents Our New eBook of the Month Feature!

As increasingly our readers keep asking whether Cosimo books are also available as eBooks and where they would be available, we're happy to oblige them by adding a new monthly feature on our blog, highlighting our eBook of the Month, with June's title pick The Supermarket Sorceress!

In this enchanting book, experienced psychic, witch, and high priestess Lexa Roséan offers spells for every occasion in an amusing, magically effective, and easy-to-follow guide. Formulating spells based on history and legend, Lexa tailors tried-and-true Ancient Magick to the modern reader, substituting hard-to-find wild ingredients with their supermarket counterparts, resulting in spells that are simple and inexpensive. By following some simple rules--performing spells at a certain time of month, using fresh ingredients, with a specific intent--Lexa makes it possible for even the most inexperienced spell caster to successfully perform magick and get results. Lexa's philosophy is based on using your wishes and her spells to make positive things happen in your life, whether it's attracting success or improving your love life.

The Supermarket Sorceress was the first in a series of four books offering spells and enchantments using simple grocery-store ingredients. Originally published in 1996, this updated version includes new and revised spells and an introduction looking back 20 years and reflecting on the circumstances that inspired the original publication and launched the "Supermarket Sorceress" identity.

About the Author
Lexa Roséan is a Wiccan High Priestess and has been counseling clients for more than thirty years through the medium of psychic Tarot and astrology. She also holds a master's degree in psychoanalysis. A leading pagan author, Lexa has published eight books on magick and the occult. She wrote the astrology column for CosmoGirl and worked as an astrology consultant for Seventeen magazine. The Village Voice named Lexa NYC's Best Witch and she has made numerous television appearances, including CNN, Fox News, and MTV. She has been written about in various news media including the New York Times, USA Today, and Entertainment Weekly, among others. For more information see her website.

All Cosimo ebooks are available at the following retailers:

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September Series of the Month: Five Foot Shelf

Get back into the swing of the school year by reading our September Series of the Month, The Five Foot Shelf of Classics, collected by Charles William Eliot.

Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set (a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology) was assembled by American academic Charles William Eliot (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf.

Eliot compiled these titles to serve as a "home educator" -- for people who couldn't attend Harvard so they too could get a literary education with some of the best and most well-known classics around the world.

Eliot’s collection was even featured in the memoir: What the Great Books Taught Me About Life, Death, and Pretty Much Everything Else, in which author Christopher Beha details how he turned to these great works for comfort and inspiration during a time of personal struggle. Beha’s memoir illustrates what Eliot believed about The Five Foot Shelf: that the great works of literature are still worth consulting, as a source not just of education, but of edification in every sense of the word.

Cosimo offers this series by individual volume at leading online bookstores or as a full set in hardcover or paperback, especially of interest to historians, collectors, who like to expand their personal library, professional librarians, or for parents wanting their high school kids to learn more before going off to college. Actually it is a must for those of you who want to know the fundamentals of literature, philosophy and history without being muddled by a multitude of platitudes in social media, gaming and never-ending TV shows. If you are interested in purchasing the full set, please contact us.

The collection includes titles such as:

• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• The Complete Poems of John Milton
• Ben-Hur
• The Origin of Species
• Don Quixote
• The Odyssey
• Beowulf
• Aeneid, and many more

The paperback retail list price for this series is: $1209.49, but now our price is: $969.99 (you save $239.50 or a 20 percent discount)

The hardcover retail list price for this series is: $1784.49, but now our price is: $1429.99 (you save $354.5 or a 20 percent discount)

September Book of the Month: Classroom Struggles

This September, Cosimo is celebrating Classroom Struggles as our book of the month. This eye-opening work, originally published by Transitions and TOL Chalkboard, provides a collection of news and feature articles written by young journalists in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Russia.

Each informative article exposes the political and socio-cultural issues that hinder educational growth and prosperity in these regions. This collection offers insight with essays such as "Talking Past Another: Students in Crimea can learn in a variety of languages. Most choose Russian," "Running in Place: Despite Efforts to distance itself from Soviet times, the Ukrainian education system can't kick its old habits," and "A Terrible Thing to Waste: Education in Russia is becoming another tool of the ruling party."

Classroom Struggles: Education Reporting and Analysis from Transitions offers compelling insight into the classrooms of multiple areas around the world. This collection is a fascinating source for anyone interested in political issues, educational reform, and/or the mentioned regions.

About Transitions
Transitions is a nonprofit organization established to strengthen the professionalism, independence and impact of the news media in the post-communist countries of Europe and the former Soviet Union. Based in Prague, the organization does this through a combination of journalism and media training programs, and the publication of Transitions Online (www.tol.org) magazine.

Cosimo is proud to offer Classroom Struggles in paperback at leading online bookstores including Barnes & Noble (paperback) and Amazon (paperback).

Cosimo B2B is Cosimo's services unit, that offers publishing services to organizations such as Transitions, who are considering setting up their own publishing company, in order to reach worldwide readership and enhance their brand name. We welcome those organizations and institutions that are aligned with Cosimo's mission of creating a smarter and more sustainable society by connecting people with valuable ideas. If your organization wants to know more about the benefits of having its own imprint and is interested in working with us to create such an imprint, please visit our private imprint page.

September Classic of the Month: The Child and the Curriculum

For many children and teachers across the United States, today marks the first day of school! In celebration of new pencils, fresh textbooks, clean notebooks, and little minds eager to learn, we happily present our September Classic of the Month, The Child and the Curriculum by John Dewey.

In a time when memorization and recollection were the primary expectations in a child’s education, John Dewey discovered that essential components lacked within the classroom walls – exploration, curiosity, and ultimately, the ability to experience. He found that how children were expected to learn, greatly differed from the innate learning process we are all naturally inclined to follow— that the growth of knowledge is spurred through manipulation of one’s environment and one’s reflection upon it. It is in his words that readers can grapple the conclusion of his thoughts:“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”

In this fascinating single volume, two of John Dewey’s insightful essays on education in America are presented, which display ground-breaking theory that has provided a foundation to modern education.

About the Author
American educator and philosopher John Dewey (1859–1952) helped found the American Association of University Professors. He served as a professor of philosophy at Columbia University from 1904 to 1930 and authored numerous books, including How We Think (1910),
Reconstruction in Philosophy (1919), and Human Nature and Conduct (1922).

Cosimo Classics is proud to offer this title in both hardcover and paperback at leading online bookstores including Barnes & Noble (paperback, hardcover) and Amazon (paperback,hardcover).