- Table View
- List View
Yardsticks For Failure: Adventures in Friendship and Fluster
by Ivo Graham'A hilarious and original voice' Josh Widdicombe'Delightfully smart and impossibly charming' Dolly Alderton'His writing is as unpredictable and brilliant as he is' Sophie Duker'I've got nothing but love for Mr Ivo Graham' Frankie BoyleYardsticks For Failure is the story of the most frantic two years of Ivo Graham's already quite frantic life, 2022-2024, two years of tasks and tears and everything in between.The amount of stuff Ivo packs into these two years will excite you and exhaust you, enthral you and appal you, and many more carefully choreographed pairs of verbs if you'd like this sentence to be even longer. There are some short sentences in this book, such as this one. And this one. But there are some long old sentences too, sentences that take you on whole thrilling adventures all by themselves, sentences that are rich in music and memory, mischief and mourning, sentences that bring you right alongside Ivo in his train-chasing, gamefacing,name-dropping, heart-stopping chaos of an existence. No one lives like Ivo does, and no one writes like him either. There are failures in his life but this book is not one of them. Come on in.'Not a complete waste of his school fees' Jenny Eclair'A trash man from a trash family' James Acaster
Yardsticks For Failure: Adventures in Friendship and Fluster
by Ivo Graham'A hilarious and original voice' Josh Widdicombe'Delightfully smart and impossibly charming' Dolly Alderton'His writing is as unpredictable and brilliant as he is' Sophie Duker'I've got nothing but love for Mr Ivo Graham' Frankie BoyleYardsticks For Failure is the story of the most frantic two years of Ivo Graham's already quite frantic life, 2022-2024, two years of tasks and tears and everything in between.The amount of stuff Ivo packs into these two years will excite you and exhaust you, enthral you and appal you, and many more carefully choreographed pairs of verbs if you'd like this sentence to be even longer. There are some short sentences in this book, such as this one. And this one. But there are some long old sentences too, sentences that take you on whole thrilling adventures all by themselves, sentences that are rich in music and memory, mischief and mourning, sentences that bring you right alongside Ivo in his train-chasing, gamefacing,name-dropping, heart-stopping chaos of an existence. No one lives like Ivo does, and no one writes like him either. There are failures in his life but this book is not one of them. Come on in.'Not a complete waste of his school fees' Jenny Eclair'A trash man from a trash family' James Acaster
Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter
by Stephanie Pearl-McPheeOne woman shares hilarious personal stories of her obsession, frustration, reflection, and fun with knitting.An obsessed knitter who can’t seem to put the needles down, author Stephanie Pearl-McPhee reveals the tangled and sometimes maniacal path of her knitting triumphs and disasters in Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter.Sharing both humorous and poignant tales of knitting escapades, such as fleeing from a yarn-thieving squirrel, dismantling a car to find a vital needle, and what it feels like to wrap a newborn baby in the work of your own hands. Yarn Harlot exposes the extreme sport of knitting, and adventure that can be fulfilling, exasperating, and wickedly funny.From the moment Stephanie’s family discovers that she has taken to storing yarn in the piano to her attempts to foist knitted socks on a friend with a wool “allergy,” Yarn Harlot looks at knitting with humor, insight, and sympathy for the obsessed.“Stephanie Pearl-McPhee turns both typical and unique knitting experiences into very funny and articulate prose.” —Meg Swansen, Schoolhouse Press“An intimate view of the passionate knitter’s psyche: a transport of hilarity for knitters and the knitted-for; I laughed until my stitches fell helplessly from my needles!”—Lucy Neatby, author of Cool Socks Warm Feet“A sort of David Sedaris-like take on knitting—laugh-out-loud funny most of the time and poignantly reflective when it’s not cracking you up.” —Library Journal
Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter
by Stephanie Pearl-McpheeAn obsessed knitter who can't seem to put the needles down, author Stephanie Pearl-McPhee reveals the tangled and sometimes maniacal path of her knitting triumphs and disasters in this sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but all true story. Stephanie talks about the importance and method of stash, how to set reasonable goals for yourself for knitting, what happens when your family doesn't want you to knit, and the many pitfalls that might befall a knitter.
Yarns (World Of Cruising Ser.)
by Tristan Jones&“A pleasure . . . a brilliant collection of yarns about [a British mariner&’s] life, his sailing adventures, and his thoughts about man and the sea.&” —Lloyd's List In Yarns, legendary sailor and adventurer Tristan Jones tells stories of his remarkable life at sea. Along with tales of the beautiful cruises he has made around the world and the memorable people he has met along the way, Jones has advice for his readers on everything from captaining a boat to engaging with locals in remote locations. He proposes his own theory for the mystery of the ghost ship Mary Celeste. Other yarns include a story of a troubled steamship, his accounts of an unlikely salvage operation in Ibiza, a strange rendezvous on the coast of Africa, and his chance encounter with a renowned American sailor. Jones even shares what prompted him to begin writing in the first place—a turn of fortune that sailing and reading fans have lauded him for ever since. &“The characters and capers, including a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery, pour deliciously from the pen of this legendary adventurer.&” —Cruising World
Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography
by Barry Rubin Judith Colp RubinYasir Arafat stands as one of the most resilient, recognizable and controversial political figures of modern times. The object of unrelenting suspicion, steady admiration and endless speculation, Arafat has occupied the center stage of Middle East politics for almost four decades. Yasir Arafat is the most comprehensive political biography of this remarkable man. Forged in a tumultuous era of competing traditionalism, radicalism, Arab nationalism, and Islamist forces, the Palestinian movement was almost entirely Arafat's creation, and he became its leader at an early age. Arafat took it through a dizzying series of crises and defeats, often of his own making, yet also ensured that it survived, grew, and gained influence. Disavowing terrorism repeatedly, he also practiced it constantly. Arafat's elusive behavior ensured that radical regimes saw in him a comrade in arms, while moderates backed him as a potential partner in peace. After years of devotion to armed struggle, Arafat made a dramatic agreement with Israel that let him return to his claimed homeland and transformed him into a legitimized ruler. Yet at the moment of decision at the Camp David summit and afterward, when he could have achieved peace and a Palestinian state, he sacrificed the prize he had supposedly sought for the struggle he could not live without. Richly populated with the main events and dominant leaders of the Middle East, this detailed and analytical account by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin follows Arafat as he moves to Kuwait, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, and finally to Palestinian-ruled soil. It shows him as he rewrites his origins, experiments with guerrilla war, develops a doctrine of terrorism, fights endless diplomatic battles, and builds a movement, constantly juggling states, factions, and world leaders. Whole generations and a half-dozen U.S. presidents have come and gone over the long course of Arafat's career. But Arafat has outlasted them all, spanning entire eras, with three constants always present: he has always survived, he has constantly seemed imperiled, and he has never achieved his goals. While there has been no substitute for Arafat, the authors conclude, Arafat has been no substitute for a leader who could make peace.
Yasmeena's Choice: A True Story of War, Rape, Courage and Survival
by Jean SassonThis is the true story of Yasmeena, a bright and beautiful young Lebanese woman who was imprisoned in Kuwait during the first Gulf War. Yasmeena's shocking journey is a tale of the madness of war, of the sexual brutality unleashed by chaos, and of one woman's courage to stand in danger's way to aid her fellow sufferers. This is an explicit, graphic, and honest book. It is for mature audiences only.Jean Sasson has spent her career sharing the personal stories of courageous Middle Eastern women. PRINCESS: Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia was an international bestseller. It has become a classic, taught in colleges and high schools and devoured by anyone who aspires to understand the Middle East.Yasmeena was quite literally an innocent abroad. She was a college educated, English-speaking flight attendant graced with an unusual amount of confidence. She was also a virgin, a conservative Muslim daughter and sister.When Yasmeena's flight out of Kuwait was delayed, it was because Saddam Hussein had just invaded Kuwait. Iraqi soldiers threw her into a woman's prison where the guards committed ghastly sexual attacks and tortured the women.After Yasmeena was brutalized by the captain of the prison, she thought she was the most unfortunate woman on earth. But that was before she befriended Lana, whose rapist took glee in inflicting hurt. Yasmeena used her position as the captain's favorite to protect her friend, though she also was forced into a wrenching decision.As Americans and other allies march into Kuwait, the Iraqis flee and Yasmeena escapes. Eventually she finds a safe harbor where Sasson interviews her and records every horrific experience.Sasson has wanted to write this story for many years. But she knew that the sexual explicitness and violence would make it difficult to publish. A year ago, Yasmeena's story and the choices she was forced to make invaded Sasson's dreams. She realized that now was the right time to share the story. And so here it is, Sasson's testament to an articulate, angry, brave young woman who not only survived but who was eager to share her story with the world.
Yasuke: The true story of the legendary African Samurai
by Geoffrey Girard Thomas LockleyWARRIOR. SAMURAI. LEGEND.The remarkable life of history's first foreign-born samurai, and his astonishing journey from Northeast Africa to the heights of Japanese society.The man who came to be known as Yasuke arrived in Japan in the 16th century, an indentured mercenary arriving upon one of the Portuguese ships carrying a new language, a new religion and an introduction to the slave trade. Curiously tall, bald, massively built and black skinned, he was known as a steadfast bodyguard of immense strength and stature, and swiftly captured the interest, and thence the trust, of the most powerful family in all of Japan. Two years later, he vanished.Yasuke is the story of a legend that still captures the imagination of people across the world. It brings to life a little known side of Japan - a gripping narrative about an extraordinary figure in a fascinating time and place.
Yavarum Sodara (All Men are Brothers)
by Krishyna Kripalani R. VenkatarajuluMahatma Gandhi, father of nation of India sacrificed his life for his country. This book is a selection from Gandhiji’s Writings.
Yaya's Story: The Quest for Well-Being in the World
by Paul StollerYaya’s Story is a book about Yaya Harouna, a Songhay trader originally from Niger who found a path to America. It is also a book about Paul Stoller--its author--an American anthropologist who found his own path to Africa. Separated by ethnicity, language, profession, and culture, these two men’s lives couldn’t be more different. But when they were both threatened by a grave illness--cancer--those differences evaporated, and the two were brought to profound existential convergence, a deep camaraderie in the face of the most harrowing of circumstances. Yaya’s Story is that story. Harouna and Stoller would meet in Harlem, at a bustling African market where Harouna built a life as an African art trader and Stoller was conducting research. Moving from Belayara in Niger to Silver Spring, Maryland, and from the Peace Corps to fieldwork to New York, Stoller recounts their separate lives and how the threat posed by cancer brought them a new, profound, and shared sense of meaning. Combining memoir, ethnography, and philosophy through a series of interconnected narratives, he tells a story of remarkable friendship and the quest for well-being. It’s a story of difference and unity, of illness and health, a lyrical reflection on human resiliency and the shoulders we lean on.
Yayoi Kusama (Lives of the Artists)
by Robert Shore'I, Kusama, am the modern Alice in Wonderland' Yayoi KusamaNonagenarian Japanese artist is simultaneously one of the most famous and most mysterious artists on the planet. A wild child of the 1950s and 1960s, she emerged out of the international Fluxus movement to launch naked happenings in New York and went on to become a doyenne of that city's counter-cultural scene. In the early 1970s, she returned to Japan and by 1977 had checked herself in to a psychiatric hospital which has remained her home to this day. But, though she was removed from the world, she was definitely not in retirement. Her love and belief in the polka dot has given birth to some of the most surprising and inspiring installations and paintings of the last four decades - and made her exhibitions the most visited of any single living artist.
Yayoi Kusama (Lives of the Artists)
by Robert Shore'I, Kusama, am the modern Alice in Wonderland' Yayoi KusamaNonagenarian Japanese artist is simultaneously one of the most famous and most mysterious artists on the planet. A wild child of the 1950s and 1960s, she emerged out of the international Fluxus movement to launch naked happenings in New York and went on to become a doyenne of that city's counter-cultural scene. In the early 1970s, she returned to Japan and by 1977 had checked herself in to a psychiatric hospital which has remained her home to this day. But, though she was removed from the world, she was definitely not in retirement. Her love and belief in the polka dot has given birth to some of the most surprising and inspiring installations and paintings of the last four decades - and made her exhibitions the most visited of any single living artist.
Yeager: An Autobiography
by Chuck Yeager Leo JanosGeneral Chuck Yeager, the greatest test pilot of them all -- the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound... The World War II flying ace who shot down a Messerschmitt jet with a prop-driven P-51 Mustang... The hero who defined a certain quality that all hotshot fly-boys of the postwar era aimed to achieve: the right stuff. Now Chuck Yeager tells his whole incredible life story with the same "wide-open, full throttle" approach that has marked his astonishing career. What it was really like engaging in do-or-die dogfights over Nazi Europe. How after being shot over occupied France, Yeager somehow managed to escape. The amazing behind-the-scenes story of smashing the sound barrier despite cracked ribs from a riding accident days before. The entire story is here, in Yeager's own words, and in wonderful insights from his wife and those friends and colleagues who have known him best. It is the personal and public story of a man who settled for nothing less than excellence, a one-of-a-kind portrait of a true American hero.
Yeah, But Where Are You Really From?: A story of overcoming the odds
by Marguerite Penrose'An engrossing, urgent, and entertaining read. I couldn't put it down' Roddy Doyle______Marguerite Penrose's is an extraordinary story of making a great life from complicated beginnings. Marguerite was born in a Dublin mother-and-baby home in 1974, the daughter of an Irish mother and a Zambian father. Severe scoliosis indicated a future of difficult medical procedures. She was a little girl who needed a break. And she got it at three when she was fostered - and later adopted - by a young couple, Mick and Noeline, and acquired a mam, dad, sister, Ciara, and loving extended family. Growing up, Marguerite's appearance was occasionally remarked on by strangers, but it wasn't until her teens that she understood that her skin colour was a provocation for some. The progressive city that she knew was revealed to have an unpleasant undercurrent. So, she became an expert in shaping her life around anything that marked her out as 'different'.Marguerite's story is one of facing some big questions - Who am I? How do I live in world made for people with bodies different to mine? Why does anyone care about my skin colour? - with intelligence, humour, courage and common-sense. She writes about coming to terms with the circumstances of her birth and, like so many in her position, looking for answers. About navigating the world as an active woman with a disability. About what it means to be both Irish and Black, particularly at a moment when the conversation is becoming mainstream in Ireland and she is thinking about it in new ways herself. Mostly, she writes about embracing life in a spirit of openness and positivity.Yeah, But Where Are You Really From? is a captivating, wise and inspiring memoir by a truly remarkable woman.___________'Beautiful, moving, tender and informative' SINÉAD MORIARTY'Wonderful' MIRIAM O'CALLAGHAN
Yeah, I Said It
by Wanda SykesWanda Sykes reduces people to tears -- tears of laughter. She's done so as a stand-up comic, a sitcom star, and a sports commentator for years now, and in the process she's gained a huge fan base nationwide. Now that she's conquered television, she's applying her genius to her first book, Yeah, I Said It. Here, Wanda presents hilarious and uncensored commentary on sex, family, politics, celebrities, and much more than she could ever say in a sound bite. But then again, she's a genius with a sound bite too. Here's what she says about men and football. "I used to think that football took place in this overbearing male-only environment that bled masculine domination. But the more I attend, the more I realize these football fans could actually be experiencing the straight man's gay pride parade. You see men painting each other's faces in bright colors. You see men proud to wear another man's last name on their shirt. You see some men wear no shirt at all....Hot wieners on every corner as you walk up to the main competition. Men open the back of their trunks for a little tailgating." Here's what she says about women: "Women are taking stripper classes in hopes their men will stop going to strip clubs....You can't compete with those strippers....You gotta have...the stripper mentality. In other words, the ability to lie like a dog for a measly buck. A stripper will tell your man anything for a dollar. 'Oow, I thought you were Brad Pitt.' " An uproarious and irreverent collection from one of today's foremost comedic talents, Yeah, I Said It is Wanda Sykes at her uncensored best. Here, she channels her sharp wit into funny bits on the truth as she sees it from the halls of government in Washington, D.C., to the red carpets and boardrooms of Hollywood. Imbued with her razor-sharp voice, these essays showcase Sykes's sidesplitting candor and her trademark brand of comedy.
Yeah, Nah!: A celebration of life and the words that make us who we are
by William McInnesHave you ever bunged it on?Behaved like a drongo?Added mayo to a story?Lost your Reg Grundies?Join bestselling storyteller William McInnes as he offers his own take on our colourful and colloquial way with words. From the simpler times of childhood to today's testing (and unprecedented!) times, or when we're wasting time, enjoying sporting times or hitting the big time, Australians have a turn of phrase for every situation. Our love of plain speaking communicates the essence of the thing to our mates, to those in the know - and to those who should know better.Part memoir, part manifesto, this warm, witty, poignant and laugh-out-loud funny collection will have you thinking about what you say, how you say it and what that really says about us as a nation. Praise for the writing of William McInnes'Warm and engaging . . . feels a little bit like home' Daily Telegraph'If there is a quintessence of Australia at its best, William McInnes has distilled it' The Age'Warm, nostalgic, funny and undeniably Australian' Sydney Morning Herald
Yeah, No. Not Happening.: How I Found Happiness Swearing Off Self-Improvement and Saying F*ck It All—and How You Can Too
by Karen KarboThe author of the acclaimed, bestselling In Praise of Difficult Women delivers a hilarious feminist manifesto that encourages us to reject “self-improvement” and instead learn to appreciate and flaunt our complex, and flawed, human selves.Why are we so obsessed with being our so-called best selves? Because our modern culture force feeds women lies designed to heighten their insecurities: “You can do it all—crush it at work, at home, in the bedroom, at PTA and at Pilates—and because you can, you should. We can show you how!” Karen Karbo has had enough. She’s taking a stand against the cultural and societal pressures, marketing, and media influences that push us to spend endless time, energy and money trying to “fix” ourselves—a race that has no finish line and only further increases our send of self-dissatisfaction and loathing. “Yeah, no, not happening,” is her battle cry. In this wickedly smart and entertaining book, Karbo explores how “self-improvery” evolved from the provenance of men to women. Recast as “consumers” in the 1920s, women, it turned out, could be seduced into buying anything that might improve not just their lives, but their sense of self-worth. Today, we smirk at Mad Men-era ads targeting 1950s housewives—even while savvy marketers, aided and abetted by social media “influencers,” peddle skin care “systems,” skinny tea, and regimens that promise to deliver endless happiness. We’re not simply seduced into dropping precious disposable income on empty promises; the underlying message is that we can’t possibly know what’s good for us, what we want, or who we should be. Calling BS, Karbo blows the lid off of this age-old trend and asks women to start embracing their awesomely imperfect selves.There is no one more dangerous than a woman who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. Yeah, No, Not Happening is a call to arms to build a posse of dangerous women who swear off self-improvement and its peddlers. A welcome corrective to our inner-critic, Karbo’s manifesto will help women restore their sanity and reclaim their self-worth.
Year In The Sun: A legacy in Cricket
by Michael VaughanDescribed as the most exciting batsman to emerge since David Gower retired, Michael Vaughan provides a personal view of his own amazing acheivements during 2002. He also contemplates the controversy that surrounded England's ill-fated World Cup mission, and discusses the real story behind the decision not to go to Zimbabwe. Vaughan's thoughts about Nasser Hussain, the captain he has served most, and his other international and county colleagues are also shared.Every aspect of an intense and exciting year gets Vaughan's complete consideration - from being given out handled ball in India to clean bowling Sachin Tendulkar, from being targeted by Glenn McGrath to winning the Player of the Series award in the Ashes battle, and on to the World Cup fiasco. This is a compelling insight into the world of the 2002 Cricketer of the Year.
Year In The Sun: A legacy in Cricket
by Michael VaughanDescribed as the most exciting batsman to emerge since David Gower retired, Michael Vaughan provides a personal view of his own amazing acheivements during 2002. He also contemplates the controversy that surrounded England's ill-fated World Cup mission, and discusses the real story behind the decision not to go to Zimbabwe. Vaughan's thoughts about Nasser Hussain, the captain he has served most, and his other international and county colleagues are also shared. Every aspect of an intense and exciting year gets Vaughan's complete consideration - from being given out handled ball in India to clean bowling Sachin Tendulkar, from being targeted by Glenn McGrath to winning the Player of the Series award in the Ashes battle, and on to the World Cup fiasco. This is a compelling insight into the world of the 2002 Cricketer of the Year.
Year in Nam: A Native American Soldier's Story
by Leroy TecubeRecollections from a Native American about the year that he spent in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and how it influenced him throughout his life
Year of Desperate Struggle: Jeb Stuart and His Cavalry, from Gettysburg to Yellow Tavern, 1863–1864
by Monte AkersThis chronicle of the legendary Confederate Army of Northern Virginia brings vivid detail and insight to the campaigns of Maj. Gen. Jeb Stuart. By the summer of 1863, following the Southern victory at Chancellorsville, it was clear to everyone on both sides of the Civil War that the Army of Northern Virginia was the most formidable force Americans had ever put in the field. Much of that army&’s success was attributable to its cavalry arm, led by Maj. Gen. J.E.B. &“Jeb&” Stuart. But while Stuart could literally run rings around the enemy, Union arithmetic and expertise were gradually catching up. In Year of Desperate Struggle, author Monte Akers tracks Stuart and his cavalry from Gettysburg to the Overland Campaign, concluded only when Jeb himself succumbed to a gunshot wound at the gates of Richmond. It was a year of grim casualties and ferocious fighting—in short, a year of desperate struggle with the gloves off on both sides. In this sequel to Year of Glory, historian Monte Akers provides a minute examination of Stuart&’s cavalry during the controversial Gettysburg campaign, followed by nine months of sparring, during which the Union Army of the Potomac declined to undertake further thrusts against Virginia. After Stuart&’s death, the Army of Northern Virginia would eventually be cornered, but while he was alive, it was often the Northerners who most needed to look to their security.
Year of Impossible Goodbyes
by Sook Nyul ChoiThis autobiographical story tells of ten-year-old Sookan and her family's suffering and humiliation in Korea, first under Japanese rule and after the Russians invade, and of a harrowing escape to South Korea.
Year of Medical Thinking
by Sasha K. Reid"I quickly swapped my 'Ms Innocent, the world is tough but basically okay' hat for the one of 'Breast Cancer Patient', madly trying to process everything that the doctor was saying." An inauspicious encounter in a doctor's surgery during a routine follow-up for IVF initiates a descent into a labyrinth of questioning and uncertainty. From those first words ushered out of the doctors mouth starts a year where the mind is consumed by medical research, medical terms, hospital visits, medication and explanations. The diagnosis was breast cancer. Filled with reflections on life, motherhood, friendship, and the future, A Year of Medical Thinking chronicles one woman's ordinary life as it is catapulted into a quest for meaning and purpose. SK Reid has shared personal experiences in this book in a way that speaks to all. The book focuses on the shift that occurs in the brain after a potentially life threatening diagnosis; the loss of control, security and hope prompts philosophical and spiritual reflections on life, vitality and most importantly resilience. Guaranteed to strike a cord with those who have experienced the loss of a baby or any potentially life-threatening illness, readers are reminded about the importance of sharing stories, talking about grief and never giving up in the face of adversity. Author and renowned filmmaker, Paul Cox (Tales From The Cancer Ward, Transit Lounge, 2011) has described it as "a very courageous book" that will provide "comfort" and be of "help to others who face sudden twists of fate" in their lives.
Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election That Brought on the Civil War
by Douglas R. EgertonAn analysis of the events that led up to the 1860 Presidential election and the machinations that culminated in the Civil War.
Year of No Clutter: A Memoir
by Eve SchaubEve has a problem with clutter. Too much stuff and too easily acquired, it confronts her in every corner and on every surface in her house. When she pledges to tackle the worst offender, her horror of a "Hell Room," she anticipates finally being able to throw away all of the unnecessary things she can't bring herself to part with: her fifth-grade report card, dried-up art supplies, an old vinyl raincoat.But what Eve discovers isn't just old CDs and outdated clothing, but a fierce desire within herself to hold on to her identity. Our things represent our memories, our history, a million tiny reference points in our lives. If we throw our stuff in the trash, where does that leave us? And if we don't...how do we know what's really important?Everyone has their own Hell Room, and Eve's battle with her clutter, along with her eventual self-clarity, encourages everyone to dig into their past to declutter their future. Year of No Clutter is a deeply inspiring—and frequently hilarious — examination of why we keep stuff in the first place, and how to let it all go.