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A Heart So Big
by Rio HogartyONE WOMAN. 140 NEEDY CHILDREN. A FOSTER MOTHER'S INSPIRING LIFE STORY. Rio Hogarty has always opened her home and her heart to children in need. And she has never stopped. A Heart So Big is the astonishing and moving story of Rio's life and how she has tried to make a difference.It includes stories of trauma, Rio has rescued children from the direst of circumstances, and her own heartache, but also the humour and love of a life spent fostering over 140 children. A heart-warming and uplifting account for fans ofMollie Moran's Aprons and Silver Spoons. 'She is instinctively protective of children in need, and doesn't take "no" for an answer. She's also fearless.' The Herald
Hearts and Diamonds
by Justine ElyotThe celebrity and the bad boy?Former celebrity judge Jenna Diamond has embarked on a steamy affair with a perfect stranger who cares far more about her body than her fame.However, as the press scrutiny of their relationship intensifies Jenna cannot resist trying to smooth out her lover’s rough edges. But Jason is a man who refuses to be tamed. Can their relationship ever be more than a kinky fling?Addictive, romantic and devilishly sexy, Hearts and Diamonds is part of the Diamond trilogy and perfect for fans of Sylvia Day.
Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches - TianGan DiZhi: The Heart of Chinese Wisdom Traditions
by Zhongxian Wu Karin Taylor Taylor WuEssential reading for serious students of Chinese practical arts, including medicine, martial arts and FengShui, Master Zhongxian Wu and Dr Karin Taylor Wu provide a detailed explanation of the 22 GanZhi symbols in this book, outlining the characteristics of each, and their interactions and relationships. TianGan (Heavenly Stems) and DiZhi (Earthly Branches), commonly abbreviated to GanZhi, originated in the ancient Chinese cosmological sciences and is a complex calendrical system which was created to codify the patterns of life and of the universe itself. The ten symbols of Gan express the Yin or Yang perspective of Five Elements and embody the Way of Heaven. The 12 symbols of Zhi, made manifest in the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, hold the root of each Element and embrace the Way of Earth.Poetic summaries from the Song dynasty give the reader a deep understanding of the nature of each Stem and their relationship to each other. Offering an unprecedented insight into the subtleties and far-reaching influence of this ancient system, this book will be invaluable for the study or practice of Chinese medicine, FengShui, Chinese astrology, traditional Chinese cosmology, Qigong, Taiji, and other inner cultivation practices. A set of study cards (9781848191501), also published by Singing Dragon, are available to accompany this book.
Heidi Heckelbeck and the Tie-Dyed Bunny: Heidi Heckelbeck And The Christmas Surprise; Heidi Heckelbeck And The Tie-dyed Bunny; Heidi Heckelbeck Is A Flower Girl; Heidi Heckelbeck Gets The Sniffles (Heidi Heckelbeck #10)
by Wanda CovenHeidi brings home the class bunny over Easter weekend—and finds herself in a magical, colorful mess!Easter is just a few days away and Heidi Heckelbeck can’t wait! The holiday weekend is even more special because it’s Heidi’s turn to take home Maggie, the school’s bunny. But when Heidi takes Maggie out of her cage, trouble follows. Maggie escapes from Heidi’s arms and runs through all of the Easter egg dye! Will Heidi figure out how to un-tie-dye the colorful bunny before she has to take her back to school?With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Heidi Heckelbeck chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.
Henri Matisse: A Second Life
by Alastair SookeHenri Matisse by Alastair Sooke - an essential guide to one of the 20th century's greatest artists'One January morning in 1941, only a fortnight or so after his seventy-first birthday, the bearded and bespectacled French artist Henri Matisse was lying in a hospital bed preparing to die.'Diagnosed with cancer, the acclaimed painter, and rival of Picasso, seemed to be facing his demise. Then something unexpected happened. After a life-saving operation that left him too weak to paint, and often too frail to even get out of bed, Matisse invented a ground-breaking and effortless new way of making art. The results rank among his greatest work.In an astonishing blaze of creativity, he began conjuring mesmerising designs of dazzling dancers and thrilling tightrope walkers, sensuous swimmers and mythical figures falling from the heavens. His joyful and unprecedented new works were as spontaneous as jazz music and as wondrous as crystal-clear lagoons. Their medium? Coloured paper and scissors.This book, by art critic and broadcaster Alastair Sooke, focuses on Matisse's extraordinary final decade, which he called 'a second life', after he had returned from the grave. Both a biography and a guide to Matisse's 'cut-outs', it tells the story of the valedictory flourish of one of the most important and beloved artists of the twentieth century.Published in time for a major Tate Modern retrospective.'Sooke is an immensely engaging character. He has none of the weighty self-regard that often afflicts art experts and critics; rather he approaches his subjects with a questioning, open, exploratory attitude' Sarah Vine, The Times 'His shows are excellent - clever, lively, scholarly, but not too lecturey; he's very good at linking his painters with the world outside the studio, and at how these artists have affected the world today' Sam Wollaston reviewing 'Modern Masters', GuardianAlastair Sooke is art critic of the Daily Telegraph. He has written and presented documentaries on television and radio for the BBC, including Modern Masters, The World's Most ExpensivePaintings, Treasures of Ancient Rome and, most recently, Treasures of Ancient Egypt. He is a regular reporter for The Culture Show on BBC Two. He is the author of Roy Lichtenstein: How Modern Art was Saved by Donald Duck.
Henry II: A Prince Among Princes (Penguin Monarchs)
by Richard BarberHenry II (1154-89) through a series of astonishing dynastic coups became the ruler of an enormous European empire. One of the most dynamic, restless and clever men ever to rule England, he was brought down both by his catastrophic relationship with his archbishop Thomas Becket and his debilitating arguments with his sons, most importantly the future Richard I and King John. His empire may have ultimately collapsed, but in Richard Barber's vivid and sympathetic account the reader can see why Henry II left such a compelling impression on his contemporaries.
Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame (Penguin Monarchs)
by John GuyCharismatic, insatiable and cruel, Henry VIII was, as John Guy shows, a king who became mesmerized by his own legend - and in the process destroyed and remade England. Said to be a 'pillager of the commonwealth', this most instantly recognizable of kings remains a figure of extreme contradictions: magnificent and vengeful; a devout traditionalist who oversaw a cataclysmic rupture with the church in Rome; a talented, towering figure who nevertheless could not bear to meet people's eyes when he talked to them. In this revealing new account, John Guy looks behind the mask into Henry's mind to explore how he understood the world and his place in it - from his isolated upbringing and the blazing glory of his accession, to his desperate quest for fame and an heir and the terrifying paranoia of his last, agonising, 54-inch-waisted years.
Her Last Assassin (Shakespeare’s Mistress #3)
by Victoria LambA gripping historical thriller set in Tudor England during the reign of Elizabeth I.Lady-in-waiting Lucy Morgan is once again torn between her dangerous attraction to William Shakespeare and her fierce loyalty to Queen Elizabeth I.But England is facing its gravest threat yet. The Spanish have declared war, and Elizabeth finds herself attacked by sea – and by Catholic conspiracy from within her own court. Master Goodluck goes undercover, tasked with discovering the identity of this secret assassin, leaving his ward Lucy not knowing if the spy is alive or dead. Meanwhile Queen Elizabeth is growing old in a court of troublesome young noblemen, while Lucy is struggling to love a man whose duties lie elsewhere.When the final challenge comes, these two women must be ready to face it. But there is one last surprise in store for both of them …
The Hero Pup
by Megan RixThe Hero Pup is a heartwarming and uplifting story from Megan Rix, bestselling author of The Great Escape, The Victory Dogs, The Bomber Dog and A Soldier's Friend.'For now Patch is just a Helper Pup,' Joe said. 'But one day . . .'Eleven-year-old Joe is dreading his first Christmas without Dad.But then Mum suggests they volunteer for Helper Dogs and train puppies to help people in need.Joe has always wanted a dog and when he meets golden Labrador Patch he knows he's found him. With Joe's love and training, can Patch go from playful pupy to heroic helper - and mend Joe's broken heart along the way?A classic-in-the-making, Megan Rix takes little-known true stories of animal heroes and turns them into must-have heartwarming stories for 8+ readers, perfect for fans of Michael Morpurgo and Sarah Lean. 'If you love Michael Morpurgo, you will enjoy this' Sunday Express'A moving tale told with warmth, kindliness and lashings of good sense that lovers of Dick King-Smith will especially appreciate' The Times 'Every now and then a writer comes along with a unique way of storytelling . . . Meet Megan Rix . . . her novels are deeply moving and will strike a chord with animal lovers.' LoveReading'A perfect story for animal lovers and lovers of adventure stories' Travelling Book CompanyAbout the author:Megan Rix is the recent winner of the Stockton and Shrewsbury Children's Book Awards, and has been shortlisted for numerous other children's book awards. She lives with her husband by a river in England. When she's not writing she can be found walking her two golden retrievers, Traffy and Bella, who are often in the river.Also available by Megan Rix:The Great Escape, The Victory Dogs, The Bomber Dog and A Soldier's Friend
Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin
by Karl WhitneyKarl Whitney's Hidden City: a brilliant portrait of DublinDublin is a city much visited and deeply mythologized. In Hidden City, Karl Whitney - who has been described by Gorse as 'Dublin's best psychogeographer since James Joyce' - explores the places the city's denizens and tourists easily overlook. Whitney finds hidden places and untold stories in underground rivers of the Liberties, on the derelict sites once earmarked for skyscrapers in Ballsbridge, in the twenty Dublin homes once inhabited by Joyce, and on the beach at Loughshinny, where he watches raw sewage being pumped into the shallows of the Irish Sea.Hidden City shows us a Dublin - or a collection of Dublins - that we've never seen before, a city hiding in plain sight.'Ingenious and affectionate ... It would be great then if the Americans and the Germans who come to Dublin in large numbers, and claim to love the city, had Whitney's book in hand rather than, say, Ulysses, or some official guide book' Colm Tóibín, Guardian'Marvellous ... The author's eye for observation is second to none ... Hidden City is a necessary corrective to a heritage-influenced view of the past and present: for Whitney reminds us that all our environments are human - created for and maintained by us, for good and ill' Daily Telegraph 'This captivating urban tale has soul, scholarship and insights aplenty' Sunday Times 'Warm, charming, sharp and informative, this brilliant book is an indispensable guide to contemporary Dublin' Sunday Business Post'Oh, how the capital has cried out for a book like this ... a fascinating travelogue that will make you look at Dublin with fresh eyes' Irish Independent
Histories of Health in Southeast Asia: Perspectives on the Long Twentieth Century (China Medical Board Centennial Series)
by Tim Harper and Sunil S. AmrithHealth patterns in Southeast Asia have changed profoundly over the past century. In that period, epidemic and chronic diseases, environmental transformations, and international health institutions have created new connections within the region and the increased interdependence of Southeast Asia with China and India. In this volume leading scholars provide a new approach to the history of health in Southeast Asia. Framed by a series of synoptic pieces on the "Landscapes of Health" in Southeast Asia in 1914, 1950, and 2014 the essays interweave local, national, and regional perspectives. They range from studies of long-term processes such as changing epidemics, mortality and aging, and environmental history to detailed accounts of particular episodes: the global cholera epidemic and the hajj, the influenza epidemic of 1918, WWII, and natural disasters. The writers also examine state policy on healthcare and the influence of organizations, from NGOs such as the China Medical Board and the Rockefeller Foundation to grassroots organizations in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The Hive Construct
by Alexander MaskillSituated deep in the Sahara Desert, New Cairo is a city built on technology – from the huge, life-giving solar panels that keep it functioning in a radically changed, resource-scarce world to the artificial implants that have become the answer to all and any of mankind's medical problems. But it is also a divided city, dominated by a handful of omnipotent corporate dynasties. And when a devastating new computer virus begins to spread through the poorest districts, shutting down the life-giving implants that enable so many to survive, the city begins to slide into the anarchy of violent class struggle. Hiding amidst the chaos is Zala Ulora. A gifted hacker and fugitive from justice, she believes she might be able to earn her life back by tracing the virus to its source and destroying it before it destroys the city. Or before the city destroys itself . . .With its vivid characters, bold ideas and explosive action, The Hive is science fiction at its most exciting, inventive and accessible.
Home: A Time Traveller's Tales from Britain's Prehistory
by Francis PryorIn Home Francis Pryor, author of The Making of the British Landscape, archaeologist and broadcaster, takes us on his lifetime's quest: to discover the origins of family life in prehistoric BritainFrancis Pryor's search for the origins of our island story has been the quest of a lifetime. In Home, the Time Team expert explores the first nine thousand years of life in Britain, from the retreat of the glaciers to the Romans' departure. Tracing the settlement of domestic communities, he shows how archaeology enables us to reconstruct the evolution of habits, traditions and customs. But this, too, is Francis Pryor's own story: of his passion for unearthing our past, from Yorkshire to the west country, Lincolnshire to Wales, digging in freezing winters, arid summers, mud and hurricanes, through frustrated journeys and euphoric discoveries. Evocative and intimate, Home shows how, in going about their daily existence, our prehistoric ancestors created the institution that remains at the heart of the way we live now: the family.'Under his gaze, the land starts to fill with tribes and clans wandering this way and that, leaving traces that can still be seen today . . . Pryor feels the land rather than simply knowing it' - Guardian Former president of the Council for British Archaeology, Dr Francis Pryor has spent over thirty years studying our prehistory. He has excavated sites as diverse as Bronze Age farms, field systems and entire Iron Age villages. He appears frequently on TV's Time Team and is the author of The Making of the British Landscape, Seahenge, as well as Britain BC and Britain AD, both of which he adapted and presented as Channel 4 series.
The Hot Belly Diet: A 30-Day Ayurvedic Plan to Reset Your Metabolism, Lose Weight, and Restore Your Body's Natural Balance to Heal Itself
by Suhas G. KshirsagarFrom an internationally recognized physician who combines Eastern and Western medicine, a groundbreaking diet and total body health plan centered on digestive balance and metabolic transformation.The complaints that Dr. Suhas hears on a daily basis, from high body weight, low energy, and poor sleep, to headaches, unexplained congestion, and depression, all have a surprising common denominator: a weak digestive “fire.” Drawing on traditional Indian practices and principles, The Hot Belly Diet shows you how to optimize your digestive powers to foster rapid weight loss and vibrant health. At the core of this three-phase diet that makes lunch the most important meal of the day is a dish called khichadi (pronounced kitch-a-de)—a completely nutritious but incredibly easy-to-make meal that helps clear out your “ama,” or the digestive sludge that antagonizes weight loss, provokes hormonal imbalances, and ultimately triggers inflammation—the root cause of virtually all disease. This unique book also explains what foods are incompatible (milk and eggs, for example), why the sensation of hunger is essential, and how to time your meals throughout the day to avoid snacking. The Hot Belly Diet changes your relationship with food to make healthy eating—and living—effortless. Whether you’re suffering from a chronic condition, looking to prevent future illness, or just want to feel your best every day, The Hot Belly Diet will re-establish your body’s natural balance, creating a thinner, healthier, and happier you.
The Hotel on Place Vendôme: Life, Death, and Betrayal at the Hotel Ritz in Paris
by Tilar J. MazzeoSet against the backdrop of the Nazi occupation of World War II, The Hôtel on Place Vendôme is the captivating history of Paris’s world-famous Hôtel Ritz—a breathtaking tale of glamour, opulence, and celebrity; dangerous liaisons, espionage, and resistance—from Tilar J. Mazzeo, the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow Clicquot and The Secret of Chanel No. 5When France fell to the Germans in June 1940, the legendary Hôtel Ritz on the Place Vendôme—an icon of Paris frequented by film stars and celebrity writers, American heiresses and risqué flappers, playboys, and princes—was the only luxury hotel of its kind allowed in the occupied city by order of Adolf Hitler.Tilar J. Mazzeo traces the history of this cultural landmark from its opening in fin de siècle Paris. At its center, The Hotel on Place Vendôme is an extraordinary chronicle of life at the Ritz during wartime, when the Hôtel was simultaneously headquarters to the highest-ranking German officers, such as Reichsmarshal Hermann Göring, and home to exclusive patrons, including Coco Chanel. Mazzeo takes us into the grand palace’s suites, bars, dining rooms, and wine cellars, revealing a hotbed of illicit affairs and deadly intrigue, as well as stunning acts of defiance and treachery.Rich in detail, illustrated with black-and-white photos, The Hotel on Place Vendôme is a remarkable look at this extraordinary crucible where the future of post-war France—and all of post-war Europe—was transformed.
House of Secrets: Battle of the Beasts (House of Secrets Series #2)
by Chris Columbus Ned VizziniThe sequel to the New York Times bestselling House of Secrets—hailed by J. K. Rowling as "a breakneck, jam-packed roller coaster of an adventure"—this second installment by Hollywood director Chris Columbus (of Harry Potter fame) and bestselling author Ned Vizzini (It's Kind of a Funny Story) is full of even more explosive twists and turns.Since the siblings' last adventure, life in the Walker household is much improved—the family is rich and the Wind Witch is banished. But no Walker will be safe until she is found. Summoning her to San Francisco brings all the danger that comes with her, and puts the Walkers in the crosshairs of a mysterious journey through Denver Kristoff's books. As the Walkers travel from ancient Rome to World War II to Tibet, they are tested in ways that cut deeper than before—by Denver Kristoff, the Wind Witch, and one another.Fantasy fiction fans who enjoy Rick Riordan will find much to love in this thrilling and action-packed novel.
How About Never—Is Never Good for You?: My Life in Cartoons
by Bob MankoffMemoir in cartoons by the longtime cartoon editor of The New YorkerPeople tell Bob Mankoff that as the cartoon editor of The New Yorker he has the best job in the world. Never one to beat around the bush, he explains to us, in the opening of this singular, delightfully eccentric book, that because he is also a cartoonist at the magazine he actually has two of the best jobs in the world. With the help of myriad images and his funniest, most beloved cartoons, he traces his love of the craft all the way back to his childhood, when he started doing funny drawings at the age of eight. After meeting his mother, we follow his unlikely stints as a high-school basketball star, draft dodger, and sociology grad student. Though Mankoff abandoned the study of psychology in the seventies to become a cartoonist, he recently realized that the field he abandoned could help him better understand the field he was in, and here he takes up the psychology of cartooning, analyzing why some cartoons make us laugh and others don't. He allows us into the hallowed halls of The New Yorker to show us the soup-to-nuts process of cartoon creation, giving us a detailed look not only at his own work, but that of the other talented cartoonists who keep us laughing week after week. For desert, he reveals the secrets to winning the magazine's caption contest. Throughout How About Never--Is Never Good for You?, we see his commitment to the motto "Anything worth saying is worth saying funny."
How to Speak Baseball: An Illustrated Guide to Ballpark Banter
by James Charlton Sally CookThis handsome guide to the language of baseball decodes the amusing, clever phrases that pepper commentary about the sport. Packed with witty explanations of everything from "duster" and "rubber arm" to "up the elevator," this ballpark lexicon plays on a nostalgic love for the national pastime while covering ground from baseball's beginnings to today. This humorous mix of definitions and anecdotes is the perfect gift for both lifelong baseball fans and rookies working up the ranks.
The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny
by Peter McGraw Joel WarnerPart road-trip comedy and part social science experiment, a scientist and a journalist “shed fascinating light on what makes us laugh and why” (New York Post).Two guys. Nineteen experiments. Five continents. 91,000 miles. The Humor Code follows the madcap adventures and oddball experiments of Professor Peter McGraw and writer Joel Warner as they discover the secret behind what makes things funny. In their search, they interview countless comics, from Doug Stanhope to Louis CK and travel across the globe from Norway to New York, from Palestine to the Amazon. It’s an epic quest, both brainy and harebrained, that culminates at the world’s largest comedy festival where the pair put their hard-earned knowledge to the test.For the first time, they have established a comprehensive theory that answers the question “what makes things funny?” Based on original research from the Humor Research Lab (HuRL) at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the pair’s experiences across the globe, The Humor Code explains the secret behind winning the New Yorker cartoon caption contest, why some dead baby jokes are funnier than others, and whether laughter really is the best medicine. Hilarious, surprising, and sometimes even touching, The Humor Code “lays out a convincing theory about how humor works, and why it’s an essential survival mechanism” (Mother Jones).
Hunan: A Lifetime of Secrets from Mr Peng’s Chinese Kitchen
by Mr PengFounded in 1982 by Mr Peng, Hunan is a legendary London restaurant which attracts customers from all over the world.At Hunan, diners don’t choose – they simply say what they don’t eat and how spicy they like their food. Mr Peng then does the rest, serving up small portions with the emphasis on sharing many courses. The orders are hand-written and are sent down to the kitchen by a chute and the food travels up in a dumb waiter. Mr Peng is a firm believer in simplicity.Hunan is a landmark book that captures the essence of a unique menu from a unique character. Among the 70 must-have recipes are Mr Peng’s ‘absurdly delicious’ prawn dumplings, lettuce wraps filled with diced chicken, ‘which you just pop into your mouth and scrunch’ and mouth-melting double-cooked pork. As Mr Peng says: 'I often say to people I've only just met: I'm a very strange person. And then I have to explain: food is my life. Despite being close to 70 I'm still in the kitchen at Hunan, on the floor almost every day doing prep, working the wok and talking to guests, most of whom have been regulars for years. The food is the only thing which has changed, and which changes almost daily. It is really about bringing out the most in the ingredients. Subtle blends of chilli and Sichuan peppercorns push enormous pearly scallops to the edge while the gentle salty miso cuts through the tenderest slivers of corn-fed chicken. It is possible because the ingredients I use are fresh and of faultless quality.
The Hurt Artist: My Journey from Suicidal Junkie to Ironman
by Shane Niemeyer Gary BrozekA gritty memoir that chronicles the author's transformation from a homeless junkie who tried to hang himself in prison to a triathlete competing at the Ironman World Championship.With troubles beginning as early as childhood, the trajectory of Shane Niemeyer's life seemed to have only one direction: down. His struggles with heroin addiction led him to jail, and he eventually hit rock bottom. Soon, his two pack a day cigarette habit was the healthiest thing he did. One dark night in jail, his suicide attempt failed. What happened next transcends the term recovery.The Hurt Artist is the searing yet luminous travelogue of Shane's powerful journey from suicidal addict to Ironman. He vividly depicts the landscape of pain in which he's lived his life—emotional and physical pain inflicted upon him and that he inflicts upon himself, pain that pulls him down, and, in detailing his training, the pain he harnesses to lift himself up. Ultimately, Shane's story is one of redemption and triumph, a lesson in the value of second chances and a clear reminder that nobody, regardless of how seemingly desperate their circumstances, is beyond the reach of salvation.From inmate #71768 to Ironman Triathlon World Championship competitor #1419, Shane paints a stirring self-portrait in this hilarious, horrifying, and hopeful account that is sure to hook readers of edgy sports biographies.
I Am Not A Gangster
by Bobby Cummines'I am not a gangster,' I spat. 'I'm a businessman trying to make a hard-earned crust. Understood?'I didn't give him time to reply. I took the barrel out of his mouth and smashed him in the face with the butt. His lip split, but he wasn't a dead man. He seemed to appreciate that his life had been spared.He spluttered his thanks: 'Ok, you’re not a gangster. You are not a gangster.'This is the gripping true story of how one man ruled his north London manor with an iron fist – and a sawn-off shotgun called Kennedy. It’s a shocking insight into a society where the rules are made by gangland leaders and if anybody dare break them, they have to deal with the consequences. Bobby was sent to prison for the first time in 1967, aged 16, and over the next decade he established himself as a hardened criminal running protection rackets and robberies against a backdrop of all-out gang warfare, where doorstep slayings and bloody shoot-outs were common. Eventually Bobby was sentenced to 12 years in Britain’s most notorious prisons, along with the Krays, Charlie Richardson and the Yorkshire Ripper. Inside, he was introduced to the Open University and on his release he soon got down to business again. Only this time his efforts saw him go from custody of Her Majesty’s Prison Service to meeting with the Queen herself... I Am Not A Gangster is an explosive account of life in the criminal underworld by one of Britain’s most dangerous men, but above all it’s a remarkable tale of redemption with the biggest turnaround in gangland history.
I Am The Secret WAG: The true story of my life as an England footballer's wife
by The Secret WAGMoney, cars, homes, holidays, parties and all the shoes you've ever dreamed of. The life of a footballer's wife or girlfriend must be as glamorous and exciting as her other half, right? But behind the closed doors of the WAG's world, there are all the pressures as well as pleasures of success. So what is it really like?The Secret WAG lays bare the reality of existence under the celebrity spotlight. It is about fashion and fame, sex and scandal, but, like the bestselling Secret Footballer books, is also an honest appraisal of life on and off the field of play which will change your preconceptions about footballers and their partners. It is sassy, outspoken, funny and above all, written from the heart. Meet The Secret WAG.
I Forgot to Remember: A Memoir of Amnesia
by Su Meck Daniel de ViséThe courageous memoir of a woman who was robbed of all her memories by a traumatic brain injury—and her more than twenty-five-year struggle to reclaim her life: “[A tale] of triumph in the search for identity” (The New York Times Book Review).In 1988, Su Meck was twenty-two and married with two children when a ceiling fan fell and struck her on the head, erasing all her memories of her life. Although her body healed rapidly, her memories never returned. After just three weeks in the hospital, her physicians released Su and she returned home to take care of her two toddlers. What would you do if you lost your past?Adrift in a world about which she understood almost nothing, Su became an adept mimic, gradually creating routines and rituals that sheltered her and her family from the near-daily threat of disaster—or so she thought. Though Su would eventually relearn to tie her shoes, cook a meal, read, and write, nearly twenty years would pass before a series of personally devastating events shattered the “normal” life she had worked so hard to build, and she realized that she would have to grow up all over again.In her own indelible voice, Su offers a unique view from the inside of a terrible injury as she “recounts her grueling climb back to normalcy…in this heart-wrenching true story” (O, The Oprah Magazine). Piercing, heartbreaking, but finally uplifting, I Forgot to Remember is the story of a woman determined to live life on her own terms.
I Heard My Country Calling: A Memoir
by James WebbIn this brilliantly received memoir, former senator James Webb has outdone himself. It is rare in America that one individual is recognized for the highest levels of combat valor, as a respected member of the literary and journalistic world, and as a blunt-spoken leader in national politics. In this extraordinary memoir, Webb writes vividly about the early years that shaped such a remarkable personal journey.Webb’s mother grew up in the poverty-stricken cotton fields of East Arkansas. His father and lifetime hero was the first in many generations of Webbs, whose roots are in Appalachia, to finish high school. He flew bombers in World War II and cargo planes in the Berlin Airlift, graduated from college in middle age, and became an expert in the nation’s most advanced weaponry.Webb’s account of his childhood is a tremendous American saga as the family endures the constant moves and challenges of the rarely examined post–World War II military, with a stern but emotionally invested father, a loving mother who had borne four children by the age of twenty-four, a granite-like grandmother who held the family together during his father’s frequent deployments, and a rich assortment of aunts, siblings, and cousins. Webb tells of his four years at Annapolis in a voice that is painfully honest but in the end triumphant.His description of Vietnam’s most brutal battlefields breaks new literary ground. One of the most highly decorated combat Marines of that war, he is a respected expert on the history and conduct of the war. Webb’s novelist’s eyes and ears invest this work with remarkable power, whether he is describing the resiliency that grew from constant relocations during his childhood, the longing for his absent father, his poignant good-bye to his parents as he leaves for Vietnam, his role as a twenty-three-year-old lieutenant through months of constant combat, or his election to the Senate, where he was a leader on national defense, foreign policy, and economic fairness. This is a life that could happen only in America.