Book picks similar to
Just John by Reg Quist
historical-fiction-western
really-slow
blake
Saddam's Bombmaker: The Daring Escape of the Man Who Built Iraq's Secret Weapon
Khidhir Hamza - 2000
The law is anything I write on a scrap of paper.” —Saddam Hussein Taking readers into the darkest corners of a regime ruled by a volatile, brutal leader, Dr. Hamza, the only defector who has lived to write a firsthand portrait of Iraq, also presents an unprecedented portrait of Saddam—his drunken rages, his women, his cold-blooded murder of underlings, and his unrivaled power. If pushed to the wall, Saddam will use the bomb that Dr. Hamza helped create. From the relentless dangers Dr. Hamza endured in Iraq to his harrowing flight across three continents and his first encounter with skeptical CIA agents who turned him away, Saddam's Bombmaker is a true-to-life thriller as rich in danger, intrigue, and personal courage as a well-crafted spy novel.
William Blake Now: Why He Matters More Than Ever
John Higgs - 2019
Although he died nearly 200 years ago, something about his work continues to haunt the twenty-first century. What is it about Blake that has so endured? In this illuminating essay, John Higgs takes us on a whirlwind tour to prove that far from being the mere New Age counterculture figure that many assume him to be, Blake is now more relevant than ever.
Specky Magee
Felice Arena - 2002
It is about a young boy, passionate about football. Although football plays a great role in this story, it also talks about the emotional aspects. Specky is on the search for his biological parents, after his parents tell him that he is adopted. It is a great book for children who love football. There are 4 books in the series so far and I highly recommend all of them.
Far Away Home
Susan Denning - 2011
Some might think this is a problem; Aislynn believes it s an opportunity, but she has a lot to learn. No formulaic romance, this love story depicts life as it truly was for the thousands of women who went west reaching for a new life. Aislynn s journey begins in a New York City tenement and leads her across the frontier to a Utah mining camp where she must cope with the conflicting intentions of three very different men. Life in the roughshod camp brings small joys and devastating losses. This novel races through authentic experiences involving historical events until it erupts in an unexpected ending. In today s troubled world, Far Away Home will make you believe no matter how many challenges fate sends your way, the human spirit can triumph.
Orphan Moon
T.K. Lukas - 2015
Orphan Moon is a gritty, tell-it-like-it-is, in your face tale about a courageous young woman who fights to regain her life after a terrible massacre. As I read along, this novel had me cheering, crying, and white knuckling my Kindle. The book flows with themes of romance, dark family secrets, past family conflicts, hope and dreams, and the primal instinct of survival!"The Curious Dame - Amazon Five-Star Review1860 - Palo Pinto, Texas. Under the spectacular glow of a Comanche moon, a family is slaughtered, their homestead torched. Nineteen-year-old Barleigh Flanders survives the terrifying midnight raid. Fiercely determined to rebuild, she seizes an opportunity meant for another. Desperate, near penniless, her foolhardy scheme could prove calamitous, yet it's her only hope. Her grueling physical journey stretches from Texas, to Missouri, and into the rugged Utah Territory. However, it's her emotional journey that takes her to places of uncharted darkness, discovery, and redemption when old family secrets are revealed. What she accepted as her past turns out to be an elaborate lie that reaches across generations, reshaping her memories of the Grandfather she despised, the father she adored, and the mother she never knew. Along her journey, she encounters a mysterious stranger. In Hughes Levesque, Barleigh gains an unsought ally with dark secrets of his own. A Texas Ranger turned hired gun, Hughes makes it his personal mission to keep Barleigh safe. Doing so may cost him his life, his job, and his heart, none of which he's keen to lose. Orphan Moon is a heart-wrenching saga of family love, loss, and betrayal. Both a gripping adventure and a timeless love story, it gallops across the bleeding edge of the western frontier.
The Secret Power Within
Chuck Norris - 1996
Chuck Norris has spent a lifetime studying the martial arts, earning several black belts and world championships. Now, through anecdotes about his ownpersonal struggles and triumphs, Norris explains how the ancient system of Zen--the core philosophy behind the martial arts--can help each of us achievespiritual tranquillity and self-confidence.The Secret Power Within is both a highly accessible lesson in Zen philosophy as well as the compelling story of Chuck Norris's own remarkable success. In this highly entertaining and inspiring account, Norris shows how Zen can be applicable to everyday situations, from the conference room to theliving room. Chapters include:* Winning by Losing: If you have nothing to prove, you have no need to fight.* Complete the Wheel: How to balance your life to achieve success.* Your Master, Your Art: To maintain self-respect you must respect the work you do, and do it as well as possible.* My Way of Meditating: Norris's personal technique for achieving tranquillity under pressure.The message is simple: There are no limits for the person who refuses to accept them.
Burning Bright
Tracy Chevalier - 2007
As they move in next door to the radical painter/poet William Blake, and take up work for a near-by circus impresario, the youngest family member gets to know a girl his age. Embodying opposite characteristics — Maggie Butterfield is a dark-haired, streetwise extrovert, Jem Kellaway a quiet blond introvert — the children form a strong bond while getting to know their unusual neighbor and his wife.Set against the backdrop of a city nervous of the revolution gone sour across the Channel in France, Burning Bright explores the states of innocence and experience just as Blake takes on similar themes in his best-known poems, Songs of Innocence and of Experience.
Nonni's Moon
Julia Inserro - 2018
She lives across the world from her Nonni and misses her every day. But then she figures out a way she and Nonni can send messages back and forth--through the moon!Nonni's Moon is a touching reminder of how important it is to keep family and friends close to our hearts, even if there are great distances or circumstances separating us. It can help explain bereavement or absence of a loved one to children learning how to make sense of an adult world.
Taming Clay
Raeann Blake - 2012
A lifetime of experience taught him not to love and never to trust, but he desperately needed a business manager. What he got was a spunky, high-tempered woman who tilted his world more than a little off-center. But if he had learned anything in his life, it was to not expect her to stick around. You don't trust a woman, any woman, to not just disappear.Hailey Lambert just needed a shot. Montana was a long way from New Mexico and she just needed one chance to prove she could do the job. She was warned that Clay Cardell would not be the easiest man to work for. After their initial meeting she thought they might have understated that just a tad. The fact that her heart did some kind of somersault when she first saw him didn't really concern her. If she could deal with the man's attitude, she could certainly deal with some little physical reaction. Right? Well... maybe not.
Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor
Rebecca Rosenberg - 2019
Little did she expect that she’d be abandoned and pregnant and left to manage the gold mine alone. But that didn’t stop her! She moved to Leadville and fell in love with a married prospector, twice her age. Horace Tabor struck the biggest silver vein in history, divorced his wife and married Baby Doe. Though his new wife was known for her beauty, her fashion, and even her philanthropy, she was never welcomed in polite society. Discover how the Tabors navigated the worlds of wealth, power, politics, and scandal in the wild days of western mining.
Answer Creek
Ashley E. Sweeney - 2020
After a fateful decision that delays the overlanders more than a month, she—along with eighty-one other members of the Donner Party—finds herself stranded at Truckee Lake on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, stuck there for the entirety of a despairing, blizzard-filled winter. Forced to eat shoe leather and blankets to survive, will Ada be able to battle the elements—and her own demons—as she envisions a new life in California?Researched with impeccable detail and filled with imagery as wide as the western prairie, Answer Creek blends history and hearsay in an unforgettable story of challenging the limits of human endurance and experiencing the triumphant power of love.
Magic Tree House: #33-36
Mary Pope Osborne - 2008
This time they head back into history to Venice, Italy, in the 1700s. With the help of some new friends, a research book, and a mysterious rhyme from Merlin, the heroes will save the beautiful city from a flood! Season of the SandstormsArmed only with a research book and a book of magic rhymes, Jack and Annie go back 1,200 years to the Golden Age of Baghdad. Their mission is a mystery until bandits attack a camel caravan and Jack and Annie are given a strange box to protect. What’s in the box? And how will it help the ruler of Baghdad spread wisdom throughout the world?Night of the New MagiciansA mysterious note from Merlin sends Jack and Annie to Paris, France for the 1889 World’s Fair. Their mission: find four “new magicians” and protect them from an evil sorcerer who plans to kidnap them and steal the secrets of their magic. How will they ever find the magicians in the bustling crowd? And will their own magic be any match for the powers of the evil sorcerer? Blizzard of the Blue MoonMerlin has sent Jack and Annie to New York City to rescue a beautiful magical creature–the unicorn. Where will they find a unicorn in a big city? And what about the blizzard that’s burying New York in snow? Only once in a blue moon do all the right elements come together to make magic in such a special way.
The Moon and the Stars
Constance O'Banyon - 2005
Her malicious brother-in-law had kept his vow to make her a widow, but she knew he wouldn't stop at that, and her solitary life was filled with fear of him always one step behind her. She thought she'd found a shred of peace in Texas, and at least a glimmer of the life she deserved. But when a mysterious bounty hunter came to town, she knew the wrath in his amber eyes was meant only for her. He found a way to be everywhere she was, speaking words with double meaning in his smooth Freanch accent and making her nerves hum in a way she thought she'd conquered.Wade Renault came out of retirement for one reason: to see a deceptive murderess brought to justice. But when he met the woman pictured in the tintype he'd carried for months, he sensed more panic than treachery. She lived too simply, she seemed too honest and scared. Someone had deceived him, but he would wait it out and get her right where he wanted her, beneath...THE MOON AND THE STARS.
Heresy
Melissa Lenhardt - 2018
Though the newspapers refuse to give them credit, their exploits don't go unnoticed. Now, they've got a rival male gang on their trail and an old score to settle. Margaret Parker and Hattie LaCour never intended to turn outlaw. After being run off their ranch by a greedy cattleman, their family is left destitute. As women alone they have few choices: marriage, lying on their backs for money, or holding a gun. For Margaret and Hattie the choice is simple. With their small makeshift family, the gang pulls off a series of heists across the West. Though the newspapers refuse to give the female gang credit, their exploits don't go unnoticed. Pinkertons are on their trail, a rival male gang is determined to destroy them, and secrets among the group threaten to tear them apart. Now, Margaret and Hattie must find a way to protect their family, finish one last job, and avoid the hangman's noose.For more from Melissa Lenhardt, check out: The Sawbones SeriesSawbonesBlood OathBadlands
The Complete Poems
William Blake - 1827
His work ranges from the deceptively simple and lyrical Songs of Innocence and their counterpoint Experience - which juxtapose poems such as 'The Lamb' and 'The Tyger', and 'The Blossom' and 'The Sick Rose' - to highly elaborate, apocalyptic works, such as The Four Zoas, Milton and Jerusalem. Throughout his life Blake drew on a rich heritage of philosophy, religion and myth, to create a poetic worlds illuminated by his spiritual and revolutionary beliefs that have fascinated, intrigued and enchanted readers for generations.