Book picks similar to
François Truffaut: The Lost Secret by Anne Gillain


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Divine Lola: A True Story of Scandal and Celebrity


Cristina Morató - 2013
    A raven-haired Andalusian who performed her scandalous “Spider Dance” in the greatest performance halls across Europe, she dazzled and beguiled all who met her with her astonishing beauty, sexuality, and shocking disregard for propriety. But Lola was an impostor, a self-invention. Born Eliza Gilbert, the beautiful Irish wild child escaped a stifling marriage and reimagined herself as Lola the Sevillian flamenco dancer and noblewoman, choosing a life of adventure, fame, sex, and scandal rather than submitting to the strictures of her era.Lola cast her spell on the European aristocracy and the most famous intellectuals and artists of the time, including Alexandre Dumas, Franz Liszt, and George Sand, and became the obsession of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. She then set out for the New World, arriving in San Francisco at the height of the gold rush, where she lived like a pioneer and performed for rowdy miners before making her way to New York. There, her inevitable downfall was every bit as dramatic as her rise. Yet there was one final reinvention to come for the most defiant woman of the Victorian age—a woman known as a “savage beauty” who was idolized, romanticized, vilified, truly known by no one, and a century ahead of her time.

Helga: Growing Up in Hitler's Germany


Karen Truesdell Riehl - 2014
    Asked about her experience during the war, Helga quietly revealed she had been a "Jugend," a member of Hitler's child army, "trained to revere and obey the Fuhrer." When Riehl asked how children were recruited, she replied, "Clever seduction." Helga's seduction begins with an invitation from Hitler she cannot refuse. The ten-year-old is ordered to attend weekly meetings of the Hitler Youth movement. Lies and tasty treats are employed to entice her allegiance to the Fuhrer. Helga is sent away to Hitler Youth training camps as the war draws nearer her home in Berlin. She is caught between loyalty to her family, suffering under Nazi rule, and loyalty to the Fuhrer, who keeps her safe and well-fed. Helga's gradual disillusionment, followed by her harrowing escape home, is a powerful coming-of-age story of a young girl's survival of Nazi mind control.

Selected Essays


Karl Marx - 2007
    Karl Marx was a 19th-century philosopher, political economist, sociologist, humanist, political theorist and revolutionary.

Young Babylon


Lu Nei - 2014
    At age nineteen in 1990s China, he feels pressure to follow suit with those around him and takes a job at the town’s saccharin factory. Slowly, he adjusts to the bureaucratic factory routine, making the best of the situation by bonding with coworkers, flirting with girls, and refusing to give in completely to the expectations of those around him.As Lu Xiaolu finds his way, a startling portrait of an economically expanding China comes into view; the propaganda of a common goal gives way to a bottom-line system that he sees as indifferent to individual happiness. But thanks to the relationships he develops, Lu Xiaolu decides to fight for the life he wants.

Stepping Wild: Hiking the Appalachian Trail with Mingo


Phill Grounds - 2015
    How hard could it be? Having more experience than most, who attempt the over two thousand mile hike, Phill decided to go for it. Little did he know, trouble was waiting for him. He did not hike to “find himself,” nor out of inspiration nor desperation. The five month journey tested his strength, endurance, courage and caused more pain than expected. How hard could it be? The answer to that is here in “STEPPING WILD.” What could go wrong, did! The experience was exhilarating and terrifying. A hike, over two thousand miles, is filled with highs and lows, humor and grief, and obstacles that could break any man. The Appalachian Trail, a true American treasure, attracts thousands of hikers each year, like moths to a flame. Phill was drawn to that challenge. His troubles began before he ever saw the trail. With determination and grit, he made his way northbound from Georgia to Maine. New skill sets were acquired as Phill, trail name “Mingo”, faced dangerous situations and errors brought on by his own overconfidence. This was Mingo’s hike, one that should have never been possible. It was a hike that should not be forgotten.

Life in Strangeways - From Riots to Redemption, My 32 Years Behind Bars


Alan Lord - 2015
    He was drawn to trouble like water to a sponge.After experiencing a troubled childhood during which Alan was in and out of children's homes - after being put into care at the tender age of eighteen months old - Alan was a teenager in 1981 when he was sentenced to life in prison for murder during a robbery that had gone badly wrong. He served thirty-two years in various prisons throughout the United Kingdom. This book tells the truth of what goes on behind prison walls and exposes the level of inhumane treatment and brutality that Alan had to endure throughout his thirty-two year journey, during which he never stopped standing up for human rights.Fighting against the degrading prison system of the late twentieth century, Alan helped change the historical humiliating slop out and weekly shower that hundreds of thousands of prisoners had to adhere to throughout the centuries. The battle came at a cost though as it meant more time behind bars, time spent mainly in the segregation unit.Powerfully detailing the way prisoners are treated on a daily basis, Life in Strangeways is a gripping tale that will change the perception of Alan Lord: convicted murderer and riot leader.

Survivor: From childhood abuse to a life of crime and prostitution


Tara O’Shaughnessey - 2019
    Prostitute. Gangster’s Wife. Survivor. Tara grew up in squalor on the island of Alderney. When she was only four, she was sexually abused by one of her mother’s many lovers, a horror that continued for five long years. As a teenager, desperate to escape the toxic environment at home, she fled to London – but was swiftly drawn into working as a prostitute. She became involved with some of London’s most notorious gangsters – even marrying one – but when she realised the danger she was inflicting on her children, she knew she had to find a way to get out. This is the inspiring story of one woman’s will to survive, and to fight for a better life.

The Shelter: Book 1, The Beginning


Ira Tabankin - 2015
    NEW, edited and updated version. (Formatting, spelling and grammar corrections made, plus some new material added) Please note, this is a politically incorrect story. It bashes the current administration. Irony is winning the Powerball lottery six months before the world's economies meltdown. The Shelter tells the story of a family who wins $27 million in the lottery, they pull roots and move to Nashville where they buy a large home bordered by three farms. With the money in hand the world's economies in the process of melting down. They 'buy the farm.' They purchase the three farms and the 7,000 square foot house. The farms are able to provide food when the economies collapse. The house is large enough to hold all of their extended family. To ensure their survival, Jay decides to build a large shelter under the farmland. Jay befriends the local Mafia 'Don', Tony, who helps him in exchange for a ticket in the shelter. Book one tells the story of Jay and Lacy, winning the lottery, their move to Nashville, buying the farms and building the shelter while the world goes to hell around them. The world starts to melt down when the people of Greece elect a new Prime Minister, who defaults on their loans to Germany. The EU falls apart when the other European Nations follow Greece's lead. China demands payment of its debt from America or the state of Hawaii. The President increases taxes to raise the $1.4 trillion needed to pay China back, putting enormous stress on the American economy. Russia adds gasoline to the fire by dumping their dollars. Russia helps destabilize the EU so they can invade by offering humanitarian aid. When the American economy collapses, distribution of food stops, starvation becomes a real problem. The cities explode in violence due to the lack of food and clean water. As the insanity spreads, Jay builds a shelter complex to house over 40 people for more than a year without surfacing. A shelter, he thinks, is an insurance policy, one he hopes he'll never have to use. A shelter complex he and his neighbors, need in order to survive an invasion of their farms. All of their winnings are worthless when the only real currency is a loaf of bread and a bottle of clean water. There's a special sneak preview of my next book, "In the Year 2050. America's Religious Civil War" included at the end of the "The Shelter."

"Only A Nurse Could Laugh at This..." - Funny Stories and Quotes from Real Nurses for When You're Having "One of Those Days"


Allie Wilson - 2014
    We eagerly do what most people never could, and come back for more the next day. So sometimes we have let off some steam and swap stories. Are you a nursing student wondering what you've gotten yourself into? If you're busy coping with your examinations, NCLEX and huge textbooks full of anatomy and physiology... If your mind is full of care plans, study guides, wound care and sharpening up your clinical skills... Take a break with this humorous book full of stories about what REALLY happens when you graduate and walk through those hospital doors and into a job on a ward. ‘Real stories from real nurses.' This collection of nursing humor - gathered from real nurses the world over - will have you nodding in recognition and laughing out loud. It will help you let off some steam and reconnect with the 'delightfully absurd craziness' that is our profession sometimes. ’The best quotes and stories from the first six issues of Wellbeing for Nurses Magazine' Every month, Wellbeing for Nurses Magazine has a section called 'You Gotta Laugh or You'll Cry' where nurses from around the world send in stories where they've said the wrong thing, where things have all gone pear shaped, patients have done something hilarious, or they've ended up covered in all kinds of fluid. These quotes and stories are the best of those sent in to Wellbeing for Nurses Magazine, which is published in over 150 countries around the globe. 'Nurses are always busy.' Sadly the average nurse or student nurse rarely has time to sit down with a nice, quiet cuppa (or a glass of red!) and read anything, let alone books on nursing. So unlike the massive medical books you had to lug to nursing school, this book is in short, easy to read snippets so you can dip in and dip out when you're on the bus or train, or you squeeze in a break. It's a five minute de-stress break made incredibly easy. ‘About The Authors' Allie Wilson is an ER nurse turned Author and editor of Wellbeing for Nurses Magazine, and her hubby, Marty Wilson is a Pharmacist turned Stand Up Comic turned Author. They live in Sydney, Australia with their three boys.

A Simple Life: Living off grid in a wooden cabin in France


Mary-Jane Houlton - 2021
    They were already used to a simple life, having spent the last three years living on their boat in France for the summer seasons, and returning to the UK and their caravan for the winters. This tiny cabin would now be their new home for the winter months, taking them a step further along the road to self-sufficiency. They had no electricity, no kitchen, no bathroom or bedroom and the loo was a bucket in a shed, but the property came with five acres of field and woodland.From now on their lives would be simple, pared back to the basics, but they found that an off-grid lifestyle was by no means an uncomfortable experience. Responsibilities didn’t disappear but they changed, becoming less onerous. There was more time to think, and to appreciate the natural world around them. Living in such rural isolation, each day brought something new to marvel at: deer browsing in the field at dusk, salamanders on the doorstep, owls calling by night.If their own world felt increasingly magical, the outside world was far from it. They had moved to a foreign country at an historic time, living through a pandemic and adapting to the day-to-day implications of Brexit.A Simple Life doesn’t just follow Mary-Jane and Michael as they settle into their new lives, it also raises questions about what really matters to people. What makes us happy? How does it feel to have few possessions? Will life become unbearable without a flushing toilet?Thought-provoking and amusing, this book opens a window onto a different way of living. Mary-Jane shares a wealth of information and, if you have ever found yourself longing for a simpler life, this might tempt you to take those first tentative steps on the journey.

The Hard Way: Adapt, Survive and Win


Mark 'Billy' Billingham - 2019
    Leaving school at eleven years of age, the threat of borstal hanging over his head, running with gangs in Birmingham, and almost being killed in a knife fight eventually led to Billy discovering the British armed forces at sixteen years of age. It would be the making of him.Billingham would graduate from the Royal Marine cadets to enlisting with the Parachute Regiment in 1983, where he would serve with distinction as a Patrol Commander and expert sniper. In 1991 he took on an even bigger challenge – taking the SAS course – the fearsome and secretive elite special forces unit with a well-won reputation for excellence in operating in extreme and hazardous conditions.

Sauntering Thru: Lessons in Ambition, Minimalism, and Love on the Appalachian Trail


Cody James Howell PhD - 2020
    

Stealing The Borders


Elliot Rais - 2011
    Great cinematic appeal. Hollywood should grab it fast."-- Ivor Davis / New York Times Syndicate An intimate, Humorous Tale of a Thrilling Escape From childhood. He wanted a party, they threw him a circumcision. He wanted sour cream, he got bugs. Stealing the Borders is a witty survivor story about a boy who grew up experiencing German bombs, chills of Siberia, and life in a refugee camp. - Then came the real test - the chaotic streets of New York. As he had no schooling till the age of 16, Rais developed an extraordinary instinct for survival and an uncanny perspective that allows him to see the wry side of every situation. Laugh with him, as you read the inspiring story of his escape from war-torn Europe and eventual success in the United States. Don't try to tell him he had a deprived childhood he's convinced it was a privilege! Follow his hilarious antics in his warm and touching autobiography. - He stole the border, he'll steal your heart.

Ever Loving: A Sweet Western Rockyview Romance (Family Promises Book 3)


Carolyne Aarsen - 2020
    

What's the Worst That Could Happen?: A Collection of Reader-Submitted Medical Stories


Kerry Hamm - 2020