Book picks similar to
Goma: Stories of Strength and Sorrow from Eastern Congo by Theodore Trefon


congo-dr
life-and-politics-under-dictatorshi
london-air-aspire
non-fiction

Starting Over: The Making of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy


Ken Sharp - 2010
    The most acclaimed singer/songwriter of his generation, first a Beatle and then a boundary-pushing solo artist, was senselessly silenced forever at age forty; immediately, his final musical statement, an intimate, pop-infused collection called Double Fantasy, released only weeks before his death, skyrocketed to #1 worldwide, as did its poignantly titled single, "(Just Like) Starting Over." His first studio recording since 1975’s Rock ’n’ Roll—and his first musical endeavor of any kind since taking a much-needed hiatus to raise Sean, his son with Yoko Ono—Double Fantasy represents more than a comeback album to Lennon fans and music critics alike. It captures a cultural icon at the pinnacle of his creative success and personal fulfillment; thirty years later it remains a musical touchstone and an affecting reminder of what could have been.Starting Over is an oral history of the making of Double Fantasy and the definitive account of John Lennon’s last days. From early demos to sessions at New York City’s The Hit Factory, from the electrifying chemistry of the studio band to keeping the project under wraps to the album’s release and critical reception, here is fascinating, insightful commentary from all of the key players involved in its extraordinary creation: Yoko Ono, David Geffen, producer Jack Douglas, engineers, arrangers, session musicians, music journalists, and even Lennon himself via archival interviews.Featuring never-before-seen photos of John and Yoko in the studio, candid images taken by David M. Spindel and Roger Farrington, Starting Over is the essential portrait for anyone who hears both a beginning and ending in the tracks of Double Fantasy.

When Life is Not Peachy: Real-life lessons in recovery from heartache, grief and tough times


Pip Lincolne - 2020
    Who even am I, and how will I keep going? We need someone in our corner to travel this journey with us and help keep our spirits up. This book is a gentle guide for navigating loss, grief or other sad times - a resource both for those who are downhearted and those supporting a loved one. With thoughtful advice on dealing with friends and family; healthy tips for eating and exercise when you don't feel like it; and a just-keep-yourself-going '101' for when you're feeling very low. It's the bolstering force we need to feel a bit closer to ourselves, or find a bit of peace. For years Pip Lincolne has had a dedicated readership through her blog Meet Me At Mike's and frankie magazine. She wrote When Life is Not Peachy during some tough times of her own, in the hope that what she learned might help someone else feel a little better some day.

Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters


Jeff Burger - 2013
    No one is better qualified to talk about Springsteen than the man himself, and he’s often as articulate and provocative in interviews and speeches as he is emotive onstage and in recordings. While many rock artists seem to suffer through interviews, Springsteen has welcomed them as an opportunity to speak openly, thoughtfully, and in great detail about his music and life. This volume starts with his humble beginnings in 1973 as a struggling artist and follows him up to the present, as Springsteen has achieved almost unimaginable wealth and worldwide fame. Included are feature interviews with well-known media figures, including Charlie Rose, Ted Koppel, Brian Williams, Nick Hornby, and Ed Norton. Fans will also discover hidden gems from small and international outlets, in addition to radio and TV interviews that have not previously appeared in print. This collection is a must-have for any Springsteen fan.

A Book of Secrets: Finding Solace in a Stubborn World


Derren Brown - 2021
    By sharing his own moments of anger, frustration, loneliness and loss, Derren reveals how it's possible to find consolation and compassion in our most challenging times.A Book of Secrets is a profound and practical guide to finding value in sadness and strength from what life throws at us - it is from the difficulty of life that we find meaning and grow.

Chris Hoy


Chris Hoy - 2009
    His autobiography charts the life of a seven-year-old BMX fanatic, supported by a devoted dad and his local cycling club, through paralyzing self-doubt and a major career overhaul, to the sport’s holy grail. This 32-year-old cycling fanatic from Musselburgh in the suburbs of Edinburgh defied the doubters who thought he would struggle when his specialist discipline, the 1km time trial, was dropped from the Olympics, and went on to reinvent himself as a track cycling sprinter and triple Olympic gold medalist in Beijing. His return to these shores sparked unprecedented celebrations and real admiration that here was a role model who was the epitome of all things that are good in sport. What makes a champion in sport? In his autobiography, Hoy returns to his roots as a child fully engaged with the BMX craze of the 1980s; when, even as a spotty seven-year-old his will to succeed allied to an unyielding mental strength set him apart from other youngsters of his age. A promising rower and rugby player in school, it was when he joined his first local cycling club and spent most weekends of the year competing in national events from Blackpool to Bristol that the seeds of his future career were sown.

Tornado: In the Eye of the Storm


John Nichol - 2021
    It is an extraordinary account of courage and fortitude. ‘We were doing about 620 miles-per-hour, 200 feet above the desert, in total darkness. Everything was running on rails as we approached the target. Then all hell broke loose.  I remember the missile being fired at us; I broke left and shouted, “Chaff!”   ‘ All I could see was a flame, like a very large firework, coming towards me. Then there was a huge white flash. I remember an enormous wind and then I was knocked unconscious.  My last thoughts were that I was going to die. ’ In 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of neighbouring Kuwait, setting in motion a chain of events that had unimaginable political, military and personal repercussions, which still reverberate around the globe today.This is the story of the aircrew at the heart of Operation Desert Storm, almost none of whom had any prior experience of armed combat. It is the story of the Tornado’s missions, of those who did not return - and of the families who watched and waited as one of the most complex conflicts in recent history unfolded live on television. It is a story of untold fear and suffering, and astounding courage in the face of hitherto unimaginable adversity.

Becoming a Millionaire God's Way: Getting Money to You, Not from You


C. Thomas Anderson - 2004
    Dr. Anderson combines biblical principles with expert financial advice, equipping readers with the tools they need to attain the riches they deserve. An invaluable resource for current or would-be investors or entrepreneurs, this book not only inspires readers to become educated about finances but also spurs them on to action and compels them to move forward confidently to achieve their financial dreams. New content includes callouts and new chapters on how to invest safely in today's market and on understanding that Jesus wasn't poor.

Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali


Mamadou Kouyaté
    Other tellings can be found under "all editions," each credited to its respective storyteller.

Making It


Jamie Scallion - 2013
    The RockAteers are born. It must work, and not just for Burt’s sake. Egg has spent his life on the outside looking in, Tea needs to evade a tough future and Clipper wants more than a fast track to football academy. When Egg reveals his song-writing genius, the only way is up… But can they function as a band?Who will win the race to sign them? And who will win the girl?

One Man’s Everest: The Autobiography of Kenton Cool


Kenton Cool - 2015
    His accomplishments are staggering. He has summited Everest twelve times. He is the first person in history to climb the three Everest peaks, the so-called Triple Crown, in one climb, a feat previously thought impossible. He was nominated for the prestigious piolet d'Or in 2004 for climbing a previously unclimbed route on Annapurna III. In 2012 he fulfilled the Olympic Games pledge of placing a 1924 gold medal on the Everest summit. He is the only Briton to have skied down two 8000-metre mountains, and in 2009 he guided Sir Ranulph Fiennes to the summit of Everest, helping to raise over £3 million for Marie Curie Cancer Care.His accomplishments are all the more extraordinary considering an incident in the summer of 1996 which tore Kenton's world apart. Whilst climbing in Wales, he broke a handhold on a route aptly called 'Major Headstress' and fell to the ground with such force that he shattered both his heel bones. Initially told he would never walk unaided again, Kenton spent four weeks in hospital, had three operations, three and a half months in a wheelchair and months of rehab. Today he is still in pain and after a long day in the mountains it's not uncommon to see him struggling to walk or moving around on his hands and knees. Yet he still climbs.'Why do you do it?' people ask him. This book tells why.

Fela: This Bitch of A Life


Carlos Moore - 1982
    He was swept to international celebrity on a wave of scandal and flamboyance, and when he died of AIDS in 1997, more than a million people attended his funeral. But what was he really like, this man who could as easily arouse violent hostility as he could unswerving loyalty? Carlos Moore's unique biography, based on hours of conversation and told in Fela's first-person vernacular, reveals the icon's complex personality and tumultuous existence. Moore includes interviews with fifteen of his queens (wives); photos; and an updated discography.

O's Little Guide to the Big Questions


O, The Oprah Magazine - 2018
    Here, they share their eye-opening, soul-expanding insights. Among the many jewels in the collection, Terry Tempest Williams describes the utter shock of opening her late mother’s journals—and the lessons she gleaned from what she found inside; Thich Nhat Hanh finds compassion in the midst of anger; JulieOrringer reveals how we can know when we’ve found “the one.” Offering valuable perspective to anyone feeling lost or in need of a reset, O’s Little Guide to the Big Questions is proof that while the search for meaning can be daunting, it’s also clarifying, motivating, empowering, and the surest path to becoming the person you were meant to be.

The Healthy Pressure Cooker Cookbook: Nourishing Meals Made Fast


Janet A. Zimmerman - 2015
    Tasty time-saving recipes for busy cooks. Today’s focus on healthier eating means different things to different cooks, but they have one thing in common: they’re cooking fresh, whole foods from scratch. This is precisely the reason why the old school pressure cooker is making a new school comeback. The pressure cooker gives the gift of time back to home cooks. They don’t call the most popular pressure cooker on the market the Instant Pot for nothing.Focusing squarely on healthy and fast meals, The Healthy Pressure Cooker Cookbook offers:· 125 whole-food pressure cooker recipes, from bone broth to spicy citrus black beans to garlic spareribs, and more· A serious discussion on the truth about healthy cooking· Advice on how to adapt stovetop pressure cooker recipes for an electric PC· Recipes that include specifics for both stovetop and electric pressure cookers· Recipe labels indicating suitability for Paleo, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diets· Nutritional information on every recipe· Numerous one-pot meals for the ultimate in convenience

Monrovia Mon Amour: Travels in Liberia


Theodore Dalrymple - 2012
    In the film, Johnson – now a Liberian senator – calmly sips a Budweiser as the naked Doe’s ears are hacked off. Unsurprisingly, Dalrymple forms the professional opinion that Johnson is a psychopath.Monrovia was once a peaceful and reasonably ordered city; now, it has been almost completely sacked. Burnt-out cars are everywhere; doors have been chopped up for firewood; rubble lines the streets, with the vandalism forming a systematic attempt to destroy every vestige of the old regime (and, the author speculates, of civilisation itself). The destruction of the university and library, for instance, seems to be little more that the revenge of the ignorant upon the educated. In a local hospital (once the pride of West Africa, now long ruined and abandoned), the professor of surgery’s office has been ransacked, and medical books and papers have been ripped up; in another, infant welfare records have been smeared with faeces. In the wrecked Centennial Hall, the body of a beautiful Steinway grand piano lies on the floor, its legs senselessly sawn off. In a Lutheran church, Dalrymple finds the floor covered in the blood silhouettes of 600 Liberians massacred by Doe’s soldiers.Dalrymple – who achieves the near-impossible by making a book about such barbarism at times amusing – lays much of the blame for what happened at the feet of Western intellectuals and their African counterparts.Monrovia Mon Amour is a profoundly moving and interesting book about a country which is little-understood and less visited.

I Built No Schools in Kenya: A Year of Unmitigated Madness


Kirsten Drysdale - 2019
    Her friend called with a job offer too curious to refuse: a cruisey-gig as a dementia carer for a rich old man in Kenya. All expenses-paid, plenty of free time to travel or do some freelance reporting. There seemed no good reason to say no... so she got on a plane.Only Kirsten's friend hadn't given her the full story. It was only on arrival in Nairobi that she discovered the rich old man's family was fighting a war around him, and that she would be on the frontline. Caught in the crossfire of all kinds of wild accusations, she also had to spy on his wife, keep his daughter placated, rebuff his marriage proposals, hide the car keys and clip his toenails all while trying to retain her own sanity in the colonial time warp of his home.Meanwhile, the Kenyan army was invading Somalia, Al-Shabaab was threatening terror attacks, the East African bodybuilding scene beckoned, and Kirsten discovered she had long-lost cousins running a bar on the other side of the city.I Built No Schools in Kenya is a travelogue-tragedy-farce about race, wealth, love, death, family, nationhood, sanity, benzodiazepines, monkeys and whisky.It is almost entirely true.