Astonishing and unforgettable, this is a captivating story about the effects of abuse on the mind of a child, the heart wrenching struggles of an impoverished family, and how a young girl strives and dreams for something better. Born in the Philippines in the 1960s, Xulli is the first child of many. By the time she is four, she is taking care of three other siblings with both her mother and father working. In the beginning things were difficult but not desperate. But then life turns exceedingly ugly when her father begins binging on gin, spending nearly every penny he earns on his addiction and leaving his family on the brink of starvation on a daily basis. The alcohol makes her abusive father mean. And very violent. At first, his anger is mostly directed at her mother, but after a particularly nasty beating, she flees for her life, leaving the children with him. Her father then turns his attention to Xulli and her siblings. Cruelly, he tries to teach the youngest ones that they don’t need their mother or milk by putting hot peppers on the nipples of their bottles. With her mother missing, Xulli must find a way to protect her siblings from their father and provide for their needs. Eventually her mother returns and the abusive cycle continues. Plagued by death, loss, and periods of starvation, Xulli struggles to provide for her siblings, when she is just a child herself. Even through many horrible experiences and extraordinary challenges, her spirit shines, never giving up hope. Demonstrating an extraordinary resiliency to survive against all odds, Xulli inspires us as she finds the courage to succeed in her own life. A note from the author: “I have written this book to raise awareness of the wide spread domestic violence and child abuse that is so prevalent in the Filipino culture. All too often children in the Philippines are robbed of their basic human rights to an education because they have to become parents to their siblings or have been sold for money. Through my writing and work, it is my passionate goal to help stop domestic violence and child abuse by educating the very young as well as adults about the effects of physical, emotional, and mental abuse, and show those in need how and where to seek help.” Victoria Mulato Note: When you order a copy of Sister Moon of the Philippines, a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to organizations that are working to preventing child abuse.

    This month by month account of one family’s liveaboard year takes a firmly tongue in cheek look at what it takes to enjoy the ‘idyllic’ lifestyle.

    

    Join Craig and a host of Strictly stars - including Ore Oduba, Judy Murray and the unforgettable Ed Balls - on the show and live tours and get the real stories from behind the scenes.The Aussie-born judge shares his famously forthright views on the changes in the show's line up, from Bruce Forsyth and Len Goodman's departures to the arrival of Claudia Winkleman and Shirley Ballas, as well as the dancers and stars.Away from Strictly, Craig reveals fresh heartache over failed romances, his pain at losing his dad and how his work kept him from flying to Australia for the funeral. He marks the milestones in his life, including turning fifty and moving from London to live in a 'gorgeous' country pile, as well as going under the knife for a second hip operation plus a few nips and tucks.The multi-talented dancer, director and choreographer also discusses his award-winning shows, including Sister Act and Son of a Preacher Man, and spending a year in drag as Miss Hannigan in Annie. Plus, he reveals all about his foray into movies, choreographing Hugh Grant for Paddington 2 and making his big screen debut in Nativity Rocks.With his famous wit and a wealth of backstage gossip, My Fab-u-lous Life! is the perfect read for all his fans as well as those of Strictly Come Dancing.

    For more than three decades since then, Ronnie, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts have formed the core of the greatest rock 'n' roll band in history. This book is Ronnie's autobiography, and like the band it can only be talked about in superlatives: it's simply one of the biggest, most outrageous, most extraordinary and most fun rock 'n' roll memoirs ever to be published.From early 1960s Britain, when acts like The Yardbirds, The Kinks, The Who and The Rolling Stones crisscrossed the country's club scene in clapped-out vans, barely making ends meet but having the time of their lives, through to the global mega stadium concerts of the 21st century (in 2006 the Stones played live to more than two million people in Rio), Ronnie takes us on a journey through his life and through rock history. Filled with unforgettable characters and truly eye-popping stories, his autobiography reveals Ronnie the husband, father, grandfather, artist and rock star the way you have never seen any rock star before. Ronnie is an up-front and personal look at life as a Rolling Stone, from the inside, and at the Stones as the rest of the world has never seen them. After Ronnie , sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll will never be the same again.

    

    He was raised in a beautiful, chaotic, cramped, colorful, and legally dubious guesthouse where his parents fed and watered Iranian nationals flocking to the UK for medical treatment on the NHS. Over 20 years, almost 2000 "cousins" passed through the Djalili's doors, and the young Omid played translator to each. Although these years taught him a lot about the rich tapestry of life, this parenting by committee led to a slightly checkered school career which saw Omid taking his A levels a record six times, and eventually fake his own university entrance papers. Desperate to be free of his cramped living quarters he escapes to the University of Ulster, where he lives a life of wonderful solitude. Full of the warmth and intelligence that makes Omid such a successful comedian and sought-after actor, this memoir takes us on an incredible and laugh-out-loud funny journey through an unusually British life.

    Yet even before the competition had started, Quinn was caught up in the most emotionally draining events of his career, as Ireland's World Cup campaign was rocked by Roy Keane's sudden departure. All his efforts at mediation failed, leaving him exhausted. As he worked to find a solution, Quinn looked back on his life and career, and saw echoes of his current situation. In this fascinating autobiography, updated for this edition, he recalls the all-night drinking sessions with Tony Adams and Paul Merson, the gambling, the good times and the bad. It is a remarkable story, brilliantly told.

    She’s a radical, self-styled hippie, and he is New York’s famous district attorney, a legal luminary of the establishment; she’s a prizewinning New York Times journalist who has chained herself to fences, bloodied draft files, and otherwise broken the law for her beliefs, and he is a secret iconoclast who could have put her in jail.     Timeless: Love, Morgenthau, and Me is the memoir of their triumph against the odds, their ongoing thirty-five-year marriage, a union between two people so deeply in love but so different—and with so many decades separating them—that their family and friends fought to keep them apart.     Franks offers a confidential tour of their marriage, as well as the never-revealed, behind-the-scenes details of Morgenthau’s famous cases. We see a red-faced Ronald Lauder storm into Morgenthau’s office after the DA seizes a priceless Egon Schiele painting from the walls of the Museum of Modern Art; we witness the CIA dismissing Morgenthau’s discovery of the growing terrorist cell in New York that would become al-Qaeda headquarters. This is an unusually close look at the privates lives of two well-known people who have always refused to reveal themselves to the public.

    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.

    Whether your heart has been broken, your dream put on hold, or your character placed under pressure, Desiree Hartsock Siegfried's story will give you courage to stay strong in your own journey.Desiree's debut on the world stage meant facing the critics, experiencing viewers judging her every word and action, and dealing with the devastation of a very public breakup. But what the world didn't know until now was the comeback journey that followed. By telling her experience of starring on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette and later becoming an entrepreneur and bridal designer, Desiree shares her lessons on:Fully trusting God with your future even when you don't understand the purpose of the painSeeing who you really are with faith, confidence, and self-loveAlways failing forward and trusting that despite the external pressures, God's love enduresStaying open to love and trust even through the ache of heartbreak, loneliness, and criticismThis rivetingly honest book shows how Desiree found her resilience and love after all--and you can too.

    My dad would say to me as a teenager "Don't tell your mother." We couldn't face the disapproval.Sue Johnston always seemed to be disappointing her mother. As a girl she never stayed clean and tidy like her cousins. As she grew older, she spent all her piano lesson money on drinks for her mates down at the pub, and when she discovered The Cavern she was never at home. The final straw was when Sue left her steady job at a St. Helen's factory to try her hand at that unsteadiest of jobs: acting.Yet when Sue was bringing up her own child alone, her mother was always there to help. And playing her much-loved characters Sheila Grant in Waking the Dead and Barbara in The Royle Family- although her mum wouldn't say she was proud as such, she certainly seemed to approve. And in her mother's final months, it was Sue she needed by her side.The relationship with your mother is perhaps the most precious and fraught of any woman's life. When she began writing, Sue set out to record 'all the big things, and all the small things. Everything I wanted to tell my mother but felt I never could'. The result is a warm, poignant and often very funny memoir by one of Britain's favourite actresses.

    Celia Imrie was born one of five children to an aristocratic mother who married beneath her station. Desperate to be a ballet dancer, Celia was told by the Royal Ballet School that she was too big and in a desperate effort to lose weight Celia became anorexic. She underwent highly controversial ECT and brainwashing treatment. It didn't work and she eventually cured herself.

    Clark Kent was a geek. Spiderman saved lives. Peter Parker sold photographs to his local paper. Chris Moyles entertains 8 million people each week on BBC Radio 1. Then he goes home and plays Xbox on his sofa, wearing only his underpants. Welcome to the real world of Chris Moyles. This audiobook tries to get to the bottom of the double life of this award-winning broadcaster and hapless human being. You'll find out just what he thinks of his radio show guests—some of the most famous people in the country. You'll hear about his showbiz nights out and celebrity neighbourhood. You'll also learn why he is obsessive about washing up; why he lies to the pizza delivery man; and generally what it's like being a part-time famous person and a part-time nobody. Love him or not, Chris Moyles is part of the fabric of our nation and a proven best-selling author. A refreshingly honest, caustically dry and quick-witted commentator on daily life, The Difficult Second Book is a highly-entertaining listen from start to finish.

    Taber shares memories of her childhood in the Southwest and Mexico as well as her married life and early pursuit of a writing career.