Book picks similar to
The Crack Between the Worlds: A Dancer's Memoir of Loss and Faith by Maggie Kast
memoir
dancer
issue-19-nonfiction
reviewed
Just Don't Call Me Ma'am: How I Ditched the South, Forgot My Manners, and Managed to Survive My Twenties with (Most of) My Dignity Still Intact
Anna Mitchael - 2010
In fact, she may even be a lot like you. In her fast-moving world, she might be called on as a friend, coworker, daughter, girlfriend, confidante, brat, cynic, or domestic-goddess-in-training. She's willing to juggle pretty much anything that gets thrown her way, but the one label she simply won't embrace is ma'am.Like so many bright-eyed college graduates before her, Mitchael begins her twenties armed with the conviction that the world is hers for the taking. And she discovers that it is, mostly—only no one told her just how often she’d have to pick herself up off the floor along the way.Written for every woman who’s experienced the ups and downs of trying to figure out who you’re really meant to be, Just Don’t Call Me Ma’am is a story of one woman and the choices that add up to be her twentysomething life—and of how sometimes you have to remember where you came from before you can figure out where you’re going.
A Kentish Lad: The Autobiography of Frank Muir
Frank Muir - 1997
On programmes such as My Word! and My Music his distinctive voice became familiar to millions as he displayed an astonishingly well-stocked mind and a genius for ad libbing and outrageous puns. Later, working at the BBC and then at London Weekend Television, he produced some of the best television comedy of the 1960s and 70s. He has written highly successful books for children, and two bestselling anthologies of humour.Frank Muir recalls, in glorious detail, a happy 1920s childhood in the seaside town of Ramsgate, where he was born in his grandmother's pub in Broadstairs, and in London, where he attended an inexpensive but excellent school of a kind no longer to be found. He remembers his very first joke at the age of six, when he knew that his destiny was to make people laugh. He also knew from an early age that he wanted to write, but it took a childhood illness for him to discover that humour and writing could be combined. The death of his father forced him to leave school at the age of fourteen and work in a factory making carbon paper. Then, at the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the RAF as an air photographer and his memories of the war years, as might be imagined, are engagingly different from the usual kind. It was during those years, with their rich fund of comic material, that he began his career as scriptwriter and performer. At his demob in 1945 he moved naturally to London and the Windmill Theatre, that remarkable breeding ground of talent where new comedians like Jimmy Edwards and Alfred Marks vied with nude girls for the attention of the audience. In story after story he recalls the lost world of London in the 1940s and early 50s, when the laughter and creative ideas seemed to explode out of post-war shabbiness and austerity. Then came the BBC, the legendary partnership with Denis Norden, and half a century of fulfilling the boyhood ambition of that Kentish lad. 'All I ever wanted to do was to write and amuse people.'
Travels with Geoffrey : If It CAN Go Wrong, It Will (Never a Dull Moment Book 1)
Sharon Hayhurst - 2021
When Sharon and her husband, Geoffrey, travel abroad, they stumble through Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia and Oman, flinging sausages and car parts, evading jails, abduction, wild coyotes and the Mafia, but will they continue to survive the perils, despite their satnav’s suicidal tendencies? Join them for a rollickingly good time while they lurch between glorious scenery, irritable outbursts and dubious driving.Travels with Geoffrey is an engaging travel narrative full of madcap adventures and is perfect for fans of Beth Haslam, Marjory McGinn and Tony James Slater.
Midnight Ballerina
Cori Williams - 2014
I just know it.” Of course, life doesn’t always work out how you want. Just ask Monroe Hartley. After burying her childhood dream, Monroe works toward a new one, determined to prove her independence. When life catches up with her, stripping away her resources, she slowly turns toward an unlikely profession. Miller Buchanan has enough on his plate; he doesn’t need to worry about anything or anyone else. Then a petite, dark-haired beauty falls into his lap and despite his personal demons, he can’t stay away. Temptation and possibility linger, but when the past comes knocking, will they trade their future for the familiar?
A Walk Through the Dark: How My Husband's 90 Minutes in Heaven Deepened My Faith for a Lifetime
Eva Piper - 2013
Don Piper's testimony, told in the "New York Times" bestseller "90 Minutes in Heaven," would one day bring hope to thousands. But all that was in the future. Despite family and friends who kept vigil with her, Eva Piper found herself essentially alone. Walking in the dark. And she had always hated the dark.Though it parallels that of her husband, Eva Piper's account is quite different from his. It takes readers not to heavenly places but through a very earthly maze of hospital corridors, insurance forms, tiring commutes from home to workplace and hospital, and lonely hours of waiting and worrying. This is the story of a woman learning, step by darkened step, to go places she never thought she could go and growing into a person she never thought she could be. Packed with hard-earned wisdom about what it means to be a caregiver, to open yourself to the care of others, and to rest in God's provision, this book" "provides a dependable source of light to help you walk through the dark.
No Turning Back: One Man's Inspiring True Story of Courage, Determination, and Hope
Bryan Anderson - 2011
William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life: Bookmarked
Steve Almond - 2019
It tells the story of William Stoner, who attends the state university to study agronomy, but instead falls in love with English literature and becomes an academic. The novel narrates the many disappointments and struggles in Stoner's academic and personal life, including his estrangement from his wife and daughter, set against the backdrop of the first half of the twentieth century.In his entry in the Bookmarked series, author Steve Almond writes about why Stoner has endured, and the manner in which it speaks to the impoverishment of the inner life in America. Almond will also use the book as a launching pad for an investigation of America’s soul, in the process, writing about his own struggles as a student of writing, as a father and husband, and as a man grappling with his own mortality.
Veiled Wings
Mazzy J. March - 2021
A little fact my parents failed to mention the entire time I was growing up. Then when it was time to apply to college, when all my friends were taking the SAT, I was informed that would not be necessary. I was a legacy to the Sciathian Academy, a private college so exclusive, I would find it in none of the brochures in my high school counselor’s office. No need to fill out an application or take the SAT. They apparently had their own tests… No financial aid forms because the families who sent their children there had funded the school with a legacy a long time ago. No need to do anything but show up and settle into my dorm.Pretty sweet. Also a little concerningEspecially when the private jet lands at an isolated airfield and I am ushered into a long, black car along with three other girls who all seem to have known one another since kindergarten and who are chattering away in another language. Gaelic, I think. And since I’d just left behind everyone and everything I knew, this did not bode well for the future. If everyone spoke this language, how would I even attend classes? Or pass a test?As if Fae Academy wasn’t hard enough, there are three guys that all want to date me.Wait, do fairies date? I think they have soul mates or something. Heck, I don’t even know what my powers are yet. I was never in the spotlight in high school, so why in the world am I the shining light here?Just when I decided to buckle down and study to be the best fairy I can, the whole world breaks open. For some reason the headmaster thinks I am the one who can intervene. I can’t even move a pebble or conjure up a rain cloud and they want me to save us?Dream on.I’m not the Fae for the job.
In the Air
Crystal Serowka - 2013
It was so surreal. Juilliard, the enormous brick building that held my dreams and the possibilities of my future. I was prepared for the challenges ahead. What I didn’t expect was to lose my focus the second I met him. Living the dance was no longer the only important thing in my life.The City opened my eyes, but he transformed me.Two dancers. One big city. He was determined to make a new start. She was ready to make it in the ballet world. Neither expected love to play a part in achieving their dreams. They also didn't expect it to be so destructive. Samson and Natalia took the leap anyway, not worrying about the fall.
Misadventures of a Parenting Yogi: Cloth Diapers, Cosleeping, and My (Sometimes Successful) Quest for Conscious Parenting
Brian Leaf - 2014
He explores Attachment Parenting, as well as Playful, Unconditional, Simplicity, and good old Dr. Spock parenting. He tries cloth diapers, no diapers, cosleeping, and no sleeping. Join him on his rollicking journey in this one-of-a-kind parenting guide.
My French Platter Replenished: In Search of a Dream Life in France
Annemarie Rawson - 2021
As they take on the management of their new employers’ majestic house, will the opportunities to create luscious food for the guests and explore rural France enable them to create a dream life? Or will French officialdom, family illness and a sudden career curveball send them hurrying home to New Zealand?Perfect for fans of Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence, Janine Marsh’s My Good Life in France and Beth Haslam’s Fat Dogs and French Estates.
Into Africa: 3 Kids, 13 Crates and a Husband
Ann Patras - 2014
While prepared for sunshine and storms 13º south of the equator, the Patras family are ill-equipped for much else. Interspersed with snippets from Ann’s letters home, this crazy story describes encounters ranging from lizards to lions, servants to shopping shortages, and cockroaches to curfews.
Like Rain on a Dry Place: A Birth Mother's Story
Wendy Salisbury Howe - 2016
What is it like? It is the best gift you can ever imagine, like rain falling on a dry place.This memoir is a great reunion journey, from Paris, to California, to Denmark! A coming together of a mother and son, the only two people who can answer all the questions the other one has.
Naked Determination: 41 Stories About Overcoming Fear
Gisela Hausmann - 2012
Topics: basic skills, essential skills, personal development, Affairs_Sex_and_Love, professional life, money, rejection, your and our future, unexpected stories, and “So, where do we go from here?”Readers will be able to apply the tricks Gisela reveals immediately. The ebook edition won BRONZE at the eLit Awards 2012 (category inspirational/motivational)5***** at Readers Favorite
Lucky Jim
James Hart - 2017
Charming, funny, and a great listener with a guru's insight, his success in life and business was based on his ability to connect with others, from people recovering in 12-step groups in Upstate New York to those living in the rarified air of Martha's Vineyard. But after 20+ years sober, one slip-up triggered an active addiction that threatened his relationships with his then-wife, singer-songwriter Carly Simon, his recovery friends, his severely disabled son, and even with himself as he began to confront his sexuality.