Book picks similar to
Tea, Scones, and Malaria by Katlynn Brooke


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Balilicious - The Bali Diaries


Becky Wicks - 2012
    Now she turns her attention to Bali as she hilariously navigates life as an adopted Balinese local.A lot can happen when you set out to 'find yourself'. Sometimes, you can even lose the plot.From visiting ancient healers with cellphone addictions to leaving a shaking ashram intent on extracting her soul, Becky Wicks soon discovered that six months travelling round Bali wasn't all going to be about finding inner peace and harmony. In fact, the perils of possessed teens, eating raw, yogic headstands, diving shipwrecks and dicing with black magic and demons all took their toll on the Island of the Gods.And that was before the vaginal steaming.Becky Wicks lifts the sarong on real life in Bali in a blur of locals, tourists, expats and other other eating, praying lovers who arrive... you know... not really knowing who they are.

A Story of Seven Summers


Hilary Burden - 2012
    It might not be the secret to life, but it is the secret to this life ... I'll tell you how that came to be and that will be the story of the Nuns' House.'On the outside, Hilary Burden was living a glamorous life -- she was a busy, high-flying, globetrotting magazine journalist based in London, who thought nothing of flying to New York for a weekend, interviewing movie stars in luxury hotels or jetting off to Italy on assignment to hunt truffles with Curtis Stone. But on the inside, something was missing in her life and she didn't know quite what it was.Deciding that she wanted to make her own life, Hilary returned to Tasmania. She bought a ramshackle old house - the Nuns' House - with a sprawling, neglected garden, and gave herself the time and space to begin again. There was no particular kind of plan, but things just somehow worked. Now, seven summers later, she has a home, a garden, two alpacas (named Jack and Kerouac), two chooks (called Marilyn and Monroe), a purpose and a passion.A beautiful, intimate and inspiring story of having the courage to step into the unknown.

Waiting Wives: The Story of Schilling Manor, Home Front to the Vietnam War


Donna Moreau - 2005
    Author Donna Moreau was the daughter of one such waiting wife, and here she writes of growing up at a time when The Flintstones were interrupted with news of firefights, fraggings, and protests, when the evening news announced death tolls along with the weather forecasts. The women and children of Schilling Manor fought on the emotional front of the war. It was not a front composed of battle plans and bullets. Their enemies were fear, loneliness, lack of information, and the slow tick of time. Waiting Wives: The Story of Schilling Manor, Home Front to the Vietnam War tells the story of the last generation of hat-and-glove military wives called upon by their country to pack without question, to follow without comment, and to wait quietly with a smile. A heartfelt book that focuses on this other, hidden side of war, Waiting Wives is a narrative investigation of an extraordinary group of women. A compelling memoir and domestic drama, Waiting Wives is also the story of a country in the midst of change, of a country at war with a war.

Five Sons and a 100 Muri of Rice: The story of a five year old bride in rural Nepal


Sharyn Steel - 2014
    A five year old bride in rural Nepal struggles with poverty, male domination and illiteracy to become a successful landowner, micro lender and great grandmother.Based on the true story of Kharika Devkota, this book provides a rare insight into the inspiring and determining life of a Nepali woman.

The Fear of the Blow: A Young Woman's Gut-Wrenching True Story of Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Alcoholism and Redemption


Jena Parks - 2017
    A true tale of wickedness, despair, and redemption. Not to be missed. Born into a Dark and Secretive World of Domestic Violence ”What kind of life is this you live? Can you remember even one day you didn’t go to bed afraid and wake up afraid?” These are the words Jena Parks says, looking in the mirror as a child. Imagine being a child and every day a desperate struggle to survive. This was the life Jena endured from birth until the day she escaped the living nightmare of her father’s abuse. In The Fear of the Blow, Jena tells her candid personal story of the cruelty, abuse, and terror her father inflicted upon her, her brother, and her mother. She provides an insider perspective on the horrors of domestic violence and child abuse that inform and inspire the reader to help those who struggle. Unthinkable Horrors - a True-Life Story From the opening passages, Parks tells us of being witness to spousal abuse as her father would hit and kick her mother. She then begins to recount stories of her father’s “games” in which he would routinely nearly strangle his children. Verbal and physical beatings were a daily occurrence. Jena lived in terror of her father’s rage, often made worse by his alcoholism. She tells of the delight he would take in threatening to kill her or her mother. How Could This Kind of Domestic Abuse Continue Unchallenged? Parks helps the reader to understand how domestic violence can take root and go unchallenged for years - often until too late. She reminds us that child abuse, spousal abuse, and domestic violence thrive in silence - and that they form the most secretive and horrific epidemics known today. It is through educating ourselves about the reality of domestic violence that we can gain insight into the extensive and crippling effects on the children who are born into and raised inside of that dark world. And this empowers us to speak up and take action to help those in need. The Fear of the Blow is sure to break your heart, open your mind, and inspire courage and faith. Join the Fight to Raise Awareness Jena Parks is a committed to raising awareness about the prevalence of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse. She has written The Fear of the Blow in the hope of empowering others to speak up and to find a safe way out before it's too late. Because Child Abuse and Domestic Violence thrive in the silence please join Jena on her mission to shine a light on this epidemic. The only way we can stop it is to reveal it, to stand up and tell the truth, tell our stories and create real change in a still broken system that traps so many helpless women and children inside this Russian roulette life. Jena’s experiences expose the extreme cruelty and wickedness of which some are capable, but also points you to the place where one can always find hope and a safe harbor. Click the Buy button on this page to get your copy today.

Better Late Than Never: From Barrow Boy to Ballroom


Len Goodman - 2009
    Len Goodman tells all about his new-found fame, his experiences on Strictly Come Dancing, and also on the no.1 US show Dancing with the Stars and his encounters with the likes of Heather Mills-McCartney and John Sergeant. But the real story is in his East End roots. And Len's early life couldn't be more East End. The son of a Bethnal Green costermonger he spent his formative years running the fruit and veg barrow and being bathed at night in the same water Nan used to cook the beetroot. There are echoes of Billy Elliot too. Though Len was a welder in the London Docks, he dreamt of being a professional footballer, and came close to making the grade had he not broken his foot on Hackney Marshes. The doctor recommended ballroom dancing as a light aid to his recovery. And Len, it turned out, was a natural. At first his family and work mates mocked, but soon he had made the final of a national competition and the welders descended en masse to the Albert Hall to cheer him on. With his dance partner, and then wife Cheryl, Len won the British Championships in his late twenties and ballroom dancing became his life. Funny and heart-warming, Len Goodman's autobiography has all the honest East End charm of Tommy Steele, Mike Read or Roberta Taylor.

Route Britannia, the Journey South: A Spontaneous Bicycle Ride through Every County in Britain


Steven Primrose-Smith - 2016
    All 97 counties of it! Surely it can't be as bad as everyone tells him. After twenty years living abroad, he thinks the time is right to search his homeland for the best of British using new eyes, those of a foreign tourist, and in the only way he knows how – by bicycle. Armed with a list of recommendations gathered from friends and strangers alike and the most spontaneous of routes, he pedals 5,000 miles through damp English country lanes, soggy Welsh moorland and windswept Scottish mountains. He gets wet quite often. Following on from the success and irreverent style of both No Place Like Home, Thank God and Hungry for Miles, Steven seeks out the quirky in the people he meets, the places he visits and the food he eats. Can his initial store of positivity survive the journey, or will it be ground down by the traffic, the weather and his British, vegetable-free diet of beer, pies and pork scratchings? In this, Book 1, The Journey South, Steven travels from Merseyside to Warwickshire, through the whole of Wales, the West Country, the south coast and to London. Armed with a bag of googly eyes, he meets a poetry-prescribing nurse, stumbles across Hilda Ogden's lawnmower, has his footwear stolen by foxes, discovers some very special Mexican fleas, crashes the TARDIS and visits dozens of British capitals, including its infidelity capital, its boob job capital and its dogging capital. He experiences "real" Britain – the good and the bad – its Morris dancers, pie 'n' mash and the pinnacle of British culture, a good old-fashioned street fight. The concluding part, The Journey North, covering the east of England, Scotland and the north-west of England will be available in Summer 2017.

Waking Mathilda: A Memoir of Childhood Narcolepsy


Claire Crisp - 2017
    Then came the H1N1 flu pandemic of 2009. It took only vaccine—one seemingly innocuous vaccine to Mathilda, the baby of the family—to change their lives forever. Diagnosed at age three as the world's youngest child with narcolepsy, the joyful and energetic Mathilda rapidly dissolved into someone unrecognizable. In this compelling narrative, Claire Crisp chronicles the fight for Mathilda's treatment. Leaving their family and country in England, the Crisps begin a new journey—one of faith, of loss, and of love as immigrants to the western shores of the United States.

Sea Trials: Around the World with Duct Tape and Bailing Wire


Wendy Hinman - 2017
    Not for the Wilcox family. To triumph, they must rebuild their boat on a remote Pacific island. Damage sustained on the reef and a lack of resources haunt them the rest of the way around the world as they face daunting obstacles, including wild weather, pirates, gun boats, mines and thieves, plus pesky bureaucrats and cockroaches as stubborn as the family. Without a working engine and no way to communicate with the outside world, they struggle to reach home before their broken rig comes crashing down and they run out of food in a trial that tests them to their limits.

Snarky in the Suburbs--Back to School


Snarky N. Burbs - 2012
    With help from her two kids, a Roomba vacuum turned mobile surveillance drone, and a few close friends, Wynn launches a covert investigation that leads to the mother of all revenge capers at the school’s annual Fall Festival.If you’ve ever fantasized about smoke bombing the idiot parent who has yet to master the fine art of the school drop-off lane or standing up and shouting “Liar, liar Botox on fire!" during a PTA meeting, then this delicious tale of payback is for you.Based on the popular blog, Snarky In the Suburbs that was recently optioned by ABC for film and television rights.

Good Morning Beautiful (Trust Book 2)


Daines Reed - 2020
    But when will things be good for me? Cynthia Thomas has spent a lifetime on the sidelines watching everyone else's lives blossom with marriage and babies. All she's ever wanted was to experience those joys for herself. But, when she realizes she's spent too many years invested in one toxic relationship after another, she fears she may not deserve the true love she craves. Now, months before her 40th birthday, with a string of failed relationships in her past and a habit of submitting to her own inner demons, she's reached a crossroads. She'll have to dig deep to find descernment and self-love. Until now, nothing else has worked, time is ticking, and her chance for real love and motherhoood depend on it. This heartfelt, honest, and introspective sequel to Daines Reed's Trust will leave you laughing, crying, and rooting for a happily-ever-after.

Flight Attendant Memoir


Margo Anderson - 2016
    Flight Attendant Memoir is an intriguing, inside view of the not-so-friendly skies seen through the eyes of former flight attendant, Margo Anderson; if you are a frequent flier or plan to fly in the near future, fasten your seat belts for a turbulent read!

GYPSIES: I married a Romany! Honest, raw and extremely funny!


Nell R. Loveridge - 2017
    When you think about the kind of guy you are going to marry, a Romany living in an old caravan does not normally come to mind! Can't think why, can you?! So, there I was. 19 years old and fed up with 'normal' guys who only wanted one thing. Yep you guessed it! But then.... along comes this guy, tall, skinny, bad hair, ugly/handsome..... did I say bad hair? Oh yes! And that was just the beginning! But little did I know that he was a gypsy! Oh boy! Gypsies and gorgi's don't mix.....do they? I was about to find out! Honest, raw, colourful, and downright hilarious! Based on the true story of Nell Rose Loveridge and Jake her gypsy rover!

Who Says You Can't Go Home?: An Autobiography


B. Loren - 2021
    It is isolating, painful, and confusing. Loneliness and longing are your reality. You’re consumed with guilt, self-deprecating inner dialogue, and worst of all, the fear of doing even the smallest thing wrong. You spend a lot of time alone…even when you’re not. You watch a lot of TV.Obviously, this is all your fault. Obviously, the reason you are living this way is because of something you did to warrant it. If they beat you, you deserved it. If they punish you, you asked for it. You never want to go home, but you don’t have a choice because you’ve never had a choice. This is it. This is what you have. This is all you know.And yet, you still smile when you sometimes catch a glimpse of the sweeter things and treasure the smallest kindness. Inside, you know life isn’t supposed to be like this, but it is. Your life is like a bubble of poison gas that could burst at any moment…you know that. You live that. But how are you supposed to make sense of any of this? How do you make it stop?You can’t.You are powerless.You haven’t even reached kindergarten yet.From a severely abusive childhood in the inner city of Baltimore, a string of unsatisfying relationships and several broken marriages, to a six-figure income from the multi-million dollar business I built out of my home, this is my story in my own words.I was stolen as a baby when my mother died. I was lied to by my kidnapper and used as a Cinderella punching bag by his never-ending parade of “step-mothers” and girlfriends, and much worse when he didn’t have one.This memoir covers the good, the bad, and the ugly.As this story unfolds, my hope is that you, the reader, will discover a little girl who survived that abusive childhood, healed, and empowered herself through discipline and hard work. I hope you see a girl who became a woman who learned from her mistakes and a whole human being who loves her newfound family with all her heart.I am no longer an outsider. I can go home now.

Prisoners In The Shed: The Harrowing True Journey From Captivity To Hope


Bella Hope Shiloh - 2020