Book picks similar to
Blessings in Disguise by Jessica Stirling


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Egghead; or, You Can't Survive on Ideas Alone


Bo Burnham - 2013
    100 million people viewed those videos, turning Bo into an online sensation with a huge and dedicated following. Bo taped his first of two Comedy Central specials four days after his 18th birthday, making him the youngest to do so in the channel's history. Now Bo is a rising star in the comedy world, revered for his utterly original and intelligent voice. And, he can SIIIIIIIIING!In EGGHEAD, Bo brings his brand of brainy, emotional comedy to the page in the form of off-kilter poems, thoughts, and more. Teaming up with his longtime friend, artist, and illustrator Chance Bone, Bo takes on everything from death to farts in this weird book that will make you think, laugh and think, "why did I just laugh?"

The Poison Boy


Fletcher Moss - 2013
    But his mate is less fortunate, and Dalton wants answers. Who murdered his friend, and what were they really after?With the help of aristocratic girl Scarlet Dropmore, whose life he unwittingly saved, he sets out to rescue his city from the poisoners within.

Risk


Colin Harrison - 2009
    But Mrs. Corbett, the rich, eccentric wife of the firm's founder, has it in mind to put George’s skills to a peculiar assignment. With only a few months to live, her one desire is to know the true circumstance of her son Roger's violent death. George's investigation leads him to Roger's mistress, a cagy Czech hand model named Eliska, whose motives for latching on to Mrs. Corbett's son may have gotten him killed. Set against a brilliantly-drawn Manhattan, at once volatile and vivid, Risk is prime Colin Harrison.

The Owl in the Attic and Other Perplexities


James Thurber - 1931
    H. W. Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage.

Tuning in to Terror


Deborah McClatchey - 2009
    Bennett's dream home from his childhoodyears. The house was creepy and ominous and Bobby Bennett found he didn't like it much.When Bobby explores the attic and discovers an old radio that was 'cool' enough to put in his bedroom, things begin to happen.Strange and evil things!First, the whispers in the night, then the ghostly image...it wantsBobby to do unspeakable deeds. And most importantly, it wants him to 'replace'! Bobby is terrified to find out what that means!But is Bobby only dreaming or is this nightmare real? He wasn't sure until tragedy struck his new friend. Evil can hide in the strangestand most innocent of places. Can Bobby resist the demands of the ghost who is driven by the 'Demon from Hell' before it is too late for his family...and himself?

The Seagull Reader: Poems


Joseph KellySharon Olds - 2000
    W. Norton proudly announces the Seagull Readers, a new collection of the most frequently taught poems. Ideal for genre or introductory literature courses, the Seagull Readers offer a compact and affordable alternative to larger anthologies. Each volume includes a wide selection of both classic and contemporary works, as well as a thorough introduction to each genre and biographies of the authors. An inexpensive and portable alternative to bulky anthologies, The Seagull Reader: Poems offers 154 poems, from time-honored classics such as T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and John Keats's "La Belle Dame sans Merci" to contemporary classics by Rita Dove, Billy Collins, Seamus Heaney, Sharon Olds, and Li-Young Lee, among others. The Seagull Reader: Poems is lightly supplemented by editorial apparatus, including an introduction to the major concepts of the genre, brief headnotes, annotations where necessary, a glossary of terms, and biographical sketches of each author.

Stuart Adamson: In a Big Country


Allan Glen - 2011
    Stuart Adamson: In a Big Country tells the story of how a teenager who was raised in a small Fife village released his first single at 19, wrote three Top 40 albums in the next three years and was written off as a has-been at 23, but then went on to form a new band and sell more than 10 million records worldwide, touring with the Rolling Stones and David Bowie. Although Stuart Adamson was one of the most respected and popular figures in the music industry, his personal life was complex - depression, alcoholism and estrangement - and ultimately tragic, ending with his suicide in a Hawaiian hotel in December 2001.

In Dark Service


Stephen Hunt - 2014
    He's living a comfortable, quiet life, obeying the law and minding his own business while raising his son Carter ...on those occasions when he isn't having to bail him out of one scrape or another. His days of adventure are - thankfully - long behind him. Carter Carnehan is going out of his mind with boredom. He's bored by his humdrum life, frustrated that his father won't live a little, and longs for the bright lights and excitement of anywhere-but-here. He's longing for an opportunity to escape, and test himself against whatever the world has to offer. Carter is going to get his opportunity. He's caught up in a village fight, kidnapped by slavers and, before he knows it, is swept to another land. A lowly slave, surrounded by technology he doesn't understand, his wish has come true: it's him vs. the world. He can try to escape, he can try to lead his fellow slaves, or he can accept the inevitable and try to make the most of the short, brutal existence remaining to him...unless Jacob gets to him first and, no matter the odds, he intends to. No one kidnaps his son and gets away with it - and if it come to it, he'll force Kings to help him on his way, he'll fight, steal, blackmail and betray his friends in the name of bringing Carter home. Wars will be started. Empires will fall. And the Carnehan family will be reunited, one way or another...

Sherlock: The Hounds of Baskerville


Paul Shipton - 2012
    Sherlock Holmes is the world's most famous detective and students will love this modern adaptation of Conan Doyle's much-loved story. Based on the award-winning TV series 'Sherlock'.

Watchers / Midnight


Dean Koontz - 2009
    One is a magnificent dog of astonishing intelligence. The other, a hybrid monster of a brutally violent nature. And both are on the loose.… Bestselling author Dean Koontz presents his most terrifying, dramatic and moving novel: The explosive story of a man and a woman, caught in a relentless storm of mankind’s darkest creation.… Midnight In picturesque Moonlight Cove, California, inexplicable deaths occur and spine-tingling terror descends to this "edge of paradise." Growing numbers of residents harbor a secret so dark it is sure to cost even more lives. Tessa Lockland comes to town to probe her sister's seemingly unprompted suicide. Independent and clever, she meets up with Sam Booker, an undercover FBI agent sent to Moonlight Cove to discover the truth behind the mysterious deaths. They meet Harry Talbot, a wheelchair-bound veteran, who has seen things from his window that he was not meant to see. Together they begin to understand the depth of evil in Moonlight Cove. Chrissie Foster, a resourceful eleven-year-old, running from her parents who have suddenly changed and in whom darkness dwells, joins them. Together they make a stand against darkness and terror.

It's Been Emotional


Vinnie Jones - 2013
    Bold and frank, this is Vinnie laid bare. Born and bred in Watford, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team after qualifying through a Welsh grandparent. He won the 1988 FA Cup final against Liverpool before moving to Wimbledon and then Leeds United. He has also played for Chelsea. His celebrity status has grown over the years after appearing in the 2010 series of Big Brother and coming third, as well as the hugely successful British Heart Foundation CPR campaign. Vinnie's bad boy tag has followed him into the world of film where he has used his hard man status to secure roles in hugely successful Brit Flicks, such as Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Forensics: The Science Behind the Deaths of Famous People


Harry A. Milman - 2020
    A more plausible explanation would have been that she died from a drug overdose. A review of the medical examiner's report revealed that the Fisher family refused to give permission for an autopsy and toxicology tests to be done. Constrained by these limitations, the coroner labeled the manner of death "undetermined".FORENSICS: The Science behind the Deaths of Famous People is an analysis and description of how coroners determine the cause and manner of death. An investigation of twenty-three deaths of famous people was conducted based on a review of publicly available autopsy and toxicology reports, as well as published scientific and lay articles. Drug use was implicated in 70 percent of the deaths. Four celebrity deaths were the result of suicide or homicide. Four others were from natural causes.

Family Matters 4-Book Bundle: Angel Falls, Between Sisters, The Things We Do for Love, Magic Hour


Kristin Hannah - 2013
    . . . [Angel Falls will] make you laugh and cry.”—New York Post   When Mikaela Campbell, beloved wife and mother, falls into a coma, it is up to her husband, Liam, to hold the family together and care for their grieving, frightened children. Every day he sits at Mikaela’s bedside, hoping against hope that she will wake up. But then he discovers his wife’s secret past: a hidden first marriage to movie star Julian True. Desperate to bring Mikaela back at any cost, Liam must turn to Julian for help. But will that choice cost Liam his wife, his family, and everything he holds dear? BETWEEN SISTERS “Enormously entertaining . . . Hannah has a nice ear for dialogue and a knack for getting the reader inside characters’ heads.”—The Seattle Times   Twenty-seven years ago Meghann Dontess was forced to make a terrible choice, one that cost her the love of her sister, Claire. Now, Meghann is a hotshot divorce attorney who doesn’t believe in much of anything. She is surprised when her sister calls out of the blue to say she is engaged. Meghann knows this is her chance to reconnect with her sister. She offers to plan the ceremony, but Claire knows that pleasing her judgmental sister is almost impossible. Nothing seems to work between them . . . until tragedy strikes. At last, these two sisters with nothing in common will have to become what they never were: a family.  THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE “Hannah captures the joy and heartache of family as she draws the reader into the lives of her characters and makes them feel like personal friends.”—Booklist   Years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive a child have broken more than Angie DeSaria’s heart. Following a painful divorce, she moves back to her hometown, where life rises and falls like the tides, to manage her family’s restaurant. Her fortune changes yet again when she hires Lauren Ribido. Angie sees something special in the troubled seventeen-year-old—and when Lauren’s mother abandons her, Angie offers the girl a place to stay. But nothing could have prepared Angie for the far-reaching repercussions of this act of kindness.  MAGIC HOUR “A wonderful novel—wild, radiant, and vivid.”—Luanne Rice   From deep within the Olympic National Forest—nearly a million acres of impenetrable darkness—a six-year-old girl appears, wild-looking and alone. Child psychiatrist Dr. Julia Cates is determined to free the extraordinary girl she calls Alice from a prison of unimaginable isolation. The child can’t speak and seems to have never been around people. As Julia seeks to help Alice, she discovers who the child is. The shocking facts about Alice’s past test the limits of Julia’s faith and strength, even as she struggles to make a home for Alice—and for herself.

Where There's A Will


Matt Beaumont - 2006
    He works with dysfunctional teenagers, and where everyone else sees apprentice career criminals, he sees hope. No-one has ever taught him to accentuate the positive; his mind is simply built that way. He adores his family: Karen and the children are the centre of his world. So when he finds that one of his few teenage success stories has wound up working in a massage parlour, he knows he has to help. He’ll pop in for a little chat – thats all it will be. But try telling that to anyone else. Karen’s not convinced, and maybe she has her reasons to be suspicious. Alvin finds that one mistake, arising from the noblest of motives, will propel events out of control. Now cast adrift, Alvin’s only allies are the teenagers everyone’s given up on. They’re great at supplying dodgy DVDs and ringtones – but can they help him get his life back?

Rise of an American Gangstress


Kim K. - 2012
    But when havocenters the picture and the Feds seize her family's ill-gotten gains,Fancy's lavish Caribbean trips are traded in for cold winter nightsin the heart of the hood.When the gravity of Fancy's situation causes her to crumble, it'sher roots that put her back together. Unwilling to stay down, Fancyrealizes that she was born to hustle, and this American Gangstressis reborn. What emerges is a fierce contender the streets aren'tready for.