Gravity


Norman Ollestad - 2015
    Anton, a remote village nestled in the glittering and dangerous peaks of the Austrian Alps. There, he befriends the local clique of ski bums and fills his days with endless, exhilarating skiing, and his nights flirting with the prettiest girls at the bars. But in the quiet moments, Norman cannot escape the painful memories of his challenging, adrenaline-addicted father who took him to St. Anton fifteen years earlier, and who died in a terrible plane crash of which Norman, at the age of eleven, was the sole survivor. In Gravity, Ollestad transports us to those thrilling days in the Alps, and reveals how his search to find greater meaning in his rudderless life helped him discover the relationships that make life worth living.Norman Ollestad was born in Los Angeles in 1967 and grew up in Malibu. He studied creative writing at UCLA and attended UCLA’s undergrad Film School. His writing has appeared in Outside, Men’s Journal and Time. He is married and has two children—a son and daughter—and lives in Venice, California.Cover design by Adil Dara

THE YOUNGEST GREEN BERET: Real people, real combat, espionage, and conflict in the Mekong Delta 1969


Terry McIntosh - 2019
    From working with a double agent who betrays his friendship and exposes a top secret cross border operation, Terry McIntosh wrestles with his own doubts and fears while protecting the rights of others to live free. He was chosen from the ranks of long range reconnaissance training to serve with Special Forces Detachment A-team 414 in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam 1968-1969. The border camp conducted clandestine operations to observe and engage a growing Viet Cong armed force 15 miles across the line. The top secret mission is exposed after team members are accused of executing the double agent. It is believed that Terry McIntosh is the youngest soldier to serve with the Green Berets on an "A" team and earn the coveted Combat Badge. This is his story about the transition from boy to man in the jungles of Vietnam where he met himself for the first time with a sense of shame and honor.

Autophagy: How to Leverage Your Body’s Natural Intelligence to Activate the Anti-Age Process, Detox Your Body and Lose Weight Faster Than Ever Before


Alaina W. Bolton - 2019
    But there was nothing inherently special about them! They only knew to abide by an ancient rule of nature. Nature, in turn, rewarded them with strength, agility, and health.Your lifelong health is largely determined by what goes on inside your body at the microscopic level. Every meal you eat, beverage you drink, and moment of exertion or rest impacts your internal machinery. With the right intake of food, regular exercise, and an occasional break from both, your body begins to experience autophagy. And that is what this book is going show you!This book will teach you about: What is Autophagy and how it works How to age slower and be vigorous throughout your life Which foods make you live longer and build muscle How to promote health and longevity with intermittent fasting the various ways to fast the weight loss effects of fasting How to use autophagic processes to delay or prevent signs of aging Autophagy mistakes to avoid This manual is for everyone who values their life and health. It is for who is young and old alike who value healthy living and would like to keep their bodies and immune systems resilient to all forms of disease attack. The teachings of this manual are your ticket to a long, good life, without the fear of your body failing you any time soon. Buy this book right now and invest in your own health. You don’t have a second to lose! Just Click on “Buy now button” And Start Your Journey Toward a Healthier You Today!

Chuvalo: A Fighter's Life: The Story of Boxing's Last Gladiator


George Chuvalo - 2013
    After teaching himself the basics, he turned pro as an eighteen-year-old in 1956 and over the next twenty-three years fought some of the sport's greatest names: Joe Frazier, George Foreman and, most famously, Muhammad Ali (twice). Since retiring from the ring in 1979, Chuvalo has had to come to terms with a series of crushing body blows. His youngest son, a heroin addict, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Two other sons died from heroin overdoses. His first wife, overcome with grief, took her own life. Yet Chuvalo has stoically fought back. He formed his Fight Against Drugs foundation in 1996 and has spent the past seventeen years travelling across Canada and to parts of the United States, talking to tens of thousands of students and young adults about what happened to his family.An inspirational story of a Canadian icon, Chuvalo is both a top-flight boxing memoir and a poignant, hard-hitting story of coping with unimaginable loss.

How To Make Whiskey: A Step-by-Step Guide to Making Whiskey


Bryan Davis - 2013
    A fun read, salt and peppered, with the science behind distilling. This authoritative guide book introduces whiskey-making in a easy step-by-step process.

Unaccountable: Truth and Lies on Parliament Hill


Kevin Page - 2015
    The move fulfilled a Tory campaign promise to deliver greater government transparency and accountability. He was later denounced by the same people who appointed him to scrutinize their spending. When he challenged the government on several issues--most notably about the true costs of the F-35 fighter planes--and publicly claimed the government was misleading Canadians, Page was vilified. He was called "unbelievable, unreliable and incredible" by then-Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Page's term was not extended and he retired from the civil service.     Page's assessment of the F-35 procurement was proven right, a major embarrassment to the Harper government. But Page's overriding concern is that Parliament does not get the information and analysis it needs to hold the executive (the prime minister and cabinet) to account. Parliament, he argues, is broken, with power centralized in the PMO. The civil service appears cowed, and members of parliament almost never see enough financial analysis to support the policy decisions they make. That was true at various times on the tough-on-crime legislation, new military procurement as well as changes to the Canada Health Transfer and Old Age Security.      In this shocking insider's account, Page argues that democracy is being undermined by an increasingly autocratic government that does not respect facts that run counter to its political agenda. Elected officials need accurate, independently verified data to support the implementation of policies and programs. In Unaccountable, Page tells all Canadians why we should be concerned.

The Bushman’s Lair: On the Trail of the Fugitive of the Shuswap


Paul McKendrick - 2021
    It had been the hideout of a fugitive known as the Bushman—real name John Bjornstrom—who had been arrested the previous winter after raiding cabins in the area for supplies.Shortly after the cave was discovered, and before it was imploded by local authorities, author Paul McKendrick was able to explore the nine-hundred-square-foot bachelor pad. Its elaborate construction left the impression that the occupant was more than just a common thief with a preference for uncommon living arrangements.Nearly two decades later, McKendrick set out to better understand what led the Bushman to the cave. The Bushman’s Lair is the culmination of numerous interviews, reviews of RCMP and court transcripts, declassified us government files and McKendrick’s own adventures in the Shuswap. The resulting book follows Bjornstrom’s circuitous path: a child of Romani refugees raised by nature lovers from Norway; a bizarre, top-secret us government program that recruited individuals with supposed psychic abilities; an investigation into the infamous Bre-X mining scandal that led to an alleged hit list; and an ardent mission to safeguard vulnerable youth from abuse.While some mysteries remain unsolved, McKendrick’s exploration of Bjornstrom’s story is an unexpectedly moving and unforgettable account of a man who decided to pursue a quest with boundless commitment.

Festival Man


Geoff Berner - 2013
    Follow the flailing escapades of maverick music manager Campbell Ouiniette at the Calgary Folk Festival, as he leaves a trail of empty liquor bottles, cigarette butts, bruised egos, and obliterated relationships behind him. His top headlining act has abandoned him for the Big Time. In a fit of self-delusion or pure genius (or perhaps a bit of both), Ouiniette devises an intricate scam, a last hurrah in an attempt to redeem himself in the eyes of his girlfriend, the music industry, and the rest of the world. He reveals his path of destruction in his own transparently self-justifying, explosive, profane words, with digressions into the Edmonton hardcore punk rock scene, the Yugoslavian Civil War, and other epicentres of chaos.

Man and Ball: My Autobiography


Stephen Ferris - 2015
    It was, however, preferable to his day job of paving driveways, and that day in 2005 saw the start of an incredible journey for Ferris, Ulster and Ireland rugby. A Celtic League title in his very first senior season with Ulster. A Grand Slam in 2009, followed by a sensational Lions breakthrough. A starring role in Ireland's greatest World Cup win, over Australia in 2011, when Ferris famously picked up Will Genia and carried him ten yards. And leading Ulster from nowhere to the Heineken Cup final.Stephen Ferris had an incredible rugby career, tragically ended by ankle injuries so severe they will never properly heal. He is an inspiration to the population of Ulster, an emblem of the sport that serves as such a positive expression of its culture and identity, and earned the respect and admiration of fans across Ireland for his strength, pace, skill and courage. Fearless, funny and full of an incredible array of stories from behind the scenes of Ulster, Ireland and the Lions, this is the must-have rugby book of the year.

Angry Jogger


Angry Jogger - 2014
    Heavily overweight and depressed for most of his adult life, in 2010 he set out on a voyage of self discovery and ended up running 9 marathons, 16 half marathons and a 100k in the process. Angry Jogger charts his progress from a fat recluse to an ultra marathon runner taking him across Europe and to Las Vegas in search of fun, medals and thrills. Angry Jogger is a left field two fingered salute to the profiteering dieting and self help industry.

Two Tears on the Window: An Ordinary Canadian Couple Disappears in China


Julia Garratt - 2018
    In August 2014 State Security agents grabbed them, accusing them of espionage. In shock, they were unaware of a Chinese spy arrest in Canada, giving the US “some leverage over China to bring a stop to more than a decade of rampant cybertheft” or that they’d become “bargaining chips in China’s desperate countermove”. (Graff, Garrett M. “How the US Forced China to Quit Stealing—Using a China Spy”. Wired Magazine. October 11, 2018) This compelling story of a Canadian Christian couple who spent 30 years working and raising their family in China, involved in aid, education and social enterprise is a unique parallel journey. From the early days teaching English in a decade of ration coupons and collective work units, Kevin and Julia watched with admiration as China catapulted into the modern age with unprecedented speed. Well-loved in China, the Garratt’s had always been thanked for their work in education, social welfare, social enterprises and community service. In 2007, along with two of their children, they moved to the China/North Korea border, opened a popular coffee shop and provided aid and assistance for marginalized communities in Dandong, China and North Korea. Their sudden disappearance plunged them into a journey where survival took every breath. Through their harrowing ordeal and intense suffering comes life-changing insight. They find themselves part of new community of those who’ve tasted yet overcome the pain of injustice. Courage and kindness, friendship and faith, resonates through the ordeal with the heartbeat of a love journey. Artfully written, Two Tears in the Window combines Kevin’s gifted story-telling and humour with Julia’s ability to let you see through their eyes and draw readers into deeply painful yet profoundly life-changing experiences. For more information or to contact the authors, visit www.twotearsonthewindow.com

Growing Up Next to The Mental


Brian M Callahan - 2018
    No more than eeny, meeny, miney, mo and who we were supposed to catch by the toe.Wish Mooney’s earliest memory in life is finding a corpse in the Waterford River. Jarring stuff for a four-year-old, yet far from the most shocking or bizarre he would witness growing up in west end St. John’s next door to the Waterford Hospital. Or, as it was unabashedly labelled before the advent of political correctness: the Mental.An unfortunate moniker, but one legitimately derived from the original name of the place—the Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases—when it opened in 1854. Not until 1972 would it be renamed after the river that runs by it. But in Mooney’s world, which revolved mostly in and around the asylum’s drab, depressing confines in the mid-1970s, it was colloquially the Mental, just as its largely despondent inhabitants were the mental patients.Thus was the oft-surreal environment that unavoidably enveloped Wish and the rest of the Irish Catholic Mooney clan, including the quietly acknowledged other realities of the place—the sad, the tragic, the maniacal. Little did Wish ever consider that any or all of that would come full circle later in life when, as the court reporter for the Daily News, he would be thrust into the middle of his own life story, replete with shocking conclusion.

The Totally Awesome Book of Crazy Stories: Crazy But True Stories That Actually Happened!


Bill O'Neill - 2020
    

Veronica's Bird: Thirty-five years inside as a female prison officer


Veronica Bird - 2018
    Life was a despairing time in the 1950s, as Veronica sought desperately to keep away from his cruelty. Astonishingly, to her and her mother, she won a scholarship to Ackworth Boarding School where she began to shine above her class-mates. A champion in all sports, Veronica at last found some happiness until her brother-in-law came into her life. It was as if she had stepped from the frying pan into the re: he took over control of her life removing her from the school she adored, two terms before she was due to take her GCEs, so he could put her to work as a cheap option on his market stall. Abused for many years by these two men, Veronica eventually ran away and applied to the Prison Service, knowing it was the only safe place she could trust. This is the astonishing, and true story of Veronica Bird who rose to become a Governor of Armley prison. Given a ‘basket case’ in another prison, contrary to all expectations, she turned it around within a year, to become an example for others to match. During her life inside, her ‘bird’, she met many Home Secretaries, was honoured by the Queen and was asked to help improve conditions in Russian Prisons. A deeply poignant story of eventual triumph against a staggeringly high series of setbacks, her story is filled with humour and compassion for those inside.

Life Can Be Cruel: The Story of a German P.O.W. in Russia


H.R.R. Furmanski - 2017
    Originally published in 1960, this compact book tells the true story of a German soldier: from his early childhood during the First World War, through to his harrowing experiences on the frontline during the Word War II, culminating in his capture by the Red Army on 20 December 1942…An astonishing first-hand account.