Book picks similar to
Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays by Robert J. Myers
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Sikhs: The Untold Agony Of 1984
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay - 2015
She claimed the police had inserted a stick inside her… Swaranpreet realised that she had been cruelly violated; He spoke a single sentence but repeated it twice in chaste Punjabi: ‘Please give me a turban? I want nothing else…’ These are voices begging for deliverance in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination in October-November 1984 in which 2,733 Sikhs were killed, burnt and exterminated by lumpens in the country. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay walks us through one of the most shameful episodes of sectarian violence in post Independent India and highlights the apathy of subsequent governments towards Sikhs who paid a price for what was clearly a state-sponsored riot. Poignant, raw and most importantly, macabre, the personal histories in the book reveal how even after three decades, a community continues to battle for its identity in its own country.
Notwithstanding my weakness
Neal A. Maxwell - 1981
In Notwithstanding My Weakness, author Neal A. Maxwell presents a positive course for those who need encouragement and reassurance and who are striving to put off the natural man and become saintlike. "In these times of hopelessness we must cultivate in ourselves a particularized and 'perfect brightness of hope,' he writes. "We will surely need, too, genuine patience, not only with others but also with ourselves, for impatience so often opens the door for despair and contempt. . . . Though we feel weak, our help is much needed by those . . . converts coming into the Church who will be undertaking the very same 'mighty change' in their hearts and lives. "As together we become less spotted by the world and more pure-achieving this condition in a time of gross immorality and corruption-then we can become worthy of being called 'true believers in Christ.'" Notwithstanding My Weakness presents a reassuring message of hope for those who are discouraged, who are weighed down with stress and anxiety, who feel weak and inadequate. To those who do overcome their weaknesses and imperfections, the promise is truly glorious: "The kingdom is yours." (D&C 38:15.)
Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas (Books of Miscellany)
Jonathan Green - 2009
For example, myrrh is incense made from the resin of a North African bush and was a special gift during biblical times. To the Romans, mistletoe was a symbol of fertility, so today we are encouraged to kiss when it is near. The Yule log was originally used to brighten homes during the dark, cold Scandinavian Christmas season. Packed with all manner of delightful surprises and delicious morsels, A Christmas Miscellany demystifies the origins of familiar festive customs such as caroling and Christmas cards, and entertains with fun, little-known facts. This is the perfect gift or stocking stuffer for the curious-minded during the holiday season.
Road Scholar: Coast To Coast Late in the Century
Andrei Codrescu - 1993
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year in Hyperion hardcover.
The Curse of the Bambino
Dan Shaughnessy - 1990
In the wake of that defeat, author and Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy has updated his bewitching story of the curse that has lain over the Red Sox since they sold Babe Ruth to the hated Yankees in 1920. Here he sheds light on classic Sox debacles?from Johnny Pesky?s so- called hesitation throw, to the horrifying dribbler that slithered between Bill Buckner?s legs, to last year?s stunning extra-inning home run that kept the Sox without a World Championship for yet another year. Lively and filled with anecdotes, this is baseball folklore at its best.
The Warlizard Chronicles
Warlizard - 2011
Now I know why my dog likes her better. 2. I wish this were the worst thing she’d ever told me. About the book In “The Warlizard Chronicles”, Warlizard tells the tales of a misspent youth, from the story of his “dog-gasmic” ex-fiancée to the logic of serving as a German linguist in Iraq. The stories are light, fast-paced, graphic, and not remotely safe for work. You have been warned. Reader feedback: - “You tell all women that story? You should wash out your mouth!” - “I think I could listen to your stories for hours.” - “So you owe your marriage to the people who brought down the world trade center?” - “I have nothing else I can add or ask, except MORE STORIES.” - “Holy s**t. I wish I was you.” - “You slept with another man's wife and then lied to him about it, and can say with a straight face it was the right thing to do?” - “Godda***t, I spewed out laughter too loud at work, now I have to leave because everyone knows I'm not doing s**t. F*** this is hilarious, and disconcerting, at the same time.” - “He is the most interesting man in the world.” - “I feel like a failure reading these stories, they're awesome.” - “Your life experience makes me feel good. You good sir are somewhat of a new idol of mine. Nothing much you can do about that. Have a good day sir.” - “Warlizard doesn't always drink beer, but when he does, he prefers Dos Equis.” - “I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that not only a story like this exists but that a Reddit regular would be living it. And it kinda has this enthusiastic ‘and then it happened...’ moments in it that kinda style like you'd write fiction on the go.” - “This guy is either the most creative man in the world or the most interesting man in the world. Either way...”
Informing the News: The Need for Knowledge-Based Journalism
Thomas E. Patterson - 2013
Too often, reporters give equal weight to facts and biased opinion, stir up small controversies, and substitute infotainment for real news. Even when they get the facts rights, they often misjudge the context in which they belong. Information is the lifeblood of a healthy democracy. Public opinion and debate suffer when citizens are misinformed about current affairs, as is increasingly the case. Though the failures of today’s communication system cannot be blamed solely on the news media, they are part of the problem, and the best hope for something better. Patterson proposes “knowledge-based journalism” as a corrective. Unless journalists are more deeply informed about the subjects they cover, they will continue to misinterpret them and to be vulnerable to manipulation by their sources. In this book, derived from a multi-year initiative of the Carnegie Corporation and the Knight Foundation, Patterson calls for nothing less than a major overhaul of journalism practice and education. The book speaks not only to journalists but to all who are concerned about the integrity of the information on which America’s democracy depends.
Days of the Living Christ (Volume 1)
W. Cleon Skousen - 1992
Over Twenty-five years ago, Dr. Skousen had concluded that just about everything connected with the life and mission of Jesus Christ had been written. Then he began to find some scriptural treasures that had been missed. Before long he was deep into a comprehensive study of the life and mission of the Savior that finally culminated in these two volumes. Volume 1 covers the birth of Christ, His early years, the Sermon on the Mount and much of His ministry here on earth. The reader will grasp a new concept of the love Jesus had for the Jewish people and also discover a whole new scriptural basis for Peter's denial of the Christ. It is believed these two volumes will provide a new, dynamic, three-dimensional appreciation of the Savior and those who labored with Him.
Saved by Gracie: How a Rough-And-Tumble Rescue Dog Dragged Me Back to Health, Happiness, and God
Jan Dunlap - 2014
. . Author Jan Dunlap was suffering increasingly severe bouts of anxiety after a medical misdiagnosis slapped her in the face with an acute realization of the tenuous nature of human life. A degreed theologian, Jan found her personal faith in God and His promises severely shaken and her enthusiasm for life being replaced by growing fear and debilitating insecurity. Then a rescue-shelter black lab-mix by the name of Gracie came into her life as her daughter's new pet, and Jan determined to do whatever it took to provide both her daughter and the dog with the sense of security she herself no longer felt. She quickly discovered, however, that Gracie had her own agenda, and it was all dog. From chasing squirrels to jumping fences to the occasional roll in dead fish, Gracie taught Jan that life is for living, not dreading. As she began to realize that Gracie was helping her manage her anxiety, Jan also came to a new awareness of how a loving God provides healing through His own works of creation. Part memoir and part medical exploration of the truly healing gifts that God freely offers us through our interaction with animals and nature, Saved by Gracie is a story of God's redeeming love revealed at the paws of a dog.
Hurricane Season: The Unforgettable Story of the 2017 Houston Astros and the Resilience of a City
Joe Holley - 2018
On November 1, 2017, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in an epic seven game battle to become 2017 World Series champs. For the Astros, the combination of a magnificently played series, a 101-victory season, and the devastation Hurricane Harvey brought to their city was so incredible it might give Hollywood screenwriters pause. The nation's fourth-largest city, still reeling in the wake of disaster, was smiling again. The Astros' first-ever World Series victory is a great baseball story, but it's also the story of a major American city -- a city (and a state) that the rest of the nation doesn't always love or understand--becoming a sentimental favorite because of its grace and good will in response to the largest natural disaster in American history. The Astros' miracle season is also the fascinating tale of a thoroughly modern team. Constructed by NASA-inspired analytics, the team's data-driven system took the game to a more sophisticated level than the so-called Moneyball approach. The team's new owner, Jim Crane, bought into the system and was willing to endure humiliating seasons in the baseball wilderness with the hope, shared by few initially, that success comes to those who wait. And he was right. But no data-crunching could take credit for a team of likeable, refreshingly good-natured young men who wore "Houston Strong" patches on their jerseys and meant it--guys like shortstop Carlos Correa, who kept a photo in his locker of a Houston woman trudging through fetid water up to her knees. The Astros foundation included George Springer, a powerful slugger and rangy outfielder; third-baseman Alex Bregman, whose defensive play and clutch hitting were crucial in the series; and, of course, the stubby and tenacious second baseman Jose Altuve, the heart and soul of the team.Hurricane Season is Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley's moving account of this extraordinary team--and the extraordinary circumstances of their championship.
Escape to God: A Desperate Search for His Presence
Jim Hohnberger - 2003
. .The American dream-quickly becoming your worst nightmare!Financial stress, social pressures, and the never-ending anxiety of life . . .Looking like good Christians, but powerless and miserable behind closed doors.In search of authentic Christianity, author Jim Hohnberger and his family found the restorative power of God's love. As a result, the Hohnbergers have helped others remove life's draining distractions, and countless lives have been transformed.Part personal memoir and part handbook for cultivating an intimate relationship with the Creator, Escape to God will challenge and inspire you to put aside the card-punching religion of "Churchianity" and experience the indescribable peace and empowerment God intends for His people.If you are fed up with going through the motions, dive into an intimate fellowship with the Creator. Are you ready to escape to God?
SAS Operation Storm: Nine men against four hundred
Roger Cole - 2011
The tipping point, Mirbat, South Oman, 19 July 1972 is one of the least-known yet most crucial battles of modern times. If the SAS had been defeated at Mirbat, the Russian and Chinese plan for a communist foothold in the Middle East would have succeeded, with catastrophic consequences for the oil-hungry West. OPERATION STORM is a page-turning account of courage and resilience. Mirbat was a battle fought and won by nine SAS soldiers and a similar number of brave local people - some as young as ten years old - outnumbered by at least twenty-five to one. Roger Cole, one of the SAS soldiers who took part, and writer Richard Belfield have interviewed every SAS survivor who fought in the battle from the beginning to the end - the first time every single one of them has revealed their experience. OPERATION STORM is a classic story of bravery against impossible odds, minute by minute, bullet by bullet.
The Last Maasai Warriors: An Autobiography
Wilson Meikuaya - 2012
Wilson and Jackson are two brave warriors of the Maasai, an intensely proud culture built on countless generations steeped in the mystique of tradition, legend and prophecy. They represent the final generation to literally fight for their way of life, coming of age by proving their bravery in the slaying of a lion. They are the last of the great warriors.Yet, as the first generation to fully embrace the modern ways and teachings of Western civilization, the two warriors have adapted — at times seamlessly, at times with unimaginable difficulty — in order to help their people. They strive to preserve a disappearing culture, protecting the sanctity of their elders while paving the way for future generations.At this watershed moment in their history, the warriors carry the weight of their forbearers while embracing contemporary culture and technology. While their struggle to achieve this balance unfolds exquisitely in this story, their discoveries resonate well beyond the Maasai Mara.
When Friday Comes: Football in the War Zone
James Montague - 2008
James Montague travelled there for three years, observing the region's cultures and politics through the prism of football and interviewing all the major teams along the way. He soon realised that to understand the game there is to understand its people. For as much as football forms an unlikely common thread between different countries, the sport also reflects what is unique in the national characters of those who play, support and organise it.When Friday Comes is an insightful and humorous account of Montague's journey, during which he gets stoned with the Yemeni FA, harangues Iran's Deputy President at the World Cup, has a gun pulled on him by genocidal Lebanese football fans, encounters a rioting group of fanatical young Jews singing 'I'm West Ham 'til I Die' in mockney English and was made to strip and then dance for the Iraqi national team.This is a compelling travel memoir that will enlighten, surprise and entertain football fans everywhere.