Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society


Timothy D. Willard - 2011
    Culture tells us that in order to be liked we must masquerade as someone other than who we are. So, we lacquer ourselves with credit cards and plastic surgery and status updates hoping no one will see the person underneath. This "veneer" allows us to silence our real selves as it gives voice to the alter ego we'd like others to see. But, is this all there is to life or have we been duped? Does material success equal significance? Is our only identity the one we steal from Hollywood? God's idea of humanity is altogether different from the world's. There is a way to live that sees beauty in our imperfection and, as Tim and Jason put it, once we realize this we can strip our veneers and live an unveneered life of freedom, honesty, and beauty.

Paddle Your Own Canoe


Robert Baden-Powell - 1939
    Contents: Observation and Deduction; Self-Education; On Not Being a Sily Ass; Common Sense; Resourcefulness; Endurance; On Being Accurate; Patience; Gratitude; Courtesy; Goodwill; Honour; Keeping You Nerve; Courage; Keeping Your Pecker Up; Humour; Don't Swank; On 'Sticking it Out"; How To Be Fit; The Duty of Service; Helpfulness; Responsibility; Self-Sacrifice.

Johnny's Girl: A Daughter's Memoir of Growing Up In Alaska's Underworld


Kim Rich - 1993
    Kim Rich longed for normalcy, yet she was inescapably her father's child, and she had no choice but to grow up fast. Her mother was a stripper and B-girl: her father was a major player in the underworld of Anchorage, Alaska in the sixties, a city flush with newfound oil money.  Only after her father was gruesomely murdered and Kim became a journalist was she able to fill in the missing pieces of one American dream gone horribly wrong. Kim's true story is a tale of a woman's search for her parent's secrets. What she finds is both shocking and tragic, but in the end she's able to discover her true self amid the remnants of her parents' lost lives.

Life with a Capital L: Embracing Your God-Given Humanity


Matt Heard - 2014
    I highly recommend Life With a Capital L!” - Joni Eareckson Tada, Joni and Friends International Disability Center   What is it that you long for? Dream about?  Hunger after?   We all desire more than just the endurance of our daily routines. But often we feel limited and stuck — like we’re merely existing instead of living.   That’s not the way it was meant to be. God intends the humanity in each of us to be deeply experienced, lavishly enjoyed, and exuberantly celebrated. In fact this is what the gospel is all about.   Yes, the gospel. Contrary to conventional thinking — inside and outside the church — following Jesus is not about denying our humanness but embracing it. Rather than acting more spiritual or being more religious, we’re called and enabled to become more fully human…  and alive.   Matt Heard escorts us on a journey of discovery: that Jesus didn’t come to save us from our humanity — Christ instead yearns to restore it to what God originally intended. Matt then explores ten key areas where everyday life can become extraordinary Life.     Christ promised we could “live life to the full.” He didn’t just mean eventually.   Life with a Capital L is the Life you are longing for. Now.

A Life in the Bush


Roy MacGregor - 1999
    When he got there, he was home for the rest of his life.From the true nature of fishing to the harsh realities of raising a family in the woods, from the role of fear in the bush to the small nuances of family relationships, A Life in the Bush is painted on a canvas both vast and richly detailed. A story that captures the tough physical demands, the rich life of the senses, and the unselfconscious freedom that comes from living apart from town and city.In this beautifully crafted memoir of his father, Roy MacGregor paints an intimate portrait of an unusual man and spins a spellbinding tale of a boy’s complex relationship with his father. He also evokes, perhaps for the first time in Canadian literature, the bush the way bush people see it, an insider's view of life in the totemic Canadian wilderness.

The Good Cop


Justine Ford - 2016
    B - Believe nothing. C - Check everything.' Ron IddlesIn an incredible twenty-five year career as a homicide detective, Ron Iddles' conviction rate was 99%. Yet that only partly explains why Iddles is known to cops and crims alike as 'The Great Man'.Tough, inventive and incorruptible, stoic in the face of senseless horror yet unafraid to shed tears for a victim, Ron has applied his country cunning and city savvy to over 320 homicide cases - some of them the most infamous, compelling and controversial crimes in the nation's history. To the victims of crime, Ron is both a shoulder to cry on and an avenging angel.Ron Iddles never gave up on a 'lost' cause. He became a regular on the nightly news - the dogged face of Australian justice. Working long hours, dodging bullets, chasing leads and outwitting killers, Ron would tell his teams: 'The answer is just one call away'. And in 2015, that belief saw him crack Victoria's oldest unsolved homicide, yet another remarkable feat in a life devoted to keeping the public safe.This is the extraordinary inside story of a real crime crusader. Ron Iddles. The Good Cop.Now a major Foxtel series, for information about the show visit: https://www.citv.com.au/shows/ron-idd...

Bench Press


Sven Lindqvist - 1988
    Quoting from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, Lindqvist muses on what bodybuilding's increasing popularity says about contemporary society. "Bench Press" is an intoxicating blend of philosophical and political insight, emotional candor, and forgotten annals of the history of exertion.

Uncharted: A Couple's Epic Empty-Nest Adventure Sailing from One Life to Another


Kim Brown Seely - 2019
    This is an adventure story about a voyage from one life chapter to another that involves a too-big sailboat, a narrow and unknown sea, and an appetite to witness a mythical blonde bear that inhabits a remote rainforest.Kim Brown Seely and her husband had been damn good parents for more than 20 years. That was coming to an end as their youngest son was about to move across the country. The economy was in freefall and their jobs stagnant, so they impulsively decided to buy a big broken sailboat, learn how to sail it, and head up through the Salish Sea and the Inside Passage to an expanse of untamed wilderness in search of the elusive blonde Kermode bear that only lives in a secluded Northwest forest. Theirs was a voyage of discovery into who they were as individuals and as a couple at an axial moment in their lives. Wise and lyrical, this heartfelt memoir unfolds amid the stunningly wild archipelago on the far edge of the continent.

Advanced Procedure & Axioms


L. Ron Hubbard - 1951
    Ron Hubbard shows you how to move from effect to cause in life. Learn basic discoveries about life, including the incredible Axioms-the 194 codified natural laws that allow you to harness the powerful forces of life rather than be the effect of them.

Purpose Driven Youth Ministry: 9 Essential Foundations for Healthy Growth


Doug Fields - 2000
    Purpose Driven® Youth Ministry will do for youth ministry what Rick Warren's Gold Medallion award-winning, The Purpose Driven® Church is doing for pastoral ministry. It's an indispensable guide to creating and maintaining youth ministry for the long run. It will help you create a solid spiritual team that builds the foundations of the Christian faith into the hearts and lives of young people. Forged around the fundamental purposes of evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and worship, Purpose Driven® Youth Ministry uses the experiences of Saddleback Church to illustrate what a healthy Youth ministry can be. Nine transferable principles help you - Connect with the power of God for passionate, committed leadership - Define the purpose of your ministry and communicate it effectively - Identify your potential audience - Create programs that reach your audience and fulfill God's purposes - Implement processes that move students to maturity - Enhance your ministry with clearly defined values - Team up with parents to involve the whole family - Find volunteers and develop them into participating leaders - Persevere through tough times and thrive in an ever-changing environment. Balancing both theory and practice, Purpose Driven® Youth Ministry can be applied to any church setting, regardless of size, denomination, facilities, resources, and existing leadership. Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry will help you develop a ministry that equips students rather than a ministry that coordinates events. Doug Fields says, "My goal for this book is to coach you through a plan to build a healthy youth ministry that isn't dependent on one great youth leader and won't be destroyed when the youth worker leaves the church. It's not a book on how to grow your youth ministry with six easy steps; it's about identifying, establishing, and building health into your church's youth ministry.

A Road More or Less Traveled: Madcap Adventures on the Appalachian Trail


Stephen Otis - 2008
    A 300-pounf hiker drop half his body weight because all he can afford is oatmeal. A dysentery-infected Mormon tries to steal a dog from a private detective. A stoic woodsman smacks a bear across the snout with a flaming brand. Two hikers wander into a hyper religious commune in upstate New York and find out where all the soap in the world is made. A Road More or Less Traveled is the strange but true tale of two men who set out to hike the Appalachian Trail, America's most heralded footpath, extending over two thousand miles from Maine to Georgia. Along the way, they find uncouth beauty, collide head-on with America's churning technocracy, and battle through a faith in the ruins. Road is a story filled with adventure, absurdity, laugh-out-loud humor and gnarly soul searching. You should read it.

Gaff Goddess: Simple Tips and Tricks to Help You Run Your Home


Laura de Barra - 2020
    Expanding on her popular online home hacks, Laura will teach you how to handle the problems we all encounter in our homes.Straight-talking and hilarious and packed with Laura’s stunning illustrations, her step-by-step guides will prepare you to handle the most common household emergencies with style. From dripping taps to hanging a frame, how best to look after your white goods, how to treat moths, mould and everything in between, and with invaluable design ideas to improve the living spaces in your home, this book is for everyone who has ever wanted to tackle a bit of She-IY without really knowing how.Ingenious and sure to be an instant household must-have, Gaff Goddess will empower you to make those repairs and rediscover your space saving you time, money and stress in the process.

The Soul's Remembrance: Earth is Not Our Home


Roy Mills - 1999
    A moving and inspiring personal account of one man's extraordinary memories of the pre-birth existence--the life in Heaven before physical birth.

Back Sense: A Revolutionary Approach to Halting the Cycle of Chronic Back Pain


Ronald D. Siegel - 2001
    Until recently both doctors and patients have misunderstood its true causes and have unwittingly fostered the pain cycle. Back Sense is the groundbreaking book that promises to change the way we approach the problem by proving that almost all chronic back pain is caused by stress and muscle tension, rather than by damage to the spine.On occasion nearly everyone experiences short term back pain--from sore or strained muscles. But for many who come to treat their back gingerly because they fear further "injury," a cycle of worry and inactivity results, which actually increases muscle tightness and leads them to think of themselves as having a "bad back." In reality, most backs are strong and resilient--built to support our bodies for a lifetime. Contrary to popular belief, truly "bad backs" are extremely rare. While seemingly abnormal disks and other parts of the back are, in fact, often present in those who suffer chronic back pain, they are also frequently found in those who have absolutely no pain whatsoever. Back Sense uses the latest scientific research to discredit the perfectly understandable, but counterproductive assumption that back pain is caused by these "abnormalities." Drawing on their work with patients and studies from major scientific journals and corporations such as Boeing, the authors have amassed conclusive evidence proving that stress and inactivity are actually to blame. Since conventional treatments of back problems encourage excessive caution, most sufferers get trapped in a vicious cycle in which concern about pain and physical limitations leads to heightened tension, more pain, and further distress. The authors of Back Sense--all three are former chronic back pain sufferers themselves--have developed a revolutionary self-treatment approach that works. It allows patients to avoid the restrictions and expense of most other treatments. After showing readers how to rule out the possibility that a rare medical condition is the source of their problem, Back Sense clearly and convincingly explains how chronic back pain results from other factors. Building on this idea, the book systematically leads readers toward recapturing a life free of back pain.From the Hardcover edition.

Gary Vaynerchuk's 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World


Gary Vaynerchuk - 2008
    Viewers are attracted to his youthful energy, unique voice, and often outrageous descriptions. Now, in Gary Vaynerchuk's 101 Wines, Vaynerchuk reveals his first ranked list of the most exciting and tantalizing spirits he has sampled while traveling the globe. Deeming himself "the wine guy for the average Joe," Vaynerchuk avoids the pomposity of traditional educators. Unlike wine guides that lack animation and lecture rather than inspire, 101 Wines shows you how to develop the necessary go-drink-wine attitude. Vaynerchuk encourages you to trust your own palate--stressing that your love of a certain wine makes it good regardless of what the experts or the price on the bottle say. Vaynerchuk's recommendations span a wide range of prices, nations, grapes, and styles--allowing everyone from novices to connoisseurs to expand their wine horizons. Unlock the secret to why Vaynerchuk labels wines "From Ruins to Riches," "Red with Fish," and "Not Your Father's Spumante." Discover wines that taste like ones 10 times their price. Read as Vaynerchuk illuminates his top choices with vivid terminology such as "Bring the Thunder" and "Riding the Rainbow." Demystify conventions that once limited your wine-tasting desires. Journey through wine styles and break down barriers with his technical notes and stories behind the vintage. Smile as you realize you too can become a wine aficionado. With your newfound knowledge, you will out-entertain and enlighten your friends, host extraordinary parties and treat your taste buds to an exhilarating ride. So if you are ready to become a "Vayniac"--one devoted to selecting wines based on Vaynerchuk's innovative principles--grab that corkscrew because a wine sampling adventure like no other awaits.