Book picks similar to
Dog as My Doctor, Cat as My Nurse: An Animal Lover's Guide to a Healthy, Happy, and Extraordinary Life by Carlyn Montes De Oca
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The Edge of Innocence: The Trial of Casper Bennett
David P. Miraldi - 2017
Bennett's sensational trial pitted an aggressive, mercurial county prosecutor against the author's father, a civil trial attorney who had never before defended anyone for murder. The book not only recreates the tension and excitement of this courtroom battle, but also highlights the uncertain edge that often divides guilt from innocence. The author was ten years old when he answered the phone late at night when Bennett called his father from jail, seeking his legal representation. Forty years later and long after his father's death, the author found the Bennett file in the bottom of his mother's closet. From the moment he began reading the papers, the long-forgotten drama cast a spell on him. As he uncovered more and more of the facts, the story he had known as a child disappeared, replaced by one far different. The Edge of Innocence takes the reader through the criminal justice system and ultimately to the trial where the reader, like a juror, must sift through competing claims and conflicting evidence. Full of twists and turns and colorful characters, The Edge of Innocence is all the more entertaining because it tells a true story.
Love and Happiness
Ben Burgess Jr. - 2015
Karen also has a secret; she’s cheating on her husband, with not one man, but two. On the outside her life seems perfect, but on the inside Karen feels neglected, bored and unappreciated. Yearning for affection and excitement, she falls into the arms of first Raheem and then Tyrell. Out of fear of losing her husband and breaking up her family, Karen ends the affairs but things don’t turn out how she planned. When Karen’s dirty secrets are revealed she must fight to keep her family together. Chris is doing all he can to hold his marriage together. He loves Karen but she grows more distant every day. When she starts coming home later and later, he suspects she is being unfaithful. When Chris accidentally takes her cell phone what he finds changes their lives forever. When tragedy strikes, Karen must decide if she should sacrifice her happiness for her husband’s love, and Chris wonders if he should stay with Karen because he still loves her despite her infidelity. But if they do stay together, will they ever find love and happiness again? Sexy, and relatable, insightful and inspiring, Love and Happiness shows us both sides of Chris and Karen's story, and reminds us that sometimes to have it all, you must first lose it all.
The Mahāsiddha Field (The Mahāsiddha Series, #1)
Dwai Lahiri - 2019
Indian mythology is replete with tales of Dévas battling the Asuras constantly. The interesting thing to note is that whether it is a God or an incarnation of a deity in human form, aka an Avatār, there was also a human element involved in these stories. The teachers of the Dévas (gods) and the Asuras were human sages, known as Rishis. Find out what happens when seemingly unconnected individuals get drawn into a world of suspense and action, as mythology collides with their world in the book 'The Mahāsiddha Field', the first in a new sci-fi/fantasy series! An elderly wandering mendicant in South India, two young Indian-American men, two soldiers from the Indian Army and a mysterious sage from high up in the Himalayas are thrown together in an adventure unlike any other; as a most unlikely adversary leaps out of the world of Indian Mythology to challenge their beliefs, their sanity and their courage.
Somebody Stole My Iron: A Family Memoir of Dementia
Vicki Tapia - 2014
It is a story written from the perspective of the caregiver. It documents the learning process of the caregiver as she struggles to cope with the difficulties of caring for her parents and watching them change into people who are not the ones she remembers and who slowly drift away in mind and then body.
The Box Wine Sailors: Misadventures of a Broke Young Couple at Sea
Amy McCullough - 2015
Their experience included reading a few books, watching a couple of instructional videos, and sailing once a week for a year. They were land-lubberly, middle-class twentysomethings, audacious and in love. All they wanted was to be together and do something extraordinary. They quit their jobs, bought a boat that was categorically considered "too small" for ocean sailing, and left Portland, Oregon for the Sea of Cortez.The Box Wine Sailors tells the true story of a couple's ramshackle trip down the coast, with all the exulting highs and terrifying lows of sailing a small boat on the Pacific. From nearly being rammed by a pair of whales on Thanksgiving morning and the terrifying experience of rounding Punta Gorda—hanging on to the mast for dear life and looking about at what seemed like the apocalypse—to having their tiller snap off while accidentally surfing coastal breakers and finding ultimate joy in a $5 Little Caesar's pizza. It also tells the story of two very normal people doing what most people only dream of, settling the argument that if you want something bad enough you can make it happen.
Grilled: Turning Adversaries into Allies to Change the Chicken Industry
Leah Garcés - 2019
As President of the nonprofit group Mercy for Animals and former US Executive Director of Compassion in World Farming, she has led the fight against the sprawling chicken industry that raises billions of birds in cruel conditions--all to satisfy the American appetite for meat.Grilled: Turning Adversaries into Allies to Change the Chicken Industry is her story of working alongside the food and farming industry for animal welfare and ethical food. Instead of fighting and protesting and shaming--approaches that simply haven't worked previously--Garcés has instead gotten to know the producers. She has worked alongside owners of the megafarms, befriending them, having frank conversations with them, and ultimately encouraging change through dialogue and discussion. Leah is changing the way America farms her animals through this bold approach, and is helping to directly improve the lives of millions of farmed animals.When she started her journey, Leah did not have much empathy to spare for the chicken-contract farmer--until she actually met one and tried to understand the difficulties they faced. This is the story of what happens when we cross enemy lines to look for solutions. It's a story of giving in to discomfort for the sake of progress. It's a story of the power of human connection, and what happens when we practice empathy toward our enemies.
The Vatican Cameos: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure
Richard T. Ryan - 2016
After learning from the pontiff that several priceless cameos that could prove compromising to the church, and perhaps determine the future of the newly unified Italy, have been stolen, Holmes is asked to recover them. In a parallel story, Michelangelo, the toast of Rome in 1501 after the unveiling of his Pieta, is commissioned by Pope Alexander VI, the last of the Borgia pontiffs, with creating the cameos that will bedevil Holmes and the papacy four centuries later. For fans of Conan Doyle's immortal detective, the game is always afoot. However, the great detective has never encountered an adversary quite like the one with whom he crosses swords in "The Vatican Cameos.."
It's a Cat's World . . . You Just Live in It: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Furry Feline
Justine Lee - 2008
Mischievous and aloof one moment, affectionate the next, the cat is a confounding creature right down to its question mark of a tail. What cat owner hasn’t wondered what goes on inside that mysterious kitty brain? In this companion to It’s a Dog’s Life . . . but It’s Your Carpet, veterinary specialist Dr. Justine A. Lee answers your questions about all things feline in this entertaining and enlightening guide. An animal lover with two cats of her own, Dr. Lee combines scientific research with irreverent humor to address questions ranging from the common to the offbeat, including:• Do cats always land on their feet?• Can I train my cat to use the toilet?• Do cats have belly buttons? • How do I stop my cat from begging for food at 5:45 a.m.?• Can cats really predict death or cancer? • How can I make my antisocial cat more social?Dr. Lee also shares helpful hints on what to look for in a veterinarian. (Helpful Hint No. 1: Find a veterinarian who owns a cat.) She also reveals what every veterinarian wants you to know about being a smart consumer and pet owner. With tips on dealing with kitty’s more irksome behaviors (yes, she has some), advice on looking out for her health and well-being, and plenty of laughs, It’s a Cat’s World . . . You Just Live in It helps cat owners love and understand their quirky feline companions more than ever.
Vampire
Amy Mah - 2012
They face the stresses of school, deciding whom to date, and the biggie of sex, just to name a few. Imagine all of those things ten times worse, and you might get an idea of what it's like being a living, breathing teenage vampire.
Fashion Academy
Sheryl Berk - 2015
(Their motto, "We are SEW FAB"). But when her daring fashion and stellar grades turn the Fab A-listers green with envy, Mickey discovers that standing out doesn't always make it easy to fit in. So when friendly classmate JC comes up with a plan to help Mickey fit in, she decides to take the ultimate fashion risk-ditch her personal style for good.One mega makeover later, pink-haired Mickey Williams mysteriously disappears, and the trendy, blonde "Kenzie Wills" shows up on the FAB scene, blending with the other students in a way Mickey never could. But when Mickey starts to lose herself to "Kenzie," she's not sure that fitting in is worth cutting herself down to size...
Searching for Lincoln's Ghost
Barbara J. Dzikowski - 2011
After losing both parents in a car accident and being raised by a grandmother obsessed with death, Andi is struggling with an unusual quest for a girl her age-- to determine whether there is life after death.It is 1966, and Castalia, Indiana, like most cities of that time, is grappling with social and cultural change. Meanwhile, rumors have long swirled around Castalia's Lincoln Elementary School. Over its long history, the school has produced two sixth graders who claim to have seen Lincoln's ghost in the school's auditorium. When Andi prays on her dead mother's rosary to be the next to encounter Lincoln's ghost in order to confirm the existence of an after-life, a complex chain of events is set into motion, including the appearance of John Malone, a new boy at school who harbors an explosive secret, and mysterious moaning emanating from behind the dark stage after school. While Andi desperately seeks answers to life's most difficult questions, an unlikely new friend emerges--a mystical bait shop owner named Ezra.Searching for Lincoln's Ghost is a story about coming-of-age during the tumultuous 1960s, exploring such disturbing topics as personal isolation, fear and depression, bullying, social and racial intolerance. Peppered with Lincoln folklore and history, it is a timeless tale of the power of love, empathy, and how the actions of one person can profoundly impact another.
The Sounding
Carrie Salo - 2011
He dreams of the final prophecies that will come to pass - and the seven archangels that guard them. Each angel waits to sound their trumpet at God's appointed time, preparing humanity to fight and win the final battle.2,000 years later, Father Chris Mognahan is a member of the Hetairia Melchizedek, a secret society within the Catholic Church that studies Biblical omens. The society asks Chris to investigate an unusually grotesque crime - a murder on a college campus where the killer's hand literally burned off the victim's face. While the killing seems isolated at first, the society ties the murder to the final Biblical prophecy and a terrifying omen that the order of the prophecies is about to be disrupted. The final battle is coming too soon - long before humanity is prepared to win it.Suddenly, Chris finds himself fighting against time and hell to keep the prophecies in order and stop an early Armageddon. He is joined by a band of unlikely allies, and together they find themselves in Rome above the Vatican Necropolis - the city of the dead - where the future is revealed to them in ancient texts.They are not alone, however; an evil as old as time itself hunts them. As they travel across continents on their mission, the demonic force follows relentlessly, waiting in every shadowed corner, and every dark place.As Armageddon descends, Father Chris finds that his only hope lies in a young woman within the group who has a secret gift - and their belief that God Himself may have sent her to keep the final angelic trumpet from sounding out the early end of the Earth.
The Scrying Game
Christine Zane Thomas - 2021
Her death played out like a movie. Her second vision came along shortly after that when she predicted her father’s cancer diagnosis.Her mother always wanted her to hide her gift away. That’s what she called it, a gift.It was never a gift.In one of Willow’s more recent visions, she saw her great aunt dying peacefully. What she couldn’t predicate was that Aunt Cora would leave her a house in Florida and a cat, forcing Willow to go back to her hometown to sort out affairs.But it turns out Aunt Cora is a little less dead than anyone thought. The old psychic inhabits the body and mind of the cat—and she’s hellbent on teaching Willow how to properly use her psychic gifts.When Willow’s childhood best friend is murdered, she has no choice but to get involved, putting her on a collision course with the vision she’s been running away from all her life.The Scrying Game is the first in an all-new paranormal mystery series, Witching Hour: Psychics. Great for fans of cozy mystery and Paranormal Women's Fiction.
Slave to Fortune
D.J. Munro - 2015
Tom Cheke’s world is turned upside-down when he is kidnapped from his home by Barbary corsairs during an audacious night raid. Sold into slavery in seventeenth-century Algiers, Tom carves out a new and promising life only to have it shattered once more. Another twist of fate throws him into the hands of a Scottish knight of the Order of St John and into a turbulent world of ciphers, spies and assassinations. This is a remarkable account of how a young man comes of age, grasping life from the setbacks of fortune. It is a tale of friendship and reconciliation, of intrigue and deceit, in which trust is betrayed and deep-rooted beliefs and values are cast into doubt. In Slave to Fortune, DJ Munro skilfully captures a bygone era of galleons and gunpowder as the plot twists from the alleyways of Algiers, through the splendour of Malta and the canals of Venice, to maritime Portsmouth and the rustic charms of the Isle of Wight. With echoes of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped and J. Meade Falkner’s Moonfleet, Slave to Fortune is an uplifting, intelligent adventure that will keep readers enthralled. Suitable for all ages from young adult upwards, Slave to Fortune was a #1 bestseller on Kindle (UK) for Historical Thrillers in October 2017 and a #1 bestseller for YA Historical Fiction in April, May and October 2017. The novel won the Grand Prize for young adult fiction at the Chanticleer International Book Awards (2017) and was also a first place winner for historical fiction.
Good Girl: A Memoir
Sarah Tomlinson - 2015
After two years of attempted family life in Boston, her father's gambling addiction and broken promises led her mother to pool her resources with five other families to buy 100 acres of land in Maine and reunite with her college boyfriend. Sarah would spend the majority of her childhood on "The Land" with infrequent, but coveted, visits from her father, who—as a hitchhiking, acid-dropping, wannabe mystic turned taxi driver—was nothing short of a rock star in her eyes.Propelled out of her bohemian upbringing to seek the big life she equated with her father, Sarah entered college at fifteen, where a school shooting further complicated her quest for a sense of safety. While establishing herself as a journalist and rock critic on both coasts, Sarah's father continued to swerve in and out of her life, building and re-breaking their relationship, and fracturing Sarah's confidence and sense of self. In this unforgettable memoir, Sarah conveys the dark comedy in her quest to repair the heart her father broke.Bittersweet, honest, and ultimately redemptive, Good Girl takes an insightful look into what happens when the people we love unconditionally are the people who disappoint us the most, and how time, introspection, and acceptance can help us heal.