Book picks similar to
The Weakest Link by T.A. Lean


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12-18
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medical

So, You Want to Join the Peace Corps: What to Know Before You Go


Dillon Banerjee - 2000
    As you contemplate the reality of volunteering, your mind races with questions. Which programs are my skills best suited to? How will the culture shock affect me? What will my life overseas be like? Will my work really make a difference? Written by a returned Peace Corps volunteer, SO, YOU WANT TO JOIN THE PEACE CORPS...is a candid, straightforward guide that answers all these questions and many more. Author Dillon Banerjee shares his personal insights--and those of returned volunteers who served all over the world--to help prepare you for the experience of a lifetime. Whether you're thinking of joining, or have already been accepted and are getting ready to leave, this book provides answers you simply can't find elsewhere.

The Petpost Secret


Radhika R. Dhariwal - 2014
    But not in the way he thinks.Though he is just thirteen, Squirrel is the PetPost slave—the last slave in the animal town of Bimmau. Every morning,he puts on his PetPost uniform and delivers the mail for hislazy mongoose boss. But when Squirrel swigs someforbidden wine at a wedding, his mother's voice speaks tohim. 'Start your journey that leads to long-lost Brittle’s Key,' she urges. 'Go find, my son, your destiny.'Brittle's Key—with the power to set him free and turnanyone in the land into a slave—can be Squirrel's. But, tofind the key, he must find and sip three mysterious liquids.With his friend Des and a crow, Azulfa, he sets off on adangerous quest. He travels from the walled city of beesto the fireless mice tea-estate to the treacherous desert,while fleeing the savage Kowa army and outsmarting thevicious Colonel who wants the key for himself.Will Squirrel succeed? For not only his fate, but alsothe fate of the land hangs in the balance . . .

A Boatload


Dwight Holing - 2014
    Keeps the plot turning.” — Kirkus Reviews When San Francisco con artist Jack McCoul gets married, he vows to give up his life of crime for good. But then his new brother-in-law pulls a heist that lands Jack in the middle of a deadly fight over hot computer chips. As bodies stack up, he must pull off the grift of a lifetime to solve a murder and escape a one-way ticket to death row.What readers are saying:★★★★★ The characters are delicious. The local color spot-on.★★★★★ Gritty, surprising, and funny as hell.★★★★★ Fun, stylish, edge-of-your-seat.★★★★★ A roller coaster ride full of surprises.★★★★★ 100% fun.★★★★★ Brilliantly authentic.★★★★★ Successful in every way and at every level.

The Barry Island Murders


Andrew Peters - 2013
    Will Williams' budding detective skills be equal to the task of catching any of the murderers? Will his current gin intake permit him to remember any of the details?Transcribed from the original interviews, the only changes made have been to names, places, dates and facts. Oh, and cutting out all the heavy swearing.

Jack the Ripper: The Hand of a Woman


John Morris - 2012
    Among the first serial murders, their brutality and bizarreness begged questions such as What kind of person could have performed such horrific deeds? and How could they not have been caught by the huge police effort? The book offers keen insight into Victorian London and its policing as it follows the investigations of the infamous murders. Arguing that many unresolved questions could be answered if Jack was in reality a woman, this bold account names a suspect and explains why the murders stopped.

Loving Tiara: Memoir


Tiffani Goff - 2019
    At forty-five years old, my life’s mission was complete. If I died tomorrow, I would be proud of the life I lived.” - Loving Tiara Loving Tiara is a compelling memoir that will encompass your every thought, break your heart, fill you with hope, and leave you with a sense of awe. When Tiffani married the love of her life, Lou, after graduating from college, she assumed she would continue to live the affluent life she had always known, having grown up in Newport Beach, California. She never imagined she would soon be stalked by creditors, driving a car on the repossession list and forced to worry about providing basic necessities for her family, such as buying diapers and groceries. This increasingly desperate situation forced her to decide to return home to her parents with her baby and husband. After getting their life back on track, and with Tiffani in her final year of law school, they decided to have another baby. At eight months old, however, they discovered that their new daughter Tiara had Tuberous Sclerosis, a rare genetic disorder resulting in intractable epilepsy, developmental delay, chronic hospital admissions, and uncontrollable violent behaviors. So how did Tiffani cope with her new reality? She chose to fight. She challenged the doctors, battled the insurance companies, and refused to give up caring for Tiara even when her own life was at risk. The author’s story of unconditional love, unimaginable challenges, and, ultimately, triumph, is a compelling one, which will take hold of your heart and not let go. This memoir will, hopefully, inspire you to tackle fear, encourage you never to give up, and remind you always to trust your gut instincts.

Taking the Fall


A.P. McCoy - 2013
    He's one of the country's up-and-coming young jockeys and this season his sights are set on getting right to the top, but his demons threaten to overwhelm him. Duncan was taught everything he knows by his father, Charlie, a former trainer whose career and reputation were destroyed when a series of bitter rivalries got out of hand. It ruined him and Charlie hasn't been able to set foot on a racecourse since. Now, with his father's health rapidly declining, Duncan is desperate to beat the best and at the same time take down the men responsible for Charlie's ruin. But can he do both or must he choose between his family and his future?

Herring Girl


Debbie Taylor - 2014
    When Mary, his therapist, suggests hypnosis as a way to help him understand why he doesn’t identify as a boy, Ben finds himself the unlikely conduit for a herring girl called Annie, who lived over a century earlier in the same fishing port.Under the spell of hypnosis, Annie comes alive through Ben, and with her the startling story of her life, and her mysterious death. As the events surrounding Annie’s final days start to emerge – her secret affair with young fisherman Sam; the violent jealousy of his rival Tom; the pregnancy fears of her best friend Flo; the abject paranoia of her brother Jimmy – both Ben and Mary find themselves embroiled in a puzzling saga from the past. And if – as psychoanalytic research suggests – souls tend to reincarnate in groups repeat­edly down the centuries, it could be that those close to Ben today were involved in the dramas of 1898, and a murderer could still be among them, waiting to strike again.Moving back and forth in time between 1898 and the present day, 'Herring Girl' is an extraordinarily ambitious novel which evokes a long-vanished world and reveals how the secrets of our past hidden lives are never too far away.

Punching Tom Hanks: Dropkicking Gorillas and Pummeling Zombified Ex-Presidents---a Guide to Beating Up Anything


Kevin Seccia - 2011
    It's teeming with savages, thugs, angry toddlers, and disgruntled clowns. And every one of them is secretly mulling a scenario that ends with them kicking you square in the junk. What do you do if you want to take on The Batman and live to brag about it to your kids? What do you do if a rabid alligator picks a fight with your little sister? What do you do if the beloved star of "Forrest Gump" tells you to "shut the hell up" in front of a huge crowd?You read this book. It offers simple, effective instructions for beating up zombies, robots, co-workers—anything. The only limits are your imagination... and your habit of not following through on things, and possibly your uncoordinated, at times comically frail body.

The Boy from Hell: Life with a Child with ADHD


Alison M. Thompson - 2013
    Daniel has pushed me to my absolute wits’ end. Sometimes it really does feel like he is the original child from hell.”When he was younger Daniel’s behaviour was challenging, earning him the nickname “the boy from hell” – and it was no real surprise when he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder at the age of six.The Boy from Hell: Life with a Child with ADHD is the story of the first fifteen years of Daniel’s life, as told by his mum. From struggles to find the right schooling through diagnosis and medication to brushes with the law, it’s been a rollercoaster ride of a journey that every parent of a child with ADHD will recognise.As well as sharing their unique experience, Alison Thompson shares advice and information that has helped her along the way, and offers hope for the future for the many families living with an ADHD child. You’ll also hear about life with ADHD from the sibling’s perspective, and from Daniel himself.“A well researched, informative and accessible guide, full of practical tips for parents and professionals - especially teachers! This book is a must for anyone whose life has been touched by ADHD.”Dr Tony Lloyd, CEO, ADHD Foundation“The Boy from Hell is like a parents’ survival guide, offering private comfort and reassurance that it won’t always be like this, and though every battle may take you to the brink of exhaustion it will all be worth it in the end. Oh, and it’s proof that a mother’s instinct about her beautiful yet challenging son is always right!”Annemarie Main, mother of a child with ADHD

The Archer's Son


M.E. Hubbs - 2014
    The breast of the mail bore a ragged hole and the heavy links were sticky. It took a moment for Hedyn to realize it was soaked in drying blood.“A bascinet and hauberk?” he asked.“Aye, you shall need these before the night is done.” . . . Treachery, disease, hunger, and death plague their steps as King Henry’s men near their fateful battle with the French army at Agincourt. Eager to see the world that lies beyond his small Cornish village, 12 year ol Hedyn, son of an archer and serf, is thrilled to be chosen to join King Henry’s army as it advances on Normandy. His excitement quickly gives way to exhaustion in body and spirit, as well as worry for the safety of his newfound friends and comrades. Can a mysterious stranger with a secretive past offer Hedyn hope amidst the horrors of battle?

The Testament of Marcellus


Marius Gabriel - 1992
    Through the often grim and bloody events of fifty years which changed the world, his life is a triumph of the human spirit.

The Last Stop


Kirt J. Boyd - 2012
    If you were thinking about quietly entering your twilight years, think again. Boxing matches, ex cons, Olympic hopefuls, cannibalistic fish, and experimental chefs are just a few of the things waiting for you inside. So come in and have a look around. You just might run into the resident celebrity, Holy Moses, the most extraordinary canine on earth.

What More Could You Wish For: A Novel


Samantha Hoffman - 2012
    Life is good - nice and tidy. Until, that is, on her fiftieth birthday when her boyfriend does the unthinkable: He proposes. Libby's been down the marriage road before and it just didn't work. While she's trying to persuade her guy to keep things status quo, she reconnects online with her high-school boyfriend and begins an email correspondence...just for fun.But fun soon turns to flirtation and Libby is startled to feel some stirrings of the passion she felt at seventeen. How is that possible? She thought she had things all figured out. Now she must take stock of her life and everyone in it, to answer for herself the question everyone has been asking --What more could you wish for?

The Convict, the Rookie Card, and the Redemption of Gertie Thump


Becky Lyn Rickman - 2014
    Gertie’s mission in life is to improve Rosedale's citizenry through a steady stream of belittling, correction, and harassment. The only person unfazed by her campaign is the town’s deputy sheriff, Seth Randall, who has his own mission. Seth also serves as associate pastor of a local church, and he will not rest until he saves Gertie’s soul.But redemption is a word easier said than done. Add Gertie's childhood friend turned convict, an extremely valuable rookie baseball card, and a plate of cookies delivered with threatening messages, and you’ve got yourself a hornet’s nest of trouble.When the people of Rosedale come together to save Gertie Thump, the one person they would rather not, Gertie's not the only one who discovers that every good person has a little darkness in them and every demon a little tenderness.