Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski


Ian O'Connor - 2022
    Through unprecedented access to Krzyzewski’s best friends, closest advisers, fiercest adversaries, and generations of his players and assistants, three-time New York Times bestselling author Ian O’Connor takes you behind the Blue Devil curtain with a penetrating examination of the great, but flawed leader as he closes out his iconic career.   Krzyzewski  built a staggering basketball empire that has endured for more than four decades, placing him among the all-time titans of American sport, and yet there has never been a defining portrait of the coach and his program. Until now. O’Connor uses scores of interviews with those who know Krzyzewski best  to deliver previously untold stories about the relationships that define the venerable Coach K, including the one with his volcanic mentor, Bob Knight, that died a premature death. Krzyzewski was always driven by an inner rage fueled by his tough Chicago upbringing, and by the blue-collar Polish-American parents who raised him to fight for a better life. As the retiring Coach K makes his final stand, vying for one more ring during the 2021-2022 season before saying goodbye at age 75, O’Connor shows you sides of the man and his methods that will surprise even the most dedicated Duke fan.

Monkeys on the Road: One family's vanlife adventure south in search of a simpler life


Mary Hollendoner - 2021
    Too much stress and not enough time with her family left her feeling that her priorities were all wrong. So she and her husband quit their jobs, pulled their six-year-old daughter out of school, and moved into an old camper van.They planned to take a year off to drive south in search of a simpler life. What followed were three and a half years of heart-warming personal encounters, breath-taking wilderness campsites, and occasionally terrifying situations…...In Mexico, an angry mob surrounded them on a remote road and threatened them with rocks, but just a few hours later, a local family welcomed them into their home, sharing everything they had....While barreling down the highway in Colombia, their van’s battery exploded, filling their home-on-wheels with noxious fumes. Then the engine died entirely while parked in no-man’s-land between Ecuador and Peru, leaving them stranded for a month in a tiny border town. ...They learned first-hand about South American politics when they got caught among thousands of Venezuelan refugees trying to cross the Colombian border, and again when a revolution erupted around them in Bolivia and trapped them in the capital city among protests and road blocks....And they got caught in one of the world's strictest COVID quarantines in Argentina, living for over a year in a small mountain town there.Join them on these and other adventures in this feel-good read about a family trying to find their place in the world.

Tainted Ladies: Female Outlaws, Renegade Women and Soiled Doves of the Wild West


Vickie Britton - 2012
    

From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA


Pete Croatto - 2020
    Far beyond simply being a sports league, the NBA has become an entertainment and pop culture juggernaut. From all kinds of team logo merchandise to officially branded video games and players crossing over into reality television, film, fashion lines, and more, there is an inseparable line between sports and entertainment. But only four decades ago, this would have been unthinkable. Featuring writing that leaps off the page with energy and wit, journalist and basketball fan Pete Croatto takes us behind the scenes to the meetings that lead to the monumental American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, revolutionizing the NBA’s image. He pays homage to legendary talents including Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan and reveals how two polar-opposite rookies, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, led game attendance to skyrocket and racial lines to dissolve. Croatto also dives into CBS’s personality-driven coverage of key players, as well as other cable television efforts, which launched NBA players into unprecedented celebrity status. Essential reading whether you’re a casual or longtime fan, From Hang Time to Prime Time is an enthralling and entertaining celebration of basketball history.

Hitler's Children - Spitting Fire (Eyewitness Accounts - 12th SS Panzer 'Hitler Youth' in Normandy 1944)


Sprech Media - 2015
    Who were these 15 to 17 year-old Hitler Youth soldiers, why were they so fanatical, and how could they be cleanly defeated? The Allied mood turned to bitterness and hatred as the brutal cunning and sheer ruthlessness of the boy soldiers and their adult leaders became clear. This book assembles a range of astonishing eyewitness testimony to the ferocious combat between Hitler Youth panzer troops, snipers and infantry against British and Canadian forces after D-Day. There are the disturbing combat experiences of surviving 12th SS Panzer fighters themselves, recorded after the war; eyewitness accounts from Allied soldiers who fought tank-to-tank and hand-to-hand against these opponents in the hedgerows, fields and streets of Normandy; and accounts too from terrified French civilians caught up in the firefights. The accounts featured are: The Tank Destroyer (Jagdpanzer IV) The Bocage Ambush (British Sergeant) The Battle for the Bunkers (12th SS Panthers) The Flail Tanks (French Civilian) The Panzerfaust Fighters (Hitlerjugend Panzergrenadiers) The Sniper (Canadian Captain) The War Crimes (12th SS Panzer Radio Operator) Panthers in the Smoke (British Cromwell Commander) Thunderbolts, Typhoons and Flak (12th Panzer Flak Unit) These are graphic and often shocking accounts of one of the strangest phases of the second world war in the west, and one that left a dreadful mark on so many who were involved in it. Sprech Media is an independent researcher and publisher of eyewitness testimonies to armed conflict in the 20th century.

Freddie Me: Life Lessons from Freddie Bennett, Augusta National's Legendary Caddy Master


Tripp Bowden - 2009
    All the ten year old Bowden knew about golf was that it was a stupid game that took up too much of his father’s time, and that he’d much rather kick around a soccer ball or stay home and read a book. But all that changed once Bowden’s father, a renowned local doctor, introduced him to one of his patients, Freddie Bennett, the legendary Augusta National caddie master. Though Bowden was a white child of considerable privilege and Bennett was an older black gentleman of more modest means, the two formed an unusual bond. It was Bennett who introduced Bowden to the game of golf, a sport that would one day earn him a Division 1 golf scholarship and lead him to the final stage of a British Open qualifier. But it was the lessons Bennett taught the young Bowden off the course that had their profoundest impact on his life. Through Freddie and his particular brand of homespun wisdom, the author learned invaluable lessons about personal responsibility, hard work, and respect for others regardless of age, race or religion. He also learned that there’s much more to life than just playing golf. Like the bestsellers Tuesdays With Morrie and Seasons of Life before it, Freddie & Me is a heartwarming tale of two unlikely friends and their uncommon bond forged through sport.

In Foreign Fields: How Not To Move To France


Susie Kelly - 2018
    The dream comes true, but not in the way they had imagined.Yes, the countryside is spacious and peaceful. On summer nights the stars skim the rooftops, the owls hoot and the nightingales sing. Sunflowers smile from their fields. The wine is cheap and the baguettes are crusty. Very crusty indeed. The French neighbours are generous and gentle.But then come the drug addicts, builders who cannot build, demanding compatriots, undercover cops and unwelcome guests. Susie begins to lose hope of attracting the fabled French philanderer and, far from appreciating their new home, all the animals do everything they can to make life as difficult as possible. With her house literally crumbling around her, the number of odd characters she manages to attract are matched by all sorts of creatures appearing from in and out of the woodwork. Terry almost dies, and Susie's resilience and good humour are tested to the limit.Sometimes it feels more like taking part in a musical comedy than starting a new life in France.As the date for Britain leaving the European Union draws close, and British living in European countries still have no idea what the future holds for them after Brexit, Susie looks back on the beginning of her life in the country she loves and has called home for 23 years. Another warm, funny, engaging read from Susie Kelly. This is a first digital, edition of Two Steps Backwards, first published by Bantam/Transworld as a UK paperback. This first worldwide edition is revised and updated and, for the first time, includes photographs.

The Long and Whining Road


Simeon Courtie - 2012
    She imagined posh flights and swanky hotels. Then I said the three words every girl longs to hear: Volkswagen camper van.’This frank and funny true story of a 'family gap year' like no other shows how the passing comment of a bored 9-year-old can snowball into an absurd expedition into strange lands, financial peril and some distinctly unsavoury living arrangements. With Strawberry Fields New York in their sights, the Beatnik Beatles inadvertently gatecrash an Italian wedding, suffer brutal torture at the hands of a Turkish masseur, appear in a Bollywood film and trust their entire journey across Australia to the whim of an army of online-blog followers - and all to a Lennon & McCartney soundtrack, played badly on instruments bought on eBay.Got a taste for adventurous travel? Ever felt the peril of performing in public? Tried to entertain children on a very, very long car journey? Great! Do you want to join a band?‘It’s a dirty story of a dirty man.’Paul McCartney‘Please stop calling us.’The Times Literary Supplement‘We do not condone absenteeism on this scale.’Oxfordshire Education Authority(From Amazon.co.uk)

Cricket's Greatest Rivalry (Free Chapter): A History of the Ashes in 10 Matches


Simon Hughes - 2013
    Award-winning author Simon Hughes brings to life the history of the Ashes through 10 of the most iconic matches in the fixture's 135-year history. With an innovative and distinctive approach Hughes selects each match as a narrative spine packed with thrillingly evocative detail, alongside the issues, controversies, heroes and villains of each match. With both fascinating analysis of ten unforgettable Test matches and fast-paced history of cricket's fiercest rivalry, this is the perfect way for cricket lovers, both English and Australian, to prepare for the ten-match feast of Ashes cricket that begins in Nottingham in July 2013 and ends in Sydney in January 2014. It includes complete statistics and records of all the Ashes fixtures and results. The Tatser The free chapter tells the story of the Third Test in Adelaide in 1933, which was part of the infamous ‘bodyline series’. It gives you the build up from 1928 and carries right through to the aftermath of Jardine’s controversial tactics.

The Wit Of Cricket


Barry Johnston - 2009
    Cricket is a funny old game - even when rain stops play! Now you can read not only the most popular stories by five of the game's all-time great characters - Richie Benaud, Dickie Bird, Henry Blofeld, Brian Johnston and Fred Trueman - but also the humour and insights of modern players including Michael Atherton, Andrew Flintoff, Darren Gough, Kevin Pietersen and Shane Warne. Crammed full of dozens of hilarious anecdotes about legendary Test cricketers such as Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Denis Compton, Michael Holding and Merv Hughes - plus broadcasting gaffes, sledging, short-sighted umpires and the first male streaker at Lord's!

My Yorkshire Great and Small: Journey through Britain's finest county with The Yorkshire Vet


Peter Wright - 2019
    Packed with engaging tales of the animals, people and places around him, Peter Wright looks back on the bygone ways of his childhood, while also exploring the fusion of tradition and modernity that characterises the Yorkshire countryside today. Peter's passion for nature shines through on every page, as he explains why our environment is so important - and what we can do to protect it for future generations.

Kiss the Sunset Pig: A Canadian's American Road Trip With Exotic Detours


Laurie Gough - 2005
    Heading towards a half-remembered cave on the Pacific coast where her younger, more adventurous self once stayed, she recalls adventures in Sumatra, the Yukon and many places in between—and wonders what compels her to keep moving through life while everyone else has found a place to belong.

The Shepherd's Bush Murders


Nick Russell-Pavier - 2016
    Jack Witney served twenty-five years in prison although he shot no one and was released on appeal, only to be murdered in his Bristol flat a few years later. John Duddy died in Parkhurst after fifteen years. But Harry Roberts, by his own admission the instigator of the crime and the most notorious, was released from prison after forty-eight years in 2015 making national front page news. What could possess an apparently rational and sane man, albeit an habitual criminal, to commit such a callous and ruthless act? What kind of a man is he? How can an ordinary person understand what he did? Should he be forgiven?50 years later, the full story for the first time.

Turn Left at the Zebra: Excitement and Danger on a Magical African Safari


Colin Hayvice - 2018
    Whether it's eye to eye with a four ton elephant, confrontation with a fourteen foot crocodile, a wild cheetah close enough to pat, and a close call with an angry rhino. Join the author on this journey as he embarks on his first African safari where all of the above (and many more) occurs. Envelope yourself in the colors and sounds of the flora and fauna. You will be captivated by his experiences and maybe you will be inspired to plan your own African safari adventure. So now close your eyes and imagine that beautiful huge yellow/orange African sun setting on the horizon as you listen to the roar of a far off lion on the kill.

Boondockbob's Guide to RV Boondocking


Bob Difley - 2015
    I’ve been camping since I was a Boy Scout and RVing for more than 40 years, 17 of those years fulltiming with my wife, Lynn, in our Bounder motorhome. A good portion of the time we spent boondocking – camping off the grid – enjoying the freedom away from crowded campgrounds, exploring America’s wild lands and National Parks, camping along our scenic byways, on the shores of mountain lakes and streams, in the depths of our national and state forests, and in the wide open spaces of the Southwestern deserts. In this ebook I hope to inspire you to take the road-less-traveled and find your own private campsites – and I show you step-by-step how to do it easily and painlessly. Happy Travels.