Book picks similar to
Countryman's Lot: Tales from the Dales by Max Hardcastle
non-fiction
october-adult-fiction-sale
biography
hardcastle
The Good, the Mad and the Ugly: The Andy Morrison Story
Andy Morrison - 2011
The autobiography of the most troubled footballer of modern times.
Are We There Yet?: To Indignity . . . and Beyond!
Emily Atack - 2019
Emily Atack was flung to fame at just 17, as Charlotte 'Big Jugs' Hinchcliffe in The Inbetweeners. Nearly ten years later, she won over the nation on I'm a Celebrity . . . Get Me out of Here! thanks to her hilarious impersonations and epic bravery during trials. While she was in the jungle, the country watched her go on a journey of self-acceptance and come out on top. Now Emily reveals the hilarious highs and the heartbreakinglows that rocked the years between. With astonishing courage and her trademark humour, she shares stories about her family, relationships, work life and love.Are We There Yet? is a warm, honest and funny book for anyone who has ever felt the need to break the mould to find out who they really are.
Kisses From Nimbus: From SAS to MI6 An Autobiography
P.J. 'Red' Riley - 2017
His is the story the establishment doesn’t want you to read.br>Captain P. J. “Red” Riley is an ex-SAS soldier who served for eighteen years as an MI6 agent. Riley escaped internment in Chile during the Falklands war during an audacious top-secret attempt to attack the Argentinian mainland. He was imprisoned in the darkness of the Sierra Leonean jungle, and withstood heavy fire in war-torn Beirut and Syria. In 2015, he was arrested for murder but all charges were later dropped. In this searing memoir, Riley reveals the brutal realities of his service, and the truth behind the newspaper headlines featuring some of the most significant events in recent British history. His account provides startling new evidence on the Iraq war, what Tony Blair really knew about Saddam Hussain’s weapons of mass destruction before the allied invasion, and questions the British government’s alleged involvement in the death of Princess Diana. Chaotic, darkly humorous and at times heart-wrenchingly sad, Kisses From Nimbus charts the harrowing real-life experiences of a soldier and spy in the name of Queen and country.
Cruise Ship Stories - 12 Years of Working on Cruise Ships, Behind the Crew Only Door, Getting Jobs on Ships, Life On Board
Guy Beach - 2013
It could be you want to work on a cruise ships, you want to or have taken a cruise, maybe you are looking for tips on cruising or maybe you just like fun stories about cruise ships. If you are interested in any of those items I just listed, then this book is for you. Before we begin our journey, I guess I should tell you a little bit about myself and why I have written this book. For my cruise ship experience, I worked about 12 years on cruise ships around the world and 2 years working in shore side offices in Florida. I worked with 4 different cruise lines and worked as a scuba instructor/dive manager, shore excursion manager and then in the shore side offices as an IT geek, and finally a few years as an IT officer (yeah, I know, scuba instructor to computer geek, what can I say, it has been an interesting journey). Stories in this book include ones about: Getting a job on cruise ships Life on board ships On board romance Hurricanes Running aground Adrift at sea Kick backs Falling overboard Living on a tropical island Crazy things the crew and passengers do and much much more........................ I also have photos about my life at sea that can be seen at: www.cruiseshipstories.com Looking at these photos will bring my sea faring stories even more to life.
The Season: The Secret Life of Palm Beach and America's Richest Society
Ronald Kessler - 1999
With their beautiful 3.75 square-island constantly in the media glare, Palm Beachers protect their impossibly rich society from outside scrutiny with vigilant police, ubiquitous personal security staffs, and screens of tall hedges encircling every mansion.To this bizarre suspicious, exclusive world, New York Times bestselling author Ronald Kessler brought his charm, insight, and award-winning investigative skills, and came to know Palm Beach, its celebrated and powerful residents, and its exotic social rituals as no outside writer ever has. In this colorful, entertaining, and compulsively readable book. Kessler reveals the inside story of Palm Beach society as it moves languidly through the summer months, quickens in the fall, and shifts into frenetic high speed as the season begins in December, peaks in January and February, and continues into April.When unimaginable wealth combines with unlimited leisure time oil an island barely three times the size of New York's Central Park, human foibles and desires, lust and greed, passion and avarice, become magnified and intensified. Like laboratory rats fed growth hormones, the 9,800 Palm Beach residents—87 percent of whom are millionaires—exhibit the most outlandish extremes of their breed.To tell the story, Kessler follows four Palm Beachers through the season. These four characters—the reigning queen of Palm Beach society, the night manager of Palm Beach's trendiest bar, a gay "walker" who escorts wealthy women to balls, and a thirty—six-year-old gorgeous blonde who says she "can't find a guy in Palm Beach"—know practically everyone on the island and tell what goes on behind the scenes.Interweaving the yarns of these unfor-gettable figures with the lifestyle, history, scandals, lore, and rituals of a unique island of excess, The Season creates a powerful, seamless, juicy narrative that no novelist could dream up.
My Bloody Efforts: Life as a Rating in the Modern Royal Navy
Stephen Bridgman - 2012
Daysearlier, while traversing the Straits of Sicily the crew had discovered a crack in one ofthe nuclear reactor pipes, requiring the immediate shutting down of the reactor toprevent a potential reactor accident, an operation never before conducted on a Britishsubmarine at sea.Th e previous six days had been a difficult time for the crew of the submarine. Initialindications of a nuclear reactor defect had quickly escalated into a full scale potential nuclearreactor accident at sea, requiring decisive action by the crew to make the reactor safe, toidentify the defect and attempt to repair the reactor, and then to surface the submarine andto sail her safely back to the nearest safe harbor using emergency propulsion machinerydesigned for very limited use. The resulting lack of electrical power resulted in the crewhaving to sacrifice lighting, air-conditioning, bathing facilities and even hot food until theirreturn to harbor, and to suffer in the excessively hot interior of the boat. Throughout,there remained the fear of exposure to deadly radiation and the uncertainty that the reactormight still be one step away from a major accident.For one man onboard, this episode formed the culmination of a 25 year navalengineering career almost fated for this moment. Charge Chief Stephen Bridgman,the senior nuclear propulsion technician, had needed all of his engineering knowledgeand experience in the identification and eventual repair of the submarine reactor,subsequently being awarded an MBE together with a colleague for his services to navalengineering for his actions.This book provides an insight into a remarkable naval career starting as a 16 year oldStoker on the final proper British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal in 1977, throughthe Falklands War, being selected for naval technician training and submarine service,submarine training, submarine patrols in the supposed post cold-war period, theKosovo conflict, progression through the ranks, submarine refi t and refueling throughto the nuclear reactor accident onboard HMS Tireless.While there are countless accounts of naval life during wartime, this book tells theunique story of life as a British naval rating in the modern era, starting from the lowestlevel at a time of decline for the Royal Navy in the late 1970s, and paralleling the majorpolitical and military events of the 1980s and 1990s.
Do Not Go Gentle. Go to Paris.: Travels of an Uncertain Woman of a Certain Age
Gail Schilling - 2019
So begins the journey through France of an optimistic, infinitely curious, 62-year-old woman, who seeks to ransom her self-confidence and learn how to age. Deftly weaving scenic description with sketches of feisty Frenchwomen and flashbacks of older women she has admired, Gail draws wisdom from people and places that have gracefully endured the passing years. By the time she reaches the Mediterranean village that once existed only on her calendar, she feels revitalized. Her refreshed self-concept takes a hit, however, when her beloved proves fickle and a train strike maroons her on the edge of the sea. By the end of her journey, Gail recognizes the joie de vivre beneath the wrinkles of bygone beauty in French women. Now she awakens to her own joy of living and finds that it has no expiration date.
The Road Chose Me Volume 1: Two years and 40,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina
Dan Grec - 2018
Over the course of two years, Dan's expedition spanned forty thousand miles through sixteen countries. Now he will never be the same. After years of saving, dreaming and planning, Dan wanted to find out if an ordinary guy can achieve the extraordinary. With no sponsorship, a modest savings account and a willingness to learn Spanish, Dan threw himself in. Going solo, with no GPS and sleeping in a ground tent, Dan wanted to experience everything the Americas have to offer. From poking lava with a stick and hiking among world-famous mountains to corrupt military and camping with Ecuadorian locals - every day provided something new. With his eyes and ears open to the world around him, Dan met many interesting and thought-provoking characters. With their guidance and prodding, and by using their unique perspective, Dan was able to learn many valuable life lessons. Running to the beat of a different drum, Latin America was the perfect classroom for Dan to view our modern work-a-day world through an entirely new lens.
Wrong Way Round
Lorna Hendry - 2015
For the first month, you're only going to be aday's drive from Melbourne. If it was me, I'd get her across the Nullarbor quick smart so she can'tnick off home.' When Lorna Hendry, her husband James and young kids left Melbourne on a one-year trip around Australia in a 4WD with a camper trailer (having only been camping once before they left), they ignored all advice and drove across the Nullarbor and up the west coast of Australia . They may have been travelling the wrong way around Australia, but it was the best decision they ever made. Lorna returned to Melbourne three years later, having crossed deserts and rivers, taken ill-advisedshort cuts in the most remote areas of the country, stood on the western edge and the northern tip of the country, stumbled onto its geographic centre, and lived in remote communities in Western Australia.Wrong Way Round is a story about four people who had to get out of the city to become a family. It's about this beautiful and harsh country. And it's about the adventures that you can have if you step outside of your door and turn left instead of right.
Elizabeth I: Legendary Queen Of England
Michael W. Simmons - 2016
Born the heir to the throne, she was declared a bastard when she was three years old, after her mother was executed for treason, witchcraft, and incest. During the reign of her sister, Mary I, she was a prisoner in the Tower of London, where she was expected to die. But when she became Queen, at the age of 25, she swiftly stunned the royal court by stepping into the seat of power with grace, intelligence, and an air of majesty that maddened and enchanted the men around her. For 44 years, Elizabeth I guided England through religious upheavals and plots to overthrow the government. Courted by all the most powerful princes in Europe, she baffled her advisors by refusing to marry any of them. And when England stood under threat of invasion by the most powerful nation in Europe, Elizabeth’s navy destroyed the Spanish Armada so decisively that it was seen as an act of God. In this book, you will discover why no English monarch has ever been more famous, more successful—or more deeply loved by her people.
Tents and Tent Stability: A Month-Long Camping Adventure In Germany - In a Rather Dodgy Tent!
Chris Lown - 2012
His mission: to explore Germany’s rustic countryside and historical towns, meet the local people, eat their cheese and drink their beer. Whether riding a draisine in the Uckermark National Park, witnessing the spectacle of rabbit showjumping in Jena or bathtub racing on the Edersee, Lown takes in the sights and dissects the culture as he zigzags his way around all sixteen of Germany’s states. But his tent doesn’t fare quite so well. After it survived an act of wanton vandalism, battled against inclement weather and was torn to shreds by a fox with a rapacious appetite and a penchant for Knackwurst, Lown is finally forced to concede that buying a cheap tent wasn’t the wisest of decisions.
Plays With Cars
Doug DeMuro - 2013
In “Plays With Cars,” the former Porsche manager covers some of his most ridiculous decisions, like buying an old Land Rover sight unseen, taking a Mercedes AMG station wagon to a rural Georgia dragstrip, and roadtripping across the United States in a Lotus Elise without air conditioning. He’s also reviewed his former cars, which range from a Mercedes G-wagen to a Nissan Cube. Most importantly, he wrote this entire description himself in the third person.
Thanks, Johnners: An Affectionate Tribute to a Broadcasting Legend
Jonathan Agnew - 2010
It is said that traffic on British motorways came to a complete standstill as commuters were forced to stop their cars due to fits of laughter while listening to it on Radio Four. This book is an affectionate account of a four-year friendship, including copious anecdotes from their time together in the commentary box and during their travels overseas. Jonathan Agnew comments: "Brian Johnston was a tremendous influence on my early years at Test Match Special. His wit, warmth, and great sense of fun was not only a feature of his cricket commentary, but also in the way he lived his life. Our friendship has been immortalized through the "leg over" incident, but there was a much deeper bond between us than merely that hilarious broadcasting classic, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share this with cricket lovers everywhere." Aggers on Johnners is the holy grail of cricket books, a must-have for anyone who loves the noble game.
Enemy Number One: The Secrets Of The Uk's Most Feared Professional Punter
Patrick Veitch - 2009
This title tells the sensational inside story on how professional punter Patrick Veitch overcame adversity to take the bookmakers for over 10 million in an eight year period.
Slow Coast Home
Josie Dew - 2003
In her latest book, she sets off on another quirky and riotous ride, choosing to circumnavigate the coastline of the British Isles. And she discovers that her homeland can be as surprising and full of incident as anywhere she has ever been. Beginning in Portsmouth, Josie sets off in a clockwise direction after a Shetland grandmother warns her that she'll end up meeting the devil if she travels anti-clockwise. Through rain, hail, floods, bitter temperatures, minor earthquakes and dusty drought, Josie pedals on, eventually returning to Land's End to complete Stage One of her remarkably lengthy odyssey along 5,000 miles of seaside, estuaries, creeks and islands. But is all as it seems? Who is the mysterious builder who appears at all the wrong moments? Who are the two-wheeled taggers-on lurking in her wake? What did she find at Puckpool Point, Bozomzeal and Woon Gumpus? And how did Josie so badly miscalculate her approach to the seafront at Newhaven that she landed in France?