Book picks similar to
Making Payments: An American Indian, the Vietnam War, Laos, and the Hmong by John Oventile
giveaways
historical-fiction
war
non-fiction
Eden Hill
Bill Higgs - 2016
Osgood. He’s been content to raise his family and run the only service station in town. But when a new station is set to open right across the road from Virgil’s pumps, he suddenly faces obstacles in his career, his marriage, and his self-worth that he’s never even dreamed of.Cornelius Alexander wants his new Zipco station to succeed and help establish a strong foundation for his growing family. As long as he follows the Zipco guide, he’s sure to be a success―and prove his father wrong.Reverend Caudill wants to be a conduit for grace in his town, but that grace is challenged by the changes sweeping through in the early 1960s. For the sake of this small town, Virgil and Cornelius must learn to get along, but how do you love your neighbor when his very presence threatens to upend everything you hold dear?
Lone Wolf in Jerusalem
Ehud Diskin - 2018
Using drama, adventure, and romance, Diskin has created a colorful and captivating story that entertains and educates through the exploits of main protagonist, David Gabinsky. During the war, after losing his family to Hitler's ''final solution,'' young David leads a courageous group of Jewish resistance fighters against the Nazis. When Germany is defeated, he journeys to Jerusalem, to find a new battle brewing. British occupation forces are entrenched in Israel, blocking Holocaust survivors from immigrating to their Jewish homeland.Determined to help his people find freedom, David uses his guerilla skills to single-handedly wreak havoc on the British. As he begins his dangerous quest, David meets and falls in love with the beautiful Shoshana, a young Holocaust survivor whose spirit may have gotten damaged beyond repair. Recounting the tragic losses and heroic triumphs of the Jewish people during this critical stage in their history, Lone Wolf in Jerusalem brings these events to life in a new and inspirational way, making them accessible to a new generation. Originally written in Hebrew, this book quickly became a best seller in Israel.
I Don't Like to Eat Ants
J.T.K. Belle - 2019
He'll try anything else - a grilled cheese sandwich, a cinnamon bun, or a chocolate cake - but he's eaten his last ant. Anteater Two only wants ants to eat. And so they enter into a lively debate about the best food for an anteater, until (at the urging of two very relieved ants) they finally agree to go together to Anteater Three's Peanut Butter & Jelly Deli to try something new - a world-famous peanut butter-&-jelly sandwich. Sabine Mielke's beautiful, stylized illustrations accompany JTK Belle's rhyming, laugh-out-loud text, in this charming, relatable, story. A perfect read-aloud for picky-eaters and adventurous eaters alike.
The Girl from the Channel Islands
Jenny Lecoat - 2020
In June of that year, Hitler’s army captures the Channel Islands—the only part of Great Britain occupied by German forces. Abandoned by Mr. Churchill, forgotten by the Allies and cut off from all help, the Islands’ situation is increasingly desperate.Hedy Bercu is a young Jewish girl who fled Vienna for the island of Jersey two years earlier during the Anschluss, only to find herself trapped by the Nazis once more—this time with no escape. Her only hope is to make herself invaluable to the Germans by working as a translator, hiding in plain sight with the help of her friends and community—and a sympathetic German officer. But as the war intensifies, rations dwindle and neighbors are increasingly suspicious of one another. Hedy’s life is in greater danger every day. It will take a definitive, daring act to save her from certain deportation to the concentration camps.A sweeping tale of bravery and love under impossible circumstances, Hedy’s remarkable story reminds us that it’s often up to ordinary people to be quiet heroes in the face of injustice.
Brief, Horrible Moments 2: A collection of two sentence horror stories
Marko PandzaMarko Pandza - 2021
Chill your bones with two hundred horror stories, two sentences at a time.Do you have the courage to face the natural and supernatural scares that lay within these cursed pages? Pull up the blankets, close the blinds, take a deep breath and find out.A series of brief, horrible moments await.
Storykeeper
Daniel A. Smith - 2012
Donovan, Senior Reviewer -
Midwest Book Review
The first recorded Europeans to cross the Mississippi River reached the western shore on June 18, 1541. Hernando De Soto and his army of three hundred and fifty conquistadors spent the next year and a half conquering the nations in the fertile flood plains of eastern Arkansas.Three surviving sixteenth-century journals written during the expedition detailed a complex array of twelve different nations. Each had separate beliefs, languages, and interconnected villages with capital towns comparable in size to European cities of the time. Through these densely populated sites, the Spanish carried a host of deadly old-world diseases, a powerful new religion, and war.No other Europeans ventured into this land until French explorers arrived one hundred and thirty years later. They found nothing of the people or the towns that the Spanish had so vividly described. For those lost nations, the only hope that their stories, their last remaining essence will ever be heard again lies with one unlikely Storykeeper.~~~Editorial Reviews for Storykeeper, winner of Best Indie Book Award 2013“‘A man without a story is one without a past,’ Smith writes, ‘and a man without a past is one without wisdom.’ By the time readers have wandered freely through the strange realm of the Storykeeper, they may well find those words more prophetic, and more powerful.” –
Kirkus Reviews
“Storykeeper is a complex read . . . With both perspective and time in flux, readers are carried along on a historical and cultural journey that, while compelling, requires attention to detail: not for those seeking light entertainment, it's a saga that demands - and deserves - careful reading and contemplation.” D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer -
Midwest Book Review
“I was not only entertained by this book, but educated about a period of history of which I knew nothing. I loved the chapter structure which has a rhythm of its own, all wrapped in an attractive and appropriate cover. I have no hesitation in recommending this book no matter where your historical interest may lie. I give it 5 stars!” Helen Hollick, Managing Editor -
Historical Novel Society (Editor’s Choice)
“Smith has created a wealth of history and culture that will make you weep. Creating words and phrases with a poetic sense, building a feel for Native American culture that feels so genuine and, yet, is eminently readable.” Kathy Davie -
Books, Movies, Reviews!
“I love this story, and I applaud Daniel A. Smith on his diligent research. Smith writes some strong characters in this gripping story. Every human emotion is engaged, and at times I felt like I was right there with Manaha and the tribes who fought against DeSoto. Superbly done.” SK -
The Jelly Bomb Review
“The book's images, enhanced by objective historical writing are portals into the distant past, sometimes humorous, often heartbreaking, but always illuminating.” Fred Petrucelli -
Log Cabin
The Sugar Men
Ray Kingfisher - 2016
But the memories of that childhood ordeal have proven impossible to sweep away.For most of her new life spent settled in sleepy North Carolina, the flashbacks have been a lonely obsession—one she has hidden from her family, and about which her heart is torn. Because for all the pain and the cruelty of those terrible years, she harbours sweet memories too, of unexpected friends who risked their own lives in order to save hers. As Susannah’s time on earth draws to a close, her innermost thoughts of those long-gone days become questions—ones that demand answers.Against the wishes of her children, Susannah returns to Germany and the scene of unspeakable crimes. There she will come face to face with the Holocaust’s terrible, wretched legacy, and will finally make peace with the ghosts of her past.
The Long Accomplishment: A Memoir of Hope and Struggle in Matrimony
Rick Moody - 2019
As Moody has put it, "this is a story in which a lot of bad luck is the daily fare of the protagonists, but in which they are also in love.” To Moody’s astonishment, matrimony turns out to be the site of strength in hard times, a vessel infinitely tougher and more durable than any boat these two participants would have traveled by alone. Love buoys the couple, lifting them above their hardships, and the reader is buoyed along with them.
Milady
Laura L. Sullivan - 2019
A target for antipathy, a name whispered in fear or loathing.I don't need you to like me. I just need to be free.It's finally time I tell my own story. The truth isn't tidy or convenient, but it's certainly more interesting.
Memoria
David L. Van Horne - 2017
Vim is an energy resource that exists deep beneath the surface. A life force, it approximates the idea of a human soul. When the people of Pearl die, their vim is returned to the soil. And each new baby takes a little back out.The company of Megacorp wants to change this natural process forever. They’ve found a way to mine the vim and use it to power numerous gadgets and machines on the surface. While this industry has given the planet’s inhabitants a better quality of life, it threatens to shift the balance of their entire existence.Cirrus Stark is determined to stop them. When he is inducted into WAVE, a shadowy secret rebellion, he is determined to break Megacorp’s monopoly and destroy the company. As he grows closer to the other members of WAVE and nears the achievement of his main objective, Cirrus realizes some startling things about the planet—and his own place in the universe. He is just one piece of a larger cosmic puzzle.Will he ever comprehend the entire picture, or is he destined to simply perpetuate systems put in place millennia before?
Public Information
Rolf Margenau - 2011
Every indication is that he has limited chances for survival. As an enemy bomber looms overhead, he prays that he can survive a sixteen-month tour of duty without, as his sergeant says, getting his ass shot off.Wylie is recruited to join the staff of a Division Public Information Office (PIO) where he reports on many aspects of the conflict. He uses his infantry training in bloody combat, makes many colorful new friends, learns how to maneuver through the military system, finds love and loss, and grows up in the turmoil of combat and the war’s aftermath.Veterans have hailed the story as accurate, believable, touching, funny, and “the way it really was.” The story is based on the author’s experiences, careful historical research, and the 300 letters he sent his future wife from Korea. He touches on prisoner of war experiences on both sides of the DMZ, the armistice, realistic scenes of combat, the many United Nations forces engaged in the war, and poignant and funny aspects of military service. The second edition of the book includes recently disclosed information, and scenes and observations drawn from the comments of many veteran readers. The book is dedicated to the dwindling number of men and women who risked their lives to preserve democracy in South Korea.
Missing and Presumed Dead
Michael Fleeman - 2019
The disappearance of the beautiful, vivacious hostess at a popular Myrtle Beach, South Carolina restaurant made international headlines and triggered a sweeping high-stakes investigation that exposed a twisted web of deception, betrayal, sexual obsession, police corruption and revenge. But Heather's body was never located. A series of sensational trials involving a handsome restaurant coworker and his Disneyland-obsessed wife resulted in shocking verdicts – but no body – as her family desperately sought closure and fought for justice, and a resort town struggled to regain calm.
Read this latest gripping true crime from the bestselling author of BETTER OFF DEAD.
Condemned
G.K. Parks - 2015
Ever since his forced retirement, Mercer and his team have been negotiating the safe return of kidnapping victims, but that isn't enough to satisfy Julian's darker desires. His own life-altering tragedy has left him on the brink of insanity, and only his team and his job keep him from falling over the edge. After stumbling upon the scene of a botched assassination, Mercer vows to protect a newspaper heiress from an unidentified killer. But she wants more than a bodyguard. She wants a mercenary who will hunt down the animal responsible for nearly murdering her fiancé. Violence and mayhem decimate the city as Mercer and his team race against the clock to stop a contract killer, but the hired gun is just a symptom of the underlying disease. Until the man pulling the strings is stopped, a life hangs in the balance. Left with limited options, Mercer may have to abandon his morality or sacrifice himself in order to keep his promise.
Happier Thinking
Lana Grace Riva - 2017
I wasn't always so sure that was true until I experienced it myself, but I know now we don't have to just accept unhappiness. Not always anyway. This book is my collection of tips and suggestions that have helped me achieve happier thinking. It's sort of a gym for my mind. I'd love to tell you it was easier than the real gym but well… it's not really. It takes time, effort, and practice but it's absolutely well worth the rewards.
Scarlet Carnation
Laila Ibrahim
May and Naomi are extended family, their grandmothers’ lives inseparably entwined on a Virginia plantation in the volatile time leading up to the Civil War. For both women, the twentieth century promises social transformation and equal opportunity.May, a young white woman, is on the brink of achieving the independent life she’s dreamed of since childhood. Naomi, a nurse, mother, and leader of the NAACP, has fulfilled her own dearest desire: buying a home for her family. But they both are about to learn that dreams can be destroyed in an instant. May’s future is upended, and she is forced to rely once again on her mother. Meanwhile, the white-majority neighborhood into which Naomi has moved is organizing against her while her sons are away fighting for their country.In the tumult of a changing nation, these two women—whose grandmothers survived the Civil War—support each other’s quest for liberation and dignity. Both find the strength to confront injustice and the faith to thrive on their chosen paths.