Book picks similar to
Understanding Contemporary Russia by Michael L. Bressler
russian-culture
dnf
history
post-soviet-history
Olive Oatman: Explore The Mysterious Story of Captivity and Tragedy from Beginning to End
Brent Schulte - 2019
She is the girl with the blue tattoo.The story behind the distinctive tattoo is the stuff of legends. Some believed it was placed on her face during her captivity, following the brutal murders of her family members and the kidnapping of her and her sister. Others believe it was placed on her after her return.Rumors swelled. Her tattoo became a symbol of Native barbarianism and the triumph of American goodness, but like many stories of that era, the truth is far more complicated.This short book details the murders, her captivity, the aftermath, and her baffling return to her captors. Unravel the mystery of the woman who would become famous for all the wrong reasons and discover what her life story says about cultural identity, the power of resiliency, and what happens when fact and fiction bend and twist to muddy the waters.Read on to find out the truth!
Vines of Ostara
John P. Logsdon - 2019
There are just a few bugs to fix first... Join this comedic romp through the land of Kazaran, where you'll find interesting characters, a vast RPG world, adult themes/language/innuendo (don't worry, it's not a harem/reverse-harem book!)...and a fair amount of bloodshed too! In a nutshell, Kazaran is intended for mature audiences who harbor very immature thoughts. Grant Palaski is a low-level bug tester at the world’s largest MMORPG, Kazaran Online. It was meant to be a starting point to a high-level writing job, but all he has to show for his master’s is a mountain of student loan debt, a grudging addiction to caffeine, and zero respect. When he is handpicked to lead a group of pro gamers into Kazaran's new innovation, everyone is shocked. Why him? Even Grant can't answer that question, but he's not going to pass up the opportunity of a lifetime. The mission is to go from a level 1 newbie to a level 50 master. Millions of jealous gamers from all over the globe will watch the adventure, though hopefully, there’s no cameras in the showers. Plus, he’ll get paid. A lot. Except he probably should have questioned more about why he was chosen. Someone inside the company doesn’t want him to succeed. When everything goes wrong, Grant and his party have to balance the challenges of the game with uncovering the mystery of who sabotaged their test run. Can a guy used to losing lead his team to victory? Or will it be game over for good?
A Clean Billionaire Boxset
Anne-Marie Meyer - 2019
Get swept away today with these swoon-worthy heroes! Forgiving the Billionaire Love deserves a second chance. Hannah has finally come home after having been away for seven years. Despite her fears about facing her past, she’s desperate to get away from her boyfriend’s proposal. She didn’t expect to see Logan again. Logan is trying to adjust to his father’s death, being a single dad, and his new status as a billionaire. He thought he had a handle of that until his childhood crush, Hannah, comes back into his life. And she’s everything he remembered her to be. If only they could move on from their broken hearts. If only they could see how perfect they are together. Then maybe the mountains in front of them wouldn’t feel so unsurmountable. Finding Love with the Billionaire Opposites attract in the Alaskan wilderness. Madeline is desperate to finally be taken seriously, but that doesn’t seem to be the case when her boss asks her to write a puff piece of billionaire party boy, Liam Davenport. Liam just wanted a quiet life roaming the world. When his father dies, leaving him to face the media storm surrounding Davenport Outdoors, he’s forced to trade in his hiking boots for tailored suits. They’re determined they already know all there is to know about the other person. Until their plane crashes into an Alaskan mountain side. Suddenly, they’re faced with a choice. Put down their pride to survive, or keep their prejudices and struggle alone. Falling for the Billionaire Two lost souls make a whole. Paige has moved to New York after her father lost his business and passed away. Living with her quirky aunt as she attempts to start over wasn’t what she had envisioned for her life, but she’d determined to be successful. James has a golden finger. As a billionaire, his life is perfect—except that’s not the life he wants. Trouble is, he’s not sure what he’s meant to do. When James meets Paige, he’s intrigued by her. She seems to have everything figured out. The plan was simple. Figure out what James enjoys. If only their hearts hadn’t gotten involved. If only their pasts didn’t come back to haunt them. When everything feels as if it’s crashing down around them, the one thing they feared might be the one thing they needed all along. Fixing the Billionaire Love can mend a broken past. Millie has given up on love. After all, men never seem to show up when they’re supposed to. Joseph is trying to atone for his mistakes that he made before his daughter passed away. He’s left behind his privileged life to travel from town to town, paying off stranger’s medical bills. They were perfectly happy living their single lives until Millie rear ends Joseph in the parking lot of the hospital where she works. Fate intervenes and they find themselves thrown together. But love isn’t that simple.
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, Book 2
Barbara W. Tuchman - 2005
The Kindness of Enemies
Leila Aboulela - 2015
When shy, single Natasha discovers that her star student, Oz, is not only descended from the warrior but also possesses Shamil’s priceless sword, the Imam’s story comes vividly to life. As Natasha’s relationship with Oz and his alluring actress mother intensifies, Natasha is forced to confront issues she had long tried to avoid—that of her Muslim heritage. When Oz is suddenly arrested at his home one morning, Natasha realizes that everything she values stands in jeopardy.Told with Aboulela’s inimitable elegance and narrated from the point of view of both Natasha and the historical characters she is researching, The Kindness of Enemies is both an engrossing story of a provocative period in history and an important examination of what it is to be a Muslim in a post 9/11 world.
Rasputin
Harold Shukman - 1997
Yet, his purposes were obstensibly beneficient. An uneducated peasant, he left Siberia to become a wandering holy man and soon acquired a reputation as a healer. The empress was desperate to find a cure for the haemophilia from which her son Alexei suffered, and in 1905 Rasputin was presented at court. His positive effect on the heir's health made him indispensable. But his religious teachings were unorthodox, and his charismatic presence aroused in many ladies of the St Petersburg aristocracy an exalted response, which he exploited sexually. Shady financial dealings added to the atmosphere of debauchery and scandal, and he was also seen as a political threat. He was assassinated in 1916.
Six Years at the Russian Court
Margaret Eager - 2015
Originally published in 1906, the book captures Eager’s years as governess to the four daughters of the Emperor and Empress Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna: the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. All of whom would be executed during the Russian civil war just over a decade later.This first-person account provides a fascinating insight into what was everyday life for the Romanov family. From religious celebrations and family illness to assassination attempts and life during the war; Eager’s central role gained her access to some of the family’s most precious and testing times. In addition to documenting the time spent with her royal employers, Eager also reveals intriguing aspects of Russian society as whole. Through a series of anecdotal references she includes recollections of her time in Russia regarding such things as the tough life of the peasantry, criminal activity and even the national post service.This classic, written from the unsuspecting eyes of a foreign nanny, shows early twentieth century Russia and the last Russian royal family like you’ve never seen before. Margaret Eager (1863-1936) left the Russia in 1904 and returned to Ireland where she received a pension from the Russian government for her time as a nurse. She kept in contact with the family she had known so well right up to their brutal deaths in 1918. Eager’s family stated that she never fully recovered from the news.Albion Press is an imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
Tales of Unexplained Mystery
Steph Young - 2019
Do you love Unexplained, cryptic, and intriguing & mysteries? Why was a man found in the same spot he disappeared, but 4 years later, with a hole in his head that no surgeons could explain, and what did this have to do with a séance, doppelgangers, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln?
Why did a man write the Fibonacci sequence as a clue and tell a stranger he was “Looking for the Beast,” before he disappeared in the barren plains of a desert?
Why did five boys run from their car into the snowy wilderness, to certain death, yet not try to save themselves, at all? They found food but did not eat it. What were they running from? And why?
Who are Hecate? And what did they have to do with people disappearing in the countryside of England?
How did an introverted lady die on the top of an ancient fairy mound, on a remote island: her face locked in an expression of terror?
Why did a man die of fright atop a coal pile after disappearing for days, and why could no scientists identify the strange ointment found on his body? Where had he been? And what had happened to him?
How could a man be found after a plane crash, lying on a moor, with no injuries at all; yet his body had not been there when the plane had crashed and searchers had combed the area multiple times looking for him.
Also featuring an in-depth investigation into the strange death of Elisa Lam, found dead in a water tower on the top of a hotel roof in LA. Who were the two men who came to see her, and what was in the mystery box they gave her?
Steph Young has appeared on national radio shows and podcast including the UK's The Unexplained, and Coast to Coast Am, talking about many of these mysteries of the Unexplained, which are her passion... These stories are some of the most intriguing, enigmatic, and ultimately unfathomable & unexplained true tales I have ever come across and they continue to fascinate and completely puzzle me.
Join me for some true tales of Unexplained mysteries of the most cryptic kind. In this book are strange and baffling true stories of unexplained mysteries, and the cast of characters who star in them. Stories of unexplained mysteries that yearn to be solved. All of these strange and curious stories, I have written about over the last six years, across a number of my previous books. They continue to intrigue me, and while some of my readers may be familiar with some of these cryptic tales, there are many who are not, and I present them once more, in longer and far more extended format, with deeper delving into the strange and mysterious events and the central characters who feature in them, caught in the whirlwind of these strange unexplained mysteries… which still have yet to be solved.
The Floating Outfit 23: A Town Called Yellowdog (A Floating Outfit Western)
J.T. Edson - 2018
Cold fury worked on Dusty Fog’s face as he pointed to the signboard announcing the name of the town. “My brother came here because you begged for help,” he told them. “Danny put his life on the line and you hadn’t the guts to back him. So he died. The name of this town’s all wrong and 1 aim to see it put right. You!” His finger stabbed at the Blue Bull Saloon’s bartender. “Take your paint brush and cover over ‘Moondog’ on that sign. Put ‘Yellowdog’ in its place. Yellowdog, hombre. That’s what your town is—it and everybody in it.” Slowly, his head hanging in shame, the bartender obeyed; for he and every man in the crowd knew that Dusty spoke the bitter truth. J.T. Edson was a former British Army dog-handler who wrote more than 130 Western novels, accounting for some 27 million sales in paperback. Edson’s works - produced on a word processor in an Edwardian semi at Melton Mowbray - contain clear, crisp action in the traditions of B-movies and Western television series. What they lack in psychological depth is made up for by at least twelve good fights per volume. Each portrays a vivid, idealized “West That Never Was”, at a pace that rarely slackens.
Cammie Up!: Memoir of a Recon Marine in Vietnam, 1967-1968
Steven A. Johnson - 2011
Only 17 when he enlisted in 1964, Johnson deployed to Vietnam with the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, and his tour included such now famous locations as Phu Bai, Khe Sanh, Nha Trang and Quang Tri, among others. With a sometimes humorous tone, Johnson describes a war of often terrified high school and college-aged youngsters faced with exotic plant and animal life, monsoon rains, harrowing reconnaissance missions and death. Details are plentiful about tactics, equipment, geography and, always, fellow Marines.
A Bad Boy Captured My Heart
Tay Mo'Nae - 2018
What’s the point in giving you’re heart to someone, only to have it broken and your trust betrayed? She was perfectly content with the absence of love until Cameron aka Murda enters her life unexpectedly, awakening a need for a connection that she hadn’t realized that she was missing. Cameron just got released from jail after doing a 5 year bid and is back in the streets force. Cam is rude, and trigger happy and won’t hesitate to kill whenever necessary. With a street war going on with an unknown enemy Cameron and his cousin, Justin have too many thing to worry about and love isn’t on his list but meeting Raegan changes that. Cam tries to break the ice around Raegan’s heart but will her closed off behavior make him give up before he starts? Justin and Morgan are together and happy or so it seems. Still dealing with the insecurities from Justin cheating on her Morgan causes unnecessary issues in her relationship. When she takes it too far and a secret is revealed Justin calls it quits and leaves the relationship. Seeing the mistakes she made Morgan struggles trying to get Justin back but will he be willingly to forgive her and come home? Love, wars, and an unexpected reveal from an ex will turn these couples life’s upside down and they’ll have to deal with consequences before it breaks them.
Treat Me Like Somebody 3
Nikki Simms - 2016
After finding out that once again the love of her life had taken advantage of her heart, Jaz packed her things along with her daughter and left town. Sick and tired of his games, she was ready to move on and with the help of a certain someone, whom was making it more and more easier by the day. That is until Jaz found out about Jordan’s kidnapping. Rushing back to town, she runs into the arms of a very depressed and saddened Justice. Battling between the love she still has for Justice and the growing feelings she has for her new flame, she finds herself in one tight situation. With dealing with the fact that Jordan is actually missing, Justice does whatever he has to, to get his son back. From killing to ripping the city to shreds, he still come up empty. It seemed like everything he did, he was doing for nothing. His son was missing and his girl left him. After fighting hard to try to win Jaz over, nothing seemed to work. He did everything in his power to get her back but when he finds out he has a long lost brother; he starts to question her loyalty. Not only did Jaz know about it, but he finds out that she was in between his sheets. Mya and Harlem had been through a lot. After finally getting rid of the problem at hand, they were finally happy and living together stress free… or so they thought. While battling with demons, Mya finds out she is pregnant with the devil’s seed. She was torn between honesty and burden; she doesn’t know what to do. It was either tell Harlem the devastating news or go against what he believes in and have an abortion. Which should she choose? Harlem is fighting hard to protect his family and to keep them as safe as possible but when the past and old love ones comes back from the dead, things take a turn for the worst. Join these two couples and few others in a jaw dropping roller coaster ride as they battle never ending secrets, lies, deceit, and treachery! Will they be able to battle whats being thrown or let it destroy everything they’re trying to build? Find out in part 3 of Treat Me Like Somebody!!
Don't Shoot Your Mule
Beth Duke - 2012
Then I cried. I let all my tears fill it up, back and forth between my eyes. One tear at a time, I was able to catch enough to come to the very top. I patted the rhinestone stopper into place and wrapped the pink glass in toilet paper. This is how I would keep the worst day of my life with me--in a tiny, secret bottle." - Delaney Robinson, "Don't Shoot Your Mule"This highly anticipated sequel to "Delaney's People" takes readers on a turbulent, surprise-filled journey from Depression Era rural Alabama through 2011's devastating tornadoes and their impact on Delaney's family and friends. Family ties, love, loss, betrayal and a characteristic dead mule combine in a perfect book for devotees of Southern literature.
Summary of Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian (Fifty Shades of Grey Series) by E L James - One Sitting Reads - Read the Whole Book In 5 Minutes With (Bonus Story)
OneSitting Reads - 2017
This effective learning companion will help you digest materials quickly and easily: Finish In One Sitting! Check one out and you'll be hooked! Download And Start Reading Now - Even if it's 3 AM! Bonus Section Included 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed or your money back!