Book picks similar to
The Walk of a Lifetime: 500 Miles on the Camino de Santiago by Russ Eanes
camino
pilgrimage
spiritual-philosophy
the-great-outdoors
Born in the Saddle (Born to Ride Series Book 1)
Samantha Walker - 2020
At age fourteen, she's a know it all teen living alone with her mum in London - not a horse in sight. Can a few weeks staying with her grandparents back at the stables change all that, or has she really put horses out of her life for good? Meet the whole Michaelson clan, and their four-legged friends, at the Quicksilver Stud in Book 1 – Born in the Saddle. Teen fiction for horse lovers, especially eventing fans. Ideal for fans of Claire Svendson, Amanda Wills or Samantha Alexander.
50 Cups of Coffee: The Woes and Throes of Finding Mr Right
Khushnuma Daruwala - 2017
When a 30-something woman signs up on a dating website for people looking to get married, she realizes just how delightful, vexing, amusing and befuddling trying to find the perfect husband can be. Based on real experiences, this book is not a guide to dating, but rather a delightful collection of episodes about meeting potential partners, epiphanies about them and soul-searching questions that will make you see relationships without the rose-tinted glasses. Especially pertinent to this age of online dating, this delicious-as-a-cappuccino book is for all those in love, looking for love or in between. With advice as sage (gained the hard way) as that in He's Just Not That Into You and scenarios as funny and outrageous as those in Sex and the City, 50 Cups of Coffee is a hilarious, honest and witty book, perfect to curl up with when a suitable beau or bae is not available.
What a Party!: My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators and Other Wild Animals
Terry McAuliffe - 2007
Who knew Terry could sit still long enough to give us a book this good? "What a Party!" is a must-read for all of us who love politics, believe in public service, and know that laughter is often the best survival strategy." --President Bill Clinton "No one knows more about American politics than Terry McAuliffe. He givesus some remarkable insights and knows how to make his accounts both humorousand informative." --President Jimmy Carter "I've often said Terry's energy could light up a city, and readers of this book will know why. Terry's excitement for politics--and life--is evident on every page." --Senator Hillary Clinton For more than twenty-five years, Terry McAuliffe has been at the epicenter of American politics. Just out of Catholic University in Washington, Terry took a position with the Carter-Mondale campaign and quickly became one of the campaign's chief fund-raisers--and hasn't looked back since. The list of Terrys former mentors, friends, and close associates in the nation's capital reads like a who's who of legendary Democrats: Tip O'Neill. Jimmy Carter. Dick Gephardt. Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton. Al Gore. The list goes on and on. Terry has fought hard for the Democratic Party his entire life and, as Bill Clinton reveals here for the first time, he was the first one in the party to see opportunity in the Republican gains in the 1994 Congressional elections. Without question the most successful fund-raiser in political history, Terry established himself as a heavyweight Democratic strategist and leader who was George W. Bushs most vocal and persistent critic during the first four years of the Bush 43 presidency. He earned rave reviews even from former critics for his groundbreaking work as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005, pulling the DNC out of debt for the first time in its history. Terry has served as a confidant and adviser to President Clinton and countless presidential candidates, a mediator among party leaders, the chairman of a national convention and presidential inaugural, and a forceful spokesman for the party--all without losing his reputation as a colorful, fun-loving character liked and respected even by his Republican adversaries. "What a Party!" is a fascinating, hilarious, and provocative look at the life of one of Washington's legendary figures. From wrestling an alligator to running the Democratic National Committee to his friendship with President Clinton, Terry McAuliffe's wonderful memoir covers it all and is, without doubt, the political book of the year.
Climbing The Broken Stairs, A Memoir
Frieda Annette Adkins - 2008
She and her five brothers were the offspring of a wayward mother (Hetty "Etta" Brown), who, with an admitted "drinking problem" and a lustful spirit, spend most days in liquor bars, chasing men. Etta's willful neglect left her children to fend for themselves against the harsh and unforgiving elements of their urban streets; streets overrun with predators. Climbing the Broken Stairs, is an inspiring true-life account of one person's struggle to overcome child abuse (most of which having occurred within the families), and maintain the belief that a better life was possible, if she could first break free from a dysfunctional environment.
Fat Girl, Skinny
Amye Archer - 2016
With the help of the gang of girls of Weight Watchers, and their fearless leader —former fatty and community college dropout—Pantsuit Pam, Amye spends the next year losing weight and learning to live in a skinny (er) woman’s body. Only being skinny is not as easy as it looks, especially when inside, she will always be a fat girl. Fat Girl, Skinny is Amye’s story, but it’s also the story of anyone who has ever been told: “You’d be pretty…if”.
Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe: Three Words and Four Weeks that shaped a pandemic
Bonnie Henry - 2021
Bonnie Henry has been called one of the most effective public health figures in the world by The New York Times. She has been called a calming voice in a sea of coronavirus madness, and our hero in national newspapers. But in the waning days of 2019, when the first rumours of a strange respiratory ailment in Wuhan, China began to trickle into her office in British Colombia, these accolades lay in a barely imaginable future.Only weeks later, the whole world would look back on the previous year with the kind of nostalgia usually reserved for the distant past. With a staggering suddenness, our livelihoods, our closest relationships, our habits and our homes had all been transformed.In a moment when half-truths threatened to drown out the truth, when recklessness all too often exposed those around us to very real danger, and when it was difficult to tell paranoia from healthy respect for an invisible threat, Dr. Henry's transparency, humility, and humanity became a beacon for millions of Canadians.And her trademark enjoinder to be kind, be calm, and be safe became words for us all to live by.Coincidentally, Dr. Henry's sister, Lynn, arrived in BC for a long-planned visit on March 12, just as the virus revealed itself as a pandemic. For the four ensuing weeks, Lynn had rare insight into the whirlwind of Bonnie's daily life, with its moments of agony and gravity as well as its occasional episodes of levity and grace. Both a global story and a family story, Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe combines Lynn's observations and knowledge of Bonnie's personal and professional background with Bonnie's recollections of how and why decisions were made, to tell in a vivid way the dramatic tale of the four weeks that changed all our lives.Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe is about communication, leadership, and public trust; about the balance between politics and policy; and, at heart, about what and who we value, as individuals and a society.The authors' advance from the publisher will be donated to charities with a focus on alleviating communities hit particularly hard by the pandemic: True North Aid with its Covid-19 response in Northern Indigenous communities, and First Book Canada, with its focus on reading and literacy for underserved, marginalized youth.
Plume: Poems
Kathleen Flenniken - 2012
But [Flenniken] also wrote them to honor the people she grew up with." " - Seattle Times"The poems in "Plume" are nuclear-age songs of innocence and experience set in the "empty" desert West. Award-winning poet Kathleen Flenniken grew up in Richland, Washington, at the height of the Cold War, next door to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, where "every father I knew disappeared to fuel the bomb," and worked at Hanford herself as a civil engineer and hydrologist. By the late 1980s, declassified documents revealed decades of environmental contamination and deception at the plutonium production facility, contradicting a lifetime of official assurances to workers and their families that their community was and always had been safe. Plume, written twenty years later, traces this American betrayal and explores the human capacity to hold truth at bay when it threatens one's fundamental identity.
Anything for a Hit: An A Woman's Story of Surviving the Music Industry
Dorothy Carvello - 2018
She was the first female A&R executive at Atlantic Records, and one of the few in the room at RCA and Columbia. But before that, she was secretary to Ahmet Ertegun, Atlantic’s infamous president, who signed acts like Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin, negotiated distribution deals with Mick Jagger, and added Neil Young to Crosby, Stills & Nash. The stories she tells about the kingmakers of the music industry are outrageous, but it is her sinuous friendship with Ahmet that frames her narrative. He was notoriously abusive, sexually harassing Dorothy on a daily basis. Still, when he neared his end, sad and alone, Dorothy had no hatred toward him—only a strange kind of loyalty. Carvello reveals here how she flipped the script and showed Ertegun and every other man who tried to control her that a woman can be just as willing to do what it takes to get a hit. Featuring never-before-heard stories about artists like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Steven Tyler, Bon Jovi, INXS, Marc Anthony, Phil Collins, and many more, this book is a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered what it's really like to be a woman in a male-dominated industry.
The Helen One Hundred: 100 Dates in less than a year
Helen Razer - 2017
She worked in discount advertising and wore elastic pants. She did, however, have a long-term girlfriend whose announcement one summer day that she was leaving left the author with nothing. A bewildered Razer takes the advice of her beauty therapist and soon embarks on one hundred dates inside a calendar year. This book is that account. Will she get over the ex? Will she find true love, or even someone to boff her? All will be revealed, in a naked, funny and frankly embarrassing record of a life lived in apps and desperation.
Trudge: A Midlife Crisis on the John Muir Trail
Lori Oliver-Tierney - 2019
She is fifty, asthmatic, overweight, with arthritic knees. And like so many married women with children, she’s lost herself.When she decides to hike the John Muir Trail, considered by many to be the most challenging and beautiful part of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail, she’s sure it will help her reconnect with the adventurous girl inside.But by the end of the first day, Lori realizes she may have made a huge mistake.Monstrous bleeding blisters oozing with pus line the backs of her heels. It soon becomes painfully apparent her hiking partner, Debra, can hardly stand her. She can’t breathe and is using her asthma inhaler with alarming frequency. Trudging along, Lori walks most of the trail alone, and eventually loses her way.Lost on the trail Lori is forced to dig deep into her soul to find the strength to go on. But will inner strength be enough? Given her grim circumstances, she chooses to believe her husband’s words: even ordinary people can do extraordinary things.
Scoop: Notes from a Small Ice Cream Shop
Jeff Miller - 2014
They shopped at Harvey Nichols, walked their dogs in Kensington Gardens, and vacationed in France and Tibet. Yet, they dreamed of a new life. In January, Jeff was promoted to a coveted position at his bank; in March, he resigned. Jeff and Dean sold their house, packed the dogs, and moved to the sleepy resort town of Hayward, Wisconsin, where they acquired a nostalgic ice cream shop and rundown Victorian mansion. Scoop: Notes from a Small Ice Cream Shop is the chronicle of Jeff and Dean’s first year in Hayward—how they are welcomed by a collection of colorful characters and how they are humbled by the challenges of operating both the ice cream shop and a bed and breakfast. It is also a story of Hayward and how the traditions and the stories of those who built the town helped our entrepreneurs adjust to the rhythm of life in their new home. Jeff Miller was born in Browerville, Minnesota. He spent years as an international lawyer in New York, Hong Kong, and London. Since 2005 he has lived in Hayward, Wisconsin, where he operates West’s Hayward Dairy and McCormick House Inn.
The Shaman in Stilettos
Anna Hunt - 2012
A burn-the-candle-at-both-ends 29-year-old with a love of stilettos, chocolate, fast cars and Sauvignon Blanc, she seems to have it all, including a wealthy boyfriend and a comfortable pad in Marylebone. How will she manage in a Third World country?Anna's quest takes her from the wilderness of the Amazon jungle where she drinks ayahuasca, one of the most mysterious and potent hallucinogens known to man, to a passionate affair with Maximo Morales, a disarmingly seductive and charismatic shaman who offers her the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become his apprentice. Anna embarks on what is to be an utterly exhilarating, life-changing journey of mysterious rituals and burning passion. Will she find the fulfilment and inner peace she craves? And how will she bridge her two worlds and bring the ancient healing arts home to 21st century London?
Roads to Santiago
Cees Nooteboom - 1992
And as much as it is the story of his travels, it is an elegant and detailed chronicle of Cees Nooteboom's thirty-five-year love affair with his adopted second country. He presents a world not visible to the casual tourist, by invoking the great spirits of Spain's past-El Cid, Cervantes, Alfonso the Chaste and Alfonso the Wise, the ill-fated Hapsburgs, and Velázquez. Be it a discussion of his trip to the magnificent Prado Museum or his visit to the shrine of the Black Madonna of Guadalupe, Nooteboom writes with the depth and intelligence of an historian, the bravado of an adventurer, and the passion of a poet. Reminiscent of Robert Hughes's Barcelona, Roads to Santiago is the consummate portrait of Spain for all readers.
Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park
Conor Knighton - 2020
But, after a broken engagement and a broken heart, he desperately needed a change of scenery. The ambitious plan he cooked up went a bit overboard in that department; Knighton set out to visit every single one of America's National Parks, from Acadia to Zion. Leave Only Footprints is the memoir of his year spent traveling across the United States, a journey that yielded his "On the Trail" series, which quickly became one of CBS Sunday Morning's most beloved segments. In this smart, informative, and often hilarious book, he'll share how his journey through these natural wonders, unchanged by man, ended up changing his worldview on everything from God to politics to love and technology. Whether it's waking up early for a naked scrub in an Arkansas bathhouse or staying up late to stargaze along our loneliest highway, Knighton goes behind the scenery to provide an unfiltered look at America. In the tradition of books like A Walk in the Woods or Turn Right at Machu Picchu, this is an irresistible mix of personal narrative and travelogue-some well-placed pop culture references, too-and a must-read for any of the 331 million yearly National Parks visitors.