Book picks similar to
The Road Chose Me Volume 2: Three years and 54,000 miles around Africa by Dan Grec
2023-goals
not-in-library
adventuring
africa
Confessions of A Bi-Polar Mardi Gras Queen
Marie Étienne - 2008
"Confessions of a Bi-Polar Mardi Gras Queen" is the Marie's second memoir, dropping true stories of her life that read like fiction and give the reader much empathy with Marie's bipolar condition. She also hopes to inspire others with her will as a mother and woman of the world, and "Confessions of a Bi-Polar Mardi Gras Queen" is a fine execution of that goal." Marie Etienne, author of STORKBITES: A Memoir, returns with a collection of outrageous true stories that are fast-paced, heartfelt, and brutally honest.CONFESSIONS OF A BI-POLAR MARDI GRAS QUEEN is filled with thematically connected stories that swing between hilarity and devastation. One of nine children growing up in a well-to-do family in Southern Louisiana, Marie Etienne spent decades risking everything in her search for happiness, sanity, and love. As an adult, her increasingly erratic behavior mirrored the drama of her upbringing and took its toll on her two sons. At 43, recently diagnosed as bi-polar and on the brink of suicide, her last-ditch hope was to come to terms with her deep-rooted feelings of fear, shame, and resentment by facing head-on who she really was, who she wanted to be, and what she was willing to do to make her life worth living. Etienne explores the themes of love versus lust, the legacy of abuse and mental illness, the impact of murder and suicide among her siblings, and the redemptive powers of faith, forgiveness, and courage. Marie Etienne has written a book that reveals the unstoppable drive of a woman determined to forge her own path through the world. Praise for Confessions of a Bi-Polar Mardi Gras Queen: "Marie Etienne has not lived an ordinary life, as the title of her second memoir suggests. Born into a wealthy family, she endured the untimely deaths of her alcoholic parents, the murder and suicide of two brothers, her own severe depression and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Nevertheless, Etienne has come back from the abyss and is anxious to help others through her inspirational stories of survival." -- Karen Jones of Publishers Weekly Show Daily, May 2008 "Not everyone can pull of a Trifecta of overcoming promiscuity, alcohol abuse, and towering rage as consequences of an abusive Louisiana childhood. In her second book, Marie Etienne shares her trials and victories with humor, compassion, and insight. Etienne's candor always leaves me breathless with both envy and amazement, and her writing skills make for an enjoyable and revelatory read." -- Peggy Vincent, Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife "Marie Etienne has written a brutally frank and captivating memoir that will have readers rooting for her at each step along the way in her quest to attain balance and confidence in her life and overcome years of dysfunction and insecurity." -- Wendy Nelson Tokunaga, Love In Translation
John Key: Portrait of a Prime Minister
John Roughan - 2014
As Key and his Government begin campaigning for a third term in Parliament, this in-depth portrait will give a clearer idea of Key, the man and politician. Journalist John Roughan has secured unprecedented access to John Key and his closest advisors. This book will provide insights into what motivates a multi-millionaire to become Prime Minister and examines his thoughts and aspirations. It will provide the clearest picture yet of what drives this country's Prime Minister. The book will follow Key's early life, starting with the break-up of his parents, his upbringing in a state house with an interesting Jewish refugee mother and his years at high school and university. It will follow his early career as a finance trader, his move into politics and his performance in power so far. Roughan will explore how Key's political views were formed by his life experiences, and how his political decisions fit within the context of his life story. John Key and his wife Bronagh have agreed to be interviewed for the book.
The Griekwastad Murders: The Crime that Shook South Africa
Jacques Steenkamp - 2014
It was shortly before 19h00 when Don Steenkamp jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the station’s charge office, covered in blood, to announce that his parents and sister had been brutally shot and killed on the family farm, Naauwhoek. Although the killings were initially thought to be just another farm attack, months later a sixteen-year-old youth was arrested for the murders, setting in motion a chain of events that would grip South Africa, and divide the people of Griekwastad.Based on interviews with all the role-players, including the investigating officers on the case, the forensic and ballistic experts, and family and friends of the deceased, this is the riveting account of what really happened on Naauwhoek farm on that fateful day, as told by the reporter who followed the case from day one…
The Upside of Down: How Chaos and Uncertainty Breed Opportunity in South Africa
Bruce Whitfield - 2020
You are wasting your time.In a world of fake news, deep-fakes, manipulated feeds of information and divisive social-media agendas, it's easy to believe that our time is the most challenging in human history. It's just not true.It is a time of extraordinary opportunity. But only if you have the right mindset. Fear of the future breeds inaction and leads to strategic paralysis. We put off decisions until we can have certainty. We look for signals. We wait. And while we do that, the world moves on around us.Problem-solvers thrive in chaotic and uncertain times because they act to change their future. Winners recognise that in a world of growing uncertainty, you need to resort to actions on things you can control.And the only things over which you have absolute control are your attitude and your mindset. These, in turn, determine the actions you will take and that will define your future.A robust mindset is the one common characteristic Bruce Whitfield has identified in two decades of interrogating how South Africa's billionaires and start-up mavericks think differently. They are not naive Pollyannas. They don't ignore risk or hope that problems will go away. They constantly measure, manage, consider and weigh up opportunities in a tumultuous sea of uncertainty and find ways around obstacles.If, as Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller suggests, the stories we tell affect economic outcomes, then we need to tell different stories amidst the noise and haste of a rapidly evolving world.
Diagrams for Living
Emmet Fox - 1968
" Fox has inspired millions of people over the past forty years through his simple, practical guidelines. In Diagrams for Living he presents valuable keys to living a more fulfilled life drawn from the eloquent spiritual wisdom of the Bible.If we read the Bible literally, cautions Fox, we miss the eternal power and personal relevance found in its symbols, allegories, and parables. "Whether you realize it or not," he writes, "you are on every page from Genesis to Revelation." Fox shows how to read dramatic biblical stories as symbolic diagrams for living that can "show you how to overcome difficulties and problems, and how to give expression to the deep aspirations that lie hidden in your soul." This power to reveal, inspire, and guide makes the Bible's teachings adaptable to everyone at every stage of spiritual development.Sensible, contemporary, and full of reassurance, Diagrams for Living offers sage counsel from a gifted teacher.
Reading the Race: Bike Racing from Inside the Peloton
Jamie O. Smith - 2013
Armed with strategies and tactics learned over thousands of races, cyclists and cycling fans will learn how to read a race--and see how to win it.Bike racing is called a rolling chess game for a reason. Sure, a high pain threshold and a killer VO2max are helpful. But if you're in it to win it, you need race smarts. Starting breaks, forming alliances, managing a lapped field, setting up a sprint--on every page, Horner and Smith reveal new secrets to faster racing and better results.Smith and Horner dissect common mistakes, guiding riders with lessons learned from decades of racing experience. "Reading the Race" reveals the veteran's eye view on: Assembling the best possible teamCrafting strategies around the team, course, and rivalsReacting instantly to common scenariosMaking deals and combinesBreaks, echelons, blockingPack protocol and etiquetteFinishing in the prize money or on the podiumWinning the group rideWhether you're a new racer, an aspiring pro, a team manager, or even a roadside fan, "Reading the Race" will elevate your cycling IQ for better racing.
Sweet Encore: A Road Trip from Paris to Portugal, via northern Spain (Tout Sweet Book 4)
Karen Wheeler - 2015
Her latest memoir – the long-awaited sequel to Tout Soul – features more tales from the French countryside and takes the reader on a 3000-kilometre road trip from Paris to Spain and Portugal. Accompanied by her sixteen-year-old niece and her charismatic black dog Biff, the author mingles with surfers in Biarritz, upsets religious pilgrims in Fatima and learns never to argue with a Spanish waiter. She also discovers Lisbon’s best-kept secret and how to ‘be like a bee’ in Madeira. Meanwhile, back in France, a new expat is behaving very badly indeed… Featuring a quirky cast of characters in the French countryside, Sweet Encore is sprinkled with anecdotes form the author’s previous life as a fashion editor – meeting Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in New York, incurring the wrath of a famous Italian fashion designer, and receiving an invitation to a private dinner with Madonna in Milan. So, pour yourself a glass of something chilled, sit back and enjoy a sparkling summer read.
A City Owned
O.J. Modjeska - 2018
Police begin to suspect that their target is a rogue operator who has emerged from their own ranks. And then, all hell breaks loose in Los Angeles… An arrest in the strangling murders of two co-eds across state lines finally leads to a break in the case, but the mild-mannered suspect remembers nothing about the crime of which he is accused. His attorney and a team of psychiatrists are convinced this is no lust murderer, but a mentally ill man tormented by an evil alter personality, the terrifyingly malevolent sexual sadist “Steve”. But what if Steve is the final triumphant act in a psychopath’s lifelong career in deception? None are prepared for the dark journey through the mazes of the human mind it will take to unlock the door to justice. From the author of the aviation disaster ebook bestseller “Gone: Catastrophe in Paradise”, “A City Owned” is the first installment of the two-part series “Murder by Increments”, the true story of the worst case of serial sex homicide in American history.
Bookclub-in-a-Box Discusses Cutting For Stone, the novel by Abraham Verghese
Marilyn Herbert - 2010
The narrative begins in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when twin boys, Shiva and Marion, are born to a nun (who dies) and a surgeon (who runs away). The babies, conjoined at the head, are successfully separated immediately after birth. The original conjoinment and separation of the boys becomes the operating theme of the novel and we are given situation after situation in which to consider the concepts of fusion and partition. Bookclub-in-a-Box looks at all that Verghese provides: history (Ethiopia and Eritrea), medicine (blood and liver disease), psychology (the search for identity), sociology (human relationships) and philosophy (of both science and religion). The narrative's real facts and descriptions are especially interesting for their thematic implications. Every Bookclub-in-a-Box printed discussion guide includes complete coverage of the themes and symbols, writing style, and interesting background information on the novel and the author.
Return To Me
Katie Winters - 2021
The mother she's resented for over twenty years. A return to Martha's Vineyard, where healing can finally begin.Janine Potter grew up on the other side of the tracks. Her mother, Nancy, struggled with just about everything: alcohol, men, money -- and Janine made a pledge to herself that she would never be like her.At age nineteen, Janine met Jack Potter, the son of an oil tycoon, and never looked back. Her life became a series of cocktail parties and multi-million-dollar apartments all across the world and rubbing elbows with celebrities. Slowly, memory of her mother faded -- although the trauma never really did.Fast-forward to the present. Janine is forty-three, with two beautiful daughters, a perfect apartment, a handsome husband who betrays her beyond her wildest dreams.Soon, Janine is cast out from her picture-perfect life. She has nothing.Her mother, Nancy, who's gone through trials and triumphs of her own over the previous twenty years, sees Janine's very public devastation as an opportunity to reach out to the daughter she's missed so desperately over the years."Come to Martha's Vineyard. Return to me. Let's heal together, after the shared trauma of our past."Janine has nowhere else to turn. For the first time in twenty-five years, her mother is her only answer.But the world that awaits her on Martha's Vineyard is beyond her wildest dreams. There are new friends, two step-sisters, beautiful ocean waters, and even a potential love interest -- a summer she'll never forget.Can Janine and her mother find a way to heal the wounds of their past? Can Janine overcome the ultimate betrayal?Dive into book one of The Katama Bay Series -- a heartwarming journey of motherly and sisterly love, healing, and promise for better days, all on the island of Martha's Vineyard, with its gorgeous ocean views, its endless summer days, and its bubbly cast of islanders.For fans of Susan Mallery, Jill Shalvis, and Debbie Macomber.
The Watchman's File: Israel's Most Powerful Weapon Is Not the Bomb
Barry M. Lando - 2013
Something has happened. It's about your country and mine. It's serious-believe me. Come!" Ed Diamond, investigative reporter for "Focus," America's preeminent TV news show, is summoned urgently to Israel by an old friend, Dov Ben-Ami, formerly a top official of Israel's Mossad. But before they can meet, a terrorist bomb blows Dov apart. Determined to discover why the Israeli was killed, Diamond embarks on the most astonishing investigation he's ever undertaken. From the Dead Sea to the Old City of Jerusalem, to Tel Aviv and Paris, Washington and New York, he attempts to unravels an on-going mystery that began with the nefarious links between America's greatest corporations and Hitler's Third Reich. In the end, Ed attempts to thwart a deadly terrorist attack on Manhattan. He's pitted against one of the U.S.'s most powerful families, and a fanatical group of right-wing Israelis, ready to kill to protect a World War II intelligence coup that is still Israel's most potent weapon and most closely guarded secret, "The Watchman's File.
African Love Poems and Proverbs with Bookmark (Petites)
C.W. Leslau - 1995
Ranging from joyous to elegiac, verses touch on love’s delights and follies with elliptical eloquence. Lovely to read aloud or reflect on silently. Photos of African artwork accompany the text.My heart is single and cannot be dividedAnd it is fastened on a single hope;Oh, you, who might be the moon!--Somali love song
The Lion
D. Camille - 2016
A retired professional baseball player, he returns to his home in Detroit to purchase a major league franchise. Rion has to tackle government corruption and systematic racism in his quest. He didn’t realize that one person held the key to all of his dreams until she knocks him off his feet. Rion becomes completely mesmerized by hazel eyes along with a no nonsense attitude and tough city girl exterior. Tauri Patterson is the city Prosecutor and her job is to fight for the citizens of Detroit. Her strength and intelligence have made her one of the top litigators. Little did she know that when she received Rion Shaw’s case on her desk, her life would never be the same. The six-foot four decadent chocolate dream walks into her office and changes her life. She’s swept off her feet by the confident warrior who knows who he is and what he wants. Together they must overcome the threats against them in order to achieve the task before them. Rion and Tauri find that love and family can overcome every barrier.
The Solomon Kane, And Other Stories:17 Stories by Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard - 2012
Howard in 1928-1939. In this book contains 17 stories of Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn , Cormac Fitzgeoffrey, El Borak, and Other Historical stories :1.Red Shadows, First published in Weird Tales, August 1928. Alternate title: Solomon Kane.( with free audiobooks link)2.Skulls in the Stars, First published in Weird Tales, January 1929. (with free audiobooks link)3.Rattle of Bones, First published in Weird Tales, June 1929. (with free audiobooks link)4.The Lost Race, First published in Weird Tales, January 1927. 5.Hawks of Outremer, First published in Oriental Stories, April-May-June 1931.6.The Blood of Belshazzar, First published in Oriental Stories, Fall 1931.7.The Daughter of Erlik Khan, First published in Top-Notch, December 1934.8.Hawk of the Hills, First appeared in Top-Notch, June 1935.9.Blood of the Gods, First published in Top-Notch, July 1935.10.The Country of the Knife, First published in Complete Stories, August 1936. Alternate title: Sons of the Hawk.11.Son of the White Wolf, First published in Thrilling Adventures, December 1936.12.The Lost Valley of Iskander, First published in 1934. Alternate title: Swords of the Hills.13.Gates of Empire, Published in Golden Fleece, January 1939. Alternative title: The Road of the Mountain Lion.14.Lord of Samarcand, First published in Oriental Stories, Spring 1932. Alternative title: The Lame Man.15.Red Blades of Black Cathay, Published in Oriental Stories, February-March 1931. (with free audiobooks link)16.The Lion of Tiberias, Published in Magic Carpet Magazine, July 1933.17.The Sowers of Thunder, First published in Oriental Stories, Winter 1932.