Book picks similar to
The Drops by Janis Mahnure


islam-spirituality
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Beyond the Cabin


Jared Nathan Garret - 2014
    Josh is trapped. Born and raised in the Fundamental Faith in God — a cult started by his mother — all Josh knows is abuse, neglect, and life in a house bursting with angry adults and lonely children. His only friend is his oldest brother, Malachi. He and Malachi have spent countless hours in the woods, building a rough cabin and planning to escape together. But when Malachi finally snaps and gets away, he leaves Josh behind. Betrayed, more isolated than ever, and finding solace only in his books, Josh starts planning his own escape. Then tragedy strikes and Josh spirals — with nothing to catch him — and a grim, abused future all he has left.That all changes when Josh finally talks to one of the other cult kids, Mary, and a friendship blooms from their shared love of books. As his relationship with Mary deepens into something that might save both of them, Josh's eyes are opened to the plight of the other children and he feels something new: fury. These children need his protection — even though Josh still yearns for freedom. But is escape an act of betrayal? And when the time comes for Josh to face his abuser, will the battle destroy any hope for peace and freedom?Beyond the Cabin is a tale of a young man seeking connection, love, and freedom while coming of age in a real-life, infamous Scientology splinter cult. Based on and inspired by the author's life in The Process Church of the Final Judgment.

Hope Rising: How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life


Casey Gwinn - 2018
    Hope is the most predictive indicator of well-being in a person’s life in all the research done on trauma, illness, and resiliency. Based on nearly 2,000 published studies about hope, including their own research, Casey Gwinn and Chan Hellman call for rising hope to be the focus not only in personal lives, but in public policy in education, business, social services, and every other part of society. Hope is measurable. Hope is malleable. Hope changes lives. Hope Rising provides a roadmap to measure hope in your life, assess what may have robbed you of the power of hope, and then provides strategies to increase hope. It challenges every reader to be transparent and honest about their own stories of struggle and adversity, calls for the end of shame and blame in addressing the struggles of those who have experienced trauma, illness, or abuse, and provides practical ways to increase your Hope score and thrive because of it.

The Disappeared


Ali Harper - 2018
    Their first client is the kind of person they always hoped to help—a kind woman desperately worried about her son, Jack.A missing son…The case seems simple—kid starts college, takes up with the wrong crowd, forgets to ring his mother. But very quickly, Lee and Jo suspect they’re not being told the whole truth.A case which could prove deadly…Their office is ransacked, everyone who knows Jack refuses to talk to them and they feel like they’re being followed…it’s clear Lee and Jo have stumbled into something bigger, and far more dangerous, than they ever expected. Will they find Jack, or will their first case silence them both for good?

A Poison Tree


J.E. Mayhew - 2020
    A coincidence or a connection?Will Blake is determined to find out, but as he unearths the past, questions are raised about the original investigations and it becomes clear that The Wirral has a killer on the loose once again.Victor Hunt, the father of the last dead girl from the original case, lies in a hospice with weeks to live. The truth lies hidden in Hunt’s tangled family tree, and the actions of his wayward daughter. Time is against Blake and his fractious team. If they don’t get to the root of past crimes, then innocent blood will flow again.A Poison Tree is the first thrilling mystery in the Will Blake crime series. A great read for fans of Luca Veste's and JD Kirk’s Jack Logan series.

Your Artist's Brain: Use the Right Side of Your Brain to Draw and Paint What You See - Not What You Think You See


Carl Purcell - 2010
    Your Artist's Brain shows you how to portray even the most complex subjects by focusing on what you really see - not what you think you see.Expert art instructor Carl Purcell shows you how to overcome dependency on the intellectual brain and listen carefully to the more observant artist's brain.With Your Artist's Brain, you'll learn visual skills and artistic techniques that will instantly make you a better artist, no matter what your medium.- 22 step-by-step demonstrations on key relationships between shapes, spaces, subjects, backgrounds, angles, sizes, values and more - Easy examples and fun exercises teaching you how to see and design great compositions - Points to Remember sidebars that allow you to quickly grasp each conceptMaximize the power of your artist's brain today and embark on the path to creating better art.

House of Sand


Michael J. Sanford
     Consumed by hate, I've done the unthinkable. And it's turned me into a hero. Now, I must decide how far I'll go to keep my secret safe. I won't let you know the truth. But the sounds that echo in my head... ...are only growing louder. Attempted murder gives a man his family back. It's everything he's ever wanted, but he can't forget what he did. And the longer he holds the secret, the more control he loses to the darkness whispering in his ear. It craves violence and can't be silenced forever. The line between truth and lies is disappearing. And with it, the difference between right and wrong. WARNING: Strong adult language and graphic violence.

Don't Believe Her


Jane Heafield - 2021
    It casts doubt on Lucy's claims that he’s left her. When Tom does not reappear the next day, the police are called, and he is reported missing. But Detective Reavley isn’t sure he trusts either of the women.As accusations of extramarital affairs and violence come to light, the tension between the women comes to a head.Where is Tom? And is Lucy really responsible for his disappearance?Or is something far more sinister behind the mystery?

Exposure


Ava Marsh - 2016
    She’s as damaged as she is charismatic, as dangerous as she is charming. And now she’s been invited to tell her story, to explain how on earth it came to this.Hers is a story of heartbreak and desperation, of adulation and glamour. Of ruin. She’s descended to an underworld that most people can only imagine and she’s lived to tell the tale…Meet Kitty.

Followership: How Followers Are Creating Change and Changing Leaders


Barbara Kellerman - 2008
    Barbara Kellerman argues that, over time, followers have played increasingly vital roles. For two key reasons, this trend is now accelerating. Followers are becoming more important, and leaders less. Through gripping stories about a range of people and places—from multinational corporations such as Merck, to Nazi Germany, to the American military after 9/11—Kellerman makes key distinctions among five different types of followers: Isolates, Bystanders, Participants, Activists, and Diehards. And she explains how they relate not only to their leaders but also to each other. Thanks to Followership, we can finally appreciate the ways in which those with relatively fewer sources of power, authority, and influence are consequential. Moreover, they are getting bolder and more strategic. As Kellerman makes crystal clear, to fixate on leaders at the expense of followers is to do so at our peril. The latter are every bit as important as the former, which makes this book required reading for superiors and subordinates alike.

Jackson


Tracie Podger - 2017
    Time to tell her that I love her. Time to right wrongs and put the past behind me. But I have an addiction, one that haunts me, that takes over my body and mind. One that leaves scars.”Summer“It’s time to get my shit together. Time to tell him that I love him. Time to move on from my past. But he has an addiction, one that scares me, one that I don’t feel capable of dealing with.”Jackson - Son of a wealthy, abusive man finds peace in art. Whether that art be on his body or walls, it gives him an outlet.Summer – A woman in mourning, finds peace in the arms of her friend.Together they can fight their demons, they can put the past behind them – or can they? Can two broken people have the love they both desire? Or will dangerous, harmful outlets and loss forever consume them?Jackson is a standalone with The Passion Series. Angsty romance for over 18’s. This novel contains scenes that could be a trigger for some. Please feel free to contact the author or refer to the Trigger Warning section on the author’s website – www.TraciePodger.com

The Sweet Shop of Second Chances


Hannah M. Lynn - 2021
    But when she finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her, she decides to retreat to the Cotswolds and a place full of far sweeter memories.Quite literally.However when Holly discovers the quaint village sweet shop that she worked in as a teenager is starting to crumble she decides that maybe the sensible life isn’t what she wants after all. Putting all her chocolate eggs in one basket, she says goodbye to the city, and sets her sights on Just One More.After all, how hard can running a sweet shop be?With charismatic Giles, ready to rescue her at every turn and the local bureaucrats breathing down her neck, it certainly isn’t the quiet life she expected. Can Holly really save the place from the the wicked developers, or will she be the reason Just One More closes its doors for good?Full of laughter, sweet clean romance and cozy village life, The Sweet Shop of Second Chances will make you believe that the best things in life really are worth fighting for.

Some They Lie


M.K. Farrar - 2018
    No one is perfect—she knows that better than most. Everyone has their secrets. But something about Michael’s behaviour sets her nerves on edge, and, when people around her start to go missing, and then turn up dead, she’s forced to act.Knowing the police will never believe what she’s witnessed, and terrified her accusations will only drag up the past she’s worked so hard to bury, Olivia has no choice but to take things into her own hands... Get this new, heart-racing, psychological thriller now!

Late Air: A Novel


Jaclyn Gilbert - 2018
    Grief. Even his own weakness. Murray is a college running coach insistent on his relentless training regimen and obsessed with his star athlete—until he finds her crumpled and unresponsive during a routine practice one morning.Unable to avoid or outrun reality, Murray is forced to face the consequences of a terrible accident from the past…and his own increasingly tenuous grip on life.In her debut novel, author Jaclyn Gilbert weaves together the strands of two lives that form a union as finely nuanced and delicate as a spider’s web―and just as vulnerable. Following the relationship of Murray and his ex-wife, Nancy, in alternating narratives, we experience their early moments of hope and desire as well as their fears and failings. With poignancy and grace, Late Air traces the collapse of a marriage, exhausted by time and trauma, and one couple’s journey to regain their footing.

Gone: A Photographic Plea For Preservation


Nell Dickerson - 2011
    Her passion for forgotten and neglected buildings became a plea for preservation. Gone is a unique pairing of modern photographs and historical novella. Foote offers a heartbreaking look at one man's loss as Union troops burn his home in the last days of the Civil War. Dickerson shares fascinating and haunting photographs, shining a poignant light on the buildings which survived Sherman's burning rampage across the Confederacy, only to fall victim to neglect, apathy and poverty. GONE is a powerfully moving volume that will change how you see the forgotten buildings that hide in obscurity across the Southern landscape.

Tightrope


Marnie Riches - 2019
    With Bev's former glittering marketing career in the gutter, she begins to do investigative work for other wronged women, gathering dirt on philanderers, bosses and exes.But when Beverley takes on the case of Sophie's friend Angela, who is seeking to uncover grounds for divorce from her controlling husband, Jerry, the shadow Science Minister, she soon discovers that she isn't the only one doing the investigating... Beverley has a secret history she doesn't want coming out - but will she manage to stay hidden long enough to give Angela the freedom she deserves? Marnie Riches is back in this darkly comic thriller, perfect for fans of Martina Cole and Kimberley Chambers. Praise for Marnie Riches: 'Gritty and gripping' Kimberley Chambers, Sunday Times No.1 Bestseller'Marnie Riches is already a leading light in the field of Mancunian noir.' The Guardian'Gritty and great fun.' The Express'Pacy, poignant, funny and violent, it grabs you by the hand and drags you down the mean streets of Manchester with such verve and authenticity that you can almost smell the rain and blood as you turn the pages.' Simon Toyne'Fast-paced and enthralling' C. L. Taylor'Fast, furious, fantastic...One killer thriller!' Mark Edwards'Edgy' Clare Mackintosh