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Combatives for Street Survival: Hard-Core Countermeasures for High-Risk Situations by Kelly McCann
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Bruce Parry - 2008
Written in diary form, the book offers a rare insight into the ways of life that have existed since the dawn of time and are about to disappear forever. Illness, accidents and all manner of unforeseen mishaps test Parry's strength every step of the way.
Sister of Silence
Daleen Berry - 2011
At thirteen, Daleen Berry was raped. By sixteen, she was barefoot and pregnant. And at twenty-one she was a mother of four children, tumbling headlong into a dark depression that nearly claimed all their lives. A riveting true story, this memoir peers into the most horrible moments of Ms. Berry’s life—and demonstrates the astonishing resilience of the human spirit. Sister of Silence has been called a “brave book,” Ms. Berry a “magnificent storyteller.” It was banned from Livermore High School in California in 2012 and turned into a TED talk in 2013.
Beast: Blood, Struggle, and Dreams at the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts
Doug Merlino - 2015
Although some dismiss it as brutal combat, its fighters are among the most dedicated athletes in any arena. But MMA also takes a heavy toll on the body, and it's a rare fighter who can earn a living in the sport's top ranks.Beast follows four high-level fighters at one of the sport's elite gyms, Florida's American Top Team. Doug Merlino had unprecedented access, training alongside the men for two years, traveling to their matches, and eating in their homes. Mirsad Bektic, a young Bosnian refugee who started in karate as a boy in Nebraska, dreams of stardom. Jeff Monson, a battered veteran at forty-one, is an outspoken, tattooed anarchist enjoying a bizarre burst of celebrity in Russia. Steve Mocco is a newcomer--a former Olympic wrestler from a close-knit intellectual family. Finally there's Daniel Straus, who, from a life short on opportunity, fights his way up to title contention. All will experience electrifying highs and career lows, and Merlino takes us along every step of the way while also examining the culture and meaning of professional cage fighting. A book for both the uninitiated and the hard-core fan, Beast offers a fascinating journey into an often misunderstood world.
The Taste of River Water
Cate Kennedy - 2011
Everything that suffuses her well-loved prose is here: compassion, insight, lyrical precision, and the clear, minimalist eye that reveals how life can turn on a single moment. Musing on the undercurrents and interconnections between legacy, memory, motherhood and the natural world, the poems in the collection begin on the surface and then take us, gracefully and effortlessly, to a far more thought-provoking place.
The Betrayer
Daniel Judson - 2012
Not only did The Betrayer keep me guessing, I was totally blown away by its electrifying ending � I never saw it coming. Watch out Michael Connelly, there�s a new sheriff in town!� �Andrew Peterson, author of Forced to KillShortly after the abduction and brutal murder of legendary FBI agent John Coyle by a Russian hit squad, information surfaced that he was corrupt and his reputation was destroyed. But anyone who knew John Coyle knows that he had been framed, and by all accounts the only man who could have set him up was Big Dickey McVicker, a New York City underworld boss with ties to the Russian Mafia. For decades McVicker had been John Coyle�s chief informant � but he was also Coyle�s oldest and closest friend. Two years later, when Coyle�s youngest and most troubled child, Jeremy, tries to find the truth about the father he barely knew, he unknowingly sets into motion a series of events that will unleash a cunning and twisted killer for hire with a score to settle, and put his entire family in jeopardy. It isn�t long before the streets of New York are turned into a battleground. And when all is said and done � when heroes and villains alike have fallen � it will take an unlikely alliance to bring down an unstoppable killer bent on vengeance.
Your Guide To Scrivener
Nicole Dionisio - 2013
Allowing you to combine the various elements that make up your writing project, from outlines to research to note, Scrivener helped author Nicole Dionisio write two novels in a single year. Our manual outlines how to use Scrivener to make your writing better, and is useful for writers of all stripes – which includes you. It is 48 hours before your dissertation is due and, despite the chaos, you are trying to complete the final edits, because it’s the only choice you have.There is one problem — and it isn’t the pile of unclean dishes housing sea-green mold and chatty-vermin that has become your sink — it is your computer and it is time. You should be going faster then this, you put your blood-shot pounding head in your hands and groan, “Why am I going so slow? This computer is brand new... what is the problem?”It isn’t your computer’s specs. It is your writing process. It is because you have not yet started using Scrivener.It is opening up a new webpage or PDF every 15 minutes to fact-check research. It is switching back and forth be- tween this research, your outline, your bibliography, and your draft. It is waiting for your files to load, bouncing be- tween them, and getting lost in the quantity of windows on your computer screen or document.Scrivener has two key features: it loads all documents at once and it has many visual organizational tools. Scrivener has optimum productivity, thus it gives writers more time to actually write and accomplish their goals.This manual outlines: -Planning your manuscript-Importing existing documents into Scrivener-Collecting your notes-Organizing files and documents within Scrivener-Keeping track of your characters for fiction writing-Bringing it all together and writing your manuscript-The editing process, including sharing with beta readers.-Publishing your masterpiece online
Famous Writers School
Steven Carter - 2006
Famous Writers School is composed of three aspiring authors' letters and stories sent to a correspondence course by that grandiose name, and the self-serving lessons that Wendell Newton, their endearingly obtuse instructor, doles out in response.Wendell's oddball collection of students includes Rio, an alluring blues singer on whom he quickly develops a crush; Linda Trane, an unhinged housewife who may be stalking him; and Dan, a truly talented author of hard-boiled detective fiction. As Dan's gritty mystery arrives piece by piece, Wendell gets hooked on the story--and decides to dress it up in his own style in order to pass it off as his creation.
Solar Reboot
Matthew D. Hunt - 2017
The electrical grid will come back up. The government will reassure the panicked populace. The hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes will abate. Most importantly, Cameron’s husband and daughter will get home safely from New York City. Instead, Cameron finds herself alone as the world tears itself apart. Her best hope for refuge is the family’s isolated cabin, but distance isn’t the only obstacle Cameron faces. Society has been destroyed, and a bunch of scared, confused people are trying to figure out how to survive. They need a leader with a firm grip on reality and a steady hand, but does Cameron want the responsibility of so many lives? Meanwhile, Cameron’s family travels across a ruined America in a quest to reunite with her. Alex believes that his wife is safe at their cabin in the Pacific Northwest, but he doesn’t know if his diabetic daughter, Piper, can survive the journey without access to insulin. As father and daughter fight to survive, they bear witness to not only the horrific violence desperation unleashes but also the grace and compassion of ordinary people.
Skeletons at the Feast
Chris Bohjalian - 2008
There is her lover, Callum Finella, a twenty-year-old Scottish prisoner of war who was brought from the stalag to her family’s farm as forced labor. And there is a twenty-six-year-old Wehrmacht corporal, who the pair know as Manfred–who is, in reality, Uri Singer, a Jew from Germany who managed to escape a train bound for Auschwitz.As they work their way west, they encounter a countryside ravaged by war. Their flight will test both Anna’s and Callum’s love, as well as their friendship with Manfred–assuming any of them even survive. Perhaps not since The English Patient has a novel so deftly captured both the power and poignancy of romance and the terror and tragedy of war. Skillfully portraying the flesh and blood of history, Chris Bohjalian has crafted a rich tapestry that puts a face on one of the twentieth century’s greatest tragedies–while creating, perhaps, a masterpiece that will haunt readers for generations.
The Candidate
Josie Brown - 2013
He feels he’s lost his way, both emotionally and professionally. Worst yet, his show-me-the-money policy seems to have finally caught up with him. Two of his recent clients have been disgraced in one way or another: a senator is caught in lurid sex scandal, and a congressman is indicted in a kickback scheme. In no time at all the political pundits are calling Ben a "candidate cooler." Now Ben is desperate for any campaign gig he can get.As luck would have it, Andrew Harris Mansfield, the charismatic junior senator from North Carolina and former Marine pilot, asks Ben if he wants to run his soon-to-be-announced campaign for president. Little does Ben know what's in store for Andrew, or their country--Nor does he realize that the key to saving both have been placed in his hands...
Bouncer
Tyan Wyss - 2006
Unfortunately, the only ones available are the prickly local private investigator Fox and a clairvoyant out-of-towner named Thayne who clash within the first five minutes. Just as the bodies start to pile up, only the clues from a mysterious child nicknamed 'Bouncer' can lead the oddball detective team of Fox & Thayne to the murderer before he sharpens his knife again.
The Power of Internal Martial Arts: Combat Secrets of Ba Gua, Tai Chi, and Hsing-I
Bruce Frantzis - 1998
In-depth comparisons and analyses of the different arts in regard to their methods of movement, principles and philosophies, use of force and energy, body mechanics, and some practical applications, are also described. Frantzis also includes "Personal Odyssey" sections where he recounts many of his interesting encounters with famous martial arts masters. This feature recalls Robert W. Smith's Chinese Boxing: Masters and Methods, from a previous generation of martial arts books. To make this book as accessible to beginners as possible, there are five appendices covering the different styles of tai chi (such as Yang, Chen, Wu, Tung, Hou, and Sun), a history of Ba Gua, energy anatomy of the human body, a summary of Mr. Frantzis's training and lineage, a chapter on Chinese terminology and transliteration, and an extensive glossary.
The Cross Gardener
Jason F. Wright - 2010
Married and the father of a young daughter, John Bevan had finally found the traditional family he lacked as an orphaned child. But all that disappears when a fatal car accident steals away his wife-and the unborn child she carried. Filled with sorrow, John withdraws from life and love. He erects a small cross at the scene of his wife's accident and visits daily, grieving. Then one morning he encounters a young man kneeling before the cross, touching it up with white paint. John's conversations and travels with this mysterious man-known to him only as the Cross Gardener-will forever change his world. From Jason F. Wright comes a timeless tale that explores the questions we ask when our lives are touched by loss: How do we carry on? And who will show us the way? The answers John Bevan finds illuminate the hope that even in our darkest hours we are not alone.
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake
Anna Quindlen - 2012
It's odd when I think of the arc of my life, from child to young woman to aging adult. First I was who I was. Then I didn't know who I was. Then I invented someone, and became her. Then I began to like what I'd invented. And finally I was what I was again. It turned out I wasn't alone in that particular progression. As she did in her beloved New York Times columns, and in A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Quindlen says for us here what we may wish we could have said ourselves. Using her past, present, and future to explore what matters most to women at different ages, Quindlen talks aboutMarriage: "A safety net of small white lies can be the bedrock of a successful marriage. You wouldn't believe how cheaply I can do a kitchen renovation."Girlfriends: "Real friends offer both hard truths and soft landings and realize that it's sometimes more important to be nice than to be honest." Our bodies: "I've finally recognized my body for what it is, a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and in the years to come. It's like a car, and while I like a red convertible or even a Bentley as well as the next person, what I really need are four tires and an engine."Parenting: "Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward: We are good parents, not so they will be loving enough to stay with us, but so they will be strong enough to leave us." From childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, Quindlen uses the events of her own life to illuminate our own. Along with the downsides of age, she says, can come wisdom, a perspective on life that makes it both satisfying and even joyful. So here's to lots of candles, plenty of cake.