Yes, the 'F' word. Tipping the scales at nearly 20 stone, with creaking knees and a dodgy ankle to boot, at the beginning of 2011 Pauline had reached a crisis point. Something had to change, and fast. It was never going to be an easy ride, but with her trademark warmth and sense of humour, Pauline recounts the highs and lows of the rollercoaster year in which she whips herself, and her life, into shape - with a fair few tales from her celebrated forty-year acting career thrown into the bargain. She reveals all: from the strain of working long hours away from home on one of Britain's most popular soaps to renewing her wedding vows and reuniting with her Birds of a Feather co-stars; from battling the bulge and facing the naysayers to rediscovering the joys of airline travel . . . without a seatbelt extension.Honest and revealing, Where Have I Gone? is brimming with brilliantly funny anecdotes and truly moving moments. So put your feet up and join Pauline as she embarks on the most incredible year of her life.

    An inspirational tale of her journey through extreme personal crisis."You can run, but you can't hide from yourself."Abandoned by her mother as a young child and with a father constantly on the run, Shelley's life was never normal. Her family's involvement with South London's criminal underworld left her isolated, vulnerable and lonely. Falling deeper and deeper into depression and despair - she snapped.Shelley got on the first coach out of London with only the clothes she stood up in and £30 in her pocket. She didn't care where she was going, as long as she could disappear completely from her oppressive life. For years, she lived anonymously in refuges, hostels and on the streets. It would take something remarkable to bring her back to the real world.

    The technique is controlled, not ostentatious, and one senses here a conscious link to the work of older poets such as Larkin and Levertov. Karr's strength lies in her delicate and meticulous control of detail. Characteristically, she describes a cat's nighttime prowl with humor and precision: `` . . . he pounced and rabbit-kicked my head. / I had to disentangle from my hair / all four sets of claws, then tossed him / out into the pyramid of boxes / we'd erected in the yard.'' Such loving attention to seemingly insignificant events is reminiscent of the early work of Adrienne Rich and the use of imagery is similarly evocative (``When the moon / clicked over the sun like a black lens / over a white eye. . . ''). Karr's work generally falls into clipped stanzas, the lines flowing over for an effect of ironic tension appropriate for much of the ``devilish'' material with which she is concerned. While the poet's unflinching consciousness stands out in this text, the poetic voice is not completely developed. (Apr.)

    A desolate maid. And one cold corpse. Richard Lynche, heir of an 18th century Tipperary estate, can find no peace. His bookish ways disgust his bullying letch of a father. His heartsick mother sinks ever-deeper into a drug-induced lethargy. The teen’s only solace are the loving arms of the homesick new maid, Eveleen. Meanwhile jealousy, lust, and oppression lead to gruesome visions, causing Richard to question his own sanity. Desperate to prevail over his demons, he determines there is only one way to stop the torture—a killing. Aroon is a cauldron of old-fashioned Irish stew. Spiced heavily with Downton Abbey, sprinkled with Shakespeare’s Hamlet and a dash of The Godfather’s Michael Corleone, it explores the underbelly of life during the Protestant Ascendancy.

    An earlier wrist injury sidelined her pro tennis career, and now she’s trading her tennis whites for wild nights roaming the streets of Rose Hill, Georgia. Her wealthy family finally gets fed up with her shenanigans. They cut off her monthly allowance but also make her a sweetheart deal: Get a job, keep it for a year, and you’ll receive an early inheritance. Act the fool or get fired, and you’ll lose it for good. Toni Lee signs up for a fast-track Teacher Corps program. She hopes for an easy teaching gig, but what she gets is an assignment to Harriet Hall, a high school that churns out more thugs than scholars.What’s a spoiled Southern belle to do when confronted with a bunch of street smart students who are determined to make her life as difficult as possible? Luckily, Carl, a handsome colleague, is willing to help her negotiate the rough teaching waters and keep her bed warm at night. But when Toni Lee gets involved with some dark dealings in the school system, she fears she might lose her new beau as well as her inheritance.Related subjects include: chick lit, women’s fiction, humor, humorous fiction, Southern humor, Southern living, friendship.

    In I, Rhoda Manning, Go Hunting with My Daddy, Gilchrist writes again of one of her most beloved characters, with the hilarity, wisdom, and poignancy that marks all of her fiction. Here, a clutch of stories are told in the voice of Rhoda -- as a child, as a divorced mother of three sons, and as an old woman, recalling the curse and blessing of being the only daughter of Big Dudley. In The Abortion, a young girl whose father is dying and the boy who loves her struggle with clashing notions of what makes life meaningful. In Remorse, a small town hairdresser revisits the last days of his best friend's life and what he might have done to save her. There is a rich vein of sorrow here, but Gilchrist lightens the burden with a grasp of how both folly and grace are born of love. As her characters, both new and familiar, spin out their unlikely fates, Gilchrist proves once again that there is no other Southern writer quite like her.

    In the small town of Ruby Prairie, Texas, even the most blessed of plans can go amazingly awry. A Town Called Ruby Prairie tells the story of newly widowed Charlotte Carter, who moves to town with plans to open a foster home for troubled girls. Fiercely independent and determined to succeed on her own, Charlotte soon learns that caring for six teens is much more challenging than she expected. One crisis follows another until the quirky, good-hearted people of Ruby Prairie rally their support to keep the home open. This humorous and inspirational story celebrates the joys found in the simple things of life--faith, friends, family, and community.

    Celebrated writer ZZ Packer takes the editorial helm of Algonquin's signature series, selecting 20 rock-solid stories that reflect the geography, people, and way of life in the South.

    The books have been organized according to major historical periods, as they would be in any major Western history text. Each title is linked with the Amazon page where the book is offered. Simply click on the title that interests you and then download it to your computer. Kindle users may be able to use the same approach or they may simply search for the titles using the "search" page (scroll down to Kindle Store) and then download at no charge. If the first approach will not work, the second will.Mike Caputo (Editor)WHAT OUR READERS SAY"Fascinating." (S.F.S. reader)"A History readers' delight." (Amazon customer)"Great For Historical Knowledge." (C.E. reader) "Great books. I am glad someone took the time to curate this." (Adam, reader)"I love all of the older history volumes available on Amazon.This is a well constructed list..." (C.B. Reader)"...a good resource..." (A.A. Reader)"A fine list of free history books for the Kindle on Amazon."(Kindle Customer)"Would and do recommend to anyone who spends way too much time as I do, looking at books." (Kindle customer)"Great information here." (Kindle customer)"A great selection for research and reference. Many interesting books on multiple topics that were written as it was happening, not a researchers opinion of what they think happened way back when." (Kindle customer)

    Innocent young teacher Catherine is forced to house a German officer. Shrewd waitress Betty seeks to elude the persistent Nazi determined to conquer her. And courageous nurse Helen cares for her patients – both British and German – while hiding a British spy in her seaside cottage.Their fight against the injustices being enacted on their island home brings the women, the spy, and their enemies together in one night that will change all of their lives forever. Though none of them could foresee that the battle they fought that night would reach across time to 1997, when the tragic fallout ensnares Helen once more.

    The lifelong conservative Republican finds herself extremely conflicted covering a sex scandal involving potentially the nation’s first Mormon President. The juicy assignment takes Lana on a wild and dangerous adventure from a desert town filled with sleazy brothels to quiet, Mormon-filled Salt Lake City. Lana’s millionaire boyfriend’s love and support gives her strength during her roller coaster assignment–until her entire world suddenly collapses. Ironically, Lana’s life becomes a worse nightmare than any salacious story she had covered in her ten-year career in the crazy, upside down world of tabloid journalism.

    Very shy. He’s the quietest fifth-grader at Birch Ridge Elementary School. Peter just blends into the crowd, never does anything to draw attention. Attention is the last thing he wants. But when his father becomes the principal of his school, Peter’s whole world is suddenly turned upside down. Students tease him. Kids he doesn’t know stare at him in the hallways. Teachers treat him differently. And then there’s Darren Kalder, the troublemaker who torments Peter. Things turn even worse when Peter and Darren are paired up for a homework assignment—they must prepare a fictitious petition. They decide on a petition to reinstate recess at their school. And what starts out as a simple homework assignment turns into much more when their classmates ask to sign the petition. It’s up to Peter and Darren to follow through and present the petition to the school committee. But this involves speaking at a televised public meeting. And when Darren backs out at the last minute, Peter must decide whether to back out…or make a bold move that will forever change him. REVIEWS "Plot and action unfold quickly in this fast paced, 134-page chapter book, and interest in the outcome is kept high by excellent story crafting. 'The Principal's Son' has lots of intrigue, action, character development, and turning points to keep reader interest/involvement at a steady maximum." The Midwest Book Review "I enjoyed the story thoroughly. The book has a very positive feel to it which makes it a winner all the way." Readers' Favorite

    Unconventional, raw, and impossible to categorize, his work continues to provide powerful criticism of American culture, a society defined by excess and determined to break the human spirit.Born in Germany in 1920, Bukowski did not begin writing until the age of 40. Still, he managed to publish 45 books—six of them novels—capturing the brilliant range of his perspective. His voice was one of dry humor, a general distaste for society, dysphoria, and—from time to time—a bit of madness. Bukowski’s gritty, blunt growl was one of the greatest to rise out of Los Angeles—a city hiding behind fantasies of wealth and progress—and expose its contradictions and delusions.In Bukowski For Beginners, playwright Carlos Polimeni evaluates the life and literary achievements of the man behind the antipathy; the father of words—no, calls to action!—that linger still, rousing and challenging readers globally.

    . . If you are among the tens of millions who have never read Brown, this is a perfect introduction.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times On January 6, 1990, after seventeen years on the job, Larry Brown quit the Oxford, Mississippi, fire department to try writing full-time. In On Fire, he looks back on his life as a firefighter. His unflinching accounts of daily trauma—from the blistering heat of burning trailer homes to the crunch of broken glass at crash scenes—catapult readers into the hard reality that drove this award-winning novelist. As a firefighter and fireman-turned-author, as husband and hunter, and as father and son, Brown offers insights into the choices men face pursuing their life’s work. And, in the forthright style we expect from Larry Brown, his narrative builds to the explanation of how one man who regularly confronted death began to burn with the desire to write about life.

    Invisible Threads