Tortillas & Peanut Butter: True Confessions of an American Mom Turned Mexican Smuggler


Linda Sonna - 2016
    An unfortunately common situation...quickly develops into a wonderfully uncommon and heartfelt adventure." - An Erma Bombeck "Hot Tamale" http://humorwriters.org/2016/02/19/ho... - “Spot-on, highly entertaining, and absolutely hilarious” - Lynne Willard, Editor & U.S. expat - - "Jaw droppingly hilarious" Carol Penn-Romaine, award-winning writer - - A wealth of cultural information tucked between the chuckles - - Includes discussion questions for book clubs & classrooms - - As the zany protagonist comes to understand Mexico & appreciate Hispanic culture, readers do the same - - 20% of profits go to the ACLU - - "Holy Cow! This book is hilarious!" - Cynthia Norman, Cosmic Philosopher - “Learning about a new culture can be hilarious – as seen through this book!” – Diane Gilliard, Counselor - An Amazon Top-10 Bestseller in Travel/Mexico (7/17-9/17); Biography/Memoir, Crimes & Criminals, Solo Travel, Single Parenting, Teen & Young Adult Biographies (various dates) - SYNOPSIS A suburban housewife liberates herself from her peanut-butter-and-jelly life and flees to Mexico. While battling the cultural quirks that send less adventurous souls hightailing it back to the U.S., she struggles to learn Spanish, cope with foreign customs, raise her kids, and run a school. To supplement her meager income she smuggles, using her gift for gab and wily wit to outfox the government officials. But not all of her smuggling tricks and tactics go as planned. EMBEDDED MULTICULTURAL ISSUES - The women’s movement - The 1960s cultural revolution - Culture shock - Immigrant adjustment & adaptation - Immigrant parenting issues - Identity development in children of immigrants - Intergenerational value clashes in immigrant families - Diverse customs & mores - Racism - Sexism - Prejudice - Classism - Ageism - Cultural evolution - Expatriate re-integration - Individualist/Independent (e.g., North American) vs. Interdependent/Collectivist (e.g., Hispanic) orientation to: ° Time (past/present/future) ° Activity (being/becoming/doing) ° Social relations (hierarchical/collateral/egalitarian) ° Self-efficacy (fate/destiny vs. personal control)

Family Secrets: The scandalous history of an extraordinary family


Derek Malcolm - 2017
    The secret, though, that surrounded my parents’ unhappy life together, was divulged to me by accident . . .’ Hidden under some papers in his father’s bureau, the sixteen-year-old Derek Malcolm finds a book by the famous criminologist Edgar Lustgarten called The Judges and the Damned. Browsing through the Contents pages Derek reads, ‘Mr Justice McCardie tries Lieutenant Malcolm – page 33.’ But there is no page 33. The whole chapter has been ripped out of the book. Slowly but surely, the shocking truth emerges: that Derek’s father, shot his wife’s lover and was acquitted at a famous trial at the Old Bailey. The trial was unique in British legal history as the first case of a crime passionel, where a guilty man is set free, on the grounds of self-defence. Husband and wife lived together unhappily ever after, raising Derek in their wake. Then, in a dramatic twist, following his father’s death, Derek receives an open postcard from his Aunt Phyllis, informing him that his real father is the Italian Ambassador to London . . . By turns laconic and affectionate, Derek Malcolm has written a richly evocative memoir of a family sinking into hopeless disrepair. Derek Malcolm was chief film critic of the Guardian for thirty years and still writes for the paper. Educated at Eton and Merton College, Oxford, he became first a steeplechase rider and then an actor after leaving university. He worked as a journalist in the sixties, first in Cheltenham and then with the Guardian where he was a features sub-editor and writer, racing correspondent and finally film critic. He directed the London Film Festival for a spell in the 80s and is now President of both the International Film Critics Association and the British Federation of Film Societies. He lives with his wife Sarah Gristwood in London and Kent and has published two books – one on Robert Mitchum and another on his favourite 100 films. He is a frequent broadcaster on radio and television and a veteran of film festival juries all over the world.

The Murder of Kelsey Berreth: A Shocking True Crime Story


Rod Kackley - 2020
    The FBI is afraid they’ll have to do a deal with the devil to find her.Kelsey, a pilot so good she taught the military how to fly, goes shopping at a Safeway store, and simply disappears.Her fiance, Patrick Frazee, says he doesn't have a clue. In fact, he says they broke up just a few days before. He's as mystified as everyone else.But Kelsey's mother, Cheryl, is afraid she knows what happened to her daughter.A task force of FBI and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents believe they also know what happened to Kelsey. They have cell phone records and more, including surveillance video and DNA. But they have run into a roadblock.The agents have to get someone close to the killer to flip and turn state's evidence.Are they going to have to do a deal with the devil to find justice for Kelsey Berreth?The Murder of Kelsey Berreth: A Shocking True Crime Story.This is a riveting story of a young woman's disappearance, her family's will to find out what happened, and a 21st-century police investigation that nearly cracks the case wide open.Nearly.Will the FBI do a deal with the devil to solve this crime?

Happily (N)ever After: Essays That Will Heal Your Broken Heart


Thought Catalog - 2016
    When your heart breaks, there's nothing more comforting than realizing that you aren't alone—that others can relate to the gut-wrenching pain of saying good-bye to a relationship that once felt so right. Each of us is bound to enter into a relationship or two that doesn't work out, but that doesn't make those months or years spent caring for an ex a total failure. Every heartbreak is a chance to learn, grow, and heal.

When We Are Called to Part: Hope and Heartbreak in the Vanishing World of the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement


Brooke Jarvis - 2013
    Once it had been a forbidding place of exile, inhabited by thousands of the disease’s victims who had been removed from their families and confined against their will, far away from a society that feared and misunderstood their condition. When Brooke Jarvis came across a posting for a job in Kalaupapa, tending to the needs of the handful of remaining patients, it seemed like an impossibly exotic opportunity for a college student. But what she found there was both more remarkable and more familiar than what she had imagined. When We Are Called to Part is the absorbing, affecting, and often funny story of life in the last years of a rapidly vanishing community. “Even a prison,” she would learn, “eventually becomes a home, becomes something you mourn.”

Bulletproof Putting in Five Easy Lessons: The Streamlined System for Weekend Golfers (Golf Instruction for Beginner and Intermediate Golfers Book 2)


Michael McTeigue - 2014
    The secret to lower scoring is to sink more putts of eight feet or less while consistently lagging long putts close to the hole to avoid three putting. The Bulletproof Putting System teaches you to do exactly that, in five easy lessons. Written for the recreational golfer who has limited practice time and no desire to become a slave to the game, Bulletproof Putting in Five Easy Lessons will help you •Read greens more accurately and visualize the correct roll paths for your putts•Make a dependable putting stroke that hits the ball where you aim•Ingrain your bulletproof pre-shot and in-shot routines to increase confidence•Master the four types of putts: slam dunk, drillable, drainable, and lag•Utilize precious practice and warm up time to your best advantage. Bulletproof Putting in Five Easy Lessons is written in an approachable style by Michael McTeigue, former Northern California PGA Teacher of the Year and author of the popular full-swing instruction classic, The Keys to the Effortless Golf Swing. Michael conducted thousands of golf lessons as a PGA professional at Bel Air Country Club, Riveria Country Club, and Palos Verdes Golf Club in California. His beautifully illustrated new book will improve your putting and enrich your enjoyment of the game. Bulletproof Putting in Five Easy Lessons is certain to become a treasured favorite in your golfing library.

Mastering Minimalism: Eight Steps To A Life Of Less Stuff And More Freedom


Emily Josephine - 2017
    This book will help make the journey of learning how to be a minimalist much less difficult – even enjoyable – for you. Wannabe minimalists often have not only hundreds, if not thousands, of material goods to declutter, but also a plethora of mainstream mindsets that make navigating their way toward voluntary simplicity a rough and rocky path. I wrote this book to ease that navigation process for newbies. I also wrote it to help intermediate Minimalists who want to dive deeper into the journey, to overcome the obstacles that are holding them back. The steps and tips are those that my husband and I used to begin the journey toward Minimalism, and the ones we continue to use to remain on the path. The book begins by briefly addressing what Minimalism truly is (as opposed to what religious minimalist gurus have made many people think it is). It continues by explaining the benefits of becoming a minimalist. The rest of the book, the bulk of it, describes the steps you need to take in order to master Minimalism; that is, to overcome the insidious materialistic mindset of the modern age and to integrate the philosophy into your soul so completely that it becomes as easy as breathing. The first step toward simple living is one you likely won’t hear about in any other book on the subject. Then, you will be asked to consider two major paradigm shifts that will completely change the way you look at material goods. The remaining steps are more practical and hands-on, enabling you to take instant action on your desire to join the minimalist movement. If you are looking at becoming a minimalist, or you have already begun moving toward it but need some encouragement to “fight the good fight,” read this book. It will help.

The Disappearance of the USS Scorpion: The History of the Mysterious Sinking of the American Nuclear Submarine


Charles River Editors - 2016
    Nothing in those investigations caused the Navy to change its conclusion that an unexplained catastrophic event occurred.” – Excerpt from a Navy report It takes a special type of person to serve in a nation’s navy, especially on long voyages that separate men and women from their loved ones, and no service is both loved and hated as that aboard submarines, for very few people ever serve on them on a whim. For one thing, the psychological impact of being trapped for long periods underwater in tight, cramped quarters is more than many people can stand. Also, submarine service is uncharacteristically hazardous; after all, if a surface vessel is sunk, the crew has a reasonable chance of escaping death in lifeboats or being rescued out of the water by another ship. Conversely, if a submarine is badly damaged while submerged, the crew’s chances of survival are at best remote. On the other hand, for those who choose to make the careers as submariners, there is no more beloved service. That is, one hopes, how it was for the 99 men who were serving on the USS Scorpion on May 22, 1968, the fateful day the submarine is believed to have sank. It appears that the crew members died quickly, but however it happened, the grief experienced by their family members dragged on for decades, exacerbated both by the Navy’s lack of information about the submarine’s final moments and the government’s unwillingness to share what little knowledge it had. It is easy in hindsight to criticize the military for its secrecy, but it must be remembered that the Scorpion disappeared at the height of the Cold War, and therefore, little could be said publicly about its fate. Coincidentally, 3 other nuclear submarines suffered mysterious sinkings the same year, and the Cold War adversaries were interested in locating them and gleaning any secrets or technology that they could from the other side’s bad luck. Indeed, it was only after the fall of the Soviet Union that the truth could be told, bringing closure to family members and a dark lesson in espionage to the American people. The Disappearance of the USS Scorpion: The History of the Mysterious Sinking of the American Nuclear Submarine looks at one of the Navy’s enduring mysteries. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the USS Scorpion like never before.

Jamestown


Marshall William Fishwick - 2017
    They would establish a British colony, find gold, and discover a water route to Asia. But what awaited them was far different - fire, hunger, sickness, death, even cannibalism. Here, from the noted historian Marshall W. Fishwick, is the dramatic story of Jamestown and the struggle of its leader, Captain John Smith, who, with the help of Pocahontas, daughter of the Algonquian chief Powhatan, succeeded against all odds.

Ferdinand and Isabella


Malveena McKendrick - 2015
    But the historic landfall of October 1492 was only a secondary event of the year. The preceding January, they had accepted the surrender of Muslim Granada, ending centuries of Islamic rule in their peninsula. And later that year, they had ordered the expulsion or forced baptism of Spain's Jewish minority, a cruel crusade undertaken in an excess of zeal for their Catholic faith. Europe, in the century of Ferdinand and Isabella, was also awakening to the glories of a new age, the Renaissance, and the Spain of the "Catholic Kings" - as Ferdinand and Isabella came to be known - was not untouched by this brilliant revival of learning. Here, from the noted historian Malveena McKendrick, is their remarkable story.

How to Write Great Characters: The Key to Your Hero's Growth and Transformation


David Wisehart - 2015
     You will learn the ancient secrets of human psychology: the nine fundamental fears that motivate human behavior the nine core character types the nine stages of character change and so much more Complete beginners and seasoned veterans will benefit greatly from this material. You don’t even have to be a writer. The only requirement is that you come open-minded and ready to learn. About story. About character. And about yourself. Scroll up and get your copy now. What readers are saying… "Highly recommended to the writer wanting an effective tool to help develop believable characters." ~ Amazon Andy "Full of useful ideas." ~ Untamed Pen "Great book—must have for creating characters and developing plot around them!" ~ Susan Mi "Great jumping off point for characters and arcs." ~ Gail Clifford "I heartily recommend this book as a great tool for all writers." ~ Harry Rankin "A wonderful book." ~ Candace Segar "Gave me that AHA! moment of epiphany. I would recommend this book." ~ Dcortez "A great piece for new and veteran writers suffering from character block." ~ Cullen "They don't get better than this. It will fix your story and possibly your life." ~Amazon Customer Scroll up and grab your copy today. Scroll up and get your copy now.

Social Skills: Top 10 Mistakes That Destroy Your Charisma… and How to Avoid Them


Stuart Killan - 2018
    The people walking past her stopped in their tracks and recognized that a star was in their midst.In an instant, fans engulfed Marilyn and it took some time for the photographer to protect her from the crowd.Marilyn knew that charisma is something you can turn on and off.And even if you’re making all the mistakes inside, the short simple guide will show you how to fix them. The #1 charisma myth everyone believes, and why it’s false Introverts can’t be charismatic – think again The real truth about charisma At a party someone - here’s what not to do when introducing them Charisma secrets from a 300 year old novel The Dale Carnegie method (taught to millions) to be instantly memorable 5 conversation tips you can use to talk to anyone So if you want to be someone with a “magnetic presence”Where people are actually excited to talk to you… Scroll up and hit “buy now with 1 click” to receive your book instantly

The LawDog Files: African Adventures


D. LawDog - 2017
    But long before he put on the deputy's star, he grew up in Nigeria, where his experiences were equally unforgettable. In THE LAWDOG FILES: AFRICAN ADVENTURES, LawDog chronicles his encounters with everything from bush pilots, 15-foot pythons, pygmy mongooses, brigadier-captains, and Peace Corp hippies to the Nigerian space program. THE LAWDOG FILES: AFRICAN ADVENTURES are every bit as hilarious as the previous volume, as LawDog relates his unforgettable experiences in a laconic, self-deprecating manner that is funny in its own right. Africa wins again, and again, and again, but, so too does the reader in this sobering, but hilarious collection of true tales from the Dark Continent.

Creepy Tales of Unexplained Disappearances & Mysterious Deaths


Steph Young - 2017
    Everyone loves a mystery….right? In this book, we travel down some winding and twisting paths as the stories become stranger and ever more mysterious as we look into the most mysterious, baffling and cryptic of cases. We meet a range of the most intriguing characters, a whole host of the strangest of circumstances, and the most interesting clues that have been found along the way. Creepy Tales of Mysteries of the Unexplained; Mysterious Vanishings and Unexplained Disappearances, Missing People, and Unexplained deaths…….. Perhaps you can solve some of these cases…… Many have tried…….But can you find the answers? True Tales of the most baffling & cryptic Unexplained Vanishings & Mysterious Deaths & the cryptic clues left behind. Unexplained Vanishings & Mysterious Deaths; there are Creepy Mysteries of the Unexplained....by bestselling author Steph Young. Join me on my Podcast, "Creepy Mysteries of the Unexplained," The Masquerade Podcast with Steph Young, for more strange and unexplained cryptic cases, missing people, and unexplained mysteries.

Duck Dynasty: Family Faith and Family Fun


Kevin Michael Byrne - 2013
    (Hence the “Dynasty” part of the show.)But even though they may have large homes, the Robertson brothers love hunting and fishing and proudly proclaim themselves “rednecks.”Phil was a star quarterback at Louisiana Tech but turned down the offer to play in NFL because he didn’t want to miss the duck season where he began his business and spent 25 years making duck calls from Louisiana cedar trees.The now multi-million dollar enterprise is managed by Phil’s third son Willie who is CEO of the company, while his brother Jase is the COO.Despite their wealth, they still wear camouflage prints, they hunt - shooting anything that flies or walks, they’re religious, and they’re full of subtle humor.The Robertsons are a traditional family who believe in guns and God.In the following pages you’ll get to know the family members in the Robertson family and learn why the show Duck Dynasty is watched by millions.As Willie Robertson said when asked by he believes the show is so popular – “We try to stick to our roots.We grew up not rich at all.We try to stay humble. We’ve been successful and God has blessed us. We always have a family prayer at the end of the show.”