An architect turned crooked real estate developer, Abbie claims to be chasing after an unexpected heavenly vision—one that inevitably embroils the Mayer family within the political and familial machinations of Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

    But when she meets a man eight years her junior her life changes dramatically. Will Shakespeare is no ordinary Stratford lad. His head is full of poetry, and big dreams of success on the London stage. But after a whirlwind romance, Anne falls pregnant and Will finds himself tied down to a life he doesn't want. Desperate to fulfil his dreams he eventually saves enough to move to London. Pining for her love and bored of her provincial life, Anne follows him to the bustling city. But the city of vice soon threatens the life they have built together. And Anne finds herself caught up in a drama as intense as any that Will is penning for the theatre.

    Savage, true and deeply relatable - finally, a book that resists the sanitised, acceptable face of parenting. You might not feel better, but at least you'll feel less alone.

    In The Mother’s Promise, she delivers her most powerful novel yet: the story of a single mother who is dying, the troubled teenaged daughter who is battling her own demons, and the two women who come into their lives at the most critical moment. Alice and her daughter Zoe have been a family of two all their lives. Zoe has always struggled with crippling social anxiety and her mother has been her constant and fierce protector. With no family to speak of, and the identity of Zoe’s father shrouded in mystery, their team of two works—until it doesn’t. Until Alice gets sick and is given a grim prognosis. Desperate to find stability for Zoe, Alice reaches out to two women who are practically strangers, but who are her only hope: Kate, her oncology nurse, and Sonja, a social worker. As the four of them come together, a chain of events is set into motion and all four of them must confront their sharpest fears and secrets—secrets about abandonment, abuse, estrangement, and the deepest longing for family. Imbued with heart and humor in even the darkest moments, The Mother’s Promise is an unforgettable novel about the power of love and forgiveness.

    Darwin, 1942, and as Japanese bombs rain down, motherless Molly Hook, the gravedigger's daughter, turns once again to the sky for guidance. She carries a stone heart inside a duffel bag next to the map that leads to Longcoat Bob, the deep-country sorcerer who put a curse on her family. By her side are the most unlikely travelling companions: Greta, a razor-tongued actress and Yukio, a fallen Japanese fighter pilot. Run, Molly, run, says the daytime sky. Run to the vine forests. Run to northern Australia's wild and magical monsoon lands. Run to friendship. Run to love. Run. Because the graverobber's coming, Molly, and the night-time sky is coming with him. So run, Molly, run.All Our Shimmering Skies is a story about gifts that fall from the sky, curses we dig from the earth and the secrets we bury inside ourselves. It is an odyssey of true love and grave danger, of darkness and light, of bones and blue skies; a buoyant, beautiful and magical novel abrim with warmth, wit and wonder; and a love letter to Australia and the art of looking up.

    At 18 years of age, and after 11 months at sea, he became the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop, and unassisted around the world. This is the story of why Jesse set himself such an astonishing task and how he managed to make his dream come true. A story of courage, loneliness, and danger, it also is an incredible, gripping, true-life adventure.Jesse Martin was destined for adventure. Born in Munich in 1981 while his parents were traveling through Europe in a kombi van, he spent his early years in the beautiful Daintree Rainforest of North Queensland, Australia. By the time he was 14 he had sailed along Australia s tropical coast on a flimsy catamaran and had trekked through southeast Asia. At 16 he kayaked through remote islands of Papua New Guinea and then crewed on a yacht that sailed from Belize to Tahiti. He is an ambassador to a number of youth outreach organizations, including Reach Youth and the Young Endeavor Program.

    He just never had the money. Until he realised he could do it on the world’s most expensive luxury cruise.Mischievous and entertaining, this is the first book to be written about a new phenomenon – the strange and unreported world of small luxury cruise ships, so exclusive that if you need to ask how much they cost, you probably can't afford them. So don’t act like the Cruise Queen Bee who, when she received her invitation to the Captain’s table, wrote back giving her apologies and explaining, ‘I cannot accept your invitation as, on principle, I never eat with the staff.’ Buy the book and take your place as Hugh serves up tales that are clear-sighted about the rich and observant of the new world opening up on our horizons, powered by a supercharged 32,000 ton luxury liner, a microcosm of 21st-century life, with its superb engineering that almost, but not quite, overcomes all the indignities the natural world can throw at it.Hugh’s previous books have been acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic – ‘Everywhere Thomson goes, he finds good stories to tell’ New York Times Book Review – and this new book will delight his many fans.

    Corruption... Movie-making. Judy Nunn weaves an intricate web of characters and locations in this spellbinding saga of the Ross family and its inescapable legacy of greed and power.

    There are no second chances. An ancient machine that produced icefire was destroyed twenty years ago, but the deadly magic is again on the increase. No one understands why or where it’s coming from. King Isandor sends his Eagle Knights to investigate a concentration of icefire in the mountains at the border. It appears that the neighbouring country Arania wants revenge for a defeat in a war forty years ago, and is using icefire as weapon. The evil power source must be eradicated. Lana is a student about to make a vitally important discovery about icefire, but the people in power, including her own father, are too busy talking about war to listen to her.

    This stirring speech has been broadcast nationally on radio and television and published in Quarterly Essay 44. At a moment when the ferment of Tahrir Square has spread around the world to unsettle the status quo, Flanagan’s provocative ideas resonate with a new mood and a new questioning. Above all, Flanagan says, we need to take our compass more from ourselves and less from the powerful if we are to find hope. "We need to look the disease of Australia in the eye, the disease of conformity that is ill preparing us for the future. Does Australia still have the courage and largeness it once had when it pioneered the secret ballot and universal suffrage? Or will it simply become the United Arab Emirates of the West, content to roll on for a decade or two more glossing over its fundamental problems while brown coal and fracked gas keep the country afloat?" – Richard Flanagan

    In this country, he's more important than Ned Kelly.' Jack ThompsonIt's been almost fifty years since a teenage David Gulpilil illuminated screens worldwide with his breakout role in Walkabout. It was one of the first times we'd seen an Aboriginal person cast in a significant role and only four years after Holt's referendum to alter the constitution and give Indigenous people citizenship and, subsequently, the right to vote.Gulpilil quickly became the face of the Indigenous world to white Australian audiences. Charisma. Good looks. A competent, strong, mysterious man starring in films ranging from Crocodile Dundee to Rabbit-Proof Fence.But what has marked Gulpilil, despite his fame and popularity, is the feeling that he's been forever stuck between two worlds: a Yolngu man, a hunter, a tracker, who grew up in the bush in Arnhem Land outside any white influence; and a movie star flitting from movie sets to festivals.Able to exist in both worlds, but never truly home.From the author of the bestselling Wednesdays with Bob , Derek Rielly builds a narrative around his attempt to encapsulate the most beguiling and unconventional of Australian entertainers, observing Gulpilil's own attempt to find a place in the world. With interviews from notable icons and friends - such as Jack Thompson, Paul Hogan, Phillip Noyce, Craig Ruddy, George Gittoes, Gary Sweet and Damon Gameau - this book unriddles a famous enigma at last.'He has an extraordinary presence, what ever that word means. It's very real. Some people have it and some people don't. And David has it - he knows how to feed the camera.' Jack Thompson

    This work is a case study on how the B-58 supersonic bomber came to a premature death in the U.S. military, largely because of infighting among military and civilian leaders, who failed to understand the value of this fantastic airplane. It was a technological marvel for its time and the very best pilots and navigators were chosen to fly this unique aircraft. At its maximum speed of 2.2 Mach (1,452 mph) it was 2½ times faster than the muzzle velocity of a .45 caliber bullet. It could fly faster and out turn must fighters of its day and was also capable of flying close to tree top level just below the speed of sound. It was nearly undetectable by enemy radars due to its speed and low radar cross section and was better at flying through heavy turbulence due to its solid delta wing design. It had a highly accurate navigation and bombing system. It had a capsule ejection system for the safety of the aircrew and was capable of getting airborne in only half the time required by other bombers. Told for the first time, this is the inside story that dispels the unproven myths surrounding the demise of the B-58 and why this magnificent airplane should have been saved. Its loss from the nuclear armory was a severe blow to our “Cold War” deterrence strength. The B-58 was a bomber that set the standard for fear in the heart of an enemy. Its loss was a strategic mistake. The author provides lessons learned and recommendations for military and civilian leaders, going forward, to hopefully prevent future blunders—like what happened to the B-58.

    He's used to waking up with hangovers that leave most people curled around a toilet. But that all changes after one drunken night of revelry. Instead of a bathroom floor, he wakes up to find he's been dead for 500 years. And if that ain’t enough, the earth he knew is long gone. Zombies, cataclysmically evil robots, and techno-demons seem to be the least of his problems, as they all pale compared to his crazy immortal ex-wife! Disclaimer: Book has graphic violence, adult language and situations. Recommend reading is 18+ A TRUE ADVENTURER by Munch from Royal Road Rory Quinn literally crashes into a post apocalyptic world, divided between local fiefdoms full of terrible, strange, and also just ordinary people. Where most litrpg-esque characters are brainy nerdy types, Rory fits well into the archetype of the accomplished jock. Full of valuable experience in fucking women, beating up scum, and power dynamics. And of course, playing baseball. Watch him as he murderhobos his way across the former southern united states, violently not giving a shit about the lives of slavers, psychos, and loud mothed amoral narcissists and their followers. Walking into legend with a louisville slugger on his shoulder and a big dick swinging between his legs. ACTION, ADVENTURE WITH COMEDIC RELIEF by Wise_Fool from Royal Road TL:DR Why the hell didnt i read this sooner?! Honestly, I cant be bothered to spend the time on a more in-depth review, cause i wanna get back to reading this. Here's the bottom line up front: good action. dark, casual humor. enjoyable. It's written well. The first chapter was a semi-well-used plotline, but it was written well, preventing me from being bored. It was an odd feeling tbh, wanting to get to the story, but enjoying the filler and background. If you dont have a bit of a wild side to you, then you may not enjoy this as much as others, but with all things ymmv. I personally find this to be great.

    Now, too hurt to return to his former position and not wounded enough to be benched, he’s assigned as the new Coast Guard team leader in…Panama. They’re there as part of a drug interdiction unit, but really, they’re Team RECON. Recon as in reconstructed. Each of the four men is like him; a Humpty Dumpty. Except they were trying to put themselves back together so they could do what they loved best, kicking ass, and taking names.Dr. Carolina Alvarez had moved on from research and was working for Doctors Without Borders. A chance meeting with her old boss set her on a dangerous mission to deliver much-needed medicine to South America. Her failure would mean the sure extinction of a tribe clinging to their ancient traditions.Nick should have realized from the instant Carolina walked back into his life things would not go according to plan. But harbored resentment still clouded his vision. Now they were on the trail of the missing vaccine, and the assignment just turned deadly.

    She had no intention of sticking around any longer than absolutely necessary and certainly no intention of rekindling her relationship with the man who had shattered her tender, eighteen year old heart. If only he didn’t still make her body sizzle with desire… The moment Scott Armstrong set eyes on Jenny Hynes again, he was determined to win her back. But a decade is a long time and she was no longer the shy, impressionable girl who had won his heart. The new Jenny was confident, worldly and very, very guarded. It would take all his patience, persistence and a healthy dose of chemistry to convince her they were meant to be together.