Look Here, Hercules (a short story)


Teri Kanefield - 2014
    Ashley wishes she had a dog!Then one day, a little terrier digs into her backyard--and the adventure begins.A story of love at first sight.From the award-winning author of Rivka's Way and The Girl From The Tar Paper School.Includes a sample chapter of A Pocket Full of Gold.

The Title: The Story of the First Division


Scott Murray - 2017
    They may even have a point. But to build something so successful, so popular, so inescapable, you've got to have mighty strong foundations.Prior to 1992, the old First Division was England's premier prize. Its rich tapestry winds back to 1888 and the formation of the Football League. A grand century-long tradition in danger of being lost in the wake of Premier League year zero.No more! In The Title Scott Murray tells the lively, cherry-picked story of English football through the prism of the First Division. Rich with humour yet underpinned with solid research, this is a glorious meander across our national sport's varied terrain.With as much about Burnley, Wolves, West Brom and Portsmouth as the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, we learn the less well-known stories the sport has to tell, such as the plight of Glossop, the smallest club to ever play top-flight football, and final day drama involving Huddersfield and Cardiff that knocks Michael Thomas into a cocked hat. We bask in the managerial genius of Tom Watson, the bowler-hatted Victorian Mourinho; celebrate the joy of the Busby Babes; discover the shameless showmanship of George Allison; embark on righteous escapades with Hughie Gallacher; and meet some old favourites in Don Revie, Bill Shankly, Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough.At turns exciting, surprising, witty and bittersweet, The Title is a highly informed, fresh and affectionate love-letter to the English game, and a delight for any football fan.

The Breakaway: The Inside Story of the Wirtz Family Business and the Chicago Blackhawks


Bryan Smith - 2018
    As chronic losers playing to a deserted stadium, they were worse than bad—they were irrelevant. ESPN named the franchise the worst in all of sports. Rocky's resurrection of the team's fortunes was—publicly, at least—a feel-good tale of shrewd acumen. Behind the scenes, however, it would trigger a father, son, and brother-against-brother drama of Shakespearean proportions. The Breakaway reveals that untold story. Arthur Wirtz founded the family's business empire during the Depression. From roots in real estate, "King Arthur" soon expanded into liquor and banking, running his operations with an iron hand and a devotion to profit that earned him the nickname Baron of the Bottom Line. His son Bill further expanded the conglomerate, taking the helm of the Blackhawks in 1966. "Dollar Bill" Wirtz demanded unflinching adherence to Arthur's traditions and was notorious for an equally fierce temperament. Yet when Rocky took the reins of the business after Bill's death, it was an organization out of step with the times and financially adrift. The Hawks weren't only failing on the ice—the parlous state of the team's finances imperiled every facet of the Wirtz empire. To save the team and the company, Rocky launched a radical turnaround campaign. Yet his modest proposal to televise the Hawks' home games provoked fierce opposition from Wirtz family insiders, who considered any deviation from Arthur and Bill's doctrines to be heresy. Rocky's break with the edicts of his grandfather and father led to a reversal for the ages—three Stanley Cup championships in six years, a feat Fortune magazine called "the greatest turnaround in sports business history." But this resurrection came at a price, a fracturing of Rocky's relationships with his brother and other siblings. In riveting prose that recounts a story spanning three generations, The Breakaway reveals an insider's view of a brilliant but difficult Chicago business and sports dynasty and the inspiring story of perseverance and courage in the face of intense family pressures.

Accidental Ironman


Martyn Brunt - 2014
    Having spent 10 years scaling the lower echelons of the sport, the time has come for Martyn Brunt, one of Britain's least successful athletes, to reveal all about how he got involved in all this nonsense in the first place.

10 Secrets My Dog Taught Me: Life Lessons from a Man's Best Friend


Carlo DeVito - 2005
    In 10 Secrets My Dog Taught Me, De Vito writes about their experiences growing up together - and the life lessons that invariably result from their adventures. Ultimately, when his beloved friend is gone, De Vito discovers some thruths about love, loss, and lasting friendship."It had been Exley's job to raise me. All that time we had been having fun, going for walks, getting into trouble, being companions and friends in some great adventure. And I had spent so much time teaching him to sit, stay, lie down, roll over. But all along, he had been teaching me. It is the child that makes the man, and in this case it was a dog. All along it had been the dog doing the teaching, not me. How do you like that? And I love him for it to this day and will for the rest of my life."Writing in the heartwarming, bestselling tradition of Pack of Two and My Dog Skip, De Vito captures the spirit of that tie in a way that will resonate with not only dog lovers, but all those who share their heart and home with a pet.

The Rainbow Magic: #1-4 [Collection: Volume 1]


Daisy Meadows - 2007
    Together, they are the Rainbow Fairies! They keep Fairyland dazzling and bright. But when evil Jack Frost sends them far away, the sisters are in big trouble. If they don't return soon, Fairyland is doomed to gray forever!

101 Damnations: Dispatches from the 101st Tour de France


Ned Boulting - 2014
    Or sunflowers. (Though it does wax lyrical about some stunning Alpine scenery . . . and, with the race starting in Yorkshire, even some stunning scenery not far from Bradford).From Leeds to Paris (how often do you say that?), Ned details the minutiae of his encounters with the likes of Vincenzo Nibali, David Millar, Chris Froome, Chris Boardman (or ‘Broadman’ as some would have it), Marcel Kittel, Mrs Cavendish (Mark’s wife), Peter Sagan and the rest. Their endeavours, achievements, humour and occasional rancour, sit alongside his own decade-long quest for the ideal end-of-race T-shirt.Ned weaves together the interesting, amusing and unheralded threads of the race itself, and reflects on his own perennial struggle to get round, get on and get by. 101 Damnations encapsulates all that is incredible – and incredibly ordinary – about the greatest race on earth.

Doc McStuffins: Pet Vet (Disney Storybook (eBook))


Walt Disney Company - 2015
    Donny's new toy dog, Fetchin' Findo, stops doing what he does best: fetching! Can Doc the vet find out what's wrong with the little pup? Join Doc in this pet-tastic storybook as she helps Findo fetch again!

A Good Fuck Spoiled


Laura Lippman - 2008
    The author of the enormously popular series featuring Baltimore P.I. Tess Monaghan as well as three critically lauded stand-alone novels, Lippman now turns her attention to short stories—and reveals another level of mastery.Lippman sets many of the stories in this sterling anthology, Hardly Knew Her, in familiar territory: her beloved Baltimore, from downtown to its affluent suburbs, where successful businessmen go to shocking lengths to protect what they have or ruthlessly expand their holdings, while dissatisfied wives find murderous ways to escape their lives. But Lippman is also unafraid to travel—to New Orleans, to an unnamed southwestern city, and even to Dublin, the backdrop for the lethal clash of two not-so-innocents abroad. Tess Monaghan is here, in two stories and a profile, aligning herself with various underdogs. And in her extraordinary, never-before-published novella, Scratch a Woman, Lippman takes us deep into the private world of a high-priced call girl/madam and devoted soccer mom, exploring the mystery of what may, in fact, be written in the blood.Each of these ingenious tales is a gem—sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, always filled with delightfully unanticipated twists and reversals. For people who have yet to read Lippman, get ready to experience the spellbinding power of "one of today's most pleasing storytellers, hailed for her keen psychological insights and her compelling characterizations," (San Diego Union-Tribune), who has "invigorated the crime fiction arena with smart, innovative, and exciting work" (George Pelecanos). As for longtime devotees of her multiple award-winning novels, you'll discover that you hardly know her.

Three Complete Novels: Dragon's Gold / Serpent's Silver / Chimaera's Copper


Piers Anthony - 1993
    From the best-selling author of fantasy and science fiction and his long-time collaborator, three great tales of fantasy adventure -- a fascinating series following the inhabitants of alternate worlds.

Susannah's Garden / Back on Blossom Street / Twenty Wishes: CD Collection


Debbie Macomber - 2009
    She said goodbye to her boyfriend, Jake—and never saw him again. Now, at fifty, she finds herself regretting the paths not taken. Especially the chance to be with Jake.… In returning to her hometown of Colville, Washington, to her parents’ house, her girlhood friends and the garden she’s always loved, she also returns to the past—and the choices she made back then.Back on Blossom Street:There’s a new shop on Seattle’s Blossom Street—a flower store called Susannah’s Garden, right next door to A Good Yarn. Susannah Nelson, the owner, has just hired a young widow named Colette Blake. A couple of months earlier, Colette had abruptly quit her previous job—after a brief affair with her boss. To her dismay, he’s suddenly begun placing weekly orders for flower arrangements!Twenty Wishes:Anne Marie Roche wants to find happiness again. At thirty-eight, her life’s not what she’d expected—she’s childless, a recent widow, alone. She owns a successful bookstore on Seattle’s Blossom Street, but despite her accomplishments, there’s a feeling of emptiness. On Valentine’s Day, Anne Marie and several other widows get together to celebrate…what? Hope, possibility, the future. They each begin a list of twenty wishes, things they always wanted to do but never did. Anne Marie begins to act on her wishes, and when she volunteers at a local school, an eight-year-old girl named Ellen enters her life.

Loose Head: Confessions of an (un)professional rugby player


Joe Marler - 2020
    From just about surviving the equivalent of 30 car crashes a game and crooning Adele for team spirit, to extensive field notes on the smell of the Scrum and the fine art of on-pitch relief. Then there's rugby's secret naked wrestling scene and how it was exposed.In my world, you never know how the ball will bounce...

A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union


Huw Richards - 2006
    Until now. A Game for Hooligans brings the game's colourful story up to date to include the 2007 World Cup. It covers all of the great matches, teams and players but also explores the social, political and economic changes that have affected the course of rugby's development. It is an international history, covering not only Britain and France but also the great rugby powers of the southern hemisphere and other successful rugby nations, including Argentina, Fiji and Japan. Contained within are the answers to many intriguing questions concerning the game, such as why 1895 is the most important date in both rugby-union and rugby-league history and how New Zealand became so good and have remained so good for so long. There is also a wealth of anecdotes, including allegations of devil-worship at a Welsh rugby club and an account of the game's contribution to the Cuban Revolution. This is a must-read for any fan of the oval ball.

Junie B Jones Collection


Barbara Park - 2000
    Jones, Has a Peep in Her Pocket, And the Mushy Gushy Valentime, And the Stupid Smelly Bus, And Her Big Fat Mouth, Is A Beauty Shop Guy, And the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake

Cloud Prophet Trilogy: Anathema, Oubliette & Severed


Megg Jensen - 2011
    Her best friend disappears in the middle of the night leaving Reychel to face her fifteenth birthday, the day her master burns his brand into the back of her bald head, alone. She's sheltered from the outside world and doesn't have any hope for escape, but when people desperate for freedom ask for her help can Reychel learn to believe in herself?Oubliette (released June 2011):Reychel thought she was finally free. She was wrong.Everyone saw her gift of prophecy as a blessing, but her gift is uncontrollable. No one alive can teach her to manipulate her unique gift and the answers she needs lie buried within a madman’s journals.She’s thrust in the midst of a brewing war and the only uniting factor for her people is their belief in the Prophet. Will Reychel learn to control her gift or will she be forced to deliver a false prophecy that could lead her people into a violent war?Severed (released November 2011):Reychel knows her gift of prophecy will lead to madness and now she is at her most vulnerable. The enemy army will attempt to sever her from everything she's ever known: her homeland, her friends, Mark, and her gift. Even at her weakest, she refuses to give up on her desire to end the war between the Malborn and the Serenians. Reychel would do anything, even come back from the dead, to conquer the enemy and reunite with Mark.