Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road


Willie Nelson - 2012
    Willie riffs on everything: music, wives, Texas, politics, horses, religion, marijuana, children, the environment, poker, hogs, Nashville, karma, and more. He shares the outlaw wisdom he has acquired over eight decades, along with favorite jokes and insights from friends and others close to him. Rare family pictures, beautiful artwork created by his son Micah Nelson, and lyrics to classic songs punctuate these charming and poignant memories. Willie Nelson has touched millions, and none more deeply than his family, friends, and bandmates, several of whom share, for the first time, intimate stories about the Red Headed Stranger.From teaching a granddaughter to play the guitar to touring with the Highwaymen, from picking cotton while growing up in Texas to being home with the tribe on Maui, Willie takes you on the tour bus and, through candid observations and vivid recollections, gives you a front-row seat to his remarkable world. But beware: "You know you shouldn't be reading this BS, it could ruin you for all time to come," he says. "You could end up a social outcast like me, an outlaw!"At once a road journal written in his inimitable, homespun voice and a fitting tribute to America's greatest traveling bard, Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die—introduced by Kinky Friedman, another favorite son of Texas—is a deeply personal look into the heart and soul of a unique man and one of the greatest artists of our time, a songwriter and performer whose legacy will endure for generations to come.

Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story


Chuck Klosterman - 2005
    He drove a rental car from New York to Rhode Island to Georgia to Mississippi to Iowa to Minneapolis to Fargo to Seattle, and he chased death and rock ‘n’ roll all the way. Within the span of twenty-one days, Chuck had three relationships end—one by choice, one by chance, and one by exhaustion. He snorted cocaine in a graveyard. He walked a half-mile through a bean field. A man in Dickinson, North Dakota, explained to him why we have fewer windmills than we used to. He listened to the KISS solo albums and the Rod Stewart box set. At one point, poisonous snakes became involved. The road is hard. From the Chelsea Hotel to the swampland where Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane went down to the site where Kurt Cobain blew his head off, Chuck explored every brand of rock star demise. He wanted to know why the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing...and what this means for the rest of us.

On the Way to You


Kandi Steiner - 2017
    I could have said my dog, or my books, or yoga — but I just stared. And then, I got in his car. It was crazy to take a road trip with a stranger, but after years of standing still, he was my one-way ticket to a new life, and I wasn’t going to miss it. We shared the same space, the same car, the same hotel room — and still, we were strangers. One day we’d be laughing, the next, we wouldn’t speak. Emery was surrounded by impenetrable walls, but I wanted in. Discovering his journal changed everything. I read his thoughts, words not meant for anyone’s eyes, and the more I learned about him, the harder I fell. It turned out nothing made Emery Reed happy, and I wanted to change that. I earned his trust by violating his privacy, and as wrong as it was, it worked — until one entry revealed a darkness I never knew existed, a timer I never knew was ticking. Suddenly, what made me happy was saving Emery from himself. I just didn’t know if I could.

Driving Sideways


Jess Riley - 2008
    Seriously. Having spent the past five years on dialysis, she has one simple wish: to make it to her thirtieth birthday. Now, thanks to the generosity of the late Larry Resnick and his transplanted kidney, it looks like her wish may come true.With her newfound vitality (and Larry’s kidney) in tow, Leigh hits the road for an excursion that will carry her from Wisconsin to California, with a few stops in between: Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, the Rockies, Las Vegas–and a memorable visit to thank Larry’s family for the second chance.Yet Leigh’s itinerary takes a sudden detour when she picks up a seventeen-year-old hitchhiker, Denise, a runaway with a bunch of stories and a couple of secrets. Add a long-lost mother, a loaded gun, an RV full of swingers, and Hall and Oates’s Greatest Hits to the mix, and Driving Sideways becomes a hilarious and original journey of friendship, hope, and discovery. Praise for Driving Sideways: “Driving Sideways is a gorgeous novel . . . hugely entertaining and very touching. Jess Riley’s voice is irreverent and wonderful, and her writing is genius.”–Marian Keyes, author of Anybody Out There?"A hopeful and hilarious debut ... Jess Riley may well be my new favorite author." –Jen Lancaster, author of Bitter is the New Black“Brilliant . . . Jess Riley proves herself a huge new talent.”–Kristy Kiernan, author of Catching Genius

The Survival List


Courtney Sheinmel - 2019
    Except the clues on the list seem to be pointing her to California, and Talley had never even been there, right?Turns out the list of things Sloane didn’t know about her sister is much longer than she realized.She heads out west in search of Adam, the owner of the mysterious phone number, who claims he’d never met Talley. Even though Adam is clearly hiding something, Sloane can’t deny that she’s drawn to him. Can unraveling the cryptic non-sequiturs Talley left behind – and putting her trust in a stranger – heal the hole her sister’s death has left in Sloane’s life?From author Courtney Sheinmel comes an engaging and heartfelt novel about the bonds of sisterhood, the imprecision of memory, and the incomparable value of finding something to live for.

Bat Boy: Coming of Age with the New York Yankees


Matthew McGough - 2005
    A few months after sending a blind application letter to George Steinbrenner, on Opening Day 1992 Matt found himself walking into the legendary Yankee clubhouse. There, amid the chaos and excitement, he was greeted by none other than his idol Don Mattingly — who promptly played a prank on him.Thus began two years of adventures and misadventures, from being set up on a date by the bullpen to playing blackjack on the team plane to studying for an exam at 3 am in Yankee Stadium. Through these often hilarious experiences, and especially through his friendships with the ballplayers, Matt learned priceless lessons about honor, responsibility, and the importance of believing in oneself. A magical tale of what happens to a young man when his fondest dream comes true, Bat Boy wonderfully evokes that twilight time just before adulthood, ripe with possibility, foolishness, and hard-won knowledge.

My One and Only


Kristan Higgins - 2011
    Bad enough that she runs into her ex-hubby, Nick, at her sister's destination wedding, but now, by a cruel twist of fate, she's being forced to make a cross-country road trip with him. And her almost-fiancé back at home is not likely to be sympathetic.Harper can't help that Nick has come blazing back into her life in all of his frustratingly appealing, gorgeous architect glory. But in Nick's eyes, Harper's always been the one. If they can only get it right this time, forever might be waiting—just around the bend.

The Heart of an Earl


K.J. Jackson - 2020
    Ripped from her family years ago by a pirate captain, Lady Julianna knows a thing or two about surviving. But she’s grasping at the last threads of staying alive after the captain dies and leaves her at the mercy of the pirate crew. She hides his death—as the second the crew of the Red Dragon discovers the captain is dead, survival will be the least of her worries. But the ruse can only work for so long. Just when her hope is nearly lost, their ship is attacked and she spies a way out. A way out in the form of one tall, strong sailor that just may be her salvation—or her biggest mistake. A long lost earl determined to stay adrift. Desmond Phillips gave up any hope of living a normal life years ago when his wife and unborn baby died. Losing himself among the crew of a privateering ship, all in England gave him up for dead—just as he and his shattered heart preferred it. Two lost souls meet. In the midst of a battle at sea, a sprite of a woman drops onto Des, begging for his help. He saves her and inherits the duty to bring her home safely. As the journey to deliver Lady Julianna home to England unfolds, these two lost souls find unlikely kindred spirits in each other, and the cold, broken shards of Des’s heart begin to heal. But the curse of an ancient box haunts their every move—their very lives. If they manage to break the curse of the Box of Draupnir, they may just be rewarded with an undying love. Note: The novels in the Box of Draupnir series by K.J. Jackson are each stand-alone stories and can be read individually in any order. These historical romances are set in the Regency and Victorian eras, and do not shy away from scenes with steamy heat, occasional naughty language, and moments that might possibly make you squirm.

Walt Disney World: Little-Known Facts about Well-Known Places


Laurie Flannery - 2011
    That’s more than twice the number of employees at the Pentagon (23,000), one of the world’s largest office complexes. WDW is, in fact, the largest single-site employer in the United States. Disney’s effort to be “green” includes the production of more than 30 tons of fruit and vegetables per year, which are grown at the Land pavilion at Epcot. Victoria & Albert’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort is the only AAA five-diamond restaurant in Central Florida and has been recognized with an Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator as well. Approximately 1,100 audio-animatronic figures inhabit the Magic Kingdom alone, and about 2,000 populate the four theme parks in total. Typhoon Lagoon’s Crush n’ Gusher is the only water roller coaster in North America that has three unique and separate rides you can experience from one tower. The animals in Animal Kingdom’s Africa are “tucked in” every night in Disney’s Night Houses, each specifically designed by experts to suit the species it hosts.

Third Wish (2-Volume Boxed Set with CD)


Robert Fulghum - 2004
    Now the remaining wish must be used wisely and well--with the help of co-conspirators. The main thread of Third Wish--like Ariadne’s string guiding Theseus into the labyrinth with the Minotaur--begins at a table on a terrace on the Greek Island of Crete, winds its way into the center and back out to the same table, passing through Greece, Japan, France, England, and Seattle. Its main characters are Alice, Max-Pol, Aleko, Wonko, Zenkichi, Polydora, Alice-Alice, and Dog. Woven into the fabric of the novel are cultural history, art, philosophy, archeology, poetry, theater and music. The mode of the novel is contained in the words Slowly, Surprise, and Witness. More than anything else, Third Wish is a long love story--not in the usual sense--but the story of people who love life and will go to great lengths to find a flourishing Way onward.

Farewell Tour of a Terminal Optimist


John Young - 2017
    He's been dying from cancer for years, but he's not dead yet. He's going down fighting. Forming an unlikely friendship with fellow juvenile delinquent Skeates, the pair stage a break out and set off on a crazy tour across Scotland -- dodging the police, joy riding and extreme partying -- to find Connor's dad, an inmate at Shotts prison. But Connor's left two things behind -- the medication he needs to keep him alive, and the girl who makes living bearable. A fresh and bold debut novel full of heart, guts and raw emotion. Farewell Tour of a Terminal Optimist is a brilliantly funny, thrilling exploration of friendship, identity and mortality populated with witty, sharply drawn characters.

He Started It


Samantha Downing - 2020
    And for very good reasons—we'll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and—more importantly—secure their inheritance.But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone.It's even harder when you're all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory—a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won't stop following your car—and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there's a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons.But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.

Are We There Yet?


David Levithan - 2005
    So what better way to repair their broken relationship than to trick them into taking a trip to Italy together? Soon, though, their parents’ perfect solution has become Danny and Elijah’s nightmare as they’re forced to spend countless hours together. But then Elijah meets Julia, and soon the brothers aren’t together nearly as much. And then Julia meets Danny and soon all three of them are in a mixed-up, turned-around, never-what-you-expect world of brothers, Italy, and love.Are We There Yet? isn’t about a place on a map, it’s about a place in the heart. David Levithan has written a magical story of a journey definitely worth taking.

Lord Holt Takes a Bride


Vivienne Lorret - 2020
    She’ll marry for love or not at all. But how does a woman know a man truly loves her? Needing answers, she sets out to discover the marriage habits of London’s aristocrats. Yet when her friends kidnap a lord for research, Winn knows they’ve gone too far. Now she’s facing a wickedly handsome scoundrel who wants revenge.Lord Asher Holt has the perfect plan to free himself of his father’s debts. But when a trio of foolish debutantes abducts him, their scheme ruins everything! Fuming and tied to a chair, Holt overhears that one of them is an heiress. Perhaps he isn’t above a little kidnapping either.Yet, when the heiress runs away from her own wedding and straight into his waiting carriage, Holt finds himself on an adventure he’ll never forget, falling in love with a woman worth more than any treasure. But will Winn ever believe his heart only desires her... and not her fortune?

For the Record


Charlotte Huang - 2015
    until she became one. After losing a TV talent show, she slid back into small-town anonymity. But one phone call changed everything  Now she’s the lead singer of the band Melbourne, performing in sold-out clubs every night and living on a bus with three gorgeous and talented guys. The bummer is that the band barely tolerates her. And when teen heartthrob Lucas Rivers take an interest in her, Chelsea is suddenly famous, bringing Melbourne to the next level—not that they’re happy about that. Her feelings for Beckett, Melbourne’s bassist, are making life even more complicated. Chelsea only has the summer tour to make the band—and their fans—love her. If she doesn’t, she’ll be back in Michigan for senior year, dying a slow death. The paparazzi, the haters, the grueling schedule... Chelsea believed she could handle it. But what if she can’t?