The Bequest


B.E. Baker - 2021
    After their husbands both pass away within a year of one another, they have no reason to interact. Their connection drops to an awkward phone call on birthdays and an exchange of holiday cards.Until an eccentric uncle of their husbands' leaves a massive cattle ranch to the women's minor children. . . if they work the ranch themselves. A ranch that's located near a small town on the Wasatch front that isn’t too keen on outsiders.They're both going to turn the bequest down, clearly. It’s not like either of them could properly raise their kids or find love again in a backwater province like Birch Creek. But when things at home change dramatically—for both moms—they decide to give it a try. . . just for the summer.What could possibly go wrong in a mere three months? (Or more importantly... what might go right?)Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Pamela Kelley said, "B. E. Baker takes you right to the heart of the small town that two widowed sisters-in-law land in very unexpectedly. Can they survive the year they need to spend there to keep it? I really enjoyed reading Bridget's romantic women's fiction debut."

Maalika: My Life among the Afar Nomads in Africa


Valerie Browning - 2008
    She had little conception of Africa or Africans, and yet the continent and its people would become the guiding force of her life.Galvanised by the suffering she witnessed in Ethiopia, on her return to Australia she became a human rights and aid activist for the people of the Horn of Africa. Valerie's work led her back to Africa again and again, involving her – at considerable risk to herself – in the armed liberation conflicts of the region. Even as she discovered brutality and corruption at the heart of these political movements, she also found love, marrying Ismael Ali Gardo, whose people, the Afar, roamed Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Sudan as nomadic herdsmen. Ismael's life mission was to help the Afar – desperately poor, uneducated, landless, and the victims of oppression in every country they once roved freely. Soon it became Valerie's too, as she embraced their culture and threw herself into their cause. In one of the most inhospitable landscapes on earth, Valerie and Ismael have waged an incredible struggle, bringing health and education to a people who would otherwise have nothing. Valerie's story is both an astonishing adventure and a testament to how determination and passion can achieve extraordinary things.

Edge Of Winter: Love and Heart Break


Theresa Hodge - 2017
    White snowflakes are falling gently as sweet music drifts through the cold wintry air. Lakeisha and Baylor are having the most perfect wedding of the year. Friends and family are full of cheer, but behind all the good cheer some fireworks must fall. Jesse Winters watches the woman he loves marry another man. While everyone else oohs and ahhs at the lovely couple, Jesse broods inside as he watches his happiness slip away before his very eyes. Will Jesse stay on the outside looking in at the woman he loves be blissfully happy with another man or will his wish for Christmas be answered in an unexpected way? Come along on this Christmas romance, where love can be found in the most unexpected places.

The Wealth of Nations


Adam Smith - 2010
    First published in 1776, Adam Smith's groundbreaking theories provide a recipe for national prosperity that has not been bettered since. It assumes no prior knowledge of its subject, and over 200 years on, still provides valuable lessons on the fundamentals of economics.This keepsake edition is a selected abridgement of all five books, and includes an Introduction by Tom Butler-Bowdon, drawing out lessons for the contemporary reader, a Foreword from Eamonn Butler, Director of the Adam Smith Institute, and a Preface from Dr. Razeen Sally of the London School of Economics.

Eloge de la Créolité / In Praise of Creoleness


Jean Bernabé - 1993
    Cela sera pour nous une attitude intérieure, mieux : une vigilance, ou mieux encore, une sorte d'enveloppe mentale au mitan de laquelle se bâtira notre monde en pleine conscience du monde.» Publié en 1989, cet éloge de l'identité créole, cette quête lyrique «d'une pensée plus fertile, d'une expression plus juste, d'une esthétique plus vraie», fonde un art poétique qui devait très vite, dans une illustration magnifique, donner des œuvres importantes : Raphaël Confiant a reçu le prix Novembre pour Eau de Café (1991), Patrick Chamoiseau le prix Goncourt pour Texaco (1992). "Neither Europeans, nor Africans, nor Asians, we proclaim ourselves to be Creoles. For us this will be a state of mind, or, rather, a state of vigilance, or, better still, a sort of mental envelope within which we will build our world, in full awareness of the world." Published in 1989, this hymn to the Creole identity, this lyrical quest "for a more fertile way of thinking, for a more accurate means of expression, and for a more genuine aesthetics", laid the foundations of a poetic art that was very quickly, and brilliantly, to produce major works : Raphaël Confiant was awarded the prix Novembre for Eau de Café (1991), and Patrick Chamoiseau received the prix Goncourt for Tewaco (1992).

Soul Deep


J.J. Cobban - 2015
    I was prepared for all of that. Hell, I was looking forward to the distraction! Anything was better than returning to my pitiful life just outside of Oregon. What nobody bothered to tell me though was just how damn tempting some of the scenery could be! Jace Benson should have come with a warning label. A big, red sticker that warned me not to get too close. The dirty-talking, smart mouthed rocker is all kinds of trouble that I don’t need in my life. Trouble that could chew me up and spit me out without a second’s hesitation. Now I’m faced with two problems. Problem one – Jace isn’t used to hearing the word no and the more I say it, the more determined the bassist becomes. Problem two – The more determined he becomes in his attempts to get me, the less determined I am to say no! Now we've been thrown together in the city of Sin and I'm about to learn that what happens in Vegas, doesn't always stay in Vegas. It's going to change our lives forever and I'm not sure it's going to be for the better. Is this just a lust fuelled whirlwind romance or could it be something more meaningful? And if it is the latter, do I have the guts to hold on to it?

Heart Over Height


Nate Robinson - 2014
    From outperforming LeBron James on one of the NBA's biggest stages, to mapping out his iconic slam dunk contest win over Dwight Howard, to being named Washington's high school football and basketball Player of the Year, Heart Over Height brings to life a story that personifies perseverance.Beginning with his improbable selection as the New York Knicks' first-round draft pick after only playing basketball full time for two years, and continuing on to his unprecedented three NBA Slam Dunk Championships, Robinson has defied the odds every step of his career; a careerthat many analysts and pundits felt would never happen because in a sport filled with seven-footers, Robinson stands only 5'9" tall.Having just completed his 9th electrifying year in the NBA, Robinson has proven all doubters wrong. Heart Over Height tells the story of the people, places, teams and fans that helped make his rise to stardom possible.

The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur


Daoud Hari - 2008
    It is my intention now to take you there in this book, if you have the courage to come with me.The young life of Daoud Hari–his friends call him David–has been one of bravery and mesmerizing adventure. He is a living witness to the brutal genocide under way in Darfur.The Translator is a suspenseful, harrowing, and deeply moving memoir of how one person has made a difference in the world–an on-the-ground account of one of the biggest stories of our time. Using his high school knowledge of languages as his weapon–while others around him were taking up arms–Daoud Hari has helped inform the world about Darfur.Hari, a Zaghawa tribesman, grew up in a village in the Darfur region of Sudan. As a child he saw colorful weddings, raced his camels across the desert, and played games in the moonlight after his work was done. In 2003, this traditional life was shattered when helicopter gunships appeared over Darfur’s villages, followed by Sudanese-government-backed militia groups attacking on horseback, raping and murdering citizens and burning villages. Ancient hatreds and greed for natural resources had collided, and the conflagration spread.Though Hari’s village was attacked and destroyedhis family decimated and dispersed, he himself escaped. Roaming the battlefield deserts on camels, he and a group of his friends helped survivors find food, water, and the way to safety. When international aid groups and reporters arrived, Hari offered his services as a translator and guide. In doing so, he risked his life again and again, for the government of Sudan had outlawed journalists in the region, and death was the punishment for those who aided the “foreign spies.” And then, inevitably, his luck ran out and he was captured. . . . The Translator tells the remarkable story of a man who came face-to-face with genocide– time and again risking his own life to fight injustice and save his people.From the Hardcover edition.

Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics


Tim Marshall - 2015
    Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas, and concrete. To understand world events, news organizations and other authorities often focus on people, ideas, and political movements, but without geography, we never have the full picture. Now, in the relevant and timely Prisoners of Geography, seasoned journalist Tim Marshall examines Russia, China, the USA, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Japan and Korea, and Greenland and the Arctic—their weather, seas, mountains, rivers, deserts, and borders—to provide a context often missing from our political reportage: how the physical characteristics of these countries affect their strengths and vulnerabilities and the decisions made by their leaders.In ten, up-to-date maps of each region, Marshall explains in clear and engaging prose the complex geo-political strategies of these key parts of the globe. What does it mean that Russia must have a navy, but also has frozen ports six months a year? How does this affect Putin’s treatment of Ukraine? How is China’s future constrained by its geography? Why will Europe never be united? Why will America never be invaded? Shining a light on the unavoidable physical realities that shape all of our aspirations and endeavors, Prisoners of Geography is the critical guide to one of the major (and most often overlooked) determining factors in world history.