"This woman is a major hero of our time." --Richard Dawkins
Ayaan Hirsi Ali captured the world's attention with "Infidel, "her compelling coming-of-age memoir, which spent thirty-one weeks on the "New York Times "bestseller list. Now, in "Nomad, "Hirsi Ali tells of coming to America to build a new life, an ocean away from the death threats made to her by European Islamists, the strife she witnessed, and the inner conflict she suffered. It is the story of her physical journey to freedom and, more crucially, her emotional journey to freedom--her transition from a tribal mind-set that restricts women's every thought and action to a life as a free and equal citizen in an open society. Through stories of the challenges she has faced, she shows the difficulty of reconciling the contradictions of Islam with Western values.
In these pages Hirsi Ali recounts the many turns her life took after she broke with her family, and how she struggled to throw off restrictive superstitions and misconceptions that initially hobbled her ability to assimilate into Western society. She writes movingly of her reconciliation, on his deathbed, with her devout father, who had disowned her when she renounced Islam after 9/11, as well as with her mother and cousins in Somalia and in Europe.
"Nomad "is a portrait of a family torn apart by the clash of civilizations. But it is also a touching, uplifting, and often funny account of one woman's discovery of today's America. While Hirsi Ali loves much of what she encounters, she fears we are repeating the European mistake of underestimating radical Islam. She calls on key institutions of the West--including universities, the feminist movement, and the Christian churches--to enact specific, innovative remedies that would help other Muslim immigrants to overcome the challenges she has experienced and to resist the fatal allure of fundamentalism and terrorism.
This is Hirsi Ali's intellectual coming-of-age, a memoir that conveys her philosophy as well as her experiences, and that also conveys an urgent message and mission--to inform the West of the extent of the threat from Islam, both from outside and from within our open societies. A celebration of free speech and democracy, "Nomad "is an important contribution to the history of ideas, but above all a rousing call to action.

From Hadley Freeman, the bestselling author of House of Glass, comes her searing and powerful memoir about mental ill health and her experience with anorexia. This is how the Anorexia Speak worked in my head: 'Boys like girls with curves on them' - If you ever eat anything you will be mauled by thuggish boys with giant paws for hands 'Don't you get hungry?' - You are so strong and special, and I envy your strength and specialness 'Have you tried swimming? I find that really improves my appetite' - You need to do more exercise In this astonishing and brave account of life with anorexia Hadley Freeman starts with the trigger that sparked her illness and moves through four hospitalisations, offering extraordinary insight into her various struggles.

Recommended for Grade 5+. In her unique approach, Foster weaves a story of the world around her central character; rather than focusing exclusively on geo-political events, as most textbooks do, she includes stories of scientific discovery and invention, music, literature, art, and religion. Her keen intuition for stories will especially delight and amuse youthful readers.

In Augustus Caesar's World, Foster traces the seven major civilizations of Rome, Greece, Israel, Egypt, China, India, and Persia from 4500 B.C. to the time of Augustus Caesar in 44 B.C. and culminating in 14 A.D. Within this timeframe readers will learn not only the stories of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony, but also the historian Livy and how Virgil came to write the Aeneid. Foster will then take her readers all over the world to learn what was happening at this same time in China, Persia, India and so on.

Foster's detailed pen and ink drawings are fresh and appealing, and her illustrated timelines give a clear sense of chronology, enriching the engaging text.

OEight Dollars and a Dream tells of a remarkable personal and professional journey by one of AmericaOs premier CEOs and corporate directors. Raj Gupta, working with Syd Havely, offers a candid and captivating story, told with passion and special appreciation for how family, mentors and other leaders transformed him and how he in turn changed his world, a compelling account for all who are navigating a corner office, a boardroom, or their life course. O Michael Useem, Professor and Director of the Leadership Center, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania ORaj's story is the American dream writ large with a focus on what is really important in life. I have had the privilege of working with Raj for many years and have seen his qualities as a business leader firsthand. But I have benefitted even more by watching his example of how to lead one's life with dignity, integrity, and grace. This is a book that needs to be read!O Bill McNabb, Chairman and CEO, The Vanguard Group, Inc.

The premise for this book was an introspection into Information Technology (IT) which I felt has neither been done before or in this style. All the events and conversations written have all happened and, to reduce folk's embarrassment, everyone in the book has been given an appropriate nickname to hide their true identity and to add an element of surprise as the accounts explores the various topics of interest, such as leadership, self-discovery or family and friends, which have been essential components for growth from child to adult and to navigate and make sense of the world around. Drawing on my own personal experience to demonstrate a lifetime of experimentation. This book was written sequentially and not intended as a complete chronological order of events, the intent was to start from the perspective of present day with a world in the midst of a global pandemic and drift back in time at relevant points so that readers can gain the sense of the journey, which at times has been hap hazard, unpredictable, difficult, challenging but at time purely majestic. This book is not perfect and although all the pieces are there to form an almost complete jigsaw, the intent was to create interest and suspense in what would otherwise be a dull, dummies guidebook on what working in IT is like! There are times when language used is raw and the mood is complex, but this book is like a good bottle of red wine; it just needs to be left open for a while. If you don't have a belly laugh at least once whilst reading the book then honestly, there is no hope for you!

Driving on a dark, snowy road, 17-year-old Eva Whittington's car suddenly fishtailed on an icy patch, careened through the guardrail, and flipped over twice. Hurtled into the back of the car, Eva noticed her legs splayed awkwardly on the seat―legs, she would later learn, that would never again walk.

Coming to grips with life in a wheelchair was heartrending. Broken in body and spirit, Eva struggled to make sense of her life, to find hope for her future. "Why, God, why?" she screamed heavenward. "What did I do to deserve this?"

Though no answer came then, God had blessed Eva with a mother named May Bell, who loved the Lord, heart and soul. In the months following the accident, Eva began to seek the One who so richly dwelt in her mother. As she read her Bible and prayed, pouring out all of her despair, something changed. She began to hope.

Today, Eva's story of overcoming tragedy to find purpose and joy in life is an inspiration to all. An energetic wife, mother of two preschoolers, and nationwide speaker at events such as Focus on the Family's Renewing The Heart conferences, she shares how God's strength sustains in times of trouble. Read Eva's story and grab hold of her infectious joy and hope―and let the Lord begin a new work in you, whatever circumstances you may face.

The hilarious true-life tale of one man's journey from self-confessed planet-killing lad to eco-friendly, green-crusader Dad set against the backdrop of Cool Britannia, Blair's Britain and the rise of the green movement. Back in the nineties, Loaded journalist, Pete May was your normal twenty-something male: a football mad, beer guzzling, Dr Who watching lad's lad, quite happy surrounding himself with countless pizza boxes, beer cans and other environmentally unfriendly consumer items. Recycling to Pete was a debate about whether he should turn his socks inside out and reuse them. Then one day, out of nowhere, along came eco bunny Nicola - a greener than green environmental activist. Could two people so different really fall for each other? Would Pete ever change his ways and sign up to the green lifestyle of composting loos, freezing cold houses, multiple jumper wearing, chicken rearing, recycling, cycling, energy saving and general self-sufficiency? This is the charming and funny true-life tale of one man's struggle to grapple with the good life, go green and get the girl.

THE TIMES - BEST FOOD BOOKS of 2022 'If you had told me at 14 when I couldn't even get out of bed with depression and anxiety that three years later I would have written a book I would never have believed you. But here it is - the story of the Orange Bakery. How I went from bed to bread and how my Dad went from being a teacher to a baker. You reading it means everything to me' Kitty Tait Breadsong tells the story of Kitty Tait who was a chatty, bouncy and full-of-life 14 year old until she was overwhelmed by an ever-thickening cloud of depression and anxiety and she withdrew from the world. Her desperate family tried everything to help her but she slipped further away from them. One day her dad Alex, a teacher, baked a loaf of bread with her and that small moment changed everything. One loaf quickly escalated into an obsession and Kitty started to find her way out of the terrible place she was in. Baking bread was the one thing that made any sense to her and before long she was making loaves for half her village. After a few whirlwind months, she and her dad opened the Orange Bakery, where queues now regularly snake down the street. Breadsong is also a cookbook full of Kitty's favourite recipes, including: - the Comfort loaf made with Marmite, and with a crust that tastes like Twiglets - bitesize queue nibbles, doughnuts with an ever-changing filling to keep the bakery queue happy - sticky fika buns with mix-and-match fillings such as cardamom and orange - Happy Bread covered with salted caramel - cheese straws made with easy homemade ruff puff pastry - the ultimate brown butter and choc chip cookies with the perfect combination of gooey centre and crispy edges.

Wonder Boy is a riveting investigation into the turbulent life of Zappos visionary Tony Hsieh, whose radical business strategies revolutionized both the tech world and corporate culture, based on rigorous research and reporting by two seasoned journalists. Tony Hsieh's first successful venture was in middle school, selling personalized buttons. At Harvard, he made a profit compiling and selling study guides. In 1998, Hsieh sold his first company to Microsoft for $265 million. About a decade later, he sold online shoe empire Zappos to Amazon for $1.2 billion. The secret to his success? Making his employees happy. At its peak, Zappos's employee-friendly culture was so famous across the tech industry that it became one of the hardest companies to get hired at, and CEOs from other companies regularly toured the headquarters. But Hsieh's vision for change didn't stop with corporate culture: Hsieh went on to move Zappos headquarters to Las Vegas and personally funded a nine-figure campaign to revitalize the city's historic downtown area. There, he could be found living in an Airstream and chatting up the locals. But Hsieh's forays into community-revival projects spun out of control as his issues with mental health and addiction ramped up, creating the opportunity for more enablers than friends to stand in his mercurial good graces. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with a wide range of people whose lives Hsieh touched, journalists Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans craft a rich portrait of a man who was plagued by the pressure to succeed but who never lost his generous spirit.

James Leatt was nine when the Nationalist Party came to power, and eleven when he saw a documentary of the Allied forces liberating Nazi death camps. For most of his life the shadows of apartheid and the Holocaust have dogged his beliefs about faith, the meaning of life and the moral challenges humankind faces.

Conjectures is a philosophical reflection on his life and times as he grapples with the realities of parish work in black communities, teaching ethics in a business school under apartheid, managing a university in the dying days of the Nationalist regime, and eventually working in higher education in post-apartheid South Africa.

Weaving strands of his personal life with the questions of theodicy and modernity as well as drawing upon the Western philosophical tradition and the wisdom of East Asian traditions such as Taoism and Buddhism, he comes to terms with a disenchanted reality which has no need for supernatural or magical thought and practice.

He has learned to live with questions. If you no longer believe in God and a sacred text, what are your sources of meaning? What kind of moral GPS allows you to find your way? Is what might be called a secular spirituality even possible?

Conjectures traces the author’s search for a secular way of being that is meaningful, mindful and reverent.

It's 3 a.m. and Elizabeth Gilbert is sobbing on the bathroom floor.

She's in her thirties, she has a husband, a house, they're trying for a baby - and she doesn't want any of it. A bitter divorce and a turbulent love affair later, she emerges battered and bewildered and realises it is time to pursue her own journey in search of three things she has been missing: pleasure, devotion and balance.

So she travels to Rome, where she learns Italian from handsome, brown-eyed identical twins and gains twenty-five pounds, an ashram in India, where she finds that enlightenment entails getting up in the middle of the night to scrub the temple floor, and Bali where a toothless medicine man of indeterminate age offers her a new path to peace: simply sit still and smile. And slowly happiness begins to creep up on her.

As seen on "NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," CNN, MSNBC, and in the "Boston Globe, New York Times," and "USA Today"

It is perhaps the most memorable event of the twentieth century: the assassination of president John F. Kennedy

Within seven weeks of president Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Jacqueline Kennedy received more than 800,000 condolence letters. Two years later, the volume of correspondence would exceed 1.5 million letters. For the next forty-six years, the letters would remain essentially untouched.

Now, in her selection of 250 of these astonishing letters, historian Ellen Fitzpatrick reveals a remarkable human record of that devastating moment, of Americans across generations, regions, races, political leanings, and religions, in mourning and crisis. Reflecting on their sense of loss, their fears, and their hopes, the authors of these letters wrote an elegy for the fallen president that captured the soul of the nation.

Long before Western man 'discovered' them, the 'People of the Sea', as many inhabitants of the South Pacific called themselves, had a vibrant, socially sophisticated culture in which travel on water played an essential part. For sixty-five years James Wharram has designed, built, and sailed craft of Polynesian double canoe form, demonstrating that the sea, far from being a barrier between the islands of the South Pacific, is their highway. The ocean voyages of James and his team culminated in their circumnavigation in the stunning 63ft 'Spirit of Gaia', during which they explored the lands and cultures of their vessel's spiritual home - the Polynesian islands. Inspired by the lifetime of creativity and discovery James describes in this book, many modern 'People of the Sea' are sailing the world's oceans, seas, coasts and rivers in craft they have built for themselves to James Wharram designs.

In hierdie bundel loop die skrywer op sy kinderspore terug na die dorre Kalahari soos dit in die 1930's daaruit gesien het en word verskeie gebeure en emosies weer opgeroep: 'n lieflinghond wat in die duinestrate agterbly, 'n verharde pa, ontbering en uiteindelik: liefde. Onder verskeie prikkelende opskrifte – "Die Krismishoenders", "Agarob", "Weggooikinders", "Bruilof vir oom Wessel", "Oubaas Vogelbruck se stompore" – gee die 27 vertellings 'n helder beeld van 'n kind se grootword in die Kalahari. Dr. Willem D. Kotze is in 1931 op die plaas Texas langs die Nossobrivier in Namibie gebore. As kind het hy, agter die karakoeltrop en beeste, sy vader se Kalahariplaas Wilheben deurkruis.

The shocking true story of Allison Moore, a cop in Hawaii who became addicted to meth, deceived her entire police department, and endured prison, prostitution, and torture--until finally seeking redemption.
As a beautiful, ambitious, and fearless young woman, Allison Moore had everything going for her: She had been the star student of her recruit class, was quickly promoted to vice cop at the Maui Police Department, and gained the respect of her colleagues and a stellar reputation. Her future couldn't have been brighter. But when a doomed love affair with another cop led Allison to seek escape in crystal meth, she suddenly found her whole life turned around.
Using her position of authority and skill of manipulation, Allison hid her addiction to methamphetamines from her lover and her department for as long as possible. She fabricated an elaborate story that she had ovarian cancer and needed to seek treatment on the mainland, while actually escaping to get a steady supply of meth through a brutal Seattle drug dealer. Allison's friends and colleagues donated their sick leave to her and organized fundraisers for her fictitious cancer treatment. Meanwhile, Allison's dependence on meth put her at the mercy of a ruthless drug lord, who made her a virtual prisoner in his house, beating, raping, and torturing her repeatedly.
Allison was able to escape with the help of her mother, but just as the nightmare seemed to be fading and she got sober in rehab, she was extradited to Maui to face twenty-five felony charges filed by her own department. After a trial, she was sentenced to and served one year in the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu.
Astounding, gripping, and told firsthand in a deeply sympathetic voice, "Shards" spares no detail of Allison's horrific experiences and the web of addiction and betrayal that cost her everything--a career she loved, the colleagues who adored her, and the island that was once her paradise.

A stunning and poignant account of an extraordinary teacher's determination never to abandon a child in need from the internationally bestselling author of 'One Child' and No. 1 bestseller 'Ghost Girl'. Seven-year-old Venus Fox never spoke, never listened, never even acknowledged the presence of another human being in the room with her. Yet an accidental playground 'bump' would release a rage frightening to behold. The school year that followed would prove to be one of the most trying, perplexing, and ultimately rewarding of Torey's career, as she struggled to reach a silent child in obvious pain. It would be a strenuous journey beset by seemingly insurmountable obstacles and darkened by truly terrible revelations. Yet encouraged by sometimes small, sometimes dazzling breakthroughs, as a dedicated teacher, Torey remained committed to helping a 'hopeless' girl, and patiently and lovingly leading her toward the light of a new day.