"Wonderful " (Grace Paley).
"Heartwarming and smart and wonderfully written" (Detroit Free Press).
"Provides edifying advice, intimately given, like the best-selling Tuesdays with Morrie" (the Dallas Morning News).
"Altogether original" (Dr. Laura Schlessinger).
"This story will speak to the humanity of the reader" (Jewish Book World).
The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness is that rare, magical book--a book that tells a good story but also shows us how the tales we learned when we were children shed light on our adult lives. Joel ben Izzy had the unusual opportunity to relive those lessons when he lost his voice and reconnected with his old teacher, Lenny, a retired storyteller. Through his meetings with Lenny, Joel rediscovers the wisdom of ancient tales and takes us on a journey into a world of beggars and kings, monks and tigers, lost horses and buried treasures--and in the end tells us the secret of happiness.

This book will take you on Andy's personal journey of recovery, giving you a direct window into how it felt mentally and physically to suffer a heart attack. This came as a huge shock to Andy, not least because he didn't smoke or drink but was leading what he thought was a perfectly healthy lifestyle. He shares his darker moments of fear and depression and how he learned to master his negative thoughts. It is written to pay respects to all those around the world who face up against serious illness, be that mental or physical, look it square in the eye and tell it to**CK OFF.

In this large, full colour, hard cover book by James Court, yu can read about guitarist, drummer, bass player, pianist, keyboardist, song writer, producer, programmer, arranger, vocalist, business entrepreneur, actor, director, dancer and choreographer Prince. James Court has been an avid collector, writer and follower of Prince and his work for more than thirty years. Upon Prince's death in April 2016, James set about the colossal task of revealing every part of this fascinating ever-changing musician, leaving no stone unturned. The Biography tackles the issue's that plagued the Superstar, his fight for Musical freedom and his constant need to write record and perform without restriction or filter.Often described as the greatest Musician of his generation Prince remained at the very top of the game, a multi-instrumentalist with the ability to write cutting edge songs at will, his talent ability and influence were simply unmatched. The results make this the most comprehensive, detailed and exhaustingly accurate depiction of one of the most popular, misunderstood and illusive musicians in modern day music....

An incisive and deeply candid account that explores autistic women in culture, myth, and society through the prism of the author's own diagnosis. Until the 1980s, autism was regarded as a condition found mostly in boys. Even in our time, autistic girls and women have largely remained invisible. When portrayed in popular culture, women on the spectrum often appear simply as copies of their male counterparts - talented and socially awkward. Yet autistic women exist, and always have. They are varied in their interests and in their experiences. Autism may be relatively new as a term and a diagnosis, but not as a way of being and functioning in the world. It has always been part of the human condition. So who are these women, and what does it mean to see the world through their eyes? In The Autists, Clara Toernvall reclaims the language to describe autism and explores the autistic experience in arts and culture throughout history. From popular culture, films, and photography to literature, opera, and ballet, she dares to ask what it might mean to re-read these works through an autistic lens - what we might discover if we allow perspectives beyond the neurotypical to take centre stage.

The incredible true story of one man's imprisonment for the gospel; his brokenness, God's faithfulness and his eventual freedom. In 1993, Andrew Brunson was asked to travel to Turkey, the largest unevangelised country in the world, to serve as a missionary. Though hesitant because of the daunting and dangerous task that lay ahead, Andrew and his wife, Norine, believed this was God's plan for them. What followed was a string of threats and attacks,but also successes in starting new churches in a place where many people had never met a Christian. As their work with refugees from Syria, including Kurds, gained attention and suspicion, Andrew and Norine acknowledged the threat but accepted the risk, determining to stay unless God told them to leave. In 2016, they were arrested. Though the State eventually released Norine, who remained in Turkey, Andrew was imprisoned. Accused of being a spy and being among the plotters of the attempted coup, he became a political pawn whose story soon became known around the world. This is Andrew's remarkable story of his imprisonment and journey of faith.

The album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill sold over 420,000 copies in its first week, received ten Grammy nominations (winning five). Celebrating Twenty Years of Black Girlhood: The Lauryn Hill Reader critically engages the work of Ms. Hill, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of the album. Beyond the album's commercial success, Ms. Hill's radical self-consciousness and exuberance for life led listeners through her Black girl journey of love, motherhood, admonition, redemption, spirituality, sexuality, politics, and nostalgia that affirmed the power of creativity, resistance, and the tradition of African storytelling. Ms. Hill's album provides inspirational energies that serve as a foundational text for Black girlhood. In many ways it is the definitive work of Black girlhood for the Hip Hop generation and beyond because it opened our eyes to a holistic narrative of woman and mother. Twenty years after the release of the album, we pay tribute to this work by adding to the quilt of Black girls' stories with the threads of feminist consciousness, which are particularly imperative in this space where we declare: Black girls matter. Celebrating Twenty Years of Black Girlhood is the first book to academically engage the work of the incomparable Ms. Hill. It intellectually wrestles with the interdisciplinary nature of Ms. Hill's album, centering the connection between the music of Ms. Hill and the lives of Black girls. The essays in this collection utilize personal narratives and professional pedagogies and invite students, scholars, and readers to reflect on how Ms. Hill's album influenced their past, present, and future.

'We were just sacks of flesh existing as punchbags for their rage, or toys for their entertainment' Chris Wild lost his dad aged 11, leaving him to grow up in the care system. There, he witnessed the incessant physical and sexual abuse of children, with the only escape leading to the streets. So many others like him, failed by the systems put in place to protect them, ended up with nothing but drink, drugs, prostitution and crime as their normality. Later, working in a care home himself became the only way Chris could help, but he was shocked to discover little had changed and vulnerable children were still being failed. In Damaged, he shares heartbreaking memories of the care system along with the stories of all the boys, girls, men and women he met along the way - exposing why we must take action now to protect all of Britain's forgotten children.

QUEEN GIVEN THE MARVEL COMICS TREATMENT! Former Marvel Comics editor and writer Tim Quinn has created a unique Platinum Jubilee souvenir with a brand new comic book telling the life story of Queen Elizabeth II. Quinn has used his colleagues from the publishing giant to illustrate the book. "As I researched the Queen's life story, I was struck by how visual the tale was," says Quinn. "It proved to be a perfect story to approach in exactly the same way we produced the super-hero titles at Marvel Comics." The book captures the Queen's story from childhood to the present day. It has been put together to raise funds for the Merseyside children's charity Liverpool Heartbeat who create literacy projects for schools. "There's nothing quite like the Marvel method of storytelling to capture the imagination of even the most ardent non-reader," says Quinn. "The combination of the Marvel approach and the Queen's amazing story has proved to be a visual treat." The book was presented to the Queen at Windsor Castle and received a very positive response which is featured in this new printing.

Great American Shipwreck Stories is a magnificent collection of gripping accounts of a ship's encounter with a great whale or an overwhelming monsoon or a disastrous passage through the Straits of Magellan, leading to a wreck and a crew's harrowing plight for survival on the open seas or on a desert island. Capturing all the elements of ancient and powerful tragedy, this book is chockful of thrilling tales of survival - as well as a frightful examination of man's darkest impulses - which allow the reader a gruesome glimpse behind the veil of honor and bravery that history often ascribes to such men of the sea. These are all stories that have endured the test of time, and have attracted discerning readers for generations. Includes stories by George Byron Merrick, Owen Chase, Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, Riley Brown, J. S. Ogilvie, Horace Holden, and many others.

For more than thirty years, Toronto psychic medium Carolyn Molnar has been helping people whose friends and loved ones have crossed over. By bringing these people proof of spirit evidence that life continues past the transition we call death she has comforted thousands of clients by showing them that their loved ones are still with them. In this book, youll read positive, life-affirming true stories about the emotions that touch us all. From the ghost of a lost young boy to the mother who desperately wants to live long enough to see her daughter graduate high school, to the courageous young woman whose death is mourned by an entire community, these healing stories and others will demonstrate that even though we pass on, our love never dies.

Susanne Defoe suffered parental violence and bullying at school on a daily basis throughout her childhood, finding comfort only with her pet rabbits: "One of my first memories was of climbing into the rabbit hutch and snuggling down into the straw to sleep... I just stayed there until they found me. I was only two and a half and I was missing for almost two hours." Desperate to escape from her controlling father and ignorant mother, she found herself pregnant at fifteen by a boy who turned out to be a waster who spent all his wages in the pub. This is the story of how Susanne struggled to escape from a life of abuse, cruelty and ignorance to try to gain some self-respect and a decent life for herself and her four daughters.

As a senior aeronautical engineer with Britain's flagship airlines in the 60s, 70s and 80s, it was engineer and playboy Nazie El Masry's job to keep these man-made birds in perfect flying condition. Turbulent Times and Clear Skies is the story of his colourful exploits in the most glamorous industry of all, as he defeated the odds to build an international aviation business of his own - with offices in Singapore, Miami, Holland and the UK. From the crew and pilots' parties to which he supplied contraband liquor and introductions to the wildest international hotspots in Libya, Tunis, Casablanca and Europe; to his early adventures wheeling and dealing in 1970s Britain, along the way Nazie has rubbed shoulders with slum landlords, show girls, heads of state and movie stars. This is also the story of an Egyptian childhood and a young man who lost his father but found happiness.

Before reality TV, GPS devices, and dashboard computers, there was a coming of age for the Maine Warden Service. It was a time when a compass, map, and one's wits were what mattered most in the field. Every day offered the potential for an exciting new adventure, many of which endangered the wardens' lives. Recreating the full warden experience, Open Season includes 20 stories from two former colonels, two lieutenants, two sergeants, four district wardens, a warden pilot, and one currently active-duty corporal. Altogether, their cumulative experiences account for more than 300 years of north woods law. In addition to hair-raising, life-and-death scenarios, the collection covers moments such as a child innocently outing his parents as "looking for deer" at night, the doldrums of a stakeout, and the grief of tragedy. You'll live through the eyes of these twelve wardens and feel the excitement of a twig snapped in the dark...the frustration of second guessing yourself when lives are at stake...and the duty to do what's right, even when it means breaking the law.

Born a humble village boy in Pakistan's Swat Valley, Sher Khan had the curiosity, the intelligence and the determination to succeed in a career in medicine, becoming a senior registrar in a UK hospital. Sensitive, wide-ranging and often very funny, Sher's story portrays the life of a wise and kind man - a village boy who became a world traveller, an expert in nuclear medicine and a philanthropist who has done his best to overcome the inequity and suffering he sees around him. Dismayed at the dishonesty, favouritism and profiteering that have pervaded Pakistan since independence, he talks freely of the power struggles and posturing which have riddled his homeland's affairs over the past half century. A colourful description of a vanished world and of the new world that is replacing it.

'There's a lot of stigma attached to sex. Particularly with women, you have a big dichotomy between: Do you have sex? Do you not? Do you be a slut? Do you be a virgin? Do you be a prude? Do you be a man-whore? You can't really win.' Women are always being told how to be sexy, but are rarely asked what actually turns them on. Wendy Jones wanted to find out, so she interviewed twenty-four women from all walks of life, including a burlesque dancer, a girl guide leader, a shop assistant, a ninety-four year old who remembers the sexual freedom of the war, a transexual, a nun, a feminist into BDSM, a covered Muslim, a mother, a student, a polyamorist, and a sexual healer. The women talked about their lives, bodies, sexual fantasies and relationships, about what they've learned, how they have been hurt, what they enjoy and what they long for. The interviews are frank, engaging, and surprising. Each woman is unique but together they speak for a majority, and it's time we listened. This honest and inspiring exploration of female desire will change the way we think and talk about sex forever. 'English women have a reputation for being reserved and uptight; actually behind closed doors we're outrageous.'

To Jeanne de Ferranti's business-minded parents, it was dismissed as an irresponsible waste of time, and it quickly became 'the journey that never was'. It didn't enter the record books, and it was never reported in the press. But to Jeanne and her friend and co-driver Jane, it was rather a big adventure. Back in the early 1960s, as two young women in their twenties, they drove one of the first Minis right round the world, and made it home in one piece. The pair survived endless mechanical breakdowns and a major road accident, enduring hunger, thirst, poverty, bureaucratic red tape and food which ranged from the delightful to the disgusting. They frequently had to fight off the attentions of amorous men, even, at one point, escaping from an attempted rape at knifepoint. But along the way they experienced the kindness of many strangers and saw some of the greatest sights the world has to offer, finally making it safely home two years after they had set out. This, half a century on, is Jeanne's enthralling account of the round-the world adventure which at the time was simply swept under the carpet.

She has to be OK, I pleaded silently to myself. She has to be. 'We've alerted the RNLI and they're sending a lifeboat out.' 'The RNLI?' I said, surprised. 'They do that?' Saved from the Waves is a heart-warming collection of first-hand accounts from RNLI volunteers of the myriad dangers they face during each mission to save beloved pets, wildlife and livestock. This remarkable book shines a light on the bravery of the volunteers, and the necessity of these rescues - not only to save animals at risk of drowning, but to prevent people putting themselves in danger when trying to save a cherished furry friend. Each mission requires courage, determination and an unrelenting commitment to helping those in danger. Each day brings a new challenge for the extraordinary volunteer crews who are the lifeblood of the RNLI.

Op 13 Oktober 2021 is Suid-Afrika tot stilstand geruk deur die nuus oor dominee Liezel de Jager, geliefde leraar van die NG Kerk Suidkus in Amanzimtoti, KwaZulu-Natal, wat in die oprit van die pastorie vermoor is toe sy terugkeer van haar daaglikse oggenddraf saam met vriende. Dit was ondenkbaar dat ’n geestelike leier soos sy, wat ’n enorme impak op haar gemeenskap gehad het, so wreed weggeruk kon word.

Maar nog vreemder gebeure volg in die dae en jare na haar moord. Haar man, Werner, verdwyn skielik spoorloos en word later in ’n bedenklike toestand in ’n suikerrietplantasie gevind. Hy vermoed dat hy moontlik deur Liezel se moordenaars aangeval is. Benewens verskeie ander amper-noodlottige gebeure rondom Werner, is hy later ook in ’n ongeluk betrokke waar nog twee vroue dood is. Om alles te kroon, sloer die polisie twee jaar lank voordat hulle met die moordondersoek begin.

Intussen voer Liezel se ouers ’n volgehoue stryd om geregtigheid vir hul dogter te kry.

Dit loop uit op ’n suksesvolle hofsaak teen die minister van polisie en die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens, met die gevolg dat Werner weens die moord op sy vrou in hegtenis geneem word, maar later onder misterieuse omstandighede in die hospitaal sterf. Die moord bly onopgelos.

Parental love was in short supply when Aura Angel was growing up, in a household where there was so little money that her parents would burn the floorboards of their council house to keep warm in winter. Her father would beat her at the slightest excuse, and when he left home her mother took over, using brooms and kitchen implements to make sure the blows hurt. Her mother's conflicts with authority led Aura (not her real name) to eight schools and more than 20 homes before finally, at 12 years old, she marched into the local Social Services offices and asked them to take care of her. Her troubles were far from over; an abortion at 16 followed and two children by fathers who badly let her down. Yet now, in her forties, she is at peace with herself. She has written A Normal Life as "a counselling tool for myself". It is an extraordinary and moving story, candidly and sensitively written.

An engaging and informative first-hand account of the last 'grain race' of maritime history, from respected travel writer Eric Newby. In 1939, a young Eric Newby - later renowned as a travel writer of exceptional talent - set sail aboard Moshulu, the largest sailing ship still employed in the transportation of grain from Australia to Europe. Every year from 1921 to 1939, the vessels involved in the grain trade would strive to find the shortest, fastest passage home - 'the grain race' - in the face of turbulent seas, atrocious weather conditions and hard graft. First published in 1956, 'The Last Grain Race', featuring many photographs from the author's personal collection, celebrates both the spirit of adventure and the thrill of sailing on the high seas. Newby's first-hand account - engaging and informative, with frequent bursts of humour and witty observations from both above and below deck - chronicles this classic sailing voyage of the Twenties and Thirties, and records the last grain race of maritime history.