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Books > Fiction > True stories > General
Carey, Beth, and Pam, have good luck in their friendships and
careers, but terrible luck in relationships. Which makes it more
difficult to get what they truly desire: children. And time is
running out. Carey is the first to abandon the traditional path to
motherhood. She decides to go it alone, and buys eight vials of
sperm from the perfect donor. Maybe it's newfound confidence from
taking control of her destiny. Maybe it's sheer coincidence. But on
the day the vials arrive, she meets a man online. They fall in
love. And she gets pregnant the old fashioned way. Carey passes the
vials to Beth, who has just recovered from a wrenching divorce. But
before she can use the vials, Beth meets a man on an ice-climbing
trip. She too falls in love. And gets pregnant. So she gives the
vials to Pam. Pam will never stop searching for the love of her
life, but she's ready to be a single mother. Then the magic strikes
again. Is it lucky sperm? Or shared hope, determination, and
resilience that pave the way to these happy endings? Despite soured
relationships and crushing losses, three women become three
families, revelling in the shared joys of love, friendship, and
never giving up.
Most people understand that what an emergency is and only call out
the police, fire brigade or ambulance when they really need to.
However, there is a weird minority who will dial 911 if they lose
their keys, if their phone isn't working, if they need a lift home
from a party or even if they have become hopelessly trapped in
their own duvet! This hilarious collection of true stories brings
together some of the world's most ridiculous emergency calls,
including: - The woman who called the police because MacDonalds was
out of Chicken Mcnuggets. - The priest who dialed 999 because
WHSmiths at Manchester Airporte wouldn't let him use their toilet -
The boy who called an ambulance because his poodle was looking sad.
- The man whose watch read the same time for three hours who called
the police to report that...wait for it...time was standing still -
Then there was the man who had taken too much viagra...
Bringing to life the fabulous, colorful panorama of New Orleans in the first flush of the jazz era, this book tells the story of Buddy Bolden, the first of the great trumpet players--some say the originator of jazz--who was, in any case, the genius, the guiding spirit, and the king of that time and place.
In this fictionalized meditation, Bolden, an unrecorded father of Jazz, remains throughout a tantalizingly ungraspable phantom, the central mysteries of his life, his art, and his madness remaining felt but never quite pinned down. Ondaatje's prose is at times startlingly lyrical, and as he chases Bolden through documents and scenes, the novel partakes of the very best sort of modern detective novel--one where the enigma is never resolved, but allowed to manifest in its fullness. Though more 'experimental' in form than either The English Patient or In the Skin of a Lion, it is a fitting addition to the renowned Ondaatje oeuvre.
Following on from the hugely popular 'Angel Saved My Life' series
comes a moving new collection of real-life stories from the
Afterlife. Following the bestsellers An Angel by My Side and An
Angel Held My Hand comes a brand new collection of heartwarming and
inspiring real-life dramas about people who have had 'a little
help' from the other side when they most needed it. Stories
include: The shouting angel whose playful antics saved a young girl
from falling down the stairs. The angel who prevented a woman's bad
judgement becoming a tragedy. The whispering angel who helped a
serial dieter lose weight for good. The angel voice that quietly
guided a woman to her soul mate. The group of friends whose
guardian angels revealed their purpose in life. The laughing angel
who helped a lost boy find his way home. These are just some of the
miraculous accounts in this inspiring new collection of true
stories.
'Ground-breaking. Everyone should read this book' Bessel van der
Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score When it comes to
understanding the connection between our mental and physical
health, we should be looking at the exceptions, not the rules. Dr
Jeff Rediger, a world-leading Harvard psychiatrist, has spent the
last fifteen years studying thousands of individuals from around
the world, examining the stories behind extraordinary cases of
recovery from terminal illness. Observing the common denominators
of people who have beaten the odds, Dr Rediger reveals the immense
power of our immune system and unlocks the secrets of the mind-body
connection. In Cured, he explains the vital role that nutrition
plays in boosting our immunity and fighting off disease, and he
also outlines how stress, trauma and identity affect our physical
health. In analysing the remarkable science of recovery, Dr Rediger
reveals the power of our mind to heal our body and shows us the
keys to good health. 'In an era of incurable chronic diseases
causing 60% of all deaths worldwide, this book provides one
potential way out' Dr Mark Hyman, author of The Blood Sugar
Solution 'Seasoned with the author's penetrating insights about
healing, clearly articulated science and illuminating case
histories, Cured opens genuine vistas of transforming illness into
health' Gabor Mate, author of When the Body Says No
Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland
JOIN SAS LEGEND PHIL CAMPION AS HE SHARES HIS DEEPLY PERSONAL LIFE
STORY, WARTS AND ALL In WHO DARES WINS Big Phil Campion reveals his
chequered past, from terrible abuse suffered in a string of kids'
homes to psychological abuse suffered at a top public school. Phil
guides you through his soldiering career, from the so called "green
army" to the brutal trial of SAS selection and all that followed.
This includes years spent providing private military services
across war-torn and risk-laden Africa; in between he was
body-guarded the likes of Led Zep, Oasis, Kasabian, Dizzy Rascal
and Pro Green. Phil takes you on his gripping, behind-the-scenes
adventure acting as a roving reporter for Sky TV in Syria and
Northern Iraq, more often than not under fire. Brave, riveting and
truly revelatory, WHO DARES WINS is packed full of jaw-dropping
stories to quicken the blood, while also telling of the
psychological toll a life in conflict took on the author. 'One of
the best first-hand accounts of life in combat ever written' Andy
McNab on Born Fearless
***LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 JHALAK PRIZE*** A leading new
exploration of the Windrush generation featuring David Lammy, Lenny
Henry, Corinne Bailey Rae, Sharmaine Lovegrove, Hannah Lowe, Jamz
Supernova, Natasha Gordon and Rikki Beadle-Blair. For the pioneers
of the Windrush generation, Britain was 'the Mother Country'. They
made the long journey across the sea, expecting to find a place
where they would be be welcomed with open arms; a land in which you
were free to build a new life, eight thousand miles away from home.
This remarkable book explores the reality of their experiences, and
those of their children and grandchildren, through 22 unique
real-life stories spanning more than 70 years. "The story of
Windrush, is, like any other, a story of humanity. Of life, love,
struggle, hope, misery, success and failure. It's one that is too
often neglected in our media ... but this volume acts as a remedy
to that failure of story-telling, which I ask you to both savour
and share." - David Lammy MP Contributors include: Catherine Ross,
Corinne Bailey-Rae, David Lammy, Gail Lewis, Hannah Lowe, Howard
Gardner, Jamz Supernova, Kay Montano, Kemi Alemoru, Kimberley
McIntosh, Lazare Sylvestre, Lenny Henry, Maria del Pilar Kaladeen,
Myrna Simpson, Naomi Oppenheim, Natasha Gordon, Nellie Brown, Paul
Reid, Riaz Phillips, Rikki Beadle-Blair, Sharmaine Lovegrove,
Sharon Frazer-Carroll.
This giant collection includes a huge range of 20th-century
first-hand accounts of hauntings, such as the American troops who
repeatedly saw the ghosts of a dead platoon of men while on patrol
in Vietnam; and the witnessed haunting of a house near Tintagel in
Cornwall that led actress Kate Winslet to pull out of buying the
property. It covers the full spectrum of credible hauntings, from
poltergeists (the noisy, dangerous and frightening spirits that are
usually associated with pubescent girls, like the Bell Witch), to
phantoms (like the Afrits of Saudi Arabia) and seduction spirits
(such as the Lorelei, which have lured German men to death). Also
included are the notes of the most famous ghost hunters of the
twentieth century such as Hans Holzer, Susy Smith (USA); Harry
Price, Jenny Randles (UK); Joyce Zwarycz (Australia), Eric
Rosenthal (South Africa), and Hwee Tan (Japan). Plus essays by such
names as Robert Graves, Edgar Cayce, and M. R. James outlining
their own - often extraordinary - conclusions as to just what
ghosts might be; along with a full bibliography and list of useful
resources. Praise for MBO Haunted House Stories: 'A first rate list
of contributors ... Hair raising!' Time Out 'All we need say is buy
it.' Starlog
'Morgan provides a vivid recreation of that dreadful day combined with an equally evocative picture of nineteenth-century life ... Thrilling' Publishing News On Thursday, 8 May 1902, the citizens of Saint-Pierre, Martinique, huddled together in their cathedral as the sky turned black: Mont Pelée, the volcano, had suddenly come alive. Within minutes the beautiful city had been destroyed along with its 30,000 inhabitants. The only apparent survivor was Ludger Sylbaris, a labourer who became a minor celebrity as he toured America recounting the horrors of the explosion. Fire Mountain is the thrilling story of that fateful day, the complex political events that played a part in the tragedy and a fascinating history of the island itself.
Film-maker Stephen Walker wanted to make a documentary about the Cannes Film Festival. He needed to find four young, untried, untested, obsessive and possibly unhinged directors whom he could follow in their quest for fame and glory. Over six months, he met hundreds of film-makers from all over the world. Some were clearly talented. A few seemed certifiably insane. What united them was a passion for making movies and an inhuman determination to make their mark — whatever the cost.
King of Cannes is a riotously funny account of those six months, a rollercoster ride through the nether regions of the movie business which culminates at Cannes, the most important — and the most glamorous — film festival in the world.
Click here to read a good, long extract.
The remarkable true story that became a viral news sensation.
Former Royal Engineer Sean Laidlaw was working as a bomb disposal
expert in Syria when he heard whimpering from the rubble of a
school that had exploded and collapsed. Upon further inspection he
found that the source of the noise was a tiny, abandoned puppy,
surrounded by her four dead siblings. A terrified Barrie initially
rejected Sean's advances - but he refused to give up. He made sure
she was safe and brought her food and drink, and cordoned off the
area to ensure it was safe from explosives. After a few days Barrie
grew to trust Sean and eventually the two became inseparable in the
three months he was in Syria. Sean had to return to the UK, leaving
Barrie behind. When his contract wasn't renewed he knew he had to
bring Barrie home. The two created an unbreakable bond and they
were reunited in emotional scenes that have made headlines all over
the world. Sean credits Barrie with helping him with his PTSD and
their story is a powerful reminder of the incredible bond that dogs
and humans have, and how both can save the other.
This journal of the invasion, a collection of Andrey Kurkov's
writings and broadcasts from Kyiv, is a remarkable record of a
brilliant writer at the forefront of a 21st-century war. Andrey
Kurkov has been a consistent satirical commentator on his adopted
country of Ukraine. His most recent work, Grey Bees, is a dark
foreshadowing of the devastation in the eastern part of Ukraine in
which only two villagers remain in a village bombed to smithereens.
The author has lived in Kyiv and in the remote countryside of
Ukraine throughout the Russian invasion. He has also been able to
fly to European capitals where he has been working to raise money
for charities and to address crowded halls. Kurkov has been asked
to write for every English newspaper, as also to be interviewed all
over Europe. He has become an important voice for his people.
Kurkov sees every video and every posted message, and he spends the
sleepless nights of continuous bombardment of his city delivering
the truth about this invasion to the world.
In 1973 Sophie Neville was cast as Titty alongside Virginia
McKenna, Ronald Fraser and Suzanna Hamilton in the film Swallows
& Amazons. Made before the advent of digital technology, the
child stars lived out Arthur Ransome's epic adventure in the great
outdoors without ever seeing a script. Encouraged by her mother,
Sophie Neville kept a diary about her time filming on location in
the lakes and mountains of Cumbria. Bouncy and effervescent,
extracts from her childhood diary are interspersed among her
memories of the cast and crew as well as photographs, maps and
newspaper articles, offering a child's eye view of the making of
the film from development to premiere - and the aftermath.
Kintsugi is die Japanese kunstegniek om ’n gebroke keramiekvoorwerp met
goud te herstel. Die tegniek maak ’n voorwerp mooier en meer kosbaar as
wat dit in ’n ongebroke toestand was. Met die regte ingrype kan
gebrokenheid waarde en skoonheid ontsluit. Hierdie idee is die draad
wat deur dié boek loop.
In hierdie boek maak tientalle mense van verskillende agtergronde hul
harte oop ter bemoediging en om insigte te deel.
In Suid-Afrika ly een uit ses mense aan depressie, angs en
middelafhanklikheid en tot ses miljoen aan post-traumatiese stres. Agt
duisend mense per jaar staan hul lewens aan selfdood af. Die
Covid-epidemie dryf dit verder op die spits. Lees hier vir advies. Daar
is hoop.
'I listen to those stories - told by women who have been drugged,
beaten, imprisoned, raped and terrorised within the walls of the
homes they grew up in. I listen and I am humbled by their
resilience.' Jasvinder Sanghera knows what it means to flee from
your family under threat of forced marriage - and to face the
terrible consequences that follow. As a young girl that was just
what she had to do. Jasvinder is now at the frontline of the battle
to save women from the honour-based violence and threat of forced
marriage that destroyed her own youth. Daughters of Shame reveals
the stories of young women such as Shazia, kidnapped and taken to
Pakistan to marry a man she had never met; and Banaz, murdered by
her own family after escaping an abusive marriage. By turns
frightening, enthralling and uplifting, Daughters of Shame reveals
Jasvinder as a woman heedless of her own personal safety as she
fights to help these women, in a world where the suffering and
abuse of many is challenged by the courage of the few.
'Clear, dispassionate and selfless' Spectator 'Exhaustive in her
research, tenacious in spotting errors, indignant in denouncing
lies.' Guardian 'A compelling account of an extraordinary political
scandal, written from inside the Stonehouse family'. Martin Bell **
The authoritative account of the infamous runaway MP, by his
daughter ** On 20 November 1974, British Labour MP and Privy
Counsellor John Stonehouse faked his death in Miami and, using a
forged identity, entered Australia hoping to escape his old life
and start anew. One month later his identity was uncovered and he
was cautioned; the start of years of legal proceedings. In a tale
that involves spies from the communist Czechoslovak secret service,
a three-way love affair and the Old Bailey, John's daughter
examines previously unseen evidence, telling the dramatic true
story for the first time, disputing allegations and upturning
common misconceptions which are still in circulation. The story was
never far from the front pages of the press in the mid-70s, and yet
so much of the truth is still unknown. A close look at the
political dynamics of the time; paced like a thriller, it's time
for the world to know the real John Stonehouse. 'No book before
this has delved into this fascinating political scandal in so much
detail and with empathy.' Reaction
Prison is a word which conjures up different things to the people
who hear it. To some, it is a place where people are simply locked
away for a period of time, away from society. Others may think it
is place where torture, fear, violence and hopelessness are common
place, whereas some may think it a place of rehabilitation. Then
there are those who believe it is a state of mind. In the
best-selling '34 Years In Hell', author Jamie Morgan Kane told the
story of how, after being born on the Isle of Man, he was taken to
Canada as a baby and then transported into the United States of
America where, at the age of 14, he was sold to an American couple
to replace, as he found out many years later, a child they had
previously adopted who had mysteriously disappeared. He recounted
how he had joined the US military the day he left school in the
belief that he was an American citizen; how circumstances persuaded
him to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit, and how that had
resulted in him being sentenced to prison for more than three
decades. Since then, he has been asked many times: "But what was
prison really like?" This new follow-up book attempts to answer
that question. This is the ultimate guide to what it's like to be
behind bars in America. It lays bare the day-to-day existence of
prisoners and the hustles they get up to in order to survive. It is
a fascinating, sometimes shocking and raw account of life at its
most brutal.
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERChasing Daylight is the honest,
touching, and ultimately inspirational memoir of former KPMG CEO
Eugene O'Kelly, completed in the three and a half months between
his diagnosis with brain cancer and his death in September 2005.
It's haunting yet extraordinarily hopeful voice reminds us to
embrace the fragile, fleeting moments of our lives: the brief time
we have with our family, our friends, and even ourselves. Glimpse
the strategies Gene embraced to accept and live the final stages of
his life with vibrancy and calm - and what his preparations for
death taught him about life.This paperback edition features a new
foreword by his wife, Corinne O'Kelly and a readers' group guide
and questions "A moving memoir" The Times "Challenging and
thought-provoking" The Financial Times "[A] well-written and moving
book." The Economist.com "Voicing universal truths not often found
in business or how-to tracts...[O'Kelly] made a success out of his
final mission."-Janet Maslin, The New York Times
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