Growing Up Viking

By Ieda Jonasdottir Herman

 The author recalls Iceland 1935, a simpler time and draws the reader into a childhood routine that had been virtually unchanged since the days of the Vikings. The enchanting legends of trolls and hidden folk of Iceland are interwoven with the hopes and fears of a child growing up amidst the hardships of daily life in this mysterious land of eerie landscapes, erupting volcanoes, gushing geysers......

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Claude Ranger: Canadian Jazz Legend

By Mark Miller

Even before Claude Ranger disappeared in late 2000, his fate unknown, he had attained legendary status among Canada’s jazz musicians as an extraordinary drummer who repeatedly challenged the status quo on bandstands in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

Willful, uncompromising and charismatic, cigarette invariably tucked into the left corner of his mouth, Ranger cut a compelling figure alongside Canadian and American stars alike — Lenny Breau, Jane Bunnett, Sonny Greenwich, Moe Koffman, P.J. Perry, Dewey Redman, Sonny Rollins, Don Thompson and many others.

Claude Ranger: Canadian Jazz Legend presents a sympathetic portrait of this remarkable musician and offers a perceptive overview of the Canadian jazz scene during the 35 years in which, by turns, his career flourished, faltered and flourished again....

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Wild Bird

By John A. Greenwald

It wasn’t that Ruth Wightman Morris didn’t know the rules—it was that she lived to break them. Fiercely defying expectations in every area of her life, Ruth was at the forefront of the Jazz Age revolution. She was a woman who could captivate every man in the nightclub—and the next day set the women’s speed record in a race car, perform a stunt in a plane, or get in the ring with a bull. Hers was a life of great successes and great sorrows, fabulous parties and headline-grabbing scandals, love affairs that could not endure and a dead body that could not be explained. And until now, her story has gone untold.

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I Am Woman

By Daliah Husu

Daliah Husu is a transgender writer and poet whose work focuses on themes of love, self-acceptance and spiritual and emotional fulfillment. Her lifelong struggle with gender identity, sexuality, social acceptance, and substance abuse has inspired her to share her remarkable story. Living the life of her dreams won’t be easy – especially since she was born male. But her dream life may yet come true – if she truly wants it. In this raw and emotionally charged memoir, Daliah Husu declares her trans womanhood with an honest and authoritative voice. Searching for her true identity, yearning for her mother’s acceptance, and desperate to find love, Daliah shares her painful, yet enriching journey into self-actualisation and womanhood – a journey that starts as a young boy growing up without his father or mother in the slums of Santo Domingo, and who later transforms into a young woman obsessed with the attention of men, forced into sex work, and haunted by alcohol and drug abuse. Remarkably, I Am Woman emphasises that in the midst of our loneliness, suffering and darkness, our hopes and dreams continue to illuminate our path to personal freedom, survival and ultimately love.

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The Other Side of Philip K. Dick

By Maer Wilson

What is the truth behind the legend of Science Fiction great, Philip K. Dick?

In spring, 1972, Phil Dick moved to Fullerton, CA, where he met Theatre student Mary (Maer) Wilson. Amid marriage proposals, marathon talk-fests and a love for music and films, they forged a strong friendship that would last the rest of his life.

Wilson’s quirky, yet unflinchingly honest, memoir reveals a funny, compassionate and generous man. She captures an inside view of one of our literary greats – a brilliant writer who gave the world some of its most revered Science Fiction.

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Dancing in the Bamboo Forest - A Travel Memoir

By Djahariah Mitra

In the candid and inspiring memoir, Dancing in the Bamboo Forest, yoga teacher Djahariah Mitra takes the reader on an adventurous journey through South Indian temples, ashrams, beaches, and night clubs. She explores vast cultural differences, obstacles to traveling as a woman alone, and her own internal journey to self-acceptance. Mitra exposes the loneliness of travel while at the same time encountering fascinating people who bring friendship, eye opening revelations, and a love that rocks her heart. She analyzes her experiences from emotionally crushing obstacles to the easy openness of strangers through the perspective of yogic philosophy.....

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Coming To Astoria: An Immigrant's Tale

By O. M. Kiam

Why do children growing up together in the same household turn out so completely different? How can a child raised in a family of twelve be so lonely?

Coming to Astoria takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery which is humorous, entertaining, and educational. This is a fascinating human interest story filled with poignant memories about growing up alone in a large family.....

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The Mind of an American Revolutionary

By Jon Foyt

Why would an immigrant lad from off the docks of Liverpool, one Robert Morris, pay for critical portions of the American Revolution out of his own pocket, while helping found the first ever bank in the Colonies, and then end up in debtor’s prison? Just ask his Bavarian talk therapist, a surgeon in the Hessian Mercenary Army who gets into Morris’ complex mind.

Jon Foyt’s 12th novel—heavily researched—uncovers the inner motivations of this illegitimate and uneducated immigrant boy who became one of our most unusual Founding Fathers. Relive his affairs, his marriage, and his fortitude, he being only one of three men to sign all vital Revolutionary documents: the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.

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A Healing Haven

By Shirley Alarie

Shawn Jayroe’s passion for horses and desire to help the underdog was instilled during her charmed childhood. Later, when the shy yet determined self-made businesswoman witnessed mistreatment of the beautiful majestic equines, a deep need to protect those without a voice begged her to action. Shawn rallied troops from the community to bring her vision to life, and with dedicated volunteers and financial donations, a miraculous life-saving refuge was gradually pieced together, forming RVR Horse Rescue.

But one result Shawn hadn’t anticipated was the magical effect the horrifically abused animals would imprint on their caregivers, blurring the lines of who was saving whom. Author Shirley Alarie delivers the riveting saga of Shawn Jayroe and her army of Horse Angels who are tackling the unspoken issue of equine neglect and abuse one desperate animal at a time. A Healing Haven is an inspiring true story and a beautiful reminder that it is in giving that we receive life’s greatest blessings.

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See You Further Down the Road

By Nancy Griffin and Dorothea Rourke O'Regan

Meet Dorothea and Nancy, two best friends of thirty years. In their first book together, they share true stories of their adventures as bellydancers, psychic readers, and observers of the mystical in the mundane. Humorous, honest, and entertaining, their offbeat yarns tell of life at home and on the road. Share their laughter and bemusement as these working women use their positive outlooks to solve some unique problems. What unexpected surprises will life bring them next?
In life and in dance, spontaneity often creates magic.

Like these two friends, find that magic: joy, fun and adventure in their wild, wonderful journey through life and the American bellydance culture......

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Disenchanted

By Victoria Kilbury

As a child in Saudi Arabia, Nabila knew no other life than that in which she lived, a society where women had no rights. Females could not attend school, pursue careers unless sanctioned by the government, drive cars, or choose their husbands. From birth to marriage, women in Nabila’s culture remained under the control of males: a father, a brother, or a husband.

As a young bride, Nabila moved with her new husband to the United States, where he pursued a college degree, and where Nabila’s world was opened to endless possibilities. Though the move was temporary, Nabila was enchanted and she knew she would return. Disenchanted: One Woman’s Journey for Indepen­dence from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is Nabila’s story of trying to find happiness and fulfillment in her homeland, but ultimately, having to sacrifice family for freedom......

(A 2013 USA Best Book Award Finalist.)

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The Widow Wave: A True Courtroom Drama of Tragedy at Sea

By Jay W. Jacobs

Real courtroom story that reads like a suspense novel. "An intelligently told true story of honor, integrity and justice. The Widow Wave reminded me of The Perfect Storm, played out in a taut courtroom thriller. Jacobs masterfully weaves the harrowing tale of the last voyage of Aloha, and courtroom battle that followed. A great read." -- Robert Dugoni, NYT bestselling author.

"A compelling story of a modern day maritime tragedy that beautifully discusses the vital importance of advances in observational technologies, forecasts and communications in avoiding future loss of life at sea. Jay Jacobs skillfully weaves together the legal, scientific and maritime narratives to enthrall and educate the reader." Julie Thomas, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Jay W. Jacobs has been a member of the California bar for more than 35 years. A civil litigator, he specialized in maritime law. Prior to law school, he was a sailor and an officer in the merchant marine, sailing on cargo ships, ore-carriers and tankers on voyages bound for Europe, Africa, India, the Far East, South America, the Persian Gulf and Japan. He now lives with his wife Marsha on an island in the Pacific Northwest.

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Healing Rhinos and Other Souls

By Stephanie Rohrbach

Healing Rhinos and Other Souls tells the story of a much respected if unorthodox vet, a family man who loved and understood nature and all her creatures, a reluctant businessman, a somewhat exuberant driver, a humble person, a great storyteller and a wonderful friend to many.

For nearly fifty years Walter Eschenburg lived and worked as a pioneering wildlife vet in the South African bushveld with its many animals and a host of weird and wonderful people. After a childhood spent in a German castle during the Second World War, a harrowing escape from the Russian army and a sequence of bold moves and fortunate circumstances, it is here, against the backdrop of the harsh but beautiful landscapes of the Waterberg, that Walter comes into his own and develops into a seasoned vet. He encounters charging rhinos, tame buffalo, irate cows and angry giraffes; he deals with snakes and warthogs, amorous elephants, cats, dogs and donkeys. He treats his patients with compassion and kindness, and his clients with large doses of humour.

Healing Rhinos and Other Souls is a story of love and life; of nature and adventures; of humour, passion and understanding. It is a story about a man who was simply himself all his life, the story of a life well lived......

Stephanie Rohrbach is a traveler, writer, translator and free spirit. She grew up in Germany, has a degree in veterinary medicine, and has worked as researcher, waitress, bicycle travel guide, conservationist, language practitioner, tourism consultant and farm hand. Having lived in the south of Spain and on a Mozambican island, she currently calls South Africa home, where she divides her time between plotting the next journey and writing.

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Janapar: Love, On a Bike

By Tom Allen

It was the start of a brand new life, but Tom Allen’s bicycle journey round the world takes an unlikely detour when he falls in love with an Iranian-Armenian girl. Written alongside the award-winning documentary film of the same name, Janapar is an honest and life-affirming true story of finding what you’re looking for when you least expect it.

At the age of 23, Tom Allen quit a perfectly good career in IT in favour of a life of penniless, wandering itinerancy. He set off with a three-wheeled bicycle, a tent and a video camera, leaving his Midlands home with a madcap idea to cycle round the globe. Fate, however, had other ideas, and eight months into his ride, alone in mountains during a bitter Caucasian winter, he met Tenny -- the girl who would change the course of his journey and then his life.....

Tom continues to write and travel as a full-time occupation. He still has no fixed abode.

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Watch the Documentary Film Here

Growing Up Boeing

By Rebecca Wallick

Growing Up Boeing gives an insider’s perspective of the Boeing test pilots and engineers who regularly risked their lives as they tested and certified the early commercial jets, 707s through 767s, at the dawn of the jet age. Passionate about flying, Boeing test pilot S. L. “Lew” Wallick and his Flight Test colleagues lived lives full of risk and adventure while raising their families in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, a region strongly influenced by Boeing and aviation. Using personal interviews of the pilots and engineers, Lew’s daughter Rebecca weaves the accounts of many key test pilots and flight test engineers of this Golden Age of aviation into a narrative full of aviation history, behind-the-scenes drama, some well-kept secrets, and personal insights about how the Boeing test pilots worked, lived and raised their families. Growing Up Boeing offers the human side of Boeing’s flight test history.

Sit down, buckle your seat belt, put your tray table up, and prepare to take off on a nostalgic flight back in time, when the best test pilots flew by the seat of their pants, putting new commercial jets through tests that stressed and pushed the edge of performance envelopes, discovering their limits and tolerances and making them even better. Fly along on demonstration and proving flights as the test pilots help Boeing sell the airplanes to airlines around the world, meeting a few celebrities along the way. By the end of your flight, you’ll have a greater appreciation for the risks the crews took to ensure that we, the traveling public, can fly safely and comfortably to almost anywhere in the world today.

Rebecca Wallick is the daughter of legendary Boeing test pilot S. L. “Lew” Wallick. While not a pilot herself (despite her father’s best efforts), she has always had a keen interest in collecting and preserving the aviation history she witnessed growing up. Rebecca earned a degree in history at the University of Washington and law degree at Seattle University. After thirty years of practicing law and writing on the side, she is finally flipping the tables and writing full time (with a little law on the side). Rebecca resides in Kirkland, Washington with her dog Finn MacCool.

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Unlock Your Inner Chef With Dinner From the Movie, 'Burnt'

Helga: Growing Up in Hitler's Germany

By Karen Truesdell Riehl

When the author met her in 1977, Helga was an elementary school librarian, a 1948 German immigrant. Asked about her experience during the war, Helga quietly revealed she had been a "Jugend," a member of Hitler's child army, "trained to revere and obey the Fuhrer." When Riehl asked how children were recruited, she replied, "Clever seduction." Helga's seduction begins with an invitation from Hitler she cannot refuse. The ten-year-old is ordered to attend weekly meetings of the Hitler Youth movement. Lies and tasty treats are employed to entice her allegiance to the Fuhrer. Helga is sent away to Hitler Youth training camps as the war draws nearer her home in Berlin. She is caught between loyalty to her family, suffering under Nazi rule, and loyalty to the Fuhrer, who keeps her safe and well-fed. Helga's gradual disillusionment, followed by her harrowing escape home, is a powerful coming-of-age story of a young girl's survival of Nazi mind control.

Karen Truesdell Riehl's writing achievements are remarkable, given her lifelong battle with dyslexia. She was unable to read until the age of ten. Her published works now include a memoir, Love and Madness: My Private Years with George C. Scott, telling of her 30-year hidden liaison with the international film star, five novels, eight plays and a radio comedy series, The Quibbles. Her children's play, Alice in Cyberland, was an award winner in the National Southwest Writers Contest.

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Adventures of an Idaho Mountain Pilot

By Harold Dougal

Harold Dougal got into flying when flying was young, and spent his life as a professional pilot, most of it in a part of the United States that "stands on end." In this book of true tales, in addition to sharing dos and don'ts of mountain flying, he tells about early aircraft and aviation, about life in remote parts of Idaho, about people he's met and places he's gone, and of adventures made more exciting by mechanical failure, bad weather, cattle or tractors on the runway, airfields that can only be successfully approached one way, customers who ask the impossible, odd characters met in small towns, student pilots who haven't yet learned to navigate, and more. Illustrated with photos and line drawings.

Harold Dougal's first flight was in a Tri-Motor Stinson in 1937. He went on to fly almost anything he could get his hands on, in an aviation career that spanned decades. He was chief pilot for Bradley Mining Company, general manager for Boise Air Service, chief pilot for Mackay Bar Corporation, and chief pilot for S.P. Aircraft. He also helped build two ranches in the Idaho wilderness. He is a veteran of World War II, having served in the United States Navy. He took his pilot training using the G.I Bill. He logged more than 20,000 hours flying time by 1989, when he retired from commercial flying. After that, he continued to teach students and give flight reviews.

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