Dave Nevison is doing, every day, what thousands of punters dream of doing - living the dream of life as a professional gambler. Since taking the plunge in 1993, Nevison has made his living, a very good living, from backing racehorses. This title includes stories of his life. It reveals how he has succeeded while most punters fail.
Who ever said being nice would get you to the top? Certainly not Alexandra Miles. She isn’t nice, but she’s more than skilled at playing the part. She floats through the halls of Spencer High, effortlessly orchestrating the actions of everyone around her, making people bend to her whim without even noticing they’re doing it. She is the queen of Spencer High—and it’s time to make it official. Alexandra has a goal, you see—Homecoming Queen. Her ambitions are far grander than her small town will allow, but Homecoming is just the first step to achieving total domination. So when peppy, popular Erin Hewett moves to town and seems to have a real shot at the crown, Alexandra has to take action. With the help of her trusted friend Sam, she devises her most devious plot yet. She’ll introduce an unexpected third competitor into the mix, one whose meteoric rise—and devastating fall—will destroy Erin’s chances once and for all. Alexandra can run a scheme like this in her sleep. What could possibly go wrong? Lara Deloza’s crackling depiction of a perpetually two-steps-ahead popular girl makes for a fun, wicked story with a protagonist that readers will love to hate.
Like millions of other sports-mad gamblers around the world, Dave Farrar loved taking on the bookies. But when the girl that he loved walked out on him without explaining why, it all went wrong and he embarked on an ill-disciplined six-month losing streak that made him decide that he was done with punting forever. As he started to get over the fact that the girl wasn't coming back, he resolved not to give up without a fight. But this time, he was going to do it properly, making sure that he did enough research to take on the bookmakers and win. In The Perfect Punter, Farrar delves into the detail of every sporting event he'd lost money on in that bad run to make sure that, whenever he placed a bet in the future, he would know more about it than anyone else. He travels around the world following the sporting calendar, meeting experts who help him get to the bottom of each event so he can try to win back every penny that he lost. From snooker at the Crucible and racing at Cheltenham, to tennis at Roland Garros, golf's Ryder Cup and the US Superbowl, The Perfect Punter is the engrossing story of one man's journey to overcome the odds.
Invincible by Amy Lawrence: A gripping insider's account of how Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira and Pires became the first team in 100 years to go the entire season undefeated 2014 Writer of the Year, Football Supporters' Federation 'This book is so full of exclusive interviews you'll soon feel like part of the squad. A worthy tribute to one of English football's best ever teams, it makes you long for one more game at Highbury' Shortlist 'Unbeatable insight' Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph In 2003-04, a team that played with lightning speed and lustrous skill fulfilled Wenger's lifelong dream - to go a whole season unbeaten. They pushed and inspired each other, bringing the best out of strong characters like Jens Lehmann, a self-styled 'Mad German', Sol Campbell, an intense competitor, Robert Pirès, an instant friend if you give him a football, Patrick Vieira, a soft-spoken, battle-hardened captain, Gilberto, a thoughtful Brazilian, Thierry Henry, a supremely gifted and obsessed scorer and creator, and Dennis Bergkamp, the perfectionist conductor. Based on exclusive player interviews, and with a foreword and afterword by Arsene Wenger, this definitive book allows the Invincibles to tell their own story. Football writer Amy Lawrence weaves together the team's recollections, and the testimonies of other key players and protagonists around the club, to relive the pivotal games and moments. From the battle of Old Trafford to jubilation at White Hart Lane, from training ground sparks to dressing room revelations, readers will go behind closed doors, onto the pitch, and into the players' minds to understand the teamwork and the psychology to go unbeaten. Published in time for the 10-year anniversary, this is a must-have read for any Arsenal fan. It will be enjoyed by readers of memoirs by Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams, and will also appeal to football fans everywhere who enjoy classic sports books such as The Damned United. Amy Lawrence has watched football avidly since her first trip to Highbury at the age of six, and has written about it, mostly for the Guardian and the Observer, for twenty years. She lives in London.
Any runner can tell you that the sport isn’t just about churning out miles day in and day out. Runners have a passion, dedication, and desire to go faster, longer, and farther. Now, The Art of Running Faster provides you with a new approach to running, achieving your goals and setting your personal best. Whether you’re old or young, new to the sport or an experienced marathoner, this guide will change how you run and the results you achieve. The Art of Running Faster challenges the stereotypes, removes the doubts and erases the self-imposed limitations by prescribing not only what to do but also how to do it. Inside, you will learn how to •overcome the obstacles that prevent you from running faster, more comfortably, and with greater focus; •rethink conventional training methods, listen to your body, and challenge traditional running ‘norms’; •customize your training program to emphasize the development of speed, strength, and stamina; •shift gears, reach that next level of performance, and blow past the competition. In this one-of-a-kind guide, former world-class runner Julian Goater shares his experiences, insights and advice for better, more efficient and faster running. Much more than training tips and motivational stories, The Art of Running Faster is your guide to improved technique and optimal performance. Let Julian Goater show you a new way to run faster, farther and longer.
Joey Fischer's dream is to become the next pop sensation. To fulfill his dream he enters the nation's biggest singing competition. In his quest to be a star Joey embarks on a roller-coaster ride of experiences, emotions and controversy. This is Joey's story by also the story of many other hopefuls and the people caught up in the drama to achieve their dream.
How does one effectively aggregate disparate pieces of information that are spread among many different individuals? In other words, how does one best access the ‘wisdom of the crowd’? Prediction markets, which are essentially speculative markets created for the purpose of aggregating information and making predictions, offer the answer to this question. The effective use of these markets has the potential not only to help forecast future events on a national and international level, but also to assist companies, for example, in providing improved estimates of the potential market size for a new product idea or the launch date of new products and services. The markets have already been used to forecast uncertain outcomes ranging from influenza to the spread of infectious diseases, to the demand for hospital services, to the box office success of movies, climate change, vote shares and election outcomes, to the probability of meeting project deadlines. The insights gained also have many potentially valuable applications for public policy more generally. These markets offer substantial promise as a tool of information aggregation as well as forecasting, whether alone or as a supplement to other mechanisms like opinion surveys, group deliberations, panels of experts and focus groups. Moreover, they can be applied at a macroeconomic and microeconomic level to yield information that is valuable for government and commercial policy-makers and which can be used for a number of social purposes. This volume of original readings, contributed by many of the leading experts in the field, marks a significant addition to the base of knowledge about this fascinating subject area. The book should be of interest to anyone looking at monetary economics, economic forecasting and microeconomics.
This is a story seeking to change evil into good, gaining success today from past tragedy. A rags to riches tale mixing 15th century history with 21st century excitement, romance, manipulation and mystery - with "e;a finale as unpredictable as it is intriguing."e;Nicoleta is born a simple Romanian village girl. But from childhood, she is more - indeed in that country, her name translates to "e;a victor for the people."e; And she sets out to prove it when she targets the world - including by singing and winning over men. Turning the evil of her country's legendary vampire Dracula into 21st century goodness. > >Skills from the oldest profession help her to London where she meets PR man Mark who aids her quest, changing her image to that of Ilona, 15th century wife of Vlad the Impaler, factual inspiration of the fictitious Dracula. > >With Mark, and a rich, mysterious English Lord, entranced by her beauty, charm and singing, she inspires a new character for Romania. And Dracula. Can the world be persuaded he was good as well as bad?> >She sings to international success - but then tragedy, as she is betrayed in romance. And life changes. Back to her village existence - and a new life, literally. But then suddenly, an even greater challenge... offering goodness and triumph. Where now for Nicoleta?
Two street kids get tangled in a plot over their heads - and risk an unexpected connection - in this heart-pounding thriller by Tim Wynne-Jones. (Age 14 and up) Boy, did Blink get off on the wrong floor. All he wanted was to steal some breakfast for his empty belly, but instead he stumbled upon a fake kidnapping and a cell phone dropped by an "abducted" CEO, giving Blink a link to his perfect blonde daughter. Now Blink is on the run, but it’s OK as long as he’s smart enough to stay in the game and keep Captain Panic locked in his hold. Enter a girl named Caution. As in "Caution: Toxic." As in "Caution: Watch Your Step." She’s also on the run, from a skeezy drug-dealer boyfriend and from a nightmare in her past that won’t let her go. When she spies Blink at the train station, Caution can see he’s an easy mark. But there’s something about this naïve, skinny street punk, whom she only wanted to rob, that tugs at her heart, a heart she thought deserved not to feel. Charged with suspense and intrigue, this taut novel trails two deeply compelling characters as they forge a blackmail scheme that is foolhardy at best, disastrous at worst - along with a fated, tender partnership that will offer them each a rare chance for redemption.
Dead End in Norvelt is the winner of the 2012 Newbery Medal for the year's best contribution to children's literature and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction! Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launced on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.