For too long the author considered himself a writer of racing fiction. It is a neglected market, with good reason. No fictional account, and certainly not the tawdry thrillers which constitute the niche genre, can ever come close to replicating the reality of the sport. Horse racing is the quintessence of drama, the story unfolding daily from every corner of the country, with guest appearances from Ireland, France and other countries when the sport here must draw breath. The cast of these short stories is drawn from all the cardinal points of society, from the aristocracy to rough diamonds, from the glamorous to the mucky boots of stable yards, to people who are quite simply the best human life can aspire to. And then there are the horses, the true stars, the species racing people put on a pedestal. Horse racing is tragedy and comedy. It is everything Shakespeare aspired to. In stories which embrace most strands of storytelling Going to the Last: Stories of Horses and Racing is a brave but foolhardy attempt to reflect the beautiful truth of a remarkable sport.
The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.
“Heartwrenching.” —VOYA (starred review) * “Beautiful, captivating prose.” —RT Book Reviews * “I can’t recommend this book highly enough.” —Kathleen Glasgow, bestselling author of Girl in Pieces A twisted tragedy leaves Brooke and her siblings on their own in this provocative novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be. How do you let go of something you’ve never had? Junior year for Brooke Winters is supposed to be about change. She’s transferring schools, starting fresh, and making plans for college so she can finally leave her hometown, her family, and her past behind. But all of her dreams are shattered one hot summer afternoon when her mother is arrested for killing Brooke’s abusive father. No one really knows what happened that day, if it was premeditated or self-defense, whether it was right or wrong. And now Brooke and her siblings are on their own. In a year of firsts—the first year without parents, first love, first heartbreak, and her first taste of freedom—Brooke must confront the shadow of her family’s violence and dysfunction, as she struggles to embrace her identity, finds her true place in the world, and learns how to let go.
The New York Times bestseller by the acclaimed, bestselling author of Start With Why and Together is Better. Now with an expanded chapter and appendix on leading millennials, based on Simon Sinek's viral video "Millenials in the workplace" (150+ million views). Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled. This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders create environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things. In his work with organizations around the world, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams trust each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives are offered, are doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why? The answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general. "Officers eat last," he said. Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What's symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort--even their own survival--for the good of those in their care. Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a "Circle of Safety" that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside. Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.
Every region, every city, every neighborhood has its haunted house. But no area has an edifice like the Grussen Place. The Grussen Place was built almost a century ago in a swampy region across the Mississippi River miles from the nearest village of Westwego. It was built on a land that was inhabited by an indigenous people that dwelt there ages before the Native Americans settled the region, a region they soon enough vacated, leaving it to its cryptic secrets. Dark rituals were held on that site, making it an unholy ground. Nobody knew about the evil that still hovered over that area until doctor Arthur Grussen, a reclusive physician who had a secret of his own he didnt wish to share, built his opulent home there at the turn of the century. Nobody ever found out exactly what had happened to the Grussens. Legend has it that one of the children disappeared on a Halloween, followed by the wife and another child. Eventually the house was left alone, abandoned on the accursed plot of ground where it withered and decayed for decades. As time and progress moved forward, civilization rediscovered the Grussen Place with a tragic death that occurred as a result of a Halloween dare over thirty years ago. Now the legend of the Halloween dare is widely known in areas stretching all the way to the other side of the river and into New Orleans. Jip is a likeable thirteen year old kid whose biggest weakness is his determination to be accepted by his peers and Darren is a rather unlikable seventeen year old who tauntingly relates the legend and the dare to Jip. Being basically a sensible, and somewhat scary, kid, Jip scoffs at the invitation at first; but fears of his friends labeling him a coward, and other developments, eventually goad Jip into taking the most dangerous step of his life. He decides to take Darren up, with some rather interesting conditions and terms, on a dare to visit the Grussen Place, at an hour near midnight, on Halloween. It is a dare he will soon discover he should have never, ever made! The full fury of the horror that lives on that land and the legend itself comes to life, unfolding in this tale. By the end of this story many questions about what exactly happened at the Grussen Place are answered, and many new ones are raisednever to be answered. Go ahead and read on, but do it alone, at night, in a dark room with the only light being just enough illumination for reading the book. Go ahead! I dare you!
"Survival has been the Sledge way since Reuben's father first moved to Des Moines. Yet the family seems cursed, and one by one, they are slipping away. First Reuben's oldest brother is hanged for the murder of his wife. Then another brother is committed to the asylum for spying on the woman he loves. But it's the rape and disgrace of his beloved sister Nellie that drives Reuben into a despair so deep that he sets himself in opposition to the people of Des Moines. Into the depths of this depression wanders Tabor, lovely and vulnerable, who revives Reuben and sets him alive with the promise of her love. Beneath it all hangs the City, "not a city like Des Moines itself, but an inner City of Des Moines . . . or a lower City. No one has ever gotten out of the City." The City has claimed each of his dead relatives, and when Reuben learns that Tabor has descended into the City, he determines, in a moment of panic, to enter himself and bring her out. Thus begins the novel's second act, a harrowing journey through the horrors of the City and among its inhabitants, a ghastly assemblage of dwellers who've crafted new lives for themselves in the underworld." --Publisher.
Struggling with his ex-wife's imminent marriage to a nice guy and his Princeton-bound daughter's unplanned pregnancy, a bewildered Drew Silver tackles difficult family dynamics and refuses to undergo a life-saving operation.
"What's Going On?" is widely regarded as Marvin Gaye's finest work and as one of the seminal albums of the 1970s. This book looks at the making of the album, interviewing artists close to the singer, to arrive at an understanding of what the album means.
The ancient game of Go is one of the less obvious candidates for mathematical analysis. With the development of new concepts in combinatorial game theory, the authors have been able to analyze Go games and find solutions to real endgame problems that have stumped professional Go players. Go players with an interest in mathematics and mathematicians
Just a few generations ago, serious illness, like hazardous weather, arrived with little warning, and people either lived through it or died. In this important, convincing, and long-overdue call for health care reform, Joanne Lynn demonstrates that our current health system, like our concepts of health and disease, developed at a time when life was mostly short, serious illnesses and disabilities were common at every age, and dying was quick. Today, most Americans live a long life, with the disabilities and discomforts of progressive chronic illness appearing only during the final chapters of their life stories. Sick to Death and Not Going to Take It Anymore! maintains that health care and community services are not set up to meet the needs of the large number of people who face a prolonged period of progressive illness and disability before death. Lynn offers what she calls an "owner's manual for the health care system," which lays out facts, concepts, strategies, and action plans for genuine reform and gives the reader new ways to interpret information creatively, imagine innovative possibilities, and take steps to implement them.
