"Every Stranger a God: Hiking the English Moors is a travel book about an American woman's experiences and reflections while hiking northern England's Coast-to-Coast Trail. Each chapter covers one day's walk, and for each day, a literary classic provides the leitmotif. When she leaves her teaching job in May, she feels misanthropic like Gulliver. By the time she lands in England, interacts with locals, and absorbs the scenery, she begins to muse upon her resemblances to Frankenstein and his monster. The cast of characters includes Gollum, Harry Potter, Emily Dickinson, Jane Eyre, D.H. Lawrence, and others. Nature brings solace as the simple routine of hiking slows down her mind. She continues to ponder life's mysteries, but in a more entertaining vein. The hiker develops camaraderie with other walkers along the way, observing the characteristics and regional identities of the hikers and locals. In addition to human interactions and cultural stereotypes, the author reflects on women's changing identities as they age"--
"George Aiken and his close friend Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield forged a bi-partisan alliance to oppose the expansion of the Vietnam War in their roles as members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This book tells that story and how the two Senators shared an alliance from 1962 to 1975 that would be impossible in today's highly-partisan Washington, D. C. The author, Stephen C. Terry, was Legislative Assistant for Senator Aiken from 1969 to 1975, and witnessed the Aiken-Mansfield friendship first-hand. The book also includes a biography of George D. Aiken who was raised on a small hillside farm and during the 1930s rapidly rose from a member of the Vermont House to a two-term Governor from 1937 to 1941. In 1938, Aiken was briefly urged to run for President against President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as a moderate blue-collar alternative to FDR. Aiken declined and was first elected to the U. S. Senate in 1940 where he remained until 1975, always a maverick Progressive Republican ready to criticize his own party's leadership. During his 34-year Senate career, Aiken was a champion for Rural America and promoted health-welfare social programs to support low and middle-income people. His last election in Vermont was in 1968 when he was nominated by Republican and Democratic parties. The thrifty Vermonter spent a total of $17.09 to get- re-elected"--
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller | A Washington Post Notable Book | One of NPR's Best Books of 2021 The definitive behind-the-scenes story of Trump's final year in office, by Phil Rucker and Carol Leonnig, the Pulitzer-Prize winning reporters and authors of A Very Stable Genius. “Chilling.” – Anderson Cooper “Jaw-dropping.” – John Berman “Shocking.” – John Heilemann “Explosive.” – Hallie Jackson “Blockbuster new reporting.” – Nicolle Wallace “Bracing new revelations.” – Brian Williams “Bombshell reporting.” – David Muir The true story of what took place in Donald Trump’s White House during a disastrous 2020 has never before been told in full. What was really going on around the president, as the government failed to contain the coronavirus and over half a million Americans perished? Who was influencing Trump after he refused to concede an election he had clearly lost and spread lies about election fraud? To answer these questions, Phil Rucker and Carol Leonnig reveal a dysfunctional and bumbling presidency’s inner workings in unprecedented, stunning detail. Focused on Trump and the key players around him—the doctors, generals, senior advisers, and Trump family members— Rucker and Leonnig provide a forensic account of the most devastating year in a presidency like no other. Their sources were in the room as time and time again Trump put his personal gain ahead of the good of the country. These witnesses to history tell the story of him longing to deploy the military to the streets of American cities to crush the protest movement in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, all to bolster his image of strength ahead of the election. These sources saw firsthand his refusal to take the threat of the coronavirus seriously—even to the point of allowing himself and those around him to be infected. This is a story of a nation sabotaged—economically, medically, and politically—by its own leader, culminating with a groundbreaking, minute-by-minute account of exactly what went on in the Capitol building on January 6, as Trump’s supporters so easily breached the most sacred halls of American democracy, and how the president reacted. With unparalleled access, Rucker and Leonnig explain and expose exactly who enabled—and who foiled—Trump as he sought desperately to cling to power. A classic and heart-racing work of investigative reporting, this book is destined to be read and studied by citizens and historians alike for decades to come.
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.
"A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit"--
Moving to America turns H&à's life inside out. For all the 10 years of her life, H&à has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. H&à and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, H&à discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape, and the strength of her very own family. This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.
George D. Aiken, a hillside farmer and a liberal Republican Depression-era Governor, rose to national prominence as a leading GOP U. S. Senator and enduring critic of the Vietnam War from 1962-1975. Aiken's long-standing friendship with Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, an unheard of political alliance in today's sharply divided Washington, forged bi-partisan opposition to the war. Aiken was neither "hawk" nor "dove", but a "wise owl" who spoke his mind forcefully and bluntly to all against the war. He advised President Johnson to declare that the U. S. won the Vietnam War and to get out. Later, Aiken told President Nixon to stop bombing in Cambodia or he couldn't be elected "dogcatcher." This is pure Aiken speaking truth to power for ending America's most controversial war, a common-sense voice that the Nation sorely needs today. This book demonstrates that bi-partisan Senate leadership has worked in the past and must be present in order to solve urgent national problems. Senator Aiken was a catalyst for forging consensus on issues from civil rights to foreign policy by being open-minded to all ideas that would help his constituents. Aiken's philosophy was always to help people first. He never made decisions based on his party, a lost art in the current political environment. A Senator like George Aiken today would help show how to restore bi-partisanship.
American Legacy Book Awards Winner “The harrowing accounts detail the experiencesof 11 US soldiers and Marines who have been ravaged by modern warfare and its psychological aftermath. What makes Kevin’s reporting unique and essential is that it didn’t stop on the battlefield—he followed his subjects home.” — Vice An important look at the unspoken and unknown truths of war and its impact, told through the personal stories of those who have been there. In The Things They Cannot Say, eleven soldiers and Marines display a courage that transcends battlefield heroics—they share the truth about their wars. For each it means something different: one struggles to recover from a head injury he believes has stolen his ability to love, another attempts to make amends for the killing of an innocent man, while yet another finds respect for the enemy fighter who tried to kill him. Award-winning journalist and author Kevin Sites asks the difficult questions of these combatants, many of whom he first met while in Afghanistan and Iraq and others he sought out from different wars: What is it like to kill? What is it like to be under fire? How do you know what’s right? What can you never forget? Sites compiles the accounts of soldiers, Marines, their families and friends, and also shares the narrative of his own failures during war (including complicity in a murder) and the redemptive powers of storytelling in arresting a spiraling path of self-destruction. He learns that war both gives and takes from those most involved in it. Some struggle in disequilibrium, while others find balance, usually with the help of communities who have learned to listen, without judgment, to the real stories of the men and women it has sent to fight its battles.
Every morning, as her husband Mike straps on his SIG Sauer and pulls on his heavy Magnum boots, Jamie Anderson tenses up. Then comes the call she has always dreaded: There's been a shooting at police headquarters. Mike isn't hurt, but his long-time partner is grievously injured. As weeks pass and her husband's insomnia and disconnectedness mount, Jamie realizes he is an invisible casualty of the attack. Then the phone rings again. Another shooting--but this time Mike has pulled the trigger. But the shooting does more than just alter Jamie's world. It's about to change everything for two other women. Christie Simmons, Mike's flamboyant ex, sees the tragedy as an opportunity for a second chance with Mike. And Jamie's younger sister, Lou, must face her own losses to help the big sister who raised her. As the press descends and public cries of police brutality swell, Jamie tries desperately to hold together her family, no matter what it takes"--Publisher's description.
Emily Young had two goals in her life: 1. Make it big in country music. 2. Get the hell out of Bell Buckle. She was doing it. She was on her way, until Cooper Townsend landed backstage at her show in Dallas. This gorgeous, rugged, man of few words was one cowboy she couldn’t afford to let distract her. But with his slow smile and rough hands, she just couldn’t keep away. With outside forces conspiring against them, Cooper hires the McKay-Taggart team to protect her. Emily refuses to let Cooper get hurt because of her. All she wants is to hold onto him, but she knows the right thing to do is to let go . . .
