Have you ever wondered who invented the 4-4-2 formation? Why footballers used to celebrate success by releasing a platitudinous pop single? And who has really scored the most goals in the history of the game? You can find the answers to all these questions and more in a book which takes the time to consider the debt the stepover may owe to Dutch speed skaters, explores the most surprising world transfer record and celebrates the most dysfunctional World Cup campaign ever. Through a series of answers to puzzling and perennial questions, the book sheds unexpected light on the beautiful game, challenging conventional wisdom, discovering neglected heroes and destroying a few urban myths along the way.
Award-winning author Stephen Bly weaves the tale of a pair of contemporary cowboys on a quest across the West. As a boy in Wyoming, Hap Bowman fell in love with a girl named Juanita. Ever since, he's experienced nothing but failure and misfortune. Laramie Majors -- quiet, reserved, and patient to a fault -- hasn't left Hap's side since they became rodeo partners right out of college. Now, after spending most of his adult life looking for Juanita, Hap wants to do one last big search that will take them all over the Southwest before he admits defeat. Together these two cowpokes find themselves reluctant heroes in a series of misadventures as they travel the West, all the while thinking that Hap's -- or Laramie's -- true love may be in the next town.
From prizewinning journalist and Brazilian native Juliana Barbassa comes a deeply reported and beautifully written account of the seductive and chaotic city of Rio de Janeiro as it struggles with poverty and corruption on the brink of the 2016 Olympic Games. Juliana Barbassa moved a great deal throughout her life, but Rio was always home. After twenty-one years abroad, she returned to find her native city—once ravaged by inflation, drug wars, corrupt leaders, and dying neighborhoods—undergoing a major change. Rio has always aspired to the pantheon of global capitals, and under the spotlight of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games it seems that its moment has come. But in order to prepare itself for the world stage, Rio must vanquish the entrenched problems that Barbassa recalls from her childhood. Turning this beautiful but deeply flawed place into a pristine showcase of the best that Brazil has to offer in just a few years is a tall order—and with the whole world watching, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Library Journal called Dancing with the Devil in the City of God “akin to Charlie LeDuff’s Detroit”—a book that “combines history and personal interviews in an informative and engaging work.” This kaleidoscopic portrait of Rio introduces the reader to the people who make up this city of extremes, revealing their aspirations and their grit, their violence, their hungers, and their splendor, and shedding light on the future of this city they are building together. Dancing with the Devil in the City of God is an insider perspective from a native daughter and “a fascinating look at the people who live in and aspire to change one of the world’s most impressive cities” (Booklist, starred review).
Retired US Army sergeant Thaddeus McCallum joins the Pinkerton Detective Agency, where he makes enough money to purchase the ranch he’s always wanted. But just as McCallum begins to settle in to his new life, he receives an urgent letter from a former comrade in arms, whose son Jeff has gone missing. Despite his age and the aches and pains that go with it, Thad decides that he owes it to the man to help. Pedro Peralta, who ordinarily would be left behind to manage the ranch, insists on accompanying Thad on his journey. The men soon learn that Columbus, New Mexico, was the site of an attack by Pancho Villa and his army of revolutionaries, and young Jeff has been taken prisoner. As they pursue Jeff into the wastelands of northern Mexico, Thad and Pedro must overcome an entire army to save him.
Rio Sheridan’s got it bad. Ceri Ross has obligations to the warrior community. Though she’s required to bond with her fated mate and not get involved with random unattached warriors, it seems she didn’t get the memo. None of which helps Rio: the woman calls to him like a siren. Ceri Ross needs a favor. Upon turning twenty-five, Ceri inherits an estate in Scotland. To avoid losing the druidic enchantments that have kept her alive since her parents’ deaths, she must spend a year at Conlan Manor. When she arrives, she discovers the old druid caretaker isn’t the only person sharing the mansion with her—an uninvited guest is lurking. She calls the security company run by her best friend’s husband, and anticipates he’ll set up a system to catch her midnight visitor. Business keeps him in the States, but his brother Rio is free—Rio Sheridan, the one man she can’t stop thinking about even though he can never be hers. A clan is counting on them. Hamish Buchanan has taken care of Conlan Manor for years. The energy swirling around the Conlan heir and the big American warrior she’s hired to protect the most secure stronghold in the Highlands gives him hope. If Ceri’s warrior discovers her within the confines of the manor, the clan will enjoy enhanced protections from the violent war goddesses for ten generations. If only she and Rio would stop sparring long enough to discover they belong to each other… enemies to lovers romance, enemies to lovers fantasy romance, intriguing fated mates romance, unique paranormal plot line, entertaining alpha male character, compelling plot with strong heroine, fantastic plot line fantasy with supernatural warrior, fantastic storyline paranormal suspense, high action fantasy romance, mens adventure fiction, must read fantasy page turner, intriguing fated mate love story
In the Loop: A Political and Economic History of San Antonio, is the culmination of urban historian David Johnson’s extensive research into the development of Texas’s oldest city. Beginning with San Antonio’s formation more than three hundred years ago, Johnson lays out the factors that drove the largely uneven and unplanned distribution of resources and amenities and analyzes the demographics that transformed the city from a frontier settlement into a diverse and complex modern metropolis. Following the shift from military interests to more diverse industries and punctuated by evocative descriptions and historical quotations, this urban biography reveals how city mayors balanced constituents’ push for amenities with the pull of business interests such as tourism and the military. Deep dives into city archives fuel the story and round out portraits of Sam Maverick, Henry B. Gonzales, Lila Cockrell, and other political figures. Johnson reveals the interplay of business interests, economic attractiveness, and political goals that spurred San Antonio’s historic tenacity and continuing growth and highlights individual agendas that influenced its development. He focuses on the crucial link between urban development and booster coalitions, outlining how politicians and business owners everywhere work side by side, although not necessarily together, to shape the future of any metropolitan area, including geographical disparities. Three photo galleries illustrate boosterism’s impact on San Antonio’s public and private space and highlight its tangible results. In the Loop recounts each stage of San Antonio’s economic development with logic and care, building a rich story to contextualize our understanding of the current state of the city and our notions of how an American city can form.
