In the spring of 2020, Tyrel Nelson lost his mother. And he lost his job in the summer. Isolated by the pandemic and hamstrung by agony, he felt forgotten by the world as it marched on. Unhappy, uneasy, and unemployed, he began picking himself up by putting down his thoughts on a yellow legal pad. Battling through his bereavement on paper proved to be cathartic. But he needed more – a writing project he could sink his grief into. So he sorted through many of the narratives he had composed over the last dozen years. Reflecting and reexamining his existence, Tyrel brainstormed what to do with the pieces which pulled at him the most. A compilation describing significant individuals, places, and moments during the past decade-plus started to take shape. Travels and Tribulations is an emotional collection of vignettes, which commences in 2008 and concludes in 2020. While readers follow him on excursions in North, Central, and South America, they also accompany Nelson to the peaks and valleys of his personal life. Profoundly impacted by the deaths of both his parents, the author guides the audience through his anguish, depicting reminiscences and regrets as he openly tries to make sense of everything.
After interviewing a young farmer, writer Kristen Kimball gave up her urban lifestyle to begin a farm with her interviewee near Lake Champlain in northern New York.
Trials to Triumph is the autobiography of Arthur "Flash" Johnson. Journey with him through his physical and spiritual bouts, as he grows from poverty in East Saint Louis to prominence in the Olympic boxing ring. Sit with him as fights Leukemia in the quietness of the hospital room long after the crowds are gone, and be inspired by his faith in God, which brought him from Trials to Triumph time and time again.
Can you come sit at the table? Tammy Letherer’s husband of twelve years spoke these words on a Tuesday night, just before Christmas, after he had put their three children in bed. He had a piece of paper and two fingers of scotch in front of him. As he read from the list in his hand, his next words would shatter her world and destroy every assumption she'd ever made about love, friendship, and faithfulness. In The Buddha at My Table, Letherer describes―in honest, sometimes painful detail―the dismantling of a marriage that encompasses the ordinary and the surreal, including the night she finds a silent, smiling Thai monk sitting at the same dining room table. It’s this unexpected visitation, this personification of peace, that sticks with her as she listens to her husband reveal hurtful, shocking things―that he never loved her, he doesn’t believe in monogamy, and he wants to “wrap things up” with her in four weeks―and allows her to find the blessing in her husband’s betrayal. Ultimately, it’s when she realizes that she is participating in her life, not at its mercy, that she discovers the path to freedom.
Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. For as long as people have traveled to distant lands, they have brought home objects to certify the journey. More than mere merchandise, these travel souvenirs take on a personal and cultural meaning that goes beyond the object itself. Drawing on several millennia of examples-from the relic-driven quests of early Christians, to the mass-produced tchotchkes that line the shelves of a Disney gift shop-travel writer Rolf Potts delves into a complicated history that explores issues of authenticity, cultural obligation, market forces, human suffering, and self-presentation. Souvenirs are shown for what they really are: not just objects, but personalized forms of folk storytelling that enable people to make sense of the world and their place in it.' Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic. Souvenir features illustrations by Cedar Van Tassel
"Nearly every page has some crack piece of travel wisdom ... an accessible, inspiring journey." —Kirkus The Sell-Your-House, See-the-World Life! Reunited after thirty-five years and wrestling a serious case of wanderlust, Lynne and Tim Martin decided to sell their house and possessions and live abroad full-time. They've never looked back. With just two suitcases, two computers, and each other, the Martins embark on a global adventure, taking readers from sky-high pyramids in Mexico to Turkish bazaars to learning the contact sport of Italian grocery shopping. But even as they embrace their new home-free lifestyle, the Martins grapple with its challenges, including hilarious language barriers, finding financial stability, and missing the family they left behind. Together, they learn how to live a life—and love—without borders. Recently featured on NPR's Here and Now and in the New York Times, Home Sweet Anywhere is a road map for anyone who dreams of turning the idea of life abroad into a reality.
"It was near the end of February 1944. A light snow was falling as our family of six and a dog started out in our 1935 Ford. The tires were almost bald and there was a third of the steering wheel missing. The trailer behind was a modified shell of a travel trailer. It was loaded with the bare necessities to set up housekeeping nearly two thousand miles away. We were moving from Kanawha, Iowa to Yakima, Washington to seek our fortune picking fruit in the fruit-rich Yakima Valley." UPHILL ALL THE WAY, a collection of sixty-seven short stories, is a first hand account of the life of the author's family and their struggles through the Great Depression and World War II, and their eventual triumph. The circumstances they endured, some beyond their control and some created by the choices they made along the way, provided rich experiences for their family and does the same for the reader.The author's father suffered ill health the last twelve years of his life. It was during this time that the author spent many hours with his father and heard, for the first time, several of the stories told in this book. After his father died, the author had many visits with his mother to get a better understanding of his parents' lives before they were married and to clarify some of the things he remembered from his youth, taking notes and recording it all in the form of short stories. The end result is an unusual collection of poignant vignettes that draw the reader in and make the pages turn.More than 2,000 copies have been sold.Here are some comments from readers.* "UPHILL ALL THE WAY" By James Sloter."Anyone who grew up in small-town Iowa and especially those who grew up right after the Great Depression will find something to relate to in James Sloter's stories about the obstacles his parents overcame in raising their family in Iowa." Ellen Heath, Homegrown Writing, The Des Moines Register and Tribune. "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few are to be chewed and digested." "OF STUDIES" ESSAYS II, Francis Bacon (1561-1626)"Thanks, Jim, for the copy of "UPHILL ALL THE WAY". We are 'digesting it'.The book signing was such fun-we'll do it again for the sequel!"Claudia Warner, Administrator: Algona Public Library, Algona, Iowa"You asked me to tell you what I thought of your book "UPHILL ALL THE WAY". You said that you rewrote each story several times to 'make it flow'. Does it ever flow! WOW!"Betty Shipman, Corwith News editor, Corwith, Iowa"I just finished "UPHILL ALL THE WAY". It was wonderful. I would like to buy ten copies for my book club." Peg Williams, Minneapolis, MN"This check is for five more copies of your fascinating book. Thank you very much for the privilege of reading it." Kent Ryerson, Norwalk, IA"I just finished reading your book. I enjoyed it so much." Delores Huse, Pharr, TX"I enjoyed your book so much and am passing it around for all my family to read."Maxine S., Dixon, IL"I hope your travels through Iowa and book-signings have been successful. I have finished your book-enjoyed it very much-it has us reminiscing about our own youth." Pearl White, Sioux Falls, SD"Your book was interesting reading and factual, as I can really remember doing many of the things you mentioned doing in your childhood. The one difference though is that you were loved and you knew it. I was fed and clothed, but I never felt loved the way you were. Your book is well written and in good order & people of a later day than the 30's-40's should find it interesting and educational.""Best wishes for a successful playwright."Gordon Templeton, Lincoln, NE"Please send me a copy of your book 'Uphill All The Way'. I started reading it at my mother's and would like my own personal copy." Billie May, Waldo, WI
Brian has a million vague life plans but zero sense of direction. So when he meets Rachel, a self-possessed woman who daydreams of bicycling across the States, he decides to follow her wherever she'll take him. Brian and Rachel soon embark on a ride from northern Wisconsin to Somewhere West, infatuated with the promise of adventure and each other. But as the pair progress from the Northwoods into the bleak western plains, they begin to discover the messy realities of life on the road. Mile by mile, they contend with merciless winds and brutal heat, broken bikes and bodies, each other and themselves—and the looming question of what comes next. Told in a voice "as hilarious as it is wise" (Cheryl Strayed), Going Somewhere is a candid tale of the struggle to move forward.
This memoir is a domestic follow-up to my book Travels and Tribulations: A Memoir, which is a collection of short stories based on my adventures and observations from extensive foreign travel. This book is a collection of short stories about domestic adventures and observations in the process of growing up in the Midwest. Some people think my growing up has yet to happen. These stories are true, some with a few minor embellishments to improve the flow. Some names have been changed to protect the guilty. They are in chronological order but are not tied to a theme nor do they cover year-to-year happenings. They are memorable events that I think a reader might find interesting or humorous. These are the kinds of events that make life what it is.
This is a memoir about being in your twenties, and all the foibles, misadventures, and heartbreak that accompany those years. Looking back on a time period that is hauntingly near to him, Taylor delves into relationships he's had that have left him bruised, broken and oft times calloused and caustic, whilst exploring the trials of being broke, rudderless and confused with adulthood. Everyone has seen or read a love story; this is not a love story. This is a story of quasi love, of unrequited feelings and spurned advances. Despite the afflictions and sorrow, the story is told in a humorous and often optimistic tone. Though the author talks about many girls, the bulk of the text is about or returns its focus to one girl, the one that got away. Will Taylor find his way back to this dame, or will he be doomed to an impecunious life of lust and loneliness?
