Memoirs Books
Faber & Faber Boy Friends
Book SynopsisAn intimate and original memoir of love, grief and male friendship by one of Scotland's brightest young talents.''As perfect a portrait of friendship as I''ve ever read.''STEPHEN FRY''Lucid, lyrical, loaded . . . A love letter to friendship.''JACKIE KAY''A lovely book: bright and heartfelt, funny and refreshing.''ANDREW O''HAGAN''A beautiful, moving, life-affirming book.''IAN RANKINFriendships might just be the greatest love affairs of our lives . . .In 2018 poet and author Michael Pedersen lost a cherished friend, Scott Hutchison, soon after their collective voyage into the landscape of the Scottish Highlands. Just weeks later, Michael began to write to him. As he confronts the bewildering process of grief, what starts as a love letter to one magical, coruscating human soon becomes a paean to all the gorgeous male friendships that have transformed his life.''Boy Friends sees Pedersen illuminate these companions with a poet's eye, a comedian's timing and a lover's care.''OBSERVER''Written with enough electricity that it seems to jolt off the page . . . Boy Friends opens up conversations about . . . the brunt of suicide, the circumstances of certain types of Scottish masculinity and where friendships fit into that.''SUNDAY TIMES
£9.49
12 Publications Beyond the Monkey Bars Overcoming the Deception
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£12.30
Never Forget Press The Dark Side of Human Nature The Rwandan
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£18.00
See Stacy Speak LLC The Things We Dont Talk About A Memoir of
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£15.19
Yellow Arrow Publishing Freedom Warrior
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£19.00
Joyful Publishing Growing Up With Joy
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£19.00
Penguin Putnam Inc Starstruck
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£22.09
Penguin Putnam Inc I Cant Save You
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£21.24
Crown Publishing Group (NY) Alligator Tears
Book SynopsisA darkly comic memoir-in-essays about the scam of the American Dream and doing whatever it takes to survive in the Sunshine State?from the award-winning author of High-Risk Homosexual?Edgar Gomez is a young writer of deep talent and enormous grace. Alligator Tears speaks for the lost tribes of ?other,? those who serve our food, do our taxes, and mind our children. They walk the earth among us, invisible, without a voice. I am so glad that Gomez has given them one.? ?James McBride, New York Times bestselling author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery StoreIn Florida, one of the first things you?re taught as a child is that if you?re ever chased by a wild alligator, the only way to save yourself is to run away in zigzags. It?s a lesson on survival that has guided much of Edgar Gomez?s life.Like the night his mother had a stroke while he and his brother stood frozen at the foot of her bed, afraid she?d be angry if they called for an ambulance they couldn?t afford. Gomez escaped into his mind, where he could tell himself nothing was wrong with his family. Zig. Or years later, as a broke college student, he got on his knees to put sandals on tourists? smelly, swollen feet for minimum wage at the Flip Flop Shop. After clocking out, his crew of working-class, queer, Latinx friends changed out of their uniforms in the passenger seats of each other?s cars, speeding toward the relief they found at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Zag. From committing a little bankruptcy fraud for the money for veneers to those days he paid his phone bill by giving massages to closeted men on vacation, back when he and his friends would Venmo each other the same emergency twenty dollars over and over. Zig. Zag. Gomez survived this way as long as his legs would carry him.Alligator Tears is a fiercely defiant memoir-in-essays charting Gomez?s quest to claw his family out of poverty by any means necessary and exposing the archetype of the humble poor person for what it is: a scam that insists we remain quiet and servile while we wait for a prize that will always be out of reach. For those chasing the American Dream and those jaded by it, Gomez?s unforgettable story is a testament to finding love, purpose, and community on your own terms, smiling with all your fake teeth.
£20.70
Penguin Publishing Group How to Be a Living Thing
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£22.88
iUniverse MISTRESS The True Love Story of a 30 Year Affair
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£13.00
iUniverse Juvenile Delinquent to Surgeon A Surgeons Memoir
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£11.05
iUniverse Little Mormon Jim
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£22.79
Tafelberg Publishers Ltd Noni Jabavu
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£16.10
Carl Scully Setting the Record Straight A Political Memoir
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£999.99
Penguin Books Ltd To Miss with Love
Book SynopsisKatharine Birbalsingh is Britain's most outspoken and controversial teacher. Educated at a comprehensive school, she earned a degree in philosophy and modern languages at Oxford university and has taught for over a decade in inner-city schools. To Miss with Love was for several years an anonymous blog that exposed the reality of inner-city schools and the problems with the education system. She now writes regularly for the Telegraph and has given evidence at the Commons select committee for education. Her views have sparked a national debate. www.katharinebirbalsingh.comTrade ReviewCharismatic ... electrifying ... This remarkable woman has neatly identified the problem with education -- Minette Marin * The Times *The constant frustration, the struggle to hold on to your ideals in the face of a broken system - this book is the story of contemporary state education. It's both heart-breaking and inspiring -- Toby YoungDescribes in eloquent, despairing voice how schools suffer from high levels of disruption and underachievement * Telegraph *The teacher who laid bare the chaos in the education system ... by delivering some brutal home truths ... articulate and inspirational * Daily Mail *
£999.99
Kingdom Builders Publications Wounded but Healed
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£18.99
Polo Grounds Publishing The Baseball Gods are Real
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£19.95
Lift Bridge Publishing Shattered My Silence
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£20.89
Gill Life After Life
Book SynopsisToday, Paddy Armstrong is a husband and father, and it has been over twenty-seven years since his conviction was quashed. But the memory of his experiences lives on. For the first time and with unflinching candour, he lays bare the experiences of those years and their aftermath.
£17.09
Gill Jump
Book SynopsisThe point of all this has nothing to do with finding yourself. It's about what you can do to lose what you don't need.'It's a dark rainy afternoon on Dublin's jammed M50 motorway. The rain is hammering on the windscreen of Daniella Moyles' car. She is 26, a highly successful radio presenter, model and influencer, but panic is building in her head and chest, the internal state of affairs she has been trying to ignore finally spilling over into something undeniably physical. She is frozen, petrified, looks to her boyfriend and says, I don't know who or where I am.'This day changed Daniella's life. It derailed almost everything she had worked to achieve and set her on a new path.Jump is the story of what happened when Daniella quit her job to backpack around the world for two years, and how freedom from the trappings of what society considers success leads to true contentment, strength and authenticity.
£16.19
Gill Ranger 22 The No. 1 Bestseller
Book SynopsisThe path I have travelled, the things I have done and the people I have met in crisis situations have given me a window into those qualities that make us perform. My military training created a mindset, an outlook and skills that can be channelled into any situation.'From the hills of south Lebanon to the monsoon jungles of Southern Asia, Ray Goggins has operated in a life-and-death world. In the suffocating humidity of Liberia, the mountains ofAfghanistan and the snow-covered Balkans, Ray has seen the best and worst qualities in himself and others. From conflict zones to terrorist attacks and hostage rescues, Ray has learned the greatest life lessons: how to control fear, how to react calmly and positively, and how to create a strong baseline from which to take action.After a life spent on the front line with the Irish Defence Forces, Ray now trains others to foster a mindset to handle whatever madness life has in store. In this remarkable book, he tak
£11.39
Gill Champion
Book SynopsisPat Smullen was one of the greatest Irish jockeys ever. In a career laden with success, his position as one of the country's best ever flat jockeys was long established. And yet, despite being a nine-time champion jockey, his humility defined him.It was this strength of character that sustained him when, in March 2018, Pat was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. There was never any self-pity. He just dealt with it. And more than that, he brought it centre stage: raising funds and awareness, and channelling his energies into helping others. Pat was a champion in all aspects of life, no matter what setbacks were thrown at him. Tragically, his life was cut short far too early in September 2020.Written in the months before his death, with the assistance of Donn McClean and completed by Pat's wife, Frances Crowley, Champion is the inspirational story of the jockey whose legacy lives on. From incredible highs to devastating
£14.39
Gill Breaking the Heart Open
Book SynopsisBestselling author and psychologist Tony Bates has spent his career seeking to understand the lives of others. Here he turns his therapeutic eye on himself and describes the events and people in his own life that have made him the insightful thinker and teacher that he is today. He recalls traumatic events in his childhood that reverberated throughout his life and how, with therapy and time, he was eventually able to heal. He recounts the stories of the patients that affected him most deeply and informed both the direction of his work and his philosophy as a psychologist.This book invites us to reflect with compassion on the meaning of our own lives, as well as on the way we, as a society, support those with mental health difficulties.
£18.69
Penguin Books Ltd Aprons and Silver Spoons
Book Synopsis''IF YOU LOVE DOWNTON, THIS IS RIGHT UP YOUR STREET! CloserIf you liked Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, it''s time to discover the true story in Mollie Moran''s Sunday Times charming bestselling memoir of life as a 1930s kitchen maid. When young Mollie became a ''skivvy'' in a stately London townhouse aged just 14, she quickly learned that she would need a large amount of elbow grease and a sense of humour. Through Mollie''s eyes we are offered a fascinating glimpse into London''s invisible ''downstairs'', a world that has long-since vanished: cooking huge roast dinners, polishing doorknobs, scrubbing steps - and covering up her employers'' scandals. Going to dances with her fellow servants and flirting with Harrods'' errand boys, she had no idea that the oncoming war in 1939 would change her world, and that of those she served, forever...Discover the real hardships and rewards for a
£10.44
Andrews UK Limited The Songs We Sang
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£11.66
Hachette Australia Understory
Book SynopsisEach chapter of this absorbing memoir explores a particular species of tree, layering description, anecdote, and natural history to tell the story of a scrap of forest in the Sunshine Coast hinterland - how the author came to be there and the ways it has shaped her life. In many ways, it''s the story of a treechange, of escaping suburban Brisbane for a cottage on ten acres in search of a quiet life. Of establishing a writers retreat shortly before the Global Financial Crisis, and losing just about everything. It is also the story of what the author found there: the literature of nature and her own path as a writer. Some of the nature writing that has been part of this journey is woven through the narrative arc. The Language of Trees is about connection to place as a white settler descendent, and trying to reconcile where the author grew up with where the author is now. It is her story of learning to be at home among trees, and the search Trade ReviewMany people dream about making a 'tree change'. When Inga Simpson and her partner fell in love with 10 acres of bush in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, they succumbed to its allure without quite knowing just what they were taking on. They followed their hearts and purchased the adjoining block to set up their own writers' retreat business, threw in their jobs and went to work-only for the GFC (and other factors) to drop them into the hurtful depths of uncaring reality. There are plenty of these stories out there, but what makes this one worth the reader's time is the interweaving of natural science and personal story, description and reflection. Many chapters start with a particular tree found on the block-its growth and habitat, the fauna it supports and its human usage-before flowing into Simpson's life and labours. She learns to look, to see, and finally, to recognise not only the trees on her property, but also her own possibilities and strengths. While each of Simpson's novels has shown a strong connection to land and nature, this book allows her to expand her observations and concerns, and to preserve and celebrate her trees in words. It is a fine addition to the genre of Australian nature writing. -- Lindy Jones * Bookseller + Publisher *To Come * Slow Magazine *To Come * Readers Digest *Country Update Magazine...a controlled and literate work that earns its emotional peaks. * The Saturday paper *'The novelist has written a memoir so imbued with her feelings for nature that it has brought a greater freedom in her fiction' + Article * Canberra Times, The Saturday Age *Her book is a delight. * Weekend Australian *This is the story of a tree change, from suburban Brisbane to a cottage e on 10 acres, but it's also a love letter to trees and living in the forest. * Australian Mother and Baby *delight to read for anyone enchanted by the hinterland's rainforest ridges and valleys that are fast being subsumed by suburbia up and down the coast. * Brisbane News *absorbing read * Marie Claire *Understory reads as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls - as well as the rewards - of striving to live simply. * Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday Age *
£13.29
Prentice Hall Press I Felt the End Before It Came
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£19.54
Penguin Putnam Inc One Sunny Afternoon
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£15.29
SPCK Publishing Incontinent on the Continent
Book SynopsisSurely touring Italy is the best way of sorting out your relationship with your mother?Table of ContentsContents1. Extending the Olive Branch 92. En Route to Italy 253. Albe robe llo, Martina Franca, Locorotondo 454. Albe robe llo 675. San Mango d’Aquino, Reggio di Calabria, Taormina 836. Sicily: Racalmuto, Agrigento 1097. Mess ina, Catanzaro Marina 1278. Albe robe llo, Matera 1399. Castel del Monte, Potenza 16110. Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Capri 17511. Pompe ii, Mount Ves uvius 19712. Viterbo 21113. Foligno, Montef alco, Santa Maria degli Angeli 22914. Civita Castellana, Siena, San Gimignano 24315. Pisa, Florence 25916. Rome 28117. Venice 29518. Making the Effo rt 307Afterword 313Acknowledgme nts 319
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group French Kids Eat Everything How our family moved
Book SynopsisFar too many parents face an ongoing struggle to get their kids to eat well, so why is it that French children gladly wolf down all the things our kids hate - the dreaded spinach or broccoli, fish, olives, salad...? In French Kids Eat Everything, Karen Le Billon shares her experience of moving to France and finding the inspiration to transform her family''s approach to eating.If you''ve ever tried hiding healthy foods in your kids'' meals, bribing them to finish - or even start - something healthy, or simply given up in exasperation at your child''s extensive list of banned foods, this book will strike a chord. It charts the author''s enlightening journey from stressed mum of picky eaters, to proud - if somewhat surprised - parent of healthy, happy eaters. Along the way, you''ll discover the ''food rules'' that help the French foster healthy eating habits, why it''s vital to get kids to try the same food many times over, the value of educating your children about foodTrade ReviewHumorous as well as instructive, this culinary adventure will change the lives of parents and children alike . . . Karen Le billon and her children learn that it's okay to feel hungry between meals, turn to mindful eating, and learn the importance of enjoying one's food. -- Patricia Wells, author of The Provence CookbookThis book is not only about how to teach children (and yourself) to eat well and happily for life, it's a book about how to help build and maintain the foundations of any civilized society. I loved it. Essential reading, whether you have children or not. -- Laura Calder, author of Dinner Chez Moi and host of French Food at HomeA wonderful - and important - book. One family's topsy-turvy culinary transformation becomes an in-depth exploration of the habits that have kept French kids loving food (and eating spinach) for centuries. -- Elizabeth Bard, author of Lunch in Paris
£14.24
The History Press Ltd Escaping Suburbia
Book SynopsisA portrait of growing up in 1960s Merseyside
£13.59
The History Press Ltd Nobodys Child
Book SynopsisA compelling autobiography detailing life in Rothwell Children’s Home and the years beyondTrade Review"The narrative is gripping and were it a work of fiction it would have been deemed to have been contrived because of so many coincidences of place, proximity, and characters. It is a telling reminder that the truth can often be stranger than fiction."
£11.69
The History Press Ltd Under the Bonnet
Book SynopsisThe adventures (and misadventures!) of a 1970s and '80s car mechanic
£11.69
Little, Brown Book Group Murder on the Home Front A True Story of Morgues
Book SynopsisThe remarkable true story, as seen in the brilliant TV adaptation now showing on Netflix! Murder on the Home Front follows Molly Lefebure as she navigates working for the Home Office''s chief forensic pathologist while living in a bomb-stricken London during the second world war. One ordinary day in 1941, forensic pathologist Dr Keith Simpson asks a keen young journalist to be his secretary. Although the ''horrors of secretarial work'' don''t appeal to Molly Lefebure, she''s intrigued to find out exactly what goes on behind a mortuary door. Capable and curious, ''Miss Molly'' quickly becomes indispensible to Dr Simpson as he meticulously pursues the truth. Accompanying him from sombre morgues to London''s most gruesome crime scenes, Molly observes and assists the investigations into murders which, despite the war around them, are still being perpetrated.Trade ReviewGripping . . . like a pitch-dark version of Call the Midwife, dealing with the end of life rather than the beginning. * Sunday Mirror *A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at mid-century crime-fighting * Independent *Lefebure's youthful bravery shines through, while the grim conditions showcase her terrific wit.Preserves like a frozen capsule the British grin-and-bear-it spirit and vocabulary of the WWII years. * Kirkus *
£11.39
Little, Brown Book Group Freefall
Book Synopsis''This is BRAVO TWO ZERO meets ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO''S NEST. Tom Read''s story had me on the edge of my seat. It also made me cry.''Andy McNabA former member of the British Parachute Regiment, Tom Read was preparing to freefall from more than 23 miles above the earth to become the first man to punch a hole through the sound barrier unassisted. It didn''t work out that way. From his hospital bed in a French sanatorium, Tom began to review his life in an attempt to trace the roots of his madness: the tough childhood, moving from place to place; joining the Parachute Regiment at seventeen and confronting riots, IRA snipers and booby-traps; doing more than 1,000 jumps with the Red Devils and the first ever Parachute drop onto the Falklands; and the high-altitude work that may have created a chemical imbalance in his brain. Weaving backwards and forwards between a haunting present and a remarkable past FREEFALL is an unrelentiTrade ReviewThis is BRAVO TWO ZERO meets ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST. Tom Read's story had me on the edge of my seat. It also made me cry. - Andy McNabExtraordinary - MAIL on SundayAn incredible story: funny, sad and as breathtaking as a high altitude sky dive - CAMERON SPENCE author of SABRE SQUADRON.A courageous book. - THE TIMES
£9.99
Little, Brown Book Group Departures
Book SynopsisI love Anna''s writing, and I adore stories of adventuring women'' Dolly Alderton''Humorous, emotional and useful'' Grazia''A beautiful memoir'' Dawn O''Porter''Warm, witty and gorgeously written'' The Pool ''Even armchair travellers will get a vicarious thrill from Departures'' Red***************A call-to-action for adventurers everywhere, Departures is about the power of travel to transform us, heal us, challenge us and turn us into everyday adventure-seekers even after we return to the grind back home.Have you ever turned up on a post-heartbreak holiday hopelessly unprepared and been forced to sleep on the floor wrapped up in a curtain? How about that eagerly-awaited solo adventure when you had to be airlifted home? Or what about the time you went to a fascinating European cultural capital and neglectedTrade Review[Anna's] stories of growing up via far-flung adventures and eye-opening city breaks are so warm, witty and gorgeously written that it's hard not to find yourself on Skyscanner within half an hour of cracking the book open. Plus she has the most helpful advice, from how to 'prescribe' yourself a hotel to the real secret to beating jet lag. Perfect snow-week escapism * The Pool *A beautiful memoir about travel and letting go -- Dawn O'Porter * Sunday Telegraph *We defy anyone to read intrepid journalist Anna Hart's travel memoir and not resolve to dust off their passport and embark on some new adventures. A call to action for women everywhere, Hart writes about the transformative and healing power of travel - and how its effect can last way past touchdown at Heathrow * Smallish *Just in time for the summer holidays is this great book from travel writer Anna Hart, which is part memoir, part how-to guide on making any holiday an adventure and having the same adventures back home. From Bali to LA, New Zealand to er, Margate, even armchair travellers will get a vicarious thrill from Departures * Red *Having worked with and been friends with Anna for years, it was fun to read about her globe-trotting adventures. I could hear her laugh behind the tales of some of her crazier adventures and thought it was brave to share some of the scarier and rougher parts of traveling alone as well as an insight in to trying to do it all in the grips of depression. I read it in one day and look forward to experiencing the next chapter with her. -- Jamie Klingler * iNews *
£9.49
Ebury Publishing Dress To Kill
Book SynopsisEddie Izzard - action transvestite, boy racer and male tomboy - spent the 1990s conquering Britain. As the decade ended, he looked further afield. Dressed To Kill, his stand-up tour, saw him transport his high heels and off-the-shoulder numbers to New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, taking a natural comedian''s delight in the differences separating the two sides of the Pond. In this book, he reflects on his birth in Yemen and his childhood in Northern Ireland, Wales and London, and muses on animals, male tomboys, street theatre, sex, crime, God, The Great Escape, Bible stories starring Sean Connery and James Mason, and cats who dig for oil. He also reflects on the trials and tribulations of being an cross-dressing, surrealist comedian intent on making it in America.
£11.69
Ebury Publishing Stay With Me Rhys
Book SynopsisMelanie Jones was born in Wrexham and grew up in Liverpool. She met Steve at her local Tesco, where they both worked, when she was 17 and they married five years later in 1987. They had their first son, Owen, in 1990 and second son, Rhys, in 1995. Their happy family life was torn apart on 22 August 2007, when eleven-year-old Rhys was shot by a stray bullet fired by gang member Sean Mercer as he walked home from football training. He later died in hospital. After Rhys's murder and the trial, Mel and Steve continued to work at Tesco and have helped in efforts to raise over 300,000 for a local community centre in Rhys's name, which opened in 2013. They also collaborated with Jeff Pope on the recent ITV drama Little Boy Blue.Trade ReviewHeartbreaking account ... Melanie Jones takes readers through the agony of that long wait, the tense trial and its unending aftermath. * Daily Mail *
£16.99
Orion Publishing Co The Intimate Adventures Of A London Call Girl
Book SynopsisBelle de Jour is the nom de plume of a high-class call girl working in London. This is her story.From the summer of 2003 to the autumn of 2004 Belle charted her day-to-day adventures on and off the field in a frank, funny and award-winning web diary. Now, in her Intimate Adventures, Belle elaborates on those diary entries, revealing (among other things) how she became a working girl, what it feels like to do it for money, and where to buy the best knickers for the job. From debating the literary merits of Martin Amis with naked clients to smuggling whips into luxury hotels, this is a no-holds barred account of the high-class sex-trade, and an insight into the secret life of an extraordinary woman.Trade Review'this is a no-holds-barred account of the high-class sex trade, and an insight into the secret life of an extraordinary woman.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (11.9.05) 'Belle is wickedly witty and you'll pick up a kinky trick or three on the way.' COSMOPOLITAN (October) **** 'Belle's tamer anecdotes would make Graham Norton choke. But it does possess a raw emotional intimacy, which is surprising given that it started off as an internet blog...it is Belle's portrayal of city-life alienation that is so candid.' -- Isobel Shirlaw TELEGRAPH (24.9.05) 'Insight into life as a high-class hooker. Shocking but funny.' HEAT (1-7 October) **** 'A good diarist draws you in through intrigue or through empathy. Belle does both...Everyday middle-class London is caught with its trousers down.' GOOD BOOK GUIDE (1.1.06)
£12.50
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Mecca Uprising
Book SynopsisOn 20th November 1979, the Salafi Group, led by a charismatic figure named Juhaiman al-Utaibi, seized control of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in the Muslim World. The Salafi Group was not trying to establish an Islamic state. Instead, its members believed they were players in a prophetic script about the End of Time. After a two-week siege, the Saudi government recaptured the mosque, threw the survivors into prison, and had them publicly executed. The Mecca Uprising offers an insider''s account of the religious subculture that incubated the Mecca Uprising, written by a former member of the Salafi Group, Nasir al-Huzaimi. Huzaimi did not participate in the uprising, but he was arrested in a government sweep of Salafi Group members and spent six years in prison. In 2011, he published his memoir, Days with Juhaiman, offering the most detailed picture we have of the Salafi Group and Juhaiman. The Mecca Uprising had profound effects on Saudi Arabia and the MuTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Saudi Arabia 2. Salafi Group and Religious Beliefs 3. Salafi Group and Society 4. Juhaiman al-Utaibi Appendix 1: Dreams Appendix 2: The Sermon During the Uprising Appendix 3: Interview with al-Majallah Magazine Appendix 4: Interview with Badr al-Rashid
£999.99
Running Press,U.S. No Baggage
Book SynopsisOne Dress, Three Weeks, Eight Countries,Zero Baggage Newly recovered from a quarter-life meltdown, Clara Bensen decided to test her comeback by signing up for an online dating account. She never expected to meet Jeff, a wildly energetic university professor with a reputation for bucking convention. They barely know each other''s last names when they agree to set out on a risky travel experiment spanning eight countries and three weeks. The catch? No hotel reservations, no plans, and best of all, no baggage. Clara''s story will resonate with adventurers and homebodies alike,it''s at once a romance, a travelogue, and a bright modern take on the age-old questions: How do you find the courage to explore beyond your comfort zone? Can you love someone without the need for labels and commitment? Is it possible to truly leave your baggage behind?Trade Review"An absorbing and well-told tale...I hope she travels once more, returning with another well-furnished notebook." --The New York Times Book Review "Readers intrigued as much by modern romance as by world travel will appreciate this thrilling travelogue of an erratic relationship and the landscape of ancient and modern Europe." --Booklist "Bensen's story of an unexpected--and unexpectedly meaningful and at times magical--romance that developed from a chance online encounter is charming. Yet it is also insightful for the author's observations about the conflicting desires for freedom and commitment that are the hallmarks of modern romance. An engaging memoir of travel, love, and finding oneself." --Kirkus Reviews
£10.79
Running Press Book Publishers Take Back the Magic
Book SynopsisRenowned spiritual teacher and co-founder of The Way of the Rose Perdita Finn teaches the art and healing power of connecting with the dead, as she guides readers through the magical process of conversing with the unseen world. This expanded paperback edition includes a new foreword and afterword from the author, and testimonials from readers who have used Finn's techniques in their own spiritual lives.'Finn weaves a spellbinding meditation . . . an affecting ode to the power of the unseen.' —Publishers Weekly What if you could live in a world where the guidance of those who were gone was available, right at your very fingertips? It's possible, if we are open to it. Anyone can reclaim the forgotten guidance of the dead, and anyone can return to the realm of magic and miracles. In Take Back the Magic: Conversations with the Unseen World, author, spiritual teacher, and co-founder of The Way of the Rose Perdita Finn reveals that life is beginningless, love is endless, and those who have passed don’t truly go anywhere when they die. Weaving together memoir, history, and a non-denominational spirituality based in ecology, Finn invites readers to live the experience that the stories of our lives are much older, bigger, and more merciful than we have been led to believe.Take Back the Magic takes the reader on a journey of healing, possibility, and love, as the story of how Finn healed her relationship with her bitter, patriarchal father long after his death. Along the way, readers will learn how they, too, can reconnect with the generous guidance of the soul’s long story through deep time, recovering their lost relationships with their ancestors and the Earth itself. Throughout, Finn shares guidance, tips, and practical advice that will aid readers in forging their own relationships with those who have passed, as she invites every reader to reconnect with their own inner knowing and to call forth magic from the most ancient parts of humanity. An inspiring invitation to healing in this life, and to experience that we are never alone, Take Back the Magic shows that the whole world is simply souls reaching out to and finding each other—and no one is ever truly lost to us, if we allow ourselves to begin our own conversations with the unseen world. Throughout this expanded paperback edition, readers will find real testimonials from students who have used Perdita Finn's techniques to enhance their own spiritual lives and connect with their loved ones across the landscape of deep time.
£14.39
HarperCollins Focus Chasing the Panther
Book SynopsisA cinematic and vibrant coming-of-age memoir, Chasing the Panther captures the thrilling and, at times, heartbreaking early years of Carolyn Pfeiffer, a pioneering film producer and one of Hollywood''s first female executives—a “mini-mogul” in the words of the Wall Street Journal. For a moment in the 1980s, Carolyn Pfeiffer was the only woman in Hollywood who could greenlight a movie. Working with directors like Sam Shepard and Wes Craven, and with actors like River Phoenix and Bette Davis, she had a hand in producing or distributing many landmark films, among them Ridley Scott''s The Duellists, Alan Rudolph''s Choose Me, and the Academy Award-winning Kiss of the Spider Woman. However, long before establishing herself as a player in the world of film, Carolyn was a horseback-riding tomboy who dreamed of exploring the world beyond her small hometown. Her journey turned out to be a tale fit foTrade Review'The young southern girl who stepped through the looking glass at the right time may be the one to explain the magic hold of movies. Immensely pleasurable, vivid, and precise, Carolyn Pfeiffer's beautifully written and acutely felt memoir brings you into her life and puts you in her skin as she discovers the seductions of Europe and the glamour of show business. And she writes so well about what love affairs are made of and how they go'. * Joan Juliet Buck, author of The Price Of Illusion *'Chasing the Panther is the feminist serial you always longed for, dropping you right into the middle of the explosive European film world of the fifties and sixties, where Carolyn Pfeiffer not only is in the right place at the right time but is the right person: she makes her own way, meets everyone, falls in love a lot, works hard on and off the set with directors and actors, and by the seventies, winds up being the only female producer in Hollywood able to green-light a film. And she has wisdom. This book is such a beautiful read.' * Eileen Myles, poet, author of Chelsea Girls *'A terrific read. The education of a pioneering indie studio executive as a young woman whose film school was European art cinema at its heyday, and also an intimate memoir of a life in the fast lane during the Swinging Sixties, careening from Rome to Paris to London, working and partying with the likes of Visconti, Truffaut, and the Beatles.' * Thomas Schatz, professor at the University of Texas at Austin; film historian and author of the bestselling book The Genuis of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era *'Carolyn has experienced firsthand what it's like to be part of the glamour and guts of greatness while still feeling her cheeks blush and heart soar. Those same sensations become ours. This book should be required reading for anyone with a dream.' * Alan Rudolph, multiple award-winning director and writer *'Carolyn Pfeiffer fearlessly joined an international cultural revolution where she gracefully embraced opportunities in fashion, the film industry, and single motherhood. Achievement, glorious highs, and tragic lows . . . her life reads like a novel.' * Joan Tewkesbury, filmmaker, author, and senior advisor at the Sundance Institute *'Carolyn Pfeiffer's adventures in her most unusual and adventurous life have included associations with rogues and royalty, creative changers of culture and wayward souls looking for redemption. She has, in the process, built companies, created media moguls, built schools, produced Academy-recognized films, and crashed through more glass ceilings than imaginable, all with grace and wit and charm. If there was cutting-edge of action of the cultural front, Carolyn was there: brave, confronting, and unbowed. And on top of all of that, her men have generally been famous, good looking, literate rascals, and she always gave them the run of their lives.' * Thom Mount, producer and former president of Universal Pictures *'Carolyn was there at virtually every defining juncture of modern entertainment culture--from the French New Wave to the London music scene through the rise of the American independent film movement.' * Keith Carradine, Emmy and Tony-Award nominated actor and Academy Award-winning songwriter *'This book is a gem. Carolyn's dazzlingly bold and marvelous souvenirs knock one out from page one. Her prose is powerful and graceful, her life fascinating: she worked for the likes of Visconti, Claudia Cardinale, and Alain Delon (to drop a few names) and is always gracious and generous about them. I love her and love her book. So will you.' * Geraldine Chaplin, actor and winner of the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Goya Awards *
£17.00
McFarland and Company, Inc. A Child of Sanitariums
Book Synopsis This dramatic memoir recounts one woman''s experience with skeletal tuberculosis, which she contracted at the age of five in the 1930s. It recounts her next nine years living in tuberculosis sanatoriums where she underwent many treatments for the disease and was finally released when she was 14. Despite her subsequent disablement, she went on to marry and have three children, work as a micro-biologist, perform as a comedienne, and serve as an advocate for minority groups. By turns deeply affecting and hilarious, this memoir provides a glimpse into a still-dangerous disease and is a testament to the power of human perseverance and hope.
£19.67
Baker Publishing Group My Glimpse of Eternity
Book SynopsisIn this inspiring and bestselling true story, a young mom shares what she saw and heard while in heaven--and how dying taught her to truly live.
£9.99
Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press Insatiable
Book SynopsisAsa Akira (28) has already had an extremely unusual life. Educated at the United Nations International School in Manhattan, she soon was earning a good living by stripping and working as a dominatrix at a sex dungeon. Akira has now built up a reputation for being of the most popular, hardworking, and extreme actors in the business, winning dozens of awards for her 330+ movies, including her #1 bestselling series “Asa Akira Is Insatiable”. In Insatiable, Akira recounts her extraordinary life in chapters that are hilarious, shocking, and touching. In a wry, conversational tone, she talks about her experiences shoplifting and doing drugs while in school, her relationship with other porn stars (she is married to one) and with the industry at large, and her beliefs about women and sexuality. Insatiable is filled with Akira’s unusual and often highly amusing anecdotes, including her visit to a New Hampshire sex shop run by a mother and son. In a world where porn is increasingly becoming part of the mainstream, Akira is one of very few articulate voices writing from the inside. She has something important, controversial, and astonishingly interesting to say about sex and its central role in our culture.Trade ReviewA New York Post Best Book of the Year "Akira is the Galileo of women's sexuality, shifting our culture from the 'Dark Ages' of slut-shaming into an enlightened celebration of female desire. Hot, hilarious, and engrossing, this book is a path toward greater freedom for us all: read it and evolve."--Alissa Nutting, author of Tampa "Akira is not only passionate about the porn industry, she is shameless, funny and even endearing."--Susannah Cahalan, New York Post (Best Books of the Year) "An intimate look at her life. Each chapter is filled with brutal honesty and self-deprecating humor. It's touching, inspiring, and flies in the face of a lot of people's preconceptions about the life of an adult film star. What's most refreshing is that the high points of the book aren't the double-penetration and masturbation scenes--even though that stuff is great--it's her strong storytelling, which makes her struggles and triumphs in the adult film industry super relatable."--Vice "It is common for mainstream porn stars to explain their choice of profession with some variation on "I just love sex... When Asa Akira says it, though, I really believe it... And yet, no person can act as the flawless representative for an entire group of people -- and certainly not while writing a memoir worth reading. Luckily, Akira doesn't try to do that with her book... All of which is to say, her book is a lot like her porn: raw, brutal and always unflinching."--Salon.com "A hypersexual narrative of the author's experiences making adult films ... Akira acknowledges that her positive experience in pornography is not necessarily representative... [but] is happy to be a porn star... For Akira, the "right reason" for her own career has been that she enjoys her job. If that changes, she says, she'll leave."--NPR "All Things Considered" "In her debut book, Akira finds an inimitable voice from the inside in a world where porn is increasingly becoming part of the mainstream."--Examiner.com "Relentlessly risque... a lascivious, personalized journey through the pornography industry... and the frequently hilarious, surprisingly humbling anecdotes of a life spent having sex for the camera... Alive with an unconventional affinity for raw human sexuality, this exuberant memoir is effortlessly honest, without coming across as cavalier or catty. [Akira's] passion lies in the rush and the "high" of the perfectly filmed sex scene. Open-minded readers will find themselves bombarded by a carnal locomotive of industry insider secrets and amusing observations... Puritans take note: Nothing is left to the imagination in this hypersexual memoir of life as a porn star."--Kirkus Reviews "Akira gives even the most household items ... an entirely new meaning. Forget all the stuff you thought you knew about porn--truth is, you'll never look at Baby Wipes, Q-Tips and Ziploc bags the same way again."--LA Weekly "In this no-holds-barred memoir--which at times take on the form of letters, haiku, and diary entries--Akira shares her personal experiences working as a celebrated porn actress. [Akira] gives intriguing insight into the industry, particularly the bits about porn stars' private and public lives and her own attempt to maintain a meaningful romantic relationship."--Publishers Weekly "Asa Akira is the latest addition in a wave of highly raunchy but fiercely unapologetic female porn stars."--Globe and Mail "Asa Akira is insatiable in every sense of the word. Insatiable is, at turns, laugh-out-loud funny (the book is punctuated with naughty haikus, such as 'Home from Trader Joe's/Was it there for that whole time?/Dried cum on my chin'), poignant (she writes imaginary letters to her future unborn child and her mother, with whom she is close but does not discuss her career), and outrageously politically incorrect... But above all else, it's a brutally honest look at one woman's journey through the adult industry, which Akira says the ultimate culmination of her exhibitionist fantasies."--The Daily Dot "The multitalented porn star Asa Akira's twitter has been shared a ton and now I'm fully obsessed with her... she's so freaking hilarious that I'd be as into her if she were a comedian and not a porn star, but she wouldn't be making as much money in comedy because of society... funny, but important ... witty and clever."--Blisstree.com "Asa Akira is on a mission: To improve the sex lives of men & women around the world ... and if anyone can do it, it's probably her."--MaxManGuide.com "In the past couple years Akira has made her stamp on the business as one of the most dynamic sexual performers of all-time as evidenced by her whopping 10 AVN awards at the previous two award ceremonies."--Peace! Magazine (Canada)
£11.39
William B Eerdmans Publishing Co On Her Knees Memoir of a Prayerful Jezebel
Book Synopsis
£999.99
