"Compulsively readable" -San Francisco ExaminerIt began as President Ulysses S. Grant's bid for international glory after the Civil War—America's first attempt to reach the North Pole. It ended with Captain Charles Hall's death under suspicious circumstances, dissension among sailors, scientists, and explorers, the ship's evacuation and eventual sinking. Then came a brutal struggle for survival by thirty-three men, women and children, stranded on the polar ice—and two dramatic rescues by whaling ships. When news of the disastrous expedition and accusations of murder reached Washington D.C., it led to a nationwide scandal, an official investigation, and a government cover-up.The mystery of the captain's death remained unsolved for nearly 100 years. But when Charles Hall's frozen grave in northern Greenland was opened, and hair and fingernail samples were retrieved, forensic scientists were finally able to reach a shocking conclusion. Views: 62
Who says men think about sex more than women do? Abby Lee is a smart, determined young woman who for almost three years has been writing an online journal about her sex life. Her writing is everything that writing about sex should be—frank, hysterical, provocative, and completely honest. Her website quickly attracted thousands of hits a day, with both men and women drawn to her observations about masturbation, one-night stands, and same-sex encounters. Girl with a One Track Mind is a year-long diary of Abby's desires, fantasies, and anxieties as she tries to answer the question: why do I always think about sex? Celebrating both her sensuality and her physical needs, Abby explores a swingers' club and a Dominatrix dungeon, and even participates in a pre-arranged three-way (which ends without any satisfaction for her). In between her new experiences are run-ins with lifelong friends; potential romances; and long, frustrating nights when all she really wants is a "great... Views: 62
In a riveting, hilarious account, reporter Alexandra Wolfe exposes a world that is not flat but bubbling—the men and women of Silicon Valley, whose hubris and ambition are changing the world.Each year, young people from around the world go to Silicon Valley to hatch an idea, start a company, strike it rich, and become powerful and famous. In The Valley of the Gods, Wolfe follows three of these upstarts who have "stopped out" of college and real life to live and work in Silicon Valley in the hopes of becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk. No one has yet documented the battle for the brightest kids, kids whose goals are no less than making billions of dollars—and the fight they wage in turn to make it there. They embody an American cultural transformation: A move away from the East Coast hierarchy of Ivy Leagues and country clubs toward the startup life and a new social order. Meet the billionaires who go to training clubs for thirty-minute... Views: 62
The widely acclaimed, award-winning history of the cigarette. Views: 62
Based on historically accurate roots, this novel explores one New Yorker's involvement in his family's rice plantation and the wild tensions involved as he tries to right the wrong he sees at work in his family.Tracing the thread of slavery from 1500s Timbuktu up to the Civil War, Songs of Slaves in the Desert explores one man's struggle with the legacy of slavery and the loyalty of family, brought into sharp focus as he finds himself attracted to one young slave woman. A masterful writer, Cheuse grapples with the nether parts of our history and the wild nature of love, especially by those held closest in chains. Views: 62
Children with special needs : stories of love and understanding for those who care for children with disabilitiesThis collection of inspirational stories will undoubtedly touch many hearts. Written by authors who have lost loved ones, these stories offer comfort, peace and understanding to those going through the grieving process.
Individual people deal with grief in their own ways and within their own time, but the guidance and support they receive from others is what helps them through it. One of the key messages of *Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul* is that togetherness and sharing are the keys to moving on. In these stories people share their experiences with coping and they share deep memories. Each one has found that putting thoughts and feelings into words is not only cathartic, it allows them to reconnect with their loved one and others. Words of encouragement are plentiful in this edition and they go straight to the heart. Chapters encompass the complete grieving experience and include: Final Gifts, the Power of Support, Coping and Healing, Those We Will Miss, Special Moments, Insights and Lessons, and Living Again. Views: 62
A rollicking debut book of essays that takes readers on a trip through the muck of American myths that have settled in the desert of our country's underbellyEarly on July 16, 1945, Joshua Wheeler's great grandfather awoke to a flash, and then a long rumble: the world's first atomic blast filled the horizon north of his ranch in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Out on the range, the cattle had been bleached white by the fallout.Acid West, Wheeler's stunning debut collection of essays, is full of these mutated cows: vestiges of the Old West that have been transformed, suddenly and irrevocably, by innovation. Traversing the New Mexico landscape his family has called home for seven generations, Wheeler excavates and reexamines these oddities, assembling a cabinet of narrative curiosities: a man who steps from the stratosphere and free-falls to the desert; a treasure hunt for buried Atari video games; a village plagued by the legacy of atomic testing; a showdown between Billy... Views: 62
The last thing Mykel LeKym remembered is going through a mystical gate. Now he finds himself flung to the past, where a civil war broods and old enemies return. Can he slog through a war in order to go back home, or will he become a footnote in history? Views: 62
