When teen adventurer Beck Granger finds himself stranded on a Himalayan mountainside, he has to draw on all his strength and skill to survive. After death-defying climbing and sheltering in some of the hardest terrain on earth, Beck also has to somehow make it through bear attacks and flash floods. But the biggest challenge of all is still ahead... Can Beck finally learn the truth about his parents' deaths and bring their killers to justice? Views: 22
Young adventurer Beck Granger is invited to South Africa by an old friend of his parents' to help out on a project to prevent rhino poaching. But when he arrives all is not as it seems, and Beck is caught up in something more dangerous than anything he's ever survived before . . . Not only are there the poachers to contend with, but somebody seems desperate to track Beck down - whatever the cost. And then there are the hundreds of wild animals . . . Views: 21
Tony joins the Bonita Beach, California crisis hotline to improve his listening skills, but when a listener, Joy, is murdered he is prevailed upon to look for the killer by Shahla, an exotic teen listener who was Joy's best friend. The inappropriate callers provide them with plenty of suspects to hunt down from L.A. to Las Vegas in Tony's leased Porsche, but will Tony survive the chase? Views: 21
Why would a middle-aged businessman, who had never even spent a single night outdoors, attempt to hike the entire Appalachian trail in one year? Bill Walker, a former commodities trader in Chicago and London, and an avid walker, had developed a virtual obsession to thru-hike the 2,175 mile AT. In the spring of 2005 he set off, determined to hike this Georgia-to-northern Maine wilderness trail before the arrival of winter. Immediately, he realized he had plunged into a whole new world. The AT has some ferociously difficult terrain, winding through dramatically diverse geography, and covers the very highest peaks in the East. Walker's near 7-foot height earned him the trail name, Skywalker, and drew envious raves from fellow hikers. But that same height made him more vulnerable to weight loss, cold weather, and crushing fatigue. An elemental fear of bears, snakes, and getting lost also loomed large. The journey often seemed like a see-saw battle between his determination vs. his blunders. The Appalachian Trail has developed a remarkable culture over the years. No other country has a footpath even remotely as popular. Up to four million people hike on the AT at various points during any given year. Mortals are compelled--or perhaps cursed--to relive their lifetime adventure. This is Bill Walker's (Skywalker's) unforgettable version, leavened with ruthlessly self-deprecating humor. His fondest hope is to inspire other rookies and novice hikers, to give the Appalachian Trail a try as well.Review"Walker's description of his fellow hikers is the best part of this fine book. He has a real talent for capturing human foibles." Smokey Mountain Book Review, Jeff Minnick"Ruthlessly self-deprecating. It's a winning tone." Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Tom Becnel"I was surprised at his honesty. I respect his dealing with the subject of trail romance the way he dealt with it and not using graphic descriptions." Village Journal"This book is such a delight to read because of his fondness for people, and his talent for capturing it all in words." Appalachian Long-Distance Hiking Association From the AuthorSome have joked that this book is as much about what NOT to do, as what to do. Skywalker couldn't agree more! Views: 19
Product DescriptionCold Hand in Mine was first published in the UK in 1975 and in the US in 1977. The story 'Pages from a Young Girl's Journal' won the Aickman World Fantasy Award in 1975. It was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1973 before appearing in this collection. Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full, being more ambiguous than standard ghost stories. Throughout the stories the reader is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story ('Pages from a Young Girl's Journal') but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing. 'Of all the authors of uncanny tales, Aickman is the best ever . . . His tales literally haunt me; his plots and his turns of phrase run through my head at the most unlikely moments.' Russell Kirk About the AuthorRobert Fordyce Aickman was born in 1914 in London. He was married to Edith Ray Gregorson from 1941 to 1957. In 1946 the couple, along with Tom and Angela Rolt, set up the Inland Waterways Association to preserve the canals of Britain. It was in 1951 that Aickman, along with Elizabeth Jane Howard, published his first ghost stories entitled We are the Dark. Aickman went on to publish eleven more volumes of horror stories as well as two fantasy novels and two volumes of autobiography. He also edited the first eight volumes of The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories. He died in February 1981. Product DescriptionCold Hand in Mine was first published in the UK in 1975 and in the US in 1977. The story 'Pages from a Young Girl's Journal' won the Aickman World Fantasy Award in 1975. It was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1973 before appearing in this collection. Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full, being more ambiguous than standard ghost stories. Throughout the stories the reader is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story ('Pages from a Young Girl's Journal') but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing. 'Of all the authors of uncanny tales, Aickman is the best ever . . . His tales literally haunt me; his plots and his turns of phrase run through my head at the most unlikely moments.' Russell Kirk About the AuthorRobert Fordyce Aickman was born in 1914 in London. He was married to Edith Ray Gregorson from 1941 to 1957. In 1946 the couple, along with Tom and Angela Rolt, set up the Inland Waterways Association to preserve the canals of Britain. It was in 1951 that Aickman, along with Elizabeth Jane Howard, published his first ghost stories entitled We are the Dark. Aickman went on to publish eleven more volumes of horror stories as well as two fantasy novels and two volumes of autobiography. He also edited the first eight volumes of The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories. He died in February 1981. Views: 17
For more than fifty years, Wendell Berry has been telling us stories about Port William, a mythical town on the banks of the Kentucky River, populated over the years by a cast of unforgettable characters living in a single place over a long time. In this new collection, the author's first piece of new fiction since the publication of Andy Catlett in 2006, the stories date's range from 1864, when Rebecca Dawe finds herself in her own reflection at the end of the Civil War, to one from 1991 when Grover Gibbs' widow, Beulah, attends the auction as her home place is offered for sale.It feels as if the entire membership, all the Catletts, Burley Coulter, Elton Penn, the Rowanberrys, Laura Milby, the preacher's wife, Kate Helen Branch, Andy's dog, Mike, nearly everyone returns with a story or two, to fill in the gaps in this long tale. Those just now joining the Membership will be charmed. Those who've attended before will be enriched.The story of the community of Port William... Views: 17
The six stories in Outside show Barry Lopez's majestic talent as a fiction writer. Lopez writes in spare prose, but his narratives resonate with an uncanny power. With a reverence for our exterior and interior landscapes, these stories offer profound insight into the relationships between humans and animals, creativity and beauty, and ultimately, life and death.In Desert Notes," the narrator says, All my life I have wanted to trick blood from a rock." The story proceeds to instruct the visitor on how to experience the desert but continues like no ordinary field guide. At stake here is what is at the furthest edge of our grasp. You will think you have hold of the idea when you have only the hold of its clothing." Rattlesnakes, the shell of a beetle, a few twigs, silence—out of these spare elements Lopez conjures a realm that shimmers with an elusive but palpable presence.The Search for the Heron" and Within Birds' Hearing"... Views: 15
Two in the Bush is a record of the six-month journey which took Gerald Durrell, his wife Jacquie, and two cameramen through New Zealand, Australia and Malaya. The object was, first, to see what was being done about the conservation of wild life in these countries, and, secondly, to make a series of television films for the BBC. They were introduced to many rare and remarkable animals -- Royal Albatrosses, Tuataras, Duck-Billed Platypuses, Flying Lizards and Long-Nosed Bandicoots, as well as to some equally unusual humans. Anyone who has read The Overloaded Ark, The Bafut Beagles or The Whispering Land will have enjoyed Gerald Durrell's enthusiastic adventuring and his delight in the absurdity of the situations in which he finds himself. His observation of animal -- and human -- behaviour is always informative and often hilarious. 'Delightfully readable and often very funny.' Daily Mail 'An account of Gerald Durrell's tour of New Zealand, Australia and Malaya in search of... Views: 15
Meena and River have a lot in common: fathers forced to work away from home to make ends meet, grandmothers who mean the world to them, and faithful dogs. But Meena is an Indian immigrant girl living in New York City's Chinatown, while River is a Kentucky coal miner's son. As Meena's family studies for citizenship exams and River's town faces devastating mountaintop removal, this unlikely pair become pen pals, sharing thoughts and, as their camaraderie deepens, discovering common ground in their disparate experiences. With honesty and humor, Meena and River bridge the miles between them, creating a friendship that inspires bravery and defeats cultural misconceptions. Narrated in two voices, each voice distinctly articulated by a separate gifted author, this chronicle of two lives powerfully conveys the great value of being and having a friend and the joys of opening our lives to others who live beneath the same sun. Views: 15
