Download or read book It s Great to Suck at Something written by Karen Rinaldi and published by Atria Books. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover how the freedom of sucking at something can help you build resilience, embrace imperfection, and find joy in the pursuit rather than the goal. What if the secret to resilience and joy is the one thing we’ve been taught to avoid? When was the last time you tried something new? Something that won’t make you more productive, make you more money, or check anything off your to-do list? Something you’re really, really bad at, but that brought you joy? Odds are, not recently. As a sh*tty surfer and all-around-imperfect human Karen Rinaldi explains in this eye-opening book, we live in a time of aspirational psychoses. We humblebrag about how hard we work and we prioritize productivity over play. Even kids don’t play for the sake of playing anymore: they’re building blocks to build the ideal college application. But we’re all being had. We’re told to be the best or nothing at all. We’re trapped in an epic and farcical quest for perfection. We judge others on stuff we can’t even begin to master, and it’s all making us more anxious and depressed than ever. Worse, we’re not improving on what really matters. This book provides the antidote. (It’s Great to) Suck at Something reveals that the key to a richer, more fulfilling life is finding something to suck at. Drawing on her personal experience sucking at surfing (a sport she’s dedicated nearly two decades of her life to doing without ever coming close to getting good at it) along with philosophy, literature, and the latest science, Rinaldi explores sucking as a lost art we must reclaim for our health and our sanity and helps us find the way to our own riotous suck-ability. She draws from sources as diverse as Anthony Bourdain and surfing luminary Jaimal Yogis, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Jean-Paul Sartre, among many others, and explains the marvelous things that happen to our mammalian brains when we try something new, all to discover what she’s learned firsthand: it is great to suck at something. Sucking at something rewires our brain in positive ways, helps us cultivate grit, and inspires us to find joy in the process, without obsessing about the destination. Ultimately, it gives you freedom: the freedom to suck without caring is revelatory. Coupling honest, hilarious storytelling with unexpected insights, (It’s Great to) Suck at Something is an invitation to embrace our shortcomings as the very best of who we are and to open ourselves up to adventure, where we may not find what we thought we were looking for, but something way more important.

Download or read book Surf Like A Woman written by Pauline Menczer and published by Affirm Press. This book was released on 2024-05-28 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 80s and 90s, surf culture was toxic, especially towards women. But Pauline Menczer - a dirt-poor, chronically ill, freckle-faced teen from Bondi - defied insults and intimidation to ride the waves. The reason: she simply loved to surf. But when Pauline's determination propelled her onto the pro circuit, her battle for acceptance and equality didn't end there. The endemic sexism of the industry meant prize money for women was a pittance, while sponsors ignored her because she was gay and didn't have the beach babe look. Despite these challenges, Pauline became the 1993 World Champion and played a key role in bringing greater equality to the sport. This is the inspirational story of a true underdog battler, whose fearlessness and grit broke down the door of surfing's boys' club for the next generation of women.

Download or read book Max the blind guy written by Mark Beyer and published by Siren & Muse Publishing. This book was released on 2023-01-28 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maximilian Ruth daydreams in colors which his eyes can no longer see. His wife is leading them on a European tour: Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, and Venice. Greta Ruth calls this trip their “last hurrah.” She hasn't had the best from 40 years with Max. But Max takes their life differently: marriage is an affair of more than the heart’s journey. This pair of American originals have known passion, riches, and sorrow. Today, these roads lead them through Europe’s famed cities, but Greta wonders if the plan will see her through to the promised “champagne on the Grand Canal.” Their Elite Travel tour-mates are getting on each other’s nerves. They are characters found next door, on everyday streets, under black-eye days, and across lost-memory nights. The highlights and sights, the posh lunches, the gamy conversation over drinks in the bar – and of course the "tour friendships" – all make their faux-camaraderie sometimes combative but never boring. A story rife with modern perils – too much time, too much money, just enough libido, secrets revealed – Max and Greta Ruth don’t wait for what the future may bring. "Max, the blind guy" is a complex, emotional story of art, ego, love, and marriage. Beyer’s nuanced story brings to life fictional characters from America and Europe as this group of recalcitrant travelers make their way travel through lovely cities and desperate thoughts. "Precocious. Provocative. Poignant. MAX, THE BLIND GUY is built like an intricate mansion of dozens of opulently adorned rooms, secret passageways and windows that open up to the bright and vibrant world beyond. The story explores the delights, disappointments, disturbances, and distractions of love, lust, and the desire to get to the next place. Language play, humor, despair, and the engagement of a complicated community of characters, 'Max' brings to mind the work of his literary predecessors such as Nabokov, Marquez, Dickens, and Dostoevsky." - Patricia Ann McNair, author, THE TEMPLE OF AIR

Download or read book The Only Black Girls in Town written by Brandy Colbert and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From award-winning YA author Brandy Colbert comes a debut middle-grade novel about the only two Black girls in town who discover a collection of hidden journals revealing shocking secrets of the past. Beach-loving surfer Alberta has been the only Black girl in town for years. Alberta's best friend, Laramie, is the closest thing she has to a sister, but there are some things even Laramie can't understand. When the bed and breakfast across the street finds new owners, Alberta is ecstatic to learn the family is black—and they have a 12-year-old daughter just like her. Alberta is positive she and the new girl, Edie, will be fast friends. But while Alberta loves being a California girl, Edie misses her native Brooklyn and finds it hard to adapt to small-town living. When the girls discover a box of old journals in Edie's attic, they team up to figure out exactly who's behind them and why they got left behind. Soon they discover shocking and painful secrets of the past and learn that nothing is quite what it seems.

Download or read book Mahu Surfer A Mahu Investigation Mahu Investigations Book 2 written by Neil S Plakcy and published by Samwise Books. This book was released on 2023-10-27 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MAHU SURFER, the second book in Neil Plakcy's Mahu Investigations mystery series, sends gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka back to his surfing past. His new boss asks the former competitive surfer to go undercover on Oahu’s North Shore to find the killer of three surfers. The catch: he can't tell any of his family or friends that he has returned to the force, causing him to lie, when he has just come out of the closet and begun to tell the truth about his life. In his return to the North Shore, Kimo discovers trouble in paradise, from an epidemic rise in the use of crystal meth to increasing pressure on real estate prices. He also rekindles an uneasy friendship with a man whose sexual assault drove him into the police academy, and further into the closet, six years earlier. Readers will enjoy an exotic locale, plenty of aloha spirit and a dash of surf culture, as well as a slam-bang ending. Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for best gay mystery. Perfect for fans of Joseph Hansen, Michael Nava, and John Morgan Wilson.

Download or read book Project Emma written by Hannah Kay and published by Totally Entwined Group (USA+CAD). This book was released on 2020-02-25 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FROM POPLUAR AUTHOR OF YA FICTION, HANNAH KAY What started as homework ended in fireworks. Emma has one foot out of her small Southern town. She spends her weekends memorizing facts and figures and spending time with Alex, her best friend, while she still has time. In six months, they'll be out of there. Nonetheless, every day that the quiet, determined high school senior hops in Alex's hand-me-down car and goes to school, she spends more time within the confines of her favorite books than hanging out with the high school entourage—that is, until an English project becomes so much more than an assignment. Suddenly, with the help of a bad boy on a horse, Emma embarks on a journey to find herself and escape her comfort zone, all the while learning lasting lessons about friendship and the power of love. Yet, in the end, she has to make the choice—to love or to leave?

Download or read book The Boyfriend written by Keith Morrisette and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2003 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chris faced up to the fact that he was gay young man in spite of all the stories he read where he didn't fit the profile-his family wasn't loaded, he didn't drive an incredible road machine, and he was neither effeminate nor the super-jock. He didn't hate himself, and while he didn't exactly bolt out of the closet, he wasn't in a state of painful denial either. So, what did he want? Chris wanted love but that's tough to find. But that didn't matter anyway, because everything he heard and saw told him all gay men wanted was sex-and that he knew how to find. Looking for it one night he met Jamie Levesque, and with stars in his eyes he had to change his mind... The way Chris saw it, once he had a boyfriend, everything was going to be different. Just like in the stories, life with Jamie was going to be sunshine and lollipops forever-right? Uh-huh. Right. Read about it in a story that's told by Chris in his own words and in his own special way.

Download or read book A Series of EPIC Stories written by Scott Clenchy and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2018-05-17 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Within these pages live twenty-five short stories crafted by twenty-five authors. Each provides a unique glimpse into the mind and writing style of a budding young writer. As our title suggests, this anthology is filled with a series of adventurous, heart-warming, dramatic, thought-provoking, and altogether EPIC stories. We welcome you to delve into the themes and depth of this writing, or simply sit back and enjoy the sincerity of these young writers. Completed as part of 2018's annual NaNoWriMo competition, these narratives represent the perseverance, hard work, and determination of twenty-five outstanding Grade 6 and 7 students at Forest View Public School in Oshawa Ontario. It is with great pleasure that we present this anthology to the world. May you have as much fun reading as we did writing.

Download or read book Harper s Weekly written by John Bonner and published by . This book was released on 1857 with total page 868 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Not If I See You First written by Eric Lindstrom and published by Poppy. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of Gayle Forman and John Green comes this extraordinary YA debut about a blind teen girl navigating life and love in high school. Parker Grant doesn't need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That's why she created the Rules: Don't treat her any differently just because she's blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart. When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker knows there's only one way to react—shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that's right, her eyes don't work but her legs still do), doling out tough-love advice to her painfully naive classmates, and giving herself gold stars for every day she hasn't cried since her dad's death three months ago. But avoiding her past quickly proves impossible, and the more Parker learns about what really happened—both with Scott, and her dad—the more she starts to question if things are always as they seem. Maybe, just maybe, some Rules are meant to be broken. Debut author Eric Lindstrom's Not If I See You First combines a fiercely engaging voice with true heart.

Download or read book Man on the Run written by Charles Salzberg and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2023-04-17 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master burglar Francis Hoyt is on the run. After walking away from his arraignment in a Connecticut courtroom, he’s now a fugitive who has to figure out what he’s going to do with the rest of his life. And so, he heads west, to Los Angeles, where he meets Dakota, a young true crime podcaster who happens to be doing a series on Hoyt. At the same time, he’s approached by a mysterious attorney who makes Hoyt an offer he can’t refuse: break into a “mob bank,” and liberate the contents. Praise for MAN ON THE RUN: “One part heist movie, one part psychological thriller, three parts great character and blend. Salzberg’s superb Man on the Run will keep your head spinning from the first page to the last.” —Reed Farrel Coleman “Smart, sly and compelling, with a fascinating main character—the very definition of intelligent suspense.” —Lee Child “Man on the Run grips you from the opening page and doesn’t let go. The plot will leave you breathless with anticipation as a master burglar and a crime podcaster try to outwit and outmaneuver each other before an outrageous heist. There’s nothing better than smart characters, with smart dialogue, going head-to-head. You won’t want to miss a twist or turn.” —Michael Wiley, Shamus Award-winning author of the Sam Kelson mysteries “Francis Hoyt, Charles Salzberg’s brilliant burglar anti-hero from Second Story Man, is back on the prowl in Man on the Run. Old-school crime meets the podcast age as Hoyt tangles with a true-crime reporter as well as fellow felons and the law. Like his hero, Salzberg is a total pro who always brings it home.” —Wallace Stroby, author of Heaven’s a Lie “Charles Salzberg is a genius at not only crafting a helluva page-turner of a heist novel, but he also manages to make the reader care about Francis Hoyt, master burglar and pathological narcissist. Hoyt is the man on the run, and the story of how he eludes the law, the mob, and a retired cop who has become his personal nemesis packs a solid punch and leaves you rooting for the guy who’d steal your family jewels without breaking a sweat.” —James R. Benn, author of the Billy Boyle World War II mystery series “When it comes to Charles Salzberg’s work, you can expect a hard-edged story, crisp dialogue, and memorable characters. This is certainly true—and then some!—in his latest, Man on the Run. Featuring master burglar Francis Hoyt, a tough and intelligent criminal who can’t seem to turn down tempting criminal scores, despite the inherent danger, Man on the Run features a true-crime podcast host, a criminal fence, and an investigator hot on the trail of Francis Hoyt as his most challenging and dangerous burglary comes into play. Very much recommended.” —Brendan DuBois, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author “It’s a battle of wits and nerves as a cop, a robber, and a journalist dance around one another, weaving a tapestry of deceit and suspense. Salzberg’s dialogue flows like water until it finds truth in this most entertaining read.” —Matt Goldman, New York Times bestselling author

Download or read book Thinking Outside the Voice Box written by Bridget Sweet and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The changing adolescent voice counts among the most awkward of topics voice teachers and choir directors face. Adolescent voice students already find themselves at a volatile developmental time in their lives, and the stresses and possible embarrassments of unpredictable vocal capabilities make participation in voice-based music an especially fraught event. In this practical teaching guide, author Bridget Sweet encourages a holistic approach to female and male adolescent voice change. Sweet's approach takes full consideration of the body, brain, and auditory system; vocal anatomy and physiology in general, as well as during male and female voice change; and the impact of hormones on the adolescent voice, especially for female singers. Beyond the physical, it also addresses the emotional and psychological components: ideas of resolve and perseverance that are essential to adolescent navigation of voice change; and exploration of portrayals and stereotypes in pop culture that influence how people anticipate voice change experiences for teens and 'tweens, from The Brady Bunch to The Wonder Years to The Simpsons. As a whole, Teaching Outside the Voice Box encourages music educators to more effectively and compassionately assist students through this developmental experience.

Download or read book You Can Run But You Can t Hide Digital Sampler Pack written by LBYR Assorted Authors and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2014-05-20 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zombies and murderers, assassins and spies...you just can't trust anyone these days! Sample a few free chapters from these thrilling, fast-paced novels: Zom-B, Allies & Assassins, I Hunt Killers, and Boy Nobody.

Download or read book A Different Life written by Quinn Bradlee and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-10 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born with a hole in his heart that required invasive surgery when he was only three months old, Quinn Bradlee suffered from a battery of illnesses - seizures, migraines, fevers - from an early age. But it wasn't until he was fourteen that Bradlee was correctly diagnosed with Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome (VCFS), a widespread, little-understood disorder that is expressed through a wide range of physical ailments and learning disabilities. Ten percent of the population is affected by a learning disability, but few of us understand what being learning disabled (LD) is really like. In this funny, moving, and often irreverent book, Bradlee tells his own inspirational story of growing up as an LD kid - and of doing so as the child of larger-than-life, formidably accomplished parents: long-time Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee and bestselling author Sally Quinn. From his difficulties reading social cues, to his cringe-worthy loss of sexual innocence, Bradlee describes the challenges and joys of living ''a different life'' with disarming candor and humor. By the end of A Different Life he will have become, if not your best friend, one of your favorite people.

Download or read book Success Magazine written by and published by . This book was released on 1923 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Head Games written by S. J. Ateca and published by Page Publishing Inc. This book was released on 2016-12-20 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of an Air Force war veteran in his late thirties wrestling as best he can with a misdiagnosed mental illness compounded by post dramatic war syndrome going untreated due to a self-destructive combination of arrogance and a sinful amount of pride. Not only can he not admit to himself he may need professional help of any sort, but he self-medicates and compounds his problems with alcohol. His growing paranoia causes him to leave a great career in a half-baked attempt at self-employment. His growing paranoia makes it evermore impossible for him to face his co-workers, who he feels despise him behind his back, but laugh with him as he puts on a glib facade. In the attempt to streamline his life, Steve resigns from the fire department in order to raise the capital necessary to go into business for himself, despite the protests of his wife, family and friends. A disastrous turn of events leaves him penniless. Disgraced before everyone he knows, a full bottle of sleeping pills seems to be the only solution to his problems, still refusing to seek help at the VA hospital because his bipolar state refuses to allow him to humble himself and his paranoia won't let him trust the government. After spending time in the hospital, he discovers the true sources of his problems and what he can do to overcome them. Fortunately, he has the love of his wife and daughter to give him emotional support and new found faith to give him guidance.

Download or read book Frozen Fire written by Arjun Kushwah and published by Partridge Publishing. This book was released on 2016-01-30 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is inspired by the movie Rang de basanti... but it tells the story ahead. It is the story of five intimate friends, Arjun, Aman, Ankit, Yamini and Jai those are based in Delhi. All of them are well educated and smart. The encounter of few students of DU at radio station turn their thinking upside down and make them rebellious which leads them to form a youth based political party, Gen-X. They contest elections and show their all new innovative campaigning that has never been seen in Indian politics and their rigid will power. They have to go beyond what one could think to make a change in the picture. The smooth rivalry between Gen-X and the ruling party represents the current scenario of Indian politics. How the men in power try to create hurdles for them and how they overcome all this with their wit shows the real capabilities of the youth today. This is all about how the youth power can be used in a positive way and how it is better than the rest of all. The way they use tactics to overcome all the evils is the need of the hour which gives the story a most shocking and surprising climax that would leave readers enjoy as well as in a dilemma.