Download or read book These Precious Days written by Ann Patchett and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-11-23 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays. "The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and inviting: with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike." —Publisher's Weekly “Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books (author of The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.

Download or read book First Ask Why written by Shelly Wildman and published by Kregel Publications. This book was released on 2018-03-28 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's no secret that parenting is tricky business. With advice flooding in from all sides, strong-willed children pushing against boundaries, and our own human flaws, it's easy to get bogged down in every how-to that we're not doing well. But maybe that isn't the right approach. Maybe the first step is not to ask "how" but to ask "why." Like most parents, when Shelly Wildman had children, she consulted books, sermons, and lectures on how to raise the best children possible. Yet every resource focused on how to get external results: children who behave the way others expected them to. For Shelly and her husband, the turning point happened when they started asking why instead--shifting their focus to internal change. That's when their purpose as parents became clear: parents are called to do their best to show kids how to know and love Jesus, to love others, and to make a difference in the world. There are no rules here, no inflexible series of steps that lead to perfect parenting. Instead, Shelly encourages parents to think about their unique family and why each child's needs for spiritual growth might look different. She walks you through intentional questioning, focusing on building a firm foundation for lasting discipleship. And in the end, you'll discover that God wants the same outcome you do: a child who knows Christ intimately, loves him deeply, and has a heart to serve him fully.

Download or read book Before I Say Goodbye written by Ruth Picardie and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2000-09-14 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of essays, letters, and personal recollections in which Ruth Picardie records her feelings in the year before she died of breast cancer.

Download or read book Journey Through Fire and Ice written by Deanne Burch and published by . This book was released on 2021-01-31 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the age of twenty-three, Deanne Burch accompanied her husband, Ernest "Tiger" Burch to the Inuit village of Kivalina, Alaska, a barrier island 23 miles above the Arctic Circle. Tiger was conducting a participant study of the natives, whereas Deanne was a city girl - ethnocentric, naïve, and completely unprepared for the journey she was about to embark on. In Kivalina, she lived on the edge of two worlds - the one she left behind and the one where she reluctantly participated in all aspects of the women's lives. Skinning seals, cleaning and drying fish, cutting beluga and caribou to store became her way of life. Plumbing, running water and electricity were not available. Loneliness was a constant companion, although she tried to be accepted by the Inuit women who were suspicious of all white women. Gradually Deanne adapted to living in a culture she knew nothing about. The midnight sun was followed by relentless darkness and brutal weather. With this came a journey into the unknown. First was a fateful camping trip where they nearly lost their lives, followed six days later by a fire in their house, an event that left Tiger badly burned. During the three months Tiger spent in the hospital, his only wish was to return to Kivalina and finish what he had started. Despite horrific burns on his face and hands and seared lungs from which he never recuperated, Tiger and Deanne returned to the village to complete the study. Instead of believing in fairy tales and happy endings, Deanne became a woman of strength ready to face the next challenge. Over fifty years later she remembers the young girl who left on an unknown journey. A journey that will live in her heart forever.

Download or read book The Wild Robot written by Peter Brown and published by . This book was released on 2024-09-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soon to be a DreamWorks movie, coming to theaters 9/27/24! Includes 8 pages of full color stills from the movie! Wall-E meets Hatchet in this #1 New York Times bestselling illustrated middle grade novel from Caldecott Honor winner Peter Brown Can a robot survive in the wilderness? When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants. As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her. From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.

Download or read book The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook written by Deb Perelman and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 696 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • Celebrated food blogger and best-selling cookbook author Deb Perelman knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion—from salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and galettes; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe. “Innovative, creative, and effortlessly funny." —Cooking Light Deb Perelman loves to cook. She isn’t a chef or a restaurant owner—she’s never even waitressed. Cooking in her tiny Manhattan kitchen was, at least at first, for special occasions—and, too often, an unnecessarily daunting venture. Deb found herself overwhelmed by the number of recipes available to her. Have you ever searched for the perfect birthday cake on Google? You’ll get more than three million results. Where do you start? What if you pick a recipe that’s downright bad? With the same warmth, candor, and can-do spirit her award-winning blog, Smitten Kitchen, is known for, here Deb presents more than 100 recipes—almost entirely new, plus a few favorites from the site—that guarantee delicious results every time. Gorgeously illustrated with hundreds of her beautiful color photographs, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is all about approachable, uncompromised home cooking. Here you’ll find better uses for your favorite vegetables: asparagus blanketing a pizza; ratatouille dressing up a sandwich; cauliflower masquerading as pesto. These are recipes you’ll bookmark and use so often they become your own, recipes you’ll slip to a friend who wants to impress her new in-laws, and recipes with simple ingredients that yield amazing results in a minimum amount of time. Deb tells you her favorite summer cocktail; how to lose your fear of cooking for a crowd; and the essential items you need for your own kitchen. From salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and galettes; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake, Deb knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion. Look for Deb Perelman’s latest cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers!

Download or read book Memoir of a Debulked Woman Enduring Ovarian Cancer written by Susan Gubar and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2012-04-30 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A 2012 New York Times Book Review Notable Book "Staggering, searing…Ms. Gubar deserves the highest admiration for her bravery and honesty." —New York Times Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2008, Susan Gubar underwent radical debulking surgery, an attempt to excise the cancer by removing part or all of many organs in the lower abdomen. Her memoir mines the deepest levels of anguish and devotion as she struggles to come to terms with her body’s betrayal and the frightful protocols of contemporary medicine. She finds solace in the abiding love of her husband, children, and friends while she searches for understanding in works of literature, visual art, and the testimonies of others who suffer with various forms of cancer. Ovarian cancer remains an incurable disease for most of those diagnosed, even those lucky enough to find caring and skilled physicians. Memoir of a Debulked Woman is both a polemic against the ineffectual and injurious medical responses to which thousands of women are subjected and a meditation on the gifts of companionship, art, and literature that sustain people in need.

Download or read book The Loners written by Lex Thomas and published by Carolrhoda Lab ®. This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was just another ordinary day at McKinley High—until a massive explosion devastated the school. When loner David Thorpe tried to help his English teacher to safety, the teacher convulsed and died right in front of him. And that was just the beginning. A year later, McKinley has descended into chaos. All the students are infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults. The school is under military quarantine. The teachers are gone. Violent gangs have formed based on high school social cliques. Without a gang, you're as good as dead. And David has no gang. It's just him and his little brother, Will, against the whole school. In this frighteningly dark and captivating novel, Lex Thomas locks readers inside a school where kids don't fight to be popular, they fight to stay alive.

Download or read book Pound Ridge Past written by Bonni Brodnick and published by . This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Fresh Fat quarter Quilts written by Andy Knowlton and published by That Patchwork Place. This book was released on 2019-11-15 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How many fat quarters does it take to make a quilt: 6, 8, 10, 12, 14? The choice is yours! America's favorite fabric cut gets a fun makeover in a dozen all-new patterns from popular blogger Andy Knowlton. In her signature happy color palette, Andy shares easy-to-sew quilts that will inspire quilters to break into those bundles, unfold their singles, or even cut yardage into 18" × 22" chunks of fabric to re-create her cheerful designs. Stars, pinwheels, arrows, and Churn Dashes are just a few of the classic motifs that get Andy's fresh fat-quarter treatment. No more excuses and no time to lose - quilters will love reducing and restocking their stashes to make these fat-quarter-friendly projects.

Download or read book Wife Daughter Self written by Beth Kephart and published by Forest Avenue Press. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wife | Daughter | Self investigates identity and the writing life through the perspective of one of the nation’s top memoir teachers and critics. How are we shaped by the people we love? Who are we when we think no one else is watching? How do we trust the choices we make? The answers shift as the years go by. The stories remake themselves as we remember. Curiously, inventively, Beth Kephart reflects on the iterative, composite self in her new memoir—traveling to lakes and rivers, New Mexico and Mexico, the icy waters of Alaska and a hot-air balloon launch in search of understanding. She is accompanied, often, by her Salvadoran-artist husband. She spends time, a lot of time, with her widowed father. As she looks at them she ponders herself and comes to terms with the person she is still becoming. At once sweeping and intimate, Wife | Daughter | Self is a memoir built of interlocking essays by an acclaimed author, teacher, and critic.

Download or read book Mississippi Vegan written by Timothy Pakron and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-10-23 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Celebrate the gorgeous and delicious possibilities of plant-based Southern cuisine. Inspired by the landscape and flavors of his childhood on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Timothy Pakron found his heart, soul, and calling in cooking the Cajun, Creole, and southern classics of his youth. In his debut cookbook, he shares 125 plant-based recipes, all of which substitute ingredients without sacrificing depth of flavor and reveal the secret tradition of veganism in southern cooking. Finding ways to re-create his experiences growing up in the South--making mud pies and admiring the deep pink azaleas--on the plate, Pakron looks to history and nature as his guides to creating the richest food possible. Filled with as many evocative photographs and stories as easy-to-follow recipes, Mississippi Vegan is an ode to the transporting and ethereal beauty of the food and places you love.

Download or read book The Dutch House written by Ann Patchett and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-09-24 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pulitzer Prize Finalist | New York Times Bestseller | A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick | A New York Times Book Review Notable Book | TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of the Year Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, The Washington Post; O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Refinery29, and Buzzfeed From Ann Patchett, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth, comes a powerful, richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are. At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures. Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.

Download or read book The Gift of an Ordinary Day written by Katrina Kenison and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2009-09-07 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Gift of an Ordinary Day is an intimate memoir of a family in transition, with boys becoming teenagers, careers ending and new ones opening up, and an attempt to find a deeper sense of place—and a slower pace—in a small New England town. This is a story of mid-life longings and discoveries, of lessons learned in the search for home and a new sense of purpose, and the bittersweet intensity of life with teenagers—holding on, letting go. Poised on the threshold between family life as she's always known it and her older son's departure for college, Kenison is surprised to find that the times she treasures most are the ordinary, unremarkable moments of everyday life, the very moments that she once took for granted, or rushed right through without noticing at all. The relationships, hopes, and dreams that Kenison illuminates will touch women's hearts, and her words will inspire mothers everywhere as they try to make peace with the inevitable changes in store.

Download or read book The Sweet Smell of Christmas written by Patricia M. Scarry and published by Golden Books. This book was released on 2003-09-23 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Celebrate the sights and smells of Christmas with this classic scratch-and sniff book--a fragrant stocking stuffer perfect for any child! Join Little Bear as he prepares for the holidays, all the while giving readers a chance to smell six wonderful scents including apple pie, christmas tree, hot chocolate, and more! This delectable treat is a perfect way for families to spend the yuletide season.

Download or read book The Darkest Minds written by Alexandra Bracken and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2012-12-18 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book one in the hit series that's soon to be a major motion picture starring Amandla Stenberg and Mandy Moore--now with a stunning new look and an exclusive bonus short story featuring Liam and his brother, Cole. When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that killed most of America's children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control. Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. But when the truth about Ruby's abilities--the truth she's hidden from everyone, even the camp authorities--comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. On the run, she joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp: Zu, a young girl haunted by her past; Chubs, a standoffish brainiac; and Liam, their fearless leader, who is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can't risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. While they journey to find the one safe haven left for kids like them--East River--they must evade their determined pursuers, including an organization that will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. But as they get closer to grasping the things they've dreamed of, Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

Download or read book The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day written by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2013-10-22 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is a fully revised and updated edition of the bestselling, ground-breaking, and revolutionary approach to bread-making--a perfect gift for foodies and bakers! With more than half a million copies of their books in print, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François have proven that people want to bake their own bread, so long as they can do it easily and quickly. Based on fan feedback, Jeff and Zoë have completely revamped their first, most popular, and now-classic book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Responding to their thousands of ardent fans, Jeff and Zoë returned to their test kitchens to whip up more delicious baking recipes. They've also included a gluten-free chapter, forty all-new gorgeous color photos, and one hundred informative black-and-white how-to photos. They've made the "Tips and Techniques" and "Ingredients" chapters bigger and better than ever before, and included readers' Frequently Asked Questions. This revised edition also includes more than thirty brand-new recipes for Beer-Cheese Bread, Crock-Pot Bread, Panini, Pretzel Buns, Apple-Stuffed French Toast, and many more. There's nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread to fill a kitchen with warmth, eager appetites, and endless praise. Now, using Jeff and Zoë's innovative technique, you can create bread that rivals those of the finest bakers in the world in just five minutes of active preparation time.