Download or read book Memoirs of an Elf written by Devin Scillian and published by Sleeping Bear Press. This book was released on 2014-09-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's Christmas Eve and Spark Elf has the very important job of keeping Santa Claus on schedule as he travels the globe in 24 hours delivering presents. Small in stature with pointy ears and stopwatch in hand, Spark lets Santa know it's time to go. He programs the GPS while the other elves secure the toy bag and check the Nice list. Little known fact: We don't even bring the Naughty list with us. Six hours into the trip Santa, sleigh and crew begin to fall behind--so many cuddly doggies to pet and extra cookies to eat. The jolly group makes up time in Brazil and soon find themselves back at the North Pole. Their work is done. But wait, there's something left in the bag--but it isn't a present at all--it's a family dog! Well known fact: Santa gives things away. He does not take things! Momma Claus comes to the rescue with a plan to get the dog back to his family. Can Santa return the family's beloved pooch in time to keep their Christmas merry?

Download or read book Faking it written by Elisa Lorello and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After breaking off her engagement, thirty-something Andi Cutrone yields New England to her ex and flees home to Long Island. There, she devotes her time to teaching in the writing program at Brooklyn University and over analyzing her past failed relationships. But then she meets Devin, a male escort whose client list seems to include at least half of the accomplished women she knows. He is handsome, charismatic, and absolutely out of her league, but she can't deny he has a certain ... something. And so Andi makes him a proposition: if he will teach her to shed her sexual inhibitions, she will teach him to be a writer. He agrees, and together they embark upon an intense partnership that proves to be every bit as instructive as it is arousing. For in the midst of lessons in rhetorical theory and foreplay, Andi and Devin delve into deeper questions about truth, beauty, and self, stripping away the emotional walls each has built up.--From back cover.

Download or read book A Stolen Life written by Jaycee Dugard and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-07-12 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A raw and powerful memoir of Jaycee Lee Dugard's own story of being kidnapped as an 11-year-old and held captive for over 18 years On 10 June 1991, eleven-year-old Jaycee Dugard was abducted from a school bus stop within sight of her home in Tahoe, California. It was the last her family and friends saw of her for over eighteen years. On 26 August 2009, Dugard, her daughters, and Phillip Craig Garrido appeared in the office of her kidnapper's parole officer in California. Their unusual behaviour sparked an investigation that led to the positive identification of Jaycee Lee Dugard, living in a tent behind Garrido's home. During her time in captivity, at the age of fourteen and seventeen, she gave birth to two daughters, both fathered by Garrido. Dugard's memoir is written by the 30-year-old herself and covers the period from the time of her abduction in 1991 up until the present. In her stark, utterly honest and unflinching narrative, Jaycee opens up about what she experienced, including how she feels now, a year after being found. Garrido and his wife Nancy have since pleaded guilty to their crimes.

Download or read book Go F ck I Mean Find Yourself written by Glenn Lutz and published by Adams Media. This book was released on 2018-09-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pocket-sized positive affirmations—with a fun and edgy twist! Every day is a new day; an opportunity to be in the moment and to be the best versions of ourselves. We are all powerful beings with a purpose, and we all have the power to change and grow. Go F*ck, I Mean, Find Yourself. gives you the push you need to build the universe you wish to inhabit and become the person you want to be. Let this book be your new daily motivation tool, with its optimistic notes, reminders, affirmations, and suggestions that promote peace, love, health, wealth, wisdom, and knowledge. Additionally, Go F*ck, I Mean, Find Yourself. also serves as a journal, with spaces for you to reflect on your own journey, as well as opportunities to bring friends together in unifying collaboration. A perfect gift or a conversation-starter, this strikingly designed book challenges you to always choose positivity—are you ready?

Download or read book The Only Pirate at the Party written by Lindsey Stirling and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-01-12 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dancing electronic violinist Lindsey Stirling shares her unconventional journey in an inspiring New York Times bestselling memoir filled with the energy, persistence, and humor that have helped her successfully pursue a passion outside the box. A classically trained musician gone rogue, Lindsey Stirling is the epitome of independent, millennial-defined success: after being voted off the set of America’s Got Talent, she went on to amass more than ten million social media fans, record two full-length albums, release multiple hits with billions of YouTube views, and to tour sold-out venues across the world. Lindsey is not afraid to be herself. In fact, it’s her confidence and individuality that have propelled her into the spotlight. But the road hasn’t been easy. After being rejected by talent scouts, music reps, and eventually on national television, Lindsey forged her own path, step by step. Detailing every trial and triumph she has experienced until now, Lindsey shares stories of her humble yet charmed childhood, humorous adolescence, life as a struggling musician, personal struggles with anorexia, and finally, success as a world-class entertainer. Lindsey’s magnetizing story—at once remarkable and universal—is a testimony that there is no singular recipe for success, and despite what people may say, sometimes it’s okay to be The Only Pirate at the Party.

Download or read book I Love Jesus But I Want to Die written by Sarah J. Robinson and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Download or read book Fantasyland written by Kurt Andersen and published by Random House. This book was released on 2017-09-05 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The single most important explanation, and the fullest explanation, of how Donald Trump became president of the United States . . . nothing less than the most important book that I have read this year.”—Lawrence O’Donnell How did we get here? In this sweeping, eloquent history of America, Kurt Andersen shows that what’s happening in our country today—this post-factual, “fake news” moment we’re all living through—is not something new, but rather the ultimate expression of our national character. America was founded by wishful dreamers, magical thinkers, and true believers, by hucksters and their suckers. Fantasy is deeply embedded in our DNA. Over the course of five centuries—from the Salem witch trials to Scientology to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, from P. T. Barnum to Hollywood and the anything-goes, wild-and-crazy sixties, from conspiracy theories to our fetish for guns and obsession with extraterrestrials—our love of the fantastic has made America exceptional in a way that we've never fully acknowledged. From the start, our ultra-individualism was attached to epic dreams and epic fantasies—every citizen was free to believe absolutely anything, or to pretend to be absolutely anybody. With the gleeful erudition and tell-it-like-it-is ferocity of a Christopher Hitchens, Andersen explores whether the great American experiment in liberty has gone off the rails. Fantasyland could not appear at a more perfect moment. If you want to understand Donald Trump and the culture of twenty-first-century America, if you want to know how the lines between reality and illusion have become dangerously blurred, you must read this book. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE “This is a blockbuster of a book. Take a deep breath and dive in.”—Tom Brokaw “[An] absorbing, must-read polemic . . . a provocative new study of America’s cultural history.”—Newsday “Compelling and totally unnerving.”—The Village Voice “A frighteningly convincing and sometimes uproarious picture of a country in steep, perhaps terminal decline that would have the founding fathers weeping into their beards.”—The Guardian “This is an important book—the indispensable book—for understanding America in the age of Trump.”—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci

Download or read book The Truth About Men written by DeVon Franklin and published by Atria Books. This book was released on 2020-02-25 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestselling author of The Wait and “spiritual teacher for our times” (Oprah Winfrey) frankly and openly explores why men behave the way they do and what everyone—men and women alike—need to know about it. We hear it all the time. Men cheat. Men love power. Men love sex. Men are greedy. Men are dogs. But is this really the truth about men? In this groundbreaking book, DeVon Franklin dishes the real truth by making the compelling case that men aren’t dogs but all men share the same struggle. He provides the manual for how men can change, both on a personal and a societal level by providing practical solutions for helping men learn how to resist temptation, how to practice self-control, and how to love. But The Truth About Men isn’t just for men. DeVon tells female readers everything they need to know about men. He offers women a real-time understanding of how men’s struggles affect them, insights that can help them navigate their relationships with men and information on how to heal from the damage that some misbehaving men may have inflicted. This book is a raw, informative, and accessible look at an issue that threatens to tear our society apart yet it offers a positive way forward for men and women alike.

Download or read book The Wait Devotional written by DeVon Franklin and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-10-24 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A daily devotional based on the New York Times bestselling The Wait, filled with inspiring readings about how having the patience to wait for God’s best—instead of grasping for what you want right now—can transform your life. In The Wait, DeVon Franklin and Meagan Good, a Hollywood power couple who famously saved sex for marriage, shared the life-changing message that waiting—rather than rushing—can be the key for finding the person you’re meant to be with. Now, their powerful message is reflected again in The Wait Devotional. Filled with scripture, prayers, and DeVon and Meagan’s trademark conversational style, this 90-day devotional is packed with real-time advice for men and women trying to successfully navigate the ins and outs of dating, love, and relationships. You’ll discover how waiting for everything—from sex to getting engaged—can transform your entire life by giving you greater patience, joy, peace, healing, faith, and love. Whether you’re waiting for the right person to come along or you’re searching for the strength to put intimacy on hold, The Wait Devotional can help you slow down and trust in God’s perfect timing, day by day.

Download or read book Live Free written by DeVon Franklin and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bestselling author returns with his biggest book yet in which he teaches us the secret to living a happier life: get rid of as many expectations as possible—of ourselves, our future, our relationships, our career and our family. Expectations are the secret software, running on the hardware of our minds, controlling our emotions, decisions, and actions. How? Think about your life. How much of the sadness you feel derives from what you think should have happened—than with what actually happened? Think about your career. How much of the discontent you feel comes from your belief about where you’d be at this point—than with the progress you’ve actually made? Think about your relationships. How much of your dissatisfaction with friends, family, significant others, or spouses has to do with your unspoken presumptions—than with the people themselves? Having so many expectations is distorting your perspective, decreasing your happiness and disrupting your joy. You can live a life of true freedom, greater peace and less stress: release as many expectations as possible. This, DeVon Franklin argues, is the secret to a better life now. In a culture obsessed with more, Live Free is a bold counterintuitive book that can start a cultural revolution, Franklin contends. Everyone struggles with unnecessary expectations. But once you learn to let go of them, you can set the stage for the life you’ve always wanted.

Download or read book Veritas written by Ariel Sabar and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2021-06-29 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author comes the gripping true story of a sensational religious forgery and the scandal that shook Harvard. In 2012, Dr. Karen King, a star religion professor at Harvard, announced a breathtaking discovery just steps from the Vatican: she’d found an ancient scrap of papyrus in which Jesus calls Mary Magdalene “my wife.” The mysterious manuscript, which King provocatively titled “The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife,” had the power to topple the Roman Catholic Church. It threatened not just the all-male priesthood, but centuries of sacred teachings on marriage, sex, and women’s leadership, much of it premised on the hallowed tradition of a celibate Jesus. Award-winning journalist Ariel Sabar covered King’s announcement in Rome but left with a question that no one seemed able to answer: Where in the world did this history-making papyrus come from? Sabar’s dogged sleuthing led from the halls of Harvard Divinity School to the former headquarters of the East German Stasi before landing on the trail of a Florida man with an unbelievable past. Could a motorcycle-riding pornographer with a fake Egyptology degree and a prophetess wife have set in motion one of the greatest hoaxes of the century? A propulsive tale laced with twists and trapdoors, Veritas is an exhilarating, globe-straddling detective story about an Ivy League historian and a college dropout—and how they worked together to pass off an audacious forgery as a long-lost piece of the Bible.

Download or read book Ten on the Sled written by Kim Norman and published by Union Square & Co.. This book was released on 2011-06-28 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author Kim Norman (Crocodaddy) and illustrator Liza Woodruff have whipped up a rollicking, jolly, snow-filled adventure! In the land of the midnight sun, all the animals are having fun speeding down the hill on Caribous sled. But as they go faster and faster, Seal, Hare, Walrus, and the others all fall off…until just Caribous left, only and lonely. Now, a reindeer likes flying-but never alone, so…one through ten, all leap on again! An ideal picture book for reading-and singing along with-over and over.

Download or read book Proxies written by Dylan Mulvin and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2021-08-17 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How those with the power to design technology, in the very moment of design, are allowed to imagine who is included--and who is excluded--in the future. Our world is built on an array of standards we are compelled to share. In Proxies, Dylan Mulvin examines how we arrive at those standards, asking, "To whom and to what do we delegate the power to stand in for the world?" Mulvin shows how those with the power to design technology, in the very moment of design, are allowed to imagine who is included--and who is excluded--in the future. For designers of technology, some bits of the world end up standing in for other bits, standards with which they build and calibrate. These "proxies" carry specific values, even as they disappear from view. Mulvin explores the ways technologies, standards, and infrastructures inescapably reflect the cultural milieus of their bureaucratic homes. Drawing on archival research, he investigates some of the basic building-blocks of our shared infrastructures. He tells the history of technology through the labor and communal practices of, among others, the people who clean kilograms to make the metric system run, the women who pose as test images, and the actors who embody disease and disability for medical students. Each case maps the ways standards and infrastructure rely on prototypical ideas of whiteness, able-bodiedness, and purity to control and contain the messiness of reality. Standards and infrastructures, Mulvin argues, shape and distort the possibilities of representation, the meaning of difference, and the levers of change and social justice.

Download or read book Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause written by Suza Francina and published by HCI. This book was released on 2003-04-20 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hormone Treatment Is Called Harmful-Washington Post, 7/10/02 Estrogen Use Linked to Higher Cancer Risk-Boston Globe, 7/17/02 31.2 million women facing menopause in America are concerned by these headlines. Most women today will live over one-third of their lives post-menopausal, but what about the age-old solution of hormone replacement therapy? In 2002 the U.S. government halted a major study of hormone therapy because it increased the risk of invasive breast cancer. Now, millions of women are left wondering whether they should approach menopause without hormones, suffering from hot flashes and low sex drive or take hormones and live in fear of being another statistic. Suza Francina has a simpler solution: Yoga. In this practical book, Francina, a leading yogi and author of The New Yoga for People Over 50, shows how yoga can be a powerful tool to help women turn menopause into a positive and empowering experience, both physically and spiritually. Included are easy-to-follow, indexed photos of yoga poses that alleviate key menopausal problems including: hormonal changes; hot flashes; irregular bleeding; fibroids; stress and anxiety, mood swings, depression and fatigue; bone loss; heart disease and cancer. Francina delivers a timely and truly heartening message to women: you don't have to get weaker or depressed when facing menopause, it can truly be an empowering, restorative time.

Download or read book The Hollywood Commandments written by DeVon Franklin and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-09-26 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DeVon Franklin, New York Times bestselling author of The Wait and prominent Hollywood producer, reveals that secular and spiritual success are not opposites. To have one, you need the other. Are you tired of living a life paralyzed by fear? Are you anxious to break free of the “beware mentality” that has kept generations of well-meaning people living beneath the fullness of their calling? You’re unfulfilled because you’ve been convinced that you would lose your faith if you pursued the secular ambitions God has put in your heart. However, until you pursue those ambitions you will miss out on the fullness of God and the success you were created to have. For too long there’s been a line drawn between the spiritual and the secular, and we have been conditioned to believe that if we cross this line in either direction, we will have gone too far. It’s time to break down this barrier so you are free to go further than any believer has gone before. The Success Commandments combines spiritual teachings with secular strategies to help you achieve unprecedented success and live the life you were destined to live.

Download or read book The Art of Positive Living written by Camille Knight and published by Pyramid. This book was released on 2021-09-02 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Positive thinking increases our self-confidence, helps us stay more open to new experiences, enhances our joy, and keeps us feeling energised and focused on our goals. In The Art of Positive Living, you'll discover the benefits of shifting your mindset to cultivate positive thinking so that you can strengthen your ability to see the good in life and remain hopeful even when times are tough. We all experience moments of sadness and difficulty in our lives, but fortunately our ability to be resilient and remain optimistic in the face of bad news, loss and adversity is something we can develop and strengthen through positive thinking and mindfulness. This little collection of tips, inspirational quotes and reflections will help you find new strategies for: - crushing negative self-talk, - practicing self-acceptance, - experiencing gratitude, - finding joy in small moments, - moving more mindfully through your day, - and recharging your energy when life gets you down. This book will show you just how impactful it can be to take a few short moments to look on the bright side and will ultimately help to boost your mood and improve your overall wellbeing.

Download or read book Relationship Grit written by Jon Gordon and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Great relationships don’t happen by accident—they take commitment, hard work, and grit Bestselling author Jon Gordon is back with another life-affirming book. This time, he teams up with Kathryn Gordon, his wife of 23 years, for a look at what it takes to build strong relationships. In Relationship Grit, the Gordons reveal what brought them together, what kept them together through difficult times, and what continues to sustain their love and passion for one another to this day. They candidly share their mistakes, decisions that almost destroyed their marriage, and successes so you can learn from their experiences and make your relationship stronger. If you’re a fan of Jon Gordon’s work, you will enjoy learning about the man behind the message, as he and Kathryn share the intimate details of their life together. The direct, transparent, and personal style will draw you in and help you see that, if you are dealing with a challenge in your life and relationship, you are not alone. Working, writing, and raising children hasn’t always been easy for the Gordons, but by committing to one another and embracing the principles of G. R. I. T., they emerged from their darkest moments and built a deep and lasting love. In Relationship Grit, they speak candidly about what they have learned and how you can develop the grit to build beautiful relationships. Discover—in their own words—what Jon and Kathryn have learned about staying together during their 23-year marriage Learn the four principles of G. R. I. T. that you can embrace today to build the high quality relationships you want and deserve Find the strength you need to confront your past, overcome your flaws, and change for the better to improve you and your relationship. Embrace the Gordons’ practical advice including 22 quick tips for a great relationship—11 from Kathryn and 11 from Jon—and start making your relationship the best it can be Relationships—particularly marriages—are about imperfect people coming together to work on their individual flaws and emerge stronger together. Relationship Grit will inspire and motivate you to engage in this remarkable and rewarding process.