Freedom's Rush: Tales from The Biker and The Beast


Book Description

When you're out riding, things happen. If you keep at it, everything happens.... Thus goes the simple wisdom of Foster Kinn in Freedom's Rush: Tales from a Biker and His Beast. Join Foster as he travels through the continental United States with an occasional detour into Canada, experience with him all that can happen in the "day in a life" of a biker: "Sometimes you're hungry, sometimes you eat too much. Sometimes you're unbearably hot, sometimes painfully cold. You lose things and get lost; you find things and find your way. You fall in love, you find things to despise. You bleed and you heal; you get sick, then you're invincible. The rains pelt, the snows blind, the winds make you helpless. You ride through gorgeous scenery and through desolate wastelands; all places are the way they're supposed to be and they're all perfect. It's life in microcosm." In part a celebration of the grandness of this wide, wonderful world, in part a meditation on the meaning of freedom and our sacred right to create, you will laugh with Kinn at all the wonderfully wacky characters he meets on the road, and you will be dazzled by the utter joy he finds as he rides. When you read the last line, you will know what he means when he writes: As long as freedoms exist, we will ride; As long as we ride, freedoms will exist.







Long Walk to Freedom


Book Description

"Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand history – and then go out and change it." –President Barack Obama Nelson Mandela was one of the great moral and political leaders of his time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. After his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela was at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is still revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality. Long Walk to Freedom is his moving and exhilarating autobiography, destined to take its place among the finest memoirs of history's greatest figures. Here for the first time, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela told the extraordinary story of his life -- an epic of struggle, setback, renewed hope, and ultimate triumph. The book that inspired the major motion picture Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.




Hell's Angels


Book Description

Gonzo journalist and literary roustabout Hunter S. Thompson flies with the angels—Hell’s Angels, that is—in this short work of nonfiction. “California, Labor Day weekend . . . early, with ocean fog still in the streets, outlaw motorcyclists wearing chains, shades and greasy Levis roll out from damp garages, all-night diners and cast-off one-night pads in Frisco, Hollywood, Berdoo and East Oakland, heading for the Monterey peninsula, north of Big Sur. . . The Menace is loose again.” Thus begins Hunter S. Thompson’s vivid account of his experiences with California’s most notorious motorcycle gang, the Hell’s Angels. In the mid-1960s, Thompson spent almost two years living with the controversial Angels, cycling up and down the coast, reveling in the anarchic spirit of their clan, and, as befits their name, raising hell. His book successfully captures a singular moment in American history, when the biker lifestyle was first defined, and when such countercultural movements were electrifying and horrifying America. Thompson, the creator of Gonzo journalism, writes with his usual bravado, energy, and brutal honesty, and with a nuanced and incisive eye; as The New Yorker pointed out, “For all its uninhibited and sardonic humor, Thompson’s book is a thoughtful piece of work.” As illuminating now as when originally published in 1967, Hell’s Angels is a gripping portrait, and the best account we have of the truth behind an American legend.




Sophie's World


Book Description

A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.




The Things They Carried


Book Description

A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling. The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. Taught everywhere—from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing—it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing. The Things They Carried won France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.




Hating the Boss


Book Description

One night. That's all it was supposed to be. Imagine my surprise when Mr. Sexy in a Suit breezed through the door on the first day of school. Ladies and gentlemen, meet my new boss. Not only does he instantly recognize me, but he accuses me of stealing something valuable from him the morning I walk-of-shamed out of his apartment. When bullying me into a confession doesn't work, he turns my life into a living nightmare - as if that will coax me into returning what I supposedly stole. But this is my school, and the only thing I'll be returning is payback. Game. On. There's only one problem. I wanted him before I hated him, and even now, a part of me still wants him. Somehow, through all of our fighting, through the anger and the pranks, I think I'm falling in love with the enemy.




Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas


Book Description

This is a reissue of the novel inspired by Hunter S. Thompson's ether-fuelled, savage journey to the heart of the American Dream: We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold... And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas.




Inevitable


Book Description

"Inevitable is a modern-day take on Romeo & Juliet with a much more satisfying ending." The job was clear: Get in, get what I need, and get out. It should've been easy. It could've been effortless. I wasn't supposed to fall in love with the enemy's daughter. Long raven hair and dark mischievous eyes drew me in. Her feisty attitude and caring heart kept me there. Her pain called out to mine and our souls entwined. Now I'm in so deep, I don't know which way is up. If my father finds out, we'll be next on his list. I'll do anything in my power to protect her, but how can I keep her safe when I'm the one I need to keep her safe from? Eva doesn't know it yet, but she's playing the part of Juliet in this twisted tragedy. And our final act is inevitable. REVIEW "This was an absolute 5 star read, I had it in my hands every chance I could get. The story was written beautifully, and we really got inside of the characters heads." -- Caroline O'Sullivan, ARC Recipient "Amazing chemistry between the main characters, secrets and twists, an actual strong female main character, and a very good amount of steam." -- Themreadsbooks "A real, sweet, intense and passionate story that catches you from the first pages." -- Stela Sparrowinlove, ARC Recipient "Badass heroine- check. Hottie hero- check. Off the charts chemistry- check. Forbidden romance- check. Angst- check. Suspense- check. Kristen has outdone herself. This book was killer!!" -- SJ Sylvis, Author "A great read for those who love a darker, edgier romance with lots of action... and a kick ass heroine!" -- Nikki J Summers, Author "Inevitable is a take on Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet and Kristen did a great job of filling in those shoes. In previous renditions Juliet isn't as forward and ballsy as Kristen's "Juliet" (aka Eva). Kristen's version is my kind of heroine." -- Colleen Young, Author "The ones we love we hurt the most, and in this angsty retake on Romeo and Juliet it's more true than ever. Betrayal is everywhere and no one is left unharmed. Oh holy hotness, You don't want to miss this gem!" -- Sonja Ton, ARC Recipient




Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy


Book Description

The ultimate book on the worldwide movement of hackers, pranksters, and activists collectively known as Anonymous—by the writer the Huffington Post says “knows all of Anonymous’ deepest, darkest secrets” “A work of anthropology that sometimes echoes a John le Carré novel.” —Wired Half a dozen years ago, anthropologist Gabriella Coleman set out to study the rise of this global phenomenon just as some of its members were turning to political protest and dangerous disruption (before Anonymous shot to fame as a key player in the battles over WikiLeaks, the Arab Spring, and Occupy Wall Street). She ended up becoming so closely connected to Anonymous that the tricky story of her inside–outside status as Anon confidante, interpreter, and erstwhile mouthpiece forms one of the themes of this witty and entirely engrossing book. The narrative brims with details unearthed from within a notoriously mysterious subculture, whose semi-legendary tricksters—such as Topiary, tflow, Anachaos, and Sabu—emerge as complex, diverse, politically and culturally sophisticated people. Propelled by years of chats and encounters with a multitude of hackers, including imprisoned activist Jeremy Hammond and the double agent who helped put him away, Hector Monsegur, Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy is filled with insights into the meaning of digital activism and little understood facets of culture in the Internet age, including the history of “trolling,” the ethics and metaphysics of hacking, and the origins and manifold meanings of “the lulz.”