The Long Bumpy Road of My Life


Book Description

This book is about my life. I was born in 1964 in Georgia. We moved a lot. My parents were very strict-well, to me, anyway. I could not wear shorts or even put my hair up. If I ask to put on makeup, my mother said no. I was hit in the head with a brush when my parents would fight. My mother would pull my hair when she was mad. I guess you could say I had a bad childhood. I was slapped so hard I hit the wall. I was raped at the age of nine. I saw my mother trying to kill herself. I was in a burning house at the age of two. My dad would buy me and my brothers stuff. The boys got theirs, but I was told I would get mine next week, but I didn't get it. I think my mother was jealous of me.Well, after we moved to Jackson, things were better. We had a lot of friends, and we went swimming, played ball, went to Indian Springs State Park, walked in a pasture, and meet the Bowens. We were like a family. My uncle was killed in 1979. That's when I left and meet James. He played Santa for my little sister Tanya because she would not go to sleep. We got married in 1982, then we had Becky and then Brenda in 1984. Then in 1986, Bud was born. I learned what it was like to be a mother. We would go to church every Saturday. One day, we didn't go, but later that night, an angel came and said, "Go to church," so we did.The preacher said, "I knew you were coming. The angel told me."As time went on, we went through James's drinking, going to jail, going to rehab, the births of our grandkids, the death of our granddaughter, death of our son, James going over the deep end, and now the birth of our great-grandkid, and the love of God, friends, and family.




The S Word


Book Description

In accordance with her Sicilian Catholic family’s unspoken code, Paolina Milana learned at an early age to keep her secrets locked away where no one could find them. Nobody outside the family needed to know about the voices her Mamma battled in her head; or about how Paolina forged her birth certificate at thirteen so she could get a job at The Donut Shop; or about the police officer twenty-six years her senior whose promise to her Papà to “keep an eye on her” quickly translated into something sinister. And perhaps that’s why no one saw it coming when—on the eve of her sweet sixteen, pushed to edge—Paolina attempted to take her own mother’s life. Raw and compelling, The S Word is the true story of a girl who nearly suffocates in the silence she was taught to value above all else—until she finally finds the strength to break free of the secrets binding her and save herself.




The Big Rig


Book Description

Long-haul trucks have been described as sweatshops on wheels. The typical long-haul trucker works the equivalent of two full-time jobs, often for little more than minimum wage. But it wasn’t always this way. Trucking used to be one of the best working-class jobs in the United States. The Big Rig explains how this massive degradation in the quality of work has occurred, and how companies achieve a compliant and dedicated workforce despite it. Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews and years of extensive observation, including six months training and working as a long-haul trucker, Viscelli explains in detail how labor is recruited, trained, and used in the industry. He then shows how inexperienced workers are convinced to lease a truck and to work as independent contractors. He explains how deregulation and collective action by employers transformed trucking’s labor markets--once dominated by the largest and most powerful union in US history--into an important example of the costs of contemporary labor markets for workers and the general public.




When Life Was Egg Creams and Baseball Teams


Book Description

Remember when life was so much simpler.... I loved to listen to stories of how my parents and grandparents grew up and what life was like in their times. I enjoyed this so much that I decided to tell the story of my childhood, a time when life was simpler and less pressured, when families were closer and spent more time together, when people were less materialistic, when kids could play outside alone and families could leave their doors open without concern. A time when neighbors took care of each other's kids without being asked or being paid and sports stars and movie stars plied their trade for love of what they did, not how much they got paid and when a boy's life revolved around "egg creams and baseball teams." I know that we can only keep the past alive in our memories, our hearts and in our stories but as we share these stories not only with each other but also with the youth of today, we have the hope that sharing these stories with those who will have the power to shape the future will convince them to keep some of the more positive elements of the past alive in their own ways. So sit back, kick your feet up, treat yourself to a big glass of ice cold milk with a freshly baked black and white cookie, a creamy charlotte rouge or a gooey chocolate clair and allow your mind to wander back to those "good old days" as you read my story.




Mark and the Mystic Marble


Book Description

A marble is just a marble-unless it's a magic marble. And a troubled teen is just a troubled teen, unless that teen is Mark. After watching his mother die in a terrible car accident, Mark gives up on life. He loses interest in school, family, and friends, and unexpectedly, he heads off in search of meaning-and an escape from the pain he feels over the loss of his loving mom-with only her favorite marble to protect him. His trip takes him as far away as Florida to San Francisco, California; all the while, his frantic father, Willis, still mourning the death of his wife, is on the search for his lost son. Willis fears the worst; he has come to expect as much. Just like his son, he finds himself in a state of disrepair over losing the love of his life. All the while, the marble glows, making Mark wonder whether the marble has a special power. Mark and the Mystic Marble is a story of surviving tragic circumstances and seeking identity even in the face of terrible challenge. Mark has choices on his lonely road. He can choose to continue running from his painful past, or he can choose to turn back and face his problems with love, understanding, and power. It is ultimately Mark's choice, but the marble may have its own ideas, as well.




Psychomantic Scriptures


Book Description




A Serial Killer's Daughter


Book Description

What is it like to learn that your ordinary, loving father is a serial killer? Discover the true story behind the BTK killer, as told by those closest to him. In 2005, Kerri Rawson opened the door of her apartment to greet an FBI agent who shared the shocking news that her father had been arrested for murdering ten people, including two children. That's also when she first learned that her father was the notorious serial killer known as BTK, a name he'd given himself that described the horrific way he committed his crimes: bind, torture, kill. As news of his capture spread, the city of Wichita celebrated the end of a thirty-one-year nightmare. For Kerri Rawson, another was just beginning. In the weeks and years that followed, Kerri was plunged into a black hole of horror and disbelief. The same man who had been a loving father, a devoted husband, church president, Boy Scout leader, and a public servant had been using their family as a cover for his heinous crimes since before she was born. Everything she had believed about her life had been a lie. Written with candor and extraordinary courage, A Serial Killer's Daughter is an unflinching exploration of life with one of America's most infamous killers and an astonishing tale of personal and spiritual transformation. A Serial Killer's Daughter will give you the encouragement you need to learn how to: Pick up the pieces of your life when everything falls apart Begin to heal from the long-lasting effects of violence Trust that light will overcome the darkness Kerri Rawson's story offers the hope of reclaiming sanity in the midst of madness, rebuilding a life in the shadow of death, and learning to forgive the unforgivable.




The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present


Book Description

AMERICA’S #1 BESTSELLING TELEVISION BOOK WITH MORE THAN HALF A MILLION COPIES IN PRINT– NOW REVISED AND UPDATED! PROGRAMS FROM ALL SEVEN COMMERCIAL BROADCAST NETWORKS, MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED CABLE NETWORKS, PLUS ALL MAJOR SYNDICATED SHOWS! This is the must-have book for TV viewers in the new millennium–the entire history of primetime programs in one convenient volume. It’s a guide you’ll turn to again and again for information on every series ever telecast. There are entries for all the great shows, from evergreens like The Honeymooners, All in the Family, and Happy Days to modern classics like 24, The Office, and Desperate Housewives; all the gripping sci-fi series, from Captain Video and the new Battle Star Galactica to all versions of Star Trek; the popular serials, from Peyton Place and Dallas to Dawson’s Creek and Ugly Betty; the reality show phenomena American Idol, Survivor, and The Amazing Race; and the hits on cable, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Top Chef, The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Project Runway, and SpongeBob SquarePants. This comprehensive guide lists every program alphabetically and includes a complete broadcast history, cast, and engaging plot summary–along with exciting behind-the-scenes stories about the shows and the stars. MORE THAN 500 ALL-NEW LISTINGS from Heroes and Grey’s Anatomy to 30 Rock and Nip/Tuck UPDATES ON CONTINUING SHOWS such as CSI, Gilmore Girls, The Simpsons, and The Real World EXTENSIVE CABLE COVERAGE with more than 1,000 entries, including a description of the programming on each major cable network AND DON’T MISS the exclusive and updated “Ph.D. Trivia Quiz” of 200 questions that will challenge even the most ardent TV fan, plus a streamlined guide to TV-related websites for those who want to be constantly up-to-date SPECIAL FEATURES! • Annual program schedules at a glance for the past 61 years • Top-rated shows of each season • Emmy Award winners • Longest-running series • Spin-off series • Theme songs • A fascinating history of TV “This is the Guinness Book of World Records . . . the Encyclopedia Britannica of television!” –TV Guide




Portals


Book Description

Portals tells intertwining true life stories of adopting and being adopted as an older child. Spanning forty years of development the saga is told both from the perspective of Lillian, adopted at age nine, and of her adoptive father, each of them writing alternating chapters. Lillian frankly relates the harrowing abuse and neglect of her early childhood as well as her turbulent post-adoption adolescence including runaways, hospitalization, and leaving home at seventeen. Her psychologist father, William Miller, offers an honest inside perspective on the challenges of parenting a child through these turbulent years. Ultimately it is a redeeming tale of persistent love and post-traumatic growth as the two streams of their lives flow together in adoption and then apart again as Lillian nurtures a family of her own.




Kafka on the Shore


Book Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and one of the world’s greatest storytellers comes "an insistently metaphysical mind-bender” (The New Yorker) about a teenager on the run and an aging simpleton. Now with a new introduction by the author. Here we meet 15-year-old runaway Kafka Tamura and the elderly Nakata, who is drawn to Kafka for reasons that he cannot fathom. As their paths converge, acclaimed author Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder, in what is a truly remarkable journey. “As powerful as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.... Reading Murakami ... is a striking experience in consciousness expansion.” —The Chicago Tribune