The Man and His Bike


Book Description

The world as seen from a bike 'Understated, comic and melancholic... It’ll inspire you to get back on your bike.' Martin Love, The Guardian ‘One of the most entertaining sports books I have ever read’ Joe Short, The Daily Express In this award-winning collection of cycling tales, Wilfried de Jong uncovers the true soul of cycling – why we do it, why we watch it, why we hate it, why we love it – stripped bare. With his distinctly comic and melancholic charm Wilfried ponders life, love and death on his trusted bike, chasing the essence of our existence against the backdrop of major cycling events or while roaming alone in nature. Whether he is describing being ejected from Paris-Roubaix, a terminal incident with a bird while out riding, or explaining why he is standing stark naked on Belgian cobbles with a tyre in his hand, Wilfried unlocks a sport that involves so much pain, punishment, and a high probability of failure, but that will always liberate and inspire us.




One Man and His Bike


Book Description

What would happen if you were cycling to the office and just kept on pedalling? Needing a change, Mike Carter did just that. Following the Thames to the sea he embarked on an epic 5,000 mile ride around the entire British coastline - the equivalent of London to Calcutta. He encountered drunken priests, drag queens and gnome sanctuaries. He met fellow travellers and people building for a different type of future. He also found a spirit of unbelievable kindness and generosity that convinced him that Britain is anything but broken. This is the inspiring and very funny tale of the five months Mike spent cycling the byways of the nation.




My Journey to Paradise


Book Description




25 Plays


Book Description

John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga (1906-1921) and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932. This volume assembles 25 of his plays: The Silver Box Joy Strife The Eldest Son Justice The Little Dream The Pigeon The Fugitive The Mob A Bit o' Love The Foundations The Skin Game A Family Man Loyalties Windows The Forest Old English The Show Escape The First and the Last The Little Man Hall-Marked Defeat The Sun Punch and Go




Home Again


Book Description

A quietly humorous look at one manÍs return to his childhood world. ñWhat are you doing here!î From the moment the cantankerous narrator Pinpin answers the phone in an empty house in Tampa, Florida, the question asked by his cousin Tom-Tom echoes in his mind. Having left the Anglo-Saxon gentry of BostonÍs Louisburg Square and the contentious left-wing intelligentsia of New YorkÍs Greenwich Village, Pinpin, a retired novelist, wants nothing more than to be left alone. His wife dead, his books out of print, his sons lost to the seductive wiles of word processors and movie development deals, until finally, at the end of his ñtetherî, Pinpin goes back to Tampa. But he is quick to assert, ñI am not returning, touching base, none of thatƒ Tampa is where I came from thatÍs all you could say for it.î As soon as Pinpin sets foot back in his parents house?against his will and better judgement?he finds himself snared in the mire of family politics and demands, with one cousin telling him not to trust another. Not knowing what to think, Pinpin is dragged along on a bizarre and hilarious quest through the back streets of Tampa on a mission to rescue his misguided young grand-niece.




Duke


Book Description

From a Newbery Honor author, a boy loans his dog to the US Army during World War II in this “incisive tale of loyalty, patriotism, sacrifice and bravery” (Publishers Weekly). Hanson is determined to do his part to help his family and his country, even if it means giving up his beloved German shepherd, Duke. Hoping to help end the war and bring his dad home faster, Hobie decides to donate Duke to Dogs for Defense, an organization that urges Americans to “loan” their pets to the military to act as sentries, mine sniffers, and patrol dogs. Hobie immediately regrets his decision and tries everything he can to get Duke back, even jeopardizing his friendship with the new boy at school. But when his father is taken prisoner by the Germans, Hobie realizes he must let Duke go and reach deep within himself to be brave. Will Hobie ever see Duke, or his father, again? Will life ever be the same? “Exceptionally well-crafted and emotionally authentic.” —Kirkus Reviews




The Trail Rules


Book Description

Gold Winner (Special Interest: Sports) 2018 -- Children's Literary Classics Silver Winner (YA Fiction General) 2018 -- Moonbeam Children's Book Awards Silver Winner (YA Romance) 2018 -- Readers' Favorite Junior year’s looking up for sixteen-year old Mike. Her new BFF isn’t a sadistic control freak, her boyfriend adores her, and she’s learning to bike in the mountains without decapitating herself on a tree. Well, almost. When she meets a group of riders who welcome her into their pack, she feels like she’s finally found where she belongs. One particular rider—a boy with an amazing smile and an even more amazing ability to see what she’s truly capable of—gives her the confidence to go after what she wants: her own life with her own rules. There’s only one problem—he’s not her boyfriend. Just as things seem to be falling into place, her parents put on the pressure to figure out her future—one that doesn’t include riding. Mike soon realizes that having everything isn’t that great when she’s not the one choosing it. She needs to decide if she’s going to continue to be a follower or step out of the shadows and find her own trail.




Ingress


Book Description

Ingress is about crossing paths, drawing parallels, and the influences which seemingly fleeting interactions have in the largesse of human trails society. It examines the human society in multitudes and unseen dimensions, which otherwise go unnoticed, and how the experiences of one can manifest as a demeanour to leave marking imprints on others around them. The stories reflect struggles that seek belonging in the changing times, as well as accepting changes notwithstanding. They narrate love, perseverance, and fragility of the mind immersed in an unbeknownst indulgence of madness. The universality of the subjects explored is bound to reverberate across all sections of readers.




A Bike Across America


Book Description

As a midlife challenge, author Steve Ritter decided to leave the comforts of home and the daily routine of his office and set out on an epic journey to bicycle across the United States. Ritter wanted to rediscover his rural roots, explore nature, immerse himself in the rich history of his country, and find out if he still had the endurance of his youth. He wanted to see what other people did every day as he sat at his desk. In A Bike across America, he narrates the story of his thirty-five day, 3,461-mile journey that began April 27, 2013, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and ended in Newport, Oregon. This travelogue shares Ritters thoughts, expectations, and surprisesbattling the weather, equipment failures, and his doubts and fears, and being assisted by kind-hearted strangers. With some history and geography included, Ritter tells how this cross-country ride changed his life. Frank and honest, A Bike across America recounts Ritters ultimate road tripone that taught this fifty-year-old empty nester that through perseverance and determination, it could be done.




Empire of Silence


Book Description

Hadrian Marlowe, a man revered as a hero and despised as a murderer, chronicles his tale in the galaxy-spanning debut of the Sun Eater series, merging the best of space opera and epic fantasy. It was not his war. The galaxy remembers him as a hero: the man who burned every last alien Cielcin from the sky. They remember him as a monster: the devil who destroyed a sun, casually annihilating four billion human lives—even the Emperor himself—against Imperial orders. But Hadrian was not a hero. He was not a monster. He was not even a soldier. On the wrong planet, at the right time, for the best reasons, Hadrian Marlowe starts down a path that can only end in fire. He flees his father and a future as a torturer only to be left stranded on a strange, backwater world. Forced to fight as a gladiator and navigate the intrigues of a foreign planetary court, Hadrian must fight a war he did not start, for an Empire he does not love, against an enemy he will never understand.