Reader's Digest Timeless Favorites


Book Description

A collection of heartwarming, thrilling, surprising and hilarious stories selected from nearly a century of Reader’s Digest magazine. Certain tales stick in our memories and remain timeless as the years march on—and they shine like never before in this compilation from Reader’s Digest. Our editors have carefully selected narratives readers have adored throughout the past century; humorous slices of life in decades past, captivating tales of survival against the odds, sweet stories about cherished animal companions and side-splitting commentaries on everyday annoyances. Each remains as resonant and meaningful today as it was when it first appeared in the pages of Reader’s Digest magazine, such as: A man’s chance meeting with Einstein at a chamber music performance, and another’s encounter with Hemingway A harrowing account of a courageous skydiving instructor’s determination to save an unconscious diver A woman’s first-person tale of remaining awake as she received a brain operation In addition, the book features bonus material never before published in the magazine, along with full-color illustrations and inspiring quotes.




The Best of Reader's Digest


Book Description

More than two dozen timeless favorites from the Reader's Digest archives. From everyday heroes to larger-than-life characters, small moments to historic events, the unforgettable stories in Reader's Digest come alive as never before in this keepsake book. Our editors have combed the archives for the narratives—sometimes funny, often poignant, always inspirational—that still strike deep chords today, such as: The gripping tale of a North Carolina woman and her Shepherd, Gandalf, who found a lost Boy Scout in the woods during their first search-and-rescue job The tragic account of the crash of the Columbia Space Shuttle The miracle of the old letter that led to a couple being reunited after nearly 60 years apart The heroic actions of an eighteen-year-old girl who carried a young boy to safety after being pulled out to sea in a riptide The hilarious anecdote about the one exception to humorist Calvin Trillin’s happy childhood, a sickly collie named Chubby Featuring the best of the best fron the present and past, this collection of timeless favorites will thrill your senses, warm your heart, and brighten your day.




Once an Eagle


Book Description

“Once an Eagle is simply the best work of fiction on leadership in print.” —General Martin E. Dempsey, 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Required reading for West Point and Marine Corps cadets, Once An Eagle is the story of one special man, a soldier named Sam Damon, and his adversary over a lifetime, fellow officer Courtney Massengale. Damon is a professional who puts duty, honor, and the men he commands above self-interest. Massengale, however, brilliantly advances by making the right connections behind the lines and in Washington's corridors of power. Beginning in the French countryside during the Great War, the conflict between these adversaries solidifies in the isolated garrison life marking peacetime, intensifies in the deadly Pacific jungles of World War II, and reaches its treacherous conclusion in the last major battleground of the Cold War—Vietnam. Now reissued with a new foreword by acclaimed historian Carlo D'Este, here is an unforgettable story of a man who embodies the best in our nation—and in us all.




Reader's Digest Easy Fixes for Everyday Things


Book Description

SAVE MONEY, TIME, AND EFFORT repairing your household equipment Easy Fixes for Everyday Things is fresh, surprising, and honest: if something can be fixed we show you how; if it needs expert attention we say so; and if it is simply beyond hope, we tell you that, too. Maybe your smartphone fell in water or you spilled coffee on your computer keyboard. Perhaps your iron won't produce steam or your refrigerator is making an odd noise. It could be that your watch face has been scratched or the chain on your bike keeps falling off. Whatever the problem, Easy Fixes for Everyday Things has your solution. We all rely on devices, appliances and pieces of household equipment that break, misbehave or fail completely. With Easy Fixes for Everyday Things you can help yourself when disaster strikes, saving time, money and hassle (and cutting down on needless waste) simply by following a few straightforward steps. This fun yet practical book strips the mystery from repairs, enabling you to fix the seemingly unfixable and solve more than 1,000 everyday problems with phones, cameras, laptops, locks, washing machines, lawn mowers, water pipes, cars and dozens of other common household things.




Laughter Totally is the Best Medicine


Book Description

More than 1,000 of the funniest, laugh-out-loud jokes, quips, quotes, anecdotes, and cartoons from Reader’s digest magazine—guaranteed to put laughter in your day. This collection of laugh-out-loud, clean jokes, one-liners, and other lighthearted glimpses of life—drawn from Reader’s Digest magazine’s most popular humor columns—is sure to tickle the funny bone. Packed with more than 1,000 jokes, anecdotes, funny things kids say, cartoons, quotes, and stories contributed by professional comedians, joke writers, and readers of the magazine, this side-splitting compilation pokes fun at the facts and foibles of daily routines, illustrating that life is often funnier than fiction. “If evolution really works, how come mothers have only two hands? – Milton Berle The game card said: “Name three wars.” My teenage daughter’s response: “Civil War, Revolutionary War, and Star Wars.” Why do Pilgrims’ pants fall down? Because their belts are on their hats! Check out this billion-dollar idea. A smoke detector that shuts off when you yell, “I’m just cooking!” Overheard in an office: Supervisor to team leader: "So our people aren’t astute enough to understand these comments on the document?" Leader: "What does astute mean?"




Reader's Digest Laughter is the Best Medicine: All Time Favorites


Book Description

A hilarious collection of the funniest family-friendly jokes, quotes, stories, cartoons, and anecdotes from the past 100 years of Reader’s Digest magazine. A little chuckle every day will keep the doctor away. Editors have mined the Reader’s Digest archives to bring you Laughter Is the Best Medicine, All-Time Favorites, a collection of the most hilarious jokes and anecdotes we’ve come across over the years. As you turn the pages of our newest collection, you’ll realize once again that laughter is always the best medicine. If evolution really works, how come mothers have only two hands? –Milton Berle The game card said: “Name three wars.” My teenage daughter’s response: “Civil War, Revolutionary War, and Star Wars.” Keep your temper. Nobody wants it. –Dearborn Independent Check out this billion-dollar idea. A smoke detector that shuts off when you yell, “I’m just cooking!” Anthropologists have discovered a 50-million-year-old human skull with three perfectly preserved teeth intact. They're not sure, but they think it may be the remains of the very first hockey player. –Jay Leno This collection of laugh-out-loud, clean jokes, one-liners, and other lighthearted glimpses of life—drawn from Reader’s Digest magazine’s most popular humor columns—is sure to tickle the funny bone. Packed with cartoons, quotes, quips, and stories contributed by professional comedians, joke writers, and readers of the magazine, this side-splitting compilation pokes fun at the facts and foibles of daily routines, illustrating that life is often funnier than fiction.




Then Came Heaven


Book Description

A grief-stricken widower learns to open his heart again in this touching and emotionally charged novel from New York Times bestselling author LaVyrle Spencer… A man of unshakable faith, Eddie Olczak derives intense pleasure from the life he’s built with his beloved wife, Krystyna, and their two daughters. But when a tragic accident cuts Krystyna’s life short, Eddie is sure his heart is broken forever. Sister Regina, the girls’ teacher at St. Joseph’s school, has always felt a special affinity for the Olczak family, but the strict rules of the Benedictine sisterhood have kept her from getting too close. Now, as Sister Regina and Eddie cross paths, they realize there is a connection between them that goes beyond their shared love of Krystyna and the girls. Thrilled—and secretly frightened—they must summon the courage to look within their hearts and make their own choices.




Book of North American Birds


Book Description

The birds of North America are an endless source of delight to anyone who enjoys nature, and this volume collects over 570 of these remarkable species--every major North American species--in all their beauty. Hundreds of full-color paintings by world-renowned nature artists are coupled with lively, informative commentary.




The Communicative Mind


Book Description

Integrating research in linguistics, philosophy, semiotics, neurophenomenology, and literary studies, The Communicative Mind presents a thought-provoking and multifaceted investigation into linguistic meaning construction. It explores the various ways in which the intersubjectivity of communicating interactants manifests itself in language structure and use and argues for the indispensability of dialogue as a semantic resource in cognition. The view of the mind as highly conditioned by the domain of interpersonal communication is supported by an extensive range of empirical linguistic data from fiction, poetry and written and spoken everyday language, including rhetorically “creative” metaphors and metonymies. The author introduces Cognitive Linguistics to the notion of enunciation, which refers to the situated act of language use, and demonstrates the centrality of subjectivity and turn-taking interaction in natural semantics. The theoretical framework presented takes contextual relevance, viewpoint shifts, dynamicity, and the introduction into discourse of elements with no real-world counterparts (subjective motion, fictivity and other forms of non-actuality) to be vital components in the construction of meaning. The book engages the reader in critical discussions of cognitive-linguistic approaches to semantic construal and addresses the philosophical implications of the identified strengths and limitations. Among the theoretical advances in what Brandt refers to as the cognitive humanities is Fauconnier and Turner’s theory of conceptual integration of “mental spaces” which has proved widely influential in Cognitive Poetics and Linguistics, offering a philosophy of language bridging the gap between pragmatics and semantics. With its constructive criticism of the “general mechanism” hypothesis, according to which “blending” can explain everything from the origin of language to binding in perception, Brandt’s book brings the scope and applicability of Conceptual Integration Theory into the arena of scientific debate. The book contains five main chapters entitled Enunciation: Aspects of Subjectivity in Meaning Construction, The Subjective Conceptualizer: Non-actuality in Construal, Conceptual Integration in Semiotic Meaning Construction, Meaning Construction in Literary Text, and Effects of Poetic Enunciation: Seven Types of Iconicity.




Flight of Eagles


Book Description

Born in the United States but separated since they were boys, twin brothers Max and Harry Kelso found themselves fighting on opposite sides when the Second World War broke out, Max as one of the Luftwaffe’s most feared pilots, Harry as a Yank ace in the RAF...