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Midnight Train From Georgia
Midnight Train from Georgia chronicles the incredible rise of Gladys Knight and the Pips from their origins singing in a small Atlanta church to their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. When two families’ destinies intertwine at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, they discover the extraordinary musical talents of their children. Young cousins William Guest, Eleanor Guest, Gladys Knight, Brenda Knight, and Bubba Knight unite their heavenly vocals to form The Pips gospel choir.We follow William Guest from his formative years in Atlanta, where his love of music is kindled by evenings listening to his family perform rhythmic gospel songs on their porch. The Pips’ journey takes them from these humble back-porch jam sessions to struggle and sacrifice on the road to stardom. With faith, fortitude and William’s grandmother’s lessons to guide them, the group overcomes adversity through the transcendent power of their music.Midnight Train from Georgia is an inspiring tale about the bonds of family, church and music. It’s a story of poverty to fortune, innocence to experience, and childhood friendship growing into Hall of Fame synergy. Their sweet harmonies touched millions over decades, but it all started with kids finding their voices in a small Georgia choir.
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Heavy Rainbows
An extraordinarily true-life account of a left-handed forklift truck driver who, after a catastrophic life changing accident, became a right-handed professional artist. Heavy Rainbows conveys an honest, no frills autobiographical account of how a single unforeseen event completely changed the direction of Mark’s entire life, and the subsequent adventures that followed involving devastating lows and euphoric highs that are unique, engaging, and inspirational.Firsthand experiences and events that influenced Mark’s development as a person are told chronologically, culminating in a collection of artworks that convey powerful emotionally charged contemporary issues such as global warming, mental health, and animal welfare. Each chapter incorporates humour and satire, that contrast with episodes of dark, life changing experiences, offering the reader a thought-provoking unpretentious slice of reality, underpinned by art, to convey an in-depth personal story involving triumph over adversity.
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Childhood in the Liverpool Slums
The author was born just after the Second World War at the Mill Road Maternity Hospital Liverpool. His childhood years were spent in the slum housing of the Everton District of Liverpool where he attended Primary and then Secondary School until 1961. On leaving school he had a number of jobs before working for the City Council in their Children’s Homes, then running a residential unit at the Cotswold therapeutic Community in Wiltshire, before returning to Liverpool as a social work Staff Development and Training Officer. Before taking retirement Bob was a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood, Childhood and Youth Studies at Edge Hill University in Lancashire.Bob and his partner have four sons and five grandchildren.
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From the Darkness into the Light
In this insightful and multifaceted book, the author recounts his two-year battle against one of the most pervasive modern-day ailments – depression. He likens his struggle with depression to a lingering, oppressive darkness that clouded his mind, challenging his will to live and his belief in the human capacity for resilience.Throughout the book, the author invites readers to explore the self-healing potential that lies within all of us, a power rooted in our evolutionary connection to nature. This innate strength, he argues, can enable us to triumph over depression. As the narrative unfolds, he shares how rediscovering this dormant potential can gradually transform the darkness of depression into the soothing light of freedom.The author, a nature enthusiast who believes strongly in the evolutionary power of the natural world to heal the human body, combines his knowledge of nature-based self-healing methods with personal reflections and often harrowing experiences. Presented in a relatable, down-to-earth style, the book charts a journey from despair to victory. The author’s personal story of self-treatment emphasizes reliance on our internal strengths and the healing aspects of nature, offering an alternative perspective to the conventional medical system. From the depths of despair to a triumphant resurgence, this book challenges and inspires readers with a candid account of overcoming depression through self-discovery and a deep connection to the natural world.
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Sleep with the Holy Ghost
“Do you think, Sir, that Ireland should have joined the war against Germany?”“I mean, Sir, that the married women in Ireland, like me Ma, and lots of other fellas’ mothers have loads of babies and are always having to go into hospital to have them or have to feed them and wash them. The mothers have stacks of work to do all the time and they’re always carrying babies around in their bellies or in their arms.”Patsy Fagan, growing up in Dublin in the 1950s, asks awkward questions of his schoolteacher, Mr Bambrick.A reflective memoir that touches on the impact of history, war, death of a young sister, religion, and schooling on the lives of the characters.Patsy, falling in love as a teenager, facing the uncertainty of having to leave Dublin to live in England. This tender, amusing, sharp and gloriously sparkling work will appeal to a wide audience who enjoy engaging with the full range of human emotions.Striking, thoughtful, funny; guaranteed to keep you reading – a book to relish.
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Resilience
A poignant, inspired and assured memoir, Resilience: A Dad’s Journey Through Grief chronicles one father’s intensely personal experience of grief after the passing of his beloved wife. Suddenly a widower and sole parent to three daughters – ages seven, five and four – the author intimately shares his turbulent emotional journey while adjusting to tragedy’s harsh new reality.This candid, heart-wrenching account provides an authentic window into one man’s personal trauma. By spotlighting the power of inner resilience and maintaining positivity amid adversity, the book carries an uplifting message of hope for any who have endured loss or suffering. His inclination to openly face tribulation makes this grief narrative widely relatable.While arising from harrowing personal upheaval, the author transforms his poignant tale into a parable of perseverance and grace emerging through life’s darkest moments. His desire to help others reveals that, although pain may carve deep sorrows, the heart always holds hope and inner strength can call us back to life.
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Natasha Thom’s Soul Journey
Why am I here? Who am I? What am I?In search of answers to these existential questions, Natasha Thom travelled and became involved with inquiring young minds who were and are on the same quest, from Southern Africa to England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Poland, and Russia… living in benders, vans, apartments, trains, churches, and nature… sharing their lives, many of whom, like her, became disillusioned and turned to drugs. Let us not condemn them, as we owe to them an awareness of the changes that are so needed in our world. Let us stop, listen and learn and help and join in the pursuit for change.Art was life for Natasha Naida Thom, and she recorded her life in the form of art, writing, creating from discarded objects, welding sculptures and constructions, and choreographing dances and plays while traveling.“I have captured my reflections whilst exploring the world, through the use of art. I feel that art is a means through which mankind can illustrate the few small truths that he does perceive, and so build on them. If change is the flow of life, then art is the picture that represents the way life’s river flows.”She loved life and found beauty in that which others discarded, loving and encouraging those who society rejected, unlovable and fallen people. She always strove to make her environment better, meaningful, and open to man and animal alike. It is a call to join our Creator God who loves us, and those who want a life with meaning, in the fight to save the humanness of humanity.
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A Pilot's Ups and Downs
For every 1,000 people who applied to be airline pilots in BEA/BOAC back in the day, about four made it. The other 996, plus their wives, parents, and children, might wonder how their lives could have turned out, so here is the story of one of the four. Besides, the passengers who sit behind that locked door and trust us with their lives must wonder, “What goes on up there, and how does it affect their lives and families?”My education included the University Air Squadron, then learning to fly at the College sponsored by British Airways. There is a chapter of general information on aviation, then most of the book is an account of my experiences, whether dramatic, disappointing, exciting, or amusing, during my varied career in British Airways. Some incidents occur within the cockpit, others in social interaction outside, and a few come from pilot folklore. I also describe visits to sights around the world, an aspect that draws people to aviation as a career, and interests everyone.I have added one professional pilot’s opinion on aviation topics in the news, the mysterious Malaysian disappearance, and the Alpine tragedy, and finish with my lifelong interest in designing model aircraft.
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Comrade Sao
‘Thursday 17 April 1975 is the day that I will never forget until the day I die. That was the day the Khmer Rouge took over Phnom Penh and overthrew the government of General Lon Nol and his Republican Party…’Thus begins Firos Iseu’s gripping memoir of his experiences during the Khmer Rouge’s brutal regime in Cambodia between April 1975 and January 1979. At the tender age of 12, Iseu – whose ‘revolutionary name’, Comrade Sao, provides the book with its title – faced the horrors of the regime’s first wave of killings, which at a stroke deprived him of his parents and elder siblings. Bearing a diverse heritage of Indian, Laotian, and Vietnamese roots, he was branded a ‘17 April’ or ‘new’ person, marking him as an outsider and second-class citizen.Comrade Sao stands as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, showcasing the author’s remarkable courage and resourcefulness in the face of terrifying adversity. This harrowing, unflinching and above all honest narrative sheds a necessary light on one of the darkest chapters of humanity of the past 50 years.
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Woman of her Time
Almost everything that life can throw at you is here in this busy London Hospital Doctor’s story: medical dramas, romance, betrayal, and abuse in its varied forms.Ultimately, the author explains much of it by using her medical knowledge.Running parallel is the tale of the vicissitudes of the State of Israel from its birth in 1948. Advocacy is used to neutralise its bad press.Dry humour is maintained throughout. A journal in time of Covid keeps it up to date.
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War Trauma Chronicles
War Trauma Chronicles is a story that mixes real events of the Lebanese civil war with mythologies, philosophies, and different genres of fictions to create an anti-war book.The book starts with the earliest memories of a young kid who lived and survived the war. It highlights and studies the effects that war has on a human’s brains, especially children’s.Even though the story is based on real events, it’s neither a history book nor an autobiography. The timelines are scrambled in an unusual dimension: present, future and past got mixed with reality, fiction, and theories. Nothing is as real as the fact that nothing is real.
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When Phoebe Dances
Judith, no stranger to the paranormal, never anticipated that her extraordinary experiences would unlock the door to a budding romance.With an entrepreneurial spirit that cannot be tamed, she plunges into fresh ventures, embarking on a rollercoaster journey that tests her resilience to its limits.As Judith navigates the challenges of her business endeavours, her life becomes increasingly intertwined with a series of paranormal events and a blossoming romantic relationship. This compelling combination makes When Phoebe Dances a truly captivating read.
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