Farm Memoir

The people of mid-Ohio's Pleasant Valley went on with their normal lives that cold and rainy spring of 1896, not knowing that young Ceely Rose was brooding. She'd been told to forget her obsession with handsome Guy Berry. She'd been told about the danger of Rough-on-Rats poison. She'd heard about murdering those who stand in the way of love. By the time she was done, her family would be dead and others threatened. Later, the place where these crimes took place became Malabar Farm, the estate of Pulitzer Prize-winning author and conservationist Louis Bromfield.

Set in the Dust Bowl of the American West, this true account of a child coming of age on a 1920s Nebraska farm recaptures an era. Young Lucille Marker experiences survival during the Depression, one of the worst dust storms in history, and finally the disintegration of the close-knit community in which she grows up.

From poverty to lucky in love, Belle found her happy ending with a man named Mads…or so everyone thought. But when the wealthy Mads died a mysterious death, Belle collected the life insurance policy and remarried…only for her new husband to drop dead. With things going from strange to sinister, more men mysteriously die or go missing around Belle.

Meet a pygmy goat who rides on top of a pony, marvel at flying lizards delivering messages, participate in a bloody rock-fight, sleep in a nudist colony cardboard box for two, witness the resurrection of a guinea pig, experience rattlesnake jewelry made before your very eyes, behold how a dead seal can save a family from a watery death.... But wait, that's not all. Ducks, dogs, cats, tortoises, horses, chickens, two best friends, two siblings, and two parents complete the picture, and, lest you think it was all fun and games: thousands and thousands of flies.

When Ryan Dennis’s father was crushed by heavy machinery on their New York dairy farm, both men accepted the accident as a risk of agricultural life. But it was harder to comprehend being crushed by low milk prices, big banks, and the policies that destroyed America’s family farms.

Suzy was content in her simple life, tending her animals, writing about her homestead and her simple life in the most southern foothills of the Appalachian Mountains...but God had much more in store. Suzy went from being a long time widow to newly-wed Suzy Lowry McCray at age 65 when she married her high school sweetheart.... Listen to their spiritual journey as life continues to change for this "young" couple in this her third book, God in the Simple Times and then enjoy some of the best loved columns from Suzy's first two books.

As fresh and poignant today as when they were written, these touching letters capture the heart of everyday life during the Civil War. Set both at home in Florida and on the front, the letters were written by two generations of families whose members included radical secessionists, moderates, and even a few Unionists.

On a dark, rainy night in October 1900, George E. Bailey, caretaker of Breakheart Hill farm, disappeared. He no longer made his daily milk runs or stopped at the tavern for his favorite cherry rum. Some suspected foul play right away, as Bailey's "wife" had recently gone to Maine, leaving Bailey alone with his farmhand, John C. Best, who was known to be a drunk and a potentially violent man. Nine days later, when Bailey's dismembered body was fished out of a local pond, all eyes quickly focused on Best. Douglas L. Heath and Alison C. Simcox uncover the facts of this shocking tale.

Discover the riveting tale of youthful idealism, adventure, and survival with "Rosebud Farm: The Journey of Young Idealists" by Louella Bryant, skillfully narrated by Butch Bryant. This gripping audiobook takes you back to 1970, where a group of young American ex-pats from wealthy families abandons their conventional lives to establish an ideal society at Rosebud Farm in Far North Queensland. Join Charlie Dean, a headstrong resident of the farm, as he decides to leave the comforts of his new home to explore Southeast Asia.

This is a short audio biography of the 20th president of the US, James A. Garfield.

In May 1972, Liese Greensfelder arrived in the small Norwegian town of Øystese to startling news: Johannes, the farmer who hired her for the summer, had just been hospitalized after a stroke. Could she please watch over his place for a month or so, until he got back on his feet? Twenty years old and with no farming experience, Liese was dropped off the next day at a centuries-old mountain farm at the end of a dirt road high above the magnificent Hardanger Fjord—with 115 sheep, two cows, one calf, a draft horse, and a Norwegian herding dog to care for.

Ever since that terrible night in January 1931, when the body of Julia Wallace was found in her Liverpool home, her head crushed by violent blows, the identity of her killer has remained a mystery. Her husband, William, was accused, tried, convicted and sentenced to hang for murder, but he was then acquitted in a sensational appeal court judgement. Yet the police refused to reopen their investigation.

An intimate memoir on the work and wonder of ranch life, critiquing the inhumane and environmentally destructive factory farm system and offering sustainable alternatives for ethical omnivores. Although there are nearly 100 million cattle in the United States, these animals are often ignored or...

The long pilgrimage of LeRoy Chatfield weaves its way through multiple collective projects designed to better the condition of the marginalized and forgotten. From the cloisters of the Christian Brothers and the halls of secondary education to the fields of Central California and the streets of Sacramento, Chatfield's story reveals a fierce commitment to those who were denied the promises of the American dream. Chatfield recounts his childhood, explains the social issues that have played a significant role in his life and work, and uncovers the lack of justice he saw too frequently.

The creative force behind Blackberry Farm, Tennessee’s award-winning farm-to-table resort, reveals how she found herself only after losing everything in this powerful memoir of resilience. “I couldn’t put down this wise, honest, beautifully written story.”—Shauna Niequist, New...

My First Rodeo is a heartwarming collection of stories that reveal the ups, downs, and delights of being a family man, from a guy who never dreamed of being one. Happily unmarried with no desire for a change in status, Stoney Stamper met a beautiful lady with two daughters, and to his surprise...

Sam Vincent is a twenty-something writer in the inner suburbs, scrabbling to make ends meet, when he gets a call from his mother: his father has stuck his hand in a woodchipper, but ‘not to worry–it wasn’t like that scene in Fargo or anything’. When Sam returns to the family farm to help out, his life takes a new and unexpected direction.

The book begins by biographically following the couple's small town Kansas courtship. Autobiographical comments are added from Tommy Johnson, now 94, as he reflects back on his romance with Margaret, his wife of 50 years. The letters shift from college to entering the fight after Pearl Harbor, then flight school, naval training, and eventually to his dive bombing missions in the South Pacific. Until, at last, the final letter that he is gratefully coming home to drive her around town in a Buick convertible.

Welts on Your Butt a Calf Could Suck brings small-town stories to life from the gravel roads and hog lots of northwest Missouri—where dinner came at noon, supper came at sundown, 4-H wasn’t just an after-school activity, and life’s best lessons were often learned the hard way (sometimes barefoot).

In Laughing at Myself: My Education in Congress, on the Farm, and at the Movies, Dan Glickman tells his story of a classical family background, religious heritage, and "Midwestern-nice" roots, and how it led to a long and successful career in public service. Dan has successfully navigated the worlds of congressional politics, cabinet-level administration, and the entertainment industry and offers listeners the many tricks of the trade he has learned over the years.