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After years of prosecuting hard-core criminals, rising legal star Alan Bell took a private sector job in South Florida's newest skyscraper. Suddenly, he suffered such bizarre medical symptoms, doctors suspected he'd been poisoned by the Mafia. Bell's rapidly declining health forced him to flee his glamorous Miami life to a sterile "bubble" in the remote Arizona desert.

Charlie and Charlize are at their wits' end trying to keep their unruly eight-year-old daughter, Charlene, under control. Just when they're beginning to think their hands couldn't possibly get any fuller, a bewildering encounter with a man in a restaurant leaves them tasked with taking care of a troll child. Ahern's story, full of humorous turns and familial insight, is a playful testament to the love of a parent - or a troll.

Charles Darwin did not deliberately set out to be the destroyer of mythical beliefs,” some of which, in his early days as a young Christian, he had previously espoused. He was a modest man who liked to avoid controversy of any kind, yet paradoxically, he was to be the cause of the greatest controversy in the history of science and religion.When Darwin embarked on the HMS Beagle in late December 1831, bound for the southern hemisphere, he could not have imagined that the experience would lead him to formulate a theory that would totally revolutionize the way in which we viewed the natural world.

Catching Lightning in a Bottle traces the complete history of Merrill Lynch and the company's substantial impact on the world of finance, from the birth of the once-mighty company to its inauspicious end. Throughout its 94-year history, Merrill Lynch revolutionized finance by bringing Wall Street to Main Street, operating under a series of guidelines known as the Principles.

Forty and facing a midlife crisis, Stu Stark has lost his mojo. He simply gave up after being fired from his prestigious job as a prosecuting attorney for losing the biggest case of his career. So when Stu's best friend gifts him a one-week trip into the Alaskan wilderness to rediscover his manhood, Stu thinks it just might do him some good. But after a horrible week, Stu is crushed when he realizes no one is coming back for him.

A feud between two brothers, one rich and the other poor, has long-lasting consequences.

A funny and touching story about how to deal with the struggles of adulthood, how to live a good life, and how money can complicate it all. Money Sucks is the culmination of those discussions, rumination on the haves and the have-nots and a frank, thought-provoking look at some of the toughest questions life throws our way: What makes us happy? How much is enough? Funny and inspiring in equal measures, it’s a must-listen for anyone who cares about the future of their children, grandchildren, and the friends and family they love.

Nevada’s politics are in large measure the result of its turbulent history and harsh environment. Michael W. Bowers’ concise volume explains the dynamics of the political formation process, which is strikingly unique among the 50 states. Even today, Nevada is unlike the other states in its politics and culture: It’s economically right yet libertarian and the home of widespread gaming and a 24/7 lifestyle, has a high percentage of federally owned lands, and has one of the highest rates of urbanism in the United States, yet is often governed by rural legislators.

Before there was "tourism" and souvenir ashtrays became "kitsch", the Lake of the Ozarks was a Shangri-La for middle-class Midwestern families on vacation, complete with man-made beaches, Hillbilly Mini Golf, and feathered rubber tomahawks. It was there that author Bill Geist spent summers in the '60s during his school and college years working at Arrowhead Lodge - a small resort owned by his bombastic uncle - in all areas of the operation, from cesspool attendant to bellhop.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and on the eve of a national recession, New York Times writer Dan Barry launched a column about America: not the one populated only by cable-news pundits, but the America defined and redefined by those who clean the hotel rooms, tend the beet fields, endure disasters both natural and manmade. As the name of the president changed from Bush to Obama to Trump, Barry was crisscrossing the country, filing deeply moving stories from the tiniest dot on the American map to the city that calls itself the Capital of the World.

In war zones witnessing widespread conflict, what makes life at all worth living? When chaos becomes a way of life in places where religion and violence intersect, what do people hold on to? If religious belief is, as Christopher Hitchens argues, the cause of wars and genocide, then is faith the cure?

Josh Cooper won Rookie of the Year in 1972 and was out of the majors by 1973, his pitching career ended by a sharp line drive up the middle. After moving back to his hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina, he has been pleasantly wasting his life for over three decades when a young woman shows up, claiming to be his daughter from one of many one-night stands. The Genie at Low Tide is a story of the mysterious, magical encounters that force us to re-examine our lives, even when we seem to have come to the end of the line.

In this rollicking novel, 96-year-old ornithologist Luka Levadski foregoes treatment for lung cancer and moves from Ukraine to Vienna to make a grand exit in a luxury suite at the Hotel Imperial. He reflects on his past while indulging in Viennese cakes and savoring music in a gilded concert hall. Levadski was born in 1914, the same year that Martha - the last of the now-extinct passenger pigeons - died. Levadski himself has an acute sense of being the last of a species.

Even with a successful career as a lawyer and a beautiful wife, Tony Greto is tormented by his secrets - secrets that finally begin to surface at his 25th high school reunion. An impromptu speech in front of his entire class and an encounter with a former classmate's son begin to unravel the threads of Tony's seemingly settled life.

Leaving from Brooklyn, New York, in August 1911, John Muir, at the age of seventy-three and traveling alone, embarked on an eight-month, 40,000-mile voyage to South America and Africa. The 1911-12 journals and correspondence reproduced in this volume allow us to travel with him up the great Amazon, into the jungles of southern Brazil, to snowline in the Andes, through southern and central Africa to the headwaters of the Nile, and across six oceans and seas in order to reach the rare forests he had so long wished to study.

The stories that make up Ghosts of Yesterday create a detailed and realistic portrait of the world that, despite (and perhaps because of) their authenticity, manage to convey a sense of wonder and fantasy, where anything is possible. The characters and places that Cady brings to life demonstrate clearly why he is one of the most versatile and respected writers today.

What really happened during Israel's journey from slavery to the promised land? Bible scholar Nicholas Perrin explains the true story of the Exodus while adding helpful background information from biblical history, archaeology, and more. You will: Explore the unvarnished Bible story of the Exodus, learn about ancient Egypt and Pharaoh, come to know the man and the mission of Moses, find out why the 10 Commandments were given, discover God's promise and plan for his people, then and now, appreciate why every New Testament writer builds on the Exodus, and more.

If you want to understand who Christ is, you have to begin by understanding what Jesus meant when he said in Luke 24:27, "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (NIV). In Finding Jesus in Exodus, biblical scholar Nicholas Perrin shows that the Bible's story of the Exodus from beginning to end is filled with prophetic foretellings of the person and work of Christ.

George S. K. Rider's The Rogue's Road to Retirement takes a unique approach to growing old don't do it! After retiring, Rider embarks on a bumpy journey to find himself and a new lease on life. For the first time, he gets in touch with his creative side an unusual direction indeed, since he spent 70 years of his life as a college athlete turned Navy officer turned Wall Street trader and weekend jock.

Everyone knows you can't build things in America anymore. Everyone, that is, except John D. Bassett III. While one corporation after another exported their manufacturing to high-volume factories in low-wage locations overseas, Bassett's traditional wood bedroom furniture manufacturing company has not only survived but thrived making premium products right here in America. When everyone else was rushing for the exits, Bassett bet on the talent, dedication, and uncompromising quality of American workmanship.