Showing results by narrator "Pete Cross" in All Categories

Although dinosaur fossils were first found in England, a series of dramatic discoveries during the late 1800s turned North America into a world center for vertebrate paleontology. At the same time, the United States emerged as the world’s largest industrial economy, and creatures like tyrannosaurus, brontosaurus, and triceratops became emblems of American capitalism. Large, fierce, and spectacular, American dinosaurs dominated the popular imagination, making front-page headlines and appearing in feature films.

Jack London was one of the most notable authors of his time, and this collection showcases some of his most popular short stories. Filled with reflections on the human condition, our interactions with wilderness, and the chance of underlying magic that surrounds us all, these short stories offer a brief respite from the bustling world around us. This collection of short stories contains "A Thousand Deaths", "An Odyssey of the North", "A Relic of the Pliocene", "The Law of Life", "The Minions of Midas", "To Build a Fire", "Grit of Women", "That Spot", "Flush of Gold", and "Lost Face".

Angie is awakened by a midnight call from an officer with the Boise Police Department and thinks there must be a misunderstanding. The officer tells her that her husband was involved in a shooting at a local bar, but how can that be when her husband is sleeping right next to her? But when she turns to wake him, he isn’t there. Tessa is the 23-year-old bartender who escapes to a backroom storage closet during the shooting. When it comes to light that five people were killed, she is burdened with the question of why she survived.

Melvin Levin is a middle-aged man who is dissatisfied with his dull and mediocre life. That is, he was until he received a mysterious death threat in the mail. Terrified at first, Levin soon becomes accustomed to the threat—and then, increasingly, delighted with it, thrilled with his newfound importance as a “threatened man.” But as his obsession with maintaining this identity becomes all-consuming, he risks blinding himself to the twin dangers of the threat itself and—perhaps worse—his own deranged mind.

Although humankind today can peer far deeper into the universe than ever before, we still find ourselves surrounded by the unknown and perhaps the unknowable. All great science fiction has used the human imagination to explore that realm beyond the known, just as theistic religions have done since long before the genre existed. As Hugo Award-winning author Robert Charles Wilson argues, the genre’s freewheeling speculation and systematic world-building make it a unique lens for understanding, examining, and assessing the truth claims of religions in general and Christianity in particular.

Jerry can't wait to explore the dark, spooky old cave he found down by the beach. Then the other kids tell him a story. A story about a ghost who is three hundred years old. A ghost who comes out when the moon is full. A ghost . . . who lives deep inside the cave! Jerry knows it's just another silly made-up ghost story . . . isn't it?!

Bob Ryan has scored every baseball game he's attended, at every level, since the start of the 1977 season. It's a deeply personal tradition still going strong at more than 1,400 games and counting. The tattered scorebooks he's filled are worn from age, travel, and countless summer days, but their grids and scrawled symbols tell the stories of milestones, rivalries, rare historic achievements, and more. In Scoring Position captures the incomparable spirit of baseball, with its infinite possibilities and madcap anomalies. 

Ben doesn’t feel chosen by anybody—not by his friends, who haven’t kept in touch since he moved after his parents’ divorce, or by his mom, who’s so busy he barely sees her. He spends all his time living in fantasy worlds and writing extensively planned adventure campaigns in his role-playing-game notebook. So when Niara, a character who could be right out of one of his favorite games, shows up and tells him he’s destined to save her realm (like, foretold-by-a-prophecy destined), Ben has two possible moves: tell her the truth or play along.

This book reveals exactly how radical, exciting, and life-changing the full picture of Buddhist ideas about concepts such as compassion, joy, detachment, and liberation can be. Its key aim, however, is to do this in a way that appeals to everyone, whether they are interested in Buddhism or not. Written in simple, straightforward language, What's Beyond Mindfulness? contains 50 essays covering every aspect of modern life, ranging from the mundane to the spiritual. Topics include how to be fulfilled at work, how to relate to money, what mindfulness really means, how to find the magic of the moment, and much, much more.

Today's media and political landscapes are littered with untrustworthy sources and the dangerous concept of fake news. This accessible guide helps you fight this deeply troubling trend and ensure that truth is not a permanent casualty. Written by Capitol Hill veteran and author Bruce Bartlett, The Truth Matters presents actionable tips and tricks for consuming news critically, judging sources, using fact-checking sites, avoiding confirmation bias, identifying trustworthy experts, and more.

When a construction crew unearths the body of a young girl near the McCulloughs’ vacation home on Orcas Island, Hannah has no choice but to confront her past. She wonders how much Allan knows about the victim and the apocalyptic cult she was connected to. Meanwhile, Allan can’t seem to understand why his beautiful young bride, as polished and pristine as the collectible artifacts in his glass case, would threaten their fairy-tale lifestyle by digging too deep in places she knows she shouldn’t.

Aspiring investigative reporter Des Cleary had dreams of a better world—one more accepting of people like him—when he broke the story of Orion Broderick’s relationship. A story that kicked Orion out of the soccer halls of fame and sent him careening into obscurity. Racked with shame, Des abandoned his own career for good.

Unlike other biographies, the Making of America series goes beyond individual narratives linking influential figures to create an overarching story of America's growth that will deepen understanding of the country we live in today. This bundle featuring Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Jackson tells the story of American constitutional history from the founding of the nation through the end of the Civil War.

On January 22, 2003, four men stepped onto a stage in Brooklyn and did something no one else was doing at that time, in that place. They played rock 'n' roll: old-fashioned rock 'n' roll with skyscraping riffs and sloppy solos, topped with extraordinary lyrics about an out-of-focus America, blurred by pills and powders, of crime and fear and desperation and redemption. Twenty years later, The Hold Steady are one of America's most beloved rock bands. To mark those twenty years, The Hold Steady tell their full story.

When a member of their quiet community is brutally murdered, the Abbotts find themselves prime suspects of the crime. The couple is desperate to prove their innocence, but when a tape is discovered with horrifying evidence, everything changes. With shocking truths beginning to surface, Rachael and Caide must decide just how far they are willing to go to protect those they love. Can they trust anyone around them, including each other?

Experience the height of the Jazz Age through the eyes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the most notable authors in American literature. This collection includes: This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned, The Great Gatsby.

Buster's in big trouble. He's been dragged to Dog Court for breaking one of the most sacred of all dog rules: Never ever talk to a human, or let a human know how smart you really are. But he swears he had a good reason! The boy he's been taking care of, Tonio, needed his help in a big way. You see, Tonio is afraid all the time - afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing, afraid of making a fool of himself or (even worse) hurting someone else's feelings.

We take the seven-day week for granted, rarely asking what anchors it or what it does to us. Yet weeks are not dictated by the natural order. They are, in fact, an artificial construction of the modern world. With meticulous archival research that draws on a wide array of sources - including newspapers, restaurant menus, theater schedules, marriage records, school curricula, folklore, housekeeping guides, courtroom testimony, and diaries - David Henkin reveals how our current devotion to weekly rhythms emerged in the United States during the first half of the 19th century.

This Highlights Listen & Learn! Audio Study, intended for those in grade six, contains folktales from many different cultures and discusses the main ideas within them. Tales explore topics like friendship, trust, and hope. In addition to the story, this audio study provides a full lesson on cause and effect relationships, how to compare and contrast, and building vocabulary. Highlights has always been an essential part of childhood, inspiring memorable experiences for generations of families.

Post World War I, two men are attempting to find the perfect woman, although they both disagree about what might be considered ideal. Yogi Johnson, a World War I veteran, struggles with his lack of attraction to the opposite sex, until one day he's met with a gorgeous Native American woman. Scripps O'Neill, reeling from being left by his wife and young daughter, befriends a waitress and tumbles down a path of commitment.