Showing results by narrator "Pete Cross" in All Categories

Brother David Steindl-Rast takes us on a journey to discover the wisdom preserved in common-sense sayings that have been passed down through generations. These timeless words reflect the shared values cherished by people all over the world. "When you drink from a stream", says one Chinese proverb, "remember the spring". From these simple words, we are reminded to be grateful for even the smallest graces that we receive.

Said Sayrafiezadeh has been hailed by Philip Gourevitch as “a masterful storyteller working from deep in the American grain”. His new collection of stories are set in a contemporary America full of the kind of emotionally bruised characters familiar to fans of Denis Johnson and George Saunders. These are people contending with internal struggles - a son’s fractured relationship with his father, the death of a mother, the loss of a job, drug addiction - even as they are battered by the larger, often invisible, economic and political forces of American society.

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.

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.

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.

After years of putting aside her dreams of travel and adventure, Bailey George is ready to leave Lanford Falls and her responsibilities behind on a long-awaited vacation to New York City. But when the volunteer who took over her leadership position for the town's Winter Wonderfest has a medical emergency, Bailey finds herself stuck in Lanford Falls. She gets roped into reassuming her old role, not wanting to let the town or her friends and family down.

Born in a cabin deep in the backwoods of Kentucky and growing up in a family considered the poorest of the poor, Abraham Lincoln rose to become the 16th president of the United States. As president, he guided the United States through the Civil War, helped end slavery in America, and strengthened the federal government. This third installment in the Making of America series continues the story of the first 100 years of America's constitutional history, a story that began with Alexander Hamilton and Andrew Jackson.

The worst thing that ever happened to Craig is also the best: Amy. Amy and Craig never should've gotten together - Craig is an awkward Dungeons & Dragons-playing geek, and Amy is the beautiful, fiercely intelligent student-body president of their high school. Yet somehow they did - until Amy dumped him. Then got back together with him. Then dumped him again. Then got back together with him again. Over and over and over. Unfolding over their senior year, Amy and Craig's relationship is a kaleidoscope of joy, pain, and laughter as an uncertain future looms on the horizon.

Captain Delano is approached on the open sea by a battered-looking ship led by Captain Benito Cereno. Cereno, always accompanied by his personal slave, Babo, explains that his crew was transporting a group of slaves from Africa when their ship was caught and damaged in severe weather. He is polite but always timid and requests supplies for his ship's remaining journey. Captain Delano agrees to help but begins to notice the strange social interactions and atmosphere of Cereno's crew and the slaves.

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.

Through a collection of intimate reflections (on art, punctuation, eyeglasses, color, dreams, celebrity, corpses, porn, and translation) and assignments that encourage pleasure, attentiveness, and acts of playful making, poet, artist, critic, novelist, and performer Wayne Koestenbaum enacts 26 ecstatic collisions between his mind and the world. Figure It Out is both a guidebook for, and the embodiment of, the practices of pleasure, attentiveness, art, and play.

Every great author started out as a kid. Before the best sellers, fan clubs, and beloved stories we know today, the world's most celebrated writers had regular-kid problems just like you. Sam Clemens (aka Mark Twain) loved to skip school and make mischief, with his best friend Tom, of course! A young J. R. R. Tolkien was bitten by a huge tarantula - or as he called it, "a spider as big as a dragon." Toddler Zora Neale Hurston took her first steps when a wild hog entered her house and started chasing her!

Every day, scientists conduct pioneering experiments with the potential to transform how we live. Yet it isn't every day you hear from the scientists themselves! Now, award-winning author Jim Al-Khalili and his team of top-notch experts explain how today's earthshaking discoveries will shape our world tomorrow - and beyond. Pull back the curtain on genomics, robotics, AI, the Internet of Things, synthetic biology, transhumanism, interstellar travel, colonization of the solar system, teleportation, and much more.

In a post-Trump world, a relatively unknown candidate, Ian Wrightman, is elected president to heal a nation frayed by years of extreme partisanship. When a series of coordinated terrorist attacks rock the United States, Wrightman begins to take more and more executive control in the name of protecting democracy. But DC reporter and war veteran Rollie Stone uncovers evidence that the attacks might be coming from somewhere much closer to home.

Every president started out as a kid! Forget the legends, tall tales, and historic achievements - before they were presidents, the future leaders of the United States had regular-kid problems just like you. John F. Kennedy hated his big brother. Lyndon Johnson pulled pranks in class. Barack Obama was bothered by bullies. And Bill Clinton was crazy clumsy (he once broke his leg jumping rope). Kid Presidents tells all of their stories and more in these hilarious biographies. History has never been this much fun!

Curtis Quinn is a Chicago mob legend with a price on his head and a particular set of skills. Beth Jarvis is a plucky teenager unwrapping the secrets of her hometown, Harlow, where no one is allowed to leave and a mysterious ceremony awaits her on her 18th birthday. What Beth doesn't know is the truth about her sister, Kate, who escaped more than a decade ago and has evaded the town's sinister ruler, known only as the Mayor, and his High Servants, Scouts, and Disciples who rule the town, making her a local legend....

July 22, 2011, was the darkest day in Norway's history since Nazi Germany's invasion. It was 189 minutes of terror - from the moment the bomb exploded outside a government building until Anders Behring Breivik was apprehended by the police at Utoya Island. Breivik murdered 77 people, most of them teenagers and young adults, and wounded hundreds more. Breivik is a "lone wolf killer", often overlooked until they commit their crime. Breivik is also unique as he is the only lone wolf killer in recent history to still be alive and in captivity.

Four years after the devastating invasion by agents of Lon-Ser, Tobyn-Ser's Order of Mages and Masters is riven by conflict and paralyzed by inaction. From the outlander, Baram, they have learned much about their neighbor to the west: unlike Tobyn-Ser, which is served by the Mage-Craft of the Children of Amarid, Lon-Ser is devoid of magic; instead, it possesses a dazzling and deadly technology that shapes every aspect of its people's daily life. Frustrated by the Order's inability to act, Orris, a young, rebellious mage, takes it upon himself to prevent further attacks on his homeland.

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.

Lions, Komodo dragons, dogs, monkeys, and pheasants - all have shared spotlights and tabloid headlines with celebrities such as Sharon Stone, Thomas Edison, and David Hasselhoff. In this critically acclaimed collection, Lydia Millet hilariously tweaks these unholy communions to run a stake through the heart of our fascination with famous people and pop culture.