Non Fiction

The extraordinary true story of Odette Sansom, the British spy who operated in occupied France and fell in love with her commanding officer during World War II–perfect for fans of Unbroken, The Boys in the Boat, and Code Girls.”–Provided by publisher. “The year is 1942, and World War II is in full swing. Odette Sansom decides to follow in her war hero father’s footsteps by becoming an SOE agent to aid Britain and her beloved homeland, France. She leaves behind her children, her friends, and her life. After five failed landing attempts–including a plane crash–she finally arrives in occupied France to begin her mission. It is here that she meets her commanding officer, Captain Peter Churchill. As they complete mission after mission, their forged bond of trust gives way to love. All the while, they are hunted by Germany’s top spy-catcher, the cunning and relentless Hugo Bleicher. Bleicher finally succeeds in capturing them and they are sent to Paris’s Fresnes Prison, and then to concentration camps. In captivity, Peter and Odette are starved, beaten, and tortured, but never give up the whereabouts of their colleagues, their hope, or their love for each other. In Code Name: Lise, international bestselling author Larry Loftis seamlessly weaves together the touching romance with a harrowing cat-and-mouse chase reminiscent of Catch Me If You Can. Yet [this book] is more than a love story and riveting thriller–it’s a portrait of courage, resilience, and patriotism by two of World War II’s most fearless, most decorated operatives, and is sure to excite fans of [spy fiction].

Five shots on Saturday morning changed their fate…She was a beautiful and happy young woman who lived a fairytale life. Shurka, her beloved husband and their two small children lived in a pretty house in a village in Poland…This was their life and nothing could harm it, or so they thought… WWII broke out and though the happy family thought the Germans would never reach their idyllic village, they quickly understood they were wrong…The family had to flee their house and find shelter in a neighboring Ghetto where they soon realized that the Gestapo was taking Jews away on trucks every night, and they were never seen again. The family decided to escape into the deep dark forest. There, surrounded by animals, they knew that this was their only chance to get away from the real beasts. They had no idea what would await them, but they knew that doing nothing was not an option if they wanted to survive

What can drive a young and seemingly innocent child to kill? Murder is horrible enough when perpetrated by adults, and yet the concept takes on a whole new level of chilling morbidity when a murderer is revealed to be a young boy or girl. Is it the result of severe trauma manifesting itself in the most macabre of ways? Is it the progeny of some severe mental disorder? Or were they influenced by the actions of the people they grew up with? Most of the time, the answers to such a question are simple, but no less horrific. Eleven-year-old Mary Flora Bell was tried and found guilty in 1968 for the coldhearted murders of two very young boys – crimes which she committed without any hint of remorse. After her past and motives have been examined, hindsight asks the pressing question: Was she a victim in as much as she was a killer? From the details of her murders to the dark childhood she suffered, Mary Flora Bell’s short but horrific time as a child serial killer will be analyzed in detail within Mary Flora Bell: The Horrific True Story Behind An Innocent Girl Serial Killer

In the bestselling tradition of Escape and Stolen Innocence, the first look behind the curtains of the Westboro Baptist Church, by a young woman cast out from its clutches”–Provided by the publisher.

REAGAN stands fair to be the first truly post-partisan biography of our 40th President, and thus a balm for our own bitterly divided times. It is the quintessential American triumph, brought to life with cinematic vividness: a young man is born into poverty and raised in a series of flyspeck towns in the Midwest by a pious mother and a reckless, alcoholic, largely absent father. Severely near-sighted, the boy lives in his own world, a world of the popular books of the day, and finds his first brush with popularity, even fame, as a young lifeguard. Thanks to his first great love, he imagines a way out, and makes the extraordinary leap to go to college, a modest school by national standards, but an audacious presumption in the context of his family’s station. From there, the path is only very dimly lit, but it leads him, thanks to his great charm and greater luck, to a solid career as a radio sportscaster, and then, astonishingly, fatefully, to Hollywood. And the rest, as they say, is history. Bob Spitz’s REAGAN is an absorbing, richly detailed, even revelatory chronicle of the full arc of Ronald Reagan’s epic life – giving full weight to the Hollywood years, his transition to politics and rocky but ultimately successful run as California governor, and ultimately, of course, his iconic presidency, filled with storm and stress but climaxing with his peace talks with the Soviet Union that would serve as his greatest legacy. It is filled with fresh assessments and shrewd judgments, and doesn’t flinch from a full reckoning with the man’s strengths and limitations. This is no hagiography: Reagan was never a brilliant student, of anything, and his disinterest in hard-nosed political scheming, while admirable, meant that this side of things was left to the other people in his orbit, not least his wife Nancy; sometimes this delegation could lead to chaos, and worse. But what emerges as a powerful signal through all the noise is an honest inherent sweetness, a gentleness of nature and willingness to see the good in people and in this country, that proved to be a tonic for America in his time, and still is in ours. It was famously said that FDR had a first-rate disposition and a second-rate intellect.

A profound, original, and accessible book that argues that a faith not in God or eternal life, but in the finite, temporal life we lead here on earth is one that gives that life far greater depth of meaning. A manifesto for a truly secular faith that speaks eloquently to both believers and agnostics alike. The philosopher and critic Martin Hägglund believes that we need a new way of thinking about faith. In contrast to the traditional religious faith in eternity, he proposes a secular faith in the value of living in time. He argues that the concept of an eternal heaven actually renders our mortal life meaningless since it assumes that our ultimate aims should be to escape it. Engaging writers and thinkers as diverse as C. S. Lewis, Kierkegaard, St. Augustine, Nietzsche, Martin Luther, and even Karl Ove Knausgaard, Hägglund provides not only a critique of religious ideals, but also a positive, alternative understanding of the beliefs and values that can motivate us to live lives of meaning in the here and now”

For Francisco Cantú the border is in the blood: his mother, a park ranger and daughter of a Mexican immigrant, raised him in the scrublands of the Southwest. Haunted by the landscape of his youth, Cantú joins the Border Patrol. He and his partners are posted to remote regions crisscrossed by drug routes and smuggling corridors, where they learn to track other humans under blistering sun and through frigid nights. They haul in the dead and deliver to detention those they find alive. Cantú tries not to think where the stories go from there. Plagued by nightmares, he abandons the Patrol for civilian life. But when an immigrant friend travels to Mexico to visit his dying mother and does not return, Cantú discovers that the border has migrated with him, and now he must know the whole story.”– “A former Border Patrol agent’s haunting experience of an unnatural divide and the lives caught on either side, struggling to cross or to defend it”

In many ways, I was an independent woman,” writes Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Alice Steinbach. “For years I’d made my own choices, paid my own bills, shoveled my own snow.” But somehow she had become dependent in quite another way. “I had fallen into the habit of defining myself in terms of who I was to other people and what they expected of me.” But who was she away from the people and things that defined her? In this exquisite book, Steinbach searches for the answer to this question in some of the most beautiful and exciting places in the world

The jolt of inspiration every knitter needs! Inspired by the ritual of sipping and stitching, CoffeeHouse Knits is a stimulating collection of knitwear with an extra shot of something special. Whether you’re joining friends at the coffee shop for community knitting or you’re home enjoying the first cup of the day, perk up your knitting with: 20 patterns that range in skill level from advanced beginner to intermediate–macchiato to espresso; Simple touches evoke the idea of everyone’s favorite drink, from steaming swirls around a sweater yoke to coffee bean inspired motifs; Stirring essays from knitters explore community, connection, and caffeine. Pour yourself another cup and settle in with Coffeehouse Knits

Imagine a workplace where everyone chooses to bring energy, passion, and a positive attitude to the job every day. Imagine an environment in which people are truly connected to their work, to their colleagues, and to their customers. In this engrossing parable, a fictional manager is charged with the responsibility of turning a chronically unenthusiastic and unhelpful department into an effective team. Down the street from her office is Seattle’s very real Pike Place Fish, a world famous market that is wildly successful thanks to its fun, bustling, joyful atmosphere and great customer service. By applying ingeniously simple lessons learned form the actual Pike PLace fishmongers, our manager discovers how to energize those who report to her and effect an astonishing transformation in her workplace. Addressing today’s most pressing work issues (including employee retention and burnout) with an engaging metaphor and an appealing message that applies to anyone in any sector of any organization, Fish! offers wisdom that tis easy to grasp, instantly applicable, and profound–the hallmarks of a true business classic.