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Murdered Midas: a millionaire, his gold mine, and a strange death on an island paradise /
By Charlotte Gray. 2019
On an island paradise in 1943, Sir Harry Oakes, gold mining tycoon, philanthropist and "richest man in the Empire," was…
murdered. The news of his death surged across the English-speaking world, from London, the Imperial centre, to the remote Canadian mining town of Kirkland Lake, in the Northern Ontario bush. The murder became celebrated as "the crime of the century." The layers of mystery deepened as the involvement of Oakes' son-in-law, Count Alfred de Marigny, came quickly to be questioned, as did the odd machinations of the Governor of the Bahamas, the former King Edward VIII. Despite a sensational trial, no murderer was ever convicted. Rumours were unrelenting about Oakes' missing fortune, and fascination with the Oakes story has persisted for decades. Award-winning biographer and popular historian Charlotte Gray explores, for the first time, the life of the man behind the scandal, a man who was both reviled and admired - from his early, hardscrabble days of mining exploration, to his explosion of wealth, to his grandiose gestures of philanthropy. And Gray brings fresh eyes to the bungled investigation and shocking trial in the remote colonial island streets, proposing an overlooked suspect in this long cold case. 2019.Trudeau: the education of a prime minister /
By John Ivison. 2019
Canadians are very divided about their chameleon prime minister. Is Justin Trudeau a transformative prime minister, or does he just…
play one on television? When he entered politics, he came across as a frivolous person with no fixed principles. Now, he presents himself as a conviction politician. Is he real or phony? What motivated his metamorphosis--belief or opportunism? More prosaically, he appears a man of good intentions but in 2019, he will be judged on results. And those results have been disappointing for many, even in his own party. The ballooning deficit, the Trans Mountain Pipeline, his disastrous trip to India, the carbon tax, and many other miscalculations have done him and his party no favours. And while the Liberals concluded a new trade deal with the United States and Mexico, there are still many Canadians dissatisfied with the terms. As political columnist for the National Post since 2003 and Ottawa bureau chief for Postmedia for the past three years, John Ivison has watched Trudeau evolve as a politician and leader at home and abroad. He first interviewed him in 2006 and has sat down on a number of occasions since. It has been a fascinating transition that has not been fully captured by any writer. This book will trace the palimpsest of the man, now barely visible beneath the talking points, virtue signalling, and polished trappings of office. Ivison concludes that he has always been manipulative--good at understanding the feelings of others and playing on them. It has made him a formidable politician but one who may yet be undone by raising the bar too high; by promising to transform a country that was designed to withstand change. 2019.Girls need not apply: field notes from the Forces /
By Kelly S. Thompson. 2019
At eighteen years old, Kelly Thompson enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces. Despite growing up in a military family --…
she would, in fact, be a fourth-generation soldier -- she couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't belong. From the moment she arrives for basic training at a Quebec military base, a young woman more interested in writing than weaponry, she quickly realizes that her conception of what being a soldier means, forged from a desire to serve her country after the 9/11 attacks, isn't entirely accurate. A career as a female officer will involve navigating a masculinized culture and coming to grips with her burgeoning feminism. In this compulsively readable memoir, Thompson writes with wit and honesty about her own development as a woman and a soldier, unsparingly highlighting truths about her time in the military. In sharply crafted prose, she chronicles the frequent sexism and misogyny she encounters both in training and later in the workplace, and explores her own feelings of pride and loyalty to the Forces, and a family legacy of PTSD, all while searching for an artistic identity in a career that demands conformity. When she sustains a career-altering injury, Thompson fearlessly re-examines her identity as a soldier. 2019.Daughter of Family G: a memoir of cancer genes, love and fate /
By Ami McKay. 2019
The story of Ami McKay's connection to a genetic disorder called Lynch syndrome begins over seventy years before she was…
born and long before scientists discovered DNA. In 1895 her great-great aunt, Pauline Gross, a seamstress in Ann Arbor, Michigan, confided to a pathology professor at the local university that she expected to die young, like so many others in her family. Rather than dismiss her fears, the pathologist chose to enlist Pauline in the careful tracking of those in her family tree who had died of cancer. Pauline's premonition proved true--she died at 46--but because of her efforts, her family (who the pathologist dubbed 'Family G') would become the longest and most detailed cancer genealogy ever studied in the world. A century after Pauline's confession, researchers would identify the genetic mutation responsible for the family's woes. Now known as Lynch syndrome, the genetic condition predisposes its carriers to several types of cancer, including colorectal, endometrial, ovarian and pancreatic. In 2001, as a young mother with two sons and a keen interest in survival, Ami McKay was among the first to be tested for Lynch syndrome. She had a feeling she'd test positive: her mother's side of the family was riddled with early deaths and her own mother was being treated for the disease. When the test proved her fears true, she began living in "an unsettling state between wellness and cancer," and she's been there ever since. 2019.High school /
By Sara Quin. 2019
High School is the revelatory and unique coming-of-age story of Sara and Tegan Quin, identical twins from Calgary, Alberta, growing…
up in the height of grunge and rave culture in the 90s, well before they became the celebrated musicians and global LGBTQ icons we know today. While grappling with their identity and sexuality, often alone, they also faced academic meltdown, their parents' divorce, and the looming pressure of what might come after high school. Written in alternating chapters from both Tegan's point of view and Sara's, the book is a raw account of the drugs, alcohol, love, music, and friendship they explored in their formative years. A transcendent story of first loves and first songs, it captures the tangle of discordant and parallel memories of two sisters who grew up in distinct ways even as they lived just down the hall from one another. 2019.From the ashes: my story of being Métis, homeless, and finding my way
By Jesse Thistle. 2019
Abandoned by his parents as a toddler, Jesse Thistle briefly found himself in the foster-care system with his two brothers,…
cut off from all they had known. Eventually the children landed in the home of their paternal grandparents, but their tough-love attitudes meant conflicts became commonplace. And the ghost of Jesse's drug-addicted father haunted the halls of the house and the memories of every family member. Struggling, Jesse succumbed to a self-destructive cycle of drug and alcohol addiction and petty crime, spending more than a decade on and off the streets, often homeless. One day, he finally realized he would die unless he turned his life around. 2019.We have always been here: a queer Muslim memoir /
By Samra Habib. 2019
Growing up in Pakistan, Samra Habib lacks a blueprint for the life she wants. She has a mother who gave…
up everything to be a pious, dutiful wife and an overprotective father who seems to conspire against a life of any adventure. Plus, she has to hide the fact that she's Ahmadi to avoid persecution from religious extremists. As the threats against her family increase, they seek refuge in Canada, where new financial and cultural obstacles await them. When Samra discovers that her mother has arranged her marriage, she must again hide a part of herself--the fun-loving, feminist teenager that has begun to bloom--until she simply can't any longer. So begins a journey of self-discovery that takes her to Tokyo, where she comes to terms with her sexuality, and to a queer-friendly mosque in Toronto, where she returns to her faith in the same neighbourhood where she attended her first drag show. Along the way, she learns that the facets of her identity aren't as incompatible as she was led to believe, and that her people had always been there--the world just wasn't ready for them yet. 2019.Peace by Chocolate: The Hadhad Family’s Remarkable Journey from Syria to Canada
By Jon Tattrie. 2020
An Atlantic BestsellerA Hill Times' 100 Best Books in 2020 SelectionFebruary 2016. Antigonish, Nova Scotia.Tareq Hadhad was worried about his…
father: Isam did not know what to do with his life. Before the war began in Syria, Isam had run a chocolate company for over twenty years. But that life was gone now. The factory was destroyed, and he and his family had spent three years in limbo as refugees before coming to Canada. So, in an unfamiliar kitchen in a small town, Isam began to make chocolate again.This remarkable book tells the extraordinary story of the Hadhad family — Isam, his wife Shahnaz, and their sons and daughters — and the founding of the chocolatier, Peace by Chocolate. From the devastation of the Syrian civil war, through their life as refugees in Lebanon, to their arrival in a small town in Atlantic Canada, Peace by Chocolate is the story of one family. It is also the story of the people of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and so many towns across Canada, who welcomed strangers and helped them face the challenges of settling in an unfamiliar land.Unicorn in the Woods: How East Coast Geeks and Dreamers Are Changing the Game
By Gordon Pitts. 2020
A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2020A CBC New Brunswick Book List SelectionAs tech investors the world over search…
for elusive unicorns (start-ups valued at over $1 billion), acclaimed business journalist Gordon Pitts asks whether there can be a place for high-tech innovation and unicorn-like value creation outside of major urban centres, whether in Atlantic Canada, rust-belt New York, or Northern Ontario.Journeying back to the origins of Radian6 and Q1 Labs — two New Brunswick companies that sold for a combined $1 billion — in the basements and offices of a group of geeks and dreamers, Pitts tells a story of two remarkable companies and the legacies that continue to this day. But theirs was not a simple tale of overnight success; there were sellouts and firings, comebacks and vindication, and still unfulfilled promise.This is a story of high-tech value creation far from Silicon Valley, a story of the mythical unicorn in the woods. Are the stories of Radian6 and Q1 Labs outliers, rogue datapoints that should be discarded, or the foundation for a new knowledge economy outside of the mainstream?Mistakes to run with: a memoir /
By Yasuko Thanh. 2019
Mistakes to Run With chronicles the turbulent early years of Yasuko Thanh's life, from a rough childhood to her teen…
years as a sex worker to her emergence as a writer. Growing up in a housing project in Victoria, BC, Thanh rebels against her extremely religious parents. She's an honours student, but also a nascent delinquent, cutting herself and getting arrested for shoplifting. By fifteen her parents have kicked her out. She runs away repeatedly from foster homes, acquiring a taste for drugs and alcohol and learning unlikely lessons about sex, power, and friendship. By the time she enters the world of sex work she feels completely abandoned--by her family, her friends, her school, and society. After a stint in jail at sixteen, she meets her pimp, Jesse, and falls in love. The next chapter of her life takes us from the motel rooms of Victoria to the streets of Vancouver, as Thanh endures further hardship: beatings, arrests, Jesse's crack cocaine addiction, and an unwanted pregnancy. It's the act of writing that ultimately becomes a solace from her suffering--but even as publication and awards bolster her, she remains haunted by her past. 2019.The Miracle of Mindfulness, Gift Edition
By Thich Nhat Hanh. 1976
A new gift edition of the classic guide to meditation and mindfulness, featuring archival photography and beautiful calligraphy by Thich…
Nhat HanhSince its publication in 1975, The Miracle of Mindfulness has been cherished by generations of readers for its eloquent and useful introduction to the practice of meditation. Readers interested in an introduction to Buddhist thought, as well as those seeking to learn about mindfulness and stress reduction, continue to look to Thich Nhat Hanh's classic work for guidance and inspiration. This new hardcover gift edition features elegant calligraphic illustrations by Thich Nhat Hanh, as well as a dozen photographs spanning his early days as a peace activist to his life in Plum Village, a spiritual community that he founded in France. Also included in this edition is a historical chronology of Thich Nhat Hanh's life and work, and a revised afterword by Jim Forest.Being Ultimately Perfect
By Kenting Ta Chamgon Situpa. 2011
A compilation of scholarly and insightful discourses that provides a clear and elegant introduction to the very essence of the…
Buddhist perspective In Being Ultimately Perfect the 12th Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa explains that all teachings of the Buddha are directed towards making our lives meaningful and purposeful apart from taming the mind and realizing the essence of all dharma He also contends that enlightenment is not d che the result of causes or conditions it is beyond that This volume will help you gain a deep understanding of varied topics such as the purpose of life and the practice of dharma in everyday life The author describes the relationship among contentment stress and greed and talks about the nature of the mind limitlessness and primordial wisdom The book also presents a series of edifying dialogues with several students and is reader-friendly comprehensive and remarkably easy to understandQuintessential Dzogchen: Confusion Dawns as Wisdom
By Erik Pema Kunsang, Marcia Binder Schmidt, Tulku Urgyen. 2006
This hands-on guidebook adapts the Dzogchen path for the modern student while adhering to traditional principles. The book is based…
on the direct, accessible style of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and offers a thorough grounding in how to study, contemplate, and meditate in this rich spiritual environment. Guided by an introductory teaching by Rinpoche, as well as 42 selected teachings from great Dzogchen masters, readers learn to access the pure, clear awareness that lies hidden under the constant flow of anxious thoughts.From the Trade Paperback edition.Single-Minded: My Life in Business
By Claude Littner. 2016
The story of a high-stakes careerClaude Littner is best known as the mercilessly tough interviewer on the BBC's award-winning The…
Apprentice. His abrupt style and zero-tolerance policy on nonsense have become the highlights of every series. But what is he like in real business?SINGLE-MINDED reveals the story of Claude's varied career and the turbulent years that shaped him. From being told at school he would never amount to anything to his current status as a boardroom heavyweight both on-screen and off it, success has never come easy. Claude's complex, fascinating work has taken him into many different industries and countries, encompassing:- retail start-ups- knife-edge company rescue missions- the bruising rough-and-tumble of Premier League football- facing down French trade unions- taking on Texan oil barons in multi-million-dollar deals- and, in the private sphere, conquering life-threatening illnessAs Lord Sugar writes in the foreword to Claude's story, the book 'should be recommended reading for anyone who aspires to make their way in business . . . It is instructive and entertaining, providing an interesting insight into the ups and downs of business life and how single-mindedness, openness and determination can yield dividends both financial and personal.'The Shard: The Vision of Irvine Sellar
By Howard Watson. 2017
'We were told we would never get planning consent and we did. We were told we would never be able…
to fund it and we did. Then we were told we would never be able to build it and we did.' Irvine SellarIn 2000, Irvine Sellar, a former market trader famous for helping to create the look of the Swinging Sixties on Carnaby Street, stood on a rooftop in Southwark, London, and decided to build the tallest building in western Europe. He had virtually no experience, and he wanted to build at the wrong height, in the wrong place, on the wrong side of the river and at the wrong time.Twelve years later, the Shard, a 'vertical city' designed by one of the world's leading architects, Renzo Piano, changed the skyline of London. It immediately became one of the most instantly recognizable and admired contemporary buildings in the world.This is the story of one man's vision for London and his determination to redefine an ancient but maligned part of the city despite seemingly insurmountable challenges including mass opposition, a huge planning inquiry, the financial crash, and major construction issues that required radical improvisation at every turn. At every twist in the tale, Sellar refused to give up.The Shard is a tale of extreme ambition, innovation and a relentless desire to recast the skyscraper as a force for good.Tantric Ethics: An Explanation of the Precepts for Buddhist Vajrayana Practice
By Jeffrey Hopkins, Gareth Sparham, Je Tsongkhapa. 2005
Tantra, or Vajrayana, Buddhism is a set of esoteric practices that involve mantra recitation and complex visualizations. Tantra constitutes the…
fabric of a Tibetan Buddhist's daily practice, but no practice of tantra can be successful without adherence to the tantric precepts, the highest of three complementary sets of vows. Tsongkhapa is perhaps the greatest philosopher ever produced by Tibet's Buddhist culture, and this book is a translation of his explanation of the tantric precepts.Becoming Bodhisattvas: A Guidebook for Compassionate Action
By Pema Chodron. 2005
Best-selling American Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön presents a friendly and encouraging guide to spiritual practice for all those who want…
to take up the path of the bodhisattva--one who aspires to live life with courage, generosity, patience, fearlessness, and compassion.The Way of the Bodhisattva has long been treasured as an indispensable guide to enlightened living, offering a window into the greatest potential within us all. Written in the eighth century by the scholar and saint Shantideva, it presents a comprehensive view of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition’s highest ideal—to commit oneself to the life of a bodhisattva warrior, a person who is wholeheartedly dedicated to the freedom and common good of all beings. And it has inspired many of the tradition’s greatest teachers, providing a remarkable source of insight on the means by which we may heal ourselves and our troubled world. These essential teachings present the core of the Buddhist path, from cultivating deep-seated confidence to infusing one’s life with selflessness, joyfulness, kindness, and compassion. Pema Chödrön here invites you to journey more deeply into this liberating way of life, presenting Shantideva’s text verse-by-verse and offering both illuminating stories and practical exercises to enrich the text and bring its timeless teachings to life in our world today.Ngondro for Our Current Day: A Short Ngondro Practice and its Instructions
By Ogyen Trinley Dorje. 0017
In this succinct teaching presented in 2006 by His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa in Bodhgaya, India, students are guided…
through a shortened version of the preliminaries for mahamudra practice, which His Holiness composed with the aim of benefiting practitioners from developed countries who often lead busy lives. The complete practice, in Brief Recitations, is written in English, Tibetan, and Tibetan transliteration, and complete instructions for the Four Special Preliminaries are provided, with the exception of guru yoga. His Holiness guides students through the details of each practice, including the visualizations of Refuge, Vajrasattva purification, and Mandala offerings, often punctuated with his good humor. A summary of the practice sequences and a list of precepts of the refuge vow are also included in two appendices.Dark Genius of Wall Street: The Misunderstood Life of Jay Gould, King of the Robber Barons
By Edward J. Renehan Jr.. 2005
Though reviled for more than a century as Wall Street's greatest villain, Jay Gould was in fact its most original…
creative genius. Gould was the robber baron's robber baron, the most astute financial and business strategist of his time and also the most widely hated. In Dark Genius of Wall Street, acclaimed biographer Edward J. Renehan, Jr. , combines lively anecdotes with the rich social tapestry of the Gilded Age to paint the portrait of the most talented financial buccaneer of his generation-- and one of the inventors of modern business.The Victorious Teen: Buddhist Advice for Dealing with What Life Throws at You
By Daisaku Ikeda. 2016
Life throws a lot at you. . . . Your grades aren’t the best, your friend just turned her back…
on you, your parents are always on your case, your teachers don’t understand what you’re going through, the world is falling apart, and you don’t know what to do about it. Whatever is freaking you out, you have what it takes to handle it. Not only handle it but thrive because of it, becoming stronger than ever. For decades, SGI President Ikeda has dedicated his life to young people, showing millions how Buddhist wisdom can help them through their struggles. His belief in your intelligence, talent, and passion is boundless, as he knows you hold the keys to humanity’s future. The Victorious Teen pulls together hundreds of gems of wisdom that will move you, inspire you, and challenge you. This one-of-a-kind survival guide will provide the tools for you to begin building the life you want. When you’re ready to take control of your life, find new ways to face your problems, and emerge victorious, this book is for you.