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Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! Delivering belly laughs, hee-haws, and downright slackjaw amazement, this hilarious guide…
to the homeland of George W. and Willie Nelson is the essential how-to for surviving in the Lone Star State. From strange Texas laws and the history of Dr. Pepper to "Texas Talk" (in which a "turd floater" is a heavy downpour) and final-meal requests by death row inmates, Kinky Friedman, "the oldest living Jew in Texas who doesn't own any real estate," provides an insider's guide that will be loved by native Texans and the rest of us poor devils alike.Even if you don't know the difference between an Aggie and an armadillo -- or what's really in the back on Willie Nelson's tour bus -- you can pass for a Texan with the Kinkster's expert coaching. So grab your hairspray and the keys to the Cadillac and get reading!Kinky Friedman is back, and with 'Scuse Me While I Whip This Out he gets it on with all manner…
of egos. In this collection of twisted takes on life, the Kinkster gives us funny, irreverent, and insightful looks at outsized personalities from people he's known, like Bill Clinton, George W., Willie Nelson, and Bob Dylan -- not to mention Joseph Heller and Don Imus -- to people he's known in spirit, such as Moses, Jesus, Jack Ruby, and Hank Williams. With his meditations on subjects ranging from sleeping at the White House, marriage, his pets, fishing in Borneo, country music, and cigars to the tribulations of possessing talent, Kinky doesn't deny us the "flashes of brilliance and laugh-out-loud observations" (Rocky Mountain News) that are present in all his other work. Hilarious, irreverent, and passionately twisted, 'Scuse Me While I Whip This Out reads as if it were written by a slightly ill modern-day Mark Twain.By Jason Mulgrew. 2013
Jason Mulgrew, popular blogger and author of Everything Is Wrong with Me, continues his depreciating yet hilarious self-reflection with 236…
Pounds of Class Vice President. Set in Mulgrew’s high school years, this genuine and honest memoir revisits his teenage antics and escapades as he, while navigating the indignity of puberty, attempts to run for vice president of the student body, displays a penchant for long fur capes, and (naturally) wonders about sex. Mulgrew’s blog, Everything Is Wrong with me, has received more than 200 million hits since its inception in 2004. Complete with awkward, “what was he thinking?” photos—unmitigated proof of Mulgrew’s ungainly adolescence—236 Pounds of Class Vice President is an no-holds-barred yet tender look at the years some of us would rather forget.By Jennifer Lewis. 2019
Discover twenty true stories of royal intrigue, power, and passion, brought to life through the gorgeous illustrations of Jennifer Orkin…
Lewis and the witty words of Shweta Jha. From Cleopatra to Empress Wu Zetian, Marie Antoinette to Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, these extraordinary female monarchs from all over the world have captured imaginations throughout the ages. With a deluxe foil-spangled two-piece case, this elegant and diverse celebration of women in charge makes the perfect Mother's Day or girlfriend go-to gift for the queen in our lives.By Anna Pasternak. 2019
Wallis Simpson is known as the woman at the center of the most scandalous love affair of the 20th century,…
but in this &“unputdownable…lively and detailed&” (The Times, London) biography, discover a woman wronged by history with new information revealed by the latest research and those who were close to the couple. The story that has been told repeatedly is this: The handsome, charismatic, and popular Prince Edward was expected to marry a well-bred virgin who would one day become Queen of England when he ascended the throne. But when the prince was nearly forty, he fell in love with a divorced American woman—Wallis Simpson. No one thought the relationship would last, and when the prince did become king, everyone assumed that was the end of the affair. But to the shock of the British establishment, the new king announced his intention to marry the American divorcée. Overnight, Wallis was accused of entrapping the prince in a seductive web in order to achieve her audacious ambition to be queen. After declaring that he could not rule without the woman he loved, the king abdicated, and his family banished him and his new wife from the country. The couple spent the rest of their days in exile, but happy in their devoted love for each other. Now, Anna Pasternak&’s The American Dutchess tells a different story: that Wallis was the victim of the abdication, not the villain. Warm, well-mannered, and witty, Wallis was flattered by Prince Edward&’s attention, but like everyone else, she never expected his infatuation to last. She never anticipated his jealous, possessive nature—and his absolute refusal to let her go. Edward&’s true dark nature, however, was no secret to the royal family, the church, or the Parliament; everyone close to Edward knew that beyond his charming façade, he was utterly unfit to rule. Caught in Edward&’s fierce obsession, she became the perfect scapegoat for those who wished to dethrone the troubled king. With profound insight and evenhanded research, Pasternak pulls back the curtain on one of the darkest fairy tales in recent memory and effortlessly reveals &“a host of intriguing insights into a misunderstood woman&” (Kirkus Reviews).By Jean Sprackland. 2012
Strands describes a year's worth of walking on the ultimate beach: inter-tidal and constantly turning up revelations: mermaid's purses, lugworms,…
sea potatoes, messages in bottles, buried cars, beached whales and a perfect cup from a Cunard liner. This is a series of meditations prompted by walking on the wild estuarial beaches of Ainsdale Sands between Blackpool and Liverpool, Strands is about what is lost and buried then discovered, about all the things you find on a beach, dead or alive, about flotsam and jetsam, about mutability and transformation - about sea-change.By Daniel Defoe. 2003
On the evening of 26th November 1703, a cyclone from the north Atlantic hammered into southern Britain at over seventy…
miles an hour, claiming the lives of over 8,000 people. Eyewitnesses reported seeing cows left stranded in the branches of trees and windmills ablaze from the friction of their whirling sails. For Defoe, bankrupt and just released from prison for seditious writings, the storm struck during one of his bleakest moments. But it also furnished him with the material for his first book, and in his powerful depiction of private suffering and individual survival played out against a backdrop of public calamity we can trace the outlines of his later masterpieces such as A Journal of the Plague Year and Robinson Crusoe.By Carl Watkins. 2015
Known as 'the anarchy', the reign of Stephen (1135-1141) saw England plunged into a civil war that illuminated the fatal…
flaw in the powerful Norman monarchy, that without clear rules ordering succession, conflict between members of William the Conqueror's family were inevitable. But there was another problem, too: Stephen himself.With the nobility of England and Normandy anxious about the prospect of a world without the tough love of the old king Henry I, Stephen styled himself a political panacea, promising strength without oppression. As external threats and internal resistance to his rule accumulated, it was a promise he was unable to keep. Unable to transcend his flawed claim to the throne, and to make the transition from nobleman to king, Stephen's actions betrayed uneasiness in his role, his royal voice never quite ringing true.The resulting violence that spread throughout England was not, or not only, the work of bloodthirsty men on the make. As Watkins shows in this resonant new portrait, it arose because great men struggled to navigate a new and turbulent kind of politics that arose when the king was in eclipse.By Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock. 2023
Look up...The Art of Stargazing is the ultimate insider's guide to the night sky in which award-winning space scientist and…
The Sky at Night presenter Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock shares her expertise and unique insights into the marvellous world of stars. Take a tour of the 88 constellations and explore the science, history, culture and romanticism behind these celestial bodies.In this must-have handbook for budding stargazers - and anyone looking for a little more wonder in their lives - Maggie will help you to identify stars and teach you the basics of naked-eye observation, offering fascinating facts plus advice on kit, 'dark sky' locations and much more. Also included are beautiful illustrations to accompany each constellation and an easy-to-read sky map. With Maggie by your side, the night sky will truly come alive.By Alan Connor. 2020
Attention all Shipping Forecast fans. Set sail on a voyage unlike any other...Each day, millions tune in to hear the…
Shipping Forecast's unique cadence and poetry, words thatturn our island landscape into something strangeand magical. It's almost like a puzzle to be solved...The Shipping Forecast Puzzle Book tests your general knowledge and lateral thinking through a series of fiendish puzzles, in which all the answers can be found on a map as place names on the coasts or in the seas. For example:· An eagle's under this· What a Komodo Dragon really is· Near where someone was horribly cruel to 343 felinesAnd because your voyages trace the shapes of letters of the alphabet, that's just the beginning...With a foreword by Zeb Soanes, the voice of the Shipping Forecast, and fully illustrated with specially commissioned maps, The Shipping Forecast Puzzle Book will help make you a Master of the quizzing world.This book is an important guide for individuals seeking to develop and grow their leadership skills in the wildlife conservation…
sector, across varied disciplines such as environmental management, conservation biology, and ecotourism.Conservation Leadership addresses what leadership is, why it is important, and how to be an effective leader. It identifies the common pitfalls or mistakes in a leader’s thinking or behaviour, and the unexpected consequences or responses which can arise, and then explores more helpful alternative approaches to leadership. The book is divided into three parts: Part I: Leadership principles Part II: Four areas of profound theory: knowledge, psychology, systems, and variation Part III: Skills and competencies for conservation leaders It focuses on contextual and organisational challenges in conservation, including limited resources, remote locations, fragile species of concern, politics, community conflict, crime, and commercial pressures. The scope is global, using diverse examples such as sea turtle head-starting in South Asia, reforestation in North Africa, bird conservation in North America, human–wildlife interactions in the Himalayas, and post-colonial issues in the Caribbean. Case studies illustrate key learning points from small local teams through to global transnational initiatives. Exercises in each chapter enable the exploration of less-familiar topics, including interpersonal skills, goal setting and performance measurement, plus a unique research-derived conservation leadership self-assessment tool.This book is an essential reading resource for professionals and senior leaders in the wildlife management and conservation sector, as well as students on biodiversity conservation, wildlife conservation, and environmental management courses.By Jessica J. Lee. 2024
INSTANT TORONTO STAR BESTSELLERThe prize-winning and bestselling author of Two Trees Make a Forest turns to the lives of plants…
entangled in our human world to explore belonging, displacement, identity, and the truths of our shared futureA seed slips beyond a garden wall. A tree is planted on a precarious border. A shrub is stolen from its culture and its land. What happens when these plants leave their original homes and put down roots elsewhere?The themes in these fourteen essays become invigorating and intimate in Lee’s hands, centering on the lives of plants like seaweed, tangelos, and soy, and their entanglement with our human worlds. Lee explores the rich backstory of cherry trees in Berlin; a tea plant that grows in the Himalayan foothills just southwest of China; the world of algae and wakame, and the journeys they’ve made to reach us.Each of the plants considered in this collection are somehow perceived as being "out of place"—weeds, samples collected through imperial science, crops introduced and transformed by our hand. Lee looks at these plant species in their own context, even when we find them outside of it.Dispersals draws a gorgeous, sprawling map of the diaspora of flora. Combining memoir, history, and scientific research in poetic prose, Jessica J. Lee meditates on the question of how both plants and people come to belong, why both cross borders, and how our futures are more entwined than we might imagine.By A.M. Pamphlet 224. 2017
THE ULTIMATE SURVIVAL GUIDE for anyone who thinks they'd survive the world's most hostile environments - or at least imagine…
they could do.-----------------------------First issued to airmen in the 1950s, the Air Ministry's Sea Survival guide includes original and authentic emergency advice to crew operating over the ocean. With original illustrations and text, these survival guides provide an insight to military survival techniques from a by-gone era. Packed with original line drawings and instruction in: - How to punch man-eating sharks. Which are 'cowards' - The pros and cons of drinking 'fish juice' - When to smoke Focussing on one of the most challenging environments on Earth, Sea Survival is one of four reprints of The Air Ministry's emergency survival pamphlets. Others include: Jungle Survival Desert Survival Arctic SurvivalBy John Lust. 2009
"I have an old copy of this book that I've had for years and would never let go of, no…
matter how many times I moved and thinned out my books. This is a re-release and I'm really happy to see it back in print. Part two of the book is the real treasure. It is an alphabetical list of herbs that gives detailed information about their properties, including any cautions required." — Lora's Rants & ReviewsAlso known as "The Natural Remedy Bible," The Herb Book provides a comprehensive resource for building a livelier, healthier, happier life. More than 2,000 listings offer remedies for ragged nerves, nightmares, and coughing fits as well as suggestions for adding spice to recipes, coloring fabrics, freshening breath, and a host of other benefits. Complete and concise descriptions of herbs, illustrated by more than 275 line drawings, offer the most comprehensive catalog of "miracle plants" ever published. Written by an expert and pioneer in the field, this easy-to-use reference features three parts. The first presents introductory historical information and background for using the rest of the book. The second part features individual numbered listings of medicinal plants with their botanical descriptions and uses. The third part emphasizes the variety of uses for the plants listed in Part 2, including mixtures for medicinal treatments, nutritious and culinary plants, cosmetic and aromatic purposes, plant dyes, and other applications. The book concludes with a captivating look at plant-related astrology, lore, and legends.By Antony Bridge. 2005
&“First rate popular history/biography, evoking the Byzantine empire at its peak. A remarkable story in an entertaining, informative book.&” —The…
Wall Street Journal This is the biography of a Byzantine courtesan who rose from the gutter to the throne of an empire. It is a romantic and improbable story, and Theodora is an extraordinary woman, indeed. Her background and her many actions were scandalous, but she had qualities of greatness and this book sets the record straight. This account of her life is a pageant in which Emperors and barbarian kings, Popes and Patriarchs, eunuchs and generals, heretics and orthodox opponents, charioteers and ladies of easy virtue, saints and sinners move in a formal and splendid rhythm. This formality was often marred by violence: one of the worst riots in Byzantine history took place when Theodora had been empress for a short time, and during much of her reign there was war in Italy, marked by appalling suffering and barbarity. Toward the end of her life, Constantinople was devastated by Bubonic plague. Yet Theodora triumphed over every adverse circumstance, tough and clever to the end. &“ . . . Bridge&’s book, with its exceptionally vivid and evocative style, brings the period alive.&” —Library Journal &“Puts [Theodora] in her own time and place in the vast panorama of the golden age of an empire which lasted 1,100 years.&” —Boston Herald &“Conveys the passion and the fervor of the sixth century A.D.&” —Los Angeles Herald ExaminerBy Richard Askwith. 2007
Shortlisted for the 2015 Thwaites Wainwright prize for nature writing Richard Askwith wanted more. Not convinced running had to be…
all about pounding pavements, buying fancy kit and racking up extreme challenges, he looked for ways to liberate himself. His solution: running through muddy fields and up rocky fells, running with his dog at dawn, running because he's being (voluntarily) chased by a pack of bloodhounds, running to get hopelessly, enjoyably lost, running fast for the sheer thrill of it. Running as nature intended. Part diary of a year running through the Northamptonshire countryside, part exploration of why we love to run without limits, Running Free is an eloquent and inspiring account of running in a forgotten, rural way, observing wildlife and celebrating the joys of nature.An opponent of the commercialisation of running, Askwith offers a welcome alternative, with practical tips (learned the hard way) on how to both start and keep running naturally – from thawing frozen toes to avoiding a stampede when crossing a field of cows. Running Free is about getting back to the basics of why we love to run.By Richard Girling. 2005
We can no longer cope with our waste. Every hour in the UK we throw away enough rubbish to fill…
the Albert hall - a statistic quoted so often that perhaps we've stopped imagining what it means. And every year the flow accelerates.This is the story of our rubbish - from the first human bowel movement to the littering of outer space. With a hankerchief to his nose, Girling picks through our fridge mountain, our crumbling sewers, trading waste, packaging waste, hazardous industrial waste... it is a mucky saga of carelessness, greed and opportunism, wasted opportunity and official bungling. But Rubbish! is also a plea for us to consider other kinds of waste: the trashing of our landscape, the unstoppable floods of junk that clog our mailboxes, litter the skies and foul the airwaves...Rubbish! may not be a conventional battle cry but this is unmistakably a call to arms - not just for the three 'R's - reduce, re-use, recycle - but for us to fight for new ideas, brave initiative rather than reliance on old systems that are crumbling before our eyes.By Alex Laird. 2018
'Root to Stem is a seasonal and holistic approach to health that puts plants, herbs and nature at the heart…
of how we live and eat. It is a new kind of guide that links individual health to our communities and the planet's health to sustain us all.'This perfect companion to the seasons, this book will show you how to take greater control over your own health and well-being, treat everyday ailments, and ensure the sustainability of the planet through discovering how to forage, grow, or shop for plant- and herb-based foods and products. Including: Detox in the spring with sorrel, cleavers and nettles. Harvest summer lime leaf shoots to soothe digestive upsets and feed gut microbes. Bake a Lammas loaf to celebrate the autumnal equinox. Boost your winter immunity with red berries, purple potatoes and rosehips. Root-to-stem eating encourages you to use every edible part of plant, including the leaves, skin, seeds and stalks.Travelling through the four seasons, expert medical herbalist Alex Laird shares the natural ingredients that are available on your doorstep, simple delicious recipes and easy-to-make herbal remedies.By Rosemary Horrox. 2020
No English king has so divided opinion, both during his reign and in the centuries since, more than Richard III.…
He was loathed in his own time for the never-confirmed murder of his young nephews, the Princes in the Tower, and died fighting his own subjects on the battlefield. This is the vision of Richard we have inherited from Shakespeare. Equally, he inspired great loyalty in his followers. In this enlightening, even-handed study, Rosemary Horrox builds a complex picture of a king who by any standard failed as a monarch. He was killed after only two years on the throne, without an heir, and brought such a decisive end to the House of York that Henry Tudor was able to seize the throne, despite his extremely tenuous claim. Whether Richard was undone by his own fierce ambitions, or by the legacy of a Yorkist dynasty which was already profoundly dysfunctional, the end result was the same: Richard III destroyed the very dynasty that he had spent his life so passionately defending.By Laura Ashe. 2016
Richard II (1377-99) came to the throne as a child, following the long, domineering, martial reign of his grandfather Edward…
III. He suffered from the disastrous combination of a most exalted sense of his own power and an inability to impress that power on those closest to the throne. Neither trusted nor feared, Richard battled with a whole series of failures and emergencies before finally succumbing to a coup, imprisonment and murder.Laura Ashe's brilliant account of his reign emphasizes the strange gap between Richard's personal incapacity and the amazing cultural legacy of his reign - from the Wilton Diptych to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Piers Plowman and The Canterbury Tales.