Author: Joe Brazeal Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 452
Book Description
For the first fifteen years of our marriage, we were the typical couple. All was well. Our three children were stable and for all intents and purposes, we were the average American family. Like weather slowly changing from calm to tornadic, our lives became a living hell on earth. But slowly, slowly, slowly, the love of my life, my wife Kimberly, began to change. We tried to keep our problems within our immediate family but the reality of the insanity devastated us. We couldn't hide from it anymore. First came the headaches, then the medications to ease the pain, and finally a cocktail of medications and alcohol to slow the progression of what I later learned was her brain fragmenting and disintegrating. No one knew; not even me. We treated the symptoms until her behavior became insurmountable and uncontrollable.The brain is a mystery and remains unharnessed. The power is beyond the scope of human imagination. This oddity called dementia or Alzheimer's disease has been with mankind since the beginning. What is known is that there is a breakdown in the brain. Its highways of communication become gridlocked. Essentially, it starves itself. There is no effective treatment and this disease is irreversible.Forty-seven million people worldwide and nearly six million in the United States have been diagnosed. Of those diagnosed in the United States, 200,000 fall into the category of early-onset. Sadly, it is the 6th leading cause of death. One in ten over the age of sixty-five will become lost in their own mind. These numbers are expected to triple by 2050 with cost skyrocketing. We are facing an epidemic as the baby boomer generation age. What used to be attributed as old age, is now considered Alzheimer's in some shape or fashion. Let's not rule out, sometimes folks just forget. The forgetfulness could be attributed to vitamin deficiency or caused by a thyroid imbalance. There are many factors including genetics, diet, exercise, and environment. Like anything else, if you don't use it, you lose it. This is not just an old person's disease. This disease can strike as early as age twenty-seven.The financial, physical, and emotional toll will be astronomical. Although there are no known cures or effective treatments advances are made every day. This book is a journey of hope. You'll discover coping mechanisms not found anywhere else. Know this, you are not alone. Much like an upcoming hurricane of epic proportions, knowledge is power. Having these tools provide preparation for living with thunder and the aftermath. Ignorance is not bliss. There is a God. You are not forgotten. Never give up.
Author: Jasmine Warga Publisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 0062956698 Category : Juvenile Fiction Languages : en Pages : 226
Book Description
An extraordinary new novel from Jasmine Warga, Newbery Honor–winning author of Other Words for Home, about loss and healing—and how friendship can be magical. Cora hasn’t spoken to her best friend, Quinn, in a year. Despite living next door to each other, they exist in separate worlds of grief. Cora is still grappling with the death of her beloved sister in a school shooting, and Quinn is carrying the guilt of what her brother did. On the day of Cora’s twelfth birthday, Quinn leaves a box on her doorstep with a note. She has decided that the only way to fix things is to go back in time to the moment before her brother changed all their lives forever—and stop him. In spite of herself, Cora wants to believe. And so the two former friends begin working together to open a wormhole in the fabric of the universe. But as they attempt to unravel the mysteries of time travel to save their siblings, they learn that the magic of their friendship may actually be the key to saving themselves. The Shape of Thunder is a deeply moving story, told with exceptional grace, about friendship and loss—and how believing in impossible things can help us heal.
Author: Ellen Morris Bishop Publisher: ISBN: 9780870717482 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 149
Book Description
The Pacific Northwest is a region defined by its geology as much as its rugged coastline, drippy westside forests, fertile farms, and canyoned eastside grasslands. These landscapes have been forged by volcanoes, crumpled by faults and sculpted by water and ice. But the Northwest's geologic DNA is rooted in volcanic activity. From the ancient lavas of Washington's Selkirks that freed the planet from a global ice age, to the world-class flood-basalts that dominate the Columbia Basin, to the restless peaks of the High Cascades, the thunder of volcanic eruptions echos through the ages. In Living with Thunder, geologist and photographer Ellen Morris Bishop offers a fascinating and up-to-date geologic survey of the Northwest?Washington, Oregon, northern California, and western Idaho. New discoveries include Smith Rock as part of Oregon's largest (and most extinct) volcano, portraits of Mount Hood's 1793-1795 eruptions, and new ideas about the origin of the Columbia River basalts, and the course of the ancestral Columbia River. Intended as an introduction for the general reader and geological non-specialist, Living with Thunder enlivens Northwest geological history by combining engaging science writing with the author's stunning color photographs. In addition, color maps and time charts help guide the reader through time. The book presents evidence of changing ecosystems and ancient life, as well as the Northwest's exceptional record of past climate changes and the implications for our future. The title harks to the Klamath Indian recounting of Mount Mazama's cataclysmic eruption, and the book also examines the confluence between scientific findings and Native American documentation of several major geologic events. An important work by a gifted scientist and storyteller, Living with Thunder offers a key to understanding the Northwest's unique, long-term volcanic heritage.
Author: Diana J. Mukpo Publisher: Shambhala Publications ISBN: 0834821613 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 432
Book Description
"It was not always easy to be the guru’s wife," writes Diana Mukpo. "But I must say, it was rarely boring." At the age of sixteen, Diana Mukpo left school and broke with her upper-class English family to marry Chögyam Trungpa, a young Tibetan lama who would go on to become a major figure in the transmission of Buddhism to the West. In a memoir that is at turns magical, troubling, humorous, and totally out of the ordinary, Diana takes us into her intimate life with one of the most influential and dynamic Buddhist teachers of our time. Diana led an extraordinary and unusual life as the "first lady" of a burgeoning Buddhist community in the American 1970s and '80s. She gave birth to four sons, three of whom were recognized as reincarnations of high Tibetan lamas. It is not a simple matter to be a modern Western woman married to a Tibetan Buddhist master, let alone to a public figure who is sought out and adored by thousands of eager students. Surprising events and colorful people fill the narrative as Diana seeks to understand the dynamic, puzzling, and larger-than-life man she married—and to find a place for herself in his unusual world. Rich in ambiguity, Dragon Thunder is the story of an uncommon marriage and also a stirring evocation of the poignancy of life and of relationships—from a woman who has lived boldly and with originality.
Author: Lauren Redniss Publisher: Random House ISBN: 0679644725 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 272
Book Description
Note: This eBook file contains many richly detailed full-color images and makes use of unconventional page layouts. Because of this, readers will be required to zoom in on each page to read the text and see the finer detail of the artwork. [It has not been optimized for devices that display only in black and white.] From the National Book Award finalist Lauren Redniss, author of Radioactive, comes a dazzling fusion of storytelling, visual art, and reportage that grapples with weather in all its dimensions: its danger and its beauty, why it happens and what it means. WINNER OF THE PEN/E. O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, KIRKUS REVIEWS, AND SHELF AWARENESS Weather is the very air we breathe—it shapes our daily lives and alters the course of history. In Thunder & Lightning, Lauren Redniss tells the story of weather and humankind through the ages. This wide-ranging work roams from the driest desert on earth to a frigid island in the Arctic, from the Biblical flood to the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Redniss visits the headquarters of the National Weather Service, recounts top-secret rainmaking operations during the Vietnam War, and examines the economic impact of disasters like Hurricane Katrina. Drawing on extensive research and countless interviews, she examines our own day and age, from our most personal decisions—Do I need an umbrella today?—to the awesome challenges we face with global climate change. Redniss produced each element of Thunder & Lightning: the text, the artwork, the covers, and every page in between. She created many of the images using the antiquated printmaking technique copper plate photogravure etching. She even designed the book’s typeface. The result is a book unlike any other: a spellbinding combination of storytelling, art, and science. Praise for Thunder & Lightning “[An] aesthetically charged and deeply researched account . . . a wild rainstorm of a book, pelting the reader with ideas and inspiration.”—Nature “A gorgeous and illuminating illustrated study of weather in all its tempestuous variety . . . Redniss’s combo of fact, folklore, and vibrant etched copperplate prints enthralls.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “Eerily beautiful . . . Contains plenty of scientific explanation (including more than a few nods toward global warming), but also far-flung personal stories that illuminate the beauty, wonder and chaos inherent in the elements.”—The New York Times “Magical . . . Redniss has . . . shown us how human beings live with nature—fighting, coexisting, taming, predicting via leech barometer and radar and intuition.”—The New York Times Book Review “[A] twenty-first-century genius . . . The reader willing to put herself fully in Redniss’s hands will be rewarded with a delicious feeling of being enveloped by a phenomenon that eclipses the chiming trivialities of daily life.”—Elle “Redniss is one of the most creative science writers of our time—her combination of beautiful artwork, reporting, and poetic prose brings science to life in ways that words alone simply cannot.”—Rebecca Skloot “Redniss combines her own dual punch of expressive art and impressive erudition to give an entirely new take on all that happens above our heads.”—Adam Gopnik “A strange and wonderful thing, the work of a first-class mind that refuses to submit to any categories or precedent.”—Dave Eggers
Author: Will Hobbs Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1442445475 Category : Juvenile Fiction Languages : en Pages : 203
Book Description
Fifteen-year-old Jessie and the other rebellious teenage members of a wilderness survival school team abandon their adult leader, hijack his boats, and try to run the dangerous white water at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
Author: Charles Martin Publisher: Center Street ISBN: 1455503991 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 280
Book Description
As a result of his hard exterior and lonely tendencies, Tyler Steele finds himself a single father alone in the world - until a stranger and her daughter show up and change his life. Third generation Texas Ranger Tyler Steele is the last of a dying breed-- a modern day cowboy hero living in a world that doesn't quite understand his powerful sense of right and wrong and instinct to defend those who can't defend themselves. Despite his strong moral compass, Ty has trouble seeing his greatest weakness. His hard outer shell, the one essential to his work, made him incapable of forging the emotional connection his wife Andie so desperately needed. Now retired, rasing their son Brodie on his own, and at risk of losing his ranch, Ty does not know how to rebuild from the rubble of his life. The answer comes in the form of Samantha and her daughter Hope, on the run from a seemingly inescapable situation. They are in danger, desperate, and alone. Though they are strangers, Ty knows he can help-- protecting the innocent is what he does best. As his relationship with Sam and Hope unfolds, Ty realizes he must confront his true weaknesses if he wants to become the man he needs to be.
Author: Wil Haygood Publisher: Chicago Review Press ISBN: 1569768641 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 479
Book Description
Sugar Ray Robinson was one of the most iconic figures in sports and possibly the greatest boxer of all time. His legendary career spanned nearly 26 years, including his titles as the middleweight and welterweight champion of the world and close to 200 professional bouts. This illuminating biography grounds the spectacular story of Robinson's rise to greatness within the context of the fighter's life and times. Born Walker Smith Jr. in 1921, Robinson's early childhood was marked by the seething racial tensions and explosive race riots that infected the Midwest throughout the 1920s and 1930s. After his mother moved their family to Harlem, he came of age in the post-Renaissance years. Recounting his local and national fame, this deeply researched and honest account depicts Robinson as an eccentric and glamorous--yet powerful and controversial--celebrity, athlete, and cultural symbol. From Robinson's gruesome six-bout war with Jake "Raging Bull" LaMotta and his lethal meeting with Jimmy Doyle to his Harlem nightclub years and thwarted showbiz dreams, Haygood brings the champion's story to life.
Author: Sherman Alexie Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers ISBN: 0316271063 Category : Juvenile Fiction Languages : en Pages : 41
Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author Sherman Alexie and Caldecott Honor winning Yuyi Morales comes a striking and beautifully illustrated picture book celebrating the special relationship between father and son. Thunder Boy Jr. wants a normal name...one that's all his own. Dad is known as big Thunder, but little thunder doesn't want to share a name. He wants a name that celebrates something cool he's done like Touch the Clouds, Not Afraid of Ten Thousand Teeth, or Full of Wonder. But just when Little Thunder thinks all hope is lost, dad picks the best name...Lightning! Their love will be loud and bright, and together they will light up the sky.
Author: Joe Brazeal
Author: Jasmine Warga
Author: Ellen Morris Bishop
Author: Diana J. Mukpo
Author: Lauren Redniss
Author: Will Hobbs
Author: Bob Halloran
Author: Charles Martin
Author: Wil Haygood
Author: Sherman Alexie