Other books that might interest you

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  On The Road Not Taken

  Paul Dodgson

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  On the Road Not Taken is a memoir about the transformational power of music. It begins with a boy growing up in a small town on the Kent coast in the 1970s who learns to play the guitar and dreams of heading out on the open road with a head full of songs. But when the moment comes to make the choice, he is not brave enough to give it a go. 
  Time passes, but the desire to explain the world through songs never goes away. And as the years go by, it gets harder and harder to sing out loud and risk looking like a fool. Eventually, 34 years later, when it feels like time is running out, he walks out onto a stage in front of a theater full of people and begins to sing again. 
  The book is a journey of self-discovery that links the pop hits of Mud, the prog rock of Genesis, the explosion of punk with folk music and contemporary guitar wielding troubadour Frank Turner. There are stories of gigs in living rooms, old people’s homes, pubs, theaters, and festivals as the agony of anxiety makes way for the ecstasy of performance.  On The Road Not Taken is a humorous, life-affirming story about what happens when you finally do the thing you most wanted to do.

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  A Sketch of the Life and Labors...

  J. C. Ryle

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  There are some men in the pages of history, whose greatness no person of common sense thinks of disputing. They tower above the herd of mankind, like the Pyramids, the Parthenon, and the Colosseum, among buildings. Such men were Luther and Augustine, Gustavus Adolphus and George Washington, Columbus and Sir Isaac Newton. He who questions greatness must be content to be thought very ignorant, very prejudiced, or very eccentric. Public opinion has come to a conclusion about them--they were great men.  But there are also great men whose reputation lies buried under a heap of contemporary ill-will and misrepresentation. The world does not appreciate them, because the world does not know their real worth. Their characters have come down to us through poisoned channels. Their portraits have been drawn by the ill-natured hand of enemies. Their faults have been exaggerated. Their excellences have been maliciously kept back and suppressed. Like the famous sculptures of Nineveh, they need the hand of some literary Layard to clear away the rubbish that has accumulated round their names, and show them to the world in their fair proportions. Such men were Vigilantius and Wickliffe. Such men were Oliver Cromwell and many of the Puritans. And such a man was George Whitefield.

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  Temporary Heroes - Lieutenant...

  Richard van Emden

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  This is a short book based on the letters written between 1915 and 1916 by an officer serving with the 1/4th Gordon Highlanders. Second Lieutenant Down wrote regularly to his girlfriend/fiance throughout his time in France, letters which were published in 1917 after he was wounded and discharged from the army. Cecil Down is a superb writer, but more than that he has a natural wit that translates easily to the page, making this one of the most enjoyable books I have read on the war.I have chosen this book because it is so different from anything else I have read. He captures life in France with great accuracy while remaining steadfastly upbeat and humorous. Nevertheless, there are moments when he is serious, and that makes his words poignant and attention-grabbing.Norman went to France in February 1915, serving continuously until July 1916. He died on 14 March 1984 aged 91

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  Psychopath Killers -...

  Kelly Mass

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  This combo consists of two true crime books, which are: 
  Pablo Escobar - One of the big lords of the drug cartels in Colombia is Pablo Escobar, a criminal who became a leader and expanded his influence on organized crime throughout the North and South American continents. With billions in his bank account, in cash, and in other assents, it’s not easy to ignore his name and the power he gained. 
  In 1976, Escobar established the Medellín Cartel, which dispersed powder cocaine, and developed the first smuggling paths into the United States. In the 1982 Colombian parliamentary election, Escobar was chosen as an alternate member of the Chamber of Representatives as part of the Liberal Alternative movement. 
  Edmund Kemper - Initially diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and after a separation of his parents, Edmund Kemper already showed his twisted mind at 15 years old, when he murdered both his grandparents, who were taking care of him. Whether through nature or nurture, this man didn’t show a promising future from the get-go. But perhaps nobody could have suspected the horrors he would inflict on his many victims later in his life. 
  Edmund Kemper, born in 1948, has become a notorious serial killer. He is known for having raped, mutilated, and murdered young women and especially hitchhikers. Being labelled with being a necrophile and a cannibal, his crimes have been exposed, partially by himself, and even though he has requested the death penalty, he is still locked up for life. 
  If this is not enough to pique your interest, then I don’t know what is. Hurry up and start reading or listening to this book.

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  Beethoven - The Universal Composer

  Edmund Morris

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  Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a genius so universal that his popularity, extraordinary even during his lifetime, has never ceased to grow. It now encircles the globe: Beethoven's most famous works are as beloved in Beijing as they are in Boston.Edmund Morris, the author of three bestselling presidential biographies and a lifelong devotee of Beethoven, brings the great composer to life as a man of astonishing complexity and overpowering intelligence. A gigantic, compulsively creative personality unable to tolerate constraints, he was not so much a social rebel as an astute manipulator of the most powerful and privileged aristocrats in Germany and Austria, at a time when their world was threatened by the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte.But Beethoven's achievement rests in his immortal music. Struggling against progressive, incurable deafness (which he desperately tried to keep secret), he nonetheless produced towering masterpieces, such as his iconic Fifth and Ninth symphonies. With sensitivity and insight, Edmund Morris illuminates Beethoven's life, including his interactions with the women he privately lusted for but held at bay, and his work, whose grandeur and beauty were conceived "on the other side of silence."

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  Aftershock - One man's quest and...

  Jules Mountain

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  'A remarkable chronicle of resilience and resourcefulness' - Daily MailWhen the worst earthquake to hit Nepal in living memory strikes on 25 April 2015, Jules Mountain is shivering in his tent at Base Camp.To reach the summit of Everest has been a life-long dream, one which he is more determined than ever to realise, having won his battle with cancer two years earlier. The climbers are faced with an impossible set of decisions: to get to a safe zone as quickly as possible? To try to be of assistance in the relief effort? To push on despite everything? All three options have huge implications - moral and logistical - and Julian's unique situation sets him apart from the rest. This is the true story of one man's ordeal during the most deadly disaster in the history of mountaineering on Everest, which would leave over 8,000 dead and thousands more missing and injured; how logic, compassion and risk assessment are affected by altitude, vested interests and the stress of extreme circumstances. While very few of us will ever find ourselves in Jules' boots, Aftershock throws up questions which transfer surprisingly well back to everyday modern life.

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