Other books that might interest you

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  The Phoenix In Me - A Life Reforged

  Vicky A. Perez

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  This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice.   
  This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. 
  The Phoenix in Me: A Life Reforged is a short yet stirring collection of memoir-style stories capturing one woman’s journey through heartbreak, betrayal, loss—and the inner strength that helped her rise from the ashes. 
  Each story reveals a pivotal moment: a failed dream, a broken relationship, or a season of silence that tested her soul. But through fire, came transformation. With honest reflections and hard-won wisdom, the author shares how faith, resilience, and grace became her guideposts to healing. 
  Whether you're navigating your own trials or searching for a story that speaks to the soul, this audiobook offers comfort, clarity, and courage. Short in length, but mighty in heart—it's the perfect companion for anyone who believes in second chances and the power of starting over.

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  Phocion - Good Citizen in a...

  Thomas R. Martin

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  "Elegant and enlightening." —Dominic Green, Wall Street Journal 
   
   
    
  Phocion (402–318 BCE) won Athens's highest public office by direct democratic election an unmatched forty-five times and was officially honored as a "Useful Citizen." A student at Plato's Academy, Phocion gained influence and power during a time when Athens faced multiple crises stemming from Macedonia's emergence as an international power under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great. Following Athens's defeat by Macedonia, Phocion unsuccessfully sought mild terms of surrender. Oligarchy was imposed on democratic Athens, and more than twelve thousand "undesirable" Athenians were exiled. When the oligarchic regime was overthrown and the exiles returned, dispossessed Athenians took out their volcanic anger on Phocion, who throughout his career had often been a harsh critic of the citizens' political decisions. His inflammatory rhetoric contributed to the popular conclusion that he lacked a genuine sense of belonging to the community he wished so desperately to preserve. When he was eighty-four, the Athenians convicted him of treason and condemned him to die by hemlock. In this fresh biography, Thomas R. Martin explores how and why Phocion ultimately failed as a citizen and as a leader. His story offers unsettling lessons for citizens in democracies today.

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  Quilt of Souls - A Memoir

  Phyllis Biffle Elmore

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  At age four, Phyllis Biffle Elmore was plucked off her front porch in Detroit and dropped on her grandmother Lula Horn's doorstep in rural Alabama. Phyllis felt utterly abandoned until Grandma Lula showed her both all-encompassing love and her intricate "Quilts of Souls." Phyllis listened intently as Lula told epic stories of folks who had passed on as she turned their clothing into breathtaking quilts for their families. 
   
   
   
  Grandma Lula's generosity of spirit, strong will, and creative soul animate each chapter, and through the quilts, she paints portraits of extraordinary Black women born before and after the Civil War. They are enslaved people, laundresses, storytellers, healers, and quilters whose stories have gone untold until now. 
   
   
   
  Beautifully written and brilliantly told, Phyllis weaves back and forth through time, piecing together true tales of racism, sexism, and colorism, but also strength and pride, creating a multigenerational patchwork honoring her family and ancestors. From the engaging narrative to the powerful history, Quilt of Souls is oral tradition written and preserved for posterity.

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  The Girl Who Survived Auschwitz

  Eti Elboim, Sara Leibovits

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  ‘You are no longer a number’  
  Poland, 1944The train slowed and halted with a squeal of the breaks. It felt like we waited in the carriage for an eternity, but eventually, the heavy doors opened, directly into the chaos inside. 
  Sara Leibovitz, a 16-year-old Jewish girl, was a passenger on the train with her family. They spent their final moments together on the platform in Auschwitz before their horrific fates were sealed. Sara’s mother and baby brothers were sent straight to their deaths. Her father was made to work in the Sonderkommando as one of the men forced to remove the bodies from the gas chambers, and was later executed. Sara survived. 
  This is the powerful true story of Sara Leibovits and the incredible pain and hardships she went through during her time in the death camp. Yet despite the horrors she faced, she always tried to maintain her family’s values of courage, faith and kindness to others. In this compelling memoir, Sara’s story is intertwined with that of her daughter, Eti. Seventy years after the horrors of the Holocaust, Eti reveals the inherited trauma of the second generation and completes the Holocaust survivor’s tale.What readers are saying about The Girl Who Survived Auschwitz: 
  ‘Let us never stop reading these novels. These memoirs are the ones that keep all the voices alive’ 
  ‘Highly recommend… I finished reading it with a newfound sense of love and compassion’ 
  ‘Reading this family’s memories is a rewarding experience in that it will ensure future generations will remember and learn. Many thanks to the author…for the trust in allowing me to review this life-changing memoir.’ 
  ‘A raw and gripping Holocaust recount’ 
  ‘What I loved most about this book is that it is a dual perspective…I was grateful to have a little glimpse into the mind of Eti and her absolute respect for her parents…together they learned, they grieved and they healed’ 
  ‘It makes me really proud of my Jewish heritage and this story of perseverance. I highly recommend this book for any and all to read so we can keep survivor's stories alive and never let this type of tragedy happen again’ 
  ‘Powerful, heartbreaking and inspiring. We need to know what happened. It will make your heart break. It is beyond horrific. But we need to know in memory of the six million innocents who died and of those who survived’ 
  ‘A haunting and beautiful read…I give it a resounding 5 stars’ 
  ‘We have the perspective of a woman who survived the holocaust as well as her daughter who had never known the horrrors her mother endured, yet asked…I feel honored to have read this memoir’ 
  ‘Anyone who reads this book will not be left untouched…truly moving' 
  ‘This is one of those books everyone should read' 
  ‘Remarkable… a profoundly impactful book, one which should be required reading for everyone' 
  'Sara Leibovits is an amazing lady. She showed strength of character, resilience and maintained a kind heart, as she shared what little she had with those around her in Auschwitz' 
  HarperCollins 2023

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  A Fish Rots from the Head Down -...

  Dr. Luke Gordon

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  In A Fish Rots from the Head Down - exposing HPCSA corruption - Dr Luke Gordon describes the dysfunctional and corrupt Health Professions Council of South Africa. The HPCSA is the medical board which oversees  complaints against doctors practising in South Africa. With its draconian stance on treating doctors charged with unprofessional conduct - contrary to common law principles - doctors are deemed guilty until proven innocent.  In this, the second in the series, the reader encounters the first bad actor in the story - Dr Lesley Berkowitz - a psychopath loathed by his peers because he  will stop at nothing to destroy anyone who dares to cross him. Many a plastic surgeon’s career has been destroyed by him. His egregious hypocrisy is apparent in a lecture he gave on being a mensch. The author describes the rampant corruption within the HPCSA which starts at CEO and permeates most employees on the take from doctors wishing to escape the clutches of the monster.The reader will read of the horrifying story of  Gershon Mosiane, the  corrupt prosecutor  who hijacked the hearing of a patient who developed a catastrophic complication as a result of her failure to comply with post operative instructions. His objective was  to enrich himself by hijacking the process.  However, Dr Gordon wasn’t prepared to compromise his moral compass and went to the authorities. A Lebanese couple who were both operated on by Dr Gordon have a verbal altercation with his receptionist. They run to the ombudsman of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of South Africa, Dr Lesley Berkowitz to “tell on” the receptionist. Berkowitz, the bully, challenges Dr Gordon and comes off second best. In his rage, Berkowitz  hatches a diabolical  plan to exact revenge.

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  The Hidden Wealth of Nations -...

  Gabriel Zucman

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  A “masterful” work that quantifies the cost of tax havens and large-scale tax evasion to ordinary citizens, and explores solutions to the problem (American Prospect). One much-discussed solution to the rapidly growing problem of economic inequality is to significantly increase the rate at which we tax the wealthy. But with an enormous amount of the world’s wealth hidden in tax havens—in countries like Switzerland, Luxembourg, and the Cayman Islands—this wealth cannot be fully accounted for and taxed fairly. No one, from economists to bankers to politicians, has been able to quantify exactly how much of the world’s assets are currently hidden—until now. Gabriel Zucman is the first economist to offer reliable insight into the actual extent of the world’s money held in tax havens. And it’s staggering. Fighting the notion that any attempts to vanquish tax havens are futile since some countries will always offer more advantageous tax rates than others, as well the counter-argument that tax havens have disappeared since the 2007–2008 global financial crisis, Zucman shows how both sides are actually very wrong. In The Hidden Wealth of Nations he offers an ambitious agenda for reform, focused on ways in which countries can change the incentives of tax havens. Only by first understanding the enormity of the secret wealth can we begin to estimate the kind of actions that would force tax havens to give up their practices. Zucman’s work has quickly become the gold standard for quantifying the amount of the world’s assets held in havens. In this concise book, he lays out in approachable language how the international banking system works and the dangerous extent to which the large-scale evasion of taxes is undermining the global market as a whole. If we are to find a way to solve the problem of increasing inequality, The Hidden Wealth of Nations is essential reading. “Unusually lucid and elegant prose—particularly for an economist—complemented by an admirable grasp of history. His review of the ways that efforts to combat tax evasion have stalled for the past century makes the book a worthwhile read in and of itself. . . . Zucman is still at the beginning of what promises to be a brilliant career.” ―The Atlantic

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