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  The Professor & the Coed -...

  Mark Gribben

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  The true story of James Howard Snook, Theora Hix, and one of the most shocking crimes of the 1920s.   In the sweltering summer of 1929, the people of Columbus, Ohio, were enthralled by the story of Dr. James Howard Snook—an Ohio State University veterinary professor and Olympic gold medal-winning pistol shooter who was put on trial for the murder of his twenty-four-year-old lover, a medical student.   This riveting account reveals how Snook was captured and interrogated, including his gory confession of Theora Hix’s death. During the trial, the details of the illicit love affair were so salacious that newspapers could only hint about what really led to the coed’s murder and the professor’s ultimate punishment. This is the first full account of this astonishing story, from scandalous beginning to tragic end.

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  Rebound - Sports Community and...

  Perry King

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  From basketball hoops to cricket bats, the role community sports play in our cities and how crucial they are to diversity and inclusion.
  		 
  “The virus exposed how we live and work. It also revealed how we play, and what we lose when we have to stop.” For every kid who makes it to the NBA, thousands more seek out the pleasure and camaraderie of pick-up basketball in their local community centre or neighbourhood park. It’s a story that plays out in sport after sport – team and individual, youth and adult, men's and women's. While the dazzle of pro athletes may command our attention, grassroots sports build the bridges that link city-dwellers together in ways that go well beyond the physical benefits. The pandemic and heightened awareness of racial exclusion reminded us of the importance of these pastimes and the public spaces where we play. In this closely reported exploration of the role of community sports in diverse cities, Toronto journalist Perry King makes an impassioned case for re-imagining neighbourhoods whose residents can be active, healthy, and connected.
  		 
  “I couldn’t stop reading Perry King’s Rebound. An evocative essay about the transformative and uniting power of local sports in a city with residents from every country in the world, the book is well researched, entertaining, and informative. It spoke to my own experiences as a young athlete fitting into a new city when I first came to Toronto – and to the importance our city government must place on local recreation and sports if our city is to help all residents reach their potential. A fantastic contribution to understanding Toronto – and to the power of local recreation in any major city.” —David Miller, former mayor of Toronto

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  The Longest Race - A Lifelong...

  Ed Ayres

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  “It soon becomes clear that this book isn’t just about an athletic race. It’s also about the human race” (Bloomberg Businessweek).   Having run in more than six hundred races over the span of fifty-five years, Ed Ayres is a legendary distance runner—and this book is his urgent exploration of the connection between individual endurance and a sustainable society.  The Longest Race begins in 2001 at the starting line of the JFK 50 Mile—the nation’s oldest and largest ultramarathon and, like other such races, it’s an epic test of human limits and aspiration. At age sixty, his sights set on breaking the age-division record, Ayres embarks on a course over the rocky ridge of the Appalachian Trail, along the headwind-buffeted towpath of the Potomac River, and past momentous Civil War sites such as Harpers Ferry and Antietam.   But even as Ayres focuses on an endurance runner’s familiar concerns—starting strong and setting the right pace, controlling his breathing, overcoming fatigue, and staying mindful of the course ahead—he finds himself as preoccupied with the future of our planet as with the finish line.   A veteran journalist and environmental editor, Ayres reveals how the skills and mindset necessary to complete an ultramarathon are also essential for grappling anew with the imperative to endure—not only as individuals, but as a society—and not just for fifty miles, but over the real long haul, in a unique meditation that “ought to be required reading even for people who have never run a step” (The Boston Globe).   “He seamlessly moves between discussing running to exploring larger life issues such as why we run, our impact on the environment, and the effects of the nation’s declining physical fitness . . . Thought provoking.” ―Booklist   “To read this book is to run alongside a seasoned athlete, a deep thinker, and a great storyteller. And Ayres doesn’t disappoint: He is the best kind of running companion, generously doling out hilarious stories and hard-won insights into performance conditioning and the human condition. His lifetime of ultra-running and environmental writing drive his exploration of what keeps us running long distances―and what it might take to keep the planet from being run into the ground.” ―Nature Conservancy magazine  

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  Go Back to Where You Came From -...

  Wajahat Ali

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  Go back to where you came from, you terrorist!This is just one of the many warm, lovely, and helpful tips that Wajahat Ali and other children of immigrants receive on a daily basis. Go back where, exactly? Fremont, California, where he grew up, but now an unaffordable place to live? Or Pakistan, the country his parents left behind a half-century ago?While living the American Dream, young Wajahat devoured comic books (devoid of brown superheroes) and fielded well-intentioned advice from uncles and aunties (“Become a doctor!”). He had turmeric stains under his fingernails, was accident-prone, suffered from OCD, and wore Husky pants. That is, he was as American as his neighbors, with roots all over the world. Then, while Ali was studying at University of California, Berkeley, 9/11 happened. Muslims replaced Communists as America’s enemy #1, and he became an accidental spokesman and ambassador of all ordinary, unthreatening things Muslim-y.Now a middle-aged dad, Ali has become one of the foremost and funniest public intellectuals in America. In Go Back to Where You Came From, he tackles the dangers of Islamophobia, white supremacy, and chocolate hummus, peppering personal stories with astute insights into national security, immigration, and pop culture. In this refreshingly bold, hopeful, and uproarious memoir, Ali offers indispensable lessons for cultivating a more compassionate, inclusive, and delicious America.

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  Thomas Sweatt: Inside the Mind...

  Jonathan Riffe

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  Between 1980 and 2005, a serial arsonist terrorized neighborhoods throughout the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. In 2005, Thomas Sweatt was arrested and eventually confessed to over 340 arson-set fires that killed 4 people. Investigators named him the "most prolific and dangerous serial arsonist in American history." Dozens of authors, TV producers, and movie producers tried to contact Thomas in prison but were all unsuccessful. Only Jonathan Riffe was able to break through. For three years, Jonathan wrote and talked regularly to Thomas. This is his story in his words a story of arson and murder, law and order, philological deviance, crime and punishment, and the terror of fire. The story of one man.

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  I Got There - How a Mixed-Race...

  JeVon McCormick

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  He was born the mixed-race son of a negligent, drug-dealing pimp father and a struggling single mother. He was raised in the slums of Dayton, Ohio, suffered incredible abuse and racism, and had multiple stints in the juvenile justice system. He barely graduated high school and has no college degree.No one expected him to succeed. But succeed he did.Starting out by scrubbing toilets, JT hustled and worked his way into better opportunities, eventually finding incredible success in the mortgage industry. He was on top of the world.And then it all fell apart. He lost his job and his money.But instead of stopping him, this setback became the springboard for him to reach even greater heights--eventually becoming President of a multimillion-dollar software company, and then CEO of a multimillion-dollar book publishing startup.Gripping, heartbreaking, enlightening, and ultimately uplifting, I Got There proves that no obstacle is too difficult to conquer--and that the game can be won by anyone, from anywhere.

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