Publisher: Salt
'Best British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover – or more accurately, by its title. This new series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere.'
In the 1920s, Karl Amson Joel and his wife Meta founded a mail-order linen goods company in Nuremberg, Germany. The business flourished, and it could have turned out to be a picture-book success story, were it not for the coming to power of Adolf Hitler. To escape the Nazis, the Jewish couple and their son Helmut fled first to Berlin and then on to Switzerland. The linen goods company was snapped up by department-store 'king' Josef Neckermann at basement price. A further hazardous journey then took the Joels to Cuba and, finally, to New York. Helmut married a young girl from Brooklyn and, in 1949, she gave birth to their son William Martin, known as 'Billy'. When the marriage fell apart, Helmut returned alone to Germany, re-married and had a second son, Alexander, now an internationally sought-after conductor. Billy Joel is one of the most successful solo artists in the world of international pop music, having sold over 100 million albums. His daughter Alexa Ray has also carved out a career for herself in music. In order to write this extensive biography, Steffen Radlmaier not only researched archives and analyzed specialist literature and interviews, over a period of many years he also conducted personal interviews with numerous family members, acquaintances and contemporary witnesses. He visited Billy Joel and his daughter in New York in the autumn of 2008.Show book
I have an enormous amount of respect for people who consider themselves entrepreneurs. People who, in most cases, take tremendous risks in hopes of experiencing tremendous rewards. Not only for themselves but for the world at large. Entrepreneurs hire the most people, drive the economy, create innovation, promote research and development, while shaping new products and services. They solve problems with existing solutions, and technologies, while in most cases utilizing existing resources more effectively and more times than not on shoestring budgets. I consider entrepreneurs to be the great pioneers of today's business world. If you are considering launching your own entrepreneurial journey, are well on your way, or anywhere in between, my passion and purpose in writing this book is to give you confidence!Show book
From the award-winning, multi-genre author and musician Steven Heighton, Songbook brings together Heighton’s lyrics and music for the first time in a single volume, including his final songs, which have never been heard or seen until now. When Steven Heighton died suddenly of cancer in 2022, he was in the middle of an intensely creative period of songwriting. He released his first album of original material, The Devil’s Share, in 2021 and was preparing to record his second album. Known first as a poet, Heighton had always held that “music and poetry are two words for the same thing.” As in his songwriting, in Songbook, Heighton moves fluidly between genres and subjects, from political songs like “The Butcher’s Bill,” about the carelessness of nations sending their youth to war, to reimagining the myth of Orpheus (“I'll hold my breath the whole way down / And find your soul in the undertown”), to blues tunes like “Last Living Woman Alive,” and a tribute to the late John Prine, the “Buddha of Song.” With chords accompanying the lyrics, readers and musicians have the ability to bring the songs to life with their own interpretations. The music in Songbook was the final work of Heighton’s life, and it is not only a gift to have his lyrics and chords but an invitation from Heighton himself, challenging his readers to answer the call and keep singing along.Show book
Linda Olson and her husband, Dave Hodgens, were young doctors whose story had all the makings of a fairy tale. But then, while they were vacationing in Germany, a train hit their van, shattering their lives—and Linda's body. When Linda saw Dave for the first time after losing her right arm and both of her legs, she told him she would understand if he left. His response: "I didn't marry your arms or your legs. If you can do it, I can do it." In order to protect their loved ones, they decided to hide the truth about what really happened on those train tracks, and they kept their secret for thirty-five years. As a triple amputee, Linda learned to walk with prostheses and change diapers and insert IVs with one hand. She finished her residency while pregnant and living on her own. And she and Dave went on to pursue their dream careers, raise two children, and travel the world. Inspiring and deeply moving, Gone asks listeners to find not only courage but also laughter in the unexpected challenges we all face. The day of the accident, no one envied Linda and Dave. Today, many do.Show book
They were a notorious gypsy family that seeped into their victims' lives like a deadly cancer. And they couldn't be stopped—until one courageous woman took on the cases no one else would touch... THE VICTIMS: Elderly, well-to-do men and women who, due to their failing health, strength, and faculties, could be conned out of their fortunes by heinous neglect, abuse, and possibly even murder. THE ACCUSED: Several members of a ruthless family of Gypsies known for their cunning con-games and remarkable ability to extract large sums of money from their unwitting pawns. THE INVESTIGATOR: Fay Faron, a beautiful, never-say-die P.I., determined to bring these culprits to justice—even when the authorities turned a blind eye to the Gypsies' crimes time and time again. In this shattering expose, bestselling author Jack Olsen follows Fay Faron as she retraces every step of the Gypsy family and the crimes they stand accused of: moving in on their helpless prey, extorting money, signing the fortunes of elderly millionaires into their own names—and speeding up the death process with sadistic neglect, slow poison, and unspeakable cruelty. Not since Peter Maas' King of the Gypsies has the world of Gypsy crime been exposed in such shocking detail and with more fascinating insight.Show book
Anthony James should have been dead ten times over. Once being a curious boy with a big heart, no vision and a lack of direction that kept him going in circles and eventually spiraling completely out of control. Knowing the Lord at a young age was his saving grace. In the most harrowing situations he faced while wondering out on the streets, he leaned of God to keep him. Through miracle after miracle, that is exactly what God did. He kept him through rebellion, drug addiction, incarceration and difficult relationships to become the successful Chaplain and business owner that he is today. Each and every day Mr. James counts his blessings not only to be alive, but to have a sound mind and the energy and strength to use all he has learned to impact the lives of others. His prayer is that this book will help you overcome fear and the limitations life hands you in order to achieve your goals and dreams in life. Through his powerful stories, this book will lead you to a place to take full responsibility for your choices and know that you can be the author of your own destiny at any time. Get ready to be opened up to new dimensions of success and knowing who you are and get to know and see your true self instead of looking at other people’s lives.Show book
