Other books that might interest you

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  The New Farm - Our Ten Years on...

  Brent Preston

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  After years of working at the ends of the earth in human rights and development, Brent Preston and his wife were die-hard city dwellers. But when their second child arrived, the shine came off urban living. In 2003 they bought a hundred acres and a rundown farmhouse and set out to build a real farm, one that would sustain their family, nourish their community, heal their environment, and turn a profit. The New Farm is Preston’s memoir of a decade of grinding toil and perseverance. Farming is a complex and precarious business, and they made plenty of mistakes along the way. But as they learned how to grow food, and to succeed at the business of farming, they also found that a small, sustainable, organic farm could be an engine for change, a path to a more just and sustainable food system. Today, The New Farm supplies top restaurants, supports community food banks, hosts events with leading chefs, and grows extraordinary produce. Told with humor and heart, The New Farm is a joy, a passionate book by an important new voice.

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  Folk Heroes of the Frontier

  Editors Charles River

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  The Wild West and the frontier have long held a special place in the narrative of American history, and all of the legends and folk heroes who lived in the 19th century owe their reputation to the original American frontier folk hero, Daniel Boone. Boone was literally a trailblazer: the legendary pioneer established his Wilderness Road by striking west into present-day Kentucky and establishing Boonesborough, one of the earliest white settlements west of the Appalachians. Hundreds of thousands of settlers would follow his path by the end of the 18th century.  
  While that was an important and proud legacy for the former Revolutionary War militiaman and Virginia State Assemblyman, Boone became known for the outsized tales and adventures associated with his foray into the frontier. Far and wide, people spoke of Boone’s expert marksmanship, his encounters with wild bears, and his hardscrabble frontier life, making him a living legend and the prototypical Western frontier folk hero in America.  
  Of all the legends and folk heroes who lived in the 19th century, none became as famous as Davy Crockett, “The King of the Wild Frontier”. Crockett had the distinction of being a living legend in his own life. Known as a hardscrabble frontiersman who could spin a good yarn but who also took a no-nonsense approach that brought him from the backwoods of Tennessee to the halls of Congress. Though he served during the presidency of another Westerner, Andrew Jackson, Crockett was very much his own man, and he was distrustful of other politicians, a sentiment that has only endured him further to subsequent generations of Americans.  
  In 1834, Crockett was promoting his autobiography, which provided colorful accounts of his life on the frontier, all while facing reelection. 

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  Poetry Unbound - 50 Poems to...

  Pádraig Ó Tuama

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  In the tumult of our contemporary moment, poetry has emerged as an inviting, consoling outlet with a unique power to move and connect us, to inspire fury, tears, joy, laughter, and surprise. This generous anthology pairs fifty illuminating poems with poet and podcast host Pádraig Ó Tuama's appealing, unhurried reflections. With keen insight and warm personal anecdotes, Ó Tuama considers each poem's artistry and explores how its meaning can reach into our own lives. 
   
   
   
  Focusing mainly on poets writing today, Ó Tuama engages with a diverse array of voices that includes Ada Limón, Ilya Kaminsky, Margaret Atwood, Ocean Vuong, Layli Long Soldier, and Reginald Dwayne Betts. Natasha Trethewey meditates on miscegenation and Mississippi; Raymond Antrobus makes poetry out of the questions shot at him by an immigration officer; Martín Espada mourns his father; Marie Howe remembers and blesses her mother's body; Aimee Nezhukumatathil offers comfort to her child-self. Through these wide-ranging poems, Ó Tuama guides us on an inspiring journey to reckon with self-acceptance, history, independence, parenthood, identity, joy, and resilience. 
   
   
   
  For anyone who has wanted to try their hand at a conversation with poetry but doesn't know where to start, Poetry Unbound presents a window through which to celebrate the art of being alive.

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  Her Irish Heritage

  Annie M. P. Smithson

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  FALL IN LOVE WITH THE ROMANCE THAT CAPTIVATED A NATION
  In this enchanting tale of love, faith, and self-discovery, beautiful Clare Castlemaine's privileged English world crumbles when her father's death leaves her penniless. Forced to seek refuge with her mother's Irish relatives in Dublin, Clare finds herself swept into the warm embrace of the charismatic Blake family – and an Ireland on the brink of transformation.
  
  As Clare navigates her new life, her heart is pulled in unexpected directions. Between the man she falls in love with and the stirring call of her Irish heritage, she discovers that losing everything might lead her to find what she never knew she was missing.
  
  Written by Annie M.P. Smithson, a remarkable author who wove rich autobiographical elements into her novels while balancing her writing career with life as a dedicated nurse, lending her stories an unmatched authenticity that made her the queen of Irish romantic fiction. With the keen eye of a nurse who walked Dublin's streets and the soul of a poet who understood its heart, Smithson wrote a love story that became an instant bestseller and changed romance novels forever.
  
  Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, Poldark, and anyone who loves their romance served with a side of history and social awakening. Discover the forgotten gem that had pre-Independence Ireland falling in love page by page

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  Swing Hard in Case You Hit It -...

  Tim Murtaugh

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  When he woke up in jail in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 2015, Tim Murtaugh had no way of knowing he'd be a senior leader on the reelection campaign for the president of the United States less than four years later. 
   
   
   
  What began as a form of high school amusement quickly became an addiction, which over decades would lead Murtaugh to the edge of ruin. Able to beat the disease of alcoholism only under the threat of losing everything, and with the support of a loving wife and family, Murtaugh managed to recover, revive his career, and make it to the top of the political world. 
   
   
   
  Travel along on the 2020 Trump campaign as Murtaugh shares stories—never published before—from his two years as communications director, navigating a hostile media, the COVID-19 pandemic, highly anticipated debates, Election Day 2020, January 6, and life on the most-watched political campaign in world history. 
   
   
   
  Swing Hard in Case You Hit It is a redemption story unlike any other—from being on the verge of complete self-destruction to flying on Air Force One with President Donald J. Trump—that doesn't come with a happy Hollywood ending.

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  Andrew Johnson - The American...

  Annette Gordon-Reed

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  A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian recounts the tale of the unwanted president who ran afoul of Congress over Reconstruction and was nearly removed from office 
   
   
   
  Andrew Johnson never expected to be president. But just six weeks after becoming Abraham Lincoln's vice president, the events at Ford's Theatre thrust him into the nation's highest office. Johnson faced a nearly impossible task—to succeed America's greatest chief executive, to bind the nation's wounds after the Civil War, and to work with a Congress controlled by the so-called Radical Republicans. Annette Gordon-Reed, one of America's leading historians of slavery, shows how ill-suited Johnson was for this daunting task. His vision of reconciliation abandoned the millions of former slaves (for whom he felt undisguised contempt) and antagonized congressional leaders, who tried to limit his powers and eventually impeached him. 
   
   
   
  The climax of Johnson's presidency was his trial in the Senate and his acquittal by a single vote, which Gordon-Reed recounts with drama and palpable tension. Despite his victory, Johnson's term in office was a crucial missed opportunity; he failed the country at a pivotal moment, leaving America with problems that we are still trying to solve.

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