Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography by Rob Lowe

 

 

A wryly funny and surprisingly moving account of an extraordinary life lived almost entirely in the public eye

A teen idol at fifteen, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at twenty, and one of Hollywood's top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences as a painfully misunderstood child actor in Ohio uprooted to the wild counterculture of mid-seventies Malibu, where he embarked on his unrelenting pursuit of a career in Hollywood.

The Outsiders placed Lowe at the birth of the modern youth movement in the entertainment industry. During his time on The West Wing, he witnessed the surreal nexus of show business and politics both on the set and in the actual White House. And in between are deft and humorous stories of the wild excesses that marked the eighties, leading to his quest for family and sobriety.

Never mean-spirited or salacious, Lowe delivers unexpected glimpses into his successes, disappointments, relationships, and one-of-a-kind encounters with people who shaped our world over the last twenty-five years. These stories are as entertaining as they are unforgettable.

Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel: Stories by Julian K. Jarboe

 

 

In this debut collection of body-horror fairy tales and mid-apocalyptic Catholic cyberpunk, memory and myth, loss and age, these are the tools of storyteller Jarboe, a talent in the field of queer fabulism. Bodily autonomy and transformation, the importance of negative emotions, unhealthy relationships, and bad situations amidst the staggering and urgent question of how build and nurture meaning, love, and safety in a larger world/society that might not be "fixable." 

Resistance, Revolution and Other Love Stories by K

 

 

Is love the most revolutionary of all acts?

In this wide-ranging collection of twelve short stories, a startling array of characters explore their perspectives on love. The stories sweep from sharp realism to heady allegory, haunting fables to sci-fi thrillers, starring teens and drifting husbands, futuristic automatons and talking dogs, gardeners and gatekeepers, a blind girl, a young father, and many more.

In "Calamity Jane," see love through the eyes of teenage boys obsessed with the calamitous girl of the title; revisit the famous Greek love story in "Orpheus and Eurydice"; Dan's mechanical automaton seems to be his truest friend in the harshly conformist world of "Automatonomatopoeia"; a Crimean revolutionary gets waylaid at a mysterious gate in "The Invitation"; on a construction site in Yugoslavia, a young man tries to come to grips with unconventional fatherhood in "Vikings"; and in "The Conversation", a blind woman manages her relationship with a hectoring mother while finding other types of love.

These are just a few of the tales in Resistance, Revolution and Other Love Stories. Anyone interested in the struggle against stifling societal powers and the potency of love will see some of themselves in these pages. By turns exciting, meditative, and funny, these enjoyable, thought-provoking stories will linger long after the book is closed.

Let the revolution begin!...

50 Years in the OR: True Stories of Life, Loss, and Laughter While Giving Anesthesia by Ronald Whitchurch

 

 

The First Book about the Unsung Heroes of the Operating Room

Ron Whitchurch has the observation, wit and insight of a modern day Mark Twain and the eyebrows and mustache to match."

— Koco Eaton, MD, ABOS, Team Physician, Tampa Bay Rays

“An extraordinary book which brilliantly and compellingly conveys the day-to-day workings of the operating room.” 

— Kevin M. Sweeney, MD, board-certified neurosurgeon, former chief of Neurosurgery of Mease hospitals in Dunedin and Clearwater, Florida

It’s a busy time for the anesthetist during surgery. Keeping a watchful eye on the patient’s vital signs and being prepared for any possibilities that might develop are an anesthetist’s prime focus. Each case is unique, whether it’s a scheduled surgery on a healthy patient, an emergency or a critical illness. They all require analytical judgments along with many skills to manage them.

Ron Whitchurch wrote this wildly entertaining book to offer a firsthand look at what happens after patients are anesthetized and what challenges the staff face in keeping them healthy and safe. 

50 Years in the OR gives readers an intimate sense of what it’s like to be the only person in the OR who knows the heartbeat-to-heartbeat status of a surgical patient at any given moment.

 

The Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom… by Shannon Bream

 

 

The women of the Bible lived timeless stories—by examining them, we can understand what it means to be a woman of faith.

People unfamiliar with Scripture often assume that women play a small, secondary role in the Bible. But in fact, they were central figures in numerous Biblical tales. It was Queen Esther’s bravery at a vital point in history which saved her entire people. The Bible contains warriors like Jael, judges like Deborah, and prophets like Miriam. The first person to witness Jesus’ resurrection was Mary Magdalene, who promptly became the first Christian evangelist, eager to share the news which would change the world forever.

In The Women of the Bible Speak, Fox News Channel's Shannon Bream opens up the lives of sixteen of these Biblical women, arranging them into pairs and contrasting their journeys. In pairing their stories, Shannon helps us reflect not only on the meaning of each individual’s life, but on how they relate to each other and to us.

From the shepherdesses of ancient Israel who helped raise the future leaders of the people of God, to the courageous early Christians, the narrative of the Bible offers us many vivid and fascinating female characters. In their lives we can see common struggles to resist bitterness, despair, and pride, and to instead find their true selves in faith, hope, and love. In studying these heroes of the faith, we can find wisdom and warnings for how to better navigate our own faith journeys.

The Women of the Bible Speak outlines the lessons we can take from the valor of Esther, the hope of Hannah, the audacity of Rahab, and the faith of Mary. In broadening each woman’s individual story, Shannon offers us a deeper understanding of each, and wisdom and insights that can transform our own lives today.

 

One Split Second: The Distracted Driving Epidemic - How It Kills and How We Can Fix It 1st Edition by Vijay Dixit and Antonia Felix

 

 

Our addiction to cell phones has made distracted driving a national epidemic. State patrol officers who deal with crashes every day see the phone as the new “open bottle” in the car that makes drivers impaired and dangerous. Add phones and other devices to the many types of distraction we already face—from tuning the radio to drinking coffee behind the wheel—and we have a crisis. But this crisis can be turned back if drivers make the right choice, the safe choice. One Split Second can help drivers make that best choice. This book is a one-of-a-kind resource that brings together real-life stories, facts and figures, fascinating research about our behavior behind the wheel, and expert perspectives on how we can end the distraction epidemic. It is a book no driver can live without.

The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way: On Writers and Writing by Charles Bukowski and David Stephen Calonne

 

 

“Genius could be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way, or even to say a simple thing in a simpler way.”―Charles Bukowski

In The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way, Charles Bukowski considers the art of writing, and the art of living as a writer. Bringing together a variety of previously uncollected stories, columns, reviews, introductions, and interviews, this book finds him approaching the dynamics of his chosen profession with cynical aplomb, deflating pretensions and tearing down idols armed with only a typewriter and a bottle of beer. Beginning with the title piece―a serious manifesto disguised as off-handed remarks en route to the racetrack―The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way runs through numerous tales following the author’s adventures at poetry readings, parties, film sets, and bars, and also features an unprecedented gathering of Bukowski’s singular literary criticism. From classic authors like Hemingway to underground legends like d.a. levy to his own stable of obscure favorites, Bukowski uses each occasion to expound on the larger issues around literary production. The book closes with a handful of interviews in which he discusses his writing practices and his influences, making this a perfect guide to the man behind the myth and the disciplined artist behind the boozing brawler.