Showing results by narrator "Marlin May" in All Categories

Self-help books offer solid, beneficial techniques, but they really only work for the young. Award-winning comedy writer Gene Perret reveals that more mature devotees must adjust these techniques, tweak them, alter them, and in some cases, ignore them completely. New Tricks for Old Dogs points out some of the flaws in the self-help philosophy. It tempers the advice with common sense. The battle cry of this volume is do it, but don't overdo it.

The stories in I Thought He Would Be in Jail are the true-life adventures of a mischievous hyperactive boy who became a prank-playing jet-age pilot instead. Growing up in the 1940s and '50s, Steve Taylor created trouble everywhere he went. He skipped school for weeks at a time but never took a day off from walking on the edge. Some tales tug at your heart, some make you laugh, and some will show the upside of benign neglect.

WorkLaughs is full of hilarious and witty anecdotes about making a living. These selections are from comedians and notable personalities including Milton Berle, Paula Poundstone, and Jerry Seinfeld. Also included are sections from lesser-known colleagues of the daily grind.

Happiness is around every corner, but every once in a while we need a map or pointers on how to find it. This book is just such a guide, with 26 chapters filled with ideas and inspiration. Joy unites all people and words are often how we best express our joy. Happiness A to Z is the perfect collection of power thoughts and insightful quotes that expresses some of the best ways to get happy.

The story of Silver City Millie, as she referred to herself, is the story of one woman's personal tragedies and triumphs as an orphan, a Harvey Girl waitress on the Santa Fe railroad, a prostitute with innumerable paramours, and a highly successful bordello businesswoman. Millie broke the mold in so many ways, and yet her life's story of survival was not unlike that of thousands of women who went west only to find that their most valuable assets were their physical beauty and their personality.

When Scott Murphy scored the winning touchdown in the 1991 state championship game, it should have launched a golden future - the full scholarship to Ohio State, the million-dollar signing bonus, marriage to the beauty queen, and NFL glory. Instead, it all ended with a sickening pop as his leg shattered in four places. The next twenty years would be a study in Murphy's Law-whatever could go wrong did. Just when things seem at their worst-he's losing his farm, his relationship with his wife is crumbling - a miracle happens: Murphy gets a chance to reboot his life.

Learning to Laugh When You Feel Like Crying: Embracing Life After Loss accomplishes just that in an easy-to-digest, warm, and highly accessible format. Anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one can greatly benefit from this book, which was inspired firsthand by the loss of author Allen Klein's wife. Klein addresses the subject with expert awareness and wisdom and breaks it down into five sensible and encouraging steps: losing, learning, letting go, living, and laughing. The book is a steadfast compass that offers hope and resilience to anyone trying to navigate through dark times.

Are the kids driving you crazy? Are you facing a challenge? Are money matters uppermost in your mind? Perhaps you're experiencing travel troubles, or technology is about to drive you over the edge. Just listen to this book to ease your stress of the moment, and let laughter erase your tension. Categorized by stress-related themes (such as "Kids", "Jobs", "Spouses", and even "Modern Technology"), just the right quote to amuse and inspire may be found at a moment's notice, whenever anxiety strikes.

To untangle the knot of interlocking meanings of these painted words, logophile and mythologist Phil Cousineau begins each fascinating word entry with his own brief definition. He then fills it in with a tint of etymology and a smattering of quotes that show how the word is used, ending with a list of companion words.

Allen Klein, master of the right quote at the right moment, has gathered his favorite, most inspiring words of wisdom into this treasury of moving and meaningful sayings from around the world that incite readers to live life to the fullest. Listeners can take this book on the go to get a quick shot of inspiration at any time, or they can select one quote every day for in-depth thought and meditation. The audio features a foreword by Jack Canfield, cocreator of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

TeacherLaughs is filled with hilarious and witty anecdotes about teaching and learning from the preschool classroom to the college lecture hall. These selections from comedians and notable personalities including Milton Berle, Ellen Degeneres, and Robin Williams, as well as less well-known teachers and students, tackle subjects like forgotten homework, students who misbehave, and the dreaded parent-teacher conference.

In 2008, three years after Hurricane Katrina cut a deadly path along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, researchers J. Steven Picou and Keith Nicholls conducted a survey of the survivors in Louisiana and Mississippi, receiving more than 2500 responses, and followed up two years later with more than 500 of the initial respondents. Showcasing these landmark findings, Caught in the Path of Katrina: A Survey of the Hurricane's Human Effects yields a more complete understanding of the traumas endured as a result of the Storm of the Century.

St. Petersburg, Russia’s Window to the West. Thirteen-year-old tomboy Rian Krieger has run away to Russia to help her uncle and cousin build a railroad for Tsar Nicholas I. But there’s a problem: Rian is posing as her uncle’s coachman, a boy. The Tsar takes note of Rian’s bravery and resourcefulness and asks her (meaning orders her, for a request from the Tsar of All the Russias is, in fact, a command) to spend her days in his palace as companion to Grand Duke Konstantin, his ten-year-old son. Philadelphia, U.S.A, the “Workshop of the World.

The Colorado Trail in Crisis addresses the sweeping transformation of western forests and wilderness ecosystems affected by climate change. This book is equal parts trail journal and synthesis of natural and human history. Karl Ford uses research on climate impacts to forests, wildlife, hydrology, and more to stress the urgent need for an action plan to reduce greenhouse gases and save forests and watersheds.

For most Americans in the 19th century, it wasn't what you ate, but how much you ate, that mattered. Late in the century, doctors wrote books like How To Be Plumb and the voluptuous woman was the ideal. The famed actress Lillian Russell, considered by many the epitome of beauty, weighed almost 200 pounds. Today, in contrast, Americans seem obsessed with calories, diets and slimness, and with eating healthful amounts of vitamins, minerals, fats, and proteins. What sparked this remarkable revolution in the way we eat.

“I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but I think I died today”. So begins the complex and mysterious journey of Gavin Goode and his family. What happened to Gavin and why? What secrets will emerge along the way? This is a story of despair and hope, dreams and reality, uncertainty and faith, humor, secrecy, forgiveness and beginnings.

This comprehensive account of California’s numerous and perilous natural disasters explores how a unique combination of forces has affected Californians throughout the state's history and carries a sobering message about our short disaster memories. California has more natural hazards per square mile than any other state, but this hasn’t deterred people from moving here. Entire California towns and regions frequently contend with destruction caused by earthquakes, floods, landslides and debris flows, and sea-level rise and coastal erosion.

Beyond Barron, the second volume of a memoir initiated by the publication of Back to Barron (in 2008), encompasses captivating humor and telling detail to narrate the story of author Van Tassel and his wife’s life together and their kindred careers. It focuses on schools and colleges and universities attended, taught at, and visited; homes purchased, built, modified, and redecorated; vehicles and pets acquired; and travels and forms of recreation that served as accompaniments to their academic careers and enhancements of family life.

At the time of the Millennium, three people struggle for survival in a small New Hampshire town as the world spins into chaos, not realizing that each harbors secrets that will eventually pit them against one another.

The movie director Paul Williams is a real-life Forrest Gump. Williams' experiences form a unique and wild constellation of encounters with star power, political power, and spiritual power, crafting a life cycle that led to fame, fortune, integrity, and anonymity.