A Year In The Life

After nearly a decade of dutifully climbing the corporate ladder to become a partner in a headhunting firm, Lucy Leonelli was feeling restless in a life that was seemingly mapped out for her, and she could not shake the sense that she was missing out on something... something out there. Realising that the answer was right in front of her – in a country so full of clandestine communities and colourful, eccentric characters – Lucy made the daring decision to hit the pause button on her career and hang up her suit in favour of a year exploring twenty-six wildly different subcultures. Over the next twelve months, she lived with battle re-enactors, circus performers, hill baggers, Morris dancers, naturists, trainspotters, yogis, zeitgeist political activists and more, experiencing first-hand their social rituals and customs in the hope that, somewhere along the way, she might just uncover the most authentic version of herself. A Year in the Life charts Lucy’s adventure as she sang naked karaoke with naturists, jumped from one very high place to another with parkour daredevils, partied in tight latex with self-proclaimed vampires and fought the undead in an epic LARP battle. It tells of the importance of community in an increasingly isolating society; of the unquenchable human thirst for a sense of belonging; of how misguided our own prejudices can be; and of how when we open the door to others, we might just learn something about ourselves.

Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize’s 25th Anniversary Winner of Winners award What accounts for Shakespeare’s transformation from talented poet and playwright to one of the greatest writers who ever lived? In this gripping account, James Shapiro sets out to answer this question, "succeed[ing] where others have fallen short." (Boston Globe) 1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England. During that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen. James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare’s staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599, bringing together the news and the intrigue of the times with a wonderful evocation of how Shakespeare worked as an actor, businessman, and playwright. The result is an exceptionally immediate and gripping account of an inspiring moment in history.

The Sunday Times bestseller full of inspiring tales of life as a shepherdess, by the star of Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm. From bestselling author Amanda Owen come more stories of life at Ravenseat, the remote Yorkshire hill farm she shares with husband Clive, eight children and 1,000 sheep. In A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess she describes the age-old cycles of a farming year and the constant challenges the family faces, from being cut off in winter to tending their flock on some of Yorkshire's highest, bleakest moors – land so inaccessible that in places it can only be reached on foot. Writing with her trademark warmth and humour, Amanda takes us into her life as nine-year-old Miles gets his first flock, Reuben takes up the flugelhorn and she gives birth to a new baby girl. She is touched by the epic two-day journey of a mother sheep determined to find her lamb and gives a new home to an ageing and neglected horse. Meanwhile Clive is almost arrested on a midnight stakeout to catch a sheep-worrying dog and becomes the object of affection for a randy young bull. Funny, poignant and charming, A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess is a must for anyone interested in the countryside and those who farm it. 'Amanda Owen is like a breath of fresh air. Amanda's life is one of old-fashioned values, hard graft and plenty of love. She, like her life, is extraordinary' - Ben Fogle

Full-color photographs by renowned astrophotographer Robert Gendler that identifies over 120 objects in the galaxy throughout the four seasons.

"Perhaps I should have realized that cancer runs in my family. After all, three grandparents and my father and brother perished from this disease. Yet, when I received my colorectal cancer diagnosis, I was surprised. I never expected to be primarily identified as a cancer patient. Following a typical combination of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and more chemo, I was presumably cancer-free when my post-treatment scans looked clean. Nonetheless, within a year I received a terminal diagnosis; cancer had metastasized in my lungs. Thus began my year as a dead woman--a time of chaotic emotions, new priorities, and rapid-fire plans and changes. Expecting the unexpected became a theme in my life, but the things that turned out to be most shocking are social, familial, and even my expectations about what is realistic for a dead woman to be or do." Preconceptions about a terminal cancer diagnosis frequently are based on popular culture depictions of cancer and dying, which can be misleading as a guide for knowing what to expect when you're expecting to die. This memoir provides one woman's often-irreverent, pop culture-illustrated guide to life that deconstructs some common preconceptions about living with a terminal diagnosis.

During the years of Mexican President Calderone, drug cartels fought pitched battles against other cartels, the police, the army, and the good citizens of Mexico. Kidnappings, murder, threats, and intimidation by drug cartels impinged on every facet of Mexican life. This story of the de la Vega family in Culiacan, the state capital of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, tells of their struggles with the death of their beloved sister and the courageous brothers who become a force exacting revenge on the Pacific cartel. The family ancestors moved away from Southern California during the 1840's as the influx of white settlers changed the culture and created certain discriminations against Mexican-Americans. The family legend is the de la Vegas sold out and relocated to Culiacan, Mexico where they quickly established prominence socially and financially. In Culiacan, the whispers are frequently heard of their great wealth and of being descendents of the great Zorro. Eduardo de la Vega, known for his dedication to his community and his patients as a noted benefactor and surgeon, and Teodoro de la Vega, a Jesuit priest, beloved by all who know him, vow to protect their city from the cartel. The de la Vegas act with extraordinary stealth, boldly striking at the cartel. Eduardo de la Vega leads a secret life of retribution abetted by his adopted brother, the business wizard, Flaco' Salas. This is a tale of adventure, action love, honor, and strength of family despite constant danger and threat.

Originally published: [Victoria, B.C.: Trafford], 2004.

Despite its importance to the life of the nation and all its citizens, the Supreme Court remains a mystery to most Americans, its workings widely felt but rarely seen firsthand. In this book, journalists who cover the Court—acting as the eyes and ears of not just the American people, but the Constitution itself—give us a rare close look into its proceedings, the people behind them, and the complex, often fascinating ways in which justice is ultimately served. Their narratives form an intimate account of a year in the life of the Supreme Court. The cases heard by the Surpreme Court are, first and foremost, disputes involving real people with actual stories. The accidents and twists of circumstance that have brought these people to the last resort of litigation can make for compelling drama. The contributors to this volume bring these dramatic stories to life, using them as a backdrop for the larger issues of law and social policy that constitute the Court’s business: abortion, separation of church and state, freedom of speech, the right of privacy, crime, violence, discrimination, and the death penalty. In the course of these narratives, the authors describe the personalities and jurisprudential leanings of the various Justices, explaining how the interplay of these characters and theories about the Constitution interact to influence the Court’s decisions. Highly readable and richly informative, this book offers an unusually clear and comprehensive portrait of one of the most influential institutions in modern American life.