Run To Where Nobody Is Waiting

After living in a corrupt, totalitarian regime in which you are denied the very basic individual rights of freedom– to speak without censorship, to worship without intimidation, to read books you want and meet friends without fear of being spied or reported on, to grow professionally without shameful compromises, to get a passport without the humiliation of having to bribe a corrupt official—when all of these become unbearable, fleeing is one of the very few options; no certain destination, no one waiting for you, yet the only way you can save your sanity, dignity, and integrity. This is a personal account of a long journey from total desperation, through life and near-death events, to safety, hope, and freedom, and I hope that, as crude and unhindered this story is, it is also highly entertaining.

The book describes his escape and journey from one of the most cruel communism country to American freedom.

If anyone ever said being an adult was easy, they hadn't been one long enough. Diana Casillas can admit it: she doesn't know what the hell she's doing half the time. How she's made it through the last two years of her life without killing anyone is nothing short of a miracle. Being a grown-up wasn't supposed to be so hard. With a new house, two little boys she inherited the most painful possible way, a giant dog, a job she usually loves, more than enough family, and friends, she has almost everything she could ever ask for. Except for a boyfriend. Or a husband. But who needs either one of those?

The Most of This Place is a book about the many places one may find themselves. Places such as waiting, conflict, or facing defeat. Acts 16:19-40 explains how Paul and Silas made the most of these sometimes uncomfortable places. For Paul and Silas their place is prison. Their journey from preaching to prison inspires the reader to never give up and to persevere. The journey of this book takes you to many places one may find themselves in the course of life. No matter where one may find themselves, The Most of This Place is a book that is inspiring and practical in its use.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

In the middle to late 1950s, I lived in the Brewster Projects that were infested with gang activities. In order to survive being beat up, you were encouraged to participate or be a part of a gang. There were two things I was good at; fighting was one, and running was the other. Both got me out of some tough situations. The Brewster Project recreation center was right in the area of the Brewster's twelve-story apartment buildings populated by a gang called the Russians. I spent a lot of time at the center, which was a short distance from my house. I learned to swim there, took boxing there, even learned to ice skate there. The Russians was to many to fight; running was my best option until I joined the baby Russians. The school I attended was in the area of the gang called the Angels. I eventually found myself being a part of both gangs. Running and ducking allowed me to escape being found out until my family moved out of the area. Running kept me out of more trouble than fighting. The story is based on my ability to avoid potential deadly situations.

“Subverts the simplistic sunshine/reggae/spliff-smoking image of Jamaica at almost every turn . . . with a rich interplay of geographies and themes.” —Los Angeles Times From Trench Town to Half Way Tree to Norbrook to Portmore and beyond, the stories of Kingston Noir shine light into the darkest corners of this fabled city. Joining award-winning Jamaican authors such as Marlon James, Leone Ross, and Thomas Glave are two “special guest” writers with no Jamaican lineage: Nigerian-born Chris Abani and British writer Ian Thomson. The menacing tone that runs through some of these stories is counterbalanced by the clever humor in others, such as Kei Miller’s “White Gyal with a Camera,” who softens even the hardest of August Town’s gangsters; and Mr. Brown, the private investigator in Kwame Dawes’s story, who explains why his girth works to his advantage: “In Jamaica a woman like a big man. She can see he is prosperous, and that he can be in charge.” Together—with more contributions from Patricia Powell, Colin Channer, Marcia Douglas, and Christopher John Farley—the outstanding tales in Kingston Noir comprise the best volume of short fiction ever to arise from the literary wellspring that is Jamaica. “Thoroughly well-written stories . . . fans of noir will enjoy this batch of sordid tales set in the sweltering heat of the tropics.” —Publishers Weekly “An eclectic and gritty mélange of tales that sears the imagination . . . Kingston Noir proves its worth as a quintessential piece of West Indian literature—rich, artistic, timeless, and above all, draped in unmistakable realism.” —The Gleaner (Jamaica)