Showing results by narrator "Robin J Sitten" in All Categories

Wanjirũ takes us on her rollercoaster American journey as she wrestles with the clash between her Kenyan culture and that of America. She fumbles, determined to find her niche in American society through a real estate career. Along the way, she indulges in throwbacks regarding her life in Kenya, or a racial dilemma she and some adults got thrown into by a seven-year-old boy in New Zealand.

When Diane Diekman became an aviation maintenance officer (a “greenshirt”) in the US Navy in 1978, her challenges included proving herself professionally before gaining the acceptance and respect routinely granted to men. Navy Greenshirt: A Leader Made, Not Born is the story of a female pioneer in the male-dominated world of naval aviation. The commanding officer of her first squadron fired her when she failed his hidden test to assert herself as a leader. That painful lesson strengthened the timid South Dakota farm girl and helped define her future leadership style.

When disasters strike, people are not the only victims. Hurricane Katrina raised public attention about how disasters affect dogs, cats, and other animals considered members of the human family. In this short but powerful book, noted sociologist Leslie Irvine goes beyond Katrina to examine how oil spills, fires, and other calamities affect various animal populations - on factory farms, in research facilities, and in the wild.

Taking its conversational tone from the chats often held over a steaming cup, A Rich and Tantalizing Brew offers a critical and entertaining look at how this bitter beverage, with a little help from the tastes that traveled with it - chocolate, tea, and sugar - has connected people to each other both within and outside of their typical circles, inspiring a new context for sharing news, conducting business affairs, and even plotting revolution.

He didn't ask for limitless power. Conthan's only talents are sarcasm and art. That is, until he learns he's a Child of Nostradamus with the ability to teleport. When his newfound powers kill a Marine, he finds himself hunted by the military's elite. He is not the only one in danger. Conthan discovers his future entwined with a warden bent on corrupting imprisoned Children. As he unravels a conspiracy about to destroy the country, will he sacrifice his humanity to become a hero?

Soul of a People is about a handful of people who joined the Federal Writer's Project in the 1930s and offers a glimpse of America at a turning point. This particular handful of characters went from poverty to great things later, and included John Cheever, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Margaret Walker, Jim Thomspon, Anzia Yezierska, Vardis Fisher, Kenneth Rexroth, Meridel Le Sueur, and Studs Terkel. In the 1930s, they were all caught up in an effort to describe America in a series of guidebooks and life histories.

Iconic actors, jealousy, tantrums, and a legendary producer’s struggle to transform the tempestuous, ill-fated union of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII to the big screen all factor into this dramatic, behind-the-scenes story of how the popular Broadway play Anne of the Thousand Days became the quintessential Anne Boleyn movie. Richard Burton and Geneviève Bujold lit up the screen in this tragic romance, but some of the most exciting scenes were those not caught on film and which centered on a real or imagined love triangle.

Philadelphia, 1791. James and Maria Reynolds are flat broke. Well aware of the attraction between his wife and treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton, James hatches a plan to blackmail Alexander and get rich and sends Maria to seduce him. Meanwhile, the mysterious Dr. Severus Black befriends the Hamiltons and becomes a close confidant of Alexander’s wife Eliza. While Mrs. Hamilton grows fond of the handsome doctor, she also senses something different about the debonair young man.

Mysterious and misunderstood, distorted by biblical imagery of disfigurement and uncleanness, Hansen's disease or leprosy has all but disappeared from America's consciousness. In Carville, Louisiana, the closed doors of the nation's last center for the treatment of leprosy open to reveal stories of sadness, separation, and even strength in the face of what was once a life-wrenching diagnosis. Drawn from interviews with living patients and extensive research in the leprosarium's archives, Carville: Remembering Leprosy in America tells the stories of former patients.

In 1940, with German U-boats blockading all commerce across the Atlantic Ocean, a fireball at the Crown Cork and Seal factory lit the sky over Baltimore. The newspapers said you could see its glow as far north as Philadelphia and as far south as Annapolis. Rumors of Nazi sabotage led to an FBI investigation and pulled an entire industry into the machinery of national security as America stood on the brink of war. David Taylor traces this fascinating story through the lives of three men and their families, who were all drawn into this dangerous intersection of enterprise and espionage.

In 16 remarkable stories, the award-winning author of Elizabeth's Field and other books captures the flavor of Maryland's Eastern Shore. While her characters are tied to the reality of the moment, their stories are about the secret life of the heart's yearning.

In the post-apocalyptic ruins of North America lies The Silo, part of the Utopian Nation that is founded upon peace and comfort. It is a society that has removed love, power, and greed, elements of humanity that have caused the most destruction throughout history. Lysa has always longed for freedom outside the gates of The Silo, and has long been suspicious that it is not the peaceful place that it claims to be. When she witnesses a secret, heinous act of violence against another citizen, she can no longer ignore her suspicions.

I have a few questions for you. Are you miserable at work every day? What are you getting out of your job? Have you seen promotion opportunities open for you? Do you have good relationships with coworkers? How often are you stressed out, even after you get home? Does feedback from your boss make you feel proud or frustrated? I fully understand those frustrations, and, having been through all of them and more, I want to help. By sharing the principles I’ve learned in customer support roles, hopefully I can cut your learning curve and increase job satisfaction.

This book will enlighten you to the many possibilities of love. It will open the doors of understanding about love and loving back all over again. It has bonus topics about dating and how to make dating more exciting and fun. Unique places to spend your dates, not too expensive, not the usual date, less serious but more on fun activities and more time to get to know each other.

She's never taught a class in her life. But when the City of Chicago calls on blind writer Beth Finke to teach a memoir-writing class for older adults, she reluctantly agrees. What she learns about her students, their stories, and herself will move and inspire you. Written the way Beth hears life, you will come to know and love Minerva, Wanda, Hannelore, and the whole colorful cast of characters who build a community around Beth's classes. Generously sprinkled with excerpts in her students' own voices, Beth's book will convince you to get your own stories down on paper.

Mr. Millionaire and his wife met me at Boca Raton airport in Florida. As they approached, I wondered whether to shake their hands, as we do in Kenya, or hug them like students did on campus. No problem! The take-charge benefactor approached, his broad smile fixed on me. "Hello, Wanjiru!" He relieved me of my luggage and, with a wave of his right hand, presented his wife. She stretched her wrinkled skinny hand while she maintained eye contact. I shook her soft hand and said how nice it was to meet her.

True crime novelist Scarlett Denton has met her fair share of seedy criminals locked away behind bars. When the elusive crime boss Salvatore summons her to write his story, she thinks this might finally be her big break. Salvatore is a mastermind at avoiding jail time, and she is about to be told exactly how he's able to stay free. When he drops the bombshell at their interview that his isn't the story she's going to write, Scarlett decides it's high time to put the crime boss in his place.

Lucy Abbott has experienced enough death to last a lifetime. When she marries a man who helps her through a tough time, she thinks their marriage is forever. There's only one problem - his idea of forever doesn't include a life with her. When she overhears his plan to kill her on their honeymoon, she does what any sane person would do. She changes her identity and runs for her life. On the run and out of money, Lucy gets a job and hides out in the last place her husband would ever look, Love Island.

Gifted empath and security expert Landon Love has spent a lifetime trying to keep everyone at arm's length, never wanting to know what people personally think about him. His gift of sensing emotions isn't one he'd wish on anyone.

Reed Love is more than a computer genius and hacker extraordinaire thanks to his DNA. He has a love-hate relationship with the invisible pop-up boxes that appear around everyone he meets and the ease with which he can access that data. Pictures, financial data, passwords, it doesn't matter what the information or how deep in the web strangers try to disguise it. Reed has access, and these boxes dance in front of him, enticing him to look.