Flights of Fancy

Flights of Fancy
A Book of Poetry, Prose, and Imaginative Short Stories
By Bernadette Bland

Published: 2/24/2011
Format: Perfect Bound Softcover
Pages: 64
Size: 6x9
ISBN: 978-1-45028-452-3
Print Type: B/W

Overview:

Life is filled with emotional highs and lows. Riding the wave of this experience is part of living, but for poet Bernadette Bland, dreaming was even more important. No matter the attitude, mood, or circumstance, Ms. Bland has always believed in the beauty of life. Never to be deterred from her heart’s desire, she has ridden her own life wave with an eye to her dreams and an eye to the beauty of nature.

In her new poetry collection, Flights of Fancy, Ms. Bland shares her imagery with the outside world. She delves into the lavish splendor of nature in “Drifting Grace: God’s Art Show.” She peers behind the protective mask of a weeping clown in “Behind the Mask.” She recalls watching her mother slowly grow old in the poignant “Mama.” In all her words, she reveals her deepest yearnings and fears with selfless honesty.

Flights of Fancy is an example of an imagination set free. Ms. Bland fills her poetry with wonder and will leave you longing to step out into the sun. She is not afraid to depict the sometimes traumatic rollercoaster of life; yet she encourages us to move on, move up, and not look back. Within every word, she calls to the reader, challenging each one of us to never stop dreaming!

Sources: iUniverse Bookstore

Read more »

iUniverse Bookstore, Poetry,

{[['']]}

Among Hibiscus and Roses

Among Hibiscus and Roses
A Retired Nurse’s Memoir
By Sun-Hae Kim

Published: 10/10/2013
Format: E-Book (available as ePub, Mobi, and PDF files)
Pages: 308
ISBN: 978-1-49170-276-5
Print Type: B/W

Overview:

A few years ago, Sun-Hae Kim met a female student at a British museum who was studying medieval women’s social activities. She was unable to find information from women at that time because they didn’t leave much in written form. She then looked around for some nurses’ autobiographies and again found very little information available, even by Florence Nightingale. In response to this lack of personal writing from nurses, she presents Among Hibiscus and Roses, an account of her years as a nurse.

She tells of the challenges of being an army nurse and of the fun times with her fellow nurses. She approached each new challenge with expectation and the hope that she would be helping more people. When she immigrated to the United States, she faced new cultures, languages, and social life; she met many new and interesting people. Throughout her transition, she was filled with wonder and excitement for her new life.

Most importantly, she recounts the challenges and rewards of being a nurse for over thirty-seven years, in both South Korea and the United States. She lived proudly a life that was not old fashioned and yet still proved she could be happy and healthy without indulging in drugs, alcohol, sex, and gambling.

Sharing the too-often-unheard story of a nurse, Among Hibiscus and Roses describes a unique and out-of-the-ordinary life journey.

Sources: iUniverse Bookstore

Read more »

Biography and Autobiography, iUniverse Bookstore,

{[['']]}

In the Trough

In the Trough
Three Years on Ocean Station
By Thomas F. Jaras

Published: 10/27/2013
Format: E-Book (available as ePub, Mobi, and PDF files)
Pages: 340
ISBN: 978-1-49170-654-1
Print Type: B/W

Overview:

A few months out of college, followed by a sixteen-week course on how to be a naval officer, author Thomas F. Jaras found himself standing bridge watches on the USS Vance in the middle of nowhere, providing navigational aid for aircraft flying to the polar ice. Now, almost fifty years later, Jaras recalls the three years he spent aboard the Vance in the 1960s, on the ramparts of the Cold War.

In his memoir, In the Trough, Jaras attempts to understand his love-hate relationship with the USS Vance, an insignificant radar picket ship that supported Operation Deep Freeze in the Antarctic Ocean for a year and then spent two years on the Pacific Distant Early Warning Line. He describes life on an endurance ship afloat in midocean, battling eighty-foot walls of water crashing over the bridge.

In the Trough chronicles Jaras’s transition from a boy to man as he dreamed of life ashore during long weeks at sea that were punctuated by short, intense visits to terra firma. Young, inexperienced, and naïve, he feared the best years of his life were being wasted at sea. He searched desperately for women, love, and a normal existence while ashore for precious short stints in Tahiti, New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, Japan, and Hawaii. Despite three stressful, unhappy, and difficult years at sea, Jaras acknowledges a tearful departure but promised himself to never go to sea again.

Sources: iUniverse Bookstore

Read more »

Biography and Autobiography, iUniverse Bookstore,

{[['']]}

A Spiritual Life

A Spiritual Life
Man’s Greatest Challenge
By Rebecca Spiers

Published: 6/30/2009
Format: Dust Jacket Hardcover
Pages: 116
Size: 5.5x8.5
ISBN: 978-1-44015-195-8
Print Type: B/W

Overview:

Join Rebecca Spiers on a personal journey, which begins with her days as an innocent child in awe of God’s wonders to her time as an adult eager to learn more about spirituality. Rebecca’s faith in the power of God was confirmed at a young age. While working at a nursing facility, she began to suffer from back pain and wasn’t sure what to do until she saw a church sign that read: “Healing Sessions are on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m.” She gave it a try, and her pain went away. This was just the first of many miracles she’d witness as she moved closer to God. Just like Rebecca, you also can begin a spiritual journey of your own. This book will help you: • Develop faith • Pray and reach out to God • Interpret the Bible • Find the courage to abstain from sin • And much more! Move closer to the Lord and contribute to changing the world through peace and faith as you take steps to live A Spiritual Life.

Sources: iUniverse Bookstore

Read more »

Body, iUniverse Bookstore, Mind and Spirit,

{[['']]}

The Truth Is...

The Truth Is...
By Monique Antoinette

Published: 6/9/2011
Format: E-Book (available as ePub and Mobi files) What's This
Pages: 116
ISBN: 978-1-46201-644-0
Print Type: B/W

Overview:

This book is a collection of poem that really sincerely express how I view my life, this world, and the people in it.

I dedicate this book to the future. The future of America. The future of the world. The future of every boys and every girl. I also dedicate this in loving memory of falling soldiers do to the war in Iraq, the tsunami and the hurricanes. As well as, my guarding angels Aunt Jessie Mae, Aunt Henrietta Aunt Lucile Mrs. Mildred, Dean Goldsby, Cousin Dorothy Mae, Mome, Daddy Hoesa and, Ronnie. I miss ya’ll so much but I thankful for everything you ever taught me. And to their family and friends reading this book, I pray that supernatural blessings rain down on your lives for years to come. Amen

Sources: iUniverse Bookstore

Read more »

iUniverse Bookstore, Poetry,

{[['']]}

A Toothfully Twisted Summer

A Toothfully Twisted Summer
By Ellen Cappello

Published: 6/28/2013
Format: E-Book
Pages: 132
ISBN: 978-1-47599-186-4
Print Type: B/W

Overview:

Magnolia Bloomgarden is not excited about spending her summer vacation in Tooth Kingdom working as a fairy for the family business. She couldn’t care less about getting wings, learning to fly, or sprinkling magic dust, especially because she has to leave her best friend, Sun, behind. But all of that is about to change when she realizes Sun’s family is being pursued by dark fairies who need just one thing to survive: teeth.

Magnolia is worried about what will happen to Sun and her family if she does not warn them that the evil fairies are loose in the mortal world. But before she can caution them that the fairies have potentially found a way to open their portal, Magnolia is led to the Tooth Kingdom by her uncle. There she soon discovers a perfect, happy world overshadowed by the threat of dark fairies who want nothing more than to destroy the peaceful kingdom. As the fairies make their presence known, Magnolia embarks on a dangerous journey to save both her kingdom and Sun’s family from their sinister clutches.

In this children’s fantasy tale, a tooth fairy-in-training must summon the courage to battle dark forces as a portal slowly opens and frees what everyone in Tooth Kingdom has always feared.

Sources: iUniverse Bookstore

Read more »

iUniverse Bookstore, Juvenile Fiction,

{[['']]}

SpiritPath

SpiritPath
By Pat Patterson

Published: 4/17/2012
Format: E-Book
Pages: 1
ISBN: 978-1-46978-506-6
Print Type: B/W

Overview:

When Arizona ranch owner, Adam Blake, falls in love with Priscilla WhiteCloud, sister of his Navajo foreman, the catalyst for the terrible consequences of their union is set in motion. Amid the historical and political background of the American Southwest in the early to mid-1900's, SpiritPath paints a fascinating picture of the world of that time, encompassing events leading to World War1, the pursuit of the Mexican bandit, Pancho Villa, after his murderous raids on American soil, the horrendous conditions of the Mission directed Indian schools, the fledgling aeronautics industry, the 1929 Stock Market Crash, coinciding with the Government mandated Stock Reduction Plan, so devastating to the herding culture of the Navajo People. Compelling love stories, interwoven with diverse yet profound values, both Anglo and Navajo, evolve as the children and grandchildren of Adam and Priscilla, seek resolutions to their personal conflicts and discover their individual paths to enduring love and spiritual harmony.

Sources: iUniverse Bookstore

Read more »

Fiction, iUniverse Bookstore,

{[['']]}

Drumming Up Dialogue

Drumming Up Dialogue
The Dialogic Philosophies of Martin Buber, Fred Iklé, and William Ury Compared and Applied to the Babukusu Community of Kenya
By Patrick Wanakuta Baraza

Published: 7/25/2011
Format: E-Book (available as PDF, ePub, and Mobi files)
Pages: 420
ISBN: 978-1-46201-621-1
Print Type: B/W

Overview:

If, as they say, we all come out of Africa, then somewhere in Kenya’s Rift Valley we first learned to live as human beings and we quickly learned to quarrel, too. Migration patterns within Kenya are as complicated as any in the U.S. or Europe and its multi-ethnic history is much, much longer. Fr. Baraza, knows both the brightness of human progress in a peaceful countryside as well as the shadows left by war and fighting. He writes about how to resolve conflicts and difficulties by people who have had long life experience.

Drumming Up Dialogue applies the thinking of three leading writers in the field of conflict management to the Bukusu community of Kenya: philosopher Martin Buber, political scientist Fred Charles Iklé, and cultural anthropologist William Ury. These three theorists address the creating of peace between individuals, between opposing factions, and between countries and cultures.

Drumming is a traditional Bukusu way of communication. Fr. Baraza uses the drum as a metaphor for the different ways dialogue can be used and interpreted. Baraza presents one of the very few studies of culture of the Bukusu people and the only one to address dialogue through their religions. Based upon the personal experiences and Baraza’s ongoing contact with his Bukusu people, Drumming Up Dialogue seeks to awaken us to the cultural values of the Bukusu and offer an alternative way to conflict resolution.

Hilary Martin, PhD, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA

Sources: iUniverse Bookstore

Read more »

iUniverse Bookstore, Social Science,

{[['']]}