Our passions have a way of doing that for us: extending our lives

In 1971, a father and son ventured out of their apartment in New Jersey to the Island of Martha’s Vineyard to try their hand at surfcasting. That trip began a life of Spring trips to the waters’s edge in search of bluefish and striped bass. Fifty years later, Mike Carotta takes readers along for thirty straight nights and days of fishing.

This is not a How To book. It does not contain the secrets to a fantastic fishing career. Rather, hard fishing has a way of revealing lessons from the shore and the people who gather there—binding together strangers in conversations and gestures, failures and successes, new learnings, and, eventually, creating old friends.

Through it all, more than fish are caught—and shared. The result is a thoughtful collection of essays on life with some notes from the trade filtered in. Join Mike on his pilgrimage back to where the distance between heaven and earth gets a little thinner and the real "keepers" of the trip go far beyond the fish on the end of the line.

"I am not a good surf fisherman. There are no helpful fishing hints here. This is a collection of recollection: stories of saltwater characters, occurrences, and conversations. Like stars in the night sky, they are best enjoyed when you get some distance from the lights of other stuff." – Excerpt from A Long Cast

A fresh understanding of today’s political divide.

Dr. Craig Wiener, a clinical psychologist for over forty years, approaches the current political divide from a desire to understand the differences between opposing political ideologies, and to create space for multiple points of view in highly charged political discussions.

Utilizing an innovative way to conceptualize the two main viewpoints driving American politics, Dr. Wiener discusses how the people holding these perspectives may view, respond to, and interact with highly contentious political issues such as poverty, racism, the patriarchy, and family life. In assessing these issues, he proposes solutions for managing the interpersonal conflicts that occur within our tense political atmosphere.

Backyard Politics is a must-read analysis of today’s political landscape and a proposed way to overcome our intense differences.

The school careers of two teenage girls who lived across town from each other ––one black, one white–– were altered by a court-ordered desegregation plan for Durham, NC in 1970. LaHoma and Cindy both found themselves at the same high school from different sides of a court-ordered racial “balancing act.” This plan thrust each of them involuntarily out of their comfort zones and into new racial landscapes. Their experiences, recounted in alternating first person narratives, are the embodiment of desegregation policies, situated in a particular time and place. Cindy and LaHoma’s intertwining coming of age stories are part of a bigger story about America, education and race--and about how the personal relates to the political.

This bestselling dual memoir covers the two women’s life trajectories from early school days to future careers working in global public health, challenging gender biases, racial inequities, and health disparities. LaHoma and Cindy tell their stories aware of the country's return to de facto school segregation, achieved through the long-term dismantling of policies that initially informed their school assignments. As adults, they consider the influence of school desegregation on their current lives and the value of bringing all of us into conversation about what is lost or gained when children go to school in black and white.

A lifelong adventure starts with a young girl, her family, and three honest questions.

Life is full of questions. What should I do today? Where am I headed? How do I become who I'm meant to be? Follow one young girl's questions and discoveries as charming depictions of everyday life give way to magical worlds.

This debut picture book is a celebration of courageous curiosity and all those who help us discover who we really are.

Forced into bitter and boring retirement solely because of advancing age, world-renowned architect Victor Harding retreats to his bucolic lakefront estate, a majestic house once owned by notorious Chicago gangster Bugsy Moran.

He soon learns that his idyllic dream home is a house with astonishing secrets.

After a series of family catastrophes and devastating financial setbacks, and now struggling to support his fractured family and hold on to his beloved house, Victor finds himself sucked into a life of crime. Trapped in a dangerous alliance with the treacherous leader of a local crime gang, he desperately seeks a way out.

Then Bugsy Moran’s legacy reveals startling surprises which thrust Victor Harding’s life into increasingly bizarre and ever more dangerous directions.

A gold standard in more ways than one...

In this smart and stylish psychological thriller, the first in the Victor Harding Adventure Series by award-winning novelist Douglas Richardson, readers are pulled into the Harding family's life of high crimes and misdemeanors, well as the colorful characters' efforts to stay one step ahead of their pursuers...and stay alive.

One Woman's Journey of Advocacy, Faith, and Positivity

“You only have three to five years to live.”

On the day she was diagnosed with HIV and thrust from the confines of her suburban mom bubble into the scary and unpredictable world of AIDS, Julie promptly found herself fighting for her life and rights amidst a disease she never imagined would hijack her future.

With three young children, her family began making every effort to create lasting memories while simultaneously managing the debilitating side effects of early meds. They hid her illness for four years, fearing her children would suffer stigma and discrimination often experienced in the early days of the disease.

Her diagnosis began a path of advocacy, faith, and positivity despite her life’s detour. Now, Julie advocates for better healthcare outcomes for women through the personal stories and reflections from her life. Her health journey creates space for those walking through their own family or medical crises to be seen and supported.

An elderly mother, an aging son, and life’s final journey
"Winter Stars is a gift — a modern classic of frontier literature documenting the uncertain journey into the country of caregiving." –Michael J. Fox.

Dave Iverson was a busy broadcast journalist recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when he decided to do something he’d never quite imagined: He moved in to take care of his 95-year-old mom. Winter Stars is the moving story of their ten-year caregiving journey.

"The resulting memoir is a love story you won't soon forget," writes Elizabeth Farnsworth, former chief correspondent for The PBS NewsHour and author of A Train Through Time.

By the end of this decade, 74 million Americans will be over the age of 65, including every member of the Baby Boom generation. The pandemic prompted more Americans to consider caring for their parents at home, but as Iverson learned, the gritty, life-changing reality caregiving delivers requires more than good intentions. He didn’t know that his mom’s dementia would pose more challenges than his Parkinson’s. He didn’t know he’d be capable of getting so angry. He didn’t know that becoming a caregiver means experiencing love and loss, anger and insight—usually when exhausted and often on the same day. And he didn’t know that moving in with his mom would challenge and change him more than any other life experience.

"A deeply moving memoir, Winter Stars is still more than that — it is a guide to finding the help we all need, in one way or another, as life poses new and different challenges," praises Ron Elving, Senior Editor and Correspondent, NPR

For the vast number of families who are confronting —or will soon confront—a caregiving journey, Winter Stars offers an intimate, unvarnished portrait of the challenges, choices, and life lessons that lie ahead.

"Honest, comforting, and true, Winter Stars is a testament to the power of family love," says Ann Packer, best-selling author of The Dive from Clausen’s Pier and Songs Without Words.

The boy has a lot of questions—hard ones about love, honesty, grief and loss, prejudice, forgiveness, why we are here, and more.

Bear's wise answers are always offered with compassion and enthusiasm. The friendship between these two is deep, tender, and sometimes fun. Bear's clear, common-sense philosophy of life is a welcome contrast to the complex world our children face today.

On the beautifully illustrated pages, you will also meet Jay, Raccoon, Badger, Elder Moose, and others who add to the fun and adventure.

Walk with Boy and Bear for a while in the woods and see what you might learn about life, love and other stuff.

This uplifting book will surely become a treasured collection of simple wisdom, inspiring rich, meaningful conversations between adults and children alike.

Recent college graduate Joel Howard, former bench warmer for his small town college team, is optimistic about his future with his out-of-his-league girlfriend and a job prospect with a local insurance agency. But things don’t work out the way he plans when his girlfriend dumps him and he remains stuck at his unfulfilling position at the local shoe store in the mall.

Desperately seeking a change of pace from his father’s unrelenting nagging, Joel hatches a plan to rob the mall’s bank on the night of Black Friday, 1987.

Joel has always been lucky, despite the current string of bad luck. Has his luck run out? Or will it return in time to get him out of trouble?

Lucky Duck is a comedic crime novel perfect if you’re looking for something with the flavor of a John Hughes film from those 80s and 90s tomes like Risky Business or Breakfast Club.

Celine Arceneau was admitted to the hospital for food poisoning and declared medically stable before her physician, Ellen Smythe, left for the evening. When she died the next morning from an unknown cause, Chief Detective Stefan Jablonsky suspects foul play and eyes Dr. Smythe, Dr. Kate Chambers’ friend and mentor, as his prime suspect. Pittsburgh’s amateur sleuth quickly joins the fight to prove her friend’s innocence.

Chief Detective Jablonsky and Kate Chambers have worked together in the past; he finds her and her university friends to be elitist and annoying, but grudgingly effective, and she finds him to be a stodgy, old-school detective, but one who always gets the killer. Jablonsky and Kate must put aside their differences to catch the culprit before the body count rises.

This psychological mystery will hold you captive until the very end. Locked Box is the third book in the Pittsburgh Murder Mystery series: however, each book can be read as a stand-alone or in order of publication.

When Medusa and Tiresias rise from the Underworld as twenty-first-century teens and meet through Persephone and Hades' new dating app, it seems like a second chance. Dating is hard when you turn everyone to stone, but dating a blind prophet may be a loophole … even if he does occasionally spout dire prophecies.

But not everyone is pleased with an app designed to kindle romance between mortal enemies. As distrust grows between the heroes, monsters, and gods making up the app's user base, it’s easier to fall into old habits than fall in love. With pressure building on both sides, Medusa and Tiresias accept their task: kill their date, no matter how much they bond over their love of dogs or the way the gods have wronged them in the past.

Caught amongst meddling gods, murderous heroes, and a classic Greek bet, Medusa and Tiresias may have signed up for more than a dating profile. With war brewing at the hands of the gods, working together may be the only way to save mortals and monsters alike.

Told entirely through instant messages and transcripts, this is one mythically funny romantic comedy you don’t want to miss.

El espíritu de la juventud y la tecnología pueden cambiar el mundo.

Con una tragedia tras otra golpeando su aldea -accidentes, enfermedades- los gemelos Dakuntu y Sakuntu están desesperados por encontrar una forma de ayudar a sus seres queridos. Su pasión por la lectura los conduce a un descubrimiento transformador: internet.

Recién iniciados en el mundo de la tecnología, devoran cada libro que encuentran sobre internet y, más tarde, sobre programación. Entonces tienen una idea brillante. Si logran ponerla en práctica, podrían salvar a toda su aldea y abrir una nueva era para sus amigos y familiares.

"Los guerreros del Código" no es solo una historia sobre ciencia y tecnología llegando a zonas remotas. Es también una historia de amor, compasión y del poder de hacer todo lo posible por quienes amamos.

Daniel Amadi disfruta identificar problemas y usar la programación para resolverlos. A través de sus publicaciones y talleres, busca fomentar la curiosidad por el código e inspirar la creatividad en muchas mentes.

In a kill or be killed world, The Reaper does whatever it takes to survive.

Following the murder of his half-brother, legendary Army Ranger Luke Foster returns to the United States from fighting terrorists. His brother’s history with a prominent New York Mafia family was no secret, so it’s no surprise his life was cut short. But the Mafia enforcers don’t know about Foster, his reputation as The Reaper, or that he’s coming for them.

FBI Special Agent Calico Hayes is determined to stop Luke Foster from leaving a trail of bodies across the U.S. in his unsanctioned quest for vengeance. But stopping Foster’s revenge proves more difficult than she expected, and sparks fly in more ways than one when the two cross paths.

While investigating his brother’s murder, they uncover a sinister plan to assassinate a populist presidential candidate. Hayes and Foster must put purpose before passion in order to stop the diabolical plot that could trigger a World War.

It's 1978, and Jennifer Morgan, a sassy New Yorker, has escaped to the counterculture village of Flanders, Massachusetts. Her peaceful life is disrupted when one of her customers at the Café Galadriel is found dead.  Everyone is a suspect—including the gentle artisan woodworker, the Yeats-wannabe poet, the town's anti-war hero, the peace-loving Episcopalian minister, and the local organic farmer who can hold a grudge.

Concern for her community prompts Jennifer to investigate the murder with the sometimes-reluctant help of Ford McDermott, a young police officer. Little does she know that the solution lies in the hidden past.

Part of the Solution blends snappy dialogue, unconventional settings, and a classic oldies soundtrack, capturing the essence of a traditional whodunnit in a counterculture era. ​

"Music is life. Music is a reflection of who we are as humans. Music tells us things that words can’t, it ignites feelings in us that we didn’t know we had, and it can reach a depth that nothing else can.” —Susan Graham, renowned American mezzo-soprano

Music has existed as long as there have been people to listen. It takes on many forms and is many things, providing entertainment, emotion, storytelling, and most of all, magic for all who hear.

In revealing and genuine interviews, Larry Ruttman converses with world-renowned musicians of the 21st century and engages them in an approachable manner. Dive into the recesses of their minds to discover the influences and inspiration behind classical music and other popular genres such as pop, jazz, folk, Americana, and many other genres impacting today’s musical culture.

Perfect for dedicated fans, determined students, and the casually interested listener to music of all genres, Intimate Conversations: Face to Face with Matchless Musicians is sure to inspire, fascinate, and entertain.

After the Allied D-Day landings in June 1944, Paris was liberated in late August, and the rest of France was freed in the following weeks. However, two pockets of German occupation in Royan and La Rochelle, both cities along the Atlantic coast, remained occupied for several months more.

Blocking access to Bordeaux, the city of Royan would end in martyrdom under a carpet of Allied bombs on January 5, 1945. But the fortress of La Rochelle, with its port, submarine base, and German garrison of 14,000 soldiers guarding the historic city and its 30,000 civilians, would later be delivered intact to Allied forces by its occupier.

By what perilous negotiations were two enemy officers able to avoid disaster in the besieged city? Two men of honor, French Commander Hubert Meyer and German Admiral Ernst Schirlitz, strove to see beyond the war toward reconciliation and the reconstruction of Europe.

Eliza Fox must be smarter than the police and a step ahead of the killer.

When an exchange student is found dead in the music practice rooms of Wexford College, there are few suspects and no clear answers. Martina Noto's parents will fly into California from Rome as soon as they can, but until then the nearest relatives are Martina's cousins: Private Investigator Eliza Fox and her mother, Francesca Noto-Fox.

As detectives Byron Comstock and Jessica Fonseca get familiar with the case, Eliza is determined to help catch Martina's killer. She quickly begins her own investigation and is soon caught up in the twists and turns of finding the murderer, a far cry from her usual work as a paralegal. Often out of her depth, Eliza must overcome her own inexperience and learn to trust her instincts as she fumbles through her first high-stakes case.

Filled with both humor and suspense, this is one traditional mystery novel you don't want to miss.

Leadership is a skill, a mindset, and a way of life. It's time to elevate your own leadership and inspire those around you to be their best.

In Five Simple Truths of Leadership, veteran law enforcement leader and national leadership trainer Dean Crisp shares the five essential lessons that define great leaders:

• Direction – Know where you’re headed before leading others.
• Intentionality – Make deliberate choices that align with your vision.
• Teams – Success is never a solo journey. Build strong teams.
• Standards – Raise the bar for yourself and your organization.
• Getting Ahead of Your Day – Take control of your time and leadership.

Filled with real-world insights, historical case studies, and actionable strategies, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to lead with clarity, purpose, and impact.

Are you ready to become a leader of significance?

Christine Amoroso did everything right to achieve the perfect life. Falling for a sandy-haired surfer and landing pregnant at seventeen, she knew the “right” thing to do. She could have it all, even if in the “wrong” order: beautiful children, a good marriage, and approval from those around her. Until it all fell apart.

Ever the overachiever, she continued to take on too much, finishing college with two kids in tow. But as her responsibility grew, so did her resentment. A stressed-out young mom, an inattentive husband, and the attention of another man made the perfect recipe for disaster. Hard work and responsible decisions had not guaranteed a happy life or lasting love. She had failed, and now she floundered as she tried to find a fresh start. She turned inward for answers rather than seeking external validation.

After a few missteps, she slowly learned her worth couldn’t come from a list of accolades, achievements, or some guy. Her story is an earnest and humorous account of what it’s like to be a modern American woman trying to have it all and the dangers of losing oneself in the process.

Bare Naked in Public is a must-read memoir for burnt-out overachievers seeking answers about their worth while finally forgiving their past.

Korvo, Merin, Bryce, and Tiernan have permission to open a school for Magics in Kaybrum, but the work is only beginning. The right to learn didn’t come with books or teachers or funding, and putting a school where a correctional facility used to be brings its own challenges and trauma.

The more they learn about the Refuge, the more atrocities they discover. When Bryce finds a grave on the property, Korvo is pushed to his limits. Aer is gone, and the man behind it all, the General, is still out there. Craving justice and revenge, Korvo leaves to hunt down the General. Without Korvo to lead the school, Bryce and Merin must step up and care for all the students still grappling with their newly tolerated magic.

As their found family spreads across the continent, they’ll have to learn to be as strong individually as they are together before the progress they’ve made slips away. But the continent has been fighting for years, and all-out-war is one misstep away.

This educational book teaches children facts about gray whales and their ocean home from the perspective of Carrie Newell, the author's dog, Koda, as the narrator. It is based on true stories and experiences she has had with whales and all three of her dogs for decades. Many of the drawings are from photographs or a compilation of photographs with an artistic flair to describe Koda’s story. The book is illustrated by Jack Wiens, who accurately represents marine life and the dogs’ personalities.

The book is fully illustrated in color and includes a glossary and classroom questions and activities at the back of the book. Topics of discussion are:

• Different types of whales
• Whale behaviors
• How whales feed and what they eat
• Identifying the individual whales who live in Depoe Bay, Oregon
• How Carrie trained her dogs to spot and interact with the whales
• Whale encounters

When Celia Patrick arrives at the Bingham Reserve in the North Carolina mountains, something is very wrong. Celia is supposed to be on a much-needed family vacation, but when she hears whispers about a missing woman in the beautiful but treacherous landscape, she can't ignore the pull of the mystery.

Did Pamela Stevens get lost? Was she lying injured on the trail? Or did something more sinister happen? Soon, Celia is mired in the middle of a potential murder investigation, and everyone has something to hide:

The Type-A Resort Manager
The Devastated Husband
The Rest-on-his-Laurels Deputy
The Grizzled Local Water-Sports Guide

With each passing day, the road to unraveling the mysery grows colder and the odds of finding the lost hiker alive diminish. Despite the risk to her family, her sanity, and her safety, Celia refuses to give up the search. She's been down this dark path of obsession in a case before, and this time she is determined to find the missing woman alive.

Part-time sleuth Blanche Murninghan and her love, Emilio Del Sierra, are enjoying a reunion on Santa Maria Island when Emilio gets news that his long-lost aunt and cousin need his help—in Argentina. Posing as tourists, Emilio and Blanche head out to the luxurious pink estancia, La Palma, on the pampa to unravel the plot endangering Emilio's family.

Escapees from World War II are managing La Palma, and they have a lot to hide. Blanche is intent on exposing them. She has help: from Emilio and Tomás with his divina tango partner, Anna de Gamoure, the mysterious and handsome Guillermo de Losada Iglesias, and Lusita, the elusive kitchen maid who knows more than she’s letting on.

Blanche maintains her touristy cover to snare the schemers, but around every corner a new twist threatens to put a stranglehold on her efforts. Blanche must right the wrongs before time can tango away.

Hot Tango in Argentina is the fifth installment in the Blanche Murninghan Mysteries. Known for a lively cast of characters and atmospheric settings, each mystery can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story or read in publication order, starting with Saving Tuna Street.

Beatrix Patterson has faced monsters before, but in a world teetering on the edge of social change, she comes up against her most complicated case yet. In one chaotic morning, her friend has been arrested following a fight during a strike at the railroad, the railroad owner was found murdered, and another close friend admits to being blackmailed.

Amid growing tensions between the Union Pacific Railroad and workers' strikes, Beatrix must go undercover before more people are killed or injured. But as she dives into this investigation, she finds one consistent group at the center.

In order to bring down the racial supremacist group digging its claws into Santa Barbara, California, she must put her intense loathing aside to stop the threat before it can reach Thomas, their baby girl Birdy, and the life they're building. With deadly secrets everywhere she turns, Beatrix has to keep her cards close to her chest if she hopes to escape this case unscathed.

A turbulent telling of one woman’s immersion in her faith, and one man’s journey to acceptance.

Seeking comfort in the isolation of the western landscape, young single mother Pansy Blackwell brings her son Butch to the Siskiyou Mountains. Fully engulfed in the Jehovah’s Witnesses assurances for a soon-to-arrive end of the world, Pansy raises her son to conform to the constrictive requirements of their religion. But as Butch discovers the wonders of the world around him with an endlessly patient and kindhearted rancher, he embraces the cowboy culture and struggles to live as his authentic self.

In the late 20th Century, rural communities in America were often hostile to the rising-awareness of LGBT people, and Butch is soon cast aside by his church for homosexuality. In The Gift, Scott Terry crafts a memorable and historically-accurate tale of religious extremism and the struggle for acceptance, before the truth of those times are swept under the forgotten rug of history.