"Jessa Crispin melds personal narrative with history and current events to explore the dark side of Kansas, where she grew up. She meditates on why the American Midwest still enjoys an esteemed position in the US's imagination about itself, why its foundational myths are the myths of what it means to be "American." And while we may romanticize aspects of Midwestern life-the nuclear family, the pioneering attitude, the small town friendliness-the realities, she argues, are harsher: so-called Midwestern values cover up a long history of oppression and control over Native Americans, over women, over the economically disadvantaged. Her subjects range from The Wizard of Oz to the White race, from chastity to rape, from radical militias and recent terrorist plots to Utopian communities; from the murders of the Clutter family made famous in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, to her own horror when a beloved art teacher inexplicably one night slaughtered his wife and three daughters and killed himself. Her pursuit takes her back to the Civil War, John Brown, and the immigration of German religious communities to the Midwest; she then ferries across the Atlantic Ocean to Amsterdam to visit a lay seminary for women where, since the Reformation, they have found sanctuary from violence and domestic abuse. Yet, despite the darkness, which is Crispin's stock in trade, there is a kind of bleak redemption at the heart of this project, the insight that, no matter where you go, no matter how far from home you roam, the place you came from is always with you, "like it or not.""--

Manny is on a mission: Make the tundra as safe as possible before baby mammoth is born. With frozen danger everywhere they look, Manny, Sid, and Diego have quite a job to do! Can these future father figures baby-proof nature in time?

As a closeted teen, Ian wondered if he would ever fall in love or be able to live openly with a male partner. Years later, he had not one but two partners in a polyamorous throuple, and the support of family, friends, and coworkers. But something was still missing. Spurred by a friend’s donation of two embryos, Ian, Alan, and Jeremy embarked on a sometimes hilarious, sometimes tearful quest to become parents. Along the way, they faced IVF failures, the threat of Zika virus, a battle at their clinic that forced them into an urgent hunt for a new doctor, pregnancy-threatening bleeds, costly legal battles, and a reluctant superior court judge. Ultimately the grace of women—embryo donors, their egg donor, their surrogate, even a surprise milk donor—allowed them to complete their family with one perfect girl. And in fighting for their family, they became the first polyamorous family ever named as the legal parents of a child.

It was just supposed to be a few quiet days with Khazak's parents... David has been living in the orc city of V'rok'sh Tah'lj for a couple of months now, and things have been going pretty well. But when his owner, Khazak, is called away on official business, he gets stuck with the man's fathers as babysitters. He's expecting a few quiet days of boredom, but he learns shortly after he arrives that these three orcs have plans for him of their own. Will David be able to handle all the challenges they throw at him, or will Khazak return to find that he just couldn't cut it? A fun and steamy side-story in the Steel & Thunder universe! Set in the same time period as Storms & Sacrifice, follow David as he tries to navigate life among the orcs without Khazak by his side, and learns all about some of the city's unspoken traditions firsthand. This story contains explicit depictions gay/male-on-male sex, including elements of BDSM, group sex, and concerns over loyalty, all wrapped up with a fun twist!

*Named a Distinguished Favorite in the LGBTQ Fiction Category of the 2021 NYC Big Book Awards!* An orc will take a human into his arms! When David went exploring with his friends, he figured they might come across some old ruins or maybe even fight a few monsters. He never expected that he'd wind up captured by an orc and turned into his pet; he expected even less that he'd actually like it! It all started when he was sitting in a jail cell, so desperate to escape that he agreed to trial by combat: The Ritual of Steel & Thunder. He opens the fight strong, but when his competitor manages to overpower him, things start to heat up and he realizes he may have signed on for more than he bargained for. Captain Khazak Ironstorm is the orc ranger responsible for David's arres—and after defeating him in combat, his new owner. Initially amused by his slave's antics, something deeper begins to grow between them—something dark that draws Khazak in as much as it troubles him. More confounding than that are the feats of agility and speed his new pet seems able to perform as if they were nothing. What he does know is that if there is anyone capable of taming this barbaric human's behavior, it's him. A tale of romance mixed with some humor, adventure, and a heaping helping of kink. Read all about the journey of David and Khazak as they learn to understand each other and uncover the mysteries of the magical world around them. Readers who love kink, BDSM, Dom/sub, and other elements of gay/male-on-male romance will love what this story has to offer.

Describes the various activities of fathers at home and away.

A child describes the many wonderful things about "my dad, " who can jump over the moon, swim like a fish, and be as warm as toast.

Guides prospective fathers in parenting from pregnancy to the third year, providing advice for practical and emotional challenges, pinpointing developmental milestones, and detailing the role of a father in a child's life.

'Truly heroic' Daniel Craig 'A completely brilliant thing, to benefit so many' Nicole Kidman 'Powerful and deeply moving' Andy Burnham 'An epic journey . . . will touch the hearts of people everywhere' Lou Macari *Foreword from Dan Walker* 'We were (and are) three ordinary dads who found ourselves in a desperate place we never expected to be, engulfed by pain and suffering beyond imagining, but who chose to push back, to not allow it to overwhelm us, to build something positive from the shattered pieces of our lives. We wanted to do something ... and this is what it became: Three Dads Walking.' These three dads would rather have never met. Strangers bound by grief, they joined together to save lives and became a national inspiration - one step at a time. This is their incredible journey. In memory of their young daughters - Sophie, Beth and Emily - who took their own lives, three dads set out on a 300-mile journey across the country, from the windswept Lakeland fells and Peak District dales to the open plains of the eastern Fens. Putting one foot in front of the other in spite of their pain, they capture the hearts of millions: laughing together, crying together, fighting to be heard. With each hill climbed and story shared, they begin to rediscover their faith in humanity and are inspired by the kindness of strangers across the land. Woven around personal diary entries and their own experiences of deep grief, this book, told in three distinct parts by each dad, grows into a beacon of hope for anyone struggling. Itʼs about the power of speaking out, of friendship, laughter and courage (and blisters). The three dads bear a heavy load, but they walk on for us all, finding light on the path after the darkest times. 'Awe-inspiring' Carol Vorderman

A middle-aged man resigns from his steady job, packs up his family and goes in search of a new, more relaxed life on a South Pacific island. This is a thoughtful, fanciful, moving tale, peopled with island aunties, cowboy cousins, ex-drug addict musicians, honest-to-goodness royalty, a seven-foot tall Voodoo-priest-handyman and a microbiologist.