ABOUT THE BOOK “Growing up was easy. It required no thought or effort on my part. It was going to happen anyway. So what follows isn’t terribly eventful, I’m afraid. And yet it was by a very large margin the most fearful, thrilling, interesting, instructive, eye-popping, lustful, eager, troubled, untroubled, confused, serene, and unnerving time of my life.” So begins “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid,” which was published in 2006. It was a departure from Bill Bryson’s earlier books. His previous work, “A Short History of Nearly Everything,” a book about science written for the average Joe, had taken a lot out of him and he wanted to work on something easier. Bryson told the Guardian: “I promised my wife I would do a book I could stay at home to do ... and I promised my publisher that I would do something more amusing that would corral back the core of my readership, some of whom doubtless were slightly appalled and alienated by A Short History. And also, purely in a selfish way, I wanted to do a book that I wouldn't have to do a lot of hard thinking and research about. I did miss writing humorous things.” MEET THE AUTHOR Becki Chiasson is a Baltimore-based writer who received her BS in Mass Communications from Towson University. Although she spent some time in New York as a crossword puzzle editor, she returned to her hometown in Maryland in 2010 to focus on writing. Her favorite topics include video games and women's issues. When she's not busy writing up a storm, she crochets, plays video games, and bakes. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid” centers on Bryson’s life as a young child in Des Moines, Iowa during the 1950s and follows Bryson through puberty. The plot is less of a structured narrative and more of a series of loosely related, humorous anecdotes about growing up during happier, simpler times. A central conceit to the book is the idea that Bryson was the Thunderbolt Kid, a superhero who could make his enemies (usually people Bryson deemed to be morons) disappear in a flash of light by casting a withering stare at them. This superpower is presented in all seriousness, although it is rather doubtful that it ever happened. The first time Bryson used his superpower, he was six years old. He was at a diner with his mother and discovered to his great chagrin that the ancient-looking man next to him had been drinking out of Bryson’s water glass. Worse still, the man had been eating poached eggs, which Bryson positively despised. Bryson freaked out, gagging, and the man only laughed, having no remorse at all. When he turned to leave, “as he reached out to open the door, bolts of electricity flew from my wildly dilated eyes and played over his body. He shimmered for an instant, contorted in a brief, silent rictus of agony, and was gone. It was the birth of ThunderVision. The world had just become a dangerous place for morons.” Buy a copy to keep reading!

ABOUT THE BOOK Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island is a quirky, funny book filled with amazing and intriguing details about Britain. I love this book, just as I love all of Bryson’s writing. It reminds me of the first book I read by him – A Walk in the Woods – because it, too, is a travel story that has him ambling around the countryside and reporting his observations. In fact, he has such a likable voice and an engaging manner that he could walk around the block and still make it fun to read. That’s the wonderful thing about Bryson, and it’s why I love him. He has a wry sense of humor that makes anything interesting, funny, and endearing, and this book about Britain is no exception. You’ll read it and laugh, and at the same time you’ll learn a lot about this country, its history, its politics, and its people. You’ll also learn a lot about Bryson himself, and that’s enjoyable, as well. The thing about Bryson is that he sees everything through the lens of his own perspective, but that personal perspective never obscures the subject that he’s looking at. The more you learn about him, the more you understand his take on his subject matter. That is exactly what happens in Notes from a Small Island. MEET THE AUTHOR professional writer Vivian Wagner has wide-ranging interests, from technology and business to music and motorcycles. She writes features regularly for ECT News Network, and her work has also appeared in American Profile, Entrepreneur, Bluegrass Unlimited, and many other publications. She is also the author of Fiddle: One Woman, Four Strings, and 8,000 Miles of Music (Citadel 2010). For more about her, visit her website at www.vivianwagner.net. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Notes from a Small Island was published in 1997 as a kind of love story about the country Bryson was getting ready to leave. It’s told as a travel narrative, and in order to write it as such, he travels around the country as a tourist, trying to see it with fresh eyes after having lived there for a number of years as a resident. The book opens with him arriving in England via Calais, just as he arrived years before, and it continues by following him on his journey through the country. As Publisher’s Weekly says in a review of the book, “his trenchant, witty and detailed observations of life in a variety of towns and villages will delight Anglophiles. Traveling only on public transportation and hiking whenever possible, Bryson wandered along the coast through Bournemouth and neighboring villages that reinforced his image of Britons as a people who rarely complain and are delighted by such small pleasures as a good tea. In Liverpool, the author's favorite English city, he visited the Merseyside Maritime Museum to experience its past as a great port. Interweaving descriptions of landscapes and everyday encounters with shopkeepers, pub customers and fellow travelers, Bryson shares what he loves best about the idiosyncrasies of everyday English life in this immensely entertaining travel memoir.” Buy a copy to keep reading!

A vivid, nostalgic, and humorous memoir about Bill Bryson, who was born in the middle of the American century--1951--in the middle of the United States--Des Moines, Iowa--in the middle of the largest generation in American history--the baby boomers. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with a tee shirt that identified him as "The Thunderbolt Kid". Using his old fantasy-life persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson recreates the life of his family in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Isometrics is a form of exercise that involves using any unyielding object and pushing against it with all your might from different positions to tone and strengthen different groups of muscles. It was popular in the 1950s, but my father was a sportswriter for The Des Moines Register, and so he would do isometrics on airplanes to travel to Major League cities. #2 In the 1950s, America was the richest country in the world. The Czekalinski family of Cleveland, Ohio, was shown in a magazine two weeks before my birth, surrounded by the two and a half tons of food that a typical blue-collar family ate in a year. #3 People were happy because they could have things they had never dreamed of having. They looked forward to the future, and many were excited about the small enrichments available right now. #4 My father, who was a sports columnist for the Des Moines Register, would go to the World Series every year for nearly forty years, from 1945 until his retirement. It was the high point of his working year. He would witness many memorable moments of baseball history, and he always seemed to be there when something significant occurred.

"Mommy," said Lucy. "Can I have a hug before I go to bed?" When Mommy jokes that she only has one hug left, Lucy decides she must keep Mommy's last hug safe. As Lucy shares the hug with everyone in her large and loving family, she is always careful to get it back . . . until the canine member of the family refuses to play along! Highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling picture-book creators Nick Bland and Freya Blackwood collaborate for the first time on this charming story, which celebrates the imaginative powers of children and the extraordinary love to be found in ordinary bedtime routines.

ABOUT THE BOOK The first time I read a Bill Bryson book, I was not expecting much at all. For many years my family shared a rustic cottage on a lake with all the other members of my mother's family. Entertainment on nice days usually involved swimming, swimming, more swimming, and the occasional nap. On gray days, we read. Over the years four generations of the family left behind a muddled collection of books. When I read through the books I had brought with me, I'd grab whatever my relations had left behind. That's how I first encountered Bill Bryson. I found a well-worn, tattered copy of A Walk in the Woods, left behind by a relative. I picked it up with uncertainty, not sure I was completely interested in a stranger's account of a summer spent hiking the Appalachian Trail. As for a stranger who told that story while trying to be funny? I suspended my disbelief. But, Bryson really was funny. So funny that when I returned home I promptly ordered a copy and made my husband read it. After finishing it, he went out and got still more Bryson books. They were funny, too. That's the first thing that should be said about Bryson, and about Notes from a Big Land: It's a funny book written by a man who has a mastery of funny. MEET THE AUTHOR Peg Robinson holds a BA in Religious Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and has partially completed an MA/PhD in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She holds a certificate in copy editing from Media Bistro. Her publishing career started in 1998, on winning a place in Simon and Schuster's Star Trek: Strange New Worlds competition. Her novelette "Tonino and the Incubus" qualified for the 2007 Nebula Awards. She has worked as a content provider, copy writer, informational writer, copy editor, and developmental editor. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Notes from a Big Country is the British version of a book published in the United States under the title I'm a Stranger Here, Myself. Both books are compiled of essays written for the British publication, Mail on Sunday's Night and Day, edited by Simon Kelner, a friend and associate of Bryson's. There are extensive differences between the two books. Notes from a Big Country contains a full 78 essays; I'm a Stranger Here, Myself contains only 70. Editorial adjustments were made to take the language and assumptions of each nation into account. An extensive comparison of the two volumes can be found from the Department of Translation Studies, at the University of Tanjere. The linguistic analysis may not interest everyone, but it provides a fairly extensive overview of the changes made in adapting the book for two distinct audiences. There is no question to an American reader that Notes from a Big Country was written for an English audience. While Bryson is on record as considering his identity in England that of an outsider it's impossible to read the essay chapters without realising how deeply Bryson has adapted to English culture. It's equally impossible to miss how profoundly he felt the culture-shock on returning to the United States. Buy a copy to keep reading! CHAPTER OUTLINE Quicklet on Bill Bryson's Notes from a Big Country Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Big Country + Introduction + Biographical Information + Overview: Notes from a Big Country + Material and Tone + ...and much more

In the middle of the night, Sam is woken by angry voices from the apartment above. He goes to the window to see what's happening - only to hear a struggle, and see a body fall from the sixth-floor balcony. Pushed, Sam thinks. Sam goes to wake his father, Harry, a crime reporter, but Harry is gone. And when Sam goes downstairs, the body is gone, too. But someone has seen Sam, and knows what he's witnessed. The next twenty-four hours could be his last.

The story of the friendship between Moses the storyteller, and Lily, a young girl with leukemia.

From earliest childhood Idjhil knew that he was destined to be a leader of his people. As his father and grandfather taught him traditional hunting skills, he savored the joys and challenges of living a Nyungar way of life in the bush that was his home. Secure and content, Idjhil was unaware that his life was about to change forever. Idjhil is the moving story of a Western Australian Aboriginal boy who, at the age of nine, is taken from his family in accordance with the official government policy of the time. Although written as fiction, it is based on the memories and experiences of people still alive today. It won a Western Australian Premier's Book Award in 1996.

Isabella and her friends are nervous about what they'll find in the New City. It's inland and it's dry - far from the flooded city they've just left. Will their lives here be as luxurious and carefree as Xavier says? In fact, bleak, uncertain times have brought darkness and danger to New City. The city has been divided in two- the citizens who have, and those who the ruling Major General says have come to steal from them - the refugees who have fled the rising waters, who are imprisoned in a camp on the edge of the city. The kids of Grimsdon once faced sea monsters and evil harbour lords, but now they face new threats. From freakish weather events that whip up with little warning to the fierce misinformation that swirls around the city to the theft of their freedom, now they face the prison-like restrictions and control of the New City. Unlike the refugees, they're heralded as heroes. But what does the Major General really want from them?