Bøger udgivet af Andrew Benzie Books

A California couple confronts the tumult of the last half of the 20th Century including the turmoil that was the Civil Rights Movement in Oakland. This is the story of a marriage between Jeb, a dreamer, and Marian, an ingénue who believed all of Hollywood's myths. They struggle to stay together even as they hotly disagree about their future. Their first lesson-the painful and comic reality of trying to start married life in New York City with no money and no skills. Was that bond between them a mistake or the slow development of that strange phenomenon called love? "The gold was there all the time," Jeb said when he talked about California's Gold Rush. "It was waiting for the right moment and the right man to bring it into the world." Marian thought she had found the right man and she wasn't going to be dissuaded.

"Memory freezes the dead in immortal perfection while the living remain to be faulted." Love comes in many guises and for twenty year old Andrea it was the snaring of a dream. After marriage that snare became an obsession which destroyed reality until the players became blind to the truth. Now, a respected pillar of her upscale California community, mother of a college age son she's had little time for, and newly widowed wife of wealthy, successful Robert Greyson, Andrea boards a plane to England. In her suitcase is the box containing her late husband's ashes. She goes to fulfill his last wish; to spread them on his long ago fiancee's grave. When Andrea arrives at the cottage in the remote Yorkshire village where she is to stay she finds it occupied by squatters who take her captive. Through watching their lives from her upstairs window, and night-time escapes onto the surrounding moor, she finds a whole new world. Here she rediscovers the girl she once was and learns the truth about her captors and her marriage.

A group of retired professors from University of Hawaii discover a spherical astrolabe in an attic of a 19th century mansion on Molokai. It had been converted from a device for maritime navigation into a device for navigation through time. Accompanying the astrolabe was a 500-year-old book describing how the astrolabe was converted and what the result was. The professors decided to acquire more of the astrolabes, convert them per the book's instructions, and attempt to travel back to 15th century Mogadishu, Somalia. Trouble was, Chinese Admiral Xheng He's "Treasure Fleet" was in port, and several of the sailors decided to attempt to kidnap the professors and put them to work on the ships.All the professors made it back to the future except one. Horacio Fuente was stranded. He married, raised a daughter, and tasked her with handing the spherical astrolabe to the Great Admiral, Vasco da Gama. But what if the Great Admiral discovers the true function of the device? How will she edit her dad's memoir to describe the astrolabe as nothing more than an ancient marine navigation device? Will her dad's wannabe time-traveling companions find the astrolabe in the future?

In Hell's Playground, author Jil Plummer tells the dramatic story of Private John Davison's experiences during the Vietnam war during one of the worst prison riots in military history. The book also explores the devastating unintended harm done to a young soldier by protesters in his own country. Perhaps we can all be more thoughtful and kinder to each other after reading Hell's Playground and walking in another person's shoes.

Explore the exciting world of miniature die-cast model fire engines-in full color. In this guide author and long-time collector Andrew Benzie presents his collection of over 40 die-cast emergency vehicles produced by Conrad (Germany) between 1979 and 2017. Each model has been individually photographed and is presented in full color. Catalog number, year produced and scale information is provided for each listing, and photos of model boxes and catalogs are also included. This wonderfully designed reference book will appeal to collectors, firefighters and children alike. 43 models, 56 pages, full color

Explore the exciting world of miniature die-cast model fire engines-in full color. In this guide author and long-time collector Andrew Benzie presents his collection of over 200 die-cast emergency vehicles produced by Siku (Germany) between 1964 and 2017. Each model has been individually photographed and is presented in full color. Catalog number, year produced and scale information is provided for each listing, and photos of model fire stations, boxes and catalogs are also included. This wonderfully designed reference book will appeal to collectors, firefighters and children alike. 201 models, 64 pages, full color

Some of Hiscoe's memories of his 1973 hike from Maine to Georgia are funny, some are wistful and romantic, and some unsettling. Taken together, they give a vivid picture of what the iconic Appalachian Trail adventure was like back when the country was falling apart and hiking alone down the mountainous spine of the United States was a most strange thing to do.But this book is more than a simple wilderness tale from the Nixon era. Through a long career in higher education and corporate life, Hiscoe's memories kept sneaking back into his consciousness midway through meetings and PowerPoints. He uses these flashbacks to draw consistently fascinating and hilariously cock-eyed parallels between what he saw in the woods and what he found in the offices and classrooms of America. "No one else has ever made a bad case of backwoods giardia so illuminating." -David G. Allen, Head of the English Department, The Citadel "Sometimes painful, at times euphoric and hilarious, always awash in beauty, Hiscoe's Alice-in-Wonderland world creates an inspiring read for all walkers on the path to anywhere." -Laura Waterman, author of Losing the Garden: The Story of a Marriage "Emerging from a burgeoning pile of mediocre AT memoirs, Hiscoe's story of his 1973 trek is that 'something different' readers long for. Gritty, hilarious, poignant, and authentic. Don't pass this up." -Richard Judy, author of Thru: An Appalachian Trail Love Story

Our news these days is full of wars in which genocide is being inflicted with inhuman savagery on innocent people. With each new headline the name of the previous atrocity fades into the shadows and its victims are forgotten in favor of the new ones. But every horror must be remembered and taught to following generations so that each country's people remain aware and don't let the evil ever happen again. Remember to Remember is set in Cambodia and is the fictionalized true story of Chanbopha, a courageous child who, despite her youth, survives the death march from Phnom Penh and through the Khmer Rouge killing fields. Using her own ingenuity she finds food for her family in the working prison farm in which many starve and few emerge whole. Through all the ugliness, Chanbopha sees glimpses of beauty, and this allows nothing to deter her from fighting for her dream of taking her mother and siblings to a life of freedom.

Lemon Drops: A Bittersweet Memoir traces the journey of author Frances Chin's mother as she travels from China to San Francisco in 1935 as a "picture bride" in an arranged marriage. She had five daughters with the husband she barely knew and rarely saw, thus was left to raise five daughters alone in a strange new land.After the family moved to Oakland, as each of Frances' two older sisters turned 13, they left home to live and work for rich white families as "mother's helpers." When Frances turned 13, she followed in their footsteps. Each time, she stands at the curb in front of her house with all her possessions in a brown paper bag-waiting for her ride to yet another home-and another job. No one is there to say goodbye or to tell her not to go. Frances kept secrets from her mom of growing up as a teenager-until now.Frances has written this book as a tribute to her beloved mother in appreciation for all of her sacrifices and hard work.

Told from the viewpoint of seven women, Plentiful focuses on a young teenager, Christina, who has joined a Christian movement led by the charismatic leader, C.W. After causing social unrest in the city of Falmouth, C.W. organizes a separatist community in the nearby mountains. Poor and needy, Christina falls under the leader's spell, devoting herself to the movement, and becomes the special keeper of his poetry and music. She falls deeper and deeper into an inner world of fantasy and song as the religious community becomes a chaotic cult and the government takes actions to destroy it. In the end, the story of Plentiful speaks to the beauty of spiritual and political ideals, the problems of human desire, and the endless conflict between the powerful and powerless.

Sara Vogel, a student loan-strapped PHD candidate, seeks fulfilling, remunerative work in her chosen field, World History. Her advisor, Professor Skip Kincaid, now in declining health, urges Sara to continue his research on how and why wars are financed, with specific focus on World War II. For personal reasons, Sara initially resists. But when a Think Tank in Geneva offers to fund and publish her dissertation in book form, she relents and accepts their proposal. Arriving in the Swiss Alps at the centuries-old Chateau Rougemont, Sara finds herself remarkably transported back in time to events that occurred there some 75 years earlier. Does she share her parents' clairvoyant traits? How else to explain the appearance of an American pilot -her family's former neighbor - reportedly downed by Nazi gunfire? Or the unforgettable sight of fields being covered by falling "red snow"? Pursuing clues revealed in a chateau servant's diary, Sara unravels an incredible tale involving central bankers, the Bank for International Settlements, and shipments of gold among warring nations, notably to Nazi Germany. Incredibly, those very bankers-at war with one another by day-socialize together on wildflower hikes in Alpine meadows and over games of bridge in the chateau.

But what if there is no home? Historical researcher and novelist, Jon Foyt, has been active in all facets of real estate: from designer, developer, and contractor to lender, borrower, title researcher, broker, and homeowner. Employing his extensive knowledge, experience, and skills, Foyt explores the homeless problem in a fictionalized Bay Area, visualizing a unique solution involving General Santa Anna's Land Grant to the leader of the Mexican War Irish Brigade, the Los Patricios.

Follow the historic 1953 statewide police investigation of polygamy called Operation Seagull as it leads to young Karen Hardy's Utah farm family. Karen is frightened of police following her family and is publicly humiliated when her first period begins during the sacred ceremony for baptizing the dead in the Salt Lake City temple. She finally tells her friend, "I wish I could be just a normal kid living in a normal place out in the world somewhere." Public shame and constant fear cloud her dreams of a life where she won't be punished for the sin of yearning for store-bought clothes, the sin of asking questions, the sin of resisting lies about polygamy, but most alarming, the sin of dodging the leering white haired prophet her family worships as the One Mighty and Strong and who is stalking her as his plural bride to be.

Inspired by life's experiences, Super Stub and Other Short Stories is an eclectic page-turning collection of short stories penned by author Phyllis Fraser. The stories range from truth to fiction, imagination to reality, and fun and fantasy beyond belief.

Two men reflect on what went right and wrong during their long lives in this novel. Socratic dialogue on growing very old. These two men of the Silent Generation might not confront any of the really intriguing issues-from their white maleness to the sex lives of octogenarians-but they do hit the classics: parenthood, accomplishments, and the point of it all. A philosophical tale about two men in old age.

Dushan's dreams had always been unusual-sometimes scary, sometimes exhilarating. But ever since he was seven years old his dreams took on another dimension-it was like he was awake inside them. His mother-who he thought had been killed in the Yugoslavian civil war when he was a baby-was talking to him, telling him she was alive and living with his father-who was supposed to have been lost at sea during a fishing expedition in the North Sea. In each of those dreams, Dushan was unable to respond and tell his parents that he was living with his "adopted" family in California and was best friends with his "stepbrother" Danilo. The two stepbrothers were now teenagers and occasionally popped up in one another's dreams, sharing their impressions after waking up. However, the time for dreaming was past-they were about to embark on a desperate attempt to escape their abusive father, the man who arranged to steal Dushan from his real father and plant the lie that his real parents were dead. Their attempt succeeded on one level, but the consequences were completely unexpected.

Larry Gordon has it all. He's a successful major league pitcher and dating the perfect woman. He'll earn big money in the free agency market at the end of the upcoming season if he plays well during this, his Contract Year. But his girlfriend walks out on him and turns his world upside down. Larry heads off to spring training to forget about her and get ready for the season. He learns quickly that his self-absorbed carefree way of life won't cut it anymore, that he'll have to find a new way to succeed on the mound and in his personal life. Follow Larry's funny and poignant journey, and get a peek inside the world of professional baseball.

Larry is a medical research scientist working to solve a rare kidney disease. He worries that his decades of research will never get to help the patients who need it in this era of underfunded academic medicine. One day, in a particularly boring meeting, Larry decides to feign a midlife crisis and look for a way to more effectively reach patients on his own. It doesn't exactly turn out to be the adventure he expected, as he finds himself on a quest to solve more than just the mystery of a rare disease.

After time in prison, Merle Honeycutt disappeared for years. He emerges from the Black Rock Desert, busted, broken, and carrying illegal Indian artifacts he intends to sell on the black market. Raised near the nuclear testing sites in Southern Nevada, he has been on the run from his past . . . his friends, his mother and father, and especially his beautiful and talented sister, Roe, who has pursued a career in ballet. An unexpected visit with his former Paiute girlfriend and her brother leads to a trail of self-destruction and ultimate self-discovery in Nevada and California. Pieces of Honey speaks to themes common to us all: how family life strangles individuality, how the smallest misunderstandings can lead to lifelong tragedy, and how time heals the deepest wounds.

The travel memoir, Yearnings and Turnings, covers one man's recollections of four noteworthy trips abroad: from California to Europe and the Middle East as a college student in the 1970s; to Nicaragua with a humanitarian organization during the 1980's Contra War; to Latvia and the Baltic to visit and old friend after the fall of the Soviet Union; and, most recently, in 2012, to post-civil war Sri Lanka.

In the year 1500, Portugal and Spain are competitors in the colonization of the New World and the slave trade in West Africa. Father Martim Rodrigo was appalled when he discovered-upon his return to Portugal at the end of his long career as a parish priest in Africa-how widespread slave trading had become.He was even more anxious about what he knew of the future-as described to him by a former parishioner who had travelled back to Father Rodrigo's time from the distant future. But Rodrigo had an idea. He still possessed the broken time machine used by his late parishioner. Could the machine be repaired? Could he convince the three Gambian sisters who worked for him to use the machine and travel back in time to put a stop to the Europeans? Stay tuned!

This memoir is a story of betrayal, and self-discovery. It takes us back to environments where men abused their power over female employees. With wit and courage, and yet with no power of her own, the author manages to weave her way through sticky situations somehow surviving dirty mouth bosses, to those sleeping in her bed and to those favoring S & M bars. She does it with grace, quitting jobs as they became too difficult, and by reaching out to psychics for answers when she feels lost.Along the way, she meets different lovers, has a daughter, and attends law school. But it is not until she begins writing her memoir revealing her long-term love story that she finally discovers a hidden truth about herself-one that she has kept secret from herself. This "ah ha" truth stemming from her childhood helps her understand why it was now time to release that frightened nine-year-old girl from her sacred vow.

OPIOIDS! Are You or Your Loved Ones Impacted by America's Fastest Growing Drug Problem?In the midst of the 'opioid epidemic' Dr. Ann Schiebert's book Let's Make a Contract: Getting Your Teen Past the Opioid Epidemic could not come at a better time. This title expands upon the body of knowledge and techniques from her prior well reviewed and always relevant titles in the Let's Make a Contract series.If you are reading this, you already know that opioids come with distinct danger and consequences. No other book on the market specifically targets the intersection of teenagers and opioids-both of which come with their unique challenges, including: - Balancing pain management and recovery - Maintenance therapies (e.g., Suboxone and Methadone) - Opioid withdrawal - "But, my doctor gave them to me" - Breaking freeFrom brain chemistry to recovery intervention techniques, Dr. Schiebert's book exposes the relevant nuances of opioids and how they impact an individual and those around them.If you are hoping to get on the front of a budding problem or tackle a full-fledged existing problem involving opioids head on, this is the right book for you.BONUS! All contracts in this book are available in electronic form to download, modify, and print.

Dog Love, It''s the Best!Exploring lessons in friendship, love, and courage, this fetching tale demonstrates the resilience of our most loved companions. Readers will be instantly drawn into the plight of Riley and his friends as they do their best to stick together through thick and thin.After being abandoned by the families they loved, this motley crew of canines has sworn off any interaction with humans. That is, until Riley befriends the adorable dogette, Sophie, and her human, Emily. Torn between his friends and the promise of a new, loving home, Riley must ensure a happy ending for everyone. Luckily, he''s up for the challenge.All animal lovers are sure to find DUMPSTER DOGS a hit. Schiebert gives each canine character wonderful insight that''s so well- defined you will feel like you gained a whole new pack of friends!A well written yarn about our canine companions, illustrating their moral superiority over the Homo sapiens who live with them. - MickeyThe Dumpster Dogs is my favorite book. I got treats after listening to my dad read it to me. He didn''t need to bribe me, cuz this is a lickin'' good book even without treats! - HersheyA story to bring tears to eyes and warmth in hearts. This crafty tale entices all readers with a delicate account of the metaphorical wanderings of a lonely and misunderstood canine who eventually finds a family and a home. - Chili 

Granddad’s Garden—Stories of the Natural World, is David George’s debut book, and fits into the current “climate lit” genre. Each chapter of Granddad’s Garden is a complete story, intended for parents and grandparents to enjoy reading to their children and grandchildren. The stories relate adventures that Granddad and his grandson experience while exploring nature together. Jeremy starts as a three-year-old and grows with each new chapter until the age of nine, showing his magical transformation into a mature child.Jeremy becomes more aware of the natural world around him as he grows, and Granddad reveals nature’s most important lessons through modern-day fables. Furry fox kits, owls, turkeys, coyotes, frogs, snakes, and mocking birds encounter challenges and threats as they learn how to survive, and provide comparable lessons for children growing up in today’s world. Granddad’s Garden is a feel-good book for troubling times.

Ex-Navy SEAL Adam Weldon tracks down kidnappers who have the San Francisco Bay Area teetering on the brink of societal collapse. In this wild, white-knuckled ride-much of it via sailboat-Adam teams with an Oakland cop, child hitmen and FBI agent Tripnee to battle a tech billionaire, a faux-spiritual cult, Bay pirates, a brutal cartel-and moral rot extending into the highest reaches of the US government. As this gripping drama unfolds, Adam comes to understand his extraordinary uncle-and himself-as never before. Could his kidnapped Uncle Peace, a cantankerous ex-Zen monk, be a key not only to saving the Bay Area-and America-but also to sparking a civilizing cultural and spiritual renaissance?