Showing results by narrator "Laural Merlington" in All Categories

Everyone makes resolutions - for New Year's, for big birthdays, for new school years. In fact, most of us are so good at resolutions that we make the same ones year after year. They can be life-changing or really quite simple. Here are real stories from real people about their year-round resolutions to do with less. simplify and find new meaning in their lives, improve personal relationships, find more time for what's important, and many more practical, heartwarming, and humorous resolutions.

Civility and society come head to head in Henry James’ seminal work. The heroine of this powerful novel is the spirited young American Isabel Archer. Blessed by nature and fortune, she journeys to Europe to seek her future, but what she finds may prove to be her undoing. She is courted by three men: an English aristocrat, an American gentleman, and a sensitive expatriate. Her invalid cousin becomes her benefactor and adviser.

The smooth faces of boy soldiers stand out in Civil War photography. Yet until now, scholars have largely overlooked the masses of underaged youths who served as musicians, carried wounded from the field, ran messages, took up arms, and died in both the Union and Confederate armies. Of Age is the first comprehensive study of how Americans responded to the unauthorized enlistment of minors in this conflict and the implications that followed.

Thanks to her superstitious mother, Esther knows some tricks for avoiding bad luck: toss salt over your left shoulder, never button your shirt crooked, and avoid black cats. But even luck can't keep her family safe from the Great Depression. When Pa loses his job, Esther's family leaves their comfy Chicago life behind for a farm in Wisconsin. Living on a farm comes with lots of hard work, but that means there are plenty of opportunities for Esther to show her mother how helpful she can be.

Jubilee lives with her beloved aunt Cora and her faithful dog on a beautiful island. Years ago, when her mother left, Jubilee stopped talking. Now she communicates entirely through gestures, taps, and by drawing cartoons, speaking only when she's alone - or with Dog. This year, Jubilee faces a big change - leaving her small, special classroom for a regular fifth grade class. She likes her new teacher, and finds a maybe-friend in a boy named Mason. But Jubilee's wandering feet won't stop until they find her mother.

Bringing together New York Times best-selling authors Jack Canfield, Marci Shimoff, Chris Attwood, and Janet Bray Attwood, along with some of the best and brightest up-and-coming self-help authors of today, Pearls of Wisdom: 30 Inspirational Ideas to Live Your Best Life Now ! offers an eclectic mix of suggestions for transforming your life immediately. Every chapter contains a fresh idea for a positive life change, and each is as diverse as the cast of authors who have come together to create this unique book.

In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Nebraska schoolteacher Audrey Stone wants to support the war effort in any way she can. When her community starts a canteen at the train station, Audrey spends nearly every spare moment there, offering food and kindness to the soldiers passing through. She never expected to fall for a local boy...or face the challenges of budding love in the face of war.

If you look hard enough into the history of anything, you will discover things that seem to be connected but are not. So claims a character in Frederick Reiken's wonderful, surprising novel, which seems, in fact, to be determined to prove just the opposite.

This book continues Chicken Soup for the Soul's focus on inspiration and hope in these difficult times. These inspirational stories remind us that each day holds something to be thankful for - whether it is having the sun shine or having food on the table. Power outages and storms, health scares and illnesses, job woes and financial insecurities, housing challenges and family worries test us all. But there is always a silver lining.

Renowned environmental strategist, speaker, world traveler, and author Paula DiPerna brings a unique voice and optic to demystify and unveil today's most fascinating financial disruption—pricing the priceless to flip conventional ideas of how we value natural assets and why. She asks the provocative question long ignored: Why do we value the indispensable atmosphere at zero, but dispensable production in the trillions? She digs into alternatives, with real-life examples from around the globe of fascinating and pioneering financial innovations.

How does a Norwegian farm girl become an infamous American serial killer, responsible for upward of 40 murders? "Belle" Storset Sorenson Gunness was constantly dealt bad hands in life - so she decided to take life into her own hands.

Alexandra Rafferty works nights for the Miami PD, capturing all the grisly details of crimes scenes on film. She lives with her father, an ex-cop who is slipping into senility, and her louse of a husband, who spends his days dreaming about the perfect crime - and his nights with his mistress. A serial killer is leaving the bodies of young women twisted into strange symbols. Juggling crime photos, Alexandra realizes that the symbols are, in reality, letters of the alphabet -- and that they spell out her name.

Do you love Texas so much that you want to tell your friends and family all about it? We know the feeling! Take them on a tour of the best things about Texas! From Big Bend National Park, to the Texas State Fair, to the Dallas Farmers Market, to the Alamo, all audiences will learn fun facts showing them how much they, too, will love Texas!

From bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick comes this relational story about a close-knit group of five women and their pursuit of life goals. You’ll be encouraged and entertained!In the tradition of Neta Jackson’s Yada Yada Prayer Group series, Kirkpatrick invites you into the lives of five...

Rebecca Morland had a rosy future. She and her husband, Ryan, were making plans to start a family; he was a partner at a prestigious LA law firm; and her own work, at a city legal clinic, was very satisfying. Then one night at a party, on a yacht owned by a wealthy and politically ambitious businessman, Ryan vanishes. And Rebecca's life is turned irrevocably upside down.

From the award-winning author of A Watershed Year comes a heartrending story of unlikely bonds made under dire straits. Holly is a young widow with two kids living in a ramshackle house in the same small town where she grew up wealthy. Now barely able to make ends meet editing the town's struggling newspaper, she manages to stay afloat with help from her family. Then her mother suffers a stroke, and Holly's world begins to completely fall apart.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Resolution gives you great stories with practical ideas for today's times – for your mind, your body, and your wallet! Everyone makes resolutions – for New Year’s, for big birthdays, for new school years. In fact, most of us are so good at resolutions that we make the same ones year after year. They can be life-changing or really quite simple. Listen to real stories from real people about their year-round resolutions.

The Fernalds, who now always share the holidays together, decide to try to reunite their community, as well, by reopening the village church after schisms have shut its doors. First published in 1910, this short tale continues the story of the Fernald family that began with the 1908 short novel On Christmas Day in the Morning.

These treasured stories from the most influential authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries are selected for their literary importance as well as their dramatic, oral qualities. Listen to these 10 unabridged classics by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, O. Henry, and Willa Cather.

In a period of just three days, everything changes for young painter Eduardo “Tato” Simmone, who has never sold a painting. During the funeral of Tato’s renowned and beloved mentor, Aníbal Marsotti, Tato meets two people who will determine his fate: a beautiful young woman who may be a vampire and a major dealer of art forgeries. Tato gets caught up investigating the theft of famed Italian figurative painter Amadeo Modigliani’s tombstone, and all signs point to Curitiba, Brazil - Tato’s hometown.