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Strange, Spooky and Supernatural Curious Tales of Fascinating People, Places and Things [electronic resource] : by Browne, Mike.aut; cloudLibrary;
The creator of the Dark Poutine podcast—and bestselling author of Murder, Madness and Mayhem—is back with a new collection of stories for those who are curious about the paranormal, the mysterious and the unexplained Strange, Spooky and Supernatural is divided into three sections and recounts stories of unusual and enigmatic people, places and things. The first section explores strange people in history, including the death of escape artist and occult debunker Harry Houdini; BC resident Granger Taylor, who left a note saying he was leaving on a spaceship and disappeared; and a man known only as Jerome, who was discovered on a Nova Scotia beach in 1863 and was unable to communicate anything about his past. The second section, about strange places, embarks on a journey around the world, touching down in locations cloaked in mystery and steeped in spine-chilling stories of hauntings, unexplained deaths and lost civilizations. This chapter includes stories about the Borley Rectory, which has been labelled the most haunted house in England; Nahanni National Park in the Northwest Territories, which is referred to by many as “the Valley of Headless Men”; and the unexplained occurrences at Old MacDonald’s Farm in Caledonia Mills, Nova Scotia. In the final section, Browne explores mysterious things including the Van Meter Visitor, an unidentified nocturnal creature that terrorized citizens of the small town of Van Meter, Iowa, in 1903; the Vampire of Highgate Cemetery, an entity that allegedly haunted the famous cemetery in London during the 1970s; and the Philip Experiment, a 1970s-era parapsychological experiment conducted in Toronto. Strange, Spooky and Supernatural includes a foreword by paranormal researcher Morgan Knudsen, who is also a co-host of the podcast Supernatural Circumstances.  
Subjects: Electronic books.; Parapsychology; Unexplained Phenomena;
© 2024., HarperCollins Canada,
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Newsroom confidential : lessons (and worries) from an ink-stained life / by Sullivan, Margaret,1957-author.;
"Over her four decades of working in newsrooms big and small, Margaret Sullivan has become a trusted champion and critic of the American news media. In this bracing memoir, Sullivan traces her life in journalism and how trust in the mainstream press has steadily eroded. Sullivan began her career at the Buffalo News, where she rose from summer intern to editor in chief. In Newsroom Confidential she chronicles her years in the trenches battling sexism and throwing elbows in a highly competitive newsroom. In 2012, Sullivan was appointed the public editor of The New York Times, the first woman to hold that important role. She was in the unique position of acting on behalf of readers to weigh the actions and reporting of the paper's staff, parsing potential lapses in judgment, unethical practices, and thorny journalistic issues. Sullivan recounts how she navigated the paper's controversies, from Hillary Clinton's emails to Elon Musk's accusations of unfairness to the need for greater diversity in the newsroom. In 2016, having served the longest tenure of any public editor, Sullivan left for the Washington Post, where she had a front-row seat to the rise of Donald Trump in American media and politics. With her celebrated mixture of charm, sharp-eyed observation, and nuanced criticism, Sullivan takes us behind the scenes of the nation's most influential news outlets to explore how Americans lost trust in the news and what it will take to regain it"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Sullivan, Margaret, 1957-; New York times; Washington post; Journalism; Women journalists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The CIA book club : the secret mission to win the Cold War with forbidden literature / by English, Charlie,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."For almost five decades after the Second World War, the Iron Curtain divided Europe, standing as the longest and most heavily guarded border on earth. With the risk of nuclear annihilation too high for physical combat, conflict was reserved for the psychological sphere. No one understood this battle of hearts, minds, and intellects more clearly than Bucharest-born George Minden, the head of a covert intelligence operation known as the "CIA books program." This initiative aimed to win the Cold War with literature: to undermine the censorship of the Soviet bloc and inspire revolt by offering different visions of thought and culture to the people. From its Manhattan headquarters, Minden's global CIA "book club" would infiltrate millions of banned titles into the Eastern Bloc, written by a vast and eclectic list of authors. Volumes were smuggled on trucks and aboard yachts, dropped from balloons, and hidden in the luggage of hundreds of thousands of individual travelers. Once inside Soviet bloc, each book would circulate secretly among dozens of like-minded readers, quietly turning them into dissidents. Soon, underground print shops began to reproduce the books, too. By the late 1980s, illicit literature in Poland was so pervasive that the system of communist censorship broke down, and the Iron Curtain soon followed. Former head of international news at the Guardian, Charlie English is the first to uncover this true story of Cold War spy craft, smuggling and secret printing operations, highlighting the work of a handful of extraordinary people who risked their lives to stand up to the intellectual strait-jacket Stalin created. People like Miroslaw Chojecki, an underground Polish publisher who endured beatings, force-feeding and exile in service of this mission and Minden, the CIA's mastermind, who didn't waver in his belief that truth, culture, and diversity of thought could help free the "captive nations" of Eastern Europe. This is a story about the power of the printed word as a means of resistance and liberation. Books, it shows, can set you free"--
Subjects: United States. Central Intelligence Agency; Books and reading; Cold War; Information warfare; Information warfare; Publishers and publishing;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Investing in fixer-uppers : a complete guide to buying low, fixing smart, adding value, and selling (or renting) high / by DeCima, Jay P.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Nobody wants to buy an ugly, decrepit, rundown house-which is exactly why they provide real estate investors with the best bargains! In 'Investing in Fixer-Uppers', nationally known real estate guru Jay DeCima reveals how investors can add thousands of dollars to the value of an "ugly" house". The bestselling guide for beginner real estate investors is back, and better than ever-with more than 40% new material to help you find-and profit from-new opportunities in today's market. When the first edition of the bestselling 'Investing in Fixer-Uppers' came out in 2003, browsing newspaper classified ads was the best way to search for fixer-uppers. Now, updated to reflect modern realities in the drastically changed property market, 'Investing Fixer-Uppers', Revised Edition gives you the most timely, accessible guide to finding great opportunities-and profiting handsomely-in the today's market. Written with the hands-on, real-life expertise of seasoned investor-educators with more than 250 properties between them, 'Investing in Fixer-Uppers' provides an easy-to-follow roadmap for adding value to a rundown house or apartment and profiting tens of thousands of dollars-without waiting for appreciation. In these pages, you'll learn about the power of seller financing, how to create a million-dollar property, how to specialize in the right kinds of properties, and more.
Subjects: House buying.; Real estate investment.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Embrace fearlessly the burning world : essays / by Lopez, Barry Holstun,1945-2020,author.; Solnit, Rebecca,writer of introduction.; Lopez, Barry Holstun,1945-2020.Essays.Selections.;
"This collection represents part of the enduring legacy of Barry Lopez, hailed as a 'national treasure' (Outside) and "one of our finest writers" (Los Angeles Times Book Review) when he died in December 2020. An ardent steward of the land, fearless traveler, and unrivaled observer of nature and culture in all its forms, Lopez lost much of the Oregon property where he had lived for over fifty years when it was consumed by wildfire, likely caused by climate change. Fortunately, some of his papers survived, including four never-before published pieces that are gathered here, along with essays written in the final years of his life; these essays appear now for the first time in book form. Written in his signature observant and vivid prose, these essays offer an autobiography in pieces that a reader can assemble while journeying with Lopez along his many roads. They unspool memories at once personal and political, including tender, sometimes painful stories from Lopez's childhood in New York City and California; reports from the field as he accompanies scientists on expeditions to study animals; travels to Antarctica and some of the most remote places on earth; and to life in his own backyard, adjacent to a wild, racing river. He reflects on those who taught him: the Indigenous elders and scientific mentors who sharpened his eye for the natural world--an eye that, as the reader comes to see, missed nothing. And with striking poignancy and searing candor, he confronts the challenges of his last years as he contends with the knowledge of his mortality, as well as with the dangers the Earth-and all of its people--are facing"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Essays.; Travel writing.; Personal narratives.; Lopez, Barry Holstun, 1945-2020; American essays.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Robert B. Parker's Bye bye baby [sound recording] / by Atkins, Ace,author.; Mantegna, Joe,narrator.; Parker, Robert B.,1932-2010,creator.; Random House Audio Publishing,publisher.;
Read by Joe Mantegna."Boston PI Spenser takes on a new case in this next installment in Robert B. Parker's iconic New York Times bestselling series. Carolina Garcia-Ramirez is a rising star in national politics, taking on the establishment with her progressive agenda. Tough, outspoken, and driven, the young congresswoman has ignited a new conversation in Boston about race, poverty, health care, and the environment. Now facing her second campaign, she finds herself not only fighting a tight primary with an old guard challenger but also contending with numerous death threats coming from hundreds of suspects. When her chief of staff reaches out to Spenser for security and help finding the culprits of what he believes to be the most credible threats, Garcia-Ramirez is less than thrilled. Since her first grassroots run, she's used to the antipathy and intimidation women of color often face when seeking power. To her, it's all noise. But it turns out an FBI agent disagrees, warning Spenser that Garcia-Ramirez might be in real danger this time. It doesn't take long for Spenser to cross paths with an extremist group called The Minutemen, led by a wealthy Harvard grad named Bishop Graves. Although Graves is a social media sensation, pushing an agenda of white supremacy and toxic masculinity, he denies he's behind the attacks. As the primary nears and threats become a deadly plot, it's up to Spenser, Hawk, and a surprise trusted ally to ensure the congresswoman is safe. This is Spenser doing what he does best, living by a personal code and moral compass that can't ever be broken"--
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Detective and mystery fiction.; Spenser (Fictitious character); Private investigators; Women legislators;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Better, not bitter : living on purpose in the pursuit of racial justice / by Salaam, Yusef,1974-author.;
"They didn't know who they had. So begins Yusef Salaam telling his story. No one's life is the sum of the worst things that happened to them, and during Yusef Salaam's seven years of wrongful incarceration as one of the Central Park Five, he grew from child to man, and gained a spiritual perspective on life. Yusef learned that we're all "born on purpose, with a purpose." Despite having confronted the racist heart of America while being "run over by the spiked wheels of injustice," Yusef channeled his energy and pain into something positive, not just for himself but for other marginalized people and communities. Better Not Bitter is the first time that one of the now Exonerated Five is telling his individual story, in his own words. Yusef writes his narrative: growing up Black in central Harlem in the '80s, being raised by a strong, fierce mother and grandmother, his years of incarceration, his reentry, and exoneration. Yusef connects these stories to lessons and principles he learned that gave him the power to survive through the worst of life's experiences. He inspires readers to accept their own path, to understand their own sense of purpose. With his intimate personal insights, Yusef unpacks the systems built and designed for profit and the oppression of Black and Brown people. He inspires readers to channel their fury into action, and through the spiritual, to turn that anger and trauma into a constructive force that lives alongside accountability and mobilizes change. This memoir is an inspiring story that grew out of one of the gravest miscarriages of justice, one that not only speaks to a moment in time or the rage-filled present, but reflects a 400-year history of a nation's inability to be held accountable for its sins. Yusef Salaam's message is vital for our times, a motivating resource for enacting change. Better, Not Bitter has the power to soothe, inspire and transform. It is a galvanizing call to action"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Salaam, Yusef, 1974-; Discrimination in criminal justice administration; False imprisonment; Judicial error; Prisoners;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Through the wilderness : my journey of redemption and healing in the American wild / by Orsted, Brad,author.;
"Award-winning Yellowstone photographer and documentary filmmaker Brad Orsted's seven-year search for refuge and redemption in America's greatest wilderness. When Brad Orsted's fifteen-month-old daughter, Marley, died mysteriously at the home of Brad's mother, he descended into madness. Blaming himself, he plunged into an abyss of grief, guilt, and self-recrimination, fueled by prescription drugs and alcohol. He planned his suicide as his wife, Stacey, searched for a new beginning. She finally found a job in Yellowstone National Park and, with their daughters, Mazzy and Chloe, the pair fled Michigan, looking for refuge and redemption in the 2.2 million acres of glorious American wilderness. Through the Wilderness begins in Yellowstone, five months after the family's arrival in 2012, when, in an alcoholic haze, Brad stumbled into a field of sage and survived a face-to-face encounter with an adult male grizzly bear. For the first time in almost two years, he realized he wanted to live--he just didn't know how. Desperate for help, Brad invited himself to a Crow sweat lodge ceremony, where an elder told him it was time to stop grieving. The elder's words started Brad on a journey towards sobriety and inner peace, only possible because of lessons he learned in the wild, his new job as a wildlife photographer and filmmaker, and two orphan grizzly cubs who carried him back home and taught him how to live again. Brad's ten-year odyssey is about finding the wild inside the human heart. It is a journey of the spirit--a journey to forgiveness and sobriety, to love and life, to memory, and ultimately, to Marley"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Orsted, Brad.; Adventure therapy.; Alcoholics; Grizzly bear.; Parental grief.; Wildlife photographers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The island of extraordinary captives : a painter, a poet, an heiress, and a spy in a World War II British internment camp / by Parkin, Simon,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Following the events of Kristallnacht in 1938, Peter Fleischmann evaded the Gestapo's midnight roundups in Berlin by way of a perilous journey to England via the Kindertransport train. But he could not escape the British police, who came for him in the early hours and shipped him off to Hutchinson Camp on the Isle of Man, under suspicion of being a spy for the very regime he had fled. Peter's story was no isolated incident. During Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s, tens of thousands of German and Austrian Jews escaped and found refuge in Britain. Once war broke out in 1939, the nation turned against them, fearing that Nazis had planted spies posing as refugees. Innocent asylum seekers thus were labeled "enemy aliens" and ultimately sentenced to an indefinite period of internment. When Peter arrived at Hutchinson Camp, he found one of history's most astounding prison populations: renowned professors, composers, journalists, and artists. Together, they created a thriving cultural community, complete with art exhibitions, lectures, musical performances, and poetry readings. The artists welcomed Peter as their pupil and forever changed the course of his life. Meanwhile, suspicions grew that a real spy was hiding among them--one connected to a vivacious heiress from Peter's past. Drawing from unpublished first-person accounts and newly declassified documents from the British government, award-winning journalist Simon Parkin tells the story of this unlikely group of internees. The Island of Extraordinary Captives brings history to life in vivid detail, revealing the hidden truth of Britain's grave wartime mistake and showcasing how hope and creativity can flourish in even the darkest of circumstances"--
Subjects: Midgley, Peter, 1921-1991.; Hutchinson Internment Camp (Douglas, Isle of Man); Germans; Jewish refugees; Noncitizens; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The sisterhood : the secret history of women at the CIA / by Mundy, Liza,1960-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The New York Times bestselling author of Code Girls reveals the untold story of how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age, a sweeping story of a "sisterhood" of women spies spanning three generations who broke the glass ceiling, helped transform spycraft, and tracked down Osama Bin Laden. Upon its creation in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency instantly became one of the most important spy services in the world. Like every male-dominated workplace in Eisenhower America, the growing intelligence agency needed women to type memos, send messages, manipulate expense accounts, and keep secrets. Despite discrimination--even because of it--these clerks and secretaries rose to become some of the shrewdest, toughest operatives the agency employed. Because women were seen as unimportant, they moved unnoticed on the streets of Bonn, Geneva, and Moscow, stealing secrets under the noses of the KGB. Back at headquarters, they built the CIA's critical archives--first by hand, then by computer. These women also battled institutional stereotyping and beat it. Men argued they alone could run spy rings. But the women proved they could be spymasters, too. During the Cold War, women made critical contributions to U.S. intelligence, sometimes as officers, sometimes as unpaid spouses, working together as their numbers grew. The women also made unique sacrifices, giving up marriage, children, even their own lives. They noticed things that the men at the top didn't see. In the final years of the twentieth century, it was a close-knit network of female CIA analysts who warned about the rising threat of Al Qaeda. After the 9/11 attacks, women rushed to join the fight as a new job, "targeter," came to prominence. They showed that painstaking data analysis would be crucial to the post-9/11 national security landscape--an effort that culminated spectacularly in the CIA's successful efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden and, later, Ayman al-Zawahiri. With the same meticulous reporting and storytelling verve that she brought to her New York Times bestseller Code Girls, Liza Mundy has written an indispensable and sweeping history that reveals how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; United States. Central Intelligence Agency; Espionage, American; Intelligence service; Women intelligence officers; Women spies;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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