A Message from Mike Rowe, the Dirty Jobs Guy: Just to be clear, About My Mother is a book about my grandmother, written by my mother. That’s not to say it’s not about my mother—it is. In fact, About My Mother is as much about my mother as it is about my grandmother. In that sense, it’s really a book about “mothers.” …It is not, however, a book written by me. True, I did write the foreword. But it doesn’t mean I’ve written a book about my mother. I haven’t. Nor does it mean my mother’s book is about her son. It isn’t. It’s about my grandmother. And my mother. Just to be clear.—Mike A love letter to mothers everywhere, About My Mother will make you laugh and cry—and see yourself in its reflection. Peggy Rowe’s story of growing up as the daughter of Thelma Knobel is filled with warmth and humor. But Thelma could be your mother—there’s a Thelma in everyone’s life. She’s the person taking charge—the one who knows instinctively how things should be. Today, Thelma would be described as an alpha personality, but while growing up, her daughter Peggy saw her as a dictator—albeit a benevolent, loving one. They clashed from the beginning—Peggy, the horse-crazy tomboy, and Thelma, the genteel-yet-still-controlling mother, committed to raising two refined, ladylike daughters. Good luck. When major league baseball came to town in the early 1950s and turned sophisticated Thelma into a crazed Baltimore Orioles groupie, nobody was more surprised and embarrassed than Peggy. Life became a series of compromises—Thelma tolerating a daughter who pitched manure and galloped the countryside, while Peggy learned to tolerate the whacky Orioles fan who threw her underwear at the television, shouted insults at umpires, and lived by the orange-and-black schedule taped to the refrigerator door. Sometimes it takes a little distance to appreciate the people we love.

Speculative fiction collection offering 14 short stories by Australian and New Zealand authors: Stephen Dedman, Dirk Flinthart, Dave Freer, Michelle Goldsmith, Alex Isle, Lyn McConchie, Claire McKenna, Charlotte Nash, Ian Nichols, Leife Shallcross, Grant Stone, Douglas A Van Belle, Janeen Webb, M Darusha Wehm

This story opens in the early nineteen sixties, at a fictional isolated Catholic Convent somewhere in North Wales. As the story gently unfolds, the main characters honestly start to consider the foundations, and tribal marking of organised religion, especially of their own. (Devout Christians will find this book to be a very challenging read.) Calmly they each discard their belief that Christ was the only Son of God. Christ's message however; 'love Thy neighbour as Thyself' is happily acknowledged as the only way of ensuring the continuing survival of the Human Race. Weaving around this main theme are several honest, if rather robust, love stories. At appropriate points, the debilitating effect of loneliness is sympathetically portrayed, and arguments against committing suicide are also presented. Kirkus reviews: - An engaging tale. The story is strong and the erotica is nicely balanced by the humanity of the characters

"Peggy's Giant" describes the adventures of a young girl, Peggy, and her giant friend. The story is filled with beautiful experiences and focuses on the desires and trials of a little girl. This book shows the possibility that exists in the power of belief. Her regular day turned into the moment of a lifetime when she heard the voice of a giant.

He took out his pistol from its holster and without warning shot Sean twice in the stomach. Sean could feel his life draining out of him. Zamatev walked towards Sean. He took another drink from the bottle. When it was empty, he threw it into the dense bush. ‘This one is for blowing up my base Sergeant,’ he said and shot Sean again. Sean didn’t feel the bullet; his whole body was so numb that it didn’t signal any pain in his brain. ‘You see Sergeant, I know that it was you and your pig brother who was responsible for demolishing my base, only now I’m the one who is doing the demolishing.’ Zamatev got so carried away that he kept on squeezing the trigger. Mercifully Sean was dead before the clip was empty.

The weather forecasters said the snowstorm would miss the eastern seaboard. They were wrong. When Ally Henderson’s flight from Southern California to New York City for Christmas gets diverted to the tiny Midwestern town of Bethlehem, she’s desperate to get back in the air and back to the Big Apple. But with all the airports closed, she’s forced to rely on Midwestern hospitality to wait out the storm. And she soon learns that she has a storm of her own to weather. One that could shatter her life. Living with a kind stranger is one way to spend a snowed-in Christmas, but when she meets the local diner owner, Jake, sparks fly. Only, Ally’s a big-city girl with big-city dreams, and Jake will always be a Bethlehem boy.