Maine humor icon Tim Sample gives us a new collection of short essays and monologues about his growing up and living in Maine and throughout his long entertainment career. His wide range of subjects include things that could happen “Only in Maine,” how his dad invented the SUV, his long friendship with horror master Stephen King, the pitfalls of Maine’s fifth season (mud), and the right way to eat a lobster. Part whimsical anecdote, part hard-won wisdom, these stories are imbued with Sample’s distinct wry Yankee wit.

Rock star, crowdfunding pioneer, and TED speaker Amanda Palmer knows all about asking. Performing as a living statue in a wedding dress, she wordlessly asked thousands of passersby for their dollars. When she became a singer, songwriter, and musician, she was not afraid to ask her audience to support her as she surfed the crowd (and slept on their couches while touring). And when she left her record label to strike out on her own, she asked her fans to support her in making an album, leading to the world's most successful music Kickstarter. Even while Amanda is both celebrated and attacked for her fearlessness in asking for help, she finds that there are important things she cannot ask for-as a musician, as a friend, and as a wife. She learns that she isn't alone in this, that so many people are afraid to ask for help, and it paralyzes their lives and relationships. In this groundbreaking book, she explores these barriers in her own life and in the lives of those around her, and discovers the emotional, philosophical, and practical aspects of The Art of Asking. Part manifesto, part revelation, this is the story of an artist struggling with the new rules of exchange in the twenty-first century, both on and off the Internet. The Art of Asking will inspire readers to rethink their own ideas about asking, giving, art, and love.

795 hymns without music.

#1 New York Times bestselling author John C. Maxwell's latest book will enhance the lives of leaders, professionals, and anyone who wants to achieve success and personal growth. We often treat the word capacity as if it were a natural law of limitation. Unfortunately, most of us are much more comfortable defining what we perceive as off limits rather than what's really possible. Could it be that many of us have failed to expand our potential because we have allowed what we perceive as capacity to define us? What if our limits are not really our limits? In his newest book, John Maxwell identifies 17 core capacities. Some of these are abilities we all already possess, such as energy, creativity and leadership. Others are aspects of our lives controlled by our choices, like our attitudes, character, and intentionality. Maxwell examines each of these capacities, and provides clear and actionable advice on how you can increase your potential in each. He will guide you on how to identify, grow, and apply your critical capacities. Once you've blown the "cap" off your capacities, you'll find yourself more successful -- and fulfilled -- in your daily life.

Frieda Annette Brown grew up in the inner city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She and her five brothers were the illegitimate offspring of Hetty Anna Brown, a wayward and promiscuous soul with a lustful, reckless spirit and a heartless neglect for the welfare of her children. Hetty's willful abandonment left her six children susceptible to the harsh and unforgiving elements and predators of their urban streets. Frieda was seven when her nightmares began. Forced to bear the burdens of numerous aggressors, the child would endure a lonely battle to overcome child abuse, of which most occurred within the families. The climb to overcome the trials and tribulations that plagued her life was unimaginable, as Frieda struggled to maintain belief that a better life was possible, if she could first break free from this dysfunctional environment. Climbing the Broken Stairs, is an inspiring true-life journey of determination, and an inspiring and personal testament to the mercy, power, and glory of God.

There are plenty of mysteries beneath the surface of the novel The Mystery of the Louisville Star: Can the Louisville Star Retain Secrets From Her Watery Grave? There are only two known survivors when the Louisville Star riverboat sinks in a rain storm south of Port Gibson, Mississippi in 1915. One is a riverboat gambler, and the other a six-month-old white baby boy that he rescued. The two wash ashore at a cotton plantation north of Natchez. The orphans' home there rejects the baby on technical grounds. An old black man who lives on the plantation is given the task of caregiver, raising the boy to adulthood. The year is now 1935 and the story shifts to the New Orleans nightclub scene, with its riverboat cruises, jazz music and Creole cuisine. But the city's mood is darkened after eight murders take place. Is it possible The Mystery of the Louisville Star can have a fairytale ending?