Saving My Assassin

Hadfield, Chris

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me about Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything

Travel to space and back with astronaut Chris Hadfield's "enthralling" bestseller as your eye-opening guide (Slate). Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield's success-and survival-is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst- and enjoy every moment of it. In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement -- and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff. You ...

Richie Fitzgerald (Author)

Cold-Water Eden

An immersive memoir about a groundbreaking surfing career, and a stunning portrait of Ireland as one of the world's most captivating big-wave surfing destinations.Born and raised in Bundoran, with the waves of the west coast of Ireland breaking at his doorstep, Richie Fitzgerald was moulded by his environment - from his initiation to surfing at the age of 9 in the cold Atlantic water to becoming Ireland's first ever pro surfer and competing on a global scale.But learning to surf in 1980s Ireland wasn't without its challenges. With little to no equipment, Richie duct-taped Marigolds over woollen gloves to protect his hands from the freezing water and even melted Christening candles to pour on his board in place of surf wax.Yet the west of Ireland boasts waves of size and quality to rival those in California and Hawaii, attracting surfers from all over the world who want to test their mettle, and Richie has surfed the biggest, and most dangerous, of them. Cold-Water Eden is not just a captivating memoir about a transcendent sport: it is at its heart a coming-of-age story about one man's pursuit of big waves and the dawn of Ireland as a singular destination on the global surf scene. ...

Toni Maguire

Don't Tell Mummy: A True Story of the Ultimate Betrayal

This heart-wrenching memoir from Toni Maguire tells the deeply moving story of an idyllic childhood that masked a terrible truth. Underneath her mother's gentility and her father's roguish charm lay horrifying secrets, which eventually led to their only child's near destruction.The first time her father made an improper advance on Toni, she was six years old. Her father warned her not to tell her mother, or anyone else, because they would blame her and wouldn't love her any more. It had to remain 'our secret.'When she finally built up the courage to tell her mother what had happened, she was told never to speak of the matter again. With no one to turn to, isolated and alone in rural Ireland, the abuse continued unhindered.At fourteen Toni fell pregnant by her father, and when her state was discovered she was made to have a late abortion which almost killed her. The truth of her childhood could no longer be kept hidden but, just as her father predicted, Toni found herself judged and rejected by her family, teachers and friends. The blame and anger she was treated with only worsened when her father was sent to prison as a result of his actions. This is the compelling story of her ...