万本电子书0元读

万本电子书0元读

David and Me: My path to solo motherhood
David and Me: My path to solo motherhood
Esther Robinson
¥11.77
“This is the very beginning of the story of my life with my son. In some ways it is an unconventional one; a tale of choosing solo motherhood, with all its painful and joyful twists and turns. But at its heart it simply recounts a mother’s love for her child; a love that has been replicated throughout time all over the world.” The true story of Esther, who, at the age of 42, found herself single yet longing to be a mother. Flying in the face of the advice and scaremongering from the media, she made the brave decision to go it alone. Initially, the path was smooth, and Esther received nothing but encouragement and support from family and friends. But, as she ventured further down the path towards solo motherhood, Esther began to run up against bureaucracy, crushing negativity, obstructions and, occasionally, in amongst the care and compassion of doctors, nurses, embryologists and sonographers, bewildering incompetence. From IUI to IVF, dramatic hormonal fluctuations creating frustration and exhaustion, and a devastating blow, through to the joy of motherhood at last, Esther’s story is both moving and life-affirming.
Laugh or You’ll Cry
Laugh or You’ll Cry
Sue Askins
¥11.77
For most mothers, keeping up with the washing, the mess and the irrepressible energy of two young boys is a challenge in itself. But when Sue Askin’s eldest son was diagnosed with autism, only to be followed by her own diagnosis of MS the next year, the challenge became ever so slightly harder… Told in her own upbeat words, this is the heart-warming and funny account of one woman’s determination to do the best for her child, whilst learning to cope with her own diagnosis without any fuss. Packed with funny anecdotes and familiar challenges to which all families will relate, you’ll be uplifted and inspired as much as you’ll be smiling.
I Blame The Hormones
I Blame The Hormones
Caroline Church
¥9.71
I Blame the Hormones follows the story of one woman battling long-term depression, her determination to root out the cause, and her ultimate discovery which freed her from its prison. Caroline Church suffered from a depression so chronic she experienced hallucinations, delusions and even suicidal inclinations. Yet through exploring the correlation between her depressive episodes and the basic elements of female nature, over many years she discovered that what she thought was a mental disorder was actually due to a hormonal imbalance. And the best bit? She learnt what she could do and take to control it. Shocking, vivid, and a must read for women, their partners and healthcare professionals alike, I Blame the Hormones is the uplifting memoir of Caroline’s journey to pull herself through despite all the odds.
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian
Sean Smith
¥58.86
Bestselling biographer Sean Smith takes on the world’s number one reality star, Kim Kardashian West. This is the ultimate insight into the reality behind the woman who has defined fame in our modern culture – her childhood, her family, her turbulent love life and the multi-millionaire lifestyle. Kim Kardashian West is a thoroughly modern woman. She enjoyed a privileged upbringing in a Beverley Hills mansion and, ironically, her childhood ambition was to appear in the long-running US reality series Real World. Instead she became the star of Keeping Up With the Kardashians while her own life story read like an X rated version of Dynasty…murder, elopement, domestic violence, sex tape, quickie divorce, churchgoing and impossibly glamorous designer dresses. Now married to one of the biggest stars on the planet, Kanye West, she has begun her own dynasty with the birth of daughter, North, and her son, Saint. In a world that follows her every move, Sean Smith uncovers what it took to get her to the top and how she intends to stay there. From her Armenian heritage and devotion to her family to the fabulous fashions and a body to die for, this is the truth behind the undisputed Queen of celebrity – the real story.
Two More Sleeps
Two More Sleeps
Rosie Lewis
¥9.71
This is the heart-breaking tale of Angell, a young girl desperately loved but inadequately cared for by her troubled mother Nicki. Abandoned and left barely clothed beneath a park bench on a freezing cold day in winter, the bewildered child is rescued by police and passed into the loving and compassionate care of the Lewis family. But when foster carer Rosie takes Angell into her home and heart, she wonders whether Angell’s mother will ever return for her daughter? Or will Angell be destined to spend the rest of her childhood in care?
Coming Back To Me: The Autobiography of Marcus Trescothick
Coming Back To Me: The Autobiography of Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick
¥72.40
A true-life sporting memoir of one of the best batsman in the game who stunned the cricket world when he prematurely ended his own England career. Trescothick’s brave and soul-baring account of his mental frailties opens the way to a better understanding of the unique pressures experienced by modern-day professional sportsmen. At 29, Marcus Trescothick was widely regarded as one of the batting greats. With more than 5,000 Test runs to his name and a 2005 Ashes hero, some were predicting this gentle West Country cricket nut might even surpass Graham Gooch's record to become England's highest ever Test run scorer. But the next time Trescothick hit the headlines it was for reasons no one but a handful of close friends and colleagues could have foreseen. On Saturday 25 February 2006, four days before leading England into the first Test against India in place of the injured captain Vaughan, Trescothick was out for 32 in the second innings of the final warm-up match. As he walked from the field he fought to calm the emotional storm that was raging inside him, at least to hide it from prying eyes. In the dressing room he broke down in tears, overwhelmed by a blur of anguish, uncertainty and sadness he had been keeping at bay for longer than he knew. Within hours England's best batsman was on the next flight home. His departure was kept secret until after close of play when coach Duncan Fletcher told the stunned media his acting captain had quit the tour for 'personal, family reasons.' Until now, the full, extraordinary story of what happened that day and why, of what preceded his breakdown has never been told. He reveals for the first time that he almost flew home from the 2004 tour to South Africa – of what caused it and of what followed – his comeback to the England side and a second crushing breakdown nine months later that left him unable to continue the 2006-07 Ashes tour down under. Coming Back to Me will replace the myths and rumours with the truth as Trescothick talks with engaging openness and enthusiasm about his rise to the top of international cricket; and describes with equal frankness his tortured descent into private despair.
The New Arrival: Part 2 of 3
The New Arrival: Part 2 of 3
Sarah Beeson
¥23.45
The New Arrival can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 3 serialised eBook-only parts. This is PART 2 of 3 (Chapters 10-21 of 30). You can read Part 2 one week ahead of release of the full-length eBook and paperback. Sarah completes her preliminary nurse training, and finds her feet with staff and patients alike, under the watchful eye of the stern matron. It’s the end of the swinging sixties, Britain is changing and the everyday life of the nurses and patients plays out against a backdrop of a failing government, strikes, immigration and women’s lib. Nurse Sarah Hill, together with her companions – the serious minded, politicised Maddox, the quick-witted Lynch, who falls in love with an upper-crust young doctor, golden girl Nursery Nurse Appleton, and ex-musical hall star turned midwife Wade – is thrown in straight at the deep end. Funny, warm and deeply moving, Sarah Beeson’s poignant memoir captures both the heartache and happiness of hospital life and 1970s London through the eyes of a gentle but determined young nurse.
The Year of Magical Thinking
The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion
¥66.22
From one of America's iconic writers, a portrait of a marriage and a life – in good times and bad – that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child. A stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill. At first they thought it was flu, then pneumonia, then complete sceptic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later – the night before New Year’s Eve –the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of 40 years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LA airport, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Centre to relieve a massive hematoma. This powerful book is Didion’s ‘attempt to make sense of the weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness … about marriage and children and memory … about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself’. The result is an exploration of an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage, and a life, in good times and bad.
Helpless
Helpless
Marianne Marsh,Toni Maguire
¥45.62
Neglected by her careless parents, Marianne turned to her neighbour, the one person that she thought she could trust…. Eight year old Marianne, the eldest of five children, was neglected by her slovenly mother and her violent alcoholic father. Uncared for and unkempt she was rejected at school by her peers and scarcely tolerated by her teachers. Only one person gave her the affection she craved; a neighbour who seeing the vulnerable child knew she was easy prey for his perverted desires. ‘Little Lady’ he called her over the few months he groomed her. Less than twelve months later she was caught in a trap of fear - if she talked she would be punished. With no one to turn to she kept ‘their secret’. At thirteen she fell pregnant. Still too frightened to speak out she refused to tell the social workers who the father was. Without family support the teenager gave birth to a daughter in the unmarried mother's home. Six weeks later the baby she had already grown to love was taken away for adoption. Marianne returned home, but the neighbour's abuse continued and a year later she was pregnant again. This time her father literally tried to beat the baby out of her but she failed to miscarry. Scared for her life and that of her baby's she ran away from home carrying only a plastic bag stuffed with her few possessions. Marianne who still missed her first child desperately struggled to keep her second daughter. Two months after the birth she realized that for the baby's sake she would have to hand her over for adoption. Helpless is Marianne’s heartbreaking story as told the bestselling author of Don’t Tell Mummy.
Never Say Die
Never Say Die
Melanie Davies,Lynne Barrett-Lee
¥54.25
On a Saturday morning in May 1980, Melanie Bowen, a pretty fifteen year old, ran down the stairs of her parents’ home in Port Talbot, grabbed her leather jacket and crash helmet, yelled a goodbye, and then walked out of the front door into the sunshine for what was to be the last time in her life. Never Say Die is the true story of what followed… Since the motorcycle crash that left her paralysed from the chest down, Melanie's life has been one of extremes. On the down side, she has endured 5 horrific months of despair and indignity in rehabilitation, undergone a colostomy at 23, been in another serious car crash, suffered syringomyelia and the terrifying prospect of full quadriplegia, been diagnosed with breast cancer and broken several bones. On the plus side, however, she's won medals in athletics for Wales, been humbled and inspired by Falklands veterans at RAF Chessington, raised thousands for charity, become a major disability poster girl in America, dabbled with the film world and been screen tested for a movie, met the Queen, and set up her own rehabilitation charity, whose patrons include the acclaimed actor Michael Sheen, Dame Tanni Grey Thompson and former Welsh Rugby captain, Gwyn Jones. She has also, against all the odds, found lasting happiness, having fallen in love with and married the surgeon who 25 years earlier told her she would never walk again.
Transformer: The Complete Lou Reed Story: Free Sampler
Transformer: The Complete Lou Reed Story: Free Sampler
Victor Bockris
¥9.71
‘A triumph’ - Time Out Transformer is the only complete and comprehensive telling of the Lou Reed story. Legendary songwriter and guitarist Lou Reed passed away on the 27th October 2013, but his musical influence is assured. Now discover the true story of the Velvet Underground pioneer in this update of Bockris’s classic biography. Transformer: The Complete Lou Reed Story follows the great songwriter and singer through the series of transformations that define each period of his fifty year career. It opens with the teenage electroshock treatments that dominated his memories of childhood and never stops revealing layer after layer of this complex and often anguished artist and man. Transformer is based on Lou’s collaborations with the hardest and most romantic artists of his times, from John Cale, Andy Warhol, and Nico, through David Bowie, Robert Wilson, Laurie Anderson and the ghost of Edgar Alan Poe. Rippling underneath everything he did are Lou’s relationships with his various muses, from his college sweetheart to his three wives (and one drag queen). Leading Lou Reed biographer, Victor Bockris - who knew Lou throughout the Rachel Years, from Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal to the Bells - updates his original biography in the wake of Lou’s death. Through new interviews and photos, he reveals the many transformations of this larger-than-life character, including his final shift from Rock Monster to the Prince Charming he had always wanted to be in the twenty years he spent with the love of his life, Laurie Anderson . Except with Lou, you could never really know what might happen next… Including previously unseen photographs and contributions from Lou’s innermost circle and collaborators that include similarly esteemed artists such as Andy Warhol and David Bowie, Transformer is as captivating and vivid a read as befits an American master.
The Child Bride: Part 1 of 3
The Child Bride: Part 1 of 3
Cathy Glass
¥9.71
The Child Bride can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 3 serialised eBook-only parts. This is PART 1 of 3. You can read Part 1 three weeks ahead of release of the full-length eBook and paperback. Cathy Glass, international bestselling author, tells the shocking story of Zeena, a young Asian girl desperate to escape from her family. When 14 -year-old Zeena begs to be taken into care with a non-Asian family, she is clearly petrified. But of what? Placed in the home of experienced foster carer Cathy and her family, Zeena gradually settles into her new life, but misses her little brothers and sisters terribly. Prevented from having any contact with them by her family who insist she has brought shame and dishonour on the whole community, Zeena tries to see them at school. But when her father and uncle find out, they bundle her into a car and threaten to set fire to her if she makes anymore trouble. Zeena is too frightened to press charges against them despite being offered police protection in a safe house. Eventually, Cathy discovers the devastating truth from Zeena, and with devastation she believes there is little she can do to help her.
In a Dark Wood
In a Dark Wood
Joseph Luzzi
¥66.22
A story of love and grief. ‘I became a widower and a father on the same day’ says Joseph Luzzi. His book tells how Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’ helped him to endure his grief, raise their infant daughter, and rediscover love. On a cold November morning, Joseph Luzzi, a Dante professor, found himself racing to hospital – his wife, eight-and-a-half months pregnant, had been in a horrible car accident. In one terrible instant, Luzzi became both a widower and a first-time father. Adrift and grieving, Luzzi found himself sharing Dante’s dark wood with an intimacy that years of reading had never shown him: the words became a wise companion through the Inferno of his grief, his healing, and ultimately his rediscovered love.
Unexpected: A True Short Story
Unexpected: A True Short Story
Rosie Lewis
¥9.71
A dramatic and heartwarming story from foster carer, Rosie Lewis. Ellen, a 28-year-old office worker is so shocked by the sudden birth of her baby that she abandons the newborn in hospital. Foster carer Rosie Lewis begins visiting baby Hope in hospital, then a week later she is released into her care. At first Rosie struggles to understand how any mother could abandon a small baby, but when Ellen begins daily visits with Hope, Rosie sees a young woman traumatised by a dark secret. Rosie wants to help the young woman and the baby in her care and must fight to bring them together.
Our Vinnie - Part 3 of 3
Our Vinnie - Part 3 of 3
Julie Shaw
¥18.93
Our Vinnie can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 3 serialised eBook-only parts. This is PART 3 of 3. You can read Part 3 one week ahead of the full-length eBook and paperback. The infamous Canterbury Estate in Bradford, a hotbed of crime, drink and drugs, was a law unto itself in the ’70s. So when one of their own was wronged in any way, the community always had its own way of dealing with it. The first title in a series of gritty family sagas, Our Vinnie accounts the dramatic true story of a brother’s determination to avenge his younger sister’s rape. Josie was just 11 when her Vinnie, then 14, was taken away to a detention centre. Distraught by his absence and left alone with indifferent parents, when she escapes from one of their rows she naively enters the house of a neighbour, Melvin, who – horrifically – leads her upstairs and overpowers her. Convinced by her friend Carol, Josie tells her sister Lyndsey about the rape but, with Vinnie out of the picture, Lyndsey uses the information for her own ends. When Vinnie returns, hardened by years inside the system, his outrage on discovering the truth is severe. And with new abuses continually coming to light, a cataclysmic series of violent events begins to spiral out of control… Dramatic and shocking, Our Vinnie is an unbelievable page-turner, documenting a community forsaken by society, and one brother’s unrelenting determination to take justice into his own hands.
My Mam Shirley - Part 3 of 3
My Mam Shirley - Part 3 of 3
Julie Shaw
¥18.93
My Mam Shirley can either be read as a full-length eBook or in 3 serialised eBook-only parts. This is PART 3 of 3. You can read Part 3 one week ahead of the full-length eBook and paperback.
Our Vinnie
Our Vinnie
Julie Shaw
¥58.86
The infamous Canterbury Estate in Bradford, a hotbed of crime, drink and drugs, was a law unto itself in the ’70s. So when one of their own was wronged in any way, the community always had its own way of dealing with it. The first title in a series of gritty family sagas, Our Vinnie accounts the dramatic true story of a brother’s determination to avenge his younger sister’s rape. Josie was just 11 when her Vinnie, then 14, was taken away to a detention centre. Distraught by his absence and left alone with indifferent parents, when she escapes from one of their rows she naively enters the house of a neighbour, Melvin, who – horrifically – leads her upstairs and overpowers her. Convinced by her friend Carol, Josie tells her sister Lyndsey about the rape but, with Vinnie out of the picture, Lyndsey uses the information for her own ends. When Vinnie returns, hardened by years inside the system, his outrage on discovering the truth is severe. And with new abuses continually coming to light, a cataclysmic series of violent events begins to spiral out of control… Dramatic and shocking, Our Vinnie is an unbelievable page-turner, documenting a community forsaken by society, and one brother’s unrelenting determination to take justice into his own hands.
My Mam Shirley (Tales of the Notorious Hudson Family, Book 3)
My Mam Shirley (Tales of the Notorious Hudson Family, Book 3)
Julie Shaw
¥58.86
Behind the notorious Hudson men who dominated the Canterbury Estate for over 30 years were the girls, and my mam Shirley. Whether marrying into or determined to escape from it, the third instalment of this gritty series recounts the incredible stories of the unflinching women behind the legendary Hudson family. The Canterbury Estate in Bradford during the ’50s and ’60s was a tight-knit community reared on poverty, crime and violence, and at the top of the heap were the infamous Hudson family. But it wasn’t just the boys who had a story to tell: from matriarch Annie, who gave birth to 13 children, to daughters Margaret and Eunice, who married up and out, each had a personality as indomitable as the last. Then came Shirley Read, who was just 17 when she fell in love with Keith, one of the Hudson lads. To Shirley, the only child of affluent parents, the poverty of the unruly estate was as exciting as it was mysterious; newspapers for tablecloths, jam jars for cups, and, even by that time, no electricity. But it was a friendship forged with Annie and June, the younger Hudson sisters, that would teach Shirley not only to how to survive, Canterbury-style, but would also give her the strength to overcome an unexpected personal tragedy that would soon become a nightmare for women across the world… Eye-opening and warm, this is the vivid account of the ‘Tucker’ girls; the resourceful women at the helm of a notorious Bradford family who will never be forgotten.
The House is Full of Yogis
The House is Full of Yogis
Will Hodgkinson
¥66.22
A witty memoir about the trials of adolescence, the tribulations of family life and the embarrassment that ensues from having larger-than-life parents Neville and Liz Hodgkinson bought into the Thatcherite dream of home ownership, aspiration and advancement. The first children of their working class parents to go to university and have professional careers, they lived in a semi-detached house in Richmond, sent their sons Tom and Will to private school, and went on holiday to Greece once a year. Neville was an award-winning science writer and Liz was a high-earning tabloid hack. Then a disastrous boat holiday, followed by a life-threatening bout of food poisoning from a contaminated turkey, led to the search for a new way of life. Nev joined the Brahma Kumaris, who believe evolution is a myth, time is circular, and a forthcoming Armageddon will make way for a new Golden Age. Out went drunken dinner parties and Victorian décor schemes; in came large women in saris meditating in the living room and lurid paintings of smiling deities on the walls. Liz took the arrival of the Brahma Kumaris as a chance to wage all-out war on convention, from announcing her newfound celibacy on prime time television to writing books that questioned the value of getting married and raising children. By an unfortunate coincidence, this dramatic and highly public transformation of the self coincided with the onset of Will’s adolescence. This is his story.
Confessions of an Undercover Cop (The Confessions Series)
Confessions of an Undercover Cop (The Confessions Series)
Ash Cameron
¥66.22
The sixth book in the bestselling Confessions series. What is life like for a female Undercover Cop? Ash Cameron gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at life in the Police. Funny, moving and irreverent, you’ll never look at a bobby the same way again…! What is life like for an Undercover Cop? Ash Cameron joined the police in the 70s – think Life on Mars with added ladders in her tights. From arresting East End gangsters, dealing out justice to football hooligans and coping with sexism on the job, Ash did it all. So when she was asked to go undercover, well, it was just another job, wasn’t it? Told with warmth and humour, these ‘confessions’ will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you roll your eyes as you learn exactly what goes on behind-the-scenes in the police…
Humble Pie
Humble Pie
Gordon Ramsay
¥63.18
Everyone thinks they know the real Gordon Ramsay: rude, loud, pathologically driven, stubborn as hell. But this is his bestselling real story… Humble Pie tells the full story of how he became the world’s most famous and infamous chef: his difficult childhood, his brother’s heroin addiction and his failed first career as a footballer: all of these things have made him the celebrated culinary talent and media powerhouse that he is today. Gordon talks frankly about: ? his tough childhood: his father’s alcoholism and violence and the effects on his relationships with his mother and siblings, ? his first career as a footballer: how the whole family moved to Scotland when he was signed by Glasgow Rangers at the age of fifteen, and how he coped when his career was over due to injury just three years later, ? his brother’s heroin addiction. ? Gordon’s early career: learning his trade in Paris and London; how his career developed from there: his time in Paris under Albert Roux and his seven Michelin-starred restaurants. ? Kitchen life: Gordon spills the beans about life behind the kitchen door, and how a restaurant kitchen is run in Anthony Bourdain-style. ? How he copes with the impact of fame on himself and his family: his television career, the rapacious tabloids, and his own drive for success.