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By Obama, Barack
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- RRP: $69.99
- $52.49
- Save $17.50
- In Stock At Publisher
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A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making-from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man... searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency-a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil. Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation's highest office. Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune's Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden. A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective-the story of one man's bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of Read more
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It was winter. Lauren Keenan was separated from her husband, lonely, and miserable. Then came the Night of 27 Rejections of Doom: asking 27 people to hang out one Friday night, and every single person saying no. Her attempts to console herself by going to the movies and eating ic...e-cream were thwarted by dropping her ice-cream on the toilet floor while fumbling with her phone looking for text messages that weren't there. Lauren realised that this version of life wasn't working and that she needed to change it. It was time to try something new. 52 new things in fact. 52 new things in 52 weeks. From entering a public dance competition to trying fake lashes; from starting a Wine and Netflix club to zip-lining; from giving up drinking for six months to going to a music festival alone to feeding a lion; Lauren put herself out there with surprising results. Each chapter in The 52 Week Project looks at a wider societal issue - chapters include alcohol, parenting, loneliness and social media - and is informed by both Lauren's extensive research into social psychology and her observations about pop-culture. Her year of new experiences was a game changer. It repaired her relationship with her husband, she regained confidence in herself, and she realised how satisfying it can be to push yourself to your limits and to do things alone. She also learned that true happiness is more likely to be found in the everyday fabric of life. Read more
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Linda Collins gets up on a Monday morning, dresses for work, makes coffee and goes into her daughter Victoria's bedroom. Why hasn't Vicky got up yet? It's an important day: the start of the second term of her final year at school. Today she will hear her latest exam results.
T...he bedroom is empty.
So begins every parent's worst nightmare. Collins, a New Zealand journalist based in Singapore, writes with startling candour about her daughter's suicide: the secrets she kept from her parents, the revelations in the personal journals she left behind, and the struggle of Collins and Malcolm McLeod, Victoria's father, to find answers in the midst of enormous grief.
How, they ask themselves, could they have missed the signs? What did the counsellors at Victoria's school know about her state of mind? Did her school friends have any idea how desperate she was? And above all, why would a beautiful, talented, much loved young woman take her own life?
Loss Adjustment is a wake-up call. New Zealand has the highest suicide rate for teenagers among the world's wealthy developed countries. Most of those who kill themselves are, like Victoria McLeod, aged 15 to 19. Linda Collins examines the tragedy of teenage suicide from her profoundly personal viewpoint, while Victoria's journals, uncovered after her death, give an incredibly valuable insight into the unseen stresses and anxieties suffered by many teenagers. Read more
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By Paul, Gregor
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- RRP: $39.99
- $29.99
- Save $10.00
- In Stock At Publisher
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How the captains of the last 50 years have gone about leading the world's most successful rugby team. The job of All Blacks captain comes with a scrutiny that puts it alongside the prime minister in terms of profile and public expectation. It takes a strong, confident and assured... personality to captain a team where failure is never tolerated. The Captain's Run is a behind the scenes journey into the world of All Blacks captaincy. It reveals how the great captains dealt with the pressure of the toughest job in world rugby, how they coped with failure, and what they would have done differently, if given their time again. Read more
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In 2012, Jackie Clark launched The Aunties, a grassroots charity helping women to rebuild their lives after a period of trauma. She quit her job, turning her back on her comfortable life, to focus on The Aunties full-time, becoming Aunty in Charge and assisting hundreds of women ...with material needs and emotional support. Jackie has long dreamed of a publication that gives these women a voice. This powerful new book features the stories of a number of very different New Zealand women, told their way. The collected stories chart their narrators' lives and personal histories, through the lens of having lived with - and escaped - an abusive partner. Her Say is spoken from the heart, uncompromising but offering hope, redemption, personal triumph. It's a book for all women, showing how owning our stories gives us the power to write daring new endings. It will challenge, illuminate, and empower readers - not to mention the storytellers themselves. Read more
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Julie Zarifeh shares her tragic story of the double whammy of her 27-year-old son Sam dying in a whitewater rafting accident just 16 days after her 60-year-old husband, Paul, died of pancreatic cancer. The loss of her beloved husband and son threw Julie and her surviving son and ...daughter into the depths of grief. She describes how they dealt with this huge impact and how she has been embracing the notion of 'active grieving', practising what she preaches in her job as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist. So far this has included a 450 km bike ride around Sri Lanka, raising money to supply disadvantaged Kiwi children with new bikes; trekking the 900 km Camino de Santiago across Northern Spain, which was made into a documentary (www.caminoskies.com); and running the New York marathon on behalf of the Mental Health Foundation. This is an inspirational and ultimately uplifting account of learning to live with grief, with Julie's experience as a Clinical Psychologist an additional plus. Read more
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In this beautiful and transformative book, 24 Maori academics share their personal journeys, revealing what being Maori has meant for them in their work. Their perspectives provide insight for all New Zealanders into how matauranga is positively influencing the Western-dominated ...disciplines of knowledge in the research sector. Read more
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A history of Paparua Prison (now Christchurch Men's Prison) covering the years 1914 through to 2018. Lots of fascinating old photographs, letters, telegrams and front page newspaper articles.
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Pre-order the extraordinary, heartwarming autobiography of Captain Tom Moore, the man who captured the nation's heart in lockdown. Captain Tom Moore is an inspiration. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in early April this ninety-nine-year-old Second World War veteran came up... with a big idea: he'd walk laps of his garden to raise money for the NHS. Despite using a walking frame as well as recent treatment for cancer and a broken hip, he was determined to hit GBP1000 by his 100th birthday on 30th April. By the time the telegram from the Queen arrived, he'd raised over thirty million pounds. In this, his official autobiography, published in support of the creation of the Captain Tom Foundation, he tells us of his long and dramatic life. How his spirit was forged on the battlefields of Burma where victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat. How he fearlessly raced motorbikes competitively. How, in his nineties, he took off for the Himalayas and Everest, simply because he'd never been. And, finally, how this old soldier came to do his bit for the NHS, becoming the nation's hero in our darkest hour. A modest, decent, charming man with a can-do attitude and a twinkle in his eye, Captain Tom's story is that of a man whose insatiable curiosity and appetite for life have led him around so many unexpected corners - finding both adventure and joy. He only wanted to help other people - and yet he has inspired a nation to believe anything is possible by reminding us all it is never, ever too late. Read more
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Brave, explosive, and thought-provoking, this is a powerful memoir. 'It's material, make a story out of it,' was the mantra Charlotte Grimshaw grew up with in her literary family. But when her life suddenly turned upside-down, she needed to re-examine the reality of that material.... The more she delved into her memories, the more the real characters in her life seemed to object. So what was the truth of 'a whole life lived in fiction'? This is a vivid account of a New Zealand upbringing, where rebellion was encouraged, where trouble and tragedy lay ahead. It looks beyond the public face to the 'messy reality of family life - and much more'. Read more
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