The Story of a Provincial Armenian Woman

‘Fel’ grows up in an Armenian province. What do we know about Armenia? A small Christian nation, locked between large powers, some of which are hostile. Preserving the Armenian culture is of paramount importance, but what is “culture”? As valuable as it is to the elder, the youth seek their own new values. This story is about an extraordinary young woman who struggled between respect for her country, love for her family and her own desire to be independent, preserve her self-esteem and live her ambitions. Through her eyes, we see what tensions a teenage girl in Armenia is subject to when she follows her own emotions and preferences. She takes the reader into her world filled with dilemmas, loyalty conflicts and confrontations. When her life story unfolds the reader is dragged into the astounding turmoil that results from her choices in life. Choices that are always inspired by her emotions, her personal principles and never-ending willpower to find respect, understanding and happiness, for herself and her loved ones.

This story is certainly an inspiration.

My Friend the Horse

Alex Atock was born in Dublin in 1932 and graduated from the Veterinary College of Ireland in 1958. His love for all things equine commenced as a small child and continued throughout his life. This book will take the reader through his veterinary life, from his initial years in general practice, to veterinary officer of the Irish Turf Club, head of the Veterinary Department of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), consultant to the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation, and, finally, consultant to World Horse Welfare. The latter took him from the elite world of thoroughbred horse racing and international equestrian sport to assisting underprivileged working equines and their owners in developing countries.Throughout his time with the FEI, Alex worked closely with the European Union and was actively involved with the conception of FEI relations with World Horse Welfare, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and the International Federation of Racing Authorities.

Pandemic in Paradise

Pandemic in Paradise tells my story of pregnancy during a global pandemic. From the challenges of lockdown to the raising of my first child, I share the ups and downs of my pregnancy journey under those strange, difficult, and unique circumstances. Despite the obstacles which COVID-19 and the lockdowns presented, it is also about celebrating the gift of my son.

Random Musings of a Disorderly Mind

Have you ever woken up wondering what the day will bring? If this includes fishing around inside someone’s intestines, being sent photos of bodily fluids, or even pretending to be dead, then you may just happen to be a surgeon. If it includes retrieving arrows, knives, and other foreign bodies from various anatomical locations, then you may be a trauma surgeon. If it also includes rescuing patients from spitting monks and overdosing pharmacists, then you probably work as a doctor in Southeast Asia.

From the relative safety of a 1970s UK medical school to the extremes of modern-day Cambodia, enter the world of funny, sad, baffling, and, at times, unbelievable encounters with patients, teachers, and colleagues over five decades.

Mosul Dreaming: An Australian Psychologist in Iraq

In 2017 Diane Hanna was offered a role to provide psychological services to international surgical team, 15km from the front line during the last battle of Mosul, Iraq. The mission had provided her with a restored sense of meaning and purpose, which compelled her to return and continue working in the largest humanitarian crisis since the second world war.

In temperatures above 48 degrees celsius, she forged ahead, recruiting members of her mental health team from the camps of those displaced during the conflict. She established programs and activities, for thousands of women and children who were wounded and traumatised by ISIS. On her day off, she often sat in bed and painted those whom she met from Mosul, whilst unable to leave the guesthouse due to the ongoing dangers outside.

When funding to her mission was cut suddenly, Diane made the decision to stay in Iraq which would change her life forever. Alone, and with a life-threatening condition she was now facing a corrupt medical system, and an increasingly volatile environment. Trapped in one of them most hostile countries in the world, she would need to muster all her strength, knowledge and skills, to negotiate her way out.

Her story will astonish and inspire you. It will make you reassess what it means to serve as a humanitarian worker, and remind you that whatever happens, you must keep fighting and never give up.

Reflections On El Camino

‘El Camino’ is the pilgrim’s route across northern Spain to reach the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. This was built on the site where the body of the disciple St James was buried after he was martyred in Jerusalem in 44AD. His remains lay unmarked and unknown for eight centuries until a miraculous light led a shepherd to discover the bones in a cave. A cathedral was built over the spot where the bones were found and it became one of the prime destinations for pilgrims in the medieval era. But the way to Santiago de Compostela was fraught with danger for those pilgrims, with the notoriously bad weather in the Pyrenees, warring kingdoms in the north, civil war and the ever-present danger of invasion from the Muslim Moors who controlled the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula.

This book is a long-distance trek through the countryside, culture and history of the area: from St Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela, then onwards to the Atlantic coast of Spain, and finally to Finisterre – or ‘the end of the world’, as it was known in the times of the Roman Empire. It is a journey of over 900 kilometres. But what is the route like today for the modern pilgrim?

Where's Me Teeth

From the mystery of the missing teeth to the urine sample for a goldfish. From the hapless gardener who mows through a power cable, to the debate over fresh or frozen ice to be used in a drink. Why can’t you send an octopus through the post, yet you can take your parrot for a walk?

The frustration caused by the jobsworths of this world and automatic/robotic telephone answering machines.

A humorous and tongue-in-cheek observation of daily life and society. You could not make this up. Life is really stranger and funnier than fiction.

Beef Cubes And Burdock

The rural landscape of John Phillpott’s boyhood has changed irrevocably over the last half-century.The elm – that celebrated ‘Warwickshire Weed’ of folklore – has been lost to disease, urban sprawl continues apace and motorways now disturb the tranquillity of fields that once knew only the sound of cattle, birdsong and the rumble of the farmer’s tractor.But paradise lost? Not quite, because the river flows on through the valley as it has done for millennia, the rook ‘parliaments’ can still be seen high overhead and the bells of the church that has stood on the hill looking out over the Swift Valley for a thousand years still call out to the faithful.Beef Cubes and Burdock is an affectionate glance over the shoulder back to a time when the pace of life was still dictated by the rhythm of the seasons rather than the touch of a computer keyboard.

Go for It - My Journey

It was at dessert time when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew older. Still today, I do remember my answer, “An engineer, because with my Meccano set, I can build so many things.”In Go for It, Dominick Dehette recalls the heady days of the 1980s and early 1990s, when his work as an engineering consultant took him to southern Africa, China and all over Asia at especially interesting political times.Dehette’s account combines an engaged eye for detail with the more-philosophical viewpoint of the seasoned traveller.

Recollections

I was born a girl and to my parents, it only meant one thing; I would be a servant to my siblings, husband, dad, in-laws and any other person who crossed my path in life. The happiness of my husband, children, family and extended family was important. I would be a cook, housemaid, sexual object to my husband, a mother, a nurse and all the commitments that come from being a servant wife.

Learning respect and obeying was why I was sent to a convent for my schooling. My brothers were more important than me and when the time came I was prevented from becoming a teacher because I was a girl and that would not be my role in life. I was made to believe that my happiness was not important, only the happiness of others. My mum had been my role model and I firmly believed all that rubbish until my husband died. I was finally out of the cage and into a future of freedom and possibilities. To be able to learn who I was and what I liked. Finally, I was able to think of myself.

My life from the age of two has been a huge rollercoaster and one that I never got the chance to get off until I was 64. I have kept a lot of my experiences to myself as I believed them to be my fault. I yearned for someone to love me and not abuse me and to be my friend and my confidant. The only unconditional love I ever got was from my two boys (my dogs Max and Sam) who left me when they were 16. I cherish and feel blessed by my two wonderful children’s love but it’s not the same.

Taxi to Broadway

“Hey, did anyone tell you look like James Dean!”

It happened once in a while. I had just lit a cigarette… (can’t resist the slice of ham). Drawing into myself; playing the dead actor behind the wheel, cigarette dangling loosely from my pouting lips; angry at life… scowling at the world!

Christy Jones was no James Dean, but he could proudly tell people in his taxi that he was an actor nonetheless. And driving wasn’t the only time he could play a character.

The author of this memoir found a passion for acting and made it to Stella Adler’s Academy for Theater in the early ’60s. But to make a decent living he drove a taxi across New York for six years. Christy never had an accident, though he had plenty of narrow escapes during his six years of driving. He preferred driving at night, so he could make the rounds of agents and producers during the day. But the streets can be treacherous... and dangerous. A cab only lasts a couple of years on New York City streets. After a long time spent dropping people off at their destinations, he finally arrived at his own: Broadway.

Taxi to Broadway is a story of fleeting conversations and adventurous nocturnal driving, but in the end, it is what all great stories should be – a tale about following your passions.

The Gift

Sixteen-year-old Anne faces radical change in her life after a supernatural encounter. When an unusual person makes an unexpected visit, Anne finds she is linked to a decision that was made three hundred years earlier, and her peaceful and predictable life is shaken. She must respond to a complicated request that challenges her own sense of morality and integrity. Anne seeks out help from a local seer and healer who reveals secrets about her birth and her destiny. But will this guidance be enough to help Anne see through the deceptions and traps that have been set for her by nefarious forces?

Behind the pastoral loveliness of the Vermont hills, Anne experiences an invisible world, populated by both good and evil presences who vie for her very soul. A special gift has been given to Anne, but her use of this gift can bring either joy to others or be a curse to all.