Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted Americaby Beth Macy

Journalist Beth Macy's definitive account of America's opioid epidemic "masterfully interlaces stories of communities in crisis with dark histories of corporate greed and regulatory indifference" (New York Times) — from the boardroom to the courtroom and into the living rooms of Americans.
In this extraordinary work, Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of a national drama that has unfolded over two decades. From the labs and marketing departments of big pharma to local doctor's offices; wealthy suburbs to distressed small communities in Central Appalachia; from distant cities to once-idyllic farm towns; the spread of opioid addiction follows a tortuous trajectory that illustrates how this crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched.

Beginning with a single dealer who lands in a small Virginia town and sets about turning high school football stars into heroin overdose statistics, Macy sets out to answer a grieving mother's question-why her only son died-and comes away with a gripping, unputdownable story of greed and need. From the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, Macy investigates the powerful forces that led America's doctors and patients to embrace a medical culture where overtreatment with painkillers became the norm. In some of the same communities featured in her bestselling book Factory Man, the unemployed use painkillers both to numb the pain of joblessness and pay their bills, while privileged teens trade pills in cul-de-sacs, and even high school standouts fall prey to prostitution, jail, and death.

Through unsparing, compelling, and unforgettably humane portraits of families and first responders determined to ameliorate this epidemic, each facet of the crisis comes into focus. In these politically fragmented times, Beth Macy shows that one thing uniting Americans across geographic, partisan, and class lines is opioid drug abuse. But even in the midst of twin crises in drug abuse and healthcare, Macy finds reason to hope and ample signs of the spirit and tenacity that are helping the countless ordinary people ensnared by addiction build a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities.

"An impressive feat of journalism, monumental in scope and urgent in its implications." — Jennifer Latson, The Boston Globe

Ditching Success?: A CAREER VENTURED; A LIFE REGAINEDby Batoul I. Ajlouni

At fifty, entrepreneur and seasoned workaholic Batoul Ajlouni reached the very height of her career, her middle age, and the lowest point of her life.

The endless passion and zeal she once had for work and life have all but disappeared. Confused and anxious about her never-before situation, she is faced with a life-changing decision to make: Does she listen to the business-executive in her head, tough it all out and continue with the successful career she had spent half her life building? Or does she follow the free-spirit inside her heart, sacrifice everything she has ever worked for, and leap into a place of new hopes and dreams she knew nothing about?

In her timely memoir, Batoul Ajlouni shares her personal and professional venture of self-transformation at the most challenging of times, while re-evaluating priorities, seeking balance, searching for answers to questions and dilemmas we all face at one point or another during our professional journeys.

Touch Me Againby C. Morgan

The man made my life pure hell in high school.

But that was years ago. And we’re both all grown up now.

He’s hotter than sin and has a smile that leaves me and my friends panting for his attention.

It’s spring break and I need time with the girls on the beach. Florida should do the trick.

Never in a million years did I expect Hudson Philips to be there.

Memories of him bullying and teasing me mercilessly roll through me in waves, but we’re not kids anymore, and those aren’t the only waves he’s making.

He’s damned determined to get back into my good graces, and he’s working every angle possible to make sure it happens.

As hard as I try to deny him, he quickly becomes the only thing I can think about.

But the minute I let down my guard, he puts his up again. He’s not looking for a long-term love affair.

I wish he were, but for now, I simply want him to touch me again.

Susan: A Jane Austen Prequelby Alice McVeigh

Susan is a Jane Austen Prequel (or Pride and Prejudice Variation) brilliantly capturing Austen’s own Lady Susan as a young girl.

As the BookLife review put it for Publishers Weekly: “McVeigh’s prose and plotting are pitch-perfect. Emma mingles with Pride and Prejudice in a delightful confrontation between the two books’ worlds… This Austen-inspired novel echoes the master herself.”

Familiar characters abound – Frank Churchill, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy himself – but Susan – mischievous and manipulative – is the star. This is Austen that even Austen might have loved, with a touch of Georgette Heyer in the romantic sections. Fans of Bridgerton will also relish this classic regency romance, the first in a six-book series.

Sixteen-year-old Susan Smithson – pretty but poor, clever but capricious – has just been expelled from a school for young ladies in London.

At the mansion of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, she attracts a raffish young nobleman. But, at the first hint of scandal, her guardian dispatches her to her uncle Collins’ rectory in Kent, where her sensible cousin Alicia lives and “where nothing ever happens.”

Here Susan mischievously inspires the local squire to put on a play, with consequences no one could possibly have foreseen. What with the unexpected arrival of Frank Churchill, Alicia’s falling in love and a tumultuous elopement, rural Kent will surely never seem safe again…

Sailing For Blondes: The Simulator Book, Learn Twice as Fast and Twice as "Good"by Joyce Matlock

What is holding you back from becoming a great sailor? Are you unsure in your mind exactly how to sail or what to do? What are the circumstances that cause you difficulty and confusion? Sailing For Blondes, The Simulator Book, Learn Twice as Fast and Twice as Good is the only step-by-step sailing fundamentals book known to the author that is not purely technical in its approach to sailing instruction. Each chapter in the book gives students a technical sailing concept, a fictional storyline, and lastly, the step-by-step learning dialogue on how to sail just as if they were actually on a sailboat. It keeps students engaged in an interactive way to learn sailing in the shortest, possible time. It is not dry or boring and it sparkles with life while leaving lasting knowledge!

Joyce Matlock teaches new sailors and sailors wanting to brush up on their skills to understand how to sail. This book offers one of the best-combined teaching methods for men and women you can find on sailing instruction. It includes a patent-pending, hands-on learning tool called The Simulator that firmly fixes sailing concepts into your brain. You will use the sailing simulator throughout the book to seal your understanding of what you are reading. The title is a take-off on the Dummies series of books. When you use the sailing simulator while reading the book, you will easily understand how to sail. Sailing for Blondes offers a package that includes the book, the patent-pending simulator, and the online course.

The patent-pending, sailing simulator works just like sailing a boat. If you decide to learn to sail on your own, this book and simulator will speed your learning curve enormously. If you decide to take an on-the-water sailing course, this book and the companion simulator will prepare you with your mental edge of understanding so you can get your money’s worth! The outcome will be an understanding of sailing basics and concepts and that’s what you must learn to know how to sail a boat.

Jimmy Buffett has been quoted as saying, “People who think too much before they act, don’t act too much.” Go on and purchase this book now and get on the fast track for learning how to sail!

To get your simulator, go online to: www.sailingforblondes.com and while you are there, please check out our Online Sailing Simulator Course, great reviews, and other useful sailing resources.