Directionless yet driven by a fervent desire to make something of himself, Doug "The Thug" Smith took his only marketable job skill--amateur boxing--and followed an unlikely career path to become a hockey enforcer, a.k.a. "goon." Entrusted with aggressively protecting his teammates from tough guys on the opposing team, he punched, elbowed and cross-checked his way up the ranks of minor league hockey to win a championship ring and the respect of his community. His entertaining underdog stor...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER"Doug Smith always gets the first question in any Raptors press conference--as the dean of our press corps, he's been in the front row for every development over the past 25 years. There's no one better placed to write a history of our team's first quarter century."--Nick Nurse, head coach, Toronto RaptorsBringing Jurassic Park to your home, a celebration of Canada's most exciting team.

Home is behind, the world ahead. - J.R.R. TolkienOld gods outwitted by heroes. Magical weapons that bring good and evil. Dragons winging over the city or walking upon the earth. A wizard witnessing endless battles. These stories and more explore the theme of Re-Quest.Leave home behind and wander magical worlds in these 16 fantasy tales from an international roster of authors. Featuring fiction from Robert E. Howard, Douglas Smith, James Dorr, Lillian Csernica, Gregory L. No...

"Brothers under the same skin, Same Same sketches the lives of two talented journalists, one white, one black, in a novel that is part thriller and part morality tale… timely and timeless." — Eleanor Clift, Newsweek / The Daily BeastSame Same is a political suspense novel about friendship, race, and power—told through two men who grew up in the same small Virginia town but lived worlds apart.Samuel Lewis, raised in a working-class African American family, a...

China has traditionally viewed her frontier regions--Zxinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Yunnan--as buffer zones. Yet their importance as commercial and cosmopolitan hubs, intimately involved in the transmission of goods, peoples and ideas between China and it west and southwest has meant they are crucial for China's ongoing development. The resurgence of China under Deng Xiaoping's policy of 'reform and opening' has therefore led to a focus on integrating these regions into the PRC (Peop...

Through these pages youll experience two very true and meaningful love stories. Ive seen love from both sides now. That doesnt mean in winning or losing. In both of these encounters of the heart I dont consider either one as a loss. Carol taught me how to open up my heart and receive love unconditionally. I loved her with my total being. Charlotte proves to me every day that she loves me unconditionally. Both of these incredible women had and have my heart in nothing less than total commit...

Do you have a disability? Would you like to go on a cruise holiday but you think cruise ships are totally inaccessible? The author himself a full-time wheelchair user, uses his vast knowledge and experience of the cruise industry to give you all the relevant information you will need to decide whether or not a cruise holiday is right for you, whether you have a disability or not. He takes you on a journey from initially booking the cruise through arriving at the cruise terminal and boardin...

The world’s first national park, Yellowstone is a symbol of nature’s enduring majesty and the paradigm of protected areas across the globe. But Yellowstone is constantly changing. How we understand and respond to events that are putting species under stress, say the authors of Yellowstone’s Wildlife in Transition, will determine the future of ecosystems that were millions of years in the making. With a foreword by the renowned naturalist E. O. Wilson, this is the most comprehensiv...

A gritty case of resentment, revenge, and recovery.A businessman was found savagely murdered in his Jaguar. Robbery is not a motive, and forensics seems to indicate that the victim was given a goodbye kiss. When Detective Jesse Collins appears on the scene, his hangover is horrendous. Once a great cop, he is now on a downward spiral. His boss has put him on notice, his partner is done covering for him, and his wife has moved out. "This time it's for good," she said.Jesse tri...

Are screens holding you or your family back from all you were created to be?Most of us are unintentional with screens, but tech industry architects intentionally make their content distracting, manipulative, and addictive.[Un]Intentional shows how our obsession with screens often takes us — unintentionally — to places we regret. It reveals the way many apps, games, and videos are designed to entice us to make decisions and form harmful habits tha...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER"Doug Smith always gets the first question in any Raptors press conference--as the dean of our press corps, he's been in the front row for every development over the past 25 years. There's no one better placed to write a history of our team's first quarter century."--Nick Nurse, head coach, Toronto RaptorsBringing Jurassic Park to your home, a celebration of Canada's most exciting team.

Nick Nurse distills the wisdom, insight, and experiences that helped him lead the Toronto Raptors to the NBA championship in his first year as head coach.Foreword by Phil Jackson.NBA fans had low expectations for rookie coach Nick Nurse and his Toronto Raptors. But what those naysayers didn't realize was that Nurse had spent the past thirty years proving himself at every level of the game, from youth programs and college ball to the NBA D League an...