Showing results by narrator "Ann Richardson" in All Categories

An aging drifter seeking answers about his father, and an academic on a quest to rediscover her literary heroine navigate troubled relationships and the Nebraska Sandhills, as they uncover little-known history about Mari Sandoz. When Steve Kaminski realized that the man who raised him wasn’t his father, he left the family’s Nebraska ranch in a rage. In 45 years he’s never been back. Now his sister, Wanda, is dying, and wants him to spend her final days with her in the house they once called home.

Life is unpredictable. One day your journey is calm and effortless. Next day it's full of potholes. Why not take God's hand and walk this road together as fresh answers to your challenges are revealed? Lisa Are Wulf, an award-winning author, has walked this path too. She offers encouragement and a clear way forward, strengthening your special bond with Jesus. Reaching for God's Hand features 40 short reflections, soothing bible verses and prayers, plus a quiet time with God.

What would you do for the greatest love of your life, Annie? Annie fears this question with a passion. While she and her family fight mother nature’s wrath raging outside the Inn’s walls, the unexpected happens… A murder mystery drags her into a vortex of secrets involving her ex-husband and two powerful families in Manatee Bay.

As October slides into November, Cody Bay enjoys a few rare moments of peace. Finally able to focus on her personal projects, Cody Moore sets out to start renovations on the Bay. December's Christmas rush is but a breath away, and with the trouble following them around at every turn, she needs to be ready. But Cody's hopes for a quiet November are soon shattered. The last guest to arrive at the Inn brings with them chaos anew.

Brandon Newton has two failed marriages under his belt, a shy teenage daughter abandoned by her mother, and a hope to start anew in Nantucket. After accepting a job at the local hospital, Brandon books into Cody Bay Inn, ready to start anew. He is completely unaware that his life is about to change forever. When a freak storm hits Cody Bay, a woman is found stranded on a lifeboat with no memory of who she is or how she got there. The only clue to who she may be is a medical alert necklace around her neck that identifies her as Summer Pearce.

When brutish miner Hugo Mitchum is found murdered on the frozen shore of a North Country lake, the local officials and town gossips of Beau Caelais are quick to blame Marietta Abernathy, outspoken environmental activist and angry, witchy recluse. But Marietta herself has disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Ever since Avery Hawthorn left small town Frisco, Colorado for college at UCLA, her parents have visited her in sunny California for the holidays. When a freak accident at her father’s hardware store derails their plans, Avery must find a way to spend Christmas with them. As a big fan of Christmas, Avery knew this wouldn’t do. She needed to see her family. But, there was one thing standing in the way of her taking time off… The chance for a big promotion at work.

What is your response when your life turns upside down? When you lose your job? When you receive a difficult diagnosis? Do you blame God or beg Him for a way out of your suffering? In more than a decade of misdiagnoses and debilitating treatments, Stephanie Tait admits she did plenty of both before hearing the two words that had drastically altered her life: Lyme disease. Yet she has discovered it's in her pain that Jesus is most present.

Marli Rivers’ signature carefree demeanor melts away when her sweet shop is hit with a series of fires, threats, and vandalism. Local firefighter, Jake Kline, steps in to help following the attacks, believing Marli is being targeted by an arsonist. Their professional relationship feels strained, at first, and she is less than thrilled that Jake is the one who’s investigating the fires. Marli perceives him as arrogant, but that perception quickly fades as he proves to be a trusted ally in the face of danger.

When it comes to happiness rankings, Finland always scores near the top. Many Finnish phenomena set the bar high: the best education system, gender equality, a flourishing welfare state, sisu or bull-headed pluck. Behind all of these accomplishments lies a Finnish ability to stay calm, healthy and content in a riptide of endless tasks and temptations. The ability comes from the practice of "kalsarikanni" translated as pantsdrunk. Peel off your clothes down to your underwear. Place savory or sweet snacks within reach alongside your bed or sofa.

Each year the average North American ingests well over 200 pounds of animal protein, and the global appetite for meat has also increased dramatically. This powerful book offers a modest, commonsense approach to a serious problem, suggesting strategies for all of us to cut back on our consumption of animal products and ensure that the meat we do consume is produced in a sustainable, ecologically responsible manner.

Across twenty-five stories, Øyehaug renovates the form again and again, confirming Lydia Davis’s observation that her every story is “a formal surprise, smart and droll.” The stories converse with, contradict, and expand on one another; birds, hagfish, and wild beasts reappear, gnawing at the fringes. A section of a woman’s brain slips into the toilet bowl, removing her ability to remember or recognize types of birds (particularly problematic because she is an ornithologist). Medicinal leeches ingest information from fiberoptic cables, and a new museum sinks into the ground.

Few of us know how to navigate the territory of traumatic loss successfully. Sweet Sorrow shows how we can respond and grow stronger from loss and suffering.

After returning home from adventures in the Orient, James Lindford, Viscount Farley, causes quite a stir in London society. The viscount’s womanizing past has caught up with him, and he decides he must take his illegitimate children into his household to raise. Doing the right thing, unfortunately, costs him both his fiancée and his political aspirations. With the gossip hounds soon on the prowl, he escapes to the calm of his country estate. But between his rowdy children and the beautiful woman next door, James is not about to get any peace.

Properly valuing brain gender diversity in the workplace is one of the biggest and largely untapped sources of competitive advantage for modern businesses. Recent advances in neuroscience provide the key to unlocking it. Leading applied neuroscientists and international corporate coaches Kate Lanz and Paul Brown tell you why and how to access all the brains in your business.

After a long journey through Norway, Ingrid has returned to Barrøy, the island that bears her family name. The Second World War still casts its long shadow: former collaborators face cold shoulders, while others wish to leave the painful years in the past. When a boy arrives on the island, Ingrid assumes responsibility for him, and so he joins the Barrøy community, raised alongside Ingrid's own daughter, another child of war.

Remarkable Hope reveals a pattern of hope where individuals were surprised by Jesus in drastic ways after they placed their hope in him and were-at first-disappointed. Their stories show his work was rarely what they anticipated. As we observe Christ's faithful commitment to these Biblical characters who hoped in him, we are wowed by his unseen plan. We are comforted by his orchestration of circumstances and revived by his enduring presence. Remarkable Hope helps us gladly declare, like the apostle Paul, that "our hope does not disappoint us."

By beginning a conversation that encourages self-examination and compassion, Combined Destinies invites listeners to look at how white Americans have been hurt by the very ideology that their ancestors created. Editors Ann Todd Jealous and Caroline T. Haskell, both experienced psychotherapists skilled at facilitating dialogue about racial issues, are cognizant of the challenges that even the thought of such conversations often presents. Their book is based on the premise that for positive and lasting change to occur, hearts as well as minds must be opened.

Social isolation can shatter our confidence. In isolating times, we're not only lonely, but we're ashamed of our loneliness because our society stigmatizes people who are alone without support. As a single, 58-year-old woman who finds herself stranded after major surgery, Val Walker has woven into the narrative her own story. A well-established rehabilitation counselor, she was too embarrassed to reveal on social media how utterly isolated she was by asking for someone to help, and it felt agonizingly awkward calling colleagues out of the blue.

Searching for God in the detours of life? Faith journeys are unpredictable–sometimes smooth but often rocky. Open the door to new inner growth as you experience healing and hope. Lisa Are Wulf, award-winning devotional author, guides you on a sacred trek. Trace your spiritual footsteps as you explore God’s path for you.