Showing results by narrator "Lisa Stathoplos" in All Categories

On June 6, 2015, inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility, New York State's largest maximum security prison. The media was instantly obsessed with the story: aided by a prison seamstress who smuggled hacksaw blades, chisels, and drill bits inside the facility via a vat of raw hamburger meat, the two convicted murderers sliced their way through steel cell walls, meandered through a maze of tunnels, climbed out of a manhole, and walked off into the night.

One third to one half of Americans are introverts in a culture that celebrates - even enforces - an ideal of extroversion and a cult of personality. Political leaders are charismatic, celebrities bask in the spotlight, and authority figures are assertive. It is no surprise that a quiet revolution has begun to emerge among the invisible half of the population, asserting that they are just as powerful in their own unique ways. The Irresistible Introvert embodies the spirit of this revival and breaks down the myth that charisma is reserved for extroverts only.

Forty thousand years in the past, the last family of Neanderthals roams the earth. After a crushingly hard winter, their numbers are low, but Girl, the oldest daughter, is just coming of age, and her family is determined to travel to the annual meeting place and find her a mate. But the unforgiving landscape takes its toll, and Girl is left alone to care for Runt, a foundling of unknown origin. As Girl and Runt face the coming winter storms, Girl realizes she has one final chance to save her people, even if it means sacrificing part of herself.

Five women revolutionize the modern art world in postwar America in this "gratifying, generous, and lush" true story from a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist (Jennifer Szalai, New York Times). Set amid the most turbulent social and political period of modern times, Ninth Street Women is the impassioned, wild, sometimes tragic, always exhilarating chronicle of five women who dared to enter the male-dominated world of 20th-century abstract painting - not as muses but as artists.

Suffering from writer's block, novelist Rachel Ames escapes to a lake cabin to calm her mind and regain a sense of herself. The location is perfect. Isolated. Beautiful. Inspiring. It even comes with a good-looking landlord who shows an interest in her. But she can't shake the sense that something terrible has followed her to the lake, something just beyond her consciousness, something out on the edge where the sounds of a raging fire and sirens linger whenever she slows down to listen.

Welcome to the town of Barksdale, where the canine residents strive for perfection. Every shopkeeper claims to be the "best groomer" or sell the "best biscuits". And at Barksdale Academy, the pressure is on every year for one pup to be named Best in Show. Nova, Duke, Harley, and Peanut have never won Best in Show...which is okay with them! But they have to work together to pass their Agility Exam, because either the whole pack passes or the whole pack fails.

Figuring out how to raise happy, healthy, and successful kids can be overwhelming. Parents find themselves wading through tons of conflicting advice. Books that outline a "right way" of doing things can leave even the most dedicated caregiver feeling discouraged and inadequate when real life doesn't measure up.

Twenty years ago, Catherine Carmichael and her mother fled Ravenswood after Catherine's father mysteriously disappeared. Now, Catherine finds herself back on the small peninsula to attend the reading of her eccentric uncle's will. It is in the very mansion her own grandfather built amongst ghostly servants, chilling houseguests, and a mysterious and captivating stranger that Catherine must finally unlock the dark secrets of her past.

When 30-something housewife Alison Monaghan discovers proof of her husband's infidelity in a photograph with a mysterious woman, she must decide how to confront Frank when he returns home from work. Despite the influence of her best friend, Valerie, a strong Christian, Alison remains aloof from God and is determined to handle this crisis her own way. But Alison may not get that chance. Frank never makes it home. Soon his body is found on a lonely back-country road.

Memories are the ultimate contradiction. They can warm us on our coldest days - or they can freeze a loved one out of our lives forever. The McCarthy family has a trove of warm memories. Of innocent first kisses. Of sumptuous family meals. Of wondrous lessons learned at the foot of a rocking chair. But they also have had their share of icy ones. Of words that can never be unsaid. Of choices that can never be unmade. Of actions that can never be undone.

Marissa Rooney stands in her daughter's empty dorm room, a half-used vial of insulin clutched in her trembling hand. Brooke has been missing for days. Her roommate hasn't seen her since that night in the bar. And if Marissa has Brooke's insulin, it means that Brooke does not. But Marissa isn't alone in her terror. A phantom from her past is lurking in the shadows, waiting in the night, and holding her family captive...in the dark.

Becky Kincaid ventures out in the middle of a snowstorm to buy a car seat for her unborn baby and never makes it home. When a second pregnant woman disappears, Marissa Rooney and the team at the Holt Foundation fear a sinister motive lurks behind the crimes. Lead investigator Seth Crawford desperately searches for the thread that binds the two cases together, knowing that if he fails, another woman will soon be gone. While Seth hunts for clues, a madman has Marissa in his sights and she carries a secret that could tear her whole world apart.

Twenty years ago the boundary between worlds dropped. It will be a while before the political, social, and religious upheaval settles down, but the good news is now you can book a vacation to Valhalla as easily as you can go to Las Vegas. Your real estate agent might be a Wood Sprite. Your mechanic might be a Minotaur. For better or for worse, Supernormals are part of Earth life.

Welcome to Barksdale, where all the dogs strive for perfection. Every shopkeeper claims to be the “best groomer” or sell the “best biscuits.” And at Barksdale Academy, the pressure is on for one pup to be named Best in Show. Duke’s cousin Coco, a French bulldog from Paris, is visiting for the K-2 loyalty exam. During this exam, the Underdogs and their classmates will participate in a field day event against a rival school.

A spaceship mechanic has no place in a fairy tale. But now Zen Sienna finds herself in a beautiful palace being courted by the ruler of vast lands. Yet soon Zen is caught up in a revolution that comes a bit too close to imitating the original French Revolution - complete with beheadings. Swept up in a turmoil of fire and blood, she must find her footing.

Having spent the last seven years in Texas, Border Patrol Agent Peyton Cote is returning home to northern Maine, hoping it will be a safer environment for her young son. But the criminal element has turned what was once a quiet corner of the country into an illicit trade route... and there's no telling what they'll do to protect their interests.

It's no secret that these are very difficult times, and incidents of depression have increased dramatically. This book, How to Stay Depressed: Or Kiss It Goodbye through New Discoveries provides the newest and most up- to-date methods to successfully treat depression. Drawn from many different disciplines - psychotherapy, neurology, nutrition, psychopharmacology, alternative medicine, and even spirituality - it is a simple, listener-friendly guide to understanding and applying this new information.

When Agent Peyton Cote discovers a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy along the Canadian border, she has no idea who placed him there or why. And Victor Tankov, on his deathbed in Russia, likes it that way. By giving the boy political asylum, Peyton sets in motion a plan 25 years in the making, leading back to the world's largest art heist at Boston's Gardner Museum.

When US Customs and Border Protection agent Peyton Cote is called to a mysterious burned-out cabin, she has no idea it will lead her to reconnect with Dr. Sherry Duvall. Their reacquaintance, however, comes under difficult circumstances - Sherry's brother is accused of murder, and her father and mother have just died in a murder-suicide. On the home front, single-mom Peyton is waging a different battle - helping son Tommy fight his learning disability. Amid all this, a man is lurking who has only revenge on his mind.