California Days

In the spring of 1871, Ralph Waldo Emerson boarded a train in Concord, Massachusetts, bound for a month-and-a-half-long tour of California—an interlude that became one of the highlights of his life. Based on original research employing newly discovered documents, The California Days of Ralph Waldo Emerson maps the public story of this trip onto the private story of Emerson's final years. Engaging and compelling, this travelogue makes it clear that Emerson was still capable of wonder, surprise, and friendship, debunking the presumed darkness of his last decade.

Acclaimed author, historian, and Guggenheim Fellow Kevin Starr is a professor at the University of Southern California. His extensive knowledge shines through this concise, yet comprehensive, depiction of the most fascinating aspects in California's history. From its colonial beginnings through Governor Schwarzenegger's administration, the Golden State has become a uniquely American phenomenon that has enchanted people with the possibility of a better life.

The I Escaped Series: The World's Favorite New Escapes. Survival Stories For Today's Generation In this stellar, impactful book, a young teen navigates the devastating chaos of the 2018 Paradise Wildfire. A Notable Children's Release from bestselling authors SD Brown and Scott Peters. 14-year-old Troy embarks on a harrowing journey to protect his kid sister during the catastrophic Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Initially thinking it's just a regular night, the terrifying truth hits home: their town is engulfed in flames. Worse, his parents are away, leaving him alone to babysit. Trapped...

The I Escaped Series: The World's Favorite New Escapes. Survival Stories For Today's Generation Bestselling authors SD Brown and Scott Peters tackle the 1852 Klamath River Conflict in this gripping account of the 1852 Klamath River Conflict for modern young readers.It’s 1852, and California’s Gold Rush is in full swing. Tempers are flaring along the mighty Klamath River, where men are wild with gold-rush fever. 14-year-old Hudson treads carefully amongst them, desperate to find her long-lost father. She can only pray that he’ll take her in. A battle erupts between miners and local ...

Building on her critically acclaimed novel The Last Days of California and her biting collection Always Happy Hour, Miller slyly transports listeners to her unapologetic corner of the South - this time, Biloxi, Mississippi, home to 63-year-old Louis McDonald, Jr. His wife of 37 years left him, his father has passed - and he has impulsively retired from his job in anticipation of an inheritance check that may not come. One day, he stops at a house advertising free dogs and meets overweight mixed-breed Layla.

With The Last Days of California, Mary Miller bursts into the literary world, taking up the mantle of Southern fiction and rendering it her own with wry vulnerability and contemporary urgency. Miller’s revelatory protagonist, Jess, is fourteen years old and waiting for the world to end. Her evangelical father has packed up the family and left their Montgomery home to drive west to California, hoping to save as many souls as possible before the Second Coming.

There are four standalone romances included in this box set: Hearts Ahoy: With a call to a radio station and a bunch of 80s musical trivia in her back pocket, young widow Julia Delmonico wins a spot on a “Second Chance at Romance” cruise to Hawaii. On her way towards paradise, she bumps into Martin Estrada—single, handsome, and funny. But is Martin’s past more important than a possible future with Julia? With a little advice from the octogenarian in the cabin next door, and a strong nudge from the flamboyant and insistent “cupid” who’s been assigned to Julia on the cruise, she...

After years on the road performing at sold-out venues, Tyson Motsenbocker returned home to the impending death of his 57-year-old hero and mother. He begged God to heal her, but she died anyway. When they buried her body, Tyson also buried the childhood version of his faith. Shortly before her death, however, Tyson became intrigued by the complicated legacy of Father Junipero Serra, the 18th-century Franciscan monk and canonized saint who dedicated his life to the idea that tragedy and suffering are portals to renewal.

Welcome to Gold Rush to Modern Day Mines - a definitive guide to the fascinating world of gold mining, spanning centuries and continents. This eBook is a treasure trove of stories, facts, and insights that will surprise and delight anyone interested in the history, culture, and economic significance of this glittering metal. From the legendary California Gold Rush that transformed America's destiny to the discovery of Witwatersrand, the world's largest gold deposit, in South Africa, this book takes you on a riveting journey through some of the most iconic moments in the history of gold ...

In Golden Days, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum uses these two teams - the Jerry West/Wilt Chamberlain/Elgin Baylor Lakers and the Stephen Curry/Kevin Durant/Draymond Green Warriors - to trace the dynamic history of the National Basketball Association, which for much of the last half century has marched memorably through the state of California. Tying together the two strands of McCallum's story is Hall of Famer West, the ferociously competitive Laker guard who later became one of the key architects of the Warriors.

In the six lectures of The Everyday Guide to Wines of California, you’ll join acclaimed Master of Wine Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan on an engaging and interactive tour of the unique flavors California has to offer. By surveying both perennial top-sellers and experimental underdogs, you’ll discover why California is one of the world’s greatest wine producers. Filled with interactive tastings, suggestions for food pairings, shopping tips, and more, you’ll learn how to enjoy all of California’s offerings - one delicious glass at a time.

Shyima Hall was born in Egypt on September 29, 1989, the seventh child of desperately poor parents. When she was eight, her parents sold her into slavery. Shyima then moved two hours away to Egypt's capitol city of Cairo to live with a wealthy family and serve them eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. When she was ten, her captors moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled Shyima with them. Two years later, an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima's servitude - but her journey to true freedom was far from over.

She’s in for the ride of her life… All Deirdre wants to do is trail ride. Her modest, rural neighborhood is a horsewoman’s dream—despite rumors that it’s haunted by the horseback-riding Black Witch of Fairy Glen. For Deirdre, those rumors have always been handy for keeping outsiders out. But now, something very real—and much more sinister—is menacing her personal paradise. A real-estate mogul wants to build fireproof mega-mansions on the ridgeline, bulldozing through Fairy Glen to get to the top. Does he have anything to do with the dead bodies showing up around the ...

A young woman finds her loyalties tested beyond limit and her desires torn beyond measure in 1846 California. After sailing around Cape Horn, and barely surviving the perilous journey, devout Protestant Rachel Tyler, arrives in California just in time for her father’s wedding and the unfolding of the Bear Flag Revolt. Though already engaged to marry a minister in Massachusetts, Rachel’s ambitious father arranges her betrothal to Roman Vasquez, a blue-blooded Catholic son of the gente de razón, the ruling class of California. Roman, a proud, Spanish soldier is ready to fight and die for...

California is the most multicultural state in the nation. As John Mack Faragher argues in this concise and lively history, that is nothing new. California's natural variety has always supported diversity, including Native peoples speaking dozens of distinct languages, Spanish and Mexican colonists, gold seekers from all corners of the globe, and successive migrant waves from the eastern states, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Beautifully crafted and elegantly written, Faragher tells the stories of a colorful cast of characters, some famous, others mostly unknown.

Aw, the gracious days of the ranchos. Days when pastures were running with beef, lamb and pork; forests and plains with antelope, deer, bear, and elk; and streams crowded with salmon and trout. The adjacent sea and beaches yielded fish and shellfish. Ducks, geese, and sandhill cranes flew in skeins over chaparral where quail and partridge teased fox, coyote and cougar...and the grizzly ruled over all. The California Cocina traces the recipes of early Californians and those who clamored there for her gold. Journals and diaries offer insight into how things were done, food prepared, and ...

Ted Just try and have an unusual ministry like mine these days. What’s so terribly wrong with a hug a day, huh? A non-sexual hug? Why can’t I have a non-denominational ministry based on hugs and assistance with getting back on your feet without the paparazzi tailing me, the media blasting me, and my own parishioners afraid to come out of their houses? It’s not like my church does anything other than community outreach to the poor, homeless, and those who want a leg up. The ones whose families and communities couldn’t or wouldn’t help. I’m the friend who gets them back on their ...

Allison Lopez has almost got her life back to something resembling normal. The radio station survived the wrath of the Jaguar God, so she at least has a steady job. Being a nighttime psychic radio host is a fun gig, even if the marketing people make it cheesy sometimes. But hey, the ‘Hump or Dump’ segment pays the bills. With the trifecta down to two, her witchy powers aren’t exactly at full strength, making it risky to challenge anything too dangerous. Millicent thinks the Universe will provide a third... but when? When a call-in guest seeks help against a spirit trying to kill him, ...

From J. Kenner comes a tantalizing novella starring fan favorites Damien Stark and his wife, Nikki Fairchild. Deepest Kiss follows the couple from their island resort to their home in Los Angeles and introduces Dallas Sykes, the seductive bad boy in the newest Stark International novel, Dirtiest Secret - the first book in a new trilogy of the S.I.N. series.

The world Cal and Frida have always known is gone, and they've left the crumbling city of Los Angeles far behind them. They now live in a shack in the wilderness, working side-by-side to make their days tolerable despite the isolation and hardships they face. Consumed by fear of the future and mourning for a past they can't reclaim, they seek comfort and solace in each other. But the tentative existence they've built for themselves is thrown into doubt when Frida finds out she's pregnant.