That was the last thing Klaus had to say before we left J.C.' s diner to go our separate ways. On my way home, I decided I would drive by my grandparents' home. Every once in a while I'll do that, even though it's very painful to realize that they're gone now and that house belongs to someone else- a total stranger. When I come to the house, I park in front and just sit there, recalling that during the Prohibition Era this house was a blind pig and my grandmother was the proprietress. As a young boy, I would walk the three miles from my house just to sit on the front porch with "ma" so I could listen to her tell stories about the "old days". It's been thirty years since I've been inside that house, which was a second home to me when I was growing up. I have a feeling that if I were to go inside now, that my grandfather would still be sitting there in his favorite chair wearing nothing but his BVDs (the kind with the back flap that buttons up) reading "True Detective" or "Field and Stream." I am tempted to walk up the front steps and ring the doorbell, but I don't dare. 

Not far here was a little pond and a garbage dump. In the summers of my childhood, I'd go down to the pond and catch tadpoles and pollywogs, or I'd walk over to the dump and scrounge around for hidden treasures amidst the trash. Say, what's happening to me? Maybe I'm dying. No? Then why is my whole life- beginning with my earliest memories- suddenly passing before my eyes? 

It's my birthday, I'm five-years-old old and I'm sitting on a wooden pony on the fifth floor of Hudson's Department Store in downtown Detroit where I'll be getting my first professional haircut. Later that same day, my mother takes me to Sanders for a Hot Fudge Sunday. Cut to that little pond I mentioned. I've been catching pollywogs with a strainer and putting them in a jar when a big kid comes up to me and orders me to leave. I refuse and he wrestles me to the ground, demanding that I say uncle. When I refuse to say uncle, he gives me a good pounding, then takes that jar of mine and empties its contents back into the pond. I don't cry, but holding back the tears, I vow to myself that I'll get him back some day. But I never do. 

So many things from my childhood have disappeared, like that pond, for instance, which is no longer there, and the garbage dump, and the creek where we fished for carp and the bridge that spanned it- all of that's been gone for years. Gone, too, are the vacant lots where we played pick up baseball in the summer, and the woods where we had bonfires in the fall, roasting marshmallows over the fire while warming ourselves. Now that I think of it, my grade school is gone- torn down years ago to make way for a Farmer Jack's. And the schoolyard where we held our marble tournaments before and after school (knuckles down, no hunching) and played kick ball and dodge ball- that schoolyard where I had so much fun- buried and paved-over into a parking lot- gone. Gone the way of the sheeny-man who came into our neighborhood riding an antique horse that clop, clop clopped down our street pulling a wagon full of junk while the sheeny blew his shrill-sounding horn to let the neighborhood know that he had arrived. Gone too, the ice man who carried big blocks of ice with silver tongs for our ice box; and gone- the man who delivered the coal that went rumbling down the coal shoot and into the coal bin, a fascinating place in its own right when you're still young enough to appreciate such things as coal bins All that's gone. 

Within walking distance of my grandmother's house is the movie theater. I'm six and I'm standing in a long line with all the other kids holding a quarter in my hand: the price of admission back then. For a mere twenty-five cents you've gained entrance to that darkened theater to watch three movies, a newsreel, a serial, (Flash Gordon was my favorite.), cartoons and coming attractions. Seven years later, in that same theater, I sit down next to a strange girl and ask her if she would like to neck with me, and she consents, taking my hand in hers and leaning her head on my shoulder. (Necking wasn't really allowed, and if you weren't careful, a very official-looking usherette, who wore a uniform with gold buttons down the front and epaulettes on the shoulders, would shine her flashlight on you.) The last time I drove by the Lincoln Park Show it was advertising itself on the marquee as Adult Entertainment. 

The Depression having ended by the time I was born, my earliest memories begin around the time of World War II. My mother is sitting down at the kitchen table placing little green stamps in her ration book. Once the book is full, she'll go to a redemption center and have the stamps redeemed for money to buy food with. That was the year we planted a victory garden in the vacant lot next to our house. In a similar vein, the kids on our my block had paper drives and collected scrap metal. It was all part of the war effort, for as young boys we were learning how to be patriotic and to love the flag and "the country for which it stands"- America. As a matter of fact, my very first lesson in patriotism came in the form of a warning from the big kids on my block never to let the American flag touch the ground or I'd have to burn it- just one of a number of taboos I learned as a child similar to, but nowhere near as fearful as, "step on a crack and break you mother's back'. 

Where are they now?- my comic book collection and those hundreds and hundreds of matchbooks that I picked out of gutters and found in empty fields on the way home from school. And why? Because, as a kid of nine, I found the endless variety of match covers fascinating. What happened to my Lionel train- the one I woke up to find underneath the Christmas tree, my Red Ryder be-be gun and my American Flyer bike?- where are they now? 

At that age, my indoor world was a world of tinker toys, erector sets, and games- all kinds of games: hockey, basketball, football and my favorite, APBA baseball,- and the radio. Every Sunday, after church, my dad would buy a paper from the paperboy, and when we got home, I would do is spread out the comic section on the living room floor, then turn on the radio and listen to the Sunday comics being read over the air. During the week, when I get home from school, the first thing I do is turn on the radio and listen to my favorite programs: Jack Armstrong, All-American boy, Captain Midnight, (I wear my Captain Midnight decoder ring that glows in the dark), Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, and broadcast from WXYZ, our very own Lone Ranger. Hi-o Silver, away. In the evening was Baby Snooks, The Great Gildersleeve, Inner Sanctum, Lights Out, My Friend Irma, Bulldog Drummond, The Shadow, Mr. Keane, Tracer of Lost Persons, Name that Tune, Mr. I.Q., Life with Luigi, and another local favorite, The Green Hornet. 

My outdoor world was the streets, the vacant lots, the fields and the alleys of my neighborhood. In the street we played hockey in the winter and touch football in the fall; in fields and vacant lots we played pick up baseball and built our underground fort where we slept out on hot summer nights playing Hearts and Crazy Eights by candlelight, or we climbed up the rope ladder to our tree house where, with our binoculars, we could spy on all our neighbors. Alleys were for alley-picking and for war games played with cap pistols, be-be guns, and sling shots. We made walkie-talkies out of old tin cans and string, kites using clothes line, parachutes, and model airplanes. In the vacant lot next to my house we played cork ball- if you ask me, the greatest game ever invented. You could play cork ball using a large bobber or an ordinary bottle cork for a ball and a broomstick handle for a bat. A ball that landed in the alley was a triple, on the other side of the alley, a home run.. 

Item: our alleys were paved with cinders back then. The White Street gang lines up on one side, the Garfield Street gang on the other. There's going to be a rock fight. Before you know what's happening, the sky is filled with rocks. You throw, you duck, you throw another rock and then you duck and then something happens- your face is burning and throbbing. You've been hit. My god, you could have lost your eye. You could cry, but you don't. You are a casualty in a rock fight and you will carry a scar beneath your eye for the rest of your life, and you didn't cry- you are a hero. That night, after your father comes home from work, you get your first good licking. In bed that night, you pull the covers over your head and listen to your favorite radio programs before you fall asleep. 

I'm back in the real world again, saddened by the sight of my grandmother's house. Whoever lives there now has let in fall into disrepair. No, I wouldn't want to go inside; it would depress me to see how everything would be different. No, I'll go now. I turn on the engine and head for home. I wonder as I drive past the familiar landmarks of my youth how time has changed so much, transforming Main Street into block after block of blighted buildings. Where there was once an ice cream parlor, a barbershop, and a shoe repair, there are now ugly abandoned or boarded-up buildings. Our two dime stores: Niesner's and Woolworth's, and Winkleman's, a classy women's clothing store, are now a dumpy-looking Dollar Store, a Temporary Jobs Office, and windowless Community Mental Health Center. Cunningham's, with its lunch counter where you could sit and have a chicken salad sandwich and a cup of coffee while you waited for your bus, is gone, and Sanders closed its doors ten years ago. 

Last week I went with J.C. on a delivery run down near the docks in River Rouge and saw the Columbia, one of the two Bob-Lo boats, in dry dock. It's being restored. All the same, there will be no more picnics on the island because Bob-Lo Island, with its roller coaster, its dance hall and its many amusement rides, was sold to private developers and everything was torn down. At one time we had four such amusement parks; now there are none. Gone are the penny arcades of my youth, the slots where for a penny you could get sepia-colored pictures of ballplayers and boxers, movie stars, wrestlers and cowboys. All that's gone. But most tragic was the demolition of Hudson's, as thousands lined-up to watch the spectacle of this great landmark implode into a huge pile of rubble. 

When I think of all that's been lost, I am saddened. One magnificent railway station demolished, the other, Michigan Central, an empty hulk. Now that all of its windows have been busted out, it's nothing more than a vacant shell of a building. And those lavish movie palaces of a bygone era, almost all them gone- closed or destroyed. The great burlesque houses, like the famous Gayety and The Esquire- they, too, have vanished, as have those magnificent ballrooms, the Grande and the Vanity; those proud hotels, the Sheraton Cadillac and the Fort Shelby; and finally, the Vernors' plant- the first one, the one located at the foot of Woodward Avenue where you caught the Bob-Lo boat way back when. I believe it's been more than fifty years since they tore it down. A local product, Vernor's has the distinction of being the first soda pop in America. Today, it is owned by one of America's largest conglomerates: the Pepsi Cola Company. 

I remember the day the carnival came to town and seeing the boy with webbed feet, the bearded lady and the man who had a baby growing out of his stomach. Until the day I die, I'll never forget that man with the baby. Of all the freak shows I've seen, that's the one I'll never forget. How on earth, this six-year-old wondered (as he stood inside that stuffy tent with the smell of sawdust in his nostrils, holding on to his daddy's hand) could a man have a baby growing out of his stomach? How did it happen? That was in the city of Ecorse some fifty years ago on the fourth of July. I remember it well, especially watching the fireworks from atop the Ferris wheel, a burst of sound- boom- then splashes of color lighting up the sky, appearing in an instant, lingering for a moment, then fading away into the dark 

A light goes on inside the house. I turn on my engine and drive off, but before going directly home, I take the overpass that connects suburbia with Detroit. Reaching the highest point of the overpass, I look out at the cityscape, all aglow and spread out like a magic carpet of light. Directly below- the refinery, with its eternal flame; then farther out, the Ambassador Bridge with its colorful beads of light, strung along the bridge from one side- the American side- to the other- the Canadian side; and then, at the farthest point of vision, the mills and factories bordering the river, their myriad lights; candles glowing in the dark, their smoke stacks; vertical canons, sending up ghostly wisps of smoke into the night sky -light to ward-off the coming darkness of a fascistic America ruled by powerful and impersonal corporations in league with a government indifferent to the dreams and aspirations of its people, the working people of America. We cannot let this happen; this relentless juggernaut has to be stopped. If we don't stop it and stop it soon, before it is too late (if it's not already too late), the lights will go out all across America and darkness will cover the land.

A beautiful, full-color collection of recipes and stories that celebrate comfort and inspire happiness all year round from Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy and his wife, Kathy.

Steve Doocy calls Kathy, his wife of more than thirty years, "the best cook I’ve ever met." Together, they take joy in cooking and entertaining with their family and friends. In The Happy Cookbook, the Doocys share favorite recipes, stories, and photos from their family life. In addition to beloved family dishes, this full-color cookbook includes recipes from friends like musician Kid Rock, professional golfer Greg Norman, and many more!

The Happy Cookbook will not only appeal to Steve’s legions of Fox & Friends fans, but to anyone looking for accessible, fun, and delicious food that will inspire great meals for every day and for special occasions. The Happy Cookbook includes a range of yummy dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, such as:

• Steve’s Breakfast Smoothie
• Eggs in a Nest
• Roma Tomato Flatbread
• Pimento Cheese Dip
• Bacon Corn Chowder
• Flaky Ham and Cheese Sandwiches
• Mamma Marie’s Meatballs
• Kid Rock’s Mom’s Chicken Pot Pie
• Ritz Cracker Breaded Pork Chop
• Buffalo Chicken Calzone
• Kathy’s Famous Sugar Cookies
• Betty’s Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake

Offering an inside look at the Doocys’ home life—their food, stories, and infectious family spirit—The Happy Cookbook is all-American home cooking at its best: nothing fancy, and everything delicious!

Four of the most critically acclaimed writers in comics--Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid--are joined by breakdown artist Keith Giffen and a host of the industry’s finest pencillers and inkers to create this unprecedented event in comics history.

DC’s groundbreaking publication of the weekly comic 52 tells the story of a “missing” year in the DC Universe--in real time. The cataclysmic events of INFINITE CRISIS have left the world without its three biggest icons—Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman--and the question is asked: who will stand up in their absence?

Now, in the first of two volumes, 52 is collected with bonus material after each chapter, including concept designs, page breakdowns, scripts, alternate story elements, and more! Collects 52 #1-26.

Fortean Times : The World of Strange Phenomena

Issue 189 Priced in USA and CAN Dollars

Cover Story:  Conspiracy in the USA, Presidential parapolitics, dark deeds in the White House, Aryan Republican Army, The Real Oklahoma Bombers?, James Brown, The President's Vampire

4-Page UFO Section : Latest sighting & photos, expert analysis, classic cases revisited

ALSO: 

• Crop Circles, Best of 2004
• Elvis Lives! Graceland Sighting
• 23 pages of the Weirdest News from Around the World
• Chicken Boy
• Russian UFO Crash
• Killer Phone Calls
• Raining Stones

200 recipes complete with ingredients list, step by step preparation instructions with timetable each with a tempting photographed serving suggestion.

Love food?  This stylish cookbook will help feed your passion by offering a collection of delicious recipes that are straightforward to prepare, don't require hours in the kitchen, and are also a feast for the eyes.  Whether you want to make a comforting casserole, a summer salad or a quick, spicy stir fry, you will love using these exciting recipes, and see great results every time.

Each mouth-watering recipe is clearly set out with a list of ingredients, preparation and cooking times, step-by-step instructions and a beautifully photographed serving suggestion.

Mimi is an artistic cat in need of a human. But for a cat like her—with the soul of an artist—only an artist will do. Mr. Dada is a human who believes that art can be anything, and that anything can be art. And for a human like him—with the soul of a Dadaist—only an artistic pet will do. Sometimes, though, it takes a while for humans to see what’s right in front of them all along. So it is a good thing that Mimi is loud and silly and surprising and bold. Mimi is a Dada cat, through and through.

This charming story about staying true to yourself sparkles with playful prose and stunning mixed-media illustrations while introducing readers to the Dadaist art movement. Includes an author’s note, a list of books and websites, and an index.

Shelley Jackson has written and illustrated several books for children, including The Old Woman and the Wave (DK Children, 1998) and Sophia, the Alchemist's Dog (Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books, 2002). Her most recent book, The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington (FSG, 2007), received several awards and starred reviews. Shelley's books for adults include The Melancholy of Anatomy (Anchor Books, 2002) and Half Life (HarperCollins, 2006). She is well known for her pioneering cross-genre experiments such as her groundbreaking hypertext novel, Patchwork Girl, and her ongoing Skin Project, a novella published exclusively in the form of tattoos on the skin of volunteers, one word at a time. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

In his most ambitious book yet, Clifford Pickover bridges the gulf between logic, spirit, science, and religion. While exploring the concept of omniscience, Pickover explains the kinds of relationships limited beings can have with an all-knowing God. Pickover's thought exercises, controversial experiments, and practical analogies help us transcend our ordinary lives while challenging us to better understand our place in the cosmos and our dreams of a supernatural God. Through an inventive blend of science, history, philosophy, science fiction, and mind-stretching brainteasers, Pickover unfolds the paradoxes of God like no other writer. He provides glimpses into the infinite, allowing us to think big, and to have daring, limitless dreams.

From Publishers Weekly

Pickover, an inventor, computer artist and professional puzzler (who has edited brainteaser columns for both Discover and Odyssey), invites readers on a paradoxical and sometimes merely quirky exploration of logical and psychological puzzles surrounding God and religion. Many of these "paradoxes" simply put a new face on the familiar conflict between divine foreknowledge and free will; others lead to unexpected conclusions such as Pickover's demonstration of how omniscient beings are at a huge disadvantage in games of "chicken" with non-omniscient beings. (By staying the course, a daring challenger can compel an all-knowing opponent to turn aside, guaranteeing their mutual safety.) This and other examples show how omniscience can become a practical liability in some situations, countering the widespread assumption that knowledge is power. The book is also liberally salted with religious and nonreligious curiosities and conundrums, ranging from biblical oddities to the neuropsychology of time perception, all related with an attitude of mischievous irreverence...

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

World renowned Rao's Restaurant now takes on barbecuing with a new cookbook that gets you out of the kitchen and onto the patio

The Pellegrino family knows what America wants to eat―and in Rao's On The Grill son Frank, Jr. reveals their family's summer entertaining secrets. This simple, fresh, happy cookbook features both new ideas for home chefs and great, abundant recipes for the food that the Pellegrinos make for themselves and their friends at home. Whether you have a simple kettle grill or a brand-new state-of-the-art outdoor kitchen, Rao's On The Grill will turn you on to new ways of using an ancient cooking method and will delight you with eighty new foolproof dishes to try. In Rao's On The Grill, you'll learn to:

• cook pizza on the grill
• create flavor-boosting marinades, sauces and rubs for
meat and sides
• grill vegetables to peak tenderness and char
• turn to pasta salads with grilled accents
• transform summer staples, such as seafood and corn, into
magic meals
• use your indoor cooking equipment on the grill
• keep meat juicy
• prepare the perfect I talian burger
• make your winter favorites, like Lemon Chicken and Steak
Pizzaiola, outdoors
• use your grill for dessert!

Everyone knows the importance of eating healthy, but which foods are the most nutritious? 100 Best Health Foods takes the mystery out of eating well, providing clear nutritional facts and descriptions of 100 foods that will help you live a healthy lifestyle. Featuring delicious recipes and illustrations for each food, this book provides a wealth of information on how to incorporate the healthiest fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs, fish, chicken and more into your diet.

The range of "superfoods" covered includes fruits and vegetables, fish and seafood, and pulses and grains.  With facts and information on the nutritional benefits of a hundred of the world's most health-giving foods, plus a hundred delicious recipes--from fruity smoothies and leafy salads to chunky salsas and comforting soups--this book will make eating well easy and enjoyable.

“Have you ever had one of those experiences when the light bulb just went off? You thought to yourself, ‘Now, I get it! That was the lesson I was supposed to learn in all of this!’”

Light Bulb Moments is a collection of 75 lessons learned through everyday life. In each chapter, author, life purpose coach, and speaker Talayah Stovall shares personal stories and anecdotes to help guide us through life’s ups and downs. Discovering your purpose and passion; developing persistence, hope, patience, faith, and forgiveness; setting clear and actionable goals for the future; and understanding the value of friendship and love are among the many treasures found in this wise little book. 

Key messages include: Your passion can become your livelihood Successful people often fail their way to success Whatever you don’t control, controls you Distinguish between your goals and your wishes or dreams Lighthearted, warm, and compassionate, Light Bulb Moments will inspire you to pursue your greatness and create a vision for your life as you want it to be. 

“Everyone wants more love, light, joy, and energy in their lives. Occasionally, all we need is to drink deeply of someone else’s story to reignite ours. Here is just such a book.” —Mark Victor Hansen, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series

The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners : Your Essential Guide to Living the Keto Lifestyle by Amy Ramos - Softcover

"What I love about this book is that it brings healthy ingredients to the forefront, without being snobby. The section on keto-friendly alternatives is particularly useful, and every recipe is just 6 carbs! That’s some no-brainer type of keto stuff I can get behind."—Amanda C. Hughes, Keto Cook at WickedStuffed.com, author of Keto Life and The Wicked Good Ketogenic Diet

Eating healthier, losing weight, and trimming your waistline―no matter what your reasons for following the ketogenic diet are, starting is never as simple as it sounds. Equipping you with easy-to-follow meal plans, shopping lists, and need-to-know info about the keto lifestyle, The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners is your all-in-one resource for starting and sticking to the ketogenic diet. Key into keto and learn how good it can feel to lose weight and lead a healthy lifestyle with The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners cookbook.

The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners cookbook contains:

• 75 Easy to Follow Recipes using five main ingredients or less for every meal
• 14-Day Meal Plan jump-starting your ketogenic diet with shopping lists and balanced meals
• A Complete Overview explaining the fundamentals of the ketogenic diet and advice for living the keto-lifestyle
• Handy Charts  illustrating calories and nutritional information

Recipes in The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners include: Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie, Bacon-Artichoke Omelet, Chicken-Avocado Lettuce Wraps, Rosemary-Garlic Lamb Racks, Pesto Zucchini Noodles, Nutty Shortbread Cookies, and much more!

Endorsed by the Mayo Clinic and others in the medical community, the ketogenic diet has been proven as a healthy, effective way of achieving weight loss, as it consists of low-carb, high fat foods that prompt the body to burn fat for energy instead of glucose.

For all lovers of horses and history, it's the next book in the popular Horse Diaries series. Born in the Arabian Desert in the ninth century, Yatimah is a black Arabian filly whose name means "orphan." She enjoys her life at the oasis, with sheep to tease, other foals to race, and the daughter of her Bedouin owner to take care of her. But when the colt who is her foster brother is stolen in a raid, Yatimah realizes her true birthright. Like Black Beauty, this moving novel is told in first person from the horse's own point of view and includes an appendix full of photos and facts about Arabian horses and Bedouin culture.

About the Author

CATHERINE HAPKA has written more than 150 books for children and young adults—many about horses, including Elska, the first book in the Horse Diaries series. A lifelong horse lover, she rides several times per week and appreciates horses of all breeds. She lives on a small farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, which she shares with a horse, three goats, a small flock of chickens, and too many cats.

RUTH SANDERSON has illustrated books for children of all ages, including Summer Pony, Winter Pony, and Hush, Little Horsie. Her favorite hobby is horseback riding. You can find out more at RuthSanderson.com.

Age Range: 8 - 12 years

Grade Level: 3 - 7

Lexile Measure: 840L

“I did not want to fail, because the stakes were too high. After all, I was after nothing less than the secret of human harmony.” The challenge that bestselling author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson set for himself was formidable: to create a true interspecies peaceable kingdom within his own household. He hoped to learn if several different species–some, natural enemies–raised together from an early age could live peacefully side by side. So he took into his home seven young animals–a kitten, a rabbit, two rats, two chickens, and a puppy–and set about observing the whole process of socialization (or non-socialization) from the very beginning.

The initial results were mixed. Tamaiti, the kitten, made herself instantly comfortable, but Hohepa, the Flemish giant rabbit, remained inscrutably reserved. Kia and Ora, the rats, slept all day and became active at night. Moa and Moana, the Polish frizzle chickens, bonded with each other but to no one else. Mika, the stray pup, barked much too much. But as the hours and days passed in this never-before-attempted environment, the animals began to change in startling ways, as Masson wondered which animals would bond, and which would recoil from one another? Can animals, including humans, truly change when direct experience tells them it’s safe to do so? Would the experiment end in triumph, or in tragedy?

Raising the Peaceable Kingdom poses universal questions we’ve all had about relationships, social strife, and peaceful coexistence. In its intimations of the potential for planetary harmony, this elegantly written book is a work of major significance. As a unique account of life in an interspecies community, it offers unmitigated enchantment, joy, and delight.

"This may be the most original cross-species love story I've ever read. Part travelogue, part recovery memoir, and one hundred percent compelling." -Gwen Cooper, author of the New York Times bestselling Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat

"[An] epiphany-provoking gem of a story, skillfully crafted, vivid and rich with feeling." -Richard Blanco, Presidential Inaugural Poet and author of The Prince of los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood

"A stunning, exceptional memoir from a woman who truly understands and appreciates birds . . . A captivating, heart-warming tale and a delightful, inspiring read." -Joanna Burger, author of The Parrot Who Owns Me: The Story of a Relationship

Nikki Moustaki grew up in 1980s Miami, the only child of parents who worked, played, and traveled for luxury sports car dealerships. At home, her doting grandmother cooked for and fed her, but it was her grandfather-an evening-gown designer, riveting storyteller, and bird expert-who was her mentor and dearest companion.

Like her grandfather, Nikki fell hard for birds. "Birds filled my childhood," she writes, "as blue filled the sky." Her grandfather showed her how to hypnotize chickens, sneak up on pigeons, and handle baby birds. He gave her a white dove to release for luck on each birthday. And he urged her to, someday, visit the bird market of Paris.

But by the time Nikki graduated from college and moved to New York City, she was succumbing to an alcohol addiction and was increasingly unable to care for her flock. When her grandfather died, guilt-ridden Nikki drank even more. In a last-ditch effort to honor her grandfather, she flew to France hoping to visit the bird market of Paris to release a white dove. And there, something astonishing happened that saved Nikki's life.

The Low-GI Cookbook provides over 80 delicious, healthy low-GI recipes, allowing you to enjoy the many health rewards a low-GI diet can bring without having to compromise on the taste or variety of your meals.

Eating a low-GI diet is the ultimate way to high energy levels, permanent weight loss and great health. This practical book offers 80 mouthwatering recipes for every occasion, from quick-fix lunches such as Poached Eggs with Lentils & Rocket to delectable dinners including Baked Sweet Potato with Griddled Herb Chicken. There's no need to miss out on pudding either, with low-GI recipes for sweet treats such as Blackberry & Apple Tartlets and Fruity Bread & Butter Pudding.

Together with expert information on how the glycaemic index works and why low-GI foods are so good for you, with The Low-GI Cookbook you'll find living the low-GI life is easy.

Louise Blair is a home economist and food stylist, specializing in healthy recipes. She was a consultant for Diabetes UK and is the author of a number of books including Quick Cooking for Diabetes and Great Gluten-Free Baking, both published by Hamlyn.

• Nutritious and convenient protein option
• Wild caught pink salmon
• 97% Fat Free and only 70 calories per serving, rich in Omega-3
• Skinless and boneless; fresh taste and no drain; ready to eat
• Fast, easy, convenient, healthy meal for anytime and on the go

Innocent Victims contains two chilling novellas about seemingly normal people driven to commit the most heinous crimes imaginable.

CHICKENFEED is a crackling tale based on the true story of the ‘chicken farm murder’ in East Sussex in 1924. Although Norman Thorne never confessed to killing his girlfriend, he was tried and hanged for the crime. Told from the points of view of Elsie and Norman, Walters creates a suspenseful tale of fiction based on fact.

THE TINDER BOX is the story of Patrick O’Riordan, a man arrested for the brutal murder of two women. As shock turns to fury, the village residents unite against the O’Riordan family. But neighbor Siobhan Lavenham remains convinced that Patrick is innocent. Jeopardizing her own position within the community, she stands firmly in defense of the O’Riordan name.

A woman, a transplant... and the soul of a young man who in death gave her life.

After a heart and lung transplant operation, dancer Claire Sylvia discovered that new organs were not the only thing she inherited. Never having liked such foods as beer and chicken nuggets, she suddenly started craving them. After an extraordinary dream, she seeks out the family of her donor -- a teenaged boy who died in a motorcycle accident -- and learns that it is indeed possible for two souls to merge in one body.

"This is a story that must be told and heard...a fascinating example of how cellular memory can outlive physical death". -- Deepak Chopra, M.D.