Author Sankalan was in the sixth grade when his guardians threw him out of their government-owned house in the picturesque community of Germany, Kakata, Liberia, West Africa. Why? Because he went to borrow a uniform from his friend to sit for the Liberian Government national examinations designed for sixth, ninth, and twelfth graders in the sixties and seventies. Booker Washington Institute (BWI) campus was the site of the exams. The old uniform he had showed his naked anatomy in public, which was not only humiliating but embarrassingly inappropriate in such public arena. How did he continue school as an independent homeless youth in his home country, Liberia? What difficult circumstances did he experience in Liberia during his formative years in the quest of education? What propelled him to undertake this incredible journey to the United States of America, a country in which many Africans or Liberians believe that ‘Money grows on trees,’ a country in which people are territorial by nature and protective of their personal space, a country in which the culture values are diametrically opposed to the African or Liberian way of life? How did he maintain his moral integrity to his family, after he was pressured to engage in an illegal marriage proposal to obtain permanent resident status (Green Card) in his first year in the America? And how did he successfully complete his educational journey with perseverance despite insurmountable problems along his path in the US? Answers to these questions are chronicled in this riveting account of an intrepid Liberian in his book: My Improbable Journey to America—A Memoir of Reflections.

Best Books of the Month: Wall Street Journal, Kirkus Reviews From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Gulf, a sweeping cultural and natural history of the bald eagle in America. The bald eagle is regal but fearless, a bird you’re not inclined to argue with. For centuries, Americans have celebrated it as “majestic” and “noble,” yet savaged the living bird behind their national symbol as a malicious predator of livestock and, falsely, a snatcher of babies. Taking us from before the nation’s founding through inconceivable resurgences of this enduring all-American species, Jack E. Davis contrasts the age when native peoples lived beside it peacefully with that when others, whether through hunting bounties or DDT pesticides, twice pushed Haliaeetus leucocephalus to the brink of extinction. Filled with spectacular stories of Founding Fathers, rapacious hunters, heroic bird rescuers, and the lives of bald eagles themselves—monogamous creatures, considered among the animal world’s finest parents—The Bald Eagle is a much-awaited cultural and natural history that demonstrates how this bird’s wondrous journey may provide inspiration today, as we grapple with environmental peril on a larger scale.

An insider’s view on blockbuster deal-making and part cultural tour de force, An Improbable Journey is a one-of-a-kind, deeply textured account of how some of the greatest artists of all time pushed to realize their greatest ambitions—with the help of Charles Lubar. The year was 1971. Thirty-year-old Charles Lubar, a Washington, D.C.–born Harvard Law School graduate with a two-and-a-half-year deep dive in the Chief Counsel’s Office of the Internal Revenue Service recently behind him, was floundering in Nairobi, Kenya where he had come to seek the kind of high-stakes adventures one could never find at a major law firm in the U.S. But with his entrepreneurial hopes quashed in Nairobi by an environment that hardly wrapped its arms around outsiders, Indians being expelled from Kenya, and Idi Amin—the ruthless despot—on the brink of taking over in neighboring Uganda and soon to wreak havoc throughout the region, Lubar decided to pick up his stakes. With a sense of timing that would come to his aid again and again throughout his life, the young lawyer opted to make his next home in the UK. Little did he know that he would soon be swimming hard and fast in 1970s London during a cultural surge of film, television, music, and the stage. “Hired off the street” by two American lawyers in London—the brassy entertainment lawyer Irwin Margulies and the corporate transactional lawyer Barry Sterling—Lubar could never have predicted that his work would soon put him front and center at some of the biggest moments with some of the biggest names in showbiz. From the James Bond franchise to Linda Lovelace and “Deep Throat”; from Jim Henson and The Muppets to Michael Jackson and the Beatles; from behind the Iron Curtain to the islands of the Netherlands Antilles, Lubar’s rare knowledge of the tax codes spanning Europe and the U.S. made him an indispensable figure to creatives trying to make their financial lives work on both sides of the Atlantic. His list of clients goes on and on: Bill Graham, John Cleese, Santana, Diana Ross, Frank Oz, Chuck Traynor, Marilyn Chambers, Barbara Bach, Jane Seymour, Shakira, and Enrique Iglesias. Many turned to Lubar in real need of his assistance at the very prime (and sometimes, nadir) of their careers. Lubar’s bona fides would even land him a spot on the US-UK Fulbright Commission, as President of the Yale Club of London, and a Managing Partner in London of one of the major international law firms. An Improbable Journey shows a risk-taker with his finger living right on the cultural pulse of a moment.

This novel-based on Lee Nelson's actual LDS mission to Germany is a pleasing, uplifting journey of self-discovery. The plot twists and heart-touching scenes rival any of those found in the author's Storm Testament series. "Elder Spencer W. Kimball laid his warm, strong hands on my head and in a raspy voice, proceeded to set me apart as a missionary. He blessed me that I would be protected from harm, that I would enjoy good health, and that if I kept the commandments and remained faithful I would be instrumental in bringing a thousand souls to the truth." That promise weighed heavily on young Lee Nelson as he began his mission to Germany in the 1960s, but also served as a motivator for him in accomplishing the work of the Lord. The powerful message will serve as motivation for young readers to serve missions themselves.

Raj Sarma currently resides in the Bay Area with his spouse and two children. His life journey humbles him, and he aims to share his experiences to inspire those striving for a better life. Raj Sarma’s experiences, both positive and negative, have shaped his thought process and emotional state, emphasizing the connection between daily decisions and personal growth. He is motivated to share his story to help his children understand their father’s background and find their own identities as they navigate their journeys.

John Cangelosi: The Improbable Baseball Journey of the Undersized Kid from Nowhere to World Series Champion A born and bred New Yorker, John Cangelosi’s claim to fame was as a super-quick base stealer with a tremendous work ethic. He played on that 1997 Florida Marlins team that surprised everyone by wining the World Series. In this biography, he teams up with noted sports writer K. P. Wee to share his stories of growing up in Brooklyn and what it took to become an MLB player. This is an inside look at a real everyman of baseball, full of stories about stealing bases against legendary pitchers and catchers, and how it felt to celebrate the first championship in Marlins history. “[Cangelosi] put forth the effort in the way he played, and he got back to the big leagues. You salute guys like that. And that’s why with the younger players, you just tell them, ‘Hey, look. You wanna try to get to the big leagues? Do what he does. Show up, and play hard every night.” —Terry Collins, former Buffalo Bisons manager and Houston Astros manager “If you have that blue-collar work ethic and not give up on your dreams, anything can happen. That’s what happened for me in those years in the 1990s.” —John Cangelosi

Presents the author's first-hand account of his experiences playing football in the NFL, the first player of Vietnamese descent to achieve that goal, and includes information on his faith, his family, and his career.

"The FLOTUS Effect" emphasizes the import of agency on the part of Michelle Obama in relation to her politics as evidenced in her positionality and presence as the first African American woman to serve as First Lady of the United States of America. Her occupation of a previously white space and place tended to frame her as an enigma in the American mind and media. Contributors reflect on Mrs. Obama’s eight years in her ceremonial position, and the ways she chose to uniquely embody her role. Hence, the result is a volume that speculates upon her evolving legacy, and the likely “effects” of what it meant to be the first African-American woman to serve in the ceremonial, yet powerful, role of FLOTUS.

How many people can count among their closest friends Ethel Merman (the Queen of Broadway), Mother Teresa (beatified by the Vatican in October, 2003), Lee Lehman, (wife of Robert Lehman, head of Lehman Brothers), Pierre Cardin (legendary couturier and major show-business force in Europe), and many others? Well, Tony Cointreau, a scion of the French liqueur family, can. After a successful international singing career, and several years on the Cointreau board of directors, he felt a need for something more meaningful in his life. His voice had taken him to the stage, and his heart took him to Calcutta. Tony’s childhood experiences with an emotionally remote mother, an angry bullying brother, a cold and unprotective Swiss nurse, and a sexually predatory schoolteacher left him convinced that the only way to be loved is to be perfect. This led him on a lifelong quest for love and for a mother figure. His first “other mother” was the internationally acclaimed beauty Lee Lehman. Then, after Tony met the iconic Broadway diva Ethel Merman, she became his mentor and second “other mother.” His memoir describes in detail his intimate family relationships with both women, as well as his years of work and friendship with Mother Teresa, his last “other mother.” Tony’s memoir voices his opinion that he had no special gifts or talents to bring to Mother Teresa’s work and that if he could do it, then anyone could do it. In the end, all that really matters is a willingness to share even a small part of oneself with others.

A trenchant expose of the inside workings of the,FBI which reveals - with numerous examples - the,extraordinarily severe problems of racism,experienced by black officers.