For years Daniel Moss has been fascinated with Russia. Now, he's finally taking his dream vacation to St. Petersburg and Moscow. Just when he thinks his interesting but uneventful tourist trip has come to a safe end, Daniel's greatest fears about traveling to such a strange and exotic country on the other side of the world start to materialize. Dan and his Russian tour guide, Sasha, find themselves in the middle of a perilous journey as they are taken hostage by Separatist militants of Chechnya, the tiny country still bitterly struggling for independence from Russia. Along the way, Dan and Sasha become acquainted with smugglers and bandits, learn about a side of Russian history they never knew about, and fall in love. They soon discover the truth about the War on Terror and how it relates to the conflict between Chechnya and Russia-and the dark secret about the most dangerous and sought-after terrorist leaders in the world is revealed. Miraculously, Dan and Sasha get one chance to earn their freedom, but if they fail, they will die. If they succeed, they will accomplish one of the greatest missions of all time-and earn the ultimate victory in the War on Terror.

Midnight Train from Moscow is a book about a man who loses his "religion" and gains his spiritual freedom while serving as a missionary to Russia. Cas Logan is a combat veteran whose change in life causes him to be obsessed with saving the world...until his true self emerges while on a trip to Eastern Russia.

David Green decides to travel thousands of kilometres from Moscow to Vladivostok on the iconic Trans-Siberian line. On the train and in the many Siberian outposts he stops at he meets a wide range of ordinary Russian people - from a group of Beatles-singing babushkas to soldiers and struggling entrepreneurs - with situations arising that are at times comical, awkward or poignant. Travelling in third class, he learns to adhere to the train's unwritten social codes and to navigate the unfamiliar environment of Siberia, occasionally shadowed by security agents.

The acclaimed author of Home Schooling returns with a timeless tale of friendship, romance, betrayal, and survival that spans two world wars. In 1927, as Natalia Faber travels from Berlin to Prague with her mother, their train is delayed in Saxon Switzerland. In the brief time the train is idle, Natalia learns the truth about her father—who she believed died during her infancy—and meets a remarkable woman named Dr. Magdalena Schaeffer, whose family will become a significant part of her future. Shaken by these events, Natalia arrives at a spa on the shore of Lake Hevíz in Hungary. Here, she meets Count Miklós Andorján, a journalist and adventurer. The following year, they will marry. Years later, Germany has invaded Russia. When Miklós fails to return from the eastern front, Natalia goes to Prague to wait for him. With a pack of tarot cards, she sets up shop as a fortune teller, and she meets Anna Schaeffer, the daughter of the woman she met decades earlier on that stalled train. The Nazis accuse Natalia of spying, and she is sent to a concentration camp. Though they are separated, her friendship with Anna grows as they fight to survive and to be reunited with their families. “An original and compelling story, told with vivid detail and a richness in setting that I absorbed in one sitting.”—Ellen Keith, bestselling author of The Dutch Wife Praise for Homeschooling “Carol Windley’s writing has a unique power, a perfect combination of delicacy, intensity, and fearless imagination.”—Alice Munro “Startlingly lovely.”—Seattle Times

Hilarious and heartfelt observations on aging from one of America's favorite comedians as he turns 65, and a look back at a remarkable career Billy Crystal is turning 65, and he's not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt. In humorous chapters like "Buying the Plot" and "Nodding Off," Crystal not only catalogues his physical gripes, but offers a road map to his 77 million fellow baby boomers who are arriving at this milestone age with him. He also looks back at the most powerful and memorable moments of his long and storied life, from entertaining his relatives as a kid in Long Beach, Long Island, his years doing stand-up in the Village, up through his legendary stint at Saturday Night Live, When Harry Met Sally, and his long run as host of the Academy Awards. Readers get a front-row seat to his one-day career with the New York Yankees (he was the first player to ever "test positive for Maalox"), his love affair with Sophia Loren, and his enduring friendships with several of his idols, including Mickey Mantle and Muhammad Ali. He lends a light touch to more serious topics like religion ("the aging friends I know have turned to the Holy Trinity: Advil, bourbon, and Prozac"), grandparenting, and, of course, dentistry. As wise and poignant as they are funny, Crystal's reflections are an unforgettable look at an extraordinary life well lived.

This book is filled with stories about ordinary everyday life. One story is Does Butter Grow on Trees? It just seemed to me that most of our younger generation might just think that. I ended the story with being thankful that we are blessed with butter in the store without us having to do anything but pay for it, so maybe it does grow on trees! You just need to read that story, it will take you back to churns, cream, and milking cows. Some of the stories are funny. Some are sad; they brought tears to my eyes as I wrote them. A sad story shares the pain and sorrow that my good friend endured as she lost her young daughter to cancer. It moves from just surviving to being comforted; this is a must read. I get most of my funny stories from life with my sweet Bill. Just this week, I remember him getting up early. I asked why, and he said he couldnt sleep. He continued to be quiet and seemed sad. I asked why, and he replied that the hairdresser cut his hair too short. And if that wasnt bad enough, he did not know how we were going to get our riding lawn mower loaded to take it to the shopall really big stuff. Well, did I ever have some words of wisdom for him. That will one day be a story. His hair will grow, and we did get the mower loaded! And there are people right around us that really have problems! This book will not be boring. It moves from sad to glad; it moves from heartbreak to hope. I will take you on trips of understanding and bring you back smarter than when you left. Its a good book full of truth that will reflect Gods love right into your very soul!

In the second edition of the definitive account of Igor Stravinsky's life and work, arranged in two separate sections, Eric Walter White revised the whole book, completing the biographical section by taking it up to Stravinsky's death in 1971. To the list of works, the author added some early pieces that have recently come to light, as well as the late compositions, including the Requiem Canticles and The Owl and the Pussycat. Four more of Stravinsky's own writings appear in the Appendices, and there are several important additions to the bibliography.