Lives West

The second volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading is chock-full of mystery, intrigue, and nefarious activity. Featuring some of the best writers around, and compiled by certified guy Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: Thriller is a pulse-pounding collection of brand-new short stories, each one guaranteed to keep you riveted until the final page.

The Wild West has made legends out of many men through the embellishment of their stories, such as crediting Billy the Kid and Wild Bill Hickok for killing far more people than they actually did. But it has also made icons out of outlaws like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid based on the mystery and uncertainty surrounding their crimes and deaths, allowing speculation and legend to fill in the gaps.

They’ve long believed they would never find love again—and now they’ve got one last chance to change their lives. Clay Parker lost the love of his life nearly two decades ago. Ever since, he’s devoted himself to his sons and his ranch. But when he meets her, he begins to wonder if there might still be room for more love in his life. Willow Williams never got the chance to have a lifelong love. After receiving some devastating news two decades before, she’s become a recluse to all except her niece and her brother. But when she meets him, she begins to wonder if she can still be ...

This is the diary . . . of a fly. Even though she's little—just like her best friends, Worm and Spider—Fly wants to be a superhero. And why not? She walks on walls, sees in all directions at once, and can already fly! Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss, the team behind the #1 New York Times bestsellers Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider, reach hilarious heights with their story of a little fly who's not afraid to dream big. Really big.

People may not have heard of Robert Leroy Parker or Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, but everyone in America—and most of the rest of the world—have heard of their better-known aliases: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This infamous duo carved out their place in American history stealing horses and cattle, and ingeniously robbing numerous banks, stagecoaches, and trains.

Cows wandering on roads are an everyday hazard in rural South Africa. They appear suddenly, and their movements are unpredictable. Hitting them can have dire consequences. Dodging Cows is one man's journey from carefree childhood to lazy student to conscripted soldier to passionate farmer, buffeted by the fault lines in South Africa’s history. Gritty and uncompromisingly authentic, this thought provoking novel stirs all the emotions. Part One Follow the adventures of a young boy, Luke Ayres growing up on a farm in southern Natal barely aware of a country divided along racial lines. Part ...

***** BEST WESTERN NOVEL AWARD ***** “Brilliant!” “Hard to put down." "Destined to be a best seller.” "Funny...laughing out loud.” These are just some of the many wonderful reviews given to Len Francis Monahan’s novel Rattlesnakes, Ghosts and Murderers. This first in a series of Western Adventure Tales opens up against a backdrop of murder and insanity and goes on to chronicle the adventures of Colt Barnett, a hard-working, self-reliant, orphan boy and his relationship with Helen McKenna, the woman who adopted him. “Adventure, murder, and paranormal activity...comic humor and ...

I’ve seen Frank Fisher before, but he’s never seen me. He definitely saw me tonight. And I know I wasn’t the only one who felt the world shift the moment our eyes connected from across the bar. But Frank isn’t like his brothers. He’s quiet, elusive, and keeps to himself. It makes him mysterious, but that’s not why I’m drawn to him. It’s something else. Something I’ve never experienced before, as cliche as that may sound. I want to be around him. Get to know him better. Explore what’s growing between us, but Frank keeps holding back and I have no idea why.

Football and Cowboys, Love and War! In the state of Texas where football is king, billionaire pro wide receiver Cody Landry’s world collides with Jamie Gray's strong defensive resolve to keep her distance from the gridiron's charm. Scarred by her ex-husband's infidelity, Jamie seeks solace far from the end zone, only to find herself ensnared in a game of affection spun by not one, but two players competing for her heart. As Jamie's past threatens to take out her newfound peace, Cody emerges as her number one fan, offering more than protection—a love that defies the glitz and glamour of ...

In many ways, the narrative of the Wild West has endured more as legend than reality, and a perfect example of that can be found in the legend of William Henry McCarty Jr., better known as William H. Bonney or "Billy the Kid". Indeed, separating fact from fiction when it comes to the life of the West's most famous outlaw is nearly impossible, due in great measure to the fact that the young man himself cultivated the image of a deadly outlaw and legendary gunman himself.

She's a small town girl... Lissa Winters has her life all figured out. She wants a happy marriage and a house full of kids, right down to the white picket fence. The only thing that doesn't figure neatly into her plans is Jesse Kincade. She's been in love with him as long as she can remember, but after a fateful kiss under the stars he made it clear they weren't meant to be. Jesse is struggling to keep his farm supply store in the black and has no time for a distraction like Lissa. Especially when he knows they have no future. He comes from a dark past and he's just not marriage material. ...

After four months on the job, 24-year-old Rebecca Harper has become something of a jack-of-all-trades on the Cooper Bar-6 Ranch...except for her cooking. But the four strapping sons who run the ranch in their father's absence need wise counsel more than unburnt bread, and Rebecca is perfect for the job. Whether dealing with the driven eldest, the belligerent youngest, or the personalities in between, she recognizes the source of each young man's pain is a lifetime of a father's indifference. As soon as the rogue returns, Rebecca aims to give "Mr. Cooper" a thick piece of her mind.

Told through creative language play, and with depth and whimsy, this story reminds children of their own agency and the power they have to direct their own path. An enduring message of strength and perseverance that is both universal and personal, and one that audiences will be drawn to over and over again.

"The employee is regarded by the employer merely in the light of his value as an operative. His productive capacity alone is taken into account." (Stanford) Leland Stanford: The Life and Legacy of the Railroad Executive Who Became California’s Governor and the West’s Most Famous Robber Baron chronicles the remarkable life of Stanford.

Our increasing reliance on technology and the Internet has opened a window for mathematicians and data researchers to gaze through into our lives. Using the data they are constantly collecting about where we travel, where we shop, what we buy, what interests us, they can begin to predict our daily habits, and increasingly we are relinquishing our decision making to algorithms - are we giving up this up too easily?

Cameron West was in his thirties, a successful businessman, happily married and the father of a young son when he spoke these words. The “voice” he heard belonged to Davy, the first of twenty-four distinct alter personalities to emerge over a period of several months as West began to recall memories of horrific abuse he’d repressed since childhood.

After forty years of wreaking havoc across the galaxy, the outlaw Nine Lives—AKA Former General Gabriella Ortiz—has finally run out of lives. Shot down into a backwater at the system’s edge, she is rescued by Deputy Air Marshall Havemercy Grey. Hav is a true soul, trying to uphold what is right in the heedless wastes. Hav is determined to see justice done. And Hav could sure use that twenty-million bounty … But escorting the most dangerous fugitive in the system across the stars is no easy task.

Their grandfather’s farm has always been a magical place for eleven-year old cousins, Liam and Samantha. Even before the wormhole in the woods transported them to the magical world of Nelliah where they encountered a variety of magical creatures with special powers, they’d known the farm and surrounding area was unlike any other place they’d ever been. The Promise of the Wishing Rock, finds the cousins deposited back to a time of ruthless outlaws and charming gun slingers. Imagine driving cattle hundreds of miles across the open terrain, befriended by Indians, enchanted by ...

Berlin tells the story of the city as seen through the eyes not of its rulers, but of those who walked its streets. In this magisterial biography of a city and its inhabitants, best-selling historian Sinclair McKay sheds new light on well-known characters—from idealistic scientist Albert Einstein to Nazi architect Albert Speer—and draws on never-before-seen first-person accounts to introduce us to people of all walks of Berlin life.

From the author of Soul Deep in Horses: Memoir of an Equestrian Vagabond and the award-winning Tevis Cup Magic: Taking on the World’s Toughest 100 Mile Endurance Ride comes a collection of essays that take place in the present-day Wild West: southwest Idaho. In these keenly perceptive, and often humorous lyrical word portraits of nature, animals, local history, and horse rides and hiking adventures in the Owyhee country, Merri Melde gives readers a look at four seasons of a unique outdoor life. From experiencing wild thunderstorms, flash flood and wildfire, to horseback riding on cattle ...