Mostrando resultados por narrador "Laural Merlington" en Todas las categorías

This book continues Chicken Soup for the Soul's focus on inspiration and hope in these difficult times. These inspirational stories remind us that each day holds something to be thankful for - whether it is having the sun shine or having food on the table. Power outages and storms, health scares and illnesses, job woes and financial insecurities, housing challenges and family worries test us all. But there is always a silver lining.

When Stalina Folskaya flees her native Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, she sets out for America with her dreams - and her painful past - firmly in tow. In St. Petersburg, Stalina was a trained chemist, but in America, disillusioned with her profession, she takes a job as a maid at the Liberty, a seedy, “short-stay” motel on the outskirts of Hartford, Connecticut. Even here, gutsy Stalina sees opportunity, convincing the owner to let her transform the motel into a destination with fantasy settings.

When baby Max is kidnapped during Mardi Gras, Jane and Kyle Madison’s life falls apart. What their daughter, Melanie, does next is unthinkable. Max vanished into thin air while in the care of his teenage sister, Melanie.

Anzel, a widow in her 60s, lives quietly on her small farm with her grandfather, a Carrier elder from Northern BC. Grandpre and Anzel pass the time playing fierce cribbage games, cutting firewood and tending the vegetable garden. As the days pass Grandpre tells his life story, sharing heart-breaking memories: the death of his family in a devastating epidemic, his son's murder at the hands of a horse thief, and his battle and eventual triumph over alcohol.

Is your spiritual life more like a fast-food run than an intimate dinner for two? Whether it’s the busy mother’s wish to be Wonder Woman—minus the metal bra—or battles with an exploding hot water heater, or fighting the "Resolutionary War" of New Year’s Day, Mary Pierce understands the dilemmas of being a woman in today’s 24/7 world. From disorganized misery to extreme organizational mania. Pierce deals with our fumbling attempts to grow closer to God, encouraging us as she invites us to laugh, cry, love, embrace life, and pray!

The images of the burning towers, the heartbroken friends building memorials, the minute-by-minute accounts of the horrors of that day - all are indelibly etched on our collective consciousness. But what of those left behind after 9/11? What have they, and we, learned from the gift of time? In Project Rebirth, a psychologist and a journalist examine the lives of eight people who were directly affected by the events of September 11, 2001.

Rebecca Morland had a rosy future. She and her husband, Ryan, were making plans to start a family; he was a partner at a prestigious LA law firm; and her own work, at a city legal clinic, was very satisfying. Then one night at a party, on a yacht owned by a wealthy and politically ambitious businessman, Ryan vanishes. And Rebecca's life is turned irrevocably upside down.

Rachel Simon's historic home on a charming tree-lined street was hardly ideal. It was too small, too dark, and there was a gaping hole in the dining room ceiling. So when the house is burglarized, Rachel and her husband, Hal, agree it's time to sell. But in a difficult housing market, and with Hal being an architect, they soon realize: Why leave when they can renovate?

Once there was a little girl from Fargo, North Dakota, named Maggie Goldfarb who grew up, moved to Manhattan, and morphed into Magnolia Gold, the highly paid editor in chief of Lady magazine. With a corner office, a designer wardrobe, and dozens of loyal employees, Magnolia has been hired to update the dowager of women's magazines. She's on her way to giving Lady a face-lift when she is ignominiously replaced.

When the small town of Nativity, Missouri, loses its much-needed seasonal business, more than the economy suffers. Lifelong resident Roni Elliot clashes with the new outside consultant Jake Brisco, whose drastic budget-slashing threatens the traditions and spirit of Nativity. However, as forgotten joys rekindle and new traditions emerge, Christmas once again becomes a season of hope.

Written as a series of journal entries, Heaven Help Helen Sloane is refreshingly honest, poignant, and often hilarious, documenting - in Helen’s own words - the daily struggles a young Christian woman must face. Helen’s new job as a social worker keeps her busy all day in a whirlwind of case notes and court papers, and at home she’s a house group leader for Frenton-on-Sea’s New Wave Christian Fellowship. She loves her church but she struggles with faith and doubt, exposed to the religious extremes of both hyper-spiritual friends and her New Age mom.

Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë's only novel, was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, and a posthumous second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte. The name of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors on which the story centers. The story tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.

The Fernalds are an elderly couple, alone now that their children are grown and, mostly, married. But one of their sons realizes how lonely they must be and decides to bring his family together for the holidays to surprise his parents. First published in 1908, this short novel was followed by a sequel, On Christmas Day in the Evening, in 1910.

The Fernalds, who now always share the holidays together, decide to try to reunite their community, as well, by reopening the village church after schisms have shut its doors. First published in 1910, this short tale continues the story of the Fernald family that began with the 1908 short novel On Christmas Day in the Morning.

Olive is the most unlikely of secret agents, a professional assassin in her sixties who's known only as "The Knit Lady." She begins her trade by killing the Italian mobster who'd cheated her late husband, and then is quietly recruited by "The Brokers." Now she's hired to kidnap and kill retired British agent Benjamin Scarlatt. But The Knit Lady has scruples, and when an Islamic terrorist group takes control of the cruise ship on which both she and Scarlatt are traveling, she decides to fight back, with knitting needle, scalpel - and plastic explosives.

Working with difficult people can reduce your morale, threaten your productivity, deplete your energy, and waste your time. But you don't have to be helpless in the face of other people's craziness! Knowing how to handle coworkers' disruptive behavior is one of the most important career skills you can have, allowing you to become a more valuable employee and a more self-reliant person.

How would you feel if your 2-year-old child was diagnosed as autistic and mentally retarded? That he would go into his room and never come out, and would be institutionalized by age 17? This was the grim life sentence handed down to Lori and Jim Cairns regarding their son, JR. This diagnosis was made in 1996 - when little was known about autism, governments offered few helpful resources, and hope for recovery was disregarded as a myth, an urban legend.

How often have you seen a teenage girl pretend to be perturbed, but secretly smile, when she is told that she acts or looks just like her mother? Fathers, brothers, and friends sometimes shake their heads in wonder as girls "turn into their mothers". This new collection from Chicken Soup represents the best stories from Chicken Soup's library on the special bond between mothers and daughters, and the magical, mysterious similarities between them.

In a period of just three days, everything changes for young painter Eduardo “Tato” Simmone, who has never sold a painting. During the funeral of Tato’s renowned and beloved mentor, Aníbal Marsotti, Tato meets two people who will determine his fate: a beautiful young woman who may be a vampire and a major dealer of art forgeries. Tato gets caught up investigating the theft of famed Italian figurative painter Amadeo Modigliani’s tombstone, and all signs point to Curitiba, Brazil - Tato’s hometown.

When activist Nell Merlino decides something needs to change, she throws everything she has into changing it, whether it is raising the visibility of girls or helping women build their microbusinesses into million-dollar enterprises. Her many campaigns have helped women make dreams come true and Stepping Out of Line is Merlino's bold manifesto for women to get what they want in their lives.