Showing results by narrator "Francis Greenslade"

During his wanderings and work over the last 30 years as a Buddhist monk, Ajahn Brahm has gathered many poignant, funny and profound stories. While traditional Buddhist philosophy is at the heart of this collection, these thoughtful stories are written like playful parables, which are used to launch into a deeper exploration of subjects such as mindfulness, suffering, forgiveness, hope, wisdom, and unconditional love.

Sprocket's lost his memory; Amy's lost her dad. So now the two of them are on a quest that will take them to the weirdest nudist colony in the world - a hidden community whose dangerous experiments are keeping the nudists alive artificially. Now that their secret is out, are Amy and Sprocket's lives in peril?

Here's a comic story of modern love and life when you're 20-something, single, and male. It is the mess Jon Marshall makes of his life when it stops making sense – a comedy of fallibility and misjudgements.

What do three dogs and a cat have to say when a baby kookaburra is found in their yard? Buddha, the cat, starts by asking, “What the blooming tail is it, mate?” Hoover, one of the dogs, thought it looked like lunch. Ajax thought it was a toy. But Stelze, an aging Doberman, informed everyone it was a baby, and she planned to protect it in every way possible. A young kookaburra named Pirate finds himself on an unfamiliar farm after a storm.

Reptile spun the wheel and expertly changed gear. We screeched round a corner. I was flung back against the seat. Desperately I hung on to the howling baby. 'When your father finds out what you've done', I yelled at the blond boy, 'you're in for it.' I stared at them trying to take it in. I was being kidnapped at high speed in a military vehicle by a bunch of little brats.... Uncovering deadly secret after deadly secret, Amy and Sprocket are lured deeper into a mystery that gets more exciting with every minute.

Richard Derrington is 28 and single. More single than he'd like to be. More single than he'd expected to be, and not coping well. Since Anna trashed him six months ago he's been trying to find his way again. He's doing his job badly, he's playing tennis badly, his renovating attempts haven't got past the veranda, and he's wondering when things are going to change. Zigzag Street covers six weeks of Richard's life in Brisbane's Red Hill. Six weeks of rumination, chaos, poor judgement, interpersonal clumsiness...and, eventually, hope.

Stephen's bra is starting to slip. His pantyhose are sagging. His knickers keep falling down. Oh, the shame of it. He stole a gizmo, and now it's paying him back. Another crazy yarn from Australia's master of madness.

Joel is growing up. He is getting interested in girls. Just look at his New Year's resolutions: 1 - to see a naked lady; 2 - to toughen himself up so that he can live to be a hundred; and 3 - to see the sea. They all look pretty impossible for a motherless boy in Northern Sweden. Especially as his sailor dad is keen to drown his sadness in drink, and all the local matrons are narrowly watching the pair of them.

A few months ago, Dan had to make a choice. Go to Geneva with his parents for a year, board at school, or move into a house with his 22-year-old bass-playing aunt, Jacq, and her friend, Naomi. He picked Jacq's place.

Now he's doing his last year at school and trying not to spin out, trying to master calculus, and trying to pick up a few skills for surviving in the adult world. Problem is, he falls for Naomi, and things become much more confusing.

Here at last is a clear, easy-to-follow interpretation of the classic Chinese text The Art of War by Sun Tzu which incorporates modern business lessons to make this relevant and accessible to today's executive facing strategic and competitive challenges.

For years, business schools and professional consultants have turned to Sun Tzu's 2,500-year-old Chinese text for its invaluable commentary on such topics as leadership, strategy, organization, competition and cooperation.

Drawing on research from a wide variety of subject areas, from neuroscience to psychology, from motivation theory to accelerated learning, from memory to diet, this book shows how everyone has the capacity to succeed and how most people use only a very small portion of their talents.

Joel thinks nothing is going on in his small town. But he's wrong. One day, a miracle happens to him. He's very nearly run over by a bus, but is miraculously unhurt. Shouldn't he show gratitude somehow? Surely a good deed of some sort is in order. But what?

On an icy night in Northern Sweden Joel is drawn outside to haunt the streets. He finds the night-time activity of his stolid town mesmerizing in its unexpectedness and variety. But can he deal with the knowledge that he gains about his neighbors, his father, and himself?

This is the life story of Father Bob Maguire - a rare behind-the-scenes look at the much-loved 'people's priest'. The enigmatic champion of the down-and-out was shaped by a lonely childhood in poor circumstances, an early priesthood that collided with the upheaval of Vatican II and working with the army during the Vietnam War. This is a lively portrait of the man behind the resilient social activist and popular media performer who refuses to be defeated by enforced retirement from the parish over which he presided for nearly 40 years.

Deep in the heart of London, the Monsalvat Bank is small, secretive, and fabulously wealthy. When Ellie Stanton, an impoverished graduate student, is unexpectedly invited to join the firm, the privileged world they offer looks too good to turn down. But the bank is more than it seems. Soon Ellie realises that her life belongs to her employers – and they’re watching her every move. For buried in their medieval vaults lies a closely-guarded treasure of immeasurable power....

Callie and Adam, once unquestioned members of the elite class, now find that they must strive to protect the very society that rejects them as fabricants - manufactured genetic beings. They embark upon a perilous journey that will pit them against the scientist who created them in a laboratory - and who now threatens to unleash dreadful weapons to achieve ultimate power.

In a dilapidated mansion overrun by rats, Ravel and Indigo Kesby have gone to war. When one threatens to break out of their obsessive, dependent relationship, there are disastrous consequences. In this house, there's no such thing as brotherly love.

Frank and Philby meet at university. Frank is the king of cool and dysfunctionally libidinous. Philby is nervous, nerdy and dysfunctionally insecure. Somehow, they form a team, and go about chasing girls, passing their degrees and surviving many a green drink experience. The hilarious misadventures of Frank and Philby are just part of what lies between the covers of Headgames....

What's the worst thing that can happen to a man with three secret families? He falls in love. This is the story of John Wonder, a man with three families, each one kept secret from the other, each one containing two children, a boy and a girl. As he travels from family to family in different cities, he works as an authenticator, verifying world records, confirming facts, setting things straight, while his own life is a teetering tower of breathtaking lies and betrayals.

In a villa on the coast of Montenegro, Abby Cormac witnesses the brutal murder of her lover, diplomat Michael Lascaris. The last thing she remembers is a gun pointed directly at her. She wakes to find herself at the centre of a diplomatic nightmare. Everyone wants an answer but no one wants to listen. Even her employers at the Foreign Office believe she’s hiding something. She is completely alone.