Old Boat

When COVID-19 struck the UK, the government advised the over-70s to "shield" while the country went into lockdown. One old man went sailing instead. Single-handed and self-isolated, retired journalist John Passmore used the pandemic to achieve an ambition that had eluded him for 60 years. For 3,629 miles, he disappeared into a world of perfect solitude, adventure, and adversity, arriving back 42 days later, short of water and with shredded sails, to find himself celebrated on national radio as the embodiment of everybody’s lockdown dream. This is his story.

In this imaginative adventure from Newbery Medal–winning author Beverly Cleary, a young mouse named Ralph is thrown into a world of excitement when a boy and his shiny toy motorcycle check in to the Mountain View Inn. When the ever-curious Ralph spots Keith's red toy motorcycle, he vows to...

Soon to be a major motion picture directed by George Clooney The #1 New York Times bestseller freshly adapted for the next generation. Inspiration for the PBS American Experience Documentary 'The Boys of '36' For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Great Depression comes the...

In a quiet orchard where light and shadow breathe together, an old boat rests among apple trees, holding sunlight, memory, and time itself. When a wandering child discovers it one golden afternoon, a simple encounter becomes a meditation on wonder and rest. This bedtime story for adults invites you to pause, breathe, and drift into stillness. Written in poetic language and narrated in a calm, immersive voice, it’s designed as a sleep story for adults to relax and unwind—a moment of quiet between day and dream.

From John Flanagan, author of the worldwide bestselling Ranger's Apprentice series—an all-new adventure featuring the Brotherband crew and one of our favorite Rangers! Hal, his Brotherband crew, and the Ranger Gilan have freed the 12 Araluens sold into slavery. Returning to Araluen, Gilan is...

From the author of the mega-selling Ranger's Apprentice! Hal and his fellow Herons have returned home to Skandia after defeating the pirate captain Zavac and reclaiming Skandia's most prized artifact, the Andomal. With their honor restored, the Herons turn to a new mission: tracking down an old...

Despite dating one vampire and living with another, Rachel Morgan has always managed to stay just ahead of trouble . . . until now. A fiendish serial killer stalks the Hollows, and no one living in or around Cincinnati—human, inhuman, or undead—is safe. An ancient artifact may be the key to...

Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary ramps up the humor and adventure in the second book in the Ralph S. Mouse trilogy. With a motorcycle to rev and the open road to see, Ralph S. Mouse is itching to run away from his overprotective family! But once he escapes to a summer campground...

The Poky Little Puppy, by Janette Sebring Lowrey. Read by Susan Gregory A poky little puppy loves to dig holes under the fence despite what his family says. But the poky little puppy digs one hole too many and ends up missing dessert Scuffy the Tugboat, by Gertrude Crampton. Read by Skip Hinnant...

Emily Winters would do anything for her best friend Josie. Every week they meet for a catch-up at the Old Boathouse - an idyllic little café by the Thames where Josie’s boyfriend Jack works. As the summer draws on, life seems perfect. Emily’s writing career is taking off and she’s throwing herself into the dating scene. There’s just one problem: she compares all the men she meets to Jack. And none of them measure up.

This sixth volume of the Hobbs series shows how a caring, inter-generational community can help everyone make the right connections. After a dark winter of loss and isolation, the summer people are returning, including forty-something Melissa Morgenstern, a trust lawyer from Boston. Melissa has been working remotely since the pandemic began. She has temporarily moved to Maine to comfort her widowed mother. Up to now, Melissa’s devotion to her tight-knit Jewish family and her legal career have made relationships difficult. Town doctor, Liz Stolz introduces her to the new assistant ...

EARLY MORNING ON APRIL 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic, on her glorious maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, sank after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Thus the ship declared to be unsinkable was lost in one of the most infamous tragedies in history. Even now, a century later, the...

Time for Grandpa Mike to pass on his love of messing about in boats. Granddaughters Dee-Dee and Effie already live with the Norfolk Broads on their doorstep. Now he and their parents have presented them each with an Optimist sailing dinghy. There are plenty of excellent sailing courses that use this very popular little craft to teach children to sail, but Grandpa Mike adds a few twists of his own to the basic course.

Part ode to building something with one’s hands in the modern age, part celebration of the beauty and function of boats, and part moving father-daughter story, How to Build a Boat is a bold adventure. Once an essential skill, the ability to build a clinker boat, first innovated by the Vikings...

Let the wild rumpus start—Where the Wild Things Are is turning sixty with this all-new digital audio edition narrated by Michelle Obama! Maurice Sendak's Caldecott Medal–winning picture book has become one of the most highly acclaimed and best-loved children's books of all time. This iconic...

In this collection on love and loss, hopes and dreams, and memory and regret, The Old Men Who Row Boats and Other Stories takes the listener on an insightful journey through Spain and Portugal. These 14 stories convey real emotion through compelling, simple language and human interaction that resonates in the authentic beauty of small moments.

God tells you He is going to put an end to the human race. Then you learn you are one of only eight people He plans to save. It gets worse. He wants you to build a boat to start over. How crazy is that? Does He even know how old you are? Will you obey? Read about the one man who did.

In 1767, 11-year-old Nicholas Young stowed away on Captain James Cook's "Endeavour." Cook's three-year mission was secret: he was charged by the British Navy to search for a lost continent, believed to be located between the southern tip of South America and New Zealand. Young's journal charts...

A year ago, Sheriff Luke Tanner watched the unthinkable: his son Julien torn from his water skis and dragged under by an orca off the Alaskan coast. His body was never found. Kimko-21—the enormous bull whale identified from video evidence—became the first killer whale in recorded history to slaughter a human in the wild. Everyone called it a tragic accident. A freak, unexplainable moment of nature. But Luke can’t let it go. He can’t forgive. He can’t forget. Now, as the anniversary of Julien’s death looms, Luke calls in sick to work, loads his battered fishing boat with rifles ...

The world knows the legend of the old man and the sea. They don't know the two men who lived it together. For thirty years, the Gulf Stream was the only home that mattered to Gregorio Fuentes and Ernest Hemingway. As the quiet, iron-willed captain of the Pilar, Gregorio didn't just steer a boat; he anchored a soul. Through the spray of violent squalls, the tension of hunting Nazi U-boats, and the deepening shadows of Hemingway’s own mind, they were more than captain and passenger. They were brothers of the salt and the tide, bound by a silent pact of loyalty that transcended fame. Their ...