This book isn't primarily about relationships. There's no romance involved--not even any close friendships. It's mostly about flying machines and their missions. But people are important. After all, pilots fly the machines. There are a lot of characters here that aviation buffs will immediately recognize: Lots of record-setting test pilots, and even some astronauts. Older non-buffs will also see familiar names: an aviation legend, first-ever moon walkers, a couple of popular entertainers, a famous TV-news anchor and even two former presidential candidates. Watch closely, some of them just flash past. Airplanes star in this tale. None of them were perfect, but many of them excelled performing their assigned tasks. North American Aircraft's F-86F was a beautiful machine. But it was also a breathtakingly-good MiG killer. Because of its fine flying qualities, it was fun to fly--a sports car among sedans. Fairchild/Chase Aircraft's C-123B was an outstanding assault transport. It was almost perfect for its mission in Vietnam, but it could be a real handful for any pilot to fly. I have lots of "favorite" airplanes, but Douglas' A-1H Skyraider stands out. There has never been a better attack fighter in terms of accuracy in iron-bomb delivery, weapons load-carrying ability or endurance. Lockheed's F-104A or C models were many pilot's dream machines. Their luster dimmed somewhat for me after I flew them. But they were certainly suitable for training Test Pilot School students to perform zooms and shuttle-aircraft type approaches and landings. I'll stop with these four. There's much more on airplanes inside--about 192,000 words worth. That's a lot to slog through and you may find some parts too technical or too detailed. Ignore them. There are also many numbers, but most aren't important. Browse for good stuff. If you want more info on some airplane, Google her up.

This book isnt primarily about relationships. Theres no romance involved--not even any close friendships. Its mostly about flying machines and their missions. But people are important. After all, pilots fly the machines. There are a lot of characters here that aviation buffs will immediately recognize: Lots of record-setting test pilots, and even some astronauts. Older non-buffs will also see familiar names: an aviation legend, first-ever moon walkers, a couple of popular entertainers, a famous TV-news anchor and even two former presidential candidates. Watch closely, some of them just flash past. Airplanes star in this tale. None of them were perfect, but many of them excelled performing their assigned tasks. North American Aircrafts F-86F was a beautiful machine. But it was also a breathtakingly-good MiG killer. Because of its fine flying qualities, it was fun to fly--a sports car among sedans. Fairchild/Chase Aircrafts C-123B was an outstanding assault transport. It was almost perfect for its mission in Vietnam, but it could be a real handful for any pilot to fly. I have lots of favorite airplanes, but Douglas A-1H Skyraider stands out. There has never been a better attack fighter in terms of accuracy in iron-bomb delivery, weapons load-carrying ability or endurance. Lockheeds F-104A or C models were many pilots dream machines. Their luster dimmed somewhat for me after I flew them. But they were certainly suitable for training Test Pilot School students to perform zooms and shuttle-aircraft type approaches and landings. Ill stop with these four. Theres much more on airplanes inside--about 192,000 words worth. Thats a lot to slog through and you may find some parts too technical or too detailed. Ignore them. There are also many numbers, but most arent important. Browse for good stuff. If you want more info on some airplane, Google her up.

A self-portrait of the child star who rose from the Georgia backwoods to pop music stardom illuminates the passion and drive that made Brenda Lee a celebrity and describes her tumultuous private life.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD! A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup—from the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto Is Back REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • COMING SOON AS AN ORIGINAL STREAMING SERIES EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY REESE WITHERSPOON “An explosive, dynamite, down-and-dirty look at a fictional rock band told in an interview style that gives it irresistible surface energy.”—Elin Hilderbrand ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Washington Post, Esquire, Glamour, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, Parade, Paste, Shelf Awareness, BookRiot Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now. Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

In January 2008, movie star Patrick Swayze was given the worst news of his life. What he hoped was just a stomach ache was actually stage four pancreatic cancer, a diagnosis that is fatal within a year for 79% of the people to whom it is given. Remarkably, Patrick is not just alive a year later but continuing his treatment, and responding well. But this book isn't just the story of Patrick's fight against cancer. In the public eye from the early 1980s, this is the story of a remarkable life and career. Intended as a low budget, straight-to-video production, Dirty Dancingbecame a cult hit and remains one of the most enduring films of the 80s. Ghost cemented Patrick as a hugely bankable star, in a role that has had a considerable cultural impact. Most recently Patrick has returned to the public's adoring arms in TV's The Beast. This book will chronicle Patrick's personal life as well -- including his treatment for alcoholism following the death of his father and sister's sudden death. What has remained a constant in Patrick's life is his marriage and Patrick and Lisa's love story is inspiring, honest, heartfelt and transcends the typical celebrity marriage. This is a book that anyone who has faced cancer or a terminal illness can turn to: Lisa and Patrick have shown the world that cancer isn't just a diagnosis given to one individual, but a disease that can bring a household together or pull a family apart. Bold, honest and inspiring, Patrick Swayze's memoir is the story of a remarkable man's life and career and of his refusal to give in.

The author of It’s Okay to Laugh and host of the popular podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking—interviews that are “a gift to be able to listen [to]” (New York Times)—returns with more hilarious meditations on her messy, wonderful, bittersweet, and unconventional life. Life has a million different ways to kick you right in the chops. We lose love, lose jobs, lose our sense of self. For Nora McInerny, it was losing her husband, her father, and her unborn second child in one catastrophic year. But in the wake of loss, we get to assemble something new from whatever is left behind. Some circles call finding happiness after loss “Chapter 2”—the continuation of something else. Today, Nora is remarried and mothers four children aged 16 months to 16 years. While her new circumstances bring her extraordinary joy, they are also tinged with sadness over the loved ones she’s lost. Life has made Nora a reluctant expert in hard conversations. On her wildly popular podcast, she talks about painful experiences we inevitably face, and exposes the absurdity of the question “how are you?” that people often ask when we’re coping with the aftermath of emotional catastrophe. She knows intimately that when your life falls apart, there’s a mad rush to be okay—to find a silver lining, to get to the happy ending. In this, her second memoir, Nora offers a tragicomic exploration of the tension between finding happiness and holding space for the unhappy experiences that have shaped us. No Happy Endings is a book for people living life after life has fallen apart. It’s a book for people who know that they’re moving forward, not moving on. It’s a book for people who know life isn’t always happy, but it isn’t the end: there will be unimaginable joy and incomprehensible tragedy. As Nora reminds us, there will be no happy endings—but there will be new beginnings.

BONUS: This edition contains a Staying True discussion guide. In this candid and compelling memoir, the first lady of South Carolina reveals the private ordeal behind her very public betrayal—and offers inspiration for anyone struggling to keep faith during life’s most trying times. She’s been a successful investment banker, a mother of four, and the campaign manager for one of American politics’ rising stars—her husband, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, once widely hailed as a possible candidate for president in 2012. Yet to most Americans, Jenny Sanford is best known for the one role she refused to play—that of conventional political spouse standing silently by while her husband went before the media and confessed his infidelity. Instead, she stayed true—to herself, to her faith, and to her highest ideals of parenthood and public service. She chose to let Mark Sanford deal with the embarrassment and political fallout from his own actions while focusing her own efforts privately on raising their children to be men of character, even in the face of the lies their father has told. In Staying True, Jenny Sanford recalls her shock and anguish upon discovering that her husband was having an affair with a woman in Argentina, and the further pain when she learned—just a day ahead of most Americans—that he had not ended the affair when she believed he had. She reveals the source of her determination to be honest and forthright instead of the victim in the tabloid passion play that gripped the nation in June 2009. But her story neither begins nor ends with Mark Sanford’s astounding fall from grace. Writing with uncommon candor from a deep well of spiritual strength, Sanford shares personal stories and life lessons from before and after she stepped into the public realm. She recounts the many stresses—as well as the myriad joys—that she experienced on a daily basis while living in the governmental spotlight. (Just try keeping four young boys out of mischief in the governor’s mansion!) And she describes the many ways that the seductions of power can drive apart even the most committed couples. At every step along her journey, Jenny Sanford has made choices: She gave up her career, moved far from her home state of Illinois, even changed her religious practices. Every choice was a glad concession to harmonious married life and, in some cases, to the support of her husband’s political aspirations. But the one thing she never gave up was her sense of self, her inner moral compass. Her remarkable poise and decency make her a role model for men and women alike. Her story will empower anyone who has fought to maintain independence and integrity—within a marriage or elsewhere in life.