Book Pick of the Week: Hatchie: Keeper of the Secret

Some college students flip burgers during summer breaks; some have internships; and occasionally, one is plunged into an overwhelming flood of historical revelations with biblical implications.

In Hatchie: Keeper of the Secret, author Ed “Doc” Holliday tells the story of Patrick, a college student home for the summer helping his grandfather harvest pulpwood in the Hatchie Hills of North Mississippi. Patrick’s plan is to earn a little money to help with college expenses — not to uncover an ancient Native American secret with ties all the way back to King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem.

As Patrick’s discovery is revealed, his world begins to unravel, and an evil force is unleashed that neither Patrick nor his grandfather is prepared to confront. Written to appeal to audiences who enjoy the Indiana Jones and National Treasure films, Hatchie: Keeper of the Secret draws inspiration from true stories of early explorers to North America, like Hernando DeSoto, to build a gripping tale that propels readers to places they never knew existed and introduces them to characters they never could have imagined.

Full of mystery and intrigue, Hatchie: Keeper of the Secret is an action-filled adventure that culminates in a surprising ending. The book is the first of a planned seven-part series.

“The series revolves around an ancient Chickasaw secret that is tied to Solomon's temple,” Holliday explained. “That is a large span of time, but the tale is wrapped around the pursuit of world peace and some battles that are almost forgotten to history.”

Amazon and Kindle link: https://www.amazon.com/Hatchie-Keeper-Secret-Ed-Holliday/dp/B0CDXYZP6M/

Book Pick: My Maril: Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan, Hollywood, and Me

The movie star, the singer, the sex symbol, the so-called “dumb blonde” – all things that Marilyn Monroe is known as, and yet her story goes far beyond that. How did she build her career in Hollywood? Who was she close to – her family, her friends, her lovers – and who was really there for her? Was a successful young woman’s life cut short by suicide, or is there more to the story? Most importantly, who really was Marilyn Monroe? My Maril: Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan, Hollywood, and Me reveals the intimate details of the star’s life and the environment of Hollywood and the United States at the peak of Marilyn Monroe’s career.

View the book trailer here: https://bit.ly/MyMaril_BookTrailer


Terry Karger, granddaughter of Metro Pictures co-founder Maxwell Karger and the daughter of Fred Karger (Marilyn’s lover and vocal coach), recounts her experience with Hollywood and a young Marilyn Monroe. Coauthored by New York Times best-selling author Jay Margolis, My Maril begins with a young Terry Karger meeting Marilyn, affectionately nicknamed “Maril” by the Karger family, for the first time as her father’s new girlfriend. Marilyn becomes Terry’s babysitter, and she serves as a friend and sister-esque figure in the young girl’s life. Terry’s version of Marilyn is personal – she is kind, affectionate, smart, and mischievous, strikingly different to the way she was portrayed by the media. This book is a comprehensive account of Marilyn’s entire life, as well as a behind-the-scenes glance into other prominent public figures, such as Ronald Reagan, that Terry Karger knew personally.

Kindle Pick of the Week: Never Split the Difference

After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Never Split the Difference takes you inside the world of high-stakes negotiations and into Voss’s head, revealing the skills that helped him and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: saving lives. In this practical guide, he shares the nine effective principles—counterintuitive tactics and strategies—you too can use to become more persuasive in both your professional and personal life.

Life is a series of negotiations you should be prepared for: buying a car, negotiating a salary, buying a home, renegotiating rent, deliberating with your partner. Taking emotional intelligence and intuition to the next level, Never Split the Difference gives you the competitive edge in any discussion.

Christopher Walken Reads "Honey Boo Boo"

A must watch.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: I Used to Know That

Stuff You Forgeot From School

This book covers:

• Figures of Speech (and other devices for spicing up your writing): Expressions used in a nonliteral way, such as when you say, "My lips are sealed," but you haven’t put glue over them. Includes hyperbole, which is exaggeration for effect, as in "I’ve told you a hundred times."

• Notable British Authors: From William Blake and William Golding to George Orwell and Virginia Woolf, relearn which authors wrote the most notable poems and tomes. You’ll also find fun facts about each author, including that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle started writing fiction when his medical practice slowed and Jonathan Swift wrote his own obituary.

• International Authors: Homer’s not just the name of a character on The Simpsons. This 9^th century Greek writer penned the great epics the Iliad and the Odyssey.

• Arithmetic: With division you divide a divisor into a dividend and the answer is a quotient. If there is anything left over, it is called a remainder. So 15 divided by 2 gives a quotient of 7 with a remainder of 1.

• Biology: The term biology comes from the Greek, meaning study of life; therefore, this field of learning concerns plants and animals and how the human body works. Give your central nervous system something to ponder, such as how a plant is structured or which elements make up the periodic table.

• Explorers: A quick rundown of people who discovered some of the regions of the world, like Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512, Italian), who discovered the mouth of the Amazon and the River Plate, which made him important enough to have a continent or two named after him.

• Geography: Read this section, and you won’t be able to deny that the Nile is a river in Egypt, or that Russia has five of the longest rivers in the world.

Sure to touch a chord with anyone old enough to have forgotten half of what they learned at school, here is a perfect gift for every perennial student. Make this and all of the Blackboard Booksô a permanent fixture on your eReader, and you’ll have instant access to searchable knowledge. Whether you need homework help or want to win that trivia game, this series is the trusted source for fun facts.