"Hilarious one moment, poignant the next... An author with ten lifetimes' worth of experiences, Kaplan has penned far more than a writer's story but an evocative and witty tour back in time to the French Riviera as most only dream of it. Clever and—best of all—true, Once Upon a Villa belongs at the top of every reader's list." – NY Times bestselling author Tosca Lee


In this wise, warm-hearted, witty, and LOL hilariously funny true account, New York Times bestselling author Andrew Kaplan tells what it’s like when he, his wife, and two-year-old son decided to chuck it all and live the fantasy in a villa by the sea in that extraordinary corner of the world – part international café society, part billionaires’ playground, part provincial France – that is the French Riviera.

Whether it’s matching wits with French bureaucracy, searching for the perfect bouillabaisse, encounters with con men, eccentric ex-pats, and Monaco’s royal family, partying with the international set on Onassis’ yacht, playing chess with a philosophical police chief, or adventures and friendships with the rich and famous and the presumably standoffish French, Once Upon a Villa will transport you to a fascinating and shrewdly-observed world that you will savor like your first-morning bite of pain au chocolate.

So pour yourself a glass of wine, open the book, and Santé!


Early Readers can't get enough of this delightfully charming memoir:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “A delightful memoir of life on the French Riviera!…It is hilarious…The writing style is very good and easy to read with lots of dialogue. It felt as though the author was having a conversation with me…” –Goodreads reviewer

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Andrew Kaplan's "Once Upon a Villa" is as a gust of fresh air… a refreshingly nuanced approach…The author's accounts of the writing process, interspersed with anecdotes that give the story its (situational) humor, made me feel as though I had been lent the very eyes writing…” –Netgalley reviewer

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “A thoroughly enjoyable work!… The lightness of the writing was perfect with the glamour of the setting and characterization…Once Upon a Villa is definitely on my list for gifts…” –Goodreads reviewer

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “This is my first book by Mr Kaplan, and I enjoyed everything about it very much. First and foremost it’s hilarious…There are a couple of moments of sadness, however, the Author does a masterful job with the events and the aftermath, bringing us back to the general levity of this story…I highly recommend this book!” –Goodreads reviewer

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Once Upon a Villa is a charming memoir overflowing with notable names, tasty wines, fabulous food and interesting ex-pats…I wholeheartedly recommend this memoir! You are guaranteed a fascinating escape to the French Riviera.” –Goodreads reviewer

Before smartphones or international data plans, global adventure travel required extensive pre-trip research, solid street smarts, survival ingenuity, human interaction, guidebooks, paper maps, cross-cultural knowledge, and a shit ton of luck. This compelling memoir follows Brandon Wolfe and his international companions as they navigate that world of wanderology 12,000 km/7,450 miles by land and water throughout several countries within Southeast Africa.

Brandon and his comrades find themselves evading wild animals, braving disease, encountering natural wonders, meeting unforgettable locals, and even scrambling to overcome their own stupidity to take in every dose of pure adventure. This riveting expedition explores the openness in authentic friendships, revels in the uncertainties within technology-free travel, captures the wonder of human resilience, yet also gets candid on the victories and struggles that come along with an addiction to adventure.

Cold Beer and a Hot Dart is a rollicking, hedonistic coming of age story that blends excitement, heart, wit, and self-reflection into a captivating, old school backpacking journey.

*Product Review Disclaimer*- some reviews that have been posted are in reference to the first edition of Cold Beer and a Hot Dart, which was published in 2015 and since been discontinued.

An instant New York Times bestseller

From the bestselling author of The Cost of These Dreams

The story of how Julian Van Winkle III, the caretaker of the most coveted cult Kentucky Bourbon whiskey in the world, fought to protect his family's heritage and preserve the taste of his forebears, in a world where authenticity, like his product, is in very short supply.

As a journalist said of Pappy Van Winkle, "You could call it bourbon, or you could call it a $5,000 bottle of liquified, barrel-aged unobtanium." Julian Van Winkle, the third-generation head of his family's business, is now thought of as something like the Buddha of Bourbon - Booze Yoda, as Wright Thompson calls him. He is swarmed wherever he goes, and people stand in long lines to get him to sign their bottles of Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve, the whiskey he created to honor his grandfather, the founder of the family concern. A bottle of the 23-year-old Pappy starts at $3000 on the internet. As Julian is the first to say, things have gone completely nuts.

Forty years ago, Julian would have laughed in astonishment if you'd told him what lay ahead. He'd just stepped in to try to save the business after his father had died, partly of heartbreak, having been forced to sell the old distillery in a brutal downturn in the market for whiskey. Julian's grandfather had presided over a magical kingdom of craft and connoisseurship, a genteel outfit whose family ethos generated good will throughout Kentucky and far beyond. There's always a certain amount of romance to the marketing of spirits, but Pappy's mission statement captured something real: "We make fine bourbon - at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always fine bourbon." But now the business had hit the wilderness years, and Julian could only hang on for dear life, stubbornly committed to preserving his namesake's legacy or going down with the ship.

Then something like a miracle happened: it turned out that hundreds of very special barrels of whiskey from the Van Winkle family distillery had been saved by the multinational conglomerate that bought it. With no idea what they had, they offered to sell it to Julian, who scrambled to beg and borrow the funds. Now he could bottle a whiskey whose taste captured his family's legacy. The result would immediately be hailed as the greatest whiskey in the world - and would soon be the hardest to find.

But now, those old barrels were used up, and Julian Van Winkle faced the challenge of his lifetime: how to preserve the taste of Pappy, the taste of his family's heritage, in a new age? The amazing Wright Thompson was invited to be his wingman as he set about to try. The result is an extraordinary testimony to the challenge of living up to your legacy and the rewards that come from knowing and honoring your people and your craft. Wright learned those lessons from Julian as they applied to the honest work of making a great bourbon whiskey in Kentucky, but he couldn't help applying them to his own craft, writing, and his upbringing in Mississippi, as he and his wife contemplated the birth of their first child. May we all be lucky enough to find some of ourselves, as Wright Thompson did, in Julian Van Winkle, and in Pappyland.

Enter the operating room with Dr. William Meffert as he shares generations’ worth of his family’s wartime surgery experiences.

William Meffert is a surgeon. His father was a surgeon. And now, so is his son. Three generations familiar with incisions, blood, and loss. From World War II and Vietnam to modern operating rooms, they have all fought the battle for human life. Now, Meffert journeys with his son to chart his family’s history through the changing world of combat surgery and beyond to reveal the universal truths that connect them across generations.

As Meffert travels with his son to field hospital locations of World War II and Vietnam, they encounter detailed memories of trauma surgery, wounded soldiers, and the effects of war—a stark reminder of its cost on humankind. Throughout, Meffert meditates on the lasting impact of conflict and the pressures of a surgeon’s life, from being forced to make immediate life-or-death decisions for unknown patients, to the realities of blood and gore, to the difficulty of sharing these experiences with the uninitiated.

Linking together the individual lives of grandfather, father, and son, There Were No Flowers is a story of war, surgery, trauma, and the joys of fatherhood, family, and love in the face of it all.

The first volume in Hunter S. Thompson’s bestselling Gonzo Papers offers brilliant commentary and outrageous humor, in his signature style.

Originally published in 1979, the first volume of the bestselling “Gonzo Papers” is now back in print. The Great Shark Hunt is Dr. Hunter S. Thompson’s largest and, arguably, most important work, covering Nixon to napalm, Las Vegas to Watergate, Carter to cocaine. These essays offer brilliant commentary and outrageous humor, in signature Thompson style.

Ranging in date from the National Observer days to the era of Rolling Stone, The Great Shark Hunt offers myriad, highly charged entries, including the first Hunter S. Thompson piece to be dubbed “gonzo”—“The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved,” which appeared in Scanlan's Monthly in 1970. From this essay, a new journalistic movement sprang which would change the shape of American letters. Thompson's razor-sharp insight and crystal clarity capture the crazy, hypocritical, degenerate, and redeeming aspects of the explosive and colorful ‘60s and ‘70s.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“Magnificent.” —The New York Times * “Beguiling, observant, and howlingly funny.” —San Francisco Chronicle * “Spectacular.” —Star Tribune (Minneapolis)* “Full of astonishments.” —The Boston Globe

Susan Orlean—the beloved New Yorker staff writer hailed as “a national treasure” by The Washington Post and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Library Book—gathers a lifetime of musings, meditations, and in-depth profiles about animals.

“How we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages,” writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon, she’s been drawn to stories about how we live with animals, and how they abide by us. Now, in On Animals, she examines animal-human relationships through the compelling tales she has written over the course of her celebrated career.

These stories consider a range of creatures—the household pets we dote on, the animals we raise to end up as meat on our plates, the creatures who could eat us for dinner, the various tamed and untamed animals we share our planet with who are central to human life. In her own backyard, Orlean discovers the delights of keeping chickens. In a different backyard, in New Jersey, she meets a woman who has twenty-three pet tigers—something none of her neighbors knew about until one of the tigers escapes. In Iceland, the world’s most famous whale resists the efforts to set him free; in Morocco, the world’s hardest-working donkeys find respite at a special clinic. We meet a show dog and a lost dog and a pigeon who knows exactly how to get home.

Equal parts delightful and profound, enriched by Orlean’s stylish prose and precise research, these stories celebrate the meaningful cross-species connections that grace our collective existence.

In Do You Believe in Me witness a family torn apart by addiction through the eyes of a determined daughter. As her parents' lives shatter she becomes the pillar of strength, rallying her siblings to stand together in the face of adversity.

This poignant tale portrays the unbreakable bonds of family, forged through love and shared hardship. With a mix of heartrending honesty and moments of levity, the author paints a vivid picture of their journey. Can their collective love and resilience lead to redemption, or will they be forever defined by their fractured past?

Join this family on a transformative path from loss to healing in a narrative that explores the power of human connection, making Do You Believe in Me a compelling and inspiring read.

On August 4, 1940, the Seattle Times featured a photo of a toddler sitting on a dock, surrounded by suitcases and looking dazed. After a harrowing journey with her parents, she’d just stepped off a boat and into her new life in America. Barbara Sommer Feigin was that little girl.
Over seventy years later, Feigin made a stunning discovery: her Jewish father had kept a detailed journal that chronicled their family’s escape from Nazi Germany. Her parents had never spoken of it, and she remembered nothing of their terrifying, death-defying passage three-quarters of the way around the world—from Berlin to Seattle by way of Lithuania, Russia, China, Korea, and Japan before crossing the Pacific.

Featuring three intertwining narratives, My American Dream is a memoir of resilience, grit, and grace. Feigin tells of her life as a young German-speaking refugee living in a small Washington town and yearning to become an “authentic” American. She details how she became a trailblazing executive in the advertising business in New York City—a completely male-dominated business in the 1960s—rising from the ranks and ultimately securing a seat in the executive boardroom. A devoted wife and mom of three sons (including one set of twins), she spent twenty-five years as a caregiver for her husband, who suffered two serious strokes, and remained fiercely committed to building strong family bonds during turbulent times.

Despite overwhelming odds, her parents’ grueling journey to America has fueled Feigin’s lifelong resolve to dream big, work hard, and never quit. My American Dream is an inspiring tale of love, dedication, and how uncovering the past and preserving history can inform your identity.

*The instant New York Times bestseller*

The untold story of four of the most decorated soldiers of World War II—all Medal of Honor recipients—from the beaches of French Morocco to Hitler’s own mountaintop fortress, by the national bestselling author of The First Wave

“Pitch-perfect.”—The Wall Street Journal • “Riveting.”—World War II magazine • “Alex Kershaw is the master of putting the reader in the heat of the action.”—Martin Dugard

As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice “Footsie” Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy. In the campaign to liberate Europe, each would gain the ultimate accolade, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
 
Tapping into personal interviews and a wealth of primary source material, Alex Kershaw has delivered his most gripping account yet of American courage, spanning more than six hundred days of increasingly merciless combat, from the deserts of North Africa to the dark heart of Nazi Germany. Once the guns fell silent, these four exceptional warriors would discover just how heavy the Medal of Honor could be—and how great the expectations associated with it. Having survived against all odds, who among them would finally find peace?

Managing for Meteors provides a conduit for passing on direct experiences, raising questions, and providing tools for new leaders to consider for enhancing the functions of local governments and getting prepared in advance of major disruptors.

The American workplace, and especially local governments, faces increasingly numerous metaphoric meteors in these ever-changing times. These meteors can appear in the form of cyber-attacks, international military conflicts, continental supply chain disruption, a global pandemic, or things we have yet to imagine...

Under these scenarios, inevitably the attention of leaders will be diverted from daily operational activities on which community constituents rely. Managing for Meteors is aimed at priming organizations to be as efficient and effective as possible, so when that major disruption hits - the agency will be more likely to pass the preparedness test.

An intricate, heartfelt memoir … a brilliant read. Readers Favorite
The author reveals the human side of the latest industrial revolution. IndieReader
Four Readers’ Favorite 5 Stars Awards
RECOMMENDED by the US Review of Books

This is the inspiring story of Jeffrey Cooper's lifelong journey through the fast-paced and ever-changing world of technology, from computer operator to chip developer, and his search for meaning.

This book tells the heroic true story of one nurse’s survival and recovery from the deadliest wildfire disaster in California history.

Camp Fire Girl is a gripping and poignant account of one woman's harrowing journey through the deadliest wildfire in California's history. Written by a courageous nurse who faced the inferno head-on, this book offers a personal perspective on the heart-wrenching experience of surviving a wildfire disaster.

As the flames raged around her, the author takes you on a breathtaking and emotional rollercoaster, describing the chaos, fear, and determination that fueled her fight for survival. Her story is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the unwavering resilience in the face of nature's fury.

But Camp Fire Girl is more than just a tale of survival; it's a valuable guide for anyone living in wildfire-prone areas. Through the author's first-hand experiences, the book imparts essential knowledge and practical advice on how to prepare for, endure, and recover from the devastating aftermath of a wildfire.

In an era marked by the growing threat of climate change, this book is an indispensable resource for those who could face the ravages of wildfires. "Camp Fire Girl" offers hope, inspiration, and the vital information needed to ensure a quicker recovery, making it a must-read for all who understand the urgency of adapting to our changing world. Grab your copy today!

A Journey for the Ages

The Pilgrimage paved the way to Paulo Coelho’s international bestselling novel The Alchemist. In many ways, these two volumes are companions—to truly comprehend one, you must read the other.

Step inside this captivating account of Coelho’s pilgrimage along the road to Santiago. This fascinating parable explores the need to find one’s own path. In the end, we discover that the extraordinary is always found in the ordinary and simple ways of everyday people. Part adventure story, part guide to self-discovery, this compelling tale delivers the perfect combination of enchantment and insight.

What do you do when all your plans for tomorrow come crumbling down?

When Jodie Baulkham's world shatters at 29 with the loss of her husband in the line of duty, she finds herself the sole parent of their 8-month-old daughter. In the aftermath of this tragedy, she undergoes a crash course in grief and despair.

Yet, as she picks up the broken pieces of her life, she uncovers something unexpected. While she grapples with profound sorrow, she also discovers the seeds of hope and joy. This memoir traces Jodie’s progression from anguish to coping, to managing, and to ultimately thriving. Through her experience, Jodie extends a roadmap for those navigating grief and demonstrating how to carve out a resilient and joyful future.

The same principles that guided her through grief become her compass in addressing challenges later in life. Her new marriage confronts the hurdles of her husband’s battle with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder, while her daughter contends with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

Navigating adversity isn't about dismissing pain or difficulty. It's about harnessing the power of choice. Applicable to every facet of our lives, it enables us to unveil joy in unexpected places.

Jodie’s story illustrates how we can all cultivate and nurture resilience. We each possess the strength to engage with adversity and emerge stronger with the right approach.

Choosing a better tomorrow is possible for each of us. Grab your copy today!

Does God really care about you?

This is a question we all have to ask ourselves. This book isn’t for the girls who’ve always done everything right. It’s for the oops–I–did–it–againers, the live–my–life–on–my–own–termers, the sometimes–learn–from–my–mistakers, the ones who’ve fallen down hard and lived to tell the tale, who’ve never quite fit the good-girl mold—the perfectly imperfect. It’s an open and raw look at what happens when a Christian damages her testimony and the restorative power of God’s love. Through personal stories, Stacy invites you into some of her darkest days and candidly shares hard-won wisdom around questions like . . .

• Why do Christians run screaming in the opposite direction when someone’s life gets messy?
• What should your role be when another Christian makes a mistake or struggles with something with which you don’t agree?
• How can you overcome crippling fear, anxiety, and worry?
• Why do you wander away from God over and over again?
• Does it really matter if you forgive someone who wronged you?

This is not your mom’s devotional. It’s not filled with flowery descriptions or complex theology. It’s for women who are ready to get real and have an honest conversation about what it means to make a royal mess of your life and the painful paths your choices sometimes lead you down.

Inside you’ll find extraordinary truths and practical tips sprinkled with loads of encouragement meant just for you slightly imperfect daughters of the king! Grab your copy today!

Join Debbie & Anthony on their Photo Hiking trek through Bryce Canyon National Park. This chronological photographic recap of their trek across this beautiful National Park.

Debbie is the photographer. Anthony is the outdoors lover. He also enjoys his responsibility as an aspiring Photo Assistant. They compromised on a mixture of hiking and Debbie’s passion for photography. In essence, Photo Hiking tours of the U.S. National Parks.

Follow Debbie & Anthony on their Photo Hiking trek

This Photo Hiking book is a visual tour and recap listed in chronological order of their visit to Bryce Canyon National Park in March of 2021 as a mid-50’s couple. Debbie and Anthony, beginning in their early 50’s, started in earnest to visiting many of the 63 National Parks. They provide tips, tricks, and lessons learned from their 40+ National Parks visited during their middle-aged years with the hope it will make your National Park experience more enjoyable.

“An engrossing, often gut-wrenching portrayal of abuse that offers a path to healing.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Navarro has written a memoir loaded with suspense that readers won't want to put down.”—Readers' Favorite

“When you rise above the pain, you can transform it into power.” —Nikki Navarro
In this gripping, honest memoir, Nikki Navarro shares her true story of abuse, kidnapping, and multigenerational trauma—and how she ultimately broke the cycle to find happiness and success.

Call Me Nikki begins as a story of an unloved little girl, born the product of a nonconsensual encounter to a young mother and absent father. Nikki’s parents, who were themselves victims of abuse, were unable to offer her the love and stability every child deserves. The neglectful and harmful experiences Nikki faced as a child follows her into adulthood, where she continues to fall into toxic situations and relationships, easily manipulated and overpowered by others. But when Nikki uncovers long-concealed secrets that have haunted generations of women in her family, she becomes determined to end the generational cycle of abuse.

With candor and grace, Nikki reveals how she managed to journey through unthinkable suffering and find the strength to reject the narrative of her past and build a life filled with love and faith. Call Me Nikki brings to light a heartbreaking reality that many women face—but is ultimately a story of resilience, triumph, and hope.