Island People

When I think of what Julie and I did, it humbles me. We were right out of college, just married, working a job I didn't care for. She got the invitation, I took a test, and we were both accepted. I was of draft age, but there would be no deferment.

From Annie Moore, the Irishwoman who was the first to be processed there, to Arne Peterssen, the Norwegian who was the last to be taken away from the island in 1954, Ellis Island weaves together the personal experiences of forgotten individuals with those who live on in history: Fiorello La Guardia, Lee Iacocca, and other American leaders whose paths led them to the island for various reasons.

Two retired American high school teachers, former Peace Corps Volunteers, have sailed their 35 foot Nauticat sailboat from the US to the Caribbean, across the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean to Turkey. We begin this third book of the trilogy in 2008, with again launching our 35 foot sailboat Tapestry. We, along with 80 other boats, explore the Turkish Coast, Cyprus, and Syria, before the storm. Imagine Le Krak des Cehvaliers, a huge crusader castle, and the oasis of Palmyra, before the uprising and before they were vandalized, nearly destroyed.

On a tiny island off Paradiso, Florida, in 1970, neighbors gather to toast two new arrivals: shy Catherine and her taciturn husband, Dr. Frank Overbrook, who is taking over an old friend’s medical practice. It’s an intimate welcoming for the newlyweds, who have abandoned city life for swaying palms and an ocean breeze. But the morning after is anything but peaceful when Frank is found dead on the beach.

Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other. Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.

When she was kidnapped from Long Meadow Farm in Stony Brook, New York, in 1937, Alice McDonell Parsons was the heir to a vast fortune among Long Island's wealthy elite. The crime shocked the nation and was front-page news for several months.

The #1 bestselling island mystery series is back! San Juan Islands reporter Adele Plank sets off on a harrowing journey to find a missing friend. With the aid of a disgraced former Irish Garda officer, she delves deep into the dangerous world of The Walking Ones, a notoriously secretive, superstitious, and sometimes violent people who likely hold the key to solving the mystery of her friend’s sudden disappearance. Survival will require all of Adele’s intelligence, determination, and considerable fighting skills, especially after an old enemy arrives threatening to destroy everything and...

In his first book of history, Away Off Shore, New York Times best-selling author Nathaniel Philbrick reveals the people and the stories behind what was once the whaling capital of the world. Beyond its charm, quaint local traditions, and whaling yarns, Philbrick explores the origins of Nantucket in this comprehensive history. From the English settlers who thought they were purchasing a "Native American ghost town" but actually found a fully realized society, the story of Nantucket is a truly unique chapter of American history.

Greenville, Maine, USA 2017 A pristine lake A deserted island A dense forest An isolated villa A group of teenaged party-goers An unsettling disappearance 2022 Karen Blackstone, a journalist specialized in unsolved missing persons cases, goes to Greenville, a calm little town on the banks of Lake Moosehead. Determined to solve the mystery of Veronika Lake’s disappearance, she quickly encounters suspicion from the town’s inhabitants. From discoveries to revelations, the journalist nonetheless tries to unearth the truth about this taboo case. Truth just as chilling and black as the waters...

In "Oak Island Mysteries: Katy," delve into a suspenseful world of secrets and accusations where successful real estate investor Thomas Greene finds himself at the center of a chilling abduction case. When 14-year-old Katy goes missing after using Thomas's phone, his life is turned upside down. Enter Rachel, a fellow divorcee and renowned romance novelist, who becomes his pillar of support amidst the storm of allegations. As the walls close in, private investigator Mark Helms emerges as Thomas's beacon of hope, working tirelessly to unearth the truth and clear Thomas's tarnished name. ...

A Lake Erie island harbors mystery and rekindles desire. When Katie Conroy returns to the island where she had a disastrous teenage romance, she is there to attend her grandfather's funeral. Katie is facing disaster again. She's lost her job and has no prospects for another. When she inherits the "Castle," her grandfather's crumbling mansion, she stays on the island. But that means coming to terms with her teenage passion. Her first love is still living on the island. Meeting her old love reawakens feelings she thought she'd long outgrown. But mysterious threats emerge and she has no way of...

There is no record of Marco Polo ever visiting the Andaman Islands, so his brief description of the islanders must have been drawn from a secondary source. They were, he wrote, “a most brutish and savage race, having heads, eyes, and teeth like those of dogs. They are very cruel, and kill and eat every foreigner whom they can lay their hands upon.”

While Western accounts of North American history traditionally start with European colonization, Indigenous histories of North America—or Turtle Island—stretch back millennia. Drawing on comparative analysis, firsthand Indigenous accounts, extensive historical writings, and his own experience, Omaha Tribal member, Cherokee citizen, and teacher Taylor Keen presents a comprehensive re-imagining of the ancient and more recent history of this continent’s oldest cultures.

An innovative work of research and reportage, We Are the Middle of Forever places Indigenous voices at the center of conversations about today’s environmental crisis. The book draws on interviews with people from different North American Indigenous cultures and communities, generations, and geographic regions who share their knowledge and experience, their questions, their observations, and their dreams of maintaining the best relationship possible to all of life.

It’s been sixteen years since he stole my job and shattered my heart. Marty’s the brooding architect who was once the love of my life until he destroyed my lifelong dream. The betrayal I felt was overwhelming and I swore I would never forgive him. Meanwhile, my dad thinks he's the puppet master of my love life, and he’s determined to play matchmaker. He's organized a “retirement celebration", a tropical love revival for Marty and me. Dad's version of Cupid in a Hawaiian shirt. With my father retiring, this grumpy single dad and I are again competing for the same job. Marty’s ...

Dive into the mist-shrouded realms of Iceland and the Faroe Islands, where the Huldufólk—the elusive "hidden people"—dwell in the rocks, hills, and shadows of a landscape as wild as it is enchanting. In this captivating collection, Einar Thorsson unveils a tapestry of folklore that has thrived for centuries, blending haunting tales of ethereal beings with the rugged beauty of the Nordic north. These are not mere fairy tales, but stories etched into the soul of a people who still pause before a stubborn stone or whisper thanks to the wind. From a fisherman saved by a spectral figure ...

In her debut collection of short stories, Islands of Decolonial Love, renowned writer and activist Leanne Simpson vividly explores the lives of contemporary Indigenous Peoples and communities, especially those of her own Nishnaabeg nation. Found on reserves, in cities and small towns, in bars and curling rinks, canoes and community centres, doctors offices and pickup trucks, Simpson's characters confront the often heartbreaking challenge of pairing the desire to live loving and observant lives with a constant struggle to simply survive....

In spring 1889, Prudence and Geoffrey set sail from New York Harbor on a private yacht bound for Bradford Island, where her friend Eleanor Dickson is to be wed. The Sea Islands along the Georgia coast serve as a winter playground for the likes of the Carnegies, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Dicksons. Despite her Yankee pedigree, Eleanor is marrying a Southern gentleman, Teddy Bennett, and Prudence is thrilled to be the maid of honor.

Deep Water Dreams picks up with Hank and Julie as they, after sailing briefly in the Caribbean, prepare their boat for an Atlantic crossing with the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, or ARC.

Who doesn't like delightful adventures? Or misadventures, for that matter? Read a bit of history poetically. Sail along with these wonderful tales from the seas.