"Your Secret Door to Happy" is a book of 49 new, original poems written between 2022 and 2024. The poems range from love and comedy to social consciousness and pieces of the imagination. The wonder of poetry and imagination is that in a world filled with rules about pretty much everything, there are no rules to poetry and imagination. You can freely express your imagery, fantasy, creation, inspiration, and inventiveness. The only rule that Jon DeVries has in writing poetry is that he will ...

Ichabod is the shocking story about a man trying to break free from his normal everyday routines to find meaning. Through his dreams he deals with this struggle, slowly losing grasp on reality as the line between the two become blurred. Ichabod creates two characters to help him with his fight: a space pilot and a spy. The journey all three undertake lead to a stunning conclusion that will leave you breathless.

In this volume the authors tell the real stories of the planners, politicians, and everyday people who shaped contemporary Chicago, starting in 1958, early in the Richard J. Daley era. Over the ensuing decades, planning did much to develop the Loop, protect Chicago’s famous lakefront, and encourage industrial growth and neighborhood development in the face of national trends that savaged other cities. But planning also failed some of Chicago’s communities and did too little for others. The...

Strong female protagonists grace this collection celebrating women in all their incarnations, young and old: mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, lovers, widows ... and a 70-year-old nun.

The first part of a spine-tingling 3-part Odd Thomas novella, exclusively in ebook. Includes a preview of the next thrilling novel in Dean Koontz’s acclaimed Odd Thomas series: Odd Apocalypse. Small-town guy meets big-time evil…THERE’S ROOM AT THE INN, BUT YOU MIGHT NOT GET OUT…Odd Thomas and Annamaria need a break from the road. Nestled on a lonely stretch along the Pacific Coast, the warm lights of Harmony Corner welcome them in. The quaint roadside outpost offers everyth...

If a machine could predict how you would die, would you want to know? This is the tantalising premise of THIS IS HOW YOU DIE, the brilliant follow-up anthology to the self-published bestseller, MACHINE OF DEATH.The machines started popping up around the world. The offer was tempting: with a simple blood test, anyone could know how they would die. But the machines didn't give dates or specific circumstances - just a single word or phrase. DROWNED, CANCER, OLD AGE, CHOKED ON A HANDFU...

From prominent political thinker and widely followed Slate columnist, a polemic on high rents and housing costs—and how these costs are hollowing out communities, thwarting economic development, and rendering personal success and fulfillment increasingly difficult to achieve.Rent is an issue that affects nearly everyone. High rent is a problem for all of us, extending beyond personal financial strain. High rent drags on our country’s overall rate of econom...

“The government in the past created one American Dream at the expense of almost all others: the dream of a house, a lawn, a picket fence, two children, and a car. But there is no single American Dream anymore.”For nearly 70 years, the suburbs were as American as apple pie. As the middle class ballooned and single-family homes and cars became more affordable, we flocked to pre-fabricated communities in the suburbs, a place where open air and solitude offered a retre...

How to create the world's new urban futureWith the majority of the world's population shifting to urban centres, urban planning—the practice of land-use and transportation planning to help shape cities structurally, economically, and socially—has become an increasingly vital profession. In Urban Planning For Dummies, readers will get a practical overview of this fascinating field, including studying community demographics, determining the best uses for lan...

Everyone loves their grandma but these three are just a little...different. They have certain skills in war and strategy developed over forty years through military training and discipline. They are the definition of "never judge a book by its cover." They now work as contractors for the extra money. Follow the hapless Clem as he is hired to drive the three on their latest mission of destruction.

In recent years, the young, educated, and affluent have surged back into cities, reversing decades of suburban flight and urban decline. And yet all is not well, Richard Florida argues in The New Urban Crisis. Florida, one of the first scholars to anticipate this back-to-the-city movement in his groundbreaking The Rise of the Creative Class, demonstrates how the same forces that power the growth of the world's superstar cities also generate their vexing challenges: gentri...

In these pages, you will thrill to some of the most exciting superhero stories ever to star a caped avenger, all written by DC Comics writer Robert T. Jeschonek. Don't miss these edgy, exciting, and surprising tales from this award-winning storyteller. This volume includes six superhero stories for one low price:"Forced Retirement": What if Alzheimer's struck the World's Mightiest Hero? His daughter, heroic Hericane, finds out the hard way. Gripped by dementia, godlike Epitome tear...