Publishers Weekly,Yankoski's parents were right: It was crazy to live as a homeless person in six American cities for five months; fortunately, this crazy idea makes for quite a story. Yankoski, a Christian college student, challenges the reader to learn about faith, identify with the poor and find more forgotten, ruined, beautiful people than we ever imagined existed, and more reason to hope in their redemption. The journey begins at a Denver rescue mission and ends on a California beach. Along the way, Yankoski and a friend learn the perils of poor hygiene and the secrets of panhandling. They meet unfortunates like Andrew, who squanders his musical talent to feed his drug habit, and hustlers like Jake, who gives the pair tips about how to look and sound more pitiful to get more money. Yankoski tends to moralize: If we respond to others based on their outward appearance, haven't we entirely missed the point of the Gospel? Still, the book features fine writing (I awoke, rolled over and saw beads of sweat already forming on my arms. Saturday, early morning, Phoenix) and vivid stories, authentically revealing an underworld of need. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
The classic guide that builders, architects, and students have relied on for almost 20 years has been completely updated to cover new materials, construction methods, and the latest building code revisions. The standard reference in its field, Rob Thallons Graphic Guide to Frame Construction is the ultimate visual guide to building with wood. Filled with hundreds of detailed drawings, helpful annotations, and field-tested advice, the guide covers foundations, floors, walls, roofs, and stairs. This third revised edition also offers additional information on advanced framing, engineered and composite materials, and construction in high-wind and seismic areas.
The first edition of "Gaia's Garden" sparked the imagination of America's home gardeners, introducing perm culture's central message: Working with Nature, not against her, results in more beautiful, abundant, and forgiving gardens. This extensively revised and expanded second edition broadens the reach and depth of the perm culture approach for urban and suburban growers. Many people mistakenly think that ecological gardening, which involves growing a wide range of edible and other useful plants, can take place only on a large, multiacre scale. As Hemenway demonstrates, it's fun and easy to create a "backyard ecosystem" by assembling communities of plants that can work cooperatively and perform a variety of functions, including: Building and maintaining soil fertility and structure; catching and conserving water in the landscape; providing habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and animals; growing an edible "forest" that yields seasonal fruits, nuts, and other foods. This revised and updated edition also features a new chapter on urban perm culture, designed especially for people in cities and suburbs who have very limited growing space. Whatever size yard or garden you have to work with, you can apply basic perm culture principles to make it more diverse, more natural, more productive, and more beautiful. Best of all, once it's established, an ecological garden will reduce or eliminate most of the backbreaking work that's needed to maintain the typical lawn and garden.
The French interior evokes a way of life to aspire to, with its good food, unhurried pace and, above all, its past for which many people feel nostalgia. Developed over hundreds of years, the French look reflects all tastes, from the cultivated grandeur of the chateau to the simplicity of rural living, and can be adapted to every home, including the Mediterranean style villa and elegant town house. In this book, the look is divided into Chateau, Country, Provincial and Parisian style, and applied to living room, kitchen and dining room, bedroom and bathroom, and to living space in the garden. As well as describing each overall look, focusing on colors and fabrics, Annie Sloan emphasizes the details and accents required by each one, and, aided by 25 clearly explained step-by-step projects, shows how to achieve it. Among other things, she explains how to paint and distress furniture, and describes how to cover an armoire door with embroidered voile. Whatever interior you desire, this book will guide your choices from the grand statement of the painted armoire to the finishing touch of a little posy of lavender.