Books with author J.D. Douglas

In a land of legends and sorcery, Shepard is unremarkable. Although he is the youngest of three heirs to the throne, no one respects those without magic, royalty or not.Frustrated and determined to prove his worth, Shepard sets out to discover abilities of his own, only to find he gets far more than he bargained for. His power flares out of control, haunting him with visions of destruction. Then they begin to come true.In a bid to use his powers to reverse what has been done, Shepard’s dangerous gift is exposed. Everything is at stake unless the young prince finds a way to alter what he’s set into motion. But that means diving even deeper into the madness of his gift. Deeper into the poison…Can Shepard save his land without losing himself in the process?

Enlightening”, “funny,” “relatable,” “too true,” “laugh-out-loud funny,” and “right on the mark,” are some of the ways people describe the humor of author and podcast host Jay Douglas.Whether he's talking about the ridiculous goings-on in every day life (like the sudden epidemic of efficiency in government offices) or offering helpful advice (like the importance of knowing the words to *A Teddy Bear's Picnic* if you're serious about pub quizzes) this book has many answers to some of life's more pressing and elusive questions. For exampleQ: What is the role of the DMV in society?A: Without our government we, the people, would be responsible for doing some pretty disgusting jobs.In fact, some of these jobs are so disgusting that the framers of the Constitution were scared they would be stuck with them. So, the framers wrote the 10th Amendment and, in the words of many distinguished Constitutional scholars, foisted these jobs off on the states.That is why the Federal government gets to play video games with real airplanes while the states get to remove giant hair balls from sewer pipes.States also have the job of reminding you that you are getting old.Since no self-respecting state legislator, and I've asked both of them, would vote for a law called the "Tell People They Are Getting Old Act," states meet this obligation with the cleverly named "Driver's License Renewal Act.”Q: Why do stores have self-checkout aisles?A: A local home improvement warehouse (I can't mention the name, but you would immediately recognize it, mainly because it's printed on everyone's orange aprons) has found a way to spare us men the agony of home repair.All we need to do is take our wives shopping with us and make sure we pay in the self-service checkout line.This amazing advance in retail science is a way for highly-placed corporate executives to assure other highly-placed corporate executives that their company is a happening, high-tech, cutting-edge business that sells exciting products like claw hammers, whose designs haven't changed since the invention of hair.Q: Why are airports so frustrating?A: Despite all its vastness, it is a matter of fact, as indisputable as the lips on a chicken, that there is one point in the universe where everybody winds up.And that point is in an airport, in front of, next to or underneath some sign.As notable a fellow as Einstein took time to point out the problem of unchecked signage in a footnote to his theory of relativity. He wrote, "Man cannot travel faster than the speed of light because there will always be a sign someplace he will stop to read.(Einstein was also first to propose the theory of six degrees of separation, which states, "In any airport you will always be separated from where you want to be by at least six people all reading the same sign.) Each story takes only a few minutes to read (but give yourself a little extra time to stop laughing), and is a perfect antidote for those moments of melancholy that follow on the heels of reading the morning's news.In e-book format, the book is discrete (from a distance it is impossible to tell it apart from *Lord of the Flies*). All words in the book are waterproof and can be safely taken into the bathroom (your ebook reader, however, may have other ideas).

Tracing the erosion of white elite paternalism in Jim Crow Virginia, Douglas Smith reveals a surprising fluidity in southern racial politics in the decades between World War I and the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.Smith draws on official records, private correspondence, and letters to newspapers from otherwise anonymous Virginians to capture a wide and varied range of black and white voices. African Americans emerge as central characters in the narrative, as Smith chronicles their efforts to obtain access to public schools and libraries, protection under the law, and the equitable distribution of municipal resources. This acceleration of black resistance to white supremacy in the years before World War II precipitated a crisis of confidence among white Virginians, who, despite their overwhelming electoral dominance, felt increasingly insecure about their ability to manage the color line on their own terms. Exploring the everyday power struggles that accompanied the erosion of white authority in the political, economic, and educational arenas, Smith uncovers the seeds of white Virginians' resistance to civil rights activism in the second half of the twentieth century.

This book is an autobiographical novel written by O. Douglas (the pseudonym of Anna Buchan). It tells a mother's story through the daughter's eyes. The storyline is set in Scotland in the early 20th century. The background of the author's personal life makes out of this story an even more vivid account, an engaging and relatable story which won't leave anybody indifferent.

Join scientist Doug Emlen on his quest to find out why an elusive type of beetle grows weapons that are enormous for its body size.What does it take to be a scientist in the field? Doug Emlen is a scientist. He studies beetles.Specifically, he studies the evolution of beetle weapons—how their horns and armor change to better suit them in different environments. This book starts with a mystery: Doug wanted to know why a particular type of beetle developed a massive evolutionary weapon. He wanted to know how these changes happened and what advantages these enormous weapons gave the tiny dung beetles. So, he went to visit.Part travel diary and part scientific exploration, Beetle Battles takes you deep into the South American rainforest to monitor beetles in their own habitat. Packed with color photographs, extensive back matter, and entertaining anecdotes, this book will make beetle fans out of all its young readers.

Penny Plain is a novel by O. Douglas (pseudonym of Anna Buchan). This is a charming and warm tale of family, friendship and romance. The story takes place in a small Scottish town, just after WWI. The heroine of the book Jean Jardine, a Scottish girl raising her younger brothers on her own, is a young woman of high moral values and kind heart. Jardine family is poor and they had their deal of hardships, but their home is a house of joy, music and love of books, honouring the only treasure they own, their father's old library. Their everyday life is suddenly shaken when a mysterious stranger asks for their hospitality.