Books published by Hats Off Books

When Hermann Olsen initially left the kidney-bashing back road of Route 226 in the Wasatch range of Utah and limped stiffly into the Mahogany Ridge Club, he was simply looking for a cold beer, some companionship, and a place to escape the omnipresent western dust. He soon makes the acquaintance of the rough ranchers who frequent the town's favorite watering hole, and hours later he becomes the dubiously proud owner of a dilapidated tavern, an out-of-commission ski hill, some ancient chairlifts, and a fat old search-and-rescue dog more renown for her gas than for her work ethic.Hermann's plan is simple: put just enough money into the area in order to revitalize it as "a place for the locals," and then leisurely sit back and watch life go by from the tranquil banks of the teeming trout streams.Good plan. But life is a roller coaster ride with its own ideas of what is in store for us, and despite our best intentions and our worst flaws, we sometimes experience unexplained success. The seriously out-of-the-way hill known as Mount Bellew soon attracts a cult of hardcore skiers and snowboarders who are enamored with its legendary lack of facilities and un-groomed slopes. Mount Bellew explodes beyond the edges of Hermann's dream, and in a very short expanse of time, the ex-hippie finds himself attempting to manage a lively and bustling ski resort. "Desperate times call for desperate solutions," Hermann believes. He soon surrounds himself with the colorful and equally desperate characters that make up his personnel staff.Told through the viewpoint of a simple bus driver who is looking back on his youth, Mount Bellew shows us how all of our heroes are seriously flawed, struggling through individual changes and challenges in their lives, and how every life is a unique season of hope."Men do change, and the change comes like the wind that ruffles the curtains at dawn, and it comes like the stealthy perfume of wildflowers hidden in the grass." -- John SteinbeckHow we handle it all is the measure of the man. How Mount Bellew survives the growing pains is the richly entertaining story to be told . . .

Heart Lines is a love story. It is a story about wanting love, losing love, forgetting what love feels like, and rediscovering love and all the lessons it has to teach us along the way. It is a drama, a comedy, and a mystery. It's mostly a non-fiction collection, but there's a bit of fantasy included, as well. At times it's a scary story, for who among us hasn't been scared by falling in or out of love? Above all, however, Heart Lines is a story of hope, and how important it is to never let the inner light of hope flicker out within your heart.

Between 1940 and 1944, when Alain Corcos was a teenager, the Germans systematically plundered the French countryside to feed their own armed forces and civilians. Both the Nazis and the fascist Vichy government forced everyone with "Jewish blood" to register as Jews, condemning those who complied to death in concentration camps. The Little Yellow Train chronicles the years of occupation in France, describing the Corcos family's struggles to survive. In addition to finding enough food to sustain themselves, they needed to forge records and identification cards in order to conceal the fact that some of their ancestors were Jewish. When the SS began kidnapping young French men and women to work in German factories, the author and his brother decided that the time had come to escape and join the Allied forces overseas.

Si le français est votre langue maternelle, vraisemblablement vous ne vous êtes jamais demandé pourquoi le mot bras appartient au genre masculin, alors que jambe est au féminin? Vous avez appris ces mots depuis l''enfance avec leurs genres compris, et vous les prenez comme acquis. Vous n''êtes pas conscients qu''il existe des règles établissant leurs genres.Les règles que vous trouverez dans ce livre constituent une tentative à organiser et à codifier un système de ces règles pour presque tous les noms de la langue, quelque chose qui n''était jamais fait auparavant. Si vous êtes intéressé à comprendre mieux votre langue et à découvrir ses règles surprenantes, ce livre est pour vous.

Kerala, one of the smallest states in India, is located in the country's southwest corner. Known for its great beauty, religious diversity, and zero population growth, the region also boasts an exceptionally high literacy rate-reportedly above 91 percent-resulting in a large readership for books, journals, and newspapers. The quality of Kerala's literary production is very high, and this anthology represents some of its best short stories.Though educated and enterprising, women from this area face the same problems as women the world over. The stories in this collection explore their lives, giving readers everywhere a greater understanding of what it means to be a daughter of Kerala.

It has been said that everything has already been written, but the style in which ideas are presented makes all the difference in the world as to whether they will be received and incorporated into someone's life. Injecting humor into serious subjects, David Edel provides a guide to successful living in fun, easy-to-read prose. Even though written for young adults, everyone who reads Thoughts from Dad will benefit from the concise, insightful ideas conveyed. Covering a wide variety of topics, from relationships, to health, to living the abundant life (it's not just about money), Edel shows us how to live a happy, successful, fulfilling life.

The terrorist group Al-Saafi is about to unleash its newly developed weapon of mass destruction. Soon the devastating MAX 18 virus will rid the world of infidels, beginning with the president of the United States and his cabinet. Two beautiful and extraordinary women, born only minutes apart at opposite ends of the country, share a spiritual ancestry that extends well beyond mere psychic power. Together they have less than nine months to follow a trail of secrets and unthinkable deeds to keep mankind's future intact. Powerful, hypnotic, and utterly original, this paranormal thriller will keep you spellbound.

Three years of incarceration led author Yolanda Atkins Cotton to build a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, yielding insights and revelations she'd previously believed impossible. Now, as an anointed woman of God, she shares what she has learned in the hopes that others who feel lonely, lost, or locked up will turn to Jesus for help.

Yolanda Atkins Cotton found Jesus Christ while serving time in prison. When she began spreading the good word to other lost souls after her release, she discovered like-minded women who wanted to join her cause. These are their stories.

This short book is a guide for terminally ill people, their caretakers, and their loved ones. Arguing that the end of life presents a final opportunity for growth, hospice physician Michael Appleton offers practical advice, hope, and stories about how his patients have dealt with this stage of their lives.

Preacherman is a worthy successor and prequel to Davis Temple's award-winning Two Letters Then Booger Den, where we first meet the evil Reverend Longley. This book, the story of Charles Longley, has been compared to Sinclair Lewis' Elmer Gantry. However, while Gantry was a grotesquely vulgar character, the Preacherman reader will find Longley a sympathetic character as he struggles with the forces of good and evil that tear his life asunder. Through it all, Charles struggles to escape grinding poverty, gain an education, and become a great preacher. His search for love is a compulsion that drives him down torturous roads. People close to Charles, especially the women he loves, die, sometimes terribly, sometimes mysteriously. Though Charles struggles to become a man of God, the forces of evil prevail. He becomes a "comically tragic" figure without thought for others and allows himself to be caught up, however unwillingly, in a classic pact with the Devil, who, at times, speaks to him in the form of his dead father. Readers are challenged to decide whether the evil side of Charles Longley is a product of inherited genes, possession by the Devil, mental illness, or all three. A surprising "twist" in the Epilogue may provide a clue. The author's skill with Southern dialogue and abundant humorous circumstances provide a balance for the darker elements of Preacherman.

Susan Sarandon''s memorable performances have made her an American icon. Passionate and outspoken, she''s often controversial. Why did Sarandon choose acting as a career? What is her acting philosophy? How does she select roles? What motivates her to promote social and political causes? Why do some people object to this? How do critics rate her work and her movies?Betty Jo Tucker answers these questions and more in an analysis of Sarandon''s achievements from a film critic''s perspective. Tucker''s book also includes an annotated filmography of Sarandon''s movies and selected reviews of her key films.