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2 authors picked The Secret Life of Houdini as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I’m not going to lie. I find the life of Houdini fascinating. It would be easy to focus on the magician/escape artist parts of his persona.Ā However, the book details his drive and intentions from a young age to absorb information and develop his craft are inspiring.Ā Before he was even a teenager, Houdini was walking 20+ miles (one way) to the neighboring town to find work and develop his craft.

As he became the worldwide phenomenon he is known for today, Houdini used his talents and never abused his notoriety.Ā Houdini was very intentional in how he wanted to…

From Cassmer's list on developing an entrepreneurial instinct.

My professional background's in magic, so Houdini's an endlessly fascinating character to me—both in his real life and the grand illusion he built of himself as the early 20th century's greatest showman. Erik Weisz was a skilled performer with a passion for physically testing himself. Harry Houdini, by contrast, was a superhuman master mystifier, a tireless crusader against psychic fraudsters—and also, allegedly, a rather successful spy. What emerges in this book is a man at war with his own constructed alter ego. A man who literally escaped his own grave many times before falling victim to the very claims of…

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Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

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Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman by Alexis Krasilovsky,

Kate from Jules et JimĀ meets I Love Dick.

A young woman filmmaker’s journey of self-discovery, set against a backdrop of the sexual liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman, we follow Ana Fried as she faces the ultimate…

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Malcolm Before X by Patrick Parr,

Malcolm Before X is about finding a way to continue moving forward after everything has been taken from you. While in prison, Malcolm Little discovered the power of reading and found a way to transform his character and become a better man. This half-biography focuses on that transformation, especially his…

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