Displaying books 241-288 of 640 in total

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

2015

by Chris Hadfield

Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4,000 hours in space. During this time, he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft.

The secret to Col. Hadfield's success—and survival—is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst and enjoy every moment of it.

In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible.

Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement—and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.

You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video, or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Col. Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth—especially your own.

The Loney

If it had another name, I never knew, but the locals called it the Loney - that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune where Hanny and I went every Easter time with Mummer, Farther, Mr. and Mrs. Belderboss, and Father Wilfred, the parish priest.

It was impossible to truly know the place. It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water. No one apart from us, that is.

I suppose I always knew that what happened there wouldn't stay hidden forever, no matter how much I wanted it to. No matter how hard I tried to forget...

The Dark Forest

The Dark Forest is part of a near-future trilogy that presents the first opportunity for English-speaking readers to delve into the multiple-award-winning universe created by China's most beloved science fiction author, Cixin Liu. In this installment, Earth is on edge with the disclosure of an impending alien invasion set four centuries in the future.

The defeat of the aliens' human allies is overshadowed by the fact that sophons—subatomic particles used by Trisolaris—grant them instant access to all human information, leaving Earth's defense strategies utterly transparent to the enemy. The human mind, however, remains an enigma, concealed from the aliens. This secrecy is the driving force behind the Wallfacer Project, an audacious initiative that empowers four individuals with vast resources to devise covert strategies, concealed through trickery from both Earth and Trisolaris.

Among the Wallfacers are three prominent statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a mystery. Luo Ji, a modest Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is puzzled by his newfound prominence. His only certainty is that he is the Wallfacer marked for death by Trisolaris.

Fragments of Horror

2015

by Junji Ito

Fragments of Horror offers a new collection of delightfully macabre tales from Junji Ito, a celebrated master of horror manga. The stories range from the terrifying to the comedic, and from the erotic to the loathsome.

Readers will encounter an old wooden mansion that turns on its inhabitants, a dissection class with a most unusual subject, and a funeral where the dead refuse to rest in peace. These chilling narratives mark Junji Ito's much-anticipated return to the realm of horror.

How to Be an Imperfectionist

2015

by Stephen Guise

From an early age, children are taught to color inside the lines, and any color that strays outside the lines is seen as a mistake to be avoided. Perfectionism is a naturally limiting mindset. Imperfectionism, on the other hand, frees us to live outside the lines, where possibilities are infinite, mistakes are allowed, and self-judgment is minimal.

The old way to approach perfectionism was to inspire people to "let go" of their need for perfection and hope they could do it. The new way is to show people how simple but highly strategic "mini actions" can empower them to gradually and effortlessly "let go" of perfectionism. This book applies the science of behavior modification directly to the roots of perfectionism, resulting in a new and superior method for change. Imperfectionists aren't so ironic as to have perfect lives: they're just happier, healthier, and more productive at doing what matters.

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents

If you grew up with an emotionally immature, unavailable, or selfish parent, you may have lingering feelings of anger, loneliness, betrayal, or abandonment. You may recall your childhood as a time when your emotional needs were not met, when your feelings were dismissed, or when you took on adult levels of responsibility in an effort to compensate for your parent’s behavior. These wounds can be healed, and you can move forward in your life.

In this breakthrough book, clinical psychologist Lindsay Gibson exposes the destructive nature of parents who are emotionally immature or unavailable. You will see how these parents create a sense of neglect, and discover ways to heal from the pain and confusion caused by your childhood. By freeing yourself from your parents’ emotional immaturity, you can recover your true nature, control how you react to them, and avoid disappointment. Finally, you’ll learn how to create positive, new relationships so you can build a better life.

Discover the four types of difficult parents:

The emotional parent instills feelings of instability and anxiety
The driven parent stays busy trying to perfect everything and everyone
The passive parent avoids dealing with anything upsetting
The rejecting parent is withdrawn, dismissive, and derogatory

Sword of Destiny

Geralt of Rivia is a witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.

This is a collection of short stories, following the adventures of the hit collection THE LAST WISH. Join Geralt as he battles monsters, demons and prejudices alike...

Everything I Never Told You

2015

by Celeste Ng

Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet. So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.

A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

The Wrath and the Dawn

2015

by Renée Ahdieh

#1 New York Times Bestseller A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend. She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all. *The book is a Rough Cut Edition (pages are deliberately not the same length).*

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is the remarkable story of Tsukuru Tazaki, a young man haunted by a great loss; of dreams and nightmares that have unintended consequences for the world around us; and of a journey into the past that is necessary to mend the present. This novel gives us a story of love, friendship, and heartbreak for the ages.

Tsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school, each of whom had a name that contained a color. The boys were Akamatsu, meaning 'red pine,' and Oumi, 'blue sea,' while the girls were Shirane, 'white root,' and Kurono, 'black field.' Tazaki's name was the only one without a color. One day, his friends suddenly announced that they did not want to see him or talk to him again. Since that day, Tsukuru has been floating through life, unable to form intimate connections with anyone. But then he meets Sara, who tells him that it is time to discover what happened all those years ago.

The Argonauts

2015

by Maggie Nelson

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson is a genre-bending memoir that intertwines the author's personal narrative with a deep engagement in literary and theoretical texts. At the heart of this work is a story of romance between Nelson and her partner, artist Harry Dodge, whose experiences of gender transition and reassignment intersect with Nelson's journey through pregnancy.

This reflective, poignant exploration of motherhood, desire, and identity is grounded in an intimate portrayal of the author's queer family life. Nelson challenges the societal norms surrounding sexuality, gender, marriage, and childrearing, advocating for radical individual freedom and the value of caregiving.

Through her narrative, Nelson conducts a rigorous examination of philosophical and theoretical discourses, tracing the contours of what iconic theorists have to say about the complexities of contemporary social structures. The Argonauts is thus not only a memoir but also an impassioned argument for the embracement of unorthodox forms of love and kinship in the modern age.

Miss Mayhem

2015

by Rachel Hawkins

Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and her best friend, Bee, has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can focus on the important things in life: school, canoodling with David (her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie), and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.

Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or make her more powerful than ever.

Persona

Persona is an acerbic thriller set in a near-future world where celebrity ambassadors and assassins manipulate the media to the point where the only truth seekers left are the paparazzi. Suyana, the Face of the United Amazonia Rainforest Confederation, expects to solidify a relationship with the United States through a secret meeting with Ethan. However, her plans are upended by an unexpected assassination attempt.

Daniel, a teen runaway turned paparazzo, aiming for his big break, witnesses the attack on Suyana. Acting on impulse, he finds himself embroiled in the dangerous game of Faces, where the stakes are as high as life and death. Suyana and Daniel must navigate the treacherous political landscape, where one wrong move could be fatal.

Rebel Belle

2015

by Rachel Hawkins

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more.

Gift from the Sea

In this inimitable, beloved classic—graceful, lucid and lyrical—Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea. Drawing inspiration from the shells on the shore, Lindbergh’s musings on the shape of a woman’s life bring new understanding to both men and women at any stage of life. A mother of five, an acclaimed writer and a pioneering aviator, Lindbergh casts an unsentimental eye on the trappings of modernity that threaten to overwhelm us: the time-saving gadgets that complicate rather than simplify, the multiple commitments that take us from our families. And by recording her thoughts during a brief escape from everyday demands, she helps readers find a space for contemplation and creativity within their own lives.With great wisdom and insight Lindbergh describes the shifting shapes of relationships and marriage, presenting a vision of life as it is lived in an enduring and evolving partnership. A groundbreaking, best-selling work when it was originally published in 1955, Gift from the Sea continues to be discovered by new generations of readers. With a new introduction by Lindbergh’s daughter Reeve, this fiftieth-anniversary edition will give those who are revisiting the book and those who are coming upon it for the first time fresh insight into the life of this remarkable woman.The sea and the beach are elements that have been woven throughout Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s life. She spent her childhood summers with her family on a Maine island. After her marriage to Charles Lindbergh in 1929, she accompanied him on his survey flights around the North Atlantic to launch the first transoceanic airlines. The Lindberghs eventually established a permanent home on the Connecticut coast, where they lived quietly, wrote books and raised their family.After the children left home for lives of their own, the Lindberghs traveled extensively to Africa and the Pacific for environmental research.

A Spool of Blue Thread

2015

by Anne Tyler

From the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning author--now in the fiftieth year of her remarkable career--a brilliantly observed, joyful and wrenching, funny and true new novel that reveals, as only she can, the very nature of a family's life.

"It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon." This is the way Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she fell in love with Red that day in July 1959. The whole family--their two daughters and two sons, their grandchildren, even their faithful old dog--is on the porch, listening contentedly as Abby tells the tale they have heard so many times before. And yet this gathering is different too: Abby and Red are growing older, and decisions must be made about how best to look after them, and the fate of the house so lovingly built by Red's father.

Brimming with the luminous insight, humor, and compassion that are Anne Tyler's hallmarks, this capacious novel takes us across three generations of the Whitshanks, their shared stories and long-held secrets, all the unguarded and richly lived moments that combine to define who and what they are as a family.

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances

2015

by Neil Gaiman

Trigger Warning is a mesmerizing collection of short stories and poems by the acclaimed author Neil Gaiman. This anthology explores the transformative power of imagination and the hidden depths of reality.

In Adventure Story—a thematic companion to the novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane—Gaiman delves into themes of death and the stories we carry with us. A Calendar of Tales offers a collection of short pieces inspired by the months of the year, featuring tales of pirates, March winds, and an igloo made of books.

Gaiman's The Case of Death and Honey presents an ingenious twist on Sherlock Holmes, while Nothing O'Clock is a special Doctor Who story written for the beloved series. The never-before-published Black Dog revisits the world of American Gods, following Shadow Moon on a haunting journey.

Gaiman's literary alchemy transports readers to a world where the fantastical becomes real and the everyday is incandescent. A treasury of wonders, Trigger Warning engages the mind, stirs the heart, and shakes the soul.

The Girl on the Train

2015

by Paula Hawkins

The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives, from the author of Into the Water and A Slow Fire Burning.

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She's even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life-as she sees it-is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. UNTIL TODAY And then she sees something shocking. It's only a minute until the train moves on, but it's enough. Now everything's changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

One-Punch Man, Vol. 7: The Fight

2014

by ONE, Yusuke Murata

Nothing about Saitama passes the eyeball test when it comes to superheroes, from his lifeless expression to his bald head to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking guy has a not-so-average problem—he just can't seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on!

When aliens invade Earth, a group of Class S heroes finally finds a way to fight back and go on the offensive! Inside the enemy mother ship, Saitama fights Boros. Faced with the alien's frightful power, he decides to get serious! What is the Earth's fate?

Treasure Island

Treasure Island, published in 1883, popularized the now familiar characters of pirates and brought them to rum-swilling life. When an old sailor named Billy Bones dies in the inn belonging to young Jim Hawkins's parents, he leaves a greasy old map on which an "X" marks the spot where treasure is buried. Jim joins the crew of a ship in pursuit of Bones's treasure, and on the seas meets up with Long John Silver, a peg-legged pirate who has infiltrated their ranks. Jim must survive mutinies and counter-mutinies, face hand-to-hand combat with drunken sailors, and outwit double-crossing thieves before the treasure can be his.

For sheer storytelling delight and pure adventure, Treasure Island has never been surpassed. From the moment young Jim Hawkins first encounters the sinister Blind Pew at the Admiral Benbow Inn until the climactic battle for treasure on a tropic isle, the novel creates scenes and characters that have fired the imaginations of generations of readers. The story centers upon the conflict between good and evil - but in this case a particularly engaging form of evil. It is the villainy of the most ambiguous rogue, Long John Silver, that sets the tempo of this tale of treachery, greed, and daring. Designed to forever kindle a dream of high romance and distant horizons, Treasure Island is a vision not only of white skeletons but also of green palm trees and sapphire seas.

The Art of Asking

2014

by Amanda Palmer

Rock star, crowdfunding pioneer, and TED speaker Amanda Palmer knows all about asking. Performing as a living statue in a wedding dress, she wordlessly asked thousands of passersby for their dollars. When she became a singer, songwriter, and musician, she was not afraid to ask her audience to support her as she surfed the crowd (and slept on their couches while touring). And when she left her record label to strike out on her own, she asked her fans to support her in making an album, leading to the world's most successful music Kickstarter.

Even while Amanda is both celebrated and attacked for her fearlessness in asking for help, she finds that there are important things she cannot ask for-as a musician, as a friend, and as a wife. She learns that she isn't alone in this, that so many people are afraid to ask for help, and it paralyzes their lives and relationships. In this groundbreaking book, she explores these barriers in her own life and in the lives of those around her, and discovers the emotional, philosophical, and practical aspects of The Art of Asking.

Part manifesto, part revelation, this is the story of an artist struggling with the new rules of exchange in the twenty-first century, both on and off the Internet. The Art of Asking will inspire readers to rethink their own ideas about asking, giving, art, and love.

Yes Please

2014

by Amy Poehler

Do you want to get to know the woman we first came to love on Comedy Central's Upright Citizens Brigade? Do you want to spend some time with the lady who made you howl with laughter on Saturday Night Live, and in movies like Baby Mama, Blades of Glory, and They Came Together? Do you find yourself daydreaming about hanging out with the actor behind the brilliant Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation? Did you wish you were in the audience at the last two Golden Globes ceremonies, so you could bask in the hilarity of Amy's one-liners?

A collection of stories, thoughts, ideas, lists, and haiku from the mind of one of our most beloved entertainers, Yes Please offers Amy’s thoughts on everything from her “too safe” childhood outside of Boston to her early days in New York City, her ideas about Hollywood and “the biz,” the demon that looks back at all of us in the mirror, and her joy at being told she has a “face for wigs.”

Yes Please is a chock-full of words and wisdom to live by. 

In Real Life

Anda loves Coarsegold Online, the massively-multiplayer role-playing game where she spends most of her free time. It's a place where she can be a leader, a fighter, a hero. It's a place where she can meet people from all over the world, and make friends.

But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer—a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to players from developed countries with money to burn. This behavior is strictly against the rules in Coarsegold, but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person's real livelihood is at stake.

From acclaimed teen author (Little Brother, For the Win) and Boing Boing editor Cory Doctorow and Koko Be Good creator Jen Wang, In Real Life is a perceptive and high-stakes look at adolescence, gaming, poverty, and culture clash.

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

2014

by Atul Gawande

In Being Mortal, author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending.


Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But in the inevitable condition of aging and death, the goals of medicine seem too frequently to run counter to the interest of the human spirit.


Nursing homes, preoccupied with safety, pin patients into railed beds and wheelchairs. Hospitals isolate the dying, checking for vital signs long after the goals of cure have become moot. Doctors, committed to extending life, continue to carry out devastating procedures that in the end extend suffering.


Gawande, a practicing surgeon, addresses his profession's ultimate limitation, arguing that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families. Gawande offers examples of freer, more socially fulfilling models for assisting the infirm and dependent elderly, and he explores the varieties of hospice care to demonstrate that a person's last weeks or months may be rich and dignified.


Full of eye-opening research and riveting storytelling, Being Mortal asserts that medicine can comfort and enhance our experience even to the end, providing not only a good life but also a good end.

Good Leaders Ask Great Questions

2014

by John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell, a renowned leadership expert and New York Times bestselling author, delves into the critical role of questioning in leadership. Good Leaders Ask Great Questions is a testament to the power of questions in learning, connecting with others, self-improvement, team enhancement, and the generation of innovative ideas.

Maxwell emphasizes the significance of questions and provides guidance on the essential questions leaders should be asking themselves and their teams. By sharing insights from his own experiences and addressing seventy of the most impactful leadership queries, Maxwell offers a roadmap for both experienced leaders and those just embarking on their leadership journey.

This book is a transformative guide that will alter your perspective on leadership and question-asking, whether you're at the peak of your career or taking your first steps toward leadership roles.

Scrum

2014

by Jeff Sutherland

For those who believe that there must be a more agile and efficient way for people to get things done, Scrum is a brilliantly discursive, thought-provoking book about the leadership and management process that is changing the way we live.

Jeff Sutherland, the man who put together the first Scrum team more than twenty years ago, offers a compelling explanation of Scrum and its bright promise. Scrum is already driving most of the world's top technology companies and is now spreading to every domain where leaders wrestle with complex projects. Productivity gains of as much as 1200% have been recorded, showcasing the significant impact of Scrum.

Drawing on his experience as a West Point-educated fighter pilot, biometrics expert, early innovator of ATM technology, and V.P. of engineering or CTO at eleven different technology companies, Sutherland challenges dysfunctional realities, looking for solutions with global impact. This book takes you to Scrum's front lines where deep accountability, team interaction, and constant iterative improvement are bringing remarkable results.

From transforming the FBI's outdated systems to perfecting the design of an affordable high-efficiency vehicle, and from improving healthcare delivery to aiding in humanitarian efforts, Scrum is making a difference. The insights from various fields, including martial arts, judicial decision making, and advanced aerial combat, make Scrum consistently riveting.

Reading this book may help you achieve what others consider unachievable, be it inventing groundbreaking technology, creating a new educational system, pioneering ways to feed the hungry, or building a foundation for your family to thrive and prosper.

The Resource Management and Capacity Planning Handbook: A Guide to Maximizing the Value of Your Limited People Resources

2014

by Jerry Manas

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MAXIMIZING LIMITED RESOURCES TO INNOVATE AND GROW

Trying to accomplish too much with too few resources has become almost customary in business today. More often than not, the result is delayed projects, mass confusion, and missed opportunities--not the achievement of business goals. The Resource Management and Capacity Planning Handbook helps you tackle the critical challenges of resource management and capacity planning head on by providing a proven tool for making the leap from chaos to control: the Capacity Quadrant, a framework for addressing visibility, prioritization, optimization of existing resources, and integrated planning and governance.

The Resource Management and Capacity Planning Handbook demystifies the complexities of resource capacity and demand management and offers clear ways for maximizing your limited resources to drive business growth and sustainability. This groundbreaking guide includes comprehensive benchmark data from a study of resource management, case studies from organizations that have used the book's methods with great success, tools for overcoming common barriers and making decisions, and recommendations on ownership of the organization's resource management and capacity planning functions. It also considers the human side of resource management and capacity planning.

The book provides information, insight, and proven methods to take your company to new heights of success.

The Eighth Life

Six romances, one revolution, the story of the century.

At the start of the twentieth century, on the edge of the Russian Empire, a family prospers. It owes its success to a delicious chocolate recipe, passed down the generations with great solemnity and caution. A caution which is justified- this is a recipe for ecstasy that carries a very bitter aftertaste... 

Stasia learns it from her Georgian father and takes it north, following her new husband, Simon, to his posting at the centre of the Russian Revolution in St Petersburg. Stasia's is only the first in a symphony of grand but all too often doomed romances that swirl from sweet to sour in this epic tale of the red century. 

Tumbling down the years, and across vast expanses of longing and loss, generation after generation of this compelling family hears echoes and sees reflections. Great characters and greater relationships come and go and come again; the world shakes, and shakes some more, and the reader rejoices to have found at last one of those glorious old books in which you can live and learn, be lost and found, and make indelible new friends. 

Dataclysm: Who We Are

Our personal data has been used to spy on us, hire and fire us, and sell us stuff we don't need. In Dataclysm, Christian Rudder uses it to show us who we truly are.

For centuries, we've relied on polling or small-scale lab experiments to study human behavior. Today, a new approach is possible. As we live more of our lives online, researchers can finally observe us directly, in vast numbers, and without filters. Data scientists have become the new demographers.

In this daring and original book, Rudder explains how Facebook "likes" can predict, with surprising accuracy, a person's sexual orientation and even intelligence; how attractive women receive exponentially more interview requests; and why you must have haters to be hot. He charts the rise and fall of America's most reviled word through Google Search and examines the new dynamics of collaborative rage on Twitter.

He shows how people express themselves, both privately and publicly. What is the least Asian thing you can say? Do people bathe more in Vermont or New Jersey?

Rudder also traces human migration over time, showing how groups of people move from certain small towns to the same big cities across the globe. And he grapples with the challenge of maintaining privacy in a world where these explorations are possible.

Visually arresting and full of wit and insight, Dataclysm is a new way of seeing ourselves—a brilliant alchemy, in which math is made human and numbers become the narrative of our time.

Treating Self-Destructive Behaviors in Trauma Survivors

2014

by Lisa Ferentz

Treating Self-Destructive Behaviors in Trauma Survivors, 2nd ed, is a comprehensive guide for clinicians dedicated to assisting trauma survivors. Throughout treatment, therapists may encounter clients disclosing self-destructive behaviors, including self-mutilation and other means of deliberately "hurting the body" such as bingeing, purging, starving, substance abuse, and other addictive behaviors.

Renowned clinician Lisa Ferentz introduces viable treatment alternatives, assessment tools, and new ways of understanding self-destructive behavior through a strengths-based approach. This method differentiates between the "experimental" non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) that some teenagers engage in occasionally and the repetitive and chronic self-destructive behaviors.

In this edition, numerous treatment strategies are cross-referenced to a practical workbook, offering therapists and clients concrete methods to integrate theory into practice. Ferentz emphasizes the significance of assessing and enhancing clients' self-compassion, explaining how nurturing this concept cognitively, emotionally, and somatically can become a catalyst for motivation and change.

The book also explores a cycle of behavior that clinicians can personalize and use as a template for treatment. The final sections focus on counter-transferential responses and various ways therapists can work with self-destructive behaviors while avoiding vicarious traumatization by adopting tools and strategies for self-care.

Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living

2014

by Nick Offerman

Parks and Recreation actor and Making It co-host Nick Offerman shares his humorous fulminations on life, manliness, meat, and much more in this New York Times bestseller.

Growing a perfect moustache, grilling red meat, wooing a woman—who better to deliver this tutelage than the always charming, always manly Nick Offerman, best known as Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson? Combining his trademark comic voice and very real expertise in woodworking—he runs his own woodshop—Paddle Your Own Canoe features tales from Offerman’s childhood in small-town Minooka, Illinois—“I grew up literally in the middle of a cornfield”—to his theater days in Chicago, beginnings as a carpenter/actor and the hilarious and magnificent seduction of his now-wife Megan Mullally.

It also offers hard-bitten battle strategies in the arenas of manliness, love, style, religion, woodworking, and outdoor recreation, among many other savory entrees.

A mix of amusing anecdotes, opinionated lessons and rants, sprinkled with offbeat gaiety, Paddle Your Own Canoe will not only tickle readers pink but may also rouse them to put down their smart phones, study a few sycamore leaves, and maybe even hand craft (and paddle) their own canoes.

Rose Under Fire

2014

by Elizabeth Wein

While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women's concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery, and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that's in store for her?

Elizabeth Wein, author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling Code Name Verity, delivers another stunning WWII thriller. The unforgettable story of Rose Justice is forged from heart-wrenching courage, resolve, and the slim, bright chance of survival.

The Martian

2014

by Andy Weir

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old human error are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

I Remember Beirut

2014

by Zeina Abirached

Zeina Abirached, author of the graphic novel A Game for Swallows, returns with a powerful collection of wartime memories. Abirached was born in Lebanon in 1981. She grew up in Beirut as fighting between Christians and Muslims divided the city streets.

Follow her past cars riddled with bullet holes, into taxi cabs that travel where buses refuse to go, and on outings to collect shrapnel from the sidewalk. With striking black-and-white artwork, Abirached recalls the details of ordinary life inside a war zone.

The Ask and the Answer

2014

by Patrick Ness

Part two of the literary sci-fi thriller follows a boy and a girl who are caught in a warring town where thoughts can be heard—and secrets are never safe.

Reaching the end of their tense and desperate flight in THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, Todd and Viola did not find healing and hope in Haven. They found instead their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss, waiting to welcome them to New Prentisstown. There they are forced into separate lives: Todd to prison, and Viola to a house of healing where her wounds are treated. Soon Viola is swept into the ruthless activities of the Answer, aimed at overthrowing the tyrannical government. Todd, meanwhile, faces impossible choices when forced to join the mayor’s oppressive new regime.

In alternating narratives—Todd’s gritty and volatile; Viola’s calmer but equally stubborn—the two struggle to reconcile their own dubious actions with their deepest beliefs. Torn by confusion and compromise, suspicion and betrayal, can their trust in each other possibly survive?

Baptism of Fire

The Witcher series continues with Baptism of Fire where the Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup, leaving Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher, seriously injured. In a world where dark times have befallen, Geralt is rendered helpless until his recovery. Amidst a raging war and the threat to the future of magic, those sorcerers who remain are fiercely determined to safeguard it.

Geralt's mission is to find and rescue one girl - Ciri, the heir to the throne of Cintra, who has vanished. A rumour leads to the Niflgaard court where she is believed to be preparing to marry the Emperor. Despite his injuries, Geralt must undertake this crucial rescue mission.

The Goldfinch

2014

by Donna Tartt

It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.The Goldfinch combines vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

Men Explain Things To Me Updated Edition

2014

by Rebecca Solnit

In her comic, scathing essay “Men Explain Things to Me,” Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don’t, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.


She ends on a serious note—because the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, “He’s trying to kill me!”


This book features that now-classic essay with six perfect complements, including an examination of the writer Virginia Woolf’s embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against women.

All the Light We Cannot See

2014

by Anthony Doerr

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See is a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane.

When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure's agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall. In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure.

Doerr's combination of soaring imagination with observation is electric. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, All the Light We Cannot See is his most ambitious and dazzling work.

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown - A 30-Minute Instaread Summary: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

Please Note: This is a summary of the book and not the original book.

In The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown, this 30-minute summary helps readers embrace who they are by letting go of who they think they’re supposed to be. The summary provides an overview of the book, introduces key people, and analyzes all chapters, offering key takeaways and a reader's perspective.

Chapter 1: It is necessary to practice courage, compassion, and connection daily to develop worthiness. Attempting to win someone over often means trading our sense of self for approval. True connection is formed when we share our stories of shame and embrace vulnerability, which strengthens relationships.

Courage is about speaking honestly and being vulnerable, asking for what we need, and risking disappointment. It creates a ripple effect, encouraging others to be brave.

Compassion is recognizing our shared humanity and accepting ourselves and others. It requires setting boundaries and holding others accountable.

Connection is the energy between people who feel seen, heard, and valued without judgment, strengthening them emotionally, physically, spiritually, and intellectually.

Chapter 2: Love and belonging are essential, and to experience these, one must believe they are worthy. Wholeheartedness involves believing in one's worthiness now, as they are.

Dad Is Fat

2014

by Jim Gaffigan

Jim Gaffigan never imagined he would have his own kids.


Though he grew up in a large Irish-Catholic family, Jim was satisfied with the nomadic, nocturnal life of a standup comedian, and was content to be "that weird uncle who lives in an apartment by himself in New York that everyone in the family speculates about." But all that changed when he married and found out his wife, Jeannie, "is someone who gets pregnant looking at babies."


Five kids later, the comedian whose riffs on everything from Hot Pockets to Jesus have scored millions of hits on YouTube, started to tweet about the mistakes and victories of his life as a dad. Those tweets struck such a chord that he soon passed the million followers mark. But it turns out 140 characters are not enough to express all the joys and horrors of life with five kids, so he's now sharing it all in Dad Is Fat.


From new parents to empty nesters to Jim's twenty-something fans, everyone will recognize their own families in these hilarious takes on everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to growing up in a big family ("I always assumed my father had six children so he could have a sufficient lawn crew") to changing diapers in the middle of the night ("like The Hurt Locker but much more dangerous") to bedtime (aka "Negotiating with Terrorists").


Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home.

I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales From a Happy Life Without Kids

2014

by Jen Kirkman

In this instant New York Times bestseller, comedian and Chelsea Lately regular Jen Kirkman champions every woman’s right to follow her own path—even if that means being “childfree by choice.”

In her debut memoir, actress and comedian Jen Kirkman delves into her off-camera life with the same snarky sensitivity and oddball humor she brings to her sold-out standup shows and the Chelsea Lately roundtable, where she is a writer and regular performer.

As a woman of a certain age who has no desire to start a family, Jen often finds herself confronted (by friends, family, and total strangers) about her decision to be “childfree by choice.” I Can Barely Take Care of Myself offers honest and hilarious responses to questions like “Who will take care of you when you get old?” (Servants!) and provides a peek into the psyche—and weird and wonderful life—of a woman who has always marched to the beat of a different drummer and is pretty sure she’s not gonna change her mind, but thanks for your concern.

The Autistic Brain

The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum is a groundbreaking exploration into the science of autism, authored by the renowned Temple Grandin and Richard Panek.

Weaving her own experiences with remarkable new discoveries, Grandin introduces the neuroimaging advances and genetic research that link brain science to behavior. She even shares her own brain scans from numerous studies. Readers will meet the scientists and self-advocates who are introducing innovative theories about what causes autism, how it is diagnosed, and how best to treat it.

Grandin highlights long-ignored sensory problems and the treatments that might help them, and warns of the dangers of politics defining the diagnosis of autism spectrum.

Most excitingly, in the science that has begun to reveal the long-overlooked strengths conferred by autism, she finds a route to more effective mainstreaming and a way to unleash the unique advantages of autistic people. From the "aspies" in Silicon Valley to the five-year-old without language, Grandin understands the true meaning of the word spectrum.

The Autistic Brain is essential reading from one of the most respected and beloved voices in the field.

The Thing with Feathers: The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human

2014

by Noah Strycker

The Thing with Feathers is an entertaining and profound look at the lives of birds, illuminating their surprising world—and deep connection with humanity. Birds are highly intelligent animals, yet their intelligence is dramatically different from our own and has been little understood.

As scientists come to understand more about the secrets of bird life, they are unlocking fascinating insights into memory, game theory, and the nature of intelligence itself. This book explores the astonishing homing abilities of pigeons, the good deeds of fairy-wrens, the influential flocking abilities of starlings, the deft artistry of bowerbirds, the extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, the lifelong loves of albatross, and other mysteries—revealing why birds do what they do, and offering a glimpse into our own nature.

Noah Strycker, a birder and naturalist who has traveled the world in pursuit of his flighty subjects, draws deep from personal experience, cutting-edge science, and colorful history. He spins captivating stories about the birds in our midst and reveals the startlingly intimate coexistence of birds and humans.

With humor, style, and grace, Strycker shows how our view of the world is often, and remarkably, through the experience of birds. Beautiful and wise, funny and insightful, The Thing with Feathers is a gripping and enlightening journey into the lives of birds.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Core

When Dawn falls ill, it's up to best friends Buffy, Xander, and Willow to join forces and find a supernatural cure in a world sorely lacking magic. The trio must fight their way into the Deeper Well, the former home of Illyria and other ancient gods known as the Old Ones, where they hope to jump-start magic back into existence.

The journey is fraught with challenges as they encounter a Slayer gone rogue standing in their way. This volume collects Buffy Season 9 #21–#25 and Love vs. Life from Dark Horse Presents #25–#27, offering an epic adventure with the beloved characters from the Buffyverse.

Fluent in 3 Months

2014

by Benny Lewis

Benny Lewis, the creator of the largest language learning blog in the world, www.fluentin3months.com, introduces his unconventional approach to language learning. His techniques shatter common language learning myths and introduce practical "language hacks" that leverage the skills we already have.

Fluent in 3 Months is not just a book, but a blueprint for learning new languages quickly and effectively. Lewis, a full-time "language hacker," shares his insights from mastering over ten languages through self-teaching. He makes a compelling argument that you don't need an exceptional memory or a special "language gene" to become fluent in a new language. Instead, Lewis debunks misconceptions, such as the notion that adults cannot learn languages as effectively as children.

This guide is designed to help anyone—regardless of age—speak any language from anywhere in the world, and to do so with speed, intuition, and fun.

Young Avengers, Vol. 2: Alternative Culture

Ever wonder what the super hero equivalent of a terrible soul-sucking, talent-wasting temp job is? Discover what Tommy (aka Speed) has been up to and why mutant David Alleyne (aka Prodigy) hasn't appeared even in the background of the myriad X-books.

Existential horror turns to cosmic horror as something emerges from the shadows of the past, presenting the Young Avengers with new challenges. The team races desperately across the multiverse in pursuit of their missing friend, but their road trip spirals into chaos as they reach their destination, which is fraught with both excitement and heartbreak.

As they face these trials, several Young Avengers confront the decision of what to do next. The big question remains: Will they continue to be Young Avengers? And, are you ready for Mother's Day?

Collecting: Young Avengers #6-10

One-Punch Man, Vol. 5: Shining in Tatters

2013

by ONE, Yusuke Murata

Nothing about Saitama passes the eyeball test when it comes to superheroes, from his lifeless expression to his bald head to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking guy has a not-so-average problem - he just can't seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on!

To stop a Demon-level crisis, Saitama and company head toward the action. However, even Class 8 heroes prove to be no match for the Deep Sea King! In order to protect the good citizens, our heroes will need to summon all their courage and confront this threat!

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