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The Girl Behind the Door
by John BrooksAn award-winning, candid, and compelling story of an adoptive father's search for the truth about his teenage daughter's suicide: "Rarely have the subjects of suicide, adoption, adolescence, and parenting been explored so openly and honestly" (John Bateson, Former Executive Director, Contra Costa Crisis Center, and author of The Final Leap: Suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge).Early one Tuesday morning John Brooks went to his teenage daughter's room to make sure she was getting up for school and found her room dark and "neater than usual." Casey was gone but he found a note: The car is parked at the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm sorry. Several hours later a security video was found that showed Casey stepping off the bridge. Brooks spent months after Casey's suicide trying to understand what led his seventeen-year-old daughter to take her life. He examines Casey's journey from her abandonment at birth in Poland, to the orphanage where she lived for the first fourteen months of her life, to her adoption and life with John and his wife Erika in Northern California. He reads. He talks to Casey's friends, teachers, doctors, therapists, and other parents. He consults adoption experts, researchers, clinicians, attachment therapists, and social workers. In The Girl Behind the Door, Brooks shares what he learned and asks "What did everyone miss? What could have been done differently?" He'd come to realize that Casey might have been helped if someone had recognized that she'd likely suffered an attachment disorder from her infancy--an affliction common among children who've been orphaned, neglected, and abused. This emotional deprivation in early childhood, from the lack of a secure attachment to a primary caregiver, can lead to a wide range of serious behavioral issues later in life. John's hope is that Casey's story, and what he discovered since her death, will help others. This important book is a wakeup call that parents, mental health professionals, and teens should read.
Wild and Precious Life
by Deborah Ziegler"When twenty-nine-year-old Brittany is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, she thinks almost immediately about ending her life with dignity...In this painfully honest memoir, Deborah, Brittany's mother, records the surgeries, treatments, and soul-searching that went into honoring Brittany's path...Brittany's story...will have a ready audience, and Deborah's frank account of their struggles will be comforting to others facing this difficult decision." --Booklist (starred review)Written by Deborah Ziegler, the mother of Brittany Maynard--a twenty-nine-year-old woman with a terminal brain tumor--this touching and beautiful memoir captures and celebrates her daughter's spirit and the mostly untold story of Brittany's last year of life as she chose her right to die with dignity, a journey that inspired millions. On October 6, 2014, a video of my daughter, Brittany Maynard, was posted on YouTube. Brittany asked me to do the video with her, to support her. The first words my daughter uttered on the film were, "The thoughts that go through your mind when you find out you have so little time is everything you need to say to everyone that you love." Wearing a simple black sweater, her face already rounded and puffy from taking prescribed steroids, her once waist-length hair now grazing her shoulders after a craniotomy, Brittany described why she was choosing to end her life by her own hand rather than waiting for her brain tumor to rob her of everything that defined who she was. In this poignant, powerful book, Deborah Ziegler makes good on the promise she made to her only child: that she would honor her daughter and carry forward her legacy by sharing their story and offering hope, empowerment, and inspiration to the growing tens of millions of people who are struggling with end-of-life issues.
Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author
by Herman WoukIn an unprecedented literary accomplishment, Herman Wouk, one of America's most beloved and enduring authors, reflects on his life and times from the remarkable vantage point of 100 years old.Many years ago, the great British philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin urged Herman Wouk to write his autobiography. Wouk responded, "Why me? I'm nobody." Berlin answered, "No, no. You've traveled. You've known many people. You have interesting ideas. It would do a lot of good." Now, in the same year he has celebrated his hundredth birthday, Herman Wouk finally reflects on the life experiences that inspired his most beloved novels. Among those experiences are his days writing for comedian Fred Allen's radio show, one of the most popular shows in the history of the medium; enlisting in the US Navy during World War II; falling in love with Betty Sarah Brown, the woman who would become his wife (and literary agent) for sixty-six years; writing his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Caine Mutiny; as well as a big hit Broadway play The Caine Mutiny Court Martial; and the surprising inspirations and people behind such masterpieces as The Winds of War, War and Remembrance, Marjorie Morningstar, and Youngblood Hawke. Written with the wisdom of a man who has lived through two centuries and the wit of someone who began his career as professional comedy writer, the first part of Wouk's memoir ("Sailor") refers to his Navy experience and writing career, the second ("Fiddler") to what he's learned from living a life of faith. Ultimately, Sailor and Fiddler is an unprecedented reflection from a vantage point few people have lived to experience.
Life with a Sprinkle of Glitter
by Louise PentlandYouTube star Sprinkle of Glitter, also known as lifestyle and beauty vlogger Louise Pentland, offers a delightful guide to finding happiness and sprinkling positivity into every area of your life, from nights out with your friends to the trinkets you display on your vanity.Aloha Sprinklerinos! Louise Pentland leads a very happy life. That's because she chooses to. Sure, she has dark and dreary days. But, as she has come to understand, the joy is all in your perspective. Happiness is not measured in size but in significance. On her wildly popular YouTube channel, Sprinkle of Glitter, Louise talks a lot about changing the way we think. Her motto? Happiness is there for everyone: you just have to choose to face everything with a smile and positivity. It's not just about the big things either--it's about the tiny, intangible moments that make up the course of a lifetime and how to live that lifetime to the absolute fullest. This book is like one of those glorious vintage shops where every surface is laden with treasure: cut glass, pill boxes, old cameras, pendants, and chests of drawers. Each chapter is a gem-encrusted tin that you can peep inside to discover fun topics such as glitz (beauty and pampering, traveling in style) and creativity (crafting, prettifying your room), to tougher topics such as bullying and body confidence, to the universal topic of love (dating, bonding with baby, being kind). Whether you take in tiny bits at a time or devour the book all in one go, Louise shares how she has learned to enrich her life, and you can too...with just a Sprinkle of Glitter. Toodlepip!
Ben & Me: In Search of a Founder's Formula for a Long and Useful Life
by Eric WeinerNew York Times bestselling author Eric Weiner follows in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin, mining his life for inspiring and practical lessons in a book that&’s part biography, part travelogue, part personal prescription.Ben Franklin lingers in our lives and in our imaginations. One of only two non-presidents to appear on US currency, Franklin was a founder, statesman, scientist, inventor, diplomat, publisher, humorist, and philosopher. He believed in the American experiment, but Ben Franklin&’s greatest experiment was…Ben Franklin. In that spirit of betterment, Eric Weiner embarks on an ambitious quest to live the way Ben lived. Not a conventional biography, Ben & Me is a guide to living and thinking well, as Ben Franklin did. It is also about curiosity, diligence, and, most of all, the elusive goal of self-improvement. As Weiner follows Franklin from Philadelphia to Paris, Boston to London, he attempts to uncover Ben&’s life lessons, large and small. We learn how to improve a relationship with someone by inducing them to do a favor for you—a psychological phenomenon now known as The Ben Franklin Effect. We learn about the printing press (the Internet of its day), early medicine, diplomatic intrigue and, of course, electricity. And we learn about ethics, persuasion, humor, regret, appetite, and so much more. At a time when history is either neglected or contested, Weiner argues we have much to learn from the past and that we&’d all be better off if we acted and thought a bit more like Ben did, even if he didn&’t always live up to his own high ideals. Engaging, smart, moving, quirky, Ben & Me distills the essence of Franklin&’s ideas into grounded, practical wisdom for all of us.
Proof of Angels: The Definitive Book on the Reality of Angels and the Surprising Role They Play in Each of Our Lives
by Ptolemy Tompkins Tyler BeddoesFrom the collaborator of the blockbuster bestseller Proof of Heaven comes the definitive book proving angels are real, all around us, and interacting in our lives every day.In March 2015, millions worldwide were captivated by news reports of the dramatic rescue of an eighteen month old girl, Lily Groesbeck, who’d somehow survived fourteen hours in an overturned car partially submerged in an icy-cold Utah river after her mother apparently lost control of the vehicle. A voice the four responding officers assumed was the child’s mother still trapped inside spurred them on: “Help me, help me.” Yet, once the two victims were recovered, it was clear that the voice could not have come from Lily’s mother: she’d been killed on impact.New York Times bestselling author Ptolemy Tompkins, with the help of Tyler Beddoes, one of the responding officers who helped rescue Lily, will explain this modern-day miracle and the existence of angels in our world.Proof of Angels weaves real-life stories into a rich narrative, exploring the history, nature, and significance of angels in our lives. With an introduction by Colleen Hughes, the editor-in-chief of Angels on Earth magazine, Proof of Angels proves that the barrier between the spiritual and the scientific is less certain than we often think. Not only does Tompkins offer a highly entertaining look into a universally fascinating topic, but he also delivers a fresh and deeply reassuring message: we are not alone.
The Kingdom of Happiness: Inside Tony Hsieh's Zapponian Utopia
by Aimee GrothFearless gonzo journalism—an insider’s look at the enigmatic and successful CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh, and his quest to create his own version of utopia in the center of Las Vegas.In 2010 Tony Hsieh was introduced to many as a visionary modern business leader. Under Hsieh’s leadership, Zappos became the world’s largest online shoe company by championing satisfied customers and a valued workforce. After his company was purchased by Amazon, even as he continued as its CEO, Hsieh engaged his energies and considerable fortune toward a much larger goal: building a new and more socially conscious Silicon Valley in the heart of downtown Las Vegas, all within his five-year plan. Hsieh challenged business and technology journalist Aimee Groth to uproot her life and participate in his social engineering experiment. Beginning with couch surfing, moving to a Downtown Project crash pad, and then living in Zappos corporate housing above the Gold Spike bar, Groth had a front-row view of Hsieh’s efforts to build his ideal society. With interviews from insiders on all ends of the Zappos spectrum—like the “broken dolls” who gravitate toward Hsieh’s almost cultlike personality and make up some of his inner circle, to the Zapponians who live and work on campus, to players in the top echelon of Silicon Valley—Groth offers a unique view of a world few people know much about, and sheds a new light on this complex, eccentric man. The Kingdom of Happiness is the story of one man’s quest to create his own nirvana in the desert based on his exacting design and experimentation with lessons he’s gleaned not only from the incredible success of Zappos, but also from rave culture and Burning Man. Is it the business model of the future or a cautionary tale of hubris?
Significant Zero: Heroes, Villains, and the Fight for Art and Soul in Video Games
by Walt WilliamsFrom the award-winning videogame writer behind Spec Ops: The Line comes an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how today’s blockbuster video games are made.When his satirical musings in a college newspaper got him discharged from the Air Force, it became clear to Walt Williams that his destiny in life was to be a writer—he just never thought he’d end up writing video games, let alone working on some of the most successful franchises in the industry—Bioshock, Civilization, Borderlands, and Mafia among others. Williams pulls back the curtain on an astonishingly profitable industry that has put its stamp on pop culture and yet is little known to those outside its walls. In his reflective yet comically-observant voice, Williams walks you through his unlikely and at times inglorious rise within one of the world’s top gaming companies, exposing an industry abundant in brain power and out-sized egos, but struggling to stay innovative. Significant Zero also provides clear-eyed criticism of the industry’s addiction to violence and explains how the role of the narrative designer—the poor soul responsible for harmonizing gameplay with storylines—is crucial for expanding the scope of video games into more immersive and emotional experiences. Significant Zero offers a rare look inside this fascinating, billion-dollar industry and a path forward for its talented men and women—gamers and nongamers alike—that imagines how video games might inspire the best in all of us.
Hello Life!
by Marcus ButlerLearn how to be an almost adult in this indispensable guide from British YouTube star Marcus Butler.For a twenty-three-year-old, Marcus Butler knows a lot about life--and not just from his own experiences but from the millions of followers on YouTube who chat with him on his irreverent channel, known for its mix of hilarious sketches, light-hearted banter, and deeply empathetic take on serious issues. In this funny, colorful handbook, the warm and totally down-to-earth star shares his trademark big-brotherly advice for navigating the trickier aspects of modern living. Inside you'll find Marcus's thoughts on: -Being healthy--including his nutritious eating tips, favorite gym-free exercises, and butt-kicking hacks for getting in shape -Dating--from finding the courage to be yourself, to banishing first-date nerves, to rebooting a broken heart -Surviving life crises--such as his parents' difficult divorce, the pain of watching a close friend spiral into anorexia and self-harm, and his regrets over giving in to bullies and giving up on a sport he loved -Getting the life you want--lessons for staying organized, handling pressure, thinking positively, and breaking world records! Part autobiography, part self-help guide, HELLO LIFE! is a candid and playful look inside Marcus Butler's life--the failures, the successes, and the lessons he's learned along the way.
The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made
by Patricia O'Toole“O’Toole does full justice to Wilson’s complexities, but it is with the coming of the war that her narrative takes on something close to Shakespearean dimensions...scrupulously balanced...elegantly crafted.”—The Wall Street Journal “Enlightening...O’Toole has done students of American history a great service.”—National Review By the author of acclaimed biographies of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Adams, a penetrating biography of one of the most high-minded, consequential, and controversial US presidents, Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924). The Moralist is a cautionary tale about the perils of moral vanity and American overreach in foreign affairs.In domestic affairs, Wilson was a progressive who enjoyed unprecedented success in leveling the economic playing field, but he was behind the times on racial equality and women’s suffrage. As a Southern boy during the Civil War, he knew the ravages of war, and as president he refused to lead the country into World War I until he was convinced that Germany posed a direct threat to the United States. Once committed, he was an admirable commander-in-chief, yet he also presided over the harshest suppression of political dissent in American history. After the war Wilson became the world’s most ardent champion of liberal internationalism—a democratic new world order committed to peace, collective security, and free trade. With Wilson’s leadership, the governments at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 founded the League of Nations, a federation of the world’s democracies. The creation of the League, Wilson’s last great triumph, was quickly followed by two crushing blows: a paralyzing stroke and the rejection of the treaty that would have allowed the United States to join the League. After a backlash against internationalism in the 1920s and 1930s, Wilson’s liberal internationalism was revived by Franklin D. Roosevelt and it has shaped American foreign relations—for better and worse—ever since.
Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned From Eighties Movies (and Why We Don't Learn Them From Movies Anymore)
by Hadley FreemanFrom Vogue contributor and Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman, a personalized guide to eighties movies that describes why they changed movie-making forever—featuring exclusive interviews with the producers, directors, writers and stars of the best cult classics.For Hadley Freeman, movies of the 1980s have simply got it all. Comedy in Three Men and a Baby, Hannah and Her Sisters, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future; all a teenager needs to know in Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Say Anything, The Breakfast Club, and Mystic Pizza; the ultimate in action from Top Gun, Die Hard, Beverly Hills Cop, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; love and sex in 9 1/2 Weeks, Splash, About Last Night, The Big Chill, and Bull Durham; and family fun in The Little Mermaid, ET, Big, Parenthood, and Lean On Me.In Life Moves Pretty Fast, Hadley puts her obsessive movie geekery to good use, detailing the decade’s key players, genres, and tropes. She looks back on a cinematic world in which bankers are invariably evil, where children are always wiser than adults, where science is embraced with an intense enthusiasm, and the future viewed with giddy excitement. And, she considers how the changes between movies then and movies today say so much about society’s changing expectations of women, young people, and art—and explains why Pretty in Pink should be put on school syllabuses immediately.From how John Hughes discovered Molly Ringwald, to how the friendship between Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi influenced the evolution of comedy, and how Eddie Murphy made America believe that race can be transcended, this is a “highly personal, witty love letter to eighties movies, but also an intellectually vigorous, well-researched take on the changing times of the film industry” (The Guardian).
The Choice: Embrace the Possible
by Dr. Edith Eva EgerA New York Times Bestseller &“I&’ll be forever changed by Dr. Eger&’s story…The Choice is a reminder of what courage looks like in the worst of times and that we all have the ability to pay attention to what we&’ve lost, or to pay attention to what we still have.&”—Oprah &“Dr. Eger&’s life reveals our capacity to transcend even the greatest of horrors and to use that suffering for the benefit of others. She has found true freedom and forgiveness and shows us how we can as well.&” —Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate &“Dr. Edith Eva Eger is my kind of hero. She survived unspeakable horrors and brutality; but rather than let her painful past destroy her, she chose to transform it into a powerful gift—one she uses to help others heal.&” —Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle Winner of the National Jewish Book Award and Christopher AwardAt the age of sixteen, Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. Hours after her parents were killed, Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele, forced Edie to dance for his amusement and her survival. Edie was pulled from a pile of corpses when the American troops liberated the camps in 1945. Edie spent decades struggling with flashbacks and survivor&’s guilt, determined to stay silent and hide from the past. Thirty-five years after the war ended, she returned to Auschwitz and was finally able to fully heal and forgive the one person she&’d been unable to forgive—herself. Edie weaves her remarkable personal journey with the moving stories of those she has helped heal. She explores how we can be imprisoned in our own minds and shows us how to find the key to freedom. The Choice is a life-changing book that will provide hope and comfort to generations of readers.
My Father Before Me: A Memoir
by Chris ForhanAn award-winning poet offers a multi-generational portrait of an American family--weaving together the lives of his ancestors, his parents, and his own coming of age in the 60s and 70s in the wake of his father's suicide, in this superbly written, "fiercely honest" (Nick Flynn) memoir.The fifth of eight children, Chris Forhan was born into a family of silence. He and his siblings learned, without being told, that certain thoughts and feelings were not to be shared. On the evenings his father didn't come home, the rest of the family would eat dinner without him, his whereabouts unknown, his absence pronounced but not mentioned. And on a cold night in 1973, just before Christmas, Forhan's father killed himself in the carport. Forty years later, Forhan "bravely considers the way he is and is not his father's son" (Larry Watson), digging into his family's past and finding within each generation the same abandonment, loss, and silence in which he was raised. Like Ian Frazier in Family or Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes, Forhan shows his family members as both a part and a product of their time. My Father Before Me is a family history, an investigation into a death, and a stirring portrait of growing up in an Irish Catholic childhood, all set against a backdrop of America from the Great Depression to the Ramones. Marrying the literary scope of memoirists Geoffrey Wolff and J.R. Moehringer with the intensity of family novels like The Corrections and We Are Not Ourselves, My Father Before Me is the kind of epic, immersive memoir that comes along once in a decade.
The Girl Who Escaped ISIS: This Is My Story
by Andrea C. Hoffmann Farida Khalaf"Farida Khalaf's story is harrowing but crucial--especially when it comes to understanding what ISIS actually is and does." --Glamour "As gripping as it is appalling...a compelling testament to the suffering of ordinary people caught up in violence far beyond their control--and to the particularly terrible price it exacts from women." --The GuardianA young Yazidi woman was living a normal, sheltered life in northern Iraq during the summer of 2014 when her entire world was upended: her village was attacked by ISIS. All of the men in her town were killed and the women were taken into slavery. This is Farida Khalaf's story. In unprecedented detail, Farida describes her world as it was--at nineteen, she was living at home with her brothers and parents, finishing her schooling and looking forward to becoming a math teacher--and the hell it became. Held in a slave market in Syria and sold into the homes of several ISIS soldiers, she stubbornly attempts resistance at every turn. Farida is ultimately brought to an ISIS training camp in the middle of the desert, where she plots an against-all-odds escape for herself and five other girls. A riveting firsthand account of life in captivity and a courageous flight to freedom, this astonishing memoir is also Farida's way of bearing witness, and of ensuring that ISIS does not succeed in crushing her spirit. Her bravery, resilience, and hope in the face of unimaginable violence will fascinate and inspire.
God Gave Me You: A True Story of Love, Loss, and a Heaven-Sent Miracle
by Tricia Seaman Diane NicholsWhen a single mother with terminal cancer asked a nurse she’d met in the oncology ward to raise her son, neither could have imagined the miracles God had in store.God Gave Me You tells the true story of how these two incredible mothers met, the immediate bond they formed, and the ups and downs of joining families as one’s earthly life ebbed away. The miracle of these two families coming together demonstrates that family isn’t always blood—sometimes it’s made up of the people God gives you if you have a willing heart.Oncology nurse Tricia Seaman and her family had their hearts set on adopting a son. They were months into the grueling process when Tricia met a terminally ill cancer patient on her regular rounds. Curiously, the two shared the same name. Trish Somers was that patient—a single mom whose world revolved around her eight-year-old son, Wesley. As the young mother poured out her fears and emotions during her post-operative care, Tricia sensed theirs would be like no other nurse-patient relationship she had experienced in her career.When the cancer spread, it became clear Trish had only a short time left to live. That’s when the inconceivable happened: Trish asked her nurse—a woman who had been a complete stranger just days before—to raise her beloved son when she passed away.God Gave Me You will inspire you with a story of courage, trust, and faith that God’s plans are bigger and more amazing then we could hope for on our own. It’s a story you’ll turn to again and again when you’re looking for hope and a reason to believe in miracles.
Stolen Beauty: A Novel
by Laurie Lico Albanese“A powerful and important tale of love and war, art and family…I was transported.” —Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author From the dawn of the twentieth century to the devastation of World War II, this exhilarating novel of love, war, art, and family gives voice to two extraordinary women and brings to life the true story behind the creation and near destruction of Gustav Klimt’s most remarkable paintings.In the dazzling glitter of 1900 Vienna, Adele Bloch-Bauer—young, beautiful, brilliant, and Jewish—meets painter Gustav Klimt. Wealthy in everything but freedom, Adele embraces Klimt’s renegade genius as the two awaken to the erotic possibilities on the canvas and beyond. Though they enjoy a life where sex and art are just beginning to break through the façade of conventional society, the city is also exhibiting a disturbing increase in anti-Semitism, as political hatred foments in the shadows of Adele’s coffee house afternoons and cultural salons. Nearly forty years later, Adele’s niece Maria Altmann is a newlywed when the Nazis invade Austria—and overnight, her beloved Vienna becomes a war zone. When her husband is arrested and her family is forced out of their home, Maria must summon the courage and resilience that is her aunt’s legacy if she is to survive and keep her family—and their history—alive. Will Maria and her family escape the grip of Nazis’ grip? And what will become of the paintings that her aunt nearly sacrificed everything for? Impeccably researched and a “must-read for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Paula McLain’s Circling the Sun” (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author), Stolen Beauty intertwines the tales of two remarkable women across more than a hundred years. It juxtaposes passion and discovery against hatred and despair, and shines a light on our ability to love, to destroy, and above all, to endure.
Follow Me: A Memoir in Challenges
by Ricky DillonIn this inspiring and hilarious memoir, YouTube star Ricky Dillon gives you an exciting look into his personal life and reveals the ins and outs of being a young star online.A former member of the enormously popular YouTube group Our Second Life--alongside his good friend Connor Franta--Ricky Dillon has connected with millions of fans worldwide, with no less than the New York Times featuring him in an article about the new generation of social media influencers. Now, in his very first book, Ricky takes you into his day-to-day world and shows them what it's like to be a young star with a number of different creative interests, from crafting weekly videos to collaborating with other YouTube personalities to honing his career as a pop musician. Ricky also takes you into the inner workings of his personal fitness regimen and how he maintains a program of health and wellness in all areas of his life. In addition to all of this, Ricky creates a set of challenges--from serious, contemplative tasks to the type of zany, hilarious stunts that he explores in his videos regularly--to create a book that is at once informative, inspiring, and incredibly fun. Follow Me captures the humor, creativity, and perseverance of one of today's most popular vloggers, with exclusive photos and additional insights that make this a must-read and must-have for fans everywhere.
It's Not Okay: Turning Heartbreak into Happily Never After
by Andi Dorfman<<p>Andi Dorfman, the beloved finalist of season eighteen of The Bachelor who infamously rejected Juan Pablo and went on to star on season ten of The Bachelorette, dishes about what it's like to live out a love story--and its collapse--in front of the cameras, offering hard-won advice for moving on after a break-up, public or not. <p>Andi Dorfman, star of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, talks candidly about what it's like to be courted by twenty-five handsome, single men in this juicy, insider's peek at dating--and breaking up--on national TV. <p> She shares entertaining and heartfelt stories about her fellow Bachelor alums--many of whom are still close friends--comes clean about calling out Bachelor #18 Juan Pablo for bad behavior, and reflects on her personal challenges and uplifting experiences in love that she hopes will help you get through your own break-ups with grace and style! <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Better to Have Gone: Love, Death, and the Quest for Utopia
by Akash Kapur*Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, New Statesman, Air Mail, and more * Longlisted for the Chautauqua Prize * Recipient of a Whiting Grant*A &“haunting and elegant&” (The Wall Street Journal) story about love, faith, the search for utopia—and the often devastating cost of idealism.It&’s the late 1960s, and two lovers converge on an arid patch of earth in South India. John Walker is the handsome scion of a powerful East Coast American family. Diane Maes is a beautiful hippie from Belgium. They have come to build a new world—Auroville, an international utopian community for thousands of people. Their faith is strong, the future bright.So how do John and Diane end up dying two decades later, on the same day, on a cracked concrete floor in a thatch hut by a remote canyon? This is the mystery Akash Kapur sets out to solve in Better to Have Gone, and it carries deep personal resonance: Diane and John were the parents of Akash&’s wife, Auralice. Akash and Auralice grew up in Auroville; like the rest of their community, they never really understood those deaths.In 2004, Akash and Auralice return to Auroville from New York, where they have been living with John&’s family. As they reestablish themselves in the community, along with their two sons, they must confront the ghosts of those distant deaths. Slowly, they come to understand how the tragic individual fates of John and Diane intersected with the collective history of their town.&“A riveting account of human aspiration and folly taken to extremes&” (The Boston Globe), Better to Have Gone probes the underexplored yet universal idea of utopia and portrays in vivid detail the daily life of one such community. Richly atmospheric and filled with remarkable characters, spread across time and continents, this is narrative writing of the highest order—a &“gripping…compelling…[and] heartbreaking story, deeply researched and lucidly told&” (The New York Times Book Review).
Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way
by Ryan WhiteA candid, compelling, and rollicking portrait of the legendary pirate captain of Margaritaville—Jimmy Buffett.In Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way, acclaimed music critic Ryan White has crafted the definitive account of Buffett&’s rise from singing songs for beer to his becoming a tropical icon and inspiration behind the Margaritaville industrial complex, a vast network of merchandise, chain restaurants, resorts, and lifestyle products all inspired by his sunny but disillusioned hit &“Margaritaville.&” Filled with interviews from friends, musicians, Coral Reefer Band members, and business partners who were there, this book is a top-down joyride with plenty of side trips and meanderings from Mobile and Pascagoula to New Orleans, Key West, down into the islands aboard the Euphoria and the Euphoria II, and into the studios and onto the stages where the foundation of Buffett&’s reputation was laid. Buffett wasn&’t always the pied piper of beaches, bars, and laid-back living. Born on the Gulf Coast, the son of a son of a sailing ship captain, Buffett scuffed around New Orleans in the late sixties, flunked out of Nashville (and a marriage) in 1971, and found refuge among the artists, dopers, shrimpers, and genuine characters who&’d collected at the end of the road in Key West. And it was there, in those waning outlaw days at the last American exit, where Buffett, like Hemingway before him, found his voice and eventually brought to life the song that would launch Parrot Head nation. And just where is Margaritaville? It&’s wherever it&’s five o&’clock; it&’s wherever there&’s a breeze and salt in the air; and it&’s wherever Buffett set his bare feet, smiled, and sang his songs.
The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future
by Steve Case<P> One of America's most accomplished entrepreneurs--a pioneer who made the Internet part of everyday life and orchestrated the largest merger in the history of business--shares a roadmap for how anyone can succeed in a world of rapidly changing technology. <P>Steve Case's career began when he cofounded America Online (AOL) in 1985. At the time, only three percent of Americans were online. It took a decade for AOL to achieve mainstream success, and there were many near-death experiences and back-to-the-wall pivots. AOL became the top performing company of the 1990s, and at its peak more than half of all consumer Internet traffic in the United States ran through the service. After Case engineered AOL's merger with Time Warner and he became Chairman of the combined business, Case oversaw the biggest media and communications empire in the world. <P>In The Third Wave, which pays homage to the work of the futurist Alvin Toffler (from whom Case has borrowed the title, and whose work inspired him as a young man), Case takes us behind the scenes of some of the most consequential and riveting business decisions of our time while offering illuminating insights from decades of working as an entrepreneur, an investor, a philanthropist, and an advocate for sensible bipartisan policies. We are entering, as Case explains, a new paradigm called the "Third Wave" of the Internet. The first wave saw AOL and other companies lay the foundation for consumers to connect to the Internet. <P>The second wave saw companies like Google and Facebook build on top of the Internet to create search and social networking capabilities, while apps like Snapchat and Instagram leverage the smartphone revolution. Now, Case argues, we're entering the Third Wave: a period in which entrepreneurs will vastly transform major "real world" sectors like health, education, transportation, energy, and food--and in the process change the way we live our daily lives. But success in the Third Wave will require a different skill set, and Case outlines the path forward. <P>The Third Wave is part memoir, part manifesto, and part playbook for the future. With passion and clarity, Case explains the ways in which newly emerging technology companies (a growing number of which, he argues, will not be based in Silicon Valley) will have to rethink their relationships with customers, with competitors, and with governments; and offers advice for how entrepreneurs can make winning business decisions and strategies--and how all of us can make sense of this changing digital age. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir
by Saeed Jones<P><P>“People don’t just happen,” writes Saeed Jones. “We sacrifice former versions of ourselves. We sacrifice the people who dared to raise us. The ‘I’ it seems doesn’t exist until we are able to say, ‘I am no longer yours.’” <P><P>Haunted and haunting, How We Fight for Our Lives is a stunning coming-of-age memoir. Jones tells the story of a young, black, gay man from the South as he fights to carve out a place for himself, within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears. <P><P>Through a series of vignettes that chart a course across the American landscape, Jones draws readers into his boyhood and adolescence—into tumultuous relationships with his family, into passing flings with lovers, friends, and strangers. <P><P>Each piece builds into a larger examination of race and queerness, power and vulnerability, love and grief: a portrait of what we all do for one another—and to one another—as we fight to become ourselves. <P><P>An award-winning poet, Jones has developed a style that’s as beautiful as it is powerful—a voice that’s by turns a river, a blues, and a nightscape set ablaze. How We Fight for Our Lives is a one-of-a-kind memoir and a book that cements Saeed Jones as an essential writer for our time.
It Gets Worse: A Collection of Essays
by Shane Dawson<P>New York Times bestselling author Shane Dawson returns with another highly entertaining and uproariously funny essay collection, chronicling a mix of real life moments both extraordinary and mortifying, yet always full of heart. <P>Shane Dawson shared some of his best and worst experiences in I Hate Myselfie, the critically acclaimed book that secured his place as a gifted humorist and keen observer of millennial culture. Fans felt as though they knew him after devouring the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal bestseller. They were right... almost. <P>In this new collection of original personal essays, Shane goes even deeper, sharing never-before-revealed stories from his life, giving readers a no-holds-barred look at moments both bizarre and relatable, from cult-like Christian after-school activities, dressing in drag, and losing his virginity, to hiring a psychic, clashes with celebrities, and coming to terms with his bisexuality. <P>Every step of the way, Shane maintains his signature brand of humor, proving that even the toughest breaks can be funny when you learn to laugh at yourself. <P>This is Let's Pretend This Never Happened and Running With Scissors for the millennial generation: an inspiring, intelligent, and brutally honest collection of true stories by a YouTube sensation-turned one of the freshest new voices out there. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Trying to Float: Coming of Age in the Chelsea Hotel
by Nicolaia Rips"Hysterically droll, touching, elegant, and wise--a coming-of-age story from someone who possibly came of age before her parents" (Patricia Marx, New Yorker writer and bestselling author), Trying to Float is a seventeen-year-old's darkly funny, big-hearted memoir about growing up in New York City's legendary Chelsea Hotel.New York's Chelsea Hotel may no longer be home to its most famous denizens--Andy Warhol, Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, to name a few--but the eccentric spirit of the Chelsea is alive and well. Meet the family Rips: father Michael, a lawyer turned writer with a penchant for fine tailoring; mother Sheila, a former model and renowned artist who matches her welding outfits with couture; and daughter Nicolaia, a precocious high school junior at work on a record of her peculiar seventeen years. Nicolaia is a perpetual outsider who has struggled to find her place in public schools populated by cliquish girls and loudmouthed boys. But at the Chelsea, Nicolaia need not look far to find her tribe. There's her neighbor Stormé, a tall woman who keeps a pink handgun strapped to her ankle; her babysitter, Jade, who may or may not have a second career as an escort; her friend Artie, former proprietor of New York's most famous nightclubs. The kids at school might never understand her, but as Nicolaia endeavors to fit in she begins to understand that the Chelsea's motley crew could hold the key to surviving the perils of a Manhattan childhood. Not since Holden Caulfield has there been such a fabulously compelling teen guide to New York City: Nicolaia Rips's debut is a disarming, humble, heartfelt, and wise tale of coming-of-age amid the contradictions, complexities, and shifting identities of life in New York City. A bohemian Eloise for our times, Trying to Float is a triumphant parable for the power of embracing difference in all its forms.
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
by Sarah SmarshLonglisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction An eye-opening memoir of working-class poverty in the American Midwest. <P><P>During Sarah Smarsh’s turbulent childhood in Kansas in the 1980s and 1990s, the forces of cyclical poverty and the country’s changing economic policies solidified her family’s place among the working poor. By telling the story of her life and the lives of the people she loves, Smarsh challenges us to look more closely at the class divide in our country and examine the myths about people thought to be less because they earn less. <P><P>Her personal history affirms the corrosive impact intergenerational poverty can have on individuals, families, and communities, and she explores this idea as lived experience, metaphor, and level of consciousness. <P><P>Smarsh was born a fifth generation Kansas wheat farmer on her paternal side and the product of generations of teen mothers on her maternal side. Through her experiences growing up as the daughter of a dissatisfied young mother and raised predominantly by her grandmother on a farm thirty miles west of Wichita, we are given a unique and essential look into the lives of poor and working class Americans living in the heartland. <P><P>Combining memoir with powerful analysis and cultural commentary, Heartland is an uncompromising look at class, identity, and the particular perils of having less in a country known for its excess. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>