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Small Rain: A Novel
by Garth GreenwellWinner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for FictionLong-listed for the National Book Critics Circle Award for FictionNamed a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, Financial Times, New Statesman, Vox, Elle, Publishers Weekly, and BookPageA New Yorker Recommended Read of the YearA New York Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, and Chicago Public Library Best Book of the YearA medical crisis brings one man close to death—and to love, art, and beauty—in a profound and luminous novel by award-winning author Garth Greenwell.A poet's life is turned inside out by a sudden, wrenching pain. The pain brings him to his knees, and eventually to the ICU. Confined to bed, plunged into the dysfunctional American healthcare system, he struggles to understand what is happening to his body, as someone who has lived for many years in his mind. This is a searching, sweeping novel set at the furthest edges of human experience, where the forces that give life value—art, memory, poetry, music, care—are thrown into sharp relief. Time expands and contracts. Sudden intimacies bloom. Small Rain surges beyond the hospital to encompass a radiant vision of human life: our shared vulnerability, the limits and possibilities of sympathy, the ideal of art and the fragile dream of America. Above all, this is a love story of the most unexpected kind.
Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans (Pelican Bks.)
by Melanie Mitchell“After reading Mitchell’s guide, you’ll know what you don’t know and what other people don’t know, even though they claim to know it. And that’s invaluable.” —The New York TimesA leading computer scientist brings human sense to the AI bubble.No recent scientific enterprise has proved as alluring, terrifying, and filled with extravagant promise and frustrating setbacks as artificial intelligence. The award-winning author Melanie Mitchell, a leading computer scientist, now reveals AI’s turbulent history and the recent spate of apparent successes, grand hopes, and emerging fears surrounding it.In Artificial Intelligence, Mitchell turns to the most urgent questions concerning AI today: How intelligent—really—are the best AI programs? How do they work? What can they actually do, and when do they fail? How humanlike do we expect them to become, and how soon do we need to worry about them surpassing us? Along the way, she introduces the dominant models of modern AI and machine learning, describing cutting-edge AI programs, their human inventors, and the historical lines of thought underpinning recent achievements. She meets with fellow experts such as Douglas Hofstadter, the cognitive scientist and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of the modern classic Gödel, Escher, Bach, who explains why he is “terrified” about the future of AI. She explores the profound disconnect between the hype and the actual achievements in AI, providing a clear sense of what the field has accomplished and how much further it has to go. Interweaving stories about the science of AI and the people behind it, Artificial Intelligence brims with clear-sighted, captivating, and accessible accounts of the most interesting and provocative modern work in the field, flavored with Mitchell’s humor and personal observations. This frank, lively book is an indispensable guide to understanding today’s AI, its quest for “human-level” intelligence, and its impact on the future for us all.
All the Devils Are Here: A Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel #16)
by Louise PennyINSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERPARADE MAGAZINE – ONE OF FALL'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKSAARP'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF FALLCRIMEREADS – ONE OF THE BEST TRADITIONAL MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR GLOBE AND MAIL - TOP 100 BOOKS OF THE YEARCHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR - ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS OF THE YEARKIRKUS REVIEWS - ONE OF THE BEST MYSTERIES/THRILLERS OF THE YEARLIBRARY JOURNAL - ONE OF THE BEST CRIME FICTION BOOKS OF THE YEARThe 16th novel by #1 bestselling author Louise Penny finds Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec investigating a sinister plot in the City of LightOn their first night in Paris, the Gamaches gather as a family for a bistro dinner with Armand’s godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz. Walking home together after the meal, they watch in horror as Stephen is knocked down and critically injured in what Gamache knows is no accident, but a deliberate attempt on the elderly man’s life. When a strange key is found in Stephen’s possession it sends Armand, his wife Reine-Marie, and his former second-in-command at the Sûreté, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, from the top of the Tour d’Eiffel, to the bowels of the Paris Archives, from luxury hotels to odd, coded, works of art. It sends them deep into the secrets Armand’s godfather has kept for decades. A gruesome discovery in Stephen’s Paris apartment makes it clear the secrets are more rancid, the danger far greater and more imminent, than they realized. Soon the whole family is caught up in a web of lies and deceit. In order to find the truth, Gamache will have to decide whether he can trust his friends, his colleagues, his instincts, his own past. His own family.For even the City of Light casts long shadows. And in that darkness devils hide.
My Three Dogs: A Novel
by W. Bruce CameronMy Three Dogs is a charming and heartfelt new novel from the #1 bestselling author of A Dog's Purpose, about humankind's best, most loyal friends, and a wonderful adventure of love and finding home. When a tragic accident separates three dogs from their human, they find themselves up for adoption -- separately. But Riggs, a dedicated, loyal Australian Shepherd, refuses to see his family torn apart. After the exuberant and fun-loving doodle Archie and quick-witted Jack Russell Luna are taken to new homes, Riggs' powerful herding instincts send him on a journey to bring his pack back together again. Cameron's signature style shines in this whirlwind of a novel that showcases how determination, instinct, and love can make a family whole once more.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Living on Earth: Forests, Corals, Consciousness, and the Making of the World
by Peter Godfrey-SmithOne of the Washington Post's 50 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024The bestselling author of Other Minds shows how we and our ancestors have reinvented our planet.If the history of the Earth were compressed down to a year, our species would arise in the last thirty minutes or so of the final hour. But life itself is not such a late arrival: It has existed on Earth for something like 3.7 billion years—most of our planet’s history and over a quarter of the age of the universe (as far as we can tell). What have these organisms—bacteria, animals, plants, and the rest—done in all this time? In Living on Earth, the philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith proposes a new way of understanding how the actions of living beings have shaped our planet. Where his acclaimed books Other Minds and Metazoa explored the riddle of how conscious minds came to exist on Earth, Living on Earth turns to what happens when we look at the mind from another side—when we come to see organisms as active causes, not merely as results of the evolutionary process. The planet we inhabit is significantly the work of other living beings, who shaped the environments that we ourselves later transformed. To that end, Godfrey-Smith takes us on a grand tour of the history of life on earth. He visits Rwandan gorillas and Australian bowerbirds, returns to coral reefs and octopus dens, considers the impact of language and writing, and weighs the responsibilities our unique powers bring with them, as they relate to factory farming, habitat preservation, climate change, and the use of animals in experiments. Ranging from the seas to the forests, and from animate matter’s first appearance to its future extinction, Godfrey-Smith offers a novel picture of the course of life on Earth and how we might meet the challenges of our time, the Anthropocene.
Dogged Pursuit: An Andy Carpenter Mystery (An Andy Carpenter Novel)
by David RosenfeltIn Dogged Pursuit, David Rosenfelt takes readers back to the start of this beloved series as Andy Carpenter begins his career as a defense attorney in Paterson, New Jersey.Andy Carpenter has spent the three years since graduating law school working as a prosecutor in Paterson. But having seen how the system never looks out for the little guy, he leaves to start his own practice as a defense attorney. His office might be a little bit of a dump, but he's excited to make a change.Andy goes to the shelter to adopt a dog, where he meets his beloved golden retriever, Tara, for the first time and feels an immediate connection. The shelter is crowded and Tara's been sharing space with a dog named Sunny; Andy hates to break them up and so asks to take Sunny, too, but since there's a pending criminal case involving the owner, he'll need to get written permission for temporary possession.Andy discovers that Sunny's owner, Ryan Tierney, has been arrested for the murder of his ex-boss. But he takes an immediate liking to Ryan and his clear dedication to his dog, and ends up with his first case along with the two dogs.This prequel to the long-running and perennially popular Andy Carpenter mysteries is a gift for fans and a terrific entry-point for newcomers.
A Place to Hide: A Novel
by Ronald H. BalsonFrom the winner of the National Jewish Book AwardTheodore “Teddy” Hartigan is the scion of a wealthy Washington, D.C. family who place him into a comfortable job at the State Department and a placid diplomat’s career. In 1938, as Hitler’s inexorable rise continues, Teddy is re-assigned to the US Consulate in Amsterdam to replace fleeing staff.Teddy’s job is to process visa applications, and by 1939, refugees from Nazi-conquered Poland, Austria, and other countries are desperate to secure safe passage to America. As Hitler sweeps through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Holland, the screws tighten and law after virulent law is passed to threaten the lives, indeed the very existence of the Jewish people. When Teddy and his girlfriend Sara are introduced to an orphaned young girl named Katy, who has been abandoned on the grounds of a nursery school, they agree to adopt her. Teddy comes to realize that he holds the key to saving lives, whether five, fifty, or five hundred—and makes the dangerous and selfless decision to join with underground groups and use his position at the Consulate to rescue those with no other avenue of escape.Powerful and dramatic, National Jewish Book Award winner Ronald H. Balson’s A Place to Hide explores the deeply-moving actions of an ordinary man who resolves, under perilous circumstances, to make a difference.
Municipal Solid Waste Recycling in the United States: Analysis of Current and Alternative Approaches
by Division on Earth and Life Studies Board on Life Sciences Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Policy and Global Affairs Division Board on Sciences, Technology and Economic Ploicy Committee on Costs and Approaches for Municipal Solid Waste Recycling ProgramsThe United States generated approximately 292 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) annually, most of which (about 68 percent) were not recycled or composted. Recycling programs face a multitude of challenges today that complicate their stability, efficacy, and economic efficiency. However, a well-designed and supported MSW recycling programs hold many economic and environmental benefits. This report, produced at the request of Congress, reviews available information on MSW recycling programs in municipal, county, state, and tribal governments and provides advice on potential policy options for more effective implementation. Municipal Solid Waste Recycling in the United States explores the contemporary issues facing MSW recycling programs and lays out recommendations and policy options to chart a path forward. Using diverse case studies and publicly available data, this report includes an analysis of economic and programmatic costs of recycling programs and assessment of material-specific recycling approaches. Recommendations include policy options to support effective, economically viable, and environmentally sound recycling practices.
Quadrennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (2025): Securing U.S. Global Leadership Through Renewed and Expanded Infrastructure
by Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences National Materials and Manufacturing Board National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on the Quadrennial Review of the National Nanotechnology InitiativeNanotechnology, the science and technology of objects and phenomena at the 1-100 nm length scales, is an iconic example of how the United States has leveraged national science and technology policy to lead in the highly competitive global research market. Two decades after authorization of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, or NNI, the United States can claim multiple Nobel Prizes and diverse technologies that are the envy of the world. This report assesses the current state of nanotechnology, detailing the impact on U.S. economic prosperity and national security, and then considers whether and in what form the NNI should continue. Quadrennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative makes recommendations to sustain and expand the nanotechnology infrastructure, including human capital, cutting-edge tools, and shared facilities, so that the nation’s nanotechnology innovation and discovery can remain the best in the world.
Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements
by Institute of MedicineWidely regarded as the classic reference work for the nutrition, dietetic, and allied health professions since its introduction in 1943, Recommended Dietary Allowances has been the accepted source in nutrient allowances for healthy people. Responding to the expansion of scientific knowledge about the roles of nutrients in human health, the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, in partnership with Health Canada, has updated what used to be known as Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) and renamed their new approach to these guidelines Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). Since 1998, the Institute of Medicine has issued eight exhaustive volumes of DRIs that offer quantitative estimates of nutrient intakes to be used for planning and assessing diets applicable to healthy individuals in the United States and Canada. Now, for the first time, all eight volumes are summarized in one easy-to-use reference volume, Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Reference for Dietary Planning and Assessment. Organized by nutrient for ready use, this popular reference volume reviews the function of each nutrient in the human body, food sources, usual dietary intakes, and effects of deficiencies and excessive intakes. For each nutrient of food component, information includes: Estimated average requirement and its standard deviation by age and gender. Recommended dietary allowance, based on the estimated average requirement and deviation. Adequate intake level, where a recommended dietary allowance cannot be based on an estimated average requirement. Tolerable upper intake levels above which risk of toxicity would increase. Along with dietary reference values for the intakes of nutrients by Americans and Canadians, this book presents recommendations for health maintenance and the reduction of chronic disease risk. Also included is a "Summary Table of Dietary Reference Intakes," an updated practical summary of the recommendations. In addition, Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Reference for Dietary Planning and Assessment provides information about: Guiding principles for nutrition labeling and fortification, Applications in dietary planning, Proposed definition of dietary fiber, A risk assessment model for establishing upper intake levels for nutrients, Proposed definition and plan for review of dietary antioxidants and related compounds Dietitians, community nutritionists, nutrition educators, nutritionists working in government agencies, and nutrition students at the postsecondary level, as well as other health professionals, will find Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Reference for Dietary Planning and Assessment an invaluable resource.
Innovating Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Health Professions Education: Proceedings of a Workshop
by Board on Global Health Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Health and Medicine DivisionThe Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) is a systematic and evidence-based approach to examining teaching and improving learning that is openly shared. In the summer and fall of 2024, the National Academies Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education held a public workshop series exploring current and future applications of SOTL to health professional education and elevating its critical value for advancing health professional workforce development across the education to practice continuum. This Proceedings of a Workshop highlights the presentations and discussions that occurred at the workshop.
Issues at the Intersection of Engineering and Human Rights: Proceedings of a Symposium
by National Academy of Engineering Committee on Human Rights National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Cultural, Ethical, Social, and Environmental Responsibility in Engineering ProgramMany of the challenges engineers seek to address through their work - from increased access to clean water and transportation to climate change adaptation - are inextricably tied to human rights, and addressing them holistically requires embedding human rights frameworks into engineering practice. In turn, efforts to advance human rights can be strengthened by incorporating engineering expertise, problem-solving approaches, and novel technologies. To explore these concepts, the National Academy of Engineering Cultural, Ethical, Social, and Environmental Responsibility in Engineering program and the Committee on Human Rights of the National Academy of Sciences conducted a symposium on November 18-19, 2024. Participants discussed ways to increase awareness of the role that engineers play in protecting and promoting human rights and explored ways that human rights-based approaches in engineering might help engineers and human rights experts solve pressing challenges. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the symposium.
Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Operational Capabilities
by Transportation Research Board National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine National Cooperative Highway Research Program Aaron Organ Jared EsselmanState departments of transportation (DOTs) are self-reporting the use of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) across various use cases for data collection, asset inspection, and incident response. The maturity of implementation of UAS across state DOTs varies from initial exploration of the technologies to robust UAS programs facilitating daily use of the tool across multiple use cases. NCHRP Web-Only Document 424: Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Operational Capabilities, from TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program, is a supplemental report to NCHRP Research Report 1147: Implementation of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Operational Capabilities: A Guide. The research focuses on analyzing the challenges associated with maturing UAS programs and strategies to mitigate these difficulties and on providing resources to transportation agencies to gain a better understanding of UAS and advanced air mobility (AAM).
Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Model: Enhancements of Climatic Inputs
by Transportation Research Board National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine National Cooperative Highway Research Program Byungkyu Moon Zafrul Khan Wouter BrinkTemperature, precipitation, cloud cover, freezing index, and other environmental conditions can have a significant effect on flexible and rigid pavement performance, both in actuality and in terms of what is modeled. These factors affect how the pavement layer materials behave when responding to traffic loadings and when subjected to environmental loadings. NCHRP Research Report 1151: Mechanistic–Empirical Pavement Design Model: Enhancements of Climatic Inputs, from TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program, explores how to improve climatic inputs and related models that can be implemented by transportation agencies.
Use of Supplementary Cementitious Materials for Concrete
by Transportation Research Board National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine National Cooperative Highway Research Program Tara Cavalline Jamshid ArmaghaniSupplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are nonorganic additives used in concrete mixtures, either as a partial replacement of Portland cement in the mixture or as a preblended material with the cement. Commonly used SCMs include fly ash, slag cement, and silica fume. Due to the increasing unavailability of fly ash in many regions, state departments of transportation (DOTs) have been considering and using alternative SCMs. NCHRP Synthesis 656: Use of Supplementary Cementitious Materials for Concrete, from TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program, documents state DOT practices for specifying and using SCMs in concrete.
Construction Stormwater Program Management, Tracking, Reporting, and Compliance
by Transportation Research Board National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine National Cooperative Highway Research Program Roy E. Sturgill Jr. Christofer M. Harper Daniel TranState department of transportation (DOT) construction activities must comply with federal and state National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System construction general permit requirements. The regulations require state DOTs to implement policies, procedures, and practices to minimize offsite discharges of sediment-laden stormwater to protect downstream receiving water bodies during construction. NCHRP Synthesis 648: Construction Stormwater Program Management, Tracking, Reporting, and Compliance, from TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program, documents state DOT practices, tools, and approaches for managing compliance with state and federal construction stormwater permit requirements.
Leveraging Existing Traffic Signal Assets to Obtain Quality Traffic Counts: A Guide
by Paul Anderson Transportation Research Board National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine National Cooperative Highway Research Program Shawn Turner Ben Chen Ioannis Tsapakis Pramesh Pudasaini Yao-Jan Wu Srinivas Sunkari Ali Khodadadi David FlorenceTraffic volume data are used by state departments of transportation (DOTs), metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and other local agencies in various analyses and functions related to transportation planning, design, traffic operations, safety, pavement design and maintenance, enforcement, environmental analysis, and construction, among others. NCHRP Web-Only Document 436: Leveraging Existing Traffic Signal Assets to Obtain Quality Traffic Counts: A Guide, from TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program, provides transportation agencies with information about extracting motorized and non-motorized traffic volume data from existing signal assets.
Opportunities and Challenges for the Development and Adoption of Multicancer Detection Tests: Proceedings of a Workshop
by Board on Health Care Services National Cancer Policy Forum National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Health and Medicine DivisionThe development of minimally invasive approaches to screen for multiple tumor types at one time could potentially improve health outcomes; however, the clinical utility of multicancer detection (MCD) testing has yet to be established. The National Academies National Cancer Policy Forum held a workshop in October 2024 to explore the current scientific understanding and clinical use of MCD testing, as well as implications for cancer care and outcomes for all patients.
Supply Chain Challenges and Solutions amid COVID-19
by Transportation Research Board National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Cody A. Pennetti National Cooperative Highway Research ProgramIn the face of growing uncertainties, supply chain resilience is coming to be seen as increasingly important. Vulnerabilities revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the fragility of the global supply chain but have also spurred research and uncovered effective practices and strategies to mitigate and manage supply chain disruptions. NCHRP Research Report 1154: Supply Chain Challenges and Solutions amid COVID-19, from TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program, provides an overview for understanding the elements of supply chains, describing the suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and end users, as well as the supporting infrastructure. The supply chain challenges identified in this report are organized into eight categories: physical congestion and capacity, information and data, security, equipment, workforce, regulatory, and supplier source.
Framework and Tools for Incorporating Technologies into Airport In-Terminal Concessions Programs
by Transportation Research Board National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine National Cooperative Highway Research Program Joanne Paternoster Enrique Melendez Christopher Harloe Tod Yankee Stephen FreibrunAirport operators are seeing greater use of technology in their terminal concessions programs. This increased use reflects concessionaires using technology to improve efficiency, a growing customer preference for e-commerce, and airports leveraging their own technologies to better manage their commercial operations. Some airports have started to implement omnichannel ecommerce platforms to deliver an advanced retail experience for passengers. ACRP Research Report 279: Framework and Tools for Incorporating Technologies into Airport In-Terminal Concessions Programs, from TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program, presents a practical guide for evaluating, selecting, and implementing technology to enhance customer experience, operational efficiency, and revenue generation in airport terminal concessions programs. Supplemental to the report are ACRP Web-Only Document 66: Incorporating Technologies into Airport In-Terminal Concessions Programs: A Primer, an Excel self-assessment tool, and a technical report on the research effort.
The Next Decade of Discovery in Solar and Space Physics: Exploring and Safeguarding Humanity’s Home in Space
by Space Studies Board Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on a Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2024–2033Groundbreaking advances in solar and space physics have provided key insights into the dynamic physical processes on the Sun and its influence on Earth, the near-Earth space environment, other planets in our solar system, and beyond. As we look to the next decade, future discoveries in the field will expand our knowledge of the cosmos and better prepare us for the impact of space weather events on critical systems and humanity. The Next Decade of Discovery in Solar and Space Physics: Exploring and Safeguarding Humanity’s Home in Space, a National Academies’ decadal survey, presents a prioritized strategy for basic and applied research to advance scientific understanding of the heliosphere and the origins of space weather, the Sun’s interactions with other bodies in the solar system, and the interplanetary and interstellar mediums.
We Could Be Rats: A Novel
by Emily AustinA &“one-sitting-read" (Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author) about two very different sisters, and a love letter to childhood, growing up, and the power of imagination—from the bestselling author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead and Interesting Facts About Space.Sigrid hates working at the Dollar Pal but having always resisted the idea of growing up into the trappings of adulthood, she did not graduate high school, preferring to roam the streets of her small town with her best friend Greta, the only person in the world who ever understood her. Her older sister Margit is baffled and frustrated by Sigrid&’s inability to conform to the expectations of polite society. But Sigrid&’s detachment veils a deeper turmoil and sensitivity. She&’s haunted by the pains of her past—from pretending her parents were swamp monsters when they shook the floorboards with their violent arguments to grappling with losing Greta&’s friendship to the opioid epidemic ravaging their town. As Margit sets out to understand Sigrid and the secrets she has hidden, both sisters, in their own time and way, discover that reigniting their shared childhood imagination is the only way forward. &“A must read&” (Haley Jakobson, New York Times Editor&’s Choice author), We Could Be Rats is an unforgettable story of two sisters finding their way back to each other, and a celebration of that transcendent, unshakable bond.
The Shadowed Land: A Novel (The Lost Queen #3)
by Signe PikeThis &“can&’t-miss historical epic&” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author) reimagines the legends of King Arthur by resurrecting the real historical figures who inspired these enduring tales.Scotland, AD 580: A queen has risen. A battle has been won. Loved ones who were lost have been reunited. But in a land of power-hungry kings, peace is precarious and cannot last for long. All too soon, circumstance pulls both Britons and Scots back to their own destinies. The warrior Artúr receives a mysterious summons from his father in Dalriada. Queen Languoreth and her brother must return to Strathclyde with the dangerous former bishop Mungo in tow, determined to maintain the fragile balance between the Christians and the people of the Old Way. Meanwhile, the young priestess Angharad must travel deep into the shadowed land of the Picts, hoping to become the initiate of Briochan, a druid who practices the secret Celtic art of weather work. As they rise to meet their fates, they are pushed to impossible new frontiers: each must decide whether they are willing to do what it takes to become the heroes their harrowing days demand. Set in the sprawling historical landscape of early medieval Scotland, Pike&’s critically acclaimed retelling of the Arthurian saga thrusts readers into a world of ambition, loyalty and love, revealing truths that have for too long been buried by legend in this &“gorgeous, sweeping saga&” (Janet Skeslien Charles, New York Times bestselling author).
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teenagers
by Sean CoveyGroundbreaking and universal, Stephen Covey's THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE has been one of the most popular motivational books of all time. Now Stephen's son, Sean, has transformed this bestselling message into a life-changing book for teenagers, parents, grandparents and any adult who influences young people. At a time when everything from planning what to wear to a party to dealing with an alcoholic friend can seem overwhelming and complex, THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEENAGERS will bring a special perspective and focus to the lives of young people everywhere. Sean Covey speaks directly to teenagers in a language they can really understand and relate to, providing a step-by-step guide to help them improve self-image, build friendships, resist peer pressure, achieve their goals, get along with their parents, and much more.
The Chosen Queen: A Novel of the Pendragon Prophecy (The Pendragon Prophecy Series)
by Sam DaveyIgraine, destined mother of King Arthur, takes center stage for a powerful, feminist retelling of Camelot.The stories of Camelot do not begin with the sword in the stone—but rather with a twisted chain of murder, magic, and deceit. Igraine is happily married to Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, even though his withdrawal from the Mysteries and the Goddess have created a strain between them, as well as friction between her and her mentor, the Lady of the Lake. While they are visiting Uther Pendragon, King of Britain, at his castle, Uther makes it obvious to the entire court that he desires Igraine to be his queen. Later, he grabs her in the hall, and when Igraine informs Gorlois of what happened, he gathers his people and abruptly leaves the festivities, later declaring war on Uther. England has only recently found peace, and Merlin pleads with Gorlois to pledge allegiance to Uther. But Gorlois&’ pride will keep him bent toward war, no matter the cost to his people. Igraine bravely assumes the role of leader at Tintagel Castle, encouraging the women left behind to continue working the fields to show their devotion to the Goddess and instructing her two daughters to harness their own powers. She plans a grand summer solstice celebration, inviting their allies. On the eve of the solstice, Gorlois unexpectedly returns to Tintagel. But it is only after she lies with who she thinks is her beloved husband that Igraine learns the full extent of the devious plot of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake. Igraine is chosen by the Goddess, by the Lady of the Lake, by Merlin, by Uther Pendragon . . . but in the end, she will choose her own fate.