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Haunted Heart: the Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak
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Publisher: St. Martins Pub Date: Jan 6 2009
ISBN-10: 0312377320
ISBN-13: 978-0312377328 Biography & Memoir Check Availability
A fascinating look at the life of the author who created such modern
classics as Carrie , IT, and The Shining. One of the most prolific and
popular authors in the world today, Stephen King has become part of pop
culture history. But who is the man behind those tales of horror,
grief, and the supernatural? Where do these ideas come from? And what
drives him to keep writing at a breakneck pace after a thirty year
career? In this unauthorized biography, Lisa Rogak reveals the troubled
background and lifelong fears that inspire one of the twentieth
century's most influential authors.
Despite his dark and disturbing
work, Stephen King has become revered by critics and his countless fans
as an all-American voice more akin to Mark Twain than H. P. Lovecraft.
Haunted Heart chronicles his story, revealing the character of a man
who has created some of the most memorable---and frightening---stories
found in literature today.
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Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals by Temple Grandin
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Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publication Date: Jan 6 2009
ISBN-10: 0151014892
ISBN-13: 978-0151014897
Lifestyle & Family / Pets
The best-selling animal advocate Temple Grandin offers the most
exciting exploration of how animals feel since The Hidden Life of Dogs.
In her groundbreaking and best-selling book Animals in Translation,
Temple Grandin drew on her own experience with autism as well as her
distinguished career as an animal scientist to deliver extraordinary
insights into how animals think, act, and feel. Now she builds on those
insights to show us how to give our animals the best and happiest
lifeon their terms, not ours. Its usually easy to pinpoint the cause of
physical pain in animals, but to know what is causing them emotional
distress is much harder. Drawing on the latest research and her own
work,Grandin identifies the core emotional needs of animals.Then she
explains how to fulfill them for dogs and cats, horses, farm animals,
and zoo animals.Whether its how to make the healthiest environment for
the dog you must leave alone most of the day, how to keep pigs from
being bored, or how to know if the lion pacing in the zoo is miserable
or just exercising, Grandin teaches us to challenge our assumptions
about animal contentment and honor our bond with our fellow creatures.
Animals Make Us Human is the culmination of almost thirty years of
research, experimentation, and experience. This is essential reading
for anyone who's ever owned, cared for, or simply cared about an animal.
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The Necklace: Thirteen Women and the Experiment that Transformed Their Lives by Cheryl Jarvis
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Publisher: Ballantine Books Publication Date: Sep 9 2008
ISBN-10:
ISBN-13: 978-0345500717
Lifestyle & Family / MemoirCheck Availability
The true story of thirteen women who took a risk on an expensive
diamond necklace and, in the process, changed not only themselves but a
community. Four years ago, in
Ventura, California, Jonell McLain saw a diamond necklace in a local
jewelry store display window. The necklace aroused desire first, then a
provocative question: Why are personal luxuries so plentiful yet
accessible to so few? What if we shared what we desired? Several weeks,
dozens of phone calls, and a leap of faith later, Jonell bought the
necklace with twelve other women, with the goal of sharing it. Part
charm, part metaphor, part mirror, the necklace weaves in and out of
each woman's life, reflecting her past, defining her present, making
promises for her future. Lending sparkle in surprising and unexpected
ways, the necklace comes to mean something dramatically different to
each of the thirteen women. With vastly dissimilar histories and
lives, the women show us how they transcended their individual
personalities and politics to join together in an uncommon journey.
What started as a quirky social experiment became something far richer
and deeper, as the women transformed a symbol of exclusivity into a
symbol of inclusiveness. They discovered that sharing the necklace
among themselves was only the beginning; The more they shared with
others, the more profound this experience-and experiment-became.
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Jesus: a Journey to the Divine by Deepak Chopra
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Publisher: Harperone Publication Date: Nov 1 2008
ISBN-10: 0061448737
ISBN-13: 978-0061448737
Philosophy & Spirituality Check Availability The New York Times bestselling author of Buddha
captures the extraordinary life of Jesus in this surprising,
soul-stirring, and page-turning novel. Uncovering the transformational
"lost years" that are not recounted in the New Testament, Deepak Chopra
has imagined Jesus's path to enlightenment moving from obscurity to
revolutionary, from doubt to miracles, and then beyond as the role of
the long-awaited Messiah. As a teenager, Jesus has premonitions of his
destiny, and by the end, as he arrives to be baptized in the River
Jordan, he has accepted his fate, which combines extremes of light and
darkness. With his characteristic ability for imparting profound spiritual insights through the power of storytelling, Deepak Chopra's Jesus
portrays the life of Christ as never before, ultimately leading us
closer to understanding the nature of God and the soul. As the author
shares, "I don't want the Jesus in this book to be worshiped, much less
to push him forward as definitive. The events of the tale are pure
fiction. But at a deeper level, the Jesus in this book feels real
because we've gotten a glimpse into his mind. One flash of insight
answers many prayers."
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Angels and Ages: a Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln and Modern Life by Adam Gopnik
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Publisher: Knopf (Jan 27 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307270785
ISBN-13: 978-0307270788
Social Science / Biography & MemoirCheck AvailabilityOn a memorable day in human history, February 12, 1809, two babies were
born an ocean apart: Abraham Lincoln in a one-room Kentucky log cabin;
Charles Darwin on an English country estate. It was a time of
backward-seeming notions, when almost everyone still accepted the
biblical account of creation as the literal truth and authoritarianism
as the most natural and viable social order. But by the time both men
died, the world had changed: ordinary people understood that life on
earth was a story of continuous evolution, and the Civil War had proved
that a democracy could fight for principles and endure. And with these
signal insights much else had changed besides. Together, Darwin and
Lincoln had become midwives to the spirit of a new world, a new kind of
hope and faith. Searching for the men behind the icons of
emancipation and evolution, Adam Gopnik shows us, in this captivating
double life, Lincoln and Darwin as they really were: family men and
social climbers; ambitious manipulators and courageous adventurers; the
living husband, father, son, and student behind each myth. How do we
reconcile Lincoln, the supremely good man we know, with the hardened
commander who wittingly sent tens of thousands of young soldiers to
certain death? Why did the relentlessly rational Darwin delay
publishing his "Great Idea" for almost twenty years? How did
inconsolable grief at the loss of a beloved child change each man? And
what comfort could either find-for himself or for a society now
possessed of a sadder, if wiser, understanding of our existence? Such
human questions and their answers are the stuff of this book.
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Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life by Judith Orloff
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Publisher: Harmony Publication Date: Mar 3 2009
ISBN-10: 0307338185
ISBN-13: 978-0307338181
Mind & Body / Self-ImprovementCheck AvailabilityPicture yourself trapped in a traffic jam feeling utterly calm. Imagine
being unflappable and relaxed when your supervisor loses her temper.
What if you were peaceful instead of anxious? What if your life were
filled with nurturing relationships and a warm sense of belonging? This
is what it feels like when you've achieved emotional freedom. National
bestselling author Dr. Judith Orloff invites you to take a remarkable
journey, one that leads to happiness and serenity, and a place where
you can gain mastery over the negativity that pervades daily life. No
matter how stressed you currently feel, the time for positive change is
now. You possess the ability to liberate yourself from depression,
anger, and fear. Synthesizing neuroscience, intuitive
medicine, psychology, and subtle energy techniques, Dr. Orloff maps the
elegant relationships between our minds, bodies, spirits, and
environments. With humor and compassion, she shows you how to identify
the most powerful negative emotions and how to transform them into
hope, kindness, and courage. Compelling patient case studies and
stories from her online community, her workshop participants, and
her own private life illustrate the simple, easy-to-follow action steps
that you can take to cope with emotional vampires, disappointments, and
rejection.
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Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine
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Publisher: Free Press Publication Date: Feb 27 2007
ISBN-10: 0743269365
ISBN-13: 978-0743269360
Consumerism / Family & Lifestyle
Shocked by the commerce in everything from pet cloning to
patriotism, frightened by the downward spiral of her finances and that
of the trash-strewn earth, Judith Levine enlists her partner, Paul, in
a radical experiment: to forgo all but the most necessary purchases for
an entire year. Without
consumer goods and experiences, Judith and Paul pursue their careers,
nurture relationships, and try to keep their sanity, their identities,
and their sense of humor intact. Tracking their progress -- and
inevitable lapses -- Levine contemplates need and desire, scarcity and
security, consumerism and citizenship. She asks the Big Questions: Can
the economy survive without shopping? Are Q-tips necessary? Not Buying It
is the confession of a woman any reader can identify with: someone who
can't live without French roast coffee or SmartWool socks but who has
had it up to here with overconsumption and its effects on the earth and
everyone who dwells there.
For the humor and intelligence of its insights, the refreshment of its skepticism, and the surprises of its conclusions, Not Buying It is sure to be on anyone's list of Necessities.
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The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty by Peter Singer
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Publisher: Random House Publication Date: Mar 3 2009
ISBN-10: 1400067103
ISBN-13: 978-1400067107 Ethics & Morality / Philanthropy
This is the right time to ask yourself: "What should I be doing to help?"
For
the first time in history, it is now within our reach to eradicate
world poverty and the suffering it brings. Yet around the world, a
billion people struggle to live each day on less than many of us pay
for bottled water. And though the number of deaths attributable to
poverty worldwide has fallen dramatically in the past half-century,
nearly ten million children still die unnecessarily each year. The
people of the developed world face a profound choice: If we are not to
turn our backs on a fifth of the world's population, we must become
part of the solution.
In The Life You Can Save, philosopher Peter Singer, named one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World" by Time
magazine, uses ethical arguments, provocative thought experiments,
illuminating examples, and case studies of charitable giving to show
that our current response to world poverty is not only insufficient but
ethically indefensible.
Singer contends that we need to change
our views of what is involved in living an ethical life. To help us
play our part in bringing about that change, he offers a seven-point
plan that mixes personal philanthropy (figuring how much to give and
how best to give it), local activism (spreading the word in your
community), and political awareness (contacting your representatives to
ensure that your nation's foreign aid is really directed to the world's
poorest people).
In The Life You Can Save, Singer makes
the irrefutable argument that giving will make a huge difference in the
lives of others, without diminishing the quality of our own. This book
is an urgent call to action and a hopeful primer on the power of
compassion, when mixed with rigorous investigation and careful
reasoning, to lift others out of despair.
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A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg
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Publisher: Simon & Schuster Publication Date: Mar 3 2009
ISBN-10: 1416551050
ISBN-13: 978-1416551058
Food & Drink / Biography & MemoirWhen Molly Wizenberg's father died of cancer, everyone told her to go
easy on herself, to hold off on making any major decisions for a while.
But when she tried going back to her apartment in Seattle and returning
to graduate school, she knew it wasn't possible to resume life as
though nothing had happened. So she went to Paris, a city that held
vivid memories of a childhood trip with her father, of early morning
walks on the cobbled streets of the Latin Quarter and the taste of her
first pain au chocolat. She was supposed to be doing research for her
dissertation, but more often, she found herself peering through the
windows of chocolate shops, trekking across town to try a new
pātisserie, or tasting cheeses at outdoor markets, until one evening
when she sat in the Luxembourg Gardens reading cookbooks until it was
too dark to see, she realized that her heart was not in her studies but
in the kitchen. At
first, it wasn't clear where this epiphany might lead. Like her long
letters home describing the details of every meal and market, Molly's
blog Orangette started out merely as a pleasant pastime. But it wasn't
long before her writing and recipes developed an international
following. Every week, devoted readers logged on to find out what Molly
was cooking, eating, reading, and thinking, and it seemed she had
finally found her passion. But the story wasn't over: one reader in
particular, a curly-haired, food-loving composer from New York, found
himself enchanted by the redhead in Seattle, and their email
correspondence blossomed into a long-distance romance.
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Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
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Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Publication Date: Nov 18 2008
ISBN-10: 0316017922
ISBN-13: 978-0316017923 Sociology / Social Psychology Check AvailabilityWhy do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful
lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our
cherished belief of the "self-made man," Malcolm Gladwell makes the democratic
assertion that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by
genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden
advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that
allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways
others cannot." Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill
Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a
tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just
plain lucky." Outliers can be enjoyed for its bits of
trivia, like why most pro hockey players were born in January, how many
hours of practice it takes to master a skill, why the descendents of
Jewish immigrant garment workers became the most powerful lawyers in
New York, how a pilots' culture impacts their crash record, how a
centuries-old culture of rice farming helps Asian kids master math. But
there's more to it than that. Throughout all of these examples--and in
more that delve into the social benefits of lighter skin color, and the
reasons for school achievement gaps--Gladwell invites conversations
about the complex ways privilege manifests in our culture. He leaves us
pondering the gifts of our own history, and how the world could benefit
if more of our kids were granted the opportunities to fulfill their
remarkable potential.
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No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels by Jay Dobyns
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Publisher: Crown Publication Date: Feb 10 2009
ISBN-10: 0307405850
ISBN-13: 978-0307405852
Biography / MemoirHere, from Jay Dobyns, the first federal agent to infiltrate the inner
circle of the outlaw Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, is the inside story
of the twenty-one-month operation that almost cost him his family, his
sanity, and his life. Getting
shot in the chest as a rookie agent, bartering for machine guns,
throttling down the highway at 100 mph, and responding to a full-scale,
bloody riot between the Hells Angels and their rivals, the
Mongols - these are just a few of the high-adrenaline experiences Dobyns
recounts in this action-packed, hard-to-imagine-but-true story. Reminiscent
of Donnie Brasco's uncovering of the true Mafia, this is an eye-opening
portrait of the world of bikers-the most in-depth since Hunter
Thompson's seminal work-one that fully describes the seductive lure
criminal camaraderie has for men who would otherwise be powerless
outsiders. Here is all the nihilism, hate, and intimidation, but also
the freedom-and, yes, brotherhood-of the only truly American form of
organized crime.
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The Well-Educated Mind: a Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by Susan Wise Bauer
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Publisher: WW Norton Publication Date: Jul 29 2003
ISBN-10: 0393050947
ISBN-13: 978-0393050943
Education / Self-ImprovementCheck AvailabilityDesigned for adults
seeking self-education in the classical tradition. Reading-sustained,
disciplined and structured-is Susan Wise Bauer's core methodology, so she starts with
tips on improving reading skills and setting up a reading schedule
(start with half-hour sessions four mornings a week, with daily journal
writing). Reading is a discipline, like meditating or running, she
says, and it needs regular exercise. To grow through reading - to reach
the "Great Conversation" of ideas - Bauer outlines the three stages of
the classical tradition: first, read for facts; then evaluate them;
finally, form your own opinions. After explaining the mechanics of each
stage (e.g. what type of notes to take in the book itself, or in the
journal), Bauer begins the list section of the book, with separate
chapters for her five major genres: fiction, autobiography/memoir,
history/politics, drama and poetry. She introduces each category with a
concise discussion of its historical development and the major
scholarly debates, clearly defining all important terms (e.g.,
postmodernism, metafiction). And then, the piece de resistance: lists,
in chronological order, of some 30 major works in each genre, complete
with advice on choosing the edition and a one-page synopsis. Bauer has
crafted a timeless, intelligent book.
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