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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Skyline GT-R: The Ultimate Japanese Supercar




Editorial Reviews
Product Description

The Nissan Skyline GT-R is the icon among Japanese performance cars. Its almost mythical status is accentuated both by its domination of numerous motorsport divisions and by its ultimate tuneability, which has led to GT-Rs with well over 1000bhp. Only officially sold in strictly limited numbers outside Japan, the large number of grey imports in the UK, Australia and the USA have ensured that the legend has spread and the GT-R has a huge aspirational following worldwide. Although the GT-R has towering power and performance, the sophisticated chassis and cutting-edge technology mean that it can be driven safely and swiftly by almost anyone. A unique insight into the ultimate Japanese supercar.

About the Author
Andy Butler contributes to a wide range of motoring magazines, and is the author of Haynes' well-received You and Your Golf GTI, You and Your Mitsubishi Evo and ICE Manual.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment



Editorial Reviews
Product Description

Steve Harvey, the host of the nationally syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show, can't count the number of impressive women he's met over the years, whether it's through the "Strawberry Letters" segment of his program or while on tour for his comedy shows. These are women who can run a small business, keep a household with three kids in tiptop shape, and chair a church group all at the same time. Yet when it comes to relationships, they can't figure out what makes men tick. Why? According to Steve it's because they're asking other women for advice when no one but another man can tell them how to find and keep a man. In Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Steve lets women inside the mindset of a man and sheds lights on concepts and questions such as:

—The Ninety Day Rule: Ford requires it of its employees. Should you require it of your man?

—How to spot a mama's boy and what if anything you can do about it.

—When to introduce the kids. And what to read into the first interaction between your date and your kids.

—The five questions every woman should ask a man to determine how serious he is.

— And more...

Sometimes funny, sometimes direct, but always truthful, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man is a book you must read if you want to understand how men think when it comes to relationships.



About the Author

Steve Harvey began doing stand-up comedy in the mid-1980s. His success as a stand-up comedian led to a WB network show, The Steve Harvey Show, which ran from 1996 to 2002. It was a huge hit and won multiple NAACP Image Awards. In 1997, Harvey continued his work in stand-up comedy, touring as one of the "Kings of Comedy," along with Cedric the Entertainer, D. L. Hughley, and Bernie Mac. The comedy team would later be reunited in a film by Spike Lee called The Original Kings of Comedy. Steve Harvey is now widely known as the host of the nationally syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show, which has more than seven million listeners. Harvey continues his unending pursuit and commitment to furthering opportunities in high schools throughout the country with generous contributions from the Steve Harvey Foundation.


Architectural Digest, January 2009



The Architecrural Digest issue of January 2009.
With Brad Pitt on the covers and story.
See how how his house is.


Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse




Editorial Reviews
Product Description

If you are fed up with Washington boondoggles, and you like the small-government, politically-incorrect thinking of Ron Paul, then you'll love Tom Woods's Meltdown. In clear, no-nonsense terms, Woods explains what led up to this economic crisis, who's really to blame, and why government bailouts won't work. Woods will reveal:
* Which brave few economists predicted the economic fallout--and why nobody listened
* What really caused the collapse
* Why the Fed--not taxpayers--should have to answer for the current economic crisis
* Why bailouts are band-aids that will only provide temporary relief and ultimately make things worse
* What we should do instead, to put our economy on a healthy path to recovery

With a foreword from Ron Paul, Meltdown is the free-market answer to the Fed-created economic crisis. As the new Obama administration inevitably calls for more regulations, Woods argues that the only way to rebuild our economy is by returning to the fundamentals of capitalism and letting the free market work.

From the Inside Flap
Is Capitalism the Culprit?
The media tells us that "deregulation" and "unfettered free markets" have wrecked our economy and will continue to make things worse without a heavy dose of federal regulation. But the real blame lies elsewhere. In Meltdown, bestselling author Thomas E. Woods Jr. unearths the real causes behind the collapse of housing values and the stock market--and it turns out the culprits reside more in Washington than on Wall Street.

And the trillions of dollars in federal bailouts? Our politicians' ham-handed attempts to fix the problems they themselves created will only make things much worse.
Woods, a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute and winner of the 2006 Templeton Enterprise Award, busts the media myths and government spin. He explains how government intervention in the economy--from the Democratic hobby horse called Fannie Mae to affirmative action programs like the Community Redevelopment Act--actually caused the housing bubble.

Most important, Woods, author of the New York Times bestseller The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, traces this most recent boom-and-bust--and all such booms and busts of the past century--back to one of the most revered government institutions of all: the Federal Reserve System, which allows busy-body bureaucrats and ambitious politicians to pull the strings of our financial sector and manipulate the value of the very money we use.

Meltdown also provides a timely history lesson to counter the current clamor for a new New Deal. The Great Depression, Woods demonstrates, was only as deep and as long as it was because of the government interventions by Herbert Hoover (no free-market capitalist, despite what your high school history teacher may have taught you) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (no savior of the American economy, in spite of what the mainstream media says). If you want to understand what caused the financial meltdown--and why none of the big-government solutions being tried today will work--Meltdown explains it all.

From the Back Cover
From the Foreword by Congressman Ron Paul
We can probably expect an avalanche of books in the coming months that purport to tell us what happened to the economy and what we should do about it. They'll be dead wrong, and most of the advice they provide will be dreadful. You can count on that. That's why Meltdown is so important. This book actually gets things right. It correctly identifies our problems, their causes, and what we should do about them. It treats the architects of this debacle not with the undeserved reverence they receive in Washington and on television, but with the critical eye that is so conspicuously missing from our supposedly independent thinkers in academia and the media. Tom Woods reserves his admiration for those few who, unlike the quacks who would instruct us now, actually saw the crisis coming, have a theory to explain it, and can show us the way out. In a short span, Tom Woods introduces the layman to a range of subjects that have been excluded from our national discussion for much too long. Topics our opinion leaders thought they'd buried forever, or never heard of in the first place, are suddenly back, and not a moment too soon. This book is an indispensable conduit of these critical ideas. . . . Ideas still matter, and sound economic education has rarely been as urgently necessary as it is today. There is no better book to read on the present crisis than this one, and that is why I am delighted to endorse and introduce it.

About the Author
Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Ph.D., is the New York Times bestselling author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History and How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. A senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute and a contributing editor of The American Conservative magazine, he and his family live in Alabama.

Thomas E. Woods Jr. is a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. He is the author of nine books, including Who Killed the Constitution?: The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush (with Kevin R. C. Gutzman) and the New York Time bestseller The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. Woods won the $50,000 first prize in the 2006 Templeton Enterprise Awards for The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy. Woods edited and wrote the introduction to four additional books, including Murray N. Rothbard's The Betrayal of the American Right and We Who Dared to Say No to War: American Antiwar Writing from 1812 to Now (with Murray Polner). He is also the author of Beyond Distributism, part of the Acton Institute's Christian Social Thought Series. Woods lives in Auburn, Alabama, with his wife and three daughters, and maintains a website at ThomasEWoods.com.


Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Best 296 Business Schools, 2009 Edition




Editorial Reviews
Product Description

Get everything you need to know to make the right decision! This insider’s perspective on the nation’s top business schools provides rankings based on student surveys, just like those made popular by The Princeton Review’s Best 368 Colleges guide.

Best 296 Business Schools also includes student quotes about classes, professors, the social scene and more, as well as a complete index of schools throughout the country with basic information on their programs. Plus, it covers the ins and outs of admissions and financial aid, and the schools get an opportunity to talk back by including their own profiles. Best 296 Business Schools has all the information you need to find the perfect match in a business school.

Product Details
Paperback: 816 pages
Publisher: Princeton Review (October 7, 2008)


J. K. Rowling 's Biography




Reviews from readers

Good Biographical Book On Harry Potter's Author,
February 12, 2008
By Tiger/LiL "Book Lover" (Apple Valley, CA)

If you're wondering how J.K. Rowling came up with the idea for the Harry Potter books, and how she *envisioned* the characters, this is the book to read! It's written in very understandable, plain, and simple language that your kids will love to read too! If they're "Potter-Aficionados" ~ they should have this book! (It may even inspire them to 'aspire' to write their own stories someday)!



Very kid-friendly biography of JKR,
January 15, 2009
By Lena (Toronto, Canada)

I got this book for my daughter and read it myself, since I wanted to learn more about JKR. Even though I knew some of the facts, that's the first time that
I had a chance to read the "whole story".
This book is written in a very simple language and presents all the major events in the life of J.K. Rowling in a way that is readable and interesting for kids.
My daughter enjoyed it very much and even recommended it to her friends, who are also HP fans. In her reading response for school, she wondered what is the best way to organize your writing ideas... Well, this is certainly encouraging. And the sign of good book.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Master of the Game: Steve Ross and the Creation of Time Warner




Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly

Bruck chronicles the fast-paced career of Time Warner's Steve Ross, who transformed his father-in-law's funeral business into the world's largest media company.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Bruck, famous for her muckraking book about Michael Milken (Predator's Ball, LJ 3/15/89), unveils another power person's reckless spending habits and questionable management actions. Bruck uncovers details about Ross and the Time-Warner merger that are not in Richard Clurman's To the End of Time (LJ 2/1/92). Unfortunately, the abundant detail loses the reader at times, and Bruck is so focused on the wrongdoings of Ross and those at Time, Inc., that she offers little insight about the future of the company. Nonetheless, academics and business people will probably demand this book. Weakly recommended.
--Rebecca A. Smith, Harvard Business Sch. Lib.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Bruck wrote the best-selling, hard-hitting, and controversial Predators' Ball (1988), which exposed the excesses of Drexel Burnham Lambert and Michael Milken. Now she profiles the charismatic, manipulative Steve Ross, who successfully engineered the last big buy-out of the 1980s in the bitter takeover battle between Time, Inc. and Warner Communications, which Ross headed. While Richard Clurman has already written To the End of Time: Seduction Conquest of the Media Empire (1992), a well-regarded account of the takeover battle from Time's point of view, Bruck offers an engrossing biographical and psychological portrait of Ross himself. Based on extensive interviews with more than 250 sources, including Ross himself before his death, she deftly chronicles Ross' rise to power and fortune. This likely best-seller grew out of two pieces Bruck originally did in 1990 and 1992 for the New Yorker. David Rouse --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
This much ballyhooed book starts out slowly and seems derivative. Much of the information throughout the text is derived from the newspaper and magazine reportage of other journalists; and another author, Richard M. Clurman, beat Bruck to quite a bit of the drama two years ago in To the End of Time (1992). But despite these obstacles, Bruck manages to compose an interesting book, even though her subject is inherently less interesting than Michael Milken, the key player in Bruck's previous book, The Predator's Ball (1988). Milken was involved in high- stakes criminal conduct; Ross (who by the book's publication will have been dead nearly a year and a half) was pretty much just one more in a long line of greedy, unintrospective tycoons. He was a born dealmaker, a one-time traveling salesman who parlayed his in- laws' lucrative funeral-home business into a diversified company, which he took public in 1962. In 1969, Ross made a surprise bid for Warner-Seven Arts and found himself hobnobbing with the likes of Frank Sinatra. Two decades later, in 1990, Ross helped engineer the megadeal of his life--the merger of Warner with Time Inc. to create the largest communications/entertainment company in the world. Bruck's quotation from opera star Beverly Sills, who spoke at Ross's funeral, sums up the life neatly: ``He was like an opera singer. He was larger than life; he knew how to make grand entrances; he knew he didn't have to yell at the top of his lungs to keep an audience's attention; he was always on a diet; and he knew how to share curtain calls.'' In an age of biographers acting as pathographers, Bruck is refreshingly generous in spirit. The book is not a valentine, but Bruck explains Ross's good qualities as well as his bad. By retaining her mental balance about her subject, Bruck allows the reader to enjoy mental balance as well. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
In a career that began in Brooklyn and spanned Wall Street, Hollywood, and the Mafia, Ross built his father-in-law's funeral business and a parking lot company into Time Warner, the largest media and entertainment company in the world. Hard-hitting and compulsive reading, this book takes you into the heart of what made this arrogant yet irresistible man tick.

Harvard Business Review on Talent Mgmt




Editorial Reviews
Product Description
If great talent is hard to find, it's even harder to keep. In today's competitive world, you need the best and the brightest on your team in order to stay ahead of the game. If you lose your key talent, you may find that you're also losing out on crucial business opportunities. This valuable collection offers insights and strategies to make sure you recognize--and retain-- your company's vital talent.

Each article in Harvard Business Review on Talent Management will give you the tools you need to help your most important people stay motivated, happy, and productive--and part of your company.

About the Author
The series is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the pre-eminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious business people in organizations around the globe


Monday, February 2, 2009

Third Wish (2-Volume Boxed Set with CD)




Amazon Vine Voices on Third Wish by Robert Fulghum

We asked customer reviewers participating in Amazon Vine to answer four questions about Robert Fulghum's Third Wish after reading an advance copy. We've included excerpts of reviewers' responses below to give readers an opportunity to learn more about the book (and get excited to read it themselves) before it releases in February 2009.

How would you describe Third Wish to a friend?

"Third Wish is like an erudite travelogue, filled with vivid descriptions of real places and things that an educated tourist would love to see, and well-traveled tourists will recognize."

"Third Wish is, above all, a journey. A journey of history, friendship, laughter, love, peace, sadness, and finally, understanding and acceptance."

"An odd and thought-provoking book that penetrates into the minds and lives of the characters in the book with simplicity and yet complexity."

"Third Wish may be classifiable as a novel, but it really isn't just a story. It is perhaps better to characterize it as a quest, or an expedition. The subject is humanity, human identity, and relationships. It isn't a psychological study, but is certainly a look at life. The characters meander through a series of events in a stream that permits easy excursions that form eddies and gentle whirlpools without disrupting their course."

It's a fictional, and metafictional, exploration of how one learns and understands one's life through interactions with others. It's about trust, and loss."

"This is an epic, sweeping story about several unique and unforgettable characters which is told in the past, the present, as fiction, fable, history, mythology, geography, culture, intrigue and romance. It is not an easy or a quick read. You don't and won't want to simply skim through paragraphs or descriptions because you really might miss something."

"Third Wish is a novel about falling in love, not with someone else, but with life itself. It's a story that takes place in various locations, with each location offering a distinctive backdrop to the narrative that adds to the emotional impact of the story. Although infused with philosophical concepts of impermanence and the nature of change, it's not preachy."

"I'd say it's a different kind of human story, not about love so much as what it means to be human, a story of three friends haunted by mystery. The reader becomes ravenous for the author to explain things, which he obliges, but slowly. Along the way are lessons in history, philosophy and religion, on art and Japanese tattoo that enrich the characters without slowing the story. It's a book of surprises."

"Third Wish is an epic story about a group of unusual characters who meet by accident, or hand of fate, and find strength in each other's company. The first part is a story within a story, with other smaller stories along the way."

Would you recommend Third Wish to a friend?

"I would definitely recommend this book to a friend!"

"I would recommend this book to my friends if they were of the intellectual type that would enjoy seeing into the minds and hearts of people and places."

"I have friends who really like to read slowly, to lose themselves, to think and ponder. Those friends would love it. I also think it might be a perfect book club book for a group who maybe wants to take a summer break, and read a longer book during that break."

"I think it would appeal to someone who has a sense of wanderlust. Not just because it starts off on a train, or that it involves characters who meet while traveling. But rather, those who enjoy the mystique of adventure, of traveling to new places where you sometimes feel on edge, or very aware of how foreign you are, those people would be perfectly suited to this book."

"Unequivocally, yes. Several of my friends have expressed impatience with the fashion for metafiction; I would ask them to refrain from classifying Third Wish in any particular way. Structurally, this book works extraordinarily well."

"I would only recommend Third Wish to friends who could fully appreciate the experience. This means only readers who are interested in myth, awakenings, riddles, and the variety of stories woven into one in this book."

"If someone likes allegories, riddles and personal stories that involve multiple cultures and various geographical settings with a historical backdrop, this is THE book to read."

Does Third Wish remind you of other books you've read? Which ones?

"Third Wish stands alone among the hundreds of books I have read. It is unique in many ways, and the level of intertwining of characters and stories is rare in my opinion."

"It does remind me of Catcher in the Rye, except Third Wish is much more in depth with regard to the thoughts, feelings, and interactions of the characters."

"I would say by comparison, if you joined Odysseus on his return to Ithaca, or followed Leopold on his walk about in Dublin, skipped down the yellow brick road with Dorothy, or followed a hare down a hole in your garden, Third Wish has a place in your life. Indeed, it may alter your view of it."

"It evokes strong feelings, which are associated with other books I've read, by Gerald Durrell, Graham Greene, Kenneth Grahame.... But Third Wish is sui generis."

"Third Wish reminds me of three, very different types of books: The first ones that came to mind and stayed with me throughout were the Griffin and Sabine trilogies. The next books that came to mind were by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. His books are certainly labyrinthine. And finally, Travels with Charlie: In Search of America, by Steinbeck.

"It reminds me of T.H. White's The Once and Future King, not because of story similarities, but rather on account of the way I felt when I was reading the book."

"I was really reminded of Will Durant's History of Civilization, especially of the volume on Greece. The genre is different obviously, but it had the same feel of moving from music, to architecture, to philosohy, to religion, etc. While obviously this is not a cultural history, the author managed to get a great deal of elements to it that touched on all these issues."

"Most assuredly, Atonement, as well as Don Quixote. The Alice books (Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are frequently invoked in the story, and the heroine is named Alice) play a role, as does the work of Edward Lear."

"Some of the humor and word play reminds me of Tom Robbins. The geographical and historical parts remind me of James Michener."

Imagine you are at a bookstore reading for Third Wish. What would you like to ask the author? What would you like to tell him?

"I loved everything about your work. It was so unique, and it drew me completely in. Brilliant use of all five senses. I have to say if more books were written this way, and were this interesting, and different, I would definitely take the time to step out of my comfort zone and read books of other genres."

"As a story teller, you took me on a journey that I have really enjoyed. I think of visiting Crete one day, and enjoying the simple pleasures that Alex and Max-Pol experienced. I think of the many simple pleasures that in a busy world are forgotten."

"This book has touched me more deeply than any other work of creative imagination. (I won't say "work of fiction", because that understates the metafictional, poetical, and documentary aspects of the work.)"

"I am curious as to how long this book took to write. Was it based on journals, or was it created entirely from imagination? I'd like to know what the author envisions as his audience, as his perfect reader."

"Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. It's a wonderful book. And, in the spirit of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, I would encourage him to revisit Third Wish at some point, to add or change things without hesitation. It's a never-ending story."

"My only sadness was that I could not appreciate the CD of music as much as the books. The melodies are beautiful and even haunting, but I prefer a more fuller sound than just a violin or a guitar by themselves."

"The addition of music to the experience is like taking a reader's mind into a film setting without the help of actual video, so the reader must rely heavily on one's own imagination, it's wonderful!"

"I'd tell the author that I appreciated his love of lists and wordplay, but that I found it difficult--since this is no ordinary love story--to engage viscerally with the characters."

Product Description
In fairy tales, the third wish is the last one left when the first wish was foolish, and the second wish was used to undo the first wish. Now the remaining wish must be used wisely and well--with the help of co-conspirators. The main thread of Third Wish--like Ariadne’s string guiding Theseus into the labyrinth with the Minotaur--begins at a table on a terrace on the Greek Island of Crete, winds its way into the center and back out to the same table, passing through Greece, Japan, France, England, and Seattle. Its main characters are Alice, Max-Pol, Aleko, Wonko, Zenkichi, Polydora, Alice-Alice, and Dog. Woven into the fabric of the novel are cultural history, art, philosophy, archeology, poetry, theater and music. The mode of the novel is contained in the words Slowly, Surprise, and Witness. More than anything else, Third Wish is a long love story--not in the usual sense--but the story of people who love life and will go to great lengths to find a flourishing Way onward.

From the Author

A Letter from Robert Fulghum


Hello. Addressing the reader is an old tradition in literature, though currently out of fashion. But since I consider the relationship between a reader and a writer a personal one, I wish to revive the tradition. Moreover, this gesture is appropriate because, in the final part of Third Wish, a reader—a stakeholder now in the completion of the novel—addresses the author. This is as it should be. A successful novel must be a conspiracy between the writer and the reader—the creative imagination of both is required.

As with consulting a guidebook before travel, some access before beginning a critical review of a long novel may provide useful in the reading.

The bedrock of the story I will tell you is the 6,000 years of human history piled up in myth and fact on the Greek island of Crete. Since this is not common active knowledge, you may better appreciate my story and the actors onstage if you know the fundamentals of this history. Though I have sought clarity amidst complexity, previous readers tell me that having a few tools close by has been rewarding: an atlas, a dictionary, an encyclopedia, and even a short compendium of Greek myth and drama, for example.

There is a book within the novel: The Chronicles of Max-Pol Millay—a journal written for Alice-of-Many-Names to reveal the history and on-going affairs of Alexandros Evangelous Xenopouloudakis—(a.k.a. Alex Evans). This reflects real life experience—much of what we know about another comes mostly from what others tell us—and in the telling they both reveal and mask much about themselves.

The Crete and Oxford portions of the novel are illustrated, but not in the most direct sense—but by way of a sketchbook containing drawings, paintings, maps, and notes by a member of the cast—Louka Mahdis—expressing her own experiences as a gift to Max-Pol.

There is music in the novel—both written and recorded. Since this feature is somewhat unique, many early readers of the manuscript have not given the music much attention, alas, if any. But the music is very important. Every human being contains music in their mental jukebox. This music reveals primary history, fundamental character, and states of being. We choose it—sometimes it chooses us. Music commissioned for the novel is meant to express what words cannot. Please listen.

My category for myself is not writer or novelist but storyteller. Third Wish is a long story containing many short stories about those who enter the labyrinth of imagination and return. All of the main characters are themselves story-tellers—and they will tell you tales to answer questions you have not asked but only considered as you have experienced the unfolding of the play. However, in the end, it is the story told by the reader that matters most of all.

Four seminal notions define Third Wish: Slowly. Surprise. Witness. Passion.

Finally, when all is said and done, Third Wish is a wide-ranging love story of a specific kind: It’s about loving life and tying it up with a scarlet ribbon of memory as a keepsake. One of the characters says: "Love is not a noun, after all. Love is an active verb. Love is a chance we have taken – No wins, no losses – lots of ties." The nature of those ties binds the actors, the novel, the writer and, if all goes well, the reader together.

Robert Fulghum



About the Author
Robert Fulghum is the bestselling author of All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten, It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, Uh-Oh, Maybe (Maybe Not), From Beginning To End, Words I Wish I Wrote, True Love, and What on Earth Have I Done? Third Wish is his first novel, published originally in Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian. He lives in Seattle, Washington and on the Greek island of Crete.


Sunday, February 1, 2009

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything




From Publishers Weekly
Robinson (Out of Our Minds), renowned in the areas of creativity development, innovation and human resources, tackles the challenge of determining and pursuing work that is aligned with individual talents and passions to achieve well-being and success. The element is what he identifies as the point where the activities individuals enjoy and are naturally good at come together. Offering a wide range of stories about the creative journeys of different people with diverse paths to the element—including Paul McCartney, The Alchemist author Paulo Coelho, and Vidal Sassoon as well as lesser-known examples—he demonstrates a rich vision of human ability and creativity. Covering such topics as the power of creativity, circles of influence, and attitude and aptitude, the author emphasizes the importance of nurturing talent along with developing an understanding of how talent expresses itself differently in every individual. Robinson emphasizes the importance of mentors and reforming and transforming education, making a convincing argument bolstered by solid strategies for honing creativity. Motivating and persuasive, this entertaining and inspiring book will appeal to a wide audience. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description
From one of the world’s leading thinkers and speakers on creativity and self-fulfillment, a breakthrough book about talent, passion, and achievement

The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels. The Element draws on the stories of a wide range of people, from ex-Beatle Paul McCartney to Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons; from Meg Ryan to Gillian Lynne, who choreographed the Broadway productions of Cats and The Phantom of the Opera; and from writer Arianna Huffington to renowned physicist Richard Feynman and others, including business leaders and athletes. It explores the components of this new paradigm: The diversity of intelligence, the power of imagination and creativity, and the importance of commitment to our own capabilities.

With a wry sense of humor, Ken Robinson looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the element and those that stifle that possibility. He shows that age and occupation are no barrier, and that once we have found our path we can help others to do so as well. The Element shows the vital need to enhance creativity and innovation by thinking differently about human resources and imagination. It is also an essential strategy for transforming education, business, and communities to meet the challenges of living and succeeding in the twenty-first century.

About the Author
Ken Robinson, PHD, is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation, and human resources. He has worked with national governments in Europe and Asia, international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, national and state education systems, nonprofit organizations, and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations.

The Yankee Years




Editorial Reviews
Product Description


Twelve straight playoff appearances. Six American League pennants. Four World Series titles. This is the definitive story of a dynasty: the Yankee years

When Joe Torre took over as manager of the New York Yankees in 1996, the most storied franchise in sports had not won a World Series title in eighteen years. The famously tough and mercurial owner, George Steinbrenner, had fired seventeen managers during that span. Torre’s appointment was greeted with Bronx cheers from the notoriously brutal New York media, who cited his record as the player and manager who had been in the most Major League games without appearing in a World Series

Twelve tumultuous and triumphant years later, Torre left the team as the most beloved and successful manager in the game. In an era of multimillionaire free agents, fractured clubhouses, revenue-sharing, and off-the-field scandals, Torre forged a team ethos that united his players and made the Yankees, once again, the greatest team in sports. He won over the media with his honesty and class, and was beloved by the fans.

But it wasn’t easy.

Here, for the first time, Joe Torre and Tom Verducci take us inside the dugout, the
clubhouse, and the front office in a revelatory narrative that shows what it really took to keep the Yankees on top of the baseball world. The high-priced ace who broke down in tears and refused to go back to the mound in the middle of a game. Constant meddling from Yankee executives, many of whom were jealous of Torre’s popularity. The tension that developed between the old guard and the free agents brought in by management. The impact of revenue-sharing and new scouting techniques, which allowed other teams to challenge the Yankees’ dominance. The players who couldn’t resist the after-hours temptations of the Big Apple. The joys of managing Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, and the challenges of managing Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi. Torre’s last year, when constant ultimatums from the front office, devastating injuries, and a freak cloud of bugs on a warm September night in Cleveland forced him from a job he loved.

Through it all, Torre kept his calm, kept his players’ respect, and kept winning.

And, of course, The Yankee Years chronicles the amazing stories on the diamond. The stirring comeback in the 1996 World Series against the heavily favored Braves. The wonder of 1998, when Torre led the Yanks to the most wins in Major League history. The draining and emotional drama of the 2001 World Series. The incredible twists and turns of the epic Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series against the Red Sox, in which two teams who truly despised each other battled pitch by pitch until the stunning extra-inning home run.

Here is a sweeping narrative of Major League Baseball in the Yankee era, a book both grand in its scope and fascinating in its details.

About the Author

Joe Torre played for the Braves, the Cardinals, and the Mets before managing all three teams. From 1996 to 2007, Torre managed the New York Yankees. He is currently the manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers.



Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)



Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Great love stories thrive on sacrifice. Throughout The Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse), Stephenie Meyer has emulated great love stories--Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights--with the fated, yet perpetually doomed love of Bella (the human girl) and Edward (the vampire who feeds on animals instead of humans). In Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment in the series, Bella’s story plays out in some unexpected ways. The ongoing conflicts that made this series so compelling--a human girl in love with a vampire, a werewolf in love with a human girl, the generations-long feud between werewolves and vampires--resolve pretty quickly, apparently so that Meyer could focus on Bella’s latest opportunity for self-sacrifice: giving her life for someone she loves even more than Edward. How close she comes to actually making that sacrifice is questionable, which is a big shift from the earlier books. Even though you knew Bella would make it through somehow, the threats to her life, and to her relationship with Edward, had previously always felt real. It’s as if Meyer was afraid of hurting her characters too much, which is unfortunate, because the pain Bella suffered at losing Edward in New Moon, and the pain Jacob suffered at losing Bella again and again, are the fire and the heart that drive the whole series. Diehard fans will stick with Bella, Edward, and Jacob for as many twists and turns as possible, but after most of the characters get what they want with little sacrifice, some readers may have a harder time caring what happens next. (Ages 12 and up) --Heidi Broadhead

From Publishers Weekly
It might seem redundant to dismiss the fourth and final Twilight novel as escapist fantasy--but how else could anyone look at a romance about an ordinary, even clumsy teenager torn between a vampire and a werewolf, both of whom are willing to sacrifice their happiness for hers? Flaws and all, however, Meyer's first three novels touched on something powerful in their weird refraction of our culture's paradoxical messages about sex and sexuality. The conclusion is much thinner, despite its interminable length. [...] But that's not the main problem. Essentially, everyone gets everything they want, even if their desires necessitate an about-face in characterization or the messy introduction of some back story. Nobody has to renounce anything or suffer more than temporarily--in other words, grandeur is out. This isn't about happy endings; it's about gratification. A sign of the times? Ages 12–up. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description
When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?
To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life--first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse--seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.

About the Author
Stephenie Meyer graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English Literature, and she lives with her husband and three young sons in Arizona. Stephenie is the author of Twilight,New Moon, and Eclipse.



Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)




Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly

The legions of readers who are hooked on the romantic struggles of Bella and the vampire Edward will ecstatically devour this third installment of the story begun in Twilight, but it's unlikely to win over any newcomers. Jake, the werewolf met in New Moon, pursues Bella with renewed vigilance. However, when repercussions from an episode in Twilight place Bella in the mortal danger that series fans have come to expect, Jake and Edward forge an uneasy alliance. The plot patterns have begun to show here, but Meyer's other strengths remain intact. The supernatural elements accentuate the ordinary human dramas of growing up. Jake and Edward's competition for Bella feels particularly authentic, especially in their apparent desire to best each other as much as to win Bella. Once again the author presents teenage love as an almost inhuman force: "[He] would have been my soul mate still," says Bella, "if his claim had not been overshadowed by something stronger, something so strong that it could not exist in a rational world." According to Meyer, the fourth book should tie up at least the Edward story, if not the whole shebang. Ages 12-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Reviews
Praise for Eclipse:
"Move over, Harry Potter." - USA Today

"Has a hypnotic quality that puts the reader right inside the dense, rainy thickets of [Forks]" - People Magazine

"The legions of readers who are hooked on the romantic struggles of Bella and the vampire Edward will ecstatically devour this third installment" - Publishers Weekly

"[Stephenie Meyer is] the world's most popular vampire novelist since Anne Rice" - Entertainment Weekly

"Meyer's trilogy seethes with the archetypal tumult of star-crossed passions, in which the supernatural element serves as a heady spice." - The New York Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
Readers captivated by Twilight and New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga. As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob --- knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

About the Author
Stephenie Meyer graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English Literature, and she lives with her husband and three young sons in Arizona. Stephenie is the author of Twilight and New Moon.

From AudioFile
High school graduation looms for Bella, and conventional worries over college applications vie with her plans for immortality and marriage to a vampire classmate, Edward Cullen. In this sequel to Meyers TWILIGHT and NEW MOON, Ilyana Kadushins elegant voice again moves from scenes of typical teen angst to moments of horror, including an attack by newborn vampires on the Cullen family (who have forsaken traditional vampire fodder for big game). Kadushins growling tones and pace are terrific as she differentiates the star-crossed lovers, immersing listeners in the clandestine world that exists around us. D.P.D. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.