Download or read book THE SECRET BIRTHDAY PARTY written by Srividya Narayanan and published by Notion Press. This book was released on 2024-03-07 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Secret Birthday Party is written in an epistolary style. It is about a group of friends and classmates who live in the same locality. They have not met each other for nearly four months because of COVID lockdown, so they find a reason to meet. They plan to have a party!

Download or read book Forever 51 written by Pamela Skjolsvik and published by Fawkes Press. This book was released on 2020-11-05 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Veronica is eternally fifty-one years old with a proclivity for problematic drinking. Like most hormonally challenged women negotiating the change of life, she is a hot mess. To retain her sanity, she attends weekly AA meetings and adheres to a strict diet of organic, locally-sourced, (mostly) cruelty-free human blood from the hospice facility where she works. Her life stopped being fun about a hundred years ago, right about the time her teenage daughter stole her soul and took off for California with a hot, older guy. These days, Veronica’s existence is just that – an existence, as flat and empty as her own non-reflection in the bathroom mirror. When her estranged daughter contacts her via Facebook, Veronica learns that she has one chance to escape her eternal personal summer: she must find and apologize to every one of the people she’s turned into vampires in the last century. That is, if they’re still out there. With raging hormones and a ticking clock, Veronica embarks on a last-ditch road trip to regain her mortality, reclaim her humanity, and ultimately, die on her own terms.

Download or read book Friendship in the Age of Loneliness written by Adam Smiley Poswolsky and published by Running Press Adult. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB SUMMER 2021 NOMINEE* After nearly a year of social distancing and lockdown measures, it’s more clear than ever that our friendships and bonds are vital to our health and happiness. This refreshing, positive guide helps you take care of your people and form deep connections in the digital age. We are lonelier than ever. The average American hasn't made a new friend in the last five years. Research has shown that people with close friends are happier, healthier, and live longer than people who lack strong social bonds. But why—when we are seemingly more connected than ever before—can it feel so difficult to keep those bonds alive and well? Why do we spend only four percent of our time with friends? In this warm, inspiring guide, Adam "Smiley" Poswolsky proposes a new solution for the mounting pressures of modern life: focus on your friendships. Smiley offers practical habits and playful reminders on how to create meaningful connections, make new friends, and deepen relationships. He'll help you develop a healthier relationship with technology, but he'll also encourage you to prioritize real-world experiences, send snail mail, and engage in self-reflective exercises. Written in short, digestible, action-oriented sections, this book reminds us that nurturing old and new friendships is a ritual, a necessity, and one of the most worthwhile things we can do in life.

Download or read book Damp written by Jean Crissien, PhD and published by Jack-Devil Media. This book was released on 2024-05-17 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Improved energy. Brighter moods. Restful sleep. Healthier skin. Mental clarity. They’re why 2 in 3 drinkers want to cut back on alcohol. They’re also waiting on the other side of Damp, the definitive guide to mindful drinking habits. Professor Jean Crissien openly tells his alcohol story while drawing on behavioral psychology and the neuroscience of habits, delivering a judgment-free guide laced with side-splitting humor. Whatever your relationship with alcohol, Damp will: *Inform you on the risks of alcohol and the benefits of moderation. *Help you understand your drinking habits, including why you drink, when you drink, and how much. *Steer you through a process for building and cementing mindful drinking habits. *Provide you with practical tools, including a serving tracker and habit contract. *Help you find the sunny place between soaking wet and bone dry. Uplifting. Practical. Entertaining. Ends with a better you. That’s the brilliance of Damp.

Download or read book We the Data written by Wendy H. Wong and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2023-10-10 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rallying call for extending human rights beyond our physical selves—and why we need to reboot rights in our data-intensive world. Our data-intensive world is here to stay, but does that come at the cost of our humanity in terms of autonomy, community, dignity, and equality? In We, the Data, Wendy H. Wong argues that we cannot allow that to happen. Exploring the pervasiveness of data collection and tracking, Wong reminds us that we are all stakeholders in this digital world, who are currently being left out of the most pressing conversations around technology, ethics, and policy. This book clarifies the nature of datafication and calls for an extension of human rights to recognize how data complicate what it means to safeguard and encourage human potential. As we go about our lives, we are co-creating data through what we do. We must embrace that these data are a part of who we are, Wong explains, even as current policies do not yet reflect the extent to which human experiences have changed. This means we are more than mere “subjects” or “sources” of data “by-products” that can be harvested and used by technology companies and governments. By exploring data rights, facial recognition technology, our posthumous rights, and our need for a right to data literacy, Wong has crafted a compelling case for engaging as stakeholders to hold data collectors accountable. Just as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights laid the global groundwork for human rights, We, the Data gives us a foundation upon which we claim human rights in the age of data.

Download or read book Roctogenarians written by Mo Rocca and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2024-06-11 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From beloved CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Mo Rocca, author of New York Times bestseller Mobituaries, comes an inspiring collection of stories that celebrates the triumphs of people who made their biggest marks late in life. Eighty has been the new sixty for about twenty years now. In fact, there have always been late-in-life achievers, those who declined to go into decline just because they were eligible for social security. Journalist, humorist, and history buff Mo Rocca and coauthor Jonathan Greenberg introduce us to the people past and present who peaked when they could have been puttering—breaking out as writers, selling out concert halls, attempting to set land-speed records—and in the case of one ninety-year tortoise, becoming a first-time father. (Take that, Al Pacino!) In the vein of Mobituaries, Roctogenarians is a collection of entertaining and unexpected profiles of these unretired titans—some long gone (a cancer-stricken Henri Matisse, who began work on his celebrated cut-outs when he could no longer paint), some very much still living (Mel Brooks, yukking it up at close to one hundred). The amazing cast of characters also includes Mary Church Terrell, who at eighty-six helped lead sit-ins at segregated Washington, DC, lunch counters in the 1950s, and Carol Channing, who married the love of her life at eighty-two. Then there’s Peter Mark Roget, who began working on his thesaurus in his twenties and completed it at seventy-three (because sometimes finding the right word takes time.) With passion and wonder Rocca and Greenberg recount the stories of yesterday’s and today’s strongest finishers. Because with all due respect to the Golden Girls, some people will never be content sitting out on the lanai. (PS Actress Estelle Getty was sixty-two when she got her big break. And yes, she’s in the book.)

Download or read book Gone Viral written by Justin Hart and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-10-18 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Data and marketing consultant and statistical sage to presidential candidates, governors, businesses, and the real powers-that-be, epidemiologists, Justin Hart catalogs in a terrifying-but-sprightly manner the folly and psychosis produced by the pandemic and diagnoses the societal destruction that the massive overresponse to the COVID virus has wreaked, as well as what can be done to stop the madness and bring the world back to a modicum of rationality. WORST. DISEASE. EVER. Someone broke America. In this nightmare, neighbors have turned into agoraphobes, teachers fear their students, children are muzzled, citizens are censored, dystopian fictions have become reality, and unelected officials are creating a biometric police state. Oh wait. It’s not a nightmare. It’s our daily lives! In truth, much of this insanity didn’t start with the coronavirus pandemic (it was already latent in big government and big corporations) and it won’t end there. COVID-19’s greatest threat turned out to be . . . mental. All we had to fear was fear itself—and boy did some of us fear! The very idea of the virus weakened the immune system of America and revealed a decaying underbelly of confusion, panic, unease, and cowardice few of the strong ones suspected existed. What a horrible wake-up call! In a spate of anxious dread and gleeful power-grabbing, our health overlords threw away the pandemic response handbook and tried—beyond all reason—to protect, well, everyone. From massive over-testing to universal retail plexiglass to stay-at-home orders to stay-away-from-school orders to masking mandates to vaccine mandates to some of the worst restrictions on civil liberties in American history, this is an epic story that poses big questions about America’s future as a free society. And the odd thing is, as Justin Hart shows, the actual disease was, as pandemics go, not that threatening; most people were at minimal risk. What is really scary is the total overreaction of half the country, many governments, that lost all sense of perspective. Hart offers a hopeful prescription on how we might face the madness down and claw our way back to sanity!

Download or read book The Art of Gathering written by Priya Parker and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-04-14 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" --Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED From the host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart, an exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond. In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive--which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings--conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp--and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue--and how you host and attend them.

Download or read book What Can I Do written by Jane Fonda and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A call to action from Jane Fonda, one of the most inspiring activists of our time, urging us to wake up to the looming disaster of climate change and equipping us with the tools we need to join her in protest In 2019, daunted by the looming disaster of climate change and inspired by Greta Thunberg, Naomi Klein, and student climate strikers, Jane Fonda asked herself one question: What can I do? Jane Fonda, one of the most influential activists of our time, moved to Washington, D.C., and has since led thousands of people in demonstrations on Capitol Hill. In launching Fire Drill Fridays, Fonda teamed up with Greenpeace, leading climate scientists, and community organizers not only to understand what’s at stake, but to equip all of us with the education and tools we need to join her in protest. What Can I Do? isn’t a wish list—it’s a to-do list. So many of us recognize the urgency in stemming the tide of climate change but aren’t sure where to start. Our window of opportunity to act is quickly closing. And it isn’t only Earth’s life-support systems that are unraveling, so too is our social fabric. This is going to take an all-out war on drilling, fracking, deregulation, racism, misogyny, colonialism, and despair—all at the same time. The problems we face now require every one of us to join the fight for not only our immediate future, but for the future of generations to come. 100% of the author's net proceeds from What Can I Do? have gone to Greenpeace

Download or read book The Idea of You written by Robinne Lee and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2017-06-13 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now an original movie on Prime Video starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine! When Solène Marchand, the thirty-nine-year-old owner of a prestigious art gallery in Los Angeles, takes her daughter, Isabelle, to meet her favorite boy band, she does so reluctantly and at her ex-husband’s request. The last thing she expects is to make a connection with one of the members of the world-famous August Moon. But Hayes Campbell is clever, winning, confident, and posh, and the attraction is immediate. That he is all of twenty years old further complicates things. What begins as a series of clandestine trysts quickly evolves into a passionate relationship. It is a journey that spans continents as Solène and Hayes navigate each other’s disparate worlds: from stadium tours to international art fairs to secluded hideaways in Paris and Miami. And for Solène, it is as much a reclaiming of self, as it is a rediscovery of happiness and love. When their romance becomes a viral sensation, and both she and her daughter become the target of rabid fans and an insatiable media, Solène must face how her new status has impacted not only her life, but the lives of those closest to her.

Download or read book Death Becomes Us written by Pamela Skjolsvik and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-12-02 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost everyone with a pulse fears death, but not everyone fears life. With crippling social anxiety, I feared both. But after an accidental call to a funeral home during my mid-life crisis trip to grad school, I reluctantly embarked on a journey to explore professions that dealt with death in order to come to terms with my own mortality. (From cover).

Download or read book Beach Read written by Emily Henry and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION! "Original, sparkling bright, and layered with feeling."--Sally Thorne, author of The Hating Game A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters. Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They're polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block. Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

Download or read book The Wonders of Daily Drawing written by Julia Zass and published by . This book was released on 2020-06-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Drawing Journal is about finding the inspiration hidden in the beauty of our everyday environment. It's a personal diary where you capture your memories through drawing, writing, and other visual mediums.You'll find it a great way to be inspired by your daily routine, develop your drawing skills, and remember special moments forever. This guide was created for all ages and drawing levels. It's for anyone who wants to try something new or feels a lack of creativity and art in their daily life.In this book, Julia Zass shares her personal experience in keeping a Drawing Journal for over 3 years and shows how you can discover the wonders of daily drawing for yourself.

Download or read book Alicia s Happy Day written by Meg Starr and published by Star Bright Books. This book was released on 2003 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is Alicia's birthday and as she walks through her Latino neighborhood all her neighbors and friends help to make the day very special.

Download or read book The Quarantine Diaries written by Mantimes Publishing and published by . This book was released on 2020-04-03 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is your perfect notebook for quarantine . - Matte Paperback - (6x19) - 120 pages - Lined journal This notebook features: Great for notes, poetry, journaling, recipes, writing, drawing and more. place your order now!

Download or read book Your Rainforest Mind A Guide to the Well Being of Gifted Adults and Youth written by Paula Prober and published by Editeurs divers USA. This book was released on 2016-06-20 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you long to drive a Ferrari at top speed on the open road, but find yourself always stuck on the freeway during rush hour? Do you wonder how you can feel like "not enough" and "too much" at the same time? Like the rain forest, are you sometimes intense, multilayered, colorful, creative, overwhelming, highly sensitive, complex, and/or idealistic? And, like the rain forest, have you met too many chainsaws?Enter Paula Prober, M.S., M.Ed., who understands the diversity and complexity of minds like yours. In "Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Youths and Adults," Paula explores the challenges faced by gifted adults of all ages. Through case studies and extensive research, Paula will help you tap into your inner creativity, find peace, and discover the limitless potential that comes with your Rainforest Mind.

Download or read book Quarantined written by Drethi Anis and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2021-03-11 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *This book is part of a SERIES and NOT a standalone.A gripping, friends-to-lovers-to-enemies, dark romance.New York City-not for the faint-hearted or the sweetest of souls. The last thing I expected was to be back in this city, after all these years. And I definitely did not expect to be back in this house, where it all started. I have spent years avoiding this place, and the cold hard reality of what happened here. But I have no choice. We are all quarantined together in this house. It took the end of the world, for me to come back here and face him.Milo Sinclair.Once my legal guardian and savior in life. The person who saved me from drowning in loneliness. Who gave me everything I ever wanted. But then he took everything away from me. Plus interest. He broke me. He will not break me again.This is a dark forbidden romance. It contains discussions about the pandemic, mental health issues, mature new adults. It also contains dubious situations that some readers might find offensive.Dark romance is subjective. Some readers have found this book to be a light read while others were sensitive to the material. Milo isn't a normal romance hero, and some might not consider him a hero at ALL. So, please don't read this if any of the above bothers you.Quarantined is book one of The Quarantine Series.