Download or read book Sway written by Kat Spears and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2014-09-16 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A YALSA 2015 Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick In Kat Spears's hilarious and often poignant debut, high school senior Jesse Alderman, or "Sway," as he's known, could sell hell to a bishop. He also specializes in getting things people want---term papers, a date with the prom queen, fake IDs. He has few close friends and he never EVER lets emotions get in the way. For Jesse, life is simply a series of business transactions. But when Ken Foster, captain of the football team, leading candidate for homecoming king, and all-around jerk, hires Jesse to help him win the heart of the angelic Bridget Smalley, Jesse finds himself feeling all sorts of things. While following Bridget and learning the intimate details of her life, he falls helplessly in love for the very first time. He also finds himself in an accidental friendship with Bridget's belligerent and self-pitying younger brother who has cerebral palsy. Suddenly, Jesse is visiting old folks at a nursing home in order to run into Bridget, and offering his time to help the less fortunate, all the while developing a bond with this young man who idolizes him. Could the tin man really have a heart after all? A Cyrano de Bergerac story with a modern twist, Sway is told from Jesse's point of view with unapologetic truth and biting humor, his observations about the world around him untempered by empathy or compassion---until Bridget's presence in his life forces him to confront his quiet devastation over a life-changing event a year earlier and maybe, just maybe, feel something again.

Download or read book The Lost Child written by Caryl Phillips and published by Random House. This book was released on 2019-11-07 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover this heartrending story of orphans, outcasts and the grip of the past from award-winning novelist Caryl Phillips – inspired by Wuthering Heights. It is the 1960s. Isolated from her parents after falling in love with a foreigner, Monica Johnson raises her sons in the shadow of the wild Yorkshire moors. But when her younger son Tommy, a loner who is bullied at school, disappears, the family bond is demolished – with devastating consequences. Deftly intertwined with this modern narrative is the story of the ragged childhood of Emily Brontë’s Heathcliff, one of literature’s most enigmatic lost boys. Recovering the mysteries of the past to illuminate the predicaments of the present, The Lost Child is an exquisite novel about exile, freedom and what it is to belong. ‘Heartbreaking...compelling’ Independent

Download or read book The View on the Way Down written by Rebecca Wait and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2013-04-11 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Brilliant' - Stylist 'Unforgettable' - Easy Living Emma used to have two brothers, but five years ago Kit died and on the day of his funeral Jamie left home and never came back. Their parents never talk about what drove their son away. But now Emma is older she is beginning to ask questions - and she's never given up hope that she will see Jamie again. Told with honesty and warmth, The View on the Way Down is the story of a devastating act of brotherly love that will open your eyes even as it breaks your heart. From the acclaimed author of I'm Sorry You Feel That Way. 'So compassionate, so heartbreaking . . . the story wouldn't let me go' - Shelley Harris 'It lingers with you, and for those who have suffered similar things, it echoes truth.' - Guardian

Download or read book Sway written by Pragya Agarwal and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-04-02 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Passionate and urgent.' Guardian, Book of the Week 'A must-read for all.' Stylist, best new books for 2020 'Cogently argued and intensely persuasive. Groundbreaking Work.' Waterstones, best new books of April 'Impressive and much-needed.' Financial Times, Best Business Books April to June 'Admirably detailed.' Prospect Magazine 'Practical, useful, readable and essential for the times we are living in.' Nikesh Shukla 'An eye-opening book that I hope will be widely read.' Angela Saini 'If you think you don't need to read this book, you really need to read this book.' Jane Garvey 'An eye-opening book looking at unconscious bias. Meticulously researched and well written. It will make you think hard about the judgements you make. An essential read for our times.' Kavita Puri, BBC Journalist and author For the first time, behavioural and data scientist, activist and writer Dr Pragya Agarwal unravels the way our implicit or 'unintentional' biases affect the way we communicate and perceive the world, how they affect our decision-making, and how they reinforce and perpetuate systemic and structural inequalities. Sway is a thoroughly researched and comprehensive look at unconscious bias and how it impacts day-to-day life, from job interviews to romantic relationships to saving for retirement. It covers a huge number of sensitive topics - sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, colourism - with tact, and combines statistics with stories to paint a fuller picture and enhance understanding. Throughout, Pragya clearly delineates theories with a solid grounding in science, answering questions such as: do our roots for prejudice lie in our evolutionary past? What happens in our brains when we are biased? How has bias affected technology? If we don't know about it, are we really responsible for it? At a time when partisan political ideologies are taking centre stage, and we struggle to make sense of who we are and who we want to be, it is crucial that we understand why we act the way we do. This book will enables us to open our eyes to our own biases in a scientific and non-judgmental way.

Download or read book The Bird Way written by Jennifer Ackerman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Birds, a radical investigation into the bird way of being, and the recent scientific research that is dramatically shifting our understanding of birds -- how they live and how they think. “There is the mammal way and there is the bird way.” But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries –– What they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own: deception, manipulation, cheating, kidnapping, infanticide, but also ingenious communication between species, cooperation, collaboration, altruism, culture, and play. Some of these extraordinary behaviors are biological conundrums that seem to push the edges of, well, birdness: a mother bird that kills her own infant sons, and another that selflessly tends to the young of other birds as if they were her own; a bird that collaborates in an extraordinary way with one species—ours—but parasitizes another in gruesome fashion; birds that give gifts and birds that steal; birds that dance or drum, that paint their creations or paint themselves; birds that build walls of sound to keep out intruders and birds that summon playmates with a special call—and may hold the secret to our own penchant for playfulness and the evolution of laughter. Drawing on personal observations, the latest science, and her bird-related travel around the world, from the tropical rainforests of eastern Australia and the remote woodlands of northern Japan, to the rolling hills of lower Austria and the islands of Alaska’s Kachemak Bay, Jennifer Ackerman shows there is clearly no single bird way of being. In every respect, in plumage, form, song, flight, lifestyle, niche, and behavior, birds vary. It is what we love about them. As E.O Wilson once said, when you have seen one bird, you have not seen them all.

Download or read book The Guardian S Way written by Hal Portner and published by Archway Publishing. This book was released on 2015-02-25 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like his father and all his fathers before him, Garth, the Lord High Wizard of Massina, Protector of the Realm and Defender of the Citadel, has sworn to defend the people and lands in his care. Like his father and all his fathers before him, Garths wizardry works well and true. Other than the occasional harassment by barbarian raiders, his citizens live a peaceful and safe existence under his care, but that peace is about to be tested. When word quickly spreads of a horrific monster that threatens every village in the realm, Garth takes action. He enlists and trains a troop of elite warriors, Guardians aided by spirit allies, to hunt down and destroy the monster. Evolyn, devoted daughter to the wizards blacksmith, is one of the warriors chosen for this new battle. What begins as a straightforward mission thrusts the noble Evolyn and her Guardian cohorts into encounters with a magical sword, fratricide, covert alliances, prejudice, jealousy, betrayal, love, and confrontation with their own internal monsters. Is this monster more that it seems? Is the magic of Garths fathers worthy enough to protect his people from this new menace?

Download or read book The Old Ways written by Robert Macfarlane and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-10-11 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the acclaimed author of The Wild Places and Underland, an exploration of walking and thinking In this exquisitely written book, Robert Macfarlane sets off from his Cambridge, England, home to follow the ancient tracks, holloways, drove roads, and sea paths that crisscross both the British landscape and its waters and territories beyond. The result is an immersive, enthralling exploration of the ghosts and voices that haunt old paths, of the stories our tracks keep and tell, and of pilgrimage and ritual. Told in Macfarlane’s distinctive voice, The Old Ways folds together natural history, cartography, geology, archaeology and literature. His walks take him from the chalk downs of England to the bird islands of the Scottish northwest, from Palestine to the sacred landscapes of Spain and the Himalayas. Along the way he crosses paths with walkers of many kinds—wanderers, pilgrims, guides, and artists. Above all this is a book about walking as a journey inward and the subtle ways we are shaped by the landscapes through which we move. Macfarlane discovers that paths offer not just a means of traversing space, but of feeling, knowing, and thinking.

Download or read book Words Onscreen written by Naomi S. Baron and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Words Onscreen, Naomi Baron offers a fascinating and timely look at how technology affects the way we read.

Download or read book The Danish Way of Parenting written by Jessica Joelle Alexander and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-06-29 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: International bestseller As seen in The Wall Street Journal--from free play to cozy together time, discover the parenting secrets of the happiest people in the world What makes Denmark the happiest country in the world--and how do Danish parents raise happy, confident, successful kids, year after year? This upbeat and practical book presents six essential principles, which spell out P-A-R-E-N-T: Play is essential for development and well-being. Authenticity fosters trust and an "inner compass." Reframing helps kids cope with setbacks and look on the bright side. Empathy allows us to act with kindness toward others. No ultimatums means no power struggles, lines in the sand, or resentment. Togetherness is a way to celebrate family time, on special occasions and every day. The Danes call this hygge--and it's a fun, cozy way to foster closeness. Preparing meals together, playing favorite games, and sharing other family traditions are all hygge. (Cell phones, bickering, and complaining are not!) With illuminating examples and simple yet powerful advice, The Danish Way of Parenting will help parents from all walks of life raise the happiest, most well-adjusted kids in the world.

Download or read book The Catcher in the Rye written by J. D. Salinger and published by ببلومانيا للنشر والتوزيع. This book was released on 2024-06-28 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Catcher in the Rye," written by J.D. Salinger and published in 1951, is a classic American novel that explores the themes of adolescence, alienation, and identity through the eyes of its protagonist, Holden Caulfield. The novel is set in the 1950s and follows Holden, a 16-year-old who has just been expelled from his prep school, Pencey Prep. Disillusioned with the world around him, Holden decides to leave Pencey early and spend a few days alone in New York City before returning home. Over the course of these days, Holden interacts with various people, including old friends, a former teacher, and strangers, all the while grappling with his feelings of loneliness and dissatisfaction. Holden is deeply troubled by the "phoniness" of the adult world and is haunted by the death of his younger brother, Allie, which has left a lasting impact on him. He fantasizes about being "the catcher in the rye," a guardian who saves children from losing their innocence by catching them before they fall off a cliff into adulthooda. The novel ends with Holden in a mental institution, where he is being treated for a nervous breakdown. He expresses some hope for the future, indicating a possible path to recovery..

Download or read book Roadwork written by Stephen King and published by Pocket Books. This book was released on 2025-04-29 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Only Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, can imagine the horror of a good and angry man who fights back against bureaucracy when it threatens to destroy his vitality, home, and memories. “Under any name King mesmerizes the reader” (Chicago Sun-Times). It’s all coming to an end for Barton Dawes. The city’s Highway 784 extension is in the process of being constructed right across town and inexorably through every aspect of Bart’s existence—whether it’s about to barrel over the laundry plant where he makes a living, or soon to smash through the very home where he makes a life. But as a result, something’s been happening inside Bart’s head that a heartless local bureaucracy isn’t prepared for—a complete and irrevocable burnout of the mental circuit breaker that keeps a mild-mannered person from turning to violent means. As the wheels of progress and a demolition crew continue unabated throughout Bart’s neighborhood, he’s not about to give everything up without a fight. As a matter of fact, he’s ready and waiting to ignite an explosive confrontation with the legislative forces gathered against him…

Download or read book The First Time I Thought I Was Dying written by Sarah Walker and published by Univ. of Queensland Press. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dazzling collection of essays that unpacks our unruly bodies and minds and questions why we are taught to fear and punish them, from an exciting and award-winning new author. We live in a world that expects us to be constantly in control of ourselves. Our bodies and minds, though, have other ideas. In this striking debut, artist and writer Sarah Walker wrestles with the awkward spaces where anatomy meets society: body image and Photoshop, phobias and religion, sex scenes and onstage violence, death and grief. Her luminous writing is at once specific and universal as she mines the limits of anxiety, intimacy and control. Sharp-witted and poignant, this collection of essays explores our unruly bodies and asks how we might learn to embrace our own chaos.

Download or read book The View from the Cheap Seats written by Neil Gaiman and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-05-31 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An enthralling collection of nonfiction essays on a myriad of topics—from art and artists to dreams, myths, and memories—observed in #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman’s probing, amusing, and distinctive style. An inquisitive observer, thoughtful commentator, and assiduous craftsman, Neil Gaiman has long been celebrated for the sharp intellect and startling imagination that informs his bestselling fiction. Now, The View from the Cheap Seats brings together for the first time ever more than sixty pieces of his outstanding nonfiction. Analytical yet playful, erudite yet accessible, this cornucopia explores a broad range of interests and topics, including (but not limited to): authors past and present; music; storytelling; comics; bookshops; travel; fairy tales; America; inspiration; libraries; ghosts; and the title piece, at turns touching and self-deprecating, which recounts the author’s experiences at the 2010 Academy Awards in Hollywood. Insightful, incisive, witty, and wise, The View from the Cheap Seats explores the issues and subjects that matter most to Neil Gaiman—offering a glimpse into the head and heart of one of the most acclaimed, beloved, and influential artists of our time.

Download or read book A Work in Progress written by Connor Franta and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-05-03 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: YouTube personality Connor Franta shares the lessons he has learned on his journey from small-town boy to Internet sensation

Download or read book The Guardians written by F. Thomas Jones and published by Abbott Press. This book was released on 2014-04-03 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Tirgonian Empire, always on the hunt for conquest and expansion, does not consider the efforts of the rebel Guardians a serious threat to their imperial plans. After a series of devastating conflicts, the Guardians have suffered massive losses to their forces but not their resolve. They continue to fight their way into Tirgonian territory, undaunted by defeat. Even though the Guardians are focused on escaping the Tirgonian forces, commanded by Telecoup Mular, tension mounts between several of the Guardian survivors. The few remaining Guardians are bolstered by the arrival of additional survivors, but the initial contact does not go smoothly. The survivors arrive on a new sort of spaceship, one that the Guardians have never seen. Once the Guardians realize their mistakes, it is revealed that there are more concealed ships, hopefully increasing their chances of survival. The Guardians must now invent unique solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems. The unexpected defection of a senior Tirgonian officer named Telebisque Serligh Teka, his entire crew, and their Fighting Star Palup is a welcome boost to the weary rebel effort. Renewed, the Guardians continue fighting their way across enemy territory. Against seemingly insurmountable odds, can the Guardians prevail? And if so, at what cost?

Download or read book Amusing Ourselves to Death written by Neil Postman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-12-27 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever. "It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNN Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals. “A brilliant, powerful, and important book. This is an indictment that Postman has laid down and, so far as I can see, an irrefutable one.” –Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

Download or read book That s The Way It Crumbles written by Matthew Engel and published by Profile Books. This book was released on 2017-06-08 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are we tired of hearing that fall is a season, sick of being offered fries and told about the latest movie? Yeah. Have we noticed the sly interpolation of Americanisms into our everyday speech? You betcha. And are we outraged? Hell, yes. But do we do anything? Too much hassle. Until now. In That's The Way It Crumbles Matthew Engel presents a call to arms against the linguistic impoverishment that happens when one language dominates another. With dismay and wry amusement, he traces the American invasion of our language from the early days of the New World, via the influence of Edison, the dance hall and the talkies, right up to the Apple and Microsoft-dominated present day, and explores the fate of other languages trying to fend off linguistic takeover bids. It is not the Americans' fault, more the result of their talent for innovation and our own indifference. He explains how America's cultural supremacy affects British gestures, celebrations and way of life, and how every paragraph and conversation includes words the British no longer even think of as Americanisms. Part battle cry, part love song, part elegy, this book celebrates the strange, the banal, the precious and the endangered parts of our uncommon common language.