recommended
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Fahrenheit 451
A totalitarian regime has ordered all books to be destroyed, but one of the book burners, Guy Montag, suddenly realizes their merit.
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Circe
#1 New York Times Bestseller " A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story, Circe manages to be both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right." --- Alexandra Alter, New York Times In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power--the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love. With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.
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Cybernetics Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
Acclaimed one of the "seminal books... comparable in ultimate importance to... Galileo or Malthus or Rousseau or Mill," Cybernetics was judged by twenty-seven historians, economists, educators, and philosophers to be one of those books published during the "past four decades," which may have a substantial impact on public thought and action in the years ahead.-- Saturday Review
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Man's Search for Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 psychiatrist Viktor Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the stories of his many patients, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory—known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")—holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful. "What man actually needs," Frankl writes, "is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task . . . the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him." In the decades since its first publication in 1959, Man's Search for Meaning has become a classic, with more than twelve million copies in print around the world. A 1991 Library of Congress survey that asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life" found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America. At once a memoir, a meditation, a treatise, and a history, it continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living. "One of the great books of our time." ¯Harold S. Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People "One of the outstanding contributions to psychological thought in the last fifty years." ¯Carl R. Rogers (1959) "One of the ten most influential books in America." —Library of Congress/Book-of-the-Month Club Survey of Lifetime Readers Born in Vienna in 1905, Viktor E. Frankl earned an M.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna. He published more than thirty books on theoretical and clinical psychology and served as a visiting professor and lecturer at Harvard, Stanford, and elsewhere. In 1977 a fellow survivor, Joseph Fabry, founded the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy. Frankl died in 1997. Harold S. Kushner is rabbi emeritus at Temple Israel in Natick, Massachusetts, and the author of several best-selling books, including When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Living a Life That Matters, and When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough. William J. Winslade is a philosopher, lawyer, and psychoanalyst who teaches at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and the University of Houston Law Center.
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Covid-19: The Great Reset
"The Corona crisis and the Need for a Great Reset" is a guide for anyone who wants to understand how COVID-19 disrupted our social and economic systems, and what changes will be needed to create a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable world going forward. Thierry Malleret, founder of the Monthly Barometer, and Klaus Schwab, founder and executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explore what the root causes of these crisis were, and why they lead to a need for a Great Reset.Theirs is a worrying, yet hopeful analysis. COVID-19 has created a great disruptive reset of our global social, economic, and political systems. But the power of human beings lies in being foresighted and having the ingenuity, at least to a certain extent, to take their destiny into their hands and to plan for a better future. This is the purpose of this book: to shake up and to show the deficiencies which were manifest in our global system, even before COVID broke out.
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Thing Explainer
From the No. 1 bestselling author of What If? - the man who created xkcd and explained the laws of science with cartoons - comes a series of brilliantly simple diagrams ('blueprints' if you want to be complicated about it) that show how important things work: from the nuclear bomb to the biro. It's good to know what the parts of a thing are called, but it's much more interesting to know what they do. Richard Feynman once said that if you can't explain something to a first-year student, you don't really get it. In Thing Explainer, Randall Munroe takes a quantum leap past this: he explains things using only drawings and a vocabulary of just our 1,000 (or the ten hundred) most common words. Many of the things we use every day - like our food-heating radio boxes ('microwaves'), our very tall roads ('bridges'), and our computer rooms ('datacentres') - are strange to us. So are the other worlds around our sun (the solar system), the big flat rocks we live on (tectonic plates), and even the stuff inside us (cells). Where do these things come from? How do they work? What do they look like if you open them up? And what would happen if we heated them up, cooled them down, pointed them in a different direction, or pressed this button? In Thing Explainer, Munroe gives us the answers to these questions and many, many more. Funny, interesting, and always understandable, this book is for anyone -- age 5 to 105 -- who has ever wondered how things work, and why.
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Acclaimed as one of the most exciting books in the history of American letters, this modern epic became an instant bestseller upon publication in 1974, transforming a generation and continuing to inspire millions. This 25th Anniversary Quill Edition features a new introduction by the author; important typographical changes; and a Reader's Guide that includes discussion topics, an interview with the author, and letters and documents detailing how this extraordinary book came to be. A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, the book becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions of how to live. The narrator's relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a touching and transcendent book of life.
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Global Crisis
An accessible synthesis of the prescient best seller exploring seventeenth-century catastrophe and the impact of climate change First published in 2013, Geoffrey Parker’s prize-winning best seller Global Crisis analyzes the unprecedented calamities—revolutions, droughts, famines, invasions, wars, and regicides—that befell the mid-seventeenth-century world and wiped out as much as one-third of the global population, and reveals climate change to be the root cause. Examining firsthand accounts of the crises and scrutinizing the prevailing weather patterns during the 1640s and 1650s—longer and harsher winters, and cooler and wetter summers—Parker reveals evidence of disrupted growing seasons causing malnutrition, disease, a higher death toll, and fewer births. This new abridged edition distills the original book’s prodigious research for a broader audience while retaining and indeed emphasizing Parker’s extraordinary historical achievement: his dazzling demonstration of the link between climate change and worldwide catastrophe 350 years ago. Yet, the contemporary implications of his study are equally important: are we prepared today for the catastrophes that climate change could bring tomorrow? At half the original length, this user-friendly abridgment is ideal for students and general readers seeking a rapid handle on the key issues.
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The Life You've Always Wanted
You Can Live a Deeper, More Spiritual Life Right Where You Are.An expanded edition with a new chapter on prayer and discussion questionsThe heart of Christianity is transformation—a relationship with God that impacts not just our “spiritual lives,” but every aspect of living. John Ortberg calls readers back to the dynamic heartbeat of Christianity—God’s power to bring change and growth—and reveals both the how and why of transformation.With a new chapter on prayer and added discussion questions, this expanded edition of The Life You’ve Always Wanted offers modern perspectives on the ancient path of the spiritual disciplines. But this is more than just a book about things to do to be a good Christian. It’s a road map toward true transformation that starts not with the individual but with the object of the journey—Jesus Christ. As with a marathon runner, the secret to winning the race lies not in trying harder, but in training consistently—training with the spiritual disciplines. The disciplines are neither taskmasters nor an end in themselves. Rather they are exercises that build strength and endurance for the road of growth. The fruit of the Spirit—joy, peace, kindness, etc.—are the signposts along the way.Paved with humor and sparkling anecdotes, The Life You’ve Always Wanted is an encouraging and challenging approach to a Christian life that’s worth living—a life on the edge that fills an ordinary world with new meaning, hope, change, and joy.
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Mere Christianity
In the classic Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, the most important writer of the 20th century, explores the common ground upon which all of those of Christian faith stand together. Bringing together Lewis’ legendary broadcast talks during World War Two from his three previous books The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality, Mere Christianity provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear this powerful apologetic for the Christian faith.
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Quarter-Life Calling
A young leadership expert guides fellow Christian Millennials on their quest to live and work meaningfully. Even though he seemed to have achieved it all, including landing his dream job at a Fortune 500 company, throughout his twenties Paul Sohn struggled with feelings of inadequacy, emptiness, and disillusionment. Something was very wrong. Finally at twenty-eight, after much contemplation and a life-changing encounter with his mentor, Paul traded in his high-paying job and sought a more meaningful life. Now, having achieved a sense of happiness and fulfillment like never before, and after examining all that he has learned along the way, Paul wants to help young adults avoid the pitfalls he succumbed to, including madly chasing empty financial success. His goal is to help others pursue their God-given purpose, and in QUARTER-LIFE CALLING, he shares enlightening biblical insights and practical ways to make it happen.
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Sit Like a Buddha
Believe what you’ve heard about meditation: it’ll focus your mind, open your heart, and sometimes surprise you with insight. And it’s not complicated to learn. In fact, everything you need to get started is contained in the pages of this little book. Lodro Rinzler begins by challenging you to ask yourself why you want to meditate in the first place (good news—there’s no wrong answer!). With your intention thus in place, he teaches you all the basics, along with advice for making your meditation practice a priority no matter how busy you are. He then shows you how to bring the wisdom and compassion you discover in meditation into all other areas of your life.
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Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
"In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few." So begins this most beloved of all American Zen books. Seldom has such a small handful of words provided a teaching as rich as has this famous opening line. In a single stroke, the simple sentence cuts through the pervasive tendency students have of getting so close to Zen as to completely miss what it’s all about. An instant teaching on the first page. And that’s just the beginning. In the forty years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics, much beloved, much reread, and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. Suzuki Roshi presents the basics—from the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nonduality—in a way that is not only remarkably clear, but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the first to the last page. It’s a book to come back to time and time again as an inspiration to practice, and it is now available to a new generation of seekers in this fortieth anniversary edition, with a new afterword by Shunryu Suzuki’s biographer, David Chadwick.
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Rebel Ideas
Success is no longer just about talent, or knowledge or skill. Today, it is also about freeing ourselves from the blinkers and blind spots that beset us all, and harnessing a critical new ingredient: cognitive diversity. In this bold and inspiring new book, Matthew Syed - the bestselling author of Bounce and Black Box Thinking - offers a radical new approach to success and a route map to how we can tackle our most complex challenges, such as obesity, terrorism and climate change. Rebel Ideas draws upon cutting-edge research in psychology, economics and anthropology, and takes lessons from a dazzling range of case studies, including the catastrophic intelligence failings of the CIA before 9/11, a communication breakdown at the top of Mount Everest and a moving tale of deradicalisation in America's Deep South. It is a book that will strengthen any institution or team, but also offers dozens of individual applications too: the art of personal reinvention, the extraordinary benefits of personalised nutrition and how to break free of the echo chambers that surround us all. Rebel Ideas offers a radical blueprint for the future. It challenges hierarchies, encourages constructive dissent and forces us to think again about how success really happens.
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When
Daniel H. Pink, the bestselling author of Drive and To Sell is Human, unlocks the scientific secrets to good timing to help you flourish at work, at school, and at home. Everyone knows that timing is everything. But we don’t know much about timing itself. Our lives are a never-ending stream of ‘when’ decisions: when to start a business, schedule a class, get serious about a person. Yet we make those decisions based on intuition and guesswork. Timing, it’s often assumed, is an art. In When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Pink shows that timing is really a science. Drawing on a rich trove of research from psychology, biology, and economics, Pink reveals how best to live, work, and succeed. How can we use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule? Why do certain breaks dramatically improve student test scores? How can we turn a stumbling beginning into a fresh start? Why should we avoid going to the hospital in the afternoon? Why is singing in time with other people as good for you as exercise? And what is the ideal time to quit a job, switch careers or get married? In When, Pink distils cutting-edge research and data on timing and synthesises them into a fascinating, readable narrative packed with irresistable stories and practical takeaways that gives readers compelling insights into how we can live richer, more engaged lives. Daniel H. Pink is the author of five provocative books—including three long-running New York Times bestsellers, A Whole New Mind, Drive, and To Sell Is Human. His books have been translated into thirty-five languages and have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. He lives in Washington DC with his wife and their three children. ‘Pink’s fourth book should be compulsory reading for bosses, educators, and schedulers, for policymakers, company executives, and performers, but there is plenty in this fascinating book that the average person will find applicable to their lives. This is a quick read that rewards time spent with some excellent insights.’ BookMooch ‘Artfully blend(s) anecdotes, insights, and studies from the social sciences into a frothy blend of utility and entertainment.’ Bloomberg on To Sell is Human ‘Full of aha! moments...timely, original, thoroughly engaging, deeply humane.’ strategy + business on To Sell is Human ‘Excellent...radical, surprising, and undeniably true.’ Harvard Business Review blog on To Sell is Human ‘An appreciation of time, some might say an obsession to the fraction of a second, seems to set humans apart from all other species...Despite the subtitle, this book is not about the scientific measurement of time, but about relative time, revealing the regular patterns of people’s lives they so often adhere to, unaware, and with no idea why.’ Otago Daily Times
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Newton And Gravity
At a moment of great discovery, one Big Idea can change the world... Newton's observations on motion, gravity and light revolutionised the world and opened up humanity's understanding of the universe. Today his work is taken for granted, but in the context of modern times, to what extent can we appreciate the 'gravity' of his theories? Newton and Gravity tells the captivating story of Newton's life as an eccentric teenager, devout Christian, paranoid recluse, arrogant genius, and obsessive alchemist.His is a captivating tale of the universe as seen through the eyes of a highly erratic yet astonishingly brilliant individual.Exceptionally told, the immeasurable impact of Newton's Big Ideas are examined in a detailed yet accessible way. The Big Idea series is a fascinating look at the greatest advances in our scientific history, and at the men and women who made these fundamental breakthroughs.
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The Leader You Want to Be
You can be the leader you want to be--today and every day. Do you find yourself wishing you had more hours in the day? Do you want to do more, yet feel you just can't add another thing to your plate without being overwhelmed by stress or compromising your health, relationships, and integrity? No doubt, as a leader, there are some days when you feel the flow. You're able to make a difference and achieve big goals. You feel confident and energized. On days like this, you are your best self--the leader you want to be. But on other days, you go down a different, negative path, with pressures and doubts making you feel like a lesser version of yourself. How can you be the leader you want to be, every day? The answer is more than a time-management system or a silver-bullet solution for changing your routines. Leadership expert and coach Amy Jen Su's powerful new book helps readers discover that the answer lies within. By focusing in specific ways on five key leadership elements--Purpose, Process, People, Presence, and Peace--you can increase your time, capacity, energy, and ultimately your impact, with less stress and more equanimity. Drawing on rich and instructive stories of clients, leaders, artists, and athletes, as well as on research by experts, the author brings together the best of both Western management thinking and Eastern philosophy to provide a holistic yet hands-on approach. The Leader You Want to Be is your indispensable guide to tapping into and expanding your leadership capacity so that you can be your best, sustain yourself, and thrive as a leader.
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The New Megatrends
A pioneering forecaster predicts the trends and technologies that will shape global culture and commerce in the next two decades—a must-read guide for business leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking for an edge. “In a world of half-baked hot takes, Marian Salzman is a true seer.”—Andrew Yang A little more than twenty years ago, the Y2K computer glitch threatened to bring the global economy to its knees. But instead of overnight disruption, humankind slipped into two decades of economic turmoil, ecological angst, and tribalism, all set against the backdrop of a newly global and digital civilization. Sometimes the events that seem pivotal are just blips, while the more meaningful cultural shifts are hiding in plain sight. Marian Salzman’s job is to uncover those hidden shifts. So what’s in store for the next two decades? In this acutely observed guide, Salzman, whose past predictions have been heralded for coming uncannily close to the way we live now, unpacks the course of human life from the bumpy turn of the millennium through the pandemic era, when chaos and “together apart” are the new normal, equity has become a battle cry, and breathing space emerged as the greatest luxury of all. Drawing inspiration from John Naisbitt’s classic 1982 book Megatrends, Salzman then turns to the two decades ahead. Navigating deftly among geographies, she connects threads across business, civic life, consumerism, family, and entertainment, revealing the trends and developments—some established, some surprising—poised to recast our past, shape our collective future, and shift our identities. In a world dominated by disruption, being prepared for change is a critical advantage. The New Megatrends is gripping reading for anyone seeking to understand the shape and texture of the next era, which, above all, will be marked by its relentless pace, new technology, and the ever-present threats of climate change and political division.
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The Home Office Handbook
AN ORGANIZED HOME OFFICE IS WITHIN YOUR GRASP. Get a grip on your home office with these handy pointers! This handbook is for entrepreneurs, telecommuters, stay-at-home parents, and home-based business owners, complete with video bonus lessons and printable reference sheets online. YOU WILL LEARN: • Your own unique fingerprint for managing your choices about time • How a simple playground game can help you sort your paper piles • The five things you should review each week that will change your family life forever • How to choose the best space for your home office and find more storage • The one question you should ask before putting anything on your calendar “As we manage our work+life fit, more of us will work and live in the same space, either on our own as an entrepreneur or remotely for someone else. The Home Office Handbook, by my go-to organizational guru Lorie Marrero, shows you how to create a home-based work environment that sets you up for personal and professional success. Must read!" Cali Williams Yost, Flexible Work Strategy Expert and Author of TWEAK IT: Make What Matter to You Happen Every Day "Even those of us who've never met a filing cabinet we liked will find tips in this handy book to keep the home office organized and make the most of our time. Lorie is practical and cheers all improvements without insisting you do anything that won't work with your life." Laura Vanderkam, Author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast and 168 Hours "Being organized is critical to growing your business fast. Lorie's book delivers specific actions you can apply immediately to get organized and stay there. This book is a must-read if you're ready to take your business to the next level." Jason Dorsey, Bestselling Author, Y-Size Your Business Certified Professional Organizer® Lorie Marrero is the bestselling author of The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life. She is also the creator of ClutterDiet.com, an innovative program allowing anyone to get expert help at an affordable price. Her organizing books and products are sold online and in retail stores nationwide. Lorie is a spokesperson for Goodwill Industries International, and she is a sought-after expert for national media such as CNBC, Family Circle, WGN News and Woman's Day. She has also served as a spokesperson for many other companies, including Staples, Brother, and Microsoft, and she writes regularly as an organizing expert for Good Housekeeping. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her human family and 30,000 bee daughters in her backyard beehives. Learn more at clutterdiet.com
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