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Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System
by Richard CorfieldLives of the Planets describes a scientific field in the midst of a revolution. Planetary science has mainly been a descriptive science, but it is becoming increasingly experimental. The space probes that went up between the 1960s and 1990s were primarily generalists-they collected massive amounts of information so that scientists could learn what questions to pursue. But recent missions have become more focused: Scientists know better what information they want and how to collect it. Even now probes are on their way to Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto, with Europa-one of Jupiter's moons-on the agenda. In a sweeping look into the manifold objects inhabiting the depths of space, Lives of the Planets delves into the mythology and the knowledge humanity has built over the ages. Placing our current understanding in historical context, Richard Corfield explores the seismic shifts in planetary astronomy and probes why we must change our perspective of our place in the universe. In our era of extraordinary discovery, this is the first comprehensive survey of this new understanding and the history of how we got here.
The Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand
by Chris AndersonWhat happens when there is almost unlimited choice? When everything becomes available to everyone? And when the combined value of the millions of items that only sell in small quantities equals or even exceeds the value of a handful of best-sellers?In this ground-breaking book, Chris Anderson shows that the future of business does not lie in hits - the high-volume end of a traditional demand curve - but in what used to be regarded as misses - the endlessly long tail of that same curve. As our world is transformed by the Internet and the near infinite choice it offers consumers, so traditional business models are being overturned and new truths revealed about what consumers want and how they want to get it. Chris Anderson first explored the Long Tail in an article in Wired magazine that has become one of the most influential business essays of our time. Now, in this eagerly anticipated book, he takes a closer look at the new economics of the Internet age, showing where business is going and exploring the huge opportunities that exist: for new producers, new e-tailers, and new tastemakers. He demonstrates how long tail economics apply to industries ranging from the toy business to advertising to kitchen appliances. He sets down the rules for operating in a long tail economy. And he provides a glimpse of a future that's already here.
The Match: The Day The Game Of Golf Changed Forever
by Mark FrostThe year: 1956. Eddie Lowery, once caddie to Francis Ouimet, now a wealthy car dealer and avid supporter of amateur golf, boasts to fellow millionaire George Coleman that two of his salesmen - US amateur champion Harvie Ward and up-and-coming star Ken Venturi - could beat any golfers in the world in a best ball match. Coleman asks Lowery how he plans to prove it. 'Bring any two golfers of your choice to the course tomorrow morning,' Lowery tells him, 'and we'll settle the issue.' Coleman shows up all right - with Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, the game's greatest living professionals. In Mark Frost's peerless hands, complete with the recollections of all the participants, the story of this foursome and the greatest private match ever played comes vividly to life.
Minerva Clark Gives Up the Ghost
by Karen KarboMinerva Clark's yoga-instructor mom has returned-with a new husband in tow. As if that isn't a big enough shock, there's a surprise of the supernatural sort in store for the self-made teen sleuth. It seems the owners of a haunted grocery store are missing their ghost, and they need Minerva's help in finding it. But before she can come up with the ghost, Minerva will need to find the arsonist who burned the grocery store to the ground. Danger, laughs, and a touch of freezer burn await readers in this newest adventure from the big-haired case-cracker.
Miracles on the Water: The Heroic Survivors Of A World War Ii U-boat Attack
by Tom NagorskiOn September 17, 1940, the SS City of Benares was sailing in the North Atlantic with more than four hundred people on board, including ninety children on their way to Canada to escape the blitz. They were considered lucky - leaving WWII behind and heading for peace, quiet and security...At a little after ten o'clock that night, a German submarine torpedoed the Benares. The ship sank in half an hour, in a gale that sent several of her lifeboats pitching to the cold sea. The passengers were more than six hundred miles from land, three hundred miles from the nearest rescue vessel; none of them had a reasonable hope of survival. But in the wake of tragedy and horror, the City of Benares would also prove herself a mother of miracles. Exceptional feats of courage and endurance took shape in the hours and days that followed the attack, the children in particular exhibiting what one naval officer later called 'courage beyond praise'. Based on firsthand accounts from the child survivors and other passengers, including the author's great-uncle, "Miracles on the Water" is a vivid retelling of one of the greatest hidden wartime dramas.
My Life with George: The Inspirational Story of How a Wilful Dog Brought Joy to a Bereaved Family (Wheeler Hardcover Ser.)
by Judith SummersWhen Judith Summers’s husband and father both died within the space of two weeks, she found herself floundering. Life for her and her eight-year-old son Joshua seemed relentlessly bleak. Then George bounced into their lives. A loving Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with film-star looks, George reawoke their joie de vivre. Yet Judith soon discovered that living with George had its drawbacks. He was a full-time job and as expensive to run as a Ferrari. Wilful and badly behaved, he refused to eat anything other than roast chicken, preferred travelling by car to walking, and became as jealous as a spurned lover if any man dared show an interest in her. And when a near-death tangle with a Staffordshire Bull terrier resulted in costly sessions with an animal psychologist, Judith found that it was she who was put on the couch . . .
My Name is Number 4: A True Story from the Cultural Revolution (PDF)
by Ting-Xing YeNumber Four will have a difficult life. These are the words that were uttered upon Ting-xing Ye's birth. Soon this prophecy would prove only too true. . . . Here is the real-life story about the fourth child in a family torn apart by China's Cultural Revolution. After the death of both of her parents, Ting-xing and her siblings endured brutal Red Guard attacks on their schools and even in their home. At the age of sixteen, Ting-xing is exiled to a prison farm far from the world she knows. How she struggled through years of constant terror while keeping her spirit intact is at the heart of My Name Is Number 4. Haunting and inspiring, Ting-xing Ye's personal account of this horrifc period in history is one that no reader will soon forget.
The New Policeman (The New Policeman Trilogy #1)
by Kate ThompsonEveryone in Kinvara is conscious that time is flying past, faster and faster - to such an extent that when JJ asks his mother what she would like as a birthday present she ask for more time. JJ dismisses this as mere wishful thinking, an impossibility, for who know where the time goes? The Liddys have been musicians for generations and JJ is no exception but what he discovers is that a shadow from the past hangs over their family -did his great-grandfather murder the village priest? When he sets out to buy his mother time, he discovers the fate of a flute which will provide the key to both problems - it is the vital clue. He makes the transition to Tir na n'Og, the land of eternal youth, where the fairy people are also having a problem with time and it falls to his lot to locate the leak between the two parallel worlds. JJ finds where time goes!Music proves to be the touchstone for communication between the fairy and the human domains and the book is saturated with the lure of Irish music for JJ`s whole existence is built round the ceili and each chapter relates to a tune, printed out as a heading so that the reader can also become a performer. As for the New Policeman, Larry O'Dwyer, he is an enigmatic figure who has a significant bearing on the plot but whose identity is kept a superbly guarded secret to the very last surprising moment.
Night Watch: Audible Format (Modern Plays #29)
by Terry PratchettA new stage adaptation of one of Pratchett's best-selling novelsSet in Ankh-Morpork one of the most thoroughly imagined cities in fantasy, Night Watch is the story of Sam Vimes, running hero of the Guards sequence, who finds himself cast back in time to the Ankh-Morpork of his youth. With a psychopath from his own time rising in the vile ranks of the Cable Street Unmentionables complicating things, Vimes has to ensure that history takes its course so that he will have the right future to go back to, and to keep his younger self alive."One of the funniest English authors alive" (Independent)
The Obvious: Everything You Need To Know To Succeed (Playaway Adult Nonfiction Ser.)
by James DaleThe secrets to success in business aren't secrets at all. They are simple and obvious, but we overlook them. This life-changing book offers the short-cut road to success – in business and beyond giving digestible and effective advice that actually works, served up with inspirational anecdotes in a humorous style.
Ophelia (Blackbirds Ser.)
by Lisa KleinShe is young, beautiful, and desperately in love with a man who cannot return her affections without arousing suspicion. And so they meet in secret-embracing in stairwells and castle turrets, murmuring each other's names in hushed voices, reaching passionately for each other under the cover of darkness. His name is Hamlet; her name is Ophelia. And if you think you know their story, think again. Because when bloody deeds turn the court of Elsinore into a place of treachery and madness, the young lovers will devise a plan for revenge-and for escape. Part of their plan calls for Ophelia to cast herself into dark waters. But instead of drowning, she will flee with nothing more than the clothes on her back...and one very dangerous secret.What if Ophelia, the tragic young waif of Shakespeare's Hamlet, didn't die? Using this tantalizing premise as her leaping off point, Lisa Klein's gorgeous reimagining of the bard's great tragedy places the ephemeral Ophelia at its centerpiece. At once revisionist and true to its origins, her story offers readers a spellbinding page-turner with twists so startling it will leave them wanting more long after the final, heart-rending page is reached.
Ophelia (Blackbirds Ser.)
by Lisa KleinIn this reimagining of Shakespeare's tragedy, Ophelia must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life. In a surprising twist, she devises a plan to escape from Elsinore forever . . . with one very dangerous secret. Sharp and literary, dark and romantic, this dramatic story holds readers in its grip until the final, heartrending scene.
Philosophy for Teens: Questioning Life's Big Ideas (Grades 7-12)
by Sharon M. Kaye Paul ThomsonWhat is love? Is lying always wrong? Is beauty a matter of fact, or a matter of taste? What is discrimination?The answers to these questions, and more, are examined in Philosophy for Teens: Questioning Life's Big Ideas, an in-depth, teenager-friendly look at the philosophy behind everyday issues. The authors examine some of life's biggest topics, such as:lying,cheating,love,beauty,the role of government,hate, andprejudice.Both sides of the debates are covered on every issue, with information from some of the world's most noted philosophers included in a conversational style that teenagers will love. Each chapter includes discussions questions, thought experiments, exercises and activities, and community action steps to help students make reasoned, informed decisions about some of life's greatest debates.Examining life's big ideas and discovering their own opinions have never been easier or more exciting for today's teens.Grades 7-12
The Poisoned Crown: The Sangreal Trilogy Three (The\sangreal Trilogy Ser. #Vol. 3)
by Amanda HemingwayThe concluding part of the captivating Sangreal trilogy from the author of Prospero’s Children.
A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend: For Every Guy Who Wants to Be One/For Every Girl Who Wants to Build One
by Felicity HuffmanMost dating books are written for women -- what a mistake that is. Women know how to date . . . It's men who need the help! At last: a blithe, bold, and bawdy guide to building a better boyfriend At some point, every guy -- player, geek, mama's boy, "regular Joe" -- meets a woman who makes him want to be a boyfriend. A good boyfriend. Problem is, unless he's had some first-rate training (by a previous girlfriend, a sister, a mom), he probably doesn't even know what that means. Felicity Huffman and Patricia Wolff come to the rescue with a rollicking -- and whip-smart -- handbook to navigating the minefield of male-female relationships. Directed at men (though of course it's women who'll buy it, then leave it at their boyfriend's place -- accidentally on purpose), A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend lays out the many steps involved in becoming a good boyfriend, while still maintaining guy-dignity. It covers issues like: -Who decides when you become a boyfriend (answer: She does.) -How to look like you're listening, even when you're not (If you're busted, just say "You're so pretty, I'm distracted.") -Ten things never to say on the first date (#4: "I just did that to freak you out.") -Finding the middle ground between too cool (think third grade) and too eager (think surprise visits) -Why becoming a good boyfriend is a lot like training for the A team Filled with humor, ribaldry, common sense, and assorted outdoor skills, A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend is the next dating guide to dominate the bestseller lists.
Ptolemy's Gate (The Bartimaeus Sequence #Bk. 3)
by Jonathan StroudThe tremendous climax of the Bartimaeus sequence. Three years on from the events in The Golem's Eye, the magicians' rule in London is teetering on a knife-edge, with strikes, riots and general unrest. The Prime Minister is largely controlled by two advisers, one of whom is 17-year-old Nathaniel. Meanwhile, living under a false identity, Kitty has been researching djinn; she has come to believe that the only way to destroy the magicians is with an alliance between djinn and ordinary people.Kitty seeks out Bartimaeus and embarks on a terrifying journey into the djinn's chaotic domain – the Other Place – which no human being has ever survived. But even as she does so, Makepeace engineers a dramatic coup d'etat.The outcome is a shattering of the magicians' control and all magical laws are turned upside down. Can Bartimaeus, Nathaniel and Kitty settle old scores to prevent the earth's destruction?
Ptolemy's Gate (A Bartimaeus Novel #3)
by Jonathan StroudIn the third book of the series, Bartimaeus, Nathaniel, and Kitty must test the limits of this world, question the deepest parts of themselves -- and trust one another if they hope to survive. Includes a preview chapter from The Ring of Solomon, a Bartimaeus novel.
Questors
by Joan LennonThe Incredibles meets The Wizard of Oz in this fantasy page-turner full of action, atmosphere and humour.Three worlds, held in perfect balance. Nothing can change that. Apart from a cataclysmic disruption in the Space-Time continuum! Enter three perfectly designed heroes, Madlen, Bryn and Cam, who have been created to save the worlds - but the only problem is, they're not ready yet. They're still kids and they have no idea what they're looking for or where they'll find it. And a sinister villain has tampered with their DNA, so they're not quite as perfect as they should be. There's trouble in store - and the Questors don't know where - or when - to expect it...Embark on a quest of your own - go to www.joanlennon.co.uk
Runner (Jane Whitefield Ser. #6)
by Thomas PerryFor ten years Jane Whitefield helped people escape from their enemies and become 'runners', creating new identities for them that would never be uncovered. Then she married and promised her husband that she would give up her dangerous job.When a bomb explodes in the middle of a reception, Jane finds herself face to face with the cause of the explosion: a young girl, who's pregnant and has been tracked across the country by a team of hired assassins. That night, regardless of the vow she made, Jane is pulled back into her old life. She has to revisit old skills and old contacts. Saving one last victim is going to send Jane off on a mission that could be a rescue operation - or a chance for revenge. It puts Jane and her protégé in more danger than ever.
Screen Time: How Electronic Media-From Baby Videos to Educational Software-Affects Your Young Child
by Lisa GuernseyAs a mother, Lisa Guernsey wondered about the influence of television on her two young daughters. As a reporter, she resolved to find out. What she first encountered was tired advice, sensationalized research claims, and a rather draconian mandate from the American Academy of Pediatrics: no TV at all before the age of two. But like many parents, she wanted straight answers and realistic advice, so she kept digging: she visited infant-perception labs and child development centers around the country. She interviewed scores of parents, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and media researchers, as well as programming executives at Noggin, Disney, Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, and PBS. Much of what she found flies in the face of conventional wisdom and led her to conclude that new parents will be best served by focusing on &“the three C&’s&”: content, context, and the individual child. Advocating a new approach to television and DVDs, Guernsey focuses on infants to five-year-olds and goes beyond the headlines to explore what exactly is &“educational&” about educational media. She examines how play and language development are affected by background and foreground television and how to choose videos that are age-appropriate. She explains how to avoid the hype of &“brain stimulation&” and focus instead on social relationships and the building blocks of language and literacy. Along the way, Guernsey highlights independent research on shows ranging from Dora the Explorer to Dragon Tales, and distills some surprising new findings in the field of child development. Into the Minds of Babes is a fascinating book that points out how little credible research exists to support the AAP&’s dire recommendation. Parents, teachers, and psychologists will be relieved to learn positive approaches to using videos with young children and will be empowered to make their own informed choices.
Silent Partner: A Memoir of My Marriage
by Dina Matos McGreeveyThe truth behind the lies.It was an unforgettable scene. Dina Matos McGreevey, an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, wife, mother, and First Lady of the state of New Jersey, watched silently as her husband, then New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, resigned his office with the revelation that he was a "gay American." The picture of grace and loyalty, perfectly composed in her pale blue suit, Dina Matos McGreevey gave no sign of the tangled mixture of fear, sorrow, and anger she felt that day, no hint of the devastation that was to come. Since then she has been asked repeatedly about the nature of her marriage, about what she knew and when she knew it. Since then, she has remained silent. Until now.Speaking up at last, Dina Matos McGreevey here recounts the details of her marriage to Jim McGreevey. What emerges is a tale of love and betrayal, of heartbreak and scandal . . . and, ultimately, hope.It all began with so much promise. Dina Matos was a responsible and civic-minded young woman who fell in love with the passion of political action. When Jim McGreevey walked into her life, he appeared to be a kind and loving man, someone with whom she could build a life based on shared ideals, a strong spiritual commitment, and a desire to make a difference in the world. Beyond their initial chemistry, Dina Matos was attracted by Jim McGreevey's principles and his unwavering devotion to his work. She didn't know that his life, and thus their marriage, were built on a foundation of lies; that his past was littered with casual sexual encounters in seedy bookstores and public parks; or that, by his own admission, he began an adulterous affair with another man while she was in the hospital awaiting the birth of their child. "Could I have known," she asks. "How could I have known?"With scalding honesty, she tells of her life with the former governor, of the politics and public service that brought them together, and the lies that tore them apart.Here is a story of a marriage that was anything but happily-ever-after, told by a strong and resilient woman who can, and finally will, speak for herself.
Silent Partner: A Memoir of My Marriage
by Dina Matos McGreeveyThe truth behind the lies. It was an unforgettable scene. Dina Matos McGreevey, an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, wife, mother, and First Lady of the state of New Jersey, watched silently as her husband, then New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, resigned his office with the revelation that he was a "gay American." The picture of grace and loyalty, perfectly composed in her pale blue suit, Dina Matos McGreevey gave no sign of the tangled mixture of fear, sorrow, and anger she felt that day, no hint of the devastation that was to come. Since then she has been asked repeatedly about the nature of her marriage, about what she knew and when she knew it. Since then, she has remained silent. Until now. Speaking up at last, Dina Matos McGreevey here recounts the details of her marriage to Jim McGreevey. What emerges is a tale of love and betrayal, of heartbreak and scandal . . . and, ultimately, hope. It all began with so much promise. Dina Matos was a responsible and civic-minded young woman who fell in love with the passion of political action. When Jim McGreevey walked into her life, he appeared to be a kind and loving man, someone with whom she could build a life based on shared ideals, a strong spiritual commitment, and a desire to make a difference in the world. Beyond their initial chemistry, Dina Matos was attracted by Jim McGreevey's principles and his unwavering devotion to his work. She didn't know that his life, and thus their marriage, were built on a foundation of lies; that his past was littered with casual sexual encounters in seedy bookstores and public parks; or that, by his own admission, he began an adulterous affair with another man while she was in the hospital awaiting the birth of their child. "Could I have known," she asks. "How could I have known?" With scalding honesty, she tells of her life with the former governor, of the politics and public service that brought them together, and the lies that tore them apart. Here is a story of a marriage that was anything but happily-ever-after, told by a strong and resilient woman who can, and finally will, speak for herself.
Small Steps (Readers Circle Ser.)
by Louis SacharArmpit and X-Ray are living in Austin, Texas. It is three years since they left the confines of Camp Green Lake Detention Centre and Armpit is taking small steps to turn his life around. He is working for a landscape gardener because he is good at digging holes, he is going to school and he is enjoying his first proper romance, but is he going to be able to stay out of trouble when there is so much building up against him?In this exciting novel, Armpit is joined by many vibrant new characters, and is learning what it takes to stay on course, and that doing the right thing is never the wrong choice.
The Spook's Apprentice: Book 1 (The Wardstone Chronicles #1)
by Joseph DelaneyThe Spook's Apprentice is the first book in Joseph Delaney's terrifying Wardstone Chronicles – over 3 million copies sold worldwide!‘Someone has to stand against the dark. And you're the only one who can’For years, the local Spook has been keeping the County safe from evil. Now his time is coming to an end, but who will take over? Many apprentices have tried. Some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive. Just one boy is left. Thomas Ward. He is the last hope. But does he stand a chance against Mother Malkin, the most dangerous witch in the County?
Story of a Girl (Little Brown Novels)
by Sara ZarrNow a movie on Lifetime! I was thirteen when my dad caught me with Tommy Webber in the back of Tommy's Buick, parked next to the old Chart House down in Montara at eleven o'clock on a Tuesday night. Tommy was seventeen and the supposed friend of my brother, Darren.I didn't love him.I'm not sure I even liked him.In a moment, Deanna Lambert's teenage life is changed forever. Struggling to overcome the lasting repercussions and the stifling role of "school slut," Deanna longs to escape a life defined by her past. With subtle grace, complicated wisdom, and striking emotion, Story of a Girl reminds us of our human capacity for resilience, epiphany, and redemption.