The Mandibles

The Mandibles PDF Author: Lionel Shriver
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062328263
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
With dry wit and psychological acuity, this near-future novel explores the aftershocks of an economically devastating U.S. sovereign debt default on four generations of a once-prosperous American family. Down-to-earth and perfectly realistic in scale, this is not an over-the-top Blade Runner tale. It is not science fiction. In 2029, the United States is engaged in a bloodless world war that will wipe out the savings of millions of American families. Overnight, on the international currency exchange, the “almighty dollar” plummets in value, to be replaced by a new global currency, the “bancor.” In retaliation, the president declares that America will default on its loans. “Deadbeat Nation” being unable to borrow, the government prints money to cover its bills. What little remains to savers is rapidly eaten away by runaway inflation. The Mandibles have been counting on a sizable fortune filtering down when their ninety-seven-year-old patriarch dies. Once the inheritance turns to ash, each family member must contend with disappointment, but also—as the U.S. economy spirals into dysfunction—the challenge of sheer survival. Recently affluent, Avery is petulant that she can’t buy olive oil, while her sister, Florence, absorbs strays into her cramped household. An expat author, their aunt, Nollie, returns from abroad at seventy-three to a country that’s unrecognizable. Her brother, Carter, fumes at caring for their demented stepmother, now that an assisted living facility isn’t affordable. Only Florence’s oddball teenage son, Willing, an economics autodidact, will save this formerly august American family from the streets. The Mandibles is about money. Thus it is necessarily about bitterness, rivalry, and selfishness—but also about surreal generosity, sacrifice, and transformative adaptation to changing circumstances.

Chimes of a Lost Cathedral

Chimes of a Lost Cathedral PDF Author: Janet Fitch
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316510068
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 703

Book Description
A young Russian woman comes into her own in the midst of revolution and civil war in this "brilliant" novel set in "a world of furious beauty" (Los Angeles Review of Books). After the loves and betrayals of The Revolution of Marina M., young poet Marina Makarova finds herself alone amid the devastation of the Russian Civil War -- pregnant and adrift, forced to rely on her own resourcefulness to find a place to wait out the birth of her child and eventually make her way back to her native city, Petrograd. After two years of revolution, the city that was once St. Petersburg is almost unrecognizable, the haunted, half-emptied, starving Capital of Once Had Been, its streets teeming with homeless children. Moved by their plight, though hardly better off herself, she takes on the challenge of caring for these orphans, until they become the tool of tragedy from an unexpected direction. Shaped by her country's ordeals and her own trials -- betrayal and privation and inconceivable loss -- Marina evolves as a poet and a woman of sensibility and substance hardly imaginable at the beginning of her transformative odyssey. Chimes of a Lost Cathedral is the culmination of one woman's s journey through some of the most dramatic events of the last century -- the epic story of an artist who discovers her full power, passion, and creativity just as her revolution reveals its true direction for the future.

Become a SuperLearner

Become a SuperLearner PDF Author: Jonathan Levi
Publisher: SuperHuman Enterprises
ISBN: 0692416951
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 219

Book Description
Develop the Skills to Learn Anything Faster, Easier, and More Effectively Written by the creators of the #1 bestselling course of the same name, this book will teach you how to "hack" your learning, reading, and memory skills, empowering you to learn everything faster and more effectively. What Would You Do If You Could Learn Anything 3 Times Faster?In our rapidly changing and information-driven society, the ability to learn quickly is the single most important skill. Whether you're a student, a professional, or simply embarking on a new hobby, you are forced to grapple with an every-increasing amount of information and knowledge. We've all experienced the frustration of an ever-growing reading list, struggling to learn a new language, or forgetting things you learned in even your favorite subjects. This Book Will Teach You 3 Major Skills:Speed reading with high (80%+) comprehension and understandingMemory techniques for storing and recalling vast amounts of information quickly and accuratelyDeveloping the cognitive infrastructure to support this flood of new information long-termHowever, the SuperLearning skills you'll learn in this course are applicable to many aspects of your every day life, from remembering phone numbers to acquiring new skills or even speaking new languages. Anyone Can Develop Super-Learning SkillsThis course is about improving your ability to learn new skills or information quickly and effectively. We go far beyond the kinds of "speed reading" (or glorified skimming) you may have been exposed to, diving into the actual cognitive and neurological factors that make learning easier and more successful. We also give you advanced memory techniques to grapple with the huge loads of information you'll soon be able to process. "This book should be the go-to reference for anyone looking to upgrade their mind's firmware!" -Benny Lewis, Language Learning Expert Learn How to Absorb and Retain Information in a Whole New Way - A Faster, Better Way The Authors' Proprietary Method for Teaching Speed Reading & Memory Improvement You may have even taken a normal speed reading course in the past, only to realize that you didn't retain anything you read. The sad irony is that in order to properly learn things like speed reading skills and memory techniques in the past, you had to read dozens of books and psychological journals to decode the science behind it. Or, you had to hire an expensive private tutor who specializes in SuperLearning. That's what I did. And it changed my life. Fortunately, my co-authors (experts and innovators in the fields of superlearning, memory improvement, and speed reading) agreed to help me transform their materials into the first ever digital course. Over 25,000 satisfied students later, we have transformed our course into a book you can enjoy anywhere. Our teaching methodology relies heavily on at-home exercises. The chapters themselves are only part of what you're buying. You will be practicing various exercises and assignments on a regular basis over the course a 7 week schedule. In addition to the lectures, there are hours of supplemental video and articles which are considered part of the curriculum. "This vital book contains all the tools needed to learn, memorize, and reproduce anything you want with the joy that ease brings. Don't take another class until you've read it!" -Dr. Anthony Metivier, Author & Memory Expert If you wish to improve memory and concentration, learn more effectively, read faster, and learn the techniques of memory champions - look no further! An awesome read that will push the limits of your brain. Levi does an incredible job of guiding you through, to bring your brain from average to UNSTOPPABLE!" -Nelson Dellis, 4-Time USA Memory Champion

Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung

Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung PDF Author: Mao Tse-Tung
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
ISBN: 1446545318
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Book Description
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung' is a volume of selected statements taken from the speeches and writings by Mao Mao Tse-Tung, published from 1964 to 1976. It was often printed in small editions that could be easily carried and that were bound in bright red covers, which led to its western moniker of the 'Little Red Book'. It is one of the most printed books in history, and will be of considerable value to those with an interest in Mao Tse-Tung and in the history of the Communist Party of China. The chapters of this book include: 'The Communist Party', 'Classes and Class Struggle', 'Socialism and Communism', 'The Correct Handling of Contradictions Among The People', 'War and Peace', 'Imperialism and All Reactionaries ad Paper Tigers', 'Dare to Struggle and Dare to Win', et cetera. We are republishing this antiquarian volume now complete with a new prefatory biography of Mao Tse-Tung.

The Paradox of Power

The Paradox of Power PDF Author: David C. Gompert
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780160915734
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Book Description
The second half of the 20th century featured a strategic competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. That competition avoided World War III in part because during the 1950s, scholars like Henry Kissinger, Thomas Schelling, Herman Kahn, and Albert Wohlstetter analyzed the fundamental nature of nuclear deterrence. Decades of arms control negotiations reinforced these early notions of stability and created a mutual understanding that allowed U.S.-Soviet competition to proceed without armed conflict. The first half of the 21st century will be dominated by the relationship between the United States and China. That relationship is likely to contain elements of both cooperation and competition. Territorial disputes such as those over Taiwan and the South China Sea will be an important feature of this competition, but both are traditional disputes, and traditional solutions suggest themselves. A more difficult set of issues relates to U.S.-Chinese competition and cooperation in three domains in which real strategic harm can be inflicted in the current era: nuclear, space, and cyber. Just as a clearer understanding of the fundamental principles of nuclear deterrence maintained adequate stability during the Cold War, a clearer understanding of the characteristics of these three domains can provide the underpinnings of strategic stability between the United States and China in the decades ahead. That is what this book is about.

Born to Run

Born to Run PDF Author: Christopher McDougall
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 184765228X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
A New York Times bestseller 'A sensation ... a rollicking tale well told' - The Times At the heart of Born to Run lies a mysterious tribe of Mexican Indians, the Tarahumara, who live quietly in canyons and are reputed to be the best distance runners in the world; in 1993, one of them, aged 57, came first in a prestigious 100-mile race wearing a toga and sandals. A small group of the world's top ultra-runners (and the awe-inspiring author) make the treacherous journey into the canyons to try to learn the tribe's secrets and then take them on over a course 50 miles long. With incredible energy and smart observation, McDougall tells this story while asking what the secrets are to being an incredible runner. Travelling to labs at Harvard, Nike, and elsewhere, he comes across an incredible cast of characters, including the woman who recently broke the world record for 100 miles and for her encore ran a 2:50 marathon in a bikini, pausing to down a beer at the 20 mile mark.

Sitting Still Like a Frog

Sitting Still Like a Frog PDF Author: Eline Snel
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834829193
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 125

Book Description
Simple mindfulness practices to help your child (ages 5-12) deal with anxiety, improve concentration, and handle difficult emotions—with a 60-minute audio CD of guided exercises Mindfulness—the quality of attention that combines full awareness with acceptance of each moment, just as it is—is gaining broad acceptance among mental health professionals as an adjunct to treatment. This little book is a very appealing introduction to mindfulness meditation for children and their parents. In a simple and accessible way, it describes what mindfulness is and how mindfulness-based practices can help children calm down, become more focused, fall asleep more easily, alleviate worry, manage anger, and generally become more patient and aware. The book contains eleven practices that focus on just these scenarios, along with short examples and anecdotes throughout. Included with purchase is an audio CD with guided meditations, voiced by Myla Kabat-Zinn, who along with her husband, Jon Kabat-Zinn, popularized mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) as a therapeutic approach.

The End of Poverty

The End of Poverty PDF Author: Jeffrey D. Sachs
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101643285
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 465

Book Description
"Book and man are brilliant, passionate, optimistic and impatient . . . Outstanding." —The Economist The landmark exploration of economic prosperity and how the world can escape from extreme poverty for the world's poorest citizens, from one of the world's most renowned economists Hailed by Time as one of the world's hundred most influential people, Jeffrey D. Sachs is renowned for his work around the globe advising economies in crisis. Now a classic of its genre, The End of Poverty distills more than thirty years of experience to offer a uniquely informed vision of the steps that can transform impoverished countries into prosperous ones. Marrying vivid storytelling with rigorous analysis, Sachs lays out a clear conceptual map of the world economy. Explaining his own work in Bolivia, Russia, India, China, and Africa, he offers an integrated set of solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and social problems that challenge the world's poorest countries. Ten years after its initial publication, The End of Poverty remains an indispensible and influential work. In this 10th anniversary edition, Sachs presents an extensive new foreword assessing the progress of the past decade, the work that remains to be done, and how each of us can help. He also looks ahead across the next fifteen years to 2030, the United Nations' target date for ending extreme poverty, offering new insights and recommendations.

The Urban Monk

The Urban Monk PDF Author: Pedram Shojai
Publisher: Rodale
ISBN: 1623369010
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
In this New York Times bestseller, you will discover how the calmness of Zen masters can help you stop time, refuel, and focus on the things that really matter. Our world is an overwhelming place. Each day’s commitments to career and family take everything we’ve got, and we struggle to focus on our health, relationships, and purpose in life. Technology brings endless information to our fingertips, but the one thing we really want—a sense of satisfaction and contentment—remains out of reach. Pedram Shojai is here to change all of that. With practice, you can stop time, refuel, and focus on the things that really matter, even among the chaos that constantly surrounds us. His no-nonsense life mastery program brings together clear tools to elevate your existence. He guides you in learning to honor the body and mind, discharge stuck energy, and shake free from toxicity and excess stress. The world needs you to step up and live your life to the fullest. Pedram Shojai is the Urban Monk who can show you how to drink from infinity, find peace and prosperity, and thrive.

A Tale of Two Kitties

A Tale of Two Kitties PDF Author: Sofie Kelly
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0399584587
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
In this charming mystery from the bestselling author of The Cats Came Back, two magical cats have powers of detection that prove indispensable to librarian Kathleen Paulson… With a well-placed paw on a keyboard or a pointed stare, Kathleen’s two cats, Hercules and Owen, have helped her to solve cases in the past—so she has learned to trust their instincts. But she will need to rely on them more than ever when a twenty-year-old scandal leads to murder… The arrival of the Janes brothers has the little town of Mayville Heights buzzing. Everyone of a certain age remembers when Victor had an affair with Leo’s wife, who then died in a car accident. Now it seems the brothers are trying to reconcile, until Kathleen finds Leo dead. The police set their sights on Leo’s son and Kathleen’s good friend Simon, who doesn’t have much of an alibi. To prove her friend innocent, Kathleen will have to dig deep into the town's history—and into her sardine cracker supply, because Owen and Hercules don't work for free...