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Swipe Right for Murder
by Derek MilmanAn epic case of mistaken identity puts a teen looking for a hookup on the run from both the FBI and a murderous cult in this compulsively readable thriller. <P><P>Finding himself alone in a posh New York City hotel room for the night, Aidan does what any red-blooded seventeen-year-old would do--tries to hook up with someone new. <P><P>But that lapse in judgement leads him to a room with a dead guy and a mysterious flash drive...two things that spark an epic case of mistaken identity that puts Aidan on the run--from the authorities, his friends, his family, the people who are out to kill him--and especially from his own troubled past. <P><P>Inspired by a Hitchcock classic, this whirlwind mistaken-identity caper has razor-sharp humor, devastating emotional stakes, and a thrilling storyline with an explosive conclusion to make this the most compelling YA novel of the year.
Sister of the Bollywood Bride
by Nandini BajpaiFor fans of Morgan Matson's Save the Date comes a charming novel about one teen's summer tackling disasters including, but not limited to, family, romance, and weather—as she plans her sister's Bollywood-style Indian wedding.Mini's big sister, Vinnie, is getting married. Their mom passed away seven years ago and between Dad's new start-up and Vinnie's medical residency, there's no one but Mini to plan the wedding. Dad raised her to know more about computers, calculus, and cars than desi weddings but from the moment Mini held the jewelry Mom left them, she wanted her sister to have the wedding Mom would've planned.Now Mini has only two months to get it done and she's not going to let anything distract her, not even the persistent, mysterious, and smoking-hot Vir Mirchandani. Flower garlands, decorations, music, even a white wedding horse—everything is in place.That is, until a monster hurricane heads for Boston that could ruin everything. Will Mini come through as sister of the bride and save the day?
Beautiful Creatures Complete Gift Set (Beautiful Creatures)
by Kami Garcia Margaret StohlDiscover Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl's epic bestselling Beautiful Creature series in this complete e-book collection that includes: Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness, Beautiful Chaos, Beautiful Redemption.There were no surprises in Gatlin County. At least, that's what I thought. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations.Mysterious, suspenseful, and romantic, Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness, Beautiful Chaos, and Beautiful Redemption introduce a secret world hidden in plain sight. A world where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen. Sometimes life-ending.
Dear Universe
by Florence GonsalvesA wildly witty and deeply profound chronicle of teenage anxiety and yearning, perfect for fans of Jesse Andrews and Robyn Schneider. <P><P>It's senior year, and Chamomile Myles has whiplash from traveling between her two universes: school (the relentless countdown to prom, torturous college applications, and the mindless march toward an uncertain future) and home, where she wrestles a slow, bitter battle with her father's terminal illness. Enter Brendan, a man-bun-and tutu-wearing hospital volunteer with a penchant for absurdity, who strides boldly between her worlds--and helps her open up a new road between them. <P><P>Dear Universe is the dazzling follow-up to Florence Gonsalves's debut, Love and Other Carnivorous Plants, hailed by School Library Journal as "a must-have sharp, powerful, and witty immersion into the complexities of . . . mental health."
War and Speech
by Don ZolidisMean Girls meets the debate team in this fish-out-of-water story about a teen girl determined to sabotage the elitist speech team at her new school.Not everyone can be a winner...and Sydney Williams knows this better than anyone. After her white-collar-criminal dad is sent to prison, Sydney fails almost all of her classes and moves into a dingy apartment with her mom, who can barely support them with her minimum-wage job at the mall.A new school promises a fresh start. Except Eaganville isn't exactly like other high schools. It's ruled with an iron fist by a speech team that embodies the most extreme winner-takes-all philosophy.Sydney is befriended by a group of fellow misfits, each of whom has been personally victimized by the speech team. It turns out Sydney is the perfect plant to take down the speech team from within. With the help of her co-conspirators, Sydney throws herself into making Nationals in speech, where she will be poised to topple the corrupt regime. But what happens when Sydney realizes she actually has a shot at...winning? Sydney lost everything because of her dad's obsession with being on top. Winning at speech might just be her ticket out of a life of loserdom. Can she really walk away from that?
Incendiary (Incendiary #1)
by Zoraida CordovaSet in a lushly drawn world inspired by Inquisition Spain, Zoraida Córdova's hotly anticipated new fantasy is an epic tale of love and revenge perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir and Sarah J. Maas. I am Renata Convida.I have lived a hundred stolen lives. Now I live my own.Renata was only a child when she was kidnapped by the King's Justice and brought to the luxurious palace of Andalucia. As a memory thief, the rarest and most feared of the magical Moria, Renata was used by the crown to carry out the King's Wrath, a siege that resulted in the deaths of thousands of her own people. Now Renata is one of the Whispers, rebel spies working against the crown. The Whispers may have rescued Renata years ago, but she cannot escape their mistrust and hatred -- or the overpowering memories of the hundreds of souls she drained during her time in the palace. When Dez, the commander of her unit -- and the boy she's grown to love -- is taken captive by the notorious Principe Dorado, Renata must return to Andalucia and complete Dez's top secret mission herself. Can she keep her cover, even as she burns for vengeance against the brutal, enigmatic prince? Her life and the fate of the Moria depend on it. But returning to the palace stirs childhood memories long locked away. As Renata grows more deeply embedded in the politics of the royal court, she uncovers a secret in her past that could change the fate of the entire kingdom -- and end the war that has cost her everything.
Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1)
by Laini Taylor<P>A new epic fantasy by National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Laini Taylor of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy. <P>The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around--and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance to lose his dream forever. <P>What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving? The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries--including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo's dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? and if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real? <P>In this sweeping and breathtaking new novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love and carnage. <P>Welcome to Weep. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Astonishing Color of After
by Emily X.R. Pan<P> A stunning, heartbreaking debut novel about grief, love, and family, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Celeste Ng. <P>Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird. <P>Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b> <P>Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a stunning and heartbreaking novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.
The Last True Poets of the Sea
by Julia DrakeFrom a new voice in YA literature comes an epic, utterly unforgettable contemporary novel about a lost shipwreck, a missing piece of family history, and weathering the storms of life. Fans of Far from the Tree, We Are Okay, and Emergency Contact will love this stunning debut."Profound and page-turning." --Madeline Miller, #1 New York Times best-selling author of CirceThe Larkin family isn't just lucky-they persevere. At least that's what Violet and her younger brother, Sam, were always told. When the Lyric sank off the coast of Maine, their great-great-great-grandmother didn't drown like the rest of the passengers. No, Fidelia swam to shore, fell in love, and founded Lyric, Maine, the town Violet and Sam returned to every summer. But wrecks seem to run in the family: Tall, funny, musical Violet can't stop partying with the wrong people. And, one beautiful summer day, brilliant, sensitive Sam attempts to take his own life. Shipped back to Lyric while Sam is in treatment, Violet is haunted by her family's missing piece-the lost shipwreck she and Sam dreamed of discovering when they were children. Desperate to make amends, Violet embarks on a wildly ambitious mission: locate the Lyric, lain hidden in a watery grave for over a century. She finds a fellow wreck hunter in Liv Stone, an amateur local historian whose sparkling intelligence and guarded gray eyes make Violet ache in an exhilarating new way. Whether or not they find the Lyric, the journey Violet takes-and the bridges she builds along the way-may be the start of something like survival. Epic, funny, and sweepingly romantic, The Last True Poets of the Sea is an astonishing debut about the strength it takes to swim up from a wreck.
The Art of Biblical Narrative
by Robert AlterSince it was first published nearly three decades ago,The Art of Biblical Narrativehas radically expanded the horizons of biblical scholarship by recasting the Bible as a work of literary art deserving studied criticism. Renowned critic and translator Robert Alter presents the Hebrew Bible as a cohesive literary work, one whose many authors used innovative devices such as parallelism, contrastive dialogue, and narrative tempo to tell one of the most revolutionary stories of human history: the revelation of a single god.
Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse
by Jay RubensteinAt Moson, the river Danube ran red with blood. At Antioch, the Crusaders- their saddles freshly decorated with sawed-off heads-indiscriminately clogged the streets with the bodies of eastern Christians and Turks. At Ma'arra, they cooked children on spits and ate them. By the time the Crusaders reached Jerusalem, their quest-and their violence- had become distinctly otherworldly: blood literally ran shin-deep through the streets as the Crusaders overran the sacred city. Beginning in 1095 and culminating four bloody years later, the First Crusade represented a new kind of warfare: holy, unrestrained, and apocalyptic. In Armies of Heaven, medieval historian Jay Rubenstein tells the story of this cataclysmic event through the eyes of those who witnessed it, emphasizing the fundamental role that apocalyptic thought played in motivating the Crusaders. A thrilling work of military and religious history, Armies of Heaven will revolutionize our understanding of the Crusades.
The Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science of Bereavement Tells Us About Life After Loss
by George A. BonannoIn this thoroughly revised and updated classic, a renowned psychologist shows that mourning is far from predictable, and all of us share a surprising ability to be resilientThe conventional view of grieving--encapsulated by the famous five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance--is defined by a mourning process that we can only hope to accept and endure. In The Other Side of Sadness, psychologist and emotions expert George Bonanno argues otherwise. Our inborn emotions--anger and denial, but also relief and joy--help us deal effectively with loss. To expect or require only grief-stricken behavior from the bereaved does them harm. In fact, grieving goes beyond mere sadness, and it can actually deepen interpersonal connections and even lead to a new sense of meaning in life.
Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think
by Bryan CaplanWe've needlessly turned parenting into an unpleasant chore. Parents invest more time and money in their kids than ever, but the shocking lesson of twin and adoption research is that upbringing is much less important than genetics in the long run. These revelations have surprising implications for how we parent and how we spend time with our kids. The big lesson: Mold your kids less and enjoy your life more. Your kids will still turn out fine. Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids is a book of practical big ideas. How can parents be happier? What can they change--and what do they need to just accept? Which of their worries can parents safely forget? Above all, what is the right number of kids for you to have? You'll never see kids or parenthood the same way again.
Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other
by Sherry TurkleConsider Facebook--it's human contact, only easier to engage with and easier to avoid. Developing technology promises closeness. Sometimes it delivers, but much of our modern life leaves us less connected with people and more connected to simulations of them. In Alone Together, MIT technology and society professor Sherry Turkle explores the power of our new tools and toys to dramatically alter our social lives. It's a nuanced exploration of what we are looking for--and sacrificing--in a world of electronic companions and social networking tools, and an argument that, despite the hand-waving of today's self-described prophets of the future, it will be the next generation who will chart the path between isolation and connectivity.
The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care
by Eric TopolWhat if your cell phone could detect cancer cells circulating in your blood or warn you of an imminent heart attack? Mobile wireless digital devices, including smartphones and tablets with seemingly limitless functionality, have brought about radical changes in our lives, providing hyper-connectivity to social networks and cloud computing. But the digital world has hardly pierced the medical cocoon. Until now. Beyond reading email and surfing the Web, we will soon be checking our vital signs on our phone. We can already continuously monitor our heart rhythm, blood glucose levels, and brain waves while we sleep. Miniature ultrasound imaging devices are replacing the icon of medicine--the stethoscope. DNA sequencing, Facebook, and the Watson supercomputer have already saved lives. For the first time we can capture all the relevant data from each individual to enable precision therapy, prevent major side effects of medications, and ultimately to prevent many diseases from ever occurring. And yet many of these digital medical innovations lie unused because of the medical community's profound resistance to change. In The Creative Destruction of Medicine, Eric Topol--one of the nation's top physicians and a leading voice on the digital revolution in medicine--argues that radical innovation and a true democratization of medical care are within reach, but only if we consumers demand it. We can force medicine to undergo its biggest shakeup in history. This book shows us the stakes--and how to win them.
It's a Girl: Women Writers on Raising Daughters
by Andrea J. BuchananThe most popular question any pregnant woman is asked - aside from "When are you due?" - has got to be "Are you having a girl or a boy?" When author Andrea Buchanan was pregnant with her daughter, she was thrilled to be expecting a girl. Some people were happy for her; visions of flouncy pink dresses and promises of mother-daughter bonding were the predictable responses. Other people, though, were concerned: "Is your husband OK with that?" "You can try again." "Girls are tough." This mixed message led her to explore the issue herself, with help from her fellow writers and moms, many of whom had had the same experience. As she did in It's a Boy: Women Writers on Raising Sons, Buchanan and her contributors take on what it's really like to raise a child-in this case, a girl-from babyhood to adulthood.It's a Girl, is a wide-ranging, often humorous, and honest collection of essays about the experience of the mother-daughter bond, taking on topics like "princess power" ("Shining, Shimmering, Splendid"), adding a girl to a brood of boys ("Confessions of a Tomboy Mom"), dealing with a daughter's eating disorder ("The Food Rules"), and mothering "hardcore mini-feminists" ("Tough Girls").
The Arabs: A History
by Eugene RoganThis excellent history of the Middle East, a paperbound reprint of the 2009 edition, provides readers with a compelling narrative that explains the current state of the wider Arab world through an exploration of the major periods in its recent history. Divided chronologically, the work examines the period of Ottoman rule from 1516 to the early 1800s, the era of European colonization, the Cold War era, and the ongoing period of U. S. intervention. Drawing on primary source material, the work discusses the continuity of Arab culture in relation to dominating external powers and provides a cogent analysis of the current political and religious conflicts gripping the nations of the Arab world. The work includes a collection of color plates. Rogan is a professor of Middle East studies at St. Anthony's College, Oxford. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
Predictive Health: How We Can Reinvent Medicine to Extend Our Best Years
by Kenneth Brigham Michael M. E. JohnsItOCOs no stretch to claim that America is in the midst of a healthcare meltdown. Care is costly and unattainable for many, and often unsatisfactory even for those who can afford treatment. The medical system focuses on treating diseases and their symptoms, and spends so much effortOCoand moneyOCoin the last miserable month of patientsOCO lives that little is left to make sure that the preceding years are as healthful as possible. In "Predictive Health," distinguished doctors Kenneth Brigham and Michael M. E. Johns propose to radically change the current model by restructuring the way patients receive care. They introduce the concept of predictive health, which will turn the existing paradigm on its headOCofocusing on prediction instead of diagnosis, and health rather than disease. Rather than treating symptoms as they arise, doctors practicing predictive health would be involved in a patientOCOs life right from the start. A drop of blood from a tiny heel prick at birth would be run through nanolabs, the resulting information assembled into a picture of the newbornOCOs health. Any potential risk factorsOCorisk for type II diabetes, genetic propensity for obesityOCowould be caught long before they became problematic, and strategies forged for treatment. In essence, health care professionals would become committed consultants, sticking with a patient for the entire course of their lives. The potential savings from this kind of partnership is staggering: the cost of lifelong health care would amount to less than the cost of a month-long stay in an early twenty-first century ICU. Interweaving descriptions of phenomenal advances in science and technology with illustrative anecdotes and personal experiences of the authorsOCO combined century in academic medicine, "Predictive Health" translates the foundations of the new biomedicine into language accessible to a general audienceOCothose who must understand the potential of the unprecedented opportunity confronting us if major change is to happen. The product of a decade-long collaboration between two of the leading figures in predictive health, "Predictive Health" offers a deeply knowledgeable, deeply humane look at the state of medicine today, and the potential for medicine tomorrow.
Libertarianism from A to Z
by Jeffrey A. MironLibertarian principles seem basic enough--keep government out of boardrooms, bedrooms, and wallets, and let markets work the way they should. But what reasoning justifies those stances, and how can they be elucidated clearly and applied consistently? In Libertarianism, from A to Z, acclaimed Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron sets the record straight with a dictionary that takes the reader beyond the mere surface of libertarian thought to reveal the philosophy's underlying and compelling logic. Tackling subjects as diverse as prostitution and drugs, the financial crises and the government bailouts, the legality of abortion, and the War on Terror, Miron takes the reader on a tour of libertarian thought. He draws on consequentialist principles that balance the costs and benefits of any given government intervention, emphasizing personal liberty and free markets. Miron never flinches from following those principles to their logical and sometimes controversial ends. Along the way, readers get a charming and engaging lesson in how to think like a libertarian. Principled, surprising, and thought provoking, Libertarianism, from A to Z, has everything a bourgeoning libertarian--or any responsible citizen--needs to know.
The Infinity Puzzle: Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe
by Frank CloseSpeculation is rife that by 2012 the elusive Higgs boson will be found at the Large Hadron Collider. If found, the Higgs boson would help explain why everything has mass. But there’s more at stake-what we’re really testing is our capacity to make the universe reasonable. Our best understanding of physics is predicated on something known as quantum field theory. Unfortunately, in its raw form, it doesn’t make sense-its outputs are physically impossible infinite percentages when they should be something simpler, like the number 1. The kind of physics that the Higgs boson represents seeks to "renormalize” field theory, forcing equations to provide answers that match what we see in the real world. The Infinity Puzzleis the story of a wild idea on the road to acceptance. Only Close can tell it.
Girls on the Edge: Why So Many Girls Are Anxious, Wired, and Obsessed--And What Parents Can Do
by Leonard SaxA parenting expert reveals the four biggest threats to girls' psychological growth and explains how parents can help their daughters develop a healthy sense of self. In Girls on the Edge, psychologist and physician Leonard Sax argues that many girls today have a brittle sense of self-they may look confident and strong on the outside, but they're fragile within. Sax offers the tools we need to help them become independent and confident women, and provides parents with practical tips on everything from helping their daughter limit her time on social media, to choosing a sport, to nurturing her spirit through female-centered activities. Compelling and inspiring, Girls on the Edge points the way to a new future for today's girls and young women.
The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots From a Hidden War
by Greg Marinovich Joao Silva Archbishop Desmond TutuA gripping story of four remarkable young men—photographers, friends and rivals—who band together for protection in the final, violent days of white rule in South Africa.
Winner Take All: China's Race for Resources and What It Means for the World
by Dambisa MoyoCommodities permeate virtually every aspect of modern daily living, but for all their importance-their breadth, their depth, their intricacies, and their central role in daily life-few people who are not economists or traders know how commodity markets work. Almost every day, newspaper headlines and media commentators scream warnings of impending doom--shortages of arable land, clashes over water, and political conflict as global demand for fossil fuels outstrips supply. The picture is bleak, but our grasp of the details and the macro shifts in commodities markets remain blurry. Winner Take All is about the commodity dynamics that the world will face over the next several decades. In particular, it is about the implications of China’s rush for resources across all regions of the world. The scale of China’s resource campaign for hard commodities (metals and minerals) and soft commodities (timber and food) is among the largest in history. To be sure, China is not the first country to launch a global crusade to secure resources. From Britain’s transcontinental operations dating back to the end of the 16th century, to the rise of modern European and American transnational corporations between the mid 1860’s and 1870’s, the industrial revolution that powered these economies created a voracious demand for raw materials and created the need to go far beyond their native countries. So too is China’s resource rush today. Although still in its early stages, already the breadth of China’s operation is awesome, and seemingly unstoppable. China’s global charge for commodities is a story of China’s quest to secure its claims on resource assets, and to guarantee the flow of inputs needed to continue to drive economic development. Moyo, an expert in global commodities markets, explains the implications of China’s resource grab in a world of diminishing resources.
The Happiness of Pursuit: What Neuroscience Can Teach Us About the Good Life
by Shimon EdelmanWhen fishing for happiness, catch and release. Remember these seven words-they are the keys to being happy. So says Shimon Edelman, an expert on psychology and the mind. In The Happiness of Pursuit, Edelman offers a fundamental understanding of pleasure and joy via the brain. Using the concept of the mind as a computing device, he unpacks how the human brain is highly active, involved in patterned networks, and constantly learning from experience. As our brains predict the future through pursuit of experience, we are rewarded both in real time and in the long run. Essentially, as Edelman discovers, it’s the journey, rather than the destination, that matters. The idea that cognition is computation-the brain is a machine-is nothing new of course. But, as Edelman argues, the mind is actually a bundle of ongoing computations, essentially, the brain being one of many possible substrates that can support them. Edelman makes the case for these claims by constructing a conceptual toolbox that offers readers a glimpse of the computations underlying the mind’s faculties: perception, motivation and emotions, action, memory, thinking, social cognition, learning and language. It is this collection of tools that enables us to discover how and why happiness happens. An informative, accessible, and witty tour of the mind, The Happiness of Pursuit offers insights to a thorough understanding of what minds are, how they relate to each other and to the world, and how we can make the best of it all.
Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain: How to Retrain Your Brain to Overcome Pessimism and Achieve a More Positive Outlook
by Elaine FoxAre you optimistic or pessimistic? Glass half-full or half-empty? Do you look on the bright side or turn towards the dark? These are easy questions for most of us to answer, because our personality types are hard-wired into our brains. As pioneering psychologist and neuroscientist Elaine Fox has discovered, our outlook on life reflects our primal inclination to seek pleasure or avoid danger-inclinations that, in many people, are healthily balanced. But when our “fear brain” or “pleasure brain” is too strong, the results can be disastrous, as those of us suffering from debilitating shyness, addiction, depression, or anxiety know all too well. Luckily, anyone suffering from these afflictions has reason to hope. Stunning breakthroughs in neuroscience show that our brains are more malleable than we ever imagined. InRainy Brain, Sunny Brain, Fox describes a range of techniques-from traditional cognitive behavioral therapy to innovative cognitive-retraining exercises-that can actually alter our brains’ circuitry, strengthening specific thought processes by exercising the neural systems that control them. The implications are enormous: lifelong pessimists can train themselves to think positively and find happiness, while pleasure-seekers inclined toward risky or destructive behavior can take control of their lives. Drawing on her own cutting-edge research, Fox shows how we can retrain our brains to brighten our lives and learn to flourish. With keen insights into how genes, life experiences and cognitive processes interleave together to make us who we are,Rainy Brain, SunnyBrainrevolutionizes our basic concept of individuality. We learn that we can influence our own personalities, and that our lives are only as “sunny” or as “rainy” as we allow them to be.