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Finance & Development, December 2024: Finance & Development, December 2024
by International Monetary Fund. Communications DepartmentA report from the International Monetary Fund.
Optimal Interest Rate Tightening with Financial Fragility
by TeohA report from the International Monetary Fund.
Breaking the Trend: Debt Stabilization in Sub-Saharan Africa
by KhandelwalA report from the International Monetary Fund.
The Managing Director's Global Policy Agenda, Spring Meetings 2025: Medium-Term Direction for the IMF: Anchoring Stability and Promoting Balanced Growth
by International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review DepartmentA report from the International Monetary Fund.
Fiscal Monitor, April 2025: Fiscal Policy under Uncertainty: [subtitle]
by International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.A report from the International Monetary Fund.
The Turn of the Key
by Ruth WareINSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER &“A superb suspense writer…Brava, Ruth Ware. I daresay even Henry James would be impressed.&” —Maureen Corrigan, author of So We Read On &“This appropriately twisty Turn of the Screw update finds the Woman in Cabin 10 author in her most menacing mode, unfurling a shocking saga of murder and deception.&” —Entertainment Weekly From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lying Game and The Death of Mrs. Westaway comes this thrilling novel that explores the dark side of technology. When she stumbles across the ad, she&’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious &“smart&” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family. What she doesn&’t know is that she&’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder. Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the events that led to her incarceration. It wasn&’t just the constant surveillance from the home&’s cameras, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn&’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn&’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman. It was everything. She knows she&’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn&’t always ideal. She&’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she&’s not guilty—at least not of murder—but somebody is. Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware&’s signature suspenseful style, The Turn of the Key is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.
Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-Esteem
by bell hooksFrom the late feminist icon and New York Times bestselling author of All About Love, an in-depth look at one of the most critical issues facing Black Americans: a collective wounded self-esteem that has prevailed from slavery to the present day, with a new introduction by Tressie McMillan Cottom, author of Thick.Why do so many Black Americans—whether privileged or poor, urban or suburban, young or old—live in a state of chronic anxiety, fear, and shame? Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-Esteem breaks through collective denial and dares to imagine a more liberatory framework for understanding &“self and identity in a world where loss is commonplace.&” With visionary insight, hooks exposes the underlying reality that it has been difficult—if not impossible—for our nation to create a culture that promotes and sustains healthy self-esteem. Without self-esteem people begin to lose their sense of agency. They feel powerless. But it is never too late for any of us to acquire the healthy self-esteem that is needed for a fulfilling life. While originally written in 2002, hooks&’ insights into the heart and soul of the Black American identity crisis continue to ring true. Through history, pop culture criticism, and hard-won wisdom, hooks writes about what it takes to heal the scars of the past, promote and maintain self-esteem, and lay down the roots for a truly grounded sense of community and collectivity. Moving beyond the ways historical racial justice movements have failed, hooks also identifies diverse psychological barriers and collective traumas keeping us from well-being. In highlighting the roles of desegregation, education, the absence of progressive parenting, spiritual crisis, or fundamental breakdowns in communication between Black women and men, bell hooks identifies mental health as a revolutionary frontier—and provides guidance for healing within the Black community.
LLMs in Production: Engineering AI Applications
by Christopher Brousseau Matt SharpGoes beyond academic discussions deeply into the applications layer of Foundation Models.This practical book offers clear, example-rich explanations of how LLMs work, how you can interact with them, and how to integrate LLMs into your own applications. Find out what makes LLMs so different from traditional software and ML, discover best practices for working with them out of the lab, and dodge common pitfalls with experienced advice. In LLMs in Production you will: • Grasp the fundamentals of LLMs and the technology behind them • Evaluate when to use a premade LLM and when to build your own • Efficiently scale up an ML platform to handle the needs of LLMs • Train LLM foundation models and finetune an existing LLM • Deploy LLMs to the cloud and edge devices using complex architectures like PEFT and LoRA • Build applications leveraging the strengths of LLMs while mitigating their weaknesses LLMs in Production delivers vital insights into delivering MLOps so you can easily and seamlessly guide one to production usage. Inside, you&’ll find practical insights into everything from acquiring an LLM-suitable training dataset, building a platform, and compensating for their immense size. Plus, tips and tricks for prompt engineering, retraining and load testing, handling costs, and ensuring security. Foreword by Joe Reis. About the technology Most business software is developed and improved iteratively, and can change significantly even after deployment. By contrast, because LLMs are expensive to create and difficult to modify, they require meticulous upfront planning, exacting data standards, and carefully-executed technical implementation. Integrating LLMs into production products impacts every aspect of your operations plan, including the application lifecycle, data pipeline, compute cost, security, and more. Get it wrong, and you may have a costly failure on your hands. About the book LLMs in Production teaches you how to develop an LLMOps plan that can take an AI app smoothly from design to delivery. You&’ll learn techniques for preparing an LLM dataset, cost-efficient training hacks like LORA and RLHF, and industry benchmarks for model evaluation. Along the way, you&’ll put your new skills to use in three exciting example projects: creating and training a custom LLM, building a VSCode AI coding extension, and deploying a small model to a Raspberry Pi. What's inside • Balancing cost and performance • Retraining and load testing • Optimizing models for commodity hardware • Deploying on a Kubernetes cluster About the reader For data scientists and ML engineers who know Python and the basics of cloud deployment. About the author Christopher Brousseau and Matt Sharp are experienced engineers who have led numerous successful large scale LLM deployments. Table of Contents 1 Generative AI: Why large language models have captured attention 2 Large language models: A deep dive into language modeling 3 Large language model operations: Building a platform for LLMs 4 Data engineering for large language models: Setting up for success 5 Training large language models: How to generate the generator 6 Large language model services: A practical guide 7 Prompt engineering: Becoming an LLM whisperer 8 Applications and Agents: Building an interactive experience 9 Creating an LLM project: Reimplementing Llama 3 10 Creating a coding copilot project: This would have helped you earlier 11 Deploying an LLM on a Raspberry Pi: How low can you go? 12 Creating a coding copilot project: Integrating an LLM service into VS Code with RAG started A History of linguistics B Reinforcement learning with human feedback C Multimodal latent spaces
Go Higher: Five Practices for Purpose, Success, and Inner Peace
by Big SeanCelebrate Father&’s Day with wisdom and inspiration! Multi-platinum artist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Big Sean shares five powerful practices for self-reflection and self-acceptance. This interactive guidebook offers fathers the tools to prioritize mental wellness and find balance in their daily lives. A thoughtful gift for the dads in your life who deserve clarity, peace, and strength. Sean Anderson, better known as Big Sean, has reached incredible levels of success in his music career. And while, from the outside, his life looks like a collection of enviable achievements, in truth, he has experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows that come with anxiety and depression. At the age of eighteen, Sean decided to forgo college to sign with Kanye West&’s record label. Even though he saw his wildest dreams coming true, almost like a rap fairytale, he found himself contemplating taking his own life. It was in this, his darkest moments, that he started applying the spiritual practices he&’d witnessed his mother embrace throughout his childhood from books like The Four Agreements, The Secret, and many more. From that moment on, Sean has been on a journey of inward reflection, self-acceptance, and continual work to become the best version of himself every day. In these pages he walks you through the five practices—accepting, strategizing, trying, trusting, and manifesting—that have given him the skills and confidence to become the beloved father, musician, and man that he is today. This book is a clarion call for the next self-help movement, poised to meet the complexities of the moment we&’re in. Go Higher dares to ask the question: If we worked on our self-care regularly, instead of only when we were in crisis, how much higher could we go? Filled with step-by-step instructions for the tools Sean has been using on a daily basis for the last decade—journaling, agreements, affirmations, and meditation, as well as prompts to guide you on your own journey of self-reflection, Go Higher is a spiritual guidebook for our times, proving that investing in yourself isn&’t something that drains your energy, but is something that gives you the energy to reach your fullest potential.
I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You: From bestselling author and the nation's favourite comedian
by Miranda HartPacked with hard-won wisdoms and gentle truths, this is Miranda’s honest exploration of the lessons she has learned on her journey from illness to recovery'A bombshell, moving, inspirational. Hart passes on the tips that helped her emerge from psychological as much as physical doldrums. No comedian, female or male, has been so taken to the nation’s bosom since Victoria Wood' Independent'Irrepressible and joyous. Taking us affectionately by the hand, Miranda takes us through her ten-year journey to deep self-knowledge' Daily Mail‘A wonderful book, filled with treasure’ Julia Samuel'A raw and poignant account. Miranda is more of an everywoman than ever before' The Times'Miranda's account of slowly letting her guard down and being vulnerable is sweet and moving, and proof that happiness is possible even in the most trying times' Guardian----Hello to you, I am with news. I have a new book: I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest With You. I know – what an intriguing title!Basically, I have had an unexpectedly difficult decade – there have been surprising joys, but also deep revelations and challenging lows. I shall be honest about those, because what I discovered in the difficult times were my, what I call, treasures.Treasures – practical tools, values, ways, answers researched from some great scientists, neuroscientists, therapists, sociologists (all the ‘ists’) out there, that have genuinely led to a sense of freedom, joy, peace and physical recovery I never would have thought possible.Life now, amazingly, with what I will share, is – SUCH FUN! (always important to quote your own catch phrases. . .) If you fancy having a read, then I hope my story might help your story. After all, we are in this beautiful, mysterious, challenging life together. Rest assured there are funny stories along the way – we will have a laugh too, my dear reader chum.Oh, and I couldn’t possibly say if there is a love story in it . . . (There is – shush). Exciting.----Sunday Times bestseller, October 2024
A Summer Promise: The page-turning historical romance from the bestselling author
by Katie FlynnTragically orphaned at just five, Maddy Hebditch is sent to live with her strict grandmother at Larkspur Farm in Yorkshire. Despite the back-breaking farm work, Maddy’s friends Alice, Marigold and Tom bring sunshine to her hard life.But when war is declared, their idyllic summers together are over. Determined to do their bit, Maddy and her friends volunteer for the forces. Separated by conflict, all four face terrible danger as the war worsens.Then Tom is gravely injured, and Maddy’s world falls apart… Can they confront their deepest feelings with such an uncertain future ahead of them?A heart-wrenching, page-turning tale of friendship, resilience and love from bestselling author Katie Flynn.WHY READERS LOVE KATIE FLYNN...'Her characters are like old friends''Takes you on a journey of heartbreak and joy''Heartwarming romance''Hard to put down'
The Gold: The real story behind Brink’s-Mat: Britain’s biggest heist
by Neil Forsyth Thomas TurnerThe real story that inspired the BBC drama, The GoldOn Saturday, 26 November 1983, an armed gang stole gold bullion worth almost £26 million from the Brink's-Mat security depot near London's Heathrow Airport. It was the largest robbery in world history, and only the start of an extraordinary story. For forty years, myths and legends have grown around the Brink's-Mat heist and the events that followed.The heist led to a wave of international money laundering, provided dirty money that helped fuel the London Docklands property boom, caused seismic changes in both British crime and policing, and has been linked to a series of deaths that continued until 2015.The Gold is the conclusion of extensive research and includes exclusive testimony from one of the original robbers who gives his version of events for the first time. The result is the astonishing true story of the robbery of the century.
On the Shadow Tracks: A Journey through Occupied Myanmar
by Clare Hammond'On the Shadow Tracks harnesses the railway lines of Myanmar’s complicated past to its turbulent present, and the result is part travelogue, part history and completely absorbing. An astonishing achievement’Joanna LumleyIn 2016, while working as a journalist in Yangon, Clare Hammond discovered an obscure map that showed a web of new railways spanning the length and breadth of the country - railways not shown on any other publicly available maps. She was determined to uncover the railways' origins, purpose, and most of all, the silence that surrounded them. She would spend three months travelling on these mysterious railways, and the next five years piecing their story together.Her journey would take her from Myanmar's tropical south to the embattled mountain towns that border India and China. In dilapidated carriages, along tracks in disrepair, through contested ethnic states and former sites of forced labour, visiting temples, tea shops and festivals, Clare encountered a colourful and contradictory Myanmar through the stories of its people. Simultaneously a lush and evocative travelogue, an unsparing account of Myanmar's recent history, and an astonishing, conversation-shifting engagement with Britain's colonial legacy, On the Shadow Tracks is that rare and necessary thing: a book that finds and tells the truth.
Pet Sematary: A Novel (Signet Book)
by Stephen KingStephen King&’s #1 New York Times bestseller is a &“wild, powerful, disturbing&” (The Washington Post Book World) classic about evil that exists far beyond the grave—among his most iconic and frightening novels.When Dr. Louis Creed takes a new job and moves his family to the idyllic rural town of Ludlow, Maine, this new beginning seems too good to be true. Despite Ludlow&’s tranquility, an undercurrent of danger exists here. Those trucks on the road outside the Creed&’s beautiful old home travel by just a little too quickly, for one thing…as is evidenced by the makeshift graveyard in the nearby woods where generations of children have buried their beloved pets. Then there are the warnings to Louis both real and from the depths of his nightmares that he should not venture beyond the borders of this little graveyard where another burial ground lures with seductive promises and ungodly temptations. A blood-chilling truth is hidden there—one more terrifying than death itself, and hideously more powerful. As Louis is about to discover for himself sometimes, dead is better…
Southern Pies: A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes, From Lemon Chess to Chocolate Pecan
by Nancie McDermottAsk any pie lover—the words "southern" and "pie" go together like ripe fruit and flaky pastry. And behind all the mouthwatering, light-as-a-cloud meringue peaks and the sticky dark butterscotch fillings lies a rich and delicious history. In Southern Pies, some of the South's most famous bakers share recipes for 70 pies. Perfect for bakers of all skill levels, these pies are made with simple, easy-to-find, and gloriously few ingredients. Featuring such classics as Sweet Tea Pie and New Orleans Creole Coconut Pie, this tasty homage will fill everyone at the table with Southern hospitality.
Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life
by Justine Picardie“Gripping. . . . In the deftest prose, Picardie plots one of the most extraordinary lives of the twentieth Century. . . . Lavishly illustrated.” —Mail on SundayCoco Chanel was an extraordinary inventor, conjuring up the little black dress, bobbed hair, trousers for women, contemporary chic, bestselling perfumes, and the most successful fashion brand of all time. But she also invented herself, fashioning the myth of her own life with the same dexterity as her couture; and what lies beneath her own glossy surface is darker, more mysterious, and far more intriguing.Uncovering remarkable new details about Gabrielle Chanel’s humble early years, Justine Picardie picks up the legend Chanel where it began—in orphanhood and poverty. Throwing new light on her passionate and, at times, dark relationships and providing profound insights into her connections with Cocteau, Diaghilev, Picasso, and Dali, this beautifully constructed portrait gives a fresh and penetrating look at what made Coco Chanel the strong-spirited and powerful presence she became. An authoritative account, based on personal observations and interviews with Chanel’s last surviving friends, employees, and relatives, the book also unravels her coded language and symbols and tracks the influence of her formative years on her legendary style.This special new edition has been extensively revised and updated and offers a uniquely authoritative account of the world’s greatest designer. Adding fresh new insights and discoveries, it comes complete with a compelling array of previously unseen images from the Chanel archives.“Fascinating.” —Edwina Ings-Chambers, Sunday Times“Picardie’s . . . book does a great job of depicting a difficult and compelling 20th-century icon.” ——Kate Betts, The Week“Elegant.” —Frances Wilson, Daily Telegraph
The Blood of My Mother: A Novel
by Roccie Hill&“Lonesome Dove meets Where the Crawdads Sing&” in this &“gripping saga about a perilous time in our nation&’s history and a woman who survived it against all odds&” (Patricia Wood, author of Lottery, shortlisted for the 2008 Orange Prize for Fiction). &“I could not stop reading.&” —Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times–bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean, the inaugural choice of Oprah&’s Book Club After the deaths of her white father and mixed-race mother, young Eliza is left with neither home nor family in the newly forming frontier of Texas. After enduring unimaginable cruelty as a slave, Eliza escapes, marries, becomes a mother, and realizes her dream of having a small farm. But she must fight—and kill—to keep it. And survival means welcoming others who have been shunned or forgotten by society into her world. Living and laboring together, will these outcasts find the strength and community they need to survive and flourish? Acclaimed author Roccie Hill, inspired by the story of her great-great grandmother, now presents an unforgettable, deeply research, and wildly popular historical saga of a woman and a place, each growing and enduring under multiple flags through the sorrows and turbulence of history.WILLA Literary Award Winner for Historical Fiction &“A saga with many layers . . . [A] riveting, addictive journey.&” —Joanne Hardy, author of The Girl in the Butternut Dress &“Robbed by fate and evil-doers of everything except her ferocious spirit, Eliza fights for her own space in the pitiless frontier that will become the state of Texas. Combining lyrical prose and non-stop action, Roccie Hill conjures an unforgettable character, based loosely on her own great-great grandmother, who somehow triumphs over nearly unthinkable privations. Hill&’s Eliza springs to life as a true American original.&” —Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean, the inaugural choice of Oprah&’s Book Club &“Lonesome Dove meets Where the Crawdads Sing. I simply could not put this novel down. Vividly written, The Blood of My Mother is a gripping saga about a perilous time in our nation&’s history and a woman who survived it against all odds. It is a novel about how love and hope transcend man&’s inhumanity to man. I was pulled deeply into the story and was held there until the very last page.&” —Patricia Wood, author of Lottery, shortlisted for the 2008 Orange Prize for Fiction
Take More Vacations: How to Search Better, Book Cheaper, and Travel the World
by Scott Keyes“This detailed, practical book will show you how to take more vacations for less in no time. I learned a lot from it.” —Matthew Kepnes, New York Times–bestselling author of How to Travel the World on $50 a DayThe founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights explains why we’re searching for airfare all wrong, shares the strategies that have saved his two million newsletter subscribers a collective $500 million on airfare, and presents a bold new approach for how to see the world while never overpaying for flights again.What’s stopping us all from traveling more? The confusion of buying airfare—not knowing when to book, where to buy, or what to pay. When Scott Keyes booked flights to Italy for $130 roundtrip and Japan for $169 roundtrip, he didn’t just uncover amazing fares; it was the beginning of a new approach that makes travel possible for anyone who has dreamed of seeing the world.Take More Vacations is the USA Today–bestselling guidebook for anyone hoping to turn one annual vacation into three. Readers will discover how a new strategy can lead to cheaper fares and more trips. Why cheap flights never have to be inconvenient flights, and all the steps you can take to get a good fare even when you don’t have flexibility. The surprising best week for international travel, and how small airports actually get the best deals.“A must-read for anyone who wants to travel.” —Brian Kelly, founder and CEO of The Points Guy
My Reckless Surrender
by Anna CampbellA lady's plan to seduce an earl to protect her future backfires when she falls in love with the sexy rogue in this Regency romance.Headlong into sin . . .A well-practiced rake, weary of easy conquests and empty pleasures, Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft, knows women—and his every instinct warns him to beware of this one. Diana Carrick's brazen overtures have thrown the haunted, sinfully handsome lord completely off his guard. Why, the exquisite temptress stated outright that she wishes to be his lover. But it is neither Diana's boldness nor her beauty that intrigues him so—it is the innocence he senses behind her worldly mask.Intent upon the seduction that will finally free her, Diana has set her sights on the notorious Ashcroft—never dreaming that there is much more to the enigmatic rogue than sin and deviltry. His kiss is bewitching, his caress intoxicating—and even the dangerous secret Diana must protect cannot shield her from Ashcroft's dark allure.Unwittingly yet most willingly, they are playing with fire. Now the fuse has been lit and there is no escape . . . except surrender.“Campbell captivates with passionate intensity.” —Sophia Nash, RITA award–winning author“Anna Campbell is an amazing, daring new voice.” —New York Times–bestselling author Lorraine Heath
The Night Before Christmas
by Nicola KnightFelicity Brooks is a bit of a Scrooge—but when she meets a man dressed as a giant penguin on Christmas Eve, could it spell a change of heart? The ridiculous music. The excessive presents. The stupid Christmas sweaters. Felicity wants nothing more than to escape it all, and she pounces on the chance to work shifts over the holiday season at an animal rescue center. After all, it&’s the only place that brings her true happiness. But one day, her evening is disturbed by a stranger named James—dressed as a penguin and cradling a weak kitten. As Felicity and James work together to nurse the sick feline back to health, it gives them the perfect excuse to bond over their mutual dislike of all things festive. And soon, sparks fly. However, their attraction is interrupted when Felicity&’s ex-boyfriend Adam returns to declare his undying love. And when she&’s let down by both men, Felicity decides to return to her childhood home for some peace. While there, she uncovers an array of family secrets, and even more about herself—which may just help her to make a choice between the penguin and the ex . . . &“Romantic, funny, and touching, Felicity&’s story of falling in love with Christmas is wonderful. I loved every word. Better than a warm mince pie on a snowy day.&” —Stephanie Butland, bestselling author of Lost for Words and Found in a Bookshop &“Could reconnecting with Christmas, lead to falling in love?&” —Heidi Swain, Sunday Times–bestselling romance author
Hellhound on My Trail (The Jack Keller Thrillers)
by J.D. RhoadesBounty hunter Jack Keller thought he could leave the chaos behind—he was wrong. Fifth in the gritty thriller series from the author of Devils and Dust. Back in the desert, Jack Keller is trying to rebuild his life, piece by piece, and heal from the physical and emotional scars of the past. But trouble has a way of finding him. When Jack steps in to save a stranger from a brutal assault, he learns the man carries a message from the father who abandoned him—a message tied to the buried trauma Jack has carried since the first Gulf War. But his dying father has secrets of his own, and powerful enemies are determined to keep them hidden. At the center of the storm is a cunning and ruthless heiress to a political dynasty, willing to unleash any weapon to silence Jack—including an ex-government operative with a license to kill. Hunted and alone, Jack is forced to confront the darkness he&’s fought to keep at bay for years. As his demons surface, his rage threatens to destroy everything in its path. When the dust settles, there will be hell to pay—and no one will escape unscathed.Praise for J. D. Rhoades &“J. D. Rhoades writes action as well as anybody in the business, and bail bondsman Jack Keller is a winner.&” ―C. J. Box, #1 New York Times–bestselling author &“For fans of high-octane thrillers that don&’t ignore character development, Rhoades belongs on the same reading list with Stephen Hunter, Lee Child, and Randy Wayne White.&” —Booklist
Quick & Easy Thai: 70 Everyday Recipes
by Nancie McDermottNow busy home cooks can bring the fantastic flavors of Thai cuisine into the kitchen with a simple trip to the grocery store. Nancie McDermott, experienced cook, teacher, and author of the best-selling cookbook Real Thai, presents this collection of 70 delicious recipes that focus on easy-to-find ingredients and quick cooking methods to whip up traditional Thai. With recipes like Crying Tiger Grilled Beef, Grilled Shrimp and Scallops with Lemongrass, Sticky Rice with Mangoes, and Thai Iced Tea, along with McDermott's highly practical array of shortcuts, substitutions, and time-saving techniques, anyone can prepare home-cooked authentic Thai meals—as often as they like.