
American entrepreneur and television host
by Allen Carr
Rating: 4.4 ⭐
• 1 recommendation ❤️
THE WORLD’ S BEST-SELLING STOP SMOKING BOOK OF ALL TIME. Allen Carr’ s Easy Way to Stop Smoking is a self-help classic. It has been a #1 bestseller in nine countries and has outsold all other quit smoking books combined. This seminal book has enabled millions of smokers to quit easily and enjoyably using Allen Carr’ s simple, drug-free approach. This edition has been developed specifically for smokers in the US. Using the clinically-proven Easyway method, this book removes the desire to smoke altogether, without willpower or sacrifice. Read it now to become a happy non-smoker for the rest of your life. - No weight gain, no willpower, no withdrawal - Removes the psychological need to smoke as you smoke - No fear of living life without your "little friend" - Feel great from the minute you put out your final cigarette What people say about Allen Carr's Easyway "If you want to quit … it’ s called the Easyway." Allen DeGeneres "Allen Carr's international bestseller...has helped countless people quit." Time Out New York "I read this book and quit smoking instantly" Nikki Glaser
The celebrated design professor here tackles the question of how best to communicate real-life experience in a two-degree format, whether on the printed page or the computer screen. The Whole Earth Review called Envisioning Information a "passionate, elegant revelation."
Chuck Palahniuk showed himself to be his generation’s most visionary satirist in this, his first book. Fight Club’s estranged narrator leaves his lackluster job when he comes under the thrall of Tyler Durden, an enigmatic young man who holds secret after-hours boxing matches in the basement of bars. There, two men fight "as long as they have to." This is a gloriously original work that exposes the darkness at the core of our modern world.
by Anthony de Mello
Rating: 4.3 ⭐
• 19 recommendations ❤️
The heart of Anthony de Mello's bestselling spiritual message is awareness. Mixing Christian spirituality, Buddhist parables, Hindu breathing exercises, and psychological insight, de Mello's words of hope come together in Awareness in a grand synthesis.In short chapters for reading in quiet moments at home or at the office, he cajoles and challenges: We must leave this go-go-go world of illusion and become aware. And this only happens, he insists, by becoming alive to the needs and potential of others, whether at home or in the workplace.Here, then, is a masterful book of the spirit, challenging us to wake up in every aspect of our lives.
by Thich Nhat Hanh
Rating: 3.6 ⭐
• 1 recommendation ❤️
As an obscure Buddhist monk in 1966, working to relieve the suffering caused by the Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, Thich Nhat Hanh is widely known and admired for his many books, including the national religious bestseller Living Buddha, Living Christ, as well as his special way of teaching the dharma (essential Buddhist truths) to Western students. The Present Moment is a rare opportunity to learn ancient Buddhist practices directly from this living master of the tradition. Teaching in a way that addresses the spiritual challenges unique to our day, while honoring all faiths, Thich Nhat Hanh shares a treasury of detailed meditations to help listeners walk, breathe, communicate - even cope with traffic - more deeply and consciously. The Present Moment is a classic retreat that shares Buddhism's core practices for touching "the energy of mindfulness" we carry within, and opening to the joy that is always waiting to enter our lives.
More than one million hardcovers soldNow available for the first time in paperback!The Classic Text Annotated to Update Graham's Timeless Wisdom for Today's Market ConditionsThe greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham's philosophy of "value investing" -- which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies -- has made The Intelligent Investor the stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949.Over the years, market developments have proven the wisdom of Graham's strategies. While preserving the integrity of Graham's original text, this revised edition includes updated commentary by noted financial journalist Jason Zweig, whose perspective incorporates the realities of today's market, draws parallels between Graham's examples and today's financial headlines, and gives readers a more thorough understanding of how to apply Graham's principles.Vital and indispensable, this HarperBusiness Essentials edition of The Intelligent Investor is the most important book you will ever read on how to reach your financial goals.
by Thich Nhat Hanh
Rating: 4.2 ⭐
• 3 recommendations ❤️
Mindfulness - ögonblickens under är en av den vietnamesiske zenmästaren Thich Nhat Hanhs mest populära böcker. I centrum står konsten att ta makten över sina tankar och vara närvarande i nuet, oavsett om man leker med sina barn, diskar eller bara äter en apelsin.Thich Nhat Hanhs enkla, rättframma stil går rakt in i hjärtat och förmedlar en stark känsla av sinnesnärvaro. Han vet hur man gör för att släppa taget om alla tankar som driver oss hit och dit och hindrar oss från att vara närvarande i stunden.Praktiska övningar varvas med enkla berättelser ur vardagen som visar att vi alltid kan välja att fokusera på det väsentliga och därmed fånga nuet. Thich Nhat Hanh lär oss att diska varje kopp och tallrik varsamt, som om de vore heliga ting. På köpet lär vi oss att se värdet i vardagliga göromål och finna ro i oss själva.Han delar också med sig av meditationsövningar som leder oss inåt mot vårt autentiska jag. Vi är större än vad vi tror och genom att iaktta och släppa taget om negativa tankar och föreställningar kan vi så småningom leva ett mer medvetet och glädjefyllt liv.
Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth. Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.
by Mark J. Plotkin
Rating: 4.3 ⭐
• 4 recommendations ❤️
The fascinating account of a pioneering ethnobotanist’s travels in the Amazon—at once a gripping adventure story, a passionate argument for conservationism, and an investigation into the healing power of plants, by the author of The What Everyone Needs to KnowFor thousands of years, healers have used plants to cure illness. Aspirin, the world's most widely used drug, is based on compounds originally extracted from the bark of a willow tree, and more than a quarter of medicines found on pharmacy shelves contain plant compounds. Now Western medicine, faced with health crises such as AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer, has begun to look to the healing plants used by indigenous peoples to develop powerful new medicines. Nowhere is the search more promising than in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest, home to a quarter of all botanical species on this planet—as well as hundreds of Indian tribes whose medicinal plants have never been studied by Western scientists. In Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice , ethnobotanist Mark J. Plotkin recounts his travels and studies with some of the most powerful Amazonian shamans, who taught him the plant lore their tribes have spent thousands of years gleaning from the rain forest.For more than a decade, Dr. Plotkin raced against time to harvest and record new plants before the rain forests' fragile ecosystems succumb to overdevelopment—and before the Indians abandon their own culture and learning for the seductive appeal of Western material culture. Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice relates nine of the author's quests, taking the reader along on a wild odyssey as he participates in healing rituals; discovers the secret of curare, the lethal arrow poison that kills in minutes; tries the hallucinogenic snuff epena that enables the Indians to speak with their spirit world; and earns the respect and fellowship of the mysterious shamans as he proves that he shares both their endurance and their reverence for the rain forest.
Here is a powerful new program that can clear away the unconscious agreement patterns that undermine even your best intentions. Through their own marriage and through nearly forty years of experience transforming relationships with thousands of people, Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks have developed precise strategies to help you create a vital partnership and enhance the energy, creativity, and happiness of each individual. You will learn how to: let go of power struggles and need for control; balance needs for closeness and separateness; increase intimacy by telling the microscopic truth; communicate in a positive way that stops arguments; make agreements you can keep; and allow more pleasure into your life. Addressed to individuals as well as to couples, Conscious Loving will heal old hurts and deepen your capacity for enjoyment, security, and enduing love.Runtime: 10. 59 hours, 1 MP3 CD
by Terrence Real
Rating: 4.3 ⭐
• 5 recommendations ❤️
Twenty years of experience treating men and their families has convinced psychotherapist Terrence Real that depression is a silent epidemic in men; that men hide their condition from family, friends, and themselves to avoid the stigma of depression's "un-manliness." Problems that we think of as typically male; difficulty with intimacy, workaholism, alcoholism, abusive behavior, and rage-are really attempts to escape depression. And these escape attempts only hurt the people men love and pass their condition on to their children.This ground breaking book is the "pathway out of darkness" that these men and their families seek. Real reveals how men can unearth their pain, heal themselves, restore relationships, and break the legacy of abuse. He mixes penetrating analysis with compelling tales of his patients and even his ownexperiences with depression as the son of a violent, depressed father and the father of two young sons.
by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Rating: 4.4 ⭐
• 4 recommendations ❤️
Ten years after the death of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, this commemorative edition of her final book combines practical wisdom, case studies, and the authors’ own experiences and spiritual insight to explain how the process of grieving helps us live with loss. Includes a new introduction and resources section.Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s On Death and Dying changed the way we talk about the end of life. Before her own death in 2004, she and David Kessler completed On Grief and Grieving, which looks at the way we experience the process of grief.Just as On Death and Dying taught us the five stages of death—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—On Grief and Grieving applies these stages to the grieving process and weaves together theory, inspiration, and practical advice, including sections on sadness, hauntings, dreams, isolation, and healing. This is “a fitting finale and tribute to the acknowledged expert on end-of-life matters” (Good Housekeeping).
"[A] solid how-to book...For amateur dream researchers, this is a must" WHOLE EARTH REVIEWThis book goes far beyond the confines of pop dream psychology, establishing a scientifically researched framework for using lucid dreaming--that is, consciously influencing the outcome of your dreams. Based on Dr. Stephen LaBerge's extensive laboratory work at Stanford University mapping mind/body relationships during the dream state, as well as the teachings of Tibetan dream yogis and the work of other scientists, including German psycholgist Paul Tholey, this practical workbook will show you how to use your dreams to: Solve problems; Gain greater confidence; improve creativity, and more.
by Rita L. Lampkin
Rating: 3.8 ⭐
• 1 recommendation ❤️
Your one-stop resource for Japanese usage and grammarJapanese Verbs & Essentials of Grammar offers you clear and concise coverage of verbs and grammar basics--all in one book. You'll also get access to a free audio download of bonus online learning material.The book features all the major verbal and grammar concepts of the language. Each unit is devoted to one particular concept, enabling you to locate specific information quickly and easily. Explanations are concise yet thorough and are followed by numerous examples to assure complete understanding and mastery. The examples use contemporary language, reflecting real-life situations. Convenient tables throughout the book make verb tenses and other areas of grammar immediately accessible.Includes a special chapter on common expressions and useful vocabulary as well as practical appendices.Features a free 15-minute download of the first two chapters, Romanization and Pronunciation and The Japanese Writing System.Topics include: Romanization and Pronunciation; The Japanese Writing System; General Information on Verbs; Kinds of Verbs; Desu; Verbs in a Sentence; Verb Base Chart; The Masu Form; Verb Endings--General Information; Base 1 Endings; Base 2 Endings; Base 3 Endings; Base 4 Endings; Base 5 Endings; Base 6 (TE-form) Endings; Base 7 (TA-form) Endings; The Informal Form; Informal Endings; Essentials of Grammar; Basic Principles; Demonstrative Forms ("Ko-so-a-do"); Particles; Conjunctions; Interrogatives; Interrogative + ka, mo, demo; Adjectives; Adjective Endings; Adverbs; Comparisons; Noun Expressions; Compound Nouns; Common Noun Prefixes & Suffixes; Relative Clauses; Relative Pronouns; Asking & Giving Directions; Idiomatic Characteristics of Some Common Words; Transitive & Intransitive Pairs; Honorifics; Numbers; Counters; Relative Time; Specific Time; Seasons & the Weather; The Family; Health & the Body; Wearing Clothes; Common Expressions & Useful Vocabulary
John Crowley's masterful Little, Big is the epic story of Smoky Barnable, an anonymous young man who travels by foot from the City to a place called Edgewood—not found on any map—to marry Daily Alice Drinkwater, as was prophesied. It is the story of four generations of a singular family, living in a house that is many houses on the magical border of an otherworld. It is a story of fantastic love and heartrending loss; of impossible things and unshakable destinies; and of the great Tale that envelops us all. It is a wonder.
by Bill Bryson
Rating: 4.1 ⭐
• 4 recommendations ❤️
The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America—majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaining guide you’ll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way—and a couple of bears. Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit and read in).
13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese presents tested shortcuts for Japanese language acquisition. Identifying two groups of people who actively and effectively study Japanese to the point of fluency —successful non-native learners and Japanese children— Giles Murray has collected from both groups the most rewarding and universal techniques which can be put to immediate use by both beginner and advanced students of Japanese.This book is designed for people who have tried orthodox textbooks and failed, people who know a little Japanese but don't have the necessary time or motivation to make the transition to more serious textbooks, and people seeking to increase fluency using ability already acquired. It introduces new strategies for thinking, speaking and memorizing Japanese quickly, efficiently and independently. Used in tandem with a mainstream textbook, these strategies will enable any student to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-life situations, and to speak without hesitation in natural and fluent Japanese.With lively and entertaining commentaries, striking illustrations, two Japanese manga—including a six-page extract from Osamu Tezuka's famous Blackjack series—brainteasing puzzles, and genuinely useful example sentences, 13 Secrets offers a unique and exciting alternative to all students of Japanese.Featuring– An original manga by Tezuka Osamu– All new custom-written 16-page manga– 3 mini-graphic novels– Over 100 illustrations– Dynamic quiz format– Full glossaries
by Tara Brach
Rating: 4.0 ⭐
• 11 recommendations ❤️
For many of us, feelings of deficiency are right around the corner. It doesn’t take much--just hearing of someone else’s accomplishments, being criticized, getting into an argument, making a mistake at work--to make us feel that we are not okay. Beginning to understand how our lives have become ensnared in this trance of unworthiness is our first step toward reconnecting with who we really are and what it means to live fully. --from Radical AcceptanceRadical Acceptance“Believing that something is wrong with us is a deep and tenacious suffering,” says Tara Brach at the start of this illuminating book. This suffering emerges in crippling self-judgments and conflicts in our relationships, in addictions and perfectionism, in loneliness and overwork--all the forces that keep our lives constricted and unfulfilled. Radical Acceptance offers a path to freedom, including the day-to-day practical guidance developed over Dr. Brach’s twenty years of work with therapy clients and Buddhist students.Writing with great warmth and clarity, Tara Brach brings her teachings alive through personal stories and case histories, fresh interpretations of Buddhist tales, and guided meditations. Step by step, she leads us to trust our innate goodness, showing how we can develop the balance of clear-sightedness and compassion that is the essence of Radical Acceptance. Radical Acceptance does not mean self-indulgence or passivity. Instead it empowers genuine change: healing fear and shame and helping to build loving, authentic relationships. When we stop being at war with ourselves, we are free to live fully every precious moment of our lives.From the Hardcover edition.
by Philip Kapleau
Rating: 4.1 ⭐
• 1 recommendation ❤️
Through explorations of the three pillars of Zen—teaching, practice, and enlightenment—Roshi Philip Kapleau presents a comprehensive overview of the history and discipline of Zen Buddhism. An established classic, this 35th anniversary edition features new illustrations and photographs, as well as a new afterword by Sensei Bodhin Kjolhede, who has succeeded Philip Kapleau as spiritual director of the Rochester Zen Center, one of the oldest and most influential Zen centers in the United States.
by Gary Chapman
Rating: 4.5 ⭐
• 9 recommendations ❤️
An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.Falling in love is easy. Staying in love—that's the challenge. How can you keep your relationship fresh and growing amid the demands, conflicts, and just plain boredom of everyday life?In the #1 New York Times international bestseller The 5 Love Languages, you'll discover the secret that has transformed millions of relationships worldwide. Whether your relationship is flourishing or failing, Dr. Gary Chapman's proven approach to showing and receiving love will help you experience deeper and richer levels of intimacy with your partner—starting today.The 5 Love Languages is as practical as it is insightful. Updated to reflect the complexities of relationships today, this new edition reveals intrinsic truths and applies relevant, actionable wisdom in ways that work.Includes the Couple's Personal Profile assessment so you can discover your love language and that of your loved one.
by Cormac McCarthy
Rating: 4.2 ⭐
• 6 recommendations ❤️
Blood Meridian is an epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion, brilliantly subverting the conventions of the Western novel and the mythology of the Wild West. Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into a nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.
This epic work of the imagination has captured the hearts of millions of readers worldwide since it was first published. Its special story within a story is an irresistible invitation for readers to become part of the book itself. The story begins with a lonely boy named Bastian and the strange book that draws him into the beautiful but doomed world of Fantastica. Only a human can save this enchanted place by giving its ruler, the Childlike Empress, a new name. But the journey to her tower leads through lands of dragons, giants, monsters, and magic, and once Bastian begins his quest, he may never return. As he is drawn deeper into Fantastica, he must find the courage to face unspeakable foes and the mysteries of his own heart. Readers, too, can travel to the wondrous, unforgettable world of Fantastica if they will just turn the page...
Anthropologist Johannes Wilbert here presents a comprehensive ethnography of magico-religious, medicinal, and recreational tobacco use among native South American societies. Surveying nearly three hundred societies, Wilbert has found that South American Indians employ numerous means of nicotine application and that a close functional relationship exists between tobacco and shamanism. His book is "a superb reference and a pleasure to read."—Robert Byck, M.D., Yale University School of Medicine
by Mitch Albom
Rating: 4.4 ⭐
• 1 recommendation ❤️
Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live.Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie’s lasting gift with the world.
by Malcolm Gladwell
Rating: 4.0 ⭐
• 17 recommendations ❤️
From the bestselling author of The Bomber Mafia: discover Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough debut and explore the science behind viral trends in business, marketing, and human behavior.The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.
A brand-new full-cast audio edition of a perennial favorite - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which has sold over one million copies. Special content in this edition includes the story behind The Graveyard Book, written and performed by Neil Gaiman.The Graveyard Book is the winner of the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal (the only novel to ever win both awards), the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Locus Award for Young Adult Book, and Audiobook of the Year. This full-cast audio edition is performed by Neil Gaiman, Derek Jacobi, Robert Madge, Clare Corbett, Miriam Margolyes, Andrew Scott, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Emilia Fox, Reece Shearsmith, Lenny Henry, Elizabeth Bennett, Allan Corduner, Sean Baker, Tim Dann, Adjoa Andoh, Jenny Gannon, Dan Weyman, and Daniel Brocklebank.Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack - who has already killed Bod's family…Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book by beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman is sure to enthrall listeners of all ages.©2008 Neil Gaiman (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers
"Visions of Japan: Kawase Hasui's masterpieces brings together in a single volume one hundred of the artist's most celebrated prints. Fully illustrated, this publication includes annotated descriptions for each work, as well as two essays on Hasui's life and work by Dr. Kendall H. Brown." Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) is considered the foremost Japanese landscape print artist of the 20th century, and he is most closely associated with the pioneering Shin-hanga (New prints) publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962). Hasui's work became hugely popular, not only in his native Japan but also in the West, especially in the United States. His valuable contribution to the woodblock print medium was acknowledged in 1956, a year before his death, when he was honoured with the distinction of 'Living National Treasure'.
“Dr. Sarno saved me from a life of pain.” — Howard Stern The New York Times bestseller that has helped thousands leverage the mind-body connection to heal lower back pain and live pain free—without drugs, surgery, or physical therapy. Offering a surprising, noninvasive solution to an epidemic of pain, Dr. John E. Sarno’s research on TMS (Tension Myoneural Syndrome) reveals that stress, anxiety and other psychological factors, not structural abnormalities, are the root cause of chronic pain. TMS develops as a result of repressed emotions which trigger tension in the body and deprive muscles and nerves of oxygen. The solution? Recognize the emotional roots of your TMS and sever the connection between mental and physical pain. With Dr. Sarno’s expert guidance you will learn: Sharing case histories and the results of his extensive, groundbreaking research, Dr. Sarno’s life-changing insights show readers how to banish back pain and reclaim their lives for good.
There is more than one history of the world. Before science defined the modern age, other powers, wondrous and magical, once governed the universe, their lore perfected within a lost capital of hieroglyphs, wizard-kings, and fabulous monuments.In the 1970s, a historian named Pierce Moffett moves to the New England countryside to write a book about Ægypt, driven by an idea he dare not believe: that the physical laws of the universe once changed and may change again. Yet the notion is not his alone. Something waits at the locked estate of Fellowes Kraft, author of romances about Will Shakespeare and Giordano Bruno and Dr. John Dee, something for which Pierce and those near him have long sought without knowing it: a key, perhaps, to Ægypt...Shortlisted for the WORLD FANTASY and ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARDs.
Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight, and DiseaseIn this groundbreaking book, the result of seven years of research in every science connected with the impact of nutrition on health, award-winning science writer Gary Taubes shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.For decades we have been taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates better, and that the key to a healthy weight is eating less and exercising more. Yet with more and more people acting on this advice, we have seen unprecedented epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Taubes argues persuasively that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates (white flour, sugar, easily digested starches) and sugars–via their dramatic and longterm effects on insulin, the hormone that regulates fat accumulation–and that the key to good health is the kind of calories we take in, not the number. There are good calories, and bad ones.Good CaloriesThese are from foods without easily digestible carbohydrates and sugars. These foods can be eaten without restraint.Meat, fish, fowl, cheese, eggs, butter, and non-starchy vegetables. Bad CaloriesThese are from foods that stimulate excessive insulin secretion and so make us fat and increase our risk of chronic disease—all refined and easily digestible carbohydrates and sugars. The key is not how much vitamins and minerals they contain, but how quickly they are digested. (So apple juice or even green vegetable juices are not necessarily any healthier than soda.) Bread and other baked goods, potatoes, yams, rice, pasta, cereal grains, corn, sugar (sucrose and high fructose corn syrup), ice cream, candy, soft drinks, fruit juices, bananas and other tropical fruits, and beer. Taubes traces how the common assumption that carbohydrates are fattening was abandoned in the 1960s when fat and cholesterol were blamed for heart disease and then –wrongly–were seen as the causes of a host of other maladies, including cancer. He shows us how these unproven hypotheses were emphatically embraced by authorities in nutrition, public health, and clinical medicine, in spite of how well-conceived clinical trials have consistently refuted them. He also documents the dietary trials of carbohydrate-restriction, which consistently show that the fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be. With precise references to the most significant existing clinical studies, he convinces us that there is no compelling scientific evidence demonstrating that saturated fat and cholesterol cause heart disease, that salt causes high blood pressure, and that fiber is a necessary part of a healthy diet. Based on the evidence that does exist, he leads us to conclude that the only healthy way to lose weight and remain lean is to eat fewer carbohydrates or to change the type of the carbohydrates we do eat, and, for some of us, perhaps to eat virtually none at all.The 11 Critical Conclusions of Good Calories, Bad Calories: 1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, does not cause heart disease. 2. Carbohydrates do, because of their effect on the hormone insulin. The more easily-digestible and refined the carbohydrates and the more fructose they contain, the greater the effect on our health, weight, and well-being. 3. Sugars—sucrose (table sugar) and high fructose corn syrup specifically—are particularly harmful. The glucose in these sugars raises insulin levels; the fructose they contain overloads the liver.4. Refined carbohydrates, starches, and sugars are also the most likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, and the other common chronic diseases of modern times. 5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating and not sedentary behavior. 6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter any more than it causes a child to grow taller. 7. Exercise does not make us lose excess fat; it makes us hungry. 8. We get fat because of an imbalance—a disequilibrium—in the hormonal regulation of fat tissue and fat metabolism. More fat is stored in the fat tissue than is mobilized and used for fuel. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this imbalance. 9. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated, we stockpile calories as fat. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and burn it for fuel. 10. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.11. The fewer carbohydrates we eat, the leaner we will be. Good Calories, Bad Calories is a tour de force of scientific...
by Jack Weatherford
Rating: 4.0 ⭐
• 13 recommendations ❤️
The definitive biography of the founder of history's greatest empire. In 25 years, Genghis Khan and his Mongol armies conquered more than the Romans had in four centuries, founding the most extensive empire humankind has ever seen. Born Temujin, a pariah from the steppes, the man destined to make history as the Great Khan of the Mongols conquered every territory he held, from Georgia and Armenia to Korea. Genghis Khan emerged as an unexpected leader, abolishing torture, guaranteeing religious freedom, and destroying feudal systems based on aristocratic privilege. When he was born, holding a blood clot in his hand, his mother predicted that the child would change the course of the world. Thus, Genghis Khan united all the Mongol tribes of the steppes and transformed their way of life. He created the most efficient army of the Middle Ages, opened trade routes that connected the known world, and founded an empire that stretched from Europe to East Asia. His successors were kings, khans, and emperors in China, India, and Russia, and his legacy was enduring. From the early life of Genghis Khan and his rise and transformation from the tribal world of the steppes to the civilizing explosion of the Mongol Empire, this brilliant essay by Jack Weatherford, an anthropologist specializing in Mongol history, tells the epic story of how the modern world was forged.
by James Surowiecki
Rating: 3.7 ⭐
• 8 recommendations ❤️
In this fascinating book, New Yorker business columnist James Surowiecki explores a deceptively simple idea: Large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant -- better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.With boundless erudition and in delightfully clear prose, Surowiecki ranges across fields as diverse as popular culture, psychology, ant biology, behavioral economics, artificial intelligence, military history, and politics to show how this simple idea offers important lessons for how we live our lives, select our leaders, run our companies, and think about our world.
Have you ever wondered how one day the media can assert that alcohol is bad for us and the next unashamedly run a story touting the benefits of daily alcohol consumption? Or how a drug that is pulled off the market for causing heart attacks ever got approved in the first place? How can average readers, who aren't medical doctors or Ph.D.s in biochemistry, tell what they should be paying attention to and what's, well, just more bullshit?Ben Goldacre has made a point of exposing quack doctors and nutritionists, bogus credentialing programs, and biased scientific studies. He has also taken the media to task for its willingness to throw facts and proof out the window. But he's not here just to tell you what's wrong. Goldacre is here to teach you how to evaluate placebo effects, double-blind studies, and sample sizes, so that you can recognize bad science when you see it. You're about to feel a whole lot better.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind themIn ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.
by Tony Hsieh
Rating: 4.0 ⭐
• 14 recommendations ❤️
You want to learn about the path that we took at Zappos to get to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in less than ten years. You want to learn about the path I took that eventually led me to Zappos, and the lessons I learned along the way. You want to learn from all the mistakes we made at Zappos over the years so that your business can avoid making some of the same ones. You want to figure out the right balance of profits, passion, and purpose in business and in life. You want to build a long-term, enduring business and brand. You want to create a stronger company culture, which will make your employees and coworkers happier and create more employee engagement, leading to higher productivity. You want to deliver a better customer experience, which will make your customers happier and create more customer loyalty, leading to increased profits. You want to build something special. You want to find inspiration and happiness in work and in life. You ran out of firewood for your fireplace. This book makes an excellent fire-starter.
The #1 NY Times bestselling book in which one of America's most brilliant doctors shares his program for improving & protecting health. Eight Weeks to Optimum Health: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body's Natural Healing Power lays out Weil's week-by-week, step-by-step plan that will keep the body's natural healing system in peak working order. It covers diet, exercise, lifestyle, stress & environmental aspects of daily living that affect health & well-being. It includes up-to-date findings on such subjects as cholesterol, antioxidants, transfats, toxic residues, soy products, vitamins & supplements, together with a source list of information & supplies. You'll learn how to develop eating habits for well-being; start an effective exercise program based on walking & stretching; work with breathing patterns to decrease stress & improve energy; solve sleeping problems; eliminate toxins; minimize environmental hazards in daily life. Plus: programs tailored to the specific needs of pregnant women, seniors, overweight people & those at risk for cancer.If there is a heaven, sixtysomething Weil is headed there, but if he practices what he preaches, probably not for some time yet.--London TimesDr Andrew Weil is an extraordinary phenomenon.--Washington Post
by Stanislav Grof
Rating: 3.9 ⭐
• 4 recommendations ❤️
The definitive overview of this transformative breathwork.In this long-awaited book, Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof describe their groundbreaking new form of self-exploration and Holotropic Breathwork. Holotropic means “moving toward wholeness,” from the Greek holos (whole) and trepein (moving in the direction of). The breathwork utilizes the remarkable healing and transformative potential of nonordinary states of consciousness. These states engender a rich array of experiences with unique healing potential—reliving childhood memories, infancy, birth and prenatal life, and elements from the historical and archetypal realms of the collective unconscious. Induced by very simple means—a combination of accelerated breathing, evocative music, and bodywork in a safe and supportive setting, Holotropic Breathwork integrates the insights from modern consciousness research, depth psychology, transpersonal psychology, anthropology, Eastern spiritual practices, and mystical traditions. The Grofs’ work with holotropic states of consciousness has introduced revolutionary changes to psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy. Written in a clear, easily understandable style, this indispensable book summarizes their remarkable insights.“Stanislav Grof is one of the most important pioneers in the scientific understanding of consciousness. He and his wife, Christina, have contributed both to its intellectual and experiential understanding through their work with Holotropic Breathwork. Their book on this new approach to self-exploration and therapy is a must read.” — Deepak Chopra, author of Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the How to Create a New You“This fascinating, informative book invites you to open your mind to explore the depths of the psyche and transpersonal dimensions of consciousness. Stanislav and Christina Grof, who pioneered this powerful, innovative approach to therapy and personal growth, offer sound advice, thoroughly grounded in decades of practical experience.” — Frances Vaughan, author of Shadows of the Seeing Through Spiritual Illusions“Take a few rapid, staccato breaths and open this book. You will have a great read, and at the same time maybe discover a new kind of consciousness, just waiting inside of you to be revealed. Stanislav and Christina Grof are modern pioneers of consciousness and this book is their map of the territory. Holotropic Breathwork reveals how the Grofs developed their revolutionary healing techniques, often told through fascinating stories of people being transformed by the breathwork process. The Grofs are at the center of the current psycho-spiritual revolution in the West, and this book is a testament to their role in our collective healing.” — Wes Nisker, author of The Essential Crazy Wisdom and Buddha’s A Practical Guide to Discovering Your Place in the Cosmos“The Grofs offer the first comprehensive text of the theory and practice of their pioneering and integrative model of experiential psychotherapy and self-exploration. This ‘psychology of the future,’ with its extended cartography of the psyche, provides irrefutable evidence that spontaneous episodes of nonordinary states of consciousness have great healing, transformative, and even evolutionary potential for humankind. History will record that Holotropic Breathwork and the certification training and program designed by the Grofs advanced the field of psychotherapy far beyond the contributions of Freud and Jung.” — Angeles Arrien, author of The Four-Fold Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary“In this remarkable book Stanislav and Christina Grof summarize their pathbreaking discoveries of the past thirty years. They make two significant contributions, one to science, the other to our shared future. The first, by showing that altered states of consciousness have a dimension that is veridical—‘imaginal’ rather than ‘imaginary’—and thereby transcend the outdated but still persistent belief that our experience of the world is limited to information conveyed by our senses. The second, by demonstrating that the altered states achieved inter alia through their holotropic breathwork method reduce aggression and enhance tolerance, compassion, ecological sensitivity, and a sense of planetary citizenship. Since these are the very qualities we urgently need to cope with the global emergency in which we presently find ourselves, their contribution to the future of humankind matches their contribution to the future of psychology.” — Ervin Laszlo, author of The Connectivity Foundations of an Integral Science of Quantum, Cosmos, Life, and Consciousness“Holotropic Breathwork appears to have the potential for facilitating psychological insights and transformations that can be remarkably rapid and deep.” — Roger Walsh, coeditor of Higher Eminent Elders Explore the...
This book deals with the human spine with particular emphasis on the lumbar spine. Human gait is traditionally believed to be the exclusive function of the legs. The book presents arguments and data that challenge that belief. It proposes that the spine is the primary engine that makes us move. This engine, inherited from our fish ancestors, was never transferred to any extremities during our long evolutionary journey. From the theoretical and clinical analysis of the normal function of the spine, one can describe the changes that degrade its function. This forces us to define normality in terms of functionality, rather than anatomical perfection. A procedure for the objective measure of spinal function is proposed, and its clinical use discussed. A 35 minutes movie on the function of the spine in both MOV and WMV formats is included.
by Paul Madonna
Rating: 4.4 ⭐
• 2 recommendations ❤️
Beginning with his hometown of San Francisco and traveling to cities such as Paris, Rome, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo, Paul Madonna delivers his second body of drawings and writings. This stunning new collection, a testament to an artist and storyteller's careful observation of both the external and internal worlds, outdoes the masterful performance of his first book All Over Coffee, offering an even richer catalog of pen and ink cityscapes, short stories, conversations, and thoughts. Entertaining and moving, gorgeous to look at, Madonna's work remains unique and unclassifiable. This full color, hardbound edition comes complete with a removable poster.
Have you ever found yourself struggling with information overload?Have you ever felt both overworked and underutilised?Do you ever feel busy but not productive?If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is to become an Essentialist.In Essentialism, Greg McKeown, CEO of a Leadership and Strategy agency in Silicon Valley who has run courses at Apple, Google and Facebook, shows you how to achieve what he calls the disciplined pursuit of less. Being an Essentialist is about a disciplined way of thinking. It means challenging the core assumption of ‘We can have it all’ and ‘I have to do everything’ and replacing it with the pursuit of ‘the right thing, in the right way, at the right time'.By applying a more selective criteria for what is essential, the pursuit of less allows us to regain control of our own choices so we can channel our time, energy and effort into making the highest possible contribution toward the goals and activities that matter.Using the experience and insight of working with the leaders of the most innovative companies and organisations in the world, McKeown shows you how to put Essentialism into practice in your own life, so you too can achieve something great.
by Dan Harris
Rating: 4.2 ⭐
• 1 recommendation ❤️
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, a revised and updated edition of the award-winning #1 New York Times bestseller that changed the way we look at meditation, expanded with new material by Dan Harris. After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America , Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest the incessant, insatiable voice in his head. We all have an inner narrator. It’s what has us losing our temper unnecessarily, checking our email compulsively, eating when we’re not hungry, and fixating on the past and the future at the expense of the present. Most of us assume we’re stuck with this voice—that there’s nothing we can do to rein it in—but Harris stumbled upon an effective way to do just that. 10% Happier is now considered a classic text on the power of meditation, an introduction to the practice that can convert even the most hardened skeptic. With over a million copies sold, 10% Happier is the go-to guide, and with meditation now a widely accepted and encouraged practice, Dan Harris is a pivotal and approachable figure in the field who has built a thriving platform based on the ideas he first presented in this book. In this 10th Anniversary Edition, Harris offers a new preface reflecting on how much has changed—for him and for the public perceptions of meditation, plus a revised and expanded appendix, filled with guided meditations and practical advice for people looking to boot up a habit.
by Jean-Pierre Weill
Rating: 4.4 ⭐
• 2 recommendations ❤️
This captivating picture book for adults is an inquiry into the pursuit of happiness and what it means to be radically alive in our daily moments. It tells the story of an “everyman” searching for the well-being he longs for and dimly remembers, but no longer believes in. The Well of Being’s over 100 gorgeous watercolor illustrations and graceful, philosophic text draw the reader in, inviting us to surrender to the book’s simple, empowering message. It invites us to awaken from our constructed stories that we may return to this world and live in the present. Through art, philosophy, and poetry we are offered a refreshing and empowering way to rethink ourselves. This book is an experience to be felt.
by Michael A. Singer
Rating: 4.0 ⭐
• 1 recommendation ❤️
From the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller The Untethered Soul comes this thought-provoking, inspirational memoir on the magic that happens when you just let goSpirituality is meant to bring about harmony and peace. But the diversity of our philosophies, beliefs, concepts, and views about the soul often leads to confusion. To reconcile the noise that clouds spirituality, Michael Singer combines accounts of his own life journey to enlightenment—from his years as a hippie-loner to his success as a computer program engineer to his work in spiritual and humanitarian efforts—with lessons on how to put aside conflicting beliefs, let go of worries, and transform misdirected desires. Singer provides a road map to a new way of living not in the moment, but to exist in a state of perpetual happiness.
by Ted Koppel
Rating: 3.8 ⭐
• 3 recommendations ❤️
In this New York Times bestselling investigation, Ted Koppel reveals that a major cyberattack on America's power grid is not only possible but likely, that it would be devastating, and that the United States is shockingly unprepared. Imagine a blackout lasting not days, but weeks or months. Tens of millions of people over several states are affected. For those without access to a generator, there is no running water, no sewage, no refrigeration or light. Food and medical supplies are dwindling. Devices we rely on have gone dark. Banks no longer function, looting is widespread, and law and order are being tested as never before.It isn't just a scenario. A well-designed attack on just one of the nation's three electric power grids could cripple much of our infrastructure--and in the age of cyberwarfare, a laptop has become the only necessary weapon. Several nations hostile to the United States could launch such an assault at any time. In fact, as a former chief scientist of the NSA reveals, China and Russia have already penetrated the grid. And a cybersecurity advisor to President Obama believes that independent actors--from "hacktivists" to terrorists--have the capability as well. "It's not a question of if," says Centcom Commander General Lloyd Austin, "it's a question of when."And yet, as Koppel makes clear, the federal government, while well prepared for natural disasters, has no plan for the aftermath of an attack on the power grid. The current Secretary of Homeland Security suggests keeping a battery-powered radio.In the absence of a government plan, some individuals and communities have taken matters into their own hands. Among the nation's estimated three million "preppers," we meet one whose doomsday retreat includes a newly excavated three-acre lake, stocked with fish, and a Wyoming homesteader so self-sufficient that he crafted the thousands of adobe bricks in his house by hand. We also see the unrivaled disaster preparedness of the Mormon church, with its enormous storehouses, high-tech dairies, orchards, and proprietary trucking company - the fruits of a long tradition of anticipating the worst. But how, Koppel asks, will ordinary civilians survive?With urgency and authority, one of our most renowned journalists examines a threat unique to our time and evaluates potential ways to prepare for a catastrophe that is all but inevitable.
by Cal Newport
Rating: 4.2 ⭐
• 9 recommendations ❤️
One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results.Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way.In Deep Work, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill.A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, Deep Work takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories-from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air-and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. Deep Work is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.
Whether a beginner or at the highest level of practice, learn Zen from one of the greatest masters of the twentieth century.Why practice Zen? What sets Zen apart from religion? What are its different practices? These questions, and more, are examined and answered by Zen Master Koun Yamada, whose Dharma heirs include Robert Aitken, Ruben Habito, and David Loy. Through compelling stories and a systematic approach, he guides the reader through creating and sustaining a lifelong practice. Warm and ecumenical in tone, Koun uses the insights of Zen to bring a deeper understanding of faith. Zen: The Gateless Way is an easy-to-follow guide to creating an effortless and natural practice regardless of background, tradition, or religion.
by Krista Tippett
Rating: 4.1 ⭐
• 4 recommendations ❤️
“I’m a person who listens for a living. I listen for wisdom, and beauty, and for voices not shouting to be heard. This book chronicles some of what I’ve learned in what has become a conversation across time and generations, across disciplines and denominations.” Peabody Award-winning broadcaster and National Humanities Medalist Krista Tippett has interviewed the most extraordinary voices examining the great questions of meaning for our time. The heart of her work on her national public radio program and podcast, On Being, has been to shine a light on people whose insights kindle in us a sense of wonder and courage. Scientists in a variety of fields; theologians from an array of faiths; poets, activists, and many others have all opened themselves up to Tippett's compassionate yet searching conversation. In Becoming Wise, Tippett distills the insights she has gleaned from this luminous conversation in its many dimensions into a coherent narrative journey, over time and from mind to mind. The book is a master class in living, curated by Tippett and accompanied by a delightfully ecumenical dream team of teaching faculty. The open questions and challenges of our time are intimate and civilizational all at once, Tippett says – definitions of when life begins and when death happens, of the meaning of community and family and identity, of our relationships to technology and through technology. The wisdom we seek emerges through the raw materials of the everyday. And the enduring question of what it means to be human has now become inextricable from the question of who we are to each other. This book offers a grounded and fiercely hopeful vision of humanity for this century – of personal growth but also renewed public life and human spiritual evolution. It insists on the possibility of a common life for this century marked by resilience and redemption, with beauty as a core moral value and civility and love as muscular practice. Krista Tippett's great gift, in her work and in Becoming Wise, is to avoid reductive simplifications but still find the golden threads that weave people and ideas together into a shimmering braid. One powerful common denominator of the lessons imparted to Tippett is the gift of presence, of the exhilaration of engagement with life for its own sake, not as a means to an end. But presence does not mean passivity or acceptance of the status quo. Indeed Tippett and her teachers are people whose work meets, and often drives, powerful forces of change alive in the world today. In the end, perhaps the greatest blessing conveyed by the lessons of spiritual genius Tippett harvests in Becoming Wise is the strength to meet the world where it really is, and then to make it better.
by Kamal Ravikant
Rating: 4.0 ⭐
• 3 recommendations ❤️
Inspired by the author's own pilgrimage of walking the legendary Camino de Santiago across Spain comes Rebirth, a novel of reconciliation and forgiveness.After losing his estranged father, Amit wanders across Europe and embarks on the five-hundred and fifty mile Camino de Santiago to reconcile his inner conflict. It is on this path that he begins reflecting on relationships and forgiveness, to find answers we all seek. As Amit runs from his life, it soon becomes clear that it's impossible to run from himself. It is a universal pilgrimage, and a teaching-tale about love, forgiveness, and facing our fears.Told in the traditions of Paulo Coelho and Mitch Albom, the story gets to the heart of some of life's most enlightening lessons about family, devotion, and ambition.
The latest groundbreaking book from Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek. From the author: “For the last two years, I’ve interviewed nearly two hundred world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview, and the show is on the cusp of passing 100 million downloads. “This book contains the distilled tools, tactics, and ‘inside baseball’ you won’t find anywhere else. It also includes new tips from past guests, and life lessons from new ‘guests’ you haven’t met. “What makes the show different is a relentless focus on actionable details. This is reflected in the questions. For example: What do these people do in the first sixty minutes of each morning? What do their workout routines look like, and why? What books have they gifted most to other people? What are the biggest wastes of time for novices in their field? What supplements do they take on a daily basis? “I don’t view myself as an interviewer. I view myself as an experimenter. If I can’t test something and replicate results in the messy reality of everyday life, I’m not interested. “Everything within these pages has been vetted, explored, and applied to my own life in some fashion. I’ve used dozens of the tactics and philosophies in high-stakes negotiations, high-risk environments, or large business dealings. The lessons have made me millions of dollars and saved me years of wasted effort and frustration. “I created this book, my ultimate notebook of high-leverage tools, for myself. It’s changed my life, and I hope the same for you.”
From award-winning author John Crowley comes an exquisite fantasy novel about a man who tells the story of a crow named Dar Oakley and his impossible lives and deaths in the land of Ka.A Crow alone is no Crow.Dar Oakley—the first Crow in all of history with a name of his own—was born two thousand years ago. When a man learns his language, Dar finally gets the chance to tell his story. He begins his tale as a young man, and how he went down to the human underworld and got hold of the immortality meant for humans, long before Julius Caesar came into the Celtic lands; how he sailed West to America with the Irish monks searching for the Paradise of the Saints; and how he continuously went down into the land of the dead and returned. Through his adventures in Ka, the realm of Crows, and around the world, he found secrets that could change the humans’ entire way of life—and now may be the time to finally reveal them.
by Matthew Walker
Rating: 4.4 ⭐
• 4 recommendations ❤️
Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life, health and longevity and yet it is increasingly neglected in twenty-first-century society, with devastating consequences: every major disease in the developed world - Alzheimer's, cancer, obesity, diabetes - has very strong causal links to deficient sleep.Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why its absence is so damaging to our health. Compared to the other basic drives in life - eating, drinking, and reproducing - the purpose of sleep remained elusive.Now, in this book, the first of its kind written by a scientific expert, Professor Matthew Walker explores twenty years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of why sleep matters. Looking at creatures from across the animal kingdom as well as major human studies, Why We Sleep delves in to everything from what really happens during REM sleep to how caffeine and alcohol affect sleep and why our sleep patterns change across a lifetime, transforming our appreciation of the extraordinary phenomenon that safeguards our existence.
by Joseph Tafur
Rating: 4.5 ⭐
• 2 recommendations ❤️
Western medicine has not been particularly successful at getting people relief from conditions like depression, chronic pain, migraine headaches, addiction, and PTSD. Dr. Tafur helps us to understand why.I have watched people spend years in frustration and thousands of dollars consulting an army of specialists, without getting real relief from their problem. Because these and others are diseases deeply connected with the state of our emotional bodies. Too often, the Western medical approach fails to address the emotional dimension of illness. This is where traditional plant medicines, with their ability to alter consciousness and open channels of communication to our emotions, offer so much promise.The stories shared here demonstrate the astonishing-mystical, colorful, metaphysical-effects of ayahuasca and Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine. Follow Dr. Tafur through the Amazon jungle as he develops a breakthrough understanding of how psychoactive plants interact with the complex network that connects our minds and hearts to our physical anatomy. What Dr. Tafur presents here is nothing short of a paradigm shift for modern medicine, where sacred plants, used properly in ceremony, take their place as important tools in the doctor's medicine chest, offering the missing elements of emotional and spiritual healing that have eluded us for so long.For more information about The Fellowship of The River, please visit https: //drjoetafur.com/the-fellowship-of-the-...
by Valter Longo
Rating: 3.9 ⭐
• 2 recommendations ❤️
The internationally renowned, clinically tested, revolutionary diet program to lose weight, fight disease, and live a longer, healthier life.Can what you eat determine how long, and how well, you live? The clinically proven answer is yes, and The Longevity Diet is easier to follow than you'd think. The culmination of 25 years of research on aging, nutrition, and disease across the globe, this unique program lays out a simple solution to living to a healthy old age through nutrition. The key is combining the healthy everyday eating plan the book outlines, with the scientifically engineered fasting-mimicking diet, or FMD; the FMD, done just 3-4 times a year, does away with the misery and starvation most of us experience while fasting, allowing you to reap all the beneficial health effects of a restrictive diet, while avoiding negative stressors, like low energy and sleeplessness. Valter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at USC and the Program on Longevity and Cancer at IFOM in Milan, designed the FMD after making a series of remarkable discoveries in mice, then in humans, indicating that specific diets can activate stem cells and promote regeneration and rejuvenation in multiple organs to significantly reduce risk for diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's, and heart disease. Longo's simple pescatarian daily eating plan and the periodic fasting-mimicking techniques can both yield impressive results. Low in proteins and sugars and rich in healthy fats and plant-based foods, The Longevity Diet is proven to help you:- Lose weight and reduce abdominal fat - Extend your healthy lifespan with simple everyday changes - Prevent age-related muscle and bone loss - Build your resistance to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's and cancerLongo's healthy, life span-extending program is based on an easy-to-adopt pescatarian plan along with the fasting-mimicking diet no more than 4 times a year, just 5 days at a time. Including 30 easy recipes for an everyday diet based on Longo's five pillars of longevity, The Longevity Diet is the key to living a longer, healthier, more fulfilled life.
Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.In 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the United States, according to Fortune magazine. Dalio himself has been named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way, Dalio discovered a set of unique principles that have led to Bridgewater’s exceptionally effective culture, which he describes as “an idea meritocracy that strives to achieve meaningful work and meaningful relationships through radical transparency.” It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio—who grew up an ordinary kid in a middle-class Long Island neighborhood—that he believes are the reason behind his success.In Principles, Dalio shares what he’s learned over the course of his remarkable career. He argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines. The book’s hundreds of practical lessons, which are built around his cornerstones of “radical truth” and “radical transparency,” include Dalio laying out the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams. He also describes the innovative tools the firm uses to bring an idea meritocracy to life, such as creating “baseball cards” for all employees that distill their strengths and weaknesses, and employing computerized decision-making systems to make believability-weighted decisions. While the book brims with novel ideas for organizations and institutions, Principles also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve.Here is a rare opportunity to gain proven advice unlike anything you’ll find in the conventional business press.
by Qing Li
Rating: 4.0 ⭐
• 2 recommendations ❤️
The definitive guide to the therapeutic Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or the art and science of how trees can promote health and happinessForest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, is the Japanese secret to health and happiness, and it's right in your own backyard. As a society we suffer from nature deficit disorder. But studies have shown that backing away from your computer screen and stepping outside to spend mindful, intentional time in nature can reduce your stress levels and blood pressure, strengthen your immune and cardiovascular systems, and boost your energy, mood, creativity, and concentration. It can even help you live longer: the phytoncides, or chemical compounds, produced by trees can help your body produce more of the white blood cells that fight cancer.Forest bathing is more than just a walk in the woods. Unlike hiking, there is no particular destination and no physical exertion required; it is an exercise for the mind, not the body. By observing how a tree sways in the wind, running your hand over its bark, or noticing the particular citrusy scent of a forest, you will learn how to lose yourself in the beauty of your surroundings, leave everyday stress behind you, and reach a place of greater calm and wellness. Illustrated with more than 100 color photographs, this beautiful guide to forest bathing will introduce you to the healing power of trees.
by Allen Carr
Rating: 4.0 ⭐
• 2 recommendations ❤️
In a fast-paced world, many people turn to caffeine to stay energi z ed . Over 80 per cent of adults in the UK use caffeine every day, but when does this habit become a reliance?Caffeine is a bitter addictive drug which attacks the central nervous system and makes you jittery. Fooling you into thinking you are more alert, caffeine will often disrupt your sleep and actually increase overall fatigue. Quite simply, it's bad for you with no real benefits.In The Easy Way to Quit Caffeine , Allen Carr addresses the difficulties that coffee-drinkers and soda consumers face in trying to quit caffeine. By explaining what caffeine does to your body, and providing simple step-by-step instructions to free you from your addiction, Carr shows you how to lead a happier, healthier and more chilled life.
From National Book Award in Fiction finalist Andrew Krivak comes a gorgeous fable of Earth’s last two human inhabitants and a girl's journey home.In an Eden-like future, a girl and her father live close to the land in the shadow of a lone mountain. They own a few remnants of civilization: some books, a pane of glass, a set of flint and steel, a comb. The father teaches his daughter how to fish and hunt and the secrets of the seasons and the stars. He is preparing her for an adulthood in harmony with nature, for they are the last of humankind. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through a vast wilderness that offers the greatest lessons of all, if she can learn to listen. A cautionary tale of human fragility, of love and loss, The Bear is a stunning tribute to the beauty of nature’s dominion.
by Henry Shukman
Rating: 4.2 ⭐
• 10 recommendations ❤️
One Blade of Grass tells the story of how meditation practice helped Henry Shukman to recover from the depression, anxiety, and chronic eczema he had had since childhood and to integrate a sudden spiritual awakening into his life. By turns humorous and moving, this beautifully written memoir demystifies Zen training, casting its profound insights in simple, lucid language, and takes the reader on a journey of their own, into the hidden treasures of life that contemplative practice can reveal to any of us.
The world's leading expert on near-death experiences reveals his journey toward rethinking the nature of death, life, and the continuity of consciousness.Cases of remarkable experiences on the threshold of death have been reported since ancient times, and are described today by 10% of people whose hearts stop. The medical world has generally ignored these “near-death experiences,” dismissing them as “tricks of the brain” or wishful thinking. But after his patients started describing events that he could not just sweep under the rug, Dr. Bruce Greyson began to investigate.As a physician without a religious belief system, he approached near-death experiences from a scientific perspective. In After, he shares the transformative lessons he has learned over four decades of research. Our culture has tended to view dying as the end of our consciousness, the end of our existence—a dreaded prospect that for many people evokes fear and anxiety.But Dr. Greyson shows how scientific revelations about the dying process can support an alternative theory. Dying could be the threshold between one form of consciousness and another, not an ending but a transition. This new perspective on the nature of death can transform the fear of dying that pervades our culture into a healthy view of it as one more milestone in the course of our lives. After challenges us to open our minds to these experiences and to what they can teach us, and in so doing, expand our understanding of consciousness and of what it means to be human.
Truth and lies are two sides of the same coin. But who's flipping it? A thought-provoking and brilliantly entertaining work of non-fiction from one of the world's leading deceivers, the creator and star of the astonishing theater show and forthcoming film In & Of Itself.Derek DelGaudio believed he was a decent, honest man. But when irrefutable evidence to the contrary is found in an old journal, his memories are reawakened and Derek is forced to confront—and try to understand—his role in a significant act of deception from his past.Using his youthful notebook entries as a road map, Derek embarks on a soulful, often funny, sometimes dark journey, retracing the path that led him to a world populated by charlatans, card cheats, and con artists. As stories are peeled away and artifices are revealed, Derek examines the mystery behind his father's vanishing act, the secret he inherited from his mother, the obsession he developed with sleight-of-hand that shaped his future, and the affinity he felt for the professional swindlers who taught him how to deceive others. And once he finds himself working as a crooked dealer in a big-money Hollywood card game, Derek begins to question his own sense of morality, and discovers that even a master of deception can find himself trapped inside an illusion.Amoralman is a wildly engaging exploration of the fictions we live as truths. It is ultimately a book about the lies we tell ourselves and the realities we manufacture in others.
by Sebastian Mallaby
Rating: 4.4 ⭐
• 12 recommendations ❤️
Shortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Named a Best Book of 2022 by The Economist“A gripping fly-on-the-wall story of the rise of this unique and important industry based on extensive interviews with some of the most successful venture capitalists.” - Daniel Rasmussen, Wall Street Journal“A must-read for anyone seeking to understand modern-day Silicon Valley and even our economy writ large.” -Bethany McLean, The Washington Post"A rare and unsettling look inside a subculture of unparalleled influence.” —Jane Mayer"A classic...A book of exceptional reporting, analysis and storytelling.” —Charles DuhiggFrom the New York Times bestselling author of More Money Than God comes the astonishingly frank and intimate story of Silicon Valley’s dominant venture-capital firms—and how their strategies and fates have shaped the path of innovation and the global economyInnovations rarely come from “experts.” Elon Musk was not an “electric car person” before he started Tesla. When it comes to improbable innovations, a legendary tech VC told Sebastian Mallaby, the future cannot be predicted , it can only be discovered . It is the nature of the venture-capital game that most attempts at discovery fail, but a very few succeed at such a scale that they more than make up for everything else. That extreme ratio of success and failure is the power law that drives the VC business, all of Silicon Valley, the wider tech sector, and, by extension, the world. In The Power Law , Sebastian Mallaby has parlayed unprecedented access to the most celebrated venture capitalists of all time—the key figures at Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Accel, Benchmark, and Andreessen Horowitz, as well as Chinese partnerships such as Qiming and Capital Today—into a riveting blend of storytelling and analysis that unfurls the history of tech incubation, in the Valley and ultimately worldwide. We learn the unvarnished truth, often for the first time, about some of the most iconic triumphs and infamous disasters in Valley history, from the comedy of errors at the birth of Apple to the avalanche of venture money that fostered hubris at WeWork and Uber. VCs’ relentless search for grand slams brews an obsession with the ideal of the lone entrepreneur-genius, and companies seen as potential “unicorns” are given intoxicating amounts of power, with sometimes disastrous results. On a more systemic level, the need to make outsized bets on unproven talent reinforces bias, with women and minorities still represented at woefully low levels. This does not just have social justice as Mallaby relates, China’s homegrown VC sector, having learned at the Valley’s feet, is exploding and now has more women VC luminaries than America has ever had. Still, Silicon Valley VC remains the top incubator of business innovation anywhere—it is not where ideas come from so much as where they go to become the products and companies that create the future. By taking us so deeply into the VCs’ game, The Power Law helps us think about our own future through their eyes.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A groundbreaking manifesto on living better and longer that challenges the conventional medical thinking on aging and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health, from a visionary physician and leading longevity expert Wouldn’t you like to live longer? And better? In this operating manual for longevity, Dr. Peter Attia draws on the latest science to deliver innovative nutritional interventions, techniques for optimizing exercise and sleep, and tools for addressing emotional and mental health. For all its successes, mainstream medicine has failed to make much progress against the diseases of aging that kill most people: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and type 2 diabetes. Too often, it intervenes with treatments too late to help, prolonging lifespan at the expense of healthspan, or quality of life. Dr. Attia believes we must replace this outdated framework with a personalized, proactive strategy for longevity, one where we take action now, rather than waiting. This is not “biohacking,” it’s science: a well-founded strategic and tactical approach to extending lifespan while also improving our physical, cognitive, and emotional health. Dr. Attia’s aim is less to tell you what to do and more to help you learn how to think about long-term health, in order to create the best plan for you as an individual. In Outlive, readers will discover: • Why the cholesterol test at your annual physical doesn’t tell you enough about your actual risk of dying from a heart attack.• That you may already suffer from an extremely common yet underdiagnosed liver condition that could be a precursor to the chronic diseases of aging.• Why exercise is the most potent pro-longevity “drug”—and how to begin training for the “Centenarian Decathlon.”• Why you should forget about diets, and focus instead on nutritional biochemistry, using technology and data to personalize your eating pattern.• Why striving for physical health and longevity, but ignoring emotional health, could be the ultimate curse of all. Aging and longevity are far more malleable than we think; our fate is not set in stone. With the right roadmap, you can plot a different path for your life, one that lets you outlive your genes to make each decade better than the one before.
by Suneel Gupta
Rating: 4.3 ⭐
• 1 recommendation ❤️
Find your Dharma—your inner calling—and learn to integrate ambition, work, and wellbeing to create a balanced, joyous life with this practical, life-changing guide from the beloved speaker, bestselling author, and visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. We’ve been conditioned, from an early age, to believe that one day we’ll reach a moment of “arrival.” But no matter how much we achieve or acquire we still don’t feel as satisfied or as fulfilled as we thought we would be. Exhausted, we become burned out and cynical, questioning the purpose of it all. An expert on happiness and work, Suneel Gupta argues that for too long society has been fixated on the Future of Work and ignored the Future of Worth. We’ve compartmentalized work and well-being and ignored the fact that both are essential for sustained success. We’ve assumed that outer success leads to inner well-being–despite history showing us that this has never been the case. In Everyday Dharma , Suneel helps us break this negative cycle. A captivating storyteller, he weaves personal stories, history, science, Eastern philosophy, and Western modalities in this engaging, enlightening, and prescriptive book. He begins by helping us identify our dharma, the essence of who we are. When you’re in your Dharma, you feel confident, creative, and caring, with a sense of purpose, and that shines through your life and work. Everyday Dharma provides an accessible three-step approach to discovering, understanding, and living your “sacred calling.” At its center are self-assessments to help you identify your passions and powerful rituals for building new habits—ancient practices supported by science and found in diverse cultural sources, including Toni Morrison’s novels, Jimi Hendrix’s lyrics, and Frida Kahlo’s paintings, and used by the likes of Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Mahatma Gandhi. Finding your dharma empowers you to let go of anxiety, follow your wildest ambitions, produce your life’s work, and experience true joy.
by Charles Duhigg
Rating: 4.0 ⭐
• 1 recommendation ❤️
An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.From the author of The Power of Habit, a fascinating exploration of what makes conversations work—and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in life.Come inside a jury room as one juror leads a starkly divided room to consensus. Join a young CIA officer as he recruits a reluctant foreign agent. And sit with an accomplished surgeon as he tries, and fails, to convince yet another cancer patient to opt for the less risky course of treatment. In Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg blends deep research and his trademark storytelling skills to show how we can all learn to identify and leverage the hidden layers that lurk beneath every conversation.Communication is a superpower and the best communicators understand that whenever we speak, we’re actually participating in one of three conversations: practical (What’s this really about?), emotional (How do we feel?), and social (Who are we?). If you don’t know what kind of conversation you’re having, you’re unlikely to connect. Supercommunicators know the importance of recognizing—and then matching—each kind of conversation, and how to hear the complex emotions, subtle negotiations, and deeply held beliefs that color so much of what we say and how we listen. Our experiences, our values, our emotional lives—and how we see ourselves, and others—shape every discussion, from who will pick up the kids to how we want to be treated at work. In this book, you will learn why some people are able to make themselves heard, and to hear others, so clearly.With his storytelling that takes us from the writers’ room of The Big Bang Theory to the couches of leading marriage counselors, Duhigg shows readers how to recognize these three conversations—and teaches us the tips and skills we need to navigate them more successfully.In the end, he delivers a simple but powerful lesson: With the right tools, we can connect with anyone.
by Henry Shukman
Rating: 4.3 ⭐
• 1 recommendation ❤️
The essential meditation guide for the twenty-first renowned mindfulness teacher Henry Shukman replaces the concept of original sin with original love, teaching us to tap into the love that shapes our world and can transform who we are. An increasing number of people today feel disconnected, disengaged, and lonely. Many of us are seeking solace, beginning with ourselves. Original Love is the secular spiritual handbook we need to ease our troubles and find the highest possible happiness. Henry Shukman, spiritual director of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, provides a way forward based on four paths—Mindfulness, Support, Absorption, and Awakening—that promote growth and healing through meditation for practitioners of any level. And it works! Shukman includes inspiring stories from the students of his Original Love program that reveal how it has transformed their lives. Urgently needed, Original Love helps us create peace for ourselves and our times by Finding a sense of love is a critical purpose of meditation. Finding your way back to the loving peace that lives at the center of things is Original Love.