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Alisa Applewhite – CEO of Top of the Line Healthcare Staffing Topofthelinehealthcarestaffing.com

Your Most Important Number: Increase Collaboration, Achieve Your Strategy, and Execute to Win by Lee Benson Do you know your most important number? Numbers make or break you. Ask any bankrupt business or successful startup and they’ll both agree, numbers don’t lie. Unfortunately, most teams focus on too many numbers or the wrong numbers or maybe no numbers at all! Author Lee Benson knows numbers. He grew his business from 3 employees to 500 with 15 consecutive years of 20 percent compounded average annual growth. Friends and families asked for his secret. He told them it came down to Your Most Important Number. Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric and “Manager of the Century” raved about Lee’s MIND methodology (Most Important Number and Drivers). Welch said, “It is the best business management operating system I have ever seen. Had I used it when running General Electric, our results would have been exponentially better.” Because you can’t scale complexity, the power lies in its simplicity. In this breakthrough book get ready to: Set your Most Important Number (MIN) so this new North Star empowers everyone on your team to move in the same direction. Craft Drivers to improve your number so you create winning outcomes and results. Do the right work at the right time so everyone knows how to contribute to your team’s success. Tap into this simple method to increase collaboration, achieve your strategy, and execute to win, starting today! About the Author Lee Benson has over 25 years of experience as a CEO. He owned and led Able Aerospace, then sold it for 9-figures to Textron Aviation. Next, he founded Execute to Win (ETW) to help senior leadership teams experience similar results by working better together at improving their organization’s most important number. Today, his operating system is used by businesses all over the world. Lee lives in Arizona where he leads ETW, plays guitar, reads, exercises, and spends time with those that matter most. Connect at YourMostImportantNumber.com

Jeremy Shepherd, CEO Of Pearl Paradise on Building A Successful Business And Insight To The Pearl Industry Marketplace Pearlparadise.com Jeremy Shepherd is an entrepreneur and e-commerce expert who has spent more than 25 years in the digital space. His experience includes developing, curating and launching direct-to-consumer, televised shopping segments for NBCUniversal and TelevisaUnivision, and building PearlParadise.com, one of the largest direct-to-consumer pearl brands in the world.

Born Extraordinary: Empowering Children with Differences and Disabilities by Meg Zucker A parent’s guide to empowering children to embrace their visible and invisible differences Meg Zucker was born with one finger on each hand, shortened forearms, and one toe on each misshapen foot, caused by a genetic condition called ectrodactyly. She would eventually pass this condition on to her two sons, and, along with her husband, raise them and their adopted daughter, who has her own invisible differences. Born of the family’s hard-won experiences, this book offers invaluable advice on raising confident, empathetic, and resilient children who succeed, not despite but because of their differences. Born Extraordinary helps parents of children with differences and disabilities to relinquish their instinctive anxieties, embrace their new normal, and ultimately find joy in watching their children thrive. Often the subjects of unwanted attention—ranging from pitying stares to bullying—Zucker and her sons have learned to ignore what others think and live fearlessly. Also incorporating the stories of other families with visible and invisible differences of all kinds, Born Extraordinary gives parents the tools to meet their children’s emotional needs while supporting the whole family unit. Parents learn how best to empower their children to confront others’ assumptions, grow in confidence, and encourage dialogue—rather than silence, fear, and shame—around difference.

It Won’t Hurt None: A story of courage, healing and a return to wholeness by Rebecca E Chandler What sort of life does a girl from a small town live while carrying the burden of abuse? A surprisingly rich, complicated, and unexpected one. With candor and vulnerability, Rebecca E. Chandler’s courageous memoir takes readers on a journey as she navigates relationships, her career, and self-discovery while living with trauma, complex PTSD, and multiple personality disorder. Through perseverance, Rebecca’s story is one of transformation as she moves beyond the yoke of “Rebecca the Survivor” and comes to accept and love herself. Overwhelmingly candid and revealing, “It Won’t Hurt None” brings a difficult and sensitive subject out of the darkness and reminds us that healing is rarely, if ever linear. “It Won’t Hurt None” is a must-read for anyone seeking inspiration on the path to healing and wholeness. Rebecca E. Chandler is an avid storyteller and pursued a full-time writing career after retiring from thirty years of producing film, TV, and marketing content around the world. Please visit www.rebeccaechandler.com to learn more. Buy It Won’t Hurt None today and start your healing journey. Please also purchase Hurt No More – Grow a Foundation for Healing the companion journal to It Won’t Hurt None. Co-Authored by Rebecca E Chandler and Aparna Ramakrishnan, MSW, Hurt No More offers practical insights, steps, and encouragement to stand in your truth.

The Uncertainty Solution: How to Invest with Confidence in the Face of the Unknown by John M. Jennings A better approach to investing This is not a typical investment book. It is an experiential guide on cultivating the mindset and behavior necessary to weather inherently uncertain and unpredictable markets. It doesn’t just tell you how to invest but how to think better about investing. Referencing studies on psychology, decision making, and investment behavior, Jennings provides a no-nonsense analysis of the financial markets and a road map to navigating its inevitable twists and turns. Jennings uses mental models to create a latticework of wisdom that will help you evaluate investment advice and learn better behavior in the face of uncertainty. To name a few: ignore expert predictions, be wary of stories, and try to invest like a dead person. An engaging dive into investing psychology and best practices, The Uncertainty Solution is an authoritative, accessible guide for both lay investors and professionals inundated with financial news and data. Read this book to improve your thinking about investing, practice better investment behavior, and ultimately, have more money. About John M. Jennings John M. Jennings is president and chief strategist of St. Louis Trust & Family Office, a $15 billion wealth management firm. He is an adjunct professor at Washington University’s Olin Business School and writes on wealth management topics for Forbes. He has finance and law degrees from the University of Missouri and a professional certificate in Decision Making and Behavioral Finance from Harvard.

Mo Hamzian, Co-Founder & CEO of VEL Myvel.com What is VEL? VEL is a premium, utopian work cafe focused on providing remote workers and people on the go a quiet working space to stay on task and accomplish their goals while enjoying award-winning coffee. From reservable privacy pods and seating to walk-ins and more, VEL offers a dynamic and adaptable space to gather, work, meet and unwind. Mo Hamzian, Co-Founder & CEO of VEL, took his love for working at coffee shops and turned that into a work experience that offers flexible privacy and psychological safety. Meet Mo As a first generation immigrant to the United States, Mo Hamzian is breaking boundaries while spearheading a fast-growing, seed funded startup and capitalizing on a significant shift that is occurring in the US workforce. As CEO of VEL, a premium utopian tech-forward work cafe, he has focused his efforts on transforming the current workplace for freelancers and remote workers to embrace a new working environment that meets the needs of the age we’re in. Mo Hamzian graduated from Regents University London with a degree in International Business in 1997. In 2016, Hamzian returned to school to earn his Master’s degree in Science, Leadership and Strategy from the London Business School’s Sloan Master’s Program. With over 20 years of experience, his ability to deliver results to investors has led him to successfully execute projects totaling over $150M.

A Soldier Against All Odds: A Memoir by LT. COL. Jason G Pike by Jason Pike A brutally honest tale of a soldier’s unorthodox life, a rogue career, and an often-maverick character not easily aligned with the military credo. I Am a Soldier Against All Odds, and what follows is a genuine and frank account—the good, the very bad, and the very ugly—of my thirty-one years in uniform. Diagnosed at age seven with an acute learning disability and failing first grade that year, I was sent back to repeat it. At age nine, I was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, a crippling bone disease dissolving the bone of my knee that added to my academic challenges and a significant physical disadvantage. With more than three decades of national guard and active service, after starting my military career at seventeen and retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel, I was told that none of it would be possible. For that advice, there were undoubtedly excellent grounds. My story, therefore, is one of survival, perseverance, and a refusal to quit, no matter what, a characteristic gifted to me by my father. Once I did it, everyone asked, “how the hell did you do it?” And many times, I asked myself the same question… In A Soldier Against All Odds, I show that It is possible, through determination, careful application, and bold strategy, to overcome or compensate for personal humiliation brought about primarily by my own mistakes, being haunted by investigations, academic difficulty, arrests, many ass-chewings, and physical frailty. I did pay the price for being me. This is how I did it, but most importantly, how I survived it. The chronicle of life will inspire you to wince, cry, and laugh. I hope that the lessons I learned through the course of my life and my military career will be an inspiration to anyone confronting the future from a place of disadvantage.

Carolyn Wilman, Contest Queen, Sweepstakes Marketer and Author Contestqueen.com How to be a winner—in the contests you enter or in the game of life. Who says you can’t win’em all?! Learn Helene’s dynamic philosophy of successful living through positive thinking, and you too can enjoy rich rewards in terms of spiritual, physical, and material well-being. Contesting: The Name It & Claim It Game includes the following information: SPEC – a 4-step Law of Attraction formula and how to use it to win prizes—and in life Learn WINeuvers for WISHcraft using your WINgenuity Helene’s Three-Step Process for Success The Difference Between Desire & Knowing How Helene Won a Fully Furnished Home The Nuts & Bolts of Contest Mechanics – the basics Frequently Asked Questions New: The third edition is Helene Hadsell’s final revised edition of Contesting: The Name It & Claim It Game. Never before told stories, tips, notes, plus updates from Carolyn Wilman, aka The Contest Queen. Uncover your destiny—Learn how to create your own Blueprint. WIN GOLD! Discover Helene’s Fourteen Step program for being a Gold Medal winner.

Benjamin Banneker and Us: Eleven Generations of an American Family by Rachel Jamison Webster A family reunion gives way to an unforgettable genealogical quest as relatives reconnect across lines of color, culture, and time, putting the past into urgent conversation with the present. In 1791, Thomas Jefferson hired a Black man to help survey Washington, DC. That man was Benjamin Banneker, an African American mathematician, a writer of almanacs, and one of the greatest astronomers of his generation. Banneker then wrote what would become a famous letter to Jefferson, imploring the new president to examine his hypocrisy, as someone who claimed to love liberty yet was an enslaver. More than two centuries later, Rachel Jamison Webster, an ostensibly white woman, learns that this groundbreaking Black forefather is also her distant relative. Acting as a storyteller, Webster draws on oral history and conversations with her DNA cousins to imagine the lives of their shared ancestors across eleven generations, among them Banneker’s grandparents, an interracial couple who broke the law to marry when America was still a conglomerate of colonies under British rule. These stories shed light on the legal construction of race and display the brilliance and resistance of early African Americans in the face of increasingly unjust laws, some of which are still in effect in the present day.

Reverberation: Do Everything Better with Music by Keith Blanchard, Peter Gabriel With Michael Hermann and Anna Gabriel Music is a universal human experience that’s been with us since the dawn of time. You’ve listened to music all your life . . . but have you ever wondered why? It turns out music isn’t just about entertainment—it’s a deeply embedded, subtly powerful means of communication. Songs resonate with your brain wave patterns and drive changes in your brain: creating your moods, consolidating your memories, strengthening your habits (the good ones and the bad ones alike) . . . even making you fall in or out of love. Your music is molding you, at a subconscious level, all day long. And now, for the first time ever, you can take charge. From executive editor Peter Gabriel and the minds behind It’s All in Your Head (the ultimate user’s guide for your brain), Reverberation unlocks a world where you can actively leverage the power of music to improve and enhance every aspect of your life. You’ll learn specific songs and techniques to help you sleep better, induce creative breakthroughs, be more productive, have better sex, and a whole lot more. You’ll discover the amazing work happening at the intersection of music, science, technology, and medicine. The authors spoke to dozens of neuroscientists making exciting breakthroughs, as well as top recording artists like David Byrne, Branford Marsalis, Hans Zimmer, Mick Fleetwood, and Sheila E. to gain the music maker’s perspective. And you’ll learn how music is already being strategically applied to break addiction and reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s, build more productive and creative teams, develop intuitive personalized technology, and is otherwise changing . . . well, everything.

A Stone Is Most Precious Where it Belongs: A Memoir of Uyghur Exile, Hope, and Survival by Gulchehra Hoja This extraordinary memoir shares an insight into the lives of the Uyghurs, a people and culture being systematically destroyed by China—and a woman who gave up everything to help her people. In February 2018, twenty-four members of Gulchehra Hoja’s family disappeared overnight. Her crime – and thus that of her family – was her award-winning investigations on the plight of her people, the Uyghurs, whose existence and culture is being systematically destroyed by the Chinese government. A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs is Gulchehra’s stunning memoir, taking us into the everyday world of life under Chinese rule in East Turkestan (more formally known as the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China), from her idyllic childhood to its modern nightmare. The grandchild of a renowned musician and the daughter of an esteemed archaeologist, Gulchehra grew up with her people’s culture and history running through her veins. She showed her gifts early on as a dancer, actress, and storyteller, putting her on a path to success as a major television star. Slowly though, she began to understand what China was doing to her people, as well as her own complicity as a journalist. As her rising fame and growing political awakening coincided, she made it her mission to expose the crimes Beijing is committing in the far reaches of its nation, no matter the cost. Reveling in the beauty of East Turkestan and its people – its music, its culture, its heritage, and above all its emphasis on community and family – this groundbreaking memoir gives us a glimpse beyond what the Chinese state wants us to see, showcasing a woman who was willing to risk not just her own life, but also that of everyone she loves, to expose her people’s story to the world.

Facebook’s Oldest Intern: How a 60-year-old fitness trainer reinvented himself with the most unlikely of companies by Howard Waldstreicher Maybe it was a sign to switch careers? That’s what I thought when the pandemic hit and I was struggling to pay the rent at the gym I owned. I had created HalfHourPower, a proprietary training system for athletes and had taken my method on the road opening studios. I was burnt out from the business after so many years anyway. At age 60, could I really get back into tech? I was twenty-plus years out of this industry and corporate work in general. But I had been keeping myself biologically young and strong with diet, training, lifestyle and some genetic good luck. I knew I had things to offer, if only I could prove myself an asset to these companies (and to myself). I just needed one shot, and as my mother always told me, “It only takes one.” I started applying. Nothing – no acknowledgements, no responses, no signs of life. I applied everywhere. I applied for programs set up for people re-entering the workforce. I tried to use whatever connections I had. I networked. I got certifications for data science and data analysis and practiced regularly. Crickets. My wife was my biggest champion though and encouraged me to apply for a job posting at Facebook. “There’s no way,” I said incredulously. “Facebook? The best of the best?”

Mary Henderson, Personal Branding & Online Business Specialist Maryhendersoncoaching.com Bio: Mary is an internationally recognised Personal Branding & Digital Business Specialist. Mary helps Service Based Business Owners, Coaches and Consultants systemise, digitalise and commercialise their knowledge, wisdom and skills into a scalable & profitable online business and brand so they become an authority in their niche or industry. Mary has 20+ years’ experience building 7 & 8 figure businesses & building high-performance sales teams in the IT sector and 15 years delivering online solutions for large and small businesses. She has been featured in many publications and is regarded as a thought leader in the Digital sector. Mary’s point of difference is her Personal Branding technology, a SaaS Platform that has the ability to define a person’s brand essence with precision that can be applied across all communication touchpoints. She is also the founder of Lights.Cameras. Action an end-to-end coaching program that delivers tangible outcomes. When you engage Mary, you access 39,000+ hours of experience, knowledge and wisdom in Personal Branding, client profiling, lead generation strategies, online course development, sales leadership, content development and digital acumen. Mary embraces technology and social media in a big way and her followers are growing daily. Mary is a heart centred, compassionate and tenacious entrepreneur who thrives on human transformation and witnessing people fulfil their dreams.

The House on Prytania (A Royal Street Novel) by Karen White A woman is haunted—both literally and figuratively—by ghosts of the past in this second novel of the Royal Street series by New York Times bestselling author Karen White. Nola Trenholm may not be psychic herself, but she’s spent enough time around people who are to know when ghosts are present, and there are definitely a few lingering spirits in her recently purchased Creole cottage in New Orleans. Something, or someone, is keeping them tethered to this world. And not all of them are benign. But with the sudden return of Sunny Ryan, Beau Ryan’s long-lost sister, Nola has plenty to distract her from her ghostly housemates. Especially when the tempting—yet firmly unavailable—Beau, wanting to mete out justice to those he blames for Sunny’s kidnapping, asks Nola for a favor that threatens to derail her hard-won recovery and send her hurtling backward. He asks her to welcome Michael Hebert back into her life, even though Michael is the reason for Nola’s bruised heart. Beau is convinced that Michael’s powerful family was behind Sunny’s disappearance and that Michael is the key to getting information the police won’t be able to ignore—if Nola is willing to risk everything for which she’s worked so hard. Torn between helping Beau and protecting herself, Nola doesn’t realize until it’s almost too late why the ghosts are haunting her house—a startling revelation that will throw her and Beau together to fight a common enemy. Assuming Nola can get Beau to listen to what the spirits are trying to tell him, because ignoring them could prove to be a fatal mistake…

Nesting After Divorce: Co-Parenting in the Family Home by Beth Behrendt In the spirit of Conscious Uncoupling comes a guide for a child-centered approach to parenting after divorce—known as nesting—that will change what it looks like to move forward as a family after a marriage ends. Research suggests when a couple separates, children suffer the most, as they’re typically shuttled back and forth between two different homes. When Beth Behrendt and her husband divorced, she found a better way: She gave her children custody of the home, while she and her husband moved around. After successfully implementing more than six years of what’s known as “nesting,” Behrendt has created a step-by-step guide for divorcing parents to introduce the practice in their own families. In Nesting After Divorce, Behrendt provides a coparenting program that can start when an unhappily married couple considers the pros and cons of a nesting divorce. She offers advice on deciding whether nesting is the right choice for a family and communicating the concept to a spouse, children, friends, and family. She outlines the steps for assembling a nesting “team” of legal, financial, and mental health professionals and even shows how, surprisingly, nesting is often a more affordable approach to divorce than the traditional two-home model. Behrendt’s divorce book expands upon her viral 2017 New York Times essay “After Divorce, Giving Our Kids Custody of the Home,” and is the perfect guide for anyone seeking a healthy, amicable divorce for their family.

Sophie Thompson CEO & Co-Founder of VirtualSpeech Virtualspeech.com VirtualSpeech is Professional Development Training for the Modern Workplace, Join 370,000+ people and boost your career with award-winning courses on public speaking, leadership, sales, and more. Practice online or in virtual reality (VR).

Sonny Thadani, CEO of Robin, Empowering Educators, Students and Families Well-being, Personal Growth and Potential My-Robin.com

Elizabeth Mikotowicz Artist, Fashion Designer, Writer, Activist Interview Legaleriste.com/en/Elizabeth.mikotowicz Instagram: EPM_art_1111 TikTok: EPM_art_1111

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, 3rd Edition by John Perkins Los Angeles Times Bestseller How do we stop the unrelenting evolution of the economic hit man strategy and China’s takeover? The riveting third edition of this New York Times bestseller blows the whistle on China’s economic hit man (EHM) strategy, exposes corruption on an international scale, and offers much-needed solutions for curing the degenerative Death Economy. In this shocking exposé, former EHM John Perkins gives an insider view into the corrupt system that cheats and strong-arms countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars and ultimately causes staggering income inequality and ecological devastation. EHMs are highly paid professionals who use development loans to saddle countries with huge debts and force them to serve US interests. Now, a new EHM wave is infecting the world, and at the peak of the devastation sits China, a newly dominant economic power, with its own insidious version of the US EHM blueprint. Twelve explosive new chapters detail the allure, exploitation, and wreckage of China’s EHM strategy in Latin America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. If allowed to continue its rampage, the EHM strategy—whether executed by the United States or China—will destroy life as we know it. However, all is not lost. Perkins offers a plan for transforming this system that places profits above all into a Life Economy that restores the earth. He inspires readers to take actions toward a new era of global cooperation that will end the United States’s and China’s EHM strategies for good.

Hitler’s Maladies and Their Impact on World War II: A Behavioral Neurologist’s View by Tom Hutton Toward the end of World War II, Hitler’s many health complications became even more pronounced, making an evil man yet more erratic and dangerous. While the subject of Hitler’s health has been catalogued previously, never has it been done so this thoroughly or with this level of up-to-date medical expertise. Tom Hutton’s new neurobehavioral analysis of Adolf Hitler draws from a lifetime of medical research and clinical experience to understand how the dictator’s particular medical history further warped a deformed personality and altered Hitler’s decision making. Dr. Hutton trained under the world-renowned neuropsychologist and father of modern neuropsychological assessment, Dr. Alexander Luria, giving him a uniquely qualified eye to undertake this most difficult assessment. While many books on the subject thumb through the annals of popular psychology to understand history’s most famous monsters, Dr. Hutton’s latest book uses contemporary clinical knowledge, lucidly synthesizing medical complexities for all audiences. Here Dr. Hutton undertakes a thorough medical history to elucidate a pivotal historical moment, examining how disease impacted Hitler’s destructive life.

Benjamin Cohen: Helping all people build passive income Using E-commerce Businesses Scalingelite.com

Judgement Day, The Prequel to The Devil’s Advocate by Andrew Neiderman & V.C. Andrews Books A cop investigating a suspicious suicide uncovers a satanic plot in this thrilling prequel to The Devil’s Advocate. After a promising young attorney plummets twenty stories to his death just outside his posh Manhattan apartment, the police wish to label the incident a suicide. But the detective assigned to the case, Lt. Matthew Blake, is troubled by the evidence. He senses something far more sinister about the attorney’s demise, and as he investigates, he discovers the unbelievable truth . . . Meanwhile, charming defense attorney John Milton has an appointment at the law firm of Simon & James. He is all too eager to take on the caseload of their late employee. Although the firm is happy to have Blake on board, they have no idea just what their new hire is capable of doing in order to win . . .

Inside the Liberal Arts: Critical Thinking and Citizenship by Jeffrey Scheuer Inside the Liberal Arts accomplishes two ambitious goals at once, and shows why they are inseparable: It explains the nature and purpose of liberal learning – to produce critical thinkers and well-rounded democratic citizens – and offers a probing, accessible guided tour of critical thinking, emphasizing the analytic skills that form the intellectual core of all higher education. Becoming better critical thinkers doesn’t mean we have to become philosophers. As users of language, Scheuer explains, we’re already philosophers. Advanced critical thinking simply makes us better philosophers – and better learners and citizens. In lucid and often witty prose, Scheuer guides us through the moral and conceptual heart of the liberal education ideal. In an era when colleges and universities are struggling to convey the value of that ideal to students and parents, Inside the Liberal Arts will be a lasting aid to intellectual excellence, and a benchmark for understanding what it means to be an educated citizen.

Mixed Signals: How Incentives Really Work by Uri Gneezy An informative and entertaining account of how actions send signals that shape behaviors and how to design better incentives for better results in our life, our work, and our world Incentives send powerful signals that aim to influence behavior. But often there is a conflict between what we say and what we do in response to these incentives. The result: mixed signals. Consider the CEO who urges teamwork but designs incentives for individual success, who invites innovation but punishes failure, who emphasizes quality but pays for quantity. Employing real-world scenarios just like this to illustrate this everyday phenomenon, behavioral economist Uri Gneezy explains why incentives often fail and demonstrates how the right incentives can change behavior by aligning with signals for better results. Drawing on behavioral economics, game theory, psychology, and fieldwork, Gneezy outlines how to be incentive smart, designing rewards that are simple and effective. He highlights how the right combination of economic and psychological incentives can encourage people to drive more fuel-efficient cars, be more innovative at work, and even get to the gym. “Incentives send a signal,” Gneezy writes, “and your objective is to make sure this signal is aligned with your goals.”

Forgotten War (A Matt Drake Novel) by Don Bentley “A fascinating, action-packed thriller from one of the genre’s most talented authors. Don Bentley delivers a blistering adventure loaded with excitement and fabulous characters. You will not want it to end!”—Brad Thor, New York Times #1 bestselling author of Dead Fall A brotherhood born in battle is endangered by a deadly secret in the latest astonishing thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Tom Clancy Zero Hour and Hostile Intent. As a team, Matt Drake and his partner, Frodo, have watched each other’s backs through some very dark days. But one thing they’ve never doubted was their commitment to each other…until now. Frodo has been accused of a war crime ten years after leaving Afghanistan. Matt is determined to prove his friend innocent, but what will he do when he finds that his closest friend has secrets he won’t share?

The Magick of Physics: Uncovering the Fantastical Phenomena in Everyday Life by Felix Flicker An award-winning Oxford physicist draws on classic sci-fi, fantasy fiction, and everyday phenomena to explain and celebrate the magical properties of the world around us. If you were to present the feats of modern science to someone from the past, those feats would surely be considered magic. Theoretical physicist Felix Flicker proves that they are indeed magic—just familiar magic. The name for this magic is “condensed matter physics.” Most people haven’t heard of the field, yet more than a third of physicists identify as condensed matter researchers, making it the most active area in the subject—with good reason. Condensed matter is the solids, liquids, and gasses that surround us—and the more exotic matters—which dictate every aspect of our present existence, and hold the keys to a brighter future, from quantum computing to real-life invisibility cloaks. Flicker teases out the magical threads that run through our daily lives. Condensed matter physics allows you to create anything abiding by the laws of reality—and often, we find that those laws can be bent. Flicker explains how to create new particles which never existed before, how to make crystals shoot out such intense light they can cut through metal, how to separate the poles of a magnet. And more. The book’s endearing conceit is that you, the reader, are an aspiring wizard whose ability to cast spells (i.e. to do science) is dependent on your grasp of the fundamentals of our universe. This book contains no equations or charts—instead, it’s full of owls and mountains and infinite libraries, and staffs and wands, and martial arts and mythical islands ruled by sage knot-makers. Part of the book’s magic is that, for all these fanciful trappings, it still feels practical and applicable. The Magick of Physics will open your eyes to the miracles that surround us.

Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East by Steven Simon A longtime American foreign policy insider’s penetrating and definitive reckoning with this country’s involvement in the Middle East—and its bitter end The culmination of almost forty years at the highest levels of policymaking and scholarship, Grand Delusion is Steven Simon’s tour de force, offering a comprehensive and deeply informed account of U.S. engagement in the Middle East. Simon begins with the Reagan administration, when American perception of the Middle East shifted from a cluster of faraway and frequently skirmishing nations to a shining, urgent opportunity for America to (in Reagan’s words) “serve the cause of world peace and the future of mankind.” Reagan fired the starting gun on decades of deepening American involvement, but as the global economy grew, bringing an increasing reliance on oil, U.S. diplomatic and military energies were ever more fatefully absorbed by the Middle East until the Obama administration and its successors finally sought to disentangle America from the region. Grand Delusion explores the motivations, strategies, and shortcomings of each presidential administration from Reagan to today, exposing a web of intertwined events—from Lebanese civil conflict to shifting Iranian domestic politics, Cold War rivalries, and Saudi Arabia’s quest for security to 9/11 and the war on terror—managed by a Washington policy process frequently ruled by wishful thinking and partisan politics. Simon’s sharp sense of irony and incisive writing bring a complex history to life. He questions the motives behind America’s commitment to Israel; explodes the popular narrative of Desert Storm as a “good war”; and calls out the devastating consequences of our mistakes, particularly for people of the region trapped by the onslaught of American military action and pitiless economic sanctions. Grand Delusion reveals that this story, while episodically impressive, was too often tragic and at times dishonorable. As we enter a new era in foreign policy, this is an essential book, a cautionary history that illuminates American’s propensity for self-deception and misadventure at a moment when the nation is redefining its engagement with a world in crisis.

Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work by Nick Sonnenberg The practical guide to go from “drowning in work” to freeing up an extra business day per week for everyone on your team. “There just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done!” Sound familiar? Forget the old concepts of time management and the hustle culture of working until you burn out. You and your entire team can get more done, in far fewer hours, with the right blueprint. Come Up for Air is that blueprint. Through years of building a leading efficiency consulting business, Nick Sonnenberg has discovered the primary reason why so many teams are overwhelmed. It’s not because they don’t have enough time, managers expect too much of their employees, or there aren’t enough people. The problem is that everyone is drowning in unnecessary work and inefficiencies that prevent them from focusing on the work that drives results. In Come Up for Air, you’ll discover the CPR® Business Efficiency Framework, a proven system for leaders, managers, and teams to maximize their performance and reduce overwhelm by using the right tools in the right way, at the right time. The end result? More output, less stress, happier employees, and the potential to gain an extra full day per week in productivity to use however you’d like. You’ll learn the proven empirical strategies from someone who not only turned his company around when it was on the verge of bankruptcy, but has also helped thousands of organizations around the world become more efficient and leverage the right systems and tools for explosive growth. Come Up for Air is the employee manual you never received. Turn to Come Up for Air to: Gain an extra full day per week in productivity for everyone on your team. Reduce stress and burnout by creating a more stable work environment. Eliminate the 58% of employee time per day spent on “work about work” instead of being productive. Improve company culture by empowering your team to spend their time on work that matters. Save an average of two hours per week just by optimizing email with the R.A.D. System. Stop wasting time on the “Scavenger Hunt” of trying to find where information is stored. Increase employee happiness, satisfaction, trust, and retention by making work easier. Stop wasting time in meetings with four proven techniques. Supplement your learning with free content and in-depth instructions at comeupforair.com

The Twyford Code: A Novel by Janice Hallett The mysterious connection between a teacher’s disappearance and an unsolved code in a children’s book is explored in this new novel from the “modern Agatha Christie” (The Sunday Times, London) and author of The Appeal. Forty years ago, Steven “Smithy” Smith found a copy of a famous children’s book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. When he showed it to his remedial English teacher Miss Iles, she believed that it was part of a secret code that ran through all of Twyford’s novels. And when she later disappeared on a class field trip, Smithy becomes convinced that she had been right. Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Smithy decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. In a series of voice recordings on an old iPhone, Smithy alternates between visiting the people of his childhood and looking back on the events that later landed him in prison. But it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn’t just a writer of forgotten children’s stories. The Twyford Code holds a great secret, and Smithy may just have the key. “Filled with numerous clues, acrostics, and red herrings, this thrilling scavenger hunt for the truth is delightfully deceptive and thoroughly immersive” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

I Am Still With You: A Reckoning with Silence, Inheritance, and History by Emmanuel Iduma A deeply moving, lyrical journey through the author’s homeland of Nigeria, in search of the truth about his disappeared uncle and the history of a war that shaped him, his family, and a nation In inimitable, rhythmic prose, the author and winner of the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize Emmanuel Iduma tells the story of his return to Nigeria, where he grew up, after years of living in New York. He traveled home with an elusive mission: to learn the fate of his uncle Emmanuel, his namesake, who disappeared in the Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s. A conflict that left so many families broken, the war remains at the margins of the history books, almost taboo to discuss. To find answers, Iduma stopped in city after city throughout the former Biafra region, reconnecting with relatives dear and distant to probe their memories, prowling university libraries to furtively photocopy illicit books, and visiting half-abandoned monuments along the highway. Perhaps, he realized, if he could understand how his father grieved the loss of a brother in the war, he might learn how to grieve his late father in turn. His is also the story of countless families across the country and across the world who will never have answers or proper funerals for their loved ones. It’s a story about the birth of an artist, about writing itself as an act both healing and political, even dangerous. And it’s a story about family history and legacy, and all the questions the dead leave unanswered. How much of the author’s identity is wrapped up in this inheritance? And what does it mean to return home, when the people who define it are gone? Equal parts memoir, national history, and political reckoning, I Am Still With You is a profoundly personal story of collective loss and making peace with the unknowable.

All Else Failed: The Unlikely Volunteers at the Heart of the Migrant Aid Crisis by Dana Sachs As hundreds of thousands of displaced people sought refuge in Europe, the global relief system failed. This is the story of the volunteers who stepped forward to help. In 2015, increasing numbers of refugees and migrants, most of them fleeing war-torn homelands, arrived by boat on the shores of Greece, setting off the greatest human displacement in Europe since WWII. As journalists reported horrific mass drownings, an ill-prepared and seemingly indifferent world looked on. Those who reached Europe needed food, clothing, medicine, and shelter, but the international aid system broke down completely. All Else Failed is Dana Sachs’s compelling eyewitness account of the successes—and failures—of the volunteer relief network that emerged to meet the enormous need. Closely following the odysseys of seven individual men and women, and their families, it tells a story of despair and resilience, revealing the humanity within an immense humanitarian disaster.

The Case for Cancel Culture: How This Democratic Tool Works to Liberate Us All by Ernest Owens Refinery 29’s Most Anticipated Books By Black & Latine Authors in 2023! Philadelphia Inquirer’s Best New Books for February! “A necessary discourse about power and control, and who ultimately has a voice versus whose is often stifled.” ―Preston D. Mitchum, LGBTQIA attorney, activist, and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University The first major case for cancel culture as a fundamental means of democratic expression throughout history, and timely necessity aimed at combating systems of oppression. “___ is canceled.” Chances are, you’ve heard this a lot lately. What might’ve once been a niche digital term has been legitimized in the discourse of presidents, politicians, and lawmakers. But what really is cancel culture? Blacklisting celebrities? Censorship? Until now, this has been the general consensus in the media. But it’s time to raise the bar on our definition― to think of cancel culture less as scandal or suppression, and more as an essential means of democratic expression and accountability. The Case for Cancel Culture does just that. This cultural critique from 2023 Philly News Award-Winning journalist Ernest Owens offers a fresh progressive lens in favor of cancel culture as a tool for activism and change. Using examples from politics, pop culture, and his own personal experience, Owens helps readers reflect on and learn the long history of canceling (spoiler: the Boston Tea Party was cancel culture); how the left and right uniquely equip it as part of their political toolkits; how intersections of society wield it for justice; and ultimately how it levels the playing field for the everyday person’s voice to matter. Why should we care? Because in a world where protest and free speech are being challenged by the most powerful institutions, those without power deserve to understand the nuance and importance of this democratic tool available to them. Readers will walk away from this first-of-its-kind exploration not despising cancel culture but embracing it as a form of democratic expression that’s always been leading the charge in liberating us all. “Journalist Owens debuts with an incisive defense of cancel culture… his arguments are thought-provoking and well supported. The result is an invigorating survey of a hot-button political issue.” ―Publishers Weekly “An important tool for all times, and for anyone looking to learn how to have the difficult but necessary conversations about race, injustice, inequality, and oppression.” ―Dawn Ennis, award-winning journalist, advocate, and university professor

Pride (7 Deadly Sins) by Victoria Christopher Murray Mylifetime.com/movies/pride-a-seven-deadly-sins-story The 7 Deadly Sins series that inspired four Lifetimeoriginal movies continues with this unputdownable novel following mortgage broker Journee Alexander as she tries to escape the secrets of her past without losing all she has worked to build in the present. Journee Alexander grew up believing that the only person she could depend on was herself. After being abandoned by her mother, burning bridges with friends, and narrowly escaping bad business dealings with her first mentor, her trust is hard to earn and harder to keep. But she has overcome all of that and now, as a successful mortgage broker at the top of her game in Houston’s booming real estate market, she has every reason to be proud of her accomplishments. She achieved this massive success on her own—there’s no need to put her trust in anyone else. But when Journee starts receiving cryptic text messages from an unknown number threatening to destroy everything she has worked to build, she is out of her depth for the first time. Forced to consider accepting help from someone, Journee turns to the first man she loved, the one who got away. But old habits are hard to break and after trusting only her own instincts for so long, can she put her pride aside and accept advice from an old flame? Or should she put her trust in a brand-new love who is in sync with all that she wants to do? Journee is forced to confront the secrets of her past, the old hurts that never seem to heal, and the fact that sometimes a meteoric rise is just the first step in a devastating fall that will change her life forever.

My Recap Thoughts on The Plot To Save South Africa Interview

The Plot to Save South Africa: The Week Mandela Averted Civil War and Forged a New Nation by Justice Malala A riveting, kaleidoscopic account of nine tumultuous days, as the assassination of Nelson Mandela’s protégé by a white supremacist threatens to derail South Africa’s democratic transition and plunge the nation into civil war. Johannesburg, Easter weekend, 1993. Nelson Mandela has been free for three years and is in power sharing talks with President FW de Klerk when a white supremacist shoots the Black leader’s popular young heir apparent, Chris Hani, in hopes of igniting an all-out war. Will he succeed in plunging South Africa into chaos, safeguarding apartheid for perhaps years to come? In The Plot to Save South Africa, acclaimed South African journalist Justice Malala recounts the gripping story of the next nine days, as the government and Mandela’s ANC seek desperately to restore the peace and root out just how far up into the country’s leadership the far-right plot goes. Told from the points of view of over a dozen characters on all sides of the conflict, Malala offers an illuminating look at successful leadership in action and a terrifying reminder of just how close a country we think of today as a model for racial reconciliation came to civil war.

THE GODDESS COMPASS: “A life-transformational guide for every woman going through physical or emotional trauma.” by Deanna Hann Goddess compass is not only a guide or a program but a complete lifestyle to help other women overcome trauma and heal on so many levels through the goddess compass and guide them so they can navigate from their pain. The Goddess Compass is the most powerful way to reconnect to self-love, rebuild your stunning self-worth and establish healthy boundaries, so you can have healthy relationships with yourself and others and move away from the pain.Those sister goddesses who have been suffering from emotional or mental trauma, depression, anxiety, failing relationships, physical pain, disease, addiction, sexual or physical abuse will get a love potion to heal themselves in this program. The love potion in this program will help you learn and practice self-love, self-worth, self-esteem, and confidence in your daily routine so that you can create a life that you love, filled with passion, pleasure and purpose. As a coach, I am blessed and grateful for the darkest moments in my life because it makes me resilient, confident, and empowered. Having a strong mindset, I created healthy boundaries. The love potion for me put me on a quest, or should I say an inquiry, to discover who I am and who I was. This is a little to show you the fog of my mind that was and now how I feel the sun shining on my face even when it’s not. I’m connected to the universe, creation, spiritually, and I want every woman to tap into their goddess powers through my program. –Deanna Hann

Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End by Bart D. Ehrman A New York Times bestselling Biblical scholar reveals why our popular understanding of the Apocalypse is all wrong—and why that matters. You’ll find nearly everything the Bible has to say about the end in the Book of Revelation: a mystifying prophecy filled with bizarre symbolism, violent imagery, mangled syntax, confounding contradictions, and very firm ideas about the horrors that await us all. But whether you understand the book as a literal description of what will soon come to pass, interpret it as a metaphorical expression of hope for those suffering now, or only recognize its highlights from pop culture, what you think Revelation reveals…is almost certainly wrong. In Armageddon, acclaimed New Testament authority Bart D. Ehrman delves into the most misunderstood—and possibly the most dangerous—book of the Bible, exploring the horrifying social and political consequences of expecting an imminent apocalypse and offering a fascinating tour through three millennia of Judeo-Christian thinking about how our world will end. By turns hilarious, moving, troubling, and provocative, Armageddon presents inspiring insights into how to live our lives in the face of an uncertain future and reveals what the Bible really says about the end.

The Plans He Has For Me: A 12-Week Daily Devotional for Freedom from Alcohol by Rose Ann Forte Are you ready to change your relationship with alcohol? Rose Ann Forte was, and she knew she needed an approach that was more meaningful. And she wanted a fresh start that kept her motivated! The Plans He Has for Me is a twelve-week guided devotional that will teach you: What stepping away from alcohol really does for the body and mind How to positively change the language you use to talk about drinking How to feel hopeful instead of shameful or restricted How to refocus your attention on what really adds value to your life How to stop living in the past, and be a forgiving support system to others! So how does it work? And what makes this approach different? Each day you’ll receive biblical guidance in the form of scripture, encouragement, and a daily prayer. The messages are short, but powerful. “The mindful minutes were what I found most affecting…these minutes should be lingered over when possible and considered. You may find surprising wisdom after letting them steep for a time in your mind.” – Portland Book Review Trust that you’ll also find inspiration to create new habits, and motivation to stay the course! God has a much better plan for you – one of endless possibilities, hope and good health.

Maybe You Should Give Up: 7 Ways to Get Out of Your Own Way and Take Control of Your Life by Byron Morrison After years of being his own worst enemy, Byron Morrison knows exactly how frustrating the never-ending cycle of hard work, expectation, and minimal results can be. Maybe You Should Give Up is Morrison’s answer to the question: how can anyone achieve their dreams if hard work isn’t enough? It seems like every self-help book and personal development program is the same these days, preaching that if someone just does more and pushes harder, they can achieve the life of their dreams. This expectation doesn’t often work with long-term results, which leaves many people to face the unfortunate reality of never reaching their goals. Why? Because despite their good intentions, they get in their own way, sabotaging themselves and becoming the biggest stumbling block in the way of their success. Tired of going ‘round in circles, Byron Morrison realized he needed to do something different. He gave up—not on his goals and dreams, accepting a life of mediocrity lying on the couch—but on being controlled by fear. He gave up living in the past. He gave up comparing himself to others. He gave up on being so hard on himself. And he gave up putting off his happiness. And it worked. He was able to get out of his own way and finally take control of his life. Maybe You Should Give Up explains how to throw out the rule book, break the mold and do something different. Byron Morrison’s approach helps readers identify 7 areas of their life that cause them to get in their own way and keep them stuck in a self-destructive cycle; he models how to give up on what holds a person back—to finally take control of the life they want and deserve.

The Transcendent Brain: Spirituality in the Age of Science by Alan Lightman From the acclaimed author of Einstein’s Dreams comes a rich, fascinating answer to the question, Can the scientifically inclined still hold space for spirituality? Gazing at the stars, falling in love, or listening to music, we sometimes feel a transcendent connection with a cosmic unity and things larger than ourselves. But these experiences are not easily understood by science, which holds that all things can be explained in terms of atoms and molecules. Is there space in our scientific worldview for these spiritual experiences? According to acclaimed physicist and novelist Alan Lightman, there may be. Drawing on intellectual history and conversations with contemporary scientists, philosophers, and psychologists, Lightman asks a series of thought-provoking questions that illuminate our strange place between the world of particles and forces and the world of complex human experience. Can strict materialism explain our appreciation of beauty? Or our feelings of connection to nature and to other people? Is there a physical basis for consciousness, the most slippery of all scientific problems? Lightman weaves these investigations together to propose what he calls “spiritual materialism”— the belief that we can embrace spiritual experiences without letting go of our scientific worldview. In his view, the breadth of the human condition is not only rooted in material atoms and molecules but can also be explained in terms of Darwinian evolution. What is revealed in this lyrical, enlightening book is that spirituality may not only be compatible with science, it also ought to remain at the core of what it means to be human.

Malady of the Mind: Schizophrenia and the Path to Prevention by Jeffrey A. Lieberman Of the many myths and misconceptions that obscure our understanding of schizophrenia, the most pernicious is that there is no effective treatment or cure. Though that may have been true in the past, the current reality couldn’t be more different: today’s treatments have the potential to be game-changing—and often lifesaving. This powerful portrait of schizophrenia, the most malignant and mysterious mental illness, by renowned psychiatrist Jeffrey Lieberman, interweaves cultural and scientific history with dramatic patient profiles and clinical experiences to impart a revolutionary message of hope. For the first time in history, we can effectively treat schizophrenia, limiting its disabling effects—and we’re on the verge of being able to prevent the disease’s onset entirely. In this rigorously researched, profoundly compelling biography of schizophrenia, Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman draws on his four-decade career to illuminate the past, present, and future of this historically dreaded and devastating illness. From his vantage point at the pinnacle of academic psychiatry, informed by extensive research experience and clinical care of thousands of patients, Dr. Lieberman explains how the complexity of the brain, the checkered history of psychiatric medicine, and centuries of stigma combined with misguided legislation and health care policies have impeded scientific advances and clinical progress. Despite this, there is reason for optimism: by offering evidence-based treatments that combine medication with psychosocial services and principles learned from the recovery movement, doctors can now effectively treat schizophrenia by diagnosing patients at a very early stage, achieving a mutually respectful therapeutic alliance, and preventing relapse, thus limiting the progression of the illness. Even more auspiciously, decades of work on diagnosis, detection, and early intervention have pushed scientific progress to the cusp of prevention—meaning that in the near future, doctors may be able to prevent the onset of this disorder. A must-read for fans of medical histories, psychology, and those whose lives have been affected by schizophrenia, this revelatory work offers a comprehensive scientific portrait, crucial insights, sound advice for families and friends, and most importantly, hope for sufferers now and in the generations to come.

Investing in a Recession – Time to Think about Gold by Simon Popple Brookvillecapital.com

Bayou Beloved (Butterfly Bayou) by Lexi Blake When a woman returns home to Louisiana’s Butterfly Bayou, her high school crush finally notices she exists, in a small-town contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake. Quaid Havery always planned to follow in his father’s footsteps. He went to law school and then came home to take over his dad’s legal practice. Being the only lawyer in small-town Papillon, Quaid is pretty sure he’s seen everything. After all, he was once asked to sue an alligator for defamation of character. He’s prepared for anything the town can throw at him, until he encounters Jayna Cardet. She’s gorgeous, smart, funny, and unlike any woman he’s met before….Except he has. Jayna never thought she’d return to Papillon, but when her life gets turned around she must learn to live in the close-knit community again. She certainly never dreamed she would practice law in her little town, but she finds herself in the courtroom, and the opposing counsel is her former high school crush, Quaid. It wouldn’t be so bad if the man had developed a beer belly, but Quaid is more handsome than ever. And instead of ignoring her like he did in high school, he’s made it plain that he wants to get to know her. Thus begins a courtship destined to end in a wedding or a war. Either way, the locals are popping some corn and eagerly awaiting the outcome.

The World Itself: Consciousness and the Everything of Physics by Ulf Danielsson There is a wonderfully weird but real world out there, and we are a part of it. It is time for physics to take life seriously. Can we ever truly comprehend the universe before we fully understand consciousness and the wonders, and limits, of the mind? Ulf Danielsson, an acclaimed theoretical physicist who has dedicated his career to probing the deepest mysteries of nature, thinks not. As he dismantles the arguments of esteemed mathematicians and scientists, who would substitute their mathematical models for reality and equate the mind to a computer, he makes a lucid and passionate case that it is nature, full of beauty and meaning, which must compel us. In challenging established worldviews, he also takes a fresh look at major philosophical debates, including the notion of free will. Fearless, provocative, and witty, The World Itself is essential reading for anyone curious about the profound questions surrounding life, the universe, and everything.

Creators Take Control: How NFTs Revolutionize Art, Business, and Entertainment by Edward Lee A leading legal scholar offers a compelling new theory to explain the meteoric rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their impact on art, business, entertainment, and society, and explains how they are revolutionizing our understanding of ownership. If you buy an NFT, do you own anything? Critics say no. Then why are people spending so much money to own them—to the tune of $27 billion in 2021? And why are big businesses and venture capital firms investing hundreds of millions to develop NFTs for people’s use in the metaverse, a purely imaginary world? In Creators Take Control, Edward Lee offers a compelling new theory he calls “Tokenism” that answers these perplexing questions. Using vivid examples, Lee lucidly explains how NFTs operate—and how they fundamentally change our understanding of ownership. Tokenism is an artistic, cultural, and technological movement that creates value in a new kind of ownership of a new type of property—symbolized by a virtual token—through a process of technological abstraction and artificial scarcity effectuated by NFTs. Ownership becomes virtual. What Cubism did in radically changing the twentieth-century perspective of creating and viewing art through cubes, Tokenism does today in altering our perspective of owning art and other things through tokens. Both movements radically reimagine what’s possible. Creators and businesses have seized upon this profound transformation. In a short time, they have developed a new market for digital art, important new rights for creators, innovative business models based on decentralized collaboration, and a new type of interactive ownership that enables identity, community, and patronage through NFTs. These innovations are just the start of revolutionary changes to society. Lee shows how NFTs create a new form of decentralized intellectual property, or De-IP. Comparable to the movement to decentralized finance (DeFi), De-IP empowers creators to take control of their artistic productions and livelihood. Lee’s intellectual tour de force is filled with practical insights—and hope—for fostering creativity and a Virtual Renaissance for the ages. About the Author Edward Lee is a leading legal expert on NFTs and intellectual property. He is a professor of law and co-director of Illinois Tech Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Center for Design, Law, and Technology, the first U.S. institution devoted to research of creativity, technology,…

They Ask, You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today’s Digital Consumer by Marcus Sheridan The revolutionary guide that challenged businesses around the world to stop selling to their buyers and start answering their questions to get results; revised and updated to address new technology, trends, the continuous evolution of the digital consumer, and much more In today’s digital age, the traditional sales funnel―marketing at the top, sales in the middle, customer service at the bottom―is no longer effective. To be successful, businesses must obsess over the questions, concerns, and problems their buyers have, and address them as honestly and as thoroughly as possible. Every day, buyers turn to search engines to ask billions of questions. Having the answers they need can attract thousands of potential buyers to your company―but only if your content strategy puts your answers at the top of those search results. It’s a simple and powerful equation that produces growth and success: They Ask, You Answer. Using these principles, author Marcus Sheridan led his struggling pool company from the bleak depths of the housing crash of 2008 to become one of the largest pool installers in the United States. Discover how his proven strategy can work for your business and master the principles of inbound and content marketing that have empowered thousands of companies to achieve exceptional growth. They Ask, You Answer is a straightforward guide filled with practical tactics and insights for transforming your marketing strategy. This new edition has been fully revised and updated to reflect the evolution of content marketing and the increasing demands of today’s internet-savvy buyers. New chapters explore the impact of technology, conversational marketing, the essential elements every business website should possess, the rise of video, and new stories from companies that have achieved remarkable results with They Ask, You Answer. Upon reading this book, you will know: How to build trust with buyers through content and video. How to turn your web presence into a magnet for qualified buyers. What works and what doesn’t through new case studies, featuring real-world results from companies that have embraced these principles. Why you need to think of your business as a media company, instead of relying on more traditional (and ineffective) ways of advertising and marketing. How to achieve buy-in at your company and truly embrace a culture of content and video. How to transform your current customer base into loyal brand advocates for your company. They Ask, You Answer is a must-have resource for companies that want a fresh approach to marketing and sales that is proven to generate more traffic, leads, and sales.

The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II by Ian Buruma Ian Buruma’s spellbinding account of three near-mythic figures—a Dutch fixer, a Manchu princess, and Himmler’s masseur—who may have been con artists and collaborators under Japanese and German rule, or true heroes, or something in between. On the face of it, the three characters in this book seem to have little in common—aside from the fact that each committed wartime acts that led some to see them as national heroes, and others as villains. All three were mythmakers, larger-than-life storytellers, for whom the truth was beside the point. Felix Kersten was a plump Finnish pleasure-seeker who became Heinrich Himmler’s indispensable personal masseur—Himmler calling him his “magic Buddha.” Kersten presented himself after the war as a resistance hero who convinced Himmler to save countless people from mass murder. Kawashima Yoshiko, a gender-fluid Manchu princess, spied for the Japanese secret police in China, and was mythologized by the Japanese as a heroic combination of Mata Hari and Joan of Arc. Friedrich Weinreb was a Hasidic Jew in Holland who took large amounts of money from fellow Jews in an imaginary scheme to save them from deportation, while in fact betraying some of them to the German secret police. Sentenced after the war as a con artist, he was regarded regarded by supporters as the “Dutch Dreyfus.” All three figures have been vilified and mythologized, out of a never-ending need, Ian Buruma argues, to see history, and particularly war, and above all World War II, as a neat story of angels and devils. The Collaborators is a fascinating reconstruction of what in fact we can know about these incredible figures and what will always remain out of reach. What emerges is all the more mesmerizing for being painted in chiaroscuro. In times of life-and-death stakes, the truth quickly gets buried under lies and self-deception. Now, when demagogues abroad and at home are assaulting the truth once more, the stories of the collaborators and their lessons are indispensable.

How I’ll Kill You by Ren DeStefano Your next stay-up-all-night thriller, about identical triplets who have a nasty habit of killing their boyfriends, and what happens when the youngest commits their worst crime yet: falling in love with her mark. Make him want you. Make him love you. Make him dead. Sissy has an…interesting family. Always the careful one, always the cautious one, she has handled the cleanup while her serial killer sisters have carved a path of carnage across the U.S. Now, as they arrive in the Arizona heat, Sissy must step up and embrace the family pastime of making a man fall in love and then murdering him. Her first target? A young widower named Edison—and their mutual attraction is instant. While their relationship progresses, and most couples would be thinking about picking out china patterns and moving in together, Sissy’s family is reminding her to think about picking out burial sites and moving on. Then something happens that Sissy never anticipated: She begins to feel protective of Edison, and before she can help it, she’s fallen in love. But the clock is ticking, and her sisters are growing restless. It becomes clear that the gravesite she chooses will hide a body no matter what happens; but if she betrays her family, will it be hers?

The Angel Makers: Arsenic, a Midwife, and Modern History’s Most Astonishing Murder Ring by Patti McCracken The Angel Makers is a true-crime story like no other—a 1920s midwife who may have been the century’s most prolific killer leading a murder ring of women responsible for the deaths of at least 160 men. The horror occurred in a rustic farming enclave in modern-day Hungary. To look at the unlikely lineup of murderesses—village wives, mothers, and daughters—was to come to the shocking realization that this could have happened anywhere, and to anyone. At the center of it all was a sharp-minded village midwife, a “smiling Buddha” known as Auntie Suzy, who distilled arsenic from flypaper and distributed it to the women of Nagyrév. “Why are you bothering with him?” Auntie Suzy would ask, as she produced an arsenic-filled vial from her apron pocket. In the beginning, a great many used the deadly solution to finally be free of cruel and abusive spouses. But as the number of dead bodies grew without consequence, the killers grew bolder. With each vial of poison emptied, a new reason surfaced to drain yet another. Some women disposed of sickly relatives. Some used arsenic as “inheritance powder” to secure land and houses. For more than fifteen years, the unlikely murderers aided death unfettered and tended to it as if it were simply another chore—spooning doses of arsenic into soup and wine, stirring it into coffee and brandy. By the time their crimes were discovered, hundreds were feared dead. Anonymous notes brought the crimes to light in 1929. As a skillful prosecutor hungry for justice ran the investigation, newsmen from around the world—including the New York Times—poured in to cover the dramatic events as they unfolded. The Angel Makers captures in expertly researched detail the entirety of this harrowing story, from the early murders to the final hanging—the story of one of the most sensational and astonishing murder rings in all of modern history.