Archive for May, 2010

House Rules: A Novel

Monday 24 May 2010 @ 3:50 am

The prolific Picoult crafts a cunning whodunit that explores what it’s like to be not only a teenager with Asperger’s syndrome but also an AS kid accused of murder. Congenitally incapable of interpreting common social behavior or properly expressing his feelings, Jacob Hunt takes refuge in Crimebuster reruns and forensic science, often to the chagrin of the local cops. When the badly battered corpse of Jacob’s social-skills tutor, grad student Jess Ogilvie, is finally discovered, police first suspect Jess’ hot-tempered boyfriend. But when TV news footage shows Jess’ body wrapped in Jacob’s favorite quilt, his mother, Emma, reluctantly realizes her son might somehow be involved. After Jacob’s arrest, legal machinations go toe to toe with medical ethics, while Emma never realizes that Jacob’s younger brother, Theo, is struggling to conceal his own dangerous secret, one that will directly impact the outcome of Jacob’s trial. Told from multiple viewpoints, including those of an empathetic detective and an eager but wet-behind-the-ears attorney, the mystery unfolds at a spellbinding pace. But Picoult also does an exceptional job communicating the complexities of Asperger’s syndrome and the challenges confronting AS families. Faithful Picoult fans will whisk this off the shelves, but devoted readers of savvy courtroom dramas should also give it a try. –Carol Haggas

Comments (0) | Posted in Books

Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs

Sunday 16 May 2010 @ 3:45 am

Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs

Until Dr. Barnard’s scientific breakthrough, most health professionals believed that once you developed diabetes, you were stuck with it—and could anticipate one complication after another, from worsening eyesight and nerve symptoms to heart and kidney problems. But as this groundbreaking work reveals, this simply is not true. In a series of studies—the most recent funded by the National Institutes of Health—Dr. Barnard has shown that it is possible to repair insulin function and reverse type 2 diabetes. By following his scientifically proven, life-changing program, diabetics can control blood sugar three times more effectively than with the standard diet; and cut back on and in some cases eliminate medications while reducing the risk of diabetes complications.

“The long overdue epic scientific breakthrough in diabetes is here…an obvious must-read for health professionals and for diabetic and potential diabetic patients.” —Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, preventive cardiology consultant, Cleveland Clinic

“This is the approach to follow…the clinically proven way to get your blood sugar under control… and start living again.”—John McDougall, MD, founder and medical director of the McDougall program

“Dr. Barnard’s book is no exaggeration…The signs and symptoms of diabetes can be reversed, and he’s got the evidence to prove it.”—Jennie Brand-Miller, PhD, author of The New Glucose Revolution

About the Author

Neal Barnard, M.D., is a physician, clinical researcher, and adjunct associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine. His books include Breaking the Food Seduction, Turn Off the Fat Genes, and Foods That Fight Pain.

Comments (0) | Posted in Books

Rework

Wednesday 12 May 2010 @ 3:40 am

Rework

Seth Godin is the author of Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip, Purple Cow, All Marketers Are Liars, and Permission Marketing, as well as other international bestsellers. He is consistently one of the 25 most widely read bloggers in the English language. Read his exclusive Amazon guest review of Rework:

This book will make you uncomfortable.

Depending on what you do all day, it might make you extremely uncomfortable.

That’s a very good thing, because you deserve it. We all do.

Jason and David have broken all the rules and won. Again and again they’ve demonstrated that the regular way isn’t necessarily the right way. They just don’t say it, they do it. And they do it better than just about anyone has any right to expect.

This book is short, fast, sharp and ready to make a difference. It takes no prisoners, spares no quarter, and gives you no place to hide, all at the same time.

There, my review is almost as long as the first chapter of the book. I can’t imagine what possible excuse you can dream up for not buying this book for every single person you work with, right now.

Stop reading the review. Buy the book.–Seth Godin

Review

“Jason Fried and David Hansson follow their own advice in REWORK, laying bare the surprising philosophies at the core of 37signals’ success and inspiring us to put them into practice. There’s no jargon or filler here just hundreds of brilliantly simple rules for success. Part entrepreneurial handbook for the twenty-first century, part manifesto for anyone wondering how work really works in the modern age, REWORK is required reading for anyone tired of business platitudes.”
–Chris Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of THE LONG TAIL and FREE

“House-husband, housewife, Fortune 500 CEO, cab driver, restaurateur, venture capitalist — this is ’the book for you,’ a book of true wisdom, business wisdom, life wisdom. The clarity, even genius, of this book actually brought me to near-tears on several occasions. Just bloody brilliant, that’s what!”
–Tom Peters, New York Times bestselling author of IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE, THRIVING ON CHAOS and LEADERSHIP

“If given a choice between investing in someone who has read REWORK or has an MBA, I’m investing in REWORK every time. This is a must read for every entrepreneur.”
–Mark Cuban, co-founder of HDNet and Broadcast.com and owner of the Dallas Mavericks

“Inspirational…REWORK is a minimalist manifesto that’s profoundly practical. In a world where we all keep getting asked to do more with less, the authors show us how to do less and create more.”
–Scott Rosenberg, Co-Founder of Salon.com and author of DREAMING IN CODE and SAY EVERYTHING

“The brilliance of REWORK is that it inspires you to rethink everything you thought you knew about strategy, customers, and getting things done. Read this provocative and instructive book—and then get busy reimagining what it means to lead, compete, and succeed.”
–William C. Taylor, Founding Editor of Fast Company and coauthor of MAVERICKS AT WORK

Comments (0) | Posted in Books

A Patriot’s History of the United States: From Columbus’s Great Discovery to the War on Terror

Saturday 8 May 2010 @ 3:35 am

A Patriot’s History of the United States: From Columbus’s Great Discovery to the War on Terror

Review

“This book has taught me more about our history than any I’ve read in years. A Patriot’s History of the United States should be required reading for all Americans.”
–Glenn Beck

A welcome, refreshing, and solid contribution to relearning what we have forgotten and remembering why this nation is good, and worth defending. –Matthew Spalding, National Review

In A Patriot’s History of the United States, Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen remind us what a few good individuals can do in just a few short centuries . . . . A fluid account of America from the discovery of the Continent up to the present day.
–Brandon Miniter, The Wall Street Journal

No recent American history challenges the conventional wisdom of academics as aggressively as Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen’s A Patriot’s History of the United States.
–Daniel J. Flynn, Front Page Magazine

There are a thousand pleasant surprises and heartening reminders that underneath it all America remains a country of ideas, ideals, and optimism—and no amount of revisionism can take that legacy away.
–John Coleman, Humane Studies Review

Product Description

For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.”As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin.

A Patriot’s History of the United States corrects those doctrinaire biases. In this groundbreaking book, America’s discovery, founding, and development are reexamined with an appreciation for the elements of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that make this nation uniquely successful. This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America’s true and proud history.

Comments (0) | Posted in Books

Changes (Dresden Files, Book 12)

Monday 3 May 2010 @ 3:31 am

Changes (Dresden Files, Book 12)

*Starred Review* The twelfth Dresden Files novel (following Turncoat, 2009) finds the licensed PI and professional wizard Harry Dresden confronted with some shocking news: he has an eight-year-old daughter, and she’s been kidnapped by Red Court vampires. Harry is willing to risk everything to rescue her, even if it means turning his own life upside down. At more than 500 pages, this is one the longest books in the series, but it doesn’t move slowly; in fact, the entire novel takes place over only a few days as Harry races to rescue his daughter before she is sacrificed in a powerful black-magic rite. The taut and sometimes twisty plot is full of surprises and changes for Harry and his friends and family. Changes is a compelling installment in what continues to be an outstanding series. All the regulars (including cop Murphy; Harry’s half brother, vampire Thomas; Sanya the Knight; and Harry’s apprentice, Molly) are featured, as they, too, risk everything to save Harry’s daughter. After the cliff-hanger ending, readers will be clamoring for the next book. A can’t-miss entry in one of the best urban-fantasy series currently being published. –Jessica Moyer

Comments (0) | Posted in Books