General Interest

A self-help book which advises readers not to follow too much advice is by necessity a messy enterprise. Join a group, writes Levine, or quit a group. Take risks; alternatively "dare to be conservative." Travel, don't travel. Change jobs, or not. Don't be afraid to say no. Or yes. Above all, "go for it!" All those perky activities deemed suitable for people over a certain age – tango lessons, researching a family tree, outward bound courses – are listed with what I suppose is a helpful lack of scorn, or endorse-ment; meanwhile those with more ambition might consider becoming a movie star. If  further evidence were needed of the paucity of "templates" for older women, there it is: the inevitable reference to Helen Mirren, three pages in.

Dean originally thought he would drive to each state and run 26.2 miles, but his team decided the 26.2 mile runs should be official marathons. Eight of the marathons were live marathons that are held each year, while the remaining 42 marathons were staged but were still official races. The marathon directors of each race were involved in the planning of the marathons, police escorts were obtained, official routes were followed, official clocks were used, and official ceremonies were held at the finish of the races. Runners not connected with the Endurance 50 team were able to sign up for the marathons and to run with Dean. 50 official marathons in 50 states in 50 days! I still can't believe that he did that! Dean is a Greek, and that provides a good metaphor for the book. Greek mythology is full of interactions between the gods and mortals. Dean is of the gods. We are the mortals.

With three feet of counter space, two pans, and one pot, author Hope Korenstein breaks down how to make satisfying meals no matter the size of your kitchen. A city-dweller herself, Korenstein understands the limitations urban kitchens place upon today’s chefs: with limited counterspace, no dishwasher, and miniature appliances that make it difficult to prepare complicated recipes. Dining out or ordering food to-go all the time can become expensive; Korenstein helps home cooks reclaim their kitchens with simple recipes that address the need for low-cost, quick and healthy cooking, all while saving space. 7x7 Cooking is broken down into six easy chapters: Salads and Starters, Chicken and Meat, Fish and Seafood, Pasta, Vegetables and Sides, and Foolproof Desserts. Korenstein’s recipes focus on bold flavors and few ingredients so the pantry stays manageable—and so readers avoid spending hours in the kitchen getting dinner together. With quick sautés, bakes, and broils, readers learn how to prepare easy and satisfying meals that the whole family will love. No space for a grill? Korenstein teaches you how to love your broiler. With a few helpful tips, cooking in a small kitchen has never been easier!

A renowned authority on the secret world of opium recounts his descent into ruinous obsession with one of the world’s oldest and most seductive drugs, in this harrowing memoir of addiction and recovery. A natural-born collector with a nose for exotic adventure, San Diego–born Steven Martin followed his bliss to Southeast Asia, where he found work as a freelance journalist. While researching an article about the vanishing culture of opium smoking, he was inspired to begin collecting rare nineteenth-century opium-smoking equipment. Over time, he amassed a valuable assortment of exquisite pipes, antique lamps, and other opium-related accessories—and began putting it all to use by smoking an extremely potent form of the drug called chandu. But what started out as recreational use grew into a thirty-pipe-a-day habit that consumed Martin’s every waking hour, left him incapable of work, and exacted a frightful physical and financial toll. In passages that will send a chill up the spine of anyone who has ever lived in the shadow of substance abuse, Martin chronicles his efforts to control and then conquer his addiction—from quitting cold turkey to taking “the cure” at a Buddhist monastery in the Thai countryside. At once a powerful personal story and a fascinating historical survey, Opium Fiend brims with anecdotes and lore surrounding the drug that some have called the methamphetamine of the nineteenth-century. It recalls the heyday of opium smoking in the United States and Europe and takes us inside the befogged opium dens of China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The drug’s beguiling effects are described in vivid detail—as are the excruciating pains of withdrawal—and there are intoxicating tales of pipes shared with an eclectic collection of opium aficionados, from Dutch dilettantes to hard-core addicts to world-weary foreign correspondents. A compelling tale of one man’s transformation from respected scholar to hapless drug slave, Opium Fiend puts us under opium’s spell alongside its protagonist, allowing contemporary readers to experience anew the insidious allure of a diabolical vice that the world has all but forgotten.

With fresh, authentic ingredients readily available today at ethnic markets and supermarkets, preparing Asian meals at home has never been easier or more satisfying. Asian Cooking presents some 200 recipes, most accompanied by full-color photos of the completed dish. The cookbook is arranged in nine chapters, plus an extensive introduction to the types and ingredients of Asian foods. Here's a sample of recipes from Asian Cooking:

• Appetizers. Includes Thai Lamb and Couscous Rolls, Pot Stickers, and Creamy Honey Sesame Dip for Vegetables.
• Salads. Includes Asian Brown Rice and Peanut Salad Toss, Shanghai Salad (with shrimp), Gingered Pork Tenderloin Salad, and lots of dressings that liven up any salad, Asian or Western.
• Poultry. Includes Kung Pao Chicken, Mu Shu Turkey, Easy Oriental Chicken Sandwich, and Orange-Ginger Broiled Cornish Hen.
• Beef. Includes Green Dragon Stir-Fry, Szechwan Beef Lo Mein, and Korean Broiled Beef (Bulgogi).

Spanning nearly 400 pages and a wide range of Asian cuisines, Asian Cooking is a smart addition to the kitchen of any chef who appreciates the joys of Asian cooking.

From early childhood, Renee had access to a realm she called “unreality.” Like Antoine Roquentin in Sartre’s Nausea, she sees ordinary objects as purposeless yet threatening: They take on a life of their own. When she tries to calm herself by repeating the names of everything she encounters—“chair, jug, table, it is a chair”—she hears only hollow, meaningless sounds. This slim volume, compiled in 1951 by Renee’s psychologist, Marguerite Sechehaye, offers a fascinating account of the young girl’s emotional and linguistic collapse, but the story of her recovery reads like an advertisement for the miracles of Freudian theory. In the second half of the narrative, Renee works through her problems by calling her therapist “Mama” and pretending to drink milk from her breasts.

This spiral-bound cookbook lies flat when open for easy use in the kitchen, and most of the recipes are accompanied by brilliant color photography. The book is divided into sections for breakfast and brunch recipes, soup recipes, slow-cooker recipes, casserole recipes, and skillet meals. You'll want to try these one-dish favorites:

• Beer and Asparagus Stir-Fry
• Tuna Noodle Casserole
• Aunt Marilyn's Cinnamon French Toast Casserole
• Retro Beef and Veggie Soup
• Spicy Italian Sausage & Penne Pasta
• Chili-Chicken Enchiladas

An inspiring special edition published in partnership with Pink Together General Mills's Pink Together initiative is a supportive online community that links 500,000 cancer survivors and their supporters, letting them share photos, personal stories, and recipes. Now, in partnership with Pink Together, this new edition of the Living with Cancer Cookbook has been updated and revised to include the inspirational stories of Pink Together community members. Like the first edition, this special edition includes 130 recipes that are specially designed for those undergoing cancer treatments and the loved ones who care for them.

• Bonus 32-page section on the Pink Together initiative, an online community to support women with breast cancer
• Features all-new photographs and uplifting quotes, anecdotes, and practical tips from cancer survivors
• Recipes flagged to show which ones can help mitigate the common side effects of cancer treatment
• Includes a simple, 7-day menu plan that is perfect for anyone currently undergoing treatment, based on six small meals and snacks spread throughout the day
• Foreword by Nancy G. Brinker, the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the global leader of the breast cancer support movement

Nutrition is a critical factor in the fight against cancer. The Living with Cancer Pink Together Cookbookcombines the nutritious recipes and health information that patients need with personal stories of survival that can inspire them to keep fighting and winning. Please note that the e-book version of this title does not include the Bonus Breast Cancer Awareness section.

Taking the locavore movement to heart, bestselling author and social innovator Vicki Robin pledged for one month to eat only food sourced within a 10-mile radius of her home on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, Washington. Her sustainable diet not only brings to light society’s unhealthy dependency on mass-produced, prepackaged foods but also helps her reconnect with her body and her environment. Like Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and the bestselling books of Michael Pollan, Blessing the Hands That Feed Us is part personal narrative and part global manifesto. By challenging herself to eat and buy local, Robin exposes the cause and effect of the food business, from the processed goods laden with sugar, fat, and preservatives to the trucks burning through fuel to bring them to a shelf near you. Robin’s journey is also one of community as she befriends all the neighboring farmers who epitomize the sustainable lifestyle. Among them are Tricia, the prolific market gardener who issued Robin’s 10-mile challenge; Britt and Eric, two young, enthusiastic farmers living their dream of self-sufficiency; and Vicky, a former corporate executive turned milk producer. Featuring recipes throughout, along with practical tips on adopting your own locally sourced diet, Blessing the Hands That Feed Us is an inspirational guide and testimonial to the locavore movement and a healthy food future.

Keep track of all of your favorite recipes with this innovative new recipe organizer. Featuring a handy easel format for easy countertop display, 12 high-capacity pocket dividers, recipe splashguards, and a collection of best-loved recipes selected by the editors of Bon Appétit, it's an indispensable addition to any home chef's bookshelf.

Discover the explosion of tastes and aromas that is Brazil's traditional food and cooking • Offers a fascinating introduction to the ethnic, geographical and historical diversity of Brazilian food, including information and advice on special ingredients and eating traditions • Features a wide variety of dishes from irresistible snacks like Pastel de Feira (little filled pastries) to Aipim Frito (chunky cassava chips), hearty family meals such as Moqueca Bahiana (fish stew with coconut milk), and Arroz de Carreteiro, a delicious rice dish made with spiced beef • Learn how to create Brazilian classics such as Feijoada, Vatapa and Farofa, and create delectable desserts such as Torta de Banana (banana meringue pie) and Mugunza (homity corn porridge) • Includes recipes for Brazil's famous street food, designed to fuel endless sun-drenched days on the beach and carnivals that last through the night • Includes more than 400 stunning photographs, specially commissioned for this book, with complete nutritional information given for every recipe

n February 2011, Andrei Netto, a reporter for O Estado de São Paulo , one of Brazil's main newspapers, traveled without permission into a region of Libya controlled by the regime, aiming to cover the first armed revolution of the Arab Spring. One of the first foreigners to reveal to the world the extent of the uprisings, he spoke to hundreds of Libyans, including many of the students, shopkeepers, doctors, teachers, and intellectuals who armed themselves with rifles, grenades, and anti-aircraft guns to attack the armored vehicles of an illegitimate regime responsible for 42 years of torture, murder, and terrorism. This is their story. A unique and memorable account of a revolutionary war, Bringing Down Gaddafi provides previously unpublished information about the Libyan conflict, including the circumstances of Gaddafi's death, behind the scenes diplomacy at the UN Security Council, and the supply of weapons to the Libyan rebels from abroad. Andrei Netto's testimony alerts the world to the atrocities committed by both sides in the conflict ended with Muammar Gaddafi's summary execution on the outskirts of his home city. Netto provides a powerful journalistic narrative with the spirit of a road movie and the elements of suspense worthy of a thriller.

Business students often object to required courses in business ethics, and the more cynical members of the general public consider the term business ethics to be a contradiction in and of itself. In fact, business ethics — that is, doing the right thing in the way you run your company — makes sound business sense. Ethical lapses can harm a company just as thoroughly (and perhaps even more so) as a garden-variety business mistake. On the other hand, a reputation for ethical behavior can enhance a company’s success and even help a company through tough times. A good reputation is like a good brand: When customers and employees trust a company to do the right thing, the business is more productive inside and out.

What could be sweeter than a cupcake-stuffed cupcake? Perhaps a piece of birthday cake French toast? Or a Pop-Tarts ice cream sandwich? Maybe a piece of Magic Cookie Bar Pie? Oh the choices, how sweet they are. In CakeSpy Presents Recipes for a Sugar-Filled Life, readers find 60 of Head Spy Jessie Oleson's most popular, totally sweet treats, along with stunning photography so you can really appreciate the awesomeness of her desserts. And of course it wouldn't be a CakeSpy book without unicorns, robots, or Cuppie the Cupcake. Jessie's iconic and whimsical illustrations are featured throughout the book. CakeSpy's mission is to seek sweetness (literally) in everyday life, and this little book does just that.

The perplexing state of the business landscape is beautifully summed up by journalist Bob Garfield and strategic consultant Doug Levy in their new book Can’t Buy Me Like: How Authentic Customer Connections Drive Superior Results. They write that the current era “is a confounding paradox: an economic revolution that in one critical aspect takes us backward.” Social media and other digital tools enable any business to reach tens of millions of people. Capturing the attention and purchasing power of those individuals in large quantities remains an almost unapproachable mountain for the majority of businesses. In the recently released Soundview Executive Book Summary of Can’t Buy Me Like, Garfield and Levy offer a better method to grow your business in the age they call the “Relationship Era.”

Former LiteraryMama.com columnist Gail Konop Baker blasts through illness with expectations blazing in Cancer Is a Bitch (Or, I'd Rather Be Having a Midlife Crisis). Baker is served a fat dollop of irony when - right after she finishes a novel about a woman who finds a lump in her breast and wonders if she's lived a meaningful life - she finds herself sitting in a hospital gown facing a breast cancer diagnosis. She longs to be the Audrey Hepburn of the Big C, but instead she careens through mental and emotional aftershocks that fiction couldn't predict. Gobbling organic produce, practicing yoga and weighing Hobson's choices, Baker courageously places her screwed - up childhood, imperfect marriage, motherhood and sanity under the microscope even as her "good cancer" diagnosis follows her everywhere "like an annoying sibling, mimicking my every move, mirroring the parts of me that make me feel awkward, ashamed." Her guts, and affection for the occasional joke, toke and profanity, make her a deeply consoling companion on a frightening journey.