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When singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her London home in 2011, the press inducted her into what Kurt Cobain’s mother named the 27 Club. "Now he’s gone and joined that stupid club,” she said in 1994, after being told that her son, the front man of Nirvana, had committed suicide. "I told him not to….” Kurt’s mom was referring to the extraordinary roll call of iconic stars who died at the same young age. The Big Six are Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Kurt Cobain and, now, Amy Winehouse. All were talented. All were dissipated. All were 27. Journalists write about the curse of the 27 Club as if there is a supernatural reason for this series of deaths. Others invoke astrology, numerology, and conspiracy theories to explain what has become a modern mystery. In this haunting book, author Howard Sounes conducts the definitive forensic investigation into the lives and deaths of the six most iconic members of the Club, plus another forty-four music industry figures who died at 27, to discover what, apart from coincidence, this phenomenon signifies. In a grimly fascinating journey through the dark side of the music business over six decades, Sounes uncovers a common story of excess, madness, and self-destruction. The fantasies, half-truths, and mythologies that have become associated with Jones, Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, Cobain, and Winehouse are debunked. Instead a clear and compelling narrative emerges, one based on hard facts, that unites these lost souls in both life and death.

For an accident-prone "normal girl from Norfolk" who didn't run a serious race until she was 25, Chrissie Wellington has done pretty well for herself. A multiple world champion and record-holder, she remained unbeaten in 13 straight races at her chosen event, the Ironman triathlon, before her retirement in December. And what a fiendish event it is – a 2.4-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride, topped off with a marathon. Wellington's account of how she graduated from entering her first marathon on a whim in 2002 to the Ironman – surely Ironwoman would be more apt – title five years later is inspirational in the truest sense, because she feels strongly that sport can make ordinary people do extraordinary things. She was helped/bullied on her way by a tyrannical coach with a chequered past but was obviously deeply competitive by nature, and her accounts of the more brutal aspects of Ironman are not for the squeamish; if a competitor was illegally slipstreaming her in the cycling phase, for instance, she would let fly an airborne stream of pee to make them back off.

Alexander tries his hand at behaving in this hilarious companion to the bestselling classic Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Last night somebody ate a whole box of jelly donuts. That somebody woke up with a terrible bellyache, and that somebody’s mom found the empty box and told that somebody that there are going to be consequences. That somebody is Alexander, and Alexander really hates consequences. So from now on, he is going to try his best to be the Best Boy Ever. For the complete and entire rest of his life. Starting right this very minute. But there are all sorts of things that you can’t do when you’re being the Best Boy Ever. Fun things. Very important things. Things that Alexander might—just might—like a little bit more than he hates consequences.

Ed Whitacre is credited with taking over the corporate reins at General Motors (GM) when the automotive manufacturer was on the brink of bankruptcy during 2009 and turned the company around in magnificent fashion. In this business memoir, the native Texan explores his unique management style, business acumen and patriotism. It was President Obama who reached out to Ed Whitacre to come out of retirement and take over GM in 2009. A down-to-earth, no-nonsense Texas native with a distinctive Texas twang in his voice, Whitacre was reluctant to come out of retirement to work at GM. But Whitacre is that rare CEO with great charisma and extraordinary management instincts. And when he got to Detroit, he started to whittle down the corporate bureaucracy right away - and got GM back on track in record time Before being pulled out of retirement to run GM by Obama, Ed Whitacre had spent his entire corporate career in the telecom business, where he ultimately ended up running AT&T.

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.

Baking is a rewarding experience for home cooks of all abilities. Create comforting treats that your friends and family will find irresistible. With some simple cupboard ingredients you can bake delicious sweet and savoury creations. Inside are 100 mouthwatering recipes for everyday staples and more indulgent options each with easy to follow ingredient lists, step by step methods and beautiful photography. Ideal for: A fantastic recipe book with some delicious options, perfect for the novice baker.

A pioneering philanthropist and daughter of American royalty reveals what it was like to grow up in one of the world’s most famous families. The great-granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller, Eileen Rockefeller learned in childhood that while wealth and fame could open any door, they could not buy a feeling of personal worth.  The privileges of having servants and lavish summer homes were offset by her parents’ thoughtful yet firm lessons in social obligation, at times by her mother’s dark depressions and mercurial moods, and the competition for attention among her siblings. In adulthood, Rockefeller has yearned to be seen not as an icon but as a woman and mother with a normal life, and like all of us, she had to learn to find her own way. Being a Rockefeller, Becoming Myself is an affirmation of how family shapes our identity and the ways we contribute to the larger family of life, regardless of our origins.

Distilling eleven years of expert reporting for the New York Times, Reuters, and the Atlantic, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David Rohde presents an incisive look at the calamitous privatization of the war on terror. Beyond War is a clarion call for change in American policies and attitudes toward a rapidly changing Middle East. Rohde argues that using lethal force is necessary at times, but economic growth and Muslim moderates —not American soldiers—will eradicate militancy in the long term. Vast mistakes have been made, but it is not too late. By scaling back our ambitions, focusing on economics and working with Muslim moderates, we will achieve more.

Birth School Metallica Death is the definitive story of the most significant rock band since Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 covers the band’s formation up to their breakthrough eponymous fifth album, aka “The Black Album.” The intense and sometimes fraught relationship between aloof-yet-simmering singer, chief lyricist, and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield and the outspoken and ambitious drummer Lars Ulrich is the saga’s emotional core. Their earliest years saw the release of three unimpeachable classics—Kill ’Em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets—genre-defining masterpieces that took hard rock to a new level, both artistically and commercially. During these tumultuous times, the band persevered through line-up changes when guitarist Dave Mustaine was replaced by Kirk Hammet, and their bass player, the beloved Cliff Burton, was tragically killed in a bus crash while on tour in Europe.

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.

The extraordinary story of how a team of international forensic scientists pioneered ground-breaking DNA technology to identify the bodies of thousands of victims of the Yugoslav Wars, and how their work is now giving justice to families from Iraq to Bosnia  What would it be like to be tasked with finding, exhuming from dozens of mass graves, and then identifying the mangled body-parts of an estimated 8,100 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in eastern Bosnia? A leading forensic scientist likened it to "solving the world's greatest forensic science puzzle," and in 1999 one DNA laboratory, run by the International Commission on Missing Persons in Sarajevo, decided to do just that. Thirteen years on, the ICMP are the international leaders in using DNA-assisted technology to assist in identifying the thousands of persons worldwide missing from wars, mass human-rights abuses and natural disasters. Christian Jennings, a foreign correspondent and former staffer at the ICMP, tells the story of the organization, and how they are now gathering forensic evidence of those killed in Libya and Iraq, and tracing the victims of brutal regimes in Chile and Colombia. He describes too how they helped identify the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean tsunami , in this moving and fast-paced story about the power of science to bring justice to broken countries. Now used as evidence at war crimes trials in The Hague, the technology described in Bosnia's Million Bones is an amazing story of modern science, politics, and the quest for truth. It is real-life CSI in action.

‘China is not a superpower, nor will she ever seek to be one,” said Deng Xiaoping to the United Nations in 1974. If China should ever “subject others to her bullying, aggression and exploitation,” continued Deng, “the people of the world should identify her social- imperialism, expose it, oppose it, and work together with the Chinese people to overthrow it.” To be fair, in 1974 Deng was not yet the Little Helmsman who would dismantle Maoism and introduce the market systems that within three decades turned China into a superpower with a growing appetite for social-imperialism. He was still lurking beneath the shadows of the Cultural Revolution and the Gang of Four. His words remind us nonetheless of how much has changed since the East was Red. They cannot come back now to embarrass Deng Xiaoping, who died in 1997 at 92 years. His successors are doubtless grateful that the people of China and the rest of the world failed to take them to heart. Deng’s protestations to the UN are quoted towards the end of China’s Silent Army. The thesis developed by Spanish journalists Juan Pablo Cardenal and Heriberto Araujo in the course of their extraordinary international investigations is that China is creating “a new, informal empire”, and not only in the developing world.

TLC’s beloved Buddy Valastro is not only a master baker and the Cake Boss, he’s also a great cook and star of the hit show, Kitchen Boss. Now he shares 100 delicious, essential Italian-American recipes—from his grandmother’s secret dishes to his personal favorites—with his own signature touches that make dinner a family event. TLC’s beloved Buddy Valastro is not only a master baker, he’s also a great cook—the boss of his home kitchen as well as of his famous bakery, Carlo’s Bake Shop. Home cooking is even more vital for the Valastro family than the work they do at the bakery. Every Sunday, the whole clan gathers to cook and eat Sunday Gravy—their family recipe for hearty tomato sauce. These nourishing meals are the glue of their family. Cooking Italian with the Cake Boss shares 100 delicious Italian- American recipes beloved by Buddy’s family, from his grandmother’s secret dishes to Buddy’s personal favorites, with Buddy’s own signature touches that make dinner a family event. Buddy Valastro is renowned worldwide as the Cake Boss, but Buddy knows far more than just desserts. He makes classic dishes like Pasta Carbonara, Shrimp Scampi, and Eggplant Parmesan even more irresistible with his singular flair and with old-school tips passed down through generations. With his friendly charm, he guides even novice cooks from appetizers through more complicated dishes, and all 100 easy-to-follow recipes use ingredients that are obtainable and affordable. Your family will love sitting down at the table to eat Steak alla Buddy, Auntie Anna’s Manicotti, Mozzarella-and- Sausage-Stuffed Chicken, Veal Saltimbocca, Buddy’s Swiss Chard, and mouthwatering desserts like Lemon Granita, Apple Snacking Cake, Cocoa-Hazelnut Cream with Berries, and Rockin’ Rice Pudding. Buddy’s recipes allow home cooks to become the bosses of their own kitchens, and anyone will be able to whip up a tasty and nutritious Italian dinner. Filled with luscious full-color photography and with stories from the irrepressible Valastro clan, Cooking Italian with the Cake Boss shows how to create new takes on traditional dishes that will make your famiglia happy. *** My family, the Valastros, makes its living by baking and selling just about anything you can think of at Carlo’s Bake Shop. It’s what we’re known for. But there’s another side to our family and our relationship to food, and it’s just as personal, maybe even more personal, than what we do at the bakery. I’m talking about the recipes and dishes, meals and traditions that nourish our bodies and souls when we get home. Just like any other family, we enjoy chilling out and spending time together, and there’s no way we’d rather do that than around a table, a place that keeps us grounded and connected to each other as well as to the relatives who came before us. As proud as I am of our professional success, I’m just as proud that we’ve been able to continue making time for our family and extended family—and we’re talking a lot of people— to meet several times a week and eat together. And now I’m honored to share with you my family’s favorite recipes and to tell you the stories of what makes them so near and dear to our hearts. I hope they might become favorites for your family as well, that they help you create memories to last a lifetime, the same way they’ve done for us Valastros.

All too often, problems in communication between a doctor and patient can lead to bad medical decisions. As a practicing physician and a behavioral scientist, Dr. Peter Ubel has a unique understanding of this dangerous situation—and in Critical Decisions he addresses the problem while revealing a new revolution in medical decision-making. Critical Decisions combines eye-opening medical stories with groundbreaking behavioral science research, while offering important information and common sense solutions to promote better doctor/patient relationships thereby ensuring that the right decision will be made in life-saving medical situations.

Cupcakes are everyone’s favorite little indulgences. They’re loved by kids and adults alike because they’re playfully sweet as well as utterly charming. These days, cupcakes can be found in bakeries everywhere, but with just a little know-how, you can easily bake your own tempting boutique-bakery cupcakes at home and decorate them with flair. Cupcakes contains recipes for every palate: Here you’ll find classic Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream for the traditionalist, Triple Chocolate Cupcakes for the chocaholic, PB&J Cupcakes for the kids, Salted Caramel Cupcakes for the epicurean, as well as seasonal holiday cupcakes, and dozens more. Whether you are a novice or experienced baker, inside these pages you’ll find friendly advice about ingredients and equipment, cupcake-making and baking tips, and a collection of ideas for decorating your cupcakes with either elegant minimalism or grand flourishes.

For the first time ever, one of the "World's Most Admired" companies opens its doors for a fascinating, lively, and most of all instructive look at how it does business We see them everywhere -- those brown trucks with the golden logo, the drivers delivering their share of 14 million parcels handled daily. To most of us, UPS is a reliable fact of life. But to well-informed businesspeople, Big Brown is a company to emulate. Quietly and steadfastly, UPS has earned a reputation as one of the leading companies in America, known as much for its innovative practices as its skill in creating satisfied customers and employees. Just in time for the company's hundredth anniversary, UPS has allowed authors Mike Brewster and Fred Dalzell unprecedented access to their facilities, their workers, and their history -- including their mistakes. What emerges are clear-cut lessons from which any business can benefit. Driving Change is an enlightening, absorbing, and dynamic account of a company at the very fulcrum of global commerce.

Driving Excellence tells the inspiring story of one man who, with no formal business training, turned an entire industry on its head. Mark Aesch proves that we really can run government like a business, and provide value to taxpayers and shareholders alike. When Aesch took over the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority in 2004, it was operating with a 27.7-million-dollar deficit, and was poised to raise fares, lay off employees, and slash service. Under Aesch's leadership, those deficits have been eradicated and replaced with multimillion-dollar surpluses; reliance on taxpayer subsidies has been reduced; demand for service has increased at rates three times the national average; and in an unprecedented move, the fare at the Authority's two largest subsidiaries were actually reduced. In Driving Excellence, Aesch shows readers how to create a culture built around selflessness rather than ego, and get employees invested in saving the company. In describing the transition from an ailing business to one that enjoys stunning success--lower fares, multi-million surpluses, and the highest ridership and customer satisfaction levels in twenty years--Aesch offers powerful principles that any organization can implement to achieve exceptional results.