After four decades in the music industry, Michael Bolton has become one the most successful musicians of our time. THE SOUL OF IT ALL is his backstage pass into his life lived thus far-into the venues, busses, limos, and hotel rooms of stardom, and finally into his home and heart. His story will go long and dive deep, not only into his self-proclaimed "vagabond vampire" life, but also into the belly of the beast that is the music industry, with its joys, follies, and torments. From a 14 year old kid performing in dive bars in his hometown of New Haven, CT, to struggling to provide for his wife and kids, to finally breaking through with the Soul Provider album, and going on to sell more than 53 million albums and singles worldwide, Bolton has fought for and earned a life most just dream of. THE SOUL OF IT ALL is his life, chock-full of all the incredible stories, and the star-studded cast you'd expect, including: Luciano Pavarotti, Paula Abdul, Cher, Bob Dylan, Barbara Streisand, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Bon Jovi, Wynonna Judd, BB King, Patti LaBelle, Carlos Santana, Nicolette Sheridan, Teri Hatcher and others...

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.

Borg and McEnroe may have enjoyed breathtaking rallies in late ‘70s and early ‘80s tennis, but Tignor, Executive Editor of Tennis magazine, largely shanks his shot at capturing the era's excitement. Tignor offers extended looks at Borg and McEnroe, but also Jimmy Connors, who had epic clashes of his own with both the "Angelic Assassin" and the "Brat." Indeed, Tignor covers many players, including Vitas Gerulaitis, Ivan Lendl, and Ilie Nastase, or "Mr. Nasty" as the Romanian was known (in profiling him Rignor finds his sweet spot). The author also lobs in doubles tennis, the women's game, Renee Richards, and a smattering of off-the-court shenanigans (Borg was superstitions; Borg slept with lots of women) but fails to argue convincingly why this epic match-up signaled the end of an era. True, when Borg retired, McEnroe began to slide. But Connors staged a remarkable comeback in his later years, and while Lendl failed to spark much interest, newcomer Andre Agassi certainly did. Fans of today's superstars—Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic–enjoy fierce rivalries almost every year. In the end, Tignor is unable to suggest that anything was truly at stake in the Borg-McEnroe rivalry beyond the money and egos involved.

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.

Darrell Hammond is best known for taking over the late Phil Hartman’s role on Saturday Night Live as the resident Bill Clinton impressionist. But perhaps the most influential sketch of Hammond’s career was as Al Gore in the first presidential debate of the 2000 election, opposite Will Ferrell as George W. Bush. Everyone who saw the piece remembers each candidate’s final statement—“lockbox” for Hammond as Gore—but few know that Hammond cut himself before going onstage that night when he couldn’t remember how to do Gore’s voice. Those are the stories that make Hammond’s memoir, God, If You’re Not Up There, I’m F*cked, worth reading, even though most of his memories don’t live up to that one.

Professors in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, Thomas N. Bradbury and Benjamin R. Karney are among the world’s leading scholars of social relationships, interpersonal communication, marriage, and well-being. Through in-depth interviews and detailed observations of thousands of couples, Drs. Bradbury and Karney have discovered the surprising ways in which personal histories, current life circumstances, and specific forms of interpersonal communication all combine to determine the quality and course of couples’ intimate lives. Their findings have been reported in more than 250 scientific articles and book chapters, and their 1995 review article is now the most widely-cited theoretical analysis of marriage published in the past century. On two separate occasions, the National Council on Family Relations has recognized Bradbury and Karney with the Reuben Hill Research and Theory Award for Outstanding Contributions to Family Science, and their co-authored text and accompanying video series, Intimate Relationships, has been used by thousands of undergraduates across the US and Canada. Translating and communicating research findings is central to their mission as scholars, and toward this end they founded and co-direct the Relationship Institute at UCLA, a center dedicated to engaging the general public with lectures, seminars, and workshops on new discoveries in the field of relationship science.

Unlike the protagonists of Paulsen’s adventure novels, Lawn Boy faces complications that are chaotic rather than life-threatening. Picking up where the 2007 Lawn Boy left off, Lawn Boy Returns follows the eponymous main character’s adventures in corporate intrigue. Lawn Boy had inherited his grandfather’s riding mower, and, seeking to buy a new inner tube for his bicycle, started a lawn mowing service. With the help of Arnold, an aging hippie stockbroker, Lawn Boy turned his mowing earnings into a corporate empire with landscaping and cleaning franchises and the sponsorship of a prize-fighter named Joey Pow.

Many of us assume that our creative process is beyond our ability to influence, and pay attention to it only when it isn't working properly. For the most part, we go about our daily tasks and everything just "works." Until it doesn't. Adding to this lack of understanding is the rapidly accelerating pace of work. Each day we are face escalating expectations and a continual squeeze to do more with less. We are asked to produce an ever-increasing amount of brilliance in an ever-shrinking amount of time. There is an unspoken (or spoken!) expectation that we'll be accessible 24/7, and as a result we frequently feel like we're "always on." Now business creativity expert Todd Henry explains how to unleash your creative potential. Whether you're a creative by trade or an "accidental creative," this book will help you quickly and effectively integrate new ideas into your daily life.

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.

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.

The way Nolan speaks about gardening might give the impression that she was raised on a farm. That’s hardly the case, and the book recounts her story of growing up in Winnetka and leaving home soon after she graduated from New Trier High School in search of an opportunity to get closer to nature. Through her experiences, she learned which crops play well together, which ones don’t and why good sunlight and soil are integral to the growing cycle. Nolan feels that she is living proof that anyone can learn to garden. “Just about anybody, anywhere, can garden and grow several crops,” she notes. “Gardening is very forgiving. Something will always grow.”

Author Phillip Norman, whose previous bestseller, John Lennon: The Life, was praised as a “haunting, mammoth, terrific piece of work” (New York Times Book Review) and whose classic Shout! is widely considered to be the definitive biography of the Beatles, now turns his attention to the iconic front man of the Rolling Stones, “the greatest rock ’n’ roll band in the world.” Norman’s Mick Jagger is an extraordinarily detailed and vibrantly written in-depth account of the life and half-century-long career of one of the most fascinating and complex superstars of rock music—the most comprehensive biography to date of the famously enigmatic musician. Keith Richards had his say in Life. Now it’s time to get to know intimately the other half of the duo responsible for such enduring hits as “Paint It Black,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Gimme Shelter,” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Mick Jagger is a must read for Stones fans, and everyone who can’t get enough of the serious memoirs and biographies of popular musicians, like Patti Smith’s Just Kids, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? by Steven Tyler, and the Warren Zevon story, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.

THE HEALING CELL is an easy to read, carefully researched, and clear-eyed view of medicine many decades in the making that is now paying off with treatments that repair damaged hearts, restore sight, kill cancer, cure diabetes, heal burns, and stop the march of such degenerative diseases as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and Lou Gehrig's disease. The emotionally and intellectually stimulating stories throughout the book dramatically illustrate that stem cell therapies can change the way we live our lives after being afflicted by a disease or trauma. The book is the result of a unique collaboration between the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture and the Stem for Life Foundation. It includes a special address by His Holiness Benedict XVI, urging increased support and awareness for advancements in adult stem cell research.

Ian Punnett—a Minneapolis-based Episcopal pastor and radio host—has come out with How To Pray When You're Pissed At God: Or Anyone Else for that Matter. (Admittedly the P word is only PG-13. But still. For a pastor, that's a big deal). Title aside—and the title is significant, as it got the book banned from Christian radio—How to Pray is actually a heavyweight (but funny) look at the meaning of evil, and the importance of righteous anger in our lives—and the Bible's use of naughty words. Punnett gives us many sample prayers, including "An Angry Prayer for the Victim of Corporate Greed" to "An Angry Prayer for Those Who Are Cut Off in Traffic."

Haiku for the Single Girl by Beth Griffenhagen and Illustrated by Cynthia Vehslage Meyers (review copy) - An uproarious, uplifting and brazenly honest gift book that celebrates the single girl's life in 72 haikus I feel its approach, Inevitable as death: Internet dating. Unsolicited relationship advice from relatives, disastrous dates, men who wear thumb rings, and the moments of deep satisfaction when a single girl realizes that (unlike her smug married friends) she can do whatever she wants with her time - it's all here in this brilliantly incisive and witty collection of haikus. Every woman - whether single or not - will laugh until she cries, and then start laughing all over again.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. This children’s rhyme is as familiar as it is debated in today’s society.  With the rise of bullying in its many forms, words can actually be quite harmful.  In her recent book, Sticks and Stones, Emily Bazelon tackles this issue head on. Bazelon began her investigation into bullying when she was still an editor at Slate magazine in 2010.  She investigated the high-profile suicide of Phoebe Prince, a Massachusetts high school student.  From that experience, Bazelon’s interest was captured.  Sticks and Stones is a continuation of the work she began in 2010

  The Cosmo Bikini Diet is a weight-loss plan designed to get you slim and sexy all over without leaving you feeling unsatisfied, moody, and hungry. It makes eating well and working out actually feel enjoyable. This 12-week program gives you the tools you need to drop pounds and get toned without cramping your lifestyle:

• Monthly real-world eating plans
• Hot and healthy workouts that you can fit into a busy schedule
• Ideas to up the feel-good moments in your day

Dr. Varady is an associate professor of nutrition at my alma mater, the University of Illinois in Chicago, and in this interview, she reveals how intermittent fasting can help you achieve optimal health and weight without starving yourself every day. She explains what prompted her to investigate, and eventually write a book on this topic.

"I wanted to do a PhD in the area of calorie restriction and fasting," she says. "I wanted to find out: do you really have to diet every single day to lose weight? I noticed that people just weren't able to stick to calorie restriction programs for more than about a month or two. Everyone dropped off of their diet. I thought: 'is there a way to manipulate that eating pattern that will allow people to stick to it longer? Maybe you could diet every other day?' That way you can always look forward to the next day, where you can eat whatever you want. Maybe that would help people kind of stick to these diets?"

As it turns out, her hunch was correct. Alternate-day fasting has a far greater retention- and compliance rate compared to conventional all-day fasting regimens. The preferred version of intermittent fasting, which simply calls for restricting your eating to a narrower window of about six to eight hours or so each day, also has a far greater success rate than more extensive fasting protocols.  

As a child, Justin Klosky loved to count, analyze, and categorize everything in sight. Eventually diagnosed with OCD, he found ways to tap the benefits of his condition. Today, he’s founded a successful firm, O.C.D. Experience, building on the principals of Organize, Create, Discipline to help high-end clients take control of their lives through time management skills, getting rid of clutter, simplifying their habits, and rethinking storage solutions. Carefully arranged into more than 300 A-to-Z categories, Organize & Create Discipline explains organization methods for everything from laundry to legal documents, shoes, toys, kitchen drawers, medicine cabinets, utility closets, overflowing email inboxes, and dozens of other sources of daily detritus. Klosky’s unique advice yields peace of mind and radically improves productivity. With a clientele that includes Bryce Dallas Howard, Julie Chen, and Saks Fifth Avenue, Klosky now makes his unrivaled techniques to staying organized available to all.

"What happens when three financial industry whiz kids and certified baseball nuts take over an ailing major league franchise and implement the same strategies that fueled their success on Wall Street? In the case of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, an American League championship happens--the culmination of one of the greatest turnarounds in baseball history. In The Extra 2%, financial journalist and sportswriter Jonah Keri chronicles the remarkable story of one team's Cinderella journey from divisional doormat to World Series contender. When former Goldman Sachs partners Stuart Sternberg and Matthew Silverman assumed control of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005, it looked as if they were buying the baseball equivalent of a penny stock. But the incoming regime came armed with a master plan: to leverage their skill at trading, valuation, and management to build a model twenty-first-century franchise that could compete with their bigger, stronger, richer rivals--and prevail. Together with "boy genius" general manager Andrew Friedman, the new Rays owners jettisoned the old ways of doing things, substituting their own innovative ideas about employee development, marketing and public relations, and personnel management. They exorcized the "devil" from the team's nickname, developed metrics that let them take advantage of undervalued aspects of the game, like defense, and hired a forward-thinking field manager as dedicated to unconventional strategy as they were. By quantifying the game's intangibles--that extra 2% that separates a winning organization from a losing one--they were able to deliver to Tampa something that Billy Beane's "Moneyball" had never brought to Oakland: an American League pennant. A book about what happens when you apply your business skills to your life's passion, The Extra 2% is an informative and entertaining case study for any organization that wants to go from worst to first"--

We all know expectations matter—in school, in sports, in the stock market. From a healing placebo to a run on the bank, hints of their self-fulfilling potential have been observed for years. But we’ve never fully understood why. Journalist Chris Berdik offers a captivating look at the frontiers of expectations research, revealing how our assumptions bend reality. We learn how placebo calories can fill us up, how fake surgery can sometimes work better than real surgery, and how imaginary power can be corrupting. Mind Over Mind is a journey into the most exciting area of brain research today.

Pregnancy—unquestionably one of the most pro­found, meaningful experiences of adulthood—can reduce otherwise intelligent women to, well, babies. Pregnant women are told to avoid cold cuts, sushi, alcohol, and coffee without ever being told why these are forbidden. Rules for prenatal testing are similarly unexplained. Moms-to-be desperately want a resource that empowers them to make their own right choices. When award-winning economist Emily Oster was a mom-to-be herself, she evaluated the data behind the accepted rules of pregnancy, and discovered that most are often misguided and some are just flat-out wrong. Debunking myths and explaining everything from the real effects of caffeine to the surprising dangers of gardening, Expecting Bettering is the book for every pregnant woman who wants to enjoy a healthy and relaxed pregnancy—and the occasional glass of wine.

Tana Amen, creator of the Omni diet, is a nationally recognized speaker and nutrition consultant. She's also a registered nurse and heath expert. The Omni diet is a program that Amen used to help treat her own digestive troubles, infections and thyroid cancer. With this program, you'll eat healthy foods in a specific ratio to keep yourself healthy as well as controlling your weight. As with any new diet, it's important to talk to your doctor before getting started.