NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • After a sudden change of plans, a remarkable woman and her loyal group of friends try to figure out what she’s going to do with the rest of her life—from Terry McMillan, the bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Waiting to Exhale NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MARIE CLAIRE AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING • “Poignant, funny and full of life, this is a balm for troubled times.”—People Loretha Curry’s life is full. A little crowded sometimes, but full indeed. On the eve of her sixty-eighth birthday, she has a booming beauty-supply empire, a gaggle of lifelong friends, and a husband whose moves still surprise. True, she’s carrying a few more pounds than she should be, but Loretha is not one of those women who think her best days are behind her—and she’s determined to prove wrong her mother, her twin sister, and everyone else with that outdated view of aging wrong. It’s not all downhill from here. But when an unexpected loss turns her world upside down, Loretha will have to summon all her strength, resourcefulness, and determination to keep on thriving, pursue joy, heal old wounds, and chart new paths. With a little help from her friends, of course.

Riding motorcycles is fun, but author Ken Condon maintains that there is a state of consciousness to be achieved beyond the simple pleasure of riding down the road. Riding in the Zone helps riders find that state of being. It's the experience of being physically and mentally present in the moment, where every sense is sharply attuned to the ride. Your mind becomes silent to the chatter of daily life, and everyday problems seem to dissolve. You feel a deeper appreciation for life. Your body responds to this state of being with precise, fluid movements, you feel in balance, your muscles are relaxed, and it seems as though every input you make is an expression of mastery. This is "the Zone." Condon identifies all of the factors that affect entering the Zone and addresses each one individually, from the development of awareness and mental skills to mastering physical control of the motorcycle. At the end of each chapter are drills designed to transform the book's ideas into solid, practical riding skills. Riding in the Zone takes riders to the next level in their skill set.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • David Byrne’s incisive and enthusiastic look at the musical art form, from its very inceptions to the influences that shape it, whether acoustical, economic, social, or technological—now updated with a new chapter on digital curation. “How Music Works is a buoyant hybrid of social history, anthropological survey, autobiography, personal philosophy, and business manual”—The Boston Globe Utilizing his incomparable career and inspired collaborations with Talking Heads, Brian Eno, and many others, David Byrne taps deeply into his lifetime of knowledge to explore the panoptic elements of music, how it shapes the human experience, and reveals the impetus behind how we create, consume, distribute, and enjoy the songs, symphonies, and rhythms that provide the backbeat of life. Byrne’s magnum opus uncovers thrilling realizations about the redemptive liberation that music brings us all.

This book discusses the legacies of American Revolutionary War in the context of growing American imperial hubris, overreach and permanent war abroad as well as economic and social decay of American homeland. It discusses the less admirable and tragic implications of a national war/civil war that drove many thousands of Americans from their country, destroyed numerous Native American societies, enshrined human slavery in its constitution and lead to several tragic and bloody existential crises in 19th and 20th century American history.

--- It's May, so guess what? We all survived the Scottish winter! --- So ... here's 60% off the Kindle version (and 20% off the paperback) until the end of the week, in celebration.A story that sticks ...Rolling Rocks Downhill is a fast-moving business novel, like Eli Goldratt's classic, "The Goal", where you sit on the shoulders of the characters and quietly watch as they discover the few - but fundamental - principles which underly successful commercial software development. Faster than you ever thought possibleThis is NOT a technical book. It doesn't mention "Agile". It doesn't ram techniques and practices down your throat. There are other books for that. Rolling Rocks downhill is a book about delivering software projects ON TIME or, if you choose, EARLY. It's a book about building quality in and then running as FAST as you can. J. B. Rainsberger, author of JUnit Recipes:I don't know how many of my clients would take the time to read "The Goal", but I insist that they read Rolling Rocks Downhill--it strongly reinforces the essence of Agile software development that has been drowned in an ocean of process manuals, maturity models, and checklists. Just as "The Goal" sought to bring common sense back to manufacturing, so this book seeks to bring common sense back to a software industry that sorely needs it. -- J. B. Rainsberger Johanna Rothman, author of Jolt Productivity award-winning Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management:Maybe one of your teammates or someone in management has the bright idea that maybe transitioning to agile or lean will help. Maybe it does in some small way. But, it's not enough. You're on a death march, iteration by iteration. Or, with your board, you can see that you are making progress, but you're not working "fast enough." Or, you're not delivering what your customers need. You're still trying to "do it all." Why? Because it takes you forever to release anything. You know there's another piece to this. You just don't know what. You need to read Clarke Ching's Rolling Rocks Downhill.

Offers entries for over six thousand idioms, including seven hundred new to this edition, and provides background information, additional cross-references, and national variants.

Wherever there is greenery, photosynthesis is working to make oxygen, release energy, and create living matter from the raw material of sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. Without photosynthesis, there would be an empty world, an empty sky, and a sun that does nothing more than warm the rocks and reflect off the sea. Eating the Sun is the story of a world in crisis; an appreciation of the importance of plants; a history of the earth and the feuds and fantasies of warring scientists; a celebration of how the smallest things, enzymes and pigments, influence the largest things, the oceans, the rainforests, and the fossil fuel economy. Oliver Morton offers a fascinating, lively, profound look at nature's greatest miracle and sounds a much-needed call to arms—illuminating a potential crisis of climatic chaos and explaining how we can change our situation, for better or for worse.