THE FINE ART OF TOUGH LOVE. If you're lucky, somewhere in your past is that one person who changed your life forever. The one who pushed you to dream bigger and to reach higher, and who set you straight on what matters in life. Perhaps it was a coach, or a professor, or a family friend. For Joanne Lipman and Melanie Kupchynsky, that person was a public-school music teacher, Jerry Kupchynsky, known as Mr. K--a Ukrainian-born taskmaster who yelled and stomped and screamed, and who drove his students harder than anyone had ever driven them before. Through sheer force of will, he made them better than they had any right to be. Strings Attached tells the inspiring, poignant, and powerful story of this remarkable man, whose life seemed to conspire against him at every turn and yet who was able to transform his own heartache into triumph for his students. Lyrically recounted by two former students -- acclaimed journalist Joanne Lipman and Mr. K's daughter, Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist Melanie Kupchynsky -- Strings Attached takes you on a journey that spans from his days as a forced Nazi laborer and his later home life as a husband to an invalid wife, to his heart-breaking search for his missing daughter, Melanie's sister. This is an unforgettable tale -- a captivating narrative that is as absorbing as fiction -- about the power of a great teacher, but also about the legacy that remains long after the last note has faded into silence: lessons in resilience, excellence, and tough love. Strings Attached is for anyone indebted to a mentor and for those devoted to igniting excellence in others.

The legitimate and illegitimate use of incentives in society today Incentives can be found everywhere—in schools, businesses, factories, and government—influencing people's choices about almost everything, from financial decisions and tobacco use to exercise and child rearing. So long as people have a choice, incentives seem innocuous. But Strings Attached demonstrates that when incentives are viewed as a kind of power rather than as a form of exchange, many ethical questions arise: How do incentives affect character and institutional culture? Can incentives be manipulative or exploitative, even if people are free to refuse them? What are the responsibilities of the powerful in using incentives? Ruth Grant shows that, like all other forms of power, incentives can be subject to abuse, and she identifies their legitimate and illegitimate uses. Grant offers a history of the growth of incentives in early twentieth-century America, identifies standards for judging incentives, and examines incentives in four areas—plea bargaining, recruiting medical research subjects, International Monetary Fund loan conditions, and motivating students. In every case, the analysis of incentives in terms of power yields strikingly different and more complex judgments than an analysis that views incentives as trades, in which the desired behavior is freely exchanged for the incentives offered. Challenging the role and function of incentives in a democracy, Strings Attached questions whether the penchant for constant incentivizing undermines active, autonomous citizenship. Readers of this book are sure to view the ethics of incentives in a new light.

When Kit Corrigan arrives in New York City, she doesn't have much. The city doesn't welcome her with open arms. Kit gets a bit part as a chorus girl in a Broadway show, but she knows that's not going to last. She needs help - and then it comes, from an unexpected source. But as time goes on, Kit starts to wonder who she can really trust...

Micky thought she was straight, until she met Robin... Micky Ferro has lived her entire life according to other people's expectations. She married a man, had two children, and became a dutiful stay-at-home mom in suburban Sydney. Until she realized that her picture-perfect life wasn't making her happy. On the first anniversary of her divorce, Micky decides it's time for the next step in her journey and gets a job at her neighborhood coffeeshop, The Pink Bean. Becoming a barista sparks a big change in Micky's daily routine, but could loud-spoken American customer Robin do the same for her love life? Don't miss the first book in this heart-warming series from the bestselling author of the French Kissing and High Rise series. Every book in this series can be read as a stand-alone without having read the other instalments. THE PINK BEAN SERIES: 1. No Strings Attached 2. Beneath the Surface 3. Everything Between Us 4. This Foreign Affair 5. Water Under Bridges 6. No Other Love 7. Love Without Limits 8. Crazy For You 9. More Than Words

In the ancient town of Ayodhya, two lovers of different faiths, Shivam and Aaina, have just begun to come together-she, a college student and he, an aspiring tailor. Unfortunately, the day they decide to confess their love is also the day he loses his all, his shop, his parents and his blue-eyed beauty, to a riot. Only painful memories are left behind. Bitter and broken, Shivam shifts to Delhi, to lose himself in the bustle of the city and his work. Then, one day, the past comes back to him like a whiff of air, and he gets the impression that Aaina is alive. With the information he gathers, Shivam stitches a path-a journey that takes him all the way to Dubai in search of Aaina.What is love if not a thin thread of hope . . .

My name is Jude Harris and I'm an adrenaline junkie. If it makes my heart pound and my blood rush, I'm all in. That's how I ended up at the sex club. It was supposed to be one night of fun.No names.No professions.No small talk.Perfect anonymity. One hundred percent no strings attached. I thought I could handle the rules, but that was before I saw her. I should've walked away and forgot the whole thing. Coulda, shoulda, woulda... didn't. She told me not to get attached, but I did it anyway. If I thought our first sexual encounter changed my life, the second one rearranged my future.

A behind the scenes tour of the worlds most incredible animatronics factory.