Teaches large businesses to use word-of-mouth and reputation-building to gain a loyal customer base in the way small businesses do.

Affordable Paradise dispells the myth that it is expensive to live in Hawaii. The reader will learn the secrets of anyone with the desire to do so can afford to live in Hawaii. Also covered in detail are the reasons why Hawaii is not everyones paradise.

A Book Sense Pick and Annual Highlight With a New Afterword In less than two decades, large retail chains have become the most powerful corporations in America. In this deft and revealing book, Stacy Mitchell illustrates how mega-retailers are fueling many of our most pressing problems, from the shrinking middle class to rising pollution and diminished civic engagement—and she shows how a growing number of communities and independent businesses are effectively fighting back. Mitchell traces the dramatic growth of mega-retailers—from big boxes like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Costco, and Staples to chains like Starbucks, Olive Garden, Blockbuster, and Old Navy—and the precipitous decline of independent businesses. Drawing on examples from virtually every state in the country, she unearths the extraordinary impact of these companies and the big-box mentality on everything from soaring gasoline consumption to rising poverty rates, failing family farms, and declining voting levels. Along the way, Mitchell exposes the shocking role government policy has played in the expansion of mega-retailers and builds a compelling case that communities composed of many small, locally owned businesses are healthier and more prosperous than those dominated by a few large chains. More than a critique, Big-Box Swindle provides an invigorating account of how some communities have successfully countered the spread of big boxes and rebuilt their local economies. Since 2000, more than two hundred big-box development projects have been halted by groups of ordinary citizens, and scores of towns and cities have adopted laws that favor small-scale, local business development and limit the proliferation of chains. From cutting-edge land-use policies to innovative cooperative small-business initiatives, Mitchell offers communities concrete strategies that can stave off mega-retailers and create a more prosperous and sustainable future.

There are few books that surprise their readers on every page-even fewer that show readers how to live. Boldly, the OUROH trilogy does both. Trevor and Trudy, siblings from Earth, take an unforgettable journey through these pages, a journey you will gladly take alongside them; they're the kind of inspiring characters that live and breathe on the page and live on in your mind and heart long after the story's final word. You can't help but root for and identify with them. Their journey is rich with the power of words and wishes, spoken and unspoken. It's a journey not only through time (recycled time), but past time; not only through our known universe, but past it to another, and another (Ouroh is the center of thirteen multiverses); not only through our minds and senses, but past what we've been conditioned to perceive to a whole new way of seeing and knowing. This epic tale has been created by a master storyteller and modern-day philosopher, one who understands that acknowledging life's interconnectedness and relying on present-moment awareness are the keys to true happiness. But you won't be pummeled with speeches or agendas; instead, this wisdom is skillfully woven into the narrative's fabric. Trevor and Trudy are joined by Ideas and Imagination, their Ouroh counterparts, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, including the fascinating Planimals (part plant, part animal, in a myriad of astounding varieties). Thrumming with heart-pounding tension and suspense, the story asks: Will the children save the multiverses from an errant word? Will they "right the word that went wrong"? In a time when people complain that there is nothing new under the sun, it is quite a rare achievement to discover a book unlike any other. The OUROH trilogy is a true gift indeed.

For its first 75 years, Brookline was a bucolic area of Boston, with rolling hills and low-lying salt marshes. Named Muddy River by its residents after a shallow tidal estuary bordering Roxbury, Brookline had no more than 50 families inhabiting it when it was incorporated as an independent town on November 13, 1705. Long regarded as a liberal, progressive community, Brookline is a model of how an effective town government can positively impact the life of its citizens. Brookline boasts numerous Nobel Prize winnersdoctors, scientists, and researchers who have made enormous strides in their fields. Brookline shares Bostons strong literary tradition, with residents like poet Amy Lowell and mystery writer Dennis Lehane. Brooklines pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, with many residents who eschew cars and shop locally, attracts many small-business owners such as Dana Brigham and Seth Barrett. Brookline has been home to a number of sports luminaries like Larry Bird, Terry Francona, and Robert Kraft. Famous politicians include the 35th president, John F. Kennedy, who was born in Brookline; former governor Michael Dukakis; and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. Legendary Locals of Brookline tells their stories, as well as the stories of some of the lesser-known heroes and humanitarians who make Brookline a great place to call home.

In Bend the Rules with Fabric, Amy Karol explores dyeing, silk screening, stamping, appliqué, transferring photographs and many other techniques, providing an array of fun and fabulous projects for crafters to get their teeth into. Whether readers use Bend the Rules with Fabric as a how-to for making t-shirts, a workbook for their kids weekend projects, a manual for making their own products to sell, a guide for seeing old clothes in a new way, or as a fun resource for making custom gifts for family and friends, this comprehensive and creative book is sure to inspire! With 25 projects and 18 techniques to learn there s plenty for all crafters. Also features 9 no-sew projects!