"After Caroline Bicks was named the University of Maine's Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, she became the first person given full access to King's archives, a treasure trove of material about the legendary writer's creative process and life, most of it never seen before. Her year of studying the archival materials was guided by one question millions of readers have asked themselves: What makes Stephen King Stephen King? Bicks focuses on five of King's early iconic books--The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, 'Salem's Lot, and Night Shift--to reveal how he manipulates character, language, and story to cast his remarkable, creepy spells. Through close reading of early drafts, interviews with King, and freshly discovered biographical details, as well as her own personal history as a reader and scholar, Bicks shows King's mastery of storytelling and his enduring imprint on American culture. In the process, Bicks faces her own fears and gets to know the man partially responsible for them"--

"A book of essays on poetry by Robert Hass"-- Provided by publisher.

"From the New York Times bestselling author of World of Wonders and Bite by Bite, Aimee Nezhukumatathil's fifth collection of poetry explores love, nature, and the transformative powers of the night. In her latest poetry collection, Aimee Nezhukumatathil plumbs the depths of nighttime, crafting a series of nocturnes that explore the magic, sensuality, and life that emerge as the rest of the world goes to bed. Night Owl navigates questions and concerns for the environment that envelops us. It meditates on our connections to family and beloveds, and explores our position within the broader beauty of the planet. Just as the night transforms how we see things, so too does love in its many forms transform our understanding of togetherness and the natural world. And these poems are deeply suffused with love-each an expression of Nezhukumatathil's captivating responses to the animals, plants, and people who have her heart and enliven her world. Night Owl presents a dazzling vision of nature that celebrates the beautiful noises and silences of this planet, as well as its many complications. Nezhukumatathil provides a singular contribution to writing on the natural world, calling up our sense of love-even in the face of increasing violence to one another and the environment-by focusing on the transformative impact of the dark"-- Provided by publisher.

"From Amir Levine, MD, coauthor of the multimillion-copy bestseller Attached What's the secret to finding success, happiness, and love? You need to feel SECURE. How do you become more connected to the people around you, without the fear of being hurt? How can you stop overthinking and letting your emotions impair your judgment? Is it possible to learn emotional resilience and truly thrive? People with a secure attachment style are the most comfortable not just in their relationships, but also in their own skin. Living life in "secure mode" enables them to cope more effectively with challenges across many areas of life -- they're healthier, less reactive, less driven by insecurity, and better able to navigate setbacks and even social media. It is as though they move through the world with a kind of resilient bubble around them. In this brilliant, paradigm-shifting work, Dr. Amir Levine, the world's leading expert on translating attachment science into practice, presents new research showing that your attachment style isn't fixed. Anyone can become SECURE. He introduces a transformative framework to help you feel more secure in your career, your friendships, your romantic life, and beyond. Along the way, he makes a simple, revolutionary argument: when you harness the power of secure mode, you can create the life you want. It's never too late to become SECURE. This book will show you how." --

"From the trailer parks of Vegas to the mansions of Nashville, Bunnie Xo has lived a lot of lives and seen the darkest sides of humanity. Her memoir, Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic, is cold, clear evidence that no one is irredeemable. With a heavy dose of humor and a refreshing sense of self-awareness, Bunnie pulls no punches as she shares her journey of redemption while offering some homespun wisdom to those who need a little saving themselves."--

Most people don't know how to have a "good death"--but Jane Callahan does. Years after watching her mother's traumatic death in a broken health care system, Jane found herself working an unfulfilling job as a marketing writer for corporations, but on nights and weekends she'd volunteer with terminally ill people awaiting death in hospice. After training as an end-of-life doula, she has spent years witnessing how our culture's resistance to talking about death leads to preventable suffering. Jane supports her clients and their families through all stages of dying, from navigating end-of-life care to preparing emotionally for the moment of death and the grief that follows. In A Death Doula's Guide to a Meaningful End, she peels back the curtain on one of our most taboo subjects and walks readers through what happens when someone is dying. With vignettes that weave through patients' lives--and her own--she reveals to readers all the things they didn't know (or didn't know they needed to know) about our last great adventure. Along the way, readers will uncover knowledge on the raw realities of being mortal and learn how death positivity can take some of the anxiety and fear of dying out of the equation. Surprisingly funny and often cutting, this memoir meets end-of-life planning guide outlines practical steps for patients, families, and caregivers, while acknowledging that some questions don't always need answers. The account of Jane's up-close-and-personal experiences with the emotional, physical, logistical, and (dare we say) spiritual aspects of dying shows that when we talk about death, we're actually talking about life.

"You were dead, Sarah, you were dead." In October 2019, Sarah Aziza, daughter and granddaughter of Gazan refugees, is narrowly saved after being hospitalized for an eating disorder. The doctors revive her body, but it is no simple thing to return to the land of the living. Aziza's crisis is a rupture that brings both her ancestral and personal past into vivid presence. The hauntings begin in the hospital cafeteria, when a mysterious incident summons the familiar voice of her deceased Palestinian grandmother. In the months following, as she responds to a series of ghostly dreams, Aziza unearths family secrets that reveal the ways her own trauma and anorexia echo generations of violent Palestinian displacement and erasure--and how her fight to recover builds on a century of defiant survival and love. As she moves towards this legacy, Aziza learns to resist the forces of colonization, denial, and patriarchy both within and outside her."--Amazon.

"Author, speaker, and addiction recovery expert Caroline Beidler offers friends and family members the gift of being able to understand the recovery lifestyle--a way of life that goes beyond anonymous meetings in church basements and fosters a sense of well-being, healthy coping strategies, discovering new passions, and nurturing a deep personal faith"-- Provided by publisher.

"In 1540, the grandest exploring expedition ever assembled in the Americas paraded north from the ruins of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, a glittering column of 2,000 men heading into the unknown. Their destination was El Norte Misterioso--The Mysterious North, present-day United States--where fabulous cities of gold were rumored to shine beyond the horizon. Two years later, survivors began stumbling back, half dead. Lost to poisoned arrows, brutal deserts, starvation, cold, desertion, and countless other hardships, 90% of those who left would never return. Led by Francisco Coronado and backed by the full weight of the Spanish empire, the superpower of its day, they had expected to seize the land, steal its riches, and subjugate its peoples, just as they had so recently done to the mighty Aztec and Inca empires. But instead they encountered the unconquered American West, populated by complex societies of indigenous nations, masters of a vast and unforgiving landscape who fiercely resisted this European 'incursion' onto their lands. Coronado and his people traversed 2,500 miles of unmapped terrain, ranging across the present-day U.S. states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and finally Kansas. They were the first Europeans to gaze upon the Grand Canyon and the Rocky Mountains; made first contact with the Puebloan peoples; crossed the Sonoran Desert and the Great Plains, where they encountered endless herds of bison and the nomadic tribes who followed them. After leading the largest exploring cavalcade ever assembled in the New World, wearing his gilded armor and bobbing plume, Coronado retreated back to Mexico City two years later accompanied only by a hundred or so hangers-on and carried on a litter, a broken man. America's Southwest and Plains would remain unconquered for the next 300 years."--

In this moving biography and memoir, Blair Underwood, acclaimed star of film, stage and television, pays homage to his mother, sharing her well-lived life and key lessons learned as a fashion designer, mother and soldier's wife.

A poignant and galvanizing anthology that illuminates the realities and nuances of family estrangement, with pieces by Stephanie Foo, Nick Flynn, Deesha Philyaw, Cheryl Strayed, and others. Estrangement presents an essential existential question: who are we without our family? What kind of person cuts the proverbial umbilical cord and why? And who do we become, once untethered from our kin? Families fall apart and individuals cut ties for myriad reasons—abuse, politics, mental illness, and addiction, among others—and reunification often is not in the cards. Estrangement can be a positive change, as Emi Nietfeld explains in her essay about finding relief and logic after cutting off her mother. It can be a journey: noam keim rebuilds their sense of self by learning Arabic in their ancestral homeland of Morocco, while Nicole Graev Lipson searches for answers in literature and motherhood after her brother ghosts her. Other writers explore how estrangement complicates life’s big shifts—Domenica Ruta traces the repercussions of severing ties while battling cancer; Hannah Bae reels from the prospect of cultural alienation when she cuts off her Korean parents; and after twenty years of separation, Soni Brown reluctantly becomes her mother’s caretaker as dementia erases her memory. Through thirty-two intimate, first-person accounts, No Contact counters the prevalent trope of reconciliation as a happy ending, focusing instead on the complex grief, healing, and authenticity found in the rupture from family.

"Play can help you navigate life with more creativity, resilience, and joy--entrepreneur Piera Gelardi offers simple practices to shift from the Pressured Way to the Playful Way. Somewhere along the way to adulthood, we learn that play is childish and something to outgrow. When we deny our playfulness and treat it as a luxury or a reward, we feel zapped and disconnected, wondering why nothing feels fun anymore. There's another way. Creative entrepreneur Piera Gelardi shows how to shift from the Pressured Way to the Playful Way--from forcing flow to flowing. For Gelardi, who has built iconic brands and daring experiences, play is how she makes sense of the world. When burnout and creative block struck, she realized the source was disconnection from play--and returning to it helped her feel alive again. Through stories, research, and practices, you'll quiet inner critics, unlock the eight Powers of Play, and move through life with more ease, energy, and creative possibility--building the resilience to navigate challenges and find joy. When you embrace a playful mindset, you don't have to go play. Play comes with you everywhere"-- $c Provided by publisher.

In April of 1940, six-year-old Ida woke to the sound of pounding on her door. Soviet soldiers forcibly packed her and her mother onto a train with thousands of their neighbors and deported them to remote Siberia, leaving them stranded to survive the brutal winter in subhuman conditions. Looking back, Ida shares their struggles: foraging for food, trying to reunite with her imprisoned father, spending weeks in a desolate hospital with typhoid fever, and adapting to shifts in the political climate to make the long journey home to Poland.

"Some of the earliest canals in colonial America, referred to as the Inner Passage, were constructed by enslaved people living in the Lowcountry of South Carolina in the early 1700s. In a paradox of history, for over a hundred years enslaved Black people used these canals, constructed for white plantation owners, to travel southward to freedom in Spanish Florida. In this book, Virginia McGee Richards documents the lost narrative of the Inner Passage through 60 extraordinary photographs of landscapes altered by slavery and portraits of Lowcountry descendants, along with an essay describing her discovery of this untold history. In an accompanying essay, Imani Perry writes about her own journey on the Inner Passage, putting Black resistance to enslavement and Southern history into an immediate context. James Estrin brings decades of insight about photography and the power of visual storytelling to his affecting foreword. Together, these words and images offer a powerful living map of history." --

"Most people today understand contraception as central to women's liberation, and when the birth control pill arrived in 1960, the media thought it would usher in a sexual revolution. But a surprising number of religious Americans in the mid-twentieth century also saw contraception as part of God's plan-a tool to create happy, prosperous American families in the post-World War II era. In God Bless the Pill, Samira K. Mehta traces the remarkable story of how mid-twentieth-century Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish voices promoted the use of birth control and made it more accessible for many Americans. They hoped birth control methods would curb divorce rates by encouraging sexually dynamic marriages and families unstrained by 'too many' children-thereby creating a postwar upwardly mobile middle class. Religious leaders also promoted this understanding of the family as tied to Cold War capitalism and encouraged neither racial nor gender equity. But then came the backlash, both from the Right-which failed to anticipate the feminist potential of contraception-and from the Left, where women, particularly women of color, sought to ensure that birth control was a tool of liberation rather than one rooted in patriarchal and racial oppression. Ultimately, Mehta offers compelling new insights into the way religion accommodates itself to social, technological, and medical change"-- Provided by publisher.

"A myth-busting glimpse into the inner workings of the Supreme Court in the "Roberts era," revealing what we get wrong about the nine justices (and what they eat for lunch) and the right way to fix a Court in crisis-from the popular ABC news pundit and witty co-host of the top legal podcast in the US"-- Provided by publisher.

"Celebrate 250 years of American history-and witness the nation's decade-by-decade evolution-in this gorgeously illustrated volume featuring 700 Smithsonian objects"-- Provided by publisher.

"A collection of candid literary accounts by doctors, nurses, and other healers that shed light on the intense challenges and triumphs of medical life, reflecting the resilience, ingenuity, and compassion they use to get by"-- Provided by publisher.

"From the New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia, the definitive story of the creation and legacy of Parks and Recreation, with exclusive interview content from its cast, crew, and creators, as well as an introduction by Nick Offerman More than fifteen years after Parks and Recreation premiered, it has become a streaming and pop culture staple. It's beloved for its jokes, characters, and expressions-the show even created a now widely observed holiday, Galentine's Day. How did it all happen and how did the show transform from a ratings disappointment into a cult classic? Readers will find out all this and more in the definitive history of the show, which is as full of humor, optimism, and heart as Parks and Recreation itself. Through new and exclusive interviews, as well as deep insight and smart and entertaining pop culture analysis, Armstrong tells the story of how Parks and Recreation came to be: how it grew from The Office's success and Obama-inspired optimism, how producers assembled one of TV's most lovable casts but barely survived a mediocre first season, how it found its voice by getting more political and more romantic, and how it became a cultural force despite middling ratings during its network run, going on to become a television savior of the Trump era and a modern classic. Lovingly told and deeply researched, Parks and Rec is the ultimate history of the show that taught us what's important in life: friends, waffles, and work"-- Provided by publisher.

"For nearly four decades, Geneen Roth has been a trusted and beloved voice, guiding women on how to give up dieting, end compulsive eating, and tune into their intuition. Her books have sold millions of copies and her workshops have months-long waiting lists. But only recently, after surviving a devastating breast cancer diagnosis and realizing that she or her mother might die before repairing the rift between them, Roth decided to face the reality that her relationship to her body and the food she eats are inextricably bound to her relationship with her mother. And, Roth discovered, this is true for almost every woman. For years, Roth has been telling women to listen to the intuitive voice inside themselves. But what if that voice is not theirs at all-what if it is the voice of their mothers? And what if, though it professes love, it's actually harmful? Determined to learn to distinguish between the intuition that is her own and the deeply-internalized prodding, often critical voice of her mother, Roth began working with a ninety year-old spiritual advisor named Coco. Blind, nearly deaf, and preternaturally empathetic, Coco helped Roth to untangle her sense of self from her mother's judgement. For the first time, Roth was able to separate what her mother had led her to believe about herself from her truer inner-knowing. Now, living from that deeper place, the things that once kept her stuck, haunted, compulsive, or uncomfortable are set free. In Mothers, Daughters, and Food, Roth reveals how our mothers influence our beliefs about ourselves. She walks readers through a specific process to help them untangle those thoughts and she provides a roadmap to a healthier emotional and physical place. Written in her signature style--funny, self-aware, spiritually wise--Mothers, Daughters, and Food is a must-read for anyone seeking to heal their relationships with food, their families, and themselves"-- Provided by publisher.

"Life is about getting what you want. When you're negotiating a salary, buying a house, or talking politics with your uncle at Thanksgiving dinner, you're always after the best outcome. Learn from an expert how to get what you want in every situation-no matter who you're talking to.Your ability to get what you want depends upon your ability to persuade. Unfortunately, the way most people approach persuasion has the opposite effect: we double down on our own perspective and cite tons of facts to make our point-or even try to strong-arm people into giving in. None of this is persuasive. In reality, it pushes people away from us, making it hard or even impossible to get what we want. Persuasion expert Joshua Bandoch has spent over a decade uncovering the secrets of persuasion. He's mined psychology, neuroscience, economics, public policy, and history for cutting-edge techniques that actually work-and he's used them in speeches written for senior government officials, national leaders, business executives, and dozens of his own talks to audiences around the world. How to Get What You Want combines Bandoch's groundbreaking research with practical experience persuading at the highest levels to give you a fresh, surprisingly simple approach that will get you what you want and need when it matters by: Adopting the persuader's mindset Learning proven techniques for making the most persuasive emotional and logical appeals Unlocking the secret formula for memorable and motivating stories Tapping into the power of tone, body language, and other subconscious signals How to Get What You Want teaches you how to navigate any political, professional, or personal situation more effectively to get optimal results each and every day"-- Provided by publisher.

"When Amy Purdy was nineteen, a sudden and severe case of bacterial meningitis resulted in the loss of both legs below the knee and nearly took her life. Her dream of becoming a professional snowboarder seemed impossible until she transformed her grief and loss into fuel and rebuilt her life one tiny step at a time. Amy not only became a trailblazer in her sport--she made history as a three-time Paralympic medalist. She went on to inspire millions around the world, tour with Oprah Winfrey, deliver unforgettable performances on Dancing with the Stars,and speak on some of the largest stages in the world. Two decades later, after rebuilding her life and career, Amy faced a new battle. A sudden and devastating injury threatened her ability to walk again, and she began a profound journey of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. In Bounce Forward, Amy shares this raw and intimate chapter of her life, showing that true resilience is not about returning to who you once were but becoming someone stronger, wiser, and more whole. Through gripping stories, practical science, and soulful reflection, she introduces twenty-one actionable tools that helped her shift from."--Amazon.

"The term "mental load" has become more familiar in recent years, but the popular understanding of the concept often reduces it down to managing a list of household chores and logistics. Sociologist Leah Ruppanner reveals that for women, mental load actually goes much deeper: It's a complex form of emotional thinking that is invisible, boundaryless, and enduring. It's not just making sure tasks get done, it requires thinking five steps ahead, keeping relationships intact, creating experiences that keep all members of the family happy and thriving, and much more. Mental load burnout is the thing that makes women feel like they're running at top speed but barely moving forward. It's what makes even markers of success - new babies, jobs, or promotions- feel exhausting and overwhelming. And there's a double burden: Social standards set women up to be spread too thin, but most of us internalize the idea that our inability to keep up is our fault--it's all in our heads, or we need to let go of perfectionism. If only we could find more minutes in the day, or more time for self-care. In Drained, Ruppanner tackles the problem of women's mental load by asking us to see it through a fresh, paradigm-shifting lens. This book asks, what if we stop blaming ourselves and instead, make practical, impactful changes to our lives to prioritize our energy? With eye-opening, research-based insights, including the 8 most common categories of mental load that weigh women down, Drained offers a powerful toolkit to help women move toward the life they really want. The heart of the book is the Mental Load Audit, which helps readers assess where they are spending their time and attention, and shows them how to take steps to recalibrate effectively. Urgent and provocative, Drained will help women create richer, less overwhelming lives filled with more meaning and joy"-- Provided by publisher.