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# 1 - Into the Water , by Paula Hawkins The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller and global phenomenon The Girl on the Train returns with Into the Water, her addictive new novel of psychological suspense.
“Hawkins is at the forefront of a group of female authors – think Gillian Flynn and Megan Abbott – who have reinvigorated the literary suspense novel by tapping a rich vein of psychological menace and social unease… there’s a certain solace to a dark escape, in the promise of submerged truths coming to light.” –Vogue
A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.
Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother's sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she'd never return.
With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present.
# 2 - 16th Seduction , by James Patterson Detective Lindsay Boxer investigates the most explosive case of her career.
Lindsay Boxer is learning to love again. After the picture-perfect world she shared with her husband, Joe, and their beautiful young daughter shattered under the weight of Joe's double life, Lindsay is determined to put the pieces back together. But before she can welcome Joe back with open arms, their beloved hometown of San Francisco faces a threat unlike any the city--or the country--has ever seen.
When the danger hits even closer to home, Lindsay and Joe find a common cause and spring into action, with quick results. But what at first seems like an open-and-shut case quickly turns into anything but, when the suspect threatens everything that Lindsay has worked a lifetime to build. As Lindsay's investigation is scrutinized and undermined by a criminal as brilliant as any high-powered defense lawyer, and her motives are called into question by everyone she thought had her back, not even the truth may be enough to save her.
In a desperate fight for her career--and her life--Lindsay must connect the dots of a deadly conspiracy before a fiendish enemy puts her on trial-and walks free with blood on his hands.
Filled with the trademark suspense and emotion that have made James Patterson the world's #1 bestselling writer, 16th Seduction is the Women's Murder Club's toughest case yet--and an exhilarating thrill ride from start to finish.
# 3 - Against All Odds , by Danielle Steel Taking chances is part of life, but when you bet your future against the odds, it’s a high-risk game. Kate Madison’s stylish resale shop has been a big SoHo success, supporting her and her four kids since her husband’s untimely death. Now they are grown and ready to forge lives of their own. And they all choose to play against the odds, to their mother’s dismay.
Isabelle, a dedicated attorney, is in line to make partner at her Wall Street firm when she falls for a client she represents in a criminal case. She tells herself she can make a life with him—but can she? Julie, a young designer, meets a man who seems too good to be true and falls under his spell. She marries him quickly, gives up her job, and moves to Los Angeles to be at his side—but is all what it seems? Justin is a struggling writer who pushes for children with his partner before they’re financially or emotionally ready. Will the strain on the relationship take too high a toll? And Willie, the youngest, a tech expert, makes a choice that shocks them all, with a woman twelve years older.
Kate—loving, supportive, and outspoken—can’t keep her children from playing against the odds. Can the odds be beaten? Not often—as her children have to learn for themselves. For Kate, the hardest lesson will be that she can’t protect the children she loves from the choices they make—but can only love them as they make them.
# 4 - The Fix , by David Baldacci Amos Decker witnesses a murder just outside FBI headquarters. A man shoots a woman execution-style on a crowded sidewalk, then turns the gun on himself.
Even with Decker's extraordinary powers of observation and deduction, the killing is baffling. Decker and his team can find absolutely no connection between the shooter--a family man with a successful consulting business--and his victim, a schoolteacher. Nor is there a hint of any possible motive for the attack.
Enter Harper Brown. An agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency, she orders Decker to back off the case. The murder is part of an open DIA investigation, one so classified that Decker and his team aren't cleared for it.
But they learn that the DIA believes solving the murder is now a matter of urgent national security. Critical information may have been leaked to a hostile government--or worse, an international terrorist group--and an attack may be imminent.
Decker's never been one to follow the rules, especially with the stakes so high. Forced into an uneasy alliance with Agent Brown, Decker remains laser focused on only one goal: solving the case before it's too late.
# 5 - Golden Prey , by John Sandford Lucas Davenport’s first case as a U.S. Marshal sends him into uncharted territory in the thrilling new novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series.
The man was smart and he didn’t mind killing people. Welcome to the big leagues, Davenport.
Thanks to some very influential people whose lives he saved, Lucas is no longer working for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, but for the U.S. Marshals Service, and with unusual scope. He gets to pick his own cases, whatever they are, wherever they lead him.
And where they’ve led him this time is into real trouble. A Biloxi, Mississippi, drug-cartel counting house gets robbed, and suitcases full of cash disappear, leaving behind five bodies, including that of a six-year-old girl. Davenport takes the case, which quickly spirals out of control, as cartel assassins, including a torturer known as the “Queen of home-improvement tools” compete with Davenport to find the Dixie Hicks shooters who knocked over the counting house. Things get ugly real fast, and neither the cartel killers nor the holdup men give a damn about whose lives Davenport might have saved; to them, he’s just another large target.
# 6 - The Thirst , by Jo Nesbo In this electrifying new thriller from the author of Police and The Snowman, Inspector Harry Hole hunts down a serial murderer who targets his victims . . . on Tinder.
The murder victim, a self-declared Tinder addict. The one solid clue—fragments of rust and paint in her wounds—leaves the investigating team baffled.
Two days later, there’s a second murder: a woman of the same age, a Tinder user, an eerily similar scene.
The chief of police knows there’s only one man for this case. But Harry Hole is no longer with the force. He promised the woman he loves, and he promised himself, that he’d never go back: not after his last case, which put the people closest to him in grave danger.
But there’s something about these murders that catches his attention, something in the details that the investigators have missed. For Harry, it’s like hearing “the voice of a man he was trying not to remember.” Now, despite his promises, despite everything he risks, Harry throws himself back into the hunt for a figure who haunts him, the monster who got away.
# 7 - Since We Fell , by Dennis LeHane
The new novel from New York Times bestseller Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island
“Lehane is the master of complex human characters thrust into suspenseful, page-turning situations.” —Gillian Flynn
Since We Fell follows Rachel Childs, a former journalist who, after an on-air mental breakdown, now lives as a virtual shut-in. In all other respects, however, she enjoys an ideal life with an ideal husband. Until a chance encounter on a rainy afternoon causes that ideal life to fray. As does Rachel’s marriage. As does Rachel herself. Sucked into a conspiracy thick with deception, violence, and possibly madness, Rachel must find the strength within herself to conquer unimaginable fears and mind-altering truths. By turns heart- breaking, suspenseful, romantic, and sophisticated, Since We Fell is a novel of profound psychological insight and tension. It is Dennis Lehane at his very best.
# 8 - Men Without Women , by Haruki Murakami A dazzling new collection of short stories--the first major new work of fiction from the beloved, internationally acclaimed, Haruki Murakami since his #1 best-selling Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.
Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are vanishing cats and smoky bars, lonely hearts and mysterious women, baseball and the Beatles, woven together to tell stories that speak to us all.
Marked by the same wry humor that has defined his entire body of work, in this collection Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic.
# 9 - The Black Book , by James Patterson hree bodies in a beautiful and luxurious bedroom.
Billy Harney was born to be a cop. The son of Chicago's chief of detectives, whose twin sister is also on the force, Billy plays it by the book. Alongside Detective Kate Fenton, Billy's tempestuous, adrenaline-junkie partner, there's nothing he wouldn't sacrifice for his job. Enter Amy Lentini, a hard-charging assistant state's attorney hell-bent on making a name for herself-who suspects Billy isn't the cop he claims to be. They're about to be linked by more than their careers.
One missing black book.
A horrifying murder leads investigators to an unexpected address-an exclusive brothel that caters to Chicago's most powerful citizens. There's plenty of incriminating evidence on the scene-but what matters most is what's missing: the madam's black book. Now shock waves are rippling through the city's elite, and everyone's desperate to find it.
Chicago has never been more dangerous.
As everyone who's anyone in Chicago scrambles to get their hands on the elusive black book, no one's motives can be trusted. An ingenious, inventive thriller about power, corruption, and the power of secrets to scandalize a city-and possibly destroy a family-The Black Book is James Patterson at his page-turning best.
# 10 - A Dog's Way Home , by W. Bruce Cameron
From W. Bruce Cameron, the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel A Dog's Purpose, which is now a major motion picture!
Lucas Ray is shocked when an adorable puppy jumps out of an abandoned building and into his arms. Though the apartment he shares with his mother, a disabled veteran, doesn’t allow dogs, Lucas can’t resist taking Bella home.
Bella is inexplicably drawn to Lucas, even if she doesn’t understand the necessity of games like No Barks. As it becomes more difficult to hide her from the neighbors, Lucas begins to sneak Bella into the VA where he works. There, Bella brings joy and comfort where it is needed most.
After Bella is picked up by Animal Control because pit bulls are banned in Denver, Lucas has no choice but to send her to a foster home until he can figure out what to do. But Bella, distraught at the separation, doesn’t plan to wait. With four hundred miles of dangerous Colorado wilderness between her and her person, Bella sets off on a seemingly impossible and completely unforgettable adventure home.
A classic story of unwavering loyalty and incredible devotion, A Dog’s Way Home is a beautifully told, charming tale that explores the unbreakable bond between us and our pets. This fantastic and exhilarating journey of the heart is in the same tradition as the beloved bestseller, A Dog’s Purpose.
# 1 - Option B , by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant From Facebook’s COO and Wharton’s top-rated professor, the #1 New York Times best-selling authors of Lean In and Originals: a powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after life’s inevitable setbacks.
After the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt certain that she and her children would never feel pure joy again. “I was in ‘the void,’” she writes, “a vast emptiness that fills your heart and lungs and restricts your ability to think or even breathe.” Her friend Adam Grant, a psychologist at Wharton, told her there are concrete steps people can take to recover and rebound from life-shattering experiences. We are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. It is a muscle that everyone can build.
Option B combines Sheryl’s personal insights with Adam’s eye-opening research on finding strength in the face of adversity. Beginning with the gut-wrenching moment when she finds her husband, Dave Goldberg, collapsed on a gym floor, Sheryl opens up her heart—and her journal—to describe the acute grief and isolation she felt in the wake of his death. But Option B goes beyond Sheryl’s loss to explore how a broad range of people have overcome hardships including illness, job loss, sexual assault, natural disasters, and the violence of war. Their stories reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere . . . and to rediscover joy.
Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead. Two weeks after losing her husband, Sheryl was preparing for a father-child activity. “I want Dave,” she cried. Her friend replied, “Option A is not available,” and then promised to help her make the most of Option B.
We all live some form of Option B. This book will help us all make the most of it.
# 2 - Astrophysics for People in a Hurry , by Neil deGrasse Tyson
The #1 New York Times Bestseller: The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist.
What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There’s no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson.
But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.
While you wait for your morning coffee to brew, for the bus, the train, or a plane to arrive, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe.
# 3 - Shattered , by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes It was never supposed to be this close. And of course she was supposed to win. How Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to Donald Trump is the riveting story of a sure thing gone off the rails. For every Comey revelation or hindsight acknowledgment about the electorate, no explanation of defeat can begin with anything other than the core problem of Hillary's campaign--the candidate herself.
Through deep access to insiders from the top to the bottom of the campaign, political writers Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes have reconstructed the key decisions and unseized opportunities, the well-intentioned misfires and the hidden thorns that turned a winnable contest into a devastating loss. Drawing on the authors' deep knowledge of Hillary from their previous book, the acclaimed biography HRC, Shattered offers an object lesson in how Hillary herself made victory an uphill battle, how her difficulty articulating a vision irreparably hobbled her impact with voters, and how the campaign failed to internalize the lessons of populist fury from the hard-fought primary against Bernie Sanders.
Moving blow-by-blow from the campaign's difficult birth through the bewildering terror of election night, Shattered tells an unforgettable story with urgent lessons both political and personal, filled with revelations that will change the way readers understand just what happened to America on November 8, 2016.
# 4 - Democracy , by Condoleeza Rice In this book, Rice explains what these epochal events teach us about democracy. At a time when people around the world are wondering whether democracy is in decline, Rice shares insights from her experiences as a policymaker, scholar, and citizen, in order to put democracy's challenges into perspective.
When the United States was founded, it was the only attempt at self-government in the world. Today more than half of all countries qualify as democracies, and in the long run that number will continue to grow. Yet nothing worthwhile ever comes easily. Using America's long struggle as a template, Rice draws lessons for democracy around the world -- from Russia, Poland, and Ukraine, to Kenya, Colombia, and the Middle East. She finds that no transitions to democracy are the same because every country starts in a different place. Pathways diverge and sometimes circle backward. Time frames for success vary dramatically, and countries often suffer false starts before getting it right. But, Rice argues, that does not mean they should not try. While the ideal conditions for democracy are well known in academia, they never exist in the real world. The question is not how to create perfect circumstances but how to move forward under difficult ones.
These same insights apply in overcoming the challenges faced by governments today. The pursuit of democracy is a continuing struggle shared by people around the world, whether they are opposing authoritarian regimes, establishing new democratic institutions, or reforming mature democracies to better live up to their ideals. The work of securing it is never finished.
# 5 - Killers of the Flower Moon , by David Grann From New Yorker staff writer David Grann, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of Z, a twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. Her relatives were shot and poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more members of the tribe began to die under mysterious circumstances.
In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes like Al Spencer, the “Phantom Terror,” roamed—many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations and the bureau badly bungled the case. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
# 6 - Hillbilly Elegy , by J.D. Vance
From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.
The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually their grandchild (the author) would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving generational upward mobility.
But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that this is only the short, superficial version. Vance’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother, struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, and were never able to fully escape the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. Vance piercingly shows how he himself still carries around the demons of their chaotic family history.
A deeply moving memoir with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.
# 7 - The American Spirit , by David Mccullough A timely collection of speeches by David McCullough, the most honored historian in the United States—winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among many others—that reminds us of fundamental American principles.
Over the course of his distinguished career, David McCullough has spoken before Congress, the White House, colleges and universities, historical societies, and other esteemed institutions. Now, at a time of self-reflection in America following a bitter election campaign that has left the country divided, McCullough has collected some of his most important speeches in a brief volume designed to identify important principles and characteristics that are particularly American. The American Spirit reminds us of core American values to which we all subscribe, regardless of which region we live in, which political party we identify with, or our ethnic background. This is a book about America for all Americans that reminds us who we are and helps to guide us as we find our way forward.
# 8 - This Fight is Our Fight , by Elizabeth Warren
The fiery U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and bestselling author offers a passionate, inspiring book about why our middle class is under siege and how we can win the fight to save it
Senator Elizabeth Warren has long been an outspoken champion of America’s middle class, and by the time the people of Massachusetts elected her in 2012, she had become one of the country’s leading progressive voices. Now, at a perilous moment for our nation, she has written a book that is at once an illuminating account of how we built the strongest middle class in history, a scathing indictment of those who have spent the past thirty-five years undermining working families, and a rousing call to action.
Warren grew up in Oklahoma, and she’s never forgotten how difficult it was for her mother and father to hold on at the ragged edge of the middle class. An educational system that offered opportunities for all made it possible for her to achieve her dream of going to college, becoming a teacher, and, later, attending law school. But now, for many, these kinds of opportunities are gone, and a government that once looked out for working families is instead captive to the rich and powerful. Seventy-five years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal ushered in an age of widespread prosperity; in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan reversed course and sold the country on the disastrous fiction called trickle-down economics. Now, with the election of Donald Trump--a con artist who promised to drain the swamp of special interests and then surrounded himself with billionaires and lobbyists--the middle class is being pushed ever closer to collapse.
Written in the candid, high-spirited voice that is Warren’s trademark, This Fight Is Our Fight tells eye-opening stories about her battles in the Senate and vividly describes the experiences of hard-working Americans who have too often been given the short end of the stick. Elizabeth Warren has had enough of phony promises and a government that no longer serves its people--she won’t sit down, she won’t be silenced, and she will fight back.
# 9 - Jackie's Girl , by Kathy McKeon An endearing coming-of-age memoir by a young woman who spent thirteen years as Jackie Kennedy’s personal assistant and occasional nanny—and the lessons about life and love she learned from the glamorous first lady.
In 1964, Kathy McKeon was just nineteen years old and newly arrived from Ireland when she was hired as the personal assistant to former first lady Jackie Kennedy. The next thirteen years of her life were spent in Jackie's service, during which Kathy not only played a crucial role in raising young Caroline and John Jr., but also had a front-row seat to some of the twentieth century’s most significant events.
Because Kathy was always at Jackie’s side, Rose Kennedy deemed her “Jackie’s girl.” And although Kathy called Jackie “Madam,” she considered her employer more like a big sister who, in many ways, mentored her on how to be a lady. Kathy was there during Jackie and Aristotle Onassis’s courtship and marriage and Robert Kennedy’s assassination, dutifully supporting Jackie and the children during these tumultuous times in history.
A rare and engrossing look at the private life of one of the most famous women of the twentieth century, Jackie’s Girl is also a moving personal story of a young woman finding her identity and footing in a new country, along with the help of the most elegant woman in America.
# 10 - Teammate , by David Ross with Don Yaeger Teammate is the inspiring memoir from "Grandpa Rossy," the veteran catcher who became the heart and soul of the 2016 Chicago Cubs championship team.
In 2016 the Cubs snapped a 108-year curse, winning the World Series in a history-making, seven-game series against the Cleveland Indians. Of the many storylines to Chicago's fairytale season, one stood out: the late-career renaissance of David Ross, the 39-year-old catcher who had played back-up for 13 of his 15 pro seasons.
Beyond Ross's remarkably strong play, he became the ultimate positive force in the Cubs locker room, mentoring and motivating his fellow players, some of them nearly twenty years his junior. Thanks to Cubs Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, "Grandpa Rossy" became a social media sensation. No one, however, could have predicted that Ross's home run in his final career at bat would help seal the Cubs championship.
Now, in Teammate, Ross shares the inspiring story of his life in baseball, framed by the events of that unforgettable November night.
# 1 - Make Your Bed , by William H. McRaven If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. Taking inspiration from the university's slogan, "What starts here changes the world," he shared the ten principles he learned during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also throughout his life; and he explained how anyone can use these basic lessons to change themselves-and the world-for the better.
Admiral McRaven's original speech went viral with over 10 million views. Building on the core tenets laid out in his speech, McRaven now recounts tales from his own life and from those of people he encountered during his military service who dealt with hardship and made tough decisions with determination, compassion, honor, and courage. Told with great humility and optimism, this timeless book provides simple wisdom, practical advice, and words of encouragement that will inspire readers to achieve more, even in life's darkest moments.
# 2 - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F.... , by Mark Manson
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.
Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.
There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.
# 3 - You Are a Badass, by Jen SinceroBestselling author, speaker and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, cuts through the din of the self-help genre with her own verbal meat cleaver in You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life. In this refreshingly blunt how-to guide, Sincero, serves up 27 bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, life-changing insights, easy exercises and the occasional swear word.
Via chapters such as "Your Brain is Your Bitch," "Fear is for Suckers" and "My Subconscious Made Me Do It," Sincero takes you on a wild joy ride to your own transformation, helping you create the money, relationships, career and general all around awesomeness you so desire. And should you be one of those people who would rather take a bullet than get busted with a self-help book in your hands, fear not. Sincero, a former skeptic herself, delivers the goods minus the New-Age cheese, giving even the snarkiest of poo-pooers exactly what they need to get out of their ruts and start kicking some ass.
By the end of You Are a Badass, you will understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can't change, how to change what you don't love, and how to start living the kind of life you used to be jealous of.
# 4 - The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman Marriage should be based on love, right? But does it seem as though you and your spouse are speaking two different languages? New York Times bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman guides couples in identifying, understanding, and speaking their spouse's primary love language—quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, or physical touch.
By learning the five love languages, you and your spouse will discover your unique love languages and learn practical steps in truly loving each other. Chapters are categorized by love language for easy reference, and each one ends with specific, simple steps to express a specific language to your spouse and guide your marriage in the right direction. A newly designed love languages assessment will help you understand and strengthen your relationship. You can build a lasting, loving marriage together.
# 5 - The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo This best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing. Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).
Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.
# 6 - The Whole30, by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas HartwigMillions of people visit Whole30.com every month and share their stories of weight loss and lifestyle makeovers. Hundreds of thousands of them have read It Starts With Food, which explains the science behind the program. At last, The Whole30 provides the step-by-step, recipe-by-recipe guidebook that will allow millions of people to experience the transformation of their entire life in just one month.
Melissa and Dallas Hartwig’s critically-acclaimed Whole30 program has helped hundreds of thousands of people transform how they think about their food, bodies, and lives. Their approach leads to effortless weight loss and better health—along with stunning improvements in sleep quality, energy levels, mood, and self-esteem. Their first book, the New York Times best-selling It Starts With Food, explained the science behind their life-changing program. Now they bring you The Whole30, a stand-alone, step-by-step plan to break unhealthy habits, reduce cravings, improve digestion, and strengthen your immune system. The Whole30 features more than 100 chef-developed recipes, like Chimichurri Beef Kabobs and Halibut with Citrus Ginger Glaze, designed to build your confidence in the kitchen and inspire your taste buds. The book also includes real-life success stories, community resources, and an extensive FAQ to give you the support you need on your journey to “food freedom.”
# 7 - Present Over Perfect , by Shauna Niequist
LIVE A LIFE OF MEANING AND CONNECTION
Instead of pushing for perfection
A few years ago, I found myself exhausted and isolated, my soul and body sick. I was tired of being tired, burned out on busy. And, it seemed almost everyone I talked with was in the same boat: longing for connection, meaning, depth, but settling for busy.
I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, neighbor, writer, and I know all too well that settling feeling. But over the course of the last few years, I’ve learned a way to live, marked by grace, love, rest, and play. And it’s changing everything.
Present Over Perfect is an invitation to this journey that changed my life. I’ll walk this path with you, a path away from frantic pushing and proving, and toward your essential self, the one you were created to be before you began proving and earning for your worth.
Written in Shauna’s warm and vulnerable style, this collection of essays focuses on the most important transformation in her life, and maybe yours too: leaving behind busyness and frantic living and rediscovering the person you were made to be. Present Over Perfect is a hand reaching out, pulling you free from the constant pressure to perform faster, push harder, and produce more, all while maintaining an exhausting image of perfection.
Shauna offers an honest account of what led her to begin this journey, and a compelling vision for an entirely new way to live: soaked in grace, rest, silence, simplicity, prayer, and connection with the people that matter most to us.
In these pages, you’ll be invited to consider the landscape of your own life, and what it might look like to leave behind the pressure to be perfect and begin the life-changing practice of simply being present, in the middle of the mess and the ordinariness of life.
# 8 - Women Who Work , by Ivanka Trump I believe that when it comes to women and work, there isn’t one right answer. The only person who can create a life you’ll love is you.
Our grandmothers fought for the right to work. Our mothers fought for the choice to be in an office or to stay at home. Our generation is the first to fully embrace and celebrate the fact that our lives are multidimensional. Thanks to the women who came before us and paved the way, we can create the lives we want to lead—which look different for each of us.
I’ve been fortunate to be able to build my career around my passions, from real estate to fashion. But my professional titles only begin to describe who I am and what I value. I have been an executive and an entrepreneur, but also—and just as importantly—a wife, mother, daughter, and friend. To me, “work” encompasses my efforts to succeed in all of these areas.
After appearing on The Apprentice years ago and receiving a flood of letters from young women asking for guidance, I realized the need for more female leaders to speak out publicly in order to change the way society thinks and talks about “women who work.” So I created a forum to do just that. This book evolves the conversation that started on IvankaTrump.com, where so many incredible women (and men!) have shared their experiences, advice, ambitions, and passions.
Women who work lead meetings and train for marathons. We learn how to cook and how to code. We inspire our employees and our children. We innovate at our current jobs and start new businesses.
Women Who Work will equip you with the best skills I’ve learned from some of the amazing people I’ve met, on subjects such as identifying opportunities, shifting careers smoothly, negotiating, leading teams, starting companies, managing work and family, and helping change the system to make it better for women—now and in the future. I hope it will inspire you to redefine success and architect a life that honors your individual passions and priorities, in a way only you can.
# 9 - The Plant Paradox , by Steven R. Gundry
Most of us have heard of gluten—a protein found in wheat that causes widespread inflammation in the body. Americans spend billions of dollars on gluten-free diets in an effort to protect their health. But what if we’ve been missing the root of the problem? In The Plant Paradox, renowned cardiologist Dr. Steven Gundry reveals that gluten is just one variety of a common, and highly toxic, plant-based protein called lectin. Lectins are found not only in grains like wheat but also in the “gluten-free” foods most of us commonly regard as healthy, including many fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and conventional dairy products. These proteins, which are found in the seeds, grains, skins, rinds, and leaves of plants, are designed by nature to protect them from predators (including humans). Once ingested, they incite a kind of chemical warfare in our bodies, causing inflammatory reactions that can lead to weight gain and serious health conditions.
At his waitlist-only clinics in California, Dr. Gundry has successfully treated tens of thousands of patients suffering from autoimmune disorders, diabetes, leaky gut syndrome, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases with a protocol that detoxes the cells, repairs the gut, and nourishes the body. Now, in The Plant Paradox, he shares this clinically proven program with readers around the world.
The simple (and daunting) fact is, lectins are everywhere. Thankfully, Dr. Gundry offers simple hacks we easily can employ to avoid them, including:
· Peel your veggies. Most of the lectins are contained in the skin and seeds of plants; simply peeling and de-seeding vegetables (like tomatoes and peppers) reduces their lectin content.
· Shop for fruit in season. Fruit contain fewer lectins when ripe, so eating apples, berries, and other lectin-containing fruits at the peak of ripeness helps minimize your lectin consumption.
· Swap your brown rice for white. Whole grains and seeds with hard outer coatings are designed by nature to cause digestive distress—and are full of lectins.
With a full list of lectin-containing foods and simple substitutes for each, a step-by-step detox and eating plan, and delicious lectin-free recipes, The Plant Paradox illuminates the hidden dangers lurking in your salad bowl—and shows you how to eat whole foods in a whole new way.
# 10 - Blast the Sugar Out! , by Ian K. Smith
Do you want to lose weight?
In BLAST the Sugar Out!, Ian K. Smith, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Shred Power Cleanse, will guide you to eat well―and frequently―while controlling carbohydrates and dropping pounds to get to goal. You will lose weight on this diet―and start losing fast.
Has your doctor suggested you get your blood sugar numbers down?
This 5-week plan comprised of simple, affordable, accessible food as well as more than 50 sugar swaps will immediately lower your blood sugar levels painlessly and easily.
Do you need a plan that will decrease your fat and increase your lean muscle?
The BLAST the Sugar Out! five-week program is structured and clear about what you must eat at meals and for snacks every day to keep on track. There’s no meal skipping, plenty of food, and short bursts of exercise to super-charge your results.
You won’t be hungry on BLAST the Sugar Out! You’ll eat, drink, and learn to really taste good food again.
Features more than 45 recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and smoothies to satisfy every craving.
# 1 - The Hate U Give , by Angie Thomas Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
# 2 - Girling Up , by Mayim Bialik Mayim Bialik, star of The Big Bang Theory, puts her Ph.D. to work as she talks to teens about the science of growing up and getting ahead. A must-have book for all teenage girls.
Growing up as a girl in today’s world is no easy task. Juggling family, friends, romantic relationships, social interests and school…sometimes it feels like you might need to be a superhero to get through it all! But really, all you need is little information.
Want to know why your stomach does a flip-flop when you run into your crush in the hallway? Or how the food you put in your body now will affect you in the future? What about the best ways to stop freaking out about your next math test?
Using scientific facts, personal anecdotes, and wisdom gained from the world around us, Mayim Bialik, the star of The Big Bang Theory, shares what she has learned from her life and her many years studying neuroscience to tell you how you grow from a girl to a woman biologically, psychologically and sociologically.
Want to be strong? Want to be smart? Want to be spectacular? You can! Start by reading this book.
# 3 - Everything, Everything , by Nicola Yoon If you love Eleanor and Park, Hazel and Augustus, and Mia and Adam, you’ll love the story of Maddy, a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world, and Olly, the boy who moves in next door . . . and becomes the greatest risk she’s ever taken. This innovative and heartfelt debut novel unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, illustrations, and more.
My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He's tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.
And don’t miss The Sun Is Also A Star, the breathtaking and romantic new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon in which two teens are brought together just when it seems like the universe is sending them in opposite directions.
# 4 - Alex and Eliza , by Melissa de la Cruz 1777. Albany, New York.
As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society’s biggest events: the Schuylers’ grand ball. Descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished bloodlines in New York, the Schuylers are proud to be one of their fledgling country’s founding families, and even prouder still of their three daughters—Angelica, with her razor-sharp wit; Peggy, with her dazzling looks; and Eliza, whose beauty and charm rival those of both her sisters, though she’d rather be aiding the colonists’ cause than dressing up for some silly ball.
Still, Eliza can barely contain her excitement when she hears of the arrival of one Alexander Hamilton, a mysterious, rakish young colonel and General George Washington’s right-hand man. Though Alex has arrived as the bearer of bad news for the Schuylers, he can’t believe his luck—as an orphan, and a bastard one at that—to be in such esteemed company. And when Alex and Eliza meet that fateful night, so begins an epic love story that would forever change the course of American history.
In the pages of Alex and Eliza, #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz brings to life the romance of young Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler.
# 5 - Star Wars: Rebel Rising , by Beth Revis
New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis brings to life the early adventures and heartbreaks of the heroine of the smash hit movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
When Jyn Erso was five years old, her mother was murdered and her father taken from her to serve the Empire. But despite the loss of her parents she is not completely alone-Saw Gerrera, a man willing to go to any extremes necessary in order to resist Imperial tyranny, takes her in as his own, and gives her not only a home but all the abilities and resources she needs to becomea rebel herself.
Jyn dedicates herself to the cause-and the man. But fighting alongside Saw and his people brings with it danger and the question of just how far Jyn is willing to go as one of Saw's soldiers. When she faces an unthinkable betrayal that shatters her world, Jyn will have to pull the pieces of herself back together and figure out what she truly believes in... and who she can really trust.
# 6 - Carve the Mark , by Veronica Roth
Fans of Star Wars and Divergent will revel in internationally bestselling author Veronica Roth’s stunning new science-fiction fantasy series.
On a planet where violence and vengeance rule, in a galaxy where some are favored by fate, everyone develops a currentgift, a unique power meant to shape the future. While most benefit from their currentgifts, Akos and Cyra do not—their gifts make them vulnerable to others’ control. Can they reclaim their gifts, their fates, and their lives, and reset the balance of power in this world?
Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power—something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows.
Akos is from the peace-loving nation of Thuvhe, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Though protected by his unusual currentgift, once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get his brother out alive—no matter what the cost. When Akos is thrust into Cyra’s world, the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. They must decide to help each other to survive—or to destroy one another.
# 7 - This is Where it Ends , by Marieke Nijkamp
Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun.
The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
The auditorium doors won't open.
Someone starts shooting.
Told from four perspectives over the span of 54 harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.
#1 Young Adult Debut of 2016
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
Winter '15 Kids Indie Next List
Goodreads YA Best Books of the Month
Buzzfeed 5 YA Books You Should Be Reading This January
Bustle.com 18 of 2016's Most-Anticipated YA Novels
BookRiot 15 Books out in 2016 You Should Mark Down Now
# 8 - Thirteen Reasons Why , by Jay Asher Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush - who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself-a truth he never wanted to face.
Thirteen Reasons Why is the gripping, addictive international bestseller that has changed lives the world over. It's an unrelenting modern classic.
# 9 - Caraval , by Stephanie Garber
Whatever you've heard about Caraval, it doesn't compare to the reality. It's more than just a game or a performance. It's the closest you'll ever find to magic in this world . . .
Welcome, welcome to Caraval―Stephanie Garber’s sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game.
Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the far-away, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.
But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.
Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.
# 10 - The Sun is Also a Star , by Nicola Yoon A 2016 National Book Award Finalist
Be the first to read the dazzling new novel from Nicola Yoon, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything
Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?
# 1 - How to Be a Bawse , by Lilly Singh NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the 2017 People’s Choice Award winner for Favorite YouTube Star comes the definitive guide to being a bawse: a person who exudes confidence, hustles relentlessly, and smiles genuinely because he or she has fought through it all and made it out the other side.
Lilly Singh isn’t just a superstar. She’s Superwoman—which is also the name of her wildly popular YouTube channel. Funny, smart, and insightful, the actress and comedian covers topics ranging from relationships to career choices to everyday annoyances. It’s no wonder she’s garnered more than a billion views. But Lilly didn’t get to the top by being lucky—she had to work for it. Hard.
Now Lilly wants to share the lessons she learned while taking the world by storm, and the tools she used to do it. How to Be a Bawse is the definitive guide to conquering life. Make no mistake, there are no shortcuts to success, personal or professional. World domination requires real effort, dedication, and determination. Just consider Lilly a personal trainer for your life—with fifty rules to get you in the game, including
• Let Go of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Temptation will try to steer you away from your goals. FOMO is just a test of your priorities, a test that a bawse is ready to pass.
• Be Nice to People: Treat niceness like an item on your daily to-do list. People will go out of their way to help and support you because you make them feel good.
• Schedule Inspiration: Lack of motivation isn’t permanent or a sign of weakness. Expect it and proactively schedule time to be creative.
• Be the Dumbest: Challenge yourself by surrounding yourself with people who know more than you do. It’s a vital way to learn and improve.
Told in Lilly’s hilarious, bold voice and packed with photos and candid stories from her journey to the top, How to Be a Bawse will make you love your life and yourself—even more than you love Beyoncé. (Yes, we said it!)
WARNING: This book does not include hopeful thoughts, lucky charms, or cute quotes. That’s because success, happiness, and everything else you want in life need to be worked for, not wished for. In Lilly’s world, there are no escalators, only stairs. Get ready to climb.
# 2 - Unshakeable , by Tony Robbins fter interviewing fifty of the world’s greatest financial minds and penning the #1 New York Times bestseller Money: Master the Game, Tony Robbins returns with a step-by-step playbook, taking you on a journey to transform your financial life and accelerate your path to financial freedom. No matter your salary, your stage of life, or when you started, this book will provide the tools to help you achieve your financial goals more rapidly than you ever thought possible.
Robbins, who has coached more than fifty million people from 100 countries, is the world’s #1 life and business strategist. In this book, he teams up with Peter Mallouk, the only man in history to be ranked the #1 financial advisor in the US for three consecutive years by Barron’s. Together they reveal how to become unshakeable—someone who can not only maintain true peace of mind in a world of immense uncertainty, economic volatility, and unprecedented change, but who can profit from the fear that immobilizes so many.
# 3 - The Magnolia Story , by Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines with Mark Dagostino
Are you ready to see your fixer upper?
These famous words are now synonymous with the dynamic husband-and-wife team Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of HGTV’s Fixer Upper. As this question fills the airwaves with anticipation, their legions of fans continue to multiply and ask a different series of questions, like—Who are these people?What’s the secret to their success? And is Chip actually that funny in real life? By renovating homes in Waco, Texas, and changing lives in such a winsome and engaging way, Chip and Joanna have become more than just the stars of Fixer Upper, they have become America’s new best friends.
The Magnolia Story is the first book from Chip and Joanna, offering their fans a detailed look at their life together. From the very first renovation project they ever tackled together, to the project that nearly cost them everything; from the childhood memories that shaped them, to the twists and turns that led them to the life they share on the farm today.
They both attended Baylor University in Waco. However, their paths did not cross until Chip checked his car into the local Firestone tire shop where Joanna worked behind the counter. Even back then Chip was a serial entrepreneur who, among other things, ran a lawn care company, sold fireworks, and flipped houses. Soon they were married and living in their first fixer upper. Four children and countless renovations later, Joanna garners the attention of a television producer who notices her work on a blog one day.
# 4 - The Truth About Your Future , by Ric Edelman New York Times bestselling author and legendary investment guru Ric Edelman reveals his forward-thinking guide on how technology and science will reshape the way we save, invest, and plan for the future.
Technology and science are evolving at a blistering, almost incomprehensible pace.
The Human Genome Project took eleven years and $2.7 billion dollars to complete. Today, it would take two days to finish, and cost less than getting a pizza delivered.
It’s estimated that forty percent of the current Fortune 500 companies will no longer exist by 2025.
In 2005, half a billion devices were connected to the Internet. By 2030, that number will reach one trillion.
The traditional paradigms of how we live, learn, and invest are shifting under our feet. Ric Edelman has seen the future, and he explains how smart investors can adapt and thrive in today’s changing marketplace. Using the same prophetic insight that has made him an iconic financial advisor, Edelman offers sound, practical investment advice through the lens of recent scientific and technological advancements. He illustrates how discoveries in robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing, solar energy, biotechnology, and medicine will redefine our life expectancies, careers, and retirements. As we live and work longer, Edelman provides clear advice on how to recalibrate the way we save for college, invest during our careers, and plan for retirement.
The Truth About Your Future, featuring Edelman’s proven advice and trademark humor, is a timely, must-have guide for anyone serious about successfully adapting to the ever-evolving financial landscape.
# 5 - Tools of Titans , by Tim Ferris From the author:
“For the last two years, I’ve interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview. This unusual depth has helped make The Tim Ferriss Show the first business/interview podcast to pass 100 million downloads.
“This book contains the distilled tools, tactics, and ‘inside baseball’ you won’t find anywhere else. It also includes new tips from past guests, and life lessons from new ‘guests’ you haven’t met.
“What makes the show different is a relentless focus on actionable details. This is reflected in the questions. For example: What do these people do in the first sixty minutes of each morning? What do their workout routines look like, and why? What books have they gifted most to other people? What are the biggest wastes of time for novices in their field? What supplements do they take on a daily basis?
“I don’t view myself as an interviewer. I view myself as an experimenter. If I can’t test something and replicate results in the messy reality of everyday life, I’m not interested.
“Everything within these pages has been vetted, explored, and applied to my own life in some fashion. I’ve used dozens of the tactics and philosophies in high-stakes negotiations, high-risk environments, or large business dealings. The lessons have made me millions of dollars and saved me years of wasted effort and frustration.
“I created this book, my ultimate notebook of high-leverage tools, for myself. It’s changed my life, and I hope the same for you.”
# 6 - An American Sickness , by Elisabeth Rosenthal At a moment of drastic political upheaval, a shocking investigation into the dangerous, expensive, and dysfunctional American healthcare system, as well as solutions to its myriad of problems
In these troubled times, perhaps no institution has unraveled more quickly and more completely than American medicine. In only a few decades, the medical system has been overrun by organizations seeking to exploit for profit the trust that vulnerable and sick Americans place in their healthcare. Our politicians have proven themselves either unwilling or incapable of reining in the increasingly outrageous costs faced by patients, and market-based solutions only seem to funnel larger and larger sums of our money into the hands of corporations. Impossibly high insurance premiums and inexplicably large bills have become facts of life; fatalism has set in. Very quickly Americans have been made to accept paying more for less. How did things get so bad so fast?
Breaking down this monolithic business into the individual industries—the hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, and drug manufacturers—that together constitute our healthcare system, Rosenthal exposes the recent evolution of American medicine as never before. How did healthcare, the caring endeavor, become healthcare, the highly profitable industry? Hospital systems, which are managed by business executives, behave like predatory lenders, hounding patients and seizing their homes. Research charities are in bed with big pharmaceutical companies, which surreptitiously profit from the donations made by working people. Patients receive bills in code, from entrepreneurial doctors they never even saw.
The system is in tatters, but we can fight back. Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal doesn't just explain the symptoms, she diagnoses and treats the disease itself. In clear and practical terms, she spells out exactly how to decode medical doublespeak, avoid the pitfalls of the pharmaceuticals racket, and get the care you and your family deserve. She takes you inside the doctor-patient relationship and to hospital C-suites, explaining step-by-step the workings of a system badly lacking transparency. This is about what we can do, as individual patients, both to navigate the maze that is American healthcare and also to demand far-reaching reform. An American Sickness is the frontline defense against a healthcare system that no longer has our well-being at heart.
# 7 - Wealth Can't Wait , by David Osborn and Paul Morris David Osborn and Paul Morris, two of the most popular and celebrated wealth-building minds in the game today, have mastered the art and science of sustainable wealth creation through entrepreneurship, passion, and a relentless focus on growth, success, and fulfillment. In Wealth Can't Wait, they share their decades of knowledge, debunk the myth that building wealth is often difficult, and demonstrate how you can create horizontal income streams to enjoy more financial freedom throughout your life.
Far from a get-rich-quick formula, Wealth Can't Wait equips you with a comprehensive set of wealth-building skills that will serve you throughout your life. Osborn and Morris's tested and proven five-part strategy outlines what is required to build wealth—from making the initial choice to dealing with setbacks—and details how to cultivate the mindset, habits, business, and momentum to secure the greatest results. The book's valuable tips, building blocks, and lessons from the authors' own experiences will inspire you to start achieving your financial ambitions today.
# 8 - The Third Wave , by Steve Case The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller from Steve Case—the co-founder of AOL—presents “a compelling roadmap for the future…that can help us make sense of the technological changes reshaping our economy and the world. A fascinating read” (Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and founder of LeanIn.org).
Steve Case—a pioneer who made the Internet part of everyday life—was on the leading edge of a revolution in 1985 when he co-founded AOL, the first Internet company to go public and the most successful business of the 1990s. Back then Case was an entrepreneur in an industry that hadn’t really been invented yet, but he had a sense how dramatically the Internet would transform business and society. In The Third Wave, he uses his insights garnered from nearly four decades of working as an innovator, investor, and businessman to argue the importance of entrepreneurship and to chart a path for future innovators.
We are entering, as Case explains, the “Third Wave” of the Internet. The first wave saw AOL and other companies lay the foundation for consumers to connect to the Internet. The second wave saw companies like Google and Facebook build on top of the Internet to create search and social networking capabilities, while apps like Snapchat and Instagram leveraged the smartphone revolution. Now, Case argues, we’re entering the Third Wave: a period in which entrepreneurs will vastly transform major “real world” sectors such as health, education, transportation, energy, and food—and in the process change the way we live our daily lives.
# 9 - You Are a Badass at Making Money , by Jen Sincero From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of You Are a Badass, a life-changing guide to making the kind of money you’ve only ever dreamed of
You Are a Badass at Making Money will launch you past the fears and stumbling blocks that have kept financial success beyond your reach. Drawing on her own transformation—over just a few years—from a woman living in a converted garage with tumbleweeds blowing through her bank account to a woman who travels the world in style, Jen Sincero channels the inimitable sass and practicality that made You Are a Badass an indomitable bestseller. She combines hilarious personal essays with bite-size, aha concepts that unlock earning potential and get real results.
• Uncover what's holding you back from making money
• Give your doubts, fears, and excuses the heave-ho
• Relate to money in a new (and lucrative) way
• Shake up the cocktail of creation
• Tap into your natural ability to grow rich
• Shape your reality—stop playing victim to circumstance
• Get as wealthy as you wanna be
# 10 - Originals , by Adam Grant The #1 New York Times bestseller that examines how people can champion new ideas—and how leaders can fight groupthink, from the author of Give and Take
“Reading Originals made me feel like I was seated across from Adam Grant at a dinner party, as one of my favorite thinkers thrilled me with his insights and his wonderfully new take on the world.” —Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers and The Tipping Point
“Originals is one of the most important and captivating books I have ever read, full of surprising and powerful ideas. It will not only change the way you see the world; it might just change the way you live your life. And it could very well inspire you to change your world.” —Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and author of Lean In
With Give and Take, Adam Grant not only introduced a landmark new paradigm for success but also established himself as one of his generation’s most compelling and provocative thought leaders. In Originals he again addresses the challenge of improving the world, but now from the perspective of becoming original: choosing to champion novel ideas and values that go against the grain, battle conformity, and buck outdated traditions. How can we originate new ideas, policies, and practices without risking it all?
Using surprising studies and stories spanning business, politics, sports, and entertainment, Grant explores how to recognize a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt; how parents and teachers can nurture originality in children; and how leaders can build cultures that welcome dissent. Learn from an entrepreneur who pitches his start-ups by highlighting the reasons not to invest, a woman at Apple who challenged Steve Jobs from three levels below, an analyst who overturned the rule of secrecy at the CIA, a billionaire financial wizard who fires employees for failing to criticize him, and a TV executive who didn’t even work in comedy but saved Seinfeld from the cutting-room floor. The payoff is a set of groundbreaking insights about rejecting conformity and improving the status quo.


This is ‘In Your Imagination’, a song created by melodysheep (aka John D. Boswell) for PBS Digital Studios using clips from Reading Rainbow . Honestly, I didn’t expect much, but I was happily surprised. It’s like thinking you won’t win anything on that lotto scratcher you bought after a few
This is a clip of Carl Sagan’s final speech from the 1980 Emmy award winning PBS television series Cosmos, which has been broadcast in more than 60 countries and viewed by over 500-million people. Are you one of those people? If not, better late than never. Sagan’s farewell discusses science,
This is a car sunscreen featuring cat versions of the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. You know, because there’s a market for that. Available on Amazon (affiliate link), the officially licensed 64″ x 32″ sunscreen fits most cars (but not spaceships), and is sure to let everyone
This is a clip from the French television show C’est mon choix (“It’s my Choice”), featuring a panel of people with unique laughs (complete with photos behind them of what their laugh sounds like). They all start laughing at each other’s laughs, and it’s a hilarious cacophony. If I’d been
This is a video of Captain Picard performing a song and dance on the Enterprise bridge as a tribute to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Apparently the clip was shot as a surprise for Roddenberry back in 1991, and appeared as a bonus scene in the Season 5 DVD set.
This is a video of Adam West from the original Batman television series having a conversation with himself over the phone as both Bruce Wayne AND Batman, as Commissioner Gordon and Chief O’Hara listen in. He does a great job, I can see why Adam got the part. Me? I
This is a video of unassuming ex-drug trafficker Pieter Tritton (who spent 10 years in an Ecuadorian prison as a result of his involvement) rating eight different television series and movies scenes of drug trafficking for realism. Shows and movies include Narcos, Breaking Bad, Blow, Sons Of Anarchy, El Chapo,
This is a video created using footage of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman driving in Breaking Bad to appear as if they’re racing on Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road. Personally, I’ve always sucked at Rainbow Road — I just can’t seem to stay on the track. I’m really not that great


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They used a sophisticated research tool that rapidly assesses expression of large numbers of proteins and found among 96 chronic sinusitis patients a profile missing in 38 healthy controls.
“We can diagnose this disease with a totally objective test that does not depend on symptoms or observations,” says Dr. Stilianos E. Kountakis, vice chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine. He is corresponding author on the study published in the March/April issue of American Journal of Rhinology.
Diagnosing this chronically irritating disease, characterized by dripping noses, sinus pressure, congestion and difficulty breathing, currently is rather subjective. Patients talk about symptoms and doctors look at their sinuses with an endoscope and probably a computerized tomography scan. “… (O)verall management of (chronic sinusitis) is still hampered by the lack of quantifiable, molecular and genetic markers to aid in screening,” researchers write.
To be classified chronic, the misery has to continue for at least 12 weeks. Causes include bacterial infections, respiratory inflammation, sinus polyps and mucosal disease. Some causes, such as polyps and asthma, have a genetic predisposition. “You may have a bacterial infections, allergies, mechanical problems,” Dr. Kountakis says. “There are numerous genes that control respiratory function. Any of these things can go wrong to predispose the patient to develop chronic sinusitis.”
Treating it isn’t much more straightforward. Surgery can help correct anatomical causes such as deviated septums or polyps. However, there are no FDA-aproved drugs specifically to treat chronic sinusitis. Instead, physicians use drugs that treat symptoms: steroid sprays for inflammation, mucus thinners, saline irrigation, etc. “It’s difficult to show drugs are effective because it’s difficult to group patients together and measure their disease,” says Dr. Kountakis.
He hopes further studies will enable both, revealing signature protein profiles for different types of chronic sinusitis as well as the degree of disease. “The bottom line is we want to group patients according to their disease rather than just the general term chronic sinusitis,” Dr. Kountakis says. “If we can find a way to classify patients, group them together based on the specific disease they have, maybe we can get better outcomes and treat patients with better efficiency.”
These objective measures should allow monitoring the effectiveness of current therapies and objectively reviewing new ones, he says.
In fact, even getting a handle on disease incidence is tough. The National Health Interview Survey, based on self-reports, says 14 to 16 percent of people in the United States have chronic sinusitis. A population-based study of the Olmsted County, Minnesota published in 2004 in Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery put the incidence at 2 percent.
For this study, researchers analyzed protein expression in the blood using surface enhanced laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy or SELDI-TOF-MS. The test is about 88 percent accurate.
Co-authors include Drs. Adam M. Becker, Subinoy Das, Zhongsheng Xia; Zhongmin Liu and Bao-Ling Adam.
Toni Baker | EurekAlert!
Chronic stress induces fatal organ dysfunctions via a new neural circuit
21.08.2017 | Hokkaido University
New malaria analysis method reveals disease severity in minutes
14.08.2017 | University of British Columbia
Whether you call it effervescent, fizzy, or sparkling, carbonated water is making a comeback as a beverage. Aside from quenching thirst, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have discovered a new use for these "bubbly" concoctions that will have major impact on the manufacturer of the world's thinnest, flattest, and one most useful materials -- graphene.
As graphene's popularity grows as an advanced "wonder" material, the speed and quality at which it can be manufactured will be paramount. With that in mind,...
Physicists at the University of Bonn have managed to create optical hollows and more complex patterns into which the light of a Bose-Einstein condensate flows. The creation of such highly low-loss structures for light is a prerequisite for complex light circuits, such as for quantum information processing for a new generation of computers. The researchers are now presenting their results in the journal Nature Photonics.
Light particles (photons) occur as tiny, indivisible portions. Many thousands of these light portions can be merged to form a single super-photon if they are...
For the first time, scientists have shown that circular RNA is linked to brain function. When a RNA molecule called Cdr1as was deleted from the genome of mice, the animals had problems filtering out unnecessary information – like patients suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders.
While hundreds of circular RNAs (circRNAs) are abundant in mammalian brains, one big question has remained unanswered: What are they actually good for? In the...
An experimental small satellite has successfully collected and delivered data on a key measurement for predicting changes in Earth's climate.
The Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes (RAVAN) CubeSat was launched into low-Earth orbit on Nov. 11, 2016, in order to test new...
A study led by scientists of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg presents evidence of the coexistence of superconductivity and “charge-density-waves” in compounds of the poorly-studied family of bismuthates. This observation opens up new perspectives for a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of high-temperature superconductivity, a topic which is at the core of condensed matter research since more than 30 years. The paper by Nicoletti et al has been published in the PNAS.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, superconductivity had been observed in some metals at temperatures only a few degrees above the absolute zero (minus...
16.08.2017 | Event News
04.08.2017 | Event News
26.07.2017 | Event News
21.08.2017 | Materials Sciences
21.08.2017 | Health and Medicine
21.08.2017 | Materials Sciences

domain: news


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Last post I shared about swapping and friendship…much joy! After the supplies swap with Central Coast Charms I just simply couldn’t wait to get started creating. The goodies were calling to me…especially that long vintage chandelier crystal shown toward the top of the photo below
I knew I wanted to use a photo on the backside so the crystal worked as a kind of frame. I searched through my many precious vintage photographs to find just the right one…a child in a garden with an armful of flowers. Of course the photo was black and white, but I wanted a bit of color so I got out a couple of really nice watercolors in bottles that I kind of stole from my daughter and went to work. It turned out just as I had hoped it would:
Isn’t she sweet with her unique little hat and that smile? So, given the colors of the watercolors I then got out all the purple and teal I could find, plus some metal charms, etc
And I started playing, creating, making links and putting everything together. Some things worked and some things didn’t. I decided not to use the link I made at the right top corner of the pendant that had the purple filigree bead, a rhinestone rondelle and a lavender triangular bead. I was going to use it to hang the pendant from but decided to use a collection of Czech glass flower beads instead…good decision in my opinion! So, here is the finished piece:
So, in looking for some really special vintage pieces to include I looked through my vintage keys and found a lovely brass clock key. It’s hard to find actual brass keys and I love the simple details in this one. I wanted to use it in a different way than I usually design with keys (which is to hang them straight down with some beads or charms hanging off them). I decided to incorporate it into the chain and wire wrap the barrel with tiny glass seed beads. What do think? I always appreciate any feedback you have to offer, so please feel free to leave a comment.
The other really special vintage piece I added was a lovely 12K gold heart charm with the name “Claudia” engraved on the front and a date in the ’50s on the reverse. So, our little girl with the flowers has a name…Claudia (which happens to be a version of my grandfather’s name, Claude; he was an honorable and loving man who I miss still)
The reverse side of the long crystal even got some attention by being covered with a lovely patterned paper from the inside covers of a vintage book. The colors coordinate with the garden theme…
If you would like to read about all the components used please visit my etsy shop listing for this necklace…gemstones, vintage crystal, glass beads, rhinestone, etc. I used many items from the swap with Laura from Central Coast Charms…the lovely turbine shaped beads in light teal and purple, rhinestone beads and rondelles and more.
Thanks to all of you who are following along on my creative journey…I appreciate you all. Peace to your hearts…Sara

domain: artistic


Undercurrent News: Trace Register builds customer base as retailers demand traceability software
Trace Register has been building its customer base as retailers are demanding traceability software, not just for upstream sustainability reasons but also to combat food waste.
After running a four-boat fishing company, CEO Phil Werdal started the Seattle-based traceability software company in 2005 as retailers were embarking on ambitions sustainability programs for the seafood they were selling.
It counts Wegman’s, Whole Foods and Costco among the more than 2,000 users —which also include harvesters and other supply chain partners — of its software in 24 nations.
In addition to traceability systems’ potential to help combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and fraud, traceability can help retailers lessen food waste.
Read the full article below.


Unfortunately, the NIH’s damage control isn’t just too late. It’s also far too little.
There’s a reason Americans overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer funding for animal testing. The practice is ethically questionable and often gruesome.
Ms. Ernst is one of a bipartisan group of lawmakers looking to end this funding with the Accountability in Foreign Animal Research (AFAR) Act.
“The AFAR Act will guarantee not another penny will be spent subsidizing crazy and dangerous experiments, like putting cats on a treadmill or enhancing bat coronaviruses in Russia and China ever again,” says Ms. Ernst.
Ms. Ernst is right, and the AFAR Act is a step in the right direction. But the problem goes beyond tax dollars.
And this gets to the deeper problem. The government isn’t merely allowing these ethically questionable experiments on animals to occur; it’s actively funding the research, which is problematic for two reasons that go beyond dollars and cents.
First, government has created a massive industry around animal experimentation. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, and both the recipients of the funds and those who grant them have an incentive to keep the cash flowing—regardless of the ethics or the fruit born of the research.
Second, proper oversight and accountability of these facilities is hampered by the fact that the government is funding the research. The government is supposed to hold to account those who directly harm others, but the Wuhan lab saga shows how difficult this task becomes when the government itself is the bad actor.
Neither the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which administers the Wuhan Institute of Virology and reports directly to the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, nor the U.S. government has shown much interest in being transparent about what was going on at the Wuhan lab.
In other words, government officials will be more inclined to cover up the truth than hold themselves accountable for any crimes they commit or harm they cause.
We’ve seen the answer to this question over and again in the last three years, which is why it’s clear that it’s time for the government to get out of the business of funding animal experiments altogether.
In the end, both our grandchildren and the animal kingdom will thank us for separating science and state.
Content syndicated from Fee.org (FEE) under Creative Commons license.
Agree/Disagree with the author(s)? Let them know in the comments below and be heard by 10’s of thousands of CDN readers each day!


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The Bible and Language
2011 - The Bible in Culture
During Winchester Cathedral’s exhibition Reading the Book of Books, then and now: the King James Bible, 1611-2011 (29 March – 3 October 2011) a series of public lectures on THE BIBLE IN CULTURE will be presented by five leading scholars.
All lectures begin at 7.30pm in Prior’s Hall, The Close, Winchester SO23 9LS.
Tickets, £6 per lecture or £20 for the series, available from the Box Office (01962 857275. firstname.lastname@example.org)
Parking in the Inner Close, subject to availability, or in City Centre car parks.
Thursday 19th May - The Bible and Language
Professor Gordon Campbell is Professor of Renaissance Studies, University of Leicester, and author of a recent book called Bible: the Story of the King James Version, 1611-2011. His talk will begin with a discussion of the extent to which the language of the King James Bible reflects the language spoken and written in 1611, and then will turn to the way its language was regarded in later centuries (sometimes with execration and sometimes with adulation) before concluding with a consideration of the presence of the KJV’s language in today’s English.

domain: literature


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Leaders of local organizations steeped in startups and networking say now is a great time for hardworking women to own a business.
And no career field is off limits.
Christine Weber-Bresky, president and chief executive officer of Mentor Area Chamber of Commerce, said watching women emerge as leaders in nontraditional career fields proved a surprise late in her 23-year tenure at the chamber.
“I didn’t expect the manufacturing,” Weber-Bresky said. “I didn’t think we would see that, and we are. I think it’s fantastic.”
Weber-Bresky was appointed president in November, she said, but she has been involved with business startups throughout her career.
“I’m seeing more and more women take chances and open up their own businesses,” Weber-Bresky said. And the types of businesses don’t necessarily fit preconceived notions.
“We have one woman at Olive and the Grape who has different oils and little things in her shop,” Weber-Bresky said. “It’s not only bigger business, but it’s unique businesses. And we’re seeing more and more women in manufacturing.
“We have a woman who runs No Limit Swiss with her husband,” Weber-Bresky said. “It’s a manufacturing company. They manufacture small parts for machinery.”
With broader opportunities, a greater need developed for finding others in similar fields.
Networking of women at Willoughby Western Lake County Chamber of Commerce is robust, according to Karen Tercek, the chamber’s president and chief executive officer.
“We have a lot of women when it comes to meetings,” Tercek said. “We just had a luncheon. It’s 50-50 men and women. They’re not all owners. Some of them are managing. I don’t know the number, but it’s pretty strong.
“There are female networking groups, but those are in larger geographic areas, like downtown Cleveland. But for our area, a lot of people don’t care. They want to grow their business. They don’t care if you’re a male or female.”
The characteristics that help women manage many tasks and schedules at the same time translate into business strengths, she said.
“I think there is a strong connection with females and the way they do business,” Tercek said. “A lot of women are collaborators. They look to see opportunities in different places, and I think men feel the same way. I think women feel they have to work harder. I think there is still disparity between the sexes in the workforce. That’s just my own opinion. I think women work harder to get their businesses going. But all of our small-business owners work really hard. And I think it’s different for the type of industry. Some industries have tougher barriers to get through. These aren’t solid statistics. They’re just general observations.”
Regardless, Tercek said the climate is right for business.
“Absolutely, the economy is good,” Tercek said. “Whether you’re a male or female, it’s a good time.”
Thinking of needs and opportunities, some Lake County career fields could use more female leadership, Weber-Bresky said.
“I’d love to see a few more women restaurant owners,” Weber-Bresky said. “I think that would be fantastic. We’re really lucky to have so many women business owners in Lake County, and it’s paving the way for the next generation.”

domain: economics


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The absence of a party leader and a clear succession path often leads to political parties losing political direction. This is exemplified by Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) led by Morgan Tsvangirai, who has died at 65. Despite its efforts to conceal infighting over who will succeed him, evidence points to a party in disarray.
Before his death, media reports about his worsening condition had fuelled the latent tussling to replace him. There have been spirited efforts to douse the flames of infighting, but matters came to a head at a recent rally in Chitungwiza.
The infighting over who should take over from Tsvangirai has been heightened by the party’s curious arrangement of having three vice-presidents. One, Thokozani Khupe, was elected at the party’s 2014 congress while Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri were appointed by Tsvangirai.
At the rally Chamisa clashed with Mudzuri over who should speak first. This spectacle pushed the leaders of the alliance to convene an urgent crisis meeting to address the bickering within the party, among other things.
The internal party wrangles were also exposed by differences over the attendance of the party secretary general, Douglas Mwonzora as well as Khupe and Mudzuri at a meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa to map a grand opposition alliance against the governing Zanu-PF.
In the absence of a unifying father figure like Tsvangirai, the prospects and stability of the party now stand in question. This comes at a time when the party, more than ever, needs to consolidate his vision of a united opposition party that will one day unseat Zanu-PF. Sadly, its disunity can only be playing into Zanu-PF’s hands.
A party divided
In an effort to douse deep seated factional clashes which were threatening to tear the party apart, Tsvangirai played his game well – for a while – by having the three acting presidents. By doing so he managed to forge a modicum of unity by balancing competing factions and interests among the top three leaders. Others would have wished that Tsvangirai could have used such an opportunity to call for a congress to facilitate leadership succession.
But cosmetic efforts at balancing factional politics through rotational leadership didn’t hide deeper issues over succession. It now seems that jostling for the coveted post of the MDC-T presidency will continue after Tsvangirai’s death.
Prior to Tsvangirai death some of the party’s top leadership and grassroots membership alike had hinted that they would resist any move by him to appoint or anoint a successor. Judging from the ongoing party fissures and following Tsvangirai’s passing things might actually get worse before they get better. In particular, the latest decision in the wake of Tsvangirai’s death to appoint Chamisa as acting president for a year will likely further deepen divisions rather than building unity within the party.
In all this it is important to note that Tsvangirai’s long absence due to illness, and now his death, have created a leadership void. Internal party conflicts will take a long time to resolve. A few examples illustrate how tense the situation is.
In February, Tsvangirai appointed Chamisa as the acting president. But, in a dramatic change of events, Obert Gutu, the party’s spokesperson disputed the appointment, creating more confusion over who was in charge.
Mudzuri stuck to his guns saying he was still the acting president. But Khupe also argued that she was the legitimate vice-president by virtue of being elected at the last party congress held in 2014.
All these factors have led to a vicious leadership succession conundrum and power struggle that seems set to continue.
Smear campaigns, conflicting messaging, counter claims and mudslinging have become the order of the day within the once formidable MDC–T. All show a party at sixes and sevens, and pulling in different directions.
The misdirected energies will make it difficult for the party to reunite, refocus and embark on effective programmes and mobilisation ahead of the country’s July elections. If left unchecked this infighting will negatively affect the party’s prospects of unseating Zanu-PF. This will also have an impact on the process of democratisation of Zimbabwe, which Tsvangirai set in motion in the past decades. A weak and divided MDC-T will simply hand over power to Emmerson Mnangagwa, thus perpetuating Zanu-PF’s misrule.
In the end, Tsvangirai’s long absence engendered a leadership crisis and void. This underscores the dangers of leaders – especially party founders like Tsvangirai – not managing succession properly.

domain: politics


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This is a fascinating local tale that few visitors know and it survives as a political movement even today here in Northern California. Well worth your time to read on Google but here is a very short version:
In 1941, before Pearl Harbor, seven rural counties in Southern Oregon and Northern California (see map) had been so neglected by their respective state governments that they rebelled and threatened to form a new state. On Nov. 27th a few young men, brandishing deer rifles for dramatic effect, blockaded Highway 99 just south of our county seat in Yreka, Siskiyou County. They handed out leaflets proclaiming that “the State of Jefferson was in patriotic rebellion against the States of California and Oregon and would continue to secede every Thursday until further notice!”
Hilarious as this must have appeared to the blocked motorists, a ‘governor’ John Leon Childs of Crescent City, CA was ‘elected’ on Dec. 4, 1941. Pearl Harbor of course ended the movement rather dramatically just three days later.
But it never really died. As recently as 2016 it was noted that most of the rural counties that would have been included in the State of Jefferson voted heavily for Donald Trump whereas the rest of California voted mostly for Hillary Clinton, reflecting perhaps again how divided Northern and Southern California are still. The sentiment is still alive and well. Signs on barns along Interstate Five, Jefferson Public Radio, and dozens of these flags can be seen around our county to this day.

domain: geography