Our children are bundles of joy who enhance our lives in innumerable ways. We love them beyond question. But let's be honest . . . they take a lot of time. For most of us, that means less regular workouts and not enough time to prepare healthy meals at home. It's a struggle just to get to the gym once a month and put nutritious food on the table. Even worse for your waistline are those tempting snacks in the fridge and the little extras kids leave on the plate.Mark Macdonald knows this firsthand. A New York Times bestselling author, nutritionist, and fitness guru, he gained thirty-five pounds in the two years after the birth of his son. For women, like his wife, Abbi, it is even harder . . . they have to gain weight with each pregnancy, and then attempt to shed those pounds in the midst of stressful demands from the newborn—and often a severe lack of sleep. But we all face a choice: when we notice those pounds packing on, will we evolve, make changes, and reclaim our healthOr will we allow our health to enter that awful downward spiral?Mark and Abbi know it is possible to reclaim your body, even in the throes of parenting. With this eight-week program, Mark has helped thousands of parents lose up to thirty pounds and rediscover the energy they thought was gone for good. The step-by-step program has three phases: Phase One, Detox, cleanses your body and helps you lose your bloat. Phase Two, Ignite, burns fat and melts your belly. Phase Three, Thrive, reprograms your metabolism and allows you to incorporate this new way of eating into a sustainable and enjoyable lifestyle.With a comprehensive diet plan, specific workout regimen, everyday strategies to help parents lose the weight, and incredible success stories with before and after photos, Why Kids Make You Fat . . . and How to Get Your Body Back is a book that will help parents look and feel better than they did even before the kids came along.

In this exhilarating one-hundred-page companion novella to the New York Times bestselling I Am Number Four series, Mark James is on the run—and on the wrong side of the law—but he'll do whatever it takes to save Sarah Hart and help the Garde.A sequel to I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Return to Paradise, this novella picks up with Mark racing to Dulce, New Mexico, evading capture from both the Mogadorians and the FBI. On the road, his mysterious new ally—a fellow blogger from They Walk Among Us who Mark knows only by the screen name GUARD—sends him a care package to help in his quest to find Sarah. Inside is a stack of cash, high-tech equipment, and some seriously advanced weaponry, all begging Mark to once again ask the question: Just who exactly is this guyAs Mark gets closer to tracking down Sarah, he also gets closer to discovering the identity of this enigmatic figure who seems to know so much about the Loric. When the truth about GUARD is finally revealed, nothing will ever be the same.

The heart-stopping third book in the New York Times bestselling Asylum series follows three teens as they take a senior year road trip to one of America's most haunted cities, uncovering dangerous secrets from their past along the way. With all the thrills, chills, and eerie found photographs that led Publishers Weekly to call Asylum "a strong YA debut," Catacomb is perfect for fans for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.Sometimes the past is better off buried.Senior year is finally over. After all they've been through, Dan, Abby, and Jordan are excited to take one last road trip together, and they're just not going to think about what will happen when the summer ends. But on their way to visit Jordan's uncle in New Orleans, the three friends notice that they're being followed . . . and photographed. Then Dan starts receiving messages from someone he didn't expect to hear from again—someone who died last Halloween.When the trio arrives in New Orleans and the strange occurrences only escalate, Dan is forced to accept that everything that has happened to him in the past year may not be a coincidence, but fate—a fate that ties Dan to a group called the Bone Artists, who have a sinister fascination with notorious killers of the past.Now Dan's only hope is that he will make it out of his senior trip alive.

Butch Dixon has been taken for a ride …Not a jump in the car, see the sights kind of ride. He's been taken for everything he has. He's lost his house, his restaurant business, his savings, his car, his best friend, his faith—all to his conniving ex-wife. But that was seven years ago. He picked himself up, left Chicago, and started over in Peoria, Arizona, running the Roundhouse Bar and Grill. He doesn't look back on those bad years; there's no point. Not until two curious cops show up at the Roundhouse.Faith, Butch's ex-wife, has been murdered, and the evidence points to him. Stunned, Butch quickly realizes that the black-hearted woman is going to ruin him again, from her grave. Lucky for Butch, the Old Blue Line, a group of retired—but still sharp and tenacious—former legal and law enforcement coots, have taken it upon themselves, as a favor, to make sure he doesn't cross that thin line. After the dust settles, Butch's life is again upended—when a little red-haired ball of fire, Sheriff Joanna Brady, takes a seat at his bar.

A ravishing first novel set in vibrant, tumultuous turn-of-the-century New York City, where the lives of four outsiders become entwined, bringing irrevocable change to them allNew york, 1895. Sylvan Threadgill, a night-soiler cleaning out the privies behind the tenement houses, finds an abandoned newborn baby in the muck. An orphan himself, Sylvan rescues the child, determined to find where she belongs.Odile Church and her beautiful sister, Belle, were raised amid the applause and magical pageantry of the Church of Marvels, their mother's spectacular Coney Island sideshow. But the Church has burnt to the ground, their mother dead in its ashes. Now Belle, the family's star, has vanished into the bowels of Manhattan, leaving Odile alone and desperate to find her.A young woman named Alphie awakens to find herself trapped across the river in Blackwell's Lunatic Asylum–sure that her imprisonment is a ruse by her husband's vile, overbearing mother. On the ward she meets another young woman of ethereal beauty who does not speak, a girl with an extraordinary talent that might save them both.As these strangers' lives become increasingly connected, their stories and secrets unfold. Moving from the Coney Island seashore to the tenement-studded streets of the Lower East Side, a spectacular human circus to a brutal, terrifying asylum, Church of Marvels takes readers back to turn-of-the-century New York–a city of hardship and dreams, love and loneliness, hope and danger. In magnetic, luminous prose, Leslie Parry offers a richly atmospheric vision of the past in a narrative of astonishing beauty, full of wondrous enchantments, a marvelous debut that will leave readers breathless.

Ruby is a thief-in-training and a keeper of secrets—ones she doesn't even know herself. A Riddle in Ruby is the first book in a witty and fast-paced fantasy-adventure trilogy for fans for Jonathan Stroud, Septimus Heap, and The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates.Ruby Teach, daughter of a smuggler and pirate, has been learning how to swindle and steal and pick the most complex locks for as long as she can remember. But a collision with aristocratic young lord Athen sends her spinning into chaos. Little did she know that her whole life has been spent in hiding from nefarious secret societies and the Royal Navy . . . who are both now on her trail. In this debut middle grade adventure, Kent Davis weaves a rip-roaring tale through an alternate colonial Philadelphia. A world where alchemy—that peculiar mix of magic and science—has fueled the industrial revolution. With this highly original setting, a cast of fully rounded characters and rapid-fire, funny dialogue, A Riddle in Ruby will call to mind fantasy greats like Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett.

Part II of the Saga of the Redeemed picks up right where The Iron Ring left off …After Tyvian Reldamar gets double-crossed by his business partner, he is affixed with an iron ring that prevents the wearer from any evildoing. Not one to be deterred by this setback, he quickly puts into motion a plan for revenge—one that will use every dirty trick in the book.But things are never simple for mastermind Tyvian, especially not after he uncovers a sinister plot: evil wizard Banric Sahand is planning to decimate the city of Freegate. Now Tyvian must learn to work with—and rely on—his motley crew of accomplices, including an adolescent pickpocket, an obese secret-monger, a fearsome gnoll, and a Mage Defender…who is also trying to get him arrested. Time is running out for Tyvian's plan for revenge—while the fate of the city hangs in the balance.

Living with her family in India, young Bess Crawford's curiosity about this exotic country sometimes leads her into trouble.One day she slips away from the cantonment to visit the famous seer in a nearby village. Before this woman can finish telling her fortune, Bess is summoned back for an afternoon tea with the Maharani, a close friend of her parents'. The seer's last words are a warning about forthcoming danger that Bess takes as the usual patter. But this visit by the Maharani has ominous overtones that mark it as more than a social call. Her husband has political enemies, and she has come to ask Bess's father, Major Crawford, for help.As the Maharani is leaving, Bess notices that there is something amiss with the royal entourage. Major Crawford must set out after them—but will he be in time?And what will happen to Bess, and the household left behind, when a vicious assassin circles back to take hostages?Here is an extraordinary glimpse into the childhood of the Bess Crawford we know from her service in the Great War.

Deborah Birch is a seasoned hospice nurse who never gives up—not with her patients, not in her life. But her skills and experience are fully tested by the condition her husband, Michael, is in when he returns from his third deployment to Iraq. Tormented by nightmares, anxiety, and rage, Michael has become cold and withdrawn. Still grateful that he is home at last, Deborah is determined to heal him and restore their loving, passionate marriage.But Michael is not her only challenge. Deborah's primary patient is Barclay Reed, a retired history professor and fierce curmudgeon. An expert on the Pacific Theater of World War II, Barclay is suffering from terminal kidney cancer and haunted by ghosts from his past, including the academic scandal that ended his career.Barclay's last wish is for Deborah to read to him from his final and unfinished book—a little-known story from World War II that may hold the key to helping Michael conquer his demons. Together, nurse, patient, and soldier embark on an unforgettable emotional journey that transforms them all, offering astonishing insights into life and death, suffering and finding peace.Told with piercing empathy and heartbreaking realism, The Hummingbird is a masterful story of marital commitment, service to country, the battles we fight for those we love, learning to let go, and finding absolution through wisdom and acceptance.

By turns astonishing, frightening, and triumphant, When the Moon Is Low chronicles one brave Afghan woman's odyssey to save her familyIn Kabul, we meet Fereiba, a schoolteacher who puts her troubled childhood behind her when she finds love in an arranged marriage. But Fereiba's comfortable life implodes when the Taliban rises to power and her family becomes a target of the new fundamentalist regime. Forced to flee with her three children, Fereiba has one hope for survival: to seek refuge with her sister's family in London.Traveling with forged papers and depending on the kindness of strangers, Fereiba and the children make a dangerous crossing into Iran under cover of darkness, the start of a harrowing journey that reduces her from a respected wife and mother to a desperate refugee.Eventually they fall into the shadowy underground network of the undocumented who haunt the streets of Europe's cities. And then, in a busy market square in Athens, their fate takes a frightening turn when Fereiba's teenage son, Saleem, becomes separated from the rest of the family. Without his mother, Saleem is forced, abruptly and unforgivingly, to come of age in a world of human trafficking and squalid refugee camps.Heartbroken, Fereiba has no choice but to continue on with only her daughter and baby. Mother and son cross border after perilous border, risking their lives in the hope of finding a place where they can be reunited.

In the bestselling tradition of Jojo Moyes and Jennifer Weiner, Jenny Colgan's moving, funny, and unforgettable novel tells the story of a heartbroken young woman who turns a new page in her life . . . by becoming a baker in the town of CornwallA quiet seaside resort. An abandoned shop. A small flat. This is what awaits Polly Waterford when she arrives at the Cornish coast, fleeing a ruined relationship.To keep her mind off her troubles, Polly throws herself into her favorite hobby: making bread. But her relaxing weekend diversion quickly develops into a passion. As she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, each loaf becomes better than the last. Soon, Polly is working her magic with nuts and seeds, chocolate and sugar, and the local honey—courtesy of a handsome beekeeper. Packed with laughter and emotion, Little Beach Street Bakery is the story of how one woman discovered bright new life where she least expected—a heartwarming, mouthwatering modern-day Chocolat that has already become a massive international bestseller.Includes 7 Recipes!

The first three volumes of the internationally bestselling Last Apprentice series! Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son. He is destined to battle the creatures of the dark: witches, boggarts, ghosts, and more. And he will, as the apprentice to the local Spook. But can he survive when so many apprentices have failedThis ebook collection of the acclaimed series that inspired the major motion picture Seventh Son includes Book One: Revenge of the Witch; Book Two: Curse of the Bane; and Book Three: Night of the Soul Stealer.

The time has come for dogs to rule the wild. The collection includes the first three books in this thrilling New York Times bestselling series:Survivors #1: The Empty City: Lucky has always been a Lone Dog, but now he needs a Pack in order to stay alive. Relying on other dogs brings new dangers that Lucky isn't prepared for. Can Lucky ever be a true Pack Dog?Survivors #2: A Hidden Enemy: Bella and the Leashed Dogs have finally settled in the forest. But a fierce Pack of Wild Dogs has laid claim to the land, and their menacing Alpha will stop at nothing to ensure that it is his alone.Survivors #3: Darkness Falls: After an attack threatened both the Wild and Leashed Packs, Lucky knows that the dogs' only hope is to unite. For the first time since the Big Growl, Lucky is desperate to have other dogs by his side. But it might be too late. . . .

This collection is perfect for anyone looking to try out three bestselling series that are fun, easy-to-read, loaded with humor and art, and just right for young independent readers. In includes:Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs: If the kids can't sit still for the class performance, Roscoe's teacher could be in big trouble. Fortunately Roscoe has a plan to save her—a super, mega, gonzo plan! What could go wrong?My Weird School #1: Miss Daisy Is Crazy!: In this first book in the outrageously funny series that has reached millions of readers around the world, second-grade teacher Miss Daisy is in over her head. She doesn't even know how to add or subtract! But the kids have other things on their minds. Principal Klutz has promised that if they read a million pages in books, they can turn the school into a video-game arcade for one whole night!Alien in My Pocket #1: Blast Off!: When a four-inch-tall alien crash-lands through Zack McGee's bedroom window, Zack is sure he's about to become the first victim in a new War of the Worlds. But when the alien turns out to have weapons that are more ticklish than terrifying, Zack realizes that rather than protect the world from the alien it's up to him to protect the alien in his pocket from the world.

In a war-torn village in Eastern Europe, an American photographer captures a heart-stopping image: a young girl flying toward the lens, fleeing a fiery explosion that has engulfed her home and family. The image, instantly iconic, garners acclaim and prizes—and, in the United States, becomes a subject of obsession for one writer, the photographer's best friend, who has suffered a devastating tragedy of her own.In a bid to save the writer from a spiraling depression, her filmmaker husband enlists a group of friends—including a fearless bisexual poet, an ingenuous performance artist, and the writer's playwright brother and painter ex-husband—to rescue the unknown girl and bring her to the United States. And yet, as their plot unfolds, everything we know comes into question: What does the writer really wantWho is controlling the actionAnd what will happen when these two worlds—East and West, real and virtual—collide?A fierce, provocative, and deeply affecting novel exploring the often violent borders between war and sex, love and art, The Small Backs of Children is a major step forward from one of our most avidly watched writers.

The gripping follow-up to Stonehill DownsAs the most valuable asset in the kingdom of Wilhaiim, Malachi Doyle has many responsibilities—protector, assassin, detective, and King Renault's right-hand man. And until he met Avani in the cursed village of Stonehill Downs, he believed he was the last of his kind: a magus who can communicate with the dead.But Wilhaiim is left vulnerable when Mal and his page, Liam, are kidnapped and ferried across the Long Sea to a warring kingdom in search of its own magus. To make matters worse, a springtime plague is rapidly spreading, and beneath the earth the sidhe are preparing for war. With Mal missing and presumed dead, Avani reluctantly takes his place as Wilhaiim's magus. But her powers are unreliable and untested, her many allies are treacherous, and she is certain Mal is alive. Will she be able to keep Wilhaiim—and herself—safe?

We have frightening enemies living among us, known by their strange dress. These so-called Shakers are shrewd and canny. . .a scourge; a tumor that must be sliced from our side . .Sister Rose Callahan read the printed flyer and shivered. Its message terrified her. She was aware that Believers had sometimes been objects of resentment from the outside world, but nothing like this. Who could write such thingsAnd who could be responsible for recent acts of violence directed against the peaceful Shaker community?A sister had suffered a mysterious wound to the head; a sackful of rats were set loose in the schoolroom, food had been stolen -- and now a hate-filled message points to continued mischief. Sister Rose, recently honored with the position of Eldress despite her youth, seeks clues in the journals of her aged predecessor. She discovers a shocking similarity to outrages perpetrated years before, as well as a scandalous secret about a present-day sister. Now Rose must look both outside and within the cloistered religious community to find clues that link an old murder, a recent death, and an unknown enemy whose thirst for revenge overrides the ultimate sin...of murder.

The Depression's winter gloom has crept into the summerhouse of the Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts. The dead body of a woman "of dubious reputation" -- a lost soul befriended by many of the brothers and sisters -- sits at a table in an evening gown, snow swirling around her frozen ankles, her lifeless arms stretched out before her. A frantic call goes out to Kentucky, begging Eldress Rose Callahan to brave the February cold and come East, where her keen eye and peerless deductive powers are needed to help lift a terrible weight from the bereft and dwindling community of Believers. But Sister Rose's arrival is greeted with local suspicion and spreading terror when murder once again scars the gentle village. And as the fury of winter further isolates the small village from its suspicious neighbors, Sister rose and her dear friend Gennie Malone must race to unmask a killer who may be mad enough to keep killing throughout this frigid season of dying.

Design and code your own 2D and 3D games efficiently using OpenGL and C++ About This Book Create 2D and 3D games completely, through a series of end-to-end game projects Learn to render high performance 2D and 3D graphics using OpenGL Implement a rudimentary game engine using step-by-step code Who This Book Is For If you are a prospective game developer with some experience using C++, then this book is for you. Both prospective and experienced game programmers will find nuggets of wisdom and practical advice as they learn to code two full games using OpenGL, C++, and a host of related tools. What You Will Learn Set up your development environment in Visual Studio using OpenGL Use 2D and 3D coordinate systems Implement an input system to handle the mouse and the keyboard Create a state machine to handle complex changes in the game Load, display, and manipulate both 2D and 3D graphics Implement collision detection and basic physics Discover the key components needed to complete a polished game Handle audio files and implement sound effects and music In Detail OpenGL is one of the most popular rendering SDKs used to develop games. OpenGL has been used to create everything from 3D masterpieces running on desktop computers to 2D puzzles running on mobile devices. You will learn to apply both 2D and 3D technologies to bring your game idea to life. There is a lot more to making a game than just drawing pictures and that is where this book is unique! It provides a complete tutorial on designing and coding games from the setup of the development environment to final credits screen, through the creation of a 2D and 3D game. The book starts off by showing you how to set up a development environment using Visual Studio, and create a code framework for your game. It then walks you through creation of two games–a 2D platform game called Roboracer 2D and a 3D first-person space shooter game–using OpenGL to render both 2D and 3D graphics using a 2D coordinate system. You'll create sprite classes, render sprites and animation, and navigate and control the characters. You will also learn how to implement input, use audio, and code basic collision and physics systems. From setting up the development environment to creating the final credits screen, the book will take you through the complete journey of creating a game engine that you can extend to create your own games. Style and approach An easy-to-follow guide full of code examples to illustrate every concept and help you build a 2D and 3D game from scratch, while learning the key tools that surround a typical OpenGL project.

Secure your iOS applications and uncover hidden vulnerabilities by conducting penetration testsAbout This BookAchieve your goal to secure iOS devices and applications with the help of this fast paced manualFind vulnerabilities in your iOS applications and fix them with the help of this example-driven guideAcquire the key skills that will easily help you to perform iOS exploitation and forensics with greater confidence and a stronger understandingWho This Book Is ForThis book is for IT security professionals who want to conduct security testing of applications. This book will give you exposure to diverse tools to perform penetration testing. This book will also appeal to iOS developers who would like to secure their applications, as well as security professionals. It is easy to follow for anyone without experience of iOS pentesting.What You Will LearnUnderstand the basics of iOS app development, deployment, security architecture, application signing, application sandboxing, and OWASP TOP 10 for mobileSet up your lab for iOS app pentesting and identify sensitive information stored locallyPerform traffic analysis of iOS devices and catch sensitive data being leaked by side channelsModify an application’s behavior using runtime analysisAnalyze an application’s binary for security protectionAcquire the knowledge required for exploiting iOS devicesLearn the basics of iOS forensicsIn DetailiOS has become one of the most popular mobile operating systems with more than 1.4 million apps available in the iOS App Store. Some security weaknesses in any of these applications or on the system could mean that an attacker can get access to the device and retrieve sensitive information. This book will show you how to conduct a wide range of penetration tests on iOS devices to uncover vulnerabilities and strengthen the system from attacks.Learning iOS Penetration Testing discusses the common vulnerabilities and security-related shortcomings in an iOS application and operating system, and will teach you to conduct static and dynamic analysis of iOS applications.This practical guide will help you uncover vulnerabilities in iOS phones and applications. We begin with basics of iOS security and dig deep to learn about traffic analysis, code analysis, and various other techniques. Later, we discuss the various utilities, and the process of reversing and auditing.Style and approachThis fast-paced and practical guide takes a step-by-step approach to penetration testing with the goal of helping you secure your iOS devices and apps quickly.

Harness the latest features of MongoDB 3 with this collection of 80 recipes – from managing cloud platforms to app development, this book is a vital resourceAbout This BookGet to grips with the latest features of MongoDB 3Interact with the MongoDB server and perform a wide range of query operations from the shellFrom administration to automation, this cookbook keeps you up to date with the world’s leading NoSQL databaseWho This Book Is ForThis book is engineered for anyone who is interested in managing data in an easy and efficient way using MongoDB. You do not need any prior knowledge of MongoDB, but it would be helpful if you have some programming experience in either Java or Python.What You Will LearnInstall, configure, and administer MongoDB sharded clusters and replica setsBegin writing applications using MongoDB in Java and Python languagesInitialize the server in three different modes with various configurationsPerform cloud deployment and introduce PaaS for MongoDiscover frameworks and products built to improve developer productivity using MongoTake an in-depth look at the Mongo programming driver APIs in Java and PythonSet up enterprise class monitoring and backups of MongoDBIn DetailMongoDB is a high-performance and feature-rich NoSQL database that forms the backbone of the systems that power many different organizations – it’s easy to see why it’s the most popular NoSQL database on the market. Packed with many features that have become essential for many different types of software professionals and incredibly easy to use, this cookbook contains many solutions to the everyday challenges of MongoDB, as well as guidance on effective techniques to extend your skills and capabilities.This book starts with how to initialize the server in three different modes with various configurations. You will then be introduced to programming language drivers in both Java and Python. A new feature in MongoDB 3 is that you can connect to a single node using Python, set to make MongoDB even more popular with anyone working with Python. You will then learn a range of further topics including advanced query operations, monitoring and backup using MMS, as well as some very useful administration recipes including SCRAM-SHA-1 Authentication. Beyond that, you will also find recipes on cloud deployment, including guidance on how to work with Docker containers alongside MongoDB, integrating the database with Hadoop, and tips for improving developer productivity.Created as both an accessible tutorial and an easy to use resource, on hand whenever you need to solve a problem, MongoDB Cookbook will help you handle everything from administration to automation with MongoDB more effectively than ever before.Style and approachEvery recipe is explained in a very simple set-by-step manner yet is extremely comprehensive.