The Woman in Black

Love of Life ＆ Other Stories

A fantastically rich resource about the history of Ancient China.

Knowing the future is the dream of most people. Astrologers, horse tipsters and actuaries all try to assess what will happen tomorrow and the day after. This book sets out 100 questions on subjects as diverse as romance, business, money and jobs. You choose a question, select a letter, consult the location chart...and hey presto - there is the answer that you have been longing to know! The best way to enjoy this trip into the future is with friends where everyone enjoys the pleasure (or discomfort!) of the revealing answers... The book is intended to bring a smile to your face - although feedback suggests that some of the answers have proved to be remarkably accurate!

Harry's two favourite things are football and mud. Watched by his younger sister, Aimee, he likes to practice playing football in his garden. Every time he scores a goal, he dives into the mud. It makes his kit very dirty. Harry is a striker for his school football team who are playing in the cup final but as the final whistle draws near and neither team has scored, can Harry's team pull off a victory? In his first book for children, Chris Cowlin, has created a character that boys and girls alike will love and relate to. Sheila Collins superb illustrations bring Harry to life on the page as he pursues his love of football - and mud! Which team will win the cup for their school? Who will score the winning goal? Find out what happens in the final minute of the match, with surprising results... Parents will enjoy reading this delightful book with their children time and again. Harry Loves Mud is sure to become a firm bedtime favourite.

好多妈妈都觉得，所谓的英文环境，要么是在国外生活，要么是父母英文超级好，在家恨不得都说英语。其实生活在国内，爸妈英文不用很优秀，照样能给孩子营造原汁原味的英文环境。唯 一的要求和门槛，就是父母的决心。 学识影响眼界，眼界决定格局，而格局影响人一生。现在早已不是古代，人的一辈子都困在一城一池；在日新月异的全球化的今天，英文是通向世界舞台的钥匙。在未来的世界，英文更是会成为不可或缺的能力之一。 蔡康永说，15岁觉得游泳难，放弃游泳，到18岁遇到一个你喜欢的人约你去游泳，你只好说“我不会耶”。18岁觉得英文难，放弃英文，28岁出现一个很棒但要会英文的工作，你只好说“我不会耶”。 英文启蒙真的不难，别让它成为孩子未来发展的短板。

Get to grips with pandas—a versatile and high-performance Python library for data manipulation, analysis, and discovery Key Features * Perform efficient data analysis and manipulation tasks using pandas * Apply pandas to different real-world domains using step-by-step demonstrations * Get accustomed to using pandas as an effective data exploration tool Book Description Data analysis has become a necessary skill in a variety of positions where knowing how to work with data and extract insights can generate significant value. Hands-On Data Analysis with Pandas will show you how to analyze your data, get started with machine learning, and work effectively with Python libraries often used for data science, such as pandas, NumPy, matplotlib, seaborn, and scikit-learn. Using real-world datasets, you will learn how to use the powerful pandas library to perform data wrangling to reshape, clean, and aggregate your data. Then, you will learn how to conduct exploratory data analysis by calculating summary statistics and visualizing the data to find patterns. In the concluding chapters, you will explore some applications of anomaly detection, regression, clustering, and classification, using scikit-learn, to make predictions based on past data. By the end of this book, you will be equipped with the skills you need to use pandas to ensure the veracity of your data, visualize it for effective decision-making, and reliably reproduce analyses across multiple datasets. What you will learn * Understand how data analysts and scientists gather and analyze data * Perform data analysis and data wrangling in Python * Combine, group, and aggregate data from multiple sources * Create data visualizations with pandas, matplotlib, and seaborn * Apply machine learning (ML) algorithms to identify patterns and make predictions * Use Python data science libraries to analyze real-world datasets * Use pandas to solve common data representation and analysis problems * Build Python scripts, modules, and packages for reusable analysis code Who this book is for This book is for data analysts, data science beginners, and Python developers who want to explore each stage of data analysis and scientific computing using a wide range of datasets. You will also find this book useful if you are a data scientist who is looking to implement pandas in machine learning. Working knowledge of Python programming language will be beneficial.

Understand the nitty-gritty of Cybersecurity with ease Key Features * Align your security knowledge with industry leading concepts and tools * Acquire required skills and certifications to survive the ever changing market needs * Learn from industry experts to analyse, implement, and maintain a robust environment Book Description It's not a secret that there is a huge talent gap in the cybersecurity industry. Everyone is talking about it including the prestigious Forbes Magazine, Tech Republic, CSO Online, DarkReading, and SC Magazine, among many others. Additionally, Fortune CEO's like Satya Nadella, McAfee's CEO Chris Young, Cisco's CIO Colin Seward along with organizations like ISSA, research firms like Gartner too shine light on it from time to time. This book put together all the possible information with regards to cybersecurity, why you should choose it, the need for cyber security and how can you be part of it and fill the cybersecurity talent gap bit by bit. Starting with the essential understanding of security and its needs, we will move to security domain changes and how artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping to secure systems. Later, this book will walk you through all the skills and tools that everyone who wants to work as security personal need to be aware of. Then, this book will teach readers how to think like an attacker and explore some advanced security methodologies. Lastly, this book will deep dive into how to build practice labs, explore real-world use cases and get acquainted with various cybersecurity certifications. By the end of this book, readers will be well-versed with the security domain and will be capable of making the right choices in the cybersecurity field. What you will learn * Get an overview of what cybersecurity is and learn about the various faces of cybersecurity as well as identify domain that suits you best * Plan your transition into cybersecurity in an efficient and effective way * Learn how to build upon your existing skills and experience in order to prepare for your career in cybersecurity Who this book is for This book is targeted to any IT professional who is looking to venture in to the world cyber attacks and threats. Anyone with some understanding or IT infrastructure workflow will benefit from this book. Cybersecurity experts interested in enhancing their skill set will also find this book useful.

Introduction to deep learning and PyTorch by building a convolutional neural network and recurrent neural network for real-world use cases such as image classification, transfer learning, and natural language processing. Key Features *Clear and concise explanations *Gives important insights into deep learning models *Practical demonstration of key concepts Book Description PyTorch is extremely powerful and yet easy to learn. It provides advanced features, such as supporting multiprocessor, distributed, and parallel computation. This book is an excellent entry point for those wanting to explore deep learning with PyTorch to harness its power. This book will introduce you to the PyTorch deep learning library and teach you how to train deep learning models without any hassle. We will set up the deep learning environment using PyTorch, and then train and deploy different types of deep learning models, such as CNN, RNN, and autoencoders. You will learn how to optimize models by tuning hyperparameters and how to use PyTorch in multiprocessor and distributed environments. We will discuss long short-term memory network (LSTMs) and build a language model to predict text. By the end of this book, you will be familiar with PyTorch's capabilities and be able to utilize the library to train your neural networks with relative ease. What you will learn *Set up the deep learning environment using the PyTorch library *Learn to build a deep learning model for image classification *Use a convolutional neural network for transfer learning *Understand to use PyTorch for natural language processing *Use a recurrent neural network to classify text *Understand how to optimize PyTorch in multiprocessor and distributed environments *Train, optimize, and deploy your neural networks for maximum accuracy and performance *Learn to deploy production-ready models Who this book is for Developers and Data Scientist familiar with Machine Learning but new to deep learning, or existing practitioners of deep learning who would like to use PyTorch to train their deep learning models will find this book to be useful. Having knowledge of Python programming will be an added advantage, while previous exposure to PyTorch is not needed.

《诗翁彼豆故事集》几个世纪以来一直是巫师家庭中受欢迎的床边故事。这些经典的故事充满了魔法和诡计，并且寓教于乐；时至今日，小巫师们仍然沉迷于这些故事，就像十五世纪彼豆刚刚用羽毛笔在羊皮纸上写下这些故事时一样。书中共有五个故事：哈迷在《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》中见过的《三兄弟的传说》，还有《好运泉》《男巫的毛心脏》《巫师和跳跳埚》和《兔子巴比蒂和她的呱呱树桩》。这些叙事佳作还伴有阿不思·邓布利多教授的点评(由霍格沃茨档案馆友情提供)，他那富有启发性的见解让人看到，这些故事远远不只是道德寓言而已；并且，他让兔子巴比蒂和吐鼻涕虫的跳跳埚在麻瓜世界中变得和白雪公主和灰姑娘一样有名。魔法世界受欢迎的寓言故事新版上市，采用J.K.罗琳的原创文本，配上约翰尼·达德尔绘制的华丽封面，以及托米斯拉夫·托米奇的插图。本电子书一切收益归“荧光闪烁”基金会所有。“荧光闪烁”基金会是英国的注册慈善组织，注册号是1112575。“荧光闪烁”致力于结束儿童的孤儿院寄养，全世界有多达八百万弱势儿童寄居在孤儿院，这对他们其实有不良影响。这些儿童多很多并非孤儿，只是出身贫穷、先天残疾、患有疾病、少数族裔或生在一个有矛盾的家庭中。“荧光闪烁”的目标是将儿童和他们的家庭重新联结起来，倡导家庭形式的帮助方案，并帮助有能力的机构进行环境的改善，关闭孤儿院。

《大脑传》内容简介：我们的感觉和身体活动的指令来自何方，情绪、意识、学习与记忆等认知活动的居所又在哪里？自有文字记载起，人类对这些问题就从未停止过好奇。漫漫几千年来，我们对这些问题的认识从朴素、粗浅的心灵中心观，走到了精细、深入的脑中心观。脑，这个“已知宇宙中*复杂的物体”，吸引了人类历史上很多聪颖的头脑去破解它的秘密。 在认识脑工作机制的过程中，人类一直在使用各种隐喻，这些隐喻无一不受技术、时代以及人类当时对脑认知水平的限制，在完成自己的历史使命后会被新的隐喻所取代。在《大脑传》中，作者马修·科布以脑的隐喻为切入点，介绍了人类脑的认识史上一个又一个里程碑，以及那些做出伟大发现的科学家。从心智源自心脏的观点到把脑视作机器的机械观，从电与神经活动的关系到神经系统的神经元学说，从神经信号如何表征信息到脑功能的局域化定位与分散式分布之争，从把脑看作一成不变的电路到把脑视作一个具有可塑性的网络，作者历数了人类对脑认识的曲折演进历程，讲述了脑科学研究对计算机、人工智能等领域的诞生和发展产生的深远影响，勾勒出了一部群星闪耀、波澜壮阔的科学史诗。 《逆龄大脑：保持大脑年轻敏锐的新科学》内容简介：我们都会变老，大脑也一样，大脑的生长在24岁这个年轻得令人惊讶的年龄开始减速，但这并不意味着它会失去敏锐度，而且不同的认知技能可以在不同的年龄达到顶 峰。在你的一生中，不论你的年龄或获取资源的途径如何，大脑都可以持续不断地得到加强。 经外科医生古普塔通过几十年的临床医学和持续研究指出，我们在任何年龄都可以改善并拥有一个更好的大脑。作者依据脑科学、神经学、病理学近30年的研究，揭示了大脑衰老和认知能力下降的原因。通过对比全球脑健康理事会近百名专家的 神研究报告数据库中的方法，提出从运动、营养、休息、社交联系、提高大脑可塑性几个方向来科学优化大脑。当你把大脑放在第 一位时，其他关乎健康方面的东西也就迎刃而解了。没有健康的大脑，你甚至无法做出健康的决定。 生活习惯比你的基因更能影响你大脑的命运。患痴呆的人正在逐渐年轻化。大脑衰退是可以预防和进行早期干预的，本书为读者提供了一个可立即实践的12周大脑强化计划，在日常生活中启动你的“敏锐大脑”程序，用简单且科学的方法修复大脑，提升脑力。健康的大脑不仅会带来健康的身体、体重、心脏等，还会带来更强的自信、更坚实的财务未来。 《我们如何看见，又如何思考》内容简介：这是一本从视觉神经生物学角度介绍人类视觉认知的科普读物，讨论的主题是我们无比重要的眼睛，以及我们的视觉。作者为领域内具有开创性研究的专家，现就职于哈佛大学医学院。 我们为何总是说“眼见为实”，背后有什么科学原理吗？我们每一天睁开眼就在接收来自外界的信息，那我们的眼睛究竟是如何承载这个世界的信息的，又是如何传递到我们的大脑的？人人都说眼睛是心灵和灵魂的窗户，这又是为什么？ 在人群中要找一张熟悉的脸是再简单不过的事，我们习以为常。但是人类是怎么办到这件事的，这是科学界的重要谜题。我们大脑的运作有三分之一与视觉相关。基本上科学家要讲清处人类是如何看见感知人事物，背后牵连到人类独有的认知本能。 哈佛大学医学院特聘教授、眼科学家及脑神经科学家理查德·马斯兰在本书中试图以科学的角度来解释人类如何透过双眼与大脑去感知、学习与记忆。这本书涵盖的主题很广，从光线射到视网膜，到脑部的神经网络如何把光线承载的讯息转化成人脑可以辨识与运用的知识，到计算机计算法要具有什么样的功能我们才能称为“人工智能”，以及我们在回忆过去时为什么会呈现出一种第三人视角……在这本书里都有了专业的学术解答。 《大脑修复术》内容简介：无法长时间集中注意力； 感觉无缘由地坐立不安； 以前*喜欢的事现在提不起兴趣； 记忆力越来越差； 明知道该出门社交，却找各种借口宅在家里； 长时间玩游戏或刷手机； 外出期间总担心家门没锁、炉火未关； 凌晨两点，却辗转反侧，毫无睡意； …… 缺乏专注力、焦虑、抑郁、记性变差、社交恐惧、成瘾、强迫症、失眠……现代社会中几乎每个人都会受到各种各样心理和精神问题的困扰。如何识别自己的心理和精神问题，如何应对快节奏生活带来的压力和成长中必经的心理困境，如何在适应社会的过程中保持心理健康，并拥有满意的学习和工作表现，本书作者——耶鲁大学精神医学博士后姚乃琳——给出了答案。 这本书将帮助你了解焦虑、抑郁、强迫症、拖延、社交恐惧、失眠等困扰你的精神症状，页将让你了解专注力、记忆力、创造力等大脑认知功能的底层规律。通过深度阅读本书，你将知道如何正确应对生活中的压力、情绪和认知方面的困扰，如何通过掌握正确的思维和生活习惯来提升学习和工作表现。这本书可以让你学会如何随时地修复大脑，从而拥有更具“免疫力”的强壮大脑，游刃有余地应对人生中层出不穷的挑战。 《创新大脑》内容简介：新的想法、概念和技能是如何产生的？ 社会和文化的变迁会如何影响我们的认知方式？ 数字革命将如何催生伟大的创意文化？ 人工智能、虚拟现实技术的发展和聚变革命，会在哪些方面改变我们的大脑处理信息的方式？ 了解人脑处理新奇事物的机制以及培养创新型大脑的方法，成为当前对我们每个人来讲都很重要的问题。 作者基于大量的新研究成果，提出了自己对“创造力”的看法：创造力是一个衍生性概念，不应该被理解为一种单一的属性，也不是与某一组狭隘的神经结构直接相关，它虽然在一 定程度上跟前额也皮质和右半脑有关，但它总体上是由一系列神经过程决定的，而且，它不能用简单的生物学术语来定义，而是和人类整体的历史和文化息息相关，和集体创作、知识积累息息相关。 尤其作者提出的“创造性火花”的产生机制，对广大读者具有重要的参考意义。 《大脑帝国》内容简介：我们为什么会有不同的人格？ 学习和记忆的方式有何不同？ 男人和女人的方向感为何不同？ 喜怒哀乐与大脑有什么关系？ 听莫扎特的音乐就能变聪明吗? 你的大脑让你成为你自己。是大脑让你得以与其他人沟通，从简单的寒暄交流，到理解别人说的是“反话”或“话里有话”，都靠它。大脑也赋予你不同的感受和个性。大脑会记得童年发生的事，会学习，会恋爱，也会解读复杂的模式。然而大脑也可能会诱使你做出错误的选择，还会对依赖成瘾给出奖励。了解大脑的运作方式将为你提供**可能。 喜怒哀乐、学习、考试、天才、智力、记忆、感性、理性、情感、恋爱、自我、人格、方位感、个性、情绪、失忆、自恋、抑郁、人格障碍、精神疾病、癫痫、被洗脑、GPS依赖症、拖延症、压力、焦虑、恐惧、失恋、失眠、头型、头围、大脑与AI、一心多用、多任务处理、胎教、音乐对大脑的魔力、品尝味道、饮食与大脑、盐糖脂肪与大脑、健脑食品、上瘾、咖啡对大脑的作用、香烟与大脑、酒精与大脑、大麻上瘾、气味与大脑、现实与感知、声音与大脑、视觉与大脑…….360°*透视大脑，揭开人格、记忆、情绪、智商等的奥秘；从日常生活习惯入手，轻松挖掘大脑潜能，充分释放大脑价值。 《健康基因的开关》内容简介：每个人体内都有一种古老的机制，它可以消除有害物质，启动脂肪燃烧，并保护我们的细胞免于功能失调或癌变—它被称为“自噬”。当自噬开启时，一系列复杂的操作不仅可以帮我们延缓衰老过程，还可以从整体上优化生物功能，使我们远离各种疾病，拥有健康与长寿。这是身体中生命终 极开关。 我们如何才能积极激活这个开关呢？ 我们应该多久禁食一次，每次禁食多久？ 哪些食物会促进自噬，哪些食物会降低自噬？ 多少运动量和什么类型的运动是合适的？ 间歇性禁食、蛋白质循环和生酮饮食之间的* 佳平衡点是什么？ 这本书基于大量科学研究解答了上述问题，内容既专业又浅显易懂，有助于我们掌握身心健康之道。 《记忆的革命》内容简介：《记忆的革命》一书，揭示了在学习和记忆过程中，大脑接受和处理声音、文字、图像三种信息时形成学习链，但唯有图像记忆才是高 效学习和记忆的秘密。 学习的本质是透过文字把握图像，我们的大脑在储存记忆时青睐的就是图像。记忆效率高、容易形成长期有效的记忆，且能摆脱“艾宾浩斯遗忘曲线”规律的记忆方式就是尽可能地把信息资料构建为图像。而这种构建的能力可以通过一系列科学有效的方法来练习和得到：画图记忆法、联想记忆法、定桩法、左右脑针对性训练等。读完本书，就可以系统地了解记忆力提升的方法，并有效地运用到学习和工作之中去。 《脑机革命：引领未来的新科技新产业》内容简介：畅想一下，如果你能用大脑来控制电脑……比如在电脑屏上打字，或者是用意识操控机械臂完成各种动作……这些电影大片描绘的科幻场景，现在看来已经是基于“脑机接口”的合理设想。 那么，脑机接口是什么？目前进展如何？实践中有哪些应用？它如何革新我们的思考、工作和生活方式？屡获大奖的发明家谭乐在书中讲述了脑机结合领域令人兴奋的新兴技术，包括无创性手术工具、大脑探测工具、大脑增强工具、可供医疗工作者使用的工具，以及消费者可用的工具。书中也分享了一些令人难以置信的真实故事，一些人的生活因为这些先进技术的发明而发生了改变。 这本书激情而不失科学地讲解了大脑增强技术可能给人类带来的影响和变革，还不失客观和冷静地提出了其可能带来的技术可及性、数据隐私、数据使用权、法律和伦理道德等一系列社会问题，有助于我们进一步了解大脑的运作方式，预见未来的无限可能性。 《管理敏感》内容简介：精神科医生超过一万次咨询访谈的观察总结 脑科学和精神医学在敏感与创伤心理治疗上的深层应用 敏感的人摆脱焦虑，调整精力值，理清人际关系的实用方法 很多人都被自己的敏感性格深深困扰，它让我们情绪大起大落，内心戏十/足，畏惧社交，缺乏自信，容易有罪恶感，过度内耗，总是讨好迎合他人，察言观色，但又经常不被理解，被人认为“想太多”“玻璃心”“矫情多疑”，严重的还会发展成抑郁。 《管理敏感》这本开创性的书，通过完整严谨的脑科学和精神医学理论体系告诉我们，敏感是可以管理的。一个人性格敏感，说明他的精力没有用在恰当的地方，而且消耗速度比普通人快。敏感还和过去的某些心理创伤有关，需要我们勇敢正视。 在这本书中，全教授通过特别挑选的40个案例和16条法则，告诉我们如何管理敏感，善用敏感。书中所附诊断表和图表，如“抑郁症筛查对照表”“忧虑清单”“人际关系列表”“压力量表”等，帮助读者检查自己的状态，对生活中的多余之人，无益之事做个清理，及时断舍离，以避免继续耗损精力。同时作者还针对敏感之人的典型症状，给出了个性化、差异化、有针对性的心理处/方。 我是一名大学附属医院精神科的医生，在诊疗室里接待了上万名病人，倾听他们的故事，所有故事的中心都有一个内核——一颗高度敏感的心。 我还遇到过一些人，他们并非我的病人，在各自领域取得了卓越的成就，我惊讶地发现他们当中绝大部分也是高敏感的人，饱受敏感之苦。如果说他们和那些病人有区别，那就是他们已经掌握了管理自己敏感情绪的方法。 ——全弘镇（本书作者） 《认识脑电波》内容简介：思维的边界在哪里 你真的了解自己吗？ 这是一本揭开人类思想之谜的书。 大脑是产生人类思想的器官，20世纪初期，对脑电波的检测是神经科学史上的重要进展之一。然而，人们对脑电波的意义甚至脑科学都知之甚少。那些位于神经科学领域的塔尖的科学家都在做什么？R?道格拉斯?菲尔茨博士的这本书带你一探究竟。我们随着博士的视角深入人体精密和高级的装置——大脑，了解思想的产生；深入梦境，了解记忆和遗忘的机制；去看看我们是如何学习的；以及在现代医学中，脑科学如何应用在疾病治疗中…… 疯狂的企业家将人机互动提上议事日程，在这本书中，我们将看到这些实验室的理论如何走进市场，那些曾经出现在科幻电影里的场景究竟离我们还有多远。 《决策大脑》内容简介：要想提升判断力、预测力、领导力，从哪里下手？ 主导人类行为的动机、意图、计划、远见、人格等从何而来？ 就像企业、*、管弦乐队一样，大脑同样有自己的领导者，这个角色属于额叶。额叶在整个大脑内执行极其高级、复杂的功能，在所有人类行为的成功与失败中扮演着关键角色。如果大脑的其他部位受损，就可能造成语言、记忆、感知或运动能力的丧失。而一旦额叶受损，患者所丧失的便不只是某种特质，而是整个心智、人格的核心！ 该书讨论了与额叶密切相关的几种心理品质，还讨论了一些有趣的问题，如男人与女人的差别、社会责任、注意力、衰老和精神疾病等。 作者完整解析了“人格因素”的大脑机制，并指出，认知训练可以有效地提升脑力，抵抗自然或病态衰老导致的记忆力衰退等。

Verbena Colter knows she's bad news. Trouble from the get-go. How could she not be, with parents like hersHer mother practically pickled her before she was even born, leaving Verbie to struggle with the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome. And her father was just plain mean. Verbie wishes she could be somebody, anybody other than who she is. Enter Pooch, a flatlander boy visiting for the summer. When Pooch and his mom rent the house next door, Verbie takes the opportunity to be someone else entirely. And what starts out as a game leads Verbie into a surprising and heartwarming journey of self-discovery. Another gem from the author of So B. It.

No rebounds. . .Jenna Gaines has her Ph.D., a great teaching job at her alma mater, everything she ever wanted in life . . . almost. Once upon a time she wanted Scott Hendricks, but the NBA called and he left her to become a hoops star. Now hiscareer is over, and the only man Jenna ever loved is back at her school and in her life—too many years too late, as far as she's concerned.Jenna would have given up her dreams to follow Scott, which was the last thing he wanted. All Scott can think about now is the taste of her lips and how it feels to caress her silky ebony skin, but Jenna won't give him a second chance to break her heart. She will, however, let him be her backup and support when she reconnects with her long-lost brother.But anything could happen on their fateful trip—because Scott still has the moves . . . and the magic.

Seventeen original tales of sword and sorcery penned by masters old and new Elric . . . the Black Company . . . Majipoor. For years, these have been some of the names that have captured the hearts of generations of readers and embodied the sword and sorcery genre. And now some of the most beloved and bestselling fantasy writers working today deliver stunning all-new sword and sorcery stories in an anthology of small stakes but high action, grim humor mixed with gritty violence, fierce monsters and fabulous treasures, and, of course, swordplay. Don't miss the adventure of the decade!

Maya's life has always been chaotic. Living with a con-man dad, she's spent half her life on the run. Whenever her father's schemes go wrong, Maya finds a scientific way to fix it. But when her dad ends up in prison and foster care fails, Maya grasps at her last possible hope of a home: a long-lost aunt, who may not even exist.So Maya formulates a plan, and with her wits, two unlikely allies, and twenty dollars in her pocket, she sets off in search of this aunt, navigating the unpredictable four hundred miles from Reno to Boise. Life on the streets, though, becomes a struggle for survival—those scientific laws Maya has relied on her whole life just don't apply. And with each passing day, Maya's definitions of right and wrong are turned upside down when she's confronted with the realities and dangers of life as a runaway. She can't help but wonder if trying to find her aunt—and some semblance of stability—is worth the harrowing journey or if she should compromise and find a way to survive on her own.

The Secret Lives of People in Love is the first short story collection by award-winning writer Simon Van Booy. These stories, set in Kentucky, New York, Paris, Rome, and Greece, are a perfect synthesis of intensity and atmosphere. Love, loss, human contact, and isolation are Van Booy's themes. In radiant prose he writes about the difficult choices we make in order to retain our humanity and about the redemptive power of love in a violent world. Included in this updated P.S. edition is the new story "The Mute Ventriloquist."

The Secret Lives of People in Love is the first short story collection by award-winning writer Simon Van Booy. These stories, set in Kentucky, New York, Paris, Rome, and Greece, are a perfect synthesis of intensity and atmosphere. Love, loss, human contact, and isolation are Van Booy's themes. In radiant prose he writes about the difficult choices we make in order to retain our humanity and about the redemptive power of love in a violent world. Included in this updated P.S. edition is the new story "The Mute Ventriloquist."

The Secret Lives of People in Love is the first short story collection by award-winning writer Simon Van Booy. These stories, set in Kentucky, New York, Paris, Rome, and Greece, are a perfect synthesis of intensity and atmosphere. Love, loss, human contact, and isolation are Van Booy's themes. In radiant prose he writes about the difficult choices we make in order to retain our humanity and about the redemptive power of love in a violent world. Included in this updated P.S. edition is the new story "The Mute Ventriloquist."

The Secret Lives of People in Love is the first short story collection by award-winning writer Simon Van Booy. These stories, set in Kentucky, New York, Paris, Rome, and Greece, are a perfect synthesis of intensity and atmosphere. Love, loss, human contact, and isolation are Van Booy's themes. In radiant prose he writes about the difficult choices we make in order to retain our humanity and about the redemptive power of love in a violent world. Included in this updated P.S. edition is the new story "The Mute Ventriloquist."

In semiautobiographical stories set largely in David Vann's native Alaska, Legend of a Suicide follows Roy Fenn from his birth on an island at the edge of the Bering Sea to his return thirty years later to confront the turbulent emotions and complex legacy of his father's suicide.

In semiautobiographical stories set largely in David Vann's native Alaska, Legend of a Suicide follows Roy Fenn from his birth on an island at the edge of the Bering Sea to his return thirty years later to confront the turbulent emotions and complex legacy of his father's suicide.