In writing, style matters. Our favorite writers often entertain, move, and inspire us less by what they say than by how they say it. In The Sound on the Page, acclaimed author, teacher, and critic Ben Yagoda offers practical and incisive help for writers on developing and discovering their own style and voice. This wonderfully rich and readable book features interviews with more than 40 of our most important authors discussing their literary style, including:Dave BarryHarold BloomSupreme Court Justice Stephen BreyerBill BrysonMichael ChabonAndrei CodrescuJunot DíazAdam GopnikJamaica KincaidMichael KinsleyElmore LeonardElizabeth McCracken Susan OrleanCynthia OzickAnna QuindlenJonathan RabanDavid ThomsonTobias Wolff

Two hundred years ago, only the most reckless or eccentric Europeans had dared to traverse the unmapped territory of the modern-day Middle East. But in 1798, more than 150 French engineers, artists, doctors, and scientists even a poet and a musicologist traveled to the Nile Valley under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte and his invading army. Hazarding hunger, hardship, uncertainty, and disease, Napoleon's "savants" risked their lives in pursuit of discovery. The first large-scale interaction between Europeans and Muslims in the modern era, the audacious expedition was both a triumph and a disaster, resulting in finds of immense historical and scientific importance (including the ruins of the colossal pyramids and the Rosetta Stone) and in countless tragic deaths through plague, privation, madness, or violence.Acclaimed journalist Nina Burleigh brings readers back to the landmark adventure at the dawn of the modern era that ultimately revealed the deepest secrets of ancient Egypt to a curious continent.

For more than a decade Letting Go has provided hundreds of thousands of parents with valuable insights, information, comfort, and guidance throughout the emotional and social changes of their children's college years from the senior year in high school through college graduation. Based on real-life experience and recommended by colleges and universities around the country, this indispensable book has been updated and revised, offering even more compassionate, practical, and up-to-the-minute information. When should parents encourage independenceWhen should they interveneWhat issues of identity and intimacy await studentsWhat are normal feelings of disorientation and loneliness for students and for parentsWhat is different about today's college environmentWhat new concerns about safety, health and wellness, and stress will affect incoming classes?

In New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell's glittering new series, wedding bells are ringing… until the return of a rake throws a bride's plans— and heart—into a tailspin Every debutante aspires to snag a duke. Elin Morris just happens to have had one reserved since birth. But postponements of her marriage to London's most powerful peer give Elin time to wonder how she will marry Gavin Baynton when she cannot forget his brother, Benedict. Already exasperated at being yanked from the military to meet "family obligations," now Ben must suffer watching his arrogant sibling squire the only woman he has ever loved. Joining the army saved Ben from sinking into bitterness, but seeing Elin again takes him back to the day they surrendered to their intoxicating desire. As the wedding draws near, Elin tries to push Ben far from her thoughts. When danger brings them together, there is no denying their feelings. But can Elin choose love over duty...?

If you are at first lonely, be patient.If you're not been alone much, or if when you were, you weren't okay with it, then just wait . . .From a solitary walk in the woods to sitting unaccompanied on a city park bench to eating a meal and even dancing alone, certain activities can feel strange when you're on your own. We rarely treasure those moments, even though there are abundant possibilities and delights waiting to be discovered when we have the time to just be with ourselves. Tanya Davis's words and Andrea Dorfman's beautiful illustrations soothe the disquiet that accompanies this fear of aloneness, and celebrate the power of solitude to change our views of ourselves and the world. How to Be Alone reveals how, removed from the noise and distractions of other lives, we can find acceptance and grace within.For those who have never been by themselves, or for those who relish being on their own, this moving work encourages us to recognize and embrace the possibilities of being alone and reminds us of a universe of joy, peace, and discovery waiting to unfold.

From the first glimpse he knew he must have her even if only for a single night . . .Powerful, ruthless, seductive the lord of London's underworld Roman Merrick gets anything he wants . . . and he burns for Charlotte Chatsworth, a polished jewel in the glittering ton. So he engages her debt-ridden gambler father in a game of chance, wagering ten thousand pounds against one night with the man's exquisite daughter. And Roman Merrick never loses.But one night is never enough . . .Charlotte is devastated to learn that her reprobate father has lost her in a card game to the most dangerous man she's ever met. With the threat of ruin behind every corner, Charlotte embarks upon a perilous path with the man she cannot forget. But in truth, it's Roman who has everything to lose for a game undertaken for pleasure alone soon has him gambling his heart. And love and passion unleashed could bring his great, dark empire tumbling down . . .

There are only twenty-four hours in a day, but you can make them count. Time Management, a comprehensive and essential resource for any manager on the run, shows you how.Learn to: Set and prioritize goals, objectives, and tasks Create an effective schedule Avoid distractions and interruptions Respect other people's time Build a time-conscious organization The Collins Best Practices guides offer new and seasoned managers the essential information they need to achieve more, both personally and professionally. Designed to provide tried-and-true advice from the world's most influential business minds, they feature practical strategies and tips to help you get ahead.

Woman Power: for the woman who wants to ensure for herself -- and for her man -- the marital happiness and success everyone dreams of! The immediate feedback to Dr. Laura Schlessinger's seventh bestseller, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, affirmed that Dr. Laura helped hundreds of thousands of readers make good marriages even better and saved many from the brink of divorce. Now, due to overwhelming response from her readers and listeners who wanted to know more about the special power women have to transform their husbands, their marriages, and their lives, Dr. Laura has written Woman Power. Through a series of provocative chapters and Q&As, Dr. Laura guides women on how to assess what is valuable and what is vulnerable in their marriages, and stimulates women to think about what is really important about being a woman, a wife, and a mother. In addition, readers will find inspirational stories and tips, thought-provoking essays, and plenty of room for entries, thoughts, and journals. There are even fascinating Q&As for husbands and wives to do together!

In Paducah, Kentucky, seventeen-year-old Thomas feels as reined in as the mighty Ohio, a river confined by high floodwalls protecting his small Southern hometown. But all boundaries vanish when Thomas experiences first love with Alice, his new history teacher, a woman eight years his senior and when he meets Shiloh, a misfit vagabond and anarchist who becomes his new role model. Fleeing to rural Vermont, this unlikely trio boldly pursues freedom, intimacy, and seclusion, unfettered by commitments and rules. But a life apart from the world does not ensure a life apart from the past and for one of them, the past that emerges will threaten tragedy.

Award-winning sportswriter Mike Freeman goes beyond day-to-day newspaper journalism and ESPN highlights to take us deep inside the game and reveal the NFL in ways that will surprise the most avid football fans. He travels to the sidelines and into the locker rooms to interview hundreds of players and coaches on their expertise. Breaking the game down to its essential elements -- coaching, offense, and defense -- Freeman profiles in depth three of today's football elite: Jon Gruden, head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Michael Strahan, defensive end for the New York Giants; and Emmitt Smith, the legendary running back.Bloody Sundays goes behind the scenes of the "secret society" of gay players who play in fear of their lives and careers, studies how the violence of the game ravages the bodies of players, and takes us into the owners' offices to look at the darker side of the sport.Part tribute, part expose, Bloody Sundays is a vivid portrait of professional football that "gives you so much to think about that you might find yourself switching off a game to read" (New York Times Book Review).

An insider's view of the most successful show in the history of TV, 60 Minutes. The most popular TV show in America isn't American Idol, and it's not Survivor. Month in, month out, the most–watched program in America is 60 Minutes, drawing a staggering 25 million viewers in an average week. For its entire 34–year history, 60 Minutes was the brainchild (and personal fiefdom) of Don Hewitt, the take–no–prisoners visionary who hustled the show into being and kept it afloat with a mixture of chutzpah, tough talk, scheming, and journalistic savvy. But now that Hewitt is 80 and grudgingly considering retirement, the show's direction is increasingly up for grabs, and the transition will surely be marked by some serious fireworks. As author David Blum provides a fly–on–the–wall perspective on the show's upheavals, he'll also trace its past; although the show has aired some 5,000 pieces and has made household names of Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley, Leslie Stahl, and Morley Safer, much of the backstage story––the passionate pursuit of stories, the behind–the–scenes wrangling, and the stars' prima donnish behavior––has gone untold. With full access to the producers, stars, and executives, Blum will give readers an unprecedented view of the personalities and events that have shaped 60 Minutes – and a new perspective on how current events become news.

Beat the Pros at Their Own Game All too often, you learn about good stocks far too late to profit from the information. By the time you actually buy a stock, professional investors have already been there, bought the stock, driven up the price, and are just waiting to unload it at an inflated price.All That's About to Change. . . .In Ahead of the Market, Mitch Zacks shows investors how they can spot stocks that are poised to take off long before the rest of the crowd learns about them. HowBy unlocking the gems of priceless information buried in Wall Street's often self-serving research. Ahead of the Market is the first book, ever, that enables you to profitably use the analyst stock research for which Wall Street firms pay more than one billion dollars annually. Many investors have rightly felt misled in the past by analysts who continued to hype stocks as prices plummeted. You may have even concluded that Wall Street research is totally worthless. But it's not.In Ahead of the Market, Mitch Zacks shows that analysts actually provide a wealth of market-moving information that can generate exceptional returns if interpreted correctly.The key is to use the research produced by Wall Street analysts the same way the professional money managers do.Pioneered by the firm Zacks Investment Research and based on more than twenty years of intensive analysis, the investment strategies revealed in this book are indeed the same ones used by successful professional investors everywhere.In these pages you will learn how to form an investment plan by locating stocks that are poised for price appreciation and avoiding stocks heading for a fall. Zacks shows how you could have prevented being burned when the recent bubble burst, if you had known how to use analyst research correctly and teaches you the rules of the research game so you will not fall victim the next time around. In sum, this book is your guide to picking the right stock at the right time.Mitch Zacks's groundbreaking research provides new insights and new strategies to: Use revisions to analysts' earnings estimates to predict the rise and fall of stock prices Interpret the real meaning behind analysts' stock recommendations Employ the "cockroach" phenomenon and other methodologies to predict earnings surprises before they occur Determine how to react when a company reports earnings and how to profit from "post-earnings announcement drift" Understand and profit from "analyst creep" the reason that earnings estimate revisions occur incrementally over time Avoid being duped by the games that companies play with their earnings reportsWhether the economy is healthy or stalled, whether the market is up or down, by focusing on the strategies contained in this book you will always come out ahead. Well-picked individual stocks will always carry the day. Now with Ahead of the Market, you will finally have the same tools institutional investors have and will be able to find great stocks in any market environment.

The outrageous Janice Dickinson -- former star of TV's America's Next Top Model, bestselling author, and glam girl extra-ordinaire -- now brings her patented blend of hard-won romantic wisdom and diva chic to her first-ever dating guide. Loaded with uncensored dish on her romantic sagas -- and her stranger-than-fiction bedroom adventures -- Check, Please! unveils Janice's dating dos and don'ts, culled from her three decades at the top of the fast-track world of modeling, and a rich, racy life of dating, mating, and extricating.With the same voracious charm that propelled her into the arms of some of America's most eligible bachelors, here Janice shares her secrets to landing men, loving them, and letting them go. From first dates and old flames to primping, cheating, and sizing things up, Check, Please! is a girl's guide to an irreverent, extravagant love life.Some titillating tips from Check, Please!Lesson #2: Wanna Get a Guy's AttentionIgnore Him!Lesson #13: If He's Got His Eye on the Door, He's Already Halfway Through ItLesson #28: Don't Do Anyone You Might RegretLesson #40: It's Okay to Want More, More, MoreLesson #47: Don't Follow Trends -- Start ThemFrom the unfettered hedonism of her modeling days -- spent in white-hot one night stands and steamy affairs -- to her crusade to find Mr. Right today and tomorrow, Check, Please! is a fun, over-the-top vicarious thrill ride as only Janice can deliver it -- with a core that's surprisingly real. Check, Please!

In Summer World: A Season of Bounty, Bernd Heinrich brings us the same bottomless reserve of wonder and reverence for the teeming animal life of backwoods New England that he brought us in Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival. Now he is focusing on the animal kingdom in the extremes of the warmer months, with all its feeding, nesting, fighting, and mating.Whether presenting disquisitions on ant wars, the predatory characteristics of wasps, the mating rituals of woodpeckers, or describing an encounter with a road full of wood frogs, Summer World never stops observing the beautifully complex interactions of animals and plants with nature, giving extraordinary depth to the relationships between habitat and the warming of the earth. How can cicadas survive and thrive at temperatures pushing 115°FDo hummingbirds know what they're up against before they migrate over the Gulf of MexicoWhy do some trees stop growing taller even when three months of warm weather remainWith awe and unmatched expertise, Heinrich explores hundreds of questions like these. Exquisitely illustrated with dozens of the author's own drawings, Summer World is Bernd Heinrich's most engaging book to date, a fascinating work from one of our very best science writers.

Former baseball slugger Darryl Strawberry, whose achievements on the field were often overshadowed by his struggles off the field, recounts the highs, the lows, and the lessons of hope and survival he learned along the way.The youngest son of Henry and Ruby Strawberry, Darryl grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Los Angeles, where he channeled his energy into baseball and basketball. The New York Mets drafted him in 1980, and he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1983. Strawberry became the first National League player voted to the All-Star Game in each of his first four full seasons. Throughout the eighties and nineties, however, Strawberry faced many personal challenges, includ-ing drug use, tax evasion, solicitation, and allegations of domestic violence. His seasons with the Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees were interrupted by suspensions, visits to rehab, and treatment for colon cancer. But in 2006, Strawberry's life changed course dramatically. With his wife, Tracy, he devoted himself to his church and to his work with children and adults affected by autism and other developmental disorders.For the first time, in his own words, Darryl Strawberry delivers his inspirational narrative the extraordinary story of his life.

Debutante cotillions. Million-dollar homes. Summers in Martha's Vineyard. Membership in the Links, Jack,Jill, Deltas, Boule, and AKAs. An obsession with the right schools, families, social clubs, and skin complexion. This is the world of the black upper class and the focus of the first book written about the black elite by a member of this hard-to-penetrate group.Author and TV commentator Lawrence Otis Graham, one of the nation's most prominent spokesmen on race and class, spent six years interviewing the wealthiest black families in America. He includes historical photos of a people that made their first millions in the 1870s. Graham tells who's in and who's not in the group today with separate chapters on the elite in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Nashville, and New Orleans. A new Introduction explains the controversy that the book elicited from both the black and white communities.

With his ear for the small town and his knack for finding the needle of humor in life's haystack, Philip Gulley might well be Indiana's answer to Missouri's Mark Twain. In I Love You, Miss Huddleston we are transported to 1970's Danville, Indiana, the everyone-knows-your-business town where Gulley still lives today, to witness the uproarious story of Gulley's young life, including his infatuation with his comely sixth-grade teacher, his dalliance with sin eating meat on Friday and inappropriate activities with a mannequin named Ginger and his checkered start with organized religion.Sister Mary John had shown us a flannelgraph of the apostles receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They looked quite happy, except that their hair was on fire. . . . I was suspicious of a religion whose highpoint was the igniting of one's head, and my enthusiasm for church, which had never been great, began to fade. Even as Kennedy was facing down Khrushchev, Danny Millardo and his band of youthful thugs conducted a reign of terror still unmatched in the annals of Indiana history. With Gulley's sharp wit and keen observation, I Love You, Miss Huddleston captures these dramas and more, revisiting a childhood of unrelieved and happy chaos.From beginning to end, Gulley recalls the hilarity (and heightened dangers) of those wonder years and the easy charm of midwestern life.

From New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, to the Smithsonian Institution in D.C., to Boston's Museum of Fine Art, to dozens of regional museums throughout the United States, no museum was off-limits to legendary art thief Myles Connor. He has used every technique in the book, from breaking and entering, to cat burglary, to false identities and elaborate con jobs. He once even grabbed a Rembrandt off a wall in broad daylight and simply ran like hell. His IQ is at genius level, and his charm is legendary. The fact that he was in jail at the time of the famous robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum which remains the largest art theft in American history has not stopped the FBI from considering him a top suspect in that still unsolved robbery.How did the son of a decorated policeman grow up to become one of Boston's most notorious criminalsHow did he survive a decades-long feud with the Boston police and the FBIHow did he manage to escape one jail sentence with a simple fake gun carved out of soapHow did he trade the return of a famous Rembrandt in exchange for early release from another sentenceThe Art of the Heist is a roller-coaster ride of a life, by a man who was drawn to misadventure at every turn. As a promising young rock star, Myles Connor started collecting Japanese swords and weapons. Soon his collection expanded through less than legitimate means, and his education in European masters and modern artists accelerated. Disguised as an art collector, he spent time in the archives of museums far and wide, and visited after hours to take advantage of what he learned by day.Along the way, he robbed banks, warehouses, trailers, and estate homes. He engaged in rooftop shootouts with the police. He walked the streets of Boston in disguise while dozens of policemen were out searching for him. The Art of the Heist is part confession, part thrill ride, and impossible to put down.

From Oscar De La Hoya, one of the most celebrated fighters in the history of boxing, comes a frank and touching memoir about achieving the American Dream: his rise to the top, the power of a solid work ethic, his mother's painful death from cancer, the pitfalls of stardom, and a very personal take on what it means to be an American The son of Mexican-born parents, Oscar "The Golden Boy" De La Hoya has had an astonishing career. From boxing to business, from the recording industry to the charitable accomplishments of his foundation, his success is a testament to what one can achieve in the United States. But who is this man who has changed the lives of so manyWho has imprinted a positive mark upon the sport of boxing, for which many have all but given up hopeWho has become a symbol of success for an entire community, without many heroes to call their own?American Son answers these questions.Born into a boxing family, De La Hoya has defeated more than a dozen world champions and won six world titles as well as an Olympic gold medal a moment forever marked in the memory of anyone who has followed his career. Yet within the maelstrom of this success lay a man whose earnest belief in the goodness of everyone around him sometimes led him to stray far from his intended path. This book is The Golden Boy, and he bares his most heartbreaking mistakes as well as his most stunning triumphs for all of the world to see. This thrilling tale of an immigrant's son a quintessentially American story is the chronicle of an amazing journey that will provide readers with new insight into the private life of a figure who has to many reached iconic status.

Max Siegel started with none of the obvious advantages, yet again and again he built mutually beneficial partnerships with peers, mentors, supervisors, and industry leaders that took him to the heights of professional and personal achievement. He's managed some of the world's top recording artists, ballplayers, and race-car drivers, and helped run some of the top organizations in sports and entertainment. He's grown fragmented niche markets into bestselling audiences by tapping into the universal hopes and passions that bring people together. Now he travels the country giving motivational speeches and inspiring professionals of all kinds, sharing his method for connecting with people, whatever their differences.The secret, Siegel says, is to know what makes others tick. For some, it's financial security; for others, it's respect, devotion to family, a creative calling, or a vision of a better world. He shows how to encourage people to share these hidden, all-important motivations, and how to partner with them in the most powerful way there is: by finding the overlap between their goals and yours, so that together you can realize the dreams that make you tick.The nine universal rules outlined in Know What Makes Them Tick include:See Where You Want to Be, Not Where You AreFind Your AmbassadorsShow What's in It for ThemReaders will learn practical strategies for negotiating the challenges in every part of life, whether motivating colleagues to be more productive, finding a market for their product, uniting a divided family, or building a life of satisfaction in an unpredictable world. It's an eye-opening guide to a unique and powerful approach that anyone can use.

The rules have changed, but your dreams haven't. You can buy the home you want let award-winning real estate guru Ilyce Glink show you how! With her books, syndicated newspaper and Internet columns, radio show, blog, Web site, and numerous media appearances, Ilyce Glink has become the go-to expert Americans rely on to help them successfully navigate the tricky world of real estate a marketplace made even more complex today thanks to the Great Recession. Sure, there's a maze of new regulations. Sure, it's harder than ever to find a great deal or get the best loan. But you can do it. All it takes is a little expert advice from Ilyce. Clear and concise, Buy, Close, Move In! cuts through confusing red tape to provide the essential inside information you need to make the best decisions, and answers commonly asked questions about every step of the process, including: Credit from raising your score to identitifying theft protection Real estate investments trends and opportunities Foreclosures, short sales, and auctions Appraisals, closing costs, and other fees Mortgages fixed rate versus adjustable rate and other financing options With Ilyce Glink's Buy, Close, Move In! you're one step closer to home.