A fun and erudite celebration of procrastination An entertaining, fact-filled defense of the nearly universal tendency to procrastinate, drawing on the stories of history's greatest delayers, and on the work of psychologists, philosophers, and behavioral economists to explain why we put off what we're supposed to be doing and why we shouldn't feel so bad about it. Like so many of us, including most of America's workforce, and nearly two-thirds of all university students, Andrew Santella procrastinates. Concerned about his habit, but not quite ready to give it up, he set out to learn all he could about the human tendency to delay. He studied history's greatest procrastinators to gain insights into human behavior, and also, he writes, to kill time, "research being the best way to avoid real work."He talked with psychologists, philosophers, and priests. He visited New Orleans' French Quarter, home to a shrine to the patron saint of... Views: 34
From the acclaimed author of the "exquisitely written and deeply felt" (Geraldine Brooks, author of The Secret Chord) novel The Railwayman's Wife comes a magical and gorgeously wrought tale of an astonishing event that connects three people across three hundred years.Imagine you looked up at just the right moment and saw something completely unexpected. What if it was something so marvelous that it transformed time and space forever? The Body in the Clouds tells the story of one such extraordinary moment—a man falling from the sky, and surviving—and of the three men who see it, in different ways and at different times, as they stand on the same piece of land. An astronomer in the 1700s, a bridge worker in the 1930s, and an expatriate banker returning home in the early twenty-first century: all three are transformed by this one magical event. And all three are struggling to understand what the meaning of "home" is, and how to recognize... Views: 34
The journey gets bloodier as the group runs into hordes of the infected in a suburban neighborhood. Thom must make some drastic decisions when the survivors encounter a military camp. But does the camp provide safety, or just another hurdle delaying Denny’s expedition home? Views: 34
America's astronauts were the targets. Four had been killed so far — with their murderers conveniently found dead just a few hours later.
The enemy was known. Red China. But China's mastermind in the U.S. was a mystery. There were five possibilities.
Dr. Joy Sun, the beautiful NASA scientist, with a voracious sexual appetite... Alex Simian, the multi-millionaire, with the strange "friends" in China... Major Sollitz, the career officer, with luxurious tastes his meager salary couldn't satisfy... Candy Sweet, the sensuous playgirl, with a lust for bizarre kicks... Reno Tree, the crippled hood, with ambitions to take over a Mafia empire.
One of them was in the pay of Red China. But which one? Nick Carter could only wait — with himself as the bait.
Killmaster had made his usual bargain with death! Views: 34
Carrie meets American Horror Story meets The Shining in this terrifying YA horror novel from the author of Tweak and Schizo.Something's not right in Beach Haven.Jen Noonan's father thinks a move to Harmony House is the key to salvation, but to everyone who has lived there before, it is a portal to pure horror.After her alcoholic mother's death, Jen's father cracked. He dragged Jen to a dilapidated old manor on the shore of New Jersey to start their new lives—but Jen can tell that the place has an unhappy history. She can feel it the same way she can feel her anger flowing out of her, affecting the world in strange ways she can't explain.But Harmony House is more than just a creepy old estate. It's got a chilling past—and the more Jen discovers its secrets, the more the house awakens. Visions of a strange boy who lived in the house long ago follow Jen wherever she goes, and her father's already-fragile sanity disintegrates before her eyes.... Views: 34
The debate between science and religion is never out of the news: emotions run high, fuelled by polemical bestsellers like The God Delusion and, at the other end of the spectrum, high-profile campaigns to teach "Intelligent Design" in schools. Yet there is much more to the debate than the clash of these extremes. As Thomas Dixon shows in this balanced and thought-provoking introduction, a whole range of views, subtle arguments, and fascinating perspectives can be found on this complex and centuries-old subject. He explores the key philosophical questions that underlie the debate, but also highlights the social, political, and ethical contexts that have made the tensions between science and religion such a fraught and interesting topic in the modern world. Dixon emphasizes how the modern conflict between evolution and creationism is quintessentially an American phenomenon, arising from the culture and history of the United States, as exemplified through the ongoing debates about how to interpret the First-Amendment's separation of church and state. Along the way, he examines landmark historical episodes such as the Galileo affair, Charles Darwin's own religious and scientific odyssey, the Scopes "Monkey Trial" in Tennessee in 1925, and the Dover Area School Board case of 2005, and includes perspectives from non-Christian religions and examples from across the physical, biological, and social sciences.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
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The tradition of ancient philosophy is a long, rich and varied one, in which the notes of discussion and argument constantly resound. This book introduces ancient debates, engaging us with the ancient developments of their themes. Moving away from the presentation of ancient philosophy as a succession of great thinkers, the book gives readers a sense of the freshness and liveliness of ancient philosophy, and of its wide variety of themes and styles.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
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Will the love of a woman save him from his own apathy?Tristen Brone lived a carefree life of wealth and passion...until it all came crashing down around him. The night Tristen's best friend died in a fire, Tristen tried to save him, but he failed. Not only did Jacob die, but Tristen is left with scars that make him feel like a monster. There are those in town who think Tristen is responsible for starting the fire, which includes Jacob's sister, the woman Tristen is in love with. The once confident, handsome, young man is now on a downward spiral of sorrow and depression.Soon after Amalie Fergus lost her brother in a fire, her father died and their family properties were repossessed. She had nothing left and no one to turn to. When she took a job as a maid for a wealthy gentleman she never expected that he would try to force himself on her, or that she would now be on the run for his murder.Running from the scene of the crime, Amalie collides with a man from her... Views: 34
THE DEATH STRAIN… is a lethal virus for which there is no antidote and which kills in a hideous, painful way.
THE DEATH STRAIN… becomes a paralyzing threat to the world in the hands of the maddened genius who had developed it for America's use in germ warfare.
THE DEATH STRAIN… leads Nick Carter to an elite legion of the damned, a group whose motto is "Kill for Peace," a group he must destroy before it is too late!
The perfect plan for total world destruction… suddenly becomes a terrifying reality.
A renowned scientist threatens to unleash a lethal virus on civilization unless all warfare research is halted.
The scientist and the deadly vial have disappeared. It is Nick Carters job to find them — while there is still time. Views: 34
As a teenager in Nottingham, Tom Cox was possessed. Despite the best endeavours of his frankly rather groovy parents, nascent fashion sense and regular exposure to credible music from an early age, he was inexorably drawn into the bizarre, esoteric world that is golf, with its male-bonding rituals and strange trousers. And thus a strange hybrid was born -- from 1988 to 1995, Tom was Midlands golf's answer to Iggy Pop.Assisted by his fellow junior members at the local club, he cut a swathe through the golfing establishment, putting dead animals in his fellow golfers' shoes, setting fire to the club professional's shop, bringing Colin Montgomerie close to tears and repeatedly wearing the wrong colour of socks. On the golf course he felt simultaneously at home and somehow alienated. But Tom also wanted to be (and became) the best, taking five years out of normal adolescent existence to live, breathe, walk and talk nothing but the sport he loved.... Views: 34
When Audra Grace Shelby and her husband felt God calling them to minister in the Middle East, she was fearful—how would she raise her children in the heart of conservative Islam?Armed with prayers and a faith that always seemed too small, the family made the move to Yemen, enduring deadly illness, uncertainty, and the unnerving experience of being Christians in an Islamic culture.Yet God was at work, and Audra was invited to see what few Christian women have seen: behind the veils of Muslim women. Here she shares about the friendships she forged, about the opportunities to minister when her new friends' hopes shriveled and their own religion faltered—and how the grace of God touched lives in the midst of an enemy stronghold. With humor, passion, and honesty, she shows readers glimpses of life deep in the heart of Islam and the yearning heart of our loving God. Views: 34
