Sophie's World

Sophie's World
Author: Jostein Gaarder
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 599
Release: 2007-03-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1466804270

A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

Project Kid: Crafts That Go!

Project Kid: Crafts That Go!
Author: Amanda Kingloff
Publisher: Artisan
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2016-09-06
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 1579657257

Thomas the Tank Engine. Hot Wheels. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. Kids’ fascination with vehicles is insatiable. In Project Kid: Crafts That Go!, that excitement is translated into more than 60 inventive craft projects for parents to make with and for their children. The book is organized into seven chapters: City, Rails, Sky, Space, Water, Country, and Dirt. There are police cars and ice cream trucks; circus trains and submarines; helicopters, rocket ships, cement mixers, and school buses. And because the car-obsessed kid doesn’t just want a new vehicle to play with—he wants a racetrack, his very own driver’s license, maybe even a child-sized gas station—each chapter includes not only toys but also thematic clothing, decor, accessories, and more. Projects feature clear instructions and step-by-step photographs wherever they are needed, easy for both kids and non-crafty adults to understand.

Beautiful Joe

Beautiful Joe
Author: Marshall Saunders
Publisher:
Total Pages: 426
Release: 1907
Genre: Children's literature
ISBN:

A dog describes being mistreated by a cruel master but then later being taken in by a kind family.

Unbroken

Unbroken
Author: Laura Hillenbrand
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Total Pages: 530
Release: 2014-07-29
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0812974492

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in 1943. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will. Appearing in paperback for the first time—with twenty arresting new photos and an extensive Q&A with the author—Unbroken is an unforgettable testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit, brought vividly to life by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand. Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award “Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] one-in-a-billion story . . . designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring.”—New York “Staggering . . . mesmerizing . . . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”—People “A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.”—The Washington Post “Ambitious and powerful . . . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.”—The New York Times Book Review “Magnificent . . . incredible . . . [Hillenbrand] has crafted another masterful blend of sports, history and overcoming terrific odds; this is biography taken to the nth degree, a chronicle of a remarkable life lived through extraordinary times.”—The Dallas Morning News “An astonishing testament to the superhuman power of tenacity.”—Entertainment Weekly “A tale of triumph and redemption . . . astonishingly detailed.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “[A] masterfully told true story . . . nothing less than a marvel.”—Washingtonian “[Hillenbrand tells this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.”—Time “Hillenbrand [is] one of our best writers of narrative history. You don’t have to be a sports fan or a war-history buff to devour this book—you just have to love great storytelling.”—Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Year of Living Danishly

The Year of Living Danishly
Author: Helen Russell
Publisher: Icon Books Ltd
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2015-01-08
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1848318138

* NOW WITH A NEW CHAPTER * 'A hugely enjoyable romp through the pleasures and pitfalls of setting up home in a foreign land.'- Guardian Given the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: Denmark, land of long dark winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries, was the happiest place on earth. Keen to know their secrets, Helen gave herself a year to uncover the formula for Danish happiness. From childcare, education, food and interior design to SAD and taxes, The Year of Living Danishly records a funny, poignant journey, showing us what the Danes get right, what they get wrong, and how we might all live a little more Danishly ourselves. In this new edition, six years on Helen reveals how her life and family have changed, and explores how Denmark, too – or her understanding of it – has shifted. It's a messy and flawed place, she concludes – but can still be a model for a better way of living.

Miss Madeira

Miss Madeira
Author: Austin Gary
Publisher:
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2011-08
Genre:
ISBN: 9780987782106

Miss Madeira is the story of an "Old Maid" schoolteacher in the first half of the 20th century. No one knew the shocking secrets of her home life-only that she was a brilliant but formidable teacher, who produced several generations of students forever known as "Madeira's Kids." Torn between her love for a woman who would later became her sister-in-law and a former student, Amelia Madeira lived a complex life, the pain of which informed but did not destroy her astonishing career. Miss Madeira reveals what lies beneath the facade of a typical Midwestern town.

Where I'm from

Where I'm from
Author: Steven Borsman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2011
Genre: American poetry
ISBN:

"In the Fall of 2010 I gave an assignment in my Appalachian Literature class at Berea College, telling my students to write their own version of "Where I'm From" poem based on the writing prompt and poem by George Ella Lyon, one of the preeminent Appalachian poets. I was so impressed by the results of the assignment that I felt the poems needed to be preserved in a bound document. Thus, this little book. These students completely captured the complexities of this region and their poems contain all the joys and sorrows of living in Appalachia. I am proud that they were my students and I am very proud that together we produced this record of contemporary Appalachian Life" -- Silas House

The Art of Concentration

The Art of Concentration
Author: Harriet Griffey
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2010-11-30
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1905744900

We are all overwhelmed with technological input in our daily lives – whether it is our mobile phone ringing, our Blackberry bleeping or emails that pour in endlessly – we are all becoming hyperstimulated and unable to switch on (concentrate) or switch off (relax) because we’re all on permanent standby. As a result, we have lost the art of concentrating properly. Luckily, this cutting edge personal development book is here to help readers navigate their way through the deluge and provides the tools we need to learn how to concentrate and focus. Rooted in scientific fact and research, it includes a detailed look at how your brain works, what inhibits brain function and concentration and covers things such as lack of down-time, distraction, poor lifestyle habits and stress. Featuring techniques and exercises to help improve concentration, it is guaranteed to help us all improve the way we work and the way we live our lives.

Stardust Dads

Stardust Dads
Author: Josephine C. George
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2008-10-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0595618154

The e-mail Danny and Allison read on their new computer in 1996 looks no different from the millions of others received by Web users around the world, with one glaring exception--it was sent by their dads who died during the 1970s. While residing in the afterworld at an amenity-laden paradise called Midway Manor, guitar-strumming Mickey Parks and piano-playing Lloyd Wallace monitor and manipulate the lives of their adult children on earth from the mid-'70s through the 1990s. Tampering with the facility's sophisticated computer, the dads thrust Mickey's daughter Allison and Lloyd's son Danny into a passionate but sometimes stormy relationship-a relationship steeped in Danny's heavy drinking and entangled in the often-zany world of men's adventure magazine publishing. After carefully implementing a plan to send their son and daughter a gift of knowledge that could enrich their lives forever, the dads' brief contact is cut short. They are banished to another destination in the afterworld, but not before they impart indisputable proof of life after death--and unwittingly put Danny's and Allison's earthbound lives on the line.