Business Fiction

In this unforgettable parable, Tom Cook, a disillusioned American businessman, has traveled to Italy looking for direction in his life. In Florence, the last city on his tour, Tom meets a mysterious old man who opens his eyes to the art and life of Michelangelo and reveals what the artist's work can teach him and all of us about the power of following your passion.

Jim Rogers and his fiancie, began their "Millennium Adventure" on January 1, 1999. They traveled through 116 countries, including many where most have rarely ventured, such as Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, and Angola. They saw the real world from the ground up - the only vantage point from which it can be truly understood - economically, politically, and socially and have saw the world and understood it as it really is.

For 20 years, Merge Records has remained true to their belief that you can sign bands because you love their music and respect what they're trying to do. As giant corporate labels struggle for survival, Merge has garnered a secure and growing fan base while releasing some of the best music of our time. Our Noise is the history of the much loved label as seen by those who were there. It features interviews with and profiles of now releases some of indie rock's biggest names.

Gautama Buddha is also known as Siddharta Gautama, or simply the Buddha, which means "Awakened" or "Enlightened". Born a prince, he chose a path of ascetism only to realize that it was as profound an illusion as self-indulgence. He achieved Enlightenment after 49 days of meditation; his awakening led him to discover the cause of suffering and the ways to eliminate it. These discoveries founded Buddhism, and his "Four Noble Truths" still form the heart of its teachings.

Henry David Thoreau is a beloved American author, poet and philosopher. He was a lifelong abolitionist, advocate of civil disobedience againts unjust or corrupted goverments, and he defended the idea of abandoning illusory matters in favor of simple living, in order to discover life's authentic essential needs. He is best known for "Walden, or Life in the woods", the book he wrote during his two-year experiment in minimalist living: having built himself a cabin in the woods, he stayed there to study, write, and enjoy his newfound communion with nature. His political works and theory of civil disobedience have influenced the thoughts and actions of many prominent figures, such as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Orison Swett Marden is considered to be the founder of the modern success movement in America. It is hard to deny this because Marden's first book, Pushing to the Front, was published in 1894 and had a phenomenal circulation. Then in 1897 he founded Success Magazine, which reached the enormous circulation of nearly a half-million. In an effort to bring his thoughts back to life in today's world we decided to edit and rewrite one of his most famous works Be Good to Yourself.

Sister Trixie Lavender, reporting for Miss Marple duty! It's been months since the evil residing inside me has reared his violently helpful head. My demon sidekick Coop continues to assimilate with the unsuspecting humans, our tattoo shop is busier than ever...heck, I'd even begun to attend the occasional Sunday sermon (after safely confirming my body wouldn't burst into flames upon entering Our Lady of Perpetual Grace, of course). Yep, life is pretty good. Until the shocking murder of our new friend, Sister Ophelia, during a church-sponsored speed-dating event.

In The Time Seller, AG and his family live in a smallish apartment with a not-so-smallish debt to the bank. But AG dreams of a different life and steps onto a path of exhilarating uncertainty.

The Leadership Test is an insightful and engaging story about the essence of leadership. Izzy Kroll, a brilliant eccentric teaches high school in a tough section of Chicago. The story unfolds as Izzy mentors his former student, Marcus, in the first lessons of leadership, helping him navigate through the real world of egoes, agendas, and ethical dilemmas. A call to action for all leaders, this book is a quick and powerful read that will motivate you to reflect on "the nature of your intent and the manner of your influence."

Have you ever heard yourself or someone else say: "Some of my best friends are...(Black, White, Asian, etc.)"? or "I don't think of you as...(Gay, Disabled, Jewish, etc.)"? or "I don't see color, I'm colorblind"? These statements and dozens like them can build a divide between us and the people we interact with. Though well-intended, they often widen the diversity gap sometimes causing irreparable harm personally and professionally.

A lone man sat at a table by a window in the Dickens Room of the Tip Top Inn, Chicago. He had finished his dinner and was apparently waiting for his black coffee to be served. Two men entered and were shown to a table nearby. Presently one of them glanced at the man by the window. "See that man over there?" he whispered to his companion. "Yes," said the latter, looking disinterestedly in the direction indicated. "Well, that is Obvious Adams."

How can you become a more successful manager, a stronger team leader, and a motivator who gets the best results from a group? Ken Blanchard and Marc Muchnick's The Leadership Pill provides the answer. Their entertaining and inspiring new book is a parable about the competition between two leaders with totally different management styles - a story that reveals the ingredients of truly effective leadership.

Are we living in an age where we are more boredom-prone? Or are other people boring us? Or could we be those boring people? In our current information age, we are constantly connected to technology and have so many varied ways to spend our leisure time that we should all surely never know what boredom feels like. Yet boredom appears to be on the rise; it seems that the more we have to stimulate us, the more stimulation we crave.

The scholarly discipline of Bullshit Studies has blossomed in the last several years, fertilized by a number of critical works on the subject and the growing importance of the issue across a wide range of professions. Now, best-selling author and lifelong practitioner Stanley Bing enters the field with a comprehensive look at the many attractive jobs now available to those who are serious about their bullshit and prepared to dedicate their working life to it.

Boston attorney Malachim Jerrod doesn’t trust anyone. His father and his ex-fiancé taught him that hard lesson. So when a beautiful stranger arrives on his doorstep his first reaction is to back away - far away. Danielle Warren wants a job, but his law business is falling apart, and her credentials are bare-bones at best. Still, there’s something about her that, try as he might, he’s unable to resist. The vulnerability in her soft voice? The way she flinches when he gets too close? The yearning he sees mirrored in her eyes when she looks at him?

Cassie Sands, devoted sister, aunt, and owner of Just Desserts, falls in love with a man she believes is struggling just like her, only to find out after they're married that he's actually the millionaire son of a powerful Texas mogul...and that he wants to hide their relationship. She vows never to see him again. A month later she finds herself needing help only he can provide. Stephen Sands has always had the responsibility of being the oldest son of a Fort Worth Magnate.

Originally published in 1886, the nine stories in this collection encapsulate Sarah Orne Jewett’s love and reverence for nature; her affinity for understanding complex, nuanced, and often strained relationships; and—just as her father encouraged her—her ability to write not about things, but to “write the things themselves just as they are.”

Made sisters by marriage but not by choice, the bond between Lora and Alice is marred by envy and mistrust. Spurred on by inconsistencies in Alice's personal history and possibly jealous of Alice's hold on her brother, Lora finds herself lured into the dark alleys and mean streets of seamy Los Angeles. Assuming the role of amateur detective, she uncovers a shadowy world of drugs, prostitution, and ultimately, murder.

When a sea monster arrives at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Beasts, Ulf the werewolf must risk his life to save it. But the evil Baron Marackai is back - and beasts are on the menu! Can Ulf stop the cruel Beast Feast before he ends up as a tasty dessert himself? The future of the RSPCB depends on it....

In this book Deepak Malhotra tells an inspiring story about three unique and adventurous mice, Max, Big, and Zed, who refuse to accept their reality as given. As we watch their lives unfold and intersect, we discover that instead of just blindly chasing after the cheese, each of us has the ability to escape the maze or even reconfigure it to our liking. I Moved Your Cheese reminds us that we can create the new circumstances and realities we want, but first we must discard the often deeply ingrained notion that we are nothing more than mice in someone else's maze.