Higher Life

From his first day at boarding school, Toyo Shimada sees how upperclassmen make a sport out of terrorizing the first-years. Still, he's taken aback when the seniors keep him from trying out for the baseball team, especially after he sees their current shortstop. Toyo isn't afraid to prove himself; He's more troubled by his uncle's recent suicide. Although Uncle Koji's defiant death was supposedly heroic, it has made Toyo question many things about his family's samurai background.

All too often, we hear about the dangers of male friendships in which peer pressure prevails over common sense. But for George Jenkins, Sampson Davis, and Rameck Hunt, strong and supportive male friendship was a powerful antidote to the temptations and pitfalls of street life. It led three boys to make a vow to be there for one another, to encourage one another every step of the way, until they overcame the odds and became doctors.

John Updike's 21st novel, a bildungsroman, follows its hero, Owen Mackenzie, from his birth in the semi-rural Pennsylvania town of Willow to his retirement in the rather geriatric community of Haskells Crossing, Massachusetts. In between these two settlements comes Middle Falls, Connecticut, where Owen, an early computer programmer, founds with a partner, Ed Mervine, the successful firm of E-O Data, which is housed in an old gun factory on the Chunkaunkabaug River.

Edna Pontellier is married, twenty-eight, and at a crossroads in her life. She is passionate and artistic but has no one who understands her deep yearnings. She jumps at the chance to spend a summer away from her husband and the heat of New Orleans at a small coastal retreat.

This book is about addressing the college-choosing problem. The rankings, metrics, analytics, college visits, and advice that we use today to help us make these decisions are out of step with the progress individual students are trying to make. They don't give students and families the information and context they need to make such a high-stakes decision about whether and where to get an education.

Brilliantly exploring today's cutting edge brain research, Mind Wide Open allows readers to understand themselves and the people in their lives as never before. Using a mix of experiential reportage, personal storytelling, and fresh scientific discovery, Steven Johnson describes how the brain works and how its systems connect to the day-to-day realities of individual lives.

Pastor Roland Buck was sound asleep, when he felt two hands resting heavily on his shoulders. The grip on his shoulders was so tight that Buck couldn't even move. These two hands lifted him up and sat him on his bed. Then, a silhouetted figure in front of him spoke: "Pastor, I have a message for you from the Father; a message that he will help you bring to the whole world!"

Why are so many successful people unhappy, uninspired, or unhealthy? After 30 years of solving complicated financial problems for millionaires, billionaires, and their businesses, Chris Jarvis discovered patterns for success and for happiness. Do you know that most successful entrepreneurs, the wealthiest families, and the giraffe all have several unusual traits in common?

Many academics attack the very idea of a Western canon as chauvinistic, while the general public increasingly doubts the value of the humanities. In Rescuing Socrates, Dominican-born American academic Roosevelt Montás tells the story of how a liberal education transformed his life, and offers an intimate account of the relevance of the Great Books today, especially to members of historically marginalized communities.

Each of us struggles with the existential questions of meaning, purpose, and responsibility. In The Meaning of Life, the Dalai Lama examines these questions from the Buddhist perspective, skillfully guiding us to a clearer understanding which can liberate us from the prison of selfishness and suffering. Also from the Dalai Lama:
The Art of Happiness.

From the professors who teach NYU's most popular elective class, "Science of Happiness," a fun, comprehensive guide to surviving and thriving in college and beyond. Every year, almost 4,000,000 students begin their freshman year at colleges and universities nationwide. Most of them will sleep less and stress out a whole lot more. By the end of the year, 30 percent of those freshmen will have dropped out. For many, the unforeseen demands of college life are so overwhelming that "the best four years of your life" can start to feel like the worst.

Anyone interested in understanding themselves, their purpose in life, and how to go about achieving it will find a treasure trove in Letters to My Future Children. With roots reaching centuries into the past, while written for a future generation, these beautiful letters are firmly grounded in the present, in our cultural and existential anxieties and ennui. They are composed by a compelling voice, a true voice that consistently enlightens and illuminates.

A completely revised and updated values-based guide to navigating the first year of college that speaks to college students in their own language and offers practical tools that listeners need to keep from drinking, sleeping, or skipping their way out of college. In the four years since its initial publication, The Freshman Survival Guide has helped thousands of first year students make a successful transition to college life. However, much has changed on campuses.

In my last 10 years of facilitating projects, I have repeatedly witnessed different people of every age and background being frustrated and stuck in a negative mindset. I now believe that an understanding of those forces is the single greatest determinant of success in making sustainable change programs. The benefit of happiness in jobs inside any Global organization is now possible.

The only thing Jean Honeychurch hates more than her boring name (not Jean Marie, or Jeanette, just...Jean) is her all-too-appropriate nickname: Jinx. Misfortune seems to follow her everywhere she goes, which is why she's thrilled to be moving in with her aunt and uncle in New York City. Maybe when she's halfway across the country, Jinx can finally outrun her bad luck. Or at least escape the havoc she's caused back in her small hometown.

Set The Rum Diaries or I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell in an out-of-control fraternity house, and you get Total Frat Move-- the next (d)evolution in college debauchery.

How can I live a more joy-filled life? Do my dreams mean anything and what's more, do they contain any useful wisdom? What is spirit and how can I learn to be guided by it? How can I grow more proficient at recognizing the lessons life tries to teach me? Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? This compilation of works by author Evette Gardner is an exploration into the inner self. It touches on all of the abovementioned queries and more.

Alexandra Robbins wanted to find out if the stereotypes about sorority girls were actually true, so she spent a year with a group of girls in a typical sorority. The sordid behavior of sorority girls exceeded her worst expectations - drugs, psychological abuse, extreme promiscuity, racism, violence, and rampant eating disorders are just a few of the problems. Pledged combines a sharp-eyed narrative with extensive reporting and the fly-on-the-wall voyeurism of reality shows to provide the answer.

What if you knew the meaning of life? More importantly, what if you knew the meaning of your life? The truth is most people are lost. We see it everywhere every day: violence, families torn apart, distractions keeping people from their obligations, and apathy from living fulfilled lives. Several years ago, author Lamarr Lark felt this same angst deep inside his soul. He had the world at his fingertips: a dream job, a beautiful family, and a growing 401K. The problem is he was unfulfilled. This city boy found the answers in, of all places, The Barn.

The mission of the Church has always been to "go and make disciples of all people." But between "going" and "making" the Church has to Connect with people. The way disciples are made has not changed in 2000 years. But how we "go" and how we "connect" with people has changed dramatically in the 21st century.