Small Life

The inside story of the founding and growth of Taylor Guitars, one of the world's most successful guitar manufacturers. Bob Taylor mixes the details of his experience as a tradesman and cofounder of Taylor Guitars, a world-famous acoustic and electric guitar manufacturer, with philosophical life lessons that have practical application for building a business. From the "a-ha" moment in junior high school that inspired his very first guitar, Taylor has been living the American dream.

For years, Isobel Latimer has composed serious novels for serious people, but to dwindling acclaim and ever-more dwindling gain. Now her husband is ill and she must carry their financial burden alone, and in secret. But if the public don’t want careful moral fables any longer, why not provide an outrageous tale of sex and satanism, and an author to match? The incomparable, uncontrollable Zelda de Vere is born.

Our world will change more in this century than in all of human history, driven by many factors including technology, climate change, demographics and inequality. Such extreme change is throwing up unprecedented opportunities and creating an ‘adaptive challenge’ for individuals, organizations and societies. Those who can adapt to a fast-flowing, complex, volatile and uncertain world will flourish. Those who cannot will suffer greatly. There are clear signs everywhere that we need new ways to think about the world and our place in it.

In Declare War on Yourself, you'll learn what it means to actually "have your act together" and how it helps you get the life you actually want, why only 3% of us actually have our life together and the rest of us can't figure it out, why society's definition of "having your act together" leads you in the wrong direction, and more!

Imagine transforming your passion into profit, crafting a business that not only fulfills your creative desires but also generates income while you sleep. If this sounds like a distant dream, prepare to be awakened. You've got the passion, the unique ideas, and the vision of your dream store. But the question remains: How do you start? How do you turn that "Open for Business" sign into a magnet for customers eager to buy what you're selling? The logistics may seem daunting, but fear not—your path to PASSIVE INCOME starts now.

Nora, the owner of a diner, is happy serving up apple cider donuts. But her life is soon shaken when she discovers she and her younger sister Kit stand to inherit the home and land of the town's beloved cake lady, Peggy Johnson. Kit, an aspiring - and broke - filmmaker thinks her problems are solved when she and Nora find out Peggy was in the process of selling the land to a big-box developer.

At the end of her rope, single mom Lily Anderson is determined to move her rebellious children in the right direction. That means taking away their cell phones, tablets, and computers—at least temporarily—and moving to the house where Lily grew up in the rural town of Comfort, Texas. But Lily has a bigger challenge than two sulking teens. The house comes with Mack Cooper, high school teacher and handsome longtime renter. The arrangement: just housemates. But Mack’s devoted attention to the kids starts to warm Lily’s resistant heart.

A rainy-day ritual - a tea party between three little girls - becomes the framework of not only their friendship, but their lives. Blonde, curly-haired Zoe Alexander is openhearted, kind, and free-spirited, but struggles with body image. Emily Waters is shy, diminutive, and would prefer to live vicariously through books. And Shannon Morell - tall, athletic, strong - has a deep sense of loyalty, but will always fear abandonment. As years pass, they forge careers, have their hearts broken, marry, and have children, but the one constant that remains is each other and their tea parties.

Truth: Sherri Griffin and her daughter, Katie, recently moved to the idyllic beach town of Newburyport, Massachusetts. They’ve been welcomed by Rebecca Coleman, unofficial former leader of the Newburyport Mom Squad, and her teenage daughter Alexa, Katie’s new babysitter. Truth: Alexa has time on her hands after a falling-out with her friends involving her popular YouTube channel.

Every business leader and entrepreneur should strive for success as well as deep fulfillment and happiness. Few, however, if they are being honest, actually achieve their goals. This causes great disappointment and disillusionment. Many decide they must make a choice between these seemingly opposing states. Is it even possible to be spiritual, incredibly happy and fulfilled and wealthy - all at the same time?

Journalist Sadie is home for the first time in fifteen years, staying in her small childhood bedroom as she deals with her estranged father’s death and her surprising inheritance. When Sadie meets Rebecca, the reclusive new owner of the solitary cottage at the edge of nearby Whisper Lake, she’s taken aback by the older woman’s request for help: ‘I need to find my family. Will you help me?’. She’s even more surprised when afterwards, Rebecca acts as if she never made the plea.

We’ve all set out to change our lives with big plans, bold ideas, and brilliant ambitions. And too often those resolutions and plans have lasted for a day or two before real life swoops in and we are back to normal. Or, perhaps even more frequently, we find ourselves so overwhelmed with life that we feel utterly powerless to even attempt to change anything. The Power of Small offers a way forward.

It’s been 20 years since Neve’s best friend Chloe went missing. Neve has never recovered and promised herself she’d never go back to that place. But secrets can come back to haunt you. When Neve receives news that her first boyfriend, Jamie, has gone missing, she’s forced to return. Jamie has vanished without a trace in a disappearance that echoes the events of all those years ago. Somebody is watching and will stop at nothing until the truth about what took place that night is revealed....

For most of her eighty years, Mary Jackson has been waiting. As she’s endured the steady invasion of tourists, influencers and real estate developers who have discovered the lakeside charm of Good Hart, Michigan, she’s also patiently anticipated the arrival of a stranger she’s believed since childhood would one day carry on her legacy—the Very Cherry General Store. Like generations of Jackson women before her, Cherry Mary, as she’s known locally, runs the community hub.

Have you ever experienced a moment when a seemingly random event also seemed strangely meaningful or even miraculous? Whether it was as simple as anticipating a phone call, or as dramatic as rekindling a lost love, what you experienced may be more significant than you thought. It may be nothing less than a small miracle -- possibly the work of angels, or a message from a higher power.

At twenty-eight, fresh from Stanford’s MBA program and steeped in the move-fast-and-break-things ethos of Silicon Valley, Andy Dunn was on top of the world. He was building a new kind of startup—a digitally native, direct-to-consumer brand—out of his Manhattan apartment. Bonobos was a new-school approach to selling an old-school product: men’s pants. Against all odds, business was booming.

From conducting farm animal caesarean sections in the early hours to missing family plans in order to treat critically injured pet dogs, no two days in the work of vet Guy Gordon and his team are ever the same. Based in Thurso, Northern Scotland, the small group of vets and their supporting staff cover a vast area of more than 1,000 square miles.

July knows 18 things about her mother. But not the truth. Summer, 1995. On her tenth birthday, July's teacher sets the class a project to find out about a relation they don't know. It's easy for July to choose her subject. She doesn't remember her mother, who died when she was small, and her father refuses to talk about her. Ever. The only memories she has of her are flashbacks from the accident that claimed her mother's life. But then she receives the note: 'She didn't die in a car accident.'

You check email the moment you lift your head off the pillow in the morning. You bring work with you on vacation, sneak glances at your smart phone during family dinners, and take business calls and texts at your kid's sports games. It's as if you've been forced to make a choice between your company or your life, sacrificing time for yourself and family for the sake of career success. But it doesn't have to be that way.

In The Multi-Hyphen Life award-winning British author-podcaster Emma Gannon explains that it doesn't matter if you're a part-time PA with a blog, or an accountant who runs an online store in the evenings—whatever your ratio, whatever your mixture, we can all channel our own entrepreneurial spirit to live more fulfilled and financially healthy lives.