The Albanians: A Modern History


Miranda Vickers - 1995
    Miranda Vickers traces the history of the Albanian people from the Ottoman period to the formation of the Albanian Communist Party. Newly revised for this paperback edition, The Albanians has now been updated to cover the crisis in Kosovo that led to the first "Western" war in Europe since 1945.

The Earl's Irresistible Challenge


Lara Temple - 2018
    When Lucas, Lord Sinclair, receives a mysterious summons from a Miss Olivia Silverdale he’s skeptical about whether he can help her. But Olivia, although eccentric, is in earnest about her quest to restore her late godfather’s reputation. Lucas’s curiosity is piqued, and not just by Olivia’s intelligent eyes and lithe form. A new challenge quickly presents itself: keeping Miss Silverdale at arm’s length!

The Apophenion: A Chaos Magic Paradigm


Peter J. Carroll - 2008
    This book contains something to offend everyone; enough science to upset the magicians, enough magic to upset the scientists, and enough blasphemy to upset trancendentalists. Full description

The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann


Ananyo Bhattacharya - 2021
    Above all it fizzes with a dizzying mix of deliciously vital ideas. . . A staggering achievement' Tim HarfordThe smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Self-replicating moon bases and nuclear weapons. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable man: John von Neumann.Born in Budapest at the turn of the century, von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived. His colleagues believed he had the fastest brain on the planet - bar none. He was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory. He created the first ever programmable digital computer. He prophesied the potential of nanotechnology and, from his deathbed, expounded on the limits of brains and computers - and how they might be overcome.Taking us on an astonishing journey, Ananyo Bhattacharya explores how a combination of genius and unique historical circumstance allowed a single man to sweep through so many different fields of science, sparking revolutions wherever he went.Insightful and illuminating, The Man from the Future is a thrilling intellectual biography of the visionary thinker who shaped our century.

The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in An Age of Diminishing Expectations


Christopher Lasch - 1978
    Lasch’s identification of narcissism as not only an individual ailment but also a burgeoning social epidemic was groundbreaking. His diagnosis of American culture is even more relevant today, predicting the limitless expansion of the anxious and grasping narcissistic self into every part of American life.The Culture of Narcissism offers an astute and urgent analysis of what we need to know in these troubled times.

Next Door Lived A Girl


Stefan Kiesbye - 2005
    It explores the dark transformation of young boys into young men. The town's veneer of peaceful industry barely conceals the ugly secrets that lie beneath. Moritz and his friends make a dangerous discovery that pulls them into a war with a rival gang, into the ruthless and cunning world of blackmail and consequence, and, ultimately, into a cascading series of events that will change the nature of their friendship, and their lives, forever. Written with an uncommon starkness and poetry, Next Door Lived a Girl is destined to find its place in the canon of great novellas alongside the likes of Harrison, Hemingway, and Roth.

A Mind Apart: Travels in a Neurodiverse World


Susanne Paola Antonetta - 2005
    As with her previous book, which Michael Pollan praised in the New York Times Book Review as "a challenge to our prevailing notions of science and journalism and even literary narrative," A Mind Apart employs a unique fusion of literary genres to draw readers into the experience of people with neurological conditions and to consider what their alternate ways of perceiving may, in fact, have to teach us. According to the United States Department of Health the number of people being diagnosed with autism has been increasing by approximately twenty percent a year over the last decade. AD/HD, Tourette's, and chronic depression have been spreading at commensurate rates. Sifting through the many abilities that underlie these and other mental "disabilities"- the "visual consciousness" of an autistic or the "metaphoric consciousness" of a manic-depressive-Antonetta reveals just how much "normally" functioning people can learn from those with neurological disorders. This fascinating blend of memoir, journalism, and science will be of deep interest to readers of Temple Grandin's Thinking in Pictures or Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon.

Because of You


J. Lea - 2014
    After the person, who meant the most to her and who made her life worth living, is murdered, she escapes and flees to the other side of the country. She enrolls in a college, determined to go on with her life. What she does not know, is that the killer is looking for her and will do anything to find her.Ryder Knight lives for basketball. He is one of the most popular guys on campus, with a lot of friends and a good heart. The only thing he misses is honesty. Most hang out with him because of his money, so he isn't sure who is sincere and who has hidden motives.The attraction between Ryder and Aaliyah is immediate, but Ryder's distrust quickly ruins any chances of them becoming friends.Is he ready to open up his heart and once again let love enter his life? Will Aaliyah break down the walls, that she set up around her heart and finally start trusting others?Will they get their forever? Or are their hearts too broken?

Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure and Preposterous Words


Josefa Heifetz Byrne - 1960
    A supplemental reference provides an offbeat source of unusual, obscure, and very legitimate English language terms, clearly and whimsically defined for the benefit of those needing "just the right word."

Nutrition For Dummies


Carol Ann Rinzler - 1997
    You’ll discover how to: Interpret nutrition labels Prepare delicious, healthy meals Keep nutrients in food, even after cooking Eat smart when eating out Evaluate dietary supplements Nutrition for Dummies, Fourth Edition, is a one-size-fits-all guide to nutrition for anyone who may have fallen asleep in health class, wants to brush up on what they already know, or is looking to keep up-to-speed on all the latest guidelines and research. It shows you how to manage your diet so you can get the most bang (nutrients) for your buck (calories) and gives you the skinny on how to put together a healthy shopping list, how to prepare foods that are good for the body and the soul, and ten easy ways you can cut calories.An apple a day may not necessarily keep the doctor away, but with the simple guidance of Nutrition for Dummies, you can live happily—and healthily—ever after.

To Be Your Girl


Rae Kennedy - 2019
     I know he’s trouble when I meet him—half naked, covered in tattoos, and kicking an anonymous girl out of his bed. I’m not supposed to become his friend, and I definitely shouldn’t be thinking about him at night. Especially after I meet Adam—he is the perfect gentleman and he wants to be my boyfriend. To him, I am a sweet, innocent girl not to be defiled. But I’m done being innocent.This is a standalone novel in the TO BE YOURS series.

Introducing Postmodernism


Richard Appignanesi - 1995
    Has the 21st century resolved the question of postmodernism or are we more than ever ensnared in its perplexities? Postmodernism seemed to promise an end to the grim Cold War era of nuclear confrontation and oppressive ideologies. Fukuyama's notoriously proclaimed end of history, the triumph of liberal democracy over Communist tyranny, has proved an illusion. We awoke in the anxious grip of globalization, unpredictable terrorism and unforeseen war. Introducing Postmodernism traces the pedigrees of postmodernism in art, theory, science and history, providing an urgent guide to the present. Derrida, Baudrillard, Foucault and many other icons of postmodern complexity are brilliantly elucidated by Richard Appignanesi and enlivened by the Guardian's Biff cartoonist Chris Garratt.

Xavier


Catherine Lievens - 2015
    Not only has his ex-boyfriend’s stalker attacked him, but in order to keep him safe he’s being sent to the Gillham pack. It wouldn’t be too bad, if not for the small detail that he hadn’t known shifters existed before that! He’s not sure what he can expect from them, but he doesn’t have a choice. When he meets Andy, he’s weirdly attracted to the man, but Xavier knows he’s not good enough for him.Andy doesn’t want to play babysitter for Xavier, at least not until he meets him and realizes the man is his mate. He knows he’s going to have a hard time convincing Xavier to at least give their bond a chance, and that’s not counting the other problems their relationship will have to face.The two mates will have to navigate angry families and the ever-present lab problem, and still Andy isn’t sure he’ll be able to help his mate get over his low self-esteem long enough to give him a chance.

The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch


Ladislav Klíma - 1928
    One need not accept his view of the world to experience it and enjoy it in all of its ambiguity, just as one does the stage.— Václav HavelPhilosopher, novelist, essayist, eccentric, no other Czech author has had a greater impact on underground culture than Ladislav Klíma (1878-1928). Mentor to artists as varied as Bohumil Hrabal and the Plastic People of the Universe, Klíma’s philosophy was radically subjectivist, and he felt it should be lived rather than merely spoken or written about. With Nietzsche as his paragon, he embarked upon a lifelong pursuit to become God, or Absolute Will, elucidating this quest in many letters, aphorisms, and essays. Yet among Klíma's fictional texts, the apotheosis of his philosophy is The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch, his most acclaimed novel. Ostensibly a series of journal entries, the tale chronicles the descent into madness of Prince Sternenhoch, the German Empire’s foremost aristocrat and favorite of Kaiser “Willy.” Having become the “lowliest worm” at the hands of his estranged wife, Helga, the Queen of Hells, Sternenhoch eventually attains an ultimate state of bliss and salvation through the most grotesque perversions. Klíma explores here the paradoxical nature of pure spirituality with a humor that is as darkly comical as it is obscene. This volume also includes his notorious text “My Autobiography.”

Return to Laughter: An Anthropological Novel


Laura Bohannan - 1954
    A vivid and dramatic account of the experiences of an American anthropologist who lived with a primitive bush tribe in Africa.