A firsthand exploration of war and the people who survive it in three of the most war-ravaged countries on earth: Sierra Leone, Chechnya, and Bougainville.

    No, membership is not dead, argues author Sarah Sladek. But associations do need to change their thinking and their models. In The End of Membership As We Know It: Building the Fortune-Flipping, Must-Have Association of the Next Century, Sladek offers practical, proven ways that associations can respond to changes affecting participation such as the generational shifts in the workforce, social changes, and technology-eased access to content and community.The End of Membership As We Know It explains:How niche the new competitive advantage is Why organizational culture has an enormous impact on recruitment and retention What emerging member-prospects value and want Why and how to focus on member ROI instead of program ROI How to craft and deliver compelling benefits rather than features How to extend your reach Which emerging models are taking root and showing promise Providing numerous real-world examples along with specific guidance, The End of Membership As We Know It is a must-have guide for moving your membership model into the future.

    Ever since the famous "Snowboarding Cowboy" took a near-fatal spill on live television, he's been hounded by the media. Every reporter in the country wants an exclusive interview with the chiseled Olympic heartthrob. But only one of them has the easygoing charm-and breathtaking beauty-to knock Jaden off balance . . . Kate Livingston isn't looking for a scoop. As senior editor for Adrenaline Junkie magazine, she's testing out camping gear on the Colorado Trail when Jaden's rescue dog Bella seeks refuge in her tent. Before she knows it, Kate is face to face with the world's sexiest snow-riding cowboy-and the biggest opportunity of her career. But getting close to Jaden isn't just about her job, and for the first time ever Kate has no idea how this story will end.33,000 words

    Appropriated, chewed up, mulled over, digested, contemplated, and contorted - gathering up along the way fashion, ecology, politics, and art - architectural concepts become veritable things unto themselves in the present tense. As astoundingly diverse as contemporary architecture is, most importantly it is a reflection of what's happening right now all over the world, in people's minds and in the global collective consciousness. The many faces of world architecture today make for a mind-expanding book. Here you'll find the most recent work of over 60 architects and firms, including familiar names such as O. Gehry, Meier, Ando, Foster, and Starck, as well as a host of newcomers sure to be the architecture-celebrities of future generations. Highlights include Jakob & MacFarlane's morphological Restaurant at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Diller & Scofidio's "Blur Building" proposal for the International Expo 2001 in Switzerland (an ovular structure suspended over a lake, encapsulated by a fine mist of water, creating the look of a cloud hovering over the lake), and Herzog & de Meuron's remarkable Tate Modern. Proving that contemporary architecture is not limited to physical building design, New York firm Asymptote's Guggenheim Virtual Museum is also included, a place where visitors can take a cyber-stroll through rooms that are designed to be "compelling spatial environments." Presented alphabetically by architect or firm, Architecture Now! can be used like a reference guide, with extensive photographs and illustrations, biographical and contact information for designers, and a careful selection of today's most influential architects.

    I am totally the thirstiest single girl in all of Chicago for wanting to drink those dimples right off his beautiful, Euro-chiseled face the moment he walks up to my candy counter and says, “Cheers” with his posh British accent and deliciously devilish smirk. #EarlofStudlandiaHe’s offering me a one-night stand in his penthouse hotel suite and I’m the kind of habitual hot mess who’s willing to accept it, if I wasn’t already overcommitted. #MistressofMisbehavinYou see, I’ve been suckered into accepting this crazy second job. Despite the fact that I’ve never held a respectable, responsible job for more than a month in my life, I’m now the social media director of Boink, my favorite online store selling “intimate accessories” for single girls like me who not only want to have frivolous sex in the city, but who also don’t want to wait around for Prince Charming to magically swipe right, just so I can experience my nightly Mighty O’s. #MyPleasureChest #MyFemaleEmpowermentBut there’s just one problem—Boink’s old crotchety chief investor, who I’ve never met, is determined to force the business into bankruptcy, and the only way I can keep Boink afloat—and my new job as its Director of Cumbacks in play—is if I can convince my newest nemesis, Mr. Kit Crusty Balls, that I can turnaround his failing company faster than its JackRabbits can make me say, Ooh-ooh-ooh-OOH-LA-LA-LAAAAaaaaaaa.And hopefully, whenever he returns to Chicago, Earl of Studlandia and I will finally have our royally raunchy romp, despite the fact that our impromptu texting affair and unexpected emotional connection might be softening my noncommittal Snarky Brat heart into the fantasy of something more than just one night of whoreplay. After all, I’m now the respectable, responsible social media director of Boink. Maybe it’s time for a sexy international man candy of mystery to persuade me to find love within my own pleasure chest. #OnlyFoolsFallinLove #FirstTimeFanGirlofFoolishness

    Five years ago, a celestial event, dubbed the White Flash, bathed the Earth in its awesome glow. Almost immediately, some people began changing ... and the Paranormal Effect had no discernable pattern. Age, race, gender ... none of it mattered. Anyone can change ... At any time ... In any way ... Now, the world is trying desperately to adjust. The United States government has formed the Paranormal Control Agency to deal with the new breed of paranormal criminals - rogues - but with precious few paranormal agents of their own ... At the heart of the maelstrom stand four people: Vortex, a young man with a vision; Ensign Michael Takayasu and Shockwave, two agents of the PCA; Powerhouse, a new paranormal desperate to protect his family. Paranormals The world will never be the same.

    Stephen Davis has created an intimate portrait of the charismatic reggae superstar, which takes us through his life and career and charts the legal battles surrounding his estate. Originally published in 1994, Bob Marley is now available for the first time in the United States.

    An inspiring, no-holds-barred, audacious memoir by Bettye LaVette, one of R&B's greatest legends - guaranteed to make news, and make hearts break, too.

    She did the same thing the next day, and the next. It became a daily habit that has culminated in her walking over 25,000 miles – the equivalent of the earth's circumference.In Do Walk, Libby shares the transformative nature of this simple yet powerful practice. She reveals how walking each day provides the time and space to reconnect with the world around us; process thoughts; improve our physical wellbeing; and unlock creativity. It is the ultimate navigational tool that helps us to see who we are – beyond titles and labels, and where we want to go.With stunning photography, this inspiring and reflective guide is an invitation to step outside, and see where the path takes us.

    But what if your source turns out to be unworthy of your silence? What if it's your source who betrays you?The Messenger tells the story of an unlikely friendship between two men looking to change the world - a repentant jihadist and an idealistic journalist. This troubling real-life thriller takes us from their first meeting in a spartan flat in the rough suburbs of Manchester, to a bombing in Pakistan, a dramatic arrest and Malik's reporting career on the brink of ruin.Ten years later, Malik returns to this extraordinary tale. He asks where we can place our trust - in reams of evidence, in a government we believe is on our side, in a terrorist who swears he's changed, in a friend who has no one else to turn to. Malik explores the uncomfortable questions about why he, as well as the wider media and the nation, surrendered to fear so easily. And he reveals how the age of terror laid the groundwork for an era of fake news and demagogues.This is investigative journalism and storytelling of the highest order.

    Drawing on exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in the world of cannabis, Cabot explores the economic and social forces that have collided to create a frenetic gold rush mentality that has spurred new culinary trends, inspired innovative new uses for health, beauty and wellness, and attracted tens of millions in investor dollars while generating hundreds of thousands of jobs and untold tax revenue. All as cannabis remains federally illegal in America. Cabot takes readers on the road with Snoop Dogg and his business partner Ted Chung as they roll out the star's own brand of bud; to wine country, where chefs and vintners are harkening a new age of elevated dining; on the wild adventures of marijuana mogul Beth Stavola, where vaults of cash, armed guards and shady characters are just another day at the office; to the Marijuana Business Convention, as professionals gather to see cutting-edge technology for growing, manufacturing, and packaging a whole new generation of consumer products. The New Chardonnay tells the unbelievable story of pot's astonishing rebranding, pulling back the curtain to show how a drug that was once the subject of multi-million dollar PSA warnings managed to shed its unsavory image and land at the center of a booming and surprisingly upstanding industry.

     What happens when a white girl flirts with the color lines and crosses the border into gang territory, where the bullets are in part real and the rules cannot be broken? JLove tells this incredible story inspired by her own remarkable life. Amber, a fearless white girl, has a passion for rap lyrics and an addiction to graffiti, but her journey begins when she becomes immersed in the power and grind of gang life after holding a gun to an innocent man's head during a robbery. That White Girl is a sharp and candid coming-of-age story, with hip-hop as its backdrop, that explores a young woman's struggles and triumphs as she crosses boundaries, discovers her own limits, and finds a new way to express herself in a world divided into black and white.

    Raphael, the owner, is more interested in his newspaper than sales. Folio the bookshop cat has it in for Jemma, and the shop itself appears to have a mind of its own. Or is it more than that?Gradually Jemma starts to make a difference ... and then the anonymous letters start arriving. Who is behind them, and why?As the threats escalate, and the shop becomes increasingly turbulent, Jemma and Raphael must work together to find the culprit. And what else will Jemma find in her investigations?Every Trick In The Book is the first in the Magical Bookshop humorous mystery series, set in modern London.

    We currently see no evidence of any kind indicating that extraterrestrials exist outside of our solar system. But at this moment, millions of engineers, scientists, corporations, universities and entrepreneurs are racing to create the second intelligent species right here on planet earth. And we can see the second intelligent species coming from all directions in the form of self-driving cars, automated call centers, chess-playing and Jeopardy-playing computers that beat all human players, airport kiosks, restaurant tablet systems, etc. The frightening thing is that these robots will soon be eliminating human jobs in startling numbers. The first wave of unemployed workers is likely to be a million truck drivers who are replaced by self-driving trucks. Pilots will be eliminated soon as well. Then, as new computer vision systems come online, we will see tens of millions of workers in retail stores, fast food restaurants and construction sites replaced by robots. Unless we take steps now to change the economy, we will soon have tens of millions of workers who are unemployed and seeking welfare because they will have no other choice. Marshall Brain's new book "The Second Intelligent Species: How Humans Will Become as Irrelevant as Cockroaches" explores how the future will unfold as the second intelligent species emerges. The book answers questions like: - How will new computer vision systems affect the job market? - How many people will become unemployed by the second intelligent species? - What will happen to millions of newly unemployed workers? - How can modern society and modern economies cope with run-away unemployment caused by robots? - What will happen when the first sentient, conscious computer appears? - What moral and ethical principles will guide the second intelligent species? - Why do we see no extraterrestrials in our universe? "The Second Intelligent Species" offers a unique and fascinating look at the future of the human race, and the choices we will need to make to avoid massive unemployment and poverty worldwide as intelligent machines start eliminating millions of jobs.

    It is fiercely compelling" EDMUND DE WAAL, author of The Hare with the Amber Eyes A poet's memoir of his mother that flows backwards through time, and through a tumultuous period of European history - a tender and yet unsparing autobiographical journey. In July 1975, George Szirtes' mother, Magda, died in an ambulance, on her way to hospital after attempting to take her own life. She was fifty-one years old. This memoir is an attempt to make sense of what came before, to re-construct who Magda Szirtes really was. The Photographer at Sixteen moves from her death, spooling backwards through her years as a mother, through sickness and exile in England, the family's flight from Hungary in 1956, her time in two concentration camps, her girlhood as an ambitious photographer and her vanished family in Transylvania.The woman who emerges, fleetingly, fragmentarily - with her absolutism, her contradictions, her beauty - is utterly captivating. What were the terrors and obsessions that drove her? The Photographer at Sixteen reveals a life that is at Magda Szirtes from the depths of the end to the comparable safety of the photographer's studio where she first appears as a small child. It is a book born of curiosity, guilt and love.