The Science of Happiness: How Our Brains Make Us Happy-and What We Can Do to Get Happier


Stefan Klein - 2002
    In the last 30 years, neuroscientists have made major headway in the understanding of the sources of anger, depression, and fear. Today, whole industries profit from this knowledge -- producing pills for every sort of pathological mood disturbance. But until recently, few neuroscientists focused on the subject of happiness. Now, in The Science of Happiness, leading German science journalist Stefan Klein ranges widely across the latest frontiers of neuroscience and neuropsychology to explain how happiness is fostered in our brains and what biological purpose it serves (and, importantly, how we can control our negative feelings and emotions). In addition, he explains the neurophysiology of our passions (the elementary rules of which are hardwired into our brains), the power of consciousness, and how we can use it. In a final section, Klein explores the conditions required to foster the "pursuit of happiness." A remarkable synthesis of a growing body of research that has not heretofore been brought together in one accessible book, The Science of Happiness will ultimately help each of us understand our own quest for happiness -- and our fostering of it, as well.

My Beautiful Spy


Colin Falconer - 2005
    He couldn't take his eyes off her. The city was full of beautiful women, penniless countesses and fox-furred demimondaines looking to be rescued, and until that moment he had spared them only an appreciative glance. But this woman was different.' As indeed she proved to be. Nick is a tall, dark and handsome fortyish Oxbridge-educated British spy posing as a British diplomat.

Stop the Excuses!: How to Change Lifelong Thoughts


Wayne W. Dyer - 2009
    Dyer reveals how to change lifelong, self-defeating thinking patterns that prevent you from living at the highest levels of success, happiness and health.

Sannikov Land


Vladimir Obruchev - 1926
    Suddenly the rock cracked wide open, and that part of the ledge on which Kostyakov was lying tilted slightly, then broke off and hurtled into the water below. A desperate scream mingled with the splash of the water and the clatter of the boulders smashing against each other; a column of dust and water rose in the air, burying one of the members of the expedition. There were five of them. Courageous travelers, they set out to find a mysterious island that was seen for the first time amidst the ice of the Arctic by Yakov Sannikov. After crossing interminable ice-fields, they at last found Sannikov Land, "discovered it for science." This land, or rather the crater of a huge volcano, was the home of the flora and fauna of a remote geological period. There the travelers met men of the Stone Age and their contemporaries, mammoths, cave-bears and other animals. The expedition unriddled the island's secret, elucidated the reason for the disappearance of the Onkilon tribe, which at one time lived in North Siberia. This fascinating scientific romance takes the reader into a lost world. Academician Vladimir Obruchev (1863-1956) was an outstanding Soviet geologist and geographer, a famous traveler and investigator of Central Asia and Siberia, an indefatigable popularizer of scientific knowledge. Vladimir Obruchev's scientific romances Plutonia (1924), Sannikov Land (1926), Gold Prospectors in a Desert (1928) and In the Heart of Central Asia (1951) enjoy wide popularity. They call upon young people to study the past of the Earth and to solve the mysteries of Nature.

Masquerade


Gayle Lynds - 1996
    For her, there is only the present...and the chilling knowledge that the world's most lethal assassin has set his sights on her.When your only link to your identity is a stranger who claim to be lover? Gordon is so gentle, so loving--and so secretive. If Liz dares to put her life into his powerful hands, will he guard it with his own--or snuff it out?When violence explodes around you, when nothing makes sense, when nobody--including you--is whom he or she appears to be? As Liz unravels a series of lies, she begins to suspect that the truth she encounters might be far more sinister--and deadly--than the original deception...

Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene & Constantine


Bart D. Ehrman - 2004
    But is this claim true? As historian Bart D. Ehrman shows in this informative and witty book, The Da Vinci Code is filled with numerous historical mistakes.Did the ancient church engage in a cover-up to make the man Jesus into a divine figure? Did Emperor Constantine select for the New Testament--from some 80 contending Gospels--the only four Gospels that stressed that Jesus was divine? Was Jesus Christ married to Mary Magdalene? Did the Church suppress Gospels that told the secret of their marriage? Bart Ehrman thoroughly debunks all of these claims. But the book is not merely a laundry list of Brown's misreading of history. Throughout, Ehrman offers a wealth of fascinating background information--all historically accurate--on early Christianity. He describes, for instance, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls; outlines in simple terms how scholars of early Christianity determine which sources are most reliable; and explores the many other Gospels that have been found in the last half century. In his engaging book, Ehrman separates fact from fiction, the historical realities from the flights of literary fancy. Anyone who would like to know the truth about the beginnings of Christianity and the real truth behind The Da Vinci Code will find this book riveting.

Why Me, Why This, Why Now?: A Guide to Answering Life's Toughest Questions


Robin Norwood - 1994
    In WHY ME WHY THIS WHY NOW, Robin Norwood uses compelling stories of real people to illuminate adversity's purpose at each stage of our spiritual evolution. The result is a highly personal guidebook for every seeker, a map of unfolding consciousness in which all readers will find themselves. By making esoteric principles and spiritual laws that apply to all of us understandable, Norwood helps her readers fulfil their own destiny. In her earlier books, Norwood showed how the roots of addictions stem from family dynamics. WHY ME WHY THIS WHY NOW takes readers on a more far-reaching journey, preparing them to join in today's global awakening to the next stage of human consciousness.

Daca m-as asculta,m-as intelege


Jacques Salomé - 1990
    Here are practical methods for developing self-recognition and identity in order to improve relationships with other people in one's personal and professional life. A superb example of communication, the book shows us where we are most likely to sabotage ourselves and offers simple suggestions for dealing with everyday problems.

Home Truths


David Lodge - 1999
    Their old friend from college days, Sam Sharp, who has since become a successful screenplay writer, drops by unexpectedly on the way to Los Angeles. Sam is fuming over a scathing profile of himself by Fanny Tarrant, one of the new breed of pugnacious interviewers, in that day's newspaper. Together, Sam and Adrian plan to take revenge on the journalist, though Adrian is risking what he values most: his privacy. What follows is unexpected and upsetting for all of them, including Fanny.David Lodge's delicious novella examines with characteristic wit and insight the tensions between private life and public interest in contemporary culture.

Side Effects: Death. Confessions of a Pharma-Insider


John Virapen - 2010
    They want to make others think that they are sick. And they do this for one reason: money. Did you know: * Pharmaceutical companies invest more than 35,000 Euro (over $50,000) per physician each year to get them to prescribe their products? * More than 75 percent of leading scientists in the field of medicine are "paid for" by the pharmaceutical industry? * Corruption prevailed in the approval and marketing of drugs in some cases? * Illnesses are made up by the pharmaceutical industry and specifically marketed to enhance sales and market shares for the companies in question? * Pharmaceutical companies increasingly target children? "Side Effects: Death" is the true story of corruption, bribery and fraud written by Dr. John Virapen, who has been called THE Big Pharma Insider. During his 35 years in the pharmaceutical industry internationally (most notably as general manager of Eli Lilly and Company in Sweden), Virapen was responsible for the marketing of several drugs, all of them with side effects. Now, Virapen is coming clean and telling all of the little secrets you were never intended to know! For more information, go to www.sideeffectsdeath.com

The Time Returns


Alexandra Ripley - 1985
    That struggle will take them to the innermost sanctums of artists and philosophers and will also lead them to broken alliances, dangerous intrigues, even to the brink of war.

The Great Pyramid Robbery


Katherine Roberts - 2001
    Set against a dazzling backdrop of the Two Lands - now known as Egypt - and the building of the pyramids, 2550 BC comes alive with the main protagonist, Senu, and his mischievous ka, Red. The ruler of the Two Lands, Lord Khafre, is determined to outdo his late father and construct the largest and most magnificent pyramid ever recorded, but there is mutiny amongst those to whom the task has fallen. Determined to relieve their poverty, the pyramid workers plan the perfect crime - perfect that is, except for it's main ingredient...Senu and Red.

Imogen


Jilly Cooper - 1978
    Her holiday with tennis ace, Nicky, and his whole glamorous coteriewas a revelation - and so was she. A prize worth winning. A wild Yorkshire rose among the thorny model girls, Cable and Yvonne, with a rare asset that they'd mislaid years ago... But the path of a jet-set virgin in that lovely wicked world was a hard one. Imogen began to wonder if virtue really was its own reward.

Novel Notes


Jerome K. Jerome - 1893
    She said she had often wondered I had never thought of doing so before. "

The Singular Mr. Sinclair


Mia Marlowe - 2018
    But when it comes to Caroline, one is more than enough...Caroline is about to embark on her third Season, and her parents fear she'll be permanently on the shelf if she fails to make a match this time. Unfortunately for them, that is precisely what Caroline wants! Curious and adventuresome, Caroline longs for a life of travel, excitement, and perhaps even a touch of danger.If only she can remain unmarried until she turns twenty-one, Caroline will inherit her grandmother's bequest and gain her freedom. It's not a staggering amount, but it's enough to fund her dreams without a husband's permission. She has her future all planned out—until Lawrence Sinclair appears on the scene.Intense, intriguing, and handsome, the man reminds Caroline of a caged lion. In fact, the more she knows of him, the more questions she has. And when she learns how dangerous he really is, he may just become her new fascination—the one she can't resist.