big globe

* INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “Stunning…heartrending…this year’s When Breath Becomes Air.” —Nora Krug, The Washington Post “Beautiful and haunting.” —Matt McCarthy, MD, USA TODAY “Vivid; immediate.” —Laura Collins-Hughes, The Boston Globe The New York Times bestseller by poet Nina Riggs, mother of two young sons and the direct descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson, is “a stunning…heart-rending meditation on life…It is this year’s When Breath Becomes Air” (The Washington Post). We are breathless but we love the days. They are promises. They are the only way to walk from one night to the other. Poet and essayist Nina Riggs was just thirty-seven years old when initially diagnosed with breast cancer—one small spot. Within a year, she received the devastating news that her cancer was terminal. How does a dying person learn to live each day “unattached to outcome”? How does one approach the moments, big and small, with both love and honesty? How does a young mother and wife prepare her two young children and adored husband for a loss that will shape the rest of their lives? How do we want to be remembered? Exploring motherhood, marriage, friendship, and memory, Nina asks: What makes a meaningful life when one has limited time? “Profound and poignant” (Oprah Daily), The Bright Hour is about how to make the most of all the days, even the painful ones. It’s about the way literature, especially Nina’s direct ancestor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and her other muse, Montaigne, can be a balm and a form of prayer. Brilliantly written and exceptionally moving, it’s a “deeply affecting memoir, a simultaneously heartbreaking and funny account of living with loss and the specter of death. As Riggs lyrically, unflinchingly details her reality, she finds beauty and truth that comfort even amid the crushing sadness” (People). Tender and heartwarming, The Bright Hour “is a gentle reminder to cherish each day” (Entertainment Weekly) and offers us this important perspective: “You can read a multitude books about how to die, but Riggs, a dying woman, will show you how to live” (The New York Times Book Review).

A radical retelling of human history through collapse - from the dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first century and beyond. ** FEATURED IN THE NEW BBC SERIES CIVILISATIONS: RISE AND FALL ** ** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ** 'A brilliant, utterly convincing account of the evolution of human society and why we are probably reaching humanity's end days' HENRY MARSH 'Absolutely essential reading for understanding why past civilisations collapsed, and how to protect our own from the same fate' LEWIS DARTNELL For the first 300,000 years of human history, hunter-gathering Homo sapiens lived in fluid, egalitarian civilizations that thwarted any individual or group from ruling permanently. Then, around 12,000 years ago, that began to change. As we reluctantly congregated in the first farms and cities, people began to rely on novel lootable resources like grain and fish for their daily sustenance. And when more powerful weapons became available, small groups began to seize control of these valuable commodities. This inequality in resources soon tipped over into inequality in power, and we started to adopt more primal, hierarchical forms of organization. Power was concentrated in masters, kings, pharaohs and emperors (and ideologies were born to justify their rule). Goliath-like states and empires - with vast bureaucracies and militaries - carved up and dominated the globe. What brought them down? Whether in the early cities of Cahokia in North America or Tiwanaku in South America, or the sprawling empires of Egypt, Rome and China, it was increasing inequality and concentrations of power that hollowed these Goliaths out before an external shock brought them crashing down. These collapses were written up as apocalyptic, but in truth they were usually a blessing for most of the population. Now we live in a single global Goliath. Growth obsessed, extractive institutions like the fossil fuel industry, big tech and military-industrial complexes rule our world and produce new ways of annihilating our species, from climate change to nuclear war. Our systems are now so fast, complex and interconnected that a future collapse will likely be global, swift and irreversible. All of us now face a choice: we must learn to democratically control Goliath, or the next collapse may be our last. 'An excellent survey of human history through the collapses of Goliath-like kings, states and empires' OBSERVER 'A comprehensive overview of societal collapse, based on the analysis of dozens of cases spanning thousands of years from the Paleolithic to today. Highly recommended' PETER TURCHIN 'A deeply sobering and strangely inspiring history of how societies collapse - and how we can still save ours. Read it now, or your descendants will find it in the ruins' JOHANN HARI 'Like reading Thomas Piketty filtered through Mad Max' NEW YORK TIMES

The definitive and riveting investigation into how Vladimir Putin successfully mounted a decade-long covert war against the United States and how Donald Trump aided and abetted the operation and upended America and the world How Russia Won tells the little-understood yet crucial story of how Vladimir Putin has waged a secret campaign to subvert and weaken the United States-and how Trump, his MAGA movement, the Republican Party, and right-wing media have served as useful idiots for the tyrannical Russian leader in his assault on America and the West. In this gripping tale of international intrigue and political skullduggery, David Corn, bestselling author and veteran investigative journalist: Details the Kremlin's clandestine operations to fuel political discord in the U.S. politics and assist Trump that have been underway since 2016 Exposes the extensive, fierce, and non-stop efforts of Trump and his supporters to deny Russia's years-long attack on the United States Delivers a tough truth: Trump and his allies have been complicit in Putin's war on America This is the harrowing story of modern information warfare aimed at the U.S. by a nefarious foreign adversary and profound political betrayal at home. It is full of revelations and dramatic accounts of Russian intelligence operations targeting the United States; the Kremlin's secret schemes to spread disinformation in 2020 and 2024 to boost Trump's presidential campaigns; ties between Trump's inner circle-including his personal attorney and his campaign manager-and Putin's spies; Republican attempts to use Russian disinformation to protect Trump and smear Democrats; the bipartisan congressional investigation that blew apart Trump's claim the Russia investigation was a hoax and raised troubling questions about his own interactions with Russia; and the never-ending propaganda campaign Trump and MAGA Republicans have pursued to cover up Putin's clandestine intervention in U.S. politics. In this fast-paced and captivating work, Corn reveals and explores the bizarre episodes of this secret war. An FBI director receiving a big payment from a pro-Putin propagandist. A fugitive ex-Florida cop who fled to Moscow running disinformation operations that mislead millions of Americans. Rudy Giuliani colluding with a Russian agent. Trump and his GOP allies spouting falsehoods and Deep State conspiracy theories cooked up and spread by Putin's spies and undercover trolls. A compelling narrative with the verve and twists of a spy novel-yet it's all true-How Russia Won chronicles a deeply disturbing reality: Putin has succeeded in his twilight war against the United States by helping to land in the White House an agent of chaos, disruption, and authoritarianism who has exacerbated divisions within the United States, undermined American democracy, created conflict within the Western alliance, and diminished Washington's standing across the globe. It's a chilling account of Trump's strange relationship with Putin and how both have gotten away with this assault on the United States. Here's one of the most important stories of recent decades-with tremendous and wide-ranging implications for the future of the United States and the world. How Russia Won is indispensable for fully understanding what has happened to America in the Age of Trump.

New York City, East Village, 1984. A young woman with the power to see the ghosts of her friends is haunted by the one who refuses to return a dazzling, big-hearted debut of friendship and community during a time of devastation and defiance. Oprah Daily s #1 Pick for Summer Reading ONE OF DEBUTIFUL'S BEST DEBUTS OF THE YEAR SO FAR: Adler has her finger on the pulse of humanity, humor, and a damn good haunting plot. Waiting on a Friend is Natalie Adler s first novel but, already, I d argue she can do what greats like Ann Patchett, Patrick Ryan and Celeste Ng do. . . . A terrific read and an exciting promise of more to come. Minneapolis Star Tribune I slowed my pace finishing Waiting on a Friend, because I didn t want the novel to end. . . . [A] rich and intimate narrative. The Boston Globe A wildly inventive and moving novel . . . an astonishingly brilliant debut. Patrick Ryan, author of Buckeye A beautiful study of friendship, of how loss unmoors us, and how if we keep turning towards love, anything is possible. Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful Fresh and refreshing, both heartbreaking and uplifting. Natalie Adler has given us a gem. Rabih Alameddine, winner of the National Book Award [A] powerhouse debut . . . This dazzles like a mirror ball. Publishers Weekly (starred review) Spellbinding. Library Journal (starred review) A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, Time, Debutiful, Lit Hub, Publishers Lunch Renata is a young dyke-about-town who can see ghosts, something she's doing more and more of lately as too many of her friends are dying of a new, terrifying disease. When Renata's best friend Mark dies of complications from AIDS, Renata is devastated by the loss of the person she loved most in the world. And to her disappointment and increasing despair, Mark seems unwilling or unable to return for the proper goodbye they both were denied. While Renata waits anxiously for Mark, she must stay vigilant: a mysterious, police-like force has begun ridding their East Village neighborhood of anything abnormal or inexplicable. What first seems like a scam reveals itself to be far more sinister, targeting the soul of Renata's community. With her band of lovably eccentric pals and lovers, Renata is determined to fight back against the erasure of her friends' memories and the sanitizing of her beloved New York. But haunting her every step is Mark, the one ghost who stubbornly refuses to reappear. Both heartbreaking and healing, tragic and triumphant, Waiting on a Friend is a magical retelling of queer history and a celebration of youth and camaraderie. With pathos and humor, empathy and an edge, Natalie Adler freshly reimagines the past for a new generation, reclaiming the spirit of resistance and determination that would become one of the era's defining legacies.

A compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy New York Times Bestseller Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award Longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award An ALA Notable Book NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR The New York Times Book Review San Francisco Chronicle The Guardian St. Louis Post-Dispatch Chicago Public Library BookPage Refinery29 Kirkus Reviews Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty and Jende is eager to please. Clark s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future. However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende s job even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice. Praise for Behold the Dreamers A debut novel by a young woman from Cameroon that illuminates the immigrant experience in America with the tenderhearted wisdom so lacking in our political discourse . . . Mbue is a bright and captivating storyteller. The Washington Post A capacious, big-hearted novel. The New York Times Book Review Behold the Dreamers heart . . . belongs to the struggles and small triumphs of the Jongas, which Mbue traces in clean, quick-moving paragraphs. Entertainment Weekly Mbue s writing is warm and captivating. People (book of the week) [Mbue s] book isn t the first work of fiction to grapple with the global financial crisis of 2007 2008, but it s surely one of the best. . . . It s a novel that depicts a country both blessed and doomed, on top of the world, but always at risk of losing its balance. It is, in other words, quintessentially American. NPR This story is one that needs to be told. Bust Behold the Dreamers challenges us all to consider what it takes to make us genuinely content, and how long is too long to live with our dreams deferred. O: The Oprah Magazine [A] beautiful, empathetic novel. The Boston Globe A witty, compassionate, swiftly paced novel that takes on race, immigration, family and the dangers of capitalist excess. St. Louis Post-Dispatch Mbue [is] a deft, often lyrical observer. . . . [Her] meticulous storytelling announces a writer in command of her gifts. Minneapolis Star Tribune

A radical retelling of human history through collapse - from the dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first century and beyond. ** FEATURED IN THE NEW BBC SERIES CIVILISATIONS: RISE AND FALL ** ** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ** 'A brilliant, utterly convincing account of the evolution of human society and why we are probably reaching humanity's end days' HENRY MARSH 'Absolutely essential reading for understanding why past civilisations collapsed, and how to protect our own from the same fate' LEWIS DARTNELL For the first 300,000 years of human history, hunter-gathering Homo sapiens lived in fluid, egalitarian civilizations that thwarted any individual or group from ruling permanently. Then, around 12,000 years ago, that began to change. As we reluctantly congregated in the first farms and cities, people began to rely on novel lootable resources like grain and fish for their daily sustenance. And when more powerful weapons became available, small groups began to seize control of these valuable commodities. This inequality in resources soon tipped over into inequality in power, and we started to adopt more primal, hierarchical forms of organization. Power was concentrated in masters, kings, pharaohs and emperors (and ideologies were born to justify their rule). Goliath-like states and empires - with vast bureaucracies and militaries - carved up and dominated the globe. What brought them down? Whether in the early cities of Cahokia in North America or Tiwanaku in South America, or the sprawling empires of Egypt, Rome and China, it was increasing inequality and concentrations of power that hollowed these Goliaths out before an external shock brought them crashing down. These collapses were written up as apocalyptic, but in truth they were usually a blessing for most of the population. Now we live in a single global Goliath. Growth obsessed, extractive institutions like the fossil fuel industry, big tech and military-industrial complexes rule our world and produce new ways of annihilating our species, from climate change to nuclear war. Our systems are now so fast, complex and interconnected that a future collapse will likely be global, swift and irreversible. All of us now face a choice: we must learn to democratically control Goliath, or the next collapse may be our last. 'An excellent survey of human history through the collapses of Goliath-like kings, states and empires' OBSERVER 'A comprehensive overview of societal collapse, based on the analysis of dozens of cases spanning thousands of years from the Paleolithic to today. Highly recommended' PETER TURCHIN 'A deeply sobering and strangely inspiring history of how societies collapse - and how we can still save ours. Read it now, or your descendants will find it in the ruins' JOHANN HARI 'Like reading Thomas Piketty filtered through Mad Max' NEW YORK TIMES

Ms. Tinsel is hitting the road with her wishing ornaments and the magic of Christmas is about to arrive... Five ornaments—each unique, fragile, and destined to bring a special couple together for the holidays. A dragon. A heart split in two. A bell. A snow globe. A lantern. Each is a catalyst sparking romance and Christmas magic in the lives of those who need it the most. Celebrate the magic of Christmas with this original collection from New York Times Bestselling Authors Linda Howard and Linda Winstead Jones, Andrea Laurence, Kira Sinclair, and Scarlett Nox. Stranger Danger by Linda Howard Nova Shelley has a good life and a successful business; and it satisfied until a chance encounter with an unusual woman bring a dragon ornament into her hands. The magic ornament opens her eyes to the precariousness of everything she's built, and intuition sends Nova on a quest through the southwest desert to take matters into her own hands and grab for her happiness. A Christmas Crush by Linda Winstead Jones Facing the holiday season without a job or even a spark of romantic possibility, Molly feels her Christmas spirit dimming. She looks forward to a change of scenery at her friend's wedding, an escape to a beach resort that promises much needed distraction. What she doesn't anticipate is baseball star Ben Crusher, her long lost childhood sweetheart. Surely he's moved on, forgotten her, and extinguished any lingering flame of young love... or has he? Lifting Her Spirits by Andrea Laurence Alice Jordan is in desperate need of a man. More specifically, the man in the big, red suit. The Santa from Rosewood's Annual Christmas Parade has been unavoidably detained by the sheriff, and as the coordinator of all the town events, Alice only has one week to find his replacement. Foster Robinson is not a fan of Christmas or the small, Alabama town he grew up in. When his father gets arrested and put under his watch for house arrest, he finds himself back home at the most inconvenient time of year. The beautiful, red-headed Alice is just the pleasurable distraction he needs. As the clock ticks down to the parade, they're both too happy to slip their clothes off. But can Alice and the magic of Christmas convince Foster to put the Santa suit on? A Snowball's Chance in Sweetheart by Kira Sinclair The last person Autumn Keating, event planner extraordinaire, wants to work with is the man who broke her heart. Noah Woodson isn't exactly keen on the idea either, especially considering he's knee-deep in the unexpected death of his NFL quarterback career. But when Noah hands Autumn a magical Christmas ornament, she makes an off-handed wish...which just might bring them both a second chance at forever. The Hidden Holiday by Scarlett Nox Brynn returns to Thornbury Woods at the holidays not to visit family, but to avenge the family she lost. An ice storm at Christmas-time is the perfect cover to sneak into her childhood home and search for the evidence left behind by her father long ago. Colby Shephard's rescue efforts end with him stranded at the old Asher homestead. The last thing he expects to find after digging through the ice and snow was his childhood friend, all grown up with sex appeal and secrets galore. His offer to help her uncover the truth about the past may lead to the most dangerous Christmas ever.

A New York Times Bestseller A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2020 An Amazon Best Science Book of 2020 2020 ASJA Award-Winner in the General Nonfiction Category A Goodreads Award Finalist for Best Science & Technology Book of the Year Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR “A fascinating scientific, cultural, spiritual, and evolutionary history of the way humans breathe—and how we’ve all been doing it wrong for a long, long time. I already feel calmer and healthier just in the last few days, from making a few simple changes in my breathing, based on what I’ve read…Our breath is a beautiful, healing, mysterious gift, and so is this book.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and Eat Pray Love "I highly recommend this book." —Wim Hof “This book is awesome. Most people have no idea how to do breathing exercises and how beneficial they are. Over the last few weeks I’ve been using the methods I learned from his book and I can tell you there are absolutely some real benefits to be had I really enjoyed this book.” —Joe Rogan on Instagram “Who would have thought something as simple as changing the way we breathe could be so revolutionary for our health? James Nestor is the perfect guide to the pulmonary world and has written a fascinating book, full of dazzling revelations.” —Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, international bestselling author of The Stress Solution “It’s a rare popular-science book that keeps a reader up late, eyes glued to the pages. But Breath is just that fascinating. It will alarm you. It will gross you out. And it will inspire you. Who knew respiration could be so scintillating?” — Spirituality & Health "In Breath, author and journalist James Nestor lays out in spellbinding and at once comedic and riveting fashion his ten year personal investigation of breathing. Who could imagine a “self help book” that reads like a page turning novel?! I couldn’t put it down."—Steven Gundry, M.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Plant Paradox series, The Longevity Paradox, and The Energy Paradox “With his entertaining, eerily well-timed new book, James Nestor explains the science behind proper breathing and how we can transform our lungs and our lives. The book is brisk and detailed, a well-written read that is always entertaining, as he melds the personal, the historical, and the scientific.” — The Boston Globe “A transformative book that changes how you think about your body and mind.” —Joshua Foer, New York Times–bestselling author of Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Memory “ Breath provides a new perspective of modern-day technology and how we’ve unknowingly abandoned the answers we’ve always had. James Nestor artfully brings back what modern society has walked away from, by combining ancestral techniques and new age technology in one elegant book.” — Scientific Inquirer "A wonderful book that reminds and enlightens us about how breath and mind are intertwined."— Dr. Rahul Jandial, bestselling author of Life Lessons from a Brain Surgeon “ Breath is an utterly fascinating journey into the ways we are wired. No matter who you are, you’ll want to read this.” —Po Bronson, New York Times–bestselling author of What Should I Do with My Life? and coauthor of NutureShock “An eye-opening, epic journey of human devolution that explains why so many of us are sick and tired. A must-read book that exposes what our health care system doesn’t see.” —Dr. Steven Y. Park, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, author of Sleep, Interrupted “I don’t say this often, but when I do I mean it: This book changed my life. Breath is part scientific quest, part historical insight, part Hero’s Journey, full of groundbreaking ideas, and a rollicking good read. I had no idea that the simple and intuitive act of inhaling and exhaling has taken such an evolutionary hit. As a result, I figured out why I sleep so badly and why my breathing feels so often out of sync. With a few simple tweaks, I fixed my breathing and fixed myself. A transf

‘More Birds Than Bullets’ is not just as the title suggests, there is more to it than that, it can be seen as a metaphor for life’s experiences. I struggled with how I should go about writing it, should it be factual, or should it be like a novel? In the end I decided to write about my experiences from my time in the army through to civilian life, I have included some facts about birds, and rather than write out a long list of the birds I have seen, I concentrate instead on a small number of birds in slightly more detail… My aim is to give you an insight into my world as a birder, the stories are true and based on my experiences. I have changed names to protect people, unless it shows them in a good light as it’s not my intention to cause harm to anyone. I will share with you some of my background and my relationship with birds, people, and the countries I have visited, and how they formed my understanding of the world by concluding with my transition from civilian, to military and back to civilian life. I hope you find it amusing, informative. I would also like to thank the following people for their input: Cliff Wright my good friend who painted the original cover designs of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I had to drop that one in; and for the excellent drawing on the cover to this book. I am grateful for the wonderful, powerful, and amazing Close Encounters of the Bird Kind. Mark Cocker – Author of Birds and People Brought up in a land of sectarian conflict and for the first half of his working life a soldier in the British Army, Geoffrey McMullan is, I suppose, your average warrior. As he himself loves to tell us, he is six foot four and built like the proverbial shithouse door. But Geoffrey has a softer side as well as a secret inner life that he exposes among all the rambunctious, globe-trotting adventure of this humour-filled memoir. He is one for the birds. Give him a Heart-spotted Woodpecker, it seems, and this great big bear of a man is moved to his soul. Birds? I hear one or two readers ask. Isn’t that a bit, well, cissy? What can be so moving or special about birds? The truth is that Geoffrey’s passion is both ancient and universal. To the Sufi mystics of central Asia, God was sometimes known as ‘the unnamed bird’. For Native Americans – the Cheyenne and Lakota peoples of the American plains – the mythic ‘thunderbird’ was central to their spiritual lives. In the Andes the Quechua held the condor sacred for thousands of years. Zeus the preeminent deity of the ancient Greeks was represented as an eagle… The truth is that these creatures are central images for our most cherished ideals – love beauty, inner peace. Geoffrey McMullan knew this instinctively. In his book he describes a moving moment when, as a small boy, to fend off the casual violence of his boarding school, he alighted on a woodpecker on the lawn outside the dining room window. To that troubled child the bird was a source of peace and comfort. He goes on in More Birds than Bullets to show how this understanding has blossomed into a lifelong form of personal therapy. In the second half of his working life, as a teacher on the healing power of the natural world, Geoffrey is again summoning the birds but to demonstrate to others their uplifting potential. Encounters of the feathered kind are written into the DNA of Geoffrey’s autobiography.