O's Big Book of Happiness: The Best of O, the Oprah Magazine: Wisdom, Wit, Advice, Interviews, and Inspiration
by O Magazine
Published 2008 by Oxmoor House

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780848732332

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Jacket Notes:

"O's Big Book of Happiness" is a collection of more than 100 of the most inspiring, encouraging, and illuminating articles found in the pages of "O, The Oprah Magazine."

You Are Here: Exposing the Vital Link Between What We Do and What That Does to Our Planet
by Thomas M. Kostigen
Published 2008 by HarperOne

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780061580369

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A leading environmental journalist travels to the most fragile places on Earth to show how what individuals do at home affects people, places, and things across the globe. 8-page 4-color photo insert.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 07/14/2008

In a travelogue heavy on statistics but disappointingly pale in atmospherics, Kostigan (The Green Book) invites readers to accompany him on a trip "into the thick of the most environmentally tenuous places on the planet" to observe the havoc caused by human behavior, from Jerusalem, where acid rain and global warming-induced salt weathering are wearing down the Western Wall, to the sewage-logged Great Lakes. He visits "the future": the "orgy of color, mayhem, flash modernity, and squalor" of Mumbai; Linfen City, China, "the dirtiest place on Earth"; and the Eastern Garbage Patch, a mid-Pacific "lethal marine habitat" of trash "twice the size of Texas." Post-trip, Kostigen exclaims, "Now I see people in my actions.... I feel differently about what I do and what it does to the planet." Unfortunately, his feeble powers of description convey little feeling to the reader (the Amazon jungle is "definitely a bit of Survivor out here") and his naïvely optimistic claim that "We have changed the Earth's natural course of development" and "we can just as easily change its course again-for the better" is less than convincing. (Oct.)

Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey
by William Least Heat-Moon
Published 2008 by Little Brown and Company

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780316110259

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In his previous book "Blue Highways," Heat-Moon had embarked on an American journey off the beaten path. Now, the author is back on the backroads, in this lyrical, funny, and touching account of his series of journeys into small-town America.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 09/08/2008

It was almost a decade ago that Least Heat-Moon (Blue Highways) followed the trail of Lewis and Clark in River Horse; in the first section of his latest peripatetic writings, he and his wife, Q, trace the lesser-known Dunbar-Hunter Expedition of 1804 through the southern half of the Louisiana Purchase, searching out the head of the Ouachita River in Arkansas. Least Heat-Moon's fans will find this territory, and that covered in the five other "journeys to places a goodly portion of the American populace would call 'nowhere,' " instantly familiar, as he and various companions take digressive paths from one small opolis ("where anything metro was clearly missing") to the next in search of "quoz" (an 18th-century word meaning "anything out of the ordinary"). Among his many adventures, Least Heat-Moon rides a bicycle along an abandoned railroad track, discovers a "road to nowhere"built by a Florida county so local drug smugglers would have a landing strip, and comes up with what he believes is the real story behind the murder of his great-grandfather. Or maybe the highlights of these journeys are the people he meets along the way and their stories, like the man who tried to fund a school for disadvantaged children by providing lonely widows with special massages, or the artist who's turned his cabin into a walk-in kaleidoscope. Either way, few readers will be able to resist tagging along. (Oct. 29)

The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America
by James Bamford
Published 2008 by Doubleday Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780385521321

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Bamford exposes the existence of the top-secret National security Agency in the bestselling "The Puzzle Palace," and in his follow-up bestseller "Body of Secrets." Now the author discloses inside, often shocking information about the NSA in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War Inside Iraq
by Mike Tucker
Published 2008 by Lyons Press

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781599213668

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"Operation Hotel California" tells the inside story of the dangerous mission that paved the way for the Iraq invasion, and delivers the most blistering indictment to date by any American counterterrorism officer of the Bush administration's blunders.

Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family
by Joaquin Garcia
Published 2008 by Touchstone Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781416551638

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This fascinating work offers the untold true story of the highly decorated FBI agent who went deep undercover to bring down one of La Cosa Nostra's most notorious crime families.

Flat Belly Diet!: Lose Up to 15 Lbs in 32 Days!: A Flat Belly Is about Food & Attitude. Period. (Not a Single Crunch Required)
by Liz Vaccariello
Published 2008 by Rodale Press

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781594868511

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The editor in chief of "Prevention" magazine--the country's most authoritative and innovative source for health information--presents a weight-loss plan that's specifically designed to help women over 40 lead a longer, healthier life by getting rid of belly fat.

Hide & Seek: How I Laughed at Depression, Conquered My Fears and Found Happiness
by Wendy Aron
Published 2008 by Kunati Inc.

Paperback, English. ISBN: 9781601641588

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Hilarious and refreshingly honest, this chronicle of a year-long journey of self-exploration and self-help offers solace and solidarity to the myriad sufferers of clinical depression and anxiety disorders. A far cry from the typical self-help manual, this wry and subversive account is leavened with a healthy dose of humble pie and a keen sense of the absurd. As the author navigates a series of self-help classes designed to raise her self-esteem, make her more assertive, help her find a man, lose weight, channel her creativity, and get her "energy centers" realigned, the reader will be moved and inspired by her pluck. Tackling important issues like familial dysfunction, letting go of blame and resentment, and battling negative thinking, this memoir shows it's possible to recover one's self worth without losing one's sense of humor.

John Lennon: The Life
by Philip Norman
Published 2008 by Ecco

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780060754013

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From the bestselling author of "Shout" comes an extraordinarily detailed, vibrant, in-depth account of the life of John Lennon--the most deeply researched and comprehensive biography to date. 16-page color photo insert; 16-page b&w photo insert.

The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia - And How It Died
by Philip Jenkins
Published 2008 by HarperOne

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780061472800

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Leading religion scholar Jenkins reveals a vast Christian world to the east of the Roman Empire and explains how the earliest, most influential churches of the East--China, India, the Middle East, and Africa--died.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 07/14/2008

Revisionist history is always great fun, and never more so than when it is persuasively and cogently argued. Jenkins, the Penn State history professor whose book The Next Christendom made waves several years ago, argues that it's not exactly a new thing that Christianity is making terrific inroads in Asia and Africa. A thousand years ago, those continents were more Christian than Europe, and Asian Christianity in particular was the locus of tremendous innovations in mysticism, monasticism, theology and secular knowledge. The little-told story of Christianity's decline in those two continents-hastened by Mongol invasions, the rise of Islam and Buddhism, and internecine quarrels-is sensitively and imaginatively rendered. Jenkins sometimes challenges the assertions of other scholars, including Karen Armstrong and Elaine Pagels, but provides compelling evidence for his views. The book is marvelously accessible for the lay reader and replete with fascinating details to help personalize the ambitious sweep of global history Jenkins undertakes. This is an important counterweight to previous histories that have focused almost exclusively on Christianity in the West. (Nov.)

The 80-Yard Run: A Twenty-Week, Coast-To-Coast Quest for the Heart of High School Football
by Theron Hopkins
Published 2008 by Skyhorse Publishing

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781602392847

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Hopkins tells "the" story of high school football in America, as he chronicles one season from August practices to the Texas 5A Division II championship.

The Maisel Report: College Football's Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Coaches, Teams, and Traditions
by Ivan Maisel
Published 2008 by Triumph Books (IL)

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781600780929

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Maisel steps back from the tailgating parties and half-time shows to objectively set the record as straight as possible on questions that every fan has debated: who are the most overrated--and underrated--players, coaches, conferences, and more in college football? Photos throughout.

Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End...
by Philip Plait
Published 2008 by Viking Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780670019977

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According to astronomer Plait, the universe is an apocalypse waiting to happen. With humor and wit, Plait details the myriad doomsday events that the cosmos could inflict to destroy the planet and life in general.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 07/14/2008

Plait, an astronomer and author of the popular Web site badastronomy.com, presents "in loving detail" the many, many ways the human race could die, from temperature extremes and poisonous atmosphere to asteroid impacts and supernovae explosions. Such a state of destruction existed some 65 million years ago, when a giant meteoroid struck Earth, sending up so much flaming debris that "the whole planet caught fire" and the dinosaurs were wiped out. Solar flare activity could bring on another Ice Age. Worse yet would be a gamma ray burster, a collapsed star whose radiation would be comparable to detonating "a one-megaton nuclear bomb over every square mile of the planet." Plait discusses insatiable black holes, the death of the Sun and cannibal galaxies-including our own. Balancing his doomsday scenarios with enthusiastic and clear explanations of the science behind each, Plait offers a surprisingly educational and enjoyable astronomical horror show, including a table listing the extremely low odds of each event occurring. He gives readers a good scare, and then puts it in context. Illus. (Oct. 20)

A Splintered History of Wood: Belt Sander Races, Blind Woodworkers, and Baseball Bats
by Spike Carlsen
Published 2008 by Collins

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780061373565

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Jacket Notes:

In the successful tradition of books such as "Salt" and "Cod," this work explores the history, versatility, and special appeal of something used every day but often taken for granted--wood. b&w photos throughout.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 06/02/2008

Carlsen (Reader's Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual) gives a solid history of wood as he travels the world, analyzing the vast number of uses of a mundane natural resource. In doing so, Carlsen also uncovers the wide variety of personalities that work with wood every day, from the chainsaw artist appropriately named the "Wild Mountain Man" to the blind cabinetmaker who "can see things with [his] fingers that you may not see with your eyes." He uncovers places where wood golf clubs are still manufactured today; explains which type of wood is best for a baseball bat; takes readers through the painstaking process used to make the beautiful Stradivarius violins and Steinway grand pianos; he also demonstrates how the gondola is a "floating work of efficiency and ergonomic art." At one point, Carlsen visits a company in Maine that produces 50 billion toothpicks and 12 billion wooden matches each year. Carlsen includes photographs throughout this engaging and exhaustively researched work. (Sept.)

The New Elite: Inside the Minds of the Truly Wealthy
by Jim Taylor
Published 2008 by AMACOM/American Management Association

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780814400487

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In this fascinating book, the authors reveal what motivates America's most powerful and influential class--those with liquid assets in excess of $5 million--and explore what the wealthy want, where they shop, and how they really spend their money.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 06/30/2008

Marketing consultant Taylor and branding specialist Harrison mine success stories of the truly rich to learn how they acquired their fortunes, whether it has changed them and how they live their lives. Arguing that the wealthy are poorly understood by the average American, the media and marketers of high-end products, the authors contend that accurately understanding this group is critical for success in the marketing, sales, product development, branding and advertising fields. They dispel the myth that most of the rich have inherited their money and reveal the socioeconomic factors behind their self-made rises to success. Exploring how the rich spend their money and what influences their buying decisions, the authors identify the five classes of the newly wealthy with distinct reactions to the value and purpose of money-neighbors, wrestlers, patrons, mavericks and directors-groups that greatly differ in their lifestyles and financial attitudes. Charts and graphs throughout distill key data into easy-to-grasp nuggets, lending clarity to this book whose fresh take on the habits of the American economic elite will be indispensable to marketers. (Sept.)

Hello, Everybody!: The Dawn of American Radio
by Anthony J. Rudel
Published 2008 by Harcourt

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780151012756

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Long before the internet, another young technology was transformed--with help from a colorful collection of eccentrics and visionaries--into a mass medium with the power to connect millions of people. When amateur enthusiasts began sending fuzzy signals from their garages and rooftops, radio broadcasting was born. Sensing the medium's potential, snake-oil salesmen and preachers took to the air, at once setting early standards for radio programming and making bedlam of the airwaves. Into the chaos stepped a young secretary of commerce, Herbert Hoover, whose passion for organization guided the technology's growth. When a charismatic bandleader named Rudy Vallee created the first on-air variety show and America elected its first true radio president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, radio had arrived.With clarity, humor, and an eye for outsized characters forgotten by polite history, Anthony Rudel tells the story of the boisterous years when radio took its place in the nation's living room and forever changed American politics, journalism, and entertainment.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 07/14/2008

Novelist and classical music expert Rudel (Imagining Don Giovanni), who has an extensive background in radio broadcasting, offers a lively overview of the birth of radio with an emphasis on the entrepreneurs and evangelists, hucksters and opportunists who saw the medium's potential. He traces the transition from hobbyists to the "radio craze" of 1922 when Americans spent more than $60 million on home receivers that brought the sounds of urban life to rural areas. The first station west of the Rockies, KHJ, prompted the notorious sexual-rejuvenation surgeon John R. Brinkley to open KFKB in 1923 Kansas. By the end of the 1920s, the Federal Radio Commission was established to manage the airwaves, NBC and CBS competed and advertising increased. Along with political campaigns and sports broadcasts, Rudel covers the "love/hate relationship" of newspapers and radio stations. His chapter on "the unholy marriage between radio and religion" details the rise and fall of evangelist Sister Aimée Semple McPherson. Profiles reveal Rudy Vallee's vast appeal and important role in creating the radio variety show. With extensive newspaper research, this is an authoritative and entertaining survey of the early days of dial twisting. (Oct.)

Tiffany Style: 170 Years of Design
by John Loring
Published 2008 by HNA Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780810972933

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Since its inception 170 years ago, Tiffany & Co. has become synonymous with elegant, stylish design and alluring luxury, creating the world's most dazzling jewelry and decorative objects. Today, its signature blue box is recognized the world over and can be had (for a price, of course) at more than 150 locations around the globe. In "Tiffany Style," Tiffany's design director John Loring gathers for the first time in one volume the most renowned and memorable pieces ever produced by the company. In this "best of Tiffany" collection, readers will find a spectacular array of objects, from Louis Comfort Tiffany's famous lamps and vases to opulent silver tea sets to Andy Warhol's whimsical Christmas illustrations to Elsa Peretti's signature heart pendant. Drawing from a rich selection of design sketches and vintage and contemporary photography, all taken from Tiffany's unparalleled archives, as well as new photography taken especially for this book by Harry Benson, "Tiffany Style" reveals the company's fascinating history and evolution through its most unforgettable creations.

Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business
by Danny Goldberg
Published 2008 by Gotham Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781592403707

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A giant of the music industry grants an all-access pass to the world of rock and roll, with mesmerizing stories of 35 years spent working with legends from Led Zeppelin to Stevie Nicks to Nirvana.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 06/30/2008

The title comes from Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun's answer when asked how to make money with music: "the way to get rich was to keep walking around until you bumped into a genius," as Goldberg paraphrases. Inside the industry for almost four decades, Goldberg now looks back at those he bumped into during his rise from rock writer to public relations to personal management, plus heading three major record companies (Atlantic, Mercury, Warner Bros.). As he puts it, "The idea of this book is to give some impressionistic views, through my eyes, and through the examples of a handful of artists, of the rock and roll business from 1969 through 2004." He began at Billboard, where his "rhapsodic review" of the Woodstock festival established him as a rock journalist, and his opening chapter covers Paul Williams (Crawdaddy), Gloria Stavers (16 Magazine) and other editors and critics of the 1960s. Doing PR for Led Zeppelin was his "introduction to the adrenaline of a big-time rock tour," and his backstage memories of those days are vivid and razor sharp, offering an intimate glimpse into PR strategies and tactics. The parade of personalities runs the gamut from Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Nicks to Kurt Cobain and Warren Zevon. Goldberg summons up some fascinating anecdotes as he writes about these performers with much honesty and compassion, bringing it all back home. (Sept.)

Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure
by Paul A. Offit
Published 2008 by Columbia University Press

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780231146364

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A London researcher was the first to assert that the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine known as MMR caused autism in children. Following this "discovery," a handful of parents declared that a mercury-containing preservative in several vaccines was responsible for the disease. If mercury caused autism, they reasoned, eliminating it from a child's system should treat the disorder. Consequently, a number of untested alternative therapies arose, and, most tragically, in one such treatment, a doctor injected a five-year-old autistic boy with a chemical in an effort to cleanse him of mercury, which stopped his heart instead. Children with autism have been placed on stringent diets, subjected to high-temperature saunas, bathed in magnetic clay, asked to swallow digestive enzymes and activated charcoal, and injected with various combinations of vitamins, minerals, and acids. Instead of helping, these therapies can hurt those who are most vulnerable, and particularly in the case of autism, they undermine childhood vaccination programs that have saved millions of lives. An overwhelming body of scientific evidence clearly shows that childhood vaccines are safe and does not cause autism. Yet widespread fear of vaccines on the part of parents persists. In this book, Paul A. Offit, a national expert on vaccines, challenges the modern-day false prophets who have so egregiously misled the public and exposes the opportunism of the lawyers, journalists, celebrities, and politicians who support them. Offit recounts the history of autism research and the exploitation of this tragic condition by advocates and zealots. He considers the manipulation of science in the popular media and thecourtroom, and he explores why society is susceptible to the bad science and risky therapies put forward by many antivaccination activists.

Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges Are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them
by Ross W. Greene
Published 2008 by Scribner Book Company

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781416572268

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Jacket Notes:

From a noted psychologist and author of the acclaimed "The Explosive Child" comes a thought-provoking and practical new book that examines why kids with behavioral challenges are falling through the cracks, and how parents and educators can help them.