Social Science

Get It Done

10,000.00

A great deal of ink has been spilled on the subject of motivating and influencing others, but what happens when the person you most want to influence is you? Setting and achieving goals for yourself—at work, at home, and in relationships—is harder than it seems. How do you know where to start? How do you carry on in the face of roadblocks and distractions? How do you decide which tasks and ambitions to prioritize when you’re faced with more responsibilities, needs, and desires than you can keep track of?

In Get It Done, psychologist and behavioral scientist Ayelet Fishbach presents a new theoretical framework for self-motivated action, explaining how to:
– Identify the right goals
-Attack the “middle problem”
– Battle temptations
– Use the help of others around you
-And so much more…

With fascinating research from the field of motivation science and compelling stories of people who learned to motivate themselves, Get It Done illuminates invaluable strategies for pulling yourself in whatever direction you want to go—so you can achieve your goals while staying healthy, clearheaded, and happy.

How To Do Nothing

12,500.00

In a world where addictive technology is designed to buy and sell our attention, and our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity, it can seem impossible to escape. But in this inspiring field guide to dropping out of the attention economy, artist and critic Jenny Odell shows us how we can still win back our lives.

Odell sees our attention as the most precious—and overdrawn—resource we have. And we must actively and continuously choose how we use it. We might not spend it on things that capitalism has deemed important … but once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankind’s role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress.

Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this book will change how you see your place in our world.

The Art Of Conscious Conversations

10,000.00

Ditch the negative mental habits that derail conversations and destroy projects, and discover a framework for forging authentic, enduring, and productive connections.

We live in conversations like fish live in water—we’re in them all the time, so we don’t think about them much. As a result, we often find ourselves stuck in cyclical patterns of unproductive behaviors. We listen half-heartedly, react emotionally, and respond habitually, like we’re on autopilot.

This book is a practical guide for thoughtfully reflecting on conversations so we can avoid the common pitfalls that cause our relationships and work to go sideways. Chuck Wisner identifies four universal types of conversations and offers specific advice on maximizing the effectiveness of each:

Storytelling—Investigate the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and others
Collaborative—Explore the way our stories and other people’s stories interact
Creative—See new possibilities and discover unforeseen solutions
Commitment—Make promises we know we can keep

These conversations unfold sequentially: our awareness of our and others’ stories transforms our ability to listen and collaborate, which opens our thoughts to creative possibilities, guiding us toward mindful agreements.

Our conversations—at home, at work, or in public—can be sources of pleasure and stepping-stones toward success, or they can cause pain and lead to failure. Wisner shows how we can form a connection from the very first conversation and keep our discourse positive and productive throughout any endeavor.

Good Anxiety

9,000.00

We are living in the age of anxiety, a situation that often makes us feel as if we are locked into an endless cycle of stress, sleeplessness, and worry. But what if we had a way to leverage our anxiety to help us solve problems and fortify our well-being? What if, instead of seeing anxiety as a curse, we could recognize it for the unique gift that it is?

As a neuroscientist, Dr. Wendy Suzuki has discovered a paradigm-shifting truth about anxiety: yes, it is uncomfortable, but it is also essential for our survival. In fact, anxiety is a key component of our ability to live optimally. Every emotion we experience has an evolutionary purpose, and anxiety is designed to draw our attention to a number of negative emotions. If we simply approach anxiety as something to avoid, get rid of, or dampen, we actually miss an opportunity to not only manage the symptoms of anxiety better but also discover ways to improve our lives. Listening to our worries from a place of curiosity, instead of fear, can actually guide us onto a path that leads to joy.

Bold Ventures

13,000.00

In thirteen fascinating chapters, Charlotte Van den Broeck goes in search of buildings that were fatal to their architects—architects who either killed themselves or are rumored to have done so. They range across time and space from a church with a twisted spire in seventeenth-century France to a theater that collapsed mid-performance in 1920s Washington, DC, and an eerily sinking swimming pool in the author’s hometown. Drawing on a vast range of material, from Hegel and Darwin to art history, stories from her own life, and popular culture, Van den Broeck brings patterns into focus as she asks, What is that strange, life-or-death connection between a creation and its creator?

Threaded through each story is the author’s meditation on the question of suicide—what Albert Camus called the “one truly serious philosophical problem”—in relation to creativity and public disgrace. The result is a profoundly idiosyncratic book, breaking ground in literary nonfiction, as well as providing solace and consolation to anyone who has ever attempted a creative act.

Lady Secrets

9,000.00

Every lady has a secret. A secret so humiliating, embarrassing, scandalous, or disgraceful that you haven’t told a soul—not your closest friends, family, lovers, or doctors. There is so much shame surrounding hiding secrets, and, frankly, enough is enough.

The truth is, there is power and freedom in releasing those dirty little secrets out into the big, bad universe. It gives you that same sweet relief as taking off an underwire bra at the end of a long, crappy day. That’s why Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin, and Jac Vanek—hosts of the LadyGang podcast—set their secrets free: the good, the bad, and the diarrhea. The LadyGang wanted to offer their large and loyal community a chance to join them in exposing the messy truths of their lives, and so, Lady Secrets was born: confessional essays from the trio themselves and an incredible crowdsourced collection of secrets from other ladies around the world. Secrets ranging from silly little white lies to cringey misadventures to soul-baring truths. And as it turns out, exposing your deepest and darkest helps you realize that we are all way more alike than we could have ever imagined.

Everyone seems to have a bizarre body malfunction, a hookup gone terribly wrong, and a soul-crushing experience that haunts them forever. And maybe that elaborate revenge plot you carried out against your cheating ex was actually kind of badass (in spite of being slightly illegal). It’s time we stop feeling ashamed of our (un)ladylike habits and own the real, raw, and ridiculous things that make you authentically you.

Tiny Beautiful Things

7,000.00

For more than a decade, thousands of people have sought advice from Dear Sugar—the pseudonym of bestselling author Cheryl Strayed—first through her online column at The Rumpus, later through her hit podcast, Dear Sugars, and now through her popular Substack newsletter. Tiny Beautiful Things collects the best of Dear Sugar in one volume, bringing her wisdom to many more readers. This tenth-anniversary edition features six new columns and a new preface by Strayed. Rich with humor, insight, compassion—and absolute honesty—this book is a balm for everything life throws our way.

The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!

7,000.00

For decades—and especially now, in these times of crisis—people around the world have found guidance, humor, and unity in Gloria Steinem’s gift for creating quotes that offer hope and inspire action. From her early days as a journalist and feminist activist, Steinem’s words have helped generations to empower themselves and work together.

Covering topics from relationships (“Many are looking for the right person. Too few are trying to be the right person.”) to the patriarchy (“Men are liked better when they win. Women are liked better when they lose. This is how the patriarchy is enforced every day.”) and activism (“Revolutions, like trees, grow from the bottom up.”), this is the definitive collection of Steinem’s words on what matters most. Steinem sees quotes as “the poetry of everyday life,” so she also has included a few favorites from friends, including bell hooks, Flo Kennedy, and Michelle Obama, in this book that will make you want to laugh, march, and create some quotes of your own. In fact, at the end of the book, there’s a special space for readers to add their own quotes and others they’ve found inspiring.

The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off! is both timeless and timely. It is a gift of hope from Steinem to readers, and a book to share with friends.

Communicate With Courage

9,000.00

Raising your game as a communicator is one of the best ways to make a difference in the world, but it takes courage to open up to others and invite others to open up to you. As a lifelong communication coach, Michelle Gladieux has discovered four sneaky obstacles that can keep you from becoming the best communicator you can be:

Hiding—Fear of exposing your supposed weaknesses
Defining—Putting too much stock into assumptions and being quick to judge
Rationalizing—Using “being realistic” to shield yourself from taking chances, engaging in conflict, or doing other scary but potentially rewarding actions
Settling—Stopping at “good enough” instead of aiming for something better in your interactions

These challenges all have something in common. They require taking risks—to reveal yourself, question your beliefs, take a leap of faith, or move out of your comfort zone. Each chapter includes a real-world practice called a Pro Move and an exercise, both carefully crafted to help you overcome hang-ups and take more joy in communicating.

Courageous communication requires self-knowledge, practice, and a desire to grow. It is a full-body, full-mind, and full-heart effort. This book is like having a caring, expert coach along with you for the journey.

How Your Brain Works

12,000.00

The workings of the brain are mysterious: What are neural signals? What do they mean? How do our senses really sense? How does our brain control our movements? What happens when we meditate?

Techniques to record signals from living brains were once thought to be the realm of advanced university labs . . . but not anymore! This book allows anyone to participate in the discovery of neuroscience through hands-on experiments that record the hidden electrical world beneath our skin and skulls. In How Your Brain Works, neuroscientists Greg Gage and Tim Marzullo offer a practical guide—accessible and useful to readers from middle schoolers to college undergraduates to curious adults—for learning about the brain through hands-on experiments.

Armed with some DIY electrodes, readers will get to see what brain activity really looks like through simple neuroscience experiments. Written by two neuroscience researchers who invented open-source techniques to record signals from neurons, muscles, hearts, eyes, and brains, How Your Brain Works includes more than forty-five experiments to gain a deeper understanding of your brain.

Using a homemade scientific instrument called a SpikerBox, readers can see how fast neural signals travel by recording electrical signals from an earthworm. Or, turning themselves into subjects, readers can strap on some electrode stickers to detect the nervous system in their own bodies. Each chapter begins by describing some phenomenology of a particular area of neuroscience, then guides readers step-by-step through an experiment, and concludes with a series of open-ended questions to inspire further investigation. Some experiments use invertebrates (such as insects), and the book provides a thoughtful framework for the ethical use of these animals in education. How Your Brain Works offers fascinating reading for students at any level, curious readers, and scientists interested in using electrophysiology in their research or teaching.

The Myth Of Normal

18,000.00

In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health?

Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Cowritten with his son Daniel, The Myth Of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.

The Feminism Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

8,000.00

Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy to follow format. Learn about Feminism in this overview guide to the subject, great for novices looking to find out more and experts wishing to refresh their knowledge alike! The Feminism Book brings a fresh and vibrant take on the topic through eye-catching graphics and diagrams to immerse yourself in.

Iconic Magazine Covers

12,000.00

Iconic Magazine Covers is an oral history of the stories behind the most innovative and controversial magazine covers as told by the people who created them. Author Ian Birch has worked in the industry since the 1970s in both the USA and the UK and has used a career’s worth of contacts to make this unique social document that a wide variety of readers will find fascinating.

There are more than 65 feature covers and selection criteria was diverse. For example, a cover may introduce groundbreaking graphic design (Twen; Fact), it may cover a seminal event (The Sunday Times Magazine; Esquire), a political movement or societal change (The Black Panther; Nova; The Spare Rib; Blue). It could have a specific readership (The Big Issue; Raygun; Wired; The Gentlewoman; Bloomberg Businessweek). Some are launch or relaunch issues (Interview; People Weekly; Harper’s Bazaar). The covers might feature an influential photographer, illustrator or model (Raw; Radio Times; The Face) and not to be forgotten is ever-welcome satire (Private Eye; National Lampoon).

Iconic Magazine Covers displays the covers on a full page opposite the history of the design as told by the key figures in its making. Editors, photographers, creative directors, illustrators and others describe their roles in bringing the cover to life, such as Iwan Baan. Called in at the last minute, he had to hang out of a helicopter to capture the image of fractured New York City during the massive post-Hurricane Sandy power failure. The New York Magazine cover was so acclaimed that it was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art and large-scale posters were used in fundraising for the hurricane relief effort.

The most recent covers are two-winning and timely covers, both from Time magazine. The first shows Donald Trump in “Meltdown” shortly after the first debate; the second shows him in “Total Meltdown” after one of the worst of many scandals. Illustrator Edel Rodriguez describes the power of what makes these selections iconic: “A good magazine cover is a great poster and vice versa. It should be able to take a complicated matter and communicate it directly to as many people as possible. Like a pop song.”

Every magazine cover featured in Iconic Magazine Covers proves itself worthy of Rodriguez’s water test. Reading about the conceptual and practical processes in their creation is a fascinating bonus

Instant History

8,000.00

Key thinkers, theories, discoveries, and concepts each explained on a single page!

Instant History pulls together pivotal moments from history into one concise volume. Each page contains a distinct “cheat sheet,” which tells you the most important facts in bite-size chunks, so you can feel like an expert in minutes! From second-wave feminism to Stalinism, the invention of the car to the Battle of the Somme, and the Russian Revolution to the Industrial Revolution, every key event, character, or turning point is expressed in succinct and lively text and graphics. Perfect for the knowledge-hungry and time-poor, this collection of graphics-led lessons makes history interesting and accessible. Everything you need to know—and more!—packed into one convenient volume.

Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

6,000.00

Are you stumped by split infinitives? Terrified of using “who” when a “whom” is called for? Do you avoid the words “affect” and “effect” altogether?

Grammar Girl is here to help!

Mignon Fogarty, a.k.a. Grammar Girl, is determined to wipe out bad grammar―but she’s also determined to make the process as painless as possible. A couple of years ago, she created a weekly podcast to tackle some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. The podcasts have now been downloaded more than twenty million times, and Mignon has dispensed grammar tips on Oprah and appeared on the pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing covers the grammar rules and word-choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. From “between vs. among” and “although vs. while” to comma splices and misplaced modifiers, Mignon offers memory tricks and clear explanations that will help readers recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Chock-full of tips on style, business writing, and effective e-mailing, Grammar Girl’s print debut deserves a spot on every communicator’s desk.

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