Let's Pretend This Never Happened


Book Description

The #1 New York Times bestselling (mostly true) memoir from the hilarious author of Furiously Happy. “Gaspingly funny and wonderfully inappropriate.”—O, The Oprah Magazine When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father and a morbidly eccentric childhood. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame-spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it. In the irreverent Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson’s long-suffering husband and sweet daughter help her uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments—the ones we want to pretend never happened—are the very same moments that make us the people we are today. For every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the dark, disturbing, yet wonderful moments of our lives. Readers Guide Inside




Let the World See You


Book Description

NFL linebacker, speaker, podcaster, and humanitarian Sam Acho gives a blueprint for taking off our masks and living lives of genuine authenticity. Most of us hide. We play small and don't live up to our full potential. Sam Acho was one of those people. As an NFL linebacker, for example, he earned his MBA but told no one because he was afraid of what people might think if they found out that he cared about things that weren't "normal" for his profession. After many years of hiding himself, the person he had become had no connection to the real Sam. Only when he lost a friend and a mentor did he realize he was doing it all wrong--just like many us do, when we try to become someone we're not. All the while, we ignore the unique gifts and talents and personality we truly possess. But there is another way of living: Let the world see you. Your quirks, your passions, and your inner desires were not given to you by accident. And the world needs your gifts. In Let the World See You, Sam Acho shares lessons from his own life as well as stories from others to reveal how you can overcome your fears and discover your true selves. Being the real you pays big. No one else has what you have. No one else can share what you share. Let the World See You helps crack the shell of people who are in hiding and reveals the benefits of a lifestyle lived on purpose.




They're Playing Our Song


Book Description

America's premier funny man and the Tony Award-winning composer of A Chorus Line; collaborated on this hit musical; a funny, romantic show about an established composer and his relationship with an aspiring young female lyricist, not unlike Carole Bayer Sager. Professionally, their relationship works beautifully, but ultimately leads to conflict on the home front. Of course, there's a happy ending.




Unexpectedly, Milo


Book Description

The author of SOMETHING MISSING returns with another hilarious and sneakily profound tale about a man whose behavior is truly odd, but also oddly relatable. Milo Slade, a thirty-three year old home healthcare aide, is witnessing the rapid dissolution of his three-year marriage to a polished, high-powered attorney named Christine. Though Milo doesn't quite know the root of his marital problems, he inevitably blames himself, or more specifically, he faults the demands his obsessive compulsive personality place upon him--the need to open a jar of Smuckers grape jelly or sing 99 Luftballons in front of an audience, to name just a couple. Yet Christine is still none the wiser about these inexplicable quirks as Milo has painstakingly hidden them from her and everyone else for years. No one knows the true--and in his mind more insidious--Milo, and such is the root of his profound loneliness, especially now that he and Christine are living apart during a trial separation. Then one day Milo stumbles across a video camera and tapes, left behind in a park. He watches the first tape, which is a heartfelt confessional by a young woman who begins to reveal her secrets, starting small at first, and finally revealing that she blames herself for a tragic death of a friend. But not all the details add up and Milo is struck with the urge to free the sweet confessor from her guilt. He is, after all, an expert in keeping secrets… In typical screwball fashion, Milo sets out on a cross-country journey to crack the case, but quickly gets sidetracked as his un-ignorable demands call. But it is during these sidetracks that the true meaning of his adventure takes shape. Milo is weird, but as he discovers, so is everyone else. UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO is a humorous and touching novel about finding oneself, embracing the journey, and, unexpectedly, love.




The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs


Book Description

From the beloved author of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend comes a wonderful new novel about a broken woman who faces her past and, armed with the perfect comeback, finds a way to set herself free




Grammar, Meaning, and Concepts


Book Description

Grammar, Meaning, and Concepts: A Discourse-Based Approach to English Grammar is a book for language teachers and learners that focuses on the meanings of grammatical constructions within discourse, rather than on language as structure governed by rigid rules. This text emphasizes the ways in which users of language construct meaning, express viewpoints, and depict imageries using the conceptual, meaning-filled categories that underlie all of grammar. Written by a team of authors with years of experience teaching grammar to future teachers of English, this book puts grammar in the context of real language and illustrates grammar in use through an abundance of authentic data examples. Each chapter also provides a variety of activities that focus on grammar, genre, discourse, and meaning, which can be used as they are or can be adapted for classroom practice. The activities are also designed to raise awareness about discourse, grammar, and meaning in all facets of everyday life, and can be used as springboards for upper high school, undergraduate, and graduate level research projects and inquiry-based grammatical analysis. Grammar, Meaning, and Concepts is an ideal textbook for those in the areas of teacher education, discourse analysis, applied linguistics, second language teaching, ESL, EFL, and communications who are looking to teach and learn grammar from a dynamic perspective.




Broadcast News Writing, Reporting, and Producing


Book Description

Broadcast News Writing, Reporting, and Producing, 7th Edition is the leading book covering all aspects of writing and reporting the news. It identifies the key concepts and terms readers need to know in the news gathering and dissemination process, and provides practical, real-world advice for operating in the modern day newsroom. New to the seventh Edition are profiles of working journalists who give readers a glimpse into the working life of modern reporters, producers, and directors. This new edition also covers important aspects of the use of social media, drone journalism, and digital technology. A new chapter on portfolio development will assist readers in developing the skills to advance in their careers. The text has also been updated to reflect new industry standards in modes of information gathering and delivery, writing style, and technology. Additional features include: Key words at the start of every chapter, identifying important terms and definitions; End of chapter summaries, which allows readers to review the chapter’s main points; "Text Your Knowledge", which helps readers quiz themselves on important concepts; Chapter-by-chapter exercises, which readers can apply to a chapter’s themes; A companion website featuring video tutorials of necessary skills for journalists, including how to arrange lighting structures, how to hold a microphone, and how to properly conduct an interview.




Amy and the Orphans


Book Description

When their eighty-five-year-old father dies, sparring siblings Maggie and Jake must face a question: How to break the bad news to their sister Amy, who has Down syndrome and has lived in a state home for years? Along the way, the pair find out just how much they don’t know about their family and each other. It seems only Amy knows who she really is.




Daisy-head Mayzie


Book Description

Young Mayzie McGrew becomes a worldwide sensation when a daisy grows out of the top of her head, and everyone attempts to get rid of it.




Skinny Habits


Book Description

Bob Harper lets us in on the secret behaviors of people who not only lose weight but keep the pounds off for good—and make it look easy. In Bob Harper’s #1 New York Times bestselling book The Skinny Rules, the trusted trainer and coach of NBC’s The Biggest Loser laid out the twenty nonnegotiable eating rules for getting thin. In the process of helping countless men and women reach their weight loss goals, Harper has noticed six fundamental patterns in the lifestyle choices of those who succeed long-term—from the unique way they plan ahead to how they organize their environment and social calendars to even the way they dress. With his signature authority, colorful stories, and real-world solutions, Harper draws on the most up-to-date research related to habit formation, neuroplasticity, and cognitive behavioral psychology to show how feeding your brain—“the muscle between your ears”—can wield as much control over your weight as what you put in your mouth. With anecdotes about his clients, guided steps for adopting your new practices, and tips for integrating them into your own daily routine, Skinny Habits has everything you need to shape your body and your life!