The Bearer of Bad News


Book Description

Tor finds itself on the brink of turmoil as a god, who spends his days in the bottom of a pit, has decided that he would be better off wreaking havoc on the surface above, and is willing to use any means necessary to accomplish his goal. Gloric, the God of Peace, knows that the only people who can stop this angry deity is a rag-tag group of heroes, consisting of a certain Hunter, a Mythical Theoremist prodigy, a robot that speaks only in word salad, a professional cult murderer, a sarcastic Ice Archer, and an ex-Messenger. The Bearer of Bad News returns with answers to lingering questions, twice the satire, twice the fun, and, for some reason, a profuse amount of references to fish.




The Bear of Bad News Coloring Book


Book Description

There's no ice cream left. Your condition is inoperable. Everyone you love will die. I have some bad news for you: you don't have this coloring book. It involves an adorable bear that delivers some of the worst news possible in a variety of darkly hilarious scenarios. And sadly, you do not have it. I have some more bad news for you: your children will have lasting scars from your parenting and there is nothing you can do about it. One of those scars might be buying them this book. There's nothing really inappropriate for them in terms of imagery or language, but the content will likely lead to uncomfortable conversations that you will have trouble navigating. Color, laugh, and cry as the waves of reality this bear preaches wash over you like a splash of puddle water from a passing car. Featuring 25 terrible statements about life, all of which are lovingly crafted by Elizabeth Jancewicz, who is the on stage painter in the great piano rock band Pocket Vinyl. Don't let the bad news reach your friends that you passed on this book, which can also just be treated as a comedy comic book. If they hear about this, they will probably judge you harshly. On second thought, you will probably not like this book. It's too dark and not really your sense of humor. Plus, you don't like bears or quality artwork. Best forget about it. Move on and buy something else on Amazon like some dryer sheets or Shopkins.




Amaze Every Customer Every Time


Book Description

You must deliver an amazing customer experience. Why? It is the competitive edge of new-era business—in any market and any economy. Renowned customer experience expert Shep Hyken explains how consistently amazing customers through stellar service can elevate your company from good to great. All transformations require a role model, and Shep has found the perfect role model to inspire your team: Ace Hardware. Ace was named as one of the top ten customer service brands in America by Businessweek and ranked highest in its industry for customer satisfaction. Through revealing stories from Ace’s over-the-top work with customers, Shep explores the five tactical areas of customer amazement: leadership, culture, one-on-one, competitive edge, and community. Delivering amazing service requires everyone in your organization to step up and be a leader. It doesn’t take a title. It takes the right set of tools and principles. To help you empower employees at all levels, Shep brings the content to a deeply practical level. His 52 Amazement Tools—like “Ask the extra question” and “Focus on the customer, not the money”—are simple, clear, useful for almost anybody, and supported with compelling research and stories. Between these covers, you will find the tools and tactics you need to transform your company into a seriously customer-focused operation that will amaze every customer every time.




Statistics Done Wrong


Book Description

Scientific progress depends on good research, and good research needs good statistics. But statistical analysis is tricky to get right, even for the best and brightest of us. You'd be surprised how many scientists are doing it wrong. Statistics Done Wrong is a pithy, essential guide to statistical blunders in modern science that will show you how to keep your research blunder-free. You'll examine embarrassing errors and omissions in recent research, learn about the misconceptions and scientific politics that allow these mistakes to happen, and begin your quest to reform the way you and your peers do statistics. You'll find advice on: –Asking the right question, designing the right experiment, choosing the right statistical analysis, and sticking to the plan –How to think about p values, significance, insignificance, confidence intervals, and regression –Choosing the right sample size and avoiding false positives –Reporting your analysis and publishing your data and source code –Procedures to follow, precautions to take, and analytical software that can help Scientists: Read this concise, powerful guide to help you produce statistically sound research. Statisticians: Give this book to everyone you know. The first step toward statistics done right is Statistics Done Wrong.




How To Break Bad News


Book Description

For many health care professionals and social service providers, the hardest part of the job is breaking bad news. The news may be about a condition that is life-threatening (such as cancer or AIDS), disabling (such as multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis), or embarrassing (such as genital herpes). To date medical education has done little to train practitioners in coping with such situations. With this guide Robert Buckman and Yvonne Kason provide help. Using plain, intelligible language they outline the basic principles of breaking bad new and present a technique, or protocol, that can be easily learned. It draws on listening and interviewing skills that consider such factors as how much the patient knows and/or wants to know; how to identify the patient's agenda and understanding, and how to respond to his or her feelings about the information. They also discuss reactions of family and friends and of other members of the health care team. Based on Buckman's award-winning training videos and Kason's courses on interviewing skills for medical students, this volume is an indispensable aid for doctors, nurses, psychotherapists, social workers, and all those in related fields.




The Story Of An Hour


Book Description

Mrs. Louise Mallard, afflicted with a heart condition, reflects on the death of her husband from the safety of her locked room. Originally published in Vogue magazine, “The Story of an Hour” was retitled as “The Dream of an Hour,” when it was published amid much controversy under its new title a year later in St. Louis Life. “The Story of an Hour” was adapted to film in The Joy That Kills by director Tina Rathbone, which was part of a PBS anthology called American Playhouse. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.




The Sunbearer Trials


Book Description

Welcome to The Sunbearer Trials, where teen semidioses compete in a series of challenges with the highest of stakes, in this electric new Mexican-inspired fantasy from Aiden Thomas, the New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys. “Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. I’m just a Jade. I’m not a real hero.” As each new decade begins, the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the chaotic Obsidian gods at bay. Sol selects ten of the most worthy semidioses to compete in the Sunbearer Trials. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser has the greatest honor of all—they will be sacrificed to Sol, their body melted down to refuel the Sun Stones, protecting the world for another ten years. Teo, a seventeen-year-old Jade semidiós and the trans son of the goddess of birds, isn't worried about the Trials . . . at least, not for himself. His best friend, Niya is a Gold semidiós and a shoo-in for the Trials, and while he trusts her abilities, the odds of becoming the sacrifice is one-in-ten. But then, for the first time in over a century, the impossible happens. Sol chooses not one, but two Jade competitors. Teo, and Xio, the thirteen-year-old child of the god of bad luck. Now they must compete in five trials against Gold opponents who are more powerful and better trained. Worst of all, Teo’s annoyingly handsome ex-best friend and famous semidiós Hero, Aurelio is favored to win. Teo is determined to get himself and his friends through the trials unscathed—for fame, glory, and their own survival.




Drawing Funny


Book Description

'I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you can't learn cartooning, and it can't be taught.' And so begins Oslo Davis' illustrated book on how to draw gag cartoons. Talk about shoot yourself in the foot! But he's kidding, kind of. There are reasons why your terrible cartoons are not funny, and Oslo is very happy to point them out. He's also prepared to give you some advice, for what it's worth, using examples selected from more than twenty years' drawing for newspapers and magazines worldwide. Drawing Funny is a how-to guide for people who might never draw a cartoon in their life but always read the cartoons first in the New Yorker and want to know how it's done.




Don't Keep Your Day Job


Book Description

From the creator of the #1 podcast "Don't Keep Your Day Job," an inspiring book about turning your passion into profit "Heller pivots effortlessly from encouraging readers to accept “miraculous changes,” find their bliss, and examine their authentic selves to practical tips for building mass marketing email distribution lists and identifying web-based social media and teaching portals that allow small-business owners to capture additional revenue...both approachable and incisive." —Booklist From the creator of the #1 podcast "Don't Keep Your Day Job," an inspiring book about turning your passion into profit The pursuit of happiness is all about finding our purpose. We don't want to just go to work and build someone else’s dream, we want to do our life's work. But how do we find out what we’re supposed to contribute? What are those key ingredients that push those who succeed to launch their ideas high into the sky, while the rest of us remain stuck on the ground? Don’t Keep Your Day Job will get you fired up, ready to rip it open and use your zone of genius to add a little more sparkle to this world. Cathy Heller, host of the popular podcast Don’t Keep Your Day Job, shares wisdom, anecdotes, and practical suggestions from successful creative entrepreneurs and experts, including actress Jenna Fischer on rejection, Gretchen Rubin on the keys to happiness, Jen Sincero on having your best badass life, and so much more. You’ll learn essential steps like how to build your side hustle, how to find your tribe, how to reach for what you truly deserve, and how to ultimately turn your passion into profit and build a life you love.




Prophet of the Dead


Book Description

With Rashemen facing imminent destruction, Aoth and his companions go head to head with an army of undead, in this anticipated climax to the Brotherhood of the Griffon saga The heroes of the Brotherhood have been scattered by the rising tide of undead, unable to use their combined strength to avert the coming disaster in Rashemen. Aoth—separated from his black griffon, Jet—finds himself deep in the interior of Thay, where the price on his head pays dead or alive. Mercenary Jhesrhi Coldcreek and priestess Cera Euthros are lost in the deathways even as Lod, leader of the Eminence of Araunt, shepherds his undead minions through the same eldritch channels en route to corrupt the magical Urlingwood. Routed by the dastardly sellsword Mario Bez, Brotherhood ally Vandar Cherlinka is the lone survivor of his berserker lodge. Together with the Shou shadow sorcerer Dai Shan, he must find a way to nurse the injured Jet back to health amid the malevolence of the wintry north. All the while, agents of the Eminence of Araunt have infiltrated the masked witches, steering them toward doom from within. It will take several strokes of luck and help from unlikely sources to reunite our heroes in this fight to save Rashemen from the necrotic corruption of Lod and his army of undead.