Sway With Me


Book Description

She's All That goes desi in this hilarious, affecting, and sweetly romantic comedy by the author of More Than Just a Pretty Face. Arsalan has learned everything he knows from Nana, his 100-year-old great-grandfather. This includes the fact that when Nana dies, Arsalan will be completely alone in the world, except for his estranged and abusive father. So he turns to Beenish, the step-daughter of a prominent matchmaker, to find him a future life partner. Beenish's request in return? That Arsalan help her ruin her older sister's wedding with a spectacular dance she's been forbidden to perform. Despite knowing as little about dancing as he does about girls, Arsalan wades into Beenish's chaotic world to discover friends and family he never expected. And though Arsalan's old-school manners and Beenish's take-no-prisoners attitude clash every minute, they find themselves getting closer and closer - literally. All that's left to realize is that the thing they both really want is each other, if only they can get into step. Praise for MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE 'A deliciously entertaining rom-com' - Nandini Bajpai, author of A Match Made in Mehendi 'A laugh-out-loud yet heartwarming story about familial obligations, friendship, and love' - Sabina Khan, author of The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali 'Funny, open-hearted, and utterly charming... a spectacular debut' - Katie Henry, author of Heretics Anonymous 'Hilarious and teeming with heart... I am a forever fan' Erin Hahn, author of You'd Be Mine




Stoned Beyond Belief


Book Description

The ultimate love letter to the world’s most magical plant—weed—from the rapper, chef, TV star, and bestselling author of F*ck, That’s Delicious. This is an exploration of every corner of the pot galaxy, from highly scientific botanical analyses and the study of pot’s medicinal benefits to a guide to the wild world of weed paraphernalia. It’s also a very personal tribute to a substance Bronson refers to as life changing, horizon-expanding, a conduit for happiness, a connector. Weed is to Action Bronson what the madeleine was to Proust: the door to true consciousness. Organized loosely as 100 entries, including thirty-five recipes, and packed with illustrations and photos, Stoned Beyond Belief is a trippy and munchie-filled experience as well as an entertainingly valuable resource for weed enthusiasts and scholars. Stoned Beyond Belief will delight Action Bronson fans and pot aficionados all across the universe.




Sway


Book Description

A fascinating journey into the hidden psychological influences that derail our decision-making, Sway will change the way you think about the way you think. Why is it so difficult to sell a plummeting stock or end a doomed relationship? Why do we listen to advice just because it came from someone “important”? Why are we more likely to fall in love when there’s danger involved? In Sway, renowned organizational thinker Ori Brafman and his brother, psychologist Rom Brafman, answer all these questions and more. Drawing on cutting-edge research from the fields of social psychology, behavioral economics, and organizational behavior, Sway reveals dynamic forces that influence every aspect of our personal and business lives, including loss aversion (our tendency to go to great lengths to avoid perceived losses), the diagnosis bias (our inability to reevaluate our initial diagnosis of a person or situation), and the “chameleon effect” (our tendency to take on characteristics that have been arbitrarily assigned to us). Sway introduces us to the Harvard Business School professor who got his students to pay $204 for a $20 bill, the head of airline safety whose disregard for his years of training led to the transformation of an entire industry, and the football coach who turned conventional strategy on its head to lead his team to victory. We also learn the curse of the NBA draft, discover why interviews are a terrible way to gauge future job performance, and go inside a session with the Supreme Court to see how the world’s most powerful justices avoid the dangers of group dynamics. Every once in a while, a book comes along that not only challenges our views of the world but changes the way we think. In Sway, Ori and Rom Brafman not only uncover rational explanations for a wide variety of irrational behaviors but also point readers toward ways to avoid succumbing to their pull.




Sway


Book Description

A YALSA 2015 Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick In Kat Spears's hilarious and often poignant debut, high school senior Jesse Alderman, or "Sway," as he's known, could sell hell to a bishop. He also specializes in getting things people want---term papers, a date with the prom queen, fake IDs. He has few close friends and he never EVER lets emotions get in the way. For Jesse, life is simply a series of business transactions. But when Ken Foster, captain of the football team, leading candidate for homecoming king, and all-around jerk, hires Jesse to help him win the heart of the angelic Bridget Smalley, Jesse finds himself feeling all sorts of things. While following Bridget and learning the intimate details of her life, he falls helplessly in love for the very first time. He also finds himself in an accidental friendship with Bridget's belligerent and self-pitying younger brother who has cerebral palsy. Suddenly, Jesse is visiting old folks at a nursing home in order to run into Bridget, and offering his time to help the less fortunate, all the while developing a bond with this young man who idolizes him. Could the tin man really have a heart after all? A Cyrano de Bergerac story with a modern twist, Sway is told from Jesse's point of view with unapologetic truth and biting humor, his observations about the world around him untempered by empathy or compassion---until Bridget's presence in his life forces him to confront his quiet devastation over a life-changing event a year earlier and maybe, just maybe, feel something again.




Sway


Book Description

After his father died on 9/11 in the World Trade Center, nine-year-old Matthew John Bocchi began an obsessive quest to find out exactly how he died. He researched video tapes, pictures, blogs, anything that could potentially answer the question looming in his mind: was his father one of the jumpers? In the first memoir told by a child of 9/11, Matt intimately delves into the psychological and emotional torment that ensued after his father’s death. With heartbreaking vulnerability, he details how his incessant quest resulted in a devastating act of violence that stripped his innocence as a young man. As Matt spirals down a bottomless pit of drug abuse, he willfully risks his life in search of the next high—all in an attempt to forget his past. Now at twenty-eight years old and sober, he recounts his unique story—one full of heartbreak and despair, grief and uncertainty, but most importantly, happiness and hope. The lesson he teaches us is clear but intricate: No matter how far you fall, you can always rise again. No matter how far you stray, you can always find your way home. And no matter how wide you sway, you can always pick up the pieces and stand tall.




How Not to Get Shot


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS FINALIST "Hilarious yet soul-shaking." —Black Enterprise The fearless comedy legend—one of the “Original Kings of Comedy”—hilariously breaks down the wisdom of white people, advice that has been killing black folks in America for four hundred years and counting. 200 years ago, white people told black folks, “‘I suggest you pick the cotton if you don’t like getting whipped.” Today, it’s “comply with police orders if you don’t want to get shot.” Now comedian/activist D. L. Hughley–one the Original Kings of Comedy–confronts and remixes white people’s “advice” in this “hilarious examination of the current state of race relations in the United States” (Publishers Weekly). In America, a black man is three times more likely to be killed in encounters with police than a white guy. If only he hadcomplied with the cop, he might be alive today, pundits say in the aftermath of the latest shooting of an unarmed black man. Or, Maybe he shouldn’t have worn that hoodie … or, moved moreslowly … not been out so late … Wait, why are black peopleallowed to drive, anyway? This isn’t a new phenomenon. White people have been giving “advice” to black folks for as long as anyone can remember, telling them how to pick cotton, where to sit on a bus, what neighborhood to live in, when they can vote, and how to wear our pants. Despite centuries of whites’ advice, it seems black people still aren’t listening, and the results are tragic. Now, at last, activist, comedian, and New York Times bestselling author D. L. Hughley offers How Notto Get Shot, an illustrated how-to guide for black people, full of insight from white people, translated by one of the funniest black dudes on the planet. In these pages you will learn how to act, dress, speak, walk, and drive in the safest manner possible. You also will finally understand the white mind. It is a book that can save lives. Or at least laugh through the pain. Black people: Are you ready to not get shot! White people: Do you want to learn how to help the cause? Let’s go!




Life Will Be the Death of Me


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The funny, sad, super-honest, all-true story of Chelsea Handler’s year of self-discovery—featuring a nerdily brilliant psychiatrist, a shaman, four Chow Chows, some well-placed security cameras, various family members (living and departed), friends, assistants, and a lot of edibles A SKIMM READS PICK • “This will be one of your favorite books of all time.”—Amy Schumer In a haze of vape smoke on a rare windy night in L.A. in the fall of 2016, Chelsea Handler daydreams about what life will be like with a woman in the White House. And then Donald Trump happens. In a torpor of despair, she decides that she’s had enough of the privileged bubble she’s lived in—a bubble within a bubble—and that it’s time to make some changes, both in her personal life and in the world at large. At home, she embarks on a year of self-sufficiency—learning how to work the remote, how to pick up dog shit, where to find the toaster. She meets her match in an earnest, brainy psychiatrist and enters into therapy, prepared to do the heavy lifting required to look within and make sense of a childhood marked by love and loss and to figure out why people are afraid of her. She becomes politically active—finding her voice as an advocate for change, having difficult conversations, and energizing her base. In the process, she develops a healthy fixation on Special Counsel Robert Mueller and, through unflinching self-reflection and psychological excavation, unearths some glittering truths that light up the road ahead. Thrillingly honest, insightful, and deeply, darkly funny, Chelsea Handler’s memoir keeps readers laughing, even as it inspires us to look within and ask ourselves what really matters in our own lives. Praise for Life Will Be the Death of Me “You thought you knew Chelsea Handler—and she thought she knew herself—but in her new book, she discovers that true progress lies in the direction we haven’t been.”—Gloria Steinem “I always wondered what it would be like to watch Chelsea Handler in session with her therapist. Now I know.”—Ellen DeGeneres “I love this book not just because it made me laugh or because I learned that I feel the same way about certain people in politics as Chelsea does. I love this book because I feel like I finally really got to know Chelsea Handler after all these years. Thank you for sharing, Chelsea!”—Tiffany Haddish




Make Me Rain


Book Description

One of America’s most celebrated poets challenges us with this powerful and deeply personal collection of verse that speaks to the injustices of society while illuminating the depths of her own heart. For more than fifty years, Nikki Giovanni’s poetry has dazzled and inspired readers. As sharp and outspoken as ever, she returns with this profound book of poetry in which she continues to call attention to injustice and racism, celebrate Black culture and Black lives, and and give readers an unfiltered look into her own experiences. In Make Me Rain, she celebrates her loved ones and unapologetically declares her pride in her Black heritage, while exploring the enduring impact of the twin sins of racism and white nationalism. Giovanni reaffirms her place as a uniquely vibrant and relevant American voice with poems such as “I Come from Athletes” and “Rainy Days”—calling out segregation and Donald Trump; as well as “Unloved (for Aunt Cleota)” and “”When I Could No Longer”—her personal elegy for the relatives who saved her from an abusive home life. Stirring, provocative, and resonant, the poems in Make Me Rain pierce the heart and nourish the soul.




Sway


Book Description

'Passionate and urgent.' Guardian, Book of the Week 'A must-read for all.' Stylist, best new books for 2020 'Cogently argued and intensely persuasive. Groundbreaking Work.' Waterstones, best new books of April 'Impressive and much-needed.' Financial Times, Best Business Books April to June 'Admirably detailed.' Prospect Magazine 'Practical, useful, readable and essential for the times we are living in.' Nikesh Shukla 'An eye-opening book that I hope will be widely read.' Angela Saini 'If you think you don't need to read this book, you really need to read this book.' Jane Garvey 'An eye-opening book looking at unconscious bias. Meticulously researched and well written. It will make you think hard about the judgements you make. An essential read for our times.' Kavita Puri, BBC Journalist and author For the first time, behavioural and data scientist, activist and writer Dr Pragya Agarwal unravels the way our implicit or 'unintentional' biases affect the way we communicate and perceive the world, how they affect our decision-making, and how they reinforce and perpetuate systemic and structural inequalities. Sway is a thoroughly researched and comprehensive look at unconscious bias and how it impacts day-to-day life, from job interviews to romantic relationships to saving for retirement. It covers a huge number of sensitive topics - sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, colourism - with tact, and combines statistics with stories to paint a fuller picture and enhance understanding. Throughout, Pragya clearly delineates theories with a solid grounding in science, answering questions such as: do our roots for prejudice lie in our evolutionary past? What happens in our brains when we are biased? How has bias affected technology? If we don't know about it, are we really responsible for it? At a time when partisan political ideologies are taking centre stage, and we struggle to make sense of who we are and who we want to be, it is crucial that we understand why we act the way we do. This book will enables us to open our eyes to our own biases in a scientific and non-judgmental way.




More Than Just a Pretty Face


Book Description

'A deliciously entertaining rom-com.' - Nandini Bajpai, author of A Match Made in Mehendi Danyal Jilani doesn't lack confidence. He may not be the smartest guy in the room, but he's funny, gorgeous, and going to make a great chef one day. His father doesn't approve of his career choice, but that hardly matters. What does matter is the opinion of Danyal's longtime crush, the perfect-in-all-ways Kaval, and her family, who consider him a less than ideal arranged marriage prospect. When Danyal gets selected for Renaissance Man, a school-wide academic championship, it's the perfect opportunity to show everyone he's smarter than they think. He recruits the brilliant, totally-uninterested-in-him Bisma to help with the competition, but the more time Danyal spends with her . . . the more he learns from her...the more he cooks for her . . . the more he realizes that happiness may be staring him right in his pretty face. In this young adult debut full of depth and heart, author Syed M. Masood will have readers laughing, sighing, tearing up, and shouting 'YES!' at the top of their lungs. Perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon and Jenny Han. Praise for MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE 'A laugh-out-loud yet heartwarming story about familial obligations, friendship, and love. Syed M. Masood has created an unforgettable cast of characters with the utterly charming, hilarious, and most endearing Danyal Jilani at the center of it. A thoroughly enjoyable read and a great addition to any bookshelf.' - Sabina Khan, author of The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali 'Funny, open-hearted, and utterly charming, More Than Just a Pretty Face perfectly captures the joys of friendship and first love, as well as all the complexities of identity, faith, and family. This is a spectacular debut.' - Katie Henry, author of Heretics Anonymous 'Hilarious and teeming with heart, More Than Just a Pretty Face challenged me, wounded me, made me laugh, and made me love. Danyal has secured his place as a heroic protagonist for the ages who only wants the very best for those he loves. His friends and family are so lucky to have him, and readers will be lucky to have Syed M. Masood's debut. I am a forever fan.' Erin Hahn, author of You'd Be Mine