Check These Out!

Why Do Men Have Nipples? & Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex?
Mark Leyner & Billy Goldberg

These two books offer real factual and really funny answers to some of the big questions about the oddities of our bodies.

In the first book:
•How do people in wheelchairs have sex?
•Why do I get a killer headache when I suck down my milkshake too fast?
•Can I lose my contact lens inside my head forever?
•Why does asparagus make my pee smell?
•Why do old people grow hair on their ears?
•Is the old adage “beer before liquor, never sicker, liquor before beer . . .” really true?

In the second book:
• Why do you have a “bionic” sense of smell when you’re pregnant?
• Does peeing in the shower cure athlete’s foot?
• Is a dog’s mouth clean?
• Can you breastfeed with fake boobs?
• Does thumb sucking cause buckteeth?
• Do your eyebrows grow back if shaved?

Blink

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Malcolm Gladwell

Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology, the author shows how the difference between good and bad decision-making has nothing to do with how much information can be processed quickly, but on the few particular details on which people focus.

SuperFoods Rx

SuperFoods Rx
Steven Pratt

(From the Publisher) Everyone knows that an apple is a better snack than potato chips. But did you know that a daily handful of walnuts or a bowl of blueberries can actually improve your health and well-being and increase your lifespan? Backed by proven research on fourteen of the most nutrient-dense, powerhouse foods, SuperFoods Rx puts the tools in your hand—and on your plate—that will give you more energy, greater protection against disease, and a healthier overall lifestyle now and for the future, whether you’re 23 or 63.

*Beans - help reduce obesity
*Blueberries - lower the risk of cardiovascular disease
*Broccoli - lowers the incidence of cataracts and fights birth defects
*Oats - reduce the risk of type II diabetes
*Oranges - help prevent strokes
*Pumpkin - lowers the risk of various cancers
*Wild Salmon - lessens the risk of heart disease
*Soy - lowers cholesterol
*Spinach - decreases the chance of cardiovascular disease and age-related macular degeneration
*Tea - helps to prevent osteoporosis
*Tomatoes - raise the skin’s sun protection factor
*Turkey - helps build a strong immune system
*Walnuts - reduce the risk of developing coronary heat disease, diabetes and cancer
*Yogurt - promotes strong bones and a healthy heart

Branded Nation

Branded Nation
James Twitchell

Branding has become so successful and so ubiquitous that even cultural institutions have embraced it. In this witty and trenchant social analysis, James Twitchell shows how churches, universities, and museums have learned to embrace Madison Avenue rather than risk losing market share.

“Branded Nation” uncovers a society where megachurches resemble shopping malls (and not by accident); where a university lives or dies on the talents of its image makers — and its ranking in “U.S. News & World Report; ” and where museums have turned to motorcycle exhibits and fashion shows to bolster revenue, even franchising their own institutions into brands. In short, says Twitchell, high culture is beginning to look more and more like the rest of our culture. But in perhaps his most subversive observation, he doesn”t condemn this trend; on the contrary, he believes that branding may be invigorating our high culture, bringing it to new audiences and making it a more integral part of our lives.

Paradox of Choice

The Paradox of Choice
Barry Schwartz

Whether we’re buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions–both big and small–have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented.

We assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression.

In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice–the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish–becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice–from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs–has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse.

Little Book of Stress Relief

The Little Book of Stress Relief
David Posen

“We have more control than we think. If we take control of the things we do control, well have much more energy and resilience to deal with the other stressors in our lives.”

Intense stress has become an integral part of how we live. In controlled doses, it helps us perform better, but left unchecked stress can leave us feeling fatigued, helpless and overwhelmed and can lead to any number of health complications.

In The Little Book of Stress Relief, stress expert Dr. David Posen teaches us how to take back control of our lives and regain a satisfying work-life balance. Dr. Posen proposes that we change our fundamental thinking and lifestyle choices by becoming aware of our behaviour, making informed choices and giving ourselves permission to make the necessary changes in our day-to-day lives.

In 52 short sessions, one for each week of the year, Dr. Posen isolates specific causes of stress and provides detailed “prescriptions” for overcoming them, as well as easy-to-follow activities and exercises that will help with everything from getting enough sleep to overcoming procrastination to perfecting the art of prioritizing. You’ll also learn how to avoid letting other peoples stress rub off on you. The Little Book of Stress Relief guides us through making small changes every day, changes that once implemented can have a profound positive effect on the quality of our lives.

China Inc.

China Inc.
Ted C. Fishman

China today is visible everywhere — in the news, in the economic pressures battering the globe, in our workplaces, and in every trip to the store. Provocative, timely, and essential — and updated with new statistics and information — this dramatic account of China’’s growing dominance as an industrial superpower by journalist Ted C. Fishman explains how the profound shift in the world economic order has occurred — and why it already affects us all.

How has an enormous country once hobbled by poverty and Communist ideology come to be the supercharged center of global capitalism? What does it mean that China now grows three times faster than the United States? Why do nearly all of the world’’s biggest companies have large operations in China? What does the corporate march into China mean for workers left behind in America, Europe, and the rest of the world?

Meanwhile, what makes China’’s emerging corporations so dangerously competitive? What will happen when China manufactures nearly everything — computers, cars, jumbo jets, and pharmaceuticals — that the United States and Europe can, at perhaps half the cost? How do these developments reach around the world and straight into all of our lives?

These are ground-shaking questions, and “China, Inc.” provides answers.

Why We Buy

Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping
Paco Underhill

Is there a method to our madness when it comes to shopping? Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a Sherlock Holmes for retailers,” author and research company CEO Paco Underhill answers with a definitive “yes” in this witty, eye-opening report on our ever-evolving consumer culture. Why We Buy is based on hard data gleaned from thousands of hours of field research–in shopping malls, department stores, and supermarkets across America. With his team of sleuths tracking our every move, Paco Underhill lays bare the struggle among merchants, marketers, and increasingly knowledgeable consumers for control.

All Marketers Are Liars

All Marketers Are Liars
Seth Godin

The new rule of marketing is that it doesn”t matter if something is actually better or faster or more efficient. What matters is whether consumers believe the story. Godin teaches readers to create a story that fits the consumer’’s world view, a story they will intuitively embrace and share with friends.

Nickel & Dimed

Nickel and Dimed
Barbara Ehrenreich

Millions of Americans work for poverty-level wages, and one day Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 to $7 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, taking the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon discovered that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts. And one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors.Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generositya land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate strategies for survival. Instantly acclaimed for its insight, humor, and passion, this book is changing the way America perceives its working poor.

Why Men Love Bitches

Why Men Love Bitches
Sherry Argov

Like a big sister every woman wishes she had — and the femme fatal every man wants to figure out — Sherry gives straight no-nonsense advice women need to hear: how to find love through self-esteem, power, and the “edge” — without compromising femininity or virtue. Sherry defines the “new and improved bitch” as independent, mysterious, passionate, in control, and, at the same time, lets the man long for her — instead of the other way around.

Full of much-needed advice, hilarious real dating scenarios, “she says/he thinks” tables, and the author’’s special “attraction principles, ” Why Men Love Bitches shows women how to always be unpredictable, exciting, strong, and ever so cool.

The Four Agreements

The Four Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz

Born into a Mexican family of traditional healers, Don Miguel Ruiz never strayed too far from his Toltec roots. He has used the beliefs of his ancestors to guide him through life, and in The Four Agreements, he shares them in a way that lets anyone take advantage of their wisdom. What are these agreements?

Be impeccable with your word.
Say only what you mean.
Don’t take anything personally.
Don’t make assumptions.

Written in a sweeping style that draws on lore and life, it is certain to show the way to a new kind of inner freedom that will permeate every aspect of your life.

Voice of Knowledge

The Voice of Knowledge
Don Miguel Ruiz

The Voice of Knowledge is the fourth book in the Toltec Wisdom series by the best-selling author of The Four Agreements. Don Miguel Ruiz explores the concept of “impeccability of the word” as a simple yet potent prescription for countering the judgmental inner “voice of knowledge.” Adhering to “the word” - saying only what you mean, refusing to speak against you - allows anyone to transform those inner tyrannical thoughts into a voice of self-trust and integrity. Knowledge then becomes an ally, and life becomes an expression of the authentic self.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman

Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until Emotional Intelligence, we could only guess why. Daniel Goleman’’s brilliant report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers startling new insight into our “two minds”–the rational and the emotional–and how they together shape our destiny.

Through vivid examples, Goleman delineates the five crucial skills of emotional intelligence, and shows how they determine our success in relationships, work, and even our physical well-being. What emerges is an entirely new way to talk about being smart.

The best news is that “emotional literacy” is not fixed early in life. Every parent, every teacher, every business leader, and everyone interested in a more civil society, has a stake in this compelling vision of human possibility.

Who Moved My Cheese

Who Moved My Cheese?
Spencer Johnson

Using the many-faceted cheese as a microcosm for life’s truths, Spencer Johnson asks Who Moved My Cheese? Like biting into an unknown cheese for the first time - we hope it’ll be Brie and not blue cheese - we must be ready to accept life’s surprises. Johnson offers provocative advice on why there’s more to life than solid dependable cheddar and why expanding our horizons means trying the world’s cheeses - Finnish lappi, fabulous feta - and how enjoying new “cheese” frees us up for life’s possibilities in today’s changing world. Go on. Take a bite of a new cheese and find out what you really want.

Fast Food Nation

Fast Food Nation
Eric Schlosser

Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That’s a lengthy list of charges, but Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.

Schlosser’s myth-shattering survey stretches from California’s subdivisions, where the business was born, to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike, where many of fast food’s flavors are concocted. Along the way, he unearths a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths — from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture, and even real estate.

Blue Day Book

Books By Bradley Trevor Greive

Each book is a collection of amusing, poignant animal photos with inspirational text.