Hardcover Nonfiction

by Randall Munroe · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have an enormous, dedicated following, as do his deeply researched answers to his fans' strangest questions. The queries he receives range from merely odd to downright diabolical: - What if I took a swim in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool? - Could you build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns? - What if a Richter 15 earthquake hit New York City? - Are fire tornadoes possible? His responses are masterpieces of clarity and wit, gleefully and accurately explaining everything from the relativistic effects of a baseball pitched at near the speed of light to the many horrible ways you could die while building a periodic table out of all the actual elements. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What If? is an informative feast for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.

by Phil Robertson with Mark Schlabach · Howard Books

Following the huge success of Happy, Happy, Happy, the Number One US bestseller that has sold over 1.25 million copies, Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson shares the principles that have shaped his career and his personal, business, political, hunting, faith and family life. In this inspirational and entertaining book, you will learn what makes Phil Robertson tick. Robertson shares his views on faith-and how it has totally changed his way of life and how he treats others; family-how he raised his kids and is raising grandkids while teaching them the life principles he lives by; ducks-and the business principles that started the Duck Commander empire; marriage-including what he's learned from his own marriage; and of course, his opinions on controversial topics like gun control, taxes, prayer in school, and the government. UnPHILtered is the ultimate guide to everything Phil Robertson believes in. Balancing his sometimes off-the-wall comments with his strong focus on home and family life, it is sure to spark discussion, laughs, and a sincere appreciation for Phil's unique approach to life.

by Ben Carson with Candy Carson · Sentinel

PLEASE NOTE: This is a summary of the book and NOT the original book. One Nation by Ben Carson M.D and Candy Carson - A 30-minute Summary Inside this Instaread Summary: Overview of the entire book Introduction to the Important people in the book Summary and analysis of all the chapters in the book Key Takeaways of the book A Reader's Perspective Preview of this summary: Chapter 1 To secure the future for the next generation, Americans need to take quick, decisive, and prayerful action. Problems facing the U.S. today include: lack of education, bigotry, elitism, moral issues that have divided the people, and financial issues. The nation's leaders need to return to morality, common sense, and manners in order to work together and find solutions. Individuals should educate themselves and their children, hold their political officials accountable, learn how to compromise, and pray for wisdom. Bullying seems to be on the rise in the nation's schools. Children are learning to be bullies by watching the adults in their lives. In order to put an end to the bullying problem in the schools, adults need to set a good example by working harder to see things from the other person's perspective, ignoring the rules of political correctness, and engaging in intelligent discussions. In addition to common sense and manners, people need to be educated. A good education gives a person power. Courage is also required to stand up to secular progressives and other bad influences who want to lead the U.S. away from the values set up by the founding fathers in the Constitution. If individuals take action on their own, collectively they can pass on to the next generation a country they can be proud of....

by Joan Rivers · Berkley

The legendary comedian presents the contents of her diary, offering insights, quips, musings, and critiques on her daily life, pop culture, and celebrities.

by Hampton Sides · Doubleday

From the best-selling author of Ghost Soldiers comes a taut, intense narrative about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the largest manhunt in American history. Reprint. A best-selling book.

by Dinesh D'Souza · Regnery

Argues that President Obama intends to weaken America so that other nations may rise in the name of global fairness, claiming that a second Obama term would bring about defense cuts and increased dependence on foreign energy.

by Daniel J. Levitin · Dutton

New York Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin shifts his keen insights from your brain on music to your brain in a sea of details. The information age is drowning us with an unprecedented deluge of data. At the same time, we’re expected to make more—and faster—decisions about our lives than ever before. No wonder, then, that the average American reports frequently losing car keys or reading glasses, missing appointments, and feeling worn out by the effort required just to keep up. But somehow some people become quite accomplished at managing information flow. In The Organized Mind, Daniel J. Levitin, PhD, uses the latest brain science to demonstrate how those people excel—and how readers can use their methods to regain a sense of mastery over the way they organize their homes, workplaces, and time. With lively, entertaining chapters on everything from the kitchen junk drawer to health care to executive office workflow, Levitin reveals how new research into the cognitive neuroscience of attention and memory can be applied to the challenges of our daily lives. This Is Your Brain on Music showed how to better play and appreciate music through an understanding of how the brain works. The Organized Mind shows how to navigate the churning flood of information in the twenty-first century with the same neuroscientific perspective.

by Dana Goldstein · Doubleday

In her groundbreaking history of 175 years of American education, Dana Goldstein finds answers in the past to the controversies that plague our public schools today. Teaching is a wildly contentious profession in America, one attacked and admired in equal measure. In The Teacher Wars, a rich, lively, and unprecedented history of public school teaching, Dana Goldstein reveals that teachers have been similarly embattled for nearly two centuries. From the genteel founding of the common schools movement in the nineteenth century to the violent inner-city teacher strikes of the 1960s and '70s, from the dispatching of Northeastern women to frontier schoolhouses to the founding of Teach for America on the Princeton University campus in 1989, Goldstein shows that the same issues have continued to bedevil us: Who should teach? What should be taught? Who should be held accountable for how our children learn? She uncovers the surprising roots of hot button issues, from teacher tenure to charter schools, and finds that recent popular ideas to improve schools—instituting merit pay, evaluating teachers by student test scores, ranking and firing veteran teachers, and recruiting “elite” graduates to teach—are all approaches that have been tried in the past without producing widespread change. And she also discovers an emerging effort that stands a real chance of transforming our schools for the better: drawing on the best practices of the three million public school teachers we already have in order to improve learning throughout our nation’s classrooms. The Teacher Wars upends the conversation about American education by bringing the lessons of history to bear on the dilemmas we confront today. By asking “How did we get here?” Dana Goldstein brilliantly illuminates the path forward.

by Laura Hillenbrand · Random House

by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner · Morrow/HarperCollins

From the rule-breaking authors of international bestsellers Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics, this is the ultimate guide to how to Think Like a Freak The Freakonomics books have come to stand for something: challenging conventional wisdom; using data rather than emotion to answer questions; and learning to unravel the world's secret codes. Now Levitt and Dubner have gathered up what they have learned and turned it into a readable and practical toolkit for thinking differently - thinking, that is, like a Freak. Whether you are interested in the best way to improve your odds in penalty kicks, or in major global reforms, here is a blueprint for an entirely new way to solve problems. Along the way, you'll learn how the techniques of a Japanese hot-dog-eating champion can help you, the reason an Australian doctor swallowed a batch of dangerous bacteria, why Nigerian e-mail scammers make a point of saying they're from Nigeria, and why Van Halen's demanding tour contract banning brown M&Ms was really a safety measure. You'll learn why sometimes it's best to put away your moral compass, and smarter to think like a child. You will be given a master class in incentives-because for better or worse, incentives rule our world. And you will learn to quit before you fail, because you can't solve tomorrow's problem if you aren't willing to abandon today's dud. Levitt and Dubner see the world like no one else. Now you can too. Never before have such iconoclastic thinkers been so revealing - and so much fun to read.

by Paul Ryan · Twelve

"THE WAY FORWARD challenges conventional thinking, outlines his political vision for 2014 and beyond, and shows how essential conservatism is for the future of our nation. Beginning with a careful analysis of the 2012 election--including a look at the challenge the GOP had in reaching a majority of voters and the prevalence of identity politics--Ryan examines the state of the Republican party and dissects its challenges going forward. THE WAY FORWARD also offers a detailed critique of not only President Obama but of the progressive movement as a whole--its genesis, its underlying beliefs and philosophies, and how its policies are steering the country to certain ruin. Culminating in a plan for the future, THE WAY FORWARD argues that the Republican Party is and must remain a conservative party, emphasizing conservatism in a way that demonstrates how it can modernize and appeal to both our deepest concerns and highest ideals. "--

by Malcolm Gladwell · Little, Brown

by Thomas Piketty · Belknap

WARNING: This is not the actual book Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty. Do not buy this if you are looking for a full copy of this book. Summary of Thomas Piketty's book. In the U.S., for the last 40 years, the top 1 percent of the population have drastically increased their share in total income. Piketty explains issues of income concentration and provides an analysis of capitalism. He demonstrates that the rising inequality is a crucial part of modern capitalism. Check out new books by I.K. Mullins: ”> Business Adventures by John Brooks (Bill Gates' Favorite Business Book) - Summary, Key Ideas and Facts ”> Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner - Summary, Key Facts and Ideas ”> One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America's Future by Ben Carson, Candy Carson - Summary, Key Facts and Ideas--------------------This is not Piketty's book. This is a summary of Piketty's book. It provides a detailed and concise description of the books' content, key ideas and facts. Book summaries published by Brief, Concise and to the Point Publishing are designed to keep readers up to date and knowledgeable regarding new and significant books. Book summaries are perfect for people, especially busy professionals, who do not have the time to read books in their entirety. The main benefits of reading book summaries published by Brief, Concise and to the Point Publishing:1. Our book summaries help you save your time and money. Instead of spending days or even weeks reading an important book, simply take one or two hours to read our concise book summary. It will introduce you to the book's primary content, ideas, arguments and facts. It will also help you decide whether it is worthwhile to invest your time and money in the entire book. 2. Our book summaries are truly comprehensive. Some other publishers' superficial book summaries do not exceed 15 to 20 pages, although they are presented as lengthy summaries. Our extensive book summaries include all the essential information you need to know.3. Our books help you retain more information pertaining to the book's content. Academic studies have proven that people retain more of what they read in a summary as compared with what they remember after reading a book. Please note that according to the U.S. copyright law, the ideas and facts presented in books, as well as book titles, are not protected by copyright law.

by Ronald Kessler · Crown Forum

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Ron Kessler appears to get everything first.”—Slate As in a play, presidents, vice presidents, and presidential candidates perform onstage for the public and the media. What the nation’s leaders are really like and what goes on behind the scenes remain hidden. Secret Service agents have a front-row seat on their private lives and those of their wives and children. Crammed with new headline-making revelations, The First Family Detail by New York Times bestselling author Ronald Kessler tells that eye-opening, uncensored story. The First Family Detail reveals: • Vice President Joe Biden regularly orders the Secret Service to keep his military aide with the nuclear football a mile behind his motorcade, potentially leaving the country unable to retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack. • Secret Service agents discovered that former president Bill Clinton has a blond mistress—code-named Energizer by agents—who lives near the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua, New York. • The Secret Service covered up the fact that President Ronald Reagan’s White House staff overruled the agency to let unscreened spectators get close to Reagan as he left the Washington Hilton, allowing John W. Hinckley Jr. to shoot the president. • Because Hillary Clinton is so nasty to agents, being assigned to her protective detail is considered a form of punishment and the worst assignment in the Secret Service. “Kessler’s such a skilled storyteller, you almost forget this is dead-serious nonfiction.”—Newsweek

by William Deresiewicz · Free Press

"A groundbreaking manifesto for people searching for the kind of insight on leading, thinking, and living that elite schools should be--but aren't--providing"--

by Ben Macintyre · Crown

From bestselling author Ben Macintyre, the true untold story of history's most famous traitor