Jill Taylor was a 37-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientistwhen a blood vessel exploded in her brain. Through the eyes of acurious scientist, she watched her mind deteriorate whereby shecould not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life.Because of her understanding of the brain, her respect for thecells in her body, and an amazing mother, Jill completelyrecovered. In My Stroke of Insight, she shares her recommendationsfor recovery and the insight she gained into the unique functionsof the two halves of her brain. When she lost the skills of herleft brain, her consciousness shifted away from normal realitywhere she felt "at one with the universe." Taylor helps others notonly rebuild their brains from trauma, but helps those of us withnormal brains better understand how we can consciously influencethe neural circuitry underlying what we think, how we feel and howwe react to life's circumstances.

In Paris for a weekend visit, Elizabeth Bard sat down to lunchwith a handsome Frenchman--and never went home again. Was it love at first sight? Or was it the way her knife slideffortlessly through her pavé au poivre, the steak's pinkjuices puddling into the buttery pepper sauce? LUNCH IN PARIS is amemoir about a young American woman caught up in two passionatelove affairs--one with her new beau, Gwendal, the other with Frenchcuisine. Packing her bags for a new life in the world's mostromantic city, Elizabeth is plunged into a world of bustlingopen-air markets, hipster bistros, and size 2 femmesfatales . She learns to gut her first fish (with a little helpfrom Jane Austen), soothe pangs of homesickness (with the rise of achocolate soufflé) and develops a crush on her local butcher (whobears a striking resemblance to Matt Dillon). Elizabeth finds thatthe deeper she immerses herself in the world of French cuisine, themore Paris itself begins to translate. French culture, shediscovers, is not unlik

The Door, Margaret Atwood's first book of poetry since Morningin the Burned House, is a magnificent achievement. Here inpaperback for the first time, these fifty lucid, urgent poems rangein tone from lyric to ironic to mediative to prophetic, and insubject from the personal to the political, viewed in its broadestsense. They investigate the mysterious writing of poetry itself, aswell as the passage of time and our shared sense of mortality.Brave and compassionate, The Door interrogates the certainties thatwe build our lives on, and reminds us once again of MargaretAtwood's unique accomplishments as one of the finest and mostcelebrated writers of our time.

The editors of the best-selling rediscovered Tolkien novelRoverandom present an expanded fiftieth anniversary edition ofTolkien's beloved classic Farmer Giles of Ham, complete with a map,the original story outline, the original first-editionillustrations by Pauline Baynes, and the author's notes for anunpublished sequel. Farmer Giles of Ham is a light-hearted satirefor readers of all ages that tells the tale of a reluctant hero whomust save his village from a dragon. It is a small gem of a talethat grows more delightful with each rereading.

Meet Sugar, a nineteen-year-old prostitute innineteenth-century London who yearns for escape to a better life.From the brothel of the terrifying Mrs. Castaway, she begins herascent through society, meeting a host of lovable, maddening,unforgettable characters on the way. They begin with WilliamRackham, an egotistical perfume magnate whose empire is fueled byhis lust for Sugar; his unhinged, child-like wife Agnes; hismysteriously hidden-away daughter, Sophie; and his pious brotherHenry, foiled in his devotional calling by a persistentlyless-than-chaste love for the Widow Fox. All this is overseen byassorted preening socialites, drunken journalists, untrustworthyservants, vile guttersnipes, and whores of all stripes andpersuasions. Teeming with life, this is a big, juicy must-read of a novel thathas enthralled hundreds of thousands of readers-and will continueto do so for years to come.

From the moment these two legendary players took the court onopposing sides, they engaged in a fierce physical and psychologicalbattle. In Celtic green was Larry Bird, the hick from French Lick,with laser-beam focus, relentless determination, and a deadly jumpshot, a player who demanded excellence from everyone around him andwhose caustic wit left opponents quaking in their high-tops. MagicJohnson was Mr. Showtime, a magnetic personality with all the rightmoves. Young, indomitable, he was a pied piper in purple and gold.And he burned with an inextinguishable desire to win. Their uncommonly competitive relationship came to symbolize themost thrilling rivalry in the NBA—East vs. West, physical vs.finesse, old school vs. Showtime, even white vs. black. Each pushedthe other to greatness, and together Bird and Johnson collectedeight NBA Championships and six MVP awards, helping to save afloundering NBA. At the start they were bitter rivals, but alongthe way they became lifelong friends.

In a perfect pairing of talent, this volume blends twentyillustrations by Peter SA-s with Jorge Luis Borgesas 1957compilation of 116 astrange creatures conceived through time andspace by the human imagination, a from dragons and centaurs toLewis Carrollas Cheshire Cat and the Morlocks of H. G. Wellsas "TheTime Machine." A lavish feast of exotica brought vividly to lifewith art commissioned specifically for this volume, "The Book ofImaginary Beings" will delight readers of classic fantasy as wellas Borgesas many admirers.

Woolf continually used stories and sketches to experiment withnarrative models and themes for her novels. This collection ofnearly fifty pieces brings together the contents of two publishedvolumes, A Haunted House and Mrs. Dalloway's Party; a number ofuncollected stories; and several previously unpublished pieces.Edited and with an Introduction by Susan Dick.

THE ANIMAL DIALOGUES tells of Craig Childs' own chillingexperiences among the grizzlies of the Arctic, sharks off the coastof British Columbia and in the turquoise waters of Central America,jaguars in the bush of northern Mexico, mountain lions, elk,Bighorn Sheep, and others. More than chilling, however, thesestories are lyrical, enchanting, and reach beyond what one commonlyassumes an "animal story" is or should be. THE ANIMAL DIALOGUES isa book about another world that exists alongside our own, an entirerealm of languages and interactions that humans rarely get thechance to witness.

#1 "New York Times" bestselling author Nora Roberts invitesreaders to the wedding event of the year #1 "New York Times"bestselling author Nora Roberts presents her first trade original-anovel of love, friendship, and family-Book One in the BrideQuartet. Wedding photographer Mackensie "Mac" Elliot is most athome behind the camera, but her focus is shattered moments beforean important wedding rehearsal when she bumps into thebride-to-be's brother...an encounter that has them both seeingstars. A stable, safe English teacher, Carter Maguire is definitelynot Mac's type. But a casual fling might be just what she needs totake her mind off bridezillas. Of course, casual flings can turninto something more when you least expect it. And Mac will have toturn to her three best friends-and business partners-to see her wayto her own happy ending.

Originally subtitled "An Adventurous Education, 1935-1946",this book is a key volume in Kerouac's lifework, the series ofautobiographical novels he referred to as The Legend of Duluoz. Awonderfully unassuming look back at the origins of his career--aprehistory of the Beat era, written from the perspective of thepsychedelic '60s.

Last year, awareness about global warming reached a tippingpoint. Now one of the most dynamic writers and one of the mostrespected scientists in the field of climate change offer the firstconcise guide to both the problems and the solutions. Guiding uspast a blizzard of information and misinformation, Gabrielle Walkerand Sir David King explain the science of warming, the mostcutting-edge technological solutions from small to large, and thenational and international politics that will affect our efforts.While there have been many other books about the problem of globalwarming, none has addressed what we can and should do about it soclearly and persuasively, with no spin, no agenda, and noexaggeration. Neither Walker nor King is an activist or politician,and theirs is not a generic green call to arms. Instead theypropose specific ideas to fix a very specific problem. Mostimportant, they offer hope: This is a serious issue, perhaps themost serious that humanity has ever faced. But we can still dosomething about

For fifty years, Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about herlife in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was onlythree when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldierand went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence ofthe past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna,Trudy, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmfuhrer of Buchenwald. Driven by the guilt of her heritage, Trudy, now a professor ofGerman history, begins investigating the past and finally unearthsthe dramatic and heartbreaking truth of her mother's life. Combining a passionate, doomed love story, a vivid evocation oflife during the war, and a poignant mother/daughter drama, ThoseWho Save Us is a profound exploration of what we endure tosurvive and the legacy of shame.

Love blooms in the second novel in Nora Roberts's celebratedBride Quartet series. As little girls MacKensie, Emma, Laurel, andParker spent hours acting out their perfect make believe "I do"moments. Years later their fantasies become reality when they starttheir own wedding planning company to make every woman's dream daycome true. With perfect flowers, delicious desserts, and joyfulmoments captured on film, Nora Roberts's Bride Quartet shares eachwoman's emotionally magical journey to romance. "In Bed of Roses,"florist Emma Grant is finding career success with her friends atVows wedding planning company, and her love life appears to bethriving. Though men swarm around her, she still hasn't found Mr.Right. And the last place she's looking is right under her nose.But that's just where Jack Cooke is. He's so close to the women ofVows that he's practically family, but the architect has begun toadmit to himself that his feelings for Emma have developed intomuch more than friendship. When Emma returns his pa

Hans Christian Andersen was the profoundly imaginative writerand storyteller who revolutionized literature for children. He gaveus the now standard versions of some traditional fairy tales - withan anarchic twist - but many of his most famous tales sprangdirectly from his imagination. The thirty stories here range fromexuberant early works such as "The Tinderbox" and "The Emperor'sNew Clothes" through poignant masterpieces such as "The LittleMermaid" and "The Ugly Duckling," to more subversive later talessuch as "The Ice maiden" and "The Wood Nymph."

Michael Adams is a composer of advertising jingles whoshares a bachelor pad with three other guys. He spends his dayslying in bed (a minifridge positioned perfectly within reach) andplaying trivia games with his underachieving roommates. And when hefeels like it, Michael crosses the city and returns home to hisunsuspecting wife and two small children. Michael is living adouble life, stretching out his "wilting salad days" with imaginarybusiness trips and fake deadlines while his wife enjoys theexhausting misery of the little ones. It's the best thing for hismarriage, Michael figures. She can care for the new loves of herlife as it seems only she knows how, and he can sleep until theafternoon. Can this double life continue indefinitely? In The Besta Man Can Get, best-selling comic novelist John O'Farrell takesreaders on a dark romp through the soul of the contemporary male,torn between eternal adolescence and the very real demands offatherhood. It's wry, witty, and surprisingly charming.

The Tin Drum, one of the great novels of the twentiethcentury, was published in Ralph Manheim's outstanding translationin 1959. It became a runaway bestseller and catapulted its youngauthor to the forefront of world literature. To mark the fiftiethanniversary of the original publication, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,along with Grass's publishers all over the world, is bringing out anew translation of this classic novel. Breon Mitchell, acclaimedtranslator and scholar, has drawn from many sources: from a wealthof detailed scholarship; from a wide range of newly-availablereference works; and from the author himself. The result is atranslation that is more faithful to Grass's style and rhythm,restores omissions, and reflects more fully the complexity of theoriginal work. After fifty years, THE TIN DRUM has, if anything,gained in power and relevance. All of Grass's amazing evocationsare still there, and still amazing: Oskar Matzerath, theindomitable drummer; his grandmother, Anna Koljaiczek; his mother,Agnes;