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Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most – Adam Alter
Almost everyone feels stuck in some way. Whether you’re muddling through a midlife crisis, wrestling writer’s block, trapped in a thankless job, or trying to remedy a fraying friendship, the resulting emotion is usually a mix of anxiety, uncertainty, fear, anger, and numbness. But it doesn’t have to be this way. is the roadmap we all need to escape our inertia and flourish in the face of friction.
Adam Alter has spent the past two decades studying how people become stuck and how they free themselves to thrive. Here he reveals the formula he and other researchers have uncovered. The solution rests on a process that he calls a friction audit—a systematic procedure that uncovers why a person or organization is stuck, and then suggests a path to progress. The friction audit states that people and organizations get unstuck when they overcome three sources of friction: HEART (unhelpful emotions); HEAD (unhelpful patterns of thought); and HABIT (unhelpful behaviors).
Despite the ubiquity of friction, there are many great “unstickers” hidden in plain sight among us and Alter shines a light on some exceptional stories to share their valuable lessons with us. He tells us about the sub-elite swimmer who unstuck himself twice to win two Olympic gold medals, the actor who faced countless rejections before gaining worldwide fame, the renowned painter who became paralyzed and had to relearn to paint with a brush strapped to his wrist, and Alter’s own story of getting unstuck from a college degree that made him deeply unhappy.
Artfully weaving together scientific studies, anecdotes, and interviews, Alter teaches us that getting stuck is a feature rather than a glitch on the road to thriving, but with the right tweaks and corrections we can reach even our loftiest targets.
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Down and Back: On Alcohol, Family, and a Life in Hockey – Justin Bourne
For readers of Nine Lessons I Learned from My Father and Hockey Confidential, Down and Back tells broadcaster Justin Bourne’s story of following his Hall-of-Fame father not only to the NHL, but also into rehab.
Bob Bourne was everything a son wants to emulate–an NHL All-Star, a Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year,” a Stanley Cup champion. Justin Bourne followed in those huge footsteps, leading his teams in scoring year after year, and finally garnering an invitation to the New York Islanders’ training camp–the same team his father had played for. But Bourne was also following his father down a darker path.
Though he hadn’t begun drinking until he was 21, by 36 his drinking had nearly swamped his career and his marriage. In an act of brutal self-honesty–which may not have been possible if not for his understanding of how lying spurred by alcoholism can cause a family pain–Bourne got help, got sober, and confronted what his father and the game mean to him.
Down and Back is a frank and unflinching appraisal of the game and Bourne’s relationship with it: the violence and danger, the booze and drugs, the consequences of fame. But it is also an honest look at what is redeeming about the sport, through the eyes of someone who grew up in NHL dressing rooms, who has skated on NHL ice as both a player and a coach, and who inherited the game from a man he’s grown to better understand by looking more closely at himself.
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An urgently needed guide to help parents understand their teenagers’ intense and often fraught emotional lives–and how to support them through this critical developmental stage–from the New York Times bestselling author of Untangled and Under Pressure
In teenagers, powerful emotions come with the territory. And with so many of today’s teens contending with academic pressure, social media stress, worries about the future, and concerns about their own mental health, it’s easy for them–and their parents–to feel anxious and overwhelmed. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Parents who read this book will learn:
– what to expect in the normal course of adolescent emotional development and when it’s time to worry
– why teens (and adults) need to understand that mental health isn’t about “feeling good” but about having feelings that fit the moment, even if those feelings are unwanted or painful
– strategies for supporting teens who feel at the mercy of their emotions so they can become psychologically aware and skilled at managing their feelings
– how to approach common challenges that come with adolescence, such as friction at home, spiking anxiety, risky behavior, navigating friendships and romances, the pull of social media, and many more
– the best ways to stay connected to their teens and how to provide the kind of relationship that adolescents need and want
With clear, research-informed explanations alongside illuminating, real-life examples, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers gives parents the concrete, practical information they need to steady their teens through the bumpy yet transformational journey into adulthood.
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The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance – Dan Egan
Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it’s also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people. In this major work of explanatory science and environmental journalism, Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan investigates the past, present, and future of what has been called “the oil of our time.”
The story of phosphorus spans the globe and vast tracts of human history. First discovered in a seventeenth-century alchemy lab in Hamburg, it soon became a highly sought-after resource. The race to mine phosphorus took people from the battlefields of Waterloo, which were looted for the bones of fallen soldiers, to the fabled guano islands off Peru, the Bone Valley of Florida, and the sand dunes of the Western Sahara. Over the past century, phosphorus has made farming vastly more productive, feeding the enormous increase in the human population. Yet, as Egan harrowingly reports, our overreliance on this vital crop nutrient is today causing toxic algae blooms and “dead zones” in waterways from the coasts of Florida to the Mississippi River basin to the Great Lakes and beyond. Egan also explores the alarming reality that diminishing access to phosphorus poses a threat to the food system worldwide—which risks rising conflict and even war.
With The Devil’s Element, Egan has written an essential and eye-opening account that urges us to pay attention to one of the most perilous but little-known environmental issues of our time.
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“With meticulous detective work, Timothy Egan shines a light on one of the most sinister chapters in American history–how a viciously racist movement, led by a murderous conman, rose to power in the early twentieth century. A Fever in the Heartland is compelling, powerful, and profoundly resonant today.” — David Grann, author of THE WAGER and KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
A historical thriller by the Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning author that tells the riveting story of the Klan’s rise to power in the 1920s, the cunning con man who drove that rise, and the woman who stopped them.
The Roaring Twenties–the Jazz Age–has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.
Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he’d become the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows – their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman – Madge Oberholtzer – who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees.
A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND marries a propulsive drama to a powerful and page-turning reckoning with one of the darkest threads in American history.
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“This book is a must-read for any parent struggling through a complicated parenting problem. Dr. Fradin offers an invaluable resource for parents and caregivers facing significant challenges with their children’s health.”– Emily Oster, PhD, New York Times Bestselling author of Cribsheet and Expecting Better
Any parent who has ever walked out of a concerning appointment with their child’s doctor or teacher has experienced a heady mix of emotions–fear, love, confusion, concern, sadness, and perhaps even anger. While every parent hopes for a healthy child, the reality is that children face many common challenges, including medical issues like ADHD, asthma, food allergies, feeding issues, learning disabilities, anxiety and depression, and developmental delays, throughout their formative years. As the role of a parent becomes one of a caregiver, it can be overwhelming for parents and children alike, particularly if money, time, access, or any combination of those are in short supply.
As a balm, Dr. Kelly Fradin offers Advanced Parenting, based on her experience as a complex-care pediatrician. In this crucial guide, parents will find empathy and support as well as evidence-based practical guidance. Of greatest import is the need for tools with which to manage the emotional stress that comes from having a child who deviates from the norm, as well as coping with uncertainty and navigating the business of care. Readers will discover ways to optimize the outcomes for their family and make their day-to-day life easier.
Advanced Parenting will help families from the beginning of their journey, helping parents to decide when a child needs help, accepting the implications of a challenge, obtaining a correct diagnosis, learning about the issue, building a treatment team and coming up with a comprehensive plan. Dr. Fradin explores how a child struggling can affect the entire family dynamic including the parent’s relationships and the siblings overall well-being, and with her experience as a complex care pediatrician, she will help parents avoid common mistakes. Parents will feel seen, supported, and better prepared to be both a parent and a caregiver.
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Eyes on the Horizon: My Journey Toward Justice – Balarama Holness
A former CFL champion’s engrossing personal story of spirituality and rebellion, and an inspiring call to action against systemic racism
The son of a Jamaican father and a Quebecois mother, Balarama Holness spent his earliest, most formative years on an ashram in West Virginia, learning the principles of equity and austerity, which would guide him through life. It wasn’t until he returned to Montreal at age ten with his mother and twin brother that he encountered virulent racism for the first time. Faced with a system that seemed stacked against him, Holness initially fell between the cracks.
Eyes on the Horizon is Holness’s story of lifting himself up through the power of self-determination, spirituality and no small amount of rebellion to confront the systemic racism of his city and his country. He accomplished this first through football, going all the way to a Grey Cup championship, and later through activism and politics.
Holness’s personal journey is connected to the social history of Canada, Quebec and the United States. Committed to reshaping society as we know it, he uses lessons from his own life to teach others about racism past and present, and to help people better understand how human beings should live and how to build a truly peaceful and just society for our children.
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Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives – Siddharth Kara
An unflinching investigation reveals the human rights abuses behind the Congo’s cobalt mining operation—and the moral implications that affect us all.
Cobalt Red is the searing, first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt. To uncover the truth about brutal mining practices, Kara investigated militia-controlled mining areas, traced the supply chain of child-mined cobalt from toxic pit to consumer-facing tech giants, and gathered shocking testimonies of people who endure immense suffering and even die mining cobalt.
Cobalt is an essential component to every lithium-ion rechargeable battery made today, the batteries that power our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. Roughly 75 percent of the world’s supply of cobalt is mined in the Congo, often by peasants and children in sub-human conditions. Billions of people in the world cannot conduct their daily lives without participating in a human rights and environmental catastrophe in the Congo. In this stark and crucial book, Kara argues that we must all care about what is happening in the Congo—because we are all implicated.
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John Lisle reveals the untold story of the OSS Research and Development Branch—The Dirty Tricks Department—and its role in World War II.
In the summer of 1942, Stanley Lovell, a renowned industrial chemist, received a mysterious order to report to an unfamiliar building in Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was led to a barren room where he waited to meet the man who had summoned him. After a disconcerting amount of time, William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the head of the OSS, walked in the door. “You know your Sherlock Holmes, of course,” Donovan said as an introduction. “Professor Moriarty is the man I want for my staff…I think you’re it.”
Following this life-changing encounter, Lovell became the head of a secret group of scientists who developed dirty tricks for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA. Their inventions included bat bombs, suicide pills, fighting knives, silent pistols, and camouflaged explosives. Moreover, they forged documents for undercover agents, plotted the assassination of foreign leaders, and performed truth drug experiments on unsuspecting subjects.
Based on extensive archival research and personal interviews, The Dirty Tricks Department tells the story of these scheming scientists, explores the moral dilemmas that they faced, and reveals their dark legacy of directly inspiring the most infamous program in CIA history: MKULTRA.
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The Angel Makers is a true-crime story like no other–a 1920s midwife who may have been the century’s most prolific killer leading a murder ring of women responsible for the deaths of at least 160 men.
The horror occurred in a rustic farming enclave in modern-day Hungary. To look at the unlikely lineup of murderesses–village wives, mothers, and daughters–was to come to the shocking realization that this could have happened anywhere, and to anyone. At the center of it all was a sharp-minded village midwife, a “smiling Buddha” known as Auntie Suzy, who distilled arsenic from flypaper and distributed it to the women of Nagyrév. “Why are you bothering with him?” Auntie Suzy would ask, as she produced an arsenic-filled vial from her apron pocket. In the beginning, a great many used the deadly solution to finally be free of cruel and abusive spouses.
But as the number of dead bodies grew without consequence, the killers grew bolder. With each vial of poison emptied, a new reason surfaced to drain yet another. Some women disposed of sickly relatives. Some used arsenic as “inheritance powder” to secure land and houses. For more than fifteen years, the unlikely murderers aided death unfettered and tended to it as if it were simply another chore–spooning doses of arsenic into soup and wine, stirring it into coffee and brandy. By the time their crimes were discovered, hundreds were feared dead.
Anonymous notes brought the crimes to light in 1929. As a skillful prosecutor hungry for justice ran the investigation, newsmen from around the world–including the New York Times–poured in to cover the dramatic events as they unfolded.
The Angel Makers captures in expertly researched detail the entirety of this harrowing story, from the early murders to the final hanging–the story of one of the most sensational and astonishing murder rings in all of modern history.
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Renowned Bible teacher and #1 New York Times bestselling author Joyce Meyer teaches readers how to overcome anxiety by putting your worries to God.
Anxiety and worry are common human responses to stressful situations. We all feel anxious, worried, or concerned at times but what if there was a way to put a stop to your worrying before it gets out of hand?
In The Answer to Anxiety, renowned Bible teacher and #1 New York Times bestselling author Joyce Meyer encourages us to lean into God when we’re feeling anxious or unsettled. Joyce teaches readers the lessons found in God’s word that can help us deal with our fears and anxieties. When we understand that God has a good plan for us, we can find the peace He offers.
God’s will for us is peace, not worry and anxiety. Join Joyce on this exploration to conquer that anxiety and learn to lead a God centered, anxiety-free life.
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The Body Code: Unlocking Your Body’s Ability to Heal Itself – Bradley Nelson
A powerful new approach to natural, intuitive whole-body healing.
The Body Code is a truly revolutionary method of holistic healing. Dr. Bradley Nelson, a globally renowned expert in bioenergetic medicine, has spent decades teaching his powerful self-healing method and training practitioners around the globe, but this is the first time his system of healing will be available to the general public in the form of The Body Code.
The Body Code is based on the simple premise that the body is self-healing and knows what it needs in order to thrive and flourish. The Body Code method allows readers to tap into this inner knowing, and find imbalances in 6 key areas—Energies, Circuits and Systems, Toxicity, Nutrition and Lifestyle, Misalignments, and Pathogens—that are the root causes of our physical, mental and emotional issues. By identifying and releasing these imbalances, readers become empowered to activate their body’s innate healing power.
Featuring a foreword from George Noory, host of Coast to Coast AM, and filled with powerful first-hand accounts of healing, hundreds of color illustrations, and concrete, actionable steps, The Body Code is a road map to healing based in deep study of the human body, time-proven ancient practices, and the unlimited power of the subconscious mind.
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Enjoy incredible meals in the great outdoors with this savvy, fun camping cookbook of 80 easy-to-make, ridiculously delicious recipes.
Say goodbye to your ho-hum canned beans and hot dogs. Making impressive dishes like Herby Lemon-Pepper Chicken Thighs, Blistered Fingerling Potato and Burrata Poutine, or Caramelized Zucchini with Mint and Chiles is totally possible—even if you’re camping in the backwoods! Food writer and camping aficionado Chris Nuttall-Smith shows readers how by bringing the stress-free simplicity of meal-prepped cooking to the great outdoors.
Dividing each recipe by prep location, your home and the campsite, his ingenious approach gets most (if not all!) of the cooking done before a trip even begins. Then at camp, many recipes simply have you drop fully-prepped ingredients into a pot or onto a grill, and just like that, you’re dining on Cumin Lamb Kebabs with Fresh Chapatis, the simplest high-summer Cherry Tomato Pasta, or showstopping Sweet-Tangy Ribs. Learn about the best-traveling cheeses, how to chill drinks when you don’t have ice, how to pick (and use) a camp stove, and how to make great coffee in the wild! Even if your camping agenda brings you to the wilderness of your own backyard, you’ll want to make these recipes for friends and family.
With some simple prep and a bit of knowledge, Cook It Wild proves that cooks and campers of every level can have the most spectacular campfire meals.
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Don’t Think, Dear: On Loving and Leaving Ballet – Alice Robb
An incisive exploration of ballet’s role in the modern world, told through the experience of the author and her classmates at the most elite ballet school in the country: the School of American Ballet.
Growing up, Alice Robb dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer. But by age fifteen, she had to face the reality that she would never meet the impossibly high standards of the hyper-competitive ballet world. After she quit, she tried to avoid ballet–only to realize, years later, that she was still haunted by the lessons she had absorbed in the mirror-lined studios of Lincoln Center, and that they had served her well in the wider world. The traits ballet takes to an extreme–stoicism, silence, submission–are valued in girls and women everywhere.
Profound, nuanced, and passionately researched, Don’t Think, Dear is Robb’s excavation of her adolescent years as a dancer and an exploration of how those days informed her life for years to come.
As she grapples with the pressure she faced as a student at the School of American Ballet, she investigates the fates of her former classmates as well. From sweet and innocent Emily, whose body was deemed thin enough only when she was too ill to eat, to precocious and talented Meiying, who was thrilled to be cast as the young star of the Nutcracker but dismayed to see Asians stereotyped onstage, and Lily, who won the carrot they had all been chasing–an apprenticeship with the New York City Ballet–only to spend her first season dancing eight shows a week on a broken foot.
Theirs are stories of heartbreak and resilience, of reinvention and regret. Along the way, Robb weaves in the myths of famous ballet personalities past and present, from the groundbreaking Misty Copeland, who rose from poverty to become an icon of American ballet, to the blind diva Alicia Alonso, who used the heat of the spotlights and the vibrations of the music to navigate space onstage. By examining the psyche of a dancer, Don’t Think, Dear grapples with the contradictions and challenges of being a woman today.
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For dads, by dads–the ultimate stress-free cookbook the whole family will thank you for buying.
“I love being a dad and I love cooking with my kids! Cory and Chris are here to help dads and families get fantastic meals on the table and become better cooks in the process.” MATTY MATHESON, author of Home Style Cookery
Ready for the tips and tricks that will turn the dad in your life into a hero in the kitchen?
Highly-acclaimed chef and restaurateur Cory Vitiello can cook in a professional kitchen with his eyes closed (please don’t try this yourself), but when he became a dad, he quickly had to adjust his culinary repertoire to cater to a much more demanding clientele: his young family.
In his first book, Cory has teamed up with fellow dad and celebrated food writer Chris Johns on a crowd-pleasing collection of recipes that will instill confidence in all home cooks and develop the next generation of adventurous eaters in your family. With Cory and Chris as your guides, you’ll find ideas for any time of day, and any day of the week, such as:
Quick breakfasts to get everyone out the door on time, like Yogurt & Oatmeal Pancakes or a Zucchini Omelet with Gouda;
Light, yet satisfying lunches like Cory’s famous Flock Soba Noodle Bowl or Hot-Smoked Trout with Summer Vegetables Salad;
Go-to healthy weeknight dinners, like One-Pot Braised Turkey Meatballs or Little Pasta with Swiss Chard and Lentils
Larger weekend projects, like Shaved Brussels Sprouts & Leek Pizza or Cinnamon Buttermilk Ice Cream;
And, a whole chapter dedicated to every dad’s favorite appliance, the barbecue, so he can finally earn that “pitmaster” apron.
With recipes to catapult the cook firmly into superstardom, Dad in the Kitchen is a must-have cookbook written by dads for dads, but it’s also for anyone who might become a dad, or anyone with a dad. And, in the selfless eating-the-crusts tradition of dads everywhere, know that moms, daughters, sons, uncles, aunts, and everyone in between is encouraged to cook from its pages, too.
Dads, grab your tongs–let’s do this.
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The Canadian Guide to Creative Writing and Publishing – Patricia Westerhof
The essential guide for Canadian writers seeking to have their work published today.
How do you get published in Canada? What are the standards for publishable work, and how do you reach them? This lively, practical guide includes strategies for thinking creatively, improving writing voice, and editing work at the sentence level. It also provides up-to-date information about the publishing industry, including how to find an agent, how to submit work to literary journals, how to query independent presses, and how to apply for writing grants. It will lead writers through the process of polishing their manuscripts and finding an audience for those manuscripts.
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Dear Body: What I Lost, What I Gained, and What I Learned Along the Way – Brittany Williams
The inspiring story of how one woman overcame her struggle with obesity by healing childhood trauma and confronting her innermost demons.
Raised in a turbulent home, Brittany Williams learned to use food as a coping mechanism to manage her feelings at a young age. When she was 14, a family member’s comment “no man will want you with a pudgy figure like that” forever changed the way she viewed her body and opened a door, new and alluring, into the world of self-loathing, self-punishment, and dieting.
Told with Brittany’s unflagging honesty and trademark vulnerability, Dear Body describes the tensions of growing up in a body that often felt more like a traitor than a friend. She details the slow but steady work that went into dismantling hard-wired behaviors as she learned to trust in herself, even as she faced setbacks like heartbreak, pregnancy loss, and marital infidelity. As we share in her deepest moments of joy and heartache, Brittany reveals that the path to healing requires much more than changing what you eat, and explains how she was finally able to take charge of the course of her health and her life.
Filled with poignant lessons and hard-won advice, Dear Body is the story of a woman’s relationship with her body, and herself. A story unique to Brittany, but familiar to all of us.
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