Colossal trees snap like matchsticks. A gigantic orange fireball explodes in the funnel's black core. Horses are sucked up and spit out alive by 200-mile-per-hour winds. These were just a few of the scenes that unfolded on June 8, 1966, when a massive EF-5 tornado cut a 22-mile swath across eastern Kansas and straight through Topeka Kansas's capital city. When it was over, 16 people were dead, more than 500 were injured, and property damage had reached $100 million, making the tornado the most destructive in U.S. history up to that time.

That fateful day comes back to life in And Hell Followed With It: Life and Death in a Kansas Tornado. Author Bonar Menninger has interviewed dozens of survivors to construct a tightly woven narrative that conveys in gut-wrenching detail what it's like when nature careens out of control and ordinary people face extraordinary, life-threatening situations.

When Joy Stocke and Angie Brenner meet on the balcony of a guesthouse in a small resort town on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, they think they have only a mutual friend and a summer dream in common. Soon, they discover a shared love of travel, history, culture, cuisine, and literature; and they begin a ten-year odyssey through Turkey.

Inspired by the poetry of thirteenth-century mystic Jelaluddin Rumi, Brenner and Stocke journey to central Turkey for the Whirling Dervishes Festival. A visit to a Turkish bath becomes a lesson in sensuality and patience. Their interest in the cults of the mother goddess takes them to Ephesus, the Black Sea, and east into Mesopotamia. Through intuition, experience, and a bit of serendipity, Brenner and Stocke find excitement, friendship, and love, and learn how and why Turkey--a country that holds the keys to Western Civilization--continues to grow in world importance.

Travel writing with literary value, Anatolian Days and Nights will appeal to armchair travelers as well as those about to hit the road.

Fight back. Regain your privacy and prevent future invasions with tips from a professional counterespionage consultant.

In an age when nearly everyone relies on wireless phone service, text messages, and email, tapping and electronic surveillance has become a common problem that demands personal protection.

In Is My Cell Phone Bugged?, eavesdropping detection specialist Kevin D. Murray draws from experience and detailed research to show you how to take control of your information security by using spybusting technology to your own advantage. In simple, clear-cut language, he explains the basics of counterespionage, including how to

- Shop for a secure cordless device and avoid pre-bugged cell phones

- Identify nineteen warning signs that a cell phone is spyware infected

- Find the best apps to prevent tapping and information leaks

- Protect oneself using a ''Spyware Prevention Checklist''

- Catch the spy when a phone is already under surveillance

Relying heavily upon memories of his mother's and grandmother's fare in his youth, Zouhair's ground-breaking culinary tour de force: Moorish Fusion Cuisine: Conquering the New World introduces a unique approach to a mouthwatering ancient gastronomy and represents a personal homage to the Moorish cuisine of his homeland.

Few cookbooks on the cuisine of the Moors have been written. Chef Zouhair approaches traditional recipes with an eye for lighter ingredients, while never sacrificing Moorish authenticity.

Why do executives get stuck? Why do leaders sometimes find themselves pushing hard but not gaining traction? Frequently it's because they're working against themselves, defeating their best efforts with their own problematical thoughts and emotions.

In this book, we refer to thought patterns and emotional tendencies that hinder your ability to respond to business issues in a productive and professional way as HeadTrash. Put another way, HeadTrash is the negative voice of your subconscious, engaging you in a deadly inner dialogue that only you hear, consciously or subconsciously, but which affects everything you say and do and everyone around you. HeadTrash is any pattern of self-defeating feelings and thoughts that leads you into trouble and keeps you stuck there. Even worse, depending on your level of responsibility and authority, the rest of your team or company can get stuck too.

Based on their work with thousands of leaders, authors Tish Squillaro and Timothy I. Thomas discovered that some forms of HeadTrash can even produce symptoms in organizations that mirror the symptoms experienced by company leaders. Learn to probe beyond symptoms to identify the forms of HeadTrash you need to address. This book will show you how to change your behavior and become a better leader?for yourself, your business, your employees, and your family.

The book launches The Lauson System: Nine Keys to Lower Facial Harmony. It emphasizes the holistic approaches developed by myself over a 25 year period. It eliminates the need for permanent teeth extractions and surgery to achieve facial beauty and harmony eliminating present and future problems of TMJ Dysfunction, Obstructive Sleep Apnea and neck and back problems related to teeth positions. The movie star smile is achievable (at least where the teeth are concerned) by anyone at any age. If followed, this book could revolutionize the field of orthodontics.

Most people enjoy reading Privacy Lost twice, find out why!

Implantable technology will allow human beings to live beyond our biological potential. Long, healthy lives of 200 or 300 years and more were initially only available to the wealthy. Wet advertising (commonly called wet ads) will eventually bring longevity to the masses. Wet ads are initiated from within one's body; advertisers will directly simulate our senses and emotional responses to influence purchasing decisions. Wet ads will be triggered by our location, visual and auditory data, and by our physiology.

How much more deeply will we allow corporations and consumerism into our lives? Into our bodies?

What tradeoffs are we willing to make for longer, better lives? What have we really traded?

Has anything really changed?

Privacy Lost is the first novella of a compelling, fast-paced trilogy that introduces readers to a plausible and probable future.

Thirty-two-year-old Jason Barnes recently lost his job, and his heart. Now, thanks to a meddling ex-wife and a golf cart fiasco, he has just thirty days to pay a $60,000 fine or go to jail.

Jason was hoping his Aunt Clara would come to his rescue, but she unexpectedly dies, gifting her liquid assets to charity. She does, however, will Jason a picturesque French vineyard--and it's worth millions. But there's a catch! If Jason goes to jail, the vineyard will transfer to his unscrupulous stepbrother.

To raise the cash he needs, Jason travels to France with his knucklehead of a best friend to sell the vineyard. Cashing in will not be so simple, though. Formidable nuns farm the vineyard, and he needs their blessing to sell. To persuade the good sisters, Jason attempts a madcap series of dubious schemes, and while doing so falls for what he thinks is the perfect French woman. Amidst this melee of wine, women, nuns, and villains, Jason must unearth his true values in order to save more than just his soul.

Infused with J.T. Lundy's deliciously skewed sense of humor, and full of flawed but irresistible characters, Saving Grapes is a rollicking, good-hearted Wodehousian comedy that speaks to the hapless romantic in all of us.

Chris Thompson thought his youthful dreams of being a secret agent had long ago been put to rest. He has a wife and child, a stable job with the US Customs Department, and--aside from a minor incident involving outsourcing American apple pie production to Bangladesh--no real worries.

This all changes when Chris receives a phone call from the president of the United States, Oscar I. Wright, regarding a secret invasion of America from Canada and Mexico--an invasion somehow tied to the Big Mac Party, a cultish political party that worships the legacy of the notorious Communist-hunting Senator Joseph McCarthy. Soon, Chris is equipped with firearms, designer suits, government helicopters, and an array of gadgets worthy of any top-notch spy. His mission: infiltrate the mysterious Emergence program founded by McCarthy within the shadowy halls of the US government--and, ultimately, save democracy as we know it from the xenophobic demons of America's past.

A unique, bubbling combination of Christopher Buckley-esque satire, political farce, and espionage comedy, Happy Utopia Day, Joe McCarthy reveals--through encounters with a hilarious cast of hallucinating politicians, Border Patrol commandants, crew-cut torturers, stuttering computer wizards, supposedly immortal pilots, and more--just how frightening a contemporary abuse of government power can be, and just how much we sometimes stand to lose when we decide to pursue our dreams.

A baby girl is stolen, and tightly woven webs of deception encase her and two families for eight traumatic years.

The stunningly beautiful and elegant Ashleigh Taylor gives birth to twin daughters while she's in Long Beach visiting her father figure, Charles Stuart, the founder of Bentley's Royale. Hours later, a parent's worst nightmare occurs: Cassie is kidnapped. Twisted Webs unravels the mystery of the abduction of Callie's identical twin. With the same drama, tension, and high style that hooked readers of Webs of Power, the author invites loyal fans and readers new to the series to step into this provocative sequel set in the 1990s. There is plenty going on to keep them turning pages all the way to the end.

When Nate discovers his mother is not moving home and his father cancels their summer kayaking adventure, Nate is devastated. He decides to solo the Canadian wilderness in his kayak. Half drowned after risking his life in a wild storm to avoid getting caught, Nate reaches an uninhabited island paradise. His tranquility is shattered by the arrival of a girl named Kat, but she has something Nate needs, an ample supply of fresh water. As romance blossoms, another threat drifts in: a drug smuggler with a sailboat full of marijuana. Soon Kat and Nate find themselves fighting for their lives.

From Fruit Shed to Fortune 500: The inside story of ROLM and its continuing influence on Silicon Valley

Decades before Facebook, seven years before Apple, four young men were hard at work in a prune-drying shed designing the world's toughest computer. That was the founding of ROLM Corporation, at a time when the orchards of Santa Clara County were being transformed into what would become Silicon Valley.

By 1984--merely fifteen years later--ROLM was a Fortune 500 company with worldwide offices and a park-like campus. That same year, IBM bought the company in the biggest deal Silicon Valley had ever seen. By then, Silicon Valley was the world's center of innovation, with a hallmark culture very different from the rest of corporate America. ROLM set the benchmark for that culture by providing significant financial rewards for smart, successful work, and an environment where employees could unwind--swimming laps, playing tennis, or dining brookside. ROLM's influence extends today, in campuses like those of Google and Cisco, where onsite masseuses and sushi chefs are commonplace.

Starting Up Silicon Valley reveals
- leadership's challenges, doubts, and convictions, from start-up to buyout and beyond;
- how ROLM's technological innovations disrupted two industries;
- why ROLM was known as a Great Place to Work (GPW) and how that style can influence today's workplace;
- the dirty tricks that giant AT&T undertook to smash competition that threatened its domain; and
- the hopes and frustrations of an IBM merger, from both sides of the story.

Humorous anecdotes and the wisdom of some of Silicon Valley's most respected leaders make Starting Up Silicon Valley an intimate story of one of the Valley's most important and culturally influential companies.

Imagine private jets ready for an afternoon flight to New York City for a transcontinental shopping trip . . . luxury yachts circling the globe awaiting their owner's arrival . . . fully staffed but rarely visited vacation homes throughout the world. The rich live trouble free lives of graceful ease. Or do they?

In Fables of Fortune, author Richard Watts pulls back the brocade curtain to reveal the precarious path of wanting more. As the advisor to the super rich, Watts reflects on the reality of wealth and a difficult and heartbreaking lesson: The wealthiest person is not who has the most, but who needs the least.

Fables of Fortune convincingly persuades readers that wealth may be overrated. Through vignettes based on true stories, Watts reveals the challenges the super-wealthy face, including marriages based on net worth, interfamily inheritance battles, faux friends, entitled children, alienation, and spiritual depletion.

The successes and failures of life inspire the heartbeat of passion and self-actualization. Watts will challenge readers to reconsider key life questions of personal value and discover surprising new answers. Fables of Fortune reveals an honest, comparative, eye-opening analysis for any reader who believes wealth is a rose without thorns. Read on and gain perspective and appreciation for your own real fortune in life.

Andrew Rand of Wyland, Ohio, is a freshman Democratic representative at the start of the Obama administration. Deep in the corridors of political power, he will find a broken system: a liberal party in power and out of control, passing legislation that its constituents neither desire nor need, with its members under constant political and personal pressure to fundamentally transform the nation. Soon, Andrew will struggle with the question of what he's willing to sacrifice in order to win reelection. Meanwhile, his wife, Carolyn-a brilliant, apolitical woman from a family of radical academics-will struggle not only with the emotional fallout of her husband's choices, but with her own awakening conservative conscience as well. Weaving contemporary political satire with an emotionally devastating plot, novelist Tim McDaniel imagines the rise of the conservative Tea Party to national prominence, a rise seen through the eyes of characters from all walks of American life: a housewife who decides to challenge the powers that be in her home district, a Texan radio host with a gift for caustic political insight, a campaign manager concealing a secret romantic ambition, student radicals, disenchanted factory workers, and more. A Bitter Cup of Tea serves up a bitterly funny vision of contemporary America: a land whose leaders have betrayed its people, and whose people are beginning to fight back.

Across America, community associations are flourishing. As a growing number of residents have discovered, these communities offer a new way of living together--one that protects and enhances property values, allows people to support their mutual interests, and promotes harmony and cooperation. In the Common Interest reveals the phenomenal growth of this lifestyle, and explains how the modern community association benefits not only residents but also the country at large. Author John Carona outlines the pros and cons of these communities, plus prescriptive advice for how we can make them even better. To bring his points to life, Carona weaves throughout the book the fictional story of David and Sandra, a couple whose experiences bust many myths about community living. Whether you're considering living in a community association or whether you currently reside or govern in one, you'll be enriched and empowered by the wealth of knowledge contained in this book--and inspired by Carona's vision of how we can continue to build the new American community.

In The Fourth Moon, Darren K. Bourke guides you on a journey to optimal, sustainable and leveraged success. The path begins with the First Moon (strategy), continues to the Second Moon (implementation), proceeds to the Third Moon (maintenance), and finally takes you to the ultimate goal, a place only a small percentage reach: the Fourth Moon (leverage).

Managers and business owners who reach the Fourth Moon can expect to . . .

- earn higher profits
- work less if they want
- create more lifestyle options
- increase personal net worth
- be truly authentic and in control of their lives
- maximize the value of their business
- breathe new life into their daily routines
- refine their life's purpose and meaning

The Fourth Moon metaphor is simple, elegant and proven. Once the underlying principles are understood, managers, business owners, and their teams can immediately implement them by following a step-by-step process.

Whatever your challenge, The Fourth Moon will guide you through each stage of your journey to achieving your ultimate goal.

While the strife of the Civil War is over, the conflict in Monaville, Texas is just beginning -- and John Ross Wilhite seems to be in the middle of it all. For John Ross, the world is a confusing place. The slaves have been freed, but only some of the occupants of Monaville seem to accept that fact. The Klan is growing in number and political power, but John Ross doesn't understand what the fuss is all about. The General, his revered grandfather, seems to be on the wrong side of the law. And everybody is just a bit too interested in his friendship with Miss Afron. But John Ross doesn't have the luxury of youth any longer, as tensions mount and the most respected men in town become the most fearsome - for good or ill. With richly drawn characters, poignant stories, and a gut-wrenching climax, The General and Monaville, Texas delivers a powerful tale of secrets, politics, and discord in the Reconstruction south - and the coming of age of a boy and a town.

New Neighborhoods is a non-fiction consumers' guide that details the most important aspects of buying or living in an SOC, as well as providing in-depth information on how to effectively serve as a board member or volunteer. It uses humor, anecdotes and a relaxed, conversational writing style to explain what has become a very difficult legal and social minefield. The book guides readers through choosing their home; clarifies their rights and responsibilities; explains how associations operate, collect money and hold meetings and elections; and also details some of the crazy rules and regulations that have arisen around the country--and how to know when to follow them.

Many people have a special bond with animals, but few have the ability to understand the innermost thoughts, feelings, and desires of different creatures. Author Tim Link is one such individual - a man blessed with the ability to communicate with animals telepathically. In this book, the author details some of his most dramatic and moving encounters with the animal kingdom. From helping a lost cat find her way home to comforting a Catalan sheepdog after back surgery, Link shares stories that are both entertaining and heartfelt. A full-time animal communicator and a Reiki energy healer for animals, Link has never failed to reach an animal, even if that animal has transitioned to the next world. In these dramatic and moving stories, Link describes how he communicates with animals, not only in words, but also through feelings, smells, tastes, emotions, and images.