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From their acclaimed biographer, a final, powerful book about how Emerson, Thoreau, and William James forged resilience from devastating loss, changing the course of American thought

In Three Roads Back, Robert Richardson, the author of magisterial biographies of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and William James, tells the connected stories of how these foundational American writers and thinkers dealt with personal tragedies early in their careers. For Emerson, it was the death of his young wife and, eleven years later, his five-year-old son; for Thoreau, it was the death of his brother; and for James, it was the death of his beloved cousin Minnie Temple. Filled with rich biographical detail and unforgettable passages from the journals and letters of Emerson, Thoreau, and James, these vivid and moving stories of loss and hard-fought resilience show how the writers' responses to these deaths helped spur them on to their greatest work, influencing the birth and course of American literature and philosophy.

In reaction to his traumatic loss, Emerson lost his Unitarian faith and found solace in nature. Thoreau, too, leaned on nature and its regenerative power, discovering that "death is the law of new life," an insight that would find expression in Walden. And James, following a period of panic and despair, experienced a redemptive conversion and new ideas that would drive his work as a psychologist and philosopher. As Richardson shows, all three emerged from their grief with a new way of seeing, one shaped by a belief in what Emerson called "the deep remedial force that underlies all facts."

An inspiring book about resilience and the new growth and creativity that can stem from devastating loss, Three Roads Back is also an extraordinary account of the hidden wellsprings of American thought.

Few politicians produced the musical reaction that Ronald Reagan did. His California-branded conservatism inspired countless young people to pick up guitars and thrash out their political angst. Punk bands across the United States took aim at the man, his presidency, and the idea of America he was selling to voters nationwide. Small yet vibrant scenes across the country emerged to challenge the communal norms and social values projected on them by the popular media and consumer culture. Punk enthusiast Robert Fitzgerald argues that these songs' lyrics aren't just catchy and fun to scream along with; they also reveal the thoughts and feelings of artists reacting to their political environment in real, forthright, and uncensored time.

In candid detail, Fitzgerald shows how these lyrics illustrated what young adults felt and how they reacted to one of the most influential and divisive leaders of the era. Punk lyrics are seemingly simple, the author argues, but they sketch out a complex, musically inspired countermovement that is as canonical in the American songbook as the folk and rock protest music that came before.

On the azure blue morning of 9/11 the skies were pronounced "severe clear," in the parlance of airline pilots; a gorgeous day for flying. Nearly 5,000 flights were cruising the skies over America when FAA Operations Manager Ben Sliney arrived at the Command Center for his first day on that job. He could never have anticipated the historic drama that was about to unfold as Americans who found themselves on the front lines of a totally unprecedented attack on our homeland sprang into action to defend our country and save lives.

In this gripping moment-to-moment narrative, based on groundbreaking reporting, Lynn Spencer brings the inspiring true drama of their unflinching and heroic response vividly to life for the first time, taking us right inside the airliner cockpits and control towers, the fighter jets and the military battle cabs. She makes vital corrections to the findings of the "9/11 Commission Report," and reveals many startling, utterly unknown elements of the story.

As a commercial pilot herself, for whom the attacks hit terribly close to home, she knew that the true scope and nature of the response so brilliantly improvised that morning by those in the thick of the action -- with so little guidance from those at the highest levels -- had not at all been captured by the news coverage or the 9/11 Commission. To get to the truth, she went on a three-year quest, interviewing hundreds of key players, listening to untold hours of tapes and pouring through voluminous transcripts to re-create each heart-stopping moment as it happened through their eyes and in their words as the drama unfolded.

From the shocking moment at 7:59 a.m. that American 11 fails to respond to a controller's call, until the last commercial flight has safely landed and military jets rule the skies, all Americans will find themselves deeply moved and amazed by the grace and fierce determination of these steely men and women as they draw on all of their exquisite training to grasp, through the fog of war, what is happening, put their lives on the line, and mount an astonishing response.

This beautifully crafted and deeply affecting account of the full story of their courageous actions is a vital addition to the country's understanding of a day that has forever changed our nation.

This new illustrated edition includes key images of Dylan throughout his incredible, enduring career, making it a must for all Dylan fans.

Robert Shelton met Bob Dylan when the young singer arrived in New York in 1961 and became Dylan's friend, champion, and critic.

His book, first published in 1986, was hailed as the definitive unauthorized biography of this moody, passionate genius. Shelton tells the intimate and first-hand story of Bob Dylan's formative years in Greenwich Village NYC, and it is the only biography that has been written with his active cooperation.

Dylan gave Shelton access to his parents, Abe and Beatty Zimmerman - whom no other journalist has ever interviewed, to his brother, David, to childhood friends from Hibbing, to fellow students and friends from Minneapolis, and to Suze Rotolo, the muse immortalized on the cover of Freewheelin', among others.

Concluding Dylan's story backstage during his triumphant 1978 world tour, No Direction Home, took 20 years to complete and when it was finally published the book received widespread critical acclaim. Following his Nobel Prize for Literature Award in 2016, Dylan's standing is higher than at any time since the 1960s and Shelton's book is now seen as a classic.

Pondbank is a masterful blend of Andrea Palladio's architectural heritage and the timeless elegance of early 20th-century American homes in Florida. Crafted by a talented team of architects, interior designers, landscape architects, artists, and builders, this residence is designed for permanence--constructed from steel, stone, and plaster, it stands as a testament to durability while exuding a unique sense of historic charm and modern freshness.
Intended to be explored and appreciated from every angle, Pondbank reassures us that grace, style, and beauty continue to enrich our lives and push the boundaries of traditional architecture. The result is a spellbinding, romantic, and uplifting experience.
Curated by architect Donald H. Ruggles, designed by renowned artist John Boak, and written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Mike McPhee, this large-format book features 348 stunning color images across 192 pages. It tells the compelling story of how art and architecture can enhance our health and well-being. Focusing on the exceptional details that define Pondbank, the authors delve into the significance of creating such magnificent homes today. Grounded in neuroscience principles and adhering to LEED and sustainable criteria, Pondbank celebrates the fusion of historic ideas with contemporary science, resulting in a truly remarkable home for the modern era.

Now in a Tor Essentials edition, Robert Charles Wilson's Spin, a Hugo-winning novel of breathtaking cosmic scope.

One night in October when he was ten years old, Tyler Dupree stood in his backyard and watched the stars go out. They all flared into brilliance at once, then disappeared, replaced by a flat, empty black barrier. He and his best friends, Jason and Diane Lawton, had seen what became known as the Big Blackout. It would shape their lives.

The effect is worldwide. The sun is now a featureless disk--a heat source, rather than an astronomical object. The moon is gone, but tides remain. Not only have the world's artificial satellites fallen out of orbit, their recovered remains are pitted and aged, as though they'd been in space far longer than their known lifespans. As Tyler, Jason, and Diane grow up, space probe reveals a bizarre truth: The barrier is artificial, generated by huge alien artifacts. Time is passing faster outside the barrier than inside--more than a hundred million years per day on Earth. At this rate, the death throes of the sun are only about forty years in our future.

Jason, now a promising young scientist, devotes his life to working against this slow-moving apocalypse. Diane throws herself into hedonism, marrying a sinister cult leader who's forged a new religion out of the fears of the masses.

Earth sends terraforming machines to Mars to let the onrush of time do its work, turning the planet green. Next they send humans...and immediately get back an emissary with thousands of years of stories to tell about the settling of Mars. Then Earth's probes reveal that an identical barrier has appeared around Mars. Jason, desperate, seeds near space with self-replicating machines that will scatter copies of themselves outward from the sun--and report back on what they find.

Life on Earth is about to get much, much stranger.

Spencer Quinn's Bark to the Future continues the adventurous New York Times and USA Today bestselling series that Stephen King calls "without a doubt the most original mystery series currently available."

When Chet the dog, "the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction" (Boston Globe), and his human partner, PI Bernie Little, are approached by a down-and-out older man with a cardboard sign at an exit ramp, Bernie is shocked to discover the man is a former teammate from his high school baseball team. Chet and Bernie take Rocket out for a good meal, and later, Bernie investigates Rocket's past, trying to figure out what exactly went wrong.

Then, Rocket goes suspiciously missing. With his former teammate likely in danger, Bernie goes back to his old high school for answers, where much that he remembers turns out not to be true--and there are powerful and dangerous people not happy with the questions Bernie is asking.

Bernie soon learns that he misunderstood much about his high school years - and now, Chet and Bernie are plunged into a dangerous case where the past isn't dead and the future could be fatal.

The Journey of Programming and Its Pioneers: From the Birth of Code to the Rise of AI

In We, Programmers, software legend Robert C. Martin--"Uncle Bob"--dives deep into the world of programming, exploring the lives of the groundbreaking pioneers who built the foundation of modern computing. From Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace to Alan Turing, Grace Hopper, and Dennis Ritchie, Martin shines a light on the figures whose brilliance and perseverance changed the world.

This memoir-infused narrative provides a rich human history filled with technical insights for developers, examining the coding breakthroughs that shaped computing at the bit and byte level. By connecting these technical achievements with the human stories behind them, Martin gives readers a rare glimpse into the struggles and triumphs of the people who made modern technology possible. Depression, failure, and ridicule--these pioneers faced it all, and their stories intertwine with the evolution of computing itself as the field evolved from its humble beginnings to the cloud-based AIs of today. With the rise of AI, Martin also explores how this technology is transforming the future of programming and the ethical challenges that come with it.

Notable topics include

• Understanding programming's roots and how they shaped today's tech landscape
• The human side of coding pioneers--what drove them, and what they overcame
• Key programming breakthroughs, from the early days of assembly to the rise of object-oriented languages
• The pivotal role World War II played in advancing computer science
• Insights and predictions regarding the ethical considerations surrounding AI and the future of programming

For programmers, coders, and anyone fascinated by the intersection of people and machines, this guide to the history, humanity, and technology behind the code that powers our world today is a fascinating and essential read.

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A wry, thought-provoking fictional portrayal of ten pivotal weeks in the life of Leon Trotsky, inspired by the Russian revolutionary's exile in New York City in 1917, by the New York Times bestselling author of The Company

January 12, 1917: An ocean liner docks in New York Harbor. Among the disembarking emigrants is one Lev Davidovich Bronshtein--better known by his nom de guerre, Leon Trotsky. Bronshtein has been on the run for a decade, driven from his beloved Russia after escaping political exile in Siberia. He lives for--and is ready to sacrifice his life for--a workers' revolution, at any cost. But is he ready to become an American?

In the weeks leading up to the February Revolution that will eventually see Lenin's Bolsheviks seize power, Bronshtein haunts the streets, newspaper offices, and socialist watering holes of New York City, wrestling with the difficult questions of his personal revolutionary ideology, his place in his own family, his relationship to Lenin, and, above all, his conscience.

Master of the espionage novel Robert Littell brings to life the world-famous revolutionist's sojourn in the Bronx in this extraordinary meditation on purpose, passion, and the price of progress.

Two leading public intellectuals and dear friends--one progressive, one conservative--explore What is Truth? and Why Does Truth Matter?

In Truth Matters, Cornel West and Robert P. George address a range of social issues on which Americans today are bitterly divided. Their book models robust intellectual engagement and civil discourse as they explore vital questions surrounding the idea of truth and its foundational role in our lives. Along the way, they reflect on social conditions--such as respect for freedom of speech--that must be established and maintained if truth is to be seriously pursued. They also explore the virtues--such as intellectual humility and courage--that must be acquired and practiced if we frail, fallible, fallen human beings are to be determined truth seekers and bold truth speakers.

- Internationally bestselling author: "Imperium" was hailed as "quite possibly Harris's most accomplished work to date" ( "Los Angeles Times" ) and has received rave reviews from across the globe. Robert Harris's novels have sold more than 10 million copies and have been translated into thirty-seven languages..

- Powerful protagonist: Cicero returns to continue his struggle to grasp supreme power in the state of Rome. Amidst treachery, vengeance, violence, and treason, this brilliant lawyer, orator, and philosopher finally reaches the summit of all his ambitions. Cicero becomes known as the world's first professional politician, using his compassion, and deviousness, to overcome all obstacles..

- Compelling historical fiction at its best: Harris employs historical detail and an engrosing plot to give readers a man who ?is by turns a sympathetic hero and compromising manipulator who sets himself up for his own massive, violent ruin. This trilogy charges forward, propelled by the strength of Harris's stunningly fascinating prose..

From the New York Times bestselling author of Is a River Alive? and Underland, a soaring blend of cultural history, meditation, and memoir about the mysteries of the world's highest places and our unending quest for the summit

"Wonderfully illuminating." --Los Angeles Times - "Fascinating." --The New York Times Book Review

For those who love mountains, their wonder is beyond dispute. But for many, their allure is beyond reason; their extraordinary beauty offset by the immense risks involved in climbing them. In this groundbreaking and now classic work, Robert Macfarlane answers the enduring 'why' of mountaineering. He explores how mountains have come to grip the Western imagination and hold so many of us spellbound, drawing us up into the high places--sometimes at the cost of our lives.

Braiding history, geology, human stories, and glittering accounts of his own journeys in high, wild landscapes from the Rockies to the Himalayas, Macfarlane unfurls the mysteries and passions of mountaineering's imaginative evolution. His account begins in the mid-1700s, when a fascination for mountains was sparked by the work of both poets and scientists in Europe. It ends with a vivid re-creation of George Mallory's three, ill-fated expeditions in the 1920s, as Mallory sought to be the first to summit Mt. Everest.

The Gooney Birds of Southport by Hope Taylor Spencer

This rhyming picture book is author Hope Taylor Spencer's second children's book. Again she's achieving her lifelong dream of publishing such a book. The stanzas tell the story of a mysterious artist in the quaint town of Southport, North Carolina, who paints colorful, fanciful, one-of-a-kind Gooney Birds on donated or recovered wooden boards. She, friends, and others in the know deliver the Gooney Birds at night all over in Southport, Oak Island, and beyond. No one knows the name of the person who's creating the birds. Each Gooney Bird is unique with bright feathers and a quirky smile. The birds appear everywhere: at the lighthouse, in shop windows, by trees, on benches, in yards, and all around. Tourists and town folks alike search all over town for Gooney Birds to take home. The artist's "message is clear: 'Spread kindness, ' she writes. 'Never fail to share cheer.' " The author closes the story with suggestions for ways others can share kindness where they live today. Readers will nod knowingly and maybe even become inspired by these suggestions as they read the book. They'll want to read this tale time and again to enjoy the rhymes, the colorful artwork, and the messages of kindness, cheer, and love.



"All my blessings are the blessings of community." --Octavia Spencer

Octavia drove to Los Angeles at twenty-six in search of a career in film. What she found was her chosen family. In this captivating memoir, the Oscar-winning actor and producer recounts the seeds of the relationships that grew into the story of her life, from her tender teenage connection with Whoopi Goldberg to her sustaining friendships with Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Allison Janney, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, and the many talented, inspiring women whose love and advice have helped her become the woman she is today. Together, they built the world in which this book is set: a place where women support one another and the voices of history's heroines ring aloud.

Give Them Their Flowers is a love letter to female friendship. It is a call to follow your personal passions, create community, and persevere. This is Octavia's ode to all the women who wake up early to get it done: the mentors, the mothers and the mother figures, the aunties and the godmothers, the creators, the visionaries, and the best friends.

"Men have given me jobs," Octavia says. "Women are the reason the world knows who I am."

The bestselling co-author of "The One Minute Manager" (more than 3 million copies sold) provides "an entertaining approach to making decisions."-- "Human Resources" magazine"This book is essential reading. You can read it on a plane ride and apply the lessons immediately."--Jack E. Bowsher, former Director of Education, IBM

"Dr. Spencer Johnson has the rare ability to be interesting, provocative and succinct. My admiration is complete."--Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, author of "The Power of Positive Thinking"

★ "Explores adolescence, grief, and intergenerational relationships. Spencer draws readers into Mia's world and family life...Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous readers will enjoy reading about Mia's life and are likely to come away wanting more." -- Quill & Quire, starred review

It's the summer of 1989, and Mia is on her own--adjusting to life without her ex-best friend, Lara.

Summer vacation starts off well enough as Mia binges MuchMusic and learns how to jar fish with her aunty and uncle. Then her grandma starts feeling unwell. At first, Mia isn't too worried, but when a call comes in from the clinic to say her grandmother has to go to the hospital in Vancouver, everyone realizes this is serious.

Mia and her mom and aunties head to the city to be by her grandmother's side. Mia mostly ping-pongs from the hospital to the motel, but she also gets to see some of the city and eat (too much) takeout. She even joins a basketball camp at the Friendship Centre, where she meets a teen coach who inspires her to get back into the game she loves and delve deeper into what it means to be Indigenous. As time passes, Mia's grandmother's health doesn't improve, and she has to face the fact that her beloved grandma might not get better.

The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Praise for Kim Spencer's Weird Rules to Follow

★"Readers will be left with a rich image of Mia's world and the family and people that surround her as well as a strong sense of how culture and class impact people's experiences. A touching exploration of identity and culture."--Kirkus Reviews

An Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling series.

A killer fueled by revenge. A detective haunted by the past. They are headed for a high-stakes showdown in this bone-chilling new Tracy Crosswhite novel by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

Detective Tracy Crosswhite isn't one to lose her cool. Until her interrogation of the taunting and malicious Erik Schmidt, a suspect in two cold case killings. Schmidt also has unnerving ties to the monster who murdered Tracy's sister, stirring memories of the crime that shaped Tracy's life. After a critical mistake during a shooting exercise, Tracy breaks.

Haunted by nightmares and flashbacks, Tracy heads to her hometown of Cedar Grove to refocus. Just a peaceful getaway with her husband, her daughter, and their nanny at their weekend house. But Tracy's sleepless nights are only beginning. A legal glitch has allowed Schmidt to go free. And Tracy has every reason to fear that he's followed her.

Forced into a twisted game of cat and mouse, Tracy must draw on all her training, wits, and strength to defeat a master criminal before he takes away everyone Tracy loves.

This widely praised version of Dante's masterpiece, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award of the Academy of American Poets, is more idiomatic and approachable than its many predecessors. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Pinsky employs slant rhyme and near rhyme to preserve Dante's terza rima form without distorting the flow of English idiom. The result is a clear and vigorous translation that is also unique, student-friendly, and faithful to the original: "A brilliant success," as Bernard Knox wrote in The New York Review of Books.

2013 Reprint of 1962 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Contains two essays by Martin Luther King Jr. concerning the role of violence in the civil rights movement. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Robert Williams organized armed self-defense against the racist violence of the Ku Klux Klan. This is the story of his movement, first established in Monroe, N.C. As prologue, the issues raised by events in Monroe are weighted by Truman Nelson and Martin Luther King Jr. Illustrated.

From one of the nation's most dedicated advocates for those with disabilities, an exposé of the insidious takeover of disability supports by private equity firms and a clarion call for urgent systemic change in a broken industry that has mistreated millions.

Since ancient times, people with disabilities have been ridiculed, ignored, and even tortured--and while this problem has plagued society for far too long, the media has largely turned a blind eye to it.

Silent No Longer is the story of Robert Stack's forty-year career in the disability industry, revealing the horrible neglect that persists today and asking why tens of thousands of people are still unnecessarily incarcerated in institutions that fail them. Stack is a veteran of the industry and the founder and CEO of Community Options--one of the largest non-profit organizations supporting persons with disabilities today--and offers a firsthand account of the neglect and abuse he has witnessed in his decades of advocacy.

In this eye-opening dive into the disability industry, Stack pulls back the curtain on the systemic mistreatment that has plagued the disability community for far too long:

Exposing the disturbing rise of private equity firms investing in facilities that prioritize profits over care Highlighting the tactics used to make substandard institutions appear high-quality Revealing the stark disparities in funding and care across the United States

With over 7 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in America, and some 80 million family members who love and care for them, Silent No Longer is a crucial resource for industry professionals and policymakers alike--and a demand that we restore dignity to those most vulnerable members of our society.

Drawing inspiration from classic video games, CodeSkull centers on an ambitious arcade gamer, Mick, who is one day gifted a floppy disc of an RPG game by her rival, Tommy. But when she plays it, she inadvertently unleashes a terrifying technological creature that can infest and overload any electrically powered object.

After their classmate meets a grisly end, the two must team up in order to save their small town-and possibly the world-from annihilation...

In her entry into the Totally Freaked! series, Chloe Spencer takes pre-2000s tech panic and gamer culture for a nostalgic 90s horror ride!

Acclaimed by Henry James as Robert Louis Stevenson's best novel, Kidnapped achieves what Stevenson called, "the particular crown and triumph of the artist...not simply to convince, but to enchant."

Spirited, romantic, and full of danger, Kidnapped is Robert Louis Stevenson's classic of high adventure. Beloved by generations, it is the saga of David Balfour, a young heir whose greedy uncle connives to do him out of his inherited fortune and plots to have him seized and sold into slavery. But honor, loyalty, and courage are rewarded; the orphan and castaway survives kidnapping and shipwreck, is rescued by a daredevil of a rogue, and makes a thrilling escape to freedom across the wild highlands of Scotland.

Skyrocketing energy prices are placing downward pressure on economic growth throughout the world. There seems to be no relief in sight, with hundreds of millions without access to reliable energy and with global energy consumption expected to grow by 50 percent over the next 30 years. Some would impose energy rationing―or in other words, slow human progress. But with nearly 46 percent of the world's population living on less than $5.50 per day, slowing human progress is unacceptable.

The only solution is more energy and lots of it. Jack Spencer, in his upcoming book, Going Nuclear: Reestablishing American Commercial Nuclear Dominance, argues that nuclear energy offers real answers to power our homes and industries, clean our air and water, and maybe even take us to Mars. However, we have been getting nuclear power wrong for decades. Skeptics say that nuclear energy is too expensive and threatens the world with the proliferation of nuclear weapons material and radioactive waste. Proponents say that nuclear power needs and deserves the support of the state and the taxpayer, cradle to grave.

The time has come, Spencer argues, to think big nuclear energy and pull it out of the time capsule that pop culture, environmental activists, lobbyists, peaceniks, and policymakers are all too content to leave nuclear in. Spencer writes that while the government-industry partnership that defined the early years of America's commercial nuclear rise was essential to the nation's security, reluctance to modernize that relationship has prevented the American nuclear industry from reaching its full potential.

In its place, Spencer offers an alternative that shatters how we think about nuclear energy policy and realigns the responsibilities of government and industry with the incentives that will drive America to success. Going Nuclear describes why government intervention in the nuclear industry is a problem, how to move from the status quo to something new, and why such reforms will kick off an era of nuclear entrepreneurship and innovation. Over 70 years ago, nuclear energy entered the scene with great promise. Now more than ever, the world needs that promise delivered, and America can lead the way.