Andrew Smart wants you to sit and do nothing much more often – and he has the science to explain why.At every turn we're pushed to do more, faster and more efficiently: that drumbeat resounds throughout our wage-slave society. Multitasking is not only a virtue, it's a necessity. Books such as Getting Things Done, The One Minute Manager, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People regularly top the bestseller lists, and have spawned a considerable industry.But Andrew Smart argues that slackers may have the last laugh. The latest neuroscience shows that the "culture of effectiveness" is not only ineffective, it can be harmful to your well-being. He makes a compelling case – backed by science – that filling life with activity at work and at home actually hurts your brain.A survivor of corporate-mandated "Six Sigma" training to improve efficiency, Smart has channeled a self-described "loathing" of the time-management industry into a witty, informative and...

Carl Bowman is a killer. An assassin for hire whose latest assignment is to take out a ten-year-old girl. He doesn't know what she's done or why someone wants her dead. He just knows he has to kill her. But with the girl in his sights, Carl can't bring himself to pull the trigger. Instead he goes on the run, taking her with him.In a small village in Southern Spain, Julia Martin's carefully constructed life is falling apart. Her husband and his mistress have been killed in an explosion in their home and her daughter, Rebecca, has disappeared. Julia has been fleeing the secrets of her past for over a decade and it seems they've finally caught up with her.To get her daughter back, Julia must confront a truth she's spent years running from and call on an acquaintance she's done everything in her power to avoid.

With an 8-page full-color insert, and black-and-white illustrations throughoutWhy do some innocent kids grow up to become cold-blooded serial killers? Is bad biology partly to blame? For more than three decades Adrian Raine has been researching the biological roots of violence and establishing neurocriminology, a new field that applies neuroscience techniques to investigate the causes and cures of crime. In The Anatomy of Violence, Raine dissects the criminal mind with a fascinating, readable, and far-reaching scientific journey into the body of evidence that reveals the brain to be a key culprit in crime causation. Raine documents from genetic research that the seeds of sin are sown early in life, giving rise to abnormal physiological functioning that cultivates crime. Drawing on classical case studies of well-known killers in history--including Richard Speck, Ted Kaczynski, and Henry Lee Lucas--Raine illustrates how impairments to brain areas...

A fun and erudite celebration of procrastination An entertaining, fact-filled defense of the nearly universal tendency to procrastinate, drawing on the stories of history's greatest delayers, and on the work of psychologists, philosophers, and behavioral economists to explain why we put off what we're supposed to be doing and why we shouldn't feel so bad about it. Like so many of us, including most of America's workforce, and nearly two-thirds of all university students, Andrew Santella procrastinates. Concerned about his habit, but not quite ready to give it up, he set out to learn all he could about the human tendency to delay. He studied history's greatest procrastinators to gain insights into human behavior, and also, he writes, to kill time, "research being the best way to avoid real work."He talked with psychologists, philosophers, and priests. He visited New Orleans' French Quarter, home to a shrine to the patron saint of...

THE TALIONIC FILES is a crime suspense series that will follow a group of elite ATF agents in Chicago led by Valentino Masterson. The first book in the series, RETALIATORY JUSTICE, will pick up with Valentino and his crew of specialized agents being brought in on a case in New Orleans that links to their case in Chicago. During the investigation he meets the beautiful Dominique Walker, a chef working for the people he’s investigating. Things get complicated when he finds himself falling for her, unfortunately, he doesn’t quite know what side she’s on. Will his quest for vengeance, prevent him from accepting peace and love when offered, or will his need for justice end up costing him more than he’s willing to pay? In a story where it becomes increasingly difficult to tell the bad guys from the good ones, you will be on the edge of your seat until the very final moment.**

Country music has exploded across the U.S. and undergone a sweeping revolution, transforming the once ridiculed world of Nashville into an unlikely focal point of American pop culture. Bruce Feiler was granted unprecedented access to the private moments of the revolution. Here is the acclaimed report: a chronicle of the genre's biggest stars as they change the face of American music.From the historic stage of the Grand Ole Opry to the dim light of a recording studio, here is a ruggedly authentic behind the scenes tour that takes you places outsiders have never been allowed to go. Part social history, part backstage pass, this penetrating and graceful book presents the most comprehensive portraits yet painted of Garth Brooks and Wynonna Judd-two of the most celebrated artists of our times-as well as a touching picture of Wade Hayes, a young man who hopes to follow them to the exalted heights of one of America's richest traditions: the world of country music.

Warning- Graphic content and themes "THIS is me..." The desperate conclusion to "I am HER..." Finally... She has a name. She has a past and she has a history. She knows who she is. And she knows who she wanted to be. She knows the way to all she ever wanted, but she knows she can't change the past that destroyed her. "I swear I'm here, but I'm not. I swear I can feel, but I don't. I swear I hear people, but I'm all alone. Where am I? What have I done?" If everything you knew was nothing you know, how do you begin to live again? When beautiful dreams surround you but darkness consumes you, how do you begin to live anew? "After I exhale, I turn to my empty room once again. In the silence that follows my tears, I am washed in clarity. I am NOT her. THIS is me..."

A Post-Apocalyptic Jaunt through a Psycho-Sexual Nightmare #i_001.jpg He awoke with a buzzing in his head, lost at sea… Hidden amidst the fractured remains of a sunken world are the answers the Mariner craves. The ocean is endless and yet he has the tools for such a hunt; an antique slave ship infested with Tasmanian devils, a crate of semi-automatic weapons, and a dreamlike clue formed loosely in his mind. Sinister impulses, however, gnaw at his soul, unravelling his sanity: a proclivity for violence and a hunger for rape. Surrounded by mindless zombies, flesh-eating eels and dangerous cults, this sadomasochist could be humanity’s last chance at unlocking the secrets of the crumbling universe. He’s a pervert, an addict and a monster, but might just hold the key to finding a route home… The Mariner is approximately 120,000 words long and contains scenes of a violent and sexual nature. Recommended only for adults.

‘Bad Science’ hilariously exposed the tricks that quacks and journalists use to distort science, becoming a 400,000 copy bestseller. Now Ben Goldacre puts the $600bn global pharmaceutical industry under the microscope. What he reveals is a fascinating, terrifying mess. Doctors and patients need good scientific evidence to make informed decisions. But instead, companies run bad trials on their own drugs, which distort and exaggerate the benefits by design. When these trials produce unflattering results, the data is simply buried. All of this is perfectly legal. In fact, even government regulators withhold vitally important data from the people who need it most. Doctors and patient groups have stood by too, and failed to protect us. Instead, they take money and favours, in a world so fractured that medics and nurses are now educated by the drugs industry. Patients are harmed in huge numbers. Ben Goldacre is Britain’s finest writer on the science behind medicine, and ‘Bad Pharma’ is...