Business Fiction

A beautiful bird beats its lovely wings against its cage, struggling in vain to gain its inborn freedom - only to settle on its perch - frustrated and defeated. Had I been granted but one wish at that moment, I would have opened the door - freeing those lovely wings that so ached with the desire to fan the cool ethers.

Sister Trixie Lavender here! After a rocky start (read: murdered landlord) to our arrival in Cobbler Cove, Oregon, things have finally slowed down. Er...mostly. My demon buddy Coop and I, along with our sassy talking owl Livingston, have settled nicely into our newly opened shop, Inkerbelle's Tattoos. We've met some awesome people, including new friends Higgs and Knuckles, and we're forging friendships with our fellow business owners. And sure, we've had a few glitches (see Jeff), but we've found our groove, our clientele is growing, and everything's pretty great.

Originally published in 1886, the nine stories in this collection encapsulate Sarah Orne Jewett’s love and reverence for nature; her affinity for understanding complex, nuanced, and often strained relationships; and—just as her father encouraged her—her ability to write not about things, but to “write the things themselves just as they are.”

In 1984, The Little Kingdom: The Private Story of Apple Computer told the story of Apples first decade alongside the histories of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Now, completely revised and expanded, Return to the Little Kingdom is the definitive biography of Apple and its founders from the very beginning. Moritz brings readers inside the childhood homes of Jobs and Wozniak and records how they dropped out of college and founded Apple in 1976.

In this unforgettable parable, Tom Cook, a disillusioned American businessman, has traveled to Italy looking for direction in his life. In Florence, the last city on his tour, Tom meets a mysterious old man who opens his eyes to the art and life of Michelangelo and reveals what the artist's work can teach him and all of us about the power of following your passion.

Barry Murray's life is simple: run his bar, keep his employees happy, and remain alone. For most of his life, it's been easy, but he allows himself one exception: his favorite pop star, Lila Wilde. For years, he's listened to her albums when going through the toughest parts of his life. So when he finds her panicking in the alley behind his bar, all of his walls come tumbling down and he opens up to her in a way he's never done with anyone else. Fate keeps making their paths cross, and he's falling for her, hard. But when he offers to give her everything, she says no.

Learn powerful, science-based techniques to boost focus, drive, and energy hour-by-hour throughout the day - every day. As leadership consultants and executive trainers, Bonnie St. John and Allen P. Haines have heard the same complaints from clients for years; periodic burnout, lack of focus, and low energy. So they dug into the latest research on neuroscience, psychology, and physiology looking for big answers. Instead they found small answers; proof that small adjustments in daily routines, can fight the forces that sap our energy and store focus and drive.

Drop-dead-gorgeous Ethan Chambers loves his life as Hollywood's most eligible—and elusive—bachelor. Plus, the talented actor has just gotten an offer he can't refuse: a starring role on TV's hit medical drama. But it's the show's sultry makeup and wardrobe director who's got his pulse racing—and making him think twice about staying single.

A rollicking journey through the wild world of real estate, Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House is the story of "a very imperfect life lived among very imperfect houses" and one woman's obsession with the search for four walls (along with, preferably, a roof not in need of replacing) to call home. In the six houses and many states where Meghan Daum spent her suburban childhood, for the Daum family, "if there was anything that came close to a regular weekend activity it was attending open houses."

I’m not boyfriend material. If a trail of broken hearts and a piss-poor record of failed relationships have taught me anything, it’s this. My buddies are happy to give me shit about my latest breakup from here to next Sunday. Thanks, but I’d rather have a root canal. And a vasectomy. At the same time. Relief comes in an unlikely package - the gorgeous and feisty Maren. She just so happens to be my best friend’s sister, so that’s not awkward at all.

Fallyn Mitchell’s perfect life begins to unravel at the seams piece by piece. As life shows her not everything is within her control, she finds solace in her best friend, Stax. For the last ten years, Stax has been the one constant in Fallyn’s life that has been unchanging. When he finally meets the perfect woman for him romantically, Fallyn’s feelings for him start to come to the surface, and she has to choose between keeping her friendship intact or risking it for a romantic relationship that Stax may not even want.

When last we met, good people, the biggest wish I've ever made came to fruition. My outrageously handsome, smart, sometimes persnickety (read mostly persnickety) Spy Guy, Winterbottom, is finally here on earth with me, recuperating from his afterlife jaunt. Sure, he can be a difficult patient. Add in the fact that some of the spells I've cast to make this dream a reality have had repercussions (an understatement), and it's been sheer chaos. When my favorite men decide that I should take a day for myself, I hesitantly head out. And then I die. You can imagine, it only goes downhill....

What enables some talented people to rise to the top and live their full ambitions at work and in life, while others stop short? In 2008, Joanna Barsh launched and sponsored Tthe Centered Leadership Project at McKinsey and Company to answer that very question. In the process, they uncovered what distinguishes leaders who are successful from those who achieve true greatness. They called it Centered Leadership because these leaders find their balance in the midst of chaos and lead from their most resourceful self to unleash the potential of others.

We Are All Weird is a celebration of choice, of treating different people differently and of embracing the notion that everyone deserves the dignity and respect that comes from being heard. The book calls for end of "mass" and for the beginning of offering people more choices, more interests, and giving them more authority to operate in ways that reflect their own unique values.

Learn to harness the power of social media to increase your sales! This multi-session audio program is designed to prepare a sales professional to move to the next level of success in this evolving profession.

Eight years ago, the older and irresistible Kane Hudson rocked my world. He saw me as more than just a shy and awkward premed student. And somehow, he helped me to see myself too. He made me believe I was beautiful and that dreams were worth fighting for. He was a dream. Then, without warning, it all came to an end. He went off to England and I headed to medical school. My hope was to never see the man again. That was wishful thinking. Now we're both back in my hometown and, as luck would have it, we are both vying to become the next CEO of my family's blood plasma company.

Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else? - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and the Guys Read Library, you already know what you’re in store for: 10 hilarious stories from some of the funniest writers around. Before you’re through, you’ll meet a teenage mummy; a kid desperate to take a dip in the world’s largest pool of chocolate milk; a homicidal turkey; parents who hand over their son’s room to a biker; and more.

In Growth Hacking: Silicon Valley's Best Kept Secret, growth consultants Raymond Fong and Chad Riddersen deconstruct the phenomenon used by Silicon Valley's fast growing tech elite, growth hacking. Raymond and Chad's framework, the ASP™, is an easy to understand blueprint that empowers any business to apply growth hacking.

Elle Chambers is Edinburgh's hardest working insurance investigator, and one who solves cases using unconventional means. Supernatural means. Elle is a witch - and a damn good one, too. Assigned back-to-back cases, Elle must first find a missing bad boy who might or might not be a werewolf. Next, a simple missing artwork case turns out to be not so simple. What Elle is about to discover will change her life forever...and open her heart to the possibility of love.

In this treasury of uncommon wisdom and spiritual insight, the best writings and personal philosophies of one of the 20th century's greatest poets, Rainer Maria Rilke, are gleaned by Ulrich Baer from thousands of pages of never-before translated correspondence.