Culture House

"What is your favorite story?" is the question children across the country often ask professional storyteller Pleasant DeSpain. As he attempts to answer, his list grows longer and longer, until he confesses he likes them all. An untiring researcher of oral traditions, DeSpain is known for his concise versions of world folktales specifically crafted for retelling.

Más que un libro, este objeto es un carnaval de cincuenta estaciones que desfila tras las bambalinas de la cultura mexicana. En él participan Tin Tan y Pita Amor, María Félix y Monsiváis, Piporro y Tongolele, Nahui Olin y Jorge Ibargüengoitia, los beats y Marilyn Monroe, Vitola y José Revueltas. Entre muchos, muchos otros. Mientras pasan, nos van contando de sus vicios, supersticiones, sus pleitos y apodos, los cuadrángulos amorosos que formaron y los cabarés que visitaron.

In Alpha Girls, award-winning journalist Julian Guthrie takes listeners behind the closed doors of venture capital, an industry that transforms economies and shapes how we live. We follow the lives and careers of four women who were largely written out of history - until now. These women, juggling work and family, shaped the tech landscape we know today while overcoming unequal pay, actual punches, betrayals, and the sexist attitudes prevalent in Silicon Valley and in male-dominated industries everywhere.

Bran’s Southern California upbringing is anything but traditional. After her mother joins a Buddhist colony, Bran is raised by her “common-law stepfather” on Bourdon Farms—a plant nursery that doubles as a cover for a biker gang. She spends her days tending plants, slogging through high school, and imagining what life could be if she had been born to a different family.

In this story from India, a farmer's three lazy sons don't want to work. They sit around dreaming of making a lot of gold. When their mother tells them of gold buried in a field, they ask her how to bring the gold to the surface. Through clever suggestions, their mother explains how to thed the fields as they discover the true riches offered by hard work. Illustrated by Tom Wrenn.

It's a critical and pivotal moment in America with ominous signs all around. Most Christians firmly agree the nation is on a dangerous trajectory.

From the acclaimed author of The Pencil and To Engineer Is Human, The Essential Engineer is an eye-opening exploration of the ways in which science and engineering must work together to address our world's most pressing issues, from dealing with climate change and the prevention of natural disasters to the development of efficient automobiles and the search for renewable energy sources.

One of Granta’s Best of Young American Novelists, Joshua Cohen arrives with his first collection of nonfiction, the culmination of two decades of writing and thought about life in the digital age. In essays, memoir, criticism, diary entries, and letters—many appearing here for the first time—Cohen covers the full depth and breadth of modern life.

Abandoned at the altar, Heather Gray seeks to escape the scandal and gossip of her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, by answering Sheriff Benjamin Pullman’s mail order bride ad. But when she arrives in Montana, Benjamin has them married within minutes of Heather’s getting off the stagecoach, then starts them out on a two-day journey over a wild, rugged landscape, with snow threatening. Then, when their lives are both threatened, she realizes she’ll have to dig deep and find the courage to trust in God to see them through to a new life and a new love. Read all the books in ...

Ist das Ewige Eis ewig? Kokosnuss und seine Freunde erforschen die Polargebiete. Kokosnuss, Matilda und Oskar besuchen ihren Kumpel, den Eisbär Björn. Der erzählt, dass seine Eisscholle immer kleiner wird. Um ihrem Freund helfen zu können, wollen die drei die Zusammenhänge verstehen. Sie begeben sich auf eine Forschungsreise und stellen viele Fragen.

Food snobbery is killing entrepreneurship and innovation, says economist, preeminent social commentator, and maverick dining guide blogger Tyler Cowen. Americans are becoming angry that our agricultural practices have led to global warming-but while food snobs are right that local food tastes better, they're wrong that it is better for the environment, and they are wrong that cheap food is bad food. The food world needs to know that you don't have to spend more to eat healthy, green, exciting meals. At last, some good news from an economist!

Conozca la historia de la vida de Jesús y los orígenes de la fe cristiana en este libro, que es una lectura perfecta para Pascua, Navidad o cualquier otro día del año.

Bill O’Reilly is one of the most recognized and talked-about journalists of our time. With an unparalleled track record as an author and with the number-one-rated Fox News show The O’Reilly Factor, O’Reilly has become a veritable institution of political insight and keen advice. In Keep It Pithy, O’Reilly offers a classic collection of the most memorable writings from his best-selling books, and looks back at how his opinions and ideas have been proven right or wrong by the passage of time.

Gamer and commentator Jamie Madigan's fresh and pertinent new book shows how business leaders can promote a culture of productivity and innovation using gaming techniques and psychology. Just as games teach players to navigate a virtual "world", bosses teach employees to navigate the workplace by solving problems, cooperating with colleagues, and setting long-term goals. The application of video games has the potential to eliminate dreary offices in favor of more stimulating - and ultimately, more profitable - work environments. Look no further to level up your team!

A mirror, when clear, reflects an exact representation of any who stand before it. Each gift, imperfection, and scar is seen clearly and in detail. A mirror that is skewed will still portray a reflection, but the reflection will not directly represent reality. This is the general theory behind the famed Funhouse Mirrors, and why they are so intriguing. In an instant, one can see their reality differently. Sometimes we see something we dislike, and other times, we see what we prefer. Louis Bianco believes our perceptions are like mirrors, reflecting what occurs in real life back into our ...

The corporate masks we wear hide many a secret. The most potent are not the secret financial numbers or confidential strategy documents hidden away in locked drawers or in safes but the simple ones—good filter coffee generosity and thirty minutes of me-time. This book offers a selection of fascinating and useful secrets that can help you be far more successful at your workplace. As a bonus they can make you happier as well. Harish Bhat wields his pen with his signature insight to delight inspire provoke and change the way you see offices forever.

"Masterful...a classic parable of the human condition," said Publishers Weekly about Ethan Canin's For Kings and Planets, and the same can be said about Canin's brilliant new novel. Breathtaking in its suspense and beauty, Carry Me Across the Water tells the story of a complex man's extraordinary life, lived against the backdrop of the central years of the twentieth century.

The Science of Superheroes takes a lighthearted but clear-headed look at the real science that underlies some of the greatest superhero comic books of all time, including Spider-Man, Batman, Fantastic Four, and many more. Each chapter presents the story of the origin of one or more superheroes and asks intriguing questions that lead to fascinating discussions about the limits of science, the laws of nature, and the future of technology.

Thou Shalt Innovate profiles wondrous Israeli innovations that are collectively changing the lives of billions of people around the world, and explores why Israeli innovators of all faiths feel compelled to make the world better. This is the story of how Israelis are helping to feed the hungry, cure the sick, protect the defenseless, and make the desert bloom. Israel is playing a disproportionate role in helping solve some of the world's biggest challenges by tapping into the nation's soul: the spirit of tikkun olam - the Jewish concept of repairing the world.

Michael Jackson was once universally acclaimed as a song-and-dance man of genius; Wacko Jacko is now, more often than not, dismissed for his bizarre race and gender transformations and confounding antics, even as he is commonly reviled for the child molestation charges twice brought against him. Whence the weirdness and alleged criminality? How to account for Michael Jackson's rise and fall?