From soda jerk to billionaire restaurateur, Ray Kroc exemplified American entrepreneurship at its best. In a fascinating career of building McDonald’s into the world’s biggest human food chain, Kroc adhered to certain virtues he considered indispensable for success--passion, persistence, simplicity, trust in frontline employees, partnering with suppliers. Plus: Smile, smile, smile. Here’s what you can learn from his amazing record. You may not want to share this information with your teenagers: Ray Kroc--the visionary behind McDonald’s and one of the most successful entrepreneursin American history--was a high school dropout. And the man who changed the way the world eats didn’t open his first restaurant until he was in his fifties. Clearly, Kroc didn’t follow the book--he wrote a new one. The saga of his ascent from paper cup salesman to one of Time magazine’s 100 most important people of the twentieth century is a vivid lesson in leadership, drive, and common sense. Ray Kroc was born on October 5, 1902, in Oak Park, Illinois, just outside Chicago. His family originated in Bohemia, now a major region of the Czech Republic. New Word City, publishers of digital originals, contributes 10 percent of its profits to literacy causes.

Price: $2.99 USD

When love goes wild, crazy, sensual, and oh-so-hot, blame it on the moon…. New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster Once in a Blue Moon. Thanks to a rare blue moon, Stan Tucker is suddenly privy to everyone’s innermost thoughts—grocery lists, work woes, appointments. Hello, Dullsville! Until he encounters Jenna Rowan’s so not primetime inner monologue. Seems the pretty, shy bookstore owner he’s lusted after for ages is in mutual lust...ah-whoooo!…. Lucy Monroe Moon Magnetism. For generations, women in Ida Kendall’s family have been extremely magnetic during a full moon—which explains why the sultry hotel manager has resisted the technological improvements her boss wants her to implement. Now, the sexy, dynamic Blake Hawthorne is coming to insist on the upgrades in person...in bed…. Dianne Castell Moonstruck. Ever since pretty divorcee Julia Simon unknowingly performed a Blue Moon ritual, her wishes seem to be coming true. So why not wish for wild, unbridled passionate sex with hunky P.I. Marc Adams? Now, with the blue moon due to end in three days, Julia can only wonder if it’s just a spell or the start of a whole new life…. Since her first book in 1996, Lori Foster has become the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling author of almost seventy novels. Lori and her husband, their three sons, and their two Chihuahuas, Brock and Tootsie, all live in rural Ohio, outside of Cincinnati. Oregon author Lucy Monroe’s books have hit national bestseller lists in both the US and England. Her highly charged, sensual stories touch on the realities of life while giving the reader a fantasy story not easily forgotten. Lucy's books transport her readers to a special place where the heart rules and love conquers all. Dianne Castell is an empty-nester who lives in Milford, Ohio, with her retired husband and spoiled cat. She’s given up cooking and cleaning and writes hot, sexy, fun-filled st

Price: $3.99 USD

The holidays are the icing on the cake for bakery owner Hannah Swensen. Surrounded by her loved ones, she has all the ingredients for a perfect Christmas—until murder is added to the mix... When it comes to holidays, Minnesotans rise to the occasion—and the little town of Lake Eden is baking up a storm with Hannah leading the way. The annual Christmas Buffet is the final test of the recipes Hannah has collected for the Lake Eden Holiday Buffet Cookbook. The recently divorced Martin Dubinski arrives at the buffet with his new Vegas showgirl wife—all wrapped up in glitter and fur. His ex-wife, however, seems as cool as chilled eggnog. And when Hannah’s mother’s antique Christmas cake knife disappears, its discovery in the décolletage of the new—and now late—Mrs. Dubinski puts the festivities on ice. With everyone stranded at the community center by a blizzard, Hannah puts her investigative skills to the test, using the ingredients at hand: half the town of Lake Eden—and a killer. Now, as the snowdrifts get higher, it’s up to Hannah to dig out all the clues—and make sure that this white Christmas doesn’t bring any more deadly tidings…. “Wacky and delightful characters, plus tempting recipes from appetizers to desserts, make this lighthearted offering sure to please the palate of any cozy fan.”— Publishers Weekly. “Fluke’s talent for spinning a mesmerizing tale carries on in this sixth book, and its holiday recipes are an added treat for readers.”— Times News Record. “A clever and delicious treat for Christmas.”— Mystery Lovers Bookshop News. Includes over fifty original recipes for you to try!

Price: $5.59 USD

When Mattie Winston catches her husband Dr. David Winston receiving some very special loving care from R.N. Karen Owenby, she quits her job and moves out. Mattie's best friend Izzy offers her a place to stay and suggests she'd be a natural as deputy coroner. Now, instead of taking patients' pulses, Mattie's weighing their hearts and livers. But Mattie's first homicide call turns out to be for none other than Nurse Karen, and even though she saw her ex in a heated argument with the newly deceased the night before, she refuses to believe David could be a killer. Keeping mum about what she saw, Mattie is also left speechless by the sight of hunky Detective Steve Hurley. . . From learning the ropes on her new job to sorting out her feelings about her ex and dealing with her growing attraction to Detective Hurley, Mattie's in deep water and in danger of sinking quickly, especially when she places herself dead center in the path of a desperate--yet determined--killer. . . Praise for Annelise Ryan and Working Stiff. "Sassy, sexy, and suspenseful, Annelise Ryan knocks 'em dead in her wry and original Working Stiff." --Carolyn Hart, author of Dare to Die. "Make way for Mattie Winston, the funniest deputy coroner to cut up a corpse since, well, ever." --Laura Levine, author of Killer Cruise. "Ryan brings her professional expertise to her crisp debut." -- Publishers Weekly. Annelise Ryan is the pseudonym for the author of three suspense novels. She has written more than 200 published articles, worked as a book reviewer for Barnes & Noble, and is an active member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. She is an RN whose past work experience has included everything from birth (obstetrics) to death (hospice). She currently works in an ER and enjoys a number of side hobbies, including competitive Scrabble, stained glass, scuba diving, and gardening.

Price: $5.59 USD

See Jane Win® for Girls A Smart Girl's Guide to Success Have you ever seen successful women and wondered, ''How did they get to be that way? What did they do when they were kids? How did they feel? What kinds of experiences did they have? How did they become so confident, capable, and strong?'' Dr. Sylvia Rimm wondered the same things. She decided to get answers - from women themselves. She and her daughters surveyed more than 1,000 successful women, then wrote two books for adults: See Jane Win® and How Jane Won. Those books are helping many parents raise amazing daughters. But you don't have to wait for someone to help you. You can help yourself. This book shows you how. It's full of ideas you can start using now to shape your own future. Look inside to find: Specific, practical ''I CAN'' tips for following your dreams, building healthy self-esteem, using your brainpower, improving your social smarts, forming new interests and talents, exploring the world, dealing with big changes, finding role models and mentors, learning and growing with your family, and more.....Quick quizzes and questions that keep you on track.....Fill-in-the-blank charts and pages that help you learn more about yourself.....True ''I CAN'' stories from kids and teens.....Inspiring words from real women - teachers, attorneys, astronauts, musicians, physicians, photographers, publishers, congresswomen, businesswomen, radio announcers, TV news anchors, homemakers, and others......A ''Digging Deeper'' discussion guide to share with caring adults.....And more! Even if you think you're ordinary or average, the truth is, you're full of potential. This book helps you make the most of it. Because anything's possible when you're an ''I CAN'' girl.

Price: $9.99 USD

A woman lets herself go and finally does something wrong. Down on his luck, a man tries to do something right. For both, the consequences are as surprising as they are rewarding in two tales of lost souls by two rising stars in contemporary African-American fiction. Praise for Mary Monroe. "Full of emotion, Red Light Wives is a piece of art that is truly unconventional and unsurpassable." -- Black Issues Book Review. "Mary Monroe is a remarkable talent."-- Chicago Sun-Times. "[Gonna Lay Down My Burdens] opens with a bang. . ..a standout."-- Publishers Weekly. "Magnificent, coarse, funny and terrifying."-- The San Francisco Chronicle on The Upper Room. "Clearly the work of a real talent." -- San Jose Mercury News on The Upper Room. Praise for Victor McGlothin. "[A] new and refreshing voice in the world of contemporary African-American fiction."-- QBR. "Victor McGlothin has written an amazing story of spiritual and emotional redemption." --Victoria Christopher Murray, #1 Essence ® bestselling author of Grown Folks Business. Two gripping tales of loss and redemption by two of the most gifted, elegant voices in African-American fiction. "Nightmare in Paradise" by Mary Monroe. Good-looking and as dutiful a wife as she is a devoted friend, reserved and respectful Renee Webb always does the right thing. So when she gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to let her hair down on a Caribbean vacation with her uninhibited friend Inez, Renee is more than ready to let go. But the sun-splashed isle of Paraiso is not what it seems, and Renee finds out that doing the wrong thing--a sizzling night of pleasure with a sexy stranger--might cost her more than she ever imagined. . . "Bad Luck Shadow" by Victor McGlothin. Bad luck's been shadowing handsome Baltimore Floyd ever since he hopped a train out of New York City. On the run from some of Harlem's baddest hitmen, Baltimore's lu

Price: $12.00 USD

Winner of the 2007 Otto Kinkeldey Award from the American Musicological Society and the 2007 Deems Taylor Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. Divas and Scholars is a dazzling and beguiling account of how opera comes to the stage, filled with Philip Gossett’s personal experiences of triumphant—and even failed—performances and suffused with his towering and tonic passion for music. Writing as a fan, a musician, and a scholar, Gossett, the world's leading authority on the performance of Italian opera, brings colorfully to life the problems, and occasionally the scandals, that attend the production of some of our most favorite operas. Gossett begins by tracing the social history of nineteenth-century Italian theaters in order to explain the nature of the musical scores from which performers have long worked. He then illuminates the often hidden but crucial negotiations opera scholars and opera conductors and performers: What does it mean to talk about performing from a critical edition? How does one determine what music to perform when multiple versions of an opera exist? What are the implications of omitting passages from an opera in a performance? In addition to vexing questions such as these, Gossett also tackles issues of ornamentation and transposition in vocal style, the matters of translation and adaptation, and even aspects of stage direction and set design. Throughout this extensive and passionate work, Gossett enlivens his history with reports from his own experiences with major opera companies at venues ranging from the Metropolitan and Santa Fe operas to the Rossini Opera Festival at Pesaro. The result is a book that will enthrall both aficionados of Italian opera and newcomers seeking a reliable introduction to it—in all its incomparable grandeur and timeless allure.

Price: $22.50 USD

Edmund Curll (1683-1747) was one-man publishing firm, a figure notorious in his day and something of a comic figure ever since thanks to his enmity with Alexander Pope. This is the first full scholarly biography of his life, and gives a lively, unbiased, and accurate account of Curll's varied and distinctive publishing output. - ;Edmund Curll was a notorious figure among the publishers of the early eighteenth century: for his boldness, his lack of scruple, his publication of work without author's consent, and his taste for erotic and scandalous publications. He was in legal trouble on several occasions for piracy and copyright infringement, unauthorised publication of the works of peers, and for seditious, blasphemous, and obscene publications. He stood in the pillory in 1728 for seditious libel. Above all,. he was the constant target of the greatest poet and satirist of his age, Alexander Pope, whose work he pirated whenever he could and who responded with direct physical revenge (an emetic slipped into a drink) and persistent malign caricature. The war between Pope and Curll typifies some of the main. cultural battles being waged between creativity and business. The story has normally been told from the poet's point of view, though more recently Curll has been celebrated as a kind of literary freedom-fighter; this book, the first full biography of Curll since Ralph Straus's The Unspeakable Curll (1927), seeks to give a balanced and thoroughly-researched account of Curll's career in publishing between 1706 and 1747, untangling the mistakes and misrepresentations that have. accrued over the years and restoring a clear sense of perspective to Curll's dealings in the literary marketplace. It examines the full range of Curll's output, including his notable antiquarian series, and uses extensive archive material to detail Curll's legal and other troubles. For the first time, what is. known about this strange, interesting, and awkward figu

Price: $65.00 USD

Toxicogenomics is a new, dynamic and very promising field that can help optimize toxicity analyses and streamline research into active substances. It is of interest not only for basic research and development, but also from a legal and ethical perspective. Here, experts from all the fields mentioned will find solid information provided by an international team of experienced authors. With its approach as an interdisciplinary overview, it will prove particularly useful for all those needing to develop appropriate research strategies. The authors work for major research institutions, such as the Fraunhofer Institute of Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (Germany), the German Cancer Research Center, the National Institute of Environmental Health Science (USA), the National Institute of Health Science (Japan) or for companies like Affymetrix, Altana Pharma, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bruker, Merck, Nimblegen, Novartis, and Syngenta. Coverage ranges from the technology platforms applied, including DNA arrays or proteomics, via the bioinformatics tools required, right up to applications of toxicogenomics presented in numerous case studies, while also including an overview of national programs and initiatives as well as regulatory perspectives. Walter Rosenthal, Director of the Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology in Berlin, praises the book thus: "I would like to congratulate the publishers of this handbook, one that deals with a extremely hot topic. They have succeeded in gaining as authors leading representatives from this field. The Handbook impressively shows how modern genomic research is leading to rapid advances and new insights within toxicology."

Price: $305.00 USD