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This thrilling, unpredictable, yet sometimes hilarious quest, takes you from the fashionable London restaurant scene to the wild untamed jungles of the Cardamom Mountains, where an English baker and a Cambodian refugee search for a missing family and try to find a mythical plant, source of an incredible and unique spice.<br><br>Ben Bakewell is the Master Pâtissier at one of London’s most prestigious restaurants. Better known as Cake, he befriends Ravuth, a refugee from the killing fields of Cambodia who fled to England in the 1970’s as the Khmer Rouge ravished his country. As a youngster, Ravuth stumbled across an unknown plant, the source of an incredible and unique spice. Separated from his family by the Khmer Rouge, and having spent the majority of his life trying to trace them, Ravuth returns to Cambodia with Cake to seek the rare plant and find his missing loved ones. Arriving in Cambodia, they team up with a disgraced ex-DEA agent bent on revenge and needs to find the plant for purposes that are far more sinister. They furrow into the deepest parts of the untamed, unforgiving, Cardamom jungle where they barely come out alive. Will they find Ravuth’s family and the amazing Spice

In order to survive her childhood, Vanya Erickson was forced to become fluent in two languages: her Christian Scientist mother’s honeyed versions of the truth; and her rancher father’s hard-as-the-scrape-of-his-bootheels words, which stung like the back of his hand. Long version: From the outside, Vanya’s childhood of riding horses with her father in the solitude of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and attending flamboyant operas with her mother in the city looked idyllic. But life for Vanya was more about learning to gauge and survive her parents’ unpredictable actions - from being left to lie in her own blood-soaked diaper while her Christian Scientist mother prayed, refusing to get medical help, to watching her father writhe on his bed in the detox ward, his hands and feet tethered with leather straps. Vanya the only way she knew how: by immersing herself in the beauty and solitude of the wilderness around her.

A historical novel set in Tuscany in the 18th century, during the enlightened government of Pietro Leopoldo of Hapsburg Lorraine. Autobiographical memories of the Grand Duchess Maria Luisa, his wife and confidante.<br><br>“Vienna 1792. Maria Ludovica of Bourbon, the Spanish Infanta, for many years Grand Duchess of Tuscany and now Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, watches impotently the sudden death of her beloved consort, Pietro Leopoldo of Hapsburg, and from that moment begins almost frenetically to rekindle, one after the other, her innumerable memories of a life, still short, but intensely lived, beside the man who, since their first meeting had fascinated and conquered her, and to whom she had been a discrete and faithful companion. Public facts are weaved together with private feelings, with joys and suffering, in a sequence of urgent events. The Empress unconsciously knows, has always known, that she cannot survive for long (Editor’s note: she will in fact die just two months later) after the death of her husband and therefore must hurry to organise her memories, to finally manage to give an answer to the most important question for her: what did she really mean to him? Only a political and dynastic link, the mother of his children, friend and confidante or the woman he loved notwithstanding everything?”

It is progress that guarantees existence. Without engineering mankind would be an already extinguished species. The American writer James Albert Michener wrote: “ Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them”.<br><br>It is progress that guarantees existence. Without engineering mankind would be an already extinguished species. The American writer James Albert Michener wrote: “ Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them”. Between mathematics, physics, chemistry, technique and technology, from Archimedes of Syracuse to Samantha Cristoforetti, from Leonardo da Vinci to Larry Page, an extraordinary story of innovations and achievements. Nothing of what’s built nowadays by men, in any part of the world and space, would have been possible if there were no engineers. Therefore this praise is meant as a homage to the most beautiful job in the world and to the professionals that every day practice it, amongst countless difficulties but with awareness and pride.

Breakthrough Innovation Tools for Successful Leadership Innovation needs innovation: Innovation is broken. Business leadership and management struggle to find ways to crack through their own corporate politics or bureaucratic silos, to move from defense to offense, to nurture real breakthrough, to drive visionary creativity in ways that add new value to everything they do. In Innovating Innovation , David Morey, one of America’s leading strategic consultants, will teach, coach, and guide you across eleven concrete and pragmatic steps that unlock and drive day-to-day innovation in your business and help you gain a long-term competitive advantage in your marketplace. Make change and innovation happen: Innovating Innovation synergizes what is best in classic innovation theories with an insurgent strategic model inspired by one of Morey’s first corporate clients, Apple founder Steve Jobs. It shows how to lead innovation that creates the products of visionary genius without the necessity for actual genius. It provides practical tools and guidance on building and leading the teams, working conditions, organizational structures, and cultures of market-made and market-making innovation. It illustrates a roadmap to the disruptive periphery, the organizational margins at which real innovation actually takes place. Innovation can be taught: Innovating Innovation is a framework to counter failure. It directs you, the reader, to the consumer, the very person who will actually tell you how to innovate the benefits to create a future you can own. This book invites you to “think different,” to become a change leader, to go the “wrong” way to get to the right places. And it shows you how to apply the pragmatic lessons of Agile software development to absolutely everything and to accelerate your leadership career and your company’s success by stepping up from mere evolution to punctuated equilibrium, evolution as breakthrough. Your business needs unique innovation: You and your business need innovation as never before and unlike anyone else’s. This is lesson number one. And in the space of eleven chapters, Innovating Innovation offers lesson number two: You don’t need to be a genius to deliver the performances, products, and services of innovation at genius levels in the most opportunity-rich and threat-intensive business environment in history. Your management and leadership skills will improve immensely, taking your business to a level of innovation success beyond what it has ever achieved before. Innovating Innovation is a step-by-step handbook for teaching, and at times even tricking, your organization, your culture, and your company into real-world change. After reading this new battlefield manual for innovation, you will: Learn the Disruptive Periphery Concept and how it can give you the tools to help your business Discover a practical marketing-centric focus applied to innovation Reap the benefits of lessons developed from thirty years of real-world global consulting and training experience

An impressive debut mystery novel from Edgar award nominated author Brian Silverman Len Buonfiglio is a former New York bar owner and family man who has disappeared to a small island in the Caribbean. When a genial tour guide, Rawle "Big Tree" Johns is a suspect in an American woman's fall from a cliff, Johns' mother enlists Buonfiglio's help to free her son and prove his innocence. Conflicted by the need to spend time with his 16-year old daughter who he hasn't seen in years, Mr. Len as he's known on the island, reluctantly agrees to help. During his investigation he discovers there are other, much more powerful forces involved in the woman's death that threaten both his life and his family. Advance praise for Freedom Drop: "What a thrill to find Mystery Tribune, one of the best magazines in the business, launching a novel-publishing arm, and launching it with Brian Silverman's FREEDOM DROP. Silverman had me at the Caribbean setting, and held me with his fully human characters -- of both good and bad natures -- and their situation. Both the book and the publisher are welcome additions to the crime-writing world!" - SJ Rozan, Edgar-winning author of THE ART OF VIOLENCE" A mystery steeped in authentic Caribbean atmosphere. Silverman knows his territory, as does his hero, an ex-Marine-turned-sleuth who discovers that, even in paradise, things aren't always what they seem." - Wallace Stroby, author of HEAVEN'S A LIE and SOME DIE NAMELESS. "A buddy book, a whodunit, and a family drama, Freedom Drop is mystery magic." - Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times Bestselling Author of WHAT YOU BREAK "Brian Silverman's Freedom Drop is an exciting and welcome new addition to the crime writing pantheon " - S.A. Cosby, Author of BLACKTOP WASTELAND "An impressive debut...Silverman capably captures the feel of his setting en route to a satisfying conclusion. A sequel is warranted." - Publisher's Weekly

When the cynic... Fredi doesn’t believe in love. She might be a successful bridal gown designer but that’s just business. Sure, she’s watched her three best girlfriends fall head over heels with the men of their dreams but she’s certain that’s not in the cards for her. That doesn’t mean that she’s not interested in some fun with a handsome movie star––one who just happens to be her assigned date for her best friend’s wedding in Monaco. Meets the movie star... Zayn’s used to women falling at his feet so he’s utterly captivated by Fredi’s quick wit and her refusal to be impressed by him. Their chemistry is off the charts and their connection is something unexpected. Sparks are about to fly... With only a few days before Fredi disappears back to her life, Zayn is determined to convince her that she can trust him with the one thing she swore to never give anyone–her heart. Each book in the Girls Weekend Away series is STANDALONE: * What Happens in Vegas * Meet Me In San Francisco * The Nashville Bet * A Match Made in Monaco

Sometimes the past come back. An aftermath with the florentine Pazzi’s conspiracy that continues to resurge from history. Get ready to discover secrets of the Italian Renaissance that you didn't even suspect.<br><br>Sometimes the past comes back and recall. This is an italian historical novel born from a fact really happened in 2010 in Forlì, north Italy, when some people told in the local chronicles, they saw a ghost in the old town hall, who was walking around with part of his head smashed, complaining about something. But who was that ghost? Why was his head bashed in? What was he complaining about? This book tells the story of a man called Girolamo Riario, first husband of Caterina Sforza, nephew of the Pope and chief commander of ”Santa Romana Chiesa” who was murdered over five centuries ago in the city of Forli for an aftermath with the florentine Pazzi’s conspiracy, and seems resurge from the past but no one seems to remember it. A Medici's settlement for the the Pazzi’s conspiracy that continues to resurge from history. Get ready to discover secrets of the Italian Renaissance that you didn't even suspected.

”If you are someone who is organized, methodical, perfectionist, meticulous and... yet you don't know what is wrong with your life, this book is for you!”<br><br>Will you be able to change your life despite the pranks of your brain? Our brain often deceives us and plays tricks on us by giving us the illusion of joy and happiness. Habituation to happiness is a phenomenon that wears down what makes us happy or joyful. In this book, you will learn about mechanisms that control our brain and understand why we are never satisfied. In short, you will decipher what creates frustration and how the five ephemeral elements of the brain work. Then, you will take charge of your life and be able to change using the five sustainable values of the brain to focus more on contentment and appreciation of the pleasant sensations offered to you by life. It is a motivational book that will help you to discover a lot about yourself. “Will you be able to do it?”

It’s Christmastime in Merritt, Alabama and magic is afoot!Professor Bebe Wellesley comes from a long line of psychics, but has inherited just enough of the family gifts to make her peculiar, rather than of very much use. The handsome bookseller who is so proficient at obtaining the obscure texts she needs to teach her college parapsychology classes caught her eye a while back, but why bother? She’s learned the hard way that men don’t like women with a supernatural bent—no matter how paltry their power.In an age when independent bookstores are nearing extinction, it takes all of Byron Masters’s time and energy to keep Creekview Books relevant and successful. He knows he must be crazy to finally pursue smart, pretty Bebe Wellesley at his busiest time of year, but he’s tired of flirting and watching her walk out the door.From their first date, Bebe can hardly believe her luck. She and Byron clicked with a harmony that she never dreamed possible. If only she can keep her “little something extra” a secret, she might be looking at happily ever after.Life seems perfect until Christmas decorations mysteriously begin to appear in Byron’s apartment. Convinced the culprit is a member of his staff, Byron begins to alienate them one by one with his accusations. Bebe knows different, but would he ever believe that the vintage Santa ornament he bought came with a benevolent spirit attached, who just wants to spread some holiday cheer?As Creekview’s once pleasant and thriving atmosphere disintegrates, dropping customers along the way, Bebe is unable to sit by and watch everything Byron has worked for unravel. She prepares to drop the bizarre bomb, bracing for the worst, but hoping for the best.Will Byron be the man who can accept her as she is?Or is it going to take some Christmas magic to save them all?