"Honoré offers ... solutions to some of the most pressing problems of our time, [including] hurricane preparedness, healthcare, and gun control, as well as the less-well-known issues of widespread infrastructure failure and the need to intervene in the infamous cradle-to-prison pipeline"--Publisher marketing.

Erick Erickson is a nationally syndicated opinion columnist for Creators Syndicate. This is a collection of the very best of Erick Erickson from 2014.

It seems as though the frequency of natural disasters occurring around the nation and the world is increasing. Every day, there are new stories about earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and forest fires ravaging some part of the globe. There's also the threat of terrorist attacks at home and abroad. More than ever before, we need to think about the unthinkable and not depend on government to protect us from harm. Highly regarded as a hero during the Hurricane Katrina disaster, Gen. Russel Honoré was the right leader at the right time. Combined with his extensive and impressive military background, his rugged upbringing in rural Louisiana gave him the experience and know-how in a hurricane-prone environment to lead the Katrina recovery effort. Survival is part personal memoir and part account of the events of Hurricane Katrina, but all in service to providing a useful guide filled with practical suggestions on how each of us can effectively respond to catastrophic events. The potentially devastating effects of natural disasters and terrorist attacks should not be taken lightly, and General Honoré explains how our culture has moved far from a mind-set to protect our communities from the harm that nature and our fellow humans can do. But we can learn from our experience and history and change our culture into one of preparedness -- as long as we have the will.

Listen up, ladies! Shirley Strawberry, co-host of the nationally syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show, delivers more of the no-nonsense woman-to-woman straight talk her listeners have come to love. Shirley tells it like it is—from the heart. Now, in this uplifting motivational guide, she brings her vivacious, inspirational, and down-to-earth message to women everywhere: Get up, get out, and be the best you can be! This call to action helps women look at their lives with a candid eye and tackle such issues as: • Love and Relationships: the highs and lows of dating, marriage, and breakups • Family: the challenges of being a great mom • Sisterhood: ways to get (and give) the support you need to stay sane • Self: tips for overcoming low self-esteem and depression, and finding balance, faith, and acceptance Full of motivating “Strawberry Tips,” personal stories, and helpful suggestions for drama-stuck girlfriends, this book encourages you to love yourself and your life!

Pain is one of the harsh realities of life. It can suddenly smack you in the face or slowly eat away at your soul. Pain is real, and we have to deal with it. It comes from the disappointments, failures and conflicts we all have to face. Wounded Heart: Keys to Overcoming Life's Pain and Disappointments will take you on a spiritual journey from a current state of pain and disappointment to a place of wholeness and living the great life that God already has planned for you. Wounded Heart begins with topics such as: The Reality of Pain, Trusting God in the Middle of Pain and Preparing to Move Past the Pain of Today. This is followed by 12 key steps you can take. Life is a journey and learning how to overcome life's pain and disappointments is essential to living a great life! JACK REDMOND is the founder and president of Fourth Generation Ministries. His greatest passion is to train, teach and send people into everyday situations to share the love and power of Jesus with the world. His goal is to explain God in ways that make sense and bring real change to people's lives. Receive. Grow. Give it away... is the vision statement of Fourth Generation Ministries. God wants to give us forgiveness, freedom and power to overcome. It is up to each of us to receive these things and let them grow and touch each part of our lives. Then we must share them with people in all areas and levels of society. Jack is a frequent speaker at churches, conferences and leadership trainings on the local, regional and national level. He also serves on the staff of Christ Church in Montclair, N.J. Learn more about Jack and Fourth Generation Ministries at www.4thgen.org.

Leadership in the New Normal is a short course on how to be an effective leader in the 21st century. It describes modern leadership principles and techniques and illustrates them with stories from the author's vast life experiences, mostly as a military leader. The book is geared to both leaders and those who aspire to be leaders in today's world - in the fields of business, government, religion, military, academia, etc. The author, Lt. General Russel Honore (U.S. Army, retired), emerged as a national hero and one of the U.S.'s best-known military leaders in 2005 after spearheading the Task Force responsible for the massive search-and-rescue mission and the restoration of order in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.

The Manual will not tell you how to repair your car or your lawn mower, or how to hook up your stereo set. If you read The Manual, here is a glimpse of what you will get: the answers to a few questions and what you should do when a woman asks you Do I look fat in this dress? Answer her truthfully, even if the answer is yes. Tell her tactfully if her hair is a mess. There are other things this manual will do, and I must warn you, at times it will be lewd, crude, and downright rude. Men, this manual is especially for you. Women, please take a moment to decide if you wish to continue reading through.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

How beleaguered citizens created their own salvation when their institutions failed