The author, flight director in NASA's Mission Control, tells of the challenges in space flight from the very early years to the current time and of "his own bold suggestions about what we ought to be doing in space now."--Jacket.

“Writing this funny requires immense talent.” —AV Club H. Jon Benjamin—the lead voice behind Archer and Bob's Burgers—helps us all feel a little better about our own failures by sharing his own in a hilarious memoir-ish chronicle of failure. Most people would consider H. Jon Benjamin a comedy show business success. But he'd like to remind everyone that as great as success can be, failure is also an option. And maybe the best option. In this book, he tells stories from his own life, from his early days ("wherein I'm unable to deliver a sizzling fajita") to his romantic life ("how I failed to quantify a threesome") to family ("wherein a trip to P.F. Chang's fractures a family") to career ("how I failed at launching a kid's show"). As Jon himself says, breaking down one's natural ability to succeed is not an easy task, but also not an insurmountable one. Society as we know it is, sadly, failure averse. But more acceptance of failure, as Jon sees it, will go a long way to making this world a different place . . . a kinder, gentler place, where gardens are overgrown and most people stay home with their pets. A vision of failure, but also a vision of freedom. With stories, examples of artistic and literary failure, and a powerful can't-do attitude, Failure Is an Option is the book the world doesn't need right now but will get regardless.

Do you dream about starting your own business, but don't know where to begin? Is your business stalled and in need of a new source of inspiration? Are you looking for a no-nonsense, practical guidebook for making your professional aspirations a reality? Then FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION is the book for you. After his incredible escape from war-torn Bosnia and subsequent arrival in the United States as a refugee, violinist Zeljko Pavlovic went on to start his own business and build a world-class career in music. After he and his wife opened Vivaldi Music Academy in 2013, the school became an overnight sensation, and since then it has grown into one of the largest music schools of its kind. Zeljko's incredible story and his unique business acumen has earned him international attention--and now he is telling that story in his own words for the first time. Having seen first-hand the positive impact of music on individuals and communities, Mr. Pavlovic opened the Vivaldi Music Academy in 2013 to offer innovative and engaging music programs to the greater Houston area. In 2014 the Vivaldi Music Academy was named National Music School of the Year by a peer group of over 250 music school owners whom Mr. Pavlovic now serves as a mentor and business coach. He has served on the board of directors for the Houston Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and was recently named as an honoree in Houston Business Journal's "40 under 40 Class of 2015."

Run for fun—no matter your size, shape, or speed! Do you think running sucks? Do you think you’re too fat to run? With humor, compassion, and lots of love, Jill Angie explains how you can overcome the challenges of running with an overweight body, experience the exhilaration of hitting new milestones, and give your self-esteem an enormous boost in the process. This isn’t a guide to running for weight loss, or a simple running plan. It shows how a woman carrying a few (or many) extra pounds can successfully become a runner in the body she has right now. Jill Angie is a certified running coach and personal trainer who wants to live in a world where everyone is free to feel fit and fabulous at any size. She started the Not Your Average Runner movement in 2013 to show that runners come in all shapes, sizes, and speeds, and, since then, has assembled a global community of revolutionaries who are taking the running world by storm. If you would like to be part of the revolution, this is the book for you!

In the thirty years I spent in Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), I participated in some of the most highly publicized events in law enforcement history, which generated national and even international attention, including the takedown of the DC snipers. I was also involved in a hostage rescue incident by a lone-wolf domestic terrorist who the FBI determined was "the first suicide bomber with hostages in the United States" at the Discovery Headquarters Building in Silver Spring, Maryland, and the capture of a violent group of serial bank robbers featured on John Walsh's America's Most Wanted. These events and the 4,500 raids and barricades I participated in over my career helped to prepare me for the life-threatening medical incidents that transpired beginning in 2010 and continue to today. At the height of my career as a SWAT commander, I was struck down by two diseases that at the time were deemed terminal with no available cure: multiple myeloma cancer and cardiac amyloidosis. Doctors told me I had less than two years to live-at best. I prepared for what would be the greatest fight of my life. A career in SWAT had trained me for this fight, with its quarterly fitness tests, numerous high-risk operations, and the mindset to persist against seemingly insurmountable odds. I overcame many obstacles, including "coding" in 2013 during a stem- cell transplant that required chest compressions and saline to bring me back to life and then a stroke precipitated in 2015 by the chemotherapy I was undergoing to forestall the myeloma and amyloidosis. I applied the same expectations that I had of the SWAT Team to myself, always telling the team, "Never complain, never quit, and the mission comes first. Failure's not an option as it relates to the mission." My mission is simple: survive. Eight years have passed since my initial diagnosis, and I am still alive and in remission, and by all medical accounts, I have defied the odds. This memoir consists of three elements: high-profile SWAT operations; my medical journey; and lessons on fitness, diet, and drug routines that have helped me manage these medical obstacles and improve my quality of life. My hope is that by sharing these incidents in SWAT and the medical odyssey that followed, I can help others manage their illnesses, improve their quality of life, and enjoy (directly or vicariously) the high-speed SWAT experiences and the medical risks that my medical team took for me.

Is Your Company Drowning?When you want your company to rebound from a downturn; to fly to greater heights; and to achieve success, Failure is Not An Option is the Operating Handbook to get you to your destination. It identifies the flight plan for you and your team to navigate the corporate hazards and keep you aloft..Do you want to increase your profits'.Do you want to stop overtime as an entitlement'.Are you annoyed by customers who don't pay'.Are you concerned that your travelers might be taking you for a ride'.Are your benefits costs too steep?If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Failure Is Not An Option is for you. When you are spending what you don't have because your growth projections are over optimistic and your cost assumptions are too low, and in today's economy, you cannot borrow to spend, you need Failure Is Not An Option to learn how to take a laser-like focus to every single line item in your company's P+L. The result is a successful turnaround.Start box

When you Read Like a Writer (RLW) you work to identify some of the choices the author made so that you can better understand how such choices might arise in your own writing. The idea is to carefully examine the things you read, looking at the writerly techniques in the text in order to decide if you might want to adopt similar (or the same) techniques in your writing. You are reading to learn about writing. Instead of reading for content or to better understand the ideas in the writing (which you will automatically do to some degree anyway), you are trying to understand how the piece of writing was put together by the author and what you can learn about writing by reading a particular text. As you read in this way, you think about how the choices the author made and the techniques that he/she used are influencing your own responses as a reader. What is it about the way this text is written that makes you feel and respond the way you do?

Combining nanotechnology, martial arts and a struggle for world domination, Dusk Before the Dawn follows people struggling to not only survive in a new world order, but to shape it.

What would you do if you had a revolutionary resource to help you become a successful leader, reach your goals, make your life better and propel you to become all that you are meant to be? Sounds impossible? Well, its not! In the "impossible" is the "possible." And if you want the possibility of becoming successful, U. S. Army Retired Colonel, George Milton's book, Failure Is Not The Problem, It's The Beginning Of Your Success is a must read. Most leadership books discuss how to achieve success only, but in life we all fail sometimes. If you want to succeed you must walk through the doorway of this life changing resource; failure. In his amazing book he addresses the challenge of adversity and how failure can motivate you, focus you, and change your life for the better. His inspiring story of growth from a difficult youth to a distinguished career Army combat officer, he shares that it was only possible because he changed his attitude. Not only does he reveal personal triumphs and defeats, he demonstrates in12 easy to follow steps, how you can transform your mindset from negative to positive regarding failure and in the process become successful.

From Nine to Thrive shows professionals how to build a credible and consistent personal brand that will help you thrive in your career.