"First edition"--T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references (p. 317-319) and index.

1 - Never stop trying 2 - Never lose hope 3 - Never give up Finish year 12, travel and leave this place; those were the aspirations of Olyanah, until a chance meeting had her world turned upside down. A past she never knew, a life she could've had and strength that was hidden deep within herself.

Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.

Fully revised and updated, this book gives advice on how to locate the best information sources from social networks, Big Data, Twitter, and more and, how to find and utilize the professionals behind those sources, and how to combine these techniques to complete an information search on any subject.

"Incommunicado" reveals a world of lies, deceit, and death along the U.S./Mexico border where two strong, independent women track down a serial rapist/murderer who is using the Sonora Desert as his hunting ground.

Rick Borsten’s extraordinary first novel tells the story of Benny Horowitz, a young man who, terrified of the prospects of life after commencement, drops out of college just two weeks before graduation and finds a temporary job working at a halfway house for eight mentally challenged adults whose “deviant” and “inappropriate” behavior he is charged with reshaping. It isn’t long, however, before Benny begins to appreciate the uniqueness of each of the resident’s personalities and the richness of their worlds, and discovers that it is he, not they, who is being reshaped; and reshaped by one resident in particular—Nadia Christov, a mysterious 26 year old artist. It is Nadia’s rare ability to see the world with fresh eyes—to appreciate the natural wonders surrounding her “everywhere and all the time”—that finally convinces Benny it is she who holds the keys to the greatest of his post-commencement fears. While Benny’s story is unfolding, a series of flashbacks traces his unusual family history, beginning with his grandfather, Joseph, who comes to America from Poland in the early 1900s and whose pessimistic vision of death as life’s “great equalizer” is transformed over three generations into one of hope, renewal and wonder. Like Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, The Great Equalizer is a book to cherish, for it nourishes the spirit by reminding us of the transformational power of love.

Rich Mallette is out of prison, and he’s gunning for Jacobs. He’s willing to do anything it takes to eliminate The Eliminator, even if it means creating uneasy alliances with men who have been trying to take his place. In addition to Mallette, Jacobs now has to worry about people he may have placed trust with in the past. Luckily, he still has Thrower by his side to help with the additional threats being thrown his way. Will Mallette finally succeed in taking down his long-term adversary by luring him into a trap? Or will Jacobs finally put an end to this fight?

Kelly Marie Milton is a 16 year old girl with two best friends: Clint Anderson and Haley Roberts. In this enchanting Christian Fiction novel, they battle the strains of living life in rodeo as a teenager, and more importantly the challenges of temptation. Join Kelly as she struggles through temptation and fights to remember who God is making her, and see how she falls in her walk with God. What sins and mistakes do these three make? Does Kelly fall so far from God that she cannot make her way back? Does Clint and Haley stick by her when tragedy strikes hard, leaving her both mentally and physically wounded?