Operation First Novel 2013 contest winner, Prime of Life was released in Kindle edition only and has garnered in excess of 175 positive reviews with over 6,000 paid downloads.

“By drawing on 400 years of social and economic history . . . [the book] presents a thoughtful and thorough guide through the life stages.” (Library Journal) Adulthood today is undergoing profound transformations. Men and women wait until their thirties to marry, have children, and establish full-time careers, occupying a prolonged period in which they are no longer adolescents but still lack the traditional emblems of adult identity. People at midlife struggle to sustain relationships with friends and partners, to achieve fulfilling careers, to raise their children successfully, and to age gracefully. The Prime of Life puts today’s challenges into new perspective by exploring how past generations navigated the passage to maturity. Whereas adulthood once meant culturally-prescribed roles and relationships, the social and economic convulsions of the last sixty years have transformed it fundamentally, tearing up these shared scripts and leaving adults to fashion meaning and coherence in an increasingly individualistic culture. Emphasizing adulthood’s joys and fulfillments as well as its frustrations and regrets, Mintz shows how cultural and historical circumstances have consistently reshaped what it means to be a grown up in contemporary society. “A triumph of historical writing.” ―The Spectator “[Mintz’s] message―that there are many ways to wear the mantle of responsible adulthood and that the 1950s model is a mere blip on history’s radar―is deeply necessary and long overdue.” ―New York Times Book Review “Describing the cultural, economic, and social changes from the Colonial era to today’s world . . . Mintz argues that neither religious nor secular middle-class values are adequate responses to the new generation’s problems.” —Choice “A thoughtful and strangely encouraging tour of an often difficult life stage.” ―Kirkus Reviews

The author recalls her life in Paris in the formative years of 1929 to 1944, telling of her relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre and of Parisian intellectual life of the 1930s and 1940s.

Challenges our understanding of health, risks, facts, and clinical trials [Payot]

Each year, hundreds of people make the decision to leave the routines and restrictions of their daily lives and come to Canyon Ranch, the world-renowned wellness and health center in Tucson, Arizona, for a life-changing week. Within that short time, guests at the ranch reconnect with the natural world and their place in it as living, breathing, moving creatures. In his role as fitness director of the Life Enhancement Program at Canyon Ranch, physical therapist Randy Raugh helps guests of all ages—and with all ranges of fitness levels—understand how movement and activity will not only enrich their lives but will also protect them from disease, obesity, and the negative aspects of aging. As children, our bodies are primed to move—every ligament, tendon, and muscle is supple and receptive to even the most sudden movements. As we age, however, our movements become more careful due to pain or fear of injury. According to Randy Raugh, it doesn't have to be this way. The latest research suggests that it's not our bodies that compel us to slow down or stop enjoying what we used to do, but it's our conscious connection to our bodies that diminishes. And that's a big part of what makes us "feel old"—when we don't have to at all. In Prime for Life, Randy Raugh offers the revolutionary approach he uses with his patients at Canyon Ranch to help them achieve long, active lives. By focusing on maintaining healthy joints and providing specific strategies for doing so, Raugh shows you how to: -Prevent injuries and heal physical damage accumulated over a lifetime -Achieve better results from exercise while eliminating joint and muscle pain -Learn how to talk to doctors about surgeries and detect common misdiagnoses -Discover how to create a simple fitness plan that fits into your daily routine -Find out the truth behind common myths, such as "surgery is your only option" Based on cutting-edge research, more than two decades of hands-on experience, and the stories of real people, Prime for Life provides the innovative exercise strategies, tips, and tools you need to build and maintain a strong, pain-free, youthful body.

Albert Schweitzer's system of ethics as a way of life in which individuals live with compassion and respect for all living things—humans, animals, and plants—or "Reverence for Life" is illuminated here through a series of compelling essays by Schweitzer and renowned contemporary Schweitzer scholars from around the globe. The selection of Schweitzer's writings includes, sermons, letters, and autobiographical and philosophical works chosen by the editors to outline the development of his thought throughout his lifetime.

Twelve years ago, renowned physician and author Dr. William Sears was diagnosed with cancer. He, like so many people, wanted-and needed-to take control of his health. Dr. Sears created a comprehensive, science based, head-to-toe program for living a long, fit life-and it worked. Now at the peak of health, Dr. Sears shares his program in PRIME-TIME HEALTH. This engaging and deeply informative book will motivate readers to make crucial behavior and lifestyle changes. Dr. Sears explores how to keep each body system healthy and delay those usual age-related changes. Written in Dr. Sears's wise, accessible, and entertaining voice, PRIME-TIME HEALTH is a practical program to help you live your best life possible-pain-free, disease-free, stress-free, and medication-free.

“Heartfelt and ever-endearing—equal parts information and inspiration. This is a book to keep by your bedside and return to often.”—Amy Dickinson, nationally syndicated advice columnist "Ask Amy" More than one thousand extraordinary Americans share their stories and the wisdom they have gained on living, loving, and finding happiness. After a chance encounter with an extraordinary ninety-year-old woman, renowned gerontologist Karl Pillemer began to wonder what older people know about life that the rest of us don't. His quest led him to interview more than one thousand Americans over the age of sixty-five to seek their counsel on all the big issues- children, marriage, money, career, aging. Their moving stories and uncompromisingly honest answers often surprised him. And he found that he consistently heard advice that pointed to these thirty lessons for living. Here he weaves their personal recollections of difficulties overcome and lives well lived into a timeless book filled with the hard-won advice these older Americans wish someone had given them when they were young. Like This I Believe, StoryCorps's Listening Is an Act of Love, and Tuesdays with Morrie, 30 Lessons for Living is a book to keep and to give. Offering clear advice toward a more fulfilling life, it is as useful as it is inspiring.

This definitive, first full-scale biography of Olmsted--famed designer of New York's Central Park--reveals him also as a brilliant political and social reformer.