The dean of Columbia University's medical school explains why our bodies are out of sync with today's environment and how we can correct this to save our health. Over the past 200 years, human life-expectancy has approximately doubled. Yet we face soaring worldwide rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, mental illness, heart disease, and stroke. In his fascinating new book, Dr. Lee Goldman presents a radical explanation: The key protective traits that once ensured our species' survival are now the leading global causes of illness and death. Our capacity to store food, for example, lures us into overeating, and a clotting system designed to protect us from bleeding to death now directly contributes to heart attacks and strokes. A deeply compelling narrative that puts a new spin on evolutionary biology, Too Much of a Good Thing also provides a roadmap for getting back in sync with the modern world.

While many adolescents today have all the useful accessories of a prosperous society-cell phones, credit cards, computers, cars-they have few of the responsibilities that build character. Under intense pressure to be perfect and achieve, they devote little time to an inner life, and a culture that worships instant success makes it hard for them to engage in the slow, careful building of the skills that enhance self-esteem and self-sufciency. In this powerful and provocative book, Dr. Kindlon delineates how indulged toddlers become indulged teenagers who are at risk for becoming prone to, among other things, excessive self-absorption, depression and anxiety, and lack of self-control. Too Much of a Good Thing maps out the ways in which parents can reach out to their children, teach them engagement in meaningful activity, and promote emotional maturity and a sense of self-worth. Dan Kindlon, Ph.D. is a professor of child psychology at Harvard University. He is a frequent contributor to Child magazine and is the co-author of Raising Cain, a New York Times best-seller. He lives in Boston with his wife and two children.

In her newest book, Regina Barreca writes of growing up in an urban Italian American household under the watchful eyes of her aunts. She shares stories of an adult pajama party, her own hysterectomy, and adventures (and misadventures) with her many friends. She describes learning about her mother's French Canadian relatives, her husband's love of too-fast cars, and her "talent" for remembering lyrics to vintage rock 'n 'roll songs. Always warm and humorous, Barreca, who was deemed a "Feminist Humor Maven" by Ms. magazine, has a knack for voicing the thoughts and concerns of ordinary Americans. First published in Northeast Magazine and the Chicago Tribune, her columns have attracted a wide readership. Her many fans eagerly await this new collection.

In the sequel to the enormously successful Casting the First Stone, Kimberla Lawson Roby brings back a character readers love to hate. Curtis Black might be a man of the cloth, but with his irresistible looks, seductive charm, and charismatic personality, he's particularly beloved by his female parishioners––and almost every other woman he's ever met. The trouble is, Curtis is married. At first he tries to resist temptation, but not for long. His insatiable appetite for women quickly gets the best of him. Eventually, the women in Curtis's life find that with a little careful planning––sneaky and otherwise––they can help Curtis reap the punishment that he so richly deserves. In this captivating and dramatic sequel to Casting the First Stone, Kimberla Lawson Roby, with her trademark with and insight, sets sparks flying.

In this book, Howard deals with issues of overdoing and overeating. He learns that through discipline and moderation, he can have a sense of personal power. For 3 to 8 year olds.

Two single parents find a chance for a new future in a delightfully uplifting romance by the acclaimed author of The Real Thing . . . When recently widowed Joe Murphy meets Shawna Mitchell in an online forum, all he’s seeking is advice on keeping his home and his family together. Shawna’s compassionate e-mails become his lifeline, and as months pass their correspondence grows deep and warm. Discovering that Shawna lives only blocks away…well, it feels like more than luck. It feels a lot like hope. With three children to raise, Shawna has no interest in getting close to another man, let alone one who’s got three kids of his own. And the fact that Joe’s white can only complicate matters more. But now, as they navigate family dates and vacations and their own doubts and fears, Joe and Shawna find themselves moving toward a future that’s bright, new, and totally unexpected . . . Praise for the writing of J.J. Murray “Hilarious . . . Murray’s dialog sparkles and the characters are witty and fun.” —Booklist on She’s The One “Thoughtful and well done.” —Library Journal on Original Love

Do you long to drive a Ferrari at top speed on the open road, but find yourself always stuck on the freeway during rush hour? Do you wonder how you can feel like "not enough" and "too much" at the same time? Like the rain forest, are you sometimes intense, multilayered, colorful, creative, overwhelming, highly sensitive, complex, and/or idealistic? And, like the rain forest, have you met too many chainsaws?Enter Paula Prober, M.S., M.Ed., who understands the diversity and complexity of minds like yours. In "Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Youths and Adults," Paula explores the challenges faced by gifted adults of all ages. Through case studies and extensive research, Paula will help you tap into your inner creativity, find peace, and discover the limitless potential that comes with your Rainforest Mind.

Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.

Be careful what you wish for! It's time for Lu Sheppard to get back in the game—fact. After ten years of playing mom to her younger brothers the boys have left home and she's determined to make up for lost time! Item number one on her list? A man to have some fun with! Rugby coach Will Scott is just what Lu needs to ease herself back into the dating game. Only in town temporarily, king of the fling…he's perfect. But his kisses are so electric that remembering they have an expiry date is getting harder. Suddenly Lu starts wondering…maybe it is possible to have too much of a good thing!

Winner of the PEN Open Book Award * Winner of the Whiting Award * Longlisted for the National Book Award and Aspen Words Literary Prize * Nominated for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize * Finalist for the Kirkus Prize and Los Angeles Times Book Prize Named a Best Book of the Year by Refinery29, NPR, The Root, HuffPost, Vanity Fair, Bustle, Chicago Tribune, PopSugar, and The Undefeated In one of the season’s most acclaimed works of fiction, Nafissa Thompson-Spires offers “a firecracker of a book...a triumph of storytelling: intelligent, acerbic, and ingenious” (Financial Times). Nafissa Thompson-Spires grapples with race, identity politics, and the contemporary middle class in this “vivid, fast, funny, way-smart, and verbally inventive” (George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo) collection. Each captivating story plunges headfirst into the lives of utterly original characters. Some are darkly humorous—two mothers exchanging snide remarks through notes in their kids’ backpacks—while others are devastatingly poignant. In the title story, when a cosplayer, dressed as his favorite anime character, is mistaken for a violent threat the consequences are dire; in another story, a teen struggles between her upper middle class upbringing and her desire to fully connect with so-called black culture. Thompson-Spires fearlessly shines a light on the simmering tensions and precariousness of black citizenship. Boldly resisting categorization and easy answers, Nafissa Thompson-Spires “has taken the best of what Toni Cade Bambara, Morgan Parker, and Junot Díaz do plus a whole lot of something we’ve never seen in American literature, blended it all together...giving us one of the finest short-story collections” (Kiese Laymon, author of Long Division).