Following her arrest and subsequent expulsion from medical school, Katherine Raymond is forced to undergo court-mandated therapy sessions as she works a donut shop drive-thru, unwillingly reunites with her family, gets involved in some questionable dealings at the funeral home next door, and discovers just how quickly a life can fall apart when youre not paying attention.

A New York Times bestseller • A New York Times Notable Book “The tale of how Konnikova followed a story about poker players and wound up becoming a story herself will have you riveted, first as you learn about her big winnings, and then as she conveys the lessons she learned both about human nature and herself.” —The Washington Post It's true that Maria Konnikova had never actually played poker before and didn't even know the rules when she approached Erik Seidel, Poker Hall of Fame inductee and winner of tens of millions of dollars in earnings, and convinced him to be her mentor. But she knew her man: a famously thoughtful and broad-minded player, he was intrigued by her pitch that she wasn't interested in making money so much as learning about life. She had faced a stretch of personal bad luck, and her reflections on the role of chance had led her to a giant of game theory, who pointed her to poker as the ultimate master class in learning to distinguish between what can be controlled and what can't. And she certainly brought something to the table, including a Ph.D. in psychology and an acclaimed and growing body of work on human behavior and how to hack it. So Seidel was in, and soon she was down the rabbit hole with him, into the wild, fiercely competitive, overwhelmingly masculine world of high-stakes Texas Hold'em, their initial end point the following year's World Series of Poker. But then something extraordinary happened. Under Seidel's guidance, Konnikova did have many epiphanies about life that derived from her new pursuit, including how to better read, not just her opponents but far more importantly herself; how to identify what tilted her into an emotional state that got in the way of good decisions; and how to get to a place where she could accept luck for what it was, and what it wasn't. But she also began to win. And win. In a little over a year, she began making earnest money from tournaments, ultimately totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. She won a major title, got a sponsor, and got used to being on television, and to headlines like "How one writer's book deal turned her into a professional poker player." She even learned to like Las Vegas. But in the end, Maria Konnikova is a writer and student of human behavior, and ultimately the point was to render her incredible journey into a container for its invaluable lessons. The biggest bluff of all, she learned, is that skill is enough. Bad cards will come our way, but keeping our focus on how we play them and not on the outcome will keep us moving through many a dark patch, until the luck once again breaks our way.

As Ed McDonnell grew up in poverty in South Boston, his Irish immigrant parents' greatest hope for him was a career as a grocer. But McDonnell wanted more. After joining the army and using the GI Bill to pay for college, McDonnell landed a job at Raytheon. During a short post in London, he discovered a passion for international business. McDonnell had learned a crucial lesson while working his way up: by preparing himself to be lucky, he would be ready to embrace any opportunity that came along. He put that principle into action when his offer to give the president of General Foods a ride home during a snowstorm eventually led to a life-changing opportunity to run one of General Foods' largest international holdings in São Paulo, Brazil. In 1981, McDonnell was hired by Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman Sr. to build Seagram's international operations. After leading a dramatic turnaround of Seagram's global business, McDonnell became president and CEO of Seagram's $5 billion Spirits and Wine Group. In Prepare Yourself to Be Lucky, McDonnell shares ten lessons from his fifty-five-year career in international business. He also offers insights on the rise and fall of Seagram, which experienced one of the most disastrous collapses in corporate history after Bronfman passed the company's leadership to his son.

Luck touches us all. "Why me?" we complain when things go wrong—though seldom when things go right. But although luck has a firm hold on all our lives, we seldom reflect on it in a cogent, concerted way. In Luck, one of our most eminent philosophers offers a realistic view of the nature and operation of luck to help us come to sensible terms with life in a chaotic world. Differentiating luck from fate (inexorable destiny) and fortune (mere chance), Nicholas Rescher weaves a colorful tapestry of historical examples, from the use of lots in the Old and New Testaments to Thomas Gataker’s treatise of 1619 on the great English lottery of 1612, from casino gambling to playing the stock market. Because we are creatures of limited knowledge who do and must make decisions in the light of incomplete information, Rescher argues, we are inevitably at the mercy of luck. It behooves us to learn more about it.

"When was the last time you heard about Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk or Richard Branson? If you are like most people, you are told about the heroes of entrepreneurship every day. While this focus on the superstars makes entrepreneurship seem glamorous, it can also seem intimidating and an unrealistic career choice. This is entirely unnecessary – research clearly shows that anyone can learn to successfully launch and run a business. Entrepreneurial Living is a hands-on guide that demystifies entrepreneurship as something that can be measured and understood. Using the analogy of a board game and illustrative examples, the book teaches you the fundamentals of entrepreneurial life."

We all live according to rules that regulate our behaviors. Some rules—ones we are conscious of— are clear. Others, however, are unconscious, and when we do things that go against them, we experience stress, anxiety, apprehension, and emotional exhaustion—and we never know why. This book offers a unique system that helps uncover our most secret rules. Once we are aware of them, we can then learn to live within their boundaries, or we can attempt to change them.

A Street Paved of Gold: An Italian Epic By: Robert R. Dattilo About the Book At the turn of the twentieth century, Vincenzo Martinelli migrated from the Provence of Calabria with his family in pursuit of the American dream. Upon entering the country, a chance meeting changes the trajectory of his life, and that of his family’s for generations to come. Filled with back-room deals, Prohibition-era mobsters, and everyday life in the growing town of Elizabeth, New Jersey, A Street Paved of Gold is an epic tale of one family’s rise to success through hard work, perseverance, and dedication to principles, and the traps and trials many immigrant families faced on their way to find their own street paved of gold.

Each trail in the Trinity Alps Wilderness is a gift of backcountry beauty and solitude. Trek to pristine alpine likes, or stroll along granite peaks. Escape civilization for a few hours or a few days, and experience the best hikes the Trinity Peaks have to offer. Each concise hike description includes color photos, thorough directions, turn-by-turn directions and a detailed trail map. This guide covers everything you need to know to plan your outdoor adventure.

From the nationally bestselling author of the Necroscope series comes the second book in the Vampire World trilogy. Once the twin sons of Necroscope were closer than mere brothers. Now Nathan and Nestor Kiklu are sworn enemies--Nathan aligning with Earth's dead while Nestor and the vampire world plot all-out war against humankind.

What does the minister of historical studies do when his daughter is failing her history class and doesn’t think a mere hundred years can make all that much difference? He sends her back to repeat the lessons she isn’t learning in the classroom by living in nineteenth century Nevada – a far cry from the experience she had in modern day Las Vegas! Beth has been coasting in school. She has traveled throughout time all her life, accompanying her father on his trips as he monitors the course of events to make certain that history isn’t being tampered with. Only recently have technological advances made time travel economical enough to allow the department to send field agents out on missions on a regular basis, and now that Beth has grown up, she expects to join their ranks. However, her father has made it clear that he doesn’t intend to give her one of the prized positions, so she parties instead of studying. After all, what is the point of attending classes if she knows more than her professors about history and she can’t have what she wants? Win can’t believe his luck when the minister of historical studies offers him the new field assignment to run a general store and buy raw ore from the miners in 1889 Nevada. While he had been going on missions with his mentor for many years when school wasn’t in session, he had ultimately chosen to make education his career – that is until he was driven to reconsider that choice by the complete disregard his mentor’s daughter had shown to his efforts. Now, just as he is about to reach his post and take up his duties, that same disrespectful girl suddenly appears and he is forced to keep an eye on her as she immediately lands herself in trouble for inappropriate behavior. Beth never came to class and has no idea who Win is. He plans to stay in character in case this is some sort of test that the Minister of Historical Studies has devised. What else could he be thinking to send his lovely young daughter into such a dangerous town where men outnumber women by ten to one?