Discover how the freedom of sucking at something can help you build resilience, embrace imperfection, and find joy in the pursuit rather than the goal. What if the secret to resilience and joy is the one thing we’ve been taught to avoid? When was the last time you tried something new? Something that won’t make you more productive, make you more money, or check anything off your to-do list? Something you’re really, really bad at, but that brought you joy? Odds are, not recently. As a sh*tty surfer and all-around-imperfect human Karen Rinaldi explains in this eye-opening book, we live in a time of aspirational psychoses. We humblebrag about how hard we work and we prioritize productivity over play. Even kids don’t play for the sake of playing anymore: they’re building blocks to build the ideal college application. But we’re all being had. We’re told to be the best or nothing at all. We’re trapped in an epic and farcical quest for perfection. We judge others on stuff we can’t even begin to master, and it’s all making us more anxious and depressed than ever. Worse, we’re not improving on what really matters. This book provides the antidote. (It’s Great to) Suck at Something reveals that the key to a richer, more fulfilling life is finding something to suck at. Drawing on her personal experience sucking at surfing (a sport she’s dedicated nearly two decades of her life to doing without ever coming close to getting good at it) along with philosophy, literature, and the latest science, Rinaldi explores sucking as a lost art we must reclaim for our health and our sanity and helps us find the way to our own riotous suck-ability. She draws from sources as diverse as Anthony Bourdain and surfing luminary Jaimal Yogis, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Jean-Paul Sartre, among many others, and explains the marvelous things that happen to our mammalian brains when we try something new, all to discover what she’s learned firsthand: it is great to suck at something. Sucking at something rewires our brain in positive ways, helps us cultivate grit, and inspires us to find joy in the process, without obsessing about the destination. Ultimately, it gives you freedom: the freedom to suck without caring is revelatory. Coupling honest, hilarious storytelling with unexpected insights, (It’s Great to) Suck at Something is an invitation to embrace our shortcomings as the very best of who we are and to open ourselves up to adventure, where we may not find what we thought we were looking for, but something way more important.

One of the New York Times Book Review's Best Crime Novels of 2017 “Warning: you'll finish this in one sitting.” —TheSkimm “Expertly made thriller . . . clever and irresistible.” —The New York Times An electrifying novel about the primal and unyielding bond between a mother and her son, and the lengths she’ll go to protect him. The zoo is nearly empty as Joan and her four-year-old son soak up the last few moments of playtime. They are happy, and the day has been close to perfect. But what Joan sees as she hustles her son toward the exit gate minutes before closing time sends her sprinting back into the zoo, her child in her arms. And for the next three hours—the entire scope of the novel—she keeps on running. Joan’s intimate knowledge of her son and of the zoo itself—the hidden pathways and under-renovation exhibits, the best spots on the carousel and overstocked snack machines—is all that keeps them a step ahead of danger. A masterful thrill ride and an exploration of motherhood itself—from its tender moments of grace to its savage power—Fierce Kingdom asks where the boundary is between our animal instinct to survive and our human duty to protect one another. For whom should a mother risk her life?

Suck It, Wonder Woman! brings Olivia Munn's unique humor, incredible wit, and lightning-fast costume changes to a world that needs more scrapbooking, sea monkeys, and for the love of God, a freakin' hoverboard! In this hilarious collection you'll find essays like "thought's About My First Agent's Girlfriend's Vagina," wherein Olivia skewers what it's like to live in Hollywood. In "Sex: What You Can Do to Help Yourself Have More of It," she frankly gets down to the business of getting it on, including advice on how to appropriately wrap it and bag it. In "What to Do When the Robots Invade (Yes, When!)," Olivia offers valuable information on . . . what to do when the robots invade! And just when you thought she couldn't get any more geeky, she can. This book also includes such handy treasures as a timeline of great moments in Geek history, a flip book, an unofficial FAQ section, and a nifty (read: smokin') foldout poster.

Get into the Navy SEAL mindset with this raw, brutally honest, in-your-face self-help guide that will teach you how to thrive on adversity. During the brutal crucible of Navy SEAL training, instructors often tell students to "embrace the suck." This phrase conveys the one lesson that is vital for any SEAL hopeful to learn: lean into the suffering and get comfortable being very uncomfortable. In this powerful, no-nonsense guide, Navy SEAL combat veteran turned leadership expert Brent Gleeson teaches you how to transform every area of your life—the Navy SEAL way. Can anyone develop this level of resilience? Gleeson breaks it down to a Challenge-Commitment-Control mindset. He reveals how resilient people view difficulties as a Challenge, where obstacles and failures are opportunities for growth. Next, they have a strong emotional Commitment to their goals and are not easily distracted or deterred. Finally, resilient people focus their energy on the things within their Control, rather than fixating on factors they can't impact. Embrace the Suck provides an actionable roadmap that empowers you to expand your comfort zone to live a more fulfilling, purpose-driven life. Through candid storytelling, behavioral science research, and plenty of self-deprecating humor, Gleeson shows you how to use pain as a pathway, reassess your values, remove temptation, build discipline, suffer with purpose, fail successfully, transform your mind, and achieve more of the goals you set

Why do half of all technology projects fail? A major reason is that organizations often pick the wrong tools, leaving them digitally hamstrung from the start. This book offers a modern alternative to traditional waterfall approaches to selecting technology. You’ll learn a practical, adaptive process that relies on realistic storytelling and hands-on testing to get the best fit for your enterprise.

From New York Times best-selling authors Michael I. Bennett, MD and Sarah Bennett--a book for teens that shows readers that we all deal with crap in our lives and how to laugh at some of the things we can't control. Being a teenager can suck. Your friends can become enemies, and your enemies can become friends. Your family can drive you crazy. School and teachers can be a drag. Your body is constantly changing. And everyone seems to tell you to "just be you." But just who is that? With their open and honest approach, father-daughter team Michael I. Bennett and Sarah Bennett's book is sure to appeal to teenagers and show them they aren't alone in dealing with fake friends, with parents who think they're "hip," and even how high school isn't everyone's glory days. Young readers--and their parents--are sure to find this no-nonsense, real-life advice helpful, and it will help them realize that it's okay to talk to their parents and other advisors around them about big issues that might be uncomfortable to discuss.

ARE YOU UP to your neck in bloodsucking vampire stories? Tired of those tales about dentally enhanced dark lords? Before I wrote this book I thought all vampires were night-stalking, fangpopping, bloodsucking fiends. Then I met Morning McCobb. He’s a vegan vampire who drinks a soy-blood substitute called Blood Lite. He believes staking should be a hate crime. And someday he hopes to march in a Vampire Pride Parade. He was also the first vampire to out himself and try to show people of mortality, like you and me, that vampires are just another minority with special needs. Trust me—this is like no other vampire book you’ll ever feed on. So, as my buddy Morning says, “Pop the lid, and suck it up.”

I've got one thing to say to the fated mate who wants to kill me: Bite Me. I can handle anyone who walks into my pub. Except him--the most powerful vampire who ever lived. The First. Dark, damaged, and hot as hell. He says I'm his one and only Vampire Bride, and that five years ago, I buried him alive. Obviously he's crazy, because I don't remember any of that. All I know is that if I want to escape his vengeance, I have to help him infiltrate a deadly secret society. I'm going to use the time to prove that I didn't try to kill him, and that I'm not his Vampire Bride. Because if I am, he'll kill me. But his wrath starts to falter as our mutual hate turns to heat. Now, I'm starting to wonder if maybe he's right. But whatever happens in the end, there's no escaping our twisted fate.

A MYSTERIOUS KILLING After years of waging a secret war against the supernatural, Marley Jacobs put away her wooden stakes and silver bullets, then turned her back on violence. She declared Seattle, her city, a safe zone for everyone, living and undead. There would be no more preternatural murder under her watch. But waging peace can make as many enemies as waging war, and when Marley's nephew turns up dead in circumstances suspiciously like a vampire feeding, she must look into it. Is there a new arrival in town? Is someone trying to destroy her fragile truce? Or was her nephew murdered because he was, quite frankly, a complete tool? As Marley investigates her nephew's death, she discovers he had been secretly dabbling in the supernatural himself. What, exactly, had he been up to, and who had he been doing it with? More importantly, does it threaten the peace she has worked so hard to create? (Spoiler: yeah, it absolutely does.)