2014 Back to School Gift Guide—Books

Miracle Man

In William Leibowitz’s new novel, Miracle Man, winner of a National Pacific Book Award, he explores the dark side of fame through his protagonist, world renowned Dr. Robert James Austin, the “anti-celebrity.” As a top entertainment lawyer to artists like Beyonce, Guns & Roses, Prince and Rod Stewart, Leibowitz can discuss how his career impacted his book.

In Miracle Man, Leibowitz gives insight into:

·         Why, as a man whose career revolves around celebrities, did he choose to make his main character an “anti-celebrity”

·         The depths of darkness that can accompany fame and the gift of genius

·         What cures for diseases means for the pharmaceutical industry

·         How scientific breakthroughs are affected by political influence

·         If saving lives through finding cures is ultimately best for mankind

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How to Lift Cars Off Your Face and Other Tips for Living Forever; A Practical Guide for Life and Living Without Limit(s) by Tom Cladis

In How to Lift Cars Off Your Face and Other Tips for Living Forever; A Practical Guide for Life and Living Without Limit(s), author, thrill-seeker, and finance guru Tom Cladis invites readers to liberate themselves from the prison of “Can’t/Won’t” and to open their minds to the freedom of possibility. He believes that those who are truly capable of freeing themselves from self-imposed limits will find that anything is possible – perhaps even living forever.

Tom discusses the following in the book:

  • The story of Lance Meyer – the teen who actually did lift a car off his face
  • Winston Churchill’s Seven Words of Wisdom, and why they made for the greatest commencement speech in history
  • Captain Kirk’s Test and how it can be applied to your life
  • Michael Jordan’s Not-so-secret Secret
  • Einstein’s Choice, Galileo’s Gambit and the stories of other great visionaries who were first viewed as heretics

How to Lift Cars Off Your Face and Other Tips for Living Forever is not merely a book on how to live forever. Rather, this uplifting guide is dedicated to teaching the reader how to challenge him/herself to enter a world of absolute possibility.  For the mind is like a parachute – in order for it to function properly, it must be open.

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The Orange Rhino

Start the school year off on the right foot, with less stress and less yelling. Sheila McCraith, leading parenting expert and author of “Yell Less, Love More: How The Orange Rhino® Mom Stopped Yelling at Her Kids—and How You Can Too!” can customize tips that take the stress out of getting to school, homework routines and back-to-school shopping, as well as reveal tips for keeping cool and effective ways to stop the screaming and start communicating.

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Glimpses of Heaven on Earth: Inspiring Quotations and Insightful Essays

In this continuation of the inspiring How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth, John Wade has collaborated with a group of four talented authors whose essays focus on the ten ultimate goals required to bring about a true heaven on earth:  peace and security, freedom, democracies, prosperity, gender harmony, racial harmony, spiritual harmony,
ecological harmony and health, as well as moral purpose and meaning.

The book includes relevant quotations from such well-known figures as Mahatma Gandhi, Carl Sandburg, Benjamin Franklin, Robert E. Lee, and Ronald Reagan. Midwest Book Review said of How to Achieve Heaven on Earth: “These essays encourage readers to reflect on their own means of achieving peace in their lives, making a fine addition to any general lending library!”

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BIG DREAMS TAKE SMALL SACRIFICES by Sourena Vasseghi

Sourena Vasseghi knows something about achieving dreams. Despite being born with severe cerebral palsy, which keeps him in a wheelchair and requires him to have an interpreter to communicate, he triumphed in school, created a thriving career as a speaker and writer, and built a happy family.

Although Sourena has faced extraordinary obstacles, his greatest dream has always been to be ordinary. As a teacher his goal is to show all of us how truly extraordinary “ordinary” is, and to help us make the very most of it.

Here is just some of what Sourena’s book has to offer:
·         Help for conquering fear and leaving mediocrity behind.
·         How and why to become a “junkie” to achieve your dreams.
·         Tools for bolstering commitment and slaying common commitment killers.
·         Why you should forget the word “overcome”
·         How “maximizing your moments” can carry you to your dreams.
·         How to understand and undermine your excuses.
·         How to capture and maintain momentum.

No matter what your dreams are, Sourena’s step-by-step strategies and customizable exercises will help you move steadily toward them and navigate the obstacles—both internal and external.

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Too Sweet: The Not-So-Serious Side to Diabetes by Laura Kronen

172,000 injections and finger pricks over the past 20 years, Laura Kronen is not so sure she has finger prints anymore!  “You wouldn’t think a type 1 diabetic would be in the mood to talk about her chronic disease but I take a witty and even funny approach when discussing how one can succeed not just in spite of diabetes, but because of it.”

In her debut book, Too Sweet: The Not-So-Serious Side to Diabetes, Laura Kronen gives empowering advice, insight and tips to America’s 29 million diabetics, encouraging others to live a full and healthy life even when challenged by the highs and lows of a manageable but life-threatening disease.

“Whether I encourage diabetics to see dark chocolate as a power food or joke about being pancreatically challenged, I always try to keep it positive.”  As the founder of a life coaching organization, Be You Only Better, Laura Kronen has managed to not only be a successful life coach but to also celebrate her entrepreneurial spirit in developing several successful companies and being named by Inc Magazine as an Entrepreneur of the Year.

With humor and insightful compassion the book discusses:

-Diabetic Mythbusters

-Why a Chronic Disease doesn’t have to hold you back

-Her Top 10 list: You Know You are a Diabetic When…

-A Love/Hate relationship with diabetes. How a disease shapes us for better or for worse.

-15 Ways to live an empowering life.

-Helpful diet and nutrition advice for diabetics, and really anyone.

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The Storm and the Tide: Tragedy, Hope and Triumph in Tuscaloosa by Lars Anderson

Anderson has written for Sports Illustrated for more than 20 years and is now going to be a contributor on the all-new ESPN SEC Network for college football launching on August 16th.

Having appeared on Today Show, CNN, Fox, The LA Times, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, and ESPN, Anderson is well renowned for his sports coverage, and resides in Birmingham, Alabama where he is acclaimed for his piece, “Terror, Tragedy and Hope in Tuscaloosa,” a cover story about the role sports would play in rebuilding Tuscaloosa and the state of Alabama after the deadly tornadoes in 2011.

The Storm and the Tide: Tragedy, Hope and Triumph in Tuscaloosa expands on this piece by delving deep into the aftermath of the tornado to tell the story of how Tuscaloosa struggled to rebuild. An empathetic, heartfelt story– Anderson relives that tragic day through interviews with the local community, Nick Saban, and the University of Alabama football team that saw an opportunity to do their part to help its community heal.

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A Survival Guide to Parenting Teens: Talking to Your Kids About Sexting, Drinking, Drugs, and Other Things That Freak You Out by Joani Geltman

In A Survival Guide to Parenting Teens: Talking to Your Kids About Sexting,Drinking, Drugs, and Other Things That Freak You Out, Joani Geltman, MSW, is helping 21st century parents survive the teenage years! In addition to her experience as a psychology professor, school counselor and parenting coach, Joani has had the experience of raising her own famous teen – Ari Graynor, who has starred in the CBS Television Series, Bad Teacher.

Armed with humor and advice for tackling everything from the Smartphone Addict, enforcing the dreaded task of summer reading, to dealing with the homework avoider, the procrastinator, etc. Joani addresses over 80 topics that tend to freak a lot of parents out!

Here’s a sampling of some favorite chapters from the book:

·        Lies of Omission: “Oh. I Didn’t Think I Had to Tell You That”

·        Helping Your Teen with Remember: You Forgot Your _________ Again?

·        Summer Reading: Thank You Teachers, for Ruining My Last Few Weeks of Summer

·        Senioritus-Parentitus: Surviving the Application Process and Tips for Successful College Visits

·        The Messy Room: To Clean or Not to Clean

·        The Consequences of Sexting: A “Weinergate” Moment

·        Cell phone/Smartphone Monitoring: Should I or Shouldn’t I?

·        Dealing with Your Teen’s Cell phone Addiction

·        Does My Teen Text Too Much? IF so, What Can I Do About It?

·        Driving Distracted: Don’t Let Their Fingers Do the Talking When They’re Driving

·        A Scary Story: The Misuse of Smartphones

·        Teaching Your Teen about Money Management: Curbing the Teen Money Pit

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