![]() ![]() One part of the brain may initially be assigned a specific task for instance, the back of our brain is called the “visual cortex” because it usually handles sight. But more recent discoveries have upended the old paradigm. ![]() Neuroscience used to think that different parts of the brain were predetermined to perform specific functions. To capture this, we refer to the brain’s plasticity as “livewiring” to spotlight how this vast system of 86 billion neurons and 0.2 quadrillion connections rewires itself every moment of your life. More recent discoveries in neuroscience suggest that the brain’s brand of flexibility is far more nuanced than holding onto a shape, though. The field of neuroscience calls this phenomenon “brain plasticity,” referring to the ability of the brain, like plastic, to assume new shapes and hold them. Neurons, the cells responsible for rapidly processing information in the brain, are interconnected by the thousands-but like friendships in a community, the connections between them constantly change: strengthening, weakening, and finding new partners. Whenever we learn something new, pick up a new skill, or modify our habits, the physical structure of our brain changes. ![]()
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![]() ![]() and other publishing areas.Īt right: Pam Spurr and her signed copy of BEES, a Christmas 2021 gift from a friend. GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE, book nine in my Outlander series of major novels, was released on Tuesday, Novemin the U.S.A. ![]() These excerpts may contain SPOILERS for those who have not read BEES yet!īook Ten (which doesn’t have a title yet) will be the tenth in my Outlander series of major novels which focus on Jamie and Claire.Ĭlick here to visit my official Book Ten webpage for more information.īEES (Book 9) Was Released on Nov. ![]() “Did he come armed?”” Released on January 1, 2023. JANUARY 11, 2023, with reflections on birthdays. “Need your help…” Released on February 10, 2023. “Simian Crease.” Released on March 11, 2023. If you have finished reading BEES, you may enjoy these excerpts (aka “Daily Lines”) from Book Ten in my Outlander series of novels, which I am working on now: Read more in my latest blog entry, also at right. So is the OUTLANDER PREQUEL (BLOOD OF MY BLOOD)! Seasons 7 & 8… and a NEW Prequel TV Series! ![]() ![]() ![]() The characters are multi-faceted and believable as people. Each book is complex and detailed without being stuffy or difficult to follow. There is adventure, friendship, true love, and plenty of kickass fight sequences. ![]() Despite the name, this series is about so much more than a school for vampires. I have read and listened to this series several times, but the new TV adaptation of the series motivated me to do so again this month. ![]() I feel like I couldn’t get enough of them! Of course, I had my favorites, but it was the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead that topped my list. ![]() and the Strigoi are always close by.īack in the 2000’s there seemed to be a glut of YA vampire series on the market. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.Īfter two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a dhampir. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi the fiercest vampires - the ones who never die. Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. Amazon, Audible, Audiobook, Barnes & Noble, Apple ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Where does The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far? ![]() ![]() Read this book and you will learn the principles it takes most business professionals a lifetime of trial and error to master. True leaders aren't made by business schools - they make themselves, seeking out the knowledge, skills, and experience they need to succeed. The Personal MBA distills the most valuable business lessons into simple, memorable mental models that can be applied to real-world challenges. Now, he shares the essentials of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, negotiation, operations, productivity, systems design, and much more, in one comprehensive volume. His blog has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers to the best business books and most powerful business concepts of all time. Josh Kaufman founded as an alternative to the business school boondoggle. You can get better results (and save hundreds of thousands of dollars) by skipping business school altogether. Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business. Getting an MBA is an expensive choice - one almost impossible to justify regardless of the state of the economy. Audie Award Nominee, Business and Educational, 2013 ![]() ![]() ![]() It is written in the third person, with occasional quotes from Sojourner Truth's own voice. In 1827, Truth ran away to the home of a neighbor who was known to be an abolitionist who granted her liberty in 1828. The following excerpt from the narrative is from the 1850 edition. The Narrative was republished in 1875 and then again in 1884. She finished composing the biography and published it in 1850 with a preface by her friend William Lloyd Garrison. ![]() ![]() Gilbert dictated for Truth's Narrative over the course of four years. Olive Gilbert met Sojourner Truth during their mutual membership in the Northampton Association, a utopian community in Massachusetts. ![]() Truth was illiterate and used the help of her connections to dictate a narrative in 1850 which brought her national fame and readership. Because she traveled with religious revivals, she came into contact with many famous abolitionists who helped her gain recognition such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass. During this same point, she was compelled to change her name to Sojourner Truth. In 1843, she had a conversion experience where she felt convicted to preach. She also endured the illegal sale of her son and upon her freedom, she took legal action against a white man to recover her son. Sojourner Truth was born with the name Isabella in 1797 and by the time she reached age 30, she had been bought and sold four times. ![]() ![]() ![]() It enlists the reader to view the character as a whole being and not as a mental issue. ![]() The mental health children’s book series ‘What Mental Disorder?’ challenges the stigma against therapy and diagnosis. Often when people are given a mental health disorder diagnosis the weaknesses are clear and overwhelmingly emphasized, while the strengths are ignored or forgotten. Millie the Cat has Borderline Personality Disorder by Jessie Shepherd.A fantastic picture book and invaluable resource for parents, teachers and health professionals.Īuthor’s website and ordering information. My Happy Sad Mummy by Michelle Vasiliu (2014) – PreschoolĪuthor Michelle Vasiliu draws from her own experience of bipolar disorder, cleverly and humorously portraying the emotional roller coaster of this illness, as a young child might perceive it and how through these difficulties, the bond of love between mother and child remains true. ![]() ![]() The film’s story of mankind being nudged towards progress by mysterious extraterrestrials opened my eyes to the power of cinema to tell a story mostly through visuals, without ponderous words explaining what it all means - although some viewers (and MAD magazine) did complain about being left in the dark.Īllow me to share my obsession with you. I never get tired of seeing 2001, and I always discover something new in it every time I watch. This is the film that made me want to become a movie critic. ![]() There’s a moon landing in 2001 of a spindly-legged lunar module called the Aries, a more elegant version of the Eagle lander that was used for the historic Apollo 11 mission that same year. The film continues to work its magic on me with its amalgam of science fact and fancy - although it seemed very real back in 1969. 22, 1969, and we’re there on my birthday to see a film I’ve been dying to see for months. I’m age 13 again, sitting with my dad, John Peter Howell, inside Toronto’s long-gone Glendale Theatre on Avenue Rd., a cherished widescreen Cinerama palace. ![]() ![]() Something always happens when I watch Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which I’ve now seen more than 50 times. ![]() ![]() I was not yet the devoted lover of historical fiction that I would later become, but even then, I was captivated. I first read Katherine as a teenager-around the time of her 25th anniversary. ![]() This is illustrated most clearly by the book’s inclusion in the listing of the top 100 favorite books in the BBC Big Read (2003). All of Seton’s novels were best sellers, yet in the fifty years since its original publication, Katherine stands apart, showing the longevity of a classic. Katherine, the story of the mistress and later, the wife of John of Gaunt, was the sixth of the ten popular novels * written by Anya Seton. originally published in The Historical Novels Review Magazine of the Historical Novel Society (HNS) To Katherine (Swynford) on Her Fiftieth Anniversary ![]() ![]() ![]() Auggie is the catalyst for transformations in their lives, but readers will see sides of characters Auggie never would have known. Each character relates a story that includes an epiphany about friendship, family, and life. Auggie is the common thread in their stories, but he’s behind the scenes here, peripheral to their first-person narratives. He has a “severe craniofacial difference,” facial features that, even after many surgeries over the years, look like “the drippings on the side of a candle.” Now, Palacio zeros in on three characters: Julian, the bully Auggie’s oldest friend, Christopher and Charlotte, the girl who is nice to Auggie but never especially friendly. ![]() He looks different, and that’s not easy in middle school. 'Sometimes friendships are hard, and friendship with Auggie Pullman is a special challenge. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This is the story of his life, a life lived large. ![]() ![]() And he believes the personal is political. Few memoirists from the latter part of the 20th. Now, accounts of the mixing of personal and political (or historical) are not wanting. In other words, Christopher Hitchens contains multitudes. Hitch-22 is testament to his lifes dearth of the neat. He is a fervent atheist, raised as a Christian, by a mother whose Jewish heritage was not revealed to him until her suicide. He has been both a foreign correspondent in some of the world’s most dangerous places and a legendary bon vivant with an unquenchable thirst for alcohol and literature. He has been both a socialist opposed to the war in Vietnam and a supporter of the U.S. Here is a quick description and cover image of book Hitch 22: A Memoir written by Christopher Hitchens which was published in 2010. Hitch-22 is a memoir in its truest sense, filled with fascinating details and reflections of the author. Over the course of his 60 years, Christopher Hitchens has been a citizen of both the United States and the United Kingdom. Brief Summary of Book: Hitch 22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens. It is an indispensable companion to the life and thought of our pre-eminent political writer. You can read this before Hitch 22: A Memoir PDF EPUB full Download at the bottom. Hitch-22 is, by turns, moving and funny, charming and infuriating, enraging and inspiring. Here is a quick description and cover image of book Hitch 22: A Memoir written by Christopher Hitchens which was published in 2010–. Brief Summary of Book: Hitch 22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens ![]() |