Other books that might interest you

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  The Family in Kyoto - One...

  Hidemi Woods

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  A long time ago, when Japan had the feudal system, my family was a landlord of the area. It has come to a complete downfall over the years, but my family still clings to its past glory. For them, to succeed the family is critical. I’m firstborn and have no brother which meant that I was a successor and destined to spend the whole life in my hometown. 
  But music changed everything. To pursue a career in music, my hometown was too rural and I had to move out. Back then I was a college student and moving to a city meant dropping out of school. My parents fiercely opposed but as usual, they left the matter to my grandfather who controlled the family. Considering his way to keep a tight rein, everybody including myself thought he might kill me. 
  I could have run away, but I wanted to tell him for once what I want to do for my life. 
  As long as I could remember, my family members had told me that I was a successor of the family and I was to live with my family all my life as my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather and on and on and on did, by taking a husband into our family to bear our family name. They kept saying that as a usual chant so repeatedly that I was sort of under the spell that I would be stuck in the house as a successor until the day I die. 
  So, I was an outsider when other girls chatted giggly about what last name they would bear after their marriage or where they would live in the future. I knew what my last name and what my future address would be because they wouldn’t be changed. My whole life was so predictable for that matter. Since I knew my future, I had no interest in my life, and days were so boring. 
  I changed my future completely by abandoning my family, my friends, my hometown and the old tradition. Now, I’m free from my once-arranged future. Instead, I dread my uncertain future everyday…

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  Wilfred Thesiger - The Life of...

  Alexander Maitland

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  “A perceptive and gripping biography” of the enigmatic British explorer, photographer, and author of Arabian Sands (Daily Mail, UK). 
   
  Wilfred Thesiger, the last of the great gentlemen explorer-adventurers, journeyed for sixty years to some of the remotest, most dangerous places on earth, from the mountains of western Asia to the marshes of Iraq. The author of Arabian Sands, The Marsh Arabs and The Life of my Choice, he was a legend in his own lifetime. Yet his character and motivations have remained an intriguing enigma.  
   
  In this authorized biography—written with Thesiger’s support before he died in 2003 and with unique access to the rich Thesiger archive—Alexander Maitland investigates this fascinating figure’s family influences, his wartime experiences, his philosophy as a hunter and conservationist, his writing and photography, his friendships with Arabs and Africans amongst whom he lived, and his now-acknowledged homosexuality.

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  The Negotiator - A Memoir

  George J. Mitchell

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  Compelling, poignant, enlightening stories from former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell about growing up in Maine, his years in the Senate, working to bring peace to Northern Ireland and the Middle East, and what he’s learned about the art of negotiation during every stage of his life.It’s a classic story of the American Dream. George Mitchell grew up in a working class family in Maine, experiencing firsthand the demoralizing effects of unemployment when his father was laid off from a lifelong job. But education was always a household priority, and Mitchell embraced every opportunity that came his way, eventually becoming the ranking Democrat in the Senate during the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.Told with wit, frankness, and a style all his own, Senator Mitchell’s memoir reveals many insights into the art of negotiation. Mitchell looks back at his adventures in law and politics—including instrumental work on clean air and water legislation, the Iran-Contra hearings, and healthcare reform—as well as life after the Senate, from leading the successful Northern Ireland peace process, to serving as chairman of The Walt Disney Company, to heading investigations into the use of steroids in baseball and unethical activity surrounding the Olympic Games. Through it all, Senator Mitchell’s incredible stories—some hilarious, others tragic, all revealing—offer invaluable insights into critical moments in the last half-century of business, law, and politics, both domestic and international.

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  Steve Jobs: A Biographic Portrait

  Kevin Lynch

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  A visual guide to the life and works of the world-changing entrepreneur told through text, photos, and original graphics.  
   
  Easily one of the most influential innovators of the twentieth and twenty-first century, Steve Jobs fundamentally shaped the way in which we communicate and, even more broadly, live our lives. 
   
  In this information-packed graphic biography, Steve Jobs’ remarkable talent and genius are explored through bold design and original graphics. Kevin Lynch explores Jobs’ journey from savvy salesman, to his rivalry and market competition with Bill Gates, to his shift toward radical innovations in later life. This technological innovator led a fascinating, astounding and ultimately too short life that irreversibly impacted our world. 
   
  Steve Jobs: A Biographic Portrait is a visual celebration and comprehensive study of “The Maverick” and his work; and a must-have for any fan of Apple products.

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  Father Son and Soldering Gun -...

  Steven V. Mycynek

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  Do you embrace your life and how you came to be who you are today? While that can sometimes be painful, it could be the most powerful thing you ever do. Witness this power through the legacy of Victor Mycynek (1943-2004). 
  Victor-an engineer, craftsman, and forestry enthusiast-was not a politician, celebrity, CEO, or business owner. He wasn't an artist or in the military. He didn't live through the era of social media influencers. Still, just by being himself, he inspired the richest and fullest life possible for many who knew him. It would be an understatement to say he used his time well. 
  Victor's son, Steven, proves through stories about his father, some happy or sad, some funny or just plain odd, that accepting who you are and where you came from, quirks and all, can unleash an awesome force to impact the world around you for the better. Following Victor's example, we all can learn to use our time well.

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  Alibis - Essays on Elsewhere

  Andre Aciman

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  This program is read by Earphones Award–winning narrator Edoardo Ballerini."Edoardo Ballerini reads my books exceptionally well. He gets my pacing, the inflections of muted irony, the anxiety of loss, the search for meaning that my prose on paper isn’t always able to convey—he gets it all. He gets me. A writer couldn't be luckier." —Andre AcimanA Boston Globe Best Nonfiction Book of 2011. Celebrated as one of the most poignant stylists of his generation, André Aciman has written a luminous series of linked essays about time, place, identity, and art that show him at his very finest. From beautiful and moving pieces about the memory evoked by the scent of lavender; to meditations on cities like Barcelona, Rome, Paris, and New York; to his sheer ability to unearth life secrets from an ordinary street corner, Alibis reminds the reader that Aciman is a master of the personal essay.A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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