Showing results by narrator "Lesa Lockford" in All Categories

It's not you; it's your schedule. Does it sound like magic? It's not. We've all heard of circadian rhythms - those biological processes that give us jet lag and make us night owls or early birds. But few of us know just how profoundly these diurnal patterns affect our overall health. Bad habits - like skipping meals, squeezing in workouts, working late into the night and then trying to catch up on sleep during the weekend - disrupt our natural cycles. A growing body of research on chronobiology reveals just how sensitive the human body is to these rhythms all the way down to the genetic level.

In a compelling narrative that introduces historical and contemporary research on self-directed education, Unschooled also spotlights how a diverse group of individuals and organizations are evolving an old schooling model of education. These innovators challenge the myth that children need to be taught in order to learn.

On June 19, 1953, Harry Truman got up early, packed the trunk of his Chrysler New Yorker, and did something no other former president has done before or since: he hit the road. No Secret Service protection. No traveling press. Just Harry and his childhood sweetheart Bess off to visit old friends, take in a Broadway play, celebrate their wedding anniversary in the Big Apple, and blow a bit of the money he’d just received to write his memoirs. Hopefully incognito. In this lively history, author Matthew Algeo meticulously details how Truman’s plan to blend in went wonderfully awry.

For anyone burdened by stress and anxiety, just the thought of trying to make a positive life change can feel utterly overwhelming. Wanting to live a healthier life may sound easy, but what about the time needed for meal prepping? What about the added meal-plan costs to your budget? Do you have to wake up at dawn to take that meditation class? When you are surrounded by stress, it’s all too easy to completely derail yourself...with more stress. Life is hard enough - the road to a stress-free life should feel easy!

This essay collection from renowned journalist and novelist Slavenka Drakulic, which quickly became a modern (and feminist) classic, draws back the Iron Curtain for a glimpse at the lives of Eastern European women under Communist regimes. Provocative, often witty, and always intensely personal, How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed cracks open a paradoxical world that through its rejection of capitalism and commoditization ends up fetishizing both.

Former North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation agent Rachel Carver blames herself for the collateral death of an innocent woman in her last case. Unable to accept her superior’s attempts to cover up the incident, she turned in her badge. But when a former partner asks her to consult on a new murder case, she reluctantly agrees, traveling to a small remote mountain community, where she’s tasked with leading a group of inexperienced detectives on a hunt for the killer.

The year is 2393, and the world is almost unrecognizable. Clear warnings of climate catastrophe went ignored for decades, leading to soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, widespread drought, and the disaster now known as the Great Collapse of 2093. Dramatizing science in ways traditional nonfiction cannot, The Collapse of Western Civilization reasserts the importance of scientists and the work they do, providing a welcome moment of clarity amid the cacophony of climate-change literature.

Caught between a greedy corporation and a desperate love of the land, Maria Porterfield barely has time to mourn her father's death. If her family is to survive, it'll be up to her to take charge - but she can't do it alone. When a mysterious drifter rides into town, the handsome cowboy seems like an answer to her prayers. But Chet isn't interested in settling down, no matter how tempting the offer.... Chet made his way West looking for a fresh start - the last thing he wants is to get involved in someone else's fight.

Dan "The Man" Currington is back in fighting form with a mission that takes him 4,000 miles south of BKI headquarters, high in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Dan's searching for a rogue CIA agent selling classified government secrets to the highest bidder when Penni DePaul appears. Keeping Penni safe becomes Dan's priority. A lot has changed since former Secret Service Agent Penni DePaul last saw Dan. Now a civilian, she's excited about what the future might hold.

On the morning of Isabella's birthday in 1944, she and her family were deported to Auschwitz, the Nazi extermination camp. There she and her siblings fought the greatest evil in human history with the only weapon they had: love. Isabella's Pulitzer-nominated memoir will take you into a world of darkness where she will reveal humanity described in the voice of a poet.

From the snow-covered prairie to the remote Australian Outback, a cowboy's loving kiss makes this Christmas merry and bright in each of these novellas.

Rachel Carver’s career with the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation came to a shuddering halt after her last case led to the collateral death of an innocent woman and a shameful cover-up by her superiors. She’s turned in her badge and is settling into a new life as a legal investigator - but Rachel’s past won’t leave her alone. An anonymous tip leads her to investigate a possible link between a recent grizzly murder and the case that ruined her career.

Meet Nives: widow, Tuscan through and through, survivor. Nives recently lost her husband of 50 years. She didn’t cry when she found him dead in the pig pen, and she didn’t cry at the funeral, but now loneliness has set in. When she decides to bring her favorite chicken inside for company, she is shocked, confused, and a little bit guilty to discover that the chicken’s company is a more-than-adequate replacement for her dead husband.

When the gentle woodcarver Geppetto builds a marionette, Pinocchio, to be his son, a fairy brings the toy to life. But Pinocchio is not yet a human boy. He must earn the right by proving that he is brave, truthful, and unselfish. But even with the help of Jiminy, a cricket who the fairy assigns to be his conscience, Pinocchio goes astray. He joins a puppet show instead of going to school, he lies instead of telling the truth, and he travels to Pleasure Island instead of going straight home.

April 1910. Women's rights activist Alvera Fields mysteriously vanishes from her home one night, leaving her newborn baby and husband behind, and the case is never solved. 

Charles Darwin first visited the Galápagos Islands almost 200 years ago, only to discover a land filled with plants and animals that could not be found anywhere else on Earth. How did they come to inhabit the islands? How long will they remain? Thoroughly researched, this historical and scientific book tells the epic saga of the life of an island - its birth in fire, its rise to greatness, its decline, and, finally, the emergence of life on new islands.

In The Teen Interpreter, psychologist Terri Apter looks inside teens’ minds—minds that are experiencing powerful new emotions and awareness of the world around them—to show how parents can revitalize their relationship. She illuminates the rapid neurological developments of a teen’s brain, explains the power of teenage friendships, and explores the positives and pitfalls of social media.

With his trademark wit and distinctive voice, legendary Ball Four author Jim Bouton recounts his battle against local elites' efforts to replace Wahconah Park, one of the oldest parks in the United States, against the wishes and votes of local citizens. But Foul Ball is more than just a lively romp about saving an old ballpark near Bouton's home in Massachusetts.