Here in a new, updated edition is the famous story of an ex-GI named Stuart Brent who turned his passion for reading into a bookstore that became a mecca for book lovers across America. His exuberant memoir reveals the strategies and beliefs that made him one of the nation's most colorful and revered independent booksellers. Filled with personal anecdotes about celebrated authors, pioneering publishers and editors, and illustrious customers such as Katharine Hepburn and Ernest Hemingway, The Seven Stairs provides a rare window on the world of books. For everyone who believes in the power of literacy and the joy of reading, the story shines with conviction and inspiration. Book jacket.
Do you ride the escalator-or take the stairs? No matter how you define success, it always requires one thing: self-discipline. But as popular speaker and strategist Rory Vaden explains, we live in an "escalator world"-one that's filled with shortcuts, quick fixes, and distractions that make it all too easy to slide into procrastination, compromise, and mediocrity. What seems like an easier path is really much harder in the end-and, most important, it won't take you where you want to go. How do successful people stay focused and achieve results? This lively and insightful guide presents a simple program for taking the stairs-that is, for overcoming the temptations of quick fixes and procrastination, conquering creative avoidance, and transcending personal setbacks in order to tackle the work that leads to real success. Whatever your goals are, Rory Vaden's proven approach will get you there-one stair at a time.
In this highly-accessible self-help book Big Issue founder John Bird explains his seven simple rules that could help you change your life. Whether you want to get a new job, quit smoking, stop drinking or go back to college, How to Change Your Life in 7 Steps explains how you can take what you've been given and turn it into something you'll be proud of, rather than spend your life wishing for everything you haven't got. For 99% of us life doesn't come knocking on the door; you have to go out and get it. But the trouble with aiming for the stars is that you're likely to end up in the gutter. John Bird has learnt through his work with the homeless that if you start by putting just 3% of your energy towards your final goal rather than a gutter-hitting 99% you will eventually make the changes you are looking for. John's six other rules are as straightforward as this first one, 'Start With 3%'. He writes with passion about the dangers of thinking like a victim and of not telling the truth; he shares with us the importance of thinking for yourself and never putting others down, and he encourages us not to define our successes by the failures of others and to recognise our own achievements. Written in his unique no-nonsense style this is a book about 'cutting through the bullshit and making the most of what you have.'
Mystery is in Herculeah Jones’s blood. How could it not be, with a father on the police force and a mother who’s a private eye? So when Herculeah notices a man hanging around the "Dead Oaks" mansion, she can’t resist doing some investigating of her own. Legend has it the old estate was the site of a murder, and now it looks like there’s something even more nefarious going on. Can Herculeah crack the case before the mystery man closes in on her?
Revised and Updated in September 2020! The hills of the East Bay contain one of the finest and densest urban hiking environments in the state of California—more than 400 paved pathways and public staircases lattice up and down the slopes of Berkeley and Oakland alone. Rising high above the city centers, with towering views of the San Francisco Bay, the Bay Bridge, and San Francisco itself, these elegant civic walking trails—many of them shaded in oaks and redwoods, and many unknown even to local residents—present a unique landscape for both the casual walker and dedicated hiker. Charles Fleming, the Southern California author whose bestselling 2010 walking guide Secret Stairs turned the hidden public staircases of Los Angeles into popular hiking trails, now turns his eyes northward. For Secret Stairs: East Bay, Fleming has designed more than 30 individual hiking loops. Linking multiple staircases into one-to two-hour self-guided strolls, these urban treks will delight the tourist, newly arrived Berkeley undergraduate, and veteran Bay Area resident alike. The circular walks, each calibrated by length, difficulty, and duration—and each accompanied by a detailed, easy-to-follow map—are sprinkled with fascinating facts about the historic staircases, the historic homes around them, and the famous Bay Area characters who gave them their names. Walk the walks of Bret Harte, Mark Twain, and John Muir! Climb Berkeley’s massive Fred Herbert and Tamalpais Paths, hike Easter Way, and summit Sunset Trail! Mount Oakland’s Oakmore stairs, then tackle the hills of Upper Rockridge and Crocker Highlands via the public staircases. And do it all within easy walking distance from BART or bus stops, free parking, and excellent Bay Area cafés.
