A foreign sorcerer has come to Liath-Tamren, greatest metropolis in the world. His mission: ambiguous. As a member of a cabal so secretive, many doubt that they exist, and possessed of powers unique to them, uncanny is Japhet's normal. But none of his orders make sense, and his fellows are being cagey with him. Add to the mix two assassinated kings. An alliance with imperial spies that may blow his low profile. A demon, loosed upon the Cities, that holds a gateway to the apocalypse. Then there's that orphan he just adopted... This may get complicated.
Addresses the longstanding debate between traditional reformers who advocate consolidating urban governments to achieve an economy of scale, and public-choice theorists who say people want smaller, more responsive local governments. Three political scientists enter the lists with a methodology for testing opinions empirically, and with the results of their application of it: people under small urban governments are no more satisfied than those under megapolicies. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Pale Fallen Angels Parts One and Two, the first two novels of Hideyuki Kikuchi's groundbreaking epic four-part Vampire Hunter D tale, are presented here in one affordable omnibus collection! Krauhasen: A mysterious land under the control of Lord Vlad Balarge, a member of the vampire Nobility. When Lord Vlad's son, Baron Byron Balarge, needs to make a long and treacherous journey to faraway Krauhasen, he commissions the help of the infamous Vampire Hunter D, promising a princely sum and a solemn vow-no feasting on any humans for the duration of their journey! Still, D finds his work cut out for him as the duo encounters an ongoing parade of thugs, rogues, and runaways, all with riot and revenge in mind. The pair are joined by the teenage tumbling act, May and Hugh, and the haughty Noblewoman Miska, recently spared death by the stake. But when D discovers the Baron's plans to murder Lord Vlad, he quickly finds his own life in danger.
A new omnibus collecting volumes ten, eleven, and twelve of the Vampire Hunter D horror novel series! The hunt continues in the bizarre far future of 12,090 A.D, where the immortal vampire lords who were the only winners of mankind’s nuclear war still oppress the human survivors who have pushed the blood-drinking fiends back to the lawless Frontier. Yet humanity too remains as quick as ever to prey upon itself, and where the law can’t bring safety or justice, the crescent blade of D will—assuming you meet the half-vampire wanderer’s price! A treasure of tales awaits inside the oversize Vampire Hunter D Omnibus Book Four, beginning with Dark Nocturne, a collection of three novellas. In the title story, “Dark Nocturne,” D investigates a siren song luring young men to their death. In “An Ode to Imagined Fall,” the Hunter is caught between two lovers against a ritual sacrifice. In “Legend of the War Fiends,” two bioengineered veterans of a conflict long gone find the fight has still not ended. Then begins the epic four-part novel Pale Fallen Angel, complete in this omnibus, where D takes on perhaps his strangest job yet—escort Baron Byron Balazs, son of a vampire lord, on a treacherous journey to faraway Krauhausen. Not only does D demand a hundred times his usual fee, he exacts a vow that the Baron may not feed upon humans along the way! But even with his client’s price paid in precious metal, D knows that on the Frontier, trustworthiness is still more rare than gold… The Vampire Hunter D Omnibus Book Four collects volumes 10, 11, and 12 in author Hideyuki Kikuchi’s adventure horror series: Dark Nocturne, Pale Fallen Angel Parts One and Two, and Pale Fallen Angel Parts Three and Four. Illustrated by Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano, the legend of D endures!
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A beautifully written, witty memoir that is also an immersive exploration of classical music—its power, its meanings, and what it can teach us about ourselves—from the MacArthur “Genius” Grant–winning pianist “Jeremy Denk has written a love letter to the music, and especially to the music teachers, in his life.”—Conrad Tao, pianist and composer In Every Good Boy Does Fine, renowned pianist Jeremy Denk traces an implausible journey. His life is already a little tough as a precocious, temperamental six-year-old piano prodigy in New Jersey, and then a family meltdown forces a move to New Mexico. There, Denk must please a new taskmaster, an embittered but devoted professor, while navigating junior high school. At sixteen he escapes to college in Ohio, only to encounter a bewildering new cast of music teachers, both kind and cruel. After many humiliations and a few triumphs, he ultimately finds his way as a world-touring pianist, a MacArthur “Genius,” and a frequent performer at Carnegie Hall. Many classical music memoirs focus on famous musicians and professional accomplishments, but this book focuses on the everyday: neighborhood teacher, high school orchestra, local conductor. There are few writers capable of so deeply illuminating the trials of artistic practice—hours of daily repetition, mystifying advice, pressure from parents and teachers. But under all this struggle is a love letter to the act of teaching. In lively, endlessly imaginative prose, Denk dives deeply into the pieces and composers that have shaped him—Bach, Mozart, and Brahms, among others—and offers lessons on melody, harmony, and rhythm. How do melodies work? Why is harmony such a mystery to most people? Why are teachers so obsessed with the metronome? In Every Good Boy Does Fine, Denk shares the most meaningful lessons of his life, and tries to repay a debt to his teachers. He also reminds us that we must never stop asking questions about music and its purposes: consolation, an armor against disillusionment, pure pleasure, a diversion, a refuge, and a vehicle for empathy.
A "New York Times" Notable Book, "The Debt to Pleasure" is a wickedly funny ode to food as the novel's snobbish narrator instructs readers in his philosophy on everything from the erotics of dislike to the psychology of the menu.
Traditionally, assessment and evaluation have focused on the negative aspects or deficits of a client's presentation. Yet strengths, health, and those things that are going "right" in a person's life are key protective factors in the prevention and treatment of manymental health problems. Thus, measuring strengths is an important component of a balanced assessment and evaluation process. This is the first compendium of more than 140 valid and reliable strengths-based assessment tools that clinicians, researchers, educators, and program evaluators can use to assess a wide array of positive attributes, including well-being, mindfulness, optimism, resilience, humor, aspirations, values, sources of support, emotional intelligence, and much more. These tools provide a clear picture of anindividual’s strengths while being easy to complete, score, and interpret. The scales and instruments included are consistently formatted, are organized according to construct measures, and include tools for working with adults, couples, families, children, and special populations. They represent a wide range of theoretical approaches and were written by a diverse array of professionals, including social workers, psychologists, nurses, physicians, and sociologists. Partial List of Instruments: Adult Dispositional Hope Scale Assessing Emotions Scale Flourishing Scale Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Positive States of Mind Scale A Measure of Expectations for Partner Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale Parenting Sense of Competence Scale Personal Wellbeing Index Proactive Coping Inventory Psychological Empowerment Scale Stress-Related Growth Scale Social Wellbeing Scales Wellness Beliefs Scale
In the current economy, companies are expected to turn on a dime in response to changing market needs to stay vibrant. What that means is that companies are constantly reorganizing. Employees are living in a constant state of change. This dynamic in the workplace has affected worker satisfaction, morale, and burnout. This is the first treatment manual to focus on treating job-related issues, whether it's conflict in the workplace, stress, burnout, performance, and more. Divided into two parts, Part One sets the stage with a discussion of the economic climate and how it impacts businesses, how business reacts to it, and how the new business climate affects employees. Part Two lays out the most current research on effectively treating work-related client issues. Individual, group, and organizational interventions are included, along with case examples, practical treatment exercises, checklists, and outlines for treatment. - Summarizes how the changing workplace impacts workers - Covers effective ways of treating and preventing worker problems - Includes case examples of treating common workplace depression, accidents, substance abuse, violence, stress, illness, conflict, and performance - Discusses individual, group, and organizational interventions - Provides online exercises, checklists, evaluation formats, and outlines for treatment - Integrates issues of diversity including race, ethnicity, age, and gender
Love is a wild and diverse land. Every soul needs a map. Nothing is more important to us than love, yet nothing is more painful than love gone wrong. During the course of our lives, we can develop dangerous faultlines and crevasses in our inner emotional landscapes due to past hurts, losses and disappointments. Lovelands is psychologist Dr Debra Campbell’s map for traversing the treacherous terrain of love and cultivating the wisdom and self-compassion for healthy love relationships. Drawing on her own knowledge and experiences of dysfunctional love relationships throughout her life and work, Dr Campbell shows you how to become aware of your personal Lovelands so you can locate and identify your faultlines, avoid repeating negative patterns and become empowered to make different choices. Whether you’re a parent to others, a lover to another, or working on the care of your own soul, Lovelands will help you make sense of love, from birth to death, and guide you in claiming the role of the hero of your own life and sovereign of your own Lovelands.
