Top list: Society and Social Sciences

Unlock the more straightforward side of Normal People, the book that became the popular serie of the same name, with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of Normal People by Sally Rooney, which traces the on-off relationship between Connell and Marianne as they go through high school and then university together. Their relationship is threatened first by Connell’s reluctance to be seen with Marianne, who is an outcast at their school, and then by the class divide between them, but their connection never truly fades and they repeatedly find themselves drawn back together. As the follow-up to Sally Rooney’s acclaimed debut novel Conversations with Friends, Normal People was one of the most anticipated books of 2018. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2018 and won ‘Best Novel’ at the Costa Book Awards in the same year.

Find out everything you need to know about Normal People in a fraction of the time!

This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:

•A complete plot summary

•Character studies

•Key themes and symbols

•Questions for further reflection

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Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

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‘A tender, devastating and funny exploration of love and friendship and the yearning for self-evisceration. Coco Mellors is an elegant and exciting new voice’ PANDORA SYKES

New York is slipping from Cleo’s grasp. Sure, she’s at a different party every other night, but she barely knows anyone. Her student visa is running out, and she doesn’t even have money for cigarettes. But then she meets Frank. Twenty years older, Frank's life is full of all the success and excess that Cleo's lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint, and the opportunity to apply for a green card. She offers him a life imbued with beauty and art—and, hopefully, a reason to cut back on his drinking. He is everything she needs right now.

Cleo and Frank run head-first into a romance that neither of them can quite keep up with. It reshapes their lives and the lives of those around them, whether that’s Cleo's best friend struggling to embrace his gender identity in the wake of her marriage, or Frank's financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates after being cut off. Ultimately, this chance meeting between two strangers outside of a New Year’s Eve party changes everything, for better or worse.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is an astounding and painfully relatable debut novel about the spontaneous decisions that shape our entire lives and those imperfect relationships born of unexpectedly perfect evenings.

New York Times bestselling author Natalie Haynes returns to the world of ancient Greek myth in this scintillating follow-up to Pandora’s Jar.

Few writers today have reshaped our view of the ancient Greek myths more than revered bestselling author Natalie Haynes. Divine Might is a female-centered look at Olympus and the Furies, focusing on the goddesses whose prowess, passions, jealousies, and desires rival those of their male kin, including:

Athene, who sprang fully formed from her father’s brow (giving Zeus a killer headache in the process), the goddess of war and provider of wise counsel. Aphrodite, born of the foam (and sperm released from a Titan’s castrated testicles), the most beautiful of all the Olympian goddesses, the epitome of love who dispenses desire and inspires longing—yet harbors a fearsome vengeful side, doling out brutal punishments to those who displease her. Hera, Zeus’s long-suffering wife, whose jealousy born of his repeated dalliances with mortals, nymphs, and other goddesses, leads her to wreak elaborate and often painful revenge on those she believes have wronged her. (Well, wouldn’t you?) Demeter, goddess of the harvest and mother of Persephone; Artemis, the hunter and goddess of wild spaces; the Muses, the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory; and Hestia, goddess of domesticity and sacrificial fire. Infused with Haynes’s engaging charm and irrepressible wit, Divine Might is a refreshing take on the legends and stories we thought we knew.

INCLUDES A FOREWORD WRITTEN AND READ BY GILMORE GIRLS CREATOR, AMY SHERMAN-PALLADINO!

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A Goodreads Choice Awards Winner

“Come for the Gilmore Girls anecdotes, stay for the revealing truths about what it takes to build a lifelong career in and out of Hollywood” (The A.V. Club) in this candid and captivating memoir from award-winning and beloved actress Kelly Bishop, spanning her six decades in show business from A Chorus Line, Dirty Dancing, Gilmore Girls, and much more.

Kelly Bishop’s long, storied career has been defined by landmark achievements, from winning a Tony Award for her turn in the original Broadway cast of A Chorus Line to her memorable performance as Jennifer Grey’s mother in Dirty Dancing. But it is probably her iconic role as matriarch Emily in the modern classic Gilmore Girls that cemented her legacy.

Now, Bishop reflects on her remarkable life and looks towards the future with The Third Gilmore Girl. She shares some of her greatest stories and the life lessons she’s learned on her journey. From her early transition from dance to drama, to marrying young to a compulsive gambler, to the losses and achievements she experienced—among them marching for women’s rights and losing her second husband to cancer—Bishop offers a rich, genuine celebration of her life.

Full of witty insights and featuring a special collection of personal and professional photographs, The Third Gilmore Girl is a warm, unapologetic, and spirited memoir from a woman who has left indelible impressions on her audiences for decades and has no plans on slowing down.

A neuroscientist’s powerful framework for enhancing quality of life through the regulation of four key hormones: Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins (DOSE).

The brain’s ability to change and adapt is one of the most powerful tools we can harness to improve our lives. Renowned neuroscientist and co-founder of Neurify, Tj Power, believes in the human ability to optimize and rewire brain chemistry to unlock one’s full potential. However, to do so, one must first implement a series of practical, life-changing strategies.

The DOSE Effect reveals the secrets of our brain chemistry, offering simple and accessible ways to make modifications to your lifestyle that can transform your brain. Drawing on cutting-edge science, Power explores how biohacking your brain can not only enhance cognitive performance but also improve the aspects of your life that ultimately control a happier, healthier, and more productive lifestyle.

The DOSE Effect proves the intrinsic connection between lifestyle factors and mental and physical well-being. Split into four sections, this essential guidebook provides the most effective techniques for understanding the key hormones that rule our thinking and our behaviors:

Dopamine: your motivation and attention chemical Oxytocin: your relationships and confidence chemical Serotonin: your mood and energy levels chemical Endorphins: your stress reduction chemical Research-driven and deeply inspiring, Power’s revolutionary strategies allow readers to harness behaviors and practices to improve mental health, manage stress, elevate mood, and promote overall wellness. His key findings include the influence of effortful activity on Dopamine production, the significance of social connection in Oxytocin levels, the value of connecting with nature and maintaining gut health for optimal Serotonin levels, and the beneficial effects of physical exertion and laughter on Endorphins release. You have everything you need to optimize your brain chemistry—this groundbreaking book shows you how.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

2021 Audiobook of the Year – The British Book Awards

The Sunday Times Number One Bestseller

Jay Shetty, social media superstar and host of the #1 podcast ‘On Purpose’, distils the timeless wisdom he learned as a practising monk into practical steps anyone can take every day to live a less anxious, more meaningful life.

Over recent years, Jay Shetty has become a favourite in the hearts and minds of millions of people worldwide. His social media following totals over 32 million, he has produced over 400 viral videos, which have amassed more than 5 billion views, and his podcast, ‘On Purpose’, is consistently ranked the world’s #1 health-related podcast.

In this inspiring, empowering book, Shetty draws on his time as a monk in the Vedic tradition to show us how we can clear the roadblocks to our potential and power. Drawing on ancient wisdom and his own rich experiences in the ashram, Think Like a Monk reveals how to overcome negative thoughts and habits, and access the calm and purpose that lie within all of us.

The lessons monks learn are profound but often abstract. Shetty transforms them into advice and exercises we can all apply to reduce stress, boost focus, improve relationships, identify our hidden abilities, increase self-discipline and give the gifts we find in ourselves to the world. Shetty proves that everyone can – and should – think like a monk.

It doesn’t feel like the end.

It feels like all of my problems are just beginning.

There’s more happening in my town of Raven River than I knew.

More lies. More secrets. More pain.

Enemies seen and unseen are circling and not even my guardian angels can protect me.

There’s a war coming and I’ll fight because this time my Angels…

My Horsemen…

My loves…

…are the ones who need saving.

The End is a contemporary reverse harem high school bully romance. This is the final book in the series and features language, dark themes, and spicy scenes.

“One of those life-changing reads that makes you see—or, in this case, hear—the whole world differently.” —Megan Angelo, author of Followers

“At times chilling, often funny, and always perceptive and cogent, Cultish is a bracing reminder that the scariest thing about cults is that you don't realize you're in one till it's too late.”—Refinery29.com

The New York Times-bestselling author of The Age of Magical Overthinking and Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how “cultish” groups, from Jonestown and Scientologists to SoulCycle and social media gurus, use language as the ultimate form of power.

What makes “cults” so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has . . .

Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing.” But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day.

Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,” revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish” everywhere.

A revised and updated edition of Emily Nagoski’s game-changing New York Times bestseller Come As You Are, featuring new information and research on mindfulness, desire, and pleasure that will radically transform your sex life.

For much of the 20th and 21st centuries, women’s sexuality was an uncharted territory in science, studied far less frequently—and far less seriously—than its male counterpart.

That is, until Emily Nagoski’s Come As You Are, which used groundbreaking science and research to prove that the most important factor in creating and sustaining a sex life filled with confidence and joy is not what the parts are or how they’re organized but how you feel about them. In the years since the book’s initial publication, countless women have learned through Nagoski’s accessible and informative guide that things like stress, mood, trust, and body image are not peripheral factors in a woman’s sexual wellbeing; they are central to it—and that even if you don’t always feel like it, you are already sexually whole by just being yourself. This revised and updated edition continues that mission with new information and advanced research, demystifying and decoding the science of sex so that everyone can create a better sex life and discover more pleasure than you ever thought possible.

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

The beloved relationship coach, teacher, and host of the top relationship podcast Jillian on Love reveals nine core truths about love and self-acceptance and provides powerful self-healing techniques and strategies to help us repair our relationship with ourselves and start building the rewarding relationships we deserve.

Jillian Turecki’s holistic, compassionate, yet no-nonsense approach to love has attracted a devoted following of millions. In her highly anticipated debut book, she makes clear that if you want a meaningful relationship filled with connection, security, and intimacy, you have to look within. The common denominator in all your relationships is you.

Drawing from decades of experience helping clients heal themselves and their relationships, It Begins with You introduces the 9 core truths we must accept in order to change our lives:

Truth 1: It begins with you. Truth 2: The mind is a battlefield. Truth 3: Lust is not the same thing as love. Truth 4: You have to love yourself. Truth 5: You must speak up and tell the truth. Truth 6: You need to be your best self (even after the honeymoon). Truth 7: You cannot convince someone to love you. Truth 8: No one is coming to save you. Truth 9: You must make peace with your parents. Blending therapeutic strategies, somatic techniques, client case studies, practical tools, tips, and guiding questions, It Begins with You gives us a roadmap to finally start doing the work needed to love ourselves and find the love we deserve. It's never too late to choose yourself.

A convent children's home run by monsters. A heartbreaking family secret that haunted us for 50 years.

Suzanne suffered five heart attacks and made it through open heart surgery. But even that pales in comparison to the horrors she faced as a young girl.

Her childhood became the 'stuff of nightmares' after her father passed away and her mother, unable to get a job in Ireland, had to seek work in London. So 'Mammy' was forced into the heartbreaking decision to put Suzanne and her five siblings into church-run orphanages in Dublin while she worked away. It was just meant to be temporary.

Her life soon became a daily struggle to avoid beatings with canes and rosary beads. Suzanne and the other children worked from dawn until midnight, living on disgusting scraps of food, while the nuns dined on fresh fruit, meat and cakes that the 'orphans' had cooked for them. Suzanne tried her best to shield her younger sisters from the terror of these hateful 'women of God'. But it was only the beginning of their troubles...

Eventually, their mother returned from London, after four years, with enough money to take her children out and the family was reunited. However, too scared to speak out, the children vowed to take the horrors they had experienced at the orphanages to their graves.

What really happened behind those church doors? This is Suzanne's heartbreaking and touching story.

A New York City therapist examines the paradoxical relationship between domesticity and sexual desire and explains what it takes to bring lust home.

One of the world’s most respected voices on erotic intelligence, Esther Perel offers a bold, provocative new take on intimacy and sex. Mating in Captivity invites us to explore the paradoxical union of domesticity and sexual desire, and explains what it takes to bring lust home.

Drawing on more than twenty years of experience as a couples therapist, Perel examines the complexities of sustaining desire. Through case studies and lively discussion, Perel demonstrates how more exciting, playful, and even poetic sex is possible in long-term relationships. Wise, witty, and as revelatory as it is straightforward, Mating in Captivity is a sensational book that will transform the way you live and love.

In being paranoid, one is consciously afraid of something that one unconsciously desires; and in many cases, what is unconsciously desired is to remain within the safe confines of an autistic bubble. An Author's Republic audio production.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

A New York Times Most Anticipated Books of Fall

From the New York Times bestselling author who inspired the hit Netflix series about a struggling mother barely making ends meet as a housecleaner, a “raw and inspiring” (People) memoir about college, motherhood, poverty, and life after Maid.

When Stephanie Land set out to write her memoir Maid, she never could have imagined what was to come. Handpicked by President Barack Obama as one of the best books of 2019, he called it an “unflinching look at America’s class divide…and a reminder of the dignity of all work.” Later, it was adapted into the hit Netflix series Maid, which was viewed by sixty-seven million households and was Netflix’s fourth most-watched show in 2021, garnering three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Stephanie’s escape out of poverty and abuse in search of a better life inspired millions.

Maid was a story about a housecleaner, but it was also a story about a woman with a dream. In Class, Land takes us with her as she finishes college and pursues her writing career. Facing barriers at every turn including a byzantine loan system, food insecurity, the judgments of professors and fellow students who didn’t understand the demands of attending college while under the poverty line—Land finds a way to survive once again, finally graduating in her mid-thirties.

Class paints an intimate and heartbreaking portrait of motherhood as it converges and often conflicts with personal desire and professional ambition. Who has the right to create art? Who has the right to go to college? And what kind of work is valued in our culture? In clear, candid, and moving prose, Class grapples with these questions, offering a searing indictment of America’s educational system and an inspiring testimony of a mother’s triumph against all odds.

Peabody and Emmy Award–winning journalist Jane Marie expands on her popular podcast The Dream to expose the scourge of multilevel marketing schemes and how they have profited off the evisceration of the American working class.

We’ve all heard of Amway, Mary Kay, Tupperware, and LuLaRoe, but few know the nefarious way they, and countless other multilevel marketing (MLM) companies, prey on desperate Americans struggling to make ends meet.

When factories close, stalwart industries shutter, and blue-collar opportunities evaporate, MLMs are there, ready to pounce on the crumbling American Dream. MLMs thrive in rural areas and on military bases, targeting women with promises of being their own boss and millions of dollars in easy income—even at the risk of their entire life savings. But the vast majority—99.7%—of those who join an MLM make no money or lose money, and wind up stuck with inventory they can’t sell to recoup their losses.

Selling the Dream “is an urgent and riveting exposé” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) that reveals how these companies—often owned by political and corporate elites, such as the DeVos and the Van Andel families—have made a windfall in profit off of the desperation of the American working class.

Bestselling author Dan Ariely reveals fascinating new insights into motivation—showing that the subject is far more complex than we ever imagined.

Every day we work hard to motivate ourselves, the people we live with, the people who work for and do business with us. In this way, much of what we do can be defined as being “motivators.” From the boardroom to the living room, our role as motivators is complex, and the more we try to motivate partners and children, friends and coworkers, the clearer it becomes that the story of motivation is far more intricate and fascinating than we’ve assumed.

Payoff investigates the true nature of motivation, our partial blindness to the way it works, and how we can bridge this gap. With studies that range from Intel to a kindergarten classroom, Ariely digs deep to find the root of motivation—how it works and how we can use this knowledge to approach important choices in our own lives. Along the way, he explores intriguing questions such as: Can giving employees bonuses harm productivity? Why is trust so crucial for successful motivation? What are our misconceptions about how to value our work? How does your sense of your mortality impact your motivation?

Fiffi has been training swimming all winter and now the first day of summer is here. Together with her friends Flynner the frog, Stina and Rex, she goes to the beach. Fiffi has butterflies in her stomach and she feels a little insecure. Flynner the frog closeness and calm make Fiffi feel safe. Will Fiffi succeed in taking his first swim strokes?

This is one of the books in the series about Flynner the frog and his friends where children get to experience situations they can easily relate to.

At the end of the book there are suggestions for further conversation in the form of questions. The questions highlight the book’s theme.

A children’s book written with pedagogical reflection.

Best selling series in Sweden!

From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk and Siblings Without Rivalry, a new edition of the timeless paperback and audio guide that provides parents with need-to-know basics about how to communicate effectively with their children—now with additional material and workbook exercises.

Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish’s down-to-earth, respectful approach to parenting has improved the lives of countless families throughout the world. Now, the authors’ wisdom and advice are collected in this concise new edition of How to Be the Parent You Always Wanted to Be—an essential workbook and audio guide to their widely embraced and empowering methods of parenting—uniquely designed for busy parents on the go. Faber and Mazlish address the struggles parents face every day. By listening to this recording and doing the workbook exercises, you’ll learn how to:

•Deal with your children’s strong emotions

•Set firm limits and still maintain goodwill

•Express your angry feelings without being hurtful

•Engage your children’s cooperation

•Resolve family conflicts peacefully

Loaded with real-life stories, delightful cartoons, and answers to commonly asked questions, this new multimedia edition demonstrates simple, proven skills that can make relationships with children of all ages less stressful and more rewarding.

f you want to learn the Ancient Stoic secrets of a life well lived and how to practically implement them in your own life then keep reading… Do you want to learn the ancient secrets of Stoic joy? Do you want to learn how to implement the philosophy in the modern world? Do you want actual Stoic strategies and practices that can improve your own life? As humans one of our greatest fears is getting to the end of our lives and discover that we have wasted so much of it, instead, we should feel we have done all we can to live the best life possible. Unfortunately, traditional schooling doesn’t address the crucial questions such as how to live an amazing life, how to be truly happy, how to deal with crippling negative emotions just to name a few. Luckily, Stoicism covers exactly that. I was lucky enough to find Stoicism in a time in my life when everything seemed to be going wrong, thankfully it taught me not only how to deal with life’s chaos but how to prepare ourselves for it, and to live a life that sets us up for unlimited amounts of joy and happiness. And now, I want to show you how you can use the ancient wisdom of Stoicism in modern life. Here is just a slither of what you will discover inside… •The secret to dealing with ALL of your negative emotions •Why depression rates are higher than ever in the modern world •11 Stoic practices to improve your Self-Discipline MASSIVELY! •15 ESSENTIAL Stoic exercises to improve your daily life •Do this 1 thing to 10x your happiness •Exactly how to find your life’s purpose and live a life true to that And that is only scratching the surface!

Read by the author, Michelle Zauner, lead vocalist of Japanese Breakfast.

'A story that is both beautiful and heartbreaking; it is as raw as it is precious. I bawled my eyes out, but I also loved it and I hope you do too.' – Dua Lipa

From the indie rockstar Japanese Breakfast, an unflinching, deeply moving memoir about growing up mixed-race, Korean food, losing her Korean mother, and forging her own identity.

'Incredible . . . It absolutely wrecked me . . . So, so emotional' – Natalie Portman

'Crying In H Mart destroyed me . . . It’s fantastic.' – Olivia Rodrigo

'As good as everyone says it is and, yes, it will have you in tears. An essential read for anybody who has lost a loved one, as well as those who haven't' – Marie Claire

In this story of family and food, grief and joy, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school; of struggling with her mother’s expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.

It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Vivacious and honest, Michelle Zauner’s voice is as alive as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes, Crying in H Mart is an audiobook to cherish and share.

What readers are saying about Crying in H Mart:

'I recommend this for anyone who likes memoirs, food, and who’s ever felt lonely.' (Five Stars)

'I was captivated by this coming-of-age story which resonated with mine and other friends' stories.' (Five Stars)

'A must for people looking to be hooked in memories that span between joy, sadness and love.' (Five Stars)

*Crying in H Mart was a #1 New York Times bestseller w/c 17.04.2023