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Week of May 18, 2014

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CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Thomas Piketty
Cover of CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

by Thomas Piketty · Belknap

3 wks at #1 · 4 on list

WARNING: This is not the actual book Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty. Do not buy this if you are looking for a full copy of this book. Summary of Thomas Piketty's book. In the U.S., for the last 40 years, the top 1 percent of the population have drastically increased their share in total income. Piketty explains issues of income concentration and provides an analysis of capitalism. He demonstrates that the rising inequality is a crucial part of modern capitalism. Check out new books by I.K. Mullins: ”> Business Adventures by John Brooks (Bill Gates' Favorite Business Book) - Summary, Key Ideas and Facts ”> Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner - Summary, Key Facts and Ideas ”> One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America's Future by Ben Carson, Candy Carson - Summary, Key Facts and Ideas--------------------This is not Piketty's book. This is a summary of Piketty's book. It provides a detailed and concise description of the books' content, key ideas and facts. Book summaries published by Brief, Concise and to the Point Publishing are designed to keep readers up to date and knowledgeable regarding new and significant books. Book summaries are perfect for people, especially busy professionals, who do not have the time to read books in their entirety. The main benefits of reading book summaries published by Brief, Concise and to the Point Publishing:1. Our book summaries help you save your time and money. Instead of spending days or even weeks reading an important book, simply take one or two hours to read our concise book summary. It will introduce you to the book's primary content, ideas, arguments and facts. It will also help you decide whether it is worthwhile to invest your time and money in the entire book. 2. Our book summaries are truly comprehensive. Some other publishers' superficial book summaries do not exceed 15 to 20 pages, although they are presented as lengthy summaries. Our extensive book summaries include all the essential information you need to know.3. Our books help you retain more information pertaining to the book's content. Academic studies have proven that people retain more of what they read in a summary as compared with what they remember after reading a book. Please note that according to the U.S. copyright law, the ideas and facts presented in books, as well as book titles, are not protected by copyright law.

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A FIGHTING CHANCE
Elizabeth Warren
Cover of A FIGHTING CHANCE

A FIGHTING CHANCE

by Elizabeth Warren · Metropolitan/Holt

2 wks on list

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An unlikely political star tells the inspiring story of the two-decade journey that taught her how Washington really works—and really doesn't—in A Fighting Chance As a child in small-town Oklahoma, Elizabeth Warren yearned to go to college and then become an elementary school teacher—an ambitious goal, given her family's modest means. Early marriage and motherhood seemed to put even that dream out of reach, but fifteen years later she was a distinguished law professor with a deep understanding of why people go bankrupt. Then came the phone call that changed her life: could she come to Washington DC to help advise Congress on rewriting the bankruptcy laws? Thus began an impolite education into the bare-knuckled, often dysfunctional ways of Washington. She fought for better bankruptcy laws for ten years and lost. She tried to hold the federal government accountable during the financial crisis but became a target of the big banks. She came up with the idea for a new agency designed to protect consumers from predatory bankers and was denied the opportunity to run it. Finally, at age 62, she decided to run for elective office and won the most competitive—and watched—Senate race in the country. In this passionate, funny, rabble-rousing book, Warren shows why she has chosen to fight tooth and nail for the middle class—and why she has become a hero to all those who believe that America's government can and must do better for working families.

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FLASH BOYS
Michael Lewis
Cover of FLASH BOYS

FLASH BOYS

by Michael Lewis · Norton

5 wks on list

El nuevo libro de Michael Lewis trata sobre el Trading de Alta Frecuencia y la manipulación de los índices bursátiles por operadores con acceso privilegiado. Son operaciones realizadas mediante algoritmos matemáticos, pero haciéndolas con enorme velocidad. Millones de operaciones que se realizan en poco tiempo, normalmente en milésimas de segundo. Hoy se estima que un 30% de las transacciones bursátiles realizadas son de algoritmos de High Frequency Trading (HFT). Buscan hacer muchas pequeñas operaciones en las que se obtenga una pequeñísima ganancia que poco a poco se va acumulando. Los mercados cada vez están más concentrados en grandes operadores, la tecnología y los algoritmos tienen un papel fundamental y los grandes bancos intentan recuperar cuota de mercado apoyando a estas máquinas que operan en pocos segundos. En el libro conoceremos ejemplos divertidos, apabullantes y curiosos. Su valor fundamental es que, como siempre, vuelve a poner el dedo en la llaga sobre las ineficiencias creadas en un mercado donde los grandes operadores mandan.

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EVERYBODY'S GOT SOMETHING
Robin Roberts with Veronica Chambers
Cover of EVERYBODY'S GOT SOMETHING

EVERYBODY'S GOT SOMETHING

by Robin Roberts with Veronica Chambers · Grand Central

2 wks on list

"Regardless of how much money you have, your race, where you live, what religion you follow, you are going through something. Or you already have or you will. As momma always said, "Everybody's got something." So begins beloved Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts's new memoir in which she recounts the incredible journey that's been her life so far, and the lessons she's learned along the way. With grace, heart, and humor, she writes about overcoming breast cancer only to learn five years later that she will need a bone marrow transplant to combat a rare blood disorder, the grief and heartbreak she suffered when her mother passed away, her triumphant return to GMA after her medical leave, and the tremendous support and love of her family and friends that saw her through her difficult times. Following her mother's advice to "make your mess your message," Robin taught a nation of viewers that while it is true that we've all got something -- a medical crisis to face, aging parents to care for, heartbreak in all its many forms --- we've also all got something to give: hope, encouragement, a life-saving transplant or a spirit-saving embrace. As Robin has learned, and what readers of her remarkable story will come to believe as well, it's all about faith, family and friends. And finding out that you are stronger, much stronger, than you think.

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LET'S JUST SAY IT WASN'T PRETTY
Diane Keaton
Cover of LET'S JUST SAY IT WASN'T PRETTY

LET'S JUST SAY IT WASN'T PRETTY

by Diane Keaton · Random House

1 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Academy Award winner and bestselling author Diane Keaton comes a candid, hilarious, and deeply affecting look at beauty, aging, and the importance of staying true to yourself—no matter what anyone else thinks. Diane Keaton has spent a lifetime coloring outside the lines of the conventional notion of beauty. In Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty, she shares the wisdom she’s accumulated through the years as a mother, daughter, actress, artist, and international style icon. This is a book only Diane Keaton could write—a smart and funny chronicle of the ups and downs of living and working in a world obsessed with beauty. In her one-of-a-kind voice, Keaton offers up a message of empowerment for anyone who’s ever dreamed of kicking back against the “should”s and “supposed to”s that undermine our pursuit of beauty in all its forms. From a mortifying encounter with a makeup artist who tells her she needs to get her eyes fixed to an awkward excursion to Victoria’s Secret with her teenage daughter, Keaton shares funny and not-so-funny moments from her life in and out of the public eye. For Diane Keaton, being beautiful starts with being true to who you are, and in this book she also offers self-knowing commentary on the bold personal choices she’s made through the years: the wide-brimmed hats, outrageous shoes, and all-weather turtlenecks that have made her an inspiration to anyone who cherishes truly individual style—and catnip to paparazzi worldwide. She recounts her experiences with the many men in her life—including Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, and Sam Shepard—shows how our ideals of beauty change as we age, and explains why a life well lived may be the most beautiful thing of all. Wryly observant and as fiercely original as Diane Keaton herself, Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty is a head-turner of a book that holds up a mirror to our beauty obsessions—and encourages us to like what we see. Praise for Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty “Behind the sterling movie credits and tomboyish wardrobe, we see a soulful and deep woman contemplating the narrative arc of her own life.”—Newsweek “Delicious writing . . . This book is like a dishy lunch with the movie star you thought you’d never be lucky enough to meet. . . . Diane Keaton is in a class by herself and this book is good for the soul.”—Liz Smith, Chicago Tribune “She’s talented, iconic, quirky . . . and wonderfully blunt. This is just a small sampling of the reasons we love Diane Keaton, and they all permeate the pages of her new memoir.”—Elle “As disarming and personable as the actress herself.”—The Huffington Post “Wise, witty, thoughtful, uplifting, the truth, unvarnished—and very funny.”—Toronto Star

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THRIVE
Arianna Huffington
Cover of THRIVE

THRIVE

by Arianna Huffington · Harmony

6 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Arianna Huffington’s impassioned and compelling case for the need to redefine what it means to be successful in today’s world—now in a 10th anniversary edition featuring a new preface “A captivating look at what it takes to live a more meaningful, satisfying life. Brimming with passion, supported by science, and crowned with practical insights, Arianna Huffington’s exceptional book will transform our workplaces, schools, and families.”—Adam Grant, bestselling author of Think Again Arianna Huffington’s personal wake-up call came in the form of a broken cheekbone and a nasty gash over her eye—the result of a fall brought on by exhaustion. The cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group—which became one of the fastest growing media companies in the world—and celebrated as one of the world’s most influential women, she was, by any traditional measure, extraordinarily successful. Yet as she found herself going from brain MRI to CAT scan to echocardiogram to find out if there was any underlying medical problem beyond exhaustion, she wondered, Is this really what success is like? In the past decade, and especially in today’s post-pandemic world, people are realizing there is far more to living a truly successful life than just earning a bigger salary and climbing the career ladder. Our relentless pursuit of the two traditional metrics of success—money and power—has led to an epidemic of burnout and illness, and an erosion in the quality of our relationships, our family life, and, ironically, our careers. In being connected to the world 24/7, we’re losing our connection to what truly matters. We need a new way forward. In Thrive, Huffington has written a passionate call to arms, as timely today as it was when it was first published more than ten years ago, looking to redefine what it means to be successful in today’s world. Huffington likens our drive for money and power to two legs of a three-legged stool. It may hold us up temporarily, but sooner or later we’re going to topple over. We need a third leg—a Third Metric for defining success. In this deeply personal book, Huffington talks candidly about her own challenges with managing time and prioritizing the demands of a career and a family, the harried dance that led to her collapse—and to her “aha moment.” Drawing on the latest groundbreaking research and scientific findings in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and physiology that show the transformative effects of our five foundational daily behaviors—sleep, food, movement, stress management, and connection—Huffington shows us the way to a revolution in our culture, our thinking, our workplaces, and our lives.

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JOHN WAYNE: THE LIFE AND LEGEND
Scott Eyman
Cover of JOHN WAYNE: THE LIFE AND LEGEND

JOHN WAYNE: THE LIFE AND LEGEND

by Scott Eyman · Simon & Schuster

3 wks on list

The New York Times bestselling biography of John Wayne: “authoritative and enormously engaging…Eyman takes you through Wayne’s life, his death, and his legend in a detailed, remarkably knowledgeable yet extremely readable way” (Peter Bogdanovich, The New York Times Book Review). John Wayne died more than thirty years ago, but he remains one of today’s five favorite movie stars. The celebrated Hollywood icon comes fully to life in this complex portrait by noted film historian and master biographer Scott Eyman. Exploring Wayne’s early life with a difficult mother and a feckless father, “Eyman gets at the details that the bean-counters and myth-spinners miss…Wayne’s intimates have told things here that they’ve never told anyone else” (Los Angeles Times). Eyman makes startling connections to Wayne’s later days as an anti-Communist conservative, his stormy marriages to Latina women, and his notorious—and surprisingly long-lived—passionate affair with Marlene Dietrich. He also draws on the actor’s own business records and, of course, his storied film career. “We all think we know John Wayne, in part because he seemed to be playing himself in movie after movie. Yet as Eyman carefully lays out, ‘John Wayne’ was an invention, a persona created layer by layer by an ambitious young actor” (The Washington Post). This is the most nuanced and sympathetic portrait available of the man who became a symbol of his country at mid-century, a cultural icon and quintessential American male against whom other screen heroes are still compared.

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LEAN IN
Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell
Cover of LEAN IN

LEAN IN

by Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell · Knopf

58 wks on list

#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A landmark manifesto" (The New York Times) that's a revelatory, inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth that will empower women around the world to achieve their full potential. In her famed TED talk, Sheryl Sandberg described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which has been viewed more than eleven million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto. Lean In continues that conversation, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can. Sandberg, COO of Meta (previously called Facebook) from 2008-2022, provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career. She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment, and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women both in the workplace and at home.

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KILLING JESUS
Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
Cover of KILLING JESUS

KILLING JESUS

by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard · Holt

8 wks on list

Millions of readers have thrilled to bestselling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, page-turning works of nonfiction that have changed the way we read history. The basis for the 2015 television film available on streaming. Now the iconic anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly two thousand years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God. Killing Jesus will take readers inside Jesus's life, recounting the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable - and changed the world forever.

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CONFIDENCE CODE
Katty Kay and Claire Shipman
Cover of CONFIDENCE CODE

CONFIDENCE CODE

by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman · Harper Business/HarperCollins

3 wks on list

Following the success of Lean In and Why Women Should Rule the World, the authors of the bestselling Womenomics provide an informative and practical guide to understanding the importance of confidence—and learning how to achieve it—for women of all ages and at all stages of their career. Working women today are better educated and more well qualified than ever before. Yet men still predominate in the corporate world. In The Confidence Code, Claire Shipman and Katty Kay argue that the key reason is confidence. Combining cutting-edge research in genetics, gender, behavior, and cognition—with examples from their own lives and those of other successful women in politics, media, and business—Kay and Shipman go beyond admonishing women to "lean in."Instead, they offer the inspiration and practical advice women need to close the gap and achieve the careers they want and deserve.

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THE DIVIDE
Matt Taibbi
Cover of THE DIVIDE

THE DIVIDE

by Matt Taibbi · Spiegel & Grau

4 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST, NPR, AND KIRKUS REVIEWS A scathing portrait of an urgent new American crisis Over the last two decades, America has been falling deeper and deeper into a statistical mystery: Poverty goes up. Crime goes down. The prison population doubles. Fraud by the rich wipes out 40 percent of the world’s wealth. The rich get massively richer. No one goes to jail. In search of a solution, journalist Matt Taibbi discovered the Divide, the seam in American life where our two most troubling trends—growing wealth inequality and mass incarceration—come together, driven by a dramatic shift in American citizenship: Our basic rights are now determined by our wealth or poverty. The Divide is what allows massively destructive fraud by the hyperwealthy to go unpunished, while turning poverty itself into a crime—but it’s impossible to see until you look at these two alarming trends side by side. In The Divide, Matt Taibbi takes readers on a galvanizing journey through both sides of our new system of justice—the fun-house-mirror worlds of the untouchably wealthy and the criminalized poor. He uncovers the startling looting that preceded the financial collapse; a wild conspiracy of billionaire hedge fund managers to destroy a company through dirty tricks; and the story of a whistleblower who gets in the way of the largest banks in America, only to find herself in the crosshairs. On the other side of the Divide, Taibbi takes us to the front lines of the immigrant dragnet; into the newly punitive welfare system which treats its beneficiaries as thieves; and deep inside the stop-and-frisk world, where standing in front of your own home has become an arrestable offense. As he narrates these incredible stories, he draws out and analyzes their common source: a perverse new standard of justice, based on a radical, disturbing new vision of civil rights. Through astonishing—and enraging—accounts of the high-stakes capers of the wealthy and nightmare stories of regular people caught in the Divide’s punishing logic, Taibbi lays bare one of the greatest challenges we face in contemporary American life: surviving a system that devours the lives of the poor, turns a blind eye to the destructive crimes of the wealthy, and implicates us all. Praise for The Divide “Ambitious . . . deeply reported, highly compelling . . . impossible to put down.”—The New York Times Book Review “These are the stories that will keep you up at night. . . . The Divide is not just a report from the new America; it is advocacy journalism at its finest.”—Los Angeles Times “Taibbi is a relentless investigative reporter. He takes readers inside not only investment banks, hedge funds and the blood sport of short-sellers, but into the lives of the needy, minorities, street drifters and illegal immigrants. . . . The Divide is an important book. Its documentation is powerful and shocking.”—The Washington Post “Captivating . . . The Divide enshrines its author’s position as one of the most important voices in contemporary American journalism.”—The Independent (UK) “Taibbi [is] perhaps the greatest reporter on Wall Street’s crimes in the modern era.”—Salon

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FACE THE MUSIC
Paul Stanley
Cover of FACE THE MUSIC

FACE THE MUSIC

by Paul Stanley · HarperOne

3 wks on list

The rock icon and co-founder of KISS recounts his turbulent life behind the face paint in this New York Times bestselling memoir. With his onstage persona, the "Starchild", Paul Stanley made rock & roll history—thrilling countless fans with hard rock anthems and elaborate stage shows. But his famous makeup hid a difficult life. In Face the Music, Stanley shares a gripping blend of personal revelations and gritty war stories about the highs and lows both inside and outside of KISS. Born with a condition called microtia (an ear deformity rendering him deaf on the right side), Stanley's traumatic childhood experiences produced an inner drive to succeed in the most unlikely of places: music. Taking readers through the series of events that led to the founding of KISS, the personal relationships that helped shape his life, and the dynamics among his bandmates, this book leaves no one unscathed—including Stanley himself. With never-before-seen photos and images throughout, Face the Music is a colorful portrait of a man and the band he helped create, define, and sustain—made larger than life in artfully told stories that are shocking, funny, inspirational, and honest.

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THE OPPOSITE OF LONELINESS
Marina Keegan
Cover of THE OPPOSITE OF LONELINESS

THE OPPOSITE OF LONELINESS

by Marina Keegan · Scribner

4 wks on list

The instant New York Times bestseller and publishing phenomenon: Marina Keegan’s posthumous collection of award-winning essays and stories “sparkles with talent, humanity, and youth” (O, The Oprah Magazine). Marina Keegan’s star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at The New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. Marina left behind a rich, deeply expansive trove of writing that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. Her short story “Cold Pastoral” was published on NewYorker.com. Her essay “Even Artichokes Have Doubts” was excerpted in the Financial Times, and her book was the focus of a Nicholas Kristof column in The New York Times. Millions of her contemporaries have responded to her work on social media. As Marina wrote: “We can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over…We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.” The Opposite of Loneliness is an unforgettable collection of Marina’s essays and stories that articulates the universal struggle all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to impact the world. “How do you mourn the loss of a fiery talent that was barely a tendril before it was snuffed out? Answer: Read this book. A clear-eyed observer of human nature, Keegan could take a clever idea...and make it something beautiful” (People).

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.