Chronicle Books is proud to present A Box of Thoughts, a charming series of little thoughts, each printed on a separate card and stowed in an irresistible new format. An innovative way of showing someone you care, these boxes offer not one, but forty affirmations featuring the words of literary greats and contemporary truths alike.

You may notice me, but you will never know me. I prefer it that way. I am the daughter of a monster. Born from blood and lies. Dead before I have truly lived. But Elian tells me that I'm different. He tells me that I'm beautiful. That I'm an enigma wrapped in irresistibly complicated skin. Elian says that he loves me. These words terrify me. I can't trust love. Or hope. Or truth. Because I fear the beast inside. It threatens to drown Elian and his sweet, unconditional love. It's a beast that will destroy everything.

The Mechanics of Homosexual Intercourse, a radical map of shortcomings in our daily experiences in the form of a debut story collection, presents thematically related windows into serious emotional trouble and monstrous love. Lonely Christopher combines a striking emotional grammar, reminiscent of Gertrude Stein's Three Lives, with an unyielding imagination in the lovely/ugly architecture of his stories. Lonely Christopher is the author of several poetry chapbooks and is a contributor to the poetry volume Into (Seven Circles Press). His plays have been published, staged in New York City and internationally, and released in Mandarin translation. His fiction received Pratt Institute's 2009 Thesis Award. He is a founding member of the small press The Corresponding Society and an editor of its biannual journal Correspondence. He lives in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

A guide to the role of solitude in good leadership, including profiles of historical and contemporary figures who have used solitude to lead with courage, creativity, and strength. Throughout history, leaders have used solitude as a matter of course. Eisenhower wrote memoranda to himself during World War II as a way to think through complex problems. Martin Luther King found moral courage while sitting alone at his kitchen table one night during the Montgomery bus boycott. Jane Goodall used her intuition in the jungles of Central Africa while learning how to approach chimps. Solitude is a state of mind, a space where you can focus on your own thoughts without distraction, with a power to bring mind and soul together in clear-eyed conviction. Like a great wave that saturates everything in its path, however, handheld devices and other media now leave us awash with the thoughts of others. We are losing solitude without even realizing it. To find solitude today, a leader must make a conscious effort. This book explains why the effort is worthwhile and how to make it. Through gripping historical accounts and firsthand interviews with a wide range of contemporary leaders, Raymond Kethledge (a federal court of appeals judge) and Michael Erwin (a West Pointer and three-tour combat veteran) show how solitude can enhance clarity, spur creativity, sustain emotional balance, and generate the moral courage necessary to overcome adversity and criticism. Anyone who leads anyone-including oneself-can benefit from solitude. With a foreword by Jim Collins (author of the bestseller Good to Great), Lead Yourself First is a rallying cry to reclaim solitude-and all the benefits, both practical and sublime, that come with it.

Simon Peter Esaku has introduced a reader friendly style in poetry in Lonely Thoughts: Poems about Life. His poems are easy to read, interesting, entertaining, educational and relevant. He treats the reader to various ingredients of poetry and with varied themes, makes him or her identify with situations. The author draws his inspiration from personal experiences, observation and imagination. He is a blend of talent and school and university skills in poetry. Exposure from his work travels and journalism skills have added to the smoothness of his poems. Esaku is a journalist, photographer and author with World Vision in Kampala since 1997. His work writing news stories, features and books for the international NGO has taken him to most parts of Uganda and to the Dem. Rep. of Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Thailand. His stories and photos in magazines and websites abroad have raised millions of dollars for World Vision working in over 100 countries and employing 41,000 staff. Esaku is considered one of the best writers and photographers in the organisation. Previously, the author worked for the Ministry of Information as a features writer. He won the prize for the best AIDS features writer in Uganda in 1992. The Commonwealth Trust awarded him a four-month study tour in the UK in 1993. Simon Peter Esaku was born in Kateta sub-county in today's Serere district in Eastern Uganda in 1957. He's the second born of eleven children of Mislam Atolong and Margaret Acobo. He attended Sebei College Tegeres for his O Level (1971-1974) and Boroboro Secondary School for A Level (1975-1976) where he studied History, Economics and Literature including poetry. In his first year in Makerere University in 1977, Esaku studied History, Political Science and Literature with poetry. He graduated in B.A Political Science and Public Administration in 1980. He trained in journalism in Uganda and in West Germany at the International Institute for Journalism. Now he is studying M.A in Mass Communication at Makerere University.