Based on a true story and in a unique voice that is both touching and funny, A.M. O'Malley gives us a poignant and beautiful book of prose poems that captures the experience of growing up on back roads, in smoky bars, and kitchens full of women. She writes about striking out into the world alone and finding her way and her truth. O'Malley breaks from traditional forms to tell her story with a hybrid of narrative and lyricism and explores the possibilities that happen when form is broken.

It's weird how every woman reacts differently. How each pregnancy differs. Mine is definitely unique. My sense of smell became stronger, picking up the faintest odors, and my stomach was in constant turmoil. Those were the first signs. And then I started eating. And eating. If I don't, I get a migraine and people's faces become blurry. Electronics seem to malfunction in my presence. And the nightmares-they don't stop. Something is changing my body. Something that should have never happened. Something that my husband and I had prevented from happening. Something people say is miraculous. The bigger I get, the more frequently I encounter people who become possessed. And the more often I wind up questioning if I am carrying a miracle baby. The closer I get to the due date, the more I love this child and the more confident I am that I will protect my baby from anything. Even its fate. DNA Demons N Angels contains violence, swearing, and sex scenes.

Is motherhood only about self-sacrifice? Or will it bless your life, too? You know that motherhood makes high demands. Yet you know it’s worth the cost because it benefits your child. On some grand level, it’s also good for civilization. And of course, it’s a calling from God. So is that what you’re doing here—pouring out your life for God and others while getting little in return except the consolation that you’ve done the right thing? Laura Booz wants you to expect something more out of motherhood—something truly beautiful. You might be asking: Will I lose myself in motherhood? Compromise my career? Squander my potential? What’s the point of all that unseen (and uncelebrated) serving, cleaning, caring, snuggling, discipling, and praying? Laura wants to help you see that behind all the giving that mothers do is the receiving of something special—a profound growth in God that is cultivated through motherhood’s everyday ups and downs. Let this book give you a renewed vision of motherhood: to see God’s good purpose for you as a mother, a woman, and a follower of Christ.

"Savvy and insightful." --New York Times Technology has become the architect of our intimacies. Online, we fall prey to the illusion of companionship, gathering thousands of Twitter and Facebook friends, and confusing tweets and wall posts with authentic communication. But this relentless connection leads to a deep solitude. MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues that as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down. Based on hundreds of interviews and with a new introduction taking us to the present day, Alone Together describes changing, unsettling relationships between friends, lovers, and families.

The creator of the Unmistakable Creative podcast makes a counterintuitive argument: By focusing your creative work on pleasing yourself, you can increase your productivity, happiness, and (eventually, paradoxically) the size of your audience. Creating for your own pleasure--whether you're writing a novel, composing songs, or painting a landscape--can seem pointless. It's tempting to focus on pursuing money and fame, rather than the process itself. But as Srini Rao warns, creating then turns into a chore that can harm your self-esteem and suck the pleasure out of life, rather than being a source of joy. Rao, host of the podcast The Unmistakable Creative, argues that we should counter this thinking by intentionally creating art for ourselves alone--an audience of one. In this book he shares the fascinating true stories of creatives who took this path, along with actionable tips and the research of creativity experts. You'll learn, for example: • How Oprah's intentional focus on her own work rather than the opinions of everyone else catapulted her into one of the most popular talk shows of all time. • How being process-driven can not only help you produce more work, but can make you happier outside of your creative time. • How to put together a creative "team of rivals" whose feedback can help you hone your craft and filter out useless feedback. By playing to an audience of one, we can find more happiness, increased productivity, and a greater sense of community.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

“Emily Oster is the non-judgmental girlfriend holding our hand and guiding us through pregnancy and motherhood. She has done the work to get us the hard facts in a soft, understandable way.” —Amy Schumer What to Expect When You're Expecting meets Freakonomics: an award-winning economist and author of Cribsheet, The Family Firm, and The Unexpected disproves standard recommendations about pregnancy to empower women while they're expecting. Pregnancy—unquestionably one of the most pro­found, meaningful experiences of adulthood—can reduce otherwise intelligent women to, well, babies. Pregnant women are told to avoid cold cuts, sushi, alcohol, and coffee without ever being told why these are forbidden. Rules for prenatal testing are similarly unexplained. Moms-to-be desperately want a resource that empowers them to make their own right choices. When award-winning economist Emily Oster was a mom-to-be herself, she evaluated the data behind the accepted rules of pregnancy, and discovered that most are often misguided and some are just flat-out wrong. Debunking myths and explaining everything from the real effects of caffeine to the surprising dangers of gardening, Expecting Better is the book for every pregnant woman who wants to enjoy a healthy and relaxed pregnancy—and the occasional glass of wine.