Unless you lived through the 1970s, it seems impossible to understand it at all. Drug delirium, groovy fashion, religious cults, mega corporations, glitzy glam, hard rock, global unrest—from our 2018 perspective, the seventies are often remembered as a bizarre blur of bohemianism and disco. With Pick Up the Pieces, John Corbett transports us back in time to this thrillingly tumultuous era through a playful exploration of its music. Song by song, album by album, he draws our imaginations back into one of the wildest decades in history. Rock. Disco. Pop. Soul. Jazz. Folk. Funk. The music scene of the 1970s was as varied as it was exhilarating, but the decade’s diversity of sound has never been captured in one book before now. Pick Up the Pieces gives a panoramic view of the era’s music and culture through seventy-eight essays that allow readers to dip in and out of the decade at random or immerse themselves completely in Corbett’s chronological journey. An inviting mix of skilled music criticism and cultural observation, Pick Up the Pieces is also a coming-of-age story, tracking the author’s absorption in music as he grows from age seven to seventeen. Along with entertaining personal observations and stories, Corbett includes little-known insights into musicians from Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, James Brown, and Fleetwood Mac to the Residents, Devo, Gal Costa, and Julius Hemphill. A master DJ on the page, Corbett takes us through the curated playlist that is Pick Up the Pieces with captivating melody of language and powerful enthusiasm for the era. This funny, energetic book will have readers longing nostalgically for a decade long past.

Mistakes, love, and hopefully happiness. After myriad mistakes and a devastating breakup, Lily Hamilton is no longer the impulsive, selfish person she used to be. She longs for the chance to prove she’s changed to the one person she believes holds the key to her happiness. Adam Carter’s days of serial monogamy are long gone, and he’s been burying his hurt by dating women he has no intention of committing to. But when he sees Lily for the first time in months, he’s reminded of the man he used to be, the man he wants to try to be again—for her. Max Samson is on a downward spiral, reverting back to the hard-partying, reckless man he’d been before Lily fell into his life. But when his mother invites Lily back into his world, he suddenly remembers how good it felt to have her there. It’s now up to Lily to pick up the pieces and figure out which two are the perfect fit.

In John Updike’s second collection of assorted prose he comes into his own as a book reviewer; most of the pieces picked up here were first published in The New Yorker in the 1960s and early ’70s. If one word could sum up the young critic’s approach to books and their authors it would be “generosity”: “Better to praise and share,” he says in his Foreword, “than to blame and ban.” And so he follows his enthusiasms, which prove both deserving and infectious: Kierkegaard, Proust, Joyce, Dostoevsky, and Hamsun among the classics; Borges, Nabokov, Grass, Bellow, Cheever, and Jong among the contemporaries. Here too are meditations on Satan and cemeteries, travel essays on London and Anguilla, three very early “golf dreams,” and one big interview. Picked-Up Pieces is a glittering treasury for every reader who likes life, books, wit—and John Updike.

Marie Joiner is on fire. Author, Owner of Two Thriving companies, Mentor to women in business and Keynote Speaker. Marie survived homelessness and abuse as a child. She built her life from the ground up without knowing how to read and with only a fifth-grade education to back her. She is the definition of inspirational. Marie's story leaves you with the realization that we can not only break free from anything we've experienced-we can literally create our own destiny.

Ending a romantic relationship can wreck lives, especially for the one who didnt want it to end. A book that leads you from heartache to a healthier relationship with Christ.

Clyde Colvin Besson, a minister with extensive experience in marriage and family counseling, offers comfort and guidance to the recently divorced and to anyone else struggling with feelings of despair and isolation.

Domestic violence has a serious impact on children and families but some of the harm can be minimised by providing parents with effective guidance on developing safe, protective and positive ways of caring for their children in the aftermath of a violent relationship. This practical guide provides techniques and exercises to help practitioners work in a structured and focused way with parents after domestic violence has occurred. It sets out a framework for assessing risks and needs, and covers how to build strengths, set goals, and plan an intervention pathway. Advice, exercises and handouts that are easily photocopied will help parents understand the impact of domestic violence and develop their relationship with their child. The resource also covers how to use discipline, talking to children, understanding child development, and how to build resilience and empathy. Guidance on working with both the perpetrator and the victim of domestic violence is included. This invaluable resource will benefit child and family social workers, children's centre workers, therapists, counsellors and anyone supporting a family recovering from the trauma of domestic violence.