Earth, Wind & Fire has sold some ninety million records and won eight Grammy awards. But while its charismatic founder, Maurice White, and Philip Bailey, one of popular music’s greatest voices, are remarkable musical talents, their relentless work ethic exhausted and emotionally gutted the group. Now, Bailey shares the inside story of his professional and spiritual journey, from his origins to the band’s meteoric rise to stardom, and from its breakup to its triumphant reinvention. Shining Star will mesmerize the supergroup’s millions of fans and anyone who loves an inspiring story about what happens when real life exceeds your dreams.

"Shining Stars" is a collaborative book of motivational and inspirational short stories from authors throughout the United States. Each chapter will inspire and motivate you to achieve your highest potential. The book also affords people who have had a desire to become an author, be one. The book will also serve as a fundraiser not only for the Co-authors, but different non- profit organizations that I support. A portion of the proceeds will also benefit a business in Ferguson, Missouri that was burnt down doing the rioting after unarmed Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer.

Jewelry's Shining Stars is a celebration of a generation of independent fine jewelry designers/artists who are shaping today's collectibles and tomorrow's heirlooms. With a foreword by renowned designer Stephen Webster, this book features 38 talents who cross the boundaries of art, function and wearability to form a distinctive imprint on contemporary jewelry. As the current and future influencers, they shine brightly and are evolving with time and perseverance, while bringing out the collector in a new age of women. In this four-color elegant coffee table book, Beth Bernstein historian, writer and connoisseur of precious jewels gives us an informative, vivid and lively insider s peek into the imaginations, sensibilities and personalities of each designer through quotes, anecdotes and tales of inspiration. From Todd Reed's pioneering, rough and raw diamonds into coveted one-of-a-kind pieces to K. Brunini's introduction of organic forms and non-precious materials into precious jewelry to Arman Sarkisyan's intricate, award-winning and sometimes ironic museum-quality works, these are just a few of the diverse talents featured in this book. The jewelry showcased is meant to be worn and treasured by women who understand and relate to the hearts, souls and boundless imagination of these individual artists all of whom are carving out an enduring role in jewelry's timeline and have earned their place in this art form s rich history.

The true story of Chinese American film star Anna May Wong, whose trail-blazing career in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s broke new ground for future generations of Asian American actors.

The stunning biographical portraits in Modern Girls, Shining Stars, the Skies of Tokyo, some adapted from essays that first appeared in The New Yorker, explore the lives of five women who did their best to stand up and cause more trouble than was considered proper in Japanese society. Their lives stretch across a century and a half of explosive cultural and political transformations in Japan. These five artists-two actresses, two writers, and a painter-were noted for their talents, their beauty, and their love affairs rather than for any association with politics. But through the fearlessness of their art and their private lives, they influenced the attitudes of their times and challenged the status quo. Phyllis Birnbaum presents her subjects from various perspectives, allowing them to shine forth in all of their contradictory brilliance: generous and petulant, daring and timid, prudent and foolish. There is Matsui Sumako, the actress who introduced Ibsen's Nora and Wilde's Salome to Japanese audiences but is best remembered for her ambition, obstreperous temperament and turbulent love life. We also meet Takamura Chieko, a promising but ultimately disappointed modernist painter whose descent into mental illness was immortalized in poetry by a husband who may well have been the source of her troubles. In a startling act of rebellion, the sensitive, aristocratic poet Yanagiwara Byakuren left her crude and powerful husband, eloped with her revolutionary lover, and published her request for a divorce in the newspapers. Uno Chiyo was a popular novelist who preferred to be remembered for the romantic wars she fought. Willful, shrewd, and ambitious, Uno struggled for sexual liberation and literary merit. Birnbaum concludes by exploring the life and career of Takamine Hideko, a Japanese film star who portrayed wholesome working-class heroines in hundreds of films, working with such directors as Naruse, Kinoshita, Ozu, and Kurosawa. Angry about a childhood spent working to provide for greedy relatives, Takamine nevertheless made peace with her troubled past and was rewarded for years of hard work with a brilliant career. Drawing on fictional accounts, interviews, memoirs, newspaper reports, and the creative works of her subjects, Birnbaum has created vivid, seamless narrative portraits of these five remarkable women.

The Queens' Legacy, an inspirational compilation of stories designed to inspire its readers to grow through what they go through so their greatness can show through. These 48 authors have been inspired by women who have been queens in their lives. Some of the queens are their mothers, some other family members, some Civil Rights leaders, some themselves. The common thread being they have made deposits in our lives that are worthy of celebration and conversation. Read their stories. Join their journeys. Celebrate their triumphs. Change your life forever.

- Four concept books: numbers, shapes, colors, and letters. - Foil accents, die-cuts, and lift-the-flaps bring these concepts to life!