Priest, author, and spiritual director Frank Wade outlines seventeen principles of successful marriages. The key, suggests Wade, is communication, and knowing when and how to talk and listen with and to one's partner. A must-read both for married persons looking to strengthen their relationship and for those considering marriage, this book is clearly intended to be both read and discussed.

An inspiring and timely debut novel from Lisa Williamson, The Art of Being Normal is about two transgender friends who figure out how to navigate teen life with help from each other. David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he's gay. The school bully thinks he's a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth: David wants to be a girl. On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal: to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in his class is definitely not part of that plan. When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long , and soon everyone knows that Leo used to be a girl. As David prepares to come out to his family and transition into life as a girl and Leo wrestles with figuring out how to deal with people who try to define him through his history, they find in each other the friendship and support they need to navigate life as transgender teens as well as the courage to decide for themselves what normal really means.

By combining provocative prose with photo-essay, Time and the Suburbs explores the disappearance of cities in North America under the weight of suburban, exurban, and other forms of development that are changing the way we live and do politics. Drawing on social theory from Henri Lefebvre and Guy Debord to Antonio Negri, this book reconceptualizes the tasks facing activists and social movments. This is both a provocative essay and introduction to important social theory for anyone interested in cites and urban development.

Once upon a time, people knew their neighbors. They talked to them, had cook-outs with them, and went to church with them. In our time of unprecedented mobility and increasing isolationism, it's hard to make lasting connections with those who live right outside our front door. We have hundreds of "friends" through online social networking, but we often don't even know the full name of the person who lives right next door. This unique and inspiring book asks the question: What is the most loving thing I can do for the people who live on my street or in my apartment building? Through compelling true stories of lives impacted, the authors show readers how to create genuine friendships with the people who live in closest proximity to them. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter make this book perfect for small groups or individual study.

“Anyone grappling with the bewilderment of midlife…will be at once provoked and comforted by this enormously wise book” (Dani Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage), from a psychologist who has worked for decades with people struggling to preserve and enhance their marriages and long-term relationships. People today are trying to make their marriages work over longer lives than ever before. But staying married isn’t always easy. In the brilliant, transformative, and optimistic The Rough Patch, clinical psychologist Daphne de Marneffe explores the extraordinary pushes and pulls of midlife marriage, where our need to develop as individuals can crash headlong into the demands of our relationships. “A book of good intentions and helpful advice and a worthy manual for spouses” (Kirkus Reviews), The Rough Patch addresses common problems: money, alcohol and drugs, the stresses of parenthood, sex, extramarital affairs, lovesickness, health, aging, children leaving home, and dealing with elderly parents. Then, de Marneffe offers seasoned wisdom on these difficulties, explaining the psychological, emotional, and relational capacities we must cultivate to overcome them as individuals and as couples. Blending research, interviews, and clinical experience, de Marneffe dives deep into the workings of love and the structures of relationships. Intimate and always illuminating, The Rough Patch is an essential, compassionate resource for people trying to understand “where they are” on the continuum of marriage, giving them a chance to share in other people’s stories and struggles. “De Marneffe writes with poetry, wit, and compassion about the necessity of struggle in the quest for true love. Anyone in any relationship at any stage of life could stand to learn from the wisdom in these pages” (Andrew Solomon, National Book Award-winning author of Far from the Tree).

"Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" --Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED From the host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart, an exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond. In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive--which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings--conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp--and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue--and how you host and attend them.

Being Together: Practical Wisdom for Loving Yourself and Your Partner is a self-help book that presents lessons and stories from those who have experienced the ups and downs of relationships, insights from expert psychologists and personal accounts of author, Padma Gordon. It introduces you to some of the essential principles and simple tools needed to have a thriving long-term relationship, giving you a roadmap to happiness and opening doors that will allow you to experience freedom in true and lasting love. You will love this book if you are at the beginning of a relationship adventure, are a divorcee in a second marriage, are struggling in your relationship, or if you want to take your relationship to the next level. The tools and advice in this book will help you find the direction you need to have a peaceful, healthy, respectful, and fulfilling relationship. Padma Gordon is a spiritual counselor, writer, mother, and lover of life. She has been assisting people on their evolutionary journeys for over 25 years teaching the physical, mental, and energetic mechanics of being present through a mindfulness-based movement practice. Thanks to her passion for helping people thrive in their relationships, she decided to write her first book Being Together: Practical Wisdom for Loving Yourself and Your Partner. Padma lives her life in service of deep transformation. When not writing, you may find her twirling around a dance floor with her partner, recording a Tik Tok video with her daughter, hiking with her dog, Buddy, or nibbling on 88% organic chocolate while watching her favorite Netflix shows.