Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.

The bestselling author of "The Three-Martini Playdate" delivers a witty, get real guide to embracing and enjoying the adventure of midlife, complete with grooming shortcuts, tips on being your own personal trainer, perfect party recipes, and advice on how to add a sense of play and celebration to every day The world, apparently, thinks women need a makeover. If their teeth are less than white from the love of a strong cup of tea, they must be bleached to a blinding brightness. Waists should be whittled, nether regions made smooth and hairless or adorned with hearts or landing strips. Thighs must be sculpted, noses straightened, arms toned. Our homes must be spotless, well-designed showplaces, our dress size zero. Now that forty is the new thirty, there's no excuse to be anything less than stunning -- right? Not quite, says Christie Mellor. Filled with real style and beauty tips, and more information about lipstick than a woman has a right to know, "You Look Fine, Really" helps any female over the big 4-0 become her truly fabulous self, without injecting toxins into her forehead. In short, kicky sections like "Foundation: Your Own Personal Vinyl Siding," "Your Midlife Fashion Crisis: Now What?" and "Survival Skills for the Mature Woman," Mellor inspires women to reclaim their personal style and uncover their inner fun goddess.

About the book: You're looking fine book is all about love, and looking fine mean he was not fine at all So he tells the other that you're looking fine . And he happy. The author speaks of love, but he cannot find the love for himself. Love is madness. Love is divine. Love is a mirage. Love is . Love is different for everybody. Some say that words may never be enough to express this feeling. 100 World’s Greatest Love Poems brings together an eclectic collection of poems, ranging from the love poems of Edmund Spenser, John Donne, William Shakespeare to that of Robert Browning, Christina Rossetti and Emily Dickinson. Comprising light-hearted verses to grand sonnets, this edition is about love in all its varied forms eternal, ephemeral, false, unrequited, platonic, erotic, ideal and true.

Over 2.5 million copies sold ‘Funny, touching and unpredictable’ Jojo Moyes ‘Heartwrenching and wonderful’ Nina Stibbe Winner of Costa First Novel Award, a No.1 Sunday Times bestseller and the Book of the Year

In this “wonderful and courageous” (Jeannette Walls) memoir, Jackie Hance shares her story of unbearable loss, darkest despair, and—slowly, painfully, and miraculously—her cautious return to hope and love. Until the horrific car accident on New York’s Taconic State Parkway that took the lives of her three beloved young daughters, Jackie Hance was an ordinary Long Island mom, fulfilled by the joyful chaos of a household bustling with life and chatter and love. After the tragedy, she was “The Taconic Mom,” whose unimaginable loss embodied every parent’s worst nightmare. Suddenly, her lifelong Catholic faith no longer explained the world. Her marriage to her husband, Warren, was ravaged by wrenching grief and recrimination. Unable to cope with the unfathomable, she reinvented reality each night so that she awoke each morning having forgotten the heartbreaking facts: that Emma, age 8; Alyson, age 7; and Katie, age 5, were gone forever. They were killed in a minivan driven by their aunt, Jackie’s sister-in-law, Diane Schuler, while returning from a camping weekend on a sunny July morning. I’ll See You Again chronicles the day Jackie received the traumatizing phone call that defied all understanding, and the numbed and torturous events that followed—including the devastating medical findings that shattered Jackie to the core and shocked America. But this profoundly honest account is also the story of how a tight-knit community rallied around the Hances, providing the courage and strength for them to move forward. It’s a story of forgiveness, hope, and rebirth, as Jackie and Warren struggle to rediscover the possibility of joy by welcoming their fourth daughter, Kasey Rose Hance. The story that Jackie Hance shares for the first time will touch your heart and warm you to the power of love and hope.