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I'm Speaking

Author : Mary Zaia
Publisher : Castle Point Books
ISBN 13 : 1250278422
Total Pages : 162 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (52 download)

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Book Synopsis I'm Speaking by : Mary Zaia

Download or read book I'm Speaking written by Mary Zaia and published by Castle Point Books. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “I will lead with integrity and I will tell the truth.” Kamala Harris wants your voice to be heard. I’m Speaking is a collection of empowering words from a trailblazing leader who believes we can reach a better, stronger tomorrow together. She is no stranger to being the first to take action and break into new leadership roles, and her example, resolve, and strength of character affirm that she will not be the last. This book of quotations is not only a source of her wisdom, but a beacon of compassion, encouragement, and assurance that the future is for everyone. I’m Speaking is a hopeful reminder that unity is not found by following the loudest voice, but by inspiring us all to speak up and speak out until everyone’s voice is heard. - Pore over nearly 150 moving quotes on integrity, leadership, and empathy - Admire Kamala Harris’s power, poise, and limitless aspirations for a better world - Look to a brighter future and celebrate the first Black, Asian American, female Vice President

Speak of Me As I Am

Author : Sonia Belasco
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0399546774
Total Pages : 274 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (995 download)

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Book Synopsis Speak of Me As I Am by : Sonia Belasco

Download or read book Speak of Me As I Am written by Sonia Belasco and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-04-04 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A moving story of grief, honesty, and the healing power of art — the ties that bind us together, even when those we love are gone. Melanie and Damon are both living in the shadow of loss. For Melanie, it's the loss of her larger-than-life artist mother, taken by cancer well before her time. For Damon, it’s the loss of his best friend, Carlos, who took his own life. As they struggle to fill the empty spaces their loved ones left behind, fate conspires to bring them together. Damon takes pictures with Carlos’s camera to try to understand his choices, and Melanie begins painting as a way of feeling closer to her mother. But when the two join their school’s production of Othello, the play they both hoped would be a distraction becomes a test of who they truly are, both together and on their own. And more than anything else, they discover that it just might be possible to live their lives without completely letting go of their sadness. Praise for Speak of Me As I Am: "Debut author Belasco adeptly captures the tribulations of high school life while also celebrating art's ability to help clarify and contextualize its joys and sorrows. . . . The novel's most intriguing character . . . is grief itself, which the author illuminates, examines, and dissects with a surgeon's precision and the gentle touch of an artist. A stirring account of the trials of adolescence." —Kirkus Reviews "This book will undoubtedly be compared to Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park. . . . Teens seeking a quieter but no less moving story will find this book a perfect read." —Booklist "Never maudlin, always authentic, the portrayal of their struggles to deal with grief and with love will resonate with many teens." —VOYA "A good purchase for realistic fiction collections and for readers looking for books about survivor’s guilt and healing." —School Library Journal "Belasco’s novel sends a powerful message about the complicated nature of grief. . . . This powerful, emotional work should be earmarked to be a favorite with teen readers." —BookPage

No Silver Bullets

Author : Daniel Im
Publisher : B&H Publishing Group
ISBN 13 : 1433651556
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (336 download)

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Book Synopsis No Silver Bullets by : Daniel Im

Download or read book No Silver Bullets written by Daniel Im and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2017-09-01 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if I told you that you were only one step away from unlocking new levels of maturity and growth in your church? The myth of the silver bullet still exists because we desperately want it to. We all prefer quick fixes and bandage solutions to the long, hard, slow work that produces real change. So the moment we learn about a new ministry or strategy and see its effect in another church, we run to implement it in our own. Unfortunately, this impulse is usually met by opposition, skepticism, and ultimately, rejection. What if the solution isn't a new model or a complicated strategy, but a shift in perspective? What if you could keep your church's current vision, values, and model, and simply make a few micro-shifts...leading to macro-changes? This book explores five micro-shifts that have the potential to produce macro-changes in your church. As you read, you will discover how to integrate these micro-shifts into the life of your church, starting with the way you disciple. You will finish by developing a plan to structure, communicate, and evaluate these changes to ensure that they take root and pave the way for lasting change and kingdom impact.

So You Want to Talk About Race

Author : Ijeoma Oluo
Publisher : Seal Press
ISBN 13 : 1541619226
Total Pages : 222 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (416 download)

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Book Synopsis So You Want to Talk About Race by : Ijeoma Oluo

Download or read book So You Want to Talk About Race written by Ijeoma Oluo and published by Seal Press. This book was released on 2019-09-24 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a revelatory examination of race in America Protests against racial injustice and white supremacy have galvanized millions around the world. The stakes for transformative conversations about race could not be higher. Still, the task ahead seems daunting, and it’s hard to know where to start. How do you tell your boss her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law hang up on you when you had questions about police reform? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend? In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from police brutality and cultural appropriation to the model minority myth in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race, and about how racism infects every aspect of American life. "Simply put: Ijeoma Oluo is a necessary voice and intellectual for these times, and any time, truth be told." ―Phoebe Robinson, New York Times bestselling author of You Can't Touch My Hair

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race

Author : Reni Eddo-Lodge
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1526633922
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (266 download)

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Book Synopsis Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by : Reni Eddo-Lodge

Download or read book Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race written by Reni Eddo-Lodge and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Every voice raised against racism chips away at its power. We can't afford to stay silent. This book is an attempt to speak' *Updated edition featuring a new afterword* The book that sparked a national conversation. Exploring everything from eradicated black history to the inextricable link between class and race, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race is the essential handbook for anyone who wants to understand race relations in Britain today. THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION NARRATIVE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018 FOYLES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BLACKWELL'S NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER OF THE JHALAK PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR A BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS AWARD

I Am in Here

Author : Elizabeth M. Bonker
Publisher : Baker Books
ISBN 13 : 1441237844
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (412 download)

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Book Synopsis I Am in Here by : Elizabeth M. Bonker

Download or read book I Am in Here written by Elizabeth M. Bonker and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2011-10-15 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: She looked into my eyes and blinked hers slowly and deliberately, like a stroke victim, to show me that although she couldn't speak, she understood what I was saying to her. I stroked her hair softly. 'I know you're in there, honey,' I told her. 'We'll get you out.'" Despite the horror of seeing fifteen-month-old Elizabeth slip away into autism, her mother knew that her bright little girl was still in there. When Elizabeth eventually learned to communicate, first by using a letterboard and later by typing, the poetry she wrote became proof of a glorious, life-affirming victory for this young girl and her family. I Am in Here is the spiritual journey of a mother and daughter who refuse to give up hope, who celebrate their victories, and who keep trying to move forward despite the obstacles. Although she cannot speak, Elizabeth writes poetry that shines a light on the inner world of autism and the world around us. That poetry and her mother's stirring storytelling combine in this inspirational book to proclaim that there is always a reason to take the next step forward--with hope.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: I'm Speaking Now

Author : Amy Newmark
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1611590833
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (115 download)

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Book Synopsis Chicken Soup for the Soul: I'm Speaking Now by : Amy Newmark

Download or read book Chicken Soup for the Soul: I'm Speaking Now written by Amy Newmark and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-06 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now more than ever, the strong, independent, courageous voices of Black women are being heard loud and clear. They share their truth about life, love, family, faith and hope in these 101 personal stories and 12 powerful poems. The world is listening. Black women are speaking, for themselves and their families, and everyone is listening. This unique collection of stories is for readers of all colors, not just the Black community, as these contributors share their dreams, their triumphs and failures, and their lives, which have unique challenges and hardships that are not well understood by others. Readers of color will recognize their own struggles in these pages, and white readers will benefit from an inside view of Black life in America, Canada and beyond. These 101 stories and 12 poems, written by and for Black women, cover it all—from fierce to funny—about hopes and dreams, fears and realities, identity and self-discovery, family, children, even hair. Each one starts with a quote connecting you to a wellspring of wisdom from historical and contemporary Black women. “We are speaking now,” says Breena Clarke, coauthor of this book. “Because the moment is now, in this collection of first-person narratives. This is an opportunity to hear the often silenced voices of Black women, writing for you and because of you. These are stories of universal human experiences but also reflect the specificity of Black women’s lives in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.” Everyone will benefit from this look into the culture, wisdom, and everyday reality of the Black experience, with 11 chapters, each starting with a powerful poem: • The Shoulders We Stand On • Where We Come From • Everyday Struggles • Stand Up, Speak Out • Raising Our Children • Family & Food for the Soul • Taking Care of Me • Sisters, Friends • Loving Black Men • Identity & Roots • Self-Discovery Chicken Soup for the Soul books are 100% made in the USA and each book includes stories from as diverse a group of writers as possible. Chicken Soup for the Soul solicits and publishes stories from the LGBTQ community and from people of all ethnicities, nationalities, and religions.

We're Speaking

Author : Hitha Palepu
Publisher : Little, Brown Spark
ISBN 13 : 9780316587723
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (877 download)

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Book Synopsis We're Speaking by : Hitha Palepu

Download or read book We're Speaking written by Hitha Palepu and published by Little, Brown Spark. This book was released on 2024-07-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A must-read" (Eve Rodsky), We're Speaking provides inspirational lessons about life, work, and overcoming adversity--drawn from Kamala Harris's norm-shattering ascent to Vice President of the United States. Kamala Harris is one of our country's most awe-inspiring political figures, dawning on a new age as the first--but not last--Black and Asian-American female Vice President. Having spent her entire career smashing glass ceilings and influencing the next generation of young women, Harris has completely redefined what it means to be a woman in politics. In We're Speaking, Palepu connects illuminating stories from Harris's unique biography with tactical advice that will teach you to: Own the power of your multitudes Act on and embrace your ambition Develop your unique voice and style Find your North Star to guide your decisions Best of all, We're Speaking will leave you feeling empowered to follow in Harris's footsteps -- shattering glass ceilings of your own as you live the life of your dreams!

I Speak, Therefore I Am

Author : Andrea Moro
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231533926
Total Pages : 97 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis I Speak, Therefore I Am by : Andrea Moro

Download or read book I Speak, Therefore I Am written by Andrea Moro and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2016-07-05 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are no men so dull and stupid, not even idiots, as to be incapable of joining together different words, and thereby constructing a declaration by which to make their thoughts understood.... On the other hand, there is no other animal, however perfect or happily circumstanced which can do the like.—Descartes Language is more like a snowflake than a giraffe's neck. Its specific properties are determined by laws of nature, they have not developed through the accumulation of historical accidents.—Noam Chomsky In I Speak, Therefore I Am, the Italian linguist and neuroscientist Andrea Moro composes an album of his favorite quotations from the history of linguistics, beginning with the Book of Genesis and the power of naming and concluding with Noam Chomsky's metaphor that language is a snowflake. Moro's seventeen linguistic thoughts and his commentary on them display the humanness of language: our need to name and interpret this world and create imaginary ones, to express and understand ourselves. This book is sure to delight anyone who enjoys the ineffable paradox that is human language.

The Last Lecture

Author : Randy Pausch
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780340978504
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (785 download)

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Book Synopsis The Last Lecture by : Randy Pausch

Download or read book The Last Lecture written by Randy Pausch and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.

Shut Up, I'm Talking

Author : Gregory Levey
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1416593799
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (165 download)

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Book Synopsis Shut Up, I'm Talking by : Gregory Levey

Download or read book Shut Up, I'm Talking written by Gregory Levey and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-04-22 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shut Up, I'm Talking is a smart, hilarious insider take on Israeli politics that reads like the bastard child of Thomas Friedman and David Sedaris. Now a political writer for Salon, Gregory Levey stumbled into a job as speechwriter for the Israeli delegation to the United Nations at age twenty-five and suddenly found himself, like a latter-day Zelig, in the company of foreign ministers, U.S. senators, and heads of state. Much to his surprise, he was soon attending U.N. sessions and drafting official government statements. The situation got stranger still when he was transferred to Jerusalem to write speeches for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Shut Up, I'm Talking is a startling account of Levey's journey into the nerve center of Middle Eastern politics at one of the most turbulent times in Israeli history. During his three years in the Israeli government, the Second Intifada continued on in fits and starts, Yasser Arafat died, Hamas came to power, and Ariel Sharon fell into a coma. Levey was repeatedly thrust into highly improbable situations -- from being the sole "Israeli" delegate (even though he's Canadian) at the U.N. General Assembly, with no idea how "his" country wanted to vote; to nearly inciting an international incident with his high school French translation of an Arab diplomat's anti-Israel remarks; to communicating with Israeli intelligence about the suspected perpetrators of suicide bombings; to being offered leftover salami from Ariel Sharon's lunch. As Levey got better acquainted with the personalities in the government's inner sanctum, he witnessed firsthand the improvisational and ridiculously casual nature of the country's behind-the-scenes leadership -- and realized that he wasn't the only one faking his way through politics. With sharp insight and great appreciation for the absurd, Levey offers the first-ever look inside Israel's politics from the perspective of a complete outsider, ultimately concluding that the Israeli government is no place for a nice Jewish boy.

Because Internet

Author : Gretchen McCulloch
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0735210942
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (352 download)

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Book Synopsis Because Internet by : Gretchen McCulloch

Download or read book Because Internet written by Gretchen McCulloch and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!! Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Amazon, and The Washington Post A Wired Must-Read Book of Summer “Gretchen McCulloch is the internet’s favorite linguist, and this book is essential reading. Reading her work is like suddenly being able to see the matrix.” —Jonny Sun, author of everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time. Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.

Making Sense of God

Author : Timothy Keller
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0525954155
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (259 download)

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Book Synopsis Making Sense of God by : Timothy Keller

Download or read book Making Sense of God written by Timothy Keller and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.

Great Speeches For Better Speaking

Author : Michael E. Eidenmuller
Publisher : McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN 13 : 0071817212
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (718 download)

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Book Synopsis Great Speeches For Better Speaking by : Michael E. Eidenmuller

Download or read book Great Speeches For Better Speaking written by Michael E. Eidenmuller and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2008-06-25 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master the art of persuasion with lessons from the best speakers of our time. Throughout history, they have moved us. They have enlightened and inspired us. They are our nation's most influential speakers, gifted with the talent to change minds and hearts. What is the almost magical power they possess--and how can you harness it for yourself? The answers are here in this illuminating guide to unforgettable oratory. Complete with a ninety-minute CD featuring six great speeches in their entirety, this tool kit for speakers takes you through an in-depth analysis of these historically significant speeches and the secrets of their eloquent effectiveness. With close examination of each speech, you'll get lessons on how to: Address a difficult situation with help from the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan Bring divergent interests together with effective arguments like Edward Kennedy Capture and hold your audience's attention by mastering General Douglas MacArthur's structual techniques Style a formal speech with the elegance of John F. Kennedy Maximize your delivery by studying the power of Barbara Jordan's voice Use Mary Fisher's special rhetorical tactics to sway even the toughest audience

Tonight I'm Someone Else

Author : Chelsea Hodson
Publisher : Holt Paperbacks
ISBN 13 : 1250170192
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis Tonight I'm Someone Else by : Chelsea Hodson

Download or read book Tonight I'm Someone Else written by Chelsea Hodson and published by Holt Paperbacks. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I had a real romance with this book." —Miranda July A highly anticipated collection, from the writer Maggie Nelson has called, “bracingly good...refreshing and welcome,” that explores the myriad ways in which desire and commodification intersect. From graffiti gangs and Grand Theft Auto to sugar daddies, Schopenhauer, and a deadly game of Russian roulette, in these essays, Chelsea Hodson probes her own desires to examine where the physical and the proprietary collide. She asks what our privacy, our intimacy, and our own bodies are worth in the increasingly digital world of liking, linking, and sharing. Starting with Hodson’s own work experience, which ranges from the mundane to the bizarre—including modeling and working on a NASA Mars mission— Hodson expands outward, looking at the ways in which the human will submits, whether in the marketplace or in a relationship. Both tender and jarring, this collection is relevant to anyone who’s ever searched for what the self is worth. Hodson’s accumulation within each piece is purposeful, and her prose vivid, clear, and sometimes even shocking, as she explores the wonderful and strange forms of desire. Tonight I'm Someone Else is a fresh, poetic debut from an exciting emerging voice, in which Hodson asks, “How much can a body endure?” And the resounding answer: "Almost everything."

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Author : Haruki Murakami
Publisher : Vintage Canada
ISBN 13 : 0307373088
Total Pages : 194 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (73 download)

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Book Synopsis What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by : Haruki Murakami

Download or read book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running written by Haruki Murakami and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2009-08-11 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the best-selling author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and After Dark, a rich and revelatory memoir about writing and running, and the integral impact both have made on his life. In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Haruki Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he’d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a slew of critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and—even more important—on his writing. Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and includes settings ranging from Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvellous lens of sport emerges a cornucopia of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs and the experience, after the age of fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back. By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running.

The First 20 Hours

Author : Josh Kaufman
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101623047
Total Pages : 290 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis The First 20 Hours by : Josh Kaufman

Download or read book The First 20 Hours written by Josh Kaufman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-06-13 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.