Showing results by narrator "Nicholas Bell" in All Categories

The world is full of problems and conflicts. So why can we not solve them? According to Edward de Bono, world thinking cannot solve world problems because world thinking is itself the problem. And this is getting worse: we are so accustomed to readily available information online that we search immediately for the answers rather than thinking about them. Our minds function like trying to drive a car using only one wheel.

If meditation was available in capsule form, it would be the biggest selling drug of all time. It has been scientifically proven to deliver highly effective stress relief, boost our immune systems and dramatically slow the aging process. It has also been shown to make us much happier and more effective thinkers.

One of the great, but often unmentioned, causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kind of walls, chairs, buildings, and streets we’re surrounded by. And yet a concern for architecture and design is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. The Architecture of Happiness starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be - and argues that it is architecture’s task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential.

Dr. Samuel Johnson observed that everyone's life is a subject worthy of the biographer's art. Accused by a former girlfriend of being unable to empathise, the narrator of Kiss & Tell takes Johnson's idea to heart and decides to write about the next person who walks into his life. He meets Isabel Rogers, a production assistant at a small stationery company in London, apparently an ordinary woman. But as the biographer's understanding of Isabel deepens, she becomes remarkable.

Do you hate flying? Does the very idea of being on a plane stress you out? Fear of flying may be an everyday phobia, but that doesn't mean that you have to live with it. From the best-selling author of Meditations for Manic Motorists and Buddhism for Busy People, the exercises included in Meditations for Frequent Flyers will improve your physical and mental well-being while in the passenger seat.

Holocaust survivor and American citzen Jossi Goldberg is found shot to death execution style in his house near Frankfurt. A five-digit number is scrawled in blood at the murder scene. The autopsy reveals an old tattoo on the corpse's arm--a blood type marker once used by Hitler's SS--causing detectives Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver Bodenstein to question his true identity. Two more murders reveal the connections between the victims.

The Leader's Way takes leaders on a progressive path, first learning new techniques for themselves, then for their organizations, before applying them on a global scale to address such vital topics as poverty, sustainability, diversity, and environmental responsibility - all areas that are affected by the workings of the global marketplace.

Alain de Botton believes that philosophy can help people enjoy happier lives. And in his numerous best sellers, from Status Anxiety to The Art of Travel, his unique blend of erudition and self-help has reached an audience eager to listen. In On Seeing and Noticing, Alain de Botton takes everyday concerns such as expressing sadness or being romantic and dispenses advice and observations based on the works of some of history's greatest writers, artists and thinkers.

When there is a violent murder at a historic Home Counties golf club, Superintendent John Lambert himself discovers the crime. For the first time in a long career, he finds himself conducting a murder inquiry among people he knows well. The victim is the chairman of the golf club and a prominent local businessman, and it is soon clear that the members of the Club Committee are the chief suspects. They are all prominent members of the local community, and Lambert is saddled with a Chief Constable who is uncomfortably aware of the fact.

In the years following the death of Jesus Christ, John the Apostle, now a frail, blind old man, lives in forced exile on the desolate island of Patmos with a small group of his disciples. It is against this turbulent background and inspired by Jesus's radical message of love and forgiveness that John comes to dictate his Gospel.

Alexandra has returned to the world after her captivity and is left with a heady mix of emotions. Strangely empowered, her feelings of pleasure and exhilaration are tinged with fear, but now she must reconcile the decisions of her past and how they may determine her future. Alexandra knows it is she alone who holds the key to the answers so desperately sought by both her lover, Jeremy Quinn, and her captors.

Alain de Botton was given unprecedented, unrestricted access to wander around Heathrow, one of the world’s biggest airports, having been appointed its Writer-in-Residence. He spoke with everyone from airline staff and senior executives to travellers passing through, and based on these conversations he produced this extraordinary account of life at an airport and what it says about modern existence.

Life was going well for psychologist Alexandra Blake. Her career has taken off and she has been exploring her darkest sexual fantasies with her lover Jeremy Quinn. But her bliss is rudely interrupted when she is abducted in London, caught up in a dangerous struggle between unscrupulous corporations. Her captors want her to help them with their sexual experiments – pushing the boundaries of convention in the search for a drug to stimulate the female libido. But at what cost? How far will Alexandra be willing to go to satisfy her curiosity, both professional and personal?

Stress is a constant presence in our everyday lives - more than ever before, we're working harder, juggling more responsibilies and taking less time for ourselves. David Michie, the bestselling author of Buddhism for Busy People, offers a series of meditations designed to take those moments in life that seem unbearably stressful, and gives you the calmness and peace of mind to take control of the situation, and of yourself.

Despite the Bureau’s protests, Maxwell takes responsibility for the damage to the Library and is suspended from teaching. His replacement is Doctor Apinya, a distinguished magical archaeologist, who takes a keen interest in Kyra. To resurrect Ladder, Lily, Ruksy and Peter venture into the fairy tale book to secure enchanted wood and fall foul of the Witch of Crow Crag.

Do you get stressed out behind the steering wheel? Would you like to transform your drive time into an opportunity to cultivate tranquility and calm? Dip into this selection of 10-minute mindfulness techniques and find the ones that best suit you.

With Apinya’s true identity exposed, Maxwell and the two Keys are captured and taken to the Bangkok warehouse, where Kyra finally locates the Third Key using her Orb Magic. While the Bureau attempt to rescue Maxwell, Kyra, Imogen and Tayla retrieve the Third Key which magically transports Kyra to the Temple of the Purple Lotus where her Orb magic is drained and the Purple Lotus comes to life.

As the Purple Lotus begins to disrupt fairy and elf magic everywhere, the Bureau lose control of their magic, all except Kyra who is unaffected. Apinya pleads with Kyra to stop the Lotus by reclaiming her Orb Magic. When she refuses, Apinya plays her last card and reveals the truth about the disappearance of Kyra’s birth father.

The Bureau attempts to capture a bug whose bite causes the victim to tell the truth, but the bug bites Lily who is on her first date with Ben. Peter and Ruksy must pretend they are back together in order to prevent Lily from revealing that she is a fairy. Kyra is refused permission to testify at Maxwell’s hearing before the DMI. Maxwell is removed from teaching and Apinya is made permanent.

When Imogen begins to suspect that Apinya is not who she claims to be, she and Lily set out to prove it and discover Apinya has a connection to the Bangkok warehouse where Darra and Kyra found the First Key. Kyra invites Darra to lunch so he can get to know her stepfather, and while looking at some old family photos, Kyra makes an astonishing discovery about her Triling heritage.