Showing results by narrator "Michael Gilboe" in All Categories

The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal by David E. Hoffman chronicles the six-year relationship between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and engineer Adolf Tolkachev, who spied on the Soviet Union for the United States. Tolkachev was one of the most productive CIA spies during the Cold War, persistent in his undertakings to ensure the undoing of the Soviet Union's aviation developments, which he personally had a hand in.

In The God Delusion, philosopher Richard Dawkins evaluates popular arguments for the existence of God. The idea that God is not an object that can be accessed and reviewed using human reason is rejected. Instead, evidence that proves with at least 51 percent certainty is presented to prove that God does, in fact, not exist, casting reasonable doubt on the efficacy and usefulness of belief in God.

The Devil in the White City is a book by Erik Larson that takes a close look at the World's Columbian Exposition, the world fair that Chicago hosted in 1893 in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America. The fair was tainted by deaths, a serial killer, and an assassination. The lead architect, Daniel Burnham, and the serial killer, Henry Howard Holmes, play pivotal roles in the events that unfolded before, during, and after the fair.

How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success is a book of parenting advice. The author, Julie Lythcott-Haims, is a former freshman dean at Stanford University and the mother of two teenagers....

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson explores several crucial years in Berlin through the eyes of the US ambassador and his family. Their experiences serve as both a cautionary tale about the insidiousness of evil and a harbinger of the hard realization that the rest of America was forced to make in a few short years.

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham, with commentary by Jason Zweig, is a thorough guide to the principles of portfolio creation, cost management, stock and bond picking, and stock ownership for the defensive, long-term investor....

Holly Whitaker's first book is a seamless blend of personal narrative, science, spirituality, and self-help aimed at creating a new dialogue around alcohol in America, getting rid of the term "alcoholic" for good, and helping anyone who wants to, create a better, sober, more fulfilled life for themselves. Quit Like a Woman is more than just a self-help book on sobriety. It is a call to action for all of America - and the world - to realize how poisonous alcohol is, and just how much it is truly affecting our lives.

Bessel van der Kolk, MD, explores the ways in which trauma rewires the brain and changes the way people experience the world. Trauma affects the mind and body immensely and prevents those affected from living in the present. Van der Kolk, who has researched trauma since the 1970s, first became interested in trauma after meeting with Vietnam veterans who had a very hard time living their lives after returning from the war.

PLEASE NOTE: This is key takeaways of the book and NOT the original book.

A group of old school friends meet to catch up. They end up discussing the unexpected, unforeseen changes to their lives, and one friend offers to tell a story about adapting to change. The story he tells involves four characters, two mice named Sniff and Scurry, and two "Littlepeople" named Hem and Haw. All of them are in a maze, looking for cheese, which they need to survive. For the "Littlepeople", cheese also has a larger, metaphysical connotation in the sense that it also makes them happy - their Cheese is thus spelled with a capital C....

Fans who have enjoyed the first four novels in the series have questions, such as, "What would Steve do next?" "How did it all begin?" and "What the heck is a dweebil?" More Circles in Hell: A Boxed Set has the answers. I'm No Angel picks up where The Reluctant Demon leaves off. Beelzebub: A Memoir is the ultimate back story. Fourteen billion years in the making, Beezy's tale is one of chaos, creation, and of course comedy. In The League of Unusual Denizens, seven inhabitants of hell join forces to save the universe from destruction.

Power depends on the relationships between a person and those he or she seeks to control. Powerful people must cultivate their appearances to earn respect and eliminate doubt. They must practice selective honesty, misdirection, and an excess of secrecy to gain a tactical advantage. Timing is central to maintaining power, as is the ability to adapt. The array of strategies available when seeking power include mirroring the opponent’s actions and controlling the opponent's options for action.

Following the lead of Florence Nightingale, Steve’s partner in Eternity, he has returned to Hell to ease the suffering of the Damned. Yet Steve is faced with a dilemma. What can he do that will offer more than a brief respite from everlasting torment? And how can he make it funny at the same time? In Steve’s search for meaningful employment in the Afterlife, he has one comic misadventure after another. Along the way, he meets a few new angels and a couple of saints. He even learns what may be one of the great secrets of the universe...or maybe not.

Sociopaths comprise an alarming four percent of the population; that is, one in every 25 people is a sociopath. But this mental disorder is not well understood and many people fail to recognize it in others, which makes sociopaths difficult to identify and potentially very dangerous. It is urgent that people understand what a sociopath is and learn to recognize their revealing traits in order to protect themselves against these individuals who otherwise blend into the general population.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne is a book in the New Thought tradition that theorizes thought is the most powerful force in the universe....

PLEASE NOTE: This is a key takeaways and analysis of the book and NOT the original book.

Steve Minion, Heaven’s Emissary to Hell, reunites with his pal Orson Welles to catch a supernatural thief in this comedic “catch me if you can” tale. Go with them on a wild ride through the Circles of Hell, outer space, inner space, even the lower dimensions. Can the guys measure up? For that matter, can they measure anything, when nothing seems constant except their friendship?  

Steve and Orson are back in this cracked sequel to Hell's Super, book two in the new satire and humor series, Circles in Hell. This time, the guys must fix Hell's heating and air conditioning (HVAC) system, which has failed. Hell is getting progressively colder, and things are a lot more serious than devils and demons needing to put on some sweaters.

The Lord of Hell has a staffing shortage; there aren't enough devils and demons to torment the ever-swelling ranks of the eternally damned. Satan thinks Steve is an ideal candidate for the Demon Corps. He's smart, tenacious and able to dish out punishment when the need arises. But as Old Nick tries to recruit Hell's handyman in chief, Steve gets distracted by a more pressing issue: Florence Nightingale, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, is missing, possibly kidnapped.

Good Profit: How Creating Value for Others Built One of the World's Most Successful Companies is a nonfiction book that outlines the management strategy of Charles G. Koch, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Koch Industries, Inc.

This book is a practical guide to happiness. For those who are familiar with Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now, but don't know how to get there, this book is for you. Through self-inquiry and meditation, as similarly taught by Ramana Maharshi, Gary Weber, and more, you can eliminate anxiety, depression, anger, and enter in the present, happy and content.