Bloomsbury Publishing

A good working relationship with your supervisor requires planning and thoughtful strategy and this book offers effective tips on how to develop the skills you need to create a productive working environment or improve your current work situation. Fully revised and updated, Manage Your Boss will give you insight and advice on how to survive personality clashes, improve your chances of promotion, increase your influence and even build enough trust so you effectively delegate upwards! Implementing an effective boss gameplan can turn dread and avoidance of your office into a more secure and fulfilling work environment which actually makes you look forward to heading into work each morning.

Stress has become a “catch-all” term to identify a host of symptoms AND their triggers. This book helps break down the multi-layers of stress starting with a self-assessment quiz to understand the causes and recognize the symptoms and offers insight into ways to find the right solutions to put you back in control of runaway emotions. You’ll also learn about common stress management mistakes and how to avoid them plus find practical advice on finding a work/life balance and tips on building better relationships.

Dealing with difficult people at work has become an essential survival skill in today’s office place. Whether an impossible customer or an occasional tense situation with a coworker or the more extreme case of an office bully, this fully revised and updated edition of Tackle Office Nightmares offers clear solutions and step-by-step advice on a wide range of these interpersonal workplace issues. You’ll learn how to diffuse situations before they get out of control and separate the facts to determine the difference between an uncomfortable, awkward situation and an actionable human resource issue such as discrimination. You’ll also learn the best practices to keep your work life as peaceful as possible and when it’s appropriate to step in to help others. With a tough job market and more demands placed on employees, workplace stress is on the rise. This practical and informative book will help diffuse workplace conflicts, which directly affect office productivity, employee health, and business survival.

In his lifetime the great American playwright Arthur Miller published two highly regarded collections of stories, «I Don't Need You Any More» (1967) and «Homely Girl, a Life» (1995). Shortly after his death in 2005 a final collection, «Presence» (2007), appeared. Now, all eighteen of these stories are gathered together in one volume for the first time, including the six from «Presence», previously only published in the USA. In his plays Miller took on the big themes of the day, putting stories of the Depression, wartime deceit and the McCarthy era on stage with an energy and passion not seen before and rarely since. In these stories he turns his attention to smaller, more intimate themes, yet still brings to bear the profound insight, humanism, empathy and wit of his work for the theatre. Including the early, O. Henry Award-winning «I Don't Need You Anymore», the original story of «The Misfits» on which the film was based, and the beautiful late story «Presence», this collection offers a fresh perspective on the great writer and his work, here informed by an unusual sensuality and delicacy. When «Homely Girl, a Life» was published in America the critic for the «New York Times» wrote of those three stories: 'The ability to sum up in clear, unequivocal prose the essence of emotion, a situation, a theme — characteristic of Mr Miller's best writing — makes the reader wish that these stories were longer, and that there were more of them.' At last there are.

Can the worlds of science and philosophy work together to recognise our destructive emotions such as hatred, craving, and delusion? Bringing together ancient Buddhist wisdom and recent breakthroughs in a variety of fields from neuroscience to child development, Daniel Goleman's extraordinary book offers fresh insights into how we can recognise and transform our destructive emotions. Out of a week-long discussion between the Dalai Lama and small group of eminent psychologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers, Goleman weaves together a compelling narrative account. Where do these destructive emotions (craving, anger and delusion, known in Buddhism as the three poisons) come from? And how can we transform them to prevent them from threatening humanity's collective safety and its future?

Life at work has become increasingly demanding with endless emails and 24/7 connectivity which now requires workers at all levels to become experts at managing their time effectively. This fully revised and updated business resource helps you establish and prioritize your work flow. You’ll find step-by-step guidance on how to manage overwhelming information overload which usually begins at your email IN box. You’ll also learn how to create systems to organize your tasks and establish routine protocols so you’ll quickly know when to delegate, when to send something to the recycle bin and when in the process you need to act to have maximum effect in completing the task.

Emotional Intelligence Does IQ define our destiny? Daniel Goleman argues that our view of human intelligence is far too narrow, and that our emotions play a major role in thought, decision making and individual success. Self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, motivation, empathy and social deftness are all qualities that mark people who excel: whose relationships flourish, who are stars in the workplace. With new insights into the brain architecture underlying emotion and rationality, Goleman shows precisely how emotional intelligence can be nurtured and strengthened in all of us. Working with Emotional Intelligence Do you want to be more successful at work? Do you want to improve your chances of promotion? Do you want to get on better with your colleagues? Daniel Goleman draws on unparalleled access to business leaders around the world and the thorough research that is his trademark. He demonstrates that emotional intelligence at work matters twice as much as cognitive abilities such as IQ or technical expertise in this inspiring sequel.

It is the seventies, at the height of flower power. Star has just joined Drop City, a hippie commune in sunny California living the simple, natural life. But underneath the drugs, music and transcendent bliss, she slowly discovers tensions and sexual rivalries that threaten to split the community apart. A world away in Boynton, a tiny town in the interior of Alaska, Sess Harder, a pioneer who actually does live off the land, hunting, trapping and fishing, yearns for someone to share the harsh winters with him. When the authorities threaten to close down Drop City, the hippies abandon camp and head up north to Alaska, the last frontier. But neither they nor the inhabitants of Boynton are completely prepared for each other — and as the two communities collide, unexpected friendships and dangerous enmities are born.

Eighteen of Britain's most exciting authors have written brand new stories especially for this spellbinding collection: Andrea Ashworth, Kate Atkinson, Celia Brayfield, Christopher Brookmyre, Lewis Davies, Isla Dewar, Emma Donoghue, Maeve Haran, Joanne Harris, Jackie Kay, Gil McNeil, John O'Farrell, Ben Okri, Michele Roberts, Meera Syal, Sue Townsend, Arabella Weir and Fay Weldon. Miracles, mystery, romance and humour — from Louisiana mud-swamps where enchantment is for sale to a bra-making workshop where dreams come true, this is British fiction at its fizziest, least predictable and best. The National Council recently launched its Magic Million Appeal, with the aim of raising one million pounds to fund services for single parents and their children so that they can get the help and support they need, when they need it. GBP1 will go straight to the charity with every copy sold of MAGIC.

While Mrs North, Marvin's teacher, is on holiday she asks him to look after Waldo — her dog. Suddenly, Marvin has become the luckiest boy in school. He'll get to sniff about Mrs North's house, look in her wardrobe, check out her bathroom and rummage in her fridge... Well that's what Stuart and Nick, his best friends, would like to do. But Marvin takes things a little more seriously. After all, he gets paid $3 a day and he will get a bonus on top if everything goes smoothly. What could possibly go wrong? Just how long can Marvin hold on to his luck... Louis Sachar tells this tale with a refreshing and bold frankness and again the characters are vividly portrayed in this the fourth of the series.

Najin Han, the privileged daughter of a calligrapher, longs to choose her own destiny. Smart and headstrong, she is encouraged by her mother — but her stern father is determined to maintain tradition, especially as the Japanese steadily gain control of his beloved country. When he seeks to marry fourteen-year-old Najin into an aristocratic family, her mother defies generations of obedient wives and instead sends her daughter to serve in the king's court as a companion to a young princess. But the king is soon assassinated, and the centuries-old dynastic culture comes to its end. In the shadow of the dying monarchy, Najin begins a journey through increasing oppression that will change her world forever. As she desperately seeks to continue her education, will the unexpected love she finds along the way be enough to sustain her through the violence and subjugation her country continues to face? Spanning thirty years, The Calligapher's Daughter is a richly drawn novel about a country torn between ancient customs and modern possibilities, a family ultimately united by love and a woman who never gives up her search for freedom.

Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town. A turf war is imminent. The new pixie king is moving in quickly. He swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Zara isn't so sure — despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But there's a lot more than her relationship with boyfriend Nick at stake. It's her life — and his.

A father and child discover the joys of his crazy hair in this brilliant picture book. Bonnie tries to tame her father's hair, but to no avail, as birds and beasts of every type jostle for space amongst the curls and tresses of this hirsute book. A warm and funny conversational text combine beautifully with Dave McKean's edgy and dramatic illustrations to make this another, perfect picture book by Gaiman and McKean.

It is a sweltering August in Aberystwyth: the bandstand melts, the Pier droops, and Sospan the ice-cream seller experiments with some dangerously avant-garde new flavours. A man wearing a Soviet museum curator's uniform walks into Louie Knight's office and spins a wild and impossible tale of love, death, madness and betrayal. Sure, Louie had heard about Hughesovka, the legendary replica of Aberystwyth built in the Ukraine by some crazy nineteenth-century Czar. But he hadn't believed that it really existed until he met Uncle Vanya. Now the old man's story catapults him into the neon-drenched wilderness of Aberystwyth Prom in search of a girl who mysteriously disappeared thirty years ago. His life imperilled by snuff philatelists and a renegade spinning wheel salesman, Louie finds his fate depending on two most unlikely talismans — a ticket to Hughesovka and a Russian cosmonaut's sock.

Imagine if you were able to change history. By altering one tiny thing you could start a chain of catastrophic events. Ethan is one of the Named, fated to stop this ever happening, although the forces of chaos have other ideas and Ethan is finding it more and more difficult to stay one step ahead. He is also a normal schoolboy, whose life is rapidly becoming far too confusing. So when Isabel arrives on the scene she is only going to make matters worse...or is she? This is history in the making — literally.

The Order of Chaos begins its final and devastating assault on the Named in a desperate bid to annihilate them and gain absolute control of all the realms. The Named are in trouble. Not only must they find the precious lost key to unlock their ancient treasury of weapons, but there is a traitor in their midst. Suspicion is making them weaker, as the prophecy predicted, and they desperately need new hope.

A dark and compelling sequel to The Named, The Dark crackles with suspense and intrigue. Hell-bent on avenging the death of one of their best, the Order of Chaos gain the upper hand in their battle against the Guardians. As the Order's attempts to change history bear fruit, Ethan and Isabel notice subtle changes in their daily lives as an altered past impacts on the future. Before they can confront the Order, Ethan and Isabel, joined by Isabel's brother Matt, must risk everything to travel through a dark world and save Arkarian, without whom the future looks bleak. Told from the perspectives of Isabel and Arkarian, the edgy relationships and pacy narrative make for an unputdownable read.

Jimmy Choo was a London shoemaker with clients including Princess Diana when Tamara Yeardye, a London society girl, convinced him to launch a factory-produced luxury shoe line. Twelve years later, Jimmy Choo is a household name, and Tamara still presides over what is now one of the most successful luxury brands in the world — worth some GBP220 million. She has become one of the best-known business women in the country, but along the way she was tested at every turn. The story of how the Jimmy Choo brand got to where it is today is one of love, controversy, fashion, finance, celebrity, power, intrigue and, above all, intense ambition.

The Blakes are rather different to your usual neighbours. They are vampires and some of the members of the family date back to the twelfth century. One of the children, Solange, is the only born female vampire known and, as such, she poses a direct threat to the vampire queen. Her best friend Lucy is human, and when Solange is kidnapped Lucy and Solange's brother, Nicholas, set out to save her. Lucy soon discovers that she would like to be more than just friends with Nicholas. But how does one go about dating a vampire? Meanwhile, Solange finds an unlikely ally in Kieran, a member of the group that has kidnapped her.

Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect Facebook friends. Little wonder, since she's had a pretty rough life. Her father left when she was a baby, and her stepfather just died. Her mother's pretty much checked out — in fact, she's sent her to live with her grandmother in cold and sleepy Maine to 'keep Zara safe'. Whatever that means. Zara doesn't think she's in danger; she thinks her mother just can't deal. Zara's wrong. The man she sees everywhere — the tall, creepy guy who points at her from the side of the road — is not a figment of her imagination. He's a pixie. But not the cute, sweet kind with little wings. Maine's got a whole assortment of unbelievable creatures. And they seem to need something — something from Zara...

In a merciless summer of biblical heat and destructive winds, Gabrielle Fox's main concern is a personal one: to rebuild her career as a psychologist after a shattering car accident. But when she is assigned Bethany Krall, one of the most dangerous teenagers in the country, she begins to fear she has made a terrible mistake. Raised on a diet of evangelistic hellfire, Bethany is violent, delusional, cruelly intuitive and insistent that she can foresee natural disasters — a claim which Gabrielle interprets as a symptom of doomsday delusion. But when catastrophes begin to occur on the very dates Bethany has predicted, and a brilliant, gentle physicist enters the equation, the apocalyptic puzzle intensifies and the stakes multiply. Is the self-proclaimed Nostradamus of the psych ward the ultimate manipulator, or could she be the harbinger of imminent global cataclysm on a scale never seen before? And what can love mean in 'interesting times'? A haunting story of human passion and burning faith set against an adventure of tectonic proportions, The Rapture is an electrifying psychological thriller that explores the dark extremes of mankind's self-destruction in a world on the brink.

Playful, whimsical and wry, this is a beautiful picture book with a simple message at its heart. It is also classic Margaret Atwood and a wonderful gift for any lover of her words. Written, illustrated and hand-lettered by M.A., Up In the Tree was first published in 1978, and is the story of two children who make their home up in the branches of a tree, where they are free to do whatever they choose. But when the ladder they rely on to get back down again is destroyed, some of their freedom disappears, too, and the children begin to wonder what they might be missing, down amongst the ground dwellers — until they have an ingenious idea, which helps them to decide what they really prefer once and for all!

In a rural backwater in Wisconsin lies the rambling estate of Taliesin. Here, tempestuous affairs rage behind closed doors, broken hearts are tossed aside and fires have ripped through the wings of the house. Paparazzi lie in wait outside the front door, hounding for the latest scandal, the latest tragedy in this never-ending drama. For this is the home of the great architect of the twentieth century, Frank Lloyd Wright, a man of extremes in both his work and his private life: at once a force of nature — arrogant and infuriating — and an avalanche of need and emotion that sweeps aside everything in its path. This is the story of the wives and mistresses who fall under Frank's spell. There is the delusional Kitty, his first wife, convinced that his affair with the defiant Mamah can't possibly last. There is Miriam, his crazed, demented second wife, hell-bent on wreaking revenge most public and most vicious after the bitter demise of their marriage. And there is Oglivanna, the Serbian immigrant, who waits with Frank in constant terror for the next wave of desolation from Miriam as she stalks them at every turn, unleashing a torrent of sheriffs, immigration officials, bankers, lawyers and journalists. Sharp, savage and subtle in equal measure, The Women plumbs the chaos, horrors and uncontainable passions of a fascinating American icon.

One December night in 1942, a Nazi parachutist landed in a Cambridgeshire field. His mission: to sabotage the British war effort. His name was Eddie Chapman, but he would shortly become MI5's Agent Zigzag. Dashing and louche, courageous and unpredictable, the traitor was a patriot inside, and the villain a hero. The problem for Chapman, his many lovers and his spymasters was knowing who he was. Ben Macintyre weaves together diaries, letters, photographs, memories and top-secret MI5 files to create the exhilarating account of Britain's most sensational double agent.