A rare and intimate portrait of an American family in time of war by a military wife.  “Standing By is a deeply moving and ultimately breathtaking book.  Any husband or wife will draw inspiration and wisdom from this extraordinary story.” (Andrew Carroll, New York Times bestselling author of War Letters)

Alison Buckholtz’s essays have appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Real Simple and many other publications. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, an active-duty naval officer, and their two children.

MASTER THE GAMIFIED STRATEGIES THAT WILL TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS–OR BE LEFT BEHIND

Gamification: It’s the hottest new strategy in business, and for good reason–it’s helping leading companies create unprecedented engagement with customers and employees. Gamification uses the latest innovations from game design, loyalty programs, and behavioral economics to help you cut through the noise and transform your organization into a lean, mean machine ready to fight the battle for user attention and loyalty.

A guide to laughing, learning and growing together through books, including e-books and apps that are suitable for young children.

“What a delightful guide! All book-loving parents of young children will find this resource to be invaluable.” – Gretchen Rubin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project

“If you care about fostering early literacy in young children, this book is a “go to” resource.” – Traci Lester, Executive Director, Reach Out and Read of Greater New York

“Written with a light touch and a firm grasp of the parent’s point of view, this information-packed book is a lively introduction to the rewards of reading to your child.” – Leonard Marcus, author of Show Me a Story!: Why Picture Books Matter

“With wit, grace and a million good ideas, this book is a gift to parents, teachers, and the little ones they take care of each day. Don’t miss the smart and surprising chapter on ebooks and video. If you’ve ever wondered whether it makes sense to read to children so young, wonder no more. There’s much more to children’s books than words and pretty pictures. This guide is a beautiful reminder that books can ignite hours of singing, playing, laughing and imagining. It made me want to rush to my children’s bookshelves and gather the kids around me. Let’s read!
” – Lisa Guernsey, director of the Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation

Master the art of classic French sauces.

The French Cook: Sauces is the first in a series of French cookbooks that will simplify and demystify French cuisine for all of those who love it and would like to bring it home to their American kitchens without traveling outside their homes.

In her latest book, Holly Herrick creates a kind of French cooking course all about sauces, filled with beautiful how-to photography and step-by-step technqiques that will have you making sauces like a pro. The book focuses on the five mother sauces of French cuisine: béchamel, veloutés, hollandaise, espagnol and brown sauces, and les sauces tomates. In addition, Herrick devotes chapters to fonds, or stocks, the base of so many sauces, and mayonnaises, a simple, versatile sauce so widely used in classical French cuisine. In addition to the sauces, the book integrates main course ingredients, such as steak or roasted chicken, something more than to be dressed with a sauce, but also something that helped to shape the sauce itself. With myriad variations and derivatives on each basic sauce, this book will help turn your next meal into a veritable French feast.

Holly Herrick is a recipient of Le Grande Diplome in Cuisine and Pastry from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, France. A long-time resident of Charleston South Carolina and multi-awarded restaurant critic and food writer, she is the author of five cookbooks. Look for the second installment of this new French cookbook series, The French Cook: Cream Puffs and Eclairs in Fall, 2013 (Gibbs Smith).

In this “ancient guide for modern leaders,” Philip Freeman distills some of Cicero’s key thoughts on governance.  “Cicero’s words live forever.  In these carefully chosen and well-translated selections on leadership, classicist Philip Freeman offers an astute introduction to one of history’s noblest minds.” (Barry Strauss, author of Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership.”)

You’ll never miss the wheat!

Today’s supermarket is full of overprocessed wheat products that can leave you feeling tired, bloated, and uncomfortable. And grains have been linked to chronic inflammation, which is in turn linked to arthritis, allergies, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. Nutritionist Lauren Kelly shows you just how easy it is to cook healthy, wheat-free me

• Scalloped potatoes with leeks and proscuitto
• Hot and spicy turkey meatballs
• Sausage and asparagus risotto
• Marinated spicy beef and baby spinach
• Classic polenta with herbs and parmesan
• Tropical fruit salsa with brown rice chips
• Dark chocolate coconut scones

Whether you have a wheat allergy, an intolerance to wheat, or you just want to cut out inflammation-causing foods from your diet, The Everything Wheat-Free Diet Cookbook gives you 300 delicious, easy, wheat-free ideas for any meal.

Psychotherapist and couples therapist Nancy Dreyfus’ unique communication tool–”relationship repair in a flash”– in a revised, expanded edition, with 25 new flash cards.  Also available separately is a brilliant card pack.

“Just about any couple using this material could humanize their relationship,” says Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author of Getting the Love You Want. Erin Meanly of Glamour.com adds:  “The most crucial relationship advice book since Men are from Mars.  And from John Gottman, Ph.D., co-author of The Relationship Cure: “Nancy Dreyfus and her flash cards were an inspiration behind our research into the important process of attempting to change the affect during marital conflict resolution.”

TALK TO ME LIKE I’M SOMEONE YOU LOVE is a brilliant interactive relationship tool that can help couples to stop fighting and begin healing.  Nancy Dreyfus supplies the right words that often elude us in a difficult conversation, words that can literally stop the fighting, help us to breathe and reconnect with a loved one.  While perfect for couples in a relationship, Dreyfus’ approach can also be used by any two people experiencing anger and conflict, including adult parent and child or siblings.

Set in Pittsburgh in the early 1900′s, The Leap Year Boy is the story of a working class family and an extraordinary boy named Alex Miller, born in the family’s home on February 29, 1908. What makes Alex so remarkable is that even though he’s full term at birth, he weighs just two pounds, one ounce and is nine inches long.   Despite his size, Alex is perfectly healthy. However, his body grows at one-fourth the rate of a normal child – so that after one year, he’s the size of a three-month old – but his mind grows much more quickly.

Eventually, so do certain parts of his body and his ability to do various and unusual things with them. As Alex’s special abilities become apparent, those around him see him as both a miracle child and a freak of nature – a freak to exploit.   How Alex saves himself from the designs of others – his religious fanatic grandmother, who sees him as the new Messiah’ his  money grubbing immigrant doctor, who wants to put him on display; his unstable nanny, who believes Alex is her lost child; and his father and father’s mistress, who are eager to tap Alex’s commercial potential – is at the heart of the novel.

Ultimately, a family that has been fractured by ambition and circumstance rediscovers loyalty and love, thanks to Alex’s courage.