The onset can be fast and shocking or slow and insidious. It can happen to anyone at any age. A flu, a vaccination, or an infection can be the innocent beginnings to the potentially life-long and disabling illness called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), which is more commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or ME/CFS in North America. In the mid 1980s, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was called in by concerned doctors who were witnessing an influx of patients with a mysterious illness. Eventually the CDC labeled the condition “chronic fatigue syndrome” which turned out to be very misleading. Decades later, in 2016, health agencies are finally beginning to agree with international experts that ME/CFS is a serious, chronic, multi-system illness. Through artwork, poetry, story-telling, and meticulous research, Lighting Up a Hidden World: CFS and ME takes readers into the fascinating, yet frightening, landscape of ME/CFS. Author Valerie Free shares her personal experiences and delivers illuminating first-hand perspectives from patients, caregivers, journalists, and medical professionals from within the global community in short easy-to-read segments. These stories reveal the disgrace, controversy, and tragedy of worldwide neglect by political and health care systems, leaving ME/CFS research underfunded and millions of people marginalized, sick, and socially unsupported. Lighting Up a Hidden World: CFS and ME advocates for those too ill to speak out, abounds with patient resources, and offers realistic hope for the future. People living with this illness, along with their family and friends, will find compassion and camaraderie in its pages. This book reaches beyond the ME/CFS community exposing the themes of human suffering, resilience, and the need for social change.

One day, as the cherry blossoms fall, an office worker named Koharu Wada crosses paths with the heir to her company, Shinobu Ohka. At first, she is bewildered to suddenly find herself in a relationship with him in exchange for keeping a secret, but the only thing he says he wants from her is to stay by his side. Determined to see him open up and smile again, she decides to throw her whole being into making their relationship work...

Tired of being told to quit, put it out, stand outside, have some consideration, think about your health ...? The list of complaints against smokers would take much longer than a fag break to read out, and many of us (even those who don't smoke) have had just about enough of it! The passive whingeing we endure from the self-righteous is enough to have anyone gasping for another ciggie! Leaping to the defence of the smoker, The Daily Mirror's favourite columnist Sue Carroll and non-smoker Sue Brealey take a hilarious and irreverent look at the humble cigarette, its history and its place in life and death, love and sex, fiction and the silver screen, and champions its survival in the face of a modern tide of persecution from the health police. I knew a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex and rich food. He was healthy, right up to the day he killed himself.' Johnny Carson 'I just hate being a non-smoker, because I always find smokers the most interesting people on the table.' Michelle Pfeiffer

EINSTEIN'S REVOLUTIONARY WISDOM (Seven Last Days in the Life of Albert Einstein) A Novel

The Dinsmores, Travillas, Raymonds and other friends and family attend the 1893 World's Fair Exposition in Chicago. Commemorating the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America, the exposition is complete with replicas of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Marie, the battleship Illinois, and re-creations of villages and cities around the world. Suitors pursue Rosie and Lulu and Cousin Ronald proposes to Annis Keith. The happy couple is married in a lovely ceremony on board The Dolphin. Recommended for ages 10 to 14.

THUS SPOKE EINSTEIN on LIFE and LIVING Wisdom of Albert Einstein in the Context Selected, Edited, and Commented by V. Alexander STEFAN Institute for Advanced Physics Studies Stefan University

1.2 billion people on Earth still don't have electricity. Even where cell phones are now common, like sub-Saharan Africa and parts of India, villagers still walk miles to charge them. But new large-scale, sustainable solutions will not only usher in a new era of light, but be an important first step in lifting people from poverty and putting them on a road of sustainable economic development. Also, a unique, transforming opportunity for Western thinkers and practitioners will be created. These areas have largely skipped the analog stage of power development, and have moved straight from the middle ages to the digital age. They are not encumbered by existing infrastructure, dependence on fossil fuels, or too many outdated laws and regulations. An ideal innovation incubator, the developing world might just be the best way to make progress on our own energy issues at home. Jim Rogers is leading a grand collaborative effort to bring sustainable, clean electrical power to everyone who lacks it. This reverse engineering, he contends, could solve the energy crises of America and Europe, while also making the world a cleaner, smarter place. But it won't be easy. In Lighting the World, Rogers details the bold thinking, international cooperation, and political will required to illuminate the future for everyone.

What if neuroscientists could look inside the human brain and watch individual brain cells send signals to one another? What if they could then control these brain cells to direct thoughts and actions? This may sound like science fiction, but it's actually a scientific revolution called optogenetics. Neuroscientists would like to use this new technology on human brains to uncover secrets about how the brain processes information and drives human behavior. Doctors hope to use optogenetics to restore sight and to treat Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, and other debilitating or deadly health problems. Discover how the innovative work of leaders in the field is poised to radically transform science, medicine, and human health.

THE STORY: Take three men who each have a lot to lose if a horse farm goes under, and a thoroughbred with a lot of insurance on him, and you have the ingredients of LIGHTING UP THE TWO-YEAR OLD, a terse comic drama that easily maneuvers in the worl