Baseball is a great sport full of weird words. Trying to play a game with friends might be hard if you don’t know what anyone is saying! Readers will get a look in the dugout, and even learn why they call it a dugout in the first place. With color photos and other graphics explaining different terms and concepts like a double switch or ground rules, readers are sure to learn everything they need to talk—and play—like a pro.

There’s a lot more to auto racing than just driving around in a circle. From engine maintenance to understanding wind physics while drafting, drivers and their crews are smart people making decisions in the blink of an eye. Making tough calls in an instant is often the difference between taking the checkered flag for the win or settling for a finish in the back of the pack. With vivid graphics and full-color photographs illustrating the fast-paced world of race car drivers, readers learn how spotters help drivers through crashes and some of the technical terms used in the pits to help make racing champions.

Eruch Jessawalla, one of Baba’s intimate mandali, would tell Harry stories about Baba in the early days and they would discuss various spiritual topics that Harry would record on his tape recorder. During Harry’s lifetime he would use the material from these conversations to give his public talks on Meher Baba. Meher Baba encouraged Harry to begin speaking about Him to the Baba group in New York City, called the Monday Night Group and later at the Society for Avatar Meher Baba’s office on Saturday nights. Then in 1967, Baba gave Harry an order to give two public programs to celebrate Baba’s birthday and silence day each year. At these events Harry would give a talk. Eruch actually requested Harry in 1970, in Meherazad, to publish his experiences, because Eruch felt Harry had a deep understanding of Baba’s life and work because of his intimacy with the God-Man, both as His doctor and mandali. Meher Baba on different occasions called Harry Kenmore one of His most intimate mandali, His apostle, His dear son and a chip off the Ole Block. The themes and concepts in each talk were all developed through Harry’s understanding and elaboration that reflected the conversations he had with Baba and the mandali, his intense study of Baba’s principles and precepts in the books he read, spiritual themes discussed by Baba and stories told in mandali hall.

This is the story of one of the most dramatic baseball seasons ever, as it stretched both backwards and forwards--from the ghosts of seasons and players past to the reality of what followed. At the beginning of 1986, most of the baseball talk was about money; at the end it was about a season that played out with a compelling cast of memorable characters--Bonds, Canseco, Puckett, Ryan, Rose, Boyd, Gooden, Strawberry, Clemens, Boggs, Hernandez, and more. On an institutional level the game faced critical issues--player contracts, collusion, drugs, free agency, charges of racism, cheating, gambling, the growing popularity of professional football, and the influence of cable TV and satellites. Yet it produced a season of intense drama ending with an unforgettable post-season.

It was for stage bands, for dancing, and for a jiving mood of letting go. Throughout the nation swing re-sounded with the spirit of good times. But this pop genre, for a decade America's favorite, arose during the worst of times, the Great Depression. From its peak in the 1930s until bebop, r & b, and country swamped it after World War II, swing defined an American generation and measured America's musical heartbeat. In its heyday swing reached a mass audience of very disparate individuals and united them. They perceived in the tempers and tempos of swing the very definition of modernity. A survey of the thirties reveals that the time was indeed the Swing Era, America's segue into modernity. What social structures encouraged swing's creation, acceptance, and popularity? Swing, That Modern Sound examines the cultural and historical significance of swing and tells how and why it achieved its audience, unified its fans, defined its generation, and, after World War II, fell into decline. What fed the music? And, in turn, what did the music feed? This book shows that swing manifested the kind of up-to-date allure that the populace craved. Swing sounded modern, happy, optimistic. It flouted the hardship signals of the Great Depression. The key to its rise and appeal, this book argues, was its all-out appropriation of modernity--consumer advertising, the language and symbols of consumption, and the public's all-too-evident wish for goods during a period of scarcity. As it examines the role of race, class, and gender in the creation of this modern music, Swing, That Modern Sound tells how a music genre came to symbolize the cultural revolution taking place in America. Kenneth J. Bindas is an associate professor of history at Kent State University, Trumbull Campus, in Warren, Ohio. He is the author of All of This Music Belongs to the Nation: The WPA's Federal Music Project and American Society, 1935--1939.

Paula Kurman shares her forty-year love story with baseball legend Jim Bouton in her heartfelt memoir, The Cool of the Evening. “I am among the most fortunate of women. I loved Jim Bouton and was well and truly loved by him for more than four decades. It doesn’t get any better than that.” They met on October 15, 1977, at Bloomingdale’s department store in Hackensack, New Jersey. Jim Bouton, Major League pitcher, twenty-one game winner for the New York Yankees, and author of the iconic exposé Ball Four, and Dr. Paula Kurman, professor of interpersonal communication at Hunter College. It was love at first sight. Paula knew absolutely nothing about baseball when they met, or any other sport for that matter. And Jim had never heard of interpersonal communication, but he thought reading nonverbal behavior was creepy. Yet despite their obvious differences, Paula and Jim were soulmates. Together they created a partnership of equals that was greater than the sum of their parts. It lasted forty-two years. Laced through with humor, passion, and intelligence, Paula shares the intimacy and adventures of their married life through the blending of families, moving from suburban New Jersey to rural Massachusetts, where they built a home on top of a hill deep in the wilderness of the Berkshires, the shattering blow of the death of a daughter, the healing of stonework and ballroom dancing—and finally, the devastating long-term illness that took Jim’s life in the summer of 2019. Through it all, to the very end, Paula and Jim’s passionate love for each other grew and deepened. The Cool of the Evening is a celebration of their remarkable relationship.

At 6-foot-7 and 285 pounds, Aaron Judge emerged as the biggest story in baseball in 2017 with his monstrous home runs and record-breaking ability. A three-sport athlete in high school and a Division I ballplayer at Fresno State, the Californian was drafted by the New York Yankees in the first round in 2013 and made it to the majors by August 2016. Homering in his first major league at-bat and starting in right field straight out of spring training in 2017, he gave Yankees fans hope for the future, along with "Baby Bombers" teammates such as Gary Sanchez. After a rough start in which he batted below .200 and struck out in over 40 percent of his plate appearances after joining the Yankees, Judge turned things around and helped get his team off to a fast start in 2017 with 10 homers in April alone, tying the rookie record for the month. He then broke the legendary Joe DiMaggio’s team record for most round trippers by the All-Star break with 30, including one that measured at 495 feet. His mounting popularity enabled him to receive more All-Star votes than any American League player and to the creation of the "Judge's Chambers" section located in the right-field stands of Yankee Stadium. Judge's momentum next led to him winning the 2017 Home Run Derby where he smashed a total of 47, four of which traveled more than 500 feet. It's no wonder that baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has said that Judge is a player "who can become the face of the game." In Aaron Judge: The Incredible Story of the New York Yankees' Home Run-Hitting Phenom, David Fischer brings the exciting story of the Yankees' newest superstar to life.

Imagine what it would be like not to hear a sound--no music, no friendly voices, no children's laughter. Arlene Romoff doesn't have to imagine how it would feel: she lived it. Although she was born with normal hearing, in her late teens it began to slip away, as if someone were lowering the volume of the world around her. Over the next twenty-five years, Arlene began a long, slow descent into deafness so profound that no hearing aid or assistive device could help. The experience was devastating. But then Arlene opted for what she considers a miracle: She got a cochlear implant. Using electrodes threaded into the cochlea, an internal computer chip, and an external computer processor, cochlear implants bypass the damaged portion of the cochlea and stimulate the auditory nerve directly, allowing sound to reach the brain. Amazingly, she could hear again. Arlene's journey, however, isn't just about the magic of technology. What she endured reveals as much about the strength of the human spirit, about the wonders of chance and fate, and about making the most of what life dishes out. For Arlene, events seemed to unfold almost as if they were a part of some elaborate plan: just when she went deaf, her insurance company began paying for the implants. And ten years later, when her old cochlear implant finally failed she received new state-of-the-art technology and underwent yet another metamorphosis--one that helped her continue to counsel others in a similar situation. LISTENING CLOSELY will give you a chance to walk in Arlene Romoff's shoes, to understand the pain of her loss and the joy of once again being able to hear the music of the world. Those suffering from hearing loss--or who have loved one who is--will find Arlene's very special journey both inspirational and informative.

'Worth far more than its cover price ... I wish I’d had it available to me when I was first looking for startup funding' -- Eric Ries Every startup needs capital, and ambitious startups seek it on Sand Hill Road – Silicon Valley’s dream street for entrepreneurs. That’s where you’ll find the biggest names in venture capital, including the famed VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, where lawyer-turned-entrepreneur-turned-VC Scott Kupor serves as managing partner. Whether you’re trying to get a new company off the ground or scale an existing business to the next level, you need to understand how VCs think. Secrets of Sand Hill Road is the first book that shows you exactly how VCs decide where and how much to invest. It will help you get the best possible deal and make the most of your relationships with VCs. You’ll learn, for instance: -- Why most VCs typically invest in only one startup in a given business category -- Why the talent you need most when raising venture capital is your storytelling ability -- How to handle a 'down round', when you have to raise funds at a lower valuation than in your previous round -- Why bridge financing (reopening your last round to existing investors) is generally a bad idea -- What to do when VCs get too entangled in the day-to-day operations of your business -- Why you need to build relationships with potential acquirers long before you decide to sell Filled with Kupor’s firsthand experiences, insider advice, and practical takeaways, Secrets of Sand Hill Road is the guide you need to turn yourstartup into the next unicorn.

With a divorce in the works, Annabelle Jones heads out to Southern California, the land of sun and starting over. She wants to prove to herself and her young daughters that she still has what it takes to turn heads as a swimsuit model—that she doesn’t need a man to take care of her. Until an accident forces her to rely on the hunky, yet mysterious man next door... Nathan Cooper is trying to revive his own career. Once a top left-handed relief pitcher, he tried to get over a hidden injury with the aid of banned substances. Not only was he caught and suspended, he was traded and missed out on winning the championship. Now he’s a free agent without a contract, and that means life is ready to play ball...