About this product: Let's start with the question every Dan Brown fan wants answered: Is The Lost Symbol as good as The Da Vinci Code? Simply put, yes. Brown has mastered the art of blending nail-biting suspense with random arcana (from pop science to religion), and The Lost Symbol is an enthralling mix. And what a dazzling accomplishment that is, considering that rabid fans and skeptics alike are scrutinizing every word.
The Lost Symbol begins with an ancient ritual, a shadowy enclave, and of course, a secret. Readers know they are in Dan Brown territory when, by the end of the first chapter, a secret within a secret is revealed. To tell too much would ruin the fun of reading this delicious thriller, so you will find no spoilers here. Suffice it to say that as with many series featuring a recurring character, there is a bit of a formula at work (one that fans will love). Again, brilliant Harvard professor Robert Langdon finds himself in a predicament that requires his vast knowledge of symbology and superior problem-solving skills to save the day. The setting, unlike other Robert Langdon novels, is stateside, and in Brown's hands Washington D.C. is as fascinating as Paris or Vatican City (note to the D.C. tourism board: get your "Lost Symbol" tour in order). And, as with other Dan Brown books, the pace is relentless, the revelations many, and there is an endless parade of intriguing factoids that will make you feel like you are spending the afternoon with Robert Langdon and the guys from Mythbusters.
Nothing is as it seems in a Robert Langdon novel, and The Lost Symbol itself is no exception--a page-turner to be sure, but Brown also challenges his fans to open their minds to new information. Skeptical? Imagine how many other thrillers would spawn millions of Google searches for noetic science, superstring theory, and Apotheosis of Washington. The Lost Symbol is brain candy of the best sort--just make sure to set aside time to enjoy your meal. --Daphne Durham
About this product: Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.
Minny, Aibileenâs best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobodyâs business, but she canât mind her tongue, so sheâs lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way womenâmothers, daughters, caregivers, friendsâview one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we donât.
About this product: Are you and your spouse speaking the same language? While love is a many splendored thing, it is sometimes a very confusing thing, too. And as people come in all varieties, shapes, and sizes, so do
About this product: Where the Wild Things Are is one of those truly rare books that can be enjoyed equally by a child and a grown-up. If you disagree, then it's been too long since you've attended a wild rumpus. Max dons his wolf suit in pursuit of some mischief and gets sent to bed without supper. Fortuitously, a forest grows in his room, allowing his wild rampage to continue unimpaired. Sendak's color illustrations (perhaps his finest) are beautiful, and each turn of the page brings the discovery of a new wonder.
The wild things--with their mismatched parts and giant eyes--manage somehow to be scary-looking without ever really being scary; at times they're downright hilarious. Sendak's defiantly run-on sentences--one of his trademarks--lend the perfect touch of stream of consciousness to the tale, which floats between the land of dreams and a child's imagination.
This Sendak classic is more fun than you've ever had in a wolf suit, and it manages to reaffirm the notion that there's no place like home.
About this product: This celebrated New York Times bestsellernow poised to reach an even wider audience in paperbackis a book that is changing the way North Americans think about selling products and disseminating ideas. Gladwells new afterword to this edition describes how readers can constructively apply the tipping point principle in their own lives and work. Widely hailed as an important work that offers not only a road map to business success but also a profoundly encouraging approach to solving social problems.
Beginning July 1, 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB's) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) has superseded virtually all promulgated GAAP, replacing what had previously comprised four levels in the GAAP hierarchy with a single set of codified GAAP. The objective was to create a new, clearer indexing system that is much easier to access and use to research solutions to real-world financial reporting problems. Although the Codification does not itself change U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), it has comprehensively reorganized the myriad of GAAP rules (FASB statements, AICPA statements of position, EITF consensuses, guidance from Audit and Accounting Guides, FASB staff positions, etc.) into a single, easy-to-use compendium conveniently organized by topic or subject.
Wiley GAAP 2010 contains, as did its predecessor editions, complete coverage of all levels of GAAP, now indexed to the new ASC. Wiley GAAP renders GAAP more understandable and accessible for research, and has been designed to reduce the amount of time and effort needed to solve accounting research issues. As it has since its inception in 1985, Wiley GAAP provides interpretive guidance and a wealth of real-world, content-rich examples and illustrations to provide the type of insight into the application of complex financial reporting rules that traditional handbooks and their "plain vanilla" illustrations simply cannot offer.
Wiley GAAP 2010 is your one necessary authoritative guide to GAAP under the new codification system. This invaluable resource makes learning the new ASC system a breeze, with at-your-fingertips information that does the work for you. Practicable and reliable, Wiley GAAP 2010 is the essential tool to navigate these yet uncharted waters.
You may regard cloud computing as an ideal way for your company to control IT costs, but do you know how private and secure this service really is? Not many people do. With Cloud Security and Privacy, you'll learn what's at stake when you trust your data to the cloud, and what you can do to keep your virtual infrastructure and web applications secure.
Ideal for IT staffers, information security and privacy practitioners, business managers, service providers, and investors alike, this book offers you sound advice from three well-known authorities in the tech security world. You'll learn detailed information on cloud computing security that-until now-has been sorely lacking.
Review the current state of data security and storage in the cloud, including confidentiality, integrity, and availability
Learn about the identity and access management (IAM) practice for authentication, authorization, and auditing of the users accessing cloud services
Discover which security management frameworks and standards are relevant for the cloud
Understand the privacy aspects you need to consider in the cloud, including how they compare with traditional computing models
Learn the importance of audit and compliance functions within the cloud, and the various standards and frameworks to consider
Examine security delivered as a service-a different facet of cloud security
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