Author: Jamie Oliver

Year purchased: 2013

Length: 360 pages

Price: Rm 40

Status: Available 

The incredible diversity in American cooking was a real revelation to me. So although I went looking for "quintessential American food," my conclusion is that there is no such thing; instead there's a huge wealth of seriously exciting dishes.

Many of us outside of America may think we already know all there is to know about it from movies or the occasional holiday, but the truth is that this doesn't even scratch the surface. In many ways, the country is still a bit of a mystery to us. This trip was my chance to explore the ingredients, food culture, and traditions within this incredible country.

I felt that I knew cities like New York and Los Angeles pretty well, but this time I ventured beyond the neighborhoods I was familiar with and into areas better known for their immigrant communities. I was rewarded with some of the most incredible food I've ever tasted.

The story was the same when I moved beyond the big cities. Whether it was Creole cooking in Louisiana or soul food in Georgia, the Mexican influences in Arizona or the hearty cowboy cuisine of Big Sky Country, every place I went had its unique treasures.

I came back with more recipes than I knew what to do with, and although it was tough, I managed to narrow this book down to 120 of my absolute favorites. These are my takes on some of the best food I came across, as well as a few things I made up along the way. I hope you enjoy them, and maybe even discover new and inspiring sides to America you've never seen before. Enjoy! source: http://www.amazon.com/Jamies-America-Twists-American-Classics/dp/140132360X

Author: Lois P. Frankel

Year purchased: 2012

Length: 279 pages

Price: Rm 20 

Status: Available 

The workplace is changing. From the boardrooms to non-profit organizations to the military, the typical male management style is now obsolete. There is a new generation of employees who reject hierarchical leadership and respond to the behaviors and characteristics that women traditionally exhibit. In other words, the time for woment to take charge is now! In SEE JANE LEAD, Dr. Frankel provides a blueprint for women who want to tap their natural leadership abilities and manage with greater ease and confidence in the business world, on the soccer field, at home, and beyond. With the same sharp insight that she demonstrated in Nice Girls Don't Get Rich and Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office, Dr. Frankel shows women how they can overcome sabotaging childhood behaviors that hold them back, while offering practical advice and real-life examples of strong female leaders who have succeeded--in male dominated fields--beyond their wildest dreams.source:http://www.amazon.com/See-Jane-Lead-Women-Charge/dp/B003P2VDXI

Author: Steve Harvey

Year purchased: 2011

Length: 240 pages

Price: Rm 15

Status: Available 

Steve Harvey, the host of the nationally syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show, can't count the number of impressive women he's met over the years, whether it's through the "Strawberry Letters" segment of his program or while on tour for his comedy shows. These are women who can run a small business, keep a household with three kids in tiptop shape, and chair a church group all at the same time. Yet when it comes to relationships, they can't figure out what makes men tick. Why? According to Steve it's because they're asking other women for advice when no one but another man can tell them how to find and keep a man. In Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Steve lets women inside the mindset of a man and sheds lights on concepts and questions such as:

—The Ninety Day Rule: Ford requires it of its employees. Should you require it of your man?

—How to spot a mama's boy and what if anything you can do about it.

—When to introduce the kids. And what to read into the first interaction between your date and your kids.

—The five questions every woman should ask a man to determine how serious he is.

— And more...

Sometimes funny, sometimes direct, but always truthful, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man is a book you must read if you want to understand how men think when it comes to relationships. source:https://books.google.com.my/books/about/Act_Like_a_Lady_Think_Like_a_Man.html?id=CfZMvlReQAkC&source=kp_cover&hl=en

Author: Jill Bolte Taylor

Year purchased: 2014

Length: 224 pages

Price: Rm 15

Status: Available 

The astonishing New York Times bestseller that chronicles how a brain scientist's own stroke led to enlightenment

On December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a thirty-seven- year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist experienced a massive stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. As she observed her mind deteriorate to the point that she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life-all within four hours-Taylor alternated between the euphoria of the intuitive and kinesthetic right brain, in which she felt a sense of complete well-being and peace, and the logical, sequential left brain, which recognized she was having a stroke and enabled her to seek help before she was completely lost. It would take her eight years to fully recover.

For Taylor, her stroke was a blessing and a revelation. It taught her that by "stepping to the right" of our left brains, we can uncover feelings of well-being that are often sidelined by "brain chatter." Reaching wide audiences through her talk at the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference and her appearance on Oprah's online Soul Series, Taylor provides a valuable recovery guide for those touched by brain injury and an inspiring testimony that inner peace is accessible to anyone. source: http://www.amazon.com/My-Stroke-Insight-Scientists-Personal/dp/0452295548

Author: Dr. Gillian Mckeith

Year purchased: 2012

Length: 224 pages

Price: Rm 15

Status: Available 

From the author of Gillian McKeith’s Food Bible and Slim for Life

With over 2 million copies sold worldwide, Gillian McKeith’s You Are What You Eat is a national bestseller that has changed the way people think about food and nutrition. You Are What You Eat features real-life diet makeovers and case studies, easy to use lists and charts, and beautiful full color photographs. By encouraging you to eat more nutrient-dense, flavorful whole foods, You Are What You Eat will teach you how to stay healthy and satisfied.

You Are What You Eat also includes:

• Gillian McKeith’s “Diet of Abundance”
• A 7-Day jumpstart plan
• The Food IQ Test
• Complete shopping guide and meal plan
• Healthy and delicious Mediterranean-inspired recipes

You Are What You Eat is a clear, no-nonsense nutritional guide to a healthier life.

source: http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-What-Eat-Change/dp/0452287170

Author: Christopher Ward

Year purchased: 2013

Length: 320 pages

Price: Rm 20

Status: Available

On 14th April 1912, when the Titanic struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sank, 1,500 passengers and crew lost their lives. As the order to abandon ship was given, the orchestra took their instruments on deck and continued to play as the ship went down. The violinist, 21 year-old Jock Hume, knew that his fiancée, Mary, was expecting their first child, the author's mother. A century later, Christopher Ward reveals a dramatic story of love, loss, and betrayal, and the catastrophic impact of Jock's death on two very different Scottish families. He paints a vivid portrait of an age in which class determined the way you lived—and died. This outstanding piece of historical detective work is also a moving account of how the author's quest to learn more about his grandfather revealed the shocking truth about a family he thought he knew, a truth that had been hidden for nearly 100 years. source: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11099863-and-the-band-played-on

Author: Dean Koontz

Year purchased: 2013

Length: 288 pages 

Price: Rm 15

 Status: Available

In each little life we can see great truth and beauty, and in each little life we glimpse the way of all things in the universe."DEAN KOONTZ thought he had everything he needed. A successful novelist with more than twenty #1 New York Times bestsellers to his credit, Dean had forged a career out of industry and imagination. He had been married to his high school sweetheart, Gerda, since the age of twenty, and together they had made a happy life for themselves in their Southern California home. It was the picture of peace and contentment. Then along came Trixie.

Dean had always wanted a dog--had even written several books in which dogs were featured. But not until Trixie was he truly open to the change that such a beautiful creature could bring about in him. Trixie had intelligence, a lack of vanity, and an uncanny knack for living in the present. And because she was joyful and direct as all dogs are, she put her heart into everything--from chasing tennis balls, to playing practical jokes, to protecting those she loved.

A retired service dog with Canine Companions for Independence, Trixie became an assistance dog of another kind. She taught Dean to trust his instincts, persuaded him to cut down to a fifty-hour work week, and, perhaps most important, renewed in him a sense of wonder that will remain with him for the rest of his life. She mended him in many ways.

Trixie weighed only sixty-something pounds, Dean occasionally called her Short Stuff, and she lived less than twelve years. In this big world, she was a little thing, but in all the ways that mattered, including the effect she had on those who loved her, she lived a big life. source: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5423030-a-big-little-life