Books about Perfectly from Amazon.com

From America's Queen of Suspense comes a gripping tale of a young woman trying to unravel the mystery of a family tragedy -- a quest with terrifying repercussions.

It has been ten years since twenty-one-year-old Charles MacKenzie Jr. ("Mack") went missing. A Columbia University senior, about to graduate and already accepted at Duke University Law School, he walked out of his apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side without a word to his college roommates and has never been seen again. However, he does make one ritual phone call to his mother every year: on Mother's Day. Each time, he assures her he is fine, refuses to answer her frantic questions, then hangs up. Even the death of his father, a corporate lawyer, in the tragedy of 9/11 does not bring him home or break the pattern of his calls.

Mack's sister, Carolyn, is now twenty-six, a law school graduate, and has just finished her clerkship for a civil court judge in Manhattan. She has endured two family tragedies, yet she realizes that she will never be able to have closure and get on with her life until she finds her brother. She resolves to discover what happened to Mack and why he has found it necessary to hide from them. So this year when Mack makes his annual Mother's Day call, Carolyn interrupts to announce her intention to track him down, no matter what it takes. The next morning after Mass, her uncle, Monsignor Devon MacKenzie, receives a scrawled message left in the collection basket: "Uncle Devon, tell Carolyn she must not look for me."

Mack's cryptic warning does nothing to deter his sister from taking up the search, despite the angry reaction of her mother, Olivia, and the polite disapproval of Elliott Wallace, Carolyn's honorary uncle, who is clearly in love with Olivia.

Carolyn's pursuit of the truth about Mack's disappearance swiftly plunges her into a world of unexpected danger and unanswered questions. What is the secret that Gus and Lil Kramer, the superintendents of the building in which Mack was living, have to hide? What do Mack's old roommates, the charismatic club owner Nick DeMarco and the cold and wealthy real estate tycoon Bruce Galbraith, know about Mack's disappearance? Is Nick connected to the disappearance of Leesey Andrews, who had last been seen in his trendy club? Can the police possibly believe that Mack is not only alive, but a serial killer, a shadowy predator of young women? Was Mack also guilty of the brutal murder of his drama teacher and the theft of his taped sessions with her?

Carolyn's passionate search for the truth about her brother -- and for her brother himself -- leads her into a deadly confrontation with someone close to her whose secret he cannot allow her to reveal..
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"Alternately playful and realistic, Emberley's . . . art reinforces
Harris's message that bodies come in all sizes, shapes, and colors — and that each variation is 'perfectly normal.'" — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)

When young people have questions about sex, real answers can be hard to find. Providing accurate, unbiased answers to nearly every imaginable question, from conception and puberty to birth control and AIDS, IT'S PERFECTLY NORMAL offers young people the information they need — now more than ever — to make responsible decisions and to stay healthy. Already used as a trusted resource in twenty-five countries around the world (and translated into twenty-one languages), IT'S PERFECTLY NORMAL marks its tenth anniversary with a thoroughly updated edition that includes the latest information on such topics as birth control, hepatitis, HIV, and adoption, among others. This definitive new edition also reflects the recent input of parents, teachers, librarians, clergy, scientists, health professionals, and young readers themselves..
Price: $5.97 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Most Americans would agree that they are duty bound as beneficiaries of our democracy to pay taxes, and the majority of us do pay—-exorbitantly. But what about those who do not pay their fair share? David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times, here reveals how fairness and equity have eroded from the American tax system. Johnston describes in shocking detail the loopholes our government provides the "super rich"--from private individuals to profitable corporations—-to hide their wealth, to defer or evade tax payments, and to pass the bill to law-abiding middle-class Americans. The loss in revenue "imposes a severe cost on honest taxpayers" through reduced services, increased federal debt, and a weight on the middle class that threatens to impede its ability to achieve upward social mobility.

Admitting the extreme complexity of our economy and by extension our tax code, Johnston points out that the very wealthy do, of course, pay taxes. However, because of shelters that allow them to understate most of their income, they pay little more on average than most Americans on the dollar. This is regressive, and unquestionably favors the superrich. Johnston includes examples of outrageous corporate malfeasance (such as companies that establish off-shore tax addresses) and exposes the tax benefits of the particularly loathsome practice made famous by Jack Welch, in which thousands of wage earners are laid off while a handful of executives are granted hundreds of millions of dollars through deferred compensation, company stock options, and lucrative retirement packages, all at stock holders' xpense. In addition to these offenses, he describes the tax evasion methods of those who simply defy the law and are emboldened by a beleaguered IRS that is too underfunded to serve as an effective deterrent to tax cheats. Johnston calls for a complete overhaul of the system. But because those who most benefit from these laws comprise the "donor class" that supports the government power structure, our prospects for reform remain very bleak. --Silvana Tropea.
Price: $17.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

ESL students, TOEFL and TOEIC test takers, and all others for whom English is a second language and who want to improve their pronunciation will find this book and compact disc combination especially instructive. The new second edition presents a significantly increased number of exercises, all of them providing practice in every sound that is specific to American-style English. Emphasis is on stress and intonation patterns in conversational English. Recognition of these patterns is essential to fluent speech and listening comprehension. Four compact discs replace the first editionÂ’s audiocassettes, and have been increased by 50 minutes in playing time to a total of 5 hours and 20 minutes..
Price: $15.25 [Notify me when price goes down.]

“Just be yourself!” People say it all the time, but how do we actually live it?

For more than a decade Matthew Kelly has been helping people discover the best version of themselves Now, in Perfectly Yourself, he addresses the opportunities and obstacles that we encounter once we decide to ask life’s big questions: Who am I? What am I here for? Focusing on nine powerful and practical lessons, Kelly shows us how to find lasting happiness in a changing world.

We all have an insatiable need to grow and improve: Every year millions of us buy books and attend workshops in the hope that we will lose weight, improve our relationships, conquer debt, accomplish more in our careers, achieve financial independence, reach spiritual enlightenment, become better parents or lovers–the list goes on. We yearn for progress. And yet, many of us fail to achieve the transformations we desire.

“People don’t fail because they want to fail,” Kelly explains. “People don’t go on a diet because they want to get fat. People don’t get married to get divorced. Whether we are dealing with health and wellness, relationships, finances, spirituality, or career, people want to advance. Personal development animates us, brings us to life. In many cases one diet is as good as the next. One financial plan is as good as another. People are smart enough to work out which are the best, but still so many fail. We have to ask ourselves: Why?

“Fundamental to all transformation is understanding the dynamics of change so that we can be aware of the obstacles and opportunities that await us when we attempt to transform an area of our lives.”

Kelly teaches us how to find the balance between accepting ourselves for who we are and challenging ourselves to become all we are capable of being. He encourages us to unify the many aspects of our lives, and reveals how to move beyond other people’s expectations of who and what we should be.

Perfectly Yourself is for anyone who has ever failed at a diet, survived the collapse of a relationship, or wondered if he or she will ever find a fulfilling career. It’s a book for all of us who long to be at peace with who we are, where we are, and what we are doing, not in some distant tomorrow but here and now–today.


From the Hardcover edition..
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Following the death of her worthy liberal parents, Corlis McCrea moves back into her family's grand Reconstruction mansion in North Carolina, willed to all three siblings Her timid younger brother has never left home. When her bullying black-sheep older brother moves into "his" house as well, it's war.

Each heir wants the house. Yet to buy the other out, two siblings must team against one. Just as in girlhood, Corlis is torn between allying with the decent but fearful youngest and the iconoclastic eldest, who covets his legacy to destroy it. A Perfectly Good Family is a stunning examination of inheritance, literal and psychological: what we take from our parents, what we discard, and what we are stuck with, like it or not.

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Price: $3.28 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Four all-time favorite episodes from the popular radio show—complete, unexpurgated, and hilarious

Click and Clack may be America's most trusted car repair experts They are certainly the funniest, as millions of listeners who tune in each week to Car Talk can attest. As each show unfolds, it develops its own zany feeling and rhythm, sometimes due to the strength of the coffee or a particularly large burr in Tommy's undershorts.

This Car Talk set is for fans who want to waste another four perfectly good hours. Rather than a "best of" collection, it's four complete shows—every call, every joke, every "Don't drive like my brother" admonition, every puzzler, every punny mention of a fictional show staff member (chauffeur Picov Andropov, night club manager Don Kashane), and every maniacal laugh.

The four shows include the 2002 Mother's Day extravaganza with Click and Clack's long-suffering mom, and "You Can’t Do It Unless the Number Is Two" from February 2001, the show that gave birth to a new Car Talk mantra and exposed Tommy's radical views on education (like, it should end after 7th grade)..
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This revised and updated language program emphasizes the importance of pronouncing French words and phrases so that the speaker can be understood by the French and French Canadians. It presents exercises in sound discrimination and accurate sound creation—for example instructing in pronunciation of French vowel sounds and nasals such as eu and oei, which many English speakers find especially difficult to master. Words and sounds are put into a variety of conversational contexts for students of French to practice and perfect. This new edition provides the added convenience of audio compact discs to replace the old tape cassettes. The book has been updated to include the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) as a pronunciation guide..
Price: $13.44 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Painting the exterior of a home is a large and costly project-yet homeowners have long been forced to decide on a color scheme based on only a tiny swatch or a paint brochure.

Now, nationally recognized color consultant Bonnie Rosser Krims shares a foolproof method for selecting and combining exterior paint colors. This unique guidebook presents more than twenty-five distinct color schemes- complete with color reference numbers from the major paint manufacturers-along with beautiful, full-color photographs, and ideas and inspiration for painting trim, accent colors, and more. Specific information about working with roof color, plantings, and features such as walkways and porches is also included.

From tips on avoiding common and costly pitfalls to a step-by-step plan for getting the results you want, this is every homeowner's key to exquisite color balance for the home exterior.
-Save time and avoid weeding through hundreds of tiny paint palette chips.
-Get the look you want, with foolproof paint recipes and color combinations.
-Save money. This guidebook covers every phase of exterior painting, from choosing colors to estimating time, materials, and costs..
Price: $4.47 [Notify me when price goes down.]