Plain Speaking Jane

'At some point, I gave up trying to play it safe. I stopped trying to control the uncontrollable.'Jane Caro is known for saying what she thinks across the news and entertainment media. In an era where public figures talk about themselves as brands, and manage every moment accordingly, this is not just refreshing, it's, well, radical.Unafraid to apply that razor-sharp insight to her own life, Jane reveals that she was not a model child or a faultless parent, and she's a better person for it; that asking for help is a skill worth mastering; and that in her long and successful career in advertising, she was bullied by some of the wittiest men in Australia.Jane also talks frankly about her battle with anxiety, offering assurance and hope to the one-in-three Australian women affected by the condition. Jane shows that anxiety is not a life sentence, and that on the other side lies the ultimate reward: the freedom to do as we please.Written with panache and wit, Plain-speaking Jane is an unflinchingly honest celebration of a perfectly imperfect life.'Reading about anxiety usually makes me anxious. Not in this case though: only Jane Caro could convert anxiety into a triump of the human condition. An honest, funny and gripping read. I could not love her more.' Annabel Crabb, author of The Wife Drought'Jane has acquired insights and wisdom that she shares with candour and generous heart. She has confronted tough, testing times with courage and optimism.' Quentin Bryce AD CVO

Written with panache and wit, Plain-speaking Jane is an unflinchingly honest celebration of a perfectly imperfect life. "Reading about anxiety usually makes me anxious. Not in this case though: only Jane Caro could convert anxiety into a triumph of the human condition. An honest, funny and gripping read. I could not love her more." Annabel Crabb, author of The Wife Drought "Jane has acquired insights and wisdom that she shares with candour and generous heart. She has confronted tough, testing times with courage and optimism." Quentin Bryce AD CVO At some point, I gave up trying to play it safe. I stopped trying to control the uncontrollable. Jane Caro is known for saying what she thinks across the news and entertainment media. In an era where public figures talk about themselves as brands, and manage every moment accordingly, this is not just refreshing, it's, well, radical. Unafraid to apply that razor-sharp insight to her own life, Jane reveals that she was not a model child or a faultless parent, and she's a better person for it; that asking for help is a skill worth mastering; and that in her long and successful career in advertising, she was bullied by some of the wittiest men in Australia. Jane also talks frankly about her battle with anxiety, offering assurance and hope to the one-in-three Australian women affected by the condition. Jane shows that anxiety is not a life sentence, and that on the other side lies the ultimate reward: the freedom to do as we please.

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#1 New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels shows that deep inside every woman lies something beyond extraordinary . . . Back in college, Jane Lewis would have given anything to be like homecoming queen Connie Bryan. Instead, she was just Plain Jane—a painfully shy wallflower no one would remember. Today, lovely and confident Dr. Jane Lewis has a thriving therapy practice, her own radio talk show, a beautiful old Louisiana mansion, and her affectionate, goofy dog, Olive, to keep her company. The only thing missing is someone to share her life. Jane has never forgotten Michael Sorenson, the boy she’d admired from afar in college. Now he’s inspiring her to hope for a future together. She’s also never forgotten the brutal, unsolved attack that ended Connie Bryan’s life. Suddenly, the present collides with the past as clues about the identities of Connie’s attackers send Jane into a world of risk and excitement, challenging her to become a truly extraordinary woman . . . if she dares. “A tribute to the author.” —People

Explains Austen's methods, motivations, and morals The fun and easy way(r) to understand and enjoy Jane Austen Want to know more about Jane Austen? This friendly guide gives the scoop on her life, works, and lasting impact on our culture. It chronicles the events of her brief life, examines each of her novels, and looks at why her stories - of women and marriage, class and money, scandal and hypocrisy, emotion and satire - still have meaning for us today. Discover * Why Austen is so popular * The impact on manners, courtships, and dating * Love and life in Austen's world * Her life and key influences * Her most memorable characters

In this indispensable book, urban visionary Jane Jacobs argues that as agrarianism gives way to a technology-based future, we’re at risk of cultural collapse. Jacobs—renowned author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities and The Economy of Cities—pinpoints five pillars of our culture that are in serious decay: community and family; higher education; the effective practice of science; taxation, and government; and the self-regulation of the learned professions. The corrosion of these pillars, Jacobs argues, is linked to societal ills such as environmental crisis, racism, and the growing gulf between rich and poor. But this is a hopeful book as well as a warning. Drawing on a vast frame of reference—from fifteenth-century Chinese shipbuilding to Ireland’s cultural rebirth—Jacobs suggests how the cycles of decay can be arrested and our way of life renewed. Invigorating and accessible, Dark Age Ahead is not only the crowning achievement of Jane Jacobs’ career, but one of the most important works of our time.

"I do not remember when I discovered how my mother died, it seems to be something I always knew, a horror I absorbed through my skin." Determined, passionate and headstrong, Elizabeth I shaped the destiny of a kingdom. Her mother; Anne Boleyn, was executed by her father Henry VIII. From that moment on, Elizabeth competed with her two half-siblings for love and for Britain's throne. In the gilded corridors of the royal palace, enemies she couldn't see as well as those bound to her by blood plotted to destroy her. Using her courage to survive and her wits to confound those who despised her, this young woman became one of the greatest monarchs the world has ever seen. Even though she was just a girl, she had already lived a lifetime."

n this uproarious collection, Ann Treneman, the caustic and witty parliamentary sketch-writer for The Times, tells the true, unvarnished story of Britain's first coalition government since the Second World War. As well as the headline acts - David Cameron and his Flashman alter ego, Nick Clegg's struggle to stop looking sad, Ed 'Two Kitchens' Miliband's heroic attempts to relaunch himself - she was there to see UKIP shed its fruitcakes, the Speaker be compared to a dwarf, and the Greens go surge-tastic. With an eye for the absurd, an ear always attuned to the jargon junkies of politics, and a nose for what's really going on underneath the talk, Ann Treneman chronicles the events that everyone in Parliament would much rather forget: the AV referendum; the chaos of the tuition-fee vote; the Omnishambles Budget; the train wreck that was Lords reform; the dramatic Syria vote; and, of course, the panic-stricken campaign over the Scottish Neverendum. Floods, horsemeat, badgers and bile, it's all here - a tragicomic coalition tale. 'Gorgeous George' Osborne may have said 'we're all in this together', but now they really are - in this hilarious book.