Smile At Strangers

A rollicking memoir about the rewards of risk and the surprising facts of safety and self-defense, from a woman who has earned two black belts in her pursuit of living fearlessly.

Anyone can turn their life around. Anyone can significantly transform the way people respond to them. I know they can because I did. I thought it might be fun to share some of my wonderful, wacky, and weird interactions with random people. I talk to strangers because they talk to me, and tales of events closer to home have inspired my second book. Enjoy!

'Hilarious and heartbreaking' Sara Pascoe 'Sheer bloody joy' Philippa Perry Over the course of a year, comedian Rachel Parris asked members of her live audience for advice - and here's what she learned from a bunch of total strangers... She takes those random nuggets of wisdom - 'Be kind', 'Never pass up the opportunity for a wee', 'When it doubt, wing it' - and explores them in ways that are entertaining and serious, hilarious and heart-breaking. Full of life guidance on how to deal with everything from tampons to Tories, from grief to gaslighting, this book might just change your life. Funny, fiercely feminist and full of love, this book is a feast; devour it, then pass it to a friend. 'Original and wise. This is essential reading' Ellie Taylor

Meredith is not a mean or bad person, but she has some issues, and so she's an angry girl. When people start smiling at her, she learns how to smile back at them, and it turns into a wonderful gift for herself!

Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers and why they often go wrong—now with a new afterword by the author. A Best Book of the Year: The Financial Times, Bloomberg, Chicago Tribune, and Detroit Free Press How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to one another that isn’t true? Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. He revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal at Penn State University, and the death of Sandra Bland—throwing our understanding of these and other stories into doubt. Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don’t know. And because we don’t know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world. In his first book since his #1 bestseller David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell has written a gripping guidebook for troubled times.

Have you ever seen a stranger who you instantly knew would make a great photograph? Where the feeling was so immediate and so visceral that there was no doubt that if a photo was made, it would result in a wonderful image? Maybe this scenario ended with you admitting that you couldn’t work up the nerve to approach the person and ask permission. It’s that all-too-common story of “the one that got away.” With Portraits of Strangers, author and photographer Ibarionex Perello will inspire you to move past that fear and take the leap toward making such photographs happen. There are some fantastic images ahead just waiting for you! Follow along with Ibarionex and you will: Learn to confront the fear of approaching strangers for photos, realizing that most potential subjects will be flattered they are worthy of your photographs Learn your way around the gear you need to take great photos, such as cameras, lenses, camera straps and bags, and other “extras” Understand the essentials behind setting the right exposure so you are always ready for that unexpected photo opportunity Develop a practice of interacting with your subjects with techniques like mirroring their body language, moving around them to get the angle you want, and always saying “thank you”

Grandchildren are a wonderful blessing, and they need the best advice possible for their lives to turn out well. As a proud granddad, Dr. Chris Thurman passes along advice he has gleaned from his many years as a person of faith and psychologist. While written for his grandkids, this book can be helpful to all young people and the parents and grandparents helping them live a fuller and healthier life. Some of the biblically-solid advice offered in this book includes • Hang around good people • Think the right thoughts • Be angry, but don’t act the fool • Be content with little • Guard your heart • Let others toot your horn • Be grateful, even for your problems • Do the hard things first In Pop’s Advice, Dr. Chris Thurman guides our children and those of us raising them in a time-tested direction so their lives can be all God intended. The advice in this book can help not only our young people but those of us who are older trying to make our way through life. Regardless of age or situation, Pop’s Advice can guide all of us to live life in a way that goes beyond all we could have ever hoped for or imagined.