The Skeptics Guide To The Mysteries Of The Universe

Can a believer and a skeptic move beyond their haunted pasts and find a way back ? to each other? Julie Deveaux is used to believing in things she cannot see. But when a Jackson Square psychic calls her over for an impromptu prediction, she?s as skeptical as the mystery blogger who?s trying to take down her family?s ghost tour business. According to the psychic, the grandson of her thesis subject, infamous French Quarter murderess Sophia Durocher, holds the key to solving Julie?s problems. Griffin Durocher, the anonymous blogger behind Debunked, is tired of two things: people digging into his past, and businesses cashing in on hoaxes. His once-beloved grandmother Sophia and lauded NOLA psychic had everyone fooled--including him--before she was revealed as a fraud. He?s ready to take down businesses doing the same to unsuspecting people, and next on his list is Deveaux?s Historical Haunts. A chance collision in Jackson Square brings Julie and Griffin together, and an undeniable attraction sparks fanned by a shared love of obscure history. When the two accidentally exchange copies of a rare book and read each other?s margin notes their connection intensifies. But everything comes crashing down when their true identities are revealed.

Professor Pickett in the cafe with the Mardi Gras beads? New Orleans ghost tour gift shop manager, Paige Harrington, makes a wish for her twenty-fifth birthday: to find the one thing she can be as passionate about as her cancer-curing scientist parents. She doesn’t, however, expect her calling to come in the form of a mysterious app on her phone that matches her up with the ghost of a cute bartender who wants her to solve his murder. Nor for her pet hedgehog, Auguste, to start talking to her with a French accent. When her favorite professor turned cafe owner, Liz Pickett is framed for the murder, Paige can’t sit by and let all of this happen. Even if uncovering the truth means tangling with the Enclave, a secret society with the power and connections to make someone like her asking too many questions disappear without a trace. With the Enclave and their dark secrets dogging at her heels, Paige will have to step up her sleuthing skills and unmask the real killer before she ends up their next victim.

The one who got away is back in town...but only until midnight. Wendy Deveaux, prickly heiress to her family's New Orleans ghost tour business has pushed aside her own dreams to take care of her family and take over the business for her ailing dad. At least, that's what she tells herself. Sacrificing for the people she loves sounds a lot better than admitting an uncomfortable truth: every time she's gotten close to taking a leap, she's bailed before anyone can reject her. Now, this New Year's Eve, Wendy's alone and spinning her wheels while everyone else speeds forward, and she's second-guessing her choices. Especially walking away from Alec, the sexy cinnamon roll Canadian who melted the ice around her Scroogy heart and completed her in a way she never saw coming. When Alec unexpectedly walks back into her tour shop on New Year's Eve, the old feelings rush back, along with a reminder of the unshakable connection they shared before she chickened out. Wendy's never been more sure in her life about what she wants. But after the way she hurt him before, could he ever give her a second chance? Playing it safe could help her dodge another crushing blow. But if she lets him walk out of her city again without fighting for him, she may regret it for the rest of her life. It might take three smart-assed spirits, a dose of holiday magic, and joining forces with Alec's possibly evil twin, but if Wendy can find a way to move past her fears, their story just might have a happy ending after all. This cozy, feel-good second chance romance is a retelling of a Christmas Carol, perfect for anyone who's ever wanted to take a leap and see it ends happily ever after.

An all-encompassing guide to skeptical thinking from podcast host and academic neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine Steven Novella and his SGU co-hosts, which Richard Wiseman calls "the perfect primer for anyone who wants to separate fact from fiction." It is intimidating to realize that we live in a world overflowing with misinformation, bias, myths, deception, and flawed knowledge. There really are no ultimate authority figures-no one has the secret, and there is no place to look up the definitive answers to our questions (not even Google). Luckily, The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe is your map through this maze of modern life. Here Dr. Steven Novella-along with Bob Novella, Cara Santa Maria, Jay Novella, and Evan Bernstein-will explain the tenets of skeptical thinking and debunk some of the biggest scientific myths, fallacies, and conspiracy theories-from anti-vaccines to homeopathy, UFO sightings to N- rays. You'll learn the difference between science and pseudoscience, essential critical thinking skills, ways to discuss conspiracy theories with that crazy co- worker of yours, and how to combat sloppy reasoning, bad arguments, and superstitious thinking. So are you ready to join them on an epic scientific quest, one that has taken us from huddling in dark caves to setting foot on the moon? (Yes, we really did that.) DON'T PANIC! With The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, we can do this together. "Thorough, informative, and enlightening, The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe inoculates you against the frailties and shortcomings of human cognition. If this book does not become required reading for us all, we may well see modern civilization unravel before our eyes." -- Neil deGrasse Tyson "In this age of real and fake information, your ability to reason, to think in scientifically skeptical fashion, is the most important skill you can have. Read The Skeptics' Guide Universe; get better at reasoning. And if this claim about the importance of reason is wrong, The Skeptics' Guide will help you figure that out, too." -- Bill Nye

Focuses on unexplained phenomena such as those associated with Atlantis, the pyramids, Stonehenge, and the Bermuda Triangle, as well as ghosts, miracles, flying saucers, and monsters.

What if our soundest, most reasonable judgments are beyond our control? Despite 2500 years of contemplation by the world's greatest minds and the more recent phenomenal advances in basic neuroscience, neither neuroscientists nor philosophers have a decent understanding of what the mind is or how it works. The gap between what the brain does and the mind experiences remains uncharted territory. Nevertheless, with powerful new tools such as the fMRI scan, neuroscience has become the de facto mode of explanation of behavior. Neuroscientists tell us why we prefer Coke to Pepsi, and the media trumpets headlines such as "Possible site of free will found in brain." Or: "Bad behavior down to genes, not poor parenting." Robert Burton believes that while some neuroscience observations are real advances, others are overreaching, unwarranted, wrong-headed, self-serving, or just plain ridiculous, and often with the potential for catastrophic personal and social consequences. In A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind, he brings together clinical observations, practical thought experiments, personal anecdotes, and cutting-edge neuroscience to decipher what neuroscience can tell us – and where it falls woefully short. At the same time, he offers a new vision of how to think about what the mind might be and how it works. A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind is a critical, startling, and expansive journey into the mysteries of the brain and what makes us human.

What would happen if you faced your doubts, set aside your preconceptions, and decided to follow the path of truth wherever it might lead? Most people, whether believers or atheists, doggedly defend what they have always believed. Many see this as an expression of faith. Yet, there is something almost inexpressibly sad about the plight of people living out their lives in reliance upon beliefs they dare not question. Perhaps that is why many of us come to a point at which we feel compelled to pursue the truth, no matter what the implications. But even if we found the courage to embark upon such a journey, could we really find a path through the scientific, philosophical, experiential, and theological thickets that surround the great questions of life? And if we did, would we know the truth and be set free? Would we be forced to face a long-feared despair? Or would we find ourselves still staring impotently at an enigmatic universe? This is a book unlike any other. It addresses these questions with unflinching honesty, drawing evidence from a diversity of scientific fields and subjecting the competing arguments to rigorous skeptical analysis.

What would you give for a second chance? Card-carrying cynic and heiress to her family's ghost tour business, Wendy Deveaux is no Scrooge. Yet after old insecurities rear their heads and she breaks up with sexy Canadian tech consultant Alec McKinley, she's back to being as miserly with her trust as Ebenezer is with his money. Then on New Year's Eve, Alec walks into her ghost tour gift shop again, and Wendy is reminded that she let go of her best friend, the one person in her life that saw her not as just a responsible daughter and family caretaker, but a girl who likes B movies, font pairings, and loud and angsty music. Alec was the one person the same kind of weird as she was, and she let him go. But Wendy might have the second chance she needs to make things right--if she can get her courage together before he leaves at midnight. It might take three smart-assed spirits, a dose of holiday magic, and joining forces with his possibly-evil twin, but if she can find a way to move past her fears, their story might have a happy ending after all. Warning: This Christmas Carol retelling contains a murder mystery dinner theater, a Bachelor drinking game, a sloth, and lots of geeky banter. Scroll up to one click now.