Objects of My Affection - A Novel

From the early 1960s to the 1970s, the province of Ontario witnessed an explosion in university enrolment. So dramatic was the increase that there were neither the institutions nor the faculty in place to meet the demand. In response, a dozen new universities from Trent in the southeast to Lakehead in the northwest were established, and faculty had to be recruited wherever they could be found. It was the events and developments of this decade, many argue, that created the university system that exists in Ontario today.

Someone to Teach Them is an insider's account of this period as told by historian John T. Saywell. As Dean of Arts at York University from 1963 to 1973, Saywell witnessed the expansion of the university from 500 students in 1963 to 7000 by 1970, and the many changes it took to accommodate such a change. York managed to recruit the necessary faculty, he writes, but the large number of American instructors led to a radical attack on the so-called Americanization of the universities. Saywell also elucidates the adverse effect that the reduction of government funding and enrolment had on the administration of the university in the 1970s.

Featuring many of the elements of personal memoir, this is also a thoroughly researched account of a critical decade for the history of education in Ontario.

Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son's teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it's a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to breathe.

A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.

A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.

Many books teach the mechanics of using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to compete in business. But no book addresses how to harness the incredible power of social media to make a difference. The Dragonfly Effect shows you how to tap social media and consumer psychological insights to achieve a single, concrete goal. Named for the only insect that is able to move in any direction when its four wings are working in concert, this book

• Reveals the four "wings" of the Dragonfly Effect-and how they work together to produce colossal results
• Features original case studies of global organizations like the Gap, Starbucks, Kiva, Nike, eBay, Facebook; and start-ups like Groupon and COOKPAD, showing how they achieve social good and customer loyalty
• Leverage the power of design thinking and psychological research with practical strategies
• Reveals how everyday people achieve unprecedented results-whether finding an almost impossible bone marrow match for a friend, raising millions for cancer research, or electing the current president of the United States

The man who became Father Time.

In Mitch Albom's newest work of fiction, the inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time.

He returns to our world--now dominated by the hour-counting he so innocently began--and commences a journey with two unlikely partners: one a teenage girl who is about to give up on life, the other a wealthy old businessman who wants to live forever. To save himself, he must save them both. And stop the world to do so.

Told in Albom's signature spare, evocative prose, this remarkably original tale will inspire readers everywhere to reconsider their own notions of time, how they spend it and how precious it truly is.