Showing results by narrator "Marie Hoffman" in All Categories

Over the last 40 years, the leadership industry has grown exponentially. Yet leadership education, training, and development still fall far short. Moreover, leaders are demeaned, degraded, and derided as they never were before. Why? The problem is that leadership has stayed stuck. It has remained an occupation instead of becoming a profession. Unlike medicine and law, leadership has no core curriculum that is considered essential. It has no widely agreed on metric, or criteria for qualification.

Kacey Chance is an aspiring actress with a cute face and a plucky attitude. She's trying to break into Hollywood, but it isn't easy. She was the prettiest girl in her hometown, but in LA she's a dime a dozen. When a friend offers Kacey a job working at a detective agency, the young actress jumps at the opportunity. The detective agency is unlike any she's ever seen in the movies. It's run by three handsome, single brothers and their sassy grandmother. Her first day at the agency is anything but boring.

ON A DARK WINTER NIGHT with little to do, Rivvy Neshama took a "Find Your Highest Purpose" quiz. And the funny thing was, she found it: to live a sacred life. Problem was, she didn't know how.

As Sugar Springs gears up for its all-class high-school reunion, Mississippi bookstore owner Arlo Stanley prepares to launch her largest event: a book signing with the town's legendary alum and best-selling author Wally Harrison. That's when Wally is discovered dead outside of Arlo's front door, and her best friend is questioned for the crime. When the elderly ladies of Arlo's Friday Night Book Club start to investigate, Arlo has no choice but to follow behind to keep them out of trouble.

Emily Dickinson was one of the most reclusive of all poets. She spent much of her life in seclusion in her father’s house in Amherst, and only a handful of her 1800 poems were published in her lifetime. Credit for the posthumous publication of her work must be given to her editor and friend Thomas W. Higginson, who reported that, in spite of the voluminous correspondence which passed between himself and Dickinson, he only met her twice in person.

What's more chaotic than a house with a canary, two hungry cats, and a yappy poodle with elimination issues? Answer: Barbara Marr on a murder investigation. That's right, when Barb attends her first movie review screening, film director Kurt Baugh dies within 20 minutes of meeting her. If that isn't bad enough, her friend, ex-Mafioso Frankie Romano, is arrested for the murder. In usual Barbara Marr fashion, a whole load of trouble ensues when she seeks to vindicate Frankie of the crime.

Fortune tellers and mediums have descended on the Oyster Cove Guesthouse, determined to solve the mystery of local seafarer Jedediah Biddeford’s murder 300 years ago...especially if it leads them to the treasure he buried on the guesthouse grounds. New owner Josie Waters has suddenly got bigger problems than burning the breakfasts: she’s up to her elbows in tarot cards and tea leaves. When one of the mediums is found dead with an ominous note nearby, everything points to Jedediah’s ghost being the culprit.

Anne of the Island was published in 1915 covering her from the ages of 18 to 22. This is the third story of Anne Shirley where she earns her BA at Redmond College. In this book, she enjoys new and old friends at Redmond, living together at Patty's Place chaperoned by Aunt Jamesina. Gilbert proposes to Anne and she rejects him - but you must listen to the story to know the rest!

Building from his acclaimed anthology Tales of Two Americas, beloved writer and editor John Freeman draws together a group of our greatest writers from around the world to help us see how the environmental crisis is hitting some of the most vulnerable communities where they live. In the past five years, John Freeman, previously editor of Granta, has launched a celebrated international literary magazine, Freeman's, and compiled two acclaimed anthologies that deal with income inequality as it is experienced.

Are you facing the challenges of caring for a loved one with dementia? Watching someone you cherish gradually succumb to dementia can evoke a tumultuous mix of emotions—grief, anger, fear. You want to provide the best care, but where do you start? Amidst the physical, financial, emotional, and legal complexities, you might question your ability to be a full-time caregiver.

Three Muses is a love story that enthralls: a tale of Holocaust survival venturing through memory, trauma, and identity, while raising the curtain on the unforgiving discipline of ballet. In post-WWII New York, John Curtin suffers lasting damage from having been forced to sing for the concentration camp kommandant who murdered his family. John trains to be a psychiatrist, struggling to wrest his life from his terror of music and his past.

Whether she was hiding in an oven or the forest, in the monastery or in the cellar, Lena has been followed by one thing: loneliness. Now an elderly woman with nothing but her memories to guide her - she embarks on a journey to unravel the truth of her past, once and for all. You have never heard a story quite like this. Based on real events, Three Voices illustrates the trauma and relief of a woman escaping the atrocities of the Holocaust, traveling the world, and eventually reclaiming her childhood.

Divorce, or the end of any relationship, is a traumatizing event and can leave us bereft, feeling unmoored and empty. Speaking to that tiny corner in our hearts that knows this is not end, this lovely and compassionate book helps grow this glimmering knowledge, and offers hope and healing for turning this painful time into one of renewal and rediscovery. Even if you may not feel ready to love again, this book, a balm for your broken heart, will help you mend your fragility, rediscover your inner strength, and realize the transformative power inherent in this transition.

Martha Piper and Indira Samarasekera had vastly different career paths on their way to becoming the first (and so far only) female presidents of two of Canada's largest and most respected research universities and directors of some of the nation's largest market cap companies, but what they had in common was their gender, their willingness to take risks when leadership opportunities presented themselves, and a work ethic second to none. It was not always easy, pretty, or fair, but it was always the result of choosing to answer the call to lead.

The book of Esther reads much like a fairy tale: a young Jewish queen, her wise older cousin, an evil royal servant, and a self-centered king. But Esther is no fairy tale. From the beginning of the book to the end, God is the main character of the story - even though he's never mentioned. Join Lydia Brownback as she digs deeper into the book of Esther and learn how God is faithful to keep his promises and deliver his people. This story ultimately points to the gospel, revealing the need for a better deliverer, a better king, and a better kingdom than any found in this world.

Margaret Mohrmann has devoted most of her professional life to caring for children, and in Attending Children she shares the remarkable education those children and their families have given her. Her narratives are both painful and hopeful, tragic and funny, full of remarkable characters and sometimes bizarre families.

Hollywood is full of secrets, which means LA detective Kacey Chance is never short on work. Kacey's new assignment involves a top film executive known for his mind-bending plot twists. Kacey's job is to find out what other secret twists the executive is hiding. This job takes Kacey far away from the comfort of the office, and gives her a chance to use her clever detective tricks to gain access to off-limits locations. There are no limits to what she'll do to solve this case. But when she finds herself trapped in a very tight space, Kacey has to ask herself: Have I gone too far?

It's movie time in Sugar Springs, and the whole town is pitching together to get the historical Coliseum Theater ready for the event of the year - the premiere of Missing Girl, local author Wally Harrison's best-selling novel turned film. Thrilled to bring tourists to Sugar Springs, the town comes together to host the late author's event. But when a stranger arrives, boasting he has definitive proof that Wally didn't write Missing Girl...well, drama leaps from the page into real life.

I became interested in researching different weight loss information because I needed it for myself. I used to be skinny and could eat anything I wanted without gaining a pound. Then that changed to the point of me struggling just to lose ten pounds. I realized that in a year's time, I had gained 60 pounds. Reality did not hit me until I stepped on a scale. It was heart wrenching.

This complete, easy-to-use guide explains everything you need to know to plan your own Jewish wedding in today’s ever-changing world where the very definition of what constitutes a Jewish wedding is up for discussion. With enthusiasm and flair, Anita Diamant provides choices for every stage of a wedding—including celebrations before and after the ceremony itself—providing both traditional and contemporary options. She explains the Jewish tradition of love and marriage with references drawn from Biblical, Talmudic, and mystical texts and stories.