FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

There have been many books on this issue but THE BURNING QUESTION lives up to the urgency of its title. Clearly set out, steely with the numbers but fair and humane in its assessments of human strengths and weaknesses, it is a book to reignite the debate.
– The Guardian

Abstinence.  For some experts, this is the only way we are going to get control of our abuse of our natural resources.  But when considered together, the economic, political, and psychological implications of giving up the way we consume energy are daunting.  Now Mike Berners-Lee, who boiled down the carbon footprint of everything in his previous book, How Bad are Bananas?  and Duncan Clark have joined together to unravel the complexities of this issue and shed some light on what the solutions could be in THE BURNING QUESTION: We can’t burn half the world’s oil, coal and gas.  So how do we quit? (Greystone Books; October 15, 2013; $16.95; 978-1-77164-007-7).

Carbon emissions are still accelerating upwards, following an exponential curve that goes back centuries. One reason for this? Saving energy is like squeezing a balloon: reductions in one place lead to increases elsewhere. What’s more, using clean energy sources has not diminished the rate of fossil fuel extraction. Tackling global warming will mean persuading the world to abandon oil, coal and gas reserves worth many trillions of dollars―at least, until we have the means to safely capture and store carbon. The burning question is whether that can be done. What mix of politics, psychology, economics and technology is required to control global temperature increases and ensure stability?

In the sharpest of terms, THE BURNING QUESTION defines the bottom-line numbers and our need to stay within a carbon budget, most of which has already been used. With clarity and foresight, Berners-Lee and Clark outline policies, technologies and campaigns that frame climate change solutions and explore the pieces of the great global puzzle, such as the impact on feeding the world while cutting emissions.

THE BURNING QUESTION is an exposition that cuts across science, politics, economics and psychology to make sense of the key challenge of our time and reveals that answers to the climate change crisis can be more inspiring and intriguing than we think.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Mike Berners-Lee is a leading expert on carbon emissions, founder of Small World Consulting and author of How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything.

Duncan Clark is a consultant editor on the Guardian environment desk, co-founder of digital journalism company Kiln and a visiting researcher at the UCL Energy Institute. He is the author of The Rough Guide to Green Living.

 

Published in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation Publishers Group West.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

An expensive pair of running sneakers, bright running apparel and a flashy sports watch will not prepare you for your first marathon—but getting outside and taking that first step will.

In a new book FEET, DON’T FAIL ME NOW: The Rogue’s Guide to Running the Marathon (Greystone Books; January 2014; $17.95; ISBN: 978-1-77100-073-4 ) bar-fly-turned-dedicated-runner Ben Kaplan provides a week-by-week training program split into four sections to prepare you for your first 5K, 10K, half-marathon and marathon in a year. With wit, self-deprecation, and the input of experts from around the world, Ben Kaplan provides critical information on nutrition, pacing, race strategy, and staving off injuries while repeatedly crossing new finish lines. You may be sitting next to someone who calls you a loser, Kaplan says, but “the only difference between him and us is this: we can all run a marathon.”

Since music reduces the perception of effort by 10 percent and provides a 15 percent boost in motivation, FEET, DON’T FAIL ME NOW offers music recommendations in each chapter by a variety of pop and rock stars, including Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Paul Simon, and Ghostface Killah:

“Dirty Diana,” Michael Jackson: “Michael’s definitely my biggest influence, and this song’s good for crazy energy. I don’t listen to someone else’s music before I do a show—I just get out there and do it—but this song’s really special. It’s my pick for a running tune.”
—Justin Bieber

“Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin: “It changes and keeps going—it has no restrictions and keeps opening up. When I’m running through the prism of that music…I feel like I can keep going for days.”
—Lionel Ritchie

With zealous encouragement and infectious enthusiasm about running and music, FEET, DON’T FAIL ME NOW is the perfect running guide. With each chapter matching up workout soundtracks with detailed training programs like “Holy Shit, You’re Almost Through!”, you’ll be loading your iPod with the book’s many music recommendations, lacing up your sneakers, and hitting the pavement in no time.

About the Author
Ben Kaplan writes about running and music for the National Post and Forbes.com. He also teachers a weekly “Learn to Run” course at the Running Room. Born in Brooklyn, he has worked as a staff writer at GQ and New York Magazine, and has written for The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Runner’s World, and Spin. Kaplan also interviews celebrities such as Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, and Snoop Dogg. He lives in Toronto.

Check out Ben’s Playlist on Spotify.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

“A lovely, heartfelt tale.  Get thee to a bookstore and buy it.”
—A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically

“[Jane Christmas’s] style is equal parts Nora Ephron and Bill Bryson.”
—Quill and Quire

“I don’t want to give the impression that I am one of those nut jobs who listens to the voices in her head, but in all honesty I am someone who listens to the voices in her head.”
—from And Then There Were Nuns

When Jane Christmas’s long-term boyfriend proposed marriage on Christmas vacation, she answered him by sharing her deepest desire since she was a teenage girl: She wanted to “consider” becoming a nun.  With her fiancé’s patient blessing, she put her engagement on the back burner and embarked on a year-long adventure.  By living full time among nuns and monks, she hoped to finally decide whether she could actually transform her life and dedicate herself to God—or to her family and shoe collection.  Was she really “nun-material”?

With humor and charming insight, Jane relates her experiences in a new book AND THEN THERE WERE NUNS: Adventures in a Cloistered Life (Greystone Books; October 2013; $17.95).  In the book, Jane provides a glimpse into the seldom seen and less understood life of modern-day convents. In both Anglican and Catholic convents located in Canada and the United Kingdom, Jane learns that being a nun has its ups and downs, and makes surprising findings along the way, such as that nuns “love AC/DC and Def Leppard, too” and compares praying to “the hardest job you could do…and then imagine doing that in silence and in a dress.”

Always a journalist in AND THEN THERE WERE NUNS, Jane discusses her observations on how there are many women who choose to devote their lives to faith later in life; what the role of women in the church has grown to be; the history of Christianity; and how she perceives humanity’s overall views of God.

AND THEN THERE WERE NUNS is a hilarious, moving journey of love, spirituality, and discovery that shows there are so many layers of meaning in life.  They are there for the taking, if you are willing to look at them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jane Christmas is the bestselling author of Incontinent on the Continent, What the Psychic Told the Pilgrim, and The Pelee Project. She lives in London, England.