What is that magic quality that makes some people instantly loved and respected? Everyone wants to be their friend (or, if single, their lover!) In business, they rise swiftly to the top of the corporate ladder. What is their "Midas touch?"

Almost everything we want in life involves other people. Whether you want a better social life, a promotion at work, or a good romantic relationship, it all depends on the way you communicate. Lack of communication skills is exactly what ruins most peoples’ lives. Luckily, "communicating" is not only simple and straightforward but also easy to master, even if you’re shy, introverted or have social anxiety. This book will guide you on how you can quickly move through conversations, and express yourself in a manner that is conducive to relationship-building and productivity.

Many dread small talk and shy away from it as much as possible. But whether we like it or not, there’s no way we can escape small talk because it is part of everyday interactions. Humans are social creatures and we use conversation as our way to emotionally connect with each other. If you are one of them, worry not because you are about to learn the techniques to gracefully jumpstart a conversation with anyone in any situation.

Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji in the 11th century to entertain the other women in the court. It follows the romantic exploits of the title character, an emperor’s son, as he navigates life within aristocratic society and eventually outside of it. Praised for its psychological insight into the characters’ motivations, the book greatly influenced Japanese culture and is widely considered the world’s first novel. In 1882, Suematsu Kencho translated a condensed version of the text into English, allowing this classic tale to reach a wider audience.

Religion is foundational to what it means to be human. Our quest for meaning is as ancient as our very existence, stretching back to a time when Neanderthal burials and Paleolithic figurines suggest our ancestors recognized a power that transcended visible reality. From ancient civilizations to the 21st century, belief in a higher power seems to be a universal human instinct. These 12 thought-provoking lectures introduce you to the world of comparative religion, giving you insights into a variety of religious expressions and human cultures.

England: From the Fall of Rome to the Norman Conquest takes you through the mists of time to the rugged landscape of the British Isles. Over the course of 24 sweeping lectures, Professor Jennifer Paxton of The Catholic University of America surveys the forging of a great nation from a series of warring kingdoms and migrating peoples. From Germanic tribes to Viking invasions to Irish missionaries, she brings to life an underexamined time and place.

In this classic, the world’s expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it evolved. With deft use of examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution. The Language Instinct received the William James Book Prize from the American Psychological Association....

An idiom is a group of words with a special meaning of its own that is not clear from the meanings of the individual words. Idioms such as "think out of the box" and "a long shot" are used extensively in English in e-mail, newspapers, and conversations. When you don't understand idioms, you can feel left out of a conversation or miss the point of a story. This audiobook focuses on 100 frequently used idioms.

In this cutting-edge program, 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary, personal development expert and English enthusiast Dan Strutzel will instruct, enlighten, and inspire you with a concentrated 30-day program that will teach you over 500 words. But, more than teaching you these words, the uniquely designed morning and evening review sessions will ensure that these words become a habit-knit part of your life - and with minimal effort on your part.

This audiobook provides a clear and informative guide to the twists and turns of German history from the early Middle Ages to the present day. The multifaceted, problematic history of the German lands has furnished a wide range of debates and differences of interpretation. Mary Fulbrook provides a crisp synthesis of a vast array of historical material and explores the interrelationships between social, political, and cultural factors in the light of scholarly controversies.