Authors Read Podcast

An action-packed thriller, The Sword of David tells the story of an Israeli commando traveling across the globe, following clues in search of a major biblical treasure that could change the destiny of the world.Chaim Klein—a fearless Israeli Special Forces officer—has his hands full. After Klein unexpectedly finds the long-lost Ark of the Covenant, he must then search the globe for the Ten Commandments tablets. Klein must also confront and stop a consortium of Islamic states and terrorist organizations who are planning a simultaneous attack that would obliterate dozens of Western cities and Israel. Along the way, he comes across the mystical and awe-inspiring Sword of David. In this nonstop action-packed thriller, which draws on supernatural elements, Klein and his crew visit Ethiopia, London, Paris, Lebanon, and Rome. We also see the terrorists plotting in the West Bank, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Istanbul. The final climactic confrontation between Klein and the terrorists is unexpected and inspirational.In The Sword of David, you will meet colorful characters—including Rafsani, the terrorist who trained under the infamous Carlos the Jackal; the Israeli spy Galit who works undercover in Paris under the alias Sister Chloe; Baroness Collins, who has an important position in the UK government as well as being the head of a secret organization long thought to be defunct; a renegade CIA operative; a Palestinian once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize; and the Palestinian’s terrorist grandson.Based on the author’s painstaking research of biblical artifacts, religion, history, and terrorism, The Sword of David feels authentic and current.Link to the book on Barnes and NobleLink to the book on Amazonbooks, book, podcast, author, reading, audiobook, fiction, action, thriller

It had been quiet along the Santa Fe Trail for more than a year when the Stokes Company set out for California, the Willis family among them. A reluctant traveler, young Grace Willis longs for her fortunate, safe, and comfortable life at home. Just as she is learning to negotiate life in a wagon-train, Grace is kidnapped by fellow travellers and taken into Oklahoma Territory. She must decide if she will cave in to despair or muster the courage to run away and search for her parents. Grace finds help in unlikely places. She discovers that there really is such a thing as magic, and there are some things only a child can do.Link to the book on Barnes and Noble Link to the book on Amazonbooks, audiobooks, author, reading, historical, teen, young adult

It's 1941, and the chill of something evil is spreading around the world like a black plague. Suspicion and fear have replaced the trust of innocence of humankind. The news of unheard-of violence and brutality presses heavily on the hearts of mankind. What is tomorrow going to look like? What has happened to the world as we once knew it? World War II begins its escalation, extending its chaos in all directions, including the outer shores of America, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Annie Elizabeth Jordan (known to most as Cricket) can't make any sense of the turbulence that is swirling around her life. This thing called war, newspapers headlines that are hidden from her, the heartache, the fears of loved ones all around her are very disturbing, and no one seems to want to explain it all to her. She is looking forward to her annual visit with her grandparents, who live in the Northwestern United States. This summer will be slightly different than past visits, for she will be traveling on her own, because her mom is on travel restriction due of the baby that is to arrive in the early fall. Her grandparents live in the small lumber town of Everett, Washington, in a blue-collar neighborhood of hardworking families with a plethora of children. In many ways, Everett is the quintessential example of small-town America in its day. It is peopled with an abundance of vividly unique, colorful characters. To name just a few, there is Doc Miller, who is involved at the start or end of life for most of the population. He also closely guards with the ferocity of a pit bull, the secrets given to him at times of stress or sorrow. Sheriff Davis functions in much the same way when it comes to his town folk. He looks upon every resident as his own personal responsibly. The death, the murder of one of the children in Cricket's neighborhood, sends more than a shock wave through the town. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Who could have done such a horrific thing? Who living among them could be so evil? It is beyond explanation to Cricket, but she would soon see her grandfather, a retired lawyer and judge, untangle this twisted scenario with its many suspects and astonishing conclusion.Link to the book on Amazon

“Sparks” are the doers, thinkers, innovators, and key influencers who are catalysts for personal and organizational change. But these extraordinary individuals aren’t defined by the place they hold on an organizational chart—they are defined by their actions, commitment, and will.Leadership experts Angie Morgan, Courtney Lynch, and Sean Lynch show how you can become a Spark by cultivating seven key leadership behaviors. Grounded in the latest research on leadership development, this fresh, accessible road map is packed with real-world stories from inside companies like Facebook, Google, and Boston Scientific, and from the authors’ own high-stakes, challenging experiences serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. With SPARK as a blueprint, anyone can become a catalyst for change, and any organization can identify and develop Sparks.Link to the book on Barnes and NobleLink to the book on Amazonbooks, book, podcast, author, reading, audiobook, nonfiction, business, leadership, management, inspiration, self-help

Hani is set to investigate thefts from the king’s household that turn out to be related to a more sinister attempt on the king’s life. Meanwhile, witnesses to the crown prince’s dodgy birth begin to die, and Hani fears for his daughter and her friend, who were also present. More secrets emerge about the prince’s identity, and Hani finds himself caught between the government and the radical revolutionaries who want to restore Amen-Ra by civil war, among them the queen, whom Hani has sworn to serve. Can Hani reconcile his desire for peace with his devotion to the King of the Gods?Link to the book on Barnes and NobleLink to the book on Amazonbooks, audiobooks, author reading, podcast, author audio, historical fiction, mysteries

Bob Nelson, author of the multimillion-copy bestseller 1001 Ways to Reward Employees, and human performance expert Mario Tamayo offer hundreds of practical, creative tips for helping employees--and their managers--make work more fun.According to the employees that work for firms listed in Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America," the most defining characteristic of these organizations is they are all "fun" places to work.Fun is the secret sauce every business needs to better engage and motivate its employees today. Work Made Fun Gets Done! gives readers simple, practical ideas for instantly bringing fun into their work and workplace. Based on examples from scores of companies like Zoom, Pinterest, Bank of America, Zappos, Honda, Microsoft, and many more, this book provides clear examples of exactly what managers and employees alike can do to lighten the tone in the work environment and allow employees to have more fun at work.From AAA's "Dump a Dog" program where workers can pass their least-wanted project on to their manager and Houzz's complimentary office slippers to CARFAX's themed-wardrobe Zoom meetings and Google's company-approved Nerf-gun battles and paper airplane contests, you'll find dozens of ideas you can immediately adapt and implement in your own workplace.Work and fun have typically been considered polar opposites, but this book proves they can be integrated in ways that produce more motivated workers--and exceptional results.Link to the book at Barnes and NobleLink to the book on Amazonbooks, audiobooks, management, motivation, business, author reading, podcast, book podcast, reading, nonfiction

Although experience is the best teacher, it's also the most costly. Learning business lessons the hard way, through your own mistakes, often results in significant downturns or even failure. Business success doesn't require a fabulous new product or service (doesn't hurt, though) but does require avoiding the big mistakes. I made most of these big mistakes myself and barely lived to tell about it. So please do as I say and not as I did.Read on to learn business lessons the easy way and achieve success by avoiding the dreaded and expensive ten big mistakes.Link to the book on Barnes and NobleLink to the book on Amazonbooks, audiobooks, author reading, book podcast, reading, nonfiction, business, management

Tales of Little Egypt is a fictional account of small town America and the peculiar, ordinary, eccentric, sturdy, cunning, and contented characters who created it. Set in the years between the Civil War and the great Influenza Plague of 1918, this is a pageant of imaginary people--the narratives of a score of men, women, and children whose lives illustrate the immense changes and challenges of that turbulent era. This was a period of great events and outsized personalities: splendid World's Fairs attended by millions, radical new inventions, devastating wars and violent revolutions; leaders like Theodore Roosevelt. But underneath were the people whose stories are as fascinating, troubled, compelling and triumphant as anything that has occupied the attention of historians. There was the town doctor, the local sheriff, the jeweler, the self-appointed matron of morality, a young black girl and her mother, a boy who ran off to the circus and many others: lovers, criminals, teachers, ministers, and odd characters. As a community, their lives and ambitions, their failures and tragedies--sometimes at their own making--and their small successes intersected and became a part of each other.Marion, Illinois is both a real place and the imaginary location for these stories. Set in the center of Little Egypt, Marion is a county seat in the middle of this unique area, a river delta wedged between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. These two great highways of American immigration and trade sent millions of settlers North and South, East and West and back. The few who stopped off to make it their home created something distinctive. Theirs was a society that reflected the crossroads it occupied and the mix of cultures and sections that it represented. It was both nowhere and everywhere. Therefore their struggles to make sense of this world exemplify the tale and the memory of modern America in the making.Link to the book on Barnes and NobleLink to the book on Amazonbooks, book podcast, audiobook, author reading, reading, memoir, literature

If you don't have a customer onboarding plan set up for your business, you're losing customers and burning future revenues. It's as simple as that.Onboarding is the most important part of the customer journey, yet many B2B companies fail to act proactively at the start of the relationship. Instead, Customer Success teams are stuck making heroic efforts to save accounts and fighting fires when customers inevitably run into problems or get stuck. The reactive approach is a problem for your Customer Success teams, your revenues, and your customers.Customer onboarding matters. More than you may think. A successful customer onboarding program results in more satisfied customer and employees, higher solution adoption, and increased customer lifetime value.In Onboarding Matters, Donna Weber shares the Orchestrated Onboarding™ framework that she implements with leading B2B companies to turn onboarding from a missed opportunity into a competitive advantage.Link to the book on Barnes and NobleLink to the book on Amazonbooks, audiobooks, customer service, business, nonfiction, author reading, book podcast

Sustainable in a Circular World:design and restore natural ecosystems through innovationThe world needs to move from grey to green, fueled by design techniques that are sustainable in a circular economy. Sustainability intentionally maximizes the environmental, social, governance, and digital actions to fully engage its potential around a long-term motivational direction. These three components environmental, social, and financial come together to build up the digital age and lead to transformation, creating real change in society. Understanding the generational differences will help close the gap that exists when discussing rebuilding the damage that has occurred to the Earth’s natural environmental since the Industrial Revolution. Communicating and getting everyone on the same pages requires a deep understanding of all the players and helping each individual, company, and country, be heard while having their objectives met.This book takes a deep dive into:•The forces shaping sustainability including generational differences, social connections, and circularity.•A historical look at the technological revolution including the Amazon Effect, Prime, showrooming, ship it my way, among others.•The basics of sustainability including sustainability 101, governance, ESG three pillars, stewardship across generations, the supply chain, the Paris Agreement, generative families, giving back to the community, the Microsoft Way, and going global.•Case studies in industries such as mining, construction, services, smart cities, and agriculture.Link to the book on Amazonbooks, nonfiction, audiobooks, reading, book, podcast, environment, ecology, author