In 1994, Continental Airlines was rated worst across the board and ready to file for bankruptcy for the third time in a decade. Within months of Gordon Bethune's arrival as CEO, morale had never been higher and the company was on its way to record breaking profits and performance.

Defining the Wind is a wonderfully written account of one man s crusade to learn about what the wind is made of by tracing the history of the Beaufort Scale and its eccentric creator, Sir Francis Beaufort. It s as much about the language we use to describe our world as it is an exhortation to observe it more closely."

When NPR contributor Scott Huler made one more attempt to get through James Joyce's "Ulysses," he had no idea it would launch an obsession with the book's inspiration: the ancient Greek epic The Odyssey and the lonely homebound journey of its Everyman hero, Odysseus."No-Man's Lands" is Huler's funny and touching exploration of the life lessons embedded within "The Odyssey," a legendary tale of wandering and longing that could be read as a veritable guidebook for middle-aged men everywhere. At age forty-four, with his first child on the way, Huler felt an instant bond with Odysseus, who fought...