Combining close textual readings with a broad theoretical perspective, Gender, Narrative, and Dissonance in the Modern Italian Novel is a study of the ways in which gender shapes the principal characters and narratives of seven important Italian novels of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Alessandro Manzoni’s I promessi sposi (1827) to Elsa Morante’s Aracoeli (1982).

Silvia Valisa’s innovative approach focuses on the tensions between the characters and the gender ideologies that surround them, and the ways in which this dissonance exposes the ideological and epistemological structures of the modern novel. A provocative account of the intersection between gender, narrative, and epistemology that draws on the work of Georg Lukács, Barbara Spackman, and Teresa de Lauretis, this volume offers an intriguing new approach to investigating the nature of fiction.

April Michelle Davis spent several weeks writing the index for this book.

Growth is imperative. Distributors that are not growing are essentially dying in slow motion. Achieving top-line growth is becoming increasingly difficult given today’s economic challenges and customer demands. That is why the path to achieving and sustaining profitable growth needs a systematic and dynamic approach.

Driving Profitable Growth: A Distributor’s Playbook to Generate–Manage–Sustain Competitive Advantage is the first research study in wholesale distribution to examine both public and private firms and uncover a roadmap that addresses the three dimensions—generating, managing, and sustaining—of profitable growth. At last, distributors have a growth playbook that is based on research and analytics instead of anecdotal information!

The research combines rigorous analytics that were collected from a decade of financial data with input from wholesaler-distributors from multiple lines of trade. It reflects the current environment and determines the roadmap to the future. This study speaks to the growth planning and execution issues all distributors face in leading and growing their organizations. There is no more important time than right now for distribution management teams to read this study!

April Michelle Davis spent a month copyediting this manuscript, preparing it for publication.

The idea of what’s important to us and what makes us happy too often gets lost. It can get lost in the daily work grind, in the demands made by others for our precious time, and in the fear that can come with change. How do you take back your life? How do you move past the challenges of being too busy and not having enough time in a day? How do you move past the nay-sayers who prevent you from getting to the life that you want? There always seems to be some reason, or some person holding you back, putting up a wall that is hard to get beyond. Do Small Things: Taking Little Steps Can Lead to Big Outcomes is a book written to help you take the steps you need to do more with your life. Whether the changes you want for your life are big or small, Do Small Things guides you past the potholes and to a place where you consistently and happily do the things that are important to you. Once you get into the habit of doing small things, doing bigger things becomes easier, and you will find it easy, fun and it easy, fun and rewarding to live a life of DO. It’s out there for you. YOU CAN DO IT!!

April Michelle Davis spent several weeks proofreading this manuscript, ensuring no egregious errors existed.

Learn to Eat Right, Think Right, Move Right, and Sleep Right.

The bad news: An epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and other lifestyle related conditions threatens both our quality and quantity of life – not only as individuals, but as a society. Yes, we’re living longer―but we’re not living better. What good are more years of life, if you don’t have the vigor and health to enjoy them?

The good news: You can turn it around, by making simple, easy-to-understand lifestyle changes that will bring you greater vitality, sounder sleep, better cognition, and a whole new outlook on life.

Dr. Douglas G. Pfeiffer―for more than thirty years, a respected educator, researcher and award winning Chiropractor―reveals the “Four Pillars of Health and Wellness” that form the basis of lifelong health and energy. He also spells out the steps you need to take today for the health and happiness you want for a lifetime.

April Michelle Davis spent a few weeks copyediting this manuscript, preparing it for publication.