THE "GENIUS" (Cosmopolitan) NATIONAL BESTSELLER ON THE ART OF CARING LESS AND GETTING MORE--FROM THE AUTHOR OF GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER AND YOU DO YOU
Are you stressed out, overbooked, and underwhelmed by life? Fed up with pleasing everyone else before you please yourself? It's time to stop giving a f*ck.

This brilliant, hilarious, and practical parody of Marie Kondo's bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up explains how to rid yourself of unwanted obligations, shame, and guilt--and give your f*cks instead to people and things that make you happy.

The easy-to-use, two-step NotSorry Method for mental decluttering will help you unleash the power of not giving a f*ck about:
Family drama Having a "bikini body" Iceland Co-workers' opinions, pets, and children And other bullsh*t! And it will free you to spend your time, energy, and money on the things that really matter. So what are you waiting for? Stop giving a f*ck and start living your best life today!

Take a wonderful journey into making the four gorgeous beaded peyote panel ornaments in this book with sparkling tassels that drape over a glass ball. Here you will learn with detailed step-by-step instructions as well as colored coded diagrams of how to begin and decrease in flat even count peyote as well as instructions of how to assemble it all together. This is wonderful for the beginner as well as the advanced beaders. These ornaments are breath taking and will be that cherished memory keepsake for years to come. This book will truly inspire confidence and start you on a wonderful beading journey!

"A truly admirable book." — Bookman's Journal and Print Collector
"As a book of reference to the practicing artists who wants to solve some particular difficulty, the book could hardly be bettered." — Field
Rex Vicat Cole makes learning about perspective an enjoyable and fascinating pursuit in this clearly written and profusely illustrated book. Over 390 diagrams illustrate every aspect of the text, and more than 80 illustrations reproduce drawings and paintings — by old masters and by the author — that indicate how perspective is utilized in practice. The book is so well illustrated that many perspective problems can be answered without reference to the text at all.
The text itself clarifies the theory of perspective and offers numerous practice exercises. Among the topics covered are the principle of perspective in theory, the rules of perspective and their application, depths, the use of plans in sketching foreshortened surfaces, inclined planes, the circle, arches, how to draw curves by straight lines, perspective of the sky and sea, perspective of shadows, and more. Two additional sections cover perspective in the history of art and mechanical perspective.
A noted landscape painter and art instructor, Mr. Cole combines common sense with an understanding of Nature's laws to make perspective a subject that every artist can approach with confidence. Art students will also find this book extremely valuable.

Actress Drew Barrymore shares funny, insightful, and profound stories from her past and present—told from the place of happiness she's achieved today—in this heart-stirring New York Times bestseller that InStyle called “deeply thoughtful and fun.”
 
Wildflower is a portrait of Drew's life in stories as she looks back on the adventures, challenges, and incredible experiences she’s had throughout her life. It includes tales of living in her first apartment as a teenager (and how laundry may have saved her life), getting stuck under a gas station overhang on a cross-country road trip, saying good-bye to her father in a way only he could have understood, and many more journeys and lessons that have led her to the successful, happy, and healthy place she is today.

From the hit TV show How I Met Your Mother comes Barney Stinson’s words of wit, wisdom, and awesomeness, The Bro Code—the New York Times bestseller (really!) with more than a million copies in print all around the world.

Everyone’s life is governed by an internal code of conduct. Some call it morality. Others call it religion. But Bros in the know call this Holy Grail The Bro Code.

The Bro Code is a living document, much like the Constitution. Except instead of outlining a government, or the Bill of Rights, or anything even resembling laws, The Bro Code provides men with all the rules they need to know in order to become a “bro” and behave properly among other bros. Historically a spoken tradition passed from one generation to the next and dating back to the American Revolution, the official code of conduct for Bros appears here in its published form for the first time ever. By upholding the tenets of this sacred and legendary document, any dude can learn to achieve Bro-dom.

Containing approximately 150 “unspoken” rules, this code of conduct for bros can range from the simple (bros before hos) to the complex (the hot-to-crazy ratio, complete with bar graphs and charts). With helpful sidebros The Bro Code will help any ordinary guy become the best bro he can be. Let ultimate bro and coauthor Barney Stinson and his book, The Bro Code share their wisdom, lest you be caught making eye contact in a devil’s three-way (two dudes, duh).

If you can write your name, you have enough touch to learn to draw. Let Mark Linley inspire you to pick up your pencil and create a magical masterpiece. His positive approach secures quick, accurate results and ever-growing confidence.

Learn to look properly and get the basic outlines correct; include the key features but simplify what you see; understand how shading (such as dot stipple or cross-hatching) can transform a sketch; get the eye level right and see how a grid helps with the composition.

Whatever you want to draw - a beautiful holiday scene, a lifelike portrait of your family or favourite pet, or even a funny cartoon to illustrate a birthday card - Mark Linley shows, in this new edition of his bestselling book, everything you need to succeed.

All I ask is fairness People are constantly attacking my hair I think it's very unfair Obama said he never met his uncle Oscar Can you imagine if I made that statement? It would be the electric chair What if there's another side to Donald Trump? A sensitive, poetic side? Driven by this question, Rob Sears began combing The Donald's words for signs of poetry. What he found was a revelation. By simply taking the President Elect's tweets and transcripts, cutting them up and reordering them, he unearthed a trove of beautiful verse that was just waiting to be discovered. This collection will give readers a glimpse of the Trump's innermost thoughts and feelings, on everything from the nature of truth to what annoys him about Halle Berry ? and will reveal a hitherto hidden Donald, who may surprise both students and critics alike.

More than ever before, the Renaissance stands as one of the defining moments in world history. Between 1400 and 1600, European perceptions of society, culture, politics and even humanity itself emerged in ways that continue to affect not only Europe but the entire world. This wide-ranging exploration of the Renaissance sees the period as a time of unprecedented intellectual excitement and cultural experimentation and interaction on a global scale, alongside a darker side of religion, intolerance, slavery, and massive inequality of wealth and status. It guides the reader through the key issues that defined the period, from its art, architecture, and literature, to advancements in the fields of science, trade, and travel. In its incisive account of the complexities of the political and religious upheavals of the period, the book argues that Europe's reciprocal relationship with its eastern neighbours offers us a timely perspective on the Renaissance that still has much to teach us today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Jim Gaffigan never imagined he would have his own kids.

Though he grew up in a large Irish-Catholic family, Jim was satisfied with the nomadic, nocturnal life of a standup comedian, and was content to be "that weird uncle who lives in an apartment by himself in New York that everyone in the family speculates about." But all that changed when he married and found out his wife, Jeannie "is someone who gets pregnant looking at babies."

Five kids later, the comedian whose riffs on everything from Hot Pockets to Jesus have scored millions of hits on YouTube, started to tweet about the mistakes and victories of his life as a dad. Those tweets struck such a chord that he soon passed the million followers mark. But it turns out 140 characters are not enough to express all the joys and horrors of life with five kids, so hes' now sharing it all in Dad Is Fat.

From new parents to empty nesters to Jim's twenty-something fans, everyone will recognize their own families in these hilarious takes on everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to growing up in a big family ("I always assumed my father had six children so he could have a sufficient lawn crew") to changing diapers in the middle of the night ("like The Hurt Locker but much more dangerous") to bedtime (aka "Negotiating with Terrorists").

Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home.

In the follow-up to the Oscar–nominated film Wreck-It Ralph, our hero leaves his arcade for the expansive universe of the Internet. Disney's artists have brought the world of the Inter¬net (a world you may think you know) to life in an all-new, imaginative way. Through never-before-seen concept art, character sketches, storyboards, and colorscripts, along with interviews with the production team, The Art of Ralph Breaks the Internet reveals the artistic process behind Disney's highly anticipated sequel.

Popular Instagram cartoonist and Muslim-American Huda Fahmy presents a hilarious, relatable, and painfully honest new collection of comics that break down barriers and show how universal our everyday problems, worries, and joys actually are.

At some point in our lives, we’ve all felt a little out of place. Huda Fahmy has found it’s a little more difficult to fade into the crowd when wearing a hijab.

In Yes, I’m Hot in This, Huda navigates the sometimes-rocky waters of life from the unique perspective of a Muslim-American woman, breaking down misconceptions of her culture one comic at a time. From recounting the many questions she gets about her hijab every day (yes, she does have hair) and explaining how she runs in an abaya (just fine, thank you) to dealing with misconceptions about Muslims, Yes, I’m Hot in This tackles universal feelings from an point of view we don’t hear from nearly enough.

Every one of us have experienced love, misunderstanding, anger, and a deep desire for pizza. In Yes, I’m Hot in This, Huda’s clever comics demonstrate humor’s ability to bring us together, no matter how different we may appear on the surface.

It seemed like a good idea... at the time.' - the lament of many a morning after

Rum, beer, scotch, wine, beer and more beer. For nearly 250 years Australian history has been punctuated with stories of booze and boozing. From Cook's voyages and the First Fleet to the Rum Rebellion, the mutiny of the 99th Regiment, the soldiers' riot of 1916, six o'clock closing and beyond, we've been a nation that likes a drink.

With the eye of the master storyteller that he is, Jim Haynes has collected the best yarns, verses, stories and anecdotes of our boozy history. He uncovers the good and the bad of our national character and its relationship with grog. He celebrates the social gift of alcohol and riotous moments of mateship and camaraderie, but he also offers salutary tales of its consequences - the hangovers, the suffering, the recriminations and the grave occasions subverted by drink.

Amusing, wry, tragic and surprising, Best Australian Drinking Stories asks you to grab a glass of your favourite beverage, get comfy and enjoy this fascinating collection of stories about Australia's love affair with booze.

<p>In <i>The Lettering Workshops,</i> you’ll learn all about the art and practice of drawing letters using hands-on techniques in 30 lessons across five workshops. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional graphic designer, you'll quickly learn how to develop and advance your lettering skills.</p>

<p>In this richly illustrated book of lessons and exercises, you’ll find:</p>

<ul>•  <b>5</b> Workshops to learn the art of drawing letters—from an introduction to brush lettering and lettering script to the decoration of letters; from the secrets of good composition to the process of digitization and vectorization of your type</ul>

<ul>•  <b>30</b> Exercises that gradually develop from beginner through intermediate and advanced levels</ul>

 

<ul>•  <b>16</b> Analyses of lettering samples to understand what makes good lettering</ul>

<ul>•  <b>52</b> Inspirational contributions in featured galleries from international letterers and brands</ul>

 

<ul>•  <b>160</b> Pages for all skill levels</ul>

<ul>•  <b>26</b> Letters to learn and explore </ul>

<br>

<p>TABLE OF CONTENTS</p>

<ul>What Is Lettering?</ul>

<ul>Why This Book?</ul>

<ul>First Lesson</ul>

<ul>Lettering, Calligraphy, or Typography?</ul>

<ul>Basics and Technical Vocabulary</ul>

<p>WORKSHOP 1: DISCOVERING BRUSH LETTERING</p>

<ul>Exercise 1: Finding the Right Position</ul>

<ul>Exercise 2: Setting Up a Grid</ul>

<ul>Exercise 3: Carrying Out the First Motions</ul>

<ul>Exercise 4: Drawing the Letters</ul>

<ul>Exercise 5: Connecting the Letters</ul>

<ul>Exercise 6: Reworking Your Drafts</ul>

<ul>Analysis of Lettering Samples</ul>

<ul>Gallery</ul>

<p>WORKSHOP 2: INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPT LETTERING</p>

<ul>Exercise 1: Discovering the Skeleton Technique</ul>

<ul>Exercise 2: Drawing an Alphabet</ul>

<ul>Exercise 3: Drawing a Complete Word</ul>

<ul>Exercise 4: Lettering in a Classic Script </ul>

<ul>Exercise 5: Leaving Your Comfort Zone!</ul>

<ul>Analysis of Lettering Samples</ul>

<ul>Gallery</ul>

<p>WORKSHOP 3: USING TYPOGRAPHIC CHARACTERS</p>

<ul>Exercise 1: Embellishing a Letter</ul>

<ul>Exercise 2: Practicing on a Complete Word</ul>

<ul>Exercise 3: Going Further with Vintage Style</ul>

<ul>Exercise 4: Discovering Interlock</ul>

<ul>Exercise 5: Practicing Interlock with Serifs</ul>

<ul>Exercise 6: Producing a Complete Interlock Lettering Project</ul>

<ul>Analysis of Lettering Samples</ul>

<ul>Gallery</ul>

<p>WORKSHOP 4: THE SECRETS OF GOOD COMPOSITION</p>

<ul>Exercise 1: Thinking in Terms of the Block</ul>

<ul>Exercise 2: Completing the First Sketches</ul>

<ul>Exercise 3: Choosing the Styles for Each Word</ul>

<ul>Exercise 4: Drawing the Skeleton</ul>

<ul>Exercise 5: Developing and Finalizing Your Path</ul>

<ul>Analysis of Lettering Samples</ul>

<ul>Gallery</ul>

<p>WORKSHOP 5: DIGITIZATION AND VECTORIZATION</p>

<ul>Exercise 1: Digitizing and Preparing Your Lettering</ul>

<ul>Exercise 2: First Steps in Vectorization</ul>

<ul>Exercise 3: Testing the Vertex Theory</ul>

<ul>Exercise 4: Vectorizing the Entire Lettering Project</ul>

<ul>Exercise 5: Critiquing Your Vectorized Lettering Project</ul>

<ul>Exercise 6: Preparing Your Lettering Project without Vectorization</ul>

<ul>Exercise 7: Isolating the Lettering</ul>

<ul>Exercise 8: Adding Texture to the Lettering Project</ul>

<ul>Exercise 9: Finalizing the Composition</ul>

<ul>Gallery</ul>

<ul>Artists Represented in this Book</ul>

<ul>Resources</ul>

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We encounter situations in life where we say, “That’s one for the book.” This is my version of that book. If you get a laugh or two, I’ve accomplished my goal.

In a book that draws attention to some of our most familiar and unquestioned habits of thought—from "framing" to "perspective" to "reflection"—Rayna Kalas suggests that metaphors of the poetic imagination were once distinctly material and technical in character. Kalas explores the visual culture of the English Renaissance by way of the poetic image, showing that English writers avoided charges of idolatry and fancy through conceits that were visual, but not pictorial.

Frames, mirrors, and windows have been pervasive and enduring metaphors for texts from classical antiquity to modernity; as a result, those metaphors seem universally to emphasize the mimetic function of language, dividing reality from the text that represents it. This book dissociates those metaphors from their earlier and later formulations in order to demonstrate that figurative language was material in translating signs and images out of a sacred and iconic context and into an aesthetic and representational one. Reading specific poetic images—in works by Spenser, Shakespeare, Gascoigne, Bacon, and Nashe—together with material innovations in frames and glass, Kalas reveals both the immanence and the agency of figurative language in the early modern period.

Frame, Glass, Verse shows, finally, how this earlier understanding of poetic language has been obscured by a modern idea of framing that has structured our apprehension of works of art, concepts, and even historical periods. Kalas presents archival research in the history of frames, mirrors, windows, lenses, and reliquaries that will be of interest to art historians, cultural theorists, historians of science, and literary critics alike. Throughout Frame, Glass, Verse, she challenges readers to rethink the relationship of poetry to technology.

This is a book about the simple pleasure of pebble spotting. Clarence Ellis is a charming, knowledgeable and witty guide to everything you didn't know there was to know about pebbles. He ruminates on what a pebble actually is, before showing us how they are formed, advising on the best pebble-spotting grounds in the UK, helping to identify individual stones, and giving tips on the necessary kit. You'll know your chert from your schist, your onyx from your agate, and will be on your guard for artificial intruders before you know it. Understanding the humble pebble makes a trip to the beach, lake-side or river bank simply that little bit more fascinating.

 A necesssary technical  book for the candidates of Archelogy,Antropology and History of Art Departmens in Universities,2400 expert examined this book.

Amphibian Diaries is a Field Guide for Truth Seekers. A little, green stowaway in the author’s baggage turned out to be a good friend with a sage-like understanding of life. He taught six principles for recognizing Truth so people can have genuine, interpersonal dialogue while searching for personal significance. By the time a reader is finished with the book, they’re invited into a safe and healthy conversation of life’s big questions with a friend. The invitation comes in the form of the LifeBet, reminiscent of the philosophy of Blasé Pascal, which states that all of us live our lives by a wager or bet we have made—there is a God, or there is no God. (The books main character, BP is named for Blasé Pascal.) The book intends to launch LifeBet makers and takers into a commitment of seven meetings wherein they discus foundational life-issues: Origin, Meaning, Morality, and Destiny. Ultimately, the answers are a matter of faith for everyone—the primary constructs of our respective worldviews. BP and the author would argue that these high-level meetings/conversations are essential but difficult, made practicable and effective by a commitment to SEARCH, an acronym for the six principles: 1) We all have a Soul with a hole, a need to be fulfilled by a significant and secure life. 2) We have an intrinsic Expectation of satisfaction that we cling to by faith. 3) We express our beliefs in terms of Answers to life’s ultimate and necessary questions: Origin, Meaning, Destiny, and Morality. 4) Our Reason to believe is always a matter of logical, empirical, and practical variables. 5) Our beliefs are an expression of our view of the Correspondence between our ideas about reality and reality itself. And, 6) Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and inspirational Humility is required for the entire conversation Life and God. The meetings and the ensuing dialogue are encouraged and assisted by the readers’ personal access to a designated website: www.AmphibianDiaries.com where they will find concise and insightful support materials as well as connection for interaction with the author and others. The book, the website, and the concept are all designed to move the reader in the direction of hope in a gentle and respectful manner. It presumes that if people genuinely seek Truth they will find themselves in the freedom of God’s love.

A reissue of the classic gift book that defines love through the simple acts and moments of everyday life with Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang.

This classic gift book was originally published in 1965 and is being reissued in its original format. Its timeless description of love and friendship is as important now as it was when the book was first published. It is the perfect gift for Valentine's Day or any day that you want to remind someone how much they mean to you.

100% of The Late Show’s proceeds from this book go to hurricane relief.

Whose Boat Is This Boat? Comments That Don’t Help in the Aftermath of a Hurricane is a picture book made entirely of quotations from President Donald Trump in the wake of Hurricane Florence. It is the first children’s book that demonstrates what not to say after a natural disaster.

On September 19, 2018, Donald Trump paid a visit to New Bern, North Carolina, one of the towns ravaged by Hurricane Florence. It was there he showed deep concern for a boat that washed ashore. “At least you got a nice boat out of the deal,” said President Trump to hurricane victims. “Have a good time!” he told them. The only way his comments would be appropriate is in the context of a children’s book—and now you can experience them that way, thanks to the staff of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Whose Boat Is This Boat? is an excellent teaching tool for readers of all ages who enjoy learning about empathy by process of elimination. Have a good time!

From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe’s iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have an enormous, dedicated following, as do his deeply researched answers to his fans’ strangest questions. The queries he receives range from merely odd to downright diabolical: • What if I took a swim in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool? • Could you build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns? • What if a Richter 15 earthquake hit New York City? • Are fire tornadoes possible? His responses are masterpieces of clarity and wit, gleefully and accurately explaining everything from the relativistic effects of a baseball pitched at near the speed of light to the many horrible ways you could die while building a periodic table out of all the actual elements. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What If? is an informative feast for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.

New York Times Bestseller

From the co-creator and co-star of the hit series Broad City, a "poignant, funny, and beautifully unabashed" (Cheryl Strayed) bestselling essay collection about love, loss, work, comedy, and figuring out who you really are when you thought you already knew.

When Abbi Jacobson announced to friends and acquaintances that she planned to drive across the country alone, she was met with lots of questions and opinions: Why wasn't she going with friends? Wouldn't it be incredibly lonely? The North route is better! Was it safe for a woman? The Southern route is the way to go! You should bring mace! And a common one... why? But Abbi had always found comfort in solitude, and needed space to step back and hit the reset button. As she spent time in each city and town on her way to Los Angeles, she mulled over the big questions-- What do I really want? What is the worst possible scenario in which I could run into my ex? How has the decision to wear my shirts tucked in been pivotal in my adulthood?

In this collection of anecdotes, observations and reflections--all told in the sharp, wildly funny, and relatable voice that has endeared Abbi to critics and fans alike--readers will feel like they're in the passenger seat on a fun and, ultimately, inspiring journey. With some original illustrations by the author.

David Sedaris returns with his most deeply personal and darkly hilarious book.

If you've ever laughed your way through David Sedaris's cheerfully misanthropic stories, you might think you know what you're getting with Calypso. You'd be wrong.

When he buys a beach house on the Carolina coast, Sedaris envisions long, relaxing vacations spent playing board games and lounging in the sun with those he loves most. And life at the Sea Section, as he names the vacation home, is exactly as idyllic as he imagined, except for one tiny, vexing realization: it's impossible to take a vacation from yourself.

With Calypso, Sedaris sets his formidable powers of observation toward middle age and mortality. Make no mistake: these stories are very, very funny--it's a book that can make you laugh 'til you snort, the way only family can. Sedaris's powers of observation have never been sharper, and his ability to shock readers into laughter unparalleled. But much of the comedy here is born out of that vertiginous moment when your own body betrays you and you realize that the story of your life is made up of more past than future.

This is beach reading for people who detest beaches, required reading for those who loathe small talk and love a good tumor joke. Calypso is simultaneously Sedaris's darkest and warmest book yet--and it just might be his very best.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From stand-up comedian, actress, and breakout star of Girls Trip, Tiffany Haddish, comes The Last Black Unicorn, a sidesplitting, hysterical, edgy, and unflinching collection of (extremely) personal essays, as fearless as the author herself.

Growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles, Tiffany learned to survive by making people laugh. If she could do that, then her classmates would let her copy their homework, the other foster kids she lived with wouldn’t beat her up, and she might even get a boyfriend. Or at least she could make enough money—as the paid school mascot and in-demand Bar Mitzvah hype woman—to get her hair and nails done, so then she might get a boyfriend.

None of that worked (and she’s still single), but it allowed Tiffany to imagine a place for herself where she could do something she loved for a living: comedy.

Tiffany can’t avoid being funny—it’s just who she is, whether she’s plotting shocking, jaw-dropping revenge on an ex-boyfriend or learning how to handle her newfound fame despite still having a broke person’s mind-set. Finally poised to become a household name, she recounts with heart and humor how she came from nothing and nowhere to achieve her dreams by owning, sharing, and using her pain to heal others.

By turns hilarious, filthy, and brutally honest, The Last Black Unicorn shows the world who Tiffany Haddish really is—humble, grateful, down-to-earth, and funny as hell. And now, she’s ready to inspire others through the power of laughter.

THE "GENIUS" (Cosmopolitan) NATIONAL BESTSELLER ON THE ART OF CARING LESS AND GETTING MORE--FROM THE AUTHOR OF GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER AND YOU DO YOU
Are you stressed out, overbooked, and underwhelmed by life? Fed up with pleasing everyone else before you please yourself? It's time to stop giving a f*ck.

This brilliant, hilarious, and practical parody of Marie Kondo's bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up explains how to rid yourself of unwanted obligations, shame, and guilt--and give your f*cks instead to people and things that make you happy.

The easy-to-use, two-step NotSorry Method for mental decluttering will help you unleash the power of not giving a f*ck about:
Family drama Having a "bikini body" Iceland Co-workers' opinions, pets, and children And other bullsh*t! And it will free you to spend your time, energy, and money on the things that really matter. So what are you waiting for? Stop giving a f*ck and start living your best life today!

If you're a dinosaur, all of your friends are dead. If you're a pirate, all of your friends have scurvy. If you're a tree, all of your friends are end tables. Each page of this laugh-out-loud illustrated humor book showcases the downside of being everything from a clown to a cassette tape to a zombie. Cute and dark all at once, this hilarious children's book for adults teaches valuable lessons about life while exploring each cartoon character's unique grievance and wide-eyed predicament. From the sock whose only friends have gone missing to the houseplant whose friends are being slowly killed by irresponsible plant owners (like you), All My Friends Are Dead presents a delightful primer for laughing at the inevitable.

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now.

Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Don’t be carefree and foolish with your most precious asset—life. This book is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now without your even knowing it. The Zombie Survival Guide offers complete protection through trusted, proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead. It is a book that can save your life.

Instant New York Times bestseller · Hilarious stories and advice about the ups and downs of growing up, from a popular YouTube artist and storyteller.

Like any shy teen turned young adult, YouTube star James Rallison ("The Odd 1s Out") is used to being on the outside looking in. He wasn't partying in high school or winning football games like his older brother. Instead, he posted comics on the Internet. Now, he's ready to share his hard-earned advice from his 21 years of life in the funny, relatable voice his fans love.

In this illustrated collection, Rallison tells his own stories of growing up as the "odd one out": in art class with his twin sister (she was more talented), in the middle school locker room, and up to one strange year of college (he dropped out). Each story is filled with the little lessons he picked up along the way, serious and otherwise, like:

  *  How to be cool (in seventh grade)
  *  Why it's OK to be second-best at something, and
  *  How to survive your first, confidence-killing job interviews

Filled with fan-favorite comics and never-before-seen material, this tongue-in-cheek take on some of the weirdest, funniest parts of life is perfect for both avid followers and new converts.

Making art relevant to everyday life, EXPLORING ART: A GLOBAL, THEMATIC APPROACH, 5E provides a solid foundation of art basics and then presents art from across time and around the world through themes such as religion, power and politics, sexuality, mind and body, mortality and immortality, nature and technology, and entertainment and visual culture. Art Experiences features in every chapter and an all-new Chapter 15, Art in Your Life, draw explicit connections between art and students' lives, illustrating how art is all around us as well as providing suggestions for interacting with art. Timelines with thumbnail images help students easily draw chronological connections between works, and detailed world maps illustrate geographical relevance. In addition to new works, the fifth edition offers expanded representation of contemporary artists from around the globe.
Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

In She Always Knew How, her wonderful new biography of legendary actress Mae West, acclaimed biographer Charlotte Chandler draws on a series of interviews she conducted with the star just months before her death in 1980. From their first meeting, where West held out a diamond-covered hand in greeting and lamented her interviewer's lack of jewels, to their farewell, where the star was still gamely offering advice on how to attract men, Mae West and Charlotte Chandler developed a warm rapport that glows on every page of this biography.

Actress, playwright, screenwriter, and iconic sex symbol Mae West was born in New York in 1893. She created a scandal -- and a sensation -- on Broadway with her play Sex in 1926. Convicted of obscenity, she was sentenced to ten days in prison. She went to jail a convict and emerged a star. Her next play, Diamond Lil, was a smash, and she would play the role of Diamond Lil in different variations for virtually her entire film career.

In Hollywood she played opposite George Raft, Cary Grant (in one of his first starring roles), and W. C. Fields, among others. She was the number one box-office attraction during the 1930s and saved Paramount Studios from bankruptcy. Her films included some notorious one-liners -- which she wrote herself -- that have become part of Hollywood lore: from "too much of a good thing can be wonderful" to "When I'm good, I'm very good. When I'm bad, I'm better." Her risqué remarks got her banned from radio for a dozen years, but behind the clever quips was Mae's deep desire, decades before the word "feminism" was in the news, to see women treated equally with men. She saw through the double standard of the time that permitted men to do things that women would be ruined for doing.

Her cause was sexual equality, and she was shrewd enough to know that it was perhaps the ultimate battleground, the most difficult cause of all. In addition to her extensive interviews of Mae West, Chandler also spoke with actors and directors who worked with and knew the star, the man with whom she lived for the last twenty-seven years of her life, as well as her closest assistant at the end of her life. Their comments and insights enrich this fascinating book. She Always Knew How captures the voice and spirit of this unique actress as no other biography ever has.

Brimming with advice and techniques, this essential reference for book- and songwriters clearly explains the fundamentals of the three crafts of a musical—book, music, and lyrics. Using copious examples from classic shows, Frankel has created the quintessential musical writers' how-to. Among the topics:definitions of musical theater; differences between musical books and straight plays and between poetry and lyrics; what a score is and how it develops; how to write for the voice; and how to audition musicals for producers. With a new introduction and revised text, Frankel's work is ready to guide a new generation of aspiring writers.

When first published in 1947, A Short History of Opera immediately achieved international status as a classic in the field. Now, more than five decades later, this thoroughly revised and expanded fourth edition informs and entertains opera lovers just as its predecessors have.

The fourth edition incorporates new scholarship that traces the most important developments in the evolution of musical drama. After surveying anticipations of the operatic form in the lyric theater of the Greeks, medieval dramatic music, and other forerunners, the book reveals the genre's beginnings in the seventeenth century and follows its progress to the present day.

A Short History of Opera examines not only the standard performance repertoire, but also works considered important for the genre's development. Its expanded scope investigates opera from Eastern European countries and Finland. The section on twentieth-century opera has been reorganized around national operatic traditions including a chapter devoted solely to opera in the United States, which incorporates material on the American musical and ties between classical opera and popular musical theater. A separate section on Chinese opera is also included.

With an extensive multilanguage bibliography, more than one hundred musical examples, and stage illustrations, this authoritative one-volume survey will be invaluable to students and serious opera buffs. New fans will also find it highly accessible and informative. Extremely thorough in its coverage, A Short History of Opera is now more than ever the book to turn to for anyone who wants to know about the history of this art form.

Using dozens of real-life examples, readers will find up-to-date information on avoiding copyright infringement, working effectively with managers and music lawyers, developing management and booking agreements, and more. This updated edition is completely revised and expanded with two brand-new chapters on the do's and don't's of starting and running a band, and how to make money from music. It also includes expanded material on Internet copyright issues.

In this deliciously revealing oral history of Broadway from World War II through the early 1980s, more than one hundred theater veterans—including Carol Channing, Hal Prince, Donna McKechnie, Hal Holbrook, Andrea McArdle, and Al Hirschfeld—deliver the behind-the-scenes story of the hits, the stars, the feuds, and the fiascoes. Along the way there are evocations of the great comedians and dramatic actors who had that indefinable magic that made them stand out above the rest. With verve, love, and passion, this book gives us the story of more than half a century of great theater—from the inside out.

Pollyanna's eternal optimism has made her one of the most beloved characters in American literature. First published in 1913, her story spawned the formation of "Glad" clubs all over the country, devoted to playing Pollyanna's famous game. Pollyanna has since sold over one million copies, been translated into several languages, and has become both a Broadway play and a Disney motion picture.

Acclaimed playwright David Henry Hwang’s hilarious comedy Chinglish has been described as “a sly, funny, multi-tiered joke with a laugh-out-loud surface that conceals a movingly somber aftertaste” (Village Voice) and “a triumph in any language” (New York Magazine).

Springing from the author's personal experiences in China, Chinglish follows a Midwestern American businessman desperately seeking to score a lucrative contact for his family's firm as he travels to China, only to discover how much he doesn't understand. Named for the unique and often comical third language that evolves from attempts to translate Chinese signs into English, Chinglish explores the challenges of doing business in a country whose language—and underlying cultural assumptions—are worlds apart from our own. David Henry Hwang's "best new work since M. Butterfly, this shrewd, timely and razor-sharp comedy" (Chicago Tribune) received its Broadway premiere in fall 2011, and a film adaptation is currently in development.

David Henry Hwang is the author of the Tony Award-winning M. Butterfly, Yellow Face (OBIE Award, 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Golden Child (1997 OBIE Award), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), Family Devotions (Drama Desk nomination), and the books for musicals Aida ( co-author), Flower Drum Song (2002 Broadway revival), and Tarzan, among other works. David Henry Hwang graduated from Stanford University, attended the Yale School of Drama, and holds honorary degrees from Columbia College in Chicago and The American Conservatory Theatre. He lives in New York City with his wife, actress Kathryn Layng, and their children, Noah David and Eva Veanne.

“It is a meditation on Chicago’s old soul . . . a witty, seductive, live-wire and greatly entertaining dark comedy that you just don’t want to end.” –Chicago Tribune

“The sting, the speed and marksmanship of the gimcracks his characters fire at each other . . . drips the kind of soulful, energized sarcasm that has long characterized [Letts’] work as an actor and playwright.”–Time Out Chicago

Tracy Letts, who won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his epic, caustic Oklahoma family drama August: Osage County, has shifted gears with this entertaining comedy set in a donut shop. A love letter to the city where he has lived for more than twenty years, Letts describes his new work as “an exploration of the Chicago storefront experience.” The play takes place in the north side neighborhood of Uptown, where Arthur Przybyszewski runs the donut shop that has been in his family for sixty years. More content to spend the day smoking weed and reminiscing about his Polish immigrant father, Arthur hires a shop assistant, the young African American Franco Wicks, who has both an unpublished novel and unpaid gambling debt. Superior Donuts premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and recently opened on Broadway—following the same path of success as Letts’ previous work.

Tracy Letts is the author of Killer Joe, Bug, Man from Nebraska (nominated for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize), and August: Osage County (awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama). He is a member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Julie Andrews is the last of the great Hollywood musical stars, unequaled by any in her time.

In My Fair Lady, Julie Andrews had the biggest hit on Broadway. As the title character in Mary Poppins, she won an Academy Award. And, in 1965, The Sound of Music made her the most famous woman in the world and rescued Twentieth Century Fox from bankruptcy. Three years later, the disastrous Star! almost put the studio back under, and the leading lady of both films fell as spectacularly as she had risen.

Her film career seemed over.

Yet Julie Andrews survived, with what Moss Hart, director of My Fair Lady, called "that terrible British strength that makes you wonder why they lost India." Victor/Victoria, directed by her second husband, Blake Edwards, reinvented her screen image---but its stage version in 1997 led to the devastating loss of her defining talent, her singing voice.

Against all odds, she has fought back again, with leading roles in The Princess Diaries and Shrek 2. The real story of bandy-legged little Julia Wells from Walton-on-Thames is even more extraordinary; fresh details of her family background have only recently come to light.

This is the first completely new biography of Julie Andrews as artist, wife, and mother in over thirty-five years---combining the author's interviews with the star and his wide-ranging and riveting research. It is a frank but affectionate portrait of an enduring icon of stage and screen, who was made a Dame in the Millenium Honours List.

Once dubbed "the last of the really great broads" by Paul Newman, she was the only actress in the 2002 BBC poll The 100 Greatest Britons. But who was Dame Julie, and who is she now?

This is her story.

“860 glittering pages” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times): The first volume of the full-scale astonishing life of one of our greatest screen actresses; her work, her world, her Hollywood through an American century.

Frank Capra called her, “The greatest emotional actress the screen has yet known.” Now Victoria Wilson gives us the first volume of the rich, complex life of Barbara Stanwyck, an actress whose career in pictures spanned four decades beginning with the coming of sound (eighty-eight motion pictures) and lasted in television from its infancy in the 1950s through the 1980s. Here is Stanwyck revealed as the quintessential Brooklyn girl whose family was in fact of old New England stock…her years in New York as a dancer and Broadway star…her fraught marriage to Frank Fay, Broadway genius…the adoption of a son, embattled from the outset…her partnership with Zeppo Marx (the “unfunny Marx brother”) who altered the course of Stanwyck’s movie career and with her created one of the finest horse breeding farms in the west…her fairytale romance and marriage to the younger Robert Taylor, America’s most sought-after male star… Here is the shaping of her career through 1940 with many of Hollywood's most important directors, among them Frank Capra, “Wild Bill” William Wellman, George Stevens, John Ford, King Vidor, Cecil B. Demille, Preston Sturges, set against the times—the Depression, the New Deal, the rise of the unions, the advent of World War II and a fast-changing, coming-of-age motion picture industry.

And at the heart of the book, Stanwyck herself—her strengths, her fears, her frailties, losses, and desires—how she made use of the darkness in her soul, transforming herself from shunned outsider into one of Hollywood’s most revered screen actresses.

Fifteen years in the making—and written with full access to Stanwyck’s family, friends, colleagues and never-before-seen letters, journals, and photographs. Wilson’s one-of-a-kind biography—“large, thrilling, and sensitive” (Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Town & Country)—is an “epic Hollywood narrative” (USA TODAY), “so readable, and as direct as its subject” (The New York Times). With 274 photographs, many published for the first time.

THE "GENIUS" (Cosmopolitan) NATIONAL BESTSELLER ON THE ART OF CARING LESS AND GETTING MORE--FROM THE AUTHOR OF GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER AND YOU DO YOU
Are you stressed out, overbooked, and underwhelmed by life? Fed up with pleasing everyone else before you please yourself? It's time to stop giving a f*ck.

This brilliant, hilarious, and practical parody of Marie Kondo's bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up explains how to rid yourself of unwanted obligations, shame, and guilt--and give your f*cks instead to people and things that make you happy.

The easy-to-use, two-step NotSorry Method for mental decluttering will help you unleash the power of not giving a f*ck about:
Family drama Having a "bikini body" Iceland Co-workers' opinions, pets, and children And other bullsh*t! And it will free you to spend your time, energy, and money on the things that really matter. So what are you waiting for? Stop giving a f*ck and start living your best life today!

Smoldering flames are still deadly.


Raina Sun is in San Francisco, preparing for her cousin's upcoming wedding...to her ex-boyfriend. Even though she is a reluctant bridesmaid, she understands duty to her family. When the bridegroom shows an unusual interest in her fiancé, and a dead body drops in during the rehearsal dinner, Raina is drawn into another murder investigation. 


She must prove the bridegroom's innocence, or he will reveal a secret that could change her beloved fiancé's life...and not for the better. As things heat up, she learns all families have skeletons, and some are more deadly than others. Among the hundreds of guests, could she find this heartless killer before she becomes the next victim? And will this secret stay hidden? 


Come join Raina in this next phase in her life--get your copy of Smoldering Flames and Secrets now!

Keywords: cozy mystery, amateur sleuth, traditional mystery, mystery, small town mystery, female sleuth mystery, murder mystery, cozy mysteries, interracial, female sleuth, humor, series, college, funny, female protagonist, novel, secret, suspense, triad, mob mystery, Chinese mystery, wedding

Actress Drew Barrymore shares funny, insightful, and profound stories from her past and present—told from the place of happiness she's achieved today—in this heart-stirring New York Times bestseller that InStyle called “deeply thoughtful and fun.”
 
Wildflower is a portrait of Drew's life in stories as she looks back on the adventures, challenges, and incredible experiences she’s had throughout her life. It includes tales of living in her first apartment as a teenager (and how laundry may have saved her life), getting stuck under a gas station overhang on a cross-country road trip, saying good-bye to her father in a way only he could have understood, and many more journeys and lessons that have led her to the successful, happy, and healthy place she is today.

Along with collected letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Jefferson and Wendell Willkie, Rickles' Letters illustrates the power of eloquent correspondence and offers universal wisdom for the ages. For example:

RICKLES TO MRS. LINCOLN: "Sorry you had problems at Ford's Theatre last night, but could you get me a couple of aisle tickets for the Saturday matinee?"

RICKLES TO ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: "Lose the cigar. It's hard enough to understand you without it."

RICKLES TO CLINT EASTWOOD: "How many guys could do a movie about Iwo Jima from the Japanese point of view? I got nervous; I thought you were going to let them win!"

RICKLES TO SANTA CLAUS: "Kiss my jingle bells."

RICKLES TO PRESIDENT CARTER: "Forget your hammers and nails and Habitat House and read my book."

RICKLES TO QUEEN ELIZABETH: "Is it true your husband has a day job working at a sword factory?"

RICKLES TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: "Cousin Herbie was doing great selling candles until you came up with the stupid idea of flying a kite."

RICKLES TO MAYOR BLOOMBERG: "What do I have to do to get a cab around here?"

From the hit TV show How I Met Your Mother comes Barney Stinson’s words of wit, wisdom, and awesomeness, The Bro Code—the New York Times bestseller (really!) with more than a million copies in print all around the world.

Everyone’s life is governed by an internal code of conduct. Some call it morality. Others call it religion. But Bros in the know call this Holy Grail The Bro Code.

The Bro Code is a living document, much like the Constitution. Except instead of outlining a government, or the Bill of Rights, or anything even resembling laws, The Bro Code provides men with all the rules they need to know in order to become a “bro” and behave properly among other bros. Historically a spoken tradition passed from one generation to the next and dating back to the American Revolution, the official code of conduct for Bros appears here in its published form for the first time ever. By upholding the tenets of this sacred and legendary document, any dude can learn to achieve Bro-dom.

Containing approximately 150 “unspoken” rules, this code of conduct for bros can range from the simple (bros before hos) to the complex (the hot-to-crazy ratio, complete with bar graphs and charts). With helpful sidebros The Bro Code will help any ordinary guy become the best bro he can be. Let ultimate bro and coauthor Barney Stinson and his book, The Bro Code share their wisdom, lest you be caught making eye contact in a devil’s three-way (two dudes, duh).

When a meteorite destroyed a house in a sleepy, English village, no one could have predicted the chain of events that would lead Swan Morrison and Helen Hargreaves to romance and would ultimately propel them into an epic battle for the very survival of mankind. How can one adequately describe a novel that is (in alphabetical order): an adventure filled; archaeological; comic; crime featuring; dramatic; erotic; espionage laced; horror tinged; political; religious; romantic; science fiction; supernatural thriller with philosophical, satirical and allegorical undertones? This affectionate tribute to many classic storylines is where the writers of the Archers meet the creators of Indiana Jones meet Dan Brown meet John le Carré meet E. L. James meet Stephen King meet Isaac Asimov meet Barbara Cartland meet Harold Robbins meet Colin Dexter meet Ian Fleming meet Woody Allen meet Douglas Adams – to name just a very few.

All I ask is fairness People are constantly attacking my hair I think it's very unfair Obama said he never met his uncle Oscar Can you imagine if I made that statement? It would be the electric chair What if there's another side to Donald Trump? A sensitive, poetic side? Driven by this question, Rob Sears began combing The Donald's words for signs of poetry. What he found was a revelation. By simply taking the President Elect's tweets and transcripts, cutting them up and reordering them, he unearthed a trove of beautiful verse that was just waiting to be discovered. This collection will give readers a glimpse of the Trump's innermost thoughts and feelings, on everything from the nature of truth to what annoys him about Halle Berry ? and will reveal a hitherto hidden Donald, who may surprise both students and critics alike.

Jim Gaffigan never imagined he would have his own kids.

Though he grew up in a large Irish-Catholic family, Jim was satisfied with the nomadic, nocturnal life of a standup comedian, and was content to be "that weird uncle who lives in an apartment by himself in New York that everyone in the family speculates about." But all that changed when he married and found out his wife, Jeannie "is someone who gets pregnant looking at babies."

Five kids later, the comedian whose riffs on everything from Hot Pockets to Jesus have scored millions of hits on YouTube, started to tweet about the mistakes and victories of his life as a dad. Those tweets struck such a chord that he soon passed the million followers mark. But it turns out 140 characters are not enough to express all the joys and horrors of life with five kids, so hes' now sharing it all in Dad Is Fat.

From new parents to empty nesters to Jim's twenty-something fans, everyone will recognize their own families in these hilarious takes on everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to growing up in a big family ("I always assumed my father had six children so he could have a sufficient lawn crew") to changing diapers in the middle of the night ("like The Hurt Locker but much more dangerous") to bedtime (aka "Negotiating with Terrorists").

Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home.

An NPR Best Book of 2018

"How to Invent Everything is such a cool book. It's essential reading for anyone who needs to duplicate an industrial civilization quickly." --Randall Munroe, xkcd creator and New York Times-bestselling author of What If?

The only book you need if you're going back in time

What would you do if a time machine hurled you thousands of years into the past. . . and then broke? How would you survive? Could you improve on humanity's original timeline? And how hard would it be to domesticate a giant wombat?

With this book as your guide, you'll survive--and thrive--in any period in Earth's history. Bestselling author and time-travel enthusiast Ryan North shows you how to invent all the modern conveniences we take for granted--from first principles. This illustrated manual contains all the science, engineering, art, philosophy, facts, and figures required for even the most clueless time traveler to build a civilization from the ground up. Deeply researched, irreverent, and significantly more fun than being eaten by a saber-toothed tiger, How to Invent Everything will make you smarter, more competent, and completely prepared to become the most important and influential person ever. You're about to make history. . . better.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING GUIDE, WITH UPDATED MATERIAL AND A NEW FOREWORD

If you graduated from college but still feel like a student . . . if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store . . . if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean . . . it's OK. But it doesn't have to be this way.
Just because you don't feel like an adult doesn't mean you can't act like one. And it all begins with this funny, wise, and useful book. Based on Kelly Williams Brown's popular blog, ADULTING, makes the scary, confusing "real world" approachable, manageable--and even conquerable. This guide will help you to navigate the stormy Sea of Adulthood so that you may find safe harbor in Not Running Out of Toilet Paper Bay, and along the way you will learn:
What to check for when renting a new apartment--not just the nearby bars, but the faucets and stove, among other things. When a busy person can find time to learn more about the world (It involves the intersection of NPR and hair-straightening.)How to avoid hooking up with anyone in your office--iImagine your coworkers having plastic, featureless doll crotches. It helps. The secret to finding a mechanic you love--or, more realistically, one that will not rob you blind.
From breaking up with frenemies to fixing your toilet, this way fun comprehensive handbook is the answer for aspiring grown-ups of all ages.

Praise for How to Rap:

"Filled with real tools and overflowing with inspiration, this comprehensive how-to manual examines the art and craft of rap. . . . Both newcomers to rap and more experienced listeners and artists can gain insights in the time-honored tradition of learning from the past, as told straight from the artists’ mouths. . . . Highly recommended." --Library Journal
Featuring an array of rap techniques never before explained or cataloged--such as flams, triplets, lazy tails, and vibrato--HOW TO RAP 2 is a must-read for MCs looking to take their craft to the next level, as well as anyone fascinated by rapping and its complexity. Filled with exclusive insights from hip-hop's most innovative artists, such as Tech N9ne, Crooked I, The Pharcyde, Das EFX, Del the Funky Homosapien, and Big Daddy Kane, this book takes you through the intricacies of rhythm, rhyme, and vocal delivery, delving into the art form in unprecedented detail.
 
Paul Edwards is a writer and researcher of hip-hop. He is regarded as a leading expert on hip-hop and rap, and has been referred to as "the Aristotle of hip-hop poetics" by internationally acclaimed and award-winning poet Dana Gioia. He is the author of How to Rap. Gift of Gab, of the group Blackalicious, is noted as one of the most dexterous and versatile MCs of all time.
 

The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business, 2nd Edition, is a detailed analysis of the subjects that all musicians should understand and apply to pursue a successful and sustainable career in music today. Full of practical advice, this music industry book provides comprehensive details on how to achieve self-empowerment and optimize your success in today’s music business. From production and performance tips to marketing and career-building advice, this music business book instructs and empowers artists on how to take the hard-earned lessons of a fellow musician and put them to work in their own careers.

Take your music from passion to profession

From promotion and performance tips to marketing and career-building advice, Loren Weisman serves up lessons culled from his twenty years as a working musician and a music business consultant.

Get straight-talk from the road and the studio in areas such as:
•    Creating the best plan for their career
•    Touring
•    Booking gigs
•    Performing
•    Recording from pre- through post-production
•    Branding a band
•    Fundraising and working with investors
•    Marketing and promotions

The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business, 2nd Edition, is a detailed analysis of the subjects that all musicians should understand and apply to pursue a successful and sustainable career in music today. Full of practical advice, this music industry book provides comprehensive details on how to achieve self-empowerment and optimize your success in today’s music business. From production and performance tips to marketing and career-building advice, this music business book instructs and empowers artists on how to take the hard-earned lessons of a fellow musician and put them to work in their own careers.

Teach yourself how to play keyboard with our easy keyboard lessons for beginners.

***Comes with online access to free keyboard videos and audio demonstrating all examples. See and hear how each one is played by a teacher, then play along with the backing band. Also includes music score and keyboard animation for easy music learning.***

"I have always dreamed that someday I will teach myself keyboard. This is the book that helped me achieve my dream!" - Anita Sloan

Progressive Beginner Keyboard contains all you need to know to start learning to be a great keyboard player - in one easy-to-follow, lesson-by-lesson keyboard tutorial. Suitable for all ages and all types of keyboards and pianos. No prior knowledge of how to read music or playing the keyboard is required to teach yourself to learn to play keyboard from this book.

Teach yourself:
• How to read music including keyboard notes and keyboard chords on both bass and treble staves
• Correct posture, hand positions and fingering techniques
• Basic music theory as it applies to keyboard playing, including key signatures, time signatures, sharps and flats, ties, rests and major scales
• Essential chord progressions that will enable you to play hundreds of songs
• Essential accompaniment techniques used by the world’s best keyboard players
• Keyboard tips and keyboard tricks that every player should know when learning keyboard
• Shortcuts for how to learn keyboard and learn to read music fast by getting the most from keyboard practice sessions

Contains everything you need to know to learn to play the keyboard today.

Features include:
• Progressive step-by-step easy beginners keyboard lessons written by a professional keyboard teacher
• Easy-to-read keyboard music and keyboard chords for beginners
• Full color photos and diagrams
• Keyboard chord chart containing formulas and chord diagrams for all important Keyboard chords
• 40+ keyboard exercises and well know easy keyboard songs for beginners including instrumental pieces, melodies and many well known songs in a variety of styles including rock keyboard, pop keyboard, blues keyboard, country keyboard and folk keyboard.

Beginner keyboard lessons have never been this easy for anyone who wants to learn how to play the keyboard, fast.

Invaluable advice that will be music to your ears!

Are you thinking of getting started in home recording? Do youwant to know the latest home recording technologies? HomeRecording For Musicians For Dummies will get you recordingmusic at home in no time. It shows you how to set up a home studio,record and edit your music, master it, and even distribute yoursongs.

With this guide, you?ll learn how to compare studio-in-a-box,computer-based, and stand-alone recording systems and choose whatyou need. You?ll gain the skills to manage your sound, take fulladvantage of MIDI, mike common instruments, do overdubs and replacemissed notes, understand the mastering process, and prepare yourmusic for duplication.

Explains how to put together all the things your home recordingstudio should haveShows you how to perform multitrack recording and venture intoMIDI sequencingDetails ways to clean up your tracks by becoming an expert atmixing and editingAddresses choosing the gear that suits your projectWalks you through adding computers and software to yourrecording tools and enhancing sound with professional editingtipsFeatures instructions for setting up microphones, connectingelectronic instruments, and orking with MIDI and electronicinstrumentsIncludes advice for editing tracks, mixing, mastering, anddistributing your songs

Whether you?re a beginning musician or a pro, Home RecordingFor Musicians For Dummies teaches you home recording basics soyou can begin recording music at home and create great CDs.

Teach yourself how to play drums with our easy drum lessons for beginners.

***Comes with online access to free drum videos and audio demonstrating all examples. See and hear how each one is played by a teacher, then play along with the backing band. Also includes music score and drum animation for easy music learning.***

"Awesome Drum Learning Book! This one by far is the best one I've found. The layout makes it easy to understand and to absorb the material you're learning. Keeps everything interesting but not so simple that it's boring." - Michael Cadonic, Louisville KY [Amazon]"

Progressive Beginner Drums contains all you need to know to start learning to be a great drummer - in one easy-to-follow, lesson-by-lesson drum tutorial. Suitable for all ages and all types of drum kits. No prior knowledge of how to read music or playing the drums is required to teach yourself to learn to play drums from this book.

Teach yourself:
• How to play using all the drums and cymbals in the entire drum kit
• How to play drum beats used in popular drum grooves
• All the fundamental drum rudiments and drum techniques including playing accents, ghost notes, paradiddles, side stick and open hi-hat
• Drum theory for learning how to read drum music for beginners
• Drum tips and drum tricks that every player should know when learning drums
• Shortcuts for how to learn drums fast by getting the most from drum practice sessions

Contains everything you need to know to learn to play the drums today.

Features include:
• Progressive step-by-step easy beginners drum lessons written by a professional drum teacher
• Full color photos and diagrams
• Easy-to-read drum music for beginners
• 133 drum exercises, drum rhythms and drum fills for playing drum beats used in rock drumming, blues drumming, funk drumming, country drumming and jazz drumming

Beginner drum lessons have never been this easy for anyone who wants to learn how to play the drum, fast.

In 2010, a nineteen-year-old super-fan rushed the stage during a Lamb of God concert in Prague. To protect himself, singer Randy Blythe pushed the fan away. Unbeknownst to Blythe, the young man hit his head on the floor when he fell and later died from the injury. Blythe was promptly incarcerated on charges carrying a prison term of five to ten years. Thirty-seven days later, he was released on bail to await trial. Although legal experts told him not to return to the Czech Republic to face the charges, Blythe explained that he “could not run away from this problem while the grieving family of a dead young man searched hopelessly for answers that [he] might help provide.”

After a five-day trial, he was acquitted on March 5, 2013.

In Dark Days, Blythe tells the story of his incarceration and the wild life that led up to it. As he explains, “Most substance abuse books end with the author getting sober. My book starts there.”

NEW YORK TIMES and INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

In Face the Music, Paul Stanley—the co-founder and famous “Starchild” frontman of KISS—reveals for the first time the incredible highs and equally incredible lows in his life both inside and outside the band. Face the Music is the shocking, funny, smart, inspirational story of one of rock’s most enduring icons and the group he helped create, define, and immortalize.

Stanley mixes compelling personal revelations and gripping, gritty war stories that will surprise even the most steadfast member of the KISS Army. He takes us back to his childhood in the 1950s and ’60s, a traumatic time made more painful thanks to a physical deformity. Born with a condition called microtia, he grew up partially deaf, with only one ear. But this instilled in him an inner drive to succeed in the most unlikely of pursuits: music.

With never-before-seen photos and images throughout, Stanley’s memoir is a fully realized and unflinching portrait of a rock star, a chronicle of the stories behind the famous anthems, the many brawls and betrayals, and all the drama and pyrotechnics on and off the stage. Raw and confessional, Stanley offers candid insights into his personal relationships, and the turbulent dynamics with his bandmates over the past four decades. And no one comes out unscathed—including Stanley himself.

“People say I was brave to write such a revealing book, but I wrote it because I needed to personally reflect on my own life. I know everyone will see themselves somewhere in this book, and where my story might take them is why I’m sharing it.” —Paul Stanley

A jaw-dropping tell-all from the lead singer of the 1980s supergroup Ratt: the groupies, the trashed hotel rooms, the drugs—and just how much you can get away with when you’re one of the biggest hair metal stars of all time.

Women. Spandex. Drugs. Hair spray...Welcome to heavy metal rock ’n’ roll, circa 1980, when all you needed was the right look, burning ambition, and a chance. Stephen Pearcy and supergroup Ratt hit the bull’s-eye. What they did with their fame and fortune is a riotous tale of...

SEX, DRUGS, RATT & ROLL

Pearcy was a scrawny, horny, thrill-seeking teenager with an electric guitar who had graduated from backyard parties in San Diego to half-empty dives in Los Angeles before he and his band broke through at Whiskey a Go Go. Cranking out metal just as metal got hot, Ratt was the perfect band at the perfect time, and their hit single “Round and Round” became a top-selling anthem. The bigger Ratt got, the more excessive Pearcy and his “pussy pirates” became. There was nothing these guys wouldn’t snort, drink, bed, or break. And the fans were just as bad, as husbands and mothers offered up nubile wives and daughters as tribute to their rock ’n’ roll idols.

On a journey that could happen only in America, Pearcy met everyone from Michael Jackson to Drew Barrymore (at age twelve, at a New York nightclub, at 2 a.m.) to Rodney Dangerfield. His infamous partner-in-crime, Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby, a blond Viking with an unsurpassed appetite for drugs and women, cuts a towering and tragic figure throughout.

As Ratt scrambled up a wall of fame and wealth, so they experienced the gut-wrenching free fall, after too many hours in buses, planes, and limos; too many women; too many drugs; and all the personality clashes and ego trips that marked the beginning of the end. Pearcy offers a stunningly honest selfportrait of a man running on the fumes of ambition and loneliness as the party crashed. His rock ’n’ roll confessional, by turns incredible, hilarious, and lyrical, is a story of survival—and a search for the things that matter most.

The soundtrack to Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros.ä‹¢ Wii is packed with melodic, syncopated themes that sound great on the piano! With this officially licensed sheet music collection, pianists can dazzle friends and family by playing 17 familiar themes from the beloved video game. The arrangements in this Easy Piano edition are moderately streamlined compared to those in the separately published Intermediate-Advanced edition, yet they retain a full and impressive sound.

Titles:
* Title Theme
* Ground Theme
* Underground Theme
* Underwater Theme
* Desert Theme
* Castle Theme
* Airship Theme
* Koopa Battle
* Castle Boss Battle
* Toad House
* Enemy Course
* Invincible Theme
* Staff Credit Roll
* World 1 Map
* Player Down
* Game Over
* Ending Demo

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Elvis Presley’s fiancée and last love tells her story and sets the record straight in this deeply personal memoir that reveals what really happened in the final years of the King of Rock n' Roll.

Elvis Presley and Graceland were fixtures in Ginger Alden’s life; after all, she was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. But she had no idea that she would play a part in that enduring legacy. For more than three decades Ginger has held the truth of their relationship close to her heart. Now she shares her unique story…

In her own words, Ginger details their whirlwind romance—from first kiss to his stunning proposal of marriage. And for the very first time, she talks about the devastating end of it all and the fifty thousand mourners and reporters who descended on Graceland in 1977, exposing Ginger to the reality of living in the spotlight of a short yet immortal life.

Above it all, Ginger rescues Elvis from the hearsay, rumors, and tabloid speculations of his final year by shedding a frank yet personal light on a very public legend. From a unique and intimate perspective, she reveals the man—complicated, romantic, fallible, and human—behind the myth, a superstar worshipped by millions and loved by Ginger Alden.

INCLUDES PHOTOS

Millions have visited the museums that bear her name, yet few know much about Madame Tussaud. A celebrated artist, she had both a ringside seat at and a cameo role in the French Revolution. A victim and survivor of one of the most tumultuous times in history, this intelligent, pragmatic businesswoman has also had an indelible impact on contemporary culture, planting the seed of our obsession with celebrity.

In Madame Tussaud, Kate Berridge tells this fascinating woman's complete story for the first time, drawing upon a wealth of sources, including Tussaud's memoirs and historical archives. It is a grand-scale success story, revealing how with sheer graft and grit a woman born in 1761 to an eighteen-year-old cook overcame extraordinary reversals of fortune to build the first and most enduring worldwide brand identified simply by reference to its founder's name: Madame Tussaud's.

An examination of every Pink Floyd song from ‘Arnold Layne’ to ‘Louder Than Words’The stories behind the songs, their context within the parent albums and the times they were written and recordedWho played what in the studio and when the songs were played liveWhat the band and critics had/have to say about their musical development

From ‘Arnold Layne’ to ‘Louder than Words’, Pink Floyd wrote about anger, isolation, regret, dismay, and fear. These themes, not always obvious starting points in popular music, were married to a rare dynamism that would make Pink Floyd stand out from the crowd.

Pink Floyd’s most successful period critically and musically – the eight albums from 1970 to 1983 – combines the pithy lyrics of Roger Waters, the soulful voice and breath-taking guitar solos of David Gilmour and, until 1979, the jazz-influenced piano and keyboard abilities of the late Richard Wright. In varying permutations, these three wrote the band’s best work. However, when working together as equals, the three principals of Pink Floyd were significantly more than the sum of their individual strengths.

Pink Floyd: Song by Song takes a fresh look at the songs, which led to Pink Floyd becoming the third best-selling band of all time. Written in a wry and engaging style, this book will delight the aficionado and the newcomer alike, as it re-listens to the complete works of a unique band. 

Here, from the incomparable John Waters, is a paean to the power of subversive inspiration that will delight, amuse, enrich—and happily horrify readers everywhere.

Role Models is, in fact, a self-portrait told through intimate profiles of favorite personalities—some famous, some unknown, some criminal, some surprisingly middle-of-the-road. From Esther Martin, owner of the scariest bar in Baltimore, to the playwright Tennessee Williams; from the atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair to the insane martyr Saint Catherine of Siena; from the English novelist Denton Welch to the timelessly appealing singer Johnny Mathis—these are the extreme figures who helped the author form his own brand of neurotic happiness.

Role Models is a personal invitation into one of the most unique, perverse, and hilarious artistic minds of our time.

Denounced as a charlatan and fêted as a mystic, French artist Yves Klein (1928–62) scandalized the art world with his enthusiastic embrace of postwar mass culture and his exploitation of controversial publicity tactics. Today, we know Yves Klein not only as one of the most radical artists of the postwar period, but also as an iconic role model for contemporary practices—he reinvented abstract painting, conceived new horizons for performance art, and was a trailblazer in the realm of land, body, and conceptual art. In this new critical biography, Nuit Banai examines the relationship between Klein’s brief life and his wide repertoire of artistic practices.

While surveying the artist’s life, Banai establishes that Klein’s brilliance was, above all, performative, revealing that he created and inhabited myriad public identities: bourgeois, judo expert, painter, avant-garde artist, collaborator, politician, fascist, and showman, among others. With each persona, Banai shows, Klein invented new ways to communicate his paradoxical message of spiritual enlightenment and Dada iconoclasm to a rapt and unsuspecting audience. Illuminating the many facets of Klein’s influential artistic career, Yves Klein is an invaluable introduction to the inventor of the inimitable International Klein Blue.

“I had experienced absolute freedom—I had felt that my body was without boundaries, limitless; that pain didn’t matter, that nothing mattered at all—and it intoxicated me.”

In 2010, more than 750,000 people stood in line at Marina Abramović’s MoMA retrospective for the chance to sit across from her and communicate with her nonverbally in an unprecedented durational performance that lasted more than 700 hours. This celebration of nearly fifty years of groundbreaking performance art demonstrated once again that Marina Abramović is truly a force of nature.

The child of Communist war-hero parents under Tito’s regime in postwar Yugoslavia, she was raised with a relentless work ethic. Even as she was beginning to build an international artistic career, Marina lived at home under her mother’s abusive control, strictly obeying a 10 p.m. curfew. But nothing could quell her insatiable curiosity, her desire to connect with people, or her distinctly Balkan sense of humor—all of which informs her art and her life. The beating heart of Walk Through Walls is an operatic love story—a twelve-year collaboration with fellow performance artist Ulay, much of which was spent penniless in a van traveling across Europe—a relationship that began to unravel and came to a dramatic end atop the Great Wall of China.

Marina’s story, by turns moving, epic, and dryly funny, informs an incomparable artistic career that involves pushing her body past the limits of fear, pain, exhaustion, and danger in an uncompromising quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. A remarkable work of performance in its own right, Walk Through Walls is a vivid and powerful rendering of the unparalleled life of an extraordinary artist.

Norman Rockwell’s tremendously successful, prolific career as a painter and illustrator has rendered him a twentieth-century American icon. However, the very popularity and accessibility of his idealized, nostalgic depictions of middleclass life have caused him to be considered not a serious artist but a “mere illustrator”–a disparagement only reinforced by the hundreds of memorable covers he drew for The Sunday Evening Post.

Symptomatic of critics’ neglect is the fact that Rockwell has never before been the subject of a serious critical biography. Based on private family archives and interviews and publishes to coincide with a major two-year travelling retrospective of his work, this book reveals for the first time the driven workaholic who had three complicated marriages and was a distant father —so different from the loving, all-American-dad image widely held to this day. Critically acclaimed author Laura Claridge also breaks new ground with her reappraisal of Rockwell’s art, arguing that despite his popular sentimental style, his artistry was masterful, complex, and far more manipulative than people realize.

Emily Carr’s journals from 1927 to 1941 portray the happy, productive period when she was able to resume painting after dismal years of raising dogs and renting out rooms to pay the bills. These revealing entries convey her passionate connection with nature, her struggle to find her voice as a writer, and her vision and philosophy as a painter.

James Baldwin was one of the great writers of the last century. In works that have become part of the American canon—Go Tell It on a Mountain, Giovanni’s Room, Another Country, The Fire Next Time, and The Evidence of Things Not Seen—he explored issues of race and racism in America, class distinction, and sexual difference. A gay, African American writer who was born in Harlem, he found the freedom to express himself living in exile in Paris. When he returned to America to cover the Civil Rights movement, he became an activist and controversial spokesman for the movement, writing books that became bestsellers and made him a celebrity, landing him on the cover of Time.

In this biography, which Library Journal called “indispensable,” David Leeming creates an intimate portrait of a complex, troubled, driven, and brilliant man. He plumbs every aspect of Baldwin’s life: his relationships with the unknown and the famous, including painter Beauford Delaney, Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, Marlon Brando, Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne, and childhood friend Richard Avedon; his expatriate years in France and Turkey; his gift for compassion and love; the public pressures that overwhelmed his quest for happiness, and his passionate battle for black identity, racial justice, and to “end the racial nightmare and achieve our country.”

Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Leonardo da Vinci's life is fascinating; he is the prototypical Renaissance man, and acknowledged genius. Leonardo's Notebooks explores this biography in his own words and in his art, connecting moments of his life to artistic accomplishments. Exploring this image-filled book is as close to reading Da Vinci's diaries as we can get. Leonardo da Vinci, artist, inventor, and prototypical Renaissance man, is a perennial source of fascination because of his astonishing intellect and boundless curiosity about the natural and man-made world. During his life he created numerous works of art and kept voluminous notebooks that detailed his artistic and intellectual pursuits. The collection of writings and art in this magnificent book are drawn from his notebooks. The book organizes his wide range of interests into subjects such as human figures, light and shade, perspective and visual perception, anatomy, botany and landscape, geography, the physical sciences and astronomy, architecture, sculpture, and inventions. Nearly every piece of writing throughout the book is keyed to the piece of artwork it describes. The writing and art is selected by art historian H. Anna Suh, who provides fascinating commentary and insight into the material, making Leonardo's Notebooks an exquisite single-volume compendium celebrating his enduring genius.

This is the life of one of the most revolutionary artists in history, told through the story of six of his greatest masterpieces: “The one indispensable guide for encountering Michelangelo on his home turf” (The Dallas Morning News).

Michelangelo stands alone as a master of painting, sculpture, and architecture, a man who reinvented the practice of art itself. Throughout his long career he clashed with patrons by insisting that he had no master but his own demanding muse. Michelangelo was ambitious, egotistical, and difficult, but through the towering force of genius and through sheer pugnaciousness, he transformed the way we think about art.

Miles Unger narrates the life of this tormented genius through six of his greatest masterpieces. Each work expanded the expressive range of the medium, from the Pietà carved by a brash young man of twenty-four, to the apocalyptic Last Judgment, the work of an old man weighed down by the unimaginable suffering he had witnessed. In the gargantuan David he depicts Man in the glory of his youth, while in the tombs he carved for his Medici overlords he offers perhaps history’s most sustained meditation on death and the afterlife of the soul. In the vast expanse of the Sistine Chapel ceiling he tells the epic story of Creation. During the final decades of his life, his hands too unsteady to wield the brush and chisel, he exercised his mind by raising the soaring vaults and dome of St. Peter’s in a final tribute to his God.

“A deeply human tribute to one of the most accomplished and fascinating figures inthe history of Western culture” (The Boston Globe), Michelangelo brings to life the irascible, egotistical, and undeniably brilliant man whose artistry continues to amaze and inspire us after five hundred years.

A vivid memoir of food and family, survival and triumph, Love, Loss, and What We Ate traces the arc of Padma Lakshmi’s unlikely path from an immigrant childhood to a complicated life in front of the camera—a tantalizing blend of Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone and Nora Ephron’s Heartburn

Long before Padma Lakshmi ever stepped onto a television set, she learned that how we eat is an extension of how we love, how we comfort, how we forge a sense of home—and how we taste the world as we navigate our way through it. Shuttling between continents as a child, she lived a life of dislocation that would become habit as an adult, never quite at home in the world. And yet, through all her travels, her favorite food remained the simple rice she first ate sitting on the cool floor of her grandmother’s kitchen in South India.

Poignant and surprising, Love, Loss, and What We Ate is Lakshmi’s extraordinary account of her journey from that humble kitchen, ruled by ferocious and unforgettable women, to the judges’ table of Top Chef and beyond. It chronicles the fierce devotion of the remarkable people who shaped her along the way, from her headstrong mother who flouted conservative Indian convention to make a life in New York, to her Brahmin grandfather—a brilliant engineer with an irrepressible sweet tooth—to the man seemingly wrong for her in every way who proved to be her truest ally. A memoir rich with sensual prose and punctuated with evocative recipes, it is alive with the scents, tastes, and textures of a life that spans complex geographies both internal and external.

Love, Loss, and What We Ate is an intimate and unexpected story of food and family—both the ones we are born to and the ones we create—and their enduring legacies.

Get healthy in just 15 days with this diet plan from Harley Pasternak, the celebrity trainer and New York Times bestselling author frequently featured on Khloe Kardashian's Revenge Body

We've gone way overboard trying to beat the bulge. We've tried every diet out there—low-carb, low-fat, all-grapefruit—and spent hours toiling on treadmills and machines, to no avail. It's time to hit the reset button and start over with a new perspective on weight loss.

In The Body Reset Diet, celebrity trainer and New York Times bestselling author Harley Pasternak offers you the ultimate plan for a thinner, healthier, happier life. This three-phase program focuses on the easiest, most effective way to slim down: blending. The 5-day jump-start includes delicious, expertly crafted smoothies (White Peach Ginger, Apple Pie, and Pina Colada, to name a few), dips, snacks, and soups that keep you satisfied while boosting your metabolism. Over the following 10 days, the plan reintroduces healthy combinations of classic dishes along with the blended recipes to keep the metabolism humming, so you will continue to torch calories and shed pounds.

The plan also explains how the easiest form of exercise—walking—along with light resistance training is all it takes to achieve the celebrity-worthy physique that we all desire. No equipment necessary! Whether you are looking to lose significant weight or just those last 5 pounds, The Body Reset Dietoffers a proven program to reset, slim down, and get healthy in just 15 days—and stay that way for good!

The cookbook that launched Yotam Ottolenghi as an international food celebrity

If you are a fan of Plenty More, Forks Over Knives, Smitten Kitchen Every Day, or On Vegetables, you'll love this Ottolenghi cookbook

A vegetarian cookbook from the author of Jerusalem: A Cookbook and other Ottolenghi cookbooks: A must-have collection of 120 vegetarian recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi featuring exciting flavors and fresh combinations that will become mainstays for readers and eaters looking for a brilliant take on vegetables.

Mastering the art of French cooking the Yotam Ottolenghi way: One of the most exciting talents in the cooking world, Yotam Ottolenghi's food inspiration comes from his Cordon Bleu training, Mediterranean background, and his unapologetic love of ingredients. "My approach can be the opposite to traditional French cooking, where everything is a little bit uniform and you work hard to process a sauce into the most fine and homogenous thing. I go the other way and use spices, herbs and other ingredients to create a sense of surprise." Not a vegetarian himself, his approach to vegetable dishes is wholly original and innovative, based on freshness and seasonality, and drawn from the diverse food cultures represented in London.

The Plenty cookbook: Plenty is the cookbook that launched Yotam Ottolenghi from a fabulous chef, London restaurant owner, and British newspaper columnist to an international food celebrity. In the Plenty cookbook, Yotam puts a spotlight on vegetarian restaurant-caliber recipes that every home cook can make. A vibrant photo accompanies every recipe in this visually stunning Ottolenghi cookbook. Essential for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike!

Plenty is an indispensable cookbook for every home library.

The ULTIMATE collection: Over 200 recipes for burgers, sliders, sloppies, fries, and sides.

The Queen of Burgers has drawn together her tastiest recipes for the ultimate between-the-buns experience. Whether you're cooking for one or for one hundred in your own backyard burger bash, The Book of Burger has you covered for bringing family and friends together for the love of burgers! Please 'em all—big and small—with everything from burgers to sandwiches, hot dogs, fries, sliders, and sloppies, and so much more.
Start with Rach's "Big Spicy Mac," tempting you from the cover, or go with the heavenly French Onion Burgers. And if beef isn't your thing, there are plenty of chicken, pork, salmon, veggie, and lamb patties. Want a mind-blowing sandwich? Whip up the BEST one Rachael has ever made: the 7-Hour Smoked Brisket Sandwich with Smoky BBQ Sauce. Rachael even shares her legendary pickle recipe and her own homemade burger blend. Want a fun, cute, tasty bite-size treat to pass around? Rachael is slider obsessed and you will be, too: try the Mexican Pulled Pork Sliders.
Rachael's friends from the New York and South Beach Wine & Food Festivals' Burger Bashes also contribute their award-winning recipes, including Bobby Flay's Louisiana Burger and Masaharu Morimoto's Kakuni Burger.
Twelve original videos (directly accessible by links throughout the text) make The Book of Burger a truly multimedia experience and a smart book that celebrates the infinite possibilities of everybody's favorite food.

"I've gone through all my books and put together this collection of my most treasured recipes and memories for the holiday season to share with you...You'll find a few new dishes, a sprinkling of new holiday stories, and some family pictures you might not have seen before."

There's no holiday Paula Deen loves better than Christmas, when she opens her home to family and friends, and traditions old and new make the days merry and bright. Filled with Paula's trademark Southern charm and happy reminiscences of Yuletide seasons past, Christmas with Paula Deen is a collection of beloved holiday recipes and stories interspersed with cherished family photographs. Included are Paula's most requested homemade gifts of food; a collection of cookies sure to become your family's favorites; easy dishes for a Christmas breakfast or brunch that will let you enjoy the food and your guests; impressive fare for Christmas dinner and holiday entertaining and, of course, spectacular cakes, puddings, pies, and other sweet things.

"So Merry Christmas, y'all, and best dishes and best wishes from me and my family to yours."

Joy the Baker Cookbook includes everything from "Man Bait" Apple Crisp to Single Lady Pancakes to Peanut Butter Birthday Cake. Joy's philosophy is that everyone loves dessert; most people are just looking for an excuse to eat cake for breakfast.

TLC’s beloved Buddy Valastro is not only a master baker and the Cake Boss, he’s also a great cook and star of the hit show, Kitchen Boss. Now he shares 100 delicious, essential Italian-American recipes—from his grandmother’s secret dishes to his personal favorites—with his own signature touches that make dinner a family event.

TLC’s beloved Buddy Valastro is not only a master baker, he’s also a great cook—the boss of his home kitchen as well as of his famous bakery, Carlo’s Bake Shop. Home cooking is even more vital for the Valastro family than the work they do at the bakery. Every Sunday, the whole clan gathers to cook and eat Sunday Gravy—their family recipe for hearty tomato sauce. These nourishing meals are the glue of their family. Cooking Italian with the Cake Boss shares 100 delicious Italian- American recipes beloved by Buddy’s family, from his grandmother’s secret dishes to Buddy’s personal favorites, with Buddy’s own signature touches that make dinner a family event.

Buddy Valastro is renowned worldwide as the Cake Boss, but Buddy knows far more than just desserts. He makes classic dishes like Pasta Carbonara, Shrimp Scampi, and Eggplant Parmesan even more irresistible with his singular flair and with old-school tips passed down through generations. With his friendly charm, he guides even novice cooks from appetizers through more complicated dishes, and all 100 easy-to-follow recipes use ingredients that are obtainable and affordable. Your family will love sitting down at the table to eat Steak alla Buddy, Auntie Anna’s Manicotti, Mozzarella-and- Sausage-Stuffed Chicken, Veal Saltimbocca, Buddy’s Swiss Chard, and mouthwatering desserts like Lemon Granita, Apple Snacking Cake, Cocoa-Hazelnut Cream with Berries, and Rockin’ Rice Pudding.

Buddy’s recipes allow home cooks to become the bosses of their own kitchens, and anyone will be able to whip up a tasty and nutritious Italian dinner. Filled with luscious full-color photography and with stories from the irrepressible Valastro clan, Cooking Italian with the Cake Boss shows how to create new takes on traditional dishes that will make your famiglia happy.

***

My family, the Valastros, makes its living by baking and selling just about anything you can think of at Carlo’s Bake Shop. It’s what we’re known for. But there’s another side to our family and our relationship to food, and it’s just as personal, maybe even more personal, than what we do at the bakery. I’m talking about the recipes and dishes, meals and traditions that nourish our bodies and souls when we get home. Just like any other family, we enjoy chilling out and spending time together, and there’s no way we’d rather do that than around a table, a place that keeps us grounded and connected to each other as well as to the relatives who came before us. As proud as I am of our professional success, I’m just as proud that we’ve been able to continue making time for our family and extended family—and we’re talking a lot of people— to meet several times a week and eat together.

And now I’m honored to share with you my family’s favorite recipes and to tell you the stories of what makes them so near and dear to our hearts. I hope they might become favorites for your family as well, that they help you create memories to last a lifetime, the same way they’ve done for us Valastros.

-- Buon Appetito, Buddy Valastro

From the host of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown and bestselling author of Kitchen Confidential, this wonderful book sees Bourdain travelling the world discovering exotic foods.

Dodging minefields in Cambodia, diving into the icy waters outside a Russian bath, Chef Bourdain travels the world over in search of the ultimate meal. The only thing Anthony Bourdain loves as much as cooking is traveling, and A Cook's Tour is the shotgun marriage of his two greatest passions. Inspired by the question, 'What would be the perfect meal?', Anthony sets out on a quest for his culinary holy grail.

Our adventurous chef starts out in Japan, where he eats traditional Fugu, a poisonous blowfish which can be prepared only by specially licensed chefs. He then travels to Cambodia, up the mine-studded road to Pailin into autonomous Khmer Rouge territory and to Phnom Penh's Gun Club, where local fare is served up alongside a menu of available firearms. In Saigon, he's treated to a sustaining meal of live Cobra heart before moving on to savor a snack with the Viet Cong in the Mecong Delta. Further west, Kitchen Confidential fans will recognize the Gironde of Tony's youth, the first stop on his European itinerary. And from France, it's on to Portugal, where an entire village has been fattening a pig for months in anticipation of his arrival. And we're only halfway around the globe. . . A Cook's Tour recounts, in Bourdain's inimitable style, the adventures and misadventures of America's favorite chef.

Learn the art of bread making through techniques and recipes for making pizza dough, challah, bagels, sourdough, and more!

Co-founder of the legendary Brother Juniper’s Bakery, author of the landmark books Brother Juniper’s Bread Book and Crust & Crumb, and distinguished instructor at the world’s largest culinary academy, Peter Reinhart has been a leader in America’s artisanal bread movement for over fifteen years. Never one to be content with yesterday’s baking triumph, however, Peter continues to refine his recipes and techniques in his never-ending quest for extraordinary bread.

In The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, Peter shares his latest bread breakthroughs, arising from his study in several of France’s famed boulangeries and the always-enlightening time spent in the culinary academy kitchen with his students. Peer over Peter’s shoulder as he learns from Paris’s most esteemed bakers, like Lionel Poilâne and Phillippe Gosselin, whose pain à l’ancienne has revolutionized the art of baguette making. Then stand alongside his students in the kitchen as Peter teaches the classic twelve stages of building bread, his clear instructions accompanied by over 100 step-by-step photographs.

You’ll put newfound knowledge into practice with 50 new master formulas for such classic breads as rustic ciabatta, hearty pain de campagne, old-school New York bagels, and the book’s Holy Grail: Peter’s version of the famed pain à l’ancienne. En route, Peter distills hard science, advanced techniques, and food history into a remarkably accessible and engaging resource that is as rich and multitextured as the loaves you’ll turn out. This is original food writing at its most captivating, teaching at its most inspired and inspiring—and the rewards are some of the best breads under the sun.

Stephanie Izard knows how to inspire, captivate, and cook up a storm. Fan favorite and the first and only woman to win on TV's Top Chef, she's also the chef and owner of the acclaimed Girl & the Goat restaurant in Chicago. The Girl in the Kitchen collects more than 100 of Izard's best recipes, from innovative appetizers like Asian-Spiced English Peas to luscious desserts like Quince and Fig Cobbler with Vanilla Mascarpone. Beautifully photographed and bursting with flavor, personality, and insights into the top chef's process including where she finds her cooking muses, how she shops for food, and which beers and wines she chooses to accompany her meals this book represents the culmination of a craft and provides inspiration that reaches far beyond the kitchen walls.

THE ONLY OFFICIAL KHLOÉ KARDASHIAN BOOK

“There is no such thing as perfect. Nobody attains perfection. But if you keep trying, you grow and evolve, and to me that’s the point: To be a better person today than I was yesterday; to become the best possible version of myself.” —KHLOÉ KARDASHIAN

Khloé Kardashian shares her secrets for finding strength of body, mind, and heart with revelatory stories of her own struggles with weight, relationships, and her self-image.

In a culture that worships skinny, Kardashian writes with passion about the power of strength: a strong body lays the foundation for a strong mind, which leads to strength of heart, character, and ultimately spirit. Filled with practical advice, recipes, and compelling personal anecdotes, Strong Looks Better Naked is an inspiring meditation on how to create strength, confidence, and true beauty in every facet of your life.

In her book Self-Inflicted Wounds, comedian, actress, and cohost of CBS’s daytime hit show The Talk, Aisha Tyler recounts a series of epic mistakes and hilarious stories of crushing personal humiliation, and the personal insights and authentic wisdom she gathered along the way.
 
The essays in Self-Inflicted Wounds are refreshingly and sometimes brutally honest, surprising, and laugh-out-loud funny, vividly translating the brand of humor Tyler has cultivated through her successful standup career, as well as the strong voice and unique point of view she expresses on her taste-making comedy podcast Girl on Guy.
 
Riotous, revealing, and wonderfully relatable, Aisha Tyler’s Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation is about the power of calamity to shape life, learning, and success.

Actress Drew Barrymore shares funny, insightful, and profound stories from her past and present—told from the place of happiness she's achieved today—in this heart-stirring New York Times bestseller that InStyle called “deeply thoughtful and fun.”
 
Wildflower is a portrait of Drew's life in stories as she looks back on the adventures, challenges, and incredible experiences she’s had throughout her life. It includes tales of living in her first apartment as a teenager (and how laundry may have saved her life), getting stuck under a gas station overhang on a cross-country road trip, saying good-bye to her father in a way only he could have understood, and many more journeys and lessons that have led her to the successful, happy, and healthy place she is today.

This memoir from the bestselling author of Postcards from the Edge and Wishful Drinking gives readers an intimate, gossip-filled look at what it’s like to be the daughter of Hollywood royalty.

Told with the same intimate style, brutal honesty, and uproarious wisdom that locked Wishful Drinking on the New York Times bestseller list for months, Shockaholic is the juicy account of Carrie Fisher’s life. Covering a broad range of topics—from never-before-heard tales of Hollywood gossip to outrageous moments of celebrity desperation; from alcoholism to illegal drug use; from the familial relationships of Hollywood royalty to scandalous run-ins with noteworthy politicians; from shock therapy to talk therapy—Carrie Fisher gives an intimate portrait of herself, and she’s one of the most indelible and powerful forces in culture at large today. Just as she has said of playing Princess Leia—“It isn’t all sweetness and light sabers”—Fisher takes readers on a no-holds-barred narrative adventure, both laugh-out-loud funny and poignant.

Meet the Real Danielle…

You’ve seen her on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, turning heads, raising eyebrows, and igniting feuds with her feisty suburban neighbors. Now, the always fascinating Danielle Staub gets real about her scandalous past in the year’s most explosive tell-all memoir. . . .

When she signed on to appear in a reality TV show, Danielle had no idea what she was getting herself into. Hoping for a new lease on life after her recent divorce, the single mother of two became the target of vicious gossip, heated arguments, and endless controversy. When her housewife costars confronted her with the true crime book written about her ex-husband, the you-know-what hit the fan. Danielle knew she could no longer keep her checkered past a secret—and she had to set the record straight.

This is the real Danielle Staub, in her own words, as you’ve never seen her before. The child of an unmarried Italian teenager, Danielle was born in Pennsylvania (under the name Beverly Merrill) after her mother was pressured by her well-to-do family to leave Italy and not return until after she’d put her baby up for adoption.

After years of sexual abuse, she fled to Miami, where she became a model, living the kind of lifestyle she could only dream of as a child. She partied like a rock star and with them as well, but ended up marrying a deceitful man who held dangerous secrets of his own. Soon Danielle was caught up in a tangled web of lies, drugs, and abuse that landed her in the hospital more than once.

How she survived—leaving her husband, changing her name, and finally giving birth to two lovely daughters—is one shocking story you have to read to believe. If you thought The Real Housewives of New Jersey gave you the real story of Danielle Staub, you don’t know the half of it. Filled with glamour and grit, heartbreak and heroism, this brave, no-holds-barred memoir reveals the naked truth behind reality TV’s most talked-about star.

“You either love me or you hate me, there is no in between .” —Danielle Staub

For the first time ever, one of the stars of the hit television show The Real Housewives of New Jersey tells her side of the story, including . . .

• The truth behind Cop Without a Badge, the book that shocked the other housewives in the first season’s explosive finale.

• Her flashy, fast-paced life as a Miami model—and exotic dancer.

• Her controversial arrest and time spent in prison.

• Her wild hookups with famous celebrities, including an Olympian and a Miami Vice star.

• Her abusive childhood, rocky marriages, stormy divorces—and her triumphant rise as one of television’s most intriguing personalities.

It’s all here—and all real—in this straight-from-the-hip memoir from the Real Housewife who has all of New Jersey talking . . . and the whole world watching.

“Equal parts memoir, whodunit, and manual for living . . . a beautifully written, honest look at the forces of blood and bone that make us who we are, and how we make ourselves.”  --Neil Gaiman

In his unique and engaging voice, the acclaimed actor of stage and screen shares the emotional story of his complicated relationship with his father and the deeply buried family secrets that shaped his life and career.

A beloved star of stage, television, and film—“one of the most fun people in show business” (Time magazine)—Alan Cumming is a successful artist whose diversity and fearlessness is unparalleled. His success masks a painful childhood growing up under the heavy rule of an emotionally and physically abusive father—a relationship that tormented him long into adulthood.

When television producers in the UK approached him to appear on a popular celebrity genealogy show in 2010, Alan enthusiastically agreed. He hoped the show would solve a family mystery involving his maternal grandfather, a celebrated WWII hero who disappeared in the Far East. But as the truth of his family ancestors revealed itself, Alan learned far more than he bargained for about himself, his past, and his own father.

With ribald humor, wit, and incredible insight, Alan seamlessly moves back and forth in time, integrating stories from his childhood in Scotland and his experiences today as a film, television, and theater star. At times suspenseful, deeply moving, and wickedly funny, Not My Father’s Son will make readers laugh even as it breaks their hearts.

New York Times Bestseller ● Publishers Weekly Bestseller ● Los Angeles Times Bestseller ● Wall Street Journal Bestseller

A brilliant, hilarious, and honest essay collection from #1 New York Times bestselling author and YouTube sensation Shane Dawson about how messy life can get when you’re growing up but how rewarding it can feel when the clean-up is (pretty much) done.

From his first vlog back in 2008 to his full-length film directorial debut Not Cool, Shane Dawson has been an open book when it comes to documenting his life. But behind the music video spoofs, TMI love life details, and outrageous commentary on everything the celebrity and Internet world has the nerve to dish out is a guy who grew up in a financially challenged but loving home in Long Beach, California, and who suffered all the teasing and social limitations that arise when you’re a morbidly obese kid with a pretty face, your mom is your best friend, and you can't get a date to save your life.

In I Hate Myselfie, Shane steps away from his larger-than-life Internet persona and takes us deep into the experiences of an eccentric and introverted kid, who by observing the strange world around him developed a talent that would inspire millions of fans. Intelligent, hilarious, heartbreaking, and raw, I Hate Myselfie is a collection of eighteen personal essays about how messy life can get when you’re growing up and how rewarding it can feel when the clean-up is (pretty much) done.

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.

(Includes Special, Never-Before-Solicited Opinions on Breastfeeding, Princesses, Photoshop, the Electoral Process, and Italian Rum Cake!)

Picking up where he left off in My Booky Wook, movie star and comedian Russell Brand details his rapid climb to fame and fortune in a shockingly candid, resolutely funny, and unbelievably electrifying tell-all: Booky Wook 2. Brand’s performances in Arthur, Get Him to the Greek, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall have earned him a place in fans’ hearts; now, with a drop of Chelsea Handler’s Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, a dash of Tommy Lee’s Dirt, and a spoonful of Nikki Sixx’s The Heroin Diaries, Brand goes all the way—exposing the mad genius behind the audacious comic we all know (or think we know) and love (or at least, lust).

In the intimate follow up to her New York Times bestselling memoir Sliding Into Home, Kendra Wilkinson reveals the naked truth about her life after Playboy—the secrets behind regaining her trademark sexy body, the trials of her life as a new mother, the tricks of sustaining her long-distance romance with Hank, and her busy adventures juggling the needs of her husband and baby with the demands of her hit TV career. As fans of Dancing with the Stars and Girls Next Door know, Kendra is able to tell it like it is, baring everything she’s learned about love, hardship, body image, and perseverance, all with the infectious optimism that the world loves her for.

From one of America’s iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage–and a life, in good times and bad–that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.

Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill with what seemed at first flu, then pneumonia, then complete septic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later–the night before New Year’s Eve–the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John Gregory Dunne suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of forty years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LAX, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Center to relieve a massive hematoma.

This powerful book is Didion’ s attempt to make sense of the “weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness . . . about marriage and children and memory . . . about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself.”

In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the 43-year-old editor of French Elle, suffered a massive stroke that left him permanently paralyzed, a victim of “locked in syndrome.” Once known for his gregariousness and wit, Bauby now finds himself imprisoned in an inert body, able to communicate only by blinking his left eye. The miracle is that in doing so he was able to compose this stunningly eloquent memoir.In a voice that is by turns wistful and mischievous, angry and sardonic, Bauby gives us a celebration of the liberating power of consciousness: what it is like to spend a day with his children, to imagine lying in bed beside his wife, to conjure up the flavor of delectable meals even as he is fed through at tube. Most of all, this triumphant book lets us witness an indomitable spirit and share in the pure joy of its own survival.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

“Equal parts memoir, whodunit, and manual for living . . . a beautifully written, honest look at the forces of blood and bone that make us who we are, and how we make ourselves.”  --Neil Gaiman

In his unique and engaging voice, the acclaimed actor of stage and screen shares the emotional story of his complicated relationship with his father and the deeply buried family secrets that shaped his life and career.

A beloved star of stage, television, and film—“one of the most fun people in show business” (Time magazine)—Alan Cumming is a successful artist whose diversity and fearlessness is unparalleled. His success masks a painful childhood growing up under the heavy rule of an emotionally and physically abusive father—a relationship that tormented him long into adulthood.

When television producers in the UK approached him to appear on a popular celebrity genealogy show in 2010, Alan enthusiastically agreed. He hoped the show would solve a family mystery involving his maternal grandfather, a celebrated WWII hero who disappeared in the Far East. But as the truth of his family ancestors revealed itself, Alan learned far more than he bargained for about himself, his past, and his own father.

With ribald humor, wit, and incredible insight, Alan seamlessly moves back and forth in time, integrating stories from his childhood in Scotland and his experiences today as a film, television, and theater star. At times suspenseful, deeply moving, and wickedly funny, Not My Father’s Son will make readers laugh even as it breaks their hearts.

Over the last two decades, writer-director Guillermo del Toro has mapped out a territory in the popular imagination that is uniquely his own, astonishing audiences with Cronos, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, and a host of other films and creative endeavors. Now, for the first time, del Toro reveals the inspirations behind his signature artistic motifs, sharing the contents of his personal notebooks, collections, and other obsessions. The result is a startling, intimate glimpse into the life and mind of one of the world's most creative visionaries. Complete with running commentary, interview text, and annotations that contextualize the ample visual material, this deluxe compendium is every bit as inspired as del Toro is himself.

Contains a foreword by James Cameron, an afterword by Tom Cruise, and contributions from other luminaries, including Neil Gaiman and John Landis, among others.

The story of Heart is a story of heart and soul and rock ’n’ roll. Since finding their love of music and performing as teenagers in Seattle, Washington, Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson, have been part of the American rock music landscape. From 70s classics like “Magic Man” and “Barracuda” to chart- topping 80s ballads like “Alone,” and all the way up to 2012, when they will release their latest studio album, Fanatic, Heart has been thrilling their fans and producing hit after hit. In Kicking and Dreaming, the Wilsons recount their story as two sisters who have a shared over three decades on the stage, as songwriters, as musicians, and as the leaders of one of our most beloved rock bands. An intimate, honest, and a uniquely female take on the rock and roll life, readers of bestselling music memoirs like Life by Keith Richards and Steven Tyler’s Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? will love this quintessential music story finally told from a female perspective.

Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.

“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.

"I am inclined to call this the last chapter, but how can an autobiography have a final chapter? At best, it can only be a penultimate one; nor can it be given a rounded-off conclusion, as is possible in a work of fiction." So begins the last chapter of My Days, the only memoir from R. K. Narayan, hailed as "India's most notable novelist and short-story writer" by the New York Times Book Review.

In his usual winning, humorous style, R. K. Narayan shares his life story, beginning in his grandmother's garden in Madras with his ferocious pet peacock. As a young boy with no interest in school, he trains grasshoppers, scouts, and generally takes part in life's excitements. Against the advice of all, especially his commanding headmaster father, the dreaming Narayan takes to writing fiction, and one of his pieces is accepted by Punch magazine (his "first prestige publication"). Soon his life includes bumbling British diplomats, curious movie moguls, evasive Indian officials, eccentric journalists, and "the blind urge" to fall in love. R. K. Narayan's larger-than-life perception of the human comedy is at once acute and forgiving, and always true to it.

Jim Henson's iconic puppet characters, fantastic worlds, and warm humor have delighted millions of people of all ages. His incredibly diverse body of work, from the Muppets to the world of The Dark Crystal, reveals his charm and genius to fans old and new. Compiled directly from The Jim Henson Company archives, Imagination Illustrated adapts the diary that Jim faithfully kept throughout his career, supplementing it with a trove of little-seen visual material, including rare sketches, personal and production photographs, storyboards, doodles, and much more. Throughout, archivist Karen Falk delves into the behind-the-scenes details of Henson's life and artistic process. Sure to delight anyone who has enjoyed Henson's creations—seeing early drawings of Kermit and Rowlf is like smiling over childhood photos of dear friends—this lovely book celebrates Jim's life and his magic.

“A child’s garden of vices, My Booky Wook is also a relentless ride with a comic mind clearly at the wheel.... The bloke can write. He rhapsodizes about heroin better than anyone since Jim Carroll. With the flick of his enviable pen, he can summarize childhood thus: ‘My very first utterance in life was not a single word, but a sentence. It was, ‘Don’t do that.’... Russell Brand has a compelling story." — New York Times Book Review

The gleeful and candid New York Times bestselling autobiography of addiction, recovery, and rise to fame from Russell Brand, star of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and one of the biggest personalities in comedy today.

As the artist behind the beloved Peanuts comic strip for more than 50 years, Charles Schulz—arguably the most famous cartoonist in the world—created a colorful cast of characters that continues to bring humor and comfort to millions of readers. In this distinctively designed yet highly accessible book, renowned children's biographer Beverly Gherman traces both the life events that shaped Schulz's art and the various ways in which art influenced his life in return. Acclaimed by artists ranging from Andrew Wyeth to Mo Willems, the artistic elements of Schulz's work are brought to life in a colorful layout and thoroughly explored in an enchanting text that will draw in even the most reluctant readers.