Reading may be dead, but books are alive and well What good are books, you may be wondering, if we're not going to read themWhat are we even doing in this bookstoreNot to worry! It turns out that there are literally thousands of things to do with these chunky stacks of bound tree pulp. Fun, exciting, adventurous, creative things. In fact, this familiar rectangular object suddenly offers enough dazzling new interactive possibilities to, yes, fill a book. This book. From re-creating world wonders to settling marital disputes, entertaining dinner guests to channeling your inner secret agent, here are fifty wonderfully zany things to do with all your favorite books.

Un thriller de suspense y misterio de Katerina Carter, detective privada edición Espa?ol Diamantes, peligro y desaparición La investigadora de fraudes Katerina Carter no sabe retirarse a tiempo, y eso la coloca en situaciones peligrosas y precarias. Ahora que está sin trabajo y casi sin dinero, necesita conseguir clientes o se verá obligada a volver arrastrándose al cubículo de la empresa en la que trabajaba antes. Y para Kat, ese es un destino peor que las deudas. Por eso, cuando Susan Sullivan, directora ejecutiva de Liberty Diamond Mines, la contrata para buscar al director financiero, que ha desaparecido junto con una gran suma de dinero, Kat se apresura a aceptar el trabajo. La pobreza abyecta motiva mucho a la hora de aceptar casos difíciles, pero la alegría de Kat no tarda en dar paso al terror cuando dos empleados de la empresa son brutalmente asesinados. Eso hace que se dé cuenta de que la investigación puede ser más peligrosa de lo que anticipaba. Como si el caso no fuera ya bastante complicado, descubre una conexión siniestra entre diamantes de guerra y el crimen organizado. Lo único que tiene que hacer ya es conseguir pruebas… e impedir que la maten antes de que desenmascare a los criminales. Kat cuenta con la ayuda de sus amigos y de su excéntrico tío, pero tendrá que ir con cuidado si no quiere que su primer caso sea también el último. Maniobra de evasión es un suspense legal, económico y criminal al estilo de Michael Connelly, Karin Slaughter y John Grisham. “Una historia internacional de diamantes, peligro y desaparición, Maniobra de evasión me enganchó desde la primera página…” “Maniobra de evasión, la primera novela llena de acción de la serie de suspenses de Katerina Carter, es un thriller psicológico lleno de intriga que no le permitirá dejar de leer”.. “… Tensión e intriga de vértigo”. Elogios a Maniobra de evasión “Un estupendo primer libro en una serie de suspense que supone el debut de la autora Colleen Cross… La contable forense Katerina Carter aprende del modo más duro que cuando algo huele mal, probablemente esté podrido hasta el núcleo. Hablamos de diamantes de guerra, de tráfico de armas y más… con la cantidad exacta de enredos para hacernos seguir pasando las páginas”. “Una historia internacional de diamantes, peligro y desaparición, Maniobra de evasion me agarró desde la primera página y me hizo seguir pasando páginas hasta mucho después de la hora en la que quería dormir”. La investigación de un fraude por parte de Katerina Carter saca a la luz una conspiración de blanqueo masivo de diamantes en Liberty Diamond Mines, justo cuando dos miembros claves de Liberty son asesinados. Kat podría ser la siguiente – a menos que deje ir sin castigo a los criminales. Maniobra de evasión es un suspense legal y lleno de acción en la línea de Michael Connelly y John Grisham. espa?ol,?suspense legal, policiaca negra suspense, misterio y thriller judicial, investigadora privado, acción y aventura, la chica del tren, ?ficción contemporánea,?espa?ol, hispanica, mujeres detectives, novela policiacas, novela negra

Exit Strategy, A Katerina Carter Fraud Thriller: A Psychological Crime Mystery and Legal Thriller

Unmasks the tough, street-smart persona of Charles Bukowski—America's "Ultimate Outsider" Amazing letters filled with passionate, literary, and personal observation Insights into the author of Tales of Ordinary Madness, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, and Run with the Hunted Insights into Sheri Martinelli: the protege of Anais Nin, an accomplished painter, and the mistress of Ezra Pound Charels Bukowski's persona as the Dirty Old Man of American Literature is just that: a persona, a mask beneath which there was a man better read and more cultured than most people realize. Sheri Martinelli was one of the favored few for whom Bukowski dropped the mask and engaged in serious discussion of literature and art, and for that reason the discovery and publication of his letters to her give us a more complete picture of this complicated man.

This is a collection of 175 previously unpublished works by Bukowski. It contains yarns about his childhood in the Depression and his early literary passions, his apprentice days as a hard-drinking, starving poetic aspirant, and his later years when he looks back at fate with defiance.

Tom Piazza's sharp intelligence, insight, and passion fuel this new collection of writings on music, literature, New Orleans, and America itself in desperate times. For his first book since his award-winning novel City of Refuge and his stunning and influential post-Katrina polemic Why New Orleans Matters, Piazza selects the best of his writings on American roots music and musicians, including his Grammy-winning album notes for Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues; his classic profile of bluegrass legend Jimmy Martin; essays on Jimmie Rodgers, Charley Patton, and Bob Dylan; and much more. In the book's second section, Piazza turns his attention to literature, politics, and post-Katrina America in articles and essays on subjects ranging from Charlie Chan movies to the life and work of Norman Mailer, from the New Orleans housing crisis to the BP oil spill, from Jelly Roll Morton's Library of Congress recordings to the future of books. The third and final section delivers a startlingly original meditation on fiction, sentimentality, and cynicism a major new essay from this brilliant, unpredictable, and absolutely necessary writer.

With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.

The epic story of a publishing giantIn 1817 four young brothers opened a printing shop in downtown Manhattan. Two centuries later, their small enterprise has grown into one of the world's largest and most successful publishing houses. The Harper brothers and their sons and successors created a grand cultural institution that has become a cornerstone of America's literary heritage.Eugene Exman's classic history, published in 1967, The House of Harper is the fascinating account of the birth and growth of a magnificent literary empire. Richly detailed, it is filled with portraits of dynamic publishers and editors, with remarkable anecdotes about the legendary artists and authors whose works they championed and brought to the general public Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Winslow Homer, Henry James, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Thomas Wolfe, and Aldous Huxley, to name but a few. More than the enthralling saga of a successful business venture, it is a story of the shaping of American literature and culture.

In 1859, at age fourteen, Florence Szász stood before a room full of men and waited to be auctioned to the highest bidder. But slavery and submission were not to be her destiny: Sam Baker, a wealthy English gentleman and eminent adventurer, was moved by compassion and an immediate, overpowering empathy for the young woman, and braved extraordinary perils to help her escape. Together, Florence and Sam -- whose love would remain passionate and constant throughout their lives -- forged into literally uncharted territory in a glorious attempt to unravel a mysterious and magnificent enigma called Africa.A stunning achievement, To the Heart of the Nile is an unforgettable portrait of an unforgettable woman: a story of discovery, bravery, determination, and love, meticulously reconstructed through journals, documents, and private papers, and told in the inimitable narrative style that has already won Pat Shipman resounding international acclaim.

Imagine a world without late planes, missed connections, lost luggage, bumped passengers, cramped seating, high fees and higher fares, surly employees, and security lines. . . . Ordinary travel is an extraordinary ordeal. Yet despite the high prices and huge hassles, travel is essential along with the need for tips, tricks, and techniques to improve the journey. The Wall Street Journal Guide to Power Travel is an entertaining road trip and a helpful guide, drawn from Scott McCartney's popular Middle Seat column, which explains why bad things happen to good travelers and what you can do to improve your lot. Expert advice and tips include: How to get cheap fares, first-class upgrades, and better seats. How to minimize chances of lost luggage and what to do when baggage doesn't show up. How to avoid delays, get around TSA bottlenecks, and minimize the chances you'll get stuck at some distant airport and what to do if you do get stuck. How to complain to an airline and get some attention, right down to what to ask for in compensation and how to get the government's attention.

Drawing on hundreds of specialist sources, contemporary and archival, Patriot Battles is the comprehensive one-volume study of the military aspects of the War of Independence. The first part of the book offers a richly detailed examination of the nuts and bolts of eighteenth-century combat: For example, who fought and what motivated them, whether patriot or redcoat, Hessian or FrenchmanHow were they enlisted and trainedHow were they clothed and fedWhat weapons did they use, and how effective were theyWhen soldiers became casualties or fell ill, how did medical services deal with themWhat roles did loyalists, women, blacks, and Indians play?The second part of the book gives a closer look at the war's greatest battles, with maps provided for each. Which men were involved, and how manyWhat was the state of their morale and equipmentWhat parts did terrain and weather playWhat were the qualities of the respective commanders, and what tactics did they employHow many casualties were inflictedAnd no less important, how did the soldiers fightThroughout, many cherished myths are challenged, reputations are reassessed, and long-held assumptions are tested. For all readers, Patriot Battles becomes not only one of the most satisfying and illuminating works to be added to the literature on the War of Independence in many years but also a refreshing wind blowing through some of its dustier corridors.

Your house is burning. You have to get out fast. Suddenly you are forced to prioritize, editing down a lifetime of possessions to a mere handful. Now you must decide: Of all the things you own, what is most important to you?The practicalYour laptop, your smartphone, what you need to keep working and stayin touchThe valuableYour money, your jewelry, the limited edition signed poster in the living room?The sentimentalThe watch your late grandfather gave you, the diary you kept as a teenagerWhat you choose to bring with you speaks volumes about who you are and what you believe in your interests, your background, your view of life. With contributions from all over the world, The Burning House is an eye-opening pictorial meditation on materialism; an in-depth, intensely personal interview contained in a single question; a revealing window into the human heart.

As featured in Newsweek, Time, USA Today, and on Oprah, Dateline NBC, MTV and 20/20, this leading sexuality educator now helps parents guide their children through the difficult adolescent years from the author of From Diapers to Dating.Debra Haffner's valuable, award-winning book first book on raising sexually healthy children, From Diapers to Dating, helps parents through the infant-to-age-12 period. Her sequel, Beyond the Big Talk, now guides them through the difficult adolescent years, when they are likely to confront such issues as peer pressure, dating and parties, alcohol and drugs, harassment, abstinence, and much more. Organized by age group middle school (grades seven and eight), early high school (grades nine and ten), late high school (grades eleven and twelve), and beyond (ages 18 and up), each section provides: "Values Exercises" to help parents decide their own beliefs on various topics, and how to communicate them to their teen. "Special Issues" advice on topics such as eating disorders, date rape, sexual violence, and dealing with your teen's questions about your own sexual history. Advice on finding "teachable moments" with your teens entry points into discussions on important topics in television, in the movies, and in your daily lives. A frank and supportive foreword by Haffner's teen-age daughter, Alyssa, gives a young person's perspective on the challenges teens face every day. An extensive Appendix offers a wealth of books, websites, and organizations for both teens and their parents. In her trademark "realistic, practical, and informative" style (Kirkus Reviews), Haffner's values-oriented approach is an invaluable resource to both parents and children.

In 2008, Bonner Paddock summited 19,341-foot-high mount kilimanjaro, the world's tallest freestanding mountain. Four years later, he earned the elite triathlete title kona Ironman. Thousands have done each individually. Bonner is the first person with cerebral palsy to do both.Bonner Paddock grew up just wanting to be ordinary. Despite his skinny legs and habit of tripping over nothing, he fought to keep up with his athletic older brothers, learned to battle riptides with his grandfather on close watch, and did everything he could to feel like a regular kid, even when it became clear he wasn't. After being diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age eleven, Bonner didn't let it limit him instead he simply ignored its existence. For the next eighteen years, he guarded the truth about his health, building a normal life and keeping his secret from everyone most of all himself.But the sudden death of a friend's young son named Jake, a boy who also suffered from cerebral palsy, forced Bonner to reevaluate who he was. No longer content striving for normal, he began to pursue one breathtaking experience after another in Jake's memory, never hiding from his physical limitations and, in the process, raising international awareness about cerebral palsy. T is appetite for challenges led him to the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro where, pushing his fragile body to the brink and barely surviving, he braved one mountain only to discover that he still had farther to climb.Embracing his weaknesses to understand his strengths, he then pursued the ultimate adventure: testing his mind, body, and will at the Ironman in Kona, Hawaii, a race regarded by many as the hardest on earth. Along the way he forged a renewed bond with his family and launched a foundation to help disabled children in Africa and at home.In the end, his remarkable journey took him across the globe and introduced him to a compelling cast of characters from Tanzanian mountain guides to top-class surgeons, to disabled children, to champion athletes all of whom inspired his quest. Infused with his irresistible charisma, courage, and heart, and illustrated with sixteen pages of color photos, One More Step is a gripping story of human perseverance that demonstrates how our lives are not defined by limits, but by the moments and lessons that push us past them.

From the author of the bestselling Dorothy Dandridge comes a dazzling look at one of America's brightest and most troubled theatrical stars. Almost no other star of the twentieth century reimagined herself with such audacity and durable talent as did Ethel Waters. In this enlightening and engaging biography, Donald Bogle resurrects this astonishing woman from the annals of history, shedding new light on the tumultuous twists and turns of her seven-decade career, which began in Black vaudeville and reached new heights in the steamy nightclubs of 1920s Harlem. Bogle traces Waters' life from her poverty-stricken childhood to her rise in show business; her career as one of the early blues and pop singers, with such hits as "Am I Blue?," "Stormy Weather," and "Heat Wave"; her success as an actress, appearing in such films and plays as The Member of the Wedding and Mamba's Daughters; and through her lonely, painful final years. He illuminates Waters' turbulent private life, including her complicated feelings toward her mother and various lovers; her heated and sometimes well-known feuds with such entertainers as Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, and Lena Horne; and her tangled relationships with such legends as Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Harold Clurman, Elia Kazan, Count Basie, Darryl F. Zanuck, Vincente Minnelli, Fred Zinnemann, Moss Hart, and John Ford.In addition, Bogle explores the ongoing racial battles, growing paranoia, and midlife religious conversion of this bold, brash, wildly talented woman while examining the significance of her highly publicized life to audiences unaccustomed to the travails of a larger-than-life African American woman.Wonderfully atmospheric, richly detailed, and drawn from an array of candid interviews, Heat Wave vividly brings to life a major cultural figure of the twentieth century a charismatic, complex, and compelling woman, both tragic and triumphant.

When Hope Edelman, author of the New York Times bestseller Motherless Daughters, became a parent, she found herself revisiting the loss of her mother in ways she had never anticipated. Now the mother of two young girls, Edelman set out to learn how the loss of a mother to death or abandonment can affect the ways women raise their own children. In Motherless Mothers, Edelman uses her own story as a prism to reveal the unique anxieties and desires that these women experience as they raise their children without the help of a living maternal guide. In an impeccably researched, luminously written book enriched by the voices of the mothers themselves and filled with practical insight and advice from experienced professionals she examines their parenting choices, their triumphs, and their fears, and offers motherless mothers the guidance and support they want and need.

"Remember, it's not just about the food—it has to be an experience." Thirty-one-year-old Jesse Schenker has rocketed to the top of the culinary world. An Iron Chef winner and a James Beard nominee, he was voted Best New Chef by New York magazine, and his acclaimed Recette was named Best New Restaurant by the New York Times. Manhattan magazine has called him "a boy wonder . . . young, hungry, and talented," while Zagat has hailed him as a "wunderkind." But Jesse's epic rise masks a little-known past filled with demons and obsession, genius and mania. "For as long as I can remember, I've had this unquenchable thirst to keep moving, going, and doing. I've never felt comfortable in my own skin and have always needed an outlet for that uneasiness." Jesse first found that outlet in the South Florida kitchens where he showed great promise as a teenager, but it was in those same kitchens that he was introduced to the world of hard drugs. He was fourteen when he first got arrested and seventeen when he became physically addicted to Oxycontin. Becoming a high school dropout addicted to heroin and crack, alienated from his family and wanted by the cops, by the age of twenty-one Jesse had overdosed and nearly been beaten to death while robbing, cheating, and lying to everyone in his life. After getting arrested and going to jail, Jesse got clean and slowly put back together the pieces of his fractured life, ultimately channeling the same energy that had earlier fueled his addiction into making a name for himself in the fast-paced, competitive New York restaurant scene. In this startling and down-to-earth memoir, he lays it all on the table for the first time, coming clean about his insatiable appetite for the extreme—which has led to his biggest triumphs and failures—and shares the shocking story of his turbulent life. All or Nothing is a candid exploration of the manic culture of some of the world's most celebrated kitchens. A drug-fueled, anxiety-ridden epic, it reads like a rollicking rock-and-roll memoir—with amazing food.

Two producers of Today share their experiences and wisdom on baby's first year, along with priceless advice and anecdotes from the anchors and experts on America's number-one morning show.Being a new mother can be extremely nerve-racking and exhausting, and many moms find parenting advice, comfort, and humor on the Today show. Now all that advice and more is collected in Today's Moms, a one-stop guide to everything a new mother needs to know about her baby's first year, from the best breastfeeding products to reclaiming fun and intimacy with her partner after the baby. Full of behind-the-scenes stories with moms and experts, Today's Moms provides the most up-to-date news and information with easy, entertaining ways to help mothers keep their sanity. And it's all medically reviewed by NBC medical experts Dr. Nancy Snyderman and Dr. Tanya Benenson.Contributors include Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry, Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Kathie Lee Gifford, and many others. Written in a friendly and accessible tone, with straightforward, honest advice and expert information, Today's Moms will help all moms feel more confident about their first year of motherhood.

Professional blackjack player Kevin Blackwood shares his million-dollar winning strategies for mastering the odds and consistently beating the house at their own game. Play Blackjack Like the Pros is the requisite introduction to the modern game of blackjack, including high and low stakes casino, shoe games (several decks shuffled together), online, and tournaments. Blackwood begins with the basic rules of play and then moves on to teach his proven card-counting method, broken-down into three levels: novice, recreational, and professional. He also covers camouflaging techniques (it's perfectly legal to count cards, but if the house catches you they will kick you out), money management, and team play. Blackwood includes many stories of his and other professionals' triumphs at the tables and keeps the highly technical language that bogs down most gaming books to an absolute minimum. Play Blackjack Like the Pros is written in the style of Phil Hellmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros using easy-to-understand lessons that all levels of players can quickly benefit from. Blackwood is one of the world's top card counters. He began with only a few hundred dollars and has won over a million playing blackjack. In Play Blackjack Like the Pros he demonstrates how to earn over $10,000 a month from just a few days work. Blackjack is set to balloon in popularity. Ben Mezrich's book on the MIT card counting team Bringing Down the House was on the New York Times bestseller list for weeks and is being made into a movie staring Kevin Spacey. Blackjack Tournaments are growing in popularity with many of the top casinos offering large prize pools. Online Blackjack is currently a multi-million dollar industry. Blackwood keeps the highly technical language that bogs down most gaming books to an absolute minimum. Foreword by Stanford , author of Professional Blackjack and the master of modern card counting.

America is hurtling toward socialism. What should free market capitalists do with their moneyBarack Obama is aggressively pushing the American economy toward socialism. Maybe he will succeed, maybe he won't. In the meantime, what should the rest of us do with our moneyIn this unique and timely book, financial adviser Jerry Bowyer combines critical analysis of Obama's economic policies with sound investment guidelines for free market capitalists. Under Obama, taxes will rise, energy will become more expensive, regulation will increase, corporate stocks will suffer, credit will remain tight, and national markets will stagnate. Bowyer explains why this is happening and offers helpful advice on how to profit under the new antigrowth regime for as long as it lasts.

In the follow-up to her beloved, bestselling The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, Lagnado tells the story of her mother, Edith, coming of age in a magical old Cairo of dusty alleyways and grand villas. Then Lagnado revisits her own years in America as a schoolgirl in Brooklyn's immigrant enclaves, where she dreams of becoming the fearless Mrs. Emma Peel of The Avengers, coming of age in the turbulence of New York City's 1970s, and, later, as an "avenging" reporter for some of America's most prestigious newspapers. Not only a searing account of strangers in a strange land, The Arrogant Years is a lasting "meditation on exile and assimilation, feminism and the enduring ties of family." (San Francisco Chronicle)