Best Writing, Research and Publishing
Talk about a bucket list: here are natural wonders—the dazzling glowworm caves in New Zealand, or a baobob tree in South Africa that's so large it has a pub inside where 15 people can drink comfortably. Not to mention the Great Stalacpipe Organ in Virginia, Turkmenistan's 40-year hole of fire called the Gates of Hell, a graveyard for decommissioned ships on the coast of Bangladesh, eccentric bone museums in Italy, or a weather-forecasting invention that was powered by leeches, still on display in Devon, England. “Fair warning: It's addictive.” — NPR, “Cosmos & Culture” “In this gorgeous collection, the celebrated Atlas Obscura website is condensed into 480 pages of awe-inspiring destinations. “Odds are you won’t get past three pages without being amazed at something truly strange that you didn’t know existed.” — San Francisco Chronicle. “Richly illustrated, delightfully strange, this compendium of off-beat destinations should spark many adventures, both terrestrial and imaginary.” — Boston Globe. “Whether describing a Canadian museum that showcases world history through shoes, a pet-casket company that will also sell you a unit for your severed limb, a Greek snake festival, or a place in the Canary Islands where inhabitants communicate through whistling, the authors have compiled an enthralling range of oddities. Featuring full-color illustrations, this hefty and gorgeously produced tome will be eagerly pored over by readers of many ages and fans of the original website.”— Booklist (Starred Review). a wonderful browse [for] armchair travelers who enjoyed Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York and Frank Warren’s PostSecret .” — Library Journal. It's the kind of book that makes you want to pack in your workaday life and head out to places you'd never have dreamed of going, to see things you could not even have imagined. “ Atlas Obscura is a joyful antidote to the creeping suspicion that travel these days is little more than a homogenized corporate shopping opportunity. Here are hundreds of surprising, perplexing, mind-blowing, inspiring reasons to travel a day longer and farther off the path. Never start a trip without knowing where a haunted hotel or a mouth of hell is!”. —GUILLERMO DEL TORO, filmmaker, Pan’s Labyrinth “ What a strange and wonderful book! Each page reveals some hidden realm—a realm that is frightening, or funny, or magical, or simply mad, but that always leaves the reader in wonder.”. —DAVID GRANN, author of The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. Be grateful when visiting the Karni Mata Rat Temple if one of the 20,000 venerated rodents runs across your bare foot—it is considered good luck.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Revel in the places that you've seen!"
"I read a short description of the book in the travel section of the SF Chronicle a few weeks ago, and made the purchase based on that. That said, there are items about things I have no interest in seeing, e.g., “Lake Monsters of the USA,” but there don’t seem to be many of that sort of thing included. As with "Lake Monsters," even if you (or a recipient) aren't likely to visit many of the places described, I think for many curious people this would make for an interesting read even without the travel element. It's not a perfect book, and I don't think any one book can be perfect for all readers, but I do think it's very good and I can easily recommend it for anyone who might be potentially interested."
"This book exceeded my already higher-than-average expectations."
"We purchased it for our 19 year old grandson."
"Such a fascinating book!"
"Super fun and entertaini g read if the off beat and curious is your thing."
"Purchased as a gift and spent much of one night pouring through it before giving it away."
"This book is great to have around to pick up while you're waiting for your son to put his socks on, when your eyes need a screen break, during a boring conference call, when you just want to escape your little world for a few minutes."
Through a series of creative and quirky prompts, acclaimed guerilla artist Keri Smith encourages journalers to engage in destructive acts — poking holes through pages, adding photos and defacing them, painting pages with coffee, coloring outside the lines, and more — in order to experience the true creative process. “ Wreck This Journal encourages you to stop fretting about quality and start relishing the artistic process.” —Oprah.com. “I love this book and the playful way that Keri Smith teaches people the act of creating by putting you right on the spot. Wreck This Journal is a fun, interactive book that you will want to work in every day. “Wreck this Journal makes a great gift for someone who's going through a stressful time, needs a form of release, or anyone who could use a few minutes of fun.” — Jactionary. “Calling all bookworms and creative doodlers, Wreck This Journal is the perfect book to spruce up your summer. “A conceptual artist and author luring kids into questioning the world and appreciating every smell, texture and mystery in it.” — TIME Magazine.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I never even realized I was creative until this book came around."
"Somewhere in the book you will find a page that tells you to attach a string to the spine of the book and swing wildly."
"Never in my life would I think I'd find myself scouring the windowsills and corners of the garage to collect dead bugs (yes, really...there's a page for that) - but there are some petrified flies carefully enclosed in tape in my journal."
"I bought 3 of these as gifts."
"Really creative and fun, the recipient (age 14) was intrigued and kept flipping through pages to read the suggestions and laughing out loud."
"Ordered one for myself and one for my niece."
"My daughter loved the book."
"Bought for my daughter this is her 2nd book and she loves them."
When you need advice on how to present information, including text, data, and graphics, for publication in any type of format--such as college and university papers, professional journals, presentations for colleagues, and online publication--you will find the advice you're looking for in the "Publication Manual."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Though it should be noted they need to update it to discuss multiple mediums like songs, albums, movies on disc or blu-ray, videos on websites like Vimeo and DailyMotion."
"I needed this for a doctoral class."
"I'm in nursing school so I can't imagine how helpful this would be for students in programs that require more papers."
"Who doesn't love APA formatting."
"Even allowed a download to be burned to CD. A new download should be allowed for previous purchasers, at least with a discount."
"I would suggest using this book!"
"The content is great but it looks like the printer was low on ink... at first I thought I got a counterfeit but I think it's just the way the book is printed."
"This book is a must for any student whose school requires APA Format 6th edition."
Best Book Publishing Reference
This seventeenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style has been prepared with an eye toward how we find, create, and cite information that readers are as likely to access from their pockets as from a bookshelf. It offers updated guidelines on electronic workflows and publication formats, tools for PDF annotation and citation management, web accessibility standards, and effective use of metadata, abstracts, and keywords. The citation chapters reflect the ever-expanding universe of electronic sources—including social media posts and comments, private messages, and app content—and also offer updated guidelines on such issues as DOIs, time stamps, and e-book locators. ( Washington Post ). “This manual stands as an indispensable and thoughtfully constructed English language and style resource for those compelled, by enthusiasm or responsibility, to attend to the minutiae of written expression.”. ( Publishers Weekly ). “As it incorporates contemporary examples (e.g., NOOK, Lady Gaga), CMS, as expected, offers sensible, clear advice on matters great and small for authors’ guidance—such as the treatment of names of ships and spaceships, use of the en dash, how to edit electronic manuscripts, and the ins and outs of documenting and citing works of many kinds.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought CMOS 17 primarily for two reasons: (1) my CMOS 16 was battered and torn, beaten down by years of abuse and page-cornering; (2) I like to keep up with the changes, even if Bowie is dead. The biggest changes in content in CMOS 17, compared with CMOS 16, are an added subsection on syntax and expansion of the discussions of copyright and permissions. Another change one may not notice without CMOS 16 in hand, unless one happens to be a publisher/typographer, is with fonts. If so, I recommend GARNER'S MODERN ENGLISH USAGE by Bryan Garner (still weighty and not quite as comprehensive, but a bit more entertaining—and Garner is the contributor of the Usage chapter in CMOS, so the information in his book is consistent with that provided in CMOS) and EDITOR-PROOF YOUR WRITING by Don McNair (nice and short but absolutely loaded with information that can make a subpar writer an above-average one—maybe). Given the number of discordant reviews of his book by obviously failed writers (and because I've read it cover to cover and can attest to its quality), I'd say McNair has a live one."
"Even so, this is a very good resource to clarify some rules of usage that we can forget or we never learned in school. It would be lovely if folks who bought a copy of this pricey tome also got access to more examples at the CMOS site and ongoing notifications of revisions of rules before the next edition released. Some changes to hyphenation-- head hunting becomes head-hunting; e-mail is now email--and some differences in certain uses of commas are also included in the new edition."
"Briefly, I like the organization and I love the index--a real old-fashioned index done by a professional indexer that means if it's in the book you can find it However, I simply haven't used it was much as I though I would."
"What's to like or not like: it's a guide that one needs for one's professional life."
"The Chicago Manual of Style is the gold standard."
"The best style manual in print."
"The gold standard of English usage."
"Sure, Turabian distills this book (and the sin of the latest Turabian is that in a misguided attempt to appeal to more people, they've added a parenthetical reference system to the footnote system she popularized), but sometimes you must turn to the Chicago for more information."
Best Research Reference Books
Marking the 100th anniversary of National Geographic cartography, this prestigious reference is the essential guide to understanding today's interconnected world. A portion of all National Geographic proceeds is used to fund exploration, conservation, and education through ongoing contributions to the work of the National Geographic Society.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I previously bought the National Geographic "Family Reference Atlas of the World", which was big enough to impress people that you have a big atlas on the coffee table, but not big enough to actually FIND any historical locations you are interested in."
"This was a gift, and I am thrilled how fabulous this NG Atlas actually is."
"I have compared, the map for Suriname is even less detailed than my micro pocket atlas which costs only 0.8 USD."
"I picked this as a Christmas gift for my nieces and nephews."
"I could not be more pleased!"
"Absolutely stunning book!"
"I bought this book for my mom and she loves it."
Best Writing Reference
When you need advice on how to present information, including text, data, and graphics, for publication in any type of format--such as college and university papers, professional journals, presentations for colleagues, and online publication--you will find the advice you're looking for in the "Publication Manual."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The APA could have done a better job stressing the fact that the work done behind an article needs to important and original, and the form of the writing needs to reflect that,"
"I bought this because I needed to write Psychology papers in APA format, and it has helped."
"This book is a must for any student whose school requires APA Format 6th edition."
"Despite keeping this book on top of my desk where it is always handy for reference, I find that it rarely answers the questions that I ask of it."
"I don't know if I can trust this copy of my APA book that I received from NEWBOOKSWORLD to reference for my papers now."
"For example, this book was useless for citing a TED Talks video or a class syllabus."
"Worst of all, the Kindle edition does not work with Kindle's online reader (read.amazon.com), which is where most people using this book would probably use the Kindle edition."
"There are rub marks and dents all over the cover, there is a gouge mark along all of the pages that you can see when the book is closed, and the inside of the cover (where the blank white page is glued the the inside of the cover) looks like a first grader used a bottle of Elmer's glue to attach it. There is literally nothing professional looking about this book, from the dust cover to the page material."
Best English as a Second Language Instruction
And don't miss Runny Babbit Returns , the new book from Shel Silverstein! “If you’re looking for a children’s book that teaches generosity or unselfishness, most people will point you right to The Giving Tree , Shel Silverstein’s lovely story of a tree that will do anything for the boy it loves—and for good reason.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"All that I can honestly say about this book, what some people say is "controversial" is it ; touches on feelings. teaches about selfishness. teaches about selflessness. teaches about caring. teaches about giving. this book really tugs at all the emotions everyone goes through one time or another. It has turned into a discussion book for all my grandkids. The book is a hardback & comes with a cover resembling the cover of the book."
"She would often just read a poem from A Light in the Attic, or Where the Sidewalk Ends, but this book really stuck with me."
"One of my favorite books with a great lesson for children on giving/taking and appreciation."
"This is my family's favorite children's book and certainly mine."
"Must have for all children."
"Best childhood book ever - adults should re-read every year as well."
"Great story for my 6 year old who reads voraciously.."
"Just like I remebered!"
Best Dictionaries & Thesauruses
With each of six spreads featuring one spectacular, large pop-up as well as booklets of smaller pop-ups and text, ENCYCLOPEDIA PREHISTORICA: DINOSAURS is a magnificent display of paper engineering and creativity — an astonishing book that will be read, admired, and treasured forever. Rendered in warm earth tones and speckled with splashes of color, the three-dimensional creatures move with a life of their own as they gracefully extend their bodies into a full stretch or lurch toward readers with jaws open wide.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I am including a video so you can sort of see the depth and involvement this brings. Types of dinos, Carnivores, Herbivores, Feathered, Armored, Biggest etc. He wants it read as a bedtime story but there is so much info you could prob do 1 page per night and extend it out."
"I'd say that the reading level is fairly advanced - maybe 4th grade, but even at such a young age, my son gets a kick out of the animals and tries to rip their tail off or whatever."
"He is so enthralled with the dynamic of this book and encourages him to be inquisitive and learn about things they aren't teaching in daycare."
"Unfortunately he's a weapon of mass destruction so the book stays out of his reach, but I was amazed at the quality and just how many pop-ups there are in this book!"
"The book looks really thick and I expected many pages like 20, but of course the thickness is because of the good paper, and big pop ups."
"This book is crafted with great precision and artistry."
"My young nephew likes dinosaurs so he likes this book."
"Really impressive cutouts but ours arrived with some already torn."
Best Quotation Reference Books
National Best Seller From the best-selling author of Wild , a collection of quotes--drawn from the wide range of her writings--that capture her wisdom, courage, and outspoken humor, presented in a gift-sized package that's as irresistible to give as it is to receive. This book gathers, each on a single page, more than 100 of Strayed's indelible quotes and thoughts--"mini instruction manuals for the soul" that urge us toward the incredible capacity for love, compassion, forgiveness, and endurance that is within us all. In the 100-plus quotes, thoughts, words of wisdom, and tidbits of beauty that Strayed has compiled, you will recognize yourself over and over again, in the best and worst and most essential ways . She invites you to quietly marvel at the universe with her, and then promptly demands that you go out and participate in it, followed by a swift kick to the rear. [This book] acts like a personal guru for joy, acceptance and forgiveness, productivity, endurance and transformation . Truly amazing; it’s as though the words literally leapt off the pages of Brave Enough and generated a little cyclone of positive energy in my living room . Personal authenticity, gender politics, leaning into the light: whether writing a book or speaking one-to-one, Strayed seems, above all, unapologetically herself . Strayed earned cult status with her anonymous advice column, ‘Dear Sugar,’ on The Rumpus. In the introduction she writes that a good quote can provide in a sentence or two ‘a clear eyed perspective, or a swift kick in the pants.’ Hers do both. ‘I believe in the power of words to help us reset our intentions, clarify our thoughts, and create a counternarrative to the voice of doubt in our heads—the one that says, You can’t, you won’t, you shouldn’t have,’ she writes.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Brave Enough is basically a prettily-packaged collection of quotes taken from Strayed's books, essays, and talks formatted in big text and centered on the page. Not because I believe in my own sagacity, but because I believe in the power of words to help us reset our intentions, clarify our thoughts, and create a counternarrative to the voice of doubt many of us have murmuring in our heads--the one that says You can't, you won't, you shouldn't have. Ultimately, this is a very nice book that will look good on a coffee table or will make a thoughtful small gift for the holidays."
"Short little bursts of inspiration for being the best you that you can be."
"Bought as a gift for a friend who loves Cheryl Strayed and she adored it."
"If you've ever read a book by Cheryl Strayed, you know that her writing is littered with nuggets of wisdom."
"Good advice."
"Bought this book for my husband, he loves to read and this is a surprise gift for him."
"Everything was as promised and expected."
"One is my closest friends bought me this book for Christmas a couple of years ago thank God."
Best Foreign Language Reference
Second edition of the most highly regarded teaching text book on the Japanese language, covering speaking, listening, reading, and writing to cultivate overall language ability.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I moved to Japan about 10 months ago and I needed a textbook to learn the language. That's true of any textbook, but with Genki it's even more so because the authors don't hold your hand and the book is written with the assumption that you are serious about learning Japanese. There is much to be gleaned from both, though the "useful expressions" sections are usually outstanding and provide supplementary words and sentences on a variety of common topics, such as counting, classroom vocabulary, train station expressions and doctor office visits. Then there are a few pages of practice, in which you will write the kanji you learned alone and in compounds, read various letters or stories and answer questions. 4) Meet with my Japanese teacher and do the conversation exercises (took 2-4 hours of class time per lesson). I feel quite comfortable in stores, restaurants, train stations, post offices, and the like. I can talk, to a limited extent, about the weather, my childhood, my job, my future plans, my schedule for tomorrow, and other common topics. Anyone serious about studying Japanese will get a lot out of this book, provided he or she is willing to put in the necessary work!"
"Don't stress too much though because there are plenty of sites to practice, such as lang-8, a free site where you help Japanese people learn English and they help you with Japanese in terms of writing, reading and speaking. This Second Edition comes with a CD, updated lessons, simpler ways of explaining grammar, and much more. If your'e grasp on English grammar is poor, well you might need to dedicate more hours into grammar, because it is DIFFICULT if you don't know what certain things are."
"Great textbook but it is made for a classroom setting and has group activities so if you are am independent learner you have to do things a little differently."
"I started with "Japanese for Busy People", but then I started a class that used this book."
"Got what I wanted 100% has great lessons and I think im going to learn a lot with this!"
"The Romanization threw me off....so much in fact that I had to go learn katakana (I already knew hiragana) before I continued past chapter two of the textbook."
"Learned a lot but it can be confusing so it is best to have a teacher to guide you since there re times were a character is not pronounced as written such as with a silent vowel or character can be pronounced differently depending on the content."
"I'm trying to teach my teenage daughter Japanese and tried other books and CD's."
Best Words, Language & Grammar
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. His recent work includes Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), the short story collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, the Bill Hodges trilogy End of Watch , Finders Keepers , and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and now an AT&T Audience Network original television series), Doctor Sleep , and Under the Dome .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I could "hear" Mr. King's "voice" in my head as I read this on my iPad Kindle app. I breathed a sigh of relief when I got the feeling that writing classes and clubs are kind of a waste of time. I am glad this wasn't a "point by point HOW TO WRITE a story or a book" book, because really, writing isn't something you can do easily from a bulleted list. And then when that person you trust reads your stuff and offers some criticism, you can take it for what it's worth and use it or not."
"I may as well start out by saying that I'm a huge fan of Stephen King's and am, therefore,a bit biased, but this book stays handy on my writing desk, not entirely as a "how-to" but as a "why write" paperback coach."
"In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. The rest of it--and perhaps the best of it--is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Part mini-autobiography and part field manual on how to hone your craft, it's inspiring. Cigar Smoking Man-Muse - Lives in the basement. Prime Directive = Read a lot + write a lot. Whether you're an aspiring writer or just a fan of mastery, I think you'll love it."
""Fuhgedaaboudit," "man oh man," "please oh please," appears over and over throughout this book, which is very distracting. It'd be more suitable if this book is called On Writing Novel, for it's heavily geared towards his career as a novelist and how to write novels."
Best Almanacs & Yearbooks
Praised as a "treasure trove of political, economic, scientific and educational statistics and information" by The Wall Street Journal , The World Almanac and Book of Facts will answer all of your trivia needs—from history and sports to geography, pop culture, and much more. Historical Anniversaries: The World Almanac 's recurring feature expands to incorporate milestone events and cultural touchstones dating to the book's founding year, from the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson to the publication of Little Women . Other New Highlights: A brand-new biography of the 45th president and profile of the Trump administration; official 2016 election results; and statistics on criminal incarceration and sentence lengths, health care, overdose deaths, shootings, terrorism, and much more. 2017—Year in Sports: Hundreds of pages of trivia and statistics that are essential for any sports fan, featuring a preview of the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games, complete coverage of the 2017 World Series, new tables of NBA, NHL, and NCAA statistics, and much more. Sarah Janssen is the senior editor of The World Almanac® and Book of Facts .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book is absolutely wonderful."
"Purchased as a gift for my grandson."
"Buy this World Almanac every year."
"Additionally, I have purchased more than one copy of the book, to have one handy at every location where I might need a copy of the book."
"Ordered it as a gift for my brother who is into this information and he loves it!!!"
"Lots of information!"
"Love this book and I get it every year!"
"I like getting the World Almanac every year, to keep up latest events."
Best Consumer Guides
Announcing the completely revised and updated edition of The Wine Bible , the perennial bestselling wine book praised as “The most informative and entertaining book I’ve ever seen on the subject” (Danny Meyer), “A guide that has all the answers” (Bobby Flay), “Astounding” (Thomas Keller), and “A magnificent masterpiece of wine writing” (Kevin Zraly). “…the rare 995-page manual to hit all the high notes, offer a balanced view on the history, creation, and current state of wine — and keep it lively” – Eater. "When Ms. MacNeil charts the ascending tannin levels in red wine grapes, she compares the gritty stuff to Clint Eastwood’s five-o’clock shadow. The body of this bible is a country-by-country march through winedom, offering lively regional history, sketches of notable personalities, as well as tips on the best local wines and the foods to match with them.”. – Wall Street Journal.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"NOTE: this is NOT Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia, HJ's Wine Companion, Broadbent's Great Vintage Wine Book, or Oxford's Companion, etc etc (all of which I love & use). Traveling to Jerez and enjoying gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp) with manzanilla while breathing the salty ocean air...I got that idea from this book, & the retelling of it, helped me pass my last Exam."
"The definitive wine book, although MacNeil's writing can be a bit unhelpful at times ("you don't drink this wine, the wine drinks you"."
"Reads like a digest."
"The Wine Bible has lots of wonderful information about wines."
"My only reservation is about hoe outdated some of the statistics might be."
"I knew I knew very little about wine."
"I have my copy highlighted and full of sticky notes."
"Aside from the serious stuff about grapes and winemaking, etc,, it also has nice little tid-bits like explaining why waiters in restaurants give you the cork to inspect when they open your wine (Her explanation makes perfect sense, but I'd never heard it before)."
Best Survival & Emergency Preparedness
Revised to reflect the latest in survival knowledge and technology, and covering new topics such as urban survival and terrorism, the multimillion-copy worldwide bestseller SAS Survival Handbook by John "Lofty" Wiseman is the definitive resource for all campers, hikers, and outdoor adventurers. Being prepared: Understanding basic survival skills, like reading the weather, and preparation essentials, such as a pocket survival kit.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The full-size SA Survival Handbook is incredible, but it is a large book and pretty heavy for a day hike pack."
"This book is very comprehensive and I recomened this book for everyone it is handy to keep in the house and defently a book to read here and there and it's something to practice because learning even the basic survival skills is a important skill in life."
"I've not needed any of the emergency things yet, but it's good to have just in case. It would also be good to have a copy in the glove box especially if the driver is young or not experienced with the outdoors."
"").For example, as someone who needs practice making fire, I thought that there should have been more information on fire making; however, there is plenty of information of types of fire (windshields, making fires in the snow, etc)."
"But as is, it covers too many topics, from how to deal with computer viruses (keep your software updated, use an anti-virus program) to warnings about scurvy ('always aim for a balanced diet'). There are pure factual errors (people cannot survive 12 days without water, even in cool temperatures) and frequent mixing of good and poor advice (crossing a river in a group one behind the other is terrible, exposing each to the full force of the water, while crossing in a line facing downstream, with arms interwoven, is universally recommended). For rope, climbing, and mountaineering skills, Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills, 8th Edition. If you just want information on snow caves (another better alternative to an igloo), Ernest Wilkinson's slim book is out-of-print but easy to find: Snow Caves for Fun and Survival. For glacier travel, crevasse rescue, and high-angle rescue in general, Andy Selter's book is remarkably efficient. A few pages go a long way on each topic: Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue: Reading Glaciers, Team Travel, Crevasse Rescue Techniques, Routefinding, Expedition Skills 2nd Edition. For emergency wilderness medicine, Eric Weiss' books are the most popular, and they're fine."
Best Atlases & Maps
Talk about a bucket list: here are natural wonders—the dazzling glowworm caves in New Zealand, or a baobob tree in South Africa that's so large it has a pub inside where 15 people can drink comfortably. Not to mention the Great Stalacpipe Organ in Virginia, Turkmenistan's 40-year hole of fire called the Gates of Hell, a graveyard for decommissioned ships on the coast of Bangladesh, eccentric bone museums in Italy, or a weather-forecasting invention that was powered by leeches, still on display in Devon, England. “Fair warning: It's addictive.” — NPR, “Cosmos & Culture” “In this gorgeous collection, the celebrated Atlas Obscura website is condensed into 480 pages of awe-inspiring destinations. “Odds are you won’t get past three pages without being amazed at something truly strange that you didn’t know existed.” — San Francisco Chronicle. “Richly illustrated, delightfully strange, this compendium of off-beat destinations should spark many adventures, both terrestrial and imaginary.” — Boston Globe. “Whether describing a Canadian museum that showcases world history through shoes, a pet-casket company that will also sell you a unit for your severed limb, a Greek snake festival, or a place in the Canary Islands where inhabitants communicate through whistling, the authors have compiled an enthralling range of oddities. Featuring full-color illustrations, this hefty and gorgeously produced tome will be eagerly pored over by readers of many ages and fans of the original website.”— Booklist (Starred Review). a wonderful browse [for] armchair travelers who enjoyed Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York and Frank Warren’s PostSecret .” — Library Journal. It's the kind of book that makes you want to pack in your workaday life and head out to places you'd never have dreamed of going, to see things you could not even have imagined. “ Atlas Obscura is a joyful antidote to the creeping suspicion that travel these days is little more than a homogenized corporate shopping opportunity. Here are hundreds of surprising, perplexing, mind-blowing, inspiring reasons to travel a day longer and farther off the path. Never start a trip without knowing where a haunted hotel or a mouth of hell is!”. —GUILLERMO DEL TORO, filmmaker, Pan’s Labyrinth “ What a strange and wonderful book! Each page reveals some hidden realm—a realm that is frightening, or funny, or magical, or simply mad, but that always leaves the reader in wonder.”. —DAVID GRANN, author of The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. Be grateful when visiting the Karni Mata Rat Temple if one of the 20,000 venerated rodents runs across your bare foot—it is considered good luck.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Revel in the places that you've seen!"
"I read a short description of the book in the travel section of the SF Chronicle a few weeks ago, and made the purchase based on that. That said, there are items about things I have no interest in seeing, e.g., “Lake Monsters of the USA,” but there don’t seem to be many of that sort of thing included. As with "Lake Monsters," even if you (or a recipient) aren't likely to visit many of the places described, I think for many curious people this would make for an interesting read even without the travel element. It's not a perfect book, and I don't think any one book can be perfect for all readers, but I do think it's very good and I can easily recommend it for anyone who might be potentially interested."
"This book exceeded my already higher-than-average expectations."
"We purchased it for our 19 year old grandson."
"Such a fascinating book!"
"Super fun and entertaini g read if the off beat and curious is your thing."
"Purchased as a gift and spent much of one night pouring through it before giving it away."
"This book is great to have around to pick up while you're waiting for your son to put his socks on, when your eyes need a screen break, during a boring conference call, when you just want to escape your little world for a few minutes."
Best Etiquette Guides
This newly revised edition is the only book on parliamentary procedure to have been updated since 1876 under the continuing program of review established by General Henry M. Robert himself, in cooperation with the official publisher of Robert’s Rules . Henry M. Robert III is the grandson of General Henry M. Robert and has served as president of the Maryland Association of Parliamentarians and as parliamentarian for the National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"General Henry M. Robert published the original "Robert's Rules" in 1875 and 1876 and, since the copyright on that edition (and the next few editions) has long since expired, there are numerous unofficial editions on the market. With the copyright expired, even the name "Robert's" has passed into the public domain, and many imitators have slapped the name "Robert's" on books of parliamentary procedure that bear minimal relation to General Robert's work (much as many dictionaries claim the name "Webster's" without any connection to Noah Webster or the Merriam-Webster brand that carries on his work). Now in its 11th edition, published in September 2011, this book "supersedes all previous editions and is intended automatically become the parliamentary authority in organizations whose bylaws prescribe 'Robert's Rules of Order' ... or the like, without specifying a particular edition.""
"Perfect for anyone wanting to,understand how govt works and rules to abide by."
"This is a very nicely printed and bound softcover book."
"It's a good book for officials to know, I use mine a lot to advise new volunteers."
"New Version of old book... Great to have a new one to replace my worn old copy."
"I bought this for my husband, and he says it was exactuaaly what he wanted."
"In order to participate properly in union meetings, ALL MEMBERS should know these rules."
"All members of an organization (not just the officers) should acquaint themselves with the parliamentary rules for meetings."
Best Catalogs & Directories
Cool Tools is a highly curated selection of the best tools available for individuals and small groups. It's a habit he learned while editing and publishing the Whole Earth Catalog , the bible of counterculture do-it-yourselfers who wanted in 'tools and ideas for the 21st century.'". "Stewart Brand said that Cool Tools had captured the spirit of the Whole Earth Catalog but without taking on a counterculture and back-to-the-land philosophy. "Jeff Bezos is a fan of e-mail newsletters such as Cool Tools , a compendium of technology tips and product reviews written by Kevin Kelly, a co-founder of Wired ."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"So in addition to hand jacks that can raise 7000 lbs., the Teeny Turner (a pocket sized driver), portable band saws, and laser measuring tools, you can find the best source on how to buy a car cheaply, make a low-budget movies, brew your own beer, rear an optimistic child, design a logo, win a fight, soak in feral (!). hot springs, learn to swim efficiently, prepare for a natural disaster, vagabond the world, do something dangerous (and live to tell about it), run for local office and win, go solar on your roof, or (a great boon to Boomers) remember anything."
"This carries me back to my childhood pouring over electronics magazines or the Aircraft Spruce and Specialty catalog imagining what I could do if I combined and use the right parts and tools."
"The categories are wide ranging, from cooking, crafts, learning, music, family, electronics and more. There's certain to be some area of immediate interest, but half the fun is the insight into the tools of the trade of some activity you may never have considered like beekeeping or world travel on a shoestring budget. (Disclosure--I received an early copy because a review I contributed years ago to the site was included in the book, but I'll be ordering more copies."
"I've learned about many 'cool tools' I've never heard about and I've bought several items based upon the recommendations in this book, " Veganomicon" "Glorious One- Pot Meals" "FitBit" and " Ultimate Fit or Fat"- and this is the part that makes this catalog so much fun to read and look at - You'll see many reviews on items you've never heard of before, such as, (for me) "Ideo Method cards" , used for brainstorming or "Making Books that Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop up, Twist and Turn" or find reviews for an item you would like to purchase, but haven't had the time to do the research to find out which one is the best."
"I've was considering getting this book as a gift for my father as he and I both love this kind of stuff, but he's not the type of person to check out a website regularly."
Best Genealogy
This book, updated in 2016 to include the most recent changes to the site , will help you get the most out of your Ancestry.com subscription by showing you how to take advantage of all the world's biggest genealogy website has to offer--and how to find answers to your family tree questions within its 14 billion records, 60 million family tree and 32,000 databases. Nancy Hendrickson is an Internet genealogy expert who has been interviewed on the subject in national publications including the New York Times , Kiplinger's , and Better Homes and Gardens .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Between this book, Ancestry Help and the Ancestry Community you will probably have 90% of everything you will ever need for your genealogy. All my How-To books are now going to be in Kindle version."
"I am a four year member of Ancestry and have always found the Unofficial Guide to be a very helpful book."
"I found this book to be very informative and will definitely help me in my search on Ancestry.com."
"This book fills the void and has made my search for records easier."
"Great reference book."
"Really helped to understand how to get the most out of the site!"
"For example, I really needed instruction on how to transfer info from another person's tree to my tree when we had a mutual ancestor, or how to correct errors (and there are ton of them) and that kind of thing is not covered at all that I could find."
Best Encyclopedias & Subject Guides
New York Times Bestseller. Named one of the Best Books of 2017 by NPR, Buzzfeed, The. Atlantic , The. Washington Post , Chicago Tribune , Rachel Ray Every Day , San Francisco Chronicle , Vice Munchies, Elle.com, Glamour , Eater, Newsday, Minneapolis Star Tribune , The Seattle Times , Tampa Bay Times , Tasting Table, Modern Farmer , Publishers Weekly, and more. Refer to the canon of 100 essential recipes—and dozens of variations—to put the lessons into practice and make bright, balanced vinaigrettes, perfectly caramelized roast vegetables, tender braised meats, and light, flaky pastry doughs. "Just reading Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will make you a better cook, adept at seasoning, balancing, understanding what it really is you’re doing and why... Make room on the bedside table—and the countertop." "My favorite metacookbook...[Nosrat] offers a beautifully simple checklist for ensuring a dish ends up in a good place...This is the book of cooking grammar that so many novices would benefit from... Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is written smoothly and casually, and kept breezy via charming watercolors by the perceptive Bay Area artist Wendy MacNaughton...Nosrat’s book would be of value both to people who don’t consider themselves cooks and to people actively striving to become better ones." "A cookbook that will make you a better cook...with helpful, charming illustrations from artist Wendy MacNaughton." Samin Nosrat just published “Salt Fat Acid Heat — Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking” and I daresay this one is essential...That’s the fabulous thing about this book — it teaches readers about cooking, how to employ various techniques, and how to grasp that any subtle variations in technique can have significant impacts upon our end results. It is possible to learn how to cook great food...This book is bound to become an indispensable addition to cookbook shelves throughout America." "Nosrat’s beautiful, approachable book demonstrates how these four are the only elements necessary to make delicious meals anywhere, any time."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Best text about cooking I've ever read."
"I've always loved the "why" in cooking and baking (like the Cooks Illustrated approach and The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science) - but I love that she narrows it down to four basic elements. But this books and others, like Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking are important because they give you the tools to innovate and recipes become starting points. I wish I had this book 20 years ago when I started seriously cooking."
"I love the fold out on p. 193 "what should I cook" that advises to go back and read the book through before you practice...a brilliant observation that the book is about "the journey, not the destination" as are so many things we pursue and experience."
"This cookbook goes into detail about how the four elements, salt, fat, acid and heat, are used to create great dishes!"
"Not a collection of recipes, though the book does contain recipes, but a clear, thoughtful and good humored explanation of the major elements of cooking -- salt, fat, acid and heat."
"Colorful doodles keep you engaged and having fun while learning, as well as a helpful guide on what to always have stocked in terms of spices and bare necessity kitchen utensils."