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Off Main Street: Barnstormers, Prophets, and Gatemouth's Gator
by Michael PerryWhether he's fighting fires, passing a kidney stone, hammering down I-80 in an 18-wheeler, or meditating on the relationship between cowboys and God, Michael Perry draws on his rural roots and footloose past to write from a perspective that merges the local with the global. Ranging across subjects as diverse as lot lizards, Klan wizards, and small-town funerals, Perry's writing in this wise and witty collection of essays balances earthiness with poetry, kinetics with contemplation, and is regularly salted with his unique brand of humor.
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
by Eric SchlosserUsing first-rate reporting, wry wit and careful reasoning, Schlosser shows how fast food has harmed the American culture.
The Starship and the Canoe
by Kenneth BrowerThe story of a father and son who search for life's meaning in very different ways. "In the tradition of Carl Sagan and John McPhee, a bracing cerebral voyage past intergalactic hoopla and backwoods retreats. "--Kirkus Reviews
Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica
by Zora Neale HurstonAs a first-hand account of the weird mysteries and horrors of voodoo, Tell My Horse is an invaluable resource and fascinating guide. Based on Zora Neale Hurston's personal experiences in Haiti and Jamaica, where she participated as an initiate rather than just an observer of voodoo practices during her visits in the 1930s, this travelogue into a dark world paints a vividly authentic picture of ceremonies and customs and superstitions of great cultural interest.
The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital: The Masons and the Building of Washington, D. C.
by David OvasonToday, there are more than twenty complete zodiacs in Washington, D.C.-- each one pointing to an extraordinary mystery. David Ovason, who has studied these astrological devices for ten years, now reveals why they have been placed in such abundance in the center of our nation's capital and explains their interconnections. His richly illustrated text tells the story of how Washington, from its foundation in 1791, was linked with the zodiac, with the meaning of certain stars, and with a hidden cosmological symbolism that he uncovers here for the first time. Fascinating and thoroughly researched, The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital is an engrossing book that raises provocative questions and offers complex insights into the meanings behind the mysterious symbols in Washington. David Ovason has spent more than a decade researching the architecture and zodiacs of Washington, D.C. He teaches astrology and has studied the life and writings of Nostradamus for more than forty years. He is the author of several books, including The Secrets of Nostradamus and Nostradamus: Prophecies for America. Mr. Ovason lives and works in England.
A Walk Across America
by Peter JenkinsIn this classic account, Jenkins describes how his disillusionment with society in the 1970s drove him out onto the road on a walk across America, and shares the lessons he learned about his country and himself that resonate to this day.
Unauthorized America: A Travel Guide to the Places the Chamber of Commerce Won't Tell You About
by Vince Staten"The travel brochures never mention JFK's Love Nest, where he and Marilyn Monroe would meet for an after-noon tryst, or Elvis's Drugstore, where the King loaded up on downers. But let's face it: not everyone wants to spend summer vacation watching Junior slither down the water slide or trailing Grandpa as he treks from one historic marker to the next. Not everyone wants a Disney World vacation. This book boldly dares to take you where no travel brochures have taken you before, to the out-of-the-way sights and the offbeat vacation spots nobody touts. This is an underground guide to America, to the places that you Really want to see: where John Lennon was shot, where Margaret Mitchell was run over by a car, where Sean Penn punched out a photographer, where Fawn Hall shredded boss Ollie North's papers. These are the places the local Chamber of Commerce won't tell you about. But we will."
Behind the Wall: A Journey Through China
by Colin ThubronThis is a book about Thubron's journey through Red China of the 1980s. He visits both ends of the Great Wall and meanders around this vast country.
Two For The Road (Mary-Kate and Ashle, Two of a Kind Series)
by Nancy Butcher Mary-Kate Olsen Ashley OlsenDear Diary, So far this school trip to sunny Florida has been a blast. I've even been made captain of our triathalon sports team! But now Dana Woletsky has shown up and she wants to take the team away from me. She wants to take my boyfriend, Ross, away, too! How can I keep her from ruining my summer? I wish Mary-Kate could help, but she can't. She's spending all her time frantically looking for her lost diary. She says there's something in it no one should read, but she won't tell me what it is. I mean, what could be so bad? -- Ashley
Troll Blood (Troll Trilogy #3)
by Katherine LangrishIn this final novel in the Troll Trilogy, Langrish's blend of Viking history, Norse and Native American mythology, fantasy, and magic delivers a rousing tale as Peer and Hilde struggle to survive in a wild realm of wonder and menace.
Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter
by Phoebe DamroschKitchen Confidential meets Sex and the City in this delicious, behind-the-scenes memoir from the first female captain at one of New York City's most prestigious restaurants. While Phoebe Damrosch was figuring out what to do with her life, she supported herself by working as a waiter. Before long she was a captain at the New York City four-star restaurant Per Se, the culinary creation of master chef Thomas Keller. Service Included is the story of her experiences there: her obsession with food, her love affair with a sommelier, and her observations of the highly competitive and frenetic world of fine dining. She also provides the following dining tips: Please do not ask your waiter what else he or she does. Please do not steal your waiter's pen. Please do not say you're allergic when you don't like something. Please do not send something back after eating most of it. Please do not make faces or gagging noises when hearing the specials-someone else at the table might like to order one of them. After reading this book, diners will never sit down at a restaurant table the same way again.
Dragon's Egg
by Sarah L. ThomsonIt is a rare talent, and only she can care for the Inn's herd. She feeds them, gathers their eggs, and tends to their injuries. But Mella dreams about the dragons of legend, even though hardly anyone believes they still exist. Dragons are small farm animals, not huge fire-breathing monsters. Everyone knows that. Until one day changes everything. A Knight of the Order of Defenders arrives at the Inn. Signs of the mythical dragons have led him there, he says. Then a simple errand takes Mella through the forest, where she stumbles across a dragon's egg-and faces the true, terrifying dragon guarding it. On the spot, Mella vows to get the egg safely to the fabled Hatching Grounds. She must leave her home for the first time, and she finds an unlikely companion in the Defender's squire, Roger. For Mella and Roger, this one day is the beginning of an adventure. Where will it take them?
1421: The Year China Discovered America
by Gavin MenziesOn March 8, 1421, the world's largest fleet set sail from China. When the fleet returned home in October 1423, the emperor had fallen, leaving China in political and economic chaos. The great ships were left to rot at their moorings and the records of their journeys were destroyed. Lost in the long, self-imposed isolation that followed was the knowledge that Chinese ships had reached America seventy years before Columbus and had circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan.
Around the World in 80 Dinners
by Cheryl Alters Jamison Bill JamisonJoin Cheryl and Bill Jamison, James Beard Award winners of The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining, on a gastronomic tour around the world After years of writing award-winning cookbooks, renowned culinary experts Cheryl and Bill Jamison were ready to take a break. So in the fall of 2005 they packed their bags, locked up their house in Santa Fe, and set off on a three-month-long visit to ten countries-all on frequent-flier miles. Among their stops were: Bali Where they celebrated a second honeymoon in Ubud and encountered a rogue monkey Australia Where they found the world's best breakfast sandwich and visited family-owned wineries Thailand Where they took a wild ride on an elephant in an enormous forest reserve India Where they found themselves in the midst of Diwali, the Festival of Lights China Where they attended a banquet of local Chiu Chow cuisine that required hours of preparation by the "Emeril of Chaozhou" and forty cooks South Africa Where they went on a safari among rhinos, giraffes, and very hungry lions Brazil Where they soaked in the sun and Creole flavors of the coastal town of Salvador Combining the intelligence and humor of Anthony Bourdain with the charm and insight of Frances Mayes, Around the World in 80 Dinners transforms traveling into an unforgettable odyssey.
Allah's Torch
by Tracy DahlbyOn the front-lines with the building of Al Queda forces in Indonesia both before and after 9/11, written in provocative style by the former Asia bureau chief for Newsweek International. In Allah's Torch, National Geographic's Tracy Dahlby takes readers into the sprawling, porous, virtually lawless domain of Indonesia, where overlapping lines of radical Islamic rage are now converging in Asia, posing new threats to Westerners at home and abroad. From the moment the adventure begins, the night the author blunders on board an Indonesian passenger ship with 600 Islamic warriors on an anti-Christian jihad, readers glimpse the passions, politics and personalities fuelling radical Islam's relentless march. We listen as Koran-thumping preachers, hardened holy warriors and fresh-faced recruits, police investigators, military commandos, and spies try to make sense of the epidemic chaos that threatens the region - and now the world beyond. Based on reporting both before and after September 11, Allah's Torch is an action-packed and thought-provoking narrative that enables readers to see the face of Islamic terror more clearly and assess the threat for themselves.
The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind -- and Almost Found Myself -- on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Dan WhiteThe Pacific Crest Trail stretches from Mexico to Canada, a distance of 2,650 grueling, sun-scorched, bear-infested miles. When Dan White and his girlfriend announced their intention to hike it, Dan's parents--among others--thought they were nuts. How could two people who'd never even shared an apartment together survive six months in the desert with little more than a two-person tent and some trail mix? But when these addled adventurers, dubbed "the Lois and Clark Expedition" by their benevolent trail-guru, set out for the American wilderness, the hardships of the trail--and one delicious-looking cactus--test the limits of love and sanity.
Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All 50 States
by Pete JordanDishwasher is Public Radio favorite and underground celebrity Pete Jordan’s amusing memoir of his dishwashing extravaganza. Part adventure, part parody, and part miraculous journey of self-discovery, it is the unforgettable account of Jordan's transformation from itinerant seeker into "Dishwasher Pete"—unlikely folk hero, writer, publisher of his own cult zine, and the ultimate professional dish dog—and how he gave it all up for love.“For 12 years, I was the most prolific dishlicker of them all. From 1989 to 2001, I dished my way around the country, unwittingly searching for direction. From a bagel joint in New Mexico to a Mexican joint in Brooklyn; from a dinner train in Rhode Island to the Lawrence Welk Resort in Branson, Missouri; from an upper-crust ladies’ club to a crusty hippie commune—I washed the nation’s dishes. Whether it was a gig so lousy that I walked out within an hour or one where I toiled 120 hours a week, I remained a man on a mission: to bust suds in every state in the union.”—Pete JordanA smart, funny, and surprising look at life, Dishwasher is sure to appeal to fans of Nick Hornby and Tom Perotta.
The Feud That Sparked the Renaissance: How Brunelleschi and Ghiberti Changed the Art World
by Paul Robert Walker“Walker here pairs off proto-architect Filippo Brunelleschi and doormaker Lorenzo Ghiberti in an often engaging version of Quattrocento Smackdown.” —Library JournalJoining the bestsellers Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, this is a lively and intriguing tale of two artists whose competitive spirit brought to life one of the world’s most magnificent structures and ignited the Renaissance.The dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore, the great cathedral of Florence, is among the most enduring symbols of the Renaissance, an equal to the works of Leonardo and Michelangelo. Its designer was Filippo Brunelleschi, a temperamental architect and inventor who rediscovered the techniques of mathematical perspective. Yet the completion of the dome was not Brunelleschi’s glory alone. He was forced to share the commission with his archrival, the canny and gifted sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti.In this lush, imaginative history—a fascinating true story of artistic genius and personal triumph—Paul Robert Walker breathes life into these two talented, passionate artists and the competitive drive that united and dived them. As it illuminates fascinating individuals from Donatello and Masaccio to Cosimo de’Medici and Leon Battista Alberti, The Feud That Sparked the Renaissance offers a glorious tour of 15th-century Florence, a bustling city on the verge of greatness in a time of flourishing creativity, rivalry, and genius.“A convincing account of one of the defining moments in art and history . . . He presents the two key figures in this drama in true human proportions . . . a skillful and engrossing story.” —Kirkus Reviews“A monstrously detailed account of a fascinating period in art and architecture.” —AudioFile
Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater
by Alan RichmanAdventures in eating by the twelve-time James Beard Award winner: “Richman’s dry, witty prose will delight readers who crave good culinary writing.” —Library JournalAlan Richman has dined in more unlikely locations and devoured more tasting menus than any other restaurant critic alive. He has reviewed restaurants in almost every Communist country (China, Vietnam, Cuba, East Germany) and heedlessly indulged his enduring passion for eight-course dinners (plus cheese). In Fork It Over, Richman retraces decades of culinary adventuring. In one episode, he reviews a Chicago restaurant owned and operated by Louis Farrakhan (not known to be a fan of Jewish restaurant critics) and completes the assignment by sneaking into services at the Nation of Islam mosque, where no whites are allowed. In Cuba, he defies government regulations by interviewing starving political dissidents, and then rewards himself with a lobster lunch at the most expensive restaurant in Havana. He chiffonades his way to a failing grade at the Paul Bocuse school in Lyon, politely endures Sharon Stone’s notions of fine dining, and explains why you can't get a good meal in Boston—spurred on by the reckless passion for food that made him the only soldier he knows who gained weight while in Vietnam and carried him from his neighborhood burger joint to Le Bernardin.“A sharp, rollicking collection of articles documenting Richman’s most memorable culinary experiences . . . An enjoyable treat full of gastronomic guffaws.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Reading Richman is like taking a brisk walk with a very funny friend.” —Entertainment Weekly“From Shanghai to Havana to the Hamptons, Richman knows whereof he speaks, and he says it so well you can almost taste it.” —Forbes“A very satisfying feast.” —Associated Press
What's the Difference?: What's the Difference?
by Editors of Mental FlossEnlighten Up Already!Monet? Manet? Who can even tell the difference? Well, with the help of the newest mental_floss tome, you can! Want to learn how to tell egg rolls from spring rolls, nuclear bombs from dirty nuclear bombs, or even how to tell an idiot from a moron (there's a real scientific difference)? Piece of cake! Whether you're trying to impress your boss, your mother-in-law, attractive singles, or a pack of fourth graders (you know how they love semantics), mental_floss gives you all the tips and tricks to have you sounding like a genius.
Skin City: Behind the Scenes of the Las Vegas Sex Industry
by Jack SheehanPart exposé, part x-rated travel guide -- the ultimate insider's look at America's adult playgroundVegas. It's a place where Midwestern couples become uninhibited swingers, where shy schoolgirls morph into sexy strippers pulling in $1,000 a night, and where randy tourists come to score at more than just blackjack and craps. What happens here, stays here -- and Vegas nightlife is hotter than it's ever been before.In Skin City, journalist and longtime Vegas resident Jack Sheehan goes beyond the bright lights to explore the dark thrills of the city's sex industry. Both lurid and fascinating, here is an unabashed look at the stripping, swinging, hustling, and hooking that have turned a desert gaming metropolis into the world's capital of lascivious entertainment. But more than a no-holds-barred exposé, Sheehan's Skin City offers a connoisseur's catalogue of where to go for readers whose tastes run to the erotic -- with everything from valuable pointers from lap dancers, call girls, and vice cops to porn star Jenna Jameson's list of her favorite Vegas strip clubs.
A Wedding Like No Other: Inspiration for Creating a Unique, Personal, and Unforgettable Celebration
by Peggy Post Peter PostDestination weddings planned in exotic locales, intimate weddings organized on a shoestring budget, full-scale galas with guests from all over the globe. . . . In A Wedding Like No Other, read the stories of some of the most incredible, romantic ceremonies and receptions collected by the wedding etiquette experts at the Emily Post Institute. As different as they all are, the stories featured here are examples of how a wedding can be heartwarming and unique—even if everything doesn't go exactly as planned. In each one, the bride and groom make a determined effort for their wedding day to be an expression of their tastes and personalities, often in the face of unexpected obstacles. And in every case, the end result is a wonderful and memorable experience for the couple and for everyone else involved. Let these stories help inspire your own big day. The creative vows, cakes, toasts, and more described in these pages will spark your own ideas and help you personalize every detail of your wedding. Also, each story is followed by a short advice section, offering insights and general wisdom on a large variety of topics from picking the venue to selecting the menu. Go beyond the standard, the expected, and make your big day a cherished, uplifting, unforgettable experience. You already have a love like no other, so celebrate it with a wedding like no other.
Water #2: Reunion
by Kara DalkeyThe sea is the birthplace of legends. Corwin has spent all of his sixteen years scavenging the land for his next meal. But when he discovers a unique shell of exquisite beauty, he is convinced it will bring him the riches he's longed for. His hopes are dashed when the shell is stolen from him by evil King Vortigern's men. But the shell has left its mark. Corwin's head is filled with visions of a beautiful and mysterious girl. Soon, he comes face-to-face with the girl of his visions -- Nia, a mermyd from the ocean's depths, the lost city of Atlantis! Together, Nia and Corwin must search for the stolen shell, for it holds the key to the future of Atlantis and also to Nia's and Corwin's very survival.
Water #3: Transformation
by Kara DalkeyNia and Corwin have each fought their own battles. Now they are Joined together to face their most dangerous enemy yet: Ma'el, the evil Avatar. In order to defeat Ma'el, they must retrieve a magical sword from Atlantis. But after a treacherous journey through the sea, they are shocked to discover that the sword is nowhere to be found.As Nia and Corwin search for the sword, they realize that the good people of Atlantis are now enslaved by Ma'el. Worse still, Ma'el plans the same for Corwin's native land of Wales. Nia and Corwin must find the sword and stop Ma'el -- before it's too late.
Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy through the Grand Canyon
by Edward Dolnick0n May 24, 1869, a one-armed Civil War veteran named John Wesley Powell and a ragtag band of nine mountain men embarked on the last great quest in the American West. No one had ever explored the fabled Grand Canyon; to adventurers of that era it was a region almost as mysterious as Atlantis -- and as perilous. The ten men set out down the mighty Colorado River in wooden rowboats. Six survived. Drawing on rarely examined diaries and journals, Down the Great Unknown is the first book to tell the full, true story.