Pick of the Week

Discover's 20 Things You Didn't Know About Everything: Duct Tape, Airport Security, Your Body, Sex in Space...and More!

by The Editors of Discover Magazine and Dean Christopher

This entertaining and highly readable book, assembled by the editors of Discover magazine, offers little-known facts on such subjects such as sleep, birth, death, obesity, human anatomy, weather, the Internet and even duct tape. Much of the information avoids the trivial, however, touching on relevant topics such as the origins of biological warfare and the precariousness of airport security. This book has been written for a general audience, specifically those who are interesting in expanding the base of their knowledge in a useful and novel way.

Pick of the Week

Dog Days: A Year in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile

by Dave Ihlenfeld

It was the ultimate post-college road trip: a year-long journey in a 27-foot-long fiberglass hotdog across the US and Europe. Rife with breakdowns, meaty puns, the burdens of instant celebrity and more Wiener Whistles than anyone could ever hope for, Ihlenfeld's uproarious recounting of his time behind the wheel is a coming-of-age story-as irreverent as it is touching-of learning about life, love, and (sausage) links, ultimately arriving at the realization that that the future is anything but a straight road.

Pick of the Week

Meeks

by Julia Holmes

No woman will have Ben without a proper bachelor's suit . . . and the tailor refuses to make him one. Back from war with a nameless enemy, Ben finds that his mother is dead and his family home has been reassigned by the state. As if that isn t enough, he must now find a wife, or he ll be made a civil servant and given a permanent spot in one of the city s oppressive factories. Meanwhile, Meeks, a foreigner who lives in the park and imagines he s a member of the police, is hunted by the overzealous Brothers of Mercy. Meeks survival depends on his peculiar friendship with a police captain-but will that be enough to prevent his execution at the annual Independence Day celebration? A dark satire rendered with the slapstick humor of a Buster Keaton film, Julia Holmes debut marries the existentialism of Fyodor Dostoevsky s Notes from Underground to the strange charm of a Haruki Murakami novel. Meeks portrays a world at once hilarious and disquieting, in which frustrated revolutionaries and hopeful youths suffer alongside the lost and the condemned, just for a chance at the permanent bliss of marriage and a slice of sugar-frosted Independence Day cake.

Pick of the Week

Hubble: Imaging Space and Time

by David Devorkin and Robert Smith

In the spirit of National Geographic's top-selling Orbit, this large-format, full-color volume stands alone in revealing more than 200 of the most spectacular images from the Hubble Space Telescope during its lifetime, to the very eve of the 2008 final shuttle mission to the telescope. Written by two of the world's foremost authorities on space history, Hubble: Imaging Space and Time illuminates the solar system's workings, the expansion of the universe, the birth and death of stars, the formation of planetary nebulae, the dynamics of galaxies, and the mysterious force known as "dark energy." The potential impact of this book cannot be overstressed: The 2008 servicing mission to install new high-powered scientific instruments is especially high profile because the cancellation of the previous mission, in 2004, caused widespread controversy. The authors reveal the inside story of Hubble's beginnings, its controversial early days, the drama of its first servicing missions, and the creation of the dynamic images that reach into the deepest regions of visible space, close to the time when the universe began. A wealth of astonishing images leads us to the very edge of known space, setting the stage for the new James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2013. Find the stunning panoramic of Carina Nebula, detailing star birth as never before; a jet from a black hole in one galaxy striking a neighboring galaxy; a jewel-like collection of galaxies from the early years of the universe; and a giant galaxy cannibalizing a smaller galaxy. Timed for the 2008 shuttle launch and coinciding with the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first telescope, Hubble: Imaging Space and Time accompanies a high-profile exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum and will be featured on the popular NASM website.

Pick of the Week

Prison Puppies

by Meish Goldish

A yellow Labrador retriever named Mitzie sat in a large room. Her trainer Sharon, an inmate in a New York State prison, gave a command. "Watch me!" It was an important skill for Mitzie to learn. One day she might be placed with a person who is unable to speak and only able to use his or her eyes to give directions. Mitzie was being trained to assist a person with a disability. Learn about her and other dogs that are part of a program called Puppies Behind Bars. Find out how prison inmates and dogs work together, help each other, and ultimately make a big difference in the lives of people in the outside world.

Pick of the Week

Chasing the Moon

by A. Lee Martinez

Diana's life was in a rut - she hated her job, she was perpetually single, and she needed a place to live. But then the perfect apartment came along. It seemed too good to be true - because it was. As it turns out, the apartment was already inhabited - by monsters. Vom the Hungering was the first to greet Diana and to warn her that his sole purpose in life was to eat everything in his path. This poses a problem for Diana since she's in his path...and is forbidden from ever leaving the apartment. It turns out though that there are older and more ancient monstrous entities afoot - ones who want to devour the moon and destroy the world as we know it. Can Diana, Vom, and the other horrors stop this from happening? Maybe if they can get Vom to stop eating everything...and everyone.

Pick of the Week

Perfumes: The Guide

by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez

The first book of its kind: a definitive guide to the world of perfume Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez are experts in the world of scent. Turin, a renowned scientist, and Sanchez, a longtime perfume critic, have spent years sniffing the world s most elegant and beautiful as well as some truly terrible perfumes. In Perfumes: The Guide , they combine their talents and experience to review more than twelve hundred fragrances, separating the divine from the good from the monumentally awful. Through witty, irreverent, and illuminating prose, the reviews in Perfumes not only provide consumers with an essential guide to shopping for fragrance, but also make for a unique reading experience. Perfumes features introductions to women s and men s fragrances and an informative frequently asked questions section including: " What is the difference between eau de toilette and perfume? " How long can I keep perfume before it goes bad? " What s better: splash bottles or spray atomizers? " What are perfumes made of? " Should I change my fragrance each season? Perfumes: The Guide is an authoritative, one-of-a-kind book that will do for fragrance what Robert Parker s books have done for wine. Beautifully designed and elegantly illustrated, this book will be the perfect gift for collectors and anyone who s ever had an interest in the fascinating subject of perfume.

Pick of the Week

Cat People

by Michael Korda and Margaret Korda

With characteristic wit, self–effacing charm and sheer, exuberant love of a good cat story, New York Times bestselling author Michael Korda and his wife Margaret Korda recount their lives as "cat people," beginning with Margaret's passion for cats (and Michael's reluctant mid–life transformation into a cat person), and introducing readers to a hilarious assortment of people whose life revolves––often to an extraordinary degree––around their cat, or cats, from Cleopatra, a transatlantic traveler who found happiness in Paris, to Wally, the epitome of feline dignity.

Pick of the Week

Lucky Girl

by Mei-Ling Hopgood

In a true story of family ties, journalist Mei-Ling Hopgood, one of the first wave of Asian adoptees to arrive in America, comes face to face with her past when her Chinese birth family suddenly requests a reunion after more than two decades.In 1974, a baby girl from Taiwan arrived in America, the newly adopted child of a loving couple in Michigan. Mei-Ling Hopgood had an all-American upbringing, never really identifying with her Asian roots or harboring a desire to uncover her ancestry. She believed that she was lucky to have escaped a life that was surely one of poverty and misery, to grow up comfortable with her doting parents and brothers. Then, when she's in her twenties, her birth family comes calling. Not the rural peasants she expected, they are a boisterous, loving, bossy, complicated middle-class family who hound her daily by phone, fax, and letter, in a language she doesn't understand until she returns to Taiwan to meet them. As her sisters and parents pull her into their lives, claiming her as one of their own, the devastating secrets that still haunt this family begin to emerge. Spanning cultures and continents, Lucky Girl brings home a tale of joy and regret, hilarity, deep sadness, and great discovery as the author untangles the unlikely strands that formed her destiny.

Pick of the Week

Hero

by Perry Moore

Thom Creed is used to being on his own. Even as a high school basketball star, he has to keep his distance because of his father. Hal Creed had once been one of the greatest and most beloved superheroes of The League--until the Wilson Towers incident. After that Thom's mother disappeared and his proud father became an outcast. The last thing in the world Thom would ever want is to disappoint his father. So Thom keeps two secrets from him: First is that he's gay. The second is that he has the power to heal people. Initially, Thom had trouble controlling his powers. But with trail and error he improves, until he gets so good that he catches the attention of the League and is asked to join. Even though he knows it would kill his dad, Thom can't resist. When he joins the League, he meets a motley crew of other heroes, including tough-talking Scarlett, who has the power of fire from growing up near a nuclear power plant; Typhoid Larry, who makes everyone sick by touching them, but is actually a really sweet guy; and wise Ruth, who has the power to see the future. Together these unlikely heroes become friends and begin to uncover a plot to kill the superheroes. Along the way, Thom falls in love, and discovers the difficult truth about his parents' past. This is a moving, funny, and wonderfully original novel that shows that things are not always what they seem, and love can be found in the unlikeliest of places.

Pick of the Week

The Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the Uncertain Future of Egypt in the Obama Age

by Aladdin Elaasar

This book covers Egypt's modern history since 1952 with chronology of Ancient Egyptian history to the present day. It focuses on the Mubarak regime and predicts its downfall and what can unfold in the near future and how it can impact American and Western interests in the Middle East. The book is a good primer and textbook for students of social studies, political science and history at school and college levels. It also explains modern Arab politics and the dynamics of authoritarian rule in the whole region. It is written in a very simple style and narrative which makes it an easy reader, but a valuable academic reference book, as it is very well researched and documented by award-winning and bestselling author of Silent Victims, Professor Aladdin Elaasar.

Pick of the Week

Wizard of the Crow: A Novel

by Ngugl wa Thiong’o

In exile now for more than twenty years, Ngugl wa Thiong’o has become one of the most widely read African writers of our time, the power and scope of his work garnering him international attention and praise. Commencing in “our times” and set in the “Free Republic of Aburlria,” the novel dramatizes with corrosive humor and keenness of observation a battle for control of the souls of the Aburlrian people. Among the contenders: His High Mighty Excellency; the eponymous Wizard, an avatar of folklore and wisdom; the corrupt Christian Ministry; and the nefarious Global Bank. Fashioning the stories of the powerful and the ordinary into a dazzling mosaic, this book reveals humanity in all its endlessly surprising complexity. The author's aim is, in his own words,nothing less than “to sum up Africa of the twentieth century in the context of two thousand years of world history.” Informed by richly enigmatic traditional African storytelling, Wizard of the Crow is a masterpiece, the crowning achievement in Ngugl wa Thiong’o’s career thus far.

Pick of the Week

Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter

by Tom Bissell

Tom Bissell is a prizewinning writer who published three widely acclaimed books before the age of thirty-four. He is also an obsessive gamer who has spent untold hours in front of his various video game consoles, playing titles such as Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, BioShock, and Oblivion for, literally, days. This book is an impassioned defense of this assailed and misunderstood art form. Bissell argues that we are in a golden age of gaming—but he also believes games could be even better. He offers a fascinating and often hilarious critique of the ways video games dazzle and, just as often, frustrate. Blending memoir, criticism, and first-rate reportage, Extra Lives is like no other book on the subject ever published. Whether you love video games, loathe video games, or are merely curious about why they are becoming the dominant popular art form of our time, this book should be required reading.

Pick of the Week

Problem Solving 101: A Simple Book For Smart People

by Ken Watanabe

Ken Watanabe originally wrote Problem Solving 101 for Japanese schoolchildren. His goal was to help shift the focus in Japanese education from memorization to critical thinking, by adapting some of the techniques he had learned as an elite McKinsey consultant. He was amazed to discover that adults were hungry for his fun and easy guide to problem solving and decision making. Watanabe uses sample scenarios to illustrate his techniques, which include logic trees and matrixes. A rock band figures out how to drive up concert attendance. An aspiring animator budgets for a new computer purchase. Students decide which high school they will attend. Illustrated with diagrams and quirky drawings, the book is simple enough for a middleschooler to understand but sophisticated enough for business leaders to apply to their most challenging problems.

Pick of the Week

Drinking With Miss Dutchie

by Ed Breslin

Drinking with Miss Dutchie is a story about Dutchie, a Black Labrador, and her lasting impact on the life of her owner and narrator, Ed Breslin. In contrast to the typical tale of dog as man's best friend, Breslin's is a unique reflection on dog as role model and teacher. While the author struggles with clinical depression and addiction, Dutchie maintains her pure lust for life. Over twelve years, she masterfully and instinctively shows Breslin how to view the world for what it is - and embrace it with full force. Raised in North Philadelphia, the second oldest of twelve children in an Irish Catholic family, Breslin recounts his lifelong struggles with alcoholism and depression, and his exquisitely loving, 30-year marriage to his wife Lynn. Breslin tells us how Dutchie, through her elegant negotiation of the world's difficulties and upheavals, showed him how to quell his fears, unwittingly modeled how to strengthen his relationships, and encouraged him to live in the present.

Pick of the Week

Aerotropolis: The Way We'll Live Next

by John D.Kasarda and Greg Lindsay

This brilliant and eye-opening look at the new phenomenon called the aerotropolis gives us a glimpse of the way we will live in the near future and the way we will do business too. Not so long ago, airports were built near cities, and roads connected the one to the other. This pattern -- the city in the center, the airport on the periphery -- shaped life in the twentieth century, from the central city to exurban sprawl. Today, the ubiquity of jet travel, round-the-clock workdays, overnight shipping, and global business networks has turned the pattern inside out. Soon the airport will be at the center and the city will be built around it, the better to keep workers, suppliers, executives, and goods in touch with the global market. This is the aerotropolis: a combination of giant airport, planned city, shipping facility, and business hub. The aerotropolis approach to urban living is now reshaping life in Seoul and Amsterdam, in China and India, in Dallas and Washington, D.C. The aerotropolis is the frontier of the next phase of globalization, whether we like it or not. Working with John D. Kasarda's ideas and research, the gifted journalist Greg Lindsay gives us a vivid, at times disquieting look at these instant cities in the making, the challenges they present to our environment and our usual ways of life, and the opportunities they offer to those who can exploit them creatively. Aerotropolis is news from the near future -- news we urgently need if we are to understand the changing world and our place in it.

Pick of the Week

The Best of Simon and Kirby

by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

A collection of complete comic book stories from the legendary team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, covering every genre in which they made their mark. From the very beginning in the late 1930s, Simon and Kirby produced the finest stories around, creating dramatic new super heroes (Captain America, Blue Bolt, Fighting American, The Fly), western action (Boy's Ranch), gruesome horror (Black Magic), explosive detective fiction (Justice Traps the Guilty), and the very first romance comics (Young Romance). They were the dream team. Hand-picked by Joe Simon himself, with the images fully restored to their original vibrancy, this book contains more than two-dozen tales, presented in their entirety, including some of the most famous creations, such as Captain America, Fighting American, The Fly, Boy's Ranch, Bullseye, and Stuntman!

Pick of the Week

When Gadgets Betray Us

by Robert Vamosi

Technology is evolving faster than we are. As our mobile phones, mp3 players, cars, and digital cameras become more and more complex, we understand less and less about how they actually work and what personal details these gadgets might reveal about us. Robert Vamosi, an award-winning journalist and analyst who has been covering digital security issues for more than a decade, shows us the dark side of all that digital capability and convenience. Hotel-room TV remotes can be used to steal our account information and spy on what we've been watching, toll-booth transponders receive unencrypted EZ Pass or FasTrak info that can be stolen and cloned, and our cars monitor and store data about our driving habits that can be used in court against us. When Gadgets Betray Us gives us a glimpse into the secret lives of our gadgets and helps us to better understand--and manage--these very real risks.

Pick of the Week

Room: A Novel

by Emma Donoghue

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work. Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

Pick of the Week

When A Billion Chinese Jump: How China
Will Save Mankind -- Or Destroy It

by Jonathan Watts

When a Billion Chinese Jump is a road journey into the future of our species. Traveling from the mountains of Tibet to the deserts of Inner Mongolia via the Silk Road, tiger farms, cancer villages, weather-modifying bases, and eco-cities, Watts chronicles the environmental impact of economic growth with a series of gripping stories from the country on the front line of global development. He talks to nomads and philosophers, entrepreneurs and scientists, rural farmers and urban consumers, examining how individuals are trying to adapt to one of the most spectacular bursts of change in human history, then poses a question that will affect all of our lives: Can China find a new way forward or is this giant nation doomed to magnify the mistakes that have already taken humanity to the brink of disaster?