Bookpedia : Library : Location : S

ISBN: 0822001195

ListPrice: $4.95

Edition: reissue

Dimensions: 0.25 by 5.25 by 8.25 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0679738959

ListPrice: $15.00

Edition: reissue, 03, 04

Dimensions: 1 by 5.25 by 8 in.

Summary: The middle-aged protagonist of Sartre's philosophical novel, set in 1938, refuses to give up his ideas of freedom, despite the approach of the war

ISBN: 0156010593

ListPrice: $14.00

Edition: 1 harvest

Dimensions: 0.75 by 5.25 by 7.75 in.

Summary: "As soon as you cross the threshold, you notice the smell of old paper." The Central Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths is the setting for All the Names, Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese author José Saramago's seventh novel to be translated into English. The names in question are those of every man, woman, and child ever born, married, or buried in the unnamed city where the Registry is located, and are the special province of Senhor José who is employed there as a clerk. Over the centuries, the paper trail in this hopelessly arcane bureaucracy has grown so monumental, so disorganized that one poor researcher became lost in the labyrinthine catacombs of the archive of the dead, having come to the Central Registry in order to carry out some genealogical research he had been commissioned to undertake. He was discovered, almost miraculously, after a week, starving, thirsty, exhausted, delirious, having survived thanks to the desperate measure of ingesting enormous quantities of old documents that neither lingered in the stomach nor nourished, since they melted in the mouth without requiring any chewing. </blockquote> The nondescript Senhor José labors long and thanklessly among the archives; his is a tepid, lonely life with only one small hobby to leaven his leisure hours: he collects "news items about those people in his country who, for good reasons and bad, had become famous." One night, it occurs to him that "something fundamental was missing from his collection, that is, the origin, the root, the source, in other words, the actual birth certificate of these famous people"--and that the information is within easy reach on the other side of a connecting door that separates his meager lodgings from the Registry itself. And so begins Senhor José's midnight raids on the stacks as he shuttles between the Registry and his own room bearing precious records that he carefully copies before returning them to their rightful places. Still, this minor aberration might have remained the clerk's only transgression if not for a simple act of fate: one night, along with his celebrity records, he accidentally picks up a birth certificate belonging to an ordinary, unknown woman--a woman who becomes suddenly more important than all the others precisely because she is unknown. Celebrity is cast aside as Senhor José begins a search for this mysterious quarry--a quest that will lead him into conflict with his superior, the Registrar, and ensnare him in the kind of messy personal histories and tangled relationships he has thus far avoided in his own life. A recurring theme in many of Saramago's novels is the very human struggle between withdrawal and connection. Whether it is the Iberian peninsula literally breaking off from the rest of Europe in The Stone Raft or an entire country afflicted by a devastating malady in Blindness, he is fascinated by the effects of isolation on the human soul and, correspondingly, the redemptive power of compassion. All the Names continues to mine this rich vein as the repressed clerk follows his unknown Ariadne's thread out of the labyrinth of his own strangled psyche and into life. Readers will find here Saramago's trademark love of the absurd, his brilliant imagery and idiosyncratic punctuation, as well as the unflinching yet tender honesty with which he chronicles the human condition. --Alix Wilber

ISBN: 9780312282998

ListPrice: $15.00

Summary: Like the comic books that animate and inspire it, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" is both larger than life and of it too. Complete with golems and magic and miraculous escapes and evil nemeses and even hand-to-hand Antarctic battle, it pursues the most important questions of love and war, dreams and art, across pages brimming with longing and hope. Samuel Klayman--self-described little man, city boy, and Jew--first meets Josef Kavalier when his mother shoves him aside in his own bed, telling him to make room for their cousin, a refugee from Nazi-occupied Prague. It's the beginning, however unlikely, of a beautiful friendship. In short order, Sam's talent for pulp plotting meets Joe's faultless, academy-trained line, and a comic-book superhero is born. A sort of lantern-jawed equalizer clad in dark blue long underwear, the Escapist "roams the globe, performing amazing feats and coming to the aid of those who languish in tyranny's chains!" Before they know it, Kavalier and Clay (as Sam Klayman has come to be known) find themselves at the epicenter of comics' golden age.
But Joe Kavalier is driven by motives far more complex than your average hack. In fact, his first act as a comic-book artist is to deal Hitler a very literal blow. (The cover of the first issue shows the Escapist delivering "an immortal haymaker" onto the Führer's realistically bloody jaw.) In subsequent years, the Escapist and his superhero allies take on the evil Iron Chain and their leader Attila Haxoff--their battles drawn with an intensity that grows more disturbing as Joe's efforts to rescue his family fail. He's fighting their war with brush and ink, Joe thinks, and the idea sustains him long enough to meet the beautiful Rosa Saks, a surrealist artist and surprisingly retrograde muse. But when even that fiction fails him, Joe performs an escape of his own, leaving Rosa and Sammy to pick up the pieces in some increasingly wrong-headed ways.
More amazing adventures follow--but reader, why spoil the fun? Suffice to say, Michael Chabon writes novels like the Escapist busts locks. Previous books such as "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and "Wonder Boys" have prose of equal shimmer and wit, and yet here he seems to have finally found a canvas big enough for his gifts. The whole enterprise seems animated by love: for his alternately deluded, damaged, and painfully sincere characters; for the quirks and curious innocence of tough-talking wartime New York; and, above all, for comics themselves, "the inspirations and lucubrations of five hundred aging boys dreaming as hard as they could." Far from negating such pleasures, the Holocaust's presence in the novel only makes them more pressing. Art, if not capable of actually fighting evil, can at least offer a gesture of defiance and hope--a way out, in other words, of a world gone completely mad. Comic-book critics, Joe notices, dwell on "the pernicious effect, on young minds, of satisfying the desire to escape. As if there could be any more noble or necessary service in life." Indeed. "--Mary Park"

ISBN: 0380789035

ListPrice: $7.99

Dimensions: 1 by 3.25 by 6.50 in.

Summary: "American Gods" is Neil Gaiman's best and most ambitious novel yet, a scary, strange, and hallucinogenic road-trip story wrapped around a deep examination of the American spirit. Gaiman tackles everything from the onslaught of the information age to the meaning of death, but he doesn't sacrifice the razor-sharp plotting and narrative style he's been delivering since his Sandman days.
Shadow gets out of prison early when his wife is killed in a car crash. At a loss, he takes up with a mysterious character called Wednesday, who is much more than he appears. In fact, Wednesday is an old god, once known as Odin the All-father, who is roaming America rounding up his forgotten fellows in preparation for an epic battle against the upstart deities of the Internet, credit cards, television, and all that is wired. Shadow agrees to help Wednesday, and they whirl through a psycho-spiritual storm that becomes all too real in its manifestations. For instance, Shadow's dead wife Laura keeps showing up, and not just as a ghost--the difficulty of their continuing relationship is by turns grim and darkly funny, just like the rest of the book.
Armed only with some coin tricks and a sense of purpose, Shadow travels through, around, and underneath the visible surface of things, digging up all the powerful myths Americans brought with them in their journeys to this land as well as the ones that were already here. Shadow's road story is the heart of the novel, and it's here that Gaiman offers up the details that make this such a cinematic book--the distinctly American foods and diversions, the bizarre roadside attractions, the decrepit gods reduced to shell games and prostitution. "This is a bad land for Gods," says Shadow.
More than a tourist in America, but not a native, Neil Gaiman offers an outside-in and inside-out perspective on the soul and spirituality of the country--our obsessions with money and power, our jumbled religious heritage and its societal outcomes, and the millennial decisions we face about what's real and what's not. "--Therese Littleton"

ISBN: 0393096718

ListPrice: $15.95

Summary: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoi is an excellent novel about a woman's unhappiness in old Russia. Anna is an unhappily married woman with a young son. She's resigned to her life and when she meets Count Vronsky, she falls truly in love. The society of Anna's time forced people to hide their feelings and pretend everything was fine. Anna pays very dearly for her love.The Levin-Kitty subplot was good, but Anna's situation was what really held my interest till the end. I read Anna Karenina for the first time when I was 14, and I've reread the novel several times since then.

ISBN: 0822007762

ListPrice: $4.95

Summary:

ISBN: 0940450291

ListPrice: $45.00

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 21 cm

Summary: Depicting Franklin as a controversial figure in his own time, this volume includes political, economic, and social pieces, scientific articles, opinions on education and religion, propaganda exercises drawn from 'Silence Dogwood,' writings from the 'Pennsylvania Gazette,' and 'Poor Richard's Almanack,' and letters

ISBN: 0064401847

ListPrice: $5.99

Edition: reissue

Dimensions: 0.50 by 5.25 by 7.75 in.

Summary: The story starts out simply enough: Jess Aarons wants to be the fastest boy in the fifth grade--he wants it so bad he can taste it. He's been practicing all summer, running in the fields around his farmhouse until he collapses in a sweat. Then a tomboy named Leslie Burke moves into the farmhouse next door and changes his life forever. Not only does Leslie not look or act like any girls Jess knows, but she also turns out to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. After getting over the shock and humiliation of being beaten by a girl, Jess begins to think Leslie might be okay. Despite their superficial differences, it's clear that Jess and Leslie are soul mates. The two create a secret kingdom in the woods named Terabithia, where the only way to get into the castle is by swinging out over a gully on an enchanted rope. Here they reign as king and queen, fighting off imaginary giants and the walking dead, sharing stories and dreams, and plotting against the schoolmates who tease them. Jess and Leslie find solace in the sanctuary of Terabithia until a tragedy strikes and the two are separated forever. In a style that is both plain and powerful, Katherine Paterson's characters will stir your heart and put a lump in your throat.

ISBN: 1400080436

ListPrice: $13.95

Edition: Reprint

Summary: Jessica Darling’s in college!

Things are looking up for Jessica Darling. She has finally left her New Jersey hometown/hellhole for Columbia University in New York City; she’s more into her boyfriend, Marcus Flutie, than ever (so what if he’s at a Buddhist college in California?); and she’s making new friends who just might qualify as stand-ins for her beloved best friend, Hope.

But Jessica soon realizes that her bliss might not last. She lands an internship at a snarky Brooklyn-based magazine, but will she fit in with the überhip staff (and will she even want to)? As she and Marcus hit the rocks, will she end up falling for her GOPunk, neoconservative RA . . . or the hot (and married!) Spanish grad student she’s assisting on a summer project . . . or the oh-so-sensitive emo boy down the hall? Will she even make it through college now that her parents have cut her off financially? And what do the cryptic one-word postcards from Marcus really mean?

With hilarious insight, the hyperobservant Jessica Darling struggles through her college years—and the summers in between—while maintaining her usual mix of wit, cynicism, and candor.


"From the Hardcover edition."

ISBN: 0822007231

Summary:

ISBN: 0060733357

ListPrice: $15.95

Summary:
In the year 1689, a cabal of Barbary galley slaves -- including one Jack Shaftoe, aka King of the Vagabonds, aka Half-Cocked Jack -- devises a daring plan to win freedom and fortune. A great adventure ensues -- a perilous race for an enormous prize of silver ... nay, gold ... nay, legendary gold.</p>
In Europe, the exquisite and resourceful Eliza, Countess de la Zeur, is stripped of her immense personal fortune by France's most dashing privateer. Penniless and at risk from those who desire either her or her head (or both), she is caught up in a web of international intrigue, even as she desperately seeks the return of her most precious possession.</p>
Meanwhile, Newton and Leibniz continue to propound their grand theories as their infamous rivalry intensifies, stubborn alchemy does battle with the natural sciences, dastardly plots are set in motion ... and Daniel Waterhouse seeks passage to the Massachusetts colony in hopes of escaping the madness into which his world has descended.</p>

ISBN: 1883011558

ListPrice: $35.00

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 21 cm

Summary: It's small wonder that the Library of America chose Eudora Welty as the first living (at that time) author published in this prestigious series. Welty was the kind of writer people routinely call "an American institution." But don't let the sweet white-haired-old-lady image fool you: Welty's work is anything but benign. For more than 50 years, Welty spoke with a fierce and uncompromising literary voice. Or, rather, voices: the stories collected in this volume feature a dizzying array of characters, each of whom seems to whisper directly into the reader's ear. From the toxic rage of "Where Is the Voice Coming From?" to the jazzy rhythms of "Powerhouse," these tales blaze with intensity and a comic energy that's both gentle and fierce. Even that bane of junior-high-school speech tournaments everywhere, "Why I Live at the P.O.," benefits from rereading; as far as this brand of down-home farce goes, Welty does it better than anyone. Bringing together the contents of Welty's four short-fiction collections, this Library of America volume also includes several essays as well as Welty's very fine 1984 memoir, "One Writer's Beginnings." In it she speaks of connections, continuities, the way both her fiction and her experiences emerged gradually into focus over time: <blockquote>...suddenly a light is thrown back, as when your train makes a curve, showing that there has been a mountain of meaning rising behind you on the way you've come, is rising there still, proven now through retrospect.</blockquote> This volume is that light thrown back; the full import of Welty's enormously influential work is perhaps apparent only now, in this substantial and rewarding retrospective of her career. --Mary Park

ISBN: 0395272238

ListPrice: $11.95

Edition: 2nd ed.

Dimensions: 23 cm

Summary:

ISBN:

Summary: I just loved this, loved the ending, and after finally closing it wanted to take the time and think about it for a while.



This easy-reading but rich with meaning story is about an old man that is killed on the job at the amusement park where he has worked for most of his life. The tale that the author then constructs gives meaning to his (the old man's) life, and indeed to all of our lives. Just a wonderful read.



A few side notes for you - This book seemed to be a "slow starter" and is written in simple language. Do not mistake that for simple ideas or what will be a boring book. By mid-book you will probably find this one to be a page turner. I read the last 50 pages in one sitting because I could not put it down. There are pleasant surprises even in the last paragraph.



Importantly, I would would remind the reader that this is a fictional novel. People that look here for a lesson in theological truth, or a peek into the hereafter, are looking into an empty box. Does not acceptance of the concept of "heaven" imply a belief in a diety creator? Indeed, Albom briefly alludes to God a couple of times, very briefly, in the novel. I would pose that the God alluded to here (apparently the Judeo-Christian God of the Hebrews), provided us with a revelation of heaven and the mechanism for reaching it . . . as recorded in the Bible. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is totally disconnected from the Biblical view. So it contains little more theological truth than a Harry Potter book.



I STILL maintain that this is a wonderful read. One could even wish that it were truth, not fiction. But don't confuse the two. And it does contain many true and important concepts.



Enjoy the book, I know you will.

ISBN: 0805206329

ListPrice: $4.50

Summary:

ISBN: 159116222X

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: Hikaru Shindo is like any sixth-grader in Japan: a pretty normal school boy with a two-tone head of hair and a penchant for antics. One day, he finds an old bloodstained Go board in his grandfather's attic-and that's when things get really interesting. Trapped inside the Go board is Fujiwara-no-Sai, the ghost of an ancient Go master who taught the strategically complex board game to the Emperor of Japan many centuries ago. In one fateful moment, Sai becomes a part of Hikaru's consciousness and together, through thick and thin, they make an unstoppable Go-playing team. Will they be able to defeat Go players who have dedicated their lives to the game? Will Sai achieve the "Divine Move" so he'll finally be able to rest in peace? Begin your journey with Hikaru and Sai in this first volume of Hikaru no Go.

ISBN: 1591164966

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: Hikaru has refused to play against Akira Toya but he has joined the Haze Middle School Go Club. Akira joins the Kaio Middle School Club in hopes that the two will meet in one of the periodic school tournaments. Of course, Akira is a million lightyears ahead of anyone on the Kaio team when it comes to Go. While some players on his team admire his skill and want to learn from him, his arrival has thrown the hierarchy of the team into chaos, and has made some feel a great deal of resentment towards him. Three of the members plan to knock him off his pedestal in a dishonest scheme to shame him. Meanwhile, Hikaru's team might not be able to enter the upcoming tournament if they can't find a third player. They post an extremely difficult Go problem on the school bulletin board, thinking that whoever solves it could be their next prospect. A kid named Yuki Mitani solves it but unfortunately he sees Go only as a method of making money on games he bets with gullible old timers. In addition, he has a fondness for cheating. Will Hikaru and Sai be able to reform him and add him to the Haze Go Club?



I'm not going to lie and say that my knowledge of how to play Go or understand all the strategies involved has improved after 3 volumes, but that doesn't even really matter when reading this manga. Obata's art and Hotta's writing convey the suspense in each game and the emotional content without the reader having to understand each and every move. I'll probably never pick up a Go tile myself but I still really enjoy this manga. Maybe it's because the characters invest so much passion and honor in the game they play? Or maybe it's seeing them try to improve their skills to where they're worthy of calling each other equals? A good read even if you have no interest in the game itself.

ISBN: 159116687X

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: Hikaru has refused to play against Akira Toya but he has joined the Haze Middle School Go Club. Akira joins the Kaio Middle School Club in hopes that the two will meet in one of the periodic school tournaments. Of course, Akira is a million lightyears ahead of anyone on the Kaio team when it comes to Go. While some players on his team admire his skill and want to learn from him, his arrival has thrown the hierarchy of the team into chaos, and has made some feel a great deal of resentment towards him. Three of the members plan to knock him off his pedestal in a dishonest scheme to shame him. Meanwhile, Hikaru's team might not be able to enter the upcoming tournament if they can't find a third player. They post an extremely difficult Go problem on the school bulletin board, thinking that whoever solves it could be their next prospect. A kid named Yuki Mitani solves it but unfortunately he sees Go only as a method of making money on games he bets with gullible old timers. In addition, he has a fondness for cheating. Will Hikaru and Sai be able to reform him and add him to the Haze Go Club?



I'm not going to lie and say that my knowledge of how to play Go or understand all the strategies involved has improved after 3 volumes, but that doesn't even really matter when reading this manga. Obata's art and Hotta's writing convey the suspense in each game and the emotional content without the reader having to understand each and every move. I'll probably never pick up a Go tile myself but I still really enjoy this manga. Maybe it's because the characters invest so much passion and honor in the game they play? Or maybe it's seeing them try to improve their skills to where they're worthy of calling each other equals? A good read even if you have no interest in the game itself.

ISBN: 1591166888

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: Hikaru has refused to play against Akira Toya but he has joined the Haze Middle School Go Club. Akira joins the Kaio Middle School Club in hopes that the two will meet in one of the periodic school tournaments. Of course, Akira is a million lightyears ahead of anyone on the Kaio team when it comes to Go. While some players on his team admire his skill and want to learn from him, his arrival has thrown the hierarchy of the team into chaos, and has made some feel a great deal of resentment towards him. Three of the members plan to knock him off his pedestal in a dishonest scheme to shame him. Meanwhile, Hikaru's team might not be able to enter the upcoming tournament if they can't find a third player. They post an extremely difficult Go problem on the school bulletin board, thinking that whoever solves it could be their next prospect. A kid named Yuki Mitani solves it but unfortunately he sees Go only as a method of making money on games he bets with gullible old timers. In addition, he has a fondness for cheating. Will Hikaru and Sai be able to reform him and add him to the Haze Go Club?



I'm not going to lie and say that my knowledge of how to play Go or understand all the strategies involved has improved after 3 volumes, but that doesn't even really matter when reading this manga. Obata's art and Hotta's writing convey the suspense in each game and the emotional content without the reader having to understand each and every move. I'll probably never pick up a Go tile myself but I still really enjoy this manga. Maybe it's because the characters invest so much passion and honor in the game they play? Or maybe it's seeing them try to improve their skills to where they're worthy of calling each other equals? A good read even if you have no interest in the game itself.

ISBN: 1591166896

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: Hikaru has refused to play against Akira Toya but he has joined the Haze Middle School Go Club. Akira joins the Kaio Middle School Club in hopes that the two will meet in one of the periodic school tournaments. Of course, Akira is a million lightyears ahead of anyone on the Kaio team when it comes to Go. While some players on his team admire his skill and want to learn from him, his arrival has thrown the hierarchy of the team into chaos, and has made some feel a great deal of resentment towards him. Three of the members plan to knock him off his pedestal in a dishonest scheme to shame him. Meanwhile, Hikaru's team might not be able to enter the upcoming tournament if they can't find a third player. They post an extremely difficult Go problem on the school bulletin board, thinking that whoever solves it could be their next prospect. A kid named Yuki Mitani solves it but unfortunately he sees Go only as a method of making money on games he bets with gullible old timers. In addition, he has a fondness for cheating. Will Hikaru and Sai be able to reform him and add him to the Haze Go Club?



I'm not going to lie and say that my knowledge of how to play Go or understand all the strategies involved has improved after 3 volumes, but that doesn't even really matter when reading this manga. Obata's art and Hotta's writing convey the suspense in each game and the emotional content without the reader having to understand each and every move. I'll probably never pick up a Go tile myself but I still really enjoy this manga. Maybe it's because the characters invest so much passion and honor in the game they play? Or maybe it's seeing them try to improve their skills to where they're worthy of calling each other equals? A good read even if you have no interest in the game itself.

ISBN: 1421502755

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: Hikaru Shindo is like any sixth-grader in Japan: a pretty normal school boy with a two-tone head of hair and a penchant for antics. One day, he finds an old bloodstained GO board in his grandfather's attic-and that's when things get really interesting. Trapped inside the GO board is Fujiwara-no-Sai, the ghost of an ancient GO master who taught the strategically complex board game to the Emperor of Japan many centuries ago. In one fateful moment, Sai becomes a part of Hikaru's consciousness and together, through thick and thin, they make an unstoppable GO-playing team. Will they be able to defeat GO players who have dedicated their lives to the game? Will Sai achieve the "Divine Move" so he'll finally be able to rest in peace? Begin your journey with Hikaru and Sai in this first volume of HIKARU NO GO.

ISBN: 1421506416

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: Hikaru Shindo is like any sixth-grader in Japan: a pretty normal school boy with a two-tone head of hair and a penchant for antics. One day, he finds an old bloodstained GO board in his grandfather's attic-and that's when things get really interesting. Trapped inside the GO board is Fujiwara-no-Sai, the ghost of an ancient GO master who taught the strategically complex board game to the Emperor of Japan many centuries ago. In one fateful moment, Sai becomes a part of Hikaru's consciousness and together, through thick and thin, they make an unstoppable GO-playing team. Will they be able to defeat GO players who have dedicated their lives to the game? Will Sai achieve the "Divine Move" so he'll finally be able to rest in peace? Begin your journey with Hikaru and Sai in this first volume of HIKARU NO GO.

ISBN: 1421506424

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: The Pro Test Preliminaries: Day Four:
Hikaru faces the preliminary rounds of the pro test, during which he must eliminate not only his classmates at the insei school but also any outsiders who want to take the test. One of them in particular appears to know how to exploit Hikaru's weaknesses, and poor Hikaru seems powerless to stop him.

ISBN: 1421510669

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber¿at the cost of never being able to swim again! Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of pirate wannabes, is setting off in search of the "One Piece," said to be the greatest treasure in the world...

ISBN: 1421510677

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: The main round of the pro test has begun. Everyone's feeling the pressure, no one more so than Hikaru's friend Isumi, who has failed the test twice before. Fighting off his feelings of self-doubt, Isumi faces his next opponent, who turns out to be Hikaru. But a careless mistake lands the pair in an awkward position!

ISBN: 1421510685

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 1

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: Hikaru's classmate Ochi has won enough games to guarantee his place among the top three players who will pass the pro test. Hikaru, on the other hand, still needs to win more games, and he'll soon face his friend Waya and Ochi himself, who has been preparing for their match with Akira's help! When the dust clears, who will be left standing?

ISBN: 0395282659

ListPrice: $11.95

Dimensions: 0.50 by 5.25 by 8.25 in.

Summary: The adventures of the well-to-do hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who lived happily in his comfortable home until a wandering wizard granted his wish.

ISBN: 0822006456

ListPrice: $4.95

Edition: reissue

Dimensions: 0.25 by 5.25 by 8.25 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0226469409

ListPrice: $14.00

Dimensions: 1.25 by 5.25 by 8 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0679725148

ListPrice: $17.50

Edition: 1st Vintage Books/Library of America ed.

Dimensions: 21 cm

Summary:

ISBN: 0061055069

ListPrice: $11.99

Dimensions: 0.50 by 5.25 by 8 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 9780060790592

ListPrice: $13.95

Summary:
By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & ClayThis P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

ISBN: 0822009218

ListPrice: $4.95

Edition: reissue

Dimensions: 0.25 by 5.25 by 8.25 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0060904798

ListPrice: $13.00

Edition: reissue

Dimensions: 1 by 5.25 by 8 in.

Summary: The story of Odysseus' return from the Trojan War to his homeland is translated into modern English

ISBN: 0306815842

ListPrice: $22.95

Edition: 1st Da Capo Press Ed

Summary: Welcome to the mind, to the world of Fake Steve Jobs. Fake Steve the counterintuitive management guru: “Obviously we can’t "literally" put our employees’ lives at risk. But we have to make them feel that way.” Fake Steve the political hobnobber: “I can see why they keep Nancy Pelosi under wraps. Wacky as a dime watch.” Fake Steve quoting friend/musician/philosopher Bono on road etiquette: “Tink about dat next toim yer cuttin off some bloke and you don’t know who it is, right? Could be Jay-sus. Or Boutros Boutros-Ghali or sumfin.” And on, yes, himself: “Geniuses have feelings, too.” In the tradition of "Thank You for Smoking" and in the spirit of "The Onion", "Options" is a novelistic sendup and takedown of Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and Washington, D.C., as viewed by a central character who exists, to his immense self-satisfaction, at the crossroads of all three worlds: “It’s like in one of those movies where a guy realizes he’s got telekinetic powers and it’s just too bad if he doesn’t want them, he’s got them. Likewise, I have this gift. It’s who I am.”

ISBN: 0822010445

ListPrice: $5.99

Summary:

ISBN: 0060593083

ListPrice: $15.95

Summary: In "Quicksilver", the first volume of the "Baroque Cycle," Neal Stephenson launches his most ambitious work to date. The novel, divided into three books, opens in 1713 with the ageless Enoch Root seeking Daniel Waterhouse on the campus of what passes for MIT in eighteenth-century Massachusetts. Daniel, Enoch's message conveys, is key to resolving an explosive scientific battle of preeminence between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz over the development of calculus. As Daniel returns to London aboard the "Minerva", readers are catapulted back half a century to recall his years at Cambridge with young Isaac. Daniel is a perfect historical witness. Privy to Robert Hooke's early drawings of microscope images and with associates among the English nobility, religious radicals, and the Royal Society, he also befriends Samuel Pepys, risks a cup of coffee, and enjoys a lecture on Belgian waffles and cleavage-—all before the year 1700.
In the second book, Stephenson introduces Jack Shaftoe and Eliza. "Half-Cocked" Jack (also know as the "King of the Vagabonds") recovers the English Eliza from a Turkish harem. Fleeing the siege of Vienna, the two journey across Europe driven by Eliza's lust for fame, fortune, and nobility. Gradually, their circle intertwines with that of Daniel in the third book of the novel.
The book courses with Stephenson's scholarship but is rarely bogged down in its historical detail. Stephenson is especially impressive in his ability to represent dialogue over the evolving worldview of seventeenth-century scientists and enliven the most abstruse explanation of theory. Though replete with science, the novel is as much about the complex struggles for political ascendancy and the workings of financial markets. Further, the novel's literary ambitions match its physical size. Stephenson narrates through epistolary chapters, fragments of plays and poems, journal entries, maps, drawings, genealogic tables, and copious contemporary epigrams. But, caught in this richness, the prose is occasionally neglected and wants editing. Further, anticipating a cycle, the book does not provide a satisfying conclusion to its 900 pages. These are minor quibbles, though. Stephenson has matched ambition to execution, and his faithful, durable readers will be both entertained and richly rewarded with a practicum in Baroque science, cypher, culture, and politics. "--Patrick O'Kelley"

ISBN: 0395272211

ListPrice: $11.95

Dimensions: 1 by 5.25 by 8.25 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0609807919

ListPrice: $13.95

Edition: 1st ed

Summary: “Knowing that I’ve just done something that will take decades off my parents’ lives with worry, you’ll excuse me for not getting into the fa-la-la-la-la Yuletide spirit this year. . . . The only difference between Christmas 2001 and Christmas 2000 is that I don’t have a visit from Hope to look forward to. And Bethany has already packed on some major fetal flab. Oh, and now Gladdie doesn’t need to ask a bizillion questions about my boyfriend, because she’s already gotten the dirt from you know who.”

Jessica Darling is up in arms again in this much-anticipated, hilarious sequel to Sloppy Firsts. This time, the hyperobservant, angst-ridden teenager is going through the social and emotional ordeal of her senior year at Pineville High. Not only does the mysterious and oh-so-compelling Marcus Flutie continue to distract Jessica, but her best friend, Hope, still lives in another state, and she can’t seem to escape the clutches of the Clueless Crew, her annoying so-called friends. To top it off, Jessica’s parents won’t get off her butt about choosing a college, and her sister Bethany’s pregnancy is causing a big stir in the Darling household.

With keen intelligence, sardonic wit, and ingenious comedic timing, Megan McCafferty again re-creates the tumultuous world of today’s fast-moving and sophisticated teens. Fans of Sloppy Firsts will be reunited with their favorite characters and also introduced to the fresh new faces that have entered Jess’s life, including the hot creative writing teacher at her summer college prep program and her feisty, tell-it-like-it-is grandmother Gladdie. But most of all, readers will finally have the answers to all of their burgeoning questions, and then some: Will Jessica crack under the pressure of senioritis? Will her unresolved feelings for Marcus wreak havoc on her love life? Will Hope ever come back to Pineville? Fall in love with saucy, irreverent Jessica all over again in this wonderful sequel to a book that critics and readers alike hailed as the best high school novel in years.

ISBN: 0609807900

ListPrice: $13.95

Edition: 1st ed

Summary: “My parents suck ass. Banning me from the phone and restricting my computer privileges are the most tyrannical parental gestures I can think of. Don’t they realize that Hope’s the only one who keeps me sane? . . . I don’t see how things could get any worse.”

When her best friend, Hope Weaver, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, hyperobservant sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. A fish out of water at school and a stranger at home, Jessica feels more lost than ever now that the only person with whom she could really communicate has gone. How is she supposed to deal with the boy- and shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad’s obsession with her track meets, her mother salivating over big sister Bethany’s lavish wedding, and her nonexistent love life?

A fresh, funny, utterly compelling fiction debut by first-time novelist Megan McCafferty, Sloppy Firsts is an insightful, true-to-life look at Jessica’s predicament as she embarks on another year of teenage torment--from the dark days of Hope’s departure through her months as a type-A personality turned insomniac to her completely mixed-up feelings about Marcus Flutie, the intelligent and mysterious “Dreg” who works his way into her heart. Like a John Hughes for the twenty-first century, Megan McCafferty taps into the inherent humor and drama of the teen experience. This poignant, hilarious novel is sure to appeal to readers who are still going through it, as well as those who are grateful that they don’t have to go back and grow up all over again.

ISBN: 0156838389

ListPrice: $11.00

Dimensions: 0.50 by 5.50 by 8 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0060750863

ListPrice: $15.95

Summary:
England, 1714. London has long been home to a secret war between the brilliant, enigmatic Master of the Mint and closet alchemist, Isaac Newton, and his archnemesis, the insidious counterfeiter Jack the Coiner. Hostilities are suddenly moving to a new and more volatile level as Half-Cocked Jack hatches a daring plan, aiming for the total corruption of Britain's newborn monetary system.</p>
Enter Daniel Waterhouse: Aging Puritan and Natural Philosopher, Daniel has been on a long and harrowing quest to help mend the rift between adversarial geniuses. As Daniel combs city and country for clues to the identity of the blackguard who is attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers, political factions jockey for position while awaiting the impending death of the ailing queen, and the "holy grail" of alchemy, the key to life eternal, tantalizes and continues to elude Isaac Newton.</p>
As Newton, Waterhouse, and Shaftoe each circle closer to the object of Daniel's quest, everything that was will be changed forever ...</p>

ISBN: 0822000830

ListPrice: $4.95

Summary:

ISBN: 0061055131

ListPrice: $13.00

Edition: book&map

Dimensions: 0.25 by 5 by 8 in.

Summary: A map of the fantasy world envisioned by J. R. R. Tolkien and brought to life in The Hobbit traces Bilbo's epic journey through the Forest of Mirkwood and the Enchanted River to the Elvenking's Hall and the Lonely Mountain of Smaug. Reprint.

ISBN: 0822013584

ListPrice: $5.99

Edition: reissue

Summary:

ISBN: 039527222X

ListPrice: $11.95

Dimensions: 1 by 5.50 by 8.50 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0060987103

ListPrice: $15.00

Edition: Reprint

Summary:
When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? </P>
Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. "Wicked" is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil. </P>

ISBN: 0525461752

ListPrice: $0.00

Illustrator: Ernest H. Shepard

Summary:

ISBN: 0312140940

ListPrice: $14.00

Edition: Second Edition

Summary: Grady Tripp is a pot-smoking middle aged novelist who has stalled on a 2611 page opus titled "Wonder Boys". His student James Leer is a troubled young writer obsessed by Hollywood suicides and at work on his own first novel. Grady's bizarre editor Terry Crabtree and another student, Hannah Green, come together in his wildly comic, moving, and finally profound search for an ending to his book and a purpose to his life.

ISBN: 0679729526

ListPrice: $10.00

Edition: reissue

Dimensions: 1 by 5.25 by 8 in.

Summary: Virgil's poem about the adventures of Aeneas after the fall of Troy

ISBN: 0316172324

ListPrice: $25.95

Summary: Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant. Gladwell, the best-selling author of The Tipping Point, campaigns for snap judgments and mind reading with a gift for translating research into splendid storytelling. Building his case with scenes from a marriage, heart attack triage, speed dating, choking on the golf course, selling cars, and military maneuvers, he persuades readers to think small and focus on the meaning of "thin slices" of behavior. The key is to rely on our "adaptive unconscious"--a 24/7 mental valet--that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea. Gladwell includes caveats about leaping to conclusions: marketers can manipulate our first impressions, high arousal moments make us "mind blind," focusing on the wrong cue leaves us vulnerable to "the Warren Harding Effect" (i.e., voting for a handsome but hapless president). In a provocative chapter that exposes the "dark side of blink," he illuminates the failure of rapid cognition in the tragic stakeout and murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. He underlines studies about autism, facial reading and cardio uptick to urge training that enhances high-stakes decision-making. In this brilliant, cage-rattling book, one can only wish for a thicker slice of Gladwell's ideas about what Blink Camp might look like. --Barbara Mackoff

ISBN: 0671792253

ListPrice: $12.00

Edition: reissue, 04

Dimensions: 0.75 by 5.50 by 8.50 in.

Summary: Author Paul Fussell swings from contempt to sympathy as he observes the behavior of different classes. He writes with a distinctive style as he takes a mostly subjective witty look at what makes a person part of a certain class. One complaint I have is that he does not tell us how he came by his information about different classes. Did he go visit people of different classes for several days and find out about them? Most of the time people stay in their own class and that is the only class they really know without stereotyping. That's why I just view this book as merely his opinion of what sets off one class from another. A reader can read this book and figure out what class he is in. Maybe you will see yourself all over the map as far as class goes, such as having mostly middle class tendencies with a little redneck sneaking out from time to time. I suppose I'm either high prole or middle class with some bohemian pretensions. I fell between the cracks--too educated to be high prole but not professional enough to be middle class. Some things Fussell mentions seem petty as as a class marker. Who really cares what kind of ice cream a person buys as far as a class marker? Some things I wouldn't have guessed about the upper classes such as the point he makes about not praising their furniture or food because it should already be assumed that is the best of the best. Fussell doesn't like the middle classes because they are insecure euphemizing fakes that try to act like they are classier than they really are and they keep pronouncing foreign words wrong, but use them anyway. Fussell is also worried about "prole drift" in which everything in society begins to gravitate towards the tastes of the proles, mentioning the problem of ugly, functional-looking architecture that surrounds us.Fussell mentions a class called "X" which is somewhat similar to bohemians. I think he thinks he is a part of this class and he likes this class because it is the category for people who are trying to escape the class jail. I thought it was a glorified description since escaping a class may just be an illusion and I think bohemians live on its margins of society as social outcasts. Bohos are often so idiosyncratic that can't get along with others in their category--so it's a lonely life.

ISBN: 0679760091

ListPrice: $16.00

Edition: reissue

Dimensions: 1.50 by 5.50 by 8 in.

Summary: The best-selling author of How We Die chronicles the history of medicine through profiles of important physicians and research scientists and reviews key medical theories and pioneering advances. Reissue. NYT.

ISBN:

ListPrice: $14.95

Summary: It just isn't fair: most of us would be lucky to be able to express ourselves in writing half as well as David Sedaris does in his new book, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. But on top of his skills with the written word, the author also has substantial gifts as a performer, and he proves this on the audio version of the book. In his essay The Change in Me,Sedaris remembers that his mother was good at imitating people, and it's clear that he takes after her. Whether he's doing impressions of high-voiced brother Paul, or recalling times when he and his sisters tried to win good karma by speaking and acting like well-behaved, fairytale children, Sedaris's nuanced performance hits the right note on both the opening, comedic stories, and the more poignant essays that tend to come later in the reading. In fact, for those who have already read some of the best stories in other publications including The New Yorker, the CD or cassette version of this collection is probably the best bet for furthering your appreciation of the material.Sedaris's career is closely linked with two things: audio (he was discovered by NPR's Ira Glass), and the personal lives of himself and his family. In Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, he describes fights with his boyfriend, and his sister-in-law's difficult pregnancy. When sister Lisa complains about the stories involving the family, he writes about that, too. Sedaris's latest provides more evidence that he is a great humorist, memoirist and raconteur, and readers are lucky to have the opportunity to know him so well. Perhaps they are luckier still not to know him personally. --Leah Weathersby

ISBN: 0375705244

ListPrice: $14.00

Dimensions: 0.75 by 5.25 by 8 in.

Summary: In retrospect, it seems as if the American Revolution was inevitable. But was it? In Founding Brothers, Joseph J. Ellis reveals that many of those truths we hold to be self-evident were actually fiercely contested in the early days of the republic. Ellis focuses on six crucial moments in the life of the new nation, including a secret dinner at which the seat of the nation's capital was determined--in exchange for support of Hamilton's financial plan; Washington's precedent-setting Farewell Address; and the Hamilton and Burr duel. Most interesting, perhaps, is the debate (still dividing scholars today) over the meaning of the Revolution. In a fascinating chapter on the renewed friendship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson at the end of their lives, Ellis points out the fundamental differences between the Republicans, who saw the Revolution as a liberating act and hold the Declaration of Independence most sacred, and the Federalists, who saw the revolution as a step in the building of American nationhood and hold the Constitution most dear. Throughout the text, Ellis explains the personal, face-to-face nature of early American politics--and notes that the members of the revolutionary generation were conscious of the fact that they were establishing precedents on which future generations would rely. In Founding Brothers, Ellis (whose American Sphinx won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 1997) has written an elegant and engaging narrative, sure to become a classic. Highly recommended. --Sunny Delaney

ISBN: 0679742441

ListPrice: $14.00

Dimensions: 1 by 5.25 by 8 in.

Summary: Presents a meditation and portrait of the experience of dying that elucidates the decisions that can be made to allow each person an understanding of death, as well as his or her own choice of death

ISBN: 0345370996

ListPrice: $11.95

Dimensions: 1 by 5 by 8 in.

Summary: Two of the earliest known copies of Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu's 'Te-Tao Ching' have been translated and compiled into poems that express the Taoist way of life

ISBN: 9780812973013

ListPrice: $15.95

Summary: Tracy Kidder is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House, Among Schoolchildren, and Home Town. He has been described by the "Baltimore" "Sun" as the “master of the non-fiction narrative.” This powerful and inspiring new book shows how one person can make a difference, as Kidder tells the true story of a gifted man who is in love with the world and has set out to do all he can to cure it.

At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life’s calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This magnificent book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer—brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti—blasts through convention to get results.

Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is humanity" - a philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners In Health. He enlists the help of the Gates Foundation, George Soros, the U.N.’s World Health Organization, and others in his quest to cure the world. At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope, and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb “Beyond mountains there are mountains”: as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.

“Mountains Beyond Mountains unfolds with the force of a gathering revelation,” says Annie Dillard, and Jonathan Harr says, “[Farmer] wants to change the world. Certainly this luminous and powerful book will change the way you see it.”


"From the Hardcover edition."

ISBN: 9780812971064

ListPrice: $14.95

Summary: An inspired blend of memoir and literary criticism, "Reading Lolita in Tehran" is a moving testament to the power of art and its ability to change and improve people's lives. In 1995, after resigning from her job as a professor at a university in Tehran due to repressive policies, Azar Nafisi invited seven of her best female students to attend a weekly study of great Western literature in her home. Since the books they read were officially banned by the government, the women were forced to meet in secret, often sharing photocopied pages of the illegal novels. For two years they met to talk, share, and "shed their mandatory veils and robes and burst into color." Though most of the women were shy and intimidated at first, they soon became emboldened by the forum and used the meetings as a springboard for debating the social, cultural, and political realities of living under strict Islamic rule. They discussed their harassment at the hands of "morality guards," the daily indignities of living under the Ayatollah Khomeini's regime, the effects of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, love, marriage, and life in general, giving readers a rare inside look at revolutionary Iran. The books were always the primary focus, however, and they became "essential to our lives: they were not a luxury but a necessity," she writes.
Threaded into the memoir are trenchant discussions of the work of Vladimir Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, and other authors who provided the women with examples of those who successfully asserted their autonomy despite great odds. The great works encouraged them to strike out against authoritarianism and repression in their own ways, both large and small: "There, in that living room, we rediscovered that we were also living, breathing human beings; and no matter how repressive the state became, no matter how intimidated and frightened we were, like Lolita we tried to escape and to create our own little pockets of freedom," she writes. In short, the art helped them to survive. "--Shawn Carkonen"

ISBN: 0140230386

ListPrice: $14.00

Edition: mv-tie/rep, 04

Dimensions: 0.75 by 5 by 8 in.

Summary: Searching for Bobby Fischer is the story of Fred Waitzkin and his son Josh, from the moment six-year-old Josh first sits down at a chessboard until he competes for the national championship. Drawn into the insular, international network of chess, they must also navigate the difficult waters of their own relationship. All the while, Waitzkin wonders about and searches for the elusive Bobby Fischer, whose myth still dominates the chess world and profoundly affects Waitzkin's dreams for his son.

ISBN: 9781400052455

ListPrice: $14.95

Summary: Over the last 15 years, the state of inner-city public schools has been in a steep and continuing decline. Since the federal courts began dismantling the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, segregation of black children has reverted to its highest level since 1968. In many inner-city schools, a stick-and-carrot method of behavioral control traditionally used in prisons is now used with students. Meanwhile, as high-stakes testing takes on pathological and punitive dimensions, liberal education has been increasingly replaced by culturally barren and robotic methods of instruction that would be rejected out of hand by schools that serve the mainstream of society.

Filled with the passionate voices of children, principals, and teachers, and some of the most revered leaders in the black community, "The Shame of the Nation" pays tribute to those undefeated educators who persist against the odds, but directly challenges the chilling practices now being forced upon our urban systems by the Bush administration. In their place, Kozol offers a humane, dramatic challenge to our nation to fulfill at last the promise made some 50 years ago to all our youngest citizens.

ISBN:

Summary:

ISBN: 0316346624

ListPrice: $14.95

Summary: "The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." Although anyone familiar with the theory of memetics will recognize this concept, Gladwell's The Tipping Point has quite a few interesting twists on the subject. For example, Paul Revere was able to galvanize the forces of resistance so effectively in part because he was what Gladwell calls a "Connector": he knew just about everybody, particularly the revolutionary leaders in each of the towns that he rode through. But Revere "wasn't just the man with the biggest Rolodex in colonial Boston," he was also a "Maven" who gathered extensive information about the British. He knew what was going on and he knew exactly whom to tell. The phenomenon continues to this day--think of how often you've received information in an e-mail message that had been forwarded at least half a dozen times before reaching you. Gladwell develops these and other concepts (such as the "stickiness" of ideas or the effect of population size on information dispersal) through simple, clear explanations and entertainingly illustrative anecdotes, such as comparing the pedagogical methods of Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, or explaining why it would be even easier to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the actor Rod Steiger. Although some readers may find the transitional passages between chapters hold their hands a little too tightly, and Gladwell's closing invocation of the possibilities of social engineering sketchy, even chilling, The Tipping Point is one of the most effective books on science for a general audience in ages. It seems inevitable that "tipping point," like "future shock" or "chaos theory," will soon become one of those ideas that everybody knows--or at least knows by name. --Ron Hogan

ISBN: 0751529818

ListPrice: $14.45

Edition: New Ed

Summary: Tuesdays with Morrie is a "final thesis" between a young man and his old, beloved college professor who is diagnosed with a deadly, unforgiving illness called ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.



This book made Morrie's death much more valuable by making it a life lesson for people. People fear death and let it take over them instead of preparing for it and cherishing the moments they have to live. Morrie is only human, and he must have had his fears as well, but Morrie was strong, and he used his death to teach one more class, to share the experience to the public and give others the message of life and death.



Morrie died painfully, but he didn't die lonely. He was a great teacher, husband, father, and friend. He had many loved ones who watched over him. He didn't die without meaning either. He left the world a better place.



After reading this book, I was deeply moved, and I've thought a lot about life and death. I'm still young and I don't really know much about the two broad subjects. After reading the book twice, I truly believe this book is the answer to life.



Life is a long, tiring trip and death is like your last stop to home sweet home and knowing that you've been there before.



No matter how busy or how much your life is filled with earthly activities, this book reminds us of the simple gifts we have in life and to cherish the loved ones. After I finished the book, I've been able to appreciate the little things in life, such as the color of leaves, the sounds of birds chirping, the laughter of loved ones, and the simple daily activities that I am able to do.



This is the type of book that can be read over and over and you'll still find more valuable hidden meanings and lessons in the text. It is beautifully written and simple, yet contains much complex lessons. This book touches your heart and soul and gets your mind thinking about the values of life. This is a book that never leaves your soul after you read it. Trust me on that.



**I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT**

ISBN: 9781580052252

ListPrice: $15.95

Summary: Being a sex worker isn’t something to write home about for most women (and men) in the $12 billion-a-year sex industry.

Prostitutes, strippers, and adult film stars put themselves, and what they do for a living, out on the street, stage, and TV screen every day, but they often keep their working lives hidden from friends, family, and other employers. They do this because sex work is widely considered illegal, unhealthy, and immoral.

Edited by Annie Oakley, "Working Sex, New Voices from a Changing Industry" features stories and contributions from sex workers—strippers, prostitutes, domes, film stars, phone sex operators, and internet models—who are speaking out. This provocative anthology showcases voices from a vibrant community intent on unmasking the jobs they do with dignity and pride.

Contributors tackling issues of class, gender, race, labor, and sexuality with blazing insight and critical observations include Michelle Tea, Stephen Elliot, Nomy Lamm, Ana Voog, Vaginal Davis, and Mirha-Soleil Ross.

ISBN: 0822953986

ListPrice: $22.50

Dimensions: 25 cm

Summary: Traces the history of the American steel industry, analyzes labor relations, and explains the factors that have brought down the industry

ISBN: 188641128X

ListPrice: $17.95

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 1 by 6 by 9.50 in.

Summary: Owen Linzmayer's Apple Confidential is subtitled The Real Story of Apple Computer, Inc., and while nobody will ever know the complete, "real" story about Apple, Linzmayer's is probably as close as they come. Having covered Apple news since 1980, he offers extensive insider details about Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, John Sculley, Gilbert Amelio, Bill Gates, and other major players whose lives were (and are) intertwined with Apple's history. And along the way, we also learn about lesser-known figures whose stories have remained hidden in the Apple myth: Ronald Gerald Wayne, for example, who was actually a partner with Wozniak and Jobs in the original incarnation of the company, but who sold his share when he realized he would be financially vulnerable if it should fail. Linzmayer's tale does have a few drawbacks. Because he mixes a chronological narrative with chapters that focus on key points in the Apple story, he sometimes repeats himself. Case in point: the chapter "Big Bad Blunders" makes a great record of Apple's failures, but the story of the exploding Powerbook 5300s is duplicated at later points. Nonetheless, Apple Confidential is rife with gems that will appeal to Apple fanatics and followers of the computer industry. Especially enjoyable are the revelation of "Easter eggs" that are hidden in several versions of the Mac operating system; the many screen shots, timelines, and telling quotes from Jobs, Gates, Wozniak and others that populate the margins and concluding sections of each chapter; the "Code Names Uncovered" section that makes public the monikers of several secret Apple projects; and Bill Gates's 1985 letter to John Sculley and Jean Louis Gassee pleading for Apple to license Mac technology and develop a "standard personal computer." --Patrick O'Kelley

ISBN: 9780142001196

ListPrice: $18.00

Summary: This mesmerizing exploration of the most subtle, elusive, and effective form of power is a masterful analysis of civilization's greatest seducers, from Cleopatra to JFK, as well as the classic literature of seduction from Freud to Kierkegaard and Ovid to Casanova. Robert Greene once again identifies the rules of a timeless, amoral game and explores how to cast a spell, break down resistance, and, ultimately, compel a target to surrender. Presenting the timeless profiles of each type of seducer and the twenty-four maneuvers that will guide you step by step in the game of seduction, "The Art of Seduction" is an indispensable primer of persuasion that reveals the timeless power of this age-old art.

ISBN: 074325144X

ListPrice: $14.00

Dimensions: 1 by 6.25 by 9.50 in.

Summary: I am the suspicious writer, yes, a long time friend of Katherine Bergin, now Dreyer, but I've never met Danny. I stayed at their home in California while on a trip from where I live in Stamford, Connecticut, while they traveled. I am a long time runner and I still say I've never read a better book about running, but now it's the third review I've written and that too probably won't look good. However I feel obligated to straighten out the mess I created. I wrote the review from Katherine's computer...so it's showing up as her...a terrible mistake on my part. I've never done this before. I tried to cancel it, thought I had and wrote my second review minutes later from my own email thinking the first one was deleted. I mostly apologize to Katherine and Danny but also to everyone who thinks they've done something underhanded. I wrote because I think people should know about this book and this technique. Lousy with computers, I am an OK athlete and I was able to quickly pick up on Danny's suggestion and now I have less pain. Again, my apologies for making a mess of this.Seems I've created a problem that was not my intention.

ISBN: 1580176070

ListPrice: $16.95

Illustrator: Cindy McFarland, Joliette Borda

Summary: Writing especially for the busy person, Smallin begins by asking “What’s your cleaning style?” Super cleaner? Speed cleaner? Green cleaner? Occasional cleaner? No matter what the style, she has tips for how everyone can be successful at achieving and maintaining a clean, inviting home environment. She covers every imaginable situation, with special advice for dual-career families with busy travel schedules, pet owners, families with small children, allergy sufferers, and homeowners with large outdoor living areas.

Endorsing the motto “clean smarter, not harder,” Smallin makes practical suggestions for cleaning routines for each area or room of the house, and breaks down the big tasks into simple, doable pieces with varying timeframes. She builds on her organizing roots and suggests a combination of plain & simple organizing practices combined with daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning practices to keep the home environment clean and clutter-free—leaving more time to enjoy life.

While keeping things simple, Smallin knows how to get into the nitty-gritty of cleaning. She can talk mops, squeegees, vacuuming, and the most effective products for cleaning, disinfecting, deodorizing, and decluttering with the best of them. She has special tips for cleaning everything from flatware to computers, couch cushions to countertops, shower stalls to stereo speakers, and, of course, the kitchen sink.

Beyond the living areas, Smallin ventures into the basement, attic, and garage to address keeping storage areas orderly; cleaning bikes, skis, and other recreational equipment; and even the best ways to wash and wax the car, clean the battery, tires, engine, and air filter. Out in the yard, she tackles patios, decks, driveways, sidewalks, outdoor furniture, grills, garden tools, pools, gutters, siding, and trash cans.

Never before has cleaning been covered so comprehensively—in such a plain & simple way, designed to appeal to every style of housekeeper.

ISBN: 0767903595

ListPrice: $10.95

Edition: 1st us

Dimensions: 0.50 by 6 by 7.25 in.

Summary: Drawing on the success of her first book, Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui, Karen Kingston has met popular demand by expanding on the indispensable activity of clearing clutter. There is very little of actual Feng Shui here, and certainly nothing you can't get elsewhere, but the clutter problem gets full and complete treatment. Kingston reminds us that clutter is stuck energy that keeps you stuck in undesirable life patterns. Therefore, you can "sort out your life by sorting out your junk." Kingston covers the reasons we keep things as well as the amazing stories of people who have cleared their clutter away. More than just junk, clutter is all those things that have negative symbology and that collect stagnant energy. This latter can also apply to bodily, emotional, and spiritual clutter, all of which Kingston describes with characteristic passion. In an age of accumulation, it's good to see a book that frees up life again.

ISBN: 0670033375

ListPrice: $29.95

Summary:

ISBN: 9780743201254

ListPrice: $15.00

Summary: Do you think you're funny?
Do you want to turn your sense of humor into a career?
If the answer is yes, then Judy Carter's "The Comedy Bible" is for you. The guru to aspiring stand-up comics provides the complete scoop on being -- and writing -- funny for money.
If you've got a sense of humor, you can learn to make a career out of comedy, says Judy Carter. Whether it's creating a killer stand-up act, writing a spec sitcom, or providing jokes for radio or one-liners for greeting cards, Carter provides step-by-step instructions in "The Comedy Bible." She helps readers first determine which genre of comedy writing or performing suits them best and then directs them in developing, refining, and selling their work.
Using the hands-on workbook format that was so effective in her bestselling first book, "Stand-Up Comedy: The Book," Carter offers a series of day-by-day exercises that draw on her many years as a successful stand-up comic and the head of a nationally known comedy school. Also included are practical tips and advice from today's top comedy professionals -- from Bernie Brillstein to Christopher Titus to Richard Lewis. She presents the pros and cons of the various comedy fields -- stand-up, script, speech and joke writing, one-person shows, humor essays -- and shows how to tailor your material for each. She teaches how to find your "authentic" voice -- the true source of comedy. And, perhaps most important, Carter explains how to take a finished product to the next level -- making money -- by pitching it to a buyer and negotiating a contract.
Written in Carter's unique, take-no-prisoners voice, "The Comedy Bible" is practical, inspirational, and funny.

ISBN: 1582973571

ListPrice: $17.99

Edition: 2

Summary: Updated and revised, this new edition of the best-selling favorite enables readers to master the fundamentals of humor writing and better understand the demands of the comedic market. Comedy Writing Secrets now includes:
-Examples from comedy greats as well as cutting-edge contemporary comedians, including Jon Stewart, Chris Rock, and Tina Fey
-A complete spectrum of techniques, from writing one-liners and stand-up routines, to finding a market for one's work
-Step-by-step writing exercises accompanied with sample answers, so readers can practice and hone their skills
With this guide, aspiring comics can learn how to sharpen their comedic talent and turn it into a well-paying pursuit.

ISBN: 0385513755

ListPrice: $35.00

Edition: Special illustrated ed., 1st ed.

Dimensions: 27 cm

Summary: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and French cryptologist Sophie Neveu work to solve the murder of an elderly curator of the Louvre, a case which leads to clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci and a centuries-old secret society.

ISBN: 1592402038

ListPrice: $11.00

Edition: Reprint

Summary: A bona fide publishing phenomenon, Lynne Truss’s now classic #1 "New York Times" bestseller "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" makes its paperback debut after selling over 3 million copies worldwide in hardcover.
We all know the basics of punctuation. Or do we? A look at most neighborhood signage tells a different story. Through sloppy usage and low standards on the Internet, in e-mail, and now text messages, we have made proper punctuation an endangered species.
In "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", former editor Truss dares to say, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and very English way, that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are. This is a book for people who love punctuation and get upset when it is mishandled. From the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to George Orwell shunning the semicolon, this lively history makes a powerful case for the preservation of a system of printing conventions that is much too subtle to be mucked about with. BACKCOVER: Praise for Lynne Truss and "Eats, Shoots & Leaves":

"Eats, Shoots & Leaves" “makes correct usage so cool that you have to admire Ms. Truss.”
—Janet Maslin, "The New York Times"

“Witty, smart, passionate.”
—"Los Angeles Times Book Review", Best Books Of 2004: Nonfiction

“Who knew grammar could be so much fun?”
—"Newsweek"

“Witty and instructive. . . . Truss is an entertaining, well-read scold in a culture that could use more scolding.”
—"USA Today" “Truss is William Safire crossed with John Cleese’s Basil Fawlty.”
—"Entertainment Weekly"

“Lynne Truss has done the English-speaking world a huge service.”
—"The Christian Science Monitor"

“This book changed my life in small, perfect ways like learning how to make better coffee or fold an omelet. It’s the perfect gift for anyone who cares about grammar and a gentle introduction for those who don’t care enough.”
—"The Boston Sunday Globe"

“Lynne Truss makes [punctuation] a joy to contemplate.”
—"Elle"

“If Lynne Truss were Roman Catholic I’d nominate her for sainthood.” —Frank McCourt, author of "Angela’s Ashes"

“Truss’s scholarship is impressive and never dry.”
—Edmund Morris, "The New York Times Book Review"

ISBN: 020530902X

ListPrice: $7.95

Edition: 4th, 02

Dimensions: 0.25 by 4.50 by 7.50 in.

Summary: The fact is, the vast majority of so-called book doctors are garbage. An exception would be Strunk and White's classic Elements of Style. It was originally written during WWI by William Strunk who was then a professor at Cornell, and it has since been updated by E.B.White, one of his former pupils. Strunk's strategy was to edit down the complexities of English grammar into those few basic elements which would help people to improve their writing skills. His central rule is simple: "Omit needless words". Indeed......Unfortunatley, the book sometimes seems a little old-fashioned when it includes grammatical terms such as "nonrestrictive clauses" which one doesn't need to know. Also, the book assumes you have a decent working knowledge of basic grammer. It gives advice on word choice, appropriate use of different syntactical constructions and similar topics. The final chapter added by E.B.White is a list of twenty-one guidelines for clear and good writing which are very helpful. The suggestions range from keeping the audience in mind to hints on the choice of effective vocabulary.

ISBN: 0684802031

ListPrice: $15.00

Edition: reprint

Dimensions: 1 by 5.50 by 8.75 in.

Summary: What are the most important things in your life? Do they get as much care, emphasis, and time as you'd like to give them? Far from the traditional "be-more-efficient" time-management book with shortcut techniques, First Things First shows you how to look at your use of time totally differently. Using this book will help you create balance between your personal and professional responsibilities by putting first things first and acting on them. Covey teaches an organizing process that helps you categorize tasks so you focus on what is important, not merely what is urgent. First you divide tasks into these quadrants: <ol> <LI>Important and Urgent (crises, deadline-driven projects) <LI> Important, Not Urgent (preparation, prevention, planning, relationships) <LI> Urgent, Not Important (interruptions, many pressing matters) <LI> Not Urgent, Not Important (trivia, time wasters)</ol> Most people spend most of their time in quadrants 1 and 3, while quadrant 2 is where quality happens. "Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things," says Covey. He points you toward the real human needs--"to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy"--and how to balance your time to achieve a meaningful life, not just get things done. --Joan Price

ISBN: 047102984X

ListPrice: $19.95

Edition: reissue

Dimensions: 0.50 by 7.50 by 9.25 in.

Summary: This is a book of real-world physics questions and explainations. Billiards, air-conditioning, carnival games, and more are covered.Our high school advanced physics course used this book for a "special" kind of weekly lab where groups of students were assigned a few questions and the group was to write up short answers/explainations to the questions posed by Jearl, applying the concepts we learned in class and stretching our thought process.Most questions have solid physics explainations, some don't. As such, scores were given based on insight, communication, and application.The point of this book is to provoke thought and grab students' interest, and Jearl is a master.

ISBN: 1566917425

ListPrice: $14.95

Summary: Foghorn Outdoors Bay Area Biking is a collection of 60 bike rides, suitable for both road cyclists and mountain bikers, all within a 90-minute drive of San Francisco. Rides run the gamut from easy cruises for families to all-day jaunts for experienced cyclists, with options for making each trip longer or shorter, easier or more difficult. Each ride is profiled for its scenic beauty - waterfalls, ocean views, redwood forests, and summit vistas - so readers will discover plentiful rewards on every trip. Bay Area Biking includes details on terrain, mileage, riding time, elevation gain, and level of difficulty, along with precise driving directions to the start of each ride, route maps, and mile-by-mile directions that include places to stop for water and groceries, and where to discover cafes, wineries, and historic sights.

ISBN: 1566912466

ListPrice: $19.95

Edition: 5th

Dimensions: 1.50 by 5.50 by 8.50 in.

Summary: There are few corners of California in which Tom Stienstra has not set Vibram-soled foot at one time or another. In this information-packed guidebook, the longtime San Francisco Chronicle outdoors columnist catalogues the best (and the rest) of the Golden State's trails, combining his encyclopedic knowledge with that of another accomplished trekker, Ann Marie Brown. The two cover more than a thousand hikes that range from short jaunts to multiday expeditions, rating each walk for length and difficulty and providing notes on water sources, points of interest, permits, contacts, and other useful data. At the most demanding end of the scale, for example, is a 14-mile scramble up Mount Shasta, for which they recommend that you carry an ice ax and crampons; on the moderate side is the 10.6-mile ramble through Pine Valley, in the coastal mountains above Big Sur, with "an up-and-down course that soon becomes more down than up"; and on the easy end is a 1.2-mile round-trip amble along the Desert View Nature Trail near the summit of Southern California's Laguna Mountain. In every instance, Stienstra and Brown tell what you can expect to see and where you're likely to encounter trouble in the form of storms, predatory mammals, or crowds. Thoroughly updated, this is by far the best single source of information on planning a hiking trip in California. --Gregory McNamee

ISBN: 1566917700

ListPrice: $19.95

Edition: 3rd

Summary: Foghorn Outdoors California Waterfalls provides a fresh look at some of the best spots in the Golden State, from the Mount Shasta Wilderness to the San Diego Coast. Profiles of more than 220 waterfalls present a wide range of adventures, complete with more than 160 photos, 80 helpful maps, and beauty ratings for every waterfall based on scenery, setting, and overall view. An avid hiker and veteran outdoors writer, Ann Marie Brown gives tips on accessibility, best season, and points of interest, as well as essential information on driving directions, trail notes, and elevation changes for each fall. Day-hikers, families, vacationers, and seasoned backpackers alike will find the perfect destination in the only guide to this spectacular aspect of California's beauty.

ISBN: 1878424319

ListPrice: $12.95

Summary: Sit at the foot of a native elder and listen as great wisdom of days long past is passed down. In The Four Agreements shamanic teacher and healer Don Miguel Ruiz exposes self-limiting beliefs and presents a simple yet effective code of personal conduct learned from his Toltec ancestors. Full of grace and simple truth, this handsomely designed book makes a lovely gift for anyone making an elementary change in life, and it reads in a voice that you would expect from an indigenous shaman. The four agreements are these: Be impeccable with your word. Don't take anything personally. Don't make assumptions. Always do your best. It's the how and why one should do these things that make The Four Agreements worth reading and remembering. --P. Randall Cohan

ISBN: 0670899240

ListPrice: $24.95

Dimensions: 0.75 by 6.50 by 9.25 in.

Summary: Based on the premise that productivity is directly proportional to one's ability to handle tasks in a relaxed manner, the author offers strategies for self-management that minimize stress and enhance one's focus and efficiency.

ISBN: 9780811846455

ListPrice: $12.95

Illustrator: Symbolon

Summary: "The Girl's Guide to Surfing" delivers all a girl needs to score the wave of her choice. The surfing population has recently exploded, and women are in the water more than ever. For all these hearty souls, author Andrea McCloud delivers down-to-earth instruction and indispensable advice. Find out what kind of surf equipment is specifically right for women and how to get it. Learn how to read local breaks and tides for catching the right wave at the right spot. Get the lowdown on surf etiquette to avoid getting yelled at, or worse, crashing into someone. And hear war stories from the pros about how they learned to surf, how they conquer fear, and what it's like to pull into a fat tube. Featuring loads of informative illustrations, sidebars, and tips, "The Girl's Guide to Surfing" is the bible for any girl who wants to catch a wave.

ISBN: 0596006624

ListPrice: $22.95

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 1.25 by 5.75 by 8.75 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0060448466

Summary:

ISBN: 0439064864

ListPrice: $19.95

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 1.50 by 6.25 by 9.75 in.

Summary: It's hard to fall in love with an earnest, appealing young hero like Harry Potter and then to watch helplessly as he steps into terrible danger! And in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the much anticipated sequel to the award-winning Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, he is in terrible danger indeed. As if it's not bad enough that after a long summer with the horrid Dursleys he is thwarted in his attempts to hop the train to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his second year. But when his only transportation option is a magical flying car, it is just his luck to crash into a valuable (but clearly vexed) Whomping Willow. Still, all this seems like a day in the park compared to what happens that fall within the haunted halls of Hogwarts. Chilling, malevolent voices whisper from the walls only to Harry, and it seems certain that his classmate Draco Malfoy is out to get him. Soon it's not just Harry who is worried about survival, as dreadful things begin to happen at Hogwarts. The mysteriously gleaming, foot-high words on the wall proclaim, "The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware." But what exactly does it mean? Harry, Hermione, and Ron do everything that is wizardly possible--including risking their own lives--to solve this 50-year-old, seemingly deadly mystery. This deliciously suspenseful novel is every bit as gripping, imaginative, and creepy as the first; familiar student concerns--fierce rivalry, blush-inducing crushes, pedantic professors--seamlessly intertwine with the bizarre, horrific, fantastical, or just plain funny. Once again, Rowling writes with a combination of wit, whimsy, and a touch of the macabre that will leave readers young and old desperate for the next installment. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson

ISBN: 0545010225

ListPrice: $34.99

Edition: 1st

Illustrator: Mary GrandPré

Summary: Readers beware. The brilliant, breathtaking conclusion to J.K. Rowling's spellbinding series is not for the faint of heart--such revelations, battles, and betrayals await in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" that no fan will make it to the end unscathed. Luckily, Rowling has prepped loyal readers for the end of her series by doling out increasingly dark and dangerous tales of magic and mystery, shot through with lessons about honor and contempt, love and loss, and right and wrong. Fear not, you will find no spoilers in our review--to tell the plot would ruin the journey, and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is an odyssey the likes of which Rowling's fans have not yet seen, and are not likely to forget. But we would be remiss if we did not offer one small suggestion before you embark on your final adventure with Harry--bring plenty of tissues.
The heart of Book 7 is a hero's mission--not just in Harry's quest for the Horcruxes, but in his journey from boy to man--and Harry faces more danger than that found in all six books combined, from the direct threat of the Death Eaters and you-know-who, to the subtle perils of losing faith in himself. Attentive readers would do well to remember Dumbledore's warning about making the choice between "what is right and what is easy," and know that Rowling applies the same difficult principle to the conclusion of her series. While fans will find the answers to hotly speculated questions about Dumbledore, Snape, and you-know-who, it is a testament to Rowling's skill as a storyteller that even the most astute and careful reader will be taken by surprise.
A spectacular finish to a phenomenal series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is a bittersweet read for fans. The journey is hard, filled with events both tragic and triumphant, the battlefield littered with the bodies of the dearest and despised, but the final chapter is as brilliant and blinding as a phoenix's flame, and fans and skeptics alike will emerge from the confines of the story with full but heavy hearts, giddy and grateful for the experience. "--Daphne Durham" Visit the "Harry Potter" Store
Our "Harry Potter" Store features all things "Harry", including books, audio CDs and cassettes, DVDs, soundtracks, games, and more.
Begin at the Beginning
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

Hardcover
Paperback "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Hardcover
Paperback "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"

Hardcover
Paperback "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

Hardcover
Paperback "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"

Hardcover
Paperback "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Hardcover
Paperback Why We Love Harry
"Favorite Moments from the Series"
There are plenty of reasons to love Rowling's wildly popular series--no doubt you have several dozen of your own. Our list features favorite moments, characters, and artifacts from the first five books. Keep in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive (what we love about Harry could fill ten books!) and does not include any of the spectacular revelatory moments that would spoil the books for those (few) who have not read them. Enjoy. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"
* Harry's first trip to the zoo with the Dursleys, when a boa constrictor winks at him.
* When the Dursleys' house is suddenly besieged by letters for Harry from Hogwarts. Readers learn how much the Dursleys have been keeping from Harry. Rowling does a wonderful job in displaying the lengths to which Uncle Vernon will go to deny that magic exists.
* Harry's first visit to Diagon Alley with Hagrid. Full of curiosities and rich with magic and marvel, Harry's first trip includes a trip to Gringotts and Ollivanders, where Harry gets his wand (holly and phoenix feather) and discovers yet another connection to He-Who-Must-No-Be-Named. This moment is the reader's first full introduction to Rowling's world of witchcraft and wizards.
* Harry's experience with the Sorting Hat. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
* The de-gnoming of the Weasleys' garden. Harry discovers that even wizards have chores--gnomes must be grabbed (ignoring angry protests "Gerroff me! Gerroff me!"), swung about (to make them too dizzy to come back), and tossed out of the garden--this delightful scene highlights Rowling's clever and witty genius.
* Harry's first experience with a Howler, sent to Ron by his mother.
* The Dueling Club battle between Harry and Malfoy. Gilderoy Lockhart starts the Dueling Club to help students practice spells on each other, but he is not prepared for the intensity of the animosity between Harry and Draco. Since they are still young, their minibattle is innocent enough, including tickling and dancing charms. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"
* Ron's attempt to use a telephone to call Harry at the Dursleys'.
* Harry's first encounter with a Dementor on the train (and just about any other encounter with Dementors). Harry's brush with the Dementors is terrifying and prepares Potter fans for a darker, scarier book.
* Harry, Ron, and Hermione's behavior in Professor Trelawney's Divination class. Some of the best moments in Rowling's books occur when she reminds us that the wizards-in-training at Hogwarts are, after all, just children. Clearly, even at a school of witchcraft and wizardry, classes can be boring and seem pointless to children.
* The Boggart lesson in Professor Lupin's classroom.
* Harry, Ron, and Hermione's knock-down confrontation with Snape. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
* Hermione's disgust at the reception for the veela (Bulgarian National Team Mascots) at the Quidditch World Cup. Rowling's fourth book addresses issues about growing up--the dynamic between the boys and girls at Hogwarts starts to change. Nowhere is this more plain than the hilarious scene in which magical cheerleaders nearly convince Harry and Ron to jump from the stands to impress them.
* Viktor Krum's crush on Hermione--and Ron's objection to it.
* Malfoy's "Potter Stinks" badge.
* Hermione's creation of S.P.E.W., the intolerant bigotry of the Death Eaters, and the danger of the Triwizard Tournament. Add in the changing dynamics between girls and boys at Hogwarts, and suddenly Rowling's fourth book has a weight and seriousness not as present in early books in the series. Candy and tickle spells are left behind as the students tackle darker, more serious issues and take on larger responsibilities, including the knowledge of illegal curses. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"

* Harry's outburst to his friends at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. A combination of frustration over being kept in the dark and fear that he will be expelled fuels much of Harry's anger, and it all comes out at once, directly aimed at Ron and Hermione. Rowling perfectly portrays Harry's frustration at being too old to shirk responsibility, but too young to be accepted as part of the fight that he knows is coming.
* Harry's detention with Professor Umbridge. Rowling shows her darker side, leading readers to believe that Hogwarts is no longer a safe haven for young wizards. Dolores represents a bureaucratic tyrant capable of real evil, and Harry is forced to endure their private battle of wills alone.
* Harry and Cho's painfully awkward interactions. Rowling clearly remembers what it was like to be a teenager.
* Harry's Occlumency lessons with Snape.
* Dumbledore's confession to Harry.
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

* The introduction of the Horcrux.
* Molly Weasley asking Arthur Weasley about his "dearest ambition." Rowling has always been great at revealing little intriguing bits about her characters at a time, and Arthur’s answer "to find out how airplanes stay up" reminds us about his obsession with Muggles.
* Harry's private lessons with Dumbledore, and more time spent with the fascinating and dangerous pensieve, arguably one of Rowling’s most ingenious inventions.
* Fred and George Weasley’s Joke Shop, and the slogan: "Why Are You Worrying About You-Know-Who? You Should Be Worrying About U-NO-POO--the Constipation Sensation That's Gripping the Nation!"
* Luna's Quidditch commentary. Rowling created scores of Luna Lovegood fans with hilarious and bizarre commentary from the most unlikely Quidditch commentator.
* The effects of Felix Felicis.

Magic, Mystery, and Mayhem: A Conversation with J.K. Rowling

"I am an extraordinarily lucky person, doing what I love best in the world. I’m sure that I will always be a writer. It was wonderful enough just to be published. The greatest reward is the enthusiasm of the readers." "--J.K. Rowling"
Find out more about Harry's creator in our exclusive interview with J.K. Rowling.

Did You Know? "The Little White Horse" was J.K. Rowling's favorite book as a child. Jane Austen is Rowling's favorite author. Roddy Doyle is Rowling's favorite living writer. A Few Words from Mary GrandPré

"When I illustrate a cover or a book, I draw upon what the author tells me; that's how I see my responsibility as an illustrator. J.K. Rowling is very descriptive in her writing--she gives an illustrator a lot to work with. Each story is packed full of rich visual descriptions of the atmosphere, the mood, the setting, and all the different creatures and people. She makes it easy for me. The images just develop as I sketch and retrace until it feels right and matches her vision." Check out more "Harry Potter" art from illustrator Mary GrandPré.

ISBN: 0439139597

ListPrice: $25.95

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 2.25 by 6.25 by 9.50 in.

Summary: In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling offers up equal parts danger and delight--and any number of dragons, house-elves, and death-defying challenges. Now 14, her orphan hero has only two more weeks with his Muggle relatives before returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yet one night a vision harrowing enough to make his lightning-bolt-shaped scar burn has Harry on edge and contacting his godfather-in-hiding, Sirius Black. Happily, the prospect of attending the season's premier sporting event, the Quidditch World Cup, is enough to make Harry momentarily forget that Lord Voldemort and his sinister familiars--the Death Eaters--are out for murder. Readers, we will cast a giant invisibility cloak over any more plot and reveal only that You-Know-Who is very much after Harry and that this year there will be no Quidditch matches between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Instead, Hogwarts will vie with two other magicians' schools, the stylish Beauxbatons and the icy Durmstrang, in a Triwizard Tournament. Those chosen to compete will undergo three supreme tests. Could Harry be one of the lucky contenders? But Quidditch buffs need not go into mourning: we get our share of this great game at the World Cup. Attempting to go incognito as Muggles, 100,000 witches and wizards converge on a "nice deserted moor." As ever, Rowling magicks up the details that make her world so vivid, and so comic. Several spectators' tents, for instance, are entirely unquotidian. One is a minipalace, complete with live peacocks; another has three floors and multiple turrets. And the sports paraphernalia on offer includes rosettes "squealing the names of the players" as well as "tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves." Needless to say, the two teams are decidedly different, down to their mascots. Bulgaria is supported by the beautiful veela, who instantly enchant everyone--including Ireland's supporters--over to their side. Until, that is, thousands of tiny cheerleaders engage in some pyrotechnics of their own: "The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field." Long before her fourth installment appeared, Rowling warned that it would be darker, and it's true that every exhilaration is equaled by a moment that has us fearing for Harry's life, the book's emotions running as deep as its dangers. Along the way, though, she conjures up such new characters as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, a Dark Wizard catcher who may or may not be getting paranoid in his old age, and Rita Skeeter, who beetles around Hogwarts in search of stories. (This Daily Prophet scoop artist has a Quick-Quotes Quill that turns even the most innocent assertion into tabloid innuendo.) And at her bedazzling close, Rowling leaves several plot strands open, awaiting book 5. This fan is ready to wager that the author herself is part veela--her pen her wand, her commitment to her world complete. (Ages 9 and older) --Kerry Fried

ISBN: 0439784549

ListPrice: $29.99

Dimensions: 2 by 6.25 by 9.25 in.

Summary: <strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="cc6600">Potter News You Can Use</font></strong> <p clear="left"> J.K. Rowling has revealed three chapter titles from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to be: <ul> <li>Chapter Two: "Spinners End" <li>Chapter Six: "Draco's Detour" <li>Chapter Fourteen: "Felix Felicis" </ul> <strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="cc6600">A Few Words from J.K. Rowling</font></strong> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/books/promos/jknewpic.gif" border="0" align="left"> "I am an extraordinarily lucky person, doing what I love best in the world. I’m sure that I will always be a writer. It was wonderful enough just to be published. The greatest reward is the enthusiasm of the readers." --J.K. Rowling. Find out more about Harry's creator in our exclusive interview with J.K. Rowling. <p clear= "all"> <strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="cc6600">Why We Love Harry</font></strong> Favorite Moments from the Series There are plenty of reasons to love Rowling's wildly popular series--no doubt you have several dozen of your own. Our list features favorite moments, characters, and artifacts from all five books. And we anticipate yet more to come from the sixth Harry Potter book! Keep in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive (what we love about Harry could fill five books!) and does not include any of the spectacular revelatory moments that would spoil the books for those (few) who have not read them. Enjoy. <p clear="all"> <strong>Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone</strong> <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr valign="top" align="left"> <td><img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0590353403.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0" align="left"> </td> <td> <ul> <li>Harry's first trip to the zoo with the Dursleys, when a boa constrictor winks at him. <li>When the Dursleys' house is suddenly besieged by letters for Harry from Hogwarts. Readers learn how much the Dursleys have been keeping from Harry. Rowling does a wonderful job in displaying the lengths to which Uncle Vernon will go to deny that magic exists. <li>Harry's first visit to Diagon Alley with Hagrid. Full of curiosities and rich with magic and marvel, Harry's first trip includes a trip to Gringotts and Ollivanders, where Harry gets his wand (holly and phoenix feather) and discovers yet another connection to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. This moment is the reader's first full introduction to Rowling's world of witchcraft and wizards.<li>Harry's experience with the Sorting Hat.</ul> </td> </tr> </table> <p clear="all"> <strong>Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets</strong> <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr valign="top" align="left"> <td><img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439064864.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0" align="left"> </td> <td> <ul> <li>The de-gnoming of the Weasleys' garden. Harry discovers that even wizards have chores--gnomes must be grabbed (ignoring angry protests "Gerroff me! Gerroff me!"), swung about (to make them too dizzy to come back), and tossed out of the garden--this delightful scene highlights Rowling's clever and witty genius. <li>Harry's first experience with a Howler, sent to Ron by his mother. <li>The Dueling Club battle between Harry and Malfoy. Gilderoy Lockhart starts the Dueling Club to help students practice spells on each other, but he is not prepared for the intensity of the animosity between Harry and Draco. Since they are still young, their minibattle is innocent enough, including tickling and dancing charms. </ul> </td> </tr> </table> <p clear="all"> <strong>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban</strong> <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr valign="top" align="left"> <td><img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439136350.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0" align="left"> </td> <td> <ul> <li>Ron's attempt to use a telephone to call Harry at the Dursleys'. <li>Harry's first encounter with a Dementor on the train (and just about any other encounter with Dementors). Harry's brush with the Dementors is terrifying and prepares Potter fans for a darker, scarier book. <li>Harry, Ron, and Hermione's behavior in Professor Trelawney's Divination class. Some of the best moments in Rowling's books occur when she reminds us that the wizards-in-training at Hogwarts are, after all, just children. Clearly, even at a school of witchcraft and wizardry, classes can be boring and seem pointless to children. <li>The Boggart lesson in Professor Lupin's classroom. <li>Harry, Ron, and Hermione's knock-down confrontation with Snape. </ul> </td> </tr> </table> <p clear="all"> <strong>Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire</strong> <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr valign="top" align="left"> <td><img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439139597.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0" align="left"> </td> <td> <ul> <li>Hermione's disgust at the reception for the veela (Bulgarian National Team Mascots) at the Quidditch World Cup. Rowling's fourth book addresses issues about growing up--the dynamic between the boys and girls at Hogwarts starts to change. Nowhere is this more plain than the hilarious scene in which magical cheerleaders nearly convince Harry and Ron to jump from the stands to impress them. <li>Viktor Krum's crush on Hermione--and Ron's objection to it. <li>Malfoy's "Potter Stinks" badge. <li>Hermione's creation of S.P.E.W., the intolerant bigotry of the Death Eaters, and the danger of the Triwizard Tournament. Add in the changing dynamics between girls and boys at Hogwarts, and suddenly Rowling's fourth book has a weight and seriousness not as present in early books in the series. Candy and tickle spells are left behind as the students tackle darker, more serious issues and take on larger responsibilities, including the knowledge of illegal curses. </ul> </td></tr> </table> <p clear="all"> <strong>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</strong> <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr valign="top" align="left"> <td><img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/043935806X.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0" align="left"> </td> <td> <ul> <li>Harry's outburst to his friends at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. A combination of frustration over being kept in the dark and fear that he will be expelled fuels much of Harry's anger, and it all comes out at once, directly aimed at Ron and Hermione. Rowling perfectly portrays Harry's frustration at being too old to shirk responsibility, but too young to be accepted as part of the fight that he knows is coming. <li>Harry's detention with Professor Umbridge. Rowling shows her darker side, leading readers to believe that Hogwarts is no longer a safe haven for young wizards. Dolores represents a bureaucratic tyrant capable of real evil, and Harry is forced to endure their private battle of wills alone. <li>Harry and Cho's painfully awkward interactions. Rowling clearly remembers what it was like to be a teenager. <li>Harry's Occlumency lessons with Snape. <li>Dumbledore's confession to Harry. </ul> </td> </tr> </table> Now on to Harry Potter Book 6! <p clear="all"> <strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="cc6600">Begin at the Beginning</font></strong> <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr class="tiny" valign="top" align="center"> <td> Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0590353403.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">Hardcover Paperback </td> <td>Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets<img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439064864.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">HardcoverPaperback </td> <td>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban<img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439136350.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">HardcoverPaperback </td> <td>Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire<img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439139597.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">HardcoverPaperback </td> <td>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix<img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/043935806X.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">HardcoverPaperback </td> </tr> </table> <strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="cc6600">If You Like J.K. Rowling, You'll Love These Authors…</font></strong> <ul> <li>Cornelia Funke <li>Eoin Colfer <li>Garth Nix </ul> <strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="cc6600">New Novels to Keep You Busy</font></strong> <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr class="tiny" valign="top" align="center"> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439686261.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">Cry of the Icemark </td> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439700930.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">The Dark Hills Divide </td> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439554780.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">Singer of All Songs </td> </tr> <tr class="tiny" valign="top" align="center"> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439416604.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">The Game of Sunken Places </td> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439670195.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">Children of the Lamp </td> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439456959.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">Dragon Rider </td> </tr> </table> <strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="cc6600">Authors Younger Potter Fans Should Try…</font></strong> <ul> <li>Geronimo Stilton <li>Andy Griffiths <li>Dav Pilkey </ul> <strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="cc6600">While You Wait for Harry Potter 6</font></strong> Hot New Series for Potter Fans <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr class="tiny" valign="top" align="center"> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439545269.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">Charlie Bone </td> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439405572.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">Guardians of Ga'hoole </td> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439551234.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">Keys to the Kingdom </td> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439650755.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">Underland Chronicles </td> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0439633737.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg">Dragons of Deltora </td> </tr> </table> <strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="cc6600">A Few Words from Mary GrandPré</font></strong> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/books/promos/hp-character.gif" border="0" align="left"> "When I illustrate a cover or a book, I draw upon what the author tells me; that's how I see my responsibility as an illustrator. J.K. Rowling is very descriptive in her writing--she gives an illustrator a lot to work with. Each story is packed full of rich visual descriptions of the atmosphere, the mood, the setting, and all the different creatures and people. She makes it easy for me. The images just develop as I sketch and retrace until it feels right and matches her vision." Check out more Harry Potter art from illustrator Mary GrandPré. <p clear="all"> <strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="cc6600">Did You Know?</font></strong> <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0142300276.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> </td> <td valign=center>The Little White Horse was J.K. Rowling's favorite book as a child. </td> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0553213105.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> </td> <td valign=center>Jane Austen is Rowling's favorite author. </td> <td> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0670033618.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> </td> <td valign=center>Roddy Doyle is Rowling's favorite living writer. </td> </tr> </table>

ISBN: 043935806X

ListPrice: $29.99

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 2.25 by 6.25 by 9.25 in.

Summary: As his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry approaches, 15-year-old Harry Potter is in full-blown adolescence, complete with regular outbursts of rage, a nearly debilitating crush, and the blooming of a powerful sense of rebellion. It's been yet another infuriating and boring summer with the despicable Dursleys, this time with minimal contact from our hero's non-Muggle friends from school. Harry is feeling especially edgy at the lack of news from the magic world, wondering when the freshly revived evil Lord Voldemort will strike. Returning to Hogwarts will be a relief... or will it? The fifth book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series follows the darkest year yet for our young wizard, who finds himself knocked down a peg or three after the events of last year. Somehow, over the summer, gossip (usually traced back to the magic world's newspaper, the Daily Prophet) has turned Harry's tragic and heroic encounter with Voldemort at the Triwizard Tournament into an excuse to ridicule and discount the teen. Even Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of the school, has come under scrutiny by the Ministry of Magic, which refuses to officially acknowledge the terrifying truth that Voldemort is back. Enter a particularly loathsome new character: the toadlike and simpering ("hem, hem") Dolores Umbridge, senior undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, who takes over the vacant position of Defense Against Dark Arts teacher--and in no time manages to become the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, as well. Life isn't getting any easier for Harry Potter. With an overwhelming course load as the fifth years prepare for their Ordinary Wizarding Levels examinations (O.W.Ls), devastating changes in the Gryffindor Quidditch team lineup, vivid dreams about long hallways and closed doors, and increasing pain in his lightning-shaped scar, Harry's resilience is sorely tested. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, more than any of the four previous novels in the series, is a coming-of-age story. Harry faces the thorny transition into adulthood, when adult heroes are revealed to be fallible, and matters that seemed black-and-white suddenly come out in shades of gray. Gone is the wide-eyed innocent, the whiz kid of Sorcerer's Stone. Here we have an adolescent who's sometimes sullen, often confused (especially about girls), and always self-questioning. Confronting death again, as well as a startling prophecy, Harry ends his year at Hogwarts exhausted and pensive. Readers, on the other hand, will be energized as they enter yet again the long waiting period for the next title in the marvelous, magical series. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

ISBN: 0439136350

ListPrice: $19.95

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 1.50 by 6.25 by 9.50 in.

Summary: For most children, summer vacation is something to look forward to. But not for our 13-year-old hero, who's forced to spend his summers with an aunt, uncle, and cousin who detest him. The third book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series catapults into action when the young wizard "accidentally" causes the Dursleys' dreadful visitor Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift up to the ceiling. Fearing punishment from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon (and from officials at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who strictly forbid students to cast spells in the nonmagic world of Muggles), Harry lunges out into the darkness with his heavy trunk and his owl Hedwig. As it turns out, Harry isn't punished at all for his errant wizardry. Instead he is mysteriously rescued from his Muggle neighborhood and whisked off in a triple-decker, violently purple bus to spend the remaining weeks of summer in a friendly inn called the Leaky Cauldron. What Harry has to face as he begins his third year at Hogwarts explains why the officials let him off easily. It seems that Sirius Black--an escaped convict from the prison of Azkaban--is on the loose. Not only that, but he's after Harry Potter. But why? And why do the Dementors, the guards hired to protect him, chill Harry's very heart when others are unaffected? Once again, Rowling has created a mystery that will have children and adults cheering, not to mention standing in line for her next book. Fortunately, there are four more in the works. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson

ISBN: 0590353403

ListPrice: $19.95

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 1.25 by 6 by 9.25 in.

Summary: Say you've spent the first 10 years of your life sleeping under the stairs of a family who loathes you. Then, in an absurd, magical twist of fate you find yourself surrounded by wizards, a caged snowy owl, a phoenix-feather wand, and jellybeans that come in every flavor, including strawberry, curry, grass, and sardine. Not only that, but you discover that you are a wizard yourself! This is exactly what happens to young Harry Potter in J.K. Rowling's enchanting, funny debut novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. In the nonmagic human world--the world of "Muggles"--Harry is a nobody, treated like dirt by the aunt and uncle who begrudgingly inherited him when his parents were killed by the evil Voldemort. But in the world of wizards, small, skinny Harry is famous as a survivor of the wizard who tried to kill him. He is left only with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, curiously refined sensibilities, and a host of mysterious powers to remind him that he's quite, yes, altogether different from his aunt, uncle, and spoiled, piglike cousin Dudley. A mysterious letter, delivered by the friendly giant Hagrid, wrenches Harry from his dreary, Muggle-ridden existence: "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Of course, Uncle Vernon yells most unpleasantly, "I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" Soon enough, however, Harry finds himself at Hogwarts with his owl Hedwig... and that's where the real adventure--humorous, haunting, and suspenseful--begins. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, first published in England as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, continues to win major awards in England. So far it has won the National Book Award, the Smarties Prize, the Children's Book Award, and is short-listed for the Carnegie Medal, the U.K. version of the Newbery Medal. This magical, gripping, brilliant book--a future classic to be sure--will leave kids clamoring for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. (Ages 8 to 13) --Karin Snelson

ISBN: 071672250X

ListPrice: $85.80

Edition: 2nd ed.

Dimensions: 24 cm

Summary:

ISBN: 1741046769

ListPrice: $18.99

Edition: 6

Summary: Discover San Francisco

Stroll the Golden Gate Bridge as fog rolls in like dry ice at a Kiss concert

Bargain-hunt for a halter dress, vintage tees, 'zines and salsa CDs in the Mission

Watch the seagulls hover as you bite into fresh fish tacos with avocado-cilantro cream

Replay your day of pinots, syrahs and viogniers while soaking in a mud bath

In This Guide:

127 delish restaurants, 108 author-tested bars and clubs, 15 tips for a sustainable visit

The only guide with dedicated Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans and Moving to San Francisco chapters - more depth, more niches, more fun

Content updated daily: visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler suggestions

ISBN: 0805079645

ListPrice: $24.00

Summary: From the bestselling author of "Father Joe", a slyly comic, deeply spiritual novel that imagines the Second Coming—and an unlikely, lovably human new savior
Tony Hendra’s "Father Joe" became a new classic of faith and spirituality—even for those not usually inclined. Now Hendra is back with a novel set in a very reverent future where church and state walk hand in hand. Fade-in as Johnny Greco—a fallen journalist who nurses a few grudges along with his cocktails—stumbles onto the story of a young man named Jay who’s driving around New Jersey preaching radical notions (kindness, generosity) and tossing off miracles. How better, Johnny schemes, to stick it to the Reverend Sabbath, America’s #1 Holy Warrior, than to write a headline-making story announcing Jay as the Second Coming? Then something strange happens. Died-in-the-wool skeptic Johnny actually finds his own life being transformed by the new messiah.
Alternately hilarious and genuinely moving, "The Messiah of Morris Avenue" brings to life a savior who reminds the world of what Jesus actually taught and wittily skewers all sorts of sanctimoniousness on both sides of the political spectrum. Writing with heart, a sharp eye, and a passionate frustration with those who feel they hold a monopoly on God, Tony Hendra has created a delightful entertainment that reminds us of the unfailing power of genuine faith.

ISBN: 1566916232

ListPrice: $14.95

Summary: Two chapters in this book saved me a lot of time and money. The travel strategies chapter help me to plan a trip to Yosemite at the last minute during the peak season. The lodging and camping chapters were far better than other guides giving me many more options and describing them well. I recommend this book.

ISBN: 0375402330

ListPrice: $19.95

Edition: Revised, with plastic cover

Summary: Covering the vast region from Alaska to California and east to the Great Plains, this well-produced, compact guidebook contains color plates depicting more than 650 wildflower species grouped by flower color to suit the needs of inexperienced enthusiasts. The plates are keyed to texts that offer physical descriptions of the flowers and their leaves and, where applicable, fruit, along with notes on habitat and range and, often, further notes on the flower's name (e.g., "The common name, Clammyweed, refers to the sticky, moist glands on the surface of this plant"). Expertly written and photographed, this guide is just the book to have on hand when traversing western wildflower country. "--Gregory McNamee"

ISBN: 1580174485

ListPrice: $16.95

Summary: Desk drowning in papers? No room for the car in the garage? Santa still sitting on the roof in May? A less-is-more philosophy is great, but we all still have way too much stuff. The home office swallows up whole rooms, as does the family computer station. Then there's the home gym, the TV room, and the playroom, not to mention our collections - books, CDs, toys. Time management experts agree that when the minor things that take up space in the mind are eliminated, there is room to think about the big things. The same goes for the home. The visual clarity that comes from de-cluttering rooms, finances, and time promotes mental clarity, peacefulness, and contemplation. When everything is organized, it is easier to enjoy the meaningful things in life.
Organizing Plain & Simple is like a course from an expert teacher, grounded in the fundamentals and enriched with philosophy, tips, anecdotes, illustrations - everything necessary to make home and life run more smoothly. Donna Smallin takes a personalized, nonjudgemental approach to explaining how to assess each individual's situation and suggesting where to start organizing - room by room - and then covers how to stay organized. Then she offers advice on organizing time and finances, as well as organizing for the seasons and for special events - the birth of a baby, combining households, a move, kids going off to college, successful downsizing. Smallin presents a broad range of innovative solutions in the running feature "One Challenge, Three Solutions" that includes tips for solving classic organizational issues from a wide range of professional organizers.

ISBN: 9780714843995

ListPrice: $175.00

Summary: PHAIDON DESIGN CLASSICS is the first comprehensive and authoritative collection of classic design objects. This beautifully illustrated three-volume set of books presents 999 industrially manufactured products, carefully selected by a group of experts. It is the first definitive illustrated sourcebook on the evolution of design to include such a wide scope of objects in detail.
From cars to furniture, from tableware to cameras, from everyday objects to airplanes, this breadth of design has never before been collected in such a way before. PHAIDON DESIGN CLASSICS tells the story of design’s evolution around the world from the late 1600's to the present, bringing together patents, prototypes, old advertisements, original drawings, images showing the process of manufacturing, as well as rare archival photographs. The anthology features an astonishing 4,000 images.
The objects are presented chronologically, beginning with an elegant pair of Chinese bonsai scissors from the early 1600s, still in production today, and ending with Barber Osgerby’s Lunar bath accessories, destined to become a classic. Glancing through the volumes, the reader will gain an understanding not only of the history of design, but a history of taste and culture. The book is an extraordinary journey through the objects that have shaped our society, from the first attempts to combine function and beauty in the nineteenth century, through the machine aesthetics of the thirties, the advent of plastic and other new materials in the fifties and sixties, up to the classics-to-be of the last ten years.
The book includes not only objects created by internationally renowned designers, such as Breuer, Le Corbusier, Dreyfuss, Eames, Yanagi and Castiglioni, but also anonymously designed pieces, such as the clothes peg, the corkscrew and the chopstick, which, in spite of lacking a specific designer, have achieved such perfection in design and functionality that they have eliminated the possibility of improvement.
PHAIDON DESIGN CLASSICS is a laboriously selected examination of some of the world’s best products ever made, most of which are still in production. The objects truly encapsulate what design is and what it will be for decades to come. It is a key reference tool for the designer or architect, as well as a fascinating and accessible design history for the newcomer.
The collection comes in a specifically commissioned carrying unit exclusively designed by Konstantin Gricic.

ISBN: 076790396X

ListPrice: $18.00

Edition: 1st ed.

Dimensions: 23 cm

Summary: Thin-but-fit supermodels like Amber Valletta and Shalom Harlow and actresses like Ally McBeal's Courtney Thorne-Smith and Liv Tyler swear by Pilates workouts to keep their figures toned and flexible. The Pilates Body is the latest in a string of books dedicated to this fitness program, which is now soaring in popularity nearly 100 years after it was first developed by Joseph Pilates in Germany in the early 1900s. While today's Pilates studios take advantage of patented and intimidating-looking equipment that costs thousands of dollars (and therefore charge accordingly for private sessions), each exercise in The Pilates Body can be performed with just an exercise mat. While all parts of the body are used in the exercises, the focus is on the abdominals, or "powerhouse," which support the back; this makes Pilates an ideal exercise for those with back problems--or those hoping to prevent them. Author Brooke Siler, who trained with Romana Kryzanowska, the oldest living protégé of Joseph Pilates, organizes her book impeccably. After discussing proper alignment and ways to modify the exercises for those with neck, knee, or lower back pain, she jumps right into the 60-plus exercises, which are divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. What differentiates Siler's book from the other Pilates titles is that she includes a disclaimer about the models: "The models in this book have been training in the Pilates method for years. Although their bodies may seem to represent an unrealistic ideal for many, they have worked hard to achieve their fitness goals. I hope in earnest that they do not intimidate but inspire." Also, each exercise is given a two-page spread of its own, and is accompanied by clear photographs and helpful graphics. For example, for the "inner-thigh lifts," there's an illustration suggesting that you imagine a stack of books on the lifting leg to help you increase resistance. Each exercise also includes what Siler calls "The Inside Scoop," or tips she's learned from training hundreds of clients. These include the main goal of the exercise; simple modifications for beginners; important keys to remember while doing the move; and no-nos to prevent injury. While it's important to concentrate and get the technique of each exercise down, Siler's book is perfect for anyone looking for a simple exercise program that promises results, requires a minimum of time, and can be done at home or while traveling. --Erica Jorgensen

ISBN: 0789484005

ListPrice: $15.00

Dimensions: 0.50 by 7 by 9 in.

Summary: Based on the Pilates Method, which focuses on precision and awareness, strengthening not only the body but the mind as well, an excellent guide to this exercise technique, that has been used by dancers, athletes, and celebrities for years, features step-by-step mat-work exercises and a vast array of programs, from beginner to advanced. Original.

ISBN: 0786867930

ListPrice: $23.95

Edition: 1st ed

Dimensions: 1.25 by 5.75 by 8.25 in.

Summary: In the spirit of John F. Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize-winning Profiles in Courage, 13 essays honoring modern-day political heroes, penned by a collection of stellar authors.
Nearly half a century after then-Senator John F. Kennedy was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Profiles in Courage, his masterful portrait of American heroes, the words "politician" and "courage" are rarely uttered in the same breath. But, as this celebration of modern political bravery amply demonstrates, there are countless examples of heroism among today's elected officials. Profiles in Courage for Our Time pays tribute to 13 such heroes, each a recipient of the prestigious Profile in Courage award. The essays' authors are as noteworthy as their subjects: Anna Quindlen writes about Governor James Florio's passing of the strictest gun control law in the nation; Al Hunt details Russell Feingold and John McCain's efforts to reform political financing; Bob Woodward writes on former President Gerald Ford's controversial decision of conscience to pardon former President Richard Nixon.
"The Profiles in Courage Award seeks to honor those whose lives of service prove that politics can be a noble profession. We hope that Americans realize that there are men and women serving at all levels of our government who are legends of our time." --Caroline Kennedy
Renowned authors and award-winners featured in Profiles in Courage for Our Time:
--Michael Beschloss on Carl Elliot, Sr.
--Bill Kovach on Charles Weltner
--E. J. Dionne on Lowell Weicker, Jr.
--Anna Quindlen on James Florio
--Pete Hamill on Henry Gonzalez
--Steve Roberts on Michael Synar
--Marian Wright Edelman on Corkin Cherubini
--Maryanne Vollers on Charles Price
--Ron Suskind on Nickolas C. Murnion
--Michael Daly on Irish Peace Makers
--Anthony Walton on Hilda Solis
--Al Hunt on Russell Feingold and John McCain
--Teresa Carpenter on John Lewis
--Bob Woodward on Gerald Ford

ISBN: 0671708635

ListPrice: $15.00

Edition: 1st Fireside ed.

Dimensions: 22 cm

Summary: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change was a groundbreaker when it was first published in 1990, and it continues to be a business bestseller with more than 10 million copies sold. Stephen Covey, an internationally respected leadership authority, realizes that true success encompasses a balance of personal and professional effectiveness, so this book is a manual for performing better in both arenas. His anecdotes are as frequently from family situations as from business challenges. Before you can adopt the seven habits, you'll need to accomplish what Covey calls a "paradigm shift"--a change in perception and interpretation of how the world works. Covey takes you through this change, which affects how you perceive and act regarding productivity, time management, positive thinking, developing your "proactive muscles" (acting with initiative rather than reacting), and much more. This isn't a quick-tips-start-tomorrow kind of book. The concepts are sometimes intricate, and you'll want to study this book, not skim it. When you finish, you'll probably have Post-it notes or hand-written annotations in every chapter, and you'll feel like you've taken a powerful seminar by Covey. --Joan Price

ISBN: 0517124858

ListPrice: $9.60

Summary: I thought this book "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, was amazing. I have never laughed so hard while reading in my life. Adams has a unique style of putting the extremely bizarre into fairly common language. He also has a witty humor that will get you rolling with laughter. The books center around two main characters, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, and their adventures so to speak around the galaxy. The two are faced with many bizarre and life threatening events throughout their journeys. They do varies tasks from finding the meaning of life, to saving the galaxy, and watching as the universe is destroyed as they eat a cow which they had had a conversation with a few minutes before hand. The whole book is full of mind-bending contradictions and hilarious out of the blue humor. The plot that I derived form the book, I doubt it is right, is don't sweat the small stuff. The events that happen to Arthur Dent are far worse then the petty stuff we complain about in life. If you read this you need to be up to laughing the whole way through, and a little time to decipher what Adams is saying in the book.

ISBN: 0394743121

ListPrice: $19.00

Dimensions: 1.25 by 6.25 by 9.25 in.

Summary: Ulysses has been labeled dirty, blasphemous, and unreadable. In a famous 1933 court decision, Judge John M. Woolsey declared it an emetic book--although he found it sufficiently unobscene to allow its importation into the United States--and Virginia Woolf was moved to decry James Joyce's "cloacal obsession." None of these adjectives, however, do the slightest justice to the novel. To this day it remains the modernist masterpiece, in which the author takes both Celtic lyricism and vulgarity to splendid extremes. It is funny, sorrowful, and even (in a close-focus sort of way) suspenseful. And despite the exegetical industry that has sprung up in the last 75 years, Ulysses is also a compulsively readable book. Even the verbal vaudeville of the final chapters can be navigated with relative ease, as long as you're willing to be buffeted, tickled, challenged, and (occasionally) vexed by Joyce's sheer command of the English language. Among other things, a novel is simply a long story, and the first question about any story is: What happens?. In the case of Ulysses, the answer might be Everything. William Blake, one of literature's sublime myopics, saw the universe in a grain of sand. Joyce saw it in Dublin, Ireland, on June 16, 1904, a day distinguished by its utter normality. Two characters, Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, go about their separate business, crossing paths with a gallery of indelible Dubliners. We watch them teach, eat, stroll the streets, argue, and (in Bloom's case) masturbate. And thanks to the book's stream-of-consciousness technique--which suggests no mere stream but an impossibly deep, swift-running river--we're privy to their thoughts, emotions, and memories. The result? Almost every variety of human experience is crammed into the accordian folds of a single day, which makes Ulysses not just an experimental work but the very last word in realism. Both characters add their glorious intonations to the music of Joyce's prose. Dedalus's accent--that of a freelance aesthetician, who dabbles here and there in what we might call Early Yeats Lite--will be familiar to readers of Portrait of an Artist As a Young Man. But Bloom's wistful sensualism (and naive curiosity) is something else entirely. Seen through his eyes, a rundown corner of a Dublin graveyard is a figure for hope and hopelessness, mortality and dogged survival: "Mr Bloom walked unheeded along his grove by saddened angels, crosses, broken pillars, family vaults, stone hopes praying with upcast eyes, old Ireland's hearts and hands. More sensible to spend the money on some charity for the living. Pray for the repose of the soul of. Does anybody really?" --James Marcus

ISBN: 9780740751431

ListPrice: $12.99

Summary: "Urbandictionary.com" is a very successful site that encourages users to define the world with their own unique terms. In "Urban Dictionary," site founder Aaron Peckham culls his more than 170,000 definitions for the funniest, wittiest, and most provocative phrases that define the modern slang scene.
Within "urbandictionary.com's" lively lexicon are:
"business provocative" -- Attire used to provoke sexual attention in the workplace.
"compunicate" -- To chat with someone in the same room via instant messaging service instead of in person.
"dandruff" -- A person who 'flakes out' and ditches their friends.
"wingman" -- A guy who takes one for the team by hooking up with a hot girl's ugly friend so his own friend can hook up with the hot girl.
Perfect for those who want to pick up some new slang and those who want to translate it, "Urban Dictionary" is a gritty and witty look at our ever-changing language.

ISBN: 0899974198

ListPrice: $17.95

Edition: 1

Summary: San Francisco is a city of distinct neighborhoods, each with intriguing histories, notable architecture, and can't-miss dining and entertainment options. In "Walking San Francisco", Tom Downs has created an exceptional guide to exploring the best of the City "on the ground," from North Beach to Lands End, Bernal Heights to Golden Gate Park. Take one of these specially designed walking tours and you'll not only get great exercise but soak up the history, culture, and vibe of the City by the Bay. It's like having a savvy tour guide at your side, showing you where to find great mojitos, and pointing out a rare worker-owned strip joint. Two special tours sample the best bars in North Beach and the Mission District. Locals and visitors alike will appreciate insider tips and entertaining asides in the 30 walking tours. Each tour contains a clear neighborhood map, route summaries, and a "Points of Interest" section outlines a walk's highlights.

ISBN: 0743266323

ListPrice: $15.95

Summary:

ISBN: 089886593X

ListPrice: $14.95

Edition: 3rd

Dimensions: 0.75 by 6 by 9.25 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0736054308

ListPrice: $19.95

Summary:

ISBN: 9780385472579

ListPrice: $12.95

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 0.25 by 8.25 by 8.25 in.

Summary: At first one might expect that cartoon is too informal a medium to convey the depth of a religion such as Zen. This book is beautiful in it's simplicity, the perfect starter for the religion. I recommend it as a gift to someone you love who is stressed out. Hopefully, Zen Speaks will help them to shine through adversity, as it has me. 6 stars.

ISBN: 0691008825

ListPrice: $9.95

Illustrator: Tsai Chi Chung

Translator: Brian Bruya

Summary:

ISBN: 020170353X

ListPrice: $39.99

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 24 cm

Summary: If you don't have a lot of time, but still want to learn the latest in C++, you don't have to learn C first. You might learn more by digging into current language features and classes from the very beginning. That's the approach that's offered by Accelerated C++, a text that delves into more advanced C++ features like templates and Standard Template Library (STL) collection classes early on. This book arguably can get a motivated beginning programmer into C++ more quickly than other available tutorials. What separates this title from the rest of the pack is that it jumps right in with samples that take advantage of the Standard C++ of today--from streams to built-in container classes, such as vectors and linked lists. Early examples are more complex than in other books, but the thoroughness and relaxed pace of the explanations will bring the novice up to speed. (Although it ships at a slender 350 pages, Accelerated C++ is packed with samples, tips, and example problems; about 10 per chapter.) After a tour of basic C++, the book looks at more advanced C++ features, such as templates, including built-in support for containers. Besides tapping the strength of Standard C++, you also will learn to design with your own templates. (Other tutorials would defer this material until later on.) The authors have tested the approach in the book in their own teaching, and honed a set of worthwhile examples that will help anyone get familiar with these powerful language features. All examples make use of the command line and console (without GUI programs), but the advantage is that this code should run on any of today's operating systems and compilers. Later sections cover the basics of class design, which include good coverage of operator overloading and inheritance. With its innovative approach to teaching the language, Accelerated C++ will challenge readers in the right way. It suggests that you don't need to learn C to be productive in C++. Written in an approachable style, it deserves a close look from any C++ novice. --Richard Dragan Topics covered: <ul><li>Introduction to C++ <li>Console I/O with stream classes <li>Basic string handling <li>Loop and flow-control statements <li>Arrays <li>Using functions and methods <li>Using Standard Template Library (STL) containers (vectors, linked lists, and maps) <li>Iterators <li>Sorting and generic functions <li>Basic class design <li>Pointers and arrays <li>File I/O <li>Memory-management techniques, including statically and dynamically allocated memory <li>Adding stream support to custom classes <li>Conversion operators <li>Operator overloading <li>Friend functions <li>Inheritance <li>Polymorphism and virtual functions <li>Handle idioms for classes, including reference counting <li>Quick reference to the C++ language</ul>

ISBN: 1565928415

ListPrice: $29.95

Edition: 1st ed.

Dimensions: 23 cm

Summary: Cocoa and Carbon may have grabbed the attention of Mac OS programmers lately, but AppleScript remains the tool of choice for programmers who prefer to interact with their operating system and applications at a relatively high level. AppleScript in a Nutshell documents AppleScript throughout its evolution, including the versions that ship with Mac OS X and Mac OS 9.1. Explanations of how to script the Mac OS X desktop and the TextEdit application that accompanies Mac OS X are particularly handy. The lion's share of Bruce Perry's treatment of the language explains, with a minimum of frills, how each aspect of the AppleScript language works. This is classic O'Reilly, and it works well. For each statement (such as "with transaction") and reserved word (such as "anything"), you get a concise statement of syntax, examples of proper usage, an explanation of what's going on, and caveats where they're required. Classes--the one that the Finder uses to represent folders, for instance--are presented with each of their properties and methods listed alphabetically, and explained, usually with an example. The scripting techniques that are specific to applications, such as Sherlock 2 and the Speech Listener--are similar, with commands and classes presented alphabetically with all options presented explicitly. This book is a comprehensive treatment of a really useful language. Check out Learning Carbon and Learning Cocoa if you want to delve deeper into Mac OS programming. --David Wall Topics covered: <ul><li>The core of the AppleScript language <li>The scriptable aspects of Mac OS versions 9, 9.1, and X <li>Scripting applications <li>Scripting for network configuration <li>Scripting additions</ul>

ISBN: 0596002351

ListPrice: $44.95

Edition: 1st ed.

Dimensions: 23 cm

Summary: Cocoa is an object-oriented development environment available in Apple's Mac OS X environment. Mac OS X, a unified operating system and graphical operating environment, is the fastest growing Unix variant on the market today. Hard-core Unix programmers, developers who cut their teeth on classic Mac operating systems, and developers who cherished NeXTSTEP, the decade-old system on which today's Cocoa is based -- all are flocking to Cocoa, and they need a lot more practical information than is currently available from Apple. There is a lot to learn.
"Building Cocoa Applications" is an ideal book for serious developers who want to write programs for the Mac OS X using Cocoa. It's a no-nonsense, hands-on text that's filled with examples -- not only simple and self-contained examples of individual Cocoa features, but extended examples of complete applications with enough sophistication and complexity that readers can put them to immediate use in their own environments.
"Building Cocoa Applications" takes a step-by-step approach to teaching developers how to build real graphics applications using Cocoa. By showing the basics of an application in one chapter and then layering additional functionality onto that application in subsequent chapters, the book keeps readers interested and motivated. Readers will see immediate results, and then go on to build onto what they've already achieved.
The book is divided into four major parts:
Part I introduces the Mac OS X graphical user interface (Aqua) from a developer's point of view, Cocoa developer tools (such as the Interface Builder, Project Builder, and gdb debugger), object-oriented concepts, the Objective-C language in which Cocoa is written, and the basics of Cocoa programming itself.
Part II focuses on building the first complete application, Calculator, a simple four-function calculator. The chapters in this part of the book extend the application, piece by piece, by introducing such features as nibs, icons, delegation, resizing, events, and responders.
Part III focuses on building an application called MathPaper, which is similar to a word processor but which instead solves mathematical expressions the user supplies. The chapters in this part of the book extend MathPaper by developing both the front and back ends using a variety of Cocoa classes and methods. They introduce Cocoa'sdocument-based architecture, tasks, pipes, Rich Text format, handling document files, and using Quartz to draw in windows. Part IV focuses on building the GraphPaper application, a more complex multithreading application that graphs mathematical functions in multiple dimensions and that uses mouse-over capabilities to identify graph points. The chapters in this part of the book add more advanced Mac OS X features such as multithreading, color, mouse events, zoom buttons, pasteboards, services, preferences, and the defaults database.
By the end of the book, readers who have built the applications as they have read will have a solid understanding of what it really means to develop complete and incrementally more complex Cocoa applications.
The book comes with extensive source code available for download from the O'Reilly web site, along with an appendix listing additional resources for further study.

ISBN: 0131103628

ListPrice: $42.00

Edition: 2nd

Dimensions: 0.75 by 7 by 9.25 in.

Summary: Just about every C programmer I respect learned C from this book. Unlike many of the 1,000 page doorstops stuffed with CD-ROMs that have become popular, this volume is concise and powerful (if somewhat dangerous) -- like C itself. And it was written by Kernighan himself. Need we say more?

ISBN: 0201309831

ListPrice: $49.99

Edition: 2nd ed.

Dimensions: 24 cm

Summary:

ISBN: 1884822312

ListPrice: $35.00

Dimensions: 2.50 by 8.50 by 12.50 in.

Summary: If you love chess puzzles, this massive tome is for you. It's simply one chess challenge after another. With problems fit for beginner and grand master alike, Polgar's collection will feed your craving for years. Better yet, it's a major bargain. When I first pulled it off the shelf I was expecting a price tag three times higher.

ISBN: 0756613191

ListPrice: $50.00

Summary:

ISBN: 0672322307

ListPrice: $59.99

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 23 cm

Summary:

ISBN: 0201726831

ListPrice: $44.99

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 24 cm

Summary: Suitable for anyone with a little C/C++ programming experience who wants to create software for the newest Mac platform, Cocoa Programming for Max OS X provides a slickly packaged and approachable tutorial that will get you started creating state-of-the-art Mac programs. The smart presentation style and easy-to-understood code examples help make this text an excellent resource. (It also helps that Aaron Hillegass is a truly engaging writer.) He first explains how the legacy NeXTSTEP platform has evolved into Cocoa on the Mac OS X. Beginning with short examples illustrating the actual Cocoa tools in action, the author gets you started with simple programs for a random-number generator, a raise calculator, and other comprehensible examples. Rather than just listing APIs and classes, the emphasis is on hands-on Cocoa development. An early standout section provides a nice tour of essential Objective-C features you'll need to know to use Cocoa effectively. This book covers the several dozen built-in Cocoa controls, from basic text and buttons to more advanced widgets (including lists and tables). Subsequent sections look at user interface design (using the Interface Builder to create nib files) and how to add programmatic processing behind the visual layout. Along the way, the author introduces coverage of essential Cocoa APIs for strings, arrays, and dictionaries. Later chapters look at saving and loading documents (and user defaults) and how to tap the powerful graphics abilities available in Cocoa. (Besides image and basic drawing, there are short sections on PDF support and printing.) More advanced user interface features get their due by the end of the book, including cutting and pasting data through the Cocoa pasteboard and also adding drag-and-drop support. Final sections look at creating new controls for use with the Interface Builder palette, and, briefly, how to use Java with Cocoa (an option that the author doesn't necessarily recommend). Throughout this text, the author provides more advanced, challenging problems at the end of each chapter for the "more curious" reader. This approach keeps beginners from getting lost in the details of Cocoa development, but gives the more advanced reader something more to do. While there are comparably fewer books on Mac OS X compared to other platforms, readers are lucky to have this one available. Anyone who wants to get onboard with Cocoa development will be well served by this title. It's a fine tutorial that earns high marks for its approachable, clear examples and an excellent presentation by an author who knows his stuff and, better yet, knows how to teach it to others. --Richard Dragan Topics covered: Brief history of the Mac platform (from NeXTSTEP to Mac OS X), basic Cocoa development in Objective-C, using Project Builder and Interface Builder tools, tutorial to Objective-C (instances, variables, using classes, arrays and other containers, custom classes), the Objective-C debugger, basic Cocoa controls (building user interfaces), tables and data sources, event handling and delegates, archiving documents (encoding and decoding, saving and loading documents), Nib files, window panels, saving and retrieving user defaults (including using dictionary classes), notifications (observers and more on delegates), alert panels, localization (including string tables, a English and French example, the nibtool utility), custom views and drawing, drawing images and mouse events (plus coordinates systems and autoscrolling views), responders and keyboard events, fonts and strings (including attributed strings and PDF support), pasteboards and nil-targeted actions, using Objective-C categories (a code reuse feature), drag-and-drop support, timers, sheets and drawers, formatting strings, printing support, on-the-fly menu updating, text editing with text views, basic tutorial for using Java with Cocoa, and custom Interface Builder palettes (and inspectors).

ISBN: 096447963X

ListPrice: $14.95

Summary:

ISBN: 9489815941

Illustrator: Pere Vivas, Richard Pia

Summary:

ISBN: 1591252091

ListPrice: $49.95

Summary:

ISBN: 0486206130

ListPrice: $7.95

Dimensions: 0.50 by 5.50 by 8 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 4906574505

ListPrice: $12.00

Edition: 1

Summary: This is a very nice introduction to the game of Go!

As a rank beginner who had never heard of Go before reading this book, I was satisfied that it gave me enough of a foundation to play the game on my own. Also, it stimulated interest enough for me to continue my education afterward with other books.

My one complaint is that there is no CD-Rom support material accompanying the book. While making for a less-expensive booklet, it does fall a little short of modern education standards.

ISBN: 4906574467

ListPrice: $15.00

Summary:

ISBN: 0596003064

ListPrice: $39.95

Summary: As an Oracle DBA, I was looking for a book that can help me better understand MySQL core concepts and differences compared to my primary working platform. I was looking for a book with the flavor of Oracle Concepts Manual. I partially read official MySQL reference manual but didn't find (get?) all the answers (nor I really enjoyed reading it - sorry AB doc. team!). I think this book filled my knowledge gap on MySQL perfectly. Actually, this book could easily bear different title, such as "MySQL concepts guide" or something like that. You'll probably read the book in a couple of days, thanks to the author's clear writing style. Let me give you an example. Some technical topics are difficult to explain in a few sentences, like the one on letter I (Isolation) from ACID rules for 'safe' transactions. Just compare the explanation on "phantom reads" from this book with the one you'll find in Oracle Concepts Manual (freely available on-line from OTN). Now, which one did you understand on the first pass? ;-)Thanks to clear and short explanations, right from the beginning of the book, I learned some important technical facts about MySQL that I could easily put in perspective with my Oracle background. For example:-"All InnoDB tables have primary keys"-"InnoDB tables are similar to Oracle index-organized tables."-"MySQL will only ever use one index per table per query!"-"MySQL doesn't cache rows for MyISAM tables, only indexes...as opposed to InnoDB"-"...counts are very fast on MyISAM tables and slow on InnoDB tables..."Obviously the chapters that I liked the most in this book are the ones that covers core things very well: "2. Storage Engines", "4. Indexes", "5. Query Performance" and "10. Security". All other chapters are fine but not essential for my current use of MySQL (like the excellent chapter on replication where it's obvious that Jeremy poses vast practical experience with replication from his workplace at Yahoo!). The only complaint that I have is the one on "Storage Engines" chapter. In my opinion multi storage engine architecture is the most important advantage of MySQL over all other database vendors products. I wish author's went a little deeper with the details (and thanks but no thanks, I don't want to read source code ;-), especially InnoDB engine is not covered enough (hmm...or maybe it's just me, after all :-). Overall this book is highly recommended to all DBAs, the existing MySQL DBAs as well as to all others that work with other RDBMS and want a fast way to pick the most important technical nuances of MySQL.

ISBN: 0321413091

ListPrice: $39.99

Edition: 1

Summary: “Kent is a master at creating code that communicates well, is easy to understand, and is a pleasure to read. Every chapter of this book contains excellent explanations and insights into the smaller but important decisions we continuously have to make when creating quality code and classes.” –"Erich Gamma, IBM Distinguished Engineer" " " “Many teams have a master developer who makes a rapid stream of good decisions all day long. Their code is easy to understand, quick to modify, and feels safe and comfortable to work with. If you ask how they thought to write something the way they did, they always have a good reason. This book will help you become the master developer on your team. The breadth and depth of topics will engage veteran programmers, who will pick up new tricks and improve on old habits, while the clarity makes it accessible to even novice developers.” –"Russ Rufer, Silicon Valley Patterns Group" " " “Many people don’t realize how readable code can be and how valuable that readability is. Kent has taught me so much, I’m glad this book gives everyone the chance to learn from him.” –"Martin Fowler, chief scientist, ThoughtWorks" " " “Code should be worth reading, not just by the compiler, but by humans. Kent Beck distilled his experience into a cohesive collection of implementation patterns. These nuggets of advice will make your code truly worth reading.” –"Gregor Hohpe, author of "Enterprise Integration Patterns   “In this book Kent Beck shows how writing clear and readable code follows from the application of simple principles. "Implementation Patterns "will help developers write intention revealing code that is both easy to understand and flexible towards future extensions. A must read for developers who are serious about their code.” –"Sven Gorts" " " “"Implementation Patterns "bridges the gap between design and coding. Beck introduces a new way of thinking about programming by basing his discussion on values and principles.” –"Diomidis Spinellis, author of "Code Reading "and "Code Quality   Software Expert Kent Beck Presents a Catalog of Patterns Infinitely Useful for Everyday Programming   Great code doesn’t just function: it clearly and consistently communicates your intentions, allowing other programmers to understand your code, rely on it, and modify it with confidence. But great code doesn’t just happen. It is the outcome of hundreds of small but critical decisions programmers make every single day. Now, legendary software innovator Kent Beck–known worldwide for creating Extreme Programming and pioneering software patterns and test-driven development–focuses on these critical decisions, unearthing powerful “implementation patterns” for writing programs that are simpler, clearer, better organized, and more cost effective.   Beck collects 77 patterns for handling everyday programming tasks and writing more readable code. This new collection of patterns addresses many aspects of development, including class, state, behavior, method, collections, frameworks, and more. He uses diagrams, stories, examples, and essays to engage the reader as he illuminates the patterns. You’ll find proven solutions for handling everything from naming variables to checking exceptions.   This book covers The value of communicating through code and the philosophy behind patterns How and when to create classes, and how classes encode logic Best practices for storing and retrieving state Behavior: patterns for representing logic, including alternative paths Writing, naming, and decomposing methods Choosing and using collections Implementation pattern variations for use in building frameworks "Implementation Patterns" will help programmers at all experience levels, especially those who have benefited from software patterns or agile methods. It will also be an indispensable resource for development teams seeking to work together more efficiently and build more maintainable software. No other programming book will touch your day-to-day work more often.

ISBN: 0964479613

ListPrice: $17.95

Dimensions: 0.75 by 7 by 10.50 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 1565922840

ListPrice: $29.95

Edition: 2nd, 02

Dimensions: 0.75 by 7.25 by 9.50 in.

Summary: Gives topic-by-topic coverage of Perl's capabilities, including how to manage DBM databases, executing commands, and introduces CGI programming for the Web

ISBN: 0596513984

ListPrice: $39.99

Edition: 3

Summary: The authors of "Learning Python" show you enough essentials of the Python scripting language to enable you to begin solving problems right away, then reveal more powerful aspects of the language one at a time. This approach is sure to appeal to programmers and system administrators who have urgent problems and a preference for learning by semi-guided experimentation.
First off, "Learning Python" shows the relationships among Python scripts and their interpreter (in a mostly platform-neutral way). Then, the authors address the mechanics of the language itself, providing illustrations of how Python conceives of numbers, strings, and other objects as well as the operators you use to work with them. Dictionaries, lists, tuples, and other data structures specific to Python receive plenty of attention including complete examples.
Authors Mark Lutz and David Ascher build on that fundamental information in their discussions of functions and modules, which evolve into coverage of namespaces, classes, and the object-oriented aspects of Python programming. There's also information on creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for Python applications with Tkinter.
In addition to its careful expository prose, "Learning Python" includes exercises that both test your Python skills and help reveal more elusive truths about the language.

ISBN: 0937175676

ListPrice: $24.95

Edition: 5

Summary: For many users, working in the UNIX environment means using vi, a full- screen text editor available on most UNIX systems. Even those who know "vi" often make use of only a small number of its features.
This handbook is a complete guide to text editing with "vi". Quickly learn the basics of editing, cursor movement, and global search and replacement. Then take advantage of the more subtle power of "vi". Extend your editing skills by learning to use "ex", a powerful line editor, from within "vi".
Topics covered include:Basic editingMoving around in a hurryBeyond the basicsGreater power with "ex"Global search and replacementCustomizing "vi" and "ex"Command shortcuts
Also includes a pull-out quick-reference card.

ISBN: 4906574289

ListPrice: $18.00

Edition: 2

Summary: Being in a go club that sees many beginners I feel fairly qualified when I say this book will not help you improve rank until you are 15kyu (AGA/KGS) and really waiting until you are in the single-digit kyu range will give you the best rank improvement per time spent reading... I first read this book at 13kyu and was really stretching. I recently re-read this at 5kyu and got much more out of it. If I had to pick a perfect rank to read it at I'd say 7kyu.



All that said, the writing style is superior to every other go book I've seen and there may be merit in reading this without the goal of rank improvement. Many other reviewers have pointed this out as well, but you should know that if you are 15kyu you will not be able to follow many of the problems, and in the end you will probably still be 15kyu.



For those goaling for rank improvement, I would strongly suggest reading at most one chapter per day. You need to play games between chapters or else you will not correctly apply what you are learning. With most other intermediate go books (such as Tesuji or Life & Death) it is not as damaging to read it all in one sitting... but Lessons in the Fundamentals must have games played between chapters. It is painful to make yourself stop reading between chapters, but you should.

ISBN: 1569709661

ListPrice: $19.95

Dimensions: 0.50 by 7.25 by 10 in.

Summary: Absolute beginners and intermediate artists can now draw "shoujo" characters in the highly recognizable styles established by celebrated Japanese artists. Most characters in the book are modeled after hit anime shows and manga that are well-known in North American and Europe. It’s a dream come true for aspiring "shoujo" manga artists.

ISBN: 0596003560

ListPrice: $24.95

Edition: 1st ed.

Dimensions: 23 cm

Summary: It's about time: Mac OS X for Unix Geeks arrives on the scene none too soon for UNIX aficionados who, having heard that the latest editions of Mac OS are based on a UNIX variant, want to see how the platform compares to more venerable versions of the eminently configurable operating system. This book highlights some key differences between the Darwin environment and more conventional UNIXs, enabling people with UNIX experience to take advantage of it as they learn the Mac OS X way of doing things at the command line.This skinny volume neither aims to teach its readers UNIX nor introduce them to the Mac, but rather to show how Apple has implemented UNIX. It's a fast read that assumes--as the title implies--rather a lot of UNIX knowledge. With that requirement satisfied and this book in hand, you're likely to discover aspects of Aqua more quickly than you otherwise would have.The authors spend lots of time explaining how administrative tasks--such as managing groups, users, and passwords--are handled in the Mac OS environment. They document netinfo fully, and call attention to its limitations (like its inability to create home directories for users) by explaining how to do the job on the command line. They also cover C programming in the Darwin universe at greater length than any other book does, providing explicit instructions for such important tasks as creating header files and linking static libraries. A guide to the command line (they call the reference section--groan--"The Missing Manpages") provides good value at this book's conclusion. --David Wall Topics covered: How to get around in Darwin, the UNIX implementation built into Mac OS X. Sections deal with basic maneuvering at the command line, LDAP services, C programming, and graphical user interfaces under Aqua. There's a short section on building the kernel itself, but it's limited in scope.

ISBN: 0596004605

ListPrice: $24.95

Edition: 1st, 01

Dimensions: 23 cm

Summary: Offers tips, techniques, and tools to help readers take advantage of Mac OS X, covering topics including user accounts, working with audio and video, running a mail server, and networking with Windows desktops.

ISBN: 0937175900

ListPrice: $19.95

Edition: 2nd, 02

Dimensions: 0.50 by 6 by 9 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 1568810326

ListPrice: $39.00

Dimensions: 24 cm

Summary:

ISBN: 0470095296

ListPrice: $21.99

Edition: 1

Summary: Filled with tips and tricks on how to use MySpace—from setting up a MySpace account to customizing your MySpace profile—"MySpace for Dummies" is your one-stop tutorial on all the ins and outs of the Internet’s biggest socializing network.
This book helps you discover the nuts and bolts of MySpace with simple guidance on how to: Use basic HTML Secure your profile from unwanted contact Join MySpace groups (and start your own) Add songs and videos to your profile Create a MySpace photo album Access MySpace from your cell phone Blog and keep in touch with friends via your account, and much more!
Whether you’re looking to build connections and make friends, promote your band, or get the word out about your talents, MySpace is "the" place to connect with people online.

ISBN: 0735709211

ListPrice: $49.99

Edition: 01

Dimensions: 23 cm

Summary: Demonstrates the features of the SQL-based relational database system, covering configuration, integration with third-party tools, and Web page generation as well as column types, operators, functions, and syntax

ISBN: 0201835959

ListPrice: $29.95

Edition: Anniversary ed.

Dimensions: 24 cm

Summary: The classic book on the human elements of software engineering. Software tools and development environments may have changed in the 21 years since the first edition of this book, but the peculiarly nonlinear economies of scale in collaborative work and the nature of individuals and groups has not changed an epsilon. If you write code or depend upon those who do, get this book as soon as possible -- from Amazon.com Books, your library, or anyone else. You (and/or your colleagues) will be forever grateful. Very Highest Recommendation.

ISBN: 0198612710

ListPrice: $150.00

Edition: Thumb index ed.

Dimensions: 29 cm

Summary: Provides over 500,000 meanings for almost all words and phrases used in the English language since 1700

ISBN: 1565921399

ListPrice: $34.95

Edition: 1st ed.

Dimensions: 24 cm

Summary: For my sins, I have to hack away in VB/VBA most of the day. My forays into C were limited to my undergrad days a full decade ago. For a long while, I had struggled with spare-time C++ learning from those 1000+ page monster "Teach yourself in 21 days, dummy..." tomes*, only to run out of patience a few chapters (= 100s pages) in. But living up to their reputation, O'Reilly have come thru with a not-for-dummies, concise, clear text. This book not only moved my C++ up the curve, it taught me a lot of things about where my VB was going wrong. The style chapters alone make for essential reading. I have recommended this to all my fellow corporate slave hackers, and although it may be a bit fast paced for an absolute beginner, I would think that most people would be able to follow and benefit from it given a bit of dedication. And lastly, it doesn't assume that you are enslaved to M$oft's VC++, unlike a good 75% of the market. (*nowadays, if it doesn't say O'Reilly on the spine, I usually put it back on the shelf.)

ISBN: 1565921496

ListPrice: $44.95

Edition: 2nd, 02

Summary: The second edition of the Camel Book is more than 600 pages long and full of excellent instruction and sound advice. Topics include all the good stuff from the first edition plus Perl 5 features such as nested data structures (ever made a hash of arrays of hashes?), modules, and objects. From <NOBR><CODE>"Howdy World"</CODE></NOBR> to making your own modules, this book has it all.

ISBN: 1889554243

ListPrice: $17.50

Summary:

ISBN: 076453632X

ListPrice: $59.99

Edition: bk&cd-rom, 01

Dimensions: 1.75 by 7.25 by 9 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0764547542

ListPrice: $49.99

Edition: bk&cd-rom, 01

Dimensions: 1.50 by 7.50 by 9 in.

Summary: Accompanied by a CD-ROM containing security tools, a comprehensive reference for power users and administrators explores a range of security issues for Linux systems, covering such topics as firewalls, file systems security, root accounts, and security enhancement techniques. Original. (Intermediate)

ISBN: 013937681X

ListPrice: $49.99

Dimensions: 0.75 by 7 by 9 in.

Summary:

ISBN: 0139334416

ListPrice: $24.00

Dimensions: 24 cm

Summary:

ISBN: 096139210X

ListPrice: $40.00

Edition: reprint

Dimensions: 1 by 9 by 11 in.

Summary: A timeless classic in how complex information should be presented graphically. The Strunk & White of visual design. Should occupy a place of honor--within arm's reach--of everyone attempting to understand or depict numerical data graphically. The design of the book is an exemplar of the principles it espouses: elegant typography and layout, and seamless integration of lucid text and perfectly chosen graphical examples. Very Highly Recommended.