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Hardcover. Condition: Good. Later prt. Since its earliest days, The New Yorker has been a tastemaker-literally. As the home of A. J. Liebling, Joseph Wechsberg, and M.F.K. Fisher, who practically invented American food writing, the magazine established a tradition that is carried forward today by irrepressible literary gastronomes, including Calvin Trillin, Bill Buford, Adam Gopnik, Jane Kramer, and Anthony Bourdain. Now, in this indispensable collection, The New Yorker dishes up a feast of delicious writing on food and drink, seasoned with a generous dash of cartoons.Whether youre in the mood for snacking on humor pieces and cartoons or for savoring classic profiles of great chefs and great eaters, these offerings, from every age of The New Yorkers fabled eighty-year history, are sure to satisfy every taste. There are memoirs, short stories, tell-alls, and poems-ranging in tone from sweet to sour and in subject from soup to nuts.M.F.K. Fisher pays homage to cookery witches, those mysterious cooks who possess an uncanny power over food, while John McPhee valiantly trails an inveterate forager and is rewarded with stewed persimmons and white-pine-needle tea. There is Roald Dahls famous story Taste, in which a wine snobs palate comes in for some unwelcome scrutiny, and Julian Barness ingenious tale of a lifelong gourmand who goes on a very peculiar diet for still more peculiar reasons. Adam Gopnik asks if French cuisine is done for, and Calvin Trillin investigates whether people can actually taste the difference between red wine and white. We journey with Susan Orlean as she distills the essence of Cuba in the story of a single restaurant, and with Judith Thurman as she investigates the arcane practices of Japans tofu masters. Closer to home, Joseph Mitchell celebrates the old New York tradition of the beefsteak dinner, and Mark Singer shadows the citys foremost fisherman-chef.Selected from the magazines plentiful larder, Secret Ingredients celebrates all forms of gustatory delight.

Softcover. Condition: Good. Reprint. A fascinating, accessible introduction to Islam from the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller ZealotThough it is the fastest-growing religion in the world, Islam remains shrouded in ignorance and fear for much of the West. In No god but God, Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed scholar of religions, explains this faith in all its beauty and complexity. Beginning with a vivid account of the social and religious milieu in which the Prophet Muhammad forged his message, Aslan paints a portrait of the first Muslim community as a radical experiment in religious pluralism and social egalitarianism. He demonstrates how, after the Prophets death, his successors attempted to interpret his message for future generations-an overwhelming task that fractured the Muslim community into competing sects. Finally, Aslan examines how, in the shadow of European colonialism, Muslims developed conflicting strategies to reconcile traditional Islamic values with the realities of the modern world, thus launching what Aslan terms the Islamic Reformation. Timely and persuasive, No god but God is an elegantly written account of a magnificent yet misunderstood faith.

Softcover. Condition: Good. Full-color photos. Edward proves to Gordon and James that even though he's an old-fashioned engine, he can still "chug-chug" with the best of them. Other tales in the collection are "Donald and Douglas," "The Deputation," and "The Diseasal."

Audio Book (Cassette). Condition: Good. Abridged. PAT CONROY-AMERICAS MOST BELOVED STORYTELLER-IS BACK!I was born to be a point guard, but not a very good one. . . .There was a time in my life when I walked through the world known to myself and others as an athlete. It was part of my own definition of who I was and certainly the part I most respected. When I was a young man, I was well-built and agile and ready for the rough and tumble of games, and athletics provided the single outlet for a repressed and preternaturally shy boy to express himself in public.I lost myself in the beauty of sport and made my family proud while passing through the silent eye of the storm that was my childhood.So begins Pat Conroys journey back to 1967 and his startling realization that this season had been seminal and easily the most consequential of my life. The place is the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, that now famous military college, and in memory Conroy gathers around him his team to relive their few triumphs and humiliating defeats. In a narrative that moves seamlessly between the action of the season and flashbacks into his childhood, we see the authors love of basketball and how crucial the role of athlete is to all these young men who are struggling to find their own identity and their place in the world.In fast-paced exhilarating games, readers will laugh in delight and cry in disappointment. But as the story continues, we gradually see the self-professed mediocre athlete merge into the point guard whose spirit drives the team. He rallies them to play their best while closing off the shouts of Dont shoot, Conroy that come from the coach on the sidelines. For Coach Mel Thompson is to Conroy the undermining presence that his father had been throughout his childhood. And in these pages finally, heartbreakingly, we learn the truth about the Great Santini.In My Losing Season Pat Conroy has written an American classic about young men and the bonds they form, about losing and the lessons it imparts, about finding ones voice and ones self in the midst of defeat. And in his trademark language, we see the young Conroy walk from his life as an athlete to the writer the world knows him to be.From the Hardcover edition.

Softcover. Condition: Good. Look out! Too-Tall's on a rampage! The town bully's girlfriend has a crush on someone else, and Too-Tall is questioning every cub in sight. That's because no one but Queenie herself knows who that someone else it. It's only a matter of time, of course, until Too-Tall finds out. But when he does, he's in for the surprise of his life!.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Now joining forces with The B Book and The C Book is the reissue of The Berenstains' A Book--an astonishing album with almost any A word children can say. It's guaranteed to make learning to read a bundle of fun!.

Hardcover. Condition: new. "Little Miss Muffet is not the only one who's ever been terrified by a spider. In fact, arachnophobia, or the fear of spiders, afflicts millions around the world. Some people are so tormented that they cannot ever relax, even at home, for fear they'll encounter a "creepy crawler." And yet, a love of spiders -- or at least a fascination with them -- touches just as many millions, perhaps more.Though some spiders are dangerous, even deadly, most are perfectly harmless -- except to smaller bugs. In The Book of the Spider, naturalist Paul Hillyard examines the engaging world of arachnids and the humorous and frequently absurd ways in which humans respond to this most misunderstood of God's creatures.Hillyard, an arachnologist at the Natural History Museum in London, covers the full spider spectrum, from folklore and myths to Aristotle's early scientific studies to Space Age spiders building webs in outer space.There are more than 35,000 known spider species of all shapes and sizes on planet Earth, and Hillyard addresses a plethora of questions obvious and odd, obscure and intriguing:-- Why is black-widow venom more dangerous than a rattlesnake bite?-- How can humans forecast weather by observing a spider's actions?-- What's the best cooking method for spider a la carte?-- Why are spiderwebs often used to dress wounds and coagulate blood?-- How can spiders be beneficial in the cure of headaches, fevers, and even sexual impotence?In The Book of the Spider these and other questions are pondered and answered in a manner that no lover -- or detester -- of spiders will ever forget.

Softcover. Condition: used. This extraordinary series of comprehensive, practical lavishly illustrated guides takes you to the national parks and forests and beyond, into thousands of wilderness preserves and nature sanctuaries throughout the UnWed States, including hidden trails and lesser-known scenic spots, from canyons to waterfalls to migratory-bird refuges. Stunning color photographs and vivid narration feature wildlife, wildflowers, and landforms, while clear explanations of ecology and human impact deepen your understanding of America's natural beauty.-- More than 185 color photographs-- Original full-color relief maps throughout-- More than 160 sites, including national, state, and local parks and private reserves-- Addresses and telephone numbers for every site.

Softcover. Condition: used. Help Your Child Discover the Joy of LearningDoes your child learn best in the morning, afternoon, or evening? Does his reading comprehension increase or decrease when music is played in the background? Does she prefer to study alone or with others? According to nationally respected educators Mariaemma Willis and Victoria Kindle Hodson, our children process information in a multitude of unique ways. What works best for one child is often counterproductive for others. By trying to force all children into the same learning mode we unfairly short-circuit their education as well as their intellectual development.Discover Your Child's Learning Style shows you how to assess and nurture your child's individual learning potential based on his or her talents, interests, disposition, preferred environment, and more. Inside is a step-by-step program of self-awareness tests that guide you to a better understanding of your child's unique strengths and weaknesses, goals and interests, and inner peace. You'll discover how to create the right atmosphere for learning in the home. Most important, you'll help your child excel not only in school but in life as well."An excellent tool for discovering how a student learns best. Teaching children according to how they learn ensures optimum education for all; it's an approach that could help make remedial literacy programs obsolete!"-Patricia Flanigan, California State Library Literacy Task Force"Essential for any parent or teacher who works with children."-Suzanne Lopez, psychotherapist and author of Get Smart with Your Heart"A powerful tool for increasing your child's self-esteem. At last, there is a simple solution for every child to become a winner."-Nancy L. Chaconas, M.A., educator, author of HELP-Esteem"Parents who understand the principles in this book will be better parents!"-Richard and Linda Eyre, authors of Teaching Your Children Values.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1. I suppose I ought to warn you at the outset that my present circumstances are puzzling, even to me. Nevertheless, I am sure of this much: My little story has become your history. You wont really understand your times until you understand mine.So begins the account of Agnes Shanklin, the charmingly diffident narrator of Mary Doria Russells compelling new novel, Dreamers of the Day. And what is Miss Shanklins little story? Nothing less than the creation of the modern Middle East at the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, where Winston Churchill, T. E. Lawrence, and Lady Gertrude Bell met to decide the fate of the Arab world-and of our own.A forty-year-old schoolteacher from Ohio still reeling from the tragedies of the Great War and the influenza epidemic, Agnes has come into a modest inheritance that allows her to take the trip of a lifetime to Egypt and the Holy Land. Arriving at the Semiramis Hotel just as the Peace Conference convenes, Agnes, with her plainspoken American opinions-and a small, noisy dachshund named Rosie-enters into the company of the historic luminaries who will, in the space of a few days at a hotel in Cairo, invent the nations of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.Neither a pawn nor a participant at the conference, Agnes is ostensibly insignificant, and that makes her a welcome sounding board for Churchill, Lawrence, and Bell. It also makes her unexpectedly attractive to the charismatic German spy Karl Weilbacher. As Agnes observes the tumultuous inner workings of nation-building, she is drawn more and more deeply into geopolitical intrigue and toward a personal awakening.With prose as graceful and effortless as a seductive float down the Nile, Mary Doria Russell illuminates the long, rich history of the Middle East with a story that brilliantly elucidates todays headlines. As enlightening as it is entertaining, Dreamers of the Day is a memorable, passionate, gorgeously written novel.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Mathieu, Joe (illustrator). Illustrated in full color. Ernie has lost something important and is searching everywhere for it. Where, oh, where could it be?.

Softcover. Condition: Good. Illustrated in full color. When Axel and Thistle stumble upon a not-so-scary dragon living in the secret caves of Critter Falls, it looks as if the Howls have just made a fire-breathing friend.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1. A deputy Middle East Theater Chief of OSS during World War II draws upon newly released documents and his own experience to offer new insights into the greatest conflict of the century. Waller tells how British Prime Minister Chamberlain mismanaged British intelligence which contributed to the debacle at Munich. and scores of other stories during the war.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. First Edition. After graduating from Princeton, Donovan Campbell, motivated by his unwavering patriotism and commitment, decided to join the service, realizing that becoming a Marine officer would allow him to give back to his country, engage in the world, and learn to lead. In this immediate, thrilling, and inspiring memoir, Campbell recounts a timeless and transcendent tale of brotherhood, courage, and sacrifice.As commander of a forty-man infantry platoon called Joker One, Campbell had just months to train and transform a ragtag group of brand-new Marines into a first-rate cohesive fighting unit, men who would become his family: Sergeant Leza, the house intellectual who read Che Guevara; Sergeant Mariano Noriel, the Filipino ball of fire who would become Campbells closest confidant and friend; Lance Corporal William Feldmeir, a narcoleptic who fell asleep during battle; and a lieutenant known simply as the Ox, whose stubborn aggressiveness would be more curse than blessing.Campbell and his men were assigned to Ramadi, that capital of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province that was an explosion just waiting to happen. And when it did happen-with the chilling cries of Jihad, Jihad, Jihad! echoing from minaret to minaret-Campbell and company were there to protect the innocent, battle the insurgents, and pick up the pieces. After seven months of day-to-day, house-to-house combat, nearly half of Campbells platoon had been wounded, a casualty rate that went beyond that of any Marine or Army unit since Vietnam. Yet unlike Fallujah, Ramadi never fell to the enemy.Told by the man who led the unit of hard-pressed Marines, Joker One is a gripping tale of a leadership, loyalty, faith, and camaraderie throughout the best and worst of times.

Audio Book (CD). Condition: used. Product DescriptionFrom the internationally bestselling author of London and Sarum -- a magnificent epic about love and war, family life and political intrigue in Ireland over the course of seventeen centuries. Like the novels of James Michener, The Princes of Ireland brilliantly interweaves engrossing fiction and well-researched fact to capture the essence of a place.Edward Rutherfurd has introduced millions of readers to the human dramas that are the lifeblood of history. From his first bestseller, Sarum, to the #1 bestseller London, he has captivated audiences with gripping narratives that follow the fortunes of several fictional families down through the ages. The Princes of Ireland, a sweeping panorama steeped in the tragedy and glory that is Ireland, epitomizes the power and richness of Rutherfurds storytelling magic.The saga begins in pre-Christian Ireland with a clever refashioning of the legend of Cuchulainn, and culminates in the dramatic founding of the Free Irish State in 1922. Through the interlocking stories of a wonderfully imagined cast of characters -- monks and noblemen, soldiers and rebels, craftswomen and writers -- Rutherfurd vividly conveys the personal passions and shared dreams that shaped the character of the country. He takes readers inside all the major events in Irish history: the reign of the fierce and mighty kings of Tara; the mission of Saint Patrick; the Viking invasion and the founding of Dublin; the trickery of Henry II, which gave England its foothold on the island in 1167; the plantations of the Tudors and the savagery of Cromwell; the flight of the Wild Geese; the failed rebellion of 1798; the Great Famine and the Easter Rebellion. With Rutherfurds well-crafted storytelling, readers witness the rise of the Fenians in the late nineteenth century, the splendours of the Irish cultural renaissance, and the bloody battles for Irish independence, as though experiencing their momentous impact firsthand.Tens of millions of North Americans claim Irish descent. Generations of people have been enchanted by Irish literature, and visitors flock to Dublin and its environs year after year. The Princes of Ireland will appeal to all of them -- and to anyone who relishes epic entertainment spun by a master.From the Hardcover edition.ReviewPraise for Edward Rutherfurd:Not all good things come in small packages. If you like books that are big, Edward Rutherfurd is your man. He writes wonderful sagas, tales that cover centuries, always keeping these long stories lively by telling us about the events and conflicts of peoples lives. Rutherfurd does the painstaking research; the reader has all the fun. -- The Seattle TimesFrom the Hardcover edition.From the Inside FlapFrom the internationally bestselling author of London and Sarum -- a magnificent epic about love and war, family life and political intrigue in Ireland over the course of seventeen centuries. Like the novels of James Michener, Dublin brilliantly interweaves engrossing fiction and well-researched fact to capture the essence of a place.Edward Rutherfurd has introduced millions of readers to the human dramas that are the lifeblood of history. From his first bestseller, Sarum, to the #1 bestseller London, he has captivated audiences with gripping narratives that follow the fortunes of several fictional families down through the ages. Dublin, a sweeping panorama steeped in the tragedy and glory that is Ireland, epitomizes the power and richness of Rutherfurd?s storytelling magic.The saga begins in pre-Christian Ireland with a clever refashioning of the legend of Cuchulainn, and culminates in the dramatic founding of the Free Irish State in 1922. Through the interlocking stories of a wonderfully imagined cast of characters -- monks and noblemen, soldiers and rebels, craftswomen and writers -- Rutherfurd vividly conveys the personal passions and shared dreams that shaped the character of the country. He takes readers inside.

Hardcover. Condition: used. Heralding the arrival of a stunning new voice in American fiction, Robin Blacks If I Loved You, I Would Tell You Thistakes readers into the minds and hearts of people navigating the unsettling transitions that life presents to us all.Written with maturity and insight, and in beautiful, clear-eyed prose, these stories plumb the depths of love, loss, and hope. A father struggles to forge an independent identity as his blind daughter prepares for college. A mother comes to terms with her adult daughters infidelity, even as she keeps a disturbing secret of her own. An artist mourns the end of a romance while painting a dying mans portrait. An accident on a trip to Italy and an unexpected connection with a stranger cause a woman to question her lifelong assumptions about herself.Brilliant, hopeful, and fearlessly honest, If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This illuminates the truths of human relationships, truths we come to recognize in these characters and in ourselves.

Softcover. Condition: Good. Fourth Printing. Product DescriptionThese three stories celebrate the eye even as they reveal its unexpected proximity to the heart. For if each of A.S. Byatt's narratives is in some way inspired by a painting of Henri Matisse, each is also about the intimate connection between seeing and feeling--about the ways in which a glance we meant to be casual may suddenly call forth the deepest reserves of our being. Beautifully written, intensely observed, The Matisse Stories is fiction of spellbinding authority."Full of delight and humor.The Matisse Stories is studded with brilliantly apt images and a fine sense for subtleties of conversation and emotion."--San Francisco ChronicleFrom the Trade Paperback edition.From Publishers WeeklyIn three masterfully written stories loosely inspired by Matisse paintings, Byatt (Possession) dazzles with her evocation of sensuous detail while adroitly emphasizing the interconnectedness of life and art. In each one, a woman teetering on the edge of losing her emotional equilibrium finds a small nugget of comfort after some unsettling surprises. Susannah, the troubled middle-aged heroine of "Medusa's Ankle," is drawn into a hairdressing salon by a Matisse reproduction on the wall. Byatt understands that a woman is most acutely vulnerable looking at her unadorned image in a mirror, and when the self-absorbed hairdresser confides that he plans to leave his wife for a young lover, Susannah's sudden outburst as she contemplates the loss of her youth, her attractiveness and her future is movingly real. Dr. Gerda Himmelblau, "a solitary intellectual nearing retirement," has a quieter epiphany in "The Chinese Lobster," but it is facilitated by a man whose sensibility about art and life she shares. Two doughty women captivate the reader in "Art Work," a delightfully surprising tale in which the "received" nature of art and a woman's role as muse are questioned with amusing insight. Byatt's lapidary prose shimmers with the colors she describes so intensely. Her understanding of human relationships is no less brilliant. Line drawings not seen by PW.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.From Library JournalA best seller in England, where it was published in 1993, this beautifully illustrated volume contains three stories-each a sort of "still life" inspired by a particular Matisse painting-of seemingly ordinary women: a middle-aged teacher forced to play psychiatrist to her self-centered hairdresser; a cleaning woman with a passion for knitting; and a college dean discussing a case of sexual harassment with the accused over lunch in a Chinese restaurant. Byatt (Possession, LJ 11/1/90), who has been in the news lately for her principled stand against huge advances for literary fiction, is a consummate prose stylist, possessed of both perfect pitch for dialog and a painterly eye for the telling details that flesh out these characters and reveal their essential humanness. Highly recommended for fiction collections.--David Sowd, formerly with Stark Cty. District Lib., Canton, OhioCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.From BooklistByatt has drawn on the twin spheres of her literary passions, fiction and criticism, to create a triptych of stunning stories. Each ever-deepening tale revolves around a painting by Matisse. The paintings and the stories are about women, but Byatt's women have none of the abandon of Matisse's serenely voluptuous beauties: her women work, worry, and sacrifice. They are responsible and painfully honest. We gradually realize that they are also simmering with anger and grief as Byatt's strategically neutral tone gives way to ravishing descriptions of sounds, colors, and smells that bring each setting to life and steer each conflict to its eviscerating conclusion. In "Medusa's Ankles," one of Matisse's monumental nudes, a rosy spread of femaleness, graces a hair salon where a distinguished translator hopes to regain a hint of her youthful looks. In "Art Works," Byatt delv.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1. This is the first book to reveal the truth about the exploding phenomenon of late-life divorce, which has resulted in a seismic shift in modern relationships. Now, in a finger-on-the-pulse examination of this growing trend, Deirdre Bair, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the National Book Award, explores the many reasons why older, long-married couples break up. Having conducted nearly four hundred interviews with ex-wives, ex-husbands, and their adult children, Bair reveals some of the surprising motivations that lead to these drastic late-life splits, as well as the surprising turns life takes for all concerned after the divorce is final.Although the standard assumption is that husbands trade in their spouses for younger trophy wives, Bair has found that, most often, women initiate these divorces because they want the freedom to control how they will live the rest of their lives. The realization may appear to happen suddenly, but Bair shows how it often takes many years and much careful planning before the ultimate Eureka! moment. We see that for one woman it happened when she asked her husband to help in the kitchen and he shouted angrily for her to keep her voice down so he could hear the television. For one couple, the decision to end their marriage arrived when the wife condemned their unmarried adult daughter for having a baby and her husband sided with the daughter, leading both partners to realize that they had never had anything in common. One woman in her eighties, married for fifty-three years, woke up after transplant surgery and announced to her husband: I dont know how many years I have left, but I do know I dont want to spend them with you.Bair describes current trends in late-life divorece, including the growing use of mediators, whom many couples see as lower-cost alternatives to lawyers. She also provides fascinating examples of how people cope in the years after divorce. Divorce changes older peoples sex lives in surprising ways, and Bair is candid in discussing what really goes on in their bedrooms. She presents the stories of those who elect to stay single after divorce, of others who remarry immediately, and of those who are puzzled to find themselves divorcing yet again. As Bairs subjects rebuild their lives, the reader wills see new possibilities for living in the third age, and may be inspired to realize that there is indeed life after divorce-and plenty of it.Important, eye-opening, and truly groundbreaking, Calling It Quits is essential reading for an entire generation and its children,-and an acclaimed authors most personal and most universal work.

Softcover. Condition: used. Rebecca, published in 1938, brought its author instant international acclaim, capturing the popular imagination with its haunting atmosphere of suspense and mystery. du Maurier was immediately established as the queen of the psychological thriller. But the more fame this and her other books encouraged, the more reclusive Daphne du Maurier became.Margaret Forster's award-winning biography could hardly be more worthy of its subject. Drawing on private letters and papers, and with the unflinching co-operation of Daphne du Maurier's family, Margaret Forster explores the secret drama of her life - the stifling relationship with her father, actor-manager Gerald du Maurier; her troubled marriage to war hero and royal aide, 'Boy' Browning; her wartime love affair; her passion for Cornwall and her deep friendships with the last of her father's actress loves, Gertrude Lawrence, and with an aristocratic American woman.Most significant of all, Margaret Forster ingeniously strips away the relaxed and charming facade to lay bare the true workings of a complex and emotional character whose passionate and often violent stories mirrored her own fantasy life more than anyone could ever have imagined.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. First Edition. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe one and only Fannie Flagg, beloved author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Cant Wait to Get to Heaven, and I Still Dream About You, is at her hilarious and superb best in this new comic mystery novel about two women who are forced to reimagine who they are.Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama, has just married off the last of her daughters and is looking forward to relaxing and perhaps traveling with her husband, Earle. The only thing left to contend with is her mother, the formidable Lenore Simmons Krackenberry. Lenore may be a lot of fun for other people, but is, for the most part, an overbearing presence for her daughter. Then one day, quite by accident, Sookie discovers a secret about her mothers past that knocks her for a loop and suddenly calls into question everything she ever thought she knew about herself, her family, and her future.Sookie begins a search for answers that takes her to California, the Midwest, and back in time, to the 1940s, when an irrepressible woman named Fritzi takes on the job of running her familys filling station. Soon truck drivers are changing their routes to fill up at the All-Girl Filling Station. Then, Fritzi sees an opportunity for an even more groundbreaking adventure. As Sookie learns about the adventures of the girls at the All-Girl Filling Station, she finds herself with new inspiration for her own life.Fabulous, fun-filled, spanning decades and generations, and centered on a little-known aspect of Americas twentieth-century story, The All-Girl Filling Stations Last Reunion is another irresistible novel by the remarkable Fannie Flagg.Praise for The All-Girl Filling Stations Last ReunionA beautifully told tale, world-class humor, and characters who live forever in a grateful readers world. Fannie Flagg keeps getting better and better. The All-Girl Filling Stations Last Reunion proves it.-Pat ConroyIf all the self-help books that promote ways to find yourself were stacked in an enormous pile . . . none would approach the sweet wisdom with which Flagg infuses The All-Girl Filling Stations Last Reunion.-Richmond Times-DispatchIts Flaggs pleasure to hit her characters with several happy endings, but the real happiness is that shes given us another lovable-and quirky-novel.-The Washington PostFlagg is at her South-skewering best. . . . A chuckle-while-reading book.-The Mobile Press-RegisterThe kind of story that keeps readers turning pages in a fever . . . There are plot twists, adventure, heartbreak, and familial love in spades.-Publishers WeeklyFannie flies high, and her fans will enjoy the ride. . . . A charming story written with wit and empathy . . . just the right blend of history and fiction.-Kirkus ReviewsFannie Flagg is a fantastic storyteller. She surprises the reader in every chapter with unexpected twists and turns. The only problem I had with this fascinating story is that it ended too soon. I cant wait for her next book.-Carol BurnettThe All-Girl Filling Stations Last Reunion is an absolute joy to read, full of Fannie Flagg's trademark humor, warmth, tenderness, and heart. If youre looking for a novel to lift your spirits and make you smile, this is definitely the book for you.-Kristin Hannah.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1. In this compelling, cutting-edge book, two generations of science writers explore the exciting science of body maps in the brain-and how startling new discoveries about the mind-body connection can change and improve our lives. Why do you still feel fat after losing weight? What makes video games so addictive? How can practicing your favorite sport in your imagination improve your game? The answers can be found in body maps.Just as road maps represent interconnections across the landscape, your many body maps represent all aspects of your bodily self, inside and out. In concert, they create your physical and emotional awareness and your sense of being a whole, feeling self in a larger social world.Moreover, your body maps are profoundly elastic. Your self doesnt begin and end with your physical body but extends into the space around you. This space morphs every time you put on or take off clothes, ride a bike, or wield a tool. When you drive a car, your personal body space grows to envelop it. When you play a video game, your body maps automatically track and emulate the actions of your character onscreen. When you watch a scary movie, your body maps put dread in your stomach and send chills down your spine. If your body maps fall out of sync, you may have an out-of-body experience or see auras around other people.The Body Has a Mind of Its Own explains how you can tap into the power of body maps to do almost anything better-whether it is playing tennis, strumming a guitar, riding a horse, dancing a waltz, empathizing with a friend, raising children, or coping with stress.The story of body maps goes even further, providing a fresh look at the causes of anorexia, bulimia, obsessive plastic surgery, and the notorious golfers curse the yips. It lends insights into culture, language, music,parenting, emotions, chronic pain, and more.Filled with illustrations, wonderful anecdotes, and even parlor tricks that you can use to reconfigure your body sense, The Body Has a Mind of Its Own will change the way you think-about the way you think.The Blakeslees have taken the latest and most exciting finds from brain research and have made them accessible. This is how science writing should always be.-Michael S. Gazzaniga, Ph.D., author of The Ethical BrainThrough a stream of fascinating and entertaining examples, Sandra Blakeslee and Matthew Blakeslee illustrate how our perception of ourselves, and indeed the world, is not fixed but is surprisingly fluid and easily modified. They have created the best book ever written about how our sense of self emerges from the motley collection of neurons we call the brain.-Jeff Hawkins, co-author of On IntelligenceThe Blakeslees have taken the latest and most exciting finds from brain research and have made them accessible. This is how science writing should always be.-Michael S. Gazzaniga, Ph.D., author of The Ethical BrainA marvelous book. In the last ten years there has been a paradigm shift in understanding the brain and how its various specialized regions respond to environmental challenges. In addition to providing a brilliant overview of recent revolutionary discoveries on body image and brain plasticity, the book is sprinkled with numerous insights.-V. S. Ramachandran, M.D., director, Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego.

Softcover. Condition: Good. 5th Printing. The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, a Canadian bestseller, is a novel about Newfoundland that centres on the story of Joe Smallwood, the true-life controversial political figure who ushered the island through confederation with Canada and became its first premier. Narrated from Smallwood's perspective, it voices a deep longing on the part of the Newfoundlander to do something significant, commensurate with the greatness of the land itself. The New York Times said, this prodigious, eventful, character-rich book is a noteworthy achievement: a biting, entertaining and inventive saga. a brilliant and bravura literary performance.Smallwood, born in 1900, is the first of thirteen children raised from the scruff of Newfoundland, as opposed to the quality. The colony is seen as an unworthy and negligible place: as his teacher from England says, The worst of our lot comes over here, inbreeds for several hundred years and the end-product is a hundred thousand Newfoundlanders with Smallwood at the bottom of the barrel.Smallwood, who still weighs only 75 pounds at the age of 20, seems an unlikely hero to fulfil what he sees as his mission: to transform the old lost land, with its lack of identity, into the new found land; and meanwhile to rise not from rags to riches, but from obscurity to world renown. With perseverance and determination, he sets about the task, becoming a journalist for a socialist newspaper in New York and then a union leader, at one point walking the 700-mile railway track across the island to sell memberships to the section-men living in shacks. He sees beyond his unpromising background, the cold and unrelenting hardship and isolation, envisioning a proud and great destiny. Eventually, a politician full of wild moneymaking schemes, he is swept into a world of intrigues and the machinations of the power elite, just as Newfoundland must decide whether to become an independent country or to join Canada.In counterpoint to the earnest endeavours of Smallwood, champion of the poor and the workers, is the Dorothy Parker-like figure of his lifelong friend, Sheilagh Fielding. Their paths first cross at the private school from which Smallwood is expelled, falsely accused of writing a letter critical of the school, and thenceforth their lives are inextricably intertwined. Fielding becomes an acerbic newspaper columnist, a hard drinker with a sharp tongue who shares a strange love-hate relationship with Smallwood. Her cynical columns and personal journals are interspersed among Smallwoods account, along with her irreverent and satirical Condensed History of Newfoundland.In writing a work of the imagination in part inspired by historical events, Johnston wanted to fashion out of the formless infinitude of factsa work of art that would express a felt, emotional truth. Adherence to the facts will not lead you safely through the labyrinthine pathways of the human heart. Johnston was 19 when he met the real Joe Smallwood; he was just starting out as a journalist, and Smallwood was less than complimentary about Johnstons reporting. Although the politician died only in 1991, little was written about his life before the age of fifty, allowing Johnston some license to imagine his formative influences.I wanted to write a big book about Newfoundland in scope and in vision. I couldn't think of a bigger character whose life touched on more themes, involved the whole of Newfoundland more completely than Smallwood did. Smallwood saw Newfoundland in terms of unrealized talent and unfulfilled ambition; his life was somehow emblematic of the land. Moreover, says Johnston, He was so prone to making mistakes and so fallible, and he combines so many contradictions in his personality. His quest, like that of many great literary figures of the past century, is to overcome these divisions. The completely invented character of Fielding, meanwhile, is like me, says Johnston. I share her view of Newfoundland.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1. Grover loves having his mommy read to him. So when he starts learning how to read in school, he begins to worry. He wants to be able to read, but what if his mommy doesn't read to him anymore? A charming story that offers simple reassurances to children as they make their way through one of life's most important passages: learning how to read.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. First Edition. Lily is haunted by memories-of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness.In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu (womens writing). Some girls were paired with laotongs, old sames, in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become old sames at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship.

Hardcover. Condition: used. In this astonishing true story, award-winning journalist Sonia Nazario recounts the unforgettable odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States.When Enrique is five years old, his mother, Lourdes, too poor to feed her children, leaves Honduras to work in the United States. The move allows her to send money back home to Enrique so he can eat better and go to school past the third grade.Lourdes promises Enrique she will return quickly. But she struggles in America. Years pass. He begs for his mother to come back. Without her, he becomes lonely and troubled. When she calls, Lourdes tells him to be patient. Enrique despairs of ever seeing her again. After eleven years apart, he decides he will go find her.Enrique sets off alone from Tegucigalpa, with little more than a slip of paper bearing his mothers North Carolina telephone number. Without money, he will make the dangerous and illegal trek up the length of Mexico the only way he can-clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains.With gritty determination and a deep longing to be by his mothers side, Enrique travels through hostile, unknown worlds. Each step of the way through Mexico, he and other migrants, many of them children, are hunted like animals. Gangsters control the tops of the trains. Bandits rob and kill migrants up and down the tracks. Corrupt cops all along the route are out to fleece and deport them. To evade Mexican police and immigration authorities, they must jump onto and off the moving boxcars they call El Tren de la Muerte-The Train of Death. Enrique pushes forward using his wit, courage, and hope-and the kindness of strangers. It is an epic journey, one thousands of immigrant children make each year to find their mothers in the United States.Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing and another for feature photography, Enriques Journey is the timeless story of families torn apart, the yearning to be together again, and a boy who will risk his life to find the mother he loves.Praise for Enriques JourneyMagnificent . . . Enriques Journey is about love. Its about family. Its about home.-The Washington Post Book World[A] searing report from the immigration frontlines . . . as harrowing as it is heartbreaking.-People (four stars)Stunning . . . As an adventure narrative alone, Enriques Journey is a worthy read. . . . Nazarios impressive piece of reporting [turns] the current immigration controversy from a political story into a personal one.-Entertainment WeeklyGripping and harrowing . . . a story begging to be told.-The Christian Science Monitor[A] prodigious feat of reporting . . . [Sonia Nazario is] amazingly thorough and intrepid.-Newsday.

Softcover. Condition: Good. Illustrated in full color. The animals on this farm have nothing to fear from the blizzard--they're snugly nestled away in their barn. With a soothing, rhymed text reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown, here's a cozy tour through a wintertime haven that will lull little ones off to dreamland.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Murdocca, Sal (illustrator). Illus. in black-and-white. Jack and Annie are in deep trouble when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to the days of desert islands, secret maps, hidden gold--and ruthless pirates! Will Jack and Annie discover a buried treasure? Will they find out the identity of the mysterious M? Or will they walk the plank?.

Hardcover. Condition: used. A gallery attendant at the Hermitage. A young jazz buff in Tokyo. A crooked British lawyer in Hong Kong. A disc jockey in Manhattan. A physicist in Ireland. An elderly woman running a tea shack in rural China. A cult-controlled terrorist in Okinawa. A musician in London. A transmigrating spirit in Mongolia. What is the common thread of coincidence or destiny that connects the lives of these nine souls in nine far-flung countries, stretching across the globe from east to west? What pattern do their linked fates form through time and space?A writer of pyrotechnic virtuosity and profound compassion, a mind to which nothing human is alien, David Mitchell spins genres, cultures, and ideas like gossamer threads around and through these nine linked stories. Many forces bind these lives, but at root all involve the same universal longing for connection and transcendence, an axis of commonality that leads in two directions--to creation and to destruction. In the end, as lives converge with a fearful symmetry, Ghostwritten comes full circle, to a point at which a familiar idea--that whether the planet is vast or small is merely a matter of perspective--strikes home with the force of a new revelation. It marks the debut of a writer of astonishing gifts.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. First Edition. In Citizens of London, Lynne Olson has written a work of World War II history even more relevant and revealing than her acclaimed Troublesome Young Men. Here is the behind-the-scenes story of how the United States forged its wartime alliance with Britain, told from the perspective of three key American players in London: Edward R. Murrow, Averell Harriman, and John Gilbert Winant. Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Olson skillfully depicts the dramatic personal journeys of these men who, determined to save Britain from Hitler, helped convince a cautious Franklin Roosevelt and a reluctant American public to support the British at a critical time.The three-Murrow, the handsome, chain-smoking head of CBS News in Europe; Harriman, the hard-driving millionaire who ran FDRs Lend-Lease program in London; and Winant, the shy, idealistic U.S. ambassador to Britain-formed close ties with Winston Churchill and were drawn into Churchills official and personal circles. So intense were their relationships with the Churchills that they all became romantically involved with members of the prime ministers family: Harriman and Murrow with Churchills daughter-in-law, Pamela, and Winant with his favorite daughter, Sarah.Others were honorary citizens of London as well, including the gregarious, fiercely ambitious Dwight D. Eisenhower, an obscure general who, as the first commander of American forces in Britain, was determined to do everything in his power to make the alliance a success, and Tommy Hitchcock, a world-famous polo player and World War I fighter pilot who helped save the Allies bombing campaign against Germany.Citizens of London, however, is more than just the story of these Americans and the world leaders they aided and influenced. Its an engrossing account of the transformative power of personal diplomacy and, above all, a rich, panoramic tale of two cities: Washington, D.C., a lazy Southern town slowly growing into a hub of international power, and London, a class-conscious capital transformed by the Blitz into a model of stoic grace under violent pressure and deprivation. Deeply human, brilliantly researched, and beautifully written, Citizens of London is a new triumph from an author swiftly becoming one of the finest in her field.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1. The New York Times compared Sheldon M. Novicks Henry James: The Young Master to a movie of Jamess life, as it unfolds, moment to moment, lending the book a powerful immediacy. Now, in Henry James: The Mature Master, Novick completes his super, revelatory two-volume account of one of the worlds most gifted and least understood authors, and of a vanished world of aristocrats and commoners.Using hundreds of letters only recently made available and taking a fresh look at primary materials, Novick reveals a man utterly unlike the passive, repressed, and privileged observer painted by other biographers. Henry James is seen anew, as a passionate and engaged man of his times, driven to achieve greatness and fame, drawn to the company of other men, able to write with sensitivity about women as he shared their experiences of love and family responsibility.James, age thirty-eight as the volume begins, basking in the success of his first major novel, The Portrait of a Lady, is a literary lion in danger of being submerged by celebrity. As his finances ebb and flow he turns to the more lucrative world of the stage-with far more success than he has generally been credited with. Ironically, while struggling to excel in the theatre, James writes such prose masterpieces as The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl.Through an astonishingly prolific life, James still finds time for profound friendships and intense rivalries. Henry James: The Mature Master features vivid new portraits of Jamess famous peers, including Edith Wharton, Oscar Wilde, and Robert Louis Stevenson; his close and loving siblings Alice and William; and the many compelling young men, among them Hugh Walpole and Howard Sturgis, with whom James exchanges professions of love and among whom he thrives. We see a master converting the materials of an active life into great art.Here, too, as one century ends and another begins, is Jamess participation in the public events of his native America and adopted England. As the still-feudal European world is shaken by democracy and as America sees itself endangered by a wave of Jewish and Italian immigrants, a troubled James wrestles with his own racial prejudices and his desire for justice. With the coming of world war all other considerations are set aside, and James enlists in the cause of civilization, leaving his greatest final works unwritten.Hailed as a genius and a warm and charitable man-and derided by enemies as false, effeminate, and self-infatuated-Henry James emerges here as a major and complex figure, a determined and ambitious artist who was planning a new novel even on his deathbed. In Henry James: The Mature Master, he is at last seen in full; along with its predecessor volume, this book is bound to become the definitive biography.