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They say you can't judge a book by its cover--but its title can tell you more than you ever needed to know! Amazing, illuminating, and gut-bustingly funny, Bizarre Books is the wonderfully twisted product of more than two decades of determined searching in forgotten corners of out-of-the...

Have you lost the art of reading for pleasure? Are there books you know you should read but haven't because they seem too daunting? In The Well-Educated Mind, Susan Wise Bauer provides a welcome and encouraging antidote to the distractions of our age, electronic and otherwise. In her previous book,...

Here are 65 spirited testimonies to the transformative power of reading from 65 distinguished contributors. Books change lives and this one examines this phenomenon. With contributors from fields as disparate as journalism, cooking and the arts, these brief and lively essays tell of the single book...

Imagine a world without Principia Mathematica, Rights of Man, the Bible, Shakespeare, or the Mahabharata.  Remarkable Books features 75 of the world's most momentous titles - from The Art of War to Anne...

This entertaining guide to some of the best short novels of all time, from a bestselling historian, is the "perfect gift for busy bibliophiles" (BookPage). Experience the joys of literature with this this "exciting guide to all that the world of fiction has to offer" (...

Journalist Michael Kinsley has described Michael Dirda as "the best-read person in America," then added "but he doesn't rub it in." Michael M. Thomas called him, in the New York Observer, "the best book critic in America." Nevertheless, no one named Michael was involved when Dirda was awarded the...

It's time to diversify your reading list. This richly illustrated and vastly inclusive collection uplifts the works of authors who are often underrepresented in the literary world. Using their keen knowledge and deep love for all things literary, coauthors Jamise Harper (founder...

Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic Michiko Kakutani shares 100 personal, thought-provoking essays about books that have mattered to her and that help illuminate the world we live in today--with beautiful illustrations throughout. "A book tailormade for bibliophiles."--Oprah...

"Wendy Lesser's extraordinary alertness, intelligence, and curiosity have made her one of America's most significant cultural critics," writes Stephen Greenblatt. In Why I Read, Lesser draws on a lifetime of pleasure reading and decades of editing one of the most distinguished literary magazines in...

Searching for perfect book lovers gifts? Rejoice! Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany, is a love letter to all things bookish. Author Jane Mount brings literary people, places, and things to life through her signature and vibrant illustrations. It's a must-have for every book...

The books that we choose to keep -- let alone read -- can say a lot about who we are and how we see ourselves. In My Ideal Bookshelf, dozens of leading cultural figures share the books that matter to them most; books that define their dreams and ambitions and in many cases helped them find...

One hundred of today's most prominent literary and cultural icons talk about the books that hold a special place in their hearts and made them who they are today. Leading authors, politicians, CEOs, actors, and other notables share the books that changed their life, why they love them, and their...

He has been called "the poet laureate of technology" and a writer who is "erudite, witty, thoughtful, and accessible." Now Henry Petroski turns to the subject of books and bookshelves, and wonders whether it was inevitable that books would come to be arranged vertically as they are today on...

Reports of the death of reading are greatly exaggerated   Do you worry that you've lost patience for anything longer than a tweet? If so, you're not alone. Digital-age pundits warn that as our appetite for books dwindles, so too do the virtues...

*NATIONAL BESTSELLER* *A WGN Radio Best Book of 2024* *A Good Housekeeping Reads pick* A hilarious and incisive exploration of the joys of reading from a "beloved and wonderful writer" (George Saunders), teacher, bibliophile, and Thurber...

A librarian's laugh-out-loud funny, deeply moving collection of love letters and breakup notes to the books in her life. If you love to read, and presumably you do since you've picked up this book (!), you know that some books affect you so profoundly they forever change the...

The inspiring true story of an indomitable librarian's journey from Nazi Germany to Seattle to Vietnam--all for the love of books. Growing up under Fascist censorship in Nazi Germany, Ruth Rappaport absorbed a forbidden community of ideas in banned books. After fleeing her home in...

"Like a Renaissance wonder cabinet, full of surprises and opening up into a lost world." --Stephen Greenblatt "A captivating adventure...For lovers of history, Wilson-Lee offers a thrill on almost every page...Magnificent." --The New York Times Book Review