Eat This, Not That! Thousands of Simple Food Swaps that Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds--or More!

Title: Eat This, Not That! Thousands of Simple Food Swaps that Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds--or More!

Written by: David Zinczenko and  Matt Goulding

Publisher: Rodale Books

Summary:

Eat what you want, when you want--and watch the pounds disappear! 

Americans spend more than $400 billion a year eating out, and behind each burger, turkey sandwich, and ice cream sundae is a simple decision that could help you control your weight--and your life. The problem is, restaurant chains and food producers aren't interested in helping you make healthy choices. In fact, they invest $30 billion a year on advertising, much of it aimed at confusing eaters and disguising the fat and calorie counts of their products. 

All of that has changed with EAT THIS, NOT THAT!. This book puts the entire food industry under the spotlight, and arms you with the savvy tricks and insider information it takes to eat well no matter where you are. With EAT THIS, NOT THAT! you're the expert in every eating situation, from the frozen food aisle to your favorite fast food joint to your local sports bar. You control your food universe--and lose the pounds you want--because, unlike every other customer, you'll know the smart choices to make--instantly!

How to Build a Robot Army: Tips on Defending Planet Earth Against Alien Invaders, Ninjas, and Zombies

Title: How to Build a Robot Army: Tips on Defending Planet Earth Against Alien Invaders, Ninjas, and Zombies

Written by: Daniel H. Wilson

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Summary:

It goes without saying that robots kill. They hunt, swarm, and fire lasers from their eyes. They even beat humans at chess. So who better to stand with us when the real villains arrive? Movies instruct us that, whether we like it or not, we will one day be under siege by pirates, ninjas, zombies, aliens, and Godzilla. Also great white sharks. And—let’s face it—we’re not prepared. But with the advice contained in this brilliantly illustrated, ingenious book, you can build your own robot army to fend off hordes of bloodthirsty foes. From common-sense injunctions (“never approach an unfamiliar robot in a militarized zone”) to tactical pointers (“low-power radar beats cameras for detecting mummies in a fog-shrouded crypt”) to engineering advice (“passive-dynamic exoskeleton suits will increase sprint speeds but not leg strength”), this book contains all the wisdom you’ll need to fend off the coming apocalypse. Witty, informative, and utterly original, How to Build a Robot Army is the ideal book for readers of any age.

Ghosts Caught On Film

Title: Ghosts Caught On Film

Written by: Melvyn Willin

Publisher: David & Charles

Summary:

Rise in public interest fuelled by TV shows such as Most Haunted, about to broadcast its 9th series and Afterlife, averaging 6 million viewers.

This is the only book of its kind showing the paranormal caught on camera.

Contains intriguing images investigated by the Society for Psychical Research.

Ghost Caught on Film presents an extraordinary collection of strange and unexplained photographs that offer the exciting possibility of ghosts and paranormal activity captured on film. The book features early photographs from the Society for Psychical Research of psychics and mediums producing ectoplasm, ghost pictures and other paranormal phenomena as well as celebrated modern images such as the Hampton Court ghost. Each picture is accompanied by a description of its circumstances and the steps taken by Willin, the Society for Psychical Research and the Royal Photographic Society to establish that there is no `normal' explanation for the phenomena. The incredible photographs will stimulate the interest of everyone who sees them. Whether you are a complete sceptic or a semi-believer, you can't help but be drawn into the mystery.

Appetite for Detention

Title: Appetite for Detention

Written by: Sloane Tanen and Stefan Hagen

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books

Summary:

Following the success of Sloane Tanen’s adult books comes a title aimed directly at teens. From back-to-school anxiety and chick cliques to gym class, teachers, and other eye-rolling icons of school life, these photographic scenes of the teen experience are as ingenious as they are hilarious. Specifically concerned with the trials and tribulations of high school and teendom, this book will have teens everywhere (and more than a few adults) laughing with recognition.

Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures In Japan

Title: Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures In Japan

Written by: Aimee Major Steinberger

Publisher: Go!Comi 

Summary:

Accompanied by two friends, Steinberger, a professional animator and devotee of that special brand of cuteness that hails from contemporary Japan (think Sanrio’s Hello Kitty and similar artistic and commercial ventures), provides a charming recapitulation of their visit there. Steinberger’s height (she’s six feet tall), along with such things as the language barrier, immediately marked the trio as tourists, but their devotion to such Japanese-inspired pastimes as cosplay (dressing up as manga, anime, and fantasy characters) and Steinberger’s interest in Japanese Volks dolls gave them several avenues into popular culture, where they found considerable enjoyment. Steinberger tells their story largely in black-and-white, manga-style line drawings, with the occasional application of bright colors. Manga and anime fans will appreciate the gentle travelogue, and even readers unfamiliar with Japanese culture today will like Steinberger and her pals and be intrigued by their observations on what it can be like to be a tourist.

Black Metal Volume 1

Title: Black Metal Volume 1

Written by: Rick Spears and Chuck BB 

Publisher: Oni Press

Summary:

Twin brothers, Shawn and Sam, aren't typical kids -- their grim dedication to metal isn't that unusual but their mysterious parentage sure is! Empowered by the legendary sword of Atoll, these kids are determined to battle however many demons it takes in order to fulfill the ancient prophecy of the Hell Baron! Infused with the ancient myth and high adventure of the music that inspired it, BLACK METAL is a truly epic tale.

Custom Kicks

Title: Custom Kicks

Written by:  Kim Smits and Matthijs Maat

Publisher: Laurence King Publishers

Summary:

Customizing is hot. Everything can be customized: from pimped cars to retro furniture. This major trend is especially popular in footwear. Customizing your own shoes is a way of stepping out of the crowd, of showing your personality. Just about every sneaker brand has found a way to put street art into their products; rain boots have never been more hip; and there are even customize festivals and exhibitions. 

By inviting 150 artists and illustrators to show/create customized shoes the book will appeal not only to sneaker freaks, fashion fetishists, and trend watchers, but also to the graphic design and art audience. The main focus is on the artwork but the text examines the trend and asks: How did it start? What materials do the artists use? There are also tips and tricks on how to create your very own unique shoes.

Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure

Title: Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure

Written by: Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith

Publisher: Harper Perennial 

Summary:

Can you describe your life in six words? That's what the editors of storytelling magazine SMITH asked readers in 2006; the results, though decidedly uneven, make for compulsive reading and prove arguably as insightful as any 300+ page biography. Taken as a whole, this cascade of quotes from contributors famous and unknown creates a dizzying snowball effect of perspectives and feelings. Highlights from professional writers and artists include journalist Chuck Klosterman wondering, "Nobody cared, then they did. Why?"; pop singer-songwriter Adam Schlesinger lamenting, "We still don't hear a single"; and comic strip artist Keith Knight illustrating "I was a Michael Jackson impersonator." At their best, these nano-memoirs evoke the same kind of rich emotional responses as a good story: 9 year old Hannah Davies considers herself "Cursed with cancer. Blessed by friends"; Zak Nelson says "I still make coffee for two"; Scott Birch claims "Most successful accomplishments based on spite." Some entries read like bumper stickers (Rip Riley: "No wife. No kids. No problems"), and others are just plain weird (Amy Sedaris: "Mushrooms. Clowns. Wands. Five. Wig. Thatched"), but this compelling little book will have readers and their friends hunting for favorites and inventing six-word self-definitions of their own. 

Other People's Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See

Title: Other People's Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See

Written by: Bill Shapiro

Publisher: Clarkson Potter

Summary:

Fevered notes scribbled on napkins after first dates. Titillating text messages. It's-not-you-it's-me relationship-enders. In Other People’s Love Letters, Bill Shapiro has searched America’s attics, closets, and cigar boxes and found actual letters–unflinchingly honest missives full of lust, provocation, guilt, and vulnerability–written only for a lover’s eyes. Modern love, of course, is not all bliss, and in these pages you’ll find the full range of a relationship, with its whispered promises as well as its heartache. But what at first appears to be a deliciously voyeuristic peek into other people’s most passionate moments, will ultimately reawaken your own desires and tenderness…because when you read these letters, you’ll find the heart you’re looking into is actually your own.

• "i think UR great. wanna have wine & Tequila again sometime?"

• "I can't believe you're real, and I think about you constantly in some way or the other all day. I haven't given the finger to anyone driving since I met you."

• "With you I learned how to fight cleaner, how to talk things out better, and how to make a strong loving family out of nothing. These are priceless gifts that I will carry with me the rest of my life. One more thing you did for me: you left, and I had to get through it."

• "P.S. I look forward to your letters too much to call. Also, where do you stand on chains?"

SKULLS

Title: SKULLS

Written by: Noah Scalin

Publisher: Lark Books 

Summary:

On June 4th, 2007, artist Noah Scalin came up with an ingenious idea: he cut a skull out of orange paper and posted it online with the note, “I’m making a skull image every day for a year.” His uniquely witty works became a wild success: five months later, nearly 250,000 people have visited the site, many sending in skull photos of their own and turning Scalin’s blog into one of the world’s top sites. 
Why skulls? Noah answers, “why not?” He’s always found them fascinating—and these days, they’re found on everything from t-shirts to bumper stickers. But nothing equals Noah’s incredibly beautiful, odd, and often humorous pieces: they’re made from an astounding variety of materials, from toothpaste to melted candle wax, from tea leaves to plastic straws. One is even carved into a watermelon! (Yes, it was eaten.) 
Each of the 150 skulls shown is accompanied by a brief description and fun anecdotal stories. As a bonus, there are four skull projects to make. Irresistibly merging pop, Internet, and craft culture, this fantastic collection provides an inspiring example of how to find creative potential in every aspect of daily life.

Lady Q: The Rise and Fall of a Latin Queen

Title: Lady Q: The Rise and Fall of a Latin Queen

Written by: Reymundo Sanchez and Sonia Rodriguez

Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Summary:

This is a raw and powerful memoir not only of one woman’s struggle to survive the streets but also of her ascent to the top ranks of the new mafia, where the only people more dangerous than rival gangs were members of her own. At age five Sonia Rodriguez’s stepfather began to abuse her; at 10 she was molested by her uncle and beaten by her mother when she told on him; and by 13 her home had become a hangout for the Latin Kings and Queens who were friends with her older sister. Threatened by rival gang members at school, Sonia turned away from her education and extracurricular activities in favor of a world of drugs and violence. The Latin Kings, one of the largest and most notorious street gangs in America, became her refuge, but its violence cost her friends, freedom, self-respect, and nearly her life. As a Latin Queen, she experienced the exhilarating highs and unbelievable lows of gang life. From being shot at by her own gang and kicked out at age 18 with an infant daughter to rejoining the gang and distinguishing herself as a leader, her legacy as Lady Q was cemented both for her willingness to commit violence and for her role as a drug mule. For the first time, a woman’s perspective on gang life is presented.

Spider-Man The Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon

Title: Spider-Man The Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon  

Written by: Steve Saffel

Publisher: Titan Books

Summary:

THE LIFE AND TIMES 
OF A POP CULTURE PHENOMENON

From his modest 1962 debut in Amazing Fantasy #15, Peter Parker — better known to readers as the web-spinning Spider-Man — has evolved from underdog to international icon. Along the way he’s thrilled entire generations through the comics, cartoons, movies, and tons of spectacular toys.

Spider-Man: The Icon traces that unlikely evolution. A lavishly illustrated chronicle, it charts the wall-crawler’s career from counter-culture figure to motion picture superstar, visually portraying every aspect of the web-spinning phenomenon. This deluxe celebration of the ultimate super hero includes insights from key comic book writers and artists, photos of rare, vintage collectibles, and a vast array of scintillating imagery from the comics, cartoons, television series, and movies.

In doing so, it also traces the history of popular culture over the last five decades. Renowned Spider-Man expert Steve Saffel combines a wealth of arcane knowledge and incredibly rare archival material to create the essential book for every Spider-fan!

Body Drama: Real Girls, Real Bodies, Real Issues, Real Answers

Title: Body Drama: Real Girls, Real Bodies, Real Issues, Real Answers

Written by: Nancy Amanda Redd

Publisher: Gotham

Summary:

From fashion magazines to taboo Web sites, curious young women have access to tons of old wives’ tales about and thousands of airbrushed and inaccurate images of the female body—misinformation and harmful portrayals that can lead to low self-esteem, self-destructive acts, or even disturbing plastic surgery procedures. Teaming up with a leading physician specializing in adolescent health issues, Harvard graduate and former Miss Virginia Nancy Redd now offers a down-to-earth, healing, and reassuring response to those damaging myths. In Body Drama, Redd gives girls insight into the issues they’re often too ashamed to raise with a doctor or parent. She also reveals her own experiences with the culture of “American beauty,” and shows readers all the many versions of “normal.” From body hair and bras, to acne and weight issues, along with crucial issues such as the importance of a healthy self image, Body Drama is a groundbreaking book packed with informative fast facts, FYIs, how-tos, and moving personal anecdotes as well as hundreds of un-retouched photographs. A highly visual book, it’s the first of its kind for women: filled with real information and real photographs of real bodies, to celebrate all our different shapes and sizes. 

Named by Glamour magazine as one of America’s top-ten college women “most likely to succeed—at anything,” Redd has spent the most recent years of her life on a mission to tackle the issues least discussed but most significant in young women’s lives. Celebrating the many versions of “normal,” and replacing seriously erroneous information with the honest, medically proven truth in a language all girls can understand, Body Drama dares to empower a new generation—with facts instead of fantasies, and the priceless gift of self-knowledge.

Chill: Stress-Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced, Peaceful You

Title: Chill: Stress-Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced, Peaceful You

Written by: Deborah Reber

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Summary:

Your day starts at 6am and ends at midnight--if you're lucky.
You keep up with all two hundred of your friends on Facebook.
You practically invented the word "multitasking."
Sound familiar? You're not alone. You are part of the most overscheduled, overprogrammed, and overwhelmed generation on the planet. And CHILL can help you manage it all! It's just a matter of having the right frame of mind. So relax, take a deep breath...and chill.

Skateboarding Skills: The Rider's Guide

Title: Skateboarding Skills: The Rider's Guide

Written by: Ben Powell

Publisher: Firefly Books

Summary:

Skateboarding's popularity continues to soar -- it has now surpassed basketball in popularity among North American youth. Skateboarding Skills is an ideal guide both for first-time riders learning the necessary skills, and for more experienced ones wanting to perfect a maneuver or master a move. 

Written in an easy-to-follow style and packed with color photographs, Skateboarding Skills features:
• A review of safety issues-from avoiding an injury to landing safely on a fall
• A guide to purchasing and maintaining equipment
• Clothing guidelines -- skate shoes, helmet, and pads for knees, elbows and wrists
• Tricks, techniques and maneuvers for all levels from powerslides to kickflips
• 37 action photo sequences graded according to level from basic to advanced
• Tips from the pros, plus a glossary of skateboarding jargon and slang.

Since the sequences progress in difficulty, skateboarders can move on to the next level when ready or return to an earlier one and practice it, making Skateboarding Skills an ideal handbook for a skyrocketing sport.

Mo' Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Defined

Title: Mo' Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Defined

Written by: Aaron Peckham

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Summary:

Founded in 1999 by Aaron Peckham as a parody of the dictionary, urbandictionary.com features definitions written by people from all over the world. Since then, Urban Dictionary has been cited in court, in graduation speeches, and by countless news media outlets, including CNN and Time magazine. Today Aaron is a software engineer in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World

Title: I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World

Written by: Trevor Paglen

Publisher: Melville House

Summary:

They’re on the shoulder of all military personnel: patches that symbolize what a soldier’s unit does. But what happens if it’s top secret?

Shown here for the first time, these sixty patches reveal a secret world of military imagery and jargon, where classified projects are known by peculiar names (“Goat Suckers,” “None of Your Fucking Business,” “Tastes Like Chicken”) and illustrated with occult symbols and ridiculous cartoons. Although the actual projects represented here (such as the notorious Area 51) are classified, these patches—which are worn by military units working on classified missions—are precisely photographed, strangely hinting at a world about which little is known.

By submitting hundreds of Freedom of Information requests, the author has also assembled an extensive and readable guide to the patches included here, making this volume one of the best available surveys of the military’s black world—a $27 billion industry that has quietly grown by almost 50 percent since 9/11.

Volcano: A Visual Guide

Title: Volcano: A Visual Guide

Written by: Donna O'Meara

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers 

Summary:

Through 250 spectacular full-color images, Volcano: A Visual Guide takes readers on an armchair journey to 40 of the world's most active and important volcanoes. 

Informative text describes the features and structure of volcanoes, eruption dynamics, and what makes a volcano active, dormant or extinct. Fascinating details reveal how experts use technology to predict volcanic activity, and what volcanoes tell us about the geological history of Earth. 

Stunning color photographs of volcanoes and volcanic eruptions showcase volcanoes worldwide and beyond, including:

The United States
Japan
Indonesia
Montserrat
Italy
The Galapagos Islands
Papua New Guinea
The Cook Islands
The Philippines
The Pacific Ocean
New Zealand
The Moon, Venus, Mars and Triton.

Volcanoes and the forces that create them produce many of our planet's most stunning natural spectacles and dramatic landscapes. Volcano: A Visual Guide provides a magical view inside the Earth's interior.

InDognito: A Book of Canines in Costume

Title: InDognito: A Book of Canines in Costume 

Written by: Karen Ngo

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Summary:

Hilarious, charming, and inventive, INDOGNITO is Karen Ngo's visual treat for today's breed of dog lovers. A whimsical collection of stylishly photographed dog portraits, it affectionately embraces the quirky spirit of the primped pooch. Including humorous quotations, this book is sure to delight and inspire dog-lovers of every age! 

The Manga Cookbook

Title: The Manga Cookbook

Written by: The Manga University Culinary Institute (and Chihiro Hattori 

Publisher: Japanime Co. Ltd

Summary:

Reading manga sure can make a person hungry! Food appears frequently in Japanese comics, but what exactly is it that the characters are eating? Introducing The Manga Cookbook, an illustrated step-by-step guide to preparing simple Japanese dishes using ingredients found in every Western kitchen. Learn to identify and make the same things you see in all your favorite manga: authentic onigiri (rice balls), yakitori (skewered chicken), oshinko (pickled vegetables), udon (Japanese noodles), okonomiyaki (Japanese-style pizza) and many others! Includes sections on how to assemble bento boxed lunches and properly use chopsticks. Features original manga illustrations by Chihiro Hattori. Soon, you too can enjoy a meal fit for a manga character!