The beloved Comma Queen returns with a buoyant and charming book about language, love, and the wine-dark sea.In her New York Times best-selling Between You & Me, Mary Norris delighted readers with her irreverent tales of pencils, punctuation, and punctiliousness over three decades in The New Yorker's celebrated copy department. In Greek to Me, she delivers another wise and witty paean to the art of expressing oneself clearly and convincingly, this time filtered through her greatest passion: all things Greek.From convincing her New Yorker bosses to pay for Ancient Greek studies to traveling the sacred way in search of Persephone, Greek to Me is an unforgettable account of both her lifelong love affair with words and her solo adventures in the land of olive trees and ouzo. Along the way, Norris explains how the alphabet originated in Greece, makes the case for Athena as a feminist icon, and reveals the surprising ways Greek helped form English. Filled with Norris's memorable encounters with Greek words, Greek gods, Greek wine -- and more than a few Greek waiters -- Greek to Me is the Comma Queen's fresh take on Greece and the exotic yet strangely familiar language that so deeply influences our own.
W. W. Norton & Company
|
9781324001270
|
Hardcover
A Beginner's Guide to Paradise
By Sheshunoff, Alex
So You Too Can: - Move to a South Pacific Island - Wear a Loincloth - Read a Hundred Books - Diaper a Baby Monkey - Build a Bungalow And Maybe, Just Maybe, Fall in Love! * * Individual results may vary.The true story of how a quarter-life crisis led to adventure, freedom, and love on a tiny island in the Pacific. From the author of a lot of emails and several Facebook posts comes A Beginner's Guide to Paradise, a laugh-out-loud, true story that will answer your most pressing escape-from-it-all questions, including: 1. How much, per pound, should you expect to pay a priest to fly you to the outer islands of Yap? 2. Classic slumber party stumper: If you could have just one movie on a remote Pacific island, what would it definitely not be? 3. How do you blend fruity drinks without a blender? 4.
New American Library
|
9780451475862
|
Hardcover
How to Be a Family
By
In this "funny and honest" (Pamela Druckerman) memoir, Slate editor Dan Kois sets out with his family on a journey around the world to change their lives together.What happens when one frustrated dad turns his kids' lives upside down in search of a new way to be a family?Dan Kois and his wife always did their best for their kids. Busy professionals living in the D.C. suburbs, they scheduled their children's time wisely, and when they weren't arguing over screen time, the Kois family-Dan, his wife Alia, and their two pre-teen daughters-could each be found searching for their own happiness. But aren't families supposed to achieve happiness together?In this eye-opening, heartwarming, and very funny family memoir, the fractious, loving Kois' go in search of other places on the map that might offer them the chance to live away from home-but closer together. Over a year the family lands in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and small-town Kansas. The goal? To get out of their rut of busyness and distractedness and to see how other families live outside the East Coast parenting bubble.HOW TO BE A FAMILY brings readers along as the Kois girls-witty, solitary, extremely online Lyra and goofy, sensitive, social butterfly Harper-like through the Kiwi bush, ride bikes to a Dutch school in the pouring rain, battle iguanas in their Costa Rican kitchen, and learn to love a town where everyone knows your name. Meanwhile, Dan interviews neighbors, public officials, and scholars to learn why each of these places work the way they do. Will this trip change the Kois family's lives? Or do families take their problems and conflicts with them wherever we go?A journalistic memoir filled with heart, empathy, and lots of whining, HOW TO BE A FAMILY will make readers dream about the amazing adventures their own families might take.
Little, Brown and Company
|
9780316552622
|
Hardcover
Wild Life
By Roberts, Keena
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight meets Mean Girls in this funny, insightful fish-out-of-water memoir about a young girl coming of age half in a "baboon camp" in Botswana, half in a ritzy Philadelphia suburb.Keena Roberts split her adolescence between the wilds of an island camp in Botswana and the even more treacherous halls of an elite Philadelphia private school. In Africa, she slept in a tent, cooked over a campfire, and lived each day alongside the baboon colony her parents were studying. She could wield a spear as easily as a pencil, and it wasn't unusual to be chased by lions or elephants on any given day. But for the months of the year when her family lived in the United States, this brave kid from the bush was cowed by the far more treacherous landscape of the preppy, private school social hierarchy.Most girls Keena's age didn't spend their days changing truck tires, baking their own bread, or running from elephants as they tried to do their schoolwork. They also didn't carve bird whistles from palm nuts or nearly knock themselves unconscious trying to make homemade palm wine. But Keena's parents were famous primatologists who shuttled her and her sister between Philadelphia and Botswana every six months. Dreamer, reader, and adventurer, she was always far more comfortable avoiding lions and hippopotamuses than she was dealing with spoiled middle-school field hockey players. In Keena's funny, tender memoir, Wild Life, Africa bleeds into America and vice versa, each culture amplifying the other. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, Wild Life is ultimately the story of a daring but sensitive young girl desperately trying to figure out if there's any place where she truly fits in.
Grand Central Publishing
|
9781538745151
|
Hardcover
A Year of Living Prayerfully
By Brock, Jared
Follow Jared on a 37,000-mile trip around the world as he...* Dances with Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn* Discovers the 330-year-old home of Brother Lawrence* Burns his clothes at the end of the Camino de Santiago* Attends the world's largest church in Seoul* Visits Westboro Baptist Church* Tries to stay out of trouble in North Korea* Meets the Pope and has lunch at the Vatican * Attempts fire walking (with only minor burns) Watch the trailer: LivingPrayerfully.com While filming a documentary about sex trafficking, Jared and Michelle Brock felt a deep need for prayer in their personal lives. In an effort to learn more about prayer, the couple traveled the globe, exploring the great Judeo-Christian prayer traditions: in mountains and monasteries, in Christian communities and cathedrals, standing up and lying down, every hour and around the clock. A Year of Living Prayerfully is a fascinating, humorous, globe-trotting exploration of prayer that will help you grow your own prayer life. Jared's witty reflections on his fast-paced journey will both entertain and inspire you to think about your own prayer journey.Join Jared on a rollicking modern-day prayer pilgrimage... you'll never pray the same again.SPECIAL BONUS OFFER:If you enjoy A Year of Living Prayerfully, leave an honest review on Amazon and receive a FREE yearlong Prayer Experience worth $297.The Bonus Bundle includes:-Video interview with 7X author Mark Buchanan-Exclusive audio interview with veteran author/editor/literary agent Ann Spangler-Author Outtakes (9 bonus chapters) -20 behind-the-scenes photos-12 Free Ebooks (incl Brother Lawrence, Teresa of Avila, Charles Finney, Andrew Murray) -Additional bonuses for bulk purchases (Visit jaredbrock.com/bonus for details.) PLUS: 100% of Jared's author royalties are donated to charity, so be sure to pick up a few copies for your friends.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781414392134
|
Hardcover
Micro Trips
By Planet, Lonely
Publisher: n/a
|
9781788689311
|
Hardcover
Trees of Illinois Field Guide
By Tekiela, Stan
Learn to identify Illinois trees with this handy field guide, organized by leaf type and attachment.With this famous field guide by award-winning author and naturalist Stan Tekiela, you can make tree identification simple, informative, and productive. There's no need to look through dozens of photos of trees that don't grow in Illinois. Learn about 124 species found in the state (every native tree plus common non-natives) , organized by leaf type and attachment. Just look at a tree's leaves, then go to the correct section to learn what it is. Fact-filled information contains the particulars that you want to know, while full-page photographs provide the visual detail needed for accurate identification.Book Features 124 species: Every native tree plus common non-nativesEasy to use: Thumb tabs show leaf type and attachmentCompare feature: Decide between look-alikesStan's Notes: Naturalist tidbits and factsProfessional photos: Crisp, stunning full-page imagesThis new edition includes updated photographs; expanded information; a Quick Compare section for leaves, needles, and silhouettes; and even more of Stan's expert insights.
Adventure Publications
|
9781647553784
|
Paperback
River of the Gods
By Millard, Candice
The harrowing story of one of the great feats of exploration of all time and its complicated legacy - from the New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the RepublicFor millennia the location of the Nile River's headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe - and extend their colonial empires. Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton's opposite in temperament and beliefs.
Doubleday
|
9780593607817
|
Hardcover
Insight Guides
By Guides., Insight
To say that Iceland is a country bristling with natural beauty is something of an understatement. Volcanoes, lagoons, glaciers, waterfalls, black-sand beaches and geysers densely populate its landscape. The lively capital city of Reykjavik also has a lot to offer visitors, from the stunning Blue Lagoon to its rich cultural heritage. Be inspired to visit by the new edition of Insight Guide Iceland, a comprehensive full-colour guide to this fascinating and dramatically beautiful country.Inside Insight Guide Iceland: A fully-overhauled edition by our expert Iceland author. Stunning, specially-commissioned new photography that brings this breath-taking country and its people to life. Highlights of the country's top attractions, including the Blue Lagoon and the country's best hiking trails.
Amazing Boat Journeys
By Planet, Lonely
Greek to Me
By Norris, Mary
The beloved Comma Queen returns with a buoyant and charming book about language, love, and the wine-dark sea.In her New York Times best-selling Between You & Me, Mary Norris delighted readers with her irreverent tales of pencils, punctuation, and punctiliousness over three decades in The New Yorker's celebrated copy department. In Greek to Me, she delivers another wise and witty paean to the art of expressing oneself clearly and convincingly, this time filtered through her greatest passion: all things Greek.From convincing her New Yorker bosses to pay for Ancient Greek studies to traveling the sacred way in search of Persephone, Greek to Me is an unforgettable account of both her lifelong love affair with words and her solo adventures in the land of olive trees and ouzo. Along the way, Norris explains how the alphabet originated in Greece, makes the case for Athena as a feminist icon, and reveals the surprising ways Greek helped form English. Filled with Norris's memorable encounters with Greek words, Greek gods, Greek wine -- and more than a few Greek waiters -- Greek to Me is the Comma Queen's fresh take on Greece and the exotic yet strangely familiar language that so deeply influences our own.
A Beginner's Guide to Paradise
By Sheshunoff, Alex
So You Too Can: - Move to a South Pacific Island - Wear a Loincloth - Read a Hundred Books - Diaper a Baby Monkey - Build a Bungalow And Maybe, Just Maybe, Fall in Love! * * Individual results may vary.The true story of how a quarter-life crisis led to adventure, freedom, and love on a tiny island in the Pacific. From the author of a lot of emails and several Facebook posts comes A Beginner's Guide to Paradise, a laugh-out-loud, true story that will answer your most pressing escape-from-it-all questions, including: 1. How much, per pound, should you expect to pay a priest to fly you to the outer islands of Yap? 2. Classic slumber party stumper: If you could have just one movie on a remote Pacific island, what would it definitely not be? 3. How do you blend fruity drinks without a blender? 4.
How to Be a Family
By
In this "funny and honest" (Pamela Druckerman) memoir, Slate editor Dan Kois sets out with his family on a journey around the world to change their lives together.What happens when one frustrated dad turns his kids' lives upside down in search of a new way to be a family?Dan Kois and his wife always did their best for their kids. Busy professionals living in the D.C. suburbs, they scheduled their children's time wisely, and when they weren't arguing over screen time, the Kois family-Dan, his wife Alia, and their two pre-teen daughters-could each be found searching for their own happiness. But aren't families supposed to achieve happiness together?In this eye-opening, heartwarming, and very funny family memoir, the fractious, loving Kois' go in search of other places on the map that might offer them the chance to live away from home-but closer together. Over a year the family lands in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and small-town Kansas. The goal? To get out of their rut of busyness and distractedness and to see how other families live outside the East Coast parenting bubble.HOW TO BE A FAMILY brings readers along as the Kois girls-witty, solitary, extremely online Lyra and goofy, sensitive, social butterfly Harper-like through the Kiwi bush, ride bikes to a Dutch school in the pouring rain, battle iguanas in their Costa Rican kitchen, and learn to love a town where everyone knows your name. Meanwhile, Dan interviews neighbors, public officials, and scholars to learn why each of these places work the way they do. Will this trip change the Kois family's lives? Or do families take their problems and conflicts with them wherever we go?A journalistic memoir filled with heart, empathy, and lots of whining, HOW TO BE A FAMILY will make readers dream about the amazing adventures their own families might take.
Wild Life
By Roberts, Keena
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight meets Mean Girls in this funny, insightful fish-out-of-water memoir about a young girl coming of age half in a "baboon camp" in Botswana, half in a ritzy Philadelphia suburb.Keena Roberts split her adolescence between the wilds of an island camp in Botswana and the even more treacherous halls of an elite Philadelphia private school. In Africa, she slept in a tent, cooked over a campfire, and lived each day alongside the baboon colony her parents were studying. She could wield a spear as easily as a pencil, and it wasn't unusual to be chased by lions or elephants on any given day. But for the months of the year when her family lived in the United States, this brave kid from the bush was cowed by the far more treacherous landscape of the preppy, private school social hierarchy.Most girls Keena's age didn't spend their days changing truck tires, baking their own bread, or running from elephants as they tried to do their schoolwork. They also didn't carve bird whistles from palm nuts or nearly knock themselves unconscious trying to make homemade palm wine. But Keena's parents were famous primatologists who shuttled her and her sister between Philadelphia and Botswana every six months. Dreamer, reader, and adventurer, she was always far more comfortable avoiding lions and hippopotamuses than she was dealing with spoiled middle-school field hockey players. In Keena's funny, tender memoir, Wild Life, Africa bleeds into America and vice versa, each culture amplifying the other. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, Wild Life is ultimately the story of a daring but sensitive young girl desperately trying to figure out if there's any place where she truly fits in.
A Year of Living Prayerfully
By Brock, Jared
Follow Jared on a 37,000-mile trip around the world as he...* Dances with Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn* Discovers the 330-year-old home of Brother Lawrence* Burns his clothes at the end of the Camino de Santiago* Attends the world's largest church in Seoul* Visits Westboro Baptist Church* Tries to stay out of trouble in North Korea* Meets the Pope and has lunch at the Vatican * Attempts fire walking (with only minor burns) Watch the trailer: LivingPrayerfully.com While filming a documentary about sex trafficking, Jared and Michelle Brock felt a deep need for prayer in their personal lives. In an effort to learn more about prayer, the couple traveled the globe, exploring the great Judeo-Christian prayer traditions: in mountains and monasteries, in Christian communities and cathedrals, standing up and lying down, every hour and around the clock. A Year of Living Prayerfully is a fascinating, humorous, globe-trotting exploration of prayer that will help you grow your own prayer life. Jared's witty reflections on his fast-paced journey will both entertain and inspire you to think about your own prayer journey.Join Jared on a rollicking modern-day prayer pilgrimage... you'll never pray the same again.SPECIAL BONUS OFFER:If you enjoy A Year of Living Prayerfully, leave an honest review on Amazon and receive a FREE yearlong Prayer Experience worth $297.The Bonus Bundle includes:-Video interview with 7X author Mark Buchanan-Exclusive audio interview with veteran author/editor/literary agent Ann Spangler-Author Outtakes (9 bonus chapters) -20 behind-the-scenes photos-12 Free Ebooks (incl Brother Lawrence, Teresa of Avila, Charles Finney, Andrew Murray) -Additional bonuses for bulk purchases (Visit jaredbrock.com/bonus for details.) PLUS: 100% of Jared's author royalties are donated to charity, so be sure to pick up a few copies for your friends.
Micro Trips
By Planet, Lonely
Trees of Illinois Field Guide
By Tekiela, Stan
Learn to identify Illinois trees with this handy field guide, organized by leaf type and attachment.With this famous field guide by award-winning author and naturalist Stan Tekiela, you can make tree identification simple, informative, and productive. There's no need to look through dozens of photos of trees that don't grow in Illinois. Learn about 124 species found in the state (every native tree plus common non-natives) , organized by leaf type and attachment. Just look at a tree's leaves, then go to the correct section to learn what it is. Fact-filled information contains the particulars that you want to know, while full-page photographs provide the visual detail needed for accurate identification.Book Features 124 species: Every native tree plus common non-nativesEasy to use: Thumb tabs show leaf type and attachmentCompare feature: Decide between look-alikesStan's Notes: Naturalist tidbits and factsProfessional photos: Crisp, stunning full-page imagesThis new edition includes updated photographs; expanded information; a Quick Compare section for leaves, needles, and silhouettes; and even more of Stan's expert insights.
River of the Gods
By Millard, Candice
The harrowing story of one of the great feats of exploration of all time and its complicated legacy - from the New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the RepublicFor millennia the location of the Nile River's headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe - and extend their colonial empires. Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton's opposite in temperament and beliefs.
Insight Guides
By Guides., Insight
To say that Iceland is a country bristling with natural beauty is something of an understatement. Volcanoes, lagoons, glaciers, waterfalls, black-sand beaches and geysers densely populate its landscape. The lively capital city of Reykjavik also has a lot to offer visitors, from the stunning Blue Lagoon to its rich cultural heritage. Be inspired to visit by the new edition of Insight Guide Iceland, a comprehensive full-colour guide to this fascinating and dramatically beautiful country.Inside Insight Guide Iceland: A fully-overhauled edition by our expert Iceland author. Stunning, specially-commissioned new photography that brings this breath-taking country and its people to life. Highlights of the country's top attractions, including the Blue Lagoon and the country's best hiking trails.