Oh! The Mountain of TBRs!

From evaluating wines and wineries to reading and understanding wine labels, this friendly guide is ideal for anyone wishing to avoid the humiliation of ordering the "wrong" wine. Also features quick tips on pairing food and wine, and opening and storing wine.

From the author who brought you the massive New York Times bestseller Bringing Down the House, this is the startling rags-to-riches story of an Italian-American kid from the streets of Brooklyn who claws his way into the wild, frenetic world of the oil exchange.

After conquering the hallowed halls of Harvard Business School, he enters the testosterone-laced warrens of the Merc Exchange, the asylumlike oil exchange located in lower Manhattan. A place where billions of dollars trade hands every week, the Merc is like a casino on crack, where former garbagemen become millionaires overnight and where fistfights break out on the trading floor.

This ordinary kid has traded Brooklyn for the gold-lined hotel palaces of Dubai. He keeps company on the decks of private yachts in Monte Carlo—teeming with half-naked girls flown in by Saudi sheiks—and makes deals in the dangerous back alleys of Beijing.

But the Merc is just a starting place. Taken under the wing of another young gun and partnering with a mysterious young Muslim, the kid embarks on a dangerous adventure to revolutionize the oil trading industry—and, along with it, the world.

Rigged is the explicit, exclusive, true story behind the headlines that dominate the world stage.

Just about everyone has heard of Esperanto, which was nothing less than one man’s attempt to bring about world peace by means of linguistic solidarity. And every Star Trek fan knows about Klingon, which was nothing more than a television show’s attempt to create a tough-sounding language befitting a warrior race with ridged foreheads. But few people have heard of Babm, Blissymbolics, and the nearly nine hundred other invented languages that represent the hard work, high hopes, and full-blown delusions of so many misguided souls over the centuries. In In The Land of Invented Languages, author Arika Okrent tells the fascinating and highly entertaining history of man’s enduring quest to build a better language. Peopled with charming eccentrics and exasperating megalomaniacs, the land of invented languages is a place where you can recite the Lord’s Prayer in John Wilkins’s Philosophical Language, say your wedding vows in Loglan, and read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in Lojban. A truly original new addition to the booming category of language books, In The Land of Invented Languages will be a must-have on the shelves of all word freaks, grammar geeks, and plain old language lovers.

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So much has how been said and written about the life and career of Michael Jackson that it has become almost impossible to disentangle the man from the myth. This book is the fruit of over 30 years of research and hundreds of exclusive interviews with a remarkable level of access to the very closest circles of the Jackson family - including Michael himself. Cutting through tabloid rumours, J. Randy Taraborrelli traces the real story behind Michael Jackson, from his drilling as a child star through the blooming of his talent to his ever-changing personal appearance and bizarre publicity stunts. This major biography includes the behind-the-scenes story to many of the landmarks in Jackson's life: his legal and commercial battles, his marriages to Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe, his passions and addictions, his children. Objective and revealing, it carries the hallmarks of all of Taraborrelli's best-sellers: impeccable research, brilliant storytelling and definitive documentation.

Product Description
For more than six decades Elizabeth Taylor has been a part of our lives. Now acclaimed biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli looks past the tabloid version of Elizabeth's life and offers the first-ever fully realized portrait of this American icon. You'll meet her controlling mother who plotted her daughter's success from birth...see the qualities that catapulted Elizabeth to stardom in 1940s Hollywood...understand the psychological and emotional underpinnings behind the eight marriages...and, finally, rejoice in Elizabeth's most bravura performance of all: the new success in family, friendships, and philanthropy she achieved despite substance abuse and chronic illness. It's the story of the woman you thought you knew--and now can finally understand.

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(Springer-Praxis) Describes the Gemini program in vivid detail, especially in the context of NASA's response to the then Russian dominance of space. For space enthusiasts and general readers

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June 1815: Set on the eve of Waterloo, Second to None is the latest addition to the long chronicle of Richard Bolitho and the opening of its second age. Battling pirates and slavers, Captain Adam Bolitho of the Unrivalled stands alone at the dawn of a new era in history, poised to take up the duty and courage which are his legacy.

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This complex and richly layered novel follows a young, gay doctor from Santiago, Chile, to Paris in the late 1950s. Fleeing the repressive, closed society of his native Chile, he is drawn to France by the promise of freedom, culture, and romance—with an attractive but married Frenchman. They begin a passionate affair in Paris, and the Frenchman promises to leave his wife but cannot bring himself to do so. When the Chilean expatriate begins a liaison with the wife of his French lover, complications multiply with tragic results. The elegant voice of the protagonist echoes through this refined and romantic milieu set against a backdrop of grandeur and faded glory. An intriguing cast of impoverished aristocrats, business elite, and art patrons inhabit the wistful narrative based loosely on the author’s youth.

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"The Year 1000 is a vivid and surprising portrait of life in England a thousand years ago. A world that already knew brain surgeons and property developers and, yes, even the occasional gossip columnist. Uncovering such wonderfully unexpected details, authors Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger bring this distant world closer than it has ever been before. How did people survive without sugar? How did monks communicate if they were not allowed to speak? Why was July called "the hungry month"? The Year 1000 answers these questions and reveals such secrets as the recipe for a medieval form of Viagra and a hallucinogenic treat called "crazy bread." In the spirit of modern investigative journalism, Lacey and Danziger interviewed the top historians and archaeologists in the field. Their research led them to an ancient and little-known document of the period, the Julius Work Calendar, a sharply observed guide that takes us back in time to a charming and very human world of kings and revelers, saints and slave laborers, lingering paganism and profound Christian faith. This exuberant and informative book concludes as the shadow of the millennium descends across England and Christendom. While prophets of doom predict the end of the world, A.D. 1000 sees the arrival of such bewildering concepts as infinity and zero, along with the abacus-the medieval calculating machine. These are portents of the future, and The Year 1000 finishes by examining the human and social ingredients that were to make for success and achievement in the next thousand years."

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Tales from a Dog Catcher is based on the author’s experiences in a smallish city in the northern suburbs of NYC. Reminiscent of both All Creatures Great and Small and Marley & Me, it offers the stories of everyday people who, whether by accident or design, come into contact with the sad, funny, and often profound world of an animal control officer.

The most complete guide ever to the real Arthurian world and the legends that surround it He defeated the Saxons so decisively at the Battle of Badon that he held the Saxon invasion of Britain at bay for at least a generation. He has inspired more stories, books and films than any other historical or legendary figure.

But who was the real King Arthur? Here is the most comprehensive guide to the real Arthurian world and the legends that surround and often obscure it. Sifting fact from fancy, Mike Ashley reveals the originals not only of King Arthur but also of Merlin. Guinevere, Lancelot and the knights of the Round Table - as well as all the major Arthurian sites.

He traces each of the legends as they developed and brilliantly shows how they were later used to inspire major works of art, poetry, fiction and film. There is clear evidence that. The Arthurian legends arose from the exploits of not just one man, but at least three originating in Wales, Scotland and Brittany The true historical Arthur really existed and is distantly related to the present royal family The real Arthur and the real Merlin never knew each other The real Lancelot was not British but was closer to a sixth-century asylum-seeker The Holy Grail legend probably grew out of a cosmic catastrophe that could have destroyed most of civilization

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"Disney is so good at being good that it manifests an evil; so uniformly efficient and courteous, so dependably clean and conscientious, so unfailingly entertaining that it's unreal, and therefore is an agent of pure wickedness. . . . Disney isn't in the business of exploiting Nature so much as striving to improve upon it, constantly fine-tuning God's work."
--from TEAM RODENT

TEAM RODENT
How Disney Devours America

"Revulsion is good. Revulsion is healthy. Each of us has limits, unarticulated boundaries of taste and tolerance, and sometimes we forget where they are. Peep Land is here to remind us; a fixed compass point by which we can govern our private behavior. Because being grossed out is essential to the human experience; without a perceived depravity, we'd have nothing against which to gauge the advance or decline of culture; our art, our music, our cinema, our books. Without sleaze, the yardstick shrinks at both ends. Team Rodent doesn't believe in sleaze, however, nor in old-fashioned revulsion. Square in the middle is where it wants us all to be, dependable consumers with predictable attitudes. The message, never stated but avuncularly implied, is that America's values ought to reflect those of the Walt Disney Company, and not the other way around."

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Political provocateur Bill Maher tells it like it is in a useful and hilarious guide for the many Americans who want to do more here at home to help the war effort, but are at a loss as to what. Thirty-three dynamic new posters and several classics from our government's archive accompanied by text from one of our leading pundits and cutting-edge comedians make this the perfect book for this time in our nation's history, the zeitgeist of post-9/11 America. This is the book that will help Americans make connections between what we do and how it can help (or hurt) our troops and us.

The UK's number one TV psychic Derek Acorah tells of his experiences with the spirit world, from his one-to-one readings and consultations to international performances and renowned investigations for Living TV's Most Haunted. / Sunday Times no. 3 bestseller. / Derek Acorah is one of the UK's best known psychics with several regular television shows on the Living TV channel: the hugely successful 'Most Haunted' and 'Celebrity Most Haunted', and 'Psychic Live'. / In this book he tells amazing tales of his countless psychic experiences, from public performances to personal readings. / Includes exclusive details of Derek's extraordinary communications with some of Britain's more notorious spirits; a phenomenon often witnessed by thousands of television viewers during his investigations into reputedly haunted historical sites for Living TV.

IF KNOWLEDGE WAS POWER, CECIL ADAMS WOULD RULE THE WORLD!
It's true! For the past twenty-five years, in his books and weekly newspaper column, world-history genius Cecil Adams has been patiently explaining to the Teeming Millions how the world works. He answered questions such as how do porcupines mate, what exactly does Barney Rubble do for a living, and where is Einstein's brain? His answers changed your life. Or at least settled a bet with a loved one. But surely, you are thinking, all the salient facts of the universe have been ascertained by now. Ha! Get a load of the mysteries The Master explores in this landmark volume:

¸ If Teflon is such a nonsticky substance, how do they get it to stick to the pan?
¸ Is the Great Cabal implanting microchips in our brains?
¸ Do fluorescent lights cause cataracts?
¸ What do Scotsmen wear under those kilts?
¸ Can some people extinguish street lamps by force of their bodily emanations?
¸ Is the U.S. Government really hiding alien spaceships?

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is the foundation of classical economics, and it has influenced a broad range of thinkers. Smith stresses the importance of the division of labor to economic progress. He criticizes the arguments for economic planning and offers a detailed theoretical and historical case for free trade.

The first tape in the set examines the basic problems addressed by Adam Smith in the context of the Scottish Enlightenment. This intellectual revival during the late 18th century produced many outstanding thinkers in addition to Smith, such as the philosopher David Hume. This tape also discusses Adam Smith's general approach to philosophy and how The Wealth of Nations fits into that approach.

The second tape covers some major themes in The Wealth of Nations, a lengthy and complex book. These include the division of labor, the idea of an unplanned social order (the famous "invisible hand"), Adam Smith's theory of economic value and its influence on later thinkers, and Smith's defense of free trade.

Some of Smith's arguments are difficult to follow for the modern reader. The third and fourth tapes explain Smith's major arguments in the order they appear in The Wealth of Nations, while providing the background necessary for comprehension. These tapes follow the five books of The Wealth of Nations and explain how their seemingly diverse themes related to Smith's general purpose. Far more than a work on economic theory, The Wealth of Nations contains philosophy, history, and political theory.