An eclectic collection of the year's best reportage, The Best American Crime Reporting 2007 brings together the murderers and muscle men, the masterminds, and the mysteries and missteps that make for brilliant stories, told by the aces of the true crime genre. This latest addition to the highly acclaimed series features guest editor Linda Fairstein, the bestselling crime novelist and former chief prosecutor of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office's pioneering Special Victims' Unit.The loved ones / Tom Junod --The inside job / Neil Swidey --The talented Dr. Krist / Steve Fennessy --The case of the killer priest / Sean Flynn --Double blind / Matthew Teague --The school / C.J. Chivers --A kiss before dying / Pamela Colloff --The devil in David Berkowitz / Steve Fishman --The man who loves books too much / Allison Hoover Bartlett --Dirty old women / Ariel Levy --Who killed Ellen Andros? / Dan P. Lee --Fatal connection / David Bernstein --Last seen on September 10th / Mark Fass --My roommate, the diamond thief / Brian Boucher --The monster of Florence / Douglas Preston

    All of the cases end in murder. The stories start with The Black Widow of Laporte, Indiana which is the story of.Belle Gunness and her use of the want ads in the early 1900's. We work our way through the 20th century with The French Bluebeard, The Bogeyman, The Torch Murderer, The Bluebeard of Quiet Dell, The Lonely Hearts Killers, It's A Family Affair, The Lonely Hearts Husband Killer, Harv the Hammer and The Glamour Girl Killer. The final section of the book features nine cases where Craigslist ads have resulted in murder. There are more than 80 pictures throughout the book.

    Less gear. Less anxiety. Less stress. Less fear. A Lesser Photographer is the missing guide you've always wanted to the only gear that really matters: the gear between your ears. In under an hour, you’ll be able to identify the myths you’ve been taught about photography and embrace useful creative habits that will set you apart. Praise for previous editions: “For something beautiful and well-said, check out A Lesser Photographer.” — David duChemin “Amazing read…I really recommend everyone get a copy.” — Chris Marquardt “CJ Chilvers reevaluates what it means to be a photographer in this manifesto. Most of the points apply to virtually any creative endeavor or obsession. ‘The real show is outside the viewfinder.’” — Jim Coudal “I have to say, CJ has a great attitude. If you care at all about photography, he’s a must read.” — Patrick Rhone “Every photographer should follow CJ Chilvers.” — Eric Kim

    Christians who suffer from OCD may grapple with additional guilt, as the undesired thoughts are frequently of a spiritual nature. Yet people may be surprised to learn that some of the greatest leaders in Christian history also struggled with this malady. What did they experience? How did they cope? Were they able to overcome these tormenting, often violent, obsessions? Where did God fit into the picture?Ian Osborn shares the personal accounts of Martin Luther, John Bunyan, and Saint Th�r�se of Lisieux, as well as his own story, in exploring how faith and science work together to address this complex issue.

    Warring nations came together to honour tradition and celebrate their shared humanity, proclaiming an unofficial ceasefire as they swapped food, sung carols, and even played football matches against one another. It is one of those very rare moments during the bloody twentieth century which provide a glimmer of light. It is in some ways the great overlooked moment of the past century – moving, hopeful and filled with possibility. But how was it viewed at the time? And why did it never successfully happen again? What risks did the men in the trenches run, how did it come about, and did it change their view of the enemy? The Christmas Truce has become a symbol of hope for human beings working together in desperate situations. But historians have argued ever since about its significance, ranging from those who believe it was an irrelevance to those for whom it was a moment of enormous significance – and part of that argument is the question of when - and why - the truce officially ended. This book is designed to tell the story of the truce to a wider audience, as a compelling narrative, stitching together first-hand accounts of the soldiers who lived through it. A hundred years on, it is still a moment that resonates with audiences around the world.

    That devil just so happens to be Trenae’s boyfriend of two years, Silas Jackson. Trenae is head over heels in love with Silas, but he only uses her for money while he turns to other women for his sexual needs, since Trenae doesn’t plan to give up the goods anytime soon. Blinded by Silas’s fake love for her, Trenae can’t see Silas doing any wrong in her eyes. When she meets Nahlij, Trenae just maybe forced to open her eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. Life for Nahlij has been one disappointment after the other. At the age of five, his mother abandons him, leaving his father to take on the responsibility of being a single father. On the night of his 15th birthday, Nahlij witnesses his dad be murdered in cold blood by a crooked cop who had a gambling habit. “Don’t let them get away with this shit,” were the last words his father spoke before he took his last breath, and Nahlij vowed to make the officer pay for the death of his father. Now at the ripe age of 30, Nahlij is an undercover killer, trained by his foster parents. Still heart broken and hurt by the abandonment of his mother, Nahlij has vowed to never love a woman out of fear that he’ll be left again. When he’s assigned to a mission in Tallahassee, Fla., Nahlij just may push his ‘no love’ persona to the back of his mind when he meets the beautiful Trenae Wallace. They say what happens in Rome, stays in Rome, but will that hold true for Nahlij and Trenae? Can one night with Nahlij make Trenae forget about Silas? Can Trenae make Nahlij forget about his vow to never love a woman and make him fall for her? Can’t Hide From Love will leave you on the edge of your seat, begging for more. The plots and twists of love and betrayal will leave you obsessed and possibly make you question…Who the hell can you really trust?

    In lyric poems by turns droll and desolate, Hopler documents the struggle to live in the face of great loss, a task that sends him ranging through Florida's torrid subtropics, the mountains of the American West, the streets of Rome, and the Umbrian countryside. Vivid, dynamic, unrestrained: The Abridged History of Rainfall is a festival of glowing saints and fighting cocks, of firebombs and birdsong.

    104 pages of gossiping, loving and pestering of the British upper class, accompanied by illustrations, will definitely not disappoint.

    Some are recipes from her Polish Mother and Grandmother. Others are recipes she's collected or developed over the years. You’ll find a total of 51 recipes. There are an additional 26 toppings listed without recipes. They are very easy to make. That includes recipes for: 10 different pierogi doughs (traditional and contemporary), 15 savory fillings, 6 sweet fillings, 3 traditional pierogi toppings, 2 contemporary toppings, 9 compound butters and 6 sauces. I also included a list of 16 additional traditional toppings and 10 contemporary toppings (without recipes.) Finally you’ll find a lot of information about the history of pierogi, how to make pierogi dough, different methods to cut, stuff and seal the pierogi, how to best boil, saute, deep fry or bake pierogi, how to freeze pierogi and more. She also provides links to a couple of pierogi cutting and sealing tools that will save you a lot of time preparing pierogi.Making pierogi at home is really easy if you have the right directions. This book will give you a head start on making perfect pierogi.

    Her fist book, Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns opened the door to Gibson's unapologetic voice, yet The Madness Vase manages to take an even more intimate look at the subjects of family, war, spirituality, gender, grief and hope. The poems' topics range from hate crimes to playgrounds, from international conflict to hometowns, from falling in love to the desperation of loneliness. Gibson's work seizes us by the collar and hauls us inside some of her darkest moments, then releases out the other side. Moments later, we find ourselves inhaling words that fill us with light. Her luminous imagery is a buoy that allows us to resurface from her world clutching new possibilities of our own. Throughout her career, Gibson's poems have always been a call to social justice. But this collection goes beyond awareness. Her images linger in our psyches and entreat us to action. They challenge us to grow into our own skin. The journey may be raw at times but we are continuously left inspired, held, and certain we are not alone. By the time you finish reading The Madness Vase, you too will believe, "Folks like us/We've got shoulder blades that rust in the rain/But they are still G-sharp/Whenever our spinal chords are tuned to the key of redemption/So go ahead world/Pick us/To make things better."

     Let me test my presumption with a preview of four these ‘old’ stories. If I told you there was once a west coast sex cult with dozens of young girls, single ladies, and married women, who all fornicated with one well-endowed “prophet,” and he occasionally found it necessary to carry-out bondage S&M sessions here and there, you may not be surprised at all. But what if that sex cult began in 1903 and ended in 1906 with a couple of murders and suicides, does that sound like anything you have read about before? Or, how about a cheater who murders his inconvenient wife, disassembles her over a fifteen hour period, then puts her bones in the same stove he cooks breakfast for his sons before sending them off to school? If that doesn’t surprise you, perhaps the ending will–but you’ll have to find out for yourself. In ‘The Dandy and the Squire,’ a smooth-talking peacock from Kentucky visits his northern ‘cousins,’ and charms three of the women into his bed. He’s a big time operator who talks fancy, dresses fancy, and tells great stories of his days as an adventurer, riverboat gambler, and sharp-minded deal maker. He’s so smooth, he’s able to murder the patriarch’s son, make him look like the bad guy, and marry the boy’s tender-hearted sister before the Yankees get wise to his lies. Good thing, too, because he had also talked the father into giving him the family farm. Chapter Five is the stranger-than-fiction story of ‘Shoebox Annie.’ During the early 20th Century, this trollish-looking woman introduced her freakish-looking son to a life of crime. Their decade’s long spree of lyin’, cheatin’, and stealin’ led them to become America’s first mother and son team of serial killers. They were so good at disposing of bodies, none of their four victims have ever been found. If ‘old’ stories sound boring to readers of contemporary true crime, I hope this book will change minds, and fully reveal just how wicked and decadent our ancestors were. And deadly. Volume II in the Vintage True Crime Stories series is a wrecking ball that smashes to pieces that phrase, “The Good Old Days.” Maybe you will believe me when you get to the last page.

    this is one of those rare books that will change your beliefs - and in doing so will change your life. tHE ANt AND tHE FERRARI offers readers a clear, navigable path through the big questions that confront us all today. What is the meaning of life? Can we be ethical beings in today's world? Can we know if there is life after death? Is there such a thing as Absolute truth? What caused the Big Bang and why should you care?

    So they quit their jobs, sold their house and car, and flew off to Turkey with two bags each, a laptop computer and a camera. If you've ever dreamed of ditching the rat race and taking a year off, you’ll find inspiration in this charming and humorous series of essays and emails. A delightful memoir of a memorable year.

    Where Many Rivers Meet: Poems

    Demetri's first literary foray features longer-form essays and conceptual pieces (such as Protagonists' Hospital, a melodrama about the clinic doctors who treat only the flesh wounds and minor head scratches of Hollywood action heroes), as well as his trademark charts, doodles, drawings, one-liners, and lists (i.e., the world views of optimists, pessimists and contortionists), Martin's material is varied, but his unique voice and brilliant mind will keep readers in stitches from beginning to end.