But here is the secret world of the index: an unsung but extraordinary everyday tool, with an illustrious but little-known history.Charting its curious path from the monasteries and universities of thirteenth-century Europe to Silicon Valley in the twenty-first, Dennis Duncan reveals how the index has saved heretics from the stake, kept politicians from high office, and made us all into the readers we are today. We follow it through German print shops and Enlightenment coffee houses, novelists’ living rooms and university laboratories, encountering emperors and popes, philosophers and prime ministers, poets, librarians, and—of course—indexers along the way. Duncan reveals the vast role of the index in our evolving literary and intellectual culture, and he shows that in the Age of Search we are all index-rakers at heart.

    Featuring a diverse selection, from Pride and Prejudice to The Handmaid's Tale, The Kite Runner to Cloud Atlas, the guide includes interesting discussion points and facts as well as potential companion books with similar themes, honest opinions from readers, and razor-sharp reviews from critics, so readers will know they're making the right choice every time. Top ten lists are also included, such as Top Ten Quick Reads (Metamorphosis, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), Top Ten Challenging Reads (Anna Karenina, Possession), Top Ten Gay Reads (Giovanni's Room, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit), and Top Ten Chilling Reads (The Stand, Ring). Compiled by a range of English literature experts and avid readers, this book is sure to inspire any book lover.

    Or maybe you’re The Adulterer, who struggles to commit and never has less than four books on the go, or The Abuser, whose “treat ’em mean” attitude leads to turned-down corners, broken spines, and water-damaged pages. With over 20 hilarious bookworm profiles, you’re sure to spot a good few character traits that any member of the literati will recognize. While we won’t claim it’s as funny as a Philip Roth novel, So You Think You’re a Bookworm? will definitely raise a smile or two.

    These wide-ranging interviews are conducted by Pamela Paul, the editor of the Book Review, and here she brings together sixty-five of the most intriguing and fascinating exchanges, featuring personalities as varied as David Sedaris, Hilary Mantel, Michael Chabon, Khaled Hosseini, Anne Lamott, and James Patterson. The questions and answers admit us into the private worlds of these authors, as they reflect on their work habits, reading preferences, inspirations, pet peeves, and recommendations.By the Book contains the full uncut interviews, offering a range of experiences and observations that deepens readers' understanding of the literary sensibility and the writing process. It also features dozens of sidebars that reveal the commonalities and conflicts among the participants, underscoring those influences that are truly universal and those that remain matters of individual taste.For the devoted reader, By the Book is a way to invite sixty-five of the most interesting guests into your world. It's a book party not to be missed.

    Written before the emergence of the Internet but newly updated for the twenty-first century reader, A Gentle Madness captures that last moment in time when collectors frequented dusty bookshops, street stalls, and high-stakes auctions, conducting themselves with the subterfuge befitting a true bibliomaniac. A Gentle Madness is vividly anecdotal and thoroughly researched. Nicholas A. Basbanes brings an investigative reporter’s heart and instincts to the task of chronicling collectors past and present in pursuit of bibliomania. Now a classic of collecting, A Gentle Madness is a book lover’s delight.

    Illustrator Kate Gavino captures the wonder of this experience firsthand. At every reading she attends, Kate hand-letters the event’s most memorable quote alongside a charming portrait of the author. In Last Night’s Reading, Kate takes us on her journey through the literary world, sharing illustrated insight from more than one hundred of today’s greatest writers—including Zadie Smith, Junot Diaz, Lev Grossman, Elizabeth Gilbert, and many more—on topics ranging from friendship and humor to creativity and identity. A celebration of authors, reading, and bookstores, this delightful collection is an advice book like no other and a love letter to the joy of seeing your favorite author up close and personal.

    It could be a train ticket, a letter, an advertisement, a photograph, or a four-leaf clover. Eventually the book finds its way into the world-a library, a flea market, other people's bookshelves, or to a used bookstore. But what becomes of those forgotten bookmarks? What stories could they tell?By day, Michael Popek works in his family's used bookstore. By night, he's the voyeuristic force behind www.forgottenbookmarks.com, where he shares the weird objects he has found among the stacks at his store.Forgotten Bookmarks is a scrapbook of Popek's most interesting finds. Sure, there are actual bookmarks, but there are also pictures and ticket stubs, old recipes and notes, valentines, unsent letters, four-leaf clovers, and various sordid, heartbreaking, and bizarre keepsakes. Together this collection of lost treasures offers a glimpse into other readers' lives that they never intended for us to see.

    And if you follow the guidelines of this proven system of sacrifice and discipline, you can be debt free, and begin to enjoy your life like never before. I want to make a promise to you today, if you follow this system and these guidelines. You can be debt free, begin saving, and invest like you never have before. You will build amazing wealth. However all of this is up to you, do you want all of that? Well take the first step today. "If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else." Here Is A Preview Of the Book... Don’t be in denial Beware of credit cards Start with baby steps Cure your debt fast Investing for retirement and college The three good things with money Much, Much more

    The Spring House is the first of five seasonal titles from BrocanteHome.Net’s best-selling Seasonal House series.This pocket-sized book is a cornucopia of Springtime homemaking inspiration, with ideas for preparing for the change of the season, Spring puttery treats, cleaning recipes, decorative touches, journal prompts, a book list and an essay on living well in Springtime, written with all the same charm Alison May has been bringing to the world of vintage housekeeping for over twelve years now...

    From early obsessions with the March sisters to her later idolization of Sylvia Plath, Ellis evaluates how her heroines stack up today. And, just as she excavates the stories of her favorite characters, Ellis also shares a frank, often humorous account of her own life growing up in a tight-knit Iraqi Jewish community in London. Here a life-long reader explores how heroines shape all our lives.

    This text also features 'Book Smart Recommended Reading', sidebars that lead readers to similar books and authors.

    If he occasionally implores a biographer for brevity, or abandons a literary work in favour of an Arsenal match, then all is not lost. His writing, full of all the joy and surprise and despair that books bring him, reveals why we still read, even when there's football on TV, a pram in the hall or a good band playing at our local pub.

    Featuring more than 200 full-color images of original catalog cards, first edition book covers, and photographs from the library's magnificent archives, this collection is a visual celebration of the rarely seen treasures in one of the world's most famous libraries and the brilliant catalog system that has kept it organized for hundreds of years. Packed with engaging facts on literary classics—from Ulysses to The Cat in the Hat to Shakespeare's First Folio to The Catcher in the Rye—this package is an ode to the enduring magic and importance of books.

    Using Cohen's trademark style-with tips, statistics, quotes, and stories from parents and students, as well as expert advice-this guide tackles the most important topics on parents''minds, including:• What parents should never say or do when dropping their child off on campus• Staying connected (but not too connected) to your child• When to visit, how often to visit, what to expect when visiting• Helping your child make good choices & supporting the wrong ones• What every parent must know about safety issues

    What's the point? There's so much else to read. With these essays, Lizzie Skurnick has answered those questions. It's as if a kindly psychiatrist suddenly appeared with a sheaf of missing brain scans. Does the mere mention of a mink-trimmed coat make you secretly swoon, even though you are rabidly anti-fur? You have 'A Little Princess' complex. Do you long to cover your enemies with leeches? You're having a 'Little House' flashback... So stretch out on Dr. Lizzie's couch and find out why you think it would be kind of cozy to be locked up in an attic with your brother. Or learn to dissect the subtle class consciousness of Judy Blume's New Jersey. Ponder the way that Lois Duncan's characters come into unexpected powers, natural and supernatural alike, as they enter adolesence. And most of all, enjoy.