Book picks similar to
A Splintered History of Wood: Belt Sander Races, Blind Woodworkers, and Baseball Bats by Spike Carlsen
non-fiction
history
nonfiction
woodworking
How to Manage Your Money When You Don't Have Any
Erik Wecks - 2012
It provides both a respectful, no-nonsense look at the difficult realities of life after the Great Recession and a hope-filled, easy to follow path toward better financial stability for even the most financially strapped households. Created by a financial expert who hasn't struck it rich, How to Manage Your Money When You Don't Have Any offers a first hand story of financial survival in the face of rough times. Rather than emphasizing wealth creation, How to Manage Your Money When You Don't Have Any teaches readers to do the best they can with their income no matter its size. Content rich, personal, and jargon free, the book is opinionated and at times humorous. Full of current everyday references, it is meant to be a quick read which will appeal to the average reader just struggling to make ends meet.
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
Dan Koeppel - 2007
Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. In others parts of the world, bananas are what keep millions of people alive. But for all its ubiquity, the banana is surprisingly mysterious; nobody knows how bananas evolved or exactly where they originated. Rich cultural lore surrounds the fruit: In ancient translations of the Bible, the 'apple' consumed by Eve is actually a banana (it makes sense, doesn't it?). Entire Central American nations have been said to rise and fall over the banana. But the biggest mystery about the banana today is whether it will survive. A seedless fruit with a unique reproductive system, every banana is a genetic duplicate of the next, and therefore susceptible to the same blights. Today's yellow banana, the Cavendish, is increasingly threatened by such a blight -- and there's no cure in sight. Banana combines a pop-science journey around the globe, a fascinating tale of an iconic American business enterprise, and a look into the alternately tragic and hilarious banana subculture (one does exist) -- ultimately taking us to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world's most beloved fruit.
Europe: A Natural History
Tim Flannery - 2018
In Europe: A Natural History, world-renowned scientist, explorer, and conservationist Tim Flannery applies the eloquent interdisciplinary approach he used in his ecological histories of Australia and North America to the story of Europe. He begins 100 million years ago, when the continents of Asia, North America, and Africa interacted to create an island archipelago that would later become the Europe we know today. It was on these ancient tropical lands that the first distinctly European organisms evolved. Flannery teaches us about Europe's midwife toad, which has endured since the continent's beginning, while elephants, crocodiles, and giant sharks have come and gone. He explores the monumental changes wrought by the devastating comet strike and shows how rapid atmospheric shifts transformed the European archipelago into a single landmass during the Eocene.As the story moves through millions of years of evolutionary history, Flannery eventually turns to our own species, describing the immense impact humans had on the continent's flora and fauna--within 30,000 years of our arrival in Europe, the woolly rhino, the cave bear, and the giant elk, among others, would disappear completely. The story continues right up to the present, as Flannery describes Europe's leading role in wildlife restoration, and then looks ahead to ponder the continent's future: with advancements in gene editing technology, European scientists are working to recreate some of the continent's lost creatures, such as the great ox of Europe's primeval forests and even the woolly mammoth.Written with Flannery's characteristic combination of elegant prose and scientific expertise, Europe: A Natural History narrates the dramatic natural history and dynamic evolution of one of the most influential places on Earth.
Hobby Games: The 100 Best
James Lowder - 2007
Their essays cover the spectrum of the hobby market, from role-playing games to collectible card games, miniatures games to wargames to board games, with titles both familiar and esoteric. Writers include such legendary designers as Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons; Richard Garfield, creator of Magic: The Gathering and Larry Harris, creator of Axis and Allies; best-selling authors R. A. Salvatore, Tracy Hickman, Ed Greenwood, and Michael Stackpole; computer industry notables Bruce Shelley of Ensemble Studios (Age of Empires) and Jack Emmert of Cryptic Studios (City of Heroes); as well as dozens of other noteworthy and award-winning creators. Hobby Games: The 100 Best also features a foreword by board game legend Reiner Knizia and an afterword by wargame legend James F. Dunnigan.
Secret Lives of Great Filmmakers: What Your Teachers Never Told You about the World's Greatest Directors
Robert Schnakenberg - 2009
With outrageous and uncensored profiles of everyone from D. W. Griffith to Quentin Tarantino, Secret Lives of Great Filmmakers reveals the little-known secrets of all your favorite directors. Why did Charlie Chaplin refuse to bathe for weeks at a time? Was Alfred Hitchcock really missing a belly button? Is Walt Disney’s corpse preserved in a state of suspended animation? And why on earth did Francis Ford Coppola direct a 3-D pornographic movie? The legends of the silver screen will never be the same!
The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery
Wendy Moore - 2005
In this sensational and macabre story, we meet the surgeon who counted not only luminaries Benjamin Franklin, Lord Byron, Adam Smith, and Thomas Gainsborough among his patients but also “resurrection men” among his close acquaintances. A captivating portrait of his ruthless devotion to uncovering the secrets of the human body, and the extraordinary lengths to which he went to do so—including body snatching, performing pioneering medical experiments, and infecting himself with venereal disease—this rich historical narrative at last acknowledges this fascinating man and the debt we owe him today.
Northland: A 4,000-Mile Journey Along America's Forgotten Border
Porter Fox - 2018
The northern border was America’s primary border for centuries—much of the early history of the United States took place there—and to the tens of millions who live and work near the line, the region even has its own name: the northland.Travel writer Porter Fox spent three years exploring 4,000 miles of the border between Maine and Washington, traveling by canoe, freighter, car, and foot. In Northland, he blends a deeply reported and beautifully written story of the region’s history with a riveting account of his travels. Setting out from the easternmost point in the mainland United States, Fox follows explorer Samuel de Champlain’s adventures across the Northeast; recounts the rise and fall of the timber, iron, and rail industries; crosses the Great Lakes on a freighter; tracks America’s fur traders through the Boundary Waters; and traces the forty-ninth parallel from Minnesota to the Pacific Ocean.Fox, who grew up the son of a boat-builder in Maine’s northland, packs his narrative with colorful characters (Captain Meriwether Lewis, railroad tycoon James J. Hill, Chief Red Cloud of the Lakota Sioux) and extraordinary landscapes (Glacier National Park, the Northwest Angle, Washington’s North Cascades). He weaves in his encounters with residents, border guards, Indian activists, and militia leaders to give a dynamic portrait of the northland today, wracked by climate change, water wars, oil booms, and border security.
The War on Science: Who's Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It
Shawn Lawrence Otto - 2016
And yet many western democracies actively ignore how science might help us to survive our own ingenuity. Shawn Lawrence Otto’s provocative book investigates the historical, social, and emotional reasons for why this is the case, and offers a vision and an argument to bring us to our collective senses, before it’s too late.
The Big-Ass Book of Home Décor: More than 100 Inventive Projects for Cool Homes Like Yours
Mark Montano - 2010
Your current home “décor” is ugly, shabby, and boring, but you can’t afford lots of new stuff. Or maybe your house is filled with tired old junk that you just can’t bear to throw away. Or maybe you bought all your furniture at a big box store, but it irritates you that it all looks like you bought it there. You have a solution—or, rather, a whole houseful of solutions. In this newest Big-Ass Book, do-it-yourself guru Mark Montano presents 105 practical, simple, and decidedly unboring projects for every space in your home. Montano’s wizardry—accomplished with masking tape, spray paint, and glue—transforms everything from accessories, to walls and windows, to lighting, to major pieces like headboards, tables, dressers, and chairs. (And there’s even a chapter on turning the anonymous items you got at IKEA into one-of-a-kind treasures.)
Crochet For Beginners: A Complete Step By Step Guide With Picture illustrations To Learn Crocheting The Quick & Easy Way
Nancy Gordon - 2018
Crochet for beginners will include: Step-by-step guide: Clear & precise instructions so you will not feel lost in between steps Clear picture illustrations: High quality illustrations with each step so you can understand the instructions better 27 Beginner Crochet Hacks: Top tips, tricks & hacks every beginner crocheter needs to know to avoid costly mistakes & learn faster 25 Beginner crochet patterns: Beginner crochet patterns with complete instructions & pictures are included within the book so you can start to create your own beautiful crochet patterns immediately Crochet for beginners 2.0 revised edition! 25 beginner patterns are included within the book without having to click any external links! Clear pictures & instructions are provided as well. Crocheting does not need to be hard if you follow the right guide. Grab this best-selling book today & you will be crocheting beautiful patterns in no time! Simply download your copy above now to get started!
Poisons: From Hemlock to Botox to the Killer Bean of Calabar
Peter Macinnis - 2004
Poisons permeate our world. They are in the environment, the workplace, the home. They are in food, our favorite whiskey, medicine, well water. They have been used to cure disease as well as to incapacitate and kill. They smooth wrinkles, block pain, stimulate, and enhance athletic ability. In this entertaining and fact-filled book, science writer Peter Macinnis considers poisons in all their aspects. He recounts stories of the celebrated poisoners in history and literature, from Nero to Thomas Wainewright, and from the death of Socrates to Hamlet and Peter Pan. He discusses the sources of various poisons-from cyanide to strychnine, from Botox to ricin and Sarin gas-as well as their detection. Then he analyzes the science of their action in the body and their uses in medicine, cosmetics, war, and terrorism. With wit and precision, he weighs such questions as: Was Lincoln's volatility caused by mercury poisoning? Was Jack the Ripper an arsenic eater? Can wallpaper kill? For anyone who has ever wondered and been afraid to ask, here is a rich miscellany for your secret questions about toxins.
The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator
Timothy C. Winegard - 2019
As the mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization, humans were unwittingly required to respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power.The mosquito has determined the fates of empires and nations, razed and crippled economies, and decided the outcome of pivotal wars, killing nearly half of humanity along the way. She (only females bite) has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout our relatively brief existence. As the greatest purveyor of extermination we have ever known, she has played a greater role in shaping our human story than any other living thing with which we share our global village.Imagine for a moment a world without deadly mosquitoes, or any mosquitoes, for that matter? Our history and the world we know, or think we know, would be completely unrecognizable.Driven by surprising insights and fast-paced storytelling, The Mosquito is the extraordinary untold story of the mosquito's reign through human history and her indelible impact on our modern world order.
A People's History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence
Ray Raphael - 2001
Their stories have long been overlooked in the mythic telling of America's founding, but are crucial to a comprehensive understanding of the fight for independence. Now, the experiences of farmers, laborers, rank and file soldiers, women, Native Americans, and African Americans -- found in diaries, letters, memoirs and other long-ignored primary sources -- create a gritty account of rebellion, filled with ideals and outrage, loss, sacrifice, and sometimes scurrilous acts...but always ringing with truth.
How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck: A proven path to financial fitness in only 15 minutes a week!
Avery Breyer - 2015
Finally someone has come up with some practical, easy, quick, and workable suggestions to get out of debt and stay there." Grady Harp (Hall of Fame, Amazon Top 100 Reviewer, Vine Voice) "This is the rarest of all rarities - a really good ebook on personal finance." Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer "Avery Breyer's self-help guide to consumer finances... is filled with great ideas for getting out of a financial rut. I found her reasons for setting up a budget to be compelling and was impressed by the Money Tracker program she includes with the book... It's highly recommended." Rated 5-stars by Jack Magnus (Readers' Favorite) "I needed this book 25 years ago!" David Woody (Amazon Reader) Do you want to learn proven techniques that will help you to stop living paycheck to paycheck and stop stressing out about money? Do you want to be able to relax, knowing that all of your needs, today and in the future, can be paid for with ease? This book is going to show you money solutions that actually work. This book will provide you with both the tools and the knowledge that you need to finally get ahead. You'll learn a budget system that has stood the test of time, and helped countless people to dramatically reduce, or eliminate, their stress about money. In this practical, action-oriented guide, you'll learn an easy money-management system that takes only 15 minutes per week (that's an average of just over 2 minutes a day!) to maintain. After all, budget planning should be quick and easy! In this brilliant guide, some of the things you will learn include: -The easiest ways to pay down bad debt, and time-tested strategies to avoid getting more -How to set up a money management system that will provide for your daily monetary needs both now, and in the future -The 6 most important things you can do to take control of your money -11 budget traps, and how to avoid them You will also be given free lifetime access to The Money Tracker, a simple tool that makes keeping tabs on your budget quick and easy. Don't be the kind of person who procrastinates and makes a bad situation worse. Be the kind of person who isn't afraid to to tackle a problem head on. Be the kind of person who takes action now. You can stop living paycheck to paycheck and start to take control of your money and budget today. After that, sit back and enjoy the new life you are creating for yourself, a life where you feel secure, and more confident in your ability to manage your money. It's your time. Buy this book today and get started!
Oaxaca Journal
Oliver Sacks - 2002
However, he is also a card-carrying member of the American Fern Society, and since childhood has been fascinated by these primitive plants and their ability to survive and adapt in many climates. Oaxaca Journal is Sacks's spellbinding account of his trip with a group of fellow fern enthusiasts to the beautiful, history-steeped province of Oaxaca, Mexico. Bringing together Sacks's passion for natural history and the richness of human culture with his sharp eye for detail, Oaxaca Journal is a captivating evocation of a place, its plants, its people, and its myriad wonders.