She surveyed the darkest corners of Internet chat rooms, and made a pilgrimage to London to savor the most caustic and literate obits of all. Now she leads us on a compelling journey into the cult and culture behind the obituary page and the unusual lives we don't quite appreciate until they're gone.

    Be a hero, not a spectator. You want to be interesting. (Who doesn t?) But sometimes it takes a nudge, a wake-up call, an intervention! and a little help. This is where Jessica Hagy comes in. A writer and illustrator of great economy, charm, and insight, she s created How to Be Interesting, a uniquely inspirational how-to that combines fresh and pithy lessons with deceptively simple diagrams and charts.Ms. Hagy started on Forbes.com, where she s a weekly blogger, by creating a How to Be Interesting post that went viral, attracting 1.4 million viewers so far, with tens of thousands of them liking, linking, and tweeting the article. Now she s deeply explored the ideas that resonated with so many readers to create this small and quirky book with a large and universal message. It s a book about exploring: Talk to strangers. About taking chances: Expose yourself to ridicule, to risk, to wild ideas. About being childlike, not childish: Remember how amazing the world was before you learned to be cynical. About being open: Never take in the welcome mat. About breaking routine: Take daily vaca- tions . . . if only for a few minutes. About taking ownership: Whatever you re doing, enjoy it, embrace it, master it as well as you can. And about growing a pair: If you re not courageous, you re going to be hanging around the water cooler, talking about the guy that actually is.

    The trick is figuring out what among these objects is treasure and what's trash. That's where Earl Proulx and the editors of Yankee magazine can help.Drawing on their own creative ideas--and those of ingenious Yankees all over New England--they've come up with more than 1,000 clever ways to put common household objects to uncommon and valuable uses. The result is a book that will benefit you in five clear ways.1. This book will empower you.Other people might be stymied when, say, Spot knocks a glass of grape juice on that elegant white rug. Not you. You'll be able to lift that stain yourself--without buying some expensive remover--just by applying a dab of shaving cream. Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs, and More contains dozens of clever do-it-yourself ideas like this.2. This book will save you money.Need an attractive gift for a friend, a game to entertain the grandkids, a desk organizer for your home office? Forget the catalogs and stay away from the stores. As you'll see, you can make these items and dozens more in minutes from the leftover things around your house.3. This book will make your life easier.There's no need to stock a cabinetful of specialty cleansers. Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs, and More will show you how to use common ingredients like salt, ketchup, baking soda, flour, yogurt, and, of course, vinegar to handle many of the cleaning tasks you encounter every day.4. This book will reduce the waste in your home.If you've ever regretted the amount of trash you throw out each week, here's the solution. This book will show you how to give a second life to everything from plastic containers to bubble wrap to panty house and more.5. This book will entertain you.Whether you settle on one of Earl's yarns, the story behind common objects like Post-It Notes and condensed milk, or the "My Way" tips from actual readers, you're bound to enjoy the fun side of this book.Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs, and More provides no-fail ideas for every area of your home, and for many actitivites, from gardening to cooking, from travel to sports, and from crafts to games. Consider it your no-cost tool kit for all your needs around the home.Throw out a candle stub, some sour milk, that leftover bag of cat litter? Not on your life!You might think of these things as waste that's headed for the trash can, but there are hundreds of practical ways you can save money, time, and natural resources by reusing these and other common objects around your house. Follow Earl Proulx and the editors of Yankee magazine as they show you how to:Make a soothing facial mask from cat litterCover up furniture scratches with a dab of iodineTun an old teacup, a sandwich bag, and some sugar into an elegant pin cushionClean car grease off your hands with olive oilUnstick a window with the stub of an old candlestickClear a clogged showerhead with vinegarAnt-proof your home with lemon juiceMake an attractive country picture frame from an old six-pane windowEnd static cling with hair sprayStop foot blisters with duct tapeKeep bait worms fresh with coffee groundsMake an earring holder out of window screeningMore than 1,000 creative, fun, and ingenious tips

    From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.

    This is not one of those books. On the contrary, this is a collection of terrible, awkward, and laughably unreadable excerpts that will teach you what to avoid—at all costs—if you ever want your novel published.In How Not to Write a Novel, authors Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman distill their 30 years combined experience in teaching, editing, writing, and reviewing fiction to bring you real advice from the other side of the query letter. Rather than telling you how or what to write, they identify the 200 most common mistakes unconsciously made by writers and teach you to recognize, avoid, and amend them. With hilarious "mis-examples" to demonstrate each manuscript-mangling error, they'll help you troubleshoot your beginnings and endings, bad guys, love interests, style, jokes, perspective, voice, and more. As funny as it is useful, this essential how-NOT-to guide will help you get your manuscript out of the slush pile and into the bookstore.

    But what if they were real? What would happen if, tomorrow, corpses across the nation began springing up out of their graves and terrorizing the living?Employing hard science and solid police work—not to mention jaw-dropping (literally!) humor—Zombie CSU is the only guide you need to make it through alive—not undead. At last you can:

    Growing up in Yorkshire and then CountyDurham, the boy who would be Reeves somehow managed to escape the attentions of 'Randy Mandy' and get a crash course in pig castration, before having encounters with Jimi Hendrix and the Yorkshire Ripper.Peopled with weird and wonderful characters, Vic Reeves' memoir is authentic, witty and inventive, and as unique as you'd expect from one of Britain's most exceptional comedy talents.

    Clearly, geeks know something about life in the 21st century that other folks don’t—something we all can learn from. Geek Wisdom takes as gospel some 200 of the most powerful and oft-cited quotes from movies (“Where we’re going, we don’t need roads”), television (“Now we know—and knowing is half the battle”), literature (“All that is gold does not glitter”), games, science, the Internet, and more. Now these beloved pearls of modern-day culture have been painstakingly interpreted by a diverse team of hardcore nerds with their imaginations turned up to 11. Yes, this collection of mini-essays is by, for, and about geeks—but it’s just so surprisingly profound, the rest of us would have to be dorks not to read it. So say we all.

    From the presenters of the hit BBC One TV show, Pointless, comes a collection of musings on some of the most pointless things, places and facts in everyday modern life.This book is the perfect blend of the obscure, the fascinating and the downright silly.

    From Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy, the encyclopedia gives readers an overview of what is undoubtedly the most macabre and fascinating branch of crime and modern criminology.

    A. Milne's Piglet. Piglet? Yes, Piglet. For better than impulsive Tigger... or gloomy Eeyore... or intellectual Owl... or even loveable Pooh... Piglet herein demonstrates a very important principle of Taoism: the Te - a Chinese word meaning Virtue - of the Small.In this wonderful sequel to The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff explores the Te (Virtue) of the Small - a principle embodied perfectly in Piglet, a Very Small Animal who proved to be so Useful after all.

    A low-ranking TV personality. Rather immature and carefree, my only responsibility to date has been a guinea pig. All that's about to change. I'm pregnant, and now I've become a cheddar cheese junkie, inseparable from my dungarees. Help!' Who can Mel turn to? Pen, her best friend, who is still annoyingly carefree and single, and whose effect on Mel is like an injection of pure caffeine to the system? Jools, the hippy who recommends basil nosegay for labour pains and placenta pate canapes when entertaining? Amanda, the well-heeled, pregnant-friend-from-Hell who, only weeks after her textbook delivery, is planning to have her firstborn taught to ski? Kate, Mel's sister and mother of two, whose offspring are inclined towards dangerous Captain Hook impersonations and sudden mood swings? Mel's mother, who got Mel through babyhood by way of regular coffee mornings and who impresses on her the importance of portable 1950s baby gear that looks about as foldable as a Transit van? Dan, the dad-to-be, who suddenly stops going to the pub to concentrate on Mel's dietary requirements and has adopted the sinister habit of always keeping a tape measure attached to his belt?

    Now, Harry shares many of his hilarious insider tips.

    Three of the first five U.S. Presidents died on July 4th. The company name Atari was chosen so consumers would think the Northern California-based company was Japanese. These and other eye-opening revelations await the reader of Who Knew? Part pop culture, part pop quiz, this quirky compilation of little-known facts and figures will amaze and amuse readers of all ages. Who Knew? collects tidbits and trivia about well-known personalities and products that we are all familiar with—or at least think we're familiar with. From Twinkies to Tupperware to toys and television, these offbeat informational nuggets are guaranteed to entertain and enthrall.

    An educational and humorous look at life, language and culture in Britain through the eyes of an American who lives in Scotland, sometimes against her will.